This is just a little idea I came up with upon noticing that there is little to no information on the friendship between Maka and Kid. It's a two shot, one all about Maka and the other all about Kid, cause both are going to be seriously long. Quick warning btw, these are going up raw, so I'll try and get them edited as soon as possible. I'm just tired and so glad to actually have something completed for once...

As you'll find, I establish with details –some subtle, some not– the exact extend to how close these two currently are based on the manga and the anime in my own opinion, but I leave it up to you to decide where this goes. I want everyone to note, however, that there is NO romance involved here, just an idea of what kind of relationship these two might have since it's not yet officially established and probably won't be greatly touched on (like the subject of Maka's mother). However, I've put in tiny implications that such a thing could happen later on as they grow closer, just as it could with any of the other characters, so I encourage all readers to take this in any direction you want.

I don't care if you want to work your own story off of this, all I would ask is that you just remember to give credit where it's due. It's mainly just for fun anyway, so please enjoy :3, and if it gets confusing for you, please don't be afraid to ask and I'll answer all of you in the review section. Or send me a personal pm and I'll answer back. Either way, I'll answer any and everything as long as it's nothing rude or stupid. No offense to you, but if it's obvious, why ask?

One last request! If you hate it, then DON'T READ IT. I'm talking to you, trolls and idiots. Stay off my god damn lawn or you will regret it. Everyone else can leave helpful critiques if they like. I appreciate suggestions and advice where its due. I'm here to improve my skills after all.

Part 1

Was I seeing right?

It looked like Death the Kid was standing right inside my doorway all alone... but why? He never came over by himself.

There was a good reason for that though. Patty and Liz usually kept him straight when he had a symmetry tantrum. There was just no one else who could do so. It was kind of the same reason I always took Soul with me everywhere, except that for us it was because we couldn't fight alone. The dependency had the same principle if not the situation.

So why was he here?

"Kid, hey!" I greeted him, allowing him to step inside, but I think my apprehension was plain as day. "I wasn't expecting you. Is something up?"

Dammit, he should have called me. I always made serious preparations whenever I was expecting him because I didn't want to give him a symmetry heart attack and make everyone else's day miserable as a result. That and he was from a prestigious family. His blood was even nobler than Soul's was. I was always afraid that if the place wasn't immaculate, he'd be offended in some way or find me sloppy or lazy. Why, Kid? Why must you do this to me?

"Nah, just thought it would be nice to hang out." He replied, taking off his shoes at the door.

"Hang out?" I repeated. Well that was new. So he just wanted to chill at my place just the two of us? Since when?

Let it never be said that we were not good friends, but even so, it was more of a casual friendship than anything. We were battle buddies, classmates, just acquaintances learned of through an awkward incident with our partners, nothing more than that. We were good friends because after the fight Soul and Black*Star had picked with him, Tsubaki and I went to apologize as their partners and things just blossomed for everyone from there. Despite that, however, our only common ground was our soul perception. Otherwise, we never really had any reason to be close. Hell, he had more of an attachment to Soul than to me. So, again, why was he here? Was there something I was missing?

He turned to me with a raised brow and an almost knowing smirk that told me hiding my anxiety was in vain. "Yeah. What, is that not allowed? Or are you just worried because I came over unexpectedly and you haven't had a chance to clean up?"

What, was he inside my head now? "What makes you say that?"

"Oh, I don't know, the way your soul is pulsing with nervousness? It always does that when you feel like a bad hostess." Ah, the beauty of being able to read souls. God dammit. I openly sighed in defeat at being found out so easily and his smirk widened. "Don't sweat it, Maka, its fine. You're a neat freak. This place is always exceptionally neat and tidy whether you're expecting guests or not."

I narrowed my eyes. "You'd better not be just saying that or so help me, shinigami or not, I will Maka Chop you square in the balls."

He laughed, knowing full well that I would do it as I have done to Black*Star in the past when he pissed me off enough, but also that I was joking about it in that context. "Trust me. I may come from a ridiculously wealthy family, but my passion is not cleanliness, its symmetry."

I smiled back and headed into the living area. "Hence the reason you should always call before you come over." I know he just said it was fine, but the kitchen was a bit of a mess and I didn't want him to know that. That was the role of a good hostess.

I heard him chuckle as I showed him where he could make himself comfortable. "Its fine, Maka, really. You don't need to go to such lengths just to impress me. We are friends after all; it's not going to bug me if the place isn't completely spotless and perfect. Besides, if Soul can live with it this well, I think I can too."

