A/N: Oh my… It's been quite a while, hasn't it? I'm sorry I'm so late. If any of you guys are following me, I haven't been updating. I've actually considered quitting fanfiction because I was so busy, but I decided against it. So here I am. :3

Please forgive any facepalm-inducing writing. :3

DISCLAIMER: Moooooooo

-TheNextAliceOwO-

Now, Maka was never the type of person to go looking for trouble. Actually, she always tries to keep her nose out of Trouble's sneaky little fingers. Yet, she always finds herself in the company of such trouble despite how careful she is. And this was one of the times where she feels as if she had just bumped smack into trouble and fell back on the ground.

As Maka walked down the dark and almost completely empty sidewalk, she heard continuous rustling of leaves behind her, which was odd considering that leaves shouldn't be rustling on their own so loudly because they were damp and heavy from the rain.

"I'm just imagining things, right?" Maka asked herself unsurely, stuffing her numb hands into her coat pocket. "Yeah," Maka turned around and continued on her path, "that's definitely it."

Yet, as she continued, the rustling followed along. She quickened her pace and refused to look behind her. It probably wasn't so smart to leave the library so late, but that scholarship does have its benefits…

After about two minutes of walking, Maka noticed, to her relief, that the rustling had discontinued. But her relief was short-lived as she heard some footsteps behind her. She quickened her pace so that she was almost bouncing quickly down the sidewalk, but the footsteps behind her matched her speed. She flung her arms out of her pockets and started swinging them back and forth, as if that would make her faster. Obviously, it didn't.

The footsteps were closer now. Louder, quicker. Should she run? Should she turn around? What?"

There was a slight touch on her shoulder and Maka screamed. She turned around and proceeded to send her stalker a blow to the stomach.

"AGHHH!"

Maka watched as her perpetrator fell to the ground, feeling no mercy despite recognizing his face. "Soul! What in sane hell are you doing?"

"Nothing! I was just think-" Soul wheezed as he attempted to get back onto his feet, "thinking of walking you home."

"So you were the one stalking me all this time?" Maka raised an eyebrow. "What a creeper."

"What? No, I just saw you now," Soul looked behind him and craned his neck to see if there was anyone behind a tree.

"Maybe I was just imagining things…" Maka sighed.

"Hallucinations, eh, Tiny-tits?" Soul shook his head and clicked his tounge. "Not cool. You may be a loo-"

Soul wasn't given a chance to finish his sentence because Maka pulled out the extremely large "History of the Pencil" book and slammed it right on his head. Who knew a pencil could actually cause light-headedness?

"And I'll walk by myself, thanks," Maka said coldly, still not appreciating the nickname despite being called this so many times, "I hope you get mugged." The short brunnette spun on her heel and stomped off.

Soul, who had grown accustomed to this tsundere's beatings by now, sat up and crossed his legs, staring after her. He smiled as she stopped under a street lamp to turn around and check. When she noticed that he was staring right back at her, her face lit a rosy red and she continued to stomp off.

"You're something else, Tiny-tits," Soul smiled at her retreating back.

-TheNextAliceOwO-

"Saphron!" a brown-haired girl shrieked and ran across the room in fear.

"Shh!" a red-haired girl gave her friend a hard glare. "Do you want to give us away, Olive?"

"B-but, Sapphron!"

A girl with unusually pink hair rolled her eyes. "They're just little spiders, they won't hurt you! Besides, what's more important? Giving into your fear, or our Dear Soul?"

"Thank you, Honey," the girl called Sapphron sighed as she continued No, seriously, her name is Honey. No joke. It's kinda like her parents were talking to each other and said "What should we name her, Honey?" And then the nurse wrote it down. If that's true, I can see why she would want to go to boarding school.

"Y-yeah, you're right," Olive said, wincing as Honey dropped the squirming spiders into her bucket, which was becoming disgustingly heavy with the vicious little buggers.

"Watch, my girls," Sapphron said as she pried the eight-legged creatures off their webs and into the buckets. "If Maka Albarn doesn't abide to our wishes, then she shall be forced to pay the consequences!" Sapphron let out a high-pitched laugh.

