Okay, so... if you are one of the people who has been reading this, I suppose all I can say is I deeply, deeply apologize for my seven-month-long absence. That's horrible. I've never gone so long without updating before, but you know... life gets in the way. I think I'm going on three months now with my other fanfic, so I really need to get cracking on that too. Again, I'm sorry, but I just haven't been up to it. Especially with this one, I was just feeling stuck for a while and not motivated. Not to mention that this half of the year has been extremely stressful for me. However, I am back and I have the next chapter, which I believe is officially chapter 6. I wrote all of it during the last few days, and had a lot of fun. I'd forgotten how much I was enjoying this :)

Anyway, hope you enjoy. This chapter still has a lot of uncertainties in it, since no one knows who Luna is or where she came from. And there is a lot of interaction between Maka and Soul, which was quite fun to write. I have a lot in store for them, but I'm personally really looking forward to my plans for Stein, because he's such an interesting character!

Happy reading and I'll try not to take seven months this time!

Disclaimer: I don't own Soul Eater.

No Worries

Luna hardly slept that night. For hours, the young girl lay awake on the sofa Maka and Soul had so kindly altered into a bed for her while she waited impatiently for her wandering thoughts to disappear. She dared not toss and turn, for worry that Blair, who was curled up as a cat on the back of the sofa, would notice. But she didn't know what else to do; she had tried counting and breathing exercises, thinking happy thoughts—but nothing was working.

Her mind continued to wander back to that dark alley on the street and her bloody vision. Could it really have been her own memory? Or was it possibly just a strange case of déjà vu?

No—there was no way she was experiencing meaningless déjà vu. She didn't even know who she was. She couldn't afford to believe that anything she saw in her mind wasn't real.

The bigger question was, should she talk to someone about it? The people of the academy were helping her, after all. Perhaps if she expressed her thoughts and feelings in words, it would trigger more memories and help her find some answers. But who did she trust?

If she told these people she was having visions of bloody kishin in dark alleys, they might think she was insane. Or worse, somehow dangerous. She didn't fear getting into trouble for potentially killing a kishin. Disposing of those creatures was more encouraged than anything in this city. What frightened her was what she felt… malice—pleasure—gluttony… as if it was far more than what it seemed on the surface. A killing for the sake of the city. That would be anyone's rational guess. But she wasn't so certain of what had happened that night.

Which was why she couldn't tell anyone until she knew for sure. Not Soul and Maka, not Lord Death, not her strange new professor. After all, it was impossible to explain yourself to someone if you didn't even know, yourself.

Aching internally from the stress, Luna moved and finally decided to shift quietly off the sofa. She kept at a slow pace, glancing at Blair periodically and wincing every time the sheet rustled or the furniture squeaked. She thought she was safe when her bare feet touched the floor, but sure enough she heard the cat let out a tiny groan.

"Heyyy…" Blaire mumbled, "Luna…? What—you okay?"

Luna turned around and smiled sheepishly. "Uh—bathroom. I'll be back."

Still in a groggy daze, Blair accepted her answer easily and simply yawned before laying her head back down.

Once free of any potential scrutiny, Luna took the short walk to the bathroom, shut the door and locked it. Despite the promise of several moments of blinding misery, Luna flipped on the light for some extra security. Then, she sat down on the toilet seat cover and let out a sigh.

Well, it may not have been the most comfortable position, but it was better than the sofa. And yet, while she sat in near unnerving silence, a sort of loneliness overtook her. She was too afraid to close her eyes; she wanted someone to hold her and tell her it was all okay. That she wasn't insane—that she would be safe. She wanted—

A mother.

But the question was—did she even have one?


"Luna! Hey! What's going on in there? Luna?"

She woke to the sound of knocking and jiggling on the bathroom doorknob. Maka's muffled voice came through, pulling her out of her sleepy daze. The next thing she noticed was the horrible kink in her neck, which she rubbed rhythmically with her fingers while Maka continued calling her name.

"Luna! Are you okay, or what? Come on! If you don't open up I'm breaking down this door."

The white-haired girl jolted at the loud pounding outside. Suddenly coming to her senses, she frantically hopped to her feet.

