Chapter One

Falling and Catching

"Maka. Get off already!" Soul said. Maka slowly got off of the motorcycle. Soul sighed. "Good." He started to walk up the stairs. "I really don't get what you're so upset about,I mean-" He looked over his shoulder. Maka was still next to the bike,her head lowered. "Maka!" She didn't look up. Soul angrily walked back down and took Maka's left hand. "You're going to school,whether you like it or not!" He dragged Maka up the stairs. Soul isn't much of a 'go to school' type of guy. More like,'sleep at school' kind of guy. But,Maka loved school and studying,so why was she acting like this?

Well,yesterday she had sworn that she saw her father outside of a club. He was with a woman that was barely dressed,probably a stripper,he was kneeling on one knee and had a small little box in his hands. It was completely obvious... Spirit Albarn had decided to remarry someone he barely knew! Maka came home angry and depressed,immediately going to her room. Soul heard quiet sobs and loud crashes of objects,wanting to talk to her,went to her room,finding the door was locked.

This morning,she told Soul,crying her heart out once again. Maka expected Soul to guffaw at Maka's behavior,instead he looked out the window,glared-probably thinking of Spirit-at it,then said,"That's so uncool." Soul had pulled her into a hug,but it only lasted 10 seconds. She had her head lowered,so that her bangs covered her eyes ever since and wouldn't talk.

Once Soul and Maka were at the top of the stairs,he had a glance at Maka. Still,nothing. "You're not getting over this are you?"

Maka didn't answer. Soul sighed and continued dragging her into the school.

People were staring at them,probably expecting the opposite. Maka dragging Soul. They finally arrived at Stein's class.

"SOUL AND MAKA HAS FINALLY COME! YOU CAN NOW PRAISE ME FOR MY GLORY!" The blue haired idiot said standing on his desk.

"Not in a million years Black Star." Soul said,still dragging Maka until they were at their seats.

Tsubaki looked over them,a worried face on. "Is Maka-chan...Alright?"

"Right now? An uncool no." Soul answered.

"Hey Maka. Don't get down only because Soul is your partner!" Liz told her,making Soul glare.

"Hahaha~! She's probably mad because Soul doesn't know his alphabets~!" Patty said clapping her hands together. She was currently working on one of her masterpieces. A giraffe.

"No,no,no! It isn't that Soul is her partner! She enjoys that! Or that Soul doesn't know his alphabets! I assure you he does know!" Kid butted in.

"Then,the hell is it?" Liz asked impatiently.

"He has no symmetry!" Kid yelled.

Soul had given up on the convo when the 5 started bickering. He then thought,'This isn't going to be a cool day is it?'

Just then he felt something touch his hand under the table. He looked under to find that it was Maka's hand. He felt his cheeks burn up,but started cooling down once he remembered how she was feeling. She was gripping Soul's hand tight,but gently. Soul couldn't help it,he gave Maka a little squeeze of reassurance. Making Maka squeeze back.

"Do you want me to take notes for you?" Soul whispered. Maka gave him a small little nod. He looked back to the front at Stein,who were looking at them. Could he see their hands under the table?

"Black Star get off the desk!" Stein yelled. The so-called God did as told,in fear of being dissected. The answer to Soul's question was a glorious no.

Once class started,Soul had actually paid attention in class,answering all questions correct when one was thrown at him. This suprised the whole class. Maka looked like she was going to start crying again at any moment,but she didn't.

The bell rang,and everyone stood up to start walking to their next class.

Soul gave Maka a little shake from her shoulders. "Oi. Maka,stand up." She did as told,revealing their conjoined hands to the class. Their friends stared at them,speechless. Soul didn't know what to do. But,their hands looked so perfect together. 'Wait. What? Did I just think that?' Soul shook his head,and looked at Maka. "Maka. You can let go of my hand now." Maka squeezed his hand,she quickly flashed her face towards him then looked back. Soul saw it,a tiny teardrop. She wanted to feel like someone was there for her. Maka let go of Soul's hand. But,Soul quickly got up and took her hand once again. Maka looked up at him,making Soul smirk. "I'm not going to leave my miester in her time of need. That isn't cool." He slid his hand over the trail of Maka's tear,making no trace. Maka gave a slight smile,only to then become her gloomy self again. "Let's go Maka."

