CHAPTER 3: SHIBUSEN
Kid stood behind AVA with a pair of scissors, his smooth forehead marred with a grim frown, while he delicately took a lock of her shoulder-length hair between his long fingers, "You sure you want to do this, AVA?"
AVA didn't stir, "Yes, it is my choice, Kid. Please respect it." Kid still looked doubtfully at her reflection in the mirror. She sighed, "You don't have to do it if you don't want to. It's just that... I might accidentally make the back asymmetrical because of my lack of sight." Kid tensed at the thought of such a horrific case scenario, he couldn't let that happen.
"I'll do it!" Kid started snipping at her hair, occasionally brandishing a measuring tape in his hands to measure a fresh lock of hair with his brows creased with worry. "How short do you want it, AVA?"
"Short. Like yours. Maybe a little longer." AVA intoned. Kid glanced upwards but he could not read her expression behind the blindfold. Poor AVA, he thought, but she seem to be able to navigate around with ease as if she never lost her eyes. She says they'll grow back though.
"Okay," the snip of the scissors resumed, "Why do you want to pretend to be a boy in the first place then? Can you at least tell me that?"
Kid thought he heard AVA groaned inwardly at that. He felt guilty immediately. You idiot Kid, stop being so nosy.
"The whole school started talking about the hybrid girl ever since you first brought me here, I guess it's a way to avoid unwanted attention. I mean, who will be looking at a new boy when there's a supposedly hot hybrid chick to be checking out?" Kid could hear the smile in her voice.
He blushed beet red at her comment, "Supposedly hot?" he couldn't keep the waver from his usual professional voice. AVA burst out laughing at that.
"What? You don't think I'm good looking?" AVA mocked hurt and pouted, "I'm so hurt, Kid."
"What? No! I didn't mean that! I mean - I mean - you are good looking, I guess," Kid stammered out. Geez, what was wrong with him? Why did she make him feel uncomfortable?
"I guess?!" AVA pulled her hair away from Kid's fingers and playfully threw a hairbrush at him, which he ducked easily. "Are you planning to attract girls to you with your gentlemanly speech, Kid?! Because I think that's going to backfire on you." She laughed.
There it was again, that beautiful pealing laughter of her's.
Kid dawned on her previous words, "But that's not the only reason you want to go as a boy, is it? People will find out about you sooner of later, even as a boy. There's something else."
AVA abruptly stopped her laughter and shrugged sadly. "Yea," AVA whispered, "I'll tell you about it someday Kid, but not right now."
Making an attempt to brighten the mood, Kid smiled at her, "Come on AVA, you better get changed if we're going to make it to school by 8."
AVA pulled a face at that, "Who cares? We're already one hour late anyways."
Kid exited AVA's room with a sigh, giving her privacy to change for school. Today was going to be AVA's first day at Shibusen, he wanted the transfer to go as smoothly as possible, so much for him wanting. AVA totally blew his plans when she said she wanted to go as a boy, stubborn girl. But he had to admit that her plan was an ingenious idea to avoid attention. Why hadn't I thought one up? He had spent the rest of the weekends so freely around AVA that he forgotten their current situation. He must had looked like a fool to AVA.
He turned his mind over to AVA. She had really changed over the weekend, it was liked she had shedded her old, timid and untrusting self and emerged as a whole new confident person. She laughed more and more often and had opened herself towards Kid.
Kid finished buttoning his black jacket and stirred his coffee, waiting for AVA.
"So... How do I look, Kid? I can't check in the mirror for obvious reasons." Meaning her eyes.
That was quick, he thought and turned to gape with his mouth open.
Forget his comment about her not being hot, AVA had looked perfect since arriving and she looked good now, even as a boy. AVA stood leaning casually against the doorframe dressed in one of Kid's smaller white shirt rolled up above the elbows and black trousers though she added a little twist of personal flavour to it. A black bandanna with white Shibusen's trademark skull prints hung loosely around her neck while a slim silver chain draped from the rim of her front left trouser pocket. AVA grinned and blushed self consciously as a lock of her recently shortened black hair flopped against her blindfold.
"Fine, you look just fine," Kid muttered, temporarily glad that she could not see or he would had turned away to hide his warming cheeks. "Come on, we'd better be on our way."
