A/N: Yo, I was planning to save this chapter for next week, but I'll just post it a lil early... so let's just pretend it's next week ;)
¡Happy *almost* New Year! Here's to 2017...

Chapter 12:

(Soul)

"Yeah, growing up with Sid as my foster dad was pretty cool, I guess," Black-Star murmured as he bounced a small, red rubber ball against the peeling wallpaper of the boy's dorm hallway. "He's the reason I got into such an expensive school in the first place…"

Soul nodded, watching a group of guys greet each other at the other end of the wall with rolling suitcases as everyone was still flying back into Death City from winter break.
"You two seem real close...Is that why he's not afraid to be so hard on you during gym class?" he asked.

"Yeah," Black-Star said. "I used to get bullied a lot growing up because I liked playing dress-up or dolls with the girls. I was never into sports or anything 'manly' like that… Sid's always pushed me to do weight-lifting 'n stuff, you know, to be able to defend myself physically."

"Dude, I'm sorry," Soul said, looking over to Black-Star with a sympathetic expression.

"Nah, don't get all worked up over it," Black-Star said.
"I remember the day I punched you in the cafeteria," he laughed, shaking his head, "It was the first time I actually stood up for something… I mean, it was shitty to punch you, and I still feel bad about it, but I really felt proud. Is that fucked up?"

"No, it's not," Soul said.
"What's fucked up is that kids picked on you for dumb shit like that. I mean, don't people teach their kids to not be assholes? There's enough of that asshole crap when you're older…"

Black-Star shrugged.
"What about you?" he asked, holding the rubber ball and examing it with an uninterested stare, "What was your childhood like?"

Soul bit his lip and looked away with a shrug.
"Average, I guess," he muttered, "I know what it's like to grow up without any parents."

Black-Star slowly nodded. "Sorry to hear that."

"Yeah…" Soul murmured, hoping that Black-Star would change the subject so he didn't have to talk about growing up extremely privileged and living under his older brother's shadow.

"I don't really know anything about you before you came to be Shibusen, now that I think about it..." Black-Star said as he furrowed his eyebrows. "You're really quiet about that stuff."

Soul shrugged as he picked at a loose string hanging from the edge of his sleeve.
"Not that much to know about me…"

"Well, look here…" a voice said nearby as Soul and Black-Star peered up.
"Enjoying yourself here, Soul Evans? Such a shock to see you attending such a prodigious school."

Soul scoffed as Black-Star looked over to Soul with a confused look on his face.
"What the hell are you doing here, Ox? I thought you said this place was beneath you?" Soul said as he shot him an icy stare.

Ox laughed obnoxiously and adjusted the collar of his silk dress-shirt.
"I guess Shibusen will have to do for now; the other two academies I previously attended turned out to be quite crummy."

Black-Star chuckled.
"Crummy," he whispered to himself.

Ox rolled his eyes.
"I overheard a slight amount of the conversation going on between you two…" he said.

"Get fucking lost, Ox," Soul said tiredly.

"I go and remain where I please, Soul, thank you," Ox said, crossing his arms.
He turned to Black-Star.
"It's a true falsehood that Soul's life before Shibusen would be considered uneventful," he began, "Because I find it quite interesting."

(Maka)

"Please," he said suddenly, completely disturbing her quiet reading session by bursting into the library and slamming his palms against her usual table that she was seated at.
"I know you hate me, and I know you think I'm literal garbage, and I know you just wish I would disappear into thin air, but please…" he begged amidst a sob.
"I miss you."

Maka gently sat down her book and chewed her lip as she processed exactly what to say to him.
"He's going to backstab you. He's going to play you. He's going to mess with you. He's going to hurt you. Maka. Don't. I swear- Maka, do not say it. Leave. Kid. Alone."
"I miss you too," she whispered, staring down at his reflection in the polished wood of the table.

"You do?" Kid choked out, looking up at her with bloodshot eyes.

She sighed and shrugged.
"I miss the way we used to be friends..." she said, refusing to meet his eyes, "but, you-"

"No, no," he said, sliding into the chair opposite of hers with a smile.
"I know I hurt you, and I'm so sorry," he said, "I can change, I promise, I just need your help. I swear, I'm getting better."

Maka finally looked up.
If anything, he seemed a lot worse: dark rings under his eyes, scars from constant scratching healing at the edge of his hairline, and his nails completely bitten down to stubs.
"I don't understand…" she said, "I don't know how you expect me to fix you."

Kid looked at her with a glimmer of hope in his eyes.
"Let's just go back to the way things used to," he said as Maka's heart skipped a beat. "I'll try if you try…"

"What about Liz?" she murmured.

