Story Title: Eat My Soul

Rating: T for Teen

Genre: Romance/Drama/Action/Slice-of-Life

Synopsis: Maka's mission is to transfer to Shibusen Academy in order to find the whereabouts of an Evil soul. But the thing is…it's an all-boy's school.

Chapter Ten

My Precious Friend!

Darkness dripped through the doors, slopping onto the floor like goo, and spread out like waves beneath our feet. It was a bit amazing watching something so strange and dangerous run past me, sending shivers up my spine. The windows were quickly stained with black and the morning sun left our view, leaving me with a very cold feeling. I let go of Soul and walked into the middle of the room, looking around, holding my breath.

Kid went over to me and we were suddenly back to back. "Maka, do you know about this…Evil soul?"

I couldn't blame him for the pause. In truth, it didn't feel like an Evil soul at all. Evil souls always felt the same: tainted, unclean. They made you want to throw up as if you smelled something awful. But this…this was nothing but dark fear.

"I just sensed it is all," I said, not caring whether or not I was lying at the moment.

This was it.

This was the one I had been searching for.

What is your name, Evil soul?

Sinister laughter.

I tensed.

It was coming from all around us.

Soul ran to our side. "Hey, what's going on?" he said in alarm. "This feels just like last time, but more…" He didn't finish. He looked like he was trying to fight something back within himself with great struggle.

Suddenly, I was pushed away by Kid's hands and Soul jumped back. Not a second later after I was thrown into the air, a giant chain smashed into the ground where we were just at.

"What is this thing!" shouted Soul. His arm turned a bright white color and then dissolved. He had transformed into a scythe again.

The large chain led up to what looked like an open Portal, like the ones Professor Shinigami used whenever he needed to talk to someone far away. It was simply hanging in midair with a connection of linked, metal chains dragging out from it.

So then…this Evil must have been incredibly strong to be able to use a Portal…! Not to mention inside Shibusen where Professor Shinigami was.

This…

This was impossible.

There was no way I would be able to defeat such a thing. Its power was overflowing the room…!

"Now's not the time for that!" I cried out. "We need to get out of here!"

I saw Kid's eyes grow wide. "Maka, look out!"

I flipped backward, avoiding another chain but this one was smaller and faster. And then another one shot out from the Portal and charged at me. I found myself relying on my reflexes more and more as I was pelted with a torrent of chains. "Damn this!" I swiped the air with my hand and my emerald colored soul cleaved through the next set of chains aiming for me. But it didn't stop then. Chain after chain after chain, they kept coming at me.

The next thing I knew, Soul was in front of me, his arm moving so fast that I barely caught him destroying most of the chains with a single slash. "Get behind me!" he ordered as more metal rained down on us.

I followed his command and pressed my back against his, using my Soul Drive to eradicate our enemies.

"Soul! Maka! Head for the door!" Kid was running, dodging the giant chain with jumps and flips and rolls. He slid to a stop and faced the chain as it bolted toward him. "Let's see if you can live through this!" With his right index finger pointing toward the chain and his thumb upward, he released his Soul Drive. It was a strong, golden blast with a black, zigzagging line crawling around it. His soul blasted through the chain, smashing it into pieces as easy as if it were the tiny ones Soul and I were dealing with.

My eyes widened.

He really was powerful...

But that…was that even possible for a human?

Wasn't Kid human?

But none of us could celebrate yet. Right after he had disposed of the single giant chain, two more crawled out from the Portal and instead of going after Kid, they whipped around toward…

"Soul!" I pushed my back hard against him, forcing him to fall down. The chains struck my stomach, forcing me into the air and ending with my back against the wall. I hadn't even realized that I had been slammed with enough force so that the wall had cracked. My body felt numb….

"Maka!" Soul and Kid bellowed.

Their voices seemed distant.

Was I losing conciseness?

I heard Kid using his Soul Drive again, and of Soul rampaging up the chains that held me still. He kept slashing at the chains until I broke free. He carried me back to the ground where he began shaking me in the same manner he did when we had our first battle. "Maka! Wake up! Damn it! This is just like last time!"

I chuckled at him. "Snap out of it!" I slapped his cheeks with my hands. "Have some faith in me." I felt sore, but I knew I could still carry on.

"Maka! Are you all right!" Kid was busy dealing with the smaller chains. It seemed that it took a bit of time for the larger chains to regenerate.

That meant we were timed.

