Chapter five is here now, so you people can see that I keep my promises…
I've decided that Kristen will not have an official Meister (other than Maka when Soul isn't available) as it would detract from building relationships between her and other characters. Soul is an overprotective brother, and this chapter will be one where we discover just how "innocent" Kristen is and we'll see her go on her first mission. Yay! Also, technically, she's my daughter, so… yeah. I'm a horrible parent! Just ask the Baby Think It Over doll I took care of.
"I miss Broadway."
Soul looked up at his sister. She was upside down on one of the chairs, her hair pooling on the floor while her legs hooked over the back. Black*Star burst out laughing.
"Of course you do!" he snorted. "It's so fucking girly!"
"No, it's not!" she protested. "It's awesome!"
"Name one that I would like."
"American Idiot, because that's you."
"Ouch, low blow, Baby Evans."
"Oh, you know people have called you worse!"
"Hey, Broadway's pretty good," Soul interjected. "I've enjoyed it in the past."
"Really, bro?"
"Really. American Idiot's the best."
"Nuh-uh!" snapped Kristen, sitting up. "Heathers is!"
"Please! It's about high schoolers fucking and murdering each other and committing suicide! How is that entertaining?!"
"Because Veronica is a great character and it's always nice to see the little guy win!"
"How is Veronica 'the little guy'?!"
"What would you call Heather Chandler?"
"A bitch!"
"Stop it, girls, you're both pretty," Maka chuckled, getting between the two. "Look, you're both entitled to your own opinion."
"At least Heathers actually had a clear story to follow since it was based off a movie and not a rock album. And I'm not slamming Green Day; I'm just saying Heathers has a clearer story!"
"Okay, you got me there."
"What's so great about Heathers?" Black*Star groaned. "I mean besides the murder and fucking."
"Veronica basically falls for this kid named JD and they sleep together, and he accidentally murders Heather Chandler. They make it look like suicide and that starts something not-so-good," Kristen summarized. "Basically, a whole bunch of people try to commit suicide and two guys get shot because they're gay and JD wants to blow up the school during a pep rally but ends up blowing up the football field instead."
"That's… actually pretty hardcore."
"I saw it with them in New York," Maka interjected. "Kristen insisted."
"Because you and Soul are like JD and Veronica before he kills Heather! All cute and stuff and he wants to get revenge on people who hurt you…"
"Hey, I am not that asshole!" Soul snapped. "I'm not some crazy bastard who'd kill a girl with drain cleaner and blow himself up!"
"But you would kill somebody if it meant Maka was safe!" sang Kristen. Soul lunged for his sister, a blush on his face. She sidestepped him easily, laughing all the while.
"Aw, is somebody embarrassed?" Liz taunted.
"Shut up, Liz!"
"I think it's sweet," Maka murmured. She grabbed Soul's wrist and planted a kiss on his cheek. "Love you, Soul."
"Love you, too, Maka." He was blushing again, this time from something else.
"AHEM!" coughed Black*Star. "Your god demands physical contact be kept to a minimum in his presence! Your god also demands to hear some of this musical!"
"Goodie!" giggled Kristen, running to her iPod. "What do you say to being a dead girl walking, Maka?"
"I SAY FUCK NO!" Soul yelled, but it was too late. His sister had already hooked up the iPod and started playing the song.
"The demon queen of high school has decreed it," Kristen sang with the singer. "She says Monday, 8 AM I will be deleted. They'll hunt me down in study hall, stuff and mount me on the wall. Thirty hours to live, how shall I spend them?"
Soul tackled his sister to the couch, making everyone laugh. The song was turned off just as Veronica was telling JD to sleep with her.
"Fine, I admit it," Black*Star grumbled. "Broadway's… okay."
"Great!" chirped Kristen, a smile on her face. "I'm taking you all to see American Idiot next month!"
"Yes!" Soul cheered.
Two weeks later, while Soul was on a Death Scythe assignment, Kristen decided she wanted to fight a Kishin.
"Please, Maka?" she begged, giving the older girl the puppy-dog eyes that always worked on her brother.
"Okay. We'll go, but you have to promise to be careful. I'll never hear the end of it from Soul if either of us get hurt."
"YAY!"
Their mission was a simple one—find and kill a Kishin that had been swallowing human souls in a little town in South Carolina. It was a low-level one, meaning it'd be easy for Maka and easy on Kristen for her first time in the field. Kristen was excited; Maka was apprehensive since it was the first time she'd really wielded another Weapon besides Soul.
Then again, Soul and Kristen had very similar wavelengths, so…
It didn't take them long to find the thing they were looking for. It was hiding in a local forest, where humans regularly went for recreation. In fact, a Girl Scout troop was arriving just as they did, a girl with cat-eye glasses staring at Maka and Kristen as they hurried into the woods. Kristen could hear the leader calling to the girl to stay with the group, but it didn't register in her mind.
