Usual disclaimer applies~ Soul Eater and any of its characters are not mine~
MAKA----
Cradling her chin on her left hand, she looked to the empty seat beside her for the third time within ten minutes and sighed for the seventh time. It was to be expected that Death Scythes would have important businesses to attend to so the way she felt abandoned was something she should really control. He didn't need to attend lessons; he only attended because she asked him to.
Forcing herself to once again concentrate on what Stein was dissecting – and grimacing in distaste – she noticed a particular classmate's wavelength reaching out to her. Sighing from the disturbance, she sent a small charge of warning from her own wavelength to its sender, who by the way was a weapon, a message that she didn't – wasn't looking for a partner at this stage. She didn't like how there were some students in Shibusen that tried to force their partnerships on her, even though she had already told them that she wouldn't choose them as partners if their wavelengths weren't even eighty percent synchronised – she knew how fussy she sounded. Hers and Soul's were already eighty-nine percent synced when they first met – and that was what she was looking for in a partner, an introductory spark – one that would surely mean that they would resonate well together.
As soon as her lectures ended, she found herself walking towards Shinigami's room, where she would likely find Soul. Walking with her hands clasped together behind her back, she entered the strangely decorated room, the sky standing as endless walls, unrealistic clouds floating peculiarly in an orbit, and guillotine shaped pillars lining the path toward the very simple central area where Shinigami's mirror stood.
As she thought, he was there and she brightened up from her previously lonely mood. Unfortunately, her excitement was short-lived and was replaced with unannounced irritation and the urge to destroy the moment she laid her eyes on her red-haired father – or maybe it was when he laid his suddenly googly eyes on her, waggling an invisible tail, as if their master had arrived and needed greeting.
He bounded toward her, and luckily for her she was used to it – if someone else were greeted like this, they would most likely faint from the disgusting sight. "My Maka~! Have you come to visit me and cheer me up with your adorable presence? It makes papa so happy!"
"I didn't come for you papa…and you know I never will." She said it so bluntly that the red haired Death Scythe tripped over his feet and landed his face right in front of her shoes. The strong urge to shift and kick him square in the face was easily suppressed thanks to years of practice.
"Maka! How can you be so mean to me?" Spirit Albarn blubbered incoherently, "Even though I shower you with my love each day--"
"Oh, Soul!" Her ignoring the man only made him sink deeper into a small puddle of despair. She felt guilty of course, but her enjoyment of teasing him overweighed the guilt.
Basing her thoughts on her idiotic papa's reaction, she was thankful that he – hopefully – had no clue about the arrangement. So does that mean he isn't involved in the agreement? Oh god. Hell would probably break loose once he knows of it though, so Maka decided not to tell him for a while – a long while.
"Yo, Maka." Soul waved his greeting, grinning his sharp-toothed grin at her, snapping her out of the little conundrum in her head.
She planted herself right beside him and faced the gigantic mirror that housed the familiar silhouette. "Hello, hello, Shinigami-sama." Even though this was Kid's father, she held no hatred for him.
"Hello, hello, Maka-chan. You look quite lively today," the childish voice greeted from within. She knew what he meant. Since she and Kid had their spat, Maka didn't get enough rest and was always moody or tired when she visited him. Today's mood was because of the music provided to her four days ago by the ones offering her the unwanted marriage arrangement.
"With the help of some music, I was kinda cured from my insomnia."
"Aah, good, good." Then he turned to Soul. "You can be dismissed now, Soul-kun." She saw her weapon nod and he also signalled for her to come back with him.
As they exited the strange room, Maka, being curious of what he was in there for, asked, "Did you get a mission?"
He looked sideways to her and grinned, then nodded. "Kind of, it's sort of a mission…"
"What do you mean by that?"
Soul looked to his side and noticed something that she didn't. A warm hand quickly wrapped itself gently around her wrist and pulled her toward a room she seemed to recognize. As the warmness left her wrist, her eyes wandered to her partner who was walking towards the grand piano in the middle of the dark room, a small spotlight above highlighting its sleek shape and also the myriad of picture frames covering the wall.
