Chapter 24 – You Test Me

Death the Kid / Sai Summers

Kid

As soon as she saw me in the hall on Monday, I could sense she already knew what I had spent the previous day doing.

And she was obviously perturbed by it. "Did you have fun trying to find a cure for my apparent disease yesterday?"

"Darn Stein." I muttered, scratching the back of my head. "And I don't think of you as diseased, and that wasn't my intention. I just wanted to know more."

"You know, you could have just asked." She expressed with a sigh.

I stuffed my hands in my pants pockets. "I figured that was inappropriate."

I appeared to be digging the hole deeper by trying to reason the situation. "So it's more appropriate to go sneaking around looking up books on me? Thought you might find my mug shot in a textbook?"

"I wasn't looking to find you in a book; I was looking for anything that might assist you." I paused. "Why are you being asinine about this?"

"Asinine?! Did it ever occur to you that I might have already read a good portion of the books that have been written in recent years on the subject?"

That hasn't crossed my mind; I had been wrapped up in my own desire to know. "In all honesty, no it didn't."

"The answers aren't simple. Just like the questions aren't easily to decide on. Those books…" She looked angry at the thought.

There were footfalls to my left, and it garnered my attention for a moment.

It was Maka, who looked at the two of us curiously. "I'm surprised you two aren't studying."

I was feeling confused, and it was still so early in the day. "Studying for what?" I asked.

Her eyes widened. "There's an exam today."

There was alarm on Sai's face and she turned to address her. "What exam? In who's class?"

Soul came up the hall and stood next to her with a slouch. "Professor Stein's." He didn't seem to be nearly as tense by the idea as his cousin.

Sai's brow furrowed and she watched the floor for a moment. "Wait…so he knew we skipped class, saw us both over the weekend, and never bothered to mention the test." Sai stated flatly, and then shook in place. "Grr, that's so like him."

I tried to be thoughtful. "I guess, if I was in his position I wouldn't have, either. We are the ones who neglected his lecture."

She looked up and scowled at me. "Your desire to play devil's advocate is really not helping."

"What would you prefer I do?" I asked her in mild irritation. "Be reasonable."

"I don't need to be reasonable when it comes to school." She paused. "And why are you like this? We're probably going to botch that test."

I shrugged. "I'm not particularly worried. I am well versed in knowledge about souls as a Shinigami." I told her point-blank.

"Excuse me?" She asked me venomously.

I felt like a part of me was running on auto-pilot. "Like I said…"

Sai raised her shoulders. "I don't need you to repeat what you said…!"

I sighed. "I apologize. I'm not trying to upset you."

Stein walked up behind Sai, and ground a library book into the top of her head once again. "If you have time to argue, you have time to be studying! I'm well aware at this point you had no idea about the examination."

Sai cringed. "Gaaahhh, professor. You didn't…"

Stein flopped the book a final time on top of her head, and ceased his torture of her with his reading material. "Get off to class, all of you. You're going to be late."

She eyed me in anger. "Gladly, Professor."

Sai was a dozen paces away before I realized I hadn't actually gotten a chance to ask her one of the things that had been plaguing my mind the last twelve hours. "Sai!" I yelled after her.

Sai stormed back and eyed me. "What now? Going to rub in your incredible powers of soul knowledge again?"

I sighed. "You know I'm not doing that." I paused. "In all seriousness, will you answer me just one question?"

She rolled her eyes. "What? You want to do this now? After the last five minutes…" She pouted, and the exhaled noisily; she crossed her arms across her chest. After a moment, she gave up her pout. "Fine, which one?"

I rubbed my bottom of my chin in thought. "Weapon types seem to run through bloodlines. Why is someone from a family of scythes only able to produce a staff?"

Sai shrugged. "I have no answer for you on that one."

I had to ask the difficult question. "You don't have an answer, or you won't tell me?"

She looked at me thoughtfully. "I don't have an answer. It's not known at this point. And…"

"And what?" I asked curiously.

She half-smiled. "And you're making an assumption, but I'll leave that to you to figure out."

I just wanted an answer so the question would stop harassing me. "But the texts say…"

Sai's patience appeared to be running out. "Ignore the books! That's why I didn't want anyone to go looking for answers in books." She gesticulated with her arms, waving them up and down.

"Sai…calm down. We're in the middle of the hall."

"That's it! I'm going to class." She stated, and stormed off in a huff.

Soul and Maka both watching me in consternation, and I adjusted my tie in anxiety. This was hardly what I considered a good start to the week.

