"And so that is how the human heart works. Next week, we'll have a lab session, and we'll be dissecting a human. Any volunteers?" At the awkward silence that greeted him, Professor Stein chuckled darkly, waving a hand through the air carelessly. "I was just joking…"

At that, a few people let out soft, half-hearted chuckles. But they knew he wasn't kidding.

Not really.

After all, there had to be some explanation as to why he had a giant screw lodged through his head.

"Right." He continued, spinning to the whiteboard on his chair, as he always did. "Take down what I'll need you to bring next week."

As other students scrambled to take out the notebooks they had already kept in their bags, Maka Albarn slowly took down what her teacher was writing on the board. With her ash blonde hair tied into pigtails, moss green eyes and neat appearance, she looked to be the perfect example of a model student.

That is, until a stray piece of crumpled paper hit her right in the face. Letting out a sound that was as close to growling as humanly possible, she looked around for the culprit, not at all surprised to see her childhood friend, Black Star, gesturing animatedly to the person in front of her.

Maka looked over at the hunched back of the one sitting in front of her, only able to see the back of his head that was covered in snow-white hair pulled back with a headband.

Feigning innocence, Maka pointed to the person sitting to her left, who smartly ignored her, used to their shenanigans by now. Much to her amusement, Black Star only seemed to get more agitated and was practically bouncing on his seat as he continued to gesture to the person sitting in front of her. Again, Maka pointed to the person behind her instead, and Black Star looked like he was about to rip his blue hair off.

Cupping his hands around his mouth, he whispered, "Pass it to Soul. Soulllllllll." Except this was Black Star and whispering was not in his dictionary.

The whole class's heads whipped around to look at him, but instead of being embarrassed like anyone else would be, Black Star seemed to light up at all the attention he was getting.

"Pass what exactly to Soul, Black Star?" Professor Stein asked, amusement in his voice, which made it evident to Maka that he knew exactly what the bright-haired boy had been doing behind his back.

Black Star stood up, chest puffing as he proceeded to say, "The basketball! Being the awesome team captain that I am, I already wrote down a whole plan for today's match."

Professor Stein just shook his head exasperatedly as the rest of the class laughed, used to his student's loud behaviour by now. "You won't have a match to go to if you don't take a seat right this instant." He said dryly, the class bursting into laughter again as Black Star hurriedly plopped back into his seat. Maka wiped tears from her eyes as the class settled down and continued where they left off.

After checking to see if the coast was clear, Maka leaned across her table and tapped Soul on the shoulder, and once he turned around she presented him the crumpled paper with a grin. He shook his head at her, red eyes bright with amusement, but smirked all the same as he took the note and read what his friend had desperately wanted to tell him.

'YOU GONNA EAT MY DUST, EATER.'

Maka giggled as Soul slammed his head against the table.

The bell had rung signaling the end of class, and Black Star had hurried over to their tables, quickly telling them to meet at the basketball court, before bounding out of the classroom, yelling excitedly the entire way.

The duo made their way to their lockers first; they had luckily been assigned lockers not too far from each other.

"So you're coming right? Tsubaki and the others will be there too." Soul informed her, leaning against the locker next to hers as she put away the books she didn't plan on bringing home.

Maka smiled at him. "Sure. Black Star said I could just read my book while you guys play."

Soul snorted, but otherwise didn't say anything. She closed her locker, and they began to walk to the school basketball court. While usually reserved for the basketball team, it was usually vacant on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Black Star made it a point to always book the courts for their group of friends – with Tsubaki's reminders, of course.

The senior had developed a soft spot for him, bonding over the fact that they both came from Japan when she moved to Death City last year. Maka respected her, considering that the older girl voluntarily wanted to get to know Black Star better; she hadn't been as keen when they were younger and he had learnt to talk.

After a quick stop at the toilet, where Soul changed out of his leather jacket and shirt into more appropriate sports wear, they arrived at the court, where it seemed the teams were being decided. Soul joined the others on the court while Maka joined Liz, another senior, on the wooden bench.

"You're not playing either?" Maka asked her, pulling out a novel she was currently reading from her bag. She was in the middle of the book and the plot was getting intense.

"Are you kidding me? I just got my nails done yesterday." She flaunted them to Maka, who, while not a big fan of painting her own nails, could appreciate a job well done. Liz sighed as she continued, "Besides, if I do play and end up scratching at the polish, or, heaven forbid, break a nail, Kid will be all up on me about it not being symmetrical."

