Kiddie: Finally DONE! D-O-N-E, DONE! I'm seriously soooo sorry for the late update, I know, I know, I said I was going to update soon, but thin-
Rose: Oh can it, you obvsiously don't care about your readers..
Kiddie: that is not true! I do care about them! Stop being so mean!
Rose: Sure you do, that's why you took forever to update, huh?
Kiddie:... you know what, I'm not gonna argue with you, I'm just gonna walk away... just walk away.
Rose: You're dying to reply back, aren't you.
Kiddie: Yes! Why would so say that! Why would you be so mean! It's not like I didn't finish the chapter a long time ago, it's just... my beta writer was and still is super busy, and with some stuff going on in my life, I haven't even gotten far in anything I've been wanting to do. Stop making me feel bad, it's bad enough I make myself feel bad.
Rose: It's called having a guilty conscious...
Kiddie:... I don't like you. Anyways! Sorry for the late update, but like I said, my beta writer has been super busy and I have been too. If you really want to know more about it, just read the bottom notes I left after the story is done! Don't want to keep you guys waiting any longer! Here is Chapter 9!
Enjoy!
Blind Sighted
Chapter 9
Reflections from a Broken Mirror
She didn't know how long it had been going on for, she had honestly stopped counting the days. She let out a tired sigh, looking up to the ceiling. It feel like months to her, but going over everything, it had been four days. Four days of silence, cold shoulders, and small talk. Four days of her asking questions and not getting any answers from the white-haired guardian of hers.
Maka was seriously getting irritated, as she got up from bed and slipped off her pajamas. She didn't bother looking at what she was going to wear, grabbing some jeans and a spaghetti strap shirt, Maka slipped them on. She grabbed one of her long sweaters and combed her hair back into a ponytail, her bangs were the only part of her hair allowed to fall onto her face. As she grabbed her scarf and slipped on her shoes, Maka opened the door to see if she was alone.
She let out a sigh, she didn't know where Soul was, again. As she grabbed her keys and bag, opening the door, she did one quick sweep, making sure she didn't forget anything as she locked up.
The cold air stung her eyes as she continued to walk towards her destination. It was a long shot that she was going to find answers where she was going, and the distance was a good ways away from where Soul lived. But she held onto the piece of paper that had the directions written on it. She let out an exhausted sigh, her mind still reeling in everything that had been going on. Apparently, she was the only one who wanted to know what had really happened.
Soul wasn't much in a helping mood. Ever since he asked her if she remembered the attack, and when she explained there was no attack, at least from what Joshua had told her, his eyes changed. They no longer held anything remotely close to concern, worry, or even caring. No, Soul's crimson eyes went cold, and something else Maka couldn't explain. Ever since then, Soul has been giving Maka some distance. If she would ask any questions about what happened before she woke up from the hospital, he would only shrug or changed the subject.
So here she was, down to her last resort. A bus ride and an hour later, she was standing outside of two tall white gates. Feet fidgeting, hands clasping her bag tightly, and biting her lip, Maka started to think maybe she should have told Soul where she was going.
No! Maka shook her head in disapproval. He's not helping me at all, and if I did tell him, then he wouldn't let me out of his sight... or just lock me in the room again. She thought the last words bitterly as she recalled the last time she told him she was going to go see if she could get anything on her own. It didn't end well for either one of them. Maka was left handcuffed to the bed, while Soul had a good bruise on his skull from a very, very heavy Maka Chop.
She let out a sigh as she reached out to press a button on the intercom beside the gates. "I'm here to see Kidd."
A small buzzard was heard as the gates opened up for her. She was almost in awe at the huge white and black mansion, a skull in the center of it. She was pretty used to seeing skulls everywhere now, especially in The Grim Reaper's house. She stopped in front of mahogany doors, unsure if she should even go through it after all.
Maka shook her head, snapping out of her worry as she pushed the door open, stepping foot in what looked like an art gallery that was nothing but symmetry in every angle. She mentally frowned as she saw black and white paintings, candles, and everything else in perfect balance. She had a strong feeling that it was all thanks to Kidd for it being this way. She couldn't help but walk towards the hallway.
"Hello?" She peered out towards the other hallways, raising an eyebrow at how many rooms and other decor they had in there.
"Ms. Albarn?" An old, gruff man walked up to her. He merely waited for her to nod, not letting her say anything else before he added, "Please follow me."
Maka only let out a breath as she followed the old man up the stairs and to the left of the hallway. She lost count of how many doors they passed, until they reached a red door, the handle on it was shaped like a skull, and there was a gold plaque on the top of the door, in neat letters it read "office". She was about to say something to the old man, when the door opened and he gestured for her to go inside.
She thought it was weird and started second guessing her decision when she heard Liz's voice inside the room. Her body immediately relaxed as she walked inside and she smiled at the tall girl.
"Hey." Liz smiled at her, placing some papers on the big black desk in front of her, "You made it. Kidd's already heading over here. He's just finishing up a conversation with his dad. You okay?"
Maka could hear the concern in her voice, but she couldn't meet Liz's concerned eyes, turning to see the books on the shelves that were embedded on the white walls instead. "Been better." She answered, taking in a breath she turned towards Liz, "Did you... did you know anything about it?"
Liz let out a sigh, her shoulders slumping as she eyed the petite blonde, "To be honest, no. Kidd never told me anything about what he was planning, and if it wasn't because Soul told me, then, I would have never known."
"Soul? Soul knew?" she couldn't help her voice getting a bit higher, but for some reason it was making her suspicious and the knot in her stomach wasn't helping her. "He, he knew what Kidd was... what happened?"
Liz only shook her head, "I wouldn't really know what to tell you. He only told me that he was against what Kidd wanted to do. But to be honest, Maka. Don't you think you should hear this all from Soul himself?"
"He's..." Maka mentally groaned, she hated sounding like one of those distraught girls who didn't know what to do when the guy wasn't around. "He's just being a jerk." Maka muttered, letting out a sigh as she turned back towards the bookshelves. She heard Liz chuckle and footsteps approaching near her.
"Hey, don't worry about it." Liz answered, patting Maka's head as if she was just a little kid. "Soul has his reasons. I'm sure it's not to get you riled up or stressed out. Just give him time, he'll let you know what's going on."
Maka only nodded, as she heard a light knock on the door, and saw Kidd come in, for a brief moment her whole body went rigid, until Liz spoke again. "I'll be in the next room if you need me. Need to make a phone call anyways." She smiled at Maka, then turned towards Kidd, her voice getting a bit cold, "Make her cry and I'll disorganize this entire house from top to bottom, and I'll make sure you'll never be able to get it all back to order again."
Kidd's eyes went wide with fear for a brief moment and then composed himself, leaving the door open for Liz. "You need not to worry, Elizabeth, I gave your sister my word... As she also threatened to do the same thing."
Liz only nodded, walking out the door, and Kidd closed it. He let out a breath as he turned to face Maka,. his golden eyes on hers for a brief moment until he turned to walk towards his desk. "I can imagine how scared you must be of me, and for that I am deeply sorry. I meant no harm, really. But I know you aren't here to hear about my apologies." He paused to sit down, signaling Maka to sit down as well. "I'll answer any of your questions, and hope that you come up with a conclusion yourself."
She eyed the future Grim Reaper carefully as she sat down, wondering again if she should have texted Soul to let him know where she was. But she knew if she did that now, then everything she's done so far would be thrown out the window. And she was not a helpless girl. Taking in a breath, Maka straightened her back, her green eyes never leaving Kidd's as she focused on keeping her voice calm. She wasn't going to back down now. She needed to know. "Why did you take me out of the hospital?" She was grateful her voice remained strong.
"I needed you to take something for me, and I wasn't able to do it in the hospital, not when all those doctors and nurses were monitoring your every move." Kidd answered, placing his hands on the desk.
"What did you need me to take?"
"A serum, of some sort." Kidd answered, his eyes now staring at hers. "It was to help find something that only you could find."
"And what was it that you needed me to find?" Maka asked, her voice full of scepticism.
"To be frank, I can't disclose that information to you." Kidd stated, letting out a breath as he looked down towards the papers on his desk.
"It seems to have become a trend lately," Maka muttered.
"I understand your frustration, Maka." Kidd paused to sign something, taking a drink of his water, he then turned to look at Maka. "But we still have protocols and rules to follow. And this is one of them."
"There seems to be a lot of rules you guys need to follow," she was starting to feel like she was talking to Soul now, except, she was at least getting something out of Kidd, even if it wasn't a lot to go with. "So why couldn't you wait?" She couldn't seem to hold that question in. She saw Kidd close his eyes, lean back in his chair, and she sat there, waiting for him to answer him.
Tick.
Tock.
Tick.
Tock
Maka was about to ask another question when he finally opened his eyes and spoke. "You see, Maka. There's someone out there that's bad. And it's my duty-"
"I'm not a three year old, Kidd. I think I got the fact that it's someone who's bad. If Medusa is planning-" she wasn't able to finish her sentence, when Kidd practically jumped out of his chair.
"Where did you hear that name?" His eyes were narrow as he slapped his hands on the desk. "Has Soul been telling you everything that's going on?"
Maka's eyes went wide for a brief moment. The thought of hearing Soul hiding things from her, well, it was something she was suspicious about. But as soon as the words came out of Kidd's mouth, confirmed her suspicions. Her stomach had dropped.
"Maka!" Kidd's voice was still low but persistent. "Where did you hear that name?"
Maka couldn't help but sit up straighter, her head held high as she looked into Kidd's eyes. "It sucks when one person won't let you know what they know, right?" She smiled at him and stood up, about to walk away, when Kidd grabbed her arm.
"Maka, did Soul-"
Maka didn't let him finish, as she slammed a book hard onto his skull, making sure to put in all her strength in there. "Soul didn't say shit to me. He hasn't said shit since I woke up. But, that's not for you to worry about. I won't tell you where I got my information from. I have rules to follow too. When a jackass hides things from me, then I'll make sure to do it even better."
With that Maka opened the door and walked out the room, leaving a crouched Kidd on the floor, grabbing his skull as he let out a long list of curses.
She didn't even say goodbye to Liz as she stormed out, trying to fix her emotions as well as her mind.
Maka didn't get out as much as she wanted, but she did confirm some things as well. It was Medusa, who ever that was, that was after Maka, and it most probably had to do with that book and musical box she found in the bag. The same musical box that looked a lot like the one she had when she was a kid. She tried asking Soul about it, but he wasn't budging at all with any information either. And of course, Soul had been hiding some things from her as well. She didn't know why every time she thought about it, her stomach would twist into knots until she felt like throwing up.
Breath Maka, just breath. She continued to repeat it in her head as she tried not to burst out screaming or punching something next to her. She was getting a headache trying to figure everything out. The whole ordeal felt like a very chaotic movie that she couldn't figure out.
Letting out a groan, Maka was about to head home when she bumped into a familiar person. His black hair was a little wet from the cold and his blue eyes were shining as he caught Maka from falling.
