I'm with the Band
Yeah, corny title, I know. Please R&R. Flames will be laughed at. Love yah!
Disclaimer: I don't own Soul Eater.
Chapter One: "Sing for me."
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"Maka!" My best friend cried, stopping me in my tracks. I turned around to see a breathless girl with her dark hair pulled back into a ponytail that fell just past her waist and soft indigo eyes. She wore a white pleated mini skirt with black leggings underneath and a purple striped t-shirt. "Maka, wait up!"
"Hey, Tsubaki," I said socially as I waited for her to catch up to me. She fought her way past the crowds of people in the hallway. "What's up?"
"Smell!" Tsubaki demanded, shoving her arm at me.
"What?" I asked, startled.
She sighed impatiently. "Just smell my wrist."
I gave her the internationally-known 'what-the-hell-are-you-crazy?' looks, to which she rolled her eyes, and obediently sniffed. We sat there for a moment while I tried to figure out what I was supposed to be understanding. For all I knew the secret to the fate of the world was depending on this very sniff.
"So?" Tsubaki raised a slender eyebrow.
Frustrated, I gave up. "I don't smell anything." I flinched and looked involuntarily up at the ceiling, however much to my relief the world did not explode.
Tsubaki looked disappointed. "I'm trying to make perfume from the camellia blossom."
I made a face at her. "You can do whatever you want with that, I'm just not playing lab rat ever again." Tsubaki once convinced me to help her with one of her little 'projects' that didn't end well. For weeks I reeked of lavender and to this day can't stand the stuff. My nose was itchy just thinking of it.
"Yeah, I'm really sorry about that." Tsubaki grimaced, sensing my annoyance. She abruptly changed the subject. "What's with the crowd?"
"I'm not sure." I said, watching the people who were scrunched together push and shove at one another. Others stood on tiptoe, trying to get a better view of something, while whispering to their friends excitedly. "Ooh, I can't believe it!"
"I know! And they're coming here of all places!" A brunette squealed to the girl next to her. "I already bought my ticket…"
Tsubaki and I shared a look.
"It's HIM!" I cried over the noise dramatically, pointing my index finger at some poor random guy that had absolutely no idea what I was talking about. "He's the one! He's the culprit!"
He backed away slowly, fear in his hazel eyes. The 'culprit' broke out into a full run as the crowd charged him; certain he was guilty of something, of what they weren't sure.
Tsubaki laughed, moving to see what all the commotion was about.
I wrinkled my nose in distaste. "This is what the big deal is? Seriously?"
In bold, obnoxious red letters were the words Scandalous Souls.
Underneath the flashy name stood three teenage boys, luxurious instruments in the background
Off to the left was a boy with bright neon-blue hair spiking out in every direction. His eyes sparkled with confidence and he was smiling widely, showing off his pearly white teeth and hanging his thumb up crookedly in an easy gesture. He wore regular jeans and a black t-shirt, the fancy script on the front reading 'Black Star' with a star in the center.
Behind him was a woman with purple hair and black cat ears, smiling slyly.
On the opposite side was a young man with golden eyes and black hair done tidily and evenly, parted at the exact center. Three white stripes adorned one side of his head, but oddly not the other. His clothing was dressy, a simple suit pressed wrinkle-free and polished black shoes. Under scrutiny there wasn't a visible flaw, though his mouth curled at one end in what might have been a faint smile, scowl, or smirk. Perhaps it was all three combined.
In the center of the two a guy was staring into the camera with his chin up defiantly. His moonlight-colored hair was the purposeful kind of messy that someone had to work on forever to achieve, spiked up here and there but a far cry from frizzy. His jeans were baggy, but not too baggy like they were practically going to fall off of him. His jacket was black and yellow with a symbol that represented a soul stitched into it. His hands were stuffed into its pockets casually, but his eyes caught me off guard.
Blood red, piercing into my unevenly thudding heartbeat. I could feel the sudden rush of adrenaline kick in.
Contacts, my mind decided, but something about this guy that I've never met before in my life, and will probably never meet, struck me somewhere deep down inside and triggered an unnatural and alien emotion that I'd never felt.
I squashed down on the feelings with everything I had, smushing it into oblivion. What was wrong with me? I wasn't one of those ditzy obsessive girls that melt and go star struck, claiming to be in love with some stranger, babbling on and on about weddings and children and romance and other make-believe bullshit. That would never happen with a celebrity and a fan from some run-down crap town like mine.
