1. Of balconies and new beginnings
Maka

As I hurried down the halls, I thought about the night before. It had been difficult, and it was definitely an experience I'd never forgot. Because, well, you never forgot the hardest enemy's you've fought.

But it finally seemed that the last enemy was out of the way. It was like I was in a video game, and the final boss had been defeated. Except for the fact that I wasn't in a video game, and the injuries my friends had suffered were real. At least none of their injuries were too severe, I thought as I opened the door to the hospital, Soul's black jacket in my hand. Unsurprisingly, the first thing I was greeted with was the usual, loud bantering of Blackstar himself.

"I mean really! Why should I even be here? The great Blackstar never gets hurt! I'm fine!" Blackstar shouted, sitting up in his bed. His hair was sticking up all over the place, and he wore an obviously stained white t-shirt. He then looked over at my pigtailed self, quietly standing in the door.

"Oh, hey maka. I was just telling these idiots how I shouldn't be here. Don't you agree?" Tsubaki looked up at me from sitting on the side of blackstar's bed and gave me a sympathetic look. It seemed to be one that she gave often, having Blackstar as her partner and all.

"Blackstar..." I began, "Your shoulder was pretty torn up. You should at least try to stay here and heal it."At my answer, blackstar scowled, and turned to look at Tsubaki. "Well if I'm here, then I at least want something good to eat. Tsubaki, can you get me something?" He ordered her, as I sighed, thinking that it was unfair the way that Blackstar ordered his weapon around. But then again, Tsubaki was willing to do these things, so I wasn't in any place to tell her not to. I then turned to find Kid arranging the medicine bottles...in a symmetrical pattern.

"Always...asymmetrical..." He was murmuring under his breath, looking frustrated. Some things never change, I thought. Kid's symmetry OCD wouldn't either. "Kid it doesn't really need to be symmetrical..." I mentioned, knowing this might make him aggravated, but I couldn't help it. His symmetry problem was quite bothersome.

Kid looked up from what he was doing and gave me an incredulous glance. It was almost as if he believed that it wasn't right for anything to be asymmetrical. Wait, I thought, he does think that. I shrugged while Kid shouted at me.

"Of course it needs to be symmetrical!" He shouted, "Everything needs to be symmetrical!" With a moan, he sank down to his knees. "Without symmetry, what would the world be? Ah, speaking of symmetry, did I forget to melt the candles down to the same length? Oh, I did, didn't I?"

This time, I rolled my eyes. I probably should have resisted from saying what I did. I had forgotten about his half-an-hour long rants. It was pretty dumb of me wasn't it, I thought. I mean, he had these rants at least once everyday. Shouldn't I be used to them by now?

"I can't go on like this!" Kid continued, "I'm a failure, a mess!"

"Uhhh," I stepped away looking at Kid. "Sorry?" I asked Liz, while Patti was busy drawing a giraffe. I mean, what was with her and giraffes? Liz chuckled then groaned.

"No it's okay. He does it all the time, as you know." She bent down and put her arm around Kid. "Hey Kid, what about that poster? It's really symmetrical, why don't we take a look?" How did she always find the time to comfort him when he has these rants? I looked at Liz and a thought passed through my mind. She really cares about him, doesn't she? I then felt a small smile cross my lips, and went back over to where Tsubaki had just returned with some food for Blackstar. Well, it wasn't really just some food, more like a meal for eight. I never understood why guys needed to eat so much food. It's like, how could you digest all that?

"Finally! I star as big as me can't go this long without a good meal!" He grabbed the food and quickly inhaled it, shoving everything into his mouth.

"Blackstar, you should slow down," Tsubaki said, "It isn't good for you to eat so fast." She held her hand out as if to prevent the speed of his eating, but he ignored it. Apparently Tsubaki agreed with me about the eating habits of guys. That's nice to know, I thought.

"I'll be fine Tsubaki," Blackstar gasped between bites. "No need to worry." Tsubaki frowned, while I giggled. I then decided to ask Tsubaki the real question that was on my mind.

"Hey," I asked, "Have you seen Soul? I came in here looking for him, but he obviously isn't here." Tsubaki frowned and shook her head. I sighed and gripped the black jacket. I had come to give it to him after he had left it in the classroom. Of course, I could've brought it back to their house, but that thought just hadn't occurred to me, I guess. I looked back up at the black-haired girl when she began speaking again.

"I'm afraid I haven't. Have you checked the roof?" Tsubaki looked back at Blackstar and shook her head in a way that mothers would when giving their child a disapproving look. Speaking again, Tsubaki said, "When people are being looked for, they're often up there. It's really quite ironic." She paused then, but continued with a short remark after, saying, "...ironic, just like how I offered food to Blackstar before you came and he said he was not hungry at all."

I laughed and turned to walk past my friends and out the door. It was a short walk to the roof, and it felt quiet after all the action that had gone on for the past few days. Despite that, I rather enjoyed it. Maybe, just maybe, things would settle down a bit, and evil would give them a break. Then correcting myself, I thought, ya right. Evil never takes a holiday. But maybe I could, I thought, and then shook the thought away. I was a miester, and my job was to protect people. You can't take a break from that either.

I stopped abruptly, realizing that I'd reached the roof. I had delved so far into my thoughts that I hadn't even noticed. Gathering myself up, I stepped through the opening, letting my eyes graze over the place. Sure enough, Soul stood with his back to me, leaning his elbows on the balcony.

His hair was ruffled, and the white locks were blowing slightly from the wind. All he wore was his orange t-shirt and jeans. I wondered why he wasn't cold because at this point in the year, they were halfway through Fall. Realizing that I was staring, I cleared her throat and stepped to stand next to Soul.

