Hey, guys! So, I went and got myself a sprained ankle on Thanksgiving, which I'd hoped this story would be on chapter 9 or 10 by then. Oh well. I guess I can be thankful that I managed to get this chapter up after so long :). Enjoy!
"Um… Sheele?" Sam asked one day when she wasn't busy with homework or fanfiction.
"Yes?" Sheele replied absentmindedly.
"Why are you so attached to that pair of scissors?"
The purple-haired girl looked down at the scissors in her hand and smiled. "Well, to me, they're not just scissors," she answered. "They're a gift… a gift from my friend. You know what a klutz what I am, and you can guess how hard it is to find friends because of it. But I finally found one girl in seventh grade that didn't make fun of me no matter how many times I screwed up. She was really nice, too…" Sheele sighed.
"So what happened?" Sam pressed, wanting to hear more.
"Well, she was dating a boy against her parents' will. Apparently, this boy had a sibling in high school, so he got his hand on some drugs. He came up one day to me and my friend and started saying some pretty mean things. But as soon as he touched her, I knew I wasn't going to forgive him. I reached into my backpack, found my scissors, and stabbed him in the arm."
Sam whistled in amazement. "You were brave," she complimented.
"Yeah, but…" Sheele's voice grew sad as she stroked her scissors. "That day cost me my friend… forever."
"Well… that's certainly b.s."
"It is… but I've learned to live with it. Besides…" The two girls glanced toward the kitchen. Bulat and Tatsumi were knocking each other around playfully, while Mine scolded them, and Akame threatened to stab them if they got near the meat. Freddy was asking Lubbock for help on his homework, but the green-haired boy was too busy staring at Najenda as she versed Leone and Chelsea in a card game.
"Everyone in Night Raid… they're my friends," Sheele continued with a smile. "I feel like I really belong here…"
"Yeah…" agreed Sam, nodding. "And they're even more than friends to me. I'm an only child, so… I guess I see all of you here as siblings."
"Wha?" Sheele had completely spaced out, but Sam simply laughed.
This scene played through Sheele's mind as all of the Night Raid members gathered by the doors to confront the Jaegers. "Hey! How's everybody?" asked Lubbock, trying to ease the tension between the dorms. No one responded. "Well, I'm fine," Lubbock responded out loud in disappointment and sarcasm. "Thanks for asking."
"What do you want, Esdeath?" Najenda asked in a cold voice.
"Well, we heard that one of your members was rude to one of ours," the blue-haired senior replied. "I just want to settle things so that there's no bad blood."
"Yeah, no one wants to be Taylor Swift here!" Sam joked. This just got her a glare from Nathan. She then put two and two together and realized that they were mad at her, and she knew what she needed to do. "I'm sorry, Wave," she apologized, sighing. "I shouldn't have said the stuff I did, even if I was sticking up for a friend."
"Apology accepted," replied Wave, attempting to reach forward to shake her hand. However, Esdeath swatted his hand away. "Okay, since Wave is a pushover, there's going to be a change in plans," she informed the rest of the Jaegers. Before Sam could register Esdeath's leg coming towards her for a kick, Sheele quickly reacted and blocked it. "I… owe you scissors, don't I?" asked Sam, still recovering from the shock of almost being kicked in the face.
"You don't owe me anything," Sheele said with a smile.
"How dare you touch the leader of the Jaegers?" Seryu growled, attempting to lurch forward but being held back by Elliot.
"Yeah, can someone actually explain what's going on here?" Tatsumi finally spoke up, not really sure how to react in this situation. "What are Jaegers?"
"I want to know, too!" Freddy added.
"Later," Akame told them. "But first, let's make something clear, Esdeath… you will not touch any member of this dorm again!" Tatsumi was taken aback by the conviction in the girl's voice. Leone couldn't help but grin to herself. You've done it now, Esdeath, she thought to herself.
Esdeath also grinned, but it was the kind that sent shivers down your spine. "I have a suggestion," she announced. "At the beginning of each month, a member of the Jaegers and a member of Night Raid have a little… battle. The winner gets the sole satisfaction of victory, and the loser has to drop out of AP Academy."
"We're not going to play games with you!" Mine shouted lunging forward.
"MINE!" Akame exclaimed sternly, causing everyone to jump and Mine to freeze dead in her tracks. The red-eyed girl walked up to Esdeath. "And after we fight, we leave each other in peace?" she asked in her normal monotone.
"Yes," replied Esdeath, still wearing her sickening grin. Akame turned to Najenda. "Your call," she spoke softly.
Najenda stood staring at the ground, debating whether or not to trust Esdeath. After a moment, she held her hand out to the Jaegers' leader. "Deal," she said; the dorm leaders shook hands.
Esdeath was still smiling as she and the other Jaegers left the dorm. "Good luck… Sis," Kurome grinned evily as she left. Akame gripped her arm and nodded in response. Sheele and Seryu glared at each other, agreeing that they would fight the next day. Wave and Elliot actually apologized for everything, while Nathan just guiltily looked back at Night Raid before proceeding back to his dorm.
