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Maka clapped the book shut with a huff as a puzzled expression crossed her face. This new technique, Soul Convergence, seemed too complex to grasp. She shook her head, impossible, nothing was too difficult for her.
The book felt purposely vague, and she had yet to find a single professor who knew any more about it. She took a deep breath of confidence, it would bring in new found power if she could master it. She opened the book again and stared at the inscriptions describing how to bond with your partner. How to essentially change the dynamic of your soul resonance.
Usually weapons and their wielders had a technique that worked similar to an amplifier, the power exchange could be explained using music theory. But this new technique seemed to take on something of a sports metaphor. It talked about how it was similar to a match of volleyball.
Soul convergence is when the weapon would send a piece of its soul to the meister and the meister would send a piece of their own back, and then they would volley back-and-forth until the soul power built to an outstanding crescendo.
She let out a hearty groan and laid her forehead against the oak table in the library. This methodology was different from the other forms she had studied, but she was determined to become stronger and deepen her bond.
She flushed slightly and tucked her pigtails behind her ears with a fidget. She wasn’t being too honest with how she was viewing her relationship with Soul lately. She closed her eyes and thought about all the times they had been there for each other.
Then it dawned on her: That's what the secret technique was all about, connecting on a physical level, like a kiss! She sat up with a jolt and remarked aloud, “That can’t be the answer!” She was shushed by a nearby student but that didn’t stop her. “There's no way you could do that kind of thing on the battlefield.” She paused, “Or could you?”
The fellow student shushed her again.
—
She threw herself at Soul when he arrived at the academy to pick her up. He caught her and twirled her around. “Hey Maka!?” Her enthusiasm startled him but it was a welcome change. “What’s got you so excited?”!
Maka bobbed in place on the sidewalk. “I think I figured out the secret technique!”
He rubbed his ears and leaned against his motorcycle. “The one your pops told you not to get involved in?"
She stomped her foot. “Ugh! Don’t bring him up! But yes. Let's go give it a shot!” If she was right and if the connection required a kiss, it made sense why her dad wasn’t too fond of them learning it.
Soul shrugged before replying, “Sure. The field should be clear this time of day.”
They got on the bike and tore off down the street, headed towards the laughing sun over the mountains. Once at their usual spot, they set out into the field.
Maka stretched and hopped in place. She huffed with determination, “Okay! Ready?” She held her hand out to him.
“Ready.” He held out his and they clasped before he transformed into his weapon form.
She kissed the top of the scythe, a quick peck but it was enough to make Soul’s eye blink rapidly by the blade. “Eh?”
That peck was nothing, it had to be a real kiss.
She twirled the staff and scraped the blade through the dirt in an arch. People always said that their technique looked like dancing. She loosened her grip and spun the scythe between her thumbs. “Soul. Dance with me.”
In her mind, she saw them together. They were both dressed to impress and clasped hands to begin a waltz. They smoothly glided across the ballroom as she spun the blade with her eyes closed in the field.
With each rise and fall they met each other, with each step their faces grew closer, his shoulders paired with hers before asking, “Is this the technique?” His wavelength was like fluid between her fingers, resonating wasn’t an issue for them anymore.
He was close to her face, too close, their noses nearly touched and she felt her spine shudder with apprehension. His lips were pulled into a smirk and his eyes were half lidded. She remembered reading a passage from the book: soul resonance- where two become one.
Gracefully in time to the music that filled the air, their feet stepped forward and back, side to side. His face was serene and confident. Their bodies swayed in unison and they twirled around each other. Soul then elegantly dipped her, letting her dress flutter against his suit.
He leaned in close to her and asked, “Is dancing the key?” He pulled her back up and she spun before twirling back into his arms.
Their faces were close again as she swallowed and replied, “Not quite.”
He swayed with her and whispered close to her ear, “Then what is?” His lips brushed against her cheek as he pulled away to complete another step but the thin thread that held her together threatened to break if they continued.
“It-its,” she stammered as they danced to the music within their own private space. He was so close, he was always so close, it flustered her now more than ever.
The music raised to a crescendo, and they came together in a final embrace, their bodies pressed close in harmony but she quickly pulled back. “No! No! No!” She stomped at the earth and broke their dance, revealing the open field again and dropping him to the ground.
“Hey!” The scythe scoffed out as it landed in the dirt.
“Ahhh!” She dug her gloved hands into her temple. “Sorry! Sorry.” She sat in the grass and groaned, “I lost concentration.”
