Oh wow. Longest chapter yet! By almost an entire two pages! XD Pretty good for something that was done mostly late at night these past few days! All together, this story is almost 14k words long! 23 pages in OpenOffice. Which is roughly the same in Word. Hehe. It is a bit rushed in places, I'll warn you now, not to mention a bit of a spoiler if you haven't gotten to... chapter... 50.. something. 55. Yeah. 55.
So, anyway, Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Don't own Soul Eater, sadly.
It was a showdown, a battle of male pride if you will. Neither wanted to admit the other was right in any sense. Soul knew Black Star had no idea what he was talking about. Him? With Maka?! It was absurd! How anyone could picture that at all was beyond him. With an exasperated sigh, Soul ran a hand through his hair, cursing Black Star's name in every way he could. "Can someone tell me what Partner Appreciation Day is?"
Kid was the one who answered, thankfully. "Didn't Maka tell you? It's a day to show your partner you appreciate them. And what a better way than with a party and gifts."
"Gifts?"
"Didn't Maka tell you anything?" Black Star scoffed, like he couldn't believe any secret could be held between the two. "You can get your partner a gift. I'm giving Tsubaki my autograph!" And like the guy Black Star was he pulled one of his many autographs from God only knows where, holding it out for the other two to see, looking proud of himself.
Soul sighed again. "Idiot. Don't you think Tsubaki might like something other than that?"
"Like what?"
"I don't know. What do girls like?"
There was a moment of silence. Then, with a startling shout, Black Star grinned, earning a roll of the eyes from the weapon. "An autographed photo of the Great Black Star!"
This time, Soul's palm met his face. "No, you dolt! Jeeze. Why not get her a necklace or something?"
"Why? My idea was better."
Giving up on trying to explain the workings of the female mind (as no guy got anywhere giving people autographs they didn't want), Soul instead turned his efforts for a decent conversation upon Death the Kid. The shinigami had busied himself with figuring out a good place to keep the bags while they did whatever it was they were going to do.
"Are you getting Liz and Patty anything?"
"Of course. And you?"
Another sigh. This day was getting complicated. "Looks like I'll have to get Maka something now." The question was what to get her? He didn't know of anything Maka might like to have besides more books. Girls were so picky over every little thing. It would be a miracle if he could find something for Maka that she actually liked.
Though, that led to another problem. If they were supposed watch the bags, how were they going to get what they needed? There was one issue after another. Soul had decided to dub this day the most annoying and uncool day he ever witnessed. The only good thing to look forward to was the end of the day and collapsing on his bed. Even then Blair was always right there to make sure he lost a good amount of blood first.
"Soul, Black Star, do the two of you have any quarters?"
"Heh?" Exchanging a confused look with Black Star, Soul slipped a hand into his back pocket, pulling out his wallet. What did Kid want with quarters? Shifting through the random collection of coins he had, Soul had managed to find a good number of the large, circular, silver pieces. He held them out to Kid, watching as the black haired boy counted out an even number before turning to Black Star and his handful of coins. What the heck was Kid planning? "Why do you need quarters?"
Only one word was muttered, "Lockers."
When Kid had counted out how many quarters he had and figured out how many lockers he could afford, the three boys were left to haul the many bags and boxes to the rows of lockers by the food court. Very few people were actually putting anything into the lockers, leaving many spaces open. Luckily for them.
"Shove harder, Black Star!" growled out Soul.
"I am! It. Won't. Go. IN!"
Then you're obviously not trying hard enough!"
"Says you! I'm the one doing all of the work!"
Soul pushed his shoulder hard into a clump of bags, trying to get them into the small locker space while Black Star supposedly helped. This was getting completely ridiculous. "If you're so great then why are you having difficulties with this?!"
"That's it!" Soul moved out of the way of the lockers as Black Star took one step back. Well this would either end well or badly for them. And he watched as his friend so cleverly decided to punch the bag the rest of the way in. Needless to say, it didn't exactly work out.
