Author's Note: I got this idea sitting in class and I really couldn't help but want to start writing it as soon as I could. I am really excited to see what you guys think of this story as I am pretty happy with the idea so far and and feeling good about my writing as of right now. So here you guys have it, the first chapter to The Best Kept Secrets.
She wasn't one to keep secrets. Especially from her best friend, partner, and weapon Soul, but this time it couldn't be helped. She didn't want to. She really didn't. But she had to. To keep him safe, and her sanity in tact, she was going to. She was going to protect this secret with as many cover up stories and white lies as she had to to keep it under wraps. No one could know. No one.
'How did I get here' she asks herself silently. 'How have I become what I have now.' She thinks back, trying to come to a definite point in time and thinking of that fateful morning...
"Wake up Soul! If you're late to class again Stein is going to give you another detention." She yells through the wood door standing in front of her. She cracks her fist against the opening a few more times for good measure until she hears a tired groan from the other side. A few muffled thumps later and the door is flung open as she quickly side steps out of the boy's way.
"You don't have to be so loud you know? It's kind of uncool." He says yawning and she frowns at him. Why did he always have to be so ungrateful? If she wasn't here he probably would have a detention every day. Maybe two if that was even possible. "Anyways, what did you make?"
"Pancakes and bacon. Hope that's good." She says calmly. She had already eaten before he got up as she had already attempted to wake him once before. She quietly walked to the couch, picking up the abandoned book from last night, pulling out her bookmark.
The book was one she had read once before, but she wanted to brush up on it again. The book wasn't too thick, but it definitely wasn't something anyone would pick up for a light read. Then again Maka wasn't just anyone. The book was about the different types of souls, soul wavelengths, who matched who, and different techniques on soul perception. Ever since she had started being able to see souls she had tried to read up on them as much and as often as possible, hoping that it would help her to control and master her ability. It has really helped over the years.
Not fifteen minutes later, Soul comes barging into the room; interrupting her quiet study. She carefully puts the bookmark back in and shuts it. She picks up her bag, shoves it inside and stands up silently, following Soul to his motorcycle as she did nearly every morning.
She mounted up and held around his chest as she did every time they went somewhere via his bike. It gave her a sense of comfort and familiarity. This routine has happened in one form or another almost every day for years. Ever since she and Soul had partnered up when they got to the Death Weapon Meister Academy, or DWMA for short.
Miraculously they managed to make it to class on time, although she may have run quite a bit of the way in fear of being late. She hated being late. All the eyes of her classmates following her as she slowly trudged to her seat made her feel anxious.
The other point that she never liked to think about was the fact that half of the people who would stare after her had in fact, on multiple occasions, sent Soul partner requests to replace her as his meister. Them being late was automatically seen as her fault, as pretty much any mistake or accident was in their eyes. It wasn't that she had anything against the girls and few guys who had requested him, it was just the way some of them had said it, and the thought that Soul might actually take one of them up on their offer.
She had grown much better about these thoughts since their expedition into the book of Eibon, but she could never truly and completely let go of the thought that she wan't the best out there and her deathscythe might just leave her alone one day. She had gained herself to get better as much as possible, but still, she truly wasn't good enough for him. There was certainly someone better out there. She didn't get why he stayed, not at all, but as long as he did, she was grateful for it.
She was shaken out of her thoughts by a loud clearing of a throat and she quickly blushed embarrassedly as she realized Stein was tapping his foot, looking at her with impatience. "Now that it seems you have come back to Earth, Maka would you be so inclined to come up and work out these three problems on the board?" Stein asks, but she knows it isn't really a request, it was a command.
"NO! NOT THREE! MAKE IT EIGHT! THREE ISN'T SYMMETRICAL! EIGHT IS! PLEASE, I BEG OF YOU!" Yells out a boy with a screech. Stein just sighs and ignores the boy with the major case of OCD. Death The Kid, or Kid as he liked to be called, was the late Lord Death's son. He had recently lost his father when the lines that adorned his hair; the Lines of Sanzu, had connected, giving him his father's full powers as a Shinigami. Kid, although he didn't technically have to keep going to school, had wanted to to both learn more from the professors, and to support his twin weapons Patti and Liz.
The trio had been instrumental in the task of defeating the Kishin Asura and sealing him away on the moon permanently. Soul and Maka had also been there along with Soul's good friend Black*Star, a skilled assassin and his weapon Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. The unspoken hero though was Maka's friend Chrona and the weapon Ragnarok, who had sacrificed themselves to seal away Asura, much to Ragnarok's dismay.
Maka didn't like to talk about that. She missed Chrona. She would never stop trying to save Chrona, but the likely chance of finding a solution was slim. As many bad things as Chrona had done, she didn't care. Chrona had had a terrible childhood. Her mother; the evil witch Medusa, had replaced all of Chrona's blood with the melted down demon sword Ragnarok, and then taught the child to kill. Chrona was not an independent person due to years of abuse and neglect, and hadn't had any physical contact until Maka came along.