Soul returned to his human form and crouched beside her. “Hey, it's alright,” He patted her shoulder and sighed, “don’t get so worked up okay?” He pulled her chin forward to see her face but she frowned at him. He laughed at her expression which only made her puff out her cheeks.
She tried to move her face away while asking, “What?”
He replied bluntly, “Just say you wanna kiss me, but that you’re too nervous.”
Maka’s pig tails stood on end and she stammered, “I-I-I-!”
Soul’s face was slightly flushed and he was scratching behind his head. “I mean, it feels obvious?”
Maka started hyperventilating. “That's not it at all!”
Soul smirked. “Oh? Isn’t it?”
Maka flustered out a reply, "I-I just-”
He sat forward and quickly kissed her on her trembling lips. She was breathing too hard to return it properly, and instead she let out a small squeak. He started to laugh and pressed his nose against hers. “See? Not so hard.”
Her hair stood out like a puffed up bird as she replied, “Its-its! It's supposed to be done d-during battle!”
He let out a small chuckle and drew out his reply. “Really~?”
“I’m not making it up!”
He put his hands up. “I’m not saying you are.” He laid a quick peck on her lips again and she squeaked again.
“T-that doesn’t count I said-! We need to be battling or-or using it to connect our wavelengths to- volley…um.” She had already forgotten the phrase.
He grinned. “What? We’re fighting right now aren’t we?”
“We are not!” She huffed before Soul shifted backward and grabbed her hands. “What are you-?!” She landed on top of him as he laid in the grass. She quickly blanched and fumbled with her hands, awkwardly sitting on his chest. “Hey?!”
“Hey yourself.” His hands moved to her hips.
She looked around the tree line nervously. “We-we can’t just be kissing in the woods. We-we should study this more!”
He smiled up at her. “Why? Didn't we just master it?”
Maka flushed. “Master it? All we did was kiss????”
He blinked, pretending to be dumb founded. “Oh man, so we didn’t master it? Guess we’ll just have to keep trying.” He waggled an eye brow and shrugged.
She felt a strong urge to chop his face. “You’re doing this on purpose.”
He winked, “Guilty as charged.”
Maka straddled his lap and moved forward to kiss him with a trembling frame. “Just, just stay still.” Before she reached him, his hands circled her waist, gentle yet firm, as he sat her back on the ground.
She felt the grass on her skin and snapped at him, “What?! Hey?!”
He put his hands on her shoulders, and took on a serious tone. “You’re too nervous.”
She grit her teeth. “I am not!”
He stroked the sides of her face to calm her down. “It's not like fighting though. Take it from a cool guy like me, it has to be more deliberate and…gentle.”
Maka balled her hands and pouted, he was right. She took a deep breath and leaned forward to press her forehead against his. “I like dancing…”
He shrugged, “It's like dancing.”
She took a deep breath brushed her lips against his, delicately and slowly, before pulling away to breath again. He stifled a giggle at her reaction and remained still. She brought her lips back against his and he turned his head to press more against her.
She slowly opened her mouth and tried to take it slow, it wasn’t like winning a battle, or cutting through a witch, it was meant to be consuming and purposeful. Heat rose in her cheeks as her tongue touched his and she pulled away in embarrassment and swallowed. “Okay, okay, I’m starting to get it.”
His bangs framed his pink face as he replied, “Are you?”
“Yes!” She huffed back and kissed him again, this time she snaked her hands into his white locks and pulled him forward. He muffled a gasp before melting into her touch. His tongue played across her mouth and she shivered.
She embraced it, it felt like spiderwebs gliding across her skin. It felt like a heavy seal was broken, opening countless doors to new opportunities; but more importantly, it opened Soul Convergence. The sensation coursed through their bodies like electricity as their hands gripped at one another to hold each other in place.
If they could master this in battle they could win any-
The stern melancholy voice of Death the Kid spoke up from the sidelines, "What are you guys doing?"
Maka bolted upright so fast that she shoved Soul's face away and pressed him into the ground. "Wha!? Wha! What!? What are you doing here- Kid? Ah-Haha!" She trembled in embarrassment as he approached, skirted by Patty and Liz.
Soul groaned and spat out dirt before Maka helped him upright. He dusted at his clothes and replied, “Practicing a new technique.”
Patty giggled as Liz replied, smiling with her hand in front of her mouth, “Yes, we could see that.”
-End