Maka looks down at the attire on the bed, cheeks burning. A large black t-shirt with a red ogre under the word 'Oni' printed on it, along with a pair of red checkered boxers were placed there by Soul before he ran out into the hallway. Is this all?

On the other side of the room, Soul leans his back against the door beside Kilik. It's quiet for a while, but Soul knows Kilik wants answers. The look he sent towards Soul earlier told him that.

"Why didn't you eat her before?" Kilik whispers. Soul winces at the sharpness in his partner's voice. He's not sure of the answer himself.

"There was a part of me that wanted to, but…" Soul pauses, recalling the visions he had earlier that day. "Something stopped me."

Kilik looks at Soul like he's going nuts. Soul sighs, scratching the back of his neck. "Forget it. We just need to figure out how to turn her back into a human again. We have her bones and soul so all we need is flesh, right?"

Kilik shrugs. "I don't know, man. Ghosts are rare these days, since humans can only turn into ghosts if they die here in the demon world—and humans hardly enter the demon world. Why are we doing this anyway? Just dump her."

"I can't," Soul groans. "It's weird. I just have this feeling that I should protect her—"

Kilik's eyes bug out and he opens his mouth to dispute, but Soul ignores him. "And I feel responsible. That's that."

The door cracks open, and Soul stands tall before he can fall back. The entrance stays mostly shut, though, as Maka sticks her head out. "Can I get more clothes? This is embarrassing…"

"No," Soul replies as he pushes the door to Maka's displeasure. "Until your clothes dry, that's all you get."

Maka pouts and crosses her arms when he looks back at her. He waits for that rush or those visions of the girl with blonde hair and blue eyes, but the only thing he sees is Maka squirming under his gaze. Her eyebrows rise abruptly and mouth widens. Soul swears he can see a light bulb turn on above her head.

"Soul!" she yells. "I just remembered something about how I got here!"

Soul animatedly runs up to her and grabs her shoulders."Really?!"

She nods. Her fingers come together to form a rectangle as she remembers the strange entrance.

"It was shaped like this and the inside of it was dark, but had colors swirling on the surface—kind of like a bubble."

For a moment, Maka thinks she has possibly broken Soul because he's quiet and as still as a statue until he finally lets go of her shoulders. "Does it have a curtain?"

Maka nods her head slowly, recalling the black sheet of cloth blowing from non-existent wind.

"Well, damn," Soul smiles crookedly, his hand scratching at his cheek. "You hear that, Kilik? We've found a black curtain."

Kilik, who had been silent and still this whole time at the doorway, walks in with his hands in his pockets and hums in reply. Maka wonders if maybe he isn't much of a talker, and how it was possible that this man worked under the white-haired lazy ass in front of her. The man just nods, expression the same as it has been since he brought her to his boss.

"What's so special about a 'black curtain'?" Maka demands curiously.

"It's high class magic— very rare. Only high class demons can go through it." Soul smiles as he presses his thumb into his collarbone, proud to be one of those demons.

"Okay, well, thanks for the help."

Maka turns toward the door, ready to leave this nightmare, but a hand grasps hers, keeping her in place.

"W-wait! There's no way you can go through there! You're a ghost— the weakest and lowest class demon."

Maka spins around to face Soul, giving him the nasty eye for looking down on her.

"Also, we don't know where you'd end up. Black curtain users make a destination specifically for them to go from the demon world to the human world."

Maka looks at the ground deep in thought as Soul lets go of her hand. "So... It'll be the same place I entered from?"

"Yeah."

"Then I should be fine," Maka smiles as she turns for the exit again.

Going through the black curtain's door reminds Maka of putting her finger through a bowl of pudding- something she used to do a lot when she was younger and didn't care about the gooey feeling. However, that feeling is no longer something Maka cared for. Yet, here she is putting her body through this pudding textured screen. Half of her body is already on the other side, bare foot catching the soft rug on her bedroom floor. She dips her head in slowly, holding her breath in puffed out cheeks and squinting her eyes shut.

When she feels the air around her again, she opens her eyes and plant both of her feet on lime green carpet. The room looks just how she left it: a twin bed stands in the far corner of the room next to a brown desk. Above her bed and desk is a built in book shelf full of all kinds of books. Her closet is on the opposite side next to the door.

