The returning pair was turning a lot of heads as they staggered down the halls of the DWMA, leaving trails of bright, crimson blood. "Well," Black*Star gasped, his arm wrapped around Tsubaki's slender waist. "That mission… was… rough…" He coughed violently, hacking up a mouthful of blood.
"…y-yeah…" Tsubaki murmured, leaning on Black*Star for support. The tall, severely wounded weapon could barely walk. "…I wish… we would've… at least… succeeded…" Tsubaki staggered, almost crashing to the ground. Black*Star caught her just in time.
"Hang in there, Tsubaki," Black*Star growled. "Just… a little… farther…" He grit his teeth and kept staggering forward, half dragging, half carrying his bloodied weapon. His vision was beginning to blur, and he was dizzy from blood loss. Just when he was sure that he and Tsubaki weren't going to make it, a set of doors were flung open.
"Black*Star! Tsubaki! What the hell happened?!" The nurse screamed. He had been so focused on remaining conscious that he hadn't realized that they had already reached their destination. He lowered Tsubaki gently to the ground, then smiled at the nurse, swaying woozily.
"We're fine, lady," He tried to strike a godly and inspiring pose, blood from his wounds splattering against the tiled floor. "We just… met… an opponent…" His words began slurring together, and his vision was becoming cloudier by the second. "We… met… an opponent… who was… the henchman… of God…" Black*Star's eyes rolled back until only the whites were showing, and then the mighty Black*Star crashed to the ground as everything around him went black.
"His eyes are opening! Oh my God, I thought he was dead!" A hysterical voice, shrill with worry, was screaming nearby. It kind of sounded like Maka's voice… Groggily, Black*Star opened his eyes the rest of the way. Five worried faces were staring down at him.
"Black*Star!" Maka squealed. "You're okay!"
"Of course I'm okay," Black*Star groaned, sitting up in the hospital bed. "I'm Black*Star! The king of okay!"
"Bro," Soul said, his normally cool and collected voice laced with worry. "You've been out cold for the past three days..!"
"Three days?! Whaaat?!"
"Yeah. Luckily, none of your wounds were that serious. You had just lost a lot of blood and taken a rather hard blow to the head." Suddenly, all the unpleasant details from the gory battle came rushing back to Black*Star.
"Tsubaki!" Black*Star screamed, leaping from the bed.
"Black*Star! You're not supposed be get up yet!" Kid snapped, trying to stop him.
"I don't care! I do what I want!" Black*Star yelled, swatting the young shinigami out of the way. "Where's Tsubaki?! Is she okay?!"
"Black*Star! Calm down!" Maka screamed, grabbing the blue-haired meister's arm. "Tsubaki's fine! She's just resting in the other room! Black*Star calmed down almost immediately.
"Tsubaki!" He flung open the curtain that separated the two rooms. Tsubaki was propped up in her own hospital bed, wrapped from nearly head to two in clean white bandages.
"Oh… hi, Black*Star. I'm glad to see you're doing better!" Tsubaki smiled her placid, gentle smile, but it was much weaker than usual. Black*Star was absolutely horrified. He had no idea that the reckless battle he had insisted on fighting had taken such a heavy toll on his trusted weapon.
"Oh, h-hey Tsubaki!" Black*Star stammered. "Uhm, you should get some rest!" He said, snapping the curtains closed. He felt sick and just wanted to crawl into bed and never come back out.
"Black*Star," the nurse called from her office. "Could I speak to you for a moment?"
"I guess," he responded, waving goodbye to his friends as they returned to class. He flung himself down onto one of the chairs in her office, wincing slightly. "Well? Whaddya want?" She looked up from her paperwork and gave him a very stern look.
"Black*Star, I'm aware that Tsubaki, as a weapon, is meant to withstand attacks. However, I believe you're forgetting that she can be damaged and wounded too. Taking on a mission that difficult was extremely reckless and extremely stupid. I'm very disappointed in you, Black*Star. You and Tsubaki could've died! Now return to class, since I believe you are doing quite better." Black*Star just sat there, stunned, as the nurse dismissed him. He walked to class numbly as she called after him, reminding him to come back and see Tsubaki when visiting hours were open again.
Later that night, Black*Star stumbled back into the nurse's office. "I'm here to see Tsubaki," he said flatly. The nurse nodded silently and opened the door. Tsubaki smiled faintly when she saw Black*Star enter. Black*Star tried to return the smile, but failed. He felt sick to his stomach when he saw what a horrible condition Tsubaki was in, and he felt even more sick when he remembered that it was mostly his fault she was this way.
"Hey, Black*Star," Tsubaki said softly.
"Hey, Tsubaki." Black*Star said, sitting down next to the bed. The nurse's words were ringing in his head. "I, um, have something to tell you…"
"What is it, Black*Star?"
"Well," Black*Star took a deep breath. "Tsubaki, I don't think we should be partners anymore."