*Matthew McConaughey voice* Alright alright alright alriiiiiight, here's another anon AU prompt from Tumblr. The prompt was a Ghost AU and I tried my best. Forgive me if it sucks.

[Stay tuned for A/N]

Enjoy~

Humming contentedly, Maka wandered around the bookstore, stopping here and there to read the summary of a book. Normally Maka hated shopping since her friends always dragged her to multiple department stores, Liz forcibly dressing her up in frilly outfits. But this time she was able to avoid them, telling Tsubaki that she was going to visit her father; she had become more open to rebuilding their relationship, but it was still rocky.

Meandering to a shelf filled with books about animals, she spotted a book about giraffes. Maka pulled it from the shelf, leafing through it to see the pictures and smiled. Patti's birthday is coming up soon, she'd love this. With that thought in mind, she went to the checkout counter, unloading the big pile of books in front of the cashier.

Bags in hand, Maka left the store, skipping to her car quickly, eager to get home and lose herself in the worlds of her books. So, placing the bags in the front seat, she slipped into the driver's seat and turned on the ignition. She stopped at the intersection, singing along to the radio; nothing could ruin her good mood today. She had never been more wrong.

She waited for the van at the stop sign across from her to turn, fingers drumming on the steering wheel. After a quick glance left and right she pressed the gas, crossing the intersection. Too late, she heard a horn blaring louder and louder. She looked in its direction at the same time the wayward truck slammed into her.

-x-

Soul was frantically trying to get his best friend Black*Star to slow down. Shoulda known better than to let this dumbass drive… He glanced at the speedometer and his jaw dropped. They were driving at 95 miles per hour! SHIT! Soul turned to his friend, yelling to catch his attention.

"Bro, slow down!" His plea went unheard because Black*Star had insisted that radio volume be loud enough to disguise his horrible singing.

"Black*Star!"

"What?!" Black*Star leaned his ear towards his friend, not really paying attention to the speed or the intersection steadily getting closer. "Come on, man, you know this is how I drive! We're not even going that fa- FUCK!"

Black*Star slammed his palm on the horn repeatedly while trying to slow down in time to stop. But there was no time for stopping; he was forced to watch in horror as the truck collided with the car in the middle of the intersection.

Black*Star lifted his arms right before the impact in an effort to protect his face. He jerked forward at the sudden stop, thrown into the now deployed airbags. He was able to come out with serious but non-fatal injuries. Soul wasn't as lucky. He had forgotten that there was no longer a passenger seat belt because Black*Star somehow managed to completely destroy it. So instead of being thrown into the airbag, Soul was propelled into the windshield, effectively breaking it as he went through. Everything went black when his head hit the glass and he landed on the hood limply.

-x-

Maka froze in shock as she saw the truck racing towards her. She had been attempting to jump out of the car just as it slammed against the driver's side door. She had just been cracking the door open when it happened so the door was slammed into her with more for than she thought. Her forehead first hit the driver's window, shattering the glass. Having taken off her seat belt to escape, the momentum threw her across the car into the passenger's side. Her head slammed against the window, but didn't break it, and the last thing she heard was sirens before her world went black.

-x-

Maka and Soul woke up in a strange room with dark walls and a checkered floor; there was a grand piano sitting in one corner. A little red thing with the face of a devil stood on the piano smirking.

"Welcome," it said, bowing. "Soul Evans and Maka Albarn, correct?"

Maka nodded mutely, afraid of the small devil and where she was. She looked at the young man standing next to her.

"Uh, yeah…" Soul answered, running his hand through his white hair awkwardly. "How do you know my name?"

The devil chuckled, "There is nothing I don't know about both of you." He hopped down from the piano and stood in front of them. "I might as well tell you now that you will not be waking up in the real world again."

"W-What?" Maka squeaked, eyes wide in shock.

"As to the reason why, you will have to figure it out amongst yourselves. I will be back when you have. With that, the little devil exited through a door hidden in the shadows.

Maka and Soul slowly turned to stare at each other, neither saying a word. Until Soul cleared his throat.

"So uh… Maka?" She just looked at him. "Do you... remember anything from before you woke up?"

"I-" She stopped abruptly as images began to run through her mind, showing her all that had happened in the few hours before waking up here. "…. I was driving home from the bookstore but got into an accident..."

"Hey, that's what happened to me too!" The same images Maka had seen where now running through Soul's mind, from his perspective. "Oh… I get it... We're dead, aren't we?"

Maka nodded solemnly. Oppressive silence fell on the room as the two processed their memories.

A door burst open, slamming against the wall, and the little devil strolled out waving a cane. He hopped up onto the piano and rapped the surface with his cane, startling them.

