This choice: So... there's definitely something up with this bakery... • Go Back...Chapter #7A simple strain leads to seeking answers... by: okamialpha   Back at Soul and Maka's humble apartment, morning soon came and passed, and the afternoon sky was settling in. The chortling spikey ball of a sun was nearing its apex, emanating heat for all to enjoy. Everyone, sans Soul and Maka, left once the rain let up, each of them having a great deal of fun like the group usually had in their meet-ups. Soul awoke with a hearty yawn, which proceeded to the young teen sitting up in his bed and rubbing the tears out of his eyes. After completely waking up, Soul felt like something was slightly off. Looking at his alarm clock which rested upon his bed nightstand, the blinking red lights read 1:00 PM. Nearly jumping out of his bed by the digital sign, he began to slightly panic. Soul was a chronic late sleeper and often slept till ridiculous times and today was proof of that. It was Maka that would often wake him from his coma-like slumber and the fact that she didn't today worried him a great deal. Still dressed in his sleep-ware, which consisted of a simple undershirt and his plaid boxers, he rushed out of his room to see if Maka was still alright. Entering into the living room they shared, everything seemed normal except for the fact that it was slightly messy from the previous evening and that simple observation only served to worry Soul even more, as Maka was a bit of a clean freak and often keep the living space spotless.
'This doesn't look good.' thought the scythe-weapon to himself as he quickly went over to Maka's door and gave a few knocks to the wooden surface. Past experiences on walking in Maka's room unannounced proved quite disastrous for his health, especially the times he entered whilst the petite girl was caught in her underwear. That earned him 10 consecutive 'Maka-chops,' a new record for the girl then actually. Hearing no response to his knocking, Soul cautiously and slowly opened the door, and the site inside both calmed his nerves, but raised a few new questions. Inside the room was Maka lying on her bed, out of the covers and wearing her usual sleep-ware which consisted of a yellow button-up top and matching yellow pants. Her hair was even loose and not placed into bun-style as Maka did every night before sleeping. Getting closer to the bed, Soul became relieved once he heard the calm breaths of the girl, a sign that she was simply sleeping soundly. However, the white-haired boy saw a few things that were simply out of place. First off, was that Maka seemed to have a thin layer or residue on her cute cheeks, and on closer look, consisted of jelly frosting and chocolate. Looking further down her petite figure, he also noticed that her middle seemed a tad bit softer than usual. Trying to see if anything else was amiss, a small blue box caught his eye. Said object was clutched to Maka’s left arm, which faced away from the door and that simple fact cause Soul to initially overlook it. Just the sight of that damned packaged caused Soul’s face to grimace. Ever since Maka first went to that bakery, things had gotten weird among the group of friends. Suddenly things clicked in Soul’s mind, why the girls were acting so absent-minded, why the treats seemed to never run out, despite many of them being consumed with a rapid pace and Maka’s lethargic attitude this very morning.
‘Of course, this all started with that bakery. It’s already the afternoon, so it should be open so I can go and check out the place.’ rationalized Soul to himself as he quietly made his way to the wooden door. One single word cause the weapon to freeze in his tracks and feel a cold rush going down his very spine.
“Soul? What are you doing in my room?” groggily asked the girl, as she was clearly awoken by her partner. Feeling about a million excuses flying around in his mind, the normally cool-headed boy was at a loss of words. All he could do was to turn around and look at Maka as she waited for a reason. Looking at her expression, it wasn’t one of anger, but simply one of curiosity. He guessed that her mellow mood was attributed to either her recently awoken state, the treats she had been munching on since the night before, or any mixture of the two.
“S-soul?” asked Maka once again, this time with a yawn and her ‘noodle-like’ arms rose in the air, unintentionally showing off her pale stomach, which was padded with a small amount of flesh as Soul clearly noticed a bit earlier.
“I-I was just checking up on you and seeing if you were alright, cause I woke up pretty late and you’re the one that wakes me up all the time. I just got worried.” truthfully answered Soul. He looked away from the girl, still clearly fearful of retaliation and a slight feeling of embarrassment. He never did like to show this side of him to the small girl in front of him. By doing this, Soul completely missed the soft and warm expression that grew on Maka’s face.
“Oh.”
“Yeah, that’s it.”
“D-Do you mind leaving so I can change. I’ll make you some breakfast after I get dressed, or lunch if it’s as late as you said.” said Maka with a giggle.
“I’m already leaving, and don’t waste time making me a meal, I got some errands to do.” answered Soul as he already reached the door handle and opened it, his path clear in view.
“O-Oh. Well, when are you coming home? I’ll make your favorite for dinner tonight.”
“I’ll be home in a few hours, and yeah, that sounds great.” simply said the scythe as he closed the door to her room. Maka watched, but felt cold all of a sudden when she heard that door close. She didn’t know why, but she had the strangest feeling of disappointment emanating from her midsection, a terrible hollow feeling. Looking behind her, she found her box of foodstuffs that she had bought the other day. Taking a donut from the already opened container, she just stared at it. Examining the rounded treat at all angles, appreciating the texture, and the color of the frosting, it looked enticing for reasons that the blonde could not place. She took a small bite, but this time was different. This time there was no explosion of flavor, or a sense of euphoria. It was empty, just as she felt at the moment.
‘Soul…’
---
It only took a few moments for the teen to properly clean himself up and get dressed. Things were getting strange and he wanted to get to the bottom of this entire mess. Grabbing his trademark leather black jacket, which matched well to his normal yellow shirt and dull red slacks, he made his way out of his apartment and into the streets of Death City. As it was still the afternoon, the streets were hustling and bustling with many of the citizens of the domain of Shinigami, each with their destinations and agendas. Soul paid no mind to them, as he had his own set of problems to deal with. Walking on the bricked road, he recalled that Maka had claimed that she had bought her treats at a new bakery in the downtown district. With his destination clear in mind, he simply kept going, down the long and winding road to the specialized district of Death City.
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