Chapter 13

Change Comes Hard

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater or its characters, only my own OC's and my Ideas

Kiba POV

"Bloody fool..." Okami chuckled, their hands separating as she smirked at him and that inherently determined and unflinching look on his face. "... This is gonna be one hell of a ride for you, I do hope you realize that." She shook her head a little, not seemingly unhappy at all.

"Worry about yourself." He growled and she chuckled lowly,

"Hmm... Well, it's settled- you might as well go home." She told him, taking a step past him and toward the school. "It's late as it is- and I'm sure Stein didn't appreciate you skipping class. Best to go and sleep so you can make it to class tomorrow."

He turned, eyes narrowing as she started walking away from him.

"You skipped class too." He countered lowly,

"I don't need to go to class- I've learned it all before. I'm not exactly a regular student." She answered easily, not bothering to look back at him. It somewhat irritated him that she could be acting so nonchalant- it was odd that she seemed able to switch from one attitude to another so quickly.

One moment, she was serious and unflinching- the next, unstable and dangerous- and then carefree and teasing.

"Besides;" she said, coming to a pause at the top of the stairs leading toward the school doors. "Stein and I are friends- he knows better than to be angry with me for skipping classes I don't need. You on the other hand- you don't have the luxury of being on his good side." She chuckled,

She glanced over her shoulder toward him, a dark glint coming into her eye and a grin spreading across her face- it was a smile that made him tense despite himself.

"Stein has been known to experiment on people he doesn't like- especially the ones that piss him off."

He honestly couldn't tell if she was joking about that or not.

She glanced away and laughed lightly, "Better not be late- go home. And don't worry about Kishin- I really do think I managed to get them all."

On her own? He sweatdropped slightly, still feeling that innate sense of power sparking off of her...

"I'll let Lord Death know about your choice of Partner- you won't have to worry about filling out the forms or whatever." She told him easily, starting to walk again.

"That's it?" He asked, she paused. "You're just gonna walk off?" He wasn't expecting her to leave immediately- he had been expecting... Orders he guessed.

"Hmm?" She hummed.

"As Partners- shouldn't we start training, getting to know how to work with one another?" He growled, "We can't very well work together effectively if we don't learn to fight as one." He told her lowly, it pissed him off that she didn't really seem to care.

He wasn't sure why he cared so much himself.

"Tch..." She growled, "What the hell do you think weekends are for?" She called back, sounding slightly aggravated- as if he had asked a stupid question. Her tone made him a little angrier. "Don't sweat the small stuff dumbass- I'll find you when we're ready to start, got it?"

She didn't wait for an answer and walked off, leaving him alone and staring at the door long after she had disappeared behind it- his own anger simmering inside of him.

This was going to be one hell of a bumpy ride...

... What the hell was I thinking..?

"What the hell...?"

"I didn't know anybody was even working these jobs!"

"Did they all get completed in one night...?!"

"Come to think of it... There weren't any Kishin running around the city last night like usual, were there?"

"Who do you think finished them all?"

"Dunno..."

Kiba paused, eyes flicking toward the crowd of students around what he guessed was the board where assignments and jobs available were placed.

There was a large crowd of people surrounding it and a large amount of shocked murmurings and the like being thrown around- as apparently, most of the available jobs to hunt Kishin Eggs within Death City itself- they were all covered in tape with the label 'COMPLETED' across the front.

He himself would have been just as shocked as most of the other students seemed to be- and curious to, if he didn't already know who had completed all of those jobs.

Okami had mentioned several times last night the lack of Kishin Eggs in the city- and mentioned she had been the one to hunt them down.

Looking on how many of those assignments were finished just last night- he was considerably shocked... And a little tense too.

It only made him more aware just how powerful Okami was.

And now- he was Partners with her.

He sweatdropped a little and let out a small sigh, he had been so determined yesterday... And he was still set on doing what he said, but with sleep came a little more clarity and now he really realized that he had intentionally placed himself in a very dangerous and risky situation.

Maybe he was a fool... But he didn't care.

"Kiba!"

His head snapped up, the voice making its way past the music filtering through his headphones. For a minute his heart sped up thinking maybe it was Okami, but he turned to see Maka heading toward him with a bright smile on her face.

