Disclaimer: I don't own Soul Eater, or any other characters here.
Survivor: Shibusen edition
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Shibusen; the student's home for imaginary friends…er…training facility for both meisters and their respective weapons. It withstood countless years of war, dedicated to teaching it's people the boundaries of right and wrong. Those who have graduated here showed promise, both mentally and physically. Well…most of them.
"Sur…sire…vigor…"
"That's 'survivor', Black Star…" Maka corrected him. The four of them namely, Maka, Soul, Black Star and a very befuddled Tsubaki were crowding over and was staring at an absurdly large poster that had several copies plastered all over Shibusen like there was some kind of crime scene investigation.
Soul rolled his eyes and put his hands into his pockets. "So what's this crap all about?"
"It says 'Survivor: Shibusen edition'…I wonder what that means?" Tsubaki wondered and tilted her head a little to the right side, her thumb and forefinger holding her chin.
Then something inside Black Star's brain clicked, though in the wrong place. "WAIT!" He suddenly raised his hand in front of a make-believe camera. "Does this mean that all the peasants of this school will fight to the death to replace ME as God? I think not! They will not and cannot take over me who is the greatest being of them all!" The blue-haired ninja ranted on and on. They were chattering vociferously until they heard footsteps. It was Stein.
"Hello, kids. You were yapping like baboons, so I thought that I'd come here to check out what's causing all the uproar." He was puffing again his cigarette even though Marie told him not to. She took Chrona in her care, and the latter seemed a bit happy about it. Stein lost most of his insanity after receiving a quick kiss on the cheek from Marie, and rumors began flying around the whole campus about those two, though both neither denied nor confirmed it. And that's when he started to dissect the petals of flowers with his bare hands and sometimes glowed a faint shade of scarlet for who-knows-what reason. He resumed his teaching job at Shibusen and Shinigami-sama even proposed to add the 'Defense against the Dark Arts' in the school curriculum which was fiercely rejected by the pupils. (Who the hell in their right minds would want more homework?!)
"Ah, good morning, Professor Stein…We were just talking about this," Maka pointed her finger towards the poster. "do you have any idea of what's it all about?"
A gust of smoke escaped from the butt of the Professor's cigarette. "Oh, that, well, it's-"
Right on cue, the school's speakers vibrated and then came their beloved founder, Shinigami-sama's kooky voice. "Attention, all Shibusen goers! I want everyone to gather on the assembly hall in five minutes!"
"Father…please make it eight…so asymmetrical…" Another sound quickly followed. It was blatantly desperate and obvious who it was, Shinigami-sama's slightly mad and obsessive-compulsive son, Death the Kid. "…Erm…okay, eight minutes then." The halls suddenly buzzed with loud murmurs and the students and teachers rushed to the said place while eyeing confusingly the ridiculous advertisements. It was yellow in the background with silhouetted palm trees as borders, Shinigami-sama doing a thumbs-up in the middle, and all around it were eyebrow-raising words like, Exciting! Adventure! Tropical! The first two words were understandable, but…Tropical!? Maka wondered briefly about their head master's sanity. Tropical means the ocean, the sea. There aren't even any coconut trees here in Death City!
The assembly hall was quickly filled with students and teachers alike. Then, Shinigami-sama himself appeared before them, Death Scythe and Kid tagging along with Liz and Patty behind. "Good morning to you all! I do hope you noticed those tiny posters around the school?" he bellowed. The students sweat-dropped.
"Who wouldn't?!"
"Well! I suppose I should get started now. Ahem…" Their head honcho proceeded. The whole room suddenly went black and the spotlight focused on Shinigami-sama. Black Star was unbelievably controlling himself to jump on the center stage and take the microphone. The former started to rub his two flat hands together and then spoke in an low and eerie voice, exaggerating his hand movements while talking.
"3 meisters, together with their weapons from Shibusen, will be chosen to contend on a remote island for two weeks.They must fend for food, water, fire, and shelter for themselves, while competing in challenges to earn rewards and immunity from being voted off by the 'council' in progressive eliminations. Who will survive?!"
The hall fell silent, except for Stein, who let out a low whistle. The lights went back on and Shinigami-sama hopped up and down in excitement, his 'normal' tone back. "Huh? Well? What do you all think? Thrilling, isn't it?" Death the Kid coughed twice and clapped. The crowd finally snapped out of their stupor and the whole room was packed with applause. "Hm-mm. I knew you'd all like it! Well, let's get to choosing the contestants now, shall we?"
"Yeah! There is not a doubt, that I, Black Star, will be chosen to be the winner in this contest, and surpass God, himself! But don't fret, my subjects, even though my halo has taken me above anything else, I will not hesitate to come back to bathe you all with my overpowering greatness!!" Black Star, finally unable to control himself, climbed up on the platform and grabbed the mic. "Black Star!!" His Demon Blade weapon embarrassingly dragged her meister out of the center stage, but not before knocking him unconscious by throwing a shuriken on his forehead.
"Okaaay…so! The two contestants will be chosen in the old-fashioned way. By the fish bowl. I had Spirit write all the names of the meister students in Shibusen on a piece of paper, and I will randomly choose two."
