Disclaimer: One desperate day I got a hold of Mary Poppins and asked her to submerge me into the world of Gangan. For some reason she did, and with joy I explored all the different worlds there were in search of the rights to Soul Eater. Then one day- I found it! It was red, and shiny, and was all round and glowy and made of stone! I was SO happy! :DDD
Then I got a tap on the shoulder, and I turned around to see Edward Elric holding out an expectant hand and staring at me like I was a weirdo. "Sorry, but that's mine. Wrong series, stupid."
And with a sob I realized that I was sadly mistaken, and that what I was holding in my hand wasn't even close to what I was looking for. Therefore...I don't have the rights to Soul Eater (or Fullmetal Alchemist or Mary Poppins, to be on the safe side). -sobs some more-
Author's Note: Yet another funny attempt at a disclaimer, harhar. And yes, I know that I'm over a month overdue, and I am sorry for that. -_- My reason? College. Moving in, getting classes together, studying for tests, stuff like that. Not a day goes by when I'm not busy...and I hafta admit, it's kinda fun. XD
Oh yeah- I have something VERY IMPORTANT to tell you readers:
Lots of people have been commenting how much they liked the idea of this story, and I must give props where props are due. For one, the foundation of this plot came from the story A Soul's Songbook, by Heart of Perpetual Ice. It is a story that is WAY better than mine, with better detail and background stories and the like. I strongly suggest you read this if you don't mind reading a rated M story; even if you do, there's really only one or two chapters that are strong, and there's a lack of full-blown smut for the sake of a VERY good plot. I beg of you, from one avid reader to another, to read this if you want a good- no, GREAT- reading experience!
Another story that I kind of got influenced by is a story that I helped beta: Thicker Than Water, by Maksou. Her story only has one chapter so far, but it has really great potential and deserves to be read too! The AU universe there is quite unusual and deserves to be explored by avid readers like you and me! ^^
But that aside, thank you readers so much for your comments last chapter! I'm sorry I couldn't respond to all of them, but this time around I will definitely make an effort to do so!
-coughs- Okay, now on to the story. I've revised it as much as I could to prevent mistakes (like last chapter -_- ), but eh, I think I'll look it over again later. Enjoy~
Chapter 4: What (Do) You Want
He had just finished his bath when a manservant knocked on the door. "Master Soul, a guest is here to see you."
"A guest?" he had asked, buttoning his collar. He didn't have any friends, so there was no chance it would be a simple house call. An inquiring patron, perhaps? "Escort the guest to the drawing room and tell him or her I'll be there soon enough."
"Of course, Master Soul."
When he later strolled into the room, he surprised to find that it was not a balding man or overeager woman that he had kept waiting, but a girl.
That same damn girl.
She put down the teacup in her hand, grinning at his blatant displeasure. "C'mon, Soul, don't make that kind of face."
"What-" He paused, waiting for his throat to work properly. "What do you want?"
She curled a lock of hair around her finger. "It's not about what I want. What do you want, Soul?"
Suddenly he didn't know what to say.
Soul sighed and fidgeted in his seat, his apprehension obvious.
Who knew that the student orientation for this thing would be the day after he got here? He obviously didn't. No wonder Maka was so desperate to…
Maka.
"Welcome, new weapons. I am Mr. Asura, president of Shibusen University, and it is a great pleasure to have you all here."
The words and polite applause slide over him like butter on a hot knife. Even though he didn't think of Maka as a friend, he was at least…familiar with her. She was the only familiar face around here. And now he had somehow gone and messed it up like the jerk he was.
"Now at Shibusen University there are a few rules that all weapons must follow-"
Those words she had said- I guess I was wrong- what was that all about? He wouldn't know. He had never really been around anyone as much as he'd been around Maka- save for his piano tutor, who was old and bald and only talked to him when it came to correcting his mistakes. Other than piano, there wasn't much else that others had expected of him.
"- must never fight with a meister. To do so may result in expulsion. And lastly-"
But what was it that Maka expected of him?
"-relations with a meister above partnership. Such circumstances are not considered worthy of an efficient team meant to hunt down the evil that plagues this world. Now, any questions?"
The silence that nudged Soul finally woke him up to what was going on. Wait, did he just miss the whole speech?
