Stay With Me
~SoMa~
First "I Love You"
Word Count: 3262
Ok, so this is my contribution to Soma Week~
Regrettably, I haven't finished the manga so I don't exactly know what happens as far as their soul collection goes so I'm kinda just basing this off what I know from the anime. Forgive me "
Also! VERY IMPORTANT! THIS STORY INCLUDES LOTS OF ANGST! Which I know is the last thing some of you may want from the "First I Love You" prompt buuuuuut oh well~ I've been thinking of this story for a while now and figured this was the best time to write it ;)
This is also my first Soul Eater fanfic so... enjoy? XDD
It was just a simple mission, it wasn't supposed to end like this.
Maka lunged at their target, skillfully swiping the weapon that was her partner through the unprepared foe. His body melting into the tornado of black flesh to reveal his tainted red soul. Her scythe glowing white before turning back to her familiar red-eyed roommate. Soul walked up to the suspended red mass, a wicked grin spread across his face.
"After this we only have to get a few more, huh?" He gripped the soul in his hand and squeezed it, as if to test it's firmness. Maka watched as he swallowed the bulging mass whole, letting out a satisfied sigh before turning to her. She smiled and nodded in return.
They had been working diligently in collecting the 99 soul criteria after their mishap with Blair. Finally they were almost done! She would finally turn Soul into a Death Scythe! And although the thought was liberating and exciting all at once, she couldn't help but wonder what would happen to them after he became a Death Scythe. Would they continue to live together in their version of normalcy? Or would Soul leave her behind and peruse his new title? She looked to her friend who walked ahead of her to start up his bike. He looked back at her expectantly, a rare sincere smile gracing his features. Her earlier inhibitions melted away with the coming of that sure smile of his. The way he looked was so carefree; and, for the moment, she dared to live in the state of bliss. Ignoring the pang of fear the future may bring.
The cold night wind lifted and caressed her pigtails as Soul drove through the empty residential streets. It was late evening and the sun was settling behind the horizon, a few last rays of light painting the skies a deep crimsion-orange. And although the day was coming to the close, the streets were uncharacteristically empty for such a populated area. Especially considering it tended to be more active in the later hours of the night. Maka continued looking around, searching for at least one person. After a few more minuets of driving and the diminishing of the reddened sky, Maka grew more curious. She leaned her face closer to Soul's ear so that he would hear her.
"Hey Soul, don't you think the streets are a little empty this early in the evening?" Soul looked around them. Seeming to notice what she meant he nodded.
"Yea, now that you mention it, it does look pretty quiet. I wonder why..." His voice trailed off as he continued looking down ally's as they passed. The more the problem became evident, the more wrong it felt. Perhaps she was just imagining it but this wasn't necessarily normal either. Looking down an ally as they passed, she noticed something lying on the ground. Was that...?
Realization hit her as she realized it was indeed a person collapsed in that ally. She tapped Soul's shoulder frantically and he turned his head slightly to look at her. As he did a large figure jumped out in front of them, it's tall figure towering over them.
"Look out!" she cried as she pointed in front of them. Soul's head whipped in the direction of her pointed gesture and slammed the breaks of the motorcycle. The bike attempted it's sudden stop but fell to its side instead, causing it's passengers to fall to the rough concrete below. The bike slid a few feet before coming to a complete stop before the large figure. With one hand, it picked up Soul's fallen ride and inspected it crucially before throwing it down the street past them. It hit the ground hard once before it became airborne again for a moment and landed on the ground with a loud clash of metal and concrete. Maka and Soul stood quickly to face their new opponent. Soul looked back at his beloved bike and glared back at the large figure.
"Hey! That was my bike you asshole!" he fumed. The creature seemed to chuckle at his anger, showing off his large, sharpened teeth. But they were nothing like Soul's, they were rigid and stained a deep yellow. His eyes glowed bright yellow despite the lack of lighting in the darkened street. He took a step towards them and caused the ground to shake slightly under his weight. Maka took a step back with Soul by her side. Using soul perception, she looked into his soul to find that he had a very developed kishin egg. Not only that, but it seemed his soul strength was rather high as well.
