Maka's eyes snapped open, feeling discomfort in her sleep.
She felt the space beside her for Kid, as if it were just all a bad dream, and her eyes closed when she felt no one.
That's when there was a knock on her bedroom door. She shot up in a bed, looking at her door with hope shimmering in her emerald eyes.
"Maka? It's Patty."
Maka's shoulders sagged and she sighed sadly, looking away from the door.
"Come in…" She sounded as if she hadn't spoken in a long time.
Patty stepped inside in giraffe pajamas and she held a wrapped box with a bow on top.
She sat down in front of her on the bed and handed her the present.
Maka giggled slightly, but didn't smile as she did it, as if her face was glued in place.
"Patricia… Christmas isn't for another week."
Patty offered a small smile.
"Just open it, Maka. I think you deserve to open your present earlier than all of the other kids."
Maka lightly fingered the gift that she was given before she lifted up the flaps, delicately taking it off.
Patty raised an eyebrow, confused with Maka for she usually ripped it open.
Maka sighed, looking at the paper she unwrapped from the package before she set it down.
"Perfect… just the way he likes it…"
Patty frowned and looked down at her crossed legs.
"Oh… that's how Kid opened his presents…"
Maka noticed Patty's dazed state and pat her shoulder before looking down at her present.
Her eyes widened.
It wasn't like the books she always got, or brand new pale yellow vests.
She lifted up a silver necklace with the shinigami symbol as the charm that adorned it. On the skull, there was a metallic rose above it with an onyx jewel in the middle of it.
"Patty… This looks expensive…" She gasped, staring at it in wonder.
Patty looked up at her and giggled a little.
"Want me to help you put it on?"
Maka blinked and looked back at her.
"Y-Yeah….sure…."
Patty grasped the necklace gently and scooted behind her, clasping it around her neck.
Maka looked down at the charm, moving it from front to back delicately.
Patty scooted back in front of her and took the box it came in.
"Want me to take the wrapping paper too?"
Maka nodded and Patty picked that up too, careful not to damage it for it might upset Maka if she did.
"Hope you enjoy your present, Maka! And school is gonna start soon!" She hopped off the bed and ran out to her bedroom.
Maka flopped backward in bed and checked her wrist for Kid's tie, hoping she didn't lose it somewhere in Death City like last time. She found it and sighed in relief, pressing it to her chest over her heart.
It still smelt of him…
She began to shake and covered her eyes with her other arm, sobbing quietly.
Patty was all dressed and stopped in front of the doorway to find Maka like that and walked into the bedroom.
"Maka…?"
She sat up, wiping her tears and got out of bed.
"I-I'm gonna get ready, don't worry. Wait for me downstairs."
Patty simply nodded and ran out of the room.
Maka looked in the mirror to see dark circles under her eyes.
She hasn't been able to sleep peacefully since Kid's funeral, tossing and turning in bed, just hoping that he wasn't dead as it had appeared.
She looked away from the mirror and got ready for school.
…:oOo:…
Spirit walked out of a holding cell similar to Medusa's in the corridors of the basement below the Dwma. Stein walked up to him with an unlit cigarette propped up in his mouth and one hand in his coat pocket.
"How is he doing?"
Spirit took a deep breath and looked up at him, shaking his head from side to side.
"He keeps wanting to see Maka, and he's being difficult… he just can't process that he can't see her ever again."
Stein raised an eyebrow.
"That's harsh, Spirit. Leave the poor boy alone and get anger management classes because it's not just you."
He walked past Spirit and entered Kid's cell.
Kid sat silently on the bed he was given, his crimson eyes seeming to glow in the slight darkness of the room.
Without looking up, he spoke.
"Stein… am I a kishin…?"
Stein was taken aback by the question and the cigarette fell out of his mouth.
"What? Of course not!"
Kid clenched his fists and grit his teeth.
"Then why are my eyes red? Why are my teeth sharp? And why is my blood black?"
Stein sighed and sat next to him.
"Kiddo… you know why you have black blood. Red eyes and sharp teeth are just a trademark from the world of the undead; they'll go away in a few years."
