Kiddie: Okay, I can explain...
Rose: what was it this time? Dog ate your laptop?
Kiddie: No! It's just, okay... I got a job! :D yes! You heard right! I got a job!
Rose: So you ignored your duties as a FanFiction writer for your job? Wow, and I didn't think you were THAT selfish..
Kiddie: Would you let me finish!... ahem. So I got a job... only to get fired from it for missing two days. Yep, I was only there for less than a month, and my kids got really sick. Pink eye, fever, cold, and slight ear infection both of them. Well, my job didn't think that it was a valid excuse and fired me! So with having to register for Summer Two, looking for a job, and also apartment searching... I haven't even had time to sit down and write. That and I was so depressed from getting fired that I lost my muse for this story!
Rose: And you're writing now because? Don't tell me that you finally decided to give this story away!
Kiddie: Would you drop that! No! I'm not giving this story away, I actually got my muse back after I went for a really long run! :D The wheels inside my head started turning and BOOM! We got ourselves a complete Chapter Seven! So without much further adieu, on with the story!
Blind Sighted
Chapter 7
Free Falling.
"Maka, you have to understand me," her mother's emerald eyes were soft as she kneeled down to talk to her daughter. "Your different from everyone else, and that's a good thing. One day, you might even be able to help make something really important in this world. You just... Have to be careful, who you show it to."
The little blondee haired girl peered up to her mother, her pigtails askew from her previous fight, dirt filled her red jumper dress as she wiped her face with the back of her hand. "But Mamma, I don't understand." She sniffed, her other hand still aching from the scrape it got. "I wasn't cheating! And when the other mom asked me how I could figure it out, she said I was a liar! She said I was making it up, but I'm not! She has a baby in her tummy! And she didn't believe me! And the other kids thought I was cheating. They wouldn't let me play hide and seek with them! It was MY birthday party!" She couldn't stop the flood of tears now as she finished her rant.
"It's okay Maka, I know you weren't cheating." Her mom pulled her close, comforting the little girl. "I know you would never lie about these things. But, some people are just sore losers, and will make you feel bad about being good at something." Her mom paused, holding the little girl tighter in her arms, she was shaking for a bit, unsure why as she continued on. "Just be careful who you let in, my darling. You're very special, and because of that, people will do anything to take that away from you."
Maka only nodded, her small sobs were dying out as she let out a small yawn. The fight she started wore her out, as she slowly began to relax in her mother's arms.
She was beginning to worry, as she began to pace back and forth while mumbling to herself. She knew he figured it out, she had a feeling he was on to her, but there was no way to actually say it! But still, it scared her.
Soul Evans just... knew.
"Augh!" Maka shouted, as she flopped back down on the bed. She was sure she was careful, but for the past two weeks, Soul was relentless, and he was becoming more and more of a demon when it came to training.
Her whole body ached at the sheer mention of that word. Training, it all started there. Ever since the whole ordeal of the purse from that lady, he's been training her to the bone. And that's how she felt, dead. Drop dead, extremely fucking exhausted. She was sure that it was his way of punishing her, because every time he won the matches (and they were ALL of them, really) he would only look at her, smirk and walk away. He just had to know! And the hard part was, it was all just a theory. She was scared that it was her imagination toying with her, and if it was, she didn't want to be the reason for him to figure it out, not if she was the one who opened her big mouth and told him. But then, why was he practically killing her with all the training and work outs, it didn't make sense.
Letting out another frustrated sigh, Maka covered her face with her pillow, she knew she wasn't going to get any rest tonight, now when her mind was on full drive.
But she needed to know, if he knew.
Soul was getting irritated, his leg bouncing as he waited for the person he was meeting to show up. Letting out a sigh, he was about to get up and walk away when the small bell rang into the small cafe he was in.
"Sorry I'm late." Kidd replied, taking off his jacket as he walked closer towards Soul, "There was a terrible mishap with the toilet paper, and it seems that now all of them are perfectly folded into their proper symmetrical ways."
"You have to see someone about that OCD of yours, you know." Soul snapped, leaning back on to his chair. "I thought you got better at it, but it seems your going back to your old ways..."
"I have no obsessive compulsive disorder, I just like things to be neat." Kidd muttered, placing his elbows onto the table, his golden eyes never leaving Soul. "What news do you have?"
Soul let out a sigh as he straighten up, placing his arms on to the table, he closed his eyes for a brief moment. "Nothing, other than the usual. No matter how much I keep trying to get her exhausted, her soul won't waver, and I can't find out what she's hiding." he combed his hand through his hair as he turned to look at the door. "She's hiding something important, and for some reason she doesn't want to tell me what it is."
"Hmmm, maybe it's something pertaining to you then?" Kidd muttered, "But I see now that her behavior is also improving?"
Soul couldn't help but laugh at the question, his crimson eyes now turning towards Kidd, "If you mean her not leaving the house without me by her side, or jumping at any noise 'improving' then yeah, she's improving."
"I see, so she's beginning to know about the dangers that her soul possesses then, that's good to hear. Now I can have a better idea as to how long she would stay here, and I won't need to request another guardian to keep an eye on her." Kidd paused for a moment as he focused on Soul's reaction to the last part. "Have you told her she won't be going to see her parents; the death anniversary is tomorrow at that."
"Come off it Kidd, you know I'm the only one she's barely learning to trust, and swapping her out with another Death Scythe isn't going to improve anything. She won't listen to anyone, and you know I'm the only one who can keep an eye on her." Soul snapped.
Kidd narrowed his eyes as he stared at Soul, "It doesn't matter if any one else can get her to trust them, as long as the Grigori Soul is safe. If I have to, I'll take guardian ship of Maka if you leave me no choice, Soul. I already warned you, Maka's soul can't be taken lightly, once we know how to be able to harness her soul and make sure it's safe, then that's that."
Soul couldn't help but let out a small growl as he stared at Kidd, "I have nothing against you, Kidd. You've been one of the few I can trust, but if you keep talking about Maka as if she's just an object we can use, then you will end up dealing with me. I don't think your dad would agree that locking her up in a room for the rest of her life is a good idea." he couldn't help but smirk as he saw Kidd's eyes go wide for a brief moment, he had hit a dead end to Kidd's plans. Soul knew that he wasn't going to move Maka anywhere else, he was right after all. No one else could keep an eye on Maka.
Kidd cleared his throat as he placed his hands on his laps, his eyes avoiding Soul now, "Have you told her about her not going to her parent's death anniversary?"
"Yeah, I told her already. She doesn't seem to be mad about that, on the contrary, she just smiled and nodded her head, saying it wasn't the first time she's missed it and as long as she had two white candles to light that day, she was fine." Soul let out breath as he looked at Kidd, "I checked her soul if she was lying, but it seems she's really okay with it. Other than that, have you gotten anything out of the book and trinket thing?"
"Nothing, the books blank and no matter what kind of trickery Medusa used to make the words disappear, we can't get them back." Kidd was now the one to lean back in his chair as he eyed the ceiling. "Stein has done all that he can to see if it would work, and even my father decided to try it out, and we haven't even moved a step to unlocking the golden trinket's purpose either. It seems it's broken, no music plays from it, and I even had Ox and Killik break it apart to see, and there was nothing out of the ordinary in it."
"Well, maybe it was just a coincidence about it, I mean, we already had Blair set up multiple traps around the building if anything like this happens again, and the barrier that your father put up will show any signs of a witch even entering the floor, and still there's no sign of anyone trying to get near Maka." Soul let out a frustrated sigh as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Something's up, but it's just hard to figure out what it is."
Kidd simply nodded as he continued to stare at the ceiling, Soul noticed he was about to talk when he suddenly closed his mouth and turned to look at Soul. "Maybe it wasn't meant for her to be attacked, maybe they just wanted to check where the Grigori Soul is at, for in case of a back up plan."
"Hmmmm, could be." Soul closed his eyes for a brief moment as he let out a deep breath, getting up to stretch he turned to look at Kidd, "Either way, something isn't right, and we don't have much time to find out what it is, seeing as Maka is going to want to start going back to her home and she's a magnet for trouble."
"Alright, I'll make sure to talk to my father about this matter, I'll call you if there's any signs of us getting closer to the solving this, in the mean time, make sure to get something for Maka before everything ends."
"When everything... ends?" Soul couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at Kidd now, waiting for him to finish his sentence.
"Soul, don't tell me you forgot what comes after tomorrow?" Kidd eyed the white haired man as he waited for him to get it, letting out a sigh, he got up from his chair, walking next to Soul, he patted his shoulder, a smirk on his face as Soul eyed his speculatively. "It's Christmas Eve, Soul."
"What!" He didn't have enough time to say more than that, as Kidd was already out the door, his body shaking with laughter. "When... the... hell!"
Maka was amazed at how quick Soul was able to decorate, she was certain that he was up all night putting up some lights on the balcony and windows, as well as setting up the christmas tree and putting up the wreath. If it wasn't because she stubbed her toe in the morning, she would of thought this was a dream.
He finally got all the hints she was giving him!
"Hey, Soul?" Maka turned to look at the now lifeless body as he laid on the sofa, he was snoring lightly and he had pieces of christmas tree leaves on him. Maka couldn't help but giggle as she saw the image. She was surprised at how he did it all by himself, and though when he got home he kicked her straight into her room and wouldn't let her out, she still didn't know it was for this. How she felt bad for praying that his white hair would fall out.