I scoffed at that. "Don't you butter me up. You and Soul are not even remotely the same in that regard."

"Oh, you think so?"

"I think I know so. Soul may have been born swimming in wealth, but your family is like THE national treasure. Individually from your father, you have way more money than his family can even dream of. I can only take wild imaginary guesses in the dark at the unfathomable financial state of your family's bank account as a whole."

"Whatever you say, then." He chuckled casually as though my guess was entirely wrong, but I'm pretty damn sure I'm right that he's the richest kid in the entire universe. His gaze darted around at the new arrangement of the dormitory and my brain was screaming at me to just make the damn preparations whether he was here or not before he went batshit crazy on me, but another part of me was telling my brain to shut the hell up and follow the guidelines of a good hostess or else risk having him go batshit crazy on me anyway. "Speaking of Soul, where is he? Blair, too. Are you alone?"

"For the time being." I replied, watching him sit down on the sofa. "Blair is out doing whatever a cat does and Soul's at the school serving his detention time for being an idiot in class if you recall."

"Oh that's right. He and Black*Star... they certainly make an... interesting team, don't they?"

"That's for sure." I shook my head, not even bothering to conceal my annoyance at the scandal they had made. Then I remembered my role and turned to look at him with a polite gaze. "Can I get you anything? I bought a new brand of tea yesterday, or I can make something."

"No need, I'm fine as I am now. Sit with me. Unless you're in the middle of something, that is."

Well, I kind of was, but letting a guest over, even if they were just a friend, and having them know you're doing dishes when it wasn't because of something you made them... just didn't sit right with me. So, for lack of a better reply, I plopped down on the chair across from him. "So... what's up?" Wow. So this is how we actually were? I never knew just how weird being alone with him would be. Usually our weapons, at least, were present, but this time it was just the meisters, just the two of us. I don't know about him, but it made things... kind of awkward on my end. Guess I really didn't know him as well as I thought I did. "Why aren't Patty and Liz with you?"

His smile dropped and he looked away with what looked to me like a lonely expression. "They're off shopping with Kim, Jacqueline, and few other girls. Said it was a woman's day out thing and guys weren't allowed or something to that effect. Things... got too quiet in the mansion, so I thought I'd pay someone a visit since I wasn't busy."

Then why the hell did you come here? I didn't need some rich boy in my dorm to entertain for the afternoon. "You thought to visit me instead of Black*Star first? You guys are close, aren't you?"

"We are, but Black*Star and Tsubaki are... well busy."

I raised a brow. What the hell did that mean? "Busy as in training?" He'd better not be implying other non-normal activities for those two or I would have to kick the Black Demon in the balls and berate Tsubaki for not telling me later.

"Yeah, some weird new training exercise they were trying out that involved attempting to rip trees from the ground..." From his face I could tell this confused him as much as it did me.

I sighed quietly in relief. Tsubaki was my best friend. She wouldn't just not tell me if she had feelings for someone. Right? "Soooooooooo, I'm basically your last resort?"

He flinched a little as I said it and knew he was about to feed me bullshit to attempt to make up for it. "No... my last resort would have been hanging out with Stein at the school."

Of course, Kid, of course. Your mouth said one thing but the fact that your looking away from me guiltily says another. Guess he didn't know me that well either. Not that I can't imagine why, seeing as we've never been close before so I have no reason to be resentful, but still. That hurts.

I stared back at him skeptically, but I didn't want to snap at him. Control was my motto. So I played it off like I wasn't as resentful as I felt. "That's one serious last resort, Kid. Still, though, what exactly are you expecting to happen here with me? A study party like the one that failed last week?"

I think he knew that I could see right through him without even looking at his soul, but he continued to play along anyway. "No... since that was my fault, it's probably better to steer clear of another incident, not that I wouldn't help you if you were having trouble with something though. I just thought... since we don't really know much about each other... that this was a good opportunity to learn."

Ok, wasn't expecting that. I was genuinely surprised. He wanted to get to know me better? Was the world coming to an end? "So you basically just came over to play twenty questions about our lives?"

He grinned sheepishly. "I guess I did."

Really? Hm... I usually made it a point not to glance at the souls of those I was close to because I wanted to be able to read them without looking. In this case, I broke that rule and decided to peek, only to find myself even more surprised. He genuinely noticed that there was almost nothing between us but a casual friendship, and he wanted to deepen it. Hm... should I stay resentful or not?

