For Maka, trust was hard to give out. She had seen so much in her years on this Earth, and whether it was Chrona leaving to go back to Medusa, or her own father cheating on her poor mother, she'd had her fair share of betrayals.
Her mother sent her postcards, but did she ever hear from the woman who left her on her own to deal with the man she had divorced and left? No. Maka never did see her mother. Don't get the wrong idea, she loved her mother to no ends, but years upon years of not seeing or talking to that illusive motherly figure didn't help their relationship. Experience and age had created a crack in Maka's airtight love, and allowed her father back into the picture.
Her mother had left her here with Spirit, the man she detested for his problems. She wishes she could have gone with her mother on her adventures in some ways, but she knows it was better for her to stay. She got to become a great meister and find a great partner due to it. She just wishes she could see her sometimes.
Despite the idiotic things her father had done, Maka had learned that you have to fight your own battles. After Maka nearly lost her father to the moon, she couldn't seem to hold her grudge against him any longer. She still acted like she hated him, but maybe a little less.
Her friends had taught her to be more willing to trust, but the one who had really broken down her walls was Soul. She trusted him like no other. She always knew she was safe with him and that he would do anything for her. He would do anything to keep her safe and sound, even if it meant sacrificing himself.
Even though the idea of losing Soul was a terrible one, she had to accept that either of them could get hurt, or die at any time. It was a fact of the job. She would do what she could to keep him safe, and he the same for her. Being able to trust Soul, helped her to trust the people all around her more and more.
So when Damon came along, she gave him a chance. So far, it seemed to be going quite well. Damon was an absolute gentleman. No matter how many times she offered, he would always pay when they went out. Even if it wasn't an actual date. Even if they were just out studying over a cup of coffee.
Damon was gentle with her, he always held her hand. When he dropped her off he always gave her a soft peck on the cheek, taking the time to bend over to her height. He had also never even attempted to push her for anything. She was glad for this as she knew she was nowhere near ready for anything of that sort.
She saw the sidelong glances from Soul overtime she came home, looking to see if Damon had done anything to make her upset. Soul would ask how things were once she came back out after changing into her pajamas, and she would gush over how sweet he had been. How he had done this cute thing, or that cute thing.
What she didn't see underneath the blank face Soul held fast to, was the mild jealousy starting to prickle at Soul's skin. He had been seeing less and less of his beloved meister. His favorite moments had become the mornings when they sat together for breakfast, the bike rides to school, when she came home and talked to him, and surprisingly, when they were in class together. As much as he hated her trying to make him study constantly, or give him books, saying he should read them, he was starting to miss her constantly hounding him.
But of course Maka couldn't see this and so she continued spending more and more time with the other weapon. She was headed on a collision course to disaster, in more than one way.
—
"Maka! Hey there! Ready for coffee and study?" Damon calls to the green eyed girl waiting for him, book in hand.
"Of course! Let's go!" Maka says, springing up from her seat on a bench.
He plucks up her tiny hand, enclosing it in his own large one. She really was like a bird. Except for her appetite, but he could fix that soon enough. He just had to be patient. He was going to fully wrap her in his web, encompass her in his lies, make her attached and reliant upon him. Then he would begin picking away at her piece by piece.
"Damon, are you okay?" She asks, turning her head up to look at his face questioningly. She looked directly into his eyes. He would have to fix that too.
"Hmm? Of course. Why do you ask?" He asks carefully, he can't let anything show in his soul. Even though he believed he was safe and that she wouldn't feel the need or desire to read into his soul, he had to be careful that he didn't make her feel like she did need to check on him.
"You were squeezing my hand pretty tight. That's all." She replies with a calm tone. She looks up toward the sky, while he looks onwards.
"Sorry about that. Oh, will you look at that, here we are!" He says leading her into the small shop. "You want your regular drink?"
"Yep! That would be great. I'll grab us a table." She says, walking off with a small smile on her face. That stupid smile. He couldn't wait until he never had to see it again.
"Welcome! What would you like today?" The barista says to him with a big grin on her face. Why are the people in Death City just so fucking irritating?
He places his order and she turns to make it. He swears she is moving at a snail's pace. He taps his right foot while he waits for the slow girl to finally finish their damn drinks. She finally calls their names and he grabs the cups with a violent jerk.
He stomps to the table, softening his steps as he goes to avoid more questioning from Maka. Why did she have to ask so many questions?
He sighs and sets the cups down, kicking the chair out from the table before sitting down. Looking straight ahead, past Maka, and out the glass front of the building, he debates how long this whole revenge thing is going to take, and how much he could get away with at this point.
"Are you sure you're okay Damon? You've been a bit off." She questions. She's prying again. It drives him fucking crazy. Maka in general drives him fucking bat shit crazy, and not in a good way. Not at all.
"I'm fine!" He snaps at her, and she jumps at his sudden outburst. Crap. "Ugh, that came out wrong. I just didn't sleep too well. I didn't mean to snap at you, that was mean of me. I'm sorry." He apologizes. She seems to accept it and visibly relaxes.
"How come you aren't sleeping well?" She asks him with a hint of sadness in her voice. "Maybe I can help somehow?"
Well, maybe his little white lie will actually get him somewhere. "Oh, its just that I've been stressed. The EAT class is way more difficult than what we were covering in the NOT class, and it seems that the teachers don't care for me too much. Between them not knowing what to do with an autonomous weapon like me and me being Giriko's son, I can kind of understand why."
