Decision Of A Lifetime

5:30...

It was 5:30... Kataro was just arriving at Death's Cafe after a long day of contemplating things. He walked into the cafe and was promptly seated at a 2 person table. He sat down and waited for the waitress to bring him some water or something.

Kataro had a very interesting proposal for Kidd... They had planned to meet up today, now all he was doing was waiting for him. But, the thought of Kidd often made him cringe. Ee... He thought. While a look of disgust crossed his face.

So arrogant... So little experience... So gross... Disrespectful... I don't know why I enjoy his company. A few seconds later, the waitress came to the table, setting a cup of water in front of Kataro with a smile, then dashed away without a word. Noice... He thought...

Kataro was wearing his usual loose, short sleeved black hoodie with white fur on the hood. His wild white hair flailing upward. Tattoos on his neck and all on his arms. A pair of maroon sweatpants and black and white gym shoes... He was pretty comfortable. He looked kinda tired in the face, but he was just thinking...

He looked out of the window every few seconds, just to see if kid was close... Blast this kid... I outta smack him when I see him... Well... Actually. I'm the one that's early. The meeting was set for 6:00. So, I can't really complain. Kataro hadn't seen Kidd in a little while now. He had been busy with... Other stuff. He started to miss the little squirt...

5:45 p.m.

It was 5:45 p.m. as Kidd made his way over to Death Cafe to meet up and discuss something with Kataro. Usually, Kidd would make the effort to show up to his rendezvous spot an hour before everyone else, but today was different. Apparently whatever they had to talk about was so important that Kidd actually had to drag his sorry and pathetic ass out of the apartment. Kidd wasn't wearing his usual jersey, joggers, and combat boots. No. This time Kidd was donning a long sleeve black dress shirt buttoned up all the way to the neck, some khakis, and a black pair of chukka boots. With the way Kidd was carrying himself, he might as well have come from a funeral. And he had, but not in the conventional way one would think of a funeral.

It'd been two whole weeks since Kidd and his entire team had nearly been killed at the hands of Ixion, Shilo's murderer, and Kidd hadn't left his lonely apartment since then. Everyone else was beginning to get over the traumatic experience, but not Kidd. No. Not Kidd. Despite being the one to come out in the best condition, Kidd was the one to take the biggest blow out of everyone who'd been involved in the mission. Kidd wasn't the great meister or hero he'd always thought he was.

"Fuck...." Kidd sighed, as memories of the mission came rushing back to him. "He almost killed us, and it was all my fault...." Kidd spoke to himself as he followed the sidewalk leading to the Cafe. Kidd kept his head down and ran into a few people who spat nasty insults at him for not watching where he was going. None of that mattered to Kidd though. He was already stuck in his own head with all the negative thoughts and experiences that circulated around him.

Kidd stopped walking and lifted his head up for once to look up and make sure he hadn't passed the shop. The sign to the Cafe was hung up a few meters away from where he'd been standing. Thank God I didn't pass it....

Walking through the doors to the cafe, Kidd began surveying the area, looking for and open spot to sit at and wait for Kataro since he had shown up fifteen minutes early. After a second of looking left and right, Kidd spotted Kataro sitting by himself at a two-person table much to his surprise. Wow, somebody showed up before me?.... I really have changed. Kidd shrugged however. He didn't really care right now. Trudging over to the table, Kidd shot Kataro a weak and sad smile, making it obvious that he really didn't want to be there.

"Hey, Kataro." Kidd greeted him, taking a seat across from his elder. "What you been up to?" Kidd asked him, sounding much more serious and grim than anyone had ever heard him sound since moving there. It was strange. Kidd never really hung out with Kataro, and he hadn't hear anything from him in a few months. So why was it that all of a sudden he had something urgent to discuss with Kidd? Kidd was stumped.

Running a hand over his black eye, Kidd grimaced a little. He was finally able to see through it, but the injury was still really obvious. There was no hiding it, and all it did was further remind Kidd of his humiliation and defeat at the hands of Ixion. And even though the injury was recovering well, Kidd had bags under his eyes that made him look a whole lot worse. Kidd seriously looked like shit right now.

Kidd's eyes became downcast and he began zoning out, not really listening to what Kataro had to say. Hopefully the reason he was dragged out here was a good one.

"What the hell?" Kataro exclaimed as he looked at Kidd with serious eyes.