Trying not to make any noise, Maka grabbed a light blanket and placed on top of Soul, lightly humming to herself as she went towards the kitchen. 'A nice breakfast would be a good way to thank him!' She thought, as she began to get the ingredients.
She didn't want to admit it to him, but she was actually getting sad that she wasn't going to be able to celebrate christmas this year. Though her parents passed away today, she still loved the holiday. It always reminded her of when her parents would wrap up presents and put Christmas songs on the stereo while they danced and singed along, all the while Maka waited anxiously for Santa to pop up with her new present. She let out a small laugh as she remembered her father dressing up like Santa once and telling Maka that if she ever misbehaved her head would grow mushrooms. Though Maka's mom gave him a good smack on the head, Maka took that to heart for the next few years, even going so far as to not fight in school anymore.
Her smile almost faltered as she turned to see the two bright candles Soul brought her, true to his word he also got flowers with two vases to put them in, and two candle holders to place the candles. Her parent's picture was placed in the middle of them. She loved that picture. Her Mamma was pregnant with her holding her big belly and smiling at the camera as her Papa wrapped his arms around her, placing his hands on top of her Mamma's, both were smiling with pride, both looked excited and so sure of everything. It always made Maka miss them more, she always stared at that picture when she felt unsure of where she was going, their smiling faces and their bright eyes made her feel as if they were still there with her, protecting her and holding her.
"Smells good." she heard Soul yawn, making her jump out of her thoughts, she turned towards the groggy man, his shirt wrinkled from his nap and his hair still messy as ever, as he walked closer to Maka. "What are you making?"
Maka couldn't help but smile as she turned back towards her work. "Home made waffles," she turned to look at him, only to come face to face with a groggy Soul. He was practically leaning on her, his face now on the nook of her neck. "It-it's the least I can do..." she trailed of, his breath was tickling her neck, and she was getting worried the food was burning.
"For?" He muttered, letting out a breath as he felt her whole body heat up. He couldn't help but smirk, this girl was easily flustered by anything he did. And to be honest, he wasn't trying to pass a move on her or anything, he just wanted to get some sleep, but the smell of the food was what woke him up in the first place.
He was still debating about sleeping or eating, but no matter what, both seemed to be on the same level of importance in his mind. Letting out a yawn, he was about to nuzzle closer to Maka when he felt her move away from him, almost causing him to lose his balance. That woke him up. "The hell did you do that for?" he snapped, letting out another stifled yawn.
"If I stand there as your personal pillow the food's going to get burned, plus, I'm going to get tired of standing there too! If you're tired then go to bed, I'll wake you up when the foods done." she turned towards him, pointing towards his room. "You must of been up for a while doing all the decorations."
"Oh." for a moment he didn't know what to say as he saw her turn back towards the food and continue on with her routine. "It was nothing, guessing you really like christmas then?" he let out a sigh as he sat down on the chair, feet stretched out in front of him as he stared at the blonde haired girl.
"Of course!" Maka almost jumped with glee as she turned to face him, "What's not to love, there's lights, egg nog, snow, and even spending time with people you care and love. My Mamma and Papa always put up this big tree in the house, and we always decorated it with random objects that we found in trinket stores and antiques. And every year we changed the star on the top, to the color we wanted to that year. My Mamma and Papa loved christmas, they always had a huge smile on their face when it was close, and their eyes wouldn't stop shinning when they spoke of it!"
"Like how your eyes are right now?" he asked, his hand covering his mouth now, his crimson eyes never left her face, as a light blush covered her cheeks.
Maka gave off an embarrassed laugh as she turned back towards the food, the waffles almost done, as she continued to take them off and add more batter to the pan. "What about you?" She muttered, her eyes not turning to look at Soul, "Don't you like Christmas too?"
There was silence at first and Maka was regretting ever asking him something so personal. It wasn't until she heard him let out a sigh, did she realized she stood still for a while.
"Never had anything great about it." he replied, his hand still covering his mouth, crimson eyes still on the petite blonde, as she began to move cautiously with his words. "My family was usually the type to go and host a fancy party to celebrate it. We never did anything like yours did. Everything was made by some decorator to look nice. And it was more tiresome than anything else. To be honest, I actually dreaded Christmas Eve and Christmas, I wasn't a fan of waking up on Christmas by myself for a good couple of years, now was I a big fan of having to deal with all the guest that would arrive for business than pleasure. I usually forget that this day is coming. It wasn't until Kidd reminded me about it this year. Then I realized all the hints you were giving and that's when I went to go buy most of the things. I never decorated my place, other than some small lights that Kidd or Tsubaki put up for me because they thought my place needed some holiday spirit." he was still watching Maka, unsure of how his words were going to be taken by her.
"I see," she muttered, placing the last waffle on the plate. She took in a small breath and turned around, her eyes avoiding Soul's as she walked towards the table to place the meal. "L-let me grab some syrup." She was about to turn away, when Soul reached out for her hand, pulling her towards his lap.
He didn't know what to say as she just wrapped her arms around him, this time, she was the one who was trying to comfort him, even though he pushed all those memories away and didn't think much of it. He could tell it still hurt her how he just talked about it so callously, a small smile formed in his face as he felt her arms wrap around his neck, her face buried in his chest as she tried to awkwardly comfort him without saying any words.
They sat like that for a while, Soul letting the blonde, green eyed girl sniffle from time to time as she hugged him, both of them forgetting the breakfast that stood on the table.
"What do you think of this one?" Maka turned towards the blue eyed girl, the latter yawning as she peered at her watch.
"I don't even know what that guy would like." Liz answered, checking her watch one more time. "I guess as long as it's symmetrical, that's all that matters." she muttered.
Maka couldn't help but laugh, as she turned to get another shirt from the area.
"Maka, what do you think of this one for Soul?" Tsubaki asked, holding a black shirt with grey stripes running through it.
"I think he already has one like it." She replied, holding another shirt out for Liz to see, the latter only scrunched up her nose and shook her head.
"Maka-chii, is sounding like a girlfriend right now." Patty giggled, as she ran from one of the store areas, "Sis! I found something Kidd would like!" she shouted, holding up a black and white shirt that was perfectly symmetrical in every way, the tie matching as well.
"Well, you would know him more than I would, sis." Liz answered, grabbing the shirt from Patty.
"Why do you say that?" Maka asked curiously, her eyes on both the sisters.
"Cuz I'm Kidd's girlfriend!" Patty giggled back.
"What!" Maka shouted back, she was certain that Kidd was dating Liz instead, due to Liz being the one who usually set Kidd straight and was more mature out of the two.
"Don't be so surprised Maka," Liz laughed, "Kidd's always had something for my lil' sister, and he knows if he even breaks her heart, I'm making sure he's turned into a dickless man once I'm done with him." her eyes shined with just the thought of doing anything to avenge her sister's broken heart.
"Oh!" Tsubaki almost shouted, as she quickly came running back towards the area they were in, "I found the perfect gift for Black*Star," she smiled as she showed them the black scarf, with a blue star spray painted on the end of each side of the scarf. "I hope he'll like it." she muttered the last part, as she held on to the scarf close to herself.
"I can tell you really like him." Maka smiled as she saw Tsubaki blush a deep red, her eyes avoiding to stare at Maka. "And I'm sure that you're a great girlfriend to that bloody ape."
Tsubaki couldn't help but turn to look at Maka, her face turning even redder than before, "Is it that obvious that we're dating?" she almost shouted as she tried to hide her embarrassment.
"Only because that moron listens to you, no matter what." Maka couldn't help but laugh as she told her that. The black haired girl became so flustered that she almost dropped some items she was holding as well.
"What about you, Maka?" Liz snickered, as she leaned closer to Maka, "Aren't you getting a little bit too comfy with Soul? Don't tell me he's already got you hooked?"
Maka almost choked on her own breath as she turned to look at Liz, her face a light pink from just the thought of it. "Like hell I would even want to be something with that damn idiot! He's nothing but a slobbering jerk who doesn't clean up a shit for his own life, eats like a pig, and doesn't even have one ounce of decency in him!"
"...Hey." an irritated voice spoke, a strong hand placed itself on top of Maka's head. "Just who the hell is the 'slobbering jerk' that you're talking about."
Maka almost squealed from the shock itself, she recognized that voice, hell she knew the scent of the detergent from his clothes, and it was only because her clothes where smelling like him even more. "Who the hell do you think?" Maka pouted, looking away from Soul, "It's no one else but you."
"Why you little, after all I"ve don-"
"What did you do?" Maka cut him off, turning to look at him, her eyes narrowing. "After you put up the lights you made it seem like I asked you to try and solve world hunger and cancer all on your own! You left ME to pick up all the mess that YOU left!"
Soul was about to say something, when Maka turned to walk towards Tsubaki, "I'm heading out with Tsubaki, so you can just go play in traffic for all I care!"
"Hey!" it was too late, the petite blonde already dragged the innocent Tsubaki along with her. Letting out a sigh, he turned towards Liz, who was now trying hard to hold back her laughter, but from the movement of her shoulders, she wasn't fooling anyone. "What are you laughing about? I came 'cuz we got a mission to go to."
"What?" Letting out a sigh, Liz dropped what she was holding, turning towards Soul, "Geez, how long are we going to be out for?"
"Looks like we might be gone for two days at most." Soul ran a hand through his hair as he turned towards Liz, cocking his head towards the door. "Lets go, it's both you guys and myself. I'll fill you in on it as we get there."
Both Liz and Patty only nodded as they walked out the store, Patty holding a neatly wrapped bag that was for Kidd, both of them sulking quietly as they approached Soul's car.