Crap. He took a quick glance around the silent crowd, then at- who was that? Oh, right, the president of the school. Mr. Asura.
He narrowed his eyes. When it came to appearances, Mr. Asura had a little bit to work on. His business suit was classy and smart, but his skin was pale, like a vampire's, and his hair- what did he do, tie pieces of paper around each of his locks when he was bored?
…And why was everyone so quiet?
Just as that thought crossed his mind, a few hesitant claps sounded to his left. They were followed by a few more, and soon enough there was a sizable applause and Mr. Asura was waving his way off the stage with a huge grin.
A grin that Soul found undeniably strange.
"Now there are several meisters who have volunteered to give you weapons an official tour of our school. You will all be grouped by the numbers on the cards in your hands."
Soul looked at his card. Lucky number 7, huh?
"The meister holding up your number is your tour guide for this evening. Now go off into your groups, and good luck!" the announcer exclaimed.
Everyone in the audience stood up and began milling around, Soul following suit. He looked around and spotted the sign for his group…about twenty feet from where he was standing. With everyone else crowding in-between. Great.
He refrained from sighing as he moved through the crowd, all the while straining his eyes to keep sight of the red-numbered sign. Quite a few people pushed and shoved, and it took all his cool to keep his patience in check.
Finally, he was there. The guy holding the sign gave him a scrutinizing stare as he approached, a glint of light bouncing off his thick glasses and highlighting the warm brown of his skin.
"Weapon type?" the boy prompted. Soul raised a brow, but decided to answer anyway.
"Scythe."
"Name?"
Interesting. He was more interested in his weapon type than his name. "Soul. Soul…Eater."
The boy raised a brow at what Soul knew was a stupid excuse for a name, but evidently let it go as he nodded and ordered, "Okay, Scythe Soul." Scythe Soul? "Looks like you're the only one coming along on this-"
"Um, wait, please! Is this Group 7?"
Both boys turned and received a simultaneous case of jaw-drop.
Because standing only three feet from them was a girl that was, well, gorgeous. Her hair was in a tall, sleek ponytail of ebony hair, and her skin looked soft, and those legs of hers looked long and shapely even under that funny ninja wear-
'Get a hold of yourself, idiot!' he mentally chastised when a telltale bloom of color formed on the girl's cheeks. Damn his stupid hormones. What was the point of getting all hot and bothered over one pretty girl? He had met lots of pretty girls before- and done more besides- all thanks to his prestige and status. Probably the only one he had met who wasn't in the least bit fabulous was-
A cough snapped him out of the strange pang flooding through his chest. Tour boy seemed to have come to his senses as well. "Weapon type?"
The girl bowed. "Ninja blade."
"Holy crap," the boy whispered, incredulous, and Soul glanced his way just in time to see his eyes widen enough to pop out of his head. "You wouldn't happen to be…that ninja blade? From the Nakatsukasa family?"
"Yes," the girl affirmed, still in her bowed position, and Soul couldn't help wondering if she was feeling the blood flow to her head by now. "My full name is Tsubaki Nakatsukasa."
Their guide gave a surprised whistle, then quickly shook himself out of his stupor. "Alright. Name's Kilik, but to you guys I'm Meister Kilik." He emphasized this with a thumb pointed to his chest. "Now Ninja Blade Tsubaki and Scythe Soul, follow me."
"Maka!"
She turned at the sound of Mr. Sid's voice, fighting to keep her expression…normal. As normal as she could make it, anyways.
"Do you need something, Mr. Sid?" Since becoming his employee, it wasn't unusual for him to ask her to run a personal errand or two. Sometimes it would be a much-needed cup of coffee, or even a trip to the local grocery store to satisfy some strange craving he acquired throughout the week. "Is it pears again?"
The man gave her a nervous chuckle. "No no, nothing like that. I was wondering if you could do me a different sort of favor this time."
Favor? She was merely an employee. Since when did he have to ask her for a favor? Suddenly Maka felt as though she had chosen a bad time to walk down this particular hallway. "What…what do you need, Mr. Sid?"
"I was wondering if you could escort Soul Eater to my office right after his tour."
The blow to her stomach was so palpable she almost choked. Why, why did these kinds of things often happen to her? "W-what for?"
