Chapter One

The Missing Blade

After the whole me breaking down into tears thing, Kid took me back to his place, which was incredibly HUGE and much fancier and yet simpler than my house. Or rather, my dad's house…

Kid had set me down on a black leather couch and gave me a cup of jasmine tea while he went to get his weapon partners.

At first I thought he had made a mistake when he said partners, as in plural, but when he didn't correct himself I let the thought pass. Maybe he did have two partners.

I took a sip of the tea. It warmed my stomach and tasted absolutely delicious, a blend of herbs and spice and "everything nice" as my dad once said, and only once. Not only did the tea warm me, but also filled some of my incredibly empty stomach.

I just realized I hadn't eaten anything that day except for the banana in the morning that had seemed like a feast at the time. Do I really need more food?

I had just spotted a tray of some sort of delicious looking fish and had been eyeing it hungrily just as Kid came back with two girls dressed in matching uniforms; a sleeveless dark red shirt that showed the wearer's stomach, a short white tie, and a gray and blue cowboy hat with boots. The only thing that didn't match was their pants, hair-color, hair length, and…. Well, I shouldn't go into that.

"You can have some." Kid said, catching my gaze at the tray of fish.

I blushed. I felt a little embarrassed about my staring but I accepted his offer and helped myself to a plate of the fish-stuff. I bit into it; its inside was steaming with warmth that filled my mouth. It had a faint taste, yet a pretty good one, and the sauce tasted of garlic and herbs that made my tongue quiver. I've never had anything so rich! I swallowed and it felt as though that little piece filled half of my stomach, which it probably had.

One of the girls, the taller one with chest length caramel hair, smiled at me and whispered just loud enough for me to hear, "It's as if she's never eaten anything in her whole life…."

I stared at her a moment and she froze at the slight touch of my gaze. Many people did that when I glared at them with my slightly droopy sky blue eyes. However, I never really thought of myself as intimidating and never meant to be in the first place. What did they see in my eyes that frightened them?

"Anyways, Kukuru, this is Liz," Kid said, gesturing to the long haired girl who had made the comment about me not eating anything, which was slightly true, "and this is Patty." He said gesturing to the other girl who was short haired, rosy cheeked, short haired and blonde like me.

Patty smiled at me and said, "Hehehe hellooooooo!"

I smiled shyly at them, "Hi. I'm Kukuru. I'm new at the DWMA."

"Now that we are all acquainted, maybe we can help you now," Kid took a seat on the couch opposite me and gestured for Liz and Patty to do the same, "What is it you need help with?"

I almost choked on my second bite of salmon but managed to swallow it without coughing anything up and said, "Well…. Um, as you probably have noticed, I came to the DWMA weaponless. You've probably assumed that I don't have a weapon, but actually…. I do. He's just…. I don't know where he is and I'm extremely worried about him! He said he'd be here but… b-but…" tears welled up in my eyes again, but I bade them not fall. Only a single tear fell and I wiped it away with the back of my hand.

Kid nodded, "I see. Do you have any idea where he might be or where you saw him last?"

I thought really hard as I calmed myself and coaxed myself into taking another sip of tea even though my stomach was already extremely full, "Well he could just be late but…." I thought of the night before and shivered and a black hole of guilt formed in the pit of my stomach, "last night we encountered a kishin egg. Blade, my weapon, transformed into this sort of hooked sword and said we could fight it, but I wasn't sure. I managed to land a hit on its leg, but it swatted me aside very easily and I almost broke a bone. I was terrified so…. So I threw Blade across the street and told him to run. I ran back into my house but the kishin didn't follow me. It could've gone after Blade and hurt him very bad, but I'm still uncertain."

"Look's like your weapon could be in some serious trouble." Liz said as she furrowed her eye brows while Patty stared off into space.

"What did the kishin egg look like?" Kid asked. I saw something behind his gold eyes that gave me hope.

"It looked like a sort of huge black beast. It had no eyes and long white talons. It looked like a dog minus its head." As I described it I shivered, feeling terrified for Blade. Not that I would be of much help if I alone found him…. But with a Grim Reaper, I might just stand a fighting chance. The black hole of guilt lingered, but a well of hope opened next to it and caused my skin to quiver.

"You're in luck Kukuru," Kid said; my heart skipped a beat, "I think I saw that kishin crawling out of Death City into the desert. I attempted to follow it, but it got away. It was dark then but its daylight now. We should be able to find it."

My face had formed a wide grin, "You'd really help me? Thank you so much! You have no idea!"

Kid returned my smile, "Let's go. Liz, Patty."

Liz nodded in agreement and Patty said enthusiastically, "Kay!"

I never thought I could be happier.