Maka chuckled sympathetically. She was well aware of the obsession Liz's housemate had with everything symmetrical, having been on the receiving end of more than one of his breakdowns in the many years they had known each other.

Suddenly a shadow fell over her, and she scowled, looking up to see what was blocking her sunlight. Black Star was looking down at her, head tilted as if in confusion. "What are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?" She answered sarcastically.

"You're supposed to play."

"You told me I could read my book."

Black Star blinked. "I lied."

Maka threw the book at his face.

"Oh come on Maka!" Patty, Liz's younger sister bounded over to where they were, short blonde hair flying. Tsubaki trailed behind her, looking both annoyed at and worried for Black Star, who was literally red in the face, and moaning in pain. Maka rolled her eyes at his over-the-top acting, knowing full well a book to the face wouldn't hurt him as much as that.

Sidling up between Maka and Liz, Patty grabbed Maka's hand; looking at her imploringly, blue eyes bright and expectant.

"A-ah well…" Even though Patty was a year older than her, her innocence and excitable nature made Maka think of her as more of the younger sister she never had. Given that, it was hard to refuse her in any situation, especially when she pulled that face.

From across the court, Soul and Kid watched with amused expressions. The former cupped his hands around his mouth, and shouted, "You're fighting a losing battle, Maka."

Maka sighed, conceding defeat.

"Alright, but I'm not exactly dressed right." She mumbled, looking down at the plain shirt she wore, tucked into a checkered skirt.

"That's ok, you can just stand there and not actually do anything." Black Star said, jumping up. He grinned, bounding past the girls over to where Soul and Kid lazily passing the ball to each other.

Maka frowned, not pleased with the idea of just standing there. Tsubaki noticed her expression, and smiled kindly. "Don't listen to him, Maka-chan. Black Star isn't on your team, so he's probably just making sure his team will win."

"Tsu's right, Maka!" Patty exclaimed happily. She took off the cap she had been wearing and placed it on Maka's head. "There! Just play with us and have fun!"

Maka smiled at her friends' encouragements. The unsure look on her face was replaced by one of determination. With renewed enthusiasm, she fist pumped the air, "Yeah let's do this!"

But then the hand in the air faltered.

"I… don't know how to play basketball though."

Patty laughed as Liz waved a hand through the air, "Ah, you just need to throw the ball into the basket." She advised airily.

Tsubaki laughed nervously. "Well… Not exactly. But!" She said, taking Maka's hand and pulling her towards the boys who were waiting impatiently, especially Black Star. "I think you'll get the hang of it soon enough, Maka-chan. You're smart."

As soon as they reached the boys Black Star clapped his hands together eagerly. "So you and Patty are lucky enough to be graced with me on your team."

Maka grimaced, and caught Soul's eyes. He grinned at her, showing hints of the sharp teeth he had, and she frowned, knowing him well enough to know that that grin only spelt trouble for her.

"Anyway, don't you think just playing basketball is boring?" He asked, tone light. "Let's kick it up a notch and say that the captain of the losing team has to go through some sort of penalty."

Black Star smiled widely. "That's fine by me. I accept your challenge!"

Soul put an arm around Kid, who was already looking slightly paler. "Alright then, if we lose, you have permission to go to Kid's house and move all his frames to the left by 2cm."

At that, Kid blanched, hands going up to grip his hair. "O-oi, who gave you permission to do that!"

Tsubaki patted his shoulder sympathetically as he continued to look worried. In the mean time, Black Star was saying, "Alright then. If my team loses, then Maka will have to go on a date with her dad."

Maka's laughter at Kid's reaction immediate ceased. "Huh? W-wait a minute! Since when was I the captain?" She gripped Black Star's bicep, "You want to be the captain right? Aren't you the captain?"

At her words, Black Star fell to his knees. "I know, but I feel bad for making you play with us, and a God must not make his subjects sad."

"But I'm not sad!" Maka quickly told him, but her words were drowned by his wails of wanting to be captain.

Patty patted her head, "And sides, you're wearing the Captain's cap!"

"This?!"

"Alright, since we're all settled, let's get started!" Soul said, and stood in the middle of the court. Black Star wiped away the tears from his eyes and went to his own position.

Maka stood a few steps behind Patty as everybody got positioned, getting ready, staring at where the ball was.

With a blow of a whistle, courtesy of Liz, the game began.

Soul passed the ball to Black Star and Maka frowned.

