A Maka for All Seasons
By DarkAngel
Disclaimer: Soul Eater belongs wholly to Atsushi Ohkubo. I'm just borrowing his characters for a bit of fun.
[04. Bite, 18. Torn, 20. Changing]
"So," Liz drawled, crossing her arms, eyes on Maka. "Is there something you want to tell us?"
They – they meaning Liz, Patti, Tsubaki and Maka – were in one of Death City's many streetside cafes, enjoying the boons of a cool summer breeze. It had rained the night before, and the torrential rains had left in their wake a cool wind and lower temperatures they rarely got the pleasure of enjoying in the sweltering heat that enveloped Death City.
Maka's brow twitched up. The older girl was always on the lookout for excitement and gossip, and today was no exception. She carefully put down her frozen mango latte-filled plastic cup. "Share what?" She leaned back in the plastic patio chair, looking around at the others at the table. Patti was scarfing down her sandwich and a large plate of cookies, her mouth so full she looked kind of like a hamster with full cheek pouches. Tsubaki was taking a demure sip of her iced tea. Liz was smiling lazily at her, her clear blue eyes focused on Maka – or rather, at one specific point on the girl. Maka sighed inwardly.
"Oh, come on, girl. Don't be coy. I know what that –" She pointed with one perfectly manicured nail at the juncture of Maka's shoulder and neck, "-is." Her eyes took on a wicked gleam. "Have you been busy?" Out of the corner of her eye, Maka could see that Tsubaki had put down her drink and was watching the both of them, just as curious, even if she pretended not to be. If what she'd heard about the goings on in the Book of Eibon were any indication, Tsubaki might be the most interested of them all in this conversation.
"You know Liz, not everything has to do with boys." Patti giggled at that, though whether in agreement or mockery, Maka honestly couldn't say. Not that it mattered anyway. Liz would see what she wanted to see, whether it was correct or not, and Patti would always be Patti. She sighed. Judging by the looks on her friends' faces, she wasn't going to get any assistance with this. She was all on her own with Liz's predatory interrogation.
The taller blonde rolled her eyes. "Uh huh. You're totally avoiding the point, Maka." Her mouth curled into a twisted smile that would have made lesser women shiver in fright. "Besides, I didn't say anything about boys."
Now it was Maka's turn to shoot her friend a sceptical look. Liz? Not talk about boys? As if. Black Star had a better chance of winning the Miss Universe swimsuit competition. Maka shook her head, letting her one pigtail sweep over the offending spot. Liz's eyes narrowed. Maka shrugged.
"So who was it?" Liz was like a dog on a meaty piece of bone – she wasn't going to be dropping the subject anytime soon. "Soul?"
Maka snorted. "Mr. Cool? You do realize that this is the same guy who makes making fun of my breasts a part of his weekly routine."
"Huh." Liz's eyebrows shot up. "I always thought he'd be the one –" At the dangerous look Maka shot her, she moved on. "Well then, Kirikou?"
"Kirikou?" Maka's straw fell from her mouth. "Where'd you pull that one?"
Patti giggled. "Maka's oblivious, sis!"
Liz held a hand to her forehead, shaking her head. "Totally. You're just as bad as your partner."
Great. Now she was confused as well as insulted. She looked to Tsubaki. "Can you please make sense out of all this?" She rolled her eyes. "I can't decipher anything in all the melodrama."
The Japanese girl made a delicate sound of surprise. "But Liz is telling the truth. Kirikou does like you." She chewed on her lip, as though debating whether or not to say more. She looked at her best friend and shrugged. "He told Black Star when he came over to play video games."
"And it's so totally obvious anyway," Liz drawled, picking up her drink. "It's just that you're so oblivious. Such a shame." Liz made a tsking noise. "You've got all these guys running after you and you can't figure it out." She played with a strand of hair. Maka gaped. She flicked a glance to Patti, who was now sneaking fries off her sister's plate, to Tsubaki, who was watching her with a painfully earnest expression on her face. There was no deception on any of their faces, no signs they were pulling her leg. She grimaced. "I suppose you'll be telling me next that Ox has a thing for me."
