Chapter Four: Kai: Arriving at the Games; Who the Hell is This?
Exactly a week later, life found me in a very different situation.
It was still hotter than hell, thanks to our cheerful friend in the sky, Mr. Demonic Sun. I glared at the offensive face for a moment before shoving another cardboard box through the door. As it had turned out, there had been a vacancy in Maka and Soul's building, and my meister and I had quickly jumped on the opening and were just finishing moving all of our things in. All that was set up in the house was a single mirror, floor-to-ceiling, about two people wide. We would be needing it later that day for transportation to the Land of Mirrors where Lord Death resided, and where the opening ceremony of the Games would commence. I was slightly nervous, seeing as I had nearly died last time I had been there during the Exchange Program ball, but I felt rather certain that there wouldn't be any homicidal witches attending this event.
Wiping away sweat with the back of my hand, I surveyed our work. Though it had been exhausting, I was filled with a sense of accomplishment as I looked around the apartment. It was the perfect size: two bedrooms, one bathroom – just like what I had lived in when I resided in America.
Black*Star walked in, shutting the door behind him and basking in the cool air. One perk to living in this building was that each apartment came with a working air conditioner. We'd had the machine on full-blast all day and the atmosphere inside was cool enough to nearly make me shiver. For a moment, I basked in the chill, looking around the room at all of the boxes lying around before settling on the couch for a moment of rest.
To say that I was happy that my meister had finally agreed to get a new place was an understatement: I was ecstatic. Black*Star, however, still seemed uneasy. He was oddly silent while we were moving our things, and I hadn't heard one self-confident phrase from him all day.
"I'm glad we finally got all of those boxes in," he muttered, breaking the silence. I met his eyes with a grin and nodded.
"Now we can get ready for another dinner with Lord Death!" I cheered, halfway sarcastic and halfway sincere, salivating at the thought of actual food. "I'm just glad I got that whole shopping thing out of the way before today."
The assassin laughed at my look of disgust, nearly falling out of his chair. It was no secret that I still despised shopping. Despite Liz's best efforts, I still found it a boring task. With her help, however, the shopping had been relatively… well, not pain-free, but short at least. Though it felt like a hundred dresses had been shoved at me, Liz decided on a black one rather quickly and – at least this time – I couldn't say anything bad about it. The black lace dress looked superb on me, though it felt strange to be wearing something so fancy. The top was built like a corset, much like my previous gown, but it had a strap that went around my neck. Liz called the skirt 'a flowing high-low' and said that it 'accented my killer legs'.
And here I thought it was my blade that was killer.
With a sigh, I relaxed in the cool air again, relishing a moment of calm before I would have to leave. Somehow I had been roped into getting ready with the rest of the girls at Kid's mansion (because apparently the size of the bathroom made a difference) while all the boys were going to get ready at our new apartment. I had a feeling that things were probably going to get a little rowdy so I had already put all of my important things in my room, and locked the door. Everything was prepared for my departure, so I had a good half an hour before even had to start thinking about going to Maka's.
I was looking forward to some more girl time like we'd had at the sleepover – however brief the boy-free moments were. Maka was a surprisingly genuine person, and I found myself admiring her more as we grew closer as friends. Liz and Patty were strong in their own right, and knowing their back-story now, I couldn't help but hold a sort of reverence for my new found circle. I mean, being the one and only Kishin Blade certainly said a bit about my strength, but two of my closest friends were Death the Kid's pistols! Even if they were relentless in their inspection of my relationship with Black*Star.
Glancing over at the bluenette, I studied him for a moment while deep in thought. It was true that we weren't overly affectionate – and I was seriously okay with that – but all the same, doubts had begun creeping in ever since the girls and I had walked back to Maka's home after a late night of beating the guys at video games. Liz had pointed out that we weren't even acting the same around each other anymore, almost like whatever had given us the tension before was gone.
"You mean, you haven't noticed?" Liz had questioned, almost tripping over herself in shock.
"Leave her alone, Liz!" Maka had sighed, placing a hand on her hip. "Maybe that's just their thing!"
Liz had given me a long, hard look before shrugging and turning away. "I guess."
"Hey, Black*Star?" I asked curiously.
My meister merely grunted in acknowledgment, and I took that as a sign to continue with my question: "Are we…" Biting my lip nervously, I refused to sound like a middle-school girl confessing. Clenching my fist, I faced him with a determined expression, and blurted out my question. "What am I to you, Black*Star?"
