It started when Kid and the Thompson's noticed she hadn't been showing up to school on the back of his motorcycle like usual. She told them she had taken the bus. When Black Star and Tsubaki saw the two cross paths on the way to class, they watched as they ignored each other and refused to acknowledge the other's presence. When lunch had come around, they'd sit as far away from each other as possible, and if their friends who sat with them tried making conversation with both of them at the same time, they'd find ways to toss insults back and forth.
They hadn't been speaking to each other for two days. Everyone in their friend group had noticed immediately something was off.
"So you're sure you're not upset about me dropping your phone in the water?" Patty asked. She was sitting across from Soul and beside Kid. Maka was sitting on the same side as him, but Black Star and Tsubaki sat in between them, acting as a barrier to prevent arguing.
"Nah, it was pretty busted already. I've been needing a new one for a while," he replied.
Maka closed her book shut with a single loud 'thump.' "Wow, look who's in a forgiving mood all of a sudden."
Soul glared at her from the other end of the picnic table. "Wow, look who has yet to say sorry."
The human divide was not working well to prevent the two from going at each other's throats, and Black Star and Tsubaki were nearly pushed over when they leaned closer to continue their squabble.
"Well if someone hadn't acted like a child, maybe I would have."
Heads went back and forth.
"Well if someone hadn't acted like it was no big deal, maybe I wouldn't have freaked out." Maka scoffed at him. "You've got some nerve talking about being in a forgiving mood."
"You didn't apologize either," she remarked.
"You're getting mad at me for the same thing! Why is my anger any less valid than yours?"
"Because you did it on purpose to get back at me!"
"I did not!"
"Can you guys shut up?" the blue haired ninja cut in. "I'm trying to eat."
"Shut up, Black Star," they yelled in unison.
For two days they all had to watch them sit away from each other in different classes and avoid each other in general, except to bicker when lunch time was around. It was getting to the point where none of them could take it anymore.
Today, they were still going at it, even on their way from lunch.
"How are you going to say it's okay to blow up at me for making a simple mistake but when you make a mistake it's not okay for me to get upset?" Soul shouted, managing not to trip as they talked around their friends who were walking in the middle of them.
She was doing the same, keeping perfect stride with the group while still screaming back at him. "I never said it was okay to blow up over making a mistake, but what you did was on purpose. That's why I'm so angry." She held up her hand when he tried to cut her off. "And you didn't have to blow up at me for what I did because it really is no big deal."
"No big deal to you. I'm not even as upset with what you did as I am with the fact that you didn't care or apologize for what you did. And for the last time, I didn't do it on purpose, it was a genuine accident, stop accusing me of something you wish was true so you have an excuse to keep getting angry at me."
"If it wasn't on purpose then why didn't you apologize?"
"Because you were too busy yelling at me and I was already distracted from being angry enough about what happened before. You lashing out at me just added on top of that."
"So you admit that you being angry is what made you do it?"
"For fuck's sake, that's not what I sa-"
"OKAY, time out!" shouted the older Thompson sister over them. The group came to a complete stop in response to the command. Soul and Maka's argument ceased abruptly in the middle, and they turned their wide eyes towards the source of their interruption. Now was the perfect time for an intervention. "You two need to stop arguing and come to an agreement or apologize- I don't care. This right here-" she gestured to the two of them "-is getting on our nerves. I'm sure you're both mad and all, but you're driving us crazy too."
"Liz is right," agreed Kid. "It's awkward enough as it is with you yelling at each other in our presence and it's not fair either, especially since none of us even know what the problem is. But from what we have heard, it sounds like neither of you had malicious intent, just lack of understanding."
Tsubaki put a firm hand on one of their shoulders. "Can you two please just work this out? We know you two are unhappy but this is going nowhere fast. Neither of you are communicating. You both have stated why you're unhappy and you both need to consider that and apologize!"
Soul and Maka stood silently, staring shamefully at their shoes. The two were quiet, the anger dissipating as their jaws and hands unclenched and their shoulders relaxed. Their friends were right, they were hearing but they weren't listening.
Maka was the first to speak up, but she couldn't meet Soul's eyes. "Did you really not do it on purpose?" she asked quietly.
He crossed his arms, also unable to make eye contact with her. "That's what I've been saying this whole time. What happened happened because I was distracted by what you did. I didn't even realize I had messed up until after you yelled at me."
Maka paused, her brow worrying as thoughts danced around in her head. She turned to him, her stubborn nature revealing what appeared to be guilt. Her gaze flitted off to the side, embarrassed that she had jumped to conclusions like usual. "I should have believed you. You've never been the type of person to hurt me out of spite. And I should have apologized the first time when it was obvious that you were upset. Your feelings are valid and brushing it off what I did was a real jerk move. I'm sorry that I didn't trust you and…"
Soul appeared to be shocked, but his expression turned to one of regret. "Maka, I'm sorry," he responds, getting her to finally look at him back. "I'm sorry that I freaked out in the first place. It hurt me that you took something I cared about from me, but it hurt me more when you acted like it was no big deal- like how I feel about my stuff being important to me isn't important, y'know?" She nodded her head with complete understanding and allowed him to continue. "And like I said, what I did really was an accident. It was not meant to be a form of retaliation, but maybe I still should have apologized."
"But it's like you said, I kept yelling over you and that just caused you to yell back at me."
"Maybe so, but if I was able to yell back at you, then I should have been able to cut you off to apologize."
She smiled at him and reached out to hold his hand. "I'm sorry I used the last of your shampoo."
He met her smile with his own toothy grin and he squeezed the hand she held. "I'm sorry I burnt the curry."
"Are you fucking kidding me!?"They snapped to attention, instantly facing their blue haired companion who was the source of the complaint. Black star waved his arms to express his utter disbelief. Even he knew he was supposed to be the ridiculous one, and he made that clear loudly. "All this time, you two have been arguing over god damn shampoo and curry?"
"It's a very expensive shampoo," Soul remarked.
"So wh-" Black Star was cut off from saying anything else
"Shush." Liz slapped a hand over the ninja's mouth to give her room to speak. "What kind of shampoo is it?" she asked curiously.
"Alterna Ten."
"Okay yeah, that's understandable. I'd be upset too."
"Liz, you can't possibly be saying that fighting for two days over that is worth it," Kid objected, his eyebrow raised.
She looked at him. "Kid, $60 for shampoo may not seem like a lot to you, but for us that's pretty fucking expensive."
Tsubaki looked horrified. "$60 for shampoo? That's way too much."
"Yeah but it makes my hair look amazing." replied Soul, who was grinning like a mad fool with the way Maka ran her fingers through his scalp.
Black Star groaned loudly, bringing the attention back to him "Ugh, can you two get a room? I almost liked it more when you argued."
Thankfully, a single chop to the head was all he needed to put him out of commission.