CHAPTER NINE: Carnation

Conscious came to Serah as suddenly as a door being slammed into her face as the sounds of movement began to echo through the corridors the next morning, her still swirling and uncomfortable vision making it difficult for her to identify that it really was morning. The sunlight filtered onto her face brightly through the open window to her left, and as Serah slowly rubbed her eyes with the fingertips of her right hand gently, a sudden sharp pain shot through her forehead. She was back in the medical facility, and as she looked around groggily, she realised that she had somehow gotten back after hitting her head back in the Death Room.

So how did she end up here after she blacked out? Serah wasn't sure, but the person that had probably slammed the door into her face was probably the one who brought her here – whoever it was. Serah wasn't going to go out of her way to find out who it was – unfortunate accident or not, there was no reason to go bringing it up – the person who did it was probably feeling guilty, so there was no reason to pry. She let out another weary breath as she dragged herself upright carefully, and after a well chosen glance to the table just next to the bed on her right, she looked to see a magenta over-the-shoulder bag that resembled hers – It even had the little yellow broach that was of a baby chicken just beneath a tear along the right pocket. So whoever was bringing her belongings had been and gone. This made her wonder what the time was.

"Hey, Serah?" Came the vaguely familiar of the current Nurse, causing Serah to look over at the curtain to the right as a silhouette stepped into view. The curtains parted slightly for the silver-haired Sophia to poke her head through to look into the cubicle, and Serah saw her smile slightly. "Good, you're awake. It's a little after nine – maybe you'd want to get organised now?"

"Oh!" Serah almost exclaimed, leaning over to grab her bag from the table almost immediately. "Class's started already?"

"A while ago, but I let Stein know you were still recovering from your most recent injury." That caught Serah's attention – She looked up at Sophia hesitantly, confusion plastered across her face.

"Injury?" Serah repeated, and she saw Sophia smirk slightly.

"You've got a lovely purple bruise running down the centre of your forehead – Lucky you've got a fringe, right?" Serah let out a weary breath, ruffling her fringe momentarily as she began to get organised, as soon as Sophia had disappeared on the other side of the curtains again. Getting changed into a pair of new shorts and a baggy long sleved, sky blue shirt, Serah had to focus as she pulled her shoes on – She could wear both, it wasn't gonna do her any problems. As Serah began to zip up the now lighter bag, she heard the curtains of the cubicle suddenly slide open, where Sophia came strolling in, with the pair of crutches from the night before in hand.

"Now, you'll have to use these for the next week, until the stitches have had time to do their work." Sophia spoke, passing the crutches to Serah carefully, watching as Serah carefully began to drag herself to her feet. "They're already sized for you, so just be careful – not too many stairs, or I'll have to piece you back together again."

"Yes, Ma'am." Serah spoke quietly, centring the over-the-shoulder bag carefully before she stabolised herself with the crutches again.

"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow morning, before class." Sophia spoke, and a grin crept across Serah's face as she began to make her long and hobbling journey to class. Serah did begin to wonder who had gone into her house and gathered her a change of clothes that morning – It was all a little too strange for her to take in all at once. Corridor after corridor passed by, and as Serah reached her classroom with a faint breath, she lifted a hand to make sure her rather pointless fringe was in place to at least veil half of the bruise – Just offset it so it wasn't like a neon sign was pointing directly at her forehead. She stuck her head into the class, to see that a few people were here – a couple of people she'd never spoken to before, the two called Tsubaki and BlackStar, and as Serah looked over at her seat, she saw someone that had taken notice of her rather suddenly – Liz was seated between Death The Kid, and Patty, and she was waving at her slightly – as a 'Hello'?

Well, Serah had managed to appear during the five minute recess between classes, and as she let out a weary breath, she began to make her way into the class. The bag knocking against the back of her knees was disorientating – Moreso than normal – but she percervered – Her seat was barely ten meters away! Beginning to make her way up the steps on the far side of the room to avoid bumping people, it was a little longer before Serah reached her seat – and in the time it took for her to hop over to her seat, a few other people had arrived back to class, and were chatting rather noisily. She let out a breath as she finally reached her seat, sitting down almost as soon as she could manage. Just getting to class was tiring, and Serah knew it was from the crutches – She did walking every day – far more walking than this; So how could she be worn out if not for the Crutches? Proceeding to place her bag and crutches on the floor beneath the bench, Serah set herself in for another two classes before lunch.