Maka feels a presence behind her and hears feet plop onto the floor.

"This is your room?"

Turning around, Maka spots the disappointment in his eyes- what did he expect?- as he scans the room, lip twisted south.

"Yeah," she whispers to herself as Soul sits on top of her bed, giving it a bounce before grimacing at the sound of springs creaking. He turns and looks at her as if he has lemons in his mouth. Maka shrugs off the look as she goes to her closet for something to wear.

"What's wrong with my clothes?" Soul murmurs quietly, but Maka catches what is said and coughs.

"I'm wearing a t-shirt that's too big and some boy's underwear. I'm not going out like this." Behind her, Soul crosses his arms as she pushes outfit after outfit to the side. "Why are you here? I said I'll be fine."

He pushes off the bed, grimacing at the harshness in the girl's tone. "You couldn't go through the black curtain without me, Casper. Remember?"

Honestly, Soul thought the blond would have asked questions by now. Surely she doesn't just accept the fact that he's a vampire and that she is now a ghost, did she? Not that he knows much about ghosts in the first place, but weren't they supposed to disappear in the human world?

However, he's still able to see her as she pulls out a replica of the uniform she wore earlier and looks over at him expectantly.

"Can you turn around at least?" Maka mutters.

He does an about face, tapping his finger against his thigh as clothes shuffle behind him. Five minutes later, she taps his shoulder wearing her yellow sweater vest and plaid skirt, and they head to her bedroom door. Maka stops in front of it and takes a peek out.

"Okay," Maka whispers over her shoulder, Soul slouching behind her, rolling his eyes with his hands in his jean pockets. "My dad shouldn't be home just yet. So we should be- what are you doing?"

Soul pulls at her waist and places her behind him before he casually strolls out of the room. Maka opens her mouth, ready to scream and throw one of her books towards him, but she only silently mumbles about punching him when they aren't trying to sneak around her house.

"Let's get out of this jail cell of a room already," he says as he begins to descend down the stairs. The blonde mumbles angrily with pursed lips as she walks ahead of Soul. However, a squeak of a wooden door from behind her stops her in her tracks.

"Maka?"

The blond gasps when she recognizes the bewilderment of her father's voice. She turns her body as Soul walks past her and she spots angry red hair at the top of the stairs opposite from her room. She opens her mouth, ready to explain a false yesterday, but her father beats her to the punch as he scurries down the stairs.

"Maka! Where have you been?" Spirit Albarn whimpers, wrapping his arms around his daughter securely. As he continues to hold his daughter, he rises to his original height and glowers at the stranger of the house.

"Who the hell are you?" Spirit scowls then looks down at his daughter, letting go of his grip around her. "Maka, no one knew where you were yesterday, and you finally come home, but with a boy? Did he drug you? Is he keeping something of yours as blackmail?"

Spirits voice rises with each question as he turns towards Soul. Maka's sure her father is about to do something reckless and stupid, but she hears a sppsh and the room becomes quiet. She looks past her father towards Soul who just stares lazily at Spirit, a spray bottle aimed at him. Surely, her father isn't backing down just because there's a spray bottle in his face, right?

"Welcome home, Soul," Spirit smiles, and Maka's jaw drops.

"What did you do to my dad?" she squeaks exasperatedly, but Soul only shrugs.

"Vampires can control those they've bitten. The secret is behind the teeth." He pulls at his lip to expose the sharp teeth hiding underneath. Maka's stomach turns. "The saliva stored in my teeth make this happen. So, if I were to extract my saliva and place it in water to make it into a spray, I can control humans easier."

He sprays Maka then and she shrieks as she shuts her eyes. She waits for her body to act on its own, but nothing happens.

"It has no effect on demons, don't worry."

As Maka writhes and swipes the liquid off her face in disgust, Soul wanders the house until he finds the front door. "See ya later, old man."

Maka looks back at her father as she rushes behind Soul. Spirit only smiles and waves as the two leave the house.

"So this is the human sunlight…"

Maka looks behind her and spots Soul slowing following with sweat running off his skin.