Alright, I'll admit it. I was kind of flattered by that. Ok, maybe a lot. Too bad it took him this long, but guys were slow like that, and since he saw the gap between us for what it was I'll let it slide. It would be nice to finally get to know him a little more anyway.

I smiled at him and let myself fully relax into my chair. "Alright, I'm game." He smiled back at me, but before he could reply, we heard the timer go off in the kitchen and I realized I was still cooking dinner. "But first, let me finish the dishes and the food."

Now that things were out in the open, I could let him follow me into the kitchen without feeling uneasy, which was something I could usually only do with those people that I felt the most comfortable with, like Soul, Blair, or Tsubaki. If we're going to get to know each other better, might as well let him see how the hostess does things around the house.

"Can I help with anything?" He asked after watching me for a few seconds. It almost sounded like he was as unsure about us being alone together as I was. If we were close like I was with Black*Star, Tsubaki, or even Soul, he would have probably immediately went straight for the dishes and let me handle the food. However, I suspect he was too used to having maids do things like that for him.

I had to smile. At least he was offering, but I really didn't want to deal with a symmetry tantrum by myself. "You don't have to. I'm almost done anyways."

Dinner was already done, so all I had to worry about was the dessert and cleaning up the last pile of dishes. Putting on a pair of oven mits, I pulled out the dessert that just finished baking in the oven and carefully laid it out over the stove. I closed the oven door and turned it off, and then put the mits back on and grabbed the pan again, only to realize that my hands were full. Oh dear.

"Open the fridge for me?" Sure, I could have just set the pan down and opened it for myself, but why not make use of an offer to help? I didn't want him to stand there and feel like he wasn't needed or welcome.

He didn't hesitate. He turned and grabbed the refrigerator door, holding it open so that I could set the pan in the spot I'd designated for it beforehand. "What is that? It looks awesome."

"My mother's special sugar cookie recipe." I smiled at them fondly. "I always make it on Sundays. And the round steak vegie burgers are Soul's personal request for today." Standing up, I moved over to the sink and grabbed the sponge and the closest dish.

"So Soul likes steak, does he?" Kid followed me again.

"Well, it's not his favorite, but he seems to like how I make it. I don't know why. Tsubaki's cooking is so much better than mine."

"Your cooking is just fine, Maka, Tsubaki's just got more experience on you. We all enjoy whatever the two of you make, especially if you made it together."

"Pft, you're so sweet." I've never had someone compliment me and then put it like that. It made it sound less like flattery, which was easier to appreciate. Oh who am I kidding? I'm so easily flattered it's ridiculous! And of course people have said it like that before, but admittedly I liked it when they put it that way. "To be honest, I think he just likes eating round steak because of our inside joke."

"What inside joke?"

I put the dish in the drainer and paused, letting out a little chuckle as the thought of that joke filled my head. "It's terrible... but you know round steak comes from the backside of the cow, right?"

He shrugged. "Sure, everyone knows that."

"No, not everyone," I said as I grabbed another dish, "Soul didn't."

"That's surprising."

"Not really. If I'm an idiot when it comes to music, then Soul is naïve when it comes to food. He can cook, but only because Tsubaki and I taught him everything his skills in the kitchen will allow."

"So he does cook then?"

"Yep, we cook in turns."

"I'm curious, then. Have you ever tried to teach Black*Star?"

Now there was a disaster that I didn't ever want to think about again. "Oh god, don't get me started. That dumbshit can't cook if his life depended on it. Here we are, trying to show him how to make a simple stir fry, and he's pouring fucking soap in it because he thinks its honey and he can't read Kanji labels! So poor Tsubaki has to do all the work in their dorm."

He chuckled next to me as he watched the dishes pile up in the drainer. "I figured that was the case. Typical Black*Star."

I saw his desire to help and felt kind of bad for trying to leave him out. But no, I can't cave. I don't want to unleash the symmetry monster in my dorm. But even as I tried to convince myself of this, I felt the sympathy card slowly playing my heart. Don't cave, don't cave, you don't want to deal with a catastrophe, don't give in... "You can dry them and put them away if you want." Oh fuck me in a mote with the alligators. Well, might as well make use of him.

At first he looked excited to be of use, but then he looked lost as he stared at the pile up. I don't know if Liz or Patty even knew how to do dishes or if he was ever taught, but maybe it was time he learned. If he broke anything, I could easily just have Blair repair it with magic.

