09: Fog (Manga)
'Come on, come on! Please say it'll clear up!' Maka yelled to herself as the news approached its forecast section.
No such luck.
The fog was indeed here to stay until the morning.
She peered out her window in an effort to see beyond the dense mist, only able to make out the faint glows of the streetlights in the dark.
'I guess there's no reason to worry though, Soul's traveled home in worse weather than this.' She reminded herself.
"Waiting for a certain somebody to come home, Maka?" Liz asked over her shoulder, rolling her tongue to emphasis what they both already knew until she was sure she caught her shoulders stiffen and noticed her cheeks growing hot.
Great.
It wasn't like it was a bad thing if Soul ended up being late coming back from Kid's. It was her turn to host girl's night at the apartment with the usual fun of games, secrets, movie-watching and she was lucky enough to have been able to shoo him away so he didn't have to hear all of…
'This teasing over us.' Maka griped internally.
Tsubaki at least sent her a sympathetic smile (albeit not a very convincing one from her perspective) and popped a soda to distract Liz before her sister joined in for the taunting.
"Liz, I thought you were going to tell us about that latest gossip Kim mentioned to you the other day?" She questioned.
And as they both expected, Liz glanced away from her direction and gleefully retold them of what Kim had overhead students from the NOT class discussing.
Saved from embarrassment…for now at least.
With the fog not going anywhere, it was highly possible Liz and the others would be stuck here all night if not until morning. And while she didn't want Soul to attempt to travel back home with his view being heavily obscured, she knew telling by his earlier text that he was already planning to leave Kid's house within the next hour.
"Hey, I'm getting bored! We've already gone through two movies and all of the popcorn and ice cream; we need to spice up this night!" Patty chimed eagerly.
Maka winced, anything Patty ever wanted to spice up always seemed to go…awry.
'My stomach's starting to cramp up too…I don't know if it's from eating all this junk food or because Tom is coming to visit me.' She noted.
Tsubaki nudged her slightly in concern and she immediately attempted to brighten, not wanting to cause her any worry.
"It's just Tom." She mouthed and she smiled, nodding in understanding.
Liz arched a brow from across the room, rocking on her elbows to lean forward. "And what are you two whispering about? Soul and Black Star's latest antics?"
Maka huffed, pouting out her cheeks despite her flustering. "No! If you must know we were discussing Tom!"
Liz blinked, before grinning understandingly. "Oh, well you could've mentioned that earlier! I wouldn't have goaded you into drinking all that fizzy stuff if you said he was coming."
Maka shifted, twirling her ash blonde hair through her fingers. "Truth be told, I forgot to check my calendar to remember he was coming."
Patty snickered, pointing out it was unusual for her to forget something like this and the air of awkwardness gave way to more giggles and snickering as they brought up stories involving Tom.
Across the room though, the sound of the door clicked open as Soul walked on, scarlet eyes narrowing as he caught brief pieces of their conversation.
'Who's Tom?'
-X-
Maybe he should've stayed at Kid's a bit longer.
After all, the last thing he had expected was to walk in on Maka and the rest of the girls discussing who knows what.
And Maka had seemed to believe he was going to try and wait it out for the fog to clear, but he had assured her using the strongest beams on his motorcycle would allow him to past through.
He was sleepy now from taking his time for once to get home, the fog making for an eerie trip that had blocked out the trees and buildings he always passed on the way home.
'I bet you'll catch the girls discussing how great I am if you leave now! Or perhaps Maka mentioning something about you…' Black Star had pointed out and he scowled, wishing he had retorted back that Tsubaki was the only one who ever gave him non-sarcastic compliments.
But clearly Maka wasn't discussing him.
And it was annoying him he hadn't ever heard her mention this guy.
He tiptoed back into the shadows by his bedroom, crouching down to avoid being seen in case any of them looked over in his direction.
"How do you guys deal with Tom since we all live with guys? I mean it's hard to stay calm when he comes and Soul is around…" Maka trailed off.
"Have you tried doing those stretching exercises I told you about or using those herbal teas? That always helps me; it's also good that I normally do the laundry early so Black Star never sees any of the effects from overnight." Tsubaki replied.