Maka was out of breath, as she turned to let go of the girl she kidnapped. "S-sorry." Maka muttered, turning to look at the nearly exhausted Tsubaki behind her.
"It's okay, b-but Maka, I think Soul had something he wanted to tell you." Tsubaki smiled, as she saw a small blush form on the girl's cheeks.
"No way, he probably wanted to tell me off for not making him any food before I left. Seriously, I don't know how the hell he even managed to live this long with eating nothing but fast food and ramen every day. Like hell I'll ever fall in love with a guy, especially one like him." she muttered, turning away from Tsubaki. "Anyways, I'm just going to head home now, it's getting dark out, and I don't want to risk anything."
"Eh, but Maka." Tsubaki was about to say something when she saw that Maka was nowhere in sight anymore. "... risk what?"
"Augh! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!" Maka muttered, as she continued to walk towards her destination. She didn't want to admit that she was bummed about not being able to find Soul a present, since he told her he never had a good one, she wanted to do something special for him. But no matter what she found, there wasn't anything that suited him, and she hated that she knew what size he was, what he liked, what style he wore, she hated that she knew so much about him, yet nothing about his own life as well. It was rare when he would open up to her like he did today, so she didn't know why she felt so happy that he finally told her something about his life.
She didn't know what to do now, letting out another sigh, she looked around her area. She could either turn left and go straight home, or go right and see if she could buy something for Soul one more time. She knew she wasn't suppose to be out, while the two stranger's conversation was still in her head, but she didn't want to get nothing for Soul, when he was starting to tell her a bit more about his personal life.
Bitting her bottom lip, she grabbed her bag a bit tighter and turned right, she was just going to have to deal with the consequences later. She knew better than anyone else how it felt to not have a happy christmas, as she smiled faintly remembering her parent's at that moment. 'Mama, Papa, I hope you're good in heaven.' Maka thought, stopping to stare at the sky, grey clouds covered even the sun, as the bitter cold still hung in the air for everyone one to remember, winter was still here to stay. 'You don't have to worry about me, I'm making sure to stay safe. Just this once, please look out for me while I go against my own instincts.' she let out a sigh as she continued to walk.
She was getting pretty tired as she continued to walk through every store, no matter how hard she tried to find something for Soul, it just didn't fit him. Letting out an exhausted sigh, Maka was beginning to think it was useless to get him anything, she was about to give up and try to bake something for him, when she passed by a small shop with different items inside. Bitting her bottom lip, she decided to give this place a chance, holding on to her purse, she was hesitant to enter at first, but decided to just move in and look around.
She was amazed at what was in there, different types of stones and gems, along with different styles of colored items, some with fire inside, others looking like the clouds were moving inside them. It reminded Maka of a crystal ball she saw a magician have on a birthday party she went to, the smoke and lights inside of it always got Maka mesmerized.
"How may I help you?" an elderly woman walked up to her, hunching on a small cane to help her walk.
"I was just looking around for a Christmas present. What are these things?" Maka asked, smiling as she moved her hand to touch a blue stone, the color of water, the inside glowing a dark blue, it was in a shape of a star, as it hung on a silver necklace.
"These, my child, are called many things, but the most popular one is 'Stones of Heaven' or 'Dream Stones' in other areas. They were made for those who can harness their soul to their full potential, though some worlds have forgotten about that." the old lady smiled as she watched Maka stare in awe at the different stones.
"Their beautiful." she whispered, as she stretched her hand out to touch a white orb that looked like mist was swirling inside of it, showing different shadows inside of it.
"Many believe that these stone are for those who's bond runs deep." She let out a breath as she reached out to hand Maka a green stone, it's color matching Maka's eyes as the green had smalls pecks of blue in the stone. "For those who's soul's are meant to resonance together, if both people have a stone from the other person, it holds a link for both of them. No matter what was to happen, their soul was to know where the other one was, in danger or safe from harm's way."
Maka couldn't help but smile, as she held on to the green stone in her hands, "Miss, by any chance can I keep looking around to find a stone for a friend of mine?" she smiled as the elderly woman nodded in reply. "Thank you very much!"
Maka was in awe, as she continued to walk through the small store, there were different colored stones, some with more than one color, other's with different shapes and figures inside them. She didn't think she would find one for Soul, when she turned to a round golden stone, it's color inside mixed with a bright gold and red combine, it was in shape of an orb, with one spike coming out of it no bigger than an 1.2 inches. For some reason, it reminded Maka a lot of the way Soul's own soul was shaped when she's seen it. Not bothering to continue looking, she quickly grabbed the gold stone , picking out a waxed black string to go with it. "I'll get this one!" Maka shouted, running back towards the lady who sat patiently in front of the cash register.
"My, what a great choice, child." She smiled as she took it from Maka, and put the stone and string together; wrapping it around a small silk napkin. "This one is to be that blessed of the sun itself. It's for the strongest, meaning, you should get this one for you." she reached under from the bottom of the counter, pulling out a small box that was tied with a golden ribbon on it. "It's the other piece of this one. It's only meant for those who's heart is pure, and who's soul is strong."
Maka gasped at the color of the stone when she opened it, it was pitch black- the same size as the golden stone she got Soul- with a small silver chain linked to it. The inside shined every now and then with what looked like stars inside of it. But it was hard to fully tell, the color of the stone was too hard to even see the inside. "It's beautiful." Maka whispered, as she reached out to touch it. As soon as her finger grazed the stone, she felt her whole body heat up, the inside of the stone began to shine brighter, what looked like specs began to form into actual stars inside the stone.
"I was right." the old lady smiled, as she handed Maka the stone. "You have the Grigori Soul, along with some other special abilities in you." she placed the other item in a small jewelry box, and placed it inside a small black bag, handing it both to Maka. "Here you go, child."
Maka only smiled, unsure of what to do, she quickly grabbed the bag and opened her wallet, "How can you... tell, if I have it.?
"No need for money," the old lady smiled as she shook her head, "when you've been around as much as I have, you learn how to pick up on people's wavelengths, and yours, my child, is a strong one, and completely pure of malice inside it."
"I guess it helps to not wander the streets to much." Maka muttered, as she waited patiently for the old lady to ring up her purchase. "How much will it be, I can't take these for free. Their so lovely, I'll feel as if I'm stealing them."
The old lady laughed as she looked at Maka, "My dear child, I've gotten too old to even care about money, I do not sell these stones to just anyone, you know. The stone I've given you will help you see who is your ally and who is your foe. The darker it gets, the best it is for you to make sure to get away safely. When the stars shine bright inside it, then you know you're among those you can trust, and when you're safe from any harm. The one you got that friend of yours, his will be able to show him if your in danger or not, and it's the same for yours as well. Like I told you, when that bond is created, then both of you will be tied to the stones, always keeping each other close like those stones in that bag."
Maka only smiled as she bid her farewell to the lady, but not before leaving 120 dollars on the counter, she felt bad for just taking the stones without any money, so the least she could do was give her money for all the help she had given her.
Walking out of the store and into the chilly air, Maka's eyes stung as the air hit her face. It was getting colder now, as the sun was slowly setting down while the moon began to show on the other end. Not bothering to wait for trouble, Maka quickly walked towards Soul's place, she didn't want to tempt fate twice now.
'And some unique abilities...'
Those words continued to echo in Maka's head, over and over again as she walked towards her place. Her hands clutching the bag with her gifts in it. She knew it might not be to Soul's taste, seeing as she's never seen him wear any type of jewelry.
But every time she thought of that necklace, she thought of Soul. It was as if it was meant for him.
"A strong soul, huh?" Maka muttered to herself as she began to walk briskly towards the tall building that held Soul's house. "What a weird old lady."
"What old lady?" She heard a velvet voice speak, his arm draping itself over Maka's shoulders.
"Eh," she turned to see blue eyes wink at her, his black hair disheveled from what looked like sleep. "Oh, Joshua, right?" She asked, pulling his arm off of her.
"So, Ms. Albarn remembers my name. I'm touched." He gave off a small laugh as he reached out to hold Maka once more. "So, what's a pretty girl like you doing wandering out all by yourself? Did the boyfriend make you cry? Or are you out playing the vigilante?"
Maka couldn't help but scoff as she heard him talk. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you're trying to know more about my life. But why would I tell you if I'm a vigilante or not, don't they usually keep their identity a secret."
"Ah, you're right. Hmmm, they usually reveal it to the one they love though." He gave her a toothy smile as still held on to her.
"Then I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I won't I'll be revealing my true identity to you any time." She muttered as she continued to walk next to him. Getting mildly uncomfortable with him so close to her.
"But I've bet you'd revealed it to Eater, right?" He chuckled as he saw her face lightly blush.
"N-no! Why the hell would I tell a jerk like him" she didn't mean to shout at Joshua, but the words came out so fast and so loud, that she almost thought she was trying to persuade not him, but herself. Maka mentally slapped herself at the thought. He was just someone she was stuck with until she was safe for good. Nothing else. Besides, just thinking of those fan girls of his made her shiver from the thoughts alone.
"If you say so, but there hasn't been a girl that hasn't fallen for Eater." He laughed, his blue eyes shinning with humor.
"Why do you call him Eater?" It automatically came out, she regretted it as soon as the words came out. She knew she should be asking Soul instead, this was about him. But she still wanted to know.
"Hmm, I'll tell you if you go on a date with me." He gave her a toothy grin, "pizza, right now?"
Maka was tempted, but it was already dark out and she was already at Soul's place. "Sorry, but I have to get going. Thanks anyways." She smiled and was about to bid her good bye, when Joshua reached out for her hand.