"What do you see?" Soul asked.
"It's bad, it looks like this thing consumed a lot of souls over a short period of time."
"That must be why we haven't seen anybody," Soul clenched his fist and looked to his meister. "We gotta take this thing down."
"Right," Maka slipped her hand into Soul's awaiting one and felt him shift into her familiar weapon. "I don't know who you are, but you've killed far too many people tonight! I'm gonna take your soul!" She lunged for him, testing a head on attack to see how his reaction times were. As she drew nearer, he didn't move. And when she brought the scythe down on him, he didn't block. The blade bit into his shoulder but barely budged more than a few inches into his thick flesh. Before he had the chance to grab her, she used his shoulder as a platform and pushed off with her foot. She landed a few yards away and slid another foot before lunging at him again. This time attempting a blow to his left leg. But the outcome came to be the same as the last, Soul's blade sunk a few inches but refused to budge any further than what it had gone.
"Damnit!" Maka cursed as she tried to pull Soul from the creatures thigh, but it seemed to have been more stuck then she had thought. The large figure grabbed Maka's leg and flung her into the nearby building. Maka fell to the ground with a loud clatter from her scythe falling next to her. She groaned and rolled onto her side.
"C'mon, Maka! Get up!" Soul warned as the large creature began to advance towards her once more. The ash-blonde stood as quick as she could, grabbing Soul and jumping out of the way from a heavy fist landing where she had once been. Managing to gain some distance from her foe, Maka decided it was time to bring out the heavy artillery.
"Were not getting anywhere with normal attacks, looks like were gonna have to resonate!"
"Right!" Soul agreed. The two prepared themselves and, sensing each others soul-wavelength, shouted in unison: "Lets go! Soul Resonance!" Within seconds the air became heavy under the energy their soul-wavelengths were emitting. A large blue sphere with wings appeared around the blonde scythe meister and stirred the air around them. Their shouts intensifying as the resonating level increased. The larger figure seemed to just watch them with amused curiosity, but did not advance. Once their resonance reached its intended height, Maka launched herself at her foe once again. This time wielding a large glowing blade, nearly three times her size.
"Genie Hunter!" She cried, slamming the blade into his shoulder once more. However this time the blade cut almost all the way through, ending at his hip. The blade vanished and returned to its original black and red form. Maka jumped away from his halved form and watched as he fell to his knees, a smug smile spread across her face.
"Yes! Got 'em!" Soul shouted victoriously. Maka smiled and began to reply but was cut off by the snapping of bones and ligaments. Maka turned back to the creature she thought she had slain, only to see it standing back up. It's halved body being pulled back together by dark black tendrils pulling, and stitching the two sides back to its original form.
"No way," Maka whispered in disbelief.
"That's impossible!" Soul shouted, but the creature simply cracked it's neck back in place and smiled wickedly. Without a moments hesitation, it ran at them with new found speed. Maka quickly switched to the defensive and held up Soul as a large fist came crashing down on them. The attack came down full force and caused a small crater under her feet, though she still managed to block the impact. Holding Soul up against the force of the creatures strength proved more difficult then she would have initially believed and quickly pushed back with as much strength as she could muster. While the beast lost its footing, she took the moment to put some distance between the two.
"What do we do now, Soul?" she asked her partner nervously. Soul stayed silent as he contemplated their current situation. A enemy they couldn't defeat with the Genie Hunter? Even Mosquito fell victim to that move.
The Black Blood, Soul. It's the only option. Soul winced as a familiar dark voice spoke from somewhere in his deep subconscious. No, he thought. I won't fall into that again, we can do this on our own! He was sure of it, if they could beat a Kishen without the Black Blood, they could beat a borderline Kishen too!
