Claire

A Secret Revealed

Claire's POV

The next morning, Zero and I were up, walking to the academy. I was glad when we passed an empty Soul and Maka's house, and let out a sigh of relief.

Kai met us at the steps of the academy. "Morning!" I smiled gently. Zero waved, giggling. "You're excited for school, Zero." Kai chuckled. Zero nodded. "Definitely!" I shook my head. "Just behave, okay? You and I won't have the same classes, but don't freak out, alright? If anything happens, you go straight to Lord Death and ask him, politely, to get me out of class, okay?" Zero nodded as I dropped her off at her first class. "She's all grown up!" Kai sniffled as if he were proud, and I punched him on the shoulder. We headed to Stein's class, and I noticed we were a bit early.

Just like Soul and Maka, who were sitting in their usual seats. Soul stood up, looking down at me and waiting for me to come up. But I stiffened and followed Kai to the other side of the classroom and to two unclaimed seats. "He's gonna be persistent, you know that right?" I clenched my fists. "These are gonna be the worst few days of my life, Kai. This break up is torture..." He sighed and rubbed my back. "Well, you better hide that pain, soldier; here he comes."

Kai wasn't kidding. Soul stood in front of me now. "We need to talk." I glared at him, and Kai slid past us and away from us. "Come on, Claire! Can you honestly not talk to me for the rest of your life?" I sent him a glare that said I could. "It's all a matter of willpower." I growled. I looked away from him, showing him I didn't want to talk. "Claire--" "Did Kid give you the memo?" Soul frowned. "Yeah. He did." I glared. "Then you know how I feel. There's nothing to discuss." Right then, students began to flood the classroom, and Soul retreated, Kai taking his place. "Well, that couldn't have been more interesting." He mumbled. I groaned and lay my head down on the cool desk.

The class went by in a blur. Another dissection, a little bit of lecture, and then class was over. Kai and I sprinted out the door before Soul could catch me. "How long do you think he'll try?" I shrugged. "Hopefully not long." Kai chuckled.

I found Zero in the hallway, smiling and giggling with a few other girls her age. "Hey, Zero!" I smiled. "What's up?" I asked. She shrugged. "I made a few friends!" She introduced the three girls as Layna and Zayna, the twins, and Holly. Layna and Zayna had raven black hair and snow-white skin. Their eyes were a deep purple, kind of enchanting. Holly was a blonde with blue eyes, tan and freckled. I left Zero with her friends.

Kai and I retreated to the library, hoping for some peace and quiet. Kai was on the other side of it when I heard, "I thought you'd be here." I sighed. "Soul. Really?" He was sitting on a table, looking at me. "Claire, I'm sorry. I was pissed! And confused, with the dream thing." I shook my head. "The problem is that I have the potential to hurt you, Soul, not that there's a slight chance I may." Soul scoffed. "Like you hurt Kai?" I turned around quickly. So quick, that Soul didn't even have time to react to the blade against his throat. "Like Maka hurt you, Soul?" I shot back. He gaped, and I stood back, retracting the blade. "That wasn't on purpose, Claire, you know that!" I hissed, "And I purposefully hurt Kai?" Soul groaned.

"Everything's about Kai now, isn't it?" I almost spit out, "Yeah, 'cause you're not in the picture!" But I bit my tongue. "He's been there through everything, Soul. Obviously, Maka hasn't been there through everything with you, or you'd understand." I shook my head. "You're making this way harder than I wish it could be. It's making both of us miserable, and I get that. But I learned from all of this that getting close to people only gets you hurt. And I know who I can trust, so thank you for opening my eyes." I started to walk away. "'Would you save my life, if the cards were flipped?' Do you remember that?" I grunted. "I'd still save your life any day, Soul. Because I still love you. But things are gonna change, and we've both gotta move on."