Claire

Kira Takara Stein

I stood. "Thanks..." I smiled softly, turning my back to him. "Dad." I finished, walking out calmly. I heard him chuckle, and I could practically hear the smile in his voice as he said, "No problem, Kira." I stopped in the corridor, waiting for Death. He and my father mumbled a few words and he came out of the room. "Got all the information you wanted?" I smiled. "Got all the information I needed." We started down the corridor and outside. I was shocked to see the rest of the group outside waiting for us. "Well! Took ya long enough!" Black Star complained. I giggled. "Everything okay, Claire?" I shook my head. "Please, call me Kira." Tsubaki gaped for a moment, then smiled. "Kira? I can get used to that." Soul mumbled. I laughed. "Whether you could or not isn't the challenge. Now it's just remembering!" We all laughed, and I finally noticed Zero.

I immediately choked off my laughter, standing up straight. She looked sad, and I knew why. She'd lived through that lie, too. Although she was still my half-sister, I wasn't her full-sister as we'd thought our entire lives. I sighed, smiling sympathetically and leaned down and hugged her. She wrapped her arms around my shoulders and sniffled. "It's okay, Zero. We're still sisters, you know." She nodded. "I know." We stayed like that for a while, until I finally backed off. "Hey! Come on, you gotta admit! No one saw that coming! Not even me." Zero laughed at me. "Who could've!"

"Okay! Okay, guys! Come on, let's go do something!" Black Star cheered. I shrugged. "Well... I kinda wanted to take on a mission... But I still need to train." Kai sighed and shrugged. "I would help you, but I'm helping my Weapon train." I frowned. "Weapon?" I asked. Zero nodded. "I'm Kai's Weapon!" She smiled ear to ear, and I couldn't help but smile back, even if it was fake. "Well, congratulations!" I said, clapping my hands. "I'm sure you two will make good Partners!"

Kai and Zero left then, and I started back to my house, half-heartedly inviting the others over, telling them they didn't have to. I just wanted to go home and train so hard I couldn't move.

***

I panted, fighting the urge to simply collapse. I pushed myself up, standing straight, with a grunt and continued training. "How long is she gonna train like that?" I heard Tsubaki ask in concern. "Old habits die hard. You have to remember, her... Well, Mr. Monroe trained her for like nine hours a day, and then she'd train more by herself if she found the time. She's a training machine." Soul explained. Maka sighed. "She's gonna end up killing herself." Liz said. Patty giggled. "You can't die from training! Can you, Kid?" I imagined Death shrugging. "Perhaps, if she trained too hard for too long, she could kill herself. But I don't think she'll push herself that far." Soul scoffed. "Nah. She'd throw herself that far, Kid. She's gonna do whatever it takes to get back at the guy that lied to her all her life, but she needs to improve first. That's how she must see it."

Soul was right. I wasn't doing all of this to myself so I could go on a simple mission. No. I was doing this so, if Zak ever showed his lying face to me again, he'd pay. "She did some major damage outside, guys. I don't see how much more she can improve." I was shocked by Black Star's compliment, but I didn't stop flicking my wavelength at targets and practicing techniques. The sun was my timer, and I'd been waiting for it to sit at the horizon. Like it's doing now.

I stopped, desperately gasping for breath. "How long had she been training?" Soul asked. Death gasped. "Almost twelve hours!" I couldn't say I'd never trained that long before, but I also couldn't remember, either. Maybe I'd just broken a personal record. What did it matter? The dots in my vision obviously didn't care if I'd broken a personal record. My knees trembled, my shoulders sagging. "Is she okay?" Maka asked. As if on cue, my knees fell out and my kneecaps impacted the ground with a surprising amount of force.

"Kira!" Death screamed. I slouched forward, urging myself to stay upright like I was instead of falling out and laying down. "Kira! What do you need? Tell me!" Death urged as I pressed my forehead against his chest. "Nothing... I'm... Fine... Death..." I spoke between breaths. Soul growled behind me. "No you're not! I'll be right back!" I leaned back, sitting up. "Seriously, guys. I'm fine." Death frowned, the gentle breeze blowing his hair towards the setting sun. "You're pale. That doesn't spell 'fine' to me." I shrugged, "They're both four... Letter words!" His frown only seemed to deepen, but Black Star and Maka snickered.

