Abraham Springs Mental Institution for Troubled Youth

Chapter Eleven

TRIGGER WARNING - Mentions of self harm, suicidal thoughts and abuse. Please read with caution.

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he's more myself than i am.

whatever souls are made of, his and mine are the same.

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Stein was banging on Maka's door. After taking her pills, Maka made her way back into her room as she rubbed the back of her head, trying to tame her wild locks that had tangled in her sleep. She had been at the institution for a little over two months and she had grown accustomed to the timetable and the new group of people that she had little choice but to hang around with.

Soul's night terrors had been decreasing drastically due to Maka intervening late at night, people were so used to it that they didn't even get up when she did, they just knew she would take care of him. She nearly smiled. It was nice to feel trusted.

The relationship between Soul and Maka was a fickle one. With them both having such severe mental illnesses it was true that they clashed a lot but that was also the reason she thought they understood each other so well. They were both as stubborn as each other, which proved a problem and had often caused us to go over a week without speaking. They'd get over it usually. Maka thought they were both just kinda new to the whole friend thing.

It never lasted though, when they didn't speak. They always made up. But unfortunately, their banter had caught the attention of other patients. Especially since Soul had a reputation for not having ever taken anyone's shit. They were teased a lot by Blackstar and Patty but that was effectively quietened with Soul's glare.

Maka huffed loudly as she slumped back down onto into bed, she had yet to put her jacket on and so her eyes drifted down to the marks on her arm. The marks that Soul had witnessed her make. The sudden... attachment she had for Soul worried her, and she didn't doubt that it worried Soul also. They were kinda alike but so different at the same time. Maka didn't know whether she liked it or hated it.

"Maka?"

Said woman lifted her head to see Soul in the doorway, his eyes narrowed as he had followed her previous gaze to the marks on her arm. Maka said nothing as she stood up and shrugged her jacket on. Soul watched her with a bored expression before his dark crimson orbs met hers again.

"Hey," She breathed, stepping towards him so they could make their way from the room. Soul didn't respond and proceeded to block the entrance as he closed the door slowly behind him. Maka gave him a sharp look, ignoring his grimace.

"What are you doing? Let's go."

Soul swallowed audibly. "My parents are coming today."

Maka recoiled.

"What? You're leaving the hospital?" She asked, her voice raising in pitch. Soul shook his head.

"No, no," he assured her before continuing. "No, they want to... take me out for the day. When you reach a certain level, you get to go on days out with your family and come back at the end of the day. I reached that level ages ago, but my parents never pulled anything like this till now."

"Levels...?" Maka trailed off.

"Most patients don't know but the staff mark the patients progress with levels," he rumbled, and she didn't have to ask how he knew this. "Level One is when you first got here. You're given some space to get used to the institution and shit but kept a close eye on. You were different since before you came here you had some Councillor of yours give specific ways in which for you to recover, so some of the rules for the levels don't really apply to you."

Soul shook his head when the blonde opened her mouth.

"Sid is shitty at hiding files," he explained. "I've read every file of the people in our ward. There isn't much on you – I think anything important went straight to Marie. The only thing I could find was that the levels are null in you case sometimes. "

Maka frowned before nodding. They would come back to that later.

"Level Two is private sessions. That'd be when Miss Marie started taking you out of free time and Art and Crafts and all that. You moved up then." Maka nodded and Soul took the cue to go on. "Level Three is when you're allowed to join others of that level and above in outside games. You also get a later curfew and can sleep in for longer. Level Four is where I'm at, you can go out with your family for a day or weekend, go the movies, restaurant so long as a staff member is with you and you're back at a certain time."

Maka raised her brows as he trailed off. "It that all?"

Soul shook his head.

"No," he said. "Then there is Level Five. And that's when you finally get to go home."

The young woman blinked before leaning away. She frowned at the floor before looking back up to the older man.

"So, you're going out with your parents today?"

Soul scowled before shaking his head abruptly. "Like hell I am. I need you to cover for me."

She didn't expect that. "Wait, what?"

Soul scoffed and crossed his arms over his broad chest. He leant back against the door to look down at Maka.

"Like I'm going anywhere with them - They're more insane than the people in here."

Maka just frowned in confusion before running a hand through her hair. "What are you going to do then?"

"I'll just hide from the staff. It'll be easy, I know this place better than any of them do. Only Sid knows about my piano room so once I see that he's checked that I can just hide out in there for the rest of the day, that'll most likely be the first place he'll check, too."

"Won't any of the other staff check there?"

"No, none of the others know about that room. This place was a school before it was a hospital and Sid went to it. He's the only one who knows about the room."

Maka rolled her eyes before turning her back to shut off the light before facing Soul again.

"I'm staying with you."

Soul's eyes widened before he hissed back at her.

"Maka, don't start. If I take the new girl I'll get caught right away, you idiot."

"Fine, then I'll meet you in the piano room at dinner!" She countered hotly. "That way no one will find us, and you won't be all alone! Come on Soul, I need a break from these dumb group sessions and music classes. I need a minute to breathe."

Soul scorned at the petite blonde before taking an abrupt step back when he realised that they were in each other's faces. He cast her a dark look before turning his back.

"If anyone asks you haven't seen me," he said sternly before swinging the door open. He paused a second.

"... I'll see you at twelve."

The door slammed shut as a slow smile crept across Maka's face.

Hell yeah.