A Rose By Any Other Name Chapter 1: Game Face
"All I'm saying is that I really think getting a job would be good for you," Maka Albarn explained. Soul-Eater Evans sighed and ran his fingers through his spiky white hair. "Look, I get your point but can we please do this later? I'm supposed to meet Black Star and Kid at the basketball court in a half-hour," he said slowly shuffling towards the door of their apartment. Maka frowned at the teenager. "You know, I really wish you would stop skipping out on me when I have something important to say. One of these days, instead of 'Oh, hey I found you a job,' it's going to be, 'Oh, hey I have one month to live,' and you're going to tell me you have to go play Halo at Black Star's place," Maka said crossing her arms over her rather flat chest. Soul chuckled. "I'll make sure my schedule's wide open when that happens," he said smirking at the annoyed girl. Maka rolled her eyes. "Haha, that's very funny." Soul shrugged and grinned, flashing his unusually sharp teeth. "Hey, I try."
"Don't be out too late," Maka said as Soul grabbed his keys from the bowl by the door of their apartment. "No promises," Soul yelled back before grabbing his helmet and running out the door. He took the stairs down to the parking-lot where his red Yamaha sat. "Hello gorgeous," he said running his hand across the glittery red paint job. He swung his leg over and straddled the bike's seat. Pushing the key into the ignition, he flicked up the kickstand and sped off to meet the guys.
"Soul is late. That is simply unacceptable," Death the Kid said sliding his blue LG Xenon GR500 shut. He slid it into the pocket of his blue jeans as Black-Star stretched and yawned. "Maybe he realized he has no chance of beating someone as awesome as me and decided to save himself from total embarrassment," Black-Star said cockily. Kid rolled his gold eyes. "Yes, I'm sure that's it," the boy said sarcastically just as Soul's Yamaha sped into view. "See?" Kid said, smirking at the blue-haired boy. "I told you he'd show up."
Soul rolled the motorcycle into a parking spot and shut it off. He tossed the keys into the duffle bag he'd brought and ran over to the two boys. "Yo. Sorry I'm late," he said, grinning. "Six minutes to be exact," Kid said flatly. "I wouldn't mind so much if you had been eight minutes late. At least eight is a symmetrical number," the black-haired boy muttered. "Says the boy with the asymmetrical white stripes in his hair," Soul shot back, causing Kid to whimper helplessly. "Good one!" Black-Star said high-fiving Soul. "Enough," said a frustrated Kid. "Let's please just get on with the game." Black-Star grinned. "Don't forget who the best player here is." Soul chuckled and pushed his hair back with a black headband. "Black-Star, you flatter me. But kissing my ass isn't going to get you anywhere." Black-Star tossed his head back and emitted a deep laugh. "Keep talking like that and the only thing you'll be kissing is the pavement," he said dribbling the ball.
Kid chuckled. "I swear, you two are the most competitive people I've ever associated myself with," he said shaking his head. "Well of course I am!" Black-Star yelled obnoxiously. "After all, no one's better than me, the amazing Black-Star!" Soul and Kid thought for a moment. "Chuck Norris is," Soul pointed out and Kid nodded in agreement. "Yes, and what about Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee?" Black-Star faltered and rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, okay, point taken." His entire demeanor suddenly shifted, showing off the usual cocky and overly-determined real life karate kid. "But I can still kick both of your asses when it comes to basketball!" he yelled, game face on. "Now, let's play!"
After two hours of vigorous overly competitive slam dunks and rim shots, Soul was declared the winner. "As it should be," Soul said happily when Kid announced the scores. Black-Star let out a depressed sigh. "Today's been an off-day for me, so you got lucky," the boy said pouting. Kid snickered and slid his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "Black-Star's life in three words: an off-day," he said smirking. Soul cracked up and fist bumped Kid. "Slay hard!" Black-Star clenched his fists and growled at the two. "Dude, relax. Getting bent out of shape over a couple of stupid jokes is totally uncool," Soul said chuckling. The hyper boy sighed. "Yeah, you're right. Instead of focusing on that, I should be focusing on how I'm gonna beat you next time," he cheered, jumping up and down. Soul rolled his ruby-red eyes. "Something tells me he's never going to change," he whispered to Kid who nodded in agreement.