Liz and Patty chose that precise moment to barge through through the door, their eyes widening at AVA. "Whoa, AVA you look good as a boy if it wasn't for the blindfold. In fact, I take back what I said about your idiotic plan, it might actually work out." Liz said.
"Yeah! AVA you look good!" Patty fist-punched the air, then ran over and bump her fist against AVA's. "Let's GO, GO, GO! Eh? Kid, you okay there?"
"Yeah, Kid. You're not even freaking out over AVA's asymmetrical attire," Liz held her hand against Kid's forehead, "Sure you're fine?" Kid just nodded his head.
He should had guessed AVA would turn back to her timid self when they arrived at Shibusen. By the time they reached the classroom, she was practically clinging on to his arm.
Kid leaned down to whisper, "AVA, your secret will be found out if you don't stop holding on to me." At that, she jumped back and seem to regain some composure and distance between him. She gave him a nod of thanks and proceeded to push open the classroom door.
Kid caught her arm and spoke towards his weapon partners, "Liz, Patty, remember not a word spilled about AVA's secret understood?" They nodded their heads, well Liz nodded her head and Patty mimed zipping her mouth, and Kid let go of AVA's arm.
The hubbub inside the classroom ceased as heads turned to stare at the newcomer as Kid pulled AVA along to his friends while Liz and Patty tagged along. He knew that AVA could hear the gossip spreading around about her blindfold already.
"AVA, let me introduce you to my friends. Meister Maka (a blonde smiling girl), her scythe weapon Soul (silver-haired grumpy boy), and Blackstar's weapon Tsubaki (long black hair, shy girl). They all know about you and visited you everyday at the dispensary. Guys, this is AVA, the newest boy in class."
They greeted her with smiles. "So we have you to thank for taking Blackstar down a notch," Soul smirked, "We heard about what happened at the dispensary. Sorry about your eyes though. You seem like a cool guy if it weren't for your name. Isn't AVA a girl's name?"
"They'll grow back. AVA is not my actual name, it's short for something and I prefer to be called by it," said AVA. "You got a problem with that?"
Kid watched unsurprised as Maka hit him on the head with a thick book, "Soul, be polite to the new boy. Don't scare him off with your babbling."
Tsubaki shyly offered AVA a smile, "Blackstar will be here soon, I hope."
"He's going to be late for class AGAIN," Maka sighed in frustration while Soul just glanced at her, clearly bored.
"What could you expect from an idiot like him?" Kid heard Ox's voice out of the blue and gritted his teeth. "After all, he isn't a genius like me!"
Kid turned around to face Ox, but before he could utter a word out, AVA's fist flashed out from the side and sent Ox flying against the blackboard just as Professor Stein rolled into the room on his chair.
Kid said startled, "AVA, what was that for?"
AVA looked on indifferently, "He insulted my friend. Don't look at me like that, you were about to do the same thing. I just beated you to it." She shrugged as if it was normal for her to be smashing every stranger's face in when they insult one of her friends.
"Oh dear, another fight. It's just the start of class too," Stein sighed, "Come on then, might as well get this over with quickly. AVA, Ox and Harvar, let's take it outside before you wreck the classroom." He rolled out. They followed him through.
Soul whistled beside Kid, "AVA wasn't even minutes in school before getting into a fight, let alone with Ox Ford and Harvar. Must be a record. He is officially cool."
Tsubaki tiptoed along, "I hope he knows what he's doing. Ox is one of the top meisters in class."
Kid thought that too and sped up to Professor Stein's side, "Professor, don't you think that it might be a little dangerous for AVA to be fighting Ox? Without a weapon too?"
Stein didn't even slow down, "Have you ever thought that maybe AVA might be stronger than you, what with his 'ethnic difference'? Besides, he's a strong boy isn't he? I'm sure he can handle Ox."
Kid stood at the side with the others and watched AVA standing opposite Ox and Harvar, who had now transformed into a lightning spear which was his weapon form. He could feel the tension radiating off the duo as time passed.
"Hey, new boy! I hope you're prepared to experience the power of one of the top meisters in class. You might as well forfeit without a weapon to fight. You have no chance of winning at all, even if you did have your eyes," Ox shouted over the distance between him and AVA.
