Hey! Chapter 2!

Thanks so much to SuperSaiyanKiri and ElricKeyBlade for inspiring reviews! You guys really refueled my motivation!

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater. I had him in my closet for a while, but he sliced my door to pieces. So sadly, I do not have the rights to Soul Eater…

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The rest of the school day passed by unremarkably for the D.W.M.A students. Black*Star picked a couple fights, Kid told him to shut up, and punches were thrown, but, hey, nothing new there.

Back at the apartment, Maka neatly hung up her cloak and proceeded to the kitchen to wash her hands and Soul slumped onto the couch.

Maka, irritated, sarcastically asked, "Can I get you anything?"

"No."

Furrowing her eyebrows, Maka continued. "You going do your homework?"

"No."

"Are you going to do anything?" Maka shrieked.

"Wasn't planning on it," Soul responded monotonously.

"Well, then go be useless elsewhere," Maka lashed contemptuously.

Soul rolled off the couch and, in his signature slouch, sauntered off to his room, and slammed the door.

Rolling her eyes and attributing Soul's rudeness to lack of sleep, or grudgingly admitting it might be the lack of Blair this morning, Maka opened her textbook.

X

Soul's fingers twitched on the keys of an invisible piano. His ear buds played a smooth jazz tune and Soul followed along as the accompanist. He relayed each crescendo and trill, supporting the melody with ease and precision.

The song changed and tune picked up; the bass increased and worked with the snare and trumpets to drive the melody forward. Faster and faster, and his heart responded. His heart beat accelerated, not the unsteady spasms stress brought on, but the fierce adrenaline rush that only came from playing the piano and fighting alongside Maka.

He reached the climax, full of force and energy, and then faded and faded into silence save for one last B flat whose delicate vibrato finally followed its siblings into oblivion.

Soul didn't know how long he lay there, playing his imaginary piano, but in a break in yet another song; he heard a faint rap at his door followed by a soft voice:

"Soul? Soul, if you're hungry, dinner's ready." Maka stood there a moment and then left.

Soul watched her feet from the crack under the door; two black shadows that after a delicate shuffle, disappeared and were replaced by the uniform soft gold light from the hall.

Soul sighed and went out. He rubbed his eyes, unaccustomed to the luminosity of the kitchen, and said, "Hey."

Maka looked up, wary. "Hey Soul."

Soul sat down in front of his plate. Maka made steak…Damn, I feel bad now, Soul thought. Maka made Soul's favorite food if his day hadn't gone so well. His mouth a grimace from the guilt, Soul began slicing at his steak. The moment his knife touched it, red blood oozed out all over his plate.

Soul smiled in appreciation. "Thanks Maka."

Maka's expression softened and then began eating her own steak. She made it perfectly. No pink—not dry—but a soft, uniform brown, cooked all the way through.

After many minutes of silence, right before the hush reached that awkward moment, Soul asked, "So where's Blair? She's not one to pass up free food…"

Maka's wall went back up.

Soul saw the change and backtracked. "I…Uh…I'm sure she's okay, Maka…"

"I'm sure," Maka answered curtly.

The awkward silence settled in like a storm cloud.

Maka, believing she let him panic for a suitable amount of time, finally replied, "She's planning a Halloween party with Kid."

Soul nodded absentmindedly, which pleased Maka, and his grimace deepened.

Maka's eyes narrowed. Something was bugging him, and she would find out what it was. Soul's not the kind of guy who would be affected by anything someone said…But if anyone, anyone hurt Soul; I will make sure they pay for it.

"What's been eating you today, Soul? You woke up on time, you paid an unbelievable amount of attention to Professor Stein—" Soul's eyes widened. "Don't look at me like that, of course I noticed—and you snapped at poor Crona! What happened, Soul?"

Soul looked up at his meister. Her jade-green eyes reflected her single-minded ferocity that was usually directed at enemies. Now they were intended for him, her weapon. Unyielding and merciless, Soul could see Maka wasn't going to give in without one hell of a fight.

Not wanting to argue with her, Soul asked, "You really want to know?"

Shocked he gave in so easily, Maka's rage diminished, and after a moment's hesitation, nodded.

Soul steeled himself, and at the last second, decided to make light of the situation to spare Maka the unnecessary worry.

"I had…kind of a bad dream last night—"

Maka's face changed; it looked like she was trying not to laugh, but in the end, the settled for condescension.

"Oh, Soul," Soul's stomach flipped at that one, "It's just rotten timing. Stein said that just to scare us, and I guess it worked. Don't worry about it." To emphasize her point, Maka chomped a piece of steak decisively: eyes shut and nose up to display her confidence.

Soul smirked, not exactly comforted, but entranced by the girl who never ceased to amaze him. Whether it genuinely was confidence, or innocence, he didn't know. He did know it was this vivacity that made her such a cool partner and the two of them together unstoppable.

"So Kid and Blair are planning a party?" Soul asked.

They looked at each other, and the side of Maka's mouth twitched. The two of them burst out laughing at the thought of poor Kid at Blair's mercy.

Soul slept through the night, and his alarm the next morning, without a single dream.

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I know this was slow compared to the last chapter, but I didn't want to start anything and then cut it off at the end of the chapter.

Next chapter will be more interesting, I promise!

Please review! I know there are people reading without giving me feedback…I can't make this story better unless you tell me!

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