"Okay, Amy, all done." Death said, clapping his hands together, shaking me out of my memories. I had finally opened my eyes, watching Lord Death's reaction to my story, and Spirit's distress as he re-lived it with me.
I stood up, grabbing my bag as I did. "So, I can go to class now?"
"Yes, yes! We have a student waiting outside for you. I had Stein organise it so you didn't have Marie lose you again!"
"Stein organised it? Great, I'll have either an overly excitable student, or that blue haired kid." I rolled my eyes, bowing slightly before Lord Death, and then walking down the corridor towards the door. Once I'd got through the door, I stayed put, knowing the student would find me. I searched through my bag, looking for my phone. Flicking the screen saver off, it showed I still had no messages. "Life of an unpopular girl …" I muttered, regretting the day I ever brought this phone. I never used it.
Footsteps sounded, I threw my phone back in my bag and walked up a bit further, so I was in sight. Of course, just as I had suspected, Black Star was walking up towards the Death Room. I took a deep breath, refusing to let him get to me.
"I'm going to take you to class, okay? It's this way." He said, turning back around and walking in the direction he had come. I gaped at his back, was this the same kid as before? I shook my head and ran to catch up.
"Hey, Black Star is it, what's your deal? One minute you want to kill me, the next your all sullen?" I asked, trying to look at his face. I got no answer. He just kept walking. "You know, talking to yourself is the first sign of madness. Are you going to let me become as mad as Stein? Trust me, it isn't a pretty sight." I said, determined to make him talk. I saw his mouth twitch slightly, got him.
"Seriously, the last time I started talking to myself, I ended up being chased by this really fat women down the street. She had like thousands of cats, so to make it look like I wasn't all that freaky, I was talking to this black and white cat. When the women found out, she started screaming that I was stealing her cat. She chased me for ages! You'd think fat women wouldn't run, but boy was she a runner. Like a bull dozer, only scarier." I blabbered, smiling to myself at the memory. I knew I sounded weird talking about it, but I wasn't about to make an enemy on my first day.
"I got chased by a fat women too once …" He murmured, so quietly I had to move myself closer so I could hear.
"See, fat women are scary. Fact." I smiled; I'd hopefully made things less awkward.
"Kid says you'll be teaching the practical side of Stein's class, is that true?" He asked, he was no longer slouching.
"Yep, I'll be teaching my own class and being a demonstration in Stein's. But you've gotta be nice to me, I'm not a people person, being in front of people will freak me out for a while."
"Then how come you're here?" He asked, stopping in his tracks and turning to face me. I swallowed, maybe it was still awkward.
"Erm … I … Well … recommendation from Stein," I rushed out, "He told me about this place a lot when I was a kid, but because I'm apparently too advance for classes, so Stein got me in touch with Lord Death." I smiled, hoping I wasn't physically trembling.
"Liar." Black Star said simply. Dammit.
"Okay, what do you know?" I demanded. I knew Stein couldn't keep his mouth shut.
"That your brother was killed 6 years ago, that you're basically a danger to everyone without him because you have no one to calm your down. Oh and you ate his soul." He ticked everything off on his fingers, each thing making my teeth grind. I was going to kill Stein.
"Right … anything else?" I asked, my teeth still gritted together. I could feel the anger bubbling up; that was never a good sign.
"Why? Have you killed anyone in the past 6 years?" He was smiling now; he knew he was getting to me.
"Except a witch, no. I had a valid reason for killing it aswell."
"Which was?"
"I was captured just under a year ago, held hostage until about 4 months ago. A scorpion witch. She tortured me the whole time I was there. One day she went out, I got out of my cage and boom. When she came back, she had a scythe in her throat. Not one of my better kills, but a kill none the less." I said, taking note of Black Star's reaction. He didn't even flinch. "Why aren't yo—"
"What? Reacting badly? Who cares, people kill witches all the time. It's the norm here. We have to kill them to get our weapons the Death Scythe status. 99 kishin souls and a soul of a witch. That's what we are here for, to strengthen up weapons for Lord Death." He said, I gaped at him. I'd been worried about what everyone would think of me when I told them about my life, and yet, this kid was shrugging it off, as if it were nothing.
"You … seriously don't think I'm a monster?" I asked, unable to grasp this. Humans were peculiar. To my surprise, he laughed.
"A monster? HA! Sid is more of a monster than you. He's a zombie, and yet he teaches here. You'll fit in just fine if you think you're a monster. Most of us are!" He said, turning around and walking off towards the class. I slapped my hands against my cheeks and ran after him. I stayed quiet after that, still shocked. If he can accept it just like that, maybe everyone else can as well, I thought, praying to whoever that it was true. If it was one thing I wasn't good at, it was getting along with people. People skills were not one of my strong points. I've gone through most of my life having no friends. Daniel, Stein, Spirit and my parents were the only people I would talk to and actually get along with. Everyone else was just a nuisance. An annoyance that could be avoided. It was only the past 3 years that I had to talk to others, taking odd jobs in shops around the world to keep money in my pocket. I smiled, this may have been the right decision after all.