"Good going, Black Star," Soul spoke sarcastically. At least nothing breakable had been in that bag.
Black Star huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. "At least I did something."
Yeah. Something completely useless. Soul wished Black Star thought with more than his fists and stomach every now and then. Fishing his wallet back out of his pocket, Soul pulled out two more quarters. Taking one bag out of the locker they had been struggling with, he opened the green hued locker right next to it, putting that bag and two more into it before dropping the quarters into the slot, closing the door, and taking the little key. "Problem solved."
"Hmph. I could have done that."
That took care of the bags. Now he had time to worry about just what exactly he was going to get for Maka. Why couldn't she have dropped hints when they were tromping through the mall earlier? Soul pressed his back to the cold metal of the lockers, slamming the back of his head into one of the many doors. "What am I going to do?" he mumbled to himself. He couldn't get Maka just anything. It had to be the right thing. Like Kid had said, it was a day to show your partner you appreciate them. The wrong thing could mean a complete disaster.
"You could always wait until tonight, make her a candle lit dinner, a little mood music, one thing leads to another and then-!"
Soul roughly elbowed Black Star in the side, giving his so-called friend a glare. "Nothing is going on, Black Star! Drop it."
"If nothings going on, why are you so quick to defend yourself?" Rubbing the sore spot in his side, Black Star looked up at Soul.
"Wha-? But I'm-! There's nothing going on!"
A grin crossed the blue haired one's face. "You're face if turning red again!"
"It's not!" Soul took a swipe at Black Star, but the annoying one had bounded out of harms reach.
"Soul likes Maka! Soul likes Maka! Soul likes Maka!" He continued the chant, staying just out of Soul's reach.
"Shut up, Black Star!"
"Soul and Maka sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-!"
With a lunge, Soul had punched Black Star right in the jaw. It definitely shut him up. The two glared at each other. Black Star had crossed the line with that stupid song. That stupid song and his idiotic comments about something going on between Maka and him. Nothing was happening. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Sure, he had gotten upset when that other guy had obviously hit on her and she brushed it off like it was nothing, but that was natural, wasn't it? If she left him, he'd be without a meister, and that wasn't a good thing in the fight to become a Death Scythe. That had to be it. That was why. Not because he liked Maka. Not because he had more feelings for her than just a friend.
"You wanna fight?" growled Black Star, grabbing the front of Soul's shirt and putting his face close to his friend's. "I won't go easy on you, Soul."
"Try it." Yes. Black Star could kick his ass. But, in his defense, Soul couldn't use his soul wavelength. Besides, it was rare that the two actually started throwing punches at one another. Either way, Soul was tired of hearing Black Star spout his nonsense. At least about that topic.
Kid cleared his thought, standing between the two. "If the two of you are finished, let's get started."
With a huff Soul turned his back to Black Star, shoving his hands back into his jacket pockets. Stupid Black Star and his stupid comments. Why was he friends with that idiot again? Soul could have sworn he heard something mumbled under Black Star's breath. Something about... kitchen sex?! What the hell was going through the short one's head? More importantly, who was he referring to?!
Before he had a chance to confront the ninja assassin on the subject, Kid had a hand pressed in the middle of his back, pushing him forward. "Let's hurry up. We don't have much time left before we have to meet the girls at my house."
"We have 4 hours!"
"Yes, but someone has to give them a ride back home, which cuts a good hour or so out."
"It's not that far of a walk, is it?" asked Black Star.
It got a rather strange look in response from both Soul and Kid. Wait... how had Black Star and Tsubaki gotten to the mall in the first place? Kid has his skateboard, and him his bike, so how? Unless... Oh god! The idiot didn't! Sadly, Soul knew what he thought was true. Black Star had walked, walked, to the mall that day. Only he would do something like that. "Whatever. We'll deal with that when the time comes. Where are we going to go first?" Soul had no intention of leaving the girls to find their own rides home from the mall. That was completely uncool. And he hated the idea that Maka get a ride with another guy.