He let out a silent sigh of relief, irritation toward himself for the way he tensed thinking it was Okami calling to him. He refused to be nervous or afraid of her.

He shook his head a little to make his headphones fall from his ears, returning her smile with one of his own.

"You're early today." Maka said brightly, he grimaced a little at the fact that she was mentioning his habit for being late. She gave him a quizzical look, "You didn't come back to class after lunch yesterday, did something happen?" She asked, seemingly genuinely concerned.

Ah, he had indeed left after talking with Professor Stein. He smiled a little to reassure her,

"Oh, no nothing happened. I just spent the rest of the day in the library actually." He replied, it was the truth.

Maka blinked, "The Library?" She echoed, before smiling a little. "Find any good books?" She asked and he chuckled.

"A few." He chuckled, "I didn't miss anything important for the rest of class did I?" He asked and she shook her head.

"No. Professor Stein dissected a bird, that's all."

"Figures." He sighed.

"You know," Maka said, he looked up at her and blinked. "You really shouldn't skip class so much, you're gonna fall behind if you do."

"It wasn't my intention to skip so many days..." He sighed, it hadn't been- but with everything going on and what had happened with Okami, and all he learned- school had been the last thing on his mind.

"Well, as long as you keep showing up you'll be fine." She smiled brightly, "As far as I know, it's another Study Day- but on Monday I think Professor Stein is gonna be giving us a new lesson and a project to go with it."

"Then I guess I better be here on Monday." He murmured,

"WHAT?!"

Their eyes snapped away toward the crowd and the very loud shout that had rung out- both of them easily recognizing it as Black*Star's rather loud and abrasive voice. The crowd had parted enough to allow them to see the blue haired boy pointing a finger up at the board, eyes wide and slightly bulging as he scowled.

"Who the hell is trying to be a bigger star than me?!" Black*Star snapped.

"There's no way only one person killed this many Kishin in one night, Black*Star." Soul muttered, walking up to stand next to the other.

"I don't care if it's one person or ten!" Black*Star growled, "Nobody can beat me like that! Tsubaki! We're taking this assignment, that'll show them they can't surpass a big star like me!" Black*Star snatched a paper from the board and whipped around toward his Weapon Partner- the expression on her face told them it wasn't an easy assignment.

"But Black*Star, fifty Kishin is too much..." She told him, he don't listen though and marched off- Tsubaki sweatdropped and sighed.

"Why do I try...?"

"Poor Tsubaki." Maka and Kiba mumbled,

"Well- if that idiot is gonna go out killing that many Kishin, I better do the same- otherwise he'll pass me and I can't have that." Soul growled, snatching another assignment from the board.

"Maka! We're taking this one!" He said, his tone final. Maka scowled, not looking amused.

"Soul, we don't need to." She muttered.

"If Black*Star kills more Kishin than we do- that'd be so uncool!" Soul countered, Maka grumbled under her breath.

"Stupid boys..." She growled.

"You're a strong team, Maka. You shouldn't have any problem, right?" Kiba said and she glanced to him, a vein ticked on her forehead.

"It's not that I think it'll be too hard." She told him, "I just hate it when they feel like they have to outdo everyone- is just dumb." He smiled a little at the frustrated glare she set on Soul- who by now was walking away with Black*Star toward the reception window to approve the assignments with the school.

"I'm the Meister, I'm supposed to decide the missions..." Maka grumbled as Kiba sweatdropped.

Right... Unless your Weapon Partner is Okami...

He sighed, what had he gotten himself into...?

No One POV

"Okami, do not ignore me!"

Okami let out an irritated sigh as she moved along the empty street, the glass windows lighting up as she passed them by, the mask of Lord Death popping up on the smooth surface continually as she continued forward.

She refrained from looking toward him, quite intent on doing the opposite of what he said- and continuing to ignore him.

"You've not even been back a week and already you're causing trouble!" He went on, still following her across the glass. "I have Black*Star and Soul Eater taking every Three-Star Meister assignment available, all they said was they needed to show up whoever had cleared the assignments for Kishin Eggs in the city!"

She still didn't acknowledge him at all,

"Okami, I know you're the one who destroyed all the Kishin Eggs last night! You are supposed to accept those assignments through reception- and certainly not all at once!" He seemed extremely flustered and strained, not particularly angry. "What was it you did with those Kishin Egg Souls? They were to be collected and brought back to me."

