Chapter Text
Unbelievable.
Clutching at the white porcelain of the bathroom sink, you tried to steady your breath.
Absolutely unbelievable.
The sink couldn’t fill fast enough for your own liking, so you compromised by dunking your head into the shallow water inside it. After coming back up you stared at yourself in through the mirror, wet strands of hair sticking to your forehead. Your lips were quivering. Your grip shook for a moment.
Un-fucking-believable.
You just had to say yes to Maka’s invitation. You had to go along with her little group of friends.
Yeah training is just what we need! Plus, it wouldn't hurt to have a sparring partner.
Sparring partners was what you got. Plural. Maka and Soul were almost impossible to beat, had it not been that Soul made snarky comments that put Maka off her rhythm. You didn't even want to remember the beating Black Star and Tsubaki had delivered. It was partly your fault for mistaking Tsubaki's shyness as weakness. But Dune was at fault too! Her stance was off so, technically, it wasn't all your fault.
Lord Death's son was the last to spar you two. You'd expected to get beaten, in all honesty. You had several reasons why. First off, he was a Reaper. Second, he was a Reaper, one who had previously conquered Black Star in battle, something you weren't even sure you could do. And thirdly, he had two weapons, rather than one (also, he was a Reaper).
Dune said it took him and his twin pistols exactly 1 minute and 6 seconds to beat both of you.
That’s fair, seeing as he was a literal Reaper. I mean, did she really expect you two to win? Was she saying that like she was disappointed? Yeah, Dune. We might be battling a Reaper, but don't worry! My rubber bullets are gonna make us win for sure! What's that? They're bouncing off him and not doing any damage? Not a problem! We'll win with my brass knuckle form! Oh? He's avoiding every single punch? Well, guess we have no other choice than to accept defeat, right Dune?
One thing you were grateful for was the boy's manners. Dune's already bruised ego would’ve shattered if she had to get taunted by Kid. Once out of your weapon forms, you gave both of Kid's partners a smile, and a fist-bump to the smaller one.
"I've never had a battle like this one before. You guys are amazing." you'd said to both girls. Dune begrudgingly gave both a handshake but gave them a half-smile after jabbing your elbow in her ribs. "Yeah. You really taught us a lesson." She muttered.
You'd then turned to Kid himself. Certainly, you didn't expect a hug, or anything at all, but you were still hesitant to shake his hand. Your gaze was on Dune, then it met Kid's face.
He was staring at you. Not blankly or in a rude way, though. It was more like he was studying you. His eyes scanning your face, like they were looking for something. It made you self-conscious. You weren't the type to like being stared at, especially with a look like that. But you sucked it up and tried ignoring it, offering your trembling hand.
"Thank you for the battle." Your voice felt foreign to your ears.
Then the words fell out of his mouth.
"My apologies for staring so long. I was just appreciating your eyes. They're perfectly aligned to each other." He'd said it like it was the most obvious thing.
It all went spiraling downwards from there.
After that, the whole day seemed hazy. You didn't remember leaving the Academy's dojo, or walking down the steps, or even getting to your rented studio apartment. That night you laid on your mattress just staring at the ceiling, repeating what he'd said over and over.
It was obvious to everyone that Kid had a fixation for all things symmetrical. But you thought that it only extended to buildings and inanimate objects. Did he really stop and stare just to appreciate that small detail? He even said it to you. He could've just thought it, but he took the time to speak it as well. Were you the only one he's said that to? You scoffed. Yeah right, there's plenty of students that can top your looks any day. Maybe Kid has said something like that to them too.
You turned to lay on your side. Nobody's ever said something like that to you. It's the closest thing to a compliment you'd ever heard. Was it even a compliment? The way he said it was akin to an observation. Yet, you couldn't stop thinking about it. A noise of reluctance left your throat, which then turned into a groan of embarrassment. He'd reduced you to an elementary kid thinking about their crush.
Calling it a crush made you groan even louder.
Why'd he say that for?
