Work Text:
Maka had often imagined how her weapon would be. How it would be going on missions together. Fighting together. Living together. She had always contemplated what could go wrong, too. Maybe they were a very complicated weapon and she would have to start all her training over from point 0. Maybe they had vastly different personalities. Maybe they would be extremely disorganized and she would have to clean everything up. The possibilities of what could go wrong were endless. But the one thing she had never considered was her current problem.
Awkward silence.
Maka had never realized that she and Soul – her partner for one week now – had never really been alone. Not until this moment, anyways. But here and now, it was painfully obvious.
When they were in school together she paid attention to the lesson. When they did something after school – it wasn't that often, she had to study after all and had always preferred books over people – it was always together with BlackStar and Tsubaki. Heck, she wouldn't be surprised if her weapon talked more with the blue-haired meister than her. And at the end of the day, each one would go to their own separate houses and only meet again the next day in the DMWA.
But now they lived together.
It hadn't been too bad in the beginning, the stack of moving boxes big enough to make any other possible plans seem ridiculously small in comparison. Then – 12 minutes and 56 seconds ago, to be precise – Soul suggested they take a break. She was glad he did, it was already getting dark and she wouldn't allow them to be late to the DWMA tomorrow. Especially not because the two of them were too tired to get out of bed. And her arms may perhaps have started hurting a bit after all this strain, too. Not that she'd tell him.
It was at that moment that the now exactly 13 minutes of awkwardness started. They sat on the floor of their to-be-kitchen facing each other. And… nothing. As it turned out, the only thing they shared was their incapacity to small-talk and this flat. And since their families were an off-limits topic for both of them, there wasn't much to talk about. Read: nothing.
To be completely honest, she would already have taken out her book a long time ago – botanic was definitely more interesting than this non-existent conversation – if it wasn't for a little but important detail.
He was her weapon. Her partner.
They had to live together. Fight together. Resonate their souls.
They had to literally trust each other with their lives in the field. They had to depend on each other.
Maka Albarn had to trust and depend on a man.
She had questioned herself again and again ever since the night they met. Men couldn't be trusted. They didn't know what loyalty means. They only thought with the head in their pants. So why did she choose a male? Why did she choose him?
Well, even if she did regretted her decision – which she didn't, if there was one thing she didn't do it was mistakes. Not if the stakes were that high – it was too late to turn back.
Might as well do the best of it.
"Uhmm… Where did you live before… here?"
Her voice was quiet. Cautious. Family wasn't a welcome theme, but this had to be okay. How could they ever hope to form a bond if they didn't know anything about each other?
He only rolled his eyes and sighed.
"None of your business"
Maka took a calming breath. He certainly wasn't making this any easier.
It was so much simpler with BlackStar. On the rare occasion they weren't wrestling together, he would just scream around about being a god, making no place for any tense silences. Actually, he screamed about being a god during their matches, too. It wouldn’t be BlackStar if he didn’t howl around. If they had a problem, they would just take it out on one another and be done with it. It was easy and simple.
She looked at Soul, all hunched over and looking into oblivion. He didn't seem in the mood for a little match. And it probably wasn't smart to start one in the middle of their new house, too.
But BlackStar was a boy. Just like Soul. Sure, their personalities were a bit different, but they had to be somehow similar. Deep down.
She thought back to her time with BlackStar. He was eccentric and cocky, but she knew she could trust her blue-haired childhood friend. What did they do besides hitting each other and training together and…
Oh.
How could she have forgotten it?!
When they were about ten, BlackStar invented a game. 'I Dare You'. It was simple and dumb and unnecessary. And they had played it nonstop. One – mostly her – would dare the other – mostly him – to do something stupid and they had to do it, no matter what it was. That was the game. It had worked great for them, he could inflate his already gigantic ego and she could make him willingly do stupid things.
She looked at Soul, who was now staring at the floor instead of the ceiling. He didn't seem like the type to do stupid things just because. But… what did she have to lose? As dumb as it was, she and BlackStar had had lots of fun with it. And it was definitely better than staying in this awkward silence.
"Hey, Soul, do you want to play 'I Dare You'?"