Drifting off into thoughtless apathy, Serah vaguely watched as people continued to file back into class. A few people she didn't really recognise offhand, and then, as Serah let out a faint yawn, a voice suddenly called at her from the door of the classroom. Blinking slowly at the sleep that had formed in the corners of her eyes, Serah rubbed her eyes as she looked down at who had called out to her. Two familiar forms were standing at the door, Soul and Maka, and as Serah smiled faintly, she saw the two beginning to make their way up to the benches. The lack of an MP3 player was beginning to get to Serah – she could hear all the bothersome chatter that meant nothing to her, and as she heard the sounds of people taking seats directly behind her, she leant backwards and smiled up at the two that were leaning forward to look at her over the bench.

"How're you feeling, Serah?" Maka spoke, her face looking quite entertaining from the angle of 'upside-down'. "You weren't waking up when we found you, so I was worried."

"I'm fine!" Serah spoke with a grin, ignoring the distortion the stretching of her neck muscles was causing to her voice. "Don't remember anything, but everything's good!" An alarmed look crossed both Maka and Soul's faces, and Serah had a hard time taking them both seriously at that moment. "Don't worry! Lord Death's filled me in on everything."

"Oh, okay." Maka spoke, and Serah continued to smile as Soul chuckled slightly, and sat back, so he was gone from Serah's view. "So did Lord Death give you the Kishin Egg yet?" Blinking slightly, the grin fading from Serah's face as she thought on that.

"What Kishin Egg?" Serah asked, earning a look of mild confusion from Maka as a familiar rolling of plastic wheels began to come to notice.

"The soul of the Kishin Egg you defeated? You're a weapon, so you're supposed to collect them to turn yourself into a Death Weapon, remember?" Serah continued to blink, and as Maka's expression became far more concerned, Serah felt a smile break out across her face.

"Maybe because I failed so epically, I'm not getting it?" Serah guessed, and as Maka opened her mouth to speak her reply, a suddenly loud and familiar voice began to speak.

"Take your seats – I'm taking attendance." Came Stein's voice all of a sudden, and as Serah blinked in shock, she sat upright again as Maka sat back down in her seat.

Class continued in a normal manner – Serah was left sitting with her chin resting upon her arms folded out across the bench in front of her as she stared towards where the blury blackboard was as Stein continued his lecture upon particular techniques gainable through soul Resonance with up to eight different people. People in class chattered quietly amongst themselves, the few that were smart enough to answer questions doing so, and while all this was normal, there was one thing that wasn't normal. Through the whole of the class, Serah could feel a glance flick to the right side of her face constantly. It wasn't normal – if anything, it was Maka glancing down at her momentarily. Serah bit down on her lip as the gaze hit the side of her face once again, and as she hesitantly managed a glance towards where she could feel the glance coming from, she noticed that a particular symmetry obsessed young man had been staring at her for the whole class.

Feeling more than a little self conscious now, Serah snapped her gaze straight ahead, feeling a tinge of colour touch the sides of her face as she tried to forget that the young man was now staring at her with a piercing gaze. Why the hell did he have to be staring at her? Did she do something wrong and upset him, or something? Her mind reeling, and her nerves stirring uncomfortably with the tangent of her thoughts, Serah could feel herself chewing on the inside of her bottom lip – she'd deal with whatever repercussions that would leave her with later – this wouldn't be the first time she'd end up gnawing at her lip until it was raw and bleeding anyway.

"And that just about concludes this Lesson." Stein's voice cut in over the reeling of Serah's haywire mind, snapping her the tiniest bit out of that uncomfortable mode of thought. Blinking blearily, Serah looked around the class as several people let out yawns, and others mere began to gather their belongings up. "You can go to lunch now, but we'll be finishing the analysis of resonance bouncing afterwards." Resonance bouncing? That was a strange term – Had Serah been reeling for so long that she missed something crucial? Following suit, Serah began to gather her belongings up in an attempt to force her mind to something else. Would Stein mind if she went home, though? Serah was strangely weary, and even though she was sure it was just because of the crutches, she did feel that she'd be better off if she just went home and recovered there overnight. In her own home without the feeling of someone coming to check on her while she was sleeping.

