Disclaimer: I don't own Soul Eater
Prompt #12: Eater - It's a strange surname to choose, but it did make him sound incredibly cool.
Words: 422
"Why Eater?"
The question was sufficiently odd enough to make Soul look away from the show he was watching. "Huh? Why Eater what?
"Why pick Eater as a last name?" Maka clarified. "I know Shibusen's naming principles are really lax, but Eater? Really?"
"It's a cool name."
"Really? That's how you're defending it? Because it's cool?"
"And it's accurate." He flashed his sharp teeth in a wide smile. "I eat the souls we hunt."
Maka rolled her eyes and shook her head. "But why change your name at all? Was your old name really that bad?"
Instead of answering her question, Soul merely returned to his show. His usual response of "It was a cool thing to do" wouldn't fly this time. "Those who know it...they expect a lot out of it," he said. "When I left home, I didn't want that expectation to keep following me the rest of my life. Plus, if I don't have the name, nobody has any reason to say I'm shaming it."
"Why would they say that? You're an amazing scythe."
He shook his head. "That's not what people expected from someone in my family." It was a half-answer and he knew it. He also knew it wouldn't deter her for long, but he wanted time to properly explain. Explain what it meant to be an Evans. That answer was for another time, when their fledgling partnership was built on more solid foundations than simply meister and weapon.
Maka poked his shoulder gently to bring his gaze back to her. "Will you...ever tell me?"
"Tell you what?"
"Your real name."
He gave a lopsided smile. "Soul actually is my real name. I can't make that shit up."
She didn't smile back. "So, you won't tell me your last name? Why?"
Soul grimaced slightly. "Do you really want to know?"
She looked about to agree, but something in Maka's eyes seemed to realize what he was really asking. They weren't at that stage yet, where they could trade secrets about their pasts as easily as they traded jibes about their personal habits.
So instead, swallowing her curiosity with admirable restraint, Maka only said, "One day I will."
"I'll tell you one day," he promised.
"You'd better." Suddenly she smiled and added, "And anyway, Soul Eater is a pretty cool name."
Soul's own smile was wide enough to show every jagged tooth. "Told ya."
My thoughts about the origin of Soul's last name change.
Review please! We've passed fifty, let's shoot for a hundred!