"Nope." Liz shook her head, Patti giggling raucously once more. The younger of the sisters piped up, "We all know he's hot for Kim! Smoochy smoochy!" She made a disturbingly good impression of an octopus latching like a barnacle onto the side of a ship, her full lips making squeaky kissing noises. Maka swallowed the down bile she could taste at the back of her throat. Gross. It wasn't that she hated Ox, but the thought of him in a situation even remotely romantic turned her stomach. She reached blindly for her latte and took a deep, steadying pull. Patti noticed the greenness in Maka's expression and laughed harder. Liz patted her on the back.
"Who else is there?" This from Tsubaki, who was stirring the contents of her tea with her straw. Maka's mind reeled. There were more of them? Where was this veritable platoon of men hiding? For Death's sake, it was Soul that got all the fan letters and creepy stalkers. She didn't even have a single admirer; rather, she had to deal with Soul's legion of fangirls glaring at her and staring cow-eyed at him as they went by in the halls. Her grip on her cup tightened.
Liz started ticking names off on her fingers. "There's that freshman in the class below ours. Syke, I think his name was...? There's a few upperclassmen from Class Waxing Moon." She continued to rattle off names, about a dozen in all. Maka wasn't sure she would ever get her jaw off the floor again.
"But that can't be right!" she blurted out at the ludicrous thought of all these secret admirers. The others stared at her wide-eyed. Maka flushed. "It's not me that gets that kind of attention! I don't get fan letters. I don't have admirers following me around like lost puppies. That's not me." She shook her head vehemently. "It's all Soul. It's always been him. Why would anyone start paying attention to me now?"
After all, she thought bitterly, she was the flat chested, fat ankled, violent bookworm with man issues. She didn't attract male attention, she frightened them away. This was what it meant to be Maka Albarn. And she was good with that. She'd been good with that for ages. Romance hadn't been a leading factor in her life ever, and her hopes for a happy ending had long ago been dashed when her family had self-destructed.
It was Tsubaki that spoke up first. "Maybe that's something you should ask Soul about."
Huh? What did that even mean? Maka goggled at her, but it looked as thoughTsubaki had said everything she was going to say, for she went back to her drink, looking sympathetically at her friend. Eventually they split up, and Maka was left to ponder on her friends' words as she made her way home.
Soul was already home when she got to their shared apartment. The smell of basil and tomatoes wafted through the house and Maka breathed deeply in appreciation. "I'm home!" she called out, locking the door behind her. Kicking off her shoes, she entered, following her nose into the kitchen. Soul turned around briefly, giving her the slightest of nods before turning back to his work. Maka sidled over to the counter. "What are you making?"
"Pasta with garlic bread," he answered, hands never stopping as he ground some basil with the flat side of the kitchen knife. He gestured with a cock of his head to a pan of garlic bread sitting on the edge of the counter. "Could you put those in the oven for me? I've got my hands full at the moment." She wordlessly did as he asked, setting the timer on the oven and closing the door. Her eyes followed her partner's skilled movements. He had always been the better cook of the two of them, and it had been he who had showed her the basics of the kitchen when they'd first moved in together. Idly, she wondered where he'd learned to cook. Wasn't he supposed to be some kind of pampered rich boy? Her eyes followed his skilled hands, watching the cords of muscle flex in his arms as he stirred a pot of sauce on the stove. She didn't even realize she'd been staring until Soul's voice cut through her musings.
"It'll be ready in time for dinner." She snapped her head up, startled. He glanced at her, his features amused. "Tell your stomach to hang in there just a little while longer."
Oh. He thought she'd been staring at the food. Maka shook her head. "Yeah. Sorry. I guess I was hungrier than I thought. Do you need any help?"
"Nah, I got it. Go get changed or something. I'll be done soon." He gave her a crooked grin. Maka's stomach fluttered. Maybe she really was much hungrier than she'd imagined. She had thought that the latte would have tided her over, but maybe that wasn't the case.