***

Sai

I was sure that I wasn't going to do well on the exam. And for some reason I had the impression Kid decided he needed to rub in the fact that he didn't even need to study for written tests. Even if it wasn't the real reason I was perturbed, I decided I would use that as my excuse if someone asked in the next few hours about the scowl on my face

Soul caught up to me in Stein's lecture. "You're probably not going to want to sit next to Kid."

I didn't feel like sitting next to him much anyway, but I decided to ask Soul regardless. "Why is that?"

Soul bit his lower lip. "Hmm, Kid and written exams don't exactly go well together."

I raised an eyebrow "Care to be a little more specific? He just went on about how he doesn't have issues with knowledge for written exams."

"Yeah, well, he might be right about the knowledge, but we'll just say he stresses pretty bad while trying to take the exams."

I couldn't help but mock Kid's earlier statement. "So about his 'great powers of soul knowledge'?"

Soul rolled his eyes. "That doesn't do you much good if you can't take the test."

"Huh?" I asked in confusion.

"You'll see." He stated with a chuckle.

I scowled at him. "Are you not telling me what the problem is on purpose?"

Soul flashed a toothy grin. "Maybe."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "I'm starting to think you two are in cahoots today."

He raised his eyebrows in mild surprise. "To do what?"

I rolled my eyes. "To drive me crazy."

He chuckled. "I'm pretty sure you're more than crazy enough, already."

"Jerk." I paused, wondering what he was referencing in this instance. "Why do you say that?"

He bowed his head slightly. "Only a crazy person would date Kid."

I rolled my eyes again at his comment. "I'm starting to think that…"

***

The test was almost as bad as I had expected. I straight-out didn't know some of the terms, with the rest of them being only vaguely familiar from being mentioned in the lectures I had actually attended.

Kid was not so lucky, and I was able to see what Soul meant about Kid having issues with exams. I ran into him outside of Stein's lecture, following the exam.

I sighed out upon meeting him, but I couldn't tell if it was from the exam, or running into Death himself. "I'm pretty sure I bombed that test." I stated flatly.

I then noticed he had a book tucked under this arm, but I was too bothered by him already today to start up a conversation that might involve what he read in said book.

Kid ran his left hand over his hair. "I won't receive a score."

I knew what I was about to say was going to come off as snide. "Yeah, I presume passing out during the test made it a little tough to take."

He stared at me. "Are you being sarcastic?"

"No." I lied.

"Then why are you being crude this morning? What did I do?"

"You started it." I told him, knowing I was being immature.

Kid was visibly confused. "I don't even know what 'it,' is. And never meant to start anything. Is this one of your issues with being an Indep…"

I had no desire to listen to the rest of the sentence, and interrupted him. "Grr! That's it; I'm done talking to you for the day!"

As it turned out, ironically, it was. For once Kid made no effort at trying to find me or induce me into conversation. And by the end of the day, I was depressed by it.

***

Tuesday

Kid

Sai refused to sit next to me in Stein's lecture the following day. There were a few muttered words from our friends about it, but I blocked out most of their questions by burying my frustrations into he books I was still consuming. The two of us were held over after the lecture to explain our poor performance on the exam.

Stein shuffled a selection of papers on the desk, and appeared to rearrange them in a different order. "Sai, because you fell just below the cut off, I'll give you a choice: You can retake the written exam, or you can do a practical."

I watched his shift her weight on her heels. With her upset with me, looking at her wearing the coat I had gifted her felt bizarre. "I'll take the practical. I want the experience." She replied.

"What about me, Professor?" I asked.

Stein didn't catch my eye. "You don't get a choice: you have to do both."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "I don't mean to sound immature, but that hardly seems fair."

Stein leaned back in his chair; he folded his arms in front of him, finally looking up at me. "You passed out during the test; you didn't answer a single question. Why should I give you an option?"

I was feeling agitated by his assumptions. "That was hardly on purpose." I paused, not wanting to do it, but feeling I had no choice if it was a matter of my grade. "And I hate to bring it up, but I'm under the impression you're giving her preferential treatment."

She whirled on me, eyes wide. "Excuse me? What's the matter with you this week?"

Stein's brow rutted at the question. "She actually tried, and it's the same deal I made with anyone else who I felt made an effort on the exam but fell just below the cut-off. I'm aware not everyone is written-test oriented." He paused, and appeared confused. He then adjusted his glasses on his face. "And why am I defending my teaching methods to a student?"

"I have no idea." I asked him flatly.

Stein appeared to have a case of mild shock at my blatant awareness of the situation, and turned to Sai. "Is he like this all of the time, and I missed it?" He asked Sai, raising an eyebrow.

She shook her head. "No. I have no idea why he's been like this, this week."

