Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater

Kid

Was it just my imagination? I thought. Something was nagging at the back of my mind, like that one time I thought I had forgotten to place a CD back on the shelf and I rushed home to check. Like usual I had made a fuss out of nothing and it was right on the shelf on the exact spot I left it in, but this time I knew something was wrong. No, nothing was wrong, I told myself, but what if had forgotten this time?

My hand went up to my hair in an annoying habit; I quickly forced it down and tried to keep myself from pacing. I never forgot to tie them, not once before so why would I have this time?

"You ok Kid? You seem a bit pale." Maka's voice inquired from next to me.

"What, you scared of heights or something?" Blackstar asked me rudely. We all stood in a line waiting for the Ferris wheel. After almost an hour's wait, there were only a few people ahead of us now. The machine went up almost twenty stories and was said to house the best view of the ocean you could get, but that wasn't what was on my mind right now.

"I have to go and check something," I answered and pushed my way through the crowd taking a look back as I was about to jump over the railing to let myself out. It might have been my imagination, but I could have sworn I saw Maka look at me in disappointment before hurryingly turning away.

"Wuss," I heard Blackstar say as I made way back to the small hotel, thankfully, not too far from the rides. The nearer I got there the more my paranoia grew. Of course I tied my shoes, I always did, I thought in a feeble attempt to try and reassure myself.

Every time I took off my shoes I would tie the laces in perfect bows, I couldn't have forgotten this time. I ran through the lobby and dashed up the stairs receiving funny looks from the other guests, but I couldn't care less. All that mattered in the world were those laces. If I had for some reason forgot to tie them my life would be over.

Maka

The happy excitement that had been bubbling up inside of me burst the instant Kid turned his back and began to push his way through the crowd away from us. Knowing him he was most likely having one of his OCD attacks right now, but I still couldn't help but to feel a bit of disappointment.

"Wuss," Blackstar commented at Kid's receding figure. He looked back at me and I looked away in embarrassment. I had been hoping that we could go the Ferris together, even if everyone else tagged along with us.

I looked up at the rotating wheel and watched the multicolored carts revolve around. It was truly a sight to be seen. Each cart was colored differently. There were solid colored ones, ones with images painted on the sides and some so adorned with so many lights I wondered how it was possible to see out into the night from inside. My favorite was a blue one that had a sunset painted on it, too bad it was more than half way up now, so much for hoping on that one.

Soon it was our turn, and we all waited as the worker opened the door to let us in, suddenly his hand shot out in front of me and I abruptly stopped.

"Sorry guys, that cart only holds four," he said and gestured to Liz, Patty, Tsubaki and Soul as they all sat down.

"I'm sorry Maka, if I'd known then I would have waited with you," Tsubaki said with a bit of worry in her voice.
"Don't worry; it's not your fault. I'll be fine, really." I yelled at the ascending cart. I looked at the next cart; it was huge and looked like it could fit 10 people.

"Could you two step out for a minute and let the family behind you on?" the worker asked with a kind smile. I looked behind us and a mother with six young kids stood there obviously worried about what would happen if they were separated.

"No way in h-" Blackstar started but I grabbed his hand and dragged him to the side as they passed us.

"Sure, we'd be happy to." I answered the worker and received a relived look from the mother who was trying to get them all seated. I realized my hand still held his and I quickly dropped it. Blackstar didn't seem to notice.

"Here you go you two your cart." The worker said and gestured at the next available cart. My stomach sank as he ushered us toward it.

"You're joking right?" Blackstar growled at the worker. He only smiled as he told us to keep our hands and feet in at all times and a bunch of other miscellaneous protocol. I awkwardly got in next to Blackstar in the cramped cart and sat down next to him.

"The top portion of the ride can get bumpy, but don't worry, it's normal. If you get scared," he looked over to me, "then just hold your boyfriend's hand."

"He's not m-," but before I could get it out the ride jolted to the left and I was thrown against Blackstar who grabbed my shoulders to help steady me.

"Thanks." I said dryly and tried my hardest not to blush. This was literally turning into the worst situation possible. The cart was in the shape of a heart with little pink lights surrounding the outside. The inside wasn't any better; there was only one bench to sit on and it was on an incline so I was slowly sliding down closer to him, and no matter how hard I gripped the edge of the seat and planted my feet I still slid down.

Another jolt sent me falling into him.

"Sorry Blackstar," I apologized and tried to slide back up, but to no avail.

"Just lean against me already, it's fine." He replied. I uncertainty let go and leaned against him. I looked away shyly and tried not to think about it. The darkness of the cart brought back memories from being stuck in the closet. I tried not to think about that either as we steadily ascended upward way too slowly for my liking.