He looked at her questioningly. She was still getting used to his bloodred eyes. Not necessarily in a bad way. They just were… different. Maybe that was the reason she had picked him. Because he was different, too. And Maka loved a good puzzle.
"One asks a question. The other either answers honestly or has to do a dare of the other's choosing."
It was a bit different than BlackStar's version, but now she could ask him questions without it being too suspicious. And they could get to know each other better, of course.
Maybe she could learn to trust him. With this dumb game she used to play as a kid.
He wasn't looking very convinced, so she decided to make the first move.
"I'll start. Uhm… what are you thinking right now?"
"I'm thinking that this game is stupid"
Awkward silence again. It almost seemed that he was opposed to making this work. Which was completely stupid because their whole scholarly career depended on this partnership.
She let her gaze wander towards the clock hanging across from her.
Tick Tok.
Tick Tok.
After exactly 2 minutes and 53 seconds – which felt way longer than they had any business being – the quiet was interrupted again. This time by an overdramatic sigh from her weapon.
"Alright, fine. What were you doing in the music room? When we met?"
He was looking her straight in the eyes. Those red, red eyes.
It took her an embarrassing amount of time to realize it. Was he… actually playing?
And why, of all questions he could ask, did he have to choose this one?
"You forgot to say ‘I dare you'"
But it had been her idea to play and she wasn't going to chicken out in the first question already.
He looked at her with a clearly annoyed look on his face before sighing again. He sure did that a lot.
"Okay. I dare you to say what you were doing there."
She sighed. Her hopes that he magically would choose another question had been pretty pointless, after all.
"I was just passing by when I heard you playing and decided to enter."
Well, it was the truth. He was the reason she entered the music room. But she knew that wasn't his question. The music room was in an almost empty hall. No classrooms. No bathrooms. Just the music room and the teachers' lounge. Normally a student wouldn't have any reasons for going there. Other than playing music, of course. But both knew she was so unmusical it was almost embarrassing.
It was barely the second round and she was already half-regretting suggesting this game. Couldn't she have searched for her UNO-Cards instead?
Well, nothing she could do now. It would be unfair if she was the only one asking daring questions, after all.
"I was looking for the list saying who is which weapon."
She tried saying it as nonchalantly as possible.
It obviously didn't work. His eyes widened. For a moment all he could do was stare at her in bewilderment. He seemed to be genuinely surprised.
"What?! Isn't it forbidden? Can't believe the perfect little miss bookworm was doing something she shouldn't."
His incredulous expression gave way to a shit-eating grin she was sure she would get to see a lot more often. She repressed the urge to take her book out for an entirely different reason than reading.
Maka-Chop isn't the answer. You are getting to know each other. This is not how you make friends. Maka-Chop is not the answer.
"I'm a scythe master. I wanted to partner up with a scythe. And it isn't explicitly stated anywhere that it is forbidden. It just isn't encouraged to choose a weapon only because of their other form. You are supposed to choose them for who they are and not what."
"That sounds like the advice of a bad self-help book"
Oh yeah, he would definitely become good friends with her Maka-Chop. Though she couldn't completely smother her snickers. It was kind of true…
They stayed silent for a while, smiles still in their faces. But it wasn't awkward or tense this time. Her plan had worked. Maka's smile became smug. Of course it did. She knew she didn't make any mistakes with the stakes that high.
"Did you… did you only partner up with me because I'm a scythe?"
His easy-going smile was gone, replaced with a serious expression. He was staring right at her. With his piercing red eyes. Yeah… definitely good different.
"No! Didn't I just tell you that I was on my way there when I met you? I didn't even see it. And you forgot to say 'I dare you' again."
She was relieved when his smile returned again. He opened his mouth, probably to ask something else or grumble at her, but she interrupted before he could even say a single word. The game had been created for her to interrogate him, after all.
"My turn. I dare you to tell me the name of the song you played. When we first met."
It wasn't exactly a personal question, but it was probably better to start slow. And she really had liked it. Maybe she could add it to her reading playlist.
"It doesn't have a name. I composed it."
