"Ugh! You're unbelievable! This is why no one likes you and why no one can tolerate you for very long! You're so bossy and demanding!" Soul shouted.
Maka was fuming to the point she couldn't voice a coherent reply. How DARE he! I can't decide if verbally or physically attacking him would be more satisfying, she though. The two stared at each other, full of anger, in the kitchen of their shared apartment. Neither one made a move or sound until Maka lowered her head and quietly said, "That's it. I'm leaving." She turned and walked towards the door, grabbing her winter coat and scarf on the way. Soul relaxed, but his pride couldn't bring him to say anything. Maka opened the door and looked over her shoulder with her back still turned to Soul and said coldly, "Don't expect me back tonight." She walked out and slammed the door.
Soul unclenched his fists and rested his hands on the counter top where he was making a snack. He sighed, "Another fight. Seems I'll have the apartment to myself again tonight. That's the third time this month already."
Maka was stomping around on the side walk, ranting out loud. "Really!? Did he have to go that far? All I wanted was for him to put the lid back on the mayo jar immediately after he got the amount he needed for his sandwich! It's disgusting to leave it open! Leaving it open is just ASKING for bacteria to invite itself in and make a home! He'll get sick from his carelessness! I've only told him a HUNDRED times. I guess this is the thanks I get for being concerned. Mayo isn't healthy anyway. Doesn't he know that?! And people do too like me! Who does he think I go to when we get into these fights? My friends who actually care about me." During her rant she found her way to Black star and Tsubaki's house. Of course, she was mainly there to rant at Tsubaki. She was a great friend that always let Maka blow off some steam without judging her for it. Maka knocked on the door.
She heard a muffled "YAHOO!" from the other side of the house and then what sounded like running. Oh no, please don't let him answer! she thought.
The door swung open. "Who is it that wishes to visit their God today?!" Black star shouted.
Maka looked like she had a head ache from restraining herself from telling him how annoying he was but politely asked, "Hi, Black star. Is Tsubaki home?"
Tsubaki came up from behind Black star and pushed him out of the way. "Sorry about that Maka. Please come in," she said with her usual peaceful smile.
Maka entered the charming abode. "Thank you, Tsubaki."
"Is something wrong? You look upset." Tsubaki questioned.
Maka sighed. "Ugh, yeah. Soul and I got into another fight over something stupid and he said I was bossy and demanding. That jerk," she scowled.
"Well, let me make some tea and we'll go to my room and talk about it, OK?" Tsubaki offered.
"Let me take your coat. It would be wrong for a God to not take care of his underlings in his own house!" Black star demanded while pulling on Maka's coat.
Already having a short supply of patience, Maka was in no mood for Black star's antics. "Stop it, Black star! I can take my own coat off!" she yelled.
Black star let go of his grip and mumbled, "Geez. Soul is right. You are bossy. "
…
Maka froze in pure rage. She readjusted her coat from Black star's meddling, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath.
Tsubaki realized how deeply Black star's words must have struck a chord in Maka. "I'm so sorry, Maka. Please, let's just go to my room now."
Maka exhaled loudly. "It's OK, Tsubaki. On second thought I think I just need to be alone." Maka turned and walked back to the door. Tsubaki glared at Black star. He gulped, realizing he must have said something wrong if even Tsubaki is angry with him.
"Maka, I – " he began.
"It's OK. I'm not mad. I just need to be alone." Maka said and walked out the door. This is the second time she's walked out on someone today, but this time she gently closed the door, fearful she would seem irrational otherwise.
While she walked down the street she wondered if maybe she was too bossy and if it was her fault she has trouble getting along with people sometimes. Wondering what to do next, she settled on visiting Gallow's Manor- to visit Liz, Patty, or Kid. She didn't care. She wasn't as close with them as she was with Tsubaki, but maybe that's what she needed. A distraction. To be around people who weren't comfortable delving into her personal life.
As she approached the mansion, she could clearly hear yelling even though she was just entering the driveway.
