4. Kishin Hunting
This Won't Hurt A Bit?
Soul was stirring the bubbling pot of Spaghetti when the two girls entered the apartment. He looked up, disinterested, before returning to his cooking. Blair, in human form, came bounding forward.
"Hi!" She greeted cheerfully. Mimiko raised one eyebrow. "I'm Blair the cat. Meow!" She winked.
"Blair's a cat with too much magic for her own good." Maka explained dryly, "She lives here too."
"Uh-huh." The redhead observed.
"Come on, dinner's ready." Soul announced from the kitchen, turning away from the stove. The four of them sat down at the table, filling their plates with noodles and meat sauce.
"What do you think of Death City?" Blair asked.
"I haven't seen very much of it yet." Mimiko replied.
"Mimiko's going shopping tomorrow." Maka added, "Do you need us to come?"
"No." Soul cut in flatly, "I'm putting my foot down. I don't care if we are showing her around, I am not going on a three hour shopping trip."
"Not you." Maka scowled, "I was thinking more along the lines of Tsubaki, Liz, Patty and I. Girls night out. Liz and Patty probably wouldn't forgive you for going shopping without them."
"Thanks, but I think I can handle it myself." Mimiko said, she cast a sidelong glance at Blair.
"Mimiko designs clothes." Maka informed her housemates.
"Really?" Blair asked, looking at their neighbor with new excitement, "What kinds of clothes?"
"All kinds." Mimiko shrugged. She spent another couple of moments looking intently at the cat, taking in her optimal figure, the possibilities clouded her mind, "Would you like me to make something for you?" She asked finally.
"I'd love it!" Blair squealed, "That is, if it's not too much trouble."
"Don't worry about it." Mimiko tried to smile, but she was concentrating too hard, "You'll be a lot of fun to design for." She turned turned her head and suddenly felt uncomfortable. She moved a bit more to see Maka staring blankly at her, eyes wide. "What are you doing?" Mimiko demanded. Maka blinked a couple of times, looking embarrassed.
"Sorry." She picked her fork back up and started to twirl her food with it, "I was just distracted."
"By?"
Maka looked at her seriously for a moment, trying to decide what to say. In the end, she smiled ruefully and told the truth, "Your soul." Mimiko raised one eyebrow again. "Do you know what it looks like?"
"I can't see souls, I don't know what it's supposed to look like. Why?"
"It's interesting. The stripes and the colors."
"Oh, that's what I inherited from my mother." Mimiko smiled, "The Witch portion of my soul."
"You're a witch?" Blair asked.
"My mother was."
"Can you use magic?"
"Professor Stein seems to think I can. I can only do a little at the moment, I call it working with what I have. I can change my clothes and hairstyle when I want, but I have to already have the clothes. It's the simplest form of magic, it's how children discover their power, you just wish for your hair to be in a ponytail, and with concentration it does. That's all I can consciously do so far, and I can't put clothes on other people, just me, I need to experiment with that sometime."
"Isn't Crona's mother a witch, too?" Blair directed at Maka, who clenched her fork with a death grip.
"Medusa." She muttered angrily.
"I've heard of her." Mimiko said quizzically, "My mother told me stories of Medusa the snake and her older sister Arachne the spider. She never mentioned a child."
"You've met Crona." Soul said simply, "He's not something she would brag about."
"He was an experiment." Maka added sharply, "That's all he was to her."
"You mean the...?" Mimiko trailed off, unable to find words she gestured at the top of her head.
"Medusa melted down the demon sword Ragnarok into black blood, which she replaced Crona's blood with." Soul said, "The blood is strong, so is Ragnarok, it makes Crona hard to beat. Ragnarok can harden the blood, making Crona impossible to cut through. He can also stop bleeding and attack with the spilled blood."
"Wow." The new girl muttered, "Demon sword, reaper's son, wavelength attack. You've all got your special gifts, don't you?"
"I guess you can say it that way." Soul laughed.
"How does Professor Stein..." Maka said quietly, the others turned to her when she made the sudden change in topic, "expect to teach Mimiko how to use magic?"
"From what he's told me, I think he only plans on teaching me to better use my soul." Mimiko answered, "He doesn't know how to teach a witch."
"What about you, Blair? Can you teach her?" Maka asked eagerly. Blair's purple cat ears drooped and her lips fell into a pout.
"It's not like I can do anything useful. Besides, my magic works different than witch magic. Sorry." Blair answered sadly.
"I don't need to use a lot of magic, I don't need anyone to teach me." Mimiko said.
"Stein probably wants you to learn it anyway." Soul said, "A meister who can attack with any weapon and her magic..."
"I won't be meister to any weapons." Mimiko interrupted coldly, "Not now. Not ever."
"Don't say that." Maka said quickly. She remember Lord Death's orders to keep Mimiko from getting too discouraged. "Maybe you'll find the right weapon someday."
"I don't want a weapon."
"Maybe you'll change your mind." Maka shrugged, keeping casual. They stayed away from the topics of weapons and magic as the four of them finished their meal. They talked about Mimiko's old school, about Maka and Soul's friends, Professor Stein, Lord Death, Maka's father, and even Death City. They tried not to ask personal questions, Mimiko had already admitted too much for her first day in town. "We have to go out." Maka explained after they cleaned up, "We've got someone to catch."
"Third time's the charm?" Soul smirked.
