{ DWMA steps }
" What was all that about?" Soul asked as he turned toward BlackStar. Liz and Patty tracking them down only to run off? It didn't make a shit bit of sense to either of them.
" No idea." The assassin yawned. " Maybe they're going to check on Kid?"
" You think he's really sick?" Soul wondered. He'd been thinking about it all morning, since it was so unlike him. He'd missed having Kid there during lunch, since they usually made crude trades for different foods, and he loved teasing the reaper about how neat his lunchbox was.
" What do you mean?"
" Well, he seemed fine yesterday..." Soul was puzzled.
" Why are you worrying? It's Kid, he's fine." BlackStar was confused that Soul would even care. It didn't seem like they were that close, maybe acquaintances? But then again... BlackStar didn't know how many times Soul checked Kid's Instagram every day.
" You're right. Forget I said anything." The white haired boy was quick to change the subject and he shied away from his friend's eye contact.
" You're being weird about this." BlackStar said, suspicions mounting.
" How do you mean?"
" About Kid. You're being weird." BlackStar's eyebrows furrowed and he huffed. His arms folded as he scooted closer to inspect his best friend's face, scrutinizing it.
" Pfff you're funny." Soul said, ungracefully fumbling his words. He broke into a nervous sweat. " No I'm not."
" Hey, Soul?"
" What?"
" What do you think of Kid?" BlackStar asked.
" What do I think of Kid?" Soul repeated as though asking what the assassin meant. It was a weird question to think about, and the weapon wasn't sure why his face was heating up. His throat went dry and he swallowed thickly.
" Yeah like... tell me your opinion of him."
" Who's being weird again?" Soul laughed in an off kilter tone. " I... um, I don't know, he's great. The stripes in his hair are cool. I like the way he talks, always making me feel even dumber. I really like his eyes, they remind me of the sun. And his lips, I... I..." He trailed off.
" Anything else?" BlackStar remarked sarcastically.
" I uh..." Soul had made himself uncomfortable. BlackStar smiled.
" Well I'm gonna go..." He started walking back up the stairs. " If you wanna call your little man crush I won't stop you!" He teased back and waved.
" S-" Soul paused, breath hitching as his eyes widened in realization. " SH-SHUT UP!"
BlackStar took out his phone once he reached the top of the steps, knowing that he had to do something. He loved Soul like a brother, and this might've been the only way to help solve things. He started a text to Liz.
BlackStar 1:34 PM: liz we need to talk
Liz 1:37 PM: What is it?
BlackStar 1:37 PM: promise you won't say anything
Liz 1:39 PM: Okay...
BlackStar 1:40 PM: i think soul has feelings for kid... i might be wrong but that's what it seemed like. i dont wanna out him or anything but if he does... he could let maka down without hurting her feelings as much
Liz 1:42 PM: Don't worry I won't say anything!
BlackStar 1:44 PM: if we could get them together it would give soul an excuse not to go with maka
Liz 1:45 PM: Wow! That's actually smart.
BlackStar 1:46 PM: of course it is!!! i came up with it! wait do you think kid will go for it
Liz 1:46 PM: Definitely. We'll talk later.
{ Death City Mall: later afternoon }
" C'mon, Kid cheer up a little." Patty said and continued sucking obnoxiously on her straw. The group of three sat near the corner of the food court.
" Cheer up? This is too much." Kid looked disgusted.
" What's too much?" Liz asked, leaning over the not at all sturdy table.
" This! My feelings hit the fan and I don't know what to do with them!" He placed his head on the table. Don't cry. Don't cry. Even if he somehow found the courage to tell Soul what he felt, there was no way he could do it now! Maka had him! She'd won!
Liz sipped her drink and nearly choked at the sight before her. Soul and Maka were walking out of a dress store adjacent to the food court. Her eyes were wide and she could've inhaled her straw right then.
" Liz?" Kid asked, confused. " Is everything okay over there?"
" Yes!" She answered rapidly.
" Hey, guys! Look! It's Soul and Maka hehehe!" Patty giggled and pointed at them.
