Misery Love Me
"You actually listen to this crap?"
This was the first thing Soul had said to me as my official roommate the day I allowed him to move into my apartment. I had been listening to some pop tunes while dusting the living room.
He snatched my iPod from its dock and began going through it. "Geeze, don't you have anything cool to listen to in here?" he sneered.
Suddenly I was rethinking this whole cohabitation thing.
"Well, it's my music and I happen to like it," I snapped back, roughly snatching my iPod out of his clutches.
"You actually like dudes who sing like girls? 'I might sound crazy but it aint no lie'" he sang in a mockingly high pitched voice.
"At least it's better than that dumb metal stuff you and Black*Star listen to! 'Rrrrrrit's not my faurrrrrrrrt!'" I garbbled, equally as mocking.
"I was such a fool for you."
"Rrrrrand rook at what rou've done to me!"
"Oh baby, baby"
"Rrrrrraaaaah huh!"
"Hit me baby— hahaha— one more time!"
By this time we could continue no longer, we were laughing so hard. Soul was down on the floor; I was propping myself up with a bookshelf. Finally, after almost turning blue from lack of oxygen, we gulped mouthfuls of air and wiped tears from our eyes.
Soul picked himself up from the floor, breathing hard and reaching for the iPod. "Well, I guess that settles it then, we're not listening to that anymore."
THUD!
I had grabbed the nearest object, a sizeable dictionary, and chucked it at his head. He had landed unceremoniously on the floor.
"No." I said sternly, pressing play and continuing to clean around his crumpled body .
I guess you could say that was my first 'Maka Chop' and one of my favorite memories with Soul.
Things went rather smoothly from the landing to the cab ride and the arrival at the hotel. Except a certain someone kept whining about carrying my luggage. Jeeze, what a wuss.
"Well, due to the 'setbacks' we're going to have to head out first thing in the morning," Kid said. We were in the hotel lobby waiting for the elevator; Soul was passed out somewhere amongst a pile of luggage.
"Hey, it's all his fault!" I replied, jerking my thumb to the luggage behind me.
Kid put up his hands. "I don't want to go there right now. Just make sure you're not late for the actual mission, okay?"
I moodily glared at the luggage. "Trust me, he's not going to make us late again."
"Maka! You gotta see the pool! It's AMAZING!" Patty screamed while running through the lobby.
Kid sweatdropped and excused himself before Patty could break something.
The elevator dinged and the doors opened as something stirred in the luggage.
"Well, get the luggage in," I ordered.
"You get the luggage in! It's all yours anyways!" Soul grumbled from the pile.
"You're making a scene. Now get it in."
"But you're – it's – I –"
"You don't make sense. Hurry, before someone calls the elevator away!" I started shuffling bags and suitcases onto the waiting elevator. Soul grumbled a little more before joining me.
Suddenly a hand was on my shoulder. It was Kid.
"Oh, and Maka?" he said low in my ear.
"Yeah?"
"Just a heads up: there seems to be a lot of tension between Black*Star and Tsubaki."
"Really? Well, I guess I haven't seen them together in a while."
"Yeah." Kid paused and glanced around before continuing. "I don't know if they got in a fight or something, but Tsubaki doesn't seem happy and Black*Star's ignoring her. Things were slightly awkward on the plane."
"That is strange."
"Just keep an ear out in case Tsubaki says anything, like if they broke up or something."
"Did they?"
"Not that I know of. I just can't have dissentions in the team right now."
"Right. I'll try and see what's up."
"Thanks, Maka."
"Kid! Look! This man has a funny hat!" Patty squealed from somewhere in the lobby.
"Patty!" Kid shouted and ran over to her to stop her from whatever she was about to do.
Shit! I had already upturned all the couch cushions, tore through the closet, and ransacked the bathroom. My cell phone was nowhere to be found! I rushed into the bedroom, ignoring Soul's odd look as he was getting dressed.
"Have you seen my phone?" I asked, rummaging through my suitcase on the floor and making my way under my bed.
There was no response. I glanced up from my bent over position to see if he was even in the room still. He stood there with his shirt over his arms, but not partaking in the actual act of putting it on. What was this idiot's problem? I knew he wasn't a morning person, but really?
