Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater.

"Kuro!"

So distant. The voice was so distant it was almost like a whisper. They didn't sound anxious or afraid, so I paid no mind to it. I just kept my eyes closed and buried my face back into the pillow. It was so fluffy and the sheets were so warm. Five more minutes... Five more minutes...

"Kuro I swear if you don't get out of bed I'm going to push you off!" Adria. It was definitely Adria, and now that I really heard her she sounded annoyed, albeit with a hint of playfulness. I didn't move. "We have to go!"

"Is that pain in the ass still not getting up? It's been thirty minutes!" I groaned at Dominic's voice. Still as annoying as ever, even after all of this time.

"Well shit, if you're here I'd better get up so I don't have to hear your mouth," I grumbled while he gave me a cheeky grin in return. Dominic and I have grown a toleration towards each other - dare I say friendship - that consisted of playful bantering and insults that we never actually meant. In more than a couple of cases, Adria couldn't tell if we were seriously arguing or not, which was also funny because then we'd start messing with her.

I sat up and stretched my arms, glancing at their already packed bags by the door. "Damn. Did I oversleep that much?"

"We have to check out in twenty minutes." Adria crossed her arms, annoyed by my constant refusal to get up. I smiled and hugged her waist, pulling her into bed with me.

"Don't be mad at me! I don't like it when you're mad!" I giggled, tickling her sides.

After the initial shock of me pulling her down, she erupted into a fit of laughter. "Okay!" she shouted, "Okay! Just let go!" when I finally obliged, she scurried to the other side of the room and rubbed her sides. "Ugh, and I thought my brother was a handful."

"Yeah, yeah." I waved dismissively and went to the bathroom to change and wash up. Even though it's only been six months since we left Death City, I felt like I'd been with them for over a year. I forgot how fast time seemed to go when you moved around a lot; places to go and training to do. I'd gotten very comfortable at Death City, so it was still taking me awhile to get used to this again. The impermanence.

After putting on my last article of clothing, I reached into the pocket of the sweats I was just wearing and pulled out the chain that held a gold ring. Six months. I smiled halfheartedly, putting it on and tucking it under my shirt. Six months since she died, and six months since I left.

Loss washed over me; a feeling I'd been trying to push away all of these months. I'd been so focused on training that it was easier, but now that it was becoming less and less consistent I'd need something else to keep me busy.

"Hey, Kuro! Come on!" I heard Dominic.

"One sec!" I spoke through the toothbrush in my mouth and finished brushing my teeth before stuffing my bag and following them out of the room. To keep money in our pockets, we did odd jobs here and there; you'd be surprised how many people found our abilities handy. When we got to a new city we pooled our money in for a hotel room. Dominic would get one bed while Adria and I shared the other. It was a lot easier now than when I was doing it by myself before I made it to Death City almost a year ago.

I could barely remember what it looked like or what my dorm looked like. What I remember clearly is DWMA... That's it. I couldn't forget Char because she showed up in my dreams a lot, covered in blood. But Kid... I could barely remember what he looked like. Little by little his face was blurring in my head. The only things I can still cling to are those three white stripes and golden eyes. I brought my hand to where the ring lay against my chest and squeezed. There it was again: the pain. Even now.

"Where to next? The bus will be here soon." Adria asked as we stood in front of the hotel.

"Ah..." I muttered, coming back to reality just in time to find Dominic staring me down. I flinched, "What? What is it?"

"You look upset."

This caught Adria's attention and she moved her gaze from the map to me. I was silent for the smallest of moments before rolling my eyes, "Look at the map, maybe you'll be more useful." I was upset, but they didn't need to know that.

"Nevermind." he snorted, "I'm obviously seeing things because you're perfectly fine."

"Okay, guys, seriously, where the hell are we going?" Adria asked as she shoved the map at us, "I don't really want to be standing here waiting for the next bus because we missed it!"

"How about we go to another state?" Dominic suggested, "We've been in Nevada for months now; let's go somewhere colder, or with a beach at least."

"Well, yeah, I've wanted to stick around here just in case-" Adria stopped herself, throwing the smallest glance my way. I kept my eyes on the map. Just in case I decided to go back, huh?

Seemed like that was the case. I did say I would go back, but I never said when. Would they even welcome me back? I left without a single goodbye or reason, even had Shinigami-sama cover it up. I wouldn't be surprised if there was some animosity towards me, even from Kid... I hurt him. I know I did, but damn it...

I was too much of a coward to face him yet.

