Chapter 7
Don't Fear The Reaper…
I awoke in the DWMA's infirmary. I was topless with a thick bandage wrapped around my waist. I looked to the side and saw Yomi asleep in a bedside chair next to me, a book clutched in her hand. The book's cover was a bird flying in front of a rainbow against a starry sky, it was very pretty. I glanced at the clock on the wall and saw it was 10:08pm. I shifted in my bed and sat up on my elbows…How long had she been sitting there? She was dressed in her school uniform, so she must have come straight after lessons ended. More importantly, how long had I been in here? I recall the events of what happened the other night, remembering Black*Star beheading the giant skeleton, me and Maka chasing Dead Master and Maka being launched off into the air… I rubbed my neck and it felt sore from when the chains had tightly constricted around me wind pipe.
"I hope Maka's okay…" I mutter to myself.
I lower myself back down and tried to go back to sleep, but I couldn't…Getting out of bed, I place a pillow underneath Yomis head and gently take the book from her, turning it over in my hands and examining it.
The Tiny Bird and The Colours?
Was this children's book? I wasn't sure. I placed it on the bedside table and made Yomi more comfortable, being careful not to disturb her.
I then went to the windowsill and opened the window a little so I could feel the breeze play across my fringe. Sitting on the sill, I looked back at Yomi and thought about how I felt…
Time lost itself in my thoughts as I closed my eyes and passed the time thinking.
Before I knew it, the moon had faded back into the night and the sun was giggling its way over the horizon, spreading its light and heat. Yomi shifted in her sleep, her rectangle shaped glasses becoming wonky as she turned over. I smiled to myself, she was cute… I got up and stroked her hair, mulling over my feelings for her. She was a girl. I was a grim reaper, sworn protector of this world. I liked her I had realized. I had a strange feeling in my chest whenever I saw her recently and what happened at her apartment was proof of this.
She stirred and her eyes slowly opened to see my smiling face down at her.
"Good morning Yomi." I said to her, letting go of her hair.
"Kid? Morning? What?" She said with confusion.
"It is only 6:43, you have a lot of time 'til school starts, don't worry." I tell her, moving away and sitting on the bed.
"Oh…good. Wait… did…did I fall asleep here?" She stretched and sat up, adjusting her glasses.
"I would have thought that answer was obvious myself." I chuckle.
"Oh dear. Urm… I have to go. It is good to see you have recovered well." She stood and collected up her things. Turning to bow and leave but I stopped her by gently grabbing her arm.
"Why are you leaving so soon?" I ask her with concern, was it because of the kiss? She wasn't looking at me anymore, her head was down, legs together, she looked vulnerable and I just wanted to protect her from whatever was bothering her.
"I shouldn't be here. I have things to do before school, please excuse me." She told her feet.
"But you were by my bedside, seeing if I was okay, that meant a lot. Thank you Yomi." I said to her.
"It was my fault you were injured in the first place." She mumbled a reply…
"I was on a mission, I have been injured before, how on earth could it have been your fault?" I was perplexed on why she was taking this so hard on herself.
"I…I can't tell you. But…I feel like I should…" She told me bluntly.
"If you have something to say, you should say it, but if you aren't ready, wait until you are, tell me whenever you feel that you can." I tell her.
"Okay…I feel that you will hate me for it when I do however…" Yomi sniffed, a single tear rolling down her pale face, dripping onto her dolly shoes.
The door to the room opened, a light clicked on and Naigus walked in, in a nurses uniform. Her bandaged body and face looking very out of place.
"Ah Kid! Your awake, that's great news, I'll go alert Lord Death after I perform a quick check up on you, that okay?" She would have been smiling I was sure, but the bandages cover her lower half of her face and I couldn't see.
"Goodbye Kid. See you in class." Yomi made her escape, and walked off without looking at me.
A tinge of hurt stabbed at my heart…What if she didn't feel the same way about me?
Naigus's checkups were quick like she promised, and I was soon released as being fully recovered. That's the advantage of having a god's body I suppose.
As I was doing up my shirt and suit jacket, I saw the medicine cabinet and sighed to myself. It was always so disgustingly messy and asymmetrical every time I came here.
