(Crystalin's POV – one week later)
"Ryoko, get your ass out of bed! We're leaving soon!" I shouted.
I stood in the bathroom of our apartment, yanking a hairbrush hurriedly through my black hair to get out the tangles. Mieko stood beside me with a hairdryer in hand, blowing out his freshly-washed auburn locks. He finally turned off the noisy device and shook his head sharply, running his fingers through his hair to style it messily.
"You know, you could help me get your stupid brother out of bed," I muttered to him, wincing as my hairbrush got caught on a knot.
He sighed and set the hairdryer down on the counter in front of me. He headed down the hallway and pushed open the mahogany door of his brother's bedroom, poking his head in through the small crack. "Get up, Ryo. Crys and I are almost ready to go," he said.
I heard an annoyed grumble and the creak of a bed frame from Ryoko's bedroom. Mieko shut the door and passed by the bathroom again, giving me a thumbs up and a nod to tell me that his unmotivated twin was awake.
I finished styling my black hair and applied minimal makeup to cover the bags of exhaustion under my stormy gray eyes. I fluffed out my choppy bangs and smiled satisfactorily at myself in the mirror. I exited the bathroom and made my way back to my room to get dressed. I shimmied into a pair of tight black shorts and pulled a burgundy tee shirt over my head. I clipped on my favorite black leather choker that had a silver sun pendant dangling in the center. I hurried into the living room and shrugged on my leather jacket, then plopped onto the couch to yank on my combat boots.
Mieko and Ryoko always tended to wear different variations of the same outfit. Mieko stood by the door wearing a navy blue tee shirt, a varsity jacket, and black jeans with boots. Ryoko strolled from the hallway wearing black jeans and still pulling his dark green shirt over his head. He pulled on his boots and slipped on his varsity jacket that matched Mieko's. It was a custom-made black jacket with white leather sleeves and white stitching. Stitched on the back in white was their surname in Japanese kanji and a white sun that matched the one that dangled from my choker.
Ryoko carelessly ran his fingers through his messy red hair and headed for the door. He grabbed the doorknob, roughly yanked open the door, and muttered sleepily, "I'm ready. Let's get going."
I stared blankly at the map in my hands, then up at the giant building in front of me, then back down at the map. I pursed my lips and jutted out my hip, scratching my head in deep thought. Ryoko's eyes wandered around the campus in search of a pretty girl while Mieko's eyes were glued to me.
"Do you even know what you're looking at?" he asked patiently.
I glanced up at him with a sigh and reluctantly admitted, "Not a clue. This school is huge." I shoved the piece of inked paper into his hands and crossed my arms. I brought my eyes to the sky, admiring its pure cerulean clarity. The sun chuckled above us, almost as if it were mocking our predicament.
"Do you guys need some help? You look a little lost."
I practically jumped out of my skin at the sound of the feminine voice that startled me out of my daydream. I brought my gaze back down to Earth and it met with two grass green eyes matched with sandy blonde hair in pigtails. Behind the girl stood a slouchy boy with shock white hair, a shark-toothed smirk, and crimson eyes that were glued to me. The girl smiled brightly and stuck out her hand for me to shake. I took her hand and returned her smile politely.
"I'm Maka, a meister here at the Academy, and this idiot here is my weapon partner, Soul," she introduced, gesturing to the white-haired boy behind her, "You're new here, I guess?"
"Yeah, we just enrolled. I'm Crystalin, and these are my partners, Mieko and Ryoko," I replied, nodding to each boy respectively.
"You wield two weapons? That's awesome!" Maka commented with a smile. A subtle raise of her eyebrows and a glimmer in her eyes told me she was fairly impressed.
"Are they twins or somethin'?" asked Maka's partner, Soul. His sleepy crimson eyes darted from one to the other, almost as if he was trying to find a single trait about them that was different.
"Yep, I'm the older one," Mieko replied proudly.
"By four minutes, punk," retorted Ryoko.
"Cool," Soul remarked with a curt nod. His gaze flitted back to me for a moment, but when he caught my eyes on him, he glanced away.
DING-DONG, DEAD-DONG.The creepy tone reverberated from the Academy, sending chills down my spine.
Maka's gaze flickered up to the building at the sound, and if she were an animal, her ears would've perked up. "Oh, that's the bell that means class is starting! Which class are you guys in?" she asked.
"Uh...Class Crescent Moon," Mieko responded, glancing down for a moment at the schedule in his hands to confirm. Maka's green eyes brightened t his reply and she exclaimed, "That's our class too! Come on, walk with us."
Class was just as boring as I had expected it to be. I sat with my head resting on my arm for the entire period while Ryoko carved designs into the desk on one side of me and Mieko studiously took notes on the other side. The instructor, Professor Stein, was speaking from the distant front of the classroom about animal dissections. He looked rather deranged in my opinion. He had gray hair, green eyes, and a bolt through his head. Was he a robot or something?
