It Started With a Promise
Ch. 12
KittyLoverAnime: Aways asking the best questions, just as curious as a kitten
LoveOneLoveAll: All Maka has to do is go to the specialist and they will not be separated…Maka is a smart collected girl right? Does she really need to see a shrink…?
A/N: I do not own Soul Eater or any of its characters…sadly
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Dear Maka,
I hope this letter finds you well. I have settled down nicely back home with my parents, and have even become an instructor in my father's dojo. I haven't lost my fighting spirit yet it would seem. The Cherry blossoms here bloomed upon my arrival giving me comfort through this time.
How is the group? I feel as if it has been years since we last hung out; those days seem so long ago. How is Kid? Has he left the Death Room yet? I hope he works through his problems soon, he must be driving Liz absolutely crazy by now. I'm sure she'll get him to follow him out one day. Maybe she just needs to use some …'female charm' lol. How about you Maka, how are you doing? I hope you've been keeping yourself out of trouble. Has Soul been nice to you? Because if he hasn't you let me know and I'll come over there and beat some sense into him, just kidding he's more scared of you than any enemy that comes his way.
Maka, I really do hope you're doing well. Remember to breath and keep calm, don't take everything too seriously and take life one step at a time. If you ever need a friend to talk to or you're in the area just give me a call and we can catch up. Please send everyone my love, Lis, Patty, Kid, Soul, oh and of course Ms. Marie and Ms. Nygus. I miss all of you greatly.
Spartoi Forever,
Tsubaki
Tsubaki giggled to herself upon finishing her letter. It had now been four months since she'd left the DWMA and returned to her home in Japan. Her life became very routine and quiet, a great change from unpredictable missions and all night training sessions. Part of her still missed those days. Tsubaki folded the letter and placed it in a cute pink envelope she had bought at the local office supply store on one of her trips to town. Tsubaki gave a great sigh of calm happiness and got up to leave into town once more. She wore a plain yukata with a summer pattern completing her outfit with a matching bag she put on her ghetta's and walked out holding a paper parisol.
"Mother, Father, I'll be back soon." Tsubaki waiting for her parents to wish her a safe trip and proceeded to walk into town. She walked at a slow calm pace, enjoying the hot summer breeze as she walked past small houses and inns. The town was busy with its usual hustle and bustle of people barging in from store to store looking for the best bargain on their finds. Children ran carefree through the streets chasing each other with toys in hand, not caring if they bump into anyone or not. Tsubaki couldn't help but smile at their innocence. Since her move back home many people would point and gossip about her but now they all seemed to have moved on to a new topic and stopped pointing her out in the crown when she walked by. Tsubaki had become used to the idea that she was a sort of local celebrity or at the very least the most interesting person in town. Many young men had now become students at her father's dojo, she was no fool though, she knew that they really just wanted to come find out more about her. Tsubaki had been the talk of the town for the past four months and so would rarely leave the safety of her home. Time heals all wounds though and so will it mend the wounds deep inside her heart as well. This was after all a brand new start for her, she could now live the life of a regular woman. Tsubaki smiled as she kept her pace heading only to the local post office and then promptly back to her family home, though she now freely walked through the town she still had reservations about being out for so long. It was not that her parents were strict, quite the contrary, her mother had expressed her desire for Tsubaki to attend clubs at the local community centers and get to know people her own age outside of the dojo. It was Tsubaki's guess that her mother was trying to help her find a nice boy and begin to date again. Tsubaki's once cheery grin slowly faded from her face at the thought of dating again, she had had only one man in her life and it would be a lie to say she had forgotten about him already. But as she had thought before, time heals all wounds and hopefully time would take this pain from her heart as well.
She had just arrived at the post office and retrieved her letter to Maka from her little bag to place in the slot when a gust of wind somehow managed to knock the letter from her grasp. Surprised Tsubaki followed the flying letter to the feet of a very tall and handsome young man with soft looking red hair and deep green eyes.
"Oh, you dropped your letter." The young man bent down to grab the letter for Tsubaki but managed only succeeded in brushing against her hand causing her to jump back in surprise. "Sorry …."
"Oh..No…I'm sorry…" Both tried to reach for the letter again but this time managed to bump their heads together. To Tsubaki this seemed like nothing but grabbed her forehead instinctively. The young man fell backward and held on to his own forehead that had quickly grown a small lump. "I'm so sorry, are you alright…umm…"
"Kuma..Aki Kuma."
"Red Bear?" Tsubaki gave alight chuckle and watched her new acquaintance blush lightly. He was back on his feet in no time and extending his hand out to Tsubaki to help her get up. Tsubaki smiled lightly and accepted his hand.
