So...hi... five months sure can go by quickly...sorry for the wait. Thank you to those folks that reviewed, favorited and/or followed this story even when I hadn't updated it in forever.

Big thank you to Professor Maka for her beta work. If there is anything missed it's probably from after she read through it. That being said sorry for any typos or grammatical errors, I just really wanted to get this posted today.

Reviews, favorites, and/or follows are all greatly appreciated. Especially after all this time.

Chapter 7 Clashes, Comfort, and Camaraderie

Soul leaned against the wall outside the DWMA infirmary, trying to maintain an air of bored indifference while simultaneously staring down the Weapon and Meister pair seated across from him.

After Stein had announced the completion of the evaluation, Soul and Maka were hastily ushered off to the infirmary, where Nygus and Kim were waiting. Arrangements had been made to ensure they were treated promptly for any injuries sustained during the evaluation.

Maka was quickly assessed to be the worse off of the two of them, with a dislocated shoulder, bruised and broken ribs, a nasty abrasion (that was basically road rash) on her thigh, and a collection of other small wounds. It didn't take long for Nygus to set Maka's shoulder, then Kim went to work healing everything else.

Once Maka settled with Kim treating her wounds, Nygus ushered Soul away to assess him. It seemed the surge of Black Blood had taken care of any major injuries, leaving him with a few scrapes from skidding around corners while trying to intercept Maka. He refused any help from Kim, the minor injuries would heal on their own in a matter of days.

As Kim worked on Maka, he overheard her explaining that her presence was a special arrangement, only occurring because their evaluation was so close to graduation. Couldn't have them looking like hell at the commencement ceremony. With the majority of the graduating class's families coming to Death City, it wouldn't look good have two high profile students looking like they'd been hit by a truck. After all, the DWMA had to maintain its image of a safe place to send your children.

Before Soul was dismissed to the hall, both he and Maka had been told not to discuss the Agent Evaluation with anyone and that the whole situation was considered "classified."

Soul was startled from his thoughts when the Meister across from him stood, extending his hand across the hallway to introduce himself. "Name's Bryan"

Soul noticed with a smirk that the movement caused him to wince. He didn't reciprocate the action, and after a few seconds, Bryan retracted his offered hand and sat back down. He had a badly split cheek, more than a few forming bruises, and was holding an ice pack to the back of his head. Despite such obvious injuries he seemed to have a permanent smile plastered on his face; it didn't even waver when Soul failed to reciprocate the handshake.

"No worries man, I understand. Wasn't a big fan of our evaluators back in the day either. So, how's Maka?" Bryan inquired pleasantly.

"She's fine," Soul responded flatly, not willing discuss anything about Maka with the person who had caused the injuries in the first place.

"Just to clear the air and all that," Bryan had not been deterred by Soul's detached response, "cause I know how Weapons are when it comes to their Meisters." He glanced meaningfully at his own partner, who was glaring murderously at Soul. "I am sorry about all this. Agent Evals are rough. We usually don't do them, not really my thing, but Trina here wanted a chance to square off against the last death scythe."

"Waste of time" she grumbled under her breath, the first thing she'd said since he'd sat down across from them. Soul noted that there were bloody bandages wrapped around her arms and one around her waist. He only remembered cutting her the one time. Hidden inside his pockets, his fists clenched. The Little Demon had been busy while he was trapped in the room.

"Now Trina, you know no Eval. is ever a waste of time. They always reveal something," Bryan chastised lightly. "We've been around long enough to know that."

Soul noted that was probably true. He had never met or seen them before last night, but it was likely they had been with the DWMA for a considerable amount of time. They were both older than they had appeared in the dark. Smile and frown lines were well established on both their faces, and more than a few grey hairs were on their heads. He'd guess they were probably in their fifties It was rare to meet a Meister or Weapon still active past their forties; they must have been incredibly powerful in their prime. They certainly remained formidable even now.

Soul attempted to retain his mask of bored indifference while mentally trying to figure out what had been revealed about them. Stein said that they'd been collecting data. Then again, Stein was always collecting data.

Soul was about to press the issue when Maka stepped out into the hall. The events of the night showed in her torn dress, dirty trench coat, and the blood splatter on her boots. But physically, she looked uninjured, and he felt some tension he hadn't even realized he was carrying ease from his shoulders.

"Our turn?" Bryan asked, standing and trying to move past her and into the infirmary.

"Not yet." Maka stood blocking the door. "I have some questions." Soul could tell from her tone that she was in a bad mood. Probably as tired as he was, maybe more. He moved to stand next to her, using his larger frame to help completely obstruct the doorway.

Bryan looked between the two human roadblocks and to his bandaged weapon, and his previous joviality slipped away, his tone and demeanor taking on a more ominous air. "We can't discuss it. The interview portion is tomorrow and-"

"Yes. I know," Maka snapped, unphased by the change in atmosphere. "In fact, that's all I've been told, so now you are going to tell me something new. Why have we never heard of these Agent Evaluations before?"

Bryan's eyes narrowed and locked onto Maka's. The air got heavy as the two Meisters stared each other down. Soul felt more than he saw Maka prepare to defend herself if necessary, and he took the cue and did the same.

