Hey, guys! Thanks a lot for the reviews! They really mean a lot to me. I'm currently on spring break, so you guys are lucky that I'm posting a new chapter fairly quickly! While I'm not an author that takes forever to post a new chapter nor do I post every day, I'm in between. Just a heads up. I hope you enjoy this chapter! Sorry if it's a little short.

Maka did not know how to comprehend this situation.

"Oh, come on! Star you're an idiot! Why would you waste a grenade on those guys?! You dumbass… NO! GO THE OTHER WAY! NOT TOWARDS THEM YOU IDIO- Motherfucker!"

Soul Evans was sitting on her couch in her living room playing rather intensely on a gaming console. After a glance at the television screen, Maka concluded that it was the newest game in the Halo franchise. Soul was too involved with his battle that he neglected to notice her presence behind him, much to her annoyance.

As she looked at the empty cans of soda and chip bags strewn around her living room floor, Maka decided that she was going to kill Soul.

"What the hell is going on here?"

Soul ignored her which only pissed Maka off even further. He didn't even jump a little at her voice.

"Welcome back."

Maka took a deep breathe before questioning his motives once more.

"Soul. Why are here?" Maka asked, barely containing her frustration and anger.

Soul paused his game after one last kill shot and turned to face her.

"What's it look like? I'm playing a video ga-"

"What are you doing in my house?!"

"Well, you see, the electricity in my house is out and I was thinking that I could check up on you too. Killing two birds with one stone, you know?" Soul shrugged. "Anyway, it's not like you were using your TV screen for anything while you were away, so what's the problem?" He continued his game and proceeded to gun down some more aliens.

Maka opted for a calm discussion instead of what she really wanted to do, which was throttle him.

"Soul. You can't just come into my apartment whenever you feel like it. How the hell did you even get in here anyway?!" She could've sworn that she locked the door earlier.

She started to pick up all of his trash that littered the floor.

"Kid gave me a key. Trust me, Maka. I won't rape you or anything." She stilled for a second before forcing herself to resume her actions. "If Kid trusts me enough to look after you, then you should trust me too. You aren't exactly my style either." Soul said, taking a second to rake his eyes up and down her body before his eyes flitted back to the television screen.

She couldn't expect Soul to know her secret part time job and be sensitive with his words, but they stung all the same.

"Get out."

Soul frowned and paused his game. There was something wrong with her tone of voice. It wasn't angry anymore, it was just… empty. Void of all emotion. Something wasn't right.

He turned to look at her. "Maka. Look, I'm sorry, okay? I didn't think that it would be this big of a de-"

"I said, get out!"

Soul was only surprised for a second before he was being hauled up from the couch and pushed towards the door by Maka. She was a lot stronger than she looked, that's for sure.

"Maka. Maka! Let me explain! Jeez, woman! Let me just- Maka!"

The door to the apartment slapped shut in his face, cutting off his words.

Soul sighed. Winning Maka Albarn over would be harder than he thought. He walked down the hallway and pushed the button for the elevator going down.

Who did he think he was?! Maka thought to herself while throwing away the last of Soul's trash. Maybe she was too harsh to him. No, she shook her head. Even if he doesn't know about her situation, it was still rude and he can't just go into her apartment like that! Even if Kid asked him to!

She straightened and frowned. Why would Kid ask Soul to take care of her? She's a fucking adult! Fuming, Maka grabbed her coat and left her apartment intent on finding a certain black and white haired man.

"Kid! You better answer this door!" Maka shouted, pounding on the door to the Death mansion.

Right when Maka was getting ready to pour a third time on the mahogany door, it swung open to reveal just the man Maka was looking for.

"I heard you knock the first time, Maka." Kid dryly told her. "What can I do for you?"

"I would like to know why you told Soul to take care of me. I'm eighteen, Kid!" Maka said furiously.

Kid didn't look very surprised at her outburst. He probably even expected her to confront him.

He sighed and ran his hand through his ebony and snow white locks before saying,

"I'm well aware of your age, Maka. Quite frankly, Liz and I are concerned for your well-being. Actually, all of friends are too. Even Black Star, being the dense man he is, has noticed you've become closed off and, for a lack of a better word, different."

Maka kept her facial expression even, but inside she was panicking. If her friends dug any further into her life, they would find out about her deal with Arachne. She had to find a way to either trick Soul into thinking everything was fine or get Kid to stop prying.

"Kid, I'm perfectly fine. I was just…" Maka fumbled for a believable excuse, "thinking of my Mama and Papa recently and that must've got me a little down in the dumps." Kid still looked a little skeptical. Damn. "Really, I'm fine. There's no need to hire a bodyguard."

"Still, maybe Soul's company might help you. He's a very understanding character, even if he is sarcastic and little teasing."

"But Kid-"

Suddenly Liz appeared and shoved Kid out of the way to face Maka.

"This is for your own good, Maka! We aren't telling Soul to back down until I see some improvement or I know what's up. That's final." Liz then proceeded to shut the door, ending the conversation.

Maka couldn't say she blamed her friends for their concern. Hell, she would be concerned herself. She would probably even do what they were doing for her. And truthfully, she was touched that they cared so much for her. But, she was still annoyed at the prying because they were making it harder to keep her secret.

Maka sighed and turned to return to her apartment.

Soul was contemplating how to get back in Maka's good graces when his cell phone started playing the James Bond theme. He dug it out and grimaced when he glanced at the caller ID.

"Soul Evans."

"How is she?"

"Maka? She's… well, Maka. You weren't kidding when you warned me that it would be hard to gain her trust."

The man on the other end quietly sighed.

"Yes, well. Try your best."

"Will do, sir. Hopefully, you can go back to her soon."

"That damn woman Arachne is preventing me, you know that, and there's no way that this operation is going to finish anytime soon."

Both the man and Soul were silent for a moment before Soul said, "Sir, do you have any suggestions for winning Maka over?"

The man didn't hesitate to say, "Books. She loves books. Any genre."

Soul smirked. A bookworm, eh?

"I see, sir. I'll win her over, just wait."

"Just remember what I said, Evans. Don't fall in love with Maka or I'll make sure you suffer a painful death."

"Don't worry, sir. I promise I won't fall in love with your daughter."