Hi….It's my last year of college and I'm so stressed out its unbelievable. I had to get a counselor, that's how bad it was. Anyway, sorry I never update, I just have a lot to do. I'm actually making a collection for the senior fashion show so I hope you can understand making six garments to perfection is impossible without motivation. Yeah started contemplating quitting and everything, but it's my senior year. Ughhh. Well anyway, I want to apologize for leaving you hanging. I can't guarantee updates because I've never really been a well-organized person. Also, I'm not usually a writer. This usually is a spur of the moment thing, like a strike of inspiration to do something different. Dunno, hope this is a story you can enjoy.

Btw I actually wrote this one out. The end was rushed when I wrote it but otherwise I hope this comes out like I want.

I've disclaimed and feel no need to do so again…

She walked in right after my lunch break. She had ash blonde hair tied in two pigtails on the side of her head. She looked like she was taking everything in, like she's never seen anything like it. Once her eyes landed on me I noticed her bright green eyes. They were large, and the most intriguing green I've ever seen. It's obvious she's new to the city, no one pays much attention to their surroundings unless they are unfamiliar with the environment.

She walks up to the counter and gives a shy wave. "Hello, um, I'm new around here." Knew it. "I was wondering if you could help me choose a coffee." She gives a shy smile after her request.

I stare for a moment uncomprehending until I remember I'm the barista. I should probably help her out. "Uh yeah, well I don't drink much coffee, but I think I can make something for you." I smiled but made sure to keep my lips closed. I've gotten bad reactions from my looks before and learned to keep from freaking out customers. I turned to make the coffee when I remembered, "ah, what's your name…?"

"Oh, it's Maka. M-A-K-A." She smiles. She has a cute smile.

I nod back at her and continue making her coffee. I made sure that it came out just right before glancing at her while she waited. She still had that curious look on her face as she surveyed the café. As I walk towards the pick-up counter, she turns to me and asks what coffee I made for her. I rubbed the back of my neck, "well I thought you'd like a mint chocolate coffee. Nothing complicated. You just seem like someone who likes mint." That's not weird at all. I grumbled internally.

"Oh, well you're not wrong." She giggled. "Thank you!" She smiled and took a seat near the window, watching the people live their daily lives. I watched her for a moment before noticing the impatient customer at the register. I looked back at her for a moment before returning to work. After impatiently giving out their order I quickly whipped up their coffee and had them on their way and greeted the next customer. Fast and efficient, is what my boss calls me. It's the only reason I still have this job regardless of having less experience than my coworkers.

After the rush of people stopped coming into the café, I ended my shift and headed out. Maka wasn't around when I exited, unfortunately. I shrugged my shoulders and donned my jacket to block the annoyingly cold weather outside. He walks the few blocks from his job to his run-down apartment building. As he enters he notices a woman struggling with a heavy box up the stairs. He quickly catches up to her and lifts the box out of her hands. "You looked like you needed help." He lowers the box to look at her face and pauses. It's Maka.

They stare for a moment before Maka breaks the silence, "Thank you for the coffee. It was better than I thought!" She beams up at him. He looks at her for a moment then gives her a close lipped smile in return. "Thanks for helping me too. It's unfortunate I picked the building with no elevator. Should've thought of that."

"What floor are you on?"

She gives an apologetic smile, "Fourth." Of course. Disadvantage to old buildings, is the lack of elevator. Not at all convenient in a five story building.

I nodded and made my way up the steps at a steady pace. The box wasn't light. Not in the slightest. It felt like rocks were inside. Who has something this heavy, in an apartment this small?

As we reach the fourth floor, she steps around me to lead me to the door. She quickly opens it and tells him where to set down the box. He sets the box down, surveying the empty room full of move in boxes. She turns to him with an expectant look and he says, "If you need anything else just, uh, just let me know." He nods to her and turns to exit.

"Wait." He stops and turns, raising an eyebrow at her in question. "What's your name? And, um, where do you live in this building?"