The Kishin proved to be difficult to find. According to reports, it attacked out of nowhere, concealing itself like a chameleon. Luckily, it didn't take long to find, thanks to Maka's Soul Perception. Kristen drew in the dirt with a stick while her brother's girlfriend gazed around. They tracked it for seemingly hours. By the time they found it, it had a victim in front of it—the girl from the Girl Scout troop, the one with the cat-eye glasses.
"HELP!" the girl shrieked in fear.
"Kristen, transform!" Maka ordered. Kristen turned into her scythe form—essentially a black and purple version of her brother before he'd become a Death Scythe. They caught the Kishin off-guard and Maka sliced through it with ease, leaving nothing but the soul behind. Kristen transformed back and grabbed the soul.
"How do I absorb it?" she asked.
"Well, Soul likes to swallow them, but you can—" Kristen opened her mouth and placed it on her tongue, swallowing it much like her brother did "—do it however you want."
"Th-thank you!" the girl stammered. "That was amazing! Something straight out of an anime!"
"Well, you're welcome," Kristen replied.
"Do… do you think you could help me back to my troop? Joanna will be looking for me…"
"Not a problem," Maka told the girl, helping her to her feet.
When they reached the troop, a tall girl with blonde hair broke away and dashed towards the other girl.
"CASEY!" she yelled, hugging her. "We were so worried when that… that thing dragged you away!"
"I'm fine, now," Casey replied. "Thanks to these two."
"Thank you!" a woman who was obviously their troop leader breathed. "I don't know what we would've done without her."
"Just doing our job," Maka admitted.
Back in Death City, Kristen was bouncing all over the apartment with excitement, her natural energy heightened by the soul she'd consumed.
"Do you think Soul will be proud of me?" she asked Maka.
"I bet he will. You should've seen him after he swallowed his first soul. He was grinning for days."
"It's because he's a big goofball. Did you know he cried the first time we saw the movie Up?" Maka's jaw dropped.
"Oh my God, I can see that!"
"He's more sensitive than Wes; at least, that's what Mommy said. He's the one who helped me hide the baby mouse I found abandoned in the park when I was four and he took care of it sometimes." Her smile faded. "Millie died not long after he left for the DWMA. I think she missed him because she stopped eating after he was gone."
"That's adorable but sad."
"She had a good life. Besides, if she was still alive, I'd've brought her to Death City and she'd be gone by now."
"Oh, yeah. Blair."
"That isn't saying I don't want a pet… I just want something a cat won't eat. Like a dog."
"Blair will move out faster than we can get it settled."
"Get what settled?" Soul asked, stepping into the apartment.
"A dog," Kristen replied with a smile. "I know how much you love animals. I told her about Millie the mouse."
"You did not."
"She did and it's cute!" Maka protested. "It lets me know another side of you."
"Okay… only for you, Angel." He leaned in and kissed his girlfriend. Kristen hid her matchmaker smile behind her favorite book.
"If you two want some privacy, I can go to Kid's and—"
"Absolutely not. What if there's alcohol?"
"A: it was one time. B: I'm not of age and Kid knows that. C: I hate the taste of alcohol."
"Still, the fact that you were cuddling with him—"
"Hey, mister, you're one to talk," Maka interrupted. "You were doing worse than cuddling with Blair when you were thirteen."
"I thought we were past this, Maka."
"It's just blackmail material now. Since I know you prefer me in all my flat-chested glory."
"AGH!" Soul sputtered, holding his chest in fake pain. "How will I ever live?!"
"Dork," giggled Kristen, bopping her brother's head lightly with her book.
"Still better than a Maka-chop."
"Hers are teasing. Mine are for real, buster," Maka snorted, holding up a dictionary. He reflexively covered his head.
"D'aww… I'm going to Kid's."
Kristen had grabbed her bag and headed out the door before Soul could grab her.
"Let her go," Maka advised. "She's not a kid anymore, Soul."
"She's still my baby sister."
"Your Spirit is showing."
"Shit."
"I can't wait to see what you'll be like when we have a daughter."
"Nope. Not doing it." He went for the kitchen, but she grabbed his wrist.
"I don't mean now, dork. I mean down the line."
"Oh. Yeah, I'm gonna be like your dad, only cooler."
"I expect nothing less." She kissed him on the cheek. He scooped her up and brought her into their bedroom.
"…and I waited until Maka had him distracted. Then I booked it here."
"Smart girl," Liz complimented. "Then again, your brother's never been hard to distract when it comes to the female species."
"Only Maka. Or Blair."
