If there's one thing this fandom had no short supply of, it's SoMa fanfics. No wonder; this ship is adorable. Happy Valentine's Day to the canon-but-not-canon couple. (By the way, this chapter covers a wider range of time than the last one, but the last part is set on the same Valentine's Day.) Rate and review, guys. Next chapter's Kirona, which I hint at in this one.

Valentine's Day, Chapter 2

Sweet Fang

Eavesdropping can either raise your heart or crush it. Sometimes both, as Soul found out when he listened to the girls walking ahead of him in the hallway.

"I want to get something nice for Soul for Valentine's Day," Maka told Tsubaki cheerfully. Soul stared at her back. The teenage scythe felt as if he had just won the lottery. Finally, Maka had gotten over her childish hatred of all males and was seeing Soul as something more than-

"Because we're partners and all. I think it'd be nice."

Soul froze, dumbfounded. He could almost hear the romantic music in the background screech to a halt as it was torn off the record player. Black*Star, having apparently been listening in as well, threw his arms around Soul's slumped shoulders and therefore brought him back to reality.

"Dude, you just got partner-zoned," He grinned. Soul promptly backhanded him in the face.

The scythe attempted to console himself. It wasn't that bad, right? Plenty of his friends' relationships were merely platonic as well. Black*Star and Kid didn't really have any love lives, so at least Soul wasn't alone in the "partner zone."

"I'm thinking of getting Tsubaki some nice stuff for V-Day too, actually. Can I borrow your credit card, Soul?"

The scythe stiffened. Well, forget about being in the same boat as his friends. Soul whipped around, facing Black*Star with such a fierce, fanged scowl that the ninja instantly backed off.

"Hey, calm down, man. Chill; I'll just snag Tsubaki's," He said quickly, trying to avert the scythe's rage from himself.

Soul turned his attention to Kid. "Don't tell me you've got a date, too," He snapped.

Kid shook his head "no" calmly. "My relationships with Patty and Liz are more on the level of siblings, rather than being romantic," He explained. Soul sighed with relief, but then Kid continued, "Although, I have noticed Crona giving me some odd looks lately…"

Soul stopped dead in the middle of the hallway, eye twitching. As Kid and Black*Star passed him, the blue-haired meister turned around to the scythe. "C'mon, Soul. It's not that bad that you're the only one in the partner zone," He grinned. It took every ounce of Soul's strength to not wipe that grin off of his face. Violently. With a fist. Or his blade.

Kid sighed. "Look, Soul, I think you're overreacting. I'm sure Maka likes you very much."

Soul ground the heels of his hands into his eyes. "Yeah. Just 'likes,'" He muttered. "That's the problem. She's too set in her ways to do anything more than 'like' me."

Kid adjusted his schoolbooks in his arms as he spoke, "Well, maybe she'd understand that you like her in a more serious way if you got her something for tomorrow."

Soul huffed, shoving his hands in his pockets after he was done rubbing his eyeballs into his skull. "She just made it clear that getting the other something for Valentine's Day wouldn't say that we've got a special relationship. She just wants to get me something because we're partners," He retorted.

Black*Star crossed his arms. "Then get her something extra special!" He suggested. "That way, she'll think your relationship is special!"

Kid nodded. "That's true," He agreed. "If you get her something with a lot of thought and money put into it, rather than a cheaper gift, Maka might realize that you would have to like her a lot to put that much effort into a Valentine's Day gift."

Soul glared at the two slightly. "You guys are so material," He muttered. Slowly, however, he smirked. "But also geniuses. That just might work."

Black*Star laughed. "Of course it'll work! After all, the idea was formed in the head of the mighty Black*Star!" He declared.

Kid glanced over at the young narcissist. "I came up with the majority of the plan, dimwit," He snapped curtly. Soul walked past them, leaving the two friends to argue.

"I want to get something nice for Soul for Valentine's Day," Maka said out of the blue. The other girls looked surprised for a moment, but then Liz and Patty broke into giggles. Tsubaki merely reverted back to her gentle smile, but Crona remained surprised. A small but indignant blush spread across Maka's cheeks. "I mean, because we're partners and all. I think it'd be nice," She quickly added.

"Suuuure," Liz chuckled mischievously, elbowing Maka slightly. "Just partners. Of course you're not lying, judging by the blush that's now covering half your face," She smirked. Maka shot her a glare. To admit that she had a crush on her partner would be the undoing of Maka's independent nature, not to mention that her father would pester her more than ever and likely kill Soul. Besides, the teenage scythe meister was stubbornly set in her ways, and had just managed to admit to herself that she had fallen for her scythe.

Tsubaki looked thoughtful, ignoring her friend's harsh look. "Do you know what he'd like?" She asked.

Maka glanced up at Tsubaki, and then sighed. "No," She mumbled. "Not really. I wanted to get him a box of candy, but I don't know if he's one of those weird people who doesn't like chocolate or something," She added.

