Soul, Blackstar, Tsubaki, and Kid, Liz, Pati
"Would you look at us now, Pati?" I said airily, stretching my arms behind my head as I climbed the stairs. "Raised on the streets, and now students at the DWMA. We've come a long way."
"Yeah, this is gonna be friggin' awesome!" Pati squealed, looking all around at the view we got from the top of the stairs. The whole of Death City lay sprawled beneath us, stretching out until it met the hot, dry desert that surrounded it.
"Hey!" Called a rough voice from the front doors of the building. Kid and I looked over—Pati just kept staring out over the city. A boy about Kid's age—thirteen, fourteen—was sitting slouched against the doors, looking bored as Hell. He had a shock of white hair, and his eyes were bright scarlet. "You the new kid we've been hearin' so much about? The one who took down Anubis?"
Kid nodded. "Yeah, this is my first day. Are you here to show me around?"
The boy snorted and shook his head. "What do I look like to you, the welcoming committee? If you'd been here at seven like you're suppose to you could've showed yourself around."
"What's that?" Kid growled. "What did you say, seven?"
Uh-oh. I sighed.
"No! Take it back! Say eight, eight is better!" Kid all but shrieked, pointing at the Kid, who looked startled. "It's physically impossible to cut the number seven into halves and keep it symmetrical! Eight cut in half vertically or horizontally remains perfectly symmetrical!" he ended on a hiss, then continued in a pathetic voice. "Please, take it back. Say eight. I beg you."
The boy looked at Kid, groveling on the ground at his feet, and pulled his feet away as though the kid was a disease. Hell, I would too, if I'd been greeted like that.
"Uh, dude, is there something wrong with you?" the boy asked, nudging Kid in the side with his toe.
"Yes. He's absolutely insane," I sighed. "Hey, I'm Liz Thompson. That over there's Pati—Pati? What're you looking at?"
I'd caught my sister staring up at something on the side of the school. I followed her gaze. Something was preening on one of the spikes protruding from the walls, shouting something unintelligible.
"Hey Kid, I think something up there's yelling at you. Can't tell what it is, though. Looks like a monkey." I watched it do some weird little jiggy hop. "Yeah, must be a monkey."
Then the unthinkable happened. Just as Kid looked up, the spike beneath the monkey's feet cracked and broke, falling to the ground with the creature. Kid screamed. Oh, no. I thought. Me and my sister had been living with Kid all summer, and we'd learned a good deal about his OCD. One thing about it was that he couldn't control it. No one could. He was completely obsessed with symmetry, with balance, and if something's balance is messed up, Kid loses any semblance of sanity. Like now.
As the tip of the spike crashed into the ground, I realized it hadn't been a monkey up there, but a blue–haired boy. He landed on his feet amidst the rubble.
"Face it, Kid, I'm much too big of a guy for you to handle," he grinned cockily, straightening up.
"Look what you've done—it's not symmetrical anymore you ass," Kid seethed.
"Uh-oh, now you've really done it," I grumbled.
"Who-oa," agreed Pati.
I sighed. We'd done nothing but fight since we got off the streets. I could use a break. Oh, well.
The next ten minutes were not pretty for the blue-haired monkey boy or his red-eyed friend.
…..
"You idiots!" I exclaimed, storming into the infirmary where Soul and Blackstar had been carried, unconscious, after fighting with Lord Death's son, and his weapons. "What were you thinking?"
"Idiots?" said Blackstar, mystified.
"I think…" Soul winced as he propped himself up on his elbows. "That that is the meanest thing you've ever said to either of us. Good job, Tsubaki, you're growing some lady balls."
I'm sure my face was bright scarlet, and I smacked him half-heartedly on his temple.
"Oww!" He shouted, clapping his hand to his head, which only made him groan again. "Splitting damn headache Tsubaki!"
"Hey Tsubaki," said Blackstar from his bed. He was bruised and battered, but for some reason, he seemed ecstatic. "We beat up a Reaper!"
I stared at him, mouth hanging open.
"I think you mean you got beat up by a Reaper, Blackstar," I said slowly.
"Psh! Whatever! Did you see him cough up blood and pass out?" Blackstar scoffed, and Soul threw in a hearty laugh.
"That was only because—" I started, but a different voice finished my sentence.
"Your pal Soul managed to cut the right sight of Kid's bangs," said the older sister. Liz, if memory served. "Once he noticed, he had one of his classic symmetry attacks because his bangs weren't balanced out and fainted."
"Yeah, but technically they did make him pass out," said Liz's sister Pati, peering around to look at them.
"Yeah, but I made both of them pass out," pointed out Kid, walking in behind the Thompson sisters. Immediately he froze and turned to look at the wall with all the medicine bottles and flower pots arranged on shelves.
"Uh-oh," sighed Liz, and no sooner had the words left her lips than Kid was off on one of his neurotic spaz attacks.
"The symmetry is completely off!" he wailed.
"Sorry about him," Liz said, grinning. "I'm Liz, and this is Pati. That lunatic is Death the Kid, but you can call him Kid. We didn't get a chance to formally introduce ourselves out there."
"I'm Tsubaki Nakatsukasa," I said, shaking the girl's outstretched hand. It was surprisingly rough for someone who looked so…pampered.
"Nice to meet you, Tsubaki," the girl grinned.
"HAI! I'm Pati!" cackled the younger sister as she watched Kid. She kept laughing and saying things like "here we go again!" or "frickin hilarious!"
"Gotta fix it…" Kid grumbled, running to and fro along the shelves, rearranging everything.
"Nygus ain't gonna like that," Soul muttered, then climbed out of his bed and stretched, moaning as his joints cracked and popped.
"Hey! I'm Blackstar! Yahoo!" Blackstar introduced himself to Liz, also clambering out of bed. "I'm the biggest star around—definitely the biggest guy you'll ever meet. I'm gonna—" we finished his sentence for him. "Surpass God."
"Yo, I'm Soul Eater," grunted Soul, making no move to take Liz's hand.
"Eater?" she said questioningly.
He nodded. "Real name's Soul Evans. Don't go by it if I can help it."
"I totally get that," Liz said lazily. He cut her a quick look, and I noticed that, unlike most people, unlike me at first, Liz didn't flinch away from Soul's red eyes, or his shark-like teeth. Of course, I thought, wanting to smack myself. Little things in appearances wouldn't bother someone who's grown up on the street, who's had to fight tooth and nail every day of her life. I mean, she was partnered with a Grim Reaper now, albeit his eyes were gold, not scarlet.
"Still not symmetrical…" Kid mumbled, still dashing around like a roadrunner on drugs.
"So, you wanna start over?" asked Liz after a moment. "I think this could be a beneficial relationship all the way around."
We all exchanged looks, then nodded in unison.
"Welcome to the band of misfits, Liz, Pati, Kid," said Soul sardonically.
This will be a very interesting relationship… I thought to myself.