Intertwined

Chapter 2 - Nothing Special

Soul tread silently out of the classroom. He looked at his schedule. It was break time. He had about twenty minutes to walk around before he'd have to endure another long, boring session in the classroom. Oh well, better than late than never.

As he walked out he was greeted by Black*Star.

"Hey dude!", he called.

"Black*Star? What is it?", sighed Soul.

"You never told me your name.", Black*Star tapped his foot on the ground impatiently, "Wait! Let me guess! It's..", he tapped his head in deep thought.

"Don't hurt yourself, my name is Soul."

"I knew that!", he laughed, clearly having no idea.

"Yeah, alright. Anyway,", he sighed once more, "Why can't you tell me about this Maka chick again?"

"Gotta go dude! Sorry!", and just like that, Black*Star sped out of sight, avoiding the question once more.

"Damnit.", Soul thought, shrugging it off.

"Wait, why the hell do I care. A guy like me is too cool to be wasting his time on a girl who still wears pigtails in her hair.", he insisted.

He walked in silence. He'd just have to continue shrugging it off, there was very little chance he cared, and even if he did what was he worried about. A girl like that probably just tripped and fell down on her ass, right?

Maka took a quiet seat, alone on the bench, rubbing her shoulder. It began to ache more and more as time passed, but she still couldn't see what was causing such a strain. It hurt, she knew that. She couldn't see a bruise, and she was having a bit of trouble looking in the mirror. Luckily, her trench coat was large. It should hide any appending bruises for her sake.

"You're going to be fine. Just relax, it's almost over.", she sighed, reassuring herself.

Soul walked out into the field, enjoying the sun for a bit, until something caught his eye again. The same girl with pigtails in her hair, sitting alone on a far bench at the very back. He could just make out the trench coat, and the pig tails stuck out like a sore thumb. Then again, he was one to talk, he had white hair. He shrugged it off, knowing if he'd get any further into the thought he'd find himself in an argument he was bound to lose. Above all, he'd only be arguing with himself.

People walked past him, talking about every boring thing in the book. Relationships, friend issues, drama, here and there. He couldn't help but wonder what the girl was thinking. It was unusual to see any other loners like himself, especially a girl. Someone just sitting there alone like that. On top of that, he'd been looking for a spot to sit down for the past five minutes and she snatched the only good spot left, and he sure as hell wasn't sitting on the ground.

Just as he was about to walk over, demanding a seat, his stomach swelled up in pain. No, not pain, something else. His feet were frozen, he immediately wanted to turn back. There was no point in trying, if so many people were as afraid of her as it seemed he definitely didn't want to start a fight with the girl. Even if he knew he'd most definitely beat her in a street match, she was a girl, and cool guys don't go around hitting girls. Especially over something stupid, like a seat. He shrugged it off and walked away, kicking himself once he was out of sight. There was no reason he should have turned back either, he was Soul Eater, he wasn't afraid of anything or anyone.

The bell rang, dismissing everybody back to class. He reluctantly followed diligently, taking a look at his class schedule. Only five more classes.

Maka took a look up, she noticed the new boy pacing back and fourth on the field. She'd caught him staring at her a few times, but that was nothing new. People tend to stare at her, she was used to it. She found him proceeding closer for a minute, so close she thought he was going to walk over there.

"Why would he do that? Can't he just leave?", she thought, quaking in her seat, "Calm down, just grab your books and leave.", she took a deep breath, clutching her bag.

She was about to leave when she noticed the boy walking away in the other direction. She breathed a sigh of relief, thanking god that she didn't have to move. Her back was aching, and the pain had spread to her neck. Her face was a bit soar but she'd made it a point to ignore it. If necessary, the nurses office was just down the hall. Nurse Nygus was kind enough, she never alerted her father when she visited. Nygus was a trustworthy person, now if only the same went for her father.

She sat in the bench for a while until the bell ring, and she hobbled off to class. Despite the pain, the morning was going pretty well. Well enough, in her opinion anyway. Now she just had to endure the next five classes.

To his dismay, he'd found out that he had three more classes with her. The last two being gym and music. He was a bit thankful he had her for math, if necessary he'd be able to copy off of her. Math definitely wasn't one of his strong points. Once math and science had been dismissed, they were released to lunch and headed off in separate directions once more. A blessing for him, really. He wasn't interested in any girls, or friends that happened to pass by, and he definitely wasn't interested in the strange girl who everybody seemed to be afraid of. He shrugged it off, kicking himself for thinking about it once more.