So I pointed out the dish towel to him, told him to dry each dish completely or it would mold in the cupboard and I'd have to have Blair work her magic to repair it, and then showed him where everything went. He got it fairly quickly, probably because of his symmetrical habits, which I was pleased with. I love it when people are easy to teach. Maybe he'd be more useful around the dorm than Soul was. I just hoped his symmetry obsession wouldn't get in the way. I could already see him organizing things as he went and frowned, but I'd worry about it later. It was better than Black*Star's unholy methods that broke every dish in he touched.

"Ok, so where were you going with the round steak thing again?" He said once he fell into the rhythm with me.

"Oh right!" I exclaimed as it filled my head again and I went on with a smile brightening my face again. "Well, I made round steak one night a few days after we first met and as we were eating, suddenly he goes 'This doesn't taste like regular steak, what is this?' and I said 'It's like any other steak, taste and texture. Why?' He's all 'Can't be, it doesn't taste the same!' and I said 'You do know that you can make steak from different parts of a cow, right?' And he goes 'You can...?' I was like 'Yes, Soul, you can.' And he was all like 'Oh... so then what part is this made from?' 'The backside.' And I swear his pupils dilated in disgust and he was like 'You mean I'm eating cow ass?' I almost had a nose spray, 'Ass cheek, to be precise.' I said. He goes all quiet and for a minute I thought he was gonna throw his plate at me, but then he says '...Huh... never knew ass cheek could taste so good.' And he proceeds to keep eating it. So now, he calls round steak cow ass cheek. 'Let's eat some ass cheek!' 'Here, have some ass cheek!'"

He shook his head and chuckled. "Too funny. Never knew ass cheek could taste so good... that has a terrible double meaning to it."

"Oh, that's only half of it. The next night I made those burgers for the first time, he asked me what it was made of and when I told him, do you wanna know what he said to me?"

"What?"

"Look! I have Assburgers!"

He almost dropped the dish in his hands as he burst out laughing. "That is terrible!"

"That's Soul for you." I grinned as I watched him try to catch his breath and finished the last of the dishes in the sink.

It took him a good minute and he was still smiling afterwards, but he eventually calmed down enough to finish the task I'd given him. "And may I say that you imitate him a little too well."

"Well I do live and fight with the guy. I'd be worried if I couldn't." I said as I cleaned and dried the counter off.

"True." And then we fell into concentration, just trying to get the task done.

There wasn't a lot to do, but after we had finished he continued to go through all of the kitchen cupboards and organize things to his liking. He even busted out the measuring tape and a ruler and a couple other things I didn't know he was stashing away. Seriously, Kid? Did you have to? Of course you did. What a stupid question.

This was what I had wanted to avoid. If I tried to stop him now, it would haunt him, and then I would have to try to sleep with the fear that when I woke up the next day I would find the entire dorm room rearranged. Even now, I would have to worry that if I tried to put things back to my liking, he would check every day and organize it all again. The only thing I could do was standby quietly and watch until he was done, hoping he wouldn't continue on to other parts of the room. What a nightmare.

Man, I really didn't want to deal with this... At least he was careful not to break anything. I'd rather have someone with careful hands go through my things than someone who was too impatient to take their time.

Once he was done with the kitchen, he stood back to admire his handiwork and he let out a sigh of contentment like he'd just built a great Egyptian monument. "A job well done! Feels good, it really does!" Kid, I shudder to think of what you consider a job well done. Now please don't move on to the other parts of the room. He turned to me, his face almost glowing with pride in his work, saw the trepidation in my own face, and then his ear-to-ear grin faded. "What? Oh no, did I miss a spot?" Immediately he checked everything five times over, measured it four times in six different ways even, only to find no mistake in his work. "Hm, I don't see anything out of place..."

I slapped my forehead in exasperation. "Kid... Please, please tell me you're not going to come over every day and check my whole house now..."

"Perfect symmetry is the greatest thing in the world, Maka!" I heard him chirp so cheerfully it made my stomach plunge. "You can't deny that your kitchen looks so much better for it now!"

I groaned and proceeded to check everything myself, just to make sure nothing got lost. To my amazement, everything was in perfect order, all in plain sight, and nothing out of place. I guess it was a good thing he didn't know much about kitchens. Everything was exactly where I told him it should be, except now it was perfectly organized. Shit, I could pay him for this.

Sighing, I turned to him, reluctant to admit it, but as long as it was all within the confines of how I wanted it, I guess I couldn't complain. "Well... it is kinda nice to have everything so organized for once..."

He grabbed me around the shoulders with one arm and as he gestured to the entire area, I noticed the blush of excitement from his work. Oh Jesus, what have I done? "You see? Symmetry is everything!"