This time she stopped and whipped around toward the glass and his reflection on the surface, the sudden action causing him to jump a little. "Well too damn bad, I already ate them." She growled lowly, sticking her tongue out at him in a rather childish manner- he seemed to frown at it.

"That was not the rules of the assignments." He said evenly, his tone a little edgy- not that it was hardly notice able with that damned goofy accent he had.

"Are we really arguing about this?" She growled, "They're dealt with, that's all that should count." He frowned a little more and she huffed, "Besides, I wouldn't have done any of that if you hadn't pissed me off!"

"Simply because you are angry does not give you free reign to steal the assignments from other students without properly taking them on." He countered and she rolled her eyes a little, earning a vein ticking on his head. "Do not roll your eyes at me! I gave you fair and free reign but you must still follow the most basic rules! I will be confiscating those souls, one way or another."

"Gonna have to catch me first," she countered, a challenge in her voice.

"How dare you talk to Lord Death like that you ungrateful little brat!"

Spirit's face appeared in the screen, pushing Lord Death aside and going so far as to bend the glass magically as he pushed himself against the screen- a vein ticked on Okami's forehead at the sight of him, "Shut it, your voice is irritating." She snapped coldly, arms crossing over her chest.

"Irritating?! I'll show you irritating, I'm gonna come down there and kick your a-!"

"Reaper Chop!"

She smirked as Lord Death's hand came down on Spirit's head, leaving a dent in his skull and effectively cutting him off.

"Enough!" Lord Death snapped,

"You never learn dumbass." She chuckled, her eyes fixed to where he could still see Spirit on the floor- a fountain of blood rising from his head.

"Both of you are acting like children!" Lord Death snapped, earning her eyes as she frowned at him. "If you still refuse to follow the rules, you had better be prepared to suffer the consequences!" He said, gesturing a large finger toward her in what she supposed was to be a threatening gesture.

"Whatever." She grumbled, waving a hand at him and shrugging it off, another vein ticked on his forehead.

It really wasn't often anyone would disobey the Grim Reaper himself- most people respected him too much, others were too afraid- Okami wasn't the same way however. She and Lord Death had never been on the best of terms and she quite frankly could care less what he wanted or what he ordered- she had been known to disobey him on several occasions and wasn't afraid of any of the drawbacks.

Granted; Lord Death did let her get away with quite a lot- mostly because he knew her well enough to understand she couldn't be completely controlled. Whatever else made him willing to allow her such free reign so often- no one knew.

"Must you act like that?" He muttered, anger waning- though only slightly.

"Tch..." She huffed, looking away with a scowl on her face.

Lord Death seemed to sigh internally,

"I would much rather avoid any new surprises, Okami. And certainly would appreciate if you kept from stirring up any more trouble for awhile." Lord Death told her, "You haven't been here for more than a week and have already drawn too much attention to yourself than either of us would like- all I ask is that you tone your actions down, at least for a little while."

Okami slowly have him a sideways glance, still scowling though at least she was listening.

"Will you do that, at least?" He asked and she paused.

He was right- she had gained more attention than was needed since joining the Academy again, and it really wouldn't do her very good to have any of the students realize who and what she was. The fact that Kiba was aware now- that had been an unexpected bump, and now that they had become Partners- that bump had turned into a mountain.

She'd broken her first rule, and so many more in the last week- she was surprised at herself. Normally she wouldn't have told Kiba anything, normally she wouldn't be causing so much trouble- but for some reason she couldn't help herself. Something was different now, something she couldn't place- and for it, she was doing things she normally wouldn't.

She knew she needed to keep a lower profile than she had been doing, and knew she needed to keep herself in check more- but she was too stubborn and prideful to agree to do as Lord Death said to his face.

"We'll see." She growled, looking away from him again and closing her eyes indignantly. Lord Death let out a low 'hmm' but otherwise ceased arguing.

"Thank you." The Shinigami sighed,

"Are we done?" Okami said, her eyes cold and tone flinty. She turned away without waiting for an answer,

"I do still intend to confiscate those souls, Okami." Lord Death called after her- earning a flare of anger and indignation rising inside of her.

"Yeah, yeah- keep yappin'..." She grumbled, before the wind picked up and she was suddenly out of sight from the view of the windows entirely.

