CHAPTER 16

A/N – Hello everyone! Lots of hugs and kisses to all of you for all the attention you constantly shower my story with, it flatters me beyond words! Of course, being the scatter brained hag that I am, got caught up in some other stuff and there it is, another delay… Gah! And now, as to what's coming next, some of you have wondered and asked questions, therefore I shall do my best not to leave them unanswered. Enjoy today's update and don't forget to leave me your thoughts!

Kid walked down the corridor towards the so-called staff chambers, his heart heavy after the little talk with the one called Maka Albarn. Maka Emerald, that's her real name, although maybe...the young shinigami wasn't sure if bastards were entitled to an important family's name, but still, the girl was so unmistakably an Emerald in appearance. And her expression! It was full of wonder, cheeks slightly flushed, eyes bright with anticipation and... something else. Obvious interest. If he were to be completely honest, Kid did not understand how this thing worked at all, was it simply because he was a shinigami? Before this girl – and now the prince too to some extent– nobody had been attracted to him so blatantly. Or even less blatantly... He hadn't known what it was like to have such an effect, no, such a power over someone and the thought was unsettling. It felt simply burdensome, like it was some sort of responsibility. Yes, it is a responsibility to hold someone's heart in the palm of your hand, knowing that at any given time you could close your fingers around it and crush it. And as the plan went, he was going to do just that.

"Hey!"

The reaper turned around abruptly at the sound of a now familiar and particularly annoying voice. Pure Truth stood in the middle of the hallway, hands on his hips and chin held up, with an expression Kid could only interpret as pissed.

"You think I don't know what you're up to, Death the Kid?!" the boy spat, thin eyebrows furrowing in anger.

The older shinigami blinked a couple of times, slightly cringing in fear at the thought that the little one might have actually caught wind of something. But it couldn't have, could it? He'd been careful... "Oh yes? And what do you think I am 'up to', all-knowing one?" he asked, crossing his arms.

"It's obvious! You have taken in upon yourself to undermine my authority here!"

Kid inwardly sighed in relief, the kid was clueless. "Oh, I wouldn't dream of it," he replied calmly, "not that it has ever appeared to me like you have any. Authority, I mean," he added innocently.

"You blasted mercenary, don't think you can talk back to me!" Pure Truth hissed, tiny fists clenching at his sides. "I am in charge of the worshippers! And just now one of them had the audacity to suggest that someone should stick a boot in my ass. Now I really wonder where that came from!"

An amused smile tugged at the corners of the other shinigami's mouth before he could help it. "Perhaps it occurred as a result of the absolute abundance of pleasantries you constantly bestow upon everyone... at any rate you can be sure I was not involved. It's not like I have nothing better to do than subtly hurl insults at a child."

"You..."

"And you know, better a boot than something else."

Kid chewed his lip, slightly guilty – that hadn't been a thing to tell to a child – but he told himself that Pure Truth was by no means like other children. And besides, as a result of his almost life-long job as a mercenary, Kid had learned to rapidly fire back insults with the same precision with which he fired his guns, and the brat was constantly asking for it.

"You just think you're so high and mighty now that you've climbed in the right bed!" the little shinigami spat viciously. "But you never know when he'll tire of you!"

But the prince's guard simply turned his back on him and walked away, concealing an awkward grimace.

So... it has become public knowledge.

Maka was well aware that the other day she'd left the Temple of Nights and Days as if walking on clouds and that was where her head had been, without a doubt. Darn, that was where it still was, but time had brought some clarity upon the facts. Some… And fact was, Evans must have noticed her state. The blonde knew that the scythe boy had made it his job to keep an eye on her, ever suspicious to what must have been going on and she knew that she would have to do something about it, and fast.

They should have trained today, but as on most occasions, the obnoxious weapon was nowhere in sight. Indeed, Evans was full of skills and one of them was to disappear when he did not want to be found. Surely, he was somewhere around Galiel's share of Arena premises, nobody ever got past the lycan guards, she knew, trotting about impatiently. Except for Kid… Predictably, the blonde's thoughts kept returning to the beautiful shinigami and their last bizarre bit of conversation. Now, Maka may have been completely inexperienced when it came to dealing with boys, but even in her view Kid's degree of mysteriousness was above average. Then again, he wasn't just any boy. He was the prince's guard. He was a servant of the Ourouboros. So why was he bothering with her? So many questions, so many…

"I'd steer clear from Evans' path today if I were you," a voice interrupted her musings and she saw Soul Eater's friend Kilik emerging from his cell, dragging his feet lazily. "He's pissed," the boy clarified, walking to a water barrel to fill his pitcher.

Maka simply shrugged. "Isn't he always?"

"Yes, only today he is exceptionally so. As I gathered, it's about Blair." Kilik scratched his head and looked awkward for a moment, as if he'd just talked too much and had touched a subject he wasn't supposed to.

"Blair… as in Blair 'the Cat' Purple?" Oh, Maka realised. Blair, of course. The pretty witch girl from our rival's house whom troll eater has an affair with…"They are… rather involved, aren't they?" she asked, unsure if 'involved' was the right word though. At any rate, he dares bug me about my supposed shinigami boyfriend when he's involved with an enemy witch! The nerve of that!

Kilik laughed sheepishly. "Yeah, that would be her… You'd think he's a cool, badass guy, but he worries way too much. Must be the damned books he'd been reading, they must have messed up with his mind, as Master said on one occasion."

