Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater, its characters, or its concepts!

Notes: Sorry there's not a lot of action in this chapter! I had a certain stopping point in mind, but as I wrote what I thought sounded good, the chapter started to get longer than I imagined and would have turned out dreadfully long had I continued to the point I'd planned to..

Chapter 14: Greetings from Strangers

"Soul!" He felt a slight shake. "Hey, Soul, get up already, you lazy bum!" For a moment, he wasn't sure if the voice belonged to a female or male, but for some reason, he could envision a girl by his bed, who'd let herself willingly into his bedroom. The image was hazy, her hair – which appeared to be possibly light in shade – her eyes which color was indistinguishable, and everything else about her too unclear to make out. Yet somehow he felt connected to her. An odd feeling it was for a dream to leave him with. Who dreams about strangers they can't identify and yet feel so close to?

"Bro, wake up! We've got practice!"

Ruby eyes bolted open, the sudden light threatening to burn his retinas as he quickly raised his hands over them to rub the sting out. "Yeah, yeah… I'm gettin' up…" Soul sat up in bed and stretched his arms out, creating a "Y" over his head as he yawned. One glance at the clock told him he'd slept in too late! Fifteen after ten! "Oh shit! Mom and Dad's gonna be so-"

"Seriously, where did you get such a filthy mouth from?" Wes interrupted before Soul could go into a cursing fit. "You know good and well that isn't professional. Get yourself together now. They're going to be waiting on us, you know."

Soul grumbled. Wes was always the perfect son in his parents' eyes. He was never late and was always well prepared to their parents' satisfaction. In fact, Wes was indeed about to walk out the door, already fully dressed and aware that Soul had his own preference of transportation compared to such fancy long limos. By chance if Soul couldn't be ready and present by the time it started, then the fault was his own. The younger brother carried the talent to be an Evans, but behaving like the typical rich society… wasn't exactly his forte.

Once he managed to wake and get ready, he checked off his mental list. Song scores… Check. Shower… Check. Wallet… check. Keys… check. Baseball bat to fight off all the fans… well, if only he could. Instead he'd have to carry a smile and polite attitude so they didn't see him as the anti-socialist he really was. Entertaining wasn't about playing in isolated leisure. It was about playing for crowds. Sighing at this notion, he finally hopped onto his bike and made way to the grand theatre's practice hall.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Moments later, when he'd arrived, Soul wasn't too happy with what he'd found. For goodness sakes, this was just a rehearsal, and for some unpredictable reason, there was already more people than he'd cared to see this early.

"Great, the parking lot is already full…" he grumbled.

The lot was packed with fancy Buicks, Cadillac's, and smaller sized limos. By the looks of how they sat, it was obvious a new valet had been hired. His considerably smaller mode of transportation would certainly fit, but it looked entirely too different sitting in the middle of all these unnecessary luxuries. The white haired pianist hadn't counted on seeing this many practice attendants. Stopping to assess the lot in more detail, his train of thought was interrupted by a rather annoying greeting.

"Oh! It's him! It's Soul Evans! HEY! HEY! Oh my God, I can't wait to hear you play!" An unrecognized girl, rather young in age, could be seen screaming on the top of her lungs and swinging her arms above her head as she jumped. "I'M SO GLAD YOU'RE BACK!" she exclaimed, squealing like a fan girl. Other students turned their heads, high pitched squeals and flirtatious giggling following. Seriously, he hadn't even turned off his bike and somebody was already pulling this stunt?

"Y-yeah… Thanks." He answered back, a false smile on his lips for show, and chose to move on a little further to the parking lot exit before they could say more. Maybe today would have been better off skipped. That's when it hit him, seeing so many youth. Today was also the day for potential new-attendants orientations. Students from various other locations and schools would be seeing their future practice and performance grounds for the first time and gaining experience with higher levels.

Today, skills would be assessed and decisions would be made on exactly who fit the talent descriptions that were sought. The only reason Soul wasn't considered a part of this group, despite his fairly fresh arrival back home, was for the fact of his family's status in the business and the personal practice he gained growing up within it.

But then there was the fact that this shining beauty was brand new off the lot. He'd be damned if he trusted this unexperienced valet with his precious! Soul eyed a more casual lot just a short walk down the road, of which appeared he could park himself at. With his mind set on this, he chose a walk for the sake of his bike's safety and security. It attracted less attention beside commoner's cars, along with another bike in the lot as well. The walk would be nice, a chance to have a fresh breath of outside air before he got stuck in the stifled air of hall full of sweating musicians.

On his feet again, and his baby parked where it was least noticed by the several younglings being tested (not that he wasn't proud, but scared for its safety), the white haired man saw crowds of fellow musicians conversing in front of the theatre. He sighed, unwilling to face more welcome-back greetings. Just the first day was enough hell, and exhausting from the non-stop meaningless chit chat.

"The back door it is then…" The path behind the theatre was beaten with an occasional drop of trash from high end players who thought they were entitled from cleaning. It carried a shadow between its tall brick walls, but otherwise it was relatively safe. Unlike most allies, no notable crimes or immoral trades of illegal merchandise occurred here. In fact, it was rather used more commonly to transport materials and instruments, well, when transfers were made.

More important, though, it was isolated. Stepping into the last isolated turn he could enjoy alone before reaching a bound-to-be-crowded back lobby, the man stopped. There was a sudden eerie feeling that people were behind him without usual reason, and it was proven right when he heard someone call his name.

"Soul…"

Great, more followers... Now even this path wasn't safe anymore. Escape from people was officially hopeless. He turned, with a disappointed sigh, and dead-panned to the people who dared to stop him back here. "Yes?"

What he'd turn to see was quite unexpected though. The oddest duo that fit in more with cosplayers at a convention… One had on the most symmetrical black suit with white stripes he'd ever seen before and the other wore the oddest choice of some sliced up and repaired lab coat, with a rather large unnatural screw sticking out of messy gray hair.

"And what can I help you two with?" They stepped closer to him, making him feel somewhat more uncomfortable than he was before. Their appearance shouted anything but music business and there was an odd determination in their eyes that made him question their intent in following him so.

"Soul, we've come to take you home…"