Kid led me through the front door of his house and onto the cobbled streets of Death City. We had ditched school so it was still morning and the freshly risen sun shone brightly down on us as I followed Kid and Liz. Patty, however, was walking along side me and asking me tons and tons of questions.

"Are you my sister like Liz 'cause you look a lot like me! Do you like candy and giraffes? Hehehe you're new aren't you? New people are fun! Oooo look a bird! Where do you live? Do you live here in Death City?" Patty asked, practically slurring her words together because she was talking so fast.

"Uh-er, I don't think I'm your sister, but you can be my friend and um…. What's candy? Is it that stuff people carry around in bright wrappers? Yes, I'm new, thanks, um and I live…." I didn't want to say where I used to live so I said where I live now, "at Death Weapon Meister Academy in one of the dorms."

Patty looked at me wide eyed, probably for more than one reason, "You've never had candy?" Somehow I knew she'd focus on the me-no-candy part of the conversation than me living at the academy, but I saw Liz whisper something to Kid and then Kid glanced in my direction and then back to Liz.

I wondered what they were talking about but then remembered Patty's question and I answered, "N-no. My dad never bought me sweets and my mom…" I had to lie about this one, "she left my dad." Ok, it wasn't a total lie. I just left out the part of why she left which would probably horrify them all.

"Wow. When we get back I should give you some candy! That'll make you happy!" Patty beamed and then, surprisingly, remained silent.

I looked around. We had come quite a way from Kid's house. In fact, we were almost at the gate of Death City which I could see the top of from where we were standing. I felt my shoulder brush something and looked to my left. Liz had slowed up and was walking along side me while Patty had sped up to talk to Kid.

"So um…. I couldn't help but overhear your conversation with Patty. She loves to talk doesn't she?" Liz said smiling a little awkwardly. She probably wasn't quite used to me yet.

I nodded and she continued, "So… you live at the Academy?"

I nodded again even though I knew where this conversation was going. I didn't want to tell any of them, not even Kid, about my dad. Yet.

"Did you live somewhere before?" Liz inquired gently.

"Yes, obviously. Listen, I wouldn't like to be bothered about my past life until I feel more comfortable with you ok?" My voice wasn't harsh. It was more small and pleading. Broken. Broken because my father had broken me….

Liz looked at me like she understood how I felt, "Ok. I'm sorry." She walked up with Kid again, leaving me alone behind the group with my thoughts.

I nearly started to cry again as I remembered my mother on that fateful day when I was five and how she pleaded with my father to stay. It was so vivid I could nearly hear their voices echoing in my ears, angry and loud. I could sense the heat in the air. I could feel my father's rough hand hold me around my waist and the cold glint of the knife in his other….

"Kukuru? Kukuru are you all right?"

I looked up. I saw Kid's golden eyes staring worriedly into my blue ones. I sense something on my face and when I touched it, my cheeks where wet with tears. I wiped them away with my hand and realized we were at the gate.

I sniffed and said, "Yes, yes I'm ok. Just some dust in my eyes…"

I could tell he didn't believe me.

"Ok then… well, let's go." Kid's shoulder blades flexed as he pushed the doors open. It was then that I realized that despite his lean body, he had a great deal of strength. The opposite of me, a frail, weak, pitiful girl who couldn't even find her weapon on her own….

With the doors open, the endless sand dunes stretched out before us and the wind blew fiercely sending sand whirling into the air.

I walked through behind Patty and Liz and Kid shut the gate behind us.

"Patty, Liz, weapon form." He told them.

"Oh boy another flight…" Liz said sarcastically.

"Kay!" Patty chirped.

I was fascinated. I'd finally be able to see what Lord Death's son's weapons were. I watched as Liz and Patty glowed pink and transformed into two identical twin pistols, each landing in one of Kid's hands.

"Symmetry," He told me as he placed Liz and Patty inside his jacket pockets, "is key. Everything must be aesthetically pleasing."

So, this was what made Mr. Perfect not so perfect? I knew OCD when I saw it because my cousin had OCD, but hers was an obsession with keeping clean. Kid's seemed to be the "everything must be perfect" kind of obsession.

"Right," Kid muttered to himself, then turning to me he asked, "Do you have a flying device of any sort? It's going to take us a while to find that kishin egg and it won't do us any good walking around on the ground."

I was stunned by the question. How I wished I had something that could lift me high into the clear, warm air above, but sadly my answer was, "No…."

"Alright then. We can share the space on Beelzebub then." Kid said.

Just as I was about to ask what he meant by "Beelzebub", he said something so low I couldn't hear it over the small gusts of wind buffeting us with warm air. Suddenly, a black skateboard with red wheels and a teal underbelly appeared out of thin air. I almost tripped over myself when I jumped from the surprise of it.

