I read like three FFās about Soul Eater and all of a sudden Iām pulled right back in!
Maka finished with her current customer and then moved to stand to Tsubaki.Ā Ā āHey, you see the person in the corner?ā
Tsbubaki glances up before returning to the form sheās working on.Ā Ā āWhat about him?ā
āHeās been her a lot lately.ā
The dark haired woman giggles.Ā Ā āSo?Ā We get a lot of the same people here.ā
āYeah, but heāsĀ weird,ā Maka says.
āHeās always staring.āĀ The blonde looks over again and watches as he barely avoids eye contact with her.Ā Ā
It had been that way for almost two weeks now.Ā Heād come in with the hood up on his black sweatshirt, headphones peaking out from around his neck, stocking cap pulled down to cover his features, with his black boots and scruffy jeans, and order a black coffee with cream that he would sit in the corner and nurse for about an hour before leaving.Ā He never looked her in the eye, he never said a word more than his order, and all heād do while he was there was try to stealthily watch the counter from his spot.Ā She didnāt even know what he looked like under all those dark clothes.
āMaybe heās just not comfortable around people,ā Tsubaki suggested.Ā When her phone pinged, she pulled it out to check it.Ā Ā āStein got caught up and said heāll be back in an hour.Ā Do you mind if I go take my break quick?ā
āSure, go ahead,ā Maka said.Ā Since it was slow, she moved to clean up the counter.Ā She was halfway done when there was suddenly a commotion at the front door.Ā A man with bright blue hair entered, talking loudly on his phone.Ā Maka glared at him, and as soon as he met her eye, his entire demeanor changed.Ā He tensed up and the hand holding his phone slowly dropped.Ā His mouth was hanging open, and Maka wondered what was wrong with him.
āCan I help you?ā she asked.
āUh... yeah.āĀ He slowly walked forward as he ordered a plain black coffee.Ā When it was finished, she held it out to him, but he didnāt take it.Ā She looked up and found him staring at her.Ā Ā
āIs something wrong?ā she asked.
āUh... I donāt... well, I guess thereās a thing.āĀ He began to ramble a bit, and Maka was surprised that she began to feel like she knew him from somewhere.Ā She was certain sheād never met him before, but for some reason, a part of her felt like she had.Ā Almost like he was an old friend...
āNo, no, nothing.Ā Iāll just be taking that, thanks.āĀ He grabbed the coffee from the counter and made a beeline for the back corner, where the strange man in the dark clothes still sat.Ā Ā
She watched them begin to urgently start whispering to eachother, and every time the blue haired one would start getting loud, the other would hurriedly shush him until he was quiet again.Ā Maka looked around and noticed that none of the other customers were paying any attention to the pair, so she returned to her cleaning.
Tsubaki returned shortly after, and Maka decided to take her break as well.Ā The break room had been commandeered by Stein for an experiment, so Maka took her book outside to one of the tables on the patio.Ā There was a bit of a bite to the wind that day, so the tables were empty and quiet.Ā Sheād only been reading for a few minutes when she heard whispers.Ā Ā
She looked up after a while and found the blue haired man and his friend near the front door arguing quietly.Ā They werenāt as quiet anymore, and since she was blocked off from most of the wind where she was sitting, she managed to make out some of their conversation.
ā...spitting image...ā
ā... canāt just ask...ā
āDonāt be a wuss, just ask her!
āOh for Peteās sake!āĀ The blue haired man suddenly shouted.Ā Ā āJust go ask!ā
Maka sighed and closed her book before drawing their attention her way.Ā Ā āDo you two need something?ā
Since she was sitting, she could finally see some of the other guyās face.Ā It was still in shadow, so she couldnāt make out the features too well, but she could tell that he looked uncertain, possibly even scared or sad.
The blue haired man sighed loudly and then grabbed his friends arm to drag him over.Ā Ā āWha- wait!Ā Star!ā
That niggling feeling that she knew the blue haired man started again and she wondered again where she might have seen him before.Ā Ā āListen,ā the man, Star, said.Ā Ā āThe only way to know is to ask.ā
āWe wanted to know if youāre Maka Albarn,ā Star asked.
Makaās grip on her book tightened.Ā Ā āI am... why?Ā Do I know you?ā
Star seemed surprised by her response, but that quickly turned to loud disbelief.Ā Ā āWhat kind of question is that?!Ā How could you forget the great Black Star!Ā Weāve only known each other for like ever.Ā And Iām me!Ā No one can forget me!ā
āIām sorry, but I donāt recognize you.āĀ Even as she said the words, that feeling grew a little stronger, that she knew him from somewhere.Ā What was worse, now that she could see the other manās face a little better, she was almost certain she recognized him, too.
