{[( Okay, well, now that I'm back in a writing mood, I think it's about time I wrote another chapter for you guys. Hope it lives up to your expectations, and I'm sorry for the wait.)]}

Maka woke up early in the morning, smiling brightly as the sun outside her window. Sitting up and stretching, she couldn't help but wonder what it was that was making her feel so happy. Was it just that she got a good night's sleep? Or maybe because she finally was enjoying her vacation? Of course not, and she knew the true answer.

Kid hadn't slept, worrying too much about the tainted soul they had picked up on the previous day. "Dammit, there's nothing that could help us find him anywhere." He said, searching the internet for leads. He heard a knock at the door. "Come in."

Maka opened the door slowly, wearing the same outfit she did the day before, washed of course. "Good morning, Kid." She said smiling.

He nodded. "Good morning to you too, Maka." He then continued to type.

Maka walked over to him and leaned on him a bit, looking over his shoulder. "What are you doing?" She asked, curiously.

He continued to type in things to help search for the soul, but still had no luck. "Damn, there's nothing I can find out about this soul. Not even father was aware of there being one here."

Maka smiled. "Kid, you must have been up all night looking at this stuff. You should relax." She said. "Oh no, I just sounded like Soul there, didn't I?..." She thought.

He sighed. "You're right, Maka. If I keep this up, I'll be in no shape to fight the person in question when the time comes." He closed the laptop he was using and stood up. "Well, Maka. I'd say it's about time we both ate, wouldn't you agree?"

Maka blushed and nodded, smiling. Kid returned the smile and Maka felt her blush grow more noticeable.

Kid walked over to his white coat, he had only worn a few times before and put it on. "So, shall we be on our way?" He said, holding the door.

Maka nodded and walked out. "What should I say? I've never had feelings like this for a boy before. Oh… what do I do?" She asked herself. "Come on, Maka, Kid is your friend. You've known him for a long time. Just talk to him like you normally would." She smiled and turned to Kid as they walked. "Hey, Kid?"

He looked over to her. "Yes, what is it, Maka?"

She smiled, but nothing came out of her mouth. "Okay, Maka, you've got his attention, now just say something." She thought, still silent. "Just say words." Kid was starting to look concerned. "Any words will do." She stayed silent. "Oh my gosh, this is the longest that anyone has not talked EVER!" Kid stopped walking, as did Maka. "There is nothing you could say that could make this more awkward, so just say something!"

Kid put his hand on Maka's shoulder. "Maka, are you-"

Maka sputtered out the first thing she could think of. "Sometimes, in my dreams, I'm riding that pop-tart cat thing and we fly around saving distant planets." Kid looked confused, but then turned and continued walking. She sighed. "Yeah, you really shouldn't have said anything…" She thought to herself.

The two of them walked to the cafe they were near and sat down across from each other.

Kid noticed Maka looked bothered by something. "Maka, what's wrong?"

She looked at him. "Huh? Oh, it's nothing, Kid. Don't worry about it." She said, before picking up a menu and staring at it.

Kid sighed. "Maka, whatever it is, you can tell me. I will always be willing to help any way I can."

She smiled. "Thanks, Kid. I needed to hear that." She said as she picked up a cup next to her. "Wait, I never ordered anything."

Kid nodded. "I took the liberty of ordering for you. I took note of your tastes some time ago." He said, taking a sip of his own drink.

"Did you hear about what happened?" A man said, gaining Kid's attention.

"Yeah, they said that Leo just ran off in a fit and no one's seen him since." Another man said.

"Man, that's another one to add to the list. This missing children thing is getting pretty bad now."

Kid put down his drink. "Maka, excuse me. I'll be right back."

She nodded and pulled out her phone. "How to get a guy to like you." She typed before deleting it. "I'm not that desperate, am I?" She sighed. "Come on, Maka. What's gotten into you?" Suddenly, her phone began to vibrate. "Soul?... Of course, he'll know what to do!"

-At the DWMA-

"C'mon, Maka, pick up." Soul said, impatiently until he heard a click. "Hello? Maka? You there?"

Maka nodded. "Yeah, Soul, I'm here. What's going on?"

