A/N: Many thanks to Rokuchuchu, aqua-love-angel-13, BlessedRain, shanagi95, Dancing in Crimson, Hfanfiction, ELMOSWURLDisscary, Starlight-Ninja, 2clap, hyblueluvr, and Luanne for reviewing!...Thank you for not giving up on me yet. Yes, I update horribly, but come hell or high water, this story WILL have an ending.

'~'Princess Charming'~'

Chapter 10

"You just had to get the entire collection of the Oxford English Dictionary."

"Well, you are a rich old Prince, after all."

Soul groaned and almost wanted to comment that she could have all the money she needed if she only asked her weird father, but he held himself back.

"Yeah, but all twenty volumes? That's just cruel."

Maka smiled, holding the first book in her hands and marveling at the cover. "Whatever, I've been dying to get the OED for forever!"

Glancing up at the laughing sun, Soul was surprised when Maka spoke softly again.

"I've always asked Papa to get it for me for Christmas, but he always gave me something more 'befitting of a girl my age...'"

Soul crossed his arms as he let his curiosity finally get the better of him.

"What is up with him, anyways? Does he not realize that you're more than capable of taking care of yourself?"

Maka hesitated for just a moment, her brow furrowed with thought.

"Well, he never really wanted me to join Shibusen in the first place…I don't think he believes that I'm cut out to be a meister."

"Are you kidding me?" Soul huffed in mild anger. "I've never met anyone that can defend herself as well as you can."

Maka's eyes flicked towards him cautiously. "…You really think so, Soul?"
They stopped walking for a moment. The book in Maka's hands was ignored as weapon and meister locked eyes.

Soul took a deep breath and crossed his arms. "I know so." He cringed at how his words sounded so un-cool, but he meant it. Maka could be cold and harsh, but her skills were undeniable. However, he barely had time to ponder on that thought as Maka grabbed his arm.

"Come on, Soul, we've got to get back to Shibusen before curfew."

"Huh? I thought classes were over for today…"

"Yeah, but I have some errands I need to do back at school. Plus," she smiled, "…I talked to Shinigami-sama. He said that since no one was using that old bike, we could take it!"

He tugged back on her arm in a hopeless effort to slow down the whirlwind of a girl. "Alright alright, but slow down will you? And you never told me what a 'bike' was."

She turned her head towards him, her champagne hair catching the setting sun.

"You'll see, Prince."

…

"Is this the…bike?"

Maka rolled her eyes. "No, Prince, this is what we here at Shibusen like to call the Mission Board." She tapped the wall for emphasis.

Soul gazed upon the rows of paper pinned onto the simple green board. Maka hummed slightly as she went from sheet to sheet, letting her eyes glaze over each paragraph quickly until she finally stopped at one slip of paper.

"There we go. Three stars, Pre-Kishin terrorizing Death City's town square. Shouldn't be a problem."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Three stars?"

"Yeah, that's the difficulty. One star for easy, two for medium, and three," she paused to reveal a confident grin, "for only the most deadly of Pre-Kishins."
There was a moment in the air where Soul just stared at Maka blankly. The meister's smile faltered.

"What's a Kishi—

"You don't even know what a KISHIN is?!"

It had been a while since Soul had witnessed Maka being so livid. Her eyes became bright and angry, and her hair almost seemed to fly around as she slammed her gloved palms on her small hips.

"Have you been not been listening to your lectures or what?"

At this, Soul bristled. "I have! But it's all, 'the amazing anatomy of the soul' and 'a sound soul requires a sound body and a sound blah blah blah'…"

Maka calmed down for just a moment, which effectively shut Soul up. What was up in her bookish brain now?

"Right, I forgot that you're only in the theoretical class. Have you done any sparring sessions?"

"Besides practicing with you? Nothing, yet."

He watched as she thought over this new information. Suddenly, her eyes lit up with understanding.

"I do believe the first years begin sparring in their second semester…which is in a few months…ugh, that's inconvenient."

"You still haven't answered me. What's. A Kishin?"

"Calm down, Prince. Okay, so remember how everyone has a soul in the world?"