I turned to her and narrowed my eyes. "I'm not any different than any other week."

"Yes you are!" She announced, but she seemed saddened by the thought.

"I have no idea what you are talking about." And in all seriousness, at the moment, I didn't.

She growled. "I mean, you…"

Stein coughed politely. "Excuse me, I am still teaching here."

Sai turned back to him, and sighed. "Sorry, Professor."

He gave her a nod. "I will make the arrangements for the practical for the end of this week. I'll ask Shinigami-sama for a relatively easy assignment because it's the first time you'll be going out, Sai." He shuffled a selection of papers on the desk once again.

"That's fine." She stated flatly.

Stein relaxed in his seat, leaned back, and watched us. "And will you two please do me a favor?"

Sai sighed. "What?"

Stein cocked his head to his right and dropped his shoulders. "If you're going to have lovers' quarrels, do it outside of school. My job is hard enough as it is."

***

Sai found me in the library later that afternoon. I wasn't one to hide, but I also wasn't sure I was ready to deal with her throwing another angry fit at me. I may be stoic, but I am hardly heartless when it comes to her.

She pulled out the chair across from me at the table I had taken up residence at, and sat down. It groaned as she pulled it across the tiled floor, and it alerted me to her presence – at which point I tried to not look up. From a stack of books I had set aside for the moment, she pulled out a thin blue book, and proceeded to flip through it.

The moments of silence ticked by. It was almost quiet enough for me to hear my own heartbeat in my ears. After several minutes, I could no longer stand the silence. It wasn't something I was used it. I finally decided to ask the question I couldn't bring myself to do this morning. "Why didn't you tell me about the pain? Why have you been hiding that part?" I asked, continuing to stare down at my book. Not that I was reading it, by this point.

She slouched in her chair. "The pain is a lot better now. It's been years since it's hurt to do those things."

I closed my book softly, leaving my hand on the cover. "Why didn't you trust me enough to bring that up?"

Sai continued to avoid my gaze. "It just never came up in conversation."

Part of me cringed at the memory. "I watched you do those abilities…"

"It doesn't hurt anymore, Kid, seriously…" She paused and looked up at me. "Is this what you've been stressed out about? You think I'm in pain from using my abilities as a…Weapon?"

I decided it was time to be frank. "Yes."

Her shoulders dropped. "Kid, come on…"

I then opted to flip through a Level 1 text on Weapon Types. It kept my hands busy. "I was upset that you didn't tell me. Can you blame me? I'm still working on winning your trust to begin with." I paused, realizing how I was sounding. "I'm not going to apologize for being upset at that."

She stood up from her seat, walked around the table and stood behind me. She put her arms around my shoulders and hugged me. I could feel my cheeks warm. I inhaled and caught the smell of a spicy perfume.

"Sai, people are likely watching." I whispered.

I felt her breath on my ear as she giggled. "So? People watch you all the time. Might as well give them something nice to look at."

I could also feel my face and ears burning. "I…"

She sighed, and whispered quietly in my ear. "There's something you need to keep in mind. Most of those books are speculation. There's little evidence of cross-bloodline similarities because just like Regular Weapons, Independent Weapons have their familial differences. And not many families produce them. Outside of Justin and myself, I don't think I've met another one. So don't take much of what they say as honest rhetoric."

"That was a rather deep explanation." I told her quietly. "You want me to ignore what I have read, then?"

"No, I just want you to consider it all as theories by people who have probably never met someone like me."

I pursed my lips. "That may be difficult, there is some evidence."

She exhaled. "Mediocre evidence. You could save yourself a lot of headache by just asking me the questions about it first."

I had to half-smile at the idea. "I think I can arrange that."

I heard her chuckle. "Since you got to ask a question earlier. I want one answer from you."

I was nervous at the idea, but I tried to play it down. "That's fine. What do you want to know?"

"Is it possible for you to die?" Her voice was light, despite the subject matter.

I was nearly overcome with dread at having to tell her the truth. "If you're asking me if I'm immortal, the answer is no."

She squeezed my shoulders. "Then will you do me a favor?"

I tried to turn in place, but her hold restricted me. "And that would be?"

"Be safe." She told me quietly.

I decided I should avoid being honest or egotistical at the moment. "I will. And…"

I could feel her relax. "And what?" She asked.

"I'm far more worried about you." I expressed simply.

Sai gave me no response, and I debated it she wanted to avoid the issue; she leaned over my left shoulder. "So why are you doodling letters with umlauts, by the way?"

I looked down at a notebook that lay open in front of me. "What?"

Sai unwrapped her left arm from my shoulders and pointed down at the notebook. "The 'o' and the 'u' with the dots above them. Those dots are called umlauts."