As she undressed, she thought back to her conversation with the girls. Her eyes strayed to the blemish on her neck. When she really looked at it, it did kind of resemble a love bite. She fingered the patch of skin delicately. She laughed, shaking her head at their folly. What Liz and the others chose to misinterpret was their own business, but the thought sobered her a little.
She was 15 now, going on 16 in the next year. She'd been through much more than the average 15 year old would, but in some aspects, she had less of a clue than the average teenager. She wondered if she would always be stuck in that position. She shook her head. No. It didn't matter. It couldn't matter, so long as she had bigger, more urgent fish to fry.
Try as she might to tell herself this, she couldn't shake Tsubaki's parting words from her head. And she started to wonder just why she was so caught up in so much nothing. And what did Soul have to do with any of this?
Whatever brief reprieve they'd gotten from the heat yesterday was gone by mid-morning the next day, and many students were spending their break times indoors. Right now they were between lectures and the members of class Crescent Moon were scattered about the classroom, gathering in small groups to talk with their friends. Soul, Black Star and Kid were gathered off to the side of a row of desks. Soul was sitting, leaning back in his seat, laughing at something Black Star had just said. The aforementioned boy was standing on top of the desks, roaring with laughter. Kid merely watched the two, occasionally adding some commentary.
Maka was by herself for the moment. Tsubaki had gone to use the bathroom and Liz had gone with her, saying something about needing to touch up. Patti was at the front of the room drawing an oversized chimera of an alligator and giraffe on the blackboard.
What did Soul have to do with her admirers? She still didn't get it. And try as she might to find anything peculiar in his behaviour, he was the same Soul she'd always known. If anything, her staring seemed to have caught his attention. He took her aside just as they were leaving their next class to get lunch.
"Do I have something on my face?" Soul asked lowly, leaning down to stare into her eyes. Maka flushed.
"No. Why would you think that?" Now that she thought about it when had he gotten so tall? There was a time not so long ago when they'd been equal in height. Since when did he have to crouch down to be at eye level with her? A part of her huffed up at the thought. "I was just thinking of a new training regimen for us, that's all."
Soul raised his eyebrows. "A new training regimen?" His brows furrowed together. "Don't we have enough to do with what we've already been assigned?" He pursed his lips. A shiver ran down Maka's spine.
"Oh, well I mean..." She grasped onto her old friend, righteous indignation. "If you're going to be lazy about it..."
That was the right chord to hit. Soul rolled his eyes. "Whatever, Maka. So what's this new program?" He shoved his hands into his pockets and looked at her expectantly.
"Uh..." She honestly hadn't thought that far ahead. "Flight training!" she fairly shouted, naming the first thing that popped into her mind. She fisted her clammy hands together. That would suffice, right? After all, that had been a large part of their Spartoi training of late. "I want to do some extra flight practice!" She hoped that would be enough.
For some moments Soul didn't say a thing. He eyed her, as though he would see through her and find the lie beneath her chipper exterior. Then he shrugged once more. Maka blew out a slow breath. "Yeah, whatever. Let me know when you want to practice, 'kay?" He started walking again. "Come on. Let's get some grub. I'm starved!" She followed behind him, sighing. She had to be more careful. Soul would start getting the wrong idea if he caught her at it again. Her heart thumped at that. She stomped on the part of her brain that asked if Soul getting the wrong idea would really be such a bad thing.
She didn't really notice anything until almost a week after this incident. She was in the library studying, and an underclassman shuffled to her table, nervously asking if she could help with some Resonance Theory homework his class had been given. Maka was all too happy to oblige.
"Actually, I've been reading this textbook as review the past week," Maka chirped happily. "I still think I have my lecture notes from last year in my locker. I could get them for you if you like." She slid out of her chair, making her way briskly out of the library. It was a good thing she'd brought those old notes with her. See? Reviewing does have its rewards, she thought smugly.
