Oh hi! Why yes, I am back so soon! Hehe. To make up for the delay of the last chapter, here's a new one a few days early! Yaaay!
So, this has been a slow start, but things are happening now...and there's even a little preview of the deliciousness of Chapter 5 in here! ;D (If you've been paying attention, you'll noticed I changed the rating to M - that's for next chapter, and it is...well you'll see.) Alright, enjoy!
P.S. I don't own the characters and all that, boooooo.
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"Wake up, lover boy! Time for school." came Maka's voice through the bedroom door.
Soul grunted a few profanities and rolled lazily out of bed. As he wandered to the washroom, his head began to ache - no doubt from the powerful Maka-chop he'd received the night before. Not that he didn't deserve it for yelling at her...
"Hey, Soul, are you up yet?" She knocked again.
Huh, Soul thought, she didn't hear me cursing under my breath...cool. He chuckled and opened the door, replying with a sleepy sound of affirmation.
"Good." the miester replied, dragging Soul into the kitchen by his wrist.
"What are you pulling me around for?" he asked, still dazed from his slumber (and head injury).
Maka giggled. "Giving you breakfast, silly. I made it special, with lots of protein; you're going to need your energy and mental strength today, Soul." She pushed a chair under him at the table, and sat down a plate of various breakfast meats. "You didn't forget our little talk, did you?" she mused, almost threateningly.
Soul stiffened, suddenly recalling the events of last night. He had reluctantly agreed that today, at the party, he was going to confess his feelings to Kid! Oh shit, he sighed to himself, suddenly losing his appetite, what have I gotten myself into?
As the sun rose up to stare upon Death City, Kid had already been awake for about an hour, adjusting the decor and aligning wall art. He glanced at the skull-faced clock hanging near him and saw that it read 6:15 AM. Wonderful, that leaves time to make breakfast. The reaper boy smiled to himself.
From down the center corridor, he heard the familiar buzzing of the Thompsons' alarm clock. Without bothering to check if they were going to start waking, he took a left and headed toward the kitchen to prepare the meal - they were all going to need a lot of energy to get through this event today.
After showering and getting dressed, Kid rejoined his two weapons at the dining room table. The girls had already devoured most of the meats he'd cooked, so he settled on two eggs and a slice of french toast.
Ask Kid ate, he could feel the stares of Liz and Patty threatening to burn holes right through him. He attempted to ignore them, but became irritated after only a few moments. "What are you staring at?" He inquired, his tone malevolent.
The girls looked from each other to their miester, then back to each other, neither knowing what exactly to say. Finally, Liz grew impatient and, being too afraid to tell Kid the true reasons for their actions, elbowed Patty in the ribs. Taking this as a demand for a response, the younger sister blurted: "You're acting all weird especially at school and you're making a huge deal out of this party and there's rumors and why is today such a big deal anyway?!" Her eyes filled with tears of confusion, and possibly from the pain inflicted on her abdomen. Liz simply slammed her head down on the table in front of her, muttering something about Patty being "an idiot".
Kid placed his fork down beside his plate and laced his fingers. His gaze traveled back and forth between the two girls for several minutes. At exactly 7:20 AM, the large clock over the kitchen archway let out a loud bell sound, signaling that it was nearly time to leave for school. Kid smiled mischievously, and finally spoke. "I've learned not to bother with rumors; it would be of good judgement if you girls didn't bother with them, either." With this, he rose from his seat and began clearing the table.
The pistols sat, stunned. Neither could believe the secrecy and over-confident attitude that they were receiving from their miester. But, after he cleared his throat loudly enough to signify his annoyance, they decided it would be best to just leave it and gather their school bags.
Kid stood alone at the front door for about five minutes, waiting on the girls. To any outside source, is would appear that the reaper was not only calm, but fairly apathetic about the news he'd just gotten - but inside his head, Kid's mind was racing. What rumors are they talking about? He asked himself, over and over. Am I really showing too much effort with the party? Is this concerning the whispers I keep hearing about...Soul? He gulped at the thought. No! I'm overreacting...but...he did agree to com over early... Kid shook his head. What am I saying? He's helping me with the music, that's all. Because, well, we're friends, he and I...right? Kid looked at the clock once more - six minutes, he'd been standing there. "Oh for goodness sake, I don't have time for this." He thought aloud. "Liz! Patty! Let's go!" He yelled with a huff.
