Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater.
choke when you see love grow
by. Poisoned Scarlett
It was all on a whim—it's what she tells herself, as she gazes down at the awfully drawn picture of Maka Albarn. It's poorly drawn; he has no sense of proportions. Kid, for all his talents, is definitely not artistically inclined. It's the pigtails that told her who it was when she first laid eyes on it; this poorly drawn, love-struck doodle of Maka Albarn that she happened to glance when Kid's stuff spilled out of his bag in the hallway. She shouldn't have snapped that picture that day. She should have helped him with his things or, better yet, just walked away from the scene. But she didn't: she took that picture and then grinned sadistically when Kid looked up at her, pale-faced.
It all went downhill from there for her.
Liz isn't entirely surprised that Kid likes Maka Albarn. Maka is the type of girl any boy would want to bring home. She's a straight-A student, she's a natural-born leader, and she's intelligent to boot. She's athletic, head of the volleyball team with various trophies and awards under her arm. She's also extremely sweet; compassionate, fiery when needed, and able to stand her ground against any injustice she sees. She's even sweet on Patty, her hyperactive younger sister—her gullible younger sister, but if she insists that Maka really is the entire package all tied up in unfairly cute pigtails, Liz won't try to find a fault in her.
Which is why I'm not surprised he likes her, Liz broods, gazing down at her phone screen. She zooms in, snorting at the awfully drawn hair. He's ridiculous; he tried to make her even on either side and drawing-Maka had turned out less than human; still recognizably her, however. The amusement dies away quicker than she hoped. Liz doesn't even know what she's doing anymore; this blackmail, it really isn't necessary and she stopped being such a bully during her freshman year of high school. She doesn't know what compelled her blackmail him in the first place. It's not like it would make a difference: Kid is just a sophomore and she's already graduating. It'd be illegal, Liz thinks with a deeper slouch. Not that she's exactly afraid of breaking a few laws here and there but she's sure dating a minor when she hits eighteen is definitely not something to write home to.
Sixteen, Liz corrects herself, as if it makes a difference. I'll be eighteen, he'll be sixteen. Two years, she sighs, turning off her phone with thin-pressed lips. It isn't so bad, right? It's only a two year difference…but still illegal. I'll be legally an adult and he'd still be a kid. She leans out the window of her homeroom class rather glumly, watching Kid as he furiously scribbles something on his clipboard just down below. He's such a handsome boy, with dark colored hair and such pretty golden eyes. Even the three white highlights in his hair are cute, no matter how much he disparages them. It's all unfair, with his fitted suit and great smile. But you're still just a kid. What am I even doing? This is so not what I need right now…
It's gone on long enough, she decides.
When she first did it, it had been fun—it was all in the name of fun, she told herself, blackmail the rich know-it-all Kid and have him run some dumb errands for her. Nothing extreme, just some extra luxuries. "Get me a soda", "carry my bag", "buy me lunch"… "rig the raffle so I win the tablet." Liz admits she didn't think Kid would actually do the last one. He sure was fussy over everything else, always insisting on symmetrical pairs of two, fighting her when she said she can't eat two sausage pasty's, it'd ruin her diet...
So she'd been caught off guard when he'd called her name in the auditorium. A tablet did not come in a pair; she was sure he'd be too OCD—too much of a good student, really—to even attempt something so bad. She was also sure he amped up his OCD around her in an attempt to make her back down; like maybe if he annoyed her enough, she'd let him go. Or so she believed at first. But she had a neat new tablet now, something she wouldn't have otherwise had since she spent most of her earnings on keeping her and her sister fed and sheltered. And, oddly enough, she also had Kid at her beck and call.
Ergh, this is so wrong. Man, now I feel bad, Liz thinks with a heavy sigh. She watches Kid for a few more minutes before speaking:
"When are you going to ask her?" Liz shouts, resting her cheek in her palm. Kid snaps his head up to the second floor, golden eyes wide in surprise.