He turns fully to her. "Soul." Then he nods his head towards her door. "I live across the hall." He smirks at her and makes his leave.

He closes his door behind him and takes a deep breath, relaxing. I have two hours before I have to get ready. I guess I could take a short nap. He shrugged and headed towards his bed flopping on the covers. He pulls out his phone setting an alarm two hours later at 7PM. Just to be safe he sets one at 6:50PM as well.

He woke up at 6:30. I'm just not allowed to have naps now, huh? He gets up and decides he can grab some dinner before it's time to prep. Grabbing his keys he heads towards his door and opens it to find Maka leaving her apartment as well. She notices him and waves. "Are you going out to eat?" He nods. "Okay, well do you want to come with me? I'm grabbing a sandwich." She shrugs and waits for his response.

"Why not?" He smirks at her and makes his way down the stairs.

They don't go for anything fancy, and end up at a sandwich place sown the street. They chat for a while, jumping from topic to topic, not really concerned about anything else.

He remembers one fact about her that day. Her favorite color is red.

Fortunately, they get back around 7PM. He says his goodbyes to Maka and rushes into his apartment, to prep for tonight.

He grabbed his lightweight armor and strapped it onto his chest before wearing a black shirt over it. He also grabs his black cargo pants and makes sure to strap his knife to his ankle. Next, was the kukri he strapped to his lower back. He checked his waistband to make sure all his throwing knives were secure and hidden. Lastly, were his dagger at his hip and his black and white converse on his feet. After double checking his equipment, he grabbed his worn leather jacket with an attached hood that was a dark grey. The hood being large enough to cover half his face if necessary, and the leather worn enough to be silent and less stiff.

He quietly opens his door checking if anyone is leaving their rooms. Luckily, Maka isn't around this time. He soundlessly makes his way down the stairs making sure no one is aware of his presence. The less people that know I'm out, the better. Good thing this pace has no cameras.

He checks the time and it reads 8:05. He cheers inwardly, happy he won't be late even with the delay of dinner with Maka. The destination is only a few blocks away from his building. He should get there before the deadline. Good thing the meeting is at 8:30, or I'd lose my money and my target.

He across the street from his destination when he hears a familiar giggle. He turns to find Maka at the window of a bar. He quickly turns away, hoping she didn't see his face. Seeing him enter a building that might leave with screaming citizens is slightly suspicious. He gives her a side glance, and realizes she's in too deep a conversation to notice him. So he continues his way to the building across the road.

He approaches the bartender slowly and takes a seat at a stool in the corner. The bartender turns to him asking him what he needs. He answers, "Not much, I clean up after myself." The bartender gives him a long stare before turning away to grab something. He turns back to Soul to hand him an envelope and then returns to cleaning glasses. Soul opens the envelope discreetly, and pulls out the photo of his target. He searches the room with his eyes and they land on a man on the other side of the bar that looks similar to the picture. Target located. Now, with his security at the table next to him, it'll be too difficult to approach. A throwing knife would give away my position and my cover. Hmm…Soul notices the man is ordering a mass amount of drinks for his table. He finally takes notice of the others at the man's table. Its two blonde girls. They look like sisters from what he can observe. They haven't touched a single drink the man has offered. Only sitting close to the man keeping him entertained. Since they're not drinking, I can slip something into his drinks. Soul smirked to himself and called the bartender over. He asks him to come his way when giving the man his next round. The bartender nods and returns to his duties.

Not even five minutes go by before the man asks for another round, the bartender quickly puts together the drinks and subtly heads Soul's way. Soul slips a clear liquid into two of the cups before letting the bartender serve the man. As the bartender heads towards the table, he security look up at him and soon turn away to continue their card game. The bartender sets the drinks down and returns to his post behind the bar.