The door was across the room. I had to do something…! I aimed my index finger at it and shot out my Soul Drive but it bounced away like a ball would when it was dropped on a hard surface. My emerald soul instead hit the blackened wall and died away with a sizzle.

All right…that didn't work at all...

Time for Plan B!

"Yeah! And I have a plan!" I said to Kid.

Before I could actually get to it, though, Soul and I were again attacked by chains. They slowed me down but not enough that I couldn't talk. I informed them about how we could get out. Soul looked doubtful but Kid agreed, saying that there was no other way.

"There's no way that'll work!" Soul shouted.

"What's wrong, Soul Eater? Don't think you can handle it?" Kid jeered.

"Shut up! I can do anything I want!"

"Would the both of you shut and concentrate!" I scolded.

Kid looked shocked that I had shouted at him but gave me a knowing grin. Soul…he was already used to me yelling at him so my words had little effect on him.

We ran to each other, dodging silver and metal.

"You ready?" asked Kid.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," muttered Soul, looking at him with dislike. "All right! Fine! As long as we can get out!"

Kid held out his hand and Soul's entire body glowed white, the same white it did whenever he would transform. I made sure nothing was in the way to bother them. But when I looked up, four more of the larger chains had emerged from the Portal. "Hurry!"

And then Kid was brandishing Soul's weapon form but sparks of their Souls' Wavelength spurt out like splashes of water from a fountain. Kid groaned, trying to wield the scythe. "Urgh…you're a real troublesome soul, aren't you?" he managed to say.

"Gaah! Hurry up already, your highness!" bellowed Soul.

With his greatest efforts, Kid drew the scythe with both hands over his shoulder, and then flung Soul away with all his might across the room. The scythe flew past the chains with incredible speed and stabbed itself within the double oak doors. Once there, Soul transformed back and began tearing the doors apart with his scythe arm.

"Maka, we need to make sure nothing happens to Soul!"

"Right!"

Kid and I caught the attention of the chains and I used my Soul Drive with reckless abandon. Because I wasn't as strong as Kid, I could only shoot out small waves of my Soul. However, it seemed as if Kid could only unleash a great torrent of his soul with every Soul Drive he did. I wondered why but…now wasn't the time to be thinking such things!

"It's almost open! Get over here, you two!" Soul called.

"Kid!" I looked for him saw him running toward me.

"Let's go!" He held out his hand and we grabbed for each other. As soon as our fingers entwined, our bodies disappeared from sight.

Flickering Soul.

The chains smashed the library furiously, looking for our figures and reluctantly settled on Soul.

"Almost there…!" He was completely oblivious to the danger behind him.

Kid and I were almost there beside him but I felt something catch in my throat.

If Soul were to get hurt…!

Suddenly, Soul turned around and sliced through the air, eliminating the smaller chains with a devilish grin. "I'm not such a lame guy that I wouldn't notice a weak attack like that!" he laughed. The chains backed away, regrouping themselves.

I didn't care what he said. I was just relieved that he had noticed…

Kid and I were finally beside him and we looked at each other with determination.

"On three!" I shouted.

We put our shoulders against the doors and prepared to ram it down. It looked smashed and totally destroyed but the last remaining darkness was what kept it intact.

Hey, guys? …Let's take down this darkness!

"One!" counted Kid.

BAM

The chains realized what we were trying to do.

"Two!" continued Soul.

BAM

The four large chains flew toward us.

"Three!" I bellowed.

BAM

The doors burst open and we scrambled outside. I tripped on the pieces of wood and fell flat on my face. Ugh…

"The library…!" said Kid. "It's…!"

Soul knelt down beside me as I turned my head over my shoulders. My eyes widened.

The Portal had disappeared and the darkness that enveloped the library was gathering into a ball in the center of the room. It pulsed like a heartbeat and around it, as if locking it tightly in place, were small chains.

A terrifying screech made my blood run cold.

The ball of darkness shrank until it was about the size of a soul and then it darted for me. It moved so fast…I couldn't even react. When it passed through my chest, I felt my body turn cold like ice. A split second image came into my mind…

Someone…talking to something…he wanted to get rid of someone…he felt…angry.

No, that wasn't it…

It was more like…

He was holding out his hand to the monster, asking if it could do him that one favor…

I reached my hand out to the person. He was…going away! Into the darkness with the monster!

No, don't do that…!

It was tricking you!

Come back!

Don't go!

Someone slapped my face and I woke up.

"God, Maka! Stop scaring us like that!" Soul was hovering over me, his face sweaty and eyes shaking. I realized I was lying on my back.

