Black Star.
The girl shakily got to her feet, her tangled and matted black hair falling loosely over her shoulders. All around her, her family lay strewn across the ground covered in blood. Her house was in shambles and, even being as trained as they were at combat, the Nakatsukasas stood little chance against even a single member of the infamous Star Clan.
Tears welled up in the her blue tinted eyes as she looked up at the boy she called her friend and Meister, her already hazy vision further blurring from the water leaking out. "Black Star, please. I'm begging you to stop this. What's gotten into you?"
"Stop talking like you know me," the boy snapped in an arrogant tone, gazing down at her with cold eyes from his perch on the wall. "Such a big star like me wouldn't associate himself with someone like you in a million years."
"But I do know you!" the girl insisted, tears now streaming down her pale face. "This isn't you. You're not a killer!"
"I don't know who you think you are," he said, drawing a blade from his forearm, "but I'm part of the Star Clan and I got hired to kill you, Tsubaki Nakatsukasa."
"Hired by who?" she asked in a trembling voice as he leapt off the wall and advanced towards her.
The assassin smirked as he stopped a few feet away from her. "If you really wanna know, I guess I could tell you. Your brother, Masamune Nakatsukasa, was the one who hired me. My target was only you, but wiping out the rest of your family was fun. Plus. it goes to prove how big a man I am, taking down a whole house of skilled fighters."
Before she could react, he had his blade at her throat, his warm breath on the side of her neck.
"Black Star... Please," she pleaded, not even bothering to struggle as he pressed the cool blade deeper into her neck. "This isn't you..."
The last words she heard before he slit her throat were, "You don't know me, Tsubaki. So just shut up."
Tsubaki woke in cold sweat, shivers running through her body, and every nerve on end. Looking at the clock on her nightstand, she saw that it was only three in the morning.
She glanced over at Black Star who was sprawled across his mattress, snoring loudly as he murmured something inaudible. The Weapon liked to think she knew her Meister better than anyone (with the exception of Soul Eater, maybe), but the horrifying dream she kept having made her faith begin to waver the slightest bit.
Laying back down, Tsubaki stared up at the ceiling, pulling her covers up to her chin. She couldn't imagine her life without the boisterous and sometimes obnoxious Meister. He was the one who'd brought her out of her shell and showed her that a Camellia blossom does have a fragrance. She found herself smiling as she gazed over at her partner's sleeping form, and was glad she was obscured by shadows as a tear rolled out of the corner of her eye, dropping onto her pillow.
No, I definitely couldn't imagine my life without Black Star; thought the Weapon as she rolled over and closed her eyes. After all, it'd be far too quiet without him around...
"Tsubaki! Hey get up! We're gonna be late to school!"
Slowly opening her eyes, Tsubaki sat up and looked around, her gaze falling on Black Star who was standing in their bedroom doorway with a curious expression on his face. Glancing at the clock, she saw that it was already 6:45 am. They had fifteen minutes until school started!
"Oh no!" she exclaimed springing to her feet and running pass Black Star to the bathroom to get ready.
Shaking his head, the young assassin went over and tidied up her bed as best he could before heading to kitchen and grabbing an apple from the fridge. He'd noticed that his Weapon partner had been acting strange lately, but he hadn't wanted to bother her about it. It was an unsaid mutual agreement that they'd tell each other things when they were fully ready, therefore, there was no use in rushing her. He had the decency to respect her privacy.
"I'm so sorry, Black Star," Tsubaki apologized as she stepped into the kitchen in her usual attire which consisted of a tan ankle length dress, thigh high socks, and white combat boots.
"It's not like I care about being late," shrugged her Meister as they exited their apartment and headed toward the Shibusen. "But I thought you would, so I woke you up."
"Thank you," she told him gratefully. "I really don't want to get another detention from Stein as punishment."
"It's just dissecting things," Black Star pointed out. "I don't see what the big deal is. We do it everyday. Shouldn't you be used to it by now?"
Tsubaki sighed. "Well, I'm fine with doing it in class since it's for a grade, but I really enjoy it enough to want detention."
They walked in silence for a while before she caught Black Star throwing her sideways glances.
"You're wondering why I've been getting up late everyday?" she questioned as they climbed the Shibusen's front steps.
"A little," he shrugged.
"I've just been having nightmares, that's all," she said in a reassuring tone. "Nothing to worry about."
What she didn't say was that they were about him.