Kid placed the skateboard on the ground and the sand gave a barely audible scrunch of protest. He stood on top of it and offered a hand, "Coming?"

"What good is a skateboard in a desert?" I asked, curious enough to challenge Kid's offer.

"Trust me." He replied, his pale hand still outstretched. A predictable answer.

I took his hand and stepped onto the skateboard and stood directly in front of Kid. Look at this mess, I thought. Here I am, standing on a skateboard in the middle of a desert with Lord Death's own flesh and blood staring me in the face. This was not how I pictured my first day at the Academy.

Suddenly, the skateboard rose up into the air. I mean, like literally flew. A skateboard. FLEW. I was so shocked, I nearly fell off. I tried to regain my balance but it's kind of hard to balance on a flying skateboard with two people on it. To keep me from falling, Kid reached out and held my shoulders to steady me.

"You might want to hang on to something." Kid remarked, a bit late on my account.

I grabbed a fistful of his suit with each hand and he let my shoulders go, replacing his hands in his pockets as we zoomed over the desert.

"So… a flying skateboard named Beelzebub?" I asked.

Kid just nodded. I felt the skateboard shift as we started to turn to the left, the backside of Death City facing us. The wind whipped the loose, blonde strands of hair on the sides of my head and the black slightly long hair of Kid's, both contrasting colors blending as the blew in the wind.

I felt a sudden pang of hopelessness. What if we couldn't find the kishin? What if Blade wasn't with the kishin but somewhere else, far away? What if Blade was already dead?
I could feel tears prick my eyes again. Why was I such a wimp? Did I really have to break down every time I even just thought of something sad? Let me just say, it sucks to have your soul broken.

"There!" Kid suddenly shouted. Beelzebub suddenly swerved back the way we had came. I looked in the direction we were headed and saw a huge rust-colored rock with a dark cave near the top. My heart pounded. Dark scary caves= me having a break down. Again.

I started trembling but Kid, noticing my uncertainty, looked down at me and said, "C'mon. We need to do this. If you want to see your weapon again, we have to go. Hey," He lifted my chin so I was staring at his sympathetic face, "It'll be fine."

I felt a sudden rush of relief as I realized I was with Lord Death's son. Surely no Kishin egg would be much of a match for him.

I heard Liz, talking in a muffled voice as she rested in weapon form in Kid's pocket, "Are we there yet?"

"Hush, Liz. Liz, Patty, prepare yourselves. We've found the cave so get ready for a fight." Kid said as we neared the mouth of the cave.

"A-A c-c-c-ave?" Liz asked, suddenly sounding fearful.

"Hahaha c'mon sis! Caves are sooo cool!" Patty laughed in a light, content voice.

I heard Liz stifle a shriek, and then there was blackness.

"Stay close." I heard Kid whisper as we crept along the edges of the cave. Like I was stupid enough to leave his side! I was weaponless, courageless, and powerless to try anything on my own.

By this time, we had preceded far enough into the cave that I could barely see anything. I could just make out the glint of Liz and Patty's weapon forms in Kid's hands as we descended further into the enveloping darkness.

Crunch!

My heart thudded to a stop. Kid motioned for me to stay still.

Crunch! Crunch!

I drew in a breath but said nothing.

Sluuuurp!

That did it. My blood ran cold and I gripped Kid's arm tightly, holding back a scream. The kishin was here, and it was eating souls. A lot of souls. Like enough souls that it looked as though the kishin had killed everyone in Death City. Of course, he hadn't, but that was how the glow of the human souls looked.

The blue and white beams lit up a huge, cavernous section of the cave, giving the walls and everything around it an eerie glow. My knees felt weak and threatened to give away, but I forced my legs to stay upright.

I barely noticed Kid coming close to my ear, and before I registered his breath on my neck he whispered, "Be quiet and stay here."

As he left me in the small passage that lead into the room where the kishin lurked, a feeling of dread ate away my insides. I was so, so scared. I had half a mind to run after him, but that would risk the kishin egg hearing me and attacking us both.

Scrunch!

"Damn!"

Oh no.

The kishin…. Kid…. The noise….

The world around me was working in slow motion. I saw the black silhouette of the kishin egg charge at the other, smaller silhouette which was Kid. I heard loud blasts of a gun being set off, and saw pinkish beams of soul wavelengths hurtling through the air. After that, it all looked like stop motion animation. A shot would light up the air; the kishin would be in the air, Kid staring up at it. A second shot, the kishin on the ground snarling at Kid. The third shot, a large, clawed hand outstretched, ready to strike…

I heard the impact before I saw it. I heard a distinct smacking noise and a noise from Kid as he was launched off the ground and hit a wall opposite the kishin egg.