Maka, who was near the front raised her hand. "Shinigami-sama? I thought there was supposed to be 'three' contestants?"
"Well, Kid persuaded me to let him on it. Said he wanted to 'rough it' or something like that, right Kid?" he turned towards his son. Death the kid made a smug look and adjusted his collar.
"A fish bowl? That is so totally not cool." Soul huffed. Then he threw a sideward glimpse towards his right. Towards Maka. "Though I guess spending two weeks alone in a remote island won't be so bad…wait, what am I thinking? Whatever. It's a one in a million chance that she'd get picked any-"
"And so our first contender is…Oh! Our Dear, Maka Albarn!" Shinigami-sama clapped his hands in delight.
"What?!" Maka and Soul yelled in unison.
Death Scythe, who was behind the head master, let out an impish grin and nodded approvingly. "Ha! Why wouldn't she be chosen? I wrote her name ten times in there! Maka, my lovely daughter! I'm sure you will win!" And as if reading his thoughts, Shinigami-sama quickly turned to him, his hand raised. "My, Spirit! It's really such a coincidence, right? A coincidence?"
"Eeep."
Death Scythe's sweat started to drop like bullets down his face. "O-of course! A coincidence!"
In the meantime, the scythe meister was speechless. "Soul, I don't know if I should be happy or not." her weapon fought back the urge to smile. "Idiot. It's just a silly contest."
"By the way, the winning meister and his/her weapon will get a prize, of course!" Shinigami-sama continued. "A prize? Now we're talkin'! Bring it on!" Soul clasped his fist. "The prize is a big…"
"Yes…? A big…" Maka raised one eyebrow, her interest perceptibly grabbed. "Meh, you'll just have to win to find out!" Shinigami-sama shrugged. "And now, on to our last contestant…well, what do you know? It's Black Star!" he cried after taking out another piece of paper. Death Scythe sighed, relieved that he didn't pick up another paper with Maka's name written on it.
"Yo-ho!! I knew it! What did I tell you, Tsubaki!? The heavens just cannot do without the infallible Black Star! A halo will shine upon me! Remember that!" He suddenly jumped upright upon hearing his name, while his weapon, Tsubaki, groaned defeated.
Among the crowd, Ox Ford nudged Kilik slightly on the shoulder. "I wonder…why is it that those three are always teamed up?" he asked, slightly envious. His friend just hunched his shoulders and rolled his eyes. "Well, duh. It's their show. We're just extras."
Shinigami-sama exited through the door, waving his hands. "Congratulations, you three! Assemble at the port the day after tomorrow, and wait for Sid!" he practically had to drag Spirit back because he kept yelling good luck curses.
When the students returned to their classrooms, Black star was standing on his table, singing the 'I will survive' song and hollering something about giving out autographs. The teachers weren't back yet so Maka slumped on her seat. "Shinigami-sama didn't even bother to tell the rules!" she sighed in exasperation. "Oh well, just keep your eyes on the prize, Maka." Soul placed his hands at the back of his head and leaned backwards. "You seem awfully excited about this, Soul." She replied, cocking one eyebrow at her partner. "Ah…well…that is…uh…" he stuttered. He needn't tell her his 'ulterior motive'. "I-I just want the prize, whatever that is, it must be worth it."
"Hn."
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Back at their apartment, the two of them were silently enjoying Maka's homemade apple pie. "So…first time Shinigami-sama held anything like that, huh?" Soul's voice broke the silence first. "Yeah, well, one can never know what's going on in his head."
Both of them went to bed early, leaving the matter of the dishes to be done tomorrow. Soul plopped himself on his bed, yawning idly and rubbed his eyes.
"Alone with Maka for two weeks, huh…?"
That was his thoughts before he drifted calmly to sleep.
At Black Star and Tsubaki's house, the unusual pair sat at the kotatsu, eating rice balls. Black Star licked the remaining grains of rice from his fingers. "I gotta admit, Tsubaki, mi compadre, you make one mean stack of onigiri!" he commented.
"Well, we do have to celebrate you being part of the contest." Tsubaki said, while biting off a piece of rice ball and chewed silently. At least one of them was happy. Her meister stood up on the table. "For sure, I will friggin' win that contest! So that the other sightless beings shall recognize me for who I am! Oh yeah!" a smile puckered on his weapon's lips.
The next day was dreary as any other day. They just sat on their seats, staring blankly into space. "Isn't it wonderful, sis? We get to go on a deserted island tomorrow!" Patty's voice rang in the classroom. She was breaking the head of another giraffe she made from paper. "I wish you wouldn't say 'deserted', Patty…" Liz, the older one of the Thompson sisters, was playing with her auburn locks while doing her nails at the same time. Beside her was Kid, who was also plainly bored. He was doodling odd symmetrical patterns on the back of his skull-shaped notebook. Shinigami's son sighed. He knew the real reason why his father arranged this…this…Shibusen: Survivor Edition; it's just to help the students unwind from their harrowing traumas. Especially those two, Soul and Maka.