Before this week, she hadn't really thought about what it would be like if Black Star was still part of the Star Clan and she hadn't started the DWMA. Chances were, they might have never even met. but the thought still saddened her.
Giving her one last look, Black Star let out a sigh and decided not to press any further. He was too big a man to pester people about little things.
Fortunately, the pair made it to Class Crescent Moon seconds before the bell rang, taking their usual seats near the back of the room, but still earning a glare from Professor Franken Stein.
"Black Star, Tsubaki," Stein drawled, his eyes flashing.
"Y...yes sir?" they both stammered. Even Black Star had to admit the guy was scary. But someday, he'd be able to beat Stein, and eventually, Shinigami-sama himself.
"Your presence is required in the Death Room. You're excused from class."
With a sigh of relief, both students jumped down the steps and walked out of the room, glad they weren't in trouble.
"That was a close call," Tsubaki sighed as they made their way down the hall towards the Death Room where Shinigami-sama resided.
"Whatever. We could've taken any punishment he dished out," her Meister laughed. "He doesn't scare someone like me who's gonna surpass god!"
Tsubaki only smiled and nodded. "Of course."
When they finally reached the Death Room, the door slid open to let them inside. Walking under the guillotine blades, Tsubaki thought back to when they'd defeated Masamune, something she couldn't have done without him there. She couldn't help but smile whenever she remembered the look on Black Star's face when he'd turned to her and asked if she would still be his partner now that she'd fulfilled her purpose for coming to the Shibusen.
"Yo, hey there, how's it going, you two?" Shinigami-sama greeted them.
"It's going fine, thanks," Black Star grinned. "So what's up? Why'd you call us down here?"
"Well, I have a special mission for the two of you," was the response. "Would you like to hear it?"
"Of course! Being a man as big as I am, I can handle any special mission out there!" the assassin boasted with a large grin.
Shinigami-sama sighed, shaking his head. "You need to start taking things more seriously, young man. Especially if you intend to turn Tsubaki here into a Deathscythe."
"Oh, I have every intention of making her one of your personal Weapons," Black Star replied. "And I'm gonna do it soon. You just watch."
"Very well, then. Your mission is in Japan. Your plane tickets are booked for tonight, and your target is an assassin on the verge of becoming a Kishin, for not only does he kill his targets, he also devours their soul in the process."
Black Star went silent, hisbody stiffening. Even as he trained to be a dark assassin, he'd never fought anyone with the same fighting techniques as himself. An anticipating grin spread across his face as he clenched his hand into a fist and pumped it in the air.
"Alright! This'll be awesome!"
"We won't let you down, sir," Tsubaki added.
"Very well. In that case, your plane leaves Death City at midnight. Until then, go back to class."
Black Star's face fell at the word "class" and he grudgingly left the room with Tsubaki trailing behindhim.
"This sucks. Why can't we just leave now? Who gives a damn about classes?" he complained. "Well, except Maka."
By the time the two got back to class. Sid had taken over, and they'd all been herded outside into the woods, which could only mean one thing.
"Alright! Now this is what I'm talking about!" exclaimed Black Star, attracting everyone's attention as usual.
To clarify, whenever Sid Barett was not on missions for Shinigami-sama, he would be giving the students combat training. At first, the position had been offered to the infamous team of Professor Stein, the Shibusen's best Meister, and Spirit, Maka's father and Death City's resident Deathscythe. However, Stein proved to be a bit too merciless when it came to fighting. He wasn't very good at holding back. Therefore, Sid was the next option, being a three-star Meister himself. Still, he was pretty brutal when it came to training as well, unluckily for the EAT students.
"Try to join us quietly next time," the undead Meister growled as Black Star just waved a hand in the air and Tsubaki kept apologizing for being late and causing a scene.
"It's pretty hard to not get distracted when such a big star walks in," Black Star pointed out matter-of-factly, easily dodging the throwing knife Sid chucked in his direction. "So what're we doing today? Who do I get to beat?"
"Keep that up and I'll pair you with Kid," Sid snapped irritably. "Sit down, both of you."
Black Star obeyed, rolling his eyes as Tsubaki apologized for her partner's behavior. He really didn't see why it was necessary for her to always apologize for him, and he'd told her so. But she hadn't stopped, so he thought "what the hell?" and let her do it anyway.
