Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater; I do, however, own the plot.
Chapter Seven: This Stupid Realization
It had been almost two weeks since Maka's confession and things had become tense between he and Maka again. Kami and Will would ask the two (separately, of course) if the other had said or done something to upset one another. Soul would reply with a simple shrug and say he wasn't sure; Maka would say she was just stressed from all her school work. Everyone had picked up on it; even their individual friends. Liz had taken up demanding answers from Kid, who would then in turn hackle Soul for an answer. "I don't know what's going on! Tell Liz if she wants to know what's wrong with Maka to ask her, not either of us!" He growled, snapping his cell phone shut. He was sitting in the yearbook/ newspaper office with Tsubaki and Black*Star at lunch.
"Is Liz still bothering him? I told her she should leave him be," Tsubaki added vacantly from her position clacking away at her computer. She'd been working nonstop since she had to take on six extra pages. In the yearbook club, every member was assigned six pages that they were to take pictures for and write out. Because of the damage done to the camera Black*Star had "borrowed" from her possession, the camera had to be replaced. This caused one of the Seniors, whom was in charge of the club's funding, to actually spend a lot of her own money to replace it. Thus, she had to pick up more hours to make the money back and had ordered the ebony haired male take over the pages she was originally in charge of.
Spending their lunch time in her company (trying to get back into her good graces), was the least the two boys felt they could do. Currently, however, Black*Star's spot was empty since he needed to hit the restrooms.
"It doesn't mean she's going to listen," Soul sighed and took a bite of his sandwich. He swallowed and let out another loud groan. "Maka's the one who opened up to me! I don't understand why she's being so moody about it all of a sudden!" Azure orbs shifted from the computer screen to the albino.
"What do you mean?" She asked with a small frown.
"She told me about how Spirit from Sickle Syndrome is her father," He said calmly. Soul knew Tsubaki would have to know the truth, given her close bond with the ashy haired girl in question. All in all, she was probably his best confidant in this instance. She blinked in surprise at this.
"She actually gave up that information willingly? Maka hates to talk about her father with anyone; it takes a lot for even Liz, Patty and I to mention it in conversation," She said gently. He nodded and she leaned forward, looking around to assure no one was listening in. It was really a pointless gesture since it was just the two of them in the room anyway. "Maybe you could try offering a personal bit of information of your own up to her?"
"What? Why would I do that?" He asked with a scowl, raising an eyebrow suspiciously. For all he knew, the raven haired woman could actually be a double agent. She had known Maka longer than he himself, after all; he also knew that certain clicks of women were thick as thieves.
"Maka clearly wants to try to trust you," She explained casually. She turned back to her screen suddenly, shifting a few pictures around and double checking her spelling. Soul took another bite of his sandwich while he waited for her to turn back to him and continue their conversation. "From what I can tell, she's let go of the grudge she's been holding against you. She offered up a very personal thing about herself and she may be waiting for you to do the same."
"I guess that makes sense," He mumbled lightly. He took another bite of his sandwich followed by a quick swig of his soda. "So what do you think I should do, exactly?"
"Offer to take her home," The other teenager said without looking up from the computer. She finished up the caption for one of her pictures, turned her seat, and smiled brightly at him. "I know a lot about her and I think she'd appreciate it. Take her somewhere you feel at ease so that you'll be more comfortable and then pick something about yourself that you don't like to share. If she's really upset about what she told you than her knowing something about you will help her rebalance and things will go back to normal."
"Sounds good. Thanks, Tsubaki," He said with a small smile, holding out his fist. She giggled and bumped his lightly before the changed topics to the upcoming fine arts performance. It was a huge concert where the bands, orchestras and choirs performed all together in the auditorium. The two started talking about the songs they were scheduled to play and what they thought would happen with them between now and show time.
They didn't realize that someone else had overheard their little conversation.
…
He had caught Maka (surprisingly alone, for once) before orchestra class started. She was sitting in her seat, tuning her viola. "Hey, want a ride home?" He asked calmly. She glanced up at him and blinked a few times.
"Why are you offering?" She asked calmly. He shrugged calmly.
"Well, I figure we have to go to the same place so it saves your friend on gas. Plus you don't seem to mind my motorcycle as much as you first did," He said with a small smirk. He could tell she was trying not to laugh a little bit at the comment. "What if I even toss in a giant pretzel and a smoothie?"
"You really like giant pretzels, don't you?" She asked with a grin and raised eyebrow. Soul smiled and decided he'd have to ask her later if she was on meds; she switched moods like a looney.
"They are the perfect size, texture and ratio of bread to salt," He explained with a serious expression. She stared at him with her cheeks turning pink, trying so hard not to laugh at his reasoning. "But as a direct answer to your questions; yes, I do, in fact, really like giant pretzels. So what do you say to my proposal?"
