I don't own Soul Eater.

.-*-.

Ayumi knew that if her brother was waking her up that meant that they still had some free time, so she could lie in bed for a few more minutes, and then take her shower, which still allowed her to skip breakfast. On the other hand if her mother woke her up that meant they were already running late which meant that she would have to be quick in the shower in order for her to get everything done, which meant that she was going to stay in the shower five minutes longer than necessary.

Today was one of those days her mother woke her up.

Sachi Nilima was a beautiful young woman with platinum blonde hair and dark brown eyes. She was could have been a model, but instead became an interior designer, which meant she controlled every room in the house, which also meant if you wanted to change your bedroom in any which-way you had to consult her first. In her room the only thing she controlled at all was the colors (blue, black, and silver), and the one bare wall she painted on.

Ayumi rolled over at the sound of her mother's voice. What was the point of getting up? Every day was the same miserable day.

"Ayumi Meredith Nilima! Out of bed this moment!"

Oh, wait. That's why.

Ayumi rolled out of bed and hopped into the shower. After father got done banging on the door she went back to her room to see the outfit that her mother picked out for her.

It was like a rainbow puked on cloth, but that's what you get when your family is hell bent on making you happy.

She grabbed her skateboard and ran down to the kitchen, which was based off the colors of black, white, and metallic red.

Akio Nilima was a five-star chief, and just the thought of eating his food make her want to puke. Not that his food was bad, it was really good, but she was never hungry anymore.

Ayumi ran out of the house swallowing her anit-s and jumped on her skateboard, leaving her brothers in the dust.

.-*-.

Spirit was late for work, and he knew that, but he wasn't going today. He decided that after watching the news, after seeing that Lord Death hadn't renewed his contract with the United States and Navada governments, which meant that as of 2 o'clock that morning Death City was a part of the United States, which might cause a war if the agreement wasn't reached soon.

Spirit sighed threw his nose and swung the Wii controller, sending the virtual tennis ball back to the fake players. He kept reminding Lord Death about the termination of the contract and he kept telling Spirit that he would get to it, but no Lord Death never took anything seriously.

As he swung the remote again he felt a wave of dizziness roll over him. Wobbling he sat down on the couch when he heard the doorbell ring. Swearing under his breath he went over to the door, opening it to see a brunette woman in a suit and suddenly he remembered that he wasn't wearing pants.

Glancing down at his pink and black boxers for a moment she met his pupil-less light blue eyes. "Are you Death Scythe?"

Holding on the very edges of his calm he managed a "huh?" before the cloudiness set back in.

She frowned at him. "Are you alright? You don't look so good."

Spirit shook his head quickly, sending him spinning. She grabbed him and helped him to the couch. "I was going to talk to you about Lord Death and Death the Kid, but right now I think it better if I talk to Lord Death himself instead." She walked over to the cordless phone and set it on the coffee table in front of Spirit. "If you start to feel any worse call the hospital."

Spirit managed to nod before falling asleep. The woman shut the door behind her.

.-*-.

Lunch meant that Ayumi went and hid in the corner away from the other kids. Lunch meant she had to smell the smells of so many different lunches, trying not to puke because she wasn't hungry.

But no. This lunch she was marching through a swamp following a figment of her mind because she was board.

Scream stopped up a head, smiling his stitched up smile down on something that he shouldn't have known was there.

What Ayumi saw was so much different from before. And this time she screamed.

.-*-.

"So, no one's seen Spirit?" Sid asked the other staff. One by one they either grunted or shook their head.

"Spirit's at his apartment," Stein said sipping on his mint tea.

"Doing what?" Azusa asked disapprovingly.

Stein messed with his glasses while focusing on Spirit's wavelength. "I think he's having a nightmare."

Marie leaned forward. "About what?"

The meisters and Azusa looked at the blonde death scythe. "I can't tell from here. I would need to engage in soul resonance to figure that out," Stein said with a raised eyebrow.

"Besides does it really matter?" Azusa asked sitting down next to Marie.

Maire shrugged and looked at the coffee in her lap. Joe put a hand on her shoulder. "Is there something wrong?"

She sighed. "It's just a feeling. Something's not right."

Stein put his mug in the sink and went over to the door. "I'm sure it's no-" he stopped talking and looked down the hall.

"What is it Stein?" Marie asked standing up.

He just shrugged. "I just left my classroom door open." He went over to the crescent moon class room with the rest following him. As he closed the door he heard a crumpling sound. Looking down he saw a piece of paper caught in the door.

Azusa watched him pick it up. "You should really have your students pick up more."

"This is a student's paper." He turned to look at them. "It's one of mine."

He stepped into the dark class room and turned on the night.

Papers and books were scattered around the room. His chair was overturned and the computer was on the ground. The mess covered a good part of the room.

Stein went over to his desk and yanked on one of the drawers. He gave up after a few minutes.

"What is it Stein?" Marie stood next to him.

"I've broken four scalpels trying to get this damn thing open. One of these days I'm just going to bring a crowbar to school."

The others sighed and started to pick papers. "Is there anything missing?" Joe asked when they managed to gather all the papers.

Stein cranked the screw in his head. "I'll have to go through it before I'm sure."

"We'll leave you to it then. I'll inform Lord Death of the break in." Sid left with Azusa, Joe and Marie on his heels, who looked back at her friend. She sighed and followed the others out the door.

.-*-.

Tabby McEdy waited several hours before she was allowed before she could talk to Lord Death. She sighed. Her mother wouldn't have delt with this crap, and neither should she. She ran her fingers through her hair and marched into the Death Room.

Lord Death was sitting (she thought. It was a bit hard to tell with the robe) at a small table drinking tea. He tilted his head when he saw her. "May I help you?"

