9 Years Later

Maka grumbled as she checked her checklist. She had to look at her weapon partner's as well because he didn't give a damn about school and would chuck the schedule right behind her back.

"I am telling you," Soul said for the umpteenth time, "I do not need to go to school!"

"Yeah right Mr I-am-too-cool-for-life. It is mandatory whether you like it or not," Maka threw him a sharp glare and then went back to looking at their schedules.

"Fine. Let me look at my schedule," Soul made a move for it but Maka brushed it out of his reach.

"What the hell, Maka?" Soul cursed.

"The last time I thought you would properly look at yours you tried to chuck it in a trash bin. What next? Paper shredder?" Maka asked. Soul looked deep in thought.

"Don't even think about it," Maka warned him before giving all of her attention to the papers before her.

"Guess we have all classes together?" Soul asked proudly.

"Guess so," Maka said nonchalantly, twirling the skull ring on her left ring finger. Soul glared at it.

"Why are you still wearing that stupid ring?" Soul asked.

"It is a promise to someone important," Maka shuffled the papers once more before walking down a long hall. Soul smirked as he followed her.

"And by that…" a glint appeared in his eyes as he looked at Maka, "You mean me, right?"

"No," Maka said flatly.

Soul grumbled, but nonetheless followed Maka wherever she had to go.

-x-

"Everyone, we have two new students today, so I know all of you are sad that you are not going to be doing dissections today," Stein feigned a sad look when he said this. In the inside he was just annoyed he missed the perfect opportunity to see the 'glorious insides' of an endangered animal.

The students tried not to break out into full out cheers in fear that their teacher might punish them. Annoyed, Stein cast a glare at the door.

"Come on, you two, come in."

Maka and Soul walked in, more like Maka walking properly and Soul shuffling behind her.

Kid's eyes widened. His heart beat faster when he spotted the skull ring on her left ring finger. Murmurs spread when people saw the shinigami ring on Maka's hand.

"Is she engaged?"

"No…it couldn't be…" another girl breathed. She was one of Kid's fans.

"It is true! I am doomed!" a girl cried like she was on the verge of suicide. Not.

Maka rolled her eyes. She put a hand over her heart and said, "I am Maka Albarn. I am 14 years old. I am a meister. This is Soul, he turns into a scythe. He is my weapon partner."

Soul gave a glare to anyone who tried to give him suggestive stares for 'Call me maybe'.

Stein pushed up his glasses and said, "All right. You two sit on that row at that seat."

Maka followed his finger up to where he was pointing. Her eyes widened too. It was the seat right in front of Kid and his weapons.

Maka gulped as she trudged up the stairs and sat in her seat. Soul caught onto this and glared at Kid communicating, 'back off' through facial expressions.

Kid glared back at Soul and trained his eyes on the back of Maka's neck. He had to make sure she remembered him. Or if she didn't, she would be with that horrible asymmetrical freak. Everyone knows who deserves Maka even more, right?

-x-

Maka knew the both of them had their eyes on her. She didn't know how she could tell Soul without hurting his feelings.

As she trudged at the end of the school day in one of the hallway a hand grabbed her forearm.

"Soul?" she asked when she acknowledged the albino pinning her back. He let go of her arm.

"What happened?" She asked when she registered his quietness.

"Maka, what is between you and Kid?" Soul asked, his white hair hiding his crimson eyes burning in jealousy.

"Haven't you noticed?" Maka asked. She raised her left hand.

Soul looked at her hand and his heart dropped into his stomach. He grabbed Maka by her shoulders, catching the blonde off guard.

"You can't marry him!" Soul yelled.

"Why?!" Maka yelled.

"He…he could take advantage of you! He could be like those men like your mom told you about! He could be someone who is no better than your own father!"

"Don't bring her up!"

"It is true right? You have to be careful on what men you choose to get close with!" Soul yelled.

Maka brought her hand up and slapped Soul hard across his left cheek. Soul, surprised, cupped it. When Maka is very mad she slaps people very hard. He struck a nerve.

Well, Soul thought bitterly, at least she gets the message.

"I will choose who I will be with and who will I not be with. I made a promise and I am not breaking it," Maka venomously said and then she walked off.

Soul growled. Maka didn't understand.

"Excuse me, I will need to talk to you," a cold but irked voice came from behind him. Soul turned around. Death the Kid.

"What do you want?" Soul spat.

"She and I were engaged since we were five. What do you think you have the right to trample it?" Kid glared at Soul.

"I am her weapon partner," Soul argued.

"Just her partner. Nothing more. Maka and I love each other and had been separated for nine years. Nowhere during those nine long years did I forget her. She hasn't forgotten me either. So do not think you have the right to snoop your nose in something that doesn't relate to you."

Soul shivered but then straightened out.

