This is actually a part of my other story, Lost Kings, which is very centered around One Piece. This is the K project part of it, that I decided I wanted to post separately. This is VERY rough and not at all beta'd. I know I messed up the tenses a few times. Sorry, I hope you'll enjoy it regardless!

The Red Queen Chapter 1: Kinetic

The whiteboard blurred at the front of the classroom as her eyes lost their focus for the umpteenth time that day. The girl grimaced and rubbed her dark eyes irritably. Damn the Dresden Slate, and damn her parents for raising her right on top of it.

It wasn't that much of a surprise that some kind of powers would manifest. Her brother could disappear from sight. Mom could calm people down by making eye contact.

Kaida just wished that it had manifested in something less annoying. Something like blue hair, or breathing underwater. Or, if it had to be her eyes, why couldn't they just never be dry? Why did she have to have numbers swimming in front of the timeline scratched on the board.

How was she supposed to learn anything if she couldn't see what she was doing!?

Kusanagi, who was unfortunate enough to sit next to her, kept shooting the girl glances. It wasn't everyday that Kaida, who was normally very friendly, or at least collected, would glare daggers into the whiteboard.

By the time lunch rolled around Kaida was frustrated enough that she didn't think she would be back for the other half of the day. The girl slapped her book closed and left. She was out of the school in a matter of minutes, her shoes traded and her skirt swirling around her knees with her speed.

The numbers kept coming and going. The more people and things that passed in front of her eyes the more numbers she saw. For every bone, for every wall, for every traffic light more numbers popped up, crowding her vision.

It all tried to swallow her.

Kaida ducked off the street, into a little cafe. There was less there, and she could almost see the menu.

She mumbled an order for a tea and passed them her card. She couldn't pick out the features of the barista's face, but she could see the pressure needed to break their skull apart, and the points on their cheeks where she needed to smack to shatter their bones.

Kaida muttered her thanks and left, almost falling right over a chair before she stumbled into an empty table. An empty table that needed exactly 7,440 psi at a 73 degree angle fourteen inches from the edge, facing into the grain.

She took a drink and opened her kindle, setting it in front of her to give the illusion of reading. A headache was coming on, throbbing behind her eyes. Was she cursed to flash between regular sight and this crap for the rest of her life?

She rubbed her eyes, grimacing when they started watering.

"D'you need glasses or something?"

She startled, spinning around and lashing out at whoever had snuck up on her. A strong fist caught her, the warm hand dwarfing her own. She caught a flash of red hair before the numbers flashed across her eyes. His were so much higher than the barista's had been. And, she knew his voice.

"Suoh?" she relaxed a little, taking her hand out of his. He sat behind her in class. She would sit up straighter sometimes so Honomi wouldn't notice him sleeping in class again.

"You've been rubbing her eyes all day, and you left text book," Suoh took the chair next to hers. Someone else, she assumed Kusanagi, sat across from her. The wall was to her right, leaving no more space for anyone to join them. Not that Kaida expected anyone else to join them.

Of course, she hadn't expected these two to join her either.

The numbers faded in time for her to see Kusanagi produced her math book. Her brows furrowed.

"You brought me my book?" she was surprised. They weren't exactly friends.

"The assignment is due tomorrow," Kusanagi pointed out, flashing her a smile, "And we don't want any lovely ladies to get bad grades."

"Awe, I didn't know you care," she rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. It faded when she looked at the math book and more numbers than were on the cover popped up. Damn it.

The boys around her shifted a little and she glanced at them, confused.

"What?" she asked, trying see their expressions past the numbers.

"Your eyes," Suoh leaned just a little bit closer. "They're black."

"Well yeah, they always are," she frowned at him deeper. Kusanagi shook his head, changing the pattern she saw of breaking parts. She needed a better name for those. Maybe, Shatter Points? Yeah, that would do.

"No, your eyes. All of them. There's no white at all."

Kaida stared at him. "You're kidding." There was no way that her eyes were all black. No way.

"I'm serious," he countered, pushing his bangs aside to see her better. She blinked, the numbers vanished, and he frowned.

"They're normal now," Suoh reported.

Kaida shoved her things in her bag, her stomach turning. Damn it, she didn't want to start going to classes at the Center. Her brother taught them, which was all well and good, but he would never let her have her anonymity again. And, she already spent too much time in the 'family business'.

But if she couldn't get her eyes to work she couldn't go to regular school.

"I'll see you guys later," she muttered, fleeing as fast as she could. She slipped into the street, the world spinning with numbers and Shatter Points. The city buzzed with people, talking, walking, running. Cars zoomed across the street, trains past in the distance. She could see, she could hear too much. How the hell was she supposed to get back home like this?

She pulled out her phone to try calling her brother, but she couldn't see the screen.

Damn it! Damn it all!

"Hey, Kaida," Kusanagi walked out next to her, Suoh at his side. "Do you need some help?"

"No," she said quickly, her pride already wounded. Suoh was known for starting fights and getting in trouble, she didn't see why he would go out of his way to help her. Returning a book was one thing.

Souh ran his fingers through his red hair, which bombarded her with a million '71 g's and just as many breaking points. Thousands. Her head throbbed harder.

"Maybe," she back tracked. "Maybe I do. I can't really… see, like this. Everything is unfocused and confusing."

"Yeah?" Suoh looked at her. Or so she assumed. She couldn't see. Son of a bitch.

She nodded, closing her eyes against onslaught. "Yeah. It's been like this all day, since yesterday too. I don't know how to turn it off. "

Suoh sighed. "Then I guess we'll have to walk you home, right?" he looked at Kusanagi, who opened his phone. If he didn't know where she lived, Kaida would be amazed. "Unless you want to get hit by a car?"

She shook her head, grimacing. "No, thanks. You know you don't have to."

"No shit? I don't have to do anything. I'm offering." Suoh turned and started walking down the street. Kusanagi fell into step with him. Kaida followed after, focusing on the part of his spine that needed 5987 newtons to break.

This was probably the most grim power she'd ever heard of.