"Come on, sleepyhead. You gotta get up now if we want to make it to the party." – Soul nudged his partner lightly who was still sleeping on his shoulder, snoring lightly and drooling on him a bit because she was breathing mainly through her mouth. The movie he had put in has long ended but he didn't have the heart to disturb Maka to put in another so he had just flicked to a random channel, which was still running in the background. It seemed she really needed her sleep.
Maka was never one to drool, it has always been the albino weapon. His meister always told him it was because he was still growing into his large set of pointy teeth. As if right on cue he slurped the little drool he had at the corner of his mouth as well. The sound of it brought Maka back to the land of the conscious.
"What time is it?" – she asked with a yawn and rubbed at her face, wiping the drool away from it in the process. When the wetness of it touched her hand she looked at it with a weird zoned out expression. – "Did you drool on me again?" – Maka complained, but her voice contained no anger or resentment for it. Soul laughed out at the accusation.
"No, dummy, you did that all on your own this time. It's ten past five by the way." – the red-eyed boy replied as he glance at the clock above their heads.
"I slept through the afternoon? We are going to be late!" – the ash-blond meister shot up to a full sitting position then proceeded to get up but swayed a little, having to catch herself on the armrest of the sofa. Damn, head-rush!
"Woah, Maka, are you alright?" – Soul exclaimed worried as he moved to catch her if needed.
"Yeah, just got up too quickly." – she shook it off with a smile and walked to her room.
The weapon partner groaned in frustration at his meister. Why does she insist on keeping him out? Something was clearly off that day. He couldn't dwell on it long though because seconds later he heard Maka's voice from her room.
"Soul!" – she called out and her partner panicked a bit, rushing to see what was wrong.
"Maka!" – he exclaimed as he burst through the door, clearly expecting her to be collapsed on the floor or something. Instead Soul found his meister in the middle of the room holding up two sets of bikinis in her hand, pouting as she kept glancing between them.
"I don't know which one to wear!" – Maka whined desperately, looking up at Soul for advice.
"Heh?" – the white-haired boy visibly deflated as the adrenalin rushed out of his system. He was relieved that nothing was wrong per se but God did she scare him for a minute there.
"Which one, Soul? Come on, help me out here, I have never been to the pool before." – she looked up at him with big green pleading eyes.
It was only now that the teenager looked at the choices at all. One was a green bikini with a ruffled tube top and cute small bottoms, the other was pink and looked like a few triangles that had been sewn together.
"Green one. It brings your eyes out and hides the fact that you are as flat as board." – Soul pointed at his chosen one after a few seconds. Maka's face contorted at that comment and she reached for the book on her night stand.
"Maka-Chop!" – she yelled and smacked her partner in the head right in the middle, causing him to collapse on the floor right there in the doorway. – "Anyway get out and get ready. We are supposed to be there at six." – the ash-blond girl added after she calmed down.
"Yeah, okay." – Soul rubbed his head where he had been hit and staggered to his own room. After he left, Maka looked at the two bikinis again as if they were to blame for the whole situation, but ended up choosing the green one that Soul suggested anyway.
Ten minutes later both of them were at the door ready to leave. Swimwear on under their street clothes, a small bag packed with towels and flip flops, shampoo and shower gel and other stuff for afterwards.
Maka put jeans and a sweater on instead of her usual miniskirt, black coat combo, much to Soul's relief. New Year's Eve was pretty warm with its 60 degrees but the desert air always carried a chill to it in the night.
"Wanna walk or should we get the bike out?" – Soul inquired as he glanced down at his partner at the bottom of the stairs.
"Nah, I'm fine. Besides I thought you guys wanted to drink." – Maka looked up into his eyes.
"I have no idea what you are talking about…" – the boy averted his eyes as he scratched the side of his head.
"You can't fool me. I know exactly when you and Black*Star sneak in a few beers even though you can't legally drink yet." – the meister teased with a chuckle and started walking in the direction of the manor. She wasn't judging, she just wasn't into it herself.