I thought instead to how it would be like if Blackstar had left and Kid and I were stuck here. I could feel my face heating up at the thought. I pictured myself looking like one of those pink lights outside the cart. A few minutes passed and we were almost to the top. The combination of the wheel being so enormous and the slowness of it meant it would take forever to get to the top. Blackstar was being uncharacteristically quiet for himself and seemed deep in thought.

"Say Maka," he said suddenly, "Why haven't you asked Kid out yet?" My face was definitely shining like those lights right now.

"What kind of question is that?" I answered shyly, pulling at a lose string on my sweat shirt.

"I know you like him, so why not ask him? He might like you back and then you guys can be happy." He really didn't understand did he? All day I had been wondering if Kid was thinking the same way about me.

"If I did ask him and he said no then what? It would only be uncomfortable between us for a long time." I impulsively burst out. I felt him shrug.

"So what, it's better than living with regrets. That's why I'm always doing things that seem so crazy and reckless to you. I would rather die young without regrets than old and regret not ever going these things. I'm not expecting you to go jumping off bridges or to go and dye your weird colors, but I think you should try and do something to make yourself happy," he finished almost at a whisper. I wonder if he did actually have some regrets.

Just as I was about to ask the cart jerked and I was flying into him again. A heard a dull thud,

"Dammit! That was my head," he went on swearing about the ride and looked out and realized we were on top, it was a truly a sight to be seen. The sea seemed to be endless and the horizon stretched on forever. Even my current predicament couldn't ruin this moment.

As we descended down most of what we said seemed forgotten. Soon the ground came rushing towards us and it abruptly slowed. Blackstar pushed his way through and jumped out. I exited next and was met with Soul's raised eyebrows.

"What? You got something to say?" I asked him forcefully.

"Oh nothing," but his bright eyes gave away his amusement. I turned away in disgust and ran to catch up with Tsubaki and the others, feeling a bit flustered. She looked back and threw me a smile as I made my way toward her. She didn't say anything about what just happened, which I was thankful for, but she was really quiet as if waiting for me to say something. Suddenly I heard Blackstar yelling,

"Yeah right, you just chickened out, stop making up excuses." We all turned back to see what was going on.

"No really, I didn't chicken out. I thought I forgot to do something, but it turns out I was wrong," Kid replied placidly, "Anyway, what are we doing now?" I heard Blackstar mumble something and Soul laugh.

"Oh oh, do they have any giraffe rides here? If they do let's go right now!" Patty squeaked excitedly while jumping up in down in anticipation. Liz rolled her eyes and Tsubaki ended up breaking the news to her that there were no giraffe rides. Patty's shoulders slumped in disappointment.

"But they do have a safari ride," Tsubaki tried in hope of getting her spirits up. While Patty jumped on the idea the guys all groaned in unison.

"You guys go, we'll go on something else," Soul replied. So we separated for now. The guys went one way and we made our way in the other direction. Even though there was a safari ride Tsubaki neglected to mention that the target age for that ride was for 4-7 year olds. So we compromised; Liz would accompany Patty and Tsubaki and I would go and get everyone something to eat.

The line was shorter than expected and there was a numerous amount of tables to pick from.

"How about here," I suggested, gesturing with a wave of my head since my hands were full with two trays of food.

"Yeah, it seems nice," Tsubaki answered as she placed down the trays she carried. We sat in silence for a few minutes eating slowly.

"Hey, can I ask you something," I asked her after a few minutes. After a nod I went on, "What do think about kid?"

"He's a good person, and really nice. A good friend too. Why do you ask?" She answered curiously. I nervously pulled on a string on my sweatshirt.

"Uh… I kinda want some advice about something," I said. I could feel my face turning red, "It's about kid." Unexpectedly, Tsubaki smiled and looked almost amused.

"You like him, don't you?" she replied. I suppose my silence was what clued her in on my astonishment, so she added, "I noticed that you always watch him and how upset you were when he left before, so I guessed that you did. I mean, you don't hide it very well."

"Do you think he noticed?" I asked anxiously. If Tsubaki noticed than Kid may have too.

"No, if he did he would have said something about it. He isn't the sort of person who hides his feelings, at least he doesn't seem that way," Tsubaki answered. I realized what she said was mostly truth. Though Kid didn't show his emotions all the time he did enough to let us know how he felt from time to time. Take symmetry for example, he sometimes cried over it or jumped for joy the same way Patty did for giraffes.

"When Sai asked you out how did you respond? Where you nervous?" I asked, and then realized my stupidly, of course she was! Who wouldn't be? I'm not sure why I asked it, maybe to see how these things worked. There was so much more to romance than I had first thought. In books it was easy; there was a conflict and then they fell in love, it was happily ever after. The words only went so far, they didn't explain about the strange feelings and confusion, I suppose those were up to us to figure out. Before I could say never mind Tsubaki replied,

"Actually, I asked him." She seemed a bit embarrassed, "and I think you should ask Kid."