When Bryan spoke again it was slowly, as if he were carefully measuring his words. "I guess as long as it's only general and not directly pertaining to you, it would be alright..." his look slid to his Weapon as if asking for confirmation or maybe permission. She shrugged and sat back down-just like that the tension dissipated and he animatedly launched right in as if nothing had happened with, "Okay so part of the evaluation is to challenge you without you knowing it. That's why they're classified. That way, you believe you're in a life or death situation. The whole point is to determine how you'll react."

"We've been in plenty of life or death situations before. I think it's clear how we react," Soul said coolly.

"Yes!" Bryan grinned. "But, always together. We needed to see how you'd do individually. You guys gave us quite the challenge." He chuckled. "You know, you've basically been within 100 ft of each other for the last three months. The two of you are practically attached at-"

"Bryan!" Tina interrupted, glaring at him.

"Gotcha." He smiled at his partner and gave her a thumbs up before readdressing Maka and Soul. "That really is all I can say, everything else can wait for the interview."

"You've been following us for three months?" Soul asked, feeling his skin crawl. Three months? They had been followed for three months- so much for privacy. And there was no way he and Maka had always been together for three months. Although, BlackStar and Tsubaki had been out of town. And if they were visiting with Kid, Liz and Patti, they almost always went together. Missions and school were of course done together. Grocery shopping, too. But that wasn't weird. They shared the responsibility of cooking, so they both chose what they bought, that only made sense. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that three months might be a little conservative.

"You guys should head home," Nygus announced from behind them, causing them both to jump. "Sun's coming up and I'm sure you must be tired." She smiled. "Remember, be here at 8am tomorrow."

The ride home was a quiet one. Maka held onto Soul's jacket as they sedately wound their way through the crisp early morning streets of Death City.

What had started out as another endless endeavor in research had ended in one of the worst nights they'd had in awhile. The fact that they had been essentially under surveillance for three months was just the cherry on top.

The sun was fully up by the time they stumbled into the apartment, mental and physical exhaustion hanging heavily on them. Maka, delayed by removing her boots, lost the race to the bathroom, and glared at Soul's back as he disappeared behind the door, towel in hand.

Oh well, she shrugged, first come first serve had always been the rule post missions. Unless one of them was particularly gross, and to be fair, Soul definitely won the gross award this morning. He'd seemed pretty much fine at the infirmary but the front of his shirt was ripped and caked in dried blood. She couldn't figure out where it had come from. The mace weapon had been cut but not enough to get that much on Soul. It must have been his blood, but she couldn't figure out where it had come from. She would have to ask him what happened later.

Speaking of blood, she eyed her own boots, plucking them from their spot by the door, and took a minute to wash the blood off. She was pretty sure it was her opponent's from when she'd split his cheek, but really it could be hers too. Maka was thankful for Kim's abilities morning, spending the next 4-6 weeks (or more) recuperating was not her idea of a good way to start her time as a DWMA operative. She set her now clean boots in the entryway next to Soul's discarded shoes, straightening his so they were lined up nicely next to each other.

She didn't dare go to her room, unsure if she could resist the siren's song of her bed. Being up all night always made her appreciate her bed but she needed a shower first. She crashed onto the couch to wait for her turn, sure that even if she drifted off she would wake up when Soul emerged.

Maka was awoken by knocking at the door that grew more insistent the more she tried to ignore it. She groaned as she rolled off the couch. For a moment, she became tangled in the blanket that had appeared on her, before she shuffled to the front door. On her way past Soul's door she could hear him snoring and cursed his ability to sleep through basically anything. She didn't hesitate to open the door since she already knew who was on the other side.

Her mama stood in her doorway, impeccably dressed, with perfectly done hair and makeup, Maka's keys in her hand, as if she had been prepared to use them to open the door herself.

"Oh Death! What happened to you!" Her mama cried.

Maka frowned still mostly asleep and not understanding what her mama meant.

"Huh?" was her articulate reply. It was official; she had been spending way too much time with Soul.

Her mama gestured to her practically flailing her arms up and down. "Your dress!?"

"Oh... yeah we had our-" Maka cut herself off remembering that she wasn't supposed to talk about the agent evaluation. "We ended up being sent on a mission last night," she lied.

"Oh? That seems like short notice…" her mama's manner shifted, "and you're back already? Was is local? Does it happen to have anything to do with the public notice to avoid the DWMA last night or the restoration crews working there this morning?" her mama pressed.

"Ummm ye-I'm not sure what you're talking about... did something happen at the academy?" Maka cursed her sleep addled brain; it was letting her down this morning.

"Apparently," her mama replied, a single word heavy with suspicion. "So when did you get home?"

Maka glanced at the clock on the stove before answering. "Less than 2 hours ago."

"So you've been awake all night." It was a statement not a question. "I guess this isn't a good day for shopping."

Guilt twisted in Maka's gut at the disappointed look on her mama's face. "I'm sorry Mama. I totally forgot," Maka groaned, before hastily adding, "We can still go, just let me-."

"Oh no! That's alright sweetie," her mama cut in, "You've had a busy night. How about we go tomorrow instead?"

"We have a meeting tomorrow morning I'm not sure how long it will be," Maka supplied.

"Oh? You have a meeting the day after a mission?" Her mama inquired, suspicion clear in the tone.

"Yeah…" Maka cringed, had she just given it away? So much for it being classified.