Soul heads to the restroom to make sure he's not visible during the whole ordeal. The poison has a similar effect to a heart attack. It will be too late to take him to a hospital, with all the alcohol he consumed, the poison will only work faster. As Soul leaves the restroom, he sees the man's head drop to the table taking his last breaths. The security quickly scramble to wake him up, but it's no use. Soul notices the two girls look a little less panicked than usual. The one with the large blue eyes turns to him and winks. He pauses for a moment confused and bewildered by the action before making his way out the bar during the commotion.

On his way home, he made sure to burn the envelope with the man's picture before entering his apartment building. As he entered his room he made a call and said in a low voice, "It's done. Make sure the transfer goes through." He hangs up and takes a deep breath before removing his gear. He's asleep before his head hits he pillow.

In the morning he heads back to his daily job as a barista at the café a few blocks from his building. It's not glamorous, but it gets the job done.

He was looking for bright green eyes during his shift, but they never appeared.

Tsubaki had a message for him, so he brought her to his apartment to talk. "Job well done once again, Soul. Don't worry about being idle for too long. Kidd will have something for you soon." She turns towards the door before pausing and looking over her shoulder, "Also, Black Star says hello." She smiles.

"I'm sure that's not all he said." Soul rolled his eyes and waves at Tsubaki's exit. When she opens the door, Maka is opening hers as well. She looks up as Tsubaki makes her way to the stairs. Tsubaki gives her a polite smile and continued her way out.

Soul waves to Maka as she looks back at him. She hesitates but asks, "Would you like to go to dinner with me?" She waits for his answer a little anxiously.

Well that was unexpected. This could also complicated things in the future. He thought of the pros and cons for a moment before waving them away. Fuck it, I'm going for it. "Sure thing."

Turns out the dinner was more fun than he thought. It seems every time he hangs around this woman he learns so little. The only fact he learned of her tonight was that her uncle taught her how to shoot. A rifle, specifically, and she claims to have pretty good aim. She even brushes up her skills once in a while at a shooting range. That was certainly a surprise, but a very interesting one.

He doesn't see her for a week before he has another job.

As he straps his blade to his lower back, he gets a call. Odd, they never call unless there's a job. He answers the phone and hears Jackie's blunt voice on the line. "The target has been eliminated."

I paused shocked. "What? How?" I needed to know. Who else wanted him dead?

"Shot. From a distance. We're still trying to find out from where." She hangs up, already giving him the information they have.

He quickly removes his gear and intends to grab a bite. As he opens the door he finds Maka climbing the stairs in a dark trench coat and carrying a long box. She waves at him and goes into her apartment. He pauses a moment, with furrowed brows, contemplating whether or not he should knock on her door.

He strides over and knocks twice on her door waiting for her to answer. She opens the door and smiles when she realizes its Soul. She ushers him in and he takes a seat on the small chair near the entrance. He asks simple questions about how she's been and how her day was when his curiosity comes forward. "It was you wasn't it?" He couldn't hold back anymore. The box was in the corner, and it couldn't be anything else but a sniper rifle. He disregards his secrecy. If she were to expose him, he could do the same to her.

She stills momentarily, assessing him, until giving him a chilling yet gentle smile as an answer.

He nods and heads back to his apartment.

Gonna stop here. There's more of course. I just think this should end now. I think I'll make this a separate story when I have at least a third chapter written. I have like half of the next part. It's a little rushed so I thought I'd stop here. Thanks for reading. I mean it! It's truly a great feeling to see people favoriting my stories and putting me on their alerts. I'm sorry I'm not consistent but I appreciate it greatly. I love reading the different ideas on this site and it's a good feeling to be a part of it too.

Btw I didn't proofread cause it's almost 1AM and I'm actually sick today so whatever. I might fix it later but you know me! Anyway thanks again for reading. Hope you liked it. I've been playing too much Assassin's creed! (I finished 1, 2, & Brotherhood on my spring break back to back. Revelations is next. I already started 3, 4, Unity, and Syndicate. Whatevs. Love those games!)

Keyz Of Resonance