a collection of regrets

"Your month's almost up. Are you seriously thinking you're going to go back to Soul-senpai?"

Maka stopped. "Do you seriously think you're going to be his partner?"

"Why not? I'm smart. I'm pretty. I'm strong."

Maka turned around, glaring. It wasn't really like her to look so disdainfully on her fellow students. Even Black*Star, who had a knack for pushing her buttons, didn't earn her hatred. "You're barely even a one-star meister. What makes you think you can handle a Death Scythe?"

"I'm stronger than you."

The girl continued down the stairs, past Maka, and turned on the landing. "Even if Soul-senpai won't work with me, he has plenty of others to work with, Kid included. How many offers have you had?"

Maka stuck her chin up, looking down on her. "You're too scared to talk to Soul. You stalk us around school. If you really wanted to take Soul away from me, you would have been trying harder. Everyone else goes straight to him. Why are you approaching me about it?"

"Soul is labouring under some delusion of loyalty to you." Maka smirked at her. "Don't you dare give me that 'I know something that you don't' grin! You don't know anything!"

Maka laughed, walking down the steps. One at a time, she'll never know how scared you really are.

"You have no chance."

"Really? If that's how you feel, then why don't you fight me?"

"You know that's against school rules when no teachers are around. It would be unethical of me to fight a child. I'm not Black*Star."

"Chicken?"

"No. I just don't have the need to prove anything to you."

"Probably because you have nothing to prove."

Maka just kept walking, pretending like she couldn't hear the girl. The girl was not going to take that.

"We'll just see about that" she grumbled. She took one hand, placed it right behind Maka's back, and shot a burst of Soul Wavelength through her, sending Maka straight to the ground. Not exactly the desired effect, she thought, but I'll take it.

"What are you, nuts?"

"No. But I did study the way Black*Star fights. The only problem with him and Soul being partners is their incompatible Soul Wavelengths."

"And what makes you think that you're any better of a fit?"

The girl attempted to throw another Soul Wavelength at Maka, but it didn't work.

"You don't really have the talent for that kind of thing." Maka dusted herself off, turning back to the girl. "You might as well leave now. I'm not going to fight you."

"That's really too bad, because I'm going to fight you!"

Maka was mostly able to side-step the girl's attacks, unsure of what she was so nervous about before. A crowd started gathering around them, chanting for a fight. Maka looked around for a teacher to help her break up the fight, but in her moment of distraction, Maka received a kick to the face from the girl, landing on her knees. She wouldn't have felt so embarrassed – it wouldn't have been the first time she'd fallen down, nor would it be the last – if the girl hadn't come up, lifted her skirt, and commented, "oh, white undies? How unimpressive. And you have a porn star living under your roof, how are you so boring?" Maka attempted to kick her back, but the girl scooted back just in time. Maka fell flat on her chest, rattling her entire frame. "What the Hell could Soul-senpai seriously see in you? You're clumsy. You can't fight on your own. You're completely unattractive. You don't even have boobs!"

With a downward swipe, the girl's Soul Wavelength tore through Maka's jacket and shirt. The crowd became completely silent. Maka fell down again, hunched over, holding her chest and trying not to cry. The girl simply blinked, staying silent for a few moments before cackling wildly. "You bind your chest? Oh, this is too good! You enjoy this, don't you? You little masochistic freak!" She reached out to yank Maka's head upward, but was punched out of the way by a deafening blast.

Black Star stood, Tsubaki in hand, staring the girl down dangerously. "You will pay for this." Black Star dropped Tsubaki, who immediately ran to Maka's side. Black Star ran after the girl. Soul followed suite, bringing Sid and Stein along. "No, man" Black Star yelled. "Maka! I got the bitch, just go get Maka!"

Soul transformed his arm to his scythe blade and turned to face the crowd. "Get the fuck outta here, there's nothing to see." The people around them started stammering. Kim ran up, muttering some sort of spell to herself. Ox ran to Sid, explaining the situation. Sid ordered Ox and Kid to go get Spirit and Lord Death.

Maka couldn't pay attention to anything. She was just shaking and crying. Soul walked up to her, wrapping her up in his jacket and lifting her gingerly into his arms. "Go get Black*Star. We don't want him being arrested for murder." Tsubaki nodded. Kim ran up to Soul.

"I've erased that out of everyone's memories. I don't think it'll work on Maka, though," She bit her lip. Soul just nodded, walking in the direction of Maka's apartment.

X – X – X – X – X – X – X – X – X – X – X – X – X – X – X – X – X – X

Soul helped Maka apply the cream Nygus had sent over to Maka's wounds. Maka was blushing, refusing to look at him. He could read the devastated look on her face. He wanted to cry and scream for her. He wanted to destroy everything. He wanted to murder the girl who did this to her. But mostly, he wanted to hug Maka, to kiss her, and to tell her everything was going to be okay. But he knew that he couldn't. He had a feeling that any form of intimacy would just make things worse. She had, after all, just been beaten up and humiliated in close range, in front of everyone in school.

"You must be surprised. You must be wondering why."

"Hm?"

"You must be curious…as to why I bound myself."

Soul shrugged, smiling. "Not really. I'd been living with you for a few years before I had to go work with Kid. It's not like I didn't know you…had those."

She looked at him, a combination of shocked and angry. "So why did you keep making fun of me?"

"Because I knew you'd be mad if you thought I was treating you differently because of your size. It's like I said…It's not the size or the shape that matters." Maka blushed, remembering their first encounter with Blair. She felt bad. I still don't trust him as much as I should.

