Usual disclaimer applies~

MAKA----

Why?

How could she forgive him so easily?

She should be angry at him and his secrets. He should've been swayed by her anger. He should've been scared of her. He should've hated her as much as she did at that moment. She attacked him. Throwing her anger around. Showing him the danger she had felt he deserved. Yet why did she stop her actions?

With the simplest of touches, it drove her to calm down and stay still, enjoying the strange feeling jolting through her, and it puzzled her. She didn't recognize the emotion she felt.

Being trapped in his embrace, her heart seemed to have taken its place in her throat, beating there giddily, preventing her from breathing properly. Her hearing was also muffled as she only heard Soul's heartbeat throbbing excitedly underneath her ear. It was the most comforting sound she had ever heard, and she had wanted to stay there, just listening to the strange sound all day.

The thought of the earlier rabble was forgotten, the newly discovered form and use of her probationary weapon wasn't the centre of her attention any longer.

She sat in the darkness of her living room, her knees tucked in front of her, her eyes staring at distant nothings, her chest still thudding continuously at the memory.

----------

Morning light bathed the building walls yellow as Maka ran through the cobbled streets of Death City, her black long coat flowing behind her fluidly. She woke up too late since she didn't get much sleep last night and she cursed her predicament because she hadn't even eaten breakfast - come to think of it, she hadn't eaten her dinner last night too.

Damn, she was starving.

Out of habit, she made a small detour heading to the familiar place before going to her University campus. Spotting her morning destination, she slowed her run to a halt in front of the familiar door.

Soul and Kid's apartment.

During the time that Soul was gone during his…'mission', she still found herself going here every morning. It was a routine. Of course, while Soul wasn't in, she wouldn't knock, but just stare at the plastic made door of their apartment in silence.

But now, Soul was back. Should she knock? Why not? She shrugged off her insecurity and raised her hand on the door, preparing to rap on it like normal.

Her knuckle quietly touched the door without making a sound.

Normal?

No, it won't be normal anymore, she felt. During the week that Soul had been gone, secrets and awkward predicaments rose to wrap itself around her. Soul was her fiancee. If they can't stop the engagement… wouldn't that mean… they'd have to live together?

Well they had already lived together for one and a half years, what difference could it make?

Almost suddenly, the door opened and swung back to reveal a shocked Soul looking at a frozen Maka, one hand still raised as if to knock. Like always, he wore his dark leather jacket over anything he wears, his silver white hair messed and spiked, but it looked so soft that she wanted to feel if it was as soft as it looked. His crimson eyes looked tired, bloodshot yet his attention was turned to her fully in shock at that moment - she could tell. Her eyes found themselves looking lower, toward his lips and the memory of them warm and soft against her skin made her blush and she had to look away. In doing so, as her heart beat crazily in her chest for some reason she didn't want to fathom, and she started to stomp off away from Soul's still shocked form.

It won't be normal any longer, she surmised as she speedwalked away from him. With the realization of what Soul had boldly done the day before, her own reactions to it and their current circumstance - in other words, the engagement - she cannot just ignore her new awareness towards Soul.

Buried in her confusing thoughts, she didn't notice Soul calling her name from behind, the weapon closing in on the temporarily deaf meister. A warmness surrounded her wrist that stopped her from walking any further.

"Maka," he was breathing shallowly as if he had run to catch up with her - or was it because of something else? "I didn't think you'd come." With the last few words, a smirk appeared to replaced the tight line of his mouth, and for a second, it felt like her insides shook. Well, she was hungry after all.

"I…" She was gaping stupidly at him, the words in her mind having a hard time forming themselves. Why can't she answer? Just say that 'Its my habit to' or something. "I…"

As Soul stood to his full height, she couldn't believe that he was now taller than her, her eyes aligned with his lips-- not again?! That fluttering feeling was back and she needed to look away, feeling the oncoming flush.

"Hey, did you not get any sleep last night?" He asked concerned, when she took a peek sideways at him, she saw the concern sincerely reflecting in his eyes. So he noticed her tired appearance…

"No. And I don't think you did either, didn't you?" She used a nonchalant yet stern voice, still looking away as if she didn't really care. Why was she acting so weird?

