It was a bright, sunny day. The sun cackled as it warmed the oddly cheery citizens of Death City, out doing errands or just relaxing with friends at the local cafes. Everyone felt calm, unknowingly protected from harm by the covering of Death's huge soul. They felt none of the madness or insanity associated with the witches or kishin. They were just ordinary people living ordinary lives.

At Shibusen, school continued as normal in the not-so-normal school. The gossip about the two new students had already faded away, replaced with talk of tests and unfair teachers. Unlike the town around them, the students at this school indeed felt the effects of madness. They were very familiar with witches and kishin. After all, it was their duty to eliminate them. A very grave job certainly, yet most students continued living their lives as if they were normal. Ordinary people doing ordinary things like shopping for groceries or slicing a blade through the skin of a tainted soul.

In one of the school's many classrooms, the founder himself and his brilliant weapon partner sat in the desks as students, pouring over a piece of paper. The weapon pointed his pencil at a few numbers, picking them out and explaining them to his rather confused and very bored meister, who quite frankly could care less about arithmetic.

"Look, Shinigami-sama told us we had seventy-three kishin egg souls altogether," Eibon recounted for him, shivering as he clearly remembered the feeling of vomiting as the reaper pulled the souls from him, "So if we take that from the hundred we're supposed to have, that leaves thirty-seven souls. Thirty-six kishin egg souls and one witch soul." Eibon smiled at himself as he saw how the numbers fell into place. It pleased him to come to such a correct and neat conclusion. Maybe he was finally taking a page from Shinigami's everything-better-be-neat-and-tidy book.

Speaking of Shinigami, the boy's scowl shivered as he growled lowly and spun to face Eibon. He took the yellow scarf into his hands and shook the poor scientist. "EIGHT! MAKE IT THIRTY-EIGHT!" he yelled. Eibon could do nothing but moan as the world began to spin faster and faster.

Then again, maybe he wasn't taking a page from Shinigami's book after all.

"Hey!" Shinigami froze, leaving Eibon to bang his head one more time before coming to a stop. The reaper's head snapped to the direction of the noise, his ears pricked like a cat who heard a branch snap. He suddenly released Eibon and sat diligently at his desk, his hands folded. The scythe only slunk back into his seat like a long roll of Jell-O.

Clean and pristine as ever, Death the Kid walked over to the two with his hands clasped firmly behind his back. Liz and Patty flanked him from behind, as usual. His emotionless golden eyes swept from his nervously grinning father to the motionless moaning mess of a weapon next to him. He quirked an eyebrow in question.

Shinigami smiled at him in response.

Kid shook his head. "Never mind, I don't want to know. Anyway, Damien," he addressed, using his father's alias though the classroom only had a few chattering students, "I wanted to know if you wished to complete an extra-curricular assignment with us."

Shinigami blinked, his large golden eyes shining with curiosity. "Extra-curricular assignment...?"

"A mission," Eibon clarified in a groan, propping his elbows on the desk for support as he lowered his head.

At this, Shinigami's eyes grew even wider and his smile turned upward. Much to Kid's dismay, he catapulted off the desk and enveloped his son in a tight hug, rubbing their cheeks together.

"Oh, you really mean it? A mission with my Kiddo?" he crooned. Kid groaned and protested, trying fruitlessly to push his overenthusiastic father away. A few moments passed before Shinigami's eyes shot open. He quickly stepped back, letting go of Kid. The younger fell the ground ungracefully, no longer having the support of the teen to keep him upright.

"I take it that's a yes, then," Kid groaned from the floor. He glanced up to see his father's hand extended. Taking it, the younger reaper stood on his feet with the help of a very strong arm. He brushed tiny particles of dirt and dust from his jacket before nodding to Shinigami. "Let's go and have a mission approved before class, then." Shinigami nodded curiously in response, dutifully following his son out the door and through the halls. Eibon, Liz, and Patty followed the two reapers.

As Shinigami walked through the halls beside an emotionless Kid, he gazed at the students he saw decorating the halls. It fascinated him to see how children live their lives here, in this time. He knew, of course, that these weren't normal children- just like him, they were all resolute in their mission to bring peace. In his time, there was only him and Eibon working to save the world. Now, he had an entire school- no, an entire army! The thought made him smile. He didn't feel alone anymore.