"Soul!"
"Huh? Oh, your phone. Umm . . . no?" He proceeded to put his shirt on. Then he turned to me, tossing me his own phone. "Here," he said, "try calling it." His phone looked exactly like mine, but it was red and mine was green.
I flipped open the phone and found my name immediately on speed dial. We both waited, holding our breath. Soon a muffled vibrating along with a jazz tune was heard from a pile of Soul's clothes in the corner. He went over there and sifted through the laundry, fishing out a pair of jeans he had worn the other day, and dug around in the pocket.
"What were you doing with my phone?" I accused, shooting him a glare as I took my phone from him.
"Hell, I don't know! I just remember finding it in my lap on the plane."
"Whatever, Soul."
Great. Five missed calls. Let's see, one was from . . . oh that can be ignored. It was a call from "the womanizer," aka sleezeball-dad. The other four were from Kid. I sighed and hit the call back button. Soul continued getting ready around me as I stood there with one hand on my hip, the other pressing a phone to my ear.
Soul's mumblings ceased suddenly, causing me to look in his direction. He was staring at me, eyes combing my exposed legs. What the hell?
"What?" he asked defensively upon seeing my glare.
"Keep your eyes to yourself, buddy!"
Soul scowled back and left the room, calling over his shoulder, "Don't you think those are a little short for the jungle we'll be wading through, Princess?"
"Excuse me? I think you're just jealous I'm gonna get stared— Kid! Hi! I'm so sorry! I couldn't find my phone cuz Soul had it and – what?"
"I said you're late," Kid said impatiently. "You two need to get down here now. We're leaving in ten."
"Hai!"
I slapped the phone shut while yelling, "Soul! We need to leave, NOW!"
"Alright, alright! Jeeze woman!" Soul spat back appearing in the bedroom again.
Everyone was already waiting in the lobby by the time we made it there. Kid was impatiently tapping his foot, arms crossed over his symmetrically perfect suit coat. Liz was texting someone while Patty was playing in the dirt of a potted plant, and Tsubaki stood quietly off to the side of Kid.
"Where's Black*Star?" Soul asked, glancing around.
I noticed Tsubaki glance up at the mention of his name, but quickly looked away at a stain on the carpet.
"He went off to get the chopper," Kid said, uncrossing his arms and heading towards us. "We need to be taken to our starting point by helicopter since it's pretty deep in the jungle I guess."
"Ah." I glanced around the lobby, noticing the other guests milling around, and then turned my attention to Tsubaki. Now Tsubaki was never one to make her presence known, but her gentle nature spoke powerfully enough. Usually she was smiling, always positive despite the circumstances, yet today she looked like she was going to cry.
Remembering what Kid had told me last night, I quietly approached her.
"Hey Tsubaki."
"Hm? Oh, hi there Maka-chan." She managed a small smile before returning her gaze downwards.
"Is something bothering you, Tsubaki?" Might as well get straight to the point. The way Kid kept looking at his watch, it looked like we would be leaving any minute.
Tsubaki glanced up at me sheepishly. "I just didn't sleep too well last night, I guess," she said quietly.
"HEYAHOO! The chopper has arrived!" Black*Star burst into the lobby, making us and the other guests jump and go silent.
"Way to be subtle," Soul mumbled. Kid simply rolled his eyes and led us out to the landing pad.
The helicopter was sleek and black, perfect for a stealth mission like ours. It took some impatient fumbling to figure out how to strap myself in, even with Soul's help. But finally I managed, allowing us to take off.
We were in the air for about an hour, hovering over miles of rolling jungles, taking us deeper into the island's center. Soul dozed on my shoulder despite Black*Star and Patty playing random noisy games to kill the boredom, and Liz and Tsubaki made polite conversation. I tried to catch what they were saying, but I only got every fourth word or so with the sudden raises in volume coming from Black*Star and Patty.
Kid, who was sitting on the other side of me towards the window, suddenly nudged me.
"Hm?" I snapped out of my day dreaming.
He showed me a touch screen GPS with a map of the island displayed and a series of red lines indicating the differences in elevation.
"Here's where we're headed," he said, pointing to a red ring that indicated the highest elevation. "That's the center of the island, where my Father said they picked up odd bands of insanity waves."
