I lay there on the ground, bloody and ragged. Hiiro was unresponsive. For the last few minutes of the fight, I'd been trying to talk to her. It appeared like she had died inside weapon form, and left me with just a simple scythe. But I knew that she couldn't die in weapon form, and stay a weapon. But if she were in human form, she'd definitely be dead. I had used her many times to block, and if she were a regular, normal weapon, she'd be cut in half, and useless. But she wasn't. She was in one piece, and more than useful.

My breath was heavy and shallow, trying to get air into my lungs. Like Hiiro told me, I let Bania knock me down. When she did, Hiiro flew from my grip, and was several feet away. I inched myself towards her on my belly, and gripped her staff. I turned on my back and gasped for breath. Bania's feet appeared next to me. She stood there for a second, and then she kicked my gut. I moaned in pain and coughed.

The kishin loomed over me. I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment. When I opened them, Bania was standing over me, her claws ready for the final blow. As she swiped at me, I did the same to her. I barely saw Hiiro's bottom blade slash through Bania's torso. She screamed, her back arched and blood spewing from her body. Then, Hiiro glowed and was in human form again. She stood next to me as I lay still, watching Bania become black bandages that swirled around each other. The bandages fell to the stones of the street, and a ruby sphere floated above them as they vanished.

Hiiro walked over to the kishin egg and grabbed it. She seemed… forceful. So I stayed on the ground, propped up on my elbows, and watched her close her eyes and push the egg down into her mouth. She chewed for a moment, then swallowed. Her eyes flew open, and a smirk stuck itself across her lips. Hiiro finally noticed me again, and walked back to me. She extended her hand and smiled sweetly. I smiled back, and she pulled me to my feet.

"Good job, Cody." Hiiro told me.

"Yeah, you too." I replied.

The wind blew quickly. Hiiro realized our surroundings: darkness. Her smile melted into a frown, and the happiness that shone in her eyes disappeared. I grabbed her wrist and dragged her. She barely moved, so I hoisted her onto my back. Hiiro was silent the rest of the way. The only sign of her existence was her weight on my back and her breath on the back of my neck

At the Apartments

Hiiro crashed on the couch, and I sat down at the table. A sigh escaped my mouth as I buried my fingers in my hair. There was a sound like a chair scraping against the floor. I looked up. It was Soul.

"Hey." I said softly.

"Hey. You alright?"

"Ah. Yeah. I'm fine. Hiiro's okay too."

"Right, good."

There was an awkward silence. Then he said, "So… What happened?"

"We sorta had a run-in with a kishin. And it had gotten dark out. Well… Hiiro has nyctophobia, so… yeah."

He nodded silently. "Yeah… How'd it go?"

"It was rough. We weren't really prepared. But, obviously, we won."

"I can tell it was rough. Here," he tossed me a box, "for your cut."

It was a box of Band-Aids. I smiled, and retrieved one from the box. I stuck it to my face to cover the cut on my cheek.

"Thanks, Soul."

"No problem, Cody."

A Little Later

Hiiro's POV

My eyes fluttered open, and it took a moment for them to adjust to the dim lighting. I was on the couch, lying on my side. The sun wasn't completely up yet, suggesting it was dawn. My legs wobbled for a second when I stood, but soon regained their balance. I went back to mine and Cody's room, and grabbed my pajamas. Making sure he was asleep, I got undressed and wrapped a towel around myself and hugged my PJs to my chest. I ran mutely through the apartment to Maka's bathroom, and started the shower. The cool water trickled down my back and drenched my hair. It felt nice, after my sweat-soaked sleep.

I'm not sure how long I was in the shower. After I'd washed myself up, I just stood there in the water. But my belly was empty, and I got out. I dried myself off and got dressed in my pajamas. Walking out of the bathroom, I tied my hair into a messy bun. The sun was finally up, and it stared at me through the window. It was just another reminder that I was truly in Death City.

Nobody else was awake yet, so I fixed myself some toast and orange juice. I sat at the table alone, ate my breakfast. It was a small breakfast, but I was still exhausted from the battle with the kishin Bania. So I figured Maka might make me something whenever she decided to get up.

"Morning, Hiiro." a voice said sleepily.

"Oh, morning, Maka." I replied.

"You're up awfully early."

"Well, so are you."

She laughed a little. "Yeah, I guess. Are you hungry?"

I smiled. "Yes, a little."

"Kay, I'll make us some food."

"Thanks."

Maka grabbed a pan and set it on the stove. She then retrieved pancake batter from one of the cabinets, and poured it into the pan. They fried for several minutes, and then she flipped them.

"So… where were you and Cody last night?" she asked, one hand on her hip, the other holding the spatula.

"He didn't tell you?" I replied. She shook her head. "On the way back from training, we ran into a kishin."

"Everything go alright?"

"I guess. A couple scrapes and bruises, but we're good."

"Good." She flipped the pancakes again. "Anything interesting happen?"

"Not really. I mean the fight itself was, but nothing other than that."

Maka nodded, turned off the burner, and flipped two pancakes on a plate for me. She flipped two more for herself.

"If the boys want food, they can make themselves." she told me.

I smiled, and poured syrup onto my breakfast. Maka sat across from me and repeated the process. We ate, and finished just as Cody came out. He smiled a good morning, and came up behind me.

"I'm glad you're not beat up too badly." Cody told me, wrapped an arm around my shoulders and gave me a squeeze.

I smiled and patted his arm. "Thanks. Same goes to you, bro."

He turned his attention to Maka. I looked at her too. She had wary smiled on her face, and faraway look in her eyes. I cocked my head to the side.

"You alright Maka?" I asked.

She shook her head in order to get her attention back to us. "Yeah. Just… just remembering when Soul and I were like that."

"What changed?" Cody asked.

"We realized we'd always be alright at the end of a battle, and stopped worrying about each other so much."

I beamed at her. "Awesome." I whispered.

"Hey, wait a minute." Cody said. We looked at him. "Where are my pancakes?"

I laughed and Maka smirked. "Make your own. These were specially made for me and Hiiro."

"Whatever!" he said in a pretending-to-be-mad voice. Then he got himself a bowl of cereal, and sat down between me and Maka.

"Maka, I want breakfast." Soul's voice came.

"That's nice, Soul." she retorted.

"You wanna make me some?"

"Nope."

He growled. "Fine then, be that way." Soul angrily retrieved a plate, and made himself some scrambled eggs with cheese. He sat down at the table across from Cody and shoved forkfuls into his mouth. I reached over, and plucked a few pieces from the pile, then dropped them into my mouth.

"Hey, get your own!" Soul told me.

"Already did. But I wanted some of yours." I replied with a giggle.

He grumbled something, then continued to eat his eggs. Obviously, Soul wasn't a morning person.

A/N…

Ending was a bit boring, but I didn't know else to end it! Other than that, how'd ya guys like it? Lemme know in the box below! (Hey, that rhymed!)

Love with bunnies,

~Winter Rose