Kid held up his own left finger which had the skull ring on the ring finger, "This ring is the sign of our love. This ring is the sign of our promise. And this ring will become the sign of our marriage. This is the key that links us together. Remember that."

With that, Kid summoned Beelzebub and didn't spare a glance to the albino as he soared off.

"That guy irritates me the most," Soul gnashed his razor sharp teeth.

-x-

A week had passed since this incident. Maka had time to know the girls names and had surprisingly been closer to them.

"I can tell for a fact that Kid has been moody this past week," Liz munched on some chips.

"Yeah he mumbles 'Maka' over and over and over again. And then he plays dart with that Soul guy's picture!" Patty laughed while the rest sweat dropped.

"Do you know why, Maka-chan?" Tsubaki asked worried.

"I can say that Soul somewhat likes me. I think it just went up when we transferred here. And he saw the ring just now," Maka said.

"Haven't you worn that all the time from what I heard?" Liz asked.

"Yeah, but he thought it was some kind of cosplaying thing," Maka mumbled irritated. She took a swig of water.

"Seriously? A ring on your left ring finger is considered 'cosplaying'? I don't buy it. He was just in denial mode," Liz bluntly cut in.

"I think so too. Sometimes it is hard for people to accept the truth sometimes," Tsubaki softly said.

"I guess Kid-kun is in love with Maka-chan. But so is Soul!" Patty, again, bluntly shoved the truth in.

"No way…" Liz's hand brought another chip to her mouth as she thoughtfully thought this over.

"When you think about it, Patty is right," Tsubaki nodded.

"A love triangle!" Patty squealed, "Oh this is getting so interesting!"

Maka's heart raced. She didn't know that Soul was in denial. Or that he loved her more than a partner. But she didn't love him. Her body never showed any responsive signs around him! It was only…Kid. To think that even nine years of separation still doesn't change the fact that as his fiancé, she still feels incomplete without him.

"After all these years, he still is possessive?" Maka asked Liz.

"Hasn't been one day Kid hadn't mentioned you. He would talk on and on about you and way before you came here we perfectly knew you inside out, girl," Liz stuck out her tongue.

"But Soul always says it is too uncool for him to fall in love with people. Especially…" Maka drifted off.

"Especially?" Tsubaki asked.

"Flatchested bookworms like me," Maka said without regret.

"Wow that guy has ego the size of Jupiter," Liz scoffed.

"Nuh-uh, more like the Milky Way!" Patty pouted.

"Whatever floats your boat, Patty," Liz sighed.

"I get a BOAT?! Does it have giraffes on it?!" Patty bought it.

"I didn't mean it literally!"

"Listen, Maka," Tsubaki said to the side of the stupid chattering, "He is just trying to act all indifferent. Men do not want to appear as emotional as women are so they put a cap on their real feelings. He probably likes you a lot but doesn't want to admit it in fear that his image might be ruined."

"That is just low," Maka murmured.

-x-

Two weeks went by.

The stares were too much. Her partner looked at her too much and the young reaper had his golden eyes fixed on her at all times.

Maka wanted to run to him, hug him and yell at him to drop formalities like she did to him when she was a child. But she was at a school. Full of teenagers. Rumors could spread fast, hurting the both of them in the end, and Maka didn't want that to happen in such a short time.

Black*Star had challenged Soul to some game, the girls were nowhere to be seen so Maka sat lonely on a park bench, pouting to herself why she didn't have any homework or any time consuming task on hand to do. It was because she was a studyholic and got things done the moment they were assigned.

"Mind if I sit here?" a familiar voice asked.

"You still use formalities even though I tell you not to," Maka said immediately, shocking herself.

"So you haven't forgotten," the voice chuckled.

The bench creaked and Maka's blush magnified. A hand cupped her cheek and tilted her face towards a pair of burning molten eyes.

"Kid, what are you doing here?" Maka asked.

"You haven't changed," Kid dodged the question.

Maka gulped but she didn't dare look away from his serious golden eyes that were trained on her face only. Somehow memories started to rush to her about the two of them in the same room with books piled around them, just giggling like idiots as they tried to read to their heart's content.

"What the fuck are you doing to my meister?!" an angry voice called out.

Kid and Maka turned to see the direction of the voice. Soul. He somehow managed to convince Black*Star that he needed a break from the game and found them this close to getting a real kiss on the lips.

"Just wanting to see my fiancé. Something wrong with that?" Kid asked with venom in his voice.

"Um, there is," Soul glared, "I never gave you permission to get near my meister."

"Soul, stop it!" Maka pleaded him.

"Oh? Did I wholeheartedly give you the permission to be her weapon?" Kid asked.

"Kid!"

"Well she knew me longer than she knew you! She and I knew each other for years! She only knew you for one day! What can possibly bloom in one day? Love is formed over years!" Soul yelled.

"Soul, you are crossing the line!" Maka said, alarmed when she saw Kid shield his eyes behind his bangs and abruptly get up and leave.

