A/N: This particular one shot takes place about a year or so after the Manga's end.

02 Landslides

"Kid, I still don't understand why you think this would be a good case for me." Maka complained, as she set the case file back down on his desk.

Kid looked up from his stacks of other paperwork with a sigh. "I know checking out the cause of the landslides in Oak Village isn't exactly a complicated job, but you did say you would take whatever new case that came up and everyone else is already out on other jobs."

"Are you sure this couldn't have been assigned to anyone else though? When you said you had a new case for me, I was thinking more along the lines of the complex ones I had been doing recently." Maka assumed.

Kid shook his head as he signed his name at the bottom of another paper. "Most of the more difficult assignments you finish in a week rather easily Maka, so this case should take you even less time. Besides that, there isn't much else I could give you. It's been rather peaceful due to the fact that we're no longer fighting with any witches."

Maka sighed and slowly nodded her head in resolution. It was a rather simple solo mission to check and see if the landslides nearby the village were being potentially caused by a Kishin, but it lacked the usual excitement that Maka enjoyed.

'I haven't taken on any truly exciting missions since Soul became a Death Scythe know that I really think about it…'Maka mused, before she pushed the thought away with a frown.

"Alright, I guess I can handle something as easy as this, though Oak Village is a good distance away from Death City." Maka stated, as she read over the details of the case again.

Kid nodded his head in agreement as he stepped away from his chair to stretch his legs out. "Don't worry about the travel and hotel expenses since I already took care of that. The only thing you'll have to be concerned about is getting food and collecting as much information you can from the locals and the actual site of the occurrences."

"Ah, guess I'll be gone for a week from the way this is sounding." Maka concluded, as she placed the file into her tote bag with a smile.

Kid only chuckled and shrugged his shoulders slightly. "Consider it more like a vacation than a mission. I wish I could get some break time from doing all this deskwork. Father never did inform of all the duties that came with being a Shinigami."

"At least you're doing a good job at it though! I guess it must get a bit boring for you too though since you can't take on outside missions like you could in the past." Maka reasoned.

Kid shook his head as he returned back to his desk. "It comes with the profession; even Soul has had to adjust to waking up earlier to do his Death Scythe training or take on a mission."

Maka stiffened slightly at the mention of Soul has she pushed her hands back into her black overcoat quietly. "Well… I suppose I shouldn't keep you from your work any longer."

Kid watched as Maka calmly left his office and shut the door behind her. 'Hmm, maybe bringing Soul up wasn't the best thing I could have done.'

~X~

"Maka, what's with all the packing; are you going on another mission already?" Blair questioned, as she watched Maka fold some clothes into a suitcase the following morning.

Maka nodded her head with a smile as she zipped everything up. "I won't be gone for long though. I should be back by early next week. I need to hurry though, the train Kid arranged for me leaves in about an hour."

Blair pouted as she gazed over Maka's luggage. "But who will keep me company while you're gone? Or feed me?!"

"Blair, I've gone away for longer than a week; I know you'll be able to take care of yourself. In terms of food, I assume you'll more than likely use that same fish guy who gives you handouts." Maka replied back easily, already moving her suitcase out into the living room.

Blair quickly scampered after her and sighed at Maka's decision. "Aren't you just taking these cases as a way to get your mind off Soul?"

Maka paused in her adjustment of her backpack before she sent Blair a scowl. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Blair's golden eyes narrowed a little as she poofed back into her human form with a smirk. "Nothing really, it seems like to me though that your only using these missions as a way to distract yourself from your feelings for him."

Maka blushed lightly at Blair's suggestion as she tightened her grip on her suitcase. "I'm not sure where you got those ideas from Blair, but that isn't true."

"Oh, so that means it would be okay if I started to flirt with Soul whenever he comes back home?" Blair teased.

'You already did that when he was home anyways.' Maka thought with a growl, avoiding the taunting looks Blair was still sending her.

"Well, I'll see you in a week Blair. Please try not to cause any messes while I'm gone." Maka said, as she left out the door before Blair could finish pestering her.

