Chapter 2 – Hard Like Steel

Sai Summers

"How long has he been out for Spirit?" I asked quietly, standing outside of the infirmary's heavy wooden door.

Clad in an out-dated green suit and dark blue tie, he pulled back his left sleeve with his right hand and looked at his watch. "Almost three hours." He pushed his sleeve back down, and sighed. "I'm kinda surprised. He's pretty durable. I didn't expect him to even be here. Okay, well, maybe…but…"

I cocked my head to the right, and interrupted his rambling. "What do you mean, 'durable'?"

"Hmm." Spirit searched for the right words, and his dark blue eyes avoided my eyes at the same time. "He's not your average student."

I heard Soul make a polite cough from behind Spirit. "He's not human."

I felt my eyes grow larger, and I looked around Spirit to look at him. Soul leaned against the railing on the opposite wall, with his arms crossed a across his chest. "What do you mean?"

"He's a Shinigami." He stated quietly, looking down at the floor.

When he saw the shock on my face, Spirit stepped back and leaned against the door jam of the infirmary. "He's…Shinigami-sama's son? I'm here five minutes and I injure the Reaper's son? Great!" I covered my face with hands. "How embarrassing." I muttered.

Spirit gave a little chuckle. "Well, you didn't actually injure him."

I took my hands down, and the group as a whole looked at the floor to Soul's left. Black Star sat cross-legged on the floor scowling. "How was I supposed to know you'd catch him?" He scoffed.

Soul and I made eye contact for a moment, and then we both looked back at Black Star. "I didn't catch him. The force would have pushed me, except…" I sighed. "I'm sure you noticed Black Star. I'm pretty strong and solid…." I trailed off for a moment.

He seemed thoughtful for a moment. "You do seem unusually strong for your size." He chuckled. "Durable, too. You're not some sort of death god yourself, are you?" Black Star eyed me in suspicion.

I shook my head. "Oh no, I'm just your average weapon." I paused, realizing how it sounded. "Err, yeah, sure." I began to stutter and looked at the floor.

Maka walked up behind me and stood at my right. "You are an Independent Weapon, aren't you? You don't need a Meister, do you?" She leaned forward and looked up at me.

I met her eyes. "No, I don't. I'm glad you're perceptive."

"That's just weird." I heard come from behind Spirit. It was Liz, and had the light antagonism of someone who was no doubt annoyed that I had put her own Meister in the hospital.

Spirit backed up against the door and eyed us both. "Hey now, let's relax, everything will be fine." But he put his hand up in front of his chest, apparently just in case.

I simply stared at her for a moment, knowing anything I said in my defense would be taken wrong in the current situation. "I'm sorry about Shinigami-san. I didn't mean for him to get hurt."

She snorted and looked away.

Spirit broke out into a faux grin. "Anyway!" He patted down his pants and then his jacket pockets. "Here." He pulled out a rectangular silver pin with the word "WEAPON" engraved in it, and then handed it to me.

I took it from him and looked it over. "What this?"

He took a moment to smile. "It's so people know you're a weapon. It helps to know the difference when…" He realized where he planned to take the topic and backtracked his thoughts. "I guess you don't really need one. You don't need to find a Meister." He scratched the back of his head with his right hand.

Soul snorted. "And it'll have every un-partnered Meister stalking her. Great."

"Oh behave, Soul." I unhinged the button's clasp, poked it though the upper right side of my dress and fastened it shut. "I've caused enough trouble for my first day, if Shinigami-sama wants me to wear it, I will." I paused and straightened it. "Besides, isn't my slightly-older cousin supposed to protect me from those vicious Meisters?" I blinked obviously and tried to look innocent.

He rolled his eyes, not buying my act. "We're a day apart. I don't think that amounts to much. And you're the vicious one."

I stuck out my tongue at him on impulse.

A light laugh spread throughout most of the group, with Liz as the exception.

The infirmary door cracked open and a nurse stuck her head out. "He's awake and stable. We are going to keep him overnight though for observation though."

I looked from the nurse to Spirit. "Is it okay if I apologize to Shinigami-san? I feel bad about all of this."

Spirit chucked. "Sure."

I looked at him, at his laugh. Then at Soul, who also smirked. I was obviously missing something humorous.

The nurse backed out of the doorway, and Spirit gave me a little push though the door.