Chapter Text
They’re sitting on top of the wall that faces into the desert surrounding the academy.
Black*Star had stormed the library, where Kid was trying to work on this, Black*Star, now’s not a good time- and had whisked him away to the top.
“It’ll be good bonding!” He’d said, grinning in a way that made his entire face light up- and, well, Kid had long since found out he had a weakness for smiles that could rival stars.
So here they were, passing a flask back and forth, although it was filled with apple juice because I’m not going to drink underage, that’s SO not cool.
Black*Star looked over to him sideways. “See,” he waggled his eyebrows, “bonding!”
Kid snorted over the flask. “What bonding,” he deadpanned. “We’re sitting in silence drinking apple juice.”
“ I’m sitting,” Black*Star corrected.
He was sitting criss crossed on the wall next to Kid, who was leaning over the wall. Kid rolled his eyes and passed the flask back. “Fine, you’re sitting,” he conceded.
Black*Star tipped his head back and chugged the rest of the flask. Kid followed the drink down his throat, watching as his Adam’s apple bobbed with it.
Snapping his eyes forward, he sent a silent thanks to whoever made it so Shinigami couldn’t blush.
“Then let’s do some proper bonding,” Black*Star declared, putting the flask back in his pocket and turning to face Kid. “21 questions!” Kid raised an eyebrow at him.
“It’s this game where people take turns asking-”
“I know what 21 questions is, screw you,” Kid huffed. “All right. You start.”
Black*Star hummed. “What’s one thing you do you shouldn’t?”
Kid went silent. Should he keep it lighthearted or answer seriously? Black*Star was being unusually thoughtful today, and Kid didn’t want to ruin that.
Then again, they were having such a nice time. Why ruin that ?
So he decided on something equally serious and light.
“Eat apples,” he said. Black*Star’s eyebrows shot up. “Eat apples,” he echoed.
Kid nodded. “Apples make my throat and stomach hurt. But they taste good, and they’re Liz and Patty’s favorite, so we keep them stocked.”
Black*Star made a ‘well what do you know face’ and tilted his head up to the moon.
“For me, it’s….” his voice trailed off as he thought. Kid traced his outline in the moonlight, eyes lingering on the way the silver glow highlighted his face. He looked like the star he was.
Big.
Bright.
Beautiful.
Untouchable.
“...Bananas,” Black*Star concluded. Kid snapped back to himself. “Pardon?”
Black*Star grinned at him. “You eat apples, I eat bananas. I’m allergic to them, but a little fruit isn’t going to stop me ! I’m going to surpass God one day, and if I can do that, no banana can slow me down!”
He threw his head back and laughed, a boisterous sound that whirled around in the night air. Kid chuckled and closed his eyes, tipping his head back too. “Since I have refined taste,” he said, amusement coloring his voice, “I do prefer apples over bananas. Bananas have such a weird texture.” Black*Star hummed and silence fell over them again- but a comfortable one, this time.
Kid could feel Black*Star staring at him, and he cracked one eye open. “What is it? Do I have apple juice on my face?”
And then Kid had to blink his eyes because- was Black*Star blushing? Black*Star???
“Do you have a fever or something?” He asked, worried. He reached a hand out to touch his forehead. Black*Star huffed, although the blush stayed there.
“I’m fine,” he grumbled, batting Kid’s hand away. “You just- look nice. In the light. That’s all.” Kid blinked and let his hand drop. “Oh.”
He was sure that if he could blush his face would be the color of an apple. He coughed.
“You.. look nice too. In the, uh. Moonlight.” Black*Star looked at him, eyes widening the slightest before he caught himself and smirked instead. “Yeah?” Kid rolled his eyes good naturedly. “Yeah.”
Black*Star’s smirk softened into a smile, and he patted the spot next to him on the wall, looking back out at the DWMA. Kid glanced at him, then smiled and pulled himself up.
They sat there, shoulder to shoulder, staring at the desert. Kid felt Black*Star’s hand brushed against his, and in a moment of boldness, he grabbed his hand.
