The Crazy Luxury of Hope
by. xxBurningxx
He never really enjoyed reading that much...
But her would read for her, no doubt about it.
"Hey, Maka, I found the last book you were reading, so I thought that I'd read it to ya..."
A breeze wisps through the air.
"But...I think I'll have to start from the beginning, I couldn't find where you'd bookmarked it, sorry about that."
A leaf falls to the ground.
"Although you probably already know, I'm not the greatest reader, so you'll have to bear with me."
He lets out a hearty chuckle, as if to fill the empty air.
"Okay, Prologue. I had just come to accept that my life would be ordinary when extraordinary things began to happen. The first of these came as a terrible shock and, like anything that changes you forever, split my life into halves: Before and After. Like many of the extraordinary things to come, it involved my grandfather, Abraham Portman."
He continues to read out loud.
"Huh. I'd show you the creepy pictures, but I guess you've already seen them..."
He sits there reading, until he's to chapter 3.
"Well. I think I'm gonna stop there. Even though I don't like reading, I'm actually a little interested into this. I can definitely see why you would read something like this. I always secretly knew that you liked mystery novels...Heh. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a little romance in this as well..."
He waggles his eyebrows jokingly, and for a moment, he can almost see Maka rolling her eyes at him.
"Well, I guess I'll see you some other time, Maka."
He gives a wave, and then walks away, uncharacteristically holding the book close to his chest as he walks.
He get's up early, so he can read to Maka again.
He throws on his black leather jacket, and on his way out, he stops to grab the book. He also grabs one of her scarfs and wraps it around his neck, she'd probably get mad at him, but he puts that thought aside.
He continues out the door.
Chilly winds nip at his exposed arms.
And then he is stopped by a familiar face.
The person in front of him notices the book, and the direction he's heading in, and realization sinks in.
"Soul. You know that this isn't good for your health."
He looks at his old friends face, three asymmetrical stripes in his hair, and narrows his eyes.
"Bug off, Kid. I can do what I want."
"I know the wound is still fresh, but Soul, you mustn't hold on. I know what you must be feeling...I had feelings for her as well, you know..."
The words that come out of his mouth anger him, something like jealously rises in his aching chest.
"Shut up!" He growls.
"..."
The way Kid stands there with a blank expression drives him insane.
He roughly shoves the OCD man out of his way and continues onward.
"You have no idea how I feel."
"You know, Maka, I brought the book, but I don't think that I'm going to read today, if that's alright."
All he gets in reply is silence.
"I know you're here. The others, they won't believe me."
The winds whisper.
"I know that I can feel your soul."
He brings her scarf up to his nose and inhales her scent.
"I'm sorry Maka, but I'm going to have to cut our visit short. I'll come sometime soon, I promise."
And then he walks away, not looking back.
Soul goes back to their apartment, and is met by yet another familiar face.
His supposed to be best friend stands in front of his door.
"Yo, Soul. Kid told me whats going on. Don't worry, the STAR will help you!"
He growls.
"Get the hell out of here, Black Star, I'm not up for you shitty God crap!"
He shoves the assassin aside so that he can get to his door.
For once, Black Star stops his antics and looks at his friend sincerely.
"Look man, I'm sorry, just...we need to talk..."
He sets a hand on Soul's shoulder.
"Black Star, just leave me alone."
And then he shoves off his hand and walks into the apartment, slamming the door in his friend's face.
Black Star stands there, with a somewhat hurt look.
He sighs.
He knows his poor friend isn't taking it well.
Soul goes inside and plops down on her bed, snuggling into her covers, which still contain heavy traces of her scent.
He tosses the book, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, to the other side of the bed, watching as it softly bounces off the springs.
Then he stuffs his head into one of her pillows.
Her scent intoxicates him.
He feels it again. Her presence, her soul.
Or, perhaps he really is crazy.
He picks one of her favorite books off of her bookshelf.
He doesn't know how it's one of her favorites, he just knows.
He looks at the title.
Harry Potter, The Prisoner of Azkaban
He laughs. His little bookworm. Of course her favorite book would be something like that.
He takes the book and sits down, and begins reading it.
He's never read any of the previous books, nor seen the movies, but he reads it anyway. He knows the concept, from what she's told him, and that's good enough.
Soul wakes up for the umpteenth time that night, but is surprised when sunlight greets him.
His eyes are bloodshot, he hasn't been getting much sleep.
He sleeps in her bed.
Maybe I could be considered a necrophiliac now. He thinks, as he sits up.
He laughs.
Soul...
He jumps so badly that he falls out of the bed.
He quickly stands up, whipping his head around frantically.
It was her voice, he knows it.
Perhaps I really am crazy.
It's a whole another week until he decides to go back to school.
He refuses when Lord Death tells him he doesn't really need to go anymore, since he's already a Death Scythe.
He decides that he will stay in school.
He'll bring his grades up, without another meister.
He'll make her proud.
He hates how they go on, as if it's no big deal.
He's with the group, Black Star and Tsubaki, Kid and Liz and Patti, and then...Just him.
