An Unexpected Twist

The Guardian

"MAAAKKKKAAA!"

Her father's voice shatters her thoughts as he hollers for her. Maka lays her head down on the desk, the beginnings of a headache starting to show. She really didn't want to deal with her father. Especially right now. He hollers again and Maka sighs, getting up and exiting her room. She stands at the top of the stairs and looks down at her father.

"I'm right here Papa, geez."

He looks up at her, a little unsteady on his feet. Her father always did like alcohol, but since her mother's death he'd been taking it way out of proportion.

"Maka, come down here. I have something to tell you."

"You can tell me from here..."

She didn't like being close to her father when he was like this. He got easily agitated and he's a lot stronger than he looks; Maka had learned the hard way to be leery of him when he was under the influence.

"Maka. Stop being difficult and come down here."

Her father meanders off, and Maka slowly makes her way down the stairs killing as much time as possible. He's sitting in the E-zy chair, waiting for her. She stands a few feet away from him and crosses her arms.

"Well?"

He's absentmindedly fiddling with a folded up piece of paper as he looks at her.

"I'm being transferred overseas."

Maka can feel her mouth dropping open in disbelief. She didn't even know her father had a job.

"What?! Why?!"

Her father shrugs. The first thing that goes through her mind is that she doesn't want to move away from Soul, and she scolds herself a bit. So what if she moved? At least Soul wouldn't be able to mess with her head anymore.

"Please don't tell me that I have to go with you!"

He fiddles with the paper and Maka has to suppress the urge to scream at him.

"Papa?!"

"There's no point in enrolling you into another school this late in the year..."

She could almost kiss her father in joy.

"But I'm leaving a guardian in my place to look after you."

"Papa, I don't need a guardian! I'm 16 for christ sakes. I..."

His eyes narrow at her, causing Maka to shut up.

"It's either you come with me or you stay here with a guardian. Choose."

Maka bites her lip. She really hated her father sometimes.

"I'm staying here."

Her father nods like that was the answer he was expecting. The two of them can hear a car pull up in front of the house, and her father gets to his feet walking to the door. He yanks it open to reveal a large, burly man. Maka warily studies the man from her position. He's scruffy and dirty, and even from where she is, Maka can smell the alcohol. She notices that the man has huge hands and they're scarred. He and her father talk and Maka starts to slink back upstairs.

"Oi Maka, come'er."

She jumps like she was caught red handed. She sulks over to them, using her body to tell the both of them that she doesn't want to be here.

"Maka, Giriko. Giriko, Maka. This is your guardian Maka."

She reels back a bit. Out of every person her father could've chosen, why'd it have to be this guy? He intimidated the heck out of her. From the scarred hands to his dead, cold eyes. Giriko growls as he looks Maka over.

"You better not cause me any trouble girlie."

"Nope, no trouble"

Her father ruffles her hair.

"My Maka's a good girl."

They talk for a short time, Maka not paying any attention what-so-ever to them. Finally her father breaks it off, saying that he had to catch his plane. He leaves and Giriko stares at her for a good 10 minutes.

"Uhh...."

He slaps her across the face.

"Never speak unless spoken to, understand?"

Maka cups her stinging cheek, nodding. He slaps her again, harder this time.

"I can't hear you!"

"Y-yes."

"Yes what?"

"Y-yes sir."

"Now that that's settled, get outta my sight."

Maka scampers up the stairs, slamming her door shut and locking it. Her cheeks stung badly, a bruise already forming on her left cheek. She can feel tears prick the corners of her eyes. Oh how she wished she'd gone with her father. The thought of him brings her up short. How long did he say he was gunna be gone? 6 months? 8? Maka shakes her head, swallowing down her fear. She'd just stay away from the guy. Simple as that. Oddly her thoughts turn to Soul, wishing he was here. That makes her halt. Why the hell was she thinking of Soul so much today? She shakes her head, at an utter lost.

••••••••

Strangely enough, Soul had spent a fair amount of his day thinking about Maka. Even now and then his thoughts would stray to her, and he told himself that he was worried about her. Yet his mind lingered on how cold she had felt the day before in his arms when he held her. It actually scared him a little. He flipped through the channels on his tv, looking for something to distract him. There was nothing. He wondered how Maka was doing. He picked his phone up, pulling up her number when Wes walked in the door.

"Whats this? Here it is a Saturday night and you're sitting at home. Is it the apocalypse?"

"Fuck off Wes. I'm not in the mood."

"You're never in the mood little brother."

Soul just growls and his attention goes back to his phone, sending Maka a quick text.

"So which girl are you sneaking around with now?"

Soul's anger suddenly flares, and he pauses to get it under control.

"Why don't you mind your own god damn business for once?"

Wes tisks and replies, but Soul's not paying him any attention. His phone had just gone off. He sees that it's Maka and he quickly replies to her. He goes to his room, brushing off his brother's attempts to talk to him, pausing only to tell him where he can shove it. He and Maka text back and forth for a while, and for some reason Soul was getting the feeling that something was wrong. All of Maka's texts were curt and short. Like she was a robot. And while she might as well as be a robot when it comes to school, it wasn't like her to be this way normally. Soul ends the conversation and turns his phone off, thinking. He's have to really talk to Maka on Monday. It's a lot easier to see someone's emotions face-to-face than over a phone.