"A hundred hearts would be too few to carry all my love for you." - Unknown

"Care for some tea?"

Liz couldn't help her eye from twitching in irritation.

"Ah! I think have some crumpets too!"

Honestly, was the Shinigami trying to torture her? She'd been here for an hour already. Why couldn't he just hurry up and tell the both of them what their punishment was going to be? Patty began giggling hysterically beside her, grinning like a mad woman and nodding her head enthusiastically. "Tea sounds good!"

"Patty!" Liz hissed under her breath. "Do you seriously want to be here all day?"

Shinigami didn't seem bothered, though he clearly heard what she had said. He merely sat down at his small table, gesturing for the girls to sit down as well. "Alright! Tea time!"

Liz groaned in annoyance, while Patty and Shinigama-sama sipped happily at their cups. Finally, finally Lord Death put down the tea and clapped his large gloved hands together. "Now, girls, let's discuss what you did."

"Yes sir," both answered resolutely – though Patty seemed more cheerful about the whole thing than was really necessary, in Liz's opinion.

"Sis!" Patty whispered. "You think he's gonna give us candy soon?"

"…what?"

"Yeah, guess you're right."

"Kid is on his way here as we speak," Lord Death interrupted merrily. This made both of them raise their heads in surprise.

"Wha –" Patty was interrupted by an outraged Liz.

"Why would you call Kid here? He didn't do anything!"

"Hm? That may be so. But you're still his weapons. He should probably have a right to know about the fight you two were in, don't you think?"

Liz swallowed thickly. "It wasn't even that much of a fight."

"I don't know, sis," Patty said thoughtfully. "You sort of broke that one kid's wrist, didn't you? Oh! And you gave that one a black eye! Also, you knocked that other kid unconscious –"

"Alright already," Liz sighed. "I see your point."

Patty only laughed in response.

No more than a couple minutes passed before Death the Kid burst into the room, looking more than a little annoyed. "What's the meaning of this? I was right in the middle of shelving books to perfection in the library, so this better be goo – "

"Shelving books?" Liz asked with a quirked eyebrow. "Don't they have librarians for that?"

"They weren't doing it symmetrically! Honestly, humans these days. There must be order in the world or else there won't be any happiness. That should be apparent."

"Kid!" Patty squealed, pointing a finger. "There's one white spot on your shoulder and a black spot on the other!"

"What? Asymmetrical garba –"

"Patty was just kidding," Liz snapped. "You're perfectly symmetrical, don't worry."

"Right then, Kiddo!" Lord Death said, clapping his gloved hands together again. "Would you like some tea?"

"Just get to the point of this meeting, father."

The death god raised one white huge finger in the air as if to actually make the point, but then lowered it and nodded. His mask covered his face, but if he could have had an expression, it would probably have been one of exasperation. "Yes! Liz and Patty got into a fight in the hallways, Kid."

"A fight?" he repeated.

"A fight," Lord Death confirmed.

"It wasn't actually that much of one, compared to the streets…" Liz muttered. "Besides, they deserved it."

"Yep, yep!" Patty said. "They definitely deserved it!"

It took another half hour for Kid to convince Lord Death to let Liz and Patty off with a warning. He said he would be sure to take full responsibility for any damages done to the students or property. Since Kid was the Shinigami's son, that basically meant that the death god would be the one paying for it – but even so, he accepted the arguments and let them off the hook.

Kid, however, was not about to let his weapons go off without an explanation. He cornered the both of them as soon as they arrived home. His golden eyes were narrowed slightly and his muscles were tense, showing off his irritation. "What happened?" He asked simply.

Liz was trying to give Patty a signal to keep quiet with eye contact, but the younger sister didn't seem to notice. She launched right into an explanation. "Some other students were saying mean stuff about you! So we decided to kick their butts."

Very nice, Patty. Way to tell it straight, Liz thought, running a hand down her face in frustration.

"Why did you fight my battles for me? If you had said something about it I would've taken care of the situation."

"Yeah right," Liz mumbled. Kid had obviously caught her comment, because he scowled. "You wouldn't have done anything. You never do."

Silence.

Even Patty, who usually disrupted such a thing, was not keen on getting between her two friends. Honestly, what was up with them? She never could figure out if they were just being hormonal or not. They always got into these spats on Friday. What was it about Friday, anyway? With a shrug, the blond shrunk away from the staring contest, flitting off to draw more pictures of giraffes and decorate her room with asymmetrical stickers while Kid and Liz had their quarrel.

"I don't need you to protect me all the time," he said, his voice dangerously low. "Besides, words never did hurt me in the past. You didn't have to beat up three kids who were just talking."

"No!" Liz snapped. "I've heard it too many times now. I don't like it, Kid. If they came right out and teased you in public, at least you would have a chance to say something. But they never do! It's all because of your stupid reputation. You're never able to know what people really think about you."

