"Okay kids, today we're having a practical!" Stein's voice echoed through the whole class, making all of the students shudder with fear and concern for their lives. All except a few students…
"A practical? Sounds cool! I wonder what we're gonna do??" Maka's voice was energetic and enthusiastic, she was always looking forward to 'expanding her knowledge'. Soul yawned. "Dissecting someone, perhaps? Sounds boring.." He laid his hands on his stomach and began to doze off.
"Maka Chop!!" With that, Maka smashed the edge of a book down onto Soul's head. "Try to concentrate on your studies for once!" "How can I when it's so damn boring..?" was Soul's apathetic reply. He stretched and lay his head on the desk, not noticing the blood dripping from his skull.
"Did I just hear someone say that my lessons are boring?!" Stein bellowed and crossed his arms on his waist, light reflected onto his glasses, but his eyes were looking straight at Soul. "Well, let's do something 'fun' then.." There was a sinister look in his eyes and Maka sensed that he was up to no good, Soul was going to suffer.
"Ooh! Soul's gonna get it for sure!!" Black Star grinned and jumped onto Soul's desk, making him lifting his head up slowly and smirked, baring his sharp teeth. "Hey, sounds cool. I'm up for anything." Soul got up and turned to grin at Maka. "Watch me."
Maka sighed and laid her book on the table. "Sure, I'll laugh if you get dissected though." "Soul! Hurry to the front of the class!!" Stein demanded. He was tapping his fingers on the table impatiently and was glaring at Soul. The look on his face was beyond demonic, Soul was in for a lot of pain.
Soul chuckled and walked over to the front of class, hands in his pockets, and leaning against the blackboard. "So, what's this 'fun' practical then?"
Stein smiled maliciously. "Let's see you fight me without your meister."
"Whaaaaaaat?!" Maka's loud yell echoed through the whole class, causing all of the students to turn around and look at her. She quickly sat down, cupping her flustered face with one hand and turning to face another direction. "Hey, sounds cool. Let's do it then." Soul's confident yet cocky reply revealed no shock or fear at all. He immediately performed a partial transformation, turning his entire arm into the blade of a scythe. He was ready to fight Stein at any time, he felt his blood pumping and heart beating rapidly.
Maka however, was deeply concerned for her partner. Though he was able to fight Stein by himself, his use and threat to him was greatly reduced in the absence of Maka, and that was what concerned her most. "You idiot, Soul…" But then again, stubborn as he may be, Soul was extremely tough. Maka thought of the time when Soul protected her from Chrona's fatal blow, though he was infected by the black blood and also retained a large scar, he still remained strong and determined as always. "Maybe I need to put more trust in him… he'll do fine.."
Soul fell onto his knees, panting and gasping for breath. Stein grinned and walked over to him and stepped onto his hand, putting all of his weight into it. "Aaaaaarrrrgh…" Soul didn't even have the strength to shout or scream, he pulled his hand away and glared at Stein, who was standing tall and glaring back. Everyone was intimidated, even Soul.
"Stop it! That's enough!" Maka yelled and ran down to stand between Stein and Soul, spreading her arms widely. "Maka… You've got nothing to do with this.." Defeated as he may be, Soul still tried to keep his cool and pushed Maka out of the way. "I think Maka's right, we're done." Stein's plain remark sparked anger in Soul's eyes, causing him to get up and glare at him straight in the eye. All of a sudden, Soul lost balance and fell, but Maka was able to catch him right in time. "Soul…"
"Alright, everyone! Class dismissed!" With that, the students got up, cleared their tables and headed to the door. Soul was still on the floor, lying in Maka's warm embrace. Black Star skidded over to them and grabbed Soul's hand. "Yo, Soul! Are you okay?! Say something!!" Soul pushed his hand away. "Shut.. Up."
Kid, Patti, and Liz were the next to walk over to Soul and show concern, at least, that was what they tried to show. "That's what you get for making snide remarks," Kid lectured. "Yeah, whatever.." was Soul's smug reply. "Eh? Black Star, where did Tsubaki-chan go?" Maka was looking around for Tsubaki, but she was nowhere to be seen. "Oh, Tsubaki? Heh, I asked her to get some 'fuel' for Soul," Black Star replied with a grin.
