Soul Eater: Forever in The Never After Chapter 1 (revised Friday January 21, 2011)

Kid looked down at the polish on his shoes, admiring the symmetry. The shoes were equally broken in and evenly covered with the thick black goo. He took out two rags and polished the left shoe with the rag he had assigned to it. An onlooker would never notice the difference between the two rags but Death the Kid could tell: it was his gift, or rather, his curse.

These little routines brought balance to his life. Small chores that could chip away at the time to make the lonely hours pass more quickly. Small chores that allowed him to ignore his loneliness. Kid raised the shoes in the now fading light. Its amber glow danced across the roof tops and chimney of Jigoku, the city of death. A whole day of productive chores completed, a whole day without Patty and Elizabeth driving him insane or ruining his precious routines. A whole day utterly wasted.

Kid let out a sigh, his house was pristine and organized. The white walls and black carpets immediately brought attention to any item out of place. It was nearly impossible to keep his Obsessive Compulsive Disorder under control without others around. Sadly, he had learned to tune out Patty's and Elizabeth's mayhem as if it were merely white noise. If their shrieking and jabbering weren't directed at him, he could simply ignore it and continue with his day. Only when their antics were thrust in his face did he even acknowledge it.

No one really understood how different Death the Kid's vision of the world actually was. Simple, boring events that led to death could all be predicted if he concentrated enough. All the deaths in the world were planned down to a second. Being the Grim Reaper's son meant understanding that nothing was, in fact, random at all. The signs are always there when death comes. You just have to be able to read them. Every seemingly ordinary day there will be at least twelve choices in which determine whether a person's life will continue or cease. Should no outside source interfere with eight of those twelve choices, that person will die.

Kid understood Death better than anyone else; he had lived with its personification all his life until recently, when he had chosen to move out on his own with Patty and Liz.

He understood that the way a person dies is completely separate from when a person dies. Every individual death is as messy or as clean as the fates allow, but usually there is always some dark irony in the way people leave their souls… This dark irony is what gives normal human beings the illusion of free will when everything is pretty scripted in life.

Being the son of Death and a grim reaper himself, Death the Kid was immune to what most people scrambled to not look at. He was exempt from simple death by mundane events that humans suffer. Being a reaper lets you sense the patterns and unconsciously avoid them. An ordinary human does not have that kind of sixth sense. Only Shinigami, Meisters and those chosen to be weapons can see these events. An occult force could actually kill Kid, but at times he wondered if were boredom might lead to his real undoing.

These nihilistic attitudes had alienated Death the Kid from almost everyone in Jigoku. Many were awed at the shear amount of work he performed, completing both his soul reaping and meister training every day. But those who managed to spend any amount of time with him found out how neurotic he was and made him a laughingstock. Sure, Patty and Elizabeth pretended to understand his mad rambling and tried to comfort him, but the only person that truly understood him was his father. Being the Grim Reaper, a Shinigami, gives you all sorts of insight into the world and how people behave.

To Kid's amazement Death did not share his son's nihilistic thoughts and antisocial behaviors. Death didn't have OCD either. Death was actually quite sociable; jovial, really. He could find the humor in almost anything and loved a good laugh. If you've heard that old saying "Life imitates art far more than art imitates life" you know that Oscar Wilde drew the wrong conclusion entirely. Death imitates art. It's got nothing to do with life. Death was especially happy when art imitated him and his work. Show the Grim Reaper a painting of a battleground littered with dead soldiers and you will see his chest puff out like proud papa. If you're lucky you'll escape before he breaks into one of his long stories about how much work he did back then and how much planning and orchestrating a long battle takes.

Kid grimaced; it was almost time for him to have dinner with his father. Lately that seemed more like a chore. Now that his father wasn't hiding so many dark secrets he was becoming more and more talkative about his glory days. Death the Kid realized that the day was approaching when he would be the one known only as Death. This irritated him, he knew he had been groomed for this position from birth but he didn't feel like he'd ever be able to achieve his own goals or experience the glory of death. There were no painted battle grounds of modern day wars, just shoddy journalism and glorified camera work from news people trying to score a Pulitzer.

Kid allowed himself the luxury of a little rant. "I want to accomplish something on my own before I take over for dad. I'm still a one-star meister, for god's sake! I haven't turned my weapons into Death Scythes and I'm still not in control of myself. I haven't even kissed a girl yet! " He reluctantly put on his shoes and trudged over to his bureau, where he straightened his skull neck-tie and made sure his black sports coat was free of any lint or dandruff. He palmed some wax into his hair so it was free of any flyaway strands.