"Liz!" he yelps, expression smoothing out coolly. He fixes his tie. Liz snorts; he's too uptight, just looking at him makes her want to skip class again. "I didn't see you there. Have you waited long?"
"Not really," she shrugs, then frowns. "Hey, don't sound like you kept me waiting, you were busy doing president stuff."
"I—am finished now," he quickly adds, lowering his clipboard. "Do you require something?"
Liz scowls. Liar. It bugs her; it's bugged her four days after she blackmailed him. It's been a month and a half now. He's too compliant. She doesn't quite know what to do with such a compliant guy. It's almost like he likes doing all of these silly things for her, as if he likes being pushed around by her. He's either a masochist or so mature, he's just playing around with her whims until she grows up for once. She wishes her sister were with her; she'd have giggled and cracked a joke to make her feel better.
"Jeez, don't sound so eager, Kid, seriously," Liz sighs, hastily adding, "and I asked you a question! Why don't you just ask her out already?" She slips out her phone and shows him the picture. She's on the second floor and she's sure he can't see her screen, but he doesn't need to see it to know what it is. "You like her, right? The longer you wait, the less chance you have of getting with her. She's practically a golden child, y'know, she's got a flock of guys drooling over her," she tucks her phone back in her pocket, grabbing a rope of her long, blonde hair and pulling it over her shoulder as nervous habit taught her. "My sister told me that Eater has had a thing for her for a while. "
"Soul, you mean?" Kid asks, rather affable that afternoon. He's usually more serious. Weirdo, Liz thinks with a smile before he speaks again: "Now you know better than to trust rumors, Liz."
"I wouldn't get so uppity! No one knows Maka's type; she may like the stoner tough guy after all," Liz snorts but her mirth fades at the sight of Kid's contemplative expression.
"Does that bother you?" Kid asks suddenly.
"Eh?"
"That Soul may like Maka?"
Her brow scrunches, confused but suspicious. "What's it matter if he likes her or not? I'm not his goddamn sister," she pulls back, mood soured. It'd be easier if Kid just admitted that it bothered him that the school cool guy may have a chance with Maka. "I'm just saying that if you like Maka half as much as I think you do, you better make a move now!"
"Wait—where are you going? Liz! Elizabeth!"
"Don't call me that!" Liz throws over her shoulder. She's never really liked her full name but she does kind of like how it rolls off his tongue. "Just to the toilet, relax!"
Liz has a gift for these things; she just knows. She has a gut feeling and she rolls with it because her gut feelings have saved her more times than she's willing to admit. On her way to the restroom, there's the sounds of a hissed argument—there's raised shouts, familiar voices, and when Liz peeks around the corner, her eyes widen when she finds Soul and Maka arguing in an empty hall. They always argue; this would be usual, except the air is different this time. Liz feels the sexually charged tension instantly; she's had it happen to her before, she knows it when she sees it.
This isn't good, Liz thinks, her eyes straying to the shadowed figure meters behind them. Liz feels her heart plummet; no, oh man, no, she hadn't wanted to see this. She feels bad, guilt wracking her and reminding her of why she was actually not a good person. Soul and Maka arguing has always been filled with tension and, as she watches the pair furiously lock lips, all that tension had to snap someday. So here they were—caught between them unknowingly, Kid on one side of the hall and Liz on the other. She looks past Soul and Maka's passionately entwined bodies to Kid, who calmly turns heel and returns from where he came from.
"Shit," Liz curses but she's loud—loud enough to startle Maka away from Soul, her face beet-red, breathing heavy and eyes glazed over. Dazed, Liz thinks, what was that, her first kiss? Liz would not put it past her; she hasn't heard of Maka dating any of the other boys in her class thus far. Maka also doesn't strike her as the type to kiss and leave.
"Liz?" Soul clears his throat, hands shoved deeply into his jacket pockets. His expression is cool, but his pink cheeks give him away. He keeps close to Maka. "Uh, you need anything?"