"Just one more day left…and we'll be sent off into the tropics…" Maka finally realized the benefit of the sudden course of events.
"I can finally rest for a while, no damn kishins trying to take over the world, just basking in the hot glow of the sun…ahh…" She'd been wanting to get out of the stress for a while now. The aftershock of the last combat with Asura still lingers on her mind. Soul was next to her, snoring like a drunkard, not realizing that his headband was slipping from his snow-white hair and falling slightly onto his face.
The blonde sighed. She reached out towards him to fix it.
And at the same time Maka was observing the symmetry veeery closely, (Kid's habit is beginning to rub off on her) Soul woke up.
The two froze, her stunned face just inches from his same bewildered expression. Overwhelmed by the sudden proximity, Soul's face flushed a bright shade of crimson. His mind was going haywire. He suddenly felt an uncontrollable urge to close that little distance between them and his hands were itching to touch her. "Maka…w-what…" "Down, boy. Control yourself."
Maka gulped and abruptly went back to her seat, her face pink. "I-I was just fixing your headband…it's starting to fall…" she trailed. Her weapon looked at her anxiously, his face still red. "Oh, okay…whatever, thanks." He finished and leaned backwards, but feigned to sleep this time.
He groaned inwardly. He had accepted it a long time ago, his feelings for Maka, that is. In the past, he could very well hide it. Now, it was getting even harder for him to manage his…cravings.
"Damn hormones. Damn adolescence."
He glanced back at her still profile and started reviewing the contours of her body, imagining what it would feel like if he were to stroke that soft ivory skin of hers…of course, he'd done it, quite a few times, actually. When she pulled him close to her on that unending darkness within his soul. He kept wondering if she was really naked at that time. But the feeling, when their bodies touched, though he couldn't be sure if he could call it that because they weren't even on the outside world, was something that you could never get used to. The kind of feeling that yearns for more. When he caught up with his thoughts, he mentally slapped himself. A cool guy like him should be used to Maka'a nude body by now!...or so he thinks. Still, his glance changed into gaping as he lost himself into his thoughts of the girl, and then he heard someone.
I see you winding and grinding up on that pole
I know you see me lookin' at you and you already know
I wanna fuck you (fuck you), you already know
I wanna fuck you (fuck you), you already know, girl
"W-WHAT?!!? N-no, I don't!!!" Soul gasped nervously, blushed hotly and started flailing his arms up and down in panic. His face could nearly be mistaken for an overripe tomato. The whole class turned to stare at him as if he was some kind of retard. "Soul, what's wrong?" Maka nearly jumped from her place after hearing her partner's scream.
"What happened? I was just singing along to Akon's song on my ipod." Patty said cutely, waving said device in front of him. Soul glared at her, furious. His eyes were twitching. He wanted so bad to stick his head in the oven for reacting too much.
Then he heard a familiar voice in his head. "C'mon, we both know that you really wanna…"
"Oh, SHUT IT!!" He screeched to himself. He knew he took care of that wretched little imp, devil, pest, whatever you want to call it, by eating him more than a week ago with help from his one-and-only Maka. This is so un-cool. "Am I losing my touch?"
"No, it's not that imp, it's me, your conscience! And I know just what you feel."
"Great. Another quack spouting psycho-babble to torment me and my mind." He thought sourly.
"Soul, are you okay?"
"Y-yeah, I'm fine…sort of." He looked back at Maka, who was strangely fidgeting at her seat.
"Hold it. Is she blushing?"
The walk back to their apartment was tranquil, with both parties silently hyperventilating. When they reached home, they started packing their things for their 'Adventure'. And after a while of cooling off, they were finally back to normal.
"Hey, tiny tits! Is dinner rea-OW!" before Soul can finish his sentence, a hard-bound dictionary flew all the way from the hall straight into his face, knocking him down on the wooden floor and miraculously came back to the wielder's hand. "That's my new technique, the Maka boomerang throw!" she appeared before him, looking absolutely pissed off. "ow…whatever, so is dinner ready? I'm starved!"
That night, it was steak and potatoes for dinner. The two ate greedily, not leaving any leftovers. "Are you ready for tomorrow, Soul?" Maka asked.
"You bet I am! I'm gonna win that mystery prize no matter what." Soul replied while chugging down the remains of his coke.
"All right! Let's both do our best!"
Ding dong
The scythe meister and weapon turned their heads in surprise. "I'll get it. I wonder who it is?" Maka got up and proceeded hastily towards the entrance. "Yes? It's me, Maka. Who is-" goose bumps crawled on her skin like a horde of spiders as she saw who it was. Spirit was preparing to launch himself at her.
"MAKA!! My daughter! Let us celebrate this wonderful night before you depart to-"
Slam!
"Who was that?" Soul asked as he eyed Maka from the hall and back into the kitchen.
"A man whore." She replied without the slightest hesitation, and Soul immediately knew who it was.
There! First chapter done! Whew! This is my very first Soul Eater fanfic, and I definitely love SoulMaka! Thanks for reading, and please review! =]
