When the bell rings Monday morning, Maka looks up to see Soul walking in, late as usual. She waves a greeting to him, but much to her surprise, he looks away and heads toward his seat without so much as a word to her. Strange. Maka just shrugs it off, figuring that he's just in a bad mood. All through class, Maka felt his eyes on her back, but she refused to look back. It was creepy even to think he was staring at her, let alone know that he was.
For the rest of the day, Maka doesn't approach Soul since he always takes the initiative and starts the conversation. Whenever he saw her in the hallway, he would look away, his jaw clenched and he'd walk past her, staring straight ahead. Maka, often, would look back at him as he passed, wondering what had him so pissed. But she never said a word. Social pursuits and concepts where never her strong point.
Several weeks pass, and Soul never says a word to Maka. But every time they saw each other, Maka would feel his eyes on her, only to dart away when she looked his direction. She couldn't for the life of her figure out why Soul wasn't speaking to her. Had she done something to upset him? Said something? She spent hours antagonizing over it, and truth be told, it provided her with a distraction from what was happening at home.
••••••••
Soul couldn't stand it. He hated having to ignore Maka every day. But he could never find a time to say something to her. Arachne and her little group of friends where always around, keeping their eyes on him. The fact that he was coward enough to not just ignore them and talk to Maka consequences be damned pissed him off even more than his stalkers did. What was wrong with him? He wasn't scared of Arachne or Wes for that matter. Then what was stopping him? The look on Wes's face flitted behind Soul's eye, his words whispering through his brain, caused Soul to shiver. It was Maka. She was why he was being a good little boy. He couldn't let them hurt her. No matter what. End of discussion.
••••••••
Maka looks up at the golden sky, the sun beginning to set. A warm breeze plays with her ash blonde hair as she takes in the changing colors in the sky. Giriko is dead drunk and Maka didn't want to be in the house since it reeks of alcohol. And since the library is closed, she doesn't really have any other place to go but outside. Maka brushes her bangs out of her eyes, her mind straying from the sunset. She wondered when her dad would be back. She thought of the homework she had yet to finish. But mostly she thought of Soul. He was never far from her thoughts these days. Why has he suddenly stopped talking to her? Was he fed up with her? Not that she blamed him if he was. The two of them where worlds apart. She wondered what her mother would say to her if she could voice her thoughts of Soul to her.
The thought of her mom stopped her derailed train of thought. That wound was still fresh and Maka felt tears spring to her eyes. She wills them to stop, chastising herself. Her mom had died months ago. It was time to stop crying at every mention of her. Maka knew it, but that didn't stop the tears from spilling over onto her cheeks. She missed her mom so much. The wind blows across her skin, and, just for a moment, it felt like her mother's caressing hand, telling her everything would be ok like she did when Maka was a little girl. That was enough to break her. Maka let all her pent up anger, confusion, fear, and loneliness out though her tears. She sat there for hours, nothing but the soon cold wind and moonlight for company.
Finally she went inside, covering her nose when the stench hit her. She lets out a disgusted sigh as she passes Giriko, snoring in a puddle of booze. She slowly climbs the stairs, an irrational anger at Soul welling up inside her. How could he just abandon her to this drunk bastard? Even after seeing the things he's done to her and how much he's hurt her, physically and emotionally. Maka might not have many friends, but she knew that you just don't leave one behind to fend for themselves. You don't leave them for no reason.
••••••••
It was Saturday morning, and Soul found himself at the library. He could hardly believe himself. God, he wasn't even hanging out with Maka and she was still rubbing off on him. Next thing he'd know, he'd actually pay attention in class and try. The thought made him shiver. He walked through the isles, looking for a book on something him and Black*Star had been arguing about the day before. He finds what he was looking for and pulls it out with a finger before completely pulling it off the shelf. What was he thinking? Him, reading? He shakes his head and slides the book back in, walking off.
On the way out, he runs into Maka, her being more shocked than him.
"Soul?! What're you doing here?!"
He shrugs sheepishly.
"Just, ya know, looking for something..."
Maka crosses her arms, putting her weight on her right leg.
"You find what you were looking for?"
Soul shakes his head, not knowing what else to say to her. Apparently she didn't either. She goes past him, but he grabs her arm as she does. Maka stops and turns to face him, her eyebrows quirked up into a questioning look. Soul lets her go, fumbling with his words. He wasn't even sure why he'd stopped her in the first place.
"Maka, about before..."
She doesn't say anything, just crosses her arms.
"There's a reason why I've been ignoring you. And it's not because I don't like you or anything."
"Oh and why would that be Soul? Please, enlighten me."
He scratches the back of his neck, stalling for time. Maka sounded like she could care less, like she doesn't even care. And for some reason, that pissed him off a little bit.
"Well, it's kinda hard to explain..."
"Then why bring it up if you can't explain it?"
Ouch. Soul winces a little at her snarky tone.
"Look, I just wanted to tell you that it wasn't my deci-"
"Stop it Soul. Don't tell me that it wasn't your choice. I'm pretty sure you're not a robot that doesn't have a mind of its own. If you don't wanna be friends, then just say so, don't make up some la-"
Maka couldn't finish her sentence because, just then, Soul grabbed her wrists and leaned in close, kissing her. He could feel her tensing in shock under his grip and he was right there with her. What the hell was he doing? What the hell was he thinking?! That's the problem. He wasn't, isn't. He pulls away from her, looking her in the eyes, the emerald green of hers bright in confusion and shock and rage.
"It's because I don't want my brother to hurt you. That's why. I'm doing it so you won't be a target. Not because I don't want to be your friend. Remember that."
He lets her go and walks away without another word, his mind reeling. What the hell did he just do? He just wanted her to stop talking, not kiss her. He groans and hits his head against his helmet as he sits on his bike. Stupid, stupid, stupid. What was wrong with him? He didn't even like Maka like that. He knew for a fact that he wasn't attracted to her like he was other girls. He puts his helmet on and revs the bike, clearing his mind. He wasn't going to think about this. Not yet. He was gunna go home, eat junk food, and watch overgrown men beat the crap outta each other. There was time to dissect his actions later.
Soul walked into his house, disgruntled to see Wes sitting on the couch. Wes smiles as the door is slammed shut.
"Bad day little brother?"
Soul doesn't respond, just walks into the kitchen, phase one of his plan underway. Wes follows him in, leaning against the doorway as Soul roots around.
"So I heard you went to the library today."
He shrugs, his brain not processing what that sly smile on Wes's face meant.
"Yeah? What of it?"
"I also heard that you talked to Maka there. Maybe.." Wes looks at his phone. "what, 14 minutes ago?"
Soul freezes, almost dropping the food in his hand. He carful sets the stuff down before slowly answering his sadistic brother.
"You have no proof."
"Don't I?"
Soul doesn't respond, making Wes laugh.
"I knew you'd go back on that deal. Too bad for you little brother. Guess I get to have my fun with your girlfriend after all." He turns to leave. "Oh, and Soul, I know about that kiss."
Wes walks away, laughing, leaving Soul speechless and staring out the window.