Soul Eater
Sorry it took me so long to update. I was pretty busy this week and I just couldn't find a chance update until this weekend. Well, I'm here on top of my bed, my stomach rumbling with hunger, thunder roaring outside. I've been feeling pretty sick today. Slept most of the afternoon, feeling nauseous, coughing, headache, throat pain. Then my mom gave me some medicine, so I'm getting pretty sleepy. NyQuil. Man, that gets to you.
Anyways, I would like to thank all my readers, reviewers, followers, ect! Please excuse my grammatical errors and I hope this meets your expectations!
Untouchable
Chapter 51 - Friction
Maka's jaw fell open as she stared at the beautiful house that stood before her. It was big. It was grand and it looked expensive. She rubbed her eyes in disbelief while giving Soul a quick glance. She couldn't believe it. The house looked to be two or three stories high, a beautiful color of light brown. There were trees all over the place, creating masses of shade. The breeze was cool and the sky was cloudly, making it a perfect day to visit Soul's old home.
"Soul," Maka said as she got off the motorcycle. He stood quiet as they both stood in front of the entrance gate. She never expected Soul and his family to be so financially well off. Compared to her house, Soul's old home was probably enormous. "You're parent's house is really pretty. I never imagined it like this at all."
"Yeah, I guess." Soul said a bit discouraged as he placed his hands in his pockets. He didn't look too happy to be there, but it was understandable. He was probably just feeling a little nervous. With a sigh, Soul looked down at the ground, shaking his head back and forth. "Man, I still can't believe I'm even here. It's been such a long time. I thought I would never come back. It feels weird being here. I feel like going back."
"C'mon, Soul." Maka tried to lift his morale. She grabbed his hand before giving him a small smile. "We're already here. We can't go back now. Besides, I'm sure your parents are going to be happy to see you. You haven't seen them in a long time, right? It's good that you're finally going to spend some time with them."
He didn't say anything, but instead he started leaning toward her. He wrapped his arm around her waist and grabbed her chin with the other hand. He pulled her closer, his hot breath hitting her skin. Maka could feel her face flushing a bright shade of red. She slowly closed her eyes and waited for her lips to meet his. Of course, it never happened.
"What do you think you're doing to my little girl?!" Her dad hurriedly exclaimed from behind, stepping out of the car. He pulled them apart, grabbing Maka from the shoulders. Then he turned to look at Soul with a scowl. "You two might be dating, but I won't allow you to sexually harass my daughter! Keep your hands to yourself, you animal! How dare you grab my daughter like that publicly! Really! Really! No respect these days! You beast!"
"We weren't doing anything wrong, old man!" Soul exclaimed back at him, placing his hands back in his pockets while giving her dad a death glare. Then, a smirk appeared in his face. "What? Can't stand the fact that your daughter likes me more than you? After all, she did leave you to come with me. You should just let us be. What we do is really none of your business. Instead of worrying about us, you should worry about yourself. I can see a few grey hairs on your head already."
"Why you!" Her dad stomped his foot on the ground while placing his hands on his hand, completely falling for Soul's lie. "I can't believe my daughter would pick such a rude guy to be with her! It's clear you don't deserve her! Keep on talking and I swear I'll pull my daughter right out of your house!" Her dad began to laugh triumphantly. "That's right, Souly! She might have chosen you, but you have no authority over her! I am her father and I will always be the best! Ha! Ha!
"Stop bickering you too." Her mother suddenly appeared in the scene. She placed her hand on top her dad shoulder, trying to calm him down. "Spirit, remember what we came here for. We came here to meet Soul's parents. Maka's serious about this, so you should try to be serious about this too."
"But, but," Her dad started, sounding like an eight year old as he pointed at Soul with his index finger. Sometimes Maka couldn't believe that he was her dad. "But he started it! He started touching my little girl! In my presence, my daughter is untouchable! Keep your hands to yourself!"
