I feel horrible about how I ended the previous chapter...
Kid felt his heart drop as Kenna fell off of the building, holding her arms out and kicking her legs up. Kid screamed as he darted to the ledge, He reached out for the girl, praying that he could catch her before it was too late. But it was. He slammed into the edge, hard, almost falling over himself and his hand barely grazed Kenna's ankle.
"No!" Kid cried, dangling off of the edge and holding his hand out. "Kenna!" He watched Kenna fall and it felt as if everything was going in slow-motion.
A figure at the bottom of the building bolted out of the doors and ran over to where Kenna was falling. It took Kid a slow moment to realize that the figure was Black-Star. Black-Star stopped right below Kenna and had only a second to prepare as the girl landed in his arms. The star fell to his knees from the impact and he held Kenna to his chest. Kid found the fire escape and went down it as fast as he could.
"It's okay Kenna, it's okay." Kid heard Black-Star whispering to the now sobbing girl. The shinigami felt a single drop of water hit his arm, he looked up and it soon was pouring, soaking the three. Kid blinked the rain out of his eyes and looked at the DWMA, he clenched his hands with irritation and anger when he saw that the water was being deflected off of the flames. The academy wasn't going to go out from just a simple storm, it wasn't going to end that easily. "It's okay. You're not going to die. Not while I'm still here. I'll keep you safe. I'll keep you safe."
Kid held open the door for Black-Star while he carried Kenna in. His wet shoes squeaked against the tile-floor, sounding loud in the silent room.
"Kenna!" Miriah cried as she ran over to them. "Is she okay?" She asked, brushing Kenna's dripping bangs out of her face.
"I can't answer that question." Kid said softly and Black-Star didn't respond at all.
"I'll go get some towels." Miriah offered and went off. Black-Star laid Kenna down on one of the benches and faced Kid.
"What the hell was that, Kid?" He asked.
"How on earth am I supposed to know?" Kid responded.
"Earlier today you had a moment on the roof and everything seemed perfectly fine after that and then Kenna goes and jumps off of the damn roof."
"I had nothing to do with Kenna's leap."
"There has to be a reason why she attempted suicide!' Black-Star snapped, raising his voice. "She's a happy girl Kid. She's always making jokes and willing to do anything to make everyone else happy. Why would she want to end her life?"
"Black-Star, it's the academ-"
"Why are you guys wet?" Cylas asked, walking into the room. His limp has been healing already and was barely noticeable.
"It's nothing you need to worry about Cylas, go back to bed." Kid said to the boy.
"I can't, the storm woke me up...Kenna?" Cylas went over to the girl. "Kenna are you okay?" Cylas poked her arm. "Kenna." He sang.
"Leave her alone, Cylas." Miriah snapped, entering the room with several towels in her arms.
"I'm hungry." The boy stated, forgetting all about Kenna, before walking off.
"Did..." Miriah handed the men a towel. "Did Kenna jump?"
"Don't worry, she's fine now." Kid stated.
"That's not answering my question." Miriah gripped the towel in her hand. "Did she or did she not try to kill herself? It's a simple yes or no question and I want an answer!" Miriah had a single tear roll down her red cheek.
"Morning guys. I'm surprised to see you up so...early?" Tsubaki saw the wet men, a wet Kenna asleep on a bench and a crying Miriah. "Is everything alright?" She asked.
"That's what I want to know." Miriah said, glaring at the men.
"Kenna's fine. She wasn't trying to..." Kid looked over at Tsubaki then back to Miriah. "You know, she had something in her head that was driving her...mad."
"Kid, what are you talking about?" Tsubaki asked.
"I wish I really knew. All I know is that whatever it is that is in the DWMA, it's getting to us. It's attacking our minds and driving us insane. It's talking to us and telling us things we do not need to hear and even lying to us. It attacked Kenna." Kid went over to the sleeping girl, looking at her slowly raising and deflating chest, showing that she was still breathing. "It filled her head with horrible things and actually caused her physical pain. It dug into her so deep that it made her believe that she needed to jump off of the roof to make it stop."
"What..." Kid turned around and saw Cylas holding a can of pineapple in his hands and his lower lip trembling. "It's doing what?"
"Miriah, take Cylas back to bed. He doesn't need to hear this." Tsubaki ordered and Miriah hesitated for a moment before obeying.
"So what you're telling me is that the academy is attacking us through our minds?" Tsubaki asked as soon as Cylas was gone.
"Remember the kishin Asura?" Kid said.
"Yes..."
"This thing is worse...far worse."
"Kid..." Kenna groaned out weakly. Kid turned back around and kneeled next to Kenna. "It hurts Kid...it hurts." She cried.
"Give it a minute, it'll go away." Kid promised.
"What happened, Kid?" Kenna asked.
"There is something bad out there Kenna, something that wants to hurt all of us."
"Why does it want to do that?"
"It doesn't have a reason...I want you to stay inside from now on, okay?"
"But that's not fun."
"It may not be, but it is safe."
"Okay Kid...I'll stay in..." Kenna fell back asleep.
"I can't do this." Kid sighed and stood back up. "I can't deal with this anymore. Someone just give me a weapon and let me go after this...this thing." He snapped.
"You can't do that Kid." Tsubaki said.