Almost immediately after he began to panic. What if he didn’t want to hold his hand? What if his hands were sweaty? What if he’s misread all the signals and everything between them, every look, every touch, every smile and laugh? He knows he’s difficult to deal with. He hears that from Liz. But with Black*Star, it’s different. He cares, but not too much or not too less.
And then Black*Star’s fingers wrap around his, and all of his thoughts fade away to oh, warm.
“Is this okay? You don’t need to move or anything to make it symmetrical?”
Kid frowns. “You know what? I haven’t even thought about it the entire time I’ve been here with you.”
“...Huh. What d’ya know? Guess I’m just that irresistible.”
“More like distracting.”
“You’re the one holding my hand right now.”
Kid scoffs.
“Whatever,” he concedes, not hiding the smile on his face. Black*Star smirks at him.
They make eye contact, and suddenly, he’s back at his first day at the DWMA, a little impressed by the boy with the bright blue hair claiming to be better than him, then completely losing himself once he sees those eyes, brighter than the stars and more passionate than any other he’s ever met. He’s back in Excalibur’s cave, passing a shared feeling, a bonding moment, and looking again into his eyes, darker in the blue light.
There’s thousands more moments like this, Kid thinks. Passed glances, prolonged eye contact, secret smiles, and there could be a thousand more, if only he dares.
So he leans in. And Black*Star does too. They meet in the middle, and although Kid has had more than countable feelings about Black*Star, none of them describe the pure joy that he felt when their lips touched.
His lips are chapped. Dry, from all the hooting and hollering he does. But he’s gentle now in a way that Kid hasn’t really seen before, but it’s amazing. He’s amazing. Kid is gone further for this boy than anyone has ever been gone, probably. Including Soul and Maka.
They break apart slowly. Black*Star’s eyes are sparkling, shifting blues in the bright light of the moon and stars above.
“Hi,” he whispers.
“Hi,” Kid whispers back, smiling.
Black*Star starts to chuckle, slowly progressing in volume until he’s laughing to the sky above.
And Kid knows him, knows that while he keeps all of his emotions sealed and guarded inside his heart, Black*Star lets a few select ones out when he’s truly feeling it.
So Kid joins in, for once, laughing softly with the boy he loves under the stars.
*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙✩*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ .·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙✩*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ .*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙✩*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ .·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙✩*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ .*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙✩*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ .·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙✩*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ .*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙✩*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ .·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙✩*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ .
Kid walks into school without really thinking about much. Except for Black*Star.
Then again, he’s always thinking about Black*Star, so it’s not exactly new, is it?
“Where were you last night?” Liz demands for the umpteenth time. “And why didn’t you take us with you? You’re never going to a party by yourself, so I don’t have to worry about not being invited, but if you were sneaking out to meet someone, then you can tell us. We’re very trustworthy.”
Pat cartwheels over from where she was trying to chase a butterfly.
“Liz got you a symmetry book for your birthday,” she giggles gleefully. Liz gasps, horrified.
Kid tunes them out as Liz starts to berate Patty, scanning the crowd of DWMA students for one student in particular. He can’t see the bright blue hair anywhere, but that’s not surprising. Black*Star does choose to be late more often than not, and Tsubaki only has so much progress with her gentle pleading.
“Hey there, Kid!” Someone calls out cheerfully from behind him, and he turns around to find Maka and Soul. They’re holding hands, Kid notes, but since there’s one hand on the other side of them it’s all right. Maka’s twin pigtails look the same, as always, evenly proportioned and brushed finely. He nods approvingly.
“Good morning,” he replies politely. Soul nods at him. He nods back.
“Oh, hi, Maka, Soul,” Liz greets, popping behind him with Patty gripped firmly in one perfectly manicured hand. “Do you know what the test Professor Stein’s gonna give us is about? I didn’t do a ton of studying over the weekend. I had a manicure appointment.”
