By the end of the weekend, Brina felt like she had a complete knowledge of how basketball was played. Of course, that didn't really stop her from tripping over, running into things or hitting herself in the face when she got too eager to catch the ball, but Kid just insisted that it would all still help her in future games.

And after discovering that the game was easier to play than she'd expected, she'd actually started to enjoy herself. She still hadn't scored a basket yet, but obviously, her balance affected her aim. So that clearly wasn't going to be one of her strong points.

She hadn't gotten Kid to show her how to tackle either. She figured that she was better off avoiding engaging directly head-on with other players at all costs. She could leave that part up to the rest of her team. Hopefully, anyone else wouldn't be likely to take down both themselves and other players in the process.

Though it was still a little more difficult when they had to play again in class on Monday morning. The partner straps made everything more difficult. Brina had gotten too used to having her own space during the game – since nobody ever bothered to mark her, knowing her reputation for being uncoordinated – and at one point, she nearly took Kid's eye out when trying to make a rather wild dive for the ball.

Kid had taken it in rather good grace though. He'd only scolded her for about a minute, which was an improvement on the reprimands she'd gotten from him in the past.

They also had the added rule that they weren't allowed to pass the ball to their partner. With the partner straps allowing only a foot of distance between them, it wouldn't exactly be difficult to keep passing the ball back and forth. No, whoever caught the ball had to either keep it and try to shoot themselves or pass it to somebody else on their team.

"You've got ten minutes until the game is over," Professor Stein announced. "Then we'll break for lunch."

Damn, only ten more minutes. The team that Brina and Kid were on were still losing two to three. Even if they caught up and brought the score to a tie, it was unlikely that they'd then be able to proceed to take the lead. But the competitive energy was running high and everyone was still determined.

"Come on, guys! We can do this!" enthused Ox, as he and Kilik went speeding past in pursuit of the ball. They were on the current losing team too.

"Right!" agreed Circa and Kera, following them to try and make up their defence.

"Okay," Maka sighed reluctantly. Her and Casper's natural acclimatization with their new partnership wasn't enough to cover their lack of interest in basketball.

"We'll stay back," Kid told Brina. They were much closer to the other team's basket. "We need somebody down this end of the court."

Brina was happy with that. This was generally her technique anyway. Marista and Ao hung back as well to try and mark them. That was another problem with the partner straps. Nobody ever bothered marking Brina, but they definitely made sure they kept Kid covered.

"Heads up!" shouted Kilik. He'd managed to bat the ball out of Danny's hands, which he then passed over to Circa.

The other team converged in on them, so Circa passed the ball back to Kilik as he and Ox ran past to try and cover some distance between them and the basket. Danny and Cory ran after them, followed by Blood and Black Star. Ox and Kilik didn't get far before the other team had barred their path.

"Maka! Casper! Look alive!" shouted Kilik, throwing the ball down court as hard as he could.

Casper may have had the same disinterest in basketball that Maka did, but it certainly didn't affect her ability to catch. "Got it!" She caught the ball neatly, but Blood and Black Star moved on to block them before they'd even gotten anywhere. Circa and Kera weren't far behind, however, and the ball was passed furiously between pairs as they fought to keep it in their possession.

When Casper caught the ball for the third time, Black Star immediately lunged at her to try and tackle it out of her hands. She and Maka quickly skipped back in one synchronised movement so that she had room to throw. Everyone seemed to be surrounded by players, so Casper made a quick decision and pitched the ball towards Kid and Brina. At least they were closer to the basket.

Kid and Brina were still being marked by the pair of scythe meisters, but they'd chosen to cover Kid's side more than Brina's. That gave Brina just enough space to catch the ball. She still couldn't believe how easy it was to catch when she put her mind to it.

She was forced to feint left and right as Marista attempted to get the ball. Who could she pass to? Everyone was being marked to a tee right now. She wished that Kid had caught the ball instead and saved her from this dilemma.

