I just thought of this story on a whim… I thought it sounded like a good plot, so I decided to go ahead and write it. I hope you enjoy! (Not really writing a lot at the top on this chapter…) Okay, I don't own Soul Eater. It belongs to Atsushi Ohkubo~! And… begin~!
"Those are our terms, Ms. Albarn. And we can't back down on them." A young man with shoulder length slicked back, black hair, and nice (yet retro) looking clothes. He had a very serious look on his face, more of disdain than anything else. It added on to the discomfort that the offer the man behind the desk had proposed.
"Mr. Gopher…" Maka Albarn started. "I honestly don't think those are very acceptable terms, and they go against all my morals. I would never do anything like that, no matter how much I want my book to be published." She said as calmly as she could. Gopher saw an unshakable resolve in her emerald green eyes, which made his face contort even more.
"Ms. Albarn, I assure you that there is no one who is willing to publish your work with such a good deal as my boss is offering. He's quite… taken with you, as bizarre as it is…" Gopher said, adding a glare to his uncomfortable look. "And Master Noah always gets what he wants…"
Maka stood up and took her manuscript off the desk, trying her best not to lose her temper. "Well, this is one thing that he's not going to get. I refuse to give him my body for a book publication. And you can tell him that he can go to hell for even suggesting it!" She tried to storm to the door but was stopped by Gopher calling out to her.
"Are you sure you want to do this Ms. Albarn? I honestly couldn't care either way, but Master Noah will be very, very displeased. He's not very fond of hearing 'no' from things that he has an interest in. I can almost assure you that he might not leave you alone. You do this once, and you'll never have to see him again. I'll be doing all the face-to-face negotiations, and he'll never want to see you again. I'm doing this for your own good."
'Fuck that…' Maka thought. "I will NEVER agree to those terms. My response is not negotiable. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm late for work."
Maka left out the room, and slammed the door behind her. Gopher bit his bottom lip, making a face of disgust.
"What complete and utter BULLSHIT! That little BITCH! Now Master Noah will be infatuated with her even more, and then I won't be in his good graces anymore!" He said, punching his desk and leaving it cracked. The loud noise made a darker skinned, suave looking man dressed in very fashionable clothes stroll in.
"You let her get away, Gopher…" The man said, clucking his tongue. Gopher looked up with horror and saw his boss.
"Y-yes, Master Noah, I understand… B-but, I can-"
Gopher was cut off by Noah's fist connecting with his face. He flew backwards and landed on the ground with a bloody nose. He quickly reached for his face, trying to stop the bleeding.
"M-Master Noah, I can explain-!"
"But I don't want you to explain." Noah replied. "What I want you to do is get her back here. She's unlike any other girl, and I want her for myself." He said as he stomped his foot down beside Gopher's head. "Do I make myself clear?"
"Y-yes, Master Noah! I-I understand! I'll get her back if it's the last thing I do!" Gopher said, with fear, and a hint of admiration. Noah gave a crazed smile and leaned back.
"Good. Don't let me down, Gopher." Noah said, walking out of the room again. Gopher sat up, and felt the hot sting of his tears.
"Damn that vile woman!" Gopher screamed. "How dare she take Master's attention away from me! It was supposed to be a simple one night stand, and he would forget all about her! Now I have to go back and find her! Why couldn't she be like a normal girl!"
Maka made her way to her car, still steamed about her encounter with Gopher. She was glued to the phone, talking to her best friend, Tsubaki. "How DARE that asshole even SUGGEST that I do that with his boss! I've met his boss! He's even more of an ass than Gopher!"
"I'm so sorry, Maka!" Tsubaki said over the phone. "I can't believe you were put in a situation like that! But I'm glad you didn't lose your temper like usually would have."
"The most I said was 'Go to Hell'. That doesn't count does it?" Maka asked as she got in the car.
"Of course not, Maka." Tsubaki giggled. "Usually I would say that it was, but you totally had every right to say that. He was trying to get sex for his boss through you!"
"I'm on my way in, okay? Leave some of the dusty books for me to put up, okay?" Maka said. Tsubaki agreed then said her goodbyes before hanging up. Maka put her phone in her purse then started her car up. Gopher ran out of the building, and found her just as she was driving out of the parking lot.
"Damn… Now I have to do reconnaissance…"
Maka drove to a small antique shop that was in the middle of the city. It was a nice little set up, that Maka and Tsubaki had found jobs at. And after a while, and the owner signed the shop over to the two of them, and they kept a pretty successful shop. But that's not what Maka wanted. She had gotten a Master's Degree in English. She was meant to do more than just own a shop. She was just lucky that Tsubaki had gone to business school and she knew what the hell they were doing.
