Maka was the last to arrive. The others were crowded around the central study table in the library, fidgeting nervously or painting nails, if they were Liz. They looked up as she entered. This was exactly what she wanted to avoid, a team, friends. People she would end up relying on who would trust her. That hadn't ended well the last time she tried it and it wouldn't end well this time either.
She looked around at those who had assembled. Kidd looked mighty offended that Mr. Lord hadn't elected to share with him Maka's true identity as the Slayer. He was a Watcher in training, after all.
"I'm sure you all have questions, and I will get to those. Eventually." Maka said. "First things first, I'm the-"
"Realist!" Shouted Patti. Mr. Lord shushed her, they were in a library. Admittedly it was an empty school library on a Saturday morning, but that was no excuse in his opinion.
"The Slayer. In every generation there is born one, a girl, chosen to defend humanity from all supernatural evils. When the old Slayer dies, a new Slayer is called to take her place-" she was repeating what her first watcher had told her, then it was as if she was reading the introduction from a copy of the Slayer's Handbook and gathering steam to recite all eight hundred pages of the text when she was rudely interrupted.
"So basically, despite the fact that you have super strength, an awesome destiny as the Vampire Slayer, and a short life expectancy, you're still a huge nerd?"
"Black Star!" Tsubaki chastised.
"What? We were all thinking it- she just repeated the literature Mr. L gave us to a T."
"He gave you... Slayer pamphlets?"
They all held up photocopies of the introduction to the Slayer's handbook. Maka pulled out a chair and sat down grumpily, folding her arms and puffing her cheeks out.
"So Maka's the Slayer," Patti was counting on the fleshy pads of her fingers. "Mistah L's the Watcher, and Kiddo's the baby Watcher'n'we're the humans and he's a tiny blue midget-"
"Hey!"
"-What're you?" She pointed at Tsubaki, who raised her hands defensively.
"I'm a shadow warrior," Tsubaki answered reluctantly. She seemed unwilling and unprepared to explain, but Mr. L stepped in, cleared his throat, and took the floor.
"Tsubaki, you are a Nakatsukasa are you not?"
"Yes. How did you- that's not the name I registered with," she frowned at him, puzzled.
"The Nakatsukasa family are an ancient family whose origins, though unclear, are tied to that of the ninjutsu style of fighting,"
"You an actual ninja? A real live ninja?"
"Oh no! Those who practised ninjutsu, at least at its origins, were inspired by the Nakatsukasa family gift. Although the connection between the shadow warriors and ninjutsu has been mostly forgotten due. We have become an obscure part of mythology unfortunately,"
"The Nakatsukasa are the last remaining shadow warriors, an ancient and powerful race born of darkness," Kidd said suddenly, taking almost everyone by suprise.
"Well remembered!" Mr. L exclaimed. Kidd ignored his father and nodded for Tsubaki to continue.
"Ninjas hide in the darkness," Tsubaki explained, "the shadow warriors... We are the darkness. Skilled members of my family can do it at any point, but I'm not at that level yet. I can't do it in direct sunlight, but if I continue to train hard, I'm sure I will someday."
She smiled, shrugging a little.
"So, does anyone have any questions?" Maka asked. "This is your last chance before you all go back to your mostly normal lives and never speak of this again,"
"What!?"
"No way!" Black Star cried indignantly, the first to recover. "We're like some kind of team now! That's how shit like this works. Maka can be Superman, and Tsubaki can be Wonder Woman, and I can be Batman, and the rest of you can be those other dudes on the Justice League no one cares about."
"We are not the Justice League-" Maka started.
"Yeah, the Avengers are way cooler," Patti interrupted, rudely,
"The Avengers are a bunch of pussies!"
"Are not!" Maka kneaded her temples.
"Are too!"
"ARE NOT!"
"ARE-"
"Quite the crack team of toddlers you've assembled, Slayer," Maka groaned at already familiar, too sexy/too annoying voice. "Sorry, am I late to the party?"
"You weren't invited." Maka ground out, before slumping into her folded arms.
"What and miss the inception of the Secret Seven?" He grinned, all sharp teeth and bright red eyes. "Not a chance, Slayer," he flopped into the only spare chair, hooking a leg over the arm.
Maka stood.
"Listen," she said, slamming her palms onto the table to get everyone's attention( Black Star and Patti were still squabbling and Liz was painting Tsubaki's nails a pretty plum colour). They all looked up. "We aren't the Justice League or the Avengers or the Secret Seven. I am the Slayer. He is my Watcher. You are a group of mostly normal students who will continue to do whatever it is mostly normal students do in their mostly normal lives. We are not a team."
