A/N: Wow, I am FLOORED by the huge response Chapter 1 got, thanks guys! As you can imagine, I'm really feeling the pressure now to make this good. So here's Chapter 2, and I hope you guys enjoy it :)
"Okay, you ready for this?"
"No."
"What the hell do you mean 'no'?"
"I changed my mind, I can't do this!"
Soul exhaled slowly as he stood with his meister outside the doors of the Academy. Only a few people were wandering around outside, the rest were getting ready for classes inside, giving them ample opportunity to prepare for the day ahead. So far everything was going smoothly: first thing that morning, Soul and Maka had both changed their Deathbook statuses from "It's Complicated" to "In a Relationship", had both gone over everything on the list they'd made up with Blair the night before, and now were about to make their entrance into the Academy, hand in hand and looking like the happiest people on earth. Perfect time for Maka to get cold feet, Soul thought as he grabbed her around the waist to prevent her from running in the opposite direction.
"Soul—!"
"Maka, I'm right here," Soul said in a deep, assuring voice that seemed to immediately calm her racing heart. "C'mon, let's go show everyone in there that the joke's on them."
Maka turned around to face him and laced her fingers through his, "Alright…whatever you say, sweetie."
"That's the spirit, babe," Soul smirked. "Now, once we get inside—"
"We act like we don't notice anyone looking at us," Maka went over in her mind as they neared the front door, "I give you my books to carry and you say, 'You look cold, Maka' and put your leather jacket around me."
"I give you a kiss on the cheek and we head into Stein's class, where we're home free 'til lunch," Soul finished. "Anyone asks, we just play it cool—actually you could act a little embarrassed, it's kinda cute."
"Shut up," Maka swatted him on the arm as Soul pushed open the front door. As predicted, the first one to spot them was Liz, probably having checked their statuses earlier, but now having a silent screaming fit with her hands over her mouth, nudging Patti with her elbow as Maka grinned at them, giving Soul's hand a squeeze as they passed. Soul kept his eye out for Black Star, ready to rub it in the obnoxious assassin's face the minute he found him, but he did pass Kilik and Ox on their way in, smirking at them as Ox whooped and Kilik yelled "Get it, Soul-man!"
"Hey Maka, you cold?" Soul asked kindly as they stopped near Kim and Jackie, who were both gaping at them.
"A little," Maka nodded coyly, attempting the bashful attitude Soul suggested. He set down her books and stripped off his black leather jacket, laying it on Maka's shoulders. She smiled, "Much better."
"What the hell?" came a loud cry from across the hall. Soul turned to see Black Star standing with a grinning Tsubaki, his mouth hanging to the floor with money in one hand and his pad of paper in the other. Placing his arm around Maka's waist, he pulled her against his side and walked her over to where the uncharacteristically speechless ninja stood.
"Looks like you're not gonna need those anymore," Soul smirked down at his betting provisions.
"You're just doing this to get back at me, aren't you?" Black Star sneered, and Soul's insides froze: Were they that obvious?
"No, Black Star, we're not." Thank you, Maka! "If anything, we should be thanking you," she smiled, leaning her head on Soul's shoulder. "You see, we were really angry at first—"
"—about the whole playing with our feelings thing," Soul added, picking up on Maka's prompt of their rehearsed story, "but afterward we thought, 'Maybe he's not picking on us…maybe he's trying to send us a sign.'"
"A sign from God," Maka flourished, and Black Star puffed his chest up proudly. "Soul and I have been partners for a long time, plus we've been living together, so I took a chance—"
"—and I told her that I wanted to take the next step!" Soul interrupted hastily, giving Maka a look, "Remember?"
"Oh yeah!" Maka slapped her head at her own stupidity while mentally kicking herself for forgetting such an important detail, "It was you, 'cause—well, I was too shy."
"You still look kinda shy," Soul teased, nudging his nose against her cheek. "I've never seen you like this before, Maka."
"Well, I—I've never felt this way before," Maka improvised, moving her face away from Soul's touch. "It's still so new to me."
"'Aw don't worry, I'll help you adjust," Soul crooned in her ear, sneaking a peek at Black Star who still hadn't picked his jaw up from the floor.
