Maka
The door shuts quietly behind him. She can hear the blare of his motorcycle's horn from the complex's parking lot. Soul is walking down the stairs, slowly picking up speed, nearly thundering down the stairwell towards the bottom. She feels his weakening irritation at Stein, his barely-heard grim resolve to just get this stupid mission over with, and the faint hatred of the idea of riding as passenger on his own vehicle.
She feels herself grasping after him, long after they've sped away.
Why a mission in the middle of the week? Why Stein? And with no forewarning or statement from Shinigami-sama? Their assignment appears to be kept under wraps. It better not be another Medusa spin off- they would have told her about it, right?
Maka puts on a strong face when Blair suggests they go out to somewhere cooler to eat lunch.
It's nice to get out of the apartment finally, even if it is broiling outside. The pavement bakes her shoes as she and Blair head to the nearest cafe. The sun makes her hair burning to the touch, and they try to stay in the shade of trees and overhanging rooflines and awnings of local businesses. The sidewalk is too hot for Blair's paws, so the witch glides along on an unhappy looking jack-o-lantern, sprawled atop it, desperately trying not to overheat with her black fur.
When they arrive at the cafe, the cold air-conditioning blasts them and revives them. It's almost too cold, after the beating they had taken outside. Maka orders a sandwich and the biggest iced tea they offer. She chats happily with Blair, smiling when appropriate, laughing when due as her mind wanders elsewhere.
They only call Stein when things get out of hand. How are they getting to Africa with Soul's bike? Maybe they went to the airport. Could Stein make it through airport security with that knob sticking out of his head? They would probably arrest him on sight.
Maka numbly offers Blair half of her sandwich. The cat transforms into her human facsimile, as thumbs are useful on occasion. After a dainty bite, she cuts right to the chase, staring at her with her knowing cat-eyes.
"Maybe you can get him something for when he comes back?"
Maka stops, mid-pull on the tea through her straw, at this sudden turn in conversation.
"That obvious?"
"Mm-hmm."
Maka looks sheepishly out the cafe's window, though there's nothing of interest outside but the waves of heat coming off the roadway and sidewalks. From behind closed doors, there's a clattering of dishes and laughter of the cafe's employees.
"He'll do fine," Blair reassures. Maka is silent for awhile but her worries finally stutter from her mouth.
"That's not what I'm... Soul is a good partner, and Stein is more than adept. It's just that... the whole thing seems so sudden- I don't know what to make of it."
Maka's glass sweats in her hand, condensation dripping and leaving a ring on the table. Blair chews thoughtfully.
"Well, if Kim fixes you up today, maybe you can find out in school tomorrow," she offers happily.
Maka nods slowly. She doesn't mention the black blood and how Stein is susceptible to insanity.
She's studying the music book at the piano when a knock raps on the door. Her feet feel sticky as she makes her way across the warm floor, and the deadbolt feels like it's been kept hot in someone's feverish hand. She's surprised to see Havar, of all people, standing at the other side of the door, the glare from his lenses hiding any emotion he may have behind them. She then hears Ox and Kim coming up the stairwell, the young witch bickering to Ox's dismay.
"Albarn."
"Ah- Havar, call me Maka... Why are you-"
The stoic weapon merely points with his chin towards Blair who is lounging atop the piano. The cat's ears perk at Kim's voice.
"Ah come in, come in," she says, shifting to two legs and her latest clothing-minimalist outfit. "I'm glad you all could make it!"
Blair stalks around Havar, who stands apathetically under her gaze, much to the witch's chagrin. Maka knows why Kim has arrived, but is at a loss for the other two classmates, and voices her confusion. "Is there something I can do for you guys?"
"Bu-tan called in a favor or two," Her roommate exclaims while running her lacquered nails along the collar of the weapon's shirt.
"I'm here to take you off the grid for a few months," Havar states, looking bored from over Blair's shoulder.
Kim chimes in, coming to hug Maka. "I'm here for your stitches!"
Ox nosily glances through the book Maka had been studying, "I'm here because they're here. And your weapon's horrible note-taking is offensive, so I bring tidings of knowledge."
Maka can only laugh stupidly as her friends smile at her warmly (or in Havar's case, with less of a frown), even if the melting heat of the apartment makes them strain to do so. She's still giggling and giving profuse thanks to everyone while Kim's magic tickles her stomach.
"I would have come sooner if I had known, Maka! I heard that you were just sick or something, and I can only fix wounds.."
"It's okay, it hadn't even occurred to us to ask for your help. Not that it matters, you know you're welcome over anytime, not just when one of us is injured."
The witch smiles shyly at her while Ox lectures her on three days of class, and Havar sits dispassionately against the wall with a lightning bolt-shaped finger connected to wires that run out the door and down three flights of stairs to her apartment's meter. She doesn't quite understand how he knows how much current he needs to give to make a credit on her bill for the next six months, or if it's even legal, but she's not going to look the gift horse in the dry, sober mouth. The magic at her stomach knits her muscles together, and she's already feeling better than before she had had surgery.