Spirit POV

Lord Death remained looking into his mirror and the reflected view of the silent and dark city on its surface- silent and unmoving as Spirit slowly sat up and glanced toward the Shinigami curiously, eyebrows furrowed. For the life of him, Spirit could not understand why Lord Death put up with so much of Okami's defiance and mischief- Lord Death was usually very quick to punish the insubordinate, he usually didn't take refusal and the like from anyone- and yet something was different when it came to dealing with Okami.

Lord Death was so much more lax with Okami... It was confusing.

"So..." Spirit mumbled, "... Do you want one of the Death Scythes to confiscate those souls from Okami?"

"... No, I don't think that will really be necessary." Lord Death replied, Spirit blinked in shock and confusion.

"But you said you wanted them back." The red-haired Death Scythe mumbled,

"I do." Lord Death replied easily, turning away from the mirror and bobbing past Spirit toward the steps of the platform- the vision on his mirror fading to black as he turned away from it.

"You don't really think Okami is going to just hand them over do you?" Spirit asked, eyes narrowing.

"Ah, I do expect her to do just that." Lord Death replied lightly, Spirit just looked after him with a deadpan stare.

"Like that's gonna happen..."

"Listen Death Scythe, it may be true that Okami is stubborn and quite prone to disobeying orders- but I do know her quite well. She may seem angry and unwilling now- but after she has calmed down, I think she will return those souls willingly- in the end she usually does do what I ask, though she may do things in her own terms and in her own time."

"Oh really?" Spirit muttered, not looking even particularly convinced- Lord Death chuckled slightly as he began to head away into the field of crosses surrounding them.

"You'll see, Death Scythe."

Okami POV

"You gonna lay there all day?"

Okami let out a small sigh as she stuffed her hands in her pockets, eyes closing. Behind her, Kiba was sprawled out on his back panting, covered in sweat and eyes closed. There were various cuts across his body and several bruises, his lip was a little bloody- and he seemed rather worse for wear.

Well, most people would look that way if they had spent the morning brawling with Okami- who, for the record, was going easy.

Though not that easy, Kiba grumbled inwardly.

It was Saturday, late in the afternoon now with the sun beginning to move toward the lower edges of the sky. They had been out there in that clearing of trees on the outskirts of the city since early morning- since Okami had sought him out in his breakfast at Death Bucks to drag him here and immediately begin 'training'.

It was clear from her fight with Black*Star that Okami knew what she was doing when it came to fighting. He had seen how much pure power she had too- and knew he wouldn't ever stand a chance. However, Kiba himself wasn't new to the concept of fighting at all- he had been trained to fight in a dojo back in his home town when he was a kid- and those lessens had persisted until a few years ago- and from there he had kept his skills sharp himself as best he could.

Okami didn't say it out loud- but she was slightly surprised he knew how to fight as well as he did, she had been expecting him to be rather green- not as well trained as he seemed.

Though compared to herself, he was hardly a match- but maybe he could get there, eventually.

He managed to dodge and maneuver out of the way of plenty of her attacks, though he couldn't block nor dodge all of her blows- ending in his now ragged and beat up condition. When it came to actually attacking her- he managed one or two hits, but they weren't executed quickly enough and barely even grazed her- he'd have to work on that...

"We've... Been... At it... For hours..." He huffed, slightly irritated but too exhausted to get too angry just then. He didn't bother to open his eyes to look her way, "... You're... Just... Freakishly resilient..." He puffed and she blinked, casting him a sideways glance with narrowed eyes.

Freakishly resilient was one way to put it- because as she already explained, the Witch's soul locked away in her own allowed her to endure much longer than regular people.

She sighed slightly, glancing up at the sky-

She usually wouldn't stand for letting him stop without her directly allowing him to- because she was plenty ready to keep going.

But she supposed... He was right.

She wasn't used to having a Partner, so she supposed she wasn't used to thinking about what it was like in someone else's shoes. While she was full of energy and able to keep going for plenty longer- she wasn't quite sure how it would feel to be a regular human- to be exhausted like Kiba was and not be able to really move now that he had been doing this for hours on end without break.

She knew enough to realize he probably wouldn't be getting up for awhile- and he was probably too tired to actually even think about starting their brawling again. He was probably in a bit of pain too... She had hit him several times.

