Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater.
A/N: terribly sorry for the late update, words eluded me like Atlantis eludes its believers. I hope you enjoy the chapter.
If you were allowed to do anything to Soul Evans, what would you do?
That question was in the same magazine whose cover sported the picture of a very drunk Spirit Albarn.
If I were to direct the question to the brilliant SE fandom, the world would end and they would still have things to do with him.
But with Maka, it was simple; draw him like them French girls, or bash his head in just for existing.
She didn't hold any resentment towards the young man, she didn't know him; she can't go all judgmental on his ass. He hadn't offended her, hadn't shown her anything that should upset her. She knew that deep down she's being a judgmental bitch of a drama queen. She knew that the fact that she was shoved slightly towards the spot light wasn't worth all the anger that bubbled through her.
If asked about it, she'd most likely reply that she finds him the epitome of annoying.
But she was blowing everything out of proportions, and it was obvious.
To explain, Young Miss Albarn handles crushes like a little boy would.
And what happens when a very tipsy Maka meets the object of her "affection"? Why, use her papa's silver tongue on him and give him bedroom eyes, because that's how Albarns do it.
Said object of "affection" had been peacefully sitting on a bench in the park, trying to clear his head from all the crap he's been going through, when an all too loud "Ya-hoo!" followed by a battle cry jolted him from his seat.
A rather loud "oomph" rang through the empty space.
After registering the fact that the girl from a couple of days ago was straddling him, his eyes widened as his nostrils were attacked by the unmistakable stench of alcohol. And as if to add a cherry on top, she had started spewing some very seductive and tempting words that dripped off her tongue like honey.
He was shocked by how he was holding without his nose bursting with all the blood in his body.
And then she started kissing him.
And he swears he saw the light.
Let's shed some light on some of the finer details of that night.
While The Black*Star party were getting drunk off of their asses, Tsubaki (currently Black*Star's girlfriend who lives with him) noticed that her boyfriend had forgotten his cell phone. Ever the considerate person, she tries to call her best friend because that's where he said he'll be.
When Maka answered her phone, her garbled words and their even more garbled plan set off all the possible alerts in Tsubaki's head. And suddenly, her head was filled with all the possible headlines if they go through with it. Shuddering at her own ideas, she shoved the expected gossip out of her thoughts and proceeded to call the rest of their friends, asking for help controlling the two rampaging drunks before they get arrested.
Two hours of frantically searching for the duo later, the Tsubaki party received a call from Chief Sid. He informed them that he had found Black*Star and that they should send someone to pick up him up.
After interrogating the now-sober poor sod (Tsubaki has her ways), they found out that Maka had went home with someone and left her phone with Black*Star. Try as hard as he might, Black*Star couldn't remember why he wasn't with Maka and who was it that took her home. They tried calling her apartment landline, greeted by voicemail whenever they tried.
Meanwhile, a very disgruntled Soul was walking a very giggly Maka to her apartment. Apparently, despite her currently intoxicated state, she was still able to give him directions to her apartment. In the span of a few minutes, they stood in front of her apartment complex.
Fumbling between supporting her and her keys, they got past her door only to be met by her landline ringing for the umpteenth time. Since his assailant was in no shape to take phone calls, he picked up.
On the other side of the call, hope infected the worried group of friends.
"Maka?" Tsubaki's shaky voice reverberated through the speaker.
"Ah, Hello. She's here but I don't think she's in any shape to be taking in phone calls. Who is this?" Soul wanted to further explain the situation to the obviously worried female on the line, but his wary nature held him back.
"We should be the ones asking that! And tell us what's with Maka!" Liz's fuse caught fire when she heard the almost careless drawl that the stranger had used. She had snagged the phone from Tsubaki and put the call on speaker so that everyone could pitch in.
"Other than the fact that she's drunk beyond oblivion, she's currently knocked out on her couch. I take it that you are her friends?" the formal tone slipped his tongue before he could hold it back, damned manners.
"Yes, we are. And you would be?" Kid intervened before Liz could lash out at the man on the phone
"The one who walked her home, obviously." He wasn't stupid, his name would make an uproar; he's not going to let it out that easily. "Look, could you send someone to take care of her? It seems like she lives alone and she's going to desperately need help by the time she wakes up. I also would like to leave sometime soon, I have business to attend to." Sure, he was curious as to who her friend were, but she had sounded so upset about people talking about them that he doesn't want to cause her anymore trouble by stirring up rumours. Plus he had an exam tomorrow, and he had been cramming for a day and a half now and he desperately needed sleep.
"You gonna give us yer name, Mr Phone-Stranger?" Patty's past in delinquency more pronounced than ever in her tone.
Shrugging in a nervous way, Soul figured that they won't let it rest until he gives them one.
"I'm Soul." Thinking on his feet, he blurted out his old nickname that his brother had given him when they were young. "Eater. Soul Eater"
He could hear the joined murmurs of "what kind of name is that?" on the other side before the woman that had spoken first decided to wrap things up.
"Thank you for taking care of her Mr Eater. We'll be there shortly." Her voice was polite, but the suspicion the named caused was clear. A rather familiar voice then added a venomous "feel free to leave before I get there", and a few seconds after hanging up (or rather having the phone hung up in his face) he traced the voice to the man who was with Maka when they attacked him. He had a ridiculous name that somehow nagged at him yet he couldn't remember.
Tired and drained from his encounter with the female now murmuring something about books and radio shows, he let his body drop on the single armchair in the small apartment. He'd definitely stay and wait. He needed to elaborate things to make sure that nothing gets out because one of them would surely be able to trace the name to him and then shit hits the fan.
He's good at critical thinking, ain't he? He isn't good at staying awake, though.
Shit hit the fan either way, because when he woke up and opened the door to the furious knocking he found himself surrounded by five people with eyes so wide they could have popped and a rather flabbergasted landlord.
When his mind had finally caught up with the world around him, he found that he was being interrogated by the Thompson duo, and that the landlord had left long ago, but not before it was obvious that she realized who had been staying at her tenant's apartment. And he had actually tried not to get his ass in more trouble by staying to properly settle the situation with her friends. What had he done to deserve this at (a quick glance at the clock) three in the morning? Nice, he only got about an hour and a half of sleep. His exam was at eight. Maybe if he wraps things up quickly he could get three more hours of sleep.
He told the entire party the whole story, wishing for a bed to just sleep in all the while. When they were sure that he hadn't done anything to Maka, he addressed the fact that the landlord must have started dishing the juicy gossip material she got hold of, most likely misunderstanding the entire ordeal, and how Maka had asked him to not to approach her in public to avoid any misunderstandings.
A few hours into the day, the whole city had heard (a heavily abridged version of) the incident. He couldn't complain, since, with the help of the Thompson sister's network, they were able to create said abridged version, omitting certain details (Maka and Black*Star being drunk, Maka attacking/sexually assaulting Soul) and adding others (acceptable background for their "intimacy"; a strictly friends-only relationship). At least, no one's going to jail.
But that doesn't mean that they were safe.
That's where we left off last time.