Eventide

Chapter XII

As soon as I woke up, I find myself on my bed inside the comfort of my own bedroom. The moon is up and it is dark outside. The sound of the Kishin stomping outside of my window is gone, now after all of these years, it is way too quiet without the Kishin patrolling outside of my window. Next to my bed I found a note with my name on it. I unfold it and read it.

When you read this, call me. I don't care how late it is or how early it is in the morning. We need to talk.

Soul OXOX

I put the note down and I find my phone beside it. It doesn't take long for me to find Soul's contact, I see he has mixed with it since this is what it says; Soul Eater your bf ;*. Oh man. I don't even know how I'm supposed to react to this. Am I supposed to be happy that he addressed himself as my boyfriend, or should I be annoyed that he says things when he knows we are just friends at the moment who just try to get to know each other and see if there actually is a spark between us? There is already a spark, I already know that and Soul likes me, we can get together now, but I need to know more about Soul before that happens. Girlfriends and boyfriends are supposed to really know each other enough to predict their movements and actions. I really would want that with Soul, but at the moment I don't know him well enough to engage into a relationship with him again.

I call Soul and it only takes three rings before he answers. "Slept well Sleeping Beauty?"

I blush at the name. "You wanted me to call. What is it you want to talk about?"

Rustles of leaves sounds from the speaker along with branches. Is he outside? "Okay, I will be over in ten."

"Wait! Hold on! Stay inside! What if a Kishin attacks you?"

Soul chuckles, oh such a sweet chuckle. "Don't worry your pretty face about me. I will be fine. I need both my hands to drive my bike. I will see you soon." Soul then hung up on me.

I was on the edge the whole time, I chewed on my lower lip as I tap my finger against the night stand. I fear for his life, what is the possibility of him running into a Kishin? I know from my own experience as soon as I have went outside, Kishins have attacked me as soon as I have stepped outside of my house or any building, but then again, Soul isn't a Grigori. I have seen people walk pass my house without the Kishin attacking them. It is kind of a yes no scenario, all I can do is cross my fingers and hope for the best.

I had expected a knock on the door, not exactly a loud thud, outside of my window and I see Soul smirking wide at me while he clutches onto the bricks on the wall. My heart had literally jumped up in my throat as I quickly rip my window open. "What are you doing, idiot! You can f―"

Soul cuts me off by jumping onto my bed and smashes his lips against mine. Gently he cups my cheek while he pulls me closer to his chest. He taste of spices and mint, it could be toothpaste but I'm not sure, all I know is I like it.

He pulls away from me and rests his forehead on mine. "Sorry, I really needed that."

"Why?"

Soul chuckles and his thumb caress my hip. "Why? Because I thought I would be too late and all the damage dealt to you was just cuts and a bleeding knee. I'm happy that you are alright and well." Caringly, he pulls me to his chest and rests his head on top of mine. "There is something I need to talk to you about."

"What is it?" I inhale his sweet spicy scent and I feel so safe in his arms.

"I just had a slight suspicion before, but now it is confirmed. There is a Kishin that has devoured enough souls to turn from a Kishin to a human. It has brains enough to control its instincts. When we were inside of the forest, it had no interest in devouring your soul, it wanted to kidnap you." Soul murmurs into my ear. "And that isn't all. This Kishin is strong enough to control the moon. It can make the sun go away and bring out darkness whenever it wants for a specific time. I don't know for the exact amount of time, but to be on the safe side, we have to assume it can make it dark until the real nightfall."

I feel nausea. Everything is spinning and the corner of my vision turns darker. The darkness stays away due to Soul's scent and his strong arms around me.

"What does this mean? Why does it want me?"

"I think you already know that. The Kishin obviously wants your soul, but I do find it weird that it wanted to take you with it instead of killing you on the spot. If it only wanted your soul, then you would be dead right now. Something isn't adding up, but one thing is clear, you are not going to go outside without me."

I find my arms are shaking― my whole body is shaking. This is insane, I have lived a quiet life and now with all this drama, I think I'm going to be overwhelmed and have a meltdown if this doesn't stop.

"Can I ask you some questions?"

"Of course you can, ask away."

"How did you find me inside of the woods?"

Soul chuckles and I hear him inhale my scent. "Meisters can do a cool thing called Soul Perception. We can look at people's souls from a certain range. I heard the Kishin inside of the forest, so I ran inside and used my Soul Perception. I found your soul along with the Kishin's, so I turned to my spiritual form and ran as quick as I could."

"Are Meisters able to run super-fast as well? From what I heard, you moved so fast."

Soul nods against my head. "Yeah, since we are in spiritual form we don't have physical limits. It is our souls that limits our speed and strength and let me tell you, we are way faster than we are in our physical form."

I giggle and I clutch onto Soul's leather jacket. I had once worn it on a date. It had been chilly and Soul had offered me it. That was the first time I had seen that Soul could actually be very gentlemanly. He is more like a bad boy, but he can be a gentleman if he wants to and I'm very happy that I'm the one who can bring that out of him.

"Maka I―"

My bedroom door slams open and my father stands there with an empty bottle of vodka. His eyes are half lidded and he is very unstable on his feet, he is so unsteady he has to support himself on my doorframe.

I freeze. I'm on my bed with a guy and he has his arms around me. We are very much cuddled up. Oh dear, how am I supposed to deal with this?!

"Give me alcohol." His words are slurred and I can barely make out what he is saying. "I know you have more."

My eyes widen and I quickly snap my eyes toward Soul. He grins wide at me, flashing his sharp teeth. I notice the white glow around him and the warmth and his solid body is gone, of course. He is in his spiritual form that is why my father can't see him.

