Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater. Wish I did but I don't. I do own some of the characters that I made for this story and the plot.
No Matter What… It's the Thought that Matters
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The best thing about the future is that it only comes one day at a time.
-Abraham Lincoln, American President
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She leaned against his shoulder, enjoying the sound of his music. "This place is so beautiful," she murmured softly closing her eyes, reflecting in the peacefulness. "But your music sounds different."
Soul grunted. "It's your soul," he murmured, "of course it would sound different here."
Maka pulled away, a puzzle expression on her face. "So, you're playing my soul? So that means back in your soul…that's really your soul you're playing, right?"
The weapon took awhile to reply. "I can't see souls like you can," he said playing slowly yet slightly livelier than he usually played though he could hear a slight under tone of something dark in the sound. He tried to ignore it. "I doubt that I would be able to play in anyone else's soul."
"Why not?" the tech questioned.
The Death Scythe snorted closing his red eyes. "And you were top of our class. Sad," he said shaking his head making the blonde fume. The music became loud and banging, matching her mood. "The only other person I can play is you," he finally said as the loud music along with her anger began to fade into serenity. "I can only play you because our souls are linked," he explained before grinning. Soon, the music turned dark, haunting and the beautiful meadow around them began to melt as they were both found back in Soul's soul. "Maybe one day you won't need me to visit your own soul."
"Thank you Soul," Maka said appreciatively. "Coming here…really helped."
The weapon shrugged, getting up from the piano. "Anything for my meister," he replied as the room slowly began to fade. "Oi, Maka," he called out remembering the dark tone of her soul that he had played. It frightened him because he knew it shouldn't have been there and yet it was.
"Yeah?"
"Nothing," he said as they found themselves in their living room. He got up with a grunt, twisting his neck back and forth easing the stiff feeling. He looked back over at his partner and found that she was asleep. A small smile crept on his face as he leaned back down, gently picking her up. He silently made his way to her room, placing her gently on her bed, pulling the sheets over her. He stood over her hesitatively, watching her easing breathing.
After awhile, he forced himself from her room and returned to the living room where Maka's student's files were still waiting to be partnered. He grunted sitting on the couch while picking up one of the files and flipping through it, finding Maka's notes on her observations of the student's soul. He glanced back at the door belonging to the sleeping blonde before going through more of the other files. It was obvious that he wasn't going to bed anytime soon.
"Anything for my meister," he repeated again.
--
She was in her soul – or at least a dream representation of it. She twirled around enjoying the refreshing wind that played with her hair.
She leaned down to pick some flowers but screamed jumping back in surprise at what she saw. A snake, crushing a plain but still beautiful and delicate flower… The peacefully setting shattered, replaced by cold and darkness.
"No!" she screamed. "No, no, no-"
"No!" She cried sitting up in bed, arm outstretched in front of her before she plopped backwards onto her bed, closing her eyes. Once she had her heart beating calmly, Maka's eyes slowly opened, as she rose from bed yawning. "I'm…in my room?" she questioned to herself aloud. She had no recollection of returning to her room. All that she remembered was a peaceful meadow and Soul's hauntingly beautiful playing.
"Soul?" she called out as she walked into the kitchen. He wasn't in there. She walked into the living room and gasped. The messy piles of her students' files were neatly stack and organized attached to the folder on top was a note in Soul's handwriting.
"Out of food," she read. "Went to get some. Be back soon. Soul." She shrugged plopping down on the couch when another note caught her attention. "Thought I give you a hand," was all it said. Maka looked questioningly at the note once more, flipping it over to see if there was anything written on the back. There wasn't.
She looked at where the not had been placed on and found a list with two columns on it – one reading "meister" and the other reading "weapon". It was a list of partners.