He shook his head.
"Don't worry about her," he chuckled slightly, "She's just a friend, I swear she won't bother you anymore."

Maka slowly nodded even though she could still see the faint bruise present on the side of his neck.
"You promise?" she whispered.

He wiped his eyes on the sleeve of his black blazer and smiled slightly.
"I promise."

(Soul)

"Soul, buddy, how are you doing this fine afternoon?" Ox asked as he suavely leaned against the locker next to Soul's a few moments after the final bell of the day rung.

"Trying to get back to the dorm's before I run into any more psychos," Soul scoffed before flinging a book into his locker. "Looks like faith wasn't in my favor today."

"Aren't you going to ask how my first day of classes here went?" Ox asked.

Soul laughed and shook his head.
"Ox, I honestly don't give a shit about you," he said as he slammed his locker shut. "So if you're pretending to be 'buds' with me sp you can use me as an advantage, then you can go suck it."

Ox chuckled loudly as Soul turned and began making his way down the hall.
"You know," Ox called out, "Another old 'bud' of yours from back in Boston really wishes he could catch up with you, too."

Soul slowly turned around.
"Who?"

"Ah," Ox said with a cold smile, "Not forgetting our old pal Justin, are we?"

Soul shook his head.
"Don't threaten me like that," he whispered fiercely, marching back over to Ox.
"You have nothing on me."

The grin plastered on Ox's face melted away into an expressionless stare.
"Don't be so idiotic, I can bend and twist the truth anyway I chose," he said.
"I mean, who would rather believe some delinquent over a genuine scholar like me?"

"What are you getting at, Oxford?" Soul threatened as he closed in on him.

"I came to this school for intellectual reasons, Soul," Ox said, retaining his blank expression.
"Graduating valedictorian of this school shoots me in the path I quite well desire, and what I desire is exactly what I will achieve."

"Why are you telling me this?" Soul said, raising a brow.

"I've made a deal with a certain someone," Ox said, "And fulfilling my end of this 'deal' will no doubt secure me in graduating as valedictorian of this school; thus, I will be getting exactly as I desire."

"So how does that tie into you fucking with me?" Soul scoffed.

Ox's impassive expression cracked as he once again wore his overstretched, slightly creepy grin.
"I said I had to fulfill my end of the deal, did I not?"

(Maka)

"Hey," Soul said to her as she left Stein's classroom from one her final tutoring sessions with a handful of yellowed paperback novels that she had checked out earlier that day.
"Just wanted to say thanks again for helping me pick out Jackie's gift. She really loved the shirts."

"No problem," Maka said as they proceeded to walk down the hall together toward the main staircase, the sound of their shoe heels clicking against the tile floor echoing in the empty halls.
"What are you still doing around here, by the way? School ended, like, two hours ago."

Soul shrugged.
"Something was getting on my nerves so I hung out in the music room for a bit."

"You play to calm yourself?" Maka giggled.

"No, I don't really play, forget I said anything," Soul said, shaking his head.
"Forgot to ask, how'd you liked the album I gave you?"

"Oh, it was great!" Maka said, shifting the books in her arms.
"I can run it over to you tonight if you want, I left it in my luggage."

"Nah, you keep it," Soul said with a small smile.
"I'm glad you liked it…"

Maka nodded.
"Yeah, I really liked the one where the main guy was-"

"What are you two still doing here?" a voice said suddenly, causing Maka and Soul to quickly turn around.

"Oh, hey Kid," Maka said as she clutched her books, watching Kid who stood in a nearby doorway with his sleeves rolled up and school blazer missing.
"Just got out of tutoring with Stein…"

"And you, Mr. Evans?" Kid said with a certain bite to it.
"Not causing any more trouble, hm?"

"Mr. Evans?" Soul sneered, shaking his head.
"You really love pushing your sorry lucky, don't you?"

"Was that a threat?" Kid asked, narrowing his eyes.
"You should remember who my father is, Mr. Evans. It seems your the one pushing your luck.

"What the hell has gotten into you? God…" Soul said with a half-laugh.
"We're just walking down the hallway, okay? No need to get your daddy's boy panties in a twist."

"Soul," Maka sighed.
"Drop it."

"Drop it?" Soul scoffed.
"Doesn't it piss you off how he thinks he has the right to be a nosy little fucker because he's the principal's son? And then he has the balls to pick at me as if I broke his precious rules!"

"Leave him alone, Soul!" Maka said angrily.
"You said you wouldn't act like such a goddamn asshole! You promised you'd try to be better."

