CHAPTER 1: "UGLY"

Maka was hoping the letter she received from Blair was maybe a piece of paper with her mother's intricate cursive handwriting depicting her adventures, or maybe even a few pictures to show for said travels around the world. She stood still in her room, facing the wall and hands shaking at the white sheet of paper crumpling between her thumbs and forefingers.

They had mailed her again. The first few times were easy to blow off, but it appeared that the constant hazing had only grown more as her week progressed. She narrowed her eyebrows and swallowed.

'You aren't fit for such a talented partner. Ugly whore.' Is what it read. Maka had taken note of their terrible grammar days ago, which was how she knew the hale of letters being sent to her on a daily basis were definitely from the same person with an angry streak towards the dirty blonde. She sighed, hanging the letter at her side and turning to face her reflection in the mirror across from herself. Maka was never particularly pretty; not like Tsubaki or Liz. She was secretly a little envious and self conscious of the others, but never minded her lack of curves and baby face so much.

Not until recently. She stared into her own green eyes with a self loathing expression. Her hair was down, and she was in a set of pink flannel pajamas to match her room. Her feet trailed to the mirror, and she slid some fingers through a lock of her blonde locks. "Maybe I should do something different with my hair today…"

She gripped the letter in her left hand tightly, catching onto her train of thought and smacking the sides of her cheeks, snapping herself out of it immediately. "No! There's no room for self consciousness. This person is just jealous - it doesn't mean they're right. Focus, Maka."

A knock made her jump at the door. "Hey, Maka? You up?"

She gasped, turning around and holding the note close to her chest. It was Soul's voice. "I'm up!"

A few seconds lay out before her. He must have been thrown a bit by her unnatural tone of voice. The knob turned, and so did Maka. She hid the letter behind her back. A head of white hair poked its head out through the crack and looked her in the eyes with scarlet irises.

"You're usually out of your room and ready to go by now." When he saw the cost was clear and that she wasn't engaging in any disrobing activities, he fully opened the door and slid his hands in his pockets, his day-to-day orange shirt under a black jacket and matching headband thrown on. It seemed he had already gotten ready, surprisingly enough. This was early for him.

"Yeah, sorry. I got a bit distracted." Maka smiled it off, rubbing her slippers together nervously. He blinked and tilted his head.

"What? Reading again?"

"Yeah, something like that." She did her best not to stutter and keep face. Soul glanced at the mirror behind her, seeing a piece of paper crumpled up in her fists. He looked back up at her.

He wanted to ask, but knowing her, it was probably best not to bring it up yet. "You better hurry and get dressed if you want to make it to school on time. I already set breakfast on the table; you can grab it on the way out."

"Right, thanks."

He gave her a one solid stare before closing the door behind him.

Maka let out a breath of relief, giving herself one more glance and then proceeding to toss the letter in the garbage with the rest of them, walking to her wardrobe.

Soul stared at the pink door, letting out a stressful sigh. He turned his head to the humming heard behind him and walked out to see Blair on the couch looking through their photo albums. She knocked her knees and giggled.

"Wasn't Maka so cute? Such a little angel!"

"You think so?" He peeked over her shoulder, viewing photos he had already seen with the woman in discussion herself. He never really looked close before, but she was a bit of a cute kid. Not that he'd say anything out loud.

"Mhm! I think it's adorable that she still wears her hair in pigtails. It's like her trademark, y'know?"

"Yeah…" He got lost in thought. Blair should have been up when Maka was up and while he was asleep. Maybe she knew something about Maka's behavior. He straightened his back.

"Hey, has Maka seemed different to you this morning?"

"Hm?" She placed a fingernail to her chin and looked up at the ceiling. "Not that I can think of. She actually seemed pretty normal. Why?"

Maybe it was just him. But having established a spiritual link with his meister, he felt very unsettled within himself, and he knew it wasn't because of anything he was feeling. The paper she was clenching behind her back was very suspicious, too. Maka wasn't one to talk about her problems much - would she even come to him if something was wrong?

