A/N: In this chapter, we take some of the focus off of Rei and Ayame and move to some of the other side characters for a minute, but for those of you wondering a little about Rei and his personality, I'd like to point your attention to a song that I really think describes both Rei's character and his character arc perfectly: Hello World by Bump of Chicken, the opening to Kekkai Sensen and the song I would pick if I could choose a (second season) OP for this story, haha. (fansoop dot com has an English Subbed PV of this song).
Enjoy the chapter!
Review Responses:
cherrishish, yes, they were, good catch! The twins are great.
Diana Raven, I thought about including it, but I didn't want the chapter to get too busy. Glad you liked the text conversation and hope you enjoy this one!
Arcane Student, the Will of the Nakatsukasa, I believe. And yes, he will definitely be back. Keep your eyes peeled, he's not going to let Rei power up without a fight. Thanks for the review!
fanficlove2014, thanks so much! I'm glad you liked it. These three chapters are meant to be kind of a breather between the seriousness, so I'm glad that that came across well. Enjoy this chapter!
karma88, Black Star might, or then again he might not. He is a little unconventional as a parent, lol. But Ayame respects him a lot regardless. Thanks for the review and enjoy the chapter!
pokelover01, you can ship them however way you want. I don't know about Morgan and Vayne, but I'll tell you that they're both loosely based off of Edgar Allan Poe stories (The Raven and the Pit and the Pendulum respectively) and—oh, hey, I wonder what the title of this chapter is? Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter, and thanks for the review!
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
The Raven and the Pendulum; Nevermore?
"Well, we're expecting an attack from an evil super witch any day now, the school is still slightly tilted and we can't go anywhere without being watched by DWMA security, but hey, at least we've got homework, right?" asked Vayne, flopping down onto his back with a long-suffering sigh and drawing his textbook up close to his face.
Rei grunted in response, hunching over the notebook that was propped onto his knee and scribbling down his answer. He was seated cross-legged beneath one of the trees in the training forest, books and notes scattered around him.
"If the school didn't close for the Kishin, I don't think it's likely to close now," said Clark, reaching over to flip the page of the book he was using as reference. "Sadly, the show must go on."
"Yeah, sure," said Vayne, lifting his book so that he could look at Clark from under it and smirking. "Iinchou."
"Again with the nicknames!" said Clark, slamming his hands onto his knees.
"Ugh—I don't get it at all!" Ayame said, throwing up her notebook in frustration. "Rei, why is Maka-sensei doing this to us?"
"How should I know?" Rei asked, frowning at Ayame in irritation.
"I don't know. She's your mother."
"That doesn't mean I know what she's thinking!" Rei said. "Anyway, it's not that hard. If you listened to her lecture today—."
"Yeah, yeah," said Ayame. "Let me copy your homework!"
"What—no!" Rei leaned back as Ayame lunged at him, holding his assignment at arm's reach with both hands and attempting to force her back with a knee. "I'll help you with your homework, but I'm not gonna—Ayame!"
"Oh, fine," said Ayame, pouting as she backed off. "You're no fun. Morgan?"
"Not likely," said Morgan, scribbling down another line from where she sat in the shade.
Cassie looked over from her own work at her partner, her eyes widening as she glanced down at Morgan's sheet. "Whoa," she said, slipping off her headphones. "You're already on question 12? And Rei's still on…" She paused to look over at Rei's paper. "7!"
Rei's eyes widened, and he hunched forward, renewing his pace with a vengeance. Morgan smiled, her lip quirking up for half a second as she continued on with her steady, constant pace.
"Nerds," Vayne teased, drawing out the word as he held his book over his head.
"You have comic books under your bed," said Clark, looking up from his writing to glance at his partner.
"Yeah, but you know," said Vayne. "Mostly Batman."
"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Rei, frowning as he looked up.
Vayne shrugged, flipping a page. "Batman's cool."
"Batman is pretty cool, Rei," Ayame pointed out.
