(Kid's POV)
I stood in front of the full-length mirror in the living room, excessively adjusting the silver skull at the base of my throat. The mirror was positioned low enough on the wall so I could see from my neck down so I could make sure not a centimeter of my outfit was wrinkled or crooked.
Footsteps caught my attention from down the hallway and I glanced over my shoulder to check whose they were. Seconds later, Liz came through the archway leading into the room and looked over at me with exasperation clear in her expression. "Are you honestly still fussing about that? Just leave it, it looks fine," she sighed.
"You don't understand, Liz," I replied, "Something is off about today. No matter how hard I try, nothing is perfect. First I couldn't find my jacket, then a piece of my hair wouldn't stay down, and now this. My hair finally cooperated, thankfully."
Liz raised her eyebrows and shot a doubtful look towards the top of my head. Something was definitely off. I crouched down to view my hair in the mirror and saw two strands now sticking out. NO, NO, NO! THIS CAN'T BE!
"Where's my fuckin' coffee?!" shouted Patty, storming down the stairs. I whirled around at her voice and spotted her on the staircase disheveled and unkempt. Her red crop top was half pulled on and her hair was frizzy and uncombed. My eye rapidly twitched and I turned away from her, trying to ignore the fact that everything about her appearance was out of place. I slipped away into the bathroom to check if the toilet paper was folded at the end, leaving my elder weapon to deal with her twin's morning disaster.
"I'll get you some at Deathbucks on the way to the Academy," Liz promised, "Come on, let me fix your hair, Patty. You look like a mess, Kid's gonna have a panic attack if you stay like this."
I heard shuffling and sleepy grumbling from the other room, which I assumed was Liz fixing Patty's appearance up for the day. If it was up to that happy-go-lucky idiot, she would probably walk around Death City in her giraffe pajamas trying to balance six empty cups of coffee on her head.
I exited the bathroom and continued upstairs to the hallway, where a giant picture frame was hanging in the center of the wall. I stood in front of it, squinting and rubbing my chin as I tried to decide whether or not it was hanging straight. After nudging the frame over a teensy bit, I descended the stairs and joined my weapons in the living room. Patty was pulling on her shoes and Liz was fixing her white hat in the mirror.
I had almost forgotten about basic training. Today was the day that I would see Crystalin's partners' weapon forms for the first time. Crystalin herself was quite stunning to look at; it wasn't just her impeccable symmetry, something else about her that I couldn't name captured my attention. Somehow, my eyes will be drawn to her in a packed hallway or a crowded plaza.
On the way to the clearing, we stopped so Patty could get her coffee at Deathbucks. I walked between the twins and they carried on their conversation around me. I had my hands shoved deep in the pockets of my dress pants and found myself scrutinizing every detail about the buildings around us. They were so asymmetrical, yet I knew I couldn't do anything but ignore it. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to calm myself.
You won't have a panic attack. Just ignore it, Kid. Think of symmetrical things...the house. That painting in the hallway. The way the couch and television sit perfectly in the center of the living room. Wait...did I fix the lamp in the living room? Patty moved it last night, did I move it back? Oh no...
I halted in my tracks, my eye twitching violently as I stared with wide eyes at the ground. We had reached the clearing and Liz and Patty had abandoned me to converse with the rest of the team. I held my head, taking deep breaths in and out like Liz always told me to do when I was about to start freaking out.
I couldn't have left it out of place. I must have fixed it! No, no, no, no I'm a failure. I have to go back and che–
"Kid? Are you okay?"
I was roused from my panicked thoughts and brought back to reality by a vaguely familiar voice. I glanced up from the ground and my gaze met with two entrancing light gray eyes. Crystalin. She smiled gently and rested a hand on my shoulder, tilting her head to the side slightly in a silent question.
"I'm fine, I just..." I trailed off. She wouldn't understand. She doesn't know anything about symmetry, she'll just think I'm crazy. She doesn't care about what's bothering me, she's just trying to be courteous.
"You don't look fine. You look like you're about to faint," she frowned, "C'mon, sit down for a little bit. You can't honestly perform soul resonance in your state."
I shook my head and pulled away from her gentle touch. "No, I can. I've done it before. Trust me," I sighed, "I just need to calm down a bit, I'm fairly stressed."
Professor Stein stepped out into the clearing where we were gathered and clapped his hands twice. He adjusted the bolt in his head and threw his cigarette to the ground, crushing it under his shoe. "Alright, kids. Today we're going to practice something a bit different. We're going to start practicing chain resonance. You've learned about this in class, so it should be relatively simple," he announced, "There are four meisters here, I would like to pair you guys in twos to start off." He squinted at Crystalin for a moment, then at me. He pursed his lips and furrowed his brows before he said, "Maka with Black Star, Kid with Crystalin."
I glanced over at the girl beside me. We didn't know anything about each other, yet now we were basically going to be inside of each other's minds. A part of me was apprehensive about linking with her; her soul was so odd and I didn't know what was wrong with it. I focused on her and peered at her soul again. It was red, though not the color of a corrupt kishin egg soul – it was darker, much closer to crimson, and it was encased by black.