“Liz,” Maka sighs. Soul snorts.
“It’s fine. I wouldn’t have studied either, but Maka made me. She called it a ‘study date’,” he says sarcastically, finger quoting around the words study date.
“That’s what it was!”
Kid hides a smile. He would’ve kept listening to their bickering, maybe even joined in, but a flash of bright blue hair caught his eye. He whips around faster than is socially acceptable, but luckily no one notices.
“Helloooo, DWMA!” Black*Star bellows, barreling into their little group. Tsubaki follows behind, fond exasperation etched into her brow. Soul and Maka smirk at each other. Kid follows their mental communication with a pang in his chest.
Yes, they’re meister and weapon, but their looks aren’t just one of partners, they’re one of partners. Two people in unison with something more powerful than merely their souls or their minds. They’re connected in their hearts, two people as one, more often than not. The subtle signals and communication they both have makes Kid long for something he doesn’t entirely understand.
His father never talks about his other parent, if he even has one at all. It’s not something Shinigami are expected to talk about, nor do they. He’s never asked his father about what love is like with mortals, since they die faster than Shinigami do. He’s not going to. It’s highly doubtful that if he does, the answer will be some sort of quote of riddle to figure out, not straightforward advice.
Not that he needs straight advice. There’s nothing straight at all about what he wants.
“...Anubis,” he overhears Liz complaining to Tsubaki. “Honestly, I wouldn’t have anyone else I’d rather have as my meister, but he drives me crazy sometimes, you know?”
Tsubaki nods. “Yeah, that about sums it up.”
Kid starts a little when someone reaches for his hand, but one squeeze and he knows it’s Black*Star.
“Well,” Maka says, drawing the group's attention, “the test is a cumulative of all the things we’ve learned the past few months.”
“Aw, no, we have a test?” Black*Star groans, letting go of Kid’s hand to dramatically throw his hands up. “I’m not doing this. I’m ditching.”
“You are not,” Maka says fiercely. “If you ditch, that means our class average is going to be lower than what it usually would be.”
“Are you sure?” Soul drawls. “Zero’s just about what Black*Star gets, anyway.”
Everyone laughs, even Black*Star. Kid just smiles.
“Maka,” someone says from behind Kid. He turns around to find Ox Ford strolling up to them, a smug smirk placed firmly on his face.
“I just wanted to wish you good luck on the test,” he says smoothly. “I’ve been studying extensively, as I’m sure you know, and I do hope you have too. It wouldn’t do to bring our class average down, would it?”
“Remind me again, Ox, who placed number two on the last test we took?” Kid interrupts drily. “Oh, wait. That was you.”
Ox flushes. “Well. Good luck anyway.” With a quick nod to the rest of the group, he retreats back to his partner.
“All right, everyone, we should get to class if we want to get there on time…” Tsubaki pushes gently. Soul and Maka lead the way there, bickering about something or the other, although there’s a smile on their faces.
Liz and Patty follow them, chattering about something or the other. Tsubaki hangs back.
“Black*Star?” She asks tentatively. “Are you coming?”
He snorts. “No. I don’t need to take tests to surpass God! I can do without.”
Tsubaki sighs. “All right, but if you get in trouble…” She looks at Kid, a silent question in her eyes.
He knows he should go take the test. He might probably end up struggling to get his name perfect again (it bothers him to this day), but his father would be pleased that he’d at least shown up.
On the other hand, Black*Star would probably (definitely) get into some situation or the other without someone to reign him in.
So he sighs and waves Tsubaki off. She smiles knowingly at him and rushes off, shooting him a discreet thumbs-up.
“So you’re sticking around, huh?” Black*Star asks, sidling up to him. He smirks, and Kid huffs to hide his smile.
“Yes. God knows what kind of trouble you’ll get into without anyone around to control you.”
Black*Star reaches for his hand again, and their fingers twine together. He tugs him out of the DWMA, grinning brightly.
“Good. There’s something I want to show you.”