"Right. Well, today we'll be pushing your bodies to the limit. Especially you Weapons. That's right. We're doing hand to hand combat." The zombie seemed to relish at the grudging and, in some cases, horrified looks on the students' faces. But, naturally, when his eyes landed on Black Star, he saw that the boy wore a smug expression on his face and his partner didn't seem the slightest bit worried.
Who could blame them? This sort of thing was their specialty.
"Right then, I'll be pairing you up according to skill level, starting with Black Star and Tsubaki."
Tsubaki's calm expression vanished as a look of surprise washed over her features. "You mean I have to fight Black Star?"
"Yeah. That's what I said."
Black Star didn't seem the slightest bit phased as he shrugged and got to his feet. "C'mon Tsubaki!"
With a sigh, the Weapon edged her way to the front of the crowd to stand facing her Meister. Suddenly, the dream she'd had popped into her head. She'd had to fight Black Star in her dreams as well, and she'd lost miserably, getting killed every single time.
"No holds barred," Sid announced. "Use any means at your disposal as if it were a real fight. You'll be graded on how much you put into it as well as the outcome. Understood?"
Tsubaki nodded wordlessly, watching Black Star crack his knuckles.
"I won't be going easy on you, so you might as well go all out, Tsubaki."
All eyes were on the pair of Weapon and Meister who had taken center stage, their classmates gathered around them. Even Patty had stopped humming and had her eyesa glued intently on her friends.
The question that ran through everyone's head was, "Why would Sid make them fight each other?" The purpose of Weapon and Meister partnership was to establish trust, so it didn't make sense for them to be fighting one another.
Fortunately, Maka spoke up, seeing her friend's discomfort with the situation.
"Sid Sensei, I have a question!" she said, raising her hand. "Isn't the whole concept of a partnership between a Weapon and Meister to fight together and not against each other? Won't fighting each other be bad for their Soul Wavelengths."
"In order to fight together to the best of their abilities, they both muust acknowledge each other's weaknesses as well as each other's strength. In other words, it's important to know how strong your partner really is and give them enough credit for it during actual battles," Sid explained. "If you're willing to look at it that way; simply as training, then it will not suffice to damage your Wavelengths in any way."
At a loss for argument, Maka gave Tsubaki an apologetic look as if to say, "I'm all out."
The older girl simply gave her a small smile as she turned back to face Black Star. Seeing as she was a Weapon, she'd have the advantage of being able to turn certain parts of her body into blades, but this was Black Star she was up against. He wasn't bad at using Soul Force and was a pretty unstoppable force even without his Weapon.
The other students also sensed that it would be an interesting fight as well, were on the edge of their seats.
Black Star got into a fighting stance, his body relaxed, and all his senses alert. Of all the people he had to fight, it just had to be Tsubaki: the one person he actually put before himself. Not that he'd ever admit it out loud to anyone. Still, he really didn't want to fight her, but he was the star here, just like he'd always wantedto be, and he couldn't let his fans down.
Tsubaki, on the other hand, was stiffened. She couldn't seem to bring hersself to loosen her body up, which was necessary for any sort of fighting. The thought of having to go against the one she was sworn to protect with her life made her go completely numb, and she barely managed to leap out of the way in time as Black Star attacked.
As far as Black Star's abilities went, Tsubaki was pretty certain she knew the full extent of them, as well as how he would use them. Each punch could be charged with his compressed Soul Wavelength, which meant it would be a bad move to get hit.
Dodging every one of his attacks, Tsubaki couldn't bring herself to hit back. There was no way she could hurt him, even if her grade depended on it.
"Come on, Tsubaki," her partner said through gritted teeth as he swung his leg out and caught her side, knocking the breath out of her. "You can do better than this! I won't appear nearly as big a man if I beat someone who won't fight back."
"I can't," she protested as he flashed behind her and placed his palm against the small of her back and shot a small shock of his Soul Force into her body, sending her skidding forward a few feet.
She realized that he was taking this pretty seriously. Typically, Black Star wasn't one to hold anything back.
And he wouldn't have if it weren't Tsubaki he was fighting. He would have knocked them close to unconscious with that hit of his Soul Force. Anyone else, he would've eagerly fought until one of them ended up in the school's dispensary, but not Tsubaki.
She spun around blocking his next attack with her hand that she'd hardened into a sword blade and hit him in the stomach with a swift kick, all the while apologizing for it with her sad gaze.