I raised an eyebrow, but I couldn't make direct eye contact with her while she stood behind me. "You recognize these characters?"

She leaned out and looked at my face. "Sure, they're found in several Germanic languages. Icelandic has them."

I hadn't considered her as having much foreign language skills. "Hmm. I found them in some interesting notes while I was looking yesterday."

"What's so interesting about them?" She asked, seeming to be curious.

The truth hurt. "I can't read them."

Sai giggled. "Uh…so I take it it's the fact that you can't read them that's interesting."

I rolled my ideas at the idea; I was quite sure she was mocking me. "To an extent. I'll walk up to the desk I see if I can get them back for the moment. If you recognize those characters, maybe you can read them."

She stepped back from me, and unwrapped her arms from me. I noticed the warmth disappear; a part of me missed it, but the rest was feeling relief from the unsettling – but likely unfounded – embarrassment.

Sai rounded the table and returned to her seat. "Alright, I'll take a look."

I fetched the documents from the desk. When I returned I handed them to Sai. She took a few moments to look over them, flipping from page to page.

"Well?" I asked, hoping for an easy answer.

She shook her head. "Sorry, I won't be of much help. I recognize some of the characters but it's not something I can really read."

"But we can narrow it down to a language associated with Icelandic."

Sai dropped her shoulders. "That's a maybe. A lot of the Germanic languages look similar. And even we could do that, it would still be one of more than a dozen languages…and…"

"And what?" I asked, trying to tone down my anxiousness.

She appeared thoughtful. "There's a saying in Iceland that the people of the island can read the old texts without much assistance because the language hasn't changed that much. I am picking up a similar word or two, but not enough to make it a good match."

It didn't sound like a helping saying in this situation. "So I take it this isn't a version of Old Icelandic."

"That's a pretty solid bet, but it could be related, still. Maybe a Nordic language since some of it looks at least readable to me."

I sorted through some of the books I had laid out in stacks. When I decided on which book I required, I rearranged the stacks' numbers so they remained the same. "Here. This might be of some assistance."

It was A History of the Indo-Germanic Language Families. I opened it, flipped it to a page I had found and marked earlier, and turned the book around to have it face Sai. "Look at this chart." I pointed at the text.

She leaned forward and read a caption below a black and white chart. "'The Germanic languages are some 2500 hundred years old, and appear to be descended from a language commonly referred to as Proto-Germanic.'" She paused and sat back in her seat. "The language will depend on how old the text was."

"The age is still an issue. John is still working on that."

She cocked her head to her right. "Who John?"

I gestured over my left shoulder, at the desk behind me. "The Circulation Desk clerk. I had him do some looking into this."

She looked as dejected as I had been originally. "I take it he wasn't able to read them, either?"

I shook my head. "No, in fact you've given me more information in the last five minutes on them than he could after studying them for some time. He said the best he could do was to try and locate the original admittance information of the notes into the library's codex. Maybe we'll get lucky and it'll have something about the language on it."

She looked somewhat dejected. "Not that we'll be able to read it from that."

My shoulders dropped. "Unfortunately. If it's old as I think it is, we'll have to find someone who knows it or can translate it."

Her brow wrinkled. "Maybe Justin would recognize some of it."

I was confused, and looked up at her. "Why would Justin recognize it?"

She shrugged. "He's kind of a foreign language buff. But there are no guarantees, and we would still have to ask him."

I bit my lip. "I'm not sure I want to know bad enough to ask him."

"I think you're lying." She stated with a chuckle.

She had my mindset pegged. "I probably am."

"Uh…."

I waved off my attempt at being humorous and returned to making notes in my notebook. "Don't worry about it. I'll ask him myself."

"Alright then, because I'm not going anywhere near him with this subject matter." She stated with a chuckle.

I looked at her, feeling perplexed. "Why is that?"

She looked up and to the right. "Because he'll talk your ear off, as they say."

I mocked her, but for good reason. "I'm far more concerned that I may have the urge to rip his face from his frame, as they say."

She giggled. "Ah, aren't we the romantic?"

I tried to hide a smile, but I assumed I failed. "Always."

There was a moment of silence.

"Want to know something ironic?" Sai asked suddenly.

I didn't look up from my work. "Hmm?"

"I really didn't want to pick the practical." She stated quietly.

At this I did look up, and raised an eyebrow at her. "Then why did you?"

She bit her lip. "Because I wanted to see you fight." She paused. "Is that wrong of me?"

"Yes, because I don't consider myself to be that impressive." I told her with a nod.

She stuck her tongue out at me. "We'll see."