He let out a huff, rubbing his hands through his wild hair. "Nothing, never mind. Maybe she was just sleepy…"

Blair's head tilted; puzzled. "Well actually-"

Maka's door opened and she stepped out, collar folded, tie tied, cape buttoned and gloves on. Her hair was tied up like usual. "I'm ready to go, Soul." She headed for the door.

"Right." He went to follow her, but then noticed her omelet sitting on its plate on the table, untouched. "Hey, what about your breakfast?"

"I'll eat it when I get home. We don't have time - we're going to be late. Blair, do you mind putting it in the fridge for me?" She made sure she had her apartment keys in her pocket and then unlocked the front door.

"No problem!" Blair smiled with delight.

"We'll be off then." Soul said, leaving with his meister. The bakeneko waved an elegant hand.

"Have a safe trip!"


"Are you sure you're okay waiting until lunch to eat?" Soul looked over at Maka, the two walking up the long steps of Shibusen. Maka darted her eyes straight ahead, instantly knocking down his question.

"I'll be fine."

He knew this attitude. This usually meant she was hiding something or something was weighing heavily on her mind and her act of toughness was the way she coped with it. His frown deepened a bit and he kept walking.

"Just don't pass out during class."

"I won't."

Soul had learned to cope with this behavior of hers over time. When Maka got like this, it was like trying to break through a steel wall; not as easy as it seemed.

He placed a hand to his chest, feeling the disturbance in their wavelength thicken. It was great that their training had paid off this much, but not so great that he was only feeling a percentage of Maka's true feelings; and they were coming off strong.

A black and white figure with a head of neatly trimmed hair and three white lines with matching sisters standing at his side came into view, the three conversing about everyday topics. A small smirk brushed across Soul's lips and he called out to them.

"Hey, Kid!"

The reaper stopped and turned, returning the smile when seeing his friends approach them. They had gotten to the school at the same time for once. "Maka, Soul. Goodmorning."

"Mornin'!" Patty laughed and waved to them.

"How's it goin'?" Liz added, placing a hand on her hip. The pair pulled up to the group's side, walking with them through the academy doors.

"We're just fine. How about you guys?" Soul responded.

"Splendid. Apparently today is supposed to be a bit of a lazy one since we had just gotten over exam week. It's supposed to take the tension off of the students for a day and let them relax a bit." Said Kid.

"Nice, I'm looking forward to it." Soul folded his hands behind his head. "I know Black*Star could use it the most. That idiot probably failed again."

"True. He has a tendency to miss every mark on his tests." Kid nodded in agreement. The two continued to talk, Maka keeping quiet. Liz blinked down at her and decided to speak up about her antisocial-ness.

"Hey, Maka, you feeling okay?"

She perked up and looked at Liz. "Yeah, why?"

"I dunno, you just seem kind of… Quiet." The cowgirl shrugged.

"Yeah, join the conversation!" Patty added with hyperactive glee.

Maka swallowed, putting on her mask of a smile. "Oh, I was just thinking about homework, is all!"

Liz frowned a bit in disgust. "When it comes down to it, you really have a one-track mind, don't you? Well I guess that's why you're the honors student, huh."

"Try not to stress too much about today." Said Kid. "You should take the break as well as the rest of us."

Maka nodded awkwardly, lacing her fingers behind her back and staring down at her toes in deep thought. Soul glanced at her. The question was at the tip of his tongue, but he held it. They weren't exactly in private quarters at the moment.

A head of curly hair was glaring at the scythe meister from behind them. She crossed her arms over her chest, pinning her envious eyes
on her.


Maka was incapable of keeping up with the chatterings of the rest of the classroom. She sat at her regular seat, hands folded over her book and staring off into space. The more she thought about the number of letters finding their way to her, the more her throat tightened up. She kept talking them down, trying to fight back the lies. Fortunately for her, Soul was caught up in conversation with Black*Star, and paid her no mind.

