"We are going to bury Jose now and then we have to go on a run right after that. We will be missing breakfast, lunch and dinner will be small, along with all of our meals for a while until we can restock." Tsubaki addressed the worried group.
"Is everything burnt?" Someone asked.
"Everything in the kitchen is, if you have any food in your rooms or know where any food is at in the apartment please bring it to the large table where Free is standing at." Tsubaki gestured to Free who was leaning against a table that had been cleaned off.
"Everything is gone? Even the formulas?" Maka asked. Lance was sniffing and whining for food in Soul's arms.
"Everything." Tsubaki repeated.
"I'm dry here. I can't feed Lance." Maka stated.
"We will get formula, don't worry."
"Say that again when Lance starts screaming." Soul muttered and bounced the infant softly.
"Let's forget about food for a minute, we have a funeral we need to get ready. Alex, go collect firewood and take Giriko and Tyler with you." Giriko opened his mouth to protest, but stopped after Justin said something quietly to him. "Ryver, Cylas and Lexi go collect all of the candles and no one is to touch the matches but Free. Get to it." Tsubaki dismissed the group and went over to Free.
"They shouldn't be so casual about getting ready for a funeral." Kid said to Black-Star as he watched the crowd break off into smaller groups.
"They've done it too many times." Black-Star agreed. "Are we going to attend?"
"I don't think I can handle any more crying today." Kid answered.
"Cylas is refusing to leave his room." Lexi said to Tsubaki.
"What do you mean?" Tsubaki asked.
"I knocked on his door and said that we needed to get the candles from upstairs and he said he's not leaving." Lexi crossed her arms. "He keeps going on about 'it' getting him and how 'it' is going to hurt everyone that he cares for."
"Wendy, Hannah, go with Ryver to get the candles." Tsubaki ordered two teenaged girls who were playing with cards.
"Where's Cylas' room?" Kid asked, getting up from his seat.
"I'm not telling you." Lexi stated.
"Take me there then, please." Lexi stared at the man for a minute before slowly nodding and walking off.
"Stay here Black-Star." Kid said to the star softly.
"Last time I stayed behind someone caught on fire." Black-Star protested. Kid knew he didn't have time to argue as he watched Lexi go behind a wall and went after the girl with Black-Star right behind him.
"This is where he sleeps." Lexi said when she stopped in front of a door that had a colorful sign that read 'Cylas and Ryver'. "Don't be too harsh on the boy." Lexi looked at the door. "He's practically a child." She stared at the door a moment longer and left the two men alone, not wanting to witness what was going to happen.
"Cylas..." Kid knocked on the door softly.
"I'm not coming out." The boy's voice was muffled.
"Can I come in then?" Kid asked.
"Why?"
"I just want to talk."
"...Okay."
Kid opened the door and stepped in. He looked around and found Cylas sitting in the far corner of the room, curled up in the fetal position and hugging his knees. Kid walked over to the boy while Black-Star closed the door behind them and sat down on one of the two beds.
"Cylas, how are you feeling?" Kid asked as he sat down next to the boy.
"Jose's dead, isn't he?" Cylas asked.
"He...didn't make it." Kid admitted.
"I barely knew the man, I've barely even spoken to him and now he's gone." Cylas sniffed. "It killed him...It killed him and almost made Kenna kill herself, why is it doing this to us?"
"I wish I had an answer to that question." Kid stated.
"It's a big bully." Cylas muttered. "I don't like bullies."
"Who does?" Black-Star said from the bed.
"Come on Cylas, let's go play." Kid said and stood up.
"What if someone gets hurt?" Cylas asked.
"No one is going to get hurt." The shinigami said and held out a hand.
"Promise?"
"Pinky promise." Kid smiled when Cylas took his hand and got off of the ground.
"Can we play Go Fish?" Cylas asked as he ran over to his bed and pulled out a deck from underneath of it.
"Of course."
