Maka and Soul's apartment was pretty nice; much different from anything I'd ever lived in. I sat down on the couch and looked around in awe.
"You look amazed," Soul smirked, "It's not exactly fancy, but it's decent and it's home."
"It's really nice!" I exclaimed, "One of the nicest I've ever been allowed in at least."
"Is spaghetti okay with you guys?" Maka called from the kitchen, "It seems like we need to go food shopping."
"Sounds good to me," I said, "What about you–"
There was a loud crash in the kitchen and Soul jumped up in alarm.
"I'm just gonna do the cooking tonight," he sighed and got up to switch places with Maka, "Her cooking is sorta hit o miss."
The door burst open and the most annoying brat on the face of the planet stormed in. "The party can now begin!" Black Star shouted. Tsubaki followed him in quietly and Kid, Liz and Patti brought up the rear.
"Glad you could come," Maka said and joined everyone in the living room.
"What's the new girl doing here?" Black Star asked and turned to face me, "Come to bask in my glory?"
"You wish," I snorted.
"I'm going to surpass God. No one can beat me, not even you."
"Look kid," I stood up and moved closer to him, "I'm in no mood to listen to your bullshit. You have no idea what I've been through. I've been to hell and back. Tell your story to someone who cares, not me." He smirked, apparently unfazed. Man, this guy was something else; so irritating. "I don't like you."
"Dinner!" Soul yelled, which broke the tension. We all shuffled into the dining room and sat at the table, filling all available chairs, sitting meister by weapon. Kentaro seemed excited, and it actually calmed me down. Was this the whole connection between meister and weapon thing? I pushed it to the back of my mind and Soul handed me a heaping plate of spaghetti; it was like a small mountain.
"You better eat all that," he smirked.
"That sounds like a challenge. I accept and will indeed finish it all, and I'll even ask for seconds," I grinned; I was a very competitive person.
One of my better qualities was if I liked a person I could get along with them easily and quickly. I opened up to people I liked and I could be a very friendly. I really liked this group here; well, everyone but Black Star.
I fulfilled my statement, and indeed had seconds that was not nearly as big as the first helping; I hadn't had this good of a meal since I do't know when. After eating and cleaning up, we all sat in the living room again and talked .
"So what's your problem?" Black Star asked in a moment of silence. I stared blankly at him and he sighed, "You said you don't like me. Everyone likes me 'cause I'm such a big star. Obviously there's something wrong with you."
"I think you're a really annoying egotistical bastard," I said bluntly, "You can't surpass god; you aren't strong enough."
The whole room was silent and all eyes were turned to Black Star. He was smirking again. "So, you think you're stronger than me?"
"I know I am."
"Let's fight then," he said and walked outside; I followed and the others trailed behind me.
Outside it was already dark. The only light was coming from street lamps and other peoples' windows. Black Star was already waiting on the cobblestone street, confidence radiating from him.
"No weapon?" I asked with a smile, "You're gonna need Tsubaki."
"You have no weapon neither will I. Stop talking and let's just start already," he said and charged.
His movements were fast, almost too fast for me to track...almost. I could see he was aiming for the right so I swung my leg and kicked him right in the gut. He went flying backwards, but landed on his feet just like a cat. Oh this was going to be so much fun. As soon as his feet touched the ground he charged again. This time he started on the right but switched to the left at the point where he thought I could prevent anything, but my fist easily connected with his face. Once he was back on his feet he charged again immediately. And again and again. It went on like this for almost an hour; he only landed one punch, which cut me just above my eyebrow. He was not in the best shape; his face was swollen and bruised with a few cuts, and I assumed his torso looked and felt no better.
The spectators were speechless. "Where did you learn to fight like that?" Soul asked in awe, a smile starting to spread across his face, "You kicked his ass."
" You learn to defend yourself and attack on the street," I said, "As long as I can remember I've had to lie, cheat, steal, and fight. A lot happened at night so you prepared yourself; my eyes are used to fighting in the dark too."
For once, no one gave me a look of pity when I spoke about being on the streets. It was weird, but in a good way.
"Well I think that concludes this gathering," Kid said and left with Liz and Patti. Black Star left sulking, while Tsubaki continued trying to console him.
"Ayane, would you like to go?" Kentaro asked quietly. I looked at him, wide-eyed. That's right, I wouldn't be going home anymore. I lived with Kentaro now, that was my home. I nodded and ran in to get my stuff. I said goodbye to Soul and Maka and followed Kentaro down the street. "I only moved her about three weeks ago, and the place is pretty bare," he said absentmindedly, "If you'd like you can decorate it however you want."
"I'd like that," I said with a smile and to silence continued for a few blocks before a question popped into my head. "So...what's your story?"
"My story?"
"Yeah. You know my story; I was raised on the streets and was forced to come here. What about you? Where are you from, why're you here?"
"Oh..." he hesitates, then continued. "I guess there's not much point in hiding it; we will be living together from now on. I came from up North, from a small village in the mountains called Ublar, which is Inuit for morning. Our village had only 100 people in it, and we all knew each other very well. My father wasn't from the village; he had gotten lost in the mountains when he went hiking alone and he stumbled upon the village and fell in love with my mother at first sight. The village welcomed him with open arms and were in awe because he was a weapon, a scythe, which is why I'm a weapon. Anyways, last year, we were suddenly attacked. A witch came with a monster and everyone was killed. My parents managed to help me escape and lost their lives because of it. Since then I've been wandering around trying to find that witch and kill her with my own hands, but about a month ago I heard about a school that uses weapons and meisters to hunt witches, and I thought it was my best option so here I am."
I wasn't able to say a word at first; I was completely stunned. I had seen Kentaro as a quiet peaceful guy, yet here he was full of vengeance, having gone through more than I could have ever thought. I could see the hurt and the anger in his face, and all I could really do was put a hand on his shoulder and squeeze.
"I had no idea..." I trailed off, not knowing what next to say.
He smiled, "S'okay, I've made peace with it. It's just a fact of life. We're here," he pointed at the apartment building in front of us, "Home sweet home." He pulled out a key and unlocked the door and we headed up to the fifth floor, to the apartment in the farthest corner from the stairs. "Hopefully you're not too disappointed," he said and unlocked and opened the 5E door.
When he said pretty bare, he meant entirely bare. From what I could see from the door, the living room contained only a couch that could seat four and a small TV, and the kitchen had a fridge, stove, sink, counters, and a small table with two chairs. The walls were white, the floor was hardwood. There were three doors, and he showed me that one was a bathroom with only a shower/bath, toilet, and sink with a mirror. The second was entirely bare, which was going to be my room. The third was his room, which was just about the same except there was a bed and things kind of just flung about.
"Well, this will be fun," I smiled.
"You can use my bed for tonight, We'll get you a bed tomorrow," he said apologetically and pulled a sleeping bag from his room into the room that would be mine.
"No, I'm fine with this. I'd feel bad for taking your bed."
"...Are you sure?"
"Positive. Now get some sleep you look exhausted."
He half-smiled, "All right, goodnight Ayane."
"Night," I said and he shut the door behind him. I shut off the lights and snuggled into the sleeping bag.
Then, and only then, did I let myself cry. I cried until I fell asleep, dreaming of nothing but black emptiness.
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sorry I took so long :) Love you guys!