Hey guys, so if any of you have read AwesomeBlackStar16's story The Difference, then you may or may not know that I got permission to take it over! Yay for me! I loved the concept of the story and of course I couldn't resist. If you haven't, well now you know the news! I will be changing some of the story line around a bit, and so it might take some time between chapters. So without further ado, I present the Grand Opening Chapter of... The Difference.

As sunlight flooded the room Maka's eyes fluttered open. Immediately she could feel the arms her boyfriend had around her waist tighten ever so slightly from their slack positions.

She rolled over and slapped his cheek gently. "Soul, I know you're awake. I have to get to school today, I can't be missing my exam today, or Stein's gonna give me the make-up test from Hell."

Soul chuckled, still acting sleepy, or perhaps he was. Demons didn't need sleep, but they could if they wanted to perhaps he fell asleep after she did. "Babe, Death City is Hell, or the closest to Hell there is on Earth. Either way, it couldn't be that much worse."

His English accent is thicker than usual, so she supposes he really was tired. She laughed a little at his commentary, but her tone became serious again. "Soul, I have to go to school."

Soul hooked one of his legs over hers and brought her up closer to him. "Stay. With your brains you could live to cut another day."

Maka felt guilty every time she cut school, that was, until Soul would take her out for a good time, or if Soul was just around. Damn him and his smexy self, damn him for his cute accent, and damn him yet again for making her feel so good. She was conflicted, until she remembered that she hadn't been home for practically the past week. She bit her lips worriedly, and Soul knew what she was thinking.

He sighed, "Want me to pick you up?"

"As long as you drop me off at my house, I'm starting to miss my room." Maka said, wiggling out of his arms and going to shower.

Soul watched as his girlfriend strolled out of the shower, already dressed, to his disappointment. She wore a ruby red crop top with long sleeves made of lace. It didn't get to show her midsection, however, because of her leather pants with their high waistline. She had simple combat boots: black with red laces all the way up.

Soul grinned at his girlfriend; it was amazing how sexy and badass she could look without trying. She took her usual coat off the desk chair in his room, since outside the weather was going to be blustery and rainy. It still fit her perfectly now at 18, just like it did at 16 when Soul bought it for her birthday.

Maka crawled over to Soul on the bed, kissing him on the lips gently before he pulled her closer, and their kisses started to get stronger and needier. His tongue slips in her mouth and they constantly battle for dominance. Soul doesn't need air but Maka does, pulling away after 3 short minutes.

"I gotta get to school, see you later Soul." He nodded, letting her go and watching as she walked out the door to his room.

Maka was about to jump off the stairs like she usually did, skipping the two flights instead of going down the first, turning on the landing just to go down the second. Sounds from the living room caught her attention however, and so she walked down the stairs.

"I wonder when they got here, they weren't in the house last night." Maka thought.

Sure enough, Black*Star and Death the Kid were passed out on the couches, sleeping. She took some blankets out of the linen closet and somewhat tucked them in. Black*Star was such a heavy sleeper he didn't budge, but Kid was always a light sleeper.

"Have a good day at school, Maka." He said tiredly.

"Thanks Kid, and you guys stay safe."

"We'll try Maka, but you know how dangerous the business is." He replied. Maka nodded her head in reply as she grabbed a bagel-ful, toasted it, and walked out the door with her back pack slung on one shoulder, eating the bagel-ful on the way to school.

Maka slipped inside the classroom and just as she sat down, the bell rang. She laid back in her chair, putting her feet up on the desk-in-front-of-her's book-holder-thingy, as Patty so aptly put it, and a sigh escaped her lips.

"Tired aren't we Maka? I wonder what's been taking up so much of your time. *ahem*, fake cough." Jackie says teasingly. Maka knew everyone could see Soul's usual mark that he placed on her neck, usually after they had sex, and everyone knew that if anyone hurt her or went after her Soul would find a fate worse than death for them.

"Maka-chan, you weren't with Soul again, were you?" Tsubaki asked worriedly.

"Of course she was! By the way, you owe me one, Albarn." Kim interjected, and Maka handed Kim a steel water bottle, though it wasn't filled with water.

"Well, Soul says thank you, and so do I." Maka says, and Kim unscrews the lid and looks inside, finding weed. Her face lit up with a smile, and she chuckled.

"I was just joking Maka, but I was going to hope to score some off of Ox later today anyways, so thanks. You saved me from having to promise him a date or something."

Tsubaki just shook her head in disappointment.

