((AH I'M SO SORRY I HAVEn'T POSTED IN A WHILE, LIFE HAD A GRIP ON mE AND GAVE ME WriTER's BLOCK. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL THE SUPPORT AnYWAY, IT REALLY HELPS MORE THAN YOU'D THINK AaaAAH. *dies*))

"Why haven't you ever told me Asura was my brother?"

"Was there ever a need to?"

Kid huffed, glaring at his father in annoyance. He was avoiding the question, as he had been for the past fifteen minutes they've been talking. Sitting neatly at a skull-shaped tea-table in the Death Room and sipping tea, Kid was starting to become frustrated at his father's constant conversation-changers, questions as responses, distractions, and fakings of "Oh, I'm sorry. What did you say? I couldn't hear you."

"You're not answering my original question, father. Why haven't you ever told me Asura was my brother?"

"Why do you want to know?" He tilted his head to the left a little. "I don't see why it's so important."

"How could it be not important?! Asura, the maniacal kishin and bringer of madness-"

"Former maniacal kishin and bringer of madness." Death corrected.

"-is my brother and you never told me?!" Kid growled, his frustration only growing. "Which also brings the question of why you even decided to reform him."

"I thought that was already answered." Death straightened his head. "By me."

"No. You explained that it would be good if he was reformed because he'd be a strong part of DWMA's team, but did you ever once think that if this plan fails, and he goes insane, we would have to repeat the end of the world all over again?"

"Of course." Death looked slightly offended that his son would think of him to not consider it. "I thought of it all the time when he was in a coma for a month. I think you're forgetting though that he learned his lesson. Knowing how embarrassed he was of his defeat when he confronted me after waking from his coma, I doubt he'll try attacking DWMA again anytime soon. Don't forget he's also very, very weak at the moment."

"I haven't." Kid huffed, tightening his grip on the teacup in his hands. "I just don't understand how you could even forgive him for what he did."

Death's expression softened, and he reached across the table and patted Kid's head eight times for good measure. "I understand how you feel, Kid. Sometimes there will be people in this world that you wish were never born." He retracted his hand, wrapping it around his teacup. He raised it and sipped, glad that the steam rising from the cup slightly fogged his sad expression. He set the cup down, coughing. "And I haven't forgiven him yet for what he's done. Give me at least six months before you start expecting that."

"Then why aren't you punishing him for it?" Kid narrowed his eyes.

"This is his punishment. Him being alive may seem like a miracle or gift, but it's more of a privileged second chance. He deserves to live rather than die, the reason being that while he's alive - and the fact that he's technically immortal, like all shinigami - he'll have to deal with the embarrassment, guilt, sorrow, and regret for all the rest of his eternal life, and that is really the only punishment you can give to a person with such a crime being done." Death looked down in his teacup. "The people of Death City will abhor him for who knows how long. They'll loathe him... despise him... I wouldn't put it past me to guess they might even go so far as to ban him from shops, local parks, etc."

"Serves him right..." Kid muttered before sipping his tea. Death looked up at him, mixed emotions in the holes of his mask where his eyes would be.

"... Kid, do you even plan on giving him a chance?"

There was a long pause before Kid responded calmly, "No. You haven't even forgiven him yet."

"At least I'm planning to." Death sighed, pushing his cup aside. "Anyways, I have to speak to Spirit for a moment, if you'll excuse me. If you have any other questions you'd like to ask, my door is always open." He then started walking down the long hallway, passing by Kid. The younger shinigami stared at the table, lost in thought.

After a minute or so, Kid suddenly froze, an angermark appearing on his temple. He spun around, yelling, "Hey, wait a moment! You still didn't answer my earlier question!"

But Death was long gone.

Kid grumbled under his breath, standing up. "Oh well... actually, now that I think about it, I suppose it would've been better if I had never known before-hand." He looked at the spot where his father used to be, sighing. "Dad must've known I would have gotten upset over it... I would have done the same thing. Man, he's good."

(Timeskip to a few weeks later!)

As Kid slipped into the doorway of Asura's room - and it shutting behind him immediately - he wasn't surprised when he saw Asura laying on his bed, staring at the ceiling in an emotionless manner. The only movement made was his slanted, red eyes that flickered apace towards the younger figure. They stayed fixed onto Kid, his cold stare affecting him not.

Kid spoke no greeting, unlike how he normally would. The conversation with his father of the being before him were still swirling through his mind, even if they occurred two weeks before this moment.

This brought up the mental reminder that his turn was nearly over. With two weeks having passed, he was more than ready to let his turn go on to someone else.

