Disclaimer: Still don't. 'Nuff said.

Trust No-One

Chapter 8:

The next morning was Sunday. Soul sighed as he woke up, rolling over and stretching. He didn't get up, though, just hung halfway off the edge of the bed. He knew he probably had homework he'd forgotten to do, but, seeing Maka lying asleep next to him, he decided he didn't care. He rolled back over onto his side and put an arm around his partner, holding her close.

She hadn't woken up to any more nightmares the previous night, for which he supposed he was thankful. Even in sleep, she'd clung to him for dear life, whimpering if he so much as tried to scoot away. Of course, he was strong enough to get out of bed anyway, but her quiet whines broke his heart. He stayed, holding her tightly against him.

It was a good hour and a half later when she finally woke up, a little after nine in the morning. She looked at Soul.

"How long have you been up…?"

He shrugged. "Not long. Maybe an hour…or so."

Maka sat up. "You could've left if you wanted to; you didn't have to wait for me."

Soul chuckled. He virtually forgot about the events of the past couple of days, then as his sleepiness cleared up, he remembered all that and Maka's request to have everything be normal.

"So." He swung into a sitting position, "When's breakfast?" He flashed her a toothy smile. Maka smiled.

"Give me a few minutes."

As it turns out, breakfast—a simple dish of pancakes and bacon—was fairly normal. The silence that accompanied it, however, was not.

Neither could think of anything to say. Normally, breakfast was accompanied by somewhat upbeat conversation, but this morning, it was tensely silent. Soul searched for something to say, but his thoughts were all centered on getting this case solved.

How the hell would she have gotten drugged in the first place? he thought. There were cops stationed at that party.

He leaned back, chewing a piece of bacon thoughtfully. He was waiting for the doctor to call back with any results from the tests, and he was getting antsy already. He knew these things took time, but how was he supposed to pass said time until then? Sighing, he looked over at Maka. She, too, seemed lost in thought. It was another one of those moments where he wished he could just read her mind.

So, since that was obviously impossible, he took the time to just stare at her instead.

It seemed like she had changed entirely within the past few days. She hadn't bothered to change out of her PJ's today, her hair was down and unbrushed, and her eyes were downcast; she wouldn't even look him in the eye. They had lost their sparkle, their fire, and she just seemed...down. She looked like she had completely lost all hope in the world.

Soul knew why that was. He got it. He didn't try to cheer her up, much as he desperately wanted to. Any time Maka was down, he had always helped her back up. But that had been in the past, when she had gotten upset over a bad grade, or Black*Star making fun of her. This...this was unlike anything they had ever faced before.

In the middle of Soul's thoughts, Maka leaped into a standing position, yanking at her hair.

"This isn't working!" she growled. Soul, a little shocked, could only stutter, "Wh-what isn't?"

"This!" she cried, throwing her arms out to the sides and accidentally knocking over the paper towel rack. "This...trying to seem normal! I can't stand it, I just want something to be normal for a little while! It's just not fair! I can't..."

She rambled on and on, yanking at her hair and stomping around the house. Finally, Soul stood up and took her gingerly by the arm.

"Maka!" he cried, interrupting her rant. "Maka, listen, I know your life is all fucked up right now, I understand-"

"No you don't!" she yelled, yanking her arm out of his grip. "You don't understand, Soul! And I hope you never do!"

"That's not what I meant," Soul said gently, trying to stay calm. She stood facing him, back straight, shoulders tense. Very carefully, he put his hands on her shoulders again and looked in her eyes. "You're right," he said, "I don't understand. I don't know exactly what you went through, but my entire goal right now is to find out and keep it from happening again. Listen to me, Maka, you're acting like this entire situation is totally hopeless."

"And what if it is?" she asked, voice quavering, though she wasn't yelling anymore. "What if they never find him?"

"Not gonna happen," Soul said firmly. "They're gonna find him. And if they don't, I will."

"How could you?"

"Maka. Who's the one who took you in, four, five years ago? Remember, your parents had just gotten divorced and you didn't want to live with your dad, so I let you come live with me in this apartment. Who's the one who's protected your with his own life over the years? Who's the one who found you and got help when this clusterfuck started?"

Maka wet her lips and gulped. "You," she answered almost imperceptibly. Soul nodded.

"Yeah. Me. And you can't forget that all the others have helped out, too. Maka, we've taken care of you and helped you out for almost five years. I am willing to give my life for you. What makes you think we can't catch the bastard who did this to you?" Taking a deep breath and looking into her eyes, into her soul, he murmured, "Maka...I swear to you on my own gravestone, I don't care what it costs me or how long it takes, I am going to find this guy and bring him to justice, and as long as I live and breathe, I will never let anything like this happen to you again. I swear."

It was silent for a few minutes. Soul felt tears welling up in his eyes with the intensity of his promise, but wouldn't let them fall. He watched Maka, who, after a few seconds of staring at him wide-eyed, threw her arms around his neck and cried into his chest with body-wracking sobs. Soul sighed and kissed her head. He didn't say anything; he didn't need to. He knew that he had gotten through to her, so he just stood there and held her tight.

He wandered through the shadows, hands in his pockets. His footsteps clopped through the dark, dank alleyway. As he tromped past the apartment complexes, he tightened his fists in his coat pockets. He stopped just in front of a streetlight and looked around. Nobody else was around. Of course they weren't. It was the dead of night. He checked his wristwatch. Approximately one in the morning.

He looked up at the second-highest apartment building. He knew she was asleep in there right now, the poor little thing.

She had told. He had told her not to, told her it was useless; they'd never suspect him. But she had told. And she had gotten all of her little friends involved, all the way from her high-and-mighty Shinigami boyfriend down to the street-rat Sisters and that little Star Clan scum. She was going to get him caught if he didn't stop her.

She was probably lined with protection right now. He'd have to wait until she was vulnerable.

Then he would teach that little bitch to keep her mouth shut.

A/N: Well, well. Little POV from the rapist we're hunting down, it looks like, mmm? Tune in to the next chapter to see how school is going. Will Maka get her temporary illusion of "normal"? Stay tuned!