Rei rolled his eyes in response, continuing to write at a breakneck speed. He blitzed through questions 8 and 9, simple essay questions about the nature of resonance, and glanced over at Morgan. She was still writing in that same steady pace, which meant she couldn't have gotten much farther along. She had to be on question 13 at the most. With twenty questions on the assignment sheet, he could still catch up to her. His eyes skimmed over question 10 and widened triumphantly when he realized that it was a question he could answer. He felt a grin come to his face in spite of himself as he raised his pen, about to set it to paper.
Something soft and warm crashed into him from behind, upsetting his momentum and nearly throwing him forward. Rei let out an 'oof' as the wind was knocked out of him, feeling arms wrap around him from above. A weight landed on his head, straining his neck as he tried to look up.
"Reiiii-chan," cooed a feminine voice. "Blair hasn't seen you in forever!"
"Argh—Blair—getoff—," Rei grumbled, swinging an arm up in an attempt to push her off of him as he tried to sit back up. That only managed to twist him around in her grasp, forcing his face into her chest and making it so it was very difficult to breathe. Rei scowled in irritation, trying to gain some distance, but her grip was like iron as she hugged him tight for a few seconds before finally letting him pull away.
He gasped for breath as her hands settled on his shoulders, and looked over to see Clark and Vayne watching him intently. Vayne had half-risen from where he was lying on the ground, his mouth hanging open as he stared at Blair. Clark looked at her with much the same expression, except his face had gone an alarming shade of red. The pencil he had been holding lay in the grass, forgotten, his hand curled around empty air as if it were still there. Morgan and Cassie had looked up from their work and were watching the scene with interest. Ayame looked annoyed. He quickly looked away from her, turning towards Blair.
"What are you doing here anyway?" he asked.
She gave him a cat-like smile, settling back onto her heels. "Secret mission," she said. "Can't tell you about it, nyan~"
"Uh—Rei," said Vayne, having apparently found his voice. "You—uh—going to introduce us, buddy?"
Rei blinked, looking around. "Huh? Oh, right. Blair, these are my friends. That's Ayame, my partner, Morgan and Cassie, Clark and Vayne. Guys, this is Blair. She was kind of—well, she lived with us—well she—."
"Blair was the family cat," Blair said, releasing Rei's shoulders and turning towards them. She drew herself up proudly, resting her hands on her hips. "I lived with Maka and Soul until they graduated, and even when they had Rei-chan here~." She smiled, resting her elbow on his head. Rei shot her an annoyed glare. "Until they had those evil twins."
Blair shuddered visibly, and Rei pushed her elbow off of his head, struggling to fix his hair. "They aren't so bad," he said.
"Little hands, grasping, pulling tails—ugh—." Blair shuddered, hugging herself for an instant before looking up at the others. The smile quickly reappeared on her face. "It's nice to meet you."
"It's meet to nic—uh—I mean you to meet—uh—nice you meet too—um—hello." Clark finished lamely, looking away. He had one hand up on the back of his neck, his face turning even redder.
"Blair has to go and report, but we should meet later," said Blair, getting to her feet. "It would be nice to play together." She paused to give Clark a wink as she passed, and Clark's eyes widened.
The subsequent nosebleed knocked his head back as if from a physical blow, and he collapsed on the ground. Rei rolled his eyes, looking back at his homework as Vayne scrambled to find him a handkerchief.
"Really, man?" Rei asked. "She's, like, sixty at least."
"She definitely doesn't look it, though," said Vayne, his eyes fixed distractedly on Blair as she walked away.
"Vayne!" said Rei.
"What?" Vayne asked. "I'm just saying."
The sound of a book snapping shut seemed to cut through Vayne's daze, and he and Rei glanced back at the same time to see Morgan getting to her feet, brushing the grass from her skirt. "I'm finished with my assignment," said Morgan, not looking at any of them in particular. "If any of you need me, I'll be in the library."
Cassie's eyes widened as Morgan started walking away, and she quickly scrambled back up to her feet, her headphones falling around her neck. "Morgan?" she asked. "Wait for me!"
Rei blinked, watching as Morgan walked off. "Something we said?" he asked.