Just then the two girls appeared in the archway, giggling about who-knew-what. "We're here, geez!" Liz retorted. Patty laughed, "Since when do you care about getting to school on time anyway, Kid?"
The reaper's brow furrowed, but he didn't respond - partially because, he didn't really know the answer. Something in his mind was telling him to get to the DWMA as soon as possible; and he didn't dare try to figure out why...
Classes that day were more painful for Soul than they'd ever been. Every time he made eye contact with Kid, it felt as if he were being stabbed in the ribs. (Partially because every time Maka saw him make eye contact with Kid, she would elbow him in the ribs and giggle hysterically.)
After one particularly painful jab, Soul nearly lost it. "Dammit, Maka! Will you stop that?!" he belted, interrupting whatever story Tsubaki was telling at the time.
Everyone in the group stopped to look at the pair - including the reaper boy. Maka immediately became very interested in the floor, while Soul sighed heavily and tried to correct the situation.
He apologized to Tsubaki and Maka individually, and although the attempt seemed weak, everyone took it as sincere enough and moved on. Soul couldn't help but turn red, embarrassed that Kid had seen him lash out like that.
"I'm sorry, Soul." Maka whispered. "I'm just having fun and letting you know that you don't have to be ashamed, that's all."
Soul nodded and gripped his miester's hand. He really needed someone to lean on right now, some normalcy, and he was glad he had Maka. But, the elephant in the room still remained - how was he supposed to tell Kid his true feelings?
The rest of the morning was calm and uneventful. It wasn't until the afternoon that Kid started to become nervous. He was supposed to be leaving in fifteen minutes, and Professor Stein was continually rambling on about organs or something, almost as if he were trying to hold Kid back on purpose.
Another five minutes passed, then ten, then twenty. Kid could only sit and shake with anger - well, he could have simply walked out, of course, but his father taught him manners (even if he had none himself). By the time class was let out, Kid had needed to leave for half an hour already. And to make matters worse, instead of leaving immediately, to make up for lost time, he sat in his seat throwing a tantrum.
Patty snickered uncontrollably at her miester, while her older sister attempted to reason with him. He was having none of it, though. After another five minutes, Liz turned to Patty, desperate.
"Can you do something? He's got to finish preparing for the party! Please, Patty?" The older weapon's eyes burned with frustration, causing the younger to laugh even harder. Why is she always so entertained by my misery?! Liz thought angrily.
Completely silent, Soul approached the rather unsightly trio. "Huh. What's the problem? Did someone tell him that his hair's asymmetrical again?" He mused.
Kid raised his head from his desk slowly, his yellow eyes alight with malice. If looks could kill, Soul would have been vaporized on the spot. The reaper shouted violently: "Shut up, Evans! Your entire being is asymmetrical!" and slammed his forehead back down on the table in front of him.
Soul, Patty, and Liz turned to each other, stared for a second or two, and burst out into snorting laughter. This, of course, caused the reaper's temper to escalate further.
He stood up, disheartened, pushing his books over in the process. "You know I'm still here, don't you?! Which, quite frankly, is the problem in the first place, but, whatever; You call yourselves my 'friends'?!" He uttered a sound of disgust and made a beeline for the door.
The group looked guiltily at each other."I don't know why he got upset; we laugh at him all the time and he never acts that way." Liz said to Soul. Patty giggled. "Maybe it was Soul's laughing that hurt his feelings?" She suggested. At this, her older sister joined in on the laughter, making Soul even more confused.
"Why me?" He asked. "What is that supposed to mean?"
Patty nudged Liz. "Oh, nothing..." The short-haired blonde replied coyly.
Soul blushed, hoping that they weren't - or perhaps, hoping that they were - implying what he thought they were. "I...hold on, I'll fix it." He said finally, darting out of the room after the reaper.
Kid was found slumped against a wall no more than ten feet from the doorway, muttering something incoherent.
Soul was hit with another pang of guilt. "Hey...Kid?" He whispered, placing a hand softly on the younger boy's shoulder.
"What?" He snapped back, jerking away from the touch. As he looked up to meet the scythe's gaze, his raw emotion was vivid; but it wasn't anger...could it be...pain?
