Soul Eater ZZZ

Chapter 3 [Kygema]: Lost Property and New Acquaintances

I approached the bear carefully and slowly. The last thing I would want is to be mauled by a bear on my first day at the DWMA. What is a bear doing here anyway? Let alone a Black Bear. Shouldn't they be in the zoo, or in a forest? I shook my head. Figuring out where a black bear should be was not the problem at hand. The actual problem was finding a way to domesticate it.

I slowly inched forward, my two hands were stretched outward, my right leg forward and left leg back. I was ready to defend myself if needed, which I hoped I wouldn't have to do since I only took classes to defend against humans, not heavy-weight furry animals with claws. Carefully and near-gracefully, I circled the animal, analyzing it and making note of my surroundings.

We were on a circular platform made of a material that was most likely sandstone. The bear faced the three huge arches that led to the entryway of the school, meaning its back was toward the beginning of the staircase and Cherry. The academy students formed a neat, organized half-circle around the bear and it didn't seem to mind the attention. The bear was rather wide and portly, no doubt meaning wherever it came from it ate a pretty fulfilling meal. Beyond the three archways were sets of double doors with metal bars going down the center that could fit two lines of average sized students. I figured that if I could get the bear to chase me, I could run through the doors and get the bear stuck in between the bar and the door frame. I was ready to put my plan into action when the unexpected happened.

The boy that Cherry and I saw tumbling down the stairs earlier had apparently stopped halfway through and began climbing back up rapidly. He was angry at something and when he came back up he screamed, "Where's my sandwich?!"

I don't know what came first, the bear's angry response at the disturb of the peace, or my inquiry about who values a sandwich after falling down a half-mile of stairs. Whichever it was, one obviously held precedent over the other. As the bear charged toward the boy, his anger turned to pure horror and he turned back to run, only to reach the steep, small stairs again and fall down them once more. That just left Cherry and she was too afraid to move.

I sprung into action. I quickly looked around and saw a student holding a training bow-staff that anyone would find at a dojo. I took the staff from him, held it like a spear, then threw it at the bear, hitting him square on the side of the snout. That really angered him. He stopped and scratched at his nose for a bit, then turned to me and charged. I was terrified, but not enough to where I was frozen. I sprinted toward the bear, but not to fight it. As he raised his claws to attack me, thats when I kicked my feet out and let my body slide to the ground, sliding under the bear.

For an instance the bear was confused, then it turned around and saw me again, and charged once more. My rear was too sore to attempt another slide so this time I just jumped back, avoiding the claws as much as I could. The next few minutes comprised of me dodging and ducking, the bear eventually backing me onto the edge of the circular platform.

This time I was really sweating, more than I was on the stairs. The bear was now taunting me, walking from left to right, staring me down, waiting to see if I had any more clever moves left. As I stoof still and conveyed that I was finished, the bear took a stance and charged at me. At that split second, Cherry seemed to have come out of her shocked-frozen state. She screamed my name and ran toward me, her left arm outstretched as if she were trying to reach me. As a display of defeat toward her, I raised my hands up. Time seemed to be moving slowly as this next part happened.

The bear was now half the distance it originally was from me. Cherry was running toward me from the staircase, and I closed my eyes with my hands raised, waiting for my insides to be clawed out. However, something must have happened because there was a sudden cheer from the crowd. A short moment after the cheer, I felt something enter the palm of my hands. It felt almost wooden and plastic. I opened my eyes and lowered my arms, finding that I was holding a katana in my hand, it's blade a light-pink and the hilt a dark red.

"Sakura," I breathed in surprise.

"Use me to fight!" Cherry ordered.

"How did you..."

"I don't know!" she said hurriedly. "Surge of emotion? Just use me to- Watch out!"

I heard a roar and looked up from the blade. The bear was now on its two legs, one claw coming down to strike me. In a quick sudden movement, my left arm sliced at the claw. I had closed my eyes again in fear that I might've been hit, but instead, all I heard was the angered roar and whimper of a bear. I had cut the bottom of its paw but didn't completely sever it from the leg.

Still on its hind two legs, the bear backed up, its right paw bleeding severely. I used this moment to rush forward and demobilize it. I moved with a newfound speed, quickly making it behind the bear and slicing it twice on the back of its hind legs. The creature whimpered and roared again, stumbling forward and falling to the ground. It was still alive, just badly breathing.

"Kygema!" Cherry shouted, turning back into her human form. "We did it! We did it! We are fighters!"

"Yeah," I nodded, panting. "I now know why you're called 'Sakura' too."

She smiled and punched my arm, which was so sore that it actually hurt more than it should have. As I laughed and groaned in pain at the same time, I heard a scream. My first thought was that it would be the principle, but I was wondering why Lord Death was a woman. The scream came again. It didn't sound like the scream of someone who was about to lecture you, but the scream of someone about to kill a murderer in revenge for killing a family member.

I looked up, and saw a short, white haired girl steaming toward me with the facial expression and attitude that would send even the scariest of bears hauling home.