For once in his life, Black*Star's innocence failed him. I could tell the second that he understood what I was asking, and a second later he could see the regret on my face after I felt his soul's reaction. It was an immediate wince, a shot to my pride, as the presence of him retreated from mine as if hiding. It took everything I had not to let my face crumple in disappointment: though I hadn't felt anything concrete, his reaction was more than enough to prove-
My train of thought halted as suddenly he initiated a stronger resonance, our minds and bodies heightening their awareness of each other. Our level of power made the resonance even more intimate. If I focused my energies on him, I could feel the heat prickling on his skin, the uncomfortable layer of sweat that stuck his shirt to his abdomen. The way his heart pounded with nervousness when I asked questions that he couldn't answer out loud because, well, he was a god and he had an ego to protect after all (at least, that's the reason he thrust into my mind, but I could tell it was shyness)! Most of all, I could feel the overwhelming sense of pride in me as his weapon, and the warmth of adoration towards me in general. Immediately I began blushing, dazed by the onslaught of connection, wondering how exactly other meister/weapon pairs kept themselves with falling in love with their partners if we were capable of this kind of connection.
"How the hell did we do that?" I asked, startled, breaking off the connection.
Black*Star just gaped at me in response, continuing his day of unusual silence. Not bothering to say a word I got up and escaped to the bathroom, shutting the door behind me with a soft click. Whatever answer he had been going to give, I had not been prepared for that. More than ever, I was ready to prove myself with him in the Games. I was still afraid of the possibility of loss but at the same time I was assured. Our bond had grown stronger still since we had faced Warren, armed with Armageddon. As a pair our power had increased steadily through training. Sparring with Kid, you probably couldn't see the difference, but all the same… we were ready for the challenge. I knew it in my gut, though the feeling was still accompanied by a sense of foreboding.
His arrogance, I knew, would get us into trouble. I worried for his ability to keep focus during a battle if our opponent insulted his pride, which was often the case with Kid. The second that Black*Star felt that his honor was being judged he stopped strategizing and went for brute force which, though being a Claymore definitely supported this style, being anything else did not. Black*Star didn't seem to understand my need for balance, and that irritated me beyond belief.
Here I am, not three minutes after he's all but dropped the 'L' word, and I'm thinking about his annoying traits.
Rubbing my face tiredly, I glanced at my reflection in the mirror. Cool grey eyes reflected back at me, framed by my strange wine-red hair color. My skin, though darker than most of the people I was around nowadays, had lost a bit of its tan in the while that I had been here. I would need to find a time to go on a mission somewhere sunny or I might end up looking like Kid! Chuckling at the image, I splashed some water on my face to get rid of some of the sweat, and glanced at the time. It seemed to be moving quickly – I had ten minutes to be at Maka's – but my embarrassment at having bared my emotions drove me to go to the blond meister's apartment early. As I exited my bathroom, I swiftly unlocked my door and grabbed up my dress and, with disgust, my heels.
Throwing them both over my shoulder, I walked past Black*Star to get to the front door. "I'm going to head over to Maka's!"
"Don't get lost on the way there!" The assassin snorted, raising an eyebrow in my direction as he continued lounging on the chair. "I hope you don't need a big star like me to help you out!"
Shaking my head, I twisted the knob to leave. "Yeah, because walking across the hall is so difficult!" I rolled my eyes, mockingly flipping him the bird, and stepping out into the hallway.
Two hours later.
Two hours of hair cutting, eyebrow tweezing, polish-fume breathing, and general discomfort on my part. Maka, at least, seemed to be accustomed to dressing up for things. I, for one, hadn't enjoyed a minute of it. Not even the foot massage before my pedicure.
Alright, so I might have lied about that last part.
Looking in the mirror now, I could positively say that it was worth it. The pain and suffering had turned me into a semi-presentable demonstration of the female gender, and I could tell that Liz was pleased with her handiwork. She had right to be. Even though I wasn't the type of girl to get all fancy and dressed up, even I could see that she had a knack for make-up and hair design. My unruly mess of hair had turned into a slightly less unruly cut that, probably by request of Kid, was only slightly more symmetrical than my last. The bangs that I had now tilted only slightly to the right side of my face, giving me a more innocent look than the previous long side-swept cut had.
I sighed, running my fingers through the rest of it, feeling out the layers that she'd put in. At first I hadn't trusted her with scissors, but then she had threatened to give Patty the scissors and I knew that I was going to have to choose the better of two evils. It turned out surprisingly well.
Clapping her hands with glee, Liz was practically glowing with excitement. "You look amazing, Kai!"
Only slightly disgruntled – I couldn't be too annoyed when I looked this good – I shrugged and silently thanked Death that she had at least stuck with black and red for my color scheme. The dark colors at least made me feel slightly comfortable in the get-up. With a sigh, I tugged at it slightly and glanced at the mirror once last time before turning in time for Maka to enter the room. The ash-blond meister had gone with a sophisticated white number, accenting her green eyes.