"This is the best it's going to get," He growled at the bureau's mirror. He glared hard at his reflection, his eyes locked on the white asymmetrical stripes on the left side of his hair. He grimaced and mouthed the word "Appalling."

With one last look Kid planted his freshly polished shoe on the bottom bureau drawer and pushed himself through the mirror. It was the quickest way to get to his father's house and he wasn't in the mood to walk today.

Oddly enough, Death's brown-clad butler was waiting on the other side of the mirror, which emptied into the Shinigami's parlor. The butler stared straight forward as he reached for Kid's hand in order to help him through the mirror. The man had a handle bar mustache that hid his lips and was slightly thicker on one side. His hair was parted perfectly down the middle but left large piles of dandruff on his tweed suit. Kid felt his eyebrow twitch and he tried not to cringe. He immediately looked away and found he wasn't alone in the room. Spirit, his father's personal Death Scythe was enjoying a glass of wine and babbling to his daughter Maka who was sitting on the chaise beside him looking utterly bored.

"Maka, I'm surprised to see you here." Kid called out smoothly.

A dark cloud seemed to be hovering over Maka's head but it vanished as she bounced off the couch.

"Hi Kid-kun," Maka gave her father a sideways glance and then coughed to adjust her voice, "I'm glad you're here. Shinigami-sama said that you might not come tonight because you've been irritated with him."

Kid couldn't hide the shocked look on his face; he thought the he had been able to hide his discontentment with this new talkative father that rambled on about work. He turned his attention back to Maka and felt the back of his neck break out in perspiration.

"Are you and your father dining with us tonight?" Kid questioned hoping that Maka would, indeed, be staying.

"Yeah, I lost a bet and have to spend a few hours with my Dad." Maka said flipping a pig tail over her shoulder.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Kid chuckled and Maka gave him a grin.

"You can at least pretend that you care I'm in the room." Spirit huffed before plowing out of the parlor. Death's oddly dressed butler followed him as he navigated his way through the maze of hallways.

"Your Dad seems unusually irritated tonight. I don't think I have ever seen him raise his voice to you." Kid said thoughtfully.

"We had an argument just before you got here. I was worried I was going to be alone with him tonight. I'm so glad you came." she let out a relieved breath and her shoulders slumped forward.

Kid suddenly noticed that their proximity had changed. Maka's forehead nearly touched his chest. If he moved closer he might be able to embrace her. It might even appear to be a friendly, comforting gesture. Kid swallowed hard and tried to silence his mind. He slowly moved forward and reached a ringed hand for Maka's back. Maka felt his arm brush around her and froze, both cheeks reddening. Kid looked into her eyes for some form of protest but only found two inquisitive green orbs staring back at his.

"I'm sorry you had to come though you didn't want to." Kid was looking for anything to say, anything to break the silence as he wrapped his other arm around Maka, pulling her closer.

Something about Maka made Kid gravitate toward her. He'd discovered that a knot formed in his stomach whenever Maka went out on a mission with Soul. Hell, he had a knot in his stomach every time he was on the battlefield with Maka. There was something about Maka's fighting style that he just didn't trust. He felt like she could be swept away any second. Every time Maka resonated souls with Kid and Black Star, Kid reached out for Maka's soul first. Using his astral resonance he'd grab Maka's soul in a vice-like grip and try to shield it as a Meister does with a weapon but her soul always slipped away from him. Kid wished he could protect her but he knew Maka would never allow it even if it were possible. She was determined to be as good a meister as her mother. But that obsession, fueled by her fierce temper, led to impulsive, risky behavior and that made Kid afraid.

Maka suddenly realized that she'd been leaning against Kid too long for a friendly hug and broke the embrace. "I'm sorry Kid-kun; I didn't mean to dump my problems on you. I just feel so stressed out lately."

"I don't mind, honestly. You know Maka, you can tell me anything." He whispered to her, his eyes soft and understanding.

Maka looked utterly vulnerable for a moment before plastering a fake smile on her face. "So when do you think we will have dinner?" she chirped, doing her best to change the subject.

"I'm not entirely sure." Kid replied reluctantly. "You see, time doesn't pass normally on this side of reality. Days can feel like a matter of minutes or a month long here. Didn't your dad explain that to you before you came?"

"No." her smiling mask shifted into one of anger for a second before regaining its composure. Kid took note of subtle change and decided he wouldn't pry about her father any more tonight.

"My father always forgets to mention anything important like that. That's one of the reasons I can't stand him." Maka said trying to get her voice to remain even.