"Besides, it's not like I want anyone else knowing. You're my meister…I'll go along with whatever you want."

"Thanks."

Soul stood with his hands on Maka's shoulders. He looked at her intensely, hoping he could telepathically tell her how concerned he was, how upset he was, and everything else that he felt that he couldn't put into words. She sat up straighter, leaned in closer, staring at his lips. Soul felt strangely calm, leaning down toward her.

But, of course, Blair had to walk in right then. "Maka, you really shouldn't bind your chest, you could seriously hurt yours-" she paused, looking at the two. "Oh, uh, I'm –"

"No, it's okay Blair. I'm just. Uh." Soul kissed Maka's forehead awkwardly, blushing terribly on his way out.

"Nya! Blair does not like your attitude!"

Soul heard Maka's infamous battle cry ("Maka CHOP!") and the sound of a very heavy book (judging from the amount of noise it made upon impact and the depth of the noise, he was guessing that it was a copy of the Complete Works of William Shakespeare) hitting a hard, solid surface. He turned to lie on his stomach, clamping a pillow down over his head. He took in the scent of…was that strawberries? For a moment, Soul forgot that he actually now lived with Kid, and that he was lying in Maka's bed. He scrambled to get out, shaking slightly and scratching at his nose. He rubbed his hands together anxiously and tried to straighten out his jeans. He all but ran out of Maka's room and sprinted out the door of her apartment.

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Soul found it ridiculously easy to tune Kid out. Kid didn't notice the difference (according to Kid himself, "you have that stupid, lop-sided look on your face all the time! I can't even tell if you're paying attention right now, and it's so unsymmetrical!"). Soul didn't remember when Kid finally stopped lecturing him, and that was probably because Soul fell asleep while Kid was lecturing him.

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Soul awoke the next morning when Kid kicked his feet – which were somehow dangling above him – to the ground. Kid made a distinct tsking noise at him, and Soul glared in response. "Symmetry again?"

"I should be so lucky."

Whenever Soul and Maka argued about something, they actually argued about it. Kid, on the other hand, like to give the silent treatment, acting as though Soul weren't even there. Soul didn't really care. He had a massive headache and despite the copious amounts of sleep, was somehow still exhausted and…a bit depressed, though he didn't know why.

When they reached Shibusen, Kid embraced Liz warmly, exclaiming "Ah Liz…how I've missed you." Liz blushed.

"Wow. Okay. I uh, I miss you too, bud" she gave Kid an awkward punch on the arm.

Soul saw Maka running up to him, some object held up in her right hand. Despite the very firm statement in his mind of Oh, I must have dropped something at her place the other day, when Maka reached Soul, he reached out and grabbed her, pulling her into a warm and…affectionate hug.

Oh my God Soul, what are you doing? You have to let her go, she's going to get suspicious. Why are you hugging her? Let go of her!

Soul slowly let Maka wiggle out of his grasp, giggling all the while. "Here –" she put the hairband on his head, pushing back a few strands of hair in his eyes. Soul blushed at the touch, and then blushed even more out of the embarrassment of his blushing, and his whole face went red when Maka commented on it ("Gee Soul, why are you blushing? You've never had a problem with headbands before" – although he was sure that she knew that wasn't the problem). Still giggling, Maka grabbed a hold of Soul's arm and drug him – ignoring Kid's calls – to class.

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Medusa hummed discontentedly. "Amortentia" she called. The witch appeared by her side, still beautiful, still ornately dressed, still with a dour expression on her face.

"Yes, Medusa?"

Medusa glared up at her. "Your spell – it's not working quickly enough. Why isn't it working quickly? We need to destroy these two. If we get to him, we can get to her. That's all we need: him rendered useless. She won't know what to do without him."

Amortentia placed a hand on her hip. "I don't know what you expect me to do. I hit the kid with the spell. It is working on him, it's just slow."

"Yes" Medusa hissed. "I know that, what I want to know is why? Why is it working so slowly? It works quickly on normal humans, yes?"

"Maybe it has something to do with that Black Blood you infected him with."

"How do you know about that?"

"You have your secrets…I have mine."

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It had been a week since Soul had started living and working with Kid, but Soul could have sworn it had been several months already. He didn't know how he was supposed to stand this every day of his working life. To make things worse, his daily breaks from Kid were with Maka, of all people. There was nothing wrong with hanging out with Maka. They had always gotten on amicably when they were partners. It was no secret that the two were close, and despite the somewhat frequent spats, Soul would still give his life for her, no matter what.

But something had changed about the way that he felt when he was with Maka. At first, he attributed it to the fact that he no longer lived with her, so he no longer saw her as a workmate or suitemate, but just as a friend. Next, he thought that maybe he'd caught some kind of virus from a classmate, since his stomach always bottomed out and he felt sweaty and cold all at once, but nobody remembered having anything. He finally attempted to attribute it to the little demon in his soul, who he could constantly hear screaming "Fucking shit, goddamn sonovabitch! Doing this to me….dammit. It's blasphemy! I'll kill you for this, Soul. Damn! It burns!"