"Odd bands?"
"Yeah, they weren't what you would think as normal for insanity waves. He didn't go into much detail. Guess it's irrelevant."
"Oh, ok."
"We'll be landing just outside of there, on a gentler slope, and we'll walk there. You and Soul need to be positioned at the head when we reach this outer ring here. That way, you'll be able to inform us of any danger with your soul perception. Black*Star will be nearby, since he's the quickest to react to any danger. You might want to use the hand signals we worked on. I'll be positioned in the rear with the insanity reader Stein made, taking measurements."
"Got it."
"We shouldn't run into any trouble, but they wouldn't have sent us if that wasn't a high possibility."
"Yeah, I'm surprised they sent all of us instead of just a pair with some Shibussen students."
"Knowing my father, he has his reasons." Kid slipped the GPS device into his coat pocket and turned to look out the window, lost in thought.
The helicopter jerked suddenly, causing me to fly forward, jacking Soul in the jaw with my shoulder.
His eyes bugged out of his head as he gripped his jaw and made gurgling noises.
"Soul?" I tentatively asked, moving to comfort him.
He brushed me off and did a series of putting his hand inside his mouth and pulling it out to look at it. Blood was on his fingertips.
"Fuck. I bit my tongue."
"I'm sorry— hey! Watch your language!" I chided him. He's gotten into the habit of flinging around the 'F-word' like it's no big deal. It's a highly offensive word if you ask me!
He sighed and groped at our feet for my backpack, knowing I had to have some Kleenex in there. "Really Maka? No one else seems to be so offended." He pulled up the bag in triumph, thrusting his hand in the main pocket.
"Left pocket."
He removed his hand from the main pocket and dug around in the front left pocket. I must have had a tampon in there or something because he paused to look in there and paled a little. Then he finally pulled out the little packet of Kleenex and stuffed them all into his mouth.
"Save some for later, Soul!"
Soul simply glared at me, white fluff sticking out of his mouth.
"Please remain seated. Landing in progress," a woman's voice from the autopilot program informed us.
We landed in a small clearing at the base of the central mountain. As we clambered out of the copter, we were reverently silent before the thick jungles that faced us on the mountain side. Soul came up next to me, spit out his slobbery Kleenexes, and whispered, "Why's it so quiet?"
"I don't know." I said slowly and quietly.
"It might be an effect of the strange insanity waves," whispered Kid. "C'mon, let's get moving."
It took twice as long as the flight to maneuver ourselves through the dense underbrush. Soul walked ahead, slicing a path and grumbling under his breath, something about not being a machete. We remained completely silent during our journey, only whispering if we absolutely had to speak.
The jungle thinned the higher we got in elevation. Soon there were only shrubs spotted here and there. It felt like I could breathe again once we cleared all that suffocating undergrowth. We all fell into formation, walking beside our partners, except for Tsubaki who trailed behind Soul and me. I reached up and slipped my hand into Soul's, who glanced down at me. Our eyes communicated our fears about this mission, leading to him giving my hand a slight squeeze. Then I looked back toward Tsubaki walking with head down a few steps behind. I paused for her to catch up and held out my other hand. She stopped and lifted up her head, a quizzical expression on her face. I simply smiled and persistently held out my hand for her. Smiling softly, she reached up and grabbed my hand. So the three of us brought up the rear, walking with clasped hands swinging between us, towards the epicenter of the irregular insanity waves.
"We're approaching the mark. Positions please," whispered Kid, so official sounding, as usual.
Tsubaki broke off and joined Black*Star who seemed to vanish in the little vegetation around us. Soul transformed into his scythe form soon after. Patty and Liz flanked Kid, but remained in their human form. Holding Soul in my defensive stance, I strained to sense any other souls besides the team's, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary except for a burning, itching feeling in my chest that seemed to intensify the closer we got to the strange wavelengths. I felt Soul tense in my hands, also feeling the effects of the waves.
Glancing back, I saw Kid give the signal that we were right on top of it. The burning, itching feeling intensified, but did not hinder me. However, I knew I was getting off easy because of my—ahem— special anti-demon abilities, yet my team, especially Soul, was probably using half their strength to remain in control of themselves.
