CHAPTER 19

A/N – Greetings everyone! Now that I'm thinking about it, I should have put a proper rating on this story from the beginning, taking into account all the gore and graphic violence in it, but somehow I failed to realize that… Whatever, not important, because beginning with this chapter the rating is officially updated to M. For obvious reasons you are soon to discover…

Kid moved and sat lightly on the bed, the soft smile lingering on his lips. The blonde inhaled sharply, her gaze – a bit awed as usual – glued to his pale face shadowed by dark bangs. The small candle flame gave an eerie glow to his golden eyes, even more mesmerizing than the afternoon sun had that day at the Temple. No, she had not doubted. She may have doubted many things about the entirely mysterious circumstances surrounding the two of them right now, but she did not doubt that Death the Kid would ever not put his money where his mouth was. Not that 'where his mouth was' wasn't in fact awfully vague, that is…

She still stared, feeling almost giddy as the shinigami scooted closer and reached out to her own hand, not bothering to ask herself (or him) how he'd crept into her cell in the dead of night yet again, completely unnoticed. No, she was wondering…

"I was wondering…" Maka breathed out, almost hesitantly and mostly distracted by the warm, intimate feeling of skin on skin as Kid pulled her closer, resting her bare back against his equally bare torso as he'd shed off his cloak. "What it must be like to be like you."

"You mean, what's it like to be a shinigami?" he asked gently, running his fingers over her bare arms as she still clutched the blanket protectively to her chest.

The blonde sighed. "Not that, per say… But for example, what's it like to have your strength. Or to always know what to do, or what to say," she explained. The reaper's fingers halted on her arm, his lips twisting into a slight grimace. Was this really what she was thinking of him? Kid was aware that he had some skills - a lifetime of dealing with his rather severe father and wicked master had made him a pretty adept liar and he was swift to produce ideas to keep himself out of trouble for the most part. But all that was far from what the Emerald brat imagined.

"So, you like that?" he said teasingly.

Maka didn't answer, but her mouth widened into a large grin as she rested her head on the shinigami's shoulder. His touch was so soft, so pleasant. "And that thing, by the Gods, that thing! With the… cloud of smoke. You just poof from one place and you appear in another! How do you do that?"

The prince's guard chuckled – she'd studied him carefully. "I can't say exactly, but I am a magic creature, so it's a given that I can do a lot of things."

"I know, that's why… that's why I wonder. Because I'm always so afraid… In today's fight for example, I thought they had me, that I was done for. And I would have been done for with a regular weapon. It could have been my last match. But it doesn't even matter, because my next match can be my last…"

And yet, you're the one meant to kill a mage. Kid's index finger twisted a lock of her hair, gently pulling it away from her throat. "So you think I'm invincible?" he asked, leaning in and nuzzling the exposed skin. She felt hot to the touch and her body had a fresh, clean scent.

"You'd surely be invincible out there, in the Arena," the blonde replied, gasping a little under his touch, "but otherwise… I know you are taking risks, even right now. That's why I think you are very brave."

Brave? No, she'd gotten that wrong, Kid though. He'd never thought much of the matter, probably because it wasn't something one thought of too much when their very life wasn't theirs to own.

"Oh Maka, I am not that brave," he said, pulling her closer. "Like I said, I am a magic creature. I belong to my master the Ourouboros and to my master the Prince. If my life is not my own, what do I have to lose?" Now he was being full of shit, actually, the reaper inwardly pondered. He wasn't brave, he just did what he was supposed to do - what he had no other choice but to do – but otherwise he had plenty to lose and the perspective of being eaten alive by Clowns wasn't exactly pleasant either.

"And you don't even like girls," the blonde stated innocently, tilting her head to the side and turning to look up at him.

Kid shook his head, barely repressing a smile. Maka's gaze slipped from his eyes to his lips and she sighed, almost inconspicuously. Her own lips parted slightly, as if she wanted to say something, but then she just lowered her gaze, blinking quickly.

"What is it?" the shinigami asked, one finger lifting her chin up to read her green orbs.

"Ah… it's… well, I feel so… um…" she stuttered, trying to look away again, "By the Gods, I wish I was good at this!" Maka gulped a bit, reaching up and letting her fingers ghost over the side of Kid's face. She looked at his lips again, uncertain and blushing profusely. "I mean… at…"

Kid leaned in and pressed a soft kiss on her lips, lingering just a moment. Oh, he knew what she meant. Yeah, well… being good at this is somewhat of an issue…. "It's alright, really. Not so much a matter of skills," he lied, ignoring his own cringing stomach. "It matters more to be with the one you want, I suppose." I suppose? Not good, no, fuck, that wasn't good!

In any other circumstances Maka would never have touched this subject, but… But. Well… now… this was different. Kid wasn't like anyone else and he had a strange way of making her feel at ease. She understood why the prince would want him around and not a human or his Clowns – for a guard he was surprisingly gentle and soft-spoken.

"Do you know…?"

The young shinigami carefully avoided answering that question openly, instead ran his thumb over her plump lower lip, ever-so-teasingly, gaze trailing from her mouth to her eyes, all the while doing his best to conceal the growing tension. At least Maka was a girl, and a clueless one at that, he thought reassuringly, memories of his first night with Black Star coming back to him suddenly. Damn! No way in hell he could ever tell her the truth.

"So… how would you describe it?"

Oh, the candor of her pink dusted face as she spoke! She was really… so sweet. So fierce and strong, yet so vulnerable and endearing in the same time. How could this girl be in any way related to the Great Wizard Eibon Emerald, Kid wondered, burying his nose in her hair. "It's not a big deal… it's like… a contact sport. Can be a bit painful too."