They were Partners now... So she supposed she would need to start taking his point of view into account from here on out- and to realize he wouldn't be able to keep up with her and her resilience nearly at all.

With another sigh she sat down with her legs crossed, arms over her chest and back slightly toward him, eyes closing.

"Fine..." She muttered, a little grudgingly. "We'll give up on the brawling for today... It's late anyway."

Kiba blinked his eyes open at the answer, glancing toward her in slight surprise at the consent. He had been expecting some sort of argument from her on the matter- but for whatever reason, she gave in rather easily. For perhaps the hundredth time since meeting her- he wondered what was going through her head, what she was thinking.

He couldn't imagine.

His eyes fell closed and he focused on lowering his breathing and heart rate for awhile, thinking a little unhappily- that he was probably gonna hurt a whole hell of a lot when he woke up tomorrow morning... Hell, he hurt a lot now.

"Okami..." He breathed, earning a small 'hmm?' From her. He slowly pulled himself up into a sitting position, crossing his own legs and wincing at the ache moving brought. She wasn't looking at him, her eyes were closed as she remained motionless. "... I was wondering... How am I supposed to use you to kill Kishin Eggs?" He asked and she opened her eyes, blinking.

"Excuse me?"

"It's just that... Your Weapon Form is a Staff right?" He explained, meeting her narrowed stare evenly. "You don't have a blade- so killing Kishin is going to be a little hard."

This was something he had been wondering about- and something that had only occurred to him after he had decided on becoming Partners with her. With Okami's Weapon Form being a staff- killing Kishin Eggs would be rather hard- she had no blade to cut nor stab with, no flat end large enough to smash with either... He supposed brute force could work- but that would require a lot of strength.

Maybe impaling- but again, the force needed to do so was considerable.

To anyone, having a Weapon Partner whose form was such a long, smooth ended staff- well, it seemed rather inconvenient and unconventional when it came to killing Kishin. He started to wonder what he would do about it now that they were partners and would eventually go hunting Kishin Eggs together.

Okami gave him a flat stare that underneath- seemed as if she was slightly annoyed by the question, for a minute he thought he offended her.

"Tch..." She growled, her stare turning into a tight frown a moment. "A good Meister learns best how to fight with their Weapon Partner regardless of their form- whether they're a gun, a sword, halberd, hammer, staff- whatever." She grumbled lowly, giving him an unhappy look- maybe he had offended her a little... But it had been a valid question.

He gave her a pointed stare and she looked away with a scowl, shaking her head a little.

"Hmph... If you must know, I'm what the DWMA calls a High Performance Weapon." She muttered,

He blinked, head tilting slightly and brow furrowed, it was a look that clearly said he hadn't a clue what that was. Okami gave him a deadpan stare for a moment, before scowling a little.

"What the hell is that?" He asked.

"Are you telling me you're a Meister and you don't even have a clue what sort of Weapon that is?" She growled, "How did you even get accepted into this school? You're freaking clueless." He frowned,

"I've only been here one damned week, Okami." He growled lowly.

"You should have started learning things like this before you even showed up at the school." She countered. "I shouldn't have to explain everything- you should already know."

"Give me a break." He muttered. "You're not teaching me everything- I already know plenty, sorry if the definition of 'High Performance Weapon' didn't happen to pop up in the things I researched- that is what this school is supposed to teach, is it not?"

"... Jeez..." Okami grumbled under her breath, shaking her head. For once, she wasn't willing to argue it with him and simply let it go- though she was a little miffed he seemed not to know several things he already should. "... Whatever, forget it. If I have to explain things to you, you should already know- then fine. You just better not ask stupid questions too often." He huffed at her,

"A Classification High Performance Weapon is a Weapon that has more than one form." She told him lowly,

"Ah,"

She looked back his way, seeing the sudden knowing dawn on his face- the realization.

"That's very, very rare right?" He asked, she nodded slightly.

"I don't know of anybody else with more than one form myself." She admitted, he nodded slightly.

"... I read about it once, the ability to switch between various forms is supposed to only be available to those directly descended from the Nakatsukasa Clan." He said, "Are you related to them in any way?"

