Hello! This is my Reverse Resonance Bang 2016 story! I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Kudos to my amazing reverb partner, thefishywitch. you can see the amazing artwork she has created on tumblr under thefishywitchy! I, unfortunately, do not own Soul Eater or any of it's amazing characters.
Maka woke slowly, unsure of why she was unable to move. Her left leg and right arm felt trapped when she tried to shift over. Maka opened her slightly swollen eyes, and blinked. She was lying in an infirmary bed, the smell of antiseptic and formaldehyde stinging her nose. For a moment, she had an overwhelming feeling of panic, fearing she was once more immobilized, and Black*Star would soon show up to draw on her face again.
She glanced over and sighed in relief as she identified the reason her movement was impeded. Soul sat by her bedside, his upper body draped over her. He was fast asleep, and her right arm serving as his impromptu pillow. Maka smiled gently. He was a little banged up, and had bandages covering both his hands, but besides that looked no worse for the wear.
She gently ran her left hand through his hair, enjoying the surprisingly soft texture. "Soul, wake up, my arm is falling asleep!" She shook her arm just a little, trying to get a little bit of blood flow back into her hand.
"Mhpphhh?" Soul looked up, eyes red and bleary.
Maka couldn't help but giggle at how cute he looked, with his hair sticking up everywhere and weird imprints in his face. She idly wondered if this was how he would look waking up every morning.
"Morning sleepy-head" she said gently. Soul sat up straight, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
"You're up." He stated. He shot her a small smile, relief written all over his face. To most, Soul seemed cool and unconcerned. But Maka knew better. With her, his guard slipped, just a little, to reveal the soft-heart hidden underneath. "How are you feeling?" Relief was swiftly replaced by concern and a heavy dose of guilt.
Maka shook her head. "Fine, but… I can't move my leg… Soul, why can't I move my leg?" Soul looked to the side, eyes downcast, guilt dancing across his features.
"I'll go get Stein. The Hakase will be able to explain better than I can." Maka watched him go, a frown hovering on her lips. As she waited for Soul to return with Stein, Maka's mind drifted back to the events that had landed her in the infirmary once again.
Soul and Maka had been out on an easy routine mission, just hunting down a lone kishin egg. The monster was no longer recognizable as a human, with long, razor sharp tentacles and a squishy, blobby green body. It looked rather like one of those gross squid things. It had creeped Maka out, and even Soul wasn't sure he wanted to consume the thing's soul once they were done with it.
The mission should have been easy, after they defeated the kishin. It was child's play; they had let themselves get cocky and complacent. That was their first mistake. They hadn't been paying as much attention as they should have. Maka and Soul were going back and forth, joking around and debating what they were going to have for dinner that night. Maka swung Soul around in his Scythe form with ease, cutting off tentacles left and right.
Neither of them noticed the tentacle that managed to sneak up behind them. That was their final mistake. As Maka stepped forwards to cut off another of the offending appendages, the one coiled behind her leapt forwards and struck. It wrapped itself around Maka's left ankle, slicing deep. Maka screamed out in pain, her world going blurry with tears, her vision dancing with black dots. Before she passed out she saw Soul viciously slice through the tentacle, and his fearful red eyes fill her vision.
Maka shook off the memories, not wanting to stress over what was wrong with her ankle. She'd find out soon enough. To distract herself, she looked around the infirmary. Nothing had really changed since the last time she had been here. There were the same random bottles and experiments, same cluttered desk in the corner. Same beds. Same boredom. At least this time she would be able to read.
At first, Maka had thought she was the only one in the room, until her gaze landed on a curtained off bed in the very back corner of the room. She wondered who was behind it, and why it was even curtained off in the first place. She was still trying to puzzle it out when Soul returned with Stein in tow. Maka snapped to attention the moment the door pushed open, anticipation and dread settling into the bottom of her stomach.
"How bad is it?" She asked, not wanting to dally around. Stein nodded in respect.
"The kishin egg partially severed your Achilles tendon in the back of your heel. Kimial and I have done what we can, but it is unlikely you will ever be able to walk properly again. You will most likely need to use a cane as well… I'm sorry.
Maka nodded, and looked away, not wanting to cry in front of the Hakase. She understood what he was trying to say. She would never be able to return to her duties as a meister. Stein reached out, and squeezed her shoulder in an uncharacteristic display of concern and comfort. She offered him a small, grateful smile.
Maka might have broken down just then if an extremely pregnant Marie hadn't burst through the door, carrying an unconscious Jacqueline Dupre with a very upset Kim Diehl trailing anxiously behind. Stein looked over his shoulder, a small smile softening his features when his gaze landed on Marie.
"Here, let me take her. You should not be carrying students; you're about to pop woman!" Stein chastised his wife. Marie just handed Jacquie over with a laugh, affection coloring her features.
Stein laid the unconscious girl on the bed next to Maka, and Kim immediately got to work healing her. Jacquie woke up a moment later, dazed and confused. Kim lightly brushed the hair away from her face.
"Be more careful stupid" she murmured, kissing her lightly on the forehead. Jacquie blushed and nodded.
Maka watched her two friends with concern. "What happened? Are you alright?" Kim waved her off, a smirk playing across her face.