"Soul?" Maka asked tentatively. Soul snapped out of his internal argument and focused on his distressed meister.
"Don't worry, we'll just have to up our game." He reassured her, coming up with an idea.
"What did you have in mind?"
"We'll have to try Kishen Hunter," he said a little too casually. Maka looked to her Scythe partner in shock.
"What? We haven't been able to figure out how to duplicate that yet! I mean, we've been close but..." she trailed off.
"Hey, we can do this! Have some faith in our abilities, that thing is just another Kishen egg that we have to collect. Nothin' to it," he said with unwavering confidence. Maka smiled at him and nodded. He was right, they could do this. They've done it before, and they will do it again!
"Alright then! Let's go!" They resonated again, sending their energy higher and higher. Past Witch and Genie Hunter, and grazing the energy required for the powerful Kishen Hunter. If this didn't take him down, nothing would. The creature watched as they resonated and grew uncomfortable. Maka noted his nervous expression and knew that this was it. But before they were able to resonate high enough, the large figure lunged toward them. Attempting to stop her intended attack before she was able to gain the energy required. Maka cursed when she realized she wouldn't have the energy in time to land a hit and settled for the Genie Hunter once more. The large blade came crashing down on their advancing target, but only to be stopped by a large cleaver; nearly the size of Maka's upper torso. Electricity surged between the two weapons and charged the air around them. Maka struggled under the force of the cleaver; but when the Genie Hunter began to fade, she pulled back and tried to get away. Only to have their opponent wrap a grotesquely long tongue around her neck and slam her into the ground with enormous force. She lost her grip on Soul and was held in the air, the the towering figure squeezing her neck mercilessly. Maka kicked and clawed at her captor, but both were in vain. Her face quickly began to lose color as she gasped for air under the force of its grip.
"Maka!" Soul shouted after her. He quickly turned back into his human form, save for his arm which he used as a blade to sever the long muscle from its owner. Maka fell to the ground and gasped for air. The enraged creature knocked Soul aside in one fierce swoop of his hand, sending him flying into a concrete wall. The pain didn't register until he tried to move. Through his right shoulder protruded a long, broken, one-inch pipe. "Damnit," he winced as he tried pulling himself away from the wall. A deep, thundering laugh drew his attention to the tall figure who now stood a few yards from him. It lifted it's large cleaver and sent it flying in Soul's direction, guaranteeing a direct hit.
Was this it? Was he really going to die like this? He watched as the large blade spiraled towards him. But before it made it to it's intended target, his blonde partner ran to shield him from the oncoming attack. Just as he did a year prior.
"Maka! No!" Soul shouted, but the blade sunk into her small back with a sickening crack. The blade covering the entire length of her spine and splattering blood onto Soul's chest. Soul watched in shock as Maka's green eyes met his red, an apologetic look in their emerald depths.
"S-sorry," she chocked out before collapsing before him, the large blade fell from her back in a loud clatter. Her body as still as stone, forming a small pool of blood beneath her. Soul's eyes widened in horror as his miester lay on the ground motionless.
"Maka! No! Maka, get up! C'mon get up!" He shouted desperately at his fallen teammate. He began pulling himself from the wall again, ignoring the excruciating pain from his shoulder. He fell to his knees next to her and scooped her up into his arms, being cautious of her injured back. "Maka! Maka, damnit, get up! Please! C'mon, I know you don't go down this easy!" He shook her frantically but gently. Her half opened eyes met his own and he noted her obvious loss in color.
"Sorry, I- I just didn't know what else to do and acted b- before I could t- think," she whispered, her faltering breath breaking up her sentences in short gasps. Tears welled in her eyes as she looked into his terrified orbs she had come to know and love. "I guess I'm kind of an idiot huh?" she let out a weak chuckle and winced of pain.
