Author's Note: Travis is going to be one of those characters who you love to hate! He's not going to give up on getting to Maka no matter what stands in his way. :D
Chapter 13: I want to get to know you better
"You can't be serious right? Why would you want to be a member of Masquerade? I mean do you even play an instrument or anything like that?" Maka questioned as she moved out of Travis's grip on her.
"As a matter of fact I do play an instrument, but you'll just have to wait until Wednesday to really see it." Travis chuckled before walking away.
Maka watched him leave in frustration. "Damn it Hiro, what have you done to cause all of this to happen! I need to have a word with him." With that thought in mind, Maka left in the opposite direction to go find Hiro for a better explanation.
It really shouldn't have taken so long for Maka to find Hiro; it seemed like he was trying to hide from facing her or at least not talking to her at school, but eventually Maka cornered him the following afternoon just outside the weight room.
"Oh hey Maka, what brings you here? I just finished a work out and was about to hit the showers." Hiro stated nervously under Maka's glare.
"Hiro, you know why I'm here and you better have a good reason for why you just decided to let Travis come into Masquerade without first consulting with me." Maka said sternly.
"Uh well, it's really a long story I'm not sure this is the right place to say it." Hiro mumbled looking around for an escape.
"Ugh why are you so impossible to deal with sometimes? Just give me a brief summary then of what happened when Rachel came up to you and what Travis did to you then." Maka asked become aggravated.
"Err well okay, but I'm pretty sure you're not going to like it." Hiro stated quietly.
FLASHBACK
"96...97...98...99...And 100. Alright I finally managed to do 100 push-ups non-stop without stopping." Hiro muttered happily as he sat up when he suddenly noticed there was a woman standing above him.
"Um can I help you?" He asked.
"Yes you can actually. I'm Rachel and you must be Hiro from the EAT class that I've heard so much about." Rachel purred as she rubbed a finger on his chest.
Hiro grinned at this and smirked a bit. "Yup, that's me alright! I guess you've noticed how much improvements I've made over the past few months and wanted to go out with me right?" Hiro mused confidently.
"Well maybe we can go out for ice cream later, but first you have to tell me something about Maka Albarn." Rachel stated sweetly as she played with the hair behind Hiro's ears.
Hiro paused for a moment, becoming a bit hesitant to speak again. "Uh, what would you like to know? I mean I don't exactly talk to Maka that much really." Hiro grumbled.
"Really? I mean I swear some of my friends and I saw you two talking to each other, but we could have just been mistaken." Rachel said teasingly.
"Ah, well I mean I might have talked to her a bit about music, but that's all really." Hiro answered quickly.
"Oh come on Hiro. There's no need to be so shy. You can tell me if you two are going out or something, even though I would rather have you all for myself." Rachel said with a pout and sugary smile.
"Whoa, wait a minute! Maka and I aren't going out! I just give her some advice about music occasionally and play a bit with her it's really no big deal!" Hiro cried not wanting Rachel to get the wrong idea.
Rachel smirked internally. 'Finally I'm actually get some decent information out of this loser.'
Rachel pretended to be relieved. "Well that's good to know. I wouldn't want to mess up any relationship you two possibly have with each other."
"Nope we're just friends, I swear! Anyways, what's say we get out of here and go get that ice cream like you suggested?" Hiro stated as he wrapped an arm around Rachel's waist.
Rachel grimaced a bit at the action, but quickly covered it up with a fake smile. "Okay, but first I think you should take a quick shower and get changed."
FLASHBACK ENDS
As Hiro expected, when he finished his story Maka was pissed.
"So because she flirted with you a little bit and you went on one small date you exposed our alter egos to her?" Maka questioned.
"No, Rachel still doesn't know who we are behind those masks, but I'm assuming from what information I did give her, Travis was able to put two and two together." Hiro considered.
"Okay well that story still didn't explain about what Travis did to you." Maka stated after thinking over everything Hiro told her.
Hiro sighed a bit before lifting up his shirt to reveal small slashes all around his stomach and chest.
Maka's eyes widened in horror. "Oh my gosh Hiro, what did Travis do to you?" Maka cried out worriedly.
"Basically he asked if what Rachel had told him was true and when I tried to deny it he said he had enough information to know I was lying and then he just attacked me until I told him the full truth." Hiro explained somberly.
"Why didn't you at least try to fight him back or at least try to run away?" Maka asked, disappointed Hiro hadn't at least used some of the advice she had given him this whole time.
"Well I did, but you know fists don't really work so well against a sharp object like a sickle and he moved so fast he really made sure I had no way of escaping." Hiro replied.
Maka sighed. It wasn't like either of them could do anything about it now that everything was all said and done.
"Guess tomorrow we'll be having practice with the guitar, saxophone, and whatever instrument Travis plays." Hiro mused quietly.