"Well the quickest way to find out if it will be ready soon is to pop down to the kitchen and see how things are coming along. If it's going to be a while we might be able swipe a snack or a couple of appetizers, if you're hungry." Kid offered. He was enjoying this time alone with Maka, and he hoped that this was going to be one of those evenings that stretched on and on. It was a nice phenomenon if it happened while things were going well. The strange fluctuation in time had a lot to do with the moods and desires of Death himself. If death wanted to spend a long time with his guests, time stretched out. If death was bored or discontent, then visitors would pass their time in the Never After quickly. A whole dinner party would be over in a matter of moments should Death be in a mood.

Death the Kid took Maka by the hand and led her out of the room. The strange checkerboard-tiled hallways were lined with weird looking doors that came in sets of two, opposite each other. Kid could see Maka was taking in the strange manor as if it a fun house. She poked her head around doors, looked at the gaudy architecture and gazed around quizzically.

"This house reminds me of something from Alice in Wonderland or Through the Looking Glass." She observed.

"Lewis Carroll's books? I've always thought of it more like one of Tim Burton's creations- more like Beetle juice." Kid replied.

"I love that movie." Maka laughed.

"So did my father." Kid rolled his eyes. "Kitchen's through here, watch your step."

Two wide steps led down into a sunken kitchen that stretched a good forty-five meters and was filled with every pot, pan and kitchen appliance in existence. Maka eyes got as huge as saucers. Kid, who had seen the site many times, was unimpressed.

"This room could hold an Olympic size pool!" Maka burst out.

"Actually its five meters short of that, but almost." Kid said, noticing that the ghostly kitchen staff was just beginning to prepare dinner.

"Hotels don't even have kitchens like this!" Maka said, examining a mammoth mortar and pestle. "This is so cool! Thank you for showing me Kid-kun."

For the life of him, Kid couldn't understand her delight, or the way she was bouncing around to look at all the kitchen supplies. But the way Maka skipped from one area to the next gave him the idea she was more enamored with cooking supplies than Patty and Elizabeth were with shoes. And that was saying something.

"You like all this stuff?" Kid asked.

"Yes! I don't cook because I have to; I cook because I love it." Maka said, staring at another kitchen item with reverence. Her stomach growled loudly, "I also cook because if I don't make it at home it doesn't get done. Soul either forgets or burns things. Like today for example." Maka realized she's insulted Soul in front of Kid, blushed furiously and gave a nervous giggle.

Kid watched her cheeks grow flush and found himself staring at her with a blush on his face as well. Something about Maka's laugh and Maka's excitement was contagious. Kid immediately looked away so that Maka couldn't see his red face. "Well I have bad news for you. It appears that today may be one of those days where time will drag itself out. There is nothing cooking in this kitchen yet. But if you're hungry we could get some snacks and hang out up in my old room till they call us for dinner."

"Would that be okay? I mean Shinigami-sama won't get mad if we spoil our dinner will he? I can just wait." Maka stammered. She looked nervous and defeated all at the same time.

"No, it won't matter." Kid assured her. He took a good three strides across the kitchen to reach her and rub her arms. He was making a deliberate excuse to touch her, but she didn't seem to notice. Or maybe she just didn't mind: either way this was good. He and Maka would have more time together; they could snack and goof off while their parents talked.

With each little gesture Kid made toward her, he was felt more confident in himself.

He took a running leap across the floor and threw open the door of the nearest refrigerator. The head cook glared at him and let out an annoyed sigh.

"Maka grab one of those cutting boards and a couple of knives will you?" Kid asked, shoving his head into the fridge. He grabbed some leftover cooked vegetable medley, a couple of apples, a baguette and a large block of gruyere and piled them on the cutting board in Maka's arms.

To Maka's surprise Kid added chocolate, some sort of fruit salad, cookies and marshmallows to the pile as well.

"I thought we were getting a snack Kid! What the heck are we going to do with all this stuff? Do you want me to cook it for you?" Something in Maka's voice told Kid she would eagerly cook in this kitchen.

"No I've got an idea. It's a surprise," he said with a grin. Kid stretched up to the top of a cabinet and grabbed a dust covered box from one of the shelves. From another he pulled out a bottle that looked suspiciously like wine to Maka.

"What is that for?" Maka said wrinkling up her nose.

"As I said, it's a surprise." Kid said taking a few of the items Maka was struggling to carry and placing them on top of his box.

"I don't drink alcohol Kid-kun" Maka protested.