"Don't know," said Vayne, looking troubled. He frowned after Morgan for a moment, then looked back over his shoulder at Rei. "How can you be so calm about this anyway?"
"About Blair?" Rei asked, making a face. "Gross. I have baby pictures with her. Besides, I live with Ayame."
"Damn straight," Ayame said, stretching herself out on the grass and striking a pose.
Rei flushed. "Not what I meant!"
"Oh yeah?" Ayame sitting up. "So what exactly did you mean, Rei?"
Vayne rolled his eyes as the two of them started to argue, watching as Morgan walked away.
"Alright, spill," said Cassie, matching pace with Morgan and trying to get her meister to look her in the eye. "Something's wrong with you. Is it about Vayne?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," said Morgan, coolly. She sped up her pace by a fraction, barely noticeable but just enough so that Cassie couldn't quite hold her gaze. That was confirmation enough, and Cassie's eyes widened.
"It is, isn't it?" she asked. "You're upset about Vayne!"
"Not in the slightest," said Morgan, walking through the doors of the DWMA. Cassie followed her, her mind already spinning to work through the implications. She had had her suspicions, but Morgan never seemed to show that sort of interest in anyone. If her partner was actually interested—
By the time they rounded the corner towards the library, Cassie had the seeds of a plan. She reached forward, grabbing Morgan's hand and forcing her partner to stop and look back at her.
"Come see a movie with me this weekend?" Cassie asked.
Morgan frowned, and Cassie could see suspicion in the other girl's dark eyes. She put on her most innocent smile, tilting her head to the side.
"A movie?" Morgan repeated.
"Well, you know," Cassie said. "We haven't done anything just the two of us in a while, and there are some good movies coming out. I was thinking we could go see one together! It'll be fun."
Morgan frowned, still clearly looking for the trap, but it had been just long enough between the two topics of conversation to make her meister believe that she had dropped the subject of Vayne. It was one of the nice things, Cassie mused, that came from having a reputation for being easily distracted.
"…Alright," Morgan finally said.
"Great!" said Cassie, dropping her meister's hand. "I'll pre-order the tickets tonight, then. It's cheaper that way."
Morgan frowned at her, but nodded once, peeling away from Cassie and walking into the library. Cassie released her hand, letting her go. Ordinarily, she might have followed Morgan, but she didn't have time or the inclination to do that today. Today, there were plans to make.
Smiling to herself, Cassie slipped her headphones back on, walking back towards the classroom.
Saturday
"What do you mean you can't make it?" Morgan asked, as Cassie darted from the bathroom back into her bedroom. She made a show of pulling her backpack up from the floor, scooping up her schoolbooks and thrusting them into the bag at random.
"Sorry, Morgan dear," Cassie said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear and giving Morgan a sheepish smile. "Remedial lessons. I forgot all about them. Silly me."
"Well, what am I supposed to do with these movie tickets?" Morgan asked, frowning at Cassie as she held up the offending items. Cassie looked over at her partner, standing in her doorway, and tapped her finger against her lip, looking up at the ceiling as if considering it. "Hmm…" she said. "You could ask Ayame?"
Morgan frowned, motioning for Cassie's phone. Cassie handed it over to her, then looked away to hide her smile as Morgan walked off to make the call. The incriminating evidence of her and Ayame's conversation had long since been deleted from the phone. There was a pause while Morgan spoke with Ayame, her voice an indistinct murmur from where Cassie was standing. After a few moments, she popped her head back into the room, holding the phone out with a frown as if it had personally offended her.
"She's busy," Morgan said. "She and Rei both."
"Rei too?" asked Cassie, blinking wide blue eyes that were entirely innocent. "Well, that's a problem…um…maybe you could ask Vayne?"
Morgan's brow furrowed.
"…Or Clark?" Cassie ventured.
The words had the intended effect. The raven witch spun on her heel, pressing the phone to her ear. She strode out of Cassie's room, and Cassie once again heard her talking into the phone from somewhere in the living room. A few moments later, Morgan reappeared, her eyes narrowing as she handed the phone over to Cassie.