"…Sapphron, why are you telling us this? We already know," Honey pointed out. "And why are you laughing?"

"Oh, it's to explain any plot confusions for those who can't figure it out."

"…Wait, what are we doing?"

"Shut up, Olive."

-TheNextAliceOwO-

"Ah… HACHOO!" Maka sniffed and discarded her tissue. "That's just peculiar—I've been sneezing like crazy for about an hour now, but I'm not sick."

"You may never know," the other new student (out of four) sat across from Maka Albarn in the student lounge, which was almost completely empty (this was common on Saturday nights). He stared at the trash can full of tissues with great disgust and pushed it further away from him with his foot. "Now, what do you need help on now?"

"Oh right," Maka turned her book around and pointed to a complicated looking math problem. "I don't see how-"

"Hold on," Kid said, "I smell a disturbance… Something… Asymmetrical."

"It's just your ima-"
"IT'S NOT MY IMAGINATION!" Kid ran to the nearest window and threw it open. "HEY! YOU!" Kid stuck his head out the window. "YOU BETTER KNOW HOW TO GET THAT STUFF OFF THE GRASS!"

"PISS OFF, GEEK!"

Maka facepalmed. Though she didn't know Black Star that well, it didn't take a genius to know that the boy was an idiot. He didn't have that bad a personality, but still…

"YOU ARE RUINING THE SYMMETRY!" Kid shouted back.

"Tell Maka to put down her books and stop studying and maybe we'll wash it off!" Maka froze at the sound of the familiar voice. That moron!

"Maka-"

"No," Maka her hands on the table. "Kid, you can deal with that later! Help me with my homework!"

"But I can't STAND IT!" Kid said, attempting to tear out his hair.

"Oh, c'mon, Maka! Learn to have fun!" Black Star shouted. "If you're in my superior presence, you cannot fail!"

"WASH IT OFF! RIGHT NOW!" Kid shrieked, totally ignoring the details of the conversation.

"Okay, that's it," Maka proceeded to walk out and push Kid out of the second story window. Luckily, that boy has some sort of ninja balance skill, which probably comes from being concerned about walking evenly and not slouching and all that stuff.

Maka peered over the grass and saw, in a bright blue spray-paint "DA GRATE AMASING SOOPUR AWESUM BLACK STAR WUZ HEAR!" …Of course.

"IF YOU DON'T WASH THAT OFF, I'LL WASH IT WITH YOUR FACE!" Kid shouted, appearing unfazed at the fact that a petite girl had just thrown him out a window.

"I'D LIKE TO SEE YOU TRY, PRISSY RICH KID!"

"Rich?" Maka raised an eyebrow. She shrugged. Kid did have the appearance of someone who grew up in wealth, but he was a scholarship student… Well, whatever. Maka turned around and suddenly let out a shriek. "SOUL! SINCE WHEN WHERE YOU HERE?"

"Calm down, we're only on the second floor, it doesn't take that long to get up here," Soul said, looking at the book uninterestingly. "Math? On a Saturday night? Shall we add 'Super Geek' to your nickname, Tiny-tits?"

Maka stormed furiously to him and snatched the text book out of his line of sight, which was actually very impressive, considering she moved quite quickly and managed to snatch a heavy Pre-cal book from him without him just reaching out and grabbing it back.

"Soul, I'm busy," Maka said impatiently. "Please leave."

"You're not still mad at me for Friday, are you?" Soul frowned.

"Well, people normally don't take being called "Tiny-tits," or "Super nerd" very well," Maka pointed out a bit impatiently.

"Uh, sorry," Soul said sheepishly.

"It's alright," Maka sighed and sat down in front of him. "But really, I do need to do homework."

"Can't you do it tomorrow like everyone else?"

"I don't like to do things last minute," Maka frowned.

"Do you have anything else to do after this?" Soul raised an eyebrow.

"Well, no, but-"

"Then, let's get out of here," Soul urged.

"You have a bunch of fangirls, why not go with them," Maka pointed out. "Why don't you go with one of them?"

Soul wrinkled his nose. "I'd prefer to hang out with you, in all honesty."

