A/N: This is my first Soul Eater fanfic (actually my very first fanfic) so please review so I know what to get better at!

Disclaimer: Do not own Soul Eater (I wish!)

I ran through the crowd at top speed, not caring what the others thought of me. I only had one thought on my mind. And that was getting to him before he did something stupid and hurt someone or himself…

Flashback:

(A/N: Yes, this whole thing is a flash back even though it's not in italics)

I was walking to Stein's room, my long black Jacket swaying behind me in the empty hall. Normally, when there was a large crowd of students, I would take it off as I walked from class to class, but now most of the kids were outside for the free time. It was such a nice day that even the teachers didn't like the idea of being cooped up inside. Well, all the teachers except Stein of course.

That's the whole reason I'd been there. That and the fact that I really hadn't wanted to see the other kids. After we'd defeated the Kishin, those in the group that worked alongside us meaning, Ox, Kim, and Kilik, as well as their weapons, had become really close to the others and I. Jacqueline and Kim were fitting in really well with Tsubaki, Liz and Patty. Kilik and the twins were always hanging out with Soul and Black*Star, and Ox and Harvar were hanging out with me and Kid. Even though those guys were now our friends, a bunch of the other students seemed to resent us now.

At first, everyone had been really happy and nice. There were always parties, and people invited us over almost every night. I hadn't been sure if I'd liked it or not, but the others seemed to like being popular, so I kept my opinion to myself and tried to have some fun. However, all that's changed now.

Lately, it was like the other students had gotten tired of us being popular. The teachers used us as fighting and Soul Resonance examples, and always told the other students that we were the "goal bar" and that we were the ones that they should strive to be like.

I don't think they liked that too much.

So now we (sadly meaning me, Kid, Tsubaki, Liz and Patty. Soul and Black*Star were still soaking up the attention and I guess were entertainment for the other students) were teased by the other students. It hadn't been so bad at first, little things like teasing and name calling. But by now it had gone to things being thrown at us, vandalism, and our stuff being knocked out of our hands in the hallways. I seemed to get it the worst. By being the girl who had killed the Kishin, I was the one most resented. I'd been getting bruises from the things kids were throwing at me. And they had vandalized my locker so many times, that I was even allowed to keep my things in Stein's room. That also stopped things from being knocked out of my hands as much.

That was the reason I'd been walking to Stein's, some of the "bullying" had gotten out of hand, and I'd ended up needing stitches. Stein was supposed to take them out today. I'd tried my best not to make a big deal about it, I didn't want people to think I was trying to get more attention by saying I was bullied. Normally, I wouldn't have even called it bullying, just other kids taking out some anger and me being accidently caught in the crossfire. It'd been a horrible excuse not to tell someone, at least that's what Kid had told me.

FLASHBACK WITHIN FLASHBACK:

The worst act of bulling so far had happened three weeks before. I'd been walking back to the apartment Soul and I shared after staying after school to talk to Miss Marie and go to the library, as well as the store, so it was late (the path I'd taken that night as a short cut happened to go behind Gallows Manor) when it happened. I had been about two blocks from Kid's when three older boys from the DWMA had pushed me into the alley way I'd been walking by. It shocked me when they pushed me in, and I ended up losing my balance and landed on my arm. It hurt, and I let out a little shriek of pain. That's when one of the boys had pulled me up by my pigtails, and told me to shut up or he might hurt me. Cowering against the wall, and with tears in my eyes, I nodded.

The boy holding my hair had then told the tall, lanky boy with long ratted blond-brown hair, to stand at the entrance to the ally and be a look out. He'd nodded and slowly walked to the opening between the two buildings. He then pulled out a cigarette, and started smoking. I'd expected the boy holding me to yell at him, before I realized it was his cover, his reason for just standing out on the sidewalk.

Then the boy had turned to his other accomplice, a medium height one with hair to bright to be natural. Who'd known boys dyed their hair ridiculous color shades too? Either way he told the boy to grab my stuff and look for anything valuable. I started to protest, but the boy just swung me around and slapped me hard across the face. I wouldn't be surprised if I ended up with a bruise from that. Though, I had a feeling a bruise would be the least of my worries if this went on to much longer.