"He's not getting away from me this time." Maka smiled darkly.
Similong was out "hunting" in the streets. His no-longer-human body was gangly and disproportionate. His discolored skin hung awkwardly off his bones, in each hand he held a large knife. Maka approached him, her Scythe slung over her shoulder, her face set in determination.
"Similong!" She called out to him. Similong wheeled around, a big grin stretching across his face.
"This again?" He asked, taking in the meister's relaxed postured.
"Only this time, I won't let you get away." Maka swung her weapon partner around and braced him in from of her, the smallest smirk on her lips.
"We'll see about that." Similong replied evenly. He crouched his stretched body down and charged, headfirst, toward Maka, his arms posed to stab. Maka watched him come calmly, waiting for him to get closer...closer...just a little closer...He lifted his arm to swing and Maka moved a step to her right, letting his momentum carry him past her. Similong slowed himself and turned again. "This isn't a bull fight." He taunted, "You'll have to attack me eventually."
"I was planning on it." Maka informed him. She bent her knees and sprung, bringing the scythe above her head and swinging down. Similong avoided the blade and swung his arm out, making solid contact with Maka's body, flinging her hard into a wall. Maka hit the wall hard enough to leave a cracked crevice. She took a deep breath and turned part way to look behind her. "Oops." She muttered.
"Oops? That's all you have to say for yourself?" Soul yelled at her from her hands, "Don't get so close to him."
"I have to, his arms are almost as long as you are." Maka answered. She turned the rest of the way and steadied herself. She used her foot to push off the wall, scythe raised, she yelled and swung again, aiming for Similong's chest. He backed up, the power of devoured souls made him deadly fast, and Maka had to regain control of her weapon.
"Cute." He said cockily, "But I think I'll be eating your soul now."
"No, your soul is mine!" She launched again, and missed.
"Maka!" Soul shouted, "This line of attack isn't working, try something else."
"He's too fast." His meister panted.
"We've won harder fights before. Just focus." Similong moved again, in a flash he was behind them. He kicked Maka in the back, sending her flying forward into another wall. Maka fell to her knees, small bits of rubble falling around her. Similong was in front of her again, stabbing down with his knives. Maka rolled out of the way just in time, she continued rolling on the ground to avoid the blades until she got a grip on Soul's handle and used the edge of his blade to knock Similong's feet out from under him. Similong tumbled backward, regaining his balance before he fell. As he stumbled, Maka had enough time to get back on her feet. Similong charged again, Maka used the butt of the handle to hit his head, knocking him off path. Before she was able to bring the scythe down on him, he had already moved behind her again. Maka stepped to the side, his blade grazing her arm. Her black jacket and undershirt tore, blood staining the edges.
"You." Maka snarled, swinging her scythe wildly, "Are. Really. Making. Me. Mad!"
"Watch out!" Soul called. Similong's blade connected with Maka's side, leaving a long cut. Maka winced at the pain but moved out of the way before he could deal more damage.
"I'm done getting cut up by this guy." Maka said quietly.
"Prove it." Soul muttered. Maka and Similong watched each other from ten yards away. They're eyes stayed warily on their opponent's, sizing up their next move. Maka clenched her jaw and tightened her grip around her weapon. Similong watched these minuscule movements with a malicious smile. He knew her attacks, he could fend her off all night until someone won. Maka's eyes widened when she realized what he much be thinking.
"He already knows what we're going to do." She observed helplessly, "He knows how to fight us, he'll just keep hitting us down."
"Smart little girl." Similong complimented. Maka inhaled sharply, then breathed out slowly. She closed her eyes and took another deep breath. Slowly, she opened her eyes and hung her head. Her grip on the scythe loosened and she lowered the weapon.
"What are you doing?" Soul shouted.
"She giving up like a good little girl." Similong answered, skulking closer, "Now close your eyes and it won't hurt much." Maka lowered her weapon even more, her arms slack at her side and Soul felt himself barely balancing on the tips of her fingers. Similong ducked his head and started another charge. He moved forward, raising his arms. Maka stood her ground, neither moving out of they way or lifting her head.
"Maka!" Similong was only inches away when Maka resolutely grasped the scythe's handle and her eyes narrowed. At they very last moment she shifted her stance and swung Soul up, catching the blade on their attacker. Similong was in midair, his face surprised and the blade cut him lengthwise. Maka followed the swing through and by the time she relaxed her stance, Similong's body had dissolved into ribbons and his scaly red soul hovered before him. There was a flash of light as Soul returned to his human form. He had his hands stuffed into his pockets and was looking at his partner unhappily. "Way to leave it til the last second." He complained.
"He knew our moves." Maka justified, "He knew how we fought, to beat him I had to do something unexpected."
"I'll say." The Scythe moved forward and took the soul into his palm, "At least we finally got him." Maka nodded as her weapon slipped the Kishin egg down his throat. "That one was a long time coming." The two started off toward home.
"At least we got him in the end."
"Wasted enough time doing it, though."
"Ugh." Maka sighed in frustration, "Would it kill you to just be happy for once?"
Last chapter has a grand total of 0 reviews! This happened before where my first two chapters were popular but then no one reviewed the next couple chapters. In the end I had to give it up. I hate doing that and I don't want to, but if a story has no response I have to focus more on writing stories that do get reviewed. But I'm sure that won't happen.
Review!
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