Maka kept in pace with Soul,while Soul tried to slow his pace down.

Once they were out of the class,everyone stared at them.

Kim ran into the 2,just as she wanted. She smiled at both of them. "Great. I was looking for you guys. Lord Death wants to see you in the Death Room." She then continued off.

Soul sighed. "Let's go Maka."

V_(-.-)_V

"Yo! Yo! Yo!" Lord Death said with a peace sign up.

"MAKA! MY SWEET LITTLE ANGEL! YOU-" Spirit stopped half-way to them. Eyeing out Soul and Maka's intertwined fingers. His eyes widened,and he charged at Soul. Only to be held by the collar by Shinigami-sama. "SOUL YOU BASTARD! HOW DARE YOU TOUCH MY DAUGHTER! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" Shinigami-sama gave Spirit one of his Death Chops,leaving Spirit half dead on the floor.

Before this though,Soul was in front of Maka. He looked down at her. She had tightened the grip of her fingers. "Your so-called Pops isn't being cool right now." Soul whispered as he rubbed the back of his neck. "It's really making me angry. You wouldn't mind if I pounded him to a pulp right?" Soul heard a little huffed up laugh. Soul swore that he saw a smile on her face. Soul moved back so that he was now facing Lord Death.

"So what's the reason we're here?" Soul asked.

"I was just thinking,are you willing to go to Spain?"

"It's a mission again. I'll have to think about it. Since Maka's a little..." He trailed off looking at Maka. "Out of it."

"I understand. But once Maka's all better,you guys are headed straight to Spain. Now go,before Spirit's awake."

Without another word,Soul and Maka left.

V_(-.-)_V

The school day was finally over.

'Why do they look at us like this? I'm only holding her hand because she's so gloomy. It's not like we're dating. Though... Wait! Stop it Soul,you idiot!'

"Crap. I just realized,how are we going on the motorcycle if you won't let go of my hand?" Soul asked.

"Why don't you just let go?" Soul turned around,seeing Black Star. "That won't be a big deal,right?" Black Star had a serious face on. Could've guessed. Maka was his childhood friend.

"She actually insists on it. It's complicated."

"Then why doesn't she just sit on your lap? You can drive with one hand,you've done it a lot." Black Star said walking away.

Soul got on the bike and looked at Maka. "Well? You heard Black Star,come on."

Maka's face heated up as she sat on Soul's lap. Soul's right hand balancing them so they wouldn't fall.

'God! She's heavy! But so close to me. I-I kind of like it. You know what Soul,just go home already!'

In no time,they were off. Maka laid her head on Soul's chest.

Once they were at their parking spot,Soul's face was burning up.

He cleared his throat. "Maka. We're here."

Maka got off,Soul following. As they ascended up the stairs,Maka was quite slow. Soul fumbled with the keys for the front door. He kicked it open and entered yelling,"We're home!"

"Maka! Soul! You're home!" Blair came in,squishing Soul between her breasts,causing him to have yet another nose bleed. But he felt Maka squeezing his hand,as if it was angering her.

Soul pushed Blair away,wiped his nose,and pulled Maka close. "Hey. I'm sorry. No need to get angry all of a sudden Maka." He whispered in her ear. He heard a sniffle,immediately pulling her chin up so they were looking eye-to-eye. He wiped the tears away. "Calm down. I'll cook today."

He decided to make sushi. With Maka's help,he was successful.

"Dinner's ready!" Soul yelled,obviously to Blair. Blair came in in her cat form,catching a glimpse at Soul and Maka's hands. She smiled a devious grin which Soul caught. "What?"

"Nothing." She transformed into her human form,and sat to eat.