That brought her to another train of thought – where the hell was her pink bag and MP3 player? Surely she wouldn't have gone on an extra lesson without them? Music was in her blood, and oh how the lack of background music was beginning to drive her insane! Managing to rise to her foot, Serah reached down to take hold of the crutches that were lying on the floor beneath where her feet had been. Pain shot through her body, as she expected, however she forced it from her mind as she focused on not falling flat on her face – She was just lucky that the few people that sat to her left had gone elsewhere while she was getting herself organised. Maka and Sou seemed to have bolted from the room before Serah could have said anything, and as she carefully straightened up, she noticed from the corner of her eye, that Death The Kid was still sitting in his seat – Why the hell was that!

Never mind … Serah thought hesitantly, beginning to make the long and tiresome treck down the flight of steps that really wasn't that big to begin with. Her leg wasn't broken, and yet she still had to wander around on crutches for a few days! Talk about unfair!

"Serah – Hold on a moment!" Came a voice she didn't quite recognise offhand, however it still startled her – her crutch slipped on the step below, and as a faint squeak escaped her, she actually felt her right hand manage to catch the edge of the benches just next to her, halting her next unfortunate accident. Blinking rather furiously against the pounding that was her racing heart, Serah took a deep breath to try and settle herself; It would be just like her to manage to save herself from falling, and then give herself a case of hyperventilation from the fright. Footsteps from right behind her brought back the knowledge that someone who she didn't know offhand had called out to her, and as she managed to turn around on her only stable foot, she felt the akwardness of her thoughts before engulf her again as the person who called her, turned out to be the black-clad son of the Grim Reaper that had been staring at her the whole time in class, as he came to a stop a couple of steps away.

"Y-yes?" Serah spoke hesitantly, keeping her hold on the bench next to her as she blinked up at his pale face – Once again, she was slammed with the knowledge that he'd never spoke to her, except those few times she'd worn something that was apparently horrendously out of symmetry. What did he want all of a sudden? Clearly there was something, cause he had been staring through the whole of class.

"I know this may come as a shock to you -" Death the Kid began to explain, a hasty tone to his vocie as he fidgited for some reaosn. "But I wanted to apologise to you for last night." Silence overcame Serah's state of mind as she stared up at Death The Kid, a lack of comprehension overcoming her as she tried to figure out what he was talking about. She didn't bump into him, just went past on her way to the Death Room – she'd know if she bumped into him again.

"Sorry?" Serah finally spoke after several moments, however Death the Kid, or 'Kid' as she'd heard people call him before, seemed to look a little more uncomfortable at her confusion.

"Look, I'm sorry for slamming the door into your face- I didn't mean it, and …" Just like magic, Serah could feel a deadpan look creeping up onto her face, but as hard as she tried, she couldn't stop it from creeping into place.

"You – what?" Serah managed to speak, and she saw discomfort creep across the strange man's face.

"I'm sorry – I forgot to ask my father something, and I didn't realise anyone else was in there-" Death The Kid proceeded to explain, and Serah still couldn't seem to get a hold of herself – she could feel that her eyes were wide, and she most certainly was confused as anything, but she still couldn't seem to comprehend what he was talking about – until she remembered the bruise upon her forehead from the door last night. Embarrasment set in on her as she realised a few people that were still in the room were staring – people she didn't actually know, and she fought to keep her squeak of fright from escaping her. Oh god, this strange person was making a scene – she had to end it before more people kept on staring.

"O-oh! I remember now!" Serah spoke quickly, feigning a smile as the strange young man suddenly fell silent, a strange look creeping across his face for some reason. "Seriously, just forget about it - I'm always falling down stairs and everything anyway; It's no problem at all!"

"Really?" He spoke, and Serah actually blinked in surprise as she heard something like 'awe' in his voice. "You mean it?"

"Of course!" Serah spoke quickly, that feigned smile becoming a little wider as she forced herself to keep it in check. His lack of response was her signal to bolt – and she was most certainly going to take that chance as she saw him continue to stare at her, his expression continuing to become brighter and brighter for some reason. "But I've gotta go -" Serah spoke quickly, managing to turn a bit on her only stable foot, however she glanced back at the still silent Death the Kid. "-Sorry." She didn't wait for a response, forcing herself to hop down the rest of the steps as fast as she could without falling, and as she managed to get her crutches back in place, she managed to 'turbo' her way out on the crutches with a strange lack of 'accident'.