"Yeah, well, he's an asshole to me, and I'm not gonna sit here and take it," Soul said.

"That doesn't mean you should fight back! Have you not learned anything?" Maka said, half-shouting. "You're such a moron!"

Soul waved her off.
"Whatever, Maka, glad you liked the music," he said as he walked away down the hallway before letting the glass stairwell door slam shut behind him.

"Thanks for defending me…" Kid whispered as Maka stared unhappily at the stairwell door.

"You're welcome, I guess," she shrugged as she turned back to face him.
"What are you still doing here?"

"Cleaning some things up," he said bluntly before cocking his head to the side.
"You look upset, why?"

"Oh," she said, "I think I was a little too hard on, Soul, you know?"

Kid shook his head.
"Someone needs to put him in his place; I'm glad you did so…" he said.
"I didn't know you two became close."

"We're just friends," Maka said as she crossed her arms across her chest.
"Does that bother you…?"

"It makes me worry for you, I'm not sure being close friends with someone like him is such a good idea, but it's your choice, Maka," Kid said plainly.

"I mean, we're not that close," Maka shrugged with a forced smile.
"Just don't let it bother you, alright?"

Kid nodded slowly.
"I won't."

(Soul)

"Why are you so tense?" Jackie asked as she browsed through the many CD cases stacked on top of Black-Star's stereo, often making a face to show her dislike or fondness of the music album.

"What makes you think I'm tense?" Soul asked frankly as he leaned against his bedframe, idly staring off into space.

"Well for starters, you told me you were 'fucking pissed off' when I asked how your day went," she said, raising a brow.

"Yeah, I said I was pissed, not tense," Soul said as he folded his arms behind his head and tilted his head up to stare at the tiled ceiling.

"Whatever, Soul," Jackie giggled as she popped a CD into the stereo before plopping down onto his bed.

"...I wrote her off for the tenth time today
And practiced all the things I would say…"

*knock!* *knock!*

"Get off your ass and answer the door," Jackie mumbled as she pulled out her cellphone and began flipping her social media feed.

"Psh, fine," Soul muttered as he stood up to crack his back before walking over and swinging open the door.

"...Now I know I'm being used
That's okay because I like the abuse…"

"Definitely not in the fucking mood," Soul said bitterly before attempting to slam the door shut.

"Not so fast…" Ox said with a smile as he stuck out his foot into the door crack to prevent it from shutting all the way.

"Look, I don't care what the hell you have to say to me," Soul began angrily, "But I'd rather beat your face in and have who-knows-who come after me then spending the rest of the year dealing with your sorry ass."

Ox laughed.
"Ah, but I think there's a small deal I can make with you that might settle out our problems…"

"Eh?" Soul said, ceasing to try and force the door shut.

"Come in the hall, talk to me for the moment," Ox said before Soul reluctantly did so.

"Who's there, Soul?" Jackie called from the inside of the room.

"Just a minute," Soul sighed as he closed the door behind him.
He crossed his arms.
"Okay, talk Oxford."

"Excellent," Ox said with a crooked grin.
"So, you're quite aware of my will to fulfill my ambitions, right?"

"Yeah, yeah…" Soul said, rolling his eyes.

"Well, there's something more pressing I desire right now," Ox said.
"No doubt I will graduate valedictorian as it already is considering my vast extent of knowledge, so risking a little bit of outside help is far less important to me than some help I need from you."

"You need my help?" Soul laughed.
"I don't think so. One hundred percent no."

"Not so fast," Ox said, stepping over to block the door from Soul.
"This will benefit you. Help me out, and I won't make the rest of your time here a living hell because trust me, Soul, I so easily can."

"So, I either help you out or you ruin the next two and half years for me?" Soul asked with a bored face.

"Correct!" Ox said.

"Yeah, I really don't care, Ox," Soul shrugged.
"This school is already shitty enough. Hey, maybe you'll ruin my reputation so badly that my parents will pull me out."

"Hm…" Ox hummed.
"Well, maybe I have a way to help you out..."

Soul raised a brow.

"I know where that little girl of yours is…" Ox began.
"She was actually in town not too long after I left for Death City, asking around for you, but your parents didn't want her to find you. You know, bad influences…"

"What girl?!" Soul shouted desperately before tightly gripping Ox's collar.

"Brenda, of course," Ox said slyly.
"Justin's ex-girlfriend. Don't play stupid and pretend you don't know who I'm talking about."

Soul loosened his grip.
"What do you need me to do?"

"Ah-ha! I knew you'd come around," Ox said cheerfully.
"There's a girl that's acquaintances with you, I believe. Short with hot pink hair? Lovely green eyes…"

"You mean Kim?" Soul said.