"Just shoot!" Kid had noticed her deliberation. They didn't have time for that. "Nobody's open so just do it!"

Oh, this wasn't going to go well... Marista made one last bat for the ball and Brina desperately flung it high over her head, aiming for the basket. To her absolute amazement – and probably everyone else's too – it hit the backboard and then sank through the hoop.

Brina stared at the basket as several of her teammates whooped happily. "It went in!" she exclaimed excitedly. "It actually went in!"

Kid couldn't help but laugh at her reaction. "Nice one!" he congratulated her, slapping her a high five. "That was perfect!"

Brina felt her face colour. Two compliments in the space of a few days. And she was sure that perfect was definitely high praise coming from Kid. Though she then mentally chastised herself. Why was she reading into it so much?

"Five minutes!" Professor Stein called from the sidelines as the ball was put back into play. He looked pleased with himself.

Both teams played valiantly, but nobody else managed to score and the game ended in a tie. Still, everyone seemed satisfied with the result. They all chattered happily about it as they broke for lunch and headed back up to the academy.

"Well done, Brina!" Maka exclaimed as their large group trooped down towards the classroom where the weapons had been working from. Their partners were already starting to file out now too. "You actually scored!"

"I think I was more surprised about that than anyone," laughed Brina. She felt elated. Besides fighting, she'd never done well in anything sporty before. She then spotted the twins' heads above everyone else's. "Jess! Adrian!" She ran after them, shouting, "I scored a basket! I scored a basket!"

Several of the other meisters laughed. "I guess we'll see you next period!" Maka called after her.

XXX

When Brina got back to the classroom after lunch, Professor Stein was ushering them all inside. The meisters who were already there were talking quietly amongst themselves. Brina went and grabbed a seat between Kid and Black Star.

"So we aren't playing anymore basketball today?" she asked. She found that she was actually a little disappointed by that.

"Apparently not," replied Kid.

"That blows," Black Star complained loudly. "One game is so not enough for me to show off my super awesome basketball skills."

Kid rolled his eyes. "Of course it isn't," he said dryly. Brina giggled.

Ao and Yvonna were the last few meisters to trickle in. Once they were seated, Professor Stein turned to address the whole class. "Now then, class... Since you're all probably still feeling energetic from basketball this morning, I figured I'd get you back into a little more fighting practice today."

Oh, great. Brina's heart sank. Fighting without being able to rely on the twins as her balance was one thing she hadn't improved on in the slightest. Without Adrian and Jesse, she was simply way out of her comfort zone.

"But first off, I have a little exercise that I want to try with you before your practice. It's called vibrations," explained Professor Stein. "Everyone on your feet and to the front of the class. Make sure you and your partner have some space."

Exchanging perplexed looks, the meisters all got up from their seats and filed down to the front. They spaced themselves out into a large semi-circle and watched Professor Stein curiously for further instruction.

"I want you all to stand facing your partner," Professor Stein directed them. "Now let's see... Ah, Kim, let me borrow you to demonstrate."

"Erm, okay," said Kim, hesitantly moving across to stand next to their teacher. Everyone else turned to face their partner, still feeling confused.

"Hold out your hands like this," Professor Stein told Kim, holding his hands out like he was ready to push her away. Kim did the same, so that her hands were only a few inches away from his. "That's perfect. This is the kind of distance you need to start with... Thank you, Kim; you may return to your partner now."

Kim scurried back over to Yvonna and the other meisters all copied what they'd just been shown. Brina could hear a few of the boys muttering things like, "This is stupid" and, "How is this supposed to help?"

"Now I want you all to close your eyes," Professor Stein instructed. "Concentrate completely on your partner. This is an exercise used to help match soul wavelengths. If it works, you should be able to either feel or see the force of your partner's wavelength. It works differently depending on how your mind works predominantly."

They all closed their eyes. Brina couldn't help but silently agree with the muttering that she'd heard. This was weird. Was it really going to help them? What exactly was she supposed to see... or feel?

