Eventide

Chapter VII

Soul did as he promised. As soon as I exit my classroom, I catch a glimpse of his white hair and his smirk. I can't help but giving him a tiny smile as I walk up to him.

"How was class?" Soul asks, moving aside from my locker.

"Good I guess, I got more homework." I say while I concentrate on unlocking my locker. It slides open and I pull out my homework and stuff them into my bag before I grab my jacket, putting it on.

Soul chuckles, closing the locker for me. "You are the only student who will have them finished on time. You have and will always be a very special person." Soul's arm wraps around my shoulders, pulling me close to his side while he leads me away from my locker.

"I got to. Our senior year is coming to an end and I don't know about you, but I want to get into college. I got to work hard to get into my first choice and take the courses I want to take." It feels so good being in Soul's arms, but I can't risk getting him close to me again. I grab his hand and removes it from my shoulders.

"You are such a nerd. A very cute nerd." Soul opens the door to the exit of Shibusen High and leads me down the stairs to his bike. "My favorite nerd of all of them." We find his motorcycle and he hands me his helmet. I put it on without asking anything. He revives the bike and I get on it, holding onto my seat instead of holding onto Soul. He drives away and it proves harder to hold onto the seat since I notice he is breaking more agressive so I would press against his chest and he turns rougher so I would automatically cling onto him, but I won't let him get that pleasure.

Fifteen minutes later, Soul pulls into an abandon road, it doesn't even look like a road. It looks more like grass that has been stomped down repeatedly. He follows no track at all as he keeps driving. After driving a curvy nonexistent road, a red barn comes into view along with other cars parked outside of the barn.

Soul stops the bike in front of the barn and kills the engine.

I try to get off the helmet but the clip has tangled into my hair.

"Let me help you with that." Soul turns around on his bike, facing me while he helps me get the helmet off of my head. His face is so near me and his eyes are focused on the clips. Gently he manages to work my hair out of it and successfully get the helmet off of my head. "There." He says while he puts away the helmet on the bike. He gets off the bike and I follow him suit. "This is our training ground. We train here every afternoon and prepare ourselves for the night."

We slowly walk toward the very large barn which could use a new layer of paint. "So is this where you always escape to?"

Soul nods. "Yeah, this is our place as Meisters to be who we are, where we don't have to think about our words or hold back our powers. This is sort of our sanctuary. Since we are fighting Kishins in teams, we need to always be comparable with all of the Meisters. You never know who we have to team up with."

Soul opens the door to the barn and I'm met with an image I never thought I would see with my own eyes. I see all of the Meisters in Soul's gang are gathered there, including Tsubaki and Wes and some other characters that I don't recognize.

"Maka!" I flinch when I hear the blue-haired idiot scream my name. "So you are finally with us, huh?" He runs up to me with his shirt gone. What is the deal with Meisters and shirts? Don't they know they are supposed to wear them instead of them lying on the ground and collecting dust? "And by the way," I didn't expect it. His fist connects with my jaw and my head snaps toward the side. Did he just punch me? "That's for hurting Tsubaki!"

"BLACK*STAR!" Soul exclaims and pushes him away from me. "You can't go and fucking punch her! She was under the influence of the madness! What do you expect her to do?!"

"Chill man. She is a Meisters. Meisters can take pain." Black*Star defends by holding up his hands in submission.

It is obvious Soul is the alpha since Black*Star becomes the underdog when Soul went up against him. "She is just as any other human. She doesn't know how to deal with pain or shot her Soul Wavelength. She can't do any Meister stuff except see Kishins." Soul grabs ahold of his neck and brings him closer to him, baring his teeth threateningly like a wolf. "Now apologize to her." He pushes Black*Star roughly toward me and he almost trips over his feet from the force.

"Fine, fine man. You need to chill." Black*Star rubs his neck. So Soul did hold his neck hard. "I'm sorry, okay, you just hurt Tsubaki and I hate seeing her cry."

"Black*Star." Tsubaki walks from her seat at the end of the barn and walks over to him. "It is alright. Maka was hurt and upset and I was a terrible friend to her. I deserved the treatment I got and she had madness in her body. She didn't mean to act like that around me." Tsubaki explains and that is the first time I hear her voice since our fight. The day after Soul and I broke up.

"I will go and change my clothes. Maka, I think you and Tsubaki have some things to sort out." Soul walks away after he pats my shoulder reassuringly.

Tsubaki slowly moves toward me while Soul grabs a hold of Black*Star and drags him away, Black*Star shouting loudly disagreements and how Tsubaki needs him. I giggle a little at the view of Soul dragging him away before Tsubaki cuts me off. "Can you forgive me Maka? I should have considered your feelings more than accuse you like that."

I smile toward Tsubaki and I nod. "I forgive you. I was stupid for holding you against it like that. You have your right to express your own thoughts and feelings and you do know Soul more than I do and you two have been friends much longer than he and I. I should have respected your own thoughts instead of blowing up like that. Can you please forgive me?"

She smiles wide and pulls me into a hug which I return immediately. "Of course I do. But are you okay with me talking about Soul's past with relationship? There is something I want to tell you."