It was her turn to look surprised. He had composed it himself? Now that she thought about it, it did make sense. He obviously liked to play a lot, going through the work of finding the barely used music room. And the song. It had been… different. Different than anything she had ever heard before. Different like his bloodred eyes. Different like him.
She remembered his words before he started playing.
This is who I am
"Soul."
"What?"
"That's what you should call it. The song, I mean. Soul. It is supposed to represent you, right? So what name could suit better?"
He stayed silent for a while before nodding.
"You know what? Not bad, nerd. Not bad at all. I like it. The song is called Soul, then."
She decided to ignore his stupid nickname. For now.
"Did you do the song on the spot? Like, go with the flow or something?"
He got silent again.
"You forgot to say 'I dare you'."
The shit-eating grin was back.
But she couldn't shake the feeling that this question made him uncomfortable. Like the first one had made her. Maybe he was hoping she'd give up on this one, like she had, too. But if she had had to answer, so would he.
"Ok, I dare you to tell me if you made the song up on the spot."
"I didn't make the rules"
"Neither did I"
"Who was it then?"
Changing the topic? This was practically a confirmation for her earlier thoughts. Somehow this seemingly innocent question had hit a nerve.
"You-"
"I dare you to tell me who made this stupid game"
But if they wanted to be successful partners, they had to get to know each other. To let their walls down.
"I actually wanted to say that you didn't answer my question yet. But good that you are learning."
"Oh”
Silence.
"Unless you want to do the dare?"
He rolled his eyes and sighed.
"No, I didn't do it on the spot. Or go with the flow. You think I'm some kind of musical prodigy or something?"
The laugh that followed was bitter.
"…I think that you are pretty good on the piano."
That seemed to take him by surprise. She didn’t understand why. Surely he must know how impressive it was to compose such a song? She would be completely lost between all those identical keys.
"Really?"
She nodded.
"…I dare you to tell me what you really thought of it."
She rolled her eyes jokingly, but the smile on her face gave her away.
"I just told you, didn't I? It was pretty good. Beautiful. Different, but beautiful. It made me feel things like no other song I ever heard before"
"What do you listen to? Normally."
How did this conversation even get to music? She didn't like to talk about her favorite band. Everyone always laughed. Sure, the music wasn't that great and a bit mainstream, but she liked it.
Well, it was better to prepare him since the beginning. No one had stopped her from listening to it until now, and Soul wouldn't be the exception.
"…The Pon Pon Dance"
"Never heard of them. What genre are they?"
"Techno. I think. But you wouldn't like them. Not your style."
"You barely know me."
"I literally listened to your soul. And we live together. I'd say I know you at least a little bit."
"We're roommates for not even a day. And I really hope that wasn't a very bad pun with my name."
"…no. And even if not, nobody likes them."
He rolled his eyes, but a little smile grazed his lips.
"Ok, my turn. I dare you to tell me why you decided to become a scythe meister. "
What was wrong with her? This was supposed to be her interrogating him! Not the other way around!
"…pass"
"You sure?"
She sighed. She really didn't want to be the first one to do a dare. But she only knew him for a day.
She wasn't ready to dump her whole dysfunctional family drama on him.
"Yeah, just tell me the dare already"
"Ok. Uhm… show me this 'Pong Pong Dance' band"
"It's 'The Pon Pon Dance'!"
She went to get her music player. When she came back, Soul was still in the same position she'd left him. She wondered which song he'd probably like the most, before shrugging and choosing one of her favorite singles. He wanted to know her musical taste, after all. And he hadn't been lying when he said that they didn't know each other that well yet.
She was singing the lyrics – they lived together now. Her singing surely wouldn't be the most embarrassing thing he'd see of her – when, shortly before the refrain would start, the music abruptly stopped.
"I can't believe that you willingly listen to this."
"Shut up, I told you that you wouldn't like it. And why did you stop it now? The best part was just coming!"
He only stared at her.
"There is a good part?”
The desire to hit his laughing face with one of her beloved tomes had never been so big.
“Sorry to say, nerd, but this is awful. Surpassed all my worst expectations."
Her fingers twitched towards her trusty and very thick book. But she held herself back.