She wondered if the others were all taking this seriously. She opened one eye cautiously. Kid, at least, had his eyes closed. He was standing perfectly still, like he was focusing all of his will into concentrating, like Professor Stein had told them to. Well, he seemed to be taking the exercise seriously.

"No peeking, Brina," said Professor Stein suddenly.

"Um, sorry!" squeaked Brina, quickly shutting her eyes tight again. She heard Kid sigh. She could practically hear him thinking "Trust you".

"Experience the sensations," Professor Stein continued loudly for the benefit of the whole class. "Every person's soul wavelength is different, so you may not all get the same results."

"Dude, this is so gay," Blood grumbled.

Brina was glad she wasn't the only one who seemed to think that Professor Stein's words sounded a little too intimate. She was also trying really hard not to think about the fact that her and Kid were the only boy-girl pairing in the class.

Professor Stein could clearly tell that not everyone was putting all of their efforts into the task he'd given them. "Concentrate completely on your partner," he repeated. "If you don't, then it won't work and the exercise will be pointless."

Brina pulled herself together. She'd been failing at most of the other exercises in this project so far. Surely this was one thing that she could do. It wasn't like she could do any damage to herself or anyone else just from standing in one place. Right, concentrate on Kid... She could do that.

She forced herself to focus on that one thought, blocking everything else out, trying to imagine Kid standing in front of her. That wasn't too difficult. She could practically see that perfectly symmetrical black outfit, those unusual and not-so-symmetrical white stripes in his raven hair, his strikingly golden eyes, the same semi-frown he always seemed to wear when he was around her. But then she had actually earned a smile from him today during basketball...

She could feel her hands heating up. Was that just her body's own reaction from trying to concentrate so hard or was it really something to do with Kid's soul wavelength?

"Can you feel that?" Brina whispered, not wanting to disturb whatever was happening. Her hands were so hot now that it was like she was standing next to an open flame. She was sure that this wasn't just her own body temperature acting up. Hands didn't get that hot on their own.

"Yeah," Kid replied in a low voice. He clearly didn't want to interrupt their wavelengths either.

A few mutters and sounds of surprise from around the classroom suggested that some of the other pairs were experiencing similar reactions too. Professor Stein was the first to notice this. "If you think it's working, then try experimenting a bit with distances," he suggested. "Try describing what you can feel to your partner too. Remember, everyone's soul wavelength is unique."

"Erm, it's... hot," said Brina, still trying to talk quietly. "Really hot. Like I'm practically touching fire..." The heat was spreading through her entire body now, but it wasn't an unpleasant feeling. She wanted to compare it to snuggling up all toasty by the fire on a cold winter's day, but it was much more intense than that.

She shut up abruptly. It was probably better if she didn't say the rest. Kid was quiet too. For a long time. For so long that it was bordering on uncomfortable. Brina had just opened her mouth to awkwardly try and break the silence when he suddenly spoke. "It's the opposite."

"Huh?"

"Yours is the exact opposite," Kid repeated. "It's cool, but... it has an uplifting feel to it. Like a summer breeze. It's very peaceful and calming."

Brina didn't quite know how to respond to that. Her wavelength was calming? Soul wavelengths were meant to be a reflection of the individual's personality. She'd never really thought of herself as calming before. But then surely the fire like she'd felt in Kid's wavelength would suggest something like great anger or passion. Somehow, she couldn't really see either of those being attributed to Kid.

Thankfully, Professor Stein was still on hand to interrupt. "You guys seem to have got it." He sounded like he was standing right next to them now. "Why don't you try experimenting with the distance like I suggested?"

"Erm, okay," Brina agreed hesitantly.

"Just try a little closer at a time," added Professor Stein, before moving on to direct Kim and Yvonna next.

