Oh my gosh. These chapters keep running long! Oh well, I don't think you guys mind… Right?
Robin stopped running, a determined look on his face as he contemplated his next actions. He'd killed dozens of Rotters with no problem before, what were three humans? Besides, two of them were girls… But Maka was a girl… He shivered at the thought of underestimating Maka. He had never actually seen her in action, but Kid sure made it seem like she was someone to respect and if he didn't respect her, well; he had seen Kid when he was angry… He shuttered again. Now it was his turn. He was gonna show them how powerful he was. He turned, snarling in the process and reached down to pull a descent sized blade from its place tucked in his sock. He gave the small group a menacing sneer as he held it tightly, combat style, knowing his expression could make milk curdle. The three trespassers stopped, furrowing there brows at such an action from a small child. "Leave. Us. Alone." He growled, shocked at how deadly he was able to make his voice sound.
"Aww, look at the little bloke! He's so cute!" The male sneered, smirking slightly, crouching down to Robin's level. The young boy only tightened his grip on the blade that was dangerously close to the older man's face.
"Robin!" The small boy's death glare wavered at the blonde meisters voice.
"Maka, I got this." He said, his voice lighter in respect towards the green eyed girl, but still had a threatening edge. These intruders needed to learn not to judge a book by its cover.
"N-No, Robin-"
"M-Maka?! One of the girls, she seemed to be the eldest of the two trespassers, gasped. She sounded if she might start crying.
"Maka, is it-?" The small boy, still in his combat stance, heard Kid's voice falter, and when the two girls in front of him began getting lower and lower to the ground in tears, Robin relaxed from his position.
"L-Liz, Patty!" Kid yelled, running to his twin pistols, his knees almost failing, causing him to trip over his feet; but he was already in front of the girls and his trip could've easily been mistaken for him stooping down to their level.
"Kid…" Liz said, wrapping her trembling arms around her meister. Maka stood back, smiling and placing a reassuring hand on Robin's tense shoulder. Liz looked up, seeing the blonde meister and rushed to give her a bone crushing hug as well. "Maka! How did you guys… We thought everyone else was…" Liz stepped back, trying to form a complete sentence. Maka just nodded, she understood.
"Uhmm… Maka?" Robin muttered, taking a few steps back form the scythe meister. She looked down to see Patty inches from the blue eyed boy's face, poking his cheek. Liz seemed to notice the child too and looked from her meister to Maka, an eyebrow raised.
"Maka and Kid had a baby!" Patty squealed, continuing to poke the irritated child, who looked as if he would snap any minute.
"Uhm, Patty, I don't think that's a good idea…" Kid muttered, ignoring her comment and moving a now growling Robin out of the blonde's reach.
"Yeah, uh, Patty? I don't think they've had enough time for that." Liz stated, though she did note that if circumstances were different, the child's mousey features did favor Maka's… And then the raven black hair… She shook her head, throwing away the foolish thoughts. "But really, who is he?" She stooped down to his level, offering a kind smile that wasn't returned. Robin furrowed his brow, giving the girl dirty looks while partially hiding behind Kid's leg. "He's so cute." Liz almost squealed, failing to feel the full effect of his death glare.
"I'll show you cute…" Robin spat under his breath, marching up to the fawning pistol only to be held back by something grabbing his shirt. He turned to find that Maka had a fist full of his shirt and shook her head disapprovingly. Robin rolled his eyes with a huff and stopped his advance.
After greeting his two weapons, Kid let his eyes wonder to the third member of their party who had stayed silent. He let a smirk play on his face as he took in the familiar sandy brown hair and blue eyes. Staz. He was to be trusted, he had kept the girls safe after all. "It's good to see you again." The reaper said, holding out a hand.
Staz gave a quirky half smirk and shook Kid's hand. "Same to you."
Maka smiled as she walked up next to Kid and looked up at the brunette. "Hey, Kid. You think we should check him for guns?" She joked and thankfully Staz caught the humor and held up his hands in a surrendering motion.
"That's not me, miss, honest." He laughed. "I'm not all that keen on guns. That's Riz."