Soul picked his chair up and set it on the right side of Maka's.

Dinner was very silent,Blair was the first to finish. Once the other 2 were done,Soul offered to wash dishes while Maka took a shower.

Though,he had to go to her room with her. Before she went into the bathroom,she released her hand from Soul's,and she gave Soul a quick little hug. Once she entered the bathroom,Soul's face was pure red.

Soul was done with the dishes once Maka was done cleaning up. Soul,immediately went into the bathroom and stripped off his clothes.

The warm water was beating down on his snowy hair. He was looking at his left hand,flexing his fingers. 'It feels strange now. Not holding onto her hand.'

Once out of the bathroom,he had his towel around his neck,and Maka was already holding onto his hand. "We're back to this again. Great." Soul said sarcastically. Said man threw his towel into his room,not caring if it was on the ground. "Maka,I got this movie yesterday. It's called She's the Man. Wanna watch it with me?"

Maka gave a small little nod. Soul popped popcorn,placed the disc into the DVD player,placed the popcorn into a bowl,and got a blanket big enough for them both.

V_(-.-)_V

Maka was sleeping halfway through the movie. Her head on Soul's shoulder,her feet on the arm of the couch. Soul had stopped feeding her popcorn,and he was also sleeping. His head on top of Maka's.

Blair came in in her cat form,smiled at the 2,and turned the T.V. off. Then she trotted off to Maka's bed.

V_(-.-)_V

'Ugh. My back freaking hurts. Wait,now I remember. I slept on the couch yesterday.' Soul's eyes fluttered open,taking in the bright light. His hand was empty,and Maka wasn't next to him. What's that smell? Bacon? He whipped his head to the kitchen,seeing Maka cooking. She was humming to herself,and swaying her hip around. 'She looks quite cute like that actually.'

Maka turned around and smiled. "Oh Soul. Your awake. Wash up. Breakfast's almost ready."

Said man,got up and stretched. "Feeling better?"

Maka gave him a winning smile. "Yeah. Thanks for being there with me."

Soul took the blanket,headed to his room,threw it in,and leaned on the bathroom door. "Don't mention it. Really. Don't." He then entered the bathroom,splashing water on his face,and looking at himself in the mirror. He looked at his hand,once again flexing it. 'Why are you teasing me like this Maka?'

Maka looked at her right hand,and flexed her hand. 'I'm sorry Soul. For doing that to you.'

'Can't you see that I like you? More than a friend. But not enough to call it love.' Soul thought.

'I like you. If anything,more than a friend,but not enough for love.' Maka thought.

V_(-.-)_V

1 week later...

"Kid! Where are we going?" Liz asked.

They have been chasing a pre-kishin deeper into death city.

"I'm getting tired of this." They had finally chased him into a dead end. "Girls,transform."

"Okay~!" Patty yelled.

"Right!" Liz yelled.

Kid posed in a strange pose as usual. "Prepare to die!"

"You think a kid like you can kill me? Ha!" The pre-kishin exclaimed.

"Hey~! Lookie~!" Patty exclaimed. She changed back into her human form and pointed at someone on the roof. Kid instantly dropped Liz.

Liz changed back into human form also. "Why'd you do that?"

The girl jumped off the roof and slashed the pre-kishin once,turning him into a soul.

Her weapon changed into his human form and ate the soul.

"Great! We found another!" She smiled at her weapon.

"Great job!" He (the weapon) said.

"You too Zero!"

'I can't believe it,is it actually her?' Kid thought. He hasn't seen her,since she was 6.

"Hey! That was our soul!" Liz yelled.

"Liz! No!" Kid yelled at her.

The girl,shocked,fled the scene with her weapon next to her.

"Kid. You seemed suprised." Liz said.

"What's wrong with him?" Patty asked.

Kid was kneeling on both knees. His face covered by both hands.

"Kid? Do you know that girl?" Liz asked,worried.

He looked up,at the weird moon.

"Two."