If her Mama had figured it out she mercifully allowed it to pass. "We'll go on Thursday then, and get you a new dress while we're at it."

"Oh no, really, it's OK Mama."

"Go back to bed sweetie. You're clearly too tired to think straight if you think that dress is anything close to OK." Her mama moved to give her a hug, hesitating as she looked Maka over once more, then awkwardly gave her a quick peck on the cheek instead. "See you Thursday morning. Good luck in your meeting tomorrow." Her mama winked at her and headed for the door.

Well, that confirmed that her mama had figured it out and that Maka was apparently even grimier looking than she felt. She was so busy berating herself for not being able to better deflect her mama's suspicions that she didn't sense him until it was too late. Her mama opened the door unaware of the horror that was standing on the other side.

Papa, a huge smile plastered on his face, one hand holding a takeout bag and the other hand raised just about to knock. Not registering who was standing in front of him he animatedly launched right in, "Hi Maka Baby! I thought you might be hungry after your-"

"Spirit." Her Mama's voice was barely above a whisper.

Her Papa's happy face morphed into an expression of shock. "Kami?" His voice cracked.

Maka felt as if all the air had been sucked out of the room. Her heart pounded as an irrational surge of adrenaline flooded her system. She knew this had to happen at some point but, she wasn't at all prepared to deal with it this morning. The silence stretched. It was like the whole apartment was under a spell; no one moved or made a sound.

She couldn't breath. Or was she breathing too much? Can someone breath too much? Why are they just standing there? Do something! Say something! Anyone!

The silence was shattered by Soul forcefully swinging his bedroom door open, the sound echoing through the stillness like a thunderclap.

Her mama jumped and hurriedly moved past her papa, jostling him with her shoulder on the way by. "Excuse me," she mumbled.

Her Papa snapped into action, dropping the takeout bag before he rushed after her not sparing Maka a glance. "Wait!" Maka heard him call.

"No," was her mama's louder than necessary reply.

Her papa had caught up somewhere around the stairway. Maka could hear their voices floating through the still open apartment door, unable to make out what they were saying but the tenor and volume of the conversation was escalating rapidly. Until her papa's angry shout of "Just tell me where you've been!" and her mama's equally irate "It's not important!" were clear as day.

Maka was transported back to when she was nine years old, a silent witness to her parents disintegrating marriage from her hiding place on the stairs of her childhood home. Except, at that time the speakers of those two phrases were reversed. An old nearly forgotten pain twisted in her chest.

Somewhere inside she knew she was being irrational. She wasn't a child anymore, helpless as the life she'd always known crumbled around her. There were no more bombshells to be dropped. Never again would she overhear her Papa's confession of infidelity and experience the earth shattering disillusionment that accompanied it. She had long ago become numb when her mama screamed her hate at him for it. But Death, somehow, she'd forgotten what it felt like when they fought.

Soul striding past startled her back to the present. The apartment was nearly silent as he retrieved the discarded bag of take-out from the hall floor before shutting and locking the door. Her parent's voices dulled to indecipherable noise. Her partner approached cautiously, frowning down at her.

Maka looked like she was in shock, wide-eyed and jumpy, but her eyes weren't focussing on anything in particular. Carefully he took her hand, guiding her to the couch. "Sit," he directed and Maka obediently complied, rigidly perching herself on the edge of the seat. He eyed her warily; she was freaking him out more than a little.

Picking up the blanket he had put on her earlier that morning from the floor, Soul wrapped it snuggly around her. Maka's rigid posture had just begun to relax marginally when a loud shout from outside the living room window made her jump. A quick glance out the window confirmed that her parent's fight had moved to the street and had somehow managed to increase in volume. A crowd was starting to gather.

Soul sighed, shutting and locking the window before dropping the takeout bag on the table. He selected one of "her movies" off the shelf, a sappy Rom-Com featuring the latest Hollywood heart-throb. It was cheesetastic crap, but he knew she liked it. It was routinely playing when he emerged from his room on Saturday morning. The movie flashed to life on the screen and Soul cranked the volume before there was even sound to increase. With the starting of the movie, her parent's painfully public war outside their building was finally completely drowned out.

Soul tentatively sat down beside her, close enough that his leg just barely brushed hers. Maka remained rigid next to him. Retrieving the take-out bag from the coffee table Soul inspected the contents, three wax paper wrapped breakfast sandwiches labeled; "M", "S", and "P" were stacked up inside. He offered the "M" one to Maka, placing it in her lap when she didn't move to take it. Then he retrieved the "S" one for himself, leaving the "P" sandwich in the bag.

Soul leaned back into the couch propping his feet on the coffee table. Maka remained where she was. With only a moment's indecision and a silent prayer that she wouldn't freak out at him for it, he tentatively put his hand on her shoulder and gently pulled her back onto the couch next to him. After a few minutes, he felt her relax, sinking deeper into the couch, and her bare feet joined his feet on the coffee table.

Maka was the first to begin eating the breakfast her Dad had supplied. Finally comfortable now that he didn't feel like he was sitting next to a coiled spring, Soul unwrapped his breakfast sandwich, noting that it had two sausage patties just how he liked. It was an odd sensation realizing that the Old Man was apparently warming up to him after all these years.

The movie was well underway before Maka spoke. "This has been a really screwed up day."