"I guess I'll agree, since you'll be the one paying this time around," She said with a shrug of her own. The rest of the class was as calm as orchestra class could be. After all, Liz had taken up teasing Kid whenever she got the chance to. It was clear the young man was getting sick of it but he wasn't the type to lash out at a girl.
Soul almost found it tragic; by playing the gentlemen Kid was also playing the bitch.
"So why is Liz so… You know… Protective of you?" Soul asked as they entered the food court and headed toward the pretzel stand. Maka blinked then looked off to the side and let out a small sigh.
"It's not my place to say. Maybe if you two ever get along she'll just tell you herself," She said simply as they approached the cashier. He snorted lightly, rolling his eyes at her.
"Oh, yeah. Like Liz Thompson is ever going to accept me as one of her kind," He scoffed lightly. They placed their orders, got their goods and sat back down. Soul took a large chomp from his pretzel while Maka took a sip from her own drink.
"I'll tell her to ease up on you and Kid; that should help the situation, right?" She asked calmly with a smile. He blinked then scoffed and looked down again.
"What makes you so sure she'll do it just because you ask her to?" He scoffed lightly. She took a bite of her pretzel, making sure to think about her answer before she uttered it.
"Because Liz is my friend and she's always got my back. She may not like it but she'll agree to it," She said simply, her gaze shifting down to some graffiti carved into the table top with a switchblade. She took a sip of her drink without looking up, raising an eyebrow at the gang words scratched in. "Just accept my offer of being nice without having so little faith in it."
"But why are you suddenly being so nice to me?" He blurted out. She looked up calmly, her eyes glinting with a light that bordered between insult and intrigue. "I mean, all these years you've held a grudge against me for something I don't even know about. The first few weeks living together were Hell, then you tell me your biggest secret and suddenly we're supposed to be best friends? It just doesn't add up quite right in my head."
She sighed lightly, ripping a piece from her pretzel and dipping it in the cheesy dip they had received with their purchase. "I've decided to let go," She said calmly. She then plopped the cheesy bit of bread into her mouth. He quirked an eyebrow, imitating her gesture while waiting for more of an explanation. "We're going to be seeing a lot of each other so I figure that it'd just be easier this way. I've heard that the best way to help repair a damaged relationship is by trying to express trust with one another, hence my decision to tell you the full story behind my parentage. As long as you don't do anything to piss me off too bad than we shouldn't have any problems, right?"
"I guess that makes sense," He said while looking down. He remembered what Tsubaki had said earlier, about offering something personal about himself up. Perhaps the pretty young woman had planned the whole thing; what Maka was saying was similar to that. Had she maybe sought out advice from her friend, whom then used the same suggestion on him to assure they were on the same page?
He had to hand it to her; she was a sneaky girl, that Tsubaki. "My mom died when I was about eight years old," He said suddenly, locking his eyes on his pretzel. He took a deep breath before continuing. "It wasn't sudden or anything like that; she died of lung cancer. She was diagnosed when I was about two years old, she got into treatment and she was okay for a while. She was as healthy as she could be until I was about six years old or so. Then, her cancer spread and she got so bad that she had to live in the hospital. One day, after piano practice, I went to go see her and she was just… Gone." He swallowed back all the feelings running rampant within him at the memories; all the confusion, the sorrow and the anger were starting to crawl under the surface of his skin.
And then Maka's hand was resting on his own. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," She said delicately, eyes shimmering in understand and concern. Her fingers were soft and warm against his own, a marvel in his opinion. He knew that fingers gliding along the metal strings of an instrument could toughen the skin. He had never thought about whether Maka used lotion or not, but he was suddenly fascinated by the idea (since it was something other than the topic he had introduced). He gave her a weak smile, forcing himself to calm back down and put back his usual cool disposition.
"I just wanted to share something with you, too," He said gently. She blinked then smiled back at him and shook her head.
"You shouldn't think of it that way. This isn't like a game where we have to try to beat the other," She said lightly. There was still concern in her eyes but he relaxed when he saw that it was apparently downplayed now. "We're past that now, aren't we?"
"Yeah," He agreed before taking another bite of his pretzel. They spent the rest of the mall trip holding up casual conversation about their classes and what they'd learned. It was nice to just have a normal conversation, to joke around and tease one another without any hurtful jabs added in, though neither would admit how very natural it was to be like this.
…
The next morning Maka hitched a ride with Soul to school. "So you call your bike your baby but does it have an actual name?" She asked with a raised eyebrow, handing him back the helmet. He placed that, his gloves and his goggles in the compartment built under the seat.