Kid and Black-Star played the card game with Cylas for as long as they could. Kid kept an ear out for when the funeral was over. When the music played, Cylas was too focused on his cards to hear it and Kid was thankful for that. The shinigami could tell that Black-Star was getting bored with the game and even Cylas was losing interest but the music finally finished, signaling that the funeral was over and people would be cleaning up now.
"How about we see if Lexi and Ryver want to play a different game." Kid offered.
"I think Ryver still had battery left in his Gameboy." Cylas announced and ran out of the room.
"I feel like a babysitter, Kid." Black-Star sighed when the boy was gone.
"Now you know how Tsubaki felt all those years ago." Kid chuckled as he left.
"I wasn't that bad." Black-Star insisted as he followed the shinigami.
"You had you moments."
"Whatever you say."
"There you two are, I'm guessing that you were watching Cylas during the ceremony?" Tsubaki asked as the men joined the others in the main room.
"He was upset over what happened this morning and I assumed a funeral wasn't going to help the boy." Kid said and watched Cylas as he talked to Ryver with large hand gestures.
"We need to go on a run, right now. Lance is already getting cranky and the twins are complaining about not getting breakfast and they want lunch. It's going to be a large group of Me, You, Black-Star, Miriah, Lexi, Tyler, Ryver, Cylas and Joey."
"I want to go." Kenna announced as she walked up to them.
"Kenna, I thought you promised you would stay in." Kid said.
"I promised that I wouldn't go out alone. I'm not going to sit around like a bump on a log and do nothing all day." Kenna stated. "Plus I'm not letting Miriah leave without me." The girl gave Black-Star and Kid and knowing glance before crossing her arms. "So either you let me join you with your knowledge or I can just sneak out and follow you anyways."
"Alright, that just mean we have another person to carry more things back. It's going to be a long run though, do you think you can handle it?" Tsubaki asked.
"I'm a big girl." Kenna said with a smirk.
"Good, go get the others and meet at the front door." Kenna nodded and went off to get her friends and the one named 'Joey'.
"Are you sure about this Tsubaki?" Kid asked. "After what she just went through I don't think she's strong enough to leave the building yet."
"I don't have a choice right now. Kenna's going to go no matter what I say or do. She'll follow us even if I have Miriah stay." Tsubaki explained. "And she'll be with her friends, they'll protect her if we can't."
"I trust you Tsubaki." Kid said.
Kid and Black-Star put on their knife belts. Liz and Patty decided that they wanted to join the group as Kid's weapons and the shinigami couldn't have been any happier about that as he slipped the sisters into his pockets in their gun form. Tsubaki stood at the front door when everyone finally gathered and the woman was writing something down in a notebook.
"What'cha doin' Tsubaki?" Cylas asked.
"Just some math Cylas." Tsubaki answered.
"Ew." The boy chuckled and went back over the Lexi, who rolled her eyes at him and rubbed his head.
"'Math'?" Kid asked with an arched eyebrow.
"Yeah...with the death of Jose we have exactly one-hundred people living in the apartment. Ten of us are children and an infant, twenty are injured or ill so that leaves only seventy of us that can fight or perform a run and only fifteen of us are actual adults." She sighed. "The numbers aren't looking good."
"They're not horrible though. Don't forget to add that two of the adults can't die, one is a zombie, another is part of the star clan and you have a shinigami."
"Never knew you as the one to look on the bright side." Tsubaki chuckled.
"Someone has to."
"Let's get going. We have an half hour run ahead of us and we need to be back by dinner." Tsubaki put the notebook down and slipped on an empty bag.
"You're not a chid, quit acting like it." A large boy snapped at Cylas when he was playing with the strap of his belt.
"You're not his boss, quit acting like it." Lexi glared at the boy and pulled Cylas away by his arm.
"I'm guessing that's Joey." Kid said to Kenna.