This was going well. She wouldn't ruin it. She didn't know of any other scythes in the DWMA. What good was a scythe meister without a scythe?
She took another calming breath. He would learn soon enough not to call her that. And stop insulting her taste, while he was at it. Just maybe not on their first night as flatmates.
"Ok. What do you listen to, then?"
"Actual Music, other than- Hey! What are you doing with that book?!"
Forget it. They were already on ‘Pon Pon Dance’-basis anyways. She'd ignored his side jabs for way too long.
"Maka-Chop!"
He stared at her with wide eyes while desperately trying to keep all the blood inside his head. And he better succeed. If he already dirtied their floor on the first night...
"What the fuck, Maka! What's wrong with you?!"
She would've felt regret if he didn't deserve it.
"That was rude."
"You hitting me with the…'the big encyclopedia of botanic' is rude! Do you actually read this or do you just own this to hit others with?"
"You forgot to say ‘I dare you’"
His look was comical.
"I didn't make the rules"
"Who did, actually?"
Before she could even properly open her mouth, he interrupted her.
"Ok, I dare you to tell me who made the rules of this game."
She smiled. He seemed to be a quick learner. Good.
"BlackStar"
"The guy with blue hair screaming about being a god."
„He's a bit… unusual."
"He's cool. Ho- I dare you to tell me how you two met. I wouldn't believe that you were friends if I hadn't seen it myself"
"We did a lot together when we were kids. And what do you mean with that?!"
He decided to ignore her question. Probably remembering the thick and very painful book still in her hands.
"Ah. Childhood friends. Did your parents know each other or something?"
Silence.
Soul was her roommate. Her weapon. Her partner. He was… nice. Now that they were actually talking to each other. She genuinely liked him. A lot, even. But… was she ready to dump her not so merry dysfunctional family story on him? How her father was a pathetic cheater? How the last letter she got from her mother was already two months old?
No. Maybe someday. But not today.
"It's late. We should go to bed. I wasn't kidding when I said that I won't allow us to be late tomorrow"
"You didn't answer my question"
"You didn't say 'I dare you'"
Maka stood up and straightened her skirt.
They'd already moved most of the boxes. She was actually talking to her weapon. She wasn't going to bed in unearthly hours. Altogether, she could call it a very successful day.
She was about to enter her new room when Soul stopped her.
"Hey, Maka?"
"Yeah?”
"You're pretty cool"
She stared at him surprised. A small smile made way to her face.
"You're pretty cool, too"
He smirked.
"I know"
She rolled her eyes.
"Of course you do. But you should go to bed, too. I was really serious when I said that we won't be late tomorrow.”
"Yeah, yeah"
She faced her room again.
"Good night, Soul."
If she wasn't turning her back to him, she would've seen the small smile grazing his lips.
"Good night, nerd"
oOo
"I can't believe we are literally an hour early to class."
"How often do I have to repeat myself? I told you that I wouldn't allow us to be late! It's better to be safe than sorry!"
"Do you know why we are the only ones here, Maka? Because no one is crazy enough to wake up at bloody five a.m.!"
"If you don't stop complaining I will Maka-Chop you!"
"With a bit luck you'll knock me out and I can at least sleep a bit more."
"Shinigami, you're insufferable in the morning!"
"Not my fucking fault if you decided it was a good idea to wake up at fucking 5 a.m.!"
"It was 5.15, stop exaggerating. And that was good, too, because you need forever in the bathroom! Besides, if you had told me that you have a motorcycle we could have gone a bit later!"
"Ok, so now it's my fault?!"
Maka took a deep breath. She almost regretted giving him his morning coffee. Before that, he may have been too tired to properly function, but at least he had been too tired to complain, too. But after two cups with so much sugar it could hardly be called coffee anymore, he couldn't stop anymore. It had only gotten worse when they had to go up the huge stairs in front of the school.
"No, Soul, look-"
"I need my beauty sleep, Maka"
She had to hold back a laugh. By now she knew him enough to know that that last comment had been completely serious. She sighed. And that he wasn't finished. Hopefully, it would at least stop during their classes…
Well, hopefully for him. If she couldn't pay attention because of his whining, he would have a very painful encounter with her thickest school book.