"Vayne's free," she said, giving Cassie a piercing look.
Did you plan this? Morgan seemed to ask.
Cassie's response was a soft smile as she reached down, swinging her backpack onto her shoulders.
Not at all~
"Clark?"
Clark jumped at the voice that came from the doorway to the classroom, propping his head up in his arms. He hadn't even noticed that he'd fallen asleep. He blinked his eyes blearily, seeing Cassie standing in the door next to the teacher's desk, her backpack slung over one shoulder.
"Cassie?" he asked.
"What are you doing here?" Cassie asked, frowning. "It's Saturday."
Clark's eyes widened, and he glanced at his watch. Sure enough, the day of the week blinked somewhere on the bottom of the screen, accompanied by the time, just a little after eleven in the morning. He hung his head, rubbing at his eyes beneath his glasses. He'd been wondering why Vayne wasn't even awake when he left.
"Of course it is," he muttered under his breath.
The world, he decided, definitely hated him. It wasn't bad enough that he had ended up at school on a Saturday, but to be found by Cassie of all people—
—The sound of a giggle drew him out of his thoughts, and he raised his head, looking down at her. Cassie was looking away from him, one hand over her mouth, the other on the strap of her backpack. He noticed that for once, while she was talking to him, her headphones were off, hanging around her neck. He felt a rush of warmth and immediately hated himself for it, glancing away from her. A month or so ago, he would have been thrilled just to be alone with her. Now, he was suddenly filled with the urge to run away. But when he looked up, chagrined, Cassie had stopped laughing. She gave him a tentative smile, inclining her head back out into the hallway.
"I'm heading to the library," she said. "Want to come?"
Holding books for Cassie while she reorganized the shelves wasn't exactly how Clark had envisioned spending his Saturday, but he found that he didn't mind. He held up a book for her as she reached for it, watching as she took it from him with a smile and slid it carefully into place. The stack of books behind them looked endless, but Cassie seemed to understand where each one went without even looking at them.
"Any reason why you're cleaning up the library on a Saturday?" Clark asked, as she pushed the wheeled ladder she was using over to the left a little, adjusting her position on the shelf.
"I volunteered," Cassie said, motioning for him to hand her the next book. He did so, and she frowned at it for a moment, before her eyes lit up. She scrambled down the ladder and he had to jog to keep up as he followed her over to the opposite side of the library. "Morgan needed some time alone."
"Ah," said Clark, drawing up beside her. A frown came onto his face at that, a little delayed. His mind went back to Morgan's revelation, barely a week ago. "Is—uh—is she alright?"
"Oh, she's fine," said Cassie with a smile. "Just peachy. I just—you know—didn't want to get in the way. And this isn't hard work. I've always liked the library." She paused, scanning the shelves on this side of the room before scrambling up one of the ladders, placing the book into its proper spot. Clark watched her work, noting the way her fingers brushed against the spines of the books as she moved past them. It was a subtle, tender motion, almost like a caress.
It was startling how many new things he was noticing about Cassie, now that he actually bothered to look at her.
"I-uh-I guess that makes sense," he said, handing her another book. "Considering you're a book yourself."
Cassie's expression darkened at his words, her eyes flicking down to the book in her hands. Her expression grew far-off, the smile falling away from her face for an instant. Clark's eyes widened, and he opened his mouth to apologize for his error, whatever it might have been, but before he could, Cassie shook her head, looking up at him.
"Yes," she said. "I am."
She hugged the book closer to herself with one arm, walking away. Clark stared after her, momentarily frozen in place. One of her hands reached up, fingers running lightly over her headphones, but her eyes hardened in determination and she lowered her hand, walking over to the shelf. Clark exhaled, some of the tension leaving him as he moved towards her.
"Cass…" he began, frowning in concern.
"I'm sorry to hear about your mother," Cassie said. She pushed the book back into place, not looking at him. "I didn't get a chance to say that last time. It must be hard."
"My—uh—yeah, my mother…" Clark looked away awkwardly, placing his hand on the back of his neck. It still felt strange, having it all out in the open like that. His mouth moved, saying the words that he had been repeating all his life. "She left a long time ago. I haven't seen her in years."
