Black-Star watched as Tsubaki took the red kishin soul and swallowed it whole, making the same face of struggle she has been for the past thirteen years. You'd think after all of this time, eating souls wouldn't be such a big deal. Then again, Black-Star didn't have to swallow something the size of his palm every time they killed a kishin wanna-be.
"I'm too old to be dealing with half-wits like him." Black-Star scoffed as Tsubaki went back over to him.
"What does that make me, then? I'm older than you." Tsubaki laughed a little.
"We'll be old together." Black-Star chuckled.
"I don't think Maka and Soul would agree with that." Tsubaki tightened her ponytail as she spoke. "We're all about the same age and Maka's not ready to be called 'grandma' yet."
"Her little girl is growing pretty fast." Black-Star had a small smile as he thought about the three-month-old. She was a bundle of joy and was already a handful at her age, getting into everything and driving her parents insane. He was growing very attached to Kiara. "How about we pop them a visit on the way home?" Black-Star asked as the two walked up to a window display of a closed shop.
"We should send them a text or call them first. I'm sure a sudden visit would not be very welcomed." Tsubaki said as Black-Star huffed some air against the window and wrote with his finger in the fog.
"Soul would get a kick out of it." Black-Star grinned as the window refracted unknown light and soon showed the image of a young man. "Hey, Kiddo."
"Greetings, Black-Star. I assume your assignment went well?" Death the Kid asked.
"Doesn't it always?" Black-Star chuckled proudly. "You doing anything right now?"
"When am I not doing anything?" Kid sighed softly.
"How about you take a break and come visit Maka and Soul with us?"
"I can't simply drop everything that I'm doing. I have too much to do with little time."
"We never get to see you anymore, Kiddo. It's like you've been avoiding all of us like the plague or something."
"I have not been-"
"Bullshit!" Black-Star cursed, cutting Kid off and making the shinigami huff with annoyance. "You haven't seen your own godchild once since she was born! One visit! Would one visit kill you!?" The star ran a hand through his blue hair. "We practically live next to each other and I haven't seen you in person for half a year!"
"Kid's been busy." Tsubaki said, trying to calm down her meister.
"It's nice to know that he can't take five seconds out of his oh-so-busy schedule to say hello to his best friends." Black-Star said harshly. "Liz and Patty say hi, by the way. Since you haven't even acknowledged their existence in over a week."
"Black-Star, that's enough, please." Tsubaki tried again.
"You've been a real ass since Lord Death died!" Black-Star froze up when he realized what he said and heard Tsubaki gasp. "Wait, Kiddo, I-"
"Goodbye, Black-Star." Kid said before his image disappeared and left Black-Star staring at an empty display.
"I'm sorry." Black-Star said to the window. The two adults stood there in silence for what felt like forever before Black-Star threw his head back and let out a frustrated grunt and plopped down on the ground "I feel like such a dick!"
"That was kind of a low-blow." Tsubaki admitted.
"It's been three years, you'd think he'd be somewhat over it."
"Losing a parent is a big deal."
"I know and It's something that I'll never fully understand. I Never knew my mother or my real father and Sid's a zombie so I won't be losing him anytime soon. I just want Kiddo to be Kiddo again, is that such a selfish thing?"
"We all want Kid to be himself again but everyone mourns differently. The only thing we can do is be there for him and support him."
"We've been supporting him for three years and what have we gotten out of it? Nothing. Jack-shit."
Black-Star stared up at the starry sky, the memory of Lord Death's passing still fresh in his mind. There was no reasoning behind it. He wasn't hurt or sick or nothing. He just summoned Kid to his office and hugged his son before becoming a cloud of black smoke that Kid ended up absorbing, at least that's the story they managed to get out of Kid between his sobs. They've all seen Kid breakdown before because of his obsessive compulsive disorder but those were usually easy to calm down by either fixing the problem or helping Kid to cope through it and accept it into his life with less stress. The first option was usually the one they went with. But seeing Kid bawl for hours, having a hard time breathing because of how hard he was sobbing and only able to coax a few words out of him at a time before another fit happened. It actually scared Black-Star a little, seeing one of his best friends suffering like that. His OCD went mad after that and for a good year Kid would spend many hours washing himself and everything surrounding him every day before he could even think straight and deal with the now endless amount of work and responsibilities he has to do as the new Lord Death. Everyone close to him still referred to him as Kid but newer members and people who don't know him that well now call him by his new title.
"He'll come back, he just needs time." Tsubaki held a hand out.
"How long does he need?" Black-Star took the offered hand and stood back up.
"However long it takes." Tsubaki shrugged. "Do you still want to visit Soul and Maka?"
"Please." Black-Star sighed.
Black-Star and Tsubaki walked in silence. Passing by strangers who were either on a stroll or heading home after a long day. No interactions, not a single person stopped them. Black-Star couldn't help from thinking in the back of his mind why no one would even look at them. They even seemed to be avoiding any form of eye-contact with them. They have saved this city thousands of times before and have saved the world several times as well. You'd think they'd at least get a 'hello' or a wave or even a smile from someone. But they were treated like they weren't there. They were just an invisible force that handled what they didn't want to deal with. The police don't even accept them as help and simply leave if they or others from the DWMA arrive. Black-Star would never understand how 'normal' people worked.
"Hey, guys!" Maka greeted with a large smile when she opened the door. "Come in, come in, what are you doing here?" Maka lead the two into her home.
"We just finished a mission and decided to drop by." Tsubaki explained.
"There's my little warrior!" Black-Star went over to Kiara, who was laying on a blanket on the ground. Soul was on his knees next to his daughter and was trying to get her to play with a rattle.
"Hey, Black-Star." Soul chuckled.
"How are you doing, man?" Black-Star asked, waving a finger towards Kiara.
