Silence.

"Soul," Maka said with a harsh sigh, "You've been quiet all day. I mean, you haven't said anything to me, at least..." She drifted off in thought. Most of the time, Soul would be making little wisecracks here and there in his classes, or be goofing off with Black*Star, or even just talking with Maka between classes. But today, he had been keeping to himself - yet staying close to Maka - and barely saying a word.

Soul made a small noise to show her that he was listening. What had once been a small afterthought was now bothering him constantly, as it had been all day. But he wouldn't tell Maka what it was. After all, it was a stupid thought, it's be uncool to tell anyone.

She sat down next to him on their couch, "Can't you answer in a word? Even a 'Yes' would be okay, y'know." She moved forward to look at his face, which was staring blankly at a wall, his red eyes barely even blinking.

Nodding, Soul muttered quietly, "I've just been thinking about a few things today. That's all." He turned to her and smiled slightly, like it was a forced smile, and continued, "What, are you worried about me or something?"

"Well, sorta," Maka responded. She turned away from him and folded her hands in her lap, "Just, most of the time you're not this quiet. What, exactly, have you been thinking about today, huh?"

"You wouldn't wanna know," Soul said. His cheeks turned a faint pink, and he looked away to the floor, "Besides, it's really dumb. So a person like you wouldn't be that interested."

Maka playfully nudged his side, "Aww, why not? I'm sure it's nothing bad, Soul, right? It wouldn't hurt to tell me, I'm sure of it!" She sighed, then looked back at him and smiled, "Would you, please?"

Soul's eyes darted from the floor to his partner. "You're really curious 'bout this, aren't you?" He shifted in his seat before standing up, stuffing his hands in his coat pockets before turning to her. His smile from earlier was now a frown, and he spoke slowly as he told her.

"I've been thinking, Maka... Would you mind going, y'know, going on a date with, uh... me?"

Maka's cheeks turned a bright red, "You... w-what? Really, Soul? You can't be serious..."

Soul scratched at the back of his head, embarassed, and he was blushing as well. "I am serious, if you can believe it... See, this is why I didn't want to tell you. It is a stupid question, isn't it?"

"N-no! It's not stupid! I would love to!" Maka blurted out. Her eyes widened, "I, uh, I didn't mean that! I mean, well, I ment it... but... uh..." she trailed off, looking at the ground. She looked at him briefly, then back at the floor, shrinking back in her seat as she whispered to him, "I... I would like to, I really would, Soul... a-alright?"

Again, Soul smiled, then turned back away from her. "Okay," he said, "How about, in an hour or so, we'll go on a walk or something? Nothing fancy, 'cause, y'know, I don't have any money..."

Maka smiled, "Oh, um, that's okay, I guess. I'll be ready by then..." With that, Soul nodded, then turned and walked back to his room. Maka stayed on the couch, staring at the wall as he had done earlier. He wants to date me, she thought, blinking in disbelief, Soul, of all people, wants to date someone like me...

A few minutes passed, and Maka had stayed sitting on the couch thinking quietly about Soul. Almost out of the blue, she whispered, "He's lying. He's just got to be playing around..." She stood up and sighed, "It's a joke, he's doing it to embarass me. I'm sure of it. Positive."

Now with her anger beginning to rise, she briskly walked over to the door of his room and knocked. "Soul?" she asked, annoyed, "Can we talk about something? It won't take up too much of your time."

"Gimme a sec!" Soul shouted from behind his door. After a brief pause, he opened the door, a thin smirk on his face. "So," he began, "what is it? Are you ready to go right now? Or do you want to call it off?"

"Don't you have anything to tell me?" Maka asked him. She crossed her arms, "Anything to admit? I know you're just joking with me, Soul, don't try to deny it."

Soul tilted his head slightly to the side, "Joking about what? I don't have anything to tell you." His smile grew, and he laughed, "Or, are you playing around with me? I have no idea what you think I'd be joking about."

Maka pouted and stamped one of her feet on the carpet, "This whole 'date' thing! I know you're pulling my leg on it!" She set her arms back to her sides as her hands curled into fists, "I can't believe you would play with me like that, Soul! And I know that's what you're thinking!"

Stepping away from her slightly, Soul frowned, "You think I'm playing a prank or something on you? Maka, I wouldn't do something like that just to hurt your feelings. I'm not like that at all." He sighed, "Cool guys don't do that kind of stuff, assholes do."

"S-so.... you weren't kidding?" Maka asked. Her face turned red in embarassment, "I... uh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to yell or anything! Um... uh..." She paused, and noticed that Soul had begun to smile again. She quickly nodded, "An hour... Alright! I can do that! It's fine!"

As Maka turned on her heels and scuttled off to her room nervously, Soul laughed once more. "Heh... silly Maka." After watching her walk off, he too returned to his room to get ready for their little date.