With that, Maka let her face completely fall. The memory bombarded her like a ton of bricks. The adrenaline rushing through her veins as she fought side by side with the two boys she trusted her life to. The feeling of dread once she realized they were completely overwhelmed. She felt a shadow of the pain that had shot up her ankle. She remembered the friendly smile Riz had gave her in his final moments, a peace offering of redemption, only to have the teeth of the undead bite into his flesh. The screams and cries for help that were let out just before Blackstar had kill him in mercy.
Kid noticed Maka's sudden shift in emotions, and apparently so did Staz. "You alright, miss?"
Maka blinked a few times before coming back to reality. He doesn't know his brother is gone. She put on a fake smile and nodded her head. This was a time to celebrate. Now was not the time to share something like this.
After a very brief catch up; Maka went back to retrieve her abandoned hook and line to find a very decent sized catfish tugging at the end of it. Deciding to stay a few hours more to try their new found luck, the blonde meister and her friends returned to Maka and Kid's camp with the small crappie, two catfish and a small mouth bass.
Out of the crowd, it was no surprise that only Maka and Staz knew how to properly clean and prepare the fish. Thankfully, this night didn't seem to hold the same bone chilling qualities as the night before; in fact, the weather was quite pleasant, if not only slightly chilly. Robin climbed up and down nearby trees while playing with Theif, Staz sat contently quiet on one side of the fire preparing the bass with Patty looking over his shoulder, Liz perched on a small fallen log between Staz and her meister as she idly picked at her nails and Kid watched in amazement, and disgust, as Maka took the sharpest knife available and began to decapitate one of the catfish. "I never knew a fish could have so much… Blood. And that smell!" He inched closer to the meister to get a better look, but didn't offer to help once as he wrinkled his nose.
Maka just smiled, not particularly caring if she had any assistance. It really was a one person job, after all. "Yeah, it does kind of have a distinct smell; but trust me, once you start eating, I promise the smell will be the last thing you worry about." As if on queue, Kid's stomach made a pitiful gurgling noise, earning a laugh from both meisters.
"You're not much of a girl, are you?" Kid pondered, letting the words slip out of his mouth before making a complete thought in his head. He automatically wished he hadn't.
Maka paused, gave him a mockingly offended glare and elbowed him in the side of the arm, careful not to sling the fish guts that now resided in her hands. "What do you mean I'm not a girl?" She smirked and raised an eyebrow.
"No, I mean, you're a girl of course." He paled, trying to search for a deeper meaning that may or may not exist for what he had just said. "I guess I mean… You're not like other girls. In a good way!" He tacked on the last part, trying to avoid another elbow to the arm.
"Ok then, I have the right to say you're not like other boys, shinigami." She smiled though her eyes were focused on the fish carcass in front of her. "In a good way."
The two meisters chit chatted and laughed for awhile, but this didn't go unnoticed by a certain demon pistol. Liz smirked as she saw the connection between the two that had never been there before. Sure, maybe it was just that tough times and pulled strings had brought friendships closer than they would have been otherwise, but this was the first time Kid ever actually… well… flirted with a girl. And she was almost positive she had never heard him giggle before this night. It was almost as if Kid had subconsciously found himself some sort of scrapped together family; he had Maka as his wife, Robin as their child and they even had a little kitten. Liz squealed inwardly at the cuteness. After their conversation had obviously died down and Maka and Staz where just about done cleaning the fish, the sun had just peaked behind the trees to be replaced with the mysterious grinning moon. Now was as good a time as ever.
Liz stood up from her place on the log and stretched a little. "Hey Kid?" She called, earning the black haired boy's attention from the now filleted fish and scythe meister. "Do you think you could take me back down to that stream we had met at? I figured I might as well wash some of our clothes and let them dry overnight and I don't really remember the way down there…" Finding nothing wrong with the request, Kid complied, retrieving a few weapons as the older sister retrieved a few articles of clothing out of her own backpack.
After the two had gotten a safe distance from the camp, Liz rounded on her meister. "Alright, Kid. Spill it." She smirked in the dark.
"Spill? Spill what?" Wow, he really was clueless. Liz sighed, she supposed she would have to spell it out for him.
"Well, I can see you and Maka... You guys kinda have a thing."
Kid paused for a second, the only sound heard was crickets and the soft steps of the two teens. "A… Thing?" The way he said it made it obvious he had no idea what she was talking about. "Liz, I'm sorry, but I don't understand what you're trying to say."