Right. Brina very slowly inched her hands closer towards Kid's. She really wanted to open her eyes now – standing there with them closed made her feel oddly self-conscious – but she still didn't want to disrupt the exercise. It was definitely working. She could feel the heat increasing.

She eased her hands forward just a tiny bit more. She didn't know if Kid was moving his hands too or if it was just her, but her fingers were starting to prickle with an energy so strong that she felt she'd be able to see it if she opened her eyes. Yet somehow, she knew that it existed through feel alone.

Kid must have been moving his hands as well, because hers were now tingling so badly that she was sure they must be shaking from the force of it. Was this supposed to be their wavelengths trying to fight each other away? Or were they actually connecting?

The vibrations still running strongly through her hands, Brina moved them further still, barely a few millimetres more. They were so close to Kid's hands now that they very lightly brushed together.

It felt like an electric shock. Something surged through her hands so suddenly and so strongly that Brina jerked back, her eyes flying open. Kid had the same reaction – she could see an identical look of surprise mirrored on his face too.

"Everything okay here?" Professor Stein was watching them again. He appeared rather amused, like he knew something that nobody else did.

Brina was still startled. What the hell was that? Had everyone else been experiencing the same thing? Looking around the classroom, it didn't look like that was the case. Everyone else still had their eyes closed and their hands raised.

Kid beat her to answering. "No. Everything's fine," he said, casually brushing his hands on his pants.

Brina resisted the urge to look at her hands. The feeling had been so powerful that she was sure it must have left a mark, but she felt conspicuous in front of Professor Stein, so she awkwardly copied Kid's movement instead. "Err, yeah. Just fine."

"Of course it is," said Professor Stein knowingly. He then turned to the pair behind him. "Marista, Ao, you seem to have achieved some results too. Why don't you describe them to each other?"

"Right, okay," said Marista, scrunching her eyes shut tighter in concentration. "It's bright. Very bright... And colourful. They're not bold colours though – they're soft; like a pastel rainbow."

"Yours is kinda wispy, if that makes sense," replied Ao, only the slightest of frowns marring her pretty features. "It's shadowy, somehow, but there's still a light to it that seems very strong."

Brina tried to listen to what they were saying – part of her was intrigued to hear what other people's soul wavelengths were like – but she just couldn't seem to make herself concentrate. She was too distracted by the tingling feeling that was still lingering in her hands.

Luckily, Professor Stein soon called the vibrations exercise to a close. Now that his class had had a little experimentation with soul wavelengths, he still wanted them to have another go at something more practical. They hadn't practiced fighting for a few weeks now.

When they got down to it, Brina wasn't sure if she was grateful for the lesson change or not. Professor Stein had paired all of the meister teams off against each other to practice blocking and defending as a team. As usual, Brina wasn't doing so well with it.

She and Kid had been put up against Circa and Kera – one of the better teams that had come out of the new class project. So far, Brina had managed to trip over her own feet, get her sleeve caught on Circa's bangles and fall spectacularly over one of the benches, nearly taking Kera with her.

"I am so sorry!" she apologised frantically to Kera as she scrambled to her feet.

"Don't worry about it," replied Kera, simply brushing herself off.

God, it just seemed to get more and more embarrassing. Brina couldn't wait until this project was over. She almost cried with happiness when the bell rang at the end of the day. She was the first to scurry out of the door as soon as Professor Stein dismissed them, but she didn't get far before she was stopped.

"Brina, wait a second!"

Oh no, now what did he want? Hadn't the fighting practice been embarrassing enough? Not to mention the uncomfortable silence that had followed between them after the vibrations exercise. Brina reluctantly stopped and turned around. "What is it?"

"You need to explain why you can't seem to fight properly without causing yourself or somebody else an injury," said Kid, almost demandingly.

Brina felt the colour rise in her cheeks. They were out of class now – did she still have to be harassed about it? "I told you before it's not like I can help it!" she protested. She was jostled aside as students started to file out of the other classrooms along the corridor that they were on. This wasn't really the ideal place to argue.