"You better not still be a wuss when I get back."
She will be stronger than ever, with friends such as these. Blair looks smug as she cleans between her claws while sitting next to an air vent that sputters to life.
After restocking the fridge with a refreshing marathon of grocery shopping, accidentally cooking too much for dinner because she's forgotten Soul isn't around to eat his multiple, monstrous servings and calling Tsubaki and Black*Star over to help finish it all off, and seeing her friends out the door with a cheery goodnight, she sits down wearily on the couch. Maka finds herself mentally exhausted from reaching for the bond all day and not finding any kind of reply.
With a little help from her earlier visitors, the living room is back into it's usual configuration, but seeing the room back to normal only seems to amplify Soul's absence.
Her gaze travels to the flowers her father had bought her during her hospital stay. They are starting to wilt and decay, a few Shinigami look-a-likes having fallen to the coffee table's surface. She stands with a small grunt and takes the bouquet to the kitchen, discarding the mostly-dead stalks and placing what remains in fresh water. She walks back to the living room, placing the thinned-down flowers at a windowsill.
She sits at the piano, eying the book her father had brought her. She studies a few more pages of it, committing black dots and circles and wavy lines to memory. She gingerly presses the ivory colored keys, trying to play the simple measures it depicts. Satisfied that she can at least read that much, she becomes curious, standing and opening the piano bench to get to Soul's wrinkled sheets of music.
Bringing them out and setting them atop the piano, she sits down again, excited. But she's dismayed when she tries to decipher what he's written, symbols and an absurd amount of notes crammed in every measure- his music is beyond anything she can comprehend. She scans desperately, trying to find any part simple enough for her to at least attempt pecking out on the piano. She finds nothing on the scraps of paper bags and napkins.
Forlorn, she gathers up the music, a small, yellowing sheet of an old post-it note falling from her hands and fluttering to the floor. It lands, only-marginally-sticky-side up, and she spies more lines and notes that she hadn't seen earlier. She bends down to pick it up and studies his refined writing. There are less lines and symbols she doesn't recognize, and at the bottom corner he had scrawled 'lullaby.'
There isn't much on the small piece of paper, so it doesn't at first appear to be much of a song and is more likely to be an unfinished portion, but she spies a symbol she's already read about- two dots and a double bar- a repeat sign. Seeing the music as a whole, the lullaby would go on indeterminately, forever, until... what? Until the lyrics ran out?
Something in her tugs a bit at the thought of Soul thinking up children's rhymes to his little lullaby. She decides that she will learn what every single mark means on the faded post-it, and studies long into the night, eyes straining, becoming familiar with every pianissimo, triplet, and pedal sustain.
She wakes from Blair's head-butting. She groans as she lifts her head from the keys of the piano.
So that's how he does it.
"You gotta get ready for school, girl!"
Oh! She's a flurry all over the house, showering and shoving toast in her mouth and getting dressed and brushing teeth and fighting piano-face and wrestling with her overcoat and gloves. She grabs the notes Ox had given her and the music textbook and only just stops herself from yelling at Soul to hurry up, because it's time to go.
Oh. Her lips press together thinly as she grabs her house keys and heads out the door. It's already unbearable outside, particularly with her long coat, and she's grateful that the Spartoi colors are blue and white. Her head is still a jumble, sorting out music from Soul's mission from Ox's cram session from the idea of buying cuff-links as a welcome-home present.
Once in class, she's swamped in conversation with Liz and Tsubaki, reassuring them that's she's fine now, fit as a fiddle thanks to Kim- yes, they should have dinner or something tonight, they can make plans during lunch.
"But where is Soul?" Black*Star asks, a row behind them.
"Yeah, he got called out of class yesterday by Professor Stein and haven't seen him since," Patty adds with a barely contained snort.
The group looks at Maka expectantly- all but Kid, whose attention is on the legs of his chair, one of which being shorter than the others by some marginal degree. Maka tries to make her voice cheerful but doesn't think she pulls it off by the confused looks on their faces.
"He's out on assignment with Stein-hakase."
She's immediately bombarded by questions of what, where, and why the hell has he gone without her. She explains what she knows, but as it isn't very much, she can only shrug to prove her confusion. After a small silence, Kid enters the conversation with a haggard look on his face after dealing with the imbalance of his chair.
"It may have something to do with Sid-sensei's disappearance."
"WHAT?" All but the headmaster's son blurt in unison.
Patti is still resting from her last match with Black*Star, so Maka spars with Kirikou during Physical Ed. He's the only other person in the class that can punch her hard enough to make her want to focus on the present- to keep her mind wandering to the mystery of Soul's assignment.
Landing a kick on him is akin to hitting a tree, but at least she makes contact. She prides herself in her squirrelly-ness, dodging his fists with relative ease, though he does get a few grazing blows on her thighs where she's accustomed to having Soul in her hands to block the open area.