It was nearly time to depart, and we were all dolled up and ready to go. I was just itching to get to the fighting, and to meet the competition. My nerves were driving me nearly to insanity by the time we all headed over to my new apartment to use our mirror. I quickly let myself in, glancing around to find the living room empty. The apartment smelled heavily of boy's cologne and, as we entered, I sniffed out and tried to separate the different scents. After a few seconds, however, the silence became slightly disturbing. I raised an eyebrow at the other girls, who all shrugged, and we all began slowly making our way down the hallway. After wiggling the handle to my room, I assured myself that no one had gotten into my room, but Black*Star's door was closed as well. Slowly I began approaching the door, slightly worried about what I would find behind the door.
Knocking lightly, I listened for any sounds that would mean people were inside, but there was nothing. Suspicious, I slowly turned the knob and peeked inside. After a moment, I snickered and moved aside to show the other girls: Black*Star, Kid, Soul, and Crona were all asleep in various positions in the room. Black*Star was sprawled across his bed, while Kid was asleep in his chair – drooling. Crona had curled up in the corner in the fetal position, snoring softly. Soul had taken up residence on the end of the bed, his feet and his head hanging off either end. They made quite the comical scene.
"It's time to go," Liz grinned. "Should we wake them up?"
I smirked evilly, a plan forming. "Patty, why don't you do the honors? The rest of us will wait in the living room."
Patty cackled, and the last thing I saw of her as we shut the door was her creeping up on Kid while the sleeping Shinigami continued resting. I could only imagine what she was going to do to them…
"That was horrible, Kai!" Maka chuckled, shooting me a smile. I shrugged, listening intently while we settled down onto various couches and chairs. Boxes still everywhere, stacked against walls. The only part that was clear was where the mirror was propped. While we waited in silence I attempted to tamp down my pre-fight excitement and appear calm and confident, when all I wanted to do was be training. It was nerve-wracking!
However, when the boys began yelling and their stomping feet flew down the hallway, I couldn't help but start laughing. Black*Star was at the front of the group, but clipped one of the boxes one his way into the living room and tumbled to the ground, which caused a massive dog pile. Laughing so hard in a dress as tight as mine shouldn't have been possible, but I was gasping for breath by the time my meister was finally able to detangle himself from the rest and stand. His blue hair was even more messed up than usual, but all the same he looking quite handsome in his fancy clothes. Just like the Exchange Program ball, he had ditched the suit jacket and wore just the vest, dress shirt, and pants instead.
He, of course, ruined the image by opening his mouth: "Who the hell sent the demon in there? A big star needs his rest, you know!"
I snorted, stood up, and hooked my thumb towards the mirror. "Sorry to interrupt your beauty-sleep, boys, but it's time to head out!"
The Land of Mirrors was just as I had remembered it – minus the blood-thirsty witch. When we stepped out of our transport, I noticed that all of the broken mirrors had been fixed. The room seemed brighter in general, though that might have been the product of the ominous, yet cartoonishly dressed, Death god who was greeting us. When he saw Kid, Lord Death hopped right over and waved on strangely large, blocky hand at us all in greeting.
"Hiya!"
"Father, can you please try to act dignified?" Kid asked with an eye roll. I managed not to mention that he had been sleeping in the opposite of a dignified manner not half an hour ago. "This is a serious event."
"You betcha, Kiddo!" Death saluted – though I couldn't tell if he was mocking his son or being sincere. With the mask it was hard to tell. He then bounced off to another mirror, where another group of eight teens were beginning to emerge.
"We'd better go get seated," Kid sighed, leading us out into the hall and towards the dining area. "I apologize in advance for my father's antics. He can be a bit… excessive at times."
Patty giggled, nodding, while Liz snorted slightly. Being a student at the DWMA, you got used to Lord Death's eccentrics. There were times when I wondered if he truly was all-powerful like everyone said he was, but when I had brought it up with Maka she had shown me some news coverage of him fighting. Needless to say, I don't very much doubt him anymore. Like father, like son, I suppose.
Glancing at Kid, who is now weaving through the tables with ease in order to find where we're placed, I wonder just how powerful the future Shinigami is. His transformation will be interesting, to say the least.
Lost in thought as I was, I didn't pay attention to who was in my path until I was suddenly bumping into another body. Both of us went sprawling, my heels allowing me no purchase as I slipped to the ground with a surprised grunt. My immediate response was irritation, and I sprang to my feet, teeth bared, as I readied myself for some good old-fashioned pre-preemptive intimidation. Before I could say anything, however, we met eyes and I was shocked into silence. I nearly choked on my own saliva as I stared down into my own face – yet there wasn't a mirror in front of me.
