Shawn's weapon form was truly interesting. Supposedly it was an ancient type of sword called a Shotel, it's unique features being his curved blade and ancient markings.
I, on the other hand, transform into a double bladed black and silver sword, traditionally called a Kourimora. My name was a shortened version of that, just as Clay's name was just short for another variation of my weapon's name, known as a Claymore. Must have been easier to name Clay.
I ducked and flipped backwards from Shawn's blade that Teressa swung at me.
Teressa leaned over and talked to her blade, "hey Shawn, how long has it been since we tried soul resonance?"
An echo-like voice came from her weapon, "too long."
I stood back and let the two match their wavelengths. Shawn's blade kept getting longer until it grew into an eight foot tall, even more curved, blade. The edges and the inscriptions on his blade glowed a bright orange.
Teressa grinned, "ready?"
My arm glowed a bright yellow and changed into its sword shape. Teressa ran at me and our blades clashed together. Shawn and Teressa's wave lengths overpowered me and I fell to my back. Teressa took this chance and swung at me. I blocked again and kicked her away. Using Shawn's curved blade, she swung around a nearby tree and flung herself back at me. Dodging her attack, I changed my arms and feet to where I landed on my hands and blocked more of Teressa's swings with my silver legs.
I pushed off the ground and landed on my feet, having changed my legs back from weapon form. I heard clapping behind me and turned.
"Impressive timing, Cora. And power to you, Teressa."
"What brings you guys here?" I asked Akane as he and Clay walked into the clearing.
"We wanted to check out how you guys are doing after a couple months of not practicing anything," Clay shrugged innocently.
Crossing my arms, I responded, "how'd you find us?"
"To be honest, we found Soul and Maka first, but it was pretty easy for how loud of a racket you guys were causing.
I turned to Teressa and Shawn, "we should take a break for now. Maybe get lunch."
"Maybe?" Teressa's blade glowed a bright orange and swirled around until Shawn was standing next to her, "I'm starving. Let's go."
I wiped the sweat from my forehead and picked up my hoodie from the grass, "where should we go?"
Teressa clapped her hands together, "oh, let's go to my uncle's place."
Shawn narrowed his eyes, "Deathbucks? We were just there Thursday."
"So? I get a discount. If your going to be salty, I can easily get rid of your discount."
He opened his mouth to speak but decided against it. I placed my hands on my lap, "great, it's settled. Clay, Akane, we'll meet you there in 30 minutes."
Akane waved, "see you."
After the boys left out of sight, Shawn gave me a confused look.
"If I'm not mistaken, isn't Deathbucks only like 8 minutes away?"
I stuffed my jacket into my bag and snapped the flap closed, "maybe, but a certain friend of ours also doesn't live that far either."
Teressa cocked her head, "um, Cora, who are you talking about?"
"Let's go see if Jacin and Rin are busy."
...
I knocked on the door labeled 2E in the little apartment complex, literally a block from Deathbucks.
"Cora, are you sure about this? We barely know these people. And how did you find their address?"
I shushed Shawn, "I've got a good feeling about these guys. And most new kids not living in the dorms live in this apartment complex, which is the only one down the way that they left yesterday. So all I had to ask about was which room they had at the front desk."
Shawn gaped at me until we heard the door unlock and open.
"Oh, it's our classmates from yesterday," Jacin called back to Rin. He turned to us, "what's up?"
"Well, I know it's late, but do you want to join us at Deathbucks?"
Jacin laughed, " your eating now, at three? Your lucky, because we ran out of food and we were going to go out soon anyway."
Rin walked over, "where are we going?"
"Deathbucks," Teressa answered, "it's not far from here, and it's famous for the coffee."
"Hmm, sounds interesting. We're in." Jacin confirmed.
Rin nodded, "so, when are we planning on leaving?"
Shawn raised a fist, "hopefully now."
Rin bumped his fist against Shawn's, "alright!"
As Rin and Shawn bonded behind us, Jacin and Teressa talked about the homework assignments with me.
"Does Rin do his homework on his own at all?" Teressa asked Jacin.
He laughed, "this might come as a surprise, but homework is one of the only things that Rin will actually remember to do willingly."
"Man, if only Teressa were that lucky," I responded, crossing my arms.
"You said it right," Teressa looked back at Shawn. He and Rin were in some sort of deep conversation that Teressa and I had no interest in.
We turned the last corner and found ourselves at Deathbucks. Clay and Akane were already waiting for us at a table. Teressa and Shawn dragged over an extra table for Rin and Jacin.
Akane nodded towards them, "classmates?"
Jacin shook his head in agreement, "yep, Ms. Klien. Did you happen to have her?"
Clay took a sip of his drink, "nope, at your age we had Sid. But when we started in the NOT classes Akane had her for a class."
"One of the best teachers ever," Akane waved over a waitress.
"Hey guys, welcome to Deathbucks," she smiled towards Teressa, "Hey Tess, how are you?"
"Tess, huh? I didn't know you had a nickname. After all this time of knowing you…"
"Zip it Shawn. That's my sister, Lea. Of course she has a nickname for me."
Lea smiled, "can I get any drinks for you guys?"
