Chapter Text
“Okay, which sot decided that school had to start at seven? Seven?!”
Soleil looks up from her breakfast upon hearing her sister’s complaints. Lune comes walking down the stairs, dark hair still disheveled but otherwise she looks presentable. Long bangs still cover the girl’s left eye. Their mother follows behind her, exchanging a look with Soleil and offering a smile, carrying a bag and trying to shove a couple of books into it while walking down the stairs.
Quickly finishing her breakfast, Soleil gets up and walks to her mother to take Lune’s bag from her “Careful, maman.”
“It’s fine, ma feu. Don’t worry too much about your mother.” Estelle smiles and pats Soleil’s head, but still allows her to take the bag.
Soleil manages to return the smile, knowing the intention behind her mother’s words. She doesn’t fight it, instead turning to look at her sister, who is having a one-sided glaring contest with the empty cup Soleil left on the table “I’m gonna guess Lord Death, since it’s his school.”
Lune glances up at Soleil, staying silent for a moment before she comments “I’m gonna fight him.”
“You’d lose.” Soleil states, maintaining a neutral expression before she grins “Now hurry up. We’re gonna end up being late on our first day at your pace.”
“My pace is great, thank you very much.”
Soleil chuckles and proceeds packing Lune’s bag, not surprised in the slightest that her sister hadn’t had the foresight to do so beforehand.
“Don’t forget your student IDs. You didn’t go through all that trouble to pick them up yesterday only to leave them at home.” Estelle reminds them, handing Soleil their IDs.
“Merci.” Soleil takes the IDs from her mother, putting Lune’s in her bag while keeping her own on the table to bring it along and put in her own bag in a moment.
She remembers yesterday very well. None of them had been fond of all the stairs they had to climb – although Soleil figured she would get used to them – but they managed to arrive on time to talk to Lord Death. Lord Death had been… odd. He was a little eccentric and cheerful, and while that was pretty nice, it definitely wasn’t what she had expected from the Grim Reaper himself. It will take some time getting used to.
When Lune has gotten ready to leave the house, still not fully awake yet, Soleil picks up an eye patch and ties it around her head. She adjusts it to make sure it covers her right eye, before turning to Lune.
The younger twin frowns “So we’re really doing this again?”
“Yeah.” Soleil confirms, picking up her bag. She briefly makes eye contact with their mother “It’s for the best.”
Estelle nods and Soleil smiles. The girls say goodbye to their mother and make their way out the door to head to the academy. Even though they have only been there once before, the large building in the center of the city is hard to miss. Soleil takes a breath and starts walking.
It will take some time getting used to all of this, but hopefully these changes will be for the best.
~*~
It’s a small miracle, but despite Lune’s slow start in the morning, the twins arrive at the school with time to spare. The building is still as massive as it was the previous day and it’s only thanks to the brief instructions Lord Death gave them get to their first class that they’re able to find the classroom without getting terribly lost first.
They have a few minutes to spare as Soleil allows Lune to slide into one of the seats first before following after her to take the place to her right. Sitting down and taking out a few supplies from her bag, Soleil picks up on the chatter surrounding them and the occasional look aimed in their direction. She has to take a breath, reassuring herself that it’s simple curiosity rather than hostility. Whether they like it or not, she and Lune stand out with curly, bright white and straight, pitch black hair respectively. On top of that, it’s a relatively small class with obviously distinct and different people. Any new face would draw attention, let alone two. It’s only natural people would be interested.
Soleil unbuttons the collar of her unzipped jacket with one hand, lacking its fingerless gloves now that’s she’s in school instead of out chasing kishin eggs. It leaves the marks resembling burn scars climbing up her right arm starting at her fingertips exposed.
Her scarred fingers find the yang necklace around her neck and she allows herself to take comfort in the piece of jewellery. Glancing to her left, she finds the other half, the yin, dangling from Lune’s neck while the younger twin pulls her own supplies from her bag.
