AN: Thank you all for the positive feedback! I really appreciate it and I hope this next chapter doesn't diddapoint! Thank you Goatsie, Bit, and GW for all the edits and support. Especially Goatsy. I don't own Soul Eater~
It wasn't until the next morning that Maka appreciated the gravity of what had happened. Just what had she been thinking? Maka wasn't the kind of girl to casually... well, while she couldn't call what happened 'making out', she certainly wasn't the type to get her face sucked on by random guys. So, what the hell happened? What would her mother think if she found out? Did this act of self disrespect put her on the same level as those whores her detestable father would fraternize with? Her neglected instincts were screaming at her now. Her sense of adventure destroyed was with the new day and replaced with the resolve that from then on, Maka would be having fun her way, and her way ONLY.
Since Maka awoke well before Tsubaki, she decided she'd take a shower while she waited for her friend to stir. Upon returning however, Tsubaki was still sound asleep under the covers, so Maka decided to take a little walk around campus.
As she exited the doors of Eibon Hall, Maka was taken aback. To say the sight before her was breathtaking would've been an understatement. Shibusen seemed much more like a palace than it did a University. The entire structure consisted of black concrete towers, topped with red metal conical spires and adorned with a decorative skull motif where three giant skull created a barbaric entry way for the castle. This place had baileys, turrets, keeps and even a walking gallery. All Shibusen was missing was a moat and a drawbridge. The university looked like it belonged to a theme park. It was grand, corny and most of all, glorious.
After exploring the grounds for a bit, Maka took a seat on a bench near the front gates of the school. Even though it was late morning, most of the on-campus residents didn't seem to be awake yet. And since the university only provided twin size beds, Maka had slept on the floor that night. Her back hurt and she didn't feel particularly rested. Needless to say, she wasn't looking forward to doing the same thing for the next two nights. She relaxed there for a while longer before she headed back to the room. She was happy to see that while she been out, Tsubaki had woken up and gotten ready.
"So, what's on the agenda today?" Maka asked with Tsubaki taking a moment to ponder the possibilities.
"How about... We go out and get breakfast? After that I can show you around town, and afterwards we can come back here and relax until dinner?"
"Sounds good to me."
Maka had decided to tell Tsubaki about her change in nerve over breakfast. She hoped Tsubaki would understand, and wouldn't try to force Maka into any situations she'd be uncomfortable with. After leaving the university, they walked down the street to an establishment called Chupacabra's Coffee Shop and Bistro. Seeing that it was noon by the time they arrived, the pair decided on turkey sandwiches instead of breakfast items, and two iced lattes. The two took a seat on the patio and ate in silence for a short while until Maka decided to speak up.
"Tsubaki, about last night..."
"Maka-chan, I'm sorry about Hiro." Tsubaki interrupted, Maka blinking in confusion.
"Wait, what?"
"I'm sorry I set all of that up. I had a feeling that you weren't ready for any of that. After you fell asleep, Kim was telling me about what kind of guy Hiro actually is. It turns out he really gets around."
Somehow Maka couldn't find it within herself to be surprised.
"So he's a player."
"I feel terrible about everything Maka-chan. I just wanted you to give romance a chance, because I think it could really make you happy. Just, not with Hiro. Maka-chan you deserve..."
"So much better. I know" Maka finished for her. This conversation was going to be easier than she thought.
"Tsubaki, I'm perfectly happy the way I am and the way things are. I'm not looking for romance or a boyfriend. If you don't mind, I'd like to stick to having fun in ways I'm comfortable with."
"Like I said before, you shouldn't force yourself to do anything. But don't let this one experience dampen your entire outlook on love, there are a lot of great guys out there Maka. Not all guys are like Hiro or your dad." Maka cringed when Tsubaki brought up her father; he was a sore subject and she didn't want to even think about him.
"Look, I don't need a man to make me happy. And my outlook has been the same since before I arrived here, Tsubaki. I know you're trying to help, but could you please just let it go?"
"...Fine. Just do what ever you want. I can't force you to do anything you don't want to do."