"Yes, Kim," Ox said dreamily.
"I need you to find a way to get us together."

"You want me to hook you up with Kim?" Soul questioned.

"Mhm...you know, maybe invite me to hang out with you guys or talk about that new extremely handsome guy that just transferred over…" Ox said, nudging Soul in the shoulder with his elbow.

"She's kind of a rough girl...but I'll do what I can, I guess," Soul shrugged.
He squinted his eyes.
"Do you really know where Ren is?"

Ox nodded as the dorm room door swung open.
"Soul," Jackie asked, "What's going on out here? I thought I heard you yell…"

"Who's this?" Ox asked.

"His girlfriend," Jackie said distastefully before rolling her eyes in annoyance.

"I see…" Ox said absent-mindling before snapping back into reality.
"I hope you'll give me a hand, Soul," he said before turning away and walking off down the hall.
"Let me know."

"Who is that guy?" Jackie asked.

"Some dumb prick," Soul shrugged.
"Just transferred over."

"He's new here?" Jackie asked.
"Huh, he seemed really familiar…"

(Maka)

Maka sat clicking inattentively at her laptop, not used to being free of all her extra credit assignments as her tutoring sessions with Stein were finally over.

*knock!* *knock!*

"It's open," Maka called out before shutting her laptop and stretching back into her desk chair with a soft sigh.

"Hey," a voice murmured almost painfully as the door opened with a slight creak.

"Kid, how'd you get in the girl's dorm?" Maka said shocked as he plopped down on her carpet and buried his face in his hands.

He shrugged, ruffling his black hair with his hands.
"Tsubaki's not here…?"

"No, she's out with Black-Star," Maka said as she slid off her desk chair and crouched down in front of him.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, obviously confused.

Kid slightly laughed despite his sad expression.
"Mind I hang out here for a bit?"

"Can I ask why…?" Maka giggled, raising a brow.

"I'm kind of hiding from my dad," Kid chuckled.
He sighed suddenly and shook his head. "Honestly speaking, I'm hiding from my therapy sessions."

"What, why?" Maka asked.
"I thought you wanted to be in therapy?"

"It's shit," Kid said.
"My therapist charmed my dad into getting hired because he knew he'd pay well. The whole session itself just makes me feel even worse."

"Why don't you tell your dad that?" Maka shrugged.

Kid shook his head.
"He's rarely free or with me as it is...I hate to bring it up when he actually has some time to relax."

"Kid, you know your dad cares about you," Maka murmured, "He'd no doubt want to help you out, even if he's got all his business stuff going on. He'd doing anything for you."

"I know..." Kid sighed.
"But I hate how he's done so much for me, only for me to turn out so fucked up and stressful for him."

"Quit it," Maka said, "I hate when you talk about yourself like this!"

"Well, in all honestly, it's what I feel," Kid said back angrily.
He gripped his arms as his annoyance melted.
"Sorry…" he murmured.

"No, no," Maka sighed as she scooted next to him, leaning against Tsubaki's bed frame.
"I shouldn't have shut you down, it's good for you to talk about how you feel. It just...upsets me that I don't have a sudden way to make you feel better..."

"Well, I certainly feel a lot better being here with you than having to sit with my poor excuse for a therapist for the next hour," Kid said with a subtle smile.

Maka nodded.
"How often do you have therapy?" she asked.

"Usually twice a week...sometimes three…" he said, dusting a few dust particles off his slacks.
"Why?"

"Well," Maka began, "If you'd rather come and talk to me for a bit instead of your therapist, I'll be here."

"Seriously?" Kid said stunned.

"Yeah, 'course," Maka said.
"As long as you promise not to get caught roaming the girl's dormitory."

"You're not afraid of me or anything?" Kid half-laughed.

Maka wrapped her arm around him and squeezed.
"Definitely not," she murmured. "Just promise me you'll try to talk it out with me when you get super angry."

Kid nodded.
"Thank you…" he whispered.
"And I'm still so sorry about everything. That argument we had in the library… I can't believe that was me, I can't believe I said those things. It was disgusting."

"It's okay," Maka said. "It happened, it's over. You're sorry, and I forgive you."

Kid smiled.
"Thank you," he repeated, "Thank you so much, Maka."

She giggled.
"Anytime."

To be continued…

A/N: Ah, there it is, haha. Going to a New Year's eve party tomorrow so wish me luck being out.
Anyways, thank you so much for reading...hope you enjoyed this chapter and please R&R :)
P.S. ~ I do plan on writing Maka's 'backstory' soon... cx