Maka read over it, eyes widening slightly. It was amazing. The pairings he had made seemed totally compatible. "Thanks Soul," she murmured softly as she continued to look down the list. She froze suddenly. One pairing stuck out. "You got to be kidding me…"
--
He had been out late, really late but what he had been looking for was important... By the time he reached the apartment, the sun had already risen. Mifune quietly stepped into the apartment, not daring to look at the kitchen since he still had no idea of its current state, heading towards his young charge's room.
When he opened the door to the young witch's room a wave of panic swept over him. She wasn't there.
"Neh? Swordsman-kun! You're home late."
The swordsman swirled around aiming one of his swords at the violet hair woman's neck. "Where is she?" he said in a low threatening voice.
Blair looked unperturbed by the sword at her throat as a confused look fell on her face. "Are you talking about Angela-chan? She's in your room," she pointed towards the room next door.
Mifune pulled away, instantly making his way to his room and opening the door. There he found what he was looking for. Angela laid curled up on his mattress a blanket throw over her.
"Angela-chan got worried when you took too long getting here. She insisted on waiting for you but she fell asleep," Blair softly explained so the young girl wouldn't be awoken. "Blair-chan took good care of her though." Mifune gave her a questioning look. The kitchen incident didn't help him think of a good image of the cat taking care of anything. "Blair ordered takeout and stayed with Angela-chan till she fell asleep."
"Thank you," Mifune said softly turning to face the powerful cat before quickly turning his expressionless face away – he hadn't noticed what she was wearing, or what she wasn't for that matter. Blair pouted at his response. Her hair and body was damp with water from the bath she just took and an incredibly small towel, wrapped around her robust figure threatened to slip off at the slightest of movements. "You should change," Mifune said closing the door to his room and heading towards the kitchen where he was internally happy to find it clean.
Blair angrily crossed her arms over her chest, snapping her fingers as the towel was replaced by clothes though whether or not the clothes provided better coverage was questionable.
"Blair doesn't like to be ignored," she murmured before gasping fearfully. "Is Blair loosing her touch?" She turned into a cat and jumped out of an open window off to see if her beauty was fading. Mifune watched her from the corner of his eye from the kitchen. When he was sure she was gone he turned around, leaning on the kitchen counter, wads of tissue stuck up his nose to stop the blood. That cat would be the death of him…
--
He took in a deep breath, enjoying the feeling of the rushing wind against him. It had been awhile since he rode on his bike and he enjoyed the feeling like reuniting with an old friend. The smirk on his face turned to a soft smile as a wave of distant memories swept over him. "Yeah," he thought remembering the sound of a saxophone playing smoothly and a hand ruffling his hair, "like reuniting with an old friend."
"Oh, Soul-kun!" a voice sang out from behind him as hands wrapped around him and a tongue playfully licked his ear.
"B-b-blair!" the young man stuttered face turning red as the cat woman's breast pressed against his back. "Don't do it. Don't do it," he thought to himself trying to hold back the inevitable, not noticing that he was gripping the handles of his bike tightly, speeding it up. The final straw finally broke as Blair ran her tongue over the outside lobe of his ear before jumping off the man's bike and hopping on a pumpkin that was hovering nearby. She watched with an amused grin as the white hair man's head flew backwards spewing a fountain of blood from his nose.
"Hm," Blair chuckled as she watched Soul crash his bike into a tree. "I guess I still have it. Swordsman-kun must just be weird. I have to think of something," she murmured to herself before flying away on her pumpkin.
Soul groaned as he pushed his bike off of him. "Damn, cat," he murmured as a small crowd began to gather around him asking him if he was okay. Soul ignored them, looking for any signs of Blair but found none. He sighed somewhat disappointedly. She ran off before he could even ask about the letter.
"Hey, old man."
Soul looked up to see a ginger hair kid wearing a baseball cap standing above him. "Who you calling an old man, brat?" Soul grunted out.
The kid smirked. "Sorry but the white hair and slouching posture through me off. It makes you look like a grandpa. All you need is the beard and a cane," the child chuckled crossing their arms over their chest.
"Get out of my way," the Death Scythe growled annoyed as he got up. He looked at his bike. It looked wrecked beyond repair, a deep sorrow ebbing at his soul.
