send me an au and i’ll give you 5+ headcanons about it: Spirit dies before Lord Death. :D
..... WHY YOU DO THIS TO ME
Ahem. 5 heart-destroying headcanons on this TERRIBLE, EVIL AU:
1) Spirit is in his late fifties when he’s in a massive car accident. (He wasn’t even the drunk driver, a group of students were. They all survived.) He’s pronounced dead at the scene. Shinigami is teaching a NOT class the moment it happens and the shock of feeling Spirit’s soul release nearly kills him.
Kid gains two full Lines of Sanzu as a result.
2) Shinigami views the body once- only once- at the morgue to identify him so Maka wouldn’t have to. He then retreats to the Death Room and does not exit it for a year. He doesn’t even show people his face- if people speak to him by mirror, they get voice only. Kid becomes the face of the Academy as a result.
3) When Shinigami finally comes out, it’s not as the happy, bouncy Lord Death everyone loved. He retreats back to the scary-as-fuck mask and claws he used to wear and keeps everyone, including Kid, at a distance. He advises Kid to distance himself from humans as well; this prompts a huge argument between them, as Kid has already at this point lost Patty and doesn’t understand why his father is suddenly so scared of death.
4) Shinigami never speaks Spirit’s name again. Ever. Nor does he ever take his scary mask off. He does, however, suddenly sport large white crosses etched onto the backs of his hands, and the Death Room has a large, pristine black cross right beside the mirror that he leans upon whenever speaking to others.
5) It’s another thirty years before Death himself passes on- his last words, spoken so soft even Kid could barely hear, were a soft laugh followed by “I can see-”
Kid has an idea of what- or who- he saw... Death dies with a smile on his face.