"Why not? I'm a shinigami."
"Are you fire-proof, then?" Tsubaki put her hands on her hips. "'Cause the whole damn DWMA is on fire and hotter than the flames in hell."
"There has to be something we can do!' Kid snapped.
"What do you think I've been trying to do for three years!?" Tsubaki shouted back.
"Who doesn't love the sound of arguing in the morning?" Free asked sarcastically when he entered the room with his arms crossed. "What's going on?"
"The academy is getting stronger." Tsubaki stated.
"You're joking."
"I wish I was. It got to Kenna earlier, the girl almost killed herself by jumping off of the roof."
"Is she okay?" The wolf asked and went over to the sleeping girl that Black-Star was drying off.
"She had a long fall and might have a slight case of whiplash, but other than that all she really needs is some sleep." Tsubaki answered.
"We need to keep this on the down-low, no one needs to know that the academy is driving people to suicide." Free scooped Kenna up into his arms. "Until we figure out how to get past this, the roof is off limits, to everyone." Free said the last part right at Kid and Black-Star before walking off.
"The others will be getting up soon, you guys might as well help me cook breakfast, heaven knows we need a distraction." She sighed.
"Buenos días señors and señorita." Roberto greeted.
"Morning guys." Jose translated. "Roberto here couldn't sleep so he figured he help cook today."
"Go ahead Robby, the more the merrier." Tsubaki smiled, showing that she was going to ignore everything that had just happened. Kid wondered if she had to use that skill more often than what she wanted.
"Would you mind if I sat out?" Kid asked and Black-Star raised an eyebrow at Kid and the shinigami gestured with his hand for the other man to go on without him.
"You're going to miss all of the fun." The star said out loud before following Tsubaki and the Hispanic brothers. Kid saw a boy enter the main room with him and he gave the teen a wave before walking off, his smile disappearing as soon as he was out of the room.
"Free." Kid stated when he found the wolf leaving Kenna's room.
"You want to talk, don't you?"
"Does that eye give you mind reading abilities?"
"No, but it would make my life a whole hell of a lot easier." Free chuckled and leaned himself against a wall. "Now, what do you want?"
"Is there a way to get into the academy?" Kid asked. "Without having to go through a wall of fire?"
Free hesitated before answering, looking around for someone and positive that Kenna was asleep.
"There is a hole." He said softly.
"A hole?" Kid whispered back.
"Where I escape with Tsubaki that first day, since my power is ice, when I pushed through the fire it left a gap that didn't close after I went through."
"So that means that we can go in, we can get the monster that is creating all of the kishin demons."
"Technically, yes."
"What do you mean 'technically'?"
"I don't want anyone to go in there, it's not safe."
"Then why don't you go?"
"Don't you think I've tried? I went in on my own and got overrun by those damn demons and couldn't make it to the core."
"Take me with you, both of us could easily manage getting through the kishins and getting to the core."
"Maybe..." Free thought about the option, but before he could answer they both heard a scream of pain. The wolf pushed Kid out of the way and sprinted toward the cry and Kid ran right behind him.
Almost everyone in the apartment was gathered in the main room, waiting for breakfast and discussing what they were going to do for the day. But they all now stared at the area where the kitchen was at in fear, trying to figure out who was screaming.
"Audame! Audame!" Jose screamed as he crashed through the door. His body completely on fire and burning him alive.
"Put him out!" Tsubaki ordered, following the burning man. "Smother him with something!" Miriah ran over to where she had handed Kid and Black-Star towels and found the one she had dropped when leading Cylas away. She grabbed the towel and threw it on top of Jose, who had fallen into a heap on the floor. The man stopped struggling after the towel covered his head and Miriah moved the towel to take out the flames on his legs.
"Oh, God!" Someone cried in the crowd.
"Jose! Jose!" Roberto stumbled into the room. "No, no, no!" The man pushed through the crowd and knelt next to his brother. "Hermano?" Roberto grabbed his brother's charred head and had the other man face him.
"Robby, don't do that-" Tsubaki stopped when Roberto shot her a glare filled with tears before going back to his burnt brother.
"Levantarse, por favor...por favor Jose...get up." Roberto sobbed.
"Where's Black-Star?" Kid asked Tsubaki softly.
"In the kitchen." Tsubaki responded. Kid nodded a thanks and went to look for his partner.
"Black-Star?" Kid's voice raised in worry when he found Black-Star sitting on the floor with his hands in a bucket of water.
"I'm fine, just burnt my hands a little when I tried to put out Jose." The star gave Kid a weak smile.
"What happened?" Kid asked and went over to Black-Star.
"Well...I was opening several cans of peas with Tsubaki while Jose and Roberto where butchering some squirrels and out of no where, Jose just caught on fire. One minute he's fine, the next he's a ball of fire."
"Spontaneous combustion."
"There's a word for it?"
"Yes, but I feel like that's not the reason." Kid pulled Black-Star's hands out of the water.
"Are you talking about the academy?"
"It's getting stronger." Kid stated. "Your hands aren't that bad." He said. "After we put some burn cream on it and wrap it up you should be fine." The shinigami stood up and looked around. "The food..." Kid gasped.
"Yeah...it all got burnt to a crisp."