Well I wouldn't go that far, but why destroy his happy little world? I'll admit it, he's kind of cute like this, but I'm still deeply annoyed. "Right..." I need to distract him now before he got to the rest of my dorm and things got way out of hand. I left his arm and went to grab from the fridge a plate of assorted dips and cheeses and other things for a box of crackers that Tsubaki and I had made a few days ago, then turned to him, hoping the food would keep his attention. "Come on, we have a deep conversation to get to, so let's go sit back down. Since you know what's in my kitchen now, you can grab whatever you want to drink."

I turned to go set the plate down in the living area, listening to him take as he pleased and organize as he went, and I shook my head in dismay. I'm pretty sure I've released the monster into my dorm. Lovely.

I left the plate and returned to the kitchen to grab a glass of iced raspberry tea for myself, hoping I wasn't going to find him trying to make the rest of the dormitory into more of his idea of perfection, and saw him with a plastic cup of Soul's favorite orange-peach flavored sunny delight. Huh, so he liked that kind of thing too? Or maybe he was just taking what looked best since we didn't have a whole lot in the beverage options department right now. Hope Soul won't mind...

"Hey, Maka," He said thoughtfully, taking a sip as he lingered in the hallway and waited for me to walk back with him, "I have a feeling I know more about you than you do about me. Wanna take the first round of questions?"

I looked at him curiously, knowing that he was probably right, and turned back to pour the tea and think about what I should ask. Truth be told, there was a lot I wanted to know, but only so many questions could be asked and answered at a time. Maybe I should hold off for now. If he already knew as much about me as he claimed, then his questionnaire should be relatively short and it would give me time to think about mine. "Nah, you go first. It might take too long to get to me if we start with you, so ask away now before you forget."

A comfortable silence fell between us as he thought about it. I returned to my seat and took a long sip of my tea as though it would make the fear of watching my dorm fall to the symmetry beast go away. Gasping as I came back, I reached into a cabinet to fish out the crackers and organize them onto the plate with the assortments and realized that he hadn't sat down yet. What was he doing?

Looking up, I saw him gazing at the photos on the mantel, and instantly my mind panicked. 'Please don't organize them, please don't organize them, please...' If he did that, there was no hope of keeping the rest of my dorm safe. But as I stared and mentally pleaded with him, after a moment I realized that he wasn't going to. One of those photos in particular had caught his eye. The perfect distraction.

He gingerly grasped it in his fingers and brought it closer, handling it with great care, soaking in the image with a gentle expression I don't think I've ever seen him with before. "Is this your family?" His tone was soft as he asked, recognizing it for the precious memory it was.

I knew which picture he was looking at before I even got up to look. It was the family portrait of me, my parents, and an extra member we adopted later on. "Yep. That's all of us. Me, Papa, Mama, and Sasha." I said as I came up behind him, resting an arm on his shoulder as I gazed with him. A toddler version of me sat in a much younger version of dad's lap and mom had her arms wrapped around a young teenage girl with reddish hair and cloudy odd colored eyes. All of us were dressed in casual semi-formal attire for the occasion, and we were smiling as though those were the happiest days of our lives.

His eyes instantly fell on mom first, and I knew why. We were practically identical. Her hair was the same color as mine but much longer, about waist length, usually in a neat braid, and it had a natural wave and curl to it that I always envied. I may have inherited her color, but I got dad's texture. I had also inherited her eyes, but I'm told I look like my dad in the face. There was one thing that really bugged me even now, though…

"Wow, I can't get over how much you and your mom look alike. Although she's much more... uhm..."

I saw him trying to search for the right words and instantly regretting trying to mention it, and knew what he wanted to say. I sighed. "Big breasted? Yeah I know..." It was true. Mom had always been a very voluptuous woman, but I don't know what that meant for me, seeing as I had yet to inherit that part of the gene pool. Not that I was mortified, or anything. I didn't actually want to be quite that... oh, what's the word... busty?

His eyes widened as though he thought he'd implied something that insulted me. "I... I didn't mean..."

I shook my head and gave him a weak smile. "It's ok, I know. I just hope the genes will pass on one day. I would really hate to be flat chested for the rest of my life."

"That... that wasn't what I was going to say..." There was that blush again. I guess even for gods the topic of sex or anything implying it was ticklish. I wanted to tell him it was ok again, but he managed to beat me to it with something that surprised the heck out of me, although he looked a lot more sheepish about it. "Your only thirteen, I'm sure you'll grow into your body at some point..."

