AN: Just an idea I had.
Disclaimer: Don't own
You sigh as you continue to carry box after box into your new apartment.
You're 18 years old and now officially on your own. Death City is still your home though, so it's not like you're feeling homesick like you probably would have been had you traveled across the country.
It's not as glamorous as the Death Weapon Meister Academy, but Death City University seemed like a sufficient college program to get into.
You don't really know what you want to do with your life just yet—you're just taking general classes—but you don't mind. You're just happy to be out from under your parents' roof.
As you go back into the hallway to collect the next box you catch movement out of the corner of your eye. Turning your head, you notice two adolescents heading toward you. One is a girl with large, green eyes wearing her dirty blonde hair in pigtails. The boy with her has shock white hair and piercing red eyes. It's not a very common eye color, you think.
The young girl notices you and bounds over, a polite smile on her face. "Hello! You must be our new neighbor. My name is Maka. This is Soul, " she says, indicating to her companion. "We live in this apartment, right here."
You look to where she is pointing and see it is the apartment next to yours. You smile and introduce yourself, telling them you're starting the fall semester at the university.
Maka beams, "Oh, cool! If I didn't want to be a meister I would have gone to DCU too!"
Ah, now things make sense to you. These were DWMA students. It explains why Maka implied she and Soul lived together when it didn't appear the two were related—your old friend from middle school is a weapon and he used to tell you about how weapons and meisters were allowed to live together.
"Do you need help moving?" Maka politely asks. Before you can reply you hear the unexpectedly loud groan from the boy. You can't help but notice how unusually sharp his teeth are. Maka glares at her partner.
"Don't be rude." She hisses.
Taking the hint that Soul was annoyed to still be standing in the hallway, you decline the girl's offer and continue the rest of the move on your own. It isn't that big of a deal anyway—after all, you only have three boxes left.
Once you are finished, you sigh in relief and flop onto your couch, ready to take a nice, short nap before dinner…
"Soul, that was incredibly rude of you!" your head pops up as you stare incredulously around the room. That was Maka's voice. It came partially muffled, but clear nonetheless.
"Whatever…" you hear the muffled reply of Soul.
As you listen to more reprimanding from Maka, you realize something:
The walls of this apartment are terribly thin!
It took some getting used to, but being able to hear your neighbors' daily conversations became your norm.
In a way, Maka Albarn and Soul Eater were quite the entertaining pair. They act so domestic—their back and forths so mundane they remind you almost of your parents.
For example, exchanges such as:
"Maka, I'm heading to the store. What do you need me to pick up?"
"I can't think of anything I need, but the electric bill is due. Can you pay it on your way over?"
"Sure."
…
"Maka! Where's my hair gel?"
"Hmmm. It's dead."
"Dammit, Maka, stop saying that! Hair gel can't be dead!"
"Huh?"
…
"Soul Eater, you've been in the bathroom for almost two hours! Get out, I HAVE TO PEE!"
It isn't exactly what you expected from DWMA students, but you can't deny the young teens don't charm you in your sad life as a broke and stressed out college student.
Sometimes their petty squabbles were the highlight of your day.
"Soul! I can't believe you burned the curry again! THIS IS THE FIFTH TIME!" you currently hear Maka bellow through the wall.
"THEN STOP ASKING ME FOR CURRY ON MY NIGHTS TO COOK!"
You listen for the familiar thud of a book against a skull and the cry of pain from the weapon and allow yourself to laugh.
It isn't so bad being neighbors with them…
Even though you find Maka and Soul's arguments amusing, you really don't like sticking around for when the fights get serious.
Because when they get bad, they're bad.
You're writing an essay when you become startled at the sound of a door slamming. The vibrations so strong, they are actually causing the pictures you've hung on the wall to jostle around.
"What the fuck were you thinking?!" you hear Soul scream.
The worst thing about paper-thin walls is how clear their voices become when they yell.
"Soul, will you just drop it?"
"No! I will not just 'drop it'!" he growls, "I want to know what was going through that stupid head of yours?"
"You're overreacting!"
"Overreacting? You almost die and I'm overreacting?! What the fuck, Maka?!"
"I didn't die, though!" you hear the meister scream back, "I barely even got grazed!"
"Only because I managed to pull you out of the way!"
You hear a feminine, frustrated groan before you hear Maka say, "I thought I could stun the kishin if I could swing around it to drop kick it. But the swinging part didn't work out well because of the ground—"
"I told you that move wasn't going to work! I told you the ground didn't look stable enough for you to dig me into the soil like that. You know you don't vault very well in the mud, Maka! I told you, yet you didn't listen to me! Of course the butt of my scythe was going to slip out of the ground! Then you face-planted, practically making yourself a sitting duck for that kishin to slice you up!"
"I figured—"
"No, Maka! I may be your weapon, but I'm also your partner. We're a team. And teammates listen to each other! You didn't listen to me, and it almost cost you your life!"
"I was making a decision! I'm the meister! As a meister, it's my job to make the decisions and use her weapon however she pleases in order to complete the mission!"
"Well your weapon thinks you're a fucking reckless moron!"
You hear a growl and then, "You know what, fuck you Eater!"
A snarl. "Right back at you, Albarn!"
You wince as you hear the violent slamming of doors before dead silence overcomes the entire apartment complex. You heave a sigh of relief that the fight has come to somewhat of a standstill but you're still tense. Your neighbors' fight has unsettled the atmosphere of the building.