Kid seemed to notice too. He moved a little way down the corridor and pushed open a door to one of the empty classrooms. "In here."

Brina didn't see why she should have to do what he said, but an empty classroom would be better than discussing this in the busy corridor. If she'd thought she could have just said no and ran away without falling over, then she would have done so, but of course, the odds of that were slim.

She reluctantly followed Kid into the other classroom. "Look, I'm really sorry that I'm a bad partner," she began as soon as the door had closed behind her. "But it's not something I can help. I've always been clumsy – I just can't fight properly when..."

"I didn't say you were a bad partner," Kid interrupted, cutting her off.

Brina frowned. "Sometimes you act like you think that."

"I admit your lack of coordination can be... inconvenient," said Kid, groping for an appropriate word. Was he actually trying not to be mean about it? "But I don't understand what's changed. My father's sang your praises before now and so has Professor Stein. And I saw you myself – you fought perfectly against the professor before we started this project. I just want to understand what the problem is."

Before the project? But that had been when she'd still been fighting with Adrian and Jesse. Didn't Kid realise that? He said he didn't understand what had changed, but the answer was so obvious. It was simply because they'd been separated from their weapons. That was the problem.

"Well... We could still use our weapons then. And we can't do that now," said Brina lamely.

Kid looked confused. "I could understand someone not being able to fight as well without the use of their weapons, but that shouldn't have a bearing on how accident prone you are."

"Erm, actually, that's entirely the point. They're the ones who keep me from being clumsy." Brina realised then that maybe Kid would be the one person who could actually have a hope at understanding her problem. "You can only use two weapons too, right? Not one; it always has to be two. I'm exactly the same. My weapons are my balance. They keep me balanced. Without them, I can't really do anything."

"They're your balance..." Kid repeated thoughtfully.

Brina could see exactly what he was thinking. They were a lot more alike than they'd thought. They both had to have their own sense of balance. They may have had very different reasons for it, but the notion was still the same. Maybe this was why Professor Stein had paired them together in the first place.

"I have an idea," said Kid suddenly. "Follow me."

"Err, where are we going?" asked Brina, feeling confused, but following him out of the classroom regardless.

"Just follow me and I'll show you."

He led her out of the academy and all the way down to the small wooded area next to the basketball court. The place was completely empty now. Now that classes had finished, everyone else had already gone home. Brina stood and watched as Kid searched for something amongst the bushes, still feeling thoroughly lost.

Kid eventually straightened up, holding a rather smooth stick that he'd found on the ground. He snapped it in two over his knee and then inspected the pieces. He looked annoyed. "Disgusting. That won't do at all."

He tossed the pieces aside and found another stick instead, doing the same again. He studied the two halves up close like he'd done before. "No, that's not right either!"

He threw those to the ground too and started searching again. Oh dear. Was he having another one of his crazy moments? Brina had no idea what he was trying to do. She wondered if she'd be able to sneak away without him noticing.

Kid broke another stick in half and held the pieces up in front of his face, measuring them against each other. He suddenly seemed much happier. "Ah, now that's perfect!" He held the two pieces out to Brina. "Try using these."

Brina stared at him, not knowing what to say. Now she knew exactly what he was doing. He was trying to find another alternative to make her feel more balanced, since she couldn't use the twins. She was actually a little touched that he'd thought of something like this for her.

She took the two sticks from him and grasped them tightly. It definitely wasn't the same as her weapons, but it still felt good to have the same weight in either hand again.

She knew she wouldn't be able to take sticks to class with her, since they weren't supposed to be using weapons of any kind, but it was nice to know that it wasn't just Adrian and Jesse who could give her that sense of balance. And maybe she could try practicing with these and see if it actually helped improve her balance in the long run.

"Thanks," she smiled. "That actually feels better already."

"Good. Now I'm gonna come at you, so see if you can try and block better this time," instructed Kid.

"Hang on, what?"