Soul held an opened bottle of water out to me. "Here," I took it from his hand, aware of how much my hand was shaking. "I didn't need you to open it for me," I started as I pressed the bottle to my lips and swallowed the liquid, "but thanks, Soul." He shrugged. "Yeah, whatever." I slowly stood up, drinking some more water. "Ah. Back to training!" I said, handing the bottle back to Soul. Death and Soul both grabbed my shoulder and growled, "No you're not!" I giggled. "I was kidding, guys. I'm pretty sure I just broke a personal record back there. Don't think I've ever trained for twelve hours." I slapped Death on the shoulder. "Thanks for keeping count for me!"

I made my way inside, sighing as the pleasure of AC hit me. "You better eat a protein bar!" Death warned. I waved a hand at him. "Piss off! What are you, my mom?" Soul fought to contain a laugh, and failed. "She just told you, Death!" He exclaimed, rolling in the floor. Maka and Tsubaki giggled, but Black Star was right there with Soul, rolling in the floor. Even Liz and Patty were laughing. Death followed me into the kitchen. "What're you trying to do? Embarrass me?" I shrugged. "Nah. Just messing with you!" I bumped my shoulder against his as I opened my protein bar. What I'd said finally hit home. "What are you, my mom?" Echoed in my head. I jumped up on the counter, nibbling at the bar. "Kira? What's the change of mood about?" Death asked, standing in front of me. I shook my head. "Nothing. It doesn't matter." I told him. He shook his head. "It matters to me,"

Soul got up and yawned. "Well, thank you for the side-hurt, Kira! It's getting late, we'd better get going." Soul waved. Maka said, "Bye, Kira! Go easy on yourself, okay? You do have class tomorrow." I shrugged. "Gotchya! Make Death have a heart attack and train some more! Understood!" I saluted her, laughing. Death huffed beside me. Tsubaki and Black Star left with waves, and Liz and Patty wished Death good luck.

As soon as everyone was gone, I knew it was going to get awkward. I jumped off the counter and made it to the stairs before Death spoke, "About this morning, Kira..." I clenched my fists, crumbling the protein bar wrapper in my hand. "It's fine, Death. It was an accident! You obviously don't feel that way about me. It's okay. No awkward feelings between us, or anything!" I said, trying to sound convincing. "Why do you seem so hurt?" I looked over my shoulder at him. "Hurt?" He nodded. "Your body language. You aren't the only one who's picked up on some of the Professor's skills." I hesitated. "What do you want me to say?" He scoffed. "I want you to tell me the truth." I sighed, leaning against the railing. "I'm not sure why I feel hurt, Death, to be completely honest. It's just... This feeling in my stomach... I dunno. It's hard to explain." Death was quiet. When I looked down at him, he looked like he'd just figured something out. "A... Feeling... In your stomach?" My expression turned into one of confusion. "Yeah... Is that weird?" Death immediately shook his head. "No! No that's not weird!" He sounded very protective. I frowned. "Is everything okay?" He hesitated. "Yeah. It's fine. Just ignore that I asked."

I climbed back down the stairs. "No, Death, wait. What's the matter with you?" I asked, following him into the living room. He sighed, "Nothing. It doesn't matter." I sat down across from him. "It matters to me..." I was telling the truth, not just copying him. He glared at his lap, his hands hanging over his knees. "I don't know what's been going on with me lately. Just... I've had that feeling in my stomach when I got around you for at least a month now. I don't know what it is! But this morning..." He paused. "For some reason, it felt good to kiss you, Kira." He raised his head, looking me in the eyes. He looked determined as he said, "I'm pretty sure I'd do it again if given the opportunity." I nodded slowly. "We both have this weird feeling... We've had it for at least a month... But we have no clue what it means..." I sighed, standing up. "I guess we'll just have to wait and figure that out, then!" Death chuckled, shaking his head. "You sound so optimistic." I laughed. "I always feel energized after training." I jogged upstairs, smiling at Death's faint laugh.