Hello readers of fan-fiction, I am jpangel97 and we are back with another installment of "Through the Eyes of My Soul," I apologies for the wait but as you know it was and still is the holidays and like me you were probably spending it with your loved ones. I originally wanted this chapter to be longer but I figured this chapter was of a good enough length and you guys have been patient enough. So here we go, to chapter 4…

The Morning After: Shit's about to go Down

Soul's POV

Sleep was a nightmare. Literally.

The walk home had lasted an eternity, or at least felt like one. Each step was painful and not because my side was still sore from being slammed into the ground by some fucked up exploding bug.

After properly bandaging a bruise the size of my fist, Sid had told me I still wasn't in the best shape to drive my motorcycle, but I'd be fine after a few days of taking it easy. 'Heh yeah, like that was likely to happen,' I thought to myself, echoed by a humorless chuckle.

I barely paid attention to where I was going, but that was okay, 'maybe getting lost somewhere will make everything seem less real. Or at least keep my mind off my problems.'

The streets were empty and quiet, looking completely deserted, which was strange since Death City did have a decent amount of nightlife activity. That train of thought led me to think of Maka's creepy old man. 'Creeps probably at Chupa Cabras drinking away and having a merry old time,' I thought rolling my eyes at how typical that kind of behavior was for someone like him. Then a new thought struck me, 'did Spirit even know about her condition yet?'

'No… if he knew the whole city would have heard him screaming his head off by now,' the death scythe was many things, but subtle was not one of them. This was especially true when it came to his Maka; that man was probably the world's biggest drama queen, severely hormonal teenage girls had less mood swing than him.

But that didn't take away from one very important fact: Spirit Death Scythe Albarn loved his daughter. You could say a lot about the guy, both good and bad, but you couldn't deny that he loved Maka with everything he had. 'Even if she doesn't want to acknowledge or admit it, she knows that he cares. Even when he completely sucks at showing it to her.'

A moment later I was greeted by the sight of my stationary feet against the sidewalk, so lost in thought I hadn't realized when I'd finally stopped walking. I can honestly say I was half hoping that I had in fact gotten myself lost in a random part of town so I could prolong going home. But sadly when I looked up I was outside my apartment building, I guess my brain was still clear enough to put my feet on autopilot.

I gave a long sighed and with no small amount of disappointment entered through the main lobby and up the stairs to our apartment on the fourth floor. 'Our apartment,' that thought instantly made me wince, it reminded me of Maka and that I was coming home without her.

I rested my forehead on our front door as I fished out my keys with clumsy fingers, missing the lock twice before inserting it correctly.

The moment I stepped foot in the door way I was met with an unexpected yet at the same time totally expected sexual assault from Blair.

"Oh Soul!"

Before I knew it I was pulled inside with my face shoved into Blair's breasts, "you finally came home, you naughty boy I was getting so lonely all here by my self!"

She continued to suffocating me for a few more seconds before she noticed that something was off; after all, I had never gone thing long without getting concussed after a situation like this before.

"Hey Soul," she paused, easing her hold on me to looking around in hopes of spotting the one person I knew wouldn't be there, "where's Maka?"

I pushed her away from me, head down to the floor, not noticing her shocked expression as I shuffled to the couch and slumped down with the heels of my hands pressing into my eyes.

"…"

"Something happened on that mission," it was a statement not a question.

Blair's playful tone of voice was gone, replaced with a seriousness I didn't know she possessed. My only reply was to dig my fingernails into my scalp, I didn't want to talk about this right now.

I ignored the soft patting made by her boots as she crossed the room over to me, I was about to tell her to leave me alone when I felt two warm arms wrap around my shoulders and back.

"Blair what—"

"You don't have to say anything," I felt the weight of her head as she rested it on my right shoulder.

"…"

"Blair is smart enough to read the signs and know that whatever it was, must have been painful," she tightened her grip. I let her.

"But I want you to know, that Blair is here to listen… whenever you're ready, " by then I was trembling at the sheer weight of all my suppressed emotions. I had been holding them all back from the moment we left the temple, but I just couldn't do it any more.