He had actually been sleeping fine, dreaming of other's despair, but that was besides the point. "That and the fact that Lord Death is wanting to send me out on my first mission and I have no idea who to ask to go with me." He was now telling the truth, he was supposed to be picking out a mission to go on, but no one was able to or wanted to go with him.
"Oh, is that the problem? Well I'm sorry about the teachers, I'm sure they do actually like you. They just don't know you very well yet. Also, if you need someone to go with you, I'm sure Soul and I could go. It would be fun!" She actually seemed excited, and he was glad. It simply made things easier for him.
"That would be awesome. I haven't gotten to spend much time with Soul, it would be nice to get to know him a bit better."
"Well that settles it!" She says, slamming her book closed in her hands. "I'll head home and ask him now. We can meet you by the board tomorrow to help you pick one out."
Before he knows it she has picked up all her stuff and hurried out the door, coffee in hand.
He can't say he's sad to see her leaving.
—
"Soul! Hey you here?" Maka calls out into the apartment as she closes and locks the door behind her. Walking to the living room, she throws her keys into the key bowl as she went.
"Soul?" She calls again. He must be out with Black*Star and Kid. She thinks to herself, walking to her bedroom to change out of her uniform, into her more casual clothes.
She looks down to her hand, closing it and opening it a few times. It was a bit sore from Damon holding it so tightly. There was definitely something amiss with him today, she just couldn't tell what.
Damon was hard to read, but truly he seemed to be a good guy. That's why she enjoyed his company. He had a lot of the same interests as she did and it really was nice to have a person like that.
Soul was great but if she tried to ask him to go out for coffee to study he would just scoff and brush her off. It didn't bug her at all, it was just how Soul was. Sarcastic, strong willed, a bit grumpy, but under all that, he was an amazingly kind partner that she wouldn't trade for anything.
She walked back to the living room and sat down on the couch, turning on the TV to some random show. A documentary about some murderer. She looked a bit closer and saw it was about Jack The Ripper. Huh, thats funny. She thought to herself.
Jack The Ripper was a murderer known for killing prostitutes roaming the streets at night. The funny part about it was that he soon turned into a pre-kishin and she and Soul had taken the mission to collect his soul. That was just before they had failed the first time to turn Soul into a death scythe. Damn Blair.
"Hey Maka! I'm back!" She hears a low voice call from the door. She hears the door close and the lock click back into place, keys soon dropping in the bowl against hers.
"In here Soul." She calls back, turning her head back to look at him. He had on a simple long sleeve shirt and blue jeans, plus an old pair of sneakers he didn't wear very often anymore.
Soul usually wore a jacket or long sleeve shirt to cover up his arms. It humored her because he took pride in the muscle he had built up over the years, but he never wanted to show it off. Not that she herself could flaunt her muscles, because she did have them, but they didn't really look like much due to her small stature.
"What are you even watching?" He asks, flopping down on the couch beside her.
"Just something about Jack The Ripper. Remember beating this dude?" She laughs, mainly to herself as he gets a perplexed look on his face.
"I- I- I don't…" She knew he wouldn't remember.
"He was the last soul we collected before we met Blair. I didn't expect you to remember." She says with a bit of a solemn look. "Apparently they didn't feel the need to show his later form. Or us defeating him like we have so many." Her laugh is slightly sad, and longing.
She remembers how nice that peaceful ignorance was. How no one was bothered by the madness right under their feet, all because they didn't know. How Chrona was still alive, maybe not well, but she was free per say.
Her head drops into her hands and she takes a deep breath. Raising her head back up, she looks into Soul's eyes. Those crimson eyes were full of what she would call pity, but she knew better. It was understanding in his eyes, not pity.
She sighs and looks away from the familiar face and takes on what might be an even more serious face.
She sighs and looks away from the familiar face and takes on what might be an even more serious face.
"I know you might not want to, but Damon needs a second team to go with so he can go on a mission. Apparently no one else wants to go with him, so I said that we could. We won't have to do much and it will only be a short trip, and it's only until he can find himself a different team to partner up with." She explains, stuttering over her words due to her speedy talking.
"So he only wants us because he can't find anyone else? Seriously." He scoffs and turns his back to her.
"No! I offered when he started talking about how he was having a hard time finding anyone else. No one knows how to deal with an autonomous weapon it seems." She says, with a hint of pleading stretching through the gap between them.
"Oh, so you just offered our help without so much of a thought of checking with me first? I would kind of like to know where and when I'm being hauled off to death knows where." He says, turning back to her, red eyes blazing brighter than usual.
"No, Soul… I said I would check with you first but we would meet him by the board sometime tomorrow. I didn't say yes for sure." She says sadly, giving up on trying to make him understand.
Her head drops, bangs covering her defeated green eyes. She turns to walk to her room "I guess I'll just tell him you didn't want to go I guess then." She says, walking away before she feels a sharp yank on her arm.
"Maka-shit. No, I'll go. I'm sorry. I was just being an ass. The guys wore me out playing basketball and Black*Star just wanted to talk about how he should finally make a move on Tsubaki. I honestly couldn't stand it." He sighs, releasing his grip on her arm.
"Thanks then Soul." She finishes, not turning back to him as she continues walking to her room, closing the door behind her, enveloping herself in the complete darkness of her room, leaving Soul behind in the soft glow of the television.