"I need to talk with him more clearly on his role here in Shibusen. It is very important that he knows of this before retiring to his dorms tonight. Can I trust you to do this for me, right on the dot?" Mr. Sid was no longer hesitant. He was in full confidence now, his arms folded and commanding.
And Maka knew that it would be futile to refuse, especially considering that he was her employer. She bent her head in defeat, her voice low. "Yes, Mr. Sid. I'll see to it right away." No matter much she didn't want to.
"Is something the matter, Maka?" Mr. Sid asked, peering closer at her face. Her heart accelerated with panic, and she forgot to hold back a wince. "Aha, so it is. You can always tell me- after all, I was always a man who could understand others' predicaments quite-"
"No," Maka cut in, and the dean's eyebrows lifted. "I mean…Sorry, but nothing's wrong, Mr. Sid. Everything's fine. I better go check on Soul now."
She quickly turned and trotted away, leaving a confused dean in her wake.
Soul decided that Kilik- no, Meister Kilik, was quite the serious kid.
Everything he had pointed out on their tour was nothing short of informative and to the point. While usually tour guides resorted to cheesy ice breakers to be more familiar with their visitors, Kilik did no such thing; in fact, it was as if his goal was to be as unfamiliar with them as possible.
"Here's the library. And right next to it, the boy's dorms for the weapons. Except for special conditions, weapons and meisters do not share dorm or apartment buildings on the campus. If they wish to share an apartment off-campus, they must see the president himself to get special permission, plus get letters of recommendation from at least three faculty members. On top of that, they must renew their permission every year."
"Of course," murmured Tsubaki, and Soul glanced her way. She didn't look confused or shocked at these outrageous requirements, but rather like she knew about this kind of thing all along. So she wasn't new to these conditions, or what?
He considered just asking her, then decided against it. He still didn't exactly know how things were around here, and he didn't want to give this kid an excuse to send Scythe Soul to some higher-up for some kind of insubordination or something.
"And right here is the student center, which is open twenty-four hours each day." Here (Meister) Kilik stopped, and they stopped with him. He then let out a breath, taking off his glasses and cleaning the lens with his shirt.
"That's the end of the tour. Any- Oh, hey Maka."
Soul froze at the sight of the last person he wanted to see right now. This day was just getting better and better.
"Hello, Kilik," she replied, smiling. "Is your tour over yet? I need to borrow one of the newbies for a while."
Kilik raised a brow and put his glasses back on. "Really? What for?"
Maka grabbed Soul's hand and tugged him behind her. "Sorry, can't tell. But I'll see you later, ok?"
"Ok…" Soul heard behind him, but he wasn't really paying attention. He was too busy trying not to trip over his feet as Maka towed him towards the main building, her grip on his hand as unrelenting as unrelenting could get.
When they were out of sight from fellow students, Maka made sure to throw his hand away from her grasp as far as possible and walk ahead. "Hurry up. Mr. Sid said he had something important to tell you, and it's never good to make him wait too long."
She didn't hear any response behind her, which was good. There didn't need to be any unnecessary conversation between them anyway. He had made it perfectly clear yesterday that he wanted nothing to do with this place, and nothing to do with her.
But…
When she had first seen him, he had looked so…lonely. Sitting there, playing the piano for no one else to hear. So devoid of anyone who had truly wanted him around.
Just like she had been.
Maka bent her head and sighed, squeezing a hand into a moderate fist. All she had wanted was for Soul to lose that look he had on his face- that hard, closed-off look that told more than it wanted to.
It hurt to know that it was no use anyways.
"Maka."
She almost stopped, a foolish thread of hope curling against her chest, but caught herself and kept right on walking. His footsteps hurried behind her, and her lips tightened as a hand clamped firmly down on her shoulder. "Maka, wait."
She jostled off his hold, glaring at the nearing door of Mr. Sid's office and quickening her stride. "Get away from me."
Soul didn't respond after that, and they stopped right in front of the door in stifled silence. Her job complete, she turned to leave him to whatever business he had with Mr. Sid and find someplace to be alone.
"So that's how it's going to be, huh?"
Of their own will- because she certainly didn't feel like sticking around- her feet stopped in their tracks. And stayed there.
"I have no idea what I did yesterday, but it must have been something major for you to be this pissed off."
She didn't know when she turned around. "Shut up."