"Because he looooves Maka!" giggled Patti.
"I may have brought up his more sensitive attributes, too. Like crying during movies and the fact he's an animal lover."
"Liz, have you seen my—" Kid began, coming into the room. His face turned pink as he saw Kristen and he turned away. "Never mind. You have company."
Liz glanced at Kristen and noted the white-haired girl had just as much of a blush as Kid did. Obviously, the incident from a month earlier hadn't been forgotten. It was kind of cute, actually; Kristen found Kid's OCD a bit annoying yet endearing and while Kid hadn't explicitly said anything that implied he was attracted to her, he had been far gentler with her than he had in the past with any of the other girls in their group. Hence why he was willing to let a drunk Kristen hang onto him on her birthday and cuddle with her.
"I'd go home, but I don't think Soul and Maka want to be disturbed…" Kristen whispered to Patti. Patti snickered.
"I'll… find it tomorrow!" Kid yelped, running out of the room.
"Aw!" Liz cooed, hugging Kristen. "Looks like it's not just male members of the Evans family who can be heartthrobs."
"Shut up!" Kristen whined. "Kid's not into me! I'm only thirteen and he's almost an adult! Do you know how weird that is?!"
"There's been weirder. But Kid hasn't been able to be in the same room as you for long in a while."
"Because I embarrassed him by trying to cuddle with him while I was drunk off my ass on my birthday? Yeah, I wouldn't be able to be in the same room as me for long, either."
"Oh, come on. We all know you have a thing for him."
"So? I'm thirteen. It's normal."
"Your brother met his soulmate at thirteen."
"I'm not my brother!"
"Besides, it's cute."
"Cute? Yeah, I'm cute. I'm a tiny female version of my brother. Kid's cute. But we are not cute together."
"Denial's more than a river in Egypt."
"UGH! Stop it."
"Geez, sorry! I didn't realize it was such a sore spot for you."
"Let's just say the last time I had a crush, it didn't end so well."
Liz frowned.
"What happened?"
"Guy I had a crush on turned out to be a jackass and clocked me for trying to talk to him."
"Damn. What the hell was wrong with him?"
"He was somebody who'd been bullying me for a while and it was a couple years after Soul left. He took it as an opportunity to hit me without consequences. Since my brother wasn't around, you know?"
"Asshole. Did you tell Soul about it?"
"Fuck no. Do you know what would happen?"
"Did you at least get back at that douche?"
"Of course. I didn't spend years taking self-defense classes for nothing!"
"Good girl."
The next morning, Kristen headed back to the apartment to find Soul and Maka on the couch. She was wearing his shirt and had fresh-looking little bruises up and down her neck. Along with a couple… bite marks?
Damn. Didn't know Soul was such a sadist. Or that she was a masochist.
"Hey," Kristen greeted them.
"How was Kid's?" Maka asked.
"A little awkward, considering he refused to be in the same room as me for longer than thirty seconds, but it was fun. I don't even need to ask about your night." She gave them a suggestive smirk. Maka blushed but snuggled up to Soul. Kristen made herself comfortable on a chair. "So, I was wondering what you two wanted to do today?"
"Snuggle on the couch and watch movies," Soul answered simply.
"I guess I can stay in the chair." She shifted with a smile. "What movie? How about Up?" Maka stifled a giggle. "I know! How about a Harry Potter marathon?"
"Harry Potter?" Maka asked, tilting her head. "What's that?"
"Maka!" Soul gasped in fake shock. "I'm surprised you haven't heard of one of the best-selling book series of all time!"
"Wait, book series?"
"And billion-dollar movie franchise!" added Kristen. "And theme parks!"
"I'm willing to try it out," Maka decided.
"Good, because I've only read the books."
"Same here," Soul declared.
"Liar."
"Okay, yeah, I read the CliffsNotes version."
"Cheater," Maka snapped.
"I'll get them started," offered Kristen.
The rest of the day was spent enjoying all eight Harry Potter movies. Maka was deeply invested in the story.
"You know, I really identify with Hermione," Maka told Soul as Kristen changed it to Half-Blood Prince.
"Figures. You're both really sexy bookworms with a fiery streak." He ran a hand over her legs. She smacked that hand and gestured to Kristen with her head. "Sorry."
"We'll wait until she goes to sleep. She's like a rock."
"God, I love you." He kissed her just as Dumbledore and Harry Apparated.
And that's the end of that. Well, what do you know? Two chapters this week!
By the way, the Girl Scout troop in this chapter is my troop. Just sayin'.
I got a review recently that made me happy. Someone said that I inspired them to write a fanfic of their own. I hope that they continue to read fanfiction along with writing it because it can help guide you out of your comfort zone; at least, that's been my experience.
So long and thanks for all the fish!