"Well then, maybe next time." He pulled her hand next to his lips and lightly touched them, winking at her as he let her hand go and walked away.
Leaving a stunned Maka to walk back inside her building, all the while trying to figure out what just happened.
She didn't know wether to be embarrassed or upset by Joshua's gesture. Letting out a sigh, she raised her hand up to inspect the invisible kiss he placed on her hand. Unsure when it became okay with her to just shrug off something so personal and intimate now.
Though she was sure it probably had to do with Soul. She pretty much lived with him no matter how much she wanted to deny it, he was always hugging her and being to close, and to top it off it was thanks to that jerk that Maka's first kiss was taken. By him no less. She didn't see the big deal of it though, it wasn't an actual kiss, just one to shut her up, there weren't any real feelings towards it.
'That's right, it wasn't even considered a kiss.' Maka thought, bringing her hands towards her lips. Maka almost let out a scream as she mentally slapped herself, she was starting to sound like she wanted to be kissed by him.
"Snap out of it!" she shouted, covering her face with her pillow again. "All guys are jerks. All they want is one thing and once they achieve it, they leave." her words were muffled into the pillow. "Which, speaking of jerk. Where is Soul?"
Just as the words were out, Maka's phone rang.
"Hey." his voice made Maka's face blush as she tried desperately to calm her heart down from the coincidence of the call, at least that's what she was telling herself, "You didn't give me a chance to speak." he paused for a moment, what sounded like loud muffled music in the back. "I won't be home for two days at least."
"Oh." Maka replied back, her heart sinking a bit. "That's okay, it's not like I had anything planned for it, or got you anything either." She gave off a forced laugh as she eyed the black bag holding his gift. "Besides Soul, it's not like I've never spent it alone, you know." She suddenly regretted the words as they came out of her mouth. It sounded like she was guilt ridding him for not being here, but she still didn't know why she even said it. "I didn't mean anything bad by it, Soul. Just be safe, and don't worry, I won't go anywhere." She finished, hanging up before Soul had a chance to reply back. "How embarrassing." she sighed, burying her face on her pillow.
Soul couldn't help but laugh, the girl was a bit too much some times; one moment he knew what she was thinking and feeling with her emotions all over her face, and the other she would surprise him with doing or saying some thing totally different from what he would expect. She was too awkward that it was hard for her to be conniving and she always tried to make others happy than herself. This time was no different. When Soul told her a bit about his childhood, he knew he should have lied, the blonde haired girl clung to him to comfort him and he knew she was planning to make this Christmas a good one for him. And he mentally cursed Kidd for assigning them this mission too.
"Hey Soul." Liz called out, slipping a small dagger into her boots. "You ready?"
Soul only nodded, slipping his phone back into his pant pockets, he went inside, already waiting for the main event.
The music was loud, drawing any poor attempt of conversation girls were trying to cause to the white haired man, as his eyes scanned the floor for the person he was looking for. He saw Liz step into the VIP room, a random man draped over her shoulders, while Patty was sitting on the bar, holding the same cup of drink that she ordered a while ago.
He saw Patty straighten and get up from her chair, the signal was made as Liz walked out the VIP room a couple of minutes later, purposely fixing her dress so others would get the wrong idea. She grabbed her mirror to fix her lipstick, and that was Soul's cue, as she walked away from the room. Soul let out a small smirk as he pushed himself away from the bar, leaving the girls to frown as he left them still talking. He mentally sighed, he knew this wasn't going to be so easy, they still needed to find the rag tag group and that seemed to take longer than getting one to rat him out. Slipping through the back, Soul carefully walked out the building, he knew he was being followed, he just needed to lead the bait towards the trap. Exiting out the building, Soul was careful not to let the guy pick up any signs.
"Hey Reaper!" Someone shouted, as Soul walked towards some abandoned buildings next to the club. "We've been waiting for you." He let out a whistle as a group of guys came out of the shadows, some were starting to look inhuman, with some looking more like animals than actual humans.
It looked like it was the right group, as Soul's lips turned to a smirk, his hand stretching out for his weapon. The white light appeared on his palm as a shape began to take form, a snake like handle became solid as his hand grasped the scythe. The red and black blade shinned with the lights. "I only need one." His voice was cold, placing his scythe over one shoulder.
"The fuck you say!" One of them shouted, running towards Soul, ready to attack him with a sharp blade.
"No, you aren't it." Soul muttered, moving out of the way, only to bring his scythe down full force on his opponent. Blood splattered the area as the now limp body landed on the ground. "I wanna make this quick, who here knows where your boss is?" Soul asked, placing his scythe back on his shoulder.
"Like the fuck we're going to tell you! You'll kill us easily compared to him!" One shouted, fear in his eyes.
Soul couldn't help let out a devilish grin, his sharp teeth showing in the light. "I found it." he replied. At the very moment the lights flickered out and Soul was gone.
The group of bandits stood in confusion, one by one they went down, blood spilling the floor as their lifeless bodies fell. Those with more madness tried to move out faster than the rest, but that only prolonged their death. In less than five minutes, there was only one survivor.
"Who the fuck are you?" the last one shouted, fear in his eyes as he searched for Soul.
"A Reaper." Soul answered, it's scythe next to the man's throat. "One that needs to be home soon." He couldn't help but chuckle at Maka's words for a moment. "Let's make this quick or it'll be me you'll be terrified of."
The other person only nodded, it's body shivering with fright.
"Just to make sure you aren't going to lie to us, we have something of leverage." Patty shouted, walking to them, ignoring the now floating red orbs, as the bodies disappeared.
"W-what?" The now hostage's eyes widened.
"Say hi to your brother." Patty answered, her voice deadly as her eyes were wide with enjoyment.
Maka let out a sigh, unsure of what she was doing as she slumped to the sofa once more. She was already done with all the preparations; a small meal for two, a small red-velvet cake, and some gingerbread cookies decked all out in icing and decorations. The presents she bought Liz, Patty, and Tsubaki were all wrapped up (along with the ones Soul asked her to wrap up for them.) And with much chagrin, there was even a gift for Black*Star and Kidd in there too. Bringing her knees up to her chin, she buried her face on her knees, unsure of what to do; Maka Albarn was completely bored.
She promised Soul she wouldn't leave the house, and she didn't want to either. Not when she knew someone was still out to do some thing consisting of eating her soul for world domination type of thing. But she was also getting tired of being locked up on Christmas Eve. Letting out a frustrated groan, Maka stretched her legs out, grabbing the remote and flicking the channels, one after another, scanning through them fast. They were all christmas based movies and shows, some even reruns from previous years to grab older peoples attention as well. Nothing seemed to stick out, as she let out a breath, Maka turned off the TV, and got up from the living room.
Walking towards the kitchen, she grabbed a gingerbread man and began to nibble on it. Contemplating her choices. She could either die of boredom, or go outside and take a brief walk, go look at the christmas lights around the area. She let out a small smile as she remembered walking and driving with her parents every year to look at all the decorations people put up, and even after their death, Maka would still go. She would take a picture of the best ones, and show it to her parents when she got home. The one she thought was the best would get printed and placed on their graves.
She already new the answer, as she finished the last of her cookie and walked towards the room. Maka took off her pj's and grabbed some simple washed out jeans that were a bit too long for her, the ripped seams showed proof of the wear and tear those jeans went through. Slipping on a red spaghetti strap, she grabbed another shirt, this one was a long black sleeve shirt. Not too loose and not tight either. It was one of the shirts that Soul bought her a while back. It had flower in the front and some words on the side of the flower in French. She split her hair in half and decided to do low pigtails with her hair. She knew her hair was long, with the tip of her hair already going pass her waist, she knew she would have to eventually cut it, but she still couldn't bring it to her to do it. Grabbing her scarf and beanie, Maka slipped them on.
Maka let out a sigh as she was about to walk out of the house, stopping before to get a sweater and small gym bag with her, she figured if she was going to kill time and not die of boredom, going to train was the best answer. She still needed to try and get a few steps ahead of Soul, though she thought it would take a while for her to land a punch on him. Some thing inside her was telling her, he was letting her smack his skull with Maka Chops, seeing as he was too fast for comfort, and had mad reflex skills. She knew one thing though, Soul Evans wasn't a normal guy.
The cold wind sent a small shiver down Maka's spine as she zipped up her sweater, she quickly grabbed her phone and sent a quick text to Soul informing him where she would be. Though she didn't think he would reply anyways, due to his job.
Looking around, Maka saw the bright Christmas lights all around her, the city looked cheerful, though the skulls with santa hats were different from what Maka ever saw. She was still mesmerized by the holiday feel the city had. Letting out a small breath, she began to walk, a camera in hand as she began to take pictures around her.
Soul let out a breath watching it turn to mist in front of him. He was peering out to the city from the roof, hands on his side as he waited for the show to begin. Liz and Patty were up first, trying to lure the boss out from his hide out, and so far it was working. The gun shots were getting closer, and Soul was almost up. They were waiting for the boss to use his power, waiting to see what it was he was hiding. But most of all, they needed to get some information first.
He let out a smirk, this was it, the boss was already getting closer, and from the gunshots, Liz and Patty were fighting someone or some thing else now. Letting out another breath, Soul reached out his hands, scythe appearing out of the air, taking form on Soul's hand. He couldn't help but smile, his sharp teeth showing in the dark, as he dropped to the floor.
"Soul!" He heard Liz shout, another gun shot, "It's two of them! There's two of them!"
