All that I feel is the realness I'm faking
Taking my time but it's time that I'm wasting
How many times can I break till I shatter?
Over the line can't define what I'm after

Shattered OVA

-;-

Maka looked blankly at the ceiling; mangled thoughts had run ramped throughout her mind earning her another sleepless night. Not uncommon. No, the blonde had not been sleeping at all lately, making her fight through the days with drowsy eyes only to pass out on the couch when she arrived home. Always waking up a few hours later sweating from unclear nightmares, not like she didn't know what they were about, they were all the same thing. What happened that night three months ago.

It never left her. It tore her down. He was going to be back for her soon and Maka knew that when he was, she wasn't going to fight him this time. Maybe that's the real reason he let them live, to see that fire die. To see someone so bent on survival, give up. It only took a few short weeks to completely change, for a caterpillar to morph into a butterfly. Only this one was black and poison.

She shifted her gaze to her alarm clock as it BEEPED harshly with no consideration to her constant headache.

School.

How many ways can you hate one word, one reality, for Maka she found many ways to hate that singular word. For starters there were just too many people, all looking at her expecting her to lose it or break or just do something of interest so they could look at her with pitying looks. An excuse to whisper and point, shaking their heads in pity while doing nothing to help. To them it was nothing more than a show, like she was some animal fighting to keep her head above water. Well for what Maka cared they could all go to hell, she didn't need anyone feeling sorry for her. She did enough of that for everyone.

The first days back were the worst. Every single eye in the school was on the blonde. Judging how well they thought she was, wondering if or when she was going to breakdown. Hoping it would be somewhere they could see. Everyone watched but no one would come close to her. Not even Black Star and Tsubaki. It made her feel like she had a bio-hazard sign taped on her head and they all had to keep back a safe distance. It had been annoying and truthfully, it stung a little bit too, but worse than that Soul wouldn't talk to her. He wouldn't even look at her. He would just walk next to her, not with her. Despite that feeling she was a little pleased that he wasn't leaving her alone in her apparent quarantine.

The feeling that he was ignoring her quickly changed when Maka discovered the real reason no one dared to approach her. The blame fell on her silent companion. After a few days of observing the others who attended the school she noticed that if anyone got even remotely close to her, it only took one quick look at Soul's venomous glare for them to blend back into the crowd. This kept up for the next week or so and she was starting to feel more like Moses, then an animal, and that the rest of the kids were the Red Sea. No matter where she went they would split right down the middle to avoid having Soul's frightening look hone in on them.

A small smile flitted across her face. A light knock at the door broke Maka's thoughts and the tiny upturn of her mouth fell when she remembered that she was going to have to do today. Get up and pretend. Trust her when she said that she was a bad actor, the blonde knew that people weren't buying her tough act. At least not as much as they use too and if she was an actor than her biggest critic was right outside the door.

"Hey Maka, turn off your alarm." The blonde frowned at this. See, if it was before everything happened, he would have just kicked the door open walk on in and point out how it was very uncool of Maka to make him wake up to such a annoying sound. Now though he would always get up before her, make her breakfast and get everything ready for them so that she didn't have to do a thing. Breakfast use to be her thing, she was the one who had to look after him in the morning. That's the way it still should be but she knew he saw the small changes in her and he was just doing what he could to make things easier. It just felt like in these last three months Maka wasn't needed for anything and she couldn't help let that feeling fuel her perpetual sorrow right now. Her hand fell down hard on the off button.

Soul, who had made a habit of having staring contests with Maka's innocent white door every time he found himself in front of it, which was far too often lately. He heard the beeping stop so he turned toward the kitchen. Soul was not stupid, he knew there were quite a few people who thought otherwise but he wasn't He also knew that something was up with Maka. Lately she has been acting a little bit off. It's not like he blames her after what she had to go through not only during what happened but also the weeks after. That being said, over the past month he has seen constant changes in her, everything from her body language to the way she speaks or doesn't most of the time. Though he can see it more so when she thinks no one's looking; that sad look in her eyes, the uncharacteristic slouch. He could tell she always wanted to be somewhere else, with someone else, and doing something else.

The weapon just wished more than anything, that she could confided in him, or someone at least. Since she returned to school everyone from Tsubaki to Ox have been on Maka, asking her if she was sure she didn't want to talk about anything and that if she needed anything. They made it clear they meant anything at all and that they were at her beck and call or something like that. She refused it all though insisting that she was fine and they needn't worry. How could he not Soul knew what desperation looked like and he was very worried that his tech was going to do something drastic. Telling him not to worry was like asking the sun not to come up every night or trying to stop the tide, it was impossible.

This pissed Soul off so much more than it should of. Why was she so stubborn all the time they could all see she was hurting but she wouldn't let anyone close enough to help! She was his most important person, his mister, his best friends and the person who he always fought with, whether it was against an enemy or just each other. Soul was losing her to herself and there was no way he could fight for her until the blonde let him. He never felt more useless in his life.

As he heard the shower turn on he couldn't help but let his mind drift to the night he brought Maka home from the hospital. At that time she still needed help with most things, so when she had said she wanted to get a shower he had to help her get ready to get in. This task consisted of turning on the water to decent temperature, easing her out of her clothing, and gently placing her in the waters path. He had just pulled the shower drape across when he heard a small voice, Soul couldn't make out what it said exactly but it had sounded sort of like "stay". Whatever it was, though, he understood the meaning when he saw her small shaking hand sneak out under the drape. He had spent that night holding Maka's hand as her tears mingled with the water the shower head produced. That was the first and last time she opened up to him.

When Maka walked into the kitchen her food was already on the table waiting for her. She sat. Soul was directly across from her, neither of them daring to break the silence, so they ate. As of late words between them had become dangerous, for them it was like throwing rocks at glass and they most definitely resided in a glass house. One that was waiting to shatter all around them, disregarding its occupants and the blondes need to keep hidden in plain sight. Maka was aware that Soul knew that something was up with her attitude lately beyond the obvious, that much was certain but they still understand each other on a level even after everything that had happened. So he could see that she didn't want to talk about it either.

Their connection had begun to fall apart because of Maka, she would accept blame willingly. Since she had spent the better part of the past few months snapping the attachments to people who she could no longer bare to be close too, there was only one exception. There had been one bond that would not break no matter her efforts to sever it, Soul's. She was not some dumb girl living in a teen novel, she was not mislead into thinking it was love, no, this stubbornly strong bond was created on such a deeper level then that. It had to be after how much time they had spent building on it so they could create the perfect soul resonance. She had weakened it but there was just a tiny, insanely minuscule, part in her heart that didn't want to detach his bond from her.

Once they were done eating Soul picked up their plates and put them next to the sink to be cleaned at a later time. He headed into his room to get his book bag and when he came out, back into the kitchen, his tech was gone. Maka wasn't the only one who she was hurting, no. Soul turned off the lights drowning the room in darkness and as he turned to close the door he looked at the beams of sunlight peeking through the blinds. The door slammed shut.

A/N: It's been awhile and I come back with such a small chapter. I'm sorry. I am also sorry to say that it's going to be awhile before the next update. But review to let me know what you think and what you would like to happen.