Soul put a hand to the back of his head, scratching just underneath his mess of hair. "Nah, lot of stuff on my mind…" When his eyes found hers, she saw them instantly sadden and it confused her. It was like he was asking for an apology. Why though? Was it not clear that he had been forgiven? And too easily at that.

"W-what's with that look?" Her eyes darted away from his and tried to avoid it, hiding the blush as she turned her face away. Why does it feel so awkward? It shouldn't feel like this between them…

For a minute, she thought Soul muttered 'so not cool' under his breath, and that brought back memories making her release a short giggle. She immediately stopped once she knew what she just did and spared him a sideways glance, finding him looking at her intently, a small smile forming on his lips.

"Aah--" Suddenly breaking the short pause with a squeal like sound, she had to say something to take her mind off his changing expression to prevent herself from gaping at his face like some sort of idiot. What is wrong with her? The urge to just stare at him was strong. Too strong. "You want to go get breakfast before we go to class?" Embarrassed, she only kept her eyes down and watched her boots scuffling into the floor. What the hell was she doing? It wasn't as if she was asking him out on a date! This was Soul, for Christ's sake!

Her old partner. One of her best friends. Her fiancee.

…

Dammit!

Her train of thought was cut short as her stomach produced quite a loud rumbling sound. Damn… so hungry…

Then she heard him laugh. That instantly calmed her nerves down and she felt the wall of awkwardness between them melt into nothingness. I guess we're still okay…

Deciding that she should just act normally again - whatever normal was to them - she looked up at him feigning an angry pout. "Hey! Don't laugh! I'm starving here!" She turned away from him and continued stomping off towards the cafe they had eaten in two weeks ago. She knew he would follow her though and the feeling of… normalcy made her smile warmly at herself.

They sat at the same window seat at the same cafe, remaining in a strangely comfortable silence as they waited for their food. Maka, her chin supported on her hand, absentmindedly stared outside the window, watching the occasional morning person walking along the peaceful streets of their city. She yawned unabashedly, tear beads forming at the edges of her eyes, and looked back to her partner, who she found staring at her. It made her uncomfortable, but truthfully, she kinda liked it. What?

"What?" She questioned him. Was there something on her face? Did she do something wrong? She cocked an eyebrow to further emphasise her question. "You've been doing that a lot lately."

"Huh?"

"Staring… glaring… just… I dunno, is there something growing on my face that I hadn't noticed before?"

Soul straightened and blinked, as if he didn't realized that he had been staring. "Was I?" His eyes narrowed in frustration - or embarrassment - and he only shook his head. "Can we… Do you mind if we talked about… the arrangement?"

Gulp. She expected to have a talk with him about this, but she didn't expect it to be this soon. "What about it?" She asked using a nonchalant tone, but inside, she was shivering in both anticipation and fear. Why fear, she didn't know.

The food was served at this moment and it served as a chance to stall. Observing what she had set out in front of her - ones which Soul ordered for her - she slowly inhaled the appetizing scent of her bacon and eggs breakfast, coupled along with a nice mug of hot chocolate. He chose the best combination; she remembered that this was one of the meals that she used to cook for breakfast when they had still lived with each other.

She was starving yet she only prodded the bacon with her fork, Soul's discontinued question still lingering thickly in the air between them.

Why was he so quiet?

Maka chanced a glance at her old partner and saw that he was mirroring her actions of poking at the food. Honestly, all the stalling was so… suffocating. She needed to bring back their usual air around each other. But how?

Sighing loudly, causing him to look up at her, she waved her fork at him tauntingly, although seeing a piece of bacon being waved around wasn't exactly taunting. She caught his attention alright but she had no idea what to do next--

The fork's waving movement stopped and Maka found that the reason was because the fork was held by his mouth, the bacon devoured by the evil white beast.

The position they were in bothered her. From another person's view it would look like they were...lovers.

Oh. My. God.

