Eventide
Chapter XIII
Soul was gone when I woke up. He wasn't lying beside me and he wasn't inside of the bathroom. His jacket and shoes were gone and on my nightstand laid a note for me.
I'm sorry. Liz called and I had to return to the barn. Eat a large breakfast, I will come and get you as soon as the problem is solved.
Soul OXOX
I took Soul's advice to heart. I made pancakes, sandwiches and two glasses of juice. I shoved all the food into my mouth and I ate it all happily. That was until my father came inside of the kitchen.
"Stupid girl." He mutters while he walks up to the cabinet.
"I have already prepared your hangover drink. It's beside the sink." I say while I eat the last bite of my large breakfast.
He sneers and slaps the glass. The liquid runs down the sink. "You might have poisoned it. You killed Kami, you are trying to kill me now." Spirit starts making his own hangover drink.
I sigh and collect my plates and silverware before I put them into the sink.
"Dad―"
"I'm not your father." He quickly says while he stirs a spoon in his glass. "I'm not a father to a monster.
A powerful pang makes my heart clench with pain. I should be used to his treatment toward me, but I still am not. How can a daughter get used to her father constantly verbally abusing them? I sure can't. I just wished he could be sober and listen to me and not go outside during night. He can say mean things about me and ignore me all he wants, I just don't want to lose my father to the Kishins too. I have already a large burden on my shoulders, I don't need another one.
"I know you think I'm a monster. I'm just trying to protect you. You don't know what comes out during the night. You can get stabbed by a thief or―"
"Or what?!" My father snaps toward me, his red hair caressing his neck. "Animals will attack me and tear me apart just like Kami was?! I know you had something to do with it and I'm not going to allow you to kill me like her!"
There is no use trying to talk some sense into him. He won't ever believe me, not without proof. Even if I could show him the Kishins, he would be just as scared as I am, maybe even more. How to you protect yourself against something you can't see? He will be even more afraid than I am.
There is a roar of a motorcycle outside of the house. I look out of the window and I see Soul pulling up on the driveway.
"I have to go. Stay inside and slow down on the booze, okay?"
He snorts and takes a large gulp of his hangover remedy. He mutters inaudible while I walk out of the house and locks the door behind me. I see Soul smirking at me while he takes out a helmet from the secret compartment.
"You ready for some training?" Soul asks, handing me the helmet.
"Yeah. As long as you don't put me into those shameful clothes." I put the helmet on and buckle the clips.
Soul chuckles as I climb on the bike. "We will just have to see about that." I wrap my arms tightly around his waist and Soul speed away toward the barn. It takes some time for us to get there, but I do not rush Soul. I enjoy touching him and holding him, especially when he is wearing such a thin shirt. I can feel every curve and every ripple of his muscles. Maybe I'm weird for feeling him up on the bike, but Soul doesn't seem to mind.
We arrive at the barn and Soul wraps his arm around my shoulders while we enter it. Kilik and Liz seem to be fighting about something and the others don't seem to stop them. Everyone is actually fighting and yelling at each other.
"Hey!" Soul exclaims and releases me from him. "What is going on―"
"She is going to get us all killed!" Liz exclaims.
"Yeah! Now they have come to town!" Patty yells.
"Listen to yourselves! What do you want us to do?! She is a Grigori! What do you expect us to do? Throw her to the gutter?!" Kilik yells, he and Black*Star seems to be the only ones protecting me.
"Shut up!" Soul hollers and both sides of the argument silence. "What is wrong with you? Since when do you abandon a fellow Meister?!" Soul yells, his eyes filled with passion and anger. "Since when did my group grow into backstabbing cowards who would rather abandon a Meister than fight for them?" Soul turns on his heel and grabs my hand, tugging me toward the group. "The Meisters in my group aren't backstabbing cowards. If you aren't going to step up for Maka, then you can leave the group. There is no place for Meisters who won't cover for their teammates here."
Quickly Black*Star and Tsubaki step forward. "I'm staying. I'm here to protect Maka." Tsubaki says.
"Count me in, no one will touch our Grigori girl." Black*Star smirks while he wraps his arm around Tsubaki.
"I'm not going to leave the group. Maka is a fellow teammate who needs us." Kilik says and steps forward to stand beside Black*Star.
Harver steps forward with his hands in his pockets. "I don't know you, but you seem alright of a chick. We protect our own."
"I can't do this!" Liz exclaims. "I can't stand up for her when she is putting us all in this kind of danger." Liz grabs Patty's hand. "Come on Patty, we are leaving." Liz tugs at Patty's hand. Patty's hair kisses her jaw while she looks guiltily back toward me while Liz drags her away.
"I'm sorry everyone." She apologizes when they leave the barn.
"I can't do this either." Jaqueline says. I hadn't expected her to stay here. "I'm out." Jaqueline says, running out of the barn to hopefully catch up with the others.
Only Chrona and Kid are the ones left.
Kid sighs and crosses his arms over his chest. "I don't have anything against you. You are a nice person and I guess that is enough a reason for me to stay here." Kid smiles toward us.
"I-I'm staying too." Chrona says and looks kind of nervous. "I would rather stay here than abandon my group. We stand up for each other, right?"
