1,567 words. Has anyone noticed that the cover of this story is of Karma? I can't believe I haven't said anything about it sooner. It is my own drawing of her, so I hope people enjoy that! A little bit of fluff in this chapter. All characters belong to their respective owners.
"Why didn't you tell me about Dad?" Michael demanded as soon as he saw Karma enter the apartment.
"You lucked out and live here all by yourself? No shitty roommates? Guess no need since your shitty partner lives at home," she said to Tatsuya casually, ignoring her brother.
"I asked you a question! Why didn't you tell me?"
"Would you have believed me?" Karma shouted back. The meister stared down at his feet. "That's what I thought. I wanted to tell you so many times. You pissed me off every single time you praised him! You were so stupid to believe Mom's stories! But... you were only a kid... You couldn't remember what happened... the way Mom looked when she came back after Stein patched me up... I just... can't forgive someone who would hurt Mama like that..."
"I... I'm sorry..." Michael whispered in defeat.
"You should be..."
Tatsuya placed a hand on her back gently. "C'mon, let's sit down," he insisted, guiding her to the couch. Reluctantly, the scythe took a seat next to Tatsuya. "Karma told me about your dad. I'm sure neither of you are too thrilled about the prospect of going home...?"
"Hell no," Karma answered immediately. "I'm not going back there until he's gone." She looked over to her brother. "Well? What about you? They lied to you. You gonna go back after that?"
Michael stared into his lap silently. "... no... I guess not... at least not yet..." he whispered, a bit shocked by his own words. "I'm not entirely sure if I can forgive them just yet..." He glared at Karma. "Not entirely sure if I can forgive you just yet either..."
"Not yet, huh? Not going back yet? As in you will eventually?" the scythe asked, once again ignoring her brother's words. "Even if he's there?"
"Well, yeah. I'm pissed for now, but I won't be forever." Michael got up and walked to the grocery bags left forgotten on the floor to grab a soda. "I'm not like you, Sis. No matter how pissed I am, I can't hold a grudge forever. Besides, they said something before I left..."
Karma tried to seem uninterested as Tatsuya leaned in for his meister's story. "If it's something he said, I'm not listening," the girl grumbled, looking away from her brother.
"They said I didn't know the whole story," Michael continued, now the one ignoring a sibling. "I might be willing to hear them out, you know? They are our parents. They only want what's best, right? There must be a reason Mom lied all this time and why Dad has been away all these years. Again, I'm pissed. They shouldn't have lied, but what if it was for good reason? What if you don't know the whole story, Sis?"
Karma slammed her hands on the coffee table and stood up suddenly, glaring at him. "I know enough to know anything they say will all be lies! That's all he's good at, lying! I refuse to listen to or believe in anything he says!"
Michael set aside his soda and slammed his hands on the table as well. "Will you ever quit being such a bitter bitch?! Just move on already! People screw up! You're no saint yourself! Mom's happy with him! She wants him back in our lives! If you want her to be happy, then let him back in! What is the point of holding onto this grudge?!"
"You don't remember! You don't understand! He deserves to hurt like Mama did, like I did!"
Tatsuya stood up and pushed the two away from each other. "Get it together, you two. Shouting at each other isn't going to solve anything."
"And neither will revenge for that matter!" Michael barked at his sister.
"If I have to stop being a bitter bitch then you have to stop being such a goody-two-shoes, cliché-spouting, textbook nerd!" she shouted back. "I knew you'd tell me something like that! But nothing you or anyone else says will change my mind! I WILL become a Death Scythe and I WILL defeat him!"
"You're crazy! What good will that do?! Tatsuya, talk some sense into her!"
Tatsuya remained quiet for a while, not sure whether or not he should tell his meister the reason he enrolled at Shibusen. "Let's just say... I can relate..."
"You're all crazy! Forget this, I'm going home," the meister stated, picking up his soda dramatically. "I'm going to apologize for being a horrible son by talking back to my parents and running away from them, I'm going to forgive my father for being away for so long, I'm going to hear the whole story and believe it, AND I'm not telling any of you crazy people, so don't even ask!" He stormed out of the apartment leaving the two speechless.
"What a dumb ass..." Karma sighed, falling into her seat on the couch. Tatsuya followed her lead. "Why won't he ever just listen to his big sister...?"
"He's tired of being in your shadow."
"What is that supposed to mean?" she asked, glaring at him out of the corner of her eye.
He leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. "Well, you're the oldest, so important things happen to you first. You get that kind of attention first. You're a gifted weapon, and, in his eyes, being a weapon is far cooler than being a meister. You've got this "don't give a damn" attitude about you that he wishes he could have. He's spent a lot of time wishing he was you, now he wants to be him for once."
The scythe stared up at the ceiling. "Am I really that much of a bitch...?"
"Sometimes."
She closed her eyes. That stung. The one person she wished wouldn't think of her as a psycho bitch... "Sorry..." was all she could say.
"It's cool. I understand." He stood up and went to pick up the groceries that had been abandoned on the floor. "Damn, the ice cream melted... Hey, you staying here tonight?"
Karma's face instantly flushed a deep red. Stay in Tatsuya's apartment with him? And no one else? All alone? "S-Sure. I mean, if it's okay that I do," she stuttered. She mentally kicked herself for being so uncool. He was being friendly and offering her a place to stay, nothing more, and she was being a blundering idiot.
"Of course. What are friends for?" he shouted over his shoulder as he put away the groceries. "You can have my bed since it has sheets on it. The school supplies the apartment with furniture and the apartment was supposed to be for two, so I've got another bed. No worries." He came back from the kitchen with a bag of chips. "Hungry?"
Sheepishly, she nodded her head. He sat next to her and held out the bag to her. She timidly reached for a handful of chips, again mentally kicking herself for being so awkward. "I can sleep on the other bed, it's fine," she said with her mouth full of chips.
"Nonsense. You're my guest, you take the made bed. It's no problem." He gave her a warm, sincere smile before chomping down on another chip.
Her heart melted at the sight of his smile. What she wouldn't give to see that smile every morning... She shook her head violently. Feelings were almost too gooey and warm for her to handle. She tried to tell herself that she was too cold and scary for such touchy-feely thoughts. Coming back from her thoughts, she saw Tatsuya giving her an odd look, no doubt due to her shaking her head for no reason like a mad woman. "Fighting off drowsiness," she offered as an excuse.
"Go on to bed if you're tired. No need to stay up for my sake," he responded, jerking his head in the direction of his bedroom.
A fake yawn escaped her mouth in an attempt to keep up the tired act and get away from him. She did not need to make a bigger fool of herself. With an awkward wave goodnight, the scythe made her way down the hall to Tatsuya's room.
His room was rather plain. Only a few objects from his home in Japan sat on his desk and a wall scroll hung on the wall above his bed, an image of cherry blossoms falling from a tree painted on it. Gingerly, she took a seat on the bed. It called to her, saying "Shhhh, sleep". But she was not tired. It had all been an act. But the pillows looked so comfortable... She lay her head down gently on the pillows and took in Tatsuya's scent. One more thing she would give anything to have every morning... A blush painted her face, and she buried her head in the pillow, clutching it to her chest. She was just a silly girl like all the others. As much as she wished she was a bad ass, she was just a love-sick girl who giggled like a child and melted with so much as a look from her crush. She breathed in his scent once more and fell asleep to thoughts that maybe it was okay to not always be a bad ass.