"So, you came back!" Tsubaki smiled as Maka came back in the store. "I thought you'd go out to drown your sorrows…"
"Before or after I commit a double homicide?" Maka teased. "So, how's the shop been since I've been gone? You honestly don't need me here… You know what you're doing without me…"
"Well, this is just until you find a publisher that is willing to publish your book WITHOUT wanting your body…"
"You know what sucks the most? He is the best publisher in Death City. He has gotten everyone's book published. And he's the person Kid recommended…"
"Then why don't you just look outside of Death City…?"
Maka looked up and saw a white haired young man looking at a little piano trinket. He was kind of a regular around the shop. He was a friend of both girls, but a little closer to Maka. They had all gone to school together.
"Soul, it's not really that easy…" Tsubaki said. "She can't just go on a trip to a publisher."
"Yeah. In case you haven't noticed, I'm not really made of money." Maka said as she started to put some of the merchandise up.
"Then why don't I help you with that little problem…?" Soul said with a lazy grin. "You know that I have connections."
Tsubaki looked puzzled. "What could you do? I mean, I know you have your backgrounds but…"
"My brother published a couple books, so I have connections to a pretty good New York publication company. If you want, I can submit your stuff there. I can even fly you up there if you want. You could think of it as a nice little vacation, don't you think?"
Tsubaki, who was always a little naïve, jumped up and down with glee. "Oh, Maka! That's great don't you think? I mean, you're writing is great! All you have to do is go have a meeting with them, and in no time, you'll be a published writer!"
Maka gave a smile to Tsubaki. "Hold on for just a minute, Tsubaki." Then she turned to Soul. "What's the catch?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"You know exactly what the hell I'm talking about. There is no way that you're paying for an all expense paid trip for me to go to New York to see a publisher without asking for a price. You didn't even think I was a good writer! Now, what's the catch?"
Soul held his hands up in surrender, his smirk never leaving his face. "Okay, you caught me. There is a catch. I need a personal servant for the next month, and I thought that you would be perfect for the job!" He replied.
"There is no way in HELL I would EVER become your personal servant, Soul. You are the most lazy, sloppy, immature person I have EVER met, and you want ME to become your personal servant!" She looked around in the shop to make sure that there were no customers. There were none. "You're out of your fucking mind!"
"Whoa, Maka… Watch your language." Soul said.
"Don't be cute." Maka sneered. This just made Soul give a little chuckle.
"I'm positive that you can do a perfect job as a servant. And if you don't like the word servant, we can call it personal assistant."
Maka flipped him the bird before going to the back to bring out more merchandise. Tsubaki gave a worried look. "Soul… Don't you think you're pushing a little too hard with Maka…? You know how stubborn she can be…"
Soul turned his seemingly never-ending smirk to Tsubaki. "I do know my limits. But more importantly, I have a pretty good grasp on Maka's limits and her pride. I know exactly what will get me what I want, and I know when her pride will give out."
"Do you even know the whole story?" Tsubaki asked.
"I know some guy at the publishing place pissed her off bad enough to want to kill them."
"Well, they said that they'd publish her book if she slept with the boss of the place…" Tsubaki explained. "That's why I think now's not the best time to mess with her… She's still pretty upset from the encounter…"
"But the whole thing is that I'm not messing. I'm willing to pay for everything, and it's not like I'm gonna make her do anything that would hurt her pride… well too much… Just be patient and watch. She's gonna come out asking for the terms in… 3… 2… 1…"
Maka came back out with a look of contempt. "Soul, what the hell are you still doing here? I thought me showing you my friend would be enough of an incentive to get out."
Tsubaki giggled at Soul's failed prediction. Soul staggered a little then smirked again.
"Well, you never answered my offer."
"Okay. Then let's chat about it." Maka said harshly. "Other than getting my book published, what the HELL is in it for me, huh?"
"How about this. For the next month like I said, you will be my personal… 'assistant', and I'll take you to New York to get published with the best of them. If you're book doesn't do the way you expected, then I will be your personal 'assistant' for the next month after you get the results of your book, okay?"
Maka made a face. "… Get someone to draw up a contract, and I'll look over it. Maybe…"
"Just a maybe? Come on Maka! Haven't I always been good to you?" Soul said slyly.
"No, you haven't." Maka said toughly. A customer walked in, and she put on her smiling façade.
"Welcome to our shop! Browse around all you like!" Maka said.
"Ms. Albarn…" The person panted out. "I need… to talk to you…"
"Mr. Gopher." Maka said tightly. "I thought I said that there was nothing to discuss between you and I."
"You don't understand… I can't take no for an answer. I could lose everything if you don't get signed." Gopher said.
"Look, I refuse to help you out, by using my body. I don't like you, and I can almost guarantee that you don't like me. Just leave before I have to kick you out." Maka said calmly. Gopher went over to Maka and grabbed her arm roughly.