Liz and Patty morphed into twin pistols and I caught them in my hands expertly, spinning them around on my pinkies. I watched interestedly as Mieko and Ryoko transformed. Their bodies were engulfed in a blood-colored light and they shifted into two club maces that Crystalin threw expertly in the air and caught perfectly. She flashed me a smile when she caught me watching her, and I averted my eyes immediately.
Why did their aura look corrupted?
"Alright, I would like you to resonate with your partners. Meisters, after you've achieved resonation, close your eyes and focus on the other meister's soul. Imagine yourself reaching out to it," Professor Stein instructed.
Neither Crystalin nor I closed our eyes when we were told. I stared at her silently, memorizing every detail about her appearance. Her long, black hair fell silkily over her shoulders and her stormy eyes pierced my own with a glint of determination in them. She gripped her weapons so tightly that her hands began to redden. Her pale skin, black hair, and gray eyes gave her an almost monochromatic appearance that mesmerized me. Her unwavering gaze didn't wander from my own very much. She was fixated on my eyes with a look of awe in her own that made me wonder if she envied me for the color in my irises that she seemingly lacked.
"Kid, Crystalin!" barked Professor Stein, "Are you going to stand there gawking at each other all day or are you going to resonate?"
"S-sorry, sir!" Crystalin stammered, shaking her head sharply and smiling nervously.
I resonated with Patty and Liz, then closed my eyes and tried to sense Crystalin's soul. I was once again stumped when I visualized it; her soul was an orb that glowed red and was encased by blackness. I reached out to it to touch it, but something in my mind told me to stay away.
Stop! Don't touch it! You'll get sucked in!
I blinked in confusion and looked around me. There was no one around me in the dark space; there was no one but the soul in front of me and my own mind. Is my own soul trying to speak to me? I rolled my eyes and shook my head at my own ridiculous thought. That's impossible.
I reached out, battling the screaming voice inside my head, and took Crystalin's soul into my own hands. The experience was so surreal, and as I closed my eyes, I could almost feel pain radiating from Crystalin's soul. I opened my eyes and found myself inside one, giant soul with her.
I met her eyes for a moment, but stepped back with a strangled gasp. Her normally monochromatic image was shattered by two wild, crimson eyes that replaced her naturally gray ones. She flashed me a devilish grin that revealed a mouthful of fangs and a mindset of insanity as she twirled around the mace held in her left hand like a baton. Blood stained her white fangs and crazed bloodlust glinted in her red eyes.
"Kid, what's wrong? Why are you frozen?" Liz asked from her pistol form.
"C-Crystalin?" I stammered. I blinked once and the image of the monster driven by insanity that stood before me was gone. The attractive girl stood with her eyes closed and head tilted to the sky. At the sound of her name, she opened her eyes and they widened when she observed our combined soul surrounding us.
"We did it!" she exclaimed, beaming excitedly, "Ryo, Mi, we synced with them!"
She looks so happy and...normal. What did I just see?
"Why are their souls blue and ours not?" Crystalin asked, nodding over to Maka and Black Star, who were snapping at each other and still struggling to link.
I studied the glowing bubble surrounding us carefully. It was a mixture of our souls – purple from mine and deep crimson from hers. The darkness that I observed enveloping her soul took over her half almost entirely and was starting to creep slowly towards mine.
"It's a combination of our souls," I murmured, "I'm a shinigami, therefore mine is purple. Your soul is...I'm not so sure."
(Crystalin's POV)
I sighed and flopped down onto my bed, burying my face in the soft covers. After performing the resonance link with Kid, I just wasn't the same. There was a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach that started when I asked him why our souls weren't like Black Star and Maka's. When he told me that he had no clue about mine, my heart started pounding in my chest.
Am I not normal? Just as I thought everything was getting better when I left home, life started leading me down dark paths that I didn't want to follow. What did I ever do to deserve this? I never hurt anyone but myself.
The door to my room creaked open and I felt my mattress sink down beside me. I picked up my head and found Mieko sitting on my bed, his blue eyes twinkling with concern. He rested a gentle hand on my back and sighed, his gaze flickering out the open window. For a few minutes we sat in silence, and I let his familiar presence bring peace to me.
"You've been in here ever since we got back from training. We're worried about you," he murmured, "You didn't even come out for dinner. Are you alright?'
"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just thinking," I mumbled. I leaned my chin on my forearms and gazed out at the pitch black night sky. The moon slept peacefully and the stars shimmered on the midnight backdrop of the sky.
"Stop that, it's not healthy," he teased lightly with a joking smile. I chuckled, but the amusement evidently didn't reach my eyes. He dropped his smile and sighed, "In all seriousness, you're not safe inside your own mind, Crys. Don't lock yourself in here all night when you don't feel stable. Come out and sit with Ryo and I. Give yourself a break from your mind."
I sat up on my bed and nodded slowly. I reluctantly agreed to come with him and followed him out into the living room. Ryoko had his eyes glued to the television screen as his fingers nimbly navigated the gaming controller in his hands. I sat down beside him and sunk back into the sofa, studying his side profile. The screen of the television reflected in his blue eyes and his red hair was sticking up in all different directions.
He glanced at me for a moment and a grin stretched across his lips. "So, you finally decided to come out of your den and join us, huh, hermit?"
I smiled softly at his teasing comment and shook my head. Mieko was right, I really did need to clear my head and get my mind off of everything. My thoughts were never a safe place for me, and moving to Death City didn't change that.