"Wait… Soul's not on our team."

Black Star passed the ball back to Soul, and Maka's confusion intensified.

"But…" No one else seemed to be surprised by what they were doing.

The game went on, and as each moment passed Maka just became more and more confused. Black Star's enthusiasm was proving to be a hindrance on the court, and Soul's team was rapidly gaining points, most coming from Kid who seemed adamant to score every few minutes. Once, the ball was thrown to her, courtesy of Patty, but then when she actually tried to do something Kid immediately called her out on a foul, obviously desperate to not be on the losing team. Something about a double dribble, though Maka had no idea what that was.

It sounded cool though.

Liz cheered as Patty scored for their team, allowing them some dignity as the score was raised to 4 - 24, letting out an enthusiastic 'whoop' and jumping out of her seat. Patty grinned widely at her sister, who grinned back.

The blonde settled back into her seat, but then a noise caught her attention. After looking around for a few moments, she realised that the sound – a series of repeating notes – was coming from Maka's bag. Liz quickly rummaged the bag for Maka's phone, assuming that it was her phone ringing and not anything else.

Fishing it out, Liz looked at the name flashing on the screen. "Oi, Maka!" She shouted, waving her phone in the air when the girl turned, "This Marie woman is calling you."

Confusion marred Maka's expression as she ran to pick it up, Kid calling a time out for the game in wake of her leaving the court. Trying to catch her breath, Maka answered the phone.

"Miss Marie." She wheezed. "Sorry for taking so long to answer."

The person on the other line quickly dismissed Maka's apologies pleasantly, and then her own tone began to drip with embarrassment. "Oh no no Maka, I should be the one apologizing."

Maka tilted her head as Soul came to stand beside her, taking her water bottle out of her bag and guzzling down its contents. Maka swatted him lightly as Marie continued speaking, "I have a favour I need to ask."

"Oh? Sure, no problem. What is it?" Maka asked, and Marie sighed over the line.

She explained, in an incredibly frantic voice, how most the staff members couldn't make it to work today, and now they were incredibly short on staff – in fact it was just her and Azusa, and two others -, and how she knew that Maka only worked during the weekends and occasionally after school on Fridays, but she was desperate and needed someone to else to help with the workload.

"And I know I'm asking a lot of you," Marie continued to babble, "Especially so suddenly but I real-"

"Miss Marie!" Maka blurted out, finally managing to get a word in. She giggled, fanning herself, "It's no trouble at all. I'll be there soon."

There was a delighted squeal from the other end of the line, and a stern 'shh' that Maka recognized to be from Azusa. "Thank you so much Maka! You're the best!" In her head, Maka could picture Marie bouncing excitedly in her seat, uncovered eye bright, and Azusa sighing exasperatedly in the background, going through documents as fast and meticulously as she could.

"It's no problem." She repeated kindly, before saying goodbye and hanging up.

"Who was that?" Patty asked curiously.

"And where are you going?" Liz continued, watching as Maka stuffed her phone in her bag and pulled her bottle out of Soul's hands.

'That was my boss. They're a bit shorthanded today, so I'm going over to the library to help them out."

Black Star gasped. "You're leaving in the middle of a game?! You can't!" He said, proving his statement by raising his arms, effectively blocking Maka's path. She scowled at him, but he seemed unfazed. "We just need a couple more points to beat Soul's team! If you leave now…" He trailed off, biting his lip; he looked as if he was going to say something devastating.

"I'M GONNA LOSE."

Out of the corner of her eye, Maka saw Kid breathe a giant sigh of relief, and her own eyes widened, remembering the punishment that lay before her if their team lost. Soul seemed to remember too, since he grinned wickedly, full set of sharp teeth seen.

Maka sidestepped Black Star's one-man barrier. "Liz can take over for me."

Her suggestion was met with two quick 'No's, one from Liz herself, and the other from Kid, who looked distraught at the mere idea of Liz's nails somehow losing its perfect symmetry if she were to play.

Soul clapped his friend on the back, smirking. "Looks like you've lost this round, Star." He patted Black Star on the back, none too sympathetically. "And Maka… I hope you didn't have anything planned for Sunday. Bet your dad's head is going to explode when you ask him."

Maka sighed, knowing that she would have to go through with it; her friends were very resourceful, and would know if she had gone out with her Papa or not.

"I will get my vengeance." Black Star muttered to himself, and Maka silently agreed with him.

