Claire

Live or Die

Kira's POV

It's been a week since Nygus told Lord Death that I was dying. There's been no word from Giriko.

Not until now.

Nygus burst into the classroom in the middle of class, panting. "Sid, Kira; I need you two." I glanced wearily at the others, who hadn't been at the meeting when Nygus told Lord Death, and made my way down to her.

Sid had made sure there was a substitute in case this happened in the middle of the day, so the students still had their lesson.

Sid and I followed Nygus, who was obviously in a hurry.

"Justin and Ms. Marie are waiting for us at the entrance of the school. We have maybe thirty minutes to get to the location." She glanced at me. "Can you run?"

To answer her question, I began to sprint down the hallway, leaving Nygus and Sid in the dust.

At the entrance, Ms. Marie was pacing and Justin was standing patiently. "Let's go!" Nygus called as soon as she and Sid got out. No one paused, but turned and ran.

***

No one told me where we were going, and I didn't ask. Nygus called that we were only a little ways away now.

Finally.

We'd all been running for a long time now, and we left Death City a long time ago. Everything was just fine.

But at the same time, I knew something was wrong. I felt unusually drained, and there was a tingling, painful feeling in my chest I couldn't get rid of. It was making it hard to breathe.

I gasped and stopped, trembling. Justin, Ms. Marie, Nygus, and Sid stopped.

That tingling feeling had been traveling to my heart all this time, and I'd only realized it when it finally got there.

Sharp pain contracted around my heart, making me feel as if a hand were squeezing around the organ.

I collapsed, and was very relieved when a pair of arms caught me. "What's wrong with her!" Ms. Marie demanded. I was, currently, unable to answer.

"Stein's wavelength probably travelled to her heart. This means she has much less time than we thought."

He stood up, holding me in his arms. We continued walking, and we stopped once more. Justin put me down gingerly, a supportive arm around my waist. I blinked a few times, leaning weakly on Justin. He didn't argue.

Giriko stood a couple of feet in front of us, hands crossed over his chest. "What happened to you?" He asked as I hissed in pain.

"She doesn't have as much time as we all hoped." Nygus said.

There was a small silence before Giriko broke it. "Well, all ya have to do is use your wavelength." He said, his tone suggesting that we all should've known that.

Ms. Marie gaped. "On herself?" Giriko grunted. "Yeah. Who else?" The adults paused. "How do we know that's actually going to work?" Sid asked. Giriko sighed.

"Look. As soon as she uses her shock wavelength on herself -- which is gonna hurt like a bitch -- she's gonna be enveloped in her own mind. In there, she's gonna have to physically fight Stein, who will be resembled as his wavelength." He shrugged. "Because Stein is a Meister, and he won't have a Weapon to wield, you'll have the upper hand. If any of you Death Scythes have a healing wavelength, you can help her out. It's gonna weaken Stein and strengthen Kira. That won't stop Stein from using his wavelength, though."

No one spoke for a while. Then, Nygus thanked him and we turned around. Justin wouldn't allow me to walk, though, and picked me up again.

***