SE: A Tainted Soul, A Pure Promise

Chapter 13: Party Meets Noah

...it made me feel faint. I was woozy and it was getting hard to stand.

"So does this mean...?"

Maka sweetly smiled at me. "Mhhm."

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The notes of the various instruments resonated the jazz tune throughout the whole estate. With Maka's thin arm linked at the inner elbow with mine, the night was off to a perfect start. Only, there was one problem...I'm not so much a fan of huge social events like this. Subtle questions get asked, and sooner or later, they get personal--and I don't enjoy sharing my personal issues with people. Even sharing my private problems with Maka isn't really enjoyable, but the way she looks at me turns me into a fountain of truth...and that's really not cool.

"Hey, Soul, wanna dance?" familiar, eager, olive eyes turned their focus on me.

With a harsh glare, my crimson orbs pierced the girl's gleam. "No way." Unwrapping my arm from hers, I stuffed my fists into my pants' pockets and walked out the nearest door. Where I was led to was an elegant balcony where the evening air of late spring made its way into my lungs. Though I didn't bother to look back, I could still manage to feel Olive Eyes boring her glare into my snowy hair.

It was about an hour later of standing over the bars of the terrace when I sensed my partner behind me. I was about ready to catch a book with my skull but instead met an expression upon her delicate face that softened my cold outer shell. Maka's brows were twisted into a pained furrow, her globes lacked that shine and confident vibe, and her lips were curled into a frown.

"Soul?"

"Oi, what's wrong with you?" I pivoted myself to face her.

She walked over. Messing with her black choker a little, she spoke, "why won't you dance with me? Look at all the other people. They're all out there on the floor and we're out here." Her absent-minded fidgeting fingers moved to her wrist where she fiddled with her charcoal bracelet. "Come on, I hear that dancing strengthens the bond between partners."

I sighed and looked to the empty streets below. The road lamps were lit and gave a calm ambience. "It's not my thing."

"Oh, really? I hadn't noticed." Maka's sarcastic tone caused me to grunt at her. She looked away and exhaled which relinquished her fury. "Well then, why don't we go to the food table and eat?"

"Eh, don't feel like waiting to get any," I immediately shot back. Again, an irritated breath escaped her lips, thus making her turn her eyes away from me. "Anyway..."

The anger steaming off of the girl could be felt from where I stood. She was staring up at the chuckling moon, chin in hand and elbows leaning onto the balcony railing. "hmm?" Maka didn't take her eyes off of the sky rock.

"You...you like me...a lot, don't you?"

It looked like she stopped breathing. A new heat came off of her body; no, it wasn't fury, but more like humiliation. Her rigid stance turned to gelatin and she turned herself to confront me face-to-face. "Why are you asking that?"

I glared. "Answer the question."

"You idiot! You're so blind! You...you don't see it i-in the way I act?!" Maka's face flushed to a deep red.

"Answer. Yes...or no." My nonchalant attitude was clearly pissing her off.
She slapped her hands to her face as a shield from my gaze and she answered with a smothered volume. "Yes."

Cupping my hand around my ear, I leaned forward. "What's that?"

Her position was unmoving when I was given a replied; she murmured again, "yes, I like you! A lot!" Veering out closer to her with my palm still around my ear, I said 'still can't hear you'. My partner removed her hands from her face and hollered out, "MAKA CHOP!" The text that I was to be assaulted with was instinctively caught in the midst of the swing. Her thin wrist was restrained in my fist and I smirked at her.

"Not this time, Tiny Tits."

"Soul...you're an asshole." Her predator's posture relaxed into a slouch. "And to answer you question, yes, I like you, Soul. I like you a lot. Happy? I said it three goddamned times." A scowl twisted onto her face while a toothy grin morphed onto mine.

"And I heard all of it."

With a foreseen Maka Chop, I endured the attack and watched the smoke emitting from my bashed dome dissipate into the air. "Now it's your turn to play the obvious game. Do you like me, Soul?"

"Cool guys like me don't go for girls with such flat chests like you," her face reddened in fury and another one of her deadly assaults inflicted with her mysterious book was coming my way. "But in this case, since you're the coolest partner ever, your flat chest doesn't bother me." I smirked and watched her face go from total rage to a softer, toothless grin.

"And I wonder why that doesn't make me furious..." Maka laughed at herself. "You just called me flat, and I didn't even Maka Chop you. I swear, Soul, you see what you do to me?"

Leaning back onto the paling of the balcony, I sighed into the evening's atmosphere. "Well, that's a good thing for me. I'm gonna get brain damage if you keep up with those Chops of yours." Maka gave me a slight nudge and giggled. "But in all seriousness, I really do like you a lot, Maka. And I know you're scared that we might end up like your parents if we dated, so I'm willing to wait til you're ready."

Pull.

