CHAPTER TEN: Mayonaka no Door
The sunlight was a piercing brightness against Serah's face as she slowly came to. For a Friday, it was strangely warm, and the sunlight was a hot touch against her weary eyes. Today was the day she could ditch the cursed crutches -Sohpia had given her the Ok after yesterday's visit. It was about time, too – Serah's hands were aching after every few steps, because of the gashes to the palms of her hands. And on another awesome note, Serah could pick her glasses up today – which meant she could actually read what was written on the black-board in class, now. Her memories had come back to her after a good night sleep at home after that rather exhausting day, including how she screwed up so bad in France.
Serah dragged herself up off of the couch slowly, looking around the ever-normal loungeroom with an air of confusion – she hadn't even gotten herself to bed before she passed out. She got to her feet wearily, finding, as she began to walk to the bedroom, that there had been a reason for Sohpia's order for the crutches – every step she took on that leg had her thigh sear in pain. Serah glanced down at the bandages on her leg slowly, her gaze falling upon a small patch in the bandages where a few flecks of blood began to sink through. Well, she did tear the stiches through her mad-dash away from the strange young man called Death the Kid, so undoubtedly it would take longer for her leg to heal – it was just a good thing that the inside of her injury had healed enough to have her walk freely now.
Getting changed into a pair of karki brown shorts and an orange spaghetti strap tank top carefully, Serah began to pull on her long-since-missed magenta converse shoes – walking around in flip-flops cause of the crutches was more than annoying, and she always felt it was rather rude to walk around in the academy with practically bare feet. She hoped things would start improving – she'd heard from Stein that Lord Death was arranging for her to have those 'dance' classes replace her after-lunch classes starting with this afternoon; Which meant it wasn't some form of joke the grim reaper had decided to tell her, like she'd hoped. The more pressing question was, who was going to be teaching her in this 'subject'? Serah wasn't sure, but she couldn't think of anyone that would be prominent in the art of dancing, no matter how hard she thought about it.
Oh well; Serah guessed there was no use thinking about it – She'd find out who it was come afternoon classes. She knew Maka would be wondering what was going on – after all, Serah had been so embarrased about everything once she actually remembered everything, that she didn't want to even mention anything about it.
Grabbing her 'smaller' shoulder bag after a few moments, Serah grabbed the largest nectarine in the fruit bowl on her way past the kitchen counter to the loungeroom. Serah paused for just a moment as she slung her new red shoulderbag over her shoulder, looking at the many books on the bookshelf for several moments, before a large paperback novel with a silver and green spine came to her notice. She let out a sigh as she grabbed the practically untouched book, and began to leave the house as she took a bite out of her nectarine. Supposibly, there was a test on today, too, but Serah wondered if it was going to end up falling upon her missing class time. If that was the case, would Stein end up making her take the test during lunch? The door shut behind her with a rather loud clunk, and as Serah heard the lock click into place, she carefully opened the book and held it open carefully with one hand.
"Serah!" Came a familiar voice after a few moments, causing Serah to blink in mild-surprise. She looked up from the book she'd only just read the first word from, to see the familiar forms of Maka and Soul standing several meters down the path, Soul standing as normal, with that 'cool' air he clearly must have desired, however Maka was just waving with a smile across her face. Well, that meant reading was out of the equasion now – and as Serah thought about it, she was supposed to be stopping herself from going on autopilot mode, as a voice in the back of her head said a few days ago. She couldn't help but smile wryly as she carefully put her book into her bag.
"Hi!" Serah called out, and she saw Maka grin broadly as Serah came to a momentary halt in front of them.
"You're not bringing your crutches?" Maka asked, and Serah couldn't help but smile broadly.
"Nope – I'm free!" Serah spoke, and she saw Soul grin as Maka smiled a little broader.
"That's good – how's your arm, though? Still giving you trouble?" Maka asked, causing Serah to blink momentarily, before she glanced down at her still-bandaged arm.
"Well, it's just gotta heal." Serah spoke simply, taking another bite of her nectarine as Soul and Maka began to lead the way to the Academy. "Oh, I gotta stop at a store before we get to the academy, that alright?"
"Really?" Maka asked, confusion in her tone of voice. "Why's that?"
"I pick up my glasses today." Serah answered through her mouthfull of nectarine, and she saw Maka smile once again.
"Cool – So you're not gonna borrow my notes anymore?" Maka giggled slightly as Serah frowned momentarily, however she didn't say anything.
"Hey, you know it's your turn to cook tonight." Soul spoke to Maka after a few moments, and as Serah continued to munch on her breakfast, she looked around slowly as Maka began to speak with Soul.
After a quick detour to the glasses store, Serah followed Maka and Soul to class while she looked over her brand new pair of glasses – this time they had an aqua tint to them for some reason, but it didn't matter that much as they made her eye colours match a bit better. The frame was a magenta this time, causing Serah to frown momentarily – why was the frame on these ones the same colour as her shoes now?