He couldn't really hear the last part, as he saw a two cars flying right at him.
Sweat dripped down her back as she stopped to rest from beating the punching bag nonstop. Her arms were beginning to ache and she knew it was almost time for her to head home already. Looking at her phone, the time was already 10:45pm, way past the hour she was suppose to be home, and yet... she had no text or missed calls from him.
'Snap out of it, Maka!' She mentally screamed. 'The hell you looking to see if he's even called, get over it, Maka. Before you end up like one of those damn fucking fan girls of his.' she couldn't help but laugh as she tried picturing herself among his fan girls, trying desperately to get his attention.
"Fat chance that's ever going to happen." she muttered, as she placed her phone down and started on her run.
She needed to keep her mind busy, needed to keep time going by instead of continuing to look at her phone. She hated it. She swore she wasn't checking to see if he called, or if he messaged her. No, it wasn't because of that. Hell, she didn't even know why she was checking her fucking phone for. All she knew, was that she didn't want to think about it. She didn't want to know why she was constantly glancing at it, or why in the world she was feeling like this.
"There's not a chance in the world I miss him." she muttered, as she ran around the lap, jumping hurdle after hurdle in front of her.
She was getting faster, and quicker when it came to running, along with being able to punch and kick the living daylights out of the punching bag that hung on the corner. The weights were still placed where they were always holding up dust. She didn't need them, other than the weights on her legs and arms, but that was about it. She started using them on her first day of training, when Black*Star had inappropriately shouted how she was too lanky and weak to even be able to hold a fair match with him. And thus he strapped on those weights on her, and made her run almost 30 miles in them, by the end of the day... poor Maka couldn't even walk. Yet, to her surprise, she began to get used to them, and even noticed that once they were off, she was able to run faster and quicker. Her kicks and punches weren't too bad either... if she could only lay a hand on Soul now.
Maka let out a sigh as she jumped over a hurdle... only for her leg to get caught on the damn thing. She didn't have enough time to think, as her hands and knees took most of the fall. "Dammit!" Maka shouted, getting up to inspect her wounds. She only had some minor scrapes on her hands, but her knees were throbbing. Wincing as she raised her knee, she saw the swollen area forming around it. "Great, I get a fucking bruise on both knees!" she snaps, as she let out a sigh, limping towards one of the chairs by the wall. She slumped down, biting her lip as her knees protested at every movement she made. "Nice going Maka... smooth." she mutters, leaning her head back towards the wall.
She couldn't help but grab her phone once more, glancing at the clock on it. She let out a mental sigh as she saw the bright light showcase the time, 11:25p.m. Almost time for everyone to shout out a Merry Christmas, and Maka was stuck training, alone.
"Stop!" Maka shouted, almost slamming her head on the wall, "Stop thinking that! This isn't the first time I've been alone, dammit!" She let out a breath as she got up from the chair, ignoring the pain on both her knees. "I refuse to act like this. I don't need a damn guy to make my Christmas feel any better. I've managed before, I know I can manage this year too." she muttered, as she reached down to grab her bag. She knew her training was over, as she let out another mental sigh and walked towards the changing room.
Soul was pretty shocked that this took more than expected. He eyed the surrounding as the blood splattered the entire scene, slowly beginning to dissolve. His black and red scythe was covered in blood too, but little by little it was disappearing, as hundred of corrupted souls hovered around the area. He wasn't hungry, not after all the work he had to do to get rid of all of them. And that wasn't even including the two bosses that took almost all his strength to get rid of.
"Is it over?" Liz asked, brushing dirt off her blue sweater.
"Looks like it." Soul answered, peering out to check the rest of the area. "Did Patty get what we needed?"
"Yeah." Liz replied, grabbing her phone to check where her sister was at.
"Something's not right though." Soul said out loud, "How were there so many when we last checked they only had no more than 50 members in there?"
"Must of been a miscalculation on Kidd's side. Don't let him hear you say that though. He'll have a fit." She let out a sigh at the very thought of the guy throwing a self-pity party just for getting something wrong.
"What about Kidd?" Patty asked, walking towards them, in her hands was a green jaded box, inside of it, none of them knew what it was. All that they knew was that it was meant to help them be able to read that book Maka found.
"Liz was just explaining how your partner and boyfriend pretty much stuck us here because he didn't like the number of people here." Soul stated, letting his scythe disappear in the moonlight. "Looks like we might be home sooner than expected." He muttered, a mischievous smile forming on his lips as he grabbed one of the souls and quickly devoured it.
"Hmmm, for a moment Soul, I would of thought you were anxious to get back to Maka." Liz couldn't help but eye the white haired reaper with her 'I know it' look, one that Soul knew too well from the damn girl.
"Who knows, it sure as hell isn't the presents I'm after." he answers, turning to look at Liz as she filled her gun with some of the red orbs floating around.
"You really...?" she couldn't help but believe him, that is until his devilish smirk formed on his lips.
"Yeah, when her soul's not a deadly weapon, and maybe if we weren't paired up under these circumstances." he answered, placing his hands inside his jacket. He was getting tired and so far his phone didn't show any text messages from the blonde haired girl. "I just don't want her to die or get hurt under my care. I'll have enough to deal from Stein, let alone Death himself if she were to die."
"You never know Soul. She was picking out a gift for you yesterday when we left." Patty giggled, as she handed the box over to Liz so she could get her share of the corrupted souls floating around. "I think she likes you! She just doesn't know it yet, probably her first love! First love! First love!" Patty shouted as she started laughing..
Soul and Liz only let out a sigh, they were pretty surprised that girl had enough energy to last a whole lifetime, even after such a tough task like the one they've had for two days straight. No matter how tired they were, Patty seemed to act like if she was ready for another vacation to the Bahamas- one that Kidd has mentioned rigorously that she's not allowed there anymore.
"Must be nice to be so energetic, eh Patty?" Liz smiled at her little sister, the cheery girl still laughing at her own joke.
"C'mon, lets get home. I'm tired as fuck and I still need to get back to my other job." Soul muttered, glancing at his phone once more. It was already 11:45pm, the chances of getting home in time was very slim.
Maka regretted taking a shower as she walked through the now empty streets of Death City. Every family was inside in their nice cozy homes, while Maka was freezing her ass off walking back to Soul's place. She knew it was better taking a shower before she left, she just didn't think it wouldn't make much of a difference as she walked home. Her sweater wasn't doing much for the freezing cold air, and the beanie she had on was already soaked from her damp hair. She mentally let out a groan as she limped back to where she knew would be warmth.
"Fancy meeting you here." She heard a familiar voice speak, his blue eyes twinkling as he stared at her.
"If it isn't Joshua." She muttered, continuing her walk back home.
"And who else would I be?" he gave her a toothy grin as he began to walk next to her. "Spiderman?"
"No, he's out saving the world, where as you just stalk people of the opposite gender." She couldn't help but glance his way, his blue eyes still on her.
"Only if their as pretty as you."
She couldn't help but scoff, stopping mid tracks, she turned towards him. "If you even have any brain cells in there, you'll know I'm not even interested. Let alone swept off my feet by a few petty words you probably use on all the girls." She turned away from him and continued to walk back home.
"And here I was hoping to ask you out for prom?" he chuckled as he began to walk next to her again, "Actually Ms. Albarn, I can be a pretty good persuasive person, as for saying that line to all the girls. I only see one next to me."
She couldn't help but roll her eyes at his words. It was like she was reading this stuff off a book that was too cliche even for her liking. Way too predictable, and she was getting annoyed with his useless attempts at... what was it called again? Flirting? 'Oh gosh, I'm acting as if that word is way too foreign to me... oh wait, it is.'
"Look, I appreciate your thoughts and all you said, but to be honest, I just want to get home, and I'm almost a block away from getting there. If you don't mind, I want to walk the rest of the block on my own." she was trying to be polite, smiling up to him as she waited for his response.
Joshua couldn't help but laugh, his black hair glistening with the winter air that was hugging them both. "You really are something, Ms. Albarn." he muttered.
Maka was about to bid him farewell, when his hands snaked around her frame, and his lips met hers.
It didn't take long for Maka to realize what was going on, her green eyes wide with shock as she felt his lips on hers. Once again, her lips were stolen from her, against her own will.
Maka didn't wait for him to move away from her, curling her hand into a fist she was about to beat the shit out of him, when she felt something that sent shivers down her spine.
She didn't get a chance to see what it was, as Joshua pushed her to the ground as a pile of rubble now laid where they were standing a few seconds ago.
"The fuck just happened?" Maka asked, pulling herself up as she glanced around the area. There was nothing around her, yet there was the same shiver running down her spine and once again she knew she had to get out of the way, only this time, it was her who pushed Joshua out of the way.
The hit sent them both flying as debris scattered across the area once more.
'It can't be a...' Maka didn't have enough time to finish her thought, the shiver ran down her spine once more and she knew she had to get away from there, before what ever was attacking her began attacking innocent bystanders.
She didn't bother informing Joshua about her plan, she just got up and bolted, leaving an angry Joshua behind, one who wasn't looking at her... but at a building next to them. She didn't have time to question that though, as she shiver ran down her spine once more, and she jumped out of the way in time, her knees screaming in pain throughout Maka's new run.
The number one rule of running, is never run after you took a shower and it's freezing cold outside. A rule Maka was ignoring and feeling the consequences of it. Still, that wasn't stopping her from jumping and running away from what ever was attacking her, even if her lungs were killing her.