"Of course. Her name is Gwyneth," He said with a proud grin. Maka snorted and rolled her eyes, taking a few steps away just in time for one of her peers to run up to her. She recognized the girl as one of her fellow Spanish students and a co-worker; Kim was her name, if she called it up right. She was holding a copy of the weekly school paper with a certain light to her eyes that Maka didn't like.
"Hey, Maka, is it true?" She asked curiously. The blonde tilted her head before Kim offered up the paper. Maka's entire body went rigid as she read the heading over and over again, trying her best to wrap her mind around it.
Blood Bonds: Shibusen's own Maka Albarn is the daughter of Spirit Henderson, leader of Jazz sensation Sickle Syndrome.
"So is it true?" Kim repeated, eyes lighting up in even more curiosity. The horror painted on Maka's face seemed to answer it for her. "Oh, my God! It is true! For once Black*Star isn't just pulling gossip out of thin air!" With this declaration, the pink haired girl rushed off while Maka's gaze shifted to Soul. He seemed equally stunned; even more so when she threw the newspaper at him.
"You told him!" She snapped, her entire form shaking with her fury. Soul watched the sheets of paper flutter to the ground before looking back up at her. "You told Black*Star and then he did this! What, is this your way of getting back at me for all these years of rivalry?"
"Maka, I didn't tell him anything," He said patiently, holding his hands up. He hoped that by keeping calm it might help defuse the situation and calm Maka back down as well. She growled and slapped him hard enough that his teeth actually rattled against one another.
"Lying bastard! I never should have trusted you!" She screamed before running off. He placed a hand against his throbbing cheek and sighed, watching her fleeing form. He tossed his bag over one shoulder, glared down at the papers at his feet, and then headed off to find Black*Star.
As per their usual, Black*Star was relaxing at a picnic table in the commons area. "Hey, Soul, what's up?" He beamed, waving eagerly at the other. Tsubaki was just arriving as well, getting settled into her seat beside the blue haired male.
"Do you ever think before you act?" Soul snapped out flatly. Two sets of eyes blinked a few times in alarm at his tone before Black*Star scowled in annoyance.
"What's that supposed to meet? As your God, it's my job to protect my disciples!" He barked back sourly. Soul rolled his eyes, shook his head and did his best to remain cool. Considering how bad things were going to get at home now it'd be best to keep as many allies that he could.
"How the Hell did you even know about that? And where did you get the power to put it in the school paper?" He continued on, deciding to get his answers first. He would deal with Black*Star's reasons once he knew what had happened.
"What are you two talking about?" Tsubaki chimed in worriedly. Her concern grew even more so when neither of them so much as acknowledged her words. They only ignored her when they were having a rather serious confrontation (which was not as often as one might assume, given Black*Star's personality).
Soul needed a straight answer on the matter, though; after all, he had never discussed this matter with him.
"I overheard you and Tsubaki talking about it yesterday, then gave the story to Jackie," He explained casually. He then grinned and wiped the tip of his nose with his thumb. "I didn't think she was going to be able to get it out by this morning though! I thought it was going to take another week or something! Looks like a big star like me has big influence!"
"No," Soul drawled slowly with a glare, "it's more that it's an interesting tale. Maka's never talked about her father and this gives people some gossip to spread around."
"Oh, my goodness! Black*Star, what did you do?" The raven-haired woman yelped in alarm, eyes wide in horror. Now they looked at her, watching as she threw her things together again and started clacking away at her cell phone. "Oh, no! I need to call Liz and Patty; maybe one of them will know what to do!" She fretted while shifting through her contacts. "Soul, Black*Star, you two are so dead when I have the time to deal with you!" She yelped while running away, pressing her phone to her ear and running off toward the library.
"I don't get what everyone's issue is," Black*Star huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. He was pouting like a child; Soul would have teased him if he wasn't so absolutely annoyed with him. "Maka's the one always picking fights and dealing low blows. Suddenly I'm the bad guy for giving her a taste of her own medicine? This is a bunch of bullshit."
"Whatever you say," Soul mumbled just as the bell rang. He sighed and headed off toward the boy's side of campus and his first class. He only hoped Maka would listen to him when orchestra class rolled around.
…
She wasn't there, it turned out. Soul had been concerned upon this realization, and then horrified when a near hysterical Liz Thompson came stumbling in, peering at the empty seat and seeming about ready to collapse. She was actually dragging Black*Star with her, his eyes spinning and blood flowing freely from his nose. However, when he locked eyes with her from across the room, his stomach fell to his shoes. They sparked back to life, she let out a loud growl, dropped the self-proclaimed God and stomped her way toward him. As she was about to grab him, Kid intercepted and caught her around the waist, holding her back from attacking. "You bastard! What the Hell have you done?"