"You're coming back with me to meet the boss again! I don't care if I have to break your legs and carry you to him." Gopher said darkly. He felt his wrist get grabbed and twisted upward towards his body. He hissed in pain.
"Get the fuck off of her, you asshole." Soul said menacingly. He glared a hole into Gopher's face, making him shudder.
"Y-you don't scare me…"
"Yeah?" Soul seethed. "Well, stick around for a couple more minutes and we'll see what happens. Now you have five seconds to get out of here before I cut your hand off."
Gopher pulled away roughly and went to the door. "This isn't over, Ms. Albarn. Like I said, Master Noah always gets what he wants!" And then he ran out of the shop, tail between his legs.
"I could've handled that, Soul." Maka said, starting with her work again.
"Really? That's how you thank me?" Soul said, his protectiveness completely gone. His smirk returned to his face, which totally amazed Tsubaki.
"How do you want me to thank you?"
"By at least thinking about the proposal?" Soul asked, trying to be cute, hoping it would melt Maka's cold façade. Maka cracked a little smile, then turned away.
"…Fine. But I still want it in a contract form. That way we both can sign it. And we need at least two witnesses."
"Tsubaki and Black Star." Soul said.
"No!" Maka said. "Not Black Star! Kid! We are using Kid! He takes thing seriously!"
"Fine." Soul said with annoyance. "We'll use Kid." Soul honestly didn't really like Kid. He did see him as a friend. He just thought there was something between he and Maka and that was not cool with him. It wasn't cool period. He didn't know what he hated so much about the situation, just that he did.
Maka gave a bigger, yet still small, smile. "Then if you can type up all the details, I can call Kid."
"Why don't we switch that? You are the better writer."
"Okay… Then I'll type it up and you call Kid… I guess it doesn't really matter…" Maka said as she went back to putting things up. She grabbed some old dusty classics and went to the other side of the store to put it up.
"You know, that was very chivalrous…" Tsubaki said. "But Soul, you can't keep doing that. She's smart, and she's gonna figure it out."
"Figure what out?" Soul said.
"That you're trying to keep her from other guys." Tsubaki whispered. "It's not fair to either of you."
"I'm not doing that."
"Soul, you've been doing it since our last semester together." Tsubaki said. "Why don't you just go ahead and tell her what you feel?"
"I don't feel anything in particular. I'm just… protective of her is all. We're best friends, so it's only natural right?"
"If you say so, Soul." Tsubaki said smugly before getting back to her work. Maka came back up to the front of the store and grabbed other stuff.
"You and Kid come by the shop around lunchtime tomorrow and I'll have everything set up, okay?" Maka said. "And I can assure you that it will be loophole free, do you understand me?"
"Loud and clear." Soul said. "I'll see you tomorrow, angel."
"Whatever you little demon…" Maka said, going back to work. Soul left the shop feeling a renewed sense of happiness. He loved the relationship that he and Maka shared. It was odd, but at the same time comforting. He would never replace it for anything.
"So, you two still have that weird nickname thing?" Tsubaki asked. Maka nodded.
"I still don't remember where they came from. I guess it's because we're so different from each other. Hey is the computer set up in the back with the printer?"
"Yeah." Tsubaki smiled. "Feel free to use it."
"Thanks." Maka said with a big smile. She was finally going to get her book published. And if it took a little work, well she was no stranger to hard work.
The next day, Kid got there before Soul, and Maka greeted her old friend. Their father's worked together, so they had known each other for a while. She gave him a hug, and of course during the hug, Soul walked in.
"Thanks for doing this. You're the only other person that I know wouldn't be completely against it."
"Yes," Kid said, "well, the only reason I'm doing it is because this is for your book. I can't believe that Noah would do that."
"I can." Soul said his face sour. Maka gave him a confused look.
"Soul, what's wrong with you?"
"It's nothing." Soul said, regaining his signature smirk. "Now, let's sign that thing so I can go get something to eat."
Maka nodded and led the two in the back where Tsubaki was waiting with the document. She was reading it over, and then gave it to Kid to do the same.
"So, as soon as we sign this," Kid said, "you'll be bound by this piece of paper." Maka nodded, and Kid sighed.
"And you're sure you want to do this?"
Maka nodded again. Kid sighed, again. "Well, I can't stop you can I?"
"No, you can't." Maka said before she turned to Soul. "You ready?"
"You know it." Soul said. They all re-read the paperwork, and Maka and Soul signed first, with Tsubaki and Kid after that.
… And just like that, Maka's freedom was sold away for the next month.
So, that was the first chapter. Like I said, it came to me on a whim, but I think I could do some real good with the story. I'm thinking and working on other things too, but this one was just something I had to get out of my mind. Please Read and Review~!