"LIZ! How could you cut Patty's bangs without my consent!? They're horribly asymmetric now!" Maka could clearly hear Kid yelling.
"Excuse me! I've been cutting my little sister's hair her whole life! I know what I'm doing!"
Maka reconsidered. "Uhhh, on second thought I don't think I want to deal with this." She turned around and walked back into the city.
Back at the apartment, Soul sat in a kitchen chair by the heater. The sun was setting and in the desert winter climate that means it gets cold fast. Soul was lost in thought. I did say some uncool things. It's so cold out. I think I should go look for her. He grabbed his coat and went out the door. Walking out on the street he mentally planned his itinerary of places to check. If I were Maka where would I be? Well, I guess I would be here. It would only change WHO I am, not WHERE I am. Did I forget to turn off the heater? Aaaah, like anything bad will happen. Anyway, obviously, first stop: library.
Maka decided her best bet at any peace tonight would be to return home and hopefully sneak into her room without Soul noticing. As she approached the apartment building, it began to lightly rain. Great. 34 degrees (F) and rain. Just a few degrees colder and at least it would be snow. Just the perfect way to end my horrible day. She thought in quiet misery. She quietly approached her shared apartment and listened carefully for any commotion inside. He's either out or in his room it seems. She slowly opened the door and noticed all the lights were out. Walking through the living room she noticed his coat was gone. Guess he's not here. She went into the kitchen and took off her damp coat and placed it on the back of a kitchen chair to dry and then took off her scarf and draped it over the same chair, one end unknowingly landing on the heater. She snatched a snack from the fridge and retreated to her room. It was only 7:00 PM but she was so emotionally and physically exhausted she didn't care.
Shortly after Maka drifted to sleep, Soul returned home. He took off his coat and casually threw it on the couch and immediately went to his room. He sat on his bed staring at his cell phone. She wasn't in the library, the book store, that lame indie coffee shop the nerds hang out at… Man, she made me go to a lot of uncool places – even school on a Saturday!- trying to find her. Maybe I should call her? Or maybe her friends? Nah, I'm not that needy. She's Maka. She'll be alright. She's probably at Tsubaki's cooling off. She'll be back in the morning cooking breakfast like nothing happened. Just like last time. Soul frowned. "Well, might as well just hit the hay." He thought out loud and went to bed without even bothering to change his clothes.
In what felt like seconds to Soul after he rested his head on the pillow, he heard an unfamiliar earsplitting beeping coming from inside the apartment. "Whaa-?" he questioned groggily. "The smoke detector!" He leapt out of bed and flung his bedroom door open. The kitchen was engulfed in flames. The fire was spreading to the door of Maka's bedroom, seeing as it was the closed room to the kitchen. Remember she wasn't home, he immediately evacuated the apartment. Shit. Is this my fault for forgetting to turn off the heater? I guess it's weird to say I'm happy Maka and I got in that fight or she'd be toast right now. Aw, geez, that's such an uncool pun. He thought as he ran down the stairs, pulling an emergency fire alarm along the way.
Out on the side walk he checked his phone. It was 9:00 PM. Good. Blair is still at work. But I have to find Maka first. Then I'll fill Blair in. He first called Maka's cell phone- straight to voice mail. Dammit. He decided to run in the direction of the home of Black star and Tsubaki, while simultaneously calling them.
"Hello. Tsubaki speaking."
"Is Maka there?!" Soul shouted, skipping formalities.
"Soul? No. She left. What's going on?"
"The apartment's on fire. I need to find her. Do you know where she went?" Soul asked hurriedly.
Black star entered the room. "What's happening? Is Soul looking for Maka? I saw her go to Kid's house."
"How would you know that?" Tsubaki wondered.
"I felt kinda bad for ticking her off. I just wanted to make sure she was OK. So I followed her…"
"Tsubaki! Tell me where she went!" Soul demanded, getting aggravated he was being ignored.
"Sorry. Black star said she went to Kid's house."
Getting the answer he desired, he immediately hung up and started running to Gallow's Manor. "SHIT! I don't have any one of those three's phone numbers!" He voiced his frustration of not thinking ahead.
