Chapter Thirteen

If I'd never seen your face, I probably wouldn't be this way.


It had taken more than a few days for Maka to actually get to go home. The hospital had to stabilize her blood pressure and for some reason that was a difficult task.

Once she had made it home, Soul made it very clear to her that he didn't want to see her anywhere near Kidd. His exact words had been,

"I'm not your daddy, I ain't tellin' ya' what to do but don't, DO NOT, let me catch him near you. If you want to hang out with him, that's you. But I'm making you a promise right now. I will absolutely turn this city on its head if I see him around you again."

Maka would've been lying if she said she hadn't been turned on by his over protectiveness, but she hadn't wanted to purposely start a fight. Besides, she had been a little pissed off at Kidd herself for plunging into that situation like he had. Not only that, Soul Eater had his suspicions about the act and over the years that they had been together Maka had learned to trust Soul's instincts sometimes even more so than her own.

In an attempt to keep herself in shape, Maka had slipped into a pair of black shorts and a tube top. She jogged all the way to the city's local gym and by the time she had arrived sweat had drenched her slim form.

Her dad, Spirit, surprisingly spent a lot of time in the gym and had been there to greet her.

"Maka! Glad to see you out, baby."

"Glad to be out." She stretched and popped her back.

"You come here to train?"

"Yup."

Spirit hesitated, "Well… Maka are you sure you're up to this?"

Her green eyes had narrowed onto him, "Oh I'm ready."

Maka had trained the most she could with Soul, but the kind of training she received from her dad was different. His training had been what kept her in the Academy back in the days when Soul was gone and it wasn't something easily picked back up once sat down. It had been nearly two years since her last, harsh training session with Spirit and he had been surprised to see her reopen that closed door.

"You're getting pretty serious about this aren't you?"

Maka assumed her best fighting stance and raised her fists, "Dunno' but we're about to find out."

Spirit had tied his hair back and met her in the center of the training room. "I won't go easy on you, Maka."

He could've sworn a smile had crossed her face before she had thrown a wind splitting kick that he'd barely managed to dodge.

Sometimes Spirit thought she had just come to the gym to beat her frustrations out on him, but then when he sparred with her he could tell otherwise. When he had dodged a hit of collided elbows with her he could feel her soul seep from her body and into him. It had been almost like reading a book by exchanging blows. The more he had sparred with Maka, the more he had understood her. If Soul Eater really wanted to get to know his meister this was how he needed to do it, but then again there weren't many people stupid enough to stand toe to toe with Maka in this state.

These training sessions had usually lasted six hours a day, however Maka hadn't left the gym until at least eight hours had passed.

Spirit had been completely killed but he didn't want to show that much to her. Couldn't have her thinking she was too much for her old man.

Maka had sighed and walked home in complete content with the sweat she had previously earned. She smiled and inwardly laughed at the thought of Soul being able to smell her before she even stepped within a block of their home. It had been just like before, minus Soul being there, when she would come home from her vigorous training session with her father and she had felt ten times healthier.

Maka had at least wanted to beef up some before she stepped into any weight room with Soul Eater. She had to keep up with him and learn how to re-wield him. She had recalled how heavy he had been the last time she tried. That had been what pushed her to re-train with her father, there had been absolutely no way she would have a weapon she couldn't even wield.

Once she had arrived home she grabbed something to drink from the fridge and made her way over to the stair case. She had paused for a brief moment after having thought she had heard something but, quickly, she brushed it off and headed up to the shower.

It hadn't been until later that night she realized that she had indeed heard something. As she had laid in bed staring at the ceiling frozen in an emotion she couldn't quite pin point, she could hear what sounded like a the piano in the lowest level of the house. This pianist had been absolutely amazing and thoroughly skilled. Maka had been able to tell by the smooth transition between each key. The melody had been coming up through the tiled floor and nearly put her to sleep. There had been only one person she'd known of that could play a piano with such grace. But this person had wordlessly sworn his hands away from piano keys a long time ago.

Quietly, Maka had emerged from her bed and tip toed down the stairs. The closer she had gotten to the laundry room the louder the music became. There had been a staircase in the laundry room she'd never been down before. Once she had stood at the top of said stairs she could see a shadow. Slowly and carefully, she had maneuvered her way down the stairs but only halfway. Just enough so that she could peak and see what had been going on.

Deep red eyes were scanning a thin sheet of paper before them and long fingers had been moving seamlessly between keys. Maka's breath had caught in her throat at the sight of Soul Eater rolling the piano at his will so expertly.

However, that hadn't been the only thing that shocked her. Fear had struck her heart heavily after she'd obtained a closer look at his features. His eyes were somewhat larger and a darker red, his skin had seemed paler than usual, and he had been grinning like an idiot. Usually Maka had loved to see Soul Eater smile despite his sharp teeth, but this had been different. This had been a smile she didn't recognize, he seemed absolutely mad.

She'd seen just about enough and backed herself up the stairs until her heel missed a step and had caused her to stumble. She had managed to catch herself but such a small noise had caused the music to stop. Maka gasped and looked straight into the deep red eyes before her. Soul Eater had sat there slumped over as he gazed up at her. His face had been expressionless and that frightened her even further.

"…S-soul?"

He stared at her without blinking for a moment before he'd opened his mouth. Before he could really say anything Maka had let out a loud scream and had turned heel to run up the stairs and to the laundry room. Soul jumped to his feet and hurried behind her. "Maka- Wait!"

"You're mad! You're mad! Stay away from me!"

"Maka come here! Stop!"

He had run down the hallway after her and once they had reached the stairs he was caught up enough to catch her ankle in one large hand.