Suddenly a large shape blocked his path. He rammed into it, the recoil making his head jerk back. Rubbing his forehead, he stepped back to get a good view of the object in front of him. Turns out, it wasn't an object- it was a person. A rather wide person glowering down at him. Shinigami craned his neck and blinked, not at all intimidated by the other boy's size.

"Hey, watch it!" the boy snarled. He scowled at Shinigami for a moment before something clicked in his head. He smirked foully. "Hey, I know who you are. You're the crap meister who can't even resonate with his weapon!" He turned to the students behind him. "Hey, everyone! Check it out! This is the crap meister from yesterday!" Everyone turned their heads towards the reaper and began to laugh and point.

"Aren't you going to do something about this?" Kid whispered to his father.

"I should do something?" Shinigami asked, unfazed by the mockery.

"They're insulting your honor," Eibon clarified.

"Oh, then I should kill them," Shinigami said, as if it were a fact.

"No!" Liz protested hurriedly. "Just fight them! Like you did with Black Star yesterday."

Shinigami paused. "Okay." He strode up to the large boy and cocked his head, watching the boy snort like a pig. He brought his hand back behind his shoulder, bending his elbow. Swiftly he snapped his hand down on the boy's head, his fingers flat.

The chop smoked and sizzled on the boy's head, and Shinigami made no move to retract his hand. The boy, frozen for a moment, now turned furiously to the reaper and held the spot where he was attacked. "What the hell was that? You Shinigami-sama or something? If you're gonna fight me, use your fricken' fists!"

At the mention of his real name, Shinigami grimaced shamefully. He almost blew his cover there. Taking the boy's advice to heart, he dashed forward and swung his fist into the boy's gut. The follow-through launched the boy through the roof, sending him flying through the sky with a cry. The other students stared at the new hole with a flabbergasted expression plastered on their faces.

Shinigami stood straight again as Kid patted him on the shoulder briefly. "Good job."

His father beamed.

As it turned out, Maka had had the same thought as Kid did. She and her uncooperative partner stood at the mission board, browsing through the summaries. Kid and his group greeted them, and soon enough they struck up a conversation. Since they were talking about classes, Shinigami and Eibon drifted away to pick out a mission. Shinigami plucked one from the bulletin board and brought it back to Kid for approval.

Kid eyed it. Location: Northern Canada Objective: Eliminate Lv. 2 Kishin Egg

It seemed like a relatively simple, easy mission- which made Kid scrutinize his father skeptically. Shinigami grinned bashfully. "Eibon made me a pick an easy one."

Of course. While it was probably overkill to send two reapers on such an easy mission, Eibon probably wanted a simple mission as an introduction. And Shinigami always listened to Eibon, no matter how badly he wanted to choose the hardest mission on the board.

"Which one are you taking?" Maka asked, peering over Kid's shoulder. "That's kind of an easy one, don't you think?"

"I'm taking Damien with me. Akito wanted to start out with an easy mission to get started," Kid explained.

"Oh! That's right!" Maka exclaimed. "Hey, Damien, how do you know how to use a weapon, but have never been on a mission before?"

Shinigami smiled lightly. "I met Akito when I was a kid. He showed me that he could change into a scythe and I learned that I could wield him. That's when Shinigami-sama told me about meisters and weapons. I've been training with Akito ever since, but we haven't actually tried to fight anything yet."

"That makes sense," Maka replied, buying the lie. Shinigami's smile twitched. The blonde continued, "I've got this one about a witch being spotted in a forest in Slovenia. Apparently she just appeared there out of thin air. The town nearby thinks she's preparing something evil in there, so they've sealed it off." She placed the mission back on the bulletin board with the word "TAKEN" stamped on it. Shinigami watched as Kid went over to an old lady with prominent plump red lips and, after some explaining, watched her stamp the mission with the same word.

"So we can go?" asked Shinigami, bouncing on his toes.

"After school," Kid reminded him. "Do you have your schedules?"