"They suit you." Maka spoke as Serah put her glasses on, catching the young woman by surprise – Serah blinked in mild surprise, however she smiled slightly as she looked around the area again. Everything was a lot clearer now – it looked like things were gonna be back to normal now; Thankfully. As they reached their classroom, however, Serah could feel a sense of foreboding she'd been experiencing over the past couple of days – since she came back to class, really. However, she had a very good idea as to why this was – after all, Death the Kid had been staring at her over the past couple of days since he'd apologised to her.
"Great." Serah spoke under her breath as she saw the familiar sight of Death the Kid, Liz and Patty seated in their usual spots – This meant it was another day of her feeling Kid looking at her on and off through classes. The familiar sounds of the rolling of a wheelie chair came to Serah's faint notice, and as she began to head up the steps to her seat at the row in front of Maka and Soul, she saw that Liz was waving slightly at her – The young woman had taken to saying Hi to her every day, it seemed. Did the appearingly bitter woman actually like her or something?
"Alright Class." Came Stein's voice just as Serah had managed to take a seat, catching the attention of most of the class almost immediately. Serah looked down at Stein, who wasn't holding a book for attendance, or anything. What was going on? "Today's classes are free studying – The test's been put on hold for now; But that doesn't mean you're off the hook." Serah blinked in mild surprise at this information, glancing at the other people in class off to her left for a moment.
"That's weird." Serah heard someone speak, however she looked back at Stein as he began to leave the room on his rolling wheelie chair.
"Oh, and Serah?" Stein called on his way out, causing Serah to remain silent and motionless for a few moments. "You're to be at the Death Room at the end of last class." Serah nodded slightly, however she was still slightly confused; Stein still disappeared from the room, and as the rolling sounds of his wheelie chair vanished from notice, Serah let out a weary breath. Well, maybe it was better this way – realistically Serah should have spent some time learning how to use her circlets before she went on that extra lesson; now might be a good time to actually get onto that – However she couldn't remember what happened to her circlets; And her MP3 player was still missing on her.
"Hey, Maka?" Serah spoke, looking up at the Scythe Meister as she leant forward over the desk. Serah chose to turn around on her seat, where she sat more comfortably. "You have any idea what happened to my circlets and Music player? I can't find them anywhere."
"Circlets and MP3?" Maka spoke slowly, and Serah nodded slightly, observing the thoughtful expression that crept across Maka's face.
"Yeah, I had them when I went with you and Soul to Paris, remember?" Serah commented, and it was a few moments later when Maka seemed to remember, for she seemed to smile sheepishly.
"Oh, yeah. They're in my room – I forgot to bring them to class again." Maka said, a slight giggle in her voice as Serah sighed slightly. Straight back the way they came, it seemed.
"Well, at least they're not in France." Serah commented, a sheepish smile creepign across her voice as she looked back up at Maka. "Can I grab them from your place soon? I kinda need them today."
"Oh, really?" Maka spoke, surprise touching the tone of her voice. "What're you doing then?"
"Well, Professor Stein said we had the day to do whatever we wanted towards studies, right? I was gonna go and get some practice in, so I don't slice a hand off next time I'm in France." Serah spoke, tilting her head slightly as Soul seemed to frown momentarily from his seat. "And … I'm kinda losing my mind without my music player."
"Oh!" Maka spoke, and almost instantly it seemed, she adopted a rather concerned look. "You're taking a first-aid kit, right?"
"Excuse me?" Serah almost coughed, horror creeping across her face as she stared up at Maka, who suddenly looked rather apologetic.
"It's just, I'm not saying you're terrible, but … I kinda know your hands were your own fault …" Maka spoke, her tone hesitant; Serah had a hard time believing that Maka had just said that.
"I'm not that clumbsy!" Serah complained, crossing her arms as she decided to pout slightly.
"Yeah, you are." Soul commented without hesitance, and as Serah blinked in shock, she saw him smirk slightly. "Not even Maka's smacked her head into a door before." Serah continued to stare, and her shock began to fade as she tried to figure out what Soul was referring to – After all, she'd never smacked her head into a door … Hang on – "You've still got the bruise running down the left side of your face."
"I do not!" Serah squeaked incredulously, however Soul suddenly began to laugh – Was this his idea of a joke?
"Just ignore him – It's barely even there." Maka spoke wearily, smiling momentarily as she got to her feet. "Come on, if you've gotta practice, then we'd better get your stuff for you."
"Great." Serah spoke, rising to her feet carefully as she carefully slung her red bag over a shoulder. She began to squeeze past people on her way out, smiling slightly as Liz said 'see ya' as she stepped past.
"Oh, so what's going on with these extra classes of yours?" Maka asked as Serah paused on the bottom step to glance over at the blank blackboard. "When're they starting?"
