The sun was setting over Death City, casting a beautiful orange glow over the buildings. The streets were still bustling with people. Some were finishing dinner, shopping, or even working. Children pulled on their parent's hands, pointing at things they wanted. No one noticed the girl slipping in and out of alleyways. They didn't notice her limping, the blood dripping from her temple. She moved slowly towards the Death Weapon Meister Academy. It was famous for teaching Meisters and Weapons how to hunt down Kishin.
The girl felt completely exhausted as she limped up the steps to the school. Her entire body shook as she made her way across the distance to the front door. She slowly made her way down the halls, looking for a classroom to get to. No one was in the hallways, leaving her to clutch and rub on the walls, leaving blood trails. Finally finding a room she stopped in front of the door and panted heavily, trembling harder. Slowly she lifted a hand, trying to ignore the searing pain in her body, and opened the door. She only got one foot inside before the pain became too much and she collapsed.
죽음
"Does anyone recognize her? Know where she came from?" Asked a woman.
"Nope. She just walked in then collapsed." A man said.
"Well... She should wake up soon and be fine. She needs rest so everyone out."
Hearing the voices didn't comfort the girl whatsoever. She could hear people leaving the room, and it sounded like an entire classroom full of people. When the room became quiet again she heard a woman speaking to herself. "Where did she come from? What happened to her? Curious..."
Just then the girl's fingers twitched a little.
"Professor Stein! She moved, I think she will wake up soon!" The woman called. There was a sound of running footsteps and there were at least 8 or so people rushing into the room. The girl's fingers twitched again and then her eyes opened slowly. The room of people gasped and took a step back. The girl's eyes were a bright ice blue color that popped due to her tan skin. She blinked in confusion as she looked around. Closest to her was a woman in a white coat with blonde hair and yellowish eyes. Beside her was a man wearing a white coat as well, but it was covered in stitches, as were his clothes and even his skin. A large screw was sticking out of his head. Then a boy with blue hair and a tall girl with kind blue eyes and long black hair. Then a boy with three white stripes in his hair. Next were what seemed to be a pair of sisters. One was tall with long hair and a skeptical look. The other was shorter, with short hair and a huge grin. Then a boy with white hair and red eyes, his teeth sharpened like a shark. Lastly was a girl with ashy blonde hair and forest green eyes.
The man with stitches looked down at her curiously as he began to speak. "Do you know where you are?"
She nodded slowly.
"What's your name? Where did you come from?"
"... Aklara. I don't... I don't remember." Her voice was soft and a little shy.
"Aklara? Hmm... Nice name."
Aklara blushed a little as she looked around again before something clicked in her head. "I have to go back." She mumbled, starting to get off the bed. Pain shot through her body again and she cried out.
"Back? Back where?" asked the man.
"The building. I have to go back I left her I have to go back!"
"Wait wait. Let me introduce everyone. I'm Professor Stein. This is Dr. Medusa," he gestured to the woman, "Black*Star, Tsubaki, Kid, Liz, Patty, Soul, and Maka." He went around the room and each of them waved.
"That's great, now I have to go!" Trying to get up again she gasped and fell back.
"Tell me where. Who is it?"
"Her name is Yukii. She's my weapon, I need to go back and get her! The building on the edge of the city. It's abandoned... We were fighting... Needed a soul... He beat us... I was so stupid." Aklara sat up slowly and held her stomach. Lifting her hand she noticed she was covered in bandages. She winced slightly as pain shot through her again.
"Okay. What does she look like?"
"She's tall. Neon red hair, brighter than his." She gestured to Black*Star, "Her eyes are hazel and she speaks sarcastically a lot of the time. She is really hurt, I came trying to find help. I have to go..." She swung her legs off the bed, wincing, and stood up slowly. She adjusted her top before turning to glance at the people in the room. "If you're going to come with I suggest you get ready. I'm leaving in 5 minutes with or without you." Aklara then turned and coughed up some blood before wiping her mouth.
"I don't think you're in any condition to-" Dr. Medusa began but Aklara cut her off sharply.
"I don't think you're in any condition to tell me what I can and cannot do. She is my weapon and my best friend and I'm going to go get her." Aklara walked past her angrily, ignoring the stares she was getting. She went to the medicine cabinet and began pulling down bandages and medicines. When she fumbled and dropped a few, Tsubaki came over, picked them up, smiled, and held them. "You look like you could use help carrying these. I'll help you." She smiled.