They chatter like normal.
Like her absence is nothing.
They're all standing in the basketball courtyard when it happens again.
"So, as I've said, I'll become GOD!"
"Kid, calm down, you can always fix the rip in your shirt."
"Come on Kid, your not asymmetrical garbage! Hahaha!"
"You know, you guys are all id-" Soul begins
I miss you, you know that right?
He stops and whips around, scanning the area around him. Her soul feels closer than ever.
"Hey, Soul, what's wrong?" Tsubaki asks him softly.
"You guys didn't hear that?" He says, incredulously.
"What?" Kid says
They all mumble, looking at him like he's crazy.
He stares, speechless.
And then he notes how she said only him, not "you all" as in the entire group, but just him.
"It's nothing."
He sits on the couch, scanning through TV channels, even though he's not really watching them.
It's been 3 days since he technically heard her voice.
He sighs.
Come on Soul! You should study, your not even watching the TV!
He doesn't even bother looking around this time.
He tries to ignore her voice, he's convinced himself that it's his stupid imagination.
But for some reason, he replies.
"Shut up, Tiny-Tits."
He tenses when she actually answers back.
Maka-CHOP!
He yelps when he feels the impact of a book in his skull. And then he hears clattering.
"What the hell!" He yells, jumping up, this time he does look around, and yet, he still doesn't see her.
He starts walking forward, rubbing the spot on his head, when he stumbles over something.
It's the book he had begun reading to her, and he realizes, this is what he heard clatter onto the floor.
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
His breath hitches.
And then he shakes his head.
He must be going crazy.
Soul doesn't go back to school the next day.
He's actually quite rattled about what happened.
Maybe I should get some help.
He thinks to himself. Surely this isn't good for him.
He lays down on his own bed for once.
Soul, you idiot, you're not crazy.
He jumps.
"Maka, I don't understand why you're talking to me."
Isn't that obvious?
"Huh?"
I miss you just as much as you miss me...
Soul closes his eyes.
"I'm sorry Maka, I couldn't protect you..."
Soul!
He tenses at her sudden tone change.
It wasn't your fault. You were there, already half bleeding to death, you couldn't do anything.
"But...I could ha-"
Would you just shut up? Idiot. Your just gonna end up making yourself worse.
"I know..."
He closes his eyes again, and then, he can't hear her voice anymore.
He's sitting at his desk, studying for once.
He has conversations with her like it's normal, even though he knows that it's not good for him, and he's not even sure if it's real or not. He looks down at what he's doing, scanning over the question on one of his worksheets. He reads it at least three times, and yet, he still doesn't know what he just read, because his mind's not focused on it.
He stands up and stretches.
"Hey, Soul..."
"What?" He says, without even cracking an eye.
And then he feels arms wrap around his torso.
His eyes widen in shock, as he looks down at the fragile body that he's been missing so much.
"M-Maka?"
"I'm sorry. I know how much I'm hurting you, but I just don't know what to do!"
Then he notices that shes crying - no, sobbing- into his shirt.
"I can't leave. I can...but...I-I."
He hugs her tight, afraid she might disappear at any moment. For all he knows, she will.
Then he pulls her away and looks her in the eyes, a bit startled. He's forgotten how beautiful her forest green eyes are...
"Maka! You know I love you, right?"
"Wha-"
"It's killing me, living without you."
"Soul, I'm so sorry...I love you..."
And then Soul gasps, as he falls to the floor, all traces of Maka being there gone.
He sits up, looking around desperately.
A tear silently runs down the left side of his cheek.
He squeezes his eyes shut, in a feeble attempt to let the pain away.
"Soul..."
...
"Soul!"
...
"SOUL!"
Soul gasps awake, Maka's face about a foot away from his.
"M-Maka?"
"What?" She says, "What's with that look? Hurry up, we'll be late for school."
"Maka!" He jumps up.
She yelps a little in surprise when he grips her in a death hug.
"S-Soul, what're you doing?" She gasps, the breath being squeezed out of her.
Soul Eater Evans closes his eyes, his face buried in Maka's neck.
And at last, he allows himself the crazy, wonderful luxury of hope.
End~
A/N: I don't even know what happened when I was writing this. I tried to make it sad and angst-y but at the end, all of the super sad SoMa stories that I've read came rushing to mind, and I was like, "Nuu! I can't make it sad..." So then this happy ending came in.
And yes, I know I stole Mr. Neal Shusterman's line about the luxury of hope and whatnot. I simply added the word, 'crazy'...
So, thus leads to this disclaimer: I don't own Soul Eater, Unwind and any words said from that book, and I don't own Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.
*Edit: Wow. I totally forgot about Harry Potter...Er yeah, I don't own that either! Credits go to the magical K. J. Bowling! Uh. I mean J. K. Rowling! Inside joke XD
Oh yeah, virtual cookies for you if you recognized that book! It's a good novel :D Actually, virtual cookies for you if you recognized any of the book references! :3
Anyways, I really am not sure about this story. Let me know what you think, I appreciate it :)
Thanks for reading! Love from xxBurningxx~