It's not something I haven't heard before, but I didn't get it often. It was usually people hoping for me out of pity, or people like Soul making fun of me for it. Even though he was totally out of his element, he somehow managed to make it sound genuine. Something about the fact that it was coming from him, someone I didn't know that well, made it... well, a lot more flattering.

I felt my smile growing as I watched him scan each face with interest, probably hoping to change the subject as fast as possible before he said something too awkward, and land on the unfamiliar face of the girl in mom's arms next. "I didn't know you had an older sister."

I stared down at the face of the young teenage girl and smiled fondly. "Well, not by blood. She used to babysit me all the time when I was small. She was always there when we needed her, and she spent more time with us than at her own home, so she quickly became a cherished part of the family."

I saw the look on his face fall. "...She abandoned her own family for you guys?"

My own smile fell as we met gazes and I had to look away. "...It... it wasn't like that... It was just... safer for her to be with us." It was still a little sore to talk about for me having just recently learned of it myself, but he deserved the best explanation I could give him.

"Safer...?" A single word and its profound and terrifying meaning past between us mentally: abuse. There was no need to say it even if we were complete strangers. We both just knew. "Is that how...?"

Once again, he didn't need to say it for me to understand. "Yes. That's why she's blind. Both of her parents have passed on, but... she's ok now." My smile finally returned as I thought of her most recent letter to me. "She's living very happily with her fiancé and his kid."

"That's good at least..." That seemed to help him rest easier too, because he returned the relieved smile as he placed the frame back on its place on the shelf. "So I take it she and her family are not in Death City?"

I saw him going to move in to organize my memory mantel and knew I had to stop him. No way in hell was I letting this monstrosity go beyond the kitchen. So I grabbed him by the arm as politely as I could and dragged him back into his seat on the sofa. "Nope! She's living in New Zealand right now. We exchange letters every two weeks or so. I tell her everything, including about you and the others, and I'm definitely gonna tell her all about you and me getting to know each other."

I'm not sure whether he was letting me lead him along or if I really was pulling his strings, but I was glad he didn't fight me. He just sat down and settled as I was hoping he would. Thank you, God...

"Is that so? Does that mean she knows about the incident where you asked Black*Star to punch you?" By the smirk on his face, I'd say he looked distracted. Good.

I grinned as I sat back down across from him and took another sip of my tea. "Of course she does. How could I not mention that? I even had Soul take a picture of the bruise as proof and sent it to her just so she could remind me of the stupidity of it. She knows all about that and a lot of other things, including things I don't tell other people, even Soul and Tsubaki."

His smile faded for a moment. "You haven't told her about anything classified or things that might bring harm to her and her family, have you?"

I raised a brow at him. "What, you doubt me? Of course not. I'm a star pupil DWMA student and Spartoi agent. She understands that what I do has its dangers and that I have to keep certain things from her. She deals with the same from Papa, too. She's not a nosy person. It's not a big deal for her to keep out of official business."

He breathed a sigh as though he'd been holding his breath. Come on, Kid, give me a little more credit. I know I've done stupid things before but I'm not that naïve. "That's good, I'd hate to see anything happen to someone who's probably been through enough already. Has she said anything about me, by the way?"

I rolled my eyes in good humor. I knew he would ask that. "She's a little unsure about the symmetry problem and she hopes I won't catch it, but she says she thinks you'll be a good influence on me."

From the look on his face, I'd say he was happy to hear that. "I see, and have I been?"

"I think so," I shrugged, "At least you follow the rules more than Black*Star does. Keeps me from falling in behind that menace."

He laughed as he put his drink down and grabbed one of the treats off the plate. "Do you keep in contact with your mom too? The divorce was only a few months ago, right?"

"Of course! Well, it's more like she keeps in contact with me."

"What do you mean?"

I put my drink on the table as well and devoured one of the treats from the plate, sighing contentedly at the memory. "When Mama left, she decided it was time to fulfill her dream of seeing the world, and she immediately took the soonest plane to the nearest country over. She sends me postcards whenever she's done seeing a new place."

Kid just stared back at me with a rather confused look on his face. "She just... left? Was there no battle for custody or anything?"

"No need. Papa may have custody of me, but he doesn't control my life. I follow DWMA rules only." In other words, I was completely independent of him, and I knew how to take care of myself. I didn't need some perverted old man watching my back.

He continued to stare at me, his second treat paused in mid journey to his palette, watching me with curiosity in his amber gaze. "Hm... somehow I get the feeling Kami's rules are still enforced in this dorm room."

