Title: Comfort Zone
Fandom: Soul Eater
Rating: PG
Pairing/Characters: Kid/Maka, Soul, Liz, Patti
Theme #: 18 ("should and should not")
Disclaimer: Soul Eater © Ohkubo Atsushi
Summary: Kid has to make a choice.
Author's Notes: I decided to try my hand at the 42_souls challenge over at LJ, and thought Kid/Maka was a fun ship to claim. This is the first out of, hopefully, 41 more. It should be noted that all of these are stand-alone fics unless stated otherwise. This is not a chaptered story, but rather a collection of oneshots, for better organization. Anyways, hope you enjoy!
The monster, unexpectedly, had shown a great display of intelligence on its part. Kid would give it that. He was surprised to find that the monster still had a shred of its old rational mind; just enough for it to know that cutting the power cables and crushing the streetlamps would be enough for a massive outage all across the neighborhood. Small sparks flew and landed on his coat.
"Filthy, disgusting, vile…" He grit his teeth. Not only was he upset at the damage caused to the city and himself, he was livid due to the separation of Liz, Patti and Maka. During the fight, the monster had gotten between them and raked its claws along the roads to block him and Soul from the others. They only missed the second attack by an inch, and by then, the light was extinguished and they were left without their respective partners.
He couldn't make out anything in the dark, but he could hear the pound of footsteps and Liz's terrified screams. They were running, and the monster was following them.
He summoned Beelzebub and began to chase after them. He heard Soul behind him, yelling out, "Oi, Kid!" before hurrying to catch up as well.
He kept his eyes trained ahead of him, straining to make out the shapes of them. He could do nothing but follow and wait to see where this would lead. Just ahead of him, he saw a flicker of light before it died away into nothing. After a moment, shots rang out and he saw another flash, and another, and –
Maka was using Liz and Patti. He could tell she was having trouble – the shots were irregular, one at a time rather than his usual rapid-fire style. She wasn't used to handling guns, and having two partners at once must've hindered her performance. His foot pushed against the ground hard as he tried to drive himself forward at a quicker pace.
"Maka!" Soul called. "Hang on!" He wasn't riding his motorcycle, but his speed almost rivaled Beelzebub's.
They came to a sudden halt as the monster stopped in front of them. The shine of the bullets illuminated her face, and Kid noticed that it was pinched in concentration. He could hear her sharp intakes of breath as she struggled to use her weapons. The shots weren't doing enough damage, and she was backed against a wall now. It was strange watching her use them. She didn't hold them upside down, or use her pinkies, and if she just held Patti a little to the left she would be perfectly –
"Kid!" Soul said. "Hurry up and use me. They need help." He held out his hand to Kid, looking edgier than usual.
Kid stared at his hand for a moment before shaking his head. "I… I can't!" he said. "I need Liz and Patti! Otherwise it wouldn't be symmetrical!"
"What?" Soul glared at him before pointing over at their still struggling partners. "Forget the symmetry!"
"Forget -" Kid sputtered, as if he'd been punched in the gut. "I can't just forget the symmetry, Soul! If I used you, everything would be off balance! I just can't." He ran a hand over his face and shut his eyes tight against the very thought of that happening.
Soul's expression turned dark as he clenched his jaw and went to grab Kid by the collar. "Listen, I don't care about balance! Maka's in danger now, and I'm not going to just sit here like a coward while she gets herself killed!"
Kid winced. "Soul…"
"Never mind," he said. He released Kid and turned back to face the others. He held out his arm, and soon flesh and bone changed into steel. "Stay here if you want. I'll do it by myself." He rushed forward, blade ready.
Kid watched them all - Soul, trying to distract the monster, Maka, Liz and Patti desperately trying to fight it off - and groaned. They were all in danger, and here he was just sitting there. But the symmetry… he couldn't just ignore it. They had to understand that without symmetry, he was nothing. He was filth, scum, worse than the rats that fed on trash…
Slowly, he sunk to the floor. His hands pounded against the dirt, and he muttered, "Damn it! Depressed! Die!" over and over again as he listened to them fight. He was nothing but a stupid, useless shinigami who couldn't even save his friends –
Maka let out a startled cry, and the crumbling of the building behind her was enough to make him crane his head up to look at her. The same claws that had caused this whole mess had taken a swipe at her, and missed her by a fraction. She was so tiny compared to the monster, but he saw her face (and she was trying not to look afraid, trying to grip Liz and Patti more firmly, trying to overcome this) and felt the trembling of her soul and felt his own quiver in response.
His breath escaped him then, and he got up on shaky legs. He swallowed hard and narrowed his eyes. It was dead. "Soul!" he called, holding out his hand. "Hurry up!"
That was enough for Soul. With a smirk, his whole body transformed into the scythe he was used to seeing in her hands. Kid grasped Soul tightly, and tried to ignore the sweat that had suddenly broken out. He could endure it, if only for a little while. If – only – for – a – little – while, he told himself. He felt out of place, gangly and awkward.
"Die, you filthy piece of trash!" he yelled, taking a sharp swing at the monster, who looked up at the sudden impact from behind. Its eyes glowed red, and it twisted its massive body around to swipe at him.
"Block, Kid-kun!" Maka yelled at him.
He heard her, and obeyed, thrusting Soul up. The clang of metal against it made his ears ring. "Maka!"
"Right!" She hurried around the body while it was occupied, and shot while she went. The monster flinched at the sudden attack, just enough to ease off and give Kid enough room to move back. Maka held out the two demon pistols to Kid. "Here!"
He wasted no time in exchanging weapons with her. He felt the familiar weight of the guns in his hands, the way they looked the same side by side, and, above all else, how symmetrical they were. He sighed in relief. "Thank you," he said.
"Ready?" Maka said, brandishing her weapon.
Kid nodded. "I am now."
______________________________
"I never knew you had it in you!" Liz said, folding her arm around Kid's neck. She flashed a huge smile and gave him a thumbs-up with her other hand. "Nice!"
"Liz…"
"To think you could let yourself be pounded to a pulp by an angry mummy, but ignore symmetry for the sake of a girl! How sweet!" For a moment it looked like she was about to pinch his cheeks. The idea of a non-obsession with symmetry made Liz practically glow with happiness.
"What is that supposed to mean!?" Kid said, narrowing his eyes at her. "Get off, you twit!"
"Hmmm," she replied, and pulled away from him. "You'll understand when you're older, Kid." She nodded her head over to Maka, who stood watching them with raised eyebrows.
Patti giggled. "Sweet, sweet~ Kid-kun, you are so sweet!"
Kid blushed and rubbed his temples. "M-morons."
"Maka should hang around more often," Liz said. "She could take your mind off of -"
"S-shut up!"