" WHAT?!" Kid whipped his head around and saw for himself. It was like the wind had been knocked out of him and he slumped over. Why? Why in the one place they'd gone to avoid the situation?!
" God damnit, Patty!" Liz grimaced. " Kid, don't look!"
" Too late." Kid chuckled weakly. " I can't get away from this."
He wanted to crawl under a rock and die. The thought of Soul and Maka together mimicked the feeling of a car running him over. All he'd wanted for the longest time was to get Soul's attention, even if it didn't result in a relationship. He cared for him, had come to harbor feelings that weren't going to quit.
{ One miserable day later... }
After about an hour of begging, Liz and Patty got Kid to leave the house and accompany them to school. The three of them late, as usual, made their way up the academy's never ending stairs.
" I wanna go home." Kid complained. To think that after all the time he'd spent convincing his father he needed to attend school... that he wouldn't want to come. It was pathetic, and he hated feeling like that.
" Too bad!" Patty giggled.
" Kid, it's not that bad. For all you know Maka dragged him to the mall with her." Liz told him.
" How would you know?" The reaper responded with an iron clad sass in his tone. Liz thought about what BlackStar had said. If he was right and Soul did like Kid back, it wasn't her job to tell him.
" How do you know she didn't?"
She did have a point. But Kid still looked blue, and the glumness he felt drug down his legs like 2 ton ankle weights.
Kid pretty much slept through Professor Stein's dissection tutorial. Having him first period kind of sucked, but he and everyone else was used to it. Everyone was also used to Kid being late, but still they had all turned to look when he arrived earlier. It had been extra hard for him to keep his cool, considering Soul and Maka shared first period with him. She was scooted right next to Soul's side and the scythe looked very annoyed with the whole situation. When Kid and his weapons all had taken a seat class resumed, but the half an hour Kid had been sitting there since... it was all he could think about.
Though Soul was staring at Kid for nearly the whole rest of the hour, the reaper never noticed. He never bothered to look at Soul, mainly because Maka was all over him. Liz wanted to go and lead Maka away from him, but the better parts of her kept the annoyed blonde seated.
When the bell rang and students started exiting the classroom, Kid was already halfway down the hall and had no intention of stopping. He couldn't look at it any longer without feeling sick to his stomach. It was always the girl who got the guy, but what happened to everyone else? He didn't understand how life could be so unfair.
Soul stayed planted in his seat even as Maka tried tugging him along with her.
" Just go. I'll see you at lunch." He said, trying not to sound too rude. She was going to resist but the tone of his voice pushed her out the door, making Soul the only student left. He sighed deeply.
" Go talk to him." Professor Stein, who had an evil smirk colonizing his cheeks, told him. Okay, maybe not a smirk. It was like he was analyzing him somehow. Soul couldn't tell if the grinch-like expression was from the remark or dissection. He was beyond confused.
" What do you mean?"
" Kid is bothered for a reason. Go." The man said, gesturing to the door. It wasn't just the fact that Kid liked Soul. If it had been nothing more than that, Stein would've kept to himself and quietly observed, however, if it would affect the resonance group, they couldn't risk it. He could sense their souls and the tension between all of the group.
" Kid and I aren't even a thing!" Soul whisper shouted and Stein gave an exaggerated eye roll.
" Not yet." He muttered to himself. Geniuses like him could afford to make comments like that since they were right. If Kid and Soul talked about things, the resonance group may have returned to a balanced state and worked effectively again. The way things were right then, though... it would never work. Kid would clash with Maka and Soul would do the same with both of them and Stein could already see that.
That obvious huh? Soul thought as he, too, left the room. He wasn't even sure what his feelings for Kid were. He didn't know what his feelings meant or how to act about them. Since the conversation with BlackStar the day before, he'd never been so confused. But one thing he did know for sure was that his next class started in a couple minutes, and was all the way across the school. Even if he ran, he'd still be late so he lazily strolled down the hall. He had to be at a weapons class, and lucky for him, Maka was a meister so she wouldn't be there.
