Cupid's Lips

Chapter Three: White Lie

Kami stood patiently outside of Spirit's new apartment. Her arms were crossed and her baggy hoodie sagged towards her knees. She had buzzed the door twice now but there was still no answer. It wasn't as if she had warned Spirit ahead of time that she would be dropping by, however, this was because she wanted to surprise him. The redhead was meant to be getting to know his new meister and so he should have been home. At least that was what Kami had been expecting. Kami buzzed the door once more and waited a few moments longer before reaching towards the doorknob. Hindsight would've told her not to do what she was about to, but she didn't think about that.

All she wanted was to check on Spirit and his meister and as of that moment neither were answering the door. She turned the knob roughly and to her surprise it was indeed unlocked. She knew that Spirit was clumsy and forgetful, but didn't actually anticipate the door being unlocked if they'd gone out. She pondered the fact that maybe Spirit could be napping but quickly let go of that thought after scanning the immediate area. There were no shoes next to the door and the two bedroom doors were left wide open.

The girl entered the apartment, shutting the door behind her. It smelled of a sickeningly sweet syrupy scent and she was forced to cover her nose. She hated sweet scents, which was why Spirit always took care to avoid sweets when in her presence. Aside from that she just believed in abstaining from consuming such sugary unhealthy treats. She felt a pang of disappointment that Spirit had consumed something she didn't approve of. When she discussed the topic with Spirit previously he'd agreed not to eat things like that anymore.

She wondered if he'd broken his promise of his own Accord or if it was under the influence of his new meister. She scowled in disgust as she walked past the kitchen, glaring at the dirty dishes in the sink. She made her way through the small apartment to the fork where the two bedrooms were situated. She peered into both doors and stood confused for a short time. It was hard telling which one was Spirit's room and which one was Stein's. The only thing that gave it away was the decorative feather dream catcher that hung beside the bed of one room.

This item was easily identifiable as Spirit's as she had been the one to give it to him. She smiled at the thought of him cherishing such a sad excuse of a gift. She turned away from his room and entered the meister's. She knew she shouldn't be snooping through other people's belongings, but couldn't fight her curiosity. To her, everything she did for Spirit was justifiable. She scanned the room for anything of interest; opening and closing the drawers of his dresser and night stand. She didn't stop until she came across a little lockbox inside his desk.

It was a strange box that was eeriely creepy. She didn't like the vibe she was getting from it. Although the box was in bad condition appearance wise, she soon found that it was impossible to open without the combination. Everything on the box was still in working condition. It wasn't heavy and felt almost empty even. She would've surmised that nothing was inside if not for the fact that she gave it a gentle shake. She heard the items inside rattle as they hit the sides of the box.

After concluding that she wouldn't find anything out from the box she put it back where she found it. Aside from that, there was nothing in the boy's room. He had boring things, like study material, books and the like, but nothing that could incriminate him of being a bad fit for Spirit. She sighed and made her way to the door, exiting, but making sure to lock the door behind her. It wasn't as if any of the DWMA complexes had ever been robbed, she just didn't like the thought of someone else seeing Spirit's private dwelling.

Kami sighed as she walked outside of the complex, her face turning in disgust as she laid eyes upon her own weapon partner. Her weapon's tawny eyes gazed upon her with immense suspicion and disgust of her own.

"What exactly are you doing here, Kami?" Choco asked.

"Poor Choco, wouldn't you like to know?" Kami sneered at the girl, her lips turning into a knowing smirk that angered Choco.

"Awe, wow, how mature. We're supposed to be working on our relationship, but here you are making it worse." Choco put her left hand on her hip and rose her right to her mouth, covering it as she yawned.

"As you can see I'm already exhausted from just this small encounter. By the way, Spirit looked very chummy with his new Meister; smiling and carrying on a joyful conversation as they walked through town," Choco said tauntingly. A smirk if her own caressed her lips as she saw Kami's face twist with anger.

"Oh, really? What part of town were they in?" The blonde asked, remaining civil as if that would elicit a response from the other girl.

Choco laughed, shaking her head as she side stepped Kami and started towards the apartment complex behind the girl. Kami spun around, grabbing Choco's arm only to be shook off.

"Don't touch me. Mind your own business and go home. Don't get in the way of Spirit's happiness this time. Stop trying to take everything away from him, it's depressing for the people who actually care about him to watch." The girl's words cut through Kami's confident demeanor, making her take a step back in awe. Her mouth hung slightly open until Chic was out of sight. Once the Kami could no longer see her, she bit her lip in anger, drawing blood as she did so.

Kami returned home after that, completely giving up on finding Spirit for the day. Meanwhile, the two boys finally approached their destination. Spirit's red hair was messily tied into a small know on the back of his head; small strands kissed his face and flew about in the soft breeze. Stein stole gazes at his partner as they walked, reminding himself that they were in public every so often.  At one point he caught himself wanting to catch a stray bit of hair that'd escaped Spirit's elastic band and tuck it behind the boy's ear.

The truth was that Stein was enjoying the other boy's facial expressions and that bit of hair in the wind was distracting. Spirit rambled on and on about many unimportant things that Stein mostly tuned out. The silver haired boy didn't care much about what his partner had to say. Rather, he simply wanted to hear the sound of the others voice. It was strange and yet, somehow comforting how quickly Stein warmed up to Spirit. He'd never gotten along well with others before and viewed personal relationships as a bother.

It wasn't that he longed for another person's companionship or company, but rather that he wanted to wholely possess Spirit's attention. He wanted Spirit to think we'll of him because Spirit was a foreign being to Stein. He'd never come across a soul wavelength quite like Spirit's before and that made the boy intriguing.

"Stein, hey, have you been listening to me?" Spirit asked suddenly, snapping Stein out of his trance.

Stein gazed up into Spirit's eyes, never once changing his facial expression until concern flickered across Spirit's soul. Seeing that concern flipped a switch in Stein and he gave Spirit a plastic smile. It was nothing but artificial niceness that Stein thought would fit the other boy's aesthetic nicely.

"Of course, I've been listening the entire time. It's just that it's difficult to get a word in when you're so enthusiastic about talking," Stein said cleverly, scanning Spirit's face as a sheepish expression bloomed across it.

A light blush spread from his cheeks to his ears and Stein felt satisfied as he watched this scene. To Stein, he knew he wasn't acting like himself. He knew that the scene he'd just presented to Spirit was not real. Stein didn't mean the words he said, and the smile he'd shown was absent of emotion. However, if he had to tell a few whit lies to gain the weapon's favor, then he'd continue for eternity, because an obsession was growing within him.

                                     To Be Continued...