That's not to say Maka had made an easy feat of saving Chrona from the madness, no it had been difficult indeed. The first time they met, Chrona had severely injured Soul, for which he still bore the scar, and they both are still affected to this day by the black blood that was accidentally put into his system. This black blood causes Soul to have to constantly fight madness, and when resonating, Maka felt the effects too. They would have died in that first fight against Chrona, had it not been for Maka's deathscythe of a father; Spirit Albarn, and his old meister, AKA the best meister to have ever graduated from the DWMA, Dr. Franken Stein.
The next time they met Maka had to let herself be enveloped by the madness to match Chrona's wavelength, and had nearly succumbed to it as a result. Luckily after a few embarrassing actions that weren't under her control, and some work on Soul's part, she had done it. She and Soul had still never told anyone about this particular moment in their partnership. All anyone needed to know was that they had succeeded in saving Chrona.
Chrona had been taken into the DWMA as a student, but when Medusa came calling, Chrona couldn't help but follow her off again. This had seemingly sealed Chrona's and indirectly, Asura's fate. Somewhere along the road Chrona killed Medusa, the mother that never loved, and nearly became a kishin. Maka once again tried to Save Chrona, but instead Chrona sealed the Kishin on the moon. The moon was still covered in black blood when it rose up into the sky at night.
Maka shot Kid a glare before she quickly solved the three problems and headed back to her seat. She sighed and clasped her hands together, waiting for any notes needing to be taken. Her thoughts were commonly like this, ever since the battle on the moon. She couldn't help it, and no one could really blame any of the them.
The kids who had gone to the moon had came back changed. They were not the same people they had been when they went. This isn't to say everything beforehand hadn't also changed them, but it was indeed a horrifying battle. Their eyes had seen far too much, and their bodies had felt far too much for anyone of their age. And although they were certainly plagued by nightmares occasionally, they were certainly doing quite well for what they had been through.
Maka met Soul by his bike after school. She had gotten to see Tsugumi and her partners and spend a few minutes talking to them as she had walked which was nice. She hadn't gotten to talk to the NOT class girls in a while. They were certainly bright little rays of sunshine.
One thing that was out of the ordinary on her walk outside was that when she opened her locker, there was a note that had fluttered to the floor. Like a bird landing on a branch. She didn't understand who the letter was from. Any of her friends would have just spoken to her and no one really sent her messages like they did to Soul day in and day out, every single day. The white haired, red eyed boy truly was a hot commodity around the school. Why? She did't know.
She carefully opened the letter, making sure to hold her breath in case it was some weird experiment by Stein with some powder in the letter, or some stupid fangirl of Soul's trying to do something stupid. Either was possible, but neither from what she could tell were the truth. Inside the envelope was a time and a place.
"Meet me at the bottom of the school steps at 9:00 PM tonight. I have something that may prove useful to you."
"Hey, you doing anything this weekend?" Soul asked, his voice low and dull. She looked at him with curiosity, before thinking about his question.
"Nope. I think I'm just going to curl up and read a book. Which reminds me, can you drop me off at the bookstore please?" She calmly, debating if she should mention the odd letter.
"Ugh, again? You just went Tuesday! Our apartment is full! You're going to have to get rid of some of those damned books." He says gruffly, his face mildly showing a scowl.
"Well I suppose if you feel so strongly about me not getting any more books, I'll just have to follow up on that letter I got from somebody in my locker today." She says tauntingly, taking the letter from her pocket, and twirling it in the air. He quickly walks over and snatches it from her hand, unfolding the paper and reading it quickly.
"This is probably utter bullshit you know? It could be anyone. And what could they have that would be useful to you? It's probably just some lower class kid trying to look cool and couldn't find anyone else to do it so they picked you to bug. Or it could be a guy wanting to..." Soul raves on and on, mildly concerned but mainly taking it as a chance to tease her.
"Maaaakkkkaaaaaaa, Chop!" She yells, slamming her trusty hardback into the boy's head. "For your information, I'm not the stupid girl you think I am Soul. I can handle myself." She says as he softly cradles his head in his hands.
"Ouch, okay, I get it. You're stronger than you look. I give up. Just don't go hitting me so hard next time, you're going to give me a concussion, and don't go getting yourself killed either for that manner. Who else could I get to make me food every morning?" He attempts to joke, his head still reeling from the brutal book assault.
"Good. Now let's get home already. I need to freshen up for whatever the heck this is going to be." Maka says. She doesn't know why but she gets a slight sensation that maybe she shouldn't do this, but on the offhand chance that this could be useful in the pursuit of saving Chrona, she had to try it, no matter what.