You look at the paper you're supposed to be writing and push it aside. You don't feel like doing homework right now, not with the unsettling silence as your background.
Texting some friends, you ask if they'd like to accompany you on a night out. You need a distraction from the recent domestic dispute. Before you even get a reply you're grabbing your coat and slipping on your shoes. You try not to pay the apartment next door any mind as you walk by.
When you return you're exhausted and maybe a little tipsy from the alcohol your friends offered you. You yawn as you unlock the door and hang your coat up. As you make your way to your room, you give pause as you faintly hear something.
It sounded like someone sobbing.
Straining your ears, you make out the soft cries of Maka Albarn.
"I'm sorry…" she sniffs.
"It's okay…" Soul's hushed voice is harder to make out but you hear it anyway, "We're okay…"
"I'm a terrible partner, aren't I?"
"Of course not, moron," despite the insult, his tone is gentle. "You just need to listen to me sometimes…"
"I will," more sniffling, "I promise."
"I know you will."
You go straight to your room and close the door, hiding under the covers of your bed.
It's rude to listen in on a couple's private moment…
If there was anything good to come from living next door to Maka Albarn and Soul Eater, it was how the two (unknowingly) helped you figure out your major.
Hearing their banter, arguing, fights and eventual make-ups had given you the epiphany that maybe you should consider psychology—particularly couple's counseling. It would mean adding an extra semester or two before you could graduate and the possibility of grad school, but you figured it was worth it.
Your parents were rather shocked when you told them your plan, but were proud of you nonetheless and gave you their support.
The years go by and you continue your studies. Maka and Soul are still your neighbors, and watching them grow as people as well as partners has both astounded and impressed you.
Maka has aged into a beautiful young woman of 18. Her temper has improved but she is still as feisty as she was when you first met her when she was a skinny 13 year old. Soul, while still closed off to those he doesn't know well, has matured as well into a good-looking young man. You noticed one day that he is now much taller than you, but still maintains a bit of a slouch. His teeth still low-key freak you out, though—especially when you see him baring them at anyone whose eyes linger a little too long on his meister…
And, of course, the walls of the apartment building is still too thin for your liking, but any sounds you hear from your neighbors are the usual domesticated ones you have learned to tune out over time.
That is…until one night.
You are hard at work studying for your final exams. Graduation is the next week and you have multiple tests to complete before you can get your diploma. The light is at the end of the tunnel. You can almost see it!
As you read paragraphs upon paragraphs of educated journals and theorems, you jump in surprise at the sudden sound of something hitting a wall. After your heart has calmed down from that shock, you realize there's another sound. It sounded like squeaking.
You raise an eyebrow. What on earth is that?
You strain your ears to listen closely. It sounds like it's coming from your wall. And it's almost in a rhythmic way, kind of like…a mattress bouncing?
"Mmmm… Soul…" you hear a moan and your face turns a violent shade of red. Oh no…
A gasp, "M…Maka!"
Oh, this is not happening right now!
More squeaking is soon accompanied by loud banging noises. It doesn't take a genius to figure what his neighbors are doing next door…
Great, of all nights for the weapon/meister duo to get freaky for the first time it had to be finals week!
As more less-than-innocent sounds come from the paper-thin walls, you decide that you could not live like this for the remainder of the week and decide to take matters into your own hands.
It would be embarrassing for all parties involved, but if you have any chance of passing your classes, then it would be worth it.
You put on your ear buds and crank up your music player for the time being as you wait for the noises to stop (you figure you'd be considerate of the young couple's first time and allow them to…finish). Once you feel enough time has passed and make sure the sounds really have stopped, you finally get up and make your way to their door.
You knock once and wait.
No answer.
You decide to knock again, but this time louder.
When that proved to be ineffective (Did they fall asleep?) you decided to knock a third time. You hit the wood approximately three times before it violently swings open. A very disheveled and very underdressed Soul Eater greets you—his red eyes glaring and his hair sticking up at different angles.
"What do you want?" he snarls. You raise an eyebrow. You get it; it sucks to be interrupted from the afterglow with your lover, but still, no need to be so testy!
Somehow you manage to find your voice, surprising even yourself with how calm and even it is, "Hi, I live in the apartment next door," (Soul should know this, but you feel like he doesn't pay a lick of attention to you despite the fact you've lived next door for about 5 years now…), "and while I approve of you and Maka…ah…getting together, could you please quiet it down a little? I have an early test tomorrow. It's finals week after all…"
Soul blinks at you, a dumbfounded expression on his face before understanding dawns and a fierce blush as deep a red as his eyes illuminates his cheeks.
Avoiding eye contact, the scythe scratches his head as he mutters an embarrassed, "S-Sorry…" before slamming his front door closed.
Well, that went well…
You make your way back to your apartment. As you sit at your kitchen table, you can't help but overhear the conversation next door:
A squeak. "You mean…everything?!"
"Y-Yeah." Came the sheepish reply.
A groan. "This is so embarrassing…"
There's more silence before you hear Soul's last words:
"We either need to move or soundproof these walls…"
You can't help it, you bark out a laugh.
Never a dull moment with those two, that was for sure…
AN: Hopefully that last bit wasn't too mature. Sex isn't my thing, but I tried to make it as suggestive as I could without it going overboard.
Hope you liked it! Please review!