"Yes."

"Well, sometimes people are greedy and decide to get more power by…eating other's pure souls."

"Oh." Soul's eyes widened. "That doesn't sound…good."

"Right. Ruthless murder in order to gain power only results in having your own soul tarnished. Once a soul is no longer pure, it is called a Kishin Egg. Owners of Kishin Eggs are called Pre-Kishins because if they consume enough…they become full fledged Kishins."

"…Are Kishins really that powerful?"

Maka looked him ominously dead in the eyes.

"To my knowledge, there's only ever been one being that made it to full Kishin status. Basically, those who do have powers equal to that of Shinigami-sama himself."

"So they're gods?"

"Essentially, yes..." she turned the mission notice over in her hand, "…Which is why we hunt any Pre-Kishin down."

A shiver ran down Soul's spine. The thought of everyone in this strange academy training to take down…monsters was insane! Like Tsubaki! He couldn't see poor, shy Tsubaki slicing a Pre-Kishin or whatever in half.

The ex-prince cleared his throat. "So that's all you do all day? Study and take down Pre-Kishins?"

Maka smiled. "Well, since I'm a bit advanced…"

Soul scoffed. "A bit?"

"…I sometimes get direct missions from Shinigami-sama himself. Such as rescuing an unwilling Prince-in-distress."

"Okay, okay, I got it. So when do we do this mission?"

Maka turned to a small window in the opposite wall to claim her task as "In Progress."

"We? There is no 'we'. You've barely mastered transforming, so there's no way I can bring you along."

'Whaaaa? That's just…unfair!"

"I'm sorry, but I don't want to unnecessarily endanger your life."

"We're partners, remember? I'm," Soul paused, "…I'm your weapon. We can take down the Pre-Kishin together."

By now, the two had left the Mission Board hallway and were walking through the maze of Shibusen halls.

"I can handle it myself, Prince. I'll just use my knives."

"I still don't understand why I can't go with you."
They finally reached the entrance of the school, and Maka sighed.

"Look, when Shinigami-sama sent me to get you, he didn't say why, but I could sense that it was for an important reason. It was imperative that you attend Shibusen so that you could remain safe and hone your skills. I don't think anyone would be too happy if you got injured just because you tagged along on a mission that I could easily handle myself."

Soul was about to retort, but the look Maka gave him made him stop.

"Please, Soul…just drop it?"

He swallowed his words as if he didn't have a choice. After all, if Maka really wanted him to stay out of the way, who was he to change her stubborn mind?

That didn't stop the worried feeling in his gut. Apparently, the girl must've sensed his unease, because she grabbed his hand again and led him to a part of Shibusen he had never seen.

"Now, let's get that motorcycle, shall we?"

…

Soul had always liked shiny things. It was no wonder, since he grew up admiring his mother's various crowns that glimmered under the chandeliers in the throne room. Occasionally during formal ceremonies, he was given his own simple crown to wear. However, his mother would always snatch it away as soon as the event was over.

"You will wear your own crown when you become King." she would always chastise.

So when Maka opened the storage door, the first thing that Soul noticed amidst the dusty boxes was the metallic structure in the middle of the unit.

Maka quickly walked over to it. "This," she slowly began, "Is a motorcycle, or a bike, if you will. It is used for transportation."

Soul stared in awe. "I've never seen anything like it."
"Of course not. Professor Stein invented it a few years ago for students to use on far away missions, but it seems like most people find their own preferred ways to get around. Plus, it's pretty costly to mass produce."

Half of the words Maka was saying went in one ear and throughout the other for Soul. All of his attention, all of his senses were fixated on the orange and black bike.

"…and so Stein let me ride it first for testing, so I know how to…Prince? Are you listening?"

"Can I ride it?"
"Huh?"
"Can I ride it?" he repeated, drawn to the motorcycle like a bee to honey.

"Do you know how to?" Soul's face fell.

"No…but you'll teach me, right?"

"Sure." Maka smiled and climbed onto the bike, and gestured for Soul to take a seat behind her. He did as he was told, remembering that the last time they had ridden together, he was the one in front.