"You left your jacket," I said. Neither of us looked at each other, just glanced out at the clouds that were looming above shibusen. I knew he had heard me though, and sure enough, he responded.

"Ya. I know. I realized that once I got out here. Got kind of cold." Soul cast me a sideways glance, and with a smile, I turned towards him.

"Well, I have it for you... If you want it," I said and held out my hand with the jacket in it. His eyes softened and he took the jacket, sliding his arms into it and shrugging it into a comfortable position on his shoulders.

"Thanks," was all he said as he turned so that he was actually looking me in the eyes. I was quiet for a moment, and then spoke what was on my mind.

"Do think things will quiet down now?" I waited for an answer, curious about if he would have the same thoughts on the matter as I did. I hoped that he would say yes to my question, just for the sake that it was what she wanted to hear. But he gave me his honest answer as always, which I was also appreciative of.

"No. Things never quiet down for us." He laughed and turned his head to look back at the view but continued talking. "I mean, we're the heroes right? That basically means that we can't get a break." I contemplated what he was saying, and noticed it was quite similar to the exact thing I had thought earlier.

It was strange, but maybe that was why we were partners. We had similar mindsets, even if we did argue a lot. But when we do argue, I thought, I am usually right. Smiling at this thought I looked back at soul, who still had his eyes fixed on the horizon. He sometimes looked so... down. My smiled sagged. Thinking of something to say, I took a step towards him.

"Thank you," I murmured. Soul's red eyes opened a little wider and then went back to normal as he turned to me. I wondered what he was thinking. His expressions were impossible to read.

"Why thank me? You're the one who does all the fighting," He questioned her. His point made sense, and at the same time it didn't. Besides, what he said wasn't exactly what I meant.

"For fighting with me, protecting me, everything. I guess I've just never said it before, but... Thank you..." I looked down, realizing I had always felt the need to say that. It had been a little embarrassing actually saying it though. But to my surprise, I felt him reach his arm out and grab my hand. Of course, this wasn't that abnormal, considering they'd held hands many times before.

"Hey, if that's what you're thanking me for, then I'll have to thank you for the same things. We're a team. Right?" Soul said, his lopsided grin spread across his face. His set his red gaze on me until I looked up and smiled.

"Right," I declared. For the next minute they stood silent, just connecting green eyes to red. I could feel his hand on mine, and it was cold from resting on the metal of the balcony. Unexpectedly, I wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him.

Soul stood surprised for a second, unsure of what to do. Quickly recovering from his shock, he grinned and wrapped his arms tight around my small body. I could feel his hands on my back, and surprisingly, it felt good. I hadn't hugged anyone in a long time, I realized with a shock. I felt Soul's soft hair brushing against my neck, and rested my head in the crook of his neck. Standing there for a minute felt comforting and... Well, right. Enjoying the feeling of hugging someone, I stayed there for a few more minutes and then slowly pulled away.

Soul looked me in the eyes, his eyes soft. Smiling, I met his glance. I found it nice how he was always there for me. I could barely say that about any other guy, for he was the only one that I completely trusted to never leave me. Without even thinking, I did something I knew I might regret later. Moving forward, I pressed my lips to his, and kissed him.

At first he stood still, just as when I'd hugged him, but instantly, and to my surprise, pressed his lips back against mine. I slipped my hands up around his neck and my hands slipped partly into his hair as I pushed his lips back towards mine. Soul's hands soon found my waist, and he grabbed the loops in my skirt, pulling me closer. I felt surprised at first, and then eased into the pattern of kissing him. His lips molded perfectly with mine, and even though I barely knew what I was doing, he kissed me enthusiastically. I bit back a sound as he bit my lip, and drew his hands even farther around my waist, but not quite on my ass. I had never actually kissed a boy before, partially due to my father, and the other part due to my lack of chest. Soon, his tongue slipped into my mouth, and grazed the insides. Astonished, I let him, and was glad that I did, because it felt amazing. I could have stayed there forever, Soul's lips molded to mine, his tongue roaming inside my mouth and his hands pulling at my waist. His lips were soft and his teeth sharp, but I didn't mind. Everything about him was perfect to me at this moment. And of course, when things start to get good, something happens.

We heard a large crash from the rooms down the hall, and I guessed it was either Blackstar proving his strength or Kid getting frustrated over symmetry. Bewildered, we jumped apart, both trying to catch our breaths. My face was red, and I knew it. I probably looked like a mess. While worrying about my clothing, I caught his eye. No, I couldn't deal with this now.

"I... I'm going t-to go back and check on Blackstar," I lied, and hurried out of there as quick as I could, ignoring that Soul had taken a step forward as if to stop me. What was I thinking? You can't just kiss a guy and leave it at that Maka, I scolded myself as I stumbled down the halls, dizzy from what I had just done.

Jogging, I made it back to the hospital room. Sighing and trying to catch my breath from running (and kissing Soul), I stopped at the door. Would he want to talk about it later? Does he regret it? And more importantly, do I regret it? Stop it Maka, I told myself. You can worry about this later. Just go in and talk to your friends as if nothing happened. You can resolve this later. Knowing that going into the company of others would help me forget, I threw open the door and walked in.

"Oh hey Maka," Tsubaki said. She smiled at me and noticed I didn't have the jacket anymore. "Did you find Soul?" I sighed and tried to look normal. If anyone asks, nothing happened, nothing happened.

"Yup. I just gave it back to him." I smiled for the extra touch and sat down. Just pretend it never happened. That's my strategy.