"But it's not easy, is it?" asked Cassie, looking back at him. The look in her eyes was strange. He barely recognized her. His mind flashed back to the night his mother left, thought back to himself chasing after her, his hand stretched out as he called towards her, as she kept walking away.
"No…" he admitted, feeling his throat close up with the word. "No, it's not."
Cassie nodded as if she expected the answer, taking the topmost book from the stack in his hands. She barely glanced at it before she was already walking, heading towards another shelf.
"Families are hard," she said. "You get caught up in so much…stuff you never asked for. Even when it's good, like with Rei and Ayame, there's still so much…pressure there."
Clark got the sense that they weren't still talking about his mother. He spun around, trying to face her, but she kept her back to him as he moved, expertly avoiding his eye. A month ago, he might have forced her to look at him, done anything to get her attention, but then again, a month ago, he might not really have been listening to her in the first place. He would have already been thinking about his next line, about what else he could say to her to get her to like him.
What was it Ophelia had said? That he was better just being himself? He drew in a deep breath, gathering up his courage.
"You've…never said much about your family, Cassie," he said.
Cassie shrugged, not looking at him. "What's there to tell?" she asked. "My mother died when I was young. My father…" She waved her hand as if to say that that hardly mattered.
"So who took care of you?" Clark asked, eyes widening. "Where did you live?"
"I lived…"
Cassie trailed off, her breath quavering. She raised one slender hand, resting it on her headphones. He thought he saw a tremor make its way up her back and into her shoulders, manifesting in her fingers before her shoulders heaved and she lowered her hands. "Well…it doesn't matter. I don't really want to talk about it."
"Sorry," Clark said, lowering his eyes to the ground. "I didn't mean to pry."
But Cassie barely seemed to hear him. She stepped forward, whisking the next book off of the stack in his hands. His arms felt strangely empty, and it took him a moment to realize that the book she had taken had been the last one. He turned towards her, but she had already managed to turn away, her face in shadow as she scanned the books and the shelves. She looked down at the book in her hands, but didn't seem to see it. Her expression was distant, vacant, as if she was barely there at all.
Then, as if she felt his eyes on her, she drew in a deep breath and seemed to change before his eyes, a smile coming onto her face as she straightened up. "Well, don't worry about it," she said, brightly. "Grab another stack. We can probably take a break for lunch after a few more."
Clark stared at her for a moment before her words caught up to his brain and he nodded, scrambling to comply. Still, he couldn't help but wonder, as he picked up another stack of books and she smiled sweetly at him for it, if her eyes had always been this dull, this far away, and he had never noticed.
"I'm just saying—sometimes you're not the best at remembering not to walk around the house in a towel, that's all," said Rei, face flushed. He looked away from Ayame as the two of them walked down the street, taking a small bite from the ice cream cone in his hand.
Ayame frowned at him in suspicion, hands on her hips. "So that's all?" she asked. "That's the only thing you meant when you said that."
"Sure," said Rei, not looking at her. "What else would I mean?"
Ayame blinked at him, incredulous. "What else?" she repeated. "What else? Ugh, you know what, never mind. You wouldn't get it."
Rei eyed her out of the corner of his eye. "You're being strange today," he said. "What, you wanted me to fall all over Blair like Vayne and Clark were doing?"
"No!" said Ayame, with enough force that Rei almost dropped his ice cream. He blinked at her, taking another bite.
The two of them had gone out for ice cream this morning, on Cassie's suggestion that they find something to do outside of the house for most of the day, and not let Morgan join them if she asked. Rei had no idea what that was about, but Ayame seemed perfectly happy to comply, so his day was now filled with activities like 'afternoon training' or hanging out at the arcade, or taking their siblings to the park. Cassie very rarely asked for favors like this, so going along with it wasn't a problem, but Rei couldn't help but wonder what it was all about.
"Hey." Ayame nudged him in the side, lowering her voice to a whisper. "Don't look now, but I think that's Vayne and Morgan."