"Tsubaki, chill, weed's legal for people who are 18 and older to buy nowadays, Kim's 17, and we've all had some before, so it's not a big deal. I just saved her a date with Mr.-I-do-weed-only-for-Kim-but-act-like -I'm-a-badass-but-I'm-really-an-innocent-nerd Ox. Oh, and FYI Soul and I didn't do much last night, we just cuddled... and stuff." Maka said, pausing before adding in "and stuff" suggestively, hoping to get some sort of freak-out from Tsubaki. She got a freak-out, but not the comedic type she had been hoping for.

"I don't care much about the weed Maka, but do you understand what's going on here? Never mind, you obviously don't. He's a demon, Maka, and he's changed you. If it weren't for the truce between demons and humans, you'd be killing things like him right now! You're a grigori, Maka, a true huntress; you should know better. I don't think it's a good idea to be dating him, but because I'm your friend I've sat by. I've watched, allowing a demon, from the Evans clan, no less, to put their filthy hands on my best friend and sister, and if he doesn't kill you, the lifestyle certainly will." Tsubaki ranted in a whisper-yell while Marie lectured. Thank Heaven Stein had an emergency meeting and so their calculus test would be postponed until Monday, or there would be scalpels coming towards their heads.

Maka hung her head low, it hurt that her best friend didn't approve of her boyfriend, but she couldn't blame Tsubaki. They were the youngest generation of some of the oldest and most powerful shadow-hunting families. Shadow hunters, or hunters for short, were humans gifted by the angels, gifted with the abilities to hunt and kill demons.

Shadow-hunting families were the most demon-hating "human" society had to offer. After demons were discovered, shadow hunters came shortly thereafter, no longer needing to hide from the rest of human society, and effectively, the 'system'. Then as well as now, shadow hunters were still highly respected by humans, whereas they were wary of demons.

When demons were a bit more savage, shadow hunters would be called in, but somehow with stronger demons came with more humanity and even more human appearances, as higher classes had souls, while lower-class demons didn't. With new, higher-class demons becoming the dominant group, and lower classes all but wiped out in a civil war, humans and demons had a truce, an uneasy one but still a truce.

After demons were discovered to be capable of gaining a soul of their own, humans and demons had come to said truce, and the mainly human shadow hunters were spoken for by humans. To families like Maka and Tsubaki's, it was horrifying. They were a race of their own, blessed by angels with their blood, and some were even chosen for hybrid souls, and therefore a higher class of their own to combat the new evolution of higher classes of demons, simply labeled: grigori.

Tsubaki's tone became apologetic as she realized Maka's sudden change in demeanor from laid-back to on the verge of tears. "I'm sorry Maka-chan, it's just I want better for you and-"

Maka stood up abruptly then, taking her backpack off her desk and walking out the door to the classroom.

Marie blinked, "What's wrong with her?"

Everyone went to gossiping, rather than listening to Marie's attempts at having them settle down. She silenced the class and continued lecturing as Kim shot Tsubaki a look that said 'why do you do this knowing as much as you do?', and walked out the door after Maka. Jackie locked eyes with Tsubaki before also walking out a few moments later.

She was too fast for them, though, Maka had went to the abandoned wing of the old academy, located on the other side of the school. She had blinked back tears the entire way there, and somehow, she felt much better now that she was in the dark. It was soothing, and the fact that the central heating was cut off there made the place feel freezing, which was just what Maka needed as she literally became hot with anger. The cold was comforting to her, and when she was all cried out, she went to the old library, which still had some old tomes in there, mainly the ones filled with incorrect information that the academy could no longer use for educational purposes.

Maka laid on one of the old Victorian couches, letting the darkness envelop her both physically and mentally. Her mind was plagued with thoughts of self-hate. If Soul wasn't good because she was a demon then what in the hell was she? If everything was so black and white, was she grey?

Soul drove to the academy, having received a text from Maka to just pick her up early. As he drove past the wrought iron gates to the front of the prestigious DWMA, he noticed his girlfriend standing outside, and with his vision he could tell she had been crying, her eyes rimmed with red, and her frustration emanating off of her soul was almost palpable.

Maka had started walking to the red and black 1969 Camaro Z28 RS, the first car he and Maka had sex in, making her smile a little. A brunette around Maka's age ran up behind her, and as Soul waited in the car he listened to their conversation, trying to understand what exactly had her crying, and who's neck he had to break.

"MAKA! Wait up!" She whipped around to see Jackie running up to her.