Dune was convinced he'd said that to let your guard down the next time they'd spar. At the very implication of having to fight with him again, you wanted to crawl in your bed sheets and hide forever.
That was a question you weren't sure you'd get the exact answer for. Probably ever. The one you were interested in was still blank. The answer as to why you accepted to do a mission with him, and his partners was left unanswered. It was nagging at you ever since you'd left the classroom.
Before that moment, you hadn’t even once had a thought about Lord Death’s son that wasn’t obsessive or absolutely neurotic.
The only time you’d ever talked to him before that was during his first day of school. You didn’t even remember the full conversation. That’s as far as you'd gone in terms of talking to him. Of course, you were as curious as anyone else when he’d first gotten into the Academy, but it quickly fizzled when he never showed up; for you at least. Many students were excited, and even scared, to learn about Lord Death's newly discovered son. Dune was quick to judge that he'd be just as strong as his father. Other students were just curious as to how he'd hold up here. What mattered to you was that he didn’t get an unfair advantage just because he was Death's son.
Once he did arrive though, you wished he would’ve just skipped. He’d been an absolute nutcase and had you on edge for the entire period.
You like to consider yourself someone fairly patient. Dune can agree, seeing as she’s given you a fair share of trouble. But even someone like you had limits. Ever since then, you’d preferably wanted to keep your distance from the boy. Of course, you’d say hello to one of his weapons from time to time, usually the tall one, Liz,—she went to the same salon as your Meister—but you were absolutely fine just seeing Kid at school and nowhere else.
But now even being in the same room as he made you uneasy.
It didn't matter that he sat at least 4 rows in front of you. His presence was now known to you. You were hyper aware of what he did, how he turned to talk to one of his partners, how his expression would never shift to anything other than a dull smile or a straight face, how he sat and the perfect posture he had, and you hated it.
So, there you were, wallowing in embarrassment and dunking your head in cold water. Alone. In the bathroom.
It sounded sadder once you thought about it.
You could hear metal clinking along with footsteps that filled the once-silent room. The door opened, and you had to act like you weren't just about to cry. Sadly, acting wasn't your forte.
"Hey, you okay?"
You looked up at the door, where Liz stood.
"Yeah." You mumbled, pushing back the wet hair on your forehead.
She gave you a comforting smile, putting her hands on her hips.
"You don't look okay. You sure?"
Dammit, Liz. Did she want you to start crying?
You cleared your throat. "Uh, yeah. Fine. Really."
Liz walked to the sink next to yours, then pushed back some of the stray hairs you'd missed. "Hey. About the other day. I'm sorry if he made you uncomfortable. He just," Liz gave a deep sigh and a chuckle. "doesn’t think before he speaks." You giggled. “Yeah, I know what you mean." She grinned. "But, don't worry about him, ’kay? I'll knock some sense into him."
You nodded and dried your face with your sleeve. "Thank you. Seriously." Liz smiled at you then left the bathroom.
At least some good came out of this.
Wait a minute.
Your face scrunched up as anger bubbled within.
Oh, you can see what's happening. Everything was very clear to you now.
You splashed water on your face again; glancing at yourself in the mirror once more, brows knitted together.
So Kid thinks it's funny to rile you up like that, and then act like nothing happened, huh? He didn't have enough excitement with just beating you. Oh no. He had to embarrass you further by getting in your head. That's why he said that. You couldn't come up with any other reason other than Kid's comment being used as an intimidation tactic. He wanted to let your guard down and get flustered. You, being an emotional dumbass, had let him win. He'd gotten his way with you. Hell, you stayed up all night just thinking about what he said. Luckily, you weren't one to accept defeat so quickly.
Your lip quivered, this time with fury. Well, he can go shove it, because you weren't as dumb as you seemed. Now with this newfound information, you were formulating a plan to get back at him.
You weren't gonna let him mess with you, especially with stupid sweet talk like that. You ignored the warmth in your chest as you replayed it in your mind. A glint of determination replaced your previous expression.
This'll be fun.