{ I smell a Maka redemption arc :D }

Kid was met with plenty of mixed feelings once he told Liz and Patty where he was going and what for. After the blow up at practice, at least that much could be expected.

" You're telling me that Maka agreed to third wheel with Soul and you, and even cook the food involved with it?" Liz asked, arching one of her perfectly sculpted brows at him. It was hard to believe given the context of the situation. Just earlier that day Maka and Kid had been sending jabs at each other.

" It's not like that." Kid told her, and he looked in the mirror, judging his choice in outfit. He treated everyday like a date when Soul was involved. His appearance was something he paid extra attention to and this was no exception. Reapers were known for formal dress wear and punctuality. Kid definitely was no stranger to style.

" Really? Cause it sort of sounds like she agreed to this so Soul would invite you over." Liz replied.

" She can't do anything to me without a weapon. And I highly doubt that Soul would transform for her if she was planning on something like that. Frankly, I'm hoping she really means to make up and get over this. I want my friend back and I want to be happy with Soul without being scared of her wrath." Kid explained, then decided that the suit he was wearing was too much. He needed to be more casual and less extra, which was definitely hard for him.

" I want that, too, but I just need you to be careful." Liz said, and Kid flicked on the lights inside his walk-in closet. He went in and began to paw through all of the clothes on the hangers.

" I will." He told her, pulling out a sweater.

" Okay, what is that?" Liz grimaced.

" A v-neck?" Kid said. " Why? What's wrong with it?"

" Step aside." Liz nudged him out of the way and took over central command. " Patty!" She called, hoping for some assistance from her sister and a second opinion. It didn't take long at all before Patty came charging from down the hall and came into Kid's room, giggling.

" What's up, sis?" She asked.

" Help. What about this?" Liz pulled out a tank top from Kid's wardrobe.

" Are you nuts?! I'm not BlackStar! I'd freeze in a low cut shirt like that!" Kid exclaimed, then held his face in disappointment. This was why he should've just thought for himself, but Liz seemed to know better.

" But would Soul like it?" Patty winked, and Kid seemed to break down.

" No!" He denied.

" If we were picking something Soul would like we would just send him there naked." Liz teased. Kid was pretty much red hot in the face by then as he shook his head.

" Shut up shut up!" He yelled. " I would never leave the house like that in a million years!"

" Uh huh." Liz said, putting the shirt back. " But you need to show a little skin. This is kind of a date."

" It's really not. I don't want to rub anything in Maka's face..." Kid reminded, and Liz sighed. She pulled out a light pink, short sleeve shirt. It had a collar and four buttons on it and she handed it to him. " Here. Then you can mix this with khakis and some light pink and gray dress socks."

Kid looked down at the shirt and decided that he didn't have a problem with it. It was casual enough and covered him where he needed to be. He just hoped that he wasn't overdoing it- wait. What was he saying? He wore a suit to school everyday. Maybe it would be more refreshing for Soul to see him in something less formal.

Or maybe he was just overthinking the whole thing and needed to leave the house. Yeah.

...

Soul and Maka had prepared a stir fry and rice, something simple they did a lot. Being the students they were, they didn't have a lot of money for groceries. Stir fries were a great way to have vegetables for nutrients, and the rice was all they needed for carbs. At least, those were things Maka thought about. Soul would've literally eaten anything put down in front of him.

" I hope he likes it..." Maka looked to the side. " What if he hates it and he thinks I made it bad on purpose?" She fretted.

" It tastes good. Chill." Soul told her, taking off his apron and tossing it aside. He'd chopped everything up while she worked on other stuff, but now the food was ready and he didn't need it any longer.

Maka slumped over, worried more than she should've been. She felt bad for everything and knew they both needed to apologize. Really, she was embarrassed that things had gone that far. Especially in front of Professor Stein, who was one of her biggest role models.

" Maka. Calm down. Kid doesn't hate you. This whole thing has just been blown out of proportion and you two need to talk. You know that. I'm sure by the end of the night you two will be fine."

" I hope so..." Maka puffed out her bottom lip.

Soul's phone chimed and he was quick to look at it, figuring that it was most likely his boyfriend. And he assumed right.

Kid 5:46 PM: I'm leaving right now. See you in 5 minutes.

Soul smiled to himself and texted back a simple okay. Come to think of it, he hadn't really had Kid over for dinner at his place unless he and Maka were cooking for everyone. Even under the circumstances, he was going to enjoy having the reaper around.

" Kid is coming." Soul told Maka, and Maka was more than a little nervous.

When the apartment door opened, Soul looked over excitedly, but he sank when it was someone else entirely.

" Meow!" Their roommate/housecat/resident witch, Blair had shown up. She was pretty much wearing a bikini top and booty shorts, but who were they to judge?

" Hey, Blair." Maka greeted, smiling. Funny how she'd been jealous of her before, and yet Soul had ended up with a guy.

" Ooo... that smells good. What's the occasion?" She asked.

" Soul's boyfriend is coming over." Maka replied, and Blair looked between them both with wide eyes. It had been a while since she'd come home, so apparently she'd been the last to know.

" Oh. Alright. I'll be in your room." The cat woman told Maka and retreated, and that's when the doorbell rang. Soul prayed that it was actually Kid that time and not someone else trying to get his hopes up.

When he pulled the door open and saw Kid standing there, Soul's face eased into a smile.

There wasn't a more beautiful sight in the world right then.

" Hey..." Kid said quietly, blushing as he stood on the doorstep. Soul guided him in with a hand around his waist.

" Glad you could make it." The weapon told him, leaning closer and pressing a kiss to the side of Kid's head, gentle in his actions. He wanted to be a total gentleman that night in hopes of negotiating peace between Maka and him.