Soul scowled. Prince or not, he was chivalrous. Once he learned how to ride this enchanting 'motorcycle', he was never going to let his meister drive again.

His ruby eyes watched as Maka slid a key into a slot and the bike seemed to come alive beneath him.

Maka took one last look behind her shoulder. "Hold on tight, Prince…let's take this contraption for a test drive."

…

"We're here."

Maka's words rang on dead ears. Soul sat on the motorcycle seat, amazed.

The entire ride had left him spellbound…the speed, the rumble of the engine (as Maka called it) underneath the both of them. It must've been only a few minutes, and Soul only wanted to go for another round. But they were at Maka's apartment (or was it their apartment now), so he grimaced.

"You can let go now."

"Oh sorry, right…" Soul slowly untangled his arms from Maka's lithe waist. It was the only area that he could find acceptable to hold onto to avoid falling off the 'Death Machine' (Maka said that Stein had nicknamed it that way).

A whiff of her hair reminded Soul the other reason why the ride was so appealing. Perhaps he was a bit delusional because of the experience, but he had never noticed how…pleasing the meister smelled. It was unique, like…home. He had to remind himself that of course it was okay for her to smell like that, since Maka was a girl after all…

She looked at him then and he remembered how he had almost nuzzled his face into her neck, enchanted by both bike and scent alike…

"Hey! Soul!"

Soul snapped out of his reverie. "What?"

"Earth to Soul! I'm going to go fight the Kishin now, alright? I'll be home by ten or so…"

"Wait, you're going to kill it now? It's already night time!"

"Most Kishin prefer to hunt in the dark." Maka stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

"But isn't it…more dangerous for you at night?"

The blond girl shrugged. "Not really."

She hopped off of the bike in one solid movement and extended one slender arm. "Town Square is just down the road and to the left, so I'll be fine. It's actually not too far from here."

"Okay." Soul frowned.

Maka threw him her ring of keys suddenly. "Just let yourself in, okay?"

Soul turned to the apartment building but listened to her footsteps pulling her in the opposite direction.

"Hey, Maka?"

She spun around, long coat swishing behind her. "Hmm?"

"I…" His thoughts caught in his throat. "Don't go," he wanted to say.

Don't go because I have a bad feeling about this.

She seemed to read his mind and graced him with a small smile.

"I have to go, Soul. If I don't, another innocent soul will be devoured tonight. It's my duty."

Soul saw the steel materialize in her eyes. It was the same way she looked when he first met her on that fateful night.
He sighed in defeat.

"Alright. See you at ten."

She smirked. "I won't be late."

…

She was late.

It was half past ten, and Soul paced the living room floor for the millionth time. After tossing and turning in his bed for an hour, he decided to just give up and wait for the meister to return.

He was antsy around 9:45, but completely nervous when the clock struck ten.

"I won't be late," echoed her last words to him in his mind, mocking Soul relentlessly.

His sank down onto Maka's beaten couch and thrust his head into his hands.

What was he thinking? He should have stopped her from accepting the three star "most deadly of Pre-Kishins" mission. He should have stopped her from going to the Town Square by herself. Sure, Maka was no feeble girl, but did that really mean she could handle a soul-hungry demon by herself?

The clock hand pointed to 10:45. Shit.

Soul grabbed his ugly mustard colored jacket and ran out the door. He tried to lock the handle with shaking hands before deciding that their meager belongings were not as important as Maka possibly bleeding out on the pavement.

There was a little rational voice in his head that told him to calm down, that Maka was someone that could take care of herself and when had he become so attached to the 'demon girl' anyways? But that rational voice was pushed to the side by the fear and adrenaline coursing through his body.

The humid night air hit his face as he stepped outside. Alright, he had to get to the Town Square as soon as possible. Now what?

Orange metal glinted at him from the corner of his eye and the ring of keys sat enticingly in his pocket. His mind was made up instantly.

Like it or not, Maka was going to have her weapon for this mission.

~.~.~

A/N: Chapter 11 is in progress…I'll update soon!