Taking a right turn, Maka found out she was near an alley way, and as she reached what she feared the most, she heard the familiar sound of fireworks flying across the sky.
It was already Christmas, and all Maka felt was the shiver running down her spine once more as she tried jumping out of the way, almost getting pummeled by whatever was attacking her. Letting out a breath, Maka quickly closed her eyes, concentration on bringing out her Soul Perception to find the culprit, but no matter how much she looked there was nothing there in front of her. Looking up to the sky, she still couldn't find anything at all. There was no Kishin in the alley with her, no monster out to kill her. Just something unexplainable that was attacking her, and it was about to hit her once more. She turned to see where she could jump, silently cursing as she was cornered. There was no way to jump out of the attack, no way to defend herself either from it. Letting out a mental curse, she felt the shiver run down her spine, she felt the air whoosh as what ever was about to attack got ready for it's deadly blow.
In a blink of an eye, Maka felt something extremely heavy hit her on her head, as she crumbled to the ground. She felt something warm drip down her eye as she waited for another blow, but after that one attack, nothing else happened. The feeling she got from it was gone, and as she tried desperately to get up, her whole body was yelling in protest.
"So much for Soul not knowing I left." Maka groaned as she tried once more to get up.
"Maka?" she heard a familiar voice shout out, "Maka?"
She was trying to remember why Joshua was here in the first place, when all of a sudden the memory of his lips meeting hers came crashing down on her. Her blood was boiling as she tried getting up once more. Ignoring the pain that was running through her entire body, she was trying hard to not make any sounds to alert Joshua of her whereabouts at all. It would be hard to explain to him why she was the only one who got attacked and what attacked her.
Her vision was completely black, with lights being the only blurry thing in front of her. The occasion pop of the fireworks would light up the area for Maka, but it wasn't enough for the now blind girl to see any better. Maka let out a mental curse, she had no idea where she was exactly and thanks to whatever it was that attacked her, her glasses were now broken and who knows where. Letting out a defeated sigh, she knew she was going to either have two choices, call Soul or ask Joshua to take her back home. Weighing both options, she decided to just start walking on her own. She was bound to find out where the hell she was, right?
Maka winced at every step she took, her knees were now screaming in blistering pain and her head was literally killing her. All Maka wanted to do was sleep, but she needed to get to Soul's place first. Warmth was greatly needed at the moment, and that was all the blind girl could think of. Letting out a sigh, she began to feel her way around the area, mentally going through her head where she turned and went. Still, with every step Maka took, her whole body ached, and her memory wasn't doing her any good at the moment either.
'What a fucked up Christmas present. I bet that blue haired moron probably sent it as payback for throwing a book at his damn manhood, three times.' Maka thought bitterly as she squinted in the dark to see where she was going. She let out a curse as she slumped to the ground, her whole body just wanted to go to sleep, yet she knew she might have a concussion of some sort with that attack she took. She was about to close her eyes when an all familiar ring tone began to play.
"Soul?" Maka muttered, grabbing and answering the phone.
"Where are you?" She heard his familiar voice, and he wasn't too happy either.
"Not sure." Maka answered, trying hard not to fall asleep. "I lost my glasses... when, when what ever it was..."
"Maka?" his voice was getting concerned, "Maka, where are you?"
She couldn't help but let out a small chuckle as she heard his voice once more, "I don't know. Everything is blurry. I just want to sleep." her words were getting slurred as she tried to hold on to her conscious. Letting out a small cry, she decided to get up once more. Though her body was screaming in pain, she didn't dare let herself sit down, not when she was back home and able to know she wasn't going to freeze to death.
"Maka? Dammit! Stay where you're at." She knew he was mad, and she didn't blame him. Though, she didn't expect to get attacked by a sick, twisted version of Casper the friendly ghost today of all days. Wasn't everyone out celebrating Christmas right now? She was still hearing fireworks going off anyways.
Letting out another sigh, Maka finally decided to give up, her whole body was killing her as she moved and her head was throbbing more and more as she tried to think of how to get back home. "Just what in the hell was that anyways?" she muttered, closing her eyes at last.
She was having a hard time comprehending the situation, as she laid in bed next to a certain white haired reaper that was a bit too close for comfort, and what was worse, was that she was the one clinging on to him like a love-sick girlfriend!
Maka didn't bother not trying to wake him up, with a good kick on the stomach, he was flat on the floor before he even knew what happened.
"The hell was that for?" Soul snapped, rubbing the back of his head.
"Explain why you, what... how?" Maka didn't know how to even ask him, she suddenly realized saying 'Why are we sleeping together?' out loud wasn't a good idea.
"You want to know why we're sleeping on the same bed?" Soul asked, a smirk already playing at his lips, "You don't have to worry, Maka... you're not my type."
"What the hell is that- never mind, you jackass!" Maka was trying hard to hold her temper down, but she could feel her face betraying her as a light blush started to form. Letting out a frustrated breath, Maka didn't want to bother with him anymore. Standing up, only to fall back down, fast.
"You feeling okay?" Soul asked, she could feel his eyes on her.
"I'm fi-" Maka didn't finish her sentence, as she suddenly remembered everything that happened, she unconsiously touched her head trying to put everything together. "Joshua!" Maka shouted, getting up to her feet in a blink of an eye.
"Who?" Soul asked, watching the girl curiously as she fumbled around the place to find her shoes, and realizing a little too late that she wasn't wearing pants either.
"How the fuck is it, Soul that I always wake up without pants when I end up getting... augh! You're seriously incorrigible, and... and perverted you know!" Maka shouted as she slipped on her jeans quickly over one of Soul's long sleeve shirts.
"First, you took the pants off when I brought you inside, two you grabbed my shirt and changed, and three, where are you going?" Soul asked, he couldn't help the smirk form on his lips as he saw Maka's face blush a red that would give tomatoes a run for their money, as she took in the words he told her.
"I, I... oh my gosh!" Maka shrieked, as she wanted so bad for this to be a nightmare, "You're, you're lying! How was I able to change myself and everything... when, when I was attacked!"
"What?" his voice changed, and Maka knew she should of kept her mouth shut, but confusion was getting to her.
"I... Soul, I told you, at least I think I did." Maka was careful with her words, as she eyed him strangely. "I was walking back from the school because of training and I met a friend. I felt something and next thing I know, this invicible force attacks us! I ran to take it away from him and was cornered, next thing I know... my body is killing me, and my head's throbbing, I lost my glasses, and I was trying to find my way back to your place. That's when... that's when I think you called me, but after that it all gets really blurry." She didn't know how to explain any of it, but as she watch Soul analyze this, he only walks closer to her, the girl fearing for his 'punishment' for leaving the house.
"Maka," Soul was inches apart from her now, his eyes scanning her's to see if there was some way she lied about any of it. "I called you at night, and when you sounded funny I went to go look for you. You had be worried, but after a couple of hours searching, I got a text from you telling me you were home and couldn't open the door. That's when I rushed over here and found you practically crashed out on the hallway," he had to pause as he saw her take all of this in, "You didn't have any injuries when I came home. All you wanted to do was go to bed, but you didn't want to sleep alone, so you pretty much held on to me like a monkey and wouldn't let go until I went to bed with you."
"No," Maka's head was killing her, she didn't remember any of that after the attack, but she knew she got attacked. She knew something chased after her and cornered her in the alley, but how could she explain that to Soul? When he found her, he didn't see any damages on her, and her body would of been screaming in pain if she did get into any danger, seeing as Kim and her fiance were out of town for the holidays. "that doesn't make any sense, Soul. I felt a shiver, I saw what ever it was attack me leave a pile of rubble, I felt it attack me... and when I did my soul perception... there wasn't any trace of it."
Soul let out a sigh, he really didn't know what to make of any of this, as he saw Maka trying hard to make any out of it too. "Look, we'll figure it out later. I got here early for a reason, Maka."
That got the girl's attention, as she turned to look at him, emerald eyes full of curiousity as she tried to figure out what he was saying. "If you came to see what Black*Star got you, please open it when I'm not in the room. It wasn't very entertaining hearing him say how you needed 'Busty Babes 3' on your movie collection, 'cuz every guy needs at least one porno movie in their collection' you know." She muttered, remembering how hard her arm was hurting her after the many Maka Chops she gave the blue haired imp when he kept implying that Soul needed to see real boobs instead of a flat chested girl like herself.
Soul couldn't help but laugh as she was making a face that showed joy and annoyance at the same time. "No," he chuckled, leave it to Black*Star to do something stupid like that to torture the poor girl. "I didn't come here to see what that idiot got me."
"Kidd's presents at the bottom of the tree then. And next time he comes over, can you tell him, I don't need the gifts, tree and all the decorations put in a symmetrical manner. It was really irritating having to hear how I was slacking off for not even trying to make the decorations, wrapping paper, and all sorts fit into his OCD." Maka was getting a headache just remembering how she kicked him out of the place without sounding rude. But thankfully, after she mentioned how some frames would end up tilting from the side at his place... she's yet to hear anything from the symmetrical obsessed person.
He couldn't help but let out a breath, that was the very reason why he avoided any form of decorations at his place. Kidd wouldn't let him decorate his way, and though he got better with his OCD, he seemed to crash back down to step one all over again. "Look, I came here to give you this." he finally answered, taking out a medium size, blue gift wrapped present. "Though it's not exactly midnight, it's still Christmas."
Soul let out a small smile as he saw Maka's eyes go wide for a moment, hesitantly getting the box from Soul.