After sorting every bottle and medicine box to be symmetrical on each of its shelf's, I left the infirmary and headed to class.
Walking along the corridor I saw a lot of the NOT students milling around as the infirmary was in that part of DWMA. I didn't know any of them personally, but I could tell which ones were new, as they had a telltale 'Hello my name is…' badge pinned onto their uniforms, even though uniform wasn't compulsory. A girl brushed past me with long blonde hair tied up in a pink ribbon on one side of her head, and her name tag read 'Kagari' She gave me a spiteful look for no apparent reason. Her negative aura sickening me.
Hm. Asymmetrical bitch.
I found out in class that Black*Star was the one who saved me from The Dead Master. He let me see no end in it.
"WAHOO! I finally suppressed God! I saved his ass!" He pranced around the room while Tsubaki tried to convince me he wasn't being rude on purpose.
"It's okay. I owe you my thanks Black*Star. If you hadn't showed up at the time you did, I may as well be dead now."
Maka and Soul were okay too as Soul had managed to catch Maka when she fell and both survived the fall thanks to the numerous trees.
Liz and Patti said they visited me while I was out, along with everyone else, even Mato came with Yomi a few times to visit.
"She was actually really worried about you Kid. At the end of the day she would always tell me where she was going and even spent most nights there with you when she could." Mato pondered a finger in her mouth as she scribbled on a bit of paper. "What's going on with you two?"
"Nothing. I can assure you. She won't even look at me for some reason…" I told her with obvious disappointment.
I looked over to the other side of the room where Yomi was having her test marked by Stein as he twisted the giant screw in his head.
I regarded Mato as one of my friends now and her the same for me. She had quickly gotten over her nervousness at DWMA and was fitting in nicely, she even had started hanging out with Tsubaki quite abit, as she also attended the same basketball club as herself.
She tapped the paper in which she was drawing on with her pencil.
"A sound soul, dwells within a sound body, and a sound mind…Is that correct?" She asked me.
"Yes. It is, well done." I replied, still watching Yomi. Mato followed my gaze.
"Why do you keep staring at her?...Wait…You don't….No way….." Realisation hit Mato hard.
"You like her!" She squealed with excitement.
"Keep it down. Yes. You got me I suppose." I hushed her.
"That is sooooo cute!" She squealed again, quietly.
Yomi had had her test handed back from Stein and was heading back over to Mato and me, I bet she got full marks too.
"How did you do Yomi?" Mato grinned as she snatched Yomis test paper and her eyes widened.
"Full marks! Again! How do you do it? You're so smart!" Mato exclaimed.
"Hahaha! Well done Yomi!" Maka said as she and Soul walked past, heading for lunch break, "I guess I'll have another contender to worry about in the next super written exam other than just Ox and Kid!" She gave the thumbs up and put her arm around Soul as the two walked out, Soul's sharktoothed grin was clearly visible.
"Hey, we're gunna get lunch at Masters café and then play some basketball afterwards, you guys in?" Black*Star strolled up to us, Tsubaki behind him.
"That sounds fun, but I think I'll sit the basketball match out if you don't mind." I tell them.
"You're on Black*Star! I'll beat you this time!" Mato jumped up with enthusiasm.
Challenging Black*Star was a bold move, as he goes all out in everything he does.
"Bring it Mato! I'll wipe the floor with you!"
Both teams only needed one more point to win, loser had to face a penalty, as was the custom of these matches. Mato, Tsubaki and Liz were one team while they faced Black*Star, Soul and Patti on a three on three match. Me, Yomi and Crona were sitting on the bench. Yomi was making a bracelet, I was reading and Crona was trying to stop Ragnarock from pulling out tufts of his feminine pink hair.
"I don't know how to deal with baldness, cut it out!" Crona was whining while Ragnarock just laughed and carried on.
"Your such a whiny little bitch Crona, you know that? Boys shouldn't have pink hair! Unless you're a girl? Yeah! You're a girl! That explains why your such a pussy!"He sneered. Ragnarock was truly a nasty piece of work.
I sighed and closed 'Loveless' with a snap. It was a beautiful poem, and made for some fancy quotes too.