'Stupid Blair and her assumptions, if only people could stop jumping to conclusions about Soul and I...' Maka reflected, ignoring the ache growing in her chest. The only times she had made contact with Soul over the past year had been the brief phone calls she could sometimes get in with him and the one time meeting with all the Death Scythes had been held in the city a few months ago.

Maka briefly pulled herself away from her thoughts as the train started to move rapidly out of the city and into the mountainous region. "It's not very often I get to see views like this in my travels." Maka mumbled softly, enjoying the change towards a lush rural landscape as they sped by a few pastures.

The train ride went on for about 3 more hours until they finally reached the village by early afternoon. Maka stretched her arms out comfortably as she stepped off the train and glanced around the area curiously.

'Let see, it's only a little past 1 pm right now. Since I already ate lunch on the train, I rather as well check out the site where the landslides have been occurring to get an idea of what I'll be dealing with.' Maka decided, as she asked a nearby resident what direction she should walk in.

Maka walked carefully along the path and frowned as she noticed more and more cracks starting to appear in the road the further along she went. Parts of the road were even still covered with mud and debris from the nearby forest. Eventually, Maka neared a deep fissure in the road blocked with yellow caution tape that prevented her from continuing.

Maka glanced around the ravine carefully, but paused when a man only wearing a hard hat for protection walked right past her over the caution tape to get a closer view.

'What the? Doesn't this guy know it's dangerous to be in this area, let alone only come out here with a hard hat for safety?' Maka thought with a frown.

"Excuse me sir, but only officials are allowed to get that close to the crevice." Maka stated, grabbing onto the man's arm before he could potentially hurt himself.

"You don't think we've dealt with worse?" Soul asked, causing her to briefly step away from him in shock.

Maka gazed at Soul in surprise at the fact she hadn't even recognized him at first before she quickly shook it off. "Soul, what the hell are you even doing here?! Shouldn't you be away on business in Melbourne this week?

Soul shook his head with a crooked grin as he took off his helmet. "Actually, I'm here to investigate the cause of these landslides suddenly happening by this village."

Maka arched an eyebrow at Soul's statement. "But…but that's my mission to do!"

Soul's grin only widened at that. "Not anymore, we can take it on together now to save time."

~X~

'Something just isn't right here. Kid would have informed me of Soul of all people being a part of this assignment, but I know he told me this was going to be a solo case. So why is Soul here?!' Maka thought angrily, as the two of them trudged away from the site after briefly scoping out the area.

'Why bother questioning why Soul is here anyways? You may not admit it out loud, but you've been wanting to see him again for so long. The point is that know he's here beside you and all you want do is complain about it?!' Another part of Maka's mind argued.

"Geez Maka, what's with the pissed off look? Is it that bad that I'm a part of this case too?" Soul asked amusingly.

Maka sent him a dirty look before eventually sighing. "No, it's unexpected that you're here is all. Kid never told me that you would be coming."

Soul shrugged as the two of them reached the main area of the village once more. "Kid's been busy with so many different things that it probably slipped his mind."

Maka only nodded her head as she glanced up at a few passing clouds. "I should get heading back to my room now to rest; I haven't even set my stuff down since I wanted to first take a look at the site."

Soul reached out and grabbed her hand just as she turned to leave. "Hold on, you're not going to be busy tonight are you? We should meet up later on for dinner."

Maka blinked in bewilderment as she felt her cheeks fluster. 'Why is Soul asking me out all of sudden?'

"It would be a good chance for us to go over all the details involving these landslides, right?" Soul continued on.

"Huh? Oh yeah, that's actually a good idea." 'And of course here I was thinking he meant something else.'

Soul snickered at Maka's still reddened cheeks as he reached a hand out to poke them. "What's the matter Maka; did you think I was asking you out?"

Maka growled under her breathe at Soul's smug look and reached to smack Soul's hand away until he suddenly leaned in closer.

"We could make it a date if you really wanted to Maka. After all, we do have the whole week to ourselves…" Soul whispered into her ear with a grin.

Maka huffed and swiftly pushed Soul away from her. "Stop joking around Soul. I only came here on business."

Soul furrowed his brows at Maka's bitter tone. "I'm not joking."