"Oh!" Serah spoke, looking back at Maka and Soul over her shoulder, to see that they were still coming down the steps. Serah blinked as she saw Death the Kid look over at her, and as she was about to wave hesitantly, she saw him snap his gaze away from her suddenly. She decided to ignore that as she looked back at Maka – who was now standing just in front of Serah, causing her to begin to start walking again. "They replace last class every afternoon, I think."
"So they're not actually extra classes, but replacement classes."
"Kinda." Serah spoke, and she smiled sheepishly as she looked back at Maka momentarily. "Well, they are. Last class doesn't actually teach me anything, so I'm just sitting there bored all afternoon, waiting for the bell to go."
"So this class is supposed to stop you from falling over and crashing into things, huh?" Soul spoke thoughtfully after a moment, and as Serah looked at the white-haired man as he strolled with his arms folded behind his head, he seemed to stop himself from laughing. "What? Is it gym class?"
'No ..." Serah spoke, hesitating as she looked at Maka and Soul, who were walking to her right. "Dance lessons." Almost immediately, Soul was laughing, and Maka as smiling sheepishly, which made Serah frown at the two of them. "Come on! It's not like I asked for Lord Death to give me Dancing Lessons, alright?"
"I'm sorry." Maka spoke, still smiling sheepishly as she elbowed Soul in the ribs sharply, cutting his laughter off suddenly. "It's just hard to imagine you taking dance lessons."
"Yeah, well I didn't ask for it." Serah spoke bitterly, frowning out at the area around her – and she finally noticed that they had ended up outside already, and were already half way back to Maka and Soul's place. "And why's it so funny anyway?"
"Cause." Maka spoke, that sheepish smile creeping back across her face in full force. "Since Lord Death was the one that decided for it …" Serah blinked, frowning with an exasperated sigh as she realised what picture had taken the two's thoughts.
"No, I'm not learning how to ballroom dance with the Grim Reaper himself." Serah spoke bitterly, and Soul had to cough to stop himself from bursting into laughter again.
"Alright, alright! We're sorry!" Maka spoke, however she still giggled. Serah chose to remain silent, falling into a slower walk as Maka jogged up to the front door of their house. Well, at least it looked like she could escape their entertainment now – she wasn't used to anyone picking on her this much – at least she had gotten used to being left alone in that regard. She waited outside as Maka and Soul headed inside, and after what seemed as a few seconds, Serah saw Maka come jogging out, a MP3 player and pair of headphones in one hand, and in the other was a kind of brown leather circle, about the size one of her circlet rings was.
"That was quick." Serah spoke, blinking as Maka smiled as she came to a halt just in front of her. Eagerly taking her MP3 player back, Serah then looked down at the brown leather, which she realised was a case for her circlets – two cases actually. Serah carefully took hold of the chain that joined the two circlet blades, discovering that there had been changes, and that the little links weren't as sharp as they used to be. "What's with the case?" Serah asked as she looked back at Maka, to see her smile once again.
"Stein made changes to your weapon for you, so it's not as sharp – I think the case is so you don't trip and hurt yourself that way either." Serah let out a weary breath, smiling slightly as she swung the circlets a little.
"Of course." She spoke, looking down at the 'sheathed' weapons, and a smile crept up across her face. "Well I can at least practice swings and all that with the cases on."
"Oh, what're you doing tomorrow?" Maka asked suddenly, catching Serah by surprise.
"Nothing, I think." Serah spoke thoughtfully, pulling her headphones over her head after a few moments – the return of the headphones was already making her feel better. "Why? Something up?"
"No -" Maka spoke, smiling as Serah pocketed her MP3 player carefully. "I was just wondering if you wanted to hang out with us for lunch?" Serah remained silent for a few moments, looking back at Maka as she contemplated how busy she was going to be tomorrow. Realistically, she had thought about reading for a little while, then probably getting more practice in, whether it be for her new classes, or just working on swings, she wasn't sure.
"I dunno." Serah spoke after a few seconds, smiling sheepishly as she saw Maka blink momentarily. "I didn't think too much on it – I might be getting some more practice in. Ask me tomorrow?" A smile crept across Maka's face, and Serah wondered why that was.
"Alright." She spoke, smiling a little more as she then began to head back to the house. "If you've got practice, then I'm not gonna keep you. Have fun!" Maka spoke, and a few moments later, the front door had shut behind her. Serah remained silent and motionless, looking down at her circlets as she thought. Well, suppose she'd better do something before those new classes of hers. A smile broke out across Serah's face as she pulled her MP3 player out of her pocket, pressing play as she began to walk off towards her house – there was no reason for her shoulderbag.
Mayonaka no Door began to play through the headphones with a favorably loud volume, and the sweet ranges of bass, causing a grin to plaster itself across Serah's face as she pocketed her MP3 player once again – she never realised just how much she was missing music until that moment.