Soul Eater is (c) Atsushi Ohkubo.
These are my submissions for the LiveJournal community 42_souls-- a collection of Sid/Nygus stories. =)
Prompt 13: January/The Beginning
She is drawn to the fact that he's a lot like her: noble, determined, yet kind.
Even without soul perception, he can sense that she is strong, loyal, and fearless.
Easily they're able to pick each other out amongst the milling crowd of first years at Shibusen-- boys and girls alike, potential technicians and weapons, shyly greeting one another, hoping for that spark, that certain something, that will tell them who they belong with. Mira Nygus, only 13 years old and one of the younger new students there, leans against the wall near the room's entrance, her right leg propped up behind her, arms folded, looking somewhat intimidating as her steel blue eyes scan the herd. Wearing a camoflagued shirt and long black pants littered with pockets, she looks as though she's been familiar with reconnaissance missions her entire life, yet the slight fit of her shirt gives her the tiniest air of femininity. Her dark brown hair is twisted into dozens upon dozens of tiny, tightly-bound braids that her mother had done for her that morning, pulled behind her in an exotic ponytail, revealing the entirety of her round face, now hardened by her pursed lips and calculating stare. She concentrates hard, inwardly fearful that somehow she'll find the wrong person, realize too late that she made a mistake, never become a Death Scythe.
As she waits, Sid Barett saunters around the room, hands casually stuffed in his pockets, heartily greeting the other students around him in an effort to find the right weapon, the perfect person with whom he can create the perfect Death Scythe. The 14-year-old young man ("Almost fifteen," he adds whenever anyone asks him his age) obviously has an affinity for street fashion, something slowly becoming popular in Death City, as he's dressed himself in a long basketball jersey and dark blue jean shorts, which probably wouldn't have come to rest halfway down his calves if he hadn't let the waistband sit three inches below his actual waist. It wouldn't have been hard for anyone to catch a glimpse of his underwear if he decided to jump up and down at any moment. His tightly-cornrowed head is accented by a dark red sweatband, and his large brown eyes are warm and friendly beneath it.
So far, neither of them feel they've successfully struck a match with any of the 200-odd other students in the room with them, although both have already begun to make friends with those whom they manage to pass by more than a couple times. So far Sid has passed by a particularly boisterous and red-haired boy named Spirit at least 6 times, while Nygus has agreed to join the track team with a very cheerful blonde girl named Marie.
Nygus sighs, shifting her weight onto her other foot, restlessness and mostly boredom creeping up on her. She had asked her mother that morning how she'd be able to tell when she'd found her partner; her mother smiled, telling her daughter that she would "just know." Being at Shibusen now, however, Nygus feels as though she may never find out, as more and more students are beginning to file out of the room, newly partnered and looking happy from what she can tell. Finally she sees someone. A tall boy who manages to stand out in the crowd, not only because of his height, but somehow the personality that exudes from his body language alone intrigues her despite the fact that she's never seen him before. She watches him some more, wanting to be sure.
To Sid it feels as though he's been searching all day with no luck in sight, and a discouraging feeling begins to sink in when it happens. Although he's on the other side of the room, as soon as he passes by the door, Sid instantly feels as though he's being watched. He glances towards the door and sees her: the girl with the piercing blue eyes. He changes direction and begins walking towards her. He picks up his stride, moving with the determination of a man on a mission from God; the students around him notice this, quickly jumping out of the way, lest they be knocked down by a boy who could pass for an upperclassmen, who has only one thing, or rather, one person, on his mind. His discouragement dissipates with each step, and the confidence that he might just have found that person starts to overwhelm him.
But when he reaches Mira Nygus he casually sticks out his hand and with the slightest of smiles he introduces himself. "Sid Barett."
She slowly pushes herself away from the wall, her lips pursed as she silently looks him over, calculating, thinking, processing, as if she can determine the success of their partnership by the colors on his jersey or the way he tied his shoes that morning. She's cautious, as she always has been with new acquaintances, but something tells her that Sid Barett is different. A good kind of different. She slowly lifts her arm to place her palm next to his and shakes his hand. Their grips are firm, satisfying.
"Mira Nygus," she replies. A tiny grin forms on her lips and she knows.