Tsubaki leaned over my shoulder and gasped, pointing out something that I had failed to notice before. "Oh my GOD! Is that Patty?"
I swore, my green eyes widening. "Look! There's Liz too!"
"What are they doing on a poster?" I asked stupidly, looking at the two blondes posing in the background next to an electric keyboard. They were both dressed in red tops that exposed their flat stomachs and matching cowboy hats. Patty wore her usual mini skirt while her older sister Liz wore regular jeans, and they both had huge dorky grins on their faces, the pointy toes of their boots sticking out unceremoniously, and they had their fingers pointing out as if they were aiming guns.
Tsubaki was already dialing Liz on her cell, biting her lip to contain her excitement.
She picked up on the second ring. "Hello?"
"WHAY DIDN'T YOU TELL US YOU KNEW THE SCANDALOUS SOULS?" Tsubaki, the quiet girl, screamed into the receiver. There was a screeching noise on the other end and Liz scrambled to pick up the phone she had most likely dropped. Tsubaki held her finger over a round button and set the call to speaker phone.
"…It never came up." Liz replied weakly, cringing at the sudden pain in her ear. "You and Maka see the poster?"
"Yep." I answered helpfully, putting in my two cents for the conversation.
"Come pick us up!" Tsubaki demanded.
"Aren't you still in school?" Liz asked haughtily.
Tsubaki and I scowled at each other.
"Listen here, Miss Delinquent of the Year," I spat back at her. "Don't go lecturing us about good behavior. We could easily turn you in for your and Patty's little 'incident' at the party downtown last year."
"Don't you rhyme at me, Maka!" Liz scoffed. "Blackmail doesn't suit your Miss Perfect image very well."
"Perfect? Whatever are you thinking?" I managed an offended expression, but it cracked as soon as my two friends' laughter started up. They knew me too well.
"I'll be there in seven minutes." We could hear her ushering Patty into the sleek blue Porsche Liz had legally, (or so she claims,) obtained under overall permissible circumstances. So probably gambling in the less than pleasant areas of Death City with the thugs they used to reside with in the streets before they met me and Tsubaki. In fact, the first time we met the infamous Thompson Sisters was when they had their guns aimed at our heads and were demanding all the cash we had on us. I remember the cool night air brushing my bare neck and Tsubaki clinging to my arm on the verge of a panic attack. She wound up collapsing and the sisters, who were just moments before threatening our lives, had us in their back seat speeding off to the nearest hospital. Tsubaki was fine of course, but the incident that had so badly frightened her introduced us to two of the people who would become our closest friends.
"Be ready for Escape Plan Six when we pull up." Liz called cheerily, ending the call with a click. There was a dull buzz and then Tsubaki disconnected as well.
"Six?" I asked questioningly.
Tsubaki shrugged. "I don't even pretend to understand them most of the time."
The crowd was beginning to swell up around the poster again as we shove our way back to our lockers. I emptied my things into my messenger bag, trying to not look suspicious, which made me look even more suspicious. Yeah, I was hopeless like that.
The getaway car ran far smoother than the actual getaway, even with Patty kicking at the back of my seat like two deranged starving monkeys in a fight to the death over the last banana.
"It isn't fair!" She cried melodramatically, cursing this cruel, cold world.
"Get over it." I said, lacking interest as I watched the scenery blur past me and a frightening speed from the passenger seat in the front. You'd think I'd be concerned for my life when we were pushing one hundred thirty-five miles per hour in a place where you got pulled over for going above thirty. We passed two police cars but were unbelievably not pursued.
I gaped at Liz, who was grinning like a maniac over the steering wheel. She appeared to be in racer mode again. "We're gaining on them!" She yelled, pushing the pedal to the floor.
"Liz, snap out of it!" I shouted back. "There's no one in front of us!"
"That's what they want you to think!" She shrieked with glee.
"Quick! They're getting away!" Patty screamed from the back, not helping the situation in the slightest.
"No! I won't let that happen!" The speedometer's needle went even farther from the zero.
At this point I covered my eyes with my hands. "It's over, Liz. You won!"
Liz whooped and cheered, celebrating her victory over the Imaginary Racer once again. Patty was laughing her ass off and I shot her an annoyed glare. Tsubaki seemed even more dazed than usual.
