Kid sat there in shock. He fell down to his knees and stared at the ground below him. His father was...dying? No, that couldn't be. Lord Death can't die...can he? How could the lord of death die? Then again if he couldn't die, why would he have the need to reproduce? There was also that close call with Asura...no. How could he be dying and Kid doesn't even know!?
"It's not like all of us have a powerful husband that can't be defeated!" Kenna's shout snapped Kid out of his trance. He jerked his head up and heard Liz and Patty gasp, Tsubaki didn't respond at all. "You still have Black-Star and it doesn't look like you're going to lose him anytime soon!" Kenna stated. Tsubaki looked away from the group and heard a strange sound, a sound that they have all gotten used to. Kishins.
"We need to go. Now." Tsubaki ordered and ran off without checking to see if the others were going to follow.
"You're with Black-Star?" Liz asked. "Why didn't you tell us?"
"I figured it wasn't anyone's business." Kid responded as he stood up.
"We're your weapons. It's bad enough that you left without telling us, you could have at least let us know that you are married to Black-Star!" Liz had raised her voice to a shout. "What happened to you Kid?" She cried. "You used to tell us everything. Every little thing that would bother you, you would tell me. You would tell us."
"Do you not love us anymore Kid?" Patty asked with a sniff.
"Of course I do, Patty." The shinigami said without looking at the younger Thompson sister.
"Apparently you don't love us enough." Liz snapped. "Patty, help me get Miriah and Kenna." Liz said to Patty, dismissing Kid with a glare as she and her sister walked past him. "Come on Kenna." Liz said as she dragged the girl to her feet. Patty helped Kenna hold Miriah up and the group walked off without another word to Kid.
Kid stood in place, still stunned from what had just happened. Liz, Patty and Tsubaki now knew about him and Black-Star, he should be relieved, but instead he was heart-broken that it had to come out that way. His coming out coming from a crying girl who had just lost her girlfriend right after saying that his father is dying...his father is dying.
The shinigami quickly broke himself out of his daze and took off in a dead sprint towards the apartment. He ran past the girls without seeing them, his mind set on one goal and one goal only; to see his father. Kid threw the doors open, scaring the two young girls who were playing with dolls in the small room. The shinigami stepped over them and stormed into the main room.
"Where is he!?" He demanded into the room.
"You need to calm down Kid." Free stated, placing a hand on Kid's shoulder.
"Tell me where he is and I will." Kid snapped and slapped Free's hand off of him.
"One sixty-two." Tsubaki stated. Kid didn't show any sign of a thanks and ran off to find the room that held Lord Death. His father's voice rang in his head as he remembered the last conversation he had with him.
Son...I can't let you do this.
Kid pushed through a couple that was talking in the middle of the hall, ignoring their shouts of protest and the boy insulting him with a hash curse.
But father, how will this affect anything?
The shinigami started to count the door numbers, getting closer and closer to the fatal one.
I can not allow you to be with another boy!
Kid bit his lip, emotion already building up inside of his body before even seeing Lord Death.
You either leave Death City or end this 'relationship' of yours.
Kid stopped in front of the door that read '162' and stared at it, the very last thing he ever said to his father burned his brain.
Then I'll leave! I hate you!
The shinigami grabbed the handle and took a deep breath before opening the door and stepping into the room.
I hate you!
"Father!" Kid cried and stumbled over to the bed. He caught himself on the bed and stared at Lord Death with pain filled eyes. Lord Death cough weakly and moved his masked head slowly to face his son. The mask's mouth moved into a smile and Lord Death tried to reach out to touch his son's face, to make sure that it was real this time.
"Kid...Kid is that really you?" Lord Death asked, finally landing his large hand on Kid's cheek. "Am I dreaming again?"
"No father, I'm here. What happened?" Kid asked as he placed his own, smaller hand over his dad's.
"The fire kishin...it's attacking me from the inside out." Lord Death responded with a wheeze.
"How? You're Lord Death. Nothing can get to you."
"I'm not invincible, Kiddo." Kid flinched at the old nickname. "My soul is a boundary around Death City, which is why I can not leave."
"I already know that Father."
"I looked for you for so long Kiddo." Lord Death changed the subject without noticing.
"Me and Black-Star avoided mirrors and stayed away from anyone that looked familiar."
"Except Blair."
"How did you-"
"That's the lie you told when asked why you left." Lord Death put his hand down, showing that it was becoming too hard to keep up. "You could have just told the truth."
"I...I didn't want to ruin your name." Kid answered. "I didn't want everyone to know that you disowned me for being gay."