"No! NO! Let me go!"

"Maka! I'm not mad! Will you stop and come here!"

"Get away from me!"

"MAKA!" He had pulled her from the stair case and threw her on the couch where he could pin her down easily. Maka had struggled and hit him several times before he'd gotten her fully restrained on the couch.

By the time she had stopped struggling they had both been out of breath, "Now, will you listen to me?"

Maka stared up at him and bit her lip. "I am not mad. I am perfectly fine. You're safe, I promise I would never hurt you."

Maka had felt her heart in her throat, "H-how do I know?"

There had been a window of silence between the two before Soul had spoken again. "You don't, you'll just have to trust me. Like I trusted you." He had a point there.

"…Then..w-what was that..what I saw?"

Soul hadn't looked too eager to give her an explanation but after he sighed and cupped her face in his hands he began to talk. "I have bouts of weakness from time to time. During this time, I will sit and play the piano for god knows how long; until the bout has passed over me. Yes, it is a sign of madness, but in my case it's a side effect. It's just something I've dealt with since the initial infection of the black blood."

Maka had looked at him in a concerned fashion as he continued. "But, I will not hurt anyone. Well… not my friends anyway. For example, when I had seen you on the staircase just now, I pulled right out of it like it was nothing. "

"What if I weren't your friend?"

"Then… yeah, I can be dangerous. But I traveled with Black Star and Tsubaki for a long time and I didn't have a piano to help deal with these spells I would take. I was much worse then and I never laid a finger on either of them."

"You…think of me as a friend?"

He looked down at her with his mouth hung slightly open. He hadn't known exactly what to say to that. He'd closed his mouth and gave a half smile before he laid his forehead against hers. Maka had smiled in return after being convinced he wasn't still mad and puckered her lips cutely. "I'm sorry I completely freaked out and lost my shit."

She closed her eyes and waited. Soul had arched his eyebrow before he'd cracked a full smile and attacked her face with kisses. It hadn't stopped there either, his kisses moved from her face to her neck as she thrashed and laughed. "Soul!"

"Never!"

"Get off me!" She laughed out and pushed against him, apparently she had been severely ticklish.

"No, you deserve this!"

"No I don't, you cruel ass!" Neither had she been much of a touchy, kissy person. He had been invading her bubble, but for him she had decided to make an exception.


The following evening Maka had made her way to the gym once again. Spirit couldn't help but notice the grin on her face seemed to be never ending.

"You seem happy today." She shrugged yet her grin had not faltered.

"Yeah, I guess so."

"Something happen?"

She blushed and shrugged again. "Not really I don't guess."

"Alright, well let's get started."

These proceedings had taken place for nearly three weeks before Maka had felt comfortable with the idea of trying to resonate with Soul once again. She had known, however, that she was nowhere near his level of power and there had been much work she had yet to do.

Maka had noticed on a side note that Soul hadn't been lying after all. She had asked her father what he had known about the bouts Soul Eater had spoken of and he confirmed it. He told her that Stein had witnessed them himself and labeled them harmless unless one had been a stranger. So what? She had to keep him away from strangers now? Like some kind of harnessed dog? Spirit had proceeded to tell her that it wasn't her problem, it was Soul's and to not worry about it. Well that hadn't been entirely true, what if he'd lost it during a battle and attacked the wrong person because he hadn't been familiar with them? What was she to do then? Spirit had agreed and directed her to speak to Stein about it but she had opted out because she knew Stein had his hands full with her case.

Oddly, she hadn't heard anything from Kidd. No apologetic scene or flowers had been delivered to her like he usually did. She had at least a dozen rose bushes at her old home from his pointless deliveries. He had just disappeared, much like Crona had. This concerned Maka a tad bit. She had missed Crona like no other and in the back of her mind she worried about him constantly. Something was defiantly going on and he was involved long before anyone even knew. That witch had mentioned him herself. Was he dead? No, there was no way. She had sighed and brushed it off her mind before her emotions ran out of control again.

Maka had begun her long stroll home after her recent visit to the gym. She had been lost in thought and hadn't even noticed Black Star come up beside her. "Yo, Maka.."

She had jumped slightly and he arched a brow at her, "Oh hey, sorry I was thinking."

"Better not do too much of that."

"Yeah, anyway, what is it?"

"Huh?"

"You..needed something?"

"Oh… um, well." He scratched the back of his neck and swallowed hard, "I'm glad you're okay. Just wanted to say that I would've been… pretty pissed if you'd died back there."

Maka hadn't been able to help the shock in her expression and voice, "Oh?"

"I mean… I would've hated to tell Soul you'd …"

"I'm sure someone else would have."

Black Star had then nodded a bit and scratched the back of his head, "Well… just don't do that anymore, okay?"

Maka had given him a weird look, was he worried about her? Did Black Star actually like her? Not in that fashion but as a fellow meister. "Umm, yeah I'll try not to."

"Uhh, and. .." He cleared his throat, "If you need me, ever. Just summon me or something." He handed her a paper tsubaki flower with a blue kanji painted on the petal.

"That's what this does?"

"Yeah, it's a ninja trick. Just put a drop of blood on the flower and yell out whatever kanji is painted on it and boom, there I'll be."

"Oh, that's so neat." She had found herself struggling to come up with words, "Thank you, Black Star." When she had looked up Black Star was gone. Typical ninja meister, always kept her on her toes. She had then weaved the tsubaki flower into her single ponytail gently and continued her walk home.


AN: I've been editing and updating things a lot lately guys! So sorry! Just trying to catch up!