First one tear, then two, before I knew it I was balling like baby all over Blair as she held me. 'This so isn't cool,' I thought as I dug my nails in harder, shoulders shaking even more. 'Cool guys don't break down and turn into crybabies' but I kept on crying regardless. I guess, in a way I needed this and it was nice that Blair was showing me that wasn't going to leave me alone.

An ocean of tears later I was finally dried out and stopped the shaking. I didn't feel better, not really, but it did feel like a weight had been lifted from my soul. When she thought I was calmed down enough, Blair offered me some of the left over burnt fish that she made for herself. I was grateful for the gesture but I had no appetite and told her I was heading to bed.

She smiled in understanding as I slowly rose from the couch and walked to my room, I wished her goodnight before closing my door behind me.


That night or should I say what was left of it, was spent tossing and turning until my sheets and pillows were on the floor, but I didn't care.

All my energy was gone.

Drained right out of me the moment I saw my meister look like that; like an empty shell whose soul had just recently vacated them.

I think that moment will haunt me for the rest of my life. Hell… it already seemed to get a head start, every time I closed my eyes, even to blink the scene would replay in vivid detail. I would see Maka's body fall in slow motion as gravity pulled the dead weight of it to the harsh stone floor.

I had woke up in a cold sweat, breath coming out in heavy pants, eyes wide in panic and hands clawing at my scalp.

'God, she was so still…'

Not even a twitch, it was like she was already gone…

Subconsciously I gripped the fabric of my shirt, 'Is this… Is this how she felt… when I got this scar?'

If it was then I owned her a huge ass apology. Before I thought I understood how worried she was, back when I'd been in such a similar situation, but I realize now that I didn't. Not even close.

This nightmares were even worse than the ones I began having when I first became infected by the black blood.

I knew there was no way I'd be getting any more sleep, I turned my head in the direction of my window, the sky was still dark. Looking at the clock on my nightstand told me it was 5:20 in the morning. It was less than an hour before Maka and I normal got up to get ready for school, my heart clenched at the mental mention of her.

Deciding there since there was nothing else to do I got up from my bed and walked to the bathroom, for the first time, up before the sun and getting ready for school. Without Maka.

I decided to skip breakfast, I knew I hadn't eaten anything since lunch yesterday but I just didn't have the stomach to keep anything down.

I'd taken my time getting ready, my movements mechanical as I went about my regular route. Done and with time to spare, I considered maybe that watching some television would be a good distraction. But then I remembered that I'd left my bike at the academy, 'guess taking a long walk to the school it is.'

I laced up my beat up old black and yellow sneakers and grabbed my bag, Blair was in cat form, sleeping on the couch. I noticed this morning that she'd cleaned the table in the kitchen and washed the dishes left in the sink, it wasn't much but it touching all the same. The ghost of a smile managed to find it's way to my lips, the most I'd been able to manage since yesterday as I quietly walked over and gave her ears a little scratch. She purred and leaned into my hand but didn't wake.

"Thanks Blair," I whispered before I headed out.


Kid's POV

It felt like I had only shut my eyes a second ago, but no a tired glance at the still blaring clock revealed it was in fact time to get up. Despite the fact that I felt worse than I had when I finally went to sleep. I contemplated the consequences of simply lying there until a more appropriate (preferably symmetrical) time, but I knew I couldn't.

Since arriving three hours late on my first day, father had told me that if I planned on remaining a student at the academy the least I could do was follow the rules of it. So begrudgingly I relented and agreed to wake up and arrive at the designated, yet horribly asymmetrical time. (Why father refused to change the start time to eight, I will never know. I think he does it just because he knows it drives me crazy!)

But today I had another reason. I hadn't forgotten for a second of what transpired the day before and I had every intension of going to the dispensary and finding out exactly what the nature of Maka's condition was.

The solidification of my decision filled me with purpose and I found the strength to lift myself out of bed.

Which turned out to be a bad idea as I began to feel light head and the world became a spinning series of black dots.

'Note to self: when waking up and feeling like complete and utter crap, get out of bed slowly to avoid giving yourself head rush,' I held my head with both hands to try and reduce the brain in the blender sensation.

