I'm doing good with my updating, a chapter everyday or every other day...I feel like it's not going to last long...
Kid felt like he had just removed the knife filled belt and now it was back on around his hips. He also didn't like that he was unable to use Liz and Patty as his guns, Tsubaki had told Liz to make sure that Kenna didn't run off and Patty couldn't leave without her rule made sence, but it didn't mean that Kid was the biggest fan of using knives for a weapon.
"Kid, we're leaving." A woman who seemed to be as large as Black-Star said, her arms crossed over her broad chest.
"Don't I know you?" Kid asked, getting a better view of the woman's face.
"Talia Ludwing, I used to be in your class at the DWMA. I sat in the back with my meister Quin, we didn't say much. We didn't want to call attention to us and we couldn't if we wanted to, we were no child of Lord Death." Talia stated, un-crossing her arms and putting her hands on her hips.
"Where is Quin?" Kid said before he could stop himself.
"She's dead, killed by one of the demon kishins before I could save her..." Talia dug her fingers into her hips and looked down, as if she was trying to keep herself in control.
"I'm sorry."
"No you're not!" Talia snapped. "You weren't there, you haven't lost someone you love...nevermind." Talia shook her head. Kid assumed she was thinking about his dead 'wife', maybe he should just tell everyone the truth and get that out of their heads before they discover it on their own. He gave himself a mental note to talk to Black-Star the next time they were alone together.
"It's okay, let's just worry about getting through this run. Let's make them proud." Kid said with a smile, putting a hand on the woman's shoulder.
"Yeah." Talia sniffed and turned away.
"Talia." Kid said softly to himself as he followed the woman, digging into his memory and trying to find something about her besides what she had said.
"There you two are." Tsubaki said with the rest of the group standing with her. "We all know the plan, right?" She received a nod from the seven adults. "Let's go."
Tsubaki lead the group out of the building and they went the same way they had taken to get to the market. Kid hesitated at the fence, thinking of Kenna's scream before he was told to hurry up by an impatient Bre, who stood behind him. Kid took in a breath and climbed over, Bre landing right behind him. Tsubaki did a head count before taking off again, the silence between the group still felt strange to Kid as they ducked behind walls or abandoned cars, looking for the killer kishins. Only the sound of their shoes crushing into the gravel at some points passed in the group until they finally reached their destination.
"Ox, Soul; keep a look out. Talia, do your thing." Talia gave Tsubaki a thumbs up and kneeled beside the alarm system, pulling a screwdriver from her pocket and started playing with it. "After she gets done, I need you to kick open the door Kid. The previous owners had boarded up the place before they...left."
""We're all good." Talia said, returning the screwdriver to her pocket. Kid didn't wait for Tsubaki to say anything and he kicked in the doors, shards of wood flying into the building.
"Max, collect some of the wood pieces. Everyone else grab everything that you can." Tsubaki went in first, heading straight for the power tools. Kid and Black-Star went through the shelves, stuffing hammers, nails, screws and other tools into their bags. They also put sandpaper, goggles and rags into the backpacks. Talia went to the counter and put something called 'five hour energy' into her bag along with some candy that sat on the counter as well. "How are you doing?" Tsubaki asked, her bag already filled and on her back,
"Just finishing up." Kid responded and shoved several more rags into his bag before zipping it up. Black-Star closed his bag as well and put it on his back. Kid was doing the same when a familiar sent filled his nose. Smoke. Cigarette smoke. Stein?
"Max, is this really an appropriate time for a smoke?" Bre's voice answered Kid's question.
"Sorry, couldn't help myself." Kid heard the cigarette drop and Max's foot crushing the thing.
"Stein." Kid said. "Where's Stein?" He asked Tsubaki.
"He ran off." Was the response Kid could get before everyone froze. They heard clawing above them and the horrible sound of growls as well. "They're in the vents..." Tsubaki looked up. " They're in the vents!" She said louder before part of the ceiling broke and several kishin demons fell through. Max and Bre let out a scream as more kishin demons fell out of the ceiling in front of them.
"Run!" Kid shouted at the two. Another scream caused the shinigami to turn. Talia sat on the counter, swipping kishin demons away with her filled bag, her belt laying on the ground. "Turn to a weapon Talia!" Kid ordered the woman. Talia hesitated. "Do it!" Kid used one of the demons as a launch pad, catching Talia when she finally turned. The shinigami felt his soul jerk as it connected itself to the weapon in his hands. A double-bladed axe, the weapon was almost as tall as Kid and the blades were bigger than his head.
"How!?" Talia asked.
"I'm a shinigami." Kid stated before swinging the axe in front of himself, slicing kishins across the face.
"Kid!" Black-Star shouted at the entrance. Kid lashed out one more time before jumping off the counter and slamming the axe into the ground and flipping himself over the rest of the kishins. The axe stayed in his hands as it pulled out of the ground and Kid landed on his feet.