'What? This Tom guy not only visits Maka, but all of them?' Soul thought.
He pulled out his phone and lowered the glow of the phone's light before scrolling to Black Star's name.
"Do you know anybody at school or anyone around our age by the name of Tom?" He texted.
It didn't take him long for his phone to lightly buzz his response.
"Huh? What the hell are you talking about?! Is Maka going after a guy named Tom or something?"
Soul gritted his teeth, ignoring the slight heat coming onto his face as his quickly typed back.
"No, idiot! I'm back at my place and Maka along with TSUBAKI are mentioned this guy."
He waited a good couple of minutes for his response, frowning when he heard a faint thump coming from the ceiling.
'He didn't actually-'
And of course, the girls heard it as well.
"What was that? It's not starting to rain; is it?! The forecast only said dense fog into the mid-morning hours, right?" Liz asked, sitting up from her position on the couch.
Patty giggled, expression becoming dark. "Who said it has to be rain? Maybe it's something a bit more otherworldly…"
Liz shivered, wrapping a blanket around herself. "Stop it, sis! You know I hate when you bring up ghosts and whatnot! Especially with a night like this."
Soul meanwhile crept over to his window, cracking it open just enough to peer out and overhead. Sure enough even with the fog covering up some of his features, Black Star was staring back at him.
"What's this crap you're mentioning about Tsubaki having some Tom guy visit her?!" He snapped.
Soul rolled his eyes, silently putting a finger to his lips to tell him to shut up as he maneuvered over into his room beside him.
"Moron, why the hell did you use the roof to cause a commotion?! You're freaking them out now and I still don't know the full details." Soul griped.
Black Star scoffed, running a hand through his cobalt hair. "Well, I had to get here as fast as possible and it's easier to see past the fog by roof-hopping using my stealth skills! Of course though, I can't expect someone like you to understand things like love and relationships when you're blind to your own feelings and Maka's! Anyways, now that I'm here I'll get to the bottom of this!"
Soul decided to ignore the first parts of his comment, holding him back by his collar. "You can't keep quiet for shit. Now, stay low with me so we can both hear them talk again."
-X-
'I hope this works.' Maka hummed, watching as the water came to a boil before she set it aside to cool before she put the tea bag in.
Every step, her stomach tinged with pain, shooting waves of the effect around her back and down her body like a shockwave.
"Ouch, stupid Tom." She hissed under her breathe, opening the cabinets to find the nearest Tylenol or pain medication to kill the tight sensation.
"Need some help in here?" Tsubaki asked over her shoulder and she nodded gratefully, popping down two tablets while Tsubaki added sugar and cream for her tea to help gulp the medicine down.
They both returned over to table, not surprised to see Liz dazedly trying to keep her eyes open with Patty already knocked out.
"Thanks, can't believe it's almost close to 2:30 am now." Liz noted, accepting the tea Maka handed her while staring at the clock across the room.
She lazily yawned and set her glass on living room counter once it was finished, falling back onto the air mattress as her breathe slowly evened out.
"Think you'll be able to get any sleep with Tom's presence?" Tsubaki joked lightly, stirring at her cup slowly as they watched the sisters sleep.
Maka shrugged, rubbing her stomach slowly as she felt the gurgling die down a bit. "Yeah, once this kicks into my system I'll be good. I remember this one time Soul asked why I was just staying holed up in my room all day and I said I was waiting for Tom to leave. I don't think he understood or heard me properly."
'And I still don't apparently.' Soul considered in frustration, Black Star equally confused from beside him.
"I don't get it dude, they're both giggling and talking about someone who's not even there…perhaps this is just some inside joke were not supposed to get." Black Star complained.
For once, it seemed like he was right.
It wasn't like they were going to any more clues into exactly who or what Tom was anyways…Maka and Tsubaki falling asleep shortly afterwards as well. Black Star climbed back out his window, promising he would he would solve this 'Tom' mystery before he did by morning.
He sighed, watching as Maka slept out of them all, the most haphazardly. Clearly the pain medicine not fully killing her pain just yet. Hair strewn over her face in the midst of her tossing and before he could consider the repercussions, he brushed it out of her face.