" Right. As long as we're clear on that."
After lunch, the girls toured around town a bit, visiting various shops and stands stocked with festive Halloween supplies. Maka couldn't help but be delighted with how festive the town was about this Holiday. She supposed it made sense; the town being called Death City and all, but still thought it was sweet. Even though they were having fun, the desert heat was terrible. The two were on their way back to campus when Tsubaki decided break the news to Maka about something tragic.
"What do you mean you don't have air conditioning in your room?"
"It wasn't in the school budget to put an AC unit in every room. Don't worry Maka-chan, the lounge has AC, and it gets better Wifi signal, so I'll get my computer and we'll chill there."
"Yeah. Chill. Literally."
After what seemed like forever, the two finally made it back to the dorm. Once inside, Maka went down stairs to go directly to the Lounge while Tsubaki went upstairs to retrieve her lap top. The Lounge was a spacious room with concrete floors, sofas and a T.V. that was currently showing an advertisement for Halloween Candy. The room was surrounded by doors to what Maka supposed to be other dorm rooms. Maka defeatedly collapsed on a couch with a sigh. Laying down felt so good after being in that heat for so freakin long.
"Well, hello again." Maka looked up to see the white haired boy from the train sitting on the couch across from her holding a remote. She wondered how she missed him on the way in. "Oh, hey. Fancy seeing you here." Maka sat up as the white haired boy smiled. She was somewhat alarmed to see how sharp his teeth were...
"I feel like I should be saying that to you, since I live here and all."
"Well.. yeah, I guess. Small world huh? The friend I'm staying with lives here too."
"No kidding? In that case, if we're gonna keep running into each other like this, we should probably learn each other's name. Unless you want me to call you train girl or something."
She took a moment to consider letting him do just that and laughed; He'd call her train girl and she'd call him that white haired guy. Yep, that'd be fine.
"I'm Maka." She said deciding against the proposed pet names.
"Maka... sounds Japanese."
"Yeah, I'm half Japanese on my mother's side. So what's your name?"
Before he could answer, Tsubaki emerged from the stairway computer in hand.
"Oh hello there, Soul-kun." Ohhhhhh, so that was Soul. Tsubaki was right, the unusual name did suit him.
"Hey, Tsubaki. Is Maka staying with you and Kim? Small world indeed."
"Soul and I sat next to each other on the train to here." She added, filling Tsubaki in.
"Is that so? Well, how bout that." She sat down next to Soul and opened up her computer. It made chiming sounds as it booted up.
"So, have you been staying out of trouble so far? Done anything exciting yet?" His question derailed her thoughts back to the happenings of the night before. She cringed inwardly as she put on a fake smile.
"Eh... I guess you can say that. We haven't been out partying yet, but I suppose it's been... Interesting." Soul raised an eyebrow, not buying her facade. Maka was quite embarrassed about what happened with Hiro. She didn't want her new acquaintance to think she was a sleaze or something.
"Interesting huh? That doesn't sound too promising." Maka sighed, apparently she being way too obvious.
"I uh... just been trying new things that I'm not used to." Maka described vaguely. "Certain things you should only do when you feel like you're ready." Maybe this guy was a mind reader. Finally, someone here saw things her way... But that didn't mean she wanted to continue to talk about it and as if sensing her apprehension on the matter, Soul changed the subject.
"So what do you think of Shibusen? Have you been around the city yet?"
"This place is gorgeous! All of the scenery, architecture and, the little shops. There's Halloween spirit everywhere! This place is so cute!" Maka couldn't keep herself from gushing. She was really quite fond of this city despite the less than enjoyable experiences. She could perhaps even see herself attending this university.
"You like scenery, huh? Well, I guess that explains why you stole my window seat." She stared at him blushing madly, looking incredibly flustered... and responsible. Soul smirked, expecting her explanation to be quite entertaining. "Oh... Haha.. did I take your seat? I, uh, didn't mean to, I just uh... um.." Her stammering was silenced by the sound of Soul's laughing. Well, at least he didn't appear to be holding a grudge as he leaned over to try to suppress the giggles.