"Not really sure." She answered, sighing slightly. "It's possible... I just don't know." Kiba blinked, his eyes narrowing. "It could be because of the Magic the Witch locked inside of me has, or something entirely different, it's not all that clear."

"How in the hell can you not know?" He grumbled, earning a silent stare from her strange silver eyes. For a long while there was simple silence between the two of them, the silence that told him she was deciding whether or not to answer his question.

"... I don't know." Okami repeated lowly, her tone suddenly edgy. "I don't remember family, or anything before being enrolled in the DWMA. So I have no damned clue," Kiba's eyes widened slightly, sweatdropping at the absurdity of the statement. "Now leave it at that." She growled, her tone clearly one of warning- she didn't want to be questioned about the mysterious lack of memory, she hated thinking about it, it set on her edge more than she'd care to admit.

She of course had wondered why there seemed to be a huge blank screen whenever she tried to recall a time before her first class at the DWMA. She had tried over and over to recall something, anything- but it was like there just wasn't anything there. And that made her tense.

Kiba frowned slightly, seeing again that wall Okami made between herself and other people suddenly spring up. She was too much of a mystery, and her secrets were one of the things that pissed him off the most.

"So what other forms do you have?" He grumbled, deciding it best to just change the subject away from her lack of memory anyway.

"It hardly matters if you won't be able to defend yourself without a Weapon anyway. What happens if you drop me?" She muttered back a little crossly, "I'm not gonna save your ass and take blows for you everytime you get knocked around."

"I'm not helpless you know!" He snapped back and she growled, not bothering to look his way. He wasn't sure why she was so angry all the sudden, how could asking her simple questions like this piss her off so much? They were Partners! He had right to know more about her damn it!

"You're clueless." She shot back lowly. "You're headstrong, and jump in without thinking. You went after that Kishin Egg the other night without caring you would be ripped to shreds. You let your anger get the best of you, and for it I had place myself between you and it." Kiba stiffened, his jaw snapping shut as he suddenly went silent, tensing as he suddenly realized what she was getting at. Was she pissed at him that she'd had that Kishin Egg rip its fingers through her shoulder that night? It was his fault that had happened, he knew it... But he hasn't realized she was still angry about it.

"... You don't have to act like you gotta protect me, you know." He grumbled, "I'm not helpless, I can fight and I've taken care of myself rather well. If you're so damned pissed off about whether or not you're gonna have to put yourself between me and Kishin, don't be. You don't have to do that."

Okami's eyes opened, narrowed to only slits as she stared at the ground, still not bothering to look his way. She clenched her jaw slightly, feeling a flash of anger and irritation stir deep inside her. He was clueless, and he didn't get it, did he?

What the hell does he think a Weapon Partner is anyway?

"... Tch, you really are clueless. I don't know why Lord Death let you in." She growled, he bristled. For the life of him he didn't understand why she had been set off so suddenly, of why she had become so angry and annoyed with him. Was it all spurred from asking about her Family? Or was it some thing entirely different? He could never tell with her, and he found himself getting more agitated.

"You're impossible, do you know that?" He hissed, "You're always flipping from being angry to something else, how does anyone even stand you?!"

"Most people don't." She replied lowly, he stiffened, slightly taken aback by how suddenly low and calm her answer was. "You'd best get used to it, you're the one who wanted to be Partners with me." He went rigid, her icy gaze landing on him suddenly as she looked over toward him, her expression neutral and giving away nothing so suddenly- all her anger and annoyance just... Disappeared.

"You walked yourself into this, so quit complaining."

She looked away again and suddenly got to her feet, her hands falling into her pockets and eyes closed. Kiba sat still, his eyes locked to her and unmoving.

... Where did all that anger go? Now she seemed to just settle on... Cold neutrality.

It was somewhat unnerving... And she was right. He is the one who decided on this, he's the one who wanted them to be Partners, so anything he got angry with her for- was all his fault for bringing himself into this situation in the first place. But there was something else... Something else had changed, something had happened in Okami's mind, and suddenly she was acting different.

He sweatdropped,

"...how does anyone even stand you?!"

"Most people don't."

That answer... It was almost solemn in a way.

Does Okami even talk to other people? Somehow he doubted she had any friends... Besides Stein, and even that was an odd pair.

