Quick Authors Note: This will be the last of the short chapters, the chapters coming up will be 3,000-4,000 words long.
Recommended Listening Music:
M83 - Midnight City
Blue Stahli - Rapid Fire
CHAPTER 11
Jaxx T. Redwood
1
(She's holding your cheeks hold her's back)
(No, that'll ruin the moment hold her body)
(She's wearing her cute little sweater vest I'll go nuts if I touch it)
Siegfried was wracking his brain, thinking of something to do as he felt Maka's soft lips against his. His nervousness was off the charts; every time their arms touched, every time they hugged, when they held hands... nothing could compare to the utter breakdown that he was having on the inside. The claustrophobia inside the dusty little storage closet just made things worse. Stop being nervous. Just calm yourself. Take a deep breath if you have-
Maka moaned and nibbled Siegfried's lip. Die in here. I'm going to die in here. Siegfried opened his eyes and saw Maka looking back at him, her beautiful green eyes staring, her teeth still on his lip. That's right, friends and neighbors, say goodbye to your good pal Sigfried. For a second he did die as she pulled her head back,
(Slip inside the eye of your mind)
but was lost somewhere distant,
(Don't you know you might find)
somewhere unimportant.
(A better place to play.)
He imagined a place where the sky was green
(Big and beautiful)
and the fields were yellow,
(Pigtails nodding in the wind)
and she was there, playing him like a cello, her fingers delicately pulling his heart-strings, playing a song of love. His hands moved on his own, his thumbs on her cheeks, his fingers in her hair, and he kissed her. Just do it. Siegfried slowly moved his hands to her pigtails and untied them, digging his hands into her blond hair as it spilled down the back of her neck. His fingers tingled, littering his skin with gooseflesh. Siegfried found himself sweating as the kiss finally finished and said:
"Maka... I love you so much..."
She smiled back at him. "I love you, too." Siegfried found tears beginning to form in his eyes and wiped them furiously with his arm. "What are you crying for, you big hypocrite?"
"I'm not crying, I've 'just got something in my eye.'"
"Do you want to get Maka Chopped?"
"I want to kiss you again."
"Then do it," she said, standing on her tip-toes again. She groaned. "Ugh, this is killing me. Your height is making this difficult."
"What do you propose we do about it?" Maka jumped on him suddenly, her legs wrapped around his waist, her arms around his neck. Her face was a bright red. "M-Maka-"
"I don't approve of this at all," she stammered, "so don't expect this to last too long, okay?"
Siegfried sighed, his voice shaky. "F-fine."
What Maka said and did next couldn't be dismissed to the farthest corners of Siegfried's mind for the rest of that day, no matter how hard he tried to push it away. Maka brought her body against Siegfried's and whispered in his ear. "Be gentle, alright?"
2
Jaxx walked inside the empty bicycle shop, the familiar sound of the bell hooked on the door ringing in his ears. Tommy greeted him at the counter with a wave.
"Hey bro," Jaxx said. "Slow day?"
"Yeah. The place has been empty for the past three hours. Shouldn't you be at the Academy right now?"
"I've got some remedial lessons to take care of."
"And you're here because...?"
"I'm here because I'm tired of walking everywhere."
"Dad still isn't letting you use a bicycle unless you buy one?"
"Pretty much. Clay's been a real asshole lately."
Tommy sighed. "Yeah, I know what you mean."
A long pause. It was common for the Redwood brothers to have moments of awkward silence. Their father, who was a mechanic and a Meister, died shortly after the boys were born thanks to a heart defect. Tommy, who thought it would be disrespectful to take advantage of what his father never cared for (at least his according to his mother), distanced himself from any sort of Meister training and became a mechanic in his father's footsteps. The boy's early years were painful and full of heartache as they watched their mother go through several failed marriages, each with her husband leaving them with the latest catastrophe he had created (gambling debts, food shortage, etc.). Clay was lucky number 7 for the Redwood family; he was able to dig them up from the hole that the past five men buried them in. Despite all of this, he treated the boys with great disrespect and constantly beat them over the littlest things.
Jaxx was accepted into the DWMA despite Clay's harsh disapproval. Looking back at the first time he met him, Jaxx figured that Siegfried was a lonely soul who did not strive for the attention of his peers; almost as if he had no experience with anyone from the outside world. Jaxx had found Siegfried, alone, reading in the Academy library.
"Sup," he said, pulling out a chair sitting next to him.
Siegfried looked up from his book. "Hey. You my new partner?"
"You know it. You lonely?"
"Nah." He turned his chair towards Jaxx with his hand held out. "Siegfried."
Jaxx smiled, already sensing a bond with this boy. He shook his head and offered a fist. "Jaxx."
Siegfried pounded it, grinning.