"Haven't slept in three months but other than that, I'm great." Soul sat the rattle down and lowered himself down to his rear. Black-Star made an 'oop' sound when Kiara grabbed his finger.
"She's a strong girl." Black-Star said, moving his finger and smiling when Kiara giggled.
"Just like her mom." Soul said as Tsubaki and Maka joined them, sitting on the couch in the small living room.
"Any new news from Kid, you two just finished a mission, right? Did you speak with him?" Maka asked. She saw the look on Black-Star's face and gave a questioning to Tsubaki.
"We spoke to him after the mission and...it didn't go well." Tsubaki started playing with her hands.
"What happened?"
"I snapped." Black-Star admitted, gently taking his finger away from Kiara. The infant made a sound and started waving her hands at the star.
"What did you say?" Soul picked up Kiara when she started to whine.
"I was saying how it was bull..." Maka gave Black-Star a warning stare. "It was stupid that we never get to see him anymore and after a few unwise things were said, I mentioned Lord Death's passing."
"That was stupid." Soul said.
"I know it was." Black-Star sighed.
"He looks fine. If that's what you were wondering. He looks like he's eating and sleeping properly." Tsubaki said, trying to cheer them up a little.
"Speaking of eating." Soul handed the now crying Kiara to Maka.
"How long do you have to do that?" Black-Star asked out of curiosity as Maka adjusted herself and started breastfeeding Kiara.
"It's honestly hard to say." Maka answered. "Every doctor says something different and looking it up on the web is just a nightmare."
"Didn't you say something about a seven plan?" Soul said, sitting down next to his wife.
"They say a lot of mothers breastfeed alone for the first seven months, then feed the breast milk to the baby from a bottle along with other foods until you think they don't need it anymore." Maka explained.
"Baby's are complicated." Black-Star said.
"Could have fooled me." Maka said with a light laugh. "But it's all worth it."
"I'm not sure about having kids of my own, then again it matters on who I end up with. If I end up with anyone, that is." Tsubaki chuckled.
"There's no rush." Maka said.
"I'm twenty-seven, my clock's running out." Tsubaki laughed.
"I'm only two years younger than you and my clock's gonna tick for a long time." Maka said with a wink.
"So, Black-Star...Black-Star?" Soul noticed that his best friend was staring out the window. "You okay there, dude?"
"I'll meet you at home, Tsubaki. I'm going for a walk." Black-Star stood up.
"Are you-"
"Don't worry, I'll be fine." Black-Star left before anyone else could speak up.
Black-Star casually walked for the first five minutes, making sure that there was plenty of room between him and the house before he took off in a dead sprint. The streets were almost empty at that point and he only passed by several people as he headed straight for the DWMA building.
The star took in a couple of deep breaths to calm his racing heart as he walked down the large hallway, emergency lights being the only thing that let him see down the dim path. He didn't really need them since he knew this entire academy better than the back of his own hand and could travel through it with his eyes shut. He finally reached the red door he was heading for. Black-Star pressed his ear to the door and heard soft steps and the occasional sigh from the other end. The star opened the door and stepped in.
"Thank you, Abagail, enjoy your evening." Kid's voice echoed in the large room as Black-Star traveled down the path that led to the center of the room. "What do you want, Black-Star?" Kid asked, his back to the other man.
"Just wanted to check in." Black-Star said and stepped up to the circle level Kid stood on.
"I believe you've done enough today." Kid's reflection wasn't in the mirror he was in front of.
"I'm sorry for what I said earlier." Black-Star went to the side of the shinigami but Kid turned away so the star couldn't see his face.
"Hearing an apology from you is a rare thing." Kid stated.
"I've been getting better over the years." Black-Star weakly chuckled.
"Why are you here?"
"Like I said before, I just wanted to check on you."
"I don't need 'checked on'. I am Lord Death. I check on others and make sure this world doesn't go mad."
"Then why do you sound like you've been crying?"
"I have not-" Black-Star grabbed Kid's shoulder and made the other man face him.
"You sure look like you have been."
"Leave me alone." Kid removed Black-Star's hand from his shoulder and wiped away the remaining tears in his eyes.
"You know I'm too stubborn to do that."
"Sadly, I know you're not wrong." Kid let out a loud sigh. "I know I've been an ass, it's just still hard after all of this time and with everything that I have to deal with, I don't have time to take care of myself and get over this."
"That's why we're here, Kiddo. Let us help. Maka's a genius, Soul's a graceful social swan, Tsubaki is the kindest person in the world, Patty's extremely brave, Liz has the best street smarts out of all of us and I'm a total badass. We can handle some of the work and make your life easier."
"Why did I never think of this before?" Kid said with a teasing tone.
"Because you're almost as stubborn as me." Black-Star offered as an answer.
"I didn't think that was ever possible." Kid chuckled.
"As did I." Black-Star laughed. "So how about we go down to Soul's and Maka's and say hello to our godchild?"
"That sounds-" Kid stopped when there was a loud pop and the lights went out.
"Creepy." Black-Star felt Kid grab the sleeve of his t-shirt and allowed himself to be lead out of the room.
"How?" Kid said as the two saw that the entire academy was now in darkness. "Something must have malfunctioned." He said out loud and went back into the room. Black-Star heard soft counting under Kid's breath until they stepped up onto the level. "The only time my OCD came in handy." Kid pressed his hand against the cool glass. "Sid? Sid, are you down there? Sid?"
"It's not like him to not answer." Black-Star said and took out his phone.
"Professor Stein? Marie? Justin? Anyone?" Kid removed his hand. "I can't contact them."
"My phone's not even turning on." Black-Star kept holding the power button on his phone.
"Something's wrong." Kid had a feeling of uneasy go through him. "This is no ordinary blackout."