"The last trip was awful! Can you believe they reserved a place at the most remote restaurant you can imagine and then stupid Jacqueline with her fear of loud noises, it's like she's a bloody mouse, can you believe it? A mess! Anyway I wasn't even enjoying the movie and Jacqueline contradicts herself with the way she screams. Did you hear that girl? She has good lungs. She'd be good at speeches or worshipping."

Maka lazily raised a hidden eyebrow, mutely musing over the fact that Black*Star knew how to use the word contradict. Ordinarily she'd sit up and spout a lengthy list of reasons why Jacqueline supposedly fearing loud noises was not in anyway the young girl's fault but Maka had sought solace in being comfortably sprawled atop a table surrounded by a cacophony of voices that constantly meshed together in a warm environment.

"Right, so, my plan is to print out some fake documents and swap them! Foolproof. If you know the way. Of course I'll be planning the heist. I'm obviously the best at that. In fact, I've already done so. I've done heists before too! Have any of you ever planned a heist?" Black*Star's voice broke through the nebulous haze. It seemed like a genuine question and Maka was elephant to believe he had, truly, planned and exhibited a heist before now.

"Marie has explained, in rather specific detail might I add, that any attempts n anyone's behalfs to 'sabotage', if you will, this trip in any way will be sighted beforehand and stopped. How do you expect to pull a successful heist in a faculty such as this Black*Star? I am all for listening to this greatly complex and foolproof plan you have supposedly concocted prior to this conversation."

Kid's biting response prompted a silent snicker from Maka and open laughter from more than two people. If she had to guess, Liz and Patty had made their way over at some point and- yes, when Maka slightly adjusted her head she could spy the two blondes pin straight hair. From where her head now resided she could just barely glimpse Soul's white mop of hair. She sensed a shift in the space around her and a nudge.

Checking, she saw it was a neat square sheet of paper with Soul's scrawlingly neat handwriting on it.

Maka had previously been unaware of any type of stationery being present among Soul's person, let alone paper and the ability to write without catching the attention of pretty much anyone while lying almost face down on a table. Shifting her body to read it without straining her eyes, vaguely noting Marie was almost conveniently preoccupied with one of the cooks. Maka blanked as she read, not understanding why Soul would tell her to 'Get up and grab a bowl of pasta ASAP I'm hungry and tired'. For one, she was fairly sure patients had to collect their own food and secondly, she was also certain a few choice patients, including her although they'd been pretty lax so far, had a loose diet of sorts to stick to. Aside from the fact that Soul had almost definitely eaten something already (filling his daily quota), Maka wasn't hungry and unless food was forced down her throat, was content to just relax.

Soul's foot impatiently slammed into Maka's leg, Maka biting hard on her lips to stop her from seething in pain. Obviously from Soul's rapid eye movements he wanted her to go and get the food he'd requested and by the way Marie had begun to glance at her with an air of expectancy, Maka complied.

Smiling graciously at Marie and the cooks, Maka scowled as she turned on her heel to head back in the direction of her table. Reaching it she dropped the bowl she'd been given moments before, lips curling in satisfaction when Soul flinched and shot his hands out to catch it. He curiously peered up as Maka twisted around his chair to plop back into hers and mournfully stare at the food. Blank expression on point, Soul produced a plastic retractable fork from a seemingly nonexistent pocket. With a scary precise move he dug the fork in and out, taking a sizeable amount of pasta with it and proceeded to swallow it all in seconds. He shoved the bowl in Maka's general direction, taking a forkful of food every few minutes. His companions didn't let the suspicious antics deter their conversation, they just crowded tighter together in one fluid motion. Maka didn't seem too bothered, poking a piece of pasta into her mouth once or twice before giving up and just mimicking Soul's actions a lot slower and more civilised, but without ever eating anything.

It took a short while but eventually all of the food was gone. Maka grabbed the bowl, quietly moving to the trolley where she placed the empty bowl. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Marie with a surprised expression on her face, almost proud. Thinking back, Maka supposed she hadn't eaten much, not recalling a day where she'd had a full meal. It didn't bother her, she wasn't much of a food lover. She wasn't paranoid, like Liz, and she wasn't anorexic. Food didn't hold any appeal to her. It was inconvenient.

Glancing at the clock Maka vaguely acknowledged that soon they'd be ushered down corridors and into their rooms to sleep. She felt weary, for once she felt like she could actually fall asleep and be left in peace. All she had to was wait.

When she reached her table again she realised the group crowding it had dispersed. Some had gone to finish their own meals, others setting their dishes on the trolley. A few were being escorted to their rooms but Maka didn't feel like joining them. Sitting down again, she kicked her legs out in time with the clock, keeping her feet and knees together. Her fingertips fiddled meticulously with the red cloth of her sleeves, tug, tug, twist, rub. And again. She might've nodded off once or twice but felt more or less awake as Marie began calling out for everyone to clear up and prepare to head to the dorms. The young girl stood and returned a wave to Soul, who'd spent the paste fifteen minutes doodling on the back of his hand in mild discomfort. They lined up in front of the doors as Marie did a final count and then led the way to the dorms. When they reached the corridor with the majority of the girls rooms, Marie waved a manicured hand and rushed off. Ignoring Tsubaki's tired attempts at saying goodnight Maka trailed into her room, leaving her door open as she did.

Again she collapsed, brooding for a mere moment before silently pulling herself up and under her covers, coiling herself into a ball. Uncomfortable with how the bands in her hair felt yet unwilling to rearrange herself Maka's hands crawled up through the duvet and yanked at the hair bands, tugging them out and flicking them onto the floor. Happy with her position, the girl allowed her eyes to close and the world to go dark.

A/N

Hi. So this chapter was a little short which I apologise for. The next chapter will have a little more length to it. Speaking of, updates should come more often now as well. So instead of once a month like I'd previously thought was needed, it'll be every week/fortnight. No set day but if you have a preference let me know.
To go down the route I want to with this story, I'm going to be mixing up the POV a little. So far it's been mostly Maka, sometimes Kid. But now I'm going to move onto doing full chapters in a certain POV when it's required and when it gets a little repetitive being stuck in one person's view of things. I also think I need to work on Maka's portrayal more so... The next chapter will be from Soul's perspective and give a little more information as to why he's there, and why he's been there for so long. Hope you enjoyed, read and reviewed.