After all she was his meister! And the way she would sit behind him on his motorcycle and wrap her arms around his waist and- WHOA! No way! Stop there! Soul shook his head, trying to dislodge the thought that just ran through it. He did not just think that. No. There was no way it was him. He was letting what Black Star said get the better of him. Yeah. That was it. It was all Black Star's fault.
Once they got into the middle of a rather busy spot, Kid stopped pushing the two. "Alright. Where should we go first?"
"Huh?! I thought you knew," the weapon stated. He had no idea where to shop! It was rare that he go shopping in the mall with Maka, let alone pay attention to where she went and what she looked at. Like hell if Black Star paid attention to Tsubaki and her wants when they were out shopping. Kid seemed like the only one to really keep an eye out for what his two weapons wanted. If he didn't know where to go, then they were all screwed.
He sighed, something he seemed to be doing a lot of recently. "Why don't we start with the jewelry stores or clothes places? Girls like that stuff right?"
"I already know what I'm getting Tsubaki."
"No girl wants a picture of you staring them in the face each morning, Black Star."
"Says you!"
"It's a fact." Oh revenge was sweet. "Look, you're not giving her an autographed picture of you. Think of something else." Tsubaki owed him now. She was too nice to tell Black Star otherwise, but no one wanted the little runt's picture as a gift. That was just torture. Not to mention it was a good way to get back at Black Star for earlier.
Though, Black Star didn't look the least bit happy that Soul had ruined his idea. Oh no. Soul saw the meister glare at him, heard a snort, and watched as he put his hands behind his head and walk away from him and Kid. "Where do you think you're going? I told Maka I'd make sure you didn't get into trouble."
Black Star stopped walking. "It's always Maka this and Maka that. Your face turning red every time she's mentioned, so quick to defend her, having a stroke when you found out you need to get her a gift! Just admit it! You like her! You like her so much, I bet 20 bucks you'd punch the first guy you saw hitting on her!" Here, he turned around fully, poking Soul in the chest and giving him a knowing Cheshire Cat grin.
Soul couldn't believe it. Since when did Black Star pay attention to anything? Let alone his actions around Maka! Taking a breath to calm himself before something he would later regret did happen, Soul pushed Black Star's hand away from his chest. "You're thinking to much on it. There's nothing going on. We're not doing anything. We're just two friends who also happen to-"
"Live in the same house?"
"..." This was getting nowhere. Black Star wouldn't listen to him no matter what he said. "I was going to say 'who happen to be partners'."
"But mine makes so much more sense! And you ignored the bet!"
"Are you two coming?" Kid interrupted, looking behind him at the two arguing students.
At least there was one other sane person to talk to and ignore Black Star with. Granted, he might not get the desired conversation going with Kid. Soul was starting to miss having Maka around. Sure, guy time was great, and without the girls around they could practically do and say whatever, but that wasn't the case here. They were shopping for the girls, which was almost like having them here. Only with a lot more consequences.
((A/N: Did that paragraph make ANY sense at all?))
Ignoring Black Star and his muttering as best he could, Soul trailed after Kid to whatever store the shinigami had in mind. He couldn't let what Black Star get the better of him! Take things one at a time. Tackle it coolly. First things were first, getting the damn present. Maka already had books to no end and any she needed she could find at the library. He wouldn't know what to get her in terms of clothes, not to mention Maka wasn't the type for makeup. It wasn't like he could get a hold of Blair to ask her either. Looks like he was doing this on his own. And that left only one option he could think of: jewelry.
He knew nothing of necklaces and bracelets or earrings. So, how was he supposed to do this again? Where was a conveniently timed meeting when you needed one? Soul couldn't count on Black Star, he couldn't exactly rely on Kid for this. Would his male intuition be enough? Whose bright idea had it been to have a Partner Appreciation Day in the first place?!
"Hey, Kid, where are we going?" questioned the blue haired ninja, hands behind his head and looking truly bored with the entire thing.
