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BlackStar hissed to himself as he sat down on the porch.
The dull ache in his back had been there since a particularly bad fight in his 50s, but it hadn't gotten truly bothersome until he started pushing a hundred. By now he'd at least managed to get used to it. BlackStar could be very good at that, when he needed to. As a child, he'd gotten used to the horrified reactions his tattoo evoked, now he got used to the emptiness of the house and the fact that he rarely got any letters anymore.
Maka had been the best at that, taking after her mother in yet another way. She'd written him to talk about where she was traveling, how Crona and Soul were doing and to tell him off for not writing back more. BlackStar almost wished he had listened to her, but he'd never liked writing. Little words on a piece of paper felt like they weren't enough to convey what he wanted to say.
Maka had been the first to go, taken by some illness BlackStar didn't know how to pronounce a few weeks after they'd all gotten together to celebrate her 70th birthday. She was followed shortly by Crona. Tsubaki had read the letter Soul sent them and cried, and wondered if it was grief that took Crona, but BlackStar thought it was more along the lines of Crona doing what they'd always done. They followed Maka, even more so than Soul, sometimes.
BlackStar hadn't cried then, and throughout the funeral he'd forced himself not to, for Soul's sake if nothing else. But it had been difficult, and to this day he was grateful for the fact that they'd kept the caskets closed. He would have hated to see the two of them like that, especially Maka.
Liz died too, not long after, and BlackStar and Tsubaki had to go back to Death City for another funeral. The two of them had discussed trying to get the group together for some other reason soon, just so they wouldn't be stuck only meeting each other when one of them died, but it had never happened. BlackStar had just kind of lost all train of thought at the sight of Patty and Kid without their sister, and Tsubaki hadn’t reminded him of the plans.
It was a few years before Soul got sick, and BlackStar rushed back to Death City to be with him. He'd been just in time, and he and Kid had held Soul's hands as he stopped breathing. BlackStar had managed not to cry until he was sure Soul wouldn't hear it, knowing full well his friend wouldn't have liked causing any trouble, but after that he’d spent a few hours going between cursing Soul for having the nerve to die on him and just sobbing into Kid’s expensive suit.
Patty had had something wrong with her lungs, BlackStar remembered. She hadn't smoked since she was 14, she'd told him over the phone, but it seemed that had been enough. Evidently she found the situation quite funny, because she'd ended the call with a laugh. Then, three days later, she was gone.
Tsubaki died slowly. BlackStar was there through all of it and after a month he started to wish it would just end, and started hating himself for thinking that. They talked a lot, throughout all of it, and Tsubaki got less coherent by the day, but she’d at least managed to be somewhat present when Angela came to visit.
Kid was there when it finally happened, and he stayed with BlackStar for a week after. They hadn’t talked, BlackStar hadn’t even been able to make a sound for the first few days. He’d tried to think of things to say, but his voice just wouldn’t cooperate even when he’d managed to come up with something. The silence let him take in just how many little sounds were missing. There hadn’t been any footsteps coming from somewhere else in the house, no one walking in and out through the front door and no one boiling water to make tea in the middle of the night. Even when he started to get his voice back, the long silences felt like they were choking him.
Kid had needed to leave eventually, and since then it had just been BlackStar.
He watched the fields the porch faced, unkempt and full of flowers he'd never learned the names of, even though Tsubaki had tried to teach him. The sun was rising and he thought to himself that it looked like it was going to be a beautiful day, when he suddenly heard footsteps behind him.
Light, as though the person taking them was almost hovering over the wooden floor. BlackStar couldn't help but smile.
"You still can't sneak up on me, Lord Death," he declared, then turned around to face Kid.
"You don't have to call me that. And I wouldn't dare to try."
Kid still looked like he had for almost a century now. Skin unmarked by scars or aging but carrying himself as though he were three times older than BlackStar. He'd taken to wearing a dark cloak, just like his father, but at least he didn't cover his face.
"How long has it been, ten years?" BlackStar asked, as Kid sat down next to him. "Gotta be some kind of special occasion."
"It is." Kid nodded, not looking at BlackStar. He seemed thoughtful, more thoughtful than usual and it suddenly struck BlackStar what kind of special occasion it was.
"Already?" He cocked his head and Kid nodded again.
"Damn," was all BlackStar could say. It was more of a surprised 'damn' than anything, because he really hadn't expected it. Today had been very normal, so far.
"How long have you known?" BlackStar figured it was best to ask while he still had the chance. He'd always been a bit curious, especially since Kid had managed to be by each of their sides when they died.