"Dad!" Maka exclaimed and she could feel her cheeks flushing bright red. She placed her finger over her lips when she noticed a woman coming with a maid toward the gate. Maka watched them as they got closer and closer before she turned back to look at her parents. "Okay, you two better behave! Especially you dad. Please, don't embarrass me."
"Embarrass. Oh, Maka! Don't say that to your father!" Her dad exclaimed, raising his hands in the air before going under his little cloud of gloom. He was doing the complete opposite of what she had said. "My daughter feels ashamed of me! Oh, Kami! What did I do wrong? My only daughter feels embarrassed of me! Oh, the horror!"
"Ah, Soul!" The woman suddenly, making her dad snap his mouth shut with surprise. Maka looked at her curiously as the maid quickly opened the gate for her. Without a moment of hesitation, the woman quickly dashed toward Soul, pulling him into a tight embrace. "Soul! I'm so glad you finally came. I'm so happy to see you. It's been such a long time, hasn't it? It feels so wonderful to have my boy back in my arms."
Soul didn't move and he didn't even bother to hug her back. Instead, he pulled her back sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, it's nice to see you too." He cleared his throat, focusing his gaze on something else. The woman's smile never went away. Her happiness was radiating.
She was a beautiful woman in Maka's eyes. She had beautiful long black hair and her eyes were blue, shredded with kindness. She was older than her mother, but that made her look wiser. She was was dressed quite professionally, a knee skirt with a white collared shirt. Maka wondered if she had just gotten home from work or something. Even though Maka didn't know her, she could tell that she was a nice person and she seemed to love Soul a lot. Maybe she was one of a few people that had given Soul some kindness when he was young.
"This is Meredith. She's my stepmother." Soul suddenly said to her, startling her a bit. Maka walked toward them and politely shook her hand, her smile as vivid as ever. "She's the one that took care of me when I was little."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, ma'am." Maka greeted her and she couldn't help but feel excited on the inside. She was finally meeting Soul's mother. Even though, they weren't related by blood, Maka could tell that her love for Soul was unconditional. "I'm Maka Albarn. I'm, umm, I'm Soul's, girl- girlfriend."
"Oh, my. How wonderful." She said with a small laugh as she placed her hand on top of Soul's shoulder. "This is the first time I meet one of Soul's girlfriend. She must be very special. Is that right, Soul?"
Soul didn't say anything and he seemed a bit uncomfortable talking to his stepmother. "Yeah, she is." Then he forcefully turned back with a sigh. "These are her parents, Kami and Spirit. They wanted to meet you, so I decided to bring them along too."
"Oh, that's alright. The more the merrier. That's what I always say." His stepmother said as she went over to shake her parents hands. Maka just couldn't take her eyes of her. She seemed like such a perfect mom. When she was done, she walked over to Soul again, touching his arm lightly. "I'm just so glad you finally came to see me, Soul. Look at you. You're such a grown boy already, bringing over your girlfriend. I'm so happy you finally found someone you want to be with."
They walked inside and they began to cross the massive front yard. Maka looked around, catching sight of small flower garden. It was indeed a very beautiful place. As Maka observed around, Soul's stepmother suddenly caught her attention.
"You're such a pretty young girl." His stepmother smiled at her, making her blush a little. "There's no need to be embarrassed, dear. It's the truth. You're eyes are quite remarkable." She turned to Soul, who was walking right next to her. "Wes told me about her a couple of days ago through the phone. He told me that she was beautiful and that you couldn't have made a better choice. Now I see that he was right."
Maka smiled nervously, but didn't like the fact that Wes had talked about her. Why did he do something like that? Why couldn't he just keep his thoughts to himself? Nobody had asked for his opinion anyways. Maka was glad Soul wasn't suspicious of anything. She really didn't want him to hate his brother again especially for something so stupid.
"Is he here?" Soul suddenly asked when they finally made it to the front door. His stepmother stopped walking and Maka could see her sadly looking down. The door was opened by the maid, but his stepmother remained still. Maka wondered if Soul was talking about his dad.