Maka looked down at her lap. "Well, not today, Soul."

"Okay, then," Soul narrowed his eyes at her. Then, he stood up and pat her head. "You okay?"

"Um, yeah," Maka smiled. "I'm completely fine."

"Alright, then go out with me next week?"

Maka blushed at the question, but pushed the thought out of her head. No, it's just his odd phrasing. "Maybe."

"Sweet," Soul walked over to the window. "Good luck with your non-procrastinating." Soul proceeded to leap out the window. Maka was concerned for a minute and was about to dash to the window and check if he was okay until she heard him shout "HEY, MORONS! PLEASE SETTLE THIS WHILE WE'RE YOUNG!"

"HE NEEDS TO APOLOGIZE TO THE GREAT ME FIRST!" came Black Star's demand.

" 'GREAT' MY ASS!" Kid shouted. "YOU CAN'T EVEN SPELL YOUR OWN GRAFFITI CORRECTLY!"

"Screw you two and your BL, I'm leaving," Soul said impatiently. Maka had to resist laughing at the boy's comment.

"What the hell does 'BL' mean?"

"I couldn't hazard a guess."

"HEY SOUL! I DEMAND YOU TO TELL ME WHAT 'BEE EL' MEANS!" Black Star called.

"Later, idiots," Soul's faint voice came, signaling his leave.

Maka giggled a bit and flipped back through her math book, However, she didn't have one of those moments where you unintentionally flip to the right page and feel like God. Oh no, she found something worse.

Maka bit her lip as she removed a previously folded letter someone had slipped under her door that morning. It was now almost straightened from being hidden in that book. Of course, Maka had to hide ASAP after reading it because, right at that moment, Black Star jumped through her window and demanded that she lend him a pair of socks.

It was a clean sheet of paper if you ignore the handwriting, which was actually very beautiful. In fact, this would have been one of those letters that she would have just stared at and admired if it weren't for the short message:

Hello Bitch-slut,

I know you've been hanging out with Soul-kun. Don't get so cocky just because you're cute, you bitch. If you don't stay away from him, we'll tell everyone your secret. That's right, we know. Your days of beguilement are over, whore.

-TheNextAliceOwO-

Soul went to school alone that morning: Maka had called and told him that she would be going really early to finish a project, and he didn't have to come. However, when he arrived in first period, Maka was nowhere to be found. Heck, even Black Star was earlier than her that day, which is quite unusual considering he enjoys being fashionably late in order to attract attention.

"Are you alright, Soul?" Tsubaki appeared next to him, her worry was completely clear. Tsubaki was a bit like the mother of the group minus the part where mothers always suddenly feel like holding your hand at random times in public.

"Yeah, but…' Soul continued staring at the door. "Don't you think Maka's been acting kind of off?"

"I wouldn't know—I haven't seen her since Friday, but she did call me that night to complain about you," Tsubaki replied. "You know, you should stop with the nicknames. I don't think she appreciates it."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Soul said, unmoved. "But…"

"Now, now, just because she decided not to walk with you once, doesn't mean she seems different, Soul," Liz had joined the conversation. She laughed a cliché anime-style laugh. "Or maybe she got a boyfriend?"

This made Soul freeze like a popsicle on a snowy day, which is actually pretty quick (I know, I've tried. I don't suggest this). Could it be? That was very possible, considering many of the [jerk] guys in this class made it a goal to get into Maka's pants- scratch that- extremely short skirt, despite her lack of significant cleavage. Maybe that's her goal? After all, who WEARS a skirt that short? OH MA GAH! WHAT IF IT'S HER "BUSINESS"? WHAT IF-

"Soul! SOUL!" Liz snapped her fingers in his face. "Never mind that, what's up with them?" Liz pointed towards Kid and Black Star, who were glaring at each other intently, completely still, as if one slight move could lead to their demise.

Unfortunately, Liz was naturally loud and unintentionally attracted attention towards the two boys. Soon after her question, a group of people started pushing desks out of the way and gathered around them, chanting "FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!"

"Oh my," Tsubaki put a hand to her mouth and rushed to the crowd, trying to push her way through to no avail.