"Just passin' by, lover boy," Liz drawls, casting Maka a glance she frowns at a little. It's not her fault; Maka has the right to like and dislike whoever she wants. She didn't have to get with Kid, make him happy or anything. But it still bothers Liz; it shouldn't, but it does. It bothers her a little like when people bully Patty for being odd, but this type of bother runs a little different, a little more personal. "Nice catch," Liz directs at Maka. She's sure it doesn't sound very sincere and she's sure Maka knows by the way green eyes flash warningly.
But Liz knows better than to go picking fights with feisty volleyball players. She may have some street skill, but Liz is sure Maka's right hook would crack her mandible in three different places if given the opportunity. Instead, Liz hurries down the hall, heads down another with her mind racing with places such a ridiculous boy like Kid would hole up in.
She guesses right on her first try and it makes her face flush; dumb, she chides herself, dumb to know his habits so well, dumb to let herself know them so well. Sure enough, Kid stands by the window, gazing down at his clipboard as if he's not bothered by anything. He's composed as usual; Liz scowls at that and slams the door behind her, holding his golden eyes when he lifts his head.
"What the hell are you doing?" Liz barks, hands on her hips. "Are you just gonna' let that punkass guy out there steal your girl?"
Kid's expression flickers with doubt for a moment, then knowing. "Ah. So you really do still believe…I like Maka, don't you?" He sets his clipboard down on the desk, tapping his pen on the tabletop. "All that fuss… that's why. But don't you admire Soul?"
Liz's eye twitches. "What the—why the hell would I like that pretentious guy? Just coz he's cool doesn't mean I like him, it just means he's cool. 'Sides, you see his ride? That kid ain't street tough like he comes off, he's just some rich prick playin' at something he'll never understand!"
"Is that what you really think?"
"Of course it is!"
"I'm not so sure. You're not very honest, you know," Kid muses, golden eyes darker than she's ever seen them. They startle her; she didn't think Kid could look dangerous. "From these few weeks I've gotten to know you, I've learned that you are very contradictory; it's difficult to figure you out, but not impossible."
"Contra—what are you tryin' to say?" Liz steams, storming up to him. "Who's contradictory?" She growls, then takes him by the cuff of his shirt. He's barely fazed; in fact, the corners of his lips curl up ever the slightest bit. Her face colors; does he think this is a joke? Liz hardens her eyes, bringing him closer. "Well?" She spits.
"Why are you so upset?" Kid asks calmly. Liz feels her face heat up even more; he's too blunt for his own good. She knows why she's losing her lid so easily; it's in the wash of cold that runs through her, the loud hammer of her pulse in her ears. It's a familiar feeling and her skin crawls with it. He's going to figure it out, she can see the gears turning in his head, and when he figures it out she'll be done for. She wants to let him go and storm out but she can't, he has her bolted to the ground with that unnerving gaze of his. "If you really didn't like Soul, you would not be so upset right now, would you?"
Wait, what?
It seemed she gave Kid too much credit after all.
"You wanted me to ask Maka out in order to stop Soul from asking her first, right?" Kid states, as if he figured it all out. Liz can only stare down at him, baffled, gray blue eyes tracing the tightness around his eyes, his mouth. "That way, you would be able to grow closer to him and make your own move, correct? You were using me," he ends so surely that Liz would have punched him right then and there.
"You—!"
"There is no need to deny it," Kid interrupts, placing his hand over her balled one. Liz drops her eyes to it dumbly, still reeling from the sheer stupidity of one boy. "The heart chooses who it wants and I am in no position to—deter you, no matter how I feel."
"H…" But her mouth is dry; she can't really say how you feel? without the inflection of damnable hope.
"I'm sorry I could not do as you wished and ask Maka to become my girlfriend. But I simply could not; I could not lie to her like that, Maka really is a nice girl," Kid continues, overlooking Liz's twitching brow. "And I am also sure she would have rejected me even if I tried—!"
"Are you a moron or something?" Liz screeches, shaking him twice. "Shut up! I don't like Soul, you numbskull," Liz growls, face pressed so close to his their noses touch. Kid finally loses composure; he sputters, jerking back, mouth agape as Liz snarls, "I don't like Soul, I thought you liked Maka! Is it so bad to get angry because you saw that? Anyone would be angry if their friend had to witness the girl they like suck face with some other guy!"