"Yes you are, but were gonna fix you up. I promise, we'll take you to Stein and he'll stitch you up like he did me and-" Soul's voice faltered as he chocked back tears that threatened to pour down his cheeks. She would be fine, he had to believe that she could hold on long enough for him to get her to the mad scientist. She would make it, she had to. Maka laced her fingers in with his and he looked to her smiling face.
"Hey, c'mon. Cool guys aren't supposed to cry, aren't they?" she asked in forced amusement. A poor attempt at lifting his spirits, but his reputation was the last this on his mind. Her breathing began to noticeably slow with each passing moment and her eyes grew more heavy as she struggled to keep them open.
"Hey! Don't you dare shut your eyes! Look at me! Keep your eyes open, ok? Just focus on me!" he begged, but his words didn't seem to register. He shook her gently again to try and gain her attention which only seemed to rouse her conscious for a slight moment before she began to slip into unconsciousness once again. Tears welled up in the corners of his eyes as he watched her battle for consciousness. "C'mon you can't die on me! It was your turn to make dinner, you know I can't cook worth a shit," he tried to chuckle for her sake but it only came out as a choked sob. She remained silent in his arms, but still barely conscious. Whether she was understanding anything he was saying he wasn't sure. But he continued anyway, hoping he could somehow give her a reason to hold on.
"And what about our promise? You swore you were gonna make me a Death Scythe, remember? You can't go back on your word, damnit!" he was losing his grip and he could tell, his voice hitched as he choked back the sobs that he gave up on trying to hold back. Her face was nuzzled into his shoulder, it almost looked like she was trying to fight off sleep. Just like he had seen her do countless times when he had insisted they sit through a marathon of some T.V show he knew she loved. He remembered how halfway through the marathon he would end up turning it off and carrying her to her bed. Her form resting in his arms perfectly, like a puzzle piece. He could even recall how she would breathe through her mouth and let out small snores hat he always found adorable but would never admit. And also the way her skin felt beneath his lips when he would find the rare moments when he could leave a small kiss on her pale forehead. Those moments he cherished but would never reveal to his beloved companion. He looked at her weak form in her arms and let the tears flow, something she had only seen from him once before.
"Damnit, Maka, I love you! You can't leave me, got it? C'mon please! Stay with me! Don't close your eyes!" He frantically begged, squeezing his eyes shut to try and suffocate the tears. A small hand cupped his cheek and wiped away the trails of moisture. He looked to her deathly pale face and saw her smiling, the kind of smile that reached her eyes and made her entire face glow with happiness. Would this be the last time he would see it?
"You...have no idea...how long...I've waited to hear you say that..." her breathing was ragged, and made speaking difficult. But she smiled anyway, tears of her own falling down her cheeks in a steady flow. "I'm sorry," she barely chocked out before the darkness took her. Her hand falling from his cheek and landing in her lap.
"Maka? Maka! Maka please! MAKA!" Soul shouted hysterically, but to no avail. Maka laid motionless in his arms, her chest stopped its steady rise and fall.
The beast that was long forgotten by the couple began to advance on the two, picking up his cleaver that laid on the ground covered in Maka's blood. Soul stayed paralyzed by his miesters side as the giant raised his weapon and began its descent onto its original target. Soul waited for the attack to come, but it never did. He didn't bother looking up to see Stein and the other members of the Spartoi take down their target. He was more focused on trying to sense his partners fading wavelength. But he knew better, he couldn't see souls. Even his own miesters. It took Stein and the others only minuets to dispose of Maka's murderer and refocus their attention on the two of them. Stein quickly made his way to Maka's side and began checking her soul's wavelength. But he could already tell, her body had grown cold over the time it took them to get there.
"Soul..." Stein began, but he didn't want to hear it. He couldn't handle the finality of the fact that the love of his life was gone. He buried his face into her small chest, the same one he had teased her for countless times before. And it didn't surprise him that a rush of guilt sent his body into another fit of sobs. "...I'm sorry..."
Maka...