"I never disowned you and I don't care if you're gay or not."
"Then why did you tell me to either leave or break up with Black-Star!?" Kid demanded, hearing his voice crack.
"I didn't want you to get hurt. There are many people in the world that would hate you for being with another man. Many people that will attack you and do everything in their power to make sure that you don't have a happy life. Slashing your tires, making offensive signs, telling everyone that you're a disgusting pervert that deserves to be in jail because the one you love is of the same gender." Lord Death paused to cough harshly into the air. "I didn't...I didn't want my son to have to suffer because of the world's ignorance. I went too far Kiddo. I've seen a close friend of mine beaten to death because he wouldn't deny his partner. I don't want that to happen to you. I don't want that to happen to Black-Star because I know that would hurt you more than actually being beaten yourself."
"Father..."
"I love you Kiddo and I always have..." Lord Death closed his eyes and it took a long moment for them to reopen. "I approve of you and Black-Star. I think it's the cutest thing I've seen you do since the one time you came to me in the middle of the night because you had a nightmare."
"Father." Kid muttered in embarrassment.
"The fire kishin is being held in the city by my soul." Lord Death stated, going back to the first subject. "And he is not happy about that."
"Who is the fire kishin?"
"A student, a very young boy, one that was James' age when he was...when he was consumed by madness. I don't remember his name...but he was very curious for one so young, he was a very strong boy. His soul was a lot larger than most children his age, it was even bigger than some adults. One day the boy had escaped from day care and was wondering around the DWMA and he discovered a kishin soul that one of our scientists were studying. The boy didn't know what it was so he did what every small child does and he stuck it in his mouth. The soul was a strange one, it had came from a serial killer that was know for burning his victims alive before eating them and their souls. The boy didn't eat the soul, he only sucked on it and the soul did something that we never imagine that a kishin soul could do. It absorbed into the boy's body, killing the child and taking over his body. It was horrible, we found the boy and he was seizing on the floor, his mouth was foaming and eventually the boy stopped resisting and the kishin soul used the body to glare at us and say; 'I will burn all of you'. The body was knocked out, frozen and thrown into a cell, deep, deep down in the DWMA. For the longest time we believed that we could being the boy back...but we soon gave up hope and forgot about him."
"How is he attacking your soul then?" Kid asked after his father had to stop for a minute to catch his breath.
"The minions he created after taking many witch souls, he has them go to the edge of the city and attack the walls of my soul. The walls that prevent them from getting out to the world and killing thousands and thousands of people in one day."
"They're burning your walls."
"Yes...and I...I can't take much more of it..." Lord Death struggled to breathe. "They found the scientists samples of diseases they kept to observe and learn how to destroy them and...and they took all of them and rubbed it against my soul." Lord Death shivered. "I can only resist so much being a reaper...one at a time is easy...two is a little difficult...three starts to weaken me and more...I'm just not strong enough..."
"Don't talk like that, you can fight it." Kid said.
"I'm very old Kiddo and my body can only handle so much..."
"Father?"
"Kiddo...my little Kiddo is all grown up..."
"Father." Kid's voice cracked again and felt his eyes burn when he saw Lord Death was beginning to vaporize from the bottom.
"My little Kiddo..." Lord Death's black cover disappeared into the air and showed a bulker version of Kid. Lord Death's mask slipped off his face and Kid was greeted with pure golden eyes. Lord Death had the three stripes Kid did, but they went all the way around his head.
"Father..."
"Kiddo..." Lord Death's eyes crossed for a brief moment before the bright gold began to dull, turning into a strange shade of gray.
"No...no, father, no. Please." Kid begged.
"I love you..." Lord Death said softly before his eyes went completely gray.
"Father...father! Dad! Dad please, don't! I love you! I love you!" Kid cried as his father's body vanished, leaving only the mask behind. "Dad...dad." The living shinigami grabbed the mask and hugged it to his chest. "I'm so sorry." He whispered.
Kid stepped out of the room and was meet with a small group of Soul, Maka and Black-Star. The others in the building cramped around the hallway's opening to see what was happening. Kid stood in silence for a moment, not doing anything or showing any sign of emotion. The shinigami suddenly sniffed and walked over to Black-Star. He pressed his face into the star's shoulder and began to sob. Black-Star wrapped his arms around his partner and hugged the man, rubbing his hands gently along the shinigami's back. Kid was crying hard by then, his whole body jerking harshly as he tried to breath.
"He's gone." Kid choked out. "He's...gone."
I'm not crying...you're crying. *sniff*