Maka's well-trained instincts told her that something was wrong the moment she entered apartment. Cautiously, she tiptoed through the doorway, gazing around to locate the source of the uneasy feeling growing in her stomach. Seeing nothing, she sighed momentarily, before crossing the room to her bedroom door, nudging it open on its hinges with the toe of her boot.

The room was as empty as it had been when she left for the shops. The window was shut, and nothing was askew. The feeling of dread growing stronger inside of her, she exited the room, going over to Soul's door.

Knowing that he was home, she rapped on the door. The noise was a lot softer than she had intended, yet still loud enough for the white-haired boy to hear it. So when there was no response , she was surprised, turning the handle and pushing the door open to see what was wrong.

When Soul had asked her to be his girlfriend a little less than two weeks ago, she knew that she had to put up with the way that Blaire acted around him. No amount of discouragement on her part would stop the cat's actions, so, while she didn't agree with it, she knew that she would have to get over it.

However, when she stared into her boyfriend's bedroom and saw him lying peacefully under the sheets of his bed- that she had washed that morning- with another girl that she recognized to be Jaqueline Dupre, a girl from their school- she was completely and utterly shocked.

Not knowing what to do in a situation like this, she wheeled about, walked into her room, and sank down onto her soft mattress.

After two weeks, he's cheating on me! And we've known each other for years! How could someone be so…. Uncool?

Hugging her pillow, she sat on her bed, leaning against the wall. Her face, buried deep into the fluffyness-of-doom, became wet as several tears slid down from her jade-green eyes.

From the next room, she heard a creak as someone shifted on the bed. Bolting upright, she grabbed her schoolbag, stuffed her phone and a jacket into it, and hightailed it out of the apartment. She had no idea where she was going, but there was no way that she was going to be around when Soul and his… lover? … woke up.

The thought of Soul, her best friend and her boyfriend, betraying her like that made her feel sick to the stomach. She bent over and clutched at her abdomen, her satchel bag slipping off of her shoulder and onto the floor with a thud.

What was she going to do now?

Tsubaki's. Now.

Sighing, she heaved her heavy bag back over her shoulder and turned in the direction of Tsubaki and Black*Star's residence, a small apartment not dissimilar to her own.

Although I bet Black*Star isn't being a stupid, lying, cheating backstabber and sleeping with another girl in THEIR apartment. She thought bitterly to herself, trudging along the footpath and towards her best friends' house.

Arriving upon the doorstep that led to the aforementioned apartment, she hesitated, fiddling with the strap of her bag, before knocking on the door loudly.

A few quiet murmurs could be heard from the interior of the room, and Maka waited fairly patiently for a response. After about a minute, she sighed, and turned around to leave.

I bet all I own that they were sleeping together, and I do NOT want to intrude on that.

Walking in the middle of Death City, watching other people hurry about their business, she reached a decision. Feeling utterly bored, and exhausted, she began the ascent towards the academy, climbing up each step with a feeling of regret.

Was it my fault? She asked herself bitterly. Was I not good enough for him, did I get what was coming to me? Did I deserve-

Her thoughts were split as easily as butter with a carving knife, when she heard a feminine voice call out from behind her. Wheeling about, she took in Liz and Patti's haggard appearances, realizing that they must have chased her up the stairs. Smiling slightly, she greeted the girls, walking back down the stairs to them. Liz, however, instantly saw through her façade.

"What did he do now?" She demanded as soon as she reached the green-eyed girl.

"Wha-"

"Don't give me that crap. I can tell he's done something." The older girl stared at her suspiciously.

Maka stared at her for a moment, before mumbling about how she didn't want to talk about it. That wasn't a lie- she really didn't want to talk about it.

Liz sighed, and Patti just giggled, hugging Maka tightly and crushing her lungs slightly.

"So, where are you going to get away from him for a while?" Liz asked Maka, who simply shrugged her shoulders sadly.

"I don't know, I was going to go to Tsubaki's but I decided not to… and where is Kid?" Maka asked, noticing the absence of the tall, black haired shinigami.

"Oh. I wanted to go shopping, but he didn't and he didn't want just one of us to be around!" Patti told her, giggling excitedly.

Liz just sighed and grabbed Maka's arm, tugging her back down the stairs. "Come on," she said over her shoulder, "Come back to our place."

Maka protested- very strongly- but the tall weapon wouldn't change her mind, assuring the younger girl that Kid wouldn't mind, and that he was being really anti-social anyway. Apparently he was in a depressive state because his father refused to put up another bulletin board and use the same colored notes in the hallway at the academy.