"Your face is so red! You look so guilty! Don't ever take up a life of crime kay? You'd probably suck at it." He looked up at her with a wide grin exposing those dangerous looking teeth again. Cocky bastard. It was then Maka stood up and lunged forward delivering an open handed Maka-chop to the white-haired cranium since she didn't have a book nearby.
"Aaah fuck, what the hell's your problem, tinytits? I was just making a joke! Why do you have to be so fuckin violent?"
"Don't call me that, you asshole!"
"Your chest isn't big enough to get away with a crime either!" She struck him again this time with a little more gusto. "Piss off! You don't know anything!" She spat, adding insult to injury. Even through the throbbing of his head, the harshness in her tone caught Soul's attention. She sounded really hurt. Had what he said really gotten to her that much?
"What, you're seriously that upset about the tiny tits comment? Why do you care about what people think of your body so much?" He asked still rubbing the place of impact on his head. She sat back in her original spot and crossed her arms in a very pouty-like manner.
"Hmph. I don't. It's just... How would you feel if people made fun of your demon face on a regular basis?" He raised his eyebrows at her; giving Maka a very 'you wanna bet?' expression.
"They do. They have my whole life. But guess what? It doesn't bother me because I am cool and I don't give a shit." Maka's temper dissipated a little bit after that, but not enough to attempt to make a childish blow at his self esteem. "Why's your face so demon like anyway?"
He just snickered.
"I don't know. I'm just a genetic oddity, I suppose. My brother's the same way." It didn't phase him... Damnit. Okay, one more try.
"I bet your face scares away all the girls." His expression turned soft as Soul gazed upon her with bedroom eyes.
"Well, do I scare you?" She was beet red again. The look he gave her was sending chills up her spine. It was strange, his gaze didn't make her feel uncomfortable at all; just embarrassed.
" Uhh... no." After that his gaze lifted and he smiled.
"Oh, well that's good. Wouldn't want you running off cuz you're pretty cool. Even if you are violent."
The two kept talking, pretty much forgetting Tsubaki was in the room. They discussed interests and past experiences. Soul was 18 years old and also a first semester freshman along with Tsubaki. He was a music major, with a minor in communications, but that was be subject to change if his parents let him change his major. His older brother Wes, was apparently also a music major who attended Juilliard because "he is a savant violinist, and such a pretentious asshole", according to Soul. He resents the fact that his family has always compared him to his older brother, and wished he would just be acknowledged as a separate person.
"So, what do you play?" Maka asked in innocent curiousness.
"Piano."
"Oh, cool. You should play for me sometime." He sighed and scratched his head, not seeming too enthusiastic about her request.
"I'm uhh... Not that good... The stuff I like to play... you wouldn't get it." He said dismissively. But Maka pressed on.
"Aw, you don't know that. I bet it's amazing! What's your favorite kind of music anyway?"
"I really like jazz." She scrunched her nose at this. Jazz was the one of the types of music she didn't really care for. It was such a classic genre too; she wouldn't expect someone of this generation to be interested in it.
"I don't really understand jazz music." She admitted meekly.
"Well if you don't get jazz music, you definitely wouldn't understand my piano compositions."
"Hey! You still don't know that!"
They continued to talk a while more. Soul felt as if there was just something about Maka that he really admired. She was a very strong and independent person. Even in the short time of talking with her, he could tell how brilliant she was. She wasn't like a normal girl her age. She thought for herself and she didn't take anyones bullshit. The one downside was her pride: Maka had enough pride to choke a horse, but it wasn't as if Soul didn't have a large ego himself. If anything, it made her more relatable. Yes, Soul decided he rather liked this girl, with her ashy blonde hair and muted green eyes. They both mutually felt it was safe to call each other friends at this point. They continued to enjoy each others company until an unexpected visitor dropped by. It was Hiro. Maka tried to hide her discomfort in his presence and plastered on a greeting smile. But Soul, being as perceptive as he is, could see past her fake expression whereas the blonde haired boy could not.