"What about me?"
"You!" She rounded on him and raised his hand in sarcastic surrender. "You are a pain in my a- neck. A pain in my neck."
"Pfft,there's gratitude for you."
"Ugh!" Maka stormed out of the room, punching a large, ugly hole in the drywall on the way.
"Allow me to..." Mr. L skipped out of the room after her.
"Is he always so... Sunshine and sparkles?" Soul asked, glancing back at the group for answers. Kidd nodded without look up from the heavy leather bound tome he was engrossed in.
He smiled, eyes twinkled,and suddenly they were swarmed and when a vampire ripped out his throat and pulled him down the complex sewer network before she couldn't do anything about it. There were too many of them. Far too many.
Deaton Lord found Maka pacing outside the Chem lab, muttering to herself and gnawing her fingernails. She raked a hand through her hair, mussing her bangs and loosening her pigtails. She yanked the ties out of her hair, ashy locks spilling down her back. Deaton could see the slight kinks in her hair from where she'd tied it up.
She sat on the ground, forlornly staring at the ties.
"I was thirteen, you know, when I was called," Deaton sat down beside her, "What kind of deity of faith decides that a thirteen year old is humanity's best hope against the forces of evil?" She snorted, and balled her fists up, "And I saved a girl. A little younger then me, she went to my school. She looked at me like I was some kind of hero. She even- she copied my hairstyle. Adopted it, putting her hair up in twin tails long after I'd stopped. She was- we were- she was my friend. And she got... She was... It was my fault. A Slayer is supposed to stand alone. He cut them off, you know, her twin tails. He gave them to me, said they were a present. He... Hurt her. And it was all my fault." She wrapped her arms around her knees and drew a shaky breath. The hair ties fell to the floor. "No more friends. No more team. Just you and me, Mr. L. No one else gets hurt because of me,"
"Maka, these people, they aren't like the friends you lost. You have to face the reality that the people closest to you will always be in danger. But that doesn't mean you should avoid having relationships with people, or letting them help you. Tsubaki will definitely be a powerful ally, and that white haired chap- he's saved your life, hasn't he?"
"Damn right I have," Maka buried her face in her knees. "Listen, Watcher, you have a fight to break up. I'll take the pep talk from here,"
"I can't,"
"Justice League vs. Avengers is getting out of hand. There have been blows," he drawled, lazily flipping a lighter over and over in his fingers. "Good god man, there are books at risk!"
Deaton hurried away.
"Go away," Maka said, voice muffled by the fact her face was buried in her arms. Contrary to her request, he sat down beside her.
"Slayer-"
"Maka. My name is Maka."
"Whatever. Listen, Slayer, that bunch you got in there-they're special. Not like whatever bog standard humans you had before. They've got strong souls." He moved beside her, picked up the discarded hair ties and combed his long slender fingers though her hair. "Slayer, you can't carry the world on your own,"
He parted her hair deftly, and tied it up in two neat pigtails.
"There, you look every bit the violent bookworm you are, Slayer,"
She stood quickly.
"Thanks," she said gruffly, rushing in the direction of the library, head down so he couldn't see her blushing profusely.
He stood, jammed his hands in his pockets and watched her walk away from him.
"Soul," he called after her, "Slayer, you can call me Soul."
He turned and left, just in time for her to spin on her heel and stare after him.
She searched for hours when the sun came up, but she couldn't find a trace of him anywhere. Hiro was gone. He was gone. She was supposed to protect humanity, not put them at risk. He was gone. Hiro was gone.
"Alright, we're a team. To prevent any arguing Mr. L will have the honour of picking the team name," everyone looked at Mr. Lord expectantly. He spluttered a little, something about being honoured before nodding somewhat gravely and accepting the burden of naming the motley.
"Well?" Liz asked, impatiently. He glanced around at the bookshelves in the hope of divine inspiration.
"Spartoi," he answered decisively.
"I think I speak for most of us when I say that I have no idea what that is," Liz, self imposed spokesperson, said.
"Immortal Greek warriors grown from the teeth of drakons when planted and watered with blood," explained Kidd, well aware of both his fathers interest in classical mythology and the section of the library they were in.
"Well, that's fucking stupid," Liz declared, ignoring Mr. L's disheartened expression. "There. All done!"
"Thank you!" Tsubaki admired her nails.