"Yeah, he's an asshole. The only reason why he's going is because Talia threatened to kill him if he kept harassing Tommy and Timmy with scary stories."
"Check this out Cylas." Tyler put his hand behind Cylas' ear and moved it back and he had a quarter in his hand.
"How did you do that?" Cylas asked as he rubbed his ear for more change.
"Magic." Tyler said fanned out his fingers.
"That's so cool." Cylas said in awe.
"Let's go." Tsubaki repeated and took off. Kid allowed Kenna and Miriah to pass him before going with Tyler, Cylas, Lexi, Joey right behind him and Black-Star at the end closing the door.
The first half of the run was silent and clear of any demon kishins. The group slowed down to a walk soon after with Joey's complaint of being out of breath and the other teens needed to slow down as well. Kid was impressed that they were able to run for so long, not having the proper training of the DWMA to keep them as strong as Tsubaki, Black-Star and himself.
Tsubaki stopped the group when a small crowd of teen demons blocked the path of the alley they were walking through. She signaled for two other people to join her. Miriah refused so Kenna and Kid were the ones that followed Tsubaki and killed the kishins easily, Kid had put bullets through the heads of three of them while Tsubaki and Kenna took out the other two with a stab to the head. Kid stepped aside for Miriah and the group went off in a jog for the last several minutes until they reached a decent sized sized store.
Kenna went up to the door of the store and pressed her ear against it. Everyone stayed silent while Kenna listed and she held up a hand, counting off that there about ten kishins in the store. Tsubaki gestured for Black-Star to kick open the door while the others stood back, prepared to kill. The star took in a breath before slamming his foot against the wood and splintering part of it as it swung open.
Three demons ran out of the building and Kid shot two of them while Tyler took out the other one. Tsubaki jerked her head towards the entrance and everyone followed her in. A kishin jumped on Lexi's back and Ryver turned his arm into a whip and slapped the demon off of Lexi and Cylas quickly took it out. Black-Star found two demons behind the counter and killed one easily, but struggled for a second with the larger one, managing to kill it before Kid had to jump in and help. Joey let out a yelp as a small kishin popped out in front of him. Kenna stepped on the kishin and held it down while Miriah stabbed its head. Kenna gave Joey a 'really' look before continuing the search for the other three demons.
Cylas found the toy section of the store and went up to a stuffed animal looking toy and pressed a button that read 'try me'. The toy started to sing loudly and made Cylas hop back and slam his back into the other shelf. A kishin had been hiding behind the toys and one of them grabbed Cylas' neck. The boy tried to speak, but only choking noises came out and he kicked out his legs in attempt to get someone's attention.
Cylas let out a gasp and fell to his knees when the kishin was forced to let go when Ryver grabbed it. The whip threw the demon to the ground and stomped on its head, repeating the movement several times until he was positive it was dead. Cylas gave the other boy a smile of thanks, but he quickly scrambled to his feet and pushed Ryver down before stabbing a kishin that had been reaching for him from behind.
The last kisin attacked Tsubaki and it didn't last long and fell to the ground with a small blade sticking out of the back of its head.
"That's all of them." Kenna said. "I don't head anymore of them."
"Good." Tsubaki patted dust off of her shirt. "Lexi, Kid and Black-Star, join me in the back and the rest of you collect things here and meet us at the front of the store when you finish." Tsubaki ordered and went to the back with the other three.
"Kenna and I can get the baby stuff." Miriah offered.
"The rest of can get food." Tyler said. Cylas whispered something into the boy's ear. "But Cylas can look at the toys for the kids."
"Yay." Cylas cheered and ran off.
"Keep an ear out for him." Ryver said to Kenna after taking Cylas' bag and leaving with Tyler and Joey to the food.
"What in the world is wrong with Cylas?" Joey asked while playing with a can of beans.
"There is nothing wrong with Cylas." Tyler stated as he shoved several cans into his bag.
