A.N. -Hello, people of fanfiction! How wonderful to see you again! I'm back, returning to Soul Eater fanfiction, this time with a crossover twist.
Now, this is technically a sequel to my previous Soul Eater fanfic, "Shot Through the Heart", but except for a few instances, you don't really need to read that to understand; "Heart" dealt with Liz and Patti and Kid's relationship as platonic, True Companions meister-and-partners, while this will deal with Tsubaki and Black*Star, and the effects of a failed romantic relationship can have on the meister-Weapon bond (if I ever did a Soul and Maka-centered story, which I might in the future, that would deal with a more successful romantic meister-and-Weapon pair).
This story will also heavily feature (my headcanon-based) information and history of Tsubaki's clan. And, of course, it will have the Naruto characters, set roughly 2.5, 3 years after the 4th Great Shinobi World War; Temari, Gaara, and Kankuro are on their way to Konoha for Temari and Shikamaru's wedding, so whenever that was. I guess it will overall focus more on Tsubaki and Black*Star, but there will definitely be enough Naruto elements to be a proper crossover.
To those unfamiliar with "Heart": I put a lot of non-Soul Eater characters from other fandoms in the story, what I called "cameos". I'll continue that practice with this story, and in this chapter there is a Full Metal Alchemist character cameo.
Also, a note on the title: I know my astronomy professor would be disappointed in me, because in all actuality there is no such thing as the "dark" side of the moon; we just can't see it, but it's there. It is more properly called the "far" side of the moon. But I couldn't resist keeping a musically-themed title going with this and "Shot Through the Heart", so just remember it's based on the song title and not fact, okay?
Alright, to the story! I hope you all enjoy! Please let me know what you think/what I can do to improve!
It didn't take long to find her.
Black*Star approached the park bench that his Weapon partner, Nakatsukasa Tsubaki, was sitting on, looking out on the man-made lake that sat in the middle of the park. Ducks glided across the surface as a large fountain shot water up into the sky, making a sort of artificial rain. Some children climbed a large rock pile on the other side of the lake, while other visitors walked around the dirt path. A few had pieces of bread in their hands, and eagerly threw them to the waterfowl to squabble over.
The park was centered on a large tract of land on the outskirts of Death City, close enough to be green and even lush, instead of another part of the desert. Somewhat of a pet project of the previous Shinigami-sama, Kid had continued progress on it, and finally it had opened a couple years ago. Tsubaki and Black*Star had come here for one of their dates – had it been their first? No, surely even he would have remembered that; must've been their second – back when they were dating.
It had been a few weeks since they'd broken off their romantic relationship – well, alright, in reality, Tsubaki had actually dumped him, but no one really needed to know that, right? Except Liz and Patti, in whose company Tsubaki had been a lot more since Maka and Soul got reassigned to Russia. So Kid probably knew, too, and heck, Maka probably did, since Tsubaki and she still talked a lot with international calling and texting (Tsubaki had a good plan, to stay in touch with her parents in Japan).
Black*Star shook his head to clear it, and sat down on the bench next to his partner. Tsubaki looked up over at him and gave a slight smile; there was a ripple of surprise in her soul, but it surely couldn't be because of his sudden appearance, because she would have sensed him at the same time he sensed her. Maybe it was because he was even here at all? He had sort of been...not quite avoiding her, exactly, because that wouldn't be cool, as Soul would have told him had he been there, but Black*Star had to admit that he hadn't been at home much. He could try and blame it on his work schedule, which was mostly night work when it wasn't crazy hours, but...
There was no way he wouldn't be with her on this day, though.
"Hey, Tsu-chan," Black*Star, using a rare nickname he reserved for special moments or when Tsubaki was particularly sad.
"Hey, Black*Star," Tsubaki answered. She paused. "Thanks for...being here. I...haven't seen you for a while, so I didn't..."
"Heh, yeah, well, I thought today you needed some light." He flashed her a grin, hoping it would cheer her up. "And who's better at that the me, the great Black*Star!?"
She laughed a little, eyes crinkling. "No one I know," she agreed. They sat in a comfortable silence for a while, and Black*Star found himself enjoying it. What a fool he'd been for staying away from her. If nothing else, Tsubaki was his partner, his friend, and he shouldn't have let hurt feelings get in the way of that.
After a while, though, Tsubaki sighed. "I can't believe..." she said softly, "that it's been six years since that mission. Since Nii-san died."
Black*Star nodded silently, remembering. Nakatsukasa Masamune, Tsubaki's older brother, had been wrecking havoc among villages and eating souls, close to becoming a kishin. To stop that was the whole reason Tsubaki had joined Shibusen, since her clan usually took over their members' training themselves. Tsubaki had done what she had to do, but it was still hard on her. Most of the time, she was able to put it in the back of her mind, but always on the anniversary of her brother's death, the grief still hit hard.
Black*Star hesitated only a moment before reaching over and putting his arm around Tsubaki's shoulders. In the last six years, he'd hit a growth spurt, and was now the same height as the Weapon, even an inch or two taller. It was a little hard to tell, since Tsubaki was thin and willowy anyway, but sitting down he was definitely taller.