She laughs silently, realizing he still has on the black basketball jersey and baggy pants from the day before. The clothes look heavy, and the fact that they're dark just means he's getting more attention from the sun. His sunglasses are back on, and Maka wonders if it's because of his eye color or because the human world looks too bright for a vampire. "Aren't you supposed to stay out of the sunlight?" she mocks.

"My skin feels extremely hot, but I should be fine for our stay here," he growls back, but he's not sure if he believes that himself. "I can adjust, but only with some minor complications…"

"So that thing you did back there… you can control anyone with just spraying that stuff?"

Soul sighs. "No. The mind control thing lasts only for a few seconds. It's not really mind control, actually. When I spray someone, I can plant this idea, and when the effects wear off they continue to believe it."

Maka blinks and her jaw drops in awe. "That sounds really cool. So what did you plant in Papa's head? He hates boys…"

The smirk Soul wears creates a shiver to travel down her spine. He only shrugs at her paling face. "Didn't do much. Just made him believe that I'm the coolest guy he knows."

She looks forward, but not before giving him a worrying glance which he brushes off with a sigh. "So where are we going?"

Soul watches as Maka's face goes from slight worry to 'it's-Christmas-morning' happy. "To my school," Maka cheers.

"What? Why?" Soul scoffs and stills on the sidewalk.

Maka turns, walking backwards slowly, with her hands behind her. "I need to get my school assignments from yesterday and for the rest of the week."

"You're such a fuckin' nerd," Soul mutters to her turning form as he catches up with her. Either the blonde hadn't heard him or she brushed his comment off as she pushes silently forward.

"Hey," he prods, "where's your mom? It would've been troublesome if she was there and I didn't spray her."

She slows her pace on the sidewalk and Soul turns his head to raise a brow at her. She coughs to get rid of the lump forming in her throat. "I don't know."

She really didn't. She hadn't seen her mother since she was six. Whenever she brought it up to her dad, he would only shake his head and change the subject.

Soul scratches his neck in awkwardness, and the two fall in silence until they reach black gates and a large white building.

Going back to school feels weird for Maka even though she has only been absent for a day. She thinks maybe everything that has happened to her before was possibly a dream, but she receives a reminder every few minutes that it had been indeed real whenever she spots chalk colored hair and a slouching form strolling through the halls.

"I'll go ahead and spray people as they come in. You just carry on like normal," Maka remembers him saying when she walked in. Since then, because of the spray, the students and teachers all started treating them as if they were regular students. She didn't bring any of her textbooks to school so she sits at her desk all day thinking about everything that had happened since yesterday. Fingers trace the white triangular cloth that is wrapped around her head. Can anyone else see this?

"Maka, psst!" The blonde turns to the seat next to her. She spots her friend, Kim, beaming at her, Jacqueline waving from behind Kim's pastel hair. Maka's hand drops from her forehead. When she looks around, she notices it's just the three of them now, and the hallways slowly clear of people.

"Want to go to that one candy shop you pointed out yesterday?" Kim blurts. Suddenly, Maka's chest tightens and something forces her throat to clog. She wasn't here yesterday—she doesn't know what shop Kim is talking about. That wasn't me, she thinks, biting her lip, shaking her head at the girls.

"Awe, okay." Kim stands and grabs her backpack, Jacqueline following suite, "maybe tomorrow then."

The two girls leave, and Maka sinks forward, hiding her face against the desk. Her friends are creating another her in their minds. They're leaving behind the real her, the one that was now a ghost—a demon. Does it even matter if I'm around or not?

Soul finds her in the desk she's been sitting at all day, head down in crossed arms against the wood surface. For a moment, he thinks she's asleep, but he sees her back quake and knows otherwise.

"Havin' fun?" He teases as he sits on the back rest of the chair in front of her desk. She looks up and Soul winces. "Why are you crying?"

"Why'd you have to do that?" She sniffs angrily at him. She wipes her sleeve under her nose and eyes, but she's back to sniveling again when he only scrunches his brow together. "First my dad and then everyone else. I'm sure if we had explained it to them, they would have understood, but you screwed things up—!"

Soul's hands slam down on the desk and he leans in. Maka realizes he's lost his glasses because she's staring into his wide bloody red eyes. His lips thin and biceps flex. "Explain what exactly? What would they understand?"