"Hey Jackie, if anyone asks, I'm just going home 'cuz I don't feel well, okay?" Maka says, and Jackie nods her head, noticing the scarlet car with the black stripe down the center. Jackie was also a shadow hunter, but she couldn't see past the dark tinting of the windows.

"You had your dad pick you up?" She asked, and Maka let out a bitter laugh.

"As if, if I asked him to pick me up he'd either send a limo because I'm his darling princess or forget about me entirely as soon as he saw his naked whore of the week. No. That's Soul picking me up."

"Sorry Maka, I didn't mean to make you feel worse, and you understand how Tsubaki's parents raised her, and what happened with Masamune-san. Just remember that that's only her opinion and her experiences that have made her that way. Listen, she's your sister, and she's just worried. Kim and I support you fully, too. Besides, it's not the warring days anymore, if the angels were that pissed off you wouldn't be alive, that counts for something, right?..."

At Maka's silent nod in reply, Jackie looks over Maka's shoulder to Soul's car. Maka turns around to see her boyfriend's car and Jackie waves to Soul.

"So that's Soul Evans over there, huh?" Jackie asks Maka, "Sexy car, no doubt will be hot, you always get the hot ones, and excellent gift-er, according to Kim. As long as he keeps you happy he's got my approval: demon drug lord or otherwise."

"Thank you Jackie, but coming from the girl whose best friend is a witch who dates guys like Ox to score some weed, whose other friend is an assassin because her other job was taken away from her, who has yet another friend who is a "disgrace to society", and who herself comes from the 'new-age' shadow hunter families, it's not as comforting." Maka says, and Jackie understands why. Her background had given her the ability to be less snobbish about these sorts of things, whereas Maka's practically-a-sister was all but denouncing her, just because she didn't approve of Soul.

Soul felt a little miffed, he couldn't help Maka out, nor could he do anything to make life easier on her, but Jackie could, and so she did.

"Well then I'll make it more comforting." Jackie replies, turning to look at Maka, who stands to her right.

Maka looks at Jackie, an eyebrow raised. "What do you mean by that?"

"It's one thing to say I support you, it's another to actually do it." Jackie replies, taking Maka's shoulders and walking with her to Soul's car.

Maka smiles at Jackie's weird-ness, because very few outside of her family understood, and some of her own family didn't care to try either. With the exception of her immediate family, Kim, Jackie, Blair, and sometimes Tsubaki (when she cared to fake it), tried to support or understand her in some way. Maka was generally a loner, and while she was nerdier looking and seeming back then, she was probably better off now than before.

Jackie seemed to understand that. It was in the way Maka spoke to other people and seemed to smile and actually mean it. Maka stopped cutting shortly after she met Soul, she even did weed less than before, drank less too. It might have seemed usual, but that's because no one was ever around to notice her in the first place. No one noticed that Soul was saving her more than damaging her life; she had done it more to herself than he ever could.

Soul got out the car and walked up to Maka and Jackie, only now a few feet away from the car. His appearance shocked Jackie for a moment, but she didn't show it. His features were striking; what person….demon… with white hair and red eyes wouldn't be? However, his features when put together made him a very sexy looking demon. She supposed he was in his early twenties just like rumors said he was, but she couldn't tell exactly how old he was, as a demon.

"Hey Maka, how are you love?" He says, and his English accent and deep voice are instantly noticed by Jackie.

"He's an Evans alright." Jackie thought. The voice just annihilated any doubts his appearances left behind, which were few.

"Fine, I guess. Soul, this is my friend Jackie." He nods to his girlfriend and stick out a hand towards Jackie.

"Soul Evans, it's nice to meet you." She looks at his hand for a split second before shaking it. His grip is gentle, perhaps because he doesn't want to accidentally hurt a friend of Maka's.

"I'm a hunter's child so there's no need to be gentle; shake my hand like a real demon." She says, and Soul grins, showing off two pearly white rows of sharp teeth before his grip tightens and they shake hands.

"I like you Jackie, not prissy or stuck up." He says in reply. They break off their handshake and Maka's glad her boyfriend and friend seem to be getting along.

"You seem not too bad yourself, but let me make one thing clear: hurt her, and you will die: slowly, and painfully." She warns, and he nods in agreement.

"Glad I get to meet the friend who thinks the same way I do." Soul says, and Jackie smiles in reply.

"As long as we're on the same page, and you keep her happy, I approve. Maka, you tell me if I ever need to kick his ass, though I don't think I'll need to. I'm going to get back to class. Listen, you're okay except you had a terrible headache, and had your dad take you home. Kim's having notes taken down for you since I sent her back to class." She turns back to Soul. "Take care of her. I mean it."