I giggled and grinned excitedly, probably a little more than necessary but I didn't care. I'm not so sure it's true, but oh how happy that comment made me. I know I looked like her, but to actually hear that I might be like her, my idol... It just made my heart flutter. I'm sure I'm blushing like crazy about it right now. I've been told this before, and it never fails to make me giddy with joy.

He smiled at my reaction to his comment. "And now I know how to make your day." The cracker disappeared into his mouth as I grabbed another one for myself, nodding at him vigorously.

"Never fails!" I munched happily. Suddenly I wasn't afraid of the symmetry monster anymore.

"Good to know." He grinned after swallowing. A thought seemed to flash across his face, a thought that he seemed reluctant to share, but he looked at me anyway, his face suddenly turning semi-serious. "I know it's probably a little soon to ask this, but... would you mind if I asked you a more personal question? It's been kind of bugging me for a while now."

My happy mood faltered a little at the ideas rushing through my head when he asked. "Uh, well, depends. What kind of question?"

"It's... about your father." He saw my face fall and his hands flew up defensively. "I'm sorry, never mind, I knew I shouldn't have asked."

I gazed at him for a second with indecisive eyes as he tried to save himself, thinking I would snap at him for even thinking about mentioning the old man, until finally curiosity won me over and I just had to know. I'm sure he meant no harm by it, whatever it was, and maybe he deserved an answer. "...What about him?"

His hands lowered at the tone of my voice and he gazed back at me, surprised that I would allow him to get anywhere near the subject when we were hardly close enough to be asking such things. Honestly, as far as the gap between us stretched, I felt sure enough of his intentions to trust him with it. With the curiosity in my gaze, I gave him the incentive to ask away. He looked hesitant at first, but eventually the desire to know got the best of him and he just tossed it out there on the table for me to look at: "Look, I know why you... dislike him, to put it mildly... but I have to wonder if those are your true feelings. Your soul suggests otherwise to me every time I check. So... do you really hate him or what?"

I sighed. I knew that was what he was going to ask, and it was a fair enough question. It was just... not an easy one to answer. I leaned back in my seat and fixed my gaze on the plate of crackers and dip, trying to think of an answer to give. Honestly, I'm not entirely sure of it myself yet, but perhaps it was time to put a reason to it. "Well... I suppose it's more like my respect for him is down the drain. He's just such a damn flirt, and it's infuriating. Mama always told him it upset her and he did it anyway, so instead of putting up with his shit, she rid herself of it. It's just... frustrating, and it feels like every guy I meet is a pig-headed, perverted, idiotic slob like that to some extent and I don't trust any of them. No offense, of course."

"None taken..." He looked as though he suddenly understood my entire personality for the first time, and I could see him observing my soul as I spoke, which helped explain it to him easier than with just words. The language of the soul was useful like that. "So you don't actually hate him."

"I..." I sighed again. Damn this was hard to admit. With everyone else like Soul, Blair, Tsubaki, and Black*Star, I'd never had to actually verbally admit it before. They just understood. Either that or they were like Kilik and Ox and they avoided ever asking like the plague. To put it into words... I don't know if it's the most difficult thing I've ever done, but it's up there with the best of them. I struggled just to find the right words before I settled for just saying it like it is. I don't know how well Kid could understand how I felt, but if I can trust him with my life in battle, I think I can manage trusting him with the truth of my soul. He could see it right now so there was no way I was lying to him anyway. "No. In my heart, I don't. He's my Papa, how can I hate him? I just... can't respect him anymore. Not after what he did to Mama."

He seemed to understand better than I thought he would. He nodded and relaxed in his seat, glad for the chance to finally understand the things that drove me forward and make me act the way I did. I'm sure my fear of his symmetry obsession was suddenly in the light right now for him in more ways than one. "But you picked a male partner. Did Soul just make you feel like you could trust him more than any other man you've ever met?"

I was finally able to meet his gaze again, relieved beyond words that he understood without judging me or taking offense. "I guess he did. Maybe it was the piece he played for me when we first met, or maybe it was something else… but I just felt that he was the right person. We didn't bond right away, of course, but it didn't take long either. We just fit together that well. I can't speak for his true motives of choosing me, but I'm pretty sure the feeling was mutual."

He smiled as though he had me figured out now. "I'm guessing you decided to attend the academy to be more like Kami, right?"

"Of course!" I grinned back. It was an easy motive to see, but I wouldn't be where I was if it wasn't for my mother. Some would say I worshipped the ground she walked on, and I guess in a way I did, but that's not all it was. Out of everyone I knew, I just loved, admired, and respected her the most. "I want to be just like Mama! But I have to be myself too, obviously."