"Geez, Maka, it's too early for your yelling," she heard in a deeper, quieter tone. "What the hell is your problem?"

Before Maka had a chance to answer, Luna unlocked the door and threw it open, to find Maka staring at her with wide, bewildered eyes, while Soul just looked bored as usual. Although part of it may have been grogginess from sleep. All at once, Luna took in her surroundings, and also happened to notice the light filling the room.

It's already morning?

"Uh… hey…" she said in a mousy voice, trying to smile but failing miserably.

"Hey," Maka said. "Are you okay? I'm sorry about that—Blair told me you went to the bathroom sometime in the middle of the night and never came out. And then you weren't answering the door so…" She looked almost sheepish, as if slightly embarrassed by her behavior.

There was a short pause, and then Luna opened her mouth to speak. "Uh—no, um… I'm fine… I was just—"

"D'you fall asleep while taking a leak or something?" Soul deadpanned, scratching behind his ear.

Luna's cheeks immediately turned red and she cast her eyes down. "Something—like that, I guess."

Maka cocked her head. "Luna…?"

"Sorry," she muttered. "I'm fine, really. I just had a hard time sleeping, so… I decided to get up and move around… and I fell asleep. Sorry…"

"Hey, it's okay!" Maka told her gently, smiling. "No need to apologize so much! I was just a little worried is all. It's done now. So why don't we just go have breakfast? How does that sound?"

Luna spared a glance at Maka's sweet expression and knew she was trying to cheer her up and diffuse the situation. It probably wasn't even a big deal to them. They had just been worried because she wasn't answering the door. But then she had to get embarrassed and shut down over it. In that very moment she realized she had no idea how to handle people or stressful situations. God, why couldn't she be outgoing and confident like Maka?

In response to Maka's cheery voice, Luna did the only thing she could think to do and nodded in agreement.

The three teens headed the kitchen with Maka in the lead and Soul at the rear, leaving Luna stuck in the middle, still wishing that she had the power to fly off or disappear into thin air. And upon entering the room she witnessed a sight that she would have gladly done without for the rest of her life.

It was Blair. In human form. Completely naked. Exposed private areas and all.

Maka nearly shrieked, and Luna quickly put her hand in front of her face in horror. "Oh, hey, you guys," Blair said casually, having just guzzled down a glass of milk. "Oh, Luna. You're finally out of the bathroom. And here I thought I spent too much time in there. So, is it okay if I go take my bath now?"

"I thought I told you to quit walking around the house naked!" Maka snapped. "I don't have to let you live here, you know. Look, you've scarred Luna, already."

"Aw, but Soul always seems to like it," Blair pouted, prompting Luna to turn her head toward Soul. She subsequently gasped in horror to find him twitching in a tangled heap on the floor, his nose gushing blood.

Maka, clearly disgusted, stalked over to Blair and grabbed the glass out of her hand. "Go take your bath." As she went to go wash the glass, the cat shrugged as if she had no idea why Maka was so upset, and then smiled at Luna.

"Well, good luck in school today if I don't see you!" she said light-heartedly before leaving the room.

Once she was gone, Luna slowly turned her attention back to Soul, who looked a little bit like a fresh corpse at this point. "Hey, Maka?" she asked.

"What?" Maka replied, sounding less miffed as she dried off Blair's milk glass.

"Is he… dead or something?"

"Brain-dead, yes," she said, back in her normal happy tone, already. "But that's nothing unusual. Just leave him. Why don't you help me make breakfast?"

Luna smiled. "Oh—sure. I know how to cook, a little."

Maka giggled in response. "Well, then maybe we should put that to the test. Let's do it!"

And so the girls went to it and made rice and fried up some eggs on the stove. And oddly enough, Luna had so much fun with it that she all but completely forgot about her embarrassment and was in a considerably better mood when she sat down at the table. Maka followed soon after, first grabbing them each a glass of juice from the refrigerator. Then, as she sat down, she took a single bite of her egg.

"Mm," she said. "Just right. So you are a natural chef, after all!"

Luna smiled bashfully. "Guess it's kinda nice to know I'm good at something."

"I'm sure you're amazing at a lot of things," she replied. "We just have to find out what they are one step at a time. No worries!"