"Why, hello there Ms. Albarn?" he gave her a quick wink as he helped set her straight, "Problem with the boyfriend?"
"It's Maka. Maka Albarn." She didn't mean for her voice to sound irritated as she let out a breath, pinching the bridge of her nose, she tried to control her temper. It wasn't his fault that she was like this right now.
"I see you have finally given me the great privilege to know your full name." He gave her a wide tooth grin, his hand still on hers.
Maka only smiled at him, pulling her hand away from his. "Joshua, mind if I ask you something really quick?" she didn't wait until he responded, for fear that he would leave like he always did. "Why did you tell me that I wasn't attacked? And why were you there in the observatory when I was sick? What did you mean about them hiding things from me? For better, what do you really know?"
Maka could have sworn she saw his blue eyes go cold for a brief moment, but it was fast, and she she wasn't sure her head was playing with her again as she waited for his response. Joshua let out a sigh, the smile in his face returning as he grabbed her hand, "How about I answer all those questions tonight? Around seven o'clock meet me at the Pizzeria Dinner a couple of blocks away from your place. And Maka, don't let Eater know, he'll say anything for you not to know any of it."
She only nodded, her mind moving into full drive as she felt like she was finally going to get answers out of all of this mess. Even if it meant going behind Soul's back, she didn't think she had to go telling him everything now, not when she found out he was hiding things from her, things about her that she should know! So she didn't hesitate when she agreed to meet, waving good-bye to him, she walked towards the training room, she needed to clear her mind, and that was the closest thing she could do to let out a huge amount of frustration she had build up.
Soul let out another sigh, leaning his head back, his eyes continued to stare up at the ceiling, headphones in place. He was trying to keep his cool as he peered out of the corner of his eye, he hadn't let her out of her sight, not since she came out of Kidd's place, although, he was pretty mad at seeing her in there at all. But he knew he wasn't making any of this easy, but what was he suppose to do, when Lord Death had ordered him to not tell her anything yet.
She was smiling up at a guy with black hair, his back towards Soul, as he let out a mental curse towards the guy next to Maka. He still had multiple questions to ask Lord Death, and though he was getting them every time, he knew it was a mistake to let him know about the music box being one of Wes's gifts to Medusa. Since he uttered the words, Lord Death has been more protective of what Maka was to know, and at the moment, it was nothing. He closed his eyes, as he gently tapped his foot to the beat of the cool jazz blasting out of his headphones. He was about to check where Maka was at, when he felt someone tug the headphones off.
Liz gave him a wink, sitting in front of him, as Soul's crimson eyes peered out to see if Maka was still there. "Keeping tabs on her, while avoiding her? You're a moron, you know that?"
Soul only let out a lazy breath as he lowered down his music, "Any news on the hacker you requested?"
Liz only shook her head, turning to look at Maka, who was still talking to the guy, her eyes focused on what he was saying back. "Why don't you just tell her, Soul? About everything? Before it all backfires."
"Orders." Was all he said as he got up, about to follow Maka as she waved good-bye.
"Since when did you ever listen to all the orders that Lord Death gave you? She's getting confused over everything. If you don't tell her, then don't be surprised when someone else does tell her, and, you know, she won't trust you anymore."
"Yeah, I know..." he muttered, walking out the door into the bitter cold.
She was exhausted. She did a round of backflips to avoid another attack from the machine, using her weapon to block other attacks as well. She was getting faster. She did a quick spin and brought the scythe down, cutting the mechanical robot in half. She didn't want to stop, not any time soon, as she quickly jumped back and pressed another button on the remote, releasing a chain that went straight for her jugular, she quickly blocked it, wrapping the chain around her scythe, she jumped up in the air, kicking the mechanical robot hard. She landed swiftly on her feet, pulling the robot back towards her, she spun her scythe once more and sliced the thing in half.
She knew she was still mad, and she could still feel it in her body as her hands clenched the silver shaft, her breathing hard, and her body drenched in sweat, she still felt like screaming her lungs out. After many hours of training and destroying multiple robots in the training area, she was running out of things to release her frustration on. She was about to drop her scythe to go for a run when she heard someone walk towards her. Gripping her scythe, she didn't wait for whoever it was to talk, as she spun her scythe about to attack whoever it was. In a blink of an eye, the sound of metal hitting metal was heard across the room.
"You're not letting your guard down anymore." Soul smirked, his black and red scythe blocking Maka's scythe that was close to his neck.
"So the mute has learned to speak?" Maka spat, not bothering to let her scythe move from where it was. "Here to take me back to your place? Or are you going to lie some more?" She knew that she shouldn't have let it out, as she narrowed her eyes at him.
She was too pissed off at him to try and act like everything was fine. And what made her blood boil even more was that here in front of her, was Soul. Acting all cool like he wasn't hiding things from her, like she was still too stupid to not know anything. How much of it was all lies? Did he even try telling her the truth at all?
Soul let out a sigh, disappearing in the darkness, and in a blink he was behind Maka, his arms wrapped around her small frame to keep her arms from swinging that scythe of hers. "Want me to answer your questions? Then land a hit on me. Win and I'll tell you everything."
"Bullshit, you won't say shit!" She slammed her head backwards, trying to hit Soul hard on the face, but he only leaned back, his grip on her still remaining strong. She used it to her advantage and kicked him hard on the leg, causing him to let her go, she spun her scythe towards him, the arc facing the opposite way. She didn't want to kill him, just hit him really hard with the hilt at least.
Soul let out a mental curse as he continued to dodge every hit Maka swung at him, only using his scythe to block any serious attacks. He didn't know when she was getting this strong, but he figured it could have also been the adrenaline from all the pent up anger she had. He did, however know that she was going to blow up soon, as she continued to lose her temper faster now than before. If he knew it was going to be today, he would have come well prepared.
"Look, Maka," he shouted, dodging another attack, he let out a curse as he made his scythe disappear, jumping out of the way, he quickly reached out to grab a metal stick. He knew he could use his scythe to defend himself without harming her, but he didn't want to risk anything from happening, much less her assuming that he was willing to kill her. "I'll explain everything, okay. Just not... right now."
He saw her stop, her breath heavy as she tried to see if he was lying. "Why?" was all she could say, knowing anything else would either cause her to shed some tears, or want to cut him in half... not that she could have anyways.
"I just have to. Orders are for me to wait to explain everything okay." He knew it was uncool to reveal that part, but he didn't know what else to say, as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm not lying to you, okay. The last thing I want to do is lie to you. But I have orders to follow, I'm one of the Death Scythe's as well, and Lord Death is MY boss."
"I don't believe you, how do I know you aren't going to lie to me some more? Or avoid any of it?" Maka gritted her teeth as she spoke, her hands still clutching the weapon.
"I promise I'll explain everything, just not right now. I can't right now." Soul hated having to come up with such a pathetic excuse. How many times did his parents use that on him, did Lord Death use it too, or when Wes would talk to him like he was still a small child? And yet, here he was, using the same pathetic explanation on Maka. How uncool was that?
"You promise?" Maka asked, her eyes on his.
"Yeah, I promise, and no, I won't break it. It's not cool for a guy to break a promise to anyone." he gave her a half hearted smile as he saw her shoulders slump down, her hands releasing its death grip on the metal staff.
"Can I ask you one question then?" Maka's voice became stronger now, her eyes determined to get her answer, "Did you know what Kidd was planning? Did you leave me, knowing he was going to do it?"
Soul could see through her facade, though she wanted to remain strong, her eyes were revealing everything she wanted to know. Letting out a sigh, he was debating about avoiding it, but the look in her eyes proved that this was what she really wanted to know, and she wasn't going to drop it. He knew the least he could do was explain. A small curse left his mouth as he walked towards her, his eyes never leaving hers. When he was already close to her to take the weapon away from her, he took in a breath, eyes briefly closed, he tried to explain to her before she jumped to conclusions.
"Yes, and no." He saw her raise an eyebrow, about to ask him to explain when he held up his hand, showing he wasn't done. "Yes, I knew he wanted to give you a serum, I was in on it, and was even going to give it to you. But when I came home and found you unconscious, and the hospital couldn't come up with any reason, Kim couldn't heal you, I told Kidd that the serum would have be wait. At first, he was okay with it. But when it went from a couple of days to a week, to almost a month... Kidd was losing patience. We got into an argument." he paused to see if she was still following him, her emerald eyes still on his, she only nodded, waiting for him to finish. "He wanted to give it to you as soon as you woke up, I wanted to make sure you were perfectly fine and healed completely. When I told Kidd that the serum would have to be put on hold until we made sure you were fine, he didn't like the idea. That's when he decided to tell Lord Death to give me a mission, the same day you woke up. I didn't even know you were going to wake up that day, Maka. Tsubaki had told me while I was on a mission, that Kidd told Lord Death to send me to. "
"Was Tsubaki in on it?" She couldn't help herself, she needed to know how many were in on it, who she could trust.
"No, it was only Kidd, Lord Death, Stein, and myself that knew about the serum. I got a call from Liz informing me that you were awake and that Kidd was going to visit you. That's when I told Liz and I hurried back home, to stop him. Only, I wasn't sure what I was going to go up against, with Stein telling me you were throwing up blood," He paused, letting out a sigh as he finally broke off staring into her eyes, "I expected you dead, Maka. As your guardian, I wasn't suppose to leave your side. But I can't be a Death Scythe and guard you at the same time. Because I went on that mission, Kidd was able to give you the serum." He let out mental curse, he knew he sounded so uncool right now.
"Is that why you're avoiding me?" She couldn't help her voice showing how relieved she was, unsure why her stomach felt funny, and the heavy weight on her shoulder was gone. "Soul! If you didn't know I was going to wake up, how were you going to know that Kidd was going to do that? Stop thinking I'm some poor defenseless brat who can't do anything without a knight in shining armor around to save her."
Soul couldn't help but let out a small chuckle, a smirk appearing on his face as he turned towards her again, "No, not even a knight in shining armor can keep up with your bad luck. He would quit in less than two days! Though, you're getting better at using that scythe. If I didn't know any better, I think you were trying to apply for the Death Scythes."
"Yeah, that's my new goal." she scoffed as she turned away from him, walking towards her bag as she took off the weights on her wrists, "I want to go running up to those monsters and killing them, because hey! How does that not sound great on my college application!"
Soul only smirked as he saw her grab her bag and head to take a shower, muttering on her way how he was still a jerk.
The walk back home was quiet, with neither of them even uttering a word all the way home. It didn't change either, as Maka placed the chicken wrapped in bacon in the oven, and the potatoes wrapped in foil as well. Her mind was still going through everything, and she knew she still had to go see Joshua, even if it was going behind Soul's back, she had to go get some information from him.
Though, was it worth it? Soul did explain he wasn't able to tell her everything right now, so the least she could do was wait until he told her straight from his own mouth, instead of from someone else.
