Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater

-Chapter Four-

Cotton filled Maka's mouth as she stood there under the archway that led into her living room. The guest whom she had unwittingly allowed into her home sat on a wooden chair at the opposite end, leaning back in it as he stared blankly at her. Filed teeth peaked through as his lips parted, revealing just how sharp and white they really were. Red eyes caught most of her attention though, the bright orbs peering into her through the shadowed portion of the room. They almost took her mind off the fact that ivory locks spiked from every inch of his head, but as he ran a hand through his hair as a grin found its way on his lips, Maka was immediately reminded of it.

"I knew you'd find me. You always were the smartest one in town."

Maka's heart sank just a little at his words. The realization that looking for him was merely a game all along sent shivers down her spine, but she bit her tongue to prevent the verbal abuse that mounted in her throat. At least after all this time he was there, and now that he was, Maka was not going to ruin it. Instead, the young woman let her mind race with the questions that had been plaguing her for days. They desperately needed answering, and it showed through in her cold, green eyes.

The stranger's small grin quickly faded when he caught sight of the pained expression on his host's face. She seemed hurt, angry, confused, and a whole spectrum of other emotions that he couldn't place, all at the same time. Whatever it was he found in her gaze, it was enough to make him lose that confident air he had to him. Almost as if feeling guilty, he sunk back in his chair ever so slightly and simply stared back at Maka with a serious expression. He knew the time had come to explain everything.

"What happened to Gopher?" Maka asked with hurt eyes and a stoic voice.

A sigh it past the stranger's lips as he picked himself up the chair. Maka watched warily as her guest made his way to the living room, hands in his pockets as he looked to the ceiling. Almost as if he were trying to find the right words to say, he tilted his head to the side and looked at her out of the corners of his eyes. She couldn't help but to swallow a lump in the back of her throat at his flat expression as a feeling of dread swept over her. The way he looked, then and there, made it clear to her that he really was the Reaper from the stories. It was the face of someone who was not afraid of death.

"In this world, you could die within a moments notice for no particular reason at all." he muttered through muffled breath. "Who do you think prevents that from happening?"

Unable to control herself, Maka found herself weak in the knees. "You."

Very slowly the man nodded, as if trying to stress his point. Taking a few steps forward, he kept his eyes glued to the woman in front of him as she tried desperately to ease herself. Maka knew he wouldn't hurt her. What he said to her on the night of Lyle's death was proof of that. Still, she couldn't help but tremble at his dark presence, his piercing red eyes digging into her in that ominous way he was so good at doing. The woman sucked in air as he approached ever closer, though still a modest distance from her.

"You know who I am. You know what I am. Lyle Noah, unfortunately, didn't know either about himself." the stranger shook his head bitterly at the thought.

"But what are you?" Maka blurted out, stuck between asking two very important questions. "You're the reaper, right? The one from the stories?"

The man's ominous air slightly lifted as he gave an amused snort. "I'm a Reaper, yeah. It's cute how your town gave me a rhyme."

Another step closer to her, but Maka didn't notice. She was too busy trying to sort through what the man had just said. There really was a reaper, and he was standing right there in her living room. Together. With her. All alone, with no one else to help her if he suddenly realized he didn't want to answer her questions anymore. The thought sent shivers down her spine, but the realization of something completely different scared her even more. What did he mean when he said a reaper?

"Does that mean there's more than one of you?" Maka gasped, eyes quickly widening at her own words.

His dark smile widened ever so slightly. "A few others, I guess you could say."

The woman forced a swallow. "Are they here in Loew as well?"

"We don't cross territories. Lyle was the only exception."

Maka froze in place. The implications of what the man had just said were very clear in the woman's mind. As if realizing his host's immediate shock, the stranger halted his advances towards her and waited patiently in place for her to recover from his words. It took a moment, however, before Maka was ready to ask the question that the white haired man knew she wanted so desperately to.

"What do you mean he was the only exception?"

Very calmly and without missing a beat, the stranger quickly closed the gap between him and the woman in a few long strides. Taken aback by his sudden presence right in front of her, she paced a few steps backwards, only to bump into a chair right behind her. She fell, landing right in the seat of the wooden piece of furniture. With nothing else left to do, she remained sitting as her sharp toothed guest stood inches in front of her. He leaned in, keeping her from getting up by putting all the weight on his hands as he gripped the arms of the chair. She was stuck.

"I'll answer the rest of your questions, but only if you swear to keep it between us." he said quietly, staring into her eyes.

Maka nodded quickly, both out of fear and anticipation. "Please, tell me..what happened to Lyle."

The man nodded as well, as if satisfied with her response and plea. He released his hold on the chair and took a few steps back, giving the poor woman enough space to breathe in. Curiously though, his gaze still locked with her own. Maka stared back as well, for no particular reason other than to wonder why he kept looking into her emerald eyes. After a moment, he ended up closing his eyes. She figured he knew what she was thinking.

"Three months ago," he began, his voice slightly louder than before. "Lyle Noah became a Reaper under special circumstances. I allowed him to continue living here, though that turned out to be a mistake."

