Acquired Taste

Chapter 4: Monday Part 1

A/N: Story has finally started!

For this first time in seven years, Maka did not go to school. That sort of pissed her off at the end of the very long day, seeing as how she was aiming for a perfect attendance record, but when all was violently said and viciously done, she knew there was absolutely nothing she could do about it.

It all started during a rare, peaceful breakfast at Tsubaki's. She had been invited over again and this time Maka could enjoy toast with home-made apricot jam (she would have asked for the recipe if she didn't have the talent of burning water) without the annoying idiot whose snores could be heard from his room.

The little shit had also been sleeping by the time Maka had left for breakfast despite the rude awakening he had gotten 10 minutes earlier.

She bent low to the floor and pretended she was a super secret spy as she silently crept up to her unsuspecting victim. James Bond music sounded dimly in the back of her mind. 3...2...1..

"WAKE UP, LITTLE SHIT."

Soul Eater lurched awake, making a deranged sound that could not have been made by a normal dog as his tiny little legs scrambled to attention before promptly falling off the arm rest of the couch.

The peals of laughter had him glaring at Maka from the floor, which was where she was currently rolling, and quickly jumped on to the coffee table before she could flatten him in her euphoric fit. That's what he got for making her painfully clean up cheetoh crumbs and stubbornly clingy dog fur all Sunday!

Ah, she loved torturing her dog.

She and Tsubaki effortlessly chatted of light topics, both elegantly dancing to the tune of shallow-conversation. The pair had come from Japan, and didn't have to go to school since both had completed their GED's a couple months back. Apparently they were living off of a salary but Tsubaki hadn't mentioned any type of job.

They were both looking for a friend who might be in the city. Further questioning came up squat, since Tsubaki dodged around the question like how Neo from the Matrix dodges bullets, so Maka surmised either they were secret agents looking for a highly dangerous wanted-criminal or this "friend" of theirs was very important to them and it hurt to talk about it.

She preferred the first option.

Sounded cooler.

"Do you live alone?" Tsubaki had just asked while resealing the lid on the jam when Maka glanced at the clock out of habit. She choked on orange juice while jumping like a frightened rabbit out of her chair which effectively knocked it down, "I'm late!"

"Have fun," Tsubaki giggled, the picture of ease while Maka did an odd jig-skip to the door.

"Thanks! Oh," Maka grabbed the door frame before she could dash off in to the night. Or mid-morning. Whatever, she just had to go. "Nah, I have a dog." Unfortunately.

"A dog?" Tsubaki echoed in surprise, "Huh, just figured you to be more of a cat person."

Maka figured it wasn't meant as an insult, she didn't ponder on it too much since her mind was on the fact she was suppose to be half-way to school by now.

Ever so, the jam was worth it.

"What's its name?"

"Little S- uuuh," Maka was still mentally preparing herself for the tornado she would leave behind after ransacking her apartment for school-stuff, "His name is Soul Eater. Bye!"

She slammed the door before she could catch Tsubaki's shocked face.

And that was when it started.

Hell.

Maka was already fixing her pigtails as she barged in to her apartment, "Little Shit! I'm lea-OH MY GOD."

She automatically threw something she had instantaneously grabbed off the small table by the door at the figure -an old naked figure- that was standing in the middle of her apartment before slapping a hand over her eyes.

"What the-ACK! Lady! Geez, don't throw shit at me!"

"If you're here to steal something!" Maka blindly crab-walked (a hand still over her eyes) with her back pressed against the wall, trying to find something other than 400 pages of word vomit to chuck at him, "TAKE IT! Everything here is swap meet crap!"

"I'm not here to- Oh will you stop whatever the fuck you're doing? It's creeping me out!" the male voice (that did not sound very old) snapped in irritation. Maka heard the front door close but it didn't sound like he was approaching her.

"Creeping you out?" She shrieked, hand clamping on something the felt strangely like a spatula.

"Alright, alright I'm covered! Just open your eyes already- you... I totally don't know your name." the voice had deadpanned at the last part.

"Good!" Maka yelled, "I don't want you to!"

"That would be kind of unbalanced wouldn't it?" the voice attempted a casual pretense but couldn't hide the rushed undercurrent, "Seeing as how you know mine?"

"And that would be?" Maka made a little horizontal curtain with her fingers hesitantly, but kept her eyes screwed shut. He said he was covered, he didn't say where.

"Depends, you want Little Shit, or my real name?"

What.

Obliviously forgetting the fact the innocence of her eyes could be scarred for life, she removed her hand from her face and, after catching an eyeful of amazing (in a very non-perverted way), gaped at him with a mix of blatant shock and skepticism.

Okay. He wasn't old (thank all that is holy). He just had white hair. Maka took a moment for her curiosity to reflect on all the weird hair colors she's seen in the span of three days. Which was just two, still.

And he was covered from the waist down with...

