A/N: Hi guys, here's the 20th chapter, thought you might like to know that there will only be 5-8 chapters left in this story, so the end is near! I really can't believe it myself. Please enjoy the chapter.

I was two and a half weeks into my one month exile, nothing interesting had happened, I had killed exactly twelve keishen, and I continued to talk to everyone I possibly could to gain their trust. But with each day, I grew more and more attached to everything at the DWMA, and I began to realise what a stupid decision I had made by agreeing with Medusa. I noticed about four days ago, Black Star began avoiding me more and more often, I wondered idly if he had the torturous butterflies as well, but probably not, I mean, this is Black Star we're talking about. I walked into school and saw Kilik waving me over I smiled widely and jogged over to him,

"Hey, Kilik, what's up?"

He held up his hand and I slapped it,

"I was just looking at the scoreboard for the make up test, good job,"

I smiled proudly; there was my name at the top of the list, 100 percent. Still smiling widely I turned back to Kilik,

"Couldn't have done it with out Maka's help, most reliable teacher I've ever had,"

"I take offence to that,"

I turned around and saw Stein standing behind me twisting his screw, the light was reflecting off his glasses, so I couldn't tell wether he was joking or not. I chuckled nervously and sheepishly rubbed the back of my head. Shrugging, he entered the room for class crescent moon. Kilik laughed at me,

"You have the worst timing, with everything,"

I couldn't help but agree. But I smiled and looked at him,

"Except with fighting,"

I winked,

"Except with fighting,"

He consented. We walked into the class room and sat down next to Kim and Jacquie, Thunder and Fire tried to sit on the desk, Kim convinced them that sitting in chairs was so much 'cooler'. I giggled at how they tried to look aloof as they leaned back into the chairs that were far too large for their small bodies; Thunder looked at me, attempting to raise only one eyebrow, but raising two instead. I just shook my head pulled a 'cool' face and leaned back in my chair in the same fashion they did. Thunder and Fire smiled smugly and turned their heads to the front in unison. I had to stop myself from laughing again. Kilik and Ox were talking about something they'd seen on TV last night, so I turned to Kim and Jacquie,

"Did you see his face?"

"Yeah! He was completely covered in blood!"

"I wonder what he did,"

"I heard that he fought someone symmetrical again and couldn't fight back, Patti had to do it herself while trying to keep Kidd from stopping her,"

I stood up,

"Is he okay?"

I practically yelled, Kim turned to me,

"I think he in the first aid, do you want me to come with you?"

I shook my head and sprinted toward the infirmary. When I walked in I saw a paler than usual Death the Kidd. I closed in the last distance between us and punched him hard in the arm, his eyes pulsed open,

"What was that for?"

The words came out so groggily I could barely make them out,

"That was for being an idiot! What the hell did you do to get yourself in here?"

He seemed slightly more awake now, he positioned himself so he was sitting, not lying down, and opened his mouth to explain,

"I got myself into a situation with a symmetrical keishen."

He paused for a second,

"But you should've seen it Natsume it was perfect in every thinkable way! Even its eyelashes were symmetrical!"

I sighed; his praise toward the keishen earned him a thwack over his head. As he recollected himself I took a seat next to him,

"What about Liz and Patti, are they okay?"

"Liz is slightly… shaken up. And Patti…"

His sentence trailed off, but his eyes looked to the bed next to him, and for the first time I noticed the blonde mop of hair resting on its pillow. I was shocked. This is Patti we're talking about, laughing, happy, crazy, strong Patti. It made no sense, out of all the people in our school who could end up in here, Patti would be so low on the list that she wasn't even a consideration. She looked peaceful as she slept, her usual snot bubble wasn't coming from her nose, she snored in such a lyrical way that it reminded me of her laugh. I turned back to Kidd, I must have looked quiet scary, because he cowered into the corner of his bed,

"How could you let this happen?"

I snarled quietly, he shook his head,

"But-"

"But what? But it was symmetrical? That's no excuse! Your partner is hurt!"

I was quaking with anger, Kidd raised his hands,

"Natsume, I didn't mean to hurt her,"

"You take them for granted! Consider what I's like from my point of view, I only get to see my partner once a week, and that's not even in reality! If you really believed that there is a light and dark side to everything, you would see that symmetry has a dark side too, and this obsession is hurting people I care about, so learn to maintain it better!"