"Books?"

"Yeah, books. He's your weapon now and you still don't know his story? It's hardly a secret around here, anyway."

The blonde scowled lightly, in surprise, thinking that she'd never bothered to find out about anyone's story really, her own being overwhelming enough as it was. She had never asked herself where the other slaves came from, how weapons were born and why they always ended up here, but she had vaguely assumed they must have all been of humble origin. She hadn't thought the ragged boys brought in regularly for the slaughter the audience was finding so utterly delightful were able to read, for example, and she surely hadn't imagined Evans – despite his obviously sharp wits – as having been educated in any way.

The olive-skinned boy took her obvious confusion as a no. "Well, he's from a perfectly respectable family of scribes, if you can believe that. His mother, while being married and all, seemed to enjoy the games a bit too much. Seemed to enjoy a certain scythe too much too, I reckon… Anyway, Soul too was educated as a scribe, but then when he was about twelve his mother passed away unexpectedly from some sort of plague and his 'stepfather' refused to raise an illegitimate child any longer. Especially a weapon child who could bring him some good money if sold to a slave merchant."

Maka simply stood there, horrified. A scribe family! Scribes were not only educated and well thought of, but relatively wealthy too. And Evans had been raised into such a home, only to be brutally torn from it at some point and thrown into this awful place. Now that explained his constant bitterness. Maybe he wasn't so mean after all, just hurt.

"So…" she said, trying to shrug off the slightly guilty feeling that she'd been insensitive to everyone's problems but her own, "what's the thing with Blair then?"

Kilik shook his head, taking a hearty gulp from the pitched. "Before anything, I must strongly advise you not to offer him any of your pity. Things really go to shit if anyone attempts it." He sighed, wiping his mouth with his sleeve. "The thing with Blair is… well she's kind of sick or so rumor has it and Evans thinks she might be… you know…"

The blonde gasped. "She'd be punished for it, surely?"

"Punished?! Hell, no! A child of theirs would be very valuable to her master Zoar. He'd be very, very pleased!"

So that was what ate the scythe boy, then, she realized. That his own child would end up having the same fate he was sharing… Maybe, now that she thought of it, she'd really misjudged Evans. Maybe he was in fact sensitive and caring, no matter how adeptly he was concealing that particular fact. Maybe he knew what love was. But… do I know what love is? Maybe he knows these things way better than me…

"There you are!" the blonde said, placing her hands on her hips and cocking an eyebrow.

Evans was, as expected, sitting idly in a dark corner, hell-bent on avoiding training for the day. He didn't look that upset, though, instead his usual sour expression was in place. Or maybe that was only reserved for her?

"I thought we were supposed to train today," Maka said sternly.

"Hmm… perhaps. By the way, we've got twins coming up, have you heard?" the white-haired boy said at last, sounding quite bored.

The blonde froze, her eyes going wide all the sudden. "T-twins?" she stuttered. "You mean, you and Blair….?"

Soul's gaze shot up abruptly, his own expression momentarily mortified at what he'd just heard. "What?!"

"What twins, then? W-what are you talking about?"

Evans stood up, rolling his eyes. "The next match, obviously. The Clovan twins of Hamza. But I see our dear friend Kilik is not only throwing fire pots, now he's taken to throwing shit around as well!" The scythe boy straightened his back and suggestively drove his right fist into his cupped palm.

"Please! It doesn't… I mean it's none of my business, that…" Maka pleaded, taking hold of his arm. "I didn't know about the match! What of the Clovan twins?"

"Oh, not much… just that it's three of them, not two," Soul replied, shrugging. "But I'm not worried, these kind of matches are all about killing the fighters, not the weapons. Surely, I might take some damage, but… But. May the Gods – and your shinigami boyfriend help you – little Maka."

"Would you be serious about this, for once!?" the blonde snapped.

Evans laughed. "But I am! You are seriously screwed."

The blonde barely resisted the urge to slap him across the face and wipe off that obnoxious grin. How dared he! "You're such an idiot, troll eater, and you damn well deserve whatever crap is coming up for you! And the 'shinigami boyfriend' joke is getting old, you might consider thinking of something else! Besides, it is annoying! The only shinigami I've 'talked to', if you can call that a talk, was that horrible kid back at the Temple! He told me some horrible stuff afterwards, like that he will pray for me to die in torment and such," Maka lied, "I've never met anyone so loathsome in my entire life! Now I honestly don't know what the fuss about them is anyway, because I think they are really, really… um… bad!"

"Awwww!" the scythe boy cooed. "I see you've suffered a disappointment but well, I told you they don't like girls." He scratched his head, thoughtful. "But really now, that kid was a fucking pest! He really needs to have his butt kicked!"

Maka's thoughts involuntary flew back to the conversation at the Temple. "Do you know why we don't like women? It's because they are not special. You have to prove to me that you are worth it, that you are exceptional, that there is no one like you…" Well, while it wasn't quite clear what Kid had promised her in that case, she would do it! She would prove it to him!

"You're an idiot! I will defeat the Clovan twins, may they be three or three hundred, and I will prove to him that I am truly exceptional, that there is no one like me!"

Evans blinked. "To who?"

The blonde froze, panic coursing through her body at the realization of what she'd just let out. But then, there was only one other who needed to be persuaded of her worth. "Master Galiel, of course! I have a debt to repay and I swear I will!"

To be continued