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Soul and Maka had been working together for about six months the first time a student – a then somewhat chubby and more confident Hiro – asked to speak to Soul "in private". Soul was more than slightly antisocial and didn't really like being around anyone who wasn't Maka or, at this time, Tsubaki, with whom Maka had formed a fast friendship, refused to speak to Hiro without Maka around. Which proved, of course, to be a huge mistake.
Hiro himself was slightly terrified of Maka. She and Soul had already acquired 38 kishin eggs; Hiro didn't even have a partner yet. He twirled his fingers around one another and stuttered as he asked Soul "Would you be my partner?"
Soul didn't really know what to say because he didn't think partner-switching was allowed. He thought Hiro was joking, but judging from the serious expression on his face, Soul didn't think it polite to laugh.
Maka, on the other hand, knew the rules and was quite sure that Hiro was not, in fact, joking. So Maka ran home, crying.
Soul put a hand behind his head, scratching his hair lightly.
"So…what do you think?"
Soul chanced a glance behind his shoulder. "Sorry kid, but I gotta go check on my partner." Hiro looked embarrassed to the point of tears. "Wow, you are so uncool."
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Soul didn't have a sister. He had a mother, but they weren't exactly close. He had a brother, but he'd never seen Wes cry.
Soul knocked on Maka's door tentatively, hoping this wasn't going to earn him a smack. "Hey, Maka, are you, um, okay?"
He didn't quite understand her response, but it sounded like "Bllasdddkaskd alssskdka!" Soul found himself scratching his head again. Dammit, if I don't stop doing that, people are going to think I have lice or something. So uncool. "Come on Maka, just tell me what's wrong," but Maka wouldn't budge. Soul dug his teeth into his lip, tasting the blood as it hit his tongue. Sighing, Soul gave up. "Look, Maka, whatever it is I did…I'm sorry."
Maka opened the door a bit. Soul noticed that her eyes were big, red, and strained. Her cheeks were blotchy and her hair was messy, with random strands having fallen out of their tails. He'd never seen her look that weak or vulnerable, and they'd be in life-threatening danger several times by now. Soul was both amazed and unnerved.
"If you want to switch to Hiro, I understand" she mumbled.
"What? Why would I want to do that?" Maka shrugged her shoulders slightly, leaving one slightly tilted to the side.
"Because he's a boy? Because he's 'cooler' than me?"
"You're kidding me, right? He's such a loser. I thought he was joking when he asked to be my partner." Maka's laugh turned into a cough. "I'm not…I'm not going to ditch you."
"Yeah, that's what papa said."
Until now, Maka hadn't really said anything about her father. Soul knew that people at school gossiped about it, and that was part of the reason he didn't talk to the people at school. All he knew was the Spirit was a player and that Maka hated him. If Maka hated him, that was good enough for Soul. She was his partner. He trusted her, no matter what.
Maka started to shut the door, but Soul stuck his foot in, hand on her door frame. "Maka, tell me what happened."
Maka looked up at him, and for a moment, Soul didn't see her as his meister, but as a little kid, hurt and afraid. She sat down on the floor, hugging her knees to her chest.
"Papa cheats on mama. With practically every piece of –" she stopped midway, whether to hold back tears or because she was trying not to be insulting, Soul couldn't tell. "With every girl who walked by. Mama trusted him…I trusted him…but in the end…they both left…they always leave."
Soul sat for awhile thinking, not even noticing when Maka shut and locked the door. But he did decide to make dinner that night, leaving some outside of Maka's door and knocking gently for whenever she was ready.
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Soul could have told Maka that he was never going to leave her, but he knew that he had to earn that kind of trust instead of expecting her to just believe him. So instead of pushing the issue, he kicked Spirit in the place it most hurt the next time he saw him. Maka, who was watching from a distance, giggled and, grabbing Soul's hand, ran into the classroom before her father could make a scene of things. That was the first time Soul remembered holding hands with…well, anyone.
Although Soul had no particular interest in switching partners and trusted Maka to feel the same, he made an effort to keep any other requests few and secret. And after seeing what it did to Maka, he was also determined to never feel that way himself. From that day forward, Soul made a point of punching walls and lockers, glaring and baring his teeth, and holding Maka's hand or wrapping an arm around her whenever people looked too interested. Maka didn't seem to notice anything, but it worked just fine for Soul.
(And whenever Maka asked questions, Soul commented that it was because she lacked sex appeal. Soul didn't even believe his own excuse, not that he'd ever let anyone else know that.)