"So," Some random girl Maka had never talked to, swung round in the middle of Maka trying to study and grinned. "Who are you going with to the Pumpkin Soul Dance?"
"Um." Maka said, with a forced smile, desperately trying not to yell. "No one."
"Oh!" The girl giggled. "I guess no one asked you! Sorry, my mistake!"
She chortled as she and her group of friends tottered off.
Maka dug her nails into her notebook.
The Pumpkin Soul Dance.
That's all she'd heard about these past two weeks since it had been announced.
She knew that Shinigami-sama had just meant it as a pleasant diversion; unfortunately, Maka Albarn didn't really find it all that pleasant.
It had become a thing of status.
Especially for the girls.
The rule was that, for this dance, the boys had to ask the girls.
No one had asked Maka.
Her father didn't know whether to be furious with the male population or delighted.
"Ugh," Maka said the second she walked into her house. "I hate dances!" She flung her bag onto the couch.
Blair morphed into a woman right next to her, obviously not feeling the need for clothes- as usual.
"I've already had fourteen offers." She purred.
"You don't even go there." Maka muttered.
"And you do. And you haven't gotten any!" Blair giggled. "My, my- what does that say?"
"Oh," Maka snatched up her textbook. "Go chew on some catnip."
As she walked into her room, she saw that Soul was already preoccupying her bed with one of his catnaps and Maka was in no mood for negotiations.
"Soul!" She snapped, hitting his shoulder. "Wake up!"
"Ow!" Soul complained, sitting up. "What'd you do that for?"
"Stop sleeping in my bed!"
"Jeez, fine. Whatever." He swung his legs over the bed and watched her as she arranged the textbooks on her desk. "Had a rough day?" He guessed.
"Well, it's not my problem that everyone's so obsessed with the Pumpkin Soul dance," Maka sniffed. "I've got more important things to worry about."
Soul tucked his arms under his head, eyeing her. "No one asked you?"
"Who'd ask me?" Maka sighed, with a touch of amusement in her voice.
Soul opened his mouth, but the ringing of the phone interrupted him.
Damn it. He glared as Maka picked up. Get it together, idiot. If you don't ask soon…
"Shinigami-sama wants to see me." Maka said after a minute or two of conversation, she put down the phone.
"I'll go too." Soul offered.
"No, it's okay- he only asked for me. Go back to your nap- in your own room."
Soul smiled. "Fine."
He followed Maka nonchalantly as she walked across the hall and opened the front door.
"Maka-?" He said suddenly, taking a step forward.
"Hmm?" She looked round.
He stood there, staring at her face, completely devoid of the words he wanted so much to say.
"I…" He said. "Well…don't worry, about the Pumpkin Soul Dance, I mean."
"Why not?" Maka blinked.
"Because…" Soul attempted, but, in a flash, his resolution crumbled away. "Because no one would ask some underdeveloped girl to go with him anyway."
Maka's eyebrow twitched in irritation, but refused to let him see it. She turned on her heel. "Well," She said breezily, knowing that agreeing would only make him feel bad. 'You're probably right about that. See you later."
She closed the front door behind her.
Soul stood there, hands in his pockets and mentally kicking himself.
He did feel bad, and not just about his words- about his cowardice.
Ever since he met Maka, he'd had these feelings, but convinced himself it was nothing more than the fact that she was a girl and they spent a lot of time together- of course he was going to feel over-protective of her.
But soon he had realized that it wasn't just that.
Darker feelings were now taking hold.
Sometimes he felt like he wanted to just hold onto her and never let her go.
With a girl like Maka, such a thing was much easier said than done.
Soul had thought that he could ignore his love for her for a little longer, but this was turning out to be impossible.
Sometimes, he'd catch her in her room when she'd been studying or working too hard and find her sleeping.
The urge to kiss her was so overwhelming that walking away became comparable to walking through wet cement.
And it wasn't only this that was bothering him, but he had seen someone else looking that way at her too.
xxx
"Maka sweetie!" Her father flew in her direction.
Maka side-stepped, sending him sailing into the nearest wall.
"I'm here, Shinigami-sama." She said. "What did you want to see me about?"
"Ah, Maka-chan, yes." Shinigami-sama regarded her thoughtfully. "I actually wanted to ask you if you have a partner yet for the Pumpkin Soul Dance."
Maka resisted the urge to scream.
Even Shinigami-sama was freaking obsessed with it!
Spirit Albarn rose from the floor, shaking with anger. "If any boy tries to lay his hands on my Maka-chan, I'll-!"
"Shinigami Chop!"
Once again, Spirit was embedded in the wall.
"Thank you." Maka said. "And no, I don't."
"Well, that's surprising. You're quite a pretty young girl- anyone would love to have you as their date."
Maka snorted. "That's not what Soul thinks." She muttered, despite herself.
