Never Ending Nightmares

You have nowhere to run to, second fragment, so why do you keep running?

Once again, those all too familiar flesh-like scarves were tightly attached to Death the Kid's feet but that didn't stop him from attempting to swim up out of this dark water. He had to get out no matter what. Death the Kid didn't want to know what would happen if he would just allow those scarves to drag him down. Whatever it was, his conscience was telling him that it wouldn't be good at all.

Foolish fragment, you are only making it harder on yourself, don't you want to free of this pain?

No, leave me alone! I don't know who you are but I don't want you here! Kid shook his head violently in attempt to get this voice out of his head but that was impossible. The voice was everywhere. In his own mind and he couldn't escape. Stop it, stop it, stop it!

Suddenly all Kid could hear was insane cackling as the scarves tightened their hold and pulled even harder. He shook his legs frantically in attempt to shake them off, which once more did nothing but making it worse.

Nothing can save you from the madness, once it's got a hold on you, it will never let you go.

I don't know what you are talking about! I'll never let the madness take me! The young Shinigami was screaming at the top of his longs at this moment and before he could be fully dragged down, his eyes open and he finds himself once more sitting up in his bed. Sweat was running down his face and his breathing was heavy.

At this rate Death the Kid felt like he wasn't ever going to get any sleep. It had now been weeks since this started happening and ever since then he hasn't gotten a single good night's sleep. In fact, every time he closed his eyes he would see him. That man that was haunting his dreams, or in this case nightmares. It had gotten to the point that Kid was terrified to even fall asleep because every time he felt like he was slowly getting pulled down deeper and deeper.

He got out of bed and sighed as he headed towards the bathroom to properly groom himself. Once he looked at his reflection he could once again see those five black lines. It's almost as if they were there every time he looked. So, the young Shinigami tried to look away from his mouth and focused on his hair. Speaking of that, his hair was absolute mess, even more than the usual asymmetry. He quickly fixed that and started to leave, only looking over his shoulder once to get a second glance at himself.

"Oh, hey look, Kid is finally out of his room," Patty said excitedly and clapped her hands, "I was afraid that we were going to have to go up there and drag you out of bed!"

Liz did not share her sister's excitement. She could easily see that Kid had another rough night, the blackness around his lower eyelids were proof. Also, she could have sworn she had heard him screaming again in his sleep. It had been weeks now and he didn't look any better, in fact, he looked worse but she decided not to comment. Not like he would tell her anything anyway.

"Yeah, it's about damn time you got out of bed, are you aware of what time it is?" Liz snapped at Kid, who seemed surprised by her reaction, "We're already late for school, you know! This is the second time this week."

Death the Kid blinked and looked at the time, it was 8:30. He internally cursed to himself at the asymmetry before groaning. Dammit, this was becoming a bad habit, wasn't it?

"I'm sorry I took so long but no need to worry, I'm already and we can get going," He beamed (acting) and smiled brightly at his weapons, whom for the most part seemed content, "We shouldn't keep anyone waiting any longer than they should have to. I bet they're missing me!"

Liz merely rolled her eyes at him. At least he was acting normal for the first time in a while but she still watched him closely. She returned the smile, as did the extremely excited Patty. Patty jumped up and clapped her hands, which made both Kid and Liz chuckle. The trio then finally took off.

At the Academy

Stein's class had already started by the time the 'happy little' trio showed up. Of course, he was irritated by their lateness and waited for them to sit down to say anything but first rose an eyebrow at the somewhat peppy looking Death the Kid.

"What are you doing here, Kid? Were you not told to see your father?" Stein inquired, "If you haven't been there yet you need to go ASAP. Liz and Patty, next time try not to be late, okay? I will excuse you this time but I'll be paying attention more frequently."

Death the Kid was surprised when his father was mentioned. He had no idea that his father asked for him. Why would he ask for him, anyway? The young Shinigami sighed and simply nodded as he stood up. Whatever he wanted, it was rather rude of him to keep his father waiting. He left the room and headed towards the Death room.

Maka watched and company watched as Kid left the room. At least he seemed like himself now, right? She couldn't help but smile at the thought. Maybe he was getting better after that last incident. Wishful thinking.

"He looks a lot better today doesn't he," Soul commented quietly so that he wouldn't be heard by Stein, "Phew, that's a relief. Dude needs to seriously chill because sometimes he worries me."

Death Room

Kid entered the room, quietly closing the door behind him before he advanced forward. Lord Death then turned around to face his son and if one could see underneath his mask, he was smiling at him.

"You wanted me, Father?" Kid asked and rose an eyebrow at him, "I assume it was something important since I had to leave class to come and see you."

"Well, hey there, Kiddo-kun," Lord Death aid brightly as he held up one of his hands to hold up a peach sign, "Why does it have to be an important matter just to see my adorable son? I just wanted to see how you've been! Liz says you haven't been sleeping that well in the last few weeks."

Liz had been talking to his father about him? Was she really that worried about him? He didn't understand why anyone was worried about him. It's not like he was making his troubles known, especially to his father.

"Well, I only assumed because every time you have called me it's been for some important matter and not just to see me," Kid muttered and shook his head at his father, "What she said was true but I don't really see why that's a problem. I may not have gotten much sleep but I assure you, I'm perfectly fine."

Lord Death wasn't born yesterday. He knew that something was still bothering Kid because he simply couldn't be fooled that easily. There was something that Kid wasn't telling him, or anyone at all.

"But I do worry about you, Kiddo-Kun," Lord Death said, his tone turning serious, "A couple weeks ago, you were brought in here because Soul found you unconscious on the floor. Liz said that you were acting a bit funny that day too and so did Stein. Care to explain all that?"

Death the Kid squinted his eyes to glare at his father, but only for a second before putting on a bright smile, "That whole day was weird in general. I just had a nightmare but that was all. I don't see why everyone is so worried about that. It only happened once."

"Kiddo-kun, I know there is something you aren't telling me. You know that you can talk to me about anything," Death said, frowning deeply, "From what I've heard, today is the first day you've acted remotely normal."

Okay, this managed to annoy Kid. The fact that everyone was practically talking about him behind his back was unacceptable. If they had things to say, why didn't they just say it to his face and not rat out to his father. Not to mention the fact that his father was no better. Kid knew for a fact that his father was hiding plenty things from him. He knew more about things than he showed.

"I can tell you everything? I'll start talking when you stop lying to me," Kid snapped and shook his head, "I know there are things you aren't telling me so why should I tell you a damn thing? I wish everyone would quit talking about me.

The second fragments sudden change in tone caught Death by surprise. Kid never rose his voice, ever and if he did it was never this bad. Yes, he knew plenty but he simply refused to tell his son out of fear that he would turn out like the first fragment.

Death cleared his throat and spoke clearly and calmly, despite how he was feeling, "Kiddo, I know that you're probably not too happy with me about that but you must know that I do that for your own good. Everyone is just worried about you is all, so will you please calm down?"

The younger Shinigami clenched his fists tightly. He couldn't believe it, his father admitted that he was hiding things from him but refused to say any of it? Was it because his father didn't trust him or was it something selfish?

"I'm going to say exactly what I said when I first came, I'm perfectly fine so do me a favor and just drop it," Kid said as calmly as he could, "Now if that's all you wanted me for I think I'll just take my leave, goodbye father."

Without even hearing his father out, Kid headed out of the door, leaving the older Shinigami speechless. Looks like he isn't getting any better but what is he not telling us? I wish Kid would just open up for once.

Okay, so here is the second chapter! It may not be great but I kind of like it. Anyway, I'll get to the next chapter eventually but until then, here you go! Thank to those of you who reviewed!|