As I had been wincing and holding my face between my hands, I managed to get a glimpse of the boy. I hadn't been able to see his hair, but I had been able to see a line of acne down his left cheek, and two angry blue eyes.

"What do you want?" I asked the blue eyed boy. He looked shocked, as if he hadn't known his prey could speak. He regained his composure, and then punched me in the gut. I'd doubled over, groaning in pain and trying to catch my breath.

"Did I say you could speak?" He asked me, his hands on his hips. It seemed like such a girly gesture that if the situation hadn't been so serious, and if I had not had a very real fear of dying in that cold, dark alleyway, I might've laughed. "No?" He asked again, answering his own question. "Didn't think so."

Just then the boy with the hair job shouted out that he found something. He then held my cell phone out to the blue eyed boy, dangling it like a prize he could win.

"Oh, score!" the blue eyed boy said as he took my phone from the hair dye boy. He snatched it up like it was worth a million dollars, not just some cheap thing I'd gotten just so I could be connected. I started to protest again, but the boy just kicked me without even turning around. This time, I was going to end up on the ground. As I fell, I could see the hair dyed boy looking at me sympathetically, as if he felt sorry for me. I couldn't understand why he would give me that look, since he was one of the ones doing this to me. Then I landed hard on my side in a puddle, it was so cold that it stopped all of my brain function for a moment.

As the blue eyed boy was messing through my phone, trying to find Lord Death knows what, it started to ring. The blue eyed boy dropped it just as a few piano notes started to trickle out, the beginning of Soul's ringtone. He hated it, but it reminded me of when we first met, so that's what I chose for him.

The hair dye boy grabbed my phone before it hit the ground, and then gave his leader a scared, confused look. The blue eyed boy looked scared for a second, and then snapped his fingers. He quickly walked over to me, grabbed my hair, and then dragged me back to the other boy, who was holding my phone.

"Listen here," He told me, as he held my phone, finger poised over the answer button. "If you say one thing about what's going on right now, I will slice your neck and leave you to bleed." He then had held out an army knife, blade in, but then flicked his wrist and the blade came out. Then he flicked his wrist again, putting the blade back into its slot. I realized he was showing me he was serious and not afraid to physically hurt me worse than a few kicks and punches. I nodded.

"Good," He said, and then he pressed the answer button at the very last second and thrust the phone towards me. "Now take it!"

I gingerly took the phone, and held it up to my ear.

"He-Hello?" I asked. The blue eyed boy glared at me, then punched me. I guess he thought my shaking voice might give the situation away.

"Maka?" Soul asked, he sounded worried and a little bit angry. "Where are you?! I know you're a bookworm and all, but even you can't spend that much time at the library! Are you alright?!" The blue eyed boy caught my eye. Staring at me, he flicked out the knife while steadily holding my gaze. I gulped, and then turned back to the phone.

"I also went to the store you know. Nothing's going to happen to me, you don't need to worry so much," I told him, trying to buy myself some time. I really didn't need Soul to say he was coming to look for me, and have these guys beat me up even more, or do something worse.

"Well, okay, if you're sure you're alright… I guess I'll just hang up now."

"NO!" I shouted. I knew it was a risk, but that was the absolute last thing I wanted. Soul, right then, was my only chance of getting rescued. I took a chance. "No, Soul, don't hang up! I was lying! I need you! These boys jumped me! They're threatening me with a knife!"

"What!? Maka, I'll be right there...Where are you?!"

Then the boys jumped me, trying to take the phone from me. I screamed as the cold knife entered my side, cutting deep into my skin.

"MAKA!" Soul's voice screamed from the phone. "Maka, tell me where you are! It's the only way I can help you!"

I screamed again as the knife was twisted, the pain was more intense than anything I'd ever felt before.

"Fourth Avenue!" I shouted, hoping he could understand me over the shouting of the boys, and the sobs racking my body. "Two blocks behind Kid!"

"Okay, I promise I'll be right there, Maka. I won't let them hurt you!"

Too late, I thought, looking at the knife wound as the boys retreated down the alleyway. They'd started running when I'd said I was two blocks behind Kid. Good student or bad, everyone knew who Death the Kid was.

