The next morning dawns bright and early as Maka and Soul climb up the endless staircase to the DWMA. "I can't believe you're willing to do extra class work, Soul! And on a Saturday morning, too!" Maka exclaims, hoping to get Soul talking. He's still being just as quiet and surly as he was last night, and it's really beginning to get on her nerves.
Soul sighs loudly. "Lay off, okay. I just think that it's a good idea to be more prepared, especially if we run into that Demon Sword guy again. We need to get stronger, and for that we need more practice."
"Who are you and what have you done with my partner?" Maka asks, astonished. At Soul's scowl and pointed glare, she shuts up and shifts her gaze to the ground miserably. She's really starting to miss the old Soul now. She'd even put up with the constant talk about being cool if it meant he'd stop acting like this. She hates having a stranger for a partner.
They enter the classroom in silence. Stein is waiting for them. Maka sweeps her gaze around the room, noting the unusual setup. "It smells funny in here," Soul complains.
So he finally chooses to talk, and it's to complain about the lessons he wanted to take? Unbelievable. Maka elbows him in the chest. "It's probably the scented candles," she snaps irritably.
"If you two are finished arguing, we can begin the lesson," Stein says calmly, raising an eyebrow at the obvious tension between them. "Your lesson today will be extremely dangerous. Failing it could result in permanent damage to both of you. If you mess this up, you may never be able to match soul wavelengths again. Are you sure you want to continue?"
"Yes, we're ready," Soul replies immediately.
Maka shoots him a shocked look. "But Soul, what if something goes wrong?"
His expression is unreadable, but his tone is pleading when he responds. "Please, Maka, We need to do this."
She shifts uncomfortably, worried about potentially damaging their partnership, but eventually she acquiesces. After all, Soul seems to think that this is important, and even if he's been acting strange lately, she trusts her partner. "Okay, we're ready."
"Good. Have a seat in the middle of the candles," Stein instructs, gesturing to the middle of the classroom.
Maka and Soul both take a seat in the middle of the circle of candles, still facing Stein and awaiting their next instructions. "Now face each other," he says, pausing to allow them to comply. "And tell your partner what his or her greatest flaws are."
There's a shocked pause, then Maka finally pipes up. "Um, professor? Do you mean to say that our special lesson is insulting each other?" she asks incredulously.
"I guess you could call it that," Stein muses, the look on his face making it clear that he's starting to get impatient with them.
After another few awkward moments of silence, Soul begins, bringing up what he believes Maka's greatest flaws are. His initiative earns him a book to the face, and he collapses to the ground, twitching.
After trying again and earning the same result, Soul decides to complain to Professor Stein. "Since this is part of our lesson, Maka shouldn't be able to hit me, right?"
Stein nods his assent. "Soul is right. Maka, no more hitting Soul."
Maka glares harshly at both of them, but reluctantly puts her textbook away. For some reason, Soul's insults are getting to her more than usual. They're not new or original, he says them all the time, but she finds herself feeling angrier and more hurt by them than ever before. Maybe it's just the fact that she's been feeling angrier and more irritable lately, or the lack of sleep resulting from the recurring nightmares she's been having every night.
Oh well, she thinks. If she can't hit Soul in retaliation, she might as well join in to get her revenge. Soon all pretenses have been dropped, and they're both hurling insults at each other. "What's going on with you? What's with your sudden obsession with training and getting stronger?"
"What's wrong with wanting to get stronger?" Soul shouts angrily.
"You're just being ridiculous!" Maka snaps back, getting to her feet. The image of the little demon from her dreams fills her mind, talking about breaking rules and gaining more power. "You just want to keep treating me like a helpless little girl! I can protect myself, you know!"
"The weapon fights to protect the meister, not the other way around!" Soul bellows back. Stein stands up, attempting to get their attention, but the two of them are too busy arguing to pay attention.
"I don't need you to protect me! Do you think it makes me feel better, knowing that you'll pull some stupid stunt to 'save me' when I can look out for myself?" Maka is pacing around the circle now, too furious to stay still. "By the way, it doesn't!"
"Can you sit down already? You're starting to hurt my neck." Soul retorts, refusing to acknowledge her ridiculous argument.
"I won't," Maka replies darkly, before turning on her heel and racing out of the classroom. Soul slowly gets up to follow her, attempting to compose himself and ignore the concerned look on Professor Stein's face, but by the time he reaches the entrance to the school, she's nowhere to be seen. His phone buzzes. It's a message from Maka. Going to library. Don't wait up. He slumps his shoulders and begins the long walk home. Maybe a few hours to cool off will help.
Apparently, Maka just spent her time in the library stewing over his various misdeeds, because when the front door of their opponent slams open three hours later, Maka's fury has not diminished in the slightest. She pulls off her coat and boots in quick, angry motions and is about to retreat to her room when the phone rings.
The expression that crosses her face is almost murderous, but she stomps over to the phone and picks it up. "WHAT?" she yells into the phone, eliciting a small yelp from the person on the other end of the line. Flustered, she at least tries to soften her greeting. "Hello, this is Maka Albarn. Oh, hello Tsubaki."
Soul tries to pretend that he's not listening in, but he has a feeling he's not very successful, judging by Maka's glare in his direction.
"You guys are going on a mission, and you need backup?" She ignores Soul frantically shaking his head. "We'd be happy to help! We'll see you in two hours!" She hangs up the phone, her frown finally starting to fade. Beating up on some kishin eggs should provide some excellent anger catharsis.
"Are you sure we should go? You're still recovering from an injury and—"
Maka cuts him off immediately, her tone icy. The look on her face is going to haunt his nightmares; she looks almost homicidal. "Your meister has made a decision. Now follow it." Turning on her heel, she heads over to her bedroom to pack. "We're leaving for London in one hour and fifty-five minutes." She slams the door behind her, and he can hear the sounds of her pulling out things that she needs to pack and shoving them angrily into her bag.
"Better dress warm," he mutters to himself. Between London's chilly weather this time of year and Maka's glacially cold attitude, this ought to be a fun mission.
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