She mentally let out a groan as she bit her bottom lip, looking at the clock, she still had two hours to decide if she was going to meet up with him. Two very longs hours were going to go by very slow for the poor girl.
Soul peered out from the corner of his eye at the blonde haired girl, who kept fidgeting in her seat, constantly looking out at the clock, and them letting out a frustrated sigh. He couldn't help but raise his eyebrow at the facial expression she was making, almost like she had to make a life threatening decision, and he couldn't put in what it was that was making the poor girl fret so much.
"Hey Soul?" She didn't bother to look at him, as she checked the clock once more, "Can I ask you a question?"
"If it gets you to stop moving so much on the sofa, and letting me watch my show in peace, then yeah. Ask away." he replied back, eyes still glued on the T.V.
"How, how does checking my soul work? What is it called anyways?"
"It's not your soul, exactly, it's your wavelength. We all have one." at first he just answered her automatically, only to pause the TV and turn towards her, his eyes on the petite girl that still eyed the clock, " And why do you want to know?"
"Well, I just wanted to see if others could also do it to me as well, or if it was... if it was just you." she mentally cursed herself as she felt some of her blood rise up to her cheeks, there was a reason why she kept staring at the clock, and she was sure Soul was still able to see the red tint forming on her cheeks.
"Not everyone can check, you aren't really compatible with just anyone." Soul answered, a small smirk forming on his lips as he saw her face get a bit darker. "You don't trust just anyone, so therefore, you can't let just anyone in. I don't know why I was able to do it from the start, but yeah, I think only I can check you're wavelength, and before you ask. You can do it too, you know."
That caught Maka off guard as she turned to look at him, "I can?"
"Yea, it takes some practice, but when two people can match each other's wavelength, then it's call Soul Resonance." He saw her smile as she began to process this, "It's like sharing each other's soul wavelength and making each other stronger."
"How, how does it work?" she was getting curious about this, maybe she could find something out from Soul by doing this.
"If you want all the information, then you're going to get a really long lecture. And not by me, but if you want, we can get you some training to do it." Soul couldn't believe he was saying it, but he didn't want to push her aside any more than he was right now.
"Can we?" She couldn't help but get excited knowing she was going to be able to learn something other than fighting now. She had to admit, it felt pretty cool to know she might have some cool abilities too.
Soul couldn't help but smirk, he was practically seeing stars in her eyes as she began to think of all the possibilities it would help her out in. "If you want, we can go practice today, around 7? I think by then he should be out from the lab?" he got up to make a quick phone call.
"Seven?" Maka's mind went back to what she was wondering about, she let out a sigh and bit her bottom lip again, she was about to make up and excuse to see if she could still meet with Joshua, when her phone rang.
She almost dropped her phone when she read the text over and over again, her mind suddenly felt relaxed as she read it, but she couldn't help but wonder how in the world did Joshua get her number?
It's Joshua. :) Have to move our date to eight thirty instead. Have some work to do. Hope you can wait a little bit longer to see my face. ;)
Maka mentally scoffed, she didn't know how this guy could be so cocky when she wasn't even remotely interested in him. She quickly replied back with: How did you get my number and dream on. I've been managing just fine.
She quickly closed her phone and went towards the kitchen, the chicken should have been done by now as she quickly took it out. The baked potatoes and chicken were ready as she let out a satisfied sigh with the smell of it. She quickly took out the ingredients to make a small salad on the side as she took out the plates and cups for both her and Soul.
"Food's ready!" She shouted, placing the chicken on the plate and baked potato on it.
"Smells good." was all Soul said, almost giving the girl a heart attack as he was behind her already.
"Dammit, Soul! At least make some noise when you're next to me!" She snapped, handing him the plate.
Soul only gave her a lazy smile as he placed both plates on the table, going to the fridge to grab the tea that Maka had made. He missed his sodas and even some of the beers he had in there, but as soon as Maka found out that was his only food supply, she went so far as to throw both of them down the sink. He didn't really care about the beer, seeing as Black*Star was the only one who actually drank those... but his sodas? Now that wasn't cool at all.
"Salad's done and the butter is already on the table, as well as the shredded cheese for the baked potato." She smiled at him as she placed the small bowl of salad on the table. "Are we going to be able to go at seven?"
Soul only nodded, grabbing his fork and taking a bite out of his chicken. "It's good." he muttered, trying to make it sound like he knew that from the start. To say the least, it didn't sound very convincing to the other girl.
"Be shocked Soul, but I do know how to cook, unlike someone who never mentioned it. I like to cook." she stuck out her tongue at the white haired boy, taking a bite out of her chicken.
"I never thought it would matter, it's too much work to cook." he smirked at her, "Besides, it's your payment for all I've done for you, at least."
Maka let out a gasp, placing her fork down. "Is this why you haven't told me how much I owe you for food, clothing, and bills?" she didn't know why she felt so fooled by this, again.
"Surprised? You don't just cook, Maka. You also clean, do laundry, and when we are over there in our world, you even walk Bones out for me." he couldn't help but let out a small chuckle when he saw Maka's face.
"I'm practically the maid..." Maka muttered, taking another bite out of her food. She knew it wasn't that big of a deal seeing as Soul was practically paying for anything she needed right now. Though, she hated the thought of being indebted to him.
Maka wasn't sure what to feel, as she stood in front of a man who went by the name Professor Franken Stein, or Doctor Stein, though to Maka he looked more like one of those mad doctors that she wouldn't want to go near. So she didn't know why she was here at all. With him looking at her like his next experiment, she had half a mind to just run out.
"How's work been going?" Soul asked, slipping his hands inside his pockets.
Stein only took a drag out of his cigarette, letting it out to form a puff of smoke, he still continued to stare at Maka. "I wonder... what does your skin feel like?"
"Uhh, excuse me?" Maka didn't know how to take that as.
"Stein, cut it out. She wants to learn how to resonate." Soul couldn't help but let out a sigh, there was a reason why he tried to avoid Maka ever meeting him, and it was due to his obsession with dissecting everyone and everything he met.
"I was just asking her a scientific question, like for instance, if her skin would be as smooth like her father's?"
"Papa? You knew my Papa?" That caught Maka's attention as she turned to look at him, hope in her eyes.
"Yeah, I knew him. He used to be my partner before your mom became his partner." he blew out another puff of smoke as he fixed his glasses.
"Partner?" Maka was beginning to regret asking him anything about her father, she didn't want to know if he swung both ways.
"In DWMA, you get a partner to become a Death Scythe." Soul added, a smirk on his face at Maka's facial expression when Stein told her about her father. "A Meister and a Weapon get put together. Once you complete the requirement to become a Death Scythe, you can apply to be one, or you can just keep the title, and go on pursuing your life."
"Wait... what's a meister?" Maka shook her head, trying to understand it.
"A meister is someone with exceptional soul wavelength and are paired up with weapons." Stein answered taking another drag from his cigarette. "One like myself, your mother, and even you, Maka."
"My mother? Wait, what do you mean weapon? How is that a partner?" She was beginning to get confused at all of this.
"Only a weapon and a strong meister can become a Death Scythe." Soul let out a sigh, he didn't know how to explain any of this in easier terms, "A weapon is a human being who has the ability to transform into a weapon. And if they are strong enough, can even manifest their weapon outside of their body, not needing a meister."
"Like yourself..." Maka muttered, putting the pieces together. "So, Professor Stein, you and my mama were meisters? Does that mean my papa was a weapon?"
Stein only nodded, throwing his cigarette on the floor and stepping on it. "He was also an idiot."
Maka deadpanned at the sentence, only nodded in agreement at the stitched up professor. "What I don't get is... Professor Stein, Lord Death said that he had to go look for Mamma and Papa to ask them to join... I thought they never went to this place."
"They went to this school, they graduated top of the class, like myself." Stein kicked his feet off the ground and sent himself and the office chair he kept sitting on past Maka and Soul towards a wall. He didn't even bother to stand up, as he opened a bottom cupboard, grabbing something from there, he closed it and kicked himself back towards Maka and Soul. Stopping in front of Soul, he turned his chair around to look at Maka, only to hand her a small black album, that was stitched up as well. "Your mother and father finished school, but they didn't want to become death scythe, the organization wasn't being made into something complete yet. They still needed a lot of work. So they just kept the title and went exploring the world. When the whole madness started, you're parents were out in America, they fought a lot of pre-Kishins, or Kishin Egg Souls there, and when Death heard of this, he knew he needed them both here. But your dad wasn't able to manifest his weapon out of his body."
"Papa wasn't that exceptional, huh?" Maka muttered, opening the book to look at the photos in front of her. She was amazed to see both her parents smiling, giving the peace sign and showing off their plaques saying they were official Death Scythes from DWMA. Another of them both holding a diploma, of being in different states and cities all over the place. She was about to smile when she began to notice that there was not one, but multiple pictures of her father's eyes straying to other females, or being with other females while drunk. She didn't feel like looking at the rest of the pictures as she slammed the album shut, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she handed it back to Stein. "Like you said, Papa was also an idiot." she muttered.
"So, do you want to get started?" Stein answered rather apathetically.
Maka only nodded as she stood up, unsure of what was going to happen, Soul only let out a sigh as he pushed himself off the wall, taking a few steps away from Maka, he turned towards her. "Stein's going to explain the details; I wasn't much of a listener in class." he added, a smirk on his face when he saw her roll her eyes and turned to look at Stein.
Stein took out another cigarette, placing it in his lips, he didn't bother to look up at Maka and Soul, as he spoke, his tone rather uninterested at any of this. "Soul Resonance is when two people are able to link their soul wavelength, and for now I want you Maka to try and send your soul wavelength to Soul. Close your eyes and concentrate, you need to be calm and one of mind, in order for this to work." He grabbed his lighter as he lit up his cigarette, talking while doing so. "Too much and you'll end up shooting Soul with it, hard. Too little, and you won't be able to get anything through to him."
Maka only nodded, closing her eyes, she began to use her soul perception to see if she could do it. She could sense her soul, as she took in a deep breath, and pictured part of her soul being sent to Soul like a fishing hook. She could see it trying to move towards Soul, but no matter how much she tried, it wasn't reaching him at all. Letting out a frustrated sigh, she put in all her focus, trying to force it to go to him, she was about to give up, when she felt something inside her move, it was warm as she began to feel it trail out of her body, before she had any idea what had happened, she heard Soul let out a curse.
Opening her eyes she saw him clutch his stomach, muttering something about why not use a dummy instead of himself for this.
"Did, did I make it move?" Maka asked, looking as Soul narrow his eyes at her, he was about to reply when Stein interrupted him.
"Yeah, you were able to make it move. You were doing fine before, you just shot it straight out to Soul." he couldn't help but smile at her as he said the words, making Maka think he was enjoying this a little more than he was meant to.
"Quit enjoying this so much you damn sadist!" Soul snapped, turning towards Maka now, he was about to snap at her too, when he saw her eyes shining at what Stein had told her. So far, she was just happy to be able to be able to make it work on the first try. Letting out a sigh, he closed his eyes for a brief moment, preparing himself again for another accidental attack by the newbie. This is going to be a long day. Soul thought regrettably as he opened his eyes and nodded towards Maka to proceed.