Rei looked over the top of her head, glancing across the street. Sure enough, Vayne and Morgan were walking together. Vayne had a goofy grin on his face, as if he had just finished making a joke, and—Rei's eyes widened. Was Morgan…smiling?
"I said don't look," Ayame hissed, grabbing onto his jacket and yanking on it sharply. "Or if you are going to look, don't be so obvious about it."
Rei quickly looked away, although he couldn't help but risk another glance as Vayne and Morgan rounded the corner. The two of them disappeared from sight, and Rei turned towards Ayame.
"What do you think that was about?" he asked.
Ayame shrugged. "I don't know, but I think I know what Cassie wanted."
"Are they—?" His brain worked to comprehend it. "Are they on a date?"
"Maybe," said Ayame, frowning as she considered it. "They look good together, don't they?"
"I—I guess?" Rei still struggled to wrap his mind around it. Vayne and Morgan. Vayne and Morgan together.
Ayame, sensing his distraction, leaned towards him, her eyes on his ice cream cone. Rei's eyes widened and he quickly held it out of reach, turning towards her.
"Hey!" he said. "Get your own!"
"Come on, don't be stingy," said Ayame. "Didn't your mother ever teach you to share?"
"It's not my fault you ate yours in two seconds!" Rei said. "I mean, seriously, who does that?"
Ayame's eyes narrowed. "Are you saying I'm fat?"
"What—no!" said Rei, alarmed. "I just—I was just—."
"Hey, look, Vayne and Morgan are back."
"What? Where—Ayame!"
Ayame smiled at him from around a mouthful of ice cream, having bitten off most of the cone. Rei stared at her in outrage, looking from the remnants of his ice cream to her.
A few moments later, they were back at the ice cream shop, Ayame promising to buy him a new one.
Morgan had to admit, things could have gone a lot worse.
She had been a little worried about whatever it was that Cassie had been scheming, but Vayne turned out to be an agreeable companion. He had sounded excited when she mentioned that she had an extra movie ticket for today, and had hurried over to meet her. They had had a good time on the walk to the theater, and aside from a small scene when she suggested they change their ticket from the girly romantic movie that Cassie had wanted to see to a horror film that had just opened, there hadn't been any real problems.
Morgan had to admit that she had drawn out the argument for the horror film more than had been wise—mostly because it was amusing to see Vayne try and admit that he wasn't scared. At the end of the day, the theater had been happy to give them tickets to a later showing of a superhero movie, and the two of them had decided to get something to eat before the film. Vayne, blushing the whole while, had pulled out his wallet at the counter, waving Morgan off when she tried to tell him that she could pay for her own food.
"You're the one who bought the movie tickets," said Vayne, not quite looking at her. "I can take care of this."
Technically, it had been Cassie who had bought the movie tickets, but Morgan decided not to argue the point, accepting the kindness as the two of them made their way over to a table.
"Are you sure you don't want me to pay you back?" Morgan asked, as they sat down.
"Nah, it's fine," said Vayne, sitting down and pulling his burger closer to himself. "It's nice to be able to treat people like this. I didn't exactly get much of an allowance before the DWMA."
"Shibuko didn't give you an allowance?" Morgan asked, frowning as she picked up her own wrapped sandwich. It had been one of the establishment's 'specials', something that Vayne insisted she had to try. She followed his lead, unwrapping it slowly and trying not to get sauce all over her fingers.
Vayne frowned at her as he chewed, wiping at his mouth with a napkin. He hadn't exactly made his past living at the orphanage in Gallows Manor a secret, but neither was he one to talk about it too much. She wondered if she might have overstepped, but before she had a chance to really open it, Vayne swallowed and smiled.
"We had one," he said. "But it wasn't like, huge or anything. Don't get me wrong, we didn't starve. We were under Shinigami-sama's care, so there was a lot of food and clothes to go around. Way better than…" He waved his hand vaguely. "…before."
