Sorry for taking so long. With the holidays and me trying to get back in the groove of school I got really disorganized for awhile, but I'm back and ready to write! Also, I deleted the first chapter 17 I published and rewrote it, so sorry for the confusion if you received any emails.
Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater.
They were below us; walking through the streets of this unfamiliar city. Considering two of them were Meisters, I already knew their destination. It was a couple of miles away, larger than any other building in this city; Death Weapon Meister Academy.
"Your soul perception really does come in handy." she stood against an air conditioning system, her arms crossed as she focused intently on one of the girls.
She walked nonchalantly beside another girl, and then a boy and two other girls; the girl with darker skin and braided hair was the Weapon partner of who we were following, the two others were with the boy with odd hair, Huh. I thought, remarking how well their souls interacted with each other. I've never seen a Meister have the ability to use two weapons; then again, I didn't really encounter a lot of Meisters.
"Are you sure it's her?" my sister asked, standing up straight and walking to where I was crouched on the roof.
"Positive," I stood up, "And we need to hurry. She'll be awakening very soon."
"We'll confront her soon, then."
"I never thought a Meister could be one of us."
"Just another mystery," she said, and what was once a light breeze suddenly turning into a gust of wind, circling the girl with straight black hair, "That's how most things are."
Before she could look up to our direction I backed out of her view and Adria disappeared with the wind.
"Kuro?" Kid looked over his shoulder at me while I stared at the roof of a building, "Are you okay?"
What was that? I thought.
I merely nodded, the only sign of acknowledgement I've given him all day. From the corner of my eye I saw him turn away reluctantly, and I stayed a couple of feet behind him. I didn't want to distance myself from him, but I had no choice.
"It's so warm!" Patti smiled and stretched her hands towards the sky.
"I'm glad; the cold weather at Ukraine was starting to get to me," Liz stretched.
Suddenly, I reached for my chest, which felt like it was burning. It hurt, but it lasted for just a few moments before completely disappearing. I took a breath, wondering what all of that was about. Heart burn? I shook my head, deciding to disregard it. When Liz and Patti mentioned the cold weather in Ukraine, I remembered the cold night my clothes were torn apart by Crona. I shivered at the memory of enduring those temperatures, "Too bad the sun's already setting."
"Yah know, this might sound weird considering we just left that cold place," Patti said, "But I could go for a milkshake."
"Hey, I could too." Liz agreed.
"We could go somewhere; my treat." I suggested.
"Wait, we could always make them at our house!" Patti smiled.
"Yeah, why not?" Liz nodded, "Milkshakes at our place!"
"Uh…where's the ice cream?" I asked after getting to their house, staring into their huge freezer. There was only three of them, was there a need for so much food?
"It's somewhere in there." Liz said, preparing the blender.
"Watch me find it," Char said being the smartass that she was, the stopped in her tracks and gaped inside, "Holy crap."
"Wanna help?" I asked, giving her a look. We began sifting through the contents in the freezer, and I almost dropped a package of steaks when someone kicked open the front door.
We exchanged questioning glances, and from upstairs Kid asked, "What the hell was that?"
"BlackStar!" Tsubaki exclaimed, "You should knock!"
"WELCOME HOME PARTY!" BlackStar shouted, marching into the kitchen, "I brought pizza!"
"Sorry about that." Tsubaki smiled.
"BlackStar, seriously?" Kid gestured to the door's one broken hinge.
"What?" BlackStar asked, acting oblivious as he spoke through a mouth full of pizza.
"Liz called and invited us." Tsubaki said as BlackStar placed the four boxes onto the counter.
"Are Maka and Soul on their way?" Patti asked.
"Yup." BlackStar said, taking out another slice.
I heard Kid grumbling under his breath, and though I didn't mean to, I looked in his direction just as he turned around after shutting the door. Our eyes met for a split second before I hastily turned back towards the fridge. I could still feel his eyes on the back of my head; he's probably noticed the distance I've put between us since Ukraine.
"What was that all about?" Char whispered to me, catching what just happened. I didn't respond and continued going through the fridge silently. After understanding that I wasn't going to tell her, she started helping me again and we soon gathered all the ingredients needed to make cool and delicious milkshakes.
"We should wait until Maka and Soul get here," Patti said after they were made.
"Hell no! Gods don't wait for anyone!" BlackStar went to grab the pitcher but Char went to stop him.
"Patience is a virtue." Char said, giving him a challenging look.
BlackStar returned it, then pulled on the pitcher. She pulled back, and they continued until it started to spill.
"Guys!" Liz exclaimed, "It's getting all over the floor!" A big glob flew out of the pitcher, and before I could react it hit me in the face, covering me in sticky chocolate goo. BlackStar howled in laughter, and I smirked and snatched the pitcher from him, cupping my hand and tossing milkshake at him.
He ducked, "HA! Missed me!" but, out of nowhere, milk flew into his face.
Char busted out laughing, "Serves you right!"
I blinked at Kid who was holding a now empty glass of milk, "What?" he asked, "He broke my door!"
BlackStar took the pitcher from me and scooped a handful, "FOOD FIGHT!"
