Chapter 17 – Friendly Conglomeration, Part 1

Sai Summers

It had been easy to gather an audience for the morning's fight.

Not so easy to get rid of said audience for the afternoon.

Instead of the nice, quiet afternoon in the city that Kid had made plans for – in the literal sense – it would become a random group of Shibusen people crammed into a local coffee joint.

After the fight, Kid pulled me aside and told me he had to make a stop and would meet up with me at the coffeehouse afterward.

I eyed him. "You're not planning on going in another direction because of this turning thing, are you?"

He seemed too relaxed for that to be the issue, but I felt the need to ask regardless.

Kid shook his head and smiled. "No, I have to make a stop at a store a couple blocks over. I'll just meet you there." He waved the issue off. Maybe it wasn't really important.

But I was a tad confused. "Eh, okay."

The discussion was short and to the point. It seemed unlike him. He left while I was still speaking with Sid. Since I had missed speaking with him yesterday, he rattled on about qualities that Meisters should have as people. I wasn't in the mood, but I was caught in the conversation, and Stein was hovering. Sid seemed to drone on, reminding me every so often about how he was as a man when he was alive.

I tried to be pleasant, but I only have so much patience. Especially today.

When I was finally released, Soul joined me. I couldn't get away from people today it seemed.

His brow was furrowed. "I saw Kid leave. Is something wrong?"

I shook my head. "Oh, no, he said he had something to take care of and he would meet me at the coffeehouse in a bit."

Soul eyed me. "You probably don't even know where it is."

It was time to make up an excuse for going alone. "I did take a good look at the map earlier." I explained.

He didn't seem to be buying it. "Did you bring it with you?"

Darn it. "I left it at the apartment." I muttered.

Soul seemed mildly pleased, which I found disturbing. "Besides, this may be Shinigami-sama's town, but it's still dangerous for someone to be wandering alone by themselves. Especially if they don't know where they're going."

I sighed. Soul had caught me in a logical argument. He then decided to join us; I wasn't even given a chance to argue.

That I could handle though – he had told me at one point during the previous evening he planned to take the day off anyway, so it wasn't unexpected. The rest of the self-invitations came quickly. I could deal with Maka and Tsubaki decided to be there. They were people you could have a quiet, rational conversation with. Beyond that I started to have difficulties. Black Star tagged along, saying that he wanted to take some time away from studying. Tsubaki verified he did actually study, so I had trouble arguing with that logic. Okay, as long as he wasn't obnoxious or start trouble, I wouldn't say anything negative about it. The same went for Patty; but generally speaking, it's difficult to keep her quiet in public – especially since Liz had opted to head out for a day of shopping, instead of joining us.

Blair had tagged along with Maka when she had left the apartment earlier in the morning; they had been at the library during the fight. Blair explained that she didn't want to return home and be by herself because it was boring, she claimed. Alright, fine. As long as she behaved herself, I could deal with her presence. I won't lie; a nice, boring day was looking like something Iwould have enjoyed.

It was at that point the guest list got a little strange.

After the fight, Professor Stein had overheard a discussion between Kid and I regarding the coffeehouse, and invited himself. Literally, just said he was coming with us. That was severely awkward; there was no way I could refuse to let him join us, especially when he reminded me that he was my mentor at this point. It was sort of like friendly blackmail. I assumed the real reason he chose to join us instead of returning to the Patchwork Lab was either A) He didn't feel like doing whatever work he was supposed to be doing, or B) He was lonely. With Stein, either or both seemed to be possibilities. Or maybe he just wanted to bother me. It seemed to be a favorite activity of the people at Shibusen.

On the way down into the city, our ragtag group ran into Spirit. Seeing Maka and Blair seemed to be enough for him to want to tag along, but I did make a serious effort to get rid of him. I asked him why he wasn't heading over the Cabaret House, and he said there was no reason to go – his favorite people were already here. I lost that battle quickly. He then made a serious effort to be irritating towards me directly. Considering he probably knew I had never known my own father, he was playing his cards right if he was looking to be annoying. He pushed the subject a little too far in making the suggestion that he be my father-figure; it was enough to get some creepy looks from Soul, and some angry words from Maka. I was kind of glad Kid hadn't joined us yet. It might have gotten even uglier.

