Finding the Raven Witch (A Soul Eater Fanfiction)

A Walk in the Graveyard

 One sunny morning, ten days after the fight against Medusa, eight people stood in the sunny graveyard. Solemnly, they gathered around as Shinigami-sama carefully lowered the ornate gold-painted box that held the soul of Rosalyn Seikatsu into it's newly dug grave.

Death the Kid watched his father set down the box. The young grim reaper had changed quite a bit, since he had come to Death City. He wore the symmetrical, black and white suit that his father had found for him, with the skull pin he had found while looking through his mother's old things. A chance encounter ont the streets had accquired him weapons of his own, and twin pistols Liz and Patty now stood stoically by his sides, silently watching the small funeral.

Kid's friends Maka, Soul, Crona, and Tsubaki were also there, along with Black*Star, who Kid had begrudgingly learned to tolerate. Tsubaki and Crona were silently crying, and even Black*Star looked serious. They stood by Kid and his father for a while, before quietly leaving with bowed heads.

Now Kid and his father were the only two people in the quiet graveyard.

Without saying a word, they began to walk; not to anywhere in particular, just around the little cemetary.

Finally, the Shinigami spoke. "So... I see you've been getting used to being a grim reaper."

Kid nodded slowly, calculating what to say next. "You do run a well organized school..." he allowed himself.

Kid had learned to tell his father's facial expressions by the way he spoke or held himself. Right now, he was smiling. "I'm glad to hear that, Kid. This is where you belong."

Kid shook his head. "That's not true."

Beneath the mask, Shinigami-sama wore a look of concern. "What do you mean?"

"Mother ran away because she didn't want me to grow up in a place where kids are taught to kill people. She obviously thought I didn't belong in a place where kids are in danger all the time." Kid shoved his hands in his pockets.

His father sighed. "Your mother... She was a remarkable woman. Strong... And independant. She always did the right thing, no matter what. It's what made her so beautiful. And I... Tried so hard to make her happy. Her smile... She could outshine the sun if she wanted to. And yet- no matter what I did, I could never make her truly happy."

"Maybe you should've trusted her judgement, then!" Kid snapped. "If she was so right about everything, maybe you shouldn't have gone looking for us! Maybe you shouldn't have ruined everything!" Kid lowered his voice. "We were happy in Grenon. You should've left us there."

"Think again, Kid. Were you really happy? Your mother told me what life was like for you in Grenon."

His father was smiling again, sadly. It made Kid sick.

"Everyone makes mistakes. Your mother was no exception. Taking you away from Death City was a mistake."

Silence.

"You think I don't understand. But you're forgetting- I'm a grim reaper too. We're not so different. Once upon a time, I looked like you, and thought like you, and grew up like you. I know what it must be like."

"Don't compare yourself to me," Kid snapped.

"Your Sanzu lines. They bother you because they aren't symmetrical. You know they're going to connect one day, and you'll be the Shinigami, but that might take years."

Defiance turned to amazement as Kid stared, startled, at his father. "How- How did you know?"

"What is it they called your love for symmetry? OCD?" his father asked.

"Yes."

"Well... That's bogus."

"Bogus? But, the school consellor-"

"Ah, the school counsellor," Shinigami-sama nodded. "I don't doubt she is an intelligent woman. She must know kids very well. But how well does she know grim reapers?"

Kid was speechless.

"It's not ODC or DPO or whatever they call it! It's your natural instinct for balance. It may be a nuisance now, but when you become the Shinigami, it'll help loads."

"So this symmetry obsession... It will go away?" Kid asked in disbelief.

His father laughed. "Of course not! You'll always have some sort of symmetry fetish. But when you grow up, it'll be less obvious. Asymmetrical things will bother you less."

Kid nodded pensively. "So... You also had an obsession with symmetry?"

"No," the Shinigami shook his head. "For me, it was even numbers. Everything had to be even. Or else I'd throw a fit."

Kid smiled. "That sounds like me."

His father smiled, too. "You know, Kid, looking at you feels like I'm looking in a mirror. But when you smile, I see your mother."

"I love you, father."

"And I, you, Kid."