"Oh my Death," the girl gasped, her eyes wide, her voice thick with an Irish lilt.
As she stood, we openly stared at each other. Upon second glance, there were a lot of differences between us. Though we had the same grey eyes, her hair was more of a sunset orange, a large contrast with my blood red locks. Where my skin was dotted with freckles from my training in the sun, her face was smooth and porcelain, and her eyelashes brushed her cheeks softly as she stared back, openly gaping. Only after I noticed that she had flats on instead of heels did I realize that we would be roughly the same height if I were in normal shoes.
All in all, we could have been twins.
"Hey, Kai, we've found our table! Get your ass over here so you can get your sea-"
Black*Star stopped as he noticed the look on my face and followed my gaze, his jaw dropping comically as he stared at my doppelgänger. "Holy shit! She looks like you!"
She winced noticeably at his cursing.
I elbowed him in the gut, frowning. "What the hell, don't cuss!"
"You just cussed!" He griped, confused, but I let it pass as I stuck out my hand.
"I'm Kai Blair, from the DWMA." I grinned as she tentatively shook my hand, matching my smile with a small one of her own. Though she and I obviously shared the same looks, I could already tell she lacked the confidence and attitude that I had. A part of me was still trying to process her standing in front of me but the rest of me tossed it to the side. This was the Games. There would be time to go on a soul-searching hunt for the roots of our seemingly-tied family tree after I beat her ass.
"Merle Titan, EWMAE." She responded.
I took another moment to take in her face, still shocked by our resemblance. "I don't know if you've noticed, but you kinda have my face…"
Merle laughed, covering her mouth with her hand in an oddly polite way that I wrinkled my nose at. Something told me that I would notice more and more differences between our demeanors and personalities the more that I got to know her.
Not that I was planning on getting to know her. No thank you. I had enough family problems to last me a lifetime.
"Or do you have mine?" She questioned, raising a manicured eyebrow, "Now I must bid you adieu. My friends are awaiting my arrival at our table." Her eyes drifted across my face again as she began to drift away from us slowly. "I hope to see you again, Kai Blair. And you as well, Black*Star!"
I nodded once, watching her walk away before following Black*Star's retreating form as he led me towards our table. After arriving, we took our seats next to each other and immediately clued into the conversation before Black*Star jumped in with our interesting tidbit of news. Liz immediately began gushing, planning out our entire discovery and asking when we were going to begin our trip (she obviously had more lofty goals than I did for this), while Maka reacted with much less enthusiasm, though it was much more pure. Kid, however, had his golden eyes narrowed with a mixture of intrigue and suspicion. That small little part of me – call it a conscience or instinct – agreed with his reaction. This was strange, to come here and find a girl that bore a striking resemblance to me, which made my own oblivious meister react.
"Aren't you excited," Liz asked incredulously at one point, questioning my lack of excitement. "You found a twin! A missing sister!"
However pressing it seemed to my blond friend, the situation was pushed to the back of my mind as Lord Death rose up on his pedestal in the middle of the room, similar to the last ball we had attended, and introduced himself and the program. It was pretty straight forward: it would consist of four rounds, the first one being a coliseum fight where we were pretty much all tossed in to fight to the fake death. The second would be a tournament of the survivors, and the third… well, Lord Death said the third round would be a surprise for those still fighting. We all took it in stride, and the tension was quickly eased between the five eight-person tables when the food appeared. Throughout the meal, however, though I was outwardly at ease (I beat Black*Star at another eating contest), something was itching on the edge of my mind. Something was off.
Finally, my own suspicion caught up to me as I analyzed my conversation with Merle.
I had never introduced Black*Star.
And she had called him by name.
Author's Note: Heya ducklings, sorry for the long wait... long story short is, I survived my junior year of high school! Don't know if I passed Physics but at least I survived. And I had a birthday! So Happy Birthday to me and whatnot! Whoop whoop! One step closer to legal adulthood! *moving on* I am SUPER DUPER sorry for the slow update! I tried to make this chapter longer to make up for it, and you met an important new character! Next chapter will be the beginning of the games and I am seriously excited! And, I would like to quickly send a shout-out to three awesome readers: BrainStormer (sorry for stealing your ideas! Can't wait to read what you have going next!), Komamura's son (You've been reading since pretty much the first chapter of EWME! and I have to give you some serious props for that!) and last but not least, Starlight (Your reviews always help me write!). Even if your name isn't listed, I just want to give a shout out to ALL of you who've reviewed or favorited, or even PM'd me. You guys are all awesome!
So to wrap this up, I will bow and promise a chapter soon, and also will promise faster updates. Thank Death for summer! Have a nice day, ducklings!