Maka didn't know how many times she should apologize to the white haired guardian of hers, as he practically had bruises in his stomach, chest, and she even caused him to cough up blood the last time. Though she was sure that he was hurt more than he wanted to say, he only muttered a 'that's fine' and went to go take a shower.
She let out a sigh as she turned to look at the clock, she was shocked that the whole ordeal only took an hour to go through, and though she still needed a lot of training, one that Soul was unfortunately teaching her now that Stein said it was fine to teach her without someone else supervising her.
She didn't bother to second guess her decision, as she heard Soul still taking a shower, quickly grabbing her bag and keys, Maka almost ran out the door and out the building. When she was a couple of blocks away from Soul going after her, she grabbed her phone and texted him a quick lie to cover up for right now. Biting her bottom lip, she knew she should of at least told him about meeting a friend in the Pizzeria, but she had a feeling Soul would have not liked that, or would of wanted to go with her to make sure she was safe.
She closed her eyes for a brief moment, phone in her hands she was about to call Soul, when a familiar voice spoke behind her. She turned to see Joshua smiling at her.
"You look like you just tried to beat a train." He chuckled, grabbing her hand and walking her towards the Pizzeria, "Don't tell me you got lost?"
Maka rolled her eyes, pulling her hand away from his, "I didn't get lost, I was on my way over there."
He only gave off a quick laugh as they continued to walk towards the Pizzeria.
The small restaurant was homey, if that was the word Maka could put it. They still had one of the old type of pizza ovens built right into the fire, with some simple tables that were covered with red and white checkered tablecloth and red wooden chairs.
The place was warm, much to Maka's pleasure as she took off her sweater, beanie, and scarf, placing them over the chair behind her. "When are you going to answer my questions?" she asked, looking around the place, it was rather empty, except for a few people sitting on the far side of where they were.
"In due time, you have to try the pizza first!" he smiled up at her, getting up to order something to eat.
Maka was about to tell him to just answer her, when her phone rang, letting out a breath she checked to see who it was. Unsurprised to see that it was Soul, biting her bottom lip, she quickly answered her phone, trying to come up with a good excuse for where she was at.
"Hello?" she wasn't sure why it sounded more like a question rather than a form of greeting.
"Maka? What the hell kind of text was that?" Maka wasn't sure if he was mad or just asking her a simple question.
"What do you mean, I said I was going to the store to buy some personal items?" Again, she didn't know why it sounded like a damn question in her own mind.
"You have all that girl shit here. I should know, I just went out to buy you some two days ago." he snapped, not too happy about having to go get them for her either.
Maka couldn't help biting back a laugh when she saw Soul walk in with the small box of pads and Midol for her. The picture in her mind was still fresh.
"Are you listening?"
"Huh? What?" Maka asked, snapping out of her thoughts. "Sorry, I couldn't hear you."
"I said, where are you really?"
Maka opened her mouth to answer him, her gut instinct telling her to trust him again and tell him where she was, but then she turned to see Joshua walking up to her already.
"Just wait to try the pizza here." he stated, a smile forming on his lips.
Maka only nodded, about to answer Soul again when Joshua took her phone from him, quickly hanging up and turning the phone off as he sat down. "You'll get this once I'm done telling you everything. See if then, you want to talk to him afterwards."
Maka's eyes only narrowed at him, her voice rather cautious at what she was about to say, "I'm guessing there is some animosity between you two? Funny, Soul hasn't seemed to remember you at all."
Joshua smiled at her, causing Maka to raise an eyebrow at him, "I have nothing against Eater. He was a great pianist when I went to school with him, and he's even been able to become something other than what his other life has wanted him to be." He handed Maka her phone, his smile still in place, "I just think that you should wait to tell him where you are at. Don't want him interrupting anything that Shinigami doesn't want you to know about."
"You know about that?" She couldn't help her voice sounding surprised.
"You'd be surprised." He gave her another wide-toothed smile as he got up and came back with a pizza box and two glass bottles of soda. "Take a bite, then I'll start answering all your questions."
Maka only raised an eyebrow as she opened the pizza box, she wasn't really starving, but she was a little hungry after all that training she was doing with Soul. Taking in a breath of the pizza she noticed it was a supreme pizza, which made her mouth water a bit as she took a slice. Not bothering to place it down on the plate, she took a quick bite, eyes wide as she tasted it, "It's great!" she almost shouted as she took another bite of it.
"Told you!" Joshua smiled back at her, taking another slice from the box and taking a bite. "Now, what do you want to know?"
Maka swallowed another mouthful of pizza and opened her soda bottle, taking a quick sip of it, she let out a content breath, turning to look at Joshua, she said the words a bit low in case anyone was hearing her. "Why did you lie? About me getting attacked? Soul says that I was attacked, and it does explain a lot from the whole thing."
Joshua only smiled at her for a small moment, as he took another bite out of his pizza, he took his time chewing the food, causing Maka to begin thinking he was only going to avoid the question. When he finally did finish he smiled at her once more before he answered her. "I didn't think it would matter."
She didn't know if she should be upset or plain pissed off at his answer, "You didn't think it would matter telling me the truth?" She narrowed her eyes at him, trying to keep her voice calm.
"Look, Maka. When we were attacked, it went after you for god knows what," he paused to take a drink of his soda, "but it didn't look like it was done looking for you. I went looking for you, but it also had the same agenda, when I was able to finally kill it, you were too scared and terrified about it, that you couldn't remember anything, all you knew was that you were running from something. So I told you it was a dream, asked you where you lived and dropped you off. I didn't want to run into any problems, so I just walked you to the door, but you didn't have your keys, so I texted Soul for you, and went home."
"That still doesn't explain why you lied to me." She let out a frustrated sigh as her eyes remained on him, making sure he wasn't lying to her either.
"That's simple, because you were too scared about the attack that I didn't want you remembering about it." He smiled up at her again, taking another bite from his pizza, he only looked at her as if that was enough of an explanation.
"Did you ever wonder if I did want to know what the hell happened? It could have been important to tell Soul about it." She snapped.
"Why does it matter if Eater knows?" He raised an eyebrow at her now, placing his pizza down on the plate, "Why are all the Death Scythe's protecting you like a lost princess at that even? The kishin wasn't after you for a specific reason, Maka. It just wanted a soul to eat, and you looked like an easy target."
I looked like the winning ticket to his next powerbooster! Maka thought bitterly, as she scowled at him, taking another sip of her drink.
"Okay, fine. I get it," she didn't want to release the information that she had the soul of a Grigori. "You wanted to keep me safe, and I'm grateful for that. Now here's my second question: what do you know about Lord Death keeping things from me?"
He gave her a wide-toothed smile again, "Wouldn't you like to know all of them?" He answered, taking a bite out of his pizza.
Maka could have sworn she saw his eyes go cold again for a brief moment, but she wasn't sure if it was the lighting. Letting out a breath, she took another bite from her pizza, waiting for Joshua to continue on with his weird riddles.
"See Maka, I'm also curious as to why the Death Scythes and Death have so much concern and protection over you. It's usually a miracle when I do find you alone without them, and to be honest, I much prefer you being alone than having an escort around everywhere you go." He smiled up at her again.
"I thought you knew more than you should have, Joshua." She narrowed her eyes at him again, placing her pizza down, "So why am I getting the feeling that I'm being led on by you in all of these questions? The deal was that I would come to eat with you, and you would answer all my questions, not the other way around."
Joshua only waved his hand at her in a bored manner, as he took another gulp of his drink, after a satisfied sigh, he turned towards her, his blue eyes shining, "I just wonder if you would be able to handle everything I'm going to tell you."
"Leave the handling to me, Joshua." She said, leaning in a bit closer to him, "It's after all, about me, right?"
"Fine then." He smiled up at her once more, pushing the pizza box towards Maka, "Another slice and I'll do all the talking."
Maka only raised an eyebrow at him in speculation as she grabbed another slice, took a bite out of it, and waited for him to continue.
"It may come as a shock to you, but Death has been hiding the fact of your parent's death." His eyes grew cold again, and this time, Maka was a hundred percent she saw them right. "Even Eater knows how your parents died, and he hasn't told you even a second after he knew."
Maka felt her body grow cold as she placed the pizza down. The food in her mouth feeling so stale and heavy as she swallowed it, but she was grateful she still had something in her mouth, giving her an excuse not to respond back.
His blue eyes remained on her, as Maka tried to process this. "Aside from all of them hiding this information from you, Death has also made sure that you don't know anything about the witch that's hunting you down too. Did you know that the pre-kishins are all attacking women and children that look like you? I can't seem to understand why everyone is so fascinated by you, they all want something from you, and if you aren't careful, Death will use you for whatever he wants."
Maka wasn't able to talk as she licked her lips, finally finding the words she opened her mouth to speak. "I-I have to go." She got up from the table, not bothering to say anything else to him as she grabbed her things and walked out of the Pizzeria.
His words were still echoing in her head as she continued to walk towards Soul's place; her mind a million steps ahead of her as she held her jacket closer to her body. She didn't want to assume anything, Soul did tell her he would explain everything, but how much of everything had he been hiding from her?
Was Joshua really telling her the truth? Did Lord Death, Soul, and everyone else know about all these things and didn't tell or try to at least!
He said they all knew. She bit her bottom lip as she looked up to the tall building, nodding to the doorman she went past the doors and up to the elevator, trying to keep herself calm. It wasn't working as great as she had hoped when the bell finally dinged and the doors opened.
She took in a deep breath as she walked down the hallway, clutching the strap of her bag, she continued to remind herself to keep calm and not snap at Soul yet. She needed to ask him first, needed to see if he was keeping all these things from her.
Slowly she took out the key from her bag and opened the door, waiting a moment to see if Soul would come storming out threatening to handcuff her to the bed again. The place was eerily silent as she walked in, about to close the door when a hand slammed into it, preventing it from closing.
She didn't bother turning as the familiar scent of his laundry detergent was in the air, taking in a deep breath she was about to turn, when she felt his hands wrap around her, lifting her up and over his shoulder.
"Soul! Put me down!" she shouted, punching the man on his back as he slammed the door with his feet and walked towards her room.
"Not a fucking chance, Maka," he snapped as he tossed her hard on the bed, "Where the hell did you go? And that bullshit excuse, plus turning off your phone!"
She didn't have time to explain as she heard the metal click of the handcuff on her wrist. "Hey! Just what the hell, Soul!"
"Didn't we already go over this?" he was practically shouting as he stared at her. "My job is to protect you, so how the hell can I do that by not being there with you, or you running off like that?"
"Oh, like protecting me is actually all your main concern? Then why not tell me what happened to my parents? Or what's going on in the other world as well!" She suddenly stopped herself, slamming her free hand on her mouth to keep the rest of the words from coming out, as she saw Soul's eyes go wide for a moment in disbelief.