Still not happy about the new situation, Maka began to follow the girls, as she found it diminishing to be dragged along in the middle of Death City, and if she tried to run for it, the others would drag her back. They insisted on taking her in, and, after she became accustomed to the idea, she began to feel grateful for the kindness the sisters were displaying.

However, standing in the middle of the entrance hall of Death the Kid's house, she broke out in a nervous sweat. What if Kid was annoyed that she was here? Maybe if she ran towards the door while the girls were distracted, she could make a break for it. No sooner had the thought formed in her head, than the girls had tightened their grips on her arms simultaneously.

"Liz! Patti! Did you get the masking ta-" a masculine voice hollered from a room off to the side, and a second later, Death the Kid appeared from the doorway.

A moment of surprise, then-

"Maka! Liz, Patti, what's going on?" the naturally-inquisitive boy asked, staring at the girls in turn.

"Soul was mean to Maka!" Patti proclaimed, throwing her hands up in a strange gesture.

"And we took her in for a while, we figured you wouldn't mind." Liz interrupted.

Kid looked surprised for a moment, before talking specifically to Maka. "He treated you badly? How?" he questioned. But the girl only shook her head, knowing that he would accept that and wouldn't inquire any further.

"Well, come on in then, welcome. I'm going upstairs for a while, but help yourself to anything in the kitchen- just keep it clean." He glared at Patti suspiciously, before turning around and heading up the great, marble staircase.

Liz rolled her eyes before dragging Maka into the kitchen in search of food. Despite her protests that she wasn't hungry, Patti handed Maka a bowl of chocolate and told her to eat, taking a bowl for herself and her sister as well. Then, the shortest girl led the entourage into the lounge room.

"Uhhh… I'm going to the bathroom, if that's okay…" Maka said, shrugging off the uneasy feeling and placing her bowl of chocolate in the centre of the table.

"Oh! Wait! You'll have to go to the one upstairs, I saw Kid folding the ends of the toilet paper in there today, but I'm not sure if he did it for the other bathrooms- and he'd be mortified if the room was asymmetrical when a guest used it!" Liz exclaimed, and Maka rolled her eyes.

Soul never had any weird quirks like that… she told herself. Then, remembering her boyfriends'- ex boyfriend, she told herself- latest stuff up, she supposed that a severe case of obsessive-compulsive disorder wasn't so bad.

With an audible sigh, she trudged up the same staircase that Kid had recently ascended. Following her memory, she entered the door on her left.

Leaving the door open, she stood at the sink, splashing her face with ice-cold water. Her blue shirt became slightly wet, but she ignored it, continuing to wash her face in the sink.

Standing before the mirror, she stared at her form for a few minutes. Her limp, blonde-brown hair hung in two straight lines from her hair-ties. Her haggard eyes stared back at her dully, and her non-existent curves made her resemble a child.

This is the reason, she told herself. The reason why he slept with her- I'm boring, ugly old me. Why would anyone, especially someone as "cool" as Soul, choose me over someone like Jacqueline? I'm not pretty. I annoy him all the time- thinking about it, I'm surprised it took as long as two weeks.

Lost deep in thought, she didn't notice the entrance of a second figure. The black-haired boy leaned against the wall inside the bathroom, staring at the girl before him as she took in her appearance with a sigh.

Personally, he couldn't see what her problem was.

"Beautiful," he muttered under his breath.

Maka yelled in surprise and jumped back from the sink, turning her accusing green-eyed gaze upon the boy standing against the wall. His golden eyes met hers, coolly assessing her attitude.

"Wha- what are you doing? What are you on about?" Maka breathed, attempting to get her heart-rate back down to normal.

"Well, this is my house. And I said, beautiful." Kid stared her down, and instantly noticed the light blush tingeing her cheeks.

"What do you mean, beautiful?" She practically laughed. "I'm not beautiful at all. Otherwise, Soul would want me."

"Symmetry is the most important form of aesthetics, and you are the most symmetrical girl I've met… and some people are just stupid. Soul is one of them." The young man informed her, not blushing in the slightest.

"Oh. Um, thankyou?" She said, her blush growing stronger. He simply nodded, before turning and leaving the bathroom.

She shook her head to clear it, trying to make heads or tails of what the solemn boy had told her. Deciding the best course of action while still working out her issue with Soul was to ignore Kid's comment (of course, only for the time being), she headed back downstairs to hang out with Liz and Patti for the evening, ignoring the messages on her phone from Soul and trying to block out the voice in her head that told her repeatedly that Kid would be so much better.