"California." I said, "Let's go to California. It's June so it'll be hot but at least you've got your beach."

The siblings shared a look before Dominic shrugged, "Good enough for me."

Considering we were in Winnemucca, Nevada, California seemed like a good candidate for a change of scenery. It would take awhile to get to the state, though. The only major highway that we could take was to Reno, then from there we'd travel to California and into Sacramento. Still no where near the coastline, but we'd figure it out once we actually got there.

"We should lay low around here, guys." I said to them, looking in the direction of the forest as we got off the bus. I wasn't sure if Noah's headquarters was still close after all of this time, but just the fact that it used to be made me uncomfortable. If we were to make any indication of our presence, I was sure he'd send more than just a little monster; he'd probably have Gopher come along with Justin or Giriko. The Horror Dragon was a handful enough, though I have gotten better with my abilities since then.

"As long as nothing forces us to use our power to the fullest, we should be fine. It's the attacks that cause us to be detected." Adria said, skimming through the city map she received on the bus.

"Why? Is that Noah guy around here?" Dominic asked.

"Most likely. Better safe than sorry." I said as I shifted my bag onto another shoulder, noticing the sun inching toward the horizon. "What should we do first? Find a place to stay for the night or look for somewhere to eat? I don't know about you, but I'm starving."

"Let's get these bags out of the way." Adria closed the map and tucked it into her back pocket before waving for us to follow her. "I already know where we're staying."

"Already?"

"We've been everywhere." Dominic shrugged, "We know the easiest places to get discounts and the best places for prices in a lot of states. With our unstable incomes it's a good thing to know."

It was rather amazing to me how they were able to pick all of this up. They must've been a mess - which would be expected when your parents were killed and eaten right in front of you - until they met the water Elemental. I wondered more than a few times why we traveled so much even when we weren't forced to attack, but I'm pretty sure it has something to do with their parents. It obviously affected them, so they probably just think it's safer for those around them to not stay in one place for too long.

It was a small motel, like something you'd see out of an old movie. Not like those really grimy looking ones, but a bit isolated and towards the city limits... and right by the forest I wanted to avoid. I sighed, knowing it couldn't be helped - we didn't exactly have the funds to warrant options. So, I went with them to check in, and once we got our room and threw everything inside we got dinner. It was a hot evening, which wasn't surprising considering the time of year. That beach sounded better and better the more we roamed outside, and I wished our motel had some type of pool.

I couldn't seem to get out of my head. Finding out we'd have to go to Reno wasn't something I was excited for; I knew I would find myself thinking about things I shouldn't and getting paranoid. I'd just have to deal with it for another twelve hours, we were hitching a ride early tomorrow morning to get as close to Sacramento as possible.

We knew it'd be an early night for us tonight. After we ate, the exhaustion hit us like a ton of bricks. We somehow managed to get back to the motel room and when we got there, Dominic said "screw it" and tackled the bed as soon as we got in. Adria and I both decided to just shower in the morning and at least got our teeth brushed before making it under the sheets. I was hoping for a peaceful night of sleep, but of course I'd end up waking from a nightmare.

I sat up and ran a hand through my hair, catching a glimpse of the clock. It was one in the morning. The one night I actually hoped I'd sleep well would be the one I'd have a nightmare during. There was no going back to sleep at this point; I'd just be dropped back into it, and I was getting tired of reliving Char's last moments over and over again. I turned to look at Adria in the dark room, but it seemed that I didn't wake her.

"Having trouble sleeping again?"

Dominic's voice made me jump, and I turned to see him laying down on his back, his hands knitted behind his head. The lack of light in the room made him look older than he really was, but we were both seventeen. Adria was three years older than us. I nodded, "This is the first time in a couple of days."

"I know, usually you wake me up with your muttering. Adria sleeps like a rock, but I can barely sleep with a TV on."

I pulled my knees to my chin, set my chin on my knees, and let out a shaky breath. Tears still stained my cheeks but they stopped soon after I woke up. "Did it happen to you too? I mean, when your parents died, did you have nightmares?"

"Duh," was how he answered, "Every night for the longest. Then they started coming less and less until pretty soon they faded away. I do still get them but it's so rare now." he paused, in thought. It was one of the few times I'd ever seen him so serious. "It happened five years ago. It's going to take some time for you to forget. At least, forget in your dreams."

"How could I forget something like that? I practically relived the exact moment my partner before her died-" His exasperated sigh made me stop speaking. His hands left the back of his head to help him sit up.