It occurred to Luna that Maka used that phrase quite often since they had met: No worries. She supposed it was a pleasant outlook to have, but she wasn't sure just how Maka managed to keep that sort of attitude so easily. With all the worrying she had done lately, herself, she was starting to feel envious.

"Ugh… so, what's for breakfast?"

Finally, Soul had come to and seemed interested in what was on the table. However, Maka quickly shot him a dirty glare. "We didn't make you any."

"What?" His voice rose just a little in pitch. "Why not?"

"Why would we when all you did was lay on the floor drooling the whole time over your stupid perverted fantasies?"

He scoffed, but sounded a little uncomfortable. "You know I can't help it—"

"Right," she cut him off. "You can't help it. Tch. Men are such disgusting pigs."

"Excuse me!" Soul reached across the table and grabbed her fork, then quickly stabbed one of her eggs and stuffed it in his mouth before she had the chance to stop him. "I am not a pig," he said with a mouthful of egg.

"Well, you're sure acting like one," she shot back, snatching the fork away from him. "Now I can't even use this fork because your slobber's all over it."

"Yeah, very mature," he said. "We've been living together for years and you still complain about stuff like that. How in the world can someone be so thickheaded and brainless at the same time?"

"Brainless? Then what does that make you, a genius? See, that's your problem—you always think you know everything… think your sooo cool. Well, sorry, but your attitude just makes you look like a jackass!"

"Well, if I'm a jackass, then you must be some kind of screeching banshee, because all you ever do is whine and complain!"

"Because all you ever do is try to piss me off!"

"Yes, Maka, because it's obviously my life's mission to piss you off—"

"Could've fooled me 100 percent—"

"Because you never listen to me, you just—"

"I just what?!"

"You just do this!"

By now, the two of them were in each other's faces, both with a hand gripping the other's collar across the table like they were ready for a brawl. And poor Luna had sunk about as low in her chair as she could get, eyes bulging and focused on the floor at the sound of their yelling. It didn't get much more awkward than being in the middle of an argument. And Luna was definitely in the middle. Most literally.

The fighting, however, came to an abrupt stop when a loud thumping sounded from somewhere in the apartment. "Would you two shut up already?!" Blair's voice screamed another room, causing both Maka and Soul to go completely still. There was a long moment of pause, and rather awkward silence as the partners seemed to reflect on the last moment of their lives. Then, Soul stumbled backward as Maka not so gently pushed him away with a distasteful look.

Her expression turned apologetic on Luna, who still had her lips pressed together sitting as far away from them in her chair as possible. "Oh, Luna, I'm really sorry. Guess we kinda got carried away."

"Yeah, look who's scarring the poor girl now?" Soul added in the midst of rolling his eyes.

"Shut up, Soul, that's enough," Maka snapped. Then, with an oddly defeated-looking expression that surprised Luna, she sat down in her chair. "Let's just finish breakfast and get going."

And so, they finished eating and proceeded to get ready for school. The rest of the morning was fairly quiet and there were no more arguments, but the tension had not entirely faded. What's more was that, although Maka continued to always have a sincere smile for her, Luna had decided that she was definitely not in as cheerful of a mood as she had appeared to be while they were making breakfast. It made her wonder if this was normal for those two, or if there really was some kind of serious problem between them that she just hadn't noticed before now.

The three of them were mostly silent during the walk to school, but Luna's brain was all over the place. At the moment she was a little worried about setting them off since Maka and Soul still appeared irritated over their fight, but she had an important question she wanted to ask. She was just too much of a coward to open up her mouth and do it.

Come on, girl… be confident. Just do it.

She cleared her throat and tightened her grip on her bag. "Hey—Maka?"

Maka glanced at her with alertness. "Hm? What is it?"

"You two have been doing this type of thing—I mean, collecting kishin souls—for a while now, right?"

"Yeah, I guess so… why?"

Luna bit her lip nervously. "I was thinking… or wondering, that is… if you might teach me a little bit. About soul resonance and all that."

Maka looked surprised; even Soul now regarded her with interest. "What's the rush?" he asked.

"Yeah," Maka agreed, "You still haven't been feeling well. You shouldn't push yourself too hard just yet."