The two boys got along well; Siegfried would tell stories about his past, which Jaxx was wholly interested in. Jaxx would tell Siegfried about being in the outside world and the many rules that go along with it, to which Siegfried would scoff and tell him that he was an idiot. To put things in simple terms, they both felt sorry for each other. It made perfect sense, one being in a broken home while the other was homeschooled. The pity turned into respect, the respect turning into friendship. Jaxx still remembered walking with Siegfried up the stairs to their first day of classes (oh so close to Siegfried seeing his first love) when Siegfried collapsed, blood flying out of his mouth and onto the floor. He was rushed to the infirmary and Jaxx was told to take classes without him. Now, on his remedial lessons, Jaxx missed Siegfried greatly. Ironically, he wanted Siegfried to be on this trip with him and annoy him with stories of the date that he was on with Maka.
He sighed and walked past his brother and into the back room of the shop.
3
Siegfried awoke from his nightmare, his sweat sticking his shirt to his chest. He stood up and ran to the bathroom as fast as he could, the residue of the nightmare still fleeting from his consciousness. He knelt in front of the toilet and sighed, relieved that it had only been a false alarm-
(Siggy Figgy Wiggy)
His eyes bulged and he vomited, his lunch coming out in a single concentration. He wiped fresh tears from his eyes. Jaxx is gonna kill me when he gets back... Siegfried thanked his lucky stars that Jaxx was doing remedial lessons for a week. He asked Stein why Lord Death would send Jaxx on such a strange mission without his Demon Weapon, but even he was puzzled. Siegfried flushed the toilet, washed his hands and plopped back on the couch. He was extremely grateful towards Jaxx for giving him the apartment for the week that he was gone and even more grateful to Stein for allowing him to stay there and-
(Let's get naughty...)
Siegfried cried out in pain and clenched his stomach. "Son of a bitch!" He shut his eyes, relishing the darkness. He took a deep breath and got up, walked towards the windows and smiled at the sunset. Maka said she'd come and read with me after she picked up some books back at her apartment... try to think about that... He did, but it didn't help. After all, she was the nightmare.
Siegfried greeted Maka at the door minutes later, books in her arms. He apparently still had a grave look on his face thanks to the nightmare and Maka asked him what was wrong.
"Oh, it's nothing. Just a bit sick, as all."
"Okay. You still want to read?"
"Of course." He leaned in for a kiss and Maka looked away. "Hm? What's wrong?"
"It's nothing, I... I just don't think we should..."
"Uh oh. Don't tell me-"
"I just think that what we did in the closet was a bit unnecessary."
"What? But the kiss, it was-"
"I know, I loved it too, but I think we should take things slow. Remember the date on Saturday?"
"Yeah..." Siegfried poised his hands to go into his pockets. "You wanted to take things slow, that's why all you did was hold my-" Maka broke his sentence by holding his hands in hers, making him blush.
"Siegfried... I love you. You know that, don't you?"
"...I do."
"And you know that I trust you. That's why I held your hands. I just want to make the kissing a bit... you know..."
"Uncommon?"
"Yeah... I'm sorry, Siegfried..."
Siegfried shook it off and smiled. "It's fine. I can still kiss you sometimes, right?"
Maka narrowed her eyes, a frown on her face. "Don't badger me about this please."
"Right, right."
4
Jaxx poked his head in the back room fifteen minutes later.
"Is it ready yet?"
"It's been fifteen minutes," Tommy replied angrily. "Motorcycles take longer to make than that."
"I thought you were a professional."
"I'm not a professional, I'm a mechanic with a hand that can turn into a blowtorch. Those are two different people, bro."
"Just hurry up. These lessons are going to be a hell of a lot easier with a ride."
"Thank God mom's a Demon Weapon, otherwise this would take ten times longer."
"No kidding."
"Hey, speaking of which, how's your partner going? Samuel, right?"
"Siegfried. And he's doing fine, dude just got a girlfriend. Too bad he chose the one at the top of her class."
"A nerd, huh?" He scoffed. "Sucks to be him."
"Not really. Dude's head-over-heels for her. He's probably making out with her right now in my apartment."
"Tell me more."
"Just get back to work."
"Alright, alright. But seriously, what's with the lessons? Shouldn't you be going with your Demon Weapon?"
"Normally yes, but I'm doing some research for Lord Death."
"What kind of research?"
"I need to head into Italy for it. Something about a Cursed Sword? I don't know."
"Just keep your guard up. I heard that place is pretty freaky at night."
"How freaky?"
Tommy remembered the secret that he had kept from his brother for years. He remembered walking alone in Italy at night after doing a few rounds of pool when he ran into... some skinny kid with pink hair and a black sword? He couldn't remember whether or not he could feel the kid's soul, but it definitely felt something sinister come off of him. Did he have some sort of Demon? Tommy just shook his head.
"Just... just be careful, alright?"
"...Yeah, gotcha."
As Jaxx walked out of the room, Tommy shuddered. He had never been more terrified for his brother in his life.