"How are you guys doing?" Kenna asked as she and Miriah joined the boys. Ryver rolled his eyes and continued filling his and Cylas' bag. Joey ran his hand along the wooden shelf and let out a cry.
"Splinter." He explained.
"Here." Miriah handed Joey some tweezers.
"So do you know why Cylas is so weird?" Joey asked while picking at his splinter.
"Cylas isn't weird." Kenna said.
"How about instead of asking about Cylas, you actually fill your damn bag." Ryver snapped.
Cylas looked at all of the bright and colorful toys that no one every bothered. Some of them had been knocked off of their shelves because of the kishins, but they were all still packed up nicely in their perfect little boxes. He picked one of the toys off of the ground. It was an action figure from the t.v. show Power Rangers.
"Tommy and Timmy would love this." Cylas said to himself and grabbed two different rangers.
Cylas...
"Who said that?" Cylas asked.
Come and play Cylas...
Cylas discovered that a stuffed teddy bear was talking to him. The bear's black and beady eyes looked at him, taking his attention away from everything else around him.
Everyone you love is going to leave you...
"No they're not, you're lying!" Cylas snapped.
Why would I lie to you Cylas...
"You're just a bear, what do you know. Plus Kid told me that everyone was going to be fine, that no one was going to get hurt."
He lies Cylas...listen to me Cylas...
"Why should I?"
Come and play with me Cylas...they're all going to die Cylas...
"Why are you saying that!?"
Because it's true Cylas...one by one they will all die...all because of me...
"No! You're a murderer!" Cylas cried.
Come Cylas...come to me...let's play a fun game of Murder...
"I don't want to!"
"Cylas!" Ryver grabbed the boy and shook him out of his trance. "Cylas, are you okay?"
"I want to go home." Cylas sniffed.
"The others are almost done, let's go wait out front." Ryver said and handed Cylas his now filled bag.
"You don't think I'm a child, do you?" Cylas asked as they started walking out of the store.
"Not at all." Ryver gestured to the rest that he and Cylas were going outside.
"You can come out when you have a full bag." Kenna said to Joey as she Miriah and Tyler left.
The five sat around and waited, wondering what was taking Joey so long to throw some cans into his bag and come out. They also wanted to know what the other four of the the group were doing in that back, but none of them felt like taking the effort to back there and look. Ryver finally got tired of waiting for Joey and swung open the door.
"Move your ass!" He shouted into the building. "We still have a thirty minute run back to the apartment and I would like to get there today!"
"Calm down Ryver, yelling at him won't make his fat move faster." Tyler said and looked around, making sure Ryver's yelling didn't attract any kishins.
"Wake me up when he gets here." Kenna said from the ground and smiled when Miriah smiled.
"I'm here, I'm here." Joey said when he finally exited the store.
"How much did you grab?" Tyler asked and tapped Joey's bag, discovering that it was barely half-full. "What the hell dude?" He yanked the bag away from Joey and tossed it to Ryver.
"It's practically empty." Ryver commented.
"What were you doing in there?" Miriah asked when the bag was thrown to her.
"Probably jerking off to the women on the magazines. That's what the tweezers were for." Kenna sneered.
"Shut up you fucking dyke!" Joey snapped.
"What did you just call me?" Kenna got off of the ground and was about to attack Joey, but Miriah was blocking her path.
"You heard me you unholy queer, no one likes that you're wasting your time by being unnatural with another girl."
"Say that again, I fucking dare you." Kenna growled.
"You're a disgusting fa-"
"You better watch your mouth." Ryver's threat cut off Joey.
"What are you going to do about it, hit me?"
"I would love to. I bet punching you would be like hitting a mountain of jelly." Everyone, but the boy being insulted, laughed at Ryver's comment.
"Don't fight guys." Cylas said and stepped between his weapon and Joey. "I still have some candy in my room and we can all sha-" Cylas' attempt at peace turned into a cry of pain when Joey punched him in the face.