"I knew it." Soul said with a smirk, shaking his head back and forth. "I should have known. Of course, he wouldn't be here. What did I expect? He probably ran somewhere when he heard that I was coming. He's still the same as ever. It doesn't matter to me, though. I didn't want to see him anyways. I just came here to bring Maka and her parents. That's what they requested from me to prove that I was serious about her. I guess he doesn't want to be a part of my life and you know what? I'm completely fine with it."
"Soul," His stepmother said, turning to look at him. "You shouldn't be so harsh with your father. He's working right now and he said he would come home as soon as he could. He wants to see you. The last time we saw you was when you were at the hospital, but we didn't get a chance to talk to you because of your condition. He really does miss you. The moment you left the house, something about him changed."
"Yeah, if you say so. Well, let's go inside then." Soul said, grabbing Maka's hand and walking inside before everyone else. Maka looked inside the entrance hall and was complete dazzled by the view. There was a long staircase on one side, a nice chandelier on the ceiling. There were several admirable paintings hanging on the white walls, an exquisite flower vase standing on top of a small table in the center. It was really quite a sight to see.
"Please step into the living room. Dinner is almost ready." His stepmother told them with a smile as she motioned them to go forward. "I'll be right there. I just have to make a quick call. Please, do make yourselves at home. If you need anything, just tell me or one of the maids. They'll be more than happy to help."
"She's really nice, Soul." Maka told him as she watched his stepmother walk away. "It seemed like she really cares about you. She seems so happy to see you. If I didn't know, I would actually think she's real mother."
"I guess, but because of that kindness of hers, she's been miserable all her life." Soul said just loud enough for her to hear. "The only reason my dad married her was so she could take care of me. He never really loved her. She was always getting rejected by him. That's why she never had kids of her own and still, it pisses me off when she defends him. I swear that guy doesn't deserve any kindness from anyone. I don't know what the hell I'm gonna do when I have him in front of me. I wish I could just punch him in the face for all the years he ignored me."
He let out a long sigh as he looked around his house. "What choice did my stepmother have, but to take care of me? That's why my dad brought her to do. My dad married her out of pity, so she ended up taking care of me out of pity."
"I don't think that's true, Soul." Maka told him as they both began to walk toward the living. Even though they weren't there yet, Maka could see it's enormous size. "You can't assume that everyone hates you because that's not true. There are people in this world that love you very much and one of those people is your stepmother. I'm sure she sees you like her own child. She took care of you since you were little. It's obvious she would learn to love sincerely. You should try to return that kindness to her. Think about everything she did for you, Soul. Can't you see how happy she is to see you?"
He was about to say something, but they were suddenly interrupted by her dad's womanizing. "Hey there, pretty lady." He said to one of the maids, pulling out his business card. He handed it to her, but the maid kept taking steps back in terror. Her dad was clearly freaking her out. "How about you give me a call sometime? Maybe we could go to the club and get to know each other a little better?"
"Spirit! Do you have no shame!?" Her mother smacked him hard on the head, the poor maid quickly running away. Her mother grabbed him by the collar and held him close to her face. "You never change, do you?! Then you still ask why I left you! You're a disgrace! I can't believe I left my daughter with you for so many years! What example have you been giving our daughter!?"
"What are you saying!" Her dad replied after regaining his composure. "I've been an excellent father, so you have no right to lecture me! I'm the one that had to put up with Maka when she was going through her rebellious phase and I was the one that had to run to the pharmacy when she was squirming with cramps! Oh, yeah! You have no right to complain! I've done my job as a parent! What about you? Why did you leave us in the first place? Huh? Huh?!"
"Don't even start with that!" Her mother pouted as she placed her hands on her hips. "I left you. I never intended to leave my daughter as well. It just kind of happened. You might have taken care of her, but I love her a thousand times more than you do. The only reason I left was because of your womanizing. There wasn't a day you didn't calls from other women. There wasn't a day you didn't get home drunk, reeking of woman perfume. There was always lipstick on your shirts and you didn't even bother hide the evidence. I put up with you for so many years until I finally decided that enough was enough. You don't know how thankful I am that I left you."