He turned the hall, frantically trying to get away from the mess of people scattering in and out.

In his attempt to avoid confusion, he felt himself colliding with the student in front of him. Books and papers flying everywhere, and foul language coming from the students mouth. He recognized her voice. Of course, it was Maka.

"Watch where you're going!", she growled, collecting her books.

"Watch where I'm going? Why don't you!", he growled back.

She huffed, hiding her face and picking the books back up in her arms, and placing papers in her bag. She had wide, green eyes. They weren't intimidating at all, actually they were quite inviting. Which still left the question, why the hell was everyone so afraid of her? She was nothing special, nothing extraordinary. Before he could give her a rough apology, she ran past him, blowing wind in his face. She smelled good, he had to admit that.

Maka ran into the girls bathroom, locking the door behind her for a brief moment. She had to see what was bothering her, it began to ache more and more. Running into the boy back there only faulted her attempt to try and forget. To no avail, the boy knocked her down and the bruises on her face and arms had been rediscovered. The make up hid it well.

She had no interest in the boy, he was nothing special. He's just like all the rest, bound to nothing but sex, money, and liquor. All in all it was easy for her to ignore him, he'd only crept into her mind once that day, luckily. She lifted her bag onto the counter and pulled out a few things. She looked carefully in her bag, searching for..

"NO!", she thought, panicking.

"No, this can't be happening it has to be here.", she quaked, searching frantically in her bag.

"Hey Soul.", Black*Star called, walking down the hallway.

"Huh?", he sighed.

"What's that in your hands?", he pointed to Souls chest, where he looked down to find he'd been holding a notebook.

"What the hell. This isn't mine.", he thought, taking a look at the journal.

"Nothing Black*Star.", Soul turned the corner and headed into the boys bathroom, skimming over the front and back.

The front had no title, and no return address, though he knew exactly who it belonged to.

"That Maka girl.", he thought, reluctantly turning to the first page.

The first entry was the worst, by far. He wasn't one for reading but if it meant any information as to when, or how to return it, he was all ears. Besides, it was only one page, what could go wrong?

"Dear journal,", it began, "the counselor said it would be a good idea to start writing one of these, instead of taking the problems out on my body. I don't know if I can do that, though.", he paused to take a closer look. The hand writing looked like chicken scratch, nothing like Maka's. He'd been sitting next to her for the past three classes, with only one left. She had neat hand writing, and she was very literate, however in this journal it was the opposite.

He continued reading.

"If I keep writing in this journal they say it'll help my problems but it won't because I like how I handle the problems. I bleed out my problems, and strong people know how to deal with pain. That's what Papa says, so I will. I don't want Papa being mean anymore, he says he wants a daughter he won't have to be mean to me.", the entry ended.

His palms were shaking. It was hard to believe Maka had written anything in it, she looked so calm and collected. This had to be somebody else's, maybe a little sister, or a really close friend. He looked at the latest entry. It was written this morning.

"Dear Journal, I guess I'm running out of pages, finally. I didn't think I'd be able to make you last this long, but here you are. I'll be quick I guess. Then I'll say goodbye, I finally decided what I was going to do, but first I guess I'll recap this morning, and see if anything changes. I don't know, I'm just doing whatever the book tells me to. I guess this morning hasn't been very productive, and it's been better than most. Last night he did it again, but I hid it well. My trench coat helps me allot, I'm thankful for that. However, there's a pain on my back, I don't remember having it before last night. I can't reach it, I can't see it. I don't know what happened, it's a bit of a blur, but oh well. I won't need my body for much longer after this. Once it's done I don't have to go home anymore. Papa won't have to", the entry ended there.

His fingers quaked with fear. He had no idea what he'd been in possession of, and she must have been tearing her hair out looking for it. He almost felt guilty, almost ashamed. No, damnit. He was Soul Eater, there was no reason to feel sorry for anybody. Humans are judgmental hurtful people anyway. Who cares what happens to them, right? Still, he couldn't shake the feeling. Whatever it was, was out of his control anyway. He's just one boy, right? Right.