She turned the corner to the corridor where Class Crescent Moon's bank of lockers were located – and whipped back around the corner.
Soul. He was crouched down on the ground in front of her locker. She couldn't make out exactly what he was doing, but she saw him stand up, shutting the door of her locker as he did. He walked over to a trash can located between lockers and dumped some papers inside. Then, sticking his hands in his pockets, he wandered off.
When she was sure he was long gone from the corridor, she came out. Slowly, she approached her locker. Bending down, she twirled the combination lock and peered inside. Everything looked as it had in the morning, all her books and notebooks were neatly lined between the two skull-marked bookends she'd bought. She reached for a faded red notebook. Closing the locker door, she stood up slowly, her eyes wandering to the trash bin. She took one step. And then another. She peered into it.
There were a few papers, some loose leaf, others folded. Some came in envelopes. Curious, she picked one out of the trash and unfolded it. Her eyes widened.
"How long have you known?"
Poor Tsubaki. The girl probably hadn't seen this coming, if her wide midnight blue eyes and gaping mouth were any indication. But Maka was in no mood to be merciful. She shook the wad of letters in the older girl's face. "Just how long has Soul been intercepting these letters?" She breathed carefully through her nose to prevent herself from losing her temper. And here she'd spent the entire time thinking that Soul was the only one getting any fan letters or partner requests. She fumed. What right did he have -?
"Maka-chan..." Tsubaki's voice cut through her fuming line of thought. The other girl sighed when she saw her friend wasn't going to back off or calm down until she got some answers. "Let's go outside and talk about this."
They ended up on a bench outside the school, near the training parklands. Maka waited for Tsubaki to say something. She knew that if she opened her mouth, the other girl wouldn't get a chance to explain what she knew. She shifted in her seat, looking at the crumpled letters still clutched in her hands.
"Do you remember telling me about when you and Soul first partnered up?"
Maka raised her eyebrows. She had told Tsubaki about it, yes. About how she'd been unable to mesh with anyone; about how all anybody seemed to care about was her 'pedigree' – her super meister mother and Death Scythe father. About how Soul had been different. He hadn't cared about her status.
"Yeah," she said at last.
Tsubaki shrugged. "I heard it from Black Star, but he said that you used to get a lot of requests from people to be partners, especially in the first few weeks."
Maka nodded. Most Shibusen students came to the school before the official start of term. This gave them time to get used to their new surroundings and maybe find a partner they could resonate with. Maka herself had been no stranger to Shibusen, as she'd been able to come and go as she pleased long before she enrolled, but she clearly recalled the first time she'd come to the institution as an enrolled student. It was as though they thought she couldn't hear them, they way they spoke about her. At the time it had made her fume. There were those who thought they could gain instant fame and popularity by pairing with the daughter of Shibusen's most famous duo. There were still others who saw her as the quickest way to becoming a Death Scythe. And then there had been the jealous ones who whispered amongst each other, saying that she was only there because of her parents. What it had boiled down to for Maka at the time was that none of them were really looking at her. All they saw was an image that had been built up around her; all they saw was their own benefit.
She looked up. "Are you saying Soul wanted to protect me from people with less than sincere intentions?" There was a small part of her gut that clenched uncomfortably at the thought. Soul took his duties as a protector seriously. She supposed when it really came down to it, there wasn't anything surprising in what he was doing, but something else niggled at the back of her mind. Why all the secrecy?
Tsubaki shifted. "Well, that's certainly part of it." She gave Maka a look the girl couldn't decipher. "Maybe you should talk to him about it." She nodded gently at the letters in Maka's hands. "It's the only way you'll get a complete answer."
The rest of the day went by in a blur. Maka blinked at the sky, which was turning into soft shades of orange and pink with light streaks of purple at the edges. Maka sighed softly. She still had no idea what she was going to say to Soul. Her anger with him for intercepting her letters had been waylaid by Tsubaki's words. Now she just wanted answers, but every time she thought to ask him, she'd get tongue tied, or else something would come along to ruin the moment. She grimaced. When had she become such a coward?
