A week and a half passed while the rest of the former toys and I stayed at Dr. Stein's house. Some nights, the bigger man whose name I soon learned was Sid dropped by and ate dinner with us. He claimed that the reason why he didn't stay with us for long was because he had errands to attend to. Whenever we tried to pester him about what he did during the day, he sighed and told us, "I always believe that every man is entitled to having secrets. This is the kind of man I am." As for Dr. Stein, we could always find him whittling away on some wooden figurines or grooming the hair of the ceramic dolls at his workshop desk.

It might have seemed like a boring household life, but life was never quiet with the boisterous Black Star along with his partner in crime, Patty. Still, Tsubaki, with her calm and tranquil demeanor, stopped the hyper blue-haired boy and the shorter Thompson sister whenever they made things too crazy for us to handle. Of course, we didn't stay cooped up in the house all the time. Sometimes, Dr. Stein gave us errands like making toy deliveries or running to the market for food. Then, whenever all of us had dinner with Dr. Stein and sometimes Sid, we had lively dinner conversations and wonderful food. However, this was the first time I have ever had food, so the experience itself must have tasted incredible.

I also strengthened my friendship with Liz. We had never really talked before, but there was one topic she often touched upon: boys and love.

"So, Maka?" Liz started as she brushed her hair. Brushing her hair and tending to hygienic needs have interested her lately.

"Yes?" I was sprawled out over my bed, reading a book I just bought with Dr. Stein.

"Maka, I know this is kind of strange to ask, but do you have anyone you like?"

At that, my face flared all shades of red. Of course, one name instantly came to mind. Soul. But quickly, I shook my head of the thought. "N-not particularly…"

However, Liz was not going to give up easily. "Oh? Then why are you blushing?"

"I-I am not!"

The taller girl faced me and grinned mischievously. "I'm just going to spit out random names until you tell me."

I protested, "I told you, I don't-"

"The boy at the fruit stand."

"That's not even a name!"

"Black Star."

"Gross!" I rejected.

"Soul?"

Suddenly, I paused and looked down, flustered. Finally getting the reaction out of me she wanted, Liz giggled, "You DO like someone! But why him? Sure, he was nice and cute as a kid, but now he's a grump. And he's got these pointy teeth… Isn't that going to make kissing hard?"

At the thought of kissing Soul, I flared up even more and found myself pressing my face against a pillow. "Well," I said with a muffled voice, "Do you like anyone?"

Liz blushed a slight pink and replied, "Y-yeah. I like the boy working at the fruit stand. Glad you don't like him, too." She laughed a little, but somehow I could tell that she was lying. Then I began to wonder who she liked, but I decided to play along with her lie.

After that conversation, my mind kept on going back to Soul. It seemed like an eternity that I hadn't seen his messy white hair, curiously crimson eyes, and sharp teeth. Soon, on my days out of the workshop, I subconsciously went out of my way to pass by the Evans household. I had never really paid attention to the exterior of the mansion, so now that I could see it up close, I began to understand the extravagance of it. The mansion was held up with white walls, and the windows had open black shutters. A grand, blackened wooden door with lion handles loomed over the long marble porches.

On one night, during my way home alone from the bookstore, I decided to touch the metal bars separating the Evans residence from the rest of the world. This is the only thing separating me from him, I began to think. No, I countered. You're just so different from him. Look at the scratchy clothes you wear, all stitched up in a hasty fashion. And I was about to let go of the bars. Along with the bars, I had just decided to have the resolve to let go of my shameful love of my former owner.

Then, a throaty voice came up near me. "Hey, my father is going to call the police if he finds out you've been coming here a lot." When I looked in the voice's direction, I nearly gasped.

"Hey, you hear me?" Soul called out as he came closer.

For some reason, the shock of seeing him had all of the strength in my legs leave me. I slumped down on the floor and stammered, "I-I-I'm sorry…"

"Hey! You all right?" the boy called as he came to my side and began to help me up.

Then his eyes met mine. My breath caught in my throat, and as it did, I thought I saw a flicker in his look. Did he recognize me? I wondered. But he let me go as soon as I stood steady.

A moment of silence passed us by until I spoke up hesitantly, "You know I've been coming here?"

He laughed, "You're not exactly subtle about it. When you were holding onto the bars just now, I thought for a second that you were going to climb over it."

I laughed, too, to my surprise and said, "If you think I'm being such a creep, shouldn't I be with the police by now?"

Then, Soul had a serious but shy expression. "You should be," he said quietly. "But in some strange way, you've caught my attention." He looked up with embarrassment clear in his face.

Blushing a bit, I looked away and stuttered, "I see…"

"I'm Soul," he said bluntly. "What's your name?"

"I'm Ma-" I began but quickly stopped. "I'm… Mary."

Soul smiled. "Mary… Kind of a lame name."

Now that just irked "Mary," so I impulsively chopped him in the head.

"Ow!" Soul whined.

"No manners, even up to now," I huffed.

Soul looked up at her with a pained expression. "What?"

Catching herself again, I said, "O-oh, nothing! And, uh, sorry…"

"Yeah, okay… So, Mary," Soul said with a grin. "If you don't want me to rat you out to my father, you should probably come meet me again."

My heart fluttered in my chest. "Y-yeah?"

"Yeah," Soul replied as he began to unlock the door. "Meet me in the park. You know where that is, right? Two streets over and up from the marketplace." I could only nod as he walked onto his property and put up the metal barrier between us. "See ya, Mary."

When he was out of sight, I whispered quietly, "Bye, Soul."

Quickly, I rushed home from the Evans mansion and ran down the familiar alleyway. When Black Star opened the door and found me out of breath, he nearly panicked.

"Maka! Do you need water? What happened?" Black Star fired off questions at me as he prepared a glass of water for me to drink.

Liz made her way over to me. "Hey, I heard something was going on. What happened?"

I laughed at seeing her and said, "Liz, I saw Soul."