"I already know where this is going. Look," he began, laying his back against the backboard and crossing his arms, "Don't start the whole "it was my fault" spiel. You didn't ask her to jump in front of you. It was a decision she made on her own. Thinking about it that way is only going to eat at you until there's nothing left."

"So what am I supposed to do?"

"I don't know. To keep myself going I found something to fight for. I wanted to become stronger, so I did. I wanted to help my sister, so I did. But you?" I could hear the smirk on his face, "You're running away."

I spun my head around to look at him, almost offended. Running away? Running away? He knew exactly why I came with them. "Oh, really? Well, since you know everything, what am I running away from?"

"That, I don't know," he looked at me before rolling his eyes. "Don't give me that look; we can see it all over your face. You want to go back, but for some reason you're not. Why? You're able to fend for yourself at this point; you don't even need a Weapon. We have nothing left to teach you."

"I-"

"For someone who wouldn't shut up the first month about wanting to learn quickly so you could go back, you sure are taking your sweet time getting there."

"Dominic-"

"It's been two months. We taught you the very last thing - Soul Protection - two months ago. Ask yourself, Kuro, what are you running from?"

"Will you shut up and let me talk?" I almost shouted, causing Adria to nudge me with her elbow.

"Oi!" she grumbled drowsily, "Keep it down, will ya?"

My glare didn't waver from him, but he simply sat there unfazed. I know I said I wanted to talk, but now that I had my chance I didn't know what to say. He waited until Adria quickly fell back asleep before asking one last thing, "There was a time when you would drop everything to go to his side; what's keeping you from doing that now?"

I don't know what it was; if it was the sudden dose of malice in his tone or the weight of his words, but I was out of the door before I could even think about it. I just knew I needed to be somewhere else. I sped barefoot down the road in a pair of sweats and a tank top, bolting into the forest I knew so well. The ring slammed against my chest like a second heartbeat as I ran. To where? I didn't know. I knew if I kept running this direction, I would hit the headquarters.

I held out my hand and a ball of fire flickered to life, allowing light for me to see as the city got farther and farther. My lungs and legs hurt but I didn't stop, only doing so until I couldn't take it anymore. As I started approaching more familiar landmarks, I slowly realized that I should've seen some type of light already, but it was still pitch dark. Nothing indicated that the headquarters was near, and after what seemed like forever, I finally stopped in a clearing. There was no way I was going to make it; I probably saw no light because I was still so far. It took hours by vehicle just to get there, and I was on foot for Death's sake.

What was I doing? Was this to prove to Dominic that I wasn't running away from my past, or did I already prove him right by running out of that motel room...running away from what I didn't want to hear? I fell to my knees as my legs and feet throbbed, overworked and tired. Dominic was right. I want to go back, but I can't. There were too many memories and what I'd have to deal with...

What was I running from? What was I trying so hard to avoid? The pain of my memories, the anger from my friends for leaving the way I did, the possible look on Kid's face when I see him again. By pushing away my emotions, thoughts, and by steering clear of Death City, I've been trying to ignore it all together. I wasn't able to do that when Kaori died, but Dominic and Adria gave me the chance. As much as I hate to admit it, it was no longer just about my friends' safety.

I laughed at myself. It took me all of this just to accept it, and here I was barefoot in the middle of nowhere. At least I knew my way back. What would've I even done if I actually made it to his headquarters? I'd know for sure that Noah was still here and be more careful, but there was nothing else that would've been gained from it. Everything about this was incredibly stupid.

That worst part is, I wasn't going to lie to myself. I knew I still didn't have it in me to go back to Death City.

I heard a twig snap close by, and the single fireball in my palm became six that spread out in a circle around me in the uneven clearing, lighting up the area. It was most likely an animal, which could also lead to some concern, but I could always use my fire to scare it off. I stood up, the fireballs rushing back to my palm all at once until a single one remained. It was still nighttime, and by the time I'd get back it'd probably be morning. The city wasn't too far away, I could still see some lights. We'd most likely be leaving later than planned, though.

You're running away.

I know.

"Kuro?"

My chest tightened painfully at the sound of his voice, and any loss that I felt turned into that of longing. The voice came from the same direction as the snap and I looked towards the other side of the clearing. All at once the blur covering his face disappeared as he walked into the light. Illuminated by the small fire in my hand, I couldn't see much, but his eyes glowed as it reflected off of the light and showed all that I needed. It'd been six months, but standing in front of him now made it feel like a lifetime. My voice cracked, but I managed to say his name just above a whisper.

"Kid."

End of Chapter XXVIII

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