Episode 30: Pre-Party Hold Up

Author's Notes: Well, it took a bit longer than planned... But here it is: Chapter 30... enjoy reading! :D

It was 6:41 p.m., same day—Liz had just double-checked everything to ensure that things would go on smoothly. She had several of her staff retest the lightings, the sound system, and even the cameras.

"Wow! I've never seen you work so hard before," her younger sister said in awe.

"Y-Yeah, I never knew I could do this too," she chuckled. "Whatever Blair did, it really changed me for some reason…"

A few hours before the party, Liz and her sister were walking towards Shibusen. Death the Kid had already left minutes earlier without even as much as a heads up.

"What are we supposed to wear tonight?" Liz thought.

Usually, days before any important event like parties or whatnot, Kid would accompany them to the tailor. There, he would then pick out what design their matching clothes would look like. It was pretty annoying at first, but over time, they got used to it.

But now, with only a few hours left, he has not once mentioned anything about their attire. Moreover, he's been really quiet these past few days. They tried their best to talk to him, but he would act as though they weren't even there. In an effort to get some kind of reaction from him, Patty even went as far as to misalign a few picture frames at home in the hopes of seeing a freak-out but still nothing.

"Kid-kun's really been acting weird," Patty pouted.

"I couldn't agree more," Blair said, walking alongside them.

"Yeah, I mea—Whoa!" they gasped at the suddenness of her appearance. "W-Where the hell did you come from!" Liz couldn't help but point at the shinigami-costumed witch.

"Oh, don't mind me," she said. "Now, you were talking about Kid-kun. Do continue."

"O-Okay… um, so Kid's been acting strange-er than usual. I think he's still bummed over the fact that he's brothers with Asura."

"You think so? Well, if you're interested, I have a sure way of getting Kid-kun back to normal."

"What do we have to do?" asked Patty.

"Nothing dangerous, just show up for the party and do a few things for me."

"You aren't pulling our leg, are you?" Liz asked, suspiciously.

"Here," she each handed them a Xmas present, "something cool to wear for the party."

Patty quickly unwrapped hers and found a witch's outfit complete with a pointy hat. "Awesome! I'm a witch now!"

Liz unwrapped hers and found the same thing, albeit in a different size. "Uh, thanks," she said, looking unsure of the gift.

Underneath her skull-mask, Blair smiled. "Oh yeah, before I forget," she slapped her hands on their shoulder and whispered, "Chain Resonance."

Right there and then, in the middle of the crowded street, the three girls had a silent team resonance. The Thompson Sisters could feel their souls perfectly synchronizing with Blair's…

"Cool flashback!" Patty chuckled.

"Yeah, it is," smiled Liz. "So, what're we suppose to do with that again?" she pointed to a large book lying beside a stack of records.

So old that even the crimson-red color of its leather-cover had faded, this tome was the Book of Exorcism Kid had them lift from the library a few days ago. It had no distinguishable markings and, what's even more surprising was that it had nothing written on its pages.

"Kid really tried to figure out how to use this thing. He wouldn't even sleep or eat anything at all. But, he had to give up at some point. I only wish he hadn't begun keeping to himself after that," Liz sighed as she briefly skimmed the empty pages.

"I want Kid-kun to be Kid-kun again!" pouted Patty.

"Don't worry. If Blair's plan works, we'll have him back good as new," she smiled.

Speaking of the witch, she was currently in a showdown with Spirit and Stein…

Considering that the distance between them was at least 5 meters (16.4 feet), the hallway width at around 10 meters (32.8 feet) and the ceiling height at around 15 meters (49.21 feet), Stein estimated her chances of getting past them either by going around or above them to be quite low.

At the same time, he weighed her strengths and abilities against theirs. Knowing that the witch utilized sound and sonic resonance, he knew that in the narrow hallway a frontal assault would prove to be dangerous for them. However, since she was in a dress and wearing high-heels, speed was obviously not on her side. As Stein formulated a plan of attack, Spirit did most of the talking.

"So, what's it going to be?" he asked.

Feeling the tension rising quickly, Blair sighed with annoyance, "I don't have time for this. Instead of pestering me, don't you old geezers have somewhere better to be?"

"Che. Is that the best line you can come up with, witch?" spat Spirit.

"Okay. Since you're too old and stupid to understand, how about I spell it out for you?" she smiled. "Right now, Maka is at the party wearing a very cute dress. Soul will be arriving at any moment. So, are you sure you want to stay here and miss tha—eh?"

Before she could even finish, Spirit had already left screaming, "Maka! I'm coming!"

Taken aback by this, Blair couldn't help but comment on how ridiculously easy that was. She laughed as she turned to her next opponent, "And then there was one."

Despite her minor victory, he didn't seem fazed by it. Instead, he calmly took out a cigarette stick from one of his pockets. "Seems like it, but I'm more than enough to stop you," he said.

"Are you sure? I heard you needed Spirit just to defeat Medusa. But without him now, are you sure you can pull off another win?" she smiled.

"By Medusa, don't you mean your sister?" he said, lighting the cigarette stick and taking a quick puff.

Blair's smile quickly disappeared. Her expression was now of surprise, but with a very subtle hint of fear—something that Stein was quick to detect.

"Did you really think it wasn't that obvious?" he pressed on, smoking away as he did.

"H-How did you... Does everyone know this?" she asked as she tried to compose herself.

Yet, try as she might, it was a little too late as Stein, with the power of observation, was able to bluff her into revealing such a valuable piece of information. "Well, they do now," he looked up at the security camera directed at them.

"I see. So, what do you think happens now?" her smile returned, quite surprisingly. "Will I be killed on the spot for being related to someone?"

"Not really. It's just a good enough reason to lock you up for good. But, considering how dangerous you are, I'm sure people will understand if I just had to defend myself," he grinned with a crazed, 'I-wanna-dissect-you!' look in his eyes.