Swimsuit 3

Maka left for Tsubaki's room, promptly after finding some ice for Soul's throbbing head. With nothing left to do, the male made his way to the North Hallway, dressed in stiff pants and a button up shirt. Kid was the first to notice his echoing footsteps.

"Ah! Soul's here," he announced, adjusting this black tie. He was still wearing the same suit as earlier.

"Soul! Are you ready for this? The dinners here are great!" Black*Star shouted, throwing an arm around his red-eyed friend.

"Tsubaki's parents just left the room. They'll be back soon with the hotel owners. Hopefully the girls are here by then soon," Kid explained. Soul nodded at him and pushed the other blue-haired ninja from him.

"Bro, don't go drooling all over my shirt, that's nasty!" he exclaimed.

"You'd be drooling too if you knew the quality of the food here," Black*Star defended. The albino couldn't help but roll his eyes at his reply.

"What are the girls even up to?" Kid questioned, totally ignoring the messy boy. Soul just shrugged in reply.

"They kicked me out of the room, man. They're probably doing something extremely girly," Black*Star muttered as the three of them made their way to the table placed in the middle of the vast dining room.

Soul shoved his hands in his pockets. "Maka has been ignoring me recently so I couldn't ask her," he pouted.

Black*Star snickered, "You guys just got together right? Did you scare her off?"

"When did you two get together?" Kid was surprised. "It's been too long. I thought you two would keep ignoring it until we're twenty or something"

"Ahh, well, when we went out to play basketball last week."

"They were kissing!"

"We didn't!" Soul flushed. He wanted to punch the smiles off of Kid and Black*Star's faces.

"Maybe that's why she's ignoring you. You're a wuss," his blue-haired friend declared. Soul scoffed at him and ran a hand through his hair.

"Shut up! That's definitely not it. She's just… Not used to it, that's all."

"Wait, so you didn't kiss her?" Kid asked, hand to his chin, looking actually interested in the dumb conversation.

Soul groaned. "Look- okay so we kissed after the basketball game- but not when we were there! At home. She was kinda upset and I had to explain a lot of things and then I kissed her and that was it. We kinda like… confirmed feelings or whatever and established all that shit but after that she's gradually become quiet."

"Did you try to kiss her again? There's a bruise on your head," Kid gestured as he sat himself down. The other two did the same and Soul leaned over the table, frustrated over the attention on him and the topic.

"Nah, that's something else. I ran into the door."

As Black*Star started laughing, a tall middle-aged man walked into the room. He was wearing a plain kimono and a grand smile on his face. The lady behind him was small and petite, the contrast between her dark black hair and pale skin made her look fragile. However, her walk gave her a noble aura that was almost intimidating. The two immediately greeted the group of boys.

"Welcome! You're the group from Shibusen, correct? It has been awhile, but I doubt I'll forget your blue-hair, Black*Star."

"Ah! Old man!" Black*Star excitedly stood up from his chair.

"How are all of you, I'm Tsubaki's father, Sanjuro. This is my wife, I don't believe you met her when you visited us last time, right?"

The woman beside him smiled and took a bow. "How do you do? It's nice to meet you. I am Takako, Tsubaki's mother. I wasn't able to meet you, Black*Star, last time because my father's shop was busy. I apologize."

"Your father's shop? What does he do?" Kid inquired.

Takako smiled with pride, "He runs a kimono shop. We're right next to an inn, and that time they had a lot of guests lodging who wanted to try them on. We made great profit that day!" she laughed.

"Now, where's my daughter?" Sanjuro asked, glancing around.

"Ahhh, the girls they said they would be a bit late. We're not sure what they're doing either," Soul explained. The elder tried not to look too disappointed.

"Oh, I see. They must be dressing up or something. That's fine."

The couple sat themselves down at the table next to the boys.

"The owners couldn't make it to our dinner. Something urgent came up, so it will be just us today," Takako noted, "But this will be nice! Almost like a family dinner."

The five made conversation until a figure appeared in the doorway, footsteps almost silent.

"Tsubaki!" Sanjuro and Takako exclaimed, faces instantly brightening. She bowed to them and they nodded in response.

"Mom, thank you for letting me have your kimonos for tonight," she smiled, mimicking her mother's tilt of the head. Gradually, the rest of the girls walked in from the door, dressed similarly.

"What's that? Tsubaki, if you guys were dressing in kimonos you could've just told us," Black*Star pouted. "I'd rather wear those than these uncomfortable pants."

Soul kicked the boy under the table. He was glad for this. Maka's small frame looked almost smaller and (although he knew she could probably use him as a bench press) she looked like she wouldn't hurt a fly. The natural red tint on her cheeks contrasted with her green eyes, and he couldn't tell if he was staring too much.

Dinner was spent joyfully. Tsubaki's parents were friendly and caring, and Black*Star was right, the food was amazing. But even as Maka was all dressed up beside him, he could barely find words to speak to her. She wouldn't look his way again anyway.

She wasn't dressed for him, anyway.

The two left earlier than the others, and sat in their room in an uncomfortable silence. Maka didn't seem to want to take the kimono off and Soul didn't want to sleep without addressing the issue.

"Maka…" he spoke quietly, as if anything louder than that would shatter the glass that was currently their relationship. It was annoying.

The only movement she made to indicate she heard him was a small- almost nonexistent- nod. The red-eyed boy sighed before getting up to sit next to her on the bed. Their knees touched, and Maka flinched. It didn't go unnoticed.

"Are you okay?"

The air was silent.

"Am I making you uncomfortable?"

Maka shook her head and finally looked his way. It was flushed and she looked unsure and Soul just wanted to scoop her up in his arms. But he didn't.

"You're fine, Soul. You're great. I just want to sleep now, is that okay?"

"Well… I guess so."

Her smile was so fake and he felt as though someone was stabbing him in the chest. It felt a million times worse that it normally would.

With difficulty, he returned to his mattress and drifted off.

(A/N) Thank you for reading!

I didn't have homework for once (well… I did but they're due on Wednesday and this update is super overdue... I even forgot what I was trying to do with it ;n; ) so I spent my Monday night writing this!

Hopefully, I can remember how to end this plot soon, ahaha;; I feel like I'm rushing it a bit though;; I'm sorry;;

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please leave a review of feedback or criticism, if you can. I hope you can anticipate the chapter!