"Well, Black Star and I will leave you two alone then," Tsubaki giggled.
"What? No we won't, they're ruining my busine—!"
"Now, Black Star!" Tsubaki yelled, grabbing him tightly by the arm and dragging him away while he screamed things like "They did this on purpose!" and "Everyone in this school's gonna kill me!"
"Laying it on a little thick, aren't you?" Maka hissed out the corner of her mouth as they walked towards Stein's class, smiling at people as they "aww'd" in their direction.
"It's Black Star, I had to put on a show for him," Soul hissed back, crushing her closer to his hip.
"Oh I think you were going for an award with that little display," Maka countered, an artificial grin plastered on her face. "We keep going like that, and no one with half a brain cell is going to believe us!"
"Okay, okay I'll back off," Soul rolled his eyes, pulling her into a corner so they could talk privately, "just so long as you start getting our stories straight."
"I'm sorry, it was an accident," Maka said honestly, recalling her slip-up on who had confessed to whom. "I got it now: You made the first move."
"Got that right," Soul said just as the first bell rang. "Alright, we got class now so we can take a break for a bit. We'll pick this up again in the cafeteria."
"Right," Maka nodded, shifting closer Soul as people pushed past them to get into class. "Sit by me?" she asked a bit louder so they could hear her.
"Don't I always?" Soul answered just as syrupy sweet. Planting a soft kiss on her cheek, they strolled hand in hand through the doorway of Stein's classroom, the professor eyeing them curiously as they walked to their desks.
"I have you tests graded," Stein said after letting his eyes linger on Soul and Maka for a moment, while Maka straightened herself up into school mode. "Weapons overall did pretty well. Meisters—" The professor slapped down a paper marked up in red in front of Black Star "—may need to read over the material more closely. Or just read it, period." Black Star scoffed and tossed the paper over his shoulder while Tsubaki covered her eyes with her hand and moaned. Maka sat jiggling her legs nervously until Stein set down her paper with a bright red A-minus across the top.
"Hey, nice goin'," Soul nudged her, and Maka nodded as she looked over her work. It was a good grade, but something about that minus sign next to the "A" always bothered her. She'd have to try harder next time. What was even weirder, however, was Soul complimenting her on her grade. Usually he just made a jab at what a boring bookworm she was, but now he—oh right, they were supposed to be acting like a couple now. Soul squeezed her hand under the desk, so as to give the students sitting behind them some eye candy, just as Stein set his own paper down in front of him.
"Well, what'dya know about that?" Maka looked up at Soul's unnaturally happy tone and saw to her utter surprise that he'd earned a B-plus.
"Soul!" she exclaimed, grabbing the paper from him. "You—this is your—?"
"Told you it was a piece of cake," Soul said as his dumbfounded meister looked over his work—his thorough, neatly organized work.
"You really did study," Maka breathed, her green eyes sparkling, "I'm so proud of you, Soul!" It happened before she could even think to stop herself—she grabbed his face and kissed him on the cheek. Shit, that was loud, she thought, looking to see that every person in the class had their eyes on them; some giggling, some sighing at Maka's kiss—then there was Black Star, who tore his entire record-keeping notepad in half.
"Ew, that was a wet one," Soul hissed to her, wiping her kiss off with his shirt sleeve.
"I—I'm sorry," Maka whispered back, slumping down in her seat as she mindlessly took notes for the rest of the lecture. Where the hell did that come from?
"So…" drawled a voice behind Maka once the class had been dismissed and she made a break for the girls' bathroom. Little did she know that she could not escape the hounding of her fellow female classmates in there, much less the gossipy Thompson sisters themselves. "When did it happen?"
"Last night," Maka smiled, turning away from the sink to face Liz and Patti hovering over her like two vultures converging on their prey. "Aren't you two more upset that you lost your bets?"
"Oh but it's so much more satisfying to know we were right all along and you two are crazy for eachother," Liz chuckled. "Besides it wasn't really our money, it was Kid's—he's harassing Black Star for his cash right now."