Black Star led me around one last corner before the classroom. I looked up, the sign read Class Crescent Moon. I stopped, staring at the sign. Black Star noticed I'd stopped and came back to stand in front of me.
"What's up?" He actually sounded like he cared.
"I … well to put it simply," I looked at his face, "I'm shitting myself." I said plainly, Black Star laughed. Coming round to the side of my and looping his arm around my waist, dragging me in.
"Listen, seeing as you're actually quite cool and I kinda like you now, I'll give you a hint. Our class is one of the easiest to get along with. Just be you. Trust me, I'm the hardest one to win over, so you've basically won." He'd gotten to the door, his hand on the knob, grinning from ear to ear, "Good luck!" He said, before shoving me in the classroom.
I flew into the classroom, stopping only when I hit the massive desk in the middle.
"Got her, Sir!" Black Star called, laughing his head off as she climbed the stairs to his seat. I looked up, he was seated next to Tsubaki, who had a hand over her mouth. Black Star gave me the thumbs up as I rubbed my stomach. I mouthed, I'm going to kill you, before turning to face Stein's shocked face.
"Now Amy, what have I said about making better entrances than me? This is my territory. I am the master." Stein said, earning a few chuckles of laughter. I smiled, my nervousness making my hands shake.
I shoved them in the back pockets of my jeans, "My sincerest apologies Frankin, I couldn't help myself." He smiled, leaning against the desk he raised his voice for the class.
"Okay class, meet Amy. She'll be taking over some of my lessons, as well as being my assistant in mine," He casted a side glance at me, I moved to lean next to him. I glanced over the class, not making any eye contact, but collecting all the information I needed. "Amy … care to introduce yourself?" Stein asked, waving his hand to motion towards the class. I took a deep breath.
"Sure," I whispered, I looked at Black Star, he was the only kind one there at the moment," So … Hi! I'm Amy, I was once a student of Stein's. Many, many moons ago. I'm a Scythe meister, but I can more or less handle any weapon I can get my hands on. Errr, what else can I tell you …?"
"What's up with your soul?" A boy asked, I found him down at the front. Ah, the Spear meister.
"My soul huh? Well, where do I start? My weapon partner was murdered at 13, I absorbed his soul into mine to spare him being a victim to the bastard that killed him," I stopped, realising I'd just sworn, "Sorry Stien,"
"No need to apologise, these kids come up with more entertaining words, words I'm sure even you will never have heard off."
"Sure about that? I've been on the streets for 6 years. A fat lady called me a cat fucker once." I said, keeping my poker face on as the class laughed. Stein chuckled.
"Anyway, carrying on, I absorbed my weapons soul, so that is one thing that's 'wrong' with my soul, as you put it. Also, I was captured and tortured by a witch a year ago. I killed her and also absorbed her soul," I looked at the boy, "Does that answer that?" He nodded, looking at the boy next to him. I let out my breath, this is easier than I thought.
"Why can you absorb souls?" Soul asked, I could recognise his voice anywhere, "Only weapons can do that …" I looked up, how did I not notice him there before hand?
"Another good question, easy answer," I said, grinning slightly as I brought two identical, purple and black scythes out of my forearms, relishing in their reactions. "I'm a quarter Scythe. My grandmother being a scythe, my dad being half. Mother was a meister, a crappy one that made her money doing … other things, but a meister none the less." I brought my scythes back into my body, feeling them liquidise back into my bloodstream.
"Why don't you tell them about your brother, Amy." Stein said, staring straight ahead.
"Yeah, Daniel. Brother, and weapon partner. He died at 13, anybody want to know anything else?" I asked, focusing on the stairs. No way am I looking at anyone.
"Who killed him?" Maka's voice called out, I could hear slight tremble in her voice.
"I don't know … it was big and black in colour. That's all I can remember, or what I want to recall. Either way, it was stronger than me and Daniel. I didn't think anything was stronger than the two of us. Of course, my cockiness got him killed. If I'd have had listened to my gut instead of my ego, he could be still alive," I smiled sadly, everyone had gone quiet. As I had expected, what I hadn't expected was Maka standing up in front of me. Her cheeks soaked in tears. Before I'd even had a chance to speak, she threw herself at me, sobbing into my shoulder. The last time I'd experienced someone crying was myself, I had no idea how to deal with it. Trying to duplicate what Spirit did for me all those years ago, I returned her embrace, patting her softly on the back. Stein looked down at me, he was the same as me when it came to emotions, completely oblivious. I just blinked back at him, showing him I was confused. He laughed silently, motioning for Soul to come down. I watched Soul trot down the steps, coming straight up to where Maka was still sniffling into my shoulder. Before he could hear me, I whispered talk to you later, in her ear just before Soul braced his hands on her shoulders. She looked up at me, her eyes all red and puffy, I winked at her, letting her be dragged off by Soul.
