The following Monday came round far too quickly, in Brina's opinion – even though she'd spent the whole weekend moping yet again. She felt like she was on a constant loop of getting annoyed at herself for being so depressive, since she was usually such an optimistic person, then remembering why and getting upset and worried all over again.
Though this time, the twins refused to let her suffer alone. They practically broke her door down until she finally let them in. Jesse had tried his best to offer reassurance, whilst Adrian had been suggesting people who could keep an eye on her during lessons.
He was annoyed, because he and Jesse would be in a different class and so they wouldn't be able to defend Brina if Kid started giving her a hard time. They knew she wouldn't stand up for herself.
"I guess you could ask that Black Star guy," Adrian had suggested reluctantly. He didn't get along with people as it was, but he found Black Star to be particularly tedious. "He's one of Maka's friends, right? He'd stick up for you."
"I'm not asking anyone to stick up for me," Brina had protested. "I'll just have to deal with it myself."
So on Monday morning, Brina was feeling very miserable as she had to split up from the twins. "See you later," she said dully, as she reached Professor Stein's classroom. They both bid her good luck and carried on down the corridor.
When she got inside, there were a fair few people already there and they were all standing. She noticed with relief that Kid wasn't there yet. Professor Stein spotted Brina as she came in.
"Ah, Brina... We're just waiting for the last few to turn up," he told her. "You can pop your things on one of the desks as usual, but then I need you to wait down here with the others."
Brina nodded and went over to put her bag on one of the desks on the front row. She didn't want to risk going up any of the stairs whilst there was still attention on her. She then went to stand by Maka and Casper.
The last few students, including Kid, soon filed into the room. They were followed by Sid – who still taught classes at the academy, despite being a blue-skinned zombie with a rather large hole in his forehead.
"Hey, class," he greeted everyone. "Excited about starting the new project?"
The response was positive from the majority of the class. Most of the meisters were quite pleased with their new partners. Blood grumbled something, but Black Star himself didn't seem particularly bothered by their new partnership. His attention was usually focused more directly on himself than anyone else.
Brina, of course, didn't say anything. She was still avoiding looking at Kid for fear of seeing his reaction, but she knew she couldn't get away with that for much longer. They'd have no choice but to start getting used to working together today.
"Well, I don't think there's anyone else to turn up... Ready to start, Sid?" asked Professor Stein.
"Ready when you are, Stein," replied Sid.
"Right..." said Professor Stein, now addressing the class. "As you know ,this project is to help you develop new fighting techniques and to get you used to working alongside other meisters, rather than relying on your weapons."
"Now, obviously, none of you are gonna be used to your new partners or even really at working with other meisters at all, so we're expecting you to be sloppy at first," added Sid. "We'll work on more trust exercises to get you used to your partners before we get into the real stuff. Then later on in the project, we'll look at working on matching soul wavelengths."
"But for now, we're gonna give you some basic fighting practice before we work on anything else," said Professor Stein.
"Before the trust exercises?" asked Maka.
"Yes. We want to see how you'd handle yourselves without any help from us beforehand," explained Professor Stein. "What you can demonstrate for us now will give us an idea of what would really happen if you were suddenly thrown into a situation where you had no weapons to fight with. Obviously, some of you will fare better than others."
"So does this mean we're being tested on this?" enquired Marista.
"Not at all," replied Professor Stein. "You're all in the same boat here. We just want a general idea of what sort of starting point you're at."
"So this is what we're gonna do to start off with..." announced Sid. "Last week, you all had one-on-one fighting practice against Stein. We're going to try something similar. Only this time, you'll be fighting in your pairs against both Stein and myself. Since there'll be two of you, there's two of us."
"So if you'd all like to just go and sit at the front row, out of the way... Except for Danny and Cory – we'll have you first," Professor Stein decided.
Danny and Cory gave each other nervous glances and remained at the front of the classroom whilst the others quickly found seats in the first row. Brina could hear frantic whispering as some of the new teams hurriedly tried to devise strategies. She bit her lip. Her and Kid should probably be doing the same.
She reluctantly turned to him – he'd taken the seat next to her – but she still didn't quite look him in the eye. "Um, do you think we should come up with a plan?"
Kid refused to look at her. "Do whatever you want," he said carelessly. "We already may as well be descending into anarchy; how could we possibly restore order now?"