"And it's not even noon," he added, relieved she was talking again. He waited but when she didn't say anything more he asked, "You ok?"

"Yeah." She sighed. "Just wasn't prepared for...that."

He grunted his agreement. He didn't even remember waking up. His memory begins with trying to get his sleep laden legs under him as he scrambled across his room towards the door, the sense that something was wrong ringing in his soul like a fire alarm.

When Soul had opened his bedroom door, he was already halfway to phasing the blade from his arm. The energy quickly faded when he recognized the situation for what it was. For probably the hundredth time, he cursed her parents for not handling their shit better. They were grown-ass adults, how oblivious could they be? They should have never allowed her to be dragged into their drama.

The divorce was well underway by the time he'd met her. Maka had been mostly resigned to the whole situation but impressively angry with her dad. Prone to picking fights to release her aggression. The first time he'd seen her she'd been fighting an older Meister and Weapon team without a Weapon of her own.

Not that he was completely naive to the effect of her parents divorce on her. Soul didn't need a psych degree to figure that out. Her Mother was placed so high on a pedestal that it's a wonder that she can breath with how thin the air must be up there. Maka's adoration of her mother was to the point that even years of zero contact from her hasn't seemed to affect Maka's perception. Conversely, her Dad, while more than a little unstable and a confirmed cheater, had always been here and available to her. Her Dad loved her more than life itself, even if he had an aggravating way of showing it. This morning, he'd come to check on her after her evaluation under the guise of bringing breakfast.

Even knowing all this, her reaction to this morning was concerning. Angry Maka he could handle; silent Maka was...disturbing.

Soul didn't know how to help her deal with the explosive emotions of her parents. His parents were emotionally constipated, dealing primarily in passive aggression and silence if they were "fighting" with each other. When they were around that was. Soul's early years were primarily a mix of pleasant but proper nannies, rigid private school, exacting music teachers, summers with Gran in France and, of course, Wes.

He was startled from his thoughts by Maka gasping and jumping off the couch.

"I have to go!" she announced.

"What's wrong!" Soul was on his feet in the blink of an eye. He was prepared for a fight, another surprise evaluation, a pre-kishin, a Witch, or maybe her dad was coming back for his discarded share of breakfast. But there was nothing that could have prepared him for what came out of her mouth next.

"I forgot my notes at the library and I left all the books just sitting out on the table!" She looked at him with wide panicked eyes.

He stared at her for a second as his heart rate slowly decreased. "Really?"

"Yes! I'll be back in like an hour," she said, trying to move past him.

"Maka." He didn't move out of her way and she looked up at him. "You. Are. Such. A. Nerd." He grinned.

"I am not," she defended, hands on her hips and voice going a little shrill.

"Yes you are," he stated matter of factly, "Only a nerd would be freaking out about having forgotten to put away books."

"But it's rude to just leave them out. And my notes," her tone was approaching a whine and, to Soul, she resembled a younger version of herself.

"The library has been open for hours, the books have already been dealt with. The librarian knows you. You've exchanged Christmas gifts three years in a row. I'm sure he'll set your notes aside for you. You can go get them and apologize for your grievous transgression tomorrow after the interview." Soul sat back down on the couch.

Maka seemed to contemplate it for a moment, looking between her vacated spot next to him on the couch and the door. With a huff, her stance relaxed and she flopped back down on the couch, crossing her arms and pouting. Actually pouting. He had to suppress a laugh. She had sat back down right next to him again, and he didn't want to risk doing something that would have her moving away from him.

"Maybe I should call," she mumbled.

"Such a nerd," Soul teased and without thinking he put his arm around her and gave her a squeeze, tensing for just a second when he realized what he had unconsciously done.

She didn't seem to mind. "Shut up, Soul." She jabbed him with her elbow in his unguarded ribs.

They settled into finish the movie. Soul had to admit the story was kind of entertaining. Predictable, but still fun. The whole thing topped off with the classic misunderstanding leading to the rush to intercept the other person at the airport.

The feeling of Maka's head against his shoulder brought his attention back to her.

Her face was relaxed, breathing steady and deep; she'd fallen asleep against him, still in her tattered blood stained dress. He considered waking her, to see if she would like to shower before going back to sleep for the day. But he just couldn't bring himself to do it. She looked so peaceful and it was nice to have her next to him like this, particularly after the crappy night they'd had.

They hadn't done well. Stein and Nygus had been neutral in how they spoke to them but Soul could see through that. Despite training so hard over the years to counter an enemy's ability to isolate them, they'd allowed themselves to be separated. Had it been a real fight it would have nearly gotten him killed, and it had forced him to use the blackblood. Worse than that, Maka had gotten seriously injured too, more so than she had in a long time. Sure, she was good as new now, but that didn't change the fact that it HAD happened.

Broken and bruised ribs weren't anything new. But her shoulder, that had never happened before. Soul could have happily gone his whole life without the experience of sitting behind Maka to help support her as Nygus moved her shoulder back into place. He was pretty sure the sound of her bones moving against each other and her pained whimper were permanently seared into his brain.

A dislocated shoulder was considered a critical injury for a scythe meister. Early in training, before they'd even gone on their first mission, the importance of her maintaining use of both her arms had been drilled into them. A scythe was not a weapon that could be effectively wielded with one hand. Losing the use of an arm warranted immediate withdrawal from the fight, if at all possible.

