Life and Death 5

"So, Rai. Are you ready for your first mission?" Lord Death asked, tilting his head to the side. Yes! This was finally the moment I had been waiting for, the chance to finally prove myself.

I straightened up professionally at his question and nodded firmly. "Yes, sir. We've gotten plenty of rest over the past few days and now we're more than ready for the assignment." Derek and Mason nodded in agreement at my sides.

"Okie dokie then! I'll fill you three in on what's going on!" he exclaimed, clapping his giant hands together. "You see, there is a Kishin egg that's causing trouble down in South America. We've tracked his whereabouts to Bolivia and now we're waiting for the right team to send to take him out."

"And that's us, right?" Derek cheered, pumping a fist in the air at the challenge. Mason rolled his eyes at his brother's enthusiasm, but I could see the look in his eyes that longed for action. He just wasn't as verbal about things as his older brother.

Lord Death nodded at Derek's statement. "Yep, the mission is all your's, that is, if you wish to accept it. This Kishin is particularly tricky, so we've been saving it for a skilled meister, but I think you three will be able to handle it."

Mason cocked and eyebrow and asked, "What's so dangerous about this particular Kishin egg, sir?"

"Ah, thank you for reminding me! I almost forgot to mention that this Kishin egg has partially morphed into a demonic animal; a scorpion to be exact. His fighting skills are particularly lethal because of this, but I guess you'll have to see that for yourself."

Mason didn't seem intimidated by this information. At my other side, Derek just snorted arrogantly. "Psh, it would be boring if we didn't have a challenge anyway," he said as he nonchalantly laced his hands behind his head with a smirk.

I nodded in agreement. "And we are going to have an audience, after all. We might as well entertain them." I didn't say outloud that I also needed this challenge because I would be representing my mother in this mission.

"So, I take it that you accept the assignment?"

"We accept, sir," the three of us replied in unsion.

"Excellent! I'll have a plane ready for you by this evening. Good luck!" he exclaimed, waving a hand at us. We nodded seriously, then turned to leave and get ready for the beginning of our new lives.

(later on that day)

"Rai, we have to go! We have to be at the jet by 6 pm," Mason called down the hallway towards my room.

"Just a minute!" I replied, undoing my left braid and running my fingers through the wavy locks to loosen them. When the knots were all combed out, I gathered up a chunk of the hair and shoved a clip in my mouth. When I got the right amount of the orange strands in my fingers, I took the clip out of my mouth and put it into place so that my hair was kept out of my face. When that was done, I turned my head from side to side to make sure that both sides were even, then stepped back to look at myself in my regular battle outfit. I had changed into black pants that were ripped at the knees and a long sleeve shirt that was green at the base of the body with horizontal green and black stripes on the sleeves. I also wore black combat boots and had two skull shaped clips on both sides of my head to hold my hair out of my face. When I was satisfied that I was ready, I walked over to my bed and picked up two black fingerless gloves and pulled them on, then threw my white hooded cloak over my shoulders. Okay, this was it; I was ready.

Taking a deep breath, I opened the door to my room only to find Derek with his fist in the air like he was about to knock. He had also changed into a pair of baggy jeans, a red t-shirt, and a black leather jacket. Bringing his arm down, he grinned down at my startled form.

"Hey there, princess. If you're done with your primping, there are some people outside that want to wish us luck before we leave."

I glared up at him and counted off three fingers. "One: I wasn't primping. Two: I thought I told you to quit calling me princess. And three: who are these 'people' of which you speak?"

"Go on and see for yourself," he answered while nodding to the door.

I hated when he did that. Why couldn't he just answer my question in the first place? Growling, I shoved my way past him and walked down the hallway to the front door. When I opened it, I found Mason who had also changed a similar outfit as Derek, except he wore a black hooded jacket instead of Derek's leather one. He stood outside talking to no other than our little gang of friends. Maka, Soul, Kid, Liz, Patty, Tsubaki, and Black*Star had all shown up at our doorstep.

"Yo, the midget finally showed up!" Black*Star yelled from the group only to have Tsubaki lightly smack him on the head.

"Hey, Rai!" Maka waved at me from below.

"Hi, guys. What are you doing here?" I asked as I walked down the steps to join them.

"We wanted to wish you luck on your first mission," Tsubaki said sweetly with a smile.

Despite myself, I rolled my eyes. "Thanks, but it's not like this is our first Kishin egg. We've done this plenty of times before."

"Really? I didn't know people could do that outside of the DWMA," Liz added while her sister twirled in circles beside her.

I shrugged and flipped some of my hair over my shoulder. "Yeah, well my mother doesn't look too kindly on them either. They devour countless human souls every day, human souls that my mother works so hard to create. I've been hunting down Kishin eggs for a while now."

"So, then shouldn't Derek and Mason be Death Scythes by now?" Soul asked as he glanced at my partners.

"Haha, I bet she screwed it up and lost all the souls she collected or something," Black*Star mocked which earned him a good punch in the face courtesy of yours truly.

"No you idiot! I've just been fighting Kishin eggs for my mother, not for Lord Death," I explained as he recovered from my blow.

