Friends will always be there to catch you

Chapter 4

Lunch went as I expected it to. Mom told all the stories of when I was little and despite what the others thought I wasn't really embarrassed. I don't remember ever feeling happy after the age of three except for my birthday, when dear old dad wasn't there. I had fun with it just being my mom, Mia, Alice, Lucy, and Angela, even if they did go a little over board with the decorations. Wes was there too, but I didn't really talk to him much because he knew what dear old dad did to me but acted as if it never happened and I was pissed at him for doing that. But I swear there was someone else there. A girl, but I can't remember her name or what she looks like for that matter. I know Mom remembers her and Alice and the others do, so I'm wondering if any of them mentioned the girl to the others while I was away or not paying attention, like right now. I'm sure the others have so many questions and I guess my only choice is to tell them tonight. Well this is going to be pleasant. "Soul, you haven't touched your food, are you okay?" Mom asked, bringing me out of my thoughts.

"Oh yeah, I'm fine." I started eating even though I knew that didn't convince anyone.

"Oh, Soul, I have an idea for our performance tomorrow night, you don't mind meeting me in the music room when you're finished giving your friends a tour of the house, do you?" Wes asked curiously.

"Oh?" I said smirking. "Yeah, I don't mind." I'm curious now. He smiled and nodded.

"Good, I think we'll give everyone a good surprise." I liked the sound of that.

"So how do you all decide who you go after?" Wes asked curiously.

"Well, Lord Death has a list of pre-kishins and posts them on a job request board. Well it's not really a job as much as it is extra credit." Maka said thoughtfully.

"I see," The rest of lunch went on like this. Wes or Mom asking questions and us answering them. Well, I didn't really talk much but I kept up with the conversation because I was curious about what kind of questions they would ask. Wes asked a lot of hard questions though. He asked a lot of questions about what happened with mine and Maka's first encounter with Crona. That was hard for the two of us to talk about. Mom nearly cried at the end when Maka told her how I jumped out in front of her so she wouldn't get hurt. It's just an instinct. Whenever Maka is about to get seriously hurt, I always take the brunt of it for her. I do it without hesitation and I know that one day doing that's going to kill me but I don't think I could live with myself if I had let Maka get hurt like that. I don't know why, but on that day she asked me to be her partner, I just opened up to her. Many others had tried but Maka was different. She didn't give up and I guess that's just something that I like about her. She's not perfect and neither am I. And we both understood that. She's done a lot for me and I've done a lot for her in return.

"Soul has told me that you both share an apartment?" Mom asked Maka. Well this just got a bit awkward. I thought grimacing.

"Yes, we take turns with the chores and stuff." Maka said shrugging.

"Oh, so you got Soul to cook?" Wes asked looking amused. I scowled at him.

"Yes," Maka said grinning. "It's not as bad as I first thought it would be."

"What are you saying? It's delicious!" Black Star said grinning. I was shocked. I didn't know they liked my cooking that much. Then again I was forced to learn how to cook at an early age because my old man wanted me to, but I didn't cook at all from the time I left the house to the time I became Maka's partner. My old man always said my cooking was crappy, but Mom and Wes said it was good, Maka did too, but I never took anyone seriously. But hearing Black Star that it was delicious, I don't know what to think now.