Maka opened her mouth to reply, but felt her stomach knot at his words. She was expecting him to say one of his usual sarcastic remarks or even roll his eyes at her putting work first yet again, anything but telling her he was serious.

"There's no reason for you to spend your whole time here focusing on only the case. We should make time to catch up with each other too. Soul mused, as he brushed something into her hand before he walked off in the opposite direction.

Maka glanced down at the card Soul had gave her and realized it was a card with the address for the restaurant he wanted them to meet up at.

'I've only been here a few hours and already my mind is drifting away from the reason I came here in the first place. No matter what happens, I can't let my feelings become a distraction…'

~X~

"So, the main reason that the residents have been worried is that a few people have gone missing from the most recent landslide that happened last week. While it is sad that these landslides have been causing so much destruction, I think it's more due to heavy rain they've been having rather than potentially a Kishin-and are you even listening to me?!" Maka snapped out when saw Soul let out a yawn across from her.

"Yeah I am, calm down. All we need to do basically is check inside the ravine and in the forest area for anything odd." Soul grumbled.

Maka gently slammed her fists against the table at Soul's bored answer. "There's more to it than that! It may not be a Kishin, but it could be a group of vandals or something."

"Because petty vandals' are usually capable of causing this level of damage?" Soul questioned, grinning at Maka's annoyed look.

"Oh, shut up. You know what I mean." Maka muttered.

It was quiet for a few minutes as Maka swirled her straw in her glass of water. 'For someone who supposedly should have gotten all the details of this case before me, Soul seems to act as if he literally knew nothing about this case until I told him. Unless…what if Soul really didn't know anything about the case? That means Kid may not even know he's here with me.'

Maka was about to voice her thoughts to Soul, but was interrupted by one of waitresses returning with their food.

"Here you two go, enjoy!" She chirped out, giving a quick wink towards Soul before she left their table. Maka narrowed her eyes at the woman's blatant flirtation, but realized Soul's focus had remained on her.

"Alright Soul, don't pretend you didn't notice that women coming onto you." Maka stated, as she set aside her water.

"Was she? I was too distracted by something else." Soul stated cheekily.

Maka blushed as she realized what he meant. "You know, all of these corny lines you've been giving me aren't very cool."

"I beg to differ since I've yet to see you not blush from any of these so called 'corny' lines." Soul replied back.

Instead of meeting Soul's smile, Maka found herself frowning. 'I don't understand how Soul can't just be joking with me considering the insults he used to throw at me. There has to be something he's keeping from me.'

Soul sighed at Maka's quiet demeanor as he finished taking a bite from his lasagna. "Alright, let's get back to business then. What time do you want to meet at the site tomorrow?"

"Considering that you like to sleep late, we can push it towards the late morning or early afternoon around 11 am or 12 pm." Maka suggested.

Soul nodded his head in agreement and turned his attention back towards his food. "What happens if a Kishin is the cause of all these landslides?"

Maka shrugged her shoulders at the simple question. "Then we'll fight it of course, obviously."

"Like how we did in the past, huh?" Soul mused with a smirk.

This time, Maka couldn't help but meet Soul's grin back. "Yeah, just like old times."

~X~

The dense bushes, mud, and thick underbrush of the forest Soul and Maka waded throughout the mid-morning heat almost made Maka consider pushing back the case to tomorrow. Almost.

"Still think that some delinquents could be the cause of this?" Soul asked, as he paused to lean his head against one of the few trees that still remained upright.

Maka scowled and turned to fix Soul with a glare. "At least I'm trying to actively look for something, unlike you!"

Soul stared at her blankly as he briefly glanced at the forest floor before gazing up towards the trees. "It's not like you've found anything important either besides some animal footprints. Don't worry though, I'm sure Kid will enjoy reading your report on all the dirt and leaves you went through that lead you to nothing special."

Maka balled her fists up in anger and instantly felt the urge to use her fists to put an end Soul's offhand remarks when a sudden cracking sound made them both pause in their movements.

"Did you hear that?" Maka whispered out.

Soul nodded his head as his crimson eyes sharpened towards the direction of the cracking. "It could just be another animal maybe."

Maka shook her head as she focused her jade green eyes. 'It might be an animal or it could finally be the thing that gets this case in motion.'