But was he emotionally ready? He still didn't feel comfortable being around him, and from the cautious look he just gave, it didn't seem that Asura felt any different. Yes, Kid was slightly used to him, but he didn't feel as if Asura were a brother. He felt on-edge being near him, as if he would lash out unexpectedly. He was ready to block in case of that, but he still didn't trust Asura whatsoever.

The opposing shinigami felt the same. Whether it be the fact his younger brother kept sending him hatred-filled glares when he "wasn't looking" (his third eye could still see, even if his two eyes below it weren't focused on Kid), or that the general ambiance in the room darkened when Kid entered the room, Asura wasn't anywhere near feeling close or safe around his younger sibling. Not only that, but flashbacks of Kid blasting his two weapons at him with lethal lasers popped up randomly when he least expected it; this didn't help reassure the fear that Kid would kill him at some point.

Asura narrowed his eyes at his brother. He sat up, his raven-black hair falling down to cover one of his eyes. Silence filled the room, as it had been doing more recently - after two weeks of talking to the same person in the same way, you start to run out of conversation topics to talk about.

Kid coughed, covering his mouth with his fist. "So. How have you been...?"

"Same as usual." Asura started messing with a loose strand of cloth on his bedsheets that happened to come loose. "I sleep, I think, I read, I eat, and the cycle repeats." He paused, then chuckled coldly. "Not like I have any other choice, do I?"

Kid shook his head. "I suppose not."

Another silence found its way into the room.

Like always.

Asura sighed gruffly, plopping onto his back. He muttered something under his breath, continuing to stare at the ceiling.

Kid narrowed his eyes, then broke the silence. "Asura."

The older shinigami turned his head slightly towards him. He didn't speak, but made a small 'hm' to clarify that he was listening.

"Why did the dinosaur cross the road?"

Asura blinked, his eyebrows furrowing. "What?"

"Why did the dinosaur cross the road?" Kid repeated.

Asura narrowed his eyes warily, but replied, "Uhm... I don't... know? Why did the dinosaur cross the road?"

"Because chickens didn't evolve yet."

Another silence. Does he think I'm five? Asura thought, scrunching his face up in confusion. What is he doing...?

"What happens when Peter Pan flies a plane?" Kid sighed.

"... what?" Asura blinked again, sitting up. "Wait, what're yo-"

"They Neverland."

Asura tried to resist the urge to smile and instead put on a face of confusion. "What are you doing?"

"Telling jokes." Kid responded. "They're fun, you should try it."

"No." He refused. "It's idiotic and childish."

Kid shrugged. "Alright then. What's the definition of a will?"

"... what. You don't know what a will i-"

"It's a dead giveaway."

"Yes, exac-..." Upon realizing it was a pun, he groaned and face-palmed. "That was really bad."

"I heard somebody broke their finger, but on the other hand they were fine."

Asura smiled, peering out from behind his hand. "Stop it. I'm going to go deaf."

"Smaller babies may be delivered by a stork but heavier ones need a crane."

He chuckled. "Okay, okay, I get it. You can stop now-"

"When a clock is hungry, it goes back four seconds."

He covered his face with both of his hands, groaning. "Oh my goodness. Stop it, Kid. I get it already."

"You know, pencils could be made with erasers on both ends." Kid had been emotionless the whole time, but this time he smiled. "But what would be the point?"

Asura glanced at Kid with a look of "are you serious?"

"Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana."

He groaned again, but there was a hint of amusement. "Are you ever going to stop?"

"No." Kid shrugged. "But did you know that claustrophobic people can solve problems better when thinking outside the box?"

There was no response other than the soft murmuring under Asura's breath.

"As it turns out, there's no kidney bank in England. They have a Liverpool, though."

Asura laughed. "Okay, fine. I can't believe I'm doing this, but..." He paused, then groaned. "Oh, nevermind. I knew a joke about amnesia, but now I can't remember it."

Kid snickered, covering his mouth with his hand. "Okay, that was actually pretty good."

The older shinigami chuckled. "Where are average things made?"

"I don't know. Where?"

"In the satisfactory."

"Really?" Kid grinned. "Well, I heard a girl quit a doughnut factory because she was fed up with the hole business."

Asura burst out laughing.

Needless to say, when Kid left the room that day, he made a mental note to help remind him to look up more puns later.

((okay i'm super duper sorry hah i just have this slight headcanon that Asura lowkey likes puns and play-on-words jokes but doesn't ever admit it because he wants to keep what he thinks is his "dignity" pFFt

and yes I did have to take most of the puns from .com because I can't come up with puns that easily. uvu))