An Unexpected Twist

Research

Maka sat across from Soul, busily flipping through books as he copied down information. She did her best to focus on what she was doing, but her mind kept wondering back to a few nights ago.

She had woken up, her head on Soul's shoulder. At first she had been frozen in shock. Why was her head resting on Soul's shoulder? Why was he here? Slowly her memory comes back along with her surroundings. Maka sits up, Soul's jacket slipping off her shoulders. She stands and walks over to the receptionist, asking is she was allowed to see her mother yet. The receptionist shakes her head.

"Go home and get some sleep. We'll call you when you're allowed to see your mother."

Maka starts to protest, but then she catches her reflection in the glass. Her ash blonde is a wild, tangled mess, and the bags under her eyes are atrocious. No wonder the receptionist told her to go home. Maka sighs and runs her fingers through her hair, walking back over to Soul. She tries to shake him awake.

"Soul, get up."

He mutters something about 5 more minutes and Maka sighs in frustration, looking around. She spots a good sized hardback book sitting on top of a few magazines. She picks it up and weighs it in her hand, looking back at Soul. She takes the book and slams it, spine down, on his head. The resulting thud was enough to make the receptionist look up as Soul bolts awake.

"OOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!"

He rubs his head as people look at them. Maka stands there with the book in her hand, watching him. Soul glares up at her as he snatches the book away.

"What the hell Maka?!"

"You wouldn't wake up and I didn't have any cold water...."

"That doesn't mean you should slam a freaking book on my head!"

Soul groans in annoyance and pain, and he tosses the book back on top of the magazines. He picks up his jacket and looks at Maka as he stands.

"I'm guessing that you need a ride home since you're not old enough to drive yet."

Maka doesn't say anything and he continues.

"I can get you a lift since I drove. C'mon."

She reluctantly follows him out to his motorcycle. She stops when she sees it and Soul hops on. He takes his helmet and tosses it to Maka.

"Don't worry, it's safe. I've been driving this thing for years."

She hesitantly sits behind him.

"What's your address?"

She rattles it off, and Soul nods, turning the bike on. He revs it and it roars, causing Maka to jump. Soul smiles a bit, seeing her jump.

"You'll want to hold onto me so you don't fall off."

Maka gives him a look and he suppresses a smirk as he takes her hands and puts them around his waist. Then he brings his feet up and the bike starts to move. Maka squeals in fright and her arms squeeze around his stomach. Soul can't help but smirk and takes her home, going slower than he normally would. Maka gets off and hands him his helmet.

"Thanks for the ride."

"No problem. I couldn't just let you walk home. No after..."

Maka nods, rubbing the back of her neck.

"See you Monday then."

She walks inside, not waiting for his response.

"Hey Maka, you want me to use this page too?"

Soul's voice snaps her out of her out of her day dreaming. She looks at the page that he was asking her about.

"Only the first half. The rest doesn't matter."

Soul nods and goes back to work. Maka quietly sighs, looking at the open book in front of her. She and Soul work till closing time, getting quite a bit of their work done. Maka takes all the notes that Soul had written down since she didn't trust him to keep track of it. She and Soul part ways once they walk through the doors, and Maka can't help but think that just maybe they'll get a good grade on this project.