"Whoo we're back!" suddenly was shouted. I turned to see Liz and Patty walking back; Patty looking overjoyed and Liz… not so much. Thankfully, Tsubaki dropped our discussion. I didn't want to talk about it in front of them, and Tsubaki was smart enough to know when to stop.

As we ate most of the conversation was between Liz and Patty, Tsubaki listened more as she always has. I only talked when I was asked directly, but no one commented about my distantness. You could say my head was in the clouds. I was thinking about what Tsubaki had told me and was a bit confused. For all I knew I thought it was customary for the guy to make the first move, not the other way around. Maybe she got tired of waiting for him to ask so she decided to. Well, despite it being a bit unorthodox I thought it was a good idea. There was no rule against a girl making a first move, was there?

"Maka, were leaving now." Liz said. I realized I didn't respond the first two times.

"Oh sorry," I apologized as I got up.

"You looked like you were daydreaming, ooh, was it about some hot guy?" Patty asked excitedly.

"Maybe," I answered to their raised eyebrows. Did they think all I ever thought about was academics? I mean most of the time I did, but sometimes my mind wanders like everyone else's. No further commentary was made as we made our down to our hotel.

"Shoot, I left my sandals at the beach," I said fuming. I always carried two pairs with me; one for walking on the boardwalk and another for the sand and water. Normally I would declare them as a lost cause, but they were my favorite pair and expensive.

I grumbled as I got on my other pair, for all I knew they could be washed away now, we were really close to the water before I thought bitterly.

"Tsubaki, I'll be back in bit," I yelled into the other room. A soft alright came from there and then bangs followed by Tsubaki asking Blackstar to stop trying to strangle Soul.

I sighed, I was hoping she would ask to come with me, but she seemed preoccupied with the guys at the moment. Just as my hand touched the doorknob I heard someone behind me say,

"Wait Maka, I'll come too." I heart skipped a beat when I realized it was Kid.

"You don't have to do that, I can go myself," I replied hoping my embarrassment wouldn't show in my voice.

"I was going out anyway, I lost a button to one of favorite shirts and it's impossible to concentrate knowing that, I was going out to buy a new one," he answered sadly. I couldn't hold back my smile as we both walked out the door. That was the typical Kid; I wondered where he was planning to go to buy a single button. His perfectionist personality might have seemed annoying to some people, but I thought it was cute.

We made our way down to the beach in silence. I looked for any sort of indication of where they could be. There weren't many landmarks at a beach, so finding the spot we were before seemed impossible, especially with the setting sun casting shadows of jutting out rocks and making everything distorted looking. Suddenly for an unknown reason I fell. A few seconds later I was in hole someone had done in the sand, I realized it was the one Blackstar had dug to try and trick Soul into falling in.

"You ok Maka?" Kid asked as he offered me up a hand. I took it gladly, even though the hole was only a little more than waist deep, I didn't want to refuse, for a multitude or reasons.

"Yeah fine, at least now I know where my shoes are," I replied and looked around the surrounding area. As I thought they were only a few feet away. I picked them up and shook the sand out of them, all that for a pair of shoes, I thought. I looked up to see kid watching the water. I walked over to him silently and starred at the waves with him.

"Hey Maka, how do you feel when you look out into the ocean?" He asked suddenly, still facing the water. I thought about it and responded with,

"Small I guess, compared to the whole ocean." He just nodded as if coming up with some sort of conclusion in his head, I just shrugged it off and watched him. He starred at the water in deep thought. It seemed like a good time to study his face. He seemed oblivious of me watching him so I continued to stare. The white lines in his hair stood out like, well, white against black. I never really noticed until now but he was really good looking. The way his lips came together perfectly and his eyebrows arched just the right way.

I sighed and turned back and watched the waves hit the rock making droplets of water fly into the air. I realized this would be a perfect moment to ask Kid out, but when I tried to make out the words my mind went blank and I lips refused to move. I think the reason for muteness was embarrassment and a bit of fear too. Just. Say it. I thought to myself, but at the very thought of it my face felt warm. What was wrong with me? I'm not a shy person, I never was, so why can't say something so simple. I've read it a hundred times, and in hundred different ways. You'd think that one of them stuck in my head, but no.

I watched the water in silence dreading every passing second; knowing that sooner or later he would decide to go back and I would have to swallow whatever words I had in my mouth and follow.

I think any other girl in the world would have jumped on this situation; I have to admit I've dreamed about a few times, but dreams are nothing like reality. I'm not sure what triggered the thought, but suddenly I was taken back to when Blackstar lectured me on regrets, it's better than living than regrets, I think it was what he said. I realized that I would regret not saying anything. Maybe now today, or the after, but someday when Kid went on and dated some other girl I would then regret not saying anything.

