Cyborg Meets Literature (Me and Zephy, unless you have an invite)

"And here we are" Kamito opened the thick mahogany door and held it open for Millina to pass through. Today was one of those rare occasions that Kamito didn't have his nose shoved in a book, but rather decided to give a proper house tour to his new roommate. A little alarm rang just inside the door, as if saying "You aren't thieves, please enter", and Kamito did just that.

The apartment he and Millina were appointed was a small deal, it had two evenly sized bedrooms, each with their own bathroom, a balcony, and a kitchen with an island stove in the middle which opened up into a barren living room. They hadn't moved anything in there yet, so nothing was there, at all... The kitchen had beige tiles, chrome appliances, and white walls which were found throughout the entirety of the house. The living room had dark, polished mahogany planks, and the bedrooms had fluffy beige carpet to serve as flooring. A very cozy little place.

Kamito had investigated the apartment the other day, so he already had the layout memorized, there was only one flaw... "OWWW" Kamito grasped his forehead and cringed in pain. The door to the apartment was meant for people not of great height, so Kamito always banged his head on the doorpost.

After hearing her Meister's yowl of pain, Millina instinctively ducked under the doorway...even though there was no need, considering how she was well under six feet. The apartment overall though...she didn't know how to feel about it. She wasn't confused, or lost, her emotions at the very least were mixed. It was easy on the eyes, with no overabundance of unnecessary colors to that of a psychodelic trip, and the colors it did have were at the very least...oddly comforting. Just enough variation. On the other hand, the place seemed too...small. The size was an immediate thing she noticed, and an immediate thing that made her face to a...somewhat distinguishable frown. It isn't too bad...but yet... maybe she was just spoiled by living with her parents, a residence that just simply had larger living space. "Which one is my room?" It probably didn't matter. After all, we hadn't properly claimed our respective living quarters yet...

Kamito recovered from his pain quickly surveyed the living room again, once again taking in the sight of his new home. It was a small ordeal, but it was home, a fresh start... Maybe he would keep his room clean, or, at least somewhat less of a disaster. The smell of fresh paint tickled his nose and penetrated his consciousness. The Landlord had the place painted, since the previous occupants had kids, there were marks all over the walls before. The carpet and wood floors were also new, the previous family also had a dog, who seemed to think that the entire apartment was his personal latrine. But all of that was fixed now, and knowing its history made it all the more cozy.

When Kamito glanced sideways at the moderately sized girl beside him, he noticed that she seemed somewhat displeased, which was obvious in her following statement. A tone akin to discontent wafted from her mouth and into Kamito's ears. He smiled wryly at Millina. "You can choose whichever one you want. They're both the same size after all."

Kamito felt a trust in Millina that he never had in anyone before. Not just because they took an oath of bonding to become partners, and Kamito had seen her mind's room, but because of who Millina was. He knew that, after only a few days, he could trust this girl to always be there for him, watching over him with a motionless expression.

"Thank you. And when would be a good to retrieve my belongings?" It wasn't really like she was doing anything extensively important, as even the viewing of her and Kamito's place of residence was something that even at the very most "interesting" and maybe a little more, but nevertheless not something she'd consider a necessity...just more convenient. She would be closer to the Academy and have her partner nearby, not a bad deal.

Being cautious of the floorboards, she walked carefully to the bedroom to her right, taking a peek inside she began inputting a wide array of numbers and other complicated gibberish into the keypad on her wrist, making her glasses beep in response. "Dimensions...retrieved...alright. If you don't mind, later I request that we retrieve some things from my former place of residence. Primarily clothes, school work, building materials, as well as other objects." Alright...just enough room it seems...I can make it work.

Kamito first strolled into his own room on the left-hand side and dropped his backpack filled with books on the floor, pulled out a water bottle from the side pouch, and took a long swig. He hadn't drank anything for a few hours and his throat was parched.

After getting himself situated, Kamito followed Millina into her room and made his way over to her window while Millina fiddled with her computer. Through the window, one could see a paved road run horizontally from left to right, surrounded by a huddle of buildings. Out in front of the apartment complex, a large moving truck was parked on the curb and many burly men in tattered, painted over clothes were piling boxes outside the entrance of the building. "Looks like we don't have to wait for our stuff." A couple of hours prior, Kamito had made a few calls to the "Death City Movers" and Millina's parents, telling them to gather Millina and his belongings and bring them to this address... they made is right on time. "I'll go give them directions." Kamito took his leave and strolled out of the room and towards the lobby of the apartment building.

