Part 2
Soul found himself lying down on the couch when he woke up the next morning. He stretched himself and looked at the clock, it is already 10 in the morning, and Maka could not be found anywhere. He stood up and walked to the kitchen, and found a plate of breakfast with a piece of note written by Maka:
"I have a class with Professor Stein, breakfast is on the plate. Black Star will send me to school today."
Stuffing his mouth with a piece of toast, Soul held up the plate and walked towards the living room as Blair, their purple pet cat, followed him all the way along. He turned on his phone, finding two voice messages unread: one is from Maka, about the breakfast; and the other one, is from his brother, Wes. He took a deep breath before he opened it, and then he turned it on. Wes's voice filled the room in no time:
Soul, my dear brother, when are you going to end your rebellious phase? Mom and dad are worried about you. You have never called home or even come to see us, the last news we got about you was like, 5 years ago. If you still use this phone number, reply to me. I just want to know whether you are still alive or not, I won't tell mom or dad if you do not want me to. Your brother, Wes Evans.
Soul threw his phone onto the floor. It is already 5 years since the last time he went back home, 5 years since he had that fight with his parents. If it was not for Maka, he might have already been dead, waiting for someone to pick up his dead body. He felt something special when he is here with his friends, something he can't feel at home. Maybe that is freedom, not being worried about people comparing him with others, forcing him to be someone else. Moreover, he does want to leave the environment he is already used to.
The phone rang again and he stood up to pick it up. He picked up the phone and found that it was Black Star, a man of too much enthusiasm that was being passed by his stepfather, Sid. He answered the phone and heard the booming voice of Black Star: " HELLO, MY BROTHER!"
"Black Star, calm down. Unless it is the end of the world, don't scream in my ears. What's the problem?" Soul replied as he put his phone at speaker mode, rubbing his ears that are still in pain.
"Something huge, brother! For you, it could be the end of the world!" Black Star boomed as Soul could hear him tumbling from one of the stairs with Tsubaki at the back of him screaming to ask whether he is alright. He took a deep breath before he could ask anything else. They could be good buddies, but they are totally different in all ways. He can't even imagine how did Maka grew up together with Black Star and how did Tsubaki even date Black Star. "I'm listening. Go on." Soul said as he stood up to make himself a cup of instant coffee.
"Maka got this one love letter from a guy called Hiro, who is actually pretty popular in the school. Though he is not as hot as me or you."
"What? Make got a love letter from Hiro? You must be not awake yet, Star. Hiro just started dating that one hot chick from the bar last week." Soul said as he tried to pretend to be calm. Not cool if I am spotted being a bit too excited, he said to himself.
"Apparently he dumped that hot chic right away after spotting Maka two days ago," Liz answer him back, this time, FaceTime. The whole gang was there: Kid, a medical student, is trying to make himself symmetrical and crying that he is not symmetrical enough; Patty, Liz's sister, who is also the same dance student as Liz, was laughing hysterically at Kid for crying over being not symmetrical; Tsubaki, Black Star's girlfriend, is basically trying to tame her boyfriend down so that he won't continue to go wild in public. Everybody was there, except Maka. "And, by the way, Soul. When are you going to change? You look like shit in that shirt you are wearing now."
"It is called a pajama, thank you very much. Anyway, this is not important now. Where is Maka? Don't tell me she accepted the offer from Hiro." Soul asked as he tried to stay calm. Stay calm, he said to himself. Maka won't be so dumb to accept his offer. The gang knew that Soul has been liking Maka for like, years. So they all know that currently, Soul would be willing to assassinate Hiro if he could.
"Calm down, Soul. Maka is just with Professor Stein. She has a project to finish so she needs to communicate with him for a while."Kid replied after going back to his senses, looking at Soul with his glowing yellow eyes. Kid only knew Maka and Black Star since primary school, but then onwards he was mostly playing the role of their babysitter until the present day.
"Hell if she stays with Stein alone. He is a good man, but he could be sure insane. I am not sure whether it is a good choice for them to stay in one place. Remember what he almost did to her when we just joined the team? He almost wanted to dissect Maka and almost planned to kill her!"
"Well, that was just a simulation test of whether she could stand the pressure of being in the team," Kid replied as he tried to keep Soul in the right mood: "Besides, Maka is the daughter of Spirit Albarn, who is the old partner of Stein. So he should know what to do and what not to do. Marie has been also with him around so probably he would stay sane for a while."
"And besides, Hiro was in the same room with them!" Patty added, and the whole group was in silence. "What?" Soul repeated for the second time: "Maka is in the same room with two freaks? I have to go to school now."
"Now now, calm down. Patty said that the last time she saw Maka, she was with Stein and Hiro. They are probably not in the same room right now." Liz replied, but Soul does not seem to budge at all: "I don't care, guys. Maka has the risk of being in danger and I won't let that happen. I am going to find her now no matter what. Just, help me to find her also."
"Sure thing, bro!" Black Star answered from the back: "What else we could do?"
"Just let that Lil' shit stay far away from Maka. I won't let that Lil' shit come and seduce her or whatever. He is not a good guy. Nope, not at all."
"You are just jealous, Soul. You want her more than anyone else." Liz joked, which the whole group was nodding together. They knew it, but Soul just does not want to admit it.
"It is not like I like her or anything…" Soul wanted to deny, but Liz had already turned off the phone. Soul was left there with himself being speechless with how he even managed to be friends with all of those weirdos, but at the same time blushing badly. He knew it that he can't picture Maka being with another guy and he gang also knew it. "I hope that they would not be telling Maka anything." He said to himself as he went to dress up.
Liz was laughing while Kid was just shaking his head. "He needs to step up." He commented while Black Star shove an onigiri that Tsubaki made for lunch.
"Who needs to step up?" Maka suddenly pops out behind their back, scaring them all out of their skin. "Hella would you tell us that you are at the back of us…" Black Star could not even finish his sentence when his jaw almost dropped down from what he is seeing. The whole gang was the same.
"What?" Maka asked. She was surely bewildered, until she turned around with her jaw on the ground, the same as the gang. She was being followed by a guy holding flowers.
This guy was Hiro.