Brina stared at the side of his head, completely baffled. Order? Anarchy? What the hell was he talking about? But she didn't push it. She felt grateful that he hadn't insulted her this time – she didn't really want to give him another opportunity to do so.
She turned her attention back to Danny and Cory's practice. They weren't doing too bad considering they didn't have much experience in fighting without their weapons.
Though as soon as she had thought it, Danny stumbled, trying to avoid a backhanded swipe from Sid. Sid was then able to grab him by the arm. "You're dead," he said simply, indicating that the practice was over.
Cory had hesitated, seeing that Sid had stopped his partner, giving Professor Stein the chance to lay a hand on his shoulder. "And you're dead too."
The boys exchanged glances – they both looked upset over how they'd done. They'd been caught out so easily. The practice had barely even lasted two minutes.
"Don't look so disappointed," reassured Professor Stein. "We're not expecting anyone to do brilliantly yet. This is just so we can get an idea of everyone's potential."
"Plus looking out for your partner already shows you have good teamwork skills," Sid added to Cory. "You just have to learn how to watch your own back as well."
Both meisters looked mollified by this and returned to their seats looking slightly happier. Professor Stein called Ox and Kilik up to try next.
Brina was starting to feel ill again. Danny and Cory had been taken out so quickly. She may have done fairly well against Professor Stein before, but both him and Sid at the same time? And without Adrian and Jesse to help her? Not to mention she had a partner who wasn't even willing to work with her.
Ox and Kilik didn't last much longer than Danny and Cory had. Their teamwork was a little better since they were already good friends, but they concentrated more on Sid, leaving Professor Stein with the opportunity to catch them out. He caught Ox by the shoulder.
"Wait!" protested Kilik, whirling round when he realised that Ox had been stopped.
Sid grabbed him by the hair as he darted towards Professor Stein. "Don't turn your back on your opponent. Now you're both dead."
"It was still a solid effort," Professor Stein told them as the two meisters made their way back to their seats, looking defeated. "I think next we'll have Kid and Brina."
Brina felt her stomach somersault. Damn. She'd been planning on having more time to mentally prepare herself. No such luck. She heard Kid sigh as he got up. She rose from her seat, feeling extremely nervous as she meekly followed him to the front of the classroom. She was finding it difficult to remember to pick her feet up. But she couldn't stumble now...
Kid stood so that he was facing Professor Stein. Brina reluctantly took her place behind him, facing Sid. If Kid wasn't going to help her plan out a strategy, then she was just going to have to work off what he did using her own logic.
"And go," ordered Sid, lunging forwards as he spoke.
Brina ducked sideways out of his way, roughly pushing Kid in the other direction as she did so that he wouldn't be caught by Sid either. Kid shot her an irritated look as he regained his balance, before blocking a punch from Professor Stein.
Brina bristled, annoyed. There wasn't time for niceties – she was only trying to help. Plus if Kid got taken out, then she wouldn't last long on her own against both teachers. But she could practically feel the hostility coming from Kid in waves and it was starting to make her flustered. She accidentally bumped against him, trying to keep her attention on Sid and Professor Stein.
Of course, this only annoyed Kid further. He pushed her away the second time it happened. "Watch it! You'll get us both caught out!"
Brina gritted her teeth. She was trying as hard as she could, but she was getting increasingly bothered by Kid's attitude and it was making her lose her focus more. As she awkwardly tried to avoid a blow from Sid, she lost her footing and crashed sideways into Kid, knocking them both to the floor.
"What do you think you're doing?" Kid said angrily, quickly scrambling to his feet.
Though he wasn't quite quick enough. He felt fingers grasping at his arm and tried to jerk away, but Sid pulled him back, wrapping a strong arm around his throat to hold him still and emphasise his point.
"Calm down, Kid. You're already dead," Sid announced simply.
"You're dead too, Brina." Professor Stein laid a hand on Brina's head, who was still sat on the floor looking stunned.
Giggles rose around the classroom, snapping Brina back to attention. She got to her feet, her face on fire. Kid was fuming at how the practice had gone. He yanked Sid's arm away and went back to his seat without saying a word. Brina followed miserably, but this time, she sat several seats away from him.
"Let's have Kim and Yvonna next," Professor Stein decided.
And so it went on. Each team had their own turn against Sid and Professor Stein. Every one of them got tagged out.