"Is that.." Maka shakily pointed to the make-shift wrap skirt around his hips. His blood red eyes (it was dawning on her now, but her slow uptake on the situation was due to her brain shutting down) followed her gaze before turning back to her in grumpy, impatience, "A blanket? So?"

Not just a blanket. Her blanket.

And now she'd have to burn it. Pity.

He sighed in frustration, scratching the back of his head, "Uh.. yeah sorry, first thing I grabbed so I wouldn't have lethal literature attacking me." He glared at her in accusation.

"Reflex," was her response, warily approaching him, spatula hidden behind her as her last minute trump card.

"Are you really... the dog?" she refused to say "my dog". No way was she owning him after this fiasco.

"Yeah," Soul frowned, he had an intense stare that Maka had to actively try not to flinch at, "I was put under a curse. No idea how I broke it but-"

Maka hadn't noticed how close she had gotten (to make sure this was her dog) when the door exploded. Or less dramatically, got knocked off its hinges.

"SOUL!" an annoyingly familiar and enthusiastic voice bellowed.

"Aw, shit." from any other person, the tone Soul had used would have been considered whining.

Only muscle memory accompanied with spatula saved Maka when a fucking kunai knife was aimed at her face. She didn't have time to celebrate the fact she just blocked a ninja attack with an ordinary kitchen utensil when a bird claw took a swipe at her jugular. She stepped back in the niche of time when another claw followed suit for her throat.

She screwed her eyes shut but something that sounded like a combination of a slap and a thud had her eyes open again. She stumbled back and pathetically fell on her ass when she saw a hulking figure in front of her (Soul's back) and he had just blocked Tsubaki-of-all-people's hand...claw.

"What the fuck is going on?" Maka growled, but the menace she had aimed for was driven off by hysteria.

"Soul!" Black Star snarled, he looked kind of lost (Maka felt the same way, only about ten folds more), from the doorway, "Why are you defending her? She's-!"

"I thought she was too but she's not!" Soul barked out, still wrist to bird-wrist with Tsubaki who had a bizzarre look of animosity and shock. She kept glancing to Maka every two seconds. That made her feel self-concious.

"Then why are you cooped up here when we're two fucking doors down from you!" Black Star demanded, advancing with more ninja shit ready for the kill. Or the spatula. Either way, this would have been cool if Maka wasn't so tongue-tied useless.

"And how does Maka know you!" Tsubaki added, the crazed look in her eye was gone, but her and Soul's arms shook from the pressure the two were exerting.

It didn't seem to bother him though as he looked over his back to the frozen girl on the floor and said much too conversationally for the mood, "Oh your name is Maka? Boring."

Maka didn't have enough time to muster the wit within her to respond when Tsubaki gave a wordless, angry shriek in her impatience that had everyone in the room wincing. Soul included, and he yelled something that shocked Tsubaki in to silence

"She's my Meister!"

It would have been silent if Black Star hadn't been so shocked he dropped his knife thing right on to his foot. Tsubaki ignored the boy's howl and curses (as did Maka), looking appropriately flabbergasted for whatever the hell Soul had just said.

"I'm your what now?" was all Maka could think of (what the hell is a Meister?) before Soul suddenly cursed, "Aw, crap."

And erupted in to smoke.

No one moved as the smoke cleared (the back of Maka's mind was absently worried about smoke-detectors), and low and behold...

Little Shit in all his canine glory looked up at Tsubaki, then at Maka, with nervous red eyes.

Maka could already tell what Soul would have said if he could talk, it was so obvious to her now after speaking dog language for the past couple of days. Even seeing him in a new -very bizarre and chaotic- light, he was still the same as ever.

This, SUCKS.

+Story's finally going somewhere. Woo.

+Will be taking Soul vs. Maka or Black Star vs. Maka ideas (just as time fillers) but no longer taking ideas as to the main plot. But I appreciate everyone's ideas and I can only hope you will understand how deeply indebted this story is to everyone's suggestions. You made this story. Mostly.

+Team Cat: 10

Team Dog: 6

+ Also, will no longer be responding to every review. I am now going to mush in my responses to you all because I am a lazy ass (At least you guys get your own sentence).

(Watch this next paragraph make me look like I'm insane)

I can see it now: Dog throwing contest. Yes I meant a veil, and that hair cover…thing. Laughter is good for maintaining a healthy life-style. This story loves you too. I shall update to your heart's content. Doggy Soul does talk just not in the normal way, I guess. The name "Little Shit" actually had a lot of thought behind it though the idea popped up in about 2 seconds; I didn't want it to seem like an over-glorified term of endearment but also had to have enough personal opinion to know she's talking about Soul. Soul turning human: Yes..well no; you'll find out later. Thank you, shall do. She figures it out..about a couple paragraphs ago; I imagined him mostly cute but with a dignified presence. Hah, thanks I was a bit worried about story flow. Beauty and the beast on steroids..love it (laughing absurdly hard). I don't think she will be doing posters; subconsciously she wants to keep Soul, well soon she'll find out she has no choice (hint, hint).