Claire

Cat's Out of the Bag

Kira's POV

I glanced around the classroom wearily. Ryuu, Black Star, Death, and Soul weren't here. I saw Ryuu just this morning, but, now, it's like he disappeared. This was the beginning of our second class.

"Oh, Kira," Sid called, who had taken dad's place as teacher. "Nygus wants to see you."

Now this is just curious.

I stood and made my way down the immense stairs, then out the door. I had a strange, heavy feeling in my stomach. It made me feel a little sick. I wasn't sure if it was nervousness or edginess, but I didn't like it.

The ward door was open. Not that that was strange, but it felt like the door was only open to invite me inside.

Inside, Nygus sat on a rolling chair, and Ms. Marie leaned on the desk next to her. Soul and Black Star sat on an unoccupied bed, Ryuu stood facing Ms. Marie and Nygus, and Death was leaning against the far window.

I cleared my throat. "Nygus? Guys? May I ask what's going on here?"

Nygus blinked. "Shut the door, Kira." She seemed, strangely, sympathetic. Her eyes were begging me to understand, her tone reaching out to comfort me.

I turned around and shut the door.

"We told them." Ryuu said guilty after a moment of tense silence. I glared at him. "'We'? You mean you all took part in this!" I gaped. I'd trusted them to keep this secret safe!

Nygus shook her head. "Don't get angry with them; I knew something was wrong from the get-go. I just pried it out of them."

Wow. Four "reliable" people were standing in front of me. They all looked guilty.

"I won't accept this." Ms. Marie said. "Not your time, Kira. We're going to fix this."

I shook my head. "You can't! It's already about a month into my time; I only have another month."

Nygus nodded. "Then we'll find it out before then." She paused. "We won't be able to fix you without Lord Death finding out, so I'm going to visit him and go over the situation." She paused again. "He won't be very happy with Arachnophobia."

Death spoke up, "But we only told them because there's still so much for you to accomplish!"

"Like?" I replied.

In my opinion, I'd done some great things no teenage girl could ever do. But, at the same time, I'd also done some horrible, wicked things no one in general would ever do. I can't forgive those mistakes. Not now.

Soul grunted, shaking his head. "Kira, we're trying to help you. Even that Death Scythe, Justin Law, was going to be here to stand up for you, but he got called out on a mission. Ya know what that means? There are people here, Meisters, Weapons, and teachers alike, who care about you staying here! You conquered your androphobia like it was nothing! We can conquer this!"

"But," Black Star finished, "we have to do it together."

I watched them for a moment after their speech. They were all determined, even Nygus and Ms. Marie. But the real question was if my dying could actually be reversed. What if they all got their hopes up, just now, that this actually could be reversed?

Nygus stood. "I got a hold of Giriko," She said randomly. She said it too casually, because the rest of us -- except Ms. Marie -- were shocked. "And he got a hold of Mosquito.

"Unfortunately, Mosquito is too loyal to disobey Archne. Fortunately, he likes you, Kira, and wants to protect you. He gave Giriko the information we need to save your life, and all we have to do is meet him." She explained.

Typical Mosquito. I didn't think he cared about me enough to give Giriko that kind of information, which, knowing how smart Mosquito is, he knew he would bring to DWMA members. It was risky for both of them, so why were they taking that kind of chance?

I frowned in thought. "So, what? We have to meet him or something?" Nygus nodded, "Precisely."

So I was going to end up meeting Giriko after he helped my kidnapping? "I'm not going alone, am I?"

Ms. Marie shook her head. "Of course not! We don't trust Giriko more than to give us this information. Otherwise, we wouldn't even consider meeting him. Nygus, Sid, Justin, and I will all be going with you." Black Star and Soul opened their mouths to protest, but Ms. Marie stopped them. "You disobeyed my orders last time; it's not going to happen again."

Ms. Marie, Nygus, Sid, and Justin all cared about me enough to go with me to meet Giriko and protect me. To make sure I ended up back at the Academy. That touched me.

"Okay. When do we leave?" I asked. Nygus shrugged. "Because Arachnophobia is so unpredictable, Giriko said he'd give us a last-second message that told us when and where to meet him. So we'll find out when the message comes through."

Oh joy. I just love waiting!

"Anyway, we have to go to Lord Death now to explain the situation. He's not going to like it, since Arachnophobia did this--"

"Arachnophobia didn't do this. My father did."

Nygus gaped at me, and Ms. Marie paled. "It's the truth. Don't blame the enemy simply because one of our own hurt me."

Ms. Marie looked at me strangely, as if I were a different person, then looked at me as if she was sure she knew what she was doing. "Right." She said.

Nygus, Ms. Marie, and I started for Death Hall. This was going to be a very sketchy conversation, but, apparently, this had to be done to save my life.

Ms. Marie knocked on the doors, which brought me to realize that we were actually at Death Hall. What had I been thinking about the entire time? I'm not sure, exactly.

The doors opened, and we three women calmly stepped inside.

"Sid and Justin are already there. They were there for a different business occasion, but this works out just fine." Nygus explained. I nodded. Justin already knew, so this wouldn't be anything new for him, except for the saving part. But Sid? This was going to shake him. I knew that. I think we all did.

Lord Death waved at us as we came into view. "Nygus! Ms. Marie! Kira! How are you, how are you?" I nodded, too nervous to speak.

How would they react? What would they say? What would they do?

Nygus went right into explaining my situation. She rolled right into explaining that they could, hopefully, reverse it. Then, she seamlessly made it to the topic where we would have to meet Giriko to get the information we needed.

Her explanation was finished, but Sid still held a look of shock, and Lord Death was silent and still.

Lord Death suddenly cleared his throat. "You're... Dying?" He asked roughly. I nodded once. "At the hands of... Your own father?" I grunted. "Technically, I'm supposed to already be dead." That grabbed everyone's attention. "I'm only here because I have to say goodbye to those who care. I was supposed to die before Soul ever saved me."

There was an uneasy silence.

Of course, I couldn't blame them. Here they were, listening to a seventeen-year-old girl explain how she was supposed to be dead, and having an instructor explain that she only had another month to live.

It was pretty shocking.

Lord Death sighed. "This is... Horrible news, Kira. I grant Nygus, Marie, Justin, and Sid to accompany Kira to get the cure to this, whatever it may be. You four must protect Kira no matter what." Nygus, Ms. Marie, Justin, and Sid nodded. Randomly, I thought of how Justin had been keeping one ear bud out lately, as if everything going in around him was important now.

Everyone got quiet again, and I bit my lip. Everyone was obviously concerned, and hoping for the best. But, I was expecting the worst.

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A VERY short chapter! I'm sorry, but I've been meaning to get this chapter up for two days and, if I don't get it up now, I don't think I ever will! Sorry, again, and the next chapter will be longer!

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