"God, these morons in our class," Liz said in exasperation. She squinted at the crowd and then stomped over to one individual. "Patty! What do you think you're doing?"

"But Nee-chan, it's been forever since we had an actual fight in this school," Patty whined.

"Well, it looks like you're going to have to wait a while longer," Stein interrupted, pushing his way through the crowd. "Break it up, boys, if you wanna fight, do it off campus and not in the middle of school."

"Alright," Black Star crossed his arms and glared at Kid with great contempt. "Both of us, after school, at the park."

"Fine," Kid said rather aggresively. "I'll make you regret what you did the grass, you asymmetrical bastard."

"They're still arguing about that?" Soul said incredulously.

"Aren't you going to say anything?" Tsubaki said to Stein in exasperation.

Stein waved his hand, unmoved, "As long as I have nothing to do with it, I don't care. Now everyone get in your seats!"

Right as the bell rang, Soul noticed someone appear at the doorway. That someone was none other than a tired looking Maka. Her pigtails were messy and uneven, her clothes looked like they were thrown on at the last minute and her umbrella was still open and flipped inside out. Her bag looked like it was carelessly thrown on and still slightly open. Soul began to wonder if Kid was annoyed by her unevenness. He looked over at Kid, and it was plainly evident that he was (either that, or he was having a seizure that consists of him twitching awkwardly and muttering madly about asymmetry).

"Right on time, Ms. Albarn," Stein said, showing no concern for Maka's state whatsoever. "Please take your seat."

Maka nodded and took her seat next to Soul, not even giving Soul a single look or quick greeting.

"I thought you said you were coming early?" Soul asked her quietly as she fixed her umbrella. There was no reply and she seemed unusually focused on getting out her notebook and jotting whatever Stein had just said at lightning speed.

Maka was quite the focused student, so this didn't seem to affect Soul too much. But what distracted him was why she would lie to him about this. It was quite clear that she didn't come early? But maybe he was just thinking to much: she probably just overslept.

Yet, it didn't seem like he was overthinking it. Right after first period, Maka had jumped out of her seat and zoomed out, despite the fact that she would normally walk with Soul, who had the same period, and Liz, who was right next to them. Afterwards, he was ditched once again and Kid had not spotted her during lunch.

"I'm sure she's busy, Soul," Tsubaki said after school, although she showed clear worry in her eyes.

"Sure," Liz joined in. "Didn't she say she was going to do a project at school? Maybe she did oversleep and then now she has to work on it?"

"That still doesn't explain a whole lot," Soul frowned.

"Well, whatever," Liz sighed. "We can ask her tomorrow. We'll nail her to the wall before she can get away."

"YES SOUL! BASK IN MY AWESOMENESS FOR THE TIME BEING! AND NOW, WE ARE OFF TO BEAT THAT PRISSY LITTLE GIRL!"

"…Who's this 'we' you speak of?" Soul raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, yeah."

As if right on cue, Death the Kid ran right toward them.

"HELLO LITTLE GIRL!" Black Star let out a great laugh. "ARE YOU HERE TO ASK FOR FORGIVENESS?"

"Soul, I was looking everywhere for you," Kid said, ignoring Black Star completely.

"Why? Did you fall for my dashing good looks?" Soul joked.

"No, but did you hear? Maka passed out after sixth period," Kid said.

"What?" Soul's eyes widened. "Where is she?"

"The infirmary," Kid ran ahead of them along the long road of concrete. "Follow me."

"I didn't know we had an infirmary," Black Star said as they ran.

"That's because everytime you fall off a building here, you always say 'HAHA! THIS IS NOTHING!' Then pass out and the teachers leave me to deal with you," Tsubaki said rather patiently.

"Huh."

They reached the quiet and almost empty infirmary, their footsteps echoing on the tiles in the large room.

"Ah, Kid," a woman appeared with a clipboard clutched to her chest. "I see you've brought visitors."

"Yes, we'd like to see Maka, Nygus-sensei," Kid said, straight-forwardly.

"I didn't expect you here until after your fight with that one kid. What's his name? The loud one?"

"It escapes my mind," Kid said.