"Huh? Fuel?" Maka cocked her head to one side and made a puzzled look.
"Yeah, you'll find out what it is soon enough. By the way, we're heading to your apartment today."
"That's fine with me, is something going on?"
"Nope, I just decided to arrange a little something."
"??"
"Heh, don't worry, it'll be fun! Kid, Patti, and Liz are coming too!"
"Ehhhhhh?!" Kid turned to look at Black Star confusingly, clearly stating that he had no idea what was going on.
"So Kid also has no idea what's on your mind." Maka sighed and rubbed her temples. "You can be so unpredictable sometimes, Black Star.." "Yeah, and a total idiot too.." Though he was weak and tired, Soul still had the strength and mood to make a snide comment about Black Star. "Hey, you! Stay dead!" Black Star pointed a finger at Soul and grinned. "We're gonna have SO much fun tonight." With that, he disappeared.
"Sounds… disturbing," Liz pointed out. "Hey, who knows? It might actually be a cure for my boredom, I'm practically dying from it right now! Maybe another fight with sensei might do me some good…" Kid sighed and turned to look at Maka, who was fuming at her partner for showing no gratitude for her worry and concern.
"MAKA CHOP!!!"
Maka opened the door to her apartment room and walked inside. Her arm was around Soul's shoulder and she helped him onto the sofa. "You alright now?" Her voice was concerned yet calm. "I'm fine, thanks to you." Soul smiled and cupped her face into his palm.
"Soul…."
"Maka…" Soul leaned forward and moved his face closer to hers, he could hear her breathing rapidly and uncontrollably. He ran his fingers down her silky blonde hair and moved his face closer to hers. They were only an inch apart and were getting closer and closer each second. "Maka." "Yes, Soul?" "I lo-"
"Hey everybody! The awesome Black Star is here!!" There was a loud crash as Black Star jumped through the window and leapt onto the carpet, spreading his arms wide and grinning, showing pride in what he'd just done. His egoism didn't last for long though.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TWO DOING?!?!" Black Star shrieked and backed away.
"Uh, err.. MAKA WAS MOLESTING ME!!!!" Soul pointed at Maka and pushed himself away from her.
"WHAAAAAAAAT?!?!" Maka's face turned crimson red, she spun around to glare at Soul, giving him a hateful look.
"Oh wow, Maka. I didn't know you were THAT desperate.." Black Star grinned, but he didn't know that he was about to eat those words.
"MAKA CHOP!!!"
Kid sighed. "Y'know, you could've cut him some slack, Maka.." "Hmph!" Maka ignored Kid's words and turned to look at another direction. "Yeah, you're so cruel!" Black Star rubbed his head and moaned as he stretched onto the sofa and laid on top of Soul. "What the fu-?! Black Star!!" Soul squirmed painfully as Black Star collided on top of his bruises and wounds. Luckily, Kid intervened and yanked Black Star's shirt, pulling him up. "No, I was talking about her hurting Soul, he's in much pain already so stop tormenting him, both of you." "Wow, since when did you ever show any concern for ME?" Soul remarked sarcastically. "Shut up, I'm helping you here," Kid replied.
Tsubaki entered the room, carrying heavy plastic bags in both hands. "Hi, everyone~! Sorry, I'm a bit late.." "Tsubaki-chan! What do you have there? Let me help you!" Maka ran over to grab a few of the bags and lift them over to the table. "Um, Black Star told me to buy these since he's underage.." "Ehh? Underage?" Maka opened the bags and peered into them. "HOLY SHIT!" Maka yelled and let go of the bags. "What is it?" Kid asked, curious as to why she was so shocked. "BLACK STAR!!!!!!" Maka grabbed Black Star's shoulder. "Heh, heh.. I guessed that you'd react like that." "I'M ASKING YOU WHAT IS IT?!" Kid raised his voice but no-one was listening; Maka and Black Star were arguing about being 'underage', Soul was taking a nap, Patti was folding an origami giraffe, and Tsubaki and Liz were emptying the bags in the kitchen and putting what seemed like cans into the fridge. "Urgh! Never mind, I'm gonna take a look at it myself!" Kid stomped into the kitchen and opened the fridge. "WHAT THE HELL?!" He backed away and glared at Black Star. "IS THIS YOUR IDEA OF 'FUN'?!" "Well, I -" Black Star couldn't even finish his sentence, Kid had knocked him out by throwing a can at his face.
