A/N: A new canon-esque idea I got, presented to you in three parts! I hope you enjoy this one, 'cause I sure enjoyed coming up with the idea for it.
I still don't own Soul Eater-or else I probably would have written an arc like this.
"Professor Sid? I'm done with my exam."
"So read a book 'til everyone's done, Maka," their now undead teacher replied, not even bothering to look up from his work—he knew instantly which of his students could finish an essay exam in a record twenty minutes.
Maka quietly made her way down the aisle between the desks of Crescent Moon classroom to hand in her test, so as not to disturb anyone else still working. She smirked as she passed by Ox Ford's desk and saw out the corner of her eye that he was only halfway done. Once she had handed Sid her paper, she turned and walked back up the stairway to her desk. So anxious was she to get back to her desk and pick up her latest mystery novel where she left off that she barely noticed she had tripped and was about to fall face first onto the hardwood floor. Luckily, a rough yet warm hand reached out from the aisle desk and caught hers before she fell very far.
"Take it easy," whispered a chuckling voice, and Maka glanced up at her partner Soul before giving him a slight smile.
"Thanks for that," she hissed back, straightening herself up and slithering behind his chair to sit at her desk beside him. Soul, in a strange act of kindness, pulled out her chair for her just before she sat down. Though she appreciated the gesture, Maka swatted his hand away in annoyance. "Get back to work," she mouthed, once she looked down at his paper and saw that Soul still had a ways to go before he finished.
She had sat back down and reached into her leather bag to pull out her book when she heard a soft giggle behind her. Well, I guess I did look pretty silly, Maka thought, her cheeks reddening slightly.
"Oh my God, she's blushing," came a whisper from the giggler. Maka slumped down in her seat and hid her face behind her paperback novel. Okay seriously, it wasn't that big a deal. Just because she was one of the top meisters at the Academy didn't necessarily mean she was graceful. She'd goofed up on assignments dozens of times simply from tripping over her own feet or slipping in the mud. She tried to ignore it by immersing herself in the escapades of the fiery gorgeous redhead in her favorite mystery series. The uptight, pigtailed meister only looked up a few minutes later to hear the tail end of what the girl behind her said: "…another week."
Recognizing Liz's voice immediately, Maka whipped around just in time to see the brown-haired pistol withdraw her hand away from Black Star and the blue-haired assassin slip something green into his pocket. Something that looked suspiciously like money…
What the hell…? Everyone knew better than to loan Black Star money because he never paid them back—even Tsubaki finally drew the line. Did Liz forget? Maka would have to hunt Black Star down later and demand that he give Liz back her cash. She turned around to give Liz a quizzical look, but the older girl was looking back down at her exam, twirling a strand of silky, lustrous brown hair between her fingers. Black Star grinned widely as he sat back in his seat, ignoring the test paper on his desk, and Maka gave him a hard glare before turning back to her book. It was a moment before she realized Soul was gone from his desk, and Maka looked around in alarm before she saw him down at Sid's desk handing him his exam. She blinked a few times, knowing she had to be dreaming. Soul always took the entire period to take an exam, now here he was done with fifteen minutes to spare? Yes, she literally pinched herself to make sure just as Soul slid back into his seat next to her.
"What?" he whispered amused at the look on her face. "It was a piece of cake."
Maka narrowed her eyes at him; it was not a piece of cake, even she had to admit it. But…well, maybe it was. The weapons were always given different exams that the meisters with different questions, so maybe theirs had been easier. Or maybe Soul had actually studied…or maybe pigs were soaring outside their window right now. Maka sighed and shook her head, Wishful thinking…
The bell rang some time later, and everyone pushed their way out the door, grumbling about the exam—Maka could have sworn she heard Ox sneer her name to Harvar as she brushed past them. But she had her eye on a blue-haired boy zooming ahead of everyone else as she rushed to keep up with him, Soul panting behind her.
"Black Star!" she called, finally freeing herself from the crowd to catch up. "Wait up a sec!"
"No Maka, I didn't cheat this time," Black Star rolled his eyes, pointing accusingly at her. "You always gotta be a nag don't you?"
"He really didn't Maka, I was watching him carefully," Tsubaki said, striding up beside him.