Trailing around after one another was going to get them nowhere. Especially with Black Star's attention span. "Why don't we all just split up and meet at the sports shop on the first floor in an hour?" It sounded like a good idea from his point of view. This way he could shop for Maka without worrying about Black Star destroying something and he didn't have to wait for Kid to find something symmetrical for the two girls of his. So, without giving his choice of action a second thought, Soul gave the two a small wave and turned, walking off to the neared store directory. Start with the nearest stores and work his way around. That was the next step in the plan.
Malls had to have a variety of shops. Why? Well, competition in the industry of course. If you commanded the mall, you got business needed to keep the company going. So, there would be many stores to choose from to go on his little hunt. Soul kept that thought in mind as he neared the lit up list. It was a good thing they kept everything alphabetized. It made finding the list of jewelry stores easy to find. And find he did; find the long list of stores that was. How could any single mall have that many jewelry stores?!
This was going to be uncool and more of a pain than he originally thought. Why couldn't they ever make these things easy? He looked at the 'You are here' mark on the map and the list of numbered locations for the different stores. Whichever was closer was the first one he'd go to. Great. There was one right down the hall, actually close to where he was. That would be stop number one. Hopefully they had something that would work for Maka.
As he turned, making his way to the store, part of him wished he'd run into Kim and Jackie again. At least then he'd have a female opinion to go by. But, he was to have no such luck, making it to the fancy place without any sort of run in with anyone he knew. Crrraaaaaap.
A nicely dressed salesman was there to intercept him as he entered the store. The older and much fancier looking man gave him a criticizing look over. "I'm sorry, but there's nothing within your price range here."
Oh, how many times had he heard that in his lifetime? Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Soul maneuvered his way into the store. Not his price range. Everyone always said that before they knew exactly what his price range was. Soul wanted no part in actually spending the amount of money he might have to, but then again, all the good stuff was expensive. One of the good aspects to having a rich family. And today was one day he was eternally grateful for his brother and the supply of money coming in. It was one of the reasons why he and Maka didn't need jobs to pay for what they had. "I'm here on behalf of the Evans family." Oh God he hoped no one he knew walked by to see him acting all stuck up and uncool.
"Evans? Well that changes everything. Please. Right this way."
Of course. Any self respecting rich person would listen to his family's music. Now officially rolling his eyes, as this entire thing was going to get old quickly, Soul trailed after the man to the glass display cases. The sooner he got out of here the better.
"Now that I think about it, you do look a lot like that violinist Wes." Making his way to the other side of the counter, the man folded his hands behind his back. "So, what are you looking for today, Mr...."
'No duh, Sherlock. He's my brother.' "Evans." No need to lie to the man. Though, he wasn't about to give out his full name. Attracting unwanted attention was the last thing he wanted to do. "I'm looking for something for a friend of mine."
"Ah. So part of the great Evans family. Alright, Mr. Evans, what did you have in mind for your friend? Silver? Gold? Diamond?" As he spoke the man took displays from the lit cases, setting necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and a mixture of all three on the counter top.
And Soul was in a state of complete unknowing. Silver. Gold. He knew it made a difference. Diamond was always a good factor. But what would Maka want? Probably something that accented that pathetically small chest of hers. So that narrowed it down to necklaces.
As if sensing his dilemma, as everyone knows salespeople are wolves when it comes to that, the worker lazily rested his elbows on the top of the counter and put his chin on his hands. "Is this for a girl? Maybe someone special to you?"
Why was everyone coming to that conclusion today?! Maka was nothing but a friend! That was it! "She's just a friend. Have anything less fancy?" And expensive. How did anyone expect any sane person to pay what they were asking for on these? Just the few the salesman had pulled out were more than any middle class working person could afford! Well, it wasn't like he should have expected anything less.
Soul waited as different, less fancy and pricey, things were brought to his attention. Nothing screamed out Maka to him. What he saw looked like it would be better off to an old married couple who were celebrating their 50th Anniversary or a newly web couple on their honeymoon. Nothing that he could hand to Maka. What was he going to say when he did? 'Hey, together we remind me of an old couple'? Yeah. That's not going to piss her off.