Then, the following Monday, he found himself talking to Maka outside of their lockers. He couldn't remember what they were talking about; he'd spent too much time panicking: she's so cute when she laughs. She looks so carefree and happy…I keep forgetting we have that stupid Kishin around. I don't remember her being this happy when we were partners. Why not? Oh, yeah, that's right. I'm kind of a jerk. Ugh, I miss living with her. She was quiet and not annoying and at least I knew she was there if I needed her and she wasn't going to freak out over every little thing…well, okay, she would, but not for the same reasons as Kid…and she smells like strawberries…wait…how do I know that she smells like strawberries? Oh, yeah, I slept…in her bed…shit…that sounds so bad…this all sounds so bad…did I really just say that I thought Maka is cute? Oh God –

"I have to go now" she chirped, launching herself onto Soul for a hug. Instead of feeling his stomach bottom out, he felt his heart blast through to his throat. He blushed and smiled involuntarily. The moment only lasted for about three seconds, but Soul felt like it was...some horrible cliche; a brand new day, maybe, or like he was seeing things differently. "I'll catch you later, Soul."

Soul's smile faded, and he touched the locker for support. Why am I feeling this way? Dammit, it's so annoying, and it's so not cool! I can't keep acting like this.

"Why not, Soul?" the little demon purred. "I suffer from this little disease, why shouldn't you?" the demon sounded bitter.

I don't know what you're talking about.

"Oh, like Hell. That witch put a spell on you."

Which witch? "Amortentia, the one you and that rich brat were following."

Yeah, so?

"So, she made you realize your true love."

Soul's thoughts stopped. She did what?

"You didn't hear the little spell resonating in your soul? I didn't pay attention to the whole thing and it's quieted down by now, but nonetheless…you will run into your true love, and your feelings will speed up. You'll be completely incapable of holding them in. Of course, it's a type of insanity."

What?!

"True love, it's a form of insanity. Foile a deux."

I'm not in love!

"Oh, like Hell you aren't. That's why you can't stand to be away from her, have horrible nightmares about what's happening to her when you're not around, the best part of your day is when you're with her –"

So I don't like being partnered with Kid, that hardly means I'm in love with Maka -

"Oh, you know it's more than that, Soul. You've felt the Black Blood acting up, as I have. That's why –the Black Blood, it doesn't mesh well with this stuff, and it throws your aura off -"

My what?!

"Your aura…it used to be black like your blood –"

My blood isn't completely black.

"Would you quit interrupting me?"

It's my head, I'll do what I like.

"Technically, it's your soul."

Would you just get on with it?

"Your aura used to be black. Now it's outlined by red. The true love, it's an insanity, just a different kind of insanity, sparked by something different."

How the Hell do I get rid of it?

"Don't you want to know what sets it off?"

No, not really, because then I'll just keep thinking about it. How the Hell do I get rid of it?

"First," the demon purred again, practically blowing air into Soul's ear, "You have to admit it, at least to yourself." Soul bit his lip. "Oh, go on, Soul. There's no one around, there's nothing to be afraid of."

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Maka had almost left Shibusen when she realized that she had completely forgotten to ask Soul if he wanted to hang out sometime over the weekend. She knew he would need to get away from Kid, and to be honest, she needed a break from the Thompson sisters. Black*Star and Tsubaki had already taken a mission, so they were out, and Kim had a date with Ox, made double by the inclusion of Jackie and Harvar (the latter seemed more excited than the former). She practically skipped back to their lockers, feeling light at heart. Soul and I are getting along better than usual, I wonder if our souls still resonate as well?

She stopped just short of their row of lockers, seeing Soul holding onto his own locker, head down, looking defeated and tired.

She started to call Soul's name, but was interrupted by Soul's own voice, talking to himself (or, she suspected, the demon within his Soul):

"Okay, I admit it. I'm…in love…with Maka."

Maka felt her face turn bright white. Legs felt too heavy to move, but she managed to move back a bit. She was blushing a bit, and didn't know what to think. Wait a minute, thinking? This isn't a moment for logic. A smile overcame her face. She felt…happy.

"But," Soul began again, "I can't ever tell her." Maka's expression fell. "She would never believe me…she'd think I was mocking her or something…or that it was part of the curse." She raised her brows. "The curse…shit…I have to let people know about that, before I do something really crazy." He sighed. "Great…now she really won't ever believe me…good thing I wasn't going to tell her anyway."

Maka managed to back off far enough so that she was no longer within hearing distance. She felt a rush of emotions…happy, upset, confused, concerned, ecstatic, worried, and determined all at once. She peeked around the corner, watching Soul readjust his headband. She smiled to herself, allowing her cheeks to go red. "He can tell me when he's ready."

 

Maka cocked her head at Soul. Soul pretended not to notice. He got that sick feeling again, the one he had last night where his mind went blank and all sound dulled and his pulse raced and he felt about to vomit, which was just weird.

"Soul? Why aren't you sitting next to Kid?"

"Why aren't you sitting next to the Thompson sisters?" he countered.

Maka grimaced. "Don't ask." Soul nodded.

Professor Stein walked in, cigarette between his lips. "Someone has stolen my rolly chair." Soul noticed Maka slouch in her seat, her bangs forming a shadow over her eyes. It was Soul's turn to gaze – no, look – at Maka with curiosity. "Unless you give yourselves up willingly –" his stare rested on Black*Star, who made a bring-it-on gesture "I will dissect you." When no one came forward (although Patty and Liz did some very unsubtle giggling), Stein began the lesson.

Soul didn't pay attention during class. He attempted to; the lesson was actually relatively interesting, not that Soul needed it. As a Death Scythe, the kind of thing Stein was explaining came naturally to him. Soul smiled on the inside, knowing that for once he wouldn't have to cheat to pass a test (Maka and Kid both kept insisting that if he just studied he wouldn't need to cheat to begin with). Instead, Soul found himself staring at Maka's hands as she took down notes on a lesson for which she, too, was already privy to the information. Soul watched her hands going back and forth, pausing occasionally to think of new abbreviations and drawing a diagram here and there. Watching her write was fascinating. He noticed that, now that she was working with guns, she no longer wore gloves. Her handwriting was so smooth and so legible that he wondered how strained her hands were by the end of a typical class. He got so wrapped up that he actually began reading her notes without realizing it, and was surprised to find that he actually understood what they meant.

