The sun seemed to laugh from above, as if it was cooler up there as it's rays scorched the hot sand around the "oasis" that was Death City. The heat wave going through Nevada was predicted to be the longest and hottest ever experienced. Yet Black*Star still wanted to go out and play basket ball.
"Why is it so hotttttt? It was never this hot in Brooklyn!" a tall blonde complained, using her white hat to fan her. The boy walking next to her, clad in a perfectly formal, perfectly symmetric, black and white suit, wiped a hand over his forehead.
"Maybe we should start funding some type of drought prevention program," he muttered under his breath.
"Kid, aren't you hot in that? You're the only one crazy enough to wear a jacket in this weather!" a white haired male exclaimed, fanning himself. "Hey, can we stop at the convenience store? Let's get some popsicles or something before we dry up out here like a raisin."
"That's a good idea. Black*Star forgot the sunscreen too so we should purchase some as well ," a tall Japanese spoke up from behind the group of kids. She stood next to Maka, the shortest in the group, who doing her best fanning herself with a book.
"I didn't forget! I don't need it!" the blue haired male yelled from the front. Tsubaki just smiled in response.
"Think fast!" At the command, a basketball was thrown towards Black*Star, hitting the blue haired boy in the face. The culprit, Patty, who stood next to her sister, Liz (who had given up with her hat) snickered and ran towards the convenience store.
"No fair! I wasn't ready!" The two childlike teens ran ahead, and the rest followed.
Soul, moving his white fringe from this face, slowed down a bit and lagged behind with Maka.
"You okay? You haven't said a word since we left," he asked in concern. The girl smiled.
"I'm fine. I'm trying not to waste too much energy."
"Is that so..." Soul mumbled. He looked at Maka's face, watching her eyebrows furrow as she complained about the heat under her breath. He let out a sigh. "Man, I wish I could tie my hair up in pigtails like you or something, this weather is too hot for me."
Maka giggled, "You'd look kinda dumb like that."
Soul rolled his eyes with a smirk. "No I wouldn't. I'd make it work," he teased.
"Really? Are you sure? I have some hair ties with me right now, would you like them?" the female challenged. Soul's smirk faltered.
"... I'm good," he replied, to which Maka laughed.
They kept walking, and Soul messed with his bangs again.
"Let's go for a 2 out of 3!" Black*Star yelled, exasperated that Patty, Liz, and Tsubaki beat him, Kid, and Soul.
"I guess it's just not your day today, huh? Warrior God?" Liz jeered with a smirk. Patty giggled behind her.
"Nuh-uh! Everyday is my day! I was just going easy on you because you're a group of girls!" Black*Star yelled. Tsubaki gave him a worried glance.
"Oh no, you did not just say that," Liz fumed.
"Guys, please don't fight!" Tsubaki pleaded. Soul sighed.
"I'm going to rest under the shade, I think I've had enough basketball for one day," the white haired male decided. Black*Star gasped at him.
"You can't just leave!" he complained. Soul waved it off as if it was nothing and went to Maka who was reading underneath a nearby tree. She looked up as he approached and started shuffling through her bag.
"Having fun?" she asked as she handed him a towel. The boy nodded in reply.
"Thanks," he accepted the towel and wiped his face off before plopping down next to her. "How about you? Not bored of that book yet?" he asked, fingering his fringe again.
"Nope. It's a good book. You should read it."
"You think I would like that stuff? What genre is it again anyway?"
"It's a young adult novel. There's action in it. I think you'd like it."
"Well... Maybe. I guess you never know," he sighed. "Hey, do you have any water? I'm parched."
"Yeah, here. I bought extra at the convenience store," Maka replied, handing him one of the cold drinks next to her. The boy thanked her again before taking a long drink from the bottle.
They were silent for a minute as another game was started between the teams on the basketball field. Tsubaki had decided to be the ref to make the teams even again.
"Soul?" The red eyed male turned in response to his name. "Stay still for a moment," Maka ordered.
The boy gave her a questioning look but did as he was told.
Maka moved closer to the boy, and took off one of the hair ties on her wrist. She moved her fingers through his soft hair before tieing up the bangs together. When her work was done, she sat back and chuckled.
"You look good with apple hair," she laughed. Soul touched the tie in his hair.
"What's this for?" he asked. He didn't dare remove it.
"Your bangs looked like they were bothering you and I thought it might be better if they were out of your face. You know, you wear your headband sometimes, but it barely does anything! If you clip or tie your hair out of your face, maybe it'd be easier for you to focus on studying or something," Maka explained.
"Do you really think that'd help?" he muttered skeptically. She shrugged.
"Who knows. If you don't like it you can take it out."
The white haired boy touched the tie again. "Nah, it's fine." He leaned close to the ash blonde. "So, are you sure I look good in this?" he smirked.
"Of course," Maka laughed with a roll of her eyes. Soul actually looked quite silly with his bangs tied up like that.