Shinigami and Eibon simultaneously searched their person. Eibon immediately pulled his out from his book. His paper was neat and free of wrinkles. Shinigami, on the other hand, dug around in his pockets for a moment before retrieving a wad of paper. He unfurled it and presented it to Kid.

"Ah, I see. You're both in my class." He gave their schedules an appraising glance before returning them to their owners. It wasn't hard to tell who's was who's. "Well, let's go. We don't want to be late."

In Soul Studies, Shinigami sat next to Kid and frequently nudged him under the desk. "Hey. Let's go on that mission now," he whispered.

"And skip class?" Kid whispered back.

"It's boring!" Unfortunately, however, the young reaper had moaned a little too loudly. His black hair was a blur as he dodged a dissection knife travelling approximately seventy miles an hour. Once the weapon struck the wall behind him, Shinigami threw his head back up, eyeing Kid once more. "Please?" Kid could only roll his eyes.

This process lathered, rinsed, and repeated throughout the day.

During Field Training, as the two crawled through underbrush: "Please please please please please-"

During P.E., as the two ran the track together: "Please please please please please-"

During lunch, as Kid walked to his usual table: "Please please please please please-" Kid's usual patience was worn thin, his eye twitching as he sat in his seat. Shinigami took the place next to him, relentless in his pursuit. In fact, he started to talk faster. "Pleasepleaseplease-"

"NO! WE'LL GO ON THE MISSION WHEN WE GO ON IT! STOP! ASKING!" Shinigami cracked a scared grin as he bore the full brunt of Kid's verbal frustration. Kid fell silent, still as steamed as a vegetable.

Shinigami opened his mouth, a grin on his face. "Ki-"

"Be quiet."

"Hold on tight."

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH! WE'RE A MILLION FEET IN THE AIR!"

"The mission is in Northern Canada," Kid reminded his father, who currently had a death grip around his son's middle. "How did you think we were going to get there? Walk there?" Shinigami looked like he about to either cry or puke as he stared over the edge of Beelzebub and into the snowy forests below. "Besides," Kid continued, "you can fly on your own, can't you?"

"But I've never gone that high!" Shinigami cried in despair. Now it definitely looked like he was going to bawl.

"What about me?" Eibon shouted from his scythe form. Kid had had to loop his fingers through both Liz and Patty's triggers in order to carry Eibon, as Shinigami couldn't hold him yet. "I'm not even on ground!"

"You're metal! You'll survive the fall!" Shinigami snapped irritably. "I'll die!" Patty apparently found this hilarious, because she started laughing and shouting, "Fall! Fall!" which did not do wonders to Shinigami's nerves.

"You're the one who can fly!"

"Don't worry." Kid turned his head to give his father a soft smile. "I won't let you fall."

His words, soft and reassuring, calmed the agitated reaper. Shinigami smiled back, letting all the tension melt from his body. His grip around Kid's waist dissolved into a firm but comfortable one. He buried his face into the crook of Kid's neck, still smiling.

"IT'S TOO COLD!"

Liz tugged her parka closer to herself. "And you two want to be DWMA students..."

This time, though, Eibon was the one complaining. Kid, Liz and Patty had brought winter clothes with them, but because Eibon and Shinigami had been travelling on their own, they only had one set of clothes. And Eibon's wasn't very warm- his bare knees, cherry red, buckled and slammed together with every passing second. Though his outfit was warmer, Shinigami, thanks to his skin, didn't feel the cold at all.

It's not fair, Eibon thought bitterly, a murderous gleam in his glare. They should all freeze to death.

Shinigami had noticed Eibon's discomfort, and offered a hug to warm him up. But as soon as he touched the young scientist, Eibon's scowl only grew deeper, etching itself onto his skin. His eyes widened.

"You're freezing!" the normally calm and peaceful boy snarled demonically, his eyes red.

Shinigami left him alone after that.

"You two are total failures..." Liz muttered to herself, a grin of disbelief cracking her cheeks.

A few minutes of walking later, Shinigami grew bored. A comfortable five feet away from the scientist foaming at the mouth, he raised a question.

"Hey, Kid, where-"

Kid stopped. "Here."