"What did you just say?" he didn't know when his voice went back to normal as he stared at the blonde haired girl in front of him, "Where did you hear that from?"
"Found out from someone I didn't want to believe," she muttered, closing her eyes for a moment to think the words carefully. "So why don't you tell me the truth, Soul. What are you guys actually hiding from me? What aren't you guys telling me? Because all I have to go with is what I just heard, and I'm asking you if it's true?"
Soul was about to answer her when his phone rang, letting out a sigh he muttered for her to wait and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.
Maka couldn't believe how stupid she was; she kept telling herself she wouldn't let the cat out of the bag so fast, but it didn't help when she got mad at him either. Tugging at her wrist, she let out a sigh, she knew she wasn't going to get out of this one any time soon. Just what the hell am I doing? Maka thought, leaning her head back onto the headboard.
Soul frowned as he listened to Liz complain about how Kidd was now trying to see if Maka was willing to try and read the book for him now. And though Liz did respect the man, she also knew that maybe, just maybe he did go a bit too far.
"So what do you want me to do?" Soul asked, rather apathetic towards Liz.
"Are you even listening to me?" Liz snapped, letting out a frustrated sigh, "Just what the hell are you going to do?"
"Decided to finally tell her everything." Soul heard her drop whatever she was holding, either a pen or make-up brush, he figured it was the latter of it.
"Wow, how is that gonna go afterwards?"
"Never was the type to beat around the bush, and it's really uncool anyways to do so." He let out a breath, watching it turn to mist, "Besides, she's already figured out some things on her own, or with someone's help, at least."
"Think it might be that Joshua guy?" She let out an exasperated sigh, "I'll tell you something though, I asked that hacker to get me some dirt on him, and I haven't heard from him in a while!"
"Who knows, all I know is I have to fix all of this," before he let Liz say anything else, he hung up on her, leaning his body on the balcony rails as he looked out on Death City. "Man, this is not cool at all," he muttered, letting out a sigh as he got up and walked inside, not really looking forward for the aftermath of a fuming Maka who didn't like being handcuffed to the bed and left with questions still lingering in the air.
"Soul?" he heard her ask, the sharp sound of the handcuff ringing in the air, "My hand's getting tired and sore, mind taking this stupid contraption off!"
He couldn't help a smile as he walked in, the sight of her still pouting at him as she tugged on the handcuff was really an interesting sight. If she tried for any threats, they were mostly half serious when she was like that, plus, he knew better than to just leave her handcuffed to the bed for a long period of time. The last time he did, he got three thick books to the skull, repeatedly.
"Calm down, I'll let you go after I hear you say you won't try to give me a concussion with any type of book." He leaned back towards the wall as he watched her, the girl only fidgeting in the bed as she contemplated it.
"Fine." She answered a couple of minutes later, pouting as she turned away from him, "But you have to answer my question! Before, you just walked away leaving me like this!" She tugged her wrist again, to prove her point.
"Whatever." He walked over to the headboard and uncuffed her.
Any other person might of thought of this as well... some kinky shit. Hell! Even the woman at the shop he bought them leered at him with a smile on her face and kept giving some hints that she was down for things like that too. But it was the only thing that could keep the damn girl in the room without her leaving or wandering off on her own, especially after the last incident. He, of all people, knew too damn well that Maka Albarn was a walking magnet for trouble anywhere near a 400 mile radius.
"So, are you going to explain everything?" Maka muttered, massaging her wrist as she looked at him carefully, assessing if he was telling her the truth at all.
"What do you want to know?" He gave her a lazy smile as he sat down on the bed laying his head down onto the mattress, he peered to look at her raise an eyebrow at him from the corner of his eye.
"Is it true? About my, my parents?" was all she could say as she bit her bottom lip, trying to keep her temper down at the thought of another lie.
Soul let out a sigh as he got up from the bed, sitting across from her, he ran his hand through his messy white hair as he thought everything over. "How much do you already know?" he decided to see if there were some things he could at least keep right now. Giving her everything meant he would also have to explain some of his own past, with her having what Wes gave Medusa after all.
"I just know that Kidd is desperately making me try to read something, about someone named Medusa." She shook her head when he was about to talk, signalling for him she wasn't finished yet, "I also know that my parents really didn't die the way I thought, and that the pre-kishins are killing people that look like me. That's as far as I know, to be honest. I just want to know what's going on, Soul. I'm tired of everyone lying to me about my own life."
Soul only nodded in understanding. He wasn't the type of guy to lie, nor was he the type to beat around the bush and wait for others to tell him when it was okay to say things. He didn't agree with his parents way of life, nor with some of the things that even Lord Death had been doing now. Maka was out of the loop for too long, it was time to explain at least some of the things to her, even if it meant having to deal with the consequences later.
He was cool with that.
"First let me explain something quick," He didn't bother looking at her as he explained, already able to feel her soul wavelength grow with anxiety. "Medusa is a witch, a bad one at that. She's ensnared a lot of people to do her bidding, and has even killed them without stopping to think about it after she didn't need them anymore. We know she wants you for your soul, but we don't know why she would want it, other than for pure power."
Maka only nodded, as he turned to look at her, seeing if she was still listening to him.
"She's conniving and a powerful witch who knows how to trick people into getting what she wants. We knew she was out to get you when we began to capture witches and interrogating them. They admitted that she was still alive and trying to complete something, only in order to finish it, she needed your soul to get it." He paused as he heard her move in the bed.
Maka was bringing her legs closer to her body, unsure if she should ask the next question. "What do you mean, 'still alive', Soul?"
Soul let out a breath, turning towards her now, his crimson eyes not leaving hers. "Maka, Medusa was killed by Professor Stein, at least that's what they thought when he had attacked her, you see." He let out another sigh, unsure of how to continue this conversation, "Medusa was the one who killed your parents, Maka."
Maka didn't know she was gripping her legs too tightly until Soul placed his hands on hers, calming her down. "But, that's..."
"You don't remember much, and we don't really know why." He was trying to keep his voice calm as he continued to look at her eyes, trying to see if she could fully handle any of this. "When you were sick, you explained to me that you felt someone inside with your mom and dad, but you were scared to go in to see who it was. It was only because your mom told you that you never started a fight, but had better finish one. After you went in, you told me that you couldn't protect them and they died."
He paused, watching her emerald eyes go wide as she took in the words he said, "Maka, do you really not remember any of it?"
"All - all I remember is waking up in the hospital, they told me that both my parents had been killed by a burglar who tried to rob our place, and that I came in and saw him shoot my parents ... when he saw me I ran and fainted from shock." She didn't understand it, maybe the trauma was too much for her, that she did block it out, but she would have remembered some things right? Like when she felt someone in the house? Or the witch named Medusa?
"When I told this to Kidd and Lord Death, they didn't want you to know about it, for fear that your soul would get corrupted because you wanted to go out and avenge your parents' death." Maka turned to look at him, her eyes wide once more as she processed this.
"So they decided to keep my parents' actual death a secret from me?" She didn't know if she should be angry at them or understanding, would her parents really want her to go avenge their death, when they were trying to keep her safe to begin with?
"Soul! It's my parent's you guys were hiding from me! I know it's not like they were alive, but... I have a right to know what really happened that night, for years I kept thinking it was something to do with me not fully remembering even the attacker, or my parent's last words to me when I saw them!" She felt tears in her eyes, but tried hard enough to keep them at bay.
Soul only let out a breath, he knew this wasn't even half done as there was still more he needed to tell her, but the way she was reacting to just this, he figured they might have to wait for the rest later.
"So then what?" Maka asked, wiping her eyes with her sleeves. "What else are you guys hiding from me?"
Soul couldn't help but chuckle at her resilience, letting out a breath he continued to explain everything to the petite blonde. "To be honest, I was actually going to tell you this on the day of our first training, but when we went to that club for a quick mission... Blair had used you as bait so to speak to lure out Giriko, we didn't know at the time until after the mission was over." He saw her face harden as she realized this, her hand twitching for a book. "When we were fighting Giriko, Blair said she noticed some corruption in your soul, but after the fight I checked, and your soul was fin-"
"Wait, you were checking my soul that far ago too?'" Her eyebrow raised, her hands now desperately looking for a book.
"You said no hitting," Soul chuckled at her facial expression, all too well he could tell what she was thinking right now, "and yeah. One of the things besides being a guardian was to make sure your soul wasn't corrupt, and having to check your soul wavelength was how I could do it, even back then."
"What else could you check when you do that?" She felt her face grow red at the thought of practically being violated in a sense.
"Nothing other than your soul wavelength," he couldn't help but smirk as he saw her face lighten up a bit, "It just shows what you're feeling and things that really bother you sometimes. Remember what Stein said about Soul Resonance?"
Maka only nodded, realizing that Professor Stein did mention to her how it was like a chain linking both together, what one felt, the other felt. "A bond created on trust," she muttered, glaring at Soul.
Soul only waved her words away, "Anyways, like I said, when I checked your soul, it was fine. No corruption whatsoever, so when I told Lord Death about it, he figured it was because you probably inherited your mother's ability called Anti-Demon Wavelength."
"Wait, does it matter if my soul gets corrupted?" She didn't know why that was the first question on her mind rather than the one about her mother.
She saw Soul let out a sigh, clearly hoping she wouldn't have asked that question out of all of them. "See, when I say corrupted, I mean leaning more into madness, insanity, or well corruption for better." He ran his hand through his hair, trying to find a better explanation. "Remember when I told you about your soul? How it's a power booster for any corrupted soul out there who wants power?" He saw Maka nod, biting her bottom lip waiting in anticipation for him to finish his explanation. "You can become stronger either way, by being 'pure' so to speak, or by being 'corrupted' which just means you want to kill people and harm others without any remorse. You felt that once, when you meet Giriko, do you remember what you wanted to do?"
Maka only nodded, her eyes narrowing at the thought, "I wanted you to kill him, I still do." she didn't know she could have ever said that without any guilt, but she knew that guy was dangerous, one that if released... it meant any person was going to be killed as soon as he laid eyes on him.
"But at that time, you didn't care who got hurt in the process, you just wanted him killed, and that meant your soul was getting a taste of corruption. The more corrupted you get, the easier it is for a Kishin to get you not for a power booster, but as a weapon to kill others."
"Wait, wait, wait. My soul is more than just a meal ticket?" Now she was having a hard time comprehending everything.
"This is why I told Lord Death it would have been better to tell you from the start." He was getting a bit frustrated explaining all of this on his own, but better him than a stranger, right? "Yes, your soul is more than just food for others. It's a powerful soul, that if you know how to use, could be a huge weapon against witches and kishins alike. A pure Grigori Soul is a strong soul, it just doesn't have as much 'power' as a corrupted one. Where a corrupted one can become pretty dangerous, they get some crazy abilities though, and not all of them are pretty."