Soul brought Maka back up to her seat, not letting her go until she sat down, sniffling into her hand. Tsubaki put an arm around her friend, motioning to Black Star to find a tissue. He mouthed 'what the hell?!' to her but still came up with a usable tissue. Maka whispered thanks to her and leant into her shoulder, trying to hide her crimson cheeks. Amy casted glances up to where she sat every 5 minutes, her eyes screaming out confusion to Maka's reaction, but she didn't bring it up again. Stein carried on talking about the new lesson plan than Amy and he were going to be teaching. He described the kind of techniques Amy would be teaching the class. Tsubkai's eyes widened at the thought of some of them, Stein wanted weapons and meister's to be able to fight separately in the circumstances that one was injured. A few students shouted out their objections, saying that they were teams. But Stein countered by bringing up Amy's current situation, saying that if it weren't for the fact that she could fight on her own, she also would have been killed. Even if it quieted the students down, there were a still a few sullen faces. Tsubaki looked over at her partner, he was sitting back in his seat. Completely relaxed. She wondered what had happened when he went to meet the new teacher, whether he was his usual self-absorbed self, or whether he'd taken in her advice on just talking to her. She'd like to believe Black Star had a kind streak in him, with other people other than herself. But sometimes, he was just too boisterous for people to be able to stand. She sighed, rubbing Maka's back again, she had brought her face out of the protection of Tsubaki's shoulder and was watching Stein and Amy try to resolve a petty argument a pair of students had broken into. Tsubaki watched carefully, she watched Stein take a step back from them to let them get it out of their systems, while Amy went to the two of them and made them speak separately. Not much of a people person, but yet, she is so good with them. Tsubaki looked at Black Star again, he was tossing a ball he'd brought from their apartment in the air, mindlessly throwing it and catching it. Normally by now he'd be escaping out of the window to ditch the class. She shook her head, so many questions needed to be asked.
"Right, if there is nothing else to discuss, shall we—" The bell rang, Stein slouched down, "Well, that was to be expected. Class dismissed." He said, taking a seat on his chair and spinning it slowly. Amy jumped up on the desk and sat crossed legged, flipping through the class schedule for the year. The class filed out, some excited about the new teachings, some still annoyed. Tsubaki followed Black Star down the stairs, expecting him to run off out into the corridor, surprising herself when she ran into his back as he stopped in front of Amy.
"Yo, see, I'm obviously a lucky charm, class went well." He said, giving Amy a thumbs up. She grinned.
"Yeah, and you stayed a full lesson. Stein's warned me about your ditching, so watch your back. I'll be watching you now," she winked, smiling at Tsubaki, who was more shocked now than when Black Star shoved Amy into the table. "Tsubaki? What's the matter?" Black Star asked, he'd put himself dead in front of her, she had no way of escaping. She smiled.
"Oh, it's nothing Black Star, I'm just happy you and Miss Amy are getting on now." She said.
"Miss? Please, Tsubaki, I'm less than a year older than some of you, don't be formal, it makes me sound as old as the dude with the screw in his head." Amy laughed, jerking her thumb in the direction of the professor. Tsubaki had to laugh, Professor Stein's reaction was a picture. By the time she had gotten a hold of herself, the rest of her friends had joined them at the desk. Black Star had taken front stage and pushed Amy to the side a bit so he could read the schedule, pointing to various points on the paper, and laughing at her reaction. Tsubaki looked at her friends, laughing to herself at their identical reactions. "Hey look, Tsubaki! This sheet has all us guys on it, grades and all that crap, what's funny is the pictures!" He had taken the sheet off Amy, turning it around to show us. Kid moved up closer to look, grimacing when it came to his.
"Oh lord, why did I let them keep that picture?" Kid moaned.
"Ah! You're the reapers son!" Amy exclaimed, grabbing the sheet off Black Star and sitting on it, "What picture? I see no pictures." She said, keeping her face as straight as possible, earning a laugh from them both.
"Yes, but no worries, I'm friends with Black Star. If I told my dad half of the things he got up to, he would have been kicked out years ago." Kid said, smiling warmly at the new girl, getting a smile in return. Tsubaki saw her body language relax slightly. She must have been really tense, she thought to herself.
"Right, you guys best go and have a quick break, if the paper is correct, then you have just me next," She grinned, "I'll be putting your through your paces, so rest up! I'll see you in 20!" Amy grabbed all the paper work and bounced off after a retreating Stein. Tsubaki and the others just stood there, unsure of what to expect in the next lesson. It was Soul, who had started to walk off, who broke them all out of their trance. Tsubaki shook her head, taking the hand Black Star had extended towards her.
"Don't worry, Tsubaki, I'll always be here to protect you. That's a promise." He said, smiling ever so sweetly at her.
"I know you will," she smiled back, knowing in her heart she would always protect him as well. With every last ounce of her strength.