She had to retort. Now. Say something. Why is she just gaping at him in fascination? Why was it that when his soft hair brushed the back of her hand she felt these shivers convulse through her? Why was it when he looked up at her from his angle, a cheeky expression reflected in his eyes, she almost forgot to breathe?

Get a grip on yourself!

Inwardly shaking her head to rid of the feelings she just experienced, she prepared her nonchalant retort.

"Hey! My bacon! MAKA CHOP!" The small dictionary appeared from nowhere and seconds later the boy was found clutching at the hit spot and let go of the fork. Unfortunately, the bacon didn't survive - well, in any case, she didn't really want it back.

He stayed in a hunched over position as he continued to nurse the growing bump on his head. This, now this felt like old times. The meister didn't expect her companion to talk after a few minutes, but it seems he recovered quickly this time.

"I almost thought that I'd lost this." Maka only silently cocked her head in question even though she knew her partner wouldn't be able to see. "I thought you'd hate me because I didn't tell you-"

"I do." She said simply, and Soul looked up to her as she crossed her arms over her chest and a cold glare was seen in her eyes.

His expression changed and filled with dread. Red eyes transformed to accommodate his apology.

"That's why you shouldn't do it again…" she said gently, smiling softly at him. Maka didn't like to see her partner wear those helpless expressions anymore. "You were forgiven the moment I felt the return of your wavelength in school. So don't waste this second chance anymore…"

He grinned his sharp grin to match her soft smile with. "Thanks. I won't do it again."

"So… about the arrangement… why didn't you tell me?" Her posture relaxed though she kept her arms crossed over her chest. The voice she used was quiet, almost whispered.

"I know that you didn't like the arrangement, so I thought I should stop them directly since it was my family that started it. I didn't want to get you involved."

Involved? But I am involved. I'm one of the people getting married. And why did he think that I didn't like the arrangement? Did I ever look miserable during our talks about it? She only shrugged off these thoughts as he continued.

"Just thinking of you trapped in an arrangement like this, and since you're quite a famous icon, this arrangement will feel like their way of collecting you, its just wrong, you should be free…" How thoughtful of him, she thought, but she couldn't shake off the thought that his reason was too…weak. Almost petty. Is he doing this for her or for himself? "My family is one that you wouldn't want to get to know…"

"Are they really as bad as you say?" The outburst just forced itself out straight from her thoughts, but it was said quietly and with caution. "I know that your family is forcing this engagement thing on us, but… my mama is also part of it as your mother said, and your brother isn't that bad."

"Yeah… Wes is the only one I can count on in our family… but trust me, they are as bad as I say. Its just in your best interest it you don't meet them." His head was bowed over his mug of hot chocolate as he said this. To Maka, this was one of the times that he starts opening up to her and this is definitely the first time she had ever heard him talk about his family. The impression she got from his confession was that he seems to dislike his family.

Was that why he didn't want her in his family? To save her from them?

"That's why I want to just stop this arrangement." Looking up and locking eyes with her, she noticed the determination burning in his them and she smiled for him, showing her understanding.

"I understand. I'll also do my best to help you stop it. But," she broke their eye contact to stare at her entwined fingers, "would it be alright if we still go to this ball in January?"

"What?" The tone was low, but it only contained surprise.

"Its just that… if mama is there… I just don't want to waste this chance to meet her…" Here, Maka looked up at Soul almost pleadingly. "Just for that… but of course we'll still stop the engagement!"

Soul had looked at her through wide eyes, which slowly softened in understanding, mirroring her own expression from a while ago. Nodding to her, he replied, "I understand."

A/N: not my best chapter i think~
theyre keeping the engagement on...for now 8D
waugh! soul's reason...was quite petty... waugh!
but its because he also doesnt know why hes stopping the engagement... o.o
his assumption and understanding of it was that she didnt like it (i think i pretty much said it up there havent i? owo;)

any way~! Thank you all so much to my reviewers~
i couldnt have persevered to finish this chapter if not for you guys! TwT

please dont forget to review~ *hearts*