The other man tugged on his friends arm.Ā āStar, just leave it, she obviously doesnāt-ā
āHow could you not remember ME?!Ā Thatās not possible!ā
āStar, knock it off man.ā
āIf it makes you feel any better, I donāt remember a lot from when I was younger,ā Maka said.Ā Star was loud, but she didnāt feel threatened by either of the men, so she decided to try and get to the bottom of what was happening.Ā Ā āI was in an accident when I was twelve and I lost a lot of my earlier memories.Ā I used to live with my papa, but after the accident, I went to stay with my mama.Ā Did I know you back then?ā
āYeah!Ā We used to go to school together, and this dunderhead joined us the year before the accident!Ā There was also Kid, Liz, Kilik-ā
āThatās enough, Star, letās go.āĀ The other man tried once more to convince his friend to leave.Ā Ā āShe doesnāt remember, so letās just go.ā
āWait.āĀ Maka cocked her head, trying to see the other manās face better.Ā Ā āIs that why youāve been coming here?Ā Because you recognized me.ā
Star answered for him.Ā Ā āYeah, and today he finally told me about you and asked me to come check you out for him.ā
āExcuse me?ā Maka asked.
āNot like that!āĀ The gruff voice came out high pitched but he got it under control quickly.Ā Ā āI just... thought maybe I was wrong.Ā You never gave any indication that you recognized me so I-ā
āWell youāve always hid your face,ā Maka said.Ā Ā āKind of hard to recognize you if I canāt see you.ā
āWell let her see you!ā Star exclaimed.Ā Before the other man could argue, Star grabbed the bill of his cap and ripped it off, removing the hood as well.Ā Maka briefly took in his messy white hair and sharp teeth before her gaze locked with his and she found herself drowning in familiar red depths...
āHey Maka, this is Soul!āĀ Maka looked up as Blake introduced the new kid, a white haired kid with red eyes and the worst posture sheād ever seen.
The kid nodded and then sat down across from her at the table as Blake began to ramble on about his newĀ āfollower.ā
āSoul, donāt eat that!ā Maka snatched the wooden spoon out of Soulās hand before he could eat any of the cookie dough off of it.Ā Ā
āBut Maka, whatās the point of making cookie dough if youāre not going to eat it?ā he whined.
āWeāre being graded on this, Soul!Ā You canāt eat the dough before weāve made any cookies with it!ā
Liz joined Maka at their lunch table and leaned towards her.Ā Ā āSo?Ā Got an answer for me?ā
Maka sighed.Ā Ā āSoul is pretty sure Kid is asexual, so no, he doesnāt like you.ā
āWhat?Ā What do you mean, heās pretty sure?Ā Did he even ask him?ā
āI donāt know,ā Maka answered.
āMakaaaaa, youāre not helping!ā
The blonde shrugged.Ā Ā āI donāt know what you want me to do.ā
āThe same thing I did!Ā My research!ā
Maka lowered her book.Ā Ā āResearch on what?ā
āWhether or not Soul likes you,ā Liz answered.
Ignoring the heat creeping into her cheeks, Maka casually lifted her book back up.Ā Ā āI donāt care if he does.ā
Liz grinned.Ā Ā āOh really?ā
A few minutes later, as the others were finally making their way over, Maka glanced over at Liz.Ā Ā āDoes he?ā
āI knew you wanted to know.ā
āThanks for taking me to the dance,ā Maka said as she wrapped her arms around herself.Ā They were hiding behind a cluster of trees near the front door to say goodbye.Ā Makaās father we overprotective to the max and refused to let Maka have male friends, and she knew heād throw a fit if he saw her leave the dance with a boy.Ā Ā
Soul shrugged, looking as bored as always.Ā Ā āItās no big deal.Ā You wanted to go and I didnāt have anything else to do.ā
Maka huffed and looked around.Ā Ā āWell, with everyone else being here, Iām not surprised.ā
He shrugged again.Ā Ā āIt got me out of hanging out with Wes again, so itās a win-win in my book.āĀ Ā
Maka frowned but before she could comment, she realized that Soul was blushing.Ā He seemed preoccupied and was twitchy, not at all like his usual self.Ā Ā āIs something wrong?ā she asked.
āNo,ā he answered too quickly.Ā Ā āUh, no, I was just...āĀ He glanced at her and looked away again as his cheeks turned an even darker shade of red.Ā Ā āItās nothing.ā
āSoul, itās obviously something.Ā Tell me.ā
He shook his head.Ā Ā āItās not.Ā Here, better not be late,āĀ He shoved her out from behind the trees, within clear view of her father.Ā Ā āSee you at school,ā he said and then left.
There was a loud ringing in her ears.Ā Maka tried to open her eyes, but one of them was covered in some sort of liquid and the other was too fuzzy to see out of.Ā Ā
āMaka!Ā Oh my baby, Maka!Ā Maka, can you hear me?!ā
āPapa?āĀ She gasped as she finally started to feel the pain.Ā Ā āOw ow ow...ā
āMaka!Ā I got you baby, I got you.ā
āSoul...āĀ Maka whispered.Ā As tears filled her eyes, she threw herself into his arms.Ā
Sheād forgotten so much.Ā Sheād forgotten her school, her classmates, her house, even her father.Ā Her mother had taken her away to travel with her, and sheād been haunted by that hole in her chest, where everything she had cared about had just vanished from.Ā Sheād hoped and prayed that some day she could fill it again, whether with something new or find those memories once more.
āMaka... damn it I missed you,ā he murmured into her hair as he wrapped his arms around her.Ā Ā āI missed you so much.ā
āI missed you, too.āĀ She hadnāt had a name for it, hadnāt even know what it was that she was missing, but she knew now.Ā Ā
Soul.Ā It had been Soul the whole time.
And she finally had him back.