A/N: No excuse would ever make what I had done any less bad. I am sorry for not updating last week; educational issues, nothing horrifying. The chapter isn't as long as last time, so it doesn't even seem worth the wait for me. Nonetheless, I hope enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own Soul Eater.

On a chilly Tuesday afternoon, a certain 19-year-old was headed towards a café better known as Deathbucks. Fresh from the last lecture of the day, our lead was humming a tune as cheerfully as possible, each step beating to its rhythm.

Yep, Maka was happy.

It had nothing to do with the fact that she practically had a date with her crush, no! What could you possibly be insinuating?!

She was on a roll. She aced the assignment, she finished studying ahead for the finals, her kitty finally got a name; Blair (apparently it was one of the most famous names during 2013), and she scored herself a date with possibly the first guy to catch her attention for longer than a couple of days.

When she got there, she looked around and spotted him sitting in the corner that had the mushiest seat and most windows. She would know best; it's her favourite spot. Somehow, seeing him in that spot made her like it even more and she couldn't help the smile that slid onto her features.

What made her beam further was the fact that he was reading a book, obviously a fantasy if the intricate, majestic dragon on the cover told her anything. Yep, he keeps bulldozing her expectations.

When he finally noticed her, she was already standing next to him and craning her neck to read over his shoulder. She didn't understand a thing from what was being said in the book; it full of completely foreign words. It was after the third repeat of the word "magick" that she gave up.

And who would she happen to find staring at her while she struggled to grasp the story?

You guessed it! Silver Spikes. (Read the previous words with extra malice, please)

And yes, he did make fun of her for it. What else did you expect? An array of insults were tossed, each meant less than the one before it but nonetheless spot on. She was a helpless bookworm, and (this stays between us) definitely was small around the bust.

"That's not a way to treat a lady, you know! You have to be more delicate, especially with such things, you jerk!" she fumed. Why did her crush have to turn out to be such a dipshit?

"Delicate? What are you, a china doll?" he retorted.

Uh-huh, real smooth Soul; your date had just arrived and the first thing your nervous brain did was mock her. Although, he does deserve some credit for his creativity on the last one.

"Urgh, as soon as I start thinking you're a nice guy, you turn around and start shoving crap in my face." She huffed.

Maka would make a very good big bad wolf. If I were a pig, I'd have lost my house already.

"And look!" she gestured to the other clients-recently-turned-audience, "Everyone is staring at us!" she paused for a bit, taking in the incredulous glances people sent in their direction. "Why are they looking at us like that?"

Soul snorted, she sure is dense. "Oh no," he replied, "They're staring at you!"

"The hell d'you mean?" Honestly, she looked as confused as if she had been told that mars wasn't the fourth planet from the sun.

Another chuckle and he said, "You see, I don't exist."

"That can't be possible, bonehead."

"Maybe I'm your imaginary friend, and that you made me up." What was he getting at, he had no idea. He just wanted to talk to her, even about the lamest topics ever, imaginary friend theories included.

It's clear as day is in Nevada summer that he was joking. Surprisingly, she found herself playing along with his antics.

"Then, how'd you explain the fact that your face had been plastered all over Death City magazines for these past four months? How do you explain the fact that people can see us? And how are we in two different majors at school?"

"Maybe they're imaginary as well" he said cheekily.

"I made this whole thing up?!" she fake-gasped, "Well, that explains shit. Maybe my life isn't so shitty, I just have issues"

"Maybe this is just a nightmare and somewhere out there your body is lying comatose" He offered. That made her crack and she started giggling.

"That's it!" he hit his palm with his fist, "We're living in the matrix"

Giggling some more, she pulled a serious face and said "The world makes sense now"

He gave her a mischievous grin.

"Right? The screen writers must have been on to something when they made the movies"

That set them both on a fit, bodies shaking with buoyant laughter, and sides aching as they hunched over themselves.

Many others gave them they evil eye, but the waitress was enjoying the break in the anxious atmosphere that had settled on the café before the girl's arrival. Finals weren't far and everyone had come here to study. She usually didn't mind the study tidal waves but this one seemed particularly harsh. Just a few more minutes she consoled her conscience, I'll let the poor kids study as soon as they stop laughing, they need a break anyway, she mumbled to herself.

I was just sitting there and enjoying my ship setting sail.

I know, too much explanation for a secondary character, but she was standing right behind me, what's a narrator supposed to do other than give you the full experience?

So, back to the two dorks who are being all sorts of fluffy that I want to have them as topping on my hot chocolate.

The dweebs had ordered their drinks (both hot chocolate, Soul with extra marshmallows) and now they were having a VERY heated discussion (well, heated on one part only, Soul looked kind of disinterested).

"-to play for me! It's only fair, Silver Spikes!" she was complaining.

"You didn't say you wanted anything in- Wait, what? Silver Spikes? That's the best you could do?" he said with outrage.

"Hark who's talking! The guy who gave me the nickname tiny tits." Her tone dripped with venom when she spoke the last two words.

"Look, just show me the drawing already. I have all the right to see what I unknowingly had beenused as a model for" he held out his hand, waiting for her to hand him the sketchbook. She glared at him for a few seconds before her guilt won out. He was right, and her professor's complement still eats at her from time to time. Plus his looks played out for him.

Damned asshole.

"Fine" She relented, pulling out her sketchbook and flipping through the pages until she found what she was looking for. She had decided to show him the drawing she used for her assignment. The other drawing was just too, baring and quite frankly she was embarrassed to show him that the first time she laid eyes on him she saw him as this weird gothic rendition of a fallen angel. It's just NOT something you show to someone you had known for a week only.

Too bad for her, Soul was very curious about her art, so after he stared at the drawing for a while, he flipped to the next page which just happened to contain the drawing Maka was worried about.

Oopsie.

"Woah!" he whispered under his breath. Then his eyebrows furrowed. He went back to the figure drawing assignment and then back to the second one for a couple of times before he was sure; the two drawings were the same, except one was strictly to-the-book figure drawing and in the other his tattoo was rendered as real, life-size, battered wings sprouting from between his shoulder blades.

Maka was still fidgeting in her seat and trying not to look at him for a reaction, pretending to be enjoying her HUGE mug of hot chocolate while staring through the window. His eyes caught a little scribble at the bottom right corner of the page.

The Fallen, by Maka Albarn

Check list complete.

A/N: That's a wrap! I'd like to thank the ones who had tried to help me with the cover photo for the story, and apologize for all the technical problems with my email that had caused a lot of inconvenience. I appreciate your help! Love you guys.