"Since I awakened," Kid said, and BlackStar did the maths as quickly as he could. It would have been something like 110 years, now.
"Well that must have been a bummer."
They didn't say anything for a while after that. BlackStar was evidently the one who'd have to carry the conversation, but he had a lot to think about. He wondered if he should be more upset, or scared maybe, but mostly he savored the sun warming his face. A thought struck him.
"Do you know how it's gonna happen?"
"I do," Kid flatly confirmed.
"Tell me," BlackStar demanded, but Kid shook his head and finally looked at him with a stern expression.
"I can't just go around telling people how they die. It's forbidden."
"Oh come on, make an exception." BlackStar shot him his most charming smile. "For me, your friend who you kissed that one time but then that was it."
"Oh, don't remind me of that when you're a gross old man," Kid groaned. "Now it's just weird."
"It was kinda nice, though," BlackStar insisted and managed to get a melancholic smile out of Kid.
"It was," he agreed. "But that's beside the point. I'm not telling you."
"Fair enough. Then I'll just guess until I figure it out."
"Hey!"
"Think there's some army waiting just beyond the fields to try and take me on? Maybe a cosmic threat that I'll take out, of course, but then succumb to my injuries." BlackStar was delighted to find that he could still get on Kid's nerves. It'd be something to tell whoever was waiting for him that, actually, he spent his last day on earth getting the grim reaper himself to look like he'd rather be anywhere but there. He laughed out loud and caught Kid smiling along, even if he still looked all sorts of miserable.
"You know, I was starting to think I wasn't gonna kick the bucket at all," BlackStar said once he was done laughing.
"That's not something I can recommend." He thought that might have been Kid attempting a joke, but the tone was really unclear. Kid had evidently let his comedy skills get rusty.
BlackStar found that he wasn't sure how to respond, so the two of them ended up sitting in silence again. The sun had risen fully by now, and BlackStar made note of how its rays caught in the things around him. The grass still had some dew covering it and seemed to glitter slightly. The small lake, only barely visible from this position, lit up like it was a light source of its own. Kid's eyes were glowing like…well, like they always had. That , BlackStar had committed to memory a long time ago.
He thought about what he'd accomplished in his long life, and he found that the list did not disappoint. There were things he would have changed, of course. He should have been with all his friends in their final moments, he should probably have tried to do something about that thing with Kid, and he should have written his memoirs because the world would need them badly when he was gone. But mostly, he was content. There really was just one thing that truly bugged him.
What kind of higher power thought it could decide when the great BlackStar, the man who surpassed gods, keeled over?
"I hope you've kept in shape," BlackStar said as he stood up. His back protested again, but he forced all thoughts of it out of his mind. "Because if you want my soul you'll have to take it for yourself."
Kid said nothing in response, but stood up as well and surprised BlackStar by stepping off the porch and out onto the field. At least he wasn't complaining, BlackStar thought to himself as he followed. He felt an unusual spring in his steps, and a wide grin spread across his face. For what felt like the first time in decades his heartbeat was actually speeding up, and BlackStar reveled in the feeling. The thrill in the promise of a good fight.
Kid's stance was relaxed and he made no move to make the first strike. Good. He, if anyone, should know that that honor went to BlackStar, especially on his final day. BlackStar cracked his knuckles, felt his wavelength spark between his fingertips, and took a deep breath before lunging.
Kid didn't dodge any of BlackStar's strikes. He blocked them, remained close and retaliated with quick, precise hits. They were further between than BlackStar's, and at times BlackStar would almost start to feel like Kid wasn't taking the fight seriously, but just then he'd manage to catch BlackStar in the chest or his side. It took a few hits that made BlackStar's ears ring, but he was finally sure that Kid wasn't going easy on him.
The fight got dragged out, falling into an almost predictable rhythm. Strike, strike, pain, recover, strike,strike.
"Not to go around beating a dead horse, or a dead me, in this case -" BlackStar began, but was cut off.
"That was terrible."
"Respect your elders." He managed to punctuate the sentence with a hit to Kid's jaw, which didn't seem to phase him all that much but which did produce a very satisfying noise.
"Anyway, what I was gonna say was-" he continued, as did the fight. "- about that kiss…"
"It wasn't meant to be," Kid said flatly.
Ah, that brought back memories. He'd said the exact same thing more than a century ago. BlackStar would be the first to admit his memory wasn't what it had been, but he was fairly certain of how this particular chain of events had transpired.