Where they first met...
"You know, Shinigami-sama said that Black*Star and Tsubaki will be returning from Japan in three days," Soul said randomly as he moved in the darkness, his voice gently echoing through the unseen walls of the music hall.
"Really? Wow, I can't wait then! I miss those two!" Soul chuckled at her enthusiasm and sat himself on the piano bench. Maka walked carefully towards him and, feeling her presence nearby, he patted the space next to him, motioning her to sit by him.
She sat a handswidth away from his, gently feeling the warmth he was emanating. "Are you going to play?" She said almost reverently, not wanting to disturb the silence around them.
"Yeah." And so he pressed a key.
G…
It reminded her of the start of Soul mates, she wanted to say so but disrupting him now would be…disrespectful, she thought. She recognized the tune and assumed that it was what he had played before when they had first met - the dark and yet enticing tune that she thought only Soul could produce. The tempo was quick, keeping Maka alerted to the sounds of the strong tones.
She watched as his fingers gracefully glided along the keyboard, looking as if he wasn't even touching the instrument and yet producing music that was sharply filling the hall. She couldn't help snatching a quick look at his expression, peaceful in his concentration, making her smile in turn.
As she thought, if she was to compare Soul mates to Soul's own style, Soul's was freer, nothing held him back - he didn't care if the sound wasn't nice to listen to unlike her fiancee's very elegant music. She concluded that she much preferred Soul's music.
Returning her attention to the music, she picked up very familiar notes, ones which she couldn't place. It was irritating that she couldn't quite place where she had heard it, but she knew she only heard it recently. She then remembered the CD and tried to recall what its contents sounded like, when Soul's music reached its end.
"That really sounded familiar." And he once again chuckled, when she thought she heard a hint of sadness, she dismissed it easily.
Soul patted her ponytailed head and it caused Maka to look at him. "I'm taking a leave. It's for the 'mission'… I'll be gone for a few days, a week at most."
"Oh…" Dammit! Her voice betrayed hurt that even she could hear it. She knew this would happen eventually, Soul wouldn't be able to stay by her side every second of the day. He wasn't her weapon anymore. So why did she feel hurt when she shouldnt have?
Noticing that he was looking at her sadly, almost guiltily, she had to grin at him. The next second, he was mirroring her grin, the sadness forgotten in a breath. "Hey, its cool. Where will you be sent to?"
"Its close by, a few miles from Death City. I might also just visit my family since it's really close."
"When?"
"Tomorrow morning."
She nodded with a quick bob of her head. It was only for a week at most - and that was pretty short compared to other long-term missions. "Are you with a meister?" She didn't look at him when she asked this, but instead distracted herself by pressing a few keys on the grand.
"Nah." She felt stupid, asking such a strange question. It felt to her like she wanted to go with him on the mission. IT had been three months since she went on a mission herself; the last one was with Miss Azusa where they handled affairs in China. Her last mission with Soul was five or six months ago, the same search and destroy kind of mission, but it was also to rescue students on their extra-curricular mission.
The soft tinkling of the keys she was pressing quietly reverberated in the hollow music hall. "I only need to talk to a few head honchos - convince them about stuff y'know."
Continuing with the undecipherable music she was making, she faced him with a wide grin, one barely seen in the darkness but she still tried her best not to make it look hurt or fake. "You better ace this mission, Death Scythe. I know how bad you are with these kinds of non-action missions."
"Oh, believe me, it will be full of action." Translating this from Soul-speak, it basically meant he'd be making quite a lot of trouble if he wanted.
Laughter echoed loudly in the room, overpowering the grand's soft sounds. She hadn't laughed like this for a long time and she enjoyed it as much as she could.
Soul finally stood, hands in pockets, slouching his usual slouch, the spotlight above highlighting silver strands in his hair, momentarily hypnotising her - it almost looked magical. Maka stood after him, sighing to end her laughter. She looked to her friend and partner, and he simply grinned at her. "Come on, let's go home."
----------
Soul very nicely walked her home after they spent time at his apartment.