Maybe this wasn't the right store. Hell, what was he thinking? This WASN'T the right store. Not only that, but the guy behind the counter was really starting to freak him out. Soul remained cool and calm though. If it came down to it, he could easily take the guy and claim self defense when security arrived.
"Thanks, but I'll look elsewhere."
"Thank you for your time, Mr. Evans."
If he had to hear that every store he went into, Soul was sure he would run his head into a wall. He had gotten enough of that during his childhood. He was just thankful the man didn't try to make him stay by pulling out more. Maybe he never truly believed Soul was part of the renowned musician family. Either way, it was a good thing for him.
Marching out of the store and back into the chaos of which was the mall, Soul tried to think of where the next nearest one was. He was not looking forward to it. But he had to. Sadly. Why couldn't Maka be like normal girls? And with that, he trudged his way down the halls and to the next store. If he had Black Star with him it would make this a whole lot more entertaining. Though, more trouble for him.
This trip was a lot like the first one. Soul was forced to use his family's name and they didn't have anything he was looking for. The people there weren't much help either. Was this going to happen everywhere he went? If so, he was not looking forward to the rest of the day. Soul might as well just had Blair some cash and tell her to go buy something for Maka from him.
Sighing as he left the second store of fail, Soul was beginning to wonder if this had even been a good idea. Jewelry. He had no idea what he was looking for. It wasn't like he could just give up either. Oh no. There was no way he was leaving here empty handed. He was going to get Maka the best damn gift she had ever received.
And that was when he walked into store number 3. Well, at least there was some diversity in staff this time. Not the same old, dressed up folks from the other two places he had stopped at. In fact, there was a lady behind the counter who didn't look more than a few years older than him. Fresh out of high school.
"Hey. Can I help you look for anything, or are you just browsing?" she asked, waving a hand in greeting.
Tired of having to repeat the same thing over and over again, Soul replied dully, "Something for a friend."
She perked up, coming out from behind the counter. "Really? Well, I guess I should have guessed. You wouldn't be here for your mother. Name's Danny. Got anything in mind or is this a search and rescue sort of mission?" A friendly smile crossed his face. Reminded of the incident earlier with the overly preppy cashier lady, Soul kept an eye open for any advancements by this one. But he didn't know how to answer her question. He had a very rough idea. Definitely a necklace, but nothing over the top expensive and fancy. Other than that, it was a complete shot in the dark.
Danny seemed to realize this from his hesitation, leaning against one of the cases. "What's she like? Maybe I can help."
"Who said it was a 'she'?"
"Really, kid. Who else would you be here for?" she answered back with a sly smile. "Now do you want some help or what? I go on break soon and I'm not waiting around for you to make up your mind."
He was stuck. It was as simple as that. He didn't get help, Soul would never know what to look for. And time was indeed running out for him. He sighed in defeat. "She's strict, harassing, small chested, and annoying."
"Anything else?"
Anything else? What was she expecting him to say? Confess his undying love and devotion to Maka? Like that would ever happen. "I guess she's pretty cool, understanding, and tough." He shrugged. Maka did have some redeeming qualities. She could cook and did do her best with the entire Kishin Eggs thing.
"You guess?" Danny laughed, moving behind the counter to get at the different displays. "Let's see what we have here." She pulled out a thin silver chain, on the end being a single diamond. "Simple, and not really flashy. If you go for anything for a girl, diamonds are always a good choice."
But it wasn't Maka. Sure, Liz might like it, but it was too simple. "It's not right."
She set it aside, going for something else. "Alright then! How about this? A 10 Karat Gold Figaro chain."
"To plain."