He rounded a corner and slammed into something, or wait... maybe someone.
" Oh crap, I'm so sor- ... Soul?!" Was exclaimed from the floor. It was coming from Kid, who had landed on his ass along with him. Soul rubbed his forehead.
" Kid?" He stood up, dusting himself off. The reaper stayed on the floor, kneeling. The sunlight pouring in through the adjacent window shone on his pale white skin and illuminated his golden eyes. Cotton candy pink blush dusted his cheekbones and Soul didn't know why his eyes refused to look anywhere but at him.
He offered him a hand and their fingers awkwardly intertwined. They paused mid-way through and Soul gazed into his amazingly stunning eyes. Damn. That yellow-gold color was striking. He was caught up in it more so than ever before. What BlackStar had said... it had messed him up and had him thinking about all sorts of things.
" What is it?" Kid asked nervously. With the variety of strong emotions they were both feeling, he wanted to run away like a flustered middle school girl.
" Um I erm-" Soul suddenly realized how weird the situation was and began fumbling. " You have really pretty eyes." He was now blushing as well. Did he mean to say that? No. Did he say it? Apparently.
Am I dreaming?! Kid was screaming internally. Did Soul seriously just tell him that? And better yet... the weapon hadn't followed it with "no homo bro".
" Th-thanks? I'm- gonna go and uh do... something." He stuttered as Soul pulled him up to his feet. He broke their contact and walked back the way he came like a lovey-dovey idiot. Soul's eyebrows furrowed and his hand was overwhelmed with a sense of emptiness.
" Um, Kid!" He called.
" Y-yes?" The black and white haired boy turned around. Soul gestured behind him.
" Weren't you headed that way?" He let out a nervous chuckle and scratched the back of his head. Kid looked mortified and Soul thought it was really precious.
" Oh right! Bye!" He swiftly walked, more like ran, past Soul and around the other corner, happy to be out of his sight.
Soul was left in a daze. He needed to look into those flawless, sunny eyes again.
As he began to walk away, Soul's face faded into a red color similar to that of his eyes. Just thinking about Kid's face, the way he talked... he got butterflies in his stomach. And out of nowhere? No. He'd felt like that for some time... but... BlackStar messing with him was apparently all it took to coax the feelings to the surface, where they could better make themselves known.
Soul knew he had to talk to Kid about it. Keeping secrets wasn't cool, even if he'd been doing a lot of that as of late.
{ Lunch time }
" Where's Kid?" Asked BlackStar, who had a mouthful of whatever the lunch ladies had thrown together that day.
" I don't know?" Liz and Patty looked at each other, worried, and became even more worried when they saw the blush across Soul's face. Had something happened that Kid hadn't told them about? Was there drama stewing? Would there be a fight they'd have to break up or a talk they'd need to have with someone? They didn't know, and that was the scariest part.
" I'll go find him." Soul said, standing up and leaving Maka's side much to his relief. He wasn't exactly sure why he'd volunteered to go find Kid at first, but as he left, he knew. The chance to speak to him... it was right then and there. He was awful at keeping secrets sometimes and it was all because of Maka. She was to be informed about everything, everything from his black blood to what he ate for breakfast that morning. Maybe Kid was the same... maybe Kid had the right to know what was going on. Maybe Kid was the one secret he had to keep from her.
BlackStar smirked to himself and Maka looked pissed. Why had Soul been doing that? It seemed like he'd been avoiding her for the past few days, and she needed to get to the bottom of it before it could drive her nuts. After the mall, he'd basically hidden away in his room and played his records all by himself. Dinner had been quiet and the ride to school that morning had been faster than usually. What was he thinking? Was something bothering him?
Not that Maka would ever admit to it, but she'd even tried to read his soul for an answer. Nothing. She wondered if reading other people's souls would help, but she didn't have the energy.
All she knew was that she'd need to bring it up to him before she went crazy.
{ A/N: Rewatching Soul Eater is restoring my purpose in life lmao. Who do you all relate to most in it? I'm a combo of Kid and Maka oop- }