He nods in silent reply as she turns around and heads back up to class. He holds Maka in his arms and she just stands there… smelling him? She is breathing deeply as she inhales his scent. He always smelled like fire burning wood and something else she couldn't quite place. The ashy smell however, is comforting to her, because it's him.

"Umm… Maka, why did you smell me?" She blushes slightly, but mumbles her response from against his chest.

"You smell like fire burning wood and something else. It's smoky, ashy, and something else. It's you and it's comforting."

"You sure it's not just the weed?" He says, because what she's saying is quite interesting otherwise.

"No, it's you, Soul. It's everywhere you've been and definitely not just the weed, and not cigarettes either. Nothing else can match that smell that you have, not even close." She replies and he can't help but feel giddy like a schoolgirl. She can smell him. Somehow his girlfriend can tell his individual scent. It's not supposed to be possible for humans to tell a demon's individual scent, but Maka's a grigori. Perhaps it just came with the enhanced ability.

As Soul drove, he took out a cigarette at a red light, "So how was your day?"

Maka gave him a look that said 'are you SERIOUSLY asking me that?'

Soul turned his head to glance back at the light. Still red; God dammit. "Sorry I asked."

Maka sighed, "I'm sorry, you're just being a good boyfriend; you don't deserve my attitude... Tsubaki just lectured me again and it just got to me, so yeah, my day was shitty."

"Was?" He asks innocently, he offers her one of his cigarettes and she takes the one in between his lips, taking a drag and exhaling out the window before putting it back in his mouth. She was a little more relaxed now, being around Soul.

"I'm with you now, aren't I?" Maka replies, and it brings another grin to his face before he leans over and kisses her passionately. Maka pulls away, and he gets a little worried. Did one of his teeth hurt her in some way? Did he have bad breath or a bad taste in his mouth?

"Green light." Maka says, and he notices she's correct. He settles for Maka cuddling next to him on the bench seat, putting one hand on her lap and stroking it through the tight leather.

Thankfully, no one was home. Maka unlocked the front door and she and Soul walked up to Maka's the stairs, heading to Maka's room.

They laid on the bed, cuddling for a while and talking about random things to get Maka's mind off of things.

Soul and Maka, namely Maka, had fallen asleep, and it was a little past 3pm; school had been out for about forty-five minutes now. Soul decided to fall asleep for a little while since she had fallen asleep in his arms, although as soon as he heard some noise from the front door his eyes snapped open, and Maka had woken up as well, having some sort of sixth sense that told her to wake up.

They weren't in a bad position or anything, but it was best that they acted as innocent as possible. Soul lifted up still-tired Maka bridal style, grabbing a blanket before running as fast as he could to the family room, hoping that no one would notice that they were in her room.

"You. Demon. get your filthy hands off my granddaughter, and especially when she's tired like that." A woman's voice sneered at Soul, who had gotten them in a cuddling position on the couch, the blanket covering their bodies, just in time before her grandmother caught them upstairs.

Maka whined, "Grandma~, we were just snuggling and Soul's comfy, of course I'm going to be tired after a long day at school."

Her grandmother smiled at her, she truly did love Maka and would stand that demon. it was just a phase was all, after her father, how would she ever care for another demon again? Her grandmother believed it was just a matter of time before she had 'her Maka' back.

"Hello Mrs. Kurotenshi, what a fine afternoon we're having, wouldn't you say?" Soul said, with blatantly fake politeness.

"Don't patronize me, demon. When Maka gets over her little phase with you, she'll be happy with a proper young man." She turns to Maka and speaks to her, alienating Soul.

"Perhaps that nice shadow hunter boy Hiro, but then again I don't believe he could protect you as well as one should. Better yet, perhaps that nice young man Mifune. He has such a strong soul, but I bet you already know that, you're such a great seer, like your mother."

Soul grew angered by the old woman's comments but tried to be civil. This was his girlfriend's grandmother so he would have to deal with her. "But grandma~" He said, mocking Maka's whiny tone, "we were just snuggling and Maka's so comfy. Why would I ever give her up?"

Maka's grandmother scowled at his comment while Maka tried to stifle her laughter. It was a cute impression... well, as cute as a 24 year old demon male could get while impersonating their 18 year old girlfriend.

"Watch it Eater, I only put up with you because I love my darling granddaughter, and you and I both know she could do much better than some demon scum." Soul bared his teeth at the 57 year old woman.