"Thought so," Maka grinned. "Now excuse me, I have to—"
"Oh no, you have plenty of time before lunch and you are not—"the taller pistol shoved Maka onto the bathroom couch "—spending today in the library. We want details."
"Such as?"
"Have you two kissed yet?" Patti asked eagerly.
"That's none of your business!" Maka exclaimed.
"Dude, we just hooked up last night," Soul said to Kid as they headed towards the cafeteria, where the Death Scythe noticed he was still carrying Maka's heavy books and set them down on a table.
"Fair enough," Kid answered. "I just figured since you'd been dying to confess your feelings to her for so long, your—ahem—emotions might have gotten the better of you?"
"I didn't say that they didn't," Soul smirked, glancing over Kid's shoulder at Black Star who was warding off a very disgruntled Kim before catching up breathlessly with them. "C'mon dude, you're missing all the juicy details!"
"Man, you and Maka ruined everything, Soul!" Black Star complained. "Everyone's pissed at me 'cause they kept pushing their bets back, so pretty much everybody lost!"
"Really?" Kid asked as Soul plastered a satisfied smirk on his face, "Nobody won?"
"Almost everyone bet between spring break and—well—'never'" Black Star explained, slumping his shoulders while the usual swagger in his step was lacking. "Did anybody win?"
"Black Star!" Sid called from across the hall, "Lord Death sent me with a message: Pay up!"
"Aw, dammit!" Black Star raged, pounding towards the Death Room screaming profanities while Soul and Kid howled with laughter.
"So you're not pissed about losing the bet?" Soul asked, wiping tears of mirth from his eyes as Kid tried to regain breathing control again.
"My happiness at you and Maka being happy overrides any harsh feelings about the money," Kid replied, arranging the food on his tray in a perfectly symmetrical order. "I must admit that I myself harbored quite a crush on Maka—"
"Eh?" Soul's head shot up, his stomach tightening: Kid had feelings for Maka?
"If you didn't tell him soon, I was gonna 'swoop in for the kill,' if you know what I mean," Liz nudged Maka playfully, who laughed back uneasily. Liz had feelings for Soul? She had no idea about it. She also had no idea why such a revelation made her want to reach over and slap the brown-haired beauty across the face.
"Well, it doesn't matter now, you beat me to it," Liz sighed in defeat as Maka fought back her sudden violent urges. She didn't beat Liz to it because this was all an act, meaning Liz technically still had a chance—a better chance than she did. It wasn't Liz's fault that she was older, prettier, sexier, and far more artistically cultured than Maka could ever be to suit Soul's tastes—goddammit, why do I care about what Soul's tastes are anyways?
What the hell does he see in Maka anyways? Soul raged within as Kid continued to babble next to him. All the freak ever cares about is symmetry! What, her pigtails are perfectly symmetrical for him or something? Forget it, dude. Maka would never go for a nutcase like you. As they neared the cafeteria tables, Soul moved away from Kid and chose the spot next to Tsubaki instead while they waited for the Thompsons, Black Star, and Maka to join them. He couldn't help shooting a glare at the young Grim Reaper every now and then, aligning his sandwich halves, two cartons of milk and two apples in different patterns of symmetry before gingerly starting on his well-balanced lunch—literally.
She's too good for him…isn't she? The rhythmic drumming of his fingers on the table stopped abruptly. Well he's…probably a better contender than I'd ever be. I mean, if we weren't pretending to be together, there's…no reason Maka wouldn't... His fingers then began to tremble slightly, before curling into a fist. Intelligent, clean cut, wealthy, well-read—dammit, he's right up Maka's alley! Why shouldn't she want to be with a guy like him? Why don't they just hook up and get it over with?
The answer came to him almost as soon as the question did: Because I'm Maka's boyfriend. He loosened his white knuckles as a wide, sharp-toothed smile spread across his face. That's right. As long as this little performance is going on, Maka's mine and he can't have her—and neither can any other guy for that matter. Soul sat back in his seat, picking his teeth with a toothpick just as Liz and Patti entered the cafeteria chattering excitedly with a less enthusiastic Maka in tow. His Maka. Well, at least she was until a few weeks or so…when this whole charade would end. Then once it looked like they'd broken up, would Kid make his move then? Soul wasn't so sure…but worse than that, would Maka accept?
