Chapter 2: Rules and Worry

A/N: Big thanks to my readers! :) The first part of this chapter is a flashback, after the horizontal line it goes back to normal. Please enjoy! :3

"Kid, it's time for you to learn something important."

"What is it, Daddy?"

Shinigami-sama, a tall figure with his face covered by a skeleton shaped mask and his body surrounded by a wavy black cloak, was standing in his room, gazing at his special mirror that allowed him to communicate with other people in Death City. He had called in his young son, Death the Kid. Kid was around 9 years old and mature enough to understand what Shinigami-sama was about to tell him.

Little Death the Kid entered the room and gazed up at his father with his big golden eyes. The big Shinigami couldn't help noticing how cute his son looked.

"Aww, you're just as cute as ever with those three adorable lines in your hair!" Shinigami-sama gushed.

"Daaad! Stop it! You know I don't like them!" Kid pouted, but when he saw how crest-fallen his father looked at his comment, he changed the subject. "Why did you need me, Daddy?"

"Well Kiddo," The Shinigami bent down so he could meet his son's eye level and hold a more serious conversation with him. "I think you've come of the right age that you should learn the Rules of a Shinigami. Every Shinigami needs to know them."

"But Dad! You said I'm not a true Shinigami yet! I thought that only happens when you die! You're not gonna die for a long time! ...Right?" The young Kid questioned his father.

"Don't worry, Kiddo I wasn't lying. It's just in case something happens and I want you to be prepared, okay?" He ruffled his son's hair. "Anyways, first of all, when you become a true Shinigami, you will be immortal. Shinigamis don't really 'die' in the true sense of the word. They simply move on once the next full Shinigami is ready, or if they would like to move on early, they can."

"You're not gonna move on early are you, Dad?" Kid asked.

"Of course not Kid!" The Shinigami reassured him, and then went on. "Next, you will be given my mask and cloak. Also, the power of all your attacks will be doubled and your weapons will immediately become death scythes."

"Cool!" The little boy shouted excitedly, with a big smile on his face.

"Not so fast Kiddo. Because of this you must give everything you have to try to protect all the people in Death City, and you must try not to kill anyone. Only if it is a dire situation or if you are collecting evil souls is this acceptable. Got it?"

"I got it, Dad." Kid said. Shinigami-sama was surprised that the boy was actually listening.

"Okay, just one last thing. The duty of a Shinigami is to collect the soul of a person once they have died. Luckily, this has changed a bit. You won't have to collect the souls of everyone who has died, only the people within a 30-mile radius of you. Otherwise, it would have been way too much work, but that is why we have so many death scythes to help us out."

"It should be an 88-mile radius..."The boy muttered to himself.

"What was that?"

"Nothing, Dad…"

Shinigami-sama continued. "Now this part is important, Kiddo, and I need you to pay close attention. This is how you collect souls. First, time will freeze for everyone but you, and you should be able to see the soul you need to collect clearly. Next, you walk towards it. Soon, you shouldn't be conscious of anything but you and the soul. Then, you take it and put it in your cloak. The soul should be absorbed directly into the cloak at first contact with it."

"What happens to the souls once they are in the cloak, Dad? Then what do you do with them?" Kid questioned curiously.

"Once the current Shinigami moves on, the souls in their cloak that they have collected throughout their lifetime will be released, along with their own." He answered. Shinigami-sama looked Kid square in the eye and tried to place special emphasis on what he was going to say next.

"It is essential that you never refuse to collect a soul, even if the person was a friend of yours. Understand? This will throw off the balance of life and death because of something selfish you refused to do. You must always collect the soul if the person has died. ALWAYS. Do you understand me, Kid?"

"Yes, Dad." Kid answered solemnly.

"Good," The Shinigami said, ruffling the child's hair once more. He smiled. "Well, do you think you've got all of that, Kiddo?"

"I…I think so." Death the Kid replied.

"You won't need to worry about it for awhile, but it's good that you know." Shinigami sighed, looking at his cute son who was glancing up at him with admiration. "Never grow up Kiddo. I love you."

It was the middle of the night. Liz slowly opened the door to Kid's room and peered inside. Kid was sleeping soundly. Liz gently closed Kid's door once more. She leaned on outside of the door and sighed with relief.

"Whatcha doing, Sis?"

Liz jolted away from the door and saw that Patty was standing in front of her. "Patty, you scared me! Why aren't you asleep?"

"I was going to get a glass of water and then I saw you come over here!" The girl said cheerfully. "Why are you here anyways?" Patty asked suspiciously, grinning like a madman.

"I was just checking in on Kid to make sure he got to sleep okay." Liz replied innocently, trying to ignore any weird thoughts her sister might be thinking. She decided to tell her sister her honest thoughts. "I… I'm a little worried about him, Patty. He seems to be a little bit depressed lately, with the recent shock of his Dad dying and all that. But, anyway, it's late and you should probably go back to bed." Liz tried to usher her sister back to her room.

"Aww, come on Sis! I'm all awake now!" Patty whined. "You're still up; can't I stay up a little longer?"

Liz sighed and gave in to her sister, who looked up at her with big puppy eyes. "Fine."

"Yay!" Patty yelled, jumping up and down with excitement.

"Just try not to wake anybody. Also, it would be nice if you could make something for Kid, maybe something that will cheer him up a little. Something symmetrical. Well, I'm going back to bed. I don't know about you, but I'm tired." Liz yawned.

"Okay!" Patty said, running to her room to grab supplies.

Liz shook her head. "Where does she get all that energy from?" She muttered to herself.

While Patty ran happily back towards her room, Liz still couldn't shake the awful feeling of worry for Kid surrounding her.

A/N: Plot will begin to pick up a lot in the next chapter. Please stick with me! :3 Read and Review! Constructive criticism accepted, but no flames please. Thank you. :3