"I was thinking maybe figuring out what I know and if I might be a meister—would help me remember things more quickly," Luna replied. "I just want to know who I am… and I'd like to get started as soon as possible."

"Well, if that's the case you probably don't want us teaching you anything," Soul told her, locking his fingers behind his head. "You'd be better off asking a professor. Like Stein."

Luna's already pale face drained completely of color.

Impossible.

There was no way she could ever ask anything of that man. Granted, she wasn't as terrified of him as she was when they first met, but she didn't trust him. And she didn't want to have to spend more time alone in his presence.

Both of them seemed to notice her distress, and Soul asked, "Don't tell me you're still afraid of Professor Cuckoo Head."

"The only reason is because we aren't masters," Maka said gently. "Sure, it's been several years but we're still learning all the time. That's why I think you're probably better off with someone who knows everything about being a meister—or at least, more than we do. Anyway, you said yourself that Stein is there to look out for you, right? So why don't you ask him?"

Luna said nothing, but just shook her head in disagreement.

"Oh, Luna…" Maka sighed. "You know, he's really not that bad. Honest."

"I'm sure he's not," Luna muttered. "But I still can't ask him…"

At this point, Luna had begun to wish that she simply hadn't asked anything to begin with, and luckily for her neither Soul nor Maka pushed her on the subject, anymore. The first class with Professor Stein went by at an agonizingly slow rate, and even as she told herself she'd never have the nerve to approach him and ask for help, she found herself watching him and wondering. If she really wanted to find out the truth about her life, she couldn't exactly afford to be so timid. What was the worst that could happen, anyway? That he would say no? When she thought about it rationally, it seemed like it would be worth a shot.

But when the bell rang, signaling the class end, Luna did not approach him. She walked toward the door instead.

It was Maka who then came up behind her and grabbed her shoulders. "Okay, come on," she said, turning Luna around.

"Hey!" the girl gasped in a sudden panic, pushing back against Maka's hands to no avail. "What are you doing?"

"If you won't do it yourself, I'll ask him for you," she said confidently. "But that doesn't mean I'm letting you run off, either."

As the words sank in, Luna struggled even harder against Maka's grasp, her own fright making it impossible to think clearly enough to escape. "No, no, no, Maka—stop, I don't want to—please—!"

But even she realized it was too late to get away once Professor Stein noticed them. Seeming unfazed by the obvious terror on Luna's face while Maka held her arms, he asked, "And what can I do for you two?"

Maka smiled. "Luna and I have a question for you. We were wondering if you wouldn't mind giving Luna here some extra lessons on soul resonance and techniques."

The pale-faced girl trembled slightly and fought not to let any tears spill from her eyes in her embarrassment. Even if she didn't have the guts to ask herself, letting someone else do it for her was even worse.

Professor Stein leaned back and twirled around a few times in his chair while absently turning the screw in his head. "Already, huh?" he asked, still sounding barely interested. "It's only been a few days."

"Well, Luna certainly doesn't want to waste any time! And she feels she's ready try to tap into whatever skills she might have."

He blinked. "Is that so…" His flickered toward her. "You're ready to get started?"

"Um…" she hesitated. No point in going back, now. "Yes. I was hoping doing this would— maybe trigger something. So I would appreciate your help."

The professor took a short pause, causing Luna some discomfort with his all-too-serious gaze, but then lightly tossed up the hand he had sitting on his desk. "Fine. If you think you can handle it, come back to this room tomorrow directly after classes. We'll go from there. Don't be late." Then, quite randomly, he grabbed the miniature clock off the edge of his desk and started tinkering at the back with a screwdriver.

Luna was sure the clock had been working just fine and wondered what reason he could have possibly had to open the back, but she didn't dare ask. "Wouldn't dream of it, sir," she replied simply.

"Mm," Professor Stein said, without glancing up. "Well, if that's all I guess you and your little spokesperson can get going now. Oh, and Maka… I'd like it if you and Soul talked it over and came to me about scheduling an appointment for you, as well. I'd like to confirm that you've been practicing what I taught you."

Maka patted Luna's shoulder. "Oh, sure thing, Professor Stein. Of course we've been practicing—you don't have a thing to worry about."