Soul sighed. "It's pretty important… I may have locked myself out of our dorm." He heard a slap-like sound. "Maka, what was that? Did somebody hit you?"

Maka replied, somewhat monotone. "That was my hand hitting my face. How could you lock yourself out?"

Soul scratched the back of head. "It's kind of a long story. Anyway, I need to know where you keep the spare key."

Maka sighed. "It won't be there. I took it with me, since I'd need it for when I came back."

Soul groaned. "Dammit!"

Maka then heard a sound in the background. "What was that?" She asked, concerned.

"Uh… nothing. Don't worry about it, Maka, I found a way in." Soul said, losing his cool a bit.

Maka then heard someone talking in the background. "Hey, Soul, it took a while, but I finally busted in!" She tensed up. "Busted in? Did Black Star just break a window so you could get in?" She asked, annoyed.

Soul was quiet for a moment. "Uh, no. Why would we do something like that?" He then turned away from his phone. "You dingbat, you weren't supposed to do that while I was on the phone."

Maka groaned. "I heard that."

Soul panicked and hung up the phone, which then reminded Maka that she was going to ask Soul something. "Wait, Soul, don't…" She sighed and placed the phone back on the table.

Kid walked over to the two men he had overheard earlier. "Excuse me, but did you say something about missing children?" The two men nodded. "Can you tell me what you know about these incidents?"

One of the men nodded. "Yeah, it started a few months back. Some kid was mouthing off to his parents and then ran off. When he didn't come back, they went out looking for him, but he was nowhere to be found." Kid nodded. "From what I hear, upwards of 30 kids have disappeared somehow without a trace."

"Where?" He asked. "Where are these children going missing the most?"

The other man answered. "Somewhere in the north-east part of town. I wouldn't be going up there though, kid. Wouldn't want you and your girlfriend over there to go missing like the rest of them."

Kid nodded and returned to the table. "Maka, I hate to cut this breakfast short, but we've got a lead on the soul."

Maka's eyes widened, realizing how important this was. She nodded and shook off her current thoughts. "Let's go, then."

The two walked out of the cafe and took off on Beelzebub, Maka holding onto him even tighter than the previous time.

In, what seemed like, no time at all they arrived in the north-east part of the city.

"This is where those two said to go." Kid said, landing the board.

Maka hopped off and looked around curiously. "I don't sense anything near this area. Are you sure they weren't just misleading us?"

Kid shook his head. "No. They said it was in this area. We'll just have to wait until night time comes. After all, the children seem to only disappear at night."

Maka nodded and looked around for a place they could wait. "We're probably going to be here for a while… should I tell him now?" She asked herself. "Dang it, why am I thinking about this so much?"

Kid set up somewhere for Maka and himself to wait while she went off to go investigate the area. He seemed to be completely focused on the task at hand, while she was annoyed with not being able to do the same.

Maka stopped, in the middle of an empty street and clutched her head. "Maka, snap out of this! I just need something to ease my mind about it… I know!"

"Hello?" Said Liz on the recieving end of a phone call.

"Who is it?" Asked Patty.

"Hey, Liz. It's Maka… could I talk to you about something?"

Liz nodded. "Sure, but why me?"

"Who is it?" Asked Patty, again.

"Because… it's… sort of a secret, I guess." She said, uncertain of how to say it.

"Who is it?" Asked Patty, one more time.

Liz sighed. "It's Maka. Sorry, what do you need help with that's so secret?"

Maka blushed. "Well, it's sort of… uh... "

Liz smiled. "I know that tone. You met someone over there didn't you?

She looked behind herself, making sure no one was listening to her conversation. "I guess you could say it's something like that…"

Liz nodded. "Alright, well tell me about him? What's he like?"

Maka scratched the back of her head. "He's uh… he has black hair… well not entirely black… and he also is very respectful. He's kind of OCD. He also dresses pretty nicely usually."

Liz raised an eyebrow. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you were talking about Kid."

Maka went silent, not knowing how to respond.

"Maka… it is Kid, isn't it?" Liz asked.