"He already did everything..." She walked towards the window and stared out at the outside, the outside in which the buildings of the urban area practically surrounded them, with roads in between. She let it finally set in for a moment that she was no longer "Home" or rather she tried her best to let it settle in at that moment...something that most likely would take some adjustment.

She sat on the bed, only to be greeted with a low creaking from the presumably new matress...maybe. Wiping her face, she sighed, placing her hands at the top of her head while she was no able to think to herself with no interruption other than the ambient honking, yelling, and revving of engines that was Death City. I'm finally living on my own...with someone who wasn't actually family...he seems a little bit too excited...I can only assume that he arranged for alk my belongs to be brought here in such a short time.

There was nothing fun about directing a bunch of dense movers up and down 5 flights of stairs. For some reason, the Apartment management didn't allow the use of elevators to move one's belongings, so this was the only option left unto them. While directing the movers, there was a fear that they might put things in the wrong place, or shove his face through the wall for being "too bossy", so he just told them where everything went with a book on "The Origins of Soul Resonance", which he had read many times before, in hand.

An hour and a half later, the movers had finished their job and packed up their things, leaving Millina and Kamito to fend for themselves with a mountain of boxes. Atleast they put up all of the furniture and such properly. Kamito's room was organized so that there was a bed in the center of the back wall, to either side was a window and a night stand and the entire rest of the room's wall volume, except for a desk and a closet, was cluttered with a bookshelves, which would undoubtedly be filled to the inch with books in a matter of days. Only one of Kamito's many boxes contained clothes, one miscellaneous items, and the rest books of all sorts, history, science, fiction, philosophical... everything one could think of was crammed into twenty boxes.

Kamito didn't have time to marvel at his new room, as he wanted to get the opinion of his new roommate, and help with any menial task, such as shifting furniture to better suit her tastes. With these thoughts in tow, Kamito departed for Millina's room, only to find the girl sitting quietly on her bed, deep in thought. "It's all done, besides the unpacking." Kamito calmly explained, his nose buried in a new book, since he had finished the previous one as the last pieces of furniture were put in place. "Care to get something to eat? I'm famished."

"I suppose I could go for something as well" Millina replied halfheartedly. Why not? I could just get my room together later...hm...maybe that small restaurant down the street? It's fairly inexpensive. Clearing her throat, Millina got up and rummaged in her box of clothes for her wallet, as well as a small pocket sized tool set and her book to help pass the time at said restaurant. Wasting little time afterwards, she walked swiftly to the door, opening it and gazing at Kamito's general location. "Follow me."

Back outside again, taking the time to actually feel what nature had to offer. It was cooler than earlier, noticeably so. The sun was now beginning to set for the day, giving the whole city a wonderful orange shade, making everything around them very portrait-esque, the city seemingly carefully and neatly painted with only the warmest of colors. A nice breeze blown by, spraying Millina's hair across her face,which she put back in place with a grunt of annoyance. "We can eat here." Millina stopped by a small restaurant entrance, barely noticeable around the much larger buildings. Inside it seemed to be a small eatablishment complete with a bar for adults in the back, with two visible booths on each window side. The restaurant itself was a more reasonable reasonable contrast compared to the outside, with a quiet, calm blue hue.

There was minor chatter during the 15 minute walk to the restaurant Millina took Kamito to walk to the restaurant, but for the most part, there was silence. Kamito had an idea of where he was thinking on going, but he conceded and stuffed his nose back into his book. When they arrived at the restaurant, Kamito opened the door for Millina and he, and proceeded to a window booth, there was better light there than in the otherwise dimly lit restaurant/bar. ”Well, I can’t say I’ve ever been to this place before.” That was a blatant lie, Kamito had been in Death City for many years, he knew the entire city inside out. But he didn’t want to tell Millina that, he wanted to give her satisfaction in her decision. The place was called “Deathbucks Café”, the single most popular café in the entirety of Death City. Not only were their waiters and waitresses DWMA students and very friendly, the food and drink prepared by the chef/barista were amazing.