I clenched my fists and took a breath before I asked,

"Kid, can I ask something of you, I've been meaning to ask for some time and I think the time is right now?" damn, why am I so stupid? I thought. That was the best I could come up with? I shrank away in embarrassment as him head turned. A polite puzzled expression crossed his face.

"What is it Maka? Hey are you feeling alright, you seem a bit red?" he asked me in turn. I did I have to blush all the time? My mind went blank for a few seconds as his eyes stared into mine, they were mesmerizing.

"Uh…" was I could muster, but then another confused look crossed his face and it snapped me back to reality, "what I wanted to ask you… was …was." I could feel the heat in my face. Suddenly it all came out all at once,

"Doyouthink youmightwanna goout anddosomething sometime?" I spluttered.

"Sorry, I don't understand." he said sounding even more confused if that was possible. I took a deep breath to try and steady myself and managed weakly,

"I was wondering… would you maybe want to go out sometime for like ice cream or something, you know … just the two of us?" That was the best I could do? Ice cream? Really? I mentally kicked myself and hoped for the best. Kid suddenly turned away and his hand went up to his hair.

"Oh, never mind; uh…forget I said anything. I should go now." I said a bit awkwardly. I'm so stupid I thought as the tears brimmed in my eyes and threatened to fall over. Why did I ever think Kid would feel the same way about me? He was the son of the Shinigami; he could get almost any girl he could want, so why would he fall for me of all people, plain old Maka Albarn-

My thoughts were unexpectedly interrupted. Two hand grabbed my behind the waste and pulled me in.

"Wha-," was all I could manage. I was dumbstruck, why was Kid doing this?

"You never let me answer. I think ice cream would be nice sometime, but I have something else in mind. How about we just stay here for a while?" He asked me. No way, I thought he actually likes me back? To prove his point he let go of me and sat down right on the sand. His arm was extended towards me in a way that was asking me take it. I did and he gently pulled me down until I sat right next to him. After I sat he still didn't let go and I was becoming increasingly aware how close he was to me, only a few inches away.

It felt fake though. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever conjure up such a scenario. But his hand in mine and the warmth of it proved me wrong. It was real, very real, but I still couldn't help the nagging feeling I got.

"Why, why did you say yes to me?"I asked in almost a whisper, "And do you really mean it?"

"For someone so smart you sure are dumb sometimes," he answered. I felt an upcoming blush making its way onto my face, "I liked you for a while now, but I could never find the right words to tell you. And I also said you because you're you Maka. No one can even come close, you're smart and cute and funny and," he cut off suddenly and looked away. I realized he was blushing now. I almost laughed; I've never seen Kid blush.

"And you asked if I really mean it. And of course I do, but words only go so far, especially for you. So how about I show you?" Suddenly I was thrown back against the sand in one fluent motion. The water was only a feet away but I could care less right now. The shoes I had been holing slipped from my hand, forgotten, his one hand was on my shoulder and the other pressed down in the sand next to me.

He leaned in close and closer, making the space between up deteriorate even faster. I couldn't breathe when he was only an inch away. He was so close that his hair swept across my face due to the wind. And finally the little space remaining went away as he placed his lips onto mine. The kiss was nothing like that night on the dare; it was so much gentler, soft. I still had little idea on what to do but Kid guided me, when he opened his mouth so did I.

We were like this for quite some time, until both of us were sort of breath from forgetting to breathe. And just as suddenly as it started, it ended. He pulled away slowly his face glowing pink and my breath coming up short as if I had gone for a run. I sat up slowly and uncertainly leaned against him. He but his hand around my shoulders to steady me.

And we stayed like that for maybe hours or minutes. Time didn't seem to work right. The silence between us stretched just as far as the horizon, but it was a comfortable one. During that time all I could think of the arm around me. I felt as if we were the only two alive, and it wasn't too hard to believe that since we were on an empty beach. I wonder it Kid felt the same way. I hope he had the same butterflies in his stomach as I did, the same dizzying sensation, the short of breath feeling. And for one Blackstar's advice held true. I was happy, and I was nice to see what I might have missed out on.

The silence remained there for a while, but I didn't mind. It was easier not to say anything, showing it was better.

The only thing that broke the silence was the thumping of our hearts.

Ah… done. So that's it! What did you think? Anyway I'm sorry if anyone was waiting me to update this… yikes my last update was three weeks ago. Sorry. Me being my genius self accidently deleted the story and had to re-type all over. Anyway I say a quick thanks to all my supporters! You guys are really the best! Well until next time, whenever that may be, bye

~ShiningSoul24