Kid avoided everyone for the rest of the day. He sat in his room, laying on the bed and hugging his now deceased father's mask to his chest. Black-Star didn't speak to his partner, but he stayed with Kid. The star sat on the bed with him and allowed the man to lean against him. He would rub his hand along Kid's back and occasionally kissed his head.
Kenna sat outside with her dead girlfriend. They had done the funeral after Kid's breakdown and now all that was left of Miriah was a bowl of ash that was buried under the ground. She kneeled on the ground next to the pile of dirt that covered Miriah's ashes, crying into her hands until the tears would no longer come. Everyone that tried to talk to her would get dismissed with a hand or told to 'fuck off'.
Cylas was muttering 'one by one' under his breath as he rocked in the corner of his room. His eyes were wide and he stared at something that wasn't there. Lexi and Tyler stayed with the boy, sitting on the bed together and keeping an eye on Cylas to make sure he didn't do anything harmful to himself or others.
Liz and Patty were confused with the new information they had and talked to Maka about it, to see what the mother knew. Maka told them that she and Soul had known the whole time, but waited for the men to announce their relationship on their own. Liz felt betrayed, why did Soul and Maka know, but not herself and her sister? Liz talked to everyone that would listen and soon most of the apartment knew that Kid and Black-Star were married. A good chunk of the crowd that knew didn't care if they were together since they easily accepted Kenna and Miriah being together, several women were upset that they were taken by each other and the ones like Joey only scrunched their noses and walked away, knowing that if they said something, it wouldn't end well for them, but they did whisper insults to each other about the men.
Kid and Black-Star heard the harsh whispers and were too busy to care about them, but one man saying that Kid had disgraced his dead father made Kid burst out into another crying fit. The shinigami really didn't need a reminder of his dead father and throwing in the disgrace part made it even wore for the man.
Free was the only one not morning or at least wasn't showing it. The wolf was running around the apartment, gathering things. He felt like a child as he filled balloons with water and tied them to a loop that fit around his body diagonally. Free also made a second, smaller one, hoping that the person it was made for was going to be ready sooner rather than later. He ignored Tsubaki every time she would ask what was going on and the woman spent her time trying to feed everyone with the limited food that they had, she even went out on a run on her own, returning with two large bags filled with canned food and a story to tell.
"Free...Free!" Tsubaki snapped and grabbed the wolf's arm to prevent him from walking away.
"I don't have time, Tsubaki."
"The kishin demons are all gathering at the DWMA." She reported. "Right after Lord Death died they started going for the academy."
"We're running out of time." Free muttered and pulled himself away from Tsubaki.
"Time for what!?" Tsubaki asked, but wasn't answered.
Night eventually fell over the city and everyone was asleep, except for Free, Kenna, Cylas and James. James had been giggling the whole day, trying to get the others to play with him, but even Tommy and Timmy felt the depression in the air and went to bed early with Talia.
Kid was curled up in a tight ball against Black-Star's chest, his father's mask still pressed against his body. Black-Star had finally fallen asleep after watching Kid for a while to make sure the shinigami was actually asleep and not faking it. The grinning moon was covered by a thick layer of clouds, the only light was coming from the bright flames of the DWMA, the flames stronger than they were before.
"Kid!" Free knocked on the door loudly, but it wasn't enough. "Damn it Kid!" Free cursed and kicked open the door, the sound of splintering wood snapped Kid and Black-Star awake.
"What the hell!?" Black-Star cursed.
"Kenna's gone." Free stated. Kid immediately threw the cover off of him and got out of bed. "James' gone too, he must have followed the girl when she left."
"How long has she been gone?" Black-Star asked as he crawled out of bed as well.
"I don't know, I just know found her bed empty and she's not outside at Miriah's grave or any where else in the house." The wolf said. "We need to find them now." Free looked over at Kid. "It's time." Black-Star didn't understand what the other man was talking about, but he wasn't going to just sit by and do nothing.
The three men went over to the kitchen and Free handed Kid a strap that was covered with water balloons, he ignored the strange look he got from Kid and Black-Star. Free made sure that they had plenty of weapons, more knifes than a fully stocked kitchen and ammo hanging off of them in long clips.
"I feel like Rambo." Black-Star said, adjusting the large gun on his shoulder to a more comfortable position.
"Don't waste ammo on overkills." Free smirked.
"I hate that I got that reference." Kid muttered. "Let's go get Kenna." He said and the three men headed out. None of them noticed that they ran past Cylas, who had snuck out of his room to see Lord Death's body himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming of it.
"Kenna's gone?" Cylas said to himself. "I can't let Kenna get hurt too!" He turned around and an straight back to his room.
Kid and Black-Star allowed Free to be in the lead since the wolf has been to the academy more recently than they have in the past five years. Kid felt a horrid twist in the pit of his stomach as he realized there weren't any kishin demons as they made the long run to the DWMA. What was going on?
"What is this?" Kid finally decided to ask. "Where are all of the kishin demons?"
"They're all gathering at the DWMA." Free responded.
"I figured that two miles ago!" Kid snapped.
"Lord Death told you that his soul is keeping the demons in, right?"
"Yes." Kid swallowed at the memory of his father's death.
"Since Lord Death died, that means his soul is gone. There is nothing to prevent the kishins from attacking the world."
"Then why aren't they?" Black-Star asked.
"They're getting all of them together into one large herd...they're forming an army to kill everyone on the earth."
The three slowed down as they got closer to the burning building. Kid looked up and saw the familiar red spikes and death mask that he had grown to love. It was burning, it was burning all because of some bastard that decided that the world wasn't good enough for him. The same bastard that created the demon kishins that killed Bre, Max, Jose, Ryver, Joey and Miriah. The bastard that killed his father.
Black-Star could feel the heat coming off of the academy. He felt his skin burn, but it didn't bother him, adrenaline rushed through his veins and he was ready to kick some kishin ass.
"Kenna!" Kid gasped. The girl stood in front of the building, her skin already a bright red from being so close to the open flames for so long. Kenna was still with her hands above her head, her lower lip trembling in fear.
"Get over here Kenna." Free ordered. Kenna only shook her head. "Now is not the time to be playing games." The wolf snapped.
"She's not playing." A very young voice stated.
"James?" Black-Star raised an eyebrow. James had stepped out from behind Kenna, gun in hand and a evil smirk across his small face.
"I guess you can keep calling me that." The boy said.
"You're a child, what are you doing!?" Free demanded.
"Yes, I am still in this body aren't I?" James clicked his tongue three times. "I think it's time for a change." The boy winked at the men before taking several steps back and allowing himself to be engulfed by flames.
"What the hell!?" Black-Star shouted as James' body burned.
James dropped the gun, the weapon becoming a bright orange from the heat. The boy's skin was dripping off of him and he grabbed his face, peeling the flesh away. A larger head was exposed and he cried out as he was finally being freed. James continued to peel off his skin, removing his small arms, short and slightly chubby stomach and finally stepping out of his short legs. James was in his true form.
The man smiled with perfectly straight teeth as he stepped out of the flames. James was now as tall as Free and almost as bulk. He wore a leather vest that showed his smooth stomach hidden behind a thin white shirt and jeans that were a snug fit on his legs. The little boy that had some extra body fat turned into a grown man who looked as if there was no body fat at all.
"That's better." The man sighed, his voice deeper now.
"Damn!" A girl's voice cursed behind them.
I really wanted to end the chapter on that note. Something most of you would probably say in that moment.