Her green eyes caught onto the corner of something in the wooden compartment above her knees. She slid her hand in and grabbed the paper. It was a pink letter. The adolescent blinked. It didn't appear all that threatening, but just to be safe, she opened it under the table and her eyes widened when they first landed on the sheet of paper.

A swarm of insults littered the sheet in black ink, completely disorganized and scrambled with brutal intent. 'Whore, ugly, slut, b****, plain-faced, stuck-up, snob, no sex appeal, flat chested, arrogant, go kill yourself, worthless, you should wear a paper bag over your head, stop trying to be cute, you never will be,' the list of horrible things to say went on and really hit a nerve. As Maka continued to read, she felt her eyes begin to tingle and water. Her hands shook and she swallowed, the room beginning to darken around her-

"-Maka." A hand touched her shoulder. She jumped and gasped, sliding the paper to her side where it wasn't visible. Soul stared at her with concern.

"Y-Yeah?" Her body trembled, and she did her best to halt her jumping nerves. He narrowed his eyes a bit.

"You okay? You've been super quiet. I thought maybe you were reading a book but…" His eyes trailed over to the closed, thick book sitting in front of her. Maka forced a smile to stretch on her face once again, taking in an awkward breath.

"Yeah I'm fine, just lost in thought I guess." She played it off, waving a hand. He took note of her knees knocking together.

"Hey, you're shaking like crazy. You feelin' alright?"

"I-I'm just fine."

"You sure? Today is a slow day after all, you can go to the nurse's office if you want."

"I'm positive." She nodded and did her best to stuff the piece of paper quietly and quickly into her coat pocket. Soul spotted the white piece before it disappeared and a frown hung on his lips. He released her shoulder, kicking his leg over the other and sitting back in his seat, hands in pockets. His red eyes looked ahead, Soul falling silent entirely. Maka brushed the back of her hand across her forehead and opened her book.

'I have to get my mind off of it… I'll throw the letter out later.'

Tsubaki was sitting behind the blonde, staring at her pocket with the crumpled paper.


The bell rung and all classes were let out to go to their lockers. Soul walked down the hall by himself, heading to the bathroom. He couldn't get his mind off of what he saw back in the classroom.

"Soul?" Tsubaki called to him from behind. He stopped his footsteps and turned to the raven-haired.

"Oh hey, you need something?"

She approached him with a smile, but came off with a little unease. "I was just wondering something. Is Maka okay? She's been very, very silent all day… And her face was a little pale during class today."

So she noticed it too. For all of Maka's efforts, she wasn't that great at hiding it. He turned his head to the floor. "So you noticed it too."

"Did something happen?"

"Nothing I can think of, but she's been acting like this all morning. I'm a little more than concerned by now."

"Well, I saw something a bit suspicious back in the classroom… It looked like she pulled a letter out from her desk, and then she slid it in her pocket as if trying to hide it. You don't think… Someone is doing something to her, do you?"

It was possible. From the letter she was hiding that morning to the one in class, the suspicion became worse and only made him air out the worst possibilities. Maka looked like she was going to cry earlier when they last talked. If someone was attacking her then…

He felt his cheeks grow a bit cold and balled his hand into a fist in his pocket. "Tsubaki, do you know where she is now?"

The girl thought for a moment. "She told me she was going to her locker."

"Thanks for talking to me." He bolted past her, leaving the girl behind and turning back to the direction where the lockers were. He gritted his teeth. If someone was attacking her, what would happen if she was alone?

Panic rose in his chest and he ran as fast as he could.


Maka had just reached her locker, staring at it with anticipation for something. The letters had been spreading to her desk; it wouldn't surprise her if they spread to her locker as well. She placed a hand to her chest, reminding herself of something.

'If there is something in there, don't get worked up about it… It's just some stupid teenager's irrational envy.' With a nod, she started using her combination to unlock the metal door-

"Maka!"