"Where's Bre and Max!?" Tsubaki shouted over the sounds of the kishins.
"Help!" Max cried, dragging Bre in his arms.
"Bre!" Talia returned to her human shape and ran over to the two.
"We need to go now!" Tsubaki said, the kishins finally realizing what had happened. Talia threw the smaller woman over her shoulder and the group took off, kishins following them. Kid didn't like this, both times he's been on a run, it's ended with someone injured and them running from the kishin stayed in the back and Kid could hear the woman firing her gun multiple times. Ox, Soul, Max and Black-Star made it over the fence and Talia stopped, not able to climb over the fence with Bre over her shoulder.
"Give me her." Kid said and took Bre, knowing he could do it and he did. He heard Bre cry out with pain after he landed. Talia and Tsubaki's grunts wer behind him as he ran to the apartment. This was Kid's second time entering the building with a hurt girl on his shoulder, he hated this. He felt his shoulder getting soaked in what he assumed was blood and he had a bad feeling in his chest. This was worse than Kenna' bitten arm, a lot worse.
"Again!?" Free exclaimed and dropped the bowels in his hands. Kid flinched at the sound of the bowels shattering, why was he hearing this again? The table had already been cleaned up by the time Kid placed Bre on it. He dropped his bag to the ground as Tsubaki ran over to the girl and removed the woman's jacket. Bre was covered in bite marks and large gashes. Tsubaki stood there and starred, everyone silent.
"She's...gone." Tsubaki shook her head and covered his face with her hands.
"Bre!" Kenna pushed herself through the crowd and grabbed the dead woman's hand. "Don't you dare be dead, don't you dare!" She screamed. "Bre!"
"Kenna..." Talia went over to the girl and wrapped her arms around her. Kenna let out harsh sobs as she cried.
"She can't be dead, she can't!" Kenna gasped for air, her face soaked in tears.
"Kenna and Bre are sisters." Maka said to Kid, answering his silent question. Kid looked around and found Liz and Patty crying as well, they must have been friends with Bre, several other woman and girls were crying and even some men and boys were as well. This was horrible. His second day here and someone had already been injured and killed. Kid felt as if everything was his fault. He caused all of this by leaving and then showing up too late. Everyone was too busy watched Kenna cry loudly over her sister to notice Kid slipping away, snatching one of Max's packs of cigarettes and walk out of the house.
"Kid climbed up the side of the building to the roof, reminding himself to look for the stairs that lead up there. He sat himself on the ledge of the building, his feet dangling over the edge. He saw that the kishins had left the fence and there weren't other ones on the other side. Why didn't they climb over the fence? Was something preventing them from being able to do so? If so, what was it? Kid pulled out one of the cigarettes and set the pack next to him. He reached into his other pocket for a box of matches he had taken from the hardware store and scraped a match against the side of the box, the small stick catching on fire. The shinigami put the cigarette between his lips and used the match to lite the cigarette.
"You know that's not healthy for you."
"You do it." Kid said through a cloud of smoke.
"And there's the snappy comeback." Kid heard the person joining him on the ledge and the person took the pack and grabbed a cigarette for himself.
"Why aren't you with the others? They miss you, Stein."
"I don't want to risk me hurting them." Stein stated, putting a cigarette in his mouth. He reached into the front of his sweater and pulled out a lighter.
"Someone died today." Kid said, watching Stein take a deep drag from his cigarette.
"I know." The scientist responded.
"Why wouldn't you?"
"I tried to save her, but there were too many kishin demons."
"There's a lot of madness coming from the academy." Kid watched his cigarette slowly burn to a stick of ash.
"That's why I'm staying away, the madness is digging itself into me and I'm not going to last much longer." Kid noticed that Stein had more stitches covering his body than before, too many to be healthy.
"You're not allowed to die." Kid said.
"Well, I am. Maybe not today and maybe not even tomorrow, but I am and I need to make sure it doesn't get me when I do." Stein took the rest of his cigarette and smashed it into the ledge next to him. "You should visit your father." He stated and stood up.
"He's fine without me."
"You don.'t know, do you?"
"Know what?"
"You'll find out for yourself...I have to go."
"Stein!" Kid shouted at his old teacher as the man took off and jumped to the roof of the building next to them. Stein kept going until Kid couldn't see him anymore.
"There you are Kid, I've been looking for you." Black-Star walked on to the roof through a door that stuck out of the ground. "Are you smoking?" The star asked, smelling the smoke and seeing the cigarette in Kid's hand.
"Kind of." Kid flicked the ash off the tip and was about to put the cigarette back in his mouth but Black-Star stopped his hand and removed the cigarette from it.
"I've always hated the smell of these things." The star commented and put the cigarette out on the ledge like Stein had.
"How's Kenna?" Kid asked.
"She finally calmed down, but she locked herself up in her room." Black-Star stated.