"Wow? Kid was gonna have another fight after mine? That's hardcore," Black Star said, slightly impressed. Nobody pointed out anything, although Tsubaki did a bit of a silent facepalm behind his back.

"Maka's right behind this curtain," Nygus said. "But she's sleeping right now, not very soundly. Do any of you know who 'Alex' is?"

Soul looked at everyone else to see that they mirrored his confusion. "No," he said, looking back at Nygus. "Who's that?"

Nygus shrugged, "I dunno, but whoever it is sounds like he needs a good ass whoopin'. Either way, try not to wake her. She looks like she's having a rough day."

Soul pushed away the curtain to see that Maka was sleeping on her side, her face pale. and the obvious remnants of tears still on her face. As everyone settled in next to her, Tsubaki grabbed a tissue and wipped her face with gentle movements. Yet, despite Tsubaki's carefulness, Maka still moaned and stirred, and a few more tears trickled down her face.

"Why is it always me?" she muttered. "Why? Wh…"

"Poor kid," Liz said, an honest pity showing on her face. "If only we knew what's up."

Patty pulled the blanket over Maka's shoulder, which probably slipped as she moved about in her seemingly sad dreams.

"What happened?" Soul turned to Kid. "She has precal with you sixth period, doesn't she?"

"I don't know," Kid sighed. "I was just walking over to her when she froze at the doorway and collapsed. She must have seen something she didn't want to see, because her eyes grew into melons."

Soul looked back at Maka, who was now hiccuping in her sleep, tears continuing to escape the corners of her eyes. A complete silence fell over them all. Even Black Star, who was never at a loss for words, was quiet at the face of their friend.

"Do you think she's just overworking herself?" Tsubaki finally spoke up, ending the [awkward turtle] silence.

"I hope so," Liz said.

Soul's eyes widened. "Why would you hope that?"

"If she's overworking herself, we can just get her to calm down," Liz sighed, "but if she's experiencing something emotional… There may be nothing we can do."

"You'd just give up on her?" Soul said, unaware of the accusing tone in his voice.

Liz looked at Soul with surprise in his tone. "Of course not! I'd do everything I can! But-," Liz smiled at Soul knowingly. "Oh…"

"What?"

"Oh, nothing, nothing," Liz smiled.

"Nee-chan, Soul's quite the prince, ain't 'e?" Patty giggled.

"What?" Soul exclaimed, slightly surprised. "I don't-"

"Sh!" Tsubaki gave Soul a glare and pointed at Maka, who had begun to stir. They all held their breath, but Maka began to drift back into sleep.

They sat there for a long time, worried about Maka's condition. Despite their appearances, their group was never the type to abandon a friend. Yet, as the hours passed by, and the bright light of the afternoon faded away, they couldn't stay for long.

"You guys are still here?" Soul turned at the sound of the curtains being pushed aside. Nygus had changed out of her nurse uniform and into her pjs, signaling that she intended to stay for the night.

"What time is it?"

"It's ten," Nygus sighed. "You guys should get back home, it's late, and despite this being a prestigious school, you'll never know when some of our rather wealthy delinquents get bored."

"That's true," Tsubaki sighed. "Well, Black Star looks like he might explode if he keeps up this silence."

Soul looked to Black Star to see that, sure enough, his face was glowing red from his [impressive] self-control.

"Patty, let's-" Liz looked to see that Patty had fallen asleep, her head on the side of Maka's bed. "Huh… She's hopeless."

"Where are your dorms?" Kid inquired, getting up to his feet to help Liz with Patty.

"Unfortunately, on the other side of campus," Liz sighed. "Oh well, we can always cut through the town outside of campus."

"I'll walk you two there then," Kid said, lifting Patty into his arms. "If you want to cut through town, it's not very wise to do so whilst one girl is in a deep sleep and the other is defenseless."

Liz looked as if she were to speak up and point out that they were, in fact, not defensive, but stopped and smiled. "Thanks."

"Soul?" Tsubaki looked at him.

"I'll stay here," Soul said. "If she wakes up, I can walk her back home."

"You sure? I can just keep her here 'til the morning," Nygus said.