"Whe-when did you...?" was all Maka could say as she opened it. She couldn't help but let out a gasp as she eyed the pretty material in front of her. It was a simple black, silk full-skirted trench coat, the same one she saw at a store a while back when arriving into Death City "How did you get this one, it's a Burberry?" She couldn't help lift it up as she practically wanted to jump with joy.
"So she knows what it is?" Soul let out a quiet laugh as he stared at the now excited Maka, as she was debating about trying it on.
"Believe it or not, I know about clothes. My Mamma and I would always go shopping, and she would always have a collection of different trench coats, she said it reminded her of when she was young." She paused to slip on the new coat, a wide smile forming on her lips, "I would always try them on when she wasn't looking. It wasn't until I wore one of her white Burberry, vintage ones, when I was still little to play outside. I was so shocked my mom didn't murder me for turning her all white coat into a big giant sloppy heat of mud and torn up." she let out a laugh as she twirled in it.
"It looks good on you." was all Soul could say as he saw the blonde haired girl smile as she continued to look at her present.
"Soul?" Maka stopped smiling as she turned to look at him, slowly taking the coat off and folding it back neatly into the box.
This caught Soul's attention, a brow raised as he watched her bite her bottom lip. "What?"
"Please tell me that the price tag I saw on that coat was the number the sales lady wrote down, in hopes that you would call her and stuff."
He mentally slap himself when he realized that he forgot to take off the price tag, but before he could even come up with anything, Maka was already wrapping it back up.
"Take it back, Soul." She stated, turning to look at him, "Take it back, you did not just buy a four thousand dollar trench coat! Take it back! That money you can use for your rent or college!"
Maka didn't expect him to laugh, at least not to so loud and in front of her face at that. So when she saw Soul laughing so hard that tears were almost coming out of his eyes, the blonde haired girl was having a hard time trying to keep her patience in check. She didn't know what was so funny about buying such an expensive trench coat. She knew her mom had some, but her mom would buy them from vintage and outlet stores. All the ones she got, weren't as expensive as the one in her hands.
"Calm down, Maka." Soul finally was able to speak as he held on to his stomach from all the laughter. "Believe me when I tell you that the price wasn't a problem, and don't worry about it. Cuz no, I didn't pay that much for it... and no, I didn't steal it either. Cool guys don't give a girl a stolen gifts, that's not cool at all, much less tell her how much he spent exactly on it." he paused to let out a sigh, holding his hand up to stop her from interrupting, "It's fine, so just accept it."
Maka was trying to figure out if she should believe him, but asking him how much he really paid seemed pointless, seeing as he could keep his mouth shut when it came to financial matters. She even made a list of all the money she owed him for groceries, the cell phone, and even some clothes he got her. But it wasn't helping when she would try to talk to him about paying him back, he would only change the subject.
"I guess, I'll take good care of it then!" Maka was practically shouting as she ran to place the coat on the closet. She was about to walk out back into the living room when she remembered her present for Soul, grabbing both necklaces to show him, Maka had a huge smile on her lips as she walked back out towards Soul. "I have something for you!" she chirped as she handed him the silver wrapped box. "Open it!"
Soul was about to open his gift when his phone rang, letting out a sigh, he placed the box inside his pant pockets and he got up to answer his phone.
Maka didn't pay much attention to Soul's conversation, as she went through the presents that belonged to her. Tsubaki bought her a nice pair of gloves that Maka saw a while ago when they went out to shop. Liz bought her a skin tight white ruched satin mesh dress and some white with silver pumps to go along with them. Maka wasn't too keen on it, but figured Liz must of gotten it for her for a reason, though she thought she made it clear to the girl that she wasn't going to go out to any clubs anymore. Patty got her a cute giraffe keychain for her phone, that Maka loved as she placed it on it. She noticed she had some multiple presents from unmarked people, aside from the ones that were from Kidd and Black*Star. Kidd's was a simple black scarf, which she actually loved! Though, she was dreading to open Black*Star's present, but was shocked when it was just a picture of him... and signed by him. Letting out a sigh, she couldn't help but let out a small smile, that blue haired idiot was something else.
"Hey, sorry. I have to go in." Soul stated, going in to change his clothes. "I'll be back in a bit, Tsubaki is coming over in a bit to see if your head's okay. She has some things that Kim left her with for emergencies."
Maka only nodded, unsure of what exactly to say as she watch Soul practically run out of the house, turning at the door only to give her that damn smirk of his, "I'll be back soon, don't miss me too much."
The look on her face must of been priceless as Soul let out a small chuckle and closed the door.
"The hell would I miss you for?" She muttered, picking up her new items and taking them to the room. She began to put everything away and clean up when she realized she had yet to put on her necklace she got. Letting out a small breath, Maka opened her box and saw the small black stone still glimmer with a bit of light. She was still amazed at how such a lovely item could be made and created to fit into a small stone that was the size of a pebble. Securing the strap around her neck, Maka tucked the stone inside her shirt.
Letting out a sigh, Maka finally fell down on her bed, trying to recall everything that happened a couple of hours ago. She was sure she got attacked, she was positive that it happened. But then, why didn't she have any injuries on her. But the weirdest part, was that before she was attacked, she bruised her knees pretty bad, and now... they were fine. How could her knees be perfectly fine? And who brought her home? Soul said she got a text from someone telling him that she was home, how come she doesn't remember any of it?
"Augh! I swear, the more I try to remember, the more my head hurts." Maka was getting frustrated, nothing was making any sense, she couldn't seem to remember any of it, and it was getting on her nerves. "Joshua, maybe..." that was all Maka needed to think, letting out a sigh, she decided to get up and get dressed. She had a feeling maybe he would know what happened, but she didn't know where he would be. "Looks like it's going to be a long day."
Walking to her closet, Maka pulled out her clothes. Slipping on some dark washed out jeans, a navy blue spaghetti strap and a long sleeve shirt that belonged to Soul. She sort of stole it from him, though she didn't think he would even care about it in the first place. Slipping on her shoes, she was tempted to wear the coat Soul got her, but figured she didn't want to risk it getting ripped or destroyed in less than a day.
"For special occasions then." she mumbled, as she grabbed the scarf and gloves that Tsubaki and Kidd got her. Not even bothering to do anything else with her hair, Maka decided to just put it up in a messy bun, one way or another, she figured it would be time to cut it some time soon.
Maka was about to walk out the door when she heard a faint knock on the door, "That was fast..." Maka muttered as she ran towards the door. "Hey Tsu-" she didn't finish her words, as the person she was looking for was right in front of her. "Joshua?"
"Hey beautiful." Joshua gave her a wide smile as he placed his hands inside his pockets, "You woke up fine?"
Maka wasn't sure what she should say, as she closed her mouth repeatedly to try and form some words, she finally cleared her throat and spoke. "What are you... how did you know where I live?"
Joshua raised an eyebrow at the girl, his blue eyes starring at her with curiousity, "Yes... you told me where you lived yesterday, after we went to go eat and you accidentally drank some alcohol." he gave her his signature wide tooth grin as he watched her eyes try to put the puzzles together. "You beat me up pretty good after I kissed you, and you slipped on some ice from the kick you gave me. You hit your head pretty hard, and when I told you I would apologize with dinner, you agreed. But the waiter confused our drinks and gave you something really strong. You were really hard to deal with drunk you know. I don't know how I managed to bring you back with all the punching and kicking you would do."
"I... really?" Something was telling Maka not to believe him, but she was having a hard time trying to make sense of anything after all. Slipping on the ice would explain the headache she has, and maybe even why she can't remember much after that either. It would also explain how Soul found her with no injuries and Maka practically getting naked right in front of him. "Oh god!" She was almost screaming now as she tried picturing just what the hell actually happened, "Dear God, open up the ground and swallow me whole! Joshua, explain!"
She heard him laugh, as she tried hard to calm down her anger, mainly at herself, as she tried to understand everything that was going on.
"Look, I'll explain everything if you want." He paused, leaning towards the door frame, "If you promise to go eat lunch with me, and don't worry, I promise you won't get drunk today." he gave her a wide smile as he waited for her reply.
Maka bit her bottom lip, Tsubaki was suppose to come over to see if she was feeling okay, but she also wanted to know if Joshua was telling the truth. Letting out a breath, Maka grabbed her bag, keys, and phone. "It's gonna be quick, I have company coming over."
She saw Joshua raise an eyebrow as she closed her door, not bothering to even let him in. She knew it was rude, but it wasn't her place to invite people in, and she had a feeling Soul wasn't too keen on letting just anyone go inside his place. Letting out a sigh, Maka was hoping she wouldn't get killed by the white haired reaper if he found out she left the place with someone the Death Scythes didn't know.
Soul was getting annoyed, as he faced the mirror in front of him, Kidd, Liz, Patty, and Black*Star were next to him, waiting for Death to finish his explanation of how everything outside of Death City was going crazy.
"So, let me get this straight." Black*Star interrupted, "Because everyone is out looking for the Grigori Soul, their now just killing any girl that matches her description?"
"Well yes." Death answered, his voice sounding rather tired.
"It seems that the pre-Kishins are trying hard to become full Kishins and they won't stop until they find Maka." Kidd took out a folder for each of the Death Scythes, "All the victims in here have been killed by a 'monster like figure' in the other world. And they all match Maka's description in a way. Either they have blonde hair and are her height, or have green eyes and have similar features like her. It also seems that there might be a witch controlling them as well."
"That's impossible." Liz states, as he turns page by page, scanning the information, "Pre-Kishins aren't like regular Kishins, their mind is unstable and can't even think straight, they just go straight for the kill, whatever is around them at first. How can they know that they are looking for a girl matching Maka's description?"