I pull away and blink with confusion. "Okay, I guess. What is it?"

Tsubaki grabs my hand. "We will talk outside." She drags me outside of the barn and closes the doors behind us. "I still think Soul didn't cheat on you, he had always made sure to break up with his girlfriends before he moved on to a new one. He hates cheaters and he wouldn't become what he hates."

I sigh loudly. Here we go again. "I still think he cheated Tsubaki. He confessed to me that he did cheat and you know Jaqueline likes him. He just can't be in a relationship. He isn't a relationship sticker."

"I agree to a certain degree. Soul isn't a sticker when it comes to relationships, but he isn't a cheater. I don't know why he would say he cheated, but I know he wouldn't cheat on you. He has been avoiding Jaqueline as well as he can and he always talks about you around here. He constantly looks at his phone just hoping that you would call or text him. I know he doesn't show it, but he is sad." Tsubaki grabs my shoulders. "Whatever happens, I think you need to talk to Soul about your relationship. You need to talk about Jaqueline and where you both stand and want."

I sigh and look away from Tsubaki. "I'm fine without him. I don't want to go back to him because I don't know him. He is almost like a stranger to me and I want someone who can actually talk to me about himself and doesn't have to be on their toes around me. I never loved him or anything. I really liked him but I never was attached to him. I'm better off without him and searching for someone that is a person and not a wall."

"I see you have already made up our mind." Tsubaki says and releases my shoulders. "Just keep an open mind, okay? You never know what will happen in this world."

"Tsubaki." She is about to walk away when I grab her wrist. "Can you see them? The Kishins?"

Tsubaki nods. "Yeah, but I'm not a Meister like Black*Star or Soul, I'm not a fighter. I'm the medic in our group. It is my job to insert my Soul Wavelength into those who have been infected and get the injured either off the battlefield or heal them at the place."

So there are other types of Meisters as well, there isn't just fighting Meisters. "Is there other types of Meisters than fighting Meisters and medic Meisters?"

Tsubaki's face brightens up. "I'm glad you asked." She releases my hand and holds both of hers in front of herself. "Every Meister is grouped after the Meister's own Soul wavelength. The fighting Meisters have a stronger purifying wavelength and field medics like I have a weaker purifying wavelength, but they do have a healing wavelength." Tsuabki's hands then start to glow a faint blue color. "See, this is what a healing wavelength looks like. As soon as I put my hands over a wound, they slowly start healing and closing up." The faint blue glow disappears from her hands and she lowers them. "Then there are the doctor Meisters. Those are the ones who have the strongest healing wavelength. They are the ones that take care of the critical wounds since their wavelength can heal wounds much faster than medic Meisters, although, they don't have a Soul Force. They can't purify other meisters or kill Kishins. Do you understand?"

I nod slowly. "Yeah, I think I understand. So there are three types of Meisters, medic, doctor and fighter."

Tsubaki nods with a bright smile on her face. "Yes, exactly, as soon as you have managed to draw out your Soul Wavelength then we will know which category you will fall under."

My mouth feels bitter. Being a Meister is not what I want in life, I just want to get the Kishin away and move on. I don't want to be some kind of warrior or medic in a battle against the Kishins. "Tsubaki, I―"

The door to the barn cuts me off and out walks Soul in a pair of shorts and, of course, no shirt. They really can't wear a shirt. "There you are. We are about to start training." Soul smirks wide. "What were you two talking about?"

"Nothing important really, I just explained to her the types of Meisters there is and it is her wavelength that determines which kind of Meister she is." Tsubaki smiles toward me, giving me a wink, a wink that means she will keep our conversation a secret.

I smile back to Tsubaki with appreciation in my eyes.

"Okay, then come on Maka. Hopefully we will manage to get to know which type of Meister you are today." Soul grabs my hand, entwines our fingers while he pulls me inside of the barn. Tsubaki smiles from behind as she crosses her arms over her chest. Oh I know exactly what she is thinking, she is pleased with Soul's action.

However, I'm not pleased.

I retrieve my hand from his hand and give us some more space, but Soul has other plans. He moves closer to me but he doesn't touch me. "We are going to be in a different room. We will need some peace and quiet." We walk straight through the training grounds.

A boy with black braids whose name is Kilik is in the boxing ring with a pair of gloves on, going up against a girl with short blond hair. She has a wicked smile on her face, she has cut her hair since I saw her. Before she had long hair like her sister, but now it is short. That is definitely Patty.

Patty's blond sister stands with her gun and shoots at the targets alongside Death the Kid. He has a very interesting fighting style since he holds two guns and shoots with his pinkie fingers. It must be very exhausting since the guns shoot back in his hands and pulling the triggers seems to be a very difficult thing to do.

The gym seems to be the part of the barn that is the most occupied. Harver is lifting himself up on a bar fast and his back is glistering with sweat, another male who doesn't know what a shirt is. Chrona is doing push-ups, and finally, a guy who knows how to wear a shirt. On the treadmill, Jaqueline keeps running and running, her hair is in a ponytail and she is wearing skimpy gym clothes, only short shorts and a sport bra, which her nipples are visible through.