"I feel like you're lying," he teased, nudging her with an elbow.
"No way!"
"Are you sure?" Soul questioned, leaning in a bit closer.
"Of course!" She met his eyes. Why did he move closer?
"Lier," he muttered as he moved in more. Maka could feel her face heating up. If only it was just the sun causing it!
"I'm not lying," she whispered back.
"Liers get punished you know."
"What are you even suggesting with that?!"
And in a fluid move, Soul grabbed her chin and attempted to close the distance between them.
Keyword: attempted.
Maka flinched right before their lips could touch, causing her head to forcefully hit his.
"Ow!" Soul exclaimed, holding his head in his hands.
"Come on, it doesn't hurt that much," Maka muttered, looking away. Her face was literally burning up. Had she put on enough sunscreen?
Soul sighed and leaned back. "Yeah. Sorry..."
They were quiet for a moment again. And they were quiet on the way home. Upon reaching their apartment, the only words muttered to each other was, "What do you want for dinner?" and the response, "I'm feeling Italian tonight. How about fettuccine?"
Soul sat in front of the TV, pretending to listen to the mindless babble coming from it. In reality, he was focusing on the sounds coming from the kitchen, wondering if Maka was angry. If she was, she would be muttering like a madman to herself as she cut the vegetables or prepared the noodles. Instead she was exactly like the walk home- silent.
His mind starting to go into overdrive, Soul stood up in worry and watched her cook, leaning against the wall. She either didn't see him or was ignoring him. Given the time spent watching the others play their game and the walk home and the moments of silence in the house (safe for the unintentional noise made from cooking and whatever was going on on TV), Soul had a lot of time to think and reflect on what he had did. It was too rash and bold. What kind of guy kisses without permission? An uncool guy, that's who.
"Maka," he finally spoke. He saw her shoulders tense as she stopped stirring the pot full of sauce.
"Yeah?"
Soul hesitated, "... I'm sorry about today. I shouldn't have done- well, tried to do - that. I just... I don't know. I felt like it was appropriate, but it wasn't and I should've thought before I did and... I'm sorry."
Maka seemed to relax a bit more, and Soul could feel his breath coming back. She turned to face him with a bright smile.
"It's fine Soul. It didn't mean anything, right? You were just caught up in the moment," she smiled. Soul let out a small sigh of relief at her words, but he still felt unsettled.
"Well... not exactly..."
Maka shook her head, "It's fine. I know you didn't mean it. Now, grab a plate, dinner is ready." Maka turned away from him and turned off the stove.
Soul let out a sigh. "That's the problem. I did mean it," Soul confessed. "I really really wanted to kiss you. Not so much because I was caught up in the moment, more so because I was with you."
"Okay, now who's lying."
"But I'm not! I was caught up in the moment because it was with you. You know how much I care for you. And I'm your best friend! But in all honesty, I like you so much more than that."
Maka was quiet. Her cheeks were reddening.
"Is that so?" At her question, Soul raised his hand, about to nervously run his fingers through his hair, but remembered the hair tie and settled for scratching the back of his neck.
"Yes. It's just... You're so cool and you're my meister and I respect all that, but... I ended up liking you way more than I meant too. And I thought I could be smooth with that kiss, but I wasn't and I just realized how disrespectful that is, especially if you don't like me back, and so I'm sorry and I won't try that again, and I won't mention liking you again and stuff if it'll affect our friendship or our partnership because in all honesty you being happy is the biggest priority for me and if you want me to ignore all that then that's okay just-" Soul was rambling and looking everywhere but at the green eyed girl standing across the room. He let out another lengthy sigh, "Whatever you do, just please don't hate me."
Again, deafening silence stood between them. Soul felt himself sweating, and he just wished the heat would end and that Maka would say something before he drowned himself in it.
"Soul, I'll never hate you," Maka promised as Soul finally met her eyes. She slowly walked toward him. Bashfully, she gave him a hug.
"What if I don't want you to stop saying you like me?" she asked, "What if I want you to try again?"
Soul could feel himself heating up more, and he didn't know if he was going to die because of heat exhaustion or because of Maka.
"Then... I won't stop."
Maka pulled away and smiled.
"I love you, Soul."
The white haired boy knew the answer then. Maka would be the death of him.
Soul smiled.
"I love you too, Maka."
And again, he tried to lean in for a kiss. This time, Maka was ready, and she let him.
(A/N) Thank you for reading! Recently I've been thinking a lot about when my boyfriend asked me out;; He did the same thing as Soul and tried to kiss me;;; I wasn't prepared for it at all (I'd never been kissed before and I thought he was wayy out of my league to like me) and ended up headbutting him, haha ^^; I thought the two would be cute in that kind of situation :)
In all honesty, I'm thinking about writing a series under the same title (but perhaps with more of a mature rating;;;;; )
This is the first time in a long time I've written about these too. I hope you enjoyed it! Please leave a review of feedback or constructive criticism!