"I see," said Morgan, not prying further. She recalled Vayne saying in the past that his life before being found by a DWMA agent and brought to Shibuko was 'not worth talking about'. She remembered Rei saying he had been nine years old when they first became friends. Instead, she turned her attention to her meal, taking a bite of her sandwich. Her eyes widened slightly, and she looked up at Vayne.
"Good?" Vayne asked, grinning at her.
"I'm not sure this is actually food…" Morgan began, but just as Vayne's expression started to turn crestfallen, she smiled. "But it's very good." She took another bite. Vayne laughed.
"We'll make a rebel out of you yet," he promised, taking a handful of fries.
"I'm already a rebel," said Morgan, with a half-smile. She set down her sandwich, wiping at her mouth with a napkin. She couldn't help but wonder what her uncle would think if he saw her now.
"Yeah, I guess so," said Vayne, acknowledging the point. "Still, I was kind of worried you wouldn't want to go to a place like this." He gestured with his free hand, taking in the fast food establishment around them. "You seem really...proper."
"Am I?" Morgan asked, taking another bite. "It's the accent, isn't it? I have been to places like this before, Vayne."
"I know, I know," said Vayne, looking sheepish, "And it's not the accent. I don't know…it's something else. Like an air? You remind me of Gallows Manor sometimes."
"Distant and perfectly symmetrical?"
"No!" said Vayne. "Just—uh—you know. Regal?"
"It's my upbringing," Morgan said. "I apologize if it makes you uncomfortable."
"It doesn't," said Vayne, giving her a quick grin before taking another bite. "Just—you know. It's who you are I guess. Sorry if I'm making you talk about something you'd rather not talk about."
Morgan frowned, looking down at the sandwich in her hands. She probed the knot of anxiety and fear that she had carried around with her since first leaving Avalon, prodding at it like a tongue seeking out the space where a tooth had been. To her surprise, it didn't hurt as much as she thought it would.
"No, this much is fine," she decided. "There were parts of my childhood that weren't all bad."
"But not all good, huh?" asked Vayne, giving her a sympathetic smile. "Yeah, I get that. Have some fries." He pushed the fries over towards her and she looked up at him, shaking her head as she wiped her mouth again.
"I have had fries before, Vayne," she said, picking one up. "We just call them chips where I come from."
"Huh…then what do you call the ones that come in a bag?"
"Crisps." Morgan popped the fry into her mouth, chewing thoughtfully. "Not that I had any of those, when I lived there."
"I'll bet," said Vayne. "What was it—a personal chef and three course meals?"
"When I behaved," said Morgan, trailing off. The memory of a long stone table came back to her, of her grandmother's displeasure as she sat at the far end, feeling dwarfed by the room around her, trying hard to remain unseen. "…When it was anything at all."
Vayne frowned at her as she trailed off, the smile fading from his face. His expression was surprisingly understanding. His hand twitched forward, making it halfway towards hers before he disguised the motion as picking up a fry.
"Sorry," he said.
"It's fine," said Morgan, trying to make sense of the way her heart jumped when she noticed his hand moving forward. She looked up at him, giving him a tentative smile. "A happier subject, then?"
Vayne practically leaped to concur. "Couldn't agree more," he said, leaning back in his seat. "So about Rei and Ayame…"
They ended up staying out for longer than either of them expected.
After the movie, which had been a lot of fun, Vayne suggested heading down to the arcade, which to his surprise, Morgan readily accepted. From there, they moved on to a bookshop and later the park, the two of them too wrapped up in conversation to really notice the changes in scenery or the passing of time. By the time they started walking home, the sun had already begun to set, disappearing behind the buildings of Death City and plunging the streets into shadow. Vayne walked Morgan back to her apartment, feeling a flush start to creep up his neck and into his cheeks as they approached the door. He drew back as Morgan stepped forward, standing between him and the door and turning to face him.
"I—uh, had a great time," he said, placing one hand on the back of his neck.
The corner of Morgan's lip quirked up in a smile. "I did as well," she said. "Surprisingly enough."
"Surprisingly?" Vayne teased, smiling back at her. "Really?"
Morgan shook her head, her smile widening slightly. He was filled with the sudden urge to see if he could actually make her laugh, but suppressed it for another time.