"I didn't do anything," Soul said calmly, grabbing his book bag. He walked over to her, feeling bolder knowing that Kid had his back. He looked her in the eyes, refusing to let the blazing scorn in those luminous sapphire spheres get to him. "Look, Black*Star listened in on a conversation between Tsubaki and I. I didn't want him to do this and I didn't tell him this. Now, judging by how pissed you are, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that Maka left the campus and won't answer her phone. I'll go find her but I need you to answer a question for me."
Liz glared at him before she shifted, implying to Kid to let her go. She stood up straighter and glared down at the albino. "That depends on what you want to know," She said flatly.
…
Soul was speeding along the sleek roads; as if he were in some melodrama, it had started to rain when he left to go find Maka. He would have laughed at the irony of the situation if he wasn't so preoccupied with remembering where the place he was looking for was. After accepting that he wasn't going to do anything bad to Maka, Liz had told him the story of why the other blonde had her issue with Soul.
He had forgotten that incident until she mentioned it.
He had been forced to go to that competition by his piano tutor. His father was still too lost in grief to argue that it was not a good time for the young boy to be put in such a situation and Wesley's suggestion to let Soul bail out was ignored. What does a child know of the world, after all? And so he was forced back there, told to play his mother's favorite piece. When the bubbly, bright-eyed girl that would later turn into his arch rival approached him, hoping to befriend him, his mind decided that tearing her down may make him feel better. Maybe seeing someone who was as miserable as himself in the competitors may make it all worthwhile.
He didn't see her again after he gave his rude speech and was grateful for that. After breaking down, accusing his father of not caring anymore, he felt better; especially when his father had simply held him and apologized. Soul had looked back at the incident and pushed it away, embarrassed by his own actions. His mother had raised him better than that. "How did I not realize it?" He asked himself with an annoyed growl as he weaved through the traffic so as to reach his turn before the light changed. He ignored the horns and swears he received for his daring move.
That day when she walked into his class and had called him out on it, he should have realized it was the same girl.
He perked up when he spotted the very building he was looking for; the old amphitheater where that competition had been held at. He pulled up in the front and saw Maka, just standing there, getting soaked. He turned the bike off and walked over. If she heard his approach she didn't make it known. He took off his blazer and dropped it over her head, watching as she glanced up through soggy bangs at him. Her eyes were so vacant, so dead, that he flinched back a bit. "What do you want?" She asked tonelessly before shifting her attention back to the boarded doors of the building.
"I came to take you home; your mom and Blair are about to have heart attacks," He said, reaching and taking her wrist. He shifted to move her, drag her back to his bike, but she stayed where she was.
"It was my last hope," She said suddenly. He turned and looked at her, his grip still on her wrist. Her eyes were now welling up with tears. "I thought that maybe if I could do well on this competition Papa would be proud and come home. He'd see that I was a great musician like him and he'd want to make sure I learned everything right. I thought that I was the reason he was never around, that I was the reason my parents' marriage was falling apart. After all, if I hadn't been born Mama would have continued going on tour with him. He never would have had the chance to cheat and they would have always remained in love. The least I could do was fix the very thing I ended up destroying by existing.
And then you happened. I just wanted to make a friend, to find someone there I could get along with, and you took everything I had been hoping and praying for away from me. I thought I was there because I had some talent; you told me the truth behind that. And when you walked away from me to play your solo you took my hopes and dreams with you. Not even placing in the top ten was just the icing on the cake at that point. My pretty little hopes, my pretty little lies, no longer had a leg to stand on; you kicked it out from right under them."
He sighed lightly at this. "Maka, I'm sorry that what I said affected you that much but it's time you let it go. There's nothing you could have done to stop your parents' divorce from happening; if your father was going to cheat at the first chance he got than he's scum. Your mom deserves better than that; you deserve better than what you got, feeling as if it was all your fault," He said delicately. She sniffled slightly, the light of those eyes coming back right before she screwed them shut. She lifted her free arm and pressed it over her eyes, trying to hide her tears. He wrapped his arms around her gently, tucking her head under his chin. "You have a reason to be mad at your father but you have no reason to be mad at yourself."
They stood there for a few minutes before taking a quiet drive home. They were immediately rushed in and coddled by their parents, whom were both worried sick over the two teens' pulling their disappearing act.
End
Notes:
So there you have it; end to Plot Point Number One! What's next, you may ask? Well, it should be relatively obvious, yeah? :3
In other news, made myself a tumblr, which I'll try to update every day. I'll leave the link on my profile for anyone who is interested.
Next Chapter:
Soul and Maka have a bonding experience in the kitchen that involves various sauces (Get your minds out of the gutter, you nasty-heads~! :3). Liz gives new meaning to the term poker face; she also teaches the dean of the school a lesson in being a boss. Tsubaki and Black*Star have a moment that leads to various things; one involves a tub of ice cream.