"Even if the morrow is barren of promises. Nothing shall forestall my return." I recited out loud from memory.
"Loveless, act 3." Yomi replies without looking up from her bracelet work.
"You know it?" I sounded a little too surprised.
"Of course. I love poetry. I would love to visit Loveless Avenue in Midgar someday…" She carries on.
"Well maybe I could find some excuse to take you? I always wanted to watch the play with someone." I tell her, which causes her to stop and look up at me.
"Why would you do this for me?" Yomi questions me.
Why would I? I think to myself.
'Because you like her!' One part of my brain tells me. True.
"Because…I want to?" I garble out as my cheeks flush pink.
"I see." She nodded and returned to her work.
Crap. I think.
"Match point losers!" Mato cheers loudly, jumping up and down and high fiving Tsubaki and Liz.
"You only won because I allowed you too!" Black*Star tried to recover some of his sporting pride and failed miserably. He hated defeat even more than he hated Mifune calling him a kid every time they saw each other.
"Shut your face. We beat you fair and square and you know it." Liz tells him with a grin. "Now I get to make up your punishment!"
"It's nice to see Black*Star lose for a change" Crona winced as Ragnarok continued to pull his pink hair.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN YOU SHRIMP!?" Black*Star shouted in Cronas face, his mouth twice the size of his head.
"No-no-nothing! Nothing at all! Please don't come any closer! I don't know how to deal with other peoples saliva!" Crona whimpered and pulled up his clothes to cover his face, Ragnarock laughed cruelly.
Suddenly Yomis phone rang in her blazer pocket and she flipped it out, answering it with a shy
"Hello?"
I stopped reading again and looked up from 'Loveless' to watch Yomi.
Her facial expressions dropped and she became instantly sad for some reason as words were exchanged over the phone, she stood calmly, placing her new bracelet on Cronas shaking wrist. It suited him very well, coupling some pale pink threads with black rubber and a charm that depicted Ragnarocks face, chibi style.
"Wow…This-this is for me Yomi?" Crona asked nervously.
"Yes. Of course. I do hope you like it?" Yomi smiled.
"I do! It's very nice! Thank you! Thank you so much." Cronas eyes started to shimmer with tears of happiness. He still hadn't gotten used to being nice towards him after Medusa was killed.
"Your welcome." Yomi bowed and turned back towards everyone, "Thank you all for a lovely afternoon, however I must leave now, sorry."
"I'll walk you back home." I found myself standing up and standing beside her. That earned myself a wink from Mato and suspicious looking stares from everyone else.
"What? It is getting dark?" I tried to make up for it but I think everyone saw through it pretty easily.
Yomi waved and walked off, me close behind after saying goodbye to everyone.
"Please go home Kid." Yomi told me sternly without looking at me.
"Why?" I ask her. "You might need protection. A school girl should never walk home alone at this time."
"It is only 5'o'clock." She replied curtly.
"This is Death City. There are always exceptions." I reply, smirking.
"Hm." Yomi simply said.
We walked along the streets as the sun dipped behind the horizon and the laughing moon slowly made its appearance. No blood was dripping out of its mouth tonight, which was always a good sign. We walked all the way up to Yomis front door and before Yomi could get her keys the door opened to reveal the blonde headed girl that I saw earlier in the academy.
"Good evening Yomi. Oh? Whose this you've brought with you? Someone to play?" She said in a monotone voice, her facial features giving nothing away.
"Please go back inside Kagari." Yomi said without authority.
"Only if you come too and leave him all alone outside." She replied without emotion.
I was staring to really despise this asymmetrical girl. How dare she criticize beautiful, symmetrical Yomi?
"Go away. Go. Away." Kagari turned to me and stared deep into my eyes.
"Don't be so rude Kagari! I am sorry Kid." Yomi said nervously. This girl was having a huge affect on how Yomis confidence levels.
"It's okay, I'll leave now, don't worry. It was nice to meet you Kagari." I attempted pleasantries to no avail.
"Leave Yomi alone, she is mine." Kagari pulled Yomi into the doorway and shut the door rudely in my face.
I sighed and started to head back to Gallows Manor on my skateboard.