He watched him as he walked over to the table... He looked like a zombie or something... Bags under his eyes... He didn't even greet him with some type of insult. This was unsettling for Kataro. Kidd was like a younger brother to him, to a certain extent. To see him in the condition he was in was just... Awful for Kataro.

"Who the fuck did this to you...?" He asked slightly quieter. He put his hand on the back of Kidd's head and pulled him closer. He examined his eye with a stern look on his face, like he was some type of angry doctor or something. Kataro didn't have anybody care for him like this when he was a kid. His brother was the one that always beat him up, and his dad just thought it'd make Kataro tougher... Well... It certainly did make him tougher.

Regardless, he still wanted somebody to look out for him... Which is one reason he loved his job at the DWMA. There, he could care for people like he wanted his family to care for him. Kataro let out an irritated sigh and pulled away from Kidd, leaving back and sinking into his chair.

"I really hope you weren't being foolish and got into some type of fight..." The male said with his eyes closed. Kataro was 22, while Kidd was... 15...? He actually didn't know how old he was. But regardless, Kidd was young and mischievous. It wouldn't be a suppose to Kataro if he got caught stealing or touching some girls butt or something. Kataro slid he water over Kidd without a word. He looked around for a few seconds... He stared at the tattoo of an eye with a triangle around it that was in the center of his right hand... Then he looked at Kidd.

"Well...?" He asked with wide eyes...

Kidd's gaze and thoughts were averted from the table and now focused on Kataro. Staring up at him with a straight face, Kidd was having an internal conflict with himself. Should I tell him what really happened? All it's gonna do is remind me of how useless I am.... One side of himself said it'd be better to just come clean and talk about his issues, and that it'd probably hurt him a lot less if he actually spoke to someone about it. Another side of him was telling Kidd that he needed to stop being such a pussy about what happened and just get over it. Kidd did well to hide this.

Kidd sighed after a few short moments. It'd probably be best if he just came clean and explained what'd happened to him and his team two weeks ago. "I...." Kidd spoke up softly, but stopped. He didn't quite know how to string the words together and get them out. Kidd's eyes dropped towards the table again as he thought of what to say.

When Kataro took Kidd's head into his hand and brought him closer, Kidd had no choice but to actually look at Kataro directly. Kidd's golden eyes met Kataro's hazel eyes. It was hard for Kidd to maintain the eye contact though, and found himself glancing down and away from Kataro. Kidd began blushing, it was starting to feel really awkward for him. He'd never had someone that was actually concerned with what he did or what happened to him. This was all unfamiliar to the adolescent boy.

After Kataro finally released Kidd, he jerked back into his seat. Kidd stared at Kataro for a second, still blushing. He didn't know what to say. He was at an even bigger loss for words than before. Kidd stopped the water with his hand without looking, still thinking about what to say. "I...." Kidd gulped, staring down at the water before him. The boy still wasn't willing to accept the reality of things. ".... I just fell and hit my head on my table at home." Kidd lied, running his hand through his mohawk. Kidd's eyes began to slightly water up, but he forced the tears down. He knew he probably should've told the truth, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it.

"It's not important...." Kidd looked up at Kataro now, his eyes slightly red, "What did you want to talk about?" Kidd's voice came out slightly shaky and gruff. Kidd was trying his hardest to maintain his composure.

Kataro leaned forward, placing his elbows on the table and putting his hands in front of his mouth. Why is it taking this kid so long...? Kataro thought to himself...

Obviously, something wasn't right with Kidd. He always had something smart to say, or he was constantly reminding Kataro how far he had fallen off as a trainer. But right now, he was just... So serious. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but it wasn't so great either.

Kataro decided to changes things up a bit... He reached into his pocket, pulling out a few dollars and change, leaving it on the table. He stood up and grabbed kids by his shoulder, pulling him out of his chair. "Let's walk..." He said kinda quietly as he lead kid out of the building.

Whatever was going on with Kidd was pretty serious apparently. This loud, arrogant, immature sprout of of a teen, was... Solemn. Ive gotta get to the bottom of this...

Kidd stared at Kataro for a moment, remaining silent as he waited for his elder's response. I messed up.... Lying was one of Kidd's specialties, especially since he'd always skip school, or sneak out of the house back when he still lived in D.C., but unfortunately for him, he hadn't sold this lie too well. Kidd nervously wrung his hands under the table, hoping that Kataro wouldn't further interrogate him on what'd happened.