"You consider me your friend?" Kid asks, eyes lighting up.
Liz sighs loudly. Boys were dumb. "Of course I do. I-I know I blackmailed you and I'm sorry for that, Kid, I was just doing it for fun and I didn't mean…I didn't mean for it to get so out of hand. If you seriously asked me to stop I would have deleted that photo I took..." she drops her gaze to the ground. "I just wanted to help you get with the girl you like, but you wouldn't budge. I sent you on most of those errands because I knew Maka would be there and you'd have an excuse to talk to her but you never took it. I actually like match-making, but you're too much of an idiot to follow through," she adds with a shake of her head, her fists loosening on his shirt. "You wouldn't take my help so I...didn't know what else to do."
"Thank you."
Liz takes in a sharp breath. She hadn't expected such a sincere thanks, she expected something a little worse—some mocking, some sneering. Anything but a thanks.
"I'm glad you care about me enough to be bothered by something like this," Kid tells her kindly and when she looks up, she wishes she hadn't, because his eyes are warm and so unlike their daily, terse shade of gold—and her throat tightens, her hands become sweaty. She lets him go immediately, taking a step back. She hopes he doesn't notice her colored face and how her eyes are wide, flustered.
"But I actually don't like Maka," he deadpans.
"Wait, what? B-but, that picture—!"
"Ah, yes. The drawing. It was for my art class," Kid says casually, derailing her entirely. "Maka was the model, you see, we had to draw a real-life portrait of a person within forty minutes so I was practicing early in order to achieve a passing grade. I was just embarrassed you saw one of my first practiced drawings."
There's a pause, then:
"S…so that drawing, this whole thing…?" Liz gapes, eye twitching. "You—didn't like her all this time?"
"Yes."
"Then…" She feels her lip twitch and immediately she has him slammed up against the wall again, the veins in her arm bulging from the effort of restraining her fury. This time he actually did wince. "Were you fucking with me this whole time, you bastard?"
"Liz! No profanity within school grounds—!"
"KID!"
"Alright, alright!" Kid holds his hands up. "I was not, ah, playing with you, Liz."
"Then why'd you agree to it all? Why didn't you tell me—why the hell did you go along with it?" Liz snarls, knuckles cracking. Her blonde hair fell down her face dangerously. She actually felt guilt over this and it was all a farce; she was not about to let it go so easily. "Kid, I'm not in the mood for games."
"I needed a reason to speak to you!"
Liz hesitates. "What?"
"I needed a reason to get closer to you. This was a good opening. Inconvenient, because you believed I liked Maka, but I—had the objective of slowly changing your mind about it. I thought I had succeeded various times, but you're quite stubborn—confusing, to be more accurate. You say one thing but your actions contradict you." Kid's eyes soften when they meet her wide gray blue. He can feel her fists lose strength, her shoulders tense up.
"You...you're a bastard," she says weakly.
"Like that," Kid says softly. "You say that," he leans in and her cheeks blossom with color, "yet your actions say something very different."
He's a little sophomore boy, Liz tells herself shrilly, he should not have the power he has over her as she squeals and jerks back, covering her face with her hand. She's Liz Thompson; she's only been so weak with a boy when she was fourteen and she knew no better. She promised not to be made a fool of a second time but Kid is so sweet on her, just like now as he reaches out for her tentatively.
"It's—me, isn't it?" Liz chokes out, face darkening when Kid coughs but nods quickly, loosening up his tie nervously. "And you made me go through all that, you really are an idiot," Liz grumbles, but can't look him in the eye. "….I'm about to graduate."
"I know. I can wait, if that's what you mean."
Liz's face can't get any redder, but he's testing the limits. "That's two years, Kid, don't be ridiculous. You can't even decide on the patterns of your socks without losing it every morning."