"Soul? What happened? We got out okay, didn't we?" I suddenly remembered about Kid. I sat upright. "Kid? Where's Kid!"

"I'm right here." A familiar, kind voice. Kid knelt in front of me, looking only a bit tired and ragged. I sighed in relief and heard Soul kick away the broken pieces of wood. "How are you feeling?" Kid looked into my face. "That Evil soul passed right through you. It must've been quite a shock to see its memories…"

"T-that's right." I held my forehead. "I saw its memories…"

If a soul passed through you, you would be able to see a small part of their memory. The scenes were selected at random, of course.

"S-someone's in trouble!" I blurted out. "A boy, or a man…he made a deal with that Evil! I couldn't see who it was but he needs our hel—" I began coughing nonstop that my lungs started to hurt. I held my hand to my mouth and when I was finally able to breathe, I looked at my hand and…

"You're a lot more injured than you think you are, Maka." Kid didn't wait for me to say anything. He moved as if he were about to carry me and my heart leapt from my chest.

"Move it." Soul wedged himself between us and gently placed his arms under my knees and shoulder. He pulled me up and began walking away from Kid, his shoulders set. Kid didn't do anything but look at him with an expression I couldn't read.

I didn't think Soul would be this strong, to be able to carry me like this…

"Soul, it's fine, I can walk on my own," I said. I really could walk on my own.

He grunted at me, telling me that his decision was final.

I made a face. "Stubborn," I chuckled.

His chest felt warm and I could hear his heartbeat. It was beating fast, like mine. I wondered if it was because the adrenaline from the battle was still on us.

I lowered my chin and looked at my palm.

It was smeared with blood.

After the nurse healed me and gave me some medicine ("Did you smash your stomach into something? You're a complete mess!" he had shouted), I thanked Soul for carrying me and told him that I needed to clear my head outside. He looked reluctant to leave me but with a shrug, he went to class. I wondered where Kid had gone.

In truth, I wasn't going to clear my head. I needed a mirror.

I needed to call Professor Shinigami.

I headed for the bathrooms. Using one of the mirrors, I breathed onto it and dialed his number. The mirror rippled like water and after a few rings, Professor Shinigami picked up.

"Maka! Are you all right? I saw that battle in the library…it looked terrible…!" he said.

"I'm all right, Professor. But I didn't call you to discuss myself. I'm here to make a report of what I've found."

"Hmm…go on then."

"It seems this Evil is gathering souls. I'm not sure for what but one of its minions had attacked me and another Shibusen student at the park," I informed.

"What?" Professor Shinigami sounded honestly surprised. "What did the Evil soul say?"

"All he said was, 'Master, I've failed you', so I suspect it was charged to kill me or the student."

"Hmm…and that battle just now. I'm sorry I couldn't bring in anyone to help. I wanted to see what it would do, and thankfully, I know more about it now!"

My eyes glowed with expectancy. "What? What? What did you find out?"

"It's borrowing its power from something…or someone," he answered.

"…Borrowing its power from something?" I remembered about my vision. "Professor, I think that's right. When the Evil ran away, it passed through me and I saw…someone…talking with it. He was making a deal with it to get rid of someone at school."

"Well, who else could they want gone but me?" he said. "But…you didn't see their face?"

"No, I didn't…the vision was blurry."

"That's quite all right. Well, I'm afraid that I don't have any more clues other than that Portal because you see, Evil souls cannot use Portals."

"Who else is strong enough to conjure Portals other than yourself, Sir?" I put a hand under my chin.

"As far as I know, only the Death Scythes from across the world can use it. And also…your mother and father."

"Ah…" I tried not to look hurt. "Yeah, of course they could," I said with a trembling voice. Damn it….

Professor Shinigami bounced his hands across the screen. "Cheer up, Maka! The good thing is: I have found out that the Evil is wandering about the school in parts."

"P-parts, sir?"

"Yes. What you battled against was only a fourth of a whole soul."

I shivered. Only one fourth of a strong power... "What should I do about this information? And how did you find that out?"

"Simple! That Portal was giving out a strong amount of energy that disappeared in three other directions so I solved the puzzle within a snap of my fingers!" He really did snap his fingers. But then he became silent, which unnerved me. Whenever he stopped talking, it usually meat he was going to ask something serious…

"Are you up to the task, Maka?" he asked. "The task that I am about to give you will require even more strength that what you've shown me so far."

I answered with confidence. "Yes."