"Oh, yeah...." Kidd looked over at Kataro's hand as he placed some money on the table to pay. "Here, I've got it...." Kidd reached into his pocket slowly and took out his wallet. But before Kidd could pay for anything, Kataro had grabbed him by his shoulder and began leading him out of the Cafe. "Huh?" Kidd said, confused with what was going on.

"Where are we going?" Kidd asked Kataro as he was led out of the building and to who knows where. "Is whatever we have to talk about this important?" Kidd asked Kataro, looking up at him now. Wherever they were going, Kidd hoped it was a quieter place with less people. That way, he wouldn't have to worry about strangers coming up to him and asking him about what accident he'd been in.

Kataro just shook his head as they walked slowly down the street... He didn't respond to what Kidd was saying... He was still worried about him. But right now, it was apparent that Kidd didn't want to talk about whatever it was that he was thinking about, so Kataro decided to bring it up later.

They walked passed a free building, and a few stores... They were really just walking around. Kataro hadn't planned on taking him anywhere.

They got to a fountain, in the middle of a large road. A few people passed on bike after riding around the fountain a few times. Then, Kataro stopped in his tracks and turn towards Kidd. "Well... Kidd... Uh..." He fumbled around over his words a bit. He was a little nervous. "Well... As you may or may not know, I'm an assassin. Not only do I only do mission for the DWMA... I also... Kill people." He said with an extended shrug.

"But I don't kill good people... I kill bad people, for the most part. It isn't a legal job, but it gets me money and it keeps me strong and active." Kataro had no idea how Kidd was going to take this. On one hand, he thought he may be a little upset, but on the other... He thought he may find it interesting, which was also what he was hoping for. "I've been doing it since I was 15 I think...? I don't remember... But, a long time."

Kataro walked over to the fountain with wide, childish steps. He sat down on the edge of it and let out a sigh as he looked directly up towards the sun. Then he looked down at Kidd... "I need your help..." He said slightly vaguely.

Kidd eventually stopped being dragged along by Kataro and decided to follow after him. Keeping his head low again, Kidd hadn't realized for how long and how far they'd actually been walking. Images of Hawk and Rori laying together in a bloody heap on the verge of death, Blakely crying, those crazy zombies, and Ixion's insane face kept flashing before his eyes. Why can't I just get over it.... Kidd glanced up at Kataro who was still walking. "Kataro, where are we going?" Kidd asked again. His question fell on deaf ears, however. It seemed Kataro was ignoring him. Kidd sighed and dropped his head again, continuing to follow after him.

After a few moments, they'd reached their destination. "Huh?!" Kidd jerked up in surprise when Kataro began speaking to him. Kidd was standing less than a inch away from Kataro. Once again, Kidd found himself getting caught up in his own thoughts. If it hadn't been for Kataro's voice alerting him that they were done walking, he probably would have ran straight into Kataro.

Kidd's head cocked to the side in confusion as he watched Kataro have some difficulties attempting to get out what he wanted to say. The man usually seemed pretty confident and straightforward in what he had to say.

Kidd's eyes widened a bit at what Kataro had told him. "You're an assassin?" Kidd said quietly, making sure no one that was around heard him. Kidd followed Kataro over to the water fountain and listened quietly to what he had to say, taking everything in. Doing this since he was 15? That's insane.... Kidd imagined himself taking the lives of others purely for money. It just didn't seem right, whether they were evil or not.... Kidd needed to be sure there was an entirely good reason that justified him killing someone. Kidd wasn't a snitch though. He'd keep his mouth shut.

"I...." Kidd spoke up, "I don't know what to say." It was true. Kidd really didn't know how to feel on the matter. Kataro had said he killed only bad people, but with all the time Kidd has had on his hands lately, Kidd was completely rethinking what he considered to be "bad". "Hmmm...." None of this should seem so out of the ordinary to Kidd, who'd been through a bunch of crazy stuff since joining the DWMA, but he'd be a liar if he said he didn't feel somewhat surprised by this.

"You need my help?" Kidd looked at Kataro again, clearly perplexed. "Help with what?" Kidd wasn't sure what to expect at this point. Kataro came out as an undercover hitman. Kidd would have to keep an open mind with what Kataro requested of him.

"Kidd..." Kataro started.

"I need a... Teammate." He said with a shrug. "I don't really know how you feel about this, but... It's good work. I may be illegal, but I'm helping the world become a little better by taking out gang leader, kidnappers, thieves, liars... It's all kinds dark, but it protects a lot of other people." Kataro was speaking with passion that you could feel. Hopefully it's reach out to Kidd.