Soul didn't realize that class had been dismissed until Maka was straightening up her notes. She reached out and touched Soul lightly on the shoulder. Soul whipped around, nearly falling out of his seat. "Are you okay, Soul?" She frowned at him. "You've been acting strangely all morning. Are you running a fever?" She pressed her hand softly to his forehead. "You're all flushed…" Soul indeed did feel flushed. In an unnatural move, he leaned forward. He'd never noticed before how soft her hands were. Maka's frown deepened. "Come on Soul, let's get you home."

"I moved Kid's paintings" he blurted.

"I know, he won't shut up about it." She smiled slyly. "Don't worry, by home, I meant our apartment."

Our apartment, our apartment…I miss our apartment…

"Maka, Soul, may I speak to you for a moment, please?"

Maka wrapped a hand around Soul's arm and pulled him down toward Marie and Professor Stein. "Yes?" she asked tentatively.

"I was just wondering…how are you two getting along with your new partners?"

"Liz and Patty are pretty energetic, so our lifestyles don't always match up, but we're doing fine when it comes to battling. Soul, on the other hand –"

"I want to shove a scalpel through his head most days" Soul finished. Stein burst out laughing.

"You know, Soul, you remind me of myself when I was your age." Soul felt his stomach drop, but not in the weightless way it did around –

"But you two still seem close," Stein commented. The words She is not my girlfriend crossed Soul's mind but not his lips.

"Yeah" Maka switched her weight to her other foot. "I actually need to get Soul back, he's not feeling too well."

"That's too bad. I guess I'll see you both later."

Marie waved happily as the two left the classroom and she entered it, Maka switching from her hand being around Soul's arm to her arm being around Soul's shoulder. Marie paused. "Huh. I wonder if they'll go back to being partners when the month is up, or if Soul will stay with Kid?" she asked no one in particular

"I don't think Soul could stand to stay with Kid if he wanted to. I honestly think the tradition is going to be changing soon – those two clash worse than…" Stein responded. He paused to scratch his head. "Well, I don't think I've ever seen a pair so poorly matched. Kid's meant to work with the Thompson sisters."

A thought suddenly occurred to Marie. "Stein, when did your hair turn white?"

"Hm?" He lit a cigarette. "It didn't turn white, it's always been that way."

Marie put a finger to her lips, letting the cogs work things through. Blonde, can combat insanity…white hair, goes insane now and then… "They remind me of someone. I just wish I knew who."

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Soul felt slightly embarrassed to be taken care of. For some reason, the image of Ragnarok hitting Crona over the head came to mind. It probably had something to do with the way that he was thinking: God Soul, you are so stupid. Why do you keep acting like that? You know she's going to freak out, you know how she reacted when Crona…however long ago it was. It's amazing she doesn't hold a funeral service every time you break a bone…

Maka walked Soul past his room and straight to hers. "I'm sorry, but Liz and Patty have kinda…redone your room." Soul figured the look on his face must have been pretty horrified. "I'm really sorry, I'll put everything back together before you come home –" before you come home… "But for now, I think you'll be more comfortable in my room…it doesn't smell quite as bad and it's not quite as…pink."

"It's okay…" Soul mumbled.

Maka set him down on her bed, making sure to remove his shoes. Soul tried to sit up, but Maka shoved his shoulders back down onto her bed. Maka blushed horribly, imagining how this would look if her papa were to suddenly show up…and she wouldn't put it past Blair to make that happen. "You…you should lay down." Maka scurried off to the kitchen to get a wet washcloth.

Soul stared at the ceiling of Maka's bedroom. The cracks looked like clouds and bunnies and…why was he thinking about bunnies? Shit, Liz and Patty didn't find my –

"Liz and Patty, um…found your…" Maka coughed. "Magazines." She was staring mortified at the floor. She knew that he must have had them, but she never wanted to know about it. She wanted to call him out on being pervy or something, but she knew in her heart that it was normal for guys his age, and she didn't want to yell at him when he was already feeling so poorly. "They threw them out…sorry." She wasn't really sorry.

"That's okay…I don't really care. I was gonna throw them out anyway." Soul wasn't even really sure what he was saying, but he somehow felt like he didn't really need them anymore. Truth be told, he'd kind of forgotten about them. Since Blair had come to live with them, there wasn't that much of a need for them. In fact, everything over-sexualised had become grotesque to Soul. He'd meant to throw them out, but he'd also wanted to keep them a secret from Maka. There was no need to upset her. If she didn't know about it, it wouldn't hurt her. Blair, shockingly, was also not that big a fan of the magazines. He'd heard her yelling at Spirit about them one day, and when Blair got angry...

"I'm sorry, Maka…"

She was now applying a cool washcloth to his forehead, sitting next to him on the edge of her bed. She looked puzzled. "What for?"

"Magazines…Boobs…mocking…stuff." Soul closed his eyes, letting his body relax.

Maka actually giggled. "Oh, okay…" She trailed off. Soul's breathing evened out, and Maka began humming to herself as she eased his jacket off, tucked him in, and kissed his forehead softly before putting the washcloth back on his forehead.

But Soul wasn't quite asleep yet. He was trying to figure out where, exactly, he'd heard that song before. The song she was humming, it sounded so familiar. So dark, mysterious, but beautiful and flowing. It occurred to him, as his left hand fell to his side and his right hand fell off the bed, that the song she was humming was the song he played for her when they first met.