"So! You have realized your situation?" They nodded. "Good, that makes it so much easier for me."

They looked at him, scared and confused.

"Normally I would have to force you two to play a game that would reveal your true nature, but that's only necessary when you don't remember you are dead. Since both of you do, I simply have to judge you based on your memories," he explained. He pointed his cane at Maka, beckoning her forward. "Ladies first."

Slowly, Maka walked up to the piano and stood in front of the devil awkwardly. He motioned for her to lean down, placing his hands on her temples when she did. Maka stood there, heart beating wildly.

"Hmm…" He deliberated, eyes closed in concentration. "Okay! I know where you will go. Now the boy."

Soul walked to the piano as Maka scuttled away, mimicking the position she had before. The devil took a lot longer with Soul than he did with Maka, which worried Soul. Am I screwed? I'm probably screwed. Finally, the devil released Soul's head.

"I have decided. Please follow me," he said, jumping to the floor and walking towards two large doors next to the one he went through previously. The doors opened to reveal elevators. "Get in."

Warily, Soul and Maka each stepped into an elevator and stared at the devil.

"Where are we going?" Maka asked.

"Oh, did I not tell you?" She shook her head. "Well! When two people die at the same time, they are sent here as ghosts of their former selves to be judged by me. I decided who goes to the void and who will be reincarnated. You both are to be reincarnated, congratulations!" He pressed the button and grinned at the two. "Safe travels!"

Soul tried to step out of the elevator before it closed, but it was faster than him. Maka didn't try to get out, but stood stiffly in the middle, expressionless. Finally the doors closed and both disappeared to be reincarnated.

-10 years later-

A young girl wandered around the room, watching the other kids find their weapon partners. She sighed, Both girls that are scythes are taken… Just as she was about to give up, she heard the tune of a piano coming from the out edges of the crowd. Curious, she pushed her way through the room to the source of the sound.

She found herself standing just inside a dark room with a huge grand piano in the center. Why is this room even here? She thought fleetingly. She noticed a boy with disheveled hair sitting at the piano. White hair... As the song ended she clapped, causing the boy to swivel around quickly.

"What do you want?" He sounded annoyed and gave her a rude look.

"I heard music, so I wanted to see who it was," she said, smiling. "It was really good."

He scoffed, "Good? More like depressing and dark."

"Maybe so, but I bet that's your personal style of music," she sighed, shaking her head. Deciding to change the subject, she asked, "So are you a weapon or a meister?"

"Scythe weapon."

The girl's face lit up in excitement. She beamed at him, holding out her hand. "Do you want to be partners?"

He looked from her face to her hand, debating. He smirked, "Listen to this song and tell me what it sounds like; this song is who I am."

She nodded. He turned back to the keys and cracked his neck and knuckles. Gently placing his fingers on the keys, he began to play the most beautiful song the girl had ever heard. It sounded like there was a deep sadness and emptiness, lonely. It brought tears to her eyes; she wiped them away when he was finished.

"So?" he asked, turning back to her again. She smiled.

"It sounded lonely and painful, but at the same time hopeful," she described. "It was beautiful."

"Huh. Didn't expect that answer... You're weird," he laughed. He stood up from the bench and faced her. "Alright, I'll be your partner."

Her smile got bigger and brighter, beaming. She thrust her hand towards him.

"I'm Maka!" She paused, looking at his face closely. "You have cool eyes!"

He grinned smugly showing his pointed teeth and shook her hand. "Soul."

Maka never stopped smiling as the two went to register themselves as partners. As she watched Soul write out his stage name, a strange feeling overcame her. She felt as if she knew him.

Soul had felt something similar, but being the "cool guy" he is, he ignored it. Though as they walked away from the desk, he thought that they would have a very interesting partnership, whether he knew her or not.

Didn't think it would turn out that way, did ya? Originally I was going to do more of a romance-y one but still sad, because Maka was gonna die and Soul loses it for a while and then they reunite when he dies, etc etc. I wanted to try something different, something that was not my usual awkward fluff.

So... I'm sorry if either of them are OOC. My beta SWEARS they aren't, but I dunno. Oh, and in case you didn't figure it out, Black*Star survives but he's not important so that's why he disappeared. c:

OH OHOHOHOH OH! Did anybody catch the Death Parade reference? I thought it fit well with the context. c;

As always a big, sloppy thank you for reading and putting up with my shenanigans! Always feel free to tell me what you think (in a polite way) or suggest/request something. The past two fics were from that AU ask game thing and I'm loving it. Keep em coming! My ask box is always open. c:

With love,

Lau ( ˘ ³˘)

Tschüss!