Soul. Were they on a mission to find Sid-sensei? Is that why the whole thing is hushed, because the academy doesn't want to advertise that they've lost one of their own?
WHAM.
Maka suddenly finds herself studying the shoes of her sparring partner, her protective headgear digging into the side of her cheek.
"Albarn... are you good? You were a sitting duck just now."
She groans a little in reply. Damn. She chose Kirikou so she wouldn't think of Soul, not to get a concussion. She takes the meister's offered hand and stands back up, embarrassed. She's ready to start again, but her father's voice calls for her across the gymnasium.
"Maka, come with me."
He's unusually sober, and it catches her attention immediately. Kirikou also notices Spirit's strange demeanor, and waves her off with an encouraging nod. She hurries after her father.
Spirit walks briskly to the Death Room. He's murmuring things under her breath and she catches phrases that sound like 'Don't want you to go,' and 'Papa will be going,' and 'Idiot kohai.'
She wants to ask what all this is about, but she's afraid that she might interrupt his serious behavior, and that would be a waste, indeed. She's nervous as they walk under the torii guillotines, and she is relieved for a short moment when her Soul Perception finds the familiar and terse aura of Kid, the weary but respectful waves of Liz, and the bubbly and loyal qualities of Patti. The relief is followed by the gut-sinking feeling that the coming meeting would be strictly business.
Business that she will have to endure without her partner.
Shinigami-sama is cordial as always, and she's never sure if it's all just an act and reflex on the god's part or if he's just sincerely chipper all the time. Maybe he has to be, to hold the position of the most grim job on the planet, else he would be as neurotic as his son.
She hears the smile in his voice. "Maka-chan! So glad to see you are doing well- we are fortunate to have you back with us."
She can only nod, not being able to smile away the worry from her face while sandwiched between the serious Kid, the unusual quiet from his weapons, and the alien-like graveness of her father. Shinigami regards them silently for a moment, and then indicates the patio table behind him. Atop it is something hopping around on an antique and very Shinigami-style typewriter that she finally realizes as a severed finger.
An animated, severed finger. She's seen stranger things, but it's still a little unnerving. Death explains that it is Professor Stein's finger, back from Madagascar. He won't go into details about the habits of Stein's body parts retaining life, but long story short-
"They're requesting help. We've tried to keep Sid's kidnapping quiet, because his body holds a lot of information regarding Professor Stein's scientific ability, but it appears that the professor and Soul-kun can't retrieve him on their own. His finger has just arrived after it's poor trip of doubtless hardship-"
The digit in question, after having finished typing, flops to the surface of the table and appears to catch it's breath, though she doesn't know why something without lungs would need air, much less be able to look as if it needed to breathe. Shinigami-sama pulls the paper from the typewriter, and glances it over.
"I was correct in assuming that this is the work of a witch-" Maka's heart stops a moment, waiting for the words 'Medusa' or 'Arachne' to come from his mask, because despite that it is very improbable after the destruction of both powerhouses, nothing is impossible for witches. "But it looks to be one that we do not currently have on our most wanted list. This does not mean, however, that she or he is not dangerous.
"I've called both Maka-chan and Kid-kun here for your Soul Perception, as you will need it to locate our comrades and the witch. Maka-chan will be taking Death Scythe to Professor Stein and will have Soul-kun returned to her. Please take care of yourselves and find our missing sensei."
"Well, there goes dinner plans," mutters Liz.
"Oh and by the way, there's zombies. Pretty much everywhere. Have fun!"
For the sake of getting to Soul and their teachers, and to not plummet to her death, she tries her best to get along with her father enough to fly safely. He is accommodating to a sickening level, shape-shifting into beautiful angel wings and even going so far as to creating a luxury seat for her instead of having to straddle a pole all the way across the world. There are several moments as she veers down and to the sides erratically when she can sense her father gushing over her 'cute, frilly panties,' but she bottles her temper, wanting to live long enough to get to Madagascar and to save face in front of Kid, who eyes her worriedly from his rocket-powered skateboard perch.
They stop to land and stretch every few hours or whenever Liz and Patti complain about being in their weapon form too long. They take a final rest at the coast, as they wont be able land again until flying over all the ocean. It's evening, and clouds keep moonlight out of reach. They'll have to fly through the night, unseeing. She has Stein-hakase's finger on her shoulder, and it taps her impatiently, pointing the way when it has her attention.
"How do you even exist, anyway?" She asks it.
The finger waggles at her, as if saying 'No, no, not your business.' She looks to her left, and with a nod from Kid they take off once more, Stein's disembodied finger leading the way.
A mission to a country filled with zombies to rescue a zombie, his creator, and her weapon. She doesn't know any prayers, so she wishes with all her heart that Soul can feel her when she reaches for him.
I learned your lullaby, Soul, she pleads. Can you hear it?