Maka couldn't take it anymore. She spun around, nearly knocking Soul over. "Fine, Soul! If that's how you feel, why don't you get somebody else to be your partner? Because I quit." Maka ran off in the opposite direction. Soul stood still, feeling rather confused. He blinked slowly, wondering. What just happened?

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Maka bit and chewed at her lips and her cheeks, trying to keep herself from crying, but she was failing. She balled up all of her energy into a fist and slammed it into a tree, making it explode - whether in reality or in her mind, she didn't know anymore. She screamed loudly and watched the birds above fly away. She sat down on the ground behind a park bench and reminded herself, "'It's not the size or the shape that matters'…yeah, right".

Maka sighed to herself, trying to plan out her next move. Where was she going to go? Who was she going to be partnered with? All of her friends already had partners. She couldn't go home; she knew Soul would be waiting for her, if he didn't find her here first. She hugged her knees to her chest. Why did she let him get to her like that? Most of the time she assumed he didn't mean half of the things that he said, that he just couldn't help it because he was a stupid boy, but it still hurt her feelings.

"Maka?" Maka shoved herself under the park bench and rolled to face the other direction. She closed her eyes and tried her best to remain silent and still. She heard footsteps fall right behind her.

"Shit. Fuck. Dammit. Good job, Soul." Soul muttered other things to himself that Maka couldn't understand, and kicked the wooden blocks surrounding the tree. They, too, made a loud noise similar to an explosion. Soul sighed and muttered, as he away, "How am I going to apologize for this?"

Maka waited a couple of minutes before prying herself out from under the bench and heading for her last resort destination: Her father's.

Maka couldn't exactly blame her father for being surprised when she showed up. She did, however, appreciate that he didn't ask many questions. Spirit just set up the couch for her to sleep on and asked if she weren't sure she didn't want to take his bed and have him sleep on the couch. Maka shook her head but thanked him, and kissed him goodnight on the cheek.

Maka could tell her father was worried about her, and She started preparing excuses for her behaviour in the morning. She couldn't think of anything believable.

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Maka stood in front of the bathroom mirror the next morning, staring at her reflection. She'd managed to find some of her mom's old stuff – things Spirit was supposed to have given back or thrown away after the divorce, but never did.

Maka took her time, carefully applying her mother's leftover makeup, doing her hair the way she was sure her mother would have done it, and trying to make her Spartoi uniform look more… like something Blair would wear (she felt both disgusted and relieved that Spirit had saved one of her mom's old push-up bras). Maka felt awkward looking at herself in the mirror. She couldn't decide if she looked older or younger, but she didn't feel any more mature this way.

Maka tried to walk normally up the stairs and to class, but she was finding it difficult to relax with everybody staring at her. Kilik's jaw actually dropped, Ox and Kim were throwing her concerned glances. It's just a little make up, she thought, why is everyone so freaked out? She continued to her locker, forgetting that he locker-neighbour may be a bit problematic.

"Where were you yester-" Soul began, but stopped in his sentence to stare at her, head cocked and mouth slightly ajar. Maka glared at him, trying to think of something witty to say, but nothing came to mind. "Maka," Soul asked tentatively, are you okay?"

"Never better," the words poured out of her mouth. She moved away before Soul could reach out and touch her.

Soul wondered if what he just saw was a figment of his imagination.

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Maka skipped lunch. She'd managed to avoid sitting next or talking to any of her usual friends, including Soul, all day, and she didn't want to break that record now. Instead, she wandered the hallways, looking for something she couldn't quite think of.

"Hey," a boy around Maka's age was leaning on a wall, leering at her, hands in his pockets. The boy came toward her, extending his hand. Maka couldn't remember his name, only that he'd never been kind to anyone in Spartoi. "I'm Jon," he said with a grin. Something about this experience was beginning to frighten Maka, and she pushed herself flat against the wall. "I'm glad I caught you without that freak of a partner of yours around."

"Soul isn't a freak," Maka muttered into her chest.

The boy, Jon, snorted out a laugh. "Oh, you're too kind," he paused to look around. "Where is he anyway?"

Maka avoided Jon's gaze. "I'm not sure."

Jon smiled. "Well, now that he's not here…" Jon inched closer toward her, and Maka froze up. "I was wondering…would you like to be my partner?"

Maka felt her heart jump. "Partner?"

"Yeah," Jon ran a hand through his hair, no longer quite as confident. "Me and some of the other guys have been wanting to ask you for some time, but every time we even started walking toward you, your boyfriend scared us away -"

"Wait," Maka blinked, sputtering. "What?"

"And when you didn't respond to anybody's letters, we figured we were dropping them in the wrong locker or something –"

"Wait a minute, what letters?" Maka felt her face go red, wondering if anything Jon was saying could really be true.

Jon gave her a genuine look of surprise, so that Maka would know he wasn't lying. "You mean you didn't know? Wow. I was figuring you were just being cold, and that maybe I could defrost you a bit," He smiled. "Doesn't mean I still can't defrost you… Now that you look like that and all…" He ran his lips over her cheek as he spoke. Maka felt sick.

"Jon. Please. Move away."

"Why?" he asked seductively; then, innocently, "Scythe-boy doesn't do this to you?"

"Jon, thank you for the offer, but –"

"But what? We all heard you screaming at him the other day. You need a new partner, and we would be unstoppable together."