"Whose next?" In the manner of the scene in the Prisoner of Azkaban(the movie, not the book) in which Harry volunteers to approach Buckbeak cautiously by virtue of everyone else back-pedalling, Maka volunteered.
She groaned and submitted to the torturous act of getting her nails painted a pretty colour of Liz's choosing.
She screamed and cried and sobbed until she felt hollow. He was gone and it was her fault. She may as well have killed him herself. She should've protected him. She should never have let him patrol with her in the first place. It wasn't safe.
As much as Maka wanted to hate it, it was nice to have allies again. People she could pretend to be hanging out with while on patrol, people she could actually hang out with when not on patrol. People who were somewhat willing to help her research the beastie of the week. It was also nice, not having to lie to Kidd's face.
She trained hard, and the others fired questions at her whole she did so. Even as the Slayer, Maka had always had to work hard to be good at what she did.
And she wanted to be the best, not that there was a whole lot of official competition. She figured if she lived past the ripe old age of thirty, she'd be doing well.
Her bo staff cracked against Mr. L's.
"Define orbital,"
"A region in space in which there is a high probability of finding an electron,"
The staffs cracked again.
"How does a mass spectrometer work?"
"Particles moving at speed are separated on the basis of atomic weight."
Crack!
"Atomic radius?"
"Half the distance between the nuclei of two atoms of the same element, in gaseous state, in a stable covalent bond."
Crack!
"Down the periodic table the atomic radius..."
"Increases."
Crack!
"Why?"
"Increase in electrons, no increase in protons, protons have less hold on electrons." Crack! "Also complete sub levels and orbitals act as a shield or barrier to protons attracting other most electrons." Crack! "Other most electrons are easily lost, leading to a decrease in stability down the group as well." Crack! "The elements become more reactive," Crack!
Mr. Lord staggered, and Maka knew the training session was over. She needed to shower before her free period ended, then she had a Chem. test. She stepped back and put down the bo staff before leaving to shower and change.
He was out there somewhere. Not he, it. It, it, it, it. A demon with his face. And it was her job to hunt him down and kill him. It. Her responsibility.
Her hair was wet when she entered the chemistry lab a minute late, apologies spilling off her tongue before she realised that her teacher Sid wasn't there. Someone was already timing the rumoured 'fifteen minute rule'. Maka sat down in her usual seat and pulled out her chemistry book for some last minute cramming.
Her hair had made her entire back wet by the time someone had called the fifteen minutes. Neither wanting to get in trouble nor wanting to be left alone, Maka stood up slowly and packed her things meticulously. It wasn't like Sid to be absent or late. That wasn't the kind of man he was. He liked teaching and he really believed in the power of a good education. He even took time out to coach the basketball teams after school, twice a week. He made everyone call him Sid, for god's sake.
Overcome with that ugly mix of Slayer curiosity and pessimism, Maka began to search the room for clues. She'd almost convinced herself that his absence was relatively benign when she opened the cupboard.
She stepped neatly out of the way of his falling corpse, with the morbidly practised ease of someone who has been hit by dead bodies falling out of cupboards on more then one occasion and who would rather not be hit be any more, thank you very much.
"Oh, Sid, what did you get yourself into?" She sighed.
No pulse. Cold. Large dent in the back of his head.
She was no doctor, but her preliminary diagnosis was that he was dead. She moved around the room, closing the blinds as she dug out her cellphone and powered it on.
"911. What's your emergency?"
"My chemistry teacher, Sid Barrett, is dead. I found him in the cupboard. He doesn't have a pulse, his skull is caved in a bit," Was she being too casual? She hadn't known him very long, but she was unfortunately used to untimely demises. Better act at least slightly distressed. "I'm, we're, I'm in the Chem. lab on the ground floor of the Doctor William Martin Academy in Death City, Nevada. Can you send someone to... I'm not sure... An ambulance? Maybe the police? Definitely the police."
"Sure thing...?"
"Maka. Maka Albarn,"
"Can you stay on the line, Maka? Someone'll be there in fifteen minutes." She seemed nice, and had a soothing voice.
"I can't. I need to.. I need to call the front office, let them know you're coming," Sid's death seemed positively mundane. Nothing supernatural. No bite marks, or evidence or ritualistic killing. She felt useless."I can't leave him there,"
She locked the door.
"I've locked the door and closed the blinds. No need to cause a panic,"
"Good thinking, you're being very brave, Maka,"
"I'll call the front office. Can I hang up?"
"I don't think-" Maka hung up.