Maka's eyes went wide for a moment, hearing the last words, she bit her bottom lip, debating if she should even continue asking more about herself. So far, she found out somethings, that she really didn't want to know about. Now she had to add that she could be corrupted too?
"Lord Death thinks that the chances of you getting corrupted are very rare though." He saw Maka turn towards her, her eyes filled with a questioning look, hoping he would explain that more. He couldn't help but chuckle at her facial expressions, she was showing all of them in those green eyes of hers. "You have the same ability like your mom did, the Anti-Demon Wavelength, it's a powerful barrier against insanity and ability, if trained right, can be worked effectively also with your attacks against witches or any individual that is harboring any madness or dark powers. It's pretty damn strong and it's helped you out afterwards with that mission."
"My mama had this too?" she couldn't help but wonder if her mother might of been a Grigori too.
"Yeah, from what Stein and Lord Death have told me, she had the ability as well, though she wasn't a Grigori, it is a rare ability to get anyways." He let out a small laugh as he saw Maka's eyes shroud in disappointment from Soul's words.
"Is there anything else?" Maka wasn't sure if she should of even asked that question, trying to comprehend all of this wasn't an easy feat at the moment.
"So far, that's all I got. You have a freakishly weird ability that purifies your soul, you just found out your parent's death wasn't really how it went down, and-"
"And that you have been checking my soul without my knowledge multiple times too?" She muttered the words out, unsure if she was mad because she didn't know, or that it could be construed as a type of violation. She let out a gasp as she realized something about the whole thing, "Soul! Is you checking my soul wavelength the reason why you are always so damn close to me or practically sexually harassing me?"
He gave her his devilish smirk, her face flushed a deep red, "Who knows, all I got to say is, I don't go for fat ankled girls. If I did it would-"
She didn't let him finish as she rammed a book onto his skull, repeatedly as she released some of her frustration on the white haired guardian.
"Jerk," She muttered, taking another swipe at the robot trying to cut her in half.
Ever since the whole incident a couple of days ago, Soul had informed Professor Stein that the robots he had built weren't cutting it for Maka any more. She knew it was him just getting back at her for giving him some good Maka Chops that night, but she didn't know he would go that far to get even! Taking another back step, Maka tried to block the next attack. Clearly this robot wasn't in any safe mode like the rest, and she had a feeling that the sadistic professor had made it like that on purpose for her accidental Soul Resonance at him too. In all honesty, she really did think she was sending it to Soul... at least, she thought she did.
Letting out a chain of curse words directed at the white haired jerk who was responsible for all of this she quickly jumped out of the way, landing on her hands, she made sure to spin quickly and land behind the robot. She was about to deliver a fatal blow when someone destroyed the robot before she did.
"You're too slow, you fight like a grandma!" she heard a very familiar voice shout from the top of the ceiling.
Maka didn't dare to look up, wondering why the hell tBlack*Star didn't use the normal way of greeting someone and just walk through the door instead of go through a window or a vent, like last time.
"Hey, did you hear me, I said you fight-" he wasn't able to finish as a 20 lbs dumbbell rammed into his face.
"There's a thing called silence, ever heard of it?" she said as she walked towards the wall where all the weapons were.
"Yeah, whatever. Where's Soul?" he looked around the room in search for the white haired reaper.
Maka only shrugged as she placed the scythe she was using back to its rightful place. "Don't know, he only walked me to the gym and said he would be back later. Don't keep tabs on him." she muttered the last part.
"When will he be back?" he asked, letting out a groan.
"I was suppose to text him when I'm done with my training; he was suppose to help me, but he got a call from someone and had to leave." She let out a breath as she took a long gulp of water from her water bottle.
"This is training to you?" He shouted, looking around the room and then back at Maka, a smile spread through his lips that Maka didn't like so much. "You're coming with me!"
"No! No, no, no!" She shook her head, about to position herself to fight him, when he walked over to her gym bag.
Black*Star turned around, bag in hand he gave her a mischievous smile, "Want it? Come get it!"
Maka didn't have any time to protest or argue as she saw the blue haired man run out the room, a frustrated groan escaping her lips as she ran after him. Her phone, keys, and homework were in there!
She didn't know how far she had run after him, as she finally reached the reason for her lungs aching. "Give..." she had to pause to take in a deep breath, trying to give her lungs enough air. "Me my bag."
"Wow, you're pretty good, and fast too!" he didn't bother hiding his shock as he still held on to Maka's gym bag. "We're almost there anyways."
The simple sentence caused Maka to look around her, she was on a train station platform, where that demon-possesed train or whatever pops up. The one that Maka knew could lead her farther away from home, which would make for a very unhappy Soul. She already had a huge headache just thinking about it.
"Where is there exactly, Black*Star? I need to get home." she tried grabbing her bag once again, but he wouldn't even loosen his grip on it.
"You'll see, it's going to be a great Black*Star training exclusive!" He was shouting once more, causing Maka's head to throb with every word.
Why me? she thought bitterly as the train popped out from the ground, and before she had any time to run back, Black*Star had already grabbed her by the arm, dragging her in.
"Black*Star, let me go!" She snapped, looking around the empty train. Wasn't it usually full or with some people at least? Now she was actually getting a bit worried, "Where are we going?"
"That's for me to know, flat board, and for you to find out. Besides, you're with me, I won't let anything bad happen. You're going to love it!" He gave her a wide smile, causing Maka to second guess her opinion of him.
"How is it that you can be so annoying some times, yet act mature the next?" she muttered, sitting down on one of the benches, hugging herself to keep her body warm.
"What do you mean mature? I've always been mature, don't get too comfortable we're already here." He didn't let her speak, grabbing her arm, he dragged her out the train's door.
Maka wasn't sure if she should have been trying to get back into the train as soon as she set her eyes on the small town next to the train stop.
The buildings were mostly abandoned, the few that were still showing hints of people living in them all had closed doors and bolted windows. Strange eyes peered from slits of curtains, and some even ran to the nearest unoccupied building as soon as they laid eyes on them. Maka couldn't help but shiver, this whole place seemed like it was dying, and the people were just waiting for their time.
"Where are we?" she whispered, eyes still scanning the building.
Black*Star only looked around the area, letting out a shrug as he released her arm, "We're in a danger zone. I suggest you don't stray too far from me, if not you might get kidnapped or worse."
Maka couldn't help but mentally cry, wasn't she just told how dangerous her soul was by Soul? How it was already pretty strong to begin with, and how anyone who wanted power was going to be able to sense it? Walking into town, Maka was sure she was being handed in a silver platter for anyone who wanted a taste of power. She suddenly regretted following the blue-haired man.
"Oh, that's right." Black*Star snapped his fingers, as he released the gym bag and tossed it over to Maka. "Might want to put a jacket on. It's gonna be cold for a wimp like you." He stuck out his tongue when Maka smacked him hard on the head. "It was just a joke..." he muttered, trying to ease the pain forming on his skull.
Maka didn't say anything as she quickly zipped up her sweater, letting out a content sigh as she felt her body warm up all over before anything else, she quickly snatched up her phone, letting out a mental groan as she saw Soul's missed calls and texts.
Quickly opening the phone, she texted the white-haired guardian her whereabouts. Moments after she sent it, Black*Star's phone started to ring.
"Hey Soul!" Black*Star's wide smile soon disappeared as he turned to glare at Maka. "Yeah, she's here." he muttered, sticking his tongue out at her again.
Maka was pretty amazed at how fast Soul got the message, and how fast he was to react to it. She was just happy that she didn't have to deal with the full aftermath of any of this, not with Black*Star being the reason she was out here to begin with.
"She's fine." Black*Star spoke, "I took her on a mission with me, so what's the big deal?"
"I'm on a what?!" Maka shouted, her eyes going wide with the words. "How the hell can you take me on a mission, if I don't even know how to..." she was quickly silenced by Black*Star, who placed his hand on her mouth.
"I said she was fine. She needs to learn how to deal with cases like this if she's ever out with you on a mission." He said while Maka tried aimlessly to hit him, unbothered by her failed attacks. "Yeah, yeah. If you wanna meet then go right ahead, you were the one I was suppose to come out here with. Huh?"
There was a long pause, and Maka was losing her patience as she tried desperately to smack her assailant some place that would make him regret bringing her here.
"Yeah, I know, I know. It's not a big mission, get the details from Lord Death, we're almost there anyways, just have to deal with some small obstacles, and then we get to the good stuff!" he shouted the last part, causing Maka's headache to poundagain, at least she thought it was because of his voice, and not because he was now covering her mouth and nose as well. Though, she was just waiting for her moment to beat the living daylights out of the moron.
"Alright, see you- wow, Maka! You're turning blue!" he shouted, letting the girl go, who in turn gasped for air as she started feeling really light headed.
If the robots that Stein made didn't kill her, this guy was.
"No, no. She's fine, see you here!" he shouted, hanging up the phone, before he was able to say anything, Maka was wedging another Maka Chop straight into his skull, repeatedly.
"You fucking moron!" she shouted, as she finished her her seventh Maka Chop. "Just who the hell covers a person's nose and mouth? And what the hell do you think you're doing, bringing me over here, when my" she lowered down her voice really low, almost to a whisper as she spoke to him, "soul is already a magnet for trouble?"
"Relax, will you?" Black*Star mumbled, rubbing his skull, "it's not like everyone here is out to look for the Grigori Soul anyways, and what are the chances that they know you of all people have it?"
She closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath, she was about to walk back to the train-stop when she felt something heavy collapse on her. Opening her eyes, she saw Black*Star on top of her.
"The hell did you tackle me for?" she asked, moving away from him, before she had the chance to get any farther, she dodged a silver object that stabbed the ground hard. Taking closer inspection of the thing, she realized it was a knife. Narrowing her eyes at Black*Star, who shrugged in his defense at the attacks, they quickly began dodging other attacks, seeking shelter from the weapons behind a house.
"Know where they're coming from?" Black*Star asked as a long blade manifested from his hand.
Maka shook her head, "No, but I can find out." She concentrated on her soul perception. "On top of the roof, the second one on the left, its three of them though." She answered.
"Stay here." Before Maka had a chance to respond, Black*Star was already gone.
Yes, by all means, leave me here, alone. Maka thought bitterly, trying to understand the situation. She was about to go reach for her phone when she heard footsteps approaching. Black*Star wouldn't walk back, would he? She thought, unsure if it was even safe where she was.
Before she had time to find out, she felt someone grab her by the arm, a gun pointing to her ribs. "Wouldn't move if I were you," the man next to her whispered, nudging the weapon closer to her body. "What are you doing in our town?" he asked.
Maka let out a breath, knowing full well the chances she was at, this wasn't the first time she's dealt with guns, not after both Liz and Patty decided to also give her some training tips on dealing with them. Though she knew the dangers, she wasn't really going to sit around and wait for someone to come save her, was she?
Nope, Maka had enough of it all.
Before the guy had enough time to think, Maka had twisted his arm around him, causing the man to scream in pain as she heard a loud pop from the man's shoulder. She probably dislocated it, but wasn't willing to stop and see if he was okay.
