Chapter Text
The movie was terrible. There was no other way to put it, it seemed like a weird combination of cheap science fiction and poorly acted teen drama, with a script that seemed to be written at three in the morning by someone with too much coffee on them.
Maka wasn't paying too much attention, and not because she couldn't -she sometimes struggled to follow the plot- but because she had something way better in her arms, Death the Kid.
Right now they were curled up on the couch in the small apartment Maka shared with Soul. That night, her partner had decided to go off with Black*Star to do who-knows-what, leaving her and Kid with the living room to themselves.
It all happened on a little impromptu date that Maka had proposed and that Kid had accepted without hesitation. In his own way, of course, with that almost charming formality he never abandoned.
-"It would be such an honor to spend the evening with you."- he said, and Maka's stomach had dropped with just that simple phrase.
Now they stood there. He with a slight frown, muttering criticisms under his breath every few minutes. It wasn't that he was annoyed, really, it was more like he couldn't help but analyze every scene with his meticulous eye.
- "Why would they take that path if they were clearly being chased down by that creature? That's reckless..."- he whispered with a hint of frustration, barely moving his lips.
Maka smiled tenderly, watching out of the corner of her eye as the dim light from the screen flickered across his features, casting soft shadows on his pale skin.
The contrast with his jet black hair and golden eyes gave him an almost ethereal air, and he held her so close. His arm was around her waist with that security and care that always made her feel loved.
Maka couldn't help but turn a little more toward him. She watched him silently, unnoticed by Kid at first. His long eyelashes, the sharp contour of his jaw, that gesture of concentration that seemed so natural to him and then she reached up, almost without thinking, as gently as one would stroke a sheet of old paper, and brushed his cheek with her fingers.
Kid blinked, surprised by the contact. He turned his face to look at her, any complaints he might have had about the film instantly vanished. His eyes softened, and the annoyed line of his lips curved just barely into an expression Maka had learned to recognize: affection.
-"Is something wrong, Maka?"- he asked in his slow, low voice, afraid to break the moment.
She didn't answer right away, instead she slowly lowered her hand but didn't look away. - "I just wanted to see you..."- she murmured first, and then, with a more vivid sparkle in her eyes, she added - "Say... Do you remember when you fell in love with me?"-
The question was like a stone falling into a calm lake. Surprise flashed across his face for barely a second, then Kid tilted his head slightly, his lips curving into a quiet, almost nostalgic smile.
-"Of course I remember."- he said with a soft sigh. -"It was one of the most important days of my existence... how could I forget?"-
Maka felt her heart clench in her chest. The words he used, the way he looked at her, as if nothing else existed in the world... It was too much but she didn't look away, she just waited.
And Kid, assuming she wanted to hear him, looked down for a moment, thinking, arranging his words as if they were pieces of a precious puzzle.
-☆-
It all happened at the age of thirteen, when Death the Kid walked the halls of Shibusen with the impassive expression and sharp gaze of someone who neither expected - nor wanted - to be approached.
At that time, he did not know Liz or Patty yet, nor did he share his time with anyone other than his father. He was reserved, apathetic and cold, both in his thoughts and his attitude.
The students watched him from a distance. Some whispered among themselves, others simply followed him with their eyes, curious.
Few had seen Lord Death's son, and even fewer dared to speak to him but any attempt at contact vanished with a single glance from him. It was sharp, cutting, silent.
He was on his way to the Death Room, his father had summoned him that morning, and though he hadn't received details, Kid hadn't bothered to ask. Doing his duty was enough for him.
Just as he approached the large doors of the Death Room, they opened abruptly. From inside emerged a quick, feminine figure with a frown and hurried steps.
She wore an all-black school uniform. The skirt had an asymmetrical design, with one of the back sides longer. The matching bluse was decorated with a white ribbon and at the end of it was printed the "eyes" and "mouth" of the skull he wore on his medallion.
Her hair, sandy blonde and loose, fell in soft locks, and one of them had a small braid tied with a scrunchie that mimicked the shape of the medallion Kid wore around his neck.
The girl seemed annoyed, and in her distraction did not notice Kid's presence. Because of this she ended up colliding abruptly shoulders with him.
The young shinigami stopped in his tracks, frowning. He was about to reprimand her for her clumsiness, when her voice came forward, cold and sharp as a razor's edge.
-"Watch where you're going."-
She didn't stop. She didn't even turn to look at him. She walked past him, leaving behind her a trail of clear indignation and surprise.
Kid stood in place, completely bewildered. He clicked his tongue in annoyance and muttered to himself. -"Who the hell does she think she is to talk to me like that?"-
Shaking his head, as if to dismiss the encounter from his memory, he resumed his march towards the Death Room. That incident, as insignificant as it seemed, had stuck with him like a thorn.