"You have to stay far away from him, Maka. It was for the best," Soul told her with a set of serious crimson eyes, sometimes reminding her of her own father's pair of baby blue ones.

"Soul, what kind of childish reasoning do you have that can make me change my mind?" Maka sighed.

"He could hurt you! He could conjure up the dead and kill you!" Soul argued.

"And where did you hear all these silly things?" Maka shook her head.

"I heard it at school!" Soul yelled.

"You believed the guys at school?" Maka asked, wide-eyed.

"Yes! It sounds true, doesn't it?" Soul thought she was finally giving in to what he ways saying.

"I can't believe you are so gullible!" Maka yelled.

"What?" Soul lost all the tiny building hope.

"They hate Kid. They are just bitter that they are not strong and powerful and son of Death like he is so they spread nasty rumors of him that are definitely not true. Kid has never done that!" Maka defended.

"Oh yeah? How do you know? You only knew him for a day in the past!" Soul still clung to that one tiny evidence as a foundation of his argument.

"Well if he did anything like you said you heard, then he would be no different than Asura!" Maka yelled and then she suddenly turned around.

"Wait, where are you going?"

"To my fiancé's side," Maka said simply. Then Soul reached forward and roughly grabbed her arm.

"As your weapon, I tell you not to go!"

"I do not think I need any more bossing around from you, Soul Eater Evans," Maka said coldly. Anytime she said the full name was when she was downright pissed off. Soul shivered and let go.

"I chose to be with him and I still want to be with him," Maka said, "I do not romantically love you, Soul. I only have a special place for Kid in my heart. You are nothing more than a close brother-like figure. Nothing more, nothing less. Know your place, Soul. Kid was right."

And with that, Maka walked off. Soul was about to follow his meister when a hand settled on his back.

"You are not going to meddle with those two anymore," Liz glared.

"You made them suffer enough," Patty said in her serious tone.

"We are not letting you get between our meister and Maka-chan if that is the last thing we do," the two said in unison.

Soul glared back at those two.

-x-

Maka went to the DWMA's library. She knew Kid walked in that direction when he stomped off. She scanned her library card to check in.

She then aimlessly wandered through the rows and aisles of amazingly old books. Just seeing the sight make her lips curve into a tiny smile.

As she wandered more and more she felt like she was getting lost.

"So how long have you been here?" a voice snapped her out from her daydreaming of books.

Maka looked surprised. It was Kid.

"Hey Kid," Maka smiled awkwardly and sat next to Kid.

"Why aren't you with your darling partner Soul?" Kid asked with jealousy.

"I do not love him, so please do not add that adverb," Maka puked.

"Well?"

"I told him to face it, that I would not love him more than a brother. He has been so overprotective over me so I said I can make my choices from time to time and me being with you is my own independent will, not a forced decision or arranged marriages," Maka sighed, "I told him that I have a special spot for you in my heart only."

Kid's stoic face melted when he heard those words.

"Do you mean it Maka?" he said softly when he faced the blonde.

"I do. With all of my heart. I never changed, well except the fact that Mom told me not to trust men as much. But she said you were different, so she could trust you," Maka smiled.

Kid smiled for the first time in many years. He quickly brought her into a hug like never before. His fingers were itching to touch her hair or hug her. He had watched afar the past two weeks, and mourned the past nine years.

"Where did you go? Why did you leave me?" Kid quickly ended the hug.

"Mom found out on the day she dropped me off to your house, that dad cheated on her. She found him kissing another woman and doing dirty actions. She suspected he did this numerous times and then divorced him. She left after that and I had to find my way from there. But she is somewhere in this world sending me postcards of one worded characteristics and hoping that I become stronger day by day," Maka said.

"So how did you come here?"

"I was required to. I had found a weapon and I am this close to creating a death scythe. So we had to enroll here. Once I saw your face I wanted to run up and hug you but I had to keep in mind I was at school and in no place to just do things at my first impulse," Maka said sheepishly.

"So you didn't forget me," Kid breathed.

"No, I would never."

Bringing up Maka's left hand to his lips he softly kissed the skull ring, warm under his lips.

"Good, because I hope you didn't forget our promise," he said simply.

"I remembered it every waking moment," Maka breathed.

"I was a toddler when I proposed to you so let me do it again," Kid smiled.

Kid got down on one knee and looked up at Maka.

"Maka Albarn. I loved you ever since I was a child. I had spent every moment in those lonely nine years thinking about you and you only. Will you do the honor of marrying me?" Kid asked.

Maka giggled and said, "Yes."

Kid smiled and stood up. He cupped Maka's face between his hands and said, "Now all we have to do is seal it with a kiss."

Their faces met, and lips softly met each other's. They sealed the promise with a kiss, the one that said they would be with each other forever.

And neither one of them regretted it.

-fin-