Okami didn't seem to care for other people, and she certainly put them off and scared them away in some ways. He couldn't imagine her being close to anyone, and he doubted she let anyone close... And maybe no one tried. Stein himself had said that most people didn't approach her, and for all the reasons that Kiba mentioned before.

What would they find anyway?

His heart jumped a little at the thought, thinking back to how dark her soul had felt against his.

"We're done." She murmured, he blinked in surprise at being broken from his thoughts. "I won't come looking for you tomorrow, you probably won't even be able to get out of bed in the morning after all of this." She turned and started walking, she made her way passed him.

"A dagger, a staff, and a longbow."

Kiba's head snapped around as she kept walking, eyes wide at the sudden words, though she didn't look back his way again.

He sat there as she disappeared through the trees and completely out of sight, his mind reeling slightly and quite unsure as to why in the hell she seemed to suddenly change her mind. She'd been pissed with him for asking about her Weapon form, and yet she went ahead and told him anyway? Like some sort of off hand comment?

The sheer speed in which her moods seemed to switch from one thing to another was a little unnerving, and infuriating... But that last bit, the way all her agitation disappeared in an instant. That struck him, but he wasn't sure why.

He grit his teeth, growling to himself as he lay back in the grass with a huff of irritation, his arms falling out above him and eyes locking to the sky overhead.

Why in the hell is she so damned difficult...!?

Hmm... Interesting... She's one too...

Okami flipped through the next page of the file, her feet propped up on the table she sat at and leaning back. The candle on the desk beside her flickered in the dim, the table littered with several similar looking files as the one she held- all of them stamped across by the DWMA seal, and labeled with the name of a student here at the school.

The door wasn't technically open when she showed, not that she particularly cared. It was near 1 in the morning, and with no where better to be, and no need for sleep after returning those Souls to Lord Death, she had made her way here- to the records room.

To hell if it said 'Restricted' in the door, no place in this school was closed off to her.

Okami's eyes narrowed, flipping the page again she continued browsing the information- the photo of a slender, black haired girl stared back at her, a yellow star printed across the shirt of her chest.

... So, Black*Star's Weapon Partner has several forms...

She flipped through the last few pages, before closing the folder shut and tossing back atop the others that littered the table, her eyes staring upward as she leaned back, her head falling backward for her face to tilt in the direction of the ceiling.

Those other files were what was kept of the other members of the team that had been the defeat of the Kishin Asura nearly a year before. Maka, Kid, Black*Star and their Weapon Partners as well, she had been reading the files, getting information on their skills, their past experience in other missions... Impressive as they were compared to regular students, she still wasn't quite sure what it was that they had that could have defeated Asura.

Perhaps she'll simply keep a closer eye on them, but she wasn't particularly interested. Her mind was on other things, this had been a poor attempt at distracting herself.

This was going to be hard to get used to...

Okami growled lowly, a small vein ticking on her forehead as she let her eyes fall closed.

"...how does anyone even stand you?!"

Her jaw clenched, her teeth grinding down on one another as she dug her nails into the underside of her chair.

The better question would have been how are either she or Kiba going to stand working together?

She hissed, her fingers digging farther into the chair as she sweatdropped. She was a fairly patient person, for the most part anyway- and she had been considerably patient with Kiba thus far, but her patience was bound to run out… it already had, earlier today. She'd gotten pissed, and most of it was because he had asked about that blank slate of memories she couldn't recall.

And he'd clearly gotten angry with her today as well, his temper was sure to be sort… especially with her.

Despite outside appearances and a tendency to seem like she didn't care, Okami knew very well that she rubbed people the wrong way, and she knew very well most people didn't like her. Many didn't even try to handle her, and she knew it.

This is gonna be difficult…. Even if that idiot finds a way to manage it… am I going to be able to..?

Okami's eyes opened, staring up at the dark ceiling overhead, staring at the shadows moving across the roof, flickering and bouncing on the low candlelight.

….. The more I get pissed off and agitated…..

Her eyes narrowed, glinting as the shadows engulfed the room, the candle snuffed out suddenly.

…. I could start losing it.

Kiba POV

Oh geez…. I feel like absolute shit…..

Kiba moaned, slumped over on the table with his arms splayed out, eyes dead and body aching in pain. His whole body flared to life in agony when he moved, just getting out of bed had been a chore, walking here had been torture. But he couldn't ignore his rumbling stomach, so he forced himself to come all the way to Death Bucks and order some food, now he was exhausted just waiting for his food to come out.