Maka knew this as well as he did but she hadn't wanted to withdraw. He knew she wouldn't; Maka would always fight until she couldn't fight anymore. Long ago he'd come to accept that part of his role as her partner was to support her in her stubborn tenacity while keeping her from getting killed, whether it was through using the blackblood or other means.

That was the other problem of the night. The blackblood, the demon, it was so wrong. Granted he hadn't used it since the moon, and had never intentionally activated it without Maka. Was the room different because it lacked her influence? Even so, why hadn't he needed to play the piano? Could that piano even be played? And why had he been alone? Even when the demon had forcefully assumed control in Moscow he had still been there, pulling the string from inside the room. But this time he'd surrendered control and Stein had witnessed it all.

He needed to figure this out.

Maka shifted against him and he looked down at her. He could talk to her about it; she'd always had an uncanny ability to understand and use the blackblood. But Maka had enough on her plate as it was, with the interview tomorrow, and graduation on Saturday. Not to mention the return of her mother and the apparent shit storm that had unleashed onto Maka's life. No, he wouldn't burden her with his problems.

He could figure this out on his own. It might have appeared different but it was still the same blackblood and the same Little Demon. He just needed to downplay it for the time being. Keep himself from becoming Stein's lab rat. Then, if he couldn't figure it out on his own, he would tell her once they received their Agent posting. They could work on it together once things had settled down again and once he was far from the DWMA's resident mad scientist.

Decision made, Soul settled in to sleep on the couch. He slouched down slightly in an attempt to get more comfortable but froze when the movement caused Maka to stir. He worried for a moment that he'd managed to wake her after all. His concern was unwarranted; her next action proved that she was definitely still asleep. Maka turned slightly and curled into him, stretching her arm across his stomach and bending her bare leg up to rest on his thigh. Her head settled on his chest just above his heart before she let out a soft sigh and relaxed against him once again.

Soul was thankful she was asleep because his face felt like it was on fire. He reminded himself to breath. Sure, they'd fallen asleep on the couch together before but never in such an intimate position. She was practically wrapped around him and he prayed that when she discovered their position upon waking that she didn't Maka-chop him through the floor. This was all her-he shouldn't have to take the blame for it.

To save his skull he contemplated moving her… Nah, he'd take the chance. She was warm and somehow fit perfectly next to him and the whole situation was making him drowsy. He took the opportunity to rest his cheek on her head, content. He'd like to say she smelled nice but she smelled like sweat, dirt, and very faintly of blood. It didn't really bother him though. It's who she was and who he'd been since she asked him to be her Weapon all those years ago, and he wouldn't change that for anything. Without hesitation, he pulled her just a little bit closer.

The sound of soft snores rumbled under her ear. Maka was slow to come back to consciousness; she was warm and comfortable and content right where she was. His heart thumped out a calm beat under her ear, the rise and fall of his chest was rhythmic only occasionally punctuated by a snore. She idly stroked something soft under her fingertips, and his arm around her tightened in response. A lazy smile formed on her face and she cracked her eyes open. Her hand disappearing between the buttons of his shirt is the first thing she saw. She could feel the fine chest hairs hidden there and how had she never noticed that before?

Maka froze, finally awake enough to recognize her situation. Fully wrapped around Soul, she was practically halfway on top of him. Oh Death her hand had slipped between the buttons of his shirt and was directly against his chest.

When did this happen? How did this happen? Okay, so she was sitting pretty close to him during the movie but not this. This, she must have done in her sleep. She had to create some space before he woke up and realized what she'd done. He'd label her a pervert, or something, for taking advantage of him while he slept. There was no way he'd been awake when she'd done...this. He would have dumped her on the floor for invading his space to this extent.

First, she delicately removed her hand from his shirt, the most heinous of her offenses. Then, she carefully lifted her leg off of his before tackling the trickiest aspect. She reached for one of the pillows they kept on the couch and in one slow, fluid movement, she removed herself from under Soul's arm and put the pillow in her place. His breathing remained rhythmic, and she was thankful for his ability to sleep through almost anything.

Maka took a moment to admire him, his features relaxed in sleep. A pang of sadness ran through her that she couldn't remain with him on that couch. But once again, her parents had provided her a fine example of why that wasn't a possibility.

Even if he was interested, which he wasn't.

Deciding that she'd been in this ruined dress long enough, Maka headed for the bathroom to shower. She stripped off the dress and deposited it in the bathroom garbage can, taking one last look at it. She'd really liked that dress too, but it wasn't the first piece of clothing to be sacrificed in the name of victory, and undoubtedly would not be the last.

Stepping into the shower, her mood shifted from melancholy to annoyance as she recalled the morning's events. She scrubbed herself clean, taking out some of her frustration on her skin and scalp.

Why did her Papa have to choose right then to show up with breakfast? Although it was kind of nice that he had. But then why did he have to chase her mama down the hall? What was wrong with both of them for having a huge argument right outside her home, didn't they realize she had to live here? By now, the entirety of

Death City would have heard about it.

How could two people that had once been so in sync end up like that?