Once it passed I threw off my covers and slowly got up, when the feeling failed to return I finally silenced the infernal beeping of the alarm, I sighed in relief and turned to my messy bed.

'All right first things first, return the bed to it's proper symmetrical states,' as quickly and efficiently as possible I realigned the sheets, fluffed the pillows and measure both angle and length of the comforter on both sides. I looked over my work with a pleased smirk, 'perfect, now to get dressed,' I turned and made my way over to wardrobe on the left side of the room.

Throwing open the doors I was greeted by the familiar sight of my usual suit, along with the extra pairs that I also own. (Natural I had eight sets of them in total.)

This wardrobe was specifically for the clothes I wore on missions and to school, while the other wardrobe directly opposite from it, was reserved for my more casual attire. I grabbed one by the hanger, then opened two drawers on the bottom to retrieve a pair of socks and black boxers.

Once I had everything that I needed I wasted no time entering my bathroom and started the shower. The steady stream of pulsing water helped to awaken the rest of my body and the rising steam further calmed my troubled mind.

But it wasn't enough to keep all of my worries at bay; I barely noticed as my hands lathered the shampoo into my hair or scrubbed the soap across my skin.

All thoughts ran in circles, repeating in an endless loop, back to the beginning, back to Maka, as I watched the water droplets that clung to my bangs fall and mix with soap suds that ran into the drain.

I slipped out soon after, rapping a towel around my waist and walking over to the mirror to brush my teeth. While mindlessly going through the motions I glanced up at my reflection and grimaced; though I was clean I was clearly not well rested.

The bloodshot eyes with dark circles underneath displayed that quite well. I spit the remaining foam into the sink and leaned against it, 'You're overreacting,' I thought as my eyes narrowed.

'It probably just looks worse than it actually is,' my hands tightened their grip on the porcelain as I tried to reassure myself. But no matter how hard I tried I couldn't shake the nagging feeling in the pit of my stomach.

With I sigh of frustration I wiped myself away from the sink and quickly dressed. After checking to make sure my appearance was perfectly symmetrical I went to Liz's room to wake the girls.

Like always, the manor was quiet at this hour, the hallways dark as morning light was sluggishly creeping through the window from behind thick clouds. I normally enjoyed the peace brought by the silence, but today, walking alone in the stillness brought a sense of discomfort.

Opening the door I was surprised at what I found, or more specifically what I didn't find. Liz's bed was a tangled mess of sheets but it lack any occupant, there were clothes littering the floor but there was no one throwing out more from the closet or drawers in search of today's out fit, there wasn't even the sound of a blow-dryer on full blast.

'Odd, where could they be? They never get up this early by choice.'

I decided to go down to the kitchen and make the girls breakfast, wherever they were the smell of food was sure to lure them in. Besides, any prolonged exposure to the sheer disarray and lack of any symmetry whatsoever of this room would no doubt cause me to have a sever panic attack.

After promptly slamming the door of this disaster of a room shut I spun on my heels in the direction of the stairs. I had just made it to the bottom and was about to turn into kitchen when I hear noise coming from the living room.

"Liz? Patti?"

Sure enough there sat both of my weapons, fully dressed and watching some morning talk show on the living room's flat screen.

"Morning Kid," Liz said in a quiet voice. Patti looked up from her coloring book to give me a small wave before going back to her drawing.

"We just finished breakfast a little while ago but we made sure to save you some toast…"

"Uh…," I really had no idea what to say, this was highly unusual behavior from these two.

'What in the world is going on? They are up before I am without prior prompting, completely dressed…'

"… don't worry we already cut the pieces so they're perfectly symmetrical," '…and now Liz is telling me they made me breakfast symmetrically? I must have somehow entered a parallel universe, there is no other rational explanation for such behavior otherwise.'

I shook my head to snap myself out of my stupor when I noticed Liz's confused expression towards my silence.

"What are you two doing up already?"

"I could ask you the same question. It normally takes you forever to get yourself perfectly symmetrical, let alone checking everything in the house before you leave."

