Disclaimer: I don't own Soul Eater!

A Meister and Her Books

Soul couldn't understand in the slightest why she loved reading those things.

I mean, he had read of few himself, most of them either for school or for music. But to get lost in a book? Not cool.

But he'd watch her as she'd sit on the couch, clad in sweatpants and a sweatshirt, completely absorbed in a book.

Those things were dangerous.

One time she was reading while walking down the hallways of school, with her nose in a book like always. Someone had decided to clean the floors, and she didn't see the slippery spot. The only thing that stopped her from having to go see Nygus for a bonk on the head was his fast reaction.

And let's not forget her infamous Maka Chops. Those books hurt more than anyone could ever imagine. He had many a bruise from those stupid things.

Those things were boring as hell.

How could she read that? No pictures to keep her entertained, nothing to make it enjoyable! Just words and words and words!

He asked her one day why she liked reading so much.

"It's like a movie in your head," she had replied, glancing up at him before returning to her book.

A movie in your head? As interesting as that may sound, he couldn't stand just reading hundreds of pages full of words. No way.

Those things caused emotional roller coasters.

He once found her curled up on the couch, trying to hold back tears. She was not one to cry often, being as stubborn as she is. So when he found her like that, he instantly knew something was wrong.

"Maka?" he had started, slowly going over to the couch. Her head lifted from her hands, and he saw her pain-filled eyes. "What's up?"

"I..." she tried, but couldn't finish. "He..."

At the mention of another male, Soul clenched his teeth. So a guy caused this?

He sat at the end of the couch, watching his tough partner crumble before him.

"It's not fair!" she cried. "Why couldn't he just accept love when he had the chance?!"

Woah, back up. Love?!

"Even after 7 years, the love was still there! He didn't accept it..." Maka couldn't continue, and she put her head in her hands again. Soul was clenching his fists.

What kind of bastard would hurt Maka like this?! She didn't deserve anything like this! And why was this the first time he had heard of this?! They were partners, weren't they? Something like this shouldn't have been kept secret!

She already has some trust issues with men, and this would just make it worse! He didn't want his meister to go through that!

With his eyes narrowed and his body tense, he tried to speak as calmly as he could. "Maka, where is this guy?"

"He's...not..." she began, sighing. Soul nearly growled, possessiveness kicking in. Why was she defending the guy who did this to her?!

"Why are you defending that bastard?" he yelled, his deep frustration showing. "After all he did to you, you'd still defend him? Tell me where he is right now so I can go beat him to a bloody pulp!"

There was a long pause, the only sound in the room being Soul's light panting from his outburts.

Suddenly, Maka started laughing. She sat up right, her eyes closed as she clutched her stomach. Tears of mirth threatened to escape her eyes as her weapon watched her confusedly.

"Why the hell are you laughing?" he demanded, causing her to laugh more. She held up a book with one hand.

"Because it didn't happen to me, idiot," she managed to get out, before nearly collapsing in laughter again. It only took him a few seconds to realize what had happened, then he groaned.

"I'm going to bed."

That was an unpleasant memory for him, though Maka still found it extremely hilarious.

He didn't like her books one bit.

So why was he in a bookstore?

"Tsubaki, what about this one?"

"I saw her read that a few days ago."

It just so happened to be a certain pigtailed meister's birthday that day, and Soul was having the hardest time getting her a gift.

Thankfully, her father had practically dragged her out to dinner, giving the rest of her friends time to quickly get together a party for the girl.

In planning the party, Soul realized that he didn't have a gift. She had gotten him a few things for his birthday, so shouldn't he return the favor?

Currently, he was at the bookstore with Tsubaki, looking for a book she would like but hasn't read yet. And it was hard.

Why was he with Tsubaki?

He didn't pay attention to those books she read, unlike some of the girls and Kid.

He couldn't bring Kid with him, because then the young Reaper would want to arrange everything in the store, and he didn't have time for that.

Black*Star honestly did not have the attention span for hunting down books. Hunting down Kishin maybe, but not books. And he's rather loud.

Patti didn't have that much of an attention span for this also.

Liz and Crona would have been fairly good options, but Crona really wanted to help with decorating their apartment, and Liz was out with Patti getting cake and stuff.

So that left him with Tsubaki. A really good choice, in all honesty. She and Maka were very close, and they both liked to read, though the latter loved it more than anyone else they knew.

Getting back to Soul's uneventful task, he started yanking the books off the shelves, checking them quickly before throwing them in a pile behind him.

What hasn't she read?!

"Looking for a gift for Miss Albarn, aren't you?"

Soul looked over to find the bookstore owner standing by the pile, a knowing smile on his face.

"Yeah," he answered, sifting through the books again. "Can't find anything she hasn't read."

"She is quite the avid reader, isn't she?" The owner chuckled a bit. "Lucky for you, I just got a fresh delivery of books that haven't even arrived in the school's library yet."

Soul and Tsubaki perked up. New books? That makes their job a lot easier.

"Follow me!"

They followed the man to the back of the store, their eyes widening as they saw boxes upon boxes of books.

"Where is it...here...no, this one...aha! Here it is!" The bookstore owner came back with a rather large box of books. "Go ahead and see what you want."

He left Soul and Tsubaki in the back room, staring after the man. Silently, Soul took the box and pulled out book after book, looking them all over.

What would Maka like?

Wait.

"Got it!"

"Happy Birthday, Maka!"

The cry startled her a little as she entered her apartment, but she smiled. There were decorations hung up all over her living room, all symmetrically placed, of course. She spied a cake on the table, and some presents near the door.

Her little group was all there. Black*Star, Tsubaki, Liz, Patti, Kid, Crona, and So-

No, that's not right. Soul wasn't anywhere to be found.

"C'mon, Maka! Cut your cake!"

Liz distracted her, pulling her to the table. But that left her wondering.

Where was her partner?

After Maka had chatted and had some cake, Tsubaki pulled her aside.

"Soul's in his room," she whispered, then smiled brightly. The meister gave a confused look, but slowly made her way to his room, being as quiet as she could. Opening her partner's door, she saw him looking out the window. Silently, she made her way to him.

"What are you doing up here?" she asked after a while, causing him to turn around.

"Just thought I should give you your present in private." He turned around and tossed a small box to her, Maka catching it with ease. She opened it, smiling. A gift card to the bookstore. How nice.

"Thanks, So-" she began, but was cut off.

"That's not all," he said, reaching in a drawer to pull out a bigger box. He handed it to her. "Open it."

She did so carefully, wondering what he had gotten her.

Her eyes widened greatly as she saw it.

A notebook, covered in fine leather with her name engraved on the bottom. She flipped through the pages quickly, seeing that it was blank inside. Except for the front page. There was a note.

To: Maka
From: Soul
You like reading so much, so why not write your own book?
Happy Birthday.

She turned to thank him, but saw him already halfway out the door.

"C'mon, Maka! It's not cool to miss your own party!"

The smile on her face didn't go away at all that night.

I'm a sap, okay? Maka and Soul - I just adore them. And Kid, but for an entirely different reason.

I had to include Crona, because I love Crona. And fluff! SoMa fluff! So, I did have a different present for the end, but when I was writing this, I had to stop because I stayed up too late and had to sleep. Then, I completely forgot what I had planned on, so I improvised.

I almost added in Soul saying that maybe then he'd start reading, but I didn't.

I did reference Fairy Tail. So I don't own Fairy Tail either. The flashback idea was inspired by Amulet Misty, by the way!

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