He decided to call Maka again – voicemail.
He called Black star and Tsubaki's house again. Maybe they have one of the trio's numbers. – no answer.
Soul ran even faster, the frigid air and pitch black of night not fazing him at all.
He called Maka again – voicemail.
He called Black star's cell – no answer.
He called Maka – voicemail.
He called Tsubaki's cell – no answer.
They must be out looking for her, too.
Black star was running through the city by rooftop, holding Tsubaki in weapon form. "Why are we going to Maka and Soul's apartment if you saw her go to Kid's house?" Tsubaki questioned.
"To be honest, I just saw her reach the driveway of the house. I never hung around to see her go in. Soul is probably heading that way now. There's no sense in all of us running that way. If she isn't there then she'll be at home or going home soon." Black star responded while still sprinting.
"You know, others say you act stupid, but when it comes down to it you really think things through," Tsubaki complimented.
"Never underestimate your God," Black star assertively replied, while approaching the blazing apartment building.
Soul reached the property line of Gallow's Manor and took a brief moment to catch his breath. He had run so fast for so long he could barely stand. His body was functioning on pure adrenaline at this point. He was shaking all over, gasping for air, and his legs were tingling and about to give out. He called Maka's cell once again. "Sorry, I missed your call. But whatever you have to say is important to me. So please leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. Have a great day!" Unable to walk at the moment, he decided to leave a message: "Maka," he gasped for breath, "Please… when you get this… call me… I can't find you…. I'm worried." He hung up and ran to the front door and banged on the door until someone answered.
Kid opened the door, nearly getting his faced punched by Soul's pounding fist. "Soul! What is this about!?" he asked, annoyed at the disturbance.
"Is Maka here?!" He shouted while inviting himself in and looking around.
"No. I haven't seen nor heard from her at all today," Kid responded and looked at the sisters for verification.
"Yeah, no. I haven't seen her." Liz added.
"Me neither." Patty said.
Soul growled "Ahhh! This is just great! She didn't just disappear! So either something happened to her on the way here, she went someplace I haven't thought of, or….." Soul froze, eyes widening in fear. "NO."
"Um, what's going on?" Liz asked.
"NO! She's at the apartment! The one that I left… burning to the ground!" Soul ran out the door as fast as he came while shouting "no, no, no, no, no!" He ran back towards the apartment building while lamenting in words to himself "How could I let this happen?! This is all my fault. If she…. " he gulped, "If anything happens to her…" He remembered the last words he spoke to her: This is why no one likes you and why no one can tolerate you for very long! You're so bossy and demanding! "Those will be the last words she ever heard from me. I won't have the chance to say I'm sorry. To take it all back. To tell her really how much I care about her…."
At that moment, he reached the apartment building. There was a blockade of emergency vehicles. As he tried to run towards the apartment building, a couple of police officers grabbed him. "Let me go! I think my friend is still in there!" Soul demanded.
"You can't. It's unsafe. Let the firefighters do their job and don't get in the way, got it?" One police officer ordered.
"Soul!"
Soul looked in the direction of the female voice. He saw Blair, then Tsubaki, and Black star with worried looks, standing near an ambulance. Soul broke free from the officer's grip and ran over to find Maka on a stretcher getting loading into the ambulance. First noticeable were that both legs were splinted, presumed broken from jumping out her second story bedroom window. Next Soul noticed her pajamas were singed and torn in placed. There were dark patches on her clothes and skin.
But her eyes were what were most shocking. Even though she was weak and barely conscious, she stared right at Soul. Her unrelenting gaze on him held nothing but anger. No, it was deeper than that; hatred.
AN: So, I never thought I'd write a SoMa, but it does come with a slight price you see (trouble in "paradise.") Cookies for you, if you can spot the line I stole from TFS. XD
This fic was "inspired" by that one Inuyasha episode. I can't remember the name (it's been awhile) but I know its one of the first few episodes.
And, disclaimer, if it needs to be said: I don't own Soul Eater (or Inuyasha, or TFS)