Chapter Twenty-Five: Sunsets and Sunrises; Is Moving On Too Hard?
Change was good and change was weird. If you had told me a few months ago that I would be off of the anti-madness pill that had kept me normal, I would have laughed in your face and told you that maybe you needed them more than I did. Now, I knew that sometimes madness was a thing to be accepted. The kishin and I were one and the same now, not different entities. There wasn't a chance of her randomly taking control and unleashing death, doom, and destruction on the lives of everyone I loved – not that I loved many people, or any for that matter. I was back to being the normal me, which was weirder than the not-normal me had been. Not that I minded much.
One week after the worst – and best – time of my life, Team Maka was sitting in my living room. Before, nearly seven months ago, I would have been totally fangirling. Now, however, I was wondering if they were going to eat as much as Black*Star did. With the additions of Snow – who hadn't left Tsubaki's side – and Nikolai – whose brother had turned out to be a full-out traitor – we all filled up my living room until I was worried we might break the floor. With the added weight of three pizzas, I definetly worried for my downstairs neighbors.
Though we were being boisterous and loud you could still see the bags under Soul's eyes and the fading bruises on Maka's cheekbones. Tsubaki didn't dare be more than an arm's length away from Snow, which – again – it didn't see like he minded much. Each of us were carrying around our own little injury – though it wasn't one of the injuries that could be cleaned up and protected with a Band-Aid. Calypso had shattered the fragile sense of safety that the DWMA had always given us and, personally, I wasn't going to be leaving Black*Star's side for weeks!
Or, well, until he left.
The end of the Exchange Program hadn't come as a surprise to anyone. Most everyone had already been sent home, the few exceptions to the rule being the people currently residing in my living room. Not that I minded much, though they did eat most of the pizza, but an odd panic was spreading through my stomach at the thought of them going. My apartment was going to feel really empty. Not to mention there were very few meisters who Lord Death would ever clear to use Kishin Blade so I was pretty much on my own. Already Team Maka had promised to keep in contact, but Black*Star was acting like nothing was going to happen.
So, yeah, I was starting to get a little doubtful that he really felt anything. With the madness inside of me not going on an all-out rampage, and there being no crazy-ass witches trying to kill off half the DWMA, my little pseudo-relationship with my soon-to-be ex-meister was pretty high on my list of priorities. In fact, it was nearly at the top, only under 'track that bwitch down and take her soul'. I'm pretty sure you can figure out which 'bwitch' I'm talking about. (Damn squids…)
Needless to say, so long as Calypso was out there I was going to keep hunting for her. The pain and suffering she had caused was enough to last some people's lifetimes, not to mention the fact that she nearly drove me to an eternity of bloodthirsty madness. This wasn't exactly something I was going to forgive – not in my lifetime. Then again, knowing myself, my lifetime was kind of up in the air. As reckless as I was, it wasn't impossible for me to do something stupid and end up kicking the bucket.
This was why Black*Star's sudden lack of obvious interest bothered me. As meisters and weapons who fought against evil souls on a nearly daily basis, there wasn't a lot of stability in anything. He could have decided that he didn't want me as anything but a temporary weapon. I twiddled my thumbs, anxiously trying to pat down the negative thoughts, but they came unbidden through my mind. Hell, why would he want to stay with me after all the trouble I had caused? He had weapons practically throwing themselves in his path all week while he'd been here, each wanting to be his. It was awkward for me to watch while he simply laughed them off, but never outright saying anything about already having a weapon. Instead, he just joked it away, and walked off.
"We'll have to catch our flight soon," Maka yawned, patting her stomach. Beside her, Soul paused, his fifth slice of pizza halfway to his mouth, and checked the time. With a frown, he nodded before quickly returning his attention to devouring my apartment. Boys.
They all began standing, Maka shoving her feet into her boots and Kid helping Patty and Liz make sure their coats were symmetrical. Snow stood, his back popping as he stretched before turning to help Tsubaki up. I got to my feet as well, pulling on my boots and throwing on the sleeveless vest/hoodie that I usually wore over my crop top. One last glanced around my apartment made me go all awkwardly nostalgic, and I blamed it on how quickly my moods were changing currently. It seemed that merging with my madness had definetly made me more emotional and so far I hated – and for good reasons. Just looking around, seeing the walls covered with pictures of Black*Star and I, and the rest of Team Maka, I wanted to cry. Or hit something. Or have some more pizza. I never was sure.
It was now that I realized that Black*Star hadn't risen from the couch, but had actually paused in his eating to give me an odd look. I stared back, wondering what exactly could have him looking so perplexed, before he too stood to get his shoes on and retrieve his luggage. A small, nagging part of me (that I was quickly burying) had hoped that he had forgotten to pack, or that perhaps he had forgotten he was leaving at all, but eventually he made it to the door with the others. A horn honked outside and Soul scooped up his and Maka's bags, grinning his shark toothed grin at me.