"Shut up! You stupid retard!" Joey shouted.
"That's it, you're going down you fat bitch!" Ryver cursed and tackled Joey.
Miriah held on to Cylas as he held his bleeding nose and Kenna was letting out shouts of encouragement for Ryver as the two boys fought. Tyler kept looking around for kishins, not worried about the boys hurting each other too much.
"What is you're problem!?" Joey snapped as he shoved Ryver off of him.
"What's yours?" Ryver snapped back. He climbed back up to his feet while Joey did the same. The boy made his hand back into a whip and lashed out, running the sharp tip across Joey's cheek. "That's for Cylas!" He announced. Joey had a single drop of blood come out of his wound before he wiped it off and launched himself at Ryver. Ryver held up his arms and blocked a punch before kicking out a knee and hitting Joey's stomach. The larger boy bent over in pain and Ryver hoped back before spinning on one foot and slamming the other into Joey's head.
"The fight's over!" Miriah snapped.
"You lost Joey!" Ryver announced. "Maybe people would like you more if you weren't such an asshole. Everyone is sick of your shit. Scaring the kids, insulting Miriah and Kenna for loving each other and hitting Cylas because he's not a sorry sack of crap like you!"
"That's enough Ryver!"
"People are dying everyday and you're the one that's wasting your time by being suck a dickhead. You're lazy and pathetic. We have better things to worry about than dealing with a low self-esteem bully...I hate bullies...you make me sick." Ryver spat on the ground and turned around.
"That might have been a little harsh." Kenna admitted.
"I'm tired of it. This is a different world we live in and we can't survive if we have to deal with idiots like Joey."
"Ryver..." Kenna looked closely at the boy.
"What?" Ryver asked, anger still controlling him.
"Your eyes...they're gray."
"No they're not, they're blue." Ryver stated.
"Dull, gray eyes...the academy." Kenna faced the burning building. "We need to leave, now!" She snapped.
"What's wrong Kenna?" Miriah asked.
"Last night." Kenna said as an answer.
"I am not pathetic." Joey growled as he got up, his own eyes a dull gray. "You worthless punk!" Joey pulled out a knife and lunched at Ryver. The whip shoved Joey's hand away, but was unable to avoid the other hand that shoved a blade into his stomach.
"Ryver!"
Joey's eyes were filled with rage and it soon melted away and returned to it's normal green when he realized what he had done.
"Oh...God." He murmured and pulled his bloody knife out of Ryver.
"Cheap...shot." Ryver grunted, falling to his knees.
"What have you done Joey!?" Miriah cried and ran over to Ryver. Cylas stood frozen in place, blood still dripping out of his nose, staring at Ryver with a blank stare.
"What is wrong with you!?" Kenna snapped, kneeling next to Ryver and helping the boy keep pressure on the wound.
"What's going on here?" Tsubaki demanded as she entered the scene with Kid, Black-Star and Lexi.
"Joey stabbed Ryver." Miriah answered.
"Where's Cylas?" Lexi asked and ran over to the paralyzed boy.
"You stabbed him?" Tsubaki asked the stunned Joey.
"It...It was an accident." Joey stuttered.
"Pissing in your bed is an accident, running into someone in the hall is an accident, spilling your cup of milk is a accident, but stabbing someone in the fucking stomach is not an accident!" Kenna cried.
"Guys..." Tyler said.
"What?"
"Kishins." He stated and pointed at a large crowd of kishin demons running towards them.
"Kenna, Miriah, stay with Ryver." Tsubaki ordered and took off toward the crowd. Kid and Black-Star went right after her. Lexi stayed with Cylas and Tyler was too afraid to move at the moment. Joey only stood where he was and stared at his knife that was covered in Ryver's blood.
"I don't...want to die." Ryver gasped out, losing strength as each second ticked by.
"You're not going to die." Miriah said. Kenna didn't say anything and only pressed harder against the still running wound.