"Here," He bent down and picked up the letter handing it to Tsubaki. "I believe this is yours."
"Thank you so much," Tsubaki threw the letter in the slot and returned to the young man. "How's your forehead?"
"Huh, oh yeah it's find I almost don't feel it anymore." He scratched the back of his head trying to seem as nonchalant as possible. "I get worse hits than this when I train with my old man." The two chuckled lightly.
Tsubaki had almost forgotten what it was like to laugh again with a regular person. There were many new students at the dojo where she lived but with so many boys trying to get her attention at once she felt overwhelmed and decided it would have just been best to keep them all at a professional level. Besides, no one boy had stood out to her in the entire group nor did she think she was prepared for moving on when it came to that.
"Oh well I'm sorry, am I keeping you from something?" He had snapped her out of thoughts.
"Oh no not at all, I just came to town to mail that letter." Tsubaki began to feel the atmosphere change and out of the corner of her eye she saw the local women already huddled in a corner gossiping about her finally talking to someone. This made her feel self-conscious all over again and very uncomfortable, she had to get out of here and back to her home. "Umm, Mr. Kuma was it, I'm sorry but I have to get going now."
He looked around and quickly determined the cause of her fidgeting so suddenly. When he turned back to her she was already out the door and before he could even ask her name. Tsubaki was already walking away from the post office and heading back home, not at all happy about having the locals using her as a hot topic again.
"Wait!" Tsubaki heard the boy calling to her from behind and although she didn't want to give the people another reason to keep talking about her she was not so rude as to ignore someone who had been so polite to her. "Miss wait!" Tsubaki reluctantly stopped and turned around to let him catch up to her. To her utter surprise he was running up to her holding a very familiar parasol.
"Glad I was able to catch you, but you left in such a rush that you left this behind."
"Oh my, I can be so forgetful sometimes, thank you but I am so sorry for troubling you yet again." Tsubaki took the parasol and gave him a deep bow.
"Hey, hey, now no need to be so formal with miss…." He gave a puzzled face. "I'm sorry I don't think I got your name."
"Nakatsukasa, Tsubaki Nakatsukasa." The gave her a warm smile.
"Camellia blossom, that's a very beautiful name." This cause Tsubaki to blush deeply. "I'm sorry if I said something out of line.."
"No..no …I should really be going." She gave another little bow and started to walk away.
"I hope to see you again!" The boy called to her, Tsubaki felt her heart flutter for a bit and she turned to answer him with a shy wave. Picking up the pace she made her way home and went straight to her room.
'He hopes to see me again huh.' She thought to herself. 'Aki Kuma, Red Bear, Black Star. Color and noun. I'm thinking too much.'
"Tsubaki, dear can you give your mother a hand please?" Tsubaki heard her mother call for her and shoved her thoughts away for the time being. She had decided right then and there to take her own advice and that it all one step at a time. From now on she will be able to make her own decisions and will decide when to go out or who to associate with, and the thought scared her. She reached the kitchen and began to help her mother in the kitchen with dinner.
'Aki…' She had a small smile that did not go unnoticed by her mother. No one said a word though, it was just best for now.
Back in Death City Maka resumed her day as a student at Death Weapon Meister Academy. She and Soul had just finished their meeting with Death the Kid, new Shinigami that protected the school and Death City. Maka had not been able to say a word since they left the Death Room and stopped only to the bathroom to wash out her mouth a bit. Popping a hard candy in her mouth she made a straight line to her locker to get her books for class. She walked side by side with her partner Soul who simply walked with his hands in his pockets as if he hadn't a care in the world. She could hardly ignore the stares and whispers that the students in the hall would throw one another as they passed by. Maka tried to breathe deeply to calm herself; she could already feel her heart quickening.
"Hey," Soul's hand grasped her shoulder. "They don't matter. Just remember that." Maka was unable to respond and has happy to see the distraction of her locker. Soul gave a sigh and leaned against the other lockers with his eyes closed.
"..Ah…" Maka opened her locker to find a couple of letters fell out; she quickly gathered them up and just looked at them. There were ten letters in all; reluctantly she opened the letters at random. She quickly read them and flushed furiously shoving them back into her locker.
"Hey, what was that?" Soul opened her locker more and grabbed her hands. Let me see?" Maka's mouth ran dry rendering her unable to speak, looked down and shook her head violently. "Maka, don't keep things from me." She reluctantly handed him the letters and closed her locker, she waited for his response. Soul however held a very stoic face and opened letter after letter after letter; never before had he read so fast, not when studying, not even when reading his manga. His expression was unreadable, his lips that usually curled into his signature smirk stayed firmly strait and tight lipped. He was displeased for sure, furious even.