She stopped, looking over at her partner. He looked like he had run all the way there, and started slowing down when he spotted her. He walked, catching his breath and looking straight into her eyes. She seemed okay. She wasn't disheveled or messed up or anything. A bit of solace settled in him.

"Are you okay?"

She blinked in surprise. What would possess Soul to run all the way from the men's room back to her locker? Maka nodded. "I am. Did something happen?"

No, but he was glad that was the case. He stood up straight and ran his fingers through his bangs. "Nah, nothing. I just had a weird feeling is all. Guess I was wrong."

"Oh. I see." She turned back to her locker, continuing to turn the knob until it clicked. Soul took in a breath. He couldn't take this uneasiness any longer. The closer he stood to her, the more he could feel the negative energy bouncing off of her to him.

"Look, we need to talk."

"What is there to talk about?"

Not this BS again. His eyes narrowed. "Don't be like that. You've been acting strangely all morning. Now that I think about it, it's slowly worked up like this all week, hasn't it?"

"What has."

"Stop playing dumb. You've been hiding something all day, and you were shaking terribly during class. You haven't been
interacting with your friends at all; none of this is like you. Tell me what's going on."

Maka paused, eyes widening. So he had noticed. She balled up her hand and pushed back some tears. With a swallow, she responded. "Nothing is going on."

"Maka, I can feel it on you. Stop lying to me."

"Seriously, Soul, I'm fine-" She started raising her voice a bit until she opened her locker door and piles of notes and letters poured out onto her feet. Her body froze, and her eyes slowly looked down on the dozens of pieces of paper and note cards decorating the floor. She quickly knelt down and started picking them up without a word. Soul slowly joined her, kneeling down and picking up a card. He gasped to himself at the word painted on it.

'SLUT!' It practically screamed at him. A cocktail of anger and confusion for Maka then mixed inside of him. Was this what she had been hiding all along? He looked up at her.

"Hey…"

"Give me that." She snatched it from his hand, obviously pushing back tears at this point. "Don't look at these. They're nothing." She picked the rest of them up in her arms.

"How long has this been going on?" His voice became low and stern, demanding answers.

"I said they're nothing!" She stood. "Leave it alone, okay!?" Her feet turned and she began running, the crumpled note slipping out of her pocket and dropping on the floor.

"Maka!" Soul screamed for her, then turned to the polished ground. "So this was it… But how long… And who would even think of…" He paused, seeing the piece of paper on the floor. He walked towards it and picked it up, opening it. His heart rose into his throat and flamed simultaneously; reading the words scattered across the lined paper.

He gripped it so hard he ripped the top, and then proceeded to rip it into pieces and toss it into the nearest garbage can. He paused, stuffing his hands in his pockets and not saying a word.

Black*Star was walking with Kid, Crona and the others, all having a lovely conversation when he spotted the white-haired boy standing in silent fury. He waved an exasperated hand.

"Yo, Soul! What's up, why are you just standing-"

Soul Swung his leg out and angrily kicked over the trash can, all but ignoring his friend and continuing down the hallway, back faced to them. The group jumped and watched him walk away. Black*Star grit his teeth.

"Hey, what did you go and do that for!" He rubbed his hand through his hair. "What's his deal?"

Crona shook in his boots, fiddling his hands nervously. Kid placed a hand on his shoulder to calm him. He gave Crona a smile, and then looked forward in suspicion. The two's souls had been off that morning.

What had gotten into them?


A/N:
Hey guys, MK here! I can't believe I haven't done this yet, but here's a short Soul x Maka fanfic! I felt like dealing with some real life problems for once xD. I am a fan of the manga and anime, but I was a fan of the anime first, and before anyone says anything about Crona's gender, Crona was made out to be a male in the anime, and since I watched that first, I still think of him as one and it's just hard for me to write him as anything else so I apologize if you disagree with him being an adorkable male :c.

But anyway, I hope you all have a wonderful day!
Peace, babes~!