Kamito ordered a fairly simple meal of a Mozzarella cheeseburger, fries, and a ginger ale. Not your typical café food, but it worked just fine for Kamito. After the waitress left with both Kamito and Millina's orders, Kamito put away his book and put on an inquisitive aura."So, how did you first learn that you had the blood of a weapon?" Kamito never really was all that hungry, he just used dinner as an excuse to talk with Millina casually.

When did I first learn? Hmm...kinda seems like a way ago... "I discovered my weapon abilities when I when I was still in elementary. I can't quite remember what my weapon form was originally...as in my weapon form in its most pure state." She held her hands together under the table, shuffling them. "It was sometime ago. You mentioned that one of your abilities was soul perception, correct?" She began cracking each individual finger. "What are they?" The sun to the side of the booth was now at it's lowest, and with it's ray of light also came it's shadow, which shrouded Millina in partial darkness. This is certainly a first for me. No one prior to now has really asked anything about myself...it's honestly rather odd.

Kamito expected Millina to not go in depth about her origins as a weapon, after all, they had only known each other for a few days. But Kamito didn't let up an inch on giving out his techniques and hidden abilities. The four-eyed wonder boy explained about his primary skills, namely Hawk-eye, X-Ray, Heat vision, and his high level soul perception, but he left out his "Soul Disruption" ability he worked so hard to develop. It was at this time that the food they had ordered was brought to them. Kamito had the aforementioned Burger and ginger ale, and Millina had a fragrant marinated lemon meringue chicken with fresh steamed vegetables, mashed potaoes with egg and pork gravy, and a cup of lemon iced tea. Kamito thanked the waitress and began to work at his food at a lethargic, dignified pace.

Small chat branched off into many different directions, where they grew up, dietary habits, favorite books (Especially this topic), and even to personal questions like body weight and other things necessary for partners to share. "Could you tell me about your abilities as well?" Kamito asked Millina casually. If they were to be partners, this sort of information was crucial to their line of work.

"My abilities are not as extensive as yours, so thus there's not as much to talk about. The only notable quality that I could mention is 'wielding' myself. Through such means of entering said function into my wrist computer, I can utilize my weapon form the same way a meister would utilize it, thus making me potentially autonomous." Taking a quiet breath she armed herself with her utensils and began cutting and eating her food, starting with the chicken. It tasted relatively well if not plain, with the sourness slightly overtaking the poultry dish rather than complimenting it. It wasn't terrible by any means, in fact for the most part it was delicious! But a pinch too sour, perhaps. I don't mind talking to him, but this is certainly not something I was used to... Recollecting a bit about the previous questions, she couldn't help but feel a tad uneasy. I hope my answers won't harm the partnership in anyway... She cut off another piece of her chicken before moving towards the side dishes, all while tapping her foot rhythmically under the table.

I certainly hope she doesn't think she is autonomous... Kamito couldn't help but smile wryly at Millina's proposition. He and Millina, after Kamito's emotional breakdown at the practice field, had practiced a little and gotten familiar as weapon and meister. Millina was a bionic arm/machine gun. Millina's genre of weapon is highly dependent on a meister, since she fires compressed bullet's of her meister's wavelength. She can't fire her own wavelength, but she will still get the powerful bionic arm. Kamito didn't feel the need to discuss this and ruin the pleasant atmosphere, so he merely leaked an "I see..." in response to Millina's statement. "There is one more thing I need to tell you, but I'd rather not discuss in so open a place." Kamito immediately changed the atmosphere with his comment, and he plopped his cup down on a table and folded his hands to show the severity of the subject.

Millina couldn't help but narrow her eyes as Kamito smiled wryly at her claim. I don't need his approval on the matter, after all, it's simply the reality. As if I'm being belittled...hmph. Resting her facial muscles back into the neutral, stone expression, she took small sip of her iced tea, allowing the hollow sweetness that accompanied the beverage to seep into her tongue. Her attention was immediately brought back to Kamito however, after he alluded to something potentially important, and or secretive. Was it really that urgent that he couldn't say it right here? I wonder what he's hiding... Or maybe it was just too personal and only meant to be shared among partners, so it apparently wasn't that scandalous, but the potential urgency was enough to make her intrigued at the very least. "Of course, I understand." Sliding out the booth she gazed emptily at Kamito. "What location do you request in order to disclose such confidential information?"