"Hm?" She said, a disoriented look in her eyes as she came back from whatever thought process that had been so off-putting. "Why are you staring at me like that?"
"You just missed an entire racetrack episode." I informed her. "What's up?"
Tsubaki looked scared. "Liz won, right?"
"Don't worry, she won." I laughed, easing the tension as Tsubaki relaxed. We all know what happens when Liz loses to the imaginary people. It isn't pretty.
A slow flush crept up Tsubaki's pale cheeks. "W-well, I kind of wanted to go to that concert…"
"Yes?" I prompted. "And…?"
She fumbled for words. "I want to meet that boy, the one with blue hair-"
Liz slammed on the brakes and we all flew forward, airborne. My seatbelt strangled me, cutting off my oxygen supply, and I fought for the right to breathe. Victoriously I gasped in my earnings.
Liz and Patty were both staring at the girl with a ponytail with wide eyes and open mouths in a cartoon-like expression of horror.
"You like BLACK STAR?" Patty finally got out, unable to say anything else.
Tsubaki's reply came in the form of stuttering, turning a shade pinker with every second.
The twins fell into a fit of uncontrolled laughter.
"Shut up!" I yelled, to which they obeyed. "She can like whoever the hell she wants."
Tsubaki thanked me meekly, hiding behind her hair. She had never, never shown an interest in anyone before, so this was a huge deal.
"Oh, hun, don't cry." Liz said softly. "We didn't mean it."
"I-I know." She sniffled, wiping at her eyes. "It's just…I feel so strange."
"Strange? How?" Patty questioned, curious.
"I don't think I can explain it…"
Liz chuckled, focusing on the road as she pressed down on the gas pedal again. It was a miracle we hadn't gotten into an accident. Yet. "She's got a crush. On Black Star, of all people, but still!"
"So can you get us tickets?" Tsubaki asked hopefully, her big blue-black eyes expectant.
Patty and Liz shared a doubtful look. Tsubaki's face fell.
"There are no promises." Patty warned. "The show could already be sold out."
She flipped open her cell phone and dialed numbers with expert hands. It rang twice before someone picked up. "Hey, Kid."
Annoyance buzzed on the other end and I wished I could hear what they were saying.
"Well a couple of our friends were wondering if there were any extra tickets…"
The response was hummed.
"How many? Just two." Patty answered. "Well, no, the number two isn't symmetrical but-!" She huffed angrily as she closed her phone. "He hung up on me!"
Liz sighed. "Well, that's Kid for you. Try calling Soul."
Patty made a face. "You call him! He hates me."
Liz snorted. "Fine. Give me the phone." She tapped impatiently on the steering wheel. "Hey! We need two tickets for next Saturday."
As the person on the other line said something she brought her hand to her mouth, barely swerving past a truck in time. "No! Is she alright?"
"…You can't cancel the show!"
Something sparked in Liz's mind and glanced in my direction. "Meet me in fifteen minutes in the studio. I think I can fix this."
There was a cold, icy knot forming in the pit of my stomach. I had a really bad feeling about this.
"See you then." She hung up, giving me that scary smile. "Hi, Maka." Liz said sweetly.
"Hi, Liz. Explain. Now."
"Mmm…later." She dismissed. "Right now we have to hurry." Liz turned the steering wheel, curving in a semicircle as she spun the Porsche around and sped in the other direction.
Death Studios was a large, famous building in the musical business. The only made deals with the best of the best, but once accepted you had it made for life. Whatever you wanted wherever you wanted it, and money was never a problem. As long as you sell a few CDs and perform every now and again to keep everyone happy, your life would be as close to perfect as it gets.
The twins flashed the guards their V.I.P. passes and we were let in without incident.
I felt self-conscious in my red and black plaid skirt and long-sleeved white dress shirt. Tsubaki was at least wearing leggings. She didn't look like a fucking lawyer like I did.
"Nervous?" Patty grinned knowingly.
"No!" I lied. I don't know why I was nervous. I've never even heard the Scandalous Souls' music before. This shouldn't be such a big deal.
The block of ice in my stomach wasn't letting up, however.