Tears swelled in Maka's eyes. The one worldly possession she actually cared about, and it's gone. Disappeared right before her eyes. She should have been careful, she knew it was a bad idea to carry it around at school but she didn't listen. Damn her, right? Right. Everything hurt at this point, emotionally and physically. She learned a long time ago, pain was something you'd have to endure. It was something nobody could control, it was out of her reach. The new kid probably had it, and by now he'd probably read every entry down to the very last page, and he was probably showing his friends. Oh well, she'd made the decision this morning and she'd honor that commitment tonight. It was over for her, this world had nothing left for her. Who would miss her anyway? She was just one girl, right? Right.

The bell rang. She unlocked the bathroom door and dried her eyes, it's not like anybody would ask about it. She'd come to school in worse conditions, people and teachers, had learned to shrug it off. They know she lives in a bad neighborhood, accidents happen all the time. Especially to a fragile young girl like Maka, so they believed. She's be safe for the mean time, for now she had to focus on getting home. She had to beat Papa home. If she made it there first then she'd be able to lock the door to her room and think clearly before making any bad decisions. However, if Papa made it home first, there's a chance he'd be drunk already, or his temper would've already kicked in. Walking home alone in a bad neighborhood is tough though, and there was a good chance she'd end up having to take the long way, a slightly safer route, and end up coming home late.

She was doomed. She wasn't interested in her final class. For now she sat on the steps in front of the school, holding her head in her lap.

The bell rang. Soul had no idea what to do. He had to return the journal to her, he knew too much already and he was sure she didn't like the fact he had it one little bit. She was probably bawling her eyes out looking for it, or worse. Ready to claw his eyes out in an attempt to get it back. If he followed her around school for a while, he might be able to talk to her and give it back. However, that would mean getting involved. He didn't want to talk to anybody, he didn't want to make any friends, or do any kind deeds. He didn't even want to attend school, but it was mandatory if he wanted to end up somewhere other than the streets. Not having a home, and living on the road was cool for a while, but sometimes he longed to know what it's like to have a real place to call home. No, he shrugged the thought out of his head. He needed to think, this had been too much for him already.

He was doomed, either way. Of course no part of him was interested in his final class, and he accepted defeat, walking outside to the front of the school.

To his luck, the first thing he noticed was a girl sitting on top of the steps, with her head down buried in her lap. He felt awful, being the reason for her pain. It wasn't her fault, but what was he to do.

"Stop feeling sorry for her. You don't even know her, it could be a bunch of teenage bull crap for all you know. Just give her the damn journal and leave.", a voice in his head commanded.

He stood a couple steps behind Maka. That's why he was so surprised when,

"I see you. You don't have to hide.", Maka sighed, biting back a few tears.

"Damn. What am I going to say.", he thought, "Maka I brought this back to you. Here you go Maka. Take it. Here. Something, anything.", he panicked.

His small argument with himself was lost as he took a few steps closer. She seemed to tense up a bit, but he ignored it and placed the journal down behind her. She turned around and took a good look at the journal, then back up at him. The obvious tears in her eyes immediately ceased, and she clenched the book tight in her fist. She wanted to scream, to yell, to kick, to anything. She demanded to know what he was doing with the book, and how much he'd read. However, the minute she looked back, he was gone.

She wasn't going to chase after him, nor was she going to pretend he hadn't done this kind deed. She also, wasn't going to forget that he'd probably read a few of her private entry's, he was a man after all. He was nothing special.

He stood around the corner, close to the entrance where he was enabled a private view on Maka. She wasn't moving, she was flipping through her pages. He thought she might get up and follow him. Chasing him down until he confessed he'd read a few pages. No, she didn't move. She sat perfectly still and pulled out a pen, flipping to an entry. She scribbled out a few things, and wrote a bit more. She was practically venting her life story out on the page, so it seemed. He hadn't even realized it'd taken thirty minutes to pull himself away, barely realizing he'd spent the rest of the day staring at her from a distance. He ignored the stalker vibe he'd given off in his head. He had righted his wrong by returning the journal, he wasn't going to blurt out her entry's to any of his "friends". Hell, he didn't even have any.

He wasn't going to chase after her, and talk to her either. He wasn't going to try to help her, or try to play the hero. Why should he? It's not like she's any exception from the rest of the suffering humans on this planet. After all, she's nothing special.