I was more than glad when lunchtime came around. After wandering around the building for a bit, we finally decided we would go out for lunch and come back at the scheduled time for our next class. We walked for a few blocks before we found a small cafe. I ordered a bagel and sat down with Ryoko and Mieko at a table outside, enclosed by a low picket fence.
"Do you like the DWMA so far?" I asked, taking a huge bite out of my bagel. Mieko raised an eyebrow at the indent in my bagel, then rolled his eyes and smiled.
"If there was a gym that'd be awesome, but all they have are training clearings," Ryoko complained, "They want us to stay in shape, meanwhile they don't even have a gym on the premises. What kind of nonsensical bullshit is that?"
"Ever hear of getting your own equipment?" I mumbled through my mouthful of food. He ignored my question and went back to eating the grilled chicken hero on his plate.
"I like the Academy. Maka told me their library is huge," Mieko said with sparkling eyes, "I can't wait to get my hands on some of those books. I can't even imagine what kind of a selection they must have."
"Nerd," coughed Ryoko. His twin shot him an icy glare and he simply responded with a devious grin.
I took another bite of my bagel and lost myself in my own thoughts as my two weapon partners lovingly bickered. I felt like that instructor, Professor Stein, was watching my every move all throughout class. Even as I walked the halls, I felt like I was being watched. Then again, the school was undeniably wealthy, which meant they probably had security cameras in every nook and cranny.
"Hey guys!" a cheerful voice greeted, "We were just passing by and Soul saw you, so we decided to drop by and say hello." I shook my head sharply, bringing myself back to reality, and saw Maka standing beside our table with Soul and two others in her company.
"Hey," I greeted with a smile and a slight wave. My eyes met with Soul's and he flashed me a crooked grin. His demeanor radiated the charm of a bad boy and I couldn't deny the fact that he piqued my interest. However, I couldn't have myself getting distracted so early on in my academic career.
"YOU'RE THE NEW KIDS, HUH? TIME TO MEET THE ONE WHO WILL SURPASS GOD, THE GREAT BLACK STAR! HAHAHA!" an obnoxious voice boomed. I winced and covered my ears, sinking down slightly in my chair. A relatively short boy with bulging muscles and spiky neon blue hair stood up on the empty chair next to Ryoko.
"B-Black Star, get down from there!" a dainty feminine voice chimed. A tall, slender girl with long, black hair that was gathered into a ponytail and deep violet eyes smiled nervously and politely bowed to us, "I'm so sorry about him."
"Uh, this is Black Star and his weapon partner Tsubaki," Maka said. Her eyes narrowed slightly in annoyance when they came to rest upon the narcissistic blue-haired boy.
"Nice to meet you," Ryoko said with a charming smile. His lustful blue eyes were glued to Tsubaki, focusing solely her chest. I reached across the table and smacked him in the back of the head. He ducked and glowered at me, rubbing the spot where I hit him in pain.
"Did Professor Stein tell you guys about training later?" Soul asked. He pulled up a chair from one of the nearby tables and sat down near me. Ryoko offered the seat next to him to Tsubaki, who politely took it, while Maka and Black Star leaned against the fence behind the table.
"No, what kind of training is it?" I asked curiously.
"Just basic training with soul resonance and stuff like that, but we break off into our teams and work in separate areas of the clearing," Maka informed.
"We don't have a team," Mieko remarked. Over by the fence, Maka slowly inched away from Black Star with a look of displeasure on her face. Her dislike for him was comical, but seemingly understandable.
"Did Stein not tell you that either?" Soul snorted, "That guy's got a few screws loose. Not cool."
"You're on our team. It's comprised of us and one other meister and his demon weapons," Tsubaki spoke up.
The fact that the word weapons was plural piqued my interest greatly. I cocked an eyebrow in curiosity. "Weapons? Does he have more than one, like me?" I asked.
"Yep – twin pistols," Maka replied.
"You have duel weapons? You don't even look powerful, especially compared to a star like me!" Black Star gloated, his tone of voice still quite booming.
"Did you think one of us was for show or something?" Mieko shot back, jabbing his thumb in Ryoko's direction. Black Star fell silent, fixing my more intellectual weapon with a fiery glare.
"So, where is this other dual wielding meister?" I asked curiously.
"He's on a mission as of now, but he should be back in a few days," Maka answered.
The seven of us sat around the table, chatting and getting to know each other a little better. Mieko and Maka seemed to click immediately due to their love of books, and I conversed with Soul for a majority of the time. Ryoko attempted to hit on Tsubaki, but from what I could tell, his attempts were miserable failures. The girl was too sweet to reject him outwardly, but it didn't seem like she had any interest in him. Her eyes kept flickering distractedly over to her meister during their conversation.
DING-DONG. DEAD-DONG.
"I guess that means it's time to get back to class," Mieko said. He chucked what was left of his sandwich into the trashcan and started heading out of the fence. I stood up from the table and threw my paper plate in the trash as well, then followed quickly after him.