"So then why did you come to the DWMA?" a familiar voice asked. I turned to the source to find Kid's beautiful golden eyes staring into mine with curiosity. I cleared my throat, which made Kid come to the wrong conclusion.

"No, it's not that I'm not happy to see you again. I was just curious!" he backtracked quickly.

I smiled at his gesture. "I knew what you meant, I was just thinking about the right way to say it. I'm guessing that your father hasn't told you yet. Basically, our parents were trying to make up for the mistake that they made."

"Mistake?" Derek asked from the top of the steps as he turned the key to lock up our apartment. After he jiggled the handle for safety measures, he walked down the steps to join us.

"Well, I already told you that I was supposed to be a weapon, Kid's weapon. When it was discovered that I would be a meister, I never visited the DWMA and Kid again because there was really no reason to. The alliance that my mother and Lord Death wanted to form was never going to happen if Kid and I weren't going to be partners. So instead, my mother came up with a new plan. As her daughter and a goddess, I would collect Kishin eggs in Lord Death's name in order to create a Death Scythe for him in the name of Life. As ironic as that sounds, Derek and Mason will really be a symbol of their alliance instead of me and Kid as partners."

"Ah, that makes sense," Soul commented with a nod.

"And it does explain your sudden return," Kid added. "I was so young back then that I never really knew the reason why you never came back," he said, then lowered his eyes and dropped his voice to a whisper. "I thought it was because you didn't like me."

My silver eyes widened at the outrageous thought. "Why the hell would you think anything like that? You were my best friend, Kid. I was hurt too when I didn't get to see you anymore," I ranted.

His head snapped up at the anger in my voice. "So….you weren't bothered by my….symmetry problem?"

I blushed and looked down at my hands as I fiddled around with them. "Actually, I thought it was….cute."

Kid's pale face turned pink at my comment as well. He opened his mouth to speak, but I cut him off as I glanced at my watch and realized that we were going to be late for the jet. "Oh just get over here and hug me, you idiot. We have to leave," I said with my arms openly waiting for him, expectantly. Kid closed his gaping mouth with a small smile, then strode forward to hug me tightly.

"Just be safe," he mumbled.

I chuckled in response. "Aren't I always?" As I pulled away from him, I saw his gaze staring at me intensely. "Uh, is something wrong?" I asked.

"No, it's just that…you look very….symmetrical in that outfit."

I blinked once, then grinned widely. I was one of the only people in the world that could understand the truth behind that statement. For Kid, symmetry was the equivalent of beauty, so he had basically called me beautiful in his own special way.

Behind us, Black*Star of course attempted to ruin the moment. "Kid and Rai sittin in a-,"

"MAKAAAA CHOP!"

"Ow! Hey, what was that for!" I would have to thank Maka later.

"Hey, if you two are done, we gotta leave or we're going to be late," Mason called out from behind us.

I relunctantly turned away from Kid to stand beside him only to find that Kid and I weren't the only couple exchanging heartfelt goodbyes. Standing over on the outskirts of the group was my other partner who was saying farewell to Liz. Judging by her expression, she seemed to be worried about his safety on the mission and Derek was trying his best to comfort her. He had a hands on her shoulders and was speaking in a serious low tone with his face inches away from her's. Without warning, he pulled her into a sudden tight embrace. I stood a few feet away from them awkwardly. I had never seen Derek act this way towards a girl before. Sure he was flirtatious all the time, but with Liz, he seemed to be serious and genuine about his feelings toward her. I smiled slightly; this could only get more ironic if Patty and Mason started to show signs of love.

Not wanting to waste any more time, I walked over to Derek and Liz and yanked on the collar of Derek's leather jacket. "C'mon Romeo, it's time to go. Don't worry, Liz. I'll make sure that he doesn't get into any trouble."

Liz bit her lip slightly, then smiled and nodded, knowing that it was really all I could do. I released Derek's collar as he gave her his signature pretty boy smile and winked. I rolled my eyes, then turned to our friends as we reached Mason's side.

"Well, wish us luck!" I exclaimed as I waved goodbye at them.

"Wait!" Patty exclaimed, running over to us with a tiny stuffed giraffe in her hand. With wide innocent eyes, she held it out to me. "This is Gerald. Take him with you. He'll protect you," she said seriously.

I smiled at the sweet gesture and took the stuffed giraffe from her palm. "Thank you Patty. We'll be sure to bring him back safely with us," I assured her. She smiled widely, then skipped back to Kid's side. Maybe I had underestimated Patty. Although she was quite childish, I'm sure that she balanced out Kid and Liz like Mason, Derek and I balanced out each other.

Putting the giraffe safely in my pocket, I waved goodbye again to our friends as they shouted comforting words to us as we departed.

"Good luck, you guys!"

"Be careful!"

"Hey, don't die on me, midget!" *smack*

"Yeah, kill that Kishin bastard!"

"You guys got this!"

"We'll be watching!"

Turning my back on them, I linked arms with Derek and Mason at my sides with a determined expression. It was us against the Kishin egg, now. We were ready.