"It's not to drink." Kid reassured. "It's a surprise."

"You know, I could just make us a little snack." Maka said hopefully. Kid responded with a grin.

"Next time you can come to my house and you can cook and play with as many kitchen gizmos as you want; but today I would like to do something for you." Kid shifted the box and ingredients to one arm.

Maka opened her mouth to question some more but Kid pressed a finger to her lips. "You're going to ruin it Maka if you keep asking questions." Maka's looked back at the kitchen, defeated, and she reluctantly followed Kid out of the room.

"Maybe sometime we could come here, and you can cook till your heart's content." Kid offered. That brought a warm smile from Maka's lips all the way to her eyes.

"Do you think your Shinigami-sama would mind?" Maka questioned taking two steps to each of Kids one.

"No not a bit. After all the place is pretty quiet without me or mother here." Kid said nonchalantly.

"How come you never talk about your mother Kid-kun?" Maka asked cautiously.

"Because there's not much to talk about. One day she was just gone and we didn't hear from her. Then it was just me and father."

"I kind of understand how you feel. My Mom just announced she had to leave Death City, and I was to stay with Papa. Sure she sends me postcards but lately I feel like she abandoned me. She knows I can't talk to Papa and she just left me here alone. "A hint of teary anger filled Maka's face. She gripped the cutting board till her knuckles turned white. Kid feared that she might snap it in two. Luckily, they had reached his old room and he abandoned his box and the food on the thick shag rug. He took the cutting board and knife away from Maka and laid the remainder of the items on the bed.

"It's stupid right? I keep waiting for her to come home." Maka spat out angrily, clenching her fists because she didn't have the cutting board to dig her frustrations in to.

Kid reached for her elbows and forced her stiffing form to his chest as Maka's knees began to give. "It's not stupid, me and father keep waiting too, why do you think so much of my mother's stuff is still around here?"

He lowered Maka down to the carpet and cradled her in his arms. Kid could feel tears seeping into his shirt and he just leaned back as she groped to put her head into his collar.

"But these kinds of things don't seem to have any effect on you. You're not blubbering like a baby like I am." Maka said pushing down her emotions.

"Your Father and Mother have been split up for less than a year, correct? My mother has been gone for seven. I've just had more time to deal with it, and I know this sounds awful but eventually you will adjust to it just being the two of you. And worse come to worse Maka you don't have to worry about being alone, you have me and Soul, and Tsubaki, and Dark Star, Patty, Elizabeth and even Crona.

"I don't think Soul would let me whimper like a baby on his shoulder like this." Maka said regaining the rest of her composure.

Kid thought otherwise but he didn't voice this thought to Maka. "Well than Soul's is an imbecile. Maka, I want you to come to me whenever you're like this. Honest to god it makes me feel better hearing all these things from you. I don't want you to bottle it up like I did. Like I do still."

Maka look Death the Kid strait in the eye before she spoke. "Do you want to talk about your mother with me?" Maka asked sympathetically.

"As I said before there is not much to tell. I don't remember her well; what memories I do have are kind of few and things I am reluctant to talk about. But tonight I'm going to share one of these memories with you and only you."

Kid removed the food and utensils from the top of his dusty box and lifted out a pumpkin casserole dish. Maka looked at it quizzically as he began pulling out the other pieces. There was a small burner that looked like one of Dr. Stein's Bunsen burner and about six long skewers that were tipped like a fork.

"Oh wow it's a fondue set." Maka said smiling and picking up the weird pumpkin shaped pot.

"The pot was my mother's." Kid said, a hint of pride in his voice, "We use to have fondue parties when Father was busy with work. It's funny – I can barely remember what she looks like but I remember this as clearly as if it were just yesterday. If you want to help, you can start chopping apples up." Kid said gestured to the knife as he placed the fondue pot on top of its burner.

With a snap of his fingers the burner blazed to life. He looked around the room for the bottle of wine and realized he had forgotten the bottle opener. "Damn it I forgot the cork screw." he cursed.

"Here give it to me." Maka said reaching for the bottle. She took the paring knife she was slicing the apples with and jammed it into the cork of the bottle. With a firm tug the bottle gave its cork away, and the wine foamed up to the mouth of the bottle. "I told you before though that I don't drink. My dad does enough of that for the both of us."

"It's for the cheese." Kid said splashing the wine into the pot and dropping crumbles of cheese into it. It doesn't melt right without the wine, and wine cooks out so you won't even taste it.