"Hey Maka, you coming?" She jerked her head up, startled. Soul was leaning against his bike, hands in his pockets. That weird feeling in her stomach manifested itself once more, and Maka had to swallow thickly to keep what she'd eaten down where it belonged. Ugh. She knew she was stressed about talking to him about this, but for the love of Lord Death, this was ridiculous. She nodded at him, trying to put as normal a smile as she could on her face. "Yeah, I'm coming. Wait up!" She hopped down the stairs, coming to a stop in front of her partner. He looked at her, his mouth pressed into a concerned line.
"You okay, Maka? You look like you're ready to drop dead or something." Hereached out and touched her forehead. "Idiot. If you're coming down with something, you should tell me." When Maka didn't say anything, he rolled his eyes. "Whatever. At least we don't have any missions coming up, and tomorrow's Saturday." He pushed himself off of his bike, making to get on. "Come on. I'll make you some soup or something and then you're going to sleep."
Maka made a noise in the back of her throat. "But it's my turn to co-" But Soul cut her off.
"Uh huh. You can make it up next time. You've been really out of it the whole day. I don't think you've even taken a single note in any of our classes." Maka gasped, ripping open the flap on her messenger bag. When she saw that he was right, she flushed to the roots of her hair. "See what I mean?" he said. "It's got to be pretty bad if you don't pay attention in class." His mouth quirked up. "We've got a test on Monday too."
"No..." Maka held her head in her hands. Good gods, she really was far gone. How could she have let herself get so carried away as to miss something so important? But Soul only laughed. "Relax, Maka." He gave a careless wave of his hand. "I took notes. You can use those."
She gaped at him. "You did?"
"Always the look of surprise," he said sardonically, giving her an eye roll. "Come on. Get on." He waited for her to slide on behind him. She wound her arms gingerly around his waist. She bit her lip to contain the slight flush she could feel blooming on her cheeks as she settled onto the bike. Damn Tsubaki. It was her fault for putting strange ideas into her head. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to tell herself the treacherous thumps in her chest had to do with the speed Soul was going at.
When they arrived at their apartment, she practically leapt off the bike, earning her yet another curious glance from her partner. She spun around on her heel, marching ahead of him before he could see her blush. Damn it, what the hell was wrong with her?
Soul seemed to be thinking the same thing, for he caught up with her not too long after, grabbing her arm on the stairs. "Maka, what's going on?"
"Nothing's going on," she said, keeping her voice as steady as she could. "I'm just tired, that's all." But his grip on her arm didn't loosen. "Bull," he called evenly. "I think I know when my meister's genuinely sick and when she's trying to hide something."
His words stung her and she whipped her arm furiously from her grasp. His eyes widened in surprise, but she was in no mood to take into account his feelings or her behaviour at the moment. How dare he be so presumptuous? He knew her? He knew her so well that he took actions independent of her, because he presumed she would be pleased? Who the hell did he think he was?
She glared venomously at him. "If you know me so well, Soul, then you would know that I don't like being kept in the dark."
His brows knit together in confusion, which only added to her anger. "Maka, what are you talking about?" He was looking at her as if she'd succumbed to Asura's madness and would rip off his head with her bare hands at any moment, a thought which was not entirely unjustified. Maka dug around in her bag. She whipped out a crumpled letter at him.
"Were you ever going to tell me about these?" Soul moved her hand from his face, taking the letter. She watched his face blanch when he saw what it was. He opened his mouth. "Maka –"
"After everything we've been through together –" She swallowed down the lump that was growing larger in her throat. "After everything…" She took a steadying breath. "Why?" she asked at last, glad that her voice was steadier. "Why didn't you tell me? Why did you do this? Why?"
She waited. She looked up at him, trying to read his expression, but he remained as inscrutable as ever. The only sign he gave that he was giving her questions any thought was the turmoil in his eyes. Her breath hitched in her throat when he opened his mouth.