"You like Maka!" She hissed, trying to keep her voice down, knowing anything could be out there listening to them.
"Yeees." Kid drew out, Liz could almost hear an eyebrow rising in his voice. "Of course I like Maka. She's a very respectable person and a formidable fighter. Plus, her optimist personality makes it difficult not to-"
"No, Kid." Liz interrupted. "You like like her. I mean… Like…" She started getting flustered over her own words. "You like her more than a friend." She tried.
Silenece. More silence, though Liz was sure she could hear the wheels turning in his head. "Oh." He finally spoke, though it was almost inaudible. "Oh." He said a bit louder this time. "No I don't." Kid deadpanned.
"Do too." Liz smirked as she mentally poked at her meister's mind.
"Do not." He replied simply.
"Do too." Liz said, almost in a laugh by now as they reached the side of the small stream.
"I'm not going to stand here and play these childish games with you, Liz. Maka is merely a cherished friend of mine and I refuse to see her as anything more." Kid retorted as he stood back and let his weapon clean her laundry.
"It's ok, Kid. Really. Maka's a really sweet girl; I'm surprised you two didn't hook up before. You both… read." She finished lamely, punctuating her words with splashing and silence accordingly.
"So you're suggesting just because we read we should 'hook up'?" Kid asked, though his voice seemed to hold no emotion.
"No, no, no." Liz shook her head. "You're missing the point. I think you and Maka seem to… kind of… connect somehow. You guys just seem to fit, ya know?"
"No, not really."
Liz sighed again. "Typical guy…" She muttered to herself as she wrung out the last of her clothes. She figured she had one last chance to get to Kid before he completely tuned her out and wrote it of as her having a 'teenage girl moment'. "Hey Kid?"
"What is it, Liz?" He said airily.
"Have you ever noticed how… symmetrical Maka is?" She tried. Kid was quiet, but he did seem to be pondering the thought.
"No… I suppose I haven't," he finally answered turning back towards camp and falling in step with his weapon. Liz mentally shook her head as he dropped the conversation. It was worth a try… She thought bitterly as the silence engulfed the two.
The smell of freshly cooked fish was evident in the air yards away from their camp and Kid's stomach began to grumble. He went and sat back in his seat next to Maka upon return and smiled gratefully as she handed him his share of the fish. He did a double take after the scythe meister had turned away and cocked his head slightly. Huh.
She really is symmetrical.
Awww! Kiddo-kun!I figured I should post this tonight since I sorta left yall with a big cliffhanger ^^'
Replies~!
Jeagar's Paradise- Yes! I was thinking about it and was like 'wow… I bet Kidd didn't really learn much about the outdoors or camping because he was too busy doing rich kid stuff…' XD thus hopeless Kidd was born!
Checkered Brooke- Yes, those cliffhangers are something aren't they? *evil grin* Forgot about Staz did we? Hahaha, I thought I would bring him back. I have something special planned.
88EvilnBored88- Absolutely not. I wouldn't take another actual character and deem it as my own; I've only ever reused names like I did with Staz. Robin is a completely original character from my own noggin, I just think little kids with messy black hair and blue eyes are adorable and I also liked the name Robin for a male. Thus Robin was born!
Carifoo2001- Don't worry, Kid and Maka will get their alone time. *evil grin* And the Rotters have been… Well… You'll find out later, plus Robin killed a few and they always have a fire going so, you know… The smell. But there really is a bigger reason why... But you'll know in later chapters.
Art n' Music- … Partially right! This would make an interesting side movie… It would defiantly make us KiMa fans happy! Haha and Liz actually made note of that little family in this chapter XD
DeathTheKidsDinosaurRawr- O.M.G. I. WANT. A. HUSKY. No joke, I've always. ALWAYS wanted a husky o.o you're so lucky… (it's all cool. Its fun to get off topic sometimes.)
Evilkatnyah- Sweet! We hardly ever catch anything where we go, so the catfish was a big deal XD and Kidd really doesn't know how to do anything dirty?... Haha I'm sorry, I had a really good laugh at that, though I know what you meant XD And you did see a little fluff there! Haha in my opinion, I do believe Kidd was having a teenage boy moment, but we just won't tell Maka that…