"You really are your mother's daughter," he sighed happily. "I want you to see how this Evil reacts."

"Reacts, sir?"

"Yes, react! We know that its hand, which takes the form of chains, cannot see and is rather unorganized. We also know that if you cut one hand, two more grows in its place. And its pinky fingers, the smaller chains, regenerate faster than its thumbs. Hmm, those will be a hassle to deal with…"

"I see! And you want me to study it, correct?"

He nodded. "Study well, Maka. We need more information on its feet, head, and torso. But if things get too dangerous, please leave as soon as possible!" His tone was light and airy but I could tell that he was worried.

"Yes, sir!"

"Aahh, Maka, you're so helpful! But I wonder if I'm asking too much of you? Isn't this mission a bit too…dangerous?"

I shook my head. "No, it's not. I want to help!"

"…All right then." He sounded defeated. "Be well, Maka."

"I will."

And with that, our phone call ended.

But my doubts began.

Why was Professor Shinigami so worried about me? Were my skills not enough for him? He's been like a father to me I could understand if he thought of me as one of his own but…it still hurt to have him keep asking if I was going to be all right. Maybe I wasn't as good of a Meister as I thought I was. But I was student council president, knew all the teachers, read almost every book available at Meister Academy's library, and was even on good terms with the principle!

But knowing and experiencing were two entirely different things…

Maybe that was what I lacked: Experience.

That made me think about how little I felt. My self-pity…why couldn't I stop that?

I left the bathroom in low spirits. My head hung low.

Haaah…

"Ah? Maka? You ditchin' too?"

"Eh?" I looked up. It was Black Star.

"I didn't know you were a ditcher! Let's be buddies!" He grinned at me.

I walked away from him. "I wasn't ditching…"

He then made sounds of struggling behind my back: "Ah...uh! Hrmm...uh! Aaugh!" It was if he were trying to find something that didn't exist in his brain.

What was wrong with him?

He jogged next to me, his hands inside his pockets. Oddly enough, he refused to look me in the eyes and kept his head down. "What's wrong? You sound down."

"I'm fine, I'm fine." I waved him away but he kept following me…!

He stopped walking, which allowed me to go a few steps ahead of him before he caught back up a second later. "Hey, what's wrong?" he asked, gaining his cheerful self back. "Did you get rejected by a girl or something?"

"Not really…" I replied, feeling a bit annoyed that he wouldn't disappear.

"Hey! Let's go somewhere!" he exclaimed.

"What? School's still in session—"

He grabbed my wrist and with a bright smile, said to me, "Aw, who cares? The weather's good so we should go out!"

Augh…you're too bright, Black Star… He was blinding me with his smile.

"Come on, Maka!"

"Hey, wait!"

Before I knew it, he was led me away from school and into town.

I was against it at first, but as we started having more and more fun, I let myself go and laughed belly laughs with Black Star. He had an amazing knack of turning something ordinary into something extraordinary, not to mention silly or outright hilarious.

Whenever he noticed that I began being silent, he'd call out my name and show me something strange, making me laugh and forget about my worries.

We went to the theatres and watched an old samurai movie. By the time it ended, we were both bawling our eyes out. We had a good laugh after that afterward. Black Star coerced me into going inside a haunted house and even though I was a bit scared, I knew that he was there to cheer me on. We made it out at the end just fine, although I felt weak at the knees after screaming so much…

After that, he made me go up on stage on with him for an open air concert. It was…not enough to say that it was completely embarrassing. Everyone stared at us as Black Star started howling that he was God and that he'd be able to take anyone on. I pulled him off the stage when he began singing about himself.

We visited the arcade, ate strange food that turned out to be really tasty and delicious and Black Star even ate the infamous City Spice that was said to cause foaming at the mouth because it was so spicy. I wasn't brave enough to try it. Just the smell was enough to make my eyes water and force me to cough.

"So?" he asked me as we ate our bowls of noodles. He had taken me to a restaurant that he claimed served the best noodles. "Fit for a God!" he had shouted at the sky.

"Hm?" I looked up from my bowl, still pulling in strands of noodle into my mouth. I finally knew why there were so many bowls of noodles in our house when I first saw it. It was because of this guy.

"How's it taste?" He looked at me eagerly.

I slurped my food loudly and smacked my lips, something Black Star told me I always had to do if my food tasted good. I beamed at him. "Fit for a God!" I laughed.

"See? Told you! I'm always right!" he proclaimed, lifting his chopsticks into the air and clicking them against each other. "For me, who will become a God, I will always be right!"