"This way." Liz guided us precariously through the seemingly endless halls. When I was finally convinced Liz had us completely lost we entered a lounge. There was cushy furniture scattered about, and large fluffy pillows. In the center of the room were shiny assortments of instruments varying from a sleek grand piano, acoustic and electric guitars, a sky-blue bass, a drum set, an electric keyboard, a mahogany-wood violin, etc. Hell, I even saw a tambourine.
My eyes lit up like a child left alone in a candy store and Tsubaki laughed.
Right away I pounced on the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my eighteen years of life. The head and neck were as black as liquid coal, its strings polished silver. The body was a glossy emerald green, with silver and gold spirals adorning the entire thing, running all the way back up to the tuners.
I had died and gone to guitar heaven. My thin fingers ran smoothly across the strings and I suppressed a sigh.
I was so caught up in the beauty in my arms that I didn't even notice the two guys staring at me.
Heat rushed to my face and I scratched the back of my sandy blonde head awkwardly. "Um, sorry." I moved to set the precious item down as carefully as I could.
"Guys, that's Maka Albarn. This is Tsubaki Nakatsukasa." Liz introduced. "And the one with the striped-hair is Death the Kid, and the marshmallow head is Soul Eater Evens." Patty finished.
Kid burst into tears, falling to the floor. "Patty, oh god you're right! I'm unnatural! I'm an ugly, horrible unsymmetrical creature that doesn't deserve to live! I'm-!"
Liz cut him off. "Kid, you're making a bad first impression. Get on your feet and stop crying."
Kid slowly rose, wiping at his tear-stained face with a tissue. He hiccupped and sniffled, but didn't start bawling. "Please excuse my manners."
"Uh, no problem?" I said, shaking his outstretched hand. His eyes were just as gold as they were on the poster.
Soul was stretched out on a plush orange sofa, his arms behind his head. He was wearing plain jeans and expensive-looking Nike tennis shoes. He wore a tight black t-shirt with Scandalous Souls written across the front in bold white print, and where the sleeves cut off you could see the toned muscles of his arms. His snowy hair was messy but stylish, and his crimson eyes were deeply contrasting. They flicked over me lazily, lingering on my legs two seconds longer than comfortable. Yep. Definitely should have worn jeans today. Soul met my gaze and smiled, showing off pointed teeth. "Maka." He said, the name sounding new and foreign to my ears even though I've heard it all of my life. Soul's voice made it sound more…musical.
I swallowed. "Yes?"
"Nothing." He never lost that grin, dismissing what I had said even though he was the one who said my name in the first place. I raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
"So how exactly are you going to fix this?" Soul said to Liz, who had watched the exchange curiously.
"Oh, that's simple." Liz said, gesturing over to me. "Maka can replace Blair."
"What?" I said incredulously, gaping at Liz.
"Can she sing?" Soul asked, looking me over again, this time doubtfully.
I huffed. "Liz, you can't expect me to-."
"You wanted to go to that concert, didn't you?"
I shrugged. "No, not really. Tsubaki wanted to go."
Tsubaki switched from foot to foot nervously as all the attention in the room turned to her. She was looking over my shoulder but seemed to be disappointed in something.
"Black Star couldn't make it." Kid said as though he knew exactly what she had been thinking. "He was stuck taking Blair out shopping to cheer her up, since she has strep."
"You can't sing with strep throat." Patty pointed out the obvious.
"If you sing instead of Blair Saturday, Maka, we can take Tsubaki backstage." Liz told me. "All the tickets are gone. You won't be able to buy any."
"Why can't you guys just take her backstage?" I asked.
"Because," Soul said, removing himself from his perch on the couch. "Without someone to replace Blair, the entire concert will be cancelled."
I looked over to Tsubaki, biting my lip. I can't. I haven't sung since…
She looked back pleadingly and I sucked in my breath, hating myself for what I was about to say. "Fine." I grumped moodily. "I'll sing in the stupid concert."
Tsubaki squealed and threw her arms around me in a bear hug. "Thank you!"
"Hold up." Soul interrupted Tsubaki's happy moment. "I'm not convinced you are capable of singing."
There was a challenge in his voice, in his fiery red eyes.
"Oh, are you?" I said in the same challenging ring to my voice, taking a step dangerously towards him. "How will I convince you?"
Soul smirked, catching my wording. Will convince him, not can or if. "Sing for me."
"I will." I said with dignity, stepping back to the beautiful green guitar. I balanced it in my arms and went over to the coffee table by the couch. There was a glass bowl filled with picks as the centerpiece. I plucked up a pick with a black background and neon splats of paint printed on it.