She took a calming breath and waited for the endless complaints that were sure to come-
And was positively surprised when they didn’t come. Nothing. Just blissful sweet silence
Finally.
"I can't belie-"
She sighed. And just when she thought he was done for today. If he did this drama every morning, she woul-shit.
No. Please no. But that ugly and vain soul could only belong to one person. A person she didn't have the nerves for right now. Or ever, really. And he was going straight towards them.
"SHHH!"
Soul looked so insulted for being interrupted mid-sentence it was almost funny. He opened his mouth again, probably complain some more, but her hand over his mouth made that impossible.
Instead, she took the boy's hand and dragged him behind a bush.
"Be quiet!"
And not a second too soon. In the next moment, a red-headed man in a suit passed their hiding spot.
"Please don't see us. Please don't see us. Please don't see us. Please don't see us."
Her partner looked at her strangely, but thankfully didn't comment on it.
It seemed to be working. Thank Shinigami. Spirit Albarn was going straight to the school without even glancing at their hiding spot. Maka sighed in relief. She really didn't have the nerve to listen to her pathetic papa at the moment.
He was literally on the doorway - just one more step and they could leave their hiding place. She frowned at her school uniform - now covered in dirt. But dirty clothes were definitely better than an encounter with her pitiful excuse of a father.
And then he stopped.
Maka cursed under her breath. She shouldn't have jinxed it.
"Aaaaahhhh. Today is a beautiful day, isn't it?"
At least he hadn't found them. But having to listen to one of his self-talks was almost as bad.
"Is he talking to himself?!"
She didn't even glance at her partner.
"Yeah, he is a weirdo. Now be quiet!"
"You just talked way louder than I did!"
Maka rolled her eyes. Shinigami, a Soul in the morning was something she didn't even wish upon her worst enemies.
She turned towards her grumpy partner to tell him to be quiet for Shinigami's sake, did he want that creep to find them? But before she could even say a single word, she felt something... shift.
Shit.
Maka braced herself. She unfortunately knew exactly what would happen now.
The once composed man practically broke down. Suddenly he looked more like a hormonal teen than the death scythe of Shinigami himself. One could almost see the hearts in his eyes.
"I wonder how Maka-chan is doing! Living all alone for the first time!"
Soul looked at her with furrowed brows, but she ignored him.
"I can't believe she partnered up with a boy. If he even looks at her…"
The killing intent could be felt in their hiding spot.
Forget what she thought earlier, she would wish grumpy Soul upon her papa any day.
"MAKAAAAAAAA-CHAAAAANN! I miss you so much! I'm sorryyyy!"
The disgust was clear on her face.
If he loved her so much, why did he cheat on mama? Why did he break her heart? Again and again and again? If he cared about them so much, why was he so self-centered he drove her into leaving?
He drove her family apart. And that was unforgivable.
Thankfully he decided to continue his little episode inside the school. She could still hear his gushings echoing through the school.
When he was finally out of earshot, she left her hiding place. Soul followed.
"I dare you to tell me who the fuck that weirdo is and why he knows you."
She sighed.
"Are we still playing?"
"We never stopped."
"Fair enough."
Would it be that bad to tell him? BlackStar knew it anyway and it would be hard to hide the fact if papa kept following her around while gushing about the perfect daughter she was.
But she knew that her answer would only raise more questions. Questions about her family. Questions she wasn't ready to answer.
She sighed. Again. It seemed Soul was already rubbing off on her.
"What do you want me to do?"
He raised a brow.
"You sure?"
"Just say it already."
"…You know, we have been partners for over a week now and I still haven't seen you without your piggy tails…"
It was a very arduous day between Soul's snickers every time she complained about her hair on her face, BlackStar's constant teasing, and having to hide from her papa. At least BlackStar had been sensitive for once and hadn't spilled the beans about her pathetic family member.
oOo
"Gimme!"
"NO! My turn!"
"We already had to watch your boring stuff yesterday! And today is the FINALE! I have to watch it!"