"Thanks..." Aklara mumbled, wincing as the pain seared through her again. She looked around and found a bag sitting on the bed containing her bloody clothes. "You changed me? Not creepy at all." Aklara murmured, dumping the clothes onto the bed and filling it with the medical supplies. Everyone but Tsubaki and Dr. Medusa had left the room by then. Aklara grabbed the bag and, ignoring the pain that nearly crippled her on the spot, left the medical room. "Tsubaki can you guide me to the front door please?" Aklara turned her blue eyes on her and she smiled and nodded.
"Of course I can!" Tsubaki led Aklara to the front entrance of the school where Professor Stein was standing with the 3 Meisters from earlier. Kid and Maka had their weapons in their hands. Kid wielded 2 guns, his pinkies on the triggers. Aklara thought it was odd but shrugged. Maka was holding up a scythe with a red and black blade and a red eye, like that kid Soul had. Black*Star was waiting, impatiently, to get Tsubaki in his hands.
"Tsubaki!* He yelled, stomping over to her, "Stop playing around and transform to ninja sword mode now!" He ordered.
"Okay!" Tsubaki said, smiling all too willingly. It irked at Aka's nerves but she said nothing.
"Let's get going then." Aklara said, walking past them all towards the stairs. "If we're gonna make it before the building falls we'll have to hurry."
"Why did you leave your weapon?" Kid questioned Aklara as they made their way down the steps.
"I was too beat up to carry her very far." Aklara's eyes filled with tears as they finally hit the bottom step and Aklara took off down alley ways.
"Why are we going through the alley ways? Why don't we take the streets?" Maka asked.
"Because if I go through the alleys then I'll remember my way there. Please, just all of you shut up so I can focus!" Aklara snapped, glancing down the street to make sure she was in the right place. The sun was setting fast, its laughing face giving Aklara the creeps as always. Her heart hammered against her chest as they continued to run, everyone in silence from her outburst.
Finally they came to a stop outside an abandoned warehouse building. It was dark and covered in grime and dirt from years of neglect. The windows were all either boarded up or broken. The front door hung off its hinges from where Aklara had kicked it open. She turned to the meisters behind her and pressed a finger to her lips before dashing stealthily and silently across the foreboding front yard to the front door. She could hear them behind her as she slipped through the door. The inside looked worse than the outside did. Boards and broken glass littered the floor along with dust and even more dirt. Streaks of Aklara's spattered blood lined the walls and the floor boards as well as holes and gashes. Aklara's heart leapt into her throat as she quickly began to run upstairs.
"Where is she?" Professor Stein whispered, following close behind Aklara.
"I told her to hide on the top floor. It's where they put all the furniture. God I hope he didn't find her." Aklara mumbled into the silence, the sound of their footsteps running up the stairs filled her ears.
Four flights of stairs later Aklara burst on to the top most floor and looked around. Her heart began to sink as she gazed around the decimated room. The furniture was all broken and the windows had all been broken and blown out.
"Yukii? Yukii where are you?" Aklara's voice broke as she looked around some more. She heard her before she saw her. Yukii groaned as she crawled out from behind a destroyed couch. She looked up and smiled slightly at Aklara.
"I thought you left me for a minute there. So nice of you to come back. Who are your friends?" She coughed a little as she struggled to stand.
"I'll explain later right now we have to get you taken care of and out of here." Aklara bit her lip as she ran to her friend and helped her up. She then pulled her close into a gentle hug, running her hand through her friends blood stained hair. Aklara then put Yukii's arm around her neck and her own arm around Yukii's waist. She looked up at the group as they watched in silence.
"If he isn't here then why did we come along?" Black*Star questioned, stomping his foot. Aklara rolled her eyes as she helped Yukii limp toward the door.
"He's a pleasant little fucker isn't he?" Yukii gasped out, her breathing shallow.