KID! I thought. How could I've forgotten the fact that Kid was right there! I knew the answer though. I'd been too scared to think straight. Soul was probably at home when he called, which meant he was at least fifteen to twenty minutes away, and that was if he hadn't caught to many traffic lights along the way. Maybe I could try to get Kid's attention.

I'd thought it was worth a shot, but as soon as I tried to from the syllable that is his name to call out, the wound in my side made me gasp instead. I wasn't even able to breathe deeply without making it bleed more. I then tried to move my arms to put pressure on it. But the second my fingers had grazed it, the pain was too much. I let out a scream so loud; I was surprised some of the nearby windows hadn't been blown out. By the time the tears that had begun to flow while I'd screamed had slowed down, and the sobs had turned into whimpers, I was almost certain I was going to die in that alley before anyone figured out I was there. That was when I heard footsteps. I winced, expecting it to be those boys again. They could've realized by then that no one was coming to my aid and were going to finish me off. But it couldn't have been. These footsteps were to light, not heavy and loud. And they moved slowly, a few seconds passing between each step. Almost as if their owner was scared.

"I'm telling you, I heard a girl scream. I know I did!" I heard a girl's voice say. Her voice was trembling, and it sounded like she was hiding behind something or someone from the way her voice changed pitches. As if she was continually ducking behind something, afraid of seeing something she didn't want to see.

Wow, I thought to myself. Almost dead and now an excellent reader of personalities. The thought made me giggle.

"EEEK! See?! There is someone there! I'm NOT going crazy!" I heard the trembling girl's voice say again. Now the footsteps had stopped.

"I think you're right, Liz," I jumped at that voice. I know that voice! I thought. I gasped. It's Kid!

"K-K-Kid?" I asked. My voice was so weak, even I could barely hear it.

I heard Kid gasp.

"Maka!?" He asked. "Is that you I heard?" I could hear him turning around, looking for me in the dark shadows of the alley. "I can't see you! Where are you?"

"Over he-," I was cut short by a headlight cutting through the alleyway.

"MAKA!" Both Soul and Kid shouted at the same time.

Soul jumped off his bike and ran to my side, while Kid turned Liz around and also ran towards me. I quickly tried to cover up the wound, but soon realized that if they didn't see it and help me, I could very well die here.

I removed my hands, the show of my wound accompanied by Liz's scream. Both Soul and Kid looked very pale like they were going to be sick. Liz ran off, saying she was getting her cell and would call Stein, but I had the feeling she was really going to be sick, and wanted a little privacy. Kid was the one who'd snapped out of it first. He quickly took off his jacket, and put it behind me. I made a noise of pain as he and Soul lifted me up, and I felt horrible as I saw the look of failure that crossed his face. I grabbed his hand in mine, and squeezed as hard as I could. Which, I had to admit, wasn't very hard. He looked back down at me and squeezed my hand back before letting go. Then, he began tying the sleeves of his jacket around my waist to put some pressure on the wound. Then he moved me so that I was leaning up against the brick wall. He told me that it was to stop the bleeding, but by the tremble in his voice and the twitch in his eye, I guessed it was one of two things. One, I had been asymmetrical while lying on the ground. Or two, he didn't like the sight of his friend lying helpless on the ground in a pool of her own blood.

I guess it could have been either.

By that point, Soul had gone out onto the street to wait for Stein and Miss Marie. I guess Liz really had called them. Kid looked at me, and I smiled back up at him.

"Maka?" He asked. "What happened? I know obviously you were jumped, but did anything else happen? Anything like, uh…um…" His face began to flush scarlet, and it toke me a minute to understand why. When I realized what he meant I grabbed his hands, then hugged him as tight as I was able to without the wound being stretched or jostled. Kid went ridged before hugging me back just as tight.

"Oh, Kid," I said, on the verge of tears.

He then put me at arm's length and gave me a look of pure horror.