"Please, Jon," Maka was now whispering. If somebody didn't find them soon...he clothes didn't allow room for any of the heavy books she usually carried and she'd left her heavy boots at home in favour of high-heels. "Back off."

"Oh, come on," Maka's head was turned to the so she wouldn't have to look at Jon, but she could hear the frustration in his voice, and felt it as his hand closed around her forearm, growling into her ear, "Lighten up."

"I believe the lady has politely asked you to move away" Jon and Maka both turned their heads to see Death the Kid pointing both Liz and Patty, in gun formation, at Jon's forehead. "You will move away from her or I will shoot you."

Jon sneered first at Kid and then at Maka, as if his sudden appearance was her fault. "Great. Shinigami's son always gets what he wants, doesn't he?" Jon leered at Maka once more. "See ya later, toots. We ain't done with this." Jon stalked off down the hallway.

"Toots? Seriously?" Liz scoffed. "This isn't some 1930's gangster movie. Who does he think he is?" Liz glared off at Jon as he walked away. Patty, entirely oblivious to the situation, just sat on the floor and giggled.

"Are you okay, Maka?" Kid used his thumb and forefinger to gently pull Maka's chin up, so she was facing him..

"Yeah, I'm fine," she responded. "Just embarrassed."

"Don't be," Kid said, helping her up. Maka looked around, not remembering having ever fallen to the floor. Kid brushed imaginary dirt off of her shoulders, probably to avoid contact. "But what I meant, though, was about the other day. What happened between you and Soul?"

Maka wanted to explain, but couldn't control herself. She spent the next five or so minutes in Kid's arms, crying, while Liz brushed her hair and Patty started making her a giraffe out of lint.

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Soul hadn't seen her since that morning, but he knew Maka usually came by the basketball court on her way home. Although that wasn't something he knew, more something he'd assumed because that was the way he always got home, without her. Soul kicked a rock from one end of the court to the other, thinking about how excruciatingly painful the next couple of hours were going to be, and tried to plan out the inevitable talk out in his head.

"Look, Maka," he said to the tree, "I'm sorry about everything." Soul paused, tilting his head. "No, no, that's too generic. How about, I'm sorry that I said you didn't have sex appeal, some guys like girls who look like you - God, no, that's too condescending. What's wrong with me?" Soul tugged at his hair and said to himself, "Shit. I'm screwed."

"You're a dick," someone yelled from across the court. A basketball made hard contact with the back of Soul's head. He turned around slowly to see Black Star staring at him, both hands on his hips.

"What the Hell, Black Star?" Black Star looked ready to start a fight as he brought his hands down from his hips, curling them into tight balls, his face pulled into the kind of permanent scowl usually reserved for his spats with Kid. Soul stuck his hands in his pockets and leaned back a bit to show that whatever it was, he didn't want to fight with his best friend over it. "You're a real douche, you know that?"

"No," Soul said nonchalantly. "What did I do?"

"Oh, please," Black Star snorted. He walked over to Soul, standing close enough that Soul could barely look into Black Star's eyes without his own going crossed. "Just be glad it's me, and not Tsubaki. She's about ready to tear your throat out. How could you say such a thing to Maka?"

Soul rolled his eyes. "You're a real perv. One day she wears make up and suddenly you're in love with her? Besides, we all say things like that to her, same way you make fun of Kid for being Prissy and Liz for being a flirt."

"In love with her? No, thanks. She's not my type, and I've already got a girlfriend." Black Star's hands unclenched a little, but he didn't back away from Soul. "And it's different if I say that to her. We've known each other since we were kids, so for us that's like a sibling rivalry. But you're her partner, and she has to know she can trust you. With everything." Soul felt his stomach drop. "People call me stupid. Sure, I'm not good at school like Ox or Maka. I don't have deep insight like Kid or Kilik. I can't take care of people like Kim. You could, if you actually tried, be good at any one of those things, you know –"

"Get to the point, Black Star" The longer Soul was held up, the more anxious he felt about Maka's condition.

"My point is that, even you have called me stupid; but I'm not the one who turned into a flat-chested, snobby, know-it-all girl in a Spartoi uniform in the Book of Eibon's Lust Chapter, and then preceded to tell the same damn girl that she didn't have sex appeal." Soul blushed and wondered if that really what he looked like. "You can either apologize to her, or get the Hell out of the group."

Black Star turned around to head the opposite direction, but stopped for a moment, turned back to Soul, and said, "I beat the shit out of Mifune and half of the members of Arachnophobia when Maka became paralyzed. I beat the shit out of Crona when we found him again for betraying Maka. Don't think that, because you're my best friend, I won't beat the shit out of you for breaking her heart." Black Star punched the brick wall to emphasize his point, and stalked off.

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Upon reaching his and Maka’s apartment, Soul was greeted with a slap to the back of the head by an unseen assailant. "Would people please quit hitting me!" he begged, arms draped over his head for protection.

"NO!" The voice replied. At first, Soul thought it was Maka. Hoped, even, that it was Maka, that they could get this conversation over with and return to some semblence of normalcy. "Blair is very upset with you! How could you treat Maka like that?" Blair hit him on the back of the head again. "Baka! Stupid boy!"

"Look," Soul shouted. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to say it, it just kind of…came out."

Blair glared at Soul, a look of obvious disbelief on her face. "Well, no food for Soul until he apologizes!" Soul grumbled, but made no real protest.

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The members of Spartoi gathered around Sid and Nygus as they relayed the instructions of their mission out loud. It was just a practice drill for fighting in extreme weather, but it was still pretty dangerous. Everybody split up into their own partnerships and went in their separate directions. Maka, who was still dressed to the nines, refused to look at Soul. Soul grimaced; he'd been trivially hoping they'd be past it by now. "Maka, please. Talk to me."

