Disclaimer: I don't own Soul Eater.

The first installment of my collection of Soul/Maka drabbles.

" the exception "

She absolutely hated Valentine's Day.

Maybe it was because her father had raised her to know such a demented sense of love - betraying her and her mother every night by falling in love with every remotely curvy woman he saw - that she was just sick of the very concept. Maybe it was because all the love she'd ever known had ended in disaster.

Maybe it was because she had deemed falling in love to be impossible years ago when her parents divorced.

In other words, she detested the sweet nothings, the empty words, the fuzzy cards, the fluffy clouds, the whole shebang.

The day itself was unbearable. Almost every boy and girl was bursting with gossip, simply chock-full of 'he said, she said' and 'who likes who.' Every guy wanted a girl to notice him and every girl wanted a guy to be thinking about them.

And although she didn't want it, to her oblivion, she was on the mind of one right now.

Soul walked silently behind his technician, noticing how Maka's usually firm posture slouched a bit as she walked to school with something akin to dread. His crimson eyes regarded her with genuine concern as her feet dragged on the pavement. He picked up his pace and walked beside her, trying to make out her expression from the corner of his eye.

When her face showed nothing, he grew frustrated.

"Makaa."

The girl winced, and, as she lifted her head to meet his gaze, he wondered why. "What's wrong?"

She tried to straighten herself normally, faking a smile. "Nothing."

Soul arched an eyebrow, but did not pursue the subject.

It wouldn't have been cool to do so.

--

Somehow, Maka found it impossible to focus on the book in front of her. The words seemed to blur before her eyes, as if her brain had devoured them and was currently throwing them back up.

All around her, there was whispers and giggles and notes being passed.

Oh come on, she thought angrily, her brow furrowing. I thought we grew out this years ago. What are we, ten?

Her temper boiled up to almost it's breaking point before it was smothered by the mood set by this torture.

She closed her book softly and laid it down in front of her, not wanting ro read any more. She caught a glimpse of the boys in front of her making copies of the same love note and sending them all over the room, telling the reader to meet their "secret admirer" after school and snickering about how their hearts would break when no one else showed up.

Maka's blood boiled with hate. Stupid, insensitive bastards. Didn't they care about how many people they would hurt?

She 'tsk'ed. Probably not. Valentine's Day sucks.

The blonde glanced at the clock. Three more hours. Damn. She let out another sigh, her being overcome with woe. Her forehead hit the desk with a soft thud, and her arms hung from her sides helplessly. Never before had she wanted so badly to cut class.

Soul, who was relaxing back in his chair, dozing a bit, leaned forward, curious. When Maka heaved another sigh, he came back all the way, his arms resting on the desk.

"What's wrong, Maka?" he asked.

"Nothing." The lie sounded wrong, even to her.

"Makaa."

Her shoulders sagged lower. She hated it when he said her name like that, because he knew it would get her to answer honestly. Manipulating jerk. "I hate Valentine's Day."

Soul smirked at the irony. "Why's that?"

Instantly, her mind flashed to the boys in front of her, and to her father. "Because men are arrogant bastards."

The weapon's eyebrow twitched, but he dismissed his annoyance when Maka sighed again, signaling her attempted end to the conversation. With a gentle hand, he tugged on one of her pigtails.

He was not giving up that easy.

"Oi."

She rolled her head so that she could look at him. His fingers smoothly slid to the end of her hair, his eyes abnormally soft as he smirked at her again.

"What about me?"

Maka's large green eyes widened a bit. Her lips parted slightly, and Soul was close enough to feel her warm exhale. His crimson eyes waited patiently for her answer.

The technician's mind remembered all the times they had fought together, all the times he had risked it all to save her, all the times he had protected her, and all the little moments in between. It had been Soul that had excepted her bookworm, flat-chested self as his partner and best friend and had shown her that she really was someone important. It had been he who had motivated her to get back up on her feet and fight when it had seemed like all hope was lost, and it was him who she synced her soul with every time they charged into battle.

Crimson eyes, shock white hair. The 'coolest' guy alive. The boy who would do anything to shield her from harm, but knew her well enough to let her do her own thing.

Soul Eater Evans was nothing like her father.

And it's right then and there that she realized that maybe falling in love really was possible after all.

A smile spread across Maka's face, and Soul couldn't help it, he grinned crookedly back, his sharp teeth glinting at her.

"No," she said. "You're the exception."

Soul quickly suggested cutting school, and Maka almost agreed before promptly swinging her book to hit him over the head with a lighter one of her signature Maka Chops, an involuntary grin on her face.

The first of many! (Happy Valentine's Day!)