Aside from Akane and Clay, everyone ordered a drink. Lea left with our orders and we all looked at each other quietly.
Akane broke the silence, "so are you guys all a team?"
We looked at each other. Teressa and I locked eyes, "er, we haven't exactly ever talked about that."
"It'd be a good idea though. For a long time now, it's just been Rin and I. Besides, your team does seem to be pretty small."
I puffed out my cheeks, "just because we're a small team, doesn't mean we're not powerful." I pulled off my black grim reaper hoodie and hung it over the back of my chair.
"Your right, definitely. But I still think it's a great idea."
I smacked Shawn in the back of his head, "I never said it was a bad idea. What do you guys think?"
Run smiled and gave a thumbs up, "I'm in!"
Jacin nodded, "don't forget me, doofus."
Lea came back with our drinks and handed them all out.
"Those are the right drinks, everyone?" Lea opened a small booklet.
We all nodded in unison. After asking for our orders, we obliged.
Shawn began, "a huge, all meat sandwich, please."
"Again? Your gon' be able to eat that whole thing again?"
"Don't underestimate the guy, he'll eat anything that comes his way, no sweat."
Lea laughed at my remark, "Alright, I'll have the Master make that for you. What else?"
Everyone else gave their orders to Lea. She left us all to relax until our food arrived.
"Do you know if Mrs. Klein teaches soul resonance?" Jacin asks.
"Well, I don't think she would, since we were in her in her class last year... wait, how did you get in our EAT class this year?"
Jacin shrugged at Teressa's question, "like we would know. It probably had to do with us being at the top of our NOT class last year."
"Really? I couldn't imagine that would be too hard. I didn't even take a NOT class, so how should I know?"
Rin spat out his drink all over Shawn, getting a nasty look in return, "What? How do you skip the NOT classes? I thought that was mandatory for all students?"
I scratched the back of my head, "Well, you see, both of my parents used to work as teachers at the academy during the time that Clay and I were growing up. My father helped in preparing NOT students for the EAT classes, while my mother would train the strongest EAT students. If you couldn't tell already, our parents don't work at the school anymore, and that's because their working abroad now. I haven't seen my mother for six months running." I saw clay shake his head slowly in agreement.
"Geez, what a story. But that still doesn't answer why you didn't take the NOT class-"
The table thumped as Jacin kicked Rin in the leg, "She just said her parents were teachers at the academy. Isn't that enough of an explanation?" He turned to me with a stern face, "do you know what your parents are doing exactly?"
I shook my head, "I do get the occasional postcard, but apparently its top secret. Even Clay's not allowed to know."
He sighed, "I've asked many times, but I always got turned down. I heard they had just left Asia recently. As to where they are now-"
"Really?" I slammed my hands on the table. The people sitting near us looked over with a face of concern, "you didn't think to tell me that earlier? We were just there!"
He scratched his chin, "Well, you see..."
Akane decided to answer for him, "Your parents don't stay in one place for long. They probably hadn't even known they were going to be in Asia when we were there."
"Wait, you guys went to Asia too?" Rin seemed surprised.
Teressa nodded at Rin, "They ended up stationed in Asia, and we had to go and help," she added smugly.
"Woah now, you didn't have to stoop that low, Teressa."
We laughed at Clay's reaction, and soon after the thick aroma of delicious food enveloped us.
"Aw yeah! This smells great!"
Jacin sighed, "give our thanks to the Master."
Lea grinned, "no problem you guys. Enjoy!"
We dug in at her command. Shawn's 5 foot tall sandwich didn't even last 5 minutes on his plate before he inhaled the whole thing.
"That cannot be healthy for one person," Rin noted.
We silently finished our meal. Akane paused after wiping his mouth and broke the silence, "we've already talked to Cora about this, but now that your all a team you should all hear it."
Akane continued to fill them in about the new student, including what she happens to be.
"Wow, this really happens fast with you guys. We literally just joined and were already asked to give this scary woman an invitation."
The table bumped as Jacin kicked Rin under the table again.
"A confusing as Rin's statement just was, I think I understand it. But I have to say, one black-blooded person was scary enou-" the table jumped again as Teressa kicked Shawn in the shins.
"Do you remember her name now?" I asked Clay, ignoring Rin and Shawn's whimpering.
"Uh, yeah. Her name's Valerie Vancura. Her first day is on Monday, and, yeah."
The table thumped again as I kicked Clay's shin, "yeah? You know more than that, spill it."
Clay rubbed his leg, "what more can I tell you? We really don't know much about her, and only Lord Death has talked to her. He says she doesn't like to talk."
"Is she going to be in our class?" I ask frantically.
"Yes, she is. She's in your class because Death thought that you could handle her."
I raised an eyebrow at Akane, "handle her? Does she have some sort of attitude?"
"Much like yours," Clay blurted out, hiding his shins at the side of his chair.
"So she joins our posse, and we become a group of six? Sounds like a plan to me." Shawn sipped the last of his drink and sat the glass down.
Rin scratched his head, "wow, this is going way to fast. Is it always like this at the DWMA?"
We all turned our attention towards Rin and Jacin. "Yes," we replied simultaneously.