"I'm not talking about that, I'm talking about the money you took from Liz," Maka clarified just as Soul finally caught up with her.
"Uh oh…you saw that?" Black Star asked sheepishly, his eyes widening.
"Liz lent you money?" Soul snickered. "Geez, even I know better than that."
"Hand it over," Maka said curtly, holding out her hand palm open.
"She wasn't lending me money, she—she—she owed me money!" Black Star shouted at last. "Yeah, that's it!"
"Nice try, but Liz lives in a mansion with a filthy rich Grim Reaper who can lend her money anytime she needs it," Soul smirked, folding his arms across his chest. "C'mon dude, just give it up."
"Hell no!" Black Star screamed, holding onto his pockets protectively.
"Black Star, maybe we should just tell them—" Tsubaki began tentatively.
"Tell who what?" came a voice and the four of them whirled around to see Death the Kid approaching with the Thompson sisters in tow.
"Liz, did you or did you not slip Black Star a five during class just now?" Maka asked the older girl beside Kid.
"Yeah I was…paying him back," Liz said in a suspiciously slow manner, and Maka and Soul eyed her for a moment before asking at the same time, "What is going on here?"
"Don't tell them, it'll ruin everything!" Kid burst out, before clapping both hands to his mouth.
"Yeah, I've been winning the bet f—!"
"Patti, shut up," Liz sang between clenched teeth, firmly covering her little sister's mouth.
"Fine, if it'll make Maka happy, here Liz," Black Star said defeated, reaching in his pocket—only to have several other folded up bills fall out of his pocket as he withdrew it. "Shit!"
"Black Star what are you doing with all this?" Maka cried out.
"No don't—!" Black Star shouted, but too late as Maka and Soul both reached down to look at the five, ten, twenty, and even fifty dollar bills on the ground. Each had a sticky note attached to it: one said Ox, Two weeks. Another said Kid, Spring Break. A third said Kilik, Push me back to Summer Vacation.
"What's with the notes?" Soul asked in a mildly curious tone, as Black Star made a desperate grab for the money on the ground and ripped the bills from Maka and Soul's hands before shoving them back in his pocket protectively. "Dude, if I didn't know better I'd say you were gambling…"
"Well, you could say that," Tsubaki mumbled with a nervous laugh.
"Don't you dare, Tsubaki!" Black Star ordered his weapon.
"I…think we'd better go," Kid said nervously, and he and the girls sped off down the hall before Maka could stop them. She whirled around and glanced at Tsubaki, who seemed to be teetering on the brink of revealing something. Something huge.
"Tsubaki, you're my best girl friend and I know you would never lie to me," Maka said as sweetly as she could.
"Tsubaki, you're my partner and I know you would never betray a big star like me!" Black Star shouted in a warning tone.
"Uh…I…ohh…" Maka almost felt bad for the poor shadow weapon, twisting her hands nervously in front of her.
"Don't pressure her Maka, she'll tell us any second now," Soul grinned.
"Alright, Black Star is taking bets!" Tsubaki burst out, burying her face in her hands. "I told him it was a terrible idea from the start, but he wouldn't listen!"
"What exactly are you taking bets on?" Maka shouted to the blue-haired meister who glared back at her.
"And how come we didn't know about it?" Soul yelled, indicating himself and Maka. "I wanna bet! What are we betting on?"
"Soul, that's beside the point!" Maka turned on her weapon. "I'm doing the interrogating here!"
"I want in on what everyone else is betting on!" Soul exclaimed.
"Shut up, you're no help!"
"Go die!"
"Lazy-ass!"
"Tiny tits!"
"CHOP!"
A few passersby laughed as Soul crumpled to the floor, the spine of a hardcover book meeting his skull in the most violent way possible. Maka stuffed her book out of sight just as she saw Jackie wink at Black Star. She whipped around just in time to see Black Star write something down on a slip of paper.
"What is that?" Maka snapped.
"Nothing," Black Star said quickly, shoving the paper in his pocket.
"What are you betting on?" Maka asked, taking a few steps closer to him.
"The great Black Star's Godlike lips are sealed!"
"But Tsubaki's aren't," Maka grinned, her gaze moving to his fidgety weapon.