"I'm here for you, Tsu-chan," he told her. "You know that."
Tsubaki nodded against his shoulder. "I do. Thanks, Black*Star." She paused again, then took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. In a somewhat chipper tone that obviously meant she was trying to cheer herself up, she asked, "So how was Angela today? She was still sleeping when I left the house, I didn't want to wake her."
"Oh, she was fine," Black*Star replied. The two of them had basically sort of adopted the little witch, Angela Leon, ever since they'd been forced to kill her bodyguard and father-figure, Mifune. Angela still didn't know about their part in her former protector's death, though a year or so ago they'd been forced to admit that he wasn't coming back for her because he had, in fact, passed away. Black*Star still chaffed at lying to her, but everyone had insisted it was best, unless and until they could get the young witch's destructive power under control.
That's why, in between school and other extra-curricular activities, Angela spent a lot of her time with Shibusen's other resident witch, and ex-Spartoi meister, Kim Diehl. Kim, at 20 years old, went to Death City University, as did Tsubaki, Liz, Ox, Harvar, Maka, Soul...and nearly all of Shibusen students, really. Kim, who planned on going into medical school, had gotten an internship at Shibusen General, which is where Black*Star had just come from. Angela, for her part, enjoyed hanging out with Kim, and enjoyed seeing some of the more gruesome-looking patients come in, so it all worked out in the end.
"Oh yeah," Black*Star said suddenly, "that reminds me." He fished around in his pocket with the hand that wasn't around Tsubaki and pulled out a small scroll. It was edged in gold paper, and had red tassels attached to the ends of it. Written on the front in elegantly finished kanji was the name Nakatsukasa. Tsubaki had tried teaching him Japanese once before, though the attempt had ended about as well as any of his other studies; what he remembered, however, was more than enough to recognize her name.
He handed the scroll to Tsubaki, who handled it with care, and said, "I dunno what it is, I found it on a table in the medical library Kim was in. I figured you should have it, since, y'know, it's literally got your name on it."
"Wow, Black*Star. Thank-you." Tsubaki turned it over in her hands, seeming to like the way it felt. She looked back over at him and smiled. "Really, thank-you."
He nodded. "Yeah, well, what are partners for?"
All of a sudden he wanted to lean in and kiss her. But, as he was restraining himself, a ringtone went off. They both started, then each checked their pockets; Black*Star's phone came out ringing.
"Ah, it's me," the meister said. Answering the call, he said, "Hello?"
"Hello, Black*Star?" It was Jean Havoc, one of Black*Star's coworkers and superiors at Border Patrol and Surveillance. "We're going to need you to come in. Miles and Alex both called out sick, so someone has to fill in a shift."
Black*Star sighed. "Fine," he said. "I'll be there in fift- no, ten."
"Knew we could count on you," Jean said cheerfully. "See you soon."
"Yeah, yeah," Black*Star replied, even though Jean had already hung up. He put his phone away and faced Tsubaki.
"Uh, well, it looks like I have to go," he said. He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "What a pain." He then paused, a thought occurring to him. "Actually, y'know, Tsubaki, if you need me to stay..."
"Oh, no, Black*Star, that's alright," Tsubaki answered hurriedly. "It's fine, I'm fine, really." She smiled at him. "It's okay, I promise. And this way you'll be home earlier, right?"
"Yeah, that's true," the meister acknowledged. Checking his watch, he added, "Maybe I could even swing by home for a quick lunch even." He then hesitated for a moment more, before nodding and getting up. "Alright, well, then I'll be off. I'll see you later, Tsubaki."
"See you," she answered. Black*Star then turned and headed off to work.
...
Tsubaki fingered red tassels on the scroll she carried as she walked out of Death City Memorial Park. She'd already spent too much time here today, when there were other things she should be doing - she should call her parents, and there was that paper for her Readings in Non-Western Lit she needed to finish. At least she didn't have class today, though hopefully she would have convinced herself to go if she had.
Six years, Nii-san, she thought to her brother. How long will I have these feelings with me? At least neither of her parents blamed her for their oldest child's death - they both understood she'd done what she had to do. Even if she hadn't been the one to stop her brother, Shibusen would have sent someone else. Perhaps that would have been even harder, having had a stranger finish what was in essence a family matter.
Tsubaki shook her head to clear it, trying to dispel the negative thoughts. Maybe when she got home, she could take a look at this scroll; she hadn't felt right looking at it in public. It would probably take her mind off things.
As she was nearing the entrance of the park, she noticed a figure in the distance waving excitedly at her. When Tsubaki got close enough, she realized that it was one of her good friends, Patti Thompson. Smiling widely, Tsubaki waved back as the two girls met in the middle.
"Tsubaki!" Patti cried, grinning and pulling the fellow Weapon into a hug. She had a large drawing pad in one hand. "I'm glad to see you~!"
Tsubaki laughed. "I'm glad to see you, too, Patti," she replied. "How are you? What're you doing here?"