Inside the room, the atmosphere was the same as always: spacious, slightly eerie, with crosses nailed to the floor and soft lights flickering through small windows.
Lord Death greeted him with his characteristic effusiveness. -"Kiddo! Good to see you~."-
Kid bowed his head respectfully, without changing his serious expression. -"Father, you called me."-
-"Yes, yes~. I wanted to talk to you about a small mission, something in New York. A minor problem that you could take care of on your own, as part of your training as a future shinigami."-
Kid rolled his eyes, but didn't protest. -"I understand, I will."-
He was about to withdraw when the image of the girl crossed his mind again. He hesitated a moment and then asked. -"Father, if I may ask, who was the girl who was here before me?"-
Lord Death cocked his head curiously. -"Oh, you mean Maka Albarn?"-
In the exact moment that name came out of Lord Death's mouth a man who until that moment looked like a weeping shadow in the corner and on his knees, weeping like if the life had just escaped him, suddenly stood up, sobbing dramatically. -"Maka! My darling little daughter! Daddy loves you! He loves you so much!"-
Kid frowned, perturbed. -"That was Death Scythe's daughter?"- he asked, glancing sideways at the man who was still wallowing in wailing.
-"That's right."- answered his father, with a casual voice. -"Did you run into her in the hallway or something?"-
-"It was just a doubt I had."- said the Kid immediately, not wanting to dig much deeper into the subject.
Lord Death, on the other hand, did seem to want to dig further, but Kid was already turning on his heel. -"If you have nothing more to say to me, I'll leave."-
-"All right, son. Take care of yourself on the trip~."-
Already out of the Death Room, Kid walked down the hallway with a more brisk pace than before. His thoughts returned again and again to Maka Albarn, to her voice, to her way of ignoring him completely to how asymmetrical her clothes were, her braid, her gait, and yet....
-"How could I be interested in someone so asymmetrical?" -he muttered bitterly, although the question kept repeating itself in his mind, as if looking for a contrary answer.
But as much as he wanted to dismiss it as an unimportant encounter... that girl had already stuck with him, even if he hadn't realized it yet.
Now Death the Kid was walking through the outer corridors of Shibusen with the intention of going straight home.
The encounter with that girl - Maka Albarn, his father had said - still hovered in his head like an annoying fly he couldn't swat. His appearance remained serene, as usual, but inside his thoughts boiled with frustration.
He didn't understand why he couldn't just forget her. It had been a simple clash, a rough exchange of words but even telling each other all that....
He sighed, trying to put it behind him, and looked up. Without realizing it, his footsteps had led him to a place he often visited: a small pond hidden behind one of the academy's side gardens.
Surrounded by thin, tall trees, with a calm water surface and a small stone bridge crossing it, that place was one of the few things he found moderately satisfying.
While not perfect, there was a certain symmetry in the reflection of the water, in the pattern of the bushes...in the way the sun regularly filtered through the branches.
Or, at least, there used to be.
As soon as he approached, he noticed the scene in front of him. A group of students had gathered around the pond, some carrying bags of garbage, others crouched down feeding the fish. There were buckets, nets, and an absurd amount of misplaced buckets.
Kid frowned in disgust. -"What a waste of time..." -he muttered to himself -"Getting dirty, poking around in the muck... completely breaking your symmetry just to clean this worthless hole..."-
He turned away, intending to leave before the mess got to him.
But then a high-pitched cry caught his attention and he froze right where he was standing.
-"Gah-! There's a dead bird!"-
A girl, pale with shock, stepped back awkwardly and stumbled. She fell against another girl who was right behind, causing her to lose her balance.
The next sound was a splash, followed by screams. -"Ahh! I can't swim! Somebody help me, please!"-
The once calm pond turned into chaos. Students were running back and forth, some screaming, some standing still, none acting.
Kid also stopped, his whole body frozen. His gaze was fixed on the girl who was kicking in the water, sinking with every second.
He could hear her gasping for breath, the bubbling sound of the water invading her throat and yet... he could not move.
If he entered the pond, his clothes would be ruined. His hairstyle, his rings, his shoes.... Symmetry would go to hell! He felt his heart hammering in his chest as his mind pleaded - almost in panic - for someone to do something, someone, anyone.
-'Come on...'- he thought desperately, staring into the murky water. -'Somebody act now!'-
Then, as if the universe responded, a shadow crossed his field of vision.
A figure approached at a brisk pace. Without a word, she crouched down, firmly tied a rope to the edge of the bridge and wrapped it around her own waist. In an instant, she threw herself into the water without hesitation.
The body hit the surface with force, splashing everyone around. Kid backed away slighty and barely out of instinct, but his eyes did not leave the silhouette under the water.