"Don't even get me started. Look Black*Star, he could be here. He's a sneaky asshole and I don't know where he went." Just as Aklara finished speaking the building swayed and rumbled, causing the ceiling dust to fall down. Aklara's breath hitched as she looked down in time to see the floor bulge then begin to crumble. Frantically she looked up and, without any other thought, threw Yukii across the floor into Professor Stein's arms. As soon as Yukii landed Aklara felt the floor beneath her feet fall and cried out as she fell as well. In the distance she could hear Yukii scream for her but her mind blanked as she went down all four levels and hit the ground in a cloud of dust and broken glass. Her mind was dull and she barely recognized the pain as shards of glass sliced into her body.
"AKLARA!" Yukii screamed and struggled against Professor Stein, wanting her Meister to be okay. She continued to struggle as Professor Stein led her down the stairs and the other Meisters jumped down the hole one by one. "You bastard! I'm gonna kill you when I find you do you hear me?! Where are you, fucking pussy!" Yukii couldn't help but scream. Her Meister was laying on the ground like a broken doll, her soul wavelength was weak and her chest barely rose as she tried to breath. Yukii saw Aklara's eyes lock with hers before she half smiled and they slipped closed.
"We have to go. Yukii please! Black*Star will take you and I will take Aklara, but there isn't much we can do. It appears that he, whatever he was, has disappeared." Professor Stein lightly shook Yukii to get her to focus. She nodded weakly and watched as Professor Stein handed her to Black*Star then went and scooped up Aklara in his arms.
"Let's move!" Kid whispered, out the door already. Maka followed, then Black*Star and Tsubaki, who were holding Yukii up together. Lastly Professor Stein left and not a few seconds later, the building began to collapse.
"Alright we're gonna have to get them back fast if we're gonna save her." Professor Stein's face was set in a hard line and he looked grim.
죽음
Aklara's eyes fluttered a little before she opened them. Her vision was blurry as she stared up. She recognized this room, she'd been here before. It was the nurse's office at the DWMA. Her head began to spin and she squeezed her eyes closed. As the feeling subsided she moaned in pain and sat up as slowly as she possibly could. She gasped as she saw the room filled with every one that had accompanied her to the building. There were a couple extra people there as well. Lord Death, a zombie who apparently couldn't close his mouth, and a man with turquoise eyes and red hair. She looked to her left and saw Yukii sitting in a bed, eating a sandwich greedily.
"Good morning sleepy head." Yukii smiled, her cheeks full of food.
"Hey." Was all Aklara could muster.
"You were so dramatic when you fell. I mean honestly, if you could make it slow motion it would have been so awesome."
"Oh shut up... I heard you screaming for me." Aklara smirked at Yukii who merely grinned again.
"It's so good to see you're awake!" Aklara looked up at the ridiculous sounding voice.
"Who said that?" She mumbled softly.
"That would be me." Lord Death held up his hand in a peace sign, making Aklara raise her eyebrows.
"Well that's... different... What's with the zombie? What is this, real life Call of Duty?" Aklara saw Yukii roll her eyes in her periphrials. She smiled a bit then groaned at the pain in her face. She looked down and noticed she had more bandages and her entire body suddenly felt heavy and numb. "Oh my... I must have hit the ground pretty hard then... I am pleasurably numb, everywhere." She leaned back and sighed.
"Alright time for you all to go. They need sleep and won't get it with you in here." Doctor Medusa stood up and ushered people from the room, looking irate.
"Doctor Medusa?" Aklara's voice was soft, like she was gonna fall asleep again. She saw Medusa walk over, looking a little irritated.
"I wanted to apologize. I'm sorry I yelled at you earlier... I was just in a rush..."
Medusa nodded and smiled as she felt Aklara's forehead. "Oh dear, you're burning up. Get some sleep. You'll feel better later."
Aklara nodded and laid back even more, glancing at Yukii who was already staring at her.
Yukii bit her lip then said, "I was scared I was gonna lose you."
"It would take more than a four story fall to keep me away from you. You're my best friend. Practically my sister. I'm not leaving you. Not yet anyways."
Yukii smiled then yawned. "So... That Soul kid. He's awfully cute huh."
Aklara rolled her eyes and turned over, ending the conversation before slipping off into sleep.
죽음
As Aklara finally awoke, she saw that it was dark outside. She blinked a couple times sleepily as she rolled over, gasping in pain. As she looked to her sleeping best friend she saw something was off. A dark shape stood over her. She couldn't see their face, as it was covered by a dark hood. Fear gripped her as she noticed the hooded person lowering something towards her friend. Without thinking she grabbed something off the table beside her and hurled it at the person hard as she could. "GET OUT OF HERE!"