Actually taking a moment to think about it, Liz was right. A swift glance in the direction of the living room clock confirmed it as well. It was only 6:45 and I had managed to complete all my self-preparation in a fraction of the time, an impressive record when compared to my history.

"I…guess your right, but you still haven't answered my question," I said, raising an eyebrow.

Liz looked down, nervously playing with her fingers, "We… actually did sleep all that much last night. Patti and I kept having nightmares… so we thought it'd be better if we just got ready for school ha-ha…" she ended with an equally nervous chuckle as she brought her eyes back to my face.

I felt my own face soften as I gazed down at my shoes with a hollow smile, "You too huh?"

I didn't look up but I could feel both sister looking at me now, "I didn't have nightmares exactly, but I was tossing and turning for the better part of what little rest I managed to get."

"…"

"Thank you both for your thoughtfulness, but in light of recent circumstances I don't think I have much of an appetite."

Liz nodded and head to the kitchen, most likely to rap the leftovers in plastic for later. I stayed where I was by the stairs, arms crossed and leaned on the railing as I waited for her to come back.

"You know you can just say that you're worried," I turned to the source of the voice, slightly started. I blinked in surprise, having almost completely forgotten about the other girl in the room.

"What do you mean Patti?" Said girl had closed her coloring book and placed it down on the coffee table in front of her seat on the couch. She faced me head on, eyes looking straight into mine without a hint of hesitation. I couldn't say I was only slightly unnerved by it.

"You're worried about her, me and big sis are too. Same as everybody…," I felt my cheeks turn faint pink at her statement, her unwavering stare wasn't helping much either.

For once Patti was speaking seriously, no games or tricks. It was times like these that reminded me there was more to the girl in front of me than meets the eye. She and her sister had grown up on the streets, they had lived hard lives and many times they knew more than they let on. Putting up a front to avoid suspicion and fool potential threats, it was quite the useful survival tool. One I'm sure they perfected to a T before I came into the picture.

"…you don't have to hide it by using big fancy talk like you always do," my blush grew brighter and hotter at my embarrassment at her words.

"I think its real sweet you," she ended giving me a genuinely happy smile like the ones she normally sported.

"Thank you Patti," I replied with a small smile of my own.

"Besides," she said turning her face slightly to the left, eyes closed. Then opened her right to look at me she,

"what kind of boyfriend would you be, if you didn't worry about your future girlfriends health?"

"PATTI."

"Oh come on Kid, after everything that happened yesterday you can't tell me its cause your just friends," her smile was practically face splitting as my face did a fantastic job of impersonating the world's ripest red tomato.

As I tried to get my brain to form actual words instead of the ridiculous gibberish born of my embarrassment, nervousness and frustration, Liz entered the room.

"Alright, we can— Kid, why does your face look like you fell asleep sun tanning and got completely burn?"

That comment was the metaphorical straw that broke the camel's back, as simultaneously Patti burst into a giggle fit, while I crouched down on floor in utter humiliation.

"Can we please just go to school and not talk about this anymore?" my voice chocked up from despair. Liz watching us both in bewilderment.


The flight to the school was silent and relatively quick as we managed to land just in time to see Soul come up the last step.

He didn't look any better than he had yesterday; though with his head down I couldn't see his eyes so it made it difficult to tell. But if I had to guess from his slower steps and sagging shoulders, they couldn't be much different from mine.

It was a bit bizarre to see him come alone, he and Maka were almost always together, they were a pair, a package deal. It was just plain odd to see one without the other, my heart twisted uncomfortably at the thought for reasons I couldn't name.

Memories of this morning flashed before my eyes as Patti's words began to echo in my ears, but I immediately pushed them back. These notions were preposterous, insane even to imagine and had no place in a situation like this.

The three of us made our way over to him, "Hey, how ya been holding up?"

A stupid question I know, anyone with eyes could see how he was fairing at the moment, but there really was no right thing to say when you found yourself in situations such as these in life.

"Heh, can't ya tell?" See? He gave a weak impersonation of regular shark toothed grin, but it only came across as pained and wrong.

With his head now up we were finally able to look at his face; my suspicions confirmed when I saw that his eyes were redder than normal in an unhealthy way.