"How can you tell?" – the albino stared after her wide-eyed for being found out then ran to catch up.
"For one your breath reeks of alcohol afterwards, second, I've got Soul Perception remember? I can sense when you are up to something you know you aren't supposed to do. But for today we can make an exception I guess." – Maka winked at him conspiratorially. Soul was absolutely shocked. His meister who was usually dead set on following the rules just gave the okay to underage drinking in her presence.
"Who are you and what have you done with Maka?" – he asked with a forced straight face, reaching for her forehead to see if she had a fever.
"Oh, shut it!" – she swatted his hand away but had to turn away from him and cover her face as she sneezed. – "Don't even go there! I'm fine." – the ash-blond girl added when she saw Soul's surprised and worried expression.
They managed to arrive last to Gallows Mansion, the butler let them in and directed them towards the pool area where the party was already in full-swing. Black*Star, Tsubaki and the Thompson sisters were already in the pool, waving at them enthusiastically when they entered.
Kid even had a DJ stand set up at one end of the pool and he was manning it! Of course everything was exactly symmetrical, the sunbeds by the pool side, the food and drinks table at the other end of the room, even the DJ stand, with the death mask symbol on the front of it.
"Welcome guys! The bathrooms are to the left where you can change." – the shinigami boy hollered into his mic pointing in the right direction. – "Just please don't mess up the towels I set out, they are perfectly aligned right now."
Maka and Soul sighed, this was exactly what they were expecting. They didn't know why Kid decided to host this party in the first place. Parties came with mess, especially if there were alcoholic beverages served, and mess ultimately meant the loss of order and symmetry. They predicted that Kid will be a nervous wreck by the end of the night.
They went their separate ways to undress quickly and were back by the pool in a few minutes. Maka threw a mischievous grin at Soul and made a run for the pool, jumping right in, splashing everyone in it in the process.
After reemerging Maka treaded in the water that reached to her chest toward Tsubaki.
"Are you feeling better?" – the shadow weapon asked with a kind smile as she gently patted the meister on her head. She was wearing a black bikini with intricate straps that crisscrossed below her breasts and on her stomach.
"What, is everything okay? Why didn't anyone tell us you were not feeling well?" – Liz whipped her head towards them, obviously out of the loop since they weren't in class that morning.
"Yeah, I'm fine, I was just tired. I had a good nap with Soul on the couch." – Maka replied waving off her concern.
"With Soul on the couch? Wooo… Naughty girl!" – Patti chimed in as she picked the smaller girl up and spun her around in the water.
"Nothing like that!" – the ash-blonde cried out in surprise and blushed furiously once she was set back down in the water. – "I fell asleep on his shoulder while watching a movie!"
"Even better!" – the blond weapon exclaimed excitedly ducking under the water when Maka tried to swat her with a splash.
"Are you even listening to what I am saying?" – Maka sulked submerging her face halfway in the water.
Soul shook his head at the girls' antics from the side of the pool. He sat down on the ledge, only his legs in the water so far. At least the water is pretty warm. – he thought while kicking his feet under it. He noticed that Black*Star had suspiciously disappeared. A second later he found out exactly why.
"Prepare for your death, Soul!" – the assassin yelled as he charged for him from behind trying to push him into the pool, but since he was unable to keep quiet Soul just scooted a bit over and the blue-haired meister whooshed past him, falling into the water.
"Black*Star you really need to learn what being quiet means!" – Tsubaki admonished playfully, laughing lightly along with everyone else.
"Nah, that idiot is fine just like this." – Soul joked as he eased himself into the pool carefully to not wet his hair, which was held back by his thin black hairband.
To his misfortune Black*Star wasn't done yet. He swam up to Soul underwater and dragged him under so suddenly he didn't even have time to take a breath.
