Another world inside of me
Maka never asked to have a new roommate. It was all her stupid dad's fault, anyway.
After her very first week at the Death Weapon Meister Academy, Maka Albarn was pretty optimistic. Sure, it would be a lot of work, but she would eventually find herself a scythe, and she most definitely would make that weapon into a death scythe. One thing she most definitely would not do was fall for her weapon, the way her mom had. She was determined and peppy that nice Friday afternoon. Then she got home.
"I'm home, Papa!" she called when she walked across the threshold, then she stopped short.
Maka had not been expecting to see a boy sitting on her couch in their modest apartment. Her father was sitting across from the boy (Whose posture, she noticed, was atrocious) and he was explaining something, it seemed. Her father turned when the door opened.
"Maka!" he beamed.
Maka crossed her arms. "Hello, Papa." She eyed the stranger. "Who's this boy?"
The boy looked at her, and she felt a surge of momentary panic when she saw his eyes. They were like large rubies, sparkling with dark humor and cold anger at the same time. His hair was a complete mess as though he didn't care one bit about how he looked. He had a cocky grin on his face, and his teeth were like a shark's.
Maka quickly regained her composure. Her papa got up from the couch and cleared his throat. "Maka, this is Soul. Soul, this is my daughter Maka."
"Nice to meet you," Maka said politely.
Soul just nodded.
"Maka," her papa continued, "Soul is going to be staying with us for a little while."
Maka turned her attention to the death scythe. "What? Why?"
He nervously scratched his head. "Well, you see, Soul here has nowhere else to go." He leaned close to Maka to make sure his next words weren't heard by Soul. "He's orphaned, as far as I can tell. He won't open up to me. Maybe you could try to be nice to him and cooperate for now?"
Maka sighed. Based on Soul's smug look, she was pretty sure he'd still overheard their conversation. He was not going to be fun to live with, it seemed.
But she decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. She was about to say something when Soul abruptly stood up.
"Hey, Death Scythe. I'd like to get my own space as soon as possible. Where does a cool guy like me get to sleep?"
"Right. It's the room on your left. You can't miss it," Death Scythe responded casually, pointing to indicate the room right across from Maka's. As Soul passed her, Maka could've sworn he muttered "Tiny tits." She instinctively covered her chest and her face flushed. Soul's grin widened.
Maka glared at him the whole while he crossed their apartment. As soon as his door closed, she turned on her father.
"Papa, where did you find somebody like him?" she demanded. That comment about tiny tits still rang in her ears.
"Well, I was at…um…a place," he started.
"You mean a bar?" Maka asked, not fooled by his aversion of the word.
"Um, yes, that. And while I was there, one of the girls that work there found him. He was just sitting in the alleyway, all pathetic and lonely, and, being a parent, I couldn't just leave him there."
"So you volunteered to take in some boy that you know absolutely nothing about?"
Her dad flinched. "Well…yeah…basically."
Maka sighed. It amazed her that her mother had ever fallen in love with this idiot. She shook herself. Now wasn't the time to scold her good-for-nothing father. Now she had to deal with the problem of the new boy, Soul. A thought occurred to her.
"What's his last name?" she asked.
Her papa stopped for a second. "You know, he wouldn't tell me. I asked him, but all he would say was that his name was Soul."
Maka shook her head at how clueless he could be sometimes.
Adjusting to having a boy her age in the apartment took some time. Soul wasn't your average guy, as he mostly stayed in his room and only came out to look for food. Saturday morning, she came out of her room to find Soul walking past in jeans. Just jeans, no shirt. He didn't even glance at her as he passed, but she knew her face was impersonating a tomato. He looked at her over his shoulder. He grinned an evil grin, and she slammed her door in frustration.
She leaned against her door, her face still burning and her heart hammering. He was such a jerk! She hated that Soul. But that look in his eyes…that challenging look that seemed to say "Why can't you stop staring?" really bothered her. She lightly slapped her face.
She shouldn't be thinking about this. But she wondered too. Why couldn't she stop staring? Well, it was obviously because she wasn't expecting to live with such a shameless jerk right after her mother left. How was she supposed to deal with this guy on top of caring for her father? And this guy was most definitely not attractive in the slightest. He just surprised her. That was it, end of story.
She braced herself and headed out of her room again. Soul was pulling a shirt lazily over his fluffy white hair, and she looked at the floor as she passed him. With his face still covered with fabric, he asked, "Where you headed?"