"Probably has something to do with the acid in the wine that allows the cheese to melt without getting oily. You know you can do the same thing if you make rue first and use milk." Maka lectured.

"Know it all." Kid teased, wondering what a "rue' was.

Maka picked up the baguette and clocked Kid over the head with it playfully.

"Hey, hey, that's for eating! It's not a weapon. "Kid laughed, "If you hand me the cutting board I'll start slicing it."

"Can you cut it up and it not take all night?" Maka taunted.

"Of course I can." Kid proclaimed taking the knife and a cutting board from Maka and began to push the knife through the bread, in nice equal portions."Maka watched with an unsatisfied look on her face.

"You're doing that wrong," she finally burst out. She got up off the floor and kneeled next to him. "Technically we should be using a knife with a serrated edge not a chef's knife Kid-kun. Do me a favor and lean up for a second."

Kid rose up on his knees. She made her way behind his back and reached her arms around him. She was practically hugging him now and he could feel her breast press against his back. He suddenly became very aware of every place she touched him. The thought of forgoing food and kissing Maka invaded his thoughts and wouldn't go away.

Maka didn't seem to notice the fact that Kid's whole body had tightened as she pressed her body against his back. Kid's palms broke out in a sweat. Maka lifted the knife with her right hand and dangled it in between her fingers.

"You need to hold the knife between your thumb and pointer let the base rest in the palm of your hand. She said taking his hand in hers and positioning his figures correctly over the blade.

"You also should keep the tip of the knife pointed down and always use a rocking motion on the board." she lectured covering his hand with hers to show him the proper way to slice through the baguette. Kid took a quick breath in as Maka showed him how to push the baguette into the knife without having his fingers outstretched.

"Maka," Kid rasped out, letting go of the knife. Maka sensed something had changed she began to move away.

"Something wrong Kid-kun?" she asked.

"Maka," Kid breathed again, unable to find the words he wanted. Usually when he thought something was beautiful he just could blurt it out, but not to Maka. Maka wasn't just beautiful she was a step above symmetrical as far as Kid was concerned. Maka was an ideal woman, and she was out of his league. Kid tried to just blurt all those feeling out, but without a good push from Patty and Liz it was almost impossible. He was staring at Maka, and it made her feel self-conscious. She worried that she had made Kid uncomfortable.

"You know I think we're about ready," she said opening a container of leftover steamed vegetables and sitting them near the pot. She concentrated on moving the bread around on the cutting board and organizing the apples in a pretty fan shape.

Kid took both the bread and apples away from her abruptly and began fixing them himself. Maka picked up a skewer and stabbed at a piece of cold broccoli from the vegetable medley.

"Maybe I should go heat these up?" She asked, trying to break the awkward mood.

"I don't think that's necessary. The cheese will warm them if you dip them in them long enough." Kid said, recovering himself. His soul reached out to Maka's and he could feel her discomfort, which wasn't what he wanted right now. Kid placed an apple on his skewer and dunked it into the cheese bath.

"I think we will be fine." He said, twirling the apple in the cheese. He brought the apple up to his lips and smiled at Maka before biting into the slice of apple. Maka dunked her piece of cold broccoli into the cheese. She twirled it around and let it drip over the pot fearing an outburst from Kid if she accidently dripped cheese on the floor. She watched as Kid reloaded his skewer with a chunk of French bread. Maka brought the broccoli up to her mouth, and bit in. Kid was right; the vegetables did warm inside the layer of molten cheese that incased it.

"Not too hot is it?" Kid asked. This is perfect he thought, a romantic dinner with Maka. He didn't care if he ever went downstairs now; his father could talk to Spirit all damn night. He felt rather wolfish as he watched Maka fan off an apple she had left to long in the cheese.

"Here, try this." Kid offered, moving his skewer to Maka's lips. He'd put a small piece of carrot along with an apple on it, and he was delighted as she opened her mouth and bit them off. Kid's confidence soared again. "After this we can have chocolate fondue for dessert."

Maka wrinkled her nose," I'm not sure chocolate would taste good on apples and carrots Kid-kun. I'm actually kind of amazed cheese taste okay on them. "

"Actually, I brought the cookies and fruit and marshmallows for the chocolate fondue. Haven't you had fondue before?" Kid asked lazily, rolling onto his stomach and twirling his vegetables in the cheese. He nibbled a piece of cauliflower and watched Maka try different combinations of apple, bread and vegetables together.

"No I haven't. I've heard of it, but I've never had one. The cheese is basically the same as it macaroni and cheese sauce, but instead of cheddar you used some type of Swiss right?" she asked, happily experimenting with yet another concoction.