"So not cool, bro!" – Soul burst out after reemerging and trying to force air into his lungs again. The ninja just laughed obnoxiously, pointing at him and his hair that was flattened out on his head because of the water. They went into a full out brawl as they tried to drag the other one under.
"Hey guys, knock it off you are going to get the DJ set and me wet!" – Death the Kid sharply rebuked them.
"It's a pool party of course everything is going to get wet!" – Black*Star yelled back at him.
"Just put on a playlist and come get in with us!" – Soul suggested with a shrug.
"Yeah, Kid! Come get in!" – Patti seconded enthusiastically, swimming over to that side of the pool in her giraffe themed one piece swimsuit.
"But I hate being wet!" – the shinigami shuddered at just the thought of it.
"Then why throw a pool party?" – the two other boys asked incredulously at the same time.
"Because, the beautiful ladies had pointed out that it would be an activity that everyone else would enjoy." – the yellow-eyed death god admitted embarrassedly.
"And you just can't say no to them, can you?" – Soul teased further but was met with a book to his head.
"Stop being rude to our host, Soul!" – Maka admonished her weapon from the side of the pool where she was crouching to reach the white-haired boy.
"Where the hell did you get a book in here?" – Soul cried out, startled by the sudden attack.
"It was in my bag." – she replied nonchalantly as she stood back up to put away said product of the printing industry. Kid of course did not set foot in the pool after this confrontation either.
"Hey guys, let's play a game of water volleyball!" – Liz proposed the idea after a few hours of general goofiness and drinking that ensued between the friends, and was already getting out of the water to get the supplies for it.
"But there is seven of us, the teams won't be symmetrical!" – Kid started freaking out.
"You said you are not getting in the water anyway right? You can be the judge and the six of us will play." – the older twin pistol waved him off as she came back with the net and ball.
"Actually I'm really bad with ballgames so I think Kid should play and I will be the referee." – Maka suggested since she was starting to feel tired again anyway.
"But then how are you going to divide the teams? There would be three girls and three boys. That would never be symmetrical! Plus probably everyone wants to be in one team with their partners! This is impossible!" – the shinigami continued with his spiraling thoughts. Liz looked at Maka pleadingly to just play and go along with what she had set out in the beginning. She nodded with a sigh as she relented.
"Patti and me don't mind being on opposite teams, so you just referee, okay Kid? Two girls and one guy in each team. Here take this end to the other side." – Liz handed the net to her meister.
"Oh, okay." – he calmed down instantly, busy with the new task of making sure the net was put on perfectly symmetrically. Although Liz bending down just across from him in the tiny triangle bikini top was distracting a bit, so he had to redo the fastening to be satisfied with it.
Once everything was set up, the two teams were ready to play. Soul, Maka and Liz in one and Black*Star, Tsubaki and Patti in the other to have somewhat of a balance in height between the teams too.
But nothing could balance out Maka's absolute lack of sense for ballgames so unfortunately they lost. With a big gap at that. Consecutively. Completely exhausted the ash-blond meister got out of the pool and lied down on her towel on one of the sunbeds to catch her breath and dry off a bit, ignoring Soul's gaze on her.
After a few minutes she decided to read so she fished out the book that she had brought with her – the very same that she used not too long ago to smack Soul in the head with. But that idea turned out to be not so great either because the general noisiness of her friends and the music – which she was usually able to block out for the sake of a good read – penetrated her ears with a stubborn intensity that she couldn't ignore and made her head hurt. Maka tried to push through it anyway but she had to admit that not much of the book's contents had reached her foggy mind right now.
"You know this is a party right?" – Soul appeared on Maka's right side seemingly from nowhere, teasing her for secluding herself for a sake of a story when she could be having fun with them. She jerked the book to the left to keep him from dripping on it.
"I'm aware." – she replied irritatedly. It was herself she was irritated with mostly, she had been looking forward to coming but wasn't able to enjoy it because she was getting sick.