Maka flinched at first, but then quickly reconsidered, hit by a sudden realization. All the while, since the very beginning, since their very fight, Kid had subtly teased her from time to time. So subtly that she hadn't seen it at the time, but now it was clear – and he was teasing her again now. Contact sport, he says! Well, I'm not afraid of contact sports… "Is it not pleasurable then?"

Well, that was awfully forward. Or something. "That too… well, it's not a bad thing." Kid pushed her gently onto the pillows and leaned on his elbows on top of her, kissing the tip of her nose. "Maka, we don't need to debate this too much, you know? Nothing will happen that you don't want."

Maka bit her lip. "You know, Kid… you told me, no, you asked me to think carefully. About what I really want and why I want it. And I want to be with you, but not because you're a shinigami and you're what all women crave and none can have. It's because you're so much more than just a magic creature. No one gives me strength the way you do and no one has ever given me hope before, no more than the meager hope of dragging it on for another day, at any rate." She smiled shyly, oblivious to the subtle change in the shinigami's expression and of the sigh escaping his lips at that. "But still, I am quite aware that we may not have a lot of time as it is. In fact, it might very well be only tonight…" Her hand slipped down and lifted the edge of the covers a bit, motioning for him to get under it.

Taking a deep breath and willing away the growing nervousness, Kid complied. He then hesitated a bit, looking uncertain, but the blonde pulled him down and brought their lips together heatedly this time. The kiss deepened, going further than they'd done before and the reaper realised he was enjoying this a bit too much, especially since he could feel her naked body pressed against him. His hand moved down to cup her small breast, giving the soft flesh a light squeeze as his mouth eventually left Maka's and wandered along her jaw line and down to her throat. But there, in the crook of her neck, he paused, burying his nose into her fragrant skin.

I can't… Maka, I don't want to hurt you! I don't want to break your heart, and I don't want to put you in harm's way! You're so sweet and so pure and so precious and I don't… I don't… He was clutching at her body, fingers digging helplessly into her shoulder now and Kid suddenly realised he'd said some of it out loud when gentle fingers went up to caress his hair, running through the soft strands and tousling them ever-so-slightly.

"Kid, you're not going to hurt me," Maka whispered. "Did you not say it's not a big deal? And it can't be, right?" She flinched a bit when the young shinigami sat up and she found herself pulled in his lap, her legs wrapped around his waist as her body instinctively opened to his touch.

The reaper sighed, propping himself in one elbow and wrapping one of Maka's ashen blond locks around his index finger as he watched her sleep. If possible, he would have just stayed there, watching her peaceful, innocent face and thought of nothing else. The deal had been sealed and she was his now. No, she is Eibon's now. Kid's hand flew to his mouth as his face twisted into a pained grimace. In another life, in another world, Maka Albarn could have been his girl. They would have been good together, happy even. But in this life, in this world Maka Emerald was not meant for him and things were just fucked up beyond belief. Placing one more butterfly kiss upon her slightly parted lips, the young shinigami slipped off the bed and quickly pulled on his clothing, knowing he would have to return to the palace before the break of dawn.

The ski was slowly lighting up as he made it back to the palace, the dark shades of blue melting into soft pastels as dawn was coming. Kid had a lump in his throat as he slipped like a shadow along the corridors still sunken in darkness on his way to the prince's chambers, hoping his absence had gone unnoticed. Yes, he told himself, the young prince must have slept peacefully at this early hour, strangely comforted by his guard's elusive presence in the same way the Emerald girl had been - because they both though they had him, when in truth none of them did.

But then, as soon as he passed through the large, ornate doors, the reaper's steps halted and he nearly froze in horror, spotting the prince in the large living quarters, quite awake too.

Black Star was flung carelessly onto the sofa, watching as the sun slowly rose over the horizon, casting its first rosy rays over the white buildings of the Citadel. His turquoise eyes had a lost, almost haunted look about them as the prince seemed to completely ignore everything around him. The reaper stepped on the side and watched him warily, not knowing what to make of it. What could have possibly happened to put him in such a state?

"Remember what I told you yesterday?" Black Star spoke suddenly, but without bothering to look up at his guard. "That I was curious which one of us will die first? Well, it looks like my curiosity is about to be satisfied… very soon."

Kid inhaled sharply, plagued by a sudden feeling that somehow, in some way, everything had gone to absolute shit and doom was upon them, imminent. He swallowed and cleared his throat discreetly before asking what he had no actual wish to find out. "What is the matter, Milord?"

The prince sighed and absentmindedly examined his nails. "Nothing unexpected really. Tsubaki is with child."

Oh. Fuck. So soon, the young shinigami wanted to ask, but he realized it was a stupid question. They'd been married for a while now and many thought it was quite overdue. At any rate, it was an exceptional bad luck for it to happen now. Sure, it would take a while until the child was actually born, but the tension which would ensue was going to complicate things for him substantially.

"She was feeling a bit sick yesterday and by evening she'd gotten worse. The doctors confirmed it," the blue-haired boy added.

"What if it's a girl?"

Black Star shook his head slowly. "It doesn't matter. A girl makes an equally valid heir as a boy." He shifted, pulling his knees to his chest. "So… my days are numbered. But that doesn't quite answer the question, because one part of it is – what about you?"

The reaper blinked. "What do you mean, Milord?"

The turquoise eyes suddenly took him in with an utterly unreadable expression for a few long moments, but when the blue-haired boy finally spoke, the danger was spelled clearly in his tone.

"I mean that in the middle of all this mess, you sneaked out of my bed, left the palace and went off… somewhere which wasn't the Temple. So, where have you been, Kid?"

To be continued