SoMa One-Shots

Maka's Mission Part III

His life is not my concern.
I must complete this task before he can ruin me.

"So, then, do you wanna sit together during lunch?" I scratched the back of my head. Despite becoming best friends during the last few months, we hadn't sat together at lunch before.

I should not allow personal feelings grow.

Maka gave a slow blink at me, as if completely thrown off guard by my question.
"You can make friends with my group! They're in some of our classes. They're a little strange, but nice overall...Where do you sit, anyway? I've never seen you in the cafeteria. That's a little odd now that I think about it," I babbled, unsure of myself.

Like an utter fool.

The expression on her face was illegible- she seemed conflicted. Maka bit her lower lip, looking away.
"Or- or not, that's okay, too," I added hastily, turning away. She grabbed my sleeve.

"Um, no, it's fine. I'll join you, if you're sure it is alright." She gave an earnest, serene smile.

I've never had one of them ask something like this.
I've never been affected by it like this.
I should've said no. Why didn't I say no?

Introductions awoke that question from the back of my mind- where HAD she been sitting at lunch? I don't know. She's so kind; surely she must've had some friends to sit with...
I consciously reigned in my racing thoughts. 'Stop it, Soul. You're being too idealistic.'

Maka smiled politely, quietly nodding as she greeted each person at the table. She kept the same small smile on- even when BlackStar started yelling. The space between her eyebrows creased though, hinting that it was forced.
Which led me to wonder- how often does she give that fake smile?
Maybe it means something that I haven't seen it before.

We chatted loudly during lunch- save for Maka, who spent it quietly eating her food, as if terrified of her own voice. By the end of lunch, however, she had noticeably relaxed- she even giggled at a few of my jokes, despite never commenting.
"You have...interesting friends," Maka said after the school day finished.

I nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah, they can be quite the handful. Though she's shy, Tsubaki is strong and she helps keep the group grounded."
Maka nodded enthusiastically in return. "That makes sense. She does radiate a calming aura, doesn't she...?" Her rhetorical sentence slowed as she trailed off, not needing an answer. Her expression clouded suddenly- inexplicably.
"Um- Soul, I am going to my room. You will probably not see me again until tomorrow due to my homework. Goodnight."

She shut the door of her room. Any more force behind it, and it would definitely count as a door slam. We didn't even eat dinner. What's the point of saying 'I'm going to my room' if she was already in it anyway? We don't even HAVE homework. And she seemed...off? I'll ask if something's wrong tomorrow morning.

In the meantime, I didn't feel like doing homework. Sleep sounded like a good idea.
I thought of the issue as I laid in bed. Did I do something wrong?
No, I don't recall doing anything stupid- involving her, at least. She had been acting weird only recently, as far as I knew. Could there be something wrong with her family? She never talks about her parents. I drifted off, restless due to Maka's tight-lipped attitude.

The front door creaked- I must've been getting sensitive to it. I debated with myself whether to talk to Maka, or to go back to sleep. Sleep deprivation lost in the end, and I, uncharacteristically, sat up.
I pushed open the door and approached Maka, placing a hand on her shoulder. Startled, she whipped around, snatching my wrist with a fierce look in her eyes-not too different from a cornered deer.
She breathed a sigh of relief and her body visibly relaxed.

"Are you, like, some sort of ninja or something? You have some crazy fast reflexes." I was just saying- if we ended up in a physical fight, her speed definitely would win her the match.

"...Well, I have my strengths," she said vaguely.

He has no idea how close he is to the truth...

Maka looked at me with a tired smile- the same smile that she gave Blackstar. I knew it was false...something was definitely bothering her.
I knew I was no therapist, but I needed to at least ask.

"Hey, um...are you okay, Maka? You've been acting weird the last few days. Is something wrong?" I gently fixed my gaze on her, and her eyes immediately filled with tears.
Her arms wrapped around me in a tight, almost desperate hug. She leaned heavily against me, and I helped lower her to her knees, sitting down next to her. Teardrops began to stain my shirt.
I didn't mind.

"Soul, I- I don't even know how to say this. You wouldn't understand..."
I needed to get to the bottom of this. For our friendship. And her sake, as well.
I slightly pull away from the hug and look into her eyes. Her nose and eyes are red.
"Maka, how can I understand if you don't tell me, dummy?" I said, shaking my head.
She hiccuped, giving a wry smile before continuing.

"I guess...I should start at the beginning, then. It's a long story...
Since I was six, I had learned to obey my superiors without question. I harbored no empathy for my targets, nor did I care for my own situation. The corrupt organization was all I had to validate my life. It was all I knew. It was all I could do to feel fulfilled in living.
But...recently something changed. I'm having...strange feelings, and I feel connected to my target, and I don't want my target to..."

She trailed off again. I just stared at her, dumbfounded. Tears streamed silently down her cheeks.
"Who's your target?" I tried to ask in the most casual way I could muster.
Maka didn't answer for a few seconds. She hiccuped again, then lowered her head.
"You."

All the air whooshed out of my body. My chest stung.
"I...what?"
Maka grew distinctly upset.
"Soul, I...Our job is to allure the target, to gain their trust. To become something they can't ignore, to become someone they adore...And then our job is to assassinate them and then cry at the funeral. The family doesn't suspect us.
Why does our organization do this? Money? Revenge? Politics?

I'm not sure. It's not well known throughout the organization. I've been with them since before I can remember- and even now, I'm not a significant member. I never even considered if it was wrong.
But I don't know anymore. I think it's wrong.
Nobody suspects us. The targets adore us. I never thought of it as hurtful or cruel- it was always just what we do.

I was raised like this. But nobody- nobody told me! Nobody ever told me I would FEEL something for a target! I think I like you. I don't...I don't want to hurt you. I want to make you happy. I just...I don't understand. I don't understand it. I don't know..."

Everything she'd been thinking began to gush to the surface- as if she couldn't even stop herself from speaking her mind. She looked at me, fresh tears in her eyes, clear anguish on her face. I reached out to her hand.
"I like you too." On cue, her face turned immediately pink.
"That's not what I-"
"Let's go inside, Maka. We can skip school and hang out at home while we figure things out."

Her face drained of emotion and color. "If I do that, they'll know."
"Well, you're not important, right? In the organization, I mean. You're just getting paid for everything, right?" I asked. "It doesn't matter if you quit."
She shook her head slowly, her face very, very pale. "You have no idea...I've seen those dungeons." Her lower lip trembled. "Not going back."