"Yeah, but first Travis wants me to do practice with him on the field as his new meister." Maka scoffed, already knowing tomorrow was going to be a long day.
Maka noticed the look of confusion that came onto Hiro's face at her statement and just shook her head.
"It's a long story I would rather not repeat it right now."
~X~
"Maka come on. you're not even really trying to use me properly! We're barely making any actual cuts into the tree!" Travis stated in his weapon form.
"Maybe I can't use you properly because I'm a scythe meister and I don't specialize in whatever the hell you are!" Maka snapped back throwing him on the ground without care.
Travis sighed and returned back to his human form. "Really Maka I told you I'm a sickle and that's not too far off from a scythe and besides, you can't just use that as your excuse for not trying. I mean I know you've used Tsubaki before as a weapon and she's not a scythe."
Maka frowned and just walked off further into the woods away from him. 'How does Travis know that? He shouldn't know this much about me.' Maka thought feeling uncomfortable. If he was looking up things about her, then it was time she start investigating him as well.
Finally Maka stopped at a small grove in the forest and sat down with Travis trailing closely behind her. He watched her for a second before sitting down next to her only for Maka to stand right back up and move to a tree on the opposite side of him.
"Stop following me, I practiced with you just like you wanted me to! The least you could do is give me some alone time now!" Maka sneered out.
Travis just stared at her and smiled softly before taking something out of his pocket. Maka watched him carefully and was surprised when he revealed the photo was the one of her and Hiro from a few weeks ago.
"Why are you bringing that out?" Maka questioned warily.
Travis didn't respond back and simply tore up the photo into pieces and then threw the pieces into the mud.
Maka looked unimpressed though. "So you tore up the photo, big deal. I bet you made hundreds of copies beforehand just to make sure you still had your blackmail."
"No, actually I don't need to use a photo of you as blackmail anymore because now I just have recordings of you and I talking to each other that would provide better evidence in case you want to back out." Travis stated simply.
"What! Wait what are you talking about; what recordings?" Maka snapped sitting up a bit from leaning on the tree.
"You didn't really think I would just rely on a photo, right? Those cameras around the school are quite easy to hack into once you mess with them a bit." Travis chuckled.
"Ugh, I hate you! I don't even know why you're so interested in me anyways you should be trying to find a meister in the NOT class." Maka grouched.
"Well I could say the same thing about you Maka. Why are you still so interested in Soul when technically he isn't your weapon anymore?" Travis retorted back.
"Because Soul doesn't force me to do things by using blackmail against me and he's the one I worked the most with." Maka hissed.
Travis looked amused. "Really Maka, but I know Soul hasn't been the nicest person to you either. I know he's called you many things before such as tiny tits, that you're a bookworm, and that you have fat ankles… should I go on?" Travis mused.
Maka frowned a bit and looked down. "Soul may have said all those things about me, but I know he doesn't mean it, he can actually be a nice and friendly person unlike YOU." Maka emphasized.
"Besides it's not like I'm without fault. I've said some mean things to Soul also in my anger or frustration too. "Maka finished. 'Like just the other day when I yelled at him for not knowing the difference between me and an imposter. I shouldn't have been so quick to anger and heard his side of the story. And to think I promised myself I would try and hit him less…'
Travis arched an eyebrow at this. "So, I can assume the reason you became Emerald was to try and get Soul to stop seeing you as just a bookworm, right?"
Maka huffed. "No I became Emerald to better understand music, but you wouldn't understand."
Travis laughed at this. "Oh really, try me then?"
"Music has always been one of the most difficult things for me to understand. All my friends can understand it and are into all types of genres of music that when I try to listen to I'm confused by. For the longest time I've always wanted to at least be able to hold one conversation with them about music without being teased for my own interests in music or just not being able to add in anything." Maka explained.
"That sounds like a nice goal, but I do wonder why you didn't just ask Soul for help instead of Hiro. I mean I'm pretty sure Soul knows more about music than Hiro coming from a family of musical prodigies." Travis stated after thinking over what Maka had just said.
Maka looked troubled. Once again Travis had surprised her by knowing information she was sure nobody had told him about.
"Yeah, you have a point, I could have always asked Soul for help, but I didn't want to. I just thought it would be too embarrassing to ask him when he hasn't exactly helped me feel better about how bad I am with music and with Hiro we're both helping each other out in a way." Maka reasoned.
"Don't you ever worry that Soul will eventually find out?" Travis questioned.
Maka only smiled bitterly. "I worry about it every time I perform, but I keep playing because I know I'm getting better and someday I'll actually perform for Soul the same way he performed for me like the day we first met." Maka continued on with a sigh, beginning to daydream.
Travis just scowled a bit. 'Great. All this conversation has done has caused Maka to just start thinking about Soul all lovey-dovey. I need her to trust me more than she does right now if I'm ever going to get closer to her and her soul.'
Suddenly an idea popped into Travis's head and he sat up. "Hey, let's get out of this forest and take a walk in the park since it is a nice day."