"This is bullshit!" Maka glanced over to see Soul ripping the letters to shreds, not even in his scythe form could have ripped the paper any better. "Fucken bullshit, don't you ever listen to any of it."
"Well, I did get an offer from a weapon that promises not to leave lasting marks on me." Soul gave her a fierce scowl. "Or how about I take the advice of that girl and just kill myself so I don't bring you any more shame?" Soul ruffled his hair and hit the locker with his fist violently.
"Dammit Maka, this is just ridiculous! It was just a couple of …"
"Don't say it." Maka began to fidget again noticing the scene they were causing. Soul was livid voicing his distaste for the entire situation. Maka decided that she didn't want to stand there while people began to whisper and laugh again. She couldn't breathe, the situation was just too overwhelming, and why were they judging her? Why did they have to look at her? Why did they have to write those letters?
"Soul, please stop shouting." Maka held on to her chest almost heaving. The room began to spin and she couldn't stop her body from shivering. "Stop talking! Stop talking!"
"Oy, Maka calm…."
"STOP TALKING ABOUT ME!" Maka shoved Soul away and ran directly to the west gym into the locker rooms. She threw herself inside holding on to one of the changing benches and clutching her stomach in pain. "IT'S NOT MY FAULT! WHY WON'T THEY STOP TALKING ABOUT ME"
"MAKA!"
Maka could hear Soul looking for her; she looked around and ran to the nearest bathroom. She held her stomach tightly unable to withstand the bout of nausea that was hitting her. Her knees were shaking; she could barely withstand her own weight. She headed straight for the toilet and let it all out. She just couldn't handle the stress, the laughter, the pointing fingers; just the thought of it all made her sick all over again. Her mind just wouldn't turn off, it kept replaying it over and over and over again. Her stomach had no more to expel but still it kept lurching. For now, there was no gym and so she could be safe for a little while longer, Soul couldn't come in here he's too cool of a guy to even chance coming into the girls locker. Maka just couldn't think anymore and just slumped on the floor next the bowl. She balled herself up still clutching her stomach. Kid had already warned her that he wanted no more indiscretions, but they all laugh and make it into such a big ordeal. She didn't want to even think about it, she just wanted to shrink away into nothing, disappear until they all forgot about her. She wanted to be forgotten, she didn't want to hear her name on anyone's lips anymore.
'No, I can't give up. That's just what they want me to do.' Maka coughed violently as she struggled to stop her stomach from vomiting again. She began to hear whispers and laugher all around her, the room became distorted and dark. She was no longer in the bathroom, she felt she was back in the hallway with all her peers staring and pointing fingers at her. She held her head trying to get a grip on reality as she felt herself slip deep into her minds darkness, she knew she was in the bathroom of the girls locker room but all she could see was the hallway and the students surrounding her. Suddenly she felt her body enveloped in darkness and float in an endless dark void, there was nothing but sounds of the students that once stood along the lockers. Every group that whispered was like a string that entangled itself around her body, with every dirty look they gave her the string pulled her limbs and constricted around her body causing more pain.
"It's all your fault you bitch!"
"Fucken waste of a meister."
"You should just give Soul to someone worthy of him!"
"IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!"
"You call yourself a three star?!"
"It should have been you who died!"
She could hear her once fellow students taunting her, yelling at her accusingly, fingers pointed at her accusingly. With her mental body under attack her physical body reacted through instinct and covered her ears with her shaking hands trying to drown out the sounds of their abuse. Over and over and over, she could hear them, no matter how hard she pressed her hands to her ears she could still hear them. Tears running down her face, her blood shot eyes wide in terror unable to focus, showing her only false images of what was around her. Her once peach creamy complexion turned white as her weapons hair. Her mind just couldn't take it anymore, the taunting insults ripping her soul to pieces. Each insult she heard opened her wound just a bit more, her hands pressed even harder against her head digging her nails into her scalp causing little droplets of blood to slide down her face mixing his the tears that already marred her usually angelic face. Her heart felt as if it would burst from her chest at any moment, silently she wished that it would just do it and end her misery. She cried out in aggravated pain, shrieking could be heard echoing through the empty locker rooms.
"MAKA!"
