'Mind shut,
Eyes shut,
Soul shut in.' - Soul Eater, volume 10
Maka desiccated using a spotted pink and white towel once out of the shower. She scrutinized her face scrupulously in the mirror on the far side of the room opposite the shower and tub. Her face looked exasperated: a corrugation between her eyebrows that wasn't there before as far as she knew; her eyes had lost their usual buzz and confidence, seeming supplanted with an uninhabited void-violet umbrages appeared to be under each, as if she hadn't slept for months; her jaw ostensibly set to a state of defence. And for the most part her expression seemed dark and... closed off.
She tried to smile, lovingly, happily and realistically but the twist of her mouth didn't seemed to fit in with the rest of her face-like it was somehow wrong. A single tear rolled down her cheek at the realisation but she hastily wiped it away with her mid-knuckle. And nobody had noticed, she thought hideously but she couldn't help but feel relief either.
A grimace seemed to move over her features, replacing her ugly smile and-unsurprisingly-it befitted her. She didn't scowl often unless you counted when her father was around-he was enough to irritate anyone, even the old Maka. Memory flooded through her: 'You'll catch a cold.' 'Oh thank you, papa! Your coat's so warm!' [1]
In one swift arc her fist connected with the mirrors silvery reflective surface, shattering it into a million fragments spread between what was left in the mirror's frame, the shards on the floor and several of the pieces digging into her knuckles and the back of her hand. No, she thought reasonably as her reverie broke like the mirror, it's too late to go back.
"Maka!" Soul's voice called from the other side of the bathroom door, his tone one of worry. She could practically hear him frowning from here. "Are you all right? I heard something break!"
"Yeah, I'm fine!" She lied, startled to find herself not feel any guilt towards lying to her partner. "The mirror fell off the wall, that's all." Her voice held no pain though her fist was burning.
"Do you need me to come in to help you with anything?" He now sounded relieved-Good, she thought. It meant he believed her lie.
"No, I've got it, thanks!"
"Okay, but if you need any help you know where to find me."
Although, she thought, Maka didn't need his help.
~~~~~~~~~~ Maka's Bedrooom ~~~~~~~~~~
The Meister primping in jeans while in the bathroom, vigilant not to derange her sanguinary hand as she slid her arms through the sleeves of her t-shirt and hoodie, grateful to the pockets on her hoodie to hide her newly received injury. After arriving safely to her room, Maka now sat on her bed, a recovered first-aid kit and tweezers lying in front of her as she gingerly took her hands from her pockets and examined the damage caused by her uncontrolled anger. Reluctantly picking up the tweezers from where it lay beside the white kit with the red cross on it, she plucked out each shard with unease care, counting as she went. One, two, three...
Twenty-nine, thirty, thirty-one... and she was finished, the thirty-one glittering pieces of glass eyeing up at her from where they lay-stagnant, of course-in a bowl of water, the liquid now stained a light rusty colour. She glared back at them before spanning for the first-aid kit, hugging her right hand to her chest as she did so, her left fumbling for the bandage. She wrapped it around her right palm with a wince-although the anaesthetic had dulled the pain immensely, it still hurt a tiny bit.
Her half-dried hair remained down as, with her hand the way it is, she couldn't tie it up into it's usual artichoke pigtails. She made her way out of her room and, just as she had suspected she might bump into him, Soul came waltzing down the corridor, his fair skin changing to a pale pallor upon seeing her hand bandaged as he stopped before her and asked, "Did you hurt yourself?"
"N-No..." She replied self-consciously. Maka, top-of-her-class Maka and smartest student in school Maka had forgotten to make an excuse even though it was inevitable she'd need one. She then hastily added, "I cut myself picking up the mirror fragments..." She tried to look sheepish but she couldn't bring her eyes to his. "Half-fell on them on the slippery floor."
Soul, seeming satisfied with this answer and managed to absently upset his Meister while doing so, nodded his head. "So what are you making for dinner?"
Maka groaned.
[1] Soul Eater vol. 7 P37.