"Eh?" Shinigami glanced around. It didn't look any different than the snowy, tree-scattered terrain they had been walking for the past ten miles.

"The townspeople said the monster appeared around here."

"But I don't sense anything," the reaper pointed out. His sense of perception was extremely tuned, and he couldn't sense the monster anywhere near them. It looked like Kid couldn't either, judging by the frown on his face. He was about to turn around when Patty spoke up. "What's that noise? Sounds like someone farting! Ahehehe!"

A rumbling sound was coming from the east. The group scanned the horizon, looking for movement. Though they saw nothing, the ground began to shake beneath their feet. Kid signaled the Thompson sisters to switch to gun form as Shinigami and Eibon exchanged awkward glances.

The rumbling grew closer and closer, putting the kids even more on edge. Even Shinigami was quiet for once, his face screwed into concentration. Suddenly, a new soul appeared. Two! Where were they? He pinpointed them. Underground?

All of a sudden, the earth burst, scattering snow. A man wearing caribou antlers riding a bear sprang from the ground in a miraculous show.

"It's a man with antlers!" Kid shouted incredulously.

"Riding a bear!" Patty added with just as much wonder in her voice.

"Eh?" was all Shinigami and Eibon could manage, both dumbstruck.

The bear roared and struck the spot where the group was standing. The two teams fell back. Kid twirled his guns and flicked them to his right and left in a battle-ready position. Eibon transformed his arm into a scythe blade and tried his best to look intimidating. Shinigami still stood there with the same bewildered expression on his face.

"Is that really a Kishin?" he yelled to Kid. Kid nodded, a bit confused. He thought his father battled kishin all the time. Why the sudden confusion? "Kishin Eggs. They're evil human souls."

Shinigami glanced back to the human on the bear. But... His golden eyes spun, the irises blackening. Purple swirls replaced the black ones, replicating the eyeholes in the older Shinigami's mask. His soul looks different from other kishin. The kishin that Shinigami had faced in his time had souls that were nearly crusted over with insanity. This one's soul looked so exposed, hardly any armor at all. It looked too fragile, too...human.

"Well, I guess it doesn't matter."

"It's a good thing we're not here to sight-see, because we're in the most offbeat town in a country that has absolutely nothing to offer."

"Good. You won't get distracted."

"Hey! I never get distracted!"

Maka and Soul approached the gates to the city, where multiple armed guards were waiting for them on a bridge. Maka withdrew her Shibusen ID from her coat pocket and showed it to the nearest guard. He eyed it and then glanced at her in disbelief. "You are the Shibusen team they sent? It's a witch in the forests."

"We're trained to handle these situations," Maka explained calmly, not for the first time.

The guard examined her closely for a moment before pointing in the direction of the forest. Though the way was obvious, Maka nodded in appreciation. She advanced through the fog, Soul trailing closely behind her. He was quiet now. He always fell silent just before missions. Maka wished he would do so earlier.

After a few moments of walking through thick fog, they reached the entrance to the forest.

The witch's hiding place.

Shinigami's Ultra Super Secret Skill!

Shinigami: Eh?

Kid: No.

Shinigami: Eh?

Kid: No.

Shinigami: Eh?

Kid: No.

Shinigami: Eh?

Kid: No.

Shinigami: ...

Kid: ...

Shinigami: Eh?

Kid: Fine.

It's getting what he wants.

Shinigami: Hey wait! I didn't get to announce the title of the next chapter yet!

Kid: Hurry, we don't have much time. The readers are probably clicking the back button right now.

Shinigami: Well...now the mood is ruined.

Kid: Chichiue!

Shinigami: Right! Sorry! The next chapter is The Realization! Who's That Witch? Read it, or I'll take your soul!

Maka: Hey! Make up your own lines!

A/N: omg i'm so so sorry for no update! ;;;; I had some trouble with pacing and such. I think I've got enough organized for a couple more chapters, but we'll see. I also have to write a bunch for my creative writing class, which I procrastinated on by working on this fanfic OTL. My group members are going to dismember me ;w;

also, I have no idea what a Slovenian accent sounds like :I so I guessed. sorry, ancestors.