"Heeey, Maka." He smiled back, sitting uncomfortably close to Maka on the couch; thighs touching. Soul could visibly see her tense up when he put his hand on her knee.
"Eh.. Hey Hiro." She scooted away from him, and as soon as Tsubaki had noticed the situation, she sprung into action.
"Oh Hiro-kun, so nice to see you again! Come and see this Tumblr post I found." Hiro got up and made his way over to Tsubaki while Soul gave her a questioning look. In response Maka waved her hands in a 'don't worry about it' gester.
"I'm, uh, gonna go get my book from your room Tsubaki." She explained getting up from her place. Hiro looked up from the screen.
"I'll go with you."
"No, its okay I can go by myself, thanks"
"Here, Maka-chan." Tsubaki said throwing her keys to Maka. "Oh and Hiro-kun, take a look at this."
"I'ma go shower." Soul said approaching one of the dorm room doors as Maka made her narrow escape. She ran up the three flights of concrete stairs and hurried down the hall towards Tsubaki's room where she unlocked and relocked the door behind her. Once inside, she collapsed on Tsubaki's bed. Why did that creep have to come and spoil everything? She was really starting to warm up to this Soul guy. Sure, he was snarky and arrogant, but he was also genuine and kind. Maka didn't really have any standards for beauty but she thought Soul was very an interesting looking person to look at. He had mentioned to her earlier how many people were intimidated by his appearance, but Soul didn't frightened Maka in the slightest. So, she figured; he was snarky, genuine, kind and wasn't bad to look at. But Maka figured she'd probably be out of his league. Wait...why was she even thinking about being in his league in the first place? They were just friends so far and nothing more. Besides, Maka's history ensured that they would stay friends for a long time.
Maka wished that Hiro guy could take a hint; that aryan looking bastard really made her uncomfortable. She was pretty sure he only wanted to get in her pants, and that did not sit well with her at all. She decided that if subtle hints didn't clue him in, Maka would have to tell him upfront that it wasn't going to happen.
She searched through her bag, pulling out the literature she had been reading on the train, a book called Stradivarius. Maka had purchased the bestseller at the station Barnes and Noble, and though it wasn't a particularly thick work, it did make an exceptional hardcover. Maka loved hardcovers, they were her weapon of choice. Armed with her light reading, she worked up the courage to go back downstairs and set the record straight. But that feeling was deserted as soon as she tried to leave. Standing there, when she opened the door, was Hiro with a shit-eating grin on his face, he nearly gave her a heart attack out of surprise.
"EEEP! Oh my god, Hiro!" Maka yelped. Hiro's gaze became somewhat mockingly sympathetic. "Oh sorry, Maka, I didn't mean to frighten you."
"It's fine." The door clicked behind her as she shoved past him. He smelt of diesel cologne and black n' milds... Gross.
"I thought I said you didn't need to follow me up here." She attempted to make it to the stairwell when Hiro's arm snaked around her shoulder. She froze.
"Wait a second there Maka, why don't we hang out in Tsubaki's room for a while." His hand ran down her side and over her hip. "Just us? Could be really fun." He blew into her ear in an attempt to be... sexy? Maka's skin was crawling, this was disgusting, this had to stop and now. Maka pulled Stradivarius from under her arm and sent it crashing down to collide with Hiro's skull with as much force as she could muster. The years of Martial Arts had taught her well. He laid there in a messy heap on the carpet, as Maka took care to make sure the binding on her book wasn't damaged.
"What the fuck's your problem?" He cried, clutching his aching head between his hands. "I wasn't implying we should do anything, god damn it, I'd thought we'd watch a fucking movie or something."
Maka stepped over his crumpled mass to finally get to the stairs. At the top, she turned towards him.
"Well, at least you're aware of my feelings towards you now. I'd appreciate it if you'd just leave me alone." She left him there, not even looking back as she made her way down the steps.
AN: Horray we're moving along! Next chapter promises to be fluffy. Coming soon!