Maka nodded slowly. "Y-yeah. It is…"

Liz nodded. "I see. Well, now I know why you called me instead of Soul. Don't sweat it, Maka. Kid's a nice guy. I don't really see why you like him or anything, but I guess you two might be kind of cute together."

Maka smiled. "Thank you, Liz. I actually feel a lot better now that I told you."

"Wait, I'm not the first person you told, am I?" Liz asked, sounding somewhat surprised.

Maka nodded. "Yeah. Why? I-is that bad?"

Liz shook her head. "No, not at all. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone about this."

Maka smiled. "Thanks again. Alright, I guess I should get going. Kid and I are… I actually shouldn't say."

Liz giggled. "Maka, I didn't think you were that kind of girl."

Maka blushed. "That's not what I meant! We just are… I can't tell you. I've got to go." She hung up and sighed. "Well, I do feel better. I guess I just needed someone to know." She walked off and actually began to focus on the mission.

Several hours later, the night fell over them and Maka met up with Kid once again. It took some time, but Maka did finally manage to find someone that confirmed that children had gone missing from the area.

"Kid, I'm actually feeling sort of frightened. What if you can't use me as your weapon?" She asked.

Kid looked at her, completely sure of what he was about to say. "Then we'll have to fight this one as we are now. I would say we can handle it."

Kid's response earned a smile from Maka. "He believes in me… Alright, then. I'll be sure to not let him down." She closed her eyes and concentrated. "Come on, Maka. Kid is counting on you. You can do this." She opened her eyes wide, maintaining full focus.

Meanwhile, back at the DWMA, Black Star, along with Tsubaki, Soul, Liz, and Patty, were called to Lord Death's room, along with Stein.

"What's the deal with calling us all here? Are we getting our vacation now?" Soul asked, confused.

"Actually, it's about Kid and Maka's vacation. It turns out that we may have accidentally sent them off to an unsafe area." Said Lord Death.

"What? Wait, what do you mean unsafe?" Soul asked, concerned.

"It appears that there is a very dangerous soul located near them. Even worse, it seems that they have decided to take on this threat themselves." Said Stein, adjusting his glasses.

Kid and Maka headed into the tree-filled area nearby, Maka tracking the soul.

Kid followed closely, looking around for any unexpected threats.

"Wait, why would they do something like that without their weapons?" Liz asked.

Death sighed. "It would seem that Maka wishes to know how to fight on her own, without the need for a weapon partner."

Stein added to this statement. "But as Maka, herself, is also a weapon she wanted to learn what it would be like at the same time as being Soul's meister. She truly has high aspirations."

Soul seemed a bit confused, but still wanted more information. "This dangerous thing. What is it?"

Maka ran up to a path in the woods and took a quick look around and continued the direction she had to.

"It's a being that has been there for centuries. Though, we thought it had left that place some time ago." Stein said.

Death nodded. "It's been somewhat of a myth for a long time, and only one meister has been able to locate it."

Soul nodded. "And who's that?"

"It was Stein." Maka's father said, stepping into the room. "Stein and I were sent there on assignment. As I remember, it's the only one that got away from us."

Tsubaki appeared to be surprised. "It got away from you, Professor Stein?"

Stein nodded. "One of very few failures, I admit it. And that's why we called you all. We will be joining Kid and Maka in order to once and for all claim this tainted soul. We cannot allow it to become a kishin."

Maka stopped. "What the… but the soul should be right here. But all there is here are a bunch of trees."

Kid looked carefully at their surroundings before his eyes found something. "Maka, I don't think that is a tree."

A tall and slim figure approached them, dressed in a dark suit and tie.

Maka backed up, intimidated by it's appearance. "Kid, what is that thing?"

Kid stood firm. "This is the soul we've been looking for."

The figure stepped out of the shadows and into the moonlight.

"So, do you mind telling us what exactly it is that we're going after?" Soul asked, impatiently.

Death replied. "Oh, I'm sure you've heard of him. He's actually become quite the urban legend."

Stein propped up his glasses. "The one we will be hunting… is the Slenderman."

Maka stared up at the tall, faceless, being that stood before her. "This… this can't be what I think it is."

Kid growled. "Oh, it is alright. Maka… we may have gotten ourselves in too deep on this one."

To Be Continued...