Whatever she had picked up hit the hooded figure square in the chest. They stumbled back a few steps as Yukii's eyes flew open. Sitting up she turned toward Aklara confused before looking up at the figure. Without another thought she jumped out of bed toward Aklara as her meister rolled off the bed as well. Staggering, Aklara faced the figure, fists clenched as the figure stood there. It looked between Yukii and Aklara before turning, flinging open the window and jumping out.
Yukii let out an angry yell as she ran to the window and stared down into the darkness. It was empty, whoever the figure was they had disappeared. Turning toward Aklara she saw her meister swaying dangerously. Slamming the window shut a little too forcefully, she hopped over her own bed before catching Aklara in her arms. Leading her to the bed she smirked a little. "Thanks for waking me up."
Aklara, feeling a little embarrassed and weak, waved her hand. "Whatever. I was fine."
"Yeah and Santa Clause is my uncle." Yukii replied. Smiling again she laid her meister back on the bed before plopping into a chair beside her.
Aklara yawned and looked at Yukii. "You should lay down too. You were pretty hurt."
"Nonsense! I will sleep when you do okay? I promise." Yukii grinned again as Aklara closed her eyes.
"Okay. Promise?"
"I swear."
Without another word Aklara drifted back to sleep as her weapon watched over her.
죽음
\/The birds sound lovely.../\ Aklara's first thought the next morning. All she could hear was the birds outside the window and her best friend's soft breathing. Opening her eyes she looked over and noticed Yukii still in the chair. Rolling her eyes she sat up with a slight wince and shook her friend gently. "Hey. Wake up Sleeping Beauty."
Yukii yawned and stretched out, several of her bones cracking. She groaned lightly as she looked at Aklara and smiled sheepishly. "I meant to go lay down I swear."
"Yeah yeah. Better go lay down before Dr. Medusa sees you out of bed. She will probably throw a fit."
Nodding Yukii got up and walked to her bed and laid down with a huff. Not even two seconds later Dr. Medusa walked into the room.
"Oh you're awake! Lovely! How are you two feeling today? Better I hope?" Yukii and Aklara nodded. "Fantastic. Aklara I am going to have to change your bandages."
"Okay Doc. Go for it."
Medusa walked to Aklara with new bandages in hand and took her hand gently, examining the soiled bandages on her wrist and arm. The left arm was lightly specked with blood but the right was soaked in it. Aklara frowned, remembering the intruder from last night.
"What happened here? You must have ripped your stitches or something."
"Oh. It's nothing I just..." Aklara frowned. She didn't want to tell Medusa about the figure. She didn't fully trust Medusa.
"She squirms a lot in her sleep. I assumed she was having a bad dream." Yukii answered, sensing Aklara's unease about Medusa.
"I don't understand-"
"I fight with my right hand. I was dreaming about the asshat from yesterday."
"Oh I see. Alright then. Well I will get your bandages changed and contact Professor Stein about your stitches."
"You can't do stitches?" Aklara asked curiously.
"No I can but his just look so much better. Much less of a scar left over." Smiling, Dr. Medusa changed all of Aklara's bandages. From each ankle to her torso to her head. She then went to check on Yukii's much less extensive wounds. A few cuts, quite a few bruises. "You should both be fine soon." Medusa left the room and Aklara laid back again, closing her eyes sleepily.
"Aklara...?"
"Mmm?"
"Don't fall asleep."
"Why, are you afraid of the dark now?" Aklara laughed and looked over at her friend and noticed she was biting her lip. In that moment she knew that Yukii was still worried about yesterday. Though which part, she wasn't sure. "Okay. I will stay up."
Nodding Yukii leaned back and they sat in a comfortable silence, waiting for someone to come by or something to happen.
After a little while Professor Stein entered the room, turning the screw in his head slowly as he gazed at Aklara.
Looking up Aklara smiled slightly at the Professor as she lifted her right arm. "Dr. Medusa said you do better stitches."
"I do." Stein mumbled before walking over to the medicine cabinet. Opening it he pulled out the needed things for stitches and then sat beside Aklara on a stool. Lifting his hand he offered Aklara a few small white pills. "These will numb your body so you don't feel the stitches."