She scrolled through her few contacts and called the front desk.
"The Doctor William Martin Academy, how may I help you?"
"There's an ambulance on the way. And the police. Send them to the downstairs Chem. Lab,"
"Oh my goodness! What happened? I'll get the nurse-"
"I think the nurse is sort of moot at this point."
"Oh my god! What happened?" She repeated. Her telephone voice was slipping.
"I'd rather not cause a panic," Maka said, nudging the debris that had fallen out of the closet with Sid out of the way with her foot. "I've locked the door,"
"I'm going to hang up now-"
"No, sweetie stay on the line! I'm sending the principal over right now-"the principal's office was beside the front desk "-there's no need to do anything rash-"
"What are you talking about? I'm pretty sure I'm doing the right thing here,"
"I promise you you sweetie, it does get better-"
"Oh. Oh, no. I'm not... I'm really touched by your concern, but I'm not the dead person in the room," she could hear the frantic attempts of the principal to open the locked door.
"Excuse me?"
"Sid's dead. I found him stuffed in the closet when I was..." She racked her brain for a reasonable excuse,"...looking in the closet," evidently, she didn't have a reasonable excuse.
"Yes, the lab's this way- we're on our way," she hung up. Maka opened the door and the principal stumbled in. She stepped neatly out of his way too.
When the emergency services arrived, they wrapped her in a blanket. They thought she was in shock. She'd been in shock before and the death of a man she barely knew didn't qualify. They said they'd be in touch, get her statement later. When she was feeling "more herself".
And Sid Barrett had a made the front page of the school newspaper, because he'd been a damn good basketball coach.
She didn't like leaving her home alone with him on the loose, but what choice did she have- people still needed protecting. People would always need the Slayer, even if they didn't know it.
The next time Maka saw Sid Barrett she really wasn't expecting it.
She was on patrol, so she really shouldn't have been surprised when the dead crawled out if their graves and attacked her. Sid, however, with his blunt force trauma to the back of the head, took her by surprise.
The Spartoi had come with her. It was Friday night, so they didn't have school the next morning. Maka refused point blank to allow the others patrol with her on week nights. In fact, she didn't want them to patrol with her at all, but Tsubaki's 'I am the darkness and the darkness is me' thing was really useful and Black Star wanted to go where Tsubaki went. The Thompson sisters had enviable and terrifying aim with almost anything that fired projectiles and she couldn't just leave Kidd out, now could she?
So every Saturday and Friday night the whole obnoxious and fairly deadly gang of them went out on patrol to hunt and Slay some beasties.
"S'up Slayer," Soul, tall and already too familiar strode through the headstones. The Spartoi, her crack team of ragtag individuals that constantly had her back, dissipated into darkness. One of them did so quite literally. Maka groaned, glaring around at the empty space.
"Soul. I am patrolling," Maka said, still looking around. Kidd was behind the gravestone shaped like an angel. "Hence, very busy,"
"It looks pretty dead out here to me," Soul replied, glancing around at the various monuments to the dead, undead, and dust. Maka pressed her lips together in a vain effort to suppress the smile that tugged at the corners of her lips. It was an awful joke.
There was a sudden flash of movement in the corner of her eye, so Maka tackled Soul to the ground.
"Eager, aren't we Slayer?" Soul grinned, sharp teeth reminding her that he was falling on the wrong side of the human/nonhuman dichotomy but unfortunately still incredibly sexy.
"Shut up," she rolled off him and sprang to her feet. "There's something out there,"
He got up, complaining; "Excuses, excuses..."
But Maka wasn't even pretending to listen.
"Guys! Get your butts back here immediately!" She yelled, despite them not being even slightly out of earshot. "There's something out there,"
If her life had been a TV show they would've chosen this moment to cut to the battered bodies of her friends for dramatic effect. As it was, they all showed up pretty quickly and not even a little dramatically, crossbows raised and limbs transformed into spooky shadow weapons.
They stood in a tight circle, facing outward and on guard. Maka could hear a faint rumbling, getting louder as time passed, and judging by the murmurs of 'can you hear that?' and 'yeah, whaddya think it is?' the others could hear it too.
The ground burst open behind them, clods of earth smacking into their backs. Maka flipped neatly, landing on steady feet on the ground for which the same could not be safely said. There would be no easy way to explain the mud smeared across the back of her favorite leather jacket.
The others had scrambled to their feet loaded weapons pointed at the explosion's epicentre.