"Why should I?" Maka snapped over her shoulder.

"Because I'm your partner," Soul reasoned dumbly.

"That didn't stop you from telling Medusa information that you withheld from me," Soul could hear the sneer in her words, and the hurt.

"I didn't tell you because I didn't want you worrying about me. And that happened like a year ago! How long are you going to stay mad at me for that?"

Maka didn't answer. The two walked in silence until they hit the end of their section – a wet, stalactite- and stalagmite-filled cave. They both could feel something underground vibrating, about to shoot up. They weren't given any information on the kind of being they'd be battling, but 'practice' did not mean that Shibusen was going to slack off on amount of danger it would put its students in.

Alright, Soul thought. Maybe once we get into this battle, she'll forget that she's mad at me. Soul reached his hand out to take her. "Come on. We need to be prepared for when it gets here." Maka shook her head at him in response, but still wouldn't look at him. "What, you're not even gonna use me to fight? How are you going to fight this thing?"

"I'm not going to," she said finally, looking at Soul with an odd look he couldn't read.

"What?" Soul shouted. "Have you gone crazy? You're going to be killed!"

"Why do you care?" Maka attempted a deadpan, but failed. Soul could feel her anger seeping through with his soul's wavelength. Thank Shinigami, he thought. We're not completely broken yet. "I'm not sexy enough, remember?" Maka's harsh tone broke his thoughts up. "Or cool enough." Soul became increasingly uncomfortable as he realized Maka was about to start crying. "You'd rather be working with Ox or Kilik or Blair or that creepy girl who stalks you everywhere!" Or, that she'd already started.

"What?" Soul spluttered. Maka looked at him expectantly, but he couldn't think of anything to put in the place of all the things Maka had just said. It was why he usually kept his mouth shut and did whatever she told him to do. "No I wouldn't. Who told you that?"

"You did!" she shouted. "Every time that you mocked me because I'm not pretty! Because I'm not cool! Because I'm not sexy and I don't have big boobs and I'm not strong! Why did you bother sticking with me for so long if you couldn't stand me so much?" Maka lost all sense composure. Combined with the shaking of the cave and her anger, she fell to her knees, sobbing. Soul felt both guilty and confused. "I can't understand you," she continued. "I read all the books in the library about music and I still don't get it. I try to be cool and I look like an idiot. I try to be sexy and people just act creepy around me. I don't know what to do anymore."

Soul crouched down to her level. "You really are an idiot." Before Maka could protest, Soul grabbed her shoulders and kissed her forcefully to shut her up. "I tell you you've got no sex appeal because I don't know how to talk to you, or how to respond to some of the ridiculous things you say, and so other weapons don't try to steal my meister from me." Maka was blushing heavily, lightly smiling, and avoiding Soul's eyes by examining his cheekbones. "I've been scaring guys off since the exam results last year. And for the record, I never said you weren't strong. I just didn't understand your sudden urge to protect me. It's my job to protect you. That's what weapons do. And all that other stuff is just unimportant. But I'm a guy. I don't mean half the things I say." Soul shifted uncomfortably under Maka's gaze. She still didn't look convinced. "Listen," Soul started again, looking around. "I'll…I dunno…bite you or something if you tell anyone I told you this first, but I love you."

Maka hiccupped. "You don't love me, you don't even like me."

He slammed her shoulders against the cave wall and kissed her again. "Don't be ridiculous, and don't make me repeat myself again: I love you. Now get the Hell up. We can't let Black Star outdo us on this assignment." Soul stood up and offered Maka his hand. She smiled and took it.

"Hey, Soul…does this feel symmetrical to you?"

Soul suppressed a snort at the amount of sexual innuendos now trolling through his mind. "I dunno, Kid…"

Kid bit his lip in worry. "What do you think would make it more symmetrical?"

"I think…" Soul began rocking back and forth in Kid's hands. "THIS!" Soul threw all of his weight and concentration into slamming his blade into Kid's forehead.

Kid dropped Soul and went into ducky-squat position. Soul transformed back into a human and put his hands behind his head.

"That wasn't very partnerly of you, Soul." Kid's shoulders were shaking. Soul was torn between annoyance at Kid's overreaction and sympathy toward his condition; Kid was definitely making things more difficult than they needed to be, but Soul also knew that he couldn't really help it.

Soul shrugged awkwardly. "Che, whatever." It was nearly midnight and they hadn't even started on their mission. They'd left as soon as school had let out, had spent about two hours at Kid's house preparing, about three hours trying to search for the "perfect" entrance, and…Soul couldn't even remember what they did for the rest of that time. He might have even fallen asleep during it.

"We're supposed to be working together, Soul," Kid admonished, wiping the dust and dirt from his immaculate clothes. Soul didn't really need reminding of why he and Kid were working together. He, Maka, Kid, Liz, and Patty had been dragged into Lord Death's…well, he couldn't really call it an office; they'd been pulled into Lord Death's space and told that for the next month, they'd be switching partners.

"I want Kiddo to learn to play well with others ~" was how Lord Death had phrased it. As Maka explained it later, "You, like papa, are an actual scythe. Lord Death can use any weapon, but he usually sticks with my papa. He wants Kid to do the same, with you. It's tradition." Maka seemed mischievously happy about the switch, holding hands and giggling with Liz and Patty. Soul didn't think that Maka, who was rather tomboyish, would enjoy spending all that time with Liz and Patty – especially since they'd also decided to switch residences – but she definitely looked more excited than Soul felt. That wasn't to say that Soul disliked Kid, it was more that, well…

"You are more annoying than Maka on her perfectionist days. And at least she has good reasons for worrying. What the Hell is it gonna matter if I don't look symmetrical in your hands?"