"This is really fun," she announced after she finished her bite of food."She loaded up another skewer and held it out to Kid. "Here, try this combination". Kid shivered as Maka slipped the skewer into his mouth.

"I'm having fun too. You ready for dessert?" he asked, trying to regain control of himself…

"Sure" Maka used a piece of bread to wipe up the last bit of cheese in the fondue pot.

Kid picked up the pot and carried it to his bathroom. "Let me wash this out before we start the chocolate."

He watched as Maka began cleaning up the rest of their meal. The purple light of the Never-After gave her face a ghostly beauty.

"Beautiful," Kid murmured. The hem of her skirt was perfectly parallel with the floor and Kid was mesmerized. The symmetry of the pleats when she was kneeling made it hard for him to take his eyes away from her legs. His heart was drumming so loudly that he worried she could hear it.

"Do I have broccoli in my teeth or something?" Maka asked, noticing him stare.

"Uh no," Kid said, fleeing to the bathroom with the fondue pot. He closed the door behind him, nearly slamming it, and gripped the pot to his chest.

She caught me staring at her Kid agonized as he flung the pot under the water. I feel like I can't breathe. He flung open the bathroom window, and was greeted by the howl of ghosts.

Oh right. Forgot I'm in the nether world. No breeze here unless daddy commands it. He shut the window and began pacing the bathroom floor. The fondue pot sat in the sink overflowing with water from the tap.

She let me feed her. And she did it back to me! Kid stared at his reflection and noticed how red he was.

Get a grip, Kid he admonished himself. You're going to go serve dessert and stop acting like an idiot. But his mind wandered back to Maka's smile and the perfect pleats of her skirt. Absolutely perfect. Everything was absolutely perfect. Until the sink overflowed.

"Oh shit!" Kid yelled as he began grabbing towels and blotting ups the water on the floor. He reached up and turned off the sink but the water poured down over his head as reached for the fondue pot.

"No No N0! This is not happening. Everything was going so good, not now!" he moaned, trying to clean up the pot, the floor and himself all at the same time.

Maka knocked at the door. "Kid are you okay in there? What's going on?"

Kid frantically finished washing the pot and started folding up the towels into tight squares with ninety degree angles. He pulled a protractor out of a drawer and saw the first towel was exactly right. The second towel, on the other hand, was off by twenty five degrees.

He unfolded the towel and tried again. This time it was off by five degrees. He refolded it and was off by thirteen degrees.

"Kid?" Maka hammered at the door again, "That's it, I'm coming in there!"

Kid ran to lock the door, slipped on the wet floor and fell hard on his back.

Maka stepped in to find Kid lying in a puddle of water.

"Please don't look," he cried. "It's disgraceful, please don't look." His OCD was roaring, and hysteria overtook him.

Maka silently grabbed two fresh towels from the bath cabinet and knelt down on the floor.

"No! You'll get all wet." Kid wailed. She knelt next to his face and he watched as once again the pleats on her skirt evened themselves out, running perfectly parallel with the floor.

"It's okay Kid." Maka said as if she were comforting a small child. She took one of the fresh towels and draped it over his head, "Did you hurt yourself?"

Kid wished he could say yes so he could appear to be less of an embarrassment, but it would be a lie if did.

"No I'm fine." He was grateful that the towel was covering his face.

"That's good." She said as she began drying his hair. Her tone was motherly and soothing.

Kid continued to look down at the floor embarrassed, stunned and mortified. The towel continued to block most of his view, so he concentrated on Maka. Maka's hands were touching him, they were warm and gentle. She finished with his hair but didn't attempt to remove the towel. All Kid could see was her waist and knees. He began tracing the line of her perfectly straight waistband with his eyes, and sighed with relief.

"You still with me?" Maka asked softly, lifting the towel from his face.

"I'm a mess." he whimpered, and started to remove the skull from his collar.

"Let me." Maka said unhooking the skull.

Kid took in the room. There were towels all over the floor and he sat amongst them.

"I'm sorry for ruining it Maka." he muttered dejectedly, feeling another fit coming on.

"You didn't ruin anything Kid-kun. It's just a little water," she said, straddling his legs.

Kid's entire body was frozen in terror. His eyes darted down to her hands. What was she doing?

Maka nimbly removed the skull from his neck and started on the first button of Kid's shirt. The wet fabric made it hard, and she pulled at it, drawing Kid closer. She had seen Patty and Liz snap Kid out of these hysteric moments before, but for the life of her, Maka couldn't remember what they did on those occasions. She just concentrated on removing the mess, which meant all the water needed to disappear.