She emerged with an arm around the drowning girl, dragging her forcefully toward the shore. The hands of the others finally reacted, helping to pull her up. The girl coughs, spits up water, but breathes, she was alive.
The one who rescued her sitted up slowly, soaked to the bone, her dark uniform clinging to her body. Her blonde hair falls around her shoulders, the braid still hanging wet with the skull scrunchie. She gasps, but doesn't complain, just looks down at the girl on the floor, still recovering.
-"Are you okay?" She asked, her voice was firm just as concerned.
The girl nodded, still with tears in her eyes. - "Y-Yes... thank you... thank you for saving me."-
Maka Albarn then turned around without waiting for more words. She shaked some water off her sleeves as she walked towards the exit of the place, leaving behind her the still perplexed students.
Kid couldn't move.
Until that moment... he didn't know.
He didn't know why his chest felt so compressed. Why he could not look away, why his brain, which usually ordered the world with straight lines and perfect balances, could not find logic in the silhouette of that girl.
Until that moment he didn't know... that something so asymmetrical could be so beautiful.
His eyes followed her as she walked away. On the way, a blue-haired boy joined her, with a loud smile that contrasted with the silence that had just been broken.
-"Hey Maka, that was awesome! But you should have let me do it, you stole all the glory!"-
She snorted, looking like she was used to it by now. -"I didn't do this for glory, Black*Star."-
And they walked away together.
While Death the Kid stood there, motionless, his heart beating in an imperfect rhythm.
It was in that instant, amidst the mud, the mess and the dirty water... that he fell in love with Maka Albarn.
-☆-
The apartment was silent, barely broken by the soft hum of the ceiling fan and the distant murmur of the city filtering through the half-open windows.
Maka and Kid were still sitting on the couch in the living room, the same one where, hours before, they had only planned to rest for a while.
Kid had just finished telling his story, the one that had begun with a simple walk to the Death Room and an accidental collision.
His lips curved into a light, almost nostalgic smile as he concluded serenely. - "And since that day... my life has only gotten better."-
Maka blinked. Her expression, incredulous, took a few seconds to process everything she had just heard. She opened her mouth, closed it, and spoke again in a tone somewhere between confusion and alarm.
-"How did I act like that!?" -she exclaimed, holding a hand to her forehead- "Did I really crash into you and didn't even apologize!?"-
Kid cocked his head, amused with a raised eyebrow. -"Don't you remember, dear?"- he asked with gentle irony, the smile still on his lips.
Maka quickly denied, still in shock.
-"I remember about the pond. Of course I do, I remember that girl screaming and.... everything that happened afterwards but... I didn't remember that I had bumped into you before that. Let alone that I spoke to you that way."-
Kid let out a small laugh, discreet but charged with affection. He gently stroked Maka's hand, which was still resting on his leg. His fingers traced hers gently, trying to convey calmness to her just by the contact.
-"I guess you were so angry... that you didn't even realize who you bumped into."-
-"Tch..." - Maka snorted, visibly embarrassed, lowering her gaze- "I really was like someone else back then. I didn't like to be interrupted for a second, I was always on the defensive, sometimes I wonder how I didn't scare half of Shibusen in my first month."-
Kid nodded slowly, still stroking her hand. -"I agree with you."- He said calmly, and Maka looked at him sideways, faking indignation. -"The truth is, when I saw you again for the first time, already as an official student... I didn't recognize you right away either."-
-"Really?"- she asked with a pout, almost offended.
-"Yes."- He smiled sweetly. -"It was during that... absurd confrontation that Soul and Black*Star arranged for me. When they said your name, I froze. I thought, 'It can't be her. Not that girl.'"-
Maka chuckled softly, slightly more relaxed, her cheeks tinged with a slight blush. Kid then leaned toward her without losing the tenderness in his gestures and planted a warm kiss on her forehead.
His lips brushed her skin for only a few seconds, but the gesture was enough to make her breathing quicken slightly.
-"But I don't regret anything."- he whispered, barely audible, but with each word filled with sincerity. -"Because if it hadn't been for that shoulder bump...I wouldn't have fallen in love with you."-
The silence that followed was distinct. Not awkward, but filled with a warmth that required no explanation.
Maka lowered her gaze, cheeks still aflame, and let out a soft, almost musical giggle. -"If you put it that way... you sound like a masochist."-
- "For you..." -answered Kid, settling closer to her, with a mischievous expression. - "I would be."-
They both remained curled up on the couch, surrounded by the warm light of the living room lamps, the still air and the memories floating between them like soft smoke.
They remained silent for a few minutes, enjoying the stillness and the warmth they shared. Kid, however, spoke again, his voice caressing the air with curiosity and tenderness when he asked.
- "And you, Maka... when did you fell in love with me?"-