"We'll see about that later this week when I test you."

"Oh come on, Professor, have a little faith in us!"

"Faith is not the issue. It's basic skepticism. You and Soul both naturally suffer from arrogance and incompatibility. Just because you saved the world once doesn't give you leeway to be complacent."

Maka huffed, as if offended. "I know that, geez! No need to be so stark about it. Come on, Luna, let's go. See you tomorrow, Professor Stein."

Still fixated on the tiny clock, he didn't bother to answer as Maka steered Luna out of the room, her lower lip protruding from her face as she fumed over Professor Stein's cold behavior. Truthfully, Luna was just amazed that Maka was able to talk to him with such familiarity and boldness.


Maka frowned more deeply when she noticed Soul leaning against the wall outside Stein's classroom. He had waited for her, as usual. And somehow, that made her even more irritated, considering she still wanted to be pissed at him for this morning. She was sick of him losing his marbles every time he saw Blair naked, as if it was that big of a deal. What did he find so attractive about her, anyway? As selfish and petty as she knew it was, she couldn't help the anger that bubbled in her chest every time he looked at someone else that way. There was always that little voice in the back of her mind that warned her he might leave her for someone else, like her Dad did to Mom.

But those rare times when he showed that he was actually a decent human being made it very difficult to hold her ground and remember what a pain he could be.

"So, how'd it go?" he asked nonchalantly as they approached him.

Luna tucked a strand of white hair behind her hair, her movements a little skittish and awkward. God, this girl was adorable.

"Well…" she said softly, "I guess I'm meeting with him tomorrow…"

"Hey, great," he replied. "I knew he'd be cool with it."

She shook her head. "I'm still not sure I can do it. I mean, I really appreciate that you wanted to help and all, but—"

"Hey, you want to get your memories back, don't you?" Maka asked. "Come on, you can handle it. And once you get to know Stein a little better, I'm sure you'll be wondering why you were ever worried in the first place!"

"Maybe…" she said, still not sounding convinced.

"I promise you, it will be fine," Maka said, determined to reassure her new friend. "And if Stein says anything mean to you, you just tell me and I'll give him a piece of this!" She held up her fist with a grin.

In response, Luna gave one of those smiles that so far had warmed Maka's heart several times already. "Thanks… that makes me feel a lot better, actually."

"Awesome," Maka said with a big grin and a thumbs-up.

Then, Luna pointed her finger down the hall. "I, uh—think I'm gonna run to the restroom before class."

"Okay. We'll wait."

"Oh no, please, don't wait… I can find my way this time. I'll be along in a minute."

Mostly convinced by Luna's insistence, Maka nodded in agreement. "Okay, then. We'll see you in class."

"Try not to fall asleep," Soul added with a smirk, earning a glare from Maka.

But Luna seemed to handle herself better than she did this morning, shooting Soul a look and murmuring, "We're not going to speak of that anymore," before running down the hall.

As he laughed, Maka shook her head. "Soul, you're a jerk."

"She knew I was joking," he retorted, pushing off the wall and starting toward the next class. "What's up with you and being so uptight about her?"

"She's sensitive!" Maka exclaimed. "Just this morning she was mortified. I'm not even sure what happened, but… you notice something's been bothering her since yesterday?"

"Yeah… while we were out she saw something. Wasn't that the same place—"

"We found those empty bodies," Maka finished in a more hushed tone. "Originally I thought it had to be a coincidence but… that's why I decided to push her toward Stein. I think she's right—the sooner we find out the truth, the better."

"Makes sense," he said with a nod.

"I still can't imagine it, though," she whispered. "Her being dangerous. She's just so innocent."

"You know that's always been one of your problems, Maka. You're too trusting."

"I don't like to assume the worst about people! What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing," he said. "I think it's one of the coolest things about you. You could just stand for some balance, that's all."

She found herself smiling whenever he gave her compliments, even if they were only technically half-compliments.

"Anyway, I think you're worrying too much about it," he continued. "There's probably a rational explanation. Luna is kinda growing on me, you know, so I want to help her out, too."

"Glad to hear we agree," Maka said.

The corners of Soul's lips turned up. "Hmph. Me too. For once."