Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater, its characters, or its concepts!

Chapter 5 – Hallucination

Soul grazed quietly through the hall ways in his usual routine. It was the beginning of a new day and it was a rare moment when no student was allowed to roam the halls without attained permission. Their unison presence in the first few fifteen minutes of the day where they would be accounted for ensured their safety, making sure one hadn't gone missing since previous events.

Lord Death insisted on keeping one of his most skilled deathscythes around regularly, even if nothing else had occurred yet. It was important for Soul's presence and it helped Soul even feel more comfortable knowing he was close to his daughter.

Over the previous years, several of his deathscythes and fellow friends had passed during unspoken tragic events of the past. Now only five remained: Spirit, Marie, Soul, Tsubaki, and newly invited to the crew of elites, Chrona. It was merely by suggestion from a familiar wise man that he'd selected the white haired teen to join when they'd been allocated a witch soul they could use. Although others might have believed it to be biasty considering the connection Chrona had with them.

Where were the rest of them now, you ask? Spirit had opted to stay where his daughter once lived. Some thought he'd been here out of a wish to see her return by some miracle, as if nothing or nobody had taken her away. Tsubaki and her meister had taken a short vacation away from Death City, on top of the intent to briefly check in on other places as they went along. In a sense, it was a vacation, but it served as extra eyes outside.

As for Marie, she had no real obligation to necessarily fight at the moment. She often took many out town trips, returning regularly to make sure the school was still doing well. Consider it a partial retirement, if you may… Patty and Liz? Well, with the Shinigami's power alone, they'd exerted enough strength in their shots as is. Kidd could never gather the courage to make just one into a Deathscythe, nor the patience to obtain one more witch soul to turn the other later.

And Soul… He was still young, strong… It'd simply been convenient to keep Soul around, given his abilities and resonation capabilities. Soul didn't seem to have a real motivation to branch out beyond his daughter's place of residence. And so now here he was, walking the silent halls as he served Lord Death as a guardian of Shibusen and a reserve weapon when he needed the power of an official deathscythe. (Because Spirit was just so… Spirit.)

As Soul's mind began to zone out on the pearly white walls, his vision began to blur. The man stopped to rub his eyes some, but when he opened them back up, thick clouds appeared before him, making it difficult to see what was ahead. The man blinked, shifting his vision to focus beyond the grey puffs that'd so unexpectedly appeared. He prepared an arm with his blade, ready to attack whatever had managed to infiltrate the DWMA without notice, but what had appeared before him wasn't at all what he'd expected.

"Is this…? No, this couldn't be real…" Soul stumbled forward best he could in his state of confusion, nearly tripping on invisible obstacles. The weapon had become dizzy, or was it was merely his exhaustion that threw the drunk-like sway on his step?

He finally reached where the young woman he'd somehow spotted stood, clearing out of the steamy smoke at last. "Maka? Is it really you?" He leaped forward, wrapping his arms around her tight as he could. It was no mistake. His lover had returned! "Maka! I promise I'll never let you down again!" His eyes began to well up in tears as he could do nothing more than keep his face buried into her neck, feeling the warmth of her skin.

The scene began to reveal its facade, however. Just as he brought his head back up to gaze into the jade eyes he missed so much, the image vanished back into smoke, and dropped in a pile of dust, disappearing as it hit the ground. "Maka!"

His returned to the reality of the empty halls, having found himself fallen forward onto the marble floor. His forearms stung from the hard impact. What had he looked like, just letting himself fall down like that? Luckily, no one had seen it. "Just an illusion…" Soul said under quiet, but heavy breath. Regaining himself back on his feet, he'd learned he wasn't alone after all.

"Are you okay?" Kid appeared behind Soul rather unexpectedly.

"Wait, did you see…." Soul began hesitantly. He'd given a long pause, scared to finish the question. 'He couldn't … he'd certainly be just as shocked if he had seen Maka standing there, too, you idiot!' Now a blush of embarrassment grew over his tan cheeks.

Kidd just raised a single brow, worried about his friend's sanity. "You fall? Of course. If you're not well, why don't you try relaxing for a moment? It's quiet enough." Despite Kid's optimistic words, he couldn't help but to wonder what had Soul so exhausted.

"Right…" Sighing in relief, the weapon realized he probably did need a break if he was seeing imaginary people. The death scythe stood back up, his breath finally caught back up. The mirage left him with a feeling of discomfort. He began to walk off, throwing his hand up in gesture that he would return to his duty soon. The opportunity to relax would surely bring his mind back on track. Perhaps then he could stop showing such display of weakness.

"Say, Soul, before you go, there was something I wanted to ask you." Kid knew that he wasn't completely happy. He had changed from the day he lost Maka, but lately, it had grown worse. It wasn't that having Chrona in his life still wasn't enough, but rather a cold, shut out feeling he'd exhibited.

Soul stopped, turning around halfway to listen to Kid's inquiry. 'He doesn't know about that vision, does he? I can't let him know. He'll just ask me about it even further. I shut it all away a long time ago so it wouldn't hurt, and there's no reason to face it even now. All it'll do is mess things up. Chrona is all I need to live for.' He didn't care to discuss any of the past. It was already defused, and as he saw it, ignoring the subject had suited his days well enough to keep it that way.

"I want to start a music class… and I want you to teach it. I can see through your fake smiles, Soul, and I want to help. Maybe a change of pace could bring your spirit back up. Your love for music would really bring enlightenment to the institution, as well as to the kids too!" Kid's smile was genuine. He had put a lot of thought into the suggestion, as well as consideration for the school, students, and Soul. The opportunity would even provide students with a chance to explore their imagination in the field of musical arts.

Soul sighed, trying to shrug off the feeling of obligation to the unexpected request. "I don't know… really, I'm content enough where I'm at. (Even though this was a lie.) Besides, playing for people isn't really my thing anymore…" He thought back to when he played for Maka. There was once a time when he actually enjoyed displaying his musical abilities for simple pleasure. Back then, it might have been worth it, but now… what was it worth anymore if she wasn't there to hear it?

"I see…" The Shinigami was disappointed in the answer he had received. "At any rate, the offer is open to you anytime you like. Think about it, okay, but don't take too long. I just want to see you and the students happy. Now go sit down a bit. Get yourself refreshed! The school will be just fine!" Soul trudged off, obeying the command, rubbing at his face a bit. Kid's eyes shifted to a look of concern as Soul disappeared around the winding corners of the hallway. 'Not his thing? Where has his confidence gone? '