Finally clean and dressed in comfortable clothes to wear around the house, Maka checked the fridge trying to figure out what to make for dinner for herself and her still-sleeping partner. She was considering fettuccine alfredo, Soul was a sucker for pasta, but was disappointed to find the carton of cream was empty. That's weird, she'd just bought it yesterday, she hadn't drank it, and while Soul used it in his morning coffee, he couldn't have used that much in less than two days. The only time they went through milk that fast was when Blair was around.

Maka realized with a start that Blair must have come by last night when they weren't home. Maka hadn't seen much of Blair recently, which was kind of sad because they would be leaving soon and she had wanted to ask if Blair had planned to come with them. Hopefully, Blair would decide to come by again so that Maka could ask her.

Maka had just closed the fridge and was contemplating the pizza in the freezer when there were simultaneous knocks at the front door and the living room window of their third story apartment. BlackStar grinned at her through the glass holding a six pack of beer in each hand. Maka purposely choose to answer the front door for Tsubaki first, leaving him to balance on the two inch window frame for a little longer.

"Hi, Maka. We heard you two have had a bad day and thought we would come to cheer you up." Tsubaki greeted her with her usual pleasantness and handed her the stack of four extra large pizzas.

"Wow! Thanks, Tsubaki," Maka replied, balancing the pizza's, "But how did you hear?"

BlackStar answered her question from the living room, "All of Death City heard. How's your Mom doing anyways?" He had apparently managed to jimmy the lock on the window. BlackStar was currently advancing on the still miraculously sleeping Soul, the beer he'd been holding discarded on the floor only to be replaced with a permanent marker.

"Hey!" Maka snapped before adding a little more quietly, "We have an important meeting tomorrow and I will not have my Weapon showing up with a penis drawn on his forehead like at midterm exams."

"Oh, you mean the Interview for the Agent Eval? That's a piece of cake, no big deal," BlackStar dismissed but he did put the marker back in his pocket. Shifting his attention to the pillow under Soul's arm, BlackStar began to poke and pull at it as if he were testing a Jenga piece.

Satisfied that her partner was safe for the moment, Maka retrieved the beer from the floor, noting that is was thankfully still cold as she put it in the fridge before something dawned on her, "Wait how do you know about the interview?"

"A Bushin knows everything to do with his subjects," was BlackStars immediately response from the living room.

"Professor Stein had to tell us so that he wouldn't get involved," Tsubaki explained, retrieving dishes from the cupboard like she lived there. "We had our Agent evaluation last month while we were in the Norway."

"Oh. How did it go?" Maka asked Tsubaki, momentarily forgetting that if it was classified for her and Soul it was no doubt classified for everyone. But before she could retract the question, BlackStar spoke up.

"Excellent of course," BlackStar called from around the corner, "goes without saying for me but Tsubaki rocked her portion of it too." His declaration caused Tsubaki to blush.

"Well, I did my best," Tsubaki responded humbly, retrieving a couple beers from the fridge. She handed a can to Maka before offering one to BlackStar. When BlackStar didn't immediately respond, Maka knew something was up.

Maka peaked around the corner to the living room to see what he was up to. She couldn't contain her gasp, BlackStar had removed the pillow from under Soul's arm and had replaced it with himself. He was curled into Soul in a very similar manner that Maka had been when she awoke, not that BlackStar is aware of that fact.

"BlackStar, what are you doing!" she whispered harshly. He shushed her and grinned evilly. It was about the time that Tsubaki joined her that Soul finally began to stir. Grumbling something before, he opened his eyes directly onto BlackStar's upturned face.

"Hello, Lover," BlackStar purred before he puckered his lips made obnoxiously moist kissy noises as he advanced on Soul.

Soul's eyes bugged out and he scrambled backwards trying unsuccessfully to escape the assassin. He was groping blindly behind him for leverage to propel himself off the couch when Maka saw her opportunity and supplied him with something much better. She pressed her massive "History of the Soul" textbook into Soul's hand. He promptly brought it down on BlackStar's head, Maka Chop style, halting the assassins advances and buying himself enough time to extract himself from between BlackStar and the couch.

"Thanks," Soul breathed, shooting Maka an appreciative glance.

"You're Welcome," she chimed, handing him her already open but otherwise untouched beer. The look she received in return caused something in her chest to tighten and had her scrambling to the fridge, under the guise of getting another beer for herself, in order to hide her blush.

The sky was lit up in pinks and purples around the setting sun as the friends sat on the roof of Soul and Maka's apartment building. Empty pizza boxes sat between them as they finished off the last of the beers.

"It's time to confess to your god," BlackStar loudly declared out of the blue.

"Huh?" was Soul's response.

"I have no idea what you're talking about BlackStar," Maka replied.

Even Tsubaki looked confused.

"How'd your evaluation go," BlackStar clarified. "How many guys did they send after you, Maka? What kind of Weapons?"

"It's supposed to be classified," Maka bluntly replied.

"Only to keep the runts from seeing it coming," BlackStar countered, undeterred.

"We all know about it so, spill."

"He's been dying to talk about his with you guys," Tsubaki explained.

Soul could see that Maka wasn't comfortable talking about their evaluation. While she wasn't always strictly by the rules, she at least tried to adhere to them. "So how much ass did you kick during your Eval," Soul interjected. Maka redirected her disapproving stare from BlackStar to him.