Patty giggled, poking Maka's shoulder. "Maybe you could follow him when he walks around town! See if he likes a thing and then get that thing!" She suggested.

Crona seemed nervous. "Get Kid things he likes," She murmured softly to herself, as if making a mental note.

Maka nodded in response to Patty. "I guess I could do that. But I don't think I'd be good at following Soul around," She admitted.

"Sure you would be," Liz said. "Just use some of those fancy stealth techniques that you've learned as a meister."

The green-eyed teen looked as if she was about to reply, but then Soul sauntered up from behind them. "Hey. We going home soon?" He mumbled. "I'm tired. Wanna nap."

Maka began to panic inwardly. If they went straight back to their apartment, she couldn't follow Soul anywhere. Valentine's Day was tomorrow; if she didn't buy him something today and give it to him as early as possible tomorrow, her gift would be seen as tardy and last-minute, and Maka Albarn always diligently delivered on time.

"Actually, Soul," She told him, thinking quickly, "We didn't do much physical activity in gym today. It was mostly just push-ups and sit-ups."

Soul raised an eyebrow. "That was activity," He said. "I still smell like sweat."

Maka shrugged. "Well, it was only arm and ab work. You need to stretch your legs."

Soul narrowed his eyes a little at her. Sure, he was head-over-heels for the girl, but sometimes Maka could be so irritating. "I climbed all the dang stairs up to this school and I'm gonna walk down all the dang stairs again when we go home," He retorted. "I don't need any more exercise. I'm gonna go home, eat chips, and be a couch potato," He insisted.

The green-eyed meister met his glare. "No, you're going on a walk. You need the exercise; your legs are getting fat!" She shouted. Soul's eyes widened, and she knew that she had hit a soft spot. Despite his nonchalant attitude, Soul cared more about his appearance than Maka did, as was evident in his heavy use of hair gel and designer jacket. If he was told he was getting fat, Soul would inwardly have the reaction of a female model. On the outside, he just scowled.

"I'm not fat," He snapped at her. "Am I fat? I'm not fat! But maybe she's right… I'm fat! I'm fat, aren't I? I probably do need to exercise more; being fat isn't cool at all!" He thought to himself. "And… If I went on a walk, I could use the chance to get a gift for Maka," He added. His expression didn't change this whole time. "I guess I can go on a walk," He complied, only somewhat reluctantly.

Maka nodded, feeling triumphant. "Good. You're not allowed to go home for the next hour," She told him. "If I see you at home before then, I'm hiding your iPod."

Soul's gaze hardened. "Don't you dare," He growled, storming ahead of the group. "See ya in an hour," He snapped.

Maka watched him leave, not turning back to her friends until Soul was hidden by the after-school crowd. Liz looked at her shorter friend quizzically.

"Don't you think that was little harsh?" She asked, to which Maka shook her head.

"He'll get over it. I'll tell him tomorrow that he's not fat and he'll perk up when he sees his candy," She replied, bringing her arms behind her back and holding her hands together thoughtlessly as she trailed him.

Crona clutched her arm, rubbing it a little in her normal nervous manner. "Their relationship is weird," She stated quietly.

Tsubaki shrugged a little. "They just have different ways of expressing love," She smiled slightly.

"Really different," Patty agreed.

Maka opened her bedroom door slowly and quietly. She paused for a moment when it squeaked, but upon seeing no movement from Soul's room and hearing nothing else, she continued to gingerly tiptoe her way down the hall. Tracking her partner yesterday had been tremendously exasperating, because the lazy bum that was Maka's scythe mostly just sat on a park bench for the majority of his "walk." However, when Soul was barely fifteen minutes from when he was allowed to go home, he stood. Maka had then followed him to a corner store near their apartment. Soul had wandered the isles for a little while, leading Maka to think that he was just killing time and that this whole "stealth expedition" was just a waste of energy, until he stopped suddenly. He was staring at a neat stack of candy bars on a shelf, drooling slightly at them. Soul then sighed once and walked away, but Maka took note of exactly what he had been looking at.

As soon as Soul had left the isle, his meister rushed over and grabbed one of the candy bars he had been staring at. They were huge, four times the size of a standard Hershey's bar, and a brand that she had never heard of before.

"Gourmet white chocolate flecked with strawberry pieces?" She murmured the candy's description quietly to herself, inspecting it. Upon glancing at the price, she winced. Her partner had expensive tastes. "Soul better appreciate this," She muttered, taking the bar from the shelf. Despite the rather hefty price tag, Maka then proceeded to scramble to the checkout and bring the gift home with the speed of a starved cheetah.

The young meister smiled to herself as she carefully stepped into the kitchen the following morning. "He's gonna love it," She thought to herself, setting the bar on the table. She had tied red ribbon around it and given it a heart-shaped tag that simply read "Soul." "It's kinda cheesy…" She sighed.

Soul poked his head out of his bedroom door. The sun hadn't risen yet, and he was determined to set his gift for Maka on the kitchen table before she got up.

After being told to walk yesterday, Soul had merely loafed around in a park until the last minute.