"Well, this has been fun but if I'm not home soon, Maka's probably going to kill me," Soul said sticking his tongue out. "Sucks to be you," Black-Star said snickering. Kid spun to face Soul. "Oh! That reminds me, some renovations are being done to the Manor, and I was wondering if you'd be so kind as to let me stay with you for a while, at least until the renovations are complete." Soul raised an eyebrow at Kid. "What about Liz and Patty?" he asked. Kid opened his mouth to answer Soul's question when Black-Star cut in. "Wait! Why do you want to stay with Soul? Why not me?" he asked, pouting once more. Kid slapped his palm against his forehead and sighed. "Because, Black-Star, and don't take this the wrong way even though I'm quite sure you will, but I hold a better friendship with Soul than I do with you, and frankly I find you extremely annoying and obnoxious," Kid stated while Soul tried not to go into a laughing fit. Black-Star merely blinked and shrugged. "In case you haven't noticed, everyone thinks I'm annoying and obnoxious," he said mispronouncing 'obnoxious.' "That doesn't change the fact that I'm awesome!" Soul grinned and threw an arm around Kid's shoulders. "Black-Star, Kid does think you're awesome. He's probably just afraid that you're too messy and asymmetrical. It's not your fault he's insane."
Soul was afraid Kid would react negatively to his comment, but to his relief Kid laughed, as did Black-Star. "Alright, I get it," Black-Star said lightly punching Kid's arm. "No harm done there." Kid smirked before turning back to Soul. "So, would it be okay for me to stay with you and Maka for a while?" Soul fought back a grin. "Jee, I don't know, Kid," he said rubbing the back of his neck. Kid grinned. "Soul, cut it out." Soul laughed and ran his fingers through his snow white hair. "Yeah, okay, you can crash at our place." Kid's pale face lit up. "Excellent! I need to go back to Gallows Manor to collect a few things. I'll drop by sometime this evening," The black-haired boy announced. "Cool. See you then," Soul said walking towards his motorcycle. "Later, Black-Star," Soul said getting on the motor bike. Black-Star waved. "Later, Soul!" Behind his helmet, Soul grinned. My friends are total dorks, he thought to himself, amused.
Fifteen minutes later, Soul pulled into the apartment parking-lot. He turned off the bike and hopped off, twirling his keys on his index finger. He whistled to himself a song by Gavin DeGraw as he made his way up the flights of stairs leading to his and Maka's apartment. Many people thought it was weird that he and Maka lived together even though they weren't dating. Just the thought made Soul laugh. He wouldn't date someone so flat chested and temperamental! That would be majorly uncool. No, he and Maka had been friends since the first year of middle school. Now they were both in the eleventh grade and never once had Soul even considered dating her. That would put too much stress on their already slightly complicated friendship (not to mention the fact that they fought like an old married couple.) The only reason he lived with Maka was because he really had no other place to go. His parents had died in a bad car accident just after he was born, and his older brother, Wes, was nowhere to be found. So, Soul was handed off to a very distant relative who he swears was clinically insane. Maka had been living by herself since the divorce between her parents because she downright refused to live with her good-for-nothing father. So, Soul moved in with Maka and the rest was history.
Soul walked into the apartment to find Maka watching some nature documentary about arctic seals. Typical Maka. He tossed his keys into the bowl by the door and stretched, walking into the kitchen. "How did it go?" Maka asked. Soul grinned. "I won by a long shot. Black-Star was second and poor Kid kept freaking out about the asymmetrical dirt stains on the freaking ball. He didn't make a single shot," Soul said chuckling. Maka smiled. "Wow, sounds like everyone had a lot of fun." Soul nodded. "Indeed everyone did." He grabbed a can of Dr. Pepper from the fridge and plopped down next to Maka on the couch. He reached for the TV remote, but Maka was quick to snatch it away. "I don't think so! I've been waiting to see this for like a month," Maka said shooting Soul a serious look. Soul groaned. "And I've been waiting for a month to get the new edition of Sports Illustrated, but you don't see me throwing a fit," he said lunging once more for the remote. This time, he was victorious.