"Hey hon," came a soft greeting. Soul looked up to see Maka standing over him, wearing a small smile that didn't reach her eyes.
"Hi pumpkin," Soul replied, standing to pull her into his arms. "You okay?" he whispered quietly enough for only her to hear, seeing the troubled look in her deep olive eyes.
Maka gazed up at him, then glanced over at Liz, flipping her long silky brown hair over her smooth bare shoulder, taking a moment to envy the way her glossed lips glistened and her mascara-tinged eyelashes fluttered before forcing back a smile at her false beau. "I'm fine. What about you?"
"Yeah, I'm cool," Soul shrugged casually, pulling out her chair for her. She took one last look at his eyes, which must have looked as troubled as hers, before sitting down with her tray. And Soul stole one last nasty glance at Kid, daintily wiping his mouth with a napkin, before throwing an arm around the back of Maka's chair and joining her.
Over the next few weeks, adapting to being a couple turned out to be surprisingly easy for the initially reluctant pair. Sure, going on group dates with the others was strange; not to mention the awkwardness of watching that romantic comedy with the schmaltzy ending in the dark movie theater, but that was only one of few obstacles. Every time one of the girls looked their way, Soul was sure to give Maka a meaningless peck on the cheek, while his meister would occasionally be seen lovingly sporting one of his jackets or blazers. Even better than that was the simplicity of explaining their lack of affectionate display in public, in which Soul merely stated that "cool guys keep it private."
Much to Soul and Maka's pleasure, Blair's prediction seemed to be coming true. Aside from their closest comrades, the student body was growing bored with the gossip surrounding the relationship of one of the Academy's top weapon-meister teams. Less and less people were giving Black Star a hard time about losing money on their bets while less and less girls were squealing with delight every time Soul or Maka laid a hand on eachother. If things kept going at this rate, the false liaison could end sooner than they anticipated.
The only problem was neither of them was making any effort to end it.
Every time Maka saw Liz chatting with Soul about some new jazz CD she bought, it only made her want to show her up with some new thing Soul had done for her or bought her, such as a romantic candlelit dinner at an expensive restaurant or a glittering new charm necklace. Of course these were lies and Soul was not doing anything of the sort. The jewelry she wore were things her father had bought her in begging for her forgiveness, thus they had never seen the light of day until now. Candlelit dinners and fancy trinkets had not been part of their plan, but Maka was becoming paranoid to the point where she was willing to say anything to keep Liz or any other one of Soul's admirers from sinking their fangs into him.
Similarly, Soul found that the base lie of having Maka as his girlfriend was branching out into several smaller white lies of things they were doing outside of school. This led to the fiasco of one day well into the third week of their charade, where Soul's exaggeration of his "activities" with Maka came to a head.
"Things seem to be going pretty good, huh?" Black Star prompted him one day once classes had ended.
"Yep, we had a sweet movie night last Friday," Soul answered, "Back-to-back features of The Sketchbook and A Stroll to Ponder."
Black Star cringed vocally, "She picked the movies?"
"Hell yeah she did, you wouldn't catch me dead picking out that chick shit," Soul chortled, while inwardly knowing that Maka's film tastes actually lay in psychological suspense—movies that made you think, so to speak.
"That all you guys've been doing?" Black Star snorted, chomping on a protein bar as they walked out onto one of the school rooftops. "Holding hands, movie nights, restaurants, kisses on the cheeks?"
"And all that jazz," Soul nodded, chugging down a water bottle as they both stared out at the rather breathtaking view Death City offered them from so high up. "You sound…underwhelmed. I told you about making out with her, I don't do that crap in public."
"No I get it dude, it's cool!" Black Star exclaimed, holding his hands up in defense. He took another huge bite of his bar before dropping the bombshell. "Have you done it yet?"
Soul froze, swallowing his latest gulp of water with immense difficulty. "Eh?"
"You and Maka," his egotistical friend clarified, facing him this time, "Have you guys done it yet?"