"We don't know." Death let out a sigh, clearly thinking the same thing, "But it's the only answer we got."
"We have Kilik, Ox, Kim, Harvar, and Jacqueline out trying to control the situation, we are even giving some of these missions to first star meisters and weapons." Kidd added, now turning to Soul, "I know it seems like a lot, but we need Maka to stay her for longer than expected. If we let her leave back home, then the chances of her getting killed are higher."
Soul couldn't help but scoff, "Tell that to her. She's already asking when she's going home, and may I remind you that I also have school to go to as well. It's not very clever for both of us to be missing from school for such a long time." he could feel his eye twitch as he thought of how Maka was going to take the news. "She needs to go back home soon, if not people will start getting suspicious."
"Soul is right, Kidd." Death stated, "We can't keep her here forever. But we also have the matter of the book to discuss. I'll need to talk to Soul about that alone. You can all go home now, have a Merry Christmas." he waved at all the others as they gathered their things and walked out the room.
The room was silent for a while as they waited for the area to be quiet, Soul slumping down on the chair, placing his hands inside his pockets while he waited for Death to start talking to him.
"I need to ask you about Maka's progress, has there been any news about her soul?" Death asked, his voice sounding like a concerned father.
"Not really, she's pretty good at combat fighting, and even better when you hand her a weapon to wield. Almost looks like she's attended DWMA her whole life." Soul answered, his voice sounding rather bored at the moment. "But other than that, there have been no signs of her soul being corrupted, no signs of danger or anything. But something strange did happen."
That got Death's attention, as he stared at Soul, his black hollow eyes making him feel as if he was peering into Soul's own soul. "What is it?"
"She says she was attacked late at night, today." Soul now stood up straight, placing his hands on the table. "She wasn't home when I got back from my mission and when I called her she sounding like she was injured, so I went out to look for her. But after hours of searching, I got a text from her phone telling me she was at my place and couldn't open the door."
"You think something might of happened to her?" Death asked, tilting his head to the side.
"That's the thing, Shinigami." Soul couldn't help but get a bad feeling when he thought about it. "When I found her, she had no injuries, no bruises what so ever. I even checked her soul to see if anything was the matter. All it showed me was two very interesting things."
"And what was that Soul?"
"One, for some reason this guy named Joshua keeps popping up in her mind, trying to be a Death Scythe, but I've never seen him around the school." Though, Soul had a feeling the guy looks familiar in a way,
"And the other one?" Death asked, waiting patiently to see what Soul knew.
"I know how to read the book." Soul added, his crimson eyes looking straight into Death's black hollow ones. "And it requires Maka."
Maka let out another sneeze as she walked back home from her lunch with Joshua, still trying to process everything in her mind. 'Drunk?' She thought bitterly, 'Doesn't really sound like something I would do. Much less trip on ice. But then, why can't I remember anything?' She let out a frustrated sigh as she entered the building, her phone in hand as she read Tsubaki's text message about not being able to go over due to Black*Star and her being put on a mission. She wasn't really bothering to see where she was going, as she walked aimlessly down the hallway toward's Soul's room number. Opening the door, she didn't bother to see if Soul was in here, as she walked straight to her room, closed the door and laid down on her bed. Taking in a huge breath, Maka grabbed her pillow and screamed her lungs out in it, just before she fell asleep.
Soul was waiting impatiently for Stein to get there, tapping his pencil repeatedly in a rhythm now.
"I thought you stopped making music?" Kidd asked, an playful smile on the soon to be grim reaper's face.
"Might get back into it, that is, if my folks haven't changed their mind at least." Soul muttered, a headache forming at the mention of his parents.
"They still forcing you to take over the company?" Kidd asked, letting out a sigh as he checked his clock, Stein was either running late or doing an experiment of some sort.
"Pretty much." Soul answered, placing his hands behind his head, "It's either become the President of Evan's Music Industry, or go to a college of their choice."
Kidd was about to say something when the doors groaned to life as they opened up, walking inside was a man wearing a white lab coat with stitches all around it. The sound of the screw on his skull being turned echoed across the room, as he dragged an office desk chair with him.
Soul and Kidd waited for him to finally reach them, sitting down on his chair, he lit up a cigarette, taking a puff of smoke and blowing it out, he finally spoke. "Soul's right. I ended up trying the potion we got from that witch, and all it keeps showing me is Maka's name."
"But how is she the one..." Kidd trailed off, trying to figure out Medusa's plan.
"Don't know. Maybe if I dissect her for a mome-"
"No!" Soul and Kidd shouted in unison, interrupting the Professor before he got a chance to finish.
"You're not going to dissect the girl." Soul answered him, rubbing his temples as he knew this wasn't the last time the Professor would offer up his idea of dissecting the blonde haired girl.
"It was just a suggestion, one that might be crucial in our chances-"
"Not a chance." now it was Kidd's turn to shut his idea down. "The chances of her surviving your crazy experiments are far worse than the chances of her coming looking like... well, you."
Professor Stein only let out a puff of smoke, as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.
"So what do you suggest, father?" Kidd asked, turning towards their new guest.
"I hate to say it, but we would need Maka to read the book for us." Death answered, letting out a sigh, "There doesn't seem to be any other way."
"I've created a serum where she could feel as if it's just a dream. Her body will be able to move like normal, but her brain will be in sort of fog." Stein added, taking another drag from his cigarette.
"Isn't that dangerous?" Kidd raised an eyebrow at Stein, waiting for his answer.
"Only if she were to get attacked, she won't know what's going on and can't defend herself." Stein replied back, letting out another puff of smoke. "She'll just think it's all a dream, she'll let us know what's in that book... but she won't remember it herself. Her mind will be in a dream state, so to speak."
"Soul, I'm sorry to ask you, but we need you to make her take the serum." Death's voice sounded apologetic for asking him to do something like that. "We don't know what the book might contain, and if it has anything to do with Maka's parents or herself, I don't want her to find out that way."
"Wouldn't it be better to tell her now, before anything happens?" Soul's voice sounded indifferent as he got up from his chair. "I'll try to get her to drink the serum, but if and when she does find out what we did to her... we might as well just have gift wrapped her and given her to Medusa."
"I'll make sure to clear things up for her when the time is right." Death explained, "For now, thank you Soul for doing this. We can't let Maka know about the killings either, much less that she's the key to reveal what Medusa is hiding."
"Yeah, well I'll pick up the serum later on tonight, as for the other part." Soul turned to look at Kidd now before leaving the room. "See what you can find about this Joshua guy, for some reason, he sounds like bad news."
Kidd only nodded as he watched Soul leave the room.
Soul let out a breath, watching it turn to mist in the winter air. The lights were starting to form outside, as he realized he was gone longer than expected. Slipping his hands inside his pant pockets once more, he felt the small box that he was playing with the whole time. Pulling it out, a smile formed on his lips as he opened it.
"Figures she'd get something so uncool." Soul chuckled as he stared at the golden stone in front of him. If he looked carefully it had colors of red and gold inside of it, swirling around as if it was some kind of magic. "Hmm, maybe it's not so uncool after all." Soul muttered, strapping the necklace around his neck.
He could feel the stone get warmer as it slid underneath his shirt, all of a sudden his whole body was warm as the stone gave off a faint light. "Just what kind of stone did this girl get?" Soul asked, pulling the stone out from the inside of his shirt, the light inside the stone began to fade little by little, as Soul stared at the colors inside, they were swirling too fast for him to make out anything, and for some reason, he had a bad feeling that he should go home already. Grabbing his phone, he pressed the speed dial to reach Maka, hoping that for some reason it was nothing to worry about.
Maka didn't know how long she was out, all she knew was that her head was killing her as she reached into the medicine cabinet to take some medicine for her headache. She didn't remember her last hang over killing her as much as the one she was having now did. Either way, as she swallowed the two pills in her hands she vouched to never drink again... that is, if Joshua was really telling the truth.
"Stop it, Maka." She whispered, walking back towards her room, "You're making a big deal about it." Suddenly the image of Joshua starring at the other direction from the attack, his face looked angry and dangerous came back into her head. "But if he's telling the truth, why make that face?" Maka let out a soft whimper as her head continued to throb, and with every step she took the room felt as if it was tilting and she couldn't keep her balance. "The hell is going on?"
Before Maka could make out anything else, her vision went black and she slumped to the floor.
And it's a cliff hanger! What will happen next! Did Soul really find out what Maka was actually hiding, and what about Joshua? Anyways, I'm sure you guys don't really care about my ramblings and all that, so I'll just stop with that now.
Tell me what you think! I know I took too long than I said I would, but we recently got a puppy, and my kids found a stray kitten... that lets just say, I've got my hands full and missing my job at the moment. Next Chapt's already being outlined and started as of right now! :D So with out much more dilly-dallying, send me your messages and reviews! I'm really grateful for all those who have taken the time to review my story! You guys are really awesome!
Oh! And before I forget, I've been asked a lot how long it takes me for me to write these long chapters, and to tell you the truth, it usually takes me a day in half without my kids bothering me. But if I don't have that great luck, I usually end up going about three full nights of no sleep or crashing out at around 6 am for three days straight. :D but, as long as it gets my chapter done and closer to it's finale, all the better!
Well, thank you all and congratulations to the graduates of 2012 from all schools out there! As well as a happy belated mother's day, and an early father's day to anyone out there who is a mom or a father!
-KiddieXx