"How many are there!?" Kid asked over the sound of the kishins screaming as he shot them.
"Enough!" Tsubaki answered and slashed the throat of a large demon that got to close and quickly stabbed it through the eye.
"They're going for the others!" Black-Star shouted as he watched a part of the kishin group branch off towards the teens.
Tyler quickly snapped out of being afraid and attacked the few demons that were attacking him. Kenna and Miriah kept the kishins away from Ryver, Kenna hating that she had to remove her hand from Ryver's wound.
"Cylas, help!" Lexi cried as she was scratched at. Cylas saw the demons and heard Lexi's shouts of pain and soon was attacking the kishins with his own knife, keeping them from hurting Lexi anymore. Joey screamed at the sight of the crowd and ran back into the store, closing the door and keeping the kishin demons away from him.
"Not pathetic...my ass." Ryver whispered and sunk lower to the ground.
"Stay with us Ryver!" Kenna shouted.
"Duck Kenna!" Kid ordered and when the girl bent down he shot the head of a large kishin that was ready to claw off Kenna's head.
"They're almost all gone!" Tsubaki reassured the group and stabbed several more demons.
"Hurry..." Ryver pleaded and was now laying flat on the ground.
They hacked away all of the demons, the final one getting a shot to the face by Kid. Kishin bodies laid everywhere, although there were less than Tyler had first expected.
"Ryver!" Miriah cried and fell to her knees next to Ryver. The boy stared at the sky with clouded eyes and his chest no longer moved.
"No..." Kenna swallowed and looked away.
"They're all gone!" Cylas said cheerfully. "Why aren't you guys celebrating?" He asked and looked down at Ryver. "Come on Ryver." Cylas knelt down next to his friend and shook him lightly.
"Why is he acting like that?" Kid asked Lexi.
"Something in his brain is making him not notice the blood and forget about him being stabbed...it's kind of like ptsd for him... when he goes through something dramatic, he makes himself forget." Lexi explained.
"Ryver...Ryver get up..." Cylas' smile started to shrink. "Come on Ryver...you were supposed to play Pokémon with me when we got home..." The boy sniffed. "Ryver...Ryver please...Ryver!" Cylas began crying. "Get up Ryver, I want to play. Please, please, please!"
"Cylas..." Kid placed a gentle hand on Cylas' shoulder. "He's gone."
"No he's not!" Cylas cried. "He would never leave me!" Cylas shook the body harder. "He's my friend! He's not allowed to die!" He started to sob harshly and eventually stopped shaking the corpse. "You lied to me." Cylas said softly.
"Cylas."
"Get off of me!" Cylas snapped, shoving Kid's hand away and standing up.
"Calm down Cylas." Joey said, not realising the bloody knife was still in his hand.
"You killed him..." Cyas growled. "You murderer!" He cried and jumped at Joey.
"Cylas!" Miriah reached for the boy, but this tie Kenna held her back.
"Murderer, murderer!" Cylas repeated, slamming his fists into Joey's face.
"That's enough Cylas." Kid snapped.
"Murderer!" Before anyone could pull the boy away he ripped the knife out of Joey's hand and stabbed the boy's already bloody face.
"Ninety-eight..." Tsubaki said softly.
"Cylas..." Lexi had her hands over her mouth in shock.
"Murderer...murderer..." Cylas sobbed. Tsubaki walked over to the boy and gently pulled him away from the body, hugging Cylas as she walked them away.
"You lied to me." Cylas said to Kid. "You lied." He pushed himself away from Tsubaki. "You said no one was going to get hurt, you said everything was going to be fine. You lied!" Cylas faced the academy. "Why would you do this!" He screamed at the building. "Why!?" Cylas took off towards the DMWA.
"Cylas, no!" Kid sprinted and caught the boy, holding him back as the boy cried.
"I hate you, I hate you, I hate you!"
One by one...one...by...one...
Wow...really long chapter...and I'm crying again.