Kid stared as Maka began struggling to undo the second button on his shirt. His face was inches from hers, and he knew he must be blushing like an idiot. What the hell was he suppose to do in this situation. Should he help her? Should he sit there and let Maka strip him? Should he kiss her?

"Do you have any clothes here?" Maka asked, wrestling the third button.

Kid awoke from his stupor and began helping Maka pull his shirt off. She was scared, he could smell it on her, and a dark part of him got excited by her trembling. Kid crushed the feeling down, lifted Maka off his lap and got to his feet. It took every ounce of willpower he had to act normal.

"I should have some old stuff here." But you have to promise not to laugh. Some of this stuff hasn't been in style for a very long time."

"I don't make fun of people over stupid things like their clothes." Maka reassured him. She had regained some of her composure now that she wasn't sitting on top of him.

"I'm going to start the chocolate fondue." she said, getting up from the bathroom floor.

Kid looked down the towels crumbled in heaps on the floor and his eyebrow twitched. Maka saw him staring and shoved all of them in the dirty clothes hamper along with Kid's wet shirt.

"Problem solved" she said coolly and she picked up the fondue pot and toted it into the room on her hip. Maka chopped up chocolate and slid it into the pot while Kid looked for a new shirt. He settled on an old white poet's blouse which he thought was absolutely horrible, but it was dry. Kid caught Maka glancing at him as he put on his shirt, tucked it in and fastened the skull around his collar.

"Great, I look like a pirate!" Kid complained at his reflection in the mirror.

"I think you look nice."

Re-dressed and feeling much calmer, Kid took a seat next to Maka. "I'm really sorry again for spoiling the evening," he said, opening a container of strawberries and cherries.

The chocolate was melted and Maka stirred it with one of the skewers, "I don't think you ruined anything Kid-kun. Sometimes I don't understand you but this is much more fun than spending an evening with my Papa."

"What is it about me that you don't understand?" Kid said hoping she wouldn't say it was his all over failure to perform like a normal human being.

"Well, do you not like to be touched?" Maka asked.

"What! Where did you get that idea from?" Kids shrieked. Hadn't she noticed that he'd been trying to touch her all night?

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked, you don't have to get defensive." Maka said stiffly.

"No, I like being touched." He said, nearly dropping a whole box of graham crackers into the chocolate fondue. Maka fished them out and stacked them aside on a nearby saucer. She made enough room in the fondue to dunk a cherry in and brought it up to her lips. Kid was staring at her and Maka felt like he was trying to look straight through her. Kid scooted closer to her and Maka couldn't meet his amber eyes.

Is he trying to prove something to me? Maka thought to herself.

Kid was still baffled as to why she had drawn such a conclusion. Was it because he pulled away from her in the bathroom? That must be it. Or maybe he was sending mixed body signals. Well that was going to stop right now. After all, he might never have this chance again.

"I want you to understand something Maka...I really like spending time alone with you like this; I just wanted things to be perfect. It's not like you and I have opportunities like this to talk and be alone. "

Kid was so close to Maka's face that he could smell the chocolate on her breath, and on closer inspection he noticed there was slight smudge of chocolate on her lower lip. Kid closed the gap between them, and ran his tongue over her lips. He entwined both of Maka's hands with his and kissed her. A range of sensations filled him: the taste and smell of chocolate and cherries was predominating but he could feel the quivering of her body against his, and the softness of her lips and skin against his fingertips. He could feel the static of her soul and the thudding explosion of her heart. Her hair moved against his face and he could smell the soap she used. Even the friction of their clothing could be heard as he pressed his body against hers. Death the Kid was in pure bliss and the sensory overload set little charges of energy up and down his spine.

But she wasn't kissing him back. Kid finally tore himself away and looked at Maka, who didn't move. After what seemed like an eternity she took a breath.

"You…you just kissed me." Maka gasped.

"I'm sorry if I upset you." Kid offered, but he wasn't sorry one bit. He just couldn't have let that opportunity go to waste. He flung himself down to the floor, completely frustrated. Had the kiss been that bad?

Without warning, Maka grabbed a book from a nearby shelf and brought it down toward his head. Kid had supposed he should have expected it. He flinched and closed his eyes, waiting for the blow. When it didn't come, he opened his eyes a crack and looked up. The minute he did, she smacked him on the forehead with the book. Kid felt the world wobble for a second and realized what Soul had been complaining about all these years.