"So I can't see Maka for that long?" His voice cracked and he began to shake, lowering his head. "Spirit said I wasn't able to see her ever again…"
Stein itched his head, trying to come up with something gentler.
"Well…"
Kid growled and hunched his shoulders.
"What he said was true, wasn't it?"
"Kid, I-"
Kid snapped and slammed Stein against the wall by the front of his shirt, roaring in anger as he wrapped his hands around Stein's neck.
Stein gasped for air, his eyes fluttering.
Spirit ran through the door, his eyes wide in surprise.
"Kid!"
He tried to pull Kid away from Stein, but Kid only backhanded him viciously across the face.
Spirit stumbled back, clutching his jaw, and fell to the floor.
Kid turned back to Stein and realized what he was about to do.
He let go of him quickly and backed away with his face in his hands.
"Hakase…I…"
Stein coughed, wheezing for air, and rubbed his neck.
"Kid…?"
Kid's back hit the wall and he smacked the back of his head against it lightly.
"Are you sure… that I'm not a kishin…?"
Spirit and Stein just stared at him for a while, catching their breaths.
Spirit turned towards Stein.
"Professor, I think you may have a class to teach."
Stein simply nodded, not taking his eyes off Kid, and ran out of the room, finding a new fear within him for the raven haired boy in the cell.
Spirit slowly stood up to his feet, pointing a shaking finger at Kid.
"As for you… your father will definitely hear about this…" He stormed out of the cell and slammed the door, locking it.
Kid slid down the wall, laid down onto the cold, hard floor, and closed his dull eyes.
…:oOo:…
Maka walked into the classroom with her books held close to her chest and Patty at her side.
She looked around at the students around her with a sigh.
They were laughing, gossiping, or throwing paper airplanes around the classroom. Everyone was together with their weapon partners.
Maka lowered her gaze to the ground, trying not to cry and make a scene.
Patty skipped up to her, saw her expression, and pat her shoulder comfortingly.
"Everything is gonna be okay, Maka…"
Maka sniffled, wiped her nose, and nodded slowly, sitting down in her seat with Patty next to her.
"Students, sit down in your seats or you'll stay after class and write a twelve page essay about the fundamentals of dissection." Stein said as he walked into the classroom, holding an icepack to his neck.
Everyone quickly ran to the closest seat and sat, pulling out their books and notebooks to prepare before the bell rang.
Maka didn't look up at him as she pulled out her own supplies.
Stein looked up at Maka, seeing her unusual dull nature, and frowned in sympathy, guilt clenching his gut.
After all, he did know something she didn't. Something that he knew she dreamed of constantly since Kid's death.
He looked down at the ground, setting the icepack on his desk.
A student in the front raised his hand.
"Sensei, what happened to your neck?"
Maka sensed that Patty leaned forward in her seat, and heard her gasp.
Maka slowly looked up, blinking. She saw perfect red marks hands could create, and her emerald eyes widened.
Stein saw her looking at him and paled, quickly looking away from the students with a nervous chuckle.
"Oh? This? I made Lord Death angry and he did more than Death chop me…."
Maka raised an eyebrow.
"How'd you make him angry, exactly…?"
Stein took in a sharp breath, trying to wrack his crazy genius mind for something clever.
He walked up to the board, turning from the class, and began to draw a diagram of a kishin soul on the board, labeling parts of it and the nutrients it had in it.
"I was caught trying to dissect your father in the hallway. His shrieking was really high and echoed through the halls."
A few students turned towards Maka and snickered a little bit.
Maka blushed in embarrassment, furrowing her eyebrows in stress.
"Oh…"
Stein sighed relief under his breath, setting down the chalk.
"Now… take out your textbooks and let's get started…"
For most of the class period, Maka spaced out, staring at the textbook in front of her as Stein taught.
"Lord Death isn't known to choke the Dwma's teachers… he just Death chops them and that's it… Even if Stein did try to dissect that idiot of a father of mine… he'd probably just laugh it off and pat Stein's back in encouragement…"
"Maka, can you please step up and label which part of the soul holds vitamin D?"
Maka flinched in surprise, raising her gaze at Stein.