Kid stopped, his narrowed eyes turning wide with surprise.

What she had said just now…

What she said…

It sounded as if she were talking about someone else.

"Liz…"

"I've had it!" Her voice cracked. "I've just had it with everything!"

Kid wasn't able to get a word in, because she suddenly pushed past him, entering the door of her own room and slamming it behind her. He tried knocking on it for a while, but there was no answer from the inside. He had expected to hear Liz crying. After all, that's what girls did when they were angry or sad or hurt, right? But there was no sound.

Come to think of it, he had never seen Liz cry.

-o- -o- -o-

Patty was standing on a stool, trying to stick her latest snoopy sticker on the wall above her nightstand. It wasn't working very well, since the stool was unstable and kept teetering to the edge every now and then. Suddenly the girl lost her balance and she shrieked right before tumbling down on top of someone.

Yes, that's right, on top of someone.

She recognized this 'someone' as Kid when he groaned from impact. "That… hurt…!" He puffed out, shoving her to the side and gasping for breath. "You're heavier than you look!"

Patty grinned, dusting herself off and hopping up from the floor. "What're you doing here?"

"Well… I came for advice."

"Advice?" Patty tapped her chin with one finger, as if deep in thought for once in her life. "…wut?"

Kid stared at her for a moment before sighing. "I see. It's totally hopeless."

"What is?"

"Never mind, Patty."

"Are you worried about Liz?"

It was the second time there was silence. Yet, Kid broke it after a short while. "How did you know?"

"Heehee!" Patty giggled. "You made Liz angry. That's not good!"

The young Shinigami sighed, pulling his knees up to his chest and burying his head in between them. "Yeah…" It wasn't as if he had tried to make her angry. Heck, he didn't even understand why she was angry at him in the first place! Girls were so complicated and seriously asymmetrical. Why couldn't they just be easy to understand? It pissed him off, dang it!

"Liz got hurt, you know."

Kid raised his head at the soft words from Patty, who had her back turned to him. She was resolutely trying to push the snoopy sticker back onto the wall like she had been doing earlier. Though her lips were turned up in what could be mistaken as a smile, Kid knew she didn't have her heart in it. "Back when we were on the streets. She got hurt."

The boy didn't really know why she was telling him this. So what if she had gotten hurt? Heck, she probably got hurt now more than back then. The numerous cuts and bruises they would all get on missions never seemed to bother her that much, so what was Patty getting at?

He suddenly felt sick to his stomach.

"Patty… you don't mean…"

Patty's smile faltered and she didn't answer for quite some time. She seemed lost in her own thoughts for a while, as if she were remembering something particularly unpleasant. "We had to split up that day. A big crime group was after us because we'd listened in so that we could sell information to the gangs. They were real meanies!" Suddenly her expression turned childish again and she waved the sticker in the air menacingly. "Meanies should all die!"

"Sure, of course, Patty. Now what were you saying about Liz…?"

"Oh, right," the girl nodded. "We decided that we could make the numbers smaller if we separated. We promised… we promised to meet back up that night, near an old warehouse. But… she didn't come. I waited and waited all night, but she never showed. Funny, sis… she always said that being late for things was bad."

"Patty, maybe you shouldn't – "

"Then she showed up the next morning," Patty interrupted. She shrugged, leaning in so that she could whisper something at Kid's face. "But she wasn't the same. Her eyes were different."

"Her eyes were…? Wait, Patty, you don't mean to tell me that those bastards that were chasing you and Liz –"

"Like I said, Kid. Liz got hurt."

The full weight of what Patty was saying fell on Kid's stomach as if it were an imaginary weight. "Oh my god… but she… she was never afraid of being around me or any other guy. I mean, she's scared of ghosts and dark places and whatever, but I didn't think…"

"Ha! It happened a long time ago. Way before you found us. She's not afraid of the people she loves."

Kid's eyes widened at her words. "Oh…"

"Now get out!" Patty suddenly shouted merrily. "No, no wait. Don't go yet. Stick this thing on the wall. I can't reach that spot riiiiight there!"

Kid took the sticker from her hands and placed it on the part of the wall she had specified, tilting it so that it was perfectly symmetrical. "Done."

"Good! Now go make out with Liz!"

"…what?"

"Huh? Oh, I meant 'make up with Liz'."

"Sure you did."

-o- -o - -o-

Kid stood outside Liz's door, one fist rose as if he were about to knock. He lowered it to his side and exhaled thickly before raising it once again. He had to talk to her. She was obviously angry at him. There was no way she was going to just forgive and forget without even an apology from him (though he didn't really know what he would be apologizing for). Still, with this new information from Patty, he figured it was time to actually figure out what her problem was. It hadn't been like her to get into a fight and drag Patty in with her (not that he thought the younger girl disliked fighting; quite the opposite actually. It was just her elder sister who didn't most of the time). "Let me in, Liz."