Though her cries were deafening with in the small bathroom she could still hear that heavy steps of a person running frantically trying to reach her. She recognized the voice instantly and moved even further against the corner of the back wall, never letting the grip she had on her head loosen not even for a second. The blood and tears dripping to the floor staining the light colored skirt she wore, little streaks stained even her pail knees. With the Soul drawing ever closer her cries grew even louder, she didn't want anyone to see, no one was supposed to see, not even Soul her weapon, best friend, and only man that has earned her love and devotion was supposed to see her in this state.
"MAKA!" Soul almost threw himself on the floor beside her, instantly bringing her into his tight embrace. He could feel her body shaking violently, her flesh felt as cold as the tile on the walls. He was relieved she didn't fight him, he knew how hard she tried to hide this side of herself; this was something that she had refused to allow him to see. He noticed the blood coming from her nails digging into her flesh and forced her hands to release, with nowhere else to place her hands she grabbed on to the front of Soul's shirt buried her face in his chest wetting his front with her uncontrollable tears. Soul felt the warm sensation of her tears staining his shirt but turned his attention to the girl in his arms that continued to fall apart with each passing second. The once cool death scythe was at a complete loss in this situation, he could only bring her to sit into her lap and let her cry out her emotion. He soothingly rubbed her back whispering reassuring words in her ear, willing her though their soul resonance that she come to her senses. All he could do for her was huddle against the wall hold her tightly, he concentrated all his might trying desperately to bring her out of this episode.
"Oh my god, she's crazy…" Soul was snapped out of his thoughts and looked up to find a group of students crowding around the couple. He brought his hand to her head as if trying to shield his meister from their words. He didn't want her to see the way they were judging her, smirking at her, laughing at her…just like back then. Soul's anger rose quickly with each comment uttered; his crimson eyes illuminating with rage beneath his snow white bangs giving him the look of a demon in the low light of the locker bathroom.
"She puked, how gross maybe she's bulimic."
"Maybe the slut's pregnant…"
"SHUT THE FUCK UP ALREADY!" Soul's deep baritone voice boomed throughout the rooms frightening the crowd into brief silence. "JUST WHAT IS SO FUCKEN WRONG WITH ME GIVING MY WOMAN A FUCKEN HICKEY?!" The majority of the girls gasped in horror at his confession and once again the whispers began anew. He felt the girl's grip on his shirt tighten and her uncontrollable cries became even more muffled against his chest.
"You don't have to protect her, you deserve better!" One girl proudly proclaimed with a smug grin, a grin that quickly disappeared when she saw the murderous look the usually cool guy gave her. It was enough to make her cringe and disappear amongst the crowd.
Soul could no longer control his anger and turned his free arm into a most familiar blade. "IF ALL OF YOU DON'T GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY FACE I WILL SHOW YOU ALL WHAT A FUCKEN DEATH SCYTHE IS CAPABLE OF." In his fit of rage Soul sent a warning attack across the wall beside the crowd, sending them all into screaming panic. He took the opportunity to scoop the broken down meister in his arms still holding her tight to his own body nudging his forehead against her own head that stayed hidden against his very wet shirt. He walked slowly out of the bathroom and through the girl's locker room, making his way down the hall heading for the nurse's office while his spectators either stood aside to let him pass or ran in fear of the most unstable couple in school.
"I'm sorry Maka, I'm sorry my love." He felt her trembling calming, her hysteric cries becoming soft sobs but still a little ball in Soul's arms. After what felt like hours of walking through crowds of what Soul considered 'uncool' gawkers, he reached the nurses office and was relieved to see the door opened for him by Nygus who seemed to have been expecting them and lead the pair to the farthest most hidden bed available in the infirmary.
"Take all the time you need." Nygus closed the curtains and walked away to bat away the onlookers that had crowded the doorway of her infirmary trying to catch a glimpse of the famous leaders of Spartoi.
"Thanks." He set her down gently but she refused to let him go, his only solution was to settle in beside her and continue soothing her.
"I'm sorry Soul, I don't…, I just…my fault…I'll get better."
"Shhh…" Soul caressed her cheek with his thumb softly. "I know you will." He kissed the top of her head letting her settle her face in the crook of his neck. He felt her slowly relax letting go of his shirt to wrap her arms around his torso. Her breath began to even again with the occasional dry sob that stopped her from talking. Their wavelengths syncing up eager to become one again. "You're mine forever Albarn…"
"…Evans…"
Her whispered correction made the boy replace his scowl with a slight smirk. "Evans…, I won't ever let anyone, separate us."
"Promise?"
"I Promise."
A/N: I hope you liked this installment, I will definitely get to work right away with the next chapter; I can see it in my mind but getting it typed down Is such a different story. . . If only I could just telephatically send you the story from my mind directly it would be loads better. Well please review if you want more…well until next time kiddies.