"Ehh? Beer?" Patti observed the can for a moment, then grinned. "I like beer!" Kid turned around, shocked at Patti's sudden statement. "P-Patti? Y-you drink alcohol?" "Yup! Liz usually drinks it so I sometimes join her!" Kid glared at Liz, who was opening a can of beer. "Hey, it's alright to drink it once in a while.." Liz tried to explain but Kid paid no attention to her words. "I'm out," he stated as he headed towards the door. As he was about to turn the handle, Black Star grabbed his collar and grinned. "What's wrong? Don't tell me you're a lightweight.." Kid turned around and snapped, "I'm not!" "Prove it then, stay and join us." Kid sighed, but gave in to keep his 'pride'. "I can't believe you guys…" Maka sighed and headed to her room. She was definitely not taking part in any of this nonsense.
"Yo, Soul! Wake up!" Black Star shook Soul's shoulder vigorously. Soul got up, stretched, yawned, and rubbed his eyes. His vision was still blurry but he was thirsty, so he grabbed the can that Black Star was holding and drank the lot in one huge gulp. It was then that he realized it wasn't water or any fizzy beverage, it tasted bitter and strong. "Eurgh! What IS this?!" "It's called 'beer', it's what 'adults' drink," Black Star explained with a smug grin. Soul looked around; Liz was drinking down a can in peace, Patti was chugging down two cans at once, Tsubaki was sitting uncomfortably, holding a can and looking quite guilty, and Kid was sipping a glass of beer, trying to force it down his throat in each gulp.
"Huh? Where's Maka??" Soul stood up and eyed Black Star. "Oh, her? She's in her room, probably reading a book, she can't handle drinking alcohol. Heh, what a loser.." "Hey, drinking alcohol ain't cool, alright? We're underage." "Aw, Soul~! Not you too!!" "I'm serious!" "Since when did you start acting serious?" "Since Maka came into my life.." Soul thought. His face flushed red and he covered his face and walked over to Maka's room.
"Maka?" Soul opened the door and poked his head inside. "Oh, Soul! You woke up!" Maka was lying on her bed, reading a book. She didn't know that her underwear was exposed. "You alright? Your face is all red.." Soul looked away. "It's nothing, come outside, will you?" "Oh, okay." Maka paused for a second. "I'm not drinking any alcohol though." "Yeah, of course you wouldn't." Soul walked out but poked his head in for a second. "Lightweight." Maka threw a pillow at his face. "Shut up!" she yelled. Soul smirked and walked into the living room to join the others, followed by Maka. "So you finally decided to join us!" Black Star handed her a can of beer, but she shoved it into his face. "No thanks, I'm underage." "Not all that shit again! Who cares about being underage?!" Black Star paused and hiccupped, then continued ranting. "Age doesn't matter as long as we're having fun!" Liz lifted her can into the air. "Damn right!!" she yelled. "Liz!!" Kid's face was turning a shade of red, but it was unknown if it was due to embarrassment or drunkenness.
Black Star smirked. "Well, you two are quite a pair, aren't you?" Soul made a puzzled face. "What do you mean..?" "You're so attached to each other.." Black Star's voice was beginning to sound slurred, depicting his drunkenness. "And you have so much in common.." Soul shrugged. "Yeah? Like what?" "You're both lightweights.." "What?! No, I'm not!!" Maka and Soul quickly denied. They glanced at each other and blushed. "I'll prove that I'm not then," Soul stated and grabbed a can on the table. Maka sighed and gave him a hopeless look. "You've gotta be kidding me…"
Soul chugged down another can of beer and covered his mouth. He was beginning to lose balance and his sight was blurring. He didn't know how it happened, but he woke up lying on Maka's lap.
"Huh? What happened?" He clutched his head and looked up at Maka. "You passed out after drinking your 7th can, you fell on top of me, so I helped you up," Maka explained. Soul glanced around his surroundings; Patti was lying face-down on the floor, Liz was ranting about 'boy problems' to Tsubaki, Black Star was dancing to techno music, and Kid was fixing Patti's asymmetrical origami giraffe, though he actually made it look worse due to him over-consuming alcohol. "Must… make… puuurrrffect… simmeeeeetreeeyy…" he muttered.