How had he seen her through that material? "The library. I need to study."
He finally got his fat head through the neck hole. "School started…what, a week ago? Do you really need to study already?" He calmly sipped on some soda as he waited patiently for her response.
"I want to get a head start," Maka said a little defensively. Soul took the opening.
"You're a huge nerd, aren't you? Jeez, and I get stuck with your dad, too. I'm just living in a nuthouse."
Maka's temper flared. They had taken him in, helped him when he had nothing, and he was criticizing them? "Well, that's better than living in an alleyway like a piece of trash! My papa saved you, and this is how you thank him? Sarcastic remarks?"
Her aforementioned father poked his head out of his room. "My Maka's defending me?"
"I'm just making a point, Papa," she said flatly.
He solemnly closed the door again after his head retreated.
Soul watched amusedly at their bickering. "You treat your old man like that?"
Maka shot him an angry glare. "Oh yeah? And just how do you treat your father, Soul?" She put so much malice into his name, all the hate and humiliation she was feeling into just that one syllable, it surprised even her. His response was unexpected, though. She could practically feel his mental barriers going up.
"I don't talk to him." And with that, Soul turned his back on her and went right back to his room, leaving Maka pissed, slightly ashamed…and somehow intrigued.
Maka was looking forward to class on Monday. Soul and she had already made enemies of each other, it seemed, and she couldn't wait to spend a whole day away from him. She spent almost all of Sunday in her room just to avoid him.
On Monday she got up extra early, made a quick breakfast, and headed out the door before either of her roommates woke up. She marched triumphantly to school. The sun had just risen, and the weather was pleasantly warm. Today was going to be a good one, Maka decided.
She headed for the classroom. Very few people were at school so early. Maka spotted Professor Sid going towards the class as well, and cheerfully greeted him.
"Good morning…" he said thoughtfully, trying to recall her name.
"Maka," she put in.
He nodded. "Yes, I remember now. Maka Albarn, Meister."
Her shoulders slumped a little. She was just a name and classification on his list. She always liked being friendly with her teachers. That earned her the title of teacher's pet, but she didn't care.
"You're here pretty early, aren't you Miss Albarn?" he inquired.
She smiled without humor. "I just couldn't wait to get here, that's all."
Sid shrugged. They made it to the classroom and Maka settled comfortably into her seat. She was the only student in the room, and Sid was back in the hallway making sure people didn't misbehave in the halls, so she pulled out a book and began reading.
Almost an hour later, class started. She must've gotten there earlier then she thought. School starts at seven, so she must have gotten there around six.
Sid stood at the center of the room, telling kids to behave and listen.
"Now, we have a new student joining our class, so make him feel welcome. Come on in!"
The door opened, and Maka's jaw almost hit her desk. Striding into her classroom, her only sanctuary, was a yellow-garbed monster. He slouched next to Sid, grinning with satisfaction at Maka, exposing his razor teeth.
"This is Soul. He's the newest edition to our group, so treat him with respect. Now, as for where you'll sit, Soul, your seat is right up there."
Terror froze Maka in place as Sid pointed to the empty seat right beside her. Time seemed to slow down as Soul leisurely made his way up the steps and plopped into the seat he'd been assigned. First she couldn't get away from him at home, but now she actually had to sit next to him in class?! Her day, she decided, could not get worse. Her resentment for Soul only grew since his snoring made it hard to focus on Sid's lesson.
She glanced angrily at him, and some of her anger faded. She'd never seen him look so peaceful. She could actually focus on the way he looked for a moment without fear of his snide remarks. He didn't look so bad. He was actually kind of cute.
She immediately wanted to Maka-chop herself. Soul was not cute. He was a jackass and he was messy and snored and pushed her buttons on purpose. Maka glared at his sleeping face, and he shifted like it was giving him a nightmare. She was feeling pleased with herself when a strand of his white hair fell into his face. She had the unreasonable urge to push it back for him, and when she did she found out just how soft his hair was. She couldn't say exactly what it was that possessed her, but she ran her hand through his hair once. He smiled in his sleep and moved a little closer to her. Thoroughly creeped out and upset with herself, Maka tried to focus on her lessons, but she remained aware of the one ruby eye that never strayed from her face.