"You're impossible," Maka complained while Soul changed the channel to football. It was Michigan vs. Northwestern. Now it was Maka's turn to groan. "Football? I hate football," she grumbled. Soul rolled his eyes and popped the tab on his Dr. Pepper. "I hate when girls whine," he mumbled. Maka clenched her fists and growled. "Something must've been wrong with me when I said you could live here," Maka said spitefully. Soul took another sip of his soda. "That reminds me, Kid's going to be staying here for a few days. I guess some renovations are being done on his mansion and he needs a place to stay." Maka blinked at Soul. "And you couldn't have asked me beforehand? Can't he stay with Black-Star and Tsubaki?" Soul gave her a look like she'd just said something incredibly stupid, and she had as far as Soul was concerned. "Maka, are you kidding me? Black-Star and Kid would rip each other's throats out within the first hour," Soul said matter-of-factly. Maka had to admit, he was right.
"Alright, point taken. Fine. Actually, I think Kid staying here would be good for you," Maka said suddenly, causing Soul to choke on his soda and spit it across the room. "I'm sorry, what the hell did you just say?" Soul asked, coughing. Maka blinked, trying to figure out what she'd said wrong. "I said that Kid staying here could be good for you," Maka repeated slowly, almost cautiously. Soul raised an eyebrow at the confused girl. "And why exactly would that be good for me?" he asked just a little defensively. Maka began to gnaw nervously on her bottom lip. "Jeeze, Soul. I just meant that you'll have someone to hang out with instead of being such a loner all the time," Maka said rubbing her arm. Soul frowned, slightly pissed. "Maka, what the hell are you talking about?" Soul demanded. "I hang out with Black-Star and Kid all the time! How am I a loner?" he asked, baring his sharp teeth.
Maka had to think through how she was going to answer that before she actually did answer. "Soul, I just meant that whenever I leave the house, you stay here locked up in your room or you sit on the couch and watch TV until I get home. And the only time you go out is when someone has to beg you," Maka stated earning herself a warning glare from a very agitated Soul. "If you have a point then make it," Soul snapped. Maka took a deep breath. "Never mind. Forget I said anything," she said faking a smile. Soul smirked coldly at her. "Believe me, I will." Maka flinched slightly, but Soul paid no heed. Instead, he stomped off into his room and slammed the door to make a point that he wanted to be by himself.
Who did she think she was to call him out like that? That had to have been the most uncool thing she had ever done to him. Just because Soul preferred to stay away from crowds and didn't crave the company of others like Black-Star didn't make him a loner... did it? Soul groaned and lay back on his bed, placing his hands under his head. He really hated when Maka was even a little right, which was actually more often than Soul liked to admit. But the fact that she thought that Soul could benefit from someone else's company was absolutely insane. The only person who Soul had ever really benefitted from was Maka, and even that was unintentional. Even so... Soul sighed. This sucked. Soul had been in a perfectly content mood before Maka had gone and opened her opinionated little mouth.
Soul felt just about ready to rip his gorgeous hair out. He didn't even know why this was so confusing for him. Oh well. In an hour or two, he'd put on an apologetic face and fake like he was over it because that was the cool thing to do. Until that point, Soul would find something to keep him busy. Like listening to the shit ton of new songs he'd put on his iPod. Most of the songs consisted of The Script, Skillet and some hipster band he'd found called Love & Satellites. He pulled out his iPod and headphones. He lifted his expensive headphones onto his head and pressed play, closing his eyes and leaning against the headboard.
Soul remained like that for about an hour before someone rapped loudly on his bedroom door, breaking him out of his delightful trance. Soul groaned inwardly. "Go away, Maka," he said in a slightly annoyed tone. He needed a bit more time to himself before he would be ready to deal with her. However, much to his surprise, the voice that answered wasn't Maka's. "Well, considering I'm not Maka, may I come in?" Soul sat up, suddenly very aware that the voice outside his door belonged to Kid. He ran his fingers through his messy hair and shut off his iPod. "Uh... yeah, come on in I guess," Soul said lamely.