His smile widened as he noticed just how well the very mention of my mother seemed to work on me. "I'm flattered that you would trust me with this despite that we're not that well acquainted. I would have expected you to be more difficult about it than this."

I grabbed another cracker, happy again even after talking about my father. He may bring me down, but nothing raises me back up like Mama. "I guess you've proven to me how reliable and respectable you can actually be. I trust you with my well-being in battle, and now I feel I can trust you with personal life matters as well." I saw the look of pride on his face and shook my cracker at him. "Don't count yourself out of the dog house yet. I still don't know what you're like with women."

He held his arms out in inquiry, the grin evident on his face. "And this isn't enough for you? What about Patty and Liz?"

"They're your partners, they don't count, and we're just friends so that doesn't count either."

"Oh, come on, Maka, I'm doing the best I can here!"

"Nope, sorry, gotta see you in the dating world first."

"So there is still more I have to do, is there? What do you even look for in a guy anyway?"

I grinned and shoved the cracker into my mouth so that I didn't have to respond, signaling that there was nothing else to say on the matter. He took the hint with a responding grin and a shake of his head and sipped from his sunny delight.

A brief silence fell upon us again, and I watched his brain work as he thought of more questions he could ask, but I was pretty sure there was nothing left. He already knew my birthdate, where I lived, all about my family, al about my partner, and all that stuff. What else was there to ask? I half expected him to turn and tell me it was my turn, but then I saw the semi-somber expression back on his face and, though he hesitated again to say it, he hit me with something else that made me nearly choke on my cracker. "Maybe... Hm... I probably shouldn't be telling you anything, Father always said we didn't need to tell anyone and that it could bring catastrophe... however, there are things I know about you that you may not know about yourself."

I chugged the last of my raspberry tea to wash the cracker down and looked at him with surprise on my face. "...Wha-what kind of things?" I know, I shouldn't be surprised. He was the son of Lord Death, the guy that basically ruled the world. He took on missions even Spartoi was not authorized for, and he did them alone. He didn't even need to be in the DWMA, he just attended because he wanted to. Why would he not know things like that about his fellow students? But that wasn't the point. What surprised me was the fact that he was practically offering to share what he knew. He had better not be offering to butter me up again. Even if I can't kick your ass in a fight, Kid, I can still sure as hell try.

He seemed to be reading me again because I found his next words seems to respond to my thoughts like he was in my head again. "Don't worry, I'm not offering to get in your better graces. I know better. I'm offering because... well... I think you deserve to know."

I wanted to open my soul perception back up and read him, but I needed to learn to trust him a little more. As much as I suspected he merely did just want to earn my favor, I knew I was jumping the gun. Without even checking his soul, I could sense he was being honest with me. So I relaxed in my seat and met his gaze with a little more trust than I would normally give him. "Like what, Kid?"

"Like where your mother is now and the theory of where the power of your courage really comes from."

Well now he had my complete attention. I didn't need to let him know to go on. My soul did it for me. He just saw it and continued without my saying anything, and he knew exactly where to start.

So how do you like it so far, hm? As I'm sure you noticed, I briefly touch on a character of mine, Sasha, that I made for the series and kept as originals later because I liked her that much. I've got a few others up my sleeve that I'll mention later, as it all revolves around the SE mythology I've created. I basically rewrote everything XD. Sorry Author of SE.

Maybe I'll turn it into a story? I don't know, I've never finished any of my stories so for right now I'll just focus on finishing oneshots cause those are a lot easier to stick with ^^'. Maybe I'll make another oneshot of what their romantic life might be? Maybe I'll do a Black*Star and Maka oneshot. An idea of getting them together as a couple entered my head a while ago so I might do that, and maybe do more oneshots of details never touched on with other characters. Who wants to see Patty's more personal side? XD I think that would be fun, maybe I'll do one like that sometime.

Btw, I have no proof readers or betas so I edited this the best that I could, but there will still be errors in it. If you feel like helping an author out, don't be afraid to point out my mistakes to me and give me the sentence or paragraph its in so I can find it. And if your one of those people you thinks I could improve my writing, I don't mind pointers, just don't get all up in my grill. No aspiring author appreciates bullshit from trolls. If you want us to get better, try to leave nice critiques and sound like you know what your talking about k? I hope you liked it. Reviews help me out a lot, and don't just give me your praise, give me advice too! Everyone needs a little help here and there. ^_^