"Damn. Do you know how to respect the classics?" the kid muttered looking over the bike. "I would kill for a bike like this."
"Tch. I don't need to be lectured by a little boy like you."
"I'm a girl" the kid replied not sounding offended by the mix up. "Anyway, I think it can be salvaged, believe it or not. I could fix it for you."
"I don't need a kid fixing up my bike," the scythe grunted propping up the bike and rolling it slowly as he walked away, leaving behind the girl. Normally, he would be able to fix it on his own but this time he needed a professional and there was only one decent bike shop around.
Soon enough, Soul found himself at the entrance of Pop's and Son's Repair Shop. An old graying man greeted him at the entrance stuttering nervously. "D-death Scythe-sama?! What can I do for you?" Soul rolled his eyes. If he had come here a few years ago he would have been called punk and ran out.
"I need you to fix my bike," he said allowing the man to see the wrecked bike. The old man nearly had a heart attack at the sight. "Do ya think you can fix it?"
"I c-can't," the old man said before adding quickly in fear, "but I have a mechanic who can! The best of the best! The kid should be on the way now!"
"Hey, Pop, I'm here," a familiar voice said.
Soul looked over his shoulder to see the girl he had confused for a boy earlier. The old man eagerly ran towards her – faster than an old man could possibly run – and pushed the girl towards the weapon.
"Here she is. My best mechanic! Tia!"
"You got to be kidding me," Soul said.
"Got a problem with me Gramps?" Tia questioned pulling at her mechanics glove.
A vein throbbed on the scythe's temple. "Watch who you're calling Gramps, brat."
The girl smirked before turning to the bike, inspecting it closely. "Looks like you'll need a new engine," she muttered. "It got wrecked in the crash. The thing is the type of engine you'll need isn't cheap." She turned back towards Soul, whipping her nose with the back of her hand, leaving behind a grease spot. "All in all, it'll be about…three thousands dollars."
"What the-?" Soul said angrily pulling the girl up by her collar so that they were face to face. "Don't try to jip me out my money, ya brat!"
"Two words, Gramps," Tia said with a composed face. "Breath. Mints."
Soul's sharp teeth were bared out as he growled but they seemed not to faze the girl. Boy, wouldn't the weapon like nothing better than to knock the kid out but with held because of his position as a Death Scythe and that the kid was a girl. It wasn't the cool thing to do. Also, he didn't feel like listening to another one of Maka's lectures about irresponsibility.
He dropped the girl, turning to the old man. "I want my bike fixed and I won't go any higher than two thousand dollars. How long will it take to be fixed?"
"I'll have it done by, tomorrow," Tia said wheeling the bike away.
"You're going to fix it?" Soul asked unsettled.
"Do you want them to?" the amber eye girl asked nodding in the direction of the other so called "mechanics" who seemed to be having trouble figuring out how to take off a car tire.
"Fine," Soul grunted turning away, hands stuffed in his pockets as he walked away.
The old man let out a sigh of relief before turning angrily to Tia. "Don't talk that way to Death Scythe-sama!"
The girl snorted, beginning to take apart the bike. "Does it look like I care?" she asked with a bored tone. "I don't care who he is. It doesn't really matter to me because I know someone who is way stronger than him."
"Oh really?" the old mechanic snorted. "And who is that?"
"My brother," Tia said. He wasn't sure whether it was her tone or something else but the old mechanic knew that with that last statement, the conversation was over.
--
"Kidd! I'm sick! Not a baby!" Liz yelled angrily from her place in bed, Kidd and Patty sitting next to her.
The young shinigami frowned. "Elizabeth, you must take your medicine or else you won't get better."
"It's not that I won't take it," the weapon said turning her head away slightly. "It's just that I don't want you spoon feeding me!"
Kidd seemed to ignore her as he poured the needed out of thick liquid onto the spoon before holding the utensil towards Liz. "Say ah," he instructed.