Maka's heart leaped in her chest, her mind racing too fast to process what he said. "How did he become one of you? Gopher was an altar boy! Not some kind of spirit!"

"I can't tell you any of that. All I can say is that when he figured out eating innocent souls makes you stronger, it all went to hell from there."

"Does this have something to do with a Grigori?" the woman asked without thinking, remembering his words from before.

The man's calm eyes suddenly grew very wide. "Shit. I forgot you heard that."

Almost instantly, the mood shifted. Maka could feel the air change as she continued to stare at the man standing in front of her, whom she noticed was no longer confident in his stance. Instead, now he seemed almost...undignified. His back was hunched over just by the slightest of a degree, and his eyes were still very wide from before. The razor sharp teeth that she now associated him with were peeking out teasingly from beneath his lips, and she could have sworn on her life that there was just the slightest hint of drool out of the corner of his mouth.

Again, he leaned into her and put his hands on the chair's arms. This time, however, he came in much closer than before. Completely shocked, Maka remained absolutely still as his hot breathed trickled down towards her neck. Still staring out in front of her, the only view of him the young woman could see was his ruffled white hair as the rest of him hovered mere inches from her skin. Red flushed her cheeks, thinking for one unpleasant moment that he was going to pull something in the privacy of her home. But that theory was quickly shot down when she noticed a pained sigh escape his lips, along with the sound of what sounded like a gulp. She became immediately confused. Was he trying to hold himself back from something?

The growls rumbling from deep within his chest snapped her out of it. "Reapers are those who watch over the living and the dead. You with me so far?"

"Yeah." Maka muttered faintly, being the only thing she could say with his breath burning across her skin.

"Well, that means taking people's souls at the end of their life." he sighed painfully yet again. "And when that happens, there's multiple ways of doing it..."

Finally the man brought his head away from her skin, allowing Maka to roll her shoulder and cover up for the warm spot presently on her neck. He looked up towards the ceiling, giving a forced grin as if trying so desperately to look and remain calm when something was clearly wrong. A very small part of Maka was worried for him, as he looked so pained it was almost disheartening. Mostly though, she just wanted him to step away as far as possible before he could try and get near her again.

"...for example," he continued, still baring his teeth at the roof. "Some put them in a bag for storage. Others release them immediately to the next life..."

The Reaper in front of Maka brought his head back down to face her, and for the first time she got a good look at his eyes. They seemed surprisingly bright, almost excited. His pupils had dilated, and his breath had picked up ever so slightly. In her gut, Maka knew that something about her had made him like this, but for the life of her she couldn't figure out what.

"...others still, such as Lyle Noah and myself included...like to eat the souls of those they take."

Maka cringed. She knew now exactly why he was acting they way he was. With a sick stomach and paralyzed muscles, the woman watched as he brought his face inches from her's. Their collected breaths mixing as that excited look in his eyes seemed to grow with each passing second. In her mind, Maka pleaded to be spared the same fate as her once friend Gopher. The image of the boy's lifeless body filled her thoughts as her eyes grew red, filling to the brim with water as she waited desperately to figure out just what the man was planning to do with her.

To her shock and surprise, however, the man did nothing to her. He simply let his head fall from her's, his snow white hair brushing past her lips as he stared at the woman's lap. From his calmer breath and drooping shoulders, Maka figured that somehow he had lost that burst of energy that ran through him, leaving him to crash right above her. Relief swept through her. She'd keep her soul for another day.

"The form Lyle took that night...it was in response to your Grigori soul, Maka." he mumbled from his worn out stance, a hint of exhaustion in his tone.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Maka asked warily, still staring out in front of her as his hair rubbed against her skin.

The man sucked in air tiredly. "Once in a while, a person is born with a special soul. You're one of those people."

Maka felt the Reaper brush past her as he pushed himself off the chair, her personal space returning to her once more. The relief was short lived though. Again she found herself concerned for the man's well being as he stood there in front of her, shoulder's drooping much more noticeable than before. An uncharacteristic bead of sweat hung from his brow, with that pained grin still clear on his lips. Despite the fact he scared her like no other, the woman couldn't help but feel slightly worried for him. For what reason, she couldn't say.

He seemed to collect himself slightly before going on. "Lyle's awareness as a Reaper came slowly. Though when it did, he noticed your powerful soul."

"And that's why he turned into that monster? Because of me?" Maka asked guiltily, regretting ever going to the church in the first place.

The man shook his head. "Yes and no. That was his true form, you just made it come out. Your soul was too tempting."

"What's so special about it as compared to others?" the woman asked timidly, suddenly feeling very self conscious.

"Well for one thing, it tastes amazing."

The woman shuddered at the thought of her soul even having a taste, let alone someone like a Reaper enjoying it as a meal. Her guest however quickly reassured her with a smirk and a shake of the head, as if telling her she had nothing to worry about. Straightening his hunched self up, the man grunted as he popped his neck and back into place. Maka realized he was back to his old self again.

"Why is that you didn't attack me then?" Maka asked cautiously, while he was still calm and collected.

The man looked at her, almost apologetically. "Because I have self control. Lyle was too young to keep his hunger in check, and it ended up costing him."

