Daughter Of Madness [Kid X Fem!Chrona]

Ultimate Showdown

Justin walked into the chapel room to find Gopher on her hands and knees, scrubbing the floor.

"Gopher why are you doing that? I thought that was Giriko's job." Gopher stopped cleaning the tile and bit her lip. "Hey, where is Giriko? I haven't seen him all day." Didn't Noah tell him? No, she supposed not.

"Justin, you should probably sit down to hear this." She dared to set down the worn rags and sit back. There would be plenty of work to keep her distracted in the future, it wouldn't hurt to spare Justin a moment of time. Justin shrugged and pulled up an old folding chair.

"O.K. What is it?" He was used to her pouting, but rarely would she hide what was causing it. "You didn't kick him out over the whole patch-work thing did you? I know he messed up, but I talked with him about it."

"About that..." She'd never had a part of Noah's collection die before. At least, not any piece that mattered to someone else. She certainly hadn't expected someone who cheated death for hundreds of years to get so sloppy on them. Justin had been so insistent that he join their cause too.

"I know he's not Noah," Justin said, "but I thought that he could help you."

"What?" Their job was to help Noah, not each other.

"Well, Noah... isn't the way he used to be, he's been so busy the past few weeks. I noticed that you weren't getting your annual tune up as regularly and then I found Giriko... I just figured if you could still find a hieratic like me a suitable ally, you'd be able to help him find his way too. Who knows, with a little practice he could fix up all of those little cuts and scratches so you don't have to stay injured all the time." Gopher hung her head, Justin was far too idealistic. It was what pulled him away from Shibusen in the first place. His desire for redemption wasn't soothed after becoming a death scythe and festered into madness the more he failed to save people's souls. "I'm sure once he has responsibilities he'll shape up and be happier. That is, if you'll let him help you."

"I don't think that's going to happen now."

"If you're still mad at him-"

"No, I'm not really mad at him anymore. That's not the problem. The problem is... well..." She kneeled down in front of him. "He died."

"What?"

"He got injured in the Book of Eibon and before we could pull him out; he bled to death." It wasn't the whole truth, but it was all Justin needed to know.

"No, he can't die. I fought him enough times to know." Justin shook his head. "Can't you do something? Perhaps if we used one of your old vessels as a body-?" Gopher bit her lip and shook her head. If one of them had been with him, then maybe, but it had been far too long.

"There's nothing I can do. I can't-" She held him. "I can't bring back the dead." She ran her fingers through his hair and tried to sooth him.

"I-I never was any good at saving people. I just thought that maybe this time, I could finally make a difference. You know, do what I was meant to do..." He closed his eyes in defeat, his clown partner grinning behind him. "It's just not fair."

"No," Gopher agreed, "nothing ever is."

-8-0-8-

Deep within the void in the Book of Eibon, Blackstar stood weightless in front of a friend turned foe. Kid's clothes were reminiscent of the school's uniforms back in the 1600s, back when Shinigami-sama ruled with unwavering certainty. The marks on his face, while skull like, were like nothing Black Star had seen before.

"So what's with the get up?" Black Star felt the same confidence he had when facing Kid the first time. He didn't need to see people's souls to know when they were weak. "Are you going to cosplay me to death? Well, I hate to burst your bubble shinigami boy, but it will take a lot more than guy-liner to defeat me!" He cackled.