Maka took a few steps in the direction of the sound and noticed that some of the trees were beginning to shake the closer she got.

"Hmm, this noise may lead us to something. I'm going to go check it out before it disappears." Maka said, not even waiting to hear Soul's answer as she trekked deeper into hedges.

Soul frowned at Maka's swift choice to potentially walk into danger as he reluctantly followed after her and caught up to her fast pace.

"You could be getting excited over seeing another rabbit or squirrel again." Soul grumbled out.

Maka rolled her eyes as she moved to lightly punch his arm. "You know rabbits and squirrels don't make sounds like that! There was no reason for you to come with me if you were just going to complain the whole time."

Soul chose to not respond to that and instead decided to observe their surroundings carefully as Maka went ahead of him into a small opening she found along the chasm.

'This isn't good, it seems like another downpour is going to happen any minute now.' Soul pondered, as he noticed a few dark grey clouds beginning to form.

Only a few more minutes had passed before Soul suddenly heard a vulgar yelp come from the direction Maka had walked in.

'Damn it, I shouldn't have let her go in there alone.' Soul thought anxiously, as he pushed a few rocks out of the way and eventually found Maka sitting against one of the slabs.

Maka glanced up from her foot and gave Soul a startled look. "What are you doing here? I thought you were keeping lookout for anything suspicious outside."

Soul arched an eyebrow as he bent down to inspect Maka's foot. "I heard you scream so I came to investigate."

"Oh, a small boulder had brushed against my foot before I could get out of the way, it's no big deal." Maka said, trying to move her injured foot out of Soul's view.

"What the hell Maka, your foot bleeding is not just a 'no big deal'!" Soul snapped out, gently grabbing her foot back to see where exactly she had been hit.

Maka winced at the touch and scooted further back on the slab. "At least warn me if you're going to do that!"

Soul only shook his head as he finished looking over her foot before he stood up again. "Alright, let's get out of here."

"What, why?! This wound isn't as bad as it looks!" Maka sputtered out.

"That's not the point. If a small boulder just fell a few minutes ago, that means another landslide is potentially about to happen. It looks like it's about to rain as well, which would only cause us to be further in the way of danger." Soul explained.

Maka sighed and slowly nodded her head grudgingly. "You're right, though that makes today a complete waste of time."

Soul shrugged as he reached a hand out to help Maka up. "The day's only half over if you think about it."

About halfway in their walk back into the village, Soul's prediction of rain happened as a steady drizzle fell over them.

Soul scowled upwards at the sky as he abruptly stopped walking and pulled Maka closer to him.

Maka blushed uncomfortably at their sudden closeness. "Soul, what are you doing? I told you I can walk on my own just fine."

"At the pace you're going, you won't get back to your hotel room until tomorrow night. Just let me carry you so we can get back their faster." Soul argued back.

Maka scoffed at the insult, but warily did as he asked as he carried her the rest of the way piggyback-style.

Maka let out a sigh of relief once they finally approached her hotel room. 'That was so embarrassing! I didn't think so many people would be out on the streets.'

Soul stretched his arms out as Maka got off him. "You've gotten heavier."

Maka stared at him blankly before smiling slightly. "You were the one that offered to carry me stupid."

Soul grinned back as he leaned against the opposite wall. "So?"

Maka cocked her head in confusion at Soul's questioning look. "So…what?"

"You're not going to let me stay in your room for a bit at least to rest? Or do you really want me to walk back to where I'm staying at in the rain?" Soul mused.

Maka blinked as felt her cheeks redden. The look Soul was giving her was similar to the same look he had giving her the day before when he told her he wasn't joking except now his smirk had softened into a tender smile he rarely showed.

'If I let Soul come in, he and I both know he won't be leaving…' Maka considered, as she bit her lip in hesitation to make a choice.

~X~

'I hope this was a good decision.' Maka wondered, as she glanced over her shoulder at Soul follow her into her room.

Soul closed the door behind him and gave an approving stare over the room's ornate décor. "Hmm, why doesn't Kid pay for me to stay at nice places like this?"