Maka squatted over his fallen body and pulled his face up to hers. "Next time you're going to do that, you need to give me some kind of warning. I had no idea you were going to…" Maka's face flushed and she turned away, letting his head fall back to the floor. "I mean I had no idea you even wanted to, Kid-kun."

She had used the words 'next time'. Kid's mind began to race at the possibilities. He chose his words carefully before he spoke.

"Will there be a next time?" he asked, looking up at her hopefully.

"Maybe. I've just never been kissed before and you caught me by surprise. I didn't know you thought of me that way. After all you have Patty and Liz." Maka's face clouded over and she got up on all fours so she could stare at his face.

"You did mean it, right?"

"Of course I meant it." Kid retorted, "Do you think I run around kissing people that I don't want?"

Maka scanned the room, embarrassed. "It's just…. it was my first kiss. I know it's stupid but I wanted it be special. It was so fast I didn't even have a chance to respond. I think I went catatonic when you licked my lips

"Would you like me to kiss you again so you have a chance to respond? We could consider that your first kiss instead of the one I just stole." Kid asked timidly.

"You know, I think I would", Maka said, sitting cross-legged on the rug and trying not to look him in the eye.

Kid sat up and turned her chin toward his, "You're not going to hit me with that book again, are you?"

Maka's face deepened from pink to red and she nodded. Kid tilted his head toward hers and let Maka close the distance between them. Her lips were unsure, and faltered against his. Kid moved his hand to the back of Maka's head and pulled her in more tightly. He began to kiss her back and let all those strange sensations fill him again. This time when he reached out to Maka's soul an inferno of fire welled up around him. He could feel Maka's thoughts in the back of his mind. She was wondering if she was kissing him correctly, wondering if Kid wanted her to stop, wondering if she had hit him too hard with the book. Kid tried to silence those thoughts by hugging her tighter and deepening the kiss. He pulled her too far forward and she lost her balance, landing on her back with Kid on top of her.

A rap at the door startled them and Kid quickly rolled off of Maka, who leapt to the other side of the room. Spirit came walking in like he owned the place.

"Dinner's ready," he announced, examining the contents of the floor and Kid laying down on it.

"Did you two already eat?" he questioned, looking Kid over suspiciously. Spirit's keen fatherly senses told him he had just walked in on something but he couldn't decide what.

"We had a snack" Kid said raising himself off the floor. A smug grin played across his face as he looked Spirit in the eye.

"Well I hope you didn't spoil your dinner young lady." Spirit said, taking in Maka's flustered demeanor.

"I'm sure Maka saved a little room for dinner." Kid said straightening his skull tie and picking things up off the floor.

"Have you had fun spending time with Death the Kid, Maka honey?" Spirit cooed. Maka's face flushed cherry red and Spirit concluded that he had indeed interrupted something and considering that Kid was lying on the floor when he came in, God only knows what.

"It wasn't a play date, Papa!" Maka growled.

"Come Maka, I will escort you to dinner." Kid commented coolly, offering Maka his arm.

Spirit followed reluctantly and didn't say another thing, but he glared across the table all during dinner. Kid just smiled back smugly.

After dinner, Maka left with a casual goodbye. Kid was a little disappointed that he didn't get a goodnight kiss, but with Spirit watching them like a hawk, Kid understood why. He was content for the time being. Not only did he get to share his first kiss with Maka and he was fairly certain that she'd let him kiss her again. Things were definitely looking up.

Maka finally ditched her papa and happily entered the confines of her own apartment. She kicked off her shoes and leaned against the door frame trying to block the world from coming in.

Soul had waited up and was sitting on the couch. "That bad huh?" He asked, flicking off the TV.

"Except from my father I had a really good time," Maka said girlishly.

"How did you pull that off?" Soul inquired.

"Kid was there," Maka smiled and raised a hand to her cheek, blushing.

"You had a good time thanks to Mr. Neurotic?" Soul snorted.

"Yeah," Maka said dreamily ", and you shouldn't go around judging people. Kid's lots of fun." She floated off to her bedroom and closed the door.

"What was all that about? Since when was Kid such a good time and why is she blushing like…oh hell no! He wouldn't….she couldn't….I'll kill him!" Soul said viciously to himself, and rammed his fist into the doorframe.

Maka rushed back out of her room, "What was that?"

"Just a bug that needs squashin' "Soul said darkly, "Go back to bed Maka, I want breakfast in the morning."

Soul looked at the dent he'd made in the door frame. "Any other insect that comes looking for Maka is gonna get the same."