"There's only one problem with my job..." He began. "... You don't get hired by good people. I'm not hired by good guys trying to kill by guys... I'm hired by bad guys trying to kill people they hate, which are other bad guys..."

"But, anyway... Here is my proposal... Regardless of the shadiness of my job, it's good work. I need a partner. Someone to go on these missions with me, help with recon, and eventually become what I am now..."

Kataro had no idea what Kidd was thinking, but he was dead serious about this offer. And it wasn't because he really NEEDED a parter. But he wanted to stick around Kidd and keep him safe... "But... If you agree... You'll also have to make a few commitments." He began. "You won't be able to tell people about this... You and me will be the only ones to speak of our missions... You'll also have to live with me. You will see me as you master and mentor, and I'll will see you as my servant and student. You will have to be trained... Painfully trained... You'll have to learn the art of assassination. Well..."

He stepped in front of Kidd and put his hand on his shoulder. "I know this is kind of a lot... And I know you may not be sure what you want to do, but you don't have to decide right now. If you aren't ready, then I'll leave you to think about it..." He said with a serious eyes. He was more worried about Kidd looking at him as a different person, more than he was worried about him not agreeing to help him... It was a lot for one person to agree on all at once too... Your teacher comes out as a hitman and wants you to join him? Pretty rare...

Kidd watched Kataro as he spoke. Kidd didn't know if he could consider killing people for personal gain a good thing. Sure, you were ridding the world of some of it's problems, but Kidd had an extremely guilty conscience. Unless it was the DWMA that was assigning him these people to kill, he didn't know how he felt about it. And it was other bad people that were giving him the list of targets? It seemed like a win-lose situation to Kidd.

"I know it's a good thing that we're taking out criminals and all...." Kidd said, scratching the back of his head as he spoke, "But doesn't that mean that the other bad people are gaining something out of those deaths as well? Aren't we helping them further their own wicked causes?" Kidd shrugged, hoping that he was getting his own point across to Kataro. "And to me.... It's never really been about the money.... I just want to help make the world a better place...." This was true. Before Kidd left his mom all alone back at home, he told her that he just wanted to bring justice to those that couldn't do it for themselves. It was never about the rewards or anything. Sure, at one point Kidd loved the attention and limelight, but now that just seemed so hollow to him.

Kidd was torn on what to decide.

This business seemed so uncertain and scary. Surely there were other people much stronger than Ixion. People that Kidd wouldn't be as fortunate with if he were to face them. That was the thing....

Kidd was weak.

On the brighter side, Kidd could learn so much from Kataro. Without a doubt, Kataro was one of the strongest people he knew. Kataro would've been able to take Ixion down with little effort. That part of the deal seemed so tantalizing. Being able to learn from Kataro and become much stronger? I'd never have to worry about something like that happening again.... Kidd would be able to defend the people he loved and cared about. He'd be able to handle his business....

Kidd was snapped out of his thoughts when Kataro walked up to him and placed his hand on his shoulder. Kidd could feel how serious Kataro was about all this. If there was any doubt planted in Kidd's mind about what Kataro had said, those doubts were certainly gone now.

"I just...." Kidd looked down at Kataro's hand, "I don't know...." Kidd sighed and began rubbing his black eye again. It became a nervous habit of his. "This is.... It's all coming so fast to me...." There was something else that just nudged at Kidd's mind. Blakely. "I don't know if I can keep this a secret from Blakely, Kataro.... She'd be so upset if I hid this from her...." Kidd looked down at his feet, weighing the consequences of both the options. One thing was for sure, whichever path he chose would be uncertain down the road.

Kidd made some valid points... Killing bad people for bad people intimately aided... Well... Bad people. But it did more good than harm... Kataro had second thoughts about it a few times, but he always concluded that he was doing what was right in the end.

He let out a long sigh andooked up at the sky. All of this seemed pretty difficult for Kidd to take in. He couldn't really make a snap decision about where he wanted the rest of his life to go.

But Kataro really did want him to agree to hanging with him for a while... Regardless of the difference and age, and difference in mentality, Kidd was one of Kataro's best friends. Spencer and Kataro were back on food standards, but things were awkward between them. Right now, Kidd was his only healthy relationship.

Which was a big reason why he worried about telling him all this. If Kidd took this the wrong way, Kataro really wouldn't have anybody... He didn't have a girlfriend, his parents were absolutely crazy, and he didn't really have time to go out and meet people.