"What?" he shrugged. "Listening to him it's not us breaking the rules."

If Maka objected it was already too late anyway.

BlackStar spent the next thirty minutes loudly regaling them about his own Agent Evaluation, despite Maka's repeated attempts to get him to keep his voice down because it was bad enough he was telling them.

They had sent a whole squadron after him, Meisters and Weapons and, in the end, Stein had to step in bringing the evaluation to an end early as there were concerns that someone (not BlackStar) might actually be killed.

Tsubaki's evaluation had been somewhat less eventful. She'd been pitted against a retired death scythe from the Philippines. She had done well, but it had been closer to a draw than BlackStar's decisive victory. Not that BlackStar cared; he went on and on about how awesome she had been and that she had gone against a death scythe so a draw was only reasonable and that he was sure that she held back.

Once BlackStar, finished Maka excused herself saying that she wanted to go down and get organized for the morning. Although Soul couldn't think of what could require organizing, he accepted when she wordlessly handed him her nearly full can of beer before heading downstairs with Tsubaki following behind to help carry the empty beer cans and pizza boxes down.

This left Soul and BlackStar alone together on the roof.

"Hey, I have a question about your sister," Soul joked. He really did have something he wanted to ask BlackStar but he couldn't pass up the chance to bug him a little. The whole sister thing was uncharacteristically sappy for his friend.

BlackStar tinged pink. "Should have known she'd tell you. You two have like zero secrets."

Soul's light hearted mood darkened slightly as he tried to ignore the twinge of guilt that took hold with that statement. He would tell her about the changes in the blackblood, eventually.

"So what do you want to know?" BlackStar prompted.

"What's with her parents?" Soul asked, thinking of the scene they had caused in front of the apartment.

"You're going to have to be WAY more specific, Bro." BlackStar grinned at him.

"They were in the same room for like a minute this morning and they began fighting, in our building and on the street," Soul clarified.

"Yeah, they've always been like that," BlackStar responded without hesitation.

"Okay, Maka said right before the divorce they-" Soul started but was cut off.

"No dude, always. Like for as long as I've known her they'd fight at least once a week, sometimes more. I'm surprised they stuck it out as long as they did. Probably should have called it when she was like six."

"Seriously? For that long?" Soul asked. That was news to him. Maka didn't talk much about her childhood, but he had always thought that prior to the cheating and the general disintegration of the marriage that her parents had been happy.

"Yeah." BlackStar shrugged. "She used to climb out her bedroom window and come hide out at the DWMA with me. She was able to run across rooftops way before she joined the academy."

"I guess that explains her reaction." Soul thought back to her standing frozen in their kitchen and the near hour of silence that followed.

"She go all quiet on ya?" BlackStar asked.

"Yeah." Soul sighed.

"Fucked up, right?" BlackStar folded his arms under head lying back.

"Really fucked up," Soul confirmed.

They lapsed into silence until BlackStar broke it in his usual blunt fashion. "Sooo have you seen her naked yet?" He grinned mischievously at Soul.

"Hey! That's your sister you're talking about!" Soul deflected. He hoped he wasn't nearly as red as he felt; blushing was not cool.

"Yeah… and if you were any other guy, I would probably throw you off the roof." BlackStars tone was pleasant enough but Soul didn't need soul perception to feel the spike in BlackStar's wavelength and the instinctive recoil of his own at those words. But as quickly as it had come, it went and BlackStar added much more jovially, "But you're all gross and pathetic in love with her. So I'll give you a pass."

"Hey! I never said that!" Soul denied. How he felt about Maka was not something he had discussed with anyone. Not even his best friend.

BlackStar laughed obnoxiously. "As if you had to. Come on man, it's been obvious since you were like fifteen."

Shit, was he that obvious? Soul wasn't sure he was even aware he was in love with her back then. Suddenly his stress over if BlackStar and Maka were dating seemed stupid. BlackStar could be egotistical and obnoxious, but he was loyal and a strong believer in the bro-code. Still, that raised a more important question- if BlackStar had figured it out, who else had? Soul started replaying conversations with classmates and members of the now dissolved Spartoi trying to look for hints that they had figured it out too. If they had, what about Maka?

In the back of his mind, the Little Demon chuckled.

If Maka had figured it out he considered himself lucky that she hadn't freaked out about it….but if she knew and had no reaction what did that mean? Did she not feel the same way about him? Was she just pitying him? Staying out of obligation?

The Little Demon laughed harder, 'You are so path-'

The demon was interrupted by BlackStar painfully 'patting' Soul on the back in a move that was no doubt intended to be comforting. Soul was sure he would have a bruise by morning. "I'll take that as a no then." BlackStar sighed, looking disappointed. "Come on man, make your move already," BlackStar prodded.

"Yeah sure, with the train wreck of her parent's marriage in her face right now. I'm sure that would go really well," Soul dismissed trying to sound more nonchalant about it than he felt.

"You gotta ball up man." BlackStar punctuated his words with another bruising clap to Soul's back.

Soul winced, "Yeah. Yeah. Maybe once we're posted and she's away from both her crazy parents," Soul responded hoping his answer would appease his apparently perceptive friend. "I can wait. I don't want to rush her," Soul added.