"Wow thanks!" Taking them Aklara dry swallowed them then sat back as Stein began to work on her arm. She couldn't feel a thing it was amazing. When Stein finished a few minutes later he sat back and admired his handy work.
"These look good. What do you think?" Aklara looked down and nodded.
"The scars will look awesome. Thank you Professor Stein."
"You're welcome. Now, when you both recover what do you plan on doing?"
"Tracking down that fucker from yesterday. He's dying and I will eat his soul." Yukii growled angrily.
"I don't think so. You were both enrolled here this morning. When you've recovered then you will start classes here." Stein said, taking a long drag on his cigarette.
"I'm sorry... What?" Aklara stared at Stein. Clearly she had heard him wrong. Right? They didn't even know them and they had enrolled them into the Academy.
"Lord Death, Medusa, and I all agreed that you should enroll here. So we did. Is that a problem?" Stein tilted his head.
Aklara looked over at Yukii who had an angry look on her face. "What do you think? Maybe if we stay we can learn enough and take down that idiot from yesterday out for good."
"I suppose you're right. Hmph... Fine." Aklara leaned back in the bed and looked up at Dr. Stein, who was turning his screw again.
"I'll let you guys get your rest now. I will check on you tomorrow, to look at your stitches again." He left, shutting the door behind himself gently.
"Well, now that we will be going to school here, I guess we will need to find a place to live huh? Running around won't do anymore." Said Aklara, turning her head to look over at Yukii.
Yukii nodded lightly and flexed her fingers, "Jobs too. We have nothing..." Yukii looked to Aklara, sighing as she sat up in bed. "Are you sure you're okay with this. I know you don't trust like I do."
Aklara smiled and shrugged, turning toward her friend. "If we get stronger, who cares? I still have you, that's all that matters. We'll be okay, as long as we're together."
Yukii nodded and got up to walk around the room a little bit. The door opened and the two girls turned to see Maka and Soul entering the room. Make was all smiles while Soul looked relatively glum.
"We heard you guys are gonna start going here is that true?" Maka sat in the chair beside Aklara's bed, looking up at Yukii as Soul sat at the foot of the now empty bed.
"Yeah, when we've finished recovering, we'll be going here I guess. The adults decided it, so it's not like we can just tell them no. I mean, have you seen the size of Professor Stein's soul? There is no way we were about to tell him no." Aklara said, smiling a little as Maka's eyes got wide.
"You could see it? How?" Maka asked, looking at Aklara like she had grown an extra arm out of her forehead.
"I don't know. I've been able to see souls since I was young. It's not hard." Aklara shrugged, sitting up slightly as she pulled out her pillow and fluffed it up.
"I have trouble sometimes. I really have to focus if I want to see someone's soul." Maka closed her eyes and her breathing slowed down. When she opened them again her pupils had grown larger and she was staring straight at Aklara.
"Well, what do you see?" Aklara was laughing a little at Maka's expression. She seemed a little excited.
"Your soul is actually rather large. It's green, and has a smile on its face." Maka blinked and looked over to Yukii. "Your soul. It's purple, and has a determined look on its face." Blinking again her eyes returned to normal as Soul looked between the three females.
"Maka, we should go. Let them get some rest." Soul muttered, looking like he was bored out of his mind.
"Please stay. We don't get a lot of company to be honest." Aklara said, grabbing Maka's wrist as she started to stand. "Tell me, what are classes like here? Are they hard?"
Maka returned to her seat and shook her head, "Not at all. Although, if you ask Soul he would disagree. But he never studies, so it's his own fault."
"Hey! I do alright. I study sometimes but other times, not really." Soul protested, glaring at Maka. "Honestly Maka, you are so uncool sometimes."
"I disagree. Maka is plenty cool!" Yukii chimed in, sitting beside Soul on the bed. She smirked when Aklara looked over at her.
"Thank you, um… I never actually learned your name did I? How rude."
"It's Yukii." She laughed, scooting to the top of her bed slowly and preparing to lay down.
Aklara leaned back in her own bed and yawned lightly, looking up at the ceiling. "I'm excited to get out of this place. But I'm not excited to going back to the streets." She turned and looked at Yukii, who nodded, a wistful look on her face.