Soul shook off the thought, assuming it was his imagination, and sunk down to the floor next to Kid. "I'm sorry, okay? I...want to help. I won't make fun of you anymore." He smirked. "For now anyway." He said with a chuckle, nudging Kid playfully.
Calm, but not amused by the joke, the reaper tilted his head back to rest on the stone wall behind him. "It's alright, I suppose." he sighed. But...why did it hurt my feelings at all? I mean, Liz and Patty laugh at me all the time... Pushing the thought to the side, Kid spoke again. "So, to make up for being...oh, what would you call it? Uncool?" he grinned. "What are you going to do, hmm?"
Soul tensed at bit at Kid's suddenly playful tone. It almost sounds like he's...nah, no way. The weapon pondered for a moment, the stated: "Well, since time seems to be an issue, why don't I give you a hand setting up the party? I was going to come over early anyway..." He suggested.
"Oh! I'd nearly forgotten!" Kid grabbed hold of Soul's wrist, trying to catch a look at his watch. "2:45?!" he exclaimed, almost becoming frantic again. He took a deep breath and nodded his answer, pulling Soul up behind him as he darted for the door.
On their way out, they passed (a very confused) Maka.
"I'm gonna help Kid set up for the party cuz I was a jerk I'll explain later see ya 'bye!" Soul yelled to her, the sentence running together as he was pulled out of the school's front doors.
Maka opened her mouth to voice a reminder to her weapon, but they were gone before she could utter a word.
Once inside the mansion, the reaper boy began immediately tearing open bags of supplies - making sure to fold the packaging and place it in the bin - and throwing them all over to Soul. A minute or so passed before Kid realized that his "helper" wasn't really helping at all. "Soul. Why are you just standing there?" He asked, exasperated.
Soul smiled crookedly, shrugging a shoulder. "Uh, I don't know what you want me to do with all this stuff?" He admitted.
Kid scoffed and rolled his eyes dramatically. "Oh for fuck's sake, you are completely helpless; here..." He pulled the armful of decorations away from the weapon and placed them on the table.
Amused at Kid's frustration, Soul snickered as he moved a few steps closer, trying desperately to pay attention to the instructions he was being given.
As the afternoon went on, the boys began to work more fluidly. It only took about forty-five minutes to completely decorate the rooms that were to be used, set up a sleeping area in the spare lounge, and begin preparing the food.
Soul wandered into the massive kitchen carrying his vinyl records. He looked exhausted, but pleased. "I just finished making up the cots - don't worry, you could bounce a quarter off the sheets, okay? - aaaand..." he paused to look down at the disc covers in his hands. "I think I've got the tunes pretty much figured out. Just needs your stamp of approval." He spread the albums out on the bar in front of Kid, who was chopping pineapple into perfect squares.
He sat the knife aside for a moment to study the album covers. His head tilted slightly, as if he were thinking very hard, and then nodded. "These all seem good. The player's in the event room, second on the right, past the lounge. Can you put them down in there and then come right back? I want your opinion on the snack dip." He indicated to a large silver pot on the stove behind him.
Soul ran off to put the records away as Kid starting moving the pineapple into a large bowl. A couple of seconds later, they both heard the creaking of the large front door.
"Knock, knock!" rang out a familiar voice. Soul peeked around the corner to see Patty entering the mansion.
"Oh, hey Patty." Soul glanced at his watch. "You're a little early..." he added as Kid came rushing into the room.
"Patty!" he burst out. "I asked you and your sister to escort everyone here at the proper time? We've still got over half an hour to prepare!"
Patty beamed and replied, "Oh, I know! Liz is doing that. I came by to see if you could use some help!"
Soul peered sideways at Kid, who returned the exhausted look. Soul shrugged to signify that he had no preference on the matter - though, he found himself hoping that Patty would just leave...
Kid nodded briefly and addressed the blonde. "Well, Patty, thanks to Soul everything is about finished up; so if you'd like, you can just go get yourself ready for the party. We can handle it."
Patty looked between the two boys momentarily, then laughed. "Okay, if you say so!" she exclaimed in a sing-song voice. She winked and bounded off down the right corridor toward her bedroom.
Kid stood still, seeming to be lost in thought. Deciding it was taking too long for him to move, Soul decided to snap him out of it.
