Oh, this sucked. Totally sucked. On this day, Soul Eater Evans was going through the most horrible, awful, completely un-cool thing he had ever had to experience in his life: braces. Yes, having braces. At first glance, this didn't seem too bad, but to Soul, it was like 'Hey, I might as well go get myself some bottle cap-lens glasses and suspenders while I'm at it!' No, for Soul, this was the absolute worst thing that could happen to him. He looked like a total nerd! Kinda... like Maka... Except the only difference was she wanted to be a nerd, he didn't. And it was a BIG, BIG difference.

For now, he was doubled over in pain on the couch, curled up into a ball, covered head-to-toe in blankets, and wondering if it would be acceptable to spit into a trashcan rather than experience the painful sensation of swallowing. (Yes, swallowing. Everything hurt when you had braces.) He heard his stomach give out a throaty-sounding growl once again, and scrunched his face up uncomfortably, reminded once again how hungry he was. In fact, he was starving, but it hurt to eat, too, and there was no way he was going to resort to blended-up BLT as his meal for the day. That would just be gross.

The only good thing about this day was that it was one of the rare occurrences when Maka was visiting her mother this weekend, so, not only could he let his guard down and not have to walk around the apartment like he wasn't dying and everything was hunky-dory, but he'd have 2 days to relax and recover before he had to show his uncoolness to the rest of Death City. He did admit that he was a little lonely, having the whole place to himself for a little bit, but right now he thought he'd take that over being fussed over by Maka any day of the week. It was also just good to get some space to yourself once in a while, anyone could agree with that. It was especially great to get time to yourself if you had a long, hard day beginning at 6:30, which Soul did. Yes, he had to drag himself out of bed at 6:30, even early than he'd get up on a weekday, and take the bus all the way to the other side of the city, just so he could get something done that he didn't even want to get done in the first place. Something that he'd have to have on for two years, with lots and lots of pain and dorkiness in between. He would have rather spent 48 hours in a room with Maka's father before he'd do that again. (Although, it was an incredibly close call.)

Not to mention the fact that he had to completely change his mornings, waking up an hour earlier than usual. Apparently, there was a ridiculously precise way people with braces had to clean their teeth, and if you asked him, he would say that that was a complete and total waste of time. Like, he was a guy! It should've only taken him ten minutes to get ready, instead, it was gonna take forty! He felt like a girl, all the primping and perfecting before being able to leave the house. It was ridiculous! But, it he didn't do it, he had a much higher chance of getting cavities, which would mean they'd have to take the braces off, fix the tooth, and put them back on again. Which would be even worse than what he was doing now, so he had no choice but to stick with it.

But, worst of all, he couldn't eat what he wanted. About half of everything he ate on a daily basis was now outlawed because of his braces. No popcorn, no gum, no chips, and, especially, no steak. Yeah, that's right. The world's best meat wasn't allowed to touch Soul's tongue for 2. Years. If anyone had said braces weren't so bad before, about 90% of those doubters would have changed thier minds right about then. The other 10% were probably environment-friendly psychos.

Soul sighed once more as he gingerly rolled over on the couch, looking at the fridge as he seriously considering jumping off a bridge. Painkillers did nothing, and the intense pain was driving him crazy.

The emo moment he was having, however, was shortly interrupted when he heard a key clicking it's way into the other side of the door, and he jumped up off the couch like a kangaroo, swirling to face the door. All the intense pain he was feeling was suddenly forgotten as he considered his options.

Ok, it's either someone breaking in, or Maka's home early. But why would she be home so early? Her mom wouldn't just send her back already! Crap.

In the five seconds that Soul had considered what to do, he had now made up his mind. Stand there thunderstruck, like an idiot, staring at the door as Maka pushed her way inside the house, arms full of bags and suitcases which she proceeded to drop onto the floor. She brushed the stray hair away from her face, looking exhausted as she closed the door behind her, ready to crash, but instead turning around and having her eyes meet up with Soul's, looking confused. If there was any time Soul wished he could've turned invisible or teleported away to somewhere no sane person would ever think to look, this was it. He briefly though about closing his mouth before Maka saw, but that idea quickly went out the window as she popped the question.

"Oh, Soul, did you get braces?"
There was no point of trying to get out of this now. He would have to confess to his shame.
"Yes." He mumbled out the word, looking at the ground. Ugh, Maka's gonna think I look like a total nerd! Hopefully she'll be nice about it, though, which is something that won't happen with Blackstar... I just wish I hadn't gotten these stupid things put on in the first place! I mean-

His mouth dropped open with the next thing Maka said, stunned.
"I think they look really cool on you, Soul."

Soul, feeling like he had been slapped in the face with the surprise of the situation, tried to respond right off the bat, but all he could do was stand there and squeak while he felt his face getting hot for whatever reason. And granted, because of the situation, he probably looked like a total nerd right now, but he didn't care. He should have, but he didn't. Someone actually thought his braces looked cool!

"T-thanks... Maka." He finally stuttered out, knowing that he'd be completely and totally embarrassed tomorrow, but for now, just one person thinking he was cool was enough.