CHAPTER 9

A/N – Hello everyone! (Gah, I always say that!) I am back to work from a (much too brief) vacation and it's piled on me already, hence the delay in update. Therefore I have decided I'll be posting the updates in the weekends, when I have the time to write :)

Maka huffed and put the food tray down onto the ground, then proceeded to fumble in her pockets in search for the key. Once unlocked, the blonde picked the heavy tray once more and kicked the door open with her foot, letting it swing out of the way. How the hell is this going smoothly? It's not going smoothly at all! She walked in and very nearly dropped the tray onto the small table, then straightened her back to draw a deep breath.

It was almost dark – the candles were all but completely burned out, needing replacement. The fact the buds were alit meant that Kid had returned for the evening, but now he was gone again. Maybe to get new ones, Maka hoped, hugging herself. No way in hell was she going back to the kitchens for that – their room was in another 'wing' of the Temple complex and the shortest path between their corridor and the habitations area where the Brothers and Sisters lived and where the kitchens were was by crossing the outside terrace. There was another path on the inside as well – on which she'd been brought here the first time – but it was considerably longer and since there was no light it held an almost hundred percent chance of getting lost, not that she would have done any better even with lights on.

"So how was your day?"

Oh… he's here alright… Only now Maka noticed that on the other side of the bed there was a sort of trunk, for now the lid was tilted upwards, effectively concealing the reaper's form as he dug inside or whatever he was doing in there.

"Oh, my first day as a married woman was almost as good as my wedding night," the blonde declared ironically, throwing her arms to the side in emphasis. There was slimy, thick broth splattered all over the front of her dress. "It turns out I'm a horrible wife too, for I should have woken earlier and gone down the kitchens to get your breakfast, which of course I failed altogether. The Older One gave me a serious scolding for that, and for not asking what you'd have for dinner, so he made me carry all this stuff!"

Kid lowered the trunk lid at last and gave her a thoughtful once over, the shadow of an amused grin playing on his face for the briefest moment. "I don't know what to say… " He stood up slowly and folded his arms, a bit defensively. "Um, Maka… you know, this morning I didn't want my father to know about… about this because… Well not because I regret it or anything, but-"

The blonde flinched, as his words struck an unexpectedly painful cord somewhere inside her. Of course. "Look, Kid, it's okay, really!" she hurried to say, interrupting him. "You don't have to explain anything to me" Besides, Papa was there too…

"No, all I wanted to say is that knowing my father, he would probably drop all his research on the matter of the three Kishins and start making a fuss about the fact that we're married instead of doing anything remotely useful," the young shinigami pointed. "Not that what he's come up with so far has been particularly helpful either…"

"I guess…"

Maka breathed, grateful for the change of subject. She really didn't want to hear Kid coming up with reasons as to why their arranged marriage had to remain a secret. Kid was her friend and he'd done it all to protect her, to keep her safe, but of course he didn't want to be married to her – he was a shinigami, a Death God, while she was nothing but a poor human girl. And they were both much too young for such a thing. The meister hadn't asked herself whether she wanted to be married to him, last time she'd checked she didn't have as much as a crush on anyone (and that included Kid), yet the thought hurt her in a strange way.

"So what do you think about that?" the reaper asked, moving from his place and much to her relief the blonde noticed he had a few spare candles in his hand, which he'd probably dug out of the trunk. "You did it once, with the kishin Asura, but they say you were practically in a coma in those moments. Turn to weapon form, I mean"

The other meister shrugged awkwardly. Too much too soon had happened for her to be able to digest everything, thus she hadn't given Lord Death's idea any thought yet. That was, any deeper thought past the initial horror of it. Alright, so maybe she had been good as a weapon, but even that one time she'd basically 'wielded herself'. Of course, they were right, her full potential could only be achieved if she had another meister wielding her, but… "Well I think that…um… ultimately I suppose I'll be able to work okay. Other than that, I think it will be weird. I really wish I had practiced that before, at home. I don't know how much we'll be able to practice here." And I wish I could change out of this filthy dress! Except I don't have anything else to wear…

Kid nodded. "Oh, I think 'weird' is an understatement. But don't worry, you're not alone in weirdness – I am practically crippled by the mere idea of using just one weapon instead of two," he observed, stooping to pick a copper bowl from under the table. Seeing it now, the blonde wondered why he needed the bucket as a mirror, but then realised that it was too shallow. "I'll go get you some water to clean that," the young shinigami added, pointing to the front of her dress.

"Oh I… thanks, but I've nothing to change in, so…"

"I've got several spare cloaks in the trunk, if nothing else. You can wear one of those. And on the bottom there are several pieces of something which passes as soap around here," he offered.

Maka approached the trunk cautiously as soon as he was out of the room - she'd always found it awkward going through other people's things, they simply felt too foreign and private to the touch. Not that these are Kid's most personal belongings or anything, she reassured herself, kneeling and lifting the lid. It wasn't very big and the contents consisted mostly of a heap of Death God attire cloaks, folded neatly. On the side there was a spare skull mask, a bunch of spare candles, several pieces of so called soap, a rough towel and a hair comb. Other than the cloaks there was no spare clothing, like a shirt or anything – they must have had something against people owning any spare clothing at the Temple, she mused.

Involuntarily, the meister reached inside and fingered the cloak on top of the pile. Why did they feel so different when Kid was wearing them? They had a strange, smoky-velvety texture when wrapped around his body, but now they appeared to be made of a very plain, low quality black cloth. She sighed, her fingers fisting into the fabric. As a shinigami, Kid is magical in so many ways that I can't even begin to comprehend, so why on earth would he want to be married to me? This must be so embarrassing to him… even if it's a temporary, convenience marriage. And I can't probably even imagine how angry and disappointed Lord Death would be with me if he knew about this!