"No way!" Black Star yelled. "She told you everything, I'm just taking bets! She never said anything about me taking bets on when you two are gonna get together!"
He said the words so fast that Maka almost missed them—but unfortunately for Black Star, she didn't. "You're taking bets on what?"
"When you and Soul are going to…you know…" Tsubaki said as Black Star banged his head against the wall at his own stupidity.
"Get jiggy with it?" Soul finally spoke, getting up from the ground with a glare that matched his meister's. "Number one, it ain't happening. And number two—"
"That has got to be the most disgusting thing I have ever heard!" Maka screamed, startling several people around them. "Is that any way to treat your best friends? Gambling on their feelings for eachother?"
"I'm so sorry Maka, I told him it was horrible but you know how he is," Tsubaki said with a low bow.
"And how much money have you put down, Tsubaki?" Maka growled.
"T-t-twenty dollars on this summer," the shadow weapon replied in a defeated voice.
"Who's all in on this?" Soul asked angrily.
"The entire Academy," Black Star answered without shame, folding his arms proudly across his chest.
"Everyone?' Maka yelled "Even—?"
"Hey Black Star," Professor Stein said, poking his head out of his office door. "I heard them yelling earlier so push me back a couple of w—oops." He ducked his head back inside when he saw Maka staring open-mouthed at him in utter shock.
"The faculty?" Maka screamed so shrilly, bats could have heard her.
"Yep, Lord Death's my best customer," Black Star stated. "Keeps betting on the next day—obviously he loses a lot, but he says he's got to win eventually."
"I can't believe this," Soul breathed, shaking his head at Maka who looked like she wanted to positively kill Black Star.
"We're…we're….the laughing stock of the entire school!" Maka yelled, her voice breaking as the final bell rang. "C'mon Soul, let's go home."
"Right behind you," Soul snarled, following Maka to the front door of the Academy—but not before flipping his middle finger at Black Star, who stood laughing as he counted the day's profit
"I hate them. I hate every single one of them!"
"Oh please, you do not."
"Yes I do, Soul! What they've been doing is just plain cruel!" Maka flung her schoolbooks one by one onto the floor later that afternoon once she and Soul got home, Blair watching them from the kitchen doorway. "Aren't you the least bit upset about this?"
"Course I am, but I don't hate them all," Soul replied, "I just wanna kill them."
"I have never ever been so mad at Black Star in my entire life!" Maka shouted, yanking on her pigtails in frustration. "And for the others to have the gall to go along with it? We're not a couple of celebrities they've never met before, we're their best friends! How could they toy with us and how we feel about eachother? It's sickening!"
"I think it's hilarious," Blair chimed in, crawling towards Maka with a little laugh.
"It's anything but—"
"Oh Maka, don't take it so seriously," Blair scoffed, shifting back into her human form with a puff of purple smoke. "It's just a silly little game, we don't really—oops!"
"You, too?" Maka and Soul yelled together.
"Blair, how long has this been going on?" Soul asked while Maka struggled with herself to stay calm.
"Well, remember back when Maka's parents finalized the divorce?" Blair began timidly.
"Yeah."
"And Maka went to school crying the next day?"
"Yeah."
"And you gave her a hug and told her everything would be alright?"
"Y—oh shit," Soul groaned, finally putting the pieces together.
"Somewhere around there," Blair finished.
"I'm gonna call up Black Star and give him hell," Soul growled, stomping over towards the phone, but Maka blocked his path.
"No Soul, he won't stop even if you tell him to," she said truthfully, and Soul slumped his shoulders in defeat. "But you're right; we do need to do something about this."
"We're never getting together and giving them the satisfaction, that's for sure," Soul snapped.
"Got that right," Maka forced a smile in agreement—inside however, a tiny portion of her heart was breaking; that tiny portion that thought just maybe, somewhere down the line, they had a shot. Now this had ruined everything she had hoped for, and it only fueled raging fire within her. "We've gotta make this good."
"Let's go toilet paper his apartment," Soul suggested.
"Oh that's mature," Maka rolled her eyes. "How about a strongly-worded mass email of complaint?"
"That people can easily delete and not read?" Soul countered.
"Fine, you come up with something, I'm done!" Maka yelled, plopping on the couch and burying her face in her hands.
