Red: there are many connotations to this colour. It's kinda ironic as well with how some of them mean the opposite of each other. On the one hand it's fiery warmth that people seek out for comfort, but on the other hand, it means danger. Though its most common meaning is passion and love.

It's because of this last meaning that Maka has been the envy of most of the girls she has ever come across.

"Oh, how romantic to have a red eyed soul mate!"

"They're probably super romantic themselves!"

"I wish I had an interesting soul mate like yours!"

Of course she got people that sighed with relief as well, and if Maka saw someone walking around with a red eye she would probably fall into this category.

"Who would want a soul mate with red eyes?"

"They probably look really scary!"

"I would never be with somebody that has creepy eyes like that!"

These are comments she would hear whispered behind her daily. She used to get really defensive about it. 'How dare they judge someone they've never met?' she would think (and to be honest still does) until she learnt a long time ago fighting people about this is pointless.

But I guess that's just a normal thing to expect when your soul mate has an eye colour with such clashing connotations, you get clashing opinions about it too.

It didn't help that her other eye was a deep forest green. A funny pairing, red and green, and many people decided to comment on this as well. Her eyes seemed to be her only redeeming quality, with looks at least. Maka liked to think she was a good person and many would agree, with a short temper but a good nature that made up for it. Straw blonde hair framed her childish face; she could never do anything with it so Maka would just tie it up in a tight bun for work and pigtails in her free time. She is 28, and yet the smallest woman in the work place in both height and, um, other things. However, she had a very athletic build and could probably squash a water melon with her thighs. Maka has never tested this theory, much to at least two of the people she knows disgust, but she is still proud about her body. A little tiny teeny bit sensitive about the, um, other thing but she doesn't punch the people that mention it lights out any more so that's in all ways a plus.

Maka sighs, looking away from the bathroom mirror as she washes her hands. She never usually gets hung up about her other eye but a particular nasty comment about it (made by some snotty stranger who stopped her in the Subway) made her think about it again and who it belongs too. Even though Maka swore off love, or at the very least going out of her way to find her soul mate, her bored thoughts always ends up thinking about that particular topic. It definitely doesn't help that everyone seems to love going out of their way to give her their opinion on its unnatural colour.

Going back to her desk, Maka slumps in her seat and stares idly at her computer screen, gently pushing the mouse around to watch the cursor move around the screen.

"Are you still upset about what that women said this morning?" a soft voice called out next to her. Maka looked up at the cubicle wall separating her and her best friend to see gentle, concerned, dark blue eyes looking down on her.

"Not really, just thinking about things again," Maka answered forcing a small reassuring smile up at her.

"Alright, as long as you're okay. She was really mean so I was worried about you, especially when you disappeared to the bathroom as soon as we got here," she said, almost mumbling the last part to herself.

"I'm fine, but thanks for worrying about me Tsu," she reassured, showing a more real smile at her friend this time. Tsubaki, or Tsu for short, gave a delicate smile in return, then slowly lowered herself down back behind the wall.

Sighing, Maka turned back to her computer. Tsu is her best friend and her childhood friend Black Star's soul mate. Tsubaki is probably the tallest woman here, not counting her pony tail that keeps her long silky black hair out of the way. She is the quietest and kindest member of the team, but she can be very assertive at times, sometimes a little scary. She has undoubtedly the best body as well, with her curves for days and an athletic build that could rival Maka's.

Anyway, Maka has to finish this article soon or Kid will have a fit… again. Maka works for an online newspaper called Death News – normally Maka would be raising her eyebrow at the name as well, but in Death City everything has Death in the name and you really just have to go with it. It helps that Maka has lived here her whole life; you can always tell who's new by seeing their reactions to all the names. It's quite funny.

Kid, her symmetry obsessed boss, is also a friend of hers. They went to high school together and bonded over maths and other nerdy things others would ignore them for. This newspaper is actually a family business and he is very proud to be bringing it into the 21st century. He has sharp gold eyes, and short black hair with three white stripes through half of it. Kid is often seen wearing sharp business suits even on days off, with large skull rings on his fingers. Skulls are his family thing as his great, great (a lot of great) grandfather founded Death City, and his father is even the Mayor. In the end, Kid chose to try and keep his families newspaper business alive instead of being in a political position, which Maka still finds really honourable of him. Kid is also soul mate to Liz; Maka still remembers how interesting it was to see him walk around with one eye piercing gold and the other a soft light blue.

Originally, the newspaper was very much dying, but he brought it back around by making it exclusively online, and by making it so that it no longer only talked about local news and now covers a wide variety of stories from all across the world. Suddenly it went from very dying to one of the most read news sites in America, with trust worthy articles that give readers the facts but also featuring the juicy gossip and life advice that brings all sorts of readers in.

Maka is in charge of the trust worthy facts side of the newspaper, talking about various political things and serious issues facing the world today. Tsubaki is one of the editors making sure everyone has written something people can actually read. She does this with another quiet woman called Jacqueline and an equally quiet guy called Harver who oddly wears sun glasses all the time.

Maka's childhood friend Black Star, who is an extremely loud, annoying, muscly ex-frat boi type with electric blue hair, runs the health and fitness section with Kilik Rung, equally muscly but thankfully not as loud. He's an interesting guy. Maka has baby sat for his twins a couple times, who are nicknamed Fire and Thunder. She isn't sure of their real names and hasn't asked.

Business and finances are covered by the most annoyingly stuck up person Maka has ever met: Ox. For some reason, he thinks having a bald head with two spikes of hair is a good hair style. It really isn't.

Makeup and fashion and gossip and celebrities (and everything Maka isn't well versed in) is covered by Liz, a strong, sassy, really pretty woman with light blue eyes and blonde hair. Kim, an equally sassy, short but fiery woman with a bob of hot pink hair, and Blair, a very busty woman who loves to wear tiny clothes and cat ears who has long deep purple hair. These girls may sound like the type Maka avoids, and normally you would be correct, but working with them has let Maka see that her judgments were wrong, and that they are all really awesome people. Blair has even, arguably, become a mother-like figure to Maka, mainly because she is much older than her and the other two girls in the group.

A young, excitable and bubbly girl called Patty, who is also Liz's younger sister, is in charge of art and more of the niche topics like video games and foreign entertainment. Patty has one large baby blue eye and one large dark purple eye, almost a pool of black, and a bob of bright blond hair. Along with Maka she is one of the few girls that hasn't found a soul mate yet. She is slightly shorter then Liz but is bigger in, um, other things, and has a very artsy style in clothing – you never know what she is going to be seen wearing. Maka swears she came in dressed as an anime character she saw once, but she denies it every time Maka asks.

An older woman call Marie works the front desk, she is a lovely woman with a strong motherly sense to anyone even a little bit younger than her, but unfortunately she is very forgetful and clumsy. More often than not, Maka wonders if the eye patch she wears is a self-inflicted injury. Everyone is too scared of her to ask; she may be kind and loving but she is scarily strong and the only person that can knock out Black Star.

And that's everyone Maka knows at Death News. It's a small and happy family that Maka is proud to be a part of. That's why when he showed up and ruined everything with his stupid cute face and eyes, Maka just couldn't.