Soul nods and pulls me close to me. "Okay. Then we know who are with us. Kid, who exactly how many Meisters are heading toward us and which groups?"
"Only one group." Kid says and I see him shuddering. "It is the Star*Clan."
Soul's eyes widen and he curses loudly. "Oh man, this is bad." Soul runs his hand through his hair, releasing me from his grip. "Black*Star, you know them the most, tell me about their usual pattern of moments and strategies? How can we escape them without any confrontations?" Soul storms up to a wall and quickly rolls up a dusty white curtain and grabs a white chalk.
"They are plenty of people. They would outnumber us with half their men. The Star*Clan are definitely after Maka. They won't leave the town if there isn't a reason for them to leave. The only reason to get them to leave is if they feel Maka's Grigori wavelength outside of the town, moving away." Black*Star rambles and the chalk in Soul's hands writes every single detail down. He doesn't stop for a single moment, he writes as fast as he can, he doesn't let the shriek of the chalk stop him.
"Fuck!" Soul curses and runs his hand through his hair. "Is that the only way? What will they do if they if we don't use Maka as a bait?"
Black*Star crosses his arms over his chest. "I think you already know. They will stay and keep searching for her until they come across her. They will use the Kishins in order to find them and they draw to her like flies to a lamp. The Meister will have a hard time finding her, but not the Kishins I give Maka a week tops if she hides."
"Wait!" I exclaim. This can't go on. "By protecting me you put your lives in danger, I can't let you do that."
Soul puts down the chalk and turns toward me, his hands in his pockets. "Of course we will put our lives on the line. You are a part of this group and everybody who is standing here at the moment will do everything they can in order to protect you."
I shake my head, feeling tears prickling my eyes. "No. You shouldn't protect me. I'm not worth protecting and laying down your lives for me. I'm not that special, no one would even notice I was gone if I was pushed off the face of the earth." The tears spill from my eyes and I look away from them. "Please, don't protect me."
"No." Tsubaki says. "We would notice if you were gone. I would miss you a lot, and I would mourn you. I don't want to lose my best friend." Tsubaki walks up to me and grabs my hands. "I know you would do the same for me. We all would miss you Maka and I know you are the key to prevent all Kishin attacks. You are the person who can stop all of the Kishins."
"She is right." Black*Star says and smirks from behind Tsubaki. "We would miss you and you are our hope for a better future."
"You know I would do more than miss you." Soul says and walks toward me. "You know I would be crushed and I wouldn't forget you easily. You would be on my mind every day and every second of it. I would be more than happy to do everything in my power in order to keep you safe."
Tsubaki releases my hands and steps aside so Soul can stand in front of me. "You have friends and a life. I only have my father and he hates me. He would be crying tears of joy than of sorrow. It would be much better if I disappeared―"
"No." Soul says and grabs my hands. "You know that is a lie. We need you and I need you more than anyone in my life―"
"Thanks Soul!" Kilik says, chuckling.
Soul rolls his eyes. "You know what I mean." Soul gives my hands a squeeze. "Seriously Maka, we Meisters are your family and family stand up for each other."
I sigh and shake my head, tears trickling down my cheeks. "You have no idea…" I sniffle. "Just how lonely I have been and how much I have ever wanted someone I could lean on." I body slam into Soul and wrap my arms around his neck, burying my face into his shirt. "You are so stupid for making me cry like this! You are so stupid for putting your lives in danger because of me! I should be upset and hate you but I can't!" I cry and Soul wraps his arms around me, hugging me gingerly.
"You know you can't hate me or Tsubaki or anybody else. You have too kind of a heart to ever be able to feel hatred." Soul whispers and kisses my head. "The rest of you can continue training, I will come up with a plan of attack to take care of the Star*Clan."
"Right!" Black*Star says and the rest of the group scatters but Soul stays here holding me delicately, like I'm his favorite doll and he is afraid of breaking me.
"What was that about?" I ask, sniffles into his chest. "The Star*Clan and Black*Star? What do they have in common and why is everybody so afraid of them?"
"Black*Star used to be with them until he knew what their real motive was, he left them soon after that and I found him. That is when we made this group. The Star*Clan aren't like other Meisters, all they think of is money. They want to make a profit out of the Kishins to use them as a weapon for the military. Their goal is to be able to manipulate Kishins so they can be controlled, then the armies would pay billions for them and the Star*Clan would make large amounts of money." Soul rocks me in his arms gentle. "The Star*Clan is fearful because they have never lost a battle. They have the fearful Star family on their side, they are a group of assassins that kill people and Kishins for fun. When the Star*Clan wants someone, they send out the Star family to retrieve them and everyone in the way, will die."
I gasp, my bones start to shake and images of Soul and everybody else lying dead on the ground pops up into my head. "If they are that dangerous, then you need to leave and hand me over. I don't want you to―"
"No. We have already gone through this." Soul says and hugs me tighter into his arms. "I won't abandon you and we won't fight them. We will lead them out of the city that is all we will do with them, you know, give them a false track out of the city."
"Are you sure it will work?"
Soul chuckles and nods. "Of course, but for the plan to work, you can't go into your spiritual form at all until then. Your soul is more closed than ours, it is hard to feel you are a Grigori by being around you. The plan will be executed tomorrow."