"What do you mean the streets? You don't have somewhere to stay?" Soul asked, blinking as he looked at Aklara. Aklara blushed a little and shook her head.
"Well, we can fix that, right Soul?" Maka looked back at him, but he shook his head.
"Blair is there remember? We're all out of room. What if we asked Kid? He lives nearby, and has a mansion." Soul said, causing Maka to frown unhappily.
"But technically it's Lord Death's house. They would have to ask him." She countered.
"Well yeah, but it's better than sleeping on the sidewalk or in an alleyway." Soul muttered, looking at Aklara again, in case she wanted to chime in.
"Um. If it's okay with Yukii, then I guess I can ask." Aklara mumbled, looking down at her bandaged fingers as they lay in her lap.
"I'll go get him and Kid then. You stay here Soul." Maka said, pushing Soul back down on the bed as he started to get up. She then left the room, her trench coat nearly being caught in the door.
"So how come you guys don't have a place to live?" Soul asked, crossing his legs on the bed as he slid his hands into his jacket pockets. He looked from Yukii to Aklara, a frown crossing his adorable face.
"Well, we're kind of like nomads? We just move around when the time comes. We were both abandoned at a young age at an orphanage and since we were able to take care of ourselves, we've been moving from town to town. This is the first time we've stayed so long." Yukii said calmly, looking over at her best friend, who had a frown on her face as well.
"I see. Well how do you feel about staying and attending school here?" Soul asked, tilting his head a little, his red eyes staying locked on Aklara's blue ones.
Aklara shrugged, looking down at her bandaged hands, "I doubt that it will be too much trouble. Personally, I think it might nice to find somewhere to… to belong." A wistful expression crossed her face as she looked to Yukii, who merely nodded herself.
"Yah, yah, it's always nice to belong somewhere!" Lord Death's silly voice filled the room as the door was opened suddenly by Maka. "What is this I hear about you not having a place to live, mm?" Lord Death entered the room, accompanied by Kid, Liz, and Patti.
"Well, as we were just telling Soul, we just move around from town to town. We don't have anywhere to go." Yukii said, pulling her blanket up to her chest, a little embarrassed blush on her face.
"You can stay with us-" Lord Death began to speak, but was quickly interrupted by Kid.
"No, absolutely not! There is perfect symmetry to the amount of people living with us. Two guys, two girls. I will not have it ruined!"
"Kid they need somewhere to go." Liz said, frowning at her meister.
"Who are you to talk about symmetry? You're not symmetrical!" Yukii accused, pointing at Kid's hair. His hair only had 3 stripes on one side of his head. Kid frowned before he sank to the floor, shaking his head in defeat.
"I know. I'm scum. I'm trash! Asymmetrical trash!" He began to beat the floor with his fist, his butt stuck in the air as his cheek touched the floor. Liz shook her head and crossed her arms, frowning while Patty patted Kid on his back over and over.
"Okay everybody calm down. There are plenty of open apartments around here, perhaps you can move into one of those? If it would be alright with you? We can also provide money for such things as clothes, food, stuff like that." Lord Death said, patting his son's head lightly with an overgrown hand.
Yukii and Aklara looked at each other in complete shock, their eyes wide in disbelief. "You would do that for us? But why" Yukii asked, turning back to look at Lord Death.
"Well, if you're going to be attending my school, I can't have you living on the streets, can I? It would be despicable of me." He nodded to himself, as if assuring himself of the idea. Kid immediately perked up at the news and sat up.
"W-Well... Thank you, Lord Death. We… Could never repay back the kindness you have shown us today, but we appreciate it so much." Aklara said, her eyes brimming with tears already. In her mind, she was shocked. She had made friends (or hoped she had,) and now had a place to stay. This was her place to belong.
Authors Note: Thank you so much for taking the time to read this. I'll update it as often as I can. I'm new to fanfiction kind of. I am so nervous about actually posting this. Again, thank you for reading it! Please, let me know what you think if you like. For the sake of my sanity I aged up anyone under 16 a few years. Therefore Black*Star, Kid, Maka, Soul, and Patty. Maka and Soul are now 15, Kid is 16, Black*Star is 16, and I don't know how old Liz and Patty are so we'll say they're both 16 as well.