Liz stepped down the couple of steps to stand just next to Death the Kid, a momentary frown written across her face as she looked down at her Meisters face. He had one of those expressions that she'd seen across his face on the few occasions he saw something that was not off balance, or perfectly symmetrical, in his words. He stared after Serah's disappearing form with such a look of awe, and probably glee, plastered across his face, and as Liz let out a weary breath after a few moments, she glanced at the few people that were still in the class – they were all now minding their own business.

"You certainly out-did yourself." Liz spoke, and it seemed that Kid snapped out of whatever state he had been in – he looked at Liz over his shoulder, however that bright expression still remained. "You didn't have to terrify the poor girl, you know."

"You don't understand! She had the most symmetrical smile I've ever seen!" Kid suddenly exclaimed, causing Liz to let out a heavy, exasperated breath as she realised he'd completely missed her point. "Do you have any idea how impossible it is for someone to smile with that much symmetry?"

"No, Kid. I don't." Liz spoke, crossing her arms as she fixed Kid with a look of boredom. "How about next time you go to apologise to her, you not freak her out like that?"

"You're completely missing the point, Liz!" Kid grumbled, his look of awe fading to make way for a more familiar look – irritation. "I've never seen a perfectly symmetrical smile before – Never!" Instead of replying, Liz let out another breath of exasperation, beginning to follow her now 'lecturing' meister out of the classroom as Patty suddenly appeared with a loud giggle. It was probably a good thing Kid hadn't noticed Serah's eyes were noticeably two different colours – if he did, he would have flipped out; and permanently terrified an innocent, and very shy Meister.

O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O

Serah let out a breath as she arrived back at home, gazing up at the front door as she began to make her way up the two rather small steps. Her heart was still racing from all of that confusion that had slapped her silly back in that classroom, and as she dug through her bag for her housekeys, she noticed something to her left from the corner of her eye. Taking to unlocking the door, Serah glanced down at the 'out of ordinary' as she pushed the door open. A rather colourful envelope was placed in the small makeshift mailbox attached to the side of the door, causing Serah to blink in confusion. She managed to grab hold of the pink and orange envelope mid-way through hopping through the front door. She was relieved to be inside now – the events of the day were more than enough to put a strange dampener on her onlook for tomorrow – and the young Grim Reaper suddenly apologising to her out of the blue was enough to make her feel at least a little awkward about going to class again.

Serah closed the door behind her, beginning to make her way towards the kitchen straight ahead as she began to think on what she was going to have for dinner – anything except for instant Ramen would be good. She hoped she remembered to stock the fridge before she went on that extra lesson. Discarding the annoying crutches to the wall next to the door, Serah hopped the rest of the way to the kitchen counter. She managed to hoist herself up onto the colourful countertop, sitting down just next to the barfridge. Well, she'd might as well find out what was in the envelope – she did recognise the handwriting from somewhere – something about how the F looped in with the Y in a strange manner.

Serah gently tore the envelope open, pulling out the small piece of equally as bright paper from inside. There was nothing else inside the envelope, as Serah checked, telling her it was just a letter, or something. All handwritten – The paper was made of the same print as the envelope, and the strange looping handwriting was all through the paper. She carefully unfolded the piece of paper, her weary eyes tracing the words with weary care.

Serah,

I hope this letter finds you well; Goodness, know I've missed
you so much over the past year.

I just wanted you to know that I'm doing well, and I've placed
some more money into your account for you. I want you to
spend it however you feel necessary; I know you're a smart
enough girl to put it to good use. Also, I've sold the house;
and Andrew's half is also sitting in your account. I didn't feel
right in keeping it, after everything that's happened.

Please, take care. And I'd love to hear from you for once,

Lots of Love,

Heather

Serah stared down at the letter for several moments, biting down on her already tender bottom lip. She let out a breath after several moments, crushing the letter in her hands suddenly as she tore her eyes from the lopping handwriting. Silence echoed for several more moments, as Serah looked over to the dustbin beneath the counter on the opposite side of the kitchen. She threw the paper into the bin without a second thought, another breath escaping her as she then placed her gaze upon the window next to the fridge. A tension formed in the pit of her stomach as she slowly thought to herself, ridding her of the desire to actually eat anything.

"Idiot ..."