"Kid!" I hear myself shriek.

Great. That was a really smart idea. Suddenly, I heard loud tramping noises as the kishin made its way towards me. I was frozen in fear, and just when I thought it was the end, the kishin's large shadow towering in front of me, ready to strike, I felt someone touch my arm.

A good someone.

"Quick, get ready!" Blade yelled as he transformed into the silver hooked sword which was his main weapon form.

My clothes shimmered and became my fighting clothes I was newly familiar with. The white fabric of the short sleeved, belly exposing shirt replaced my layered long sleeved shirt and short sleeved tee, golden bangles hanging off the bottom rim, touching my skin with their cold surfaces. The long, white skirt with maroon stripes on the front and black striped designs around the white and maroon stripes nearly covered my feet. With Blade in my hands, I felt more confident than I had been before. But I was still scared out of my wits.

I struck with my hooked sword up at the kishin when it was close enough. It howled in pain and retreated. That should've done the job. That should have been when the soul of the kishin egg appeared and the kishin should have disappeared.

But it didn't.

It retreated into the darkness, its silhouette still visible. I looked around to see if I would see Kid's but I couldn't. Out of the darkness came a sudden dark light, and I heard Liz and Patty say some things to Kid and then suddenly the room was lit with a huge blast from Kid's pistols. Except, right now, they weren't pistols. They were cannons. Cannons that had encased Kid's hands and arms in their shiny metal. There were three tall spikes on each of Kid's shoulders and the blast coming out of the cannons was so bright (either that or it was so sudden out of the darkness) that I had to look away as it struck the kishin.

I heard a spine chilling shriek from the kishin and a loud BOOM.

Then, mixed among the blue and white souls of innocent humans, there was a small, corrupt looking red soul. A kishin egg.

It hadn't taken us long to get back to Kid's house. I finally had Blade back, and he had told me all that had happened in weapon form when we had flown from the cave back to the mansion on Beelzebub. The night I had ran back to the house, the kishin had tried to attack the house, but he didn't want that to happen, so he had shouted at the kishin to get its attention. Realizing he wouldn't be able to do much on his own, Blade had ran down the streets of Death City, but the kishin had caught up with him and carried him back to the cave. The kishin had gotten close to getting Blade's soul, but Blade had managed to hide in a knick in the cave wall where the kishin egg couldn't reach him. He had stayed there until he had heard Kid and I come to save him. When he heard my voice, that convinced him to come and help. And, well, the rest I knew.

Blade gave me a tiny smile as he watched me eat a meal actually fit for a human being, "You're already looking healthier than when you were at your dad's."

"You really think? I mean, of course I am. Jeez that…. That…. Ugh that failure of a father really did a number on me, but I am done with him, sooo ya." I said as I filled my mouth with another heaping fork-full of spaghetti.

Kid had gone to fetch some things to help clean Blade up and treat his own wounds as well. Patty was coloring on a piece of paper and Liz was painting her nails a vibrant pink color. It all seemed so welcoming and friendly that I kind of wished I didn't have to go back to my boarding room at the DWMA.

Kid re-entered the room carrying a tray of bandages and antiseptics. He handed Blade a couple of wipes and plopped the tray down on the long table in the middle of the room. I was sitting in the chair closest to it, Blade sitting right across from me. Liz was on my left and Patty was across from her. Kid took a seat on my right.

I nibbled my salad that had come with the spaghetti and watched the boys dabble antiseptics on the tiny scrapes they had gotten in the cave.

I was just realizing how clear my head felt after the meal when Blade spoke to Kid, "Thank you for helping Kukuru find me. It would have been hard on her own."

Kid looked up from the tray of medicine and said, "No problem. It's my duty to help other misters or weapons in need of assistance."

Realizing that I should probably say something too, I turned in my chair to Kid, "Yes. Thank you so much. You have no idea…"

We sat in awkward silence for a bit until I realized that it was dark out and said, "I guess Blade and I should get back to the DWMA huh…"

"Oh um, about that…" Kid started, "the DWMA is a nice school and all, and it's just that, it's not really that homely."

I pursed my lips and wondered where he was going with this. Liz looked up from her nails, but Patty just kept coloring, completely oblivious.

"Well, Liz, Patty and I would be more than welcome to allow you to stay here." Kid said smoothly.

My face lit up and I eagerly said, "Yes, yes! Thank you so much!"

Blade nodded, "Ya, I suppose so. The DWMA or Kukuru's houses aren't really the best options."

I beamed at Blade and he gave me another tiny smile. I had a nice home, good friends (The GRIM REAPER as a friend? Booya!), and my weapon back.

My life was slowly turned from worse to better.