So. Figured out a system. After the End first, because I have that all planned out. Then this, then Lila and the Crow. Please review!

Inej

She got ready for school, thinking about what Kaz had said. I'm glad you're here. He had said it by accident, she was positive. The look of confusion and almost fear on his face after had proved it. She thought of his hand, the way the scars made pale lines on already pale skin. They had been close to holding hands. Until Kaz had pulled away, looking terrified. What had happened to him?

She slid down the bannister of the Slat, meeting the others outside the door. They all exchanged dark looks. This day was not going to be fun. Jesper and Nina got on the bus. Kaz turned away, started walking down the street. Inej followed, catching up. He looked mildly surprised to see her there."Still not giving up?"

"No. I don't give up." I won't give up on trying to help you. Even though her calves hurt from walking with him yesterday. She wondered how he had managed for six years with a bad leg. Why would he do this?

"Why would you do this when you could just take the bus?" Kaz asked.

She frowned. "Are you saying you can't?"

She knew instantly that she'd made a mistake. Kaz's shoulders hunched, his expression closed off. "I didn't say that." He said flatly. They kept walking, Kaz refusing to look at or talk to her.

"Kaz." He didn't even glance in her direction. "Kaz, come on." Didn't even blink. Just kept walking. "Kaz, will you please just tell me what I did?" She snapped. "I can help." She said in a softer tone.

"You can help by leaving it be." Kaz snapped back.

"I do leave you be. And you only get worse." She realized she was yelling. "Everyone leaves you alone. And you get colder, more distant. It's not helping."

"I know it's not." He yelled back. "But having people close to me would be worse!"

Inej stopped, trying to sort through that. "What do you mean?" Kaz shook his head and walked faster. She easily kept pace. "Kaz-"

"No."

"What?"

"Just shut up and leave me alone."

"You did not just say that."

"You're damn right I did."

Inej felt like she was going to cry, but she refused to. Not in front of him. She attempted to order her thoughts. She looked at Kaz's face, at how he was trying to look like he didn't care. But she could see he was scared. "You're afraid of showing weakness. I don't know why, but I understand. Do you trust me?" He glanced at her warily. "I promise that I will never tell anyone. Okay? Do you trust me?"

"Yes." He whispered. "I trust you."

She cautiously brushed her fingers against his gloved hand. He breathed deeply, and took it. Why am I doing this? Because she knew that he needed help? Or because against all common sense, she had begun to feel something for him? Let him go. Leave him alone. And he would steadily get worse, as he had been doing for the past six years. Every day since she had first met him, he had gotten a little colder, a little harder to reach. "This doesn't mean anything." He said quietly.

"Of course not." Oh, how she wished that were true. Inej closed her eyes, and immediately opened them. What had happened to Matthias was haunting her every time her eyes closed. Kaz abruptly let go, and she saw him shaking slightly. They walked to school, in silence.

Kaz

Holding hands. Didn't mean anything. Right? He sat in math class, paying absolutely no attention to the teacher. He didn't know what had happened. It doesn't mean anything. It can't mean anything. Please don't let it mean anything. he had lost the battle to the little voice that said trust her. He had let his guard down. He had to put it back up. He wasn't capable of having a relationship, wasn't capable of giving her what she deserved. He clung to her words. Of course not. Had she meant it? He looked to where she was seated near the front of the room, head bowed, scribbling in her notebook. He sighed.

With no little effort, he turned his mind to puzzling out what Rollins and Aerts had been talking about. A drug deal. And they were forcing someone to reproduce their fathers work. His father was Bo Yul-Bayur. So how to collect evidence? He became aware of someone calling his name. "Kaz. Mr. Brekker, would you do us the honour of gracing us with your presence?" Kaz looked up. Mrs. Tenesen, the math teacher from hell, as students called her, was looming over his desk. "Maybe you should give the problem on the board a try." Everyone was staring. When he met their eyes, they glanced away. He looked at the question disinterestedly.

"X equals 4. And there's a much easier way to do it than you've been showing us."

Mrs. Tenesen's face turned a peculiar shade of pinkish red. "Oh? Do show."

Kaz sighed and limped to the front of the class, picking up a piece of chalk. He quickly jotted down his way, and a wave of muttering spread through the classroom, along with a good deal of comments aimed towards the teacher.

"Burn!" Someone shouted.

He turned and offered the chalk to Mrs. Tenesen with a small bow. Her face was now bright red, and she was huffing and puffing. "May I sit, madam?" He said, sarcasm dripping off every syllable.

"Go." She hissed.

Kaz limped back to his desk, internally wincing at the pain in his leg. He subversively took out the bottle of children's Advil and took two. He looked around the classroom. The news of Matthias's murder hadn't been publicly announced, and the scene earlier had looked the same as it did every day, kids falling asleep over books, dreaming about the weekend.

Now, kids were laughing quietly and whispering as Mrs. Tenesen attempted to restore order. The rest of the day passed in a haze. Eventually, he found himself walking back to the Slat, Inej at his side. "Why do you insist on making a fool of everyone in authority?"

"Because they usually are fools."

Inej sighed. "What are you planning?"

"We start tonight. We should poke around that apartment building we saw them in." Inej nodded.

They reached home, climbing the stairs, and going to their separate rooms.

Kind of based this off of what my class can be like. :)