Chapter Ten
I can't help falling in love with you.
Maka left early to meet Tsubaki at a small cafe for the second time that week. She wanted to discuss the effects of their previously performed ritual. Soul and Maka had finally successfully completed the ritual only a few days after they... were interrupted. The tension around the entire witch situation made Maka simply uneasy, then Soul had to go and kiss her. Not that she had been complaining or anything...
Tsubaki was sitting at the booth closest to the bay window of the cafe. Her long beautiful hair was braided behind her loosely as she sipped on a cup of caramel latte. She greeted Maka with a smile as she sat down in front of her.
"You are looking better and better by the day!"
"I know; I haven't gotten to thank everyone for all of their help the other day. This whole situation is just confusing..."
"Yeah... no kidding there. Black Star and I have been searching high and low for clues as to where this witch and her accomplice may be hiding... well if she has an accomplice that is..."
"Yeah, I can't think of anything it could possibly be either..."
"Want to go to the library after this? Maybe do some extensive research?" Maka shook her head in agreement and had decided it best for them to put their theories together.
"Where is Soul today?"
"He's working out... training..."
"And you didn't go to watch?"
"Wha- Tsubaki! Hush..."
"What? I'm guilty of peeking in on Black Star every now and again...he's grown up so much."
"I...don't want to hear it." Maka waved the thought off and ordered.
"I'm pretty sure I heard Black Star say he was going to join Soul Eater and walk to the beach today..."
"The beach?"
"We should go!"
"What? why?"
"We need a vacation and it's not that far away, besides it won't be all that crowded today either."
"I don't own a bikini."
"We can fix that!" Tsubaki clapped her hands together excitedly. "It's decided, we are going!"
"But what about research?"
"Day off, Maka! Understand what that means?"
"Well... I guess it couldn't hurt..."
Both girls swallowed their lattes and headed off to the mall leaving trails of dust behind them.
As they came upon a store segregated inside the mall Maka began to nervously twitch. Tsubaki swore it was a beach store and that would be where they would find what they were looking for in her size but it just didn't look or smell like a moderately safe atmosphere. There were dim lights lighting the entire store with music so loud you couldn't hear yourself cough. The air stank of expensive smelling perfume and the walls were lined with clothes and summer wear.
"Over here!" Tsubaki grabbed her hand and screamed over the music. "Here, go in there and try this on!" She handed her a maroon bikini she had picked out and shoved her inside a small room being guarded by a tall red headed man. It may have been a good idea for women to have a body guard in such shady places but he didn't look none to friendly himself and his fire red hair stuck out to her in an odd way.
The bikini looked to have been expertly chosen once she slid her slim figure into it. Maka twirled slightly in the mirror and examined the way it accentuated her new found curves, a sign of womanhood if you will. The top had shredded maroon tassels dangling carelessly from its fabric and the bottom had been thin, but not too thin. To her surprise, Maroon looked absolutely amazing on her skin tone.
She changed back and exited the room quietly. Tsubaki had been waiting with a few other accessories she had picked out along with a beach towel and they made their way to the checkout counter. The entire time Maka could feel someone's eyes on the back of her head. She stopped at the counter with Tsubaki and as they had begun checking you she casually turned to her left and spotted just what she suspected. The red headed man from before was leaned against the changing room door and had been glaring holes in the back of her head. Once he'd seen her turn he averted his unsettling gaze to the opposite side of the room. Maka grabbed the purchased merchandise and they made a swift exit. She didn't want to look into his eyes again, they resembled Soul Eaters far too much.
Brushing it off as an odd encounter, Maka didn't mention it to Tsubaki. The girls went to Tsubaki's place and changed before they made the mile long walk to the beach at 11 am. Once they arrived Tsubaki immediately spotted Black Star's set of over achieved abs bobbing in the water and mumbled, "See, he doesn't look too bad now does he?" Maka shook her head in disapproval and laid their towels down in a shady spot.