Pieces of the puzzle started coming together in Maka's head, the Reaper's words illuminating bits and pieces of the mystery she was trying to unravel. That night, he had said something about Lyle owing something. After everything that he had told her it was logical to assume that he wanted the boy's soul, the reason obviously being that he was eating innocent souls to get stronger. But that was only one offense she had heard the white haired man say Lyle committed before stealing his life away. The other one was plotting to take the soul of a Grigori, but why was that a crime?

"What else makes my soul special?" she asked adamantly, hands clutching the arms of her chair.

Her guest shook his head. "There's multiple reasons, but mostly because The Grim says Grigori souls are off limits."

Very quickly that mystery of Maka's became much more complicated. She looked at the stranger, with confused eyes that practically begged to know exactly who The Grim was. Almost as if knowing she would, the man gave a small smirk as he reached out his hand for her to grab. Put off by the gesture, the seated woman was apprehensive to take it. It wasn't until a moment passed and she caught sight of his genuine smile that she decided that there was nothing to worry about. His fingers cupped hers, and he gently helped her up to her feet.

They quickly broke each other's grasp. "I won't bore you with details. He's the Reaper who's risen above the others and earned the title of Grim. He's the strongest out of all of us."

"And you listen to him when he tells you something, right?" Maka figured, correctly.

"Right. Which is why I've been watching over you all these years."

The woman's eyes widened the second he finished his sentence. The Reaper, amused, simply continued his smirk as he waited for Maka to yet again collect herself from the information she'd just been entrusted with. This time however, it took her much longer to recover. The man waited patiently as his host stood there, dumbfounded, staring at him with a curious look that made him want to chuckle. He politely bit his tongue and simply placed a hand on her shoulder, noticing that she didn't cringe in the least at his once frightening touch.

Without waiting for her response, he grinned as he continued. "This land is my territory, and because you live here, The Grim entrusted me with watching over you."

"-But why?" Maka stammered, immediately wanting to know the moment he finished his sentence.

"It's your Grigori soul, Maka. It's a hot commodity." the Reaper explained carefully, tightening his grip on her shoulder. "Others would kill to have one."

At first the worry was obvious in her eyes, but Maka found comfort the man's reassuring gaze. "Who would want one?"

"Reapers who don't listen to The Grim. Other Grigories, things like that."

With a tired groan, Maka found herself hunching over in slight defeat. Not caring what went on anymore, she let her head fall against the man's chest like she had the night of Noah's death. And just like last time, he calmly put his arm around her and brought his face up to greet the ceiling. The only thing that crossed the woman's mind was whether or not she could trust the Reaper, what with him salivating at the very thought of eating her essence. She could feel his pulse and hear his heartbeat, and knew that both were pumping faster than normal.

But as his grip on her tightened and she peaked from the top corners of her eyes, Maka's mind was instantly set at ease. His face didn't seem strained like it had before, and his filed teeth weren't bore like a hungry dog ready for dinner. Instead he seemed calm, like how she remembered him when they first met. And with his simple expression, those features which terrified her not even minutes before were suddenly starting to grow on her. The red eyes, his ruffled white hair, and collected true nature all seemed to suit him. He was different, but that didn't seem like a bad thing.

"What's your name?" she managed to ask, her words half muffled against his crumpled coat.

She watched as the Reaper's expression shifted. From plain, it changed a shade of somber. Maka's heart sank when she caught sight of that strange look in his red eyes, as though he was thinking hard about something. His grip on her loosened slightly, making her think that he wanted her step away from him. When she tried to, however, he ended up pulling her in only to hold onto her harder than before.

"Can't say that I have one. The others just call me Eater..." he replied, stony faced.

"-Eater?" Maka repeated, her head still buried in his embrace.

"...as in, Soul Eater."

The woman let her eyes fall from his face, instead eyeing the floor in the distant corner of the room. She couldn't help but to feel sad for some reason, probably being that this person who had saved her life literally had no name. Words were powerful, and lack of a name was a terrible weakness for anyone. Without even thinking she started to run through random names in her mind, trying to think of one that would fit him. Her conscious weighed her down, however, as a verse from the child's rhyme kept pounding away at the back of her head. He wants your soul, he wants your life.

The thought was quickly shot down. Maka couldn't believe it as she stole another look at the Reaper who held onto her so tightly. His expression seemed so rigid, with his eyes looking off into the distance at something that was just out of reach. She didn't know if it was because he had no identity, or if it was something else entirely. All she did know was that there was no way he was dangerous, at least not to her. Maybe deep down he did want to eat her soul, but he certainly didn't want her dead. It was against his job, his orders. But, Maka also concluded, even if he wasn't ordered to, he still wouldn't kill her. She could feel it in the way he held onto her, both to comfort her and himself.

"I think," Maka mumbled, snapping the Reaper's attention back to her. "From now on, I'll call you Soul."

A.N.

First draft was horrendous, so I rewrote it because I think ya'll deserve better :P

Normally I update in the morning, but Poisoned Scarlet forced my hand with her awesome story Soundless. Go read it if you haven't already!

Chapter 5 should be up within the week.