She had found herself sat, uncomfortably, in a relatively messy, but not repulsive, living room that was Soul's living room. There had been absolutely nothing symmetrically arranged, since Kid had been gone for a month now - when he returns here, she could just imagine the froth that would line his mouth and the way that he'd faint instantly, which had made her quietly giggle. But as always, memories of Kid only made her feel guilty, and it badly made her want to apologize.
Soul, since he knew about her and Kid, had offered to go straight to her apartment again, but this time she declined. She shouldn't act as if she was scared of the apartment, there was nothing to be scared of - and he also wasn't there to produce the aura of awkwardness. She wanted to spend time with Soul since she knows she will be lonely in the coming week. So they had wasted their time by playing a few games on Soul's game consoles - she didn't know the names of all of them since she didn't really usually play, just studied, but she enjoyed it nonetheless.
So, there, in front of her apartment, they silently stood as Maka fiddled with her keys. When her door opened, Soul spoke, "Will you miss me, tiny tits?" Maka almost burst out laughing due to the reappearance of the nickname. Instead, she turned to him acting all flustered, when she wasn't really, and her fist shot out to hit his shoulder. "Ow!" She guessed that he expected the Maka chop and she wanted to just try to not give him a concussion before his trip. Still, he deserved pain from the earlier comment, albeit a bit less traumatic than the mentioned attack.
She didn't voice her answer and instead gave him a nod and her sincerest grin. Again, for probably the third time today, he mirrored her grin exactly, save for his sharper teeth. When his grin started to fade, the meister noticed Soul's eyes darting around her face, as if searching for something.
"Soul?" And crimson met with a worried green, holding each other's attention. "What…?" His knuckles gently met her temple and rubbed against it, not gentle but not rough - it was…friendly. Affectionate.
"You better take care of yourself while I'm away," Knuckles were replaced with warm palms, fingers playing with her bangs, the balls of his palms lightly touching her cheeks and over her eye. "If those Evans guys come back, scare them off with your Maka chops," he commanded jokingly making her giggle.
"Yeah, yeah. I was thinking along those lines anyway," she said while peeking through her uncovered eye, not noticing the closing distance between them and unconsciously bending away from him.
After a pause, Soul took a step back. "You still have your phone right?"
"Well, it could be dead somewhere in my room. I never use it. Why?" She had an inkling of why he asked about the unused cell phone and this caused her to grin inwardly, not even noticing how excited she was to finally be able to use it.
Soul turned away from her and started to walk away, waving one of his arms to her coolly, the other still stuck in his pockets. "I'll keep checking up on you, so that phone better be alive by then!"
"Got it!" she cheerfully shouted to him and waved even though he couldn't see it. Looking at his retreating back, she only stared just a beat longer, waiting for him to turn down the next corner. "Take care of yourself, too," was the whisper only she could hear. And she entered into her own sanctuary, fingering the strand of hair that he'd been playing only moments before.
Sighing, she unconsciously picked up her only piece of mail for the day, and froze at the sight of it. Not again, she groaned and opened it hesitantly. No CD fell this time, and instead there was a small piece of paper, elegantly scored like the envelope, and there was a list of names, which meant nothing to her and didn't even bother to scan. This piece of paper was left face down on a pile of her books, meant to be forgotten, as she proceeded towards her room to look for the lost phone.
If she had even cared to look, the list contained the names of those invited to the ball to be held at the Evans residence two months from now. Included in the list – that would've probably affected her most – were the names of Kami Albarn and Soul Eater Evans.
A/N: ohohoho~! gawd dammit! Finally? A bit of SoMa intimacy~ XDD
And ignorance…just slows down the story line XDD sorry guys~ it needs to be slow or else I'll run out of idea juices .__.
Thank you to all who have been reading and reviewing TwT! I love you guys T_T!
you all motivate me, as i keep saying so in the last few chapters, i couldnt have done it without all your eager support 8'D
as for this chapter, i apologise if i have any grammatical or spelling errors (i wont blame it on the language barrier =w='')~
Im doing my best~!
thanks again!
Please dont forget to review~! 8D