A loud shot rang, echoing across the town, as Maka attacked him once more, hitting the guy's wrist, she caused him to release the weapon in hand. She quickly kicked it far away, she elbowed him hard on the back of his neck, causing the man to go unconscious.
She wasn't about to sit and wait for Black*Star to show up, not when she was behind a house, next to an unconscious man and a gun not too far from them. Letting out a breath, she started to run away from her hiding place, hoping to bump into her temporary partner who had caused her predicament.
Soul, where the hell are you?She finally hit a dead end, and she could hear the sound of many footsteps getting closer. Turning around to look frantically for any place to hide, she noticed a door to the building on the left that was left a bit opened. She didn't bother to think twice as she hid inside.
Holding her breath, she strained to listen and was relieved to hear the footsteps fade realized that the building was an abandoned food store that had large windows at the very top of it, most of them covered in newspaper. Just as she was about to open the door she heard something move behind her. Squinting her eyes to get a better look, she swore she saw another shadow move quickly, heavy breathing following after it.
Shuddering, Maka tried opening the door, but no matter how hard she tried to push it open, it wouldn't budge. Oh dear God, I swear something's out to get me since my birthday!
From the corner of her eye, she saw a shadow move towards her at a fast speed again. "Shit!" Maka shouted, moving away before it fully collided with her. The whole place shook, and she saw something glint in the dark room.
Her attacker let out a loud shriek, and slowly turned around from the door to look at her. Maka's heart dropped as she realized she was trapped in a room with a kenshin.
It was still in its human form - if that's what you would like to call it - its arms were dangling by its sides, sharp like the blades on its fingers, and its feet looked like they were rotting, flesh falling from his body. Maka continued to stare at it; its white eyes stared back at her.
"Gri-grigori," it spoke, sending Maka's whole body to shiver in fear. "Mi-mine."
Maka ran, bumping into crates that had a horrible smell that caused her to cold grabbed Maka by the leg, throwing her out through a window from the top of the building.
"Oww." Maka muttered. Dazed and in pain on the floor, Maka heard the sound of a familiar ring tone playing right before kishin bursted through the food store wall.
Soul let out another chain of curse words as he blocked another attack from the thieves that were trying to shoot at Black*Star and himself.
"Why in the fuck did you bring her here of all fucking places?" He snapped, moving at lightning speed to bring his scythe down at another victim.
He had learned from Lord Death that this whole town was on his list. There were no innocent souls anywhere near a 20 mile radius from this place. They had all been killed by a small gang that wanted power. They had turned their leader into a kishin and had managed to keep the beast from trying to kill them as well, though from what he was told, it wasn't rare when they did offer up one of their own to feed the damn monster. Many travelers that had stopped in town were killed.
"I didn't think there was going to be so many obstacles! Besides, it's an easy mission!" Black*Star shouted, snapping the neck of another man as he jumped to punch the next one coming at him. "Is she still not picking up?"
Soul only shook his head, pressing the button on his blue tooth once more as he blocked a knife coming at him, in a blink of an eye he already had the culprit down on the ground lifeless. This was taking too long, and no matter how much he kept trying to get them all, they all seemed to hide in the shadows or in some secret area that they couldn't find. It was getting annoying.
Finally he heard Maka answer her phone.
"Where the hell are you at? Black*Star said he lost sight of you and heard gunshots." Soul asked, not even bothering to let the girl say anything. He was getting worried, and it wasn't helping that this mission was becoming more of a pain now that he had to find Maka, too.
He couldn't hear anything else other than a loud noise and things falling. That wasn't too reassuring as he heard light rustling from the other end. "Maka?" He asked, blocking another attack and taking the guy out quickly with his scythe. He saw Black*Star taking out two large shuriken and throwing it at a window, hitting two guys dead on. "Maka?"
"Soul, I'm - I'm getting attacked..." There was a pause as Soul waited for the girl to speak, finally bringing down the last of the men in the area.
"Maka?" His voice was cautious, trying to hear everything going on where Maka was.
"Shit!" Maka shouted, rustling sounds as he heard her try to make a run for it, her voice had risen with panic as she shouted the last words "It's a kishin!"
"Fuck." Soul muttered, already turning to look at Black*Star, "Looks like the pre-kishin found her."
"Cool, makes all this easier." Black*Star shrugged, cleaning his ninja sword on his shirt.
Soul didn't bother saying anything as he scanned the area, both of them jumping to the top of a building, looking for any signs she might be there. The sound of her not being able to run away from the beast wasn't comforting for Soul to hear. "Maka?" he asked, hearing her mutter in pain.
He heard a loud shriek pass through the phone, a low voice speaking, but not audible enough for Soul to make out anything from it. He was getting annoyed as he pointed for Black*Star to separate as they searched the area. They had to find her before she was killed.
At least the loud crashing and rustling from the other line was proof enough that the girl was still breathing.
"Found you." he heard a male voice speak before the line went dead.
"Fuck!" Soul shouted, not even bothering to call Maka again, the chances of it being in one piece were slim.
He was about to turn the other way when he saw something from the corner of his eyes, he quickly dodged a blast of bullets. "Got to be kidding me," he snapped. He tried to get away from whoever was attacking him, but every time he tried to move towards where he had a feeling Maka might be, a blast of bullets made him retreat.
Scanning the area quickly, he knew the shooter was nowhere in sight; he was probably hiding like the rest. Letting out a growl as he dodged another attack from the bullets, he didn't have time to deal with any of this.
"Alright." Soul whispered, spinning his scythe to block another oncoming attack of bullets. "Lets get this over with."
The two men had appeared out of nowhere, grabbing her as she ran past an alleyway, the kishin dangerously close behind. "Found you." One of them smirked, grabbing Maka's phone and throwing it hard against one of the walls, causing the poor object to shatter.
"Looks like our boss wants you for lunch," the one on her right laughed.
"Your boss?" Maka said, looking towards the beast once more.
"We made a deal with the devil, see," the man to her left said - he was wearing a blue cap smiled at her, a missing tooth in his front teeth. "New visitors come here from other places and they get eaten by the big guy here."
"In the end, we get their shit. Fancy clothing or whatever." The other one licked his lips as he grabbed Maka's hair. "We always have fun with the pretty girls first, but the men and kids are usually the ones we let him eat first." He laughed as he kissed Maka's hair now. "No, the kids were the ones we gave up first, too annoying crying over their mommies and daddies, while the men... well we would sometimes make them watch, if we were bored, right Patch?"
Maka wanted to throw up as he continued to talk, trying to break free from their grasp. The one on her left with the blue cap, Patch, caught on, kicking her hard behind her leg, causing Maka to scream out in pain.
"Shh, shh, shh. Don't want the big guy here to get scared, do you?" the other one clamped his hand over Maka's mouth, muffling her pained cry.
Taking in a deep breath, she closed her eyes for a brief moment, trying to ignore the pain from her injured leg. She quickly used it to kick Patch hard on the groin; spinning before she had time to feel any pain jolt from her leg she twisted the guy still holding her arm behind his back. A loud pop was heard as she elbowed him on the back of the neck, before kicking him hard on the groin as well.
"Little bitch!" Patch glared at her, as he still clutched his manhood, turning to the beast still near them he shouted out "Kill her!"
Maka ran, biting her bottom lip to suppress the pain in her leg, as she tried to find a hideaway or weapon she could use.
She didn't get far as she felt its cold hands, the blades on its fingers cutting her, as it tossed her hard the opposite way where she was going. Letting out a gasp for air, she turned to see a metal stick on the ground.
Just my luck! Maka smiled and quickly grabbed it as the monster jumped up to kill her. She blocked the blade attack with what she realized now was a long, thick, metal pipe that was thin enough for her to use. She used all her strength to keep the blades from stabbing her. Letting out a scream, Maka used her legs to kick the beast away from her. Her leg throbbed as she tried to stand up, using the pipe for support. "Come at me," she whispered, grabbing the pipe in her hands; she was ready for the next attack.
The beast was quick. Its blades dragged down on the dirt, leaving five deep dents on the road, a loud shriek erupted from its mouth.
Maka quickly blocked the next attack, and tried to avoid its attempts to hit her injured leg; Maka regretted not making the decision to run instead.
"Soul, where the hell are you?" she shouted, jumping out of the way from a lethal blow. She quickly spun around, using the pipe to hit it hard on the head.
She landed on her feet, as the beast fell hard on the floor with a loud rumble. Her leg was still killing her, but she figured the moron named Patch didn't break it, only bruised it. She had enough experiences dealing with broken body parts, so she knew that her leg was still okay enough for her to keep on fighting.
The beast was already getting up again, blood dripping down its mouth as its white eyes stared at her. Taking in a deep breath, Maka spun the pipe around, ready for the next attack. She didn't know where the hell Soul and Black*Star were, and the chances of clubbing this monster to death with a metal pipe were pretty slim, still... she could try to slow it down, right?
Oh, why did her parents teach her never to run away from a fight?! Her first instincts when cornered were usually for Maka to just punch the living daylights out of the damn person ... but this wasn't a person, was it?
It had a body like one, only... its skin was peeling off, showing scales underneath it, while its face was already covered in scales. The blades on its hands twitched, glinting in the dark. She mentally let out a list of curse words as she tried to think of a plan to avoid those blades.
"Okay." Maka muttered, watching the kinshin crouch. "I'm facing ten sharp blades, and a powerful monster along with it... with nothing put a steel pipe that I have no clue how long will last in a battle between a very bad imitation of Edward Scissorhands."
It let out another shriek, swiping its hands at every direction, causing Maka to almost get sliced more than once as she used the pipe to block the other attacks.
"Fucking kidding me?" Maka snapped, avoiding a long blade that was too close to her neck for comfort. She quickly dodged the other attacks, getting close to its face and punched it hard, causing the beast to fly back now, but not before it took a swipe at Maka's arm.
She let out a hiss as the pain seeped in, the wound wasn't as deep as she thought, but it was beginning to burn as she held on to the now injured limb. Great, Maka. Your left leg is injured, and now you can barely move your right arm. Sure know how to pick your battles.
Barely able to move the weapon in her right hand, Maka knew it would be an interesting challenge to see if she could use her left arm as well as her right … A challenge she didn't really want to test right at this very moment.
"Tch, fuck it." Maka spat, dodging another attack, she did what she should have done in the first place: run.
She didn't get too far when the beast came from behind, and slammed the back of its hand at Maka, causing the girl to go through a window, shattering the pieces all around her from the impact. She didn't know if she was lucky, as she hid behind something that looked like a box in the abandoned building. She held her breath, trying to calm her heart as she heard the beast look in quickly from the window, its heavy breathing echoing across the room.
Just leave... Maka held her breath, while she clutched her wounded arm. Just fucking leave! She wanted to scream, not for fear of being killed. But because she couldn't do much other than hide behind wherever she was and cower since she was pretty much an open buffet for the next person who wanted her soul.
