Soul Eater Evans yawned loud as he walked down one of the hallways of Shibusen. His lazy crimson eyes made an illusion that made him look like he was tired sometimes, but that wasn't true.
He was tired all the time.
Who the hell thought it was a good idea to start school so early in the morning? he thought to himself as another loud yawn escaped from his mouth. He turned the corner to see a scene, a girl pushed up against the wall at what looked like getting interrogated by a brown haired girl.
"I have to get back to class, please excuse me," he heard the girl against the wall say curtly.
"I don't think so," the brown haired girl said, slamming her hand against the wall in order to trap the first girl from leaving. "What gives you the right to act all high and mighty, huh? You're not tough. You act like you are, but you're just a weak little baby, everyone here knows that you're just carried by him."
Soul sat by the corner for a moment, listening at what transpired.
"I-It isn't like that, now will you please let me—" the girl tried to step away again.
"No! You think you're so great just because you have a great partner like him. You don't even deserve him! Give him to someone who does deserve him, huh?"
"I really have to get back to cl—" the first girl tried to say again and began to move. But the other girl suddenly grabbed hold of one of her twin tails, yanked hard, and kneed her in the stomach, a loud 'augh!' coming from the girl. That's when the first girl's face finally came into view.
"Soul-senpai deserves better than you!" the brown haired girl shrieked as she punched Maka hard in the face, sending her straight into a vending machine on the wall with a horrid bang.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?!" Soul shouted. The brown haired girl jumped and, without looking back, quickly bolted down the stairs not far from where she was beating the hell out of Maka.
Soul ran straight for where Maka was crumpled to the floor, clutching her head in one hand and holding her stomach with the other. His heart stopped when he thought he heard a sob escape from her. She never cried in public. He slid on his knees to where she was and took her face in his hands. She had a bruise and small laceration under her right eye, but she was bleeding from where her head made contact with the vending machine.
"Holy hell," Soul said under his breath. Without a second thought he lifted her onto his back and began walking down the hallway. "I'm taking you home right now."
He heard her mumble something about 'missing class, idiot' but Soul didn't care at the moment. He set her in front of him on his motorcycle to make sure she didn't fall off and quickly drove home.
He leaped up the steps into their apartment, stopping in the kitchen just to grab the first aid kit, and kicked open the door to her room. He set Maka carefully on her bed and pulled the chair from her desk closer and sat down. Her eyelids were drooping, though not from exhaustion. Soul could tell that all of this had upset Maka greatly, even if she wouldn't admit it.
He set the first aid kit on the bed and immediately began cleaning the blood from her face and wound to the head. She flinched the first time he touched the wound, a small "ow…" escaping from her lips.
Soul frowned. "… Are you gonna tell me what the hell happened today?" he asked as he worked on her head.
"Nothing happened," Maka said monotone. Soul scowled at her as he began to wrap medical gauze around her head.
"You know as well as I do that that isn't true, Maka, now start telling the truth right now," Soul growled. "I mean it."
Maka stared down at her folded hands sitting in her lap, not wanting to look at Soul. "N-Nothing happened, can we just drop it, please?"
"Just drop it?" Soul said furiously. "A girl beats the ever living shit outta you, and you think we're gonna just drop it?! And you think I'm the stupid one!"
Maka still refused to look at him. He noticed her starting to quiver and immediately dropped the irritated tone in his voice. He exhaled. "Maka… what is wrong?"
"Nothing."
Soul sighed and gently took her chin in his hand, using the tweezers and a cotton ball to disinfect the cut and bruise under her eye. "This is obviously nothing, Maka," he said quietly, looking into her emerald eyes. "Why can't you just talk to me? You don't trust me, or somethin'?"
Maka looked down as he attached the bandage to her cheek. "Of course I trust you, Soul. I'm just… I-I'm…"
"You're what, Maka?" he asked her, smoothing the white bandage to her cheek.
"I'm not strong on my own, like all these girls who want to be your partner, Soul…" she admitted, her chin crinkling. "I don't know why you stick with me… That girl was right, I am weak. I couldn't even defend myself against her."
Soul couldn't believe his ears. He glowered as he said, "You're not weak, Maka, how many times do I have to tell you that? Those girls are bitches, you can't take what they say to heart!"
"But I do take it to heart, Soul!" she cried. Maka buried her face in her arms, Soul hearing sobs escape from her mouth one after another. Soul realized that she must get these more than he thought. How could he not have noticed her getting picked on so much?
"Maka, you know—"
"No! Don't you see, Soul? You need to be with someone who's strong like you, any of those girls would be better for you than me!" she hiccupped and sniffed, tears streaming down her face.
"Fuck all those girls, Maka!" Soul yelled, gritting his sharp teeth and standing from the chair he was sitting in. "You think I give a shit about what those little dipfucks say about you? Not in the goddamn slightest, Maka!" He sat down in the chair once more, pulling it closer to the bed as he continued with full vigor. "Those little shits got nothing on you! Who cares if they're strong? They'd never be able to replace what we have here!"
Maka was astounded by what she was hearing coming out of Soul's mouth. And her heart skipped a beat at the next thing he said. "You know what the first thing I notice about other girls is?" he asked her, his voice cracking just a bit. "That they're not you." Maka's eyes grew wide at his bold statement.
"B… b-but—"
"No," Soul interrupted, taking her face in both of his hands, "no buts. They're not you," he repeated. Maka sniffed as tears began rolling down her cheeks once more. Soul's eyes searched her face, a worried look washing across him.
"Maka, how the hell can you think that I'd just drop you for someone new?" he questioned softly, his brow crinkling anxiously. "Do you think I'm that terrible of a person?"
"Of course I don't," she retorted. Her lip quivered as she continued. "I just think that… you deserve a meister who can actually take care of herself when you're not around. Black Star and Kid can take care of themselves just fine."
"Kid is the son of Death himself and Black Star does a thousand chin ups when he gets an answer wrong when studying, Maka," he told her. His thumb wiped a tear from her cheek. "Yes, they're strong and tough, and some of those girls are strong and tough, but they're. Not. You."
"But why—" Soul silenced her by leaning forward and pressing his lips to hers. A soft mmph! escaped from Maka's throat. At first, Maka's eyes were wild from shock, but then she found her eyes slowly drifting shut. She eased into him as he grasped her shoulders, both of them slowly lowering to the bed. Maka wrapped her arms around his back, small noises coming from her throat as he pushed his tongue beyond her lips. He pressed himself further into her as he held tightly onto her. Maka's hands travelled up to his white hair, burying them into his soft locks. A low, guttural growl erupted from Soul's throat as the two finally pulled apart, gasping desperately for air. Soul wrapped her into an embrace, his hand holding the back of her crown and his cheek resting on the side of her head.
Maka could feel the beating of his heart against her chest, heat radiating from his body. Tears welled up in her eyes once more as she buried her face into the crook of his neck, grasping him tighter. He heard her loud sobs and felt warm tears on his skin, but he responded by holding her as tight as he could without further injuring her. Eventually Maka fell into slumber, and Soul, not wanting to leave her alone, simply pulled the comforter over them and fell asleep with her in his arms.