A/N: This was requested to go along with artwork by a friend jonnnyboy on tumblr. Check out his artwork because it is awesome! There is a link to his page and the artwork on my profile. =)
It was just one of those days again, not much to do around school or at least as far as he was concerned. Soul was lazily propped back on his chair with his feet on the desk, resting his eyes. He opened one eye drearily to glance over at his meister and almost laughed aloud. Of course that bookworm was studying when they didn't even have a teacher for the moment. Doctor Stein had just been about to cut into some exotic and most likely endangered animal when he was called to supervise another one of Black Star's fights; and that meant it was a pretty cool day if he had anything to say about it, but of course Maka wouldn't see it that way. He scowled at the back of her head, nose in a book like always, why couldn't she just relax sometimes.
He was just about to close his eyes again when he noticed the title of the book she was so intently studying, JAZZ, it said in big bold letters. He raised an eyebrow; Maka was studying a book on jazz? He leaned forward a bit to look at her closer, moving to lay his head in his arms on the desk like he was sleeping. He peered at her over the top of his arm, watching her facial expressions change as she read, as he usually did when he was pretending to sleep during class. He watched as she pouted at something and then cut her eyes in what he knew to be determination, before switching back to a pout and biting her bottom lip in a look that was all too familiar to him.
Frustration. Frustration mixed with self-loathing. The look that he himself has made countless times as he sat at a piano in his family home, crumbling sheet after sheet of scores he knew weren't good enough; the look of just not being able to get something right no matter how many times you try. This, however, made him all the more concerned for her. After all it was just a book, not a test or a technique they couldn't master, why would she be so frustrated over reading a stupid book?
He watched as her fingers clenched around the cover as she continued to read and did her lower lip just tremble? He knew that she no doubt looked perfectly normal to any of the other students but he knew her too well for that, and he didn't even need to sense her wavelength to know that she was greatly disappointed in herself. With that thought it finally dawned on him what was happening. He felt his heart jump a little as he realized she was trying, and in her mind failing, to understand him. She was studying something important to him to get closer to him.
He let his hidden features soften and a lazy but loving smile crossed his face. She didn't have to do that, the fact that she didn't understand the complexities of music was something he genuinely loved her for, in her he found that he could relax about music instead of constantly working not to come up short compared to his prodigy brother. When he played for her she didn't see the slight mistakes he made because all she could understand was his emotion behind it. She didn't need to study herself ragged trying to understand those things, but he knew she wouldn't stop until she got it right. She'd go at it until she exhausted herself, it had already been the entire class and she hadn't so much as looked up once.
Soul lifted his head to look around the classroom, wondering how long Stein had been gone and realized that the classroom was completely empty. His jaw dropped and he made an aggravated growl as he looked at the time. She had been so focused on that book that it was halfway into their lunch period and he had been so focused on her that he hadn't even noticed.
"Oi. Bookworm." He grumbled, inwardly laughing at her annoyed glare in his direction at the nickname. "Why didn't you wake me up, we're missing lunch." He muttered in annoyance back at her. She didn't even look up; she simply pulled out a boxed lunch from her bag and placed it in front of him. He noticed she didn't get anything out for herself and he frowned before smirking coolly.
"You know if you ate something more often, maybe you wouldn't be such a tiny-tits." He teased, trying to get any kind of reaction from her. All he received was a hushed 'shut up and eat, Soul'. He glared in her direction and dug into his lunch, watching her intently. She turned a page and he saw her shake slightly. His frown deepened but he said nothing, shoving more food into his face instead. He caught her shivering again, and again, each time swallowing his words with another bite of food until he just couldn't stand it anymore. He pushed his food aside and stood up, still not even gaining a glance from her. He shook himself out of his track jacket and draping it over her shoulders with a blush spreading over his cheeks.
Maka's eyes widened when she felt his warmth on the inside of his jacket around her back, but she didn't look up. A faint pink blush spread on her own cheeks and she awkwardly cleared her throat.
"W-what are you doing?" She asked with quiet nervousness.
He merely reestablished his apathetic facial expression and sat back down, still refusing to look at her because if he did that wall would crumble instantly and he couldn't afford to let her see that.
"You need to take better care of yourself bookworm." was his dry reply. "How can you make me into the coolest death scythe ever if you don't eat and catch cold." He could feel her eyes on him now but he just went back to his food like he didn't notice her looking at him with those round green eyes and that adorable small smile she gave him when he did something she appreciated. Just thinking about it made his face grow a little warmer. He smirked when out of the corner of his vision he saw her mark her place in her book and pull out her own lunch, whispering 'Thanks Soul' before she took a bite, reopening her book and letting the comfortable silence of their wavelengths surround them as they shared their simple lunch alone in the empty classroom.