It had been a few days before Kid's very carefully planned awakening, and amid spending as much time as possible with his father, Kid had taken the time to have that little exchange with BlackStar. Maybe it had been nerves? BlackStar had never asked. Kid had gone into the death room alone and had come out fatherless and shaking like he was on the verge of freezing to death, so that certainly hadn’t been the right time to talk about what had happened, and when the right time did come BlackStar had gotten that - at the moment - infuriating answer.
The fight continued, both of them taking more hits now. Kid did have the advantage of healing quickly, but he also had the disadvantage of fighting BlackStar, so BlackStar considered it to be fairly even. He kept the conversation up, finding that this was a better way of catching up with Kid than a hundred letters could have provided. In between blows that could have killed any lesser opponents, he exchanged little anecdotes about how Angela was doing for news from Death City and the academy, and was surprised to hear that things were somehow still holding up without him there.
It was starting to get darker and Kid seemed to grow impatient, which only spurred BlackStar on. It was regrettable that he wouldn't get to choose a final meal, he thought, but then again the dinner he'd eaten the day before hadn't been too shabby. Tsubaki's recipes, lovingly collected in a well-worn old notebook, didn't quite taste the same when he made them, but he'd gotten pretty decent at it over the years. It had helped that she did have some time to tutor him, when she was too sick to make anything herself. Some of the advice he'd forgotten immediately, but some of it had etched itself in his mind and he could still hear her recite it to this day.
By the time it was pitch-black, the conversation had died down again. BlackStar had to focus on what he could hear, rather than see, and he assumed Kid was using his soul perception to keep up with the battle, so none of them had much time to speak for the few darkest hours of the night.
By the time BlackStar could discern Kid's expression again, he couldn't help but grin. The sun's first rays lit up Kid's eyes, just as they had the day before, letting BlackStar fully enjoy the pure bewilderment they betrayed.
BlackStar knew this was his chance. He let his wavelength rush through him, building it up until his every nerve was buzzing, and then he hit Kid squarely in the chest.
Kid didn't budge. In fact, he seemed not to have been affected at all, and BlackStar vaguely remembered something someone had said to him once about countering his wavelength. It didn't really matter. After all, BlackStar had still done it. He'd survived his final day, even if it was just for a few hours. He'd surpassed the gods one last time.
"I win," he said, before Kid retaliated.
He struck with both hands, and BlackStar felt his ribcage break open like it was nothing. With a cough that brought with it a mouthful of blood, he sank to the ground. Something somewhere in his spine had snapped, he realized, because he couldn't feel, much less move his legs.
Kid followed him as he laid down, hands still somewhere in BlackStar's chest. He did not look happy to have won, which BlackStar found a bit insulting. Defeating him was something to feel proud of, but Kid looked like he was about to start crying any second.
"Did you know this was how it was gonna happen?" BlackStar asked, and got yet another mouthful of blood for his troubles.
"Yes." Kid's voice was thick. "In broad strokes, yes."
"Sorry." BlackStar wasn't sure what else to say, and it was getting pretty hard to think.
"Don't say that. Not now," Kid said and BlackStar felt something wet drip down on his face. What an awkward angle Kid was sitting at, he thought. His face just above BlackStar's but his hands still in BlackStar's chest. Cradling his soul, it almost felt like.
"Anything you want me to say to the others?" BlackStar mumbled and Kid shook his head.
"Nothing in particular just -" A sob cut him off and BlackStar snickered. "Just tell them I love them. I miss them."
"In exchange you gotta make sure I get something written about me." BlackStar tried to give Kid a pointed glare, but it felt kinda weak. "Let it be known that the great BlackStar fought off even death. Not that he was ever scared of it. In fact, he thought death was pretty fun to be around."
Kid was full-on ugly crying now and BlackStar felt a bit bad for laughing at him.
"'The great and powerful BlackStar, the man who surpassed the gods and was in love with death'. That sounds pretty cool, you should write it down." He would have liked to reach out to touch Kid in some way. Stroke his cheek, maybe. But his arms felt so heavy…
He breathed in deeply, fairly certain that very little of it actually reached what was left of his lungs, but enjoying the cool air and all the smells that came with it nonetheless. Sure, the smell of blood was hard to ignore but there were other things hanging in the air as well and overall, BlackStar thought it was a fairly nice final breath.
"Get on with it now," he said and Kid did as told. He pulled, and for just a second BlackStar got to see his own soul, held gently between Kid's ghostly hands. It was bright, burning away any detail in its surroundings until they were nothing but white, save for the dark shadow that was Kid.
BlackStar died with a smile on his face.