At least she still has her sister, no matter what the rest of the world will think about her.
“I haven’t seen you two before. Are you new to the DWMA?” A voice snaps Soleil out of her thoughts.
She looks to her right to find the owner of the voice, a girl with green eyes and blond hair tied in pig tails. Behind her stands a boy with blood red eyes and hair that matches Soleil’s in colour, although he seems a little less interested in the situation than the person Soleil assumes to be his partner.
Just like the other students, the girl just seems genuinely curious, even as Soleil briefly scans her face for any hint of hostility. She doesn’t find any and forces herself to relax “Yeah, it’s our first day.” She holds out a hand “I’m Soleil.”
“I’m Maka. It’s nice to meet you.”
When Maka’s hand connects with Soleil’s, she briefly looks down at the scars but doesn’t comment on it. Soleil assumes she isn’t the only one who carries marks like that. Good. It’s better if she doesn’t stand out that much to avoid unnecessary questions.
“This is my partner, Soul.” Maka introduces the boy with her. It seems Soleil’s initial guess had been correct and they are indeed partners.
“Sup.” Is the greeting he gives them. It doesn’t really come as a surprise that it lacks any enthusiasm, given his demeanor. It’s interesting how he apparently manages to resonate souls with someone like Maka.
“I’m Lune.” The younger twin offers, leaning forward slightly with a gentle smile on her face.
“My sister.” Soleil adds, glancing back at Lune.
Despite everything she knows, it still surprises her how easy it is for Lune to connect with others. It would be easy to assume it’s because she is kinder, more gentle with those she meets, and chooses her words more carefully than Soleil ever could. Maybe her ability to see people’s souls allows her to judge their characters more easily, but the older twin knows it runs deeper than that. While hesitant with trust, Lune hasn’t put up the same walls Soleil has, doesn’t regard people with the same immediate suspicion. It’s a lot easier to like someone like her.
In some ways Soleil envies Lune’s ability to be kind to others, but she and her mother and the only ones who know why they became so different. It’s better this way.
“Are you partners as well?” Maka’s next question draws Soleil out of the corners of her mind again. She probably missed the exchange of pleasantries between Maka and Lune.
Soleil nods, but before she can elaborate a new sound piques her interest and she looks up to see a man coming straight at a few students who just entered the classroom, sitting backwards on a chair. She briefly feels concern rise in her chest…
Until the wheels of the chair hit the doorstep and the man is send flying, before making contact with the cold, hard ground.
Soleil blinks a few times - she catches Lune flinching from the corner of her eye - at the strange scene unfolding in front of her.
“You’ll get used to it.” Maka whispers to the older twin “That’s professor Stein. He’s… a little odd sometimes.”
While grateful for the information, Soleil was beginning to question what kind of place the DWMA is. She hadn’t expected anything that even remotely resembled normalcy, especially after meeting Lord Death, from this place and she hadn’t lived a normal life to begin with, but this is strange even for her standards.
If their professor is this odd-looking man with stitches lining his body and a giant screw through his head, what else could they find here?
She rests her chin on her hand. While it seems insane, she has to admit that she’s curious where this new journey will take her.
“Today’s lesson will be a dissection lab.”
To seeing the insides of an endangered species professor Stein just pulled out of a bag, apparently.
~*~
It’s thanks to Maka and Soul that the twins don’t end up lost while they move from class to class. The building feels more like a maze than a school at times, and the sea of people that floods the hallways every time the bell rings certainly doesn’t make it any easier to navigate.
They’re on their way to the cafetaria during the lunch break, with the offer from their newfound acquitances to join them and their friends for lunch. Soleil had been skeptical of the idea, but Lune jumped in to politely accept the offer. Maka had seemed happy at the acceptance of the invitation and even Soul had dropped his apathy to say “it would be cool” if they joined.
“Our friends can be a bit… eccentric, but they’re nice people. I’m sure you’ll like them.” Maka offers with a smile.
“They’re cool. I wouldn’t worry about it.” Soul adds.