"It's all just explosions anyways! Give it to me!"
It had become a normal picture in the Maka-Soul household. Them fighting over the remote control. She wanted to see an actually interesting quiz-show while he only wanted to watch some stupid action series where the only thing worth seeing was the exploding buildings. And cars. And streets. There were a lot of explosions.
"Ha! My turn!"
Maka was raising the remote like a trophy. It sure had its benefits to be the one doing the fighting. They hadn't killed any kishin yet, but she was training like crazy for the day they finally could take on their first missions.
"Well, Soul. Sorry, but –"
She stopped mid-sentence. Maka had wanted to rub it in his face, but he wasn't looking defeated. In fact, he didn’t even seem annoyed. On the contrary, he had a victorious glint in his eyes. Something was horribly wron-
"I dare you to tell me who made 'Serse'!"
"What?"
"You heard me! I dare you to tell me who wrote 'Serse'!"
For a moment all she could do was stare at him dumbfounded.
"Wha-that's cheating! I have no way of knowing that!"
"No, it's not. I even said 'I dare you'. And it's not my fault if you're uncultivated! Just admit it! Admit that you were beaten in your own game!"
She glared, but had no choice but accepting defeat. As much as she hated to admit it, he technically was right.
But she wouldn't go down without a fight.
"Never! It is… I don't know. Uhmmm… Mozart? Ooooor… Bach?"
"I can't believe my partner doesn't know who Händel is. Such a blasphemous act must be punished. Maka Albarn, hand over the remote control."
"That- That's not how this game works!"
"Just hand it over, Maka. It starts- Fuck! It started a minute ago! Gimme! Admit your loss already!"
She sighed and handed over the controller.
"You are so going to regret this, Soul Eater."
oOo
They were on the sofa again. It had somehow become the most important furniture in the flat. If they weren't cooking or in their rooms, it was there that one would find them. Maka sometimes even allowed them to eat there.
It was where they were now, too. Soul, who had started another show, was occupying almost the whole sofa while Maka, reading as always, kept kicking his legs off her lap.
"Hey, Soul."
He made an undefinable grunt, which she took as a cue to continue.
"We just had dinner, right?"
"Thank me for the food after the episode is over."
"I wasn't going to thank you for the food."
She decided to ignore his mutterings about 'unthankful roommates' and got to the point.
"What I was going to do, was to point out that someone has to do the dishes."
"I'm not standing up."
"Me neither."
They were staring at each other now. A foreboding silence, only interrupted by the explosions in the TV, had taken over their home.
"I dare y-"
But Maka Albarn was prepared. She had promised revenge after the remote incident. And there was no better opportunity than now.
"Idareyoutotellmewhichisthebestmonthfortulipstobloominafrica"
"What?"
"You admit that I was first?"
He smartly admitted defeat and nodded.
"I dare you to tell me which is the best month for tulips to bloom in Africa"
"What even? I don't know! Uh… July?"
"Trick question! Tulips don't bloom in Africa! It's too hot for them, there."
"Hey! Not fair!"
"I didn't break any rules. Go whine to the dishes."
He stood up and painfully slowly made his way to the kitchen. Maka couldn't keep the victorious smile from her face. Oh, sweet revenge.
oOo
"Hey. It's dumb to decide whose time it is to do the chores through a game every time something has to be done. Let's just do it in turns"
"Yeah, ok. Your turn."
"But I already washed all your dirty clothes yesterday!"
"And I washed the dishes. Your turn."
They glared at each other. If this wasn't a stalemate, he didn't know what it was. Soul could only see one solution to their current problem.
"I dare you to tell me who composed 'Requiem'. And do the chores!"
"Didn't we just say that we won't choose who does the chores with this game?"
"C'mon, Maka. No chickening out."
"I'm not chickening out!"
An evil smirk appeared on her face. Soul got the feeling he just made an awful mistake.
"It was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1791"
He sighed in defeat.
"…why do you know that."
"I read a book. To prepare for situations like this one"
"…Of course you did"
Why did his partner have to be the biggest bookworm of the whole DWMA again?