"I'm sorry," he began. Maka made to retort, but he shook his head, silently telling her to wait. "I shouldn't have kept the truth from you." He lowered his head so that his eyes were hidden behind his bangs. "But Maka… before I answer your question, there's something I want to ask you." He gripped her shoulders. "And it's important that you answer with the truth. Can you promise me that, Maka?"
Maka's eyes widened. What was he on about? And why the hell was he turning this around on her? She wanted the truth from him. The look in his eyes stopped her. He was dead serious. Whatever he wanted to ask her, she knew that she'd have to answer him or they wouldn't get any further. Swallowing her resentment, she nodded. This didn't seem to relieve Soul, though; if anything, his shoulders grew stiffer, and he sighed, as though hoping this reckoning would never have had to come.
He drew in a breath. "What am I to you, Maka?" He kept his eyes closed, his breath coming in a slow, steady stream of air that hit her collarbones.
Huh? Her anger dissipated a little at the question. Her heart started hammering in her chest once more. Her head began to spin. She tried to move back, to get a little space to think but Soul's grip on her shoulders was unyielding. Why was he asking her this? They were partners, right? Friends? Comrades? What did he want? "Soul, I don't understand –"
"Just answer the question, Maka." He didn't sound anything other than patient. It was as though he was settling himself in for an eternity to wait for her answer. She tried once more to get some space, but Soul wouldn't let her go.
"Soul," she tried. "Can you back up a bit?"
He didn't answer, at least not verbally. His fingers twitched on her shoulders, his fingers digging a little deeper. Maka winced. "Soul, please –"
"Answer the question, Maka."
She wanted to run. Her heart was fluttering, panicked, like a hummingbird caught in a cage. Her mouth was so very dry; she tried to swallow, but found she couldn't. What did he want her to say? Why did it feel as though if she gave him the wrong answer, she would lose something important? Soul had told her to answer truthfully but she felt as if this was one of the trick questions Stein was so fond of sneaking into his tests. If she didn't think this through carefully there would be consequences, but she couldn't think damn it, when he was so near. She gulped.
"We're… partners, aren't we?" She hated how she sounded so unsure. She licked her lips. "I mean, we're friends." She hated how she had to admit her weakness. "Soul, I'm not sure what you're trying to ask."
The boy in question paused. "We're partners… friends." He swallowed. She watched his Adam's apple bob. "Is that it?"
She opened her eyes. "What do you mean?" she whispered. She was trembling now. She could feel her teeth chattering, her stomach knotting. She wondered if she wasn't going to throw up.
"Is that all I am to you?" He paused. "Is that all I'm ever going to be to you?"
A part of her knew that he was asking for something in between the lines. An even smaller part of her knew exactly what he was trying to aim for. But the bigger part of her – the biggest, more cowardly and self-preserving part of her that knew the pain of misplaced faith drew closed around her heart, and she couldn't for the life of her find a way out of this that could salvage this situation. Salvage them.
When she didn't answer, Soul stepped back, head bowed. "I'm sorry, Maka." She couldn't see his face, but his voice was flat, as though he was trying to keep down his disappointment. He sighed, running a hand through his hair, looking up at the next stairwell. "So you wanted answers, huh."
She nodded mutely. She watched as his shoulders slowly straightened, as he looked her in the eyes once more. She nearly gasped at the pain in his expression. He gave her a wan smile that looked nothing like his confident, cocky smirk.
"I did it to protect you," Soul said. He shoved his hands in his pockets. "As your weapon."
She blinked. Something was off. He was lying to her. She swallowed for what felt like the thousandth time. "Th – That's all?"
"Yeah. That's all." He shrugged his shoulders. "That's all."
There was a pause between them. Soul was the first one to move. "Come on. I need to get started on dinner." He started up the stairs, head bowed, shoulders hunched. Maka watched him go.
What had that been all about? And why did she feel as though she'd made a terrible mistake?
To be continued...?
Author's Notes: I put a question mark there because I don't know whether to let this stand alone or write a sequel to it. I'll let you decide. :) What say you, readers?