He lowered his head shamefully, I sighed and pat his back,

"And when I say people I care about, I mean you too,"

He smiled and yawned,

"May I rest now?"

I nodded,

"But please, remember what I said,"

I smiled, wished him my best, and went back to class. When I got there I really didn't pay attention, instead I re-read the letter I got from Yukan. My message had been,

Yukan,

I'm afraid my tendency to get myself into troublesome situations did, in fact, not stay in Japan where I wanted it to. Instead it followed me to America, where it is being more wearisome than ever. Happy twenty first! I hope this reaches you on time. I did send it on the express route. I can't believe you're so much older than me! Oji san? Maybe not… I understand how it feels to lose people you love, but he's not gone yet, give him hope and love and maybe a miracle can happen. If you are certain this is his end, don't forget to tell him you love him. I miss you very much and wish I could talk to you now more than ever. I love it here. The heat doesn't seem harsh anymore, it feels welcoming and lively.

Search and you will find, I'm sure your life in Japan isn't as empty as it seems, the answer is closer than you think, at the reception desk, maybe. I have so little time to write this, but I'm taking as much as I need, because without you I'm sure that I wouldn't even be here in Nevada. Your letter seemed far too short, and for that reason I am now going to ask you many questions.

What's the weather like? Are you still visiting my families' tombs for me? Does that freckly kid still work at the grocers? How is Kohaku? Do you still have that 40 year old manga? Are you going to sell it? Are the cherry blossoms blooming yet? Are you enjoying your seasons? There are no seasons here, only summer. Have you fixed your car? How many words does this letter have in it? Are those all the questions I can think of?

Love you,

Natsume Ai.

Yukans' response had been,

Natsume,

I send you this letter to prove to you that I can answer all of those questions in less than one page.

The weather is cold, very, very cold. I'm still visiting the tombs, and cleaning them. The freckly kid (whose name I'm sure we know) still works at the grocery, but he got promoted, he actually works at the counter now. Kohaku is good, she keeps on receiving flowers, it makes me jealous. Yes I still have it, and no, I will never sell it. No the cherry blossoms aren't blooming yet. I am enjoying seasons, but not this one in particular. No, I got a new car. Your letter had 303 words (a pretty weak attempt if I say so myself). And yes, those are all the questions you could think of.

I am also not forgetting to write the other important part of this letter, father seems to be not improving but staying steadily where he is, not getting any worse or better. I've taken your words seriously, and am trying to be more optimistic around him, he seems far happier because of it. I've decided to help out the local baker on Sundays, his name is Sola, I help him with the ovens and general maintenance. And what of troublesome situations? Is this worse than when you set our teachers hair on fire? Worse than when you scared one of the rookies so much they pissed themselves and your room smelled of pee for three months before he had the guts to tell anyone? Worse than when you tried to fix the TV and instead you made it spew sparks for weeks on end? I doubt it's worse than when you were ice skating, fell into the pond and almost got hypothermia, but I may be wrong. I forgot about how you attracted so much trouble. Maybe when people leave you only remember the happy things, doubt it though, cause then I wouldn't remember all the things I just listed. I kind of miss trouble.

I hope you're feeling as good as I am,

Yukan.

The letter showed Yukans sporadic mood perfectly. I felt the dents in the paper where he had used his favourite pen to write (I can tell because it's a violent shade of orange). Professor Stein rolled into the room. He fell over in the door way and stood up,

"You know, I wanted to do a dissection today-"

"Surprise, surprise,"

I heard Harvar mumble, I snickered. Stein continued talking,

"But Lord Death thought of some thing more interesting,"

Kim and Jacquie turned to each other,

"What do you think it is?"

"I don't know what about you, Natsume?"

I shrugged lazily. Stein was smiling madly,

"We, class, are going on an 'excursion'!"

I groaned and put my face in my hand. Yukan may miss trouble, but I certainly don't.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed chapter 20, I hate to be a review whore but I would really love it if you left one, just because this is the final stretch and I want feedback now more than ever, so pretty please?

I just wanted to share with you guys a tid bit of advice, when I write kiss scenes, which are probably harder to write than fighting scenes, I like to relax the situation a little, so when I imagine how the kiss goes down, I always see both characters with trout faces, it makes writing them a lot less awkward!