"Now go wash the dishes. Tomorrow is my turn"
oOo
One week.
In one week she and Soul would pick their first mission.
Maka had looked forward to this day her whole life. Excitement was an underestimation for what she was feeling. She finally would be able to follow her mother's footsteps. To begin the journey that would end with Soul becoming a deathscythe.
So she trained. And trained. And trained.
The only time she would take a break was when Soul dared her to. Which was becoming continuously harder, since every break she would read about musicians and classical music. Maybe he'd have to change the genre…
But, as long as she still made all her chores and took a break every now and then, he couldn't be mad.
That was until they learned about 'Soul Resonance', anyways. And suddenly Maka didn't leave him alone anymore.
"C'mon, Soul. Let's try one more time!"
"I don't want to."
"But imagine how awesome it would be if we mastered it before our first mission."
"I'm sure you can handle yourself without it. Since you've been training nonstop for a week."
"But Soul-"
"Leave me alone, Maka"
"Bu-"
"Maka. Stop."
"Soul…"
"Go read or train or something. I don't want to do it. You can't force me. Just let go."
"I dare you to tell me why you don't want to resonate!"
If looks could kill, she would be a cold corpse on the ground.
"Maka, no."
"Soul, we are going to have to resonate sooner or later. Why are you so reluctant?"
"I- I don't want to, okay?! I don't want you to feel what I feel. To hear what I think. To be me. It's super uncool."
Silence.
"Look, I know that it's scary. And it isn't easy for me either. But if we want to be successful, we'll have to do it sooner or later. And for what it's worth. If I had to choose someone to resonate with, it would be you. I know you won't go too far and pry on my personal stuff. And I promise I won't, either. We are partners. We have to trust each other."
He just stared at her. She didn't know how long, could've been minutes or hours or an eternity, before he finally nodded.
"Okay. But just this once."
oOo
Weapon and meister stared at the red soul floating in front of them.
Their first mission. Their first kishin.
Maka was still gasping for air. Their victim hadn't been very strong, but agile. And incredibly fast. The hardest part had actually been to catch up to it. The fight after had been surprisingly dull in comparison.
Her adrenaline rush was slowly leaving her. Her legs were hurting from some scratches and bruises she caught on the run and simply the exhaustion of running at full speed for hours. But it did nothing to subdue the pure elation and pride she was feeling.
They did it.
Their first successful mission.
Their first killed kishin.
They did it!
She looked over to her partner, who was still looking at the soul with furrowed brows.
"Am I really supposed to eat that?"
"Yeah!"
He smirked at her breathless tone.
"He really did a number on you, huh"
She only laughed. She didn't think she could be mad at him if she wanted.
She couldn't have done it without him. Her weapon. Her partner.
She had been so focused on locating the kishin's soul, she had been completely oblivious to anything happening in her close vicinity. Without his constants warnings, she probably would've tripped and broken her neck before even getting close to it or something embarrassing like that.
"Do you want me to dare you to eat it?"
She was glad. Glad she met him. Chose him. Glad they were partners.
He laughed and shook his head.
"This game is stupid."
Then he took the soul in his hand and stuffed the whole thing into his mouth.
"Neat! Now we only need 99 more and you can turn into a deathscythe!"
He chuckled at her enthusiasm. She said it as if they were actually close to doing it.
"You know what, Soul?"
"Hm?"
Here. In the aftermath of their first accomplished mission. After their first won fight. Their first step towards turning her weapon into a deathscythe.
Here and now, Maka realized that she trusted him. Wholeheartedly.
"You were right."
"I know. I always am. But what are you specifically talking about?"
She only rolled her eyes.
She really was willing to depend on this sarcastic and sometimes very annoying weapon.
"This game is stupid. We don't need it anymore."
If this mission had proven anything, it was that she trusted him blindly. Trusted him with her life. Literally.
He stared at her wordlessly. A small smile was making way to his face. She hadn't really noticed until now, but he had a little dimple on his left cheek.
"Yeah, we're way too cool for this stupid game. Partner."
She laughed.
"Hey Soul?"
"Hm?"
"I'm really glad that we are partners."
"…me too."