"Come, the countdown is almost starting. Kid has some champagne we can toast with." – the white-haired boy held a hand out his partner to help her up with a toothy smile. – "Don't worry there is non-alcoholic, too." – he added with a wink. The ash-blond meister looked up on the clock and sure enough midnight was only minutes away. They walked over to the food table, everytone grabbing a plastic cup as they counted down the seconds to midnight.
"Cheers, Happy New Year!" – they all toasted then talked a bit as they sipped their champagne. Maka suddenly shivered violently and went to get her towel to wrap around her shoulders.
Everyone – except Maka and Kid – got back into the pool, playing around, splashing each other. Black*Star managed to grab Tsubaki and throw her into the air just to have her land in the water with a big splash, making her yelp in surprise. In turn Soul snuck up on his blue-haired friend and dragged him underwater a second later too. Maka sat down at the edge, her legs in the water from knee down, the towel still around her, and just watched her friends absentmindedly, while Kid turned the tempo of the music up again.
"Everything alright, Maka? You are looking a little pale." – the shinigami boy came and crouched beside her after a few minutes.
"Mhm." – was the response the girl could manage which didn't lessen Kid's worries one bit. Liz already told him what happened at school when he looked at her questioningly after Maka withdrew from them after the volleyball game.
Another shiver ran up the blonde's spine and it didn't get past the shinigami's attention either.
"Do you want me to get Soul?" – he asked with worry. It was clear that his friend wasn't well at all but it seemed that she was hell bent on concealing this fact.
"No." – Maka replied firmly with no hesitation. Okay, let's approach this differently. – Kid thought.
"You know if you are tired you could just take a hot shower, change to regular clothes and lie down in one of the rooms upstairs. I doubt this party will be over for another four hour at least so no need to tough it out." – the golden eyed boy commented as he glanced at the boys who were still at it with the energy level of hyped up five year olds. The girls were a bit more subdued but they were chatting animatedly at the other corner of the pool too, away from the big splash action.
A warm bed actually sounded really inviting to Maka so she nodded in agreement to Lord Death's son with a small smile and went to get her bag to take with her to the bathroom. After getting the chlorine off of herself with the nice hot cascading water and drying her hair, the blond meister exited through the other side to the hall of the mansion. The butler was waiting for her to show her which room she could use. Kid must have given him instructions while she was showering.
Kicking her shoes back off, Maka climbed in under the covers and was claimed by sleep instantly.
"Where is Maka?" – Soul noticed the absence of his partner around 1 AM. Until then he assumed she was just lounging on one of the sunbeds, but when they had gotten out of the pool to play cards at one of the tables he saw that she wasn't there. At first he thought maybe she just went to the ladies room or something, but now twenty minutes later his meister was still nowhere to be seen so he had voiced his worry.
"She went to lie down upstairs. I don't think she was feeling well." – Death the Kid informed him as he looked up from his hand, deliberating whether to fold or not.
"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" – the albino weapon got up so quickly he almost knocked over the table, sending the shinigami into a frenzy to adjust it back exactly in the place it was before to maintain the symmetry of the room.
"Don't go dripping on the carpets! Change before you go upstairs!" – Kid called after him as he saw Soul leave. Fortunately he ducked back in to get his bag and towel. Random water spots everywhere on the carpets were everything but symmetrical!
Taking two steps at a time on the stairs, the scythe demon weapon rushed to find his meister. Luckily he bumped into the butler who directed him in the right direction.
Opening the room quietly Soul spotted Maka sleeping soundly. He walked up to the bed and sat down beside her. His partner looked worse than in the afternoon. She was really pale but her cheeks were flushed with red, like she was blushing but much less healthily.
"You are a big idiot, aren't you?" – he whispered quietly as he brushed a few strands of hair out of his meister's face and felt that she was burning up. – "Why didn't you tell me you were getting sick?"