"Soul?" Shinigami-sama mused. "Yet another young man who cannot say how he feels."
Maka looked up at him with confusion.
What does he mean by that?
"Is that all?" She asked, a little shortly.
"One more thing," Shinigami-sama told her. "Kid is looking for you."
"Kid?" Maka frowned. "Why?"
"Oh," Shinigami-sama said cheerfully. "Why don't you ask him yourself?"
"Yes, sir." Maka said, still perplexed, but determined to leave before she said what she really thought of the Pumpkin Soul Dance.
"Maka!" Her father made another attempt to hug her before she left- an attempt that almost resulted in a broken rib.
Shinigami-sama chuckled to himself. "These young people," He said. "I don't know…reminds me of when I was young."
Spirit sat up. "What do you mean by that?"
"I mean," His weapon meister smiled. "That it's about time we had a love triangle around here."
xxx
Maka was walking along the path, in the general direction of DWMA, when she heard a shout.
"Maka!"
She looked up. "Kid?" She saw him running towards her along the path. "Shinigami-sama said you wanted to talk to me."
"What?" Kid looked up, embarrassed. "Father did? He told you?"
Maka nodded. "What's up?"
Thrown, Kid cleared his throat, thinking of how to go about this. "Can…can we walk?"
"Sure."
The two fell into step with each other. Maka looked at Kid out of the corner of her eye to see that he was blushing slightly.
"Maka…" He said.
"Yes?"
"I was thinking…"
"Yes?" Maka wished he'd just get on with it.
Kid fidgeted a little. "Have…well, what I mean is- have you already got a date for the Pumpkin Soul Dance?"
Maka's heart skipped.
She wasn't stupid- she could see where this was going.
"Um." She said.
"Because," Kid looked away to hide his blush. "If you don't…would you like to go with me?"
In a second, Maka was thrown into rethinking her feelings about Kid.
He was good-looking, a skilled weapon meister, a gentlemen…okay, he had his quirks and behind that usual serious façade there lay a real goofball, but…
No one would ask some underdeveloped girl to go with him anyway.
Soul's words had hurt her more than she thought they had.
Maybe because she thought he might ask her himself, maybe not.
Maka made her decision. "Yes." She said finally. "I'll go with you."
Kid, who had been terrified by the long pause, stared at her. "Really? You will?!" Then he remembered his composure. "Well," He coughed. "So be it then. I'll pick you up at six?"
"Sounds great." Maka smiled.
She couldn't wait to go home and brag to Soul and Blair.
Then she caught Kid staring at her, little sparkles in his eyes.
"Erm, what?" She blinked.
"Your face…your pigtails…" Kid sighed dreamily. "So…wonderfully symmetrical."
Maka groaned inwardly. Quirks like this, for example.
But somehow, she actually found it endearing the way he looked at her as if she were something priceless and beautiful.
She could get used to being admired- no problem.
"Right." She said. "So…I'll see you then."
Kid snapped himself out of his daydream long enough to nod at her.
His golden eyes lingered on her as she left.
"See you then." He murmured.
xxx
When she got home, Maka thought that the first thing she would do was fling the fact she had a date in Soul's face, but, weirdly, she didn't feel like doing that anymore when she walked in.
All she wanted to do was have a bath and go to bed.
For some reason, the day's events had exhausted her.
Still, it was fun to taunt Blair.
"Got a date yet?" The woman crooned, splayed out on the sofa.
"Actually," Maka said sweetly. "Yes, I have."
"Liar." Blair frowned.
"His name's Death the Kid, actually."
Blair sat up. "No way would that hottie go anywhere with you!"
"Think what you want to, cat face, I officially have a date."
"What?"
Maka turned to see Soul standing there in the doorway, staring at her.
Blair, disgruntled, turned into a cat and leapt away, out of the window.
"You heard me," Maka said, but with less relish than before. "I…have a date. With Kid."
Soul said nothing.
"So there!" Maka said, although her heart wasn't in it.
Soul's silence made her uncomfortable; his expression was shadowed over by his bangs as well.
"Well…goodnight." Maka walked towards her room.
"Maka?"
She stopped.
"I'm…sorry. About saying no one would want to go with you. Obviously, I was really wrong. Any guy would be lucky-" Soul broke himself off as he realized he was treading dangerous ground.
A few more words and he'd have given himself away entirely.
Maka laughed uneasily. "Don't worry about it." She said. "You should get a date too, Soul."
Soul managed a smile. "Nah." He said. "Ain't a girl pretty enough out there for a cool guy like me."
Maka rolled her eyes. "Whatever." She walked into her room.
When her door was closed, Soul slumped against the wall.
This is what she wants. He tried to tell himself. Maybe she really likes Kid.
But trying to help matters by telling himself letting her go was the right thing to do was useless.
I knew that Kid loved her too, Soul thought. But he's gonna have to love her a million times harder to even catch up halfway with me.