Kid blushed and looked up to see Maka staring, and he decided that he wouldn't just be confrontational right away. That wouldn't solve anything and he knew that.

" Hi, Kid." She said.

" Hi." Kid replied. It was so awkward in that room that he felt like he could've curled up in a corner forever to escape it. Yet... he didn't. He had agreed to this dinner so that they could finally face the problem at hand and combat it, and he had no intention of turning back, even if the option was tempting.

Soul watched the two and could sense the tension between them. He knew that if things turned sour, he would need to step in and break it up, but still... he trusted that they wouldn't. Kid and Maka had both agreed to do this for his sake, and he had to believe that they would.

" It... it smells wonderful in here. What did you make?" He asked, slipping off his louffers in a polite gesture. Maka twirled one of her pigtails and thought about how she should be nice. She didn't want to keep fighting.

" Stir fry and rice." She replied. " Would you like something to drink?"

Soul hoped it wouldn't be so forced all night.

" Sure. I'll take a water if you have it..." Kid said, scratching his wrist. What kind of a place didn't have water?! He mentally kicked himself, and Soul showed him to their dining room table, pulling out a chair for him.

Maka went to the kitchen, and Soul sent a supportive smile to his boyfriend before following her. He grabbed a Ramune from the fridge for himself and rubbed Maka's shoulder.

" You're doing fine. Don't expect it to be perfect right away."

Maka filled up a clean glass with water from the fridge and took a deep breath. She was really trying, even if it seemed like she was being difficult. The last thing she wanted to do was mess up her one and only second chance with Kid. She knew that there wouldn't be a third one.

As they all got situated at the table, Kid gulped. He could've sworn that he'd never been anywhere so quiet in his lifetime. That was until he began listening to the soul wavelengths around him. Maka's was all over the place, cluing him into how nervous she was. It seemed sincere to him, which made him assured that this was the right thing to do. And Soul's wavelength was trying to present as calm, but Kid could tell that he wasn't so collected.

" So..." Soul cleared his throat, and they began to fill their plates with food. " Where do you two want to start."

" Well..." Maka began. " I think we need to talk about practice."

Kid poked at his food with his chopsticks, not sure where to even start with how he felt. He figured he'd know once Maka said her piece, and he hoped that things wouldn't become heated.

" Kid, I'm sorry for being like that with you. What you and Soul do in private isn't my business. I just got angry when I had to hear about it from everyone else... since... y'know... I'm trying to get over him." Maka said.

Soul looked toward the reaper, waiting to see what his response would be.

" I accept your apology. And I'm sorry for rubbing it in your face. It just made me aggravated when you said you were okay with our relationship but still resented me..." Kid told her.

" I think Kid and I can agree to watch our PDA, and you can agree to be mindful of your facial expressions." Soul added, looking across the table. " Maka, I also need you to tell us here and now that you're okay with us being together. I know you already told me, but I think Kid needs the assurance just as much as I do."

" Soul's right. I don't want to fight. I want our friendship back." Kid backed him up.

Maka sighed. This was hard for her, being how stubborn she was.

" I just want you both to be happy. And so... I'm okay with you two being together." She said.

" Thank you..." Kid replied. It seemed like the tension was disappearing. " And I'll make sure that Liz knows this as well. She got pretty heated earlier."

" I'd appreciate that." Maka said and took a bite of her food. It was actually pretty decent as Soul had told her, but she'd finally gotten to the point where she could taste it. The worry was going away.

Soul felt the weight come off of his chest as Maka and Kid both ate and even had a conversation about classes afterwards. Things were going back to normal and that was all he could've ever wished for. However... once the air was cleared, he still had one thing on his mind. What had Kid wanted to talk to him alone about? Had Lord Death said something bad?

Kid helped Maka do the dishes and Soul dried them, and Soul was pretty eager to get Kid alone. Not for a scandalous reason, but more so to speak to him about earlier.

" We're gonna head back to my room." Soul told Maka as the sink drained, and Maka nodded. But before he and Kid could turn away, she pulled the reaper into a gentle hug.

" Thank you for everything, Kid..." She whispered, and Kid had been startled at first. It didn't take long for a smile to form on his face, though. There was really something about the gesture that made his heart warm for the future.

" Don't mention it. Thank you..." He murmured back.

Soul was shocked, but at the same time, he shouldn't have been. His meister had always been an individual whom he failed to understand no matter how hard he tried.

After that, he took Kid's hand and led him back to the bedroom.

The smell on the way in was something which blended cologne and old records, and Kid couldn't describe it. He knew one thing, though, and it was that it smelled like Soul, if he even had a scent. He looked around the walls and saw the band posters, along with the red bedding, and sat down.

Soul shut the door and flicked on the lamp, smiling. He shrugged off the shirt he was wearing then went to the closet, looking for a comfy hoodie. Kid watched him, and he knew something about himself had changed big time as he realized it... it being the scar on Soul's chest. It was diagonal and not symmetrical in the slightest, but it didn't bug him. Not one bit.

Soul had really changed him.

Soul chuckled when he saw Kid blushing, pulling a yellow hoodie over his head.

" Perv."

" Me?! I'm not the one stripping..." Kid folded his arms and Soul laughed while plopping on the bed beside him.

" I know. It's unfortunate." He flirted, pressing a kiss on Kid's cheek, wrapping an arm over his shoulder. " But for real, what did you need to talk to me about?"

Kid was confused at first, but his eyes widened when he remembered. He'd been so immersed in the Maka situation that he'd nearly forgotten the conversation with his father. He leaned closer to Soul and rested on him, trying to figure out a way to put it into words.

It would get complicated.

{ Ooo... things are getting serious. OWO. }