Hige Shizuka's Story

Hige yawned as he wandered into the classroom that would be his place of learning for a while. He had stayed up late the night before, reading his favorite book for the tenth time. If it wasn't for his alarm he would have overslept. He was one of the first people to arrive so he took a seat not only in the back, but also in a corner. That way he could see everybody in the room if needed. The people in the room were already chatting, trying to find their weapons or meisters. But honestly, Hige wasn't worried about it. If they had to go out of their ways to find someone, then it wasn't the right person. He'd know his partner when he saw them.

Hige pulled his book out of his bag and continued reading where he had left off the night before. Instantly becoming emerged in the world that the book created. But that peace didn't last long, as more people started to come in, the noise got louder and louder. It was becoming very hard to submerge himself in the world of the book, when all the noise from the real world drowned it out. He wanted to say something, to tell them all to shut up and let him concentrate, but it wasn't in his nature to do so. Only a few seconds later he heard a female voice yelling at everyone to shut up. He looked up from his book to see that there was another person in the back row. He had been so focused on reading that he hadn't even noticed her.

She was pretty that was sure. Though he had never seen anyone with skin that dark before, not in Japan. He couldn't help but smile a little bit, not because of her looks, but because she had told everyone to shut up. Literally seconds after he had thought it. He wondered for a moment if she could read minds, then decided that it was a silly thing to think. "She's so different." He mumbled to himself, not thinking of the fact that she could probably hear him.

The sound of a chair falling over broke Hige out of his book. Again. With a small sigh, he looked up to see the dark skinned girl who had shut everybody up coming over. She sat on the desk in front of him and crossed her legs, one of them ending up in his lap. When she spoke, he had to admit that she sounded scary. But he wasn't one to back down, pretty much ever. He set the book down on his bag, with the assumption that it would be a while before he got the chance to read it again. This situation could go one of three ways, yelling, fisticuffs, or a teacher would walk in and they would quietly glare at each other through the lesson. "I said you're different. I never met someone like you in Japan." His tone was a mixture of calm and blunt. But if things escalated, that wouldn't be the case for long.

Hige genuinely meant what he said. He hadn't met anyone like this girl in Japan. Looks wise, or attitude wise. He kind of liked it. And he had the feeling that they would be butting heads. A lot. If neither of them died horribly that is. He locked eyes with the girl, his gold orbs meeting her silver ones. He wished he could see souls, because he was suddenly curious as to what this girl's soul was like.

Hige kept his eyes locked with the girl's. Not daring to be the first to look away. When she reached up and began to touch his face, he still didn't move. It wasn't that he liked it when strangers touched his face. But he didn't dislike it either. He could feel something past her fingers, he zoned out for a moment, keeping his eyes on hers. He focused on the feeling and quickly discovered that it was her soul wavelength. He may not have been able to see souls, but due to his control of his own wavelengths he could sense other people's. Her wavelengths were strong and a little bit on the scary side. Unlike his own which, while still strong, were energetic and bouncy. He decided to try something.

Hige let his focus shift from her wavelengths, to his own. Channeling just a small amount into the girl's. He wanted to see if they were compatible. The result was interesting. Her wavelength had an iron grip on his, still letting them move, but stopping them from bouncing around. While his wavelengths circled hers, keeping the scary and intimidating stuck inside, while still letting them be strong. Their wavelengths didn't match, but they complimented each other so well it made them compatible. Hige finally shifted his focus back to the girl herself. Just in time to see her stick her tongue out at him. He couldn't help but smile at that. She wanted to know his name.

He opened his mouth to speak, but remembered that this was America and they said their first name and then their last name. Unlike Japan who did the opposite. So he quickly corrected himself and used the American way of saying it. "I'm Hige Shizuka." He broke eye contact just long enough to glance around the classroom. A lot of kids had arrived and he guessed that class would be starting in about ten minutes. If he was correct in that he had zoned out for about five. "How about you, what's your name?"

Hige let himself relax a little bit, now that he knew the girl, wasn't going to kill him. Her name was Jerrica, a name as different as the rest of her to Hige. And one that was just as pretty. He was almost certain that Jerrica was the one, his partner and weapon. He wanted to get to know her better, what her weapon form was, why she was in the DWMA, even the smallest things. But before he could say anything, she asked him what his story was. For a moment he didn't answer, wanting to make sure he knew what she was talking about and he was going to answer first. "Well, I'm afraid it isn't a very interesting one. I was born in Kyoto, Japan. I'm the oldest of five, three girls and two boys. My father left after Tsubame, the youngest, was born, leaving our mother to raise us alone. I did everything I could to help, from chores, to earning whatever money I could, to taking care of the my siblings. I guess I've always wanted to join the DWMA but kept it to myself since my family needed me."

Hige paused, wondering if he should tell Jerrica that it had taken him nearly working himself to death and his mother practically kicking him out of the house to get him here. He decided that he would, if they were to be partners they would need to be honest with each other. "My mother has a weak immune system, which she passed on to most of us. Except for me. So of course, when an illness spread through our neighborhood, I was the only one in our family to catch it. The doctor's said it was because I was working myself so hard trying to help my mother. One of my friends told my mother about my dream of coming here, because they were worried about me working myself to death. My mother had to nearly disown me to get me out of the house and come here. Don't get me wrong, I wanted to, but I didn't want to leave them."

He turned away when he said the last part, feeling a little shy about telling Jerrica all this. Potential partners or not, they were still practically strangers. But he felt he could trust her, yet another thing that made Hige feel that they were meant to be partners.

Hige frowned, he was pretty sure he knew what she meant by everything. He knew why she did it, and didn't think any less of her for doing so. He had gotten really close to doing the same thing a couple of times, but he got lucky and never actually had to. It made him think more of her, her ability to do whatever she had to, in order to protect her family. He didn't know if he should do it, but he wanted to comfort her. He wasn't sure if she would take it well or not. But there was only one way to find out. Carefully he reached out and put a hand on Jerrica's shoulder. "I... never had to go as far as you did. But I got pretty close a few times. The only difference is that I got lucky and you didn't. I don't think any less of you for it. I think more of you."

It was then that Hige realized he didn't know whether she was a weapon or a meister. He really hoped they weren't both meisters because then they could be partners. They could still be friends though and he was certain that they would be. As much as he wanted to know what she was, he didn't say anything. His desire to not ruin the moment outweighed his desire to learn. But just this once.