An Unexpected Twist

The Message

It was just too much. First her mother, then the abuse, and now this. She never should've went. Maka's anger at the counselor flares, and she feels a twinge of resentment at Soul. It was his fault after all. But she shakes her head to clear it. Soul didn't mean it, she knew that. He just didn't want to see her get hurt.

Maka sighs and waits for the light to turn red so that she can cross the street. As she waits, her thoughts turn to Soul. When he stood up for her against the counselor, Maka had been shocked. No one besides her mother had ever done that for her. Her thoughts drift back to the first day, when Soul had told Black*Star to leave her alone. She just didn't get it. Why was Soul sticking his neck out for her? It wasn't like she had anything that would make someone stick up for her. Quite the opposite. What made Soul so different?

The light changes and Maka hurries across the street, not wanting to cut it close. Especially not after what happened to her mother. Darker thoughts creep into her mind and Maka hurriedly pushes them away. It wasn't smart to dwell on those kind of things. They only led down a dark, dangerous road.

•••••••

Instead of going to the parties that Black*Star had tried to drag him to, Soul spent the weekend at home, trying to think up a plan to get Maka away from that guardian of hers. But the only things he could come up with besides beating that ass down himself would cause alot of trouble for Maka. And that was the last thing she needed.

•••••••

When Maka got home from the library, Giriko's buddies where there and they were all seriously drunk. An involuntary whimper escapes Maka's throat as she sees them. She tries to slip by, unnoticed, but no luck. As they spotted her, the bruises from last night started to ache.

One of Giriko's buddies grabs her by the hair, yanking out the pigtails so that her hair is down. The others laugh and throw things at her. The man that had grabbed her throws her against the wall, and another one comes over as she curls up.

"Think she could give us some fun?"

"Who knows? Only one way to find out."

The newcomer snickers and goes for Maka, only, she wasn't there anymore. The guy slams his drink down as the other hollers for her. Maka locks her door and crawls under her bed, phone in hand. Tears stream down her cheeks as she sends a single text. She then throws the phone across the floor and curls up, waiting for the worst.

•••••••

Soul steps out of the shower as his phone goes off. He grumbles something and quickly throws his clothes on before picking it up. When he saw that the text was from Maka, his heart leapt a bit. This is what he'd been waiting for all weekend. When he saw what Maka had wrote, his heart sank and anger floods through him. He drops his phone and kick starts the bike, tearing down the street.

•••••••

Blood dripped onto the floor as Maka heard the door being kicked in. She heard the yells of the drunkards and she feared for the person's safety. Fists collided and grunts of pain were sounded. Not that that stopped Maka.

•••••••

Soul moved over the unconscious bodies of the guys he had just beat up, looking for Maka. He didn't know where to start. But as he thought about it, he figured that her room was a good place to start. He headed up the stairs, putting his ear to each door, knocking and calling for Maka. On the third door, there was blood on the doorknob.

"Maka? You in there?"

Something shuffles behind the door and Soul turns the handle, pushing the door open. He's instantly greeted by the heavy scent of blood and the sight of it pooling on the floor.

"Maka?"

She's sitting in the corner of the room, her clothes bloodied and torn. She's got cuts and her arms and neck, another pool of blood forming around her.

Soul goes to her, fear and shock gluing his mouth shut. He pulls Maka to her feet and hugs her tightly, shaking a little. When Maka had said she was in trouble, he never had imagined this.

"S-soul..?"

"Sorry I wasn't here sooner to stop those pricks."

"H-how did y-ou get in?"

"I beat them up. I wan't going to let them hurt you anymore."

Maka buries her face into his shoulder, beginning to cry. Soul holds her as she does, taking note that she's still bleeding heavily.

"Maka, you need to get those cuts looked at. You could die from those."

Maka doesn't respond to him so Soul looks around and sees her phone laying on the ground. He pulls it over with his foot and quickly picks it up, Maka's tears hot on his neck as he dials 911.