The New Kishin Rises

Healing Xia- The Mystery Kid

Haruka knocked on the door of her apartment. "Why are you knocking? Isn't this your house?" Misaki asked.

"I-I don't know. You've got the antidote?" Haruka said. Kid nodded, pulling out a clear bottle filled with a blackish substance. She nodded and unlocked the door, pushing it open to see a red-haired man wearing black, suit-like clothes laying on a couch next to Xia's bed. He looked up, holding a bowl of ramen and had a noodle in his mouth.

"You're back!" he said, running over to us. "Maka, aren't you glad your papa could come through?"

"Who's this?" Haruka asked.

"My good-for-nothing father," Maka answered. Her father became depressed and left the apartment, waving a sad good-bye. Everyone else went by Xia. She still had the weird yellow liquid leaking out of her mouth. Momo pulled Xia's mouth open and Maka poured in the liquid into her mouth. Momo closed Xia's mouth and they all waited.

And waited.

And waited.

They waited for about a half hour, playing cards and rock-paper-scissors. Then, they heard a small groan from Xia's room. Everyone rushed over and watched Xia flutter her eyes open. She let out another groan before breaking out into a cough attack. "WHAT THE HECK WAS IN THAT?" she yelled.

"You don't want to know." Liz advised. Xia leapt from the bed, grabbed a sponge, and began furiously scrubbing her tongue. She was foaming in the mouth by the time she was done. She sneezed out some soap bubbles and rinsed out her mouth, touching her tongue every once in a while.

"That tasted terrible..." she remarked, only to be interrupted by the (girls') group bear hug that had attacked her. She yelled out, confused and frightened. "Just what HAPPENED?"

"You got poisoned with 'Deadly Sunshine'. It's a toxic that can kill you." Kid informed.

"Well, I couldn't tell from the name!" Xia said, free from the hug. "But how'd I get it?"

"That's what we're trying to figure out," Misaki explained. "Did you drink anything weird?"

"Most likely, Xia drinks anything that's a liquid." Haruka commented.

"No I don't!"

"Lies, lies everywhere!"

"What if she didn't drink it? How else could she have gotten it?" Black Star asked.

Kid answered, "Through injection and bathing in it."

"Well, I certainly doubt I took a bath in that stuff. I don't trust anything that looks suspiciously yellow." Xia said.

"So that leaves injection." Soul said.

"Did you go to the hospital recently?" Maka asked.

"No."

"Did you take drugs from the kids on the street?" Momo asked kiddingly.

"Maybe..." Xia said sarcastically.

"Any other ideas on how this happened?" Misaki asked.

Xia thought for a moment. "Wait..."

"You got something?" Kid asked.

"Yeah, when we battled that weird guy with the funny looking eye-"

"Free." Haruka sneered.

"Right," Xia continued. "Anyways, when we were walking out and Soul was carrying Haruka, I felt something stab me on the back of my neck. It felt like a bug bite so I didn't think anything of it, but then I coughed up some yellow liquid. I figured it was just a virus or mucus or something, not poison."

"So, you just cough up mucus on a daily basis?" Haruka remarked.

"What, no! I just meant-"

"Just don't try to explain." Liz said.

"Case closed?" Patty asked.

"Not quite." Kid said. "We still need to figure out how she was injected."

Everyone heard a crash and saw Black Star trying to fend off what he called "a swarm of bugs". It was more like two that just kept buzzing around his head. He zapped them out of the air and stomped on their carcasses. "Maybe it was a bug!" Momo said, closing the open window.

No one noticed the four flies sneak in before it closed.

"We don't have enough information to figure this out!" Misaki wailed, throwing her hands up in defeat.

"On a separate note, how long was I out?" Xia asked.

"Two, three days." Haruka said.

"WHA- what did I miss?"

"Everything!" Momo said.

"We went to Japan!" Patty cheered.

"THAT'S UNFAIR!" Xia cried. "YOU GUYS KNOW I'VE ALWAYS WANTED TO GO TO JAPAN!"

"Well, don't get sick next time!" Misaki said.

Everyone went around telling the adventures they had on the trip. From Soul and Maka and Haruka's trip, to when Momo got lost with Black Star, to when Kid saw a perfectly symmetrical tree, to the trip in Japan, Robin, and Haruka's calzone. Xia remained quiet through each one, probably trying to hold back her anger from not being able to go. Or from not being able to eat some Belgium waffles. Or from not watching Robin fight with Black Star.

As the night grew darker, the apartment began to clear out. First Kid, Patty, and Liz went out. Then, Black Star and Tsubaki left. Maka and Soul remained.

"I think we should go now," Maka said to Soul.

"Yeah, it's been a long day." Soul agreed.

Xia looked up from the couch scarfing down a giant bag of Doritos and waved bye. Haruka, Momo, and Misaki said their farewells and began a game of B.S.

Soul and Maka walked out the door into the pitch black night. They barely noticed the small child hiding in the bushes across the street from Haruka and Xia's apartment, but they did notice him.

The boy had red hair that covered his eyes and wore ragged clothes, as if he had lived on the streets all his life. He looked up to them, grasping a worn leather book that had old pages inside.

"What's a kid like you doing all alone?" Soul asked. "Isn't your mom worrying about you?"

"Don't got a mom. Only a master."

"Master?" Maka asked.

"Yes. His name is Lord Haru. He is the best there is."

"He doesn't sound so great." Soul remarked. "Shouldn't you get home to him?"

The boy shook his head. "He'll kill me if I don't complete my mission."

"Just what is your mission?" Maka asked.

"To collect as much information as I can." he said, staring at the leather book.

"Information on what?" Soul asked.

"Everything." he said, looking up to them. "Including you two, and the four in that apartment."

Maka and Soul stared at him in bewilderment. The boy disappeared into the bushes and didn't show up again. Maka looked at Soul and Soul looked at Maka, unable to explain what happened.

"Should we tell Haruka and Xia there's a boy watching all of us?" Maka said to Soul.

"Nah, he probably was just stuck in his imagination. C'mon Maka, let's go home."

"Okay."

The two of them got on top of Soul's motorcycle and drove away, trying not to take the boy too seriously.