Maka hobbled over towards the bed and took off her shoes to properly fix the makeshift bandage she had applied to her wound. "Speaking of Kid, does he even know you're here?"

"Does he have to know?" Soul asked sullenly, sitting down next to her.

Maka's eyes widened before she turned to give Soul a pout. "Of course he should know! He thinks you're halfway across the world right now when you're actually just a couple of miles away."

"I have my reasons for not telling him." Soul stated simply.

Maka gritted her teeth as she gripped her lavender bedspread into her hands. "Well, at least tell me why you're suddenly here. How long have you been here and how did you know I was even coming here?"

Soul frowned at Maka's sudden questions. "If you really must know I wanted to see you again. All I had to do was ask a few people around Death City if you had any missions coming up and then arrive here before you did to surprise you."

"You still could've told me you were coming before I left though." Maka said quietly.

Soul shrugged as he lifted Maka's chin to get her to face him properly. "The point of it was for it to be a surprise. Anyways, I'm happy to see you and I'm pretty sure you're happy to see me, right?"

Maka gradually nodded her head with a small smile as Soul grinned back before he moved to brush his lips against hers. Maka sighed nervously at the brief touch, but slowly wrapped her arms around him as Soul's warm breath fanned her lips for another kiss.

"We don't need to do this if you don't feel completely comfortable." Soul panted out, when they eventually broke away for air.

Maka shook her head as she tightened her grip slightly on Soul's plain blue shirt. "No, not yet…not when we're so close now that I can hear and feel that your heart is beating just as fast as mine."

Soul looked taken aback for a moment at Maka's words before he gently pushed her back onto the bed and fixed her with a serious look. "Then there's no more need for words then…"

A few hours later, Maka was dazedly awakened by the sound of Soul tossing off the covers of the bed.

"What are you doing?" Maka questioned, sitting up more in the bed to watch him curiously.

"Oh, sorry I woke you up. I wasn't leaving; I just wanted to take a shower to get the scent of rain and dirt off of me. You can join me too if you want." Soul added in smugly.

Maka blushed and shook her head as she quickly buried herself deeper into the covers. Over the next few days Soul had taken Maka's mind completely off the case. The only excuse he could really give her to not go back to the ravine was that she shouldn't be on her feet for too long even though they still went out to see different sites outside of the village by the fourth day when her leg had started to feel better.

'But it's finally my last day here in the village and I still haven't written my report to give to Kid yet. It seems like I may have to exaggerate or make up some assumptions.' Maka thought tiredly, as she pulled out her phone to reread the text he had sent her.

Hello Maka, I hope your case went well. Usually you send me small updates of how your missions are going, but this time you didn't so I thought I would just check up on you. Incidentally, have you talked to Soul recently? I heard from Spirit that he neglected to show up to his training for a whole week. –Kid

'Oh, you've done much more than just talk to Soul…' A part of her mind mused, before she pushed the dirty thought away as she tried to regain focus.

Maka continued to scribble some notes onto her notepad until Soul plopped back into bed and sent her a curious expression. "What are you doing now?"

"Nothing much, just trying to finish this report that I've been putting off." Maka replied back.

Soul only chuckled before he suddenly snatched her notepad away. "I figured you had forgotten about that; guess I was wrong."

"Give me back my notes!" Maka hissed out, repeatedly striking his head with a pillow until Soul finally relented.

Soul watched in boredom as Maka wrote down a few more things before she suddenly paused with a frown, this could be the some of the last moments she would spend with Soul for a while.

"Hey Soul, where are you going to go after this? You know I have to go back to Death City tomorrow and you'll probably get some punishment for skipping out on your work." Maka said wistfully.

Soul laughed and moved to lightly kiss her forehead. "Do you really have to ask? I'll come with you so we can spend a bit more time together and I can greet everyone else. After all, someone will have to explain to Kid why your report on the landslides will probably turn out crappy."

Maka narrowed her eyes as she made a mental note to bash Soul with one of her heavier books when he least expected it. "I don't find that funny."

Soul only grinned teasingly as he flicked her cheek lightly. "But I do."

~Landslides End~

A/N: I'm glad I was able to finish this since it's been a stressful school week. Any feedback is appreciated and as usual, thanks for reading!