"The designs matter, Liz," is all Kid has to say on it before he adds, "Then we can do it without anyone knowing."
They're back to familiar territory. Liz glances over at him, shaking her head in incredulity. "You're the student council president, I can't believe you're even suggesting that."
Kid isn't an idiot; he should know why and it shows in his eyes, how they droop and he loses the confidence he had before. Liz clenches her fists by her side. It was a measly two years but she's seen so many of her friends get into trouble for that sort of thing. Death City is a small town; word gets around fast, people talk. She doesn't think she can keep her hands to herself, either; it's better this way, to kindle this between them until then. She'll do it right this time, Liz compromises. She'll get it right this time.
"You do have a point," Kid sighs out heavily, glancing sidelong. "I understand."
"Idiot," Liz chuckles, fondly. "How about this: you draw me next," Liz tells him instead, smiling. Kid finally breaks; he flushes and it's so noticeable with his pale skin. "And you show me your progress at games," she winks, "I'll still be invited to those, right, even after graduation?"
"Yes, they're every two wee….ks," he slows in realization. He straightens, staring earnestly into her eyes. "I will, for every volleyball game until I graduate!"
Liz beams. "I'll hold you to that, then. I don't get a discount anymore so don't disappoint me, Kid!"
"I won't. But, Liz, I—" Kid fumbles hesitantly, and whatever he was about to say in that moment will remain lost as Soul comes in right after, brow raising at them both.
"Uh," Soul stares, bewildered at the sight. "My bad. Stein asked me to come here to pick up some DVD."
Liz wants to strangle Soul for the first time since last week but she's sure his admirers would not take kindly to that—or Maka, actually, and she was more wary of Maka than a couple of skinny girls with crushes. "Yeah, sure...you were saying, Kid?"
"…We should go. I have to return these notes to Miss Nygus before the end of lunch break," Kid says instead, holding up a clipboard.
"Ahah! I knew you were busy!"
"I am the student council president."
"Why didn't you just say you were—Kid, hey, you rude little—!"
Kid walks out with Liz at his heels, never denying or admitting to her accusations. Soul stays behind, watching until the door closes completely. He wonders if Kid had been on the verge of telling Liz his feelings and rubs the back of his neck in regret. Kid was a straightforward but reserved guy; Soul understands why he hasn't done it before, they're similar in that respect. He sighs, deciding he'd apologize later for his untimely entrance later, and goes back to digging through the cabinet for a DVD on dissection when Maka bursts into the classroom, breathing hard.
"Hey, what's up?" Soul greets, rummaging through the cabinet with one hand while Maka jogs up to him.
"We have a slight problem," Maka hedges, tugging on her pigtails in anxiety. "No, we have a huge problem!"
Soul stops rummaging, concerned. "What do you mean?"
"Liz might not have been the only one to see...us," she says, carefully.
"So? I don't see what the big dea—!"
"Don't see the big deal?" Maka growls, smacking him on the head. Soul grunts, back to rummaging. "Soul, you idiot, Anya saw us!"
Instantly, Soul drops the DVD disk in his hand and his eyes grow very big. "Anya?"
Maka nods, face rather green.
Anya Hepburn: writer for the school newspaper, head of the cheer squad, and his spoiled-rotten neighbor who happened to be on good terms with his equally-spoiled, equally-insufferable parents and brother.
"Great, this week can't get any worse," Soul groans and freezes when something cracks under his foot. When he looks down, he cusses loudly at the cracked DVD under his shoe. The DVD that Stein needed, actually. "Goddammit!"
This week was going to be bad; he could feel it.
A/N: This story is technically supposed to be told in three parts: the first being Kid/Liz, second Soul/Maka, and third Kim/Jackie, except it's been weeks already and I've had little to no motivation to write the second part to this high school AU series. I want to say I'll get the next two parts done eventually, but I probably wont, so that's why I decided to post the fic up anyway. I figure my readers could enjoy this bit of Kiz/Liz interaction even if I don't follow up.
I do apologize for that cliffhanger, though haha.
Thanks!
Scar.