"Ugh.. Soul.." Maka's eyes were tired and dazed, without warning, she collided onto Soul's body. "M-Maka!" Soul got up and tried to move her, but she didn't budge. Maka was fast asleep on his chest and he could feel her warmth on his body. "Maka… Don't tell me that idiot Black Star got you drinking beer too…" Soul sighed and looked at all the empty cans on the table. There was one can left, untouched and in his reach. "Damn, this is so NOT cool," he complained to himself as he drank down the whole can. With that, he passed out.
Black Star woke up and yawned, he noticed that he was lying on Soul's bed, naked. "What happened last night…?" he thought to himself as he rolled over to his side. There was a body lying under the blankets and a tuft of black hair on the pillow, half of the head was covered by the blanket. A person was lying next to him, so something must've happened last night. Black Star grinned. "My plan to get Tsubaki is fulfilled!" he thought to himself. "She must've gotten drunk last night, and then we… Heh, heh." The body lying next to him started to move a bit and revealed more hair. "Eh? White strands??" Black Star touched the white tresses of hair and made a puzzled look. "Tsubaki doesn't have white hair.. Does she?" His face suddenly turned pale white and he was frozen with fear. "Please, don't tell me that's -" The body rolled over to face Black Star and slowly opened its eyes. After a few blinks, the eyes rolled up to look at Black Star and stare in shock.
"AAAAAAAARRRGGGGHHHHHH!!!!"
The loud scream echoed through the whole apartment room. Soul pricked his ears, woke up, and stretched. His body was still aching with pain from the battle with Stein, but it was hurting more than usual. He noticed that he wasn't wearing his shirt and his pants were unzipped. "Hell no…." He observed his surroundings and was shocked to see that he was lying in Maka's bed, in her room, then he turned to notice a girl lying next to him. A girl with brownish blonde hair. Maka.
"No way, no way, no way…" His face was flushed and he was in a state of panic. He tried to remember what happened last night, but nothing came to his mind. It was then that Maka began to move and wake up. "Hm? Oh, good morning, Soul~" There was a long pause as Maka gained total consciousness and thoughts flowed into her mind. "SOUL?!?!?!?!! What happened?!?!!?" "N-nothing, I swear!" "Then why are you semi-naked and I'm only in my bra and skirt?!" Soul paused and started to remember what had happened last night. "Maka, I think I remember now, what happened last night…"
"Hey, it's late now, you guys need to go home.." Maka shook Black Star's arm, but he didn't move. "Tsu..ba..ki..chan…" he mumbled. "Well, I certainly don't wanna know what he's dreaming about.." She turned to talk to Tsubaki, but she was fast asleep on the chair. "Poor Tsubaki-chan, she looks really tired.. Black Star sure does give her a hard time.."
Maka looked around to see if anyone was awake, but luck wasn't on her side; Kid was sleeping on Black Star's chest, both were lying on the carpet in a shameless state, Liz was fast asleep in an awkward position, Patti was lying upside-down on the chair and was giggling happily, and Soul was still lying on the sofa. Maka sighed. "Well, I'm lucky that I didn't drink much.."
"Maka…" Soul was fidgeting, but soon regained consciousness and got up. He was a bit wobbly though, his scarlet eyes didn't seem so intimidating and his movement was unpredictable. "Y'know, you're not acting cool at all," Maka smirked. She was about to make another snide comment but stopped in her tracks when Soul fell into her arms.
"Oh well, let's take you to your room then.." Maka helped Soul walk out of the living room, but Soul quickly took over. He pushed her against the wall and smiled seductively. "Nah, let's go to your room.." His voice was slurred but understandable, causing Maka to blush uncontrollably. "H-hey, don't joke around, it's not funny.." Maka tried to break free, but Soul had her locked in his arms. "L-let go…" Soul chuckled. "You know you don't want me to." With those words, he forced a kiss onto Maka's soft, cherry blossom pink lips. He forcefully tried to dig in deeper, but Maka quickly pulled away.