There was a small ring of vegetation, directly where Kid was pointing. We all tensed, knowing it must be the place. I signaled that the coast was clear, and we moved forward. We walked slowly, deliberately, towards this circle, expecting the worst to happen. Little bumps and glitches appeared along the harmonizing bond between Soul and me the closer we got. He was slipping.
Finally, we stepped through the thin ring of vegetation and into the little clearing. It was only large enough to fit all seven of us without squishing us. Suddenly, the burning disappeared along with the glitches in our soul connection.
"What?" whisper-cried Kid, staring at his detection device. "They're gone."
"What?" we all said in unison, no longer silent. I tried to 'feel' around again for any sign of anyone or any danger.
"The waves. They're gone! Maka, did you sense anything?"
"Nothing but the effects vanishing," I responded, just as bewildered as Kid.
"Wait, they just disappeared?" Black*Star said, waving his arms indignantly. "We came all that way for them to disappear? And no fight either?"
"Well, yeah, pretty much," Kid sighed, looking defeated and allowing his weapons to go back into human form. "We've collected all the data we could get, too. I guess we can head back now."
There were some moans from the rest of us, me included. It was all rather strange and abrupt; I had difficulty understanding what had just happened.
"I'll call the chopper. Since there's no more danger, it can pick us up from here."
The bath was so warm and relaxing, especially in the rather large, luxurious bathtub of our fancy hotel room. I felt all the frustrations and weariness from our jungle excursion melt away; all my scrapes and scratches stinging pleasantly. I sunk deeper into the vanilla scented bubbles and sighed.
"Maka!" Soul called from the other side of the door, startling me. This was followed by two raps on the wood and a weird buzzing sound.
"Yeah?" I called back.
The door cracked open just a little. "Your phone's going off like crazy. It's your Dad."
"Great." I sighed in frustration, keeping an eye on that door, just in case. Luckily the tub was behind the door. "Just don't answer it."
"I tried that already! He just keeps calling!"
"Well, I'm obviously busy, can't you answer it?"
"Fine. Fine." The buzzing ceased as he flipped open my phone. "What?" Soul rudely barked into the phone.
"MAAAKAAA! WHERE'S MY MAAAAKAAAA?" yelled the whiny voice on the other end.
"She's busy right now. What do you want?" Soul angrily replied.
"TO TALK TO MY DAUGHTER! She's been ignoring my calls . . ." There was some whimpering coming from the phone.
"I told ya, we're busy!"
"WE?"
I could almost feel Soul's smirk. "Yeah," he slyly said, "we're in the bath."
I burst into a fit of giggles both for show and because this was down right hilarious. I splashed a little too, I think.
"WHAT? YOU'RE BOTH IN THE BATH? SOOOUUULLL! HOW DARE YOU TOUCH MY BABY GIRL! WAIT? IS THAT HER I HEAR?"
Soul's arm appeared around the barely open door giving me the thumbs-up sign. I continued giggling, a little louder this time.
"I DO HEAR HER! MAAAKAAA! WHY?" The rest was unintelligible sobs. Finally, I heard the slap of my phone being slammed shut. I burst into full out laughter.
"Your Dad's gonna kill me when we get home."
"HAHAHAHAA! That was brilliant!"
"You owe me for that. He's gonna seriously kill me this time."
"Oh, please, you're a death scythe now too, so it won't be that easy."
Soul groaned, "Whatever. Well, hurry up, would ya? Dinner's in a half hour and Kid's paying."
"Alright, alright. I'll be out soon."
Soul snorted and shut the bathroom door. I couldn't help giggling some more. He was right, my Papa probably will kill him this time, in between being a sobbing mess of course. The image made me laugh even more.
A/N: Sorry it took longer than expected to upload! I had friend drama of the worst kind to deal with and financial drama with my new University so I've been a little preoccupied. Not sure if I'm such a big fan of this chapter, but it needed to get the ball rolling. Next few chapters are plot and action packed, with lots of suspenseful endings and whatnot that are in the final stages of writing! Therefore, please REVIEW so that I will feel compelled to write more!
Oh and thanks to everyone who did review and add me as a fav! If I had a million dollars, I'd send you a custom T-shirt made by moi but alas, I am poor college kid.