"The door is locked," he heard her snap from inside. "Get lost."

Yeah, like that would happen.

"Open the door."

"No."

Kid gritted his teeth, unable to hold back another scowl. Honestly, the female species was going to drive him insane one of these days. Still, she had underestimated him. He was the son of a Shinigami, after all.

He gripped the doorknob as hard as he could and closed his eyes, feeling energy flow down through his arm and connect. The handle began sizzling and popping, melting into a metallic puddle at his feet. Well, that took care of that. He nudged the door with the tips of his fingers and it squeaked open slowly. "You better be decent, because I'm coming in."

"Of course I am, idiot. Not that that ever bothered you before."

He looked around the room, spotting her standing by her bookshelf with her arms folded. He couldn't actually call it a 'bookshelf' because it didn't have any actual books on it. In fact, it was empty. This whole room was pretty empty except for her vanity table and her bed. He raised an eyebrow. It wasn't as if he didn't give her money, but maybe she just spent it all on clothes and stuff instead of furniture. What a waste (at least, in his opinion).

"I need to talk to you," he breathed out. "About today."

"What? I thought we were over that. It was a lousy fight."

Kid's hands tightened into fists and he lowered his eyes to the ground, his black bangs shielding his face from view. "I heard from Patty about something rather… disturbing."

There was no answer for a while, but he finally heard Liz mumble something unintelligible. He waited and listened to her clear her throat. "Yeah, so what?"

"So…" Kid replied slowly. "So I came to do this."

"Do wh –"

Liz gasped as Kid leaned forward, wrapping his arms around her and squeezing her tightly to her chest. She wriggled around for a bit, but he wouldn't let go, so Liz settled on leaning into him and staying that way. She faintly noted that he smelled nice. Really, really clean. As if he took showers all the time and scrubbed himself with scented shampoo. It was so unlike the streets, so different from the men she had seen and lived around in that time. It was as if it had all been a dream and the only real thing was Kid, here in front of her, holding her close to him. She wanted this, she realized. She had wanted this for so long. This feeling of having someone listen to her, snatch away the loneliness, and maybe…

Love her, even if it was just for a little while.

"I'm sorry," Kid whispered. "I think… I think I understand now."

"I just wanted someone to be real with me," Liz choked out softly. "I just… wanted someone to tell it to my face, whatever they thought about me. That's what I've always wanted. Patty never seems to notice how people talk about us. What they say about us. That wasn't even what bothered me most of the time! What bothered me… what really got to me…"

Kid's grip tightened around her. He was at least half a foot taller than her now. Liz wondered how time seemed to pass so quickly. "You don't have to say anything, Liz."

"No. No, what really got to me was that the rumors…

"…Liz…"

"Most of what they said. It's was true."

"I don't care."

Kid heard Liz gasp against his chest in response to his comment. Silly girl. How could that surprise her? Didn't she know what friends meant to him? Didn't Liz know what she meant to him?

"As if I would care about what any of them think. Compared to you, they're complete bugs. They don't deserve to have you or anybody else listen to what they say."

"Kid…"

"I love you, Liz."

"Uh… what?"

Kid blinked, like he had just realized what he'd said. "Oh… er… I said…"

"I love you."

"H-Huh?"

"I love you. That's what you said."

"Ah, right… yes, I suppose that is…"

"I love you too, Kid."

He blinked at her words. Had she just said what he thought she had said?

Surely not.

It had to be a slip of the tongue.

"I want you… to always be here with me. I don't ever want to leave… not ever. When we were all trapped in the Book of Eibon, I was so scared. I thought… I thought, 'by the time we get there, it'll be too late'. We were so close… and in the end, I was totally useless. I wasn't even able to go in with Black Star and help save you. I hated myself so badly because you were the one who saved me all those years back. I wanted to pay my debt. I wanted… I wanted you to come back… I was so scared that I would lose you –"

Before she could utter another word, Kid lifted her chin and leaned down, pressing his lips against hers. She was so shocked at first that all she could do was stand there dumbly. As soon as she heard him chuckle against her lips, however, she didn't hold back anymore. Neither of them were trying for a passionate make out session. No, that wasn't what either of them wanted right now. But it was sweet and cool and just what she needed.

And later, when Liz and he were both sitting on his bed, her leaning against his shoulder – eyes drooping tiredly with sleep – he gave her something else that she needed. Four words she had been dying to hear ever since he had first stepped out of that accursed magical book.

"I'll never leave you."

Because after all, Death the Kid was her Meister.

He always knew what she needed.

Thanks for all the reviews on my last fanfiction! To answer a question, no, it wasn't actually my first fanfiction. I'll be using this account only for posting Soul Eater ficlets. So watch out for them, 'kay? I love you all! xoxox