While Millina was readying herself to leave, Kamito was stuck waiting for the waitress to get the bill for the meal. It didn't take all but thirty seconds to get the bill and pay for it, but that was a lot of time for someone who had urgent business to attend to.

The walk back to the apartment was relatively silent, as the tension in the air and the gravity of the impending discussion hindered any idle chatter either of them had to bring up. Another series of twists and turns stood in their path as they walked down the familiar twilight paved streets. The only sounds were those of their footsteps, and the occasional bat or dog. It was very quiet for such a beautiful evening, but that's just how Kamito liked it.

Nothing happened in the next five minutes Kamito and Millina took to walk back to the apartment building, except for the black cat that walked right in front of them, licked it's bum, and trotted off into a nearby alley. Kamito climbed the steps, twisted the key in the lock, and stepped inside after opening the door for Millina and locking it back behind her. Among the furniture already placed was a leather sofa and a chair, the latter of which Kamito took for himself. It was his favorite reading chair he adored in his old apartment. "I hope you can understand the severity of what I am about to tell you..." Kamito spoke, and paused for a moment to make sure he had Millina's undivided attention. Sure enough, she sat unwavering, staring directly at him. "Out of all the skills I possess as a meister, I control one that is more powerful than any I have seen before. It requires a perfect blend of attention and dexterity to perform, and rightfully so. It is an master class soul perception skill I named Soul Disruption. It can sever the soul wavelength of anything it touches, and can even temporarily sever a meister and weapon bond for approximately ten seconds."

The trek was certainly not worth the pay off. The severity of the topic on hand in Millina's eyes were nothing short of inflated. She will however acknowledge the interesting attribute that accompanies a meister perception ability, but otherwise, being rushed out a decent restaurant and into the outside all the way back to their place of residence was not an ideal way to spend an otherwise low toned evening. The mere thought of that online was enough to make her scowl in frustration, but she prevented herself from doing so to not seem rude. I still don't quite understand the big fuss, honestly. It's not though I was his enemy or someone he would engage combat with, so why the hassle? Stifling a sigh, she gazed at her meister and muttered "I understand." And that was it. No need to harp on it, and it seems that nothing else really needed to be said.

On that note, she took some of her leftover boxes from the living room, and carried them to her room, only glancing back at Kamito once or twice while doing so. The boxes held numerous things within them, such as clothes(primarily school), building materials such as a soldering iron and scrap metal, and the school books which were a necessity for her basic studies, which were also mixed with the library book she checked out, as well as numerous titles that specified on advanced programming.

Seeing the disappointed look almost completely hidden within Millina's sharp facial features made Kamito somewhat disgruntled within his heart. He didn't expect her to understand right off the bat, but this technique was specific only to him. Many instructors tried to imitate the move Kamito created, but they all failed. When brought before the hierarchy of the DWMA, he was told to keep it top-secret. Of course, Millina being his partner had the right to know. The theory among the three star meisters was that his unbearably low compatibility rating was caused by an unexplained phenomena possibly related to this foreign ability. Until further information was gathered on his soul and its oddities, "Soul Disruption" was absolutely forbidden. For all they knew, if this move was developed further and used in mock battles, it could potentially destroy the soul of his sparring partner, which was just like killing your classmate, absolutely forbidden in the DWMA.

Kamito smiled at Millina, "I'm not going to expect you to understand right away, but please be patient with me." The tall boy with disheveled black hair then made a phone call to an associate and packed away his few hundred books in such a way that an excessively OCD person, like himself, could find absolutely no fault in his alphabetic organization. After three hours of sorting his room, Kamito finally finished his romance novel, so he picked another off of a random shelf called "The Elf King of Dysdia" and began to read it. At this time, a knock coming from the front door resounded throughout the apartment, and Kamito went to answer it, calling "I got it." to Millina. Outside was a middle-aged man with a box in his hand. He wore a white apron with a pink t-shirt underneath, a pink hat, and khakis. He looked pretty flamboyant for a man his age, but Kamito decided to keep his thoughts to himself. He payed the man his due and took the white box inside, called Millina, and opened it.

It was a neopolitan cake with Kamito and Millina's names written on it, accompanied by the symbol of the DWMA. Their names were overlapped, signifying their new bond that would last them through  hardships and pain, and through all of the joys of being companions. It foretold the tears that would be shed, and the laughs to be shared. But most of all, of a new friendship.