A/N: Whoop, SoMa week is here again! Here's my entry for Geeking Out, set pre-canon, though SoMa only if you squint. Future entries will be a lot shippier.
Maka watched in awe as the older pair stepped into the middle of the sports hall. She clasped her hands together in her lap and did her best not to fidget in her seat in the bleachers. Beside her, her partner sat slumped, doing his best to look apathetic with everything that was going on.
"This is gonna be so cool!" she breathed, glancing at her weapon.
Soul returned her gaze evenly for a moment, then a small smirk grew on his face. "Trust a bookworm like to you to get so excited about a demonstration. Nerd."
She pursed her lips and puffed out her cheeks, resisting the urge to chop her partner and thereby cause a scene. Instead she hissed, "You know this is different to the just upperclassmen showing off. They're a real three star pair! The best of the best!" She glanced over at the older weapon standing next to her partner on the ground in front of them. "Even if the weapon isn't a deathscythe, their techniques are way more advanced. We can learn a lot from them."
He scoffed quietly. "You said that when the pair from the graduating class demonstrated soul resonance in November, and we still can't get it."
"That's because you're too lazy to apply what you learn!" she whispered furiously.
Soul scowled at her and opened his mouth to refute that claim when he was stopped by Sid clearing his throat at the bottom of the bleachers. The chatter from the rest of their year quieted down, leaving silence.
"Thank you for attending today's demonstration. I know this isn't strictly mandatory, given it's a Saturday, but it will help you understand what we've been teaching you in theory," Sid began. "Today we have Sasha and Isabelle—" he gestured to the pair standing behind him "—students from our European branch who passed their three star test just over six months ago, and have been kind enough to come in and show you what it means to earn that rank.
"Now, what you're about to see if far beyond what you are expected to learn this year, even for the next two or three years. But the by the time you graduate, you should be close to their standard. Hopefully some of you will even exceed it by making, or becoming, deathscythes." Sid grinned and clapped his hands. "Now, I'll let them show you what they can do."
Waving his arm to indicate that the floor was theirs, he walked to the side.
One of the girls from the pair took a step forward and bowed, dark curls bouncing over her bare, pale shoulders. "I am Isabelle Baudin, three star meister. And this—" the other girl, with dark skin and hair shaved close to her head, bowed "—is my weapon partner Sasha Kuznetsov, double-headed battle axe." She spoke with a deep French accent and stared at the audience with a determined expression.
When the meister held out her hand, the weapon transformed wordlessly, falling into Isabelle's grasp. Sasha's blades began to glow as her meister moved into a battle stance.
"First, we will show you our resonance," Isabelle said.
The axe began to spin in her hand, and she began to move, jumping the axe from hand to the other, before stopping and roaring "La danse de la hache!"
With a flick of Isbelle's wrists, Sasha's blades grew five times bigger, and dust began to move around the pair as their power grew.
Maka, and many of her classmates, gasped and cooed in awe. From the corner of her eye, Maka could see that even Soul looked impressed. Smiling to herself, she settled down to watch the rest of the demonstration. Maybe her aloof partner was not as detached as he tried to make out.
Once the demonstration—which included numerous demonstrations of battle moves, resonance states, and a couple of sparring battles with graduating pairs—was over, Maka, her partner, and the rest of their year shuffled their way out of the gym.
"That was so awesome!" she kept saying.
Soul sighed and stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "As you keep telling me."
She grabbed his arm and shook him gently. "Come on, admit you thought it was cool."
The beginnings of a small smile tugged at his lips, before he schooled his features into a neutral expression. "Alright, yeah, it was pretty cool."
She beamed. "I'm going to learn to do all those somersaults. I'll be moving you like that in no time!"
His expression fell slightly. "Please don't, I'll hurl you spin me like that."
She laughed a little and smacked his middle lightly with the back of her hand. "You'll be fine Tough Guy. Now, when they were doing the third resonance state, I thought that maybe we should change up our training regime, maybe include some—"
She was interrupted by someone barrelling into her, taking her down with them. Soul stared in horror as who had previously been nothing by a blue blur stood up and brushed himself off, grinning like usual.
"So, what did you guys think of that? That's gonna be me in a year!" Black*Star said cheerfully. "Right Tsubaki?"
Said weapon appeared and smiled apologetically at Maka before giving Black*Star a thumbs up. "Yep!"
Maka punched Black*Star in the stomach, then brushed the dust off her jacket as he doubled over. "At least give everyone a warning when you try to imitate Sonic, Black*Star," she huffed. "Or you'll get more than just a sucker to the belly."
Black*Star wheezed a "yeah, OK" before straightening with a groan.
The blonde meister turned to her weapon and smiled. "Come on Soul, let's go home. We've got a new training plan to sort out, and I know you haven't done that essay for Nygus yet. See you on Monday, Tsubaki." With that she turned on her heel and began to walk away, hands clasped behind her back.
Soul groaned but followed after her anyway, giving Black*Star a shoulder squeeze and Tsubaki and "see ya later".
As they walked towards the steps, Maka leaned towards Soul slightly and said in a low voice, "Don't worry, I'll make you a deathscythe in no time. Then we'll be the ones others can geek about."
He smirked a little. "I've got no doubt about that." Then, after a pause, he added, "Geek."
She considered it a mercy that she only smacked him for it.