At the moment I instinctively brought my hand to the center of my chest, Maka did as well. I met my partner's olive eyed gaze and stood there dumbfounded. Then, the sandy blonde waltzed over and embraced me. Following along with the gesture, I absorbed the girl's petite figure in my arms and rested my chin on the top of her head while her peachy cheek settled onto my chest. Maka's hands slowly glided up around my shoulders and onto my neck. Pulling away to see what she was up to, my crimson eyes met her moonlit olives. She looked absolutely amazing; before I knew it, my face was pulled down to hers. Then, our lips timidly touched. It was quick, but it was what I longed for so long. With more confidence, we once again, pressed into a kiss; this time, her lips molded together with mine and we became one. We got a little bit of movement and deepened the moment of the passion.

That's when I heard something inside my head...clink.

We separated ourselves and locked our stare. I spoke first, "did you hear something...?"

Maka shut her eyes and nodded. I pried further to see if she knew what it was, but no words escaped her. She just leaned forward on her toes again and brought her lips to mine; now that the adrenaline and shock disappeared, the tenderness of her against me finally sunk in and it made me feel faint. I was woozy and it was getting hard to stand. It's a good thing I'm leaning up against these rails.

"So does this mean...?" I said after we broke the kiss to gaze at each other. "C-can we...be together?"

Maka sweetly smiled at me. "Mhhm." Her hands dropped to around my waist and her dainty figure fit adjacent to me flawlessly. A realizing whisper shot out of Maka's mouth, "'a sound soul dwells within a sound mind and a sound body'...how could I forget?! Soul, our souls resonated. That only happens if...if our bond with each other is strong...or..." My parter's astonished voice trailed off.

"Or...?" I prompted, but received nothing more than a deeply flushed Maka.
I have a guess as to what that 'or' might be...


love.


And I think that...I may actually be in love with this girl.





When Maka and I finally re-entered the gathering, we were greeted to screams and hysteria. Then suddenly, a blatant boom echoed through the mansion followed by numerous shrieks and gasps. Alarm rapidly raced through my veins and I searched for the source of the trauma alongside my partner. We came across Kid flailing his arms wildly in an attempt to capture and calm the minds of the frantic guests.

"Dammit, Kid! What the hell is going on here?!" I yelled.

As the OCD child tried to tame the crowd, he answered, "A gang decided to crash the party!"

Maka cut in, "what?! Who are they? I didn't even know there was a gang in Shibusen, let alone Death City!" The hostile girl reached up her dress and removed her hidden pistol from the clip holster wrapped around her thigh. "What do you think they want?"

"I doubt they're from Shibusen. I've never seen them before." Kid calmly, yet darkly replied. "Except...that blonde guy...who looks like a priest..."

The assumed leader ripped through the swarm. "Hello everyone. I'm Noah. And this is my gang, also named Noah.You're all our hostages now." The mocha-skinned man tipped his plaid military cap by the two rings that pierced through the left side of the brim. He held all the party-goers at gun-point and made everyone kneel down. "Now, where's the valuable one...? Ahh, there you are." Zeroing in on the boy with the three white streaks in his hair, the gang leader smirked. A terrifying, serene sigh escaped him, "now everyone stay down." All the fearful visitors stayed put with their faces to the floor and shudders rolling down their backs.

I tore my gun from the inner pocket of my jacket and aimed at the approaching man. "No way! Get the hell outta here! You're not touching Kid!" Something eye-opening sped behind me. Is that a...a clown? The thing put me into a head lock and tripped me to knocked me to the ground. "Get off!" I struggled against the freak but I couldn't break loose. A spiky, ginger-haired man wielding a chainsaw took Maka into his restrain causing her to kick and scream at the offender who appeared drunk and lethal. Next, a thin, awkward-looking guy biting his top lip took Kid by the arms and shoved him away to the door and awaited Noah to finish his business.

"We'll be taking the young Shinigami. Send a message to Lord Death for me. If he wants his son back, he'll needa pay up. How much is undetermined at the moment, so you'll be receiving a phone call in several days. Until then, your little friend is mine. Have a good evening." He turned to go; my blood was boiling as I tried to escape the grasp of the clown once more, but failing miserably. "Giriko, Clown, let them go. We'll be off now. Justin, I need you to make sure no curious cat follows us."

The two beings holding Maka and I retreated quickly to their captain and were shielded by a young boy of about seventeen who was dressed as a church minister in black and white. He wielded what appeared to be miniature guillotine blades about his arms. His blue eyes pierced my crimsons and music blasted through the earbuds that represented Shinigami-sama's mask. Wait, wasn't this guy a Deathscythe? The youngest one...what was he doing affiliating himself with this gang?!