"Can't blame you," Liz said as she put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Yo"

From behind us came the familiar voice of the group's resident assassin as he and his ninja partner gravitated towards us from their place by the stairs. Black*Star and Tsubaki like the rest of us appeared to have gotten very little sleep, both appearing haggard and drained.

Both their clothes were wrinkled, Black*Star's spiky blue hair was even wilder than usual and Tsubaki's ponytail hung low and sloppy, almost touching the ground. It was so asymmetrical both my eye and hand witched at the need to correct them, but I held it back.

'Later, later, later…,' I thought, fists clenched.

"Hey buddy, glad you could make it," his smile still showed pain but held a little less strain as Soul looked at his best friend. Black*Star gave a light grunt and a brief nod before looking Soul over with tired eyes.

"You look like shit," he stated bluntly.

"Heh, maybe so but you aren't going win any beauty pageants anytime soon either by the looks you."

"Speak for yourself, a big star like me manages to look good no matter what," he stated armed crossed.

As the two continued their banter I watched as a bit of the stiffness and tension loosened it's hold on their bodies, their posture become more relaxed, if only a little.

That's when I realized what they were doing; they were comforting each other in the best possible way they knew how: acting as they always did. Neither of them could act like yesterday never happened, they would never do that to Maka and downgrade her pain.

They both cared about her too much to ever do anything like that, but they also knew she wouldn't want them to suffer as they were, constantly fretting over her wellbeing. Humans could only handle so much emotionally before they broke themselves down, failing apart at the seams when a crucial thread was cut or pulled to the point of braking.

Soul and Black*Star were no exception, especially with how close they were to Maka; her best friend and the friend she had known since childhood who became something of a brother figure to her. To the them, whether they admitted it aloud or not, she was irreplaceable and her pain was theirs.

So for right now they acted as if all was normal, just another day where everything was fine. Steering their thoughts and the conversation away from the proverbial elephant in the room in order to forget the pain and worry over their dear friend, if only for a moment, before reality came crashing down on them again. She wouldn't hold it against them, they knew she would understand.

As this went on Tsubaki had shifted her position from behind Black*Star to beside Liz and Patti, exchanging small talk and quiet comforts. More willing to directly address the issue of her injured best friend, while respecting her meister's feelings by holding a separate conversation as he and Soul coped in their own way.

"As you can guess, we aren't doing much better dealing with this," she said softly, biting her lip as her eyes shifted to the assassin before resting her gaze on the ground in front of her.

"All I seem to think about is what happened. I keep picturing it in my mind… her just lying there… and I can't… do anything for her."

The dam she must be hold back seemed ready to burst as Tsubaki's eyes became glassy and her shoulders began to tremble. She brought her arms up to hug herself, whether to stifle the movement or keep herself together I didn't know, but it did no good either way.

"Tsubaki," the aforementioned girl lifted her head to look at the speaker.

Her partner had heard her whimpers, "Black*Star I—"

"Would Soul Eater, Death the Kid, Black*Star and their weapons please come to the death room immediately. You are needed."

It was Sid's voice.

Usually it was Death Scythe that made the announcements for father, the fact that it was someone else in light of this situation did not prove as promising.

From the corner of my eyes I saw the other stiffen, I knew what they were all thinking, 'could this have something to do with Maka?'

Each of their expressions was a little different from the last; Soul's was completely blank as if unsure what to feel about such an announcement, Black*Star's face was hard and his eyes full of worry, Tsubaki was an odd mix of fear and hope, while Liz looked just plain nervous and Patti…

Patti's countenance was of a sad contemplation, as if taking all the clues she had been given and arrived at a far less cheery conclusion than she had hoped for.

It was her current disposition that sent shivers of foreboding up and down my spin.

But I refused to allow myself to accept the worst before I knew for sure as I stared up at the academy, fists clenched.

"No sense in dragging our feet" I threw over my shoulder, "let's go see what father wants," never looking back I made my way to the academy's front doors.

It should have been silent, there should have barely been anyone here besides the teachers so early in the morning, but it wasn't…

If anything attendance was probably the highest it's ever been!