"Alright…" She slowly stood up, shaking slightly as the students turned to watch her. "I-I guess…." She tromped down the steps and up to the chalkboard, not looking back at the class despite that she felt their eyes on her back.
She took a deep breath and lifted up her stick of chalk up to the board.
She drew an arrow pointing to the outside layer of the soul and labeled the arrow 'Vitamin D'. After that, she turned towards Stein, digging her nails into her palms when she knew everyone was still watching her.
Stein sighed and shook his head from side to side.
"Maka… For once you are incorrect."
Maka flinched when she heard the last word and her eyes widened.
"Wh…What…?"
The class gasped in surprise, their eyes going wide as well.
Patty put her face in her hands.
"Oh, Maka…"
Stein also seemed to be in shock and put a hand on her shoulder.
"Good try though… you may return to your seat."
Maka looked down at the ground, embarrassed, and walked up to her seat as fast as she could.
Once she sat down, she heard a few students nearby begin to talk, and caught snippets of their conversation.
"Ever since Kid died, she's been acting strange…"
"… Rumors are that she's going insane with madness from the battle…"
"…Who wouldn't be different after losing those closest to them?"
Maka closed her eyes, hating the fact of being the talk of the school, and resisted the urge to cry again, feeling that it wasn't the time for the tears and that it was weak.
A few minutes later, the final bell rang, and Maka shot up, bolting out of the classroom as fast as she could.
Patty gasped, reaching an arm out to her despite the distance.
"Maka!"
When Maka turned the corner, Patty's shoulders sagged and she lowered her head.
"Hmm…"
As Maka passed students, she heard her name a few times and some students even tried to get her attention. Without warning, her tears began to flow again and she practically threw herself into the girl's bathroom, slamming up against the sink with heavy breathing.
Biting her lower lip, she slowly looked up at the mirror to see her reflection. Her sandy blond pigtails were frizzy and uneven and her eyes were puffy and red from crying too much.
Gripping the ends of the sink, she screwed her eyes shut and let out a strangled scream, slamming up against the wall beside her, and sliding down to the floor.
…:oOo:…
Kid sat in his room for a while more, hearing the school bell ring above and the hurried footsteps of students.
"Which set of footsteps belong to Maka…? Did she attend today?"
He clenched a fistful of the front of his shirt over his heart, trying to ease the overwhelming pain of knowing he'll be locked up forever like a caged animal in a zoo. Knowing that he'll never see the face of his beloved Maka again…
Kid's head shot up when the cell door to his cell opened, and Spirit and Death walked in, Death's hood down, and his mask in his hands. Kid right away can tell that they meant serious business.
Kid slowly stood up from the end of his bed and Spirit tugged him towards him with menacing force, and he felt Spirit shackle his hands behind him.
Kid let out a scream and he looked at his father with wide confused eyes.
"Father! What is he doing to me? You couldn't be okay with this!"
Death looked away.
"Kid… You hurt without a single thought in your head… I'm sorry… but you'll be kept in a more special cell until you gain control."
Kid's eyes filled with tears of betrayal.
"B-but… I….I didn't mean to! I won't do it ever again, I swear! Please! Leave me here! Give me a second chance!"
Death clenched his fists and clenched his teeth.
"Enough, Kid…" He growled.
Kid was too shocked to speak. Spirit gently pushed Kid out of his old cell and into the darkened corridors, Death following behind. Kid bit his lower lip as his tears rolled down his face, tasting the bitter salt on his lips. Spirit opened up a cell door at the farthest end of the hall; at a dead end.
Death opened the door and Spirit shoved Kid inside with brutal force and a slight look of hatred in his eyes.
Kid slammed against the rock wall, grunting in pain, and slid down to the floor in a heap. Coughing up a little blood onto the cold pavement floor, Kid raised his gaze to look up into his father's golden eyes.
"Father… how… could you…?"
Death's jaw went slack and his eyes filled with guilt just as Spirit slammed the door shut. Dim light shined in through the door slot from the torches outside the icy, empty cell.
Kid pulled his knees up to his chest, shaking slightly.
"What am I…?"
Hope you liked this first chapter! XD