"I'm Tabitha McEdy. I have an appointment."

"Oh, yes. I was wondering when you would get here. Please, sit. Have some tea."

Tabby blinked and sat across from Lord Death. She took a handle-less cup and sipped some of the tea.

"Now, what is it you want to talk to me about."

"I'm with Social Services, and as you know you have failed to renew your contract with the governments-"

Lord Death sighed. "Please tell me you're not on my case too. I'll get to it soon."

The brunette shook her head. "No, you don't understand. We know about Kid's OCD and-"

"Who's 'we'?"

She rolled her eyes. "Social Services. Now as I was saying-"

Lord Death raised a finger and was about to interrupt again when Tabby lept up. "Social Services will have to take Kid."

He looked surprised and confused. "What?"

She sighed to clear her anger. "Social Services knows about Kid's OCD and if you don't get counseling for him I'll have to take him away, and I really don't wanna do that."

His looked shifted to anger and he stood up. "You can't do that," he growled.

Tabby took a step back. "Yes I can, and if you get any closer I'll tase you."

Lord Death looked at her for a minutes, then sighed and turned around. "Is there anything else?"

Tabby back away. "No, not really."

"I don't understand why I'm so anxious. I'll just get Kid counseling and everything will be fine" He was talking to himself. Tabby back away even faster.

He turned around. "Hey, you wouldn't happen to know... where'd she go?"

Lord Death shrugged. "Oh, well. I'm sure Spirit knows a good counselor." He turned to the mirror and dialed up Spirit's number.

.-*-.

Ayumi laid down on the bench outside her psychiatrist's office. Paint cans scattered the floor around her.

Pristine had such a pretty waiting room, but the walls were so ordinary, and Ayumi needed relief that didn't come in the form of a sharp knife.

She was so tired, she was always tired now. She was about to fall asleep when a large black squiggle with a boy about her age followed him.

Death the Kid sat down next to his father. Lord Death looked at him with worry. "Are you sure you're okay with this."

Kid nodded. "Father, I understand. There's no need to explain-" he stopped when he saw something out of the corner of his eyes he heard someone. Both reapers turned towards the girl.

Her royal blue hair hung over her eyes messily. Her body looked like she lost a large amount of weight in a short amount of time. Her shirt was red with an anime character with a chainsaw on it, her pants were capris with rolled up cuffs, rainbow toe socks and fingerless gloves. There were black flip-flops on her feet. Her outfit didn't suit her at all.

Her tired eyes looked back and forth between them. "So, which one is the crazy one?" she asked, almost talking to herself.

"He is," Lord Death said in his goofy voice pointing one of his overly large foam hands at Kid, who gave him a flat glance and turned away to look at a mural on the wall, which looked fresh.

It only seemed to be made of four colors: blue, black, white, and red. The colors swirled around each other somehow forming pictures. At the very center of the madness was a boy only in neutral colors, wearing a straitjacket and a stitched up smile that reminded Kid of Professor Stein.

Lord Death came up behind Kid and looked at the large painting, then turned to the girl. "Did you paint this?"

She didn't respond.

Beyond her a door opened and a woman with chestnut hair and a suit came over to them smiling. "Lord Death. It's an honor." She turned to see the mural. She frowned and turned back to the girl. "Ayumi, you know how I feel," she stopped and sighed. "She's asleep." She turned back to them. "I'm Dr. Pristine Clarestin. I understand that your here about your son."

"Yes, but just until I sigh a new contract with the United States government."

Dr. Clarestin nodded as though she understood and gestured to the door. "I would like to talk to you first, if that's alright."

Lord Death nodded and followed Dr. Clarestin into her office, leaving Kid to stare at the painting. He searched every inch of it, trying to make sense of it, but he had a feeling that he would have to be insane it understand.

"I found something weird."

Kid turned when he heard the girl talk. She sat up, her bangs falling into her eyes. "Something really weird."

He looked at her with a raised eyebrow. Double yellow eyes met light blue. She fixed her bangs so she could see. "And what is this 'weird' thing?" He sat down across from her, not talking his eyes from her.

Ayumi opened her mouth with an excitement that didn't suit her- finally someone is listening!- but then she blink and turned away from the mini-reaper, folding in on herself. "Names."

Kid folded his hands in his lap. "What do you mean?"

She glanced at him beneath her bangs, but didn't say anything. Instead she got up and pick up a few paint cans and went over to the wall opposite and started to paint.

It took Kid a few minutes to figure out what she was painting when he realized that it was him, his exact likeness sitting on a painted wooden bench with his hands folded in his lap. It was perfect from his unsymmetrical white stripes in his ink black hair to his black shoes.

Kid stepped away from the crazy artist and cleared his throat. "It's... very realistic."

Ayumi picked up a can of blood red paint and splashed it over the painting Kid. Kid stepped forward this time and watched himself become consumed by red.

"He wants me to tell you a secret," she whispered into his ear. As he turned she picked up a skateboard he had failed to notice before and her school bag and left. He looked back at the painting.

Dr. Clarestin and Lord Death exited the office quietly, looked at the painting, and made a time for Kid to meet with the psychiatrist.

Death the Kid and Lord Death walked home in silence, and for some reason Lord Death stayed at the manor tonight.

And when Kid slept that night he dreamed about the brunette woman and red.

.-*-.

She was crying. She refused to look. She wouldn't look.

She felt two imaginary hands on her shoulders spin her around to face her easel.

I want to tell you a secret.

Behind her Scream smiled.

.-*-.

Chapter three done! Very short, but oh well I like them. And I just love describing Lord Death as a squiggle.