BlackStar kicked his legs, launching himself from his lying position onto his feet. "And that's why I haven't thrown you off the roof." He gave Soul a thumbs up and a wink.

"Do you think it's weird that apparently Soul and I have been constantly together for the last three months," Maka asked tentatively as she rinsed the beer cans and put them aside for recycling. She didn't really have anything to organize for the morning; she had just hoped to get a chance to talk to Tsubaki alone and her friend had thankfully realized this and accompanied her down to the apartment.

"Only three months this time?" Tsubaki cheekily replied.

"Hey!" Maka scowled hoping to hide the blush she felt.

"Sorry, Maka." Tsubaki smiled at her while collapsing pizza boxes. "But the only time you two aren't together is when he goes to play basketball with BlackStar and can't convince you to come with. Or when we go off to do something together."

"Nevermind," Maka mumbled because Tsubaki was absolutely right.

"I don't think it's weird though.," Tsubaki hurried to add, "You two have always spent a lot of time with each other. It would be weird if you weren't always together."

"But you and BlackStar aren't always together. You were shopping on your own during the agent eval. They had to put out a public notice and forcefully separate us at the school to get us on our own. "

Tsubaki laughed. "I'm sure that must have been-" Tsubaki cut herself off, her face turning to the ceiling, looking up towards the roof.

Maka was in a similar position having also sensed the spike in BlackStar's wavelength followed by Souls wavelength curling in on itself momentarily before they both returned to normal.

Tsubaki hummed thoughtfully still looking up. "What do you think they are up to?"

"I don't know," Maka responded narrowing her eyes, her soul perception activating to examine the two souls on the roof, "but it seems fine now." she added.

"So if you two are always together are you 'Together' yet?"

Maka's attention snapped back to Tsubaki who was smiling mischievously at her.

"No!"

Tsubaki's face fell. "I didn't think so," she sighed. "Why not Maka?"

"Maybe because he doesn't feel that way about me!" No matter how many times she said it to herself it never hurt as much as saying it outloud to someone else. "And even if he did, relationships with a partner aren't a good idea," she reiterated to strengthened her resolve.

"I don't know... seems to be going pretty well for Stein and Marie," Tsubaki offered up.

"Yeah in their late 30s and after one of them nearly lost it to madness," Maka dismissed.

"Well you and Soul have one of those things," Tsubaki countered.

"Soul is not Stein." Maka laughed. "Thank death for that."

"Who says I think Stein is Soul in that comparison?" Tsubaki grinned.

"Hey!" Maka reeled from the insinuation. She was nothing like Professor Stein. Okay maybe they were both Scythe Meisters and had similar skills such as soul perception and could be overly focused on their goals but that did not mean she was anything like him.

"I've read the report from the anniversary night….." Tsubaki stated like a detective might drop the bomb that they found the murder weapon during an interrogation.

The insinuation hung in the air for a moment while Maka processed Tsubaki's words. Maka's eyes widened when she realized what Tsubaki meant. "Ohh you didn't," Maka groaned.

"I did" She smiled brightly as if she didn't have the dirt on one of Maka's most embarrassing moments. "Did you really gnaw on Crona's head?"

Maka dragged her hand down her face, "Please! Don't tell anyone. It's so embarrassing. How did you get that report anyway?" Maka narrowed her eyes at her friend, assessing her reaction.

"I was handing in a report at the records office and there was a man looking through a bunch of files, on his way out he dropped one. I was going to pick it up and give it to him but then I saw it was yours sooo..." she answered innocently as if she hadn't just casually decided to look through classified records.

"So you snooped," Maka deadpanned.

Tsubaki blushed, finally showing a hint of guilt.

"You know you're really not as good as you portray yourself to be," Maka teased.

"What are you talking about, Tsubaki is the best!" BlackStar loudly announced, barging through the door of their apartment while throwing an arm around Tsubaki, having just that second returned from the roof with Soul.

"So what were you ladies talking about?" BlackStar purred as if they must have been discussing something scandalous.

"Oh nothing," Tsubaki deflected. "Just girl talk." She silently mouthed to Maka, 'I didn't tell him' before saying a little too loudly, "We should probably get going. Good luck at your interview tomorrow."

Maka and Soul watched as Tsubaki maneuvered BlackStar, who was still draped around her shoulder, out the front door.

Maka frowned. Maybe she should have asked Tsubaki if she and BlackStar were together.

"So… interesting day…" Soul offered up as he closed the door behind their friends.

"Yeah," Maka sighed. "After today, the interview tomorrow will be..." she paused to think how BlackStar put it.

"A piece of cake," Soul finished for her. He grinned at her and that feeling in her chest was back. The look in his eyes conveyed his utter confidence in her and instead of shying away, she returned his look, hoping that she was able to convey her own boundless confidence in him.

Author's Note:

Just a word on the underaged drinking in this chapter. First, many(most?) teenagers drink regardless of laws and legal drinking age. Second, the Soul Eater Universe is not our universe, so who's to say what the laws are surrounding the legal age for the consumption of alcohol. Soul has a motorcycle by age 14 so clearly there is some variation. Third, members of the EAT class are basically child soldiers so if you want to take issue with teenagers doing things that are not exactly age appropriate how about we start with THAT.

Realistically, I will try for monthly updates. Chapter 8 is already well underway, so I will try to have it out the first week of October.