"Sid?" they queried in unison, with the exception of Soul who apparently did not recognize the former school basketball coach. And it was Sid, his own brand new headstone hefted on his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. His dark skin had a blueish tinge to it and the clothes he'd been buried in were coated with a layer of mud. His cause of dead, the skull crushing blow to the cranium was carefully hidden under his favourite thick cloth hairband. He used them to keep his braids out of his way while he was working. He was unmistakably the same dead guy he'd been at his funeral.
He was unmistakably dead, not quite as dead as Maka had previously seen him but still dead.
"Maka, didn't you find Sid dead about a week ago?" Black*Star asked.
"He is dead,"
"I beg to differ," Soul dived out of the way of Sid's tasteful headstone. "He is not nearly dead enough for me," He grunted, and raised his forearm to block a second strike from Sid.
"Soul-"
The headstone cracked against his arm, broken cleanly in two and Maka just stared while Liz nailed Sid to a tree with a crossbow bolt. Maka rushed to Soul as Patti gleefully loosed another bolt, securing the former teacher's remaining free hand to the tree trunk.
Maka crouched beside Soul.
"Are you okay?" she pushed the shattered headstone away from Soul and grabbed his arm, inspecting it for injuries before he could protest.
He proceeded to do so anyway, of course.
"I'm fine!" He insisted, pulling his arm away. He tugged his sleeve down where she had pushed it up for closer inspection, "Not exactly one hundred percent human, here," he grinned, his pointed teeth flashing in the moonlight. "Not that it seems to bother you too much, Slayer,"
Maka stood up and stalked away, muttering about hot assholes who were not exactly one hundred percent pure human. She marched up to Sid, with the express purpose of jabbing a gloved, accusatory finger at the dead man.
"What are you?"
"Chemistry Teacher. Basketball Coach. Beloved Husband. Dead."
"More details on the 'dead' part of the equation, please," Maka said, folding her arms and tapping her steel encased toes in a manner that could be roughly translated as 'answer the question, or risk becoming more permanently dead.'
"Someone here knows the answer, someone else wants to know, and everyone should know that I can't give the answer,"
"Who knows the answer Sid?" Maka asked, brandishing her favourite axe menacingly.
"Only one person in the world could bring me back, and I'm not the only one he's 'saved', am I, Soul Eater?"
Soul darkened, strode over to the Chemistry teacher who'd made all the answers to the test Maka had studied so hard for B and punched him. Hard.
The dead man slumped, held up by crossbow bolts alone.
"C'mon," He said, yanking the bolts out and heaving the corpse over his shoulder, "we've got to see a doctor about a zombie,"
Maka crept into the apartment, slipping off her shoes. Her mother, Kami, was asleep on the couch. She'd fallen asleep there waiting for her. Maka who carry her to bed, amused by the extreme role reversal. She looked peaceful, curled under the fleecy blanket that was normally folded over the back of the couch.
Since none of them could drive, or rather none of them had that ideal license/vehicle combination, they trekked across the city. They were no doubt taking the longest possible route that would keep them and the self exhumed basketball coach out of the public eye. He was no longer unconscious, but now hogtied and gagged.
The building they arrived at was the kind of building you yell at the people in horror movie not to go in. It was fenced off with a rusty chainlink and wallpaper with really old 'CONDEMNED' signs that were peeling away in thick layers. The name of the building, though barely visible was still legible, and did not inspire any kind of confidence
"The old City Morgue?"
"Abandoned in 1976 when the new hospital wing was constructed," Soul supplied,"But not, empty,"
"You can not be serious," Liz said, her crossbow drooping.
"Spooky abandoned buildings are prime real estate for all sorts of nasties," Maka explained.
"Including one Doctor Franken Stein,"
"Is he human?"
"He was, a long time ago, but he was so obsessed with his search for the Soul that he just kept... Replacing pieces of himself as they began to fail." The others were acting wary around Soul. Sid's statement and Soul's violent outburst in response had set them on edge. He'd also reminded them that he was something other then pure human, even if they didn't know what.
Soul hoisted Sid further up on his shoulder and marched up to the still remarkably sturdy wooden door. He banged his fist on the door a few times before yelling.
"Stein! Open the fucking door!" He stepped neatly back out of the way s's the door slammed open, cracking off the inside wall loudly and revealing a carnivorous darkness. Black Star peered into said darkness, but Maka followed Soul's example and stepped back.