Kid did join us right around the time our assembled party reached the coffeehouse. He grabbed my right arm and pulled me aside when the rest of the group went inside the humble, stone building. From the outside, it didn't appear to be any sort of franchise or chain store. More like a simple, local establishment.

There was mild confusion in his face. "What happened? I figured it was just going to be the two of us."

I sighed. "Everybody…kinda invited themselves."

He snorted a laugh. "You have trouble saying 'no' to people don't you?"

"Only to my family, friends, and people I can't escape from." I told him with a unintelligent grin.

He didn't seem particularly surprised. "I was half-expecting this anyway. I figured at least Soul was planning on showing up because I realized half-way to the store I never mentioned about the location of the coffeehouse." His thoughts seemed distant, and he seemed to be trying to remember something. "And…we…left the map at the apartment, didn't we?" He scratched the back of his head with his left hand.

I nodded. "Yeah. And that's what started the whole thing. "

Kid laughed. "Damn, he's more observant than I thought." He paused. "Oh, here. I have something for you." Kid dug in his left pants pocket and produced a small, black paper bag. It was folded to prevent its contents from spilling.

I took the bag from him. "What's this?"

He shrugged, and there was a slight smile on his face. "Just a token. I thought you might like them."

I opened the bag. The gift was a pair of fluffy, black and purple hair ribbons. Each had a round clasp to attach to your hair, and the material trailed down in a wavy pattern. The edges were stiff yet bendable, and a thin translucent fabric was stretched between them. It was hard to tell if they were black or purple.

Kid pulled on my right arm. "Come here.

He pulled me across the street to the front of a closed store front with a large front window. He released my arm when he knew I could see myself clearly. There was a bike rack to my right; he sat down on the section you lock the front wheel into, and held on the top bar with both hands.

I clipped the ribbons to each of my ponytails, and watched myself in the window's mirror-like finish. "I should pay you back for these. This is probably expensive material." I told him. I was a little sad at having to express that, but it seemed natural.

He shook his head. "They're a gift. I won't accept money for them."

I sighed. This was a hard subject for me to broach. "Then, will you do me a favor?" I looked over at him.

Kid's eyes were bright. "What's that?"

I had to be honest with him. "If you're going to buy me something, let me know ahead of time."

He was visibly confused. "Huh? It wouldn't be much a surprise gift if I told you ahead of time."

"Eh…I'm not used to people giving me anything, let alone random gifts." I explained. Embarrassment was starting to set in.

Kid let his head drop. "Did I offend you? That wasn't my intention."

I walked over to him and stood at his right. "No, it's just…I don't want you to think I'm looking for things. I'm well aware of your…financial status." The last words left a sour taste in my mouth.

He snuffed on a laugh and crossed his arms across his chest. "What would you like me to spend my money on then?" He stared at the pavement; maybe it was easier than looking at me.

"It's just…I don't want you to think I'm…" I stumbled on my words. "Looking for things in exchange for being around you."

Kid bit his lower lip. "You know what the ironic part of that argument is? I know a number of people who say I couldn't pay them enough to spend time with me outside of Shibusen."

"That's terrible." I whispered, and I hung my own head this time.

He looked back up at me. "I think what's more important is that people show their kindness through various methods. If you don't like my methods, we have a problem."

I shook my head. "Don't misunderstand me. I do understand your methods, and I'm not saying I would turn away your kindness. That's who you are. I just don't want you to think I'm some street rat that needs the prince to come and lift her out of poverty."

Kid turned away, giggling. "Heh, you are hardly a princess-in-training."

I was pretty sure there was an insult in that comment, and I punched him lightly in the right arm. "Hey now, I'm serious on this."

He sniffed again. "Alright. I understand." He paused, rocked forward on his heels and stood up. "So are you going to let me buy you a coffee?"

I gasped at him. "Were you listening the last five minutes?!"

Kid bowed slightly. "Yes, but I am under the distinct impression you left your wallet at home."

I padded my pants. They had no pockets, and as a result, no wallet. I hung my head abruptly. "Damn."

He smiled. "If it helps, I'll make sure its something plain. Nothing worthy of a princess."

"That's fine Bean Pole Prince." I tried to stifle my laughter.

"Ack…" He stared at me, and then sighed. "Damn Soul. I'm never going to hear the end of this, am I?"