"Anyway Soul, since you finished all of my water." She stated, using her now empty bottle to point at him accusingly, "You're going to drive me there."

"Harsh." He retaliated, but didn't object. In fact, he quickly took his own bag and threw it over his shoulders. Liz raised an eyebrow at this, looking slyly between Soul and Maka, and nudging Tsubaki who had sat beside her. The two older girls giggled and Black Star turned to them.

"What the hell are you two giggling about?"

"Nothing that little brain of yours can comprehend."

Black Star frowned, not entirely understanding what Liz had just said, but having a vague feeling that it was meant to be insulting.

Maka and Soul bade their goodbyes to their friends, and made their move. As they walked, Maka sniffed herself and immediately crinkled her nose in disgust.

"Soul, do you have any deodorant?"

Soul looked at her amusedly. "Do you want to smell like a man?" He asked, half-serious, but pulled out his deodorant from his bag anyway, tossing it to her. She caught it smoothly, quickly spraying some on herself.

"I don't mind." Maka said, answering his question a little belatedly, tossing the bottle back to him.

Soul smirked, "No real difference right?"

The book smashed into his head so fast he never saw it coming.

He howled, rubbing his head in pain. "What was that for?!"

Maka innocently batted her eyes at him, returning the book she had used back into her bag. "Oh, you mean you weren't asking for it?"

He grumbled, "All I did was tell you the truth… Ok, ok, I'm sorry!" He yelped, raising his hands in front as his head as Maka made a motion to take the book out of her bag again.

"Thought so." She said smugly, picking up her pace and leaving Soul to catch up to her.

"Did you park in the usual spot?" She asked, and Soul nodded. Soon enough they were at the carpark, and he handed her his spare helmet- the one that was really reserved for only her. She put in on, and he helped her tighten it.

There had been a point where Soul had never really given a damn about road safety, despite Maka's warnings, but after too close a shave last year, he was never again taking their safety for granted.

It had all happened too fast. The details were fuzzy.

But he could still recall the how it was raining heavily that day. Both of them were drenched from head to toe, but he was confident in his abilities to drive her to work safely. And even though she was unsure, Maka had trusted him.

He remembers a tall figure darting across the road just when they were rounding the curb. He remembers how he had instinctively turned the handles just a little too harshly; how both of them had been thrown onto the sidewalk, how there had been a fence there.

There had been a lot of blood, his blood. His blood mixing with the rain.

Soul remembers her screaming; her sobs and pleads that he had desperately held on to as the darkness took over…

He had walked away with a scar that stretched diagonally from his chest to his waist after an emergency surgery, while Maka had walked away with a number of scratches and a huge fear of motorcycles. It took Soul months to convince her that he would never let it happen again, and even now she was still wrapping her arms around his waist just a tad tighter than she needed to.

While to everyone else it seemed like Soul had walked out with the short end of the stick, he never truly forgave himself for causing such emotional distress to his best friend. That was why he decided to invest in proper safety helmets for the both of them.

He was never going to let her get hurt again.

Soul watched her get on to his bike, and when she smiled at him, tilting her head in the way he knew meant what's wrong he just smiled and patted her helmet a few times, before getting on himself. Her arms wrapped around him instantly, so familiar, so comforting, that despite himself, he felt a light blush creep heat his cheeks. Thankful that she couldn't see it, he just started the engine, and then they were off.

Ten minutes later, they were rounding the curve to the library. Slowing down, he parked the bike next to the curb. Maka got off quickly and handed him her helmet.

"Are you always going to use me as your own personal chauffeur?"

Maka raised an eyebrow at him, "Why do you think I keep you around?"

"Then maybe I should start charging you."

She smirked. "You wouldn't, you love me too much."

Though he knew she was only teasing, the blush that had subsided during the ride rushed back to his cheeks, stronger than before. Fortunately, Maka was already walking down the path to the library, where she worked part-time.

Once she reached the entrance she turned back to wave at Soul again, as had become custom for them. He waved back, and she entered the library satisfied.

The moment she was out of sight, Soul took off his helmet and rubbed his hands over his face, mortified and slightly confused as to why he was blushing. Letting out an annoyed sigh, he jammed the helmet back onto his head and took off, heading home.

Maybe playing his piano would help him to understand his own mind. Or worse come to worst, he could go visit his older brother.

Wes was annoying, but Soul had to admit he was good with all things to do with feelings; something Soul just didn't have a heads or tails on in the slightest.

Especially when it came to Maka.