An Unexpected Twist

The Funeral

Soul walked into class, pumped that it was finally Friday. He glanced over to where Maka usually sat, surprised that she wasn't there. He pauses, scanning the room to see if she decided to sit somewhere else. There's no sign of her, which shocked Soul. It's not like Maka to skip school, even if she was sick. The bell rings and he hurries to his seat, not wanting to get caught by Stein.

Soul can't really focus the rest of the day, as he was too worried about Maka. At the end of the day he skipped the socializing and went straight to his bike, having to know what was up with Maka. He quickly drove over to her house, hopping off his bike before it stopped moving. He knocks on the door, waiting for someone to answer. He stands there for a good twenty minutes before Maka's father answered the door. To Soul he looks totally wasted.

"Who are ya, and what'da want?"

The man's words are slurred, so it's hard for Soul to understand what he's saying.

"I can't understand you sir..."

"I said, who are ya and what'da want?!"

The man was getting agitated, and Soul didn't really want to fight with him. At least not right now he didn't.

"My name's Soul. I'm a friend of Maka's from school."

Maka's father opened the door all the way so he could look at Soul properly. His eyes narrow and Soul can smell the reek of alcohol and something else now that the door was open.

"A friend of my daughter's? Why'd you stop by?

This was Maka's dad? Definitely not what Soul was expecting.

"She wasn't at school today. I wanted to make sure that she was ok."

"What makes you think that something's wrong? What? Maka not allowed to skip a day of school without people being nosy?"

"It's just that it's not like Maka to skip school..."

Maka's father makes a sound of disgust.

"Maka's fine. Now scram. Before I call the cops."

With that he promptly slammed the door in Soul's face. Soul sighs and steps off the porch, going around the house. He hoped that he could maybe find a way to get inside besides using the front door. There's a window overhead and something moves, catching Soul's attention. He looks up, straining his eyes. He can see an outline of a person, but he's not totally sure if it's Maka or not. So he decides to take a chance and picks up a small rock, tossing it at her window. Not hard enough to break the glass, but enough to make a racket. The person doesn't move and Soul curses under his breath, picking up more rocks. He continues to toss them until the curtains are drawn back and the window opens, Maka looking out at him. Soul could tell that her eyes are bloodshot and she'd obviously been crying. A lot.

"Soul?! What're you doing?!"

"I wanted to make sure that you were ok since you weren't at school today."

"But why're you throwing rocks at my window? Can't you use the front door like a normal person?"

"I already tried that. Your dad told me to leave."

Maka's face pales when he mentions her dad. She leaves the window and Soul can hear a door being opened. Maka comes back a few minutes later and before she can speak, Soul starts to question her. She just shakes her head and closes her window. A few minutes later Maka meets Soul at the side of the house.

"Maka, what's going on? You skipped school, which a rare thing for you. Your dad looks like he's wasted and you've clearly been crying a lot."

Soul can see the pain in her eyes and he feels bad for interrogating her. Her lips part, but no sound comes out and Soul has the sudden desire to kiss her. He can feel himself starting to lean in towards Maka and he has to mentally slap himself. What was he thinking? Now wasn't the time for that. Not now, not ever. Maka was just a friend. Period.