She didn't get to protest any further, because Kid suddenly swung at her, forcing her into blocking awkwardly with her left arm. She hadn't realised they'd come out here to practice. She clutched the two sticks tighter in her hands. She had a feeling that she understood the whole point of the project now. Professor Stein was right – meisters couldn't just rely on their weapons for everything. They had to be able to deal with things by themselves too.

Upon realising that, she felt the need to prove that she could do this. She had some feeling of balance now, even if it wasn't quite what she was used to. If she couldn't show at least some improvement now, then she was beyond help. And she wouldn't be fit to call herself a meister.

She blocked right, left, then right again as Kid alternated between striking with either hand. She could tell that he wasn't really trying – he'd just wanted to provoke a reaction out of her. Well, it was working. And he knew it was too.

Brina switched to using the sticks to take the brunt of the blows like she would have done with her weapons, both conserving the strength in her arms and allowing herself more manoeuvrability. She felt herself slipping back into the old mindset of fighting that she was so used to. She was a meister of the DWMA. Fighting was in her comfort zone. She could do this even without her weapons.

As she and Kid parried back and forth, she found that she was enjoying herself more and more. Now this was more like it. It wasn't awkward, it wasn't uncoordinated... It was more like a dance. Movements so smooth and perfect that they had to be choreographed.

They'd been sparring for so long that it was starting to get dark. But Brina didn't want to stop. She was having too much fun. When was the last time she'd been able to practice fighting like this before without her clumsy nature getting in the way?

They continued still and Brina started to grow bolder. She was now striking back almost as much as she was blocking and defending. She wanted to try more complex moves. She could actually be quite flexible when she put her mind to it. Kid could see that she was becoming more daring, so in retaliation, his swipes grew faster and with more power packed behind them. He tried a quick left, right, left, right rally of hits so that Brina was forced to back up in order to avoid all of the blows.

When he tried the same move again, this time, she let herself fall back in an arcing motion, planting a hand against the ground and using her own momentum to perform a complete back flip to get out of the way. It was something she could only do when she was feeling perfectly confident – generally, it went against the laws of her capability in coordination. She was feeling very confident right now, however, and it would have been a great move against a real enemy.

As it was, it wasn't so much of a fair move just practicing with Kid. She didn't have quite as much space as she'd thought and she accidentally kicked her partner in the face as her legs swung round through the air.

She landed awkwardly, her move interrupted, and quickly scrambled to her feet. "Oh my god! Kid, I'm so sorry!"

Kid was clutching his eye where she'd kicked him. "Nice flip," he grimaced.

"I'm so sorry," Brina repeated guiltily. She tried to pull his hand away. "Here, let me see..." The skin around his eye was already red and a little swollen. She bit her lip. "It looks like you're gonna have a black eye – I'm really sorry."

"What?" exclaimed Kid, looking horrified. "No, you have to fix it!"

Okay, Brina felt bad that she'd kicked him, but that didn't mean that she was able to magically cure a black eye. "Um, I don't think I can..."

"You have to! Please!" begged Kid, grabbing her hands. "I can't have a black eye! It would be so asymmetrical that just the thought of it makes me want to throw up!"

Oh, great. Brina had forgotten that she was dealing with a crazy person here. He really needed to see a shrink or something. But then she was the one who had caused him to freak out. He was right – she had to do something to help.

"Okay, erm, let me think..." Maybe they could use makeup to cover it? She had a feeling that Kid wouldn't be as opposed to the idea of wearing makeup as he was to the thought of being asymmetrical. "We could try concealer... Come on, I've got some back at my place."

"Thank you, thank you," Kid babbled, following Brina as she led the way back towards her apartment.

"No problem," replied Brina, secretly thinking that it would have been better if she had snuck away in the first place.

She kept the two sticks with her. She knew that if she tried breaking one in half, she'd never get the pieces completely symmetrical. And she certainly didn't need Kid to have another crazy attack any time soon.