"You left me for a piece of -"
"Just keep your mouth shut." Her mother snapped at him, pointing at him with her finger. "I'm very happy now and I can't wait until Maka comes over to meet my new family. Unlike you, I learned to move on and forget about you."
"I forgot about you the first day you stepped out the house." Her dad told her, crossing his hands. "What did you think I would keep thinking about you? Ha! That's a good one. You were easily replaced."
"Oh, I was replaced you say? With whom?" Her mother smiled as she rolled her eyes. Maka, on the other hand, was getting tired of their arguing. "I don't see your wife. I don't see your girlfriend. It's clear that you haven't gotten serious about anyone."
"Kami, you're getting on my nerves!"
"Same with me, Spirit!"
Maka and Soul sighed as they looked at one another. It was clearly going to be a long day.
…
When they finally stepped into the living room, Maka's parents weren't talking to one another. Instead, they kept their distance, each of them sitting on opposite sofas. Maka didn't seem bothered by it though and it almost seemed like she used to seeing her parents argue. She was happily walking around the living room, looking at all the picture frames his stepmother had around. It wasn't long before Soul joined her.
"Oh, Soul!" She suddenly squealed as she stopped in front of one particular picture. She giggled silently as she scooted herself over so he could see. "You were so cute when you were little. How old were you here? Five or six maybe? Just adorable!"
She was looking at a picture when he was in first grade. He was standing by a tree, not bothering to look at the camera, his Pokemon backpack clearly visible. For some reason, he looked to be in a bad mood, but since it was such a long time ago, Soul couldn't exactly remember. His stepmother was probably the one that had taken the picture. "I think I was on my way to school or something."
"You were so cute!" Maka said to him with some excitement, her focus turning to another picture. "Oh, look! You're here with your stepmother. There's a piano in a background. I'm guessing that was one of your performances. Geez, how old were you here? You look no older than ten. Have you really been playing the piano for such a long time?"
"It's over there." Soul told her as he walked over to the main piano that was placed beside the far right window. He touched the keys lightly with his fingers. They had bought that piano especially for him and he remembered the days he would play to his heart content, trying his best to beat Wes. He remembered how he and Wes would even have a little duet. Wes would play his violin while he struck the piano. Of course, he was no match for him, but at least he would try. "This used to be my piano."
Maka stood next to him before she looked down at the piano. Why? Why was he feeling this way? There was something heavy forming in his chest and he just couldn't seem to relax. He should be happy that he was back home, back in the house where his real mother used to live, but he wasn't. He was reliving too many memories all at once. They were flashing at him like crazy and he didn't know how long he could keep it up.
How was he suppose to keep his calm knowing that his dad could step right through those doors in any minute? He anticipated that moment. He waited for that moment. Even though Maka was next to him, his anxiousness wouldn't go away. Shaking those thoughts from his head, Soul turned his attention back to the piano. He slowly glided his fingers over it's rim. "I haven't played the piano in a long time. The last time I played it was for you. Do you remember?"
"Of course I do. I wouldn't forget something like that." Maka told him as she sat on the piano stool. She began to strike a few keys, but it was obvious that she didn't know what she was doing. "It was the day Kid left. We skipped school and you took me to your parents small music hall. I remember that like it was yesterday. You played so beautifully, Soul."
Soul sat next to her and gave her a quick kiss in the cheek. He took a deep breath before he placed his hands over the keys. He closed his eyes and he began to play a piece he knew by memory, sweet piece by Schubert, Impromptu Op.90 No.3. He could feel the music running through his body and he could feel Maka's eyes looking at him, completely amazed. It wasn't anything big to him. He had learned to play it in order to impress his dad, but that never happened. He learned it in order to get praised by others, but no one cared about him.
Or at least he thought no cared about him. Maka loved him and his stepmother also seemed to care about him. He remembered the days when he started treating her coldly, out of anger and despair. He remembered when he would try push her away. He regretted that now. He regretted everything about his past. When he was there with Maka, he regretted everything he ever did. If he would have known that he was going to end up with such a perfect girl, he would have tried to be a better person.