"After you passed out, Soul called us. I did my best to fix your leg, but it was coated in some sort of anti-witch venom. There wasn't much I could do… Anyways, after I tried to fix you up, Jacquie and I covered for you and Soul while he got you out. We got pretty banged up. But everything's alright. We took care of the creepy thing for you. Normally, I'd collect a fee, but I'll let it slide. Just this once."
Maka shot a grateful smile at the two of them as they waved and walked out. Marie stopped to bestow a kiss on Stein's cheek and pats to Soul's and Maka's before going back to teaching. Stein turned to the two of them.
"Maka, you're going to have to stay here a few days, until you're healed up. Soul… I know this is hard to hear but… You're going to need to find a new meister partner."
Soul stood there, feeling numb. He just looked at Stein with a blank stare, not fully comprehending what he meant. Maka was his meister. He didn't want or need anyone else. Just the thought of being wielded by someone else made his stomach turn. He looked to Maka.
To anyone else, she would have appeared calm and rather non-plussed. But Soul knew her. There was anguish dancing in those pretty green eyes. Guilt ripped through Soul at the sight of it. He should have protected her; he shouldn't have been so stupid and cocky.
Maka tried to smile reassuringly at Soul, but to him it looked more like a grimace. "He's right you know. You should look for a new partner." Soul just stared dumbly at her, before slowly nodding. They were right, even if it made him want to puke. Maka reached for his hand, squeezing it reassuringly. This made Soul feel worse. She was the one laying in a hospital bed, because of his carelessness. She would never return to the job she loved, and here she was comforting him.
Soul let go of her hand, and gave one of her pigtails an affectionate tug before heading off to class. Maka watched him go. Stein shouted something about a meister-weapon meet-and-greet this weekend. Maka laid back against the pillows and shut her eyes, longing to fall asleep and forget this world where bad things happen to perfectly good people.
Soul stepped out of the infirmary with a heavy heart. Find a new meister? How could he? It just didn't seem right. He looked up, and blinked. There were three girls standing in the hall, staring at him like they were starving, and he was a particularly delectable meal.
Soul glanced behind him. If he didn't feel obligated to go and get Maka the schoolwork she would be missing, he would run back into the infirmary.
Soul drew himself together, and went to push past the girls. Apparently they weren't having that. One girl with long, blonde hair walked over to him, and placed a hand on his chest, stopping him. The other two came and surrounded him. They were all giggling.
"We hear you need a new partner Soul-kun. How about one of us?" the blonde said.
Soul blinked incredulously at her. "Uh, how about no." he drawled, disdainfully picking her hand off his chest and trying to step around her.
Another one of the vipers took the other's place. This one had red hair and freckles. "Come on Soul? Please? We've all asked and asked, and now SHE is out of the way, what's stopping you?"
Soul was starting to see red at this point. "SHE has a name, it's Maka. And she's twice the meister any of you will ever be."
He shot a glare at the final member of the trio, a brunette, and left. He needed to get his stuff, and then get Maka's make-up work.
Soul hesitantly spun the combination on the locker he hardly ever used. After he finished, he threw open the locker and jumped back, just as a barrage of partner request forms spilled to the ground in front of him. He sighed, and picked them up.
He used to think it was cool, getting all these letters. He would wait for weeks then open the locker and watch with masculine pride as they all fell out. Until he learned how much it bothered Maka. Upsetting his meister is totally uncool. He asked people to stop, but to no avail.
He sighed. Normally he would just throw them all out, but with the way things were now… Well, he should at least glance through them. He half-heartedly stuffed them in his bag, convincing himself shredding them up really wasn't a good option, and grabbed his stuff. He figured he should at least try to pay attention and take notes for Maka.
Soul was walking to class when a small girl came running out of a class room with her arms completely full of random books and papers, and slammed straight into him. Soul managed to keep them both upright, but the girl's things were now all over the hall.
Soul steadied the girl and bent down to help her pick up her things. He waved away her frantic apologies with a hand and a slight smirk. "It's alright. I'm not in a hurry. I'm Soul Eater. Who are you?"
The girl blushed when she realized just who exactly she had crashed into. She brushed her long, straight black hair out of her face, and met Soul's eyes shyly with her sparkling black ones. Soul started a little once he noticed the prominent stars where her pupils should have been. "I'm Ao Hoshino, Scythe Meister. Pleased to meet you! I'm so sorry for running into you!"
Soul transferred her belongings to her with a handshake. "It's fine. Where are you off to in such a hurry anyways?" The girl blinked, before suddenly remembering where she was supposed to be. "Oh! I was just off to the meister/weapon meet and greet!"
"You don't have a partner then?" Ao bashfully shook her head, looking at her feet.
"Well, I'm sure you'll find a partner soon enough." Soul cringed a little as he reminded himself that he would be needing a new partner as well. He lifted her chin a little, studying the Stared pupils. "Are you by any chance related to Akane Hoshi?" Soul asked, curious.
The girl's eyes widened in alarm. She glanced around before nodding. "He's my older brother. We just changed my name a little. Because, well, you know, Akane has made a few enemies…" Soul nodded in understanding.
"Don't worry then. You'll have no trouble finding a partner. I'm sure you're more than competent." Ao gave Soul a shy, soft smile. Soul gave her a half smirk back, before saying goodbye and going on to class. She seemed nice enough he supposed.