Chapter 10 – Permission

Death the Kid

It had been my intention to go straight to my father's office, find Liz and Patty, and then return to Maka's apartment – in that order. I had even worked out the path I would take inside of Shibusen to curtail excessive time spent wandering the halls.

Obsessive? Probably.

Functional? Not quite.

My well-laid plans failed as soon as I arrived back at the school. Liz and Patty languished at the front door of Shibusen, and I was accosted the moment I returned.

Liz was obviously upset, standing with her hands on her hips. "Where have you been? Why did you ditch us after class?"

I tried to side-step them and enter the school. "I had business to attend to this morning. It was a private matter."

Her agitation was visible. "Excuse me? You ran off after Stein's lecture, and never even came to Sid's class. I had to tell Sid in front of the whole room that I didn't know where my partner was. You know how embarrassing that was?" She crossed her slender arms across her chest. It tightened her red sweater, which would have made many a man swoon for her – but I wasn't really considering it.

I tried to care about her embarrassment, I really did. But I was failing. I was too wrapped up in my own drama at the moment.

I sighed. "I apologize for what happened this morning. Embarrassing you was not my intention. I had something to take care of." I tried to step around her, but she shifted to her right and continued to block my path.

A moment of silence passed. I stuffed my hands into my pockets, trying to avoid making obvious fists in anger. "Would you mind stepping aside?" I finally asked.

She cocked her head to the side. "Are you going to tell me what's going on or not?"

I blinked. "I'm not sure if it's any of your business at this point." The statement was innocent truth, but I was sure it did not come off as such.

Patty giggled, and Liz's mouth hung open. "Wha…" Was the only comment she could manage.

"Looks like Liz is in shock, Kid!" Patty teased, rocking on her heels with her arms behind her back.

I attempted to step to my right, and Liz shifted to her left, scowling at me. "Where are you going, now?"

My brow furrowed. "I have to see my father; could you please step aside?"

I stepped twice to my left, rounding her.

Liz grabbed my right arm pulling me back to in front of her. "Oh no you don't, you're not running off without us again." She stated.

I fell back a half step and came to a stop. I tried to contain the irritation in my voice, but I still couldn't help but stare her down. "You are welcome to go with me and listen in, but you may not like what you hear."

Her eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

I gave a slight sigh. "I have to ask him about a personal matter."

"I'm your Weapon partner and I live in your house. What could you ask him that I wouldn't want to know about?" She stated firmly.

I decided this may be the only way to handle this situation. "Fine, you're welcome to join me." I told her with a shrug. "But I will tell you now that Maka is expecting us for dinner."

Her eyes narrowed. "Why are you mentioning dinner all of a sudden?"

I looked at her with innocence. "In case you choose to not go after this meeting with my father."

***

The next ten minutes felt crucial to me.

"Ho ho, I'm glad you stopped by Kid. I think we need to have a talk." Shinigami-sama stated dryly.

I could feel myself rocking slightly on my heels, wanting this conference to be over as soon as possible. I stood in the center of my father's reflective platform stage, the obvious center of attention at this meeting. Liz, Patty and Spirit sat around the edges.

"I apologize for not stopping by sooner." I stated humbly.

My father bounced in place. "I heard you missed Sid's lecture this morning." He stated matter-of-factly.

I turned to my right and eyed Spirit for a moment. He made brief eye contact and then looked away in shame. I had already assumed it had not been his idea to alert my father to having seen me earlier in the day.

I bit my lip and hung my head. "Yes. I had something to take care of. It won't happen again."

"I assumed not." He smiled, and then cocked his head to the right. "Is this apology the only reason you stopped by?"

This was the part I wasn't looking forward to. I shifted my weight on my heels, and forced myself to stand still. "No, it's not."

I could feel the room's eyes on me.

"Well?" He asked, apparently curious at my uncomfortable stance.

I scratched the back of my head with my left hand in agitation. "I came to ask your permission on something."

My father looked at me peculiarly. "What is it?"

I kept thinking me must already know, and he was simply trying to make me say it. "I want to be involved with a student from Shibusen."

He blinked. "You're already involved with a number of students here."

Father was trying to make me say it. "I'm asking your permission to be romantically involved with someone from Shibusen." I squeezed my eyes shut, wanting for the denial.

I could hear Liz's boots stomping out of my father's office, followed by Patty's light giggles. The office was then silent for several moments.

My father simply laughed, breaking the silence. "That's it?"

I stared at him. "'That's it?'" I repeated.

"Hmm. Yes, is that what you came here to ask me?"

I felt a ping of shame. "Yes."

He was suddenly incredibly serious, his tone angry. He scowled at me. "Well, you can't have it."

My face fell and I stared at him incredulously. "But…"

Spirit choked on a laugh, and I watched him cover his face with his hands. He was racked with laughter.

I looked back at my father. His face was kind again, and he was lightly laughing. "You don't need my permission to be happy, Kid."

I felt instantly humiliated and felt my ears and cheeks warm. "I know there are a lot of complications with being who we are, so I wanted to make sure you wouldn't have any issues with me…being involved with someone who's not like us Shinigami."

He mask smiled. "I have no qualms with it. Despite everything else, you are still my son, and I want to see you happy."

Spirit stood up and walked to my side. He put his arm around my shoulders. "Didn't you say you wanted to be like everyone else?"

"Hmm." Was my only reply. I was still trying to process my father's comments.

Spirit removed his arm and fixed his tie. "I think you worry too much, myself. I mean, I know the only reason I would have issues would be if this person happened to be my Maka, right?" He stared at me intently.

He already knew the answer to his question, so I had no idea why he was playing at it. I didn't bother meeting his gaze "It's not."

Spirit smiled again. "Well, then, all good!" He smacked me on the back. "If you ever need advice…"

I cut him off, mildly annoyed. "I'll ask someone else." It was hard to forget Spirit's status as a recent divorcee.

My father looked at me in concern. "What about Liz? She didn't seem to take the news well."

I shifted my weight. "I warned her before we came here that she might not like what she heard. I'm not sure if this is what she was expecting though."

He bounced in place. "Do you plan to give them up as your partners?"

My answer was simple. "No."

"Then you may want to make that clear to her. She may be more apt to accept your relationship with Ms. Summers then."

This made it clear he had known the whole time and just wanted me to admit my intentions.

I gave him a slight nod. "I plan to do that this evening."

But I couldn't help but wonder if that was the whole issue with Liz. And how would she react with Sai in person?