"KID! KIIIIIIID!!!!" Liz appeared from a nearby hallway with duct-tape dangling off of her wrists and ankles. Her eyes were beginning to water and she frantically raced to the door. "Where did he go? Who was that? What's going on?" Listening to Liz's voice shake was unsettling. She wasn't usually like this; she held strong and only broke down to fear if it came to paranormal stuff or something. But hearing her nearing a sob could just rip any of us apart.

"There, there, Onee-chan. Kid-kun will be alright. He can fight big bad guys easy! You know that, Sis!" Patty lightly laid her hand on her older sister's shoulder trying to comfort her. After a couple minutes of her nervous break-down, the older Thompson's tears subsided and she stood up straight. "AHAHH~! There ya go, Onee-chan! That's the way to do it! Be strong like Kid-kun! You know he'll be strong for you and me. But definitely you." A goofy giggle left the young sister and brought a blush the the elder sibling's cheeks.

With a sniffle, Liz asked, "now what do we do?"

Blackstar and Tsubaki came dashing our way. "I'M GONNA FIND THIS NOAH GUY AND BEAT THE CRAP OUTTA HIM! NO ONE KIDNAPS MY FRIENDS AND GETS AWAY WITH IT!" The Big Star bursted with anger; don't get me wrong, we were all furious, but Blackstar can't conceal it as well as everyone else can.

"We'll all pitch in to help find Kid-kun! Don't worry Liz, we'll get our friend and your boyfriend back in no time!" Tsubaki tried to lighten up the situation, which somewhat worked, but also deepened the flush upon Liz's embarrassed face.

"H-he's not my boyfriend..." The said Thompson stuttered.

"What? Then why did I see you two kiss in his room earlier?" Blackstar asked, curious. That brought all of our eyes onto Liz. It seemed as though her whole body turned red with humiliation.

"Wh-what were you doing snooping around the mansion?!"

Patty giggled. "He wasn't snooping, Onee-chan! We were playing hide-and-seek~!"

Liz let out a pathetic groan. "Fine, we kissed. But hey! You've been grabbing Tsubaki's ass everyday of this week every time school was let out and you started walking home! What's that about?"

What's this? Kid is kidnapped...or shall I say self-napped...? ACK! This is no time to be making puns! Ugh, our friend is kidnapped and now we're having a confession session?!  "Oh, I guess we forgot to tell you guys! Blackstar and I have been dating since last Saturday! I told him to lay low for a while, which he did a good job at, until he started to, well, grope my rear in public..." Tsubaki's cheeks tinted with a slight rosy hue.

"AND NOW THAT THE CAT IS OUT OF THE BAG, I'M DATING TSUBAKI NAKATSUKASA AND I'M THE HAPPIEST AND MOST GLORIOUS STAR ON EARTH!" Blackstar screamed through the estate.

"I think I have you beat with that happiness, Blackstar." I interrupted his shine. "Maka and I made it official on the balcony before..." I cut myself off reminiscing on the tragic event that took place only moments ago. "Uh...anyway, a cool guy like me deserves a cool girl like Maka."

Liz was grieving on a chair close by with her face in her palms. She was such a wreck, the gossip wasn't even getting to her. Now that definitely shows that something is wrong...by now, she'd be firing questions like a machine gun. "Guys, is this really the time to be talking about being happy?"

"Sorry." We all chanted at the same time.

Tsubaki waltzed over and knelt next to Liz giving her a sympathetic pat on the back. "We can't do much now, Liz-chan. We can only wait for the call and hope for the safety of Kid-kun." Her attention spread to the whole group. "Let's go see Shinigami-sama and tell him what happened." With a nod of agreement from all of us, we flew off to Shibusen.

Maka's eyes widened and she spoke, "where's Crona?!" My newly-labeled girlfriend ran back into the estate as guests made their way out. In a few moments, the girl was back panting and empty handed. She glided to my bike and paused staring at an object that caught her eye.

I walked over and took a peek at what had captured her attention. It was a photograph of her and Crona smiling at the camera from a party that Kid had thrown a while back. She flipped the paper over and saw there was a note attached. The only thing that was written was the letter 'M' in extravagant cursive. "An...an 'M'? Could that mean...?" I muttered.

My partner took in a sharp breath and her eyes widened more--if that was possible. "Medusa."

The rest of the group eventually scurried over to see what the drama was.

"What's going on?" Tsubaki asked.

Liz and Patty cocked their heads to one side. "What's that?"

"LET THE GREAT BLACKSTAR SEE THAT PAPER!"

As if there wasn't enough tension going on tonight. Why was everything happening so fast? First we had to deal with Medusa. We thought she was dead this whole time. We thought that Stein and Spirit had killed her! But with this...this departing note with the letter 'M' etched into it, does that mean she's alive?! What the hell was going on?!


So that evening, with two sobbing girls and a clique of heavyhearted companions, two of our friends disappeared into the night, and we have no clue where they are...this isn't cool...this isn't cool at all...