"Stay cool, alright?" I nodded back, grinning as he exited the room.
Maka came over and hugged me, "Come visit soon!"
Two down, ten to go.
Snow was silent as he passed by me, but he rested a fleeting hand on my shoulder in farewell. Tsubaki embraced me as Maka had, promising to include me in all the group mirror chats so we could all see each other. Nikolai and Brie left soon afterwards, both leaving oaths to keep in touch. Liz embraced me, tearing up while I awkwardly patted her back. Patty, though I hadn't known her long, clung to my leg until Kid threatened to take her stuffed giraffe and burn it, at which point she went psycho on him.
"You'll make it unsymmetrical!" he yelped as she went for his jacket, but he was grinning. He raised his hand in a goodbye. "I have a feeling we'll be seeing you soon. Father will want to be keeping you close now."
Shrugging, I tried not to let him see how hopeful I was not to be left here. Then, he too was gone, leaving me alone with my meister. For a moment neither of us spoke. I avoided his eyes, swallowing the lump in my throat and preparing myself for the inevitable. He was about to leave. I was about to be alone again.
"Hey, Kai?"
Though I was surprised by the softness of his voice, I kept my expression cool and calm. I didn't want him to know how much this was actually affecting me. His eyes studied me for a long moment, the muscles in his bicep twitching as he played with the handle on his bag. We stood in pregnant silence.
"It's been fun," he finally sighed, starting to move towards the door. It took everything in me not to reach for him then and there, but leaving was kind of his choice. Tsubaki was going back with Snow, after all. If Black*Star had really wanted to stay he could have attempted to stay. I wasn't going to stop him. I wasn't going to bend to the will of my aching soul.
Swallowing again, I waved slightly. "Seeya around, I guess."
He made it halfway through the door before he paused, dropping his bag and coming back inside. Black*Star crashed into me, his strong arms wrapping around my body like a vice – though a hell of a lot more comforting – and his lips pushed against mine. My worries and doubts quickly faded as we pressed close. Our roaming hands set out with the purpose to memorize every single hard-earned muscle and scar. I was tugging on his spiky hair, skimming my palm over his star tattoo, and somehow I couldn't get myself to care that he was about to leave me, completely brokenhearted, and get on a plane to go home.
"Damn it," he groaned, pulling away for air. His pupils had gone starry in his hyped up state. "I'm sorry! I don't know what I was thinking!"
Puzzled, I grabbed his forearm and glared at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"I'm leaving, Kai! How are we supposed to do this if we're not going to see each other?"
"Whatever happened to your ass-like stubborn streak?"
A couch interrupted our fight, nearly throwing me into a panic attack. "If you two are quite done."
"Stein?" We chorused, turning towards the professor. He had left days ago with the other meisters and weapons and I hadn't thought I was going to be seeing him again anytime soon. As it was, he simply twisted his screw and raised an eyebrow at us. I threw a sidelong glance at Black*Star and we both silently agreed to put off the conversation we had been having until later. Hopefully there would be a later.
The emotionless look on Stein's face gave nothing away: "Kai, on behalf of Lord Death, I'm going to need you to pack your bags."
Surprise leaked through my features. "Pack my bags? Where the hell am I going?"
The professor stared at me for a long moment as if trying to determine if I was as stupid as I seemed. The answer, of course, was yes, and so he sighed and shook his head. "How are you supposed to defend your meister when you're on the other side of the world? Now go, pack your bags. The rest of your things will be sent over, so grab the stuff you can't live without.
We both gaped at him, shocked at the information he had just given us. I was going with… oh my gosh! I hadn't ever even been out of this country and now I was being relocated! And I was going to the original DWMA!
More importantly, I was going to be close to Black*Star.
I grinned, the shock falling away as I sprinted into my room. Clothes were thrown haphazardly into a duffel bag as I rummaged through my closet. Running into the bathroom, I grabbed a few toiletries, only to suddenly stop and stare at the empty pill bottle in my hand. To think I had been so dependent on these for the last few years. Shaking the tube gently, I found that it was, in fact, not entirely empty. A solitary pill rested in the bottom, so I shook it into my palm.
Acting on a whim, I stepped towards the toilet and dropped it in, watching it swirl through the water and disappear as I flushed. Goodbye, old me, and hello new.
"Are you ready or what?" Black*Star whooped, barging into my room. With a smirk, I grabbed my stuff and shoved it in my bag, straining to zip it. In the end it took both of us to get it closed. When we did I grabbed his collar and kissed him again, enjoying the small gasp of shock he gave up.
Pulling away and shouldering my bag, I grinned.
"Now I'm ready."
(Author's Note: Last official chapter! The epilogue will be - hopefully - coming soon, and it will have an extra important author's note so make sure to read! My question is: yay or nay on a sequel? I have an idea for one, but whatever my readers want is what I'll write, because I'm a people pleaser! Anyways, review, follow, favorite! Ciao!)