Kataro looked at Kidd in his eyes once again, the same serious expression. But... His face shifted from serious, to a friendly smile. He placed his hand on top of Kidd's head chuckled. "It's alright kid. I know this is a lot to take in right now... But honestly. It'd make me pretty happy if you decided to join me on my adventures... You don't have to make a choice right now, but think about it for a bit." He said kindly.

He slid his hand down from Kidd's head and put his entire hand over his face. Then, he pushed him away with a chuckled. "Let's go to the DWMA. You may not be my hitman sidekick, but you're still my student. I need some help with some paperwork." He said as he walked away backwards, hands deep in his pockets.

Kidd looked back up at Kataro again when he put his hand on top of his head. In most cases, Kidd would probably snap at somebody for messing with his hair because of all the effort he had to put in to make it perfect. But because of Kidd's current apathetic state of mind, he couldn't care less. He'd been thinking about getting rid of it anyways. "I'll definitely keep it in my mind." Kidd assured Kataro that he'd be thinking about his choices. Right now, he just needed a bit of time.

When Kataro playfully pushed Kidd's head away, Kidd was secretly irked by this. "Heh, alright...." Kidd put on another fake smile for Kataro. Kidd really didn't feel like going anywhere, he just wanted to go home. All of the sleep deprivation and lack of energy was making him feel like an old man, all washed up and worn out. Secretly, Kidd felt like crying, but he wouldn't, because he knew better.

Kidd stared at Kataro as he walked backwards and away from the area. It took Kidd all of mental strength to will himself to go forward and follow after his elder. If it weren't Kataro that were asking Kidd to help him out, he'd probably have ditched any other person in a second. Not out of wanting to be a bad person, but only because he had very little tolerance to exposure out in public at the moment. Kidd sighed as he followed after Kataro again.

Kataro walked a little cheerily... His legs seemed to kick out in front of him a bit. He felt a little better, having told Kidd his secret and Kidd seeking to take it rather well.

But something is still off...

Regardless of how well Kidd was taking the whole situation, Kataro still knew that something wasn't right with Kidd. He wasn't being his natural self, and it started to irk Kataro. Everyone had off days... Sometimes people seemed to act different when they were tired, or hungry. But Kidd was just being... Odd... And Kataro needed to know why.

But at the same time... Kataro didn't want to pry into Kidd's business. Kidd could be going through something very serious. He could've lost a family member, or he could be going through a breakup or something. it could be awkward if Kataro asked him what the deal was, and Kidd didn't want to talk about it.

But, Kataro was Kidd's friend. Regardless of how Kidd may feel about being asked to open up, Kataro needed to request it. It'd be worse for Kataro to let Kidd's behavior go unchecked, rather than find out why his friend seemed to be acting different...

"Uh... Kidd...?" Kataro started as his steps slowed down... He scrunched his mouth over to the side for a second, then let out a sigh. "Uh... What's going on?" He asked plainly. "I mean... You've been acting different. Like... I don't think you've told a inappropriate joke or said something stupid since the cafe. Is there something you need to talk to me about?"

Kidd followed after Kataro, praying to Lord Death to give him the strength to make it through the rest of the day. Yeah.... I'll just tell him I have some important business to deal with after an hour or so.... Kidd was formulating numerous and numerous excuses and lies to tell Kataro later whenever he finally got tired of being at the DWMA.

When Kataro stopped walking, however, Kidd knew the reason why he'd stopped would have to deal with his own personal issue. "Why are we stopping?" Kidd asked, making it seem as though he were genuinely confused, in hopes that Kataro would assume he were fine. But when Kataro asked him the same question from earlier, Kidd sighed. I need to stop making my problems so apparent.

"What's going on?" Kidd looked at Kataro. To be honest, Kidd didn't even know how to answer that question. This had never happened to him before, so he had no idea how to deal with the situation, much less explain it. "I'm fine." Kidd closed his eyes and gave Kataro a thumbs up, "I'm just.... Growing up.... Yeah, that's it.... If I seem strange to you, or act different or whatever, I'm sorry. I can't help it." Kidd lied again. Hopefully Kataro wouldn't be angry with Kidd later on when Kidd did decide to shed some light on what'd really happened. He just wasn't ready to talk to anybody about it yet.

"Now, lemme just help you with your work!" Kidd faked a smile once more and threw on his old enthusiastic attitude. Maybe things will just speed along if I convince him nothing is up. Kidd hoped this'd be true, and that Kataro would eat the shit Kidd was trying to feed him.