Chapter 4:

Oblivion's Agenda – Wrath's Emotional Wall Collapses?

Kid sat in the classroom, awaiting Wrath's arrival with the rest of the students. But he had a bad feeling that something was very wrong. Where was she? She was nowhere to be seen. He was about to get up and look for her when he heard shouting outside. A couple of students hurried to the window, peering out to see Wrath limping up the stairs with a bloody leg and carrying a jar of those white orbs that were poltergeist cores. Kid got up from his seat, hurrying outside to see what was going on. He arrived in time to see Stein helping Wrath towards the infirmary and Sid taking the jar from her, the woman looking emotionally dead. "What happened?" Kid heard a student ask Sid.

"Nothing, just a small group of mid-level poltergeists tried to get the jump on her." Sid stated. "Everyone back to your classes!" he added, Kid managing to slip away to the infirmary to check on the girl. But when he arrived, he heard a voice that he did not recognize talking to Stein, and Stein was addressing this being as "Oblivion".

"You're taking over for her? Why?"

"Because she is emotionally unstable and a brat who is unable to handle the emotion you humans call love." The woman stated. "That Shinigami brat has her affection and its messing up her sense of duty. That's why she got caught so easily by those small-fry poltergeists." She scoffed.

"What is your agenda, Oblivion?"

"I have none." The woman laughed, and it was a chilling one void of any happiness. Only of contempt and sounding like it was a trained reaction not a natural one. "My only goal is to destroy the King for the wrong he did me while I was still alive."

"…" Stein rummaged for more bandages as he wrapped Wrath's leg, the woman in the girl's body not speaking again as he did so. "You harm her."

"It isn't my fault she gets hurt when she attacks me. We are bonded in such a way that makes us a symbiotic relationship. If she gets upset because of her irrational emotion and attacks me, then she injures herself in the process; that is all." She stated, pulling the covers over her legs and laying down on the bed. Stein rolled his chair away and began scribbling notes in Wrath's medical file as Kid stood at the door, not moving. He shook his head, turning to walk away. It was Wrath's emotion towards him that caused her to be injured? Why did it feel so painful to hear that coming from that other woman, Oblivion? Moreover, who the hell was she and why was her soul there in place of Wrath's? Kid took a second before heading off, walking down the hall as he contemplated this.

Meanwhile in the infirmary, Oblivion smirked, having sensed the Shinigami boy standing outside the door and purposely brought up his attachment to her host to cause trouble. But soon the woman receded back into Wrath and the girl regained control. She sat up and flinched at the injury on her leg, but she did not make a sound, simply staring at Stein as he scribbled and turned his screw a half-turn. "… Stein-hakase…"

"You're back?"

"Yes… my apologies if Oblivion has said anything unnecessary." She bowed her head to him.

"Don't worry about it… she's a troublesome spirit for you to have to deal with, isn't she?" he asked, turning to the girl. "Your mother spoke of how you used to have very vivid nightmares thanks to her…"

"Yes… I did…" she mumbled, nodding her head. "But even as her main host, I was unable to prevent Oblivion from causing my brother nightmares as well…" she hung her head a little. "It's awful… being unable to control her as my predecessors could." She shook her head. "All because I'm a girl…"

"Don't stress yourself out so much." Stein stated simply.

"… You say not to… but I have expectations to meet… I cannot fall short…" she shook her head, looking up at the white haired man. "… You're just like Mama said you were… She talked about you a lot…" she mumbled, looking suddenly very tired. Stein rolled over and had her lay back on the pillow, the girl passing out as soon as she closed her eyes.

"… and you're just like your mother…" he muttered, staring at her for a moment before turning away and getting back to work.

When Wrath was back on her feet, everyone was asking her questions about how she'd gotten the orbs from all those poltergeists without a weapon partner and how she was able to grab them with her bare hands since someone had seen her doing just that rather than shooting them and whatnot. She basically had someone tailing her all the time, so she began vanishing for periods of time and no one seemed able to locate her. Kid, who had been worrying about her for a long while and also wanting to clarify what he'd heard, was wandering around and finally came across Wrath sitting on the roof of a building. He cleared his throat to let her know he was there and walked over. "Good afternoon."

"Good afternoon, Kid." She replied, staring lifelessly out at the sky. "What brings you up here?"

"I was… looking for you." He stated simply. "You seemed upset and I wanted to see if you were in need of anything…?"

"Nothing but some time away from all those bothersome people who think there's some technique to what I do when its just because of my curse." She stated simply. "They want to fight poltergeists with their bare hands and keep pestering me to teach something I am incapable of teaching." She shook her head. "Its foolish to think it can be done by someone without ties to poltergeists and full knowledge of how they function as a being."

"So… essentially, they're trying to one up you?" he asked, sitting next to her.

"… I don't know…" she sighed, turning to him. "Anyway, what else is bothering you?" she asked him. She seemed to know something else was off, even though Kid was so composed about it all. "… Did you overhear what Oblivion was saying?"

"H-huh? W-well, um…"

"Its okay, don't worry about it." She shook her head. "Oblivion's words are harsh and brash, she never puts any restraint on herself when she talks of others." She sighed. "I apologize if something she said upset you." She bowed her head.

"N-no its not that…" he said, blushing a bit as he tried to figure out what exactly to ask. "But… um… she did mention something about… emotional attachment being an issue?"