"Maka'll think something's up if I don't get back to the apartment as soon as I'm allowed," He had thought, striding into a corner store. He groaned a little in exasperation when he realized that he didn't know what in the world she wanted, so he merely wandered aimlessly. Without warning, he spotted his favorite candy ever. An entirely uncool dreamy smile spread across Soul's face when he saw it on the shelf in front of him, directly at eye level.

"Gourmet white chocolate flecked with strawberry pieces…" Drool dripped from his fanged jaws, prompting the scythe to wipe his mouth. He shook his head once to clear it. "Uncool," He muttered, snapping out of his candy-craving trance. He strode out of the isle, walking around the store a little bit longer. Although, he couldn't get his mind off of that candy bar. "Well," He reasoned, "If I'm this obsessed with it, then Maka must at least like it. And if she doesn't, I'll ask her to share… Stupid! That's not why you buy a girl a Valentine's Day gift!" He scolded himself as he went back to the white chocolate. There was one less bar than there had been before, but he didn't really acknowledge that fact as anything significant and made his purchase. After getting home, he had tied the gift with a green ribbon and hid it in the kitchen when Maka wasn't looking, afraid that his meister would refuse to eat it if it smelled like his room.

Maka whipped around when she heard someone walking down the hallway. She swiftly hid the candy behind her back, rapidly trying to come up with an explanation for why she was up so early.

Soul yawned, tiredly flipping on the kitchen light switch, only to be met with the blushing face of his meister. Instantly all his drowsiness was gone, to be replaced by shock. He hid the emotion well, however, and asked calmly, "What are you doing up so early?"

Maka blinked, not meeting his gaze in nervousness. "I, um… I was thirsty?" She said it like it was a question.

The scythe raised an eyebrow. "You're a terrible liar," He pointed out flatly, earning him a small glare from his partner.

"No I'm not; shut up," She snapped. "What are you doing out here?"

Soul couldn't help but smirk a little. "You told me to shut up and then you asked me a question. Make up your mind."

Maka narrowed her gaze. "Answer my question."

Soul stared back, appearing nonchalant. "I was thirsty too."

"Liar."

The scythe rolled his red eyes. He didn't think she'd believe him, but he didn't really want to tell the truth, either. After pondering this for a moment, he sighed in defeat.

"Fine. I stored your Valentine's Day present out here," He muttered. Surprise, along with a heavy blush, spread across Maka's face as Soul strolled over to the kitchen cabinet where he had hid the candy. He pulled it out, showing it to her. "Here. Happy Valentine's Day," He mumbled. That hadn't gone at all how he had hoped. The scythe couldn't think of a more uncool way to give a girl a gift than what he had just done. It wasn't romantic, it was flat-out pathetic… Wait, why was she laughing?

Soul found himself melting to mush under the glow from Maka's smile, but then he quickly collected himself. "Is my gift really that bad?" He muttered, turning away from her.

Maka wiped a mirthful tear from her eye, trying to calm herself down. Only Soul could cause her emotions to jump from total embarrassment to hilarity. "N-no, it's great!" She managed between laughs. She pulled his present out from behind her back. "It's just that I got you the same thing!" She beamed. Soul stared at the gift as his meister continued speaking, "They must be really special if we both got the same thing!" She joked.

Soul was silent, but then he smiled a little. "Sure," He said, handing Maka her gift while she did the same with his. "Here. A special gift for a special meister," He smiled, shoving his hands in his pockets and walking back to his bedroom.

"So much for being bold and getting out of the partner zone," He sighed inwardly.

Maka felt her blush heat up her face once more, but then she frowned a little.

"Just… A special meister?" She turned around to face him.

"Hey, Soul?"

The scythe stopped in his fracks. He turned around to face Maka, his typical jaded expression set on his face. "What?" He replied.

Maka frowned a little, trying to figure out what she wanted to say now that she had his attention. "Is… Is that all you think of me?" She spoke up, "Just… A special partner? Nothing else?"

The expression in Soul's eyes changed, although his meister couldn't place his reaction. He turned around to face her fully. "Now or never."

"… No," He said after a minute. "You're a lot more than that, Maka. Leagues more," He murmured. Neither spoke. After a moment of silence, Soul added, "What about me? Did you get me this just because we were partners?"

Maka was quiet for another minute, but then sighed. "That was going to be my excuse," She said softly, "If you teased me about liking you as more than a partner."

Soul's expression didn't change, but the gears in his mind were turning. "I would never tease you for that," He said matter-of-factly, causing his meister to start and look him in the eye. "I'd tell you that I returned the feelings."

Maka's eyes widened. They stared at each other in silence once again, until a smile began to form on the blonde's lips. "Then… Be my Valentine, Soul?" She giggled a little.

Soul raised an eyebrow. "You sound so cheesy," He muttered, but returned the smile. "Of course, Maka."

Maka's gentle hands reached into Soul's lonely partner zone, promptly pulling him out and into her arms.