Kid's face began to redden, although Soul couldn't tell if it was in anger or embarrassment. Soul had a tendency to evoke both emotions in his friends. "I apologize for my imperfections. You know, we can't all be perfect like your girlfriend."

"She's not my girlfriend," Soul muttered. "But seriously. At least Maka freaks out about things like technique and whether or not moves will work. You're having panic attacks because the weapon you're gonna have to use to save your life and the lives of others may be a centimetre or too off from being perfectly symmetrical when you're not even using it! What exactly are you gonna do when we get attacked? Pathetic."

There was an awkward silence as Kid contemplated their situation. "I suppose you're right. Well…that's enough for one night!"

Soul grabbed the back of Kid's collar. "Oh, Hell no. I did not just spend five plus hours wandering around with you acting like an idiot for us to get absolutely nothing done." Soul ran forward, using his scythe blade to break through the decimated walls, dragging a screaming Kid behind him.

"Soul! What the Hell are you doing?"

Soul didn't answer, but what he was doing was trying a tactic he often used on Maka when she began to overthink things.

"There is a witch in here, Kid – a witch. And not the nice kind like Kim and hopefully Angela. The douchy kind, like Medusa, only hopefully she's not quite that much of a threat yet. If we don't get moving now, she will be."

Kid dug his heels into the ground and Soul started to trip. He grabbed onto the wall to keep his balance, while Kid slammed a fist into his face, throwing him to the ground. "Please do not ever try that again! Is this perfectly clear?"

"Fine," Soul snapped. "I'll just go find this witch and defeat her myself."

"Ugh! Soul! Get back here! What are you going to do without your meister?" Kid ran off after him.

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"Geez Maka, what are we going to do with those two?" Maka shook her head. She, Liz, and Patty had successfully taken down their own target several hours ago and, after receiving an urgent and worried call from Lord Death, were on their way to help Soul and Kid take down theirs. Maka didn't really mind helping out, but she was worried about Kid's Obsessive-Compulsive tendencies spiraling out of control. Well...more out of control than they already were, if Liz and Patty weren't exaggerating (and for once, they weren't). Maka had faith in Kid's powers, but she had no idea how he could remain sane with such a tough job if he couldn't even handle having an asymmetrical weapon to work with.

Maka was now running with both Liz and Patty, in gun-form, in her hands. She was used to working with one arm free, but since there was no blade, she was able to run more smoothly. The change was welcome, though it felt strange.

"Where do you think they could have gotten to?"

"Well, I just tried to sense Kid's Soul. It feels like we've passed them. Are they even in here yet? What's taking them so long?"

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"Soul! Stop!"

"Why? Am I not running symmetrically?"

"Well, no, you're not, but that isn't the point: This could be really dangerous."

"Oh?" purred a voice. "What was your first clue?" The witch looked almost exactly like Soul was expecting; her clothing was various shades of pink, red, and gold. She looked beautiful and was ornately dressed. The only thing Soul wasn't expecting was the scowl and the black hair. "I've been waiting for you" she whispered. She blew a kiss in their direction. Soul knocked Kid out of the way, landing on top of him. "Oh, I had no idea you swung that way."

"I don't" Soul snarled, glaring at Kid. He helped Kid up, then kicked him from behind. "If you're not going to help, get out of the way!"

"Aw, a lover's spat," the witch teased. "How sweet."

"Soul, we're supposed to be working together," Kid stressed.

"It might go better if you actually worked, Kid."

"Okay" The witch yawned. "Now, you're boring me. Time to make things interesting…Liebe lieben, amour amoure." The Witch pointed a finger at Soul, who was still arguing fervently with Kid.

Soul slapped his head. It felt like he'd been bitten by a bug or something. "Now things will be worth watching!...but not tonight," the Witch purred again.

"What? Get back here and fight!"

"No thank you, I think I'll wait 'til the spell takes effect."

"Hey lady! What the Hell are you talking about?"

"I haven't really gotten a chance to try it out on a weapon yet, I wonder what it'll do?"

"Would you please quit yabbering on like you don't want to tell me? What did you do to me?"

"Oh, you'll find out soon enough. You'll run into someone special, and then you'll understand." She waved. "That's all for now. I'll see you tomorrow!"

"Lame!" Soul countered, in a weak attempt to get the Witch to return. It was ineffective.

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Soul was once again running away from Kid, although he wasn't paying much attention to where he was going. What the Hell did that witch mean? And where the Hell did Kid go? Soul was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't realize when he –

"Ow – God, Soul, watch where you're going!"

"Ugh, sorry Maka – Maka? What are you doing here?"

Maka dusted herself off. Soul twitched. Everything was beginning to remind him of Kid and his annoying habits. "We were told to come down here and assist you and Kid…Where is Kid?"

"Don't know…don't care. Where are Liz and Patty?"

Maka shrugged. "I don't know. I think Liz went to go look for Kid. She told Patty to stay put, but I'm pretty sure Patty ran after her anyway."

There was a small silence. "I'm just getting the Hell outta here before he comes back, care to come with?"

Maka giggled and grabbed Soul's arm. "I'm down with that. Have you eaten yet?"

Soul shook his head, although he didn't really feel like eating. His face felt flushed and he felt slightly sick, but he'd forgotten about the Witch.