Chapter 32 – Mechanics of Heart

Death the Kid

I wasn't prepared to take my Father's decision at face value. "Is it necessary for Justin to go with us? He tends to make Sai uncomfortable."

Spirit cocked his head to his right. "He makes you, or her, uncomfortable?"

"Kid?" Sai stood at my right, and pulled me jacket sleeve once. "Really, this isn't a big deal. Don't worry about this."

I shifted in place, and let me attention remain on Spirit. "I won't lie that I'm not fond of him, but I believe that's beside the point."

Stein stood, walked to where the rest of us stood, and joined in the conversation. He was chewing on a rice ball, and his words were muddled. "Actually, it's not. Sai's not strong enough at the moment to go on her own." He said between bites. "She needs a partner."

I went on the defensive. My voice was even and dark. "She wouldn't be on her own. I won't let that happen again."

Spirit was stoic on the matter despite his relaxed stance. "We can't be assured of the, Kid."

Stein concurred with him. "She may have regained some of her abilities, but she's still physically weak. This is outside of the fact that you have a partner already, and her true strength at this point is lying in her ability to shift into a Regular Weapon from human form. She either needs to be a Meister or have a Meister. Both of which Justin has the capacity to be."

The thought grated on my nerves. Justin, Justin, Justin…I hear too much about him…

I exhaled heavily and watched the floor. "So you plan to match her and Justin on a more permanent basis?"

Stein blinked and looked thoughtful. "They would make a strong team. Both have Independent Weapons' capabilities, and they do have a long history together. I can't see matching her with anyone else right now."

I don't count. She can't be matched with me…

"Excuse me…mind if you don't leave me out of the conversation?" Sai asked abruptly. She then took a page out of Soul's book of social repertoire. "I really find it uncool of you guys to act like I'm not here.

I closed my eyes and coughed politely into my fist. "So sorry." I tried to not laugh at her word choice.

Father wobbled over to Sai's right. He put an oversized gloved hand on her shoulder. "It still remains Sai's decision, in the end. It is against Shibusen's rules to force a match between partners."

She seemed business-like for the moment. "All we have to do is go back to the factory…and do what?"

Father bounced in place and his mask smiled. "There's something there I need you to retrieve. Unfortunately, I'm not exactly sure what it looks like, but you should recognize it as something out of place." He paused and looked thoughtful. "It's also likely something large, probably the length of your arm or so."

That didn't make much sense to me. He either knew too little, or was hiding something. "That…doesn't give us much of a hint. Are you doing that on purpose?"

Spirit picked up the slack in the hinting. He took a few steps forward and stood at my left. "It's likely something mechanical looking. A gear, a key…something along those lines…And…"

I raised an eyebrow. "And what?"

He lowered his head and smiled stupidly. "Do you realize you're got blood all over you?"

I could feel my eyes widen. I had pushed it to the back of my mind. "I…I'm a mess…!"

I didn't have time to shift into a full-blown panic mode, however. Sai started to pull on my arm and drag me out of the office. "Let's go get this over with. We can fight about this stuff later." She turned half-way back. "And darn you, Spirit-san!"

***

"Why did you throw that at me?!" I whined. "Look at me…" I pulled on my spotted collar. The blood was starting to crust and darken. It would probably never come out.

Sai had managed to get me out of the office before my attitude shifted into something embarrassing and unpleasant.

She sighed. "Listen…Kid…let it go for now about Justin."

I forgot my deranged looking clothes again. "Why?" I asked, somewhat confused.

"If we don't take him along, I may not get to leave Shibusen for a while. And I don't like the idea of you going back to the factory alone." She paused. "That would make me feel weird…having to wait to make sure you come back, okay?"

I half-smiled. "I think I'm starting to understand."

She smiled at me. "Then let's do this…and be done with it…"

I nodded, and then remembered something I had been carrying with me. I pulled out her hair ribbons from my right jacket pocket. "Here, they were able to get most of the stains out. But I don't know if you're going to want to wear them still. They're a little ragged."

"Kid…" She took them from my hand and started to fix them into her hair. "Thank you. I wasn't sure you had even remembered to get them when I collapsed."

I felt my cheeks warm. I couldn't bring myself to tell I had had to go back for them.

There were footfalls to our right, disturbing our moment of peace.

The voice was mildly condescending. "You two are always sickeningly sweet to each other, Sai."

