1. Fragility

Maka staggered into her room, shutting the door behind her. She leaned against the wall and sat on the floor, burying her head in her arms.
"Why does this happen? Why? You know that you were wrong so why don't you just admit it for once? I hate you.. You're always too cool to be wrong." she murmured to herself wiping her tears on her sleeve. This was not the first time that they had argued. The reasons were always for things that aren't even worth to be argued for.

But this is where "pride" kicks in. No one likes losing, especially Soul. Even if he realizes that he's wrong, halfway through the argument, he won't accept it. He is the stubborn type of person. Same goes for Maka, judging from her last battle with Asura. But if being less stubborn would save their relationship then she doesn't mind losing in the arguments that they have. But this time Soul too it too far. A relationship won't be successful unless both know that sometimes they just have to be less stubborn and throw their pride away. Maka has already realized this but as for Soul, he doesn't seem to be realizing this any time soon. This is the irony in life, we realize things too late.

Soul stomped off into his room and shut his bedroom door harshly. He walked over to his bed and reached for his music player, turning it up to full volume. It wasn't his fault, he thought. All he did was speak the truth. Which was slightly harsh. But only slightly. Soul sighed and took his headphones off. His eardrums were ringing causing him to feel nausea. He kept on replaying the scenes of the argument in his head. He doesn't get it. Why does it always end like this. Whenever they try to have a decent conversation it would always ends up with one of them being unhappy. Was he not considerate enough? Are his choice of words really that bad?

'Well, maybe it kind of was my fault. I should apologize when she calms down a little more. From the looks of it, she doesn't seem to want to hear a single word from me right now.' Soul thought. He thought of ways to apologize and things that he could say then he drifted off into a deep slumber.

"Oh, welcome back. Take a seat my dear friend." The little devil grinned, mockingly.
"Some tea?" He asked, as he poured out some freshly brewed Earl Grey into a delicate teacup.
"No, I don't want any of your filthy tea." Soul replied firmly and headed straight for the piano room. The devil chuckled and replied, "Suit yourself."
It has been awhile since Soul has been here. He ran his fingers through the black grand piano feeling it's smoothness. When Soul gets stressed out he would usually end up here, even though he doesn't want to be. He hates the little devil after all and the only things he liked here was the piano room. Red and black checkered flooring with a spacious window with the view of the night sky. Red silk curtains hung on each side of the window. Another window could be seen slightly above the grand piano but a little to the left. It's starting to becoming a pattern for the past week. They had a lot of quarrels but at least they don't have to go back to Shibusen, since it's the holidays. A person's mood can mess up their best performance. Stein wouldn't be happy to see them like this, mixing up their work with their own feelings. The little devil would always mock him whenever he comes by. Odd enough, this time he didn't mock him. Only a mocking grin was given but that was all. A dark melancholic melody infiltrated the complex, accompanied by a dark aura.
"Ah, young love. How I envy it so much. The bond is so strong, yet fragile." The devil smirked and sipped his tea.

Soul played out his frustration into the keys. He could feel the strain in the fingers and knew that he was at his limit. He laid on the ground and stared at the stars through the ceiling's window. Footsteps echoed through the hallway and it wasn't far from where Soul was. Then it stopped just a step passed the door.

"Soul, would you like to fix this? Be able to say and do what you truly meant? Isn't that what you want?" Soul got up and looked confused yet annoyed.
"What are you trying to say here?"
The little devil had an amused look on his face and thought, 'He's taken interest so quickly. Using that woman was a great idea. Everything's going accordingly.'
"Oh, I've got a little plan to help patch things up, my dear friend," he replied. Soul laughed.
"You help me? That's funny. The last time you tried "helping" me was more like you killing me and taking over my body."
"This time it's a different situation. I got someone who can help us. I mean you. So I won't be taking part in this. No need to worry."

"Who is this someone that can help?" Soul asked suspiciously.

"The Black Bond Keeper of course! He's quite well-known in the underworld. About six ranks higher than me."
"The Black Bond Keeper? And I should believe you, why?"
The devil smiled and said, "I don't know. You tell me." Then he snapped his fingers.

A dark hole appeared under Soul and he got sucked in. Everything was pitch black, a snap. Maka appeared in front of him in a crouching against her door.
"Stupid Soul, I hate you. Is admitting that you're wrong so hard? You knew that you were wrong yet you continued on with your harsh words." She wiped her tears and buried her face in her arms again.
Soul reached out his hand about to comfort her but only to find himself backing away further and further until he could see Maka no more.
"Maka, I'm sorry. I really am. Please, don't cry. Please let me go back in there please... I'm sorry Maka I'll be honest with myself. I promise." Soul cried clutching his fingers close to his chest. Everything vanished into thin air.

"Summon him here. The Black Bond Keeper."
The little devil had the widest grin on his face. "Oh, there's a contract you know. The Black Bond Keeper, he doesn't do charities. Therefore you must sacrifice something that is the most dear to you. The Black Bond Keeper you see, is quite fond of other people's most prize possess. Do you still accept?"
"I accept." Soul replied withing a hesitation.
"Very well then. Let us begin."

Hello Rin here! It's been years since I've written a fanfiction on Maka and Soul. They're still my OTP of course. Well that was chapter one, hope that you liked it and if not please write a review and tell me what I can improve on! I've never written something that has more than one chapter before I hope this goes well.

- Echo`rin