"C'mon, what's wrong? Aren't we having fun?" Maka had always wanted to share an intimate moment with Soul, but not like this; not with someone who wasn't the 'real Soul'. Soul tugged her wrist and pulled her into her room. He then pushed her onto the bed and started taking off his clothes. "Stop it! You're not Soul!!" Maka tried to get up, but was so intimidated by Soul's piercing red eyes that she couldn't move. "Yes I am. I'm Soul, you're Maka.. And you're MINE." He left his pants unzipped and began to undress her. Maka could do nothing but hopelessly try to push him away.
Tears began to roll down her eyes, she'd given in to him, knowing that there was no way that she could overpower him. "M-Maka..?" She quickly turned to look at her partner. What brought shock to her was that Soul's voice sounded pure yet confused. "Soul?"
"Why.. Are you crying?" He glanced at her body and flushed, then he took a look at himself and backed away in shock and horror. "What the hell am I doing?!" "You were drunk.." "Did.. I do anything to you?" Maka blushed and touched her lips. "Oh no… I.. I'm so sorry!! I'm really sorry!!" He knelt down and clutched his head in self-hatred, he was disgusted at himself for doing and saying dirty things to her. "N-nothing happened yet! Don't worry!!" Maka knelt down in front of him and pulled his hands away.
"B-but, I -" "I know that you didn't mean anything, besides, you stopped right in your tracks when I started crying.." "You.. You're never gonna look at me in the same way again, are you..?" "What..? Stop saying silly things! You're Soul, you'll always be my beloved So-" Maka cut off her sentence and blushed uncontrollably. "
Beloved…?" Soul looked up at her face and gazed at her eyes, causing her to turn away and blush even more. "W-what I meant was -" Maka's sentence was cut off, not because of her, but because of Soul. His lips were pressed against hers, their wavelengths were flowing evenly together, though the kiss lasted for only a short moment, it felt like eternity and Maka wished that time could just stop right then. After a few seconds, Soul tore his lips away and blushed, stating that what he just did was 'really uncool'. Maka disagreed, "It's.. the coolest thing you've ever done.."
Both of them smiled at each other, though they didn't say a word, they were both wanting to say something.
"Hey, Maka."
"Yeah?"
"I'm about to say something really uncool right now.."
"Go on."
"I love you."
"…Soul?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm gonna say something uncool as well.."
"Well? Spill it out then, I'm listening."
"I love you too."
"Ah, I remember now.." "You see? Nothing happened at all." Soul grinned but his cheeks were flushing. Maka was dressing into her clothes, wanting to relive last night over and over again. "You remember the really uncool thing I said last night?" Maka laughed. "No, not really." Soul sighed and got up, walked over to her, and warmly embraced her from behind. "I love you."
"AAAAAAAAAARRRGHHHH!! Keep away from me, you filthy scum!!" "I'm the one who's supposed to be saying THAT!!"
"Hm? Did something happen?" Tsubaki was making waffles in the kitchen and turned to see Kid and Black Star run out of Soul's room. "HE RAPED ME!!!" both of them yelled and pointed at each other. Tsubaki sighed. "Oh well, come and eat breakfast, you two.."
They all sat around the table, continuously glancing at each other silently. Patti decided to break the silence by exclaiming, "Wow! This is really yummy! Thanks, Tsubaki-chan!" "No problem~!" "Hey, Tsubaki.." Black Star's voice was unusually quiet and low-pitched. "Yes?" "Um, did anything happen to you.. Last night?"
"Hmm…" Tsubaki paused to think for a moment. "Well, I remember you dragging Kid to Soul's room, Maka and Soul weren't in the living room anymore, Patti and Liz were fast asleep on the floor so I helped them onto the sofa.. Then, I suppose I fell asleep, I guess."
Black Star groaned and clutched his head in despair. "This did NOT go according to what I'd planned at ALL!!" Maka smiled. "This wasn't how I'd expected it to be either," she thought to herself. "But.." She turned to smile lovingly at Soul, who warmly smiled back.
"It was way better than I'd expected."
This is my first time writing FanFiction, so I suppose it's not perfect or anything, but I hope you enjoyed it! Wow, just realized how fun writing FanFiction can be, I think I'll write more~ ^^ Reviews please~! Thanks for reading~
Sequel - Beyond Partners