Maka seemed to ignore him for a second before speaking up. "What about the training that you wanted so badly to do?"
Travis only shrugged. "You're not even trying so what's the point? Besides, I want to know more about you besides just the fact that you're a meister and Emerald so let's go." He stated as he lifted her up by the arm and started to drag her.
Maka narrowed her eyes and broke away, but thought back to what Professor Stein had told her. 'I just have to keep an eye on him for now to make sure he doesn't try anything even though I would rather be with Soul right now.'
~X~
"Soul, I can tell something is bothering you can you please just tell me what it is so we can practice properly?" Kid questioned with a sigh.
"I told you I'm fine. Nothing is distracting me." Soul replied back gruffly looking away.
Kid scowled for a minute before calmly rubbing the bridge of his nose, contemplating on what he could say next to smooth the conversation.
"If this has something to do with your fight with Maka then I would suggest you just make up with her before it distracts you anymore from your studies and future missions." Kid explained.
"Who said this has anything to do with Maka?" Soul growled, but the blank stare Kid gave him back clearly told him he didn't believe him.
"You two don't usually fight for this long, so what did you do this time to make her angry?" Kid asked.
Soul sighed and explained what happened back on Friday and how Maka had pretty much been giving him the silent treatment since then.
"Well, it does look bad that you just let whoever was pretending to be Maka just kiss you like that and it's even worse that you don't know who's behind it all." Kid mused.
"I wouldn't have let it happened if she hadn't surprised me with what she had told me." Soul scoffed, trying to defend himself.
"Oh and what did she tell that threw you off so much?" Kid asked innocently.
Soul chose not to respond, leading Kid to become even more curious to what 'Maka' could have told him.
Soul sighed seeing as Kid wasn't going to drop the topic anytime soon. "She told me she loved, there you happy now?"
Kid smirked and shook his head. "So that's why you were so stunned at first. Though I figured that personally you would think it would be cooler if you were the one to confess first." Kid finished laughing.
Soul just growled and blushed slightly. "Shut-up! And anyways, it doesn't matter that wasn't really Maka. I'm not sure how they made themselves look like her, but I'll figure it out eventually."
"Don't you need to make up with the real Maka first though?" Kid reasoned.
"Yeah, but I don't know what I can do when all she does is ignore me when were in the apartment. She won't even Maka-chop me when I know I deserve it which is a bad sign." Soul stated.
Kid just sighed and thought things over before coming to a conclusion. "Okay, our lessons are done for today just go home and resolve things with Maka."
Soul looked slightly surprised at this. "Really, just like that; are you sure?"
Kid smiled and nodded his head. "Yeah, go home and fix things with Maka. I don't know what you can do to make things better, but do something because next week were going to have to work double the hours to make up for this week."
Soul grinned showing up his razor sharp teeth. "Thanks Kid, I'll come up with something." And with that Soul walked off in the direction of his apartment.
Kid debated with himself as he watched Soul leave. 'I wonder if was just a good idea to make such a quick decision and let him leave early, but there's no way we were going to get anything accomplished with him having Maka on his mind the whole time.'
~X~
"Let's just take a seat here." Maka said as she sat down at a table not too far away from park.
Maka glanced down at her watch, it was currently 3:05 pm. 'Soul doesn't get of practice at least for 2 more hours, what can I do to pass the time? I would at least rather be at Hiro's place practicing.' Maka thought with a sigh.
Travis took the seat opposite of her and studied Maka's facial expression. She appeared bored and distracted once again.
Maka finally noticed Travis was staring at her and became confused. "Why do you keep staring at me?" Maka questioned with a huff.
Travis only fake pouted. "I can't stare at a beautiful woman?"
Maka still looked annoyed, but she blushed slightly which didn't go unnoticed by Travis.
"Soul must not compliment you a lot if my flattery makes you blush like this." Travis mused.
Maka only scoffed. "I don't need Soul's flattery to make me feel better about myself."
"True, but seeing how you two behave around each other, I'm sure it would surprise you and make you happy if one day Soul just blurted out things like he thought you were pretty or smart."
Maka tried to picture Soul doing this and blushed even more. She had to admit it was odd thinking about Soul being romantic with her, especially with how busy they both were lately and how unusual it would be for Soul to do. 'Soul isn't the type to show his emotions, I highly doubt that's going to change anytime soon.'
Maka just sighed and shook away her thoughts. "It shouldn't matter to you how I feel towards Soul or how Soul feels towards me; it's none of your business." Maka explained, glaring at Travis.
"Maybe so, but that's not going to stop him from getting other ideas into his head, right?" Travis said smugly as he glanced to the side.
Maka became puzzled by Travis's statement until she followed his gaze to the side and saw who he was looking at: Soul.
Author's Note: That's it for Chapter 13, let me know what you think and as always thanks for reading!