Kid slowly opened the door and walked in. "Maka said you've been in here for a while. Is everything alright?" Kid asked almost sounding genuinely concerned rather than just being polite. Soul rolled his eyes. "No, Kid, I'm not fine at all. My life is ruined and I'm going to stay in here forever and become a shut-in," Soul said sarcastically. Kid's expression became a disapproving glare. Good, Soul thought. "Are you just going to stand there all night?" Soul asked raising an eyebrow at his friend. Kid sighed and sat down on the end of Soul's bed. "There, are you happy now?" Kid half asked, half mumbled. Soul smirked a bit. "Yeah, I guess for the time being," he said with a smug amused grin plastered onto his face. Kid copied Soul's earlier smirk and adjusted the skull shape rings on both of his ring fingers. Soul watched him soundlessly as he fumbled with the metal bands.
After a minute, Kid realized he was being watched and he looked up at Soul. "Is something wrong?" Kid asked sounding almost disturbed. Soul frowned. "No." Kid raised a perfect eyebrow at the socially awkward teenager before turning his attention back to adjusting his rings so that they were perfectly symmetrical. Another minute passed before Soul groaned and covered his face with his hands. "Ugh! How the hell do girls do this?" he asked no one in particular. Soul's outburst caused Kid to slip, turning his ring too far to one side. He scowled at it and gave up, looking at Soul. "What do you mean?" Soul sighed loudly. "It makes absolutely no damn sense to me how girls can just sit in one spot and talk about absolutely nothing for hours on end without any of this awkwardness," he complained. He was met by an amused smile from Kid. Suddenly, Soul felt embarrassed for being so uncool.
"I understand completely," Kid said taking Soul by surprise. "I'll be sitting on the couch reading books about symmetry as I so often do, and suddenly Patty and Liz will launch into a conversation that has absolutely nothing to do with anything previously mentioned," Kid said chuckling. "The conversation could start with clothes and end with something about the latest news on Adam Lambert," he said sounding bewildered. Soul laughed. "Wow, seriously?" he asked, shaking his head. "I don't think I'll ever understand how girls' minds work. Well, except for the Adam Lambert part," he said nodding towards his iPod. Kid's eyes scanned the iPod. "I'll be honest, I've always wondered what kind of music you listen to," Kid said surprising Soul yet again. "Really?" Kid nodded. "I've thought about it many times, but I always come up blank. You seem like that guy who sticks to maybe one or two genres, or completely branches out to every genre known to man." This left Soul at a loss for words. He was really impressed by how accurate Kid's deduction was. "I'm more of the second one," Soul admitted.
Soul picked his iPod up off of the bed and turned it back on. He searched through the drawers of his nightstand for the ear buds the iPod had come with. After plugging them into the iPod, he scrolled through his playlists until he found the song he was looking for. "Put this in," he said crawling over to Kid and holding out an ear bud. Kid took the ear bud and pressed it into his ear. Soul hit play and a song began playing. The song was "No Boundaries" by Adam Lambert.
"Seconds, hours, so many days.
You know what you want but how long can you wait?
Every moment lasts forever
When you feel you lost your way."
Soul hummed along with the music, sneaking a peak at Kid every once and a while. He actually seemed to be enjoying the song. When the song ended, Kid removed the ear bud and handed it back to Soul. "That's a gorgeous song. However, I do believe Kris Allen did it first," Kid said smirking a bit. Soul snorted. "Screw you. They both did it on American Idol," he stated. "However, it works better with Adam's voice. I'm a strong believer that Adam should've won instead of Kris," Soul said. Kid snickered a bit causing Soul to frown. "What?" Kid cleared his throat. "You sound gay." Soul cracked up. "Well, I will admit that if I were to go gay for anyone, it would be Adam Lambert. Even for a dude, that guy is damn attractive," Soul said grinning. Now it was Kid's turn to laugh. "I'll take your word for it."
Kid and Soul spent the rest of the night in Soul's room listening to various bands and more Adam Lambert. Soul hated it, but he had to admit that Maka could be right about Kid's presence being a good thing. Only time could really tell now.
Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater or any of the characters (unfortunately).
A/N: Thought it was about time I fixed this up a bit and got to work on chapter two. I suddenly have the inspiration to work on it again, so why not?! So on that note, Enjoy!