Bittersweet

It was strange being in Death City again after so long, hell even being back on the planet was too. Nothing seemed to have changed that much, however. His departure didn't change a single thing, everyone had continued on with their own lives, except for his father and 'friends'. The young Shinigami hating being here but it was what he had to do. Hopefully, though, he could finish his business relatively fast and get out as soon as possible but he doubted it would be that simple.

One thing was for sure, it had apparently been easy to fool everyone with his performance, except for the twins. They had been with his whole time so he doubted they could be tricked but he could easily get to them to stay quiet. That way he could get what he wanted, he already was half way there. Hopefully no one would find out his true motives.

Death the Kid, knowing full well that no one was looking, couldn't help but grin as they approached the doors that lead into the Death Room. When Maka turned to look at him he instantly dropped the grin and it was replaced with a frown. He could sense that she knew something that none of the others knew… probably because her soul perception, but he didn't worry about that… for now. Slowly, the doors were opened and they entered the room.

"Yo~" Death said semi cheerfully before looking at Kid with wide eyes, "Kiddo-kun! So, they managed to find you…? I was starting to think they weren't going to find you... I thought…"

"Hello father," Kid spoke up quietly before chuckling softly and shook his head, "You shouldn't worry about me so much, I'm fully capable of surviving on my own, no matter how hard it is. Sorry about leaving so suddenly…"

Death wasn't stupid, he already had an idea that Kid wasn't as sincere as he was sounding. Still, he was relieved to see his son here and alive. The older Shinigami let out a sigh of relief.

"Everyone, would you please leave the room? I would like to speak to my son in private," Death said seriously and everyone did as he said, except for the twins who were being rather hesitant, "I'm sorry, but I want you two to leave as well."

Neither of them wanted to leave because they knew it wouldn't be a good thing. Leaving them alone was going to jeopardize Death's safety. They looked at each other seriously and with concern before speaking up, this time it was Patty who spoke.

"With all due respect, sir, I think it's best that we stay, pleassse?" Patty pleaded, however that did earn a glare from Kid. She was about to continue before she was cut off.

"I appreciate the concern but I'd still like you to leave, there are things I need to say to him in private…"

The sisters knew that there was no way avoiding it and they couldn't find it in themselves to ignore a direct order from the Shinigami. So, they slowly exited the room. However, they weren't going to let it go. Since they didn't trust Kid they needed to find Stein and warn him. At least this way they might be able to prevent anything from happening.

When Kid and Death were finally left alone, the room went deadly silent. Neither of them said a word at first and instead merely stared at each other.

"Kiddo-kun, we need to talk about what happened before you disappeared and what happened afterwards," Death said sadly as he moved closer towards Kid but still kept a distance as he did feel like there was something off, "I don't know how you got infected with the madness but it was clouding your judgement… You need to know that I regret having lied to you all that time, all I've ever done was try to care for you."

Death remembered everything that happened, not that it had been all that long. Everything from the moment Kid entered the room until the moment he left so suddenly. Speaking of, where had his son been all this time? He could only hope that Kid had been fighting the madness and more importantly, that the first fragment didn't get to him. Oh well, at least Kid was here now.

The older Shinigami stayed silent, hoping that he would get an answer from Kid. However, the younger Shinigami didn't say a single word. He sighed deeply.

"Look. I know that you weren't exactly happy with me but can you please something?" He asked with a frown, "Please tell me that the Kishin didn't find you…"

It was then that Kid finally returned his attention to Death. Honestly, all his 'father' had managed to do was irritate him even more than he already was. At least now he could see through the older Shinigami.

"You know, I wanted to come find you earlier, just to get things over but brother kept insisting that I wasn't ready yet," Kid muttered as he finally dropped the act, his whole appearance changing once more, "I do believe you when you say that you regret everything but I don't care about that anymore. In fact, I could care less what you think at all, I never did trust you in the first place."

The look on his father's only amused Kid and his frown slowly changed into a grin. It wasn't just the surprise but the absolute look of shame. After all, it was partially Death's fault that things had turned out this way. Either way, Kid wanted to make sure that Death felt the pain that he'd made him feel.

"What's the matter, father? Do you not approve of the change?" Death the Kid chuckled once more and took a few steps towards Death, "How does it feel to look at the monster you created? I meant that, too. Brother might have spread the madness but this is all your fault. In any case, I didn't come here to chat. So, do you have any last words before I finish you off?"

Death remained silent as he stared at his son with wide eyes. So, he was too late after all… That wavelength was much stronger than it had been before. The Kishin had definitely messed with Kid's mind and there was nothing he could have done to save him. Even worse, he felt like what Kid was saying was true. If he had been more aware of the madness sooner, he could have done something, or it would have been easier to tell Kid the truth before all of this. Things would be different if they would have managed to get to Kid first and not the Kishin…

Apparently Lord Death had remained silent for too long. So much so that the second fragment was already preparing to strike him. He would have tried to say something, however, he already noticed Stein standing behind Kid. Kid was obviously oblivious to the fact that the man was behind him. Then, before anything could be done, Stein hit Kid harshly in the back of the head, knocking him out.

"I guess those girls weren't lying after all," Stein sighed and shook his head as he looked down at Kid's unconscious body, "Sorry to intrude but the Thompson sisters were concerned enough to practically beg me to 'save' you. I guess I came just in time, are you okay?"

"I'm sure that if you hadn't come as soon as you did that I would have been in deep trouble, so thank you," Death replied sadly, "Honestly, I'm far from okay. My own son just tried to kill me for god's sake. This is all my fault…"

"Listen to me, none of this is your fault, so don't blame yourself," Stein said, slightly annoyed as he lifted the boy up and held him up over his shoulder, "The only one at fault here is the Kishin himself. He was the one who infected Kid. It's most likely that he sent the boy here, which means we have other things to worry about. Look, it might not take Kid very long to wake up and we need to properly contain him before he does."

"I know but that doesn't stop me from feeling guilty. He changed because of the rage he was feeling towards me and that bothers me," Death replied with a frown before nodding, "I agree and we'll have to get ready to deal with that, however, I need you to lock him up first. We can't have him waking up and trying to kill anyone. You know where to put him."

Stein nodded and since he didn't want to waste any more time, he quickly headed towards the door. The sooner the boy was contained the better.

Meanwhile on the moon, the Kishin felt like something happened to the younger fragment. Since there was a good distance between himself and Kid, he didn't have a complete idea as to what was going on. Maybe he would have to take a trip down there… Dammit, what's taking him so long?

|To anyone who reads my other stories, I'm sorry I haven't updated them! I hate writers block so much. xD Anyway, as usual, sorry for any errors and enjoy the chapter.|