Students who I had never seen before in my life seemed to be popping out of the woodwork, the halls were so crowded! All of them huddle together and whispering to one another like they had just discovered the secret of the century and couldn't bare keeping such knowledge to themselves any longer.

But as soon as they saw our group the massive congregation parted liked the Red Sea before Moses. The low murmuring of before had risen ten fold as we speed walked down the halls, the whispers following us like miasma.

"Look it's them!"

"There's Soul Eater! But where's his partner?"

"I don't know."

"Don't think I've seen them all together without her before."

"Yeah it's too weird."

"OMG! Do you think it really was her that Kid was carrying yesterday?"

"What, no way!"

"Then the rumors must be true!"

"That's impossible! Albarn took down the Kishin, there can't be anything stronger than that!"

"Looks like there was."

"Dude stop it don't joke like that, it's messed up."

"It must have been like a freak accident or something. Their group is made of the best meisters in the academy."

"Yeah, couldn't have been anything else, especially for someone of their level."

"If you ask me Albarn had it coming"

It was in that moment that time stood at a stand still…

'WHO THE FUCK JUST SAID THAT?'

We all froze the second those words left the perpetrator's lips, acutely aware of the hush that befallen the crowd at our abrupt halt.

No doubt they knew that uttering such words was crossing an unspoken line. They could sense the tension building as the silence choked them with it's iron grip on their throats.

My anger had been sparked and ignited into raging inferno at that sheer audacity of the punk who dared to say such a thing about Maka, who of all people didn't deserve any of what had happened yesterday or to be treated with such little respect over something she had no control over.

"What did you just say?" Soul's voice was soft, barley audible even in the silence but still heard by a few people at the front. His tone was of disbelief as he tried to process the implications of the words he had the displeasure of overhearing. Yet you could just make out the undertones of calm furry at the end.

Slowly, one by one each of us turned in the direction the statement had come from.

"You heard me," a lone male student came forward, his steps confident and cocky. No doubt he had meant for us to hear him.

He looked no older than the rest of us, so he was probably 15, with shaggy somewhat spikey dark green hair that was almost black. His clothing was simple, a white shirt under a moderately thick black jacket with white fur lining the hood, brown army style pants and black boots.

The boy's eyes were a cold obsidian; his expression was full of taunting and mockery as he observed us, looking at each of us briefly before closing his eyes and smirking as if he found us amusing.

"But I'll repeat myself since you don't appear to be all there: She. Had. It. Coming."

He leaned forward a bit and spoke the words slowly, as if speaking to either a small child, a foreigner who didn't speak English or to someone he dubbed as just plain stupid.

The nameless student was barely able to get his tongue to form the last syllable and get the sound passed his lips, before shit really started hitting the fan.

And that's all she wrote… at least for now anyways. As I said before, this was originally meant to be longer but I wanted to give you guy's something. So in terms of my original plan this is like half or three fourths of the chapter I wanted to post. If I haven't made this clear already I intend to make each new chapter progressively longer than the last when possible. I hope this chapter doesn't make anyone go 'SHE MADE US WAIT DAYS FOR THIS SHIT?' There isn't a lot of action here but that's because it's to look at how the rest of our main cast is dealing with this, it's not all about Kid and Maka (even though they are my Soul Eater OTP and this story is about a budding romance between them) Beside there will be a little fisticuffs action later. (Oh and before I forget, nameless-smack-talking-dude is modeled after a picture of GREEN from Pokémon I found on the internet while trying to decide what a total douchebag would look like. No offense to those who like GREEN, I just need a random guy and he was the only one I thought would look like they fit in this scenario) I hope one is also disappointed about Maka being MIA she will return I promise! But… just not yet :3 Anyway, to ALL readers who read chapter 3, WHY DO YOU HATE ME?

I'm so sorry, I'm trying not be a review whore but 7! SERIOUSLY? No one wanted to be nice and make it 8 T-T I swear I love Death the Kid so much I was channeling his need for symmetry…

Oh well see ya next time and as always be sure to read, follow, favorite and most importantly REVIEW! I swear if I have to look at the number seven any longer I will scream! Bye! ^_^