"Uh, Kid? You alright?" He asked, placing his right hand on the small of the reaper's back.
The younger boy flinched, but did not move away this time. He did, however, become extremely nervous.
"I-I, uhm, yes, yes I'm aright, th-thanks. Heh." he stuttered, suddenly becoming rather fascinated with the left side wall.
Soul smiled fiercely, a slight tinge of red filling his cheeks. He raised his eyebrows curiously at his friend's demeanor. Deciding not to over-analyze (or maybe get his hopes up), Soul placed the offending hand back in his pocket. "So...want to get back to the food now?" He offered.
Kid seemed to fade back to normal, and nodded. "Right! Come taste this dip, and then I want you to help me with the brownies." He darted off to the kitchen with his white-haired friend in tow.
No more than ten minutes later, the scythe was sitting on a bar-stool in a state of near euphoria. A tray of food (which was rather small, per Kid's demand) that had contained chips and the aforementioned dip, two small finger sandwiches, and some marshmallow-filled dessert sat nearly empty in front of him. He licked his fingers happily, beaming at the reaper.
"I'm glad you enjoyed your samples." Kid murmured, smiling back.
Soul leaned back against the bar and sighed. "You are an artist, man. I had no idea you could cook like that."
Kid turned to gather some supplies from the cupboard behind him. He was facing away from Soul, but the grin he wore was clear in his voice. "Thank you, I-I guess..." he responded.
Soul's grin spread even wider. I like making him smile... he thought. And I might be beginning to come to terms with this "crush", as Maka called it... I still can't get a grip on whether Kid feels the same, though... "It's true!" Soul reaffirmed his compliment. "So, oh master chef, how may I help with these brownies?"
The black-haired boy chuckled and tossed Soul a wooden spoon. "You're my elbow grease." He chuckled.
Soon after the sweet scent of the home-made brownies wafted through the house, Kid came bounding out of the washroom and down the corridor to his dressing area. He stopped to peek his head into the lounge, where Soul was flipping through the television channels. Kid cleared his throat to announce his presence, causing the older boy to jump.
"Ah! Holy crap, Kid, you scared me! Not cool." Soul snorted, barely bothering to look in the reaper's direction.
Kid giggled hysterically, nearly dropping his towel in the process. He scrambled to catch it and replied, "I was only seeing if you'd checked the brownies..." still chuckling.
Soul circled around to face him, saying: "Yeah, about two minutes ago. They've still got abo - ..." The scythe stopped mid-speech, with Kid now fully in view. He hadn't realized the reaper was so...exposed...
Kid was standing in the archway with his white towel (barely) clinging to his slender hips. His pale skin glistened with stray water droplets, more of them falling down from his drenched two-tone hair. They perfectly highlighted the lean, tone muscles in his chest and abdomen - shape that was never revealed by his clothing. His left arm propped him easily against the wall, causing his brawny bicep to flex, while the right arm gripped the towel, barely holding on...it was immensely teasing.
Soul could nearly feel the itching in his nose, signifying an embarrassing nosebleed was going to hit any moment. He was grateful that his thoughts were interrupted.
Kid tilted his head sideways, curious about why his friend stopped so suddenly. "...about?" He offered, trying to aid with the response.
Soul blinked rapidly, waking himself from his trance. "Right! About ten more minutes." He concluded, turning an impossible shade of red.
The reaper corrected his posture, causing the towel to drop ever so slightly - but it was enough to grab Soul's attention again. Kid caught sight of the scythe's stare, which seemed almost hazy. Kid thought for a moment, then immediately felt his cheeks flush nearly purple. Could it be that...? "Um, uh, right then. I'm going to go...put some clothes on, n-now...I-I'm sorry..." he stuttered, shuffling out of the room and down the hallway.
Soul realized Kid's sudden reaction, scaring him a little. Could he have known what I was thinking? He wondered. Ohh, man. I hope not... His heart rate raised to the point where he thought he may pass out - then the doorbell rang.
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:o Soul, you naughty boy! ;) Heheheh.
So, he hasn't told him yet...but...the actual party is the next chapter! Do you think he'll reveal his feelings to Kid? Will it be well-received if he does? SO MANY QUESTIONS! I wanna know what you want to happen! :D
And, as always, please review and follow so that I have inspiration to keep writing because I adore this story. xD
TTFN! :3