"Dude, none of your business," Soul mumbled, avoiding his gaze. Shit, here it comes…
"You didn't, did you?"
"I'm not telling you, it's not cool!"
"Oh my God, you did!"
"Shut up, man!"
"Holy shit, when?" Black Star leapt up, jumping up and down in front of Soul like a caffeinated child. "Tell the god Black Star when this blessed event occurred!"
"Dude, you're talking like she's pregnant," Soul grunted and Black Star's eyes widened.
"Is she—?"
"No!"
"Whose bed was it in, yours or hers?" Black Star continued to prod.
"Neither!"
"What's Maka hiding underneath all those layers she wears?"
"Black Star, quit assuming all this stuff!" Soul finally exploded, jumping up to face him dead on. "I never said I we did anything in the first place, much less where we did it, so quit hounding me about it!"
"But you did do it, didn't you?" Black Star asked once more, stepping closer so they were standing nose to nose. "Cool guy?"
He'd hit the nerve, and now Soul had two choices jumbling around in his mind like the contents of a slot machine. The knowledge that he and Maka were both lying about the intimate factors of the relationship gave his subconscious the resolve to pull the lever of said machine. And the peer pressure staring him smack in the face in the form of a loud-mouthed, blue-haired prick that he somehow called his friend provided the result of his gamble.
"In the bathtub," he finally responded.
"Soul!" Maka called out once Soul had descended the rooftop and walked back through the hallway. He turned to see her rushing up to him, her blonde pigtails whipping behind her in her haste as she grabbed his arm and pulled him into a corner so they wouldn't be overheard. "We need to talk."
Soul stared at her for a minute then cleared his throat, "Uh Maka, before you start, let me remind you that we're not actually dating—"
"I know, I know, not 'we need to talk' as in 'I'm pissed at you,' rather as in 'we actually need to talk about something,'" Maka explained, and Soul noticed she was shifting uncomfortably. "Remember when you said you would never spend crazy amounts of money on your girlfriend?"
"Yeah?"
"I've…kind of been telling everyone that you've been taking me out to expensive places," Maka said all in one breath, and Soul's eyes widened. "And you've been buying me jewelry," she added, pulling out a silver chain from under her shirt with a cursive letter M on it.
"Why?" Soul asked once he'd found his voice again.
"It's Liz, okay?" Maka burst out, burying her face in her hands. "She…she has feelings for you. Or had feelings for you or—I don't know, but I took it personally and I've been—exaggerating the details of our relationship."
"So where have I been taking you exactly?" Soul asked bluntly, and Maka's head snapped up.
"You're…you're not mad at me?"
"Not completely, just really annoyed," Soul sighed deeply. "So…?"
"Well last weekend, you took me to hear the Death City Philharmonic—"
"Whoa, the Philharmonic?" Soul said in an impressed tone. "I treat you nice."
"Shut up," Maka mumbled ashamedly.
"Ya know, Liz would probably appreciate a night at the Philharmonic—"
"Soul! That's not funny!" Maka shouted, then quieted her tone and peeked her head around the corner to make sure their conversation was still private. "I'm sorry, okay, I really am."
"Well, thanks for being honest with me," Soul whispered. Suddenly his stomach tightened when he realized he wasn't exactly coming clean with her.
"What's wrong, Soul?"
"Uh…" He nervously rubbed the back of his neck, "Turns out Kid has feelings for you, too."
"He does?" Maka asked, her eyes widening as large as his had.
"And I've been trying to show him up every chance I get, too."
Maka chuckled lightly, "Look what this one little lie's done to us; now we're sneaking around like criminals pretending we're something that we're clearly not and—"
"—telling our friends that we slept together, going to—"
"What did you just say?" Maka asked firmly. Soul mentally kicked himself before looking right into her flashing green eyes, the knuckles holding her books against her chest turning white.
"As long as we're being honest," he began with a deep breath. "I told Black Star…"
"Yes?"
"I told Black Star we had sex."
And for the first time in three weeks, the spine of a dense hardcover book crushed through his skull painfully.
A/N: So, how is this all going to turn out? Stay tuned for the final part!
Please review on your way out!