"Maka, they didn't…" He'd seemed so scared for me, and I couldn't understand why, then I realized I hadn't answered his question. He thought I'd been…

"Oh! Oh Lord Death no! Kid, I'm sorry. No they didn't do anything like that, just this knife wound. They didn't even steal anything." As I told him this, he wrapped me in a tight hug, and I could feel his tears dripping onto my shoulder. "Kid!" I said. "Didn't you hear me? I'm fine!"

He then raised his head off my shoulder; we both were on our knees by now. "Maka," he said. "Don't try to tell me that you're fine. You're not fine! You have a knife wound! And it's my fault!" He began to tear up again.

"How is it your fault?" I asked him.

"How is it not!? I live less than two blocks from here, practically next door! And while I'm cooking dinner and making sure my house is perfectly symmetrical, you're over here nearly being beaten to death and stabbed in a dark alley!"

I looked at him quizzically when he'd said I'd nearly been beaten to death. He gestured to the dark purple spots on my face and legs, from when the boy had slapped and kicked me. I lifted up my shirt to just above the belly button to see a large bruise running from my pants hem up into Kid's Jacket that was tied around my waist. I looked back up at Kid then to see him burying his head in his hands.

"You see?!" His voice had been muffled by his hands. "They did all this to you only because I hadn't listened to Liz!"

I'd looked at him quizzically again, what did Liz have to do with this? Then I remembered that when Kid had found me, it'd seemed like Liz was leading him here. She'd told him she'd heard a girl screaming. I looked back up Kid. He'd seemed to have picked up on the fact that I had figured it out.

"Yes, I didn't believe her at first. By the time she'd told me three times she'd heard a girl screaming, I finally decided to check it out. If only to stop her from bugging me."

"Oh, Kid," I'd said. I could tell he really felt responsible for me getting hurt. "I could never blame you for something those three idiots did."

Kid looked up at me, this time he was the one with the quizzical look. "You're telling me that you know the guys that did this to you?" He placed one hand on my waist, careful not to disturb the makeshift bandages. But the other hand was gripping mine so tight it was beginning to feel a little tingly.

"Well," I said, I was almost afraid to tell him. He seemed so angry at them, even though he didn't know who they were yet. "I don't personally know them, but I've seen them around the DWMA."

"The idiots who did this to you are students of the DWMA!?" Kid then jumped up, and proceeded to punch the brick wall. I'm not afraid to say that I coward against the wall when he started that. No matter friends or not, an angry Shinigami, is a scary Shinigami.

The commotion caused Soul to come back into the alley to check on us. When he saw what Kid was doing, he ran to my side and picked me up bridal style. That definitely made me embarrassed, but Soul was getting me away from harms way, so I was okay with that. I then wrapped my arms around his neck and coward into his chest. Had it been anyone else, I would've been extremely embarrassed if anyone had seen me like this. But Soul was like a brother to me. One of the few boys, including Kid, that I fully trusted because of my good for nothing father.

Soul then tried to get Kid's attention by yelling at him. Even Liz tried to help, but neither would get too close to him, for fear of being punched. Finally, I'd had enough.

"Kid!" I shrieked. "Kid, STOP IT!" I wriggled out of Soul's arms and ran towards him, not caring about the pain in my side. Liz tried to stop me, but Soul told her to stay back.

I ran up to kid and threw my arms around his waist, squeezing as hard as my weak body could at that moment.

"Kid, stop!" I shrieked at him. He'd seemed to have heard me, but he just stood still, staring at the damaged wall. "Please stop," I'd begun to cry by now. "You're scaring me, Kid. You're scaring me…" By this point I'd begun to slip towards the ground, all my strength gone.

Kid seemed to jerk up. He glanced at my arms, slowly losing their grip on his body, and then spun around. He put his arms under mine, stopping me from falling. He then picked me up and hugged me.

"I'm so sorry," he murmured into my hair. "I promise, I'll never scare you again."

"I'll hold you to that…" I told him as I began to slowly lose consciousness.

"Maka? Are you okay?" I heard someone ask. I hadn't been able to tell who it was.

One of last things I remember before blacking out was Stein and Justin arriving on Justin's bike, and quickly lowering me into the coffin on wheels attached to the back.

The very last thing I remember doing before I lost all consciousness and sunk into the inky blackness was asking…

"Do I really have to be in the coffin...?"