And jade green eyes sleepily opened soon after said action.
"Soul?" She whispered, eyes seeming to sharpen as she sat up from the couch.
'Shit.'
-X-
"You didn't have to hit me so hard." He remarked bitterly, nursing the bumps on his head with a scowl.
Maka hmped, paying no mind to his grumbling as she set out another plate of eggs. It was morning now and they were the only two up in apartment even with the few hours of sleeping they had both gotten. "Well, how else was I supposed to react when I see a figure hovering over me in the darkness, huh?! You've could've been a burglar for all I knew if I hadn't taken the necessary precautions."
Soul bit his tongue to refrain from stating she still hit him even after she realized it was indeed him.
"Besides, you deserved my Maka-chops after you decided to come in without telling anyone and listen in on our conversations! We don't peep in on your guy's night or whatever!" She mentioned. 'Except for that one time I was dared to do it…but how much did he hear anyways?'
Soul shrugged, mind whirling back to said discussions he had heard. The name Tom continued to pop into most of them.
"So, who's Tom?" He eventually asked.
Maka blinked, nearly dropping the spatula from her hands. "E-Eh, why do you ask?"
Soul arched a brow, slightly amused by her reaction. He took the opportunity to lean forward into her, blocking her escape as he pinned her into a corner of the kitchen.
"I don't know, you tell me who he is?"
Maka reddened at his agitated tone, they were close enough she could hear his breathing, pick up on the scent of his faint shampoo, and her stomach tightened this time in nervousness.
"Wait a minute, Tom's not a guy…well we just refer to it as a 'he' because of how annoying IT is!" She realized, gathering herself and pushing him back slightly.
Soul scoffed, clearly unfazed by her answer, especially when she started to smirk. "Oh my goodness, you thought…you thought Tom was a guy; didn't you?!"
'This isn't how I imagined this conversation was going to go.' Soul pondered, not sure what to say.
"Soul, you idiot! T.O.M. is an acronym. It means Time Of Month. Geez, getting jealous over nothing…" Maka muttered.
They stared at each other silently until she saw it click in Soul's expression and he smacked himself. "Damnit, that mean's all this time…" 'I'm not sure how I'm going to explain this to Black Star, hell do I even want to explain this to him?'
"Yes." Maka finished for him, looking away from him to outside.
Good, the fog was clearing up faster than expected. Morning light streaming across the mountains nearby and buildings giving off a small orange and yellow hue with the fading darkness and moonlight.
A wolf whistle cut through her observing and she instantly felt her skin start to prickle.
'Oh no…'
Because how could she forget across the room Liz, Tsubaki, and Patty were watching with merriment how close she and Soul currently were?
"Hmm, I thought I smelled breakfast, but I didn't know I was going to be getting a show with it as well!" Liz teased, enjoying far too much watching Soul and Maka scramble away from each other.
"You know, the fog has cleared up, you and Patty can head back to Gallows Manor now." Maka brought up.
Liz shook her head, brushing her blonde hair back using her fingers. "Ah, that's good. Though it would be a waste not to enjoy breakfast with you lovebirds first!"
And of course remarks like that would go on for the next painful hour or so until Maka not so subtly this time told them all to leave.
"Ugh, I'm not going to hear the end of this for a long time or at the next girl's night!" Maka complained, bumping Soul purposely while they washed up the dishes.
"I just wanted to know who Tom was." Soul muttered, drying another plate until he felt something warm against his cheek.
He turned just in time to briefly see Maka pull her lips back and he paused, reaching back to pull her closer again.
Maka smiled against the curve of his lips, voice light and airy.
"You know, I won't let you live this Tom thing down, but at least know that Tom can't ever compete with Soul."
-x-
A/N: Wrote this story based on a memory I had from middle school with my friends. They referred to their monthly cycle as Tom and I actually thought they were talking about some random guy in our class I had never met until they told me it was an acronym. Lol, hope it brought a smile to your faces!
As always, thanks for reading. Let me know if you have any suggestions on the next weather one-shot you want so see! ;)