Patti held up the drawing pad. "I'm here to draw~, of course!" Patti, like Black*Star, had chosen not to go down the college route; at first she had gone in as undeclared, but dropped out after the first semester. However, she had found a passion in drawing, and Liz had told Tsubaki she and Kid had been trying to get Patti to submit some of her work to see what would come of it.
"Well, this park is a good spot for this," Tsubaki acknowledged.
Patti nodded. "Yup, it is. Kid and Sis are at work, too, so I should be, too, y'know?" A shadow passed over her face, then. "'Specically 'cause tomorrow Sis and I have to go to New York."
"What? Why?" Tsubaki cried, shocked. Roughly half a year ago, Liz and Patti had been blackmailed into returning to their pre-Shibusen days as the "Devils of Brooklyn"; Francesco Scafidi, a low-life gang-banger the Thompsons had known in the past, had planted bombs in Death City with the help of a witch. Kid, Maka, Soul, Black*Star, and Tsubaki had gone on a rescue mission, but not before the witch had blown up parts of Death City. It wasn't completely recovered yet, but progress was moving along, Franky and the witch had been dealt with, and Liz and Patti were back where they belonged.
After all that, Tsubaki thought the Thompsons would never want to go back to their birthplace again.
"We gotta testify against the remaining members of Franky's gang," Patti explained, her tone sour. She then added, as an afterthought, "Jason has to go, too." Jason Atlee was a former member of Franky's gang, and an old acquaintance of the Thompsons. After siding with Liz and Patti against Franky, he'd been welcomed into Death City, and was currently working at the Deathbucks that had employed the Thompsons.
"Oh, Patti, I'm so sorry!" Tsubaki cried. "How awful that must be for you."
Patti shrugged. "At least we'll be able to come back home," she said. "And we can see all those bastards get what they deserve."
Tsubaki nodded. "That's true." She reached in a gave Patti another hug, the pulled back. "Well, I'll let you get some drawing in; I've got some things to do at home. But we'll talk soon 'kay? Maybe I can see you off tomorrow!"
"Okay!" Patti agreed, shooting Tsubaki another wide smile before loping off, drawing pad held loosely in her hand as she swung her arms. Tsubaki smiled at the sight before resuming her trek home.
...
The sound of the door to their apartment made Tsubaki pause in her typing. She sat at the kitchen table with her laptop, working on some homework, the scroll with her family name on it sitting right beside her. She'd had a very nice, very long phone conversation with her parents, and then gotten got up in little chores and errands the rest of the day. She checked the clock, surprised to see that it was 6:30 already. Where had the day gone?
"Hey, Tsubaki, you here? I'm back!" Black*Star's voice reached here a second before he stepped into the kitchen. His eyes lit up when he saw her, but then he looked around for a moment, seeming confused.
"Where's the little tyke?" he asked. "Usually she'd run in here by now and try to kick my family jewels right off."
"Oh, yeah, Kilik called me earlier," Tsubaki answered. "Angela asked if she could sleep over with Thunder and Lightning." That was another thing she'd done today; it felt like she'd spent a lot of time on the phone.
"Ah, you mean we have the house to ourselves?" A grin stretched Black*Star's face. "Cool! That hasn't happened in -" he faltered for a moment, then finished less enthusiastically, "in weeks."
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Tsubaki agreed, deciding not to comment on his hesitation. The last time Angela had been out of the house and it was just her and Black*Star, she'd broken up with him. Honestly, she'd been surprised by how badly he'd taken it - he ended up spending two nights with Kilik - considering she'd mostly broken things off because she hadn't thought he was taking their new romantic relationship seriously.
Black*Star sat down at the table, his eyes wandering for a moment. "Oh, hey, did you look at this yet?" He picked up the scroll.
Tsubaki shook her head. "No, I haven't really had a chance. Wanna look at it now?"
Black*Star handed it to her. "Sure, if you want to."
Tsubaki nodded as she took it, then started to unroll it; Black*Star got up and leaned over her shoulder. The scroll glowed in the Weapon's hands, and soon the light became blinding. Tsubaki held the scroll away from her as the light began to fade and turned blue in color. Just when Tsubaki thought she'd be able to read the scroll, she felt a strong force pulling at her.
Tsubaki tried resisting, leaning back in her chair, but the pull was insistent, and soon she was halfway inside the scroll. A strange portal had opened, or perhaps had been hiding between the pages, and it was sucking her in. Her mind flashed back to Kid's description of the Book of Eibon, and her own experience inside. The Weapon screamed, trying to wrench herself free, but her attempt was futile.
"Tsubaki!" Black*Star cried, gripping her arm and trying to yank her back. Black*Star was strong, probably the physically strongest person she knew, but even he was no match for this force. At least, Tsubaki thought, her meister was safe. That was all that mattered: Black*Star, her meister, her partner, was safe.
That was the last thought she had before disappearing completely into the scroll.
A.N. — Wow, that was a long chapter. Phew.
Please understand that most of the chapters won't be this long. And I also don't know when my updating schedule will be, but I will definitely keep at it.