Soleil nods “Sure. If you say so.”
Lune gives her sister a look in return before saying “I’m looking forward to properly meet them. It won’t hurt to make some friends, right, Sol?”
A voice calling out “Maka! Soul! Over here!” keeps Soleil from making a remark in return. Maybe that’s for the best.
Instead she turns to the direction she heard the voice come from to find its source, looking at a group of teenagers sitting one of the table. Standing up is a girl with blond hair, waving enthusiastically in their direction. Soleil assumes she’s the one who called her friends over.
“Come on.” Maka smiles to the twins before walking in the direction of her friends.
Soleil takes a breath, looking to Lune “We’ll be okay.”
The younger twin just smiles in return and nods, stepping forward to follow behind Maka and Soul. Soleil has to take another breath before she follows after them. When they approach the group, they receive yet another set of curious gazes.
“Hey, Maka, are these the new students?” One girl, wearing a similiar outfit as the one who had waved them over, in particular asks. Soleil bites her tongue to hold back a sassy remark about her standing right there.
“Yup.” Maka responds as they sit down, looking over at the twins.
Lune is the one to recognize the social cue and smiles “My name is Lune. My sister and I moved to Death City recently.”
“Oh, where did you move from?” The tall blonde asks, resting her chin on a hand.
“France.”
“That’s quite a distance. I hope you’re settling well here.” A different girl with her dark hair tied back in a tight ponytail gives them a friendly smile.
“We are.” Soleil speaks up with a small nod. When people look at her, she quickly adds “I’m Soleil, by the way.”
“I’m Blackstar! Remember it because I’m going to surpass god someday!” A boy with blue hair shouts at them.
Soleil gives him a look, rubbing the ear that he screamed into and left ringing “Whatever you say.”
Further introductions are made. Soleil tries to pay attention, but every now and then she has to push back thoughts that linger in the back of her mind. The girl with dark hair is called Tsubaki, the weapon partner of Blackstar. She seems friendly, carrying a certain peaceful aura that somehow manages to ease Soleil’s nerves a little. Her meister on the other hand… he’s almost giving the older twin a headache with his boasting and retelling of his “great adventures”, but Lune pays attention, asking questions and flashing hesitant but seemingly genuine smiles.
Where she gets the patience from is still beyond Soleil.
The two girls with matching outfits are, unsurprisingly given their appearances, sisters as well; Liz and Patty Thompson. Their meister is sitting across Soleil, strangely focused on arranging his eating utensils. Death the Kid, son of Lord Death himself.
Glad to have names to match with the faces, Soleil talks to Liz for a bit, telling her about France. It’s a nice distraction to have and even though Soleil withholds any details about own personal life in the country, she doesn’t mind discussing sights to see if the Thompson sisters ever find themselves on that side of the pond. At some point, she even stops fidgeting with the black and white rings on her left hand, some of the tension she has been carrying around all day leaving her body. It seems she has successfully hidden her secrets and can keep them safe under wraps during her time at the DWMA.
Then she catches the meister sitting across her looking a little too intently at her face and her body goes rigid.
She recollects herself and raises an eyebrow, asking with a neutral tone “Is there something on my face or am I just a nice view?”
Kid snaps out of whatever trance he was in and meets her eyes, or eye. He clears his throat “My apologies. I merely noticed that your symmetry is completely off.”
“My symmetry?” Soleil’s eyebrow reaches a new height on her face. She hadn’t known that was even possible.
“He has a thing for symmetry. You get used to it eventually.” Liz sighs, rubbing her forehead.
“Ah, it’s fine. I tried fixing this but, y’know, that didn’t work out.” Soleil points at her eyepatch. She doesn’t get a response from Kid, so she just grins and leans forward to hold out a hand “I’m Soleil.”
He hesitates for a second, but reaches out to shake hers “Kid.”
Soleil smiles before withdrawing her hand.
He doesn’t comment on her lack of symmetry again.