He hadn't even managed to pull himself out of bed until 10, he'd been so tired he'd passed out the minute he got back to his hotel room last night, and stayed that way till that time this morning. He's stayed in his room for most of the day and taken a shower, until his hunger got the best of him till now- which by now the sun was sinking on the horizon. He supposed Okami had been right about how much pain he would be in after their training yesterday.

"Here you are!"

Kiba smiled wearily, lifting his head slightly from the table as he faced the cheerful voice of the waitress as she set his food down on the table in front of him.

"Ah, thank you!" He smiled, she nodded before walking off.

It looks super good..!

He started chowing down, enjoying the feeling of his stomach filing despite how painful it was to move his fork to eat his food.

"So, you live in a hotel huh?"

Kiba jumped, coughing violently as he suddenly sucked up some of his food at the sudden voice just next to him. Spluttering still, his head snapped up to see someone take a seat in the booth across from him, leaning back as their arms rest atop the booth itself, looking calm and unperturbed by his shock and coughing.

His jaw dropped slightly, stiffening as he growled slightly. Immediately his eyes locked to a small cut running along the underside of her jaw, on her right cheek.

"O-okami..?!" He stammered, eyes flashing as she simply glanced his way, eyebrow quirked.

"You look surprised." She murmured, "I do live in Death City you know, it's no surprise you'd run into me."

"... Were you following me…?!" He snapped, ignoring her comment.

"No." She murmured, he set her with a stare that clearly said he didn't believe her. She sighed slightly, her eyes closing as she tilted her face away from him a little. "I saw you leave the hotel earlier while I was walking around town." He frowned slightly, eyes still narrowed and looking a little suspicious still.

He decided to let it go for now, lest he do something that set her off like he seemed to have yesterday.

"Yeah… until I find a place of my own anyway." He grumbled, slowly taking another bite of his food as he pointedly looked away from her. "What's it to you?"

"Apart from you being my Partner now, simple curiosity I suppose." Okami murmured, Kiba spared a glance her way, only she still wasn't looking at him.

"What happened to you?" He grumbled lowly, Okami blinked, her eyes shifting his way. He gestured toward the cut on her cheek, it hadn't been there before she left after their training. "The cut on your cheek."

"Hmm..?" She hummed, her fingers slowly moving up to trace over the wound lightly, her eyes flashing a moment. She blinked, before smiling slightly and closing her eyes again. "Oh, that. Nothing in particular, just a small run in with a Kishin last night is all. I suppose it managed to nick me before I finished it off." She shrugged slightly, not looking at all bothered. Kiba eyes narrowed, sweatdropping at the easy reply.

Why was it he didn't really believe her..?

"So if you saw me earlier, why are you here now?" He grumbled,

"To bug you, clearly." She smiled slightly, a grimaced. Okami chuckled under her breath at his face and waved a hand at him, "Relax dumbass. I'll get out of your hair in a moment, you're clearly in no mood with how much pain your in." He blinked, seeing for a moment her eyes seemed to flash, as if they were suddenly seeing through him.

Kiba jumped, his fork hitting the plate as he dropped it and struggled to catch what it was Okami suddenly tossed his way, wincing slightly at the sudden movement. He blinked, opening his hands to reveal a small silver key.

Huh…?

He looked back up to see Okami had climbed out of the booth and stood next to the table, her hands in her pockets and eyes closed.

"Hotels are expensive. I've gotta extra room at my place you can use," She murmured, smirking slightly. "That is, if you think you can handle living in the same building as me." She started to walk off, waving a hand behind her as watched her go in shocked silence, his mind having a hard time coming to terms with the sudden offer. It seemed so unlike her.

"See ya."

Kiba sweatdropped, looking back down at the key as Okami left the café and him alone to himself. She seemed off….. like she was much calmer today, more reserved even. And this? What was with the sudden charitable offer anyway? And then there was that feeling she hadn't said the truth when he asked about that cut on her cheek…. Damn it she's such a freak. I just don't get her, at all.

"That is, if you think you can handle living in the same building as me."

OOkay, lots of line breaks in this one, and it's short, the next chapter will pick up!

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