"If you aren't going to give me alcohol, I'm going to go out and get alcohol myself."

Oh no. "I will give you some." I quickly shoot up from my bed and starts searching in my drawer. Underneath my clothes I find a vodka bottle. "Here, make it last at least tomorrow night."

My father snatches it from my hand and he unscrews the cap and takes a large gulp of it. "You don't tell me what to do, bitch. I know you are the one who killed her. I'm ashamed to call you my daughter." He hicks and he stumbles toward the door. "Just you wait, I'm going to kick you out of my house one day." He slams the door shut.

Soul gets up from the bed and he grabs my hand. "I knew you had a tough relationship with your father, but I didn't know it was this tough."

I sniffle and tears prickle my eyes. "Please, I don't want to talk about this."

"It is okay, you don't have to talk about it if you aren't ready." Soul gently tugs me toward my bed and we take a seat on it. "But I do want to talk about that date we have been talking about."

I smile and a dry laugh escapes my lips. Did he just make me smile when I was on the verge of tears? He is a good guy. "Okay, have you already planned it?"

Soul chuckles and he wraps his arm around my waist, pulling me closer to him. "Maybe. You need a break away from everything. From this whole Kishin and Meister thing. I think it would be good for you to feel like an ordinary girl since I ripped you into this whole thing without your consent. I can't say an exact day when it will take place, but I can promise you it will happen very soon."

I giggle and I rest my head on his shoulder. "So you are telling me when it happens, you will just pick me up and take me on this date?"

"Pretty much."

I smile and I turn my head toward his neck. "I would like that." My voice falls and I plant a kiss on the crook of his neck, kissing his pulse.

"It is late." Soul says and he caresses my waist. "You should probably go back to bed."

"Can you please stay the night?" The words pour out of my mouth without my consent. "I don't mean it like that! I mean like, um, you know, so you don't get hurt when you are outside. A Kishin could come and―"

"Relax Maka, I get it." He gently grabs my chin and forces me to look into his eyes. "I can stay and I promise I won't force myself on you. That isn't cool."

I smile and nods, a newfound happiness grows inside of me but also, a newfound nervousness. "Wait here and don't you dare peek." I get up from my bed and grab my pajama from my chair where I always keep my clothes on. I lock myself inside of my bathroom and gets change into my pajama. At the moment, I wish I had actually cared when I bought my shorts, they are a little transparent which will allow Soul to see my light blue panties with a cute ribbon on it. My large t-shirt covers a little of the shorts, but he will still be able to see my panties. Why does this feel so… intimate? He will sort of be the first one to see my panties, but at the same time not.

I take a deep breath and look at myself, the childish pigtails in my hair. Don't be a coward. He does like you and he won't do anything bad, this is Soul we are talking about. The one person who has always jumped in front of me to save me.

The door creaks open and I step outside, my cheeks heat up to an unbearable temperature. Soul lies on the bed, with his jacket lying on the floor along with his shoes. He smiles toward me and lifts up the corner of the blanket. "Are you going to stand there or are you going to go to bed?"

My cheeks heat up and I stroll over to the bed and lay down. Soul wraps the blanket around me while he is lying on it. "Don't you want the blanket?"

Soul shakes his head while he wraps his arms around me. "Nah, if I were to lie under the blanket, I know I would do something stupid."

My cheeks must be rivaling tomatoes because they are unbearable hot. I'm lucky it is dark inside of my room.

"Soul?"

"Hmm?"

"Is it okay if I ask some questions? They aren't any questions about meisters, they're about you."

"Ask away, I don't mind."

I should be ashamed for even thinking about this. "Was your first time good?"

Soul chuckles gently into my ear. "That is your first question? You really want to know about my sex life?"

I blush madly and I jab my elbow into his ribcage, causing him to pant in pain. "Shut up. Forget I even asked you."

"It was awkward." Soul ignores my dismissal. "We both had no clue what we were doing. She was in a lot of pain and as the little virgin I was, I lasted about ten seconds."

I giggle and turn toward him, feeling his breath hit my face and his strong aroma all around me. "Really?"

Soul nods. "Yeah, it was very uncool. But we both wanted to do it and we did."

"It sounds like you two were close. Was she your first love?" Stupid! You shouldn't be asking these kinds of questions! His answers will only hurt me! I can feel my stomach growing tight and the lump in my throat expanse.

"Yeah, she was my first real girlfriend and my first love." Soul crawls on top of me and the only thing keeping us apart is the blanket. "She is gone. You don't have to worry about her. It was years ago and I haven't seen her in a very long time. My eyes are set on you and only you. You are the one who holds my heart and it is you who I want to be with."

"Soul." His eyes are so red and his lips so close to mine. I want to kiss him.

"I know we aren't official, but I do consider you my girlfriend and think of myself as very much taken." He rests his forehead against mine. "I know I love you. I really do love you and I will wait forever for you to return those words." He loves me. That is the first time he has ever uttered those words to me. It is the first time he even had me in the same sentence as love. I don't know if I'm supposed to be happy or frighten, he is this emotionally attached to me while I still hold no feelings toward him.

"Soul."

"Yeah?"

"You are crushing me." It is hard to breathe when he has his full weight on me.

"Oh," Soul quickly gets off me and lies beside me. "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it." I take deep breaths while Soul snuggles close to me.

"Maka?"

"Yeah?"

"For future references, I like lacy panties with ribbons but blue cotton panties are cool too if that makes you comfortable."

My cheeks heat up and as I try to free my arm, Soul tightens his grip on me and the blanket successfully traps my arms. "Soul! You perv!"

"Hey, it isn't me who walk around with shorts as transparent as plastic."