Death the Kid: Growing Up Symmetrical

Chapter 25: Kid's Breakdown

Kid POV

The storm last night was terrible. Trees were knocked down, roads were blocked, and even some houses were destroyed. By morning it had been long gone. The roads were wet and there were puddles everywhere. But the sky was a bright blue again, which was good. The sun was shining its brilliant shine, and laughing its creepy laugh. I got up and got dressed. Papa and I were going to the academy to see if there was any damage. I grabbed my cloak and mask and walked out with him holding my hand. When we were about halfway there we saw Miss Marie walking in the opposite direction.

"Good morning Marie. Quite a storm yesterday! I hope nothing of yours was damaged too badly." Papa said to her.
"Oh good morning sir! Morning Kiddo! My house took a little damage but nothing severe. I just came from the hardware store to fix up the roof a little."
"That's good. Say Marie, would you mind watching Kid for a bit while I check the academy? I don't want him to get hurt if it's damaged too badly."
"Sure, of course sir! Anytime!"
Then Papa gave me a quick kiss on my nose and went to the academy. I walked with Marie to her house.

Her home was hit by the storm pretty roughly, but nothing major. I sat on her porch as she fixed the broken shingles on the roof and pick up the garbage that had been blown around. When she finished she looked at me and and clapped the dust from her hands.

"I'm just about done here Kiddo, if you want to head for the academy. I'll just be a few minutes, putting my things away."

I nodded as I hopped off the porch and started towards the academy. I walked through the city looking at all the damage from the wind. Trees were down, power lines were loose, and garbage was everywhere. There were people already getting a start on fixing their homes or cleaning their property. There was music coming from some houses, where they had a small radio or something like that to listen to while they worked. When I arrived at the academy, I was appalled at what I saw.

The steps were chipped and broken, the walls were collapsed in some spots, and the spikes coming out from the walls were broken and chipped as well. Papa's school. His perfectly balanced and symmetrical school. It was destroyed. All this destruction meant the symmetry was off, which meant the balance was off. I remembered the promise I had made to Luna the night she had left. I had promised to make this world balanced. But how could I do that when the most symmetrical building I had ever seen was destroyed?

I felt tears build in my eyes. My hands were in tight fists. My teeth were clenched in anger and sadness. I fell to my knees and clutched my stomach, I felt like I couldn't breathe. I started panting in between sobs as my head lowered to the ground. I held my stomach harder. I didn't like this feeling. It was really hard to breathe and the air felt hot and thick. I started shivering but I felt warm. I was scared and confused.

"The symmetry, the balance! It's gone! How can I make the world balanced when Papa's perfect school is in this condition?! Why? Why is it asymmetrical?! WHY?!" I thought to myself. These thoughts went back and forth in my head, making me dizzy from overthinking it all. Now I couldn't breathe, think, or see clearly! I grew more and more frightened, which made it even harder to breathe, think and see. I wanted Papa! I wanted him to make this all stop!

Spirit POV
I was walking to the academy to check how much damage it had taken. I walked around the corner to the stairs to hear a strange noise. It sounded like crying almost. I walked quicker to see a little shivering figure in front of the steps. All I saw was a cloak and some dark ebony hair. Then I noticed the Sanzu lines. It was Kid!

I quickly ran to him and kneeled down in front of him.

"Kid! Kiddo it's me Spirit! What's the matter?" he didn't move. He just kept crying and shaking. I picked his head up so he was staring straight. His face was covered in a layer of sweat and tears. I put my hands on his cheeks were flushed and warm. He clutched his stomach tightly. I tried to take his arms out from underneath him but he didn't budge. I picked him up and held him tightly against me. He still trembled so I held him tighter. He continued to cry into my shoulder. I quickly ran up the stairs, avoiding the the broken pieces of the school. When I got inside I ran to the Death Room and went straight to Lord Death. When he heard Kid crying he immediately turned around.

"Spirit! What happened?" he asked concerned.
"I-I don't know sir! I was just walking here to check the school and found him all scrunched up on the ground in front of the steps! I tried to ask him what was wrong but he was crying too hard to answer. He sounds like he's having a hard time breathing." I said handing Kid to him. Lord Death took him and put him against his shoulders, rubbing his back to try to calm him. I stood behind him brushing his hair out of his face. Kid started coughing, which scared us both. Lord Death lightly patted his back while Kid went through his coughing fit. After a while he eventually calmed down enough to breathe easier. I quickly got him a drink of water.

Lord Death sat him on the floor and kneeled in front of him. He wiped the tears from Kid's face with his thumb and stroked his hair.

"Ok Kiddo. What's wrong?" He asked him softly. Kid just sat there. He put his hand on his father's and winced as he held back tears. "Come on Kiddo-kun, please tell me." Lord Death pleaded with worry in his voice.

"T-The balance..." Kid said quietly.
"The balance? What balance?" I asked Kid, sitting on my knees behind him.
"The b-balance! It's not s-symmetrical any m-more!" Kid said, still sniffling here and there.
"What's not symmetrical Kiddo?" Lord Death said softly.
"T-The academy!" He cried.
"From the storm. The academy was destroyed by the storm, making it asymmetrical." I said quietly to myself.
"N-Now there's no b-balance!" Kid exclaimed, then burst into tears again. Lord Death and I just looked at each other.
"Don't worry Kiddo. We're gonna get the school fixed up and it will be symmetrical again, ok?" I said to him with my hands on his shoulders. He slowly nodded and continued to cry. I gently pulled him back so he was laying on my knees and slowly ran my fingers through his thick black hair. His tearstained face shone. He reached up towards me so I picked him up and held him for a while. After a bit he had fallen asleep with his head resting against my chest and his hands clutching my shirt as I held him close. Lord Death adjusted his cloak so it went around him like a blanket and took his mask off his forehead. Then Marie came in and smiled at sleeping Kid.
"Aww, did he have a rough day yesterday?" She said, still staring at him.
"Yes, but today wasn't so great either. Spirit found him in front of the stairs crying on the ground. Kid said it was because the balance of the school was off and it wasn't symmetrical." Lord Death told her. Marie's eyes narrowed sadly.
"Do you think it's maybe OCD?" she asked.
"I hope not. If it is, he's gonna have a hard time adjusting to new things." Lord Death said patting the top of Kid's head.

After a little while Lord Death wanted to take Kid home. He was still sleeping. I handed him over gently and Lord Death held him close to his chest. Kid buried his face into his father's cloak. I walked out with Lord Death and then watched as he carried his tired son home.