"Ah, yes…" Wrath sighed. "Its why I've never had a relationship before… emotional attachment is unsafe for a joker to have… it causes dangerous fluctuations in our souls and leaves space for poltergeists to enter and ensnare us…" she looked back at the sky. "… its always been that way…" Kid's heart dropped a little at the mention of that, but he seemed in a way understand. That wasn't necessarily the best way to go about it, but he supposed it was deemed safer, in case a loved one ever became possessed by a poltergeist or something along those lines.

"I see…" he nodded, feeling worried for her still. "I'll um… I'll head back down then… will I see you teaching class tomorrow?"

"Yes." She responded, turning to him and smiling. "… Thank you for listening, Kid."

"No, thank you for sharing." They both turned away, feeling a twinge of sadness before Kid went downstairs, Wrath biting the inside of her cheek as she heard Oblivion taunting her. She hated it when the spirit was able to get to her this way, it made the playing field uneven in Oblivion's favor. It made it easier for Oblivion to come out. But Wrath managed to stave her off and instead got up and began some physical training to keep her mind off of it.

Days went by and Wrath was seen less and less often, until one day she didn't show up to teach classes. Her students were the first to get up and leave, heading straight for Wrath's housing. Maka, Soul, Kid, Black Star, Tsubaki, Liz, and Patty followed them. "What's going on?" Maka asked.

"We're hoping its nothing." Tia said. "But sometimes…"

"Sometimes this happens, and Miss Ryugazaki's arguments with Oblivion get to be too much and she ends up hurting herself badly or locking herself in her head to keep Oblivion from taking over."

"Oblivion? What's that?" Tsubaki asked, looking confused.

"That would be the spirit that inhabits her… gives her the namesake of Oblivion Joker." Yuuji stated as they arrived at the door. Aki opened it and they went in, searching all around for Wrath. Liz and Patty found her in her closet, collapsed on the floor and bleeding from the stomach. Tia immediately ran to get a medical kit and Yuuji and Aki moved Wrath to the couch.

"Does this happen a lot?" Soul asked.

"Only when Oblivion really gets on Wrath's case and she's too bored to do other stuff." Yuuji stated, letting Aki and Tia bandage up Wrath as the girl came to.

"Sorry… I was careless again…" Wrath coughed, cringing in pain. "I let Oblivion's words get to me…"

"She must have really pissed you off for you to have gone for the stomach." Tia stated, helping Aki apply some medication. "What did she say?"

"Nothing I am willing to repeat." Wrath shook her head, noticing the others in the room. "Skipping school just because I wasn't teaching?" she asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"This isn't the time for that." Satoshi scolded Wrath. There was a short while of too many people talking at once, then Kid walked over to Wrath and knelt next to her, causing everyone in the room to quiet down a little.

"You're alright, then?"

"Yes, I am." Wrath nodded at Kid's question, smiling a little. "I'm sorry if you were worrying… you seem to do that a lot." She pat his head, looking very calm. "Thank you for your concern." She added.

"Not at all." Kid's cheeks were slightly pink. "Will you be alright if we leave you by yourself, or... do you want someone to stay here and watch over you?"

"We've all got afternoon training so we can't~!" Aki exclaimed, grabbing the other 3 students from the GHA and nearly running out of the room. Liz and Patty followed suit, not needing an excuse to leave their meister alone with the girl he was obviously fond of. Maka and Soul walked out with Tsubaki and Black Star in tow, seeming to kind of get what was going on (except of course Black Star).

"… That was fast." Wrath blinked, turning to Kid and smiling a little. "Even though we already had this conversation, they seem to still want to get us together."

"Yeah." Kid smiled a little sadly. "I'm sorry, I'll go talk to them."

"… Wait." Wrath grabbed Kid's wrist as he got up to leave, her cheeks tinting pink. "Just because Oblivion calls being in love a weakness doesn't mean I think the same way…" she stated. "… So… if you ever want to try… anything, really." She looked up at him. "I wouldn't mind…" she blushed more. "S-sorry." She let go of his hand and stared down at her lap. "That was impulsive of me… If you want to leave, please feel free…"

"… N-no its alright." Kid blushed a little too, sitting back down. "Are you… going to be okay?"

"Yes, I will be okay…" she managed a small smile. "… um… I'm really sorry if anything Oblivion said was too much…"

"You've already apologized for her enough." Kid shook his head. "But…" he paused, looking over at her. "If it isn't too much trouble to ask you for a favor?"

"Of course not. Please, ask away." She replied, tilting her head. "What is it?"

"… If I could ask you to… explain more about the poltergeists, so that I may be of some use incase something happens again…" his cheeks tinted pink. "A-and in exchange, I can do something for you." He stated. "Be it treating you to a meal, or showing you around the city more, or-"

"That would be lovely." Wrath's smile got a little bigger. "Whatever you see fit for compensation, I will accept." She added, bowing her head slightly to Kid. "Now, where would you like me to begin my explanation, Kid?"

((Another Chapter up~ I hope you like this one- ; u ;''

It took me a while to think of what to write, and its a little shorter than I normally would have written, so I'm sorry about that...

But I do hope that you're all having a wonderful Christmas / Holidays and that you all have a wonderful New Year as well~

Next time, we'll have some fun stuff happening~ Look forward to it please~

-Winter Cheshire))