An ominous echoing noise, or a would be ominous echoing noise, if not for the fact it sounded like a incompetent skateboarder on linoleum could be heard. This clattering, falling about noise grew louder, and the inept skateboarder probably grew closer, Maka extrapolated. The moderately ominous feeling completely dissipated when the rattling revealed itself in the form of a patchwork scientist scooting towards them on a battered looking office chair.
It became clear that he had not taken into account the door jamb.
They stared down at what could arguably be called a man. He was held together by clumsy but effective stitches, scar tissue, non medical grade staples, and a comically large screw. Tsubaki offered him his glasses, the wire framed spectacles had skittered across the floor and obtained several vision impeding scratches.
"Don't-" Soul growled, but Stein had already perched the damaged eyewear on his face and was unfolding his too long legs. He stood, peering over his glasses at them from an unnatural height. His spidery fingers twitched, and began fussing around Soul almost of their own accord. Soul stepped back, heaving Sid between them to act as a barrier of sorts.
"Whatcha take this time, Doc?" Soul asked,"Burn through another set of lungs already?"
The others looked at each other, puzzled. Maka, despite being puzzled also retained her expression of mistrust and professionalism.
"Doctor Stein here performs surgery in exchange for spare parts," Soul spat.
"It didn't seem to bother you too much, Soul Eater," Stein said, his face twisting into something ?Maka suspected was supposed to be a smile. "Not when you needed a little operation?"
"It's not like I knew what was happening, and even then I managed to make sure you didn't take any spare parts from me-"
"But it's not a permanent fix, you know that. Next time you're in need of repairs, there'll be a price. A hefty price for such a risky, intense procedure. Your eyes perhaps? Or your hands? Where would you be without your beloved music?"
"That's it," Soul swung at Stein who moved faster then anybody was prepared to anticipate and grabbed Soul's fist, squeezing it hard.
"No need for that kind of behaviour, we're all friends here,"
Soul's brow furrowed, and the knuckles stood out of Stein's greyish hands.
"Naughty boy. You aren't supposed to do that," Stein released Soul's fist, shaking his hand out. Maka slugged him.
"I have it under control." Maka wasn't sure who Soul was talking to.
Maka jumped over Stein's swooping leg and lashed out with her foot, kicking Stein hard in the ribs. He coughed and stumbled, but managed to duck the copper pipe that Patti had somehow acquired.
"You can feel it splitting apart, can't you? You won't be in control forever," He dodged Maka's superhuman speed Slayer strength right cross but not the left hook she followed it up with. "Your little do-good er act is slipping," he spat dull red blood on the the concrete.
Tsubaki's shadow arm ripped through the good doctor. Soul broke his nose. Maka shouldered him out of the way and he tripped over the abandoned Sid.
"How familiar. A Nakatsukasa. Been a while since I encountered a shadow warrior. You aren't like him though, dark and lonely and oh so dangerous. I'm sure your paths will cross very soon," He turned back to Soul, suddenly disinterested in Tsubaki.
"You can feel it, can't you? There's a darkness coming. A leeching insanity to infect us all. You'll be back to your old self, I never should have changed you. You were perfect. I can see the monster rippling through your skin, pulsing through your veins like a terrible promise. You'll come back to us one day, Soul Eater," He licked the slowly trickling blood, savoured the taste. "And I swear to you, I am not the only one looking forward to it. Someone has big plans for you,"
Maka stabbed his eye and the strange doctor fell silent, although no body felt that he was finished bothering them.
"Can you guys figure out what to do with this?" Maka gestured to the probably not entirely deceased physician, wiping her vitreous humour stained knife on her skirt. "I need to have a conversation with a certain someone," she grabbed Soul's ear lobe and led the protesting punk away.
Maka bent to lift her and recoiled instantly upon contact. She was cold. She stumbled back across the room, falling over the coffee table and scrabbling for the landline. She didn't notice him until she stumbled into his chest. "Only me," he whispered. "You are mine alone."
"You're a monster,"
He didn't deny it.
"I can't trust you,"
"I know," Soul didn't look like a kicked puppy. He looked like the dog that's in and out of the pound every two weeks and has accepted the constant rejection.
"Soul, you need to stay away from my friends,"
He nodded, and looked liked he wanted to say something before thinking better of it.
"And I want you to stay away from me."
He moved to touch her arm, grab her hand maybe, and she flinched away from the gesture. The hurt that crossed his face was unmistakable, no matter how quickly he tried to school his features into something reasonable.
"Soul, there's only one reason I'm not killing you right now and you need to get out of here before I lose my high moral standards," she stepped away from him. "You need to stay the hell away from me."