"We should do this more often," he said.
"Yes," Morgan said. "We should."
She surprised him then, taking a step forward and leaning up on her tiptoes. Her lips grazed the side of his face, the barest touch, and he stood there in shock, staring at her with wide eyes as she pulled away. Morgan gave him another hint of a smile, then turned, making her way back to her door.
"Good night," she said, with a look back at him.
She opened the door, stepping inside. Vayne stared after her as she left, feeling the heat rise to his face. One of his hands reached up to his cheek, fingers brushing the spot where her lips had touched.
He was smiling like an idiot the whole way home.
"…How d'you guys feel about taking the fight to her?"
Maka sat in a chair in their kitchen, Soul's hands on her shoulders as the two of them concentrated, their souls humming in resonance. Her Soul Perception spread outwards from her, a wide net of awareness that moved outward past the two of them, past the souls of their children, past their neighbors and the people on their street, past the residents of Death City and the students at the DWMA. Working together, they seemed to sift through the tangle of soul wavelengths, the pinpricks of light that littered the surface of the earth like stars, searching for one wavelength in particular. Maka's brow furrowed in concentration as she brought that wavelength up from memory. It was a wavelength she had felt once, during the attack on Death City, coming from the sky on that day.
The Morrigan.
It had only been a decoy then, but if Maka could find her now…Her mind worked tirelessly, searching for any trace. The Morrigan would be under a Soul Protect, but that would only disguise her soul as belonging to a witch; it wouldn't stop her soul from being hers. Now that Maka knew what to look for, surely she could find something.
Images flashed in front of her mind like wildfire, landscapes she had never seen, countries she had been to only once in recent memory, countries she had never been to at all. It was hard to believe that in this wide world, there were places that she had never seen, but she could still feel them, could still search them. Beads of sweat formed on her forehead as she searched, one of her hands reaching up to grip Soul's own.
She would find the Morrigan. She had to.
Cities passed by, towns, places with millions of souls clustered together, places where just one lonely soul hovered in the wilderness. Good people, bad people, souls she thought she recognized, a million more that she knew she didn't. Places where it was the middle of the day, places where it was still full night. Maka grit her teeth, searching through each one. And then, remembering lessons she had learned a long time ago, during the battle with the Kishin, Maka turned her awareness upward, off of the surface of the world.
Into the sky.
Her eyes snapped open, and she let out a gasp like a swimmer coming up for air, the connection between her and Soul snapping apart like an elastic band that had been cut down the middle. She looked up, catching her breath, and then grinned, pushing her sweat-soaked hair out of her face.
Found you…
Omake
"I can't believe we managed to get through the whole library," said Clark, rubbing at an ache in his shoulders as he walked with Cassie down the halls of the DWMA. The sun was starting to set outside, casting long shadows through the DWMA's windows. Cassie smiled from beside him, her hands clasped behind her back.
"I told you it wouldn't be that hard, didn't I?" Cassie said.
"You said so," said Clark, "but I didn't believe it."
He paused, stopping suddenly and looking back at the doors of Class Crescent Moon. Was it just his imagination, or had he heard something scraping against the floor.
"Clark?" Cassie asked, looking back at him.
"I thought I heard something," said Clark, gesturing at the classroom. "One moment."
He walked towards it with his arm outstretched, wary in case it was an attacker, and peered inside. Class Crescent Moon's classroom was nearly identical to Class Moonless Night's, its rows of desks standing empty for the weekend. And at the front of the room, where the teacher's desk was, sat—
"Professor Stein?" Clark asked, puzzled.
Stein looked up at him from where he was leaning on the back of his stitched chair, rolling back and forth. He tilted his head quizzically to the side, looking up at Clark.
"What are you doing here?" Clark asked. "It's Saturday."
Stein frowned. Then, his brow furrowed, and he paused to glance down at his watch.
"Oh," he said. "So it is."
He kicked off the floor, his expression never changing, and sped past Clark, still seated in his chair. Clark stared as the professor continued to roll down the hallway, watching until Stein disappeared from sight.