"Yeah, it's fine," Soul said.

"Alright, see you tomorrow," Liz waved at Soul as they left. After the door closed, there was an awkward silence before Nygus chuckled.

"You've got some good friends, Soul."

Soul smiled. "Yeah."

-TheNextAliceOwO-

Maka's eyes were suddenly wide open as soon as she woke up, which would be enough to scare anyone that saw her. Yet, she was still surrounded by darkness. Although the moon illuminated her resting place slightly, she could only make out some cloth hanging around her bed and her own hands.

I'm so stupid. Maka said as she pushed herself up in bed. I'm so gullible, I'm so… Wait- Maka's brain finally caught up with her and she looked around.

"This isn't my room…" Maka stated the obvious. A loud snore from her right agreed with her and (using her ultra fast ninja reflexes) she whipped out a book from who-knows-where and chucked it at the mysterious sleeper.

"Oh shit!" Maka heard the sound of a chair falling back, and the cloth (which turns out to be curtains) rustled as her victim fell to the floor with a loud thud. Suddenly, the room was filled with lights and Maka winced as her eyes began to sting.

"Maka? Soul? Are you two okay?" Maka slowly opened her eyes to see Nygus, the school nurse, peering from behind a curtain.

" 'Soul…?'" Maka slowly turned her head to see Soul twitching on the floor with a book (thankfully light-weighted, but hardcover nevertheless) opened over his face.

"What happened?" Nygus asked in exasperation.

"Sorry, I just woke up and heard this guy snoring like an elephant," Maka said heavily, wiping her eyes in an oddly innocent manner.

"It's alright," Nygus sighed. "Are you alright now? Do you wanna get some more rest here?"

"No, it's okay," Maka said, slipping out of the bed as Soul came to. "I'll walk home."

"You sure? Do you want a pass to stay home for tomorrow and finish your homework?"

"No thanks, I finished during lunch," Maka said, remembering her extremely difficult thinking process as her mind strayed from her homework to think about other things. "I'll just- Hold on. What the hell are you doing here anyway?" Maka asked, turning briskly towards Soul, who was back on his feet, the book in his hand with maybe the teeniest bit of blood on its spine. Ah well, it happens.

"This here gentleman was waiting to see if you wanted anyone to walk you home," Nygus said.

Soul turned a bright red and looked at his feet. "I had nothing else to do anyway."

"And he's tsundere, too," Nygus whispered to Maka, but still loud enough for Soul to hear.

"No I'm not!"

"The first clue to being tsundere is denial."

"B-but-"

" 'Hesitation' is the next clue."

"GAHHH!"

"Anger~~"

"Ms. Nygus, you sure seem to be quite lively for…" Maka peered at the digital clock next to the bed. "12:36 in the morning."

"I try to have fun," Nygus said. "And you young'uns are especially fun to pick on. Well, you two be good okay? I think I'll just sleep here." Nygus yawned and disappeared behind the curtains.

"Were you really waiting for me?" Maka asked.

Soul didn't answer her question but just walked past her briskly. "Are we going or what?"

At that moment, Maka felt great regret. So what if those drooling idiot fangirls threaten to tell everyone what happened? How could she just let them intrude on her life? Of all the horrible decisions she's made, and she has made many horrible decisions, this was one where she felt genuinely stupid.

"Thanks," Maka smiled at him.

Soul just looked away, "Yeah yeah."

Was it just her, or did she see a little red tint on his face before they left the building and into the dark?

Nah, what are the odds?

-TheNextAliceOwO-

A/N: BOO! For those of you who thought I was dead… Guess who was wrong? :D

Anywho, I'm so sorry for the delay! School is a huge mess and it's just gonna get messier, so I'll try to update on weekends and breaks. But finals are coming, so… . And what better to greet you guys with other than a cliché, sucky chapter? I'm sorry… I'll try better next time. This chapter was mainly here just to build up to something bigger. I hope you guys don't hate me or anything…

Anyway, please bombard me with reviews and anything you wanna see. I can't guarantee that I'll put it in the fic, but any ideas may help lead to something good. :3 And constructive criticism is always great! Thanksies~