After they'd been round everyone in the class, the teachers then divided them into groups of four, pitting the pairs of meisters against each other in a similar exercise to what they'd just been doing. Professor Stein reckoned that it would be a fairer opportunity for them, since they were all on equal ground.
For Brina, this exercise went even worse than the last one had. Kid still refused to work with her, which was hitting her self-esteem hard and in turn, destroying her focus – and her balance – completely. Not only did she collide with Kid several more times, she also tripped over Marista's foot at one stage and then fell into Ao – the meister pair that they'd been teamed against. Kid was livid by the time the bell rang to signal the lunch period.
"And my father said you were a good meister," Kid muttered under his breath as he stormed out.
Unfortunately, it was still loud enough for Brina to hear. Feeling even more miserable, she fumbled unnecessarily with the zipper on her bag, making sure that there was a wide berth between her and Kid before she left the classroom.
However, Professor Stein seemed to have heard what Kid had said too and stopped Brina as she was leaving. "Don't let what Kid said get you down. I doubt it was personal."
Brina didn't agree. "I don't know why he seems to hate me so much," she said dejectedly.
"Oh, I wouldn't go that far," reassured Professor Stein lightly. "He'll come around; don't worry. He wasn't so keen on me at first either."
Brina looked at him in surprise. "He didn't like you? Why not?"
Professor Stein just smiled and said nothing, simply turning the screw in the side of his head as if that was the answer. Brina took that as her cue to leave.
She didn't go outside or to the lunch hall – the usual places that she spent her lunchtimes. The twins or one of her other friends would be bound to find her at either place and she couldn't handle that right now. If she had to relive this morning, then she'd probably break down in tears.
Instead, she headed towards the roof of the academy – the last place anyone would think to look for her. She never went up to the roof. There were too many stairs, which in her case, meant too many risks of falling over and embarrassing herself.
She took as much time as she wanted climbing the many stairs. It wasn't like she needed the time to eat. Her appetite was completely non-existent after the disaster of a morning she'd just endured. Once she was at the top, she settled down on the floor with her back to one of the walls, facing away from the stairs. Finally, she could just be alone.
The lunch hour passed far too quickly for her liking. Before she knew it, the bell was ringing to indicate the students return to classes. Brina didn't even bother moving. Why should she go back and be ridiculed for another couple of hours? No way. She was staying right here.
She sat and stared at the wall opposite, trying her best to clear her mind. She had no idea how much time had now passed. She vaguely wondered what the twins would think if they knew she was skipping class. At least Adrian would probably be impressed by it.
Her dull thoughts were eventually interrupted by footsteps in the stairwell. Was it time for them to go home yet? Had the twins come looking for her? Or was it one of the teachers wanting to know why she wasn't in class?
She reluctantly turned to see when she heard the footsteps reach the top and blanched. It was Kid. Had he purposely sought her out to torture her even more?
She turned away again, biting her lip as she so often did when she was nervous. If he said just one more unkind thing to her, then she had no doubt that she was going to cry. She could feel tears welling in her eyes just at the thought of it. She hastily bowed her head so that the longer side of her hair swung forward and hid her face.
Kid stopped so that he was stood directly beside her. She could see his shadow. He didn't say a word. Was he waiting for her to speak first? Why should she? She had nothing to say to him.
But if there was one thing Brina hated, it was awkward silences. It didn't take long before she couldn't stand it. She decided to just be abrupt with him. Maybe if he thought she was angry, he'd leave her alone. The twins were always telling her to stand up for herself, after all.
So she turned to look directly at him, mustering as much volume as she could. "What?"
But she couldn't do aggressive. Her voice broke embarrassingly on that one word. Cringing, she felt tears threaten her eyes again, so she dipped her head back down.
Kid didn't say anything for what seemed like a very long time. Then, he finally managed in a very strained voice, "Sorry."
Brina reluctantly looked up at him again, still not feeling the slightest bit better. "Did Professor Stein send you here to say that?"
"Professor Stein thinks I've gone to the bathroom," said Kid coolly. "Wel,l he probably doesn't anymore seeing as I've been gone for almost an hour."
"Too good for classes altogether now?" asked Brina. Her voice still didn't sound scathing like she'd intended. Urgh, she was so bad at this.
"Actually, I've been looking for you," said Kid hesitantly.
Brina eyed him warily. What she really wanted to ask him was why. But instead, she asked, "How did you know to find me here?"