We dove to the ground as BlackStar unloaded the pitcher, but he soon ran out, which gave us a chance to find food and throw it at him as payback, then we turned on each other, becoming a war of foods and beverages. Laughs and screams erupted in the kitchen.
"What the hell?" Soul watched the door slump down as it opened. We didn't realize they had arrived until it was too late.
"You think BlackStar got here first?" Maka asked looking at the broken hinge.
"Soul! Look out!" Char tried to warn, but ice cream rammed into his face.
Soul wiped his eyes, "That was so uncool!"
"Hey!" Milkshake splattered onto Maka's clothes and she grabbed a chunk and threw it in response. Soul ducked and started throwing whatever food he could find.
When we were all too tired to continue, there was cake, milk, ice cream, milkshake, and pizza everywhere. I sat on the floor against the island in the kitchen and caught my breath. The place was an absolute mess; Kid was not going to like this, even though he was a part of the chaos.
"Hey Soul; hey Maka." I waved breathlessly.
"Hey." Maka waved and Soul gave a thumb up.
"We brought chips and soda." Soul said pointing towards the foyer.
"Yes!" BlackStar sat on a bar stool, put his feet on the counter, and started stuffing his face.
While he was busy doing that, the rest of us decided to get cleaned up; Maka headed into the closest bathroom, and I went to the upstairs bathroom. I grabbed a hand towel and wet it, starting to rub off the sticky food from my face. Once I got home I would have to get all the crap out of my hair; it was going to be a fun night, and cleaning Kid's kitchen was going to be just as fun. Luckily my bags were still here from the trip with extra clothes, so I made my way downstairs to grab it, but stopped when I heard a voice downstairs.
"Dude, before you get the food off you and stuff, I wanna ask you something." BlackStar said.
"There you are!" I heard Liz whisper behind me, catching me off guard and making me jump, "The plan is set in motion!"
"Wait, what?" I asked, still trying to to catch my bearings.
"I invited Soul and Maka here for a reason! Everyone is here, it's the perfect time!"
"So what're we doing?" I asked, completely lost. They must've talked about this in Ukraine.
"Okay, so BlackStar is going to annoy the truth out of Soul, and then from there... well I have no idea. Maybe we'll tell Maka so she can make the move or we'll tell Soul depending on what he says."
I stared at her for a moment, honestly a bit disappointed, "That's it?"
"There's not much else we can do! Maka is rather delicate, especially with her dad issues, but Soul is a good guy. She wouldn't like him if he wasn't." she peeked at BlackStar, careful to keep herself hidden, "They need to work this one out together. Now let's listen."
"No seriously," BlackStar shrugged, "I mean, anybody at all."
"Not really." he raised a brow.
"Really bro?" BlackStar smirked.
"Really." Soul crossed his arms.
"He's so lying." Liz whispered.
"How do you know?" I asked, trying to look at his expression, and he seemed convincing.
"Body language speaks volumes," she gestured to his crossed arms, "He's closing himself up."
"Admit it." BlackStar said.
"Admit what?"
"Soul, you know what I'm talking about." BlackStar said.
Soul scoffed, "Dude, Maka's like my sister."
"I never mentioned Maka," BlackStar rose his hands in defense, "But God knows all, and I now know you like Maka!"
It seemed a bit impulsive of BlackStar to jump right to that conclusion, but it's like BlackStar to be impulsive, and he might actually be right. My attention shifted from BlackStar to Maka, who just came out of the bathroom, focusing on trying to get a stain out of her shirt. This wasn't part of the plan, and I almost got up to stop her, but Liz grabbed my arm.
"What? I never said that!" Soul shook his head, "Sure she's a really cool girl, but not like that." Maka backed away into the bathroom and cracked the door open, obviously eavesdropping. I wondered where Kid, Tsubaki, Char, and Patti were, and figured they were spying from the second staircase on the other side of the foyer.
"Soul, you like her." BlackStar said, "I see the way you look at her dude. You mess around with her all the time; you're like those little twerps in grade school who make fun of the girls they like. Admit it."
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
"Yes."
Soul suddenly exploded in a whisper-like yell, "Okay!"
BlackStar grinned smugly, "Now was that so damn hard?"
Soul gave BlackStar a look, like he was trying to be angry, "Because I didn't want to admit it to myself." he sighed, "Maka has... trust issues, and I mean, it's cool, I understand. Her dad was a little... you know, but after everything we've been through and all I've done for her, I feel like she still doesn't trust me... You need trust to really like someone. It kinda hurts, yah know? I guess I just didn't want to risk getting rejected. It's really uncool to like someone when they don't like you back. "
I had never seen this Soul before. The angry look he had wanted to put up almost seemed to melt away into something thoughtful; almost sad. He had ignored his feelings because deep down, he was afraid Maka wouldn't like him back. I was even surprised about BlackStar's behavior. He didn't laugh or joke, he was listening. He knew Soul was being serious and didn't make fun of him. I guess even though he could be a really annoying, arrogant jerk; he could also be a really good friend. I was so focused on them that I didn't notice Maka walk out of the bathroom until after she was in the view of both BlackStar and Soul. BlackStar blinked, caught off guard, and Soul stood up, his body tense with, what I guessed, was worry about being found out.
"Maka..."
End of Chapter XVII
Thanks for reading!
- Limiterlys