I laughed with him, ignoring the awkward and strange stares from the nearby customers.

We ate out food in content, enjoying the savory taste of the meat and vegetables and slurping in the hot, delicious broth.

"Are you feeling better now?" he asked after a moment.

"I…" I looked at my bowl of noodles, thinking about why I had been depressed in the first place. It all seemed so silly now. I smiled. "I'm feeling much better. Thank you, Black Star."

"We're friends, aren't we? Friends should always be there for each other."

I felt my body warm up inside, as if there was a little candle lighting my heart.

"Yeah."

"Today was great!" Black Star stretched his arms into the sky.

We were on our way back home after playing in town for the whole. I wasn't even that worried about school.

Although it was in the back of my mind…

But today was fun, so I would be able to let my feelings slide.

"I haven't had that much fun in a long time!" I said, pumping my fists.

"Oh? Then you've never lived, Maka!" he bellowed, mouth open wide. "Just stick with me and you'll have the time of your life!"

I was about to answer with a witty comment but as we neared the dorms I saw two figures standing in front of the brick wall. I squinted at them. One was taller than the other.

…Huh?

"Huh? Who're those two?" Black Star pointed a finger at them and then his eyes began sparkling. "Hey, hey, hey! Those are girls! Girls! Let's go talk to them, Maka! Maybe they'll go out with us!"

"Ahahaha…" I couldn't say anything else. Those two girls…

I had the strangest feeling something bad was about to happen.

"Hey! You two!" called out Black Star, waving his hand in the air.

The girls turned their heads in our direction.

"Augh! You idiot! Don't call out to them!" I pulled his arm down and he stared at me.

"…You're right! It's best to play hard to get." He smirked. "A handsome guy like me, the girls would chase me wherever I went."

I would admit that he was good looking and had a strong build but… "Whatever." I dismissed him as easily as I would if candy were being offered to me.

"They're coming!" squealed Black Star.

"Ugh…!" I spun around. "Let's go before they catch up to us!"

Uh oh. This terrible feeling wasn't going away.

"You're right! Playing hard to get! You're pretty smooth, Maka." Black Star had no idea how nervous I was.

"You two boys."

We stopped in our tracks. I rotated my body just enough so that I could clearly see them.

No…no…it…couldn't be…!

"Ah? You…" The taller girl peered into my face with a scrunched up nose. She was obviously trying to match my face with someone she knew. "You look familiar."

"Huh? Maka, you know these two?" Black Star looked at me.

"Maka?" repeated the taller girl, turning her head toward him.

"Ehehehe, it's Maka! How've you been! Why d'you cut your hair?" The shorter girl laughed and began walking in circles around me.

"Hah?" Black Star was beginning to look even more confused. "Maka, who are these girls?"

"Wait, wait, wait…" The taller girl backed away and looked me up and down in disbelief. "Is that you, Maka?"

"Uh…" I suddenly found myself being cornered by the two girls and Black Star, each of them looking at me for an explanation.

No…

No…

Noooo!

Why was this happening!

Next Time On Eat My Soul!

"You're free tomorrow, right?"

"No, you have to wear this!"

"I think I lost them."

"AAAHH! Why are they here!"

"You look like someone I know."

Author's Note: I probably let a lot of my readers down by being so anti-climatic in the last chapter, ha ha...I feel bad for doing that. I'm sorry, everyone. ;_;

BUT! I'll make it up to you all by making the next few chapters interesting and dramatic. :D Kekekeke...

Thank you everyone who read the reviewed the last chapter! Everyone has their own way of asking people out. I know one guy who said to his girl, "I want to be your boyfriend." Daawww, now like, isn't that the sweetest thing to say to a girl, ever? Instead of saying, "You wanna go out?" or "You wanna go out with me?" He said "I want to be your boyfriend." Take note of that, guys, and girls. And about Maka's daddy-o: He doesn't work at Shibusen. I can't say any more than that! It'll ruin the surprise! And to Myst, I don't really know about ipods and ipads other than that they're flat... Sorry, ha ha... But I googled on whether or not you can write on an Ipod and apparently, there's an app for it but not many people use it. That's about all I found out without being confused. _ And a special thanks to shanagi for mentioning my mistakes. I put "her" instead of "him" when Black Star was asking Kid if he had seen Maka. I've made the corrections already, ha!

I really want to write the next few chapters!

As always, thank you everyone for reading, reviewing, faving, or even just clicking on my story! See you in the next chapter! :D