"WOW! IS THAT MAKA IN A BIKINI?!" Black Star yelled from the ocean obnoxiously, "WAIT 'TIL SOUL GETS A LOAD OF THIS! HE'LL NOT BELIEVE IT!"
"Can you yell it any louder, IDIOT?!" Maka shot back at him. She had then sat down on her blanket and rubbed lotion on her arms and legs.
"Oh look! It's Kidd!" Black Star trotted out of the water and toward the seated Maka.
"Here, need help?" Maka looked up at the tall dark headed man. "I'll rub it on your back..."
"Oh you don't...have to do that Kidd..." Maka stuttered out nervously.
"Nonsense, allow me." He gracefully squirted his hands full of tanning lotion and grabbed one of Maka's legs gently, "Oh I already got my legs..."
"You missed a spot..."
"O- I did?"
His large soft hands massaged the lotion into her legs and thighs sensually as they worked their way up to her stomach where he paid extra care. His hands rolled over her hips and gripped slightly and caused her to gasp and look into his deep eyes. "You're so tense, Maka... anything I can do for you?"
She was at a loss for words as he ran his hands over her stomach and up her sides. "Feel good?"
A rough and raspy throat clearing interrupted Kidd's assault on her slim petite and shocked form. A shadow had towered over them for some ways. "Pretty sure I can handle it from here, Kidd."
Kidd didn't have to look up to know who he was speaking too. "No need Soul Eater."
"Kidd, move."
"No I will not Soul Eater. I was assisting her."
"Then let me assist you..."
"Guys!" Maka sat up with her arms between them, "Just stop, I can put lotion on myself, thank you Kidd... But I didn't ask for your help." Maka stood and grabbed her lotion bottle and walked to the small bathroom beneath the pier.
"What the hell has gotten into those two?" She mumbled and proceeded to rub herself down getting everywhere but her back before running back out to Tsubaki and Black Star.
That evening she and Soul drug into the house almost dead tired. Maka could see her darker complexion but yet she could feel the redness on her burned back. Heat had seeped through her skin and she leaned against a cold wall for some relief while she waited on Soul to exit the bathroom. He seemed to be in a sour mood, she didn't really know why. At least he wasn't acting weird since the whole kiss thing.
Her eyes shot open and she stomped her foot. "Damn!" She couldn't believe she'd forgotten all about the witch and possession research. How were they ever going to solve this and protect themselves if they kept goofing off like this?! She chastised herself mentally and grumbled staring at her feet with distaste. She was such an idiot.
"What are you mad about?" Her eyes shot up to Soul Eater who was leaning against the now open bathroom door, large arms crossed at his chest. He still had the after workout swell going on in his biceps and shoulders as she could tell. He must have really hit the bench hard that morning.
"Nothing, just that we keep wasting time having fun and we are getting nowhere in this witch hunt."
His arms fell to his sides and he rolled his eyes, "You're worried about that? Told you I would take care of it."
"Yes but I am helping, Soul."
"Yeah... yeah I guess you are."
There was a light pause between them. "My back is so burned..."
"Should've let me rub lotion on your back earlier…"
"You were acting like a little kid with Kidd, remember?"
"I was not; He just needs to learn his place is all..."
"Oh is that right? And where might that be?"
"Not on you." A jealous gleam of light flashed through his eyes and Maka shook her head, "You're not really jealous are you, Soul? That's…"
"Not cool? Yeah, I know." He chuckled and moved out of the doorway. "Go ahead and shower... after that I'll put some Aloe on your back...okay?"
"Yeah... Thanks..."
Maka stepped into the bathroom and closed the door with a sigh. She couldn't wait to get some soothing water going and just relax for the day. She ran a hand through her hair and stood in front of the mirror smiling at herself. Her eyes were much brighter now and her complexion was godly golden. She looked like a very healthy individual and this had made her excited to hunt down the witch causing all of this and protect Soul Eater while she was at it.