She gives me a glare when Soul opens a door and holds it open to me. She isn't pleased at all, she is the one who won, she should be happy. She got Soul.

I walk inside of the room. It is soundproof since the walls are covered with fabric and as soon as Soul shuts the door, the sound of the weights and Kilik and Patty hitting each other, it is all just gone.

"You won't be disturbed in here." Soul walks up to the single bed inside of the room and takes a seat on it. "Don't worry, I won't do anything funny. This room usually is used for resting." Soul pats the space on the bed beside him. "Come here. It is more comfortable sitting down that standing up."

I would rather disobey him and stand on my spot, but reluctantly I take a seat beside him. "Close your eyes."

If I want to be able to kill the Kishin, I will need to learn how to do this Soul Force thing. First, I will have to cross my fingers and hope I'm not the doctor type of Meister. Slowly I close my eyes.

"Souls are almost like our hearts, they are an extra heart sort of, but they aren't physical hearts, they are our mental hearts. Our soul beat at the same time with our heart." Soul moves on the bed so he is facing me. His hand finds mine and he puts my hand over his. "The first thing I want you to do is feel your heartbeat. Tap the rhythm of it on my hand."

"That's it?"

"For now, that is what I want you to do."

It is quite distracting to have Soul's hand in mine. My heart speeds up and it makes it more difficult to follow the rhythm of it. At first, I tap my finger very erratic, but as I slowly breathe and really find the pace of my heart, it becomes easier to tap it against Soul's hand.

"Good, now comes the difficult part, I want you to find your soul's rhythm. You know it is in the same pace as your heart, but you really have to feel your own soul because there is a difference to those two beats. I want you to tell me what it is when you find your soul's wavelength."

"Can't you just tell me? It might be easier to find it then."

Soul chuckles and I can smell his spicy scent. He is much closer now. "No can do. All soul wavelengths are different so I can't really help you on that, but there is something that separates the soul from the heart and that is something you need to discover yourself."

With the help of the tapping against Soul's hand, I tried to feel something underneath the heartbeat, something new that I had to discover. My heart beat in my chest, pumping blood through my body. What am I supposed to feel? All I can feel is my flesh and blood, no soul or this wavelength that my soul is supposed to give off. All I can feel is my own heartbeat, nothing more. What am I even supposed to be looking for?

"Okay, you know what." Soul says and gently I open my eyes. He has definitely moved closer to me since our thighs are almost touching and his face is really close to mine. "If I'm going to get you home before dark falls, we have to leave soon." Soul leans closer to me. "But one last thing, this might help you find your soul's wavelength." I freeze. Soul's hand finds my cheek and his forehead rests on top of mine. "Relax." He whispers while he caresses my cheek with his thumb. "Close your eyes."

I don't have a clue what he is doing, but I close my eyes and force myself to calm down by talking deep breaths. That's when I felt it, soothing waves coming at me. It was like feeling the regular waves of water hit me, just that it didn't hit me physically. I felt it with my soul. It is located right in the middle of my chest, below my collarbones.

"Can you feel it? Can you feel my soul wavelength?" Soul murmurs and I feel his breath on my lips.

I shiver. "Yes. I can feel it."

"Good." Slowly the feeling of waves disappears, but instead something else comes; his lips. His hand wanders to my neck and pushes our lips closer to each other's. He kisses me eagerly, his other hand finds my waist and pulls me closer to him.

It is surreal. I should be used to kissing Soul, but not now when we aren't a couple. He keeps pulling me into kisses, touching me like we are an item, looking at me with those eyes of his with such mystery, proving that I know nothing about him. Things have changed, I admit that, I now know where he lives and he has a brother, but I still miss so much about him. Kissing him is like kissing a wall, just someone that I don't know. I can't be with him like this, he is a stranger who cheated on me. That kind of person isn't welcomed in my life.

I look away from him, breaking our lips apart. "You can't keep doing this. This is not fair to me."

"What do you mean?" He asks.

I don't dare to look at him. My lips are throbbing and I bet they are swollen as well. "This, what you are doing. It isn't fair to me." I pull Soul's hands from my cheek and hip and place them on his own legs. I scoot away from him in order to get some space between us. "You can't keep kissing me and touching me like this when you are the one who hurt me. You're hurting me by doing this and I don't deserve to be used like this."

"So you think I'm using you for my own personal pleasure?"

"That is what I don't know since I don't know you, but that is what it feels like." I get up from the bed. "Just, take me home, save your hands for yourself and don't kiss me again."

Soul sighs. "Okay. You can practice at home, just so you know, we will return at night and take care of the―"

That is when I meet his eyes. "No! You don't touch it! That monster killed my mother! I'm going to be the one to kill it. You don't dare touch it or I will never forgive you!"

Soul's eyes aren't wide, but they are larger than usual. "We don't even know if you have the wavelength to kill a Kishin."

"And you aren't going to touch it. If it proves that I don't have the wavelength, I'm still going to be there and if it disappears, you and everybody else are dead to me."