Sheele looked at her watch. It was almost a quarter to three. The school day was over, and she'd had time to to talk with her dorm members before going to the library I meet Seryu for their match.
At this time, Seryu had arrived, holding a leash. Sure enough, a growling Koro followed behind her. "Isn't it unfair to bring a dog to a fist fight?" Sheele asked.
"Who said this fight had to be fair?" replied Seryu with an evil grin.
"I was afraid you'd say that." Based on Mine's advice as well as her own experience, Sheele expected the Jaegers to play dirty. So, she didn't come empty-handed, either. The purple-haired girl whipped out her special pair of scissors and held them like a dagger. For my friend... for my friends in Night Raid... I won't lose! She thought with conviction.
Esdeath told me she was an airhead, thought Seryu. But she seems so calm and focused. Oh well; I must bring justice!
"Koro... GO!" she shouted, letting go of the leash. With a loud growl, Koro lunged forward and attempted to bite Sheele. Fortunately, the girl dodged, causing the dog to jump into a bookshelf. The dog angrily munched on a book. "If that's a Harry Potter book you're eating, I won't forgive you," Sheele told him coldly.
Koro growled again and dashed forward. This time, he bit Sheele's arm; she tried her best to shake him off so she wouldn't have to hurt him. However, once Seryu tried to tackle her from behind, she flailed her scissors in her attackers direction, cutting her. "Sorry," she apologized.
"Don't apologize during a fight!" exclaimed Seryu, gritting her teeth. Upon sensing his owner was in pain, Koro sank his teeth even further into Sheele's arm and shook his head vigorously. Sheele was still trying not to injure the dog, but she was left with no choice; she swung him into another bookshelf, but he wouldn't let go.
Seryu grappled Sheele again, which earned her another stab from the scissors. The fight continued, unbeknownst to the librarian, who was blasting Beethoven through her headphones as she did paperwork.
Finally, Seryu, ignoring her pain, managed to grab the scissors when Sheele went for another stab. She mercilessly cut Sheele across the cheek, which caused to her to focus her attention on trying to stop the bleeding. Seryu took this oppurtunity to kick her to the ground.
"Koro," she began, but the dog didn't need an order; he continued to attack, biting and tearing his prey. Sheele tried to fight back, but Koro wouldn't losen his grip no matter what she did. She bit her lip, trying not to scream out in pain. Being scared wouldn't do anything now; she simply let her mind flash back to her times with her parents, her old friend... and most of all, Night Raid.
I'll miss you guys... Mine, Sam, Tatsumi, Akame, she thought to herself. I had fun, but...
All of Night Raid was beside itself when they heard the news. They all sat in the hospital, which they had taken a NancyMobile to. Since Sheele had lost her fight, this meant that once she recovered, she would have to leave AP Academy.
"This is all my fault," Sam muttered, blinking back tears. "If I'd just kept my mouth shut..."
"Defending ME," interrupted Mine. "So, I guess it's my fault." Freddy and Tatsumi were all surprised to see tears streaming down her cheek. Sam put a hand on her shoulder and tried to comfort her.
"Well, I'm dorm leader," Najenda added sadly. "So I have to take responsibility..."
"Who cares whose fault it is?!" Lubbock exclaimed suddenly. "Why don't you guys just get a hug if it's bothering you this much?!" Taking Lubbock's surprisingly good advice, Akame hugged Sam, Freddy and Bulat hugged Mine, who harshly rejected them despite the situation, and Lubbock got to hug Najenda. However... well, we know what happens when Lubbock gets too close to a girl... the green-haired boy screamed "WORTH IT!" as he was sent through the wall. Leone and Chelsea even made a Tatsumi sandwich, even though the brown-hared boy wanted to be left alone.
He hadn't known Sheele very long... heck, he hadn't known any of his dorm members for more than a month or two! But she was the nicest to him when he'd first joined the dorm. She'd even comforted him when he was stressed about homework or when he wasn't sure what to do in certain social situations. She'd even told him about when Akame...
Tatsumi looked over at his friend. Although her red eyes barely showed any emotion, he could clearly see sadness in them as she approached the window to Sheele's room to see the purple-haired girl lying in the hospital bed. He gulped and joined her, trying to hold back his tears. "Akame?" he addressed her, placing a hand on her shoulder.
Akame didn't respond with words; she simply looked up at him. Seeing Akame, of all people, sad was enough to make anyone cry, but Tatsumi gulped and blinked several more times to keep a strong front. "Sheele's... going to be okay," he managed. "We all are."
Although he didn't really understand what to do in the situation, he took Akame's hand as if to emphasize his point. He turned his head and shed his tears when Akame squeezed his hand back.
Finally! It's up!
So... I need your guys' help. In either next chapter in chapter 9, I plan on having a moment with Akame... and, well, I'm stuck between two choices of what song to have her either singing or blasting throughout the dorm: Konna Sekai Shiritakunakatta (I hope to God I spelled that right) or Rain (from Full Metal Alchemist). Leave a review and say which one you'd like to see!