She didn't know how long she had been in hiding, but the heavy breathing of the monster had stopped.. She still needed to get away from here, the chances of it coming back were high, so she needed to find someway to let Soul know where the hell she was.
She winced as she got up from her hiding spot, her leg still protesting in pain as she tried to find the door, her left hand was still holding on to the fresh wound in her arm, but the bleeding had stopped. She was already feeling the blood stick to her sleeve, some of it already drying on her hand, while some still dripped out from the wound lightly.
She let out a sigh as she found the door, pulling it open, she winced at the force she had exert, a huge jolt of pain on her arm. She strained her ears to hear of any oncoming people or the monster, but when all she could hear was the gust of wind blowing by, Maka quickly made her way out, almost running towards where she thought the train stop was.
She was trying to keep quiet, trying not to make any noise out on the streets as she made her way, trying to remember if the places she was going were safe or not. She mentally scolded herself as she let go of her arm, tearing off the shredded cloth that used to be the sleeve of her sweater, she wrapped it around her arm, cutting off any more blood loss from the wound.
She let out a breath, scanning the street before she decided if she should cross the street or turn left and keep going. Her mind was fully made when a shiver ran through her body. "No..." Maka trailed off, looking behind her. Sure enough the beast was at the end of the street, its eyes on her. "Fuck!" she shouted, turning left and running from its crouched body.
The sound of the blades digging into the road was enough for her to know that yes, it was following her. Maka cursed her luck. She was in a town that she didn't know, brought by someone who left her here pretty much without any information, and it was a mission that... Maka knew she never wanted to be a part of, ever.
Right now she could have been home doing her homework, preparing for the test that she had to take in a couple of weeks in order for her to be able to graduate earlier.. But where was she right now? Running away from a pre-kishin that was out to kill her for her soul. A creature that kept popping up in her life lately, when she lived most of her life never meeting one, let alone thinking they actually existed.
She made a mental note to never listen to Black*Star ever again, clearly the blue-haired boy forgot that she wasn't one of them and couldn't defend her life against a monster that was ten times the petite girl's size. He was surely mistaken if she was capable of killing that thing with her bare hands, or a simple pipe that wasn't made to stand battles like these.
She was about to take a quick turn when she collided with someone, hard.
"The hell?" Maka muttered, trying to get up, the shriek from the beast not too far away.
"There you are!" she heard a very familiar voice, one that at that very moment, she didn't want to see, or hear, for a really long time.
"Where the hell have you been!?" Maka shouted, pointing a finger at the blue-haired man.
"Trying to finish this mission, while you decided to take a stroll around the town." Black*Star answered, placing his hands behind his head.
Maka didn't have enough time to say anything else, as she saw the beast come at them, pushing Black*Star hard out of the way, she quickly dodged the blades trying to take a swipe at her.
"Wow, you're reflexes are good!" Black*Star shouted, standing still as Maka tried to fight off the pre-kishin with no weapon in hand.
"A little fucking help would be nice!" She shouted, quickly jumping out of the way before a blade made any actual damage to the girl. She couldn't move as fast as she could, not with her arm still wounded and her leg still hurting like hell.
"Oh, yeah..." she heard Black*Star snap his fingers as if he finally realized his mission, "Soul's here too, he's looking for you."
Maka didn't know if she was going to live long enough to kill Black*Star, who was clearly oblivious to the fact that she was still trying to fend off the beast by herself. "I fucking know that already, get your ass over here and help, or so help me..." She didn't get to finish, sliding underneath the monster in time to be able to dodge another too close for comfort attack.
From behind the beast, she kicked him hard on the side of the face, causing the pre-kishin to crash towards a building.
"You're actually pretty good." Black*Star said, nodding towards the monster that was getting up already. "But you're taking forever to kill it."
"Then by all means, show me how!" Maka retorted, her sarcasm clearly not noticed to the man.
Black*Star only smirked, his blade already on his hands as he waited for the pre-kishin to attack. "Let me show you how the Great Black*Star does it, you'll be amazed."
Maka wanted to strangle the guy as she tried to catch her breath. She would make it a point to kill the man before he decided she needed any more of this special "Black*Star exclusive training" of his. Poor Tsubaki... She thought sympathetically as she tried to imagine what the black-haired girl had to deal with.
"Oi! Are you watching!" Black*Star shouted, disappearing in the darkness as he quickly used his long blade to cut the demon in half, a spark of lightning emitting from the blade. "Soul menace!"
She saw the beast's whole body start to glow, a quick flash of blue swarming around it, before blood splattered out from its wound.
Black*Star smiled at her proudly, as if he was the one who had taken the whole beast down. "That's how you do it!" he shouted, two thumbs up towards Maka.
Her mouth was gaped open, not out of amazement or shock, but mainly due to the fact that the man in front of her could have killed the damn thing a long time ago... but instead, he left her to deal with it alone for a huge while. Her vein was throbbing and her hand was itching for a book; just where the hell did she leave her gym bag again? There was a good book in there for her to use to clobber the guy.
"No words, huh?" he shrugged as he turned away from Maka, the latter still trying to absorb everything that just happened. "Hmm, wonder where Soul's at?"
Before Maka could say anything else, a scythe was thrown directly towards the blue-haired man, but Black*Star dodged it just in time.
"Hey! That almost hit me!" he shouted, pointing towards a shadow walking towards them, red eyes reflected frustration.
"That was the point!" Soul shouted back, a flick of his hand and the scythe was back at his hands, "Remind me to hang you from your toes outside of Shibusen for a month!"
Black*Star only waved Soul away wearily. "Relax, we killed the Kishin Egg Soul, and its yours to eat if you want." He nudged towards the red orb still floating around the area where the monster had been.
"Don't change the topic! Next time you get a mission like this, make sure to know something called STEALTH!" Soul shouted, a vein already popping out of his head; he was getting a headache just talking to the assassin.
"Geesh, you think you would be happy that I brought her," he nudged towards Maka, who was still eyeing the whole scene, reality snapping back when she heard Black*Star mention her, "that way she could see some real life training."
"This was training to you!?" Maka shouted, her hand clenching into fist, "You dragged me out here, I almost got shot, fed to a kishin, nearly raped, and to top the cherry on this whole mess, what the fuck do you mean we killed that thing?! I did all the hard work!"
"Hey, I killed it, and I needed to know if you were a reliable partner for Soul." Black*Star smiled at her, two thumbs up in her direction. "You passed, you got the Great Black*Star's approval."
Maka had enough, as she quickly stomped towards the supposed assassin, "Maka Chop!" she shouted, driving a wooden board she found hard onto the blue-haired man thick skull.
Soul let out a sigh at the sight, he now had an unconscious Black*Star to drag home. Turning towards Maka, he made his scythe disappear, "You okay?"
Maka was panting, her whole body was completely sore and her leg and arm were killing her. "I just want to go home," she muttered, turning towards him.
Soul raised an eyebrow at the girl, his eyes going towards her makeshift tourniquet on her right arm, and he noted how she was limping a bit from her left leg as she muttered a few curses at the unconscious man. "Might have to get those checked by Kim when we get back, and we'll have to get you a new phone too."
Maka's shoulders stiffened as she remembered what happened to her phone. Turning towards Soul, she held her hands up as if she was praying, "I'm sooo sorry! I'll pay you back for the phone!"
Soul couldn't help but let out a chuckle as he dragged Black*Star by the collar, eyeing the girl who looked at him in confusion. "C'mon, let's get home and report this to Lord Death." He was about to walk away when he realized something, snapping his fingers he dropped Black*Star on the ground.
Maka stared at him as he walked towards the red orb still floating, he muttered something quick as he got the orb and swallowed it whole. "S-soul?" Maka asked, rather confused at the gesture.
Soul only sighed in content as he walked towards Black*Star; picking him up by the collar once more, he began to walk towards the train stop. Peering over to Maka, who was slightly limping, but still looking at him, waiting for an answer. "Explain later," he muttered, a smirk on his face as the girl only nodded, a small pout on her lips. "Don't worry, babe. I won't hide any secrets from you..."
Maka stuck out her tongue at Soul as she continued to walk next to him. "I don't care if you keep any secrets, unless it's about my life, then I would like to know." She pouted, turning her eyes away from him.
"Whatever you say, babe," he chuckled, too tired to argue with her as they headed home.
It had been a long day, and all Soul and Maka wanted to do was go to home and rest, and the rest of the way back home was made in a comfortable silence; the two content with just their presence.
"Oh..." Soul muttered, after they dropped Black*Star off at Tsubaki's, the girl smiling up at them apologetically, "Almost forgot."
Maka waited for him to continue. She was relieved that Tsubaki was able to heal up her wounded arm and leg from a quick potion Kim had given her for Black*Star.
"We got the okay, we're going back home to your world in four days." He was expecting Maka to smile, or at the most thank him - what he didn't expect was for Maka to squeal with joy and pull him into a tight embrace.
"Oh my gosh!" She let out a small laugh, "Thank you, Soul!"
Soul let out a small chuckle, his arms wrapping around the girl's waist, burying his face in her neck. "No problem." he muttered, his breath hitting her neck.
Maka blushed as she pulled herself away, yet Soul's hand still held on to hers. They continued like that the whole walk home, with Maka unsure why her heart was beating rapidly at a gesture that he would always do.
Calm down, Maka. She took in a deep breath. Remember what you said …. you can't ever fall in love with someone like him.
I'm really sorry about the long wait guys, but seriously, some personal things came up. I recently moved into a new apartment, had to plan both my kid's birthday party (that went great BTW), along with Halloween and Thanksgiving (I hope you guys had a great Halloween and Thanksgiving!) and... I'm expecting another baby, and I'm due in Feb 21!
So I can honestly say, that this entire time has been hectic, with having to put college back on hold, getting let go from my job, trying to find another job, raising two kids, planning their birthday party, and getting things ready for my lil' one on the way... things have been pretty stressful. P
lus not to mention, my beta-writer is also very busy with work and the holidays as well, so yeah. Anyways, hope u guys liked the Chapter, and I know I posted up in my profile that Chapter 10 would be up by now too, but like I said, things have been a bit hectic, that I haven't even finished chapter 10, BUT! It is almost finished, and soon my beta-writer is going to have her vacation and she can revise and edit it to have it up for u guys in no time, I hope.
Please review! :)
-KiddieXx
*****NOTE: Though I appreciate EVERY review and message all those who take the time to write them, please refrain from telling me how I should make my story, or how I should change it just to fit that one person's prefrence. For a certain someone who will remain anonymous, NO, I am not changing the story plot to be Kidd and Maka, it's strictly Soul and Maka. And for the other person, NO, I am not going to make Maka into a death metal head girl who is emo and crap just because you like death metal and being emo. I'm sorry, but this is my story, if you really want to write about a Kidd and Maka FanFic or Maka being a death metal head girl who cuts and is emo, then please write your own fanfiction story. I'm sure it would be great.*******