Chapter 1
"Dammit I'm dying!"
"Revive! Revive!"
"Anyone there? I'm up against a wall here!"
Loud shouts filled the young girls' headphones as she winced. She mashed her fingers against the keyboard fervently whipping out every combo she could think of. Her group was dying; no way they could survive the night.
"Eater! Come on focus!" She barked into the headgear. It was too late, large red letters sprawled across her screen, the all too familiar laughing, bloody moon chuckled at her as she heard a collective groan across her gear.
YOU LOSE
"I know I know." She growled into the headset, she rested her head on her desk, checking her clock. Early. 2 am actually. She had been playing for well over four hours now, not realizing that the night had passed so quickly, and her and her group had been just this close to killing Asura; the last Kishin in DWMA.
"Listen it's real late here, I'm gonna head out." Said a voice on the other side, Black*Star, the loud guy with a god complex. "It's late as shit here and my old man is gonna kill me for being up this late."
"Scared of a little fight oh almighty God?" A voice drawled in response, one of the Thompson pistols; although Maka couldn't tell which one.
"No! I'm afraid of nothing and no one." He retorted loudly, in the back Maka could hear a muffled shout, a woman most likely. "SHIT SHIT" was the last thing he said before he logged off. The rest of them chuckled and Maka stifled a yawn.
"Tired Kami?" A boy asked on the other side, Eater. Kami, her mother's name, she had taken for herself as her screen name. Initially it had attracted a lot of creeps, asking if she was Asian, and her first attempted at the game was, needless to say, a really hallowing experience about how many predators there are out there.
"A little, E" She responded, calling him by his nickname that she had become to accustomed to. She always found that the name Eater, was weird, and oddly sexual. Black*Star was certain to zero in on this the moment they had met. "I should go too; I have to pack."
"For your new boarding school?" He asked. She made a low agreeing noise, stretching out.
"We better log off too." Kid said on the other line. Death the Kid was his handle, and he was lucky enough to know the Thompson pistols in person, and had in fact mentioned that they had been good friends for many years of their life. Even as far enough to say they all lived together, which was shocking; even more so when they refused to disclose the reason they had all moved in together. Though, it always came across as a sensitive topic, so no one ever mentioned it after the initial time.
"I should check on Black*Star." Came a timid voice from across the channel, that would be Mifune. From what they could gather, Mifune, was a shy, Japanese girl; who against all odds, came to form a partnership and oddly enough, to become close friends with the loudest game player. Close enough that they were constantly in each-others messages, enough so to exchange phone numbers. And so, all at once they logged off, leaving only Eater, and Kami (aka Maka) which, she would never admit, she liked the best.
The two gamers had become increasingly comfortable with one another of the past year they had played DWMA. As they both agreed to be partners when they joined, they spent the majority of their free time together. She knew things about him that the others didn't. Like how he was classically trained in piano, that he had an older brother, that he was currently residing in a "troubled kid" boarding school for his petty crimes. In exchange, he knew things about her: such as Kami is her mother's name, she can speak Japanese, she hates her father, and that she, is also being sent off to a boarding school.
Eater had explained that he had gotten caught one too many times publically intoxicated and had to be "rescued" by his parents after he was put in holding for the crime of both underage drinking, and public intoxication. With his parents at their ends, they sent him to what he called "the middle of fucking nowhere" to be "properly reformed". The others didn't know of this. Just her. It was their own little secret. In exchange, she told him all her horrors. The ones that got her sent to boarding school.
Her father, a cop, had been involved in Maka's little incident. Maka was known throughout school as the good girl with a temper. She was sweet enough, but cross her and she could knock you on your ass. Sadly, the group of visiting varsity boys did not know this fact when they crept up behind her, making sexist remarks and ended the whole thing by flipping up her school uniform skirt. In this act of blind rage, she removed her math textbook from her bag and smashed it into the leader's skull. Leaving him unconscious and in the hospital. As expected the parents were furious, the police, Maka's father, were involved in the case and after weeks of pleading and court, they came to the choice that she was to continue her education in Nevada at Shibusen Reform School for Troubled Youth. Far away enough from California where Maka was currently residing. Of course the boy was fine and only ever suffered a mild concussion, and everyone who knew the girl well enough agreed that to be so far from her family was the true crime, but there was no going back now. At 15, she was to continue her education elsewhere.
"So," the voice snapped her out of her thoughts, "where is this new fancy school?"
"Nevada" She answered, taking a bite of the apple she had beside her. "There's a reform school for 'troubled youths' like me" she bit back the bile that rose in her throat. She didn't belong in Shibusen and she knew it. She heard choking on the other side;
"R-really?" Eater asked, desperation lacing his voice.
"Yes…? What? Heard of it?" She asked, throwing the finished fruit in the trash.
"Heh. You could say that."
"Spill it Soul." She grinned, his true weakness. He disclosed to her his real name. Even though, initially, she did not believe him. Because no parent in their right mind would ever name their child that, he assured her his did.
"How come, Maka?" He drawled, using her own name in retaliation. Though she enjoyed how it sounded when he said it, she was thankful for the lack of physical contact so he couldn't see the redness in her cheeks. "you'll find out soon enough. See you soon." She rolled her eyes and scoffed.
"Ya, see you soon. I'll call you guys as soon as I touch down." She murmured, "g'night Soul"
"Night Maka." And with that, the line clicked dead.