"No," Liz said crossing her arms and turning her head away stubbornly.
"Nee-chan is such a baby," Patty laughed.
"Hey-!" Liz cried giving Kidd the opportunity to stick the spoon in her mouth. She reflexively gulped before the young man slipped the spoon out.
"Very good," he replied, setting aside the medication. "Now sleep," he said, lightly pushing his weapon down on the bed.
"But I don't wanna," Liz sniffed. "I've been resting all day! I'm bored! You have no idea how boring it is when you're sick." Patty laughed at her over dramatic sister. The scene was as funny as Kidd's depressing moments.
"You're right," the death god sighed. "Because I'm a shinigami, my body doesn't get affected by colds. It seems unfair sometimes," he murmured dejectedly.
Liz sighed sitting back up and patting his shoulder reassuringly. "You should be thankful. Colds aren't fun to have."
"And their not fun to watch someone have either," Kidd replied. "That's why I please ask you to rest. I hate seeing either of you sick."
Liz looked questionably at her meister. He looked so…deflated; depressed to a certain level that she had never seen in any of his little symmetry tantrums. As he sat on the edge of the bed, slightly hunched over she felt sorry for him. He had always had the weight of the world on his shoulders due to the fact that he was a shinigami even when he was at such a young an impressible age of thirteen. Even then, though, he hadn't seemed much of kid – always an old man in a young body and he still appeared that way today. But as she looked, Kidd seemed as helpless as a…well, a kid, unable to really do anything. She wondered how it felt to be in control of so much yet still have things that were even beyond your control.
"Fine," she said softly, lying back on the bed. "I'll rest."
"Thank you," the young shinigami said with a relieved sigh.
"But only if you rest too," the weapon quickly added.
Kidd gave her a bemused expression. "Liz, you know I can't rest right now. Father has left me a large amount of paperwork to look over and approve."
"No fun," Patty said sticking out her tongue.
"Really," Liz agreed. "The paperwork will be there later. Besides, you know you're not going to get any of it done if both Patty and I aren't there because you'll probably freak out over something. Come on. Watch a movie with us."
Kidd sighed. Though he hated to admit it, she was right. "But I need to do this," he thought. "If I don't, then I'll never be prepared when they…" He shook his head, unable to complete his thoughts.
He smoothly stood up, brushing himself off before walking towards the door. "I'll have some soup brought up for you later," he said over his shoulder, for some reason unable to look back at the two confused looking weapons.
The two sisters watched as their meister left. Liz bunched the bed sheets tightly in her fist before turning to Patty. "Whatever," she sniffed. "We'll just watch a movie by ourselves."
Patty got up from the bed and put a movie into the T.V. but her usually perkiness wasn't there. "No fun without Kiddy," she murmured.
--
"Tsubaki-chan?" Maka asked as she cleared up the dishes that she and the ninja weapon had made while having tea. "Are you okay? Did something happen?"
The dark hair woman blushed. "N-no! Everything's fine!" the weapon said a little too quickly staring down at the hands folded neatly in her lap. Maka cocked her head to the side while leaning on the counter.
Something was up with the weapon and the tech could tell ever since the weapon appeared at her door with a bag full of tea and sweets, practically begging her to let her stay.
Maka sipped at her tea, peaking over the edge at her friend. "Hey, is everything all right with you and Black Star? Did something happen?"
Tsubaki nearly choked on her tea. Maka quickly went to get some water. The weapon gratefully took the offered drink and composed herself. "Nothing happened," Tsubaki smiled to widely but she knew that Maka didn't believe it for one second of it. Before the meister could interrogate the weapon more the door to apartment opened.
"Oi, Soul! What took you so long?" Maka asked as the death scythe walked into the kitchen before gasping. He had cuts and scrapes on his face, hands, and knees.
"Soul-kun!" Tsubaki gasped. "What happened?"
"Blair," Soul grunted holding out the groceries he had gotten to Maka but the tech was too busy getting the first aid kit.