"Why don't you guys just…give them what they want?" Blair said slowly, a sly cat-like smile on her face. Maka raised her head and Soul turned to look at the vivacious feline.
"Wait…you don't mean…" Soul began, shaking his head.
"…put on an act?" Maka finished, sitting up straighter. "Pretend we're a couple?"
"Exactly," Blair said, clapping her hands together triumphantly.
"Forget it," Soul drawled, shoving his hands in his pockets.
"That's the last thing we want to do!" Maka said angrily. "We'll never hear the end of it if we just…give in!"
"No, you will Maka, don't you see?" Blair said, excited at her newly formed plan. "Once you guys 'hook up officially,' all bets are off. Then once you're together awhile, people will get bored, the hubbub will die down, and you're off the hook again—free to go back to the way things were."
Maka thought about this for a minute, biting her lower lip while Soul rolled his eyes and glanced out the window at the dozing setting sun. "I never thought I'd say this…but…Blair just might be right."
"Maka we can't," Soul whipped around to look at her, "I mean, we literally can't."
"What, would it be so hard to pretend that I'm your girlfriend?" Maka retorted, standing up from the couch to face him nose to nose. Soul had to admit, she did smell good being this close to him. "A girl like me isn't good enough for a cool guy like you?" Dammit, don't get all emotional, she told herself in a scolding tone, it's just an act.
"Hey, I never said that," Soul said defensively, holding up his hands and backing away from her. "I'm just not sure I can keep this up very long."
"How long do you think it'll take for the hubbub to die down Blair?" Maka asked.
"I dunno, a month maybe?"
"A month?" they shouted simultaneously.
"Give or take a week," Blair added.
"There's no way we can keep this going believably for a month," Soul said as Maka shook her head in agreement.
"Sure you can, you just need to plan it out," Blair replied. She leapt up from the couch and pranced over to the desk in the corner, where she found a pad of paper and a pen. "Now, let's start writing down all the details: how you guys got together, where you go on dates, your summer plans, what ticks the other one off—"
"Ha! I don't have to pretend to be Maka's boyfriend to know what ticks her off," Soul laughed before feelings Maka swat his arm hard with a notebook.
"You've been living together for almost a year now, so you guys already have a head start," Blair pointed out, and the meister and weapon pair glanced at eachother out the corner of their eyes. "C'mon, it might actually be fun."
"Well…it will get all those annoying girls off my back," Soul admitted.
"Alright, let's do this," Maka said determinedly.
"Yay!" Blair cheered, clicking open the pen. "So, let's begin."
For the rest of the afternoon and well into the evening, the three of them laid down the ground plan for their great charade. It took hours before both Soul and Maka could completely agree with everything on the list that framed their fake relationship: Maka refused to say they played video games together ("I hate those gory war games!") while Soul complained about spending inordinate amounts of money on her ("Cool guys don't do that crap.") Around ten o'clock that night, they were pretty solid on at least getting through the next day when they were bombarded with questions by pretty much the entire school.
"Let's turn in, we've got a big day tomorrow," Maka finally said, suppressing a small smile at the elaborateness of their hoax. Blair was right, it was almost fun.
"I can't wait to see Black Star's face," Soul grinned, throwing an arm around Maka's shoulders. "Oh yeah, we're a couple now." He leaned closer and quickly pecked her on the cheek, "'Night pumpkin."
Maka laughed out loud at Soul's uncharacteristic display, "Goodnight, honey," she trilled back with a giggle as they parted ways to their own bedrooms. As Maka stood in front of her mirror and unraveled her pigtails, brushing out her straight blonde locks, her fingers moved involuntarily to the spot on her cheek where Soul had kissed her. She liked having his face so close to hers…and she liked how soft his lips felt when they brushed against her skin…
Cut it out! Maka yelled inside her head, shaking away those strange and unnerving thoughts. It's not real. He's just pretending he likes to kiss you, that's it. Throwing her brush aside, she flung open the covers on her bed and climbed inside, snuggling down against her pillow.
Don't be like Mama, she thought desperately as she dozed off. Don't let your stupid heart override your head…
A/N: So how will all of this turn out? I don't think it takes a genius to figure it out :) Please leave a review on your way out!