Maka's head drops, eyes focused on the backs of Soul's hands and her lip quivers. Soul's voice only increases in volume.

"'I accidentally went to the demon world, died, and became a ghost, but everyone please treat me like nothing's happened'? Were you going to say something like that?" he snaps, but she continues to say nothing. "You're too naïve. You're a demon now. Just accept that."

"Okay, but there was no need to involve other people just to make me understand this," she scowls. "Just change them back. Please!"

Sobs fill the room, and Soul sits on the top of the chair in front of her desk, palms sliding off the wood surface. His frown deepens as she watches him behind cloudy eyes. "If it's the same when I'm not around, why not just let me disappear like this?"

His jaw clamps as he stares at the floor. He turns his back to her and walks slowly away mumbling, "If that's what you want then I guess you'll be gone soon."

"Huh?" Maka pouts. Soul turns his head and sizes her up.

"Your body," he points, and Maka looks down. She raises her arms, but can't see her hands at all, her wrists fading into nothing. Her feet and legs are also missing up to the end of her skirt.

"What's going on?" she shrieks. Her body feels numb, the only feeling coming from her chest and face.

"You still don't get it, do ya, Casper?" Soul walks back toward her and leans on the desk until they're at eye level with one another. He no longer looks angry, but serious. "Demons have to have a certain degree of 'rootedness' to survive in the human world. It's hard for low-level demons like you to obtain that." He pushes off the desk. "Didn't you want to disappear?"

Maka waves what's left of her arms in the air in alarm. "I wasn't being serious!"

"So you don't really want to disappear?" Soul's face softens to a neutral as he stares back at her. She swiftly nods. He raises his hand to his lips and sticks his thumb into his mouth. His finger comes out bloody and punctured after biting down on the skin. "Good… I wasn't trying to be mean."

Blood drips on the floor and Maka grimaces. "Your body won't survive here so continuing your normal life isn't possible at the moment."

Soul pushes his thumb in front of her and blood spills down into his palm. "Until you are resurrected, spraying them is best. You can immediately come back, and no one will know that you died."

Maka stares wide-eyed at the boy. She had mistaken what his intentions were. All this time, he was only trying to help her.

"Lick it."

She blinks and tries her best not to gag. "What?"

"You don't want to vanish right?"

"No, but you're bleeding."

"I did this for you, idiot," he deadpans.

"Why?"

"Just hurry up if you want to continue to exist," he growls. Maka examines his thumb and unintentionally licks her lips. Pressing her body forward, her lips hover over his finger before clamping down. Her tongue presses into his wound before sucking, her cheeks dusting pink. "Before I bring you back to life, I'll be your blood host."

Heat runs through Maka's body, and she can't help but enjoy the blood despite herself. She wonders if this is what getting drunk is like when she finally lets go of his finger. He pulls it out and examines his thumb, no blood to be found. Looking back at Maka, he frowns at the blush and half lidded eyes watching him.

"How is it?" he asks, examining her body. Her body is full, hands and feet back to being visible; it shakes with each inhale and exhale of breath. He's actually surprised it worked. He heard before that exchanging of blood could help demons restore their energy.

"My body feels warm, and I'm kind of dizzy," she breathes. She raises her hands to press against her cheeks, but pauses when she realizes her body is back to normal. She smiles. "My hands."

Maka falls harshly against the desk, hands lying on both sides next to her face. "My face is too hot, but the desk is cool."

He scratches the back of his neck, lips flat. Guess the magic in my blood was too strong for her. "Stay here for a bit then."

Soul walks out of the room, but not before looking back to make sure Maka stays put. Her eyes are closed as her breathing slows. He walks down the hallway. I can't believe the crap I said back there. What's wrong with me? Am I just going to let her go back to the human world after she's resurrected? He shakes his head. No way. I'll drain all of her blood until she's dry.

Two girls rush past him, giggling, and he watches them as they go down the hallway and descend the stairs. That's strange. I'm surrounded by humans, but I haven't felt that urge like I did with her. His nose twitches, and a smirk crawls onto his face. Seems like she's special.

Suddenly, a pain shoots through his chest and his eyes see white. He falls against a locker, clutching his shirt, gasping for air until the pain fades and his vision is back to normal. Augh, better resurrect her soon before I'm the one who dries out.