"Sit," she ordered him. "How could you get these from Blair?" A vein throbbed on her temple. "Did you faint while riding your bike because she gave you a nosebleed?" she asked through clenched teeth.
"Ow! Watch it!" Soul howled as she applied disinfectant on his wounds. He watched silently as his partner took care of his wounds, turning down some tea that Tsubaki had offered. With a sigh, the female weapon got up to her feet.
"I should be going," she said while Maka continued to bandage Soul.
"You're leaving so soon?" Maka questioned.
Tsubaki nodded. "Hai. I've stayed too long and I have to do some other task. Feel free to have the sweets," the weapon smiled, waving before leaving.
"Bye," Maka called after her friend before turning to Soul. "There," she said with an indifferent expression as she stood up, walking to put away the first aid.
"Thanks," Soul replied.
Maka shrugged coming back into the room. "I should be the one saying thanks. You did my work for me even though you're supposed to be on vacation."
He shrugged, popping a small bite size cookie from the box of sweets Tsubaki had brought into his mouth. "I was bored and couldn't sleep."
The tech sighed. "Well for whatever reason you did it, thank you," she said, "though there is one pairing that I think you did wrong."
"Which one?" Maka pulled out the sheet, pointing towards the pair. "Let me guess," he smirked looking at the list. "The bookworm and the rebel? I don't see the problem," he said leaning back in his chair. "After all, it worked well for us, didn't it?"
"It wasn't easy," Maka said crossing her arms.
Soul chuckled picking up a cookie and stuffing it into her mouth, surprising her as a faint blush appeared. "Nothing good ever came by taking the easy way."
The blonde sighed before giving a soft smile. "I guess you're right, but I'm afraid that the overbearing one of the two will try to kill the other." She looked at Soul with narrowed suspicious eyes. "You never wanted to kill me did you?"
The weapon scratched his head thinking. "Well there were times when you were being annoying, hitting me with that freakin' book of yours for no reason."
Maka fumed. "Watch it," she growled out, her hand yearning to reach for her book.
"But when it comes down to it," he said closing his eyes tiredly. "Maka was the best choice for me, in more ways than one," he murmured softly.
"Soul…" the blonde began unsure but was interrupted by loud snores. She sweat dropped as she watched as her partner snored loudly, drool coming from his mouth.
"Baka," Maka said shaking her head. "You should have gone to sleep." She couldn't help, though, but to smile at her "cool" partner. She honestly couldn't see her life without him and she hoped she never would…
--
The blonde sighed, tapping her fingers on her throne. "Maka-chan is too content, even after that lovely dream I sent her" she murmured looking jadedly at the dark settings around her
"Then let's shake things up a bit, eh?" a male voice chuckled eagerly from the shadows.
"Not yet," the girl smiled, twirling a lock of hair around her finger. "No need to rush. There is still much to do before we strike."
"Being perceptive, aren't we?" another male's voice spoke smoothly. The man shifted in the shadows, a glint appearing from where he stood.
"I've waited long enough. I doubt a little bit more waiting will kill me," she chuckled. "This, like chess, is an artful game. Rushing would only ruin it. Besides," she said grinning widely, "I want to see what Shibusen has in store after the last war. I'm sure none of them have forgotten the lives lost especially, dear Maka-chan."
Lol. I'm sorry for another filler chapter. Next chapter will be the revealing of partners though I'm pretty sure you've already guessed who's going to be with who.
Ah! Schools about to start after Labor Day. I don't know if I should be happy because I wont be laying on the couch doing nothing or sad because the truck load of homework will probably appear after the first week. Damn. And I have all honors classes. I'm screwed.
So, like I said next chapter will be partnering everyone up and also Maso-kun will have a great scene! Well in either the next chapter or the one after that. Won't know until I type the next chapter.
Anyway thank you to everyone who has reviewed:
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Thanks guys! You rock!
Anyway, nothing more to say so...PLEASE REVIEW!!