Daughter Of Madness [Kid X Fem!Chrona]

Dangerous Minds

When Kid left his father's study, he was surprised to find Black Star waiting for him. He was leaning up against the wall, picking at his bandages when Kid had exited. After the initial shock, he resumed his visual analysis of the floor.

"Umm...hey." Blackstar mumbled.

"Hey." Kid awkwardly gestured to the door. "Are you here to talk to my father too?"

"Hunh? No." Black Star looked up and then away. "I got my mission a bit ago..." Ordinarily it would be easy to slip into small talk about school, but knowing he'd caused his friend's injuries made it hard. It didn't help that Black Star seemed almost reluctant to go on another mission so soon after getting back. "...some string of murders."

"Oh, O.K. then." Kid said. The two stood in silence.

"So," Black Star began, a tad louder than he expected. "Uhh... Maka wanted me to apologize to you, for; you know... yeah." He coughed.

"It's O.K." Kid held up his hands. "I wouldn't have left there otherwise. Besides, we both weren't exactly thinking properly." He was surprised Maka of all people hadn't noticed Black Star took longer to shake Khonsu's thrall. Perhaps it was because it had just enhanced desires Black Star had already made plenty clear. The ninja had nothing to hide as opposed to himself. There was another odd silence. "That Nova Barrage was pretty cool though."

"Yeah, I haven' been able to use it since." He opened and closed his hands, trying to feel an ounce of the power that had once been there. "It must have been a heat of the moment thing. I was pretty shaken up by that illusion. I didn't know shinigami could produce images of the dead before." Kid's brow furrowed; his memory of the fight must have been hazier than he thought.

"Shinigami can't do that." He frowned. Sure, Shinigami had a range of abilities related to the soul, but they weren't inherently magical. At least, that was what he'd always been told.

"Then how-" Black Star was cut off.

"There you are!" Tsubaki called from down the hall. She hurried as best she could without running in the halls. "We were supposed to leave an hour ago. What are you doing here?"

"Just apologizing to Kid for earlier." Black Star gestured to Kid, but he couldn't put on a convincing poker face. Still, he let the subject drop, not wanting to drag anyone else into such a sensitive topic.

"That's fair, but we really have to get going." Tsubaki said. Black Star nodded and followed his partner. But not before looking back at Kid suspiciously.

-8-0-8-

One of the only benefits that came from taking missions in cities, was they didn't have to hide. Black Star stalked down the streets of New Orleans, kicking loose trash and grumbling to himself.

"We took care of Noah and now we're right back where we started." He shook his head. "Wandering around hoping we find someone. Seriously, why didn't they send a human radar like Maka instead?" Too many people they trusted had withheld information from him. Sure, they trusted higher level meisters with secrets, but having a low collection of souls didn't keep him from noticing people were acting strange. He'd been on more than enough missions to shake his remedial status. A good assassin didn't need soul sight to tell when people were lying.

"Well Medusa uses Soul Protection, so someone who could track her without the use of Soul Perception would be preferable." Tsubaki explained. Her partner ignored her in favor of his own rant.

"I mean; I was in the middle of something important when this came up." He was at war as to whether he would tell his partner his suspicion. If anyone were to take him seriously it was her, but that fight with Kid had left a bad taste in his mouth. Either way he needed her advice. "Tsubaki..." He stopped short.