SoMa Week 2019, Day 2: best friends.

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater.


Best Friends


What a grand excuse that is. He's said it a million times, and so has she. They're best friends. They live together, eat together, work together. They're best friends. He doesn't know how many times he's said that to Black*Star, who has taken it upon himself to remind Soul of how much "bro time" hanging out with Maka is cutting into.

"Maka is my best friend, 'Star," Soul would say. "Of course we spend time together."

They know each other, their souls inside out. It seems effortless, natural, that they become like this. They'll cuddle on the couch to preserve warmth in the winter and help each other study and work on new ways to battle. There's nothing strange about holding hands with your best friend all the time, of sleeping in the same bed as them when you're scared or just too tired to move, of eating off their plate and laughing at their dorky jokes. He and Maka are friends, plain and simple. It doesn't have to be complicated.

Except that is does become somewhat complicated over time.

He stops what he's doing at a moment's notice to return to her side. Not because they're partners, he reminds himself, but because they're best friends. He starts to do things that he's not sure are within a best friend's skill sets. Does a best friend risk their life for you? Does a best friend help you bathe when you're injured? Does a best friend want to lean in to kiss you because you cussing out Ox in the hallway is the hottest thing they've ever seen?

Probably not, he realizes one breezy afternoon on the basketball court. Maka is his best friend. There's no doubt about it. She understands him in a way nobody ever has. She chose him just as he chose her. He feels like he was meant to meet her, to learn from her, to support her. He might not be the kind of soulmate she reads about in her romance novels, but he wants to suit her. He wants to balance her, to amplify her strength, to push her forward so that she can achieve her goals.

So he does. They're complimentary now, molded to fit one another in a way nobody is able to emulate. Nobody can come close to what their resonance is like.

Nothing is like what they have.

"We're best friends," says Soul dismally to his friends after their attempts to assure of him Maka's feelings has failed once again. "You forget that I can see into her soul. We're friends and that's all we are. And honestly?" he says with a deep breath. "That's fine."

It's not actually fine. His heart breaks a little bit every time she mentions loving somebody or going on dates. It's not fine, but it will be. He'll get over it. If it's for her benefit, he'll do anything, even if his heart breaks in the process, because he knows that the only thing that'll heal him is the warmth he gets from her acceptance. Their friendship is more valuable than anything he's ever had. He can't risk it. It's not worth it. He cares about her too much. If it's not what she wants, then it's not what he wants. If being her friend makes her happy, then he'll be the best goddamn friend she's ever had.

Being her friend has given him the greatest pleasure he's ever known, and even if she never loves him the same way he loves her, he won't stop making sure she's safe, cared for, supported.

They're best friends.

And that's that.