She gave him a faux smile. "Nice to see you too, Justin."

I inhaled deeply and bit my tongue to stop from saying something crude. "Justin."

Sai patted me on the arm and gave me a wink with her good eye. "Good Kid."

He walked towards us. "Shinigami-kun, hello. Are you two ready to leave?"

I gave a slight nod. "Yes. We've been informed of the assignment. My partners will meet us at the front gate."

Justin stood at Sai's right; he then pulled her away from me and towards himself by the shoulder. "You're going only as back-up, Shinigami-kun. This assignment is actually for me. I have to retrieve and turn over the object in the factory to Shinigami-sama."

It was apparent I still wasn't getting the full story. "What? The mechanical part?"

Justin gave a slight nod. "The scouting part of the mission was completed by another Meister and Weapon pair. We now know the location of the item inside of the factory complex. I'm going in to retrieve it."

Sai looked confused. "Kid? What's going on?"

My brow furrowed. What IS going on…?

I put my hand on Sai's shoulder and pulled her back. "Let's just do as instructed for now, Sai. We have no choice." And the idea of not having a choice made my stomach queasy.

***

I figured I could handle dealing with Justin if Sai wanted me to. I could behave. If I stuck to staying away from them on my skateboard, maybe I could keep my focus on the way there.

But I didn't like the idea of her riding on his bike all of the way back out to the factory. Especially since he wanted her to remain in human form. For a priest he was sure interested in her. And that rubbed my soul the wrong way.

But then again, it might just be me being jealous. And jealousy can be a powerful weapon. I have no doubt that it will be part of the reason I try to hurt him in the end.

"Kid? What's wrong? You're flying erratically." I could hear Liz's voice in my ear.

"I'm not used to going as backup, that's all." I lied.

Liz sighed. I had the feeling she could see through my words. "You know…it's okay about to be upset about it…" She muttered. "He does tend to want her attention…"

I remained stoic on the matter. "This isn't the time to discuss this."

Patty giggled. "Kid's always so serious…"

Liz was quick to contradict her. Her voice was low. "Ya know…it might help if you were more serious sometimes…"

***

We landed a few minutes later outside of the factory. As I melted my skateboard back into my hand, Sai hopped off of the bike and joined me at my right.

She looked at my in concern. "Are you alright? You look a little peaked."

I looked down at the ground, and then at the factory wall. "I'll be fine."

Justin parked the bike next to the wall and stood in front of us. "We can go in from a hole in the wall around half-way around." Justin crossed in front of us, and started walked around the complex.

His take-over of the situation grated me. "I know. I was here when it was made." I pointed out.

We walked around the side of the factory compound in silence. I had a little comfort in the fact that Sai held her arm wrapped around mine. It was the best I could have. With the sisters' Weapons in my hands, it wasn't possible to hold hands.

In the inner courtyard, Justin called for us to stop.

Justin turned around and reached out his hand. "Sai, shift forms. You shouldn't go any further in human form. You're physically weak still."

I eyed Justin. "My Father said she was going in as a Meister. You're supposed to be the Weapon in this case."

Justin shifted in place, and the dirt made a rustling noise. "The two of you don't know what we're looking for, and we don't need two Gun Meisters on the same mission."

Sai lowered her head. "Kid. Don't worry about it, okay. I don't mind." She shifted into a brilliant violet light. A five-foot long sickle appeared in his hands. The red in the familiar sawtooth patterned blade had been replaced with purple. She was like Soul, but obviously different. Smaller, lighter, and closer to what one usually considered a sickle for the fields.

There was a flicker of light on the blade, and I could see Sai's form in the darkness. I felt bad that I had lied to her about not being able to see her. But I didn't feel bad for my actions in the next few moments.

I pulled my right arm back towards my chest, swung it forward, and let it smash Liz's Weapon form into the side of Justin's face. Justin stumbled back a step, and put his left arm to his face. He looked over it at me with venomous eyes. He retained his hold on Sai through out.

Liz and Patty were simultaneous. "Kid!"

Sai stuck her upper half out of the blade. "Kid what are you doing?!"

I scowled at him. "He treats you like you're a thing. Have some self-respect, Sai. The Shinigami have their pride to mind."

She sighed. "Kid, please….I asked you to let it go for now…"

The tense situation was broken by a thunderous roar that shook the walls.

Sai's eyes were wide. "Guys….I think we have company…"