By then, most everyone who was watching was holding their breath, wondering who would win. No one had really seen Tsubaki Nakatsukasa fight in her human form before, and the fact that she was holding her own against Black Star left them awestruck.
All except Maka Albarn and four others, who knew well enough how much this bothered Tsubaki. Patty hid slightly behind her sister, who was unconsciously chewing on her bottom lip as they observed the fight between one of the most powerful attack teams in Class Crescent Moon, whom they also called their friends. Meanwhile, their young Shinigami Meister seemed more interested than worried. Seeing this, the twin pistols glanced at each other nervously, praying they wouldn't have to fight Kid, who was swelling with power even without his trusty Weapons. They'd watched him effortlessly take out the Special Units police force right before their eyes, after all. He was one opponent they weren't eager to go up against.
As the fight continued, Sid went around, pairing students up for the next rounds, but people hardly paid the undead Sensei any attention as they were hooked on the fight like moths to a light.
Tsubaki spun and did a backflip to avoid another Soul Force attack from Black Star, who simply pulled out a shuriken, aiming it at her stomach. Catching it between her fingers, she threw it back, and despite ducking out of the way, it still nicked his left cheek, leaving a small cut that began oozing blood.
Wincing at the sight, the girl wanted to just forfeit this and call it off. But knowing Sid, he wouldn't allow such a thing, and knowing her partner, he wouldn't be willing to back down either. At least he still had that confident and determined look in his eye that she was so used to and comfortable with. It was when those eyes changed color that she'd have to worry, for then, he'd become unpredictable and most likely deadly. It happened when he had his mind set on killing.
His attacks kept coming, not missing a beat. He didn't even seem to mind the cut he'd gotten.
Resorting to the last thing she'd wanted to do, Tsubaki converted her long ponytail into a chain and the tip into the blade of a small scythe. Holding the chain in her hand, she lithely did a one handed hand spring and swung out the chain, catching her Meister's arm with the blade accidentally as he moved out of the way. There was way more blood in this than she'd expected. Why couldn't he just stay still?
"Sensei, we should stop them before someone ends up in the Dispensary," Maka said worriedly.
"Well, considering neither of them are going all out on this, I don't think that'll happen," Stein's voice told her frankly.
"Professor? I thought you went on a mission," Maka observed, glancing over at her teacher.
"Spirit and I already finished that," he replied coolly, his eyes trained on Black Star and Tsubaki. Sid definitely has a different approach to teaching; he thought as he observed his students who were barely more than flashes as they dodged, jabbed, kicked, and blocked, not missing a beat the entire time. Really, he was watching their souls.
Black Star seemed to be proud and slightly amazed at his partner's fighting ability, but the boy knew that this wasn't Tsubaki's full potential. Tsubaki, on the other hand, seemed to abhor this more than anything as she went mostly on defense, blocking and dodging her Meister's attacks and only countering with her own when necessary. He knew Sid saw it too, so why didn't he stop them? At this rate, it'd go on forever.
As soon as Stein finished the thought, Black Star blasted Tsubaki with a Soul Force attack, having amped up his speed to get behind her. This time, the Wavelength sent her flying backwards, landing her on her back.
The crowd gasped as one as the Weapon sprung back onto her feet and blocked Black Star's next attack only to be positioned just where he'd wanted her. Grabbing her wrist as she got ready to throw a punch, Black Star twisted her arm behind her, making her wince in pain.
"I win," he stated plainly, releasing her. "Man. Why'd I have to fight you? I had a grand finale planned and everything."
"If it were anyone else, he probably would have put them in the Dispensary for at least a few days," Maka said.
"Believe it or not, the guy actually cares a lot about her," Soul Eater said from beside her. "Plus, it's not like he cares about the grade or anything."
He bet if it were Maka against him, she'd beat him to a pulp for the good grade. In fact, he had practically no doubt that she would.
"Fine, you're both excused. Next is Ox and Kim," Sid announced.
The tension in the crowd seemed to be released as Tsubaki followed her Meister into the group of students, hanging her head.
"Nice job," Soul congratulated his best friend. "That was a pretty cool fight."
"I had to put on a good show," Black Star grinned, but something in his eyes was amiss, but only Soul Eater Evans seemed to notice.
A/N: A fight in the very first chapter, so you know it's going to be a cool story!
I'm only kidding... But if you did like it, let me know through reviews, favoriting, and following. I'll update soon. Pinky promise!