When the bell rang to dismiss class for the day, Maka sprang up from her seat faster than she ever had before. She raced out of the room as fast as she could without drawing too much attention to herself. She could feel Soul's eyes on her back as he watched her go. No way was she walking home with him. Maka made a beeline for her room when she got through the door. She just wanted some solitude at the moment.
"Maka? Can you come out here for a minute?" she heard her papa call. Maka huffed heavily, but she made her way to the living room where Soul and her papa were sitting. Her first thought was that Soul had complained about her to her papa, but Soul didn't seem the type to go crying to an adult. She reluctantly sat on the opposite side of the couch as Soul so they were as far apart as possible.
"I have an announcement to make," her papa informed them. "Maka, your mother and I are getting a divorce."
Maka had been expecting to hear those words for years, but actually hearing them was different. Her life felt like it was still being ripped apart at the seams. It had never been that stable, but that didn't make it hurt any less. She swallowed her pain and tried for an unsurprised face.
"I've known that was going to happen for years. What's your point, Papa?" He flinched at her harshness.
"Well, custody of any children goes to your mother…" He trailed off, and Maka felt a glimmer of hope. Maybe she'd be able to travel with her mother now.
"But since she is, er, absent, and you still need to go to school, there's only one solution." He looked her in the eye. "Maka, I'm moving out."
Maka thought she caught his meaning, but it didn't make any sense. Even Soul was actively listening now. "Wait, you mean…I'll have to live here by myself from now on?"
He looked nervous. "Well, not exactly. Soul is technically one of the kids I'm looking after, and your mom convinced the people at the divorce agency that I'm incompetent when dealing with children, so you have to live here together, and I have to leave."
"No, Papa! I can't live here with…with him!" Maka pointed accusingly at Soul as though it were his fault her parents were breaking up.
Soul looked uneasy. "Hey! I don't like this any more than she does! Why do I have to be involved in this?"
The death scythe glared at Soul. "Where else are you going to go, huh? Back to that alley? Neither of you really have a choice in the matter. I'm sorry, Maka."
Maka plastered a fake smile on her face. "Don't worry about it, Papa. I've spent so much time caring for you I'm sure I can handle this boy."
He still didn't look entirely convinced. He glared at Soul. "And if you lay one hand on my Maka, as a death scythe-no, as her father- I will personally kill you, got it?"
Soul looked thoroughly unimpressed. "Yeah, right. Like I'm going to go for someone with her flat chest?"
"Are you saying my Maka's not attractive?!"
"Papa," Maka interrupted forcefully. "Is that all you needed?"
He looked at her with a confused expression. "Uh, yeah I guess. Maka?"
She got up and walked to her room. The moment she shut the door, her mask shattered. A tear leaked out and traced its way down her cheek. She shouldn't be sad, she thought, since she'd known this was coming for such a long time. She's not sad, she's not sad, she's not sad. She slowly walked to her bed on shaking legs. She hugged her pillow and tried to stop the tears that wouldn't listen.
Soul calmly got up from his spot on the couch. This was more of a family matter, a family that he wasn't even a part of. Ignoring the glares Death Scythe gave him as he walked past, Soul headed for his room. He stopped short when he heard what he could've sworn was sobbing coming from Maka's room. He debated whether or not he should care. She had never been nice to him on even one occasion yet. But family problems were something he understood.
He grasped the doorknob and turned it slowly. He poked his head into her room. As he'd thought, she was on her bed, hugging her pillow and crying into it.
"Aw great," he mumbled as he crossed the boundary into her room.
"Go away," she said into her pillow.
Soul stepped further into the room and shut the door quietly behind him, so as not to alert her psychotic father that his precious daughter was alone with a boy. He made his way across the room and sat on the edge of her bed. She glared at him with teary eyes.
"Geez, you're gonna be a handful, huh?" Any protests she might have made turned into a squeak as Soul pulled her to his side. He put his arm around her and she stayed frozen with shock. After a moment she leaned into him and openly cried. Soul just waited for her tears to subside. About a minute later, she wiped her eyes and moved away from him.
"Thanks," she mumbled, unwilling to meet his eyes.
Soul stood up and headed for the door. "Don't expect this from me every time you have a breakdown, alright? I'm not your babysitter."
And with that, he shut the door and headed for his own room, thinking about how maybe, just maybe, this girl wasn't quite as tough as she made herself out to be. He smiled humorlessly. She was just like him that way.