Why? Why did he assume that everyone hated him? Because he always felt unwanted. Why did he push his stepmother away? Because he thought she pitied him. Why was he always competing with Wes? Because he wanted to be the best son. Why did he want to be the best son? Because he wanted his dad to notice him. Why did he become a rebellious teenager? Because he just stopped caring.
"Oh, Soul. You still piano?" His stepmother suddenly interrupted him as she walked inside the living room with a maid next to her, who was carrying a tray of sweets. Soul immediately lifted his fingers from the piano, but his eyes kept looking down at the keys. For some reason, he was suddenly filled with a deep sadness. "You're very good at it. You should really consider playing the piano in your future. You have such amazing skills. I remember when you and Wes would perform for our guests. You two would leave them absolutely astonished. I don't know much about music myself, but I know talent when I see it."
The maid placed the tray of sweets in a table that was between Kami and Spirit. Of course, they still didn't bother to speak to one another. When the reached down to grab a small tart and their fingers accidentally met, they gave each other death glares. Soul could feel the tension between them and he was sure glad that he wasn't in their position.
"By the way, Soul." His stepmother said as she walked toward him. She stood on front of him, leaning her body against the piano. "I called your father a few minutes ago and he told me that he's almost home. He really does want to see you."
"Well, I don't want to see him." Soul said quietly, but he could feel Maka nudging him on the ribs. What the hell was wrong with him? Why did he just feel like running away? Why did it bother him so much to be back in his old home? He didn't understand. He was there with Maka, so everything should end up okay, right? "I don't think he even cares."
"Really, Soul." Kami suddenly said, but Soul noticed when she gave Spirit a stomp on the foot. She smiled at him as she stood up from the sofa. "You can really play the piano. I had never heard someone play like you. I'm really quite impressed. I'm glad my lovely daughter chose someone like you." Maka's mother let out a sigh as she looked down at the floor. "I can see now that you two are really serious about each other. I didn't actually think you would bring us here at all. I really wanted Maka to come live with me, but she chose you. How can I go against my daughter's wishes? I guess I really don't have any say in this."
"You got that right." Spirit said which made Kami lighten up with anger again. "You might have brought us here and everything, but I still don't think you're a good match for MY Maka. You still have to prove yourself to me and if you don't convince me, I swear I'm gonna pull Maka out from your house. Got it?"
"Spirit, you have no right to threaten them like that!" Kami exclaimed, but Soul could see that she was trying her best to calm herself down. It was strange since he had never seen her so mad before. Then again, with Maka's dad, who in their right mind would even have patience? He was pretty insane and not to mention annoying. "They chose to live together so just let them be. They're old enough to decided what they want. Don't you think? Besides we did the same thing when we were young!"
"Oh, Soul! I didn't know you two were living together!" His stepmother said, clasping her hands together. "I'm so happy for you, dear! No wonder you've changed so much. It was because of this young lady, right? Oh, this is so wonderful. Why didn't you bring her earlier?"
Soul groaned to himself as he shook his head. He stood up from the stool before grabbing Maka's hand tightly. They both stood before them, neither of them showing a sign of regret. "I love her." Soul said aloud even though he could feel his face flushing a little. He didn't like to say his feelings out loud to much especially if he had such an abnormal audience. "I love her and I'm going to be with her for the rest of my life. That's what I really came to say."
"Oh, Soul." His stepmother whispered, placing her hands over her chest. She smiled at them, tears of joy swelling in her eyes. "I'm so proud of you."
It wasn't long when they suddenly heard the main door slam. They heard footsteps and the sound of voices coming closer and closer. Then, a tall figure stepped in and Soul could feel a whole bunch of emotions swirling inside him. His eyebrows furrowed a little, his hands curling into fists. There he stood in the entrance, the man that never cared about him; his father.
Before any of them had a chance to say anything, the maid that Spirit had harassed before appeared from behind him. She smiled at all of them before she motioned her hands to the dinning room.
"Dinner is served."
…