"Poor girl." Kid got up and started walking away. He stopped when he heard the star following him. "Black-Star..." The shinigami turned around and faced the other man. "You're not allowed to die." He said.
"Kid?"
"I don't want to lose you, I don't know what I would do if you died-" Kid 's voice cracked and the shinigami coughed into his hand to clear his throat. Before he could say any more Black-Star stepped up to Kid, grabbed his shoulders and pressed their lips together.
"You don't need to worry about me." Black-Star said on Kid's lips and closed the space between them again.
"I know." Kid sighed. "We should probably go back before anyone worries." He said breathless.
"One more." Black-Star didn't wait for a response and kissed Kid again, missing being able to do this whenever he wanted to.
"Black-Star." Kid protested when the kiss traveled down to his neck. "We have to go-" The shinigami gasped when the star nipped at a sensitive spot on his neck.
"Kid, Black-Star,where are you?" Tsubaki's voice interrupted the two, the worry in her voice made them seperate from each other and go back inside. "Next time tell someone when you run off like that." Tsubaki said after finding them.
"Sorry, I needed some air." Kid said with an apologetic smile.
"We're about to start Bre's funeral, go grab a candle." Tsubaki walked off without another word.
Kid and Black-Star followed Tsubaki and grabbed themselves one of the small candles everyone else was getting. They stayed silent with the others as they traveled outside through the back door and they found themselves standing in a large backyard with many small stones sticking out of the ground. Graves. Kid felt his heart lurch at how many graves there were compared to how many people were still watched and mimicked the group as the became a circle around a large pile of wood, most of them looking as if they had already been burned before. Tsubaki stepped out from her spot of the circle.
"Today we are honoring the short life of Brianna Hope Anderson." Tsubaki said, loud enough to be heard by everyone. "She was a strong woman, sister of Kenna, mother of the already gone Anna and friend to many of us. Bre acted like as if she never cared for anyone but when someone was hurt, she would be the first to volunteer to help. When Kenna was bit, she was out here, cleaning the weeds from her daughters grave. When she learned what happened to Kenna, she stayed awake all night next to her sleeping sister. She cared for all of us deeply, even if she didn't show it all the time. We raise our candles to you Bre." Tsubaki held up her hands, a candle in them.
"We raise our candles to you." The group repeated and raised their candles as well. Kid and Black-Star put their candles up, trying to keep up with the ceremony.
"You may be gone in body, but you will always be with us in heart." Tsubaki pulled out a lighter and lit her candle. She went back to her spot and used her candle to lit the candle of the person's next to her. The other person did the same and the candle lighting went in a full circle, Kid and Black-Star catching on to this part easily. A part of the circle seperated and Free walked through it, a patched up Bre in his arms and Kenna following him with an already flaming candle. Free gently set Bre down on top of the gasoline soaked wood, crossing her arms over her stomach, one hand resting on the wolf stepped away and Kenna went in front of him.
"I love you Bre. I will always love you." Kenna choked out. "I hope you've found Anna and you two are happy, no more pain, no more sorrow...good-bye Bre." Kenna pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket and set it on fire with her candle. She tossed the paper into the pile of wood and flames soon engulfed Bre.
"Spend all your time waiting, for that second chance." Maka started singing, throwing Kid and Black-Star off.
"For a break that would make it okay." Soul joined her.
"There's always some reason, to not feel good enough." Several others began to sing as well.
"And it's hard at the end of the day. I need some distraction." More people sang.
"Oh beautiful release, memories seep from my veins." Kenna joined in.
"Let me be empty and weightless and maybe." Everyone but Kid and Black-Star were singing.
"I'll find some peace tonight." Kid looked at Black-Star as he sang and Kid took in a breath and finally everyone in the group was singing.
"In the arms of an angel, fly away from here." Kid couldn't believe this, this was all too real. "From this dark, cold, hotel room." Two days, it had only been two days and they were already mourning the loss of someone he barely even knew. "And the endlessness that you fear." Tsubaki set her candle down on the ground and grabbed the hands of the two people next to her. "You are pulled from the wreckage." Kid watched as the two people Tsubaki was holding hands with, set their candles down and took their other hand into the person's hand of their neighbor. "Of your silent reverie." The circle continued and soon Kid and Black-Star had to set their candles down and were holding hands with each other and the person that stood on their other side. "You're in the arms of the angel." Kid felt Black-Star rub his thumb lightly over his hand. "May you find some comfort here." The next and final verse was sang by Kenna who shook as she belted out the notes, she had a beautiful singing voice. The group joined in agin as they sang the chorus of the song, holding the very last note as long as they could. Kenna beating everyone by several beats before she collapsed in to her knees and cried into her looked at everyone, almost not a single person had dry eyes in the circle. His grip tightened on Black-Star's hand. This is what they all have been going through for years while he and Black-Star lived a normal life. That wasn't fair, that wasn't fair at all.
I'm listening to the song while I'm writing this...oh God I'm crying! All of these feels!