"I didn't exactly. But this is somewhere I'd probably come if I was in a bad mood," replied Kid.
"You noticed, huh?" said Brina, finally managing to inject a bit of sarcasm into her tone. Bully for her.
Again, Kid didn't say anything for several long moments. Then, with what seemed to cost him great effort, he moved round and sat down on the ground beside Brina. Brina stared at him, completely baffled. He'd been so mean to her in class. Why was he suddenly trying to be chummy?
"I'm sorry," Kid repeated suddenly in the same strained voice as before, pointedly not looking at her. "I acted like a jerk."
His eyes were hidden by his hair, so Brina couldn't read his expression. She was normally quite good at estimating a person's mood. She noticed that Kid was clutching his knees with shaking hands. She vaguely noted that he was wearing identical rings on each hand. That was strange, having two the same.
But what she really noticed was that he didn't seem to want to say sorry. Not because he was ashamed or nervous, but because he didn't really seem to mean it. It was almost as if he'd forced himself to say it out of courtesy.
"You don't really mean it though, do you?" said Brina bluntly.
Kid was silent once again. Brina stared at him in disbelief. Why had he wasted his time if he didn't even mean it? What was the point? Annoyed and completely worn out from trying to understand, Brina got to her feet and left Kid still sitting on the floor.
She'd just started towards the stairs when Kid suddenly blurted out from behind her, "Will you just let me cut your hair?"
Brina whirled around, completely dumbstruck yet again. Kid still hadn't gotten up – he now had his face resting on his knees and was clutching his head with both hands. What was wrong with him? Was he having some kind of mental breakdown?
And she didn't understand what her hair could possibly have to do with it, of all things. Was he trying to be funny? She knew her hairstyle was a complete mess since she'd butchered it – that was why she'd always tried to make it look like it was intentional.
"Excuse me?" she said, making sure she'd heard him properly.
Kid finally pulled himself to his feet. He stepped towards Brina, his hands now clenched into fists at his sides. Brina almost took a nervous step back. Maybe he really did have some kind of mental issue. He wasn't looking completely with it right now.
When he did eventually look her in the eye properly, his voice took on its strained edge again. "Everything has to be symmetrical. The world just doesn't work right if it's not balanced."
"Erm... come again?" Brina had no idea what he was talking about.
"Symmetry!" Kid repeated impatiently. "Everything must be aesthetically pleasing. How can things be balanced if they're not perfectly symmetrical? It's impossible!"
Brina was now feeling quite worried. What the hell was he talking about? She decided he actually looked quite peaky close up. Maybe he was delirious with something. That would explain the rambling at least.
"Erm, Kid, do you wanna sit back down or something?" she suggested hesitantly. "I don't really understand what you're talking about..."
"Your hair!" Kid burst out, looking agonised. "It's not symmetrical at all! It's been driving me crazy – how can you stand it?"
Brina stared at him, feeling a light bulb switch on somewhere in her brain. She'd heard about things like this before. People having an obsessive need to follow certain patterns or carry out particular activities so that they could feel satisfied. Was this what Kid had? Some kind of OCD over symmetry?
She tugged at a strand of hair distractedly, feeling mystified. "It's really just my hair that's been bothering you all this time?" she asked slowly.
"Yes!" exclaimed Kid exasperatedly, leaning right in towards her and looking like he wanted to shake her. "Please, please just let me cut it! I've been having nightmares over it!"
"Um, okay!" Brina squeaked quickly. She felt like she should have been offended by the nightmares comment, but she was more interested in shutting him up.
"Thank you!" Kid exclaimed, suddenly beaming. He looked like he was either going to hug her or cry with joy. Brina wasn't sure if she could cope with either. The difference in his mood was startling. "Let's do it now!"
"Now? But we're supposed to be in class still," Brina pointed out, still highly unnerved by his sudden change of attitude.
"That doesn't matter. We've missed most of it anyway," insisted Kid, grabbing Brina's hand. "Let's go!"
"But where are we going?" asked Brina, feeling completely swept away and trying to grab onto anything that made an ounce of sense.
"Back to Gallows Manor," replied Kid, dragging her towards the stairwell. "We'll get this fixed immediately."
Brina had no choice but to allow herself to be pulled down the stairs by the suddenly enthusiastic grim reaper. Well, if she fell down them now, at least this time she'd be able to blame him for it.