"There you go." Kid had already returned with the water and set it down carefully at the foot of the bed. Maka stood up, clutching the cloak she'd grabbed to her chest and hoping her face wasn't betraying anything. She stared down at her dress uncomfortable.

"Could you…um… turn around please?"

Kid blinked. "Oh! Right, I'll just…" he realised, drawing back towards the door. "Sorry… I'll be outside until you're done"

Maka made swift work of most of the innumerable buttons and shrugged out of the dirty dress. Damn, it was chilly. She considered wrapping herself in the cloak, but she needed her arms to be free. In the end she decided to wrap it just like a bath towel and ignore the cold, at least until she would finish washing the dress. The water was ice cold, making her fingers hurt, the soap barely made any foam and the blonde cursed the Older One, the Sisters and The Three in earnest while fighting the disgusting stains.

A sudden muffled noise distracted her and Maka raised her head, listening in alarm. No, she hadn't imagined it, there it was again. The meister let the dress drop onto the floor carelessly and hurried to the door. Outside in the corridor Kid was down on his knees and he was coughing again, badly.

"KID! WHAT'S WRONG?!" the blonde cried, terror coursing through her instantly at the sight. She kneeled, placing a supporting arm around his trembling frame, while the shinigami shook his head, both his hands clamped over his mouth. "You can't stay here, it's cold! Let's get you inside, at least!" Maka urged, struggling to get the boy up on his feet. Kid wasn't half as heavy as she'd thought, in fact he was surprisingly light and seemed all in all frighteningly fragile all the sudden. As if he had faded somehow. Kicking the door open, the other meister half carried him inside and sat him onto the bed.

"I…" he cleared his throat and sat up a little straighter."I think I'm fine now… Perhaps I shouldn't have drunk so much…" the young reaper muttered, more to himself, pressing his fingers onto his forehead.

He means the Black Water. Maka frowned. "I thought you said it just numbed you? Like a sedative? I know it is a poison, but you said it doesn't affect you! And you're a reaper, how can you get sick in the first place?" She had not meant to raise her voice at him, but he was her friend and there she was, helpless, completely clueless as to how she could get him better.

"Actually I-I thought it didn't affect me, but t-then I began to get sick…" Kid stuttered in a faint voice, avoiding her gaze and burying his face in his hands again. "I d-didn't want you to know about this."

Maka's fists clenched at her sides and she wanted nothing but to slap him. Hard. He had thought it wouldn't affect him? How could he be so reckless? And how could he still drink it, even after it had made him sick?! Was he still trying to kill himself, after he'd denied her the same thing? No, that can't be it! Rather… it must have become an addiction. That's why he didn't want me to know about it... Kid, it's alright. I'm here for you, no matter what. That's what friends are for, didn't you know? But the words did not make it past the blonde's lips, only her hand rose to cup his face in a somewhat shy but reassuring caress as he slumped onto her shoulder. Even if he'd stopped coughing, he still trembled as if he were cold.

Maka's eyes darted towards the table - she'd all but completely forgotten about the food. "You should eat something, it will do you good!" The blonde rapidly scanned the tray and decided on the broth she'd all but poured over her dress. It was still lukewarm. Carefully she held up the bowl and brought it to the boy's lips. Kid grimaced and tried to jerk away from the food, but the other meister's arm held him in place.

"You must! Please…" she said softly. He's probably refused food as well, that's why the Older One said I should have asked what he likes! Admittedly, the food here is pretty bad, but still… how long did he go without eating? Was he planning to starve himself to death? Kid sipped the broth slowly, moaning in disgust from time to time, but Maka showed him no lenience.

"By Death, it's awful! Awful!" he breathed once done, drawing even closer, to the point the blonde felt his cold nose almost buried in the crook of her neck. "I've never eaten anything so horrible in my whole life, not even Stein could have cooked something this disgusting!"

"Oh, I don't know about that…" Maka reached for a plate of stew and a piece of dark bread. She hadn't eaten in more than a day herself and was pretty much starving at this point. Perhaps for some unknown reason, even if she was a mere human, her survival instincts were more developed than Kid's, she pondered, taking a mouthful of stew and mostly managing to ignore the bad taste. The bread helped somewhat. "Are you sure you don't want to try the stew as well? It's not that bad, although I have to say it's more like an acquired taste…"

"I am quite sure, thank you," the young shinigami said dryly. "Besides, you should eat too"

Maka finished her food – which in the end meant all the food on the tray – in silence, feeling slightly awkward to have Kid so close, leaning against her like that. His eyes were closed, black lashes resting against the pale cheeks. His breathing had steadied, but he still seemed worn out, in dire need of rest and shivers still raked his body from time to time.

"Maka… you're so… warm," the reaper moaned softly, his hand blindly searching and gripping her wrist lightly, as if he were trying to feel her pulse.

The blonde put the last empty plate back on the tray slowly and attempted to push him gently off her frame. "We should get you into bed now, you need to get some rest. As much as you can, in fact," she said, reaching down to remove both their boots. The meister then slid off his suit jacket and hastily tucked him in, under the blanket. But then she realised it – Kid wasn't going to get any warmer under the blanket, since his own body was cold as ice. No, he needed human body heat. Her body heat.

Gah, this is going to suck! Maka thought, her teeth already beginning to clatter as she shed the cloak and slipped under the blanket in nothing but her underwear. At least Kid's eyes were closed and his breathing had become even, but he instinctively snuggled closer. She pressed flush against him, still hoping he wouldn't get a feel of what was going on and gently brushed his striped bangs off his forehead.

"Kid," she whispered, "Don't leave me…"

To be continued