The longer she stared at herself the more her smile faded and her face twisted. Maybe it was a hallucination or maybe…
She screamed and stumbled back into the wall. Not again, it was back. Red eyes were staring back at her through the eye sockets of her reflection. She was screaming so loud and high pitched she couldn't hear herself. The bathroom door swung open and one of the hinges broke. She could see Soul's mouth moving but she couldn't hear all of the words. He was coming toward her with his arms out and then around her, he pulled her to him tightly, then out of the bathroom and it was as if all the sound in the house came back to her at once.
"Maka... Maka, You're alright, calm down!"
"M-my eyes, Soul! My eyes they were-"
"I know; I know I saw them..."
He sunk to the floor with her in his arms, against a closet door. "But they're fine now... I promise they're green..."
"W... what happened?"
"I think we just found our object..."
"The...mirror?" She was still shaking and in shock. "Nah, look it's still glowing. I dunno how we didn't notice it before." Maka stared into the bathroom at the mirror over the sink.
"That...?"" Maka pointed to a small red ruby casually placed in the light fixture attached to the mirror. It seemed to fit in with the red and black theme so well that neither of them noticed it.
"Call dad, and Stein."
"Go ahead." Maka made her way down stairs and dialed her father's phone number and alerted him of the events that had just taken place. It didn't take long for the pair to arrive and for stein to skillfully extract the item.
"That's definitely it..." Spirit slipped his hands into his pockets. "I can smell the black magic from here, how did you two not notice the red glow?" He turned to Soul.
"I guess we don't look up often?" Spirit sighed and nodded in understanding. "Soul Eater, thank you."
Soul nodded in returned, understanding just what he meant.
"I'll let you know when to come by for information." Stein lit a cigarette and pulled Spirit along with him.
Maka sighed and closed the front door locking it. "Now I can shower in peace."
"Sure, I'll be watching tv if you need me... just scream." Maka rolled her eyes and punched his arm. "...you look...good, Soul."
"Umm...thanks?" Soul could feel himself blushing at her acknowledgment, "You okay Maka?"
"Yeah... I'm just tired..."
"Well umm, you should probably go shower... you'll feel better."
"Yeah..." She nodded and started to walk up the stairs, "Hey Maka.."
"Yeah?"
"Could... we talk about the other day when you get out?"
"Well what do you mean?"
"When you kissed me here in the floor."
She whipped around with a new fight in her eyes, "I did not! You kissed me! Soul!"
"I was waiting on you to start the chant and you just...looked at me with those eyes..." He stepped toward her and slumped his shoulders in mockery. He took another step and his nose touched hers, "You remember?"
She was on her tip toes at this point, looking into his eyes and occasionally glancing at his lips. The back of his hand brushed against her jawline gently, "I could taste your soul..."
Maka rolled her eyes as she started to come down from the high he placed her on. "You're so..." She had a hard time completing her sentence when he took her bottom lip in between his teeth and gave a slight tug. She whimpered lightly. He smirked with sharp red eyes and teased her lips with his mouth gently. Before Maka had been able to react she was between him and the living room wall.
His abs rolled under her finger tips smoothly as he deepened the kiss just begging her to let loose a little, but before things heated up too quickly, Soul broke the kiss and kissed her forehead before he looked into her eyes. "You going to lay down here on the couch with me tonight?" Maka nodded and gave him another kiss not realizing how much she had liked it before. He pulled her back to reality only a few moments later and took a step back, "Go ahead and shower, I'm going to go and get the Aloe. You're going to burn up with that back tonight."
She nodded and headed up stairs to the shower. She turned the water on and crawled in not wanting to crawl back out. It had been such an eventful day and she had just relaxed in the fact that they had made some progress in the witch case. Maybe Stein could determine what kind of magic had been in place or even track the user by analyzing the artifact. All in due time, but for now how in the world was she going to prevent herself from falling in love with Soul Eater Evans?
