Soul Eater Shorts: Kisa Stein

School Form

Prompt: Kisa finally fills out an application for the DWMA

The lights were dimmed in her room, the flames of her green tea scented candle flickering soothingly as the shadows danced along the walls while she sat hunched over her desk. The occasional scribble of a pen would reverberate around the near-empty room, words being formed at an inconsistent pace as she stopped at random points in time to collect her thoughts. Kisa never had been able to complete things perfectly in one go, it seemed, as every five minutes or so she'd finally lean back into her cheap desk chair and sigh in a mixture of frustration and exhaustion while massaging her face to hopefully relieve some tension. She never understood how her father could do something like this for hours on end, fingers gliding across his keyboard as if he were doing it subconsciously without having to think about what needed to be worked through next.

Kisa let her hands drop limply onto her lap, pooling blue eyes boring holes into the ceiling through her thick rectangular framed glasses; it hasn't been long since she's moved in with her father, her previous life before moving in almost completely repressed from her memory now that she was being given the opportunity at a "normal life" now. She had few worries now, one of which included enrolling in an academy for weapons and meisters alike that not only seemed like a big step forward on its own, but she had also been informed in a matter of seconds afterward that it was the same place her father worked at. Kisa had also been informed, of course, that there were empty slots in his class that she would likely fill upon becoming a student.

That, of course, is why she's currently awake at such a dreadful hour, filling out paperwork that will determine whether or not she'd be accepted into the DWMA. Something that would give her something to do during the day, at least, that's what she continued to tell herself. Kisa quite looked forward to the school building and everything contained within it, eager to see the classes and missions that it had to offer her. Of course, that would all depend on whether or not she was able to actually fill out the form before her correctly and whether Shinigami-sama himself decided to accept her into his academy.

The more she thought about it, the more she really feared the idea of being rejected. What would she do if such a thing were to happen to her? There had to be some kind of alternative if she were to be turned down as a student, right? She'd probably need to find some kind of job that was willing to take her in or something so she wouldn't be forced to sit around the house all day wasting away into nothing while her father was gone for the day. As much as she hated the idea of working in a place like Death City, there wasn't much else that came to mind.

Shaking her head to rid herself of these thoughts, Kisa sat back up in her chair and stared at the papers lying before her, sighing gently as she tried to focus on the words swimming on the pages. Her father had tried to help her with said papers earlier, she remembered, though with each question that he had to ask her since he himself didn't know the answer felt like a punch to the gut. He didn't know how old she is, when she was born, her own talents and abilities, hell, he didn't even know she needed glasses until she was dumb enough to walk straight into a door frame. Kisa eventually got frustrated and secretly upset as she snatched the documents from his hands and bolted away before he could get the chance to question her about it.

Kisa picked up her pen and began to write once more, filling out her age and new address when she heard a gentle knocking at her door. She paused for a second at this, head turning over her shoulder to look at the door behind her for a moment before turning back and deciding to ignore it. She easily picked up where she had left off, finishing up with the address when the doorknob turned and Stein stood with one hand on the handle and the other in the pocket of his lab coat.

"I knew you would be awake at this hour," Stein mused, staring at the back of Kisa's head while she refused to turn around. "I figured you're also someone who goes to bed at dreadful hours of the night since I myself tend to do so, not to mention I can smell that candle of yours from the other side of the lab."

Kisa continued to remain unresponsive, a subconscious scowl making its way to her face as her grip on her pen grew tighter and her scrawling more aggressive. She could feel her father's pale green gaze boring into the back of her skull though she paid it no mind, filling in the blank asking whether she would be filling the position of meister or weapon upon being accepted. She opted for both, deciding to become a meisterless weapon as she had grown accustomed to over the years.

"I apologize for what I may have said earlier, you know; I didn't say any of that to intentionally set you off." Stein made sure to be careful with what he let come out of his mouth, doing his best to get used to the person who was now living with him that just so happened to be his daughter. "I know that I may not know everything about you that other parents know about their children, but I'm willing to take the time to learn if you'd give me the chance to."

She couldn't help but halt her movements now, dropping her pen quickly in her own frustration at the total attitude shift her father was now going through. Her posture straightened significantly as she rubbed her face in annoyance, taking her glasses off and setting them on the desk before her. "Don't waste your breath, buddy; it's not like I can go back and change what happened in the past."

Stein stood in silence as he watched Kisa's movements, his expression blank as he tried to make sense of her words; there was something in him that was telling him to just walk away and leave it alone while hoping that whatever was happening would just work itself out eventually, but another part of him, a smaller part, was telling him to help talk things through until they were on good terms. Sure, he didn't know how to do something like that, but he was willing to try if it meant fixing the broken relationship between him and his daughter.

"I mean it, Kisa; I know that we didn't exactly get off on the right foot, but I want to make sure that living here isn't dreadful for you." He took a hesitant step closer, hand lingering on the door handle as if he were preparing himself to close it quickly was she to throw something at him to force him out. "I haven't been able to take care of you like you've deserved all these years and this is my chance to right these wrongs. That is, of course, if you agree to it."

Kisa could only stare down at the paper on the desk before her dejectedly, hoping that her father didn't see her current state; part of her had hoped that he would come into her room and confront her with something like this, but now that it was actually happening she wasn't sure what she was meant to do. Should she accept his offer to try and right things between both of them or should she ignore him and hope that she finds a way to take care of herself so she can leave as soon as possible?

She didn't want to leave.

The moment she considered leaving this new life behind she felt a certain pang in her chest that kind of hurt, something she wasn't really expecting from being in a place like this. She never expected to finally be given a proper home with her own parent to love and take care of her, but now that it was actually happening she was so very hesitant to give it away and pretend it didn't happen. She really wanted this, though her stubborn brain made sure she didn't say this aloud, instead opting for a simple nod that she hoped her dad would see.

Stein understood almost immediately that Kisa didn't wish to speak at the time, accepting the small nod with a gentle smile that felt uncharacteristic of him. He wasn't sure what brought the change about, but he knew that he'd have to get used to it happening a hell of a lot more now that his own flesh and blood were living under the same roof. Stein stepped forward now without the same caution as before, raising a large hand to rest atop her brunette hair to give it a small ruffle. Kisa furrowed her brows at this and turned her head away from him the moment she felt her cheeks begin to turn red from the embarrassment, though she didn't move away from it as if she accepted it.

"Now," Stein began, "you said that you aren't twelve?"

"Fuck OFF!"

Boy, Stein looked forward to having a new roommate.