His eyes were solemn beads, narrowing into pinpricks of restraint. "Is it because I said I wanted to get away from here?"
Once again Maka felt her insides sink with despair, but all she could get out was anger. "Of course it is. You've barely gotten to know the place, and already you want out!"
As if catching a yawn, Soul's features clouded over with the same anger she displayed. "Because you forced me here, Sherlock! What, did you expect me to feel happy about getting a brick thrown to my head and then getting dragged to some place I-"
Maka stomped her foot with irritation and blurted out, "I just wanted you to belong somewhere!"
That one statement effectively shut him up. His eyes widened, as if she had just told him her deepest, darkest secret.
She wasn't done yet. "It wasn't about getting employee points, or anything like that. It's just that you always had this look on your face, like you thought everything was pointless. I know it was stupid of me, but I just thought that maybe if you came here you wouldn't be so alone anymore!"
There. She said it. Feet still planted, she straightened with a glare to ready herself for anything- a snarky retort, a snide question, anything.
Instead he frowned. Then he frowned some more. His mouth tightened and slacked, like he was trying to decide which words to let loose and which ones to keep in.
Creeeak.
They broke out of their silent stalemate, and Maka looked over at their intruder- Mr. Sid. He was standing just behind his office door, both eyebrows raised at the tense atmosphere dissipating before his intrusion. In a flash of panic she wondered if he had heard their whole argument just now.
He crossed his arms and peered down at Soul, whose expression had smoothed over into a blank slate. "If you are done with your discussion, Soul Eater, we need to talk about something very important in my office."
"…" Soul merely stared up at the dean, and Maka could see that he was just as confused as she felt. Well, this wasn't her business, and she wasn't one to pry into other people's affairs. As far as she was concerned, her and Soul's "discussion" was over.
"Hmph," she sniffed. Picking up her feet, she resumed her exit. Whatever futile relationship or bond she had with Soul- it was gone now.
"Oi, shortstack!" Soul called from behind.
She didn't even slow down at the offending nickname. "It was nice knowing you-"
"Sorry."
Her breath caught in her throat, and she swiveled her head around. He met her surprise with apparent nonchalance, his mouth in that same stubborn line that always tickled her. He's serious, she realized with a start. He's serious about all this…and…
A small blush formed on her cheeks when she noticed Mr. Sid watching the whole thing.
Clearing her throat, she muttered a barely audible, "Don't worry about it."
This time she ran.
Sitting in front of a cross-armed Mr. Sid, his legs aching from standing and walking all day, all Soul could do was think a single thought.
What a stupid girl.
Over and over that sentence repeated itself in his head- and it was true. Maka was stupid. She was naïve and didn't know much about her surroundings, especially if he's catching on to them before she is. How long had she been here, anyways?
Oh, and then there was that 'I just wanted you to belong somewhere' crap. What did she know? Just how did she expect to waltz around with that vapid brain of hers and think that she could-
That she could so accurately get how other people felt.
He sighed. Perceptive, but not perceptive. That girl probably didn't know just how much she was a contradiction of herself, and that sort of thing always led to trouble one way or another. Anyone like her probably needed serious looking after, just to make sure they don't get taken advantage of by the wrong kind of people or something like that.
"I understand what you're going through, Soul Eater."
He didn't remember closing his eyes. Snapping them open, they swept a quick glance around the office, past the locked door, and rested back on the dean in front of him.
"What the hell are you talking about?" he demanded, angry for several reasons. He was suddenly tired from everything today, and all he wanted was to go to his new dorm and sleep. What was he doing here?
Mr. Sid merely nodded his head, not even taking note of his rudeness. "I always was a man who could understand woman problems. It was what made my partnership efficient, back in the good old days. Of course, my partner wasn't any regular woman-"
"What do you need me here for, Mr. Sid?" Soul interrupted. He didn't exactly feel like Memory Lane right now. "What was so important that you had to call me out after tours?"
It took only a split second for the dean's expression to turn serious. The man's brows furrowed, his mouth widening into a full-toothed grimace.
"Are you willing to fight for what you want?"
A/N: And that's all (for now), folks! Hope you enjoyed the chappie, and if you could, please review! b^^d
[-to self- Yosh! On to writing the next chappie (after studying for my Sociology test)!]