Are You Dead?

By: Bittersweet Laughters

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN SOUL EATER IN ANY SHAPE OR FORM.

How long had they been friends? It was over a decade, twelve years to be precise. They had been friends for so long that he hadn't really remembered how they met. He was just a short boy in a tender age of five when he stepped out of his parents' grasps to live with his aunt. Soul Evans never liked his aunt. She was too strict and uptight that she had left him no room for argument. The middle-aged woman kept persuading him to play those happy tunes that his parents used to ask him to hated those times, so someday, he ran out of his aunt's house and ended up crying on a deserted park.

That's where he met her.

She was small. So tiny and petite that she looked so huggable and so vulnerable at the same time. But her emerald, gleaming eyes said different. They showed courage, the will inside her soul to fight. She might look like a fragile girl with pigtails and oversized coats, but she was no ordinary girl. There's something different with this girl.

He had once seen this girl, watering her plants in front of her house. She was his neighbor if he remembered correctly. She sat on the swing next to his and they started to talk. They had been friends ever since.

She was Maka Albarn, the girl that had changed his life, his best friend. She was a hard, violent person. She was stubborn, and strong-willed. Growing up in a hard environment, when her parents divorced not long before their first meeting, she was quite a character. Soul remembered how she used to mock her father for flirting with other women, and it wasn't rare for her to chop his head off and yell at him for being the cause of her mother's absence in her life. Despite her rough family, she still aced her ranks. She was the top student of Shinbusen, their school.

They spent a lot of time together. When they were elementary students, he used to wait in front of her door so they could walk to school together. They'd chat about anything, from Maka's letters from her mom, Soul's aunt burnt the curry, or sometimes they shout random jokes at each other. He'd take her hand when they crossed the road and not letting it go until they reach the school.

When they were in junior high, Soul didn't wait in front of her door again, instead, he parked his polished orange motorbike in front of her house, waiting patiently for her to show up. She'd climb up the seat and secured her arms around his waist as he drifted his way to Shinbusen.

They'd seat next to each other during classes, they ate together during lunch break. They were inseparable. When there was Soul, there was Maka, vice versa. Maka was always there. She comforted him during his mourning days after his aunt's death. She defended him when Soul's parents planned to took him back to the Evans' manor. And thanks to her, he enjoyed his life alone. After school, he'd drive them both to their 'd bid each other goodbye, and later on in the day, they'd text to each other just to say good night. At weekends, they'd hang out together or just at each other's house, lounging in front of the TV.

Then, junior high days passed by and senior high came by. As usual, Soul would pick Maka up from house. Nothing had change. They both seat next to each other, ate together, but something was pretty different, Soul had transformed into a hottie this year. He even had fan clubs and his locker was filled with love letters and date he had gained popularity, they were still best friends. He still picked her up and they still hang out together during weekends.

But then, that day came. It was a sunny Saturday, he was about to call his best friend, when suddenly his phone rang. Like God is on his side, the number who dialed him was Maka's house. He picked it up and greeted cheerfully, but, sadly, he didn't hear her airy, high-pitched voice, instead, he heard a deep, masculine one. Soon, he recognized the voice as Maka's father. They spoke for good ten minutes, and as soon as their conversation ended, he collapsed to his knees.

Maka was dead.

He just still couldn't understand what happened, even until the wooden coffin was closed.