"Well, you're a bundle of fun to shop with." Danny set that aside as well, throwing her hands into the air. "I give. You're never going to find something that fits what you're looking for with me pulling things out. Though, I do have something else for you to look at real quick. Be back in a flash!" She slipped into the back room, reappearing a minute later with a small black box in hand. "'Kay! This is new to the store so it's not on display yet. I could get in trouble for showing you." Danny opened the lid to expose a thin gold chain with a charm nestled into the middle of a little cushion. "Well, what do you say? Is this what you're looking for or not?"
It was better than anything else he had seen so far, that was for sure. And it did seem like something Maka would wear. He just hoped she thought the same.
Now that that was finished Soul could finally concentrate on finding Black Star and keeping that idiot out of trouble. It was only a matter of time until he heard his name being called to come to the security office to pick up that headstrong friend of his. Not to mention if the girls heard it would be the most uncool thing to happen to him yet.
Glancing at a nearby clock, Soul groaned. Great. He was going to be late to meeting the two. Danny rang up the total, Soul paying with his family's money, and the box was slipped into a little bag for easy carrying convenience. Now he just had to find an escalator or staircase.
It was on the other side of the mall, unfortunately, that the mechanically moving stairs were located. However, the shop he was looking for was nearby. Black Star's blue hair was visible in the crowd walking to and fro and made an easy homing beacon for Soul to follow.
"You're late, Soul," Black Star grinned, giving his friend a high five. "Find something for Maka?"
Black Star was just not going to let him live that down! That one time! One!
Ignoring that last question, Soul took a glance around. It was only Black Star. Kid should have been here to. It had been a bit over an hour and usually one would think Kid being the most punctual. "Where's Kid?"
And where Soul thought Black Star would shrug it off and tell him dramatically what he had done for the past hour, he was wrong. The ninja pointed to the big name department store across the way where a dignified Kid was walking out, one bag in either hand. The shinigami blinked as he came nearer the two. "Oh, Soul! Did everything go well?"
"Yeah. What were you doing in there?"
"Liz wanted some new perfume and they carry it. But the display was all wrong! I had to make it perfectly symmetrical for them." Leave it to Kid. "I also ran into Tsubaki and Maka. They said to not worry about giving them a ride home. They'll manage."
And Black Star gave him the most Cheshire Cat grin Soul had ever seen him do. The brat had been waiting for something like this. Soul wasn't going to fall for it. If Maka said she could find her own way home it didn't mean she was going with some other guy. He would act cool about this. It wasn't like he could give her a ride back, not with all the bags. How were they going to get those back anyway?! There were quite a few bags the last time he checked. Enough to take up a few of the small locker spaces.
"Kid, what about all the bags?"
"We're taking half and the girls are taking half."
That made sense. Cut down on the load they would have to carry. But then came another question. How in the hell was Black Star getting back? And there was still another three hours to kill before they were to meet back up at Kid's place. Well, thinking about it now, that did give him time for a shower and a quick snack.
"If that's the case, I'm heading back home. I'll see you guys at Kid's place later." Soul had a key to one of the lockers. If he took the bags in that one then it could count as his share. Besides, his feet hurt and there was absolutely no way he was walking more.
"Later, Soul," Black Star voiced as Soul made his way back towards the escalator and to the food court where the lockers were. He was never agreeing to go to the mall with Maka again. Not after today's torture. He was glad when he got the bags he needed and walked out the doors to his waiting motorcycle. It was one step closer to home.
Note to self: Never type at 5 in the morning again. Characters tend to get a bit OOC.
Sorry to anyone who read this and was like 'WTF? That ain't Soul!' I've been up for 14 hours. It's 5 in the morning. My mind isn't exactly WORKING right now.
But! I want people's feedback. Was it good? Was there something you didn't like? What needs work? I like hearing comments like 'Good job.' or 'Keep it up' but that doesn't exactly help much in terms of trying to expand and improve. Get what I'm saying? lol. I shoudn't nit pick.
Yeeeaaap! Fear Danny for I have no clue what I was thinking when I tossed her in there. Be grateful I didn't keep the security idea. That would have made this even longer.