"You're pretty... pretty fu-" Soul started, before his girlfriend slapped her hand over his mouth. He froze instantly, not wanting his teeth to even poke her skin because he was that careful with her, outside of bed anyways.

Maka was starting to get a little angry herself, "Will both of you please just stop?! I had a bad day and just when I feel better you two start arguing; going at it like cats and dogs the both of you! Grandma, I love you and I'm glad that you care about me, but I do love Soul. A lot. I understand grandpa isn't around because of a few bad demons but Soul has a soul, and if you could see them the way I can, you'd see why I love him so much. And you..." She says, rounding on Soul and turning in his arms. She speaks to him in a lower tone, speaking in his ear so that Maka's grandmother just believes she's just reprimanding him.

"I love that you're making an effort, but this is my grandma, and I love her very dearly. Just try not to say anything at all, because I understand my grandmother may say things that annoy you, but I can't control what comes out of her mouth. I have nothing over her, but I sure as Hell can make sure that you don't say a word and when she realizes she can't bait you. I know she'll try it again, but if you come out looking like the better person, wouldn't that make you feel good? And if that doesn't make you smug, I know something else that will." She says convincingly, especially when her hand brushes past his groin over his jeans, the weight light but her touch leaving him wanting to just fuck her right then and there, flipping the bird at the old hag while she passed out from shock.

"Soul and I will be going upstairs, okay grandma?" Maka says it so that it sounds like a question, but the woman knows that Maka would be stubborn and find some other place if she said no.

"Okay dear, what would you like for dinner?"

"Anything you make is fine, thank you grandma." Maka says, tugging Soul along behind her while he holds the blanket.

They plop down on her bed and cuddle once more. Maka kisses him on the lips gently, Soul returns the kiss with more vigor and soon enough their tongues are fighting for dominance as Maka rolls them over and straddles Soul's waist. Her fingers are roaming his toned body while his are tweaking her nipples under her shirt. She grinds herself against him, and his hands roam her body, finally settling on playing with her nipples and stroking her though her panties, her pants somehow discarded on the floor. It's shredded, and Maka pouts a little at the sight of them before necking Soul.

"I liked those pants you know." She says, nibbling on his ear. She's teasing him and he knows it's for revenge, because denying him completely wouldn't leave her satisfied.

"I'll get you a new pair." He says, flipping them over and necking her now, sometimes nibbling on her neck.

Creaks from the staircase have them frozen, and in a flash, Soul has their clothes back on. It's a very handy demon ability he picked up after almost getting caught with Maka by her father before. That time, he jumped out the window of her room, his clothes barely on and his shirt inside out, with how Maka told him to run if he prefers his dick still attached.

This time around, Soul even had a black rose out in time when Maka's grandmother knocked "Maka, I'm coming in."

The black rose Soul had in his hands was being passed over to Maka at that very moment, and the two seemed as if they were just cuddling the entire time, which was good enough for the older woman, he may be a demon, but he seemed to respect her when it came to not pressuring her.

"Maka, dinner will be ready in an hour, do you want anything for the time being?"

"No thank you grandma. I think I'll be having a late dinner as well, I'm not all that hungry."

"You sure sweetheart?"

"Yes grandma."

When her grandmother left, shutting the door behind her, she huffed, "That was close."

Soul smirked, "Well then thank Hell you have a boyfriend who can pull cool shit like that off."

Maka laughed, "I do every time I see you."

Soul pulled her closer to his form, "I love you Maka."

"I love you too, Soul." She kissed him gently on the lips once before cuddling again.

The two decided cuddling would be best since Maka's grandmother had the tendency to pop in to check on them whenever they were alone, and Maka eventually fell asleep in Soul's arms.

She dreamt of a world where Soul and herself were easily accepted for what they were as a couple, and while demons could not dream on their own, they could look in on other's. He slept next to her shortly thereafter, letting the sweet thoughts of her dreams lull him to sleep.

Maka's grandmother came up the steps and into her room, "Maka, dinner's-"

The woman may have lost her husband to demons, and she may have grown up hating them, but in that moment Soul wasn't so bad. His red eyes and teeth were hidden from view, leaving only his white hair to remind her of what he was. The woman was still wary of how close Soul was to her granddaughter, but even in his sleep did he protect her. His black blood was out of his body, or some of it was, and it had formed a deadly scythe blade above his left arm. It was pointed away from Maka so no harm would come to her, and the scene was horrifying yet somewhat sweet to the old huntress. She quietly walked over to them and brought the covers over them, shutting the door behind her as she left.

Well I hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter! Rate, follow, favorite, review or whatever it is you cool people do!