I moved purposely towards the center of the room again and adjusted a microphone on a stand, then plugged the cable of an amp into the jack. I flipped the pickup switch and tuned the guitar to my liking. I ran the pick over the strings once, testing, and smiled. Then swore colorfully.
"What's the problem?" Soul asked with a smirk that made me want to slap him. Hard.
I winced. I was not going to admit to him that I had absolutely no idea what to sing. I forced down my panic, but that only added to the ball of ice in my belly.
"We're waiting." To make a point he settled back into the orange sofa again next to the now seated Kid. Tsubaki and the twins sat down cross legged on the floor. I scowled to myself, thinking. Think, think…
I smiled at my small audience confidently and began strumming the guitar, slowly at first, then getting faster and faster.
"He was a no good, good for nothin' living in his own world." I sang, throwing out the words like they themselves were whips, continuing to pluck at the guitar strings.
"She was a torn up, broken hearted soul without a thing to live for."
I hit every intended chord perfectly as I played.
"They kissed below the moon; sweet talked, had some fun."
Emotion ripped the words from my throat, belting them out. The ice in my stomach melted.
"And yet she was the only one to truly fall in love!"
The high note was effortless, silky and melodic.
"Mend my heart
Tell me I'm not broken
Stitch my wounds
Not one word is spoken
Love hurts like Hell
I'm burning away
It turns out that these scars are here to stay!"
The words flew from my mouth naturally, flowing like water. I hadn't sung in so long I forgot just how much I enjoyed it.
"They planned to get together, water licking at the shore."
The guitar bolted out note after note.
"And she showed up at midnight, found him with some little whore."
Anger scalded the words, feisty yet beautiful.
"A storm brought down her castle, a fairy tale no more!"
The chorus came back to me, the once forgotten words ringing clearly in my mind.
"Mend my heart
Tell me I'm not broken
Stitch my wounds
Not one word is spoken
Love hurts like Hell
I'm burning away
It turns out that these scars are here to stay!"
I didn't even pay attention to my friends watching me, along with two celebrities, and became completely absorbed in the song.
"She watched the scene in silence, there was nothing to say."
I streamed out the chords on the guitar furiously.
"The pain had almost killed her, she suffered, he was to blame!"
Ba da da! Ba da da! Ba da da dah! The sound evenly screeched with the pick as my fingers created the smooth rhythm.
"It's all his fault and no she'll never be the same!"
I held the sound longer than the last time.
"Mend my heart
Tell me I'm not broken
Stitch my wounds
Not one word is spoken
Love hurts like Hell
I'm burning away
It turns out that these scars are here to stay."
"It turns out," I sang the words softly. "That these scars…are here to stay."
No one spoke, even as I unhooked the amp cables and set the guitar back down cautiously. It looked expensive; I couldn't afford to damage it.
I stood there awkwardly. They were all staring, intense, creepy staring.
Ok, you can blink now…
I winced. "Come on, guys. Was I that bad? You're scaring me, here."
All ten eyes continued to stare. I groaned.
Tsubaki began clapping slowly, still looking spaced.
The twins and even Kid joined in, getting louder. I looked expectantly at Soul. "Well?"
He yawned, as though unimpressed, and I glared at him. "That was good."
I blinked at the contradiction. He acts bored and then compliments me? Weird.
"Um, thanks." I say, helping Patty to her feet.
"So can she do the concert?" Tsubaki asked excitedly.
Soul looked considerate. "If she wants. But there's one condition."
"Condition?" I asked, disbelieving.
"Yes, a condition. Only one." He stood as well, leaving only a small space between us. I shivered, thinking that if I took one step forward…
Soul was staring down at my lips and my heart stopped.
"What is this 'condition'?" I asked. He never removed his gaze from my mouth.
"You stay with us. Permanently."
Soul lifted his blood red eyes to my green ones, and there something secretive, something breathtaking in the way he was staring at me.
"Will you, Maka?"
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Ooh, what do you think will happen next? Special thanx to ShadyAngel~~~(I hope I typed that right…) Let's just see where this story goes. Not my best work, so don't hate. Sorry about OOC-ness, and this is AU.
The song isn't professional-like or whatever cuz I actually wrote it.
This is the first thing I published on this account, hope you enjoy~! ^.^