AVA replied by moving into a defensive stance, hand held up fisted by her face and knees bent slightly. The wind picked up and flipped her bangs against her face. If Kid squinted his eyes enough, he could had passed off the blindfold as never existing.
"Maka, Kid, I want you to use your soul perception to watch the fight," Professor Stein drawled out beside him, "Watch AVA's soul in particular."
Kid did as he was told to and concentrated in on AVA's soul. It was fairly strong but smaller in size in comparison to his own Shinigami soul. But AVA's soul was anything but normal: it gave of a silvery green sheen of light and Kid was sure that he could see two streaks, one black one white, swirling around AVA's soul, chasing one another around.
"Professor, are the black and white streaks an effect of the demon and angel blood?" Maka asked.
"Yes, it is all very interesting isn't it? I wager that the boy can probably pack in very strong Soul Attacks if he tried to," Stein grinned madly behind his spectacles. "Such an interesting specimen."
Ox suddenly let out a roaring war cry, "Royal Thunder!" Sparks flew out of the tip his spear towards AVA with cackling ferocity.
AVA stood still - and let them hit her straight on.
Soul gasped aloud, "What?! He just let them hit him straight on without even dodging! What the hell is he doing?! Trying to get himself killed?!"
"Soul, watch her carefully," Kid said calmly. Soul didn't have Soul Perception but Kid did, and what he saw took his breath away. AVA had tuned her soul wavelength to match Ox and Harvar's and had absorbed the lightning into her body instead. As far as Kid knew, only Professor Stein could do that. Yet she still stood there as if nothing's happened.
Ox paled and his twin towers drooped, "Wha?! How did y-"
AVA grinned, "My turn."
She began to do something Kid had never seen before. Kid watched in admiration as AVA drew her soul wavelength out of her body. She glowed a silvery green as her soul wavelength ran along her skin like a second layer of skin, eddying in its currents. The swirling pattern of silver green casted shadows on her face, never-ending swirls and hypnotising voids.
AVA suddenly charged forward towards Ox, sparring with her own bare hands. It seemed unlikely but Ox and Harvar seem to be hurting a great deal when coming into contact with AVA and had resorted to dodging rather than attacking. But she was too fast for them, zipping between their blocks to deliver strikes, dancing between their desperate lunges to catch her off guard. AVA fought with such speed and accuracy that one from afar will never have thought that she was blind.
"Kid, Maka, tell me what AVA is doing," Soul whined.
Maka complied, "You know when AVA tuned his soul wavelength to be the same as Ox and Harvar's? This time she's doing the opposite."
"Maka's right. AVA is now making his wavelength as different as he can from Ox and Harvar's. This ability he has, to be able to run a current of your own soul wavelength over your skin, I've never encountered before. I must say I am surprised," Professor Stein murmured, "and impressed."
"It is a very clever strategy. As either Ox or Harvar comes into contact with AVA's soul wavelength, any of them will be badly hurt. This creates a protective barrier between AVA and the outside world that allows him to attack and yet stay unharmed," Kid hears Soul say under his breath, "So cool."
Kid himself stayed silent and watched AVA toy with Ox. It was clear that she was not even breaking a sweat while Ox could barely stay on his feet. Kid saw the light gathering in the palm of AVA's right hand as she drew it back, preparing for a Soul Drive. At least he knew that particular move.
AVA aimed for Ox's heart when Harvar suddenly transformed into his human form in front of Ox, trying to protect his meister, a split second before AVA drove her Soul Drive home. It didn't matter in the end.
"Harvar, no!" Ox cried to his partner before AVA's Soul Drive hit him. Her Soul Drive was so strong that it went through both of and Harvar hit the ground meters away from where they were before.
AVA's solitude figure stood out against the sun, casting a lone shadow on the flagstones, as she began walking towards the defeated pair.
Tsubaki broke from the side as if released from a spell and ran to help AVA haul the unconscious boys to the dispensary.
"She's stronger than I ever imagined, that Soul Drive wasn't even one tenth of her real potential," Professor Stein spoke first, "Kid, remember your father's words and keep an eye on her properly." He rolled away.
Kid was silent. AVA was certainly very powerful, but why would she ever turn against Shibusen? His father's orders did not make sense. There was something going on that he didn't know of and he planned on finding out.
He watched AVA from where he was. Such a strong and caring girl. Even symmetry cease to lose its beauty when next to her.