"I understand your situation, Toshi." Lord Death said to the quiet girl in front of him, she nodded at him, "But we do have to keep a close eye on you, you understand why, right?"
"Yes, Lord Death," She hung her head, a bit sad and ashamed.
"Good!" Lord Death threw up his hands, "Would you like to stay for some tea?"
"No, I would like to get some rest before my first day."
"Understandable. Alright! We will see you here tomorrow, good luck, Toshi!"
"Thank you, Lord Death, and thank you for accepting me into the DWMA." Toshi bowed and left the death room. She walked swiftly through the halls, only moving her legs and arms to move, but looking at every inch around her. At one point she passed a boy dressed all in black, white stripes in his hair. They glanced at each other, but kept on their ways.
Toshi took only a few minutes to make it back to her new apartment, she locked the door behind her and flopped down onto her couch, where she stayed all night curled in a ball watching the window.
Toshi stepped up the steps to the DWMA once again, this time with the sun laughing lively in the sky. She kept her head down, but up enough for her to see and be seen with a menacing air. A few of the students around her looked at her carefully, but kept walking up the stairs without a word. Until she placed her foot on the very top step, then she heard a voice yell:
"HEY! NEW KID! I CHALLENGE YOU!" Toshi looked up, it was a boy with blue hair and stars pretty much all over his outfit. He stopped when he realized she wasn't who he thought she was, "Oh, nevermind I thought you were someone else..." And he went back to a taller girl and the boy she had seen the day before.
"Why? Are you afraid of being beaten by a girl?" Toshi asked, tauntingly.
"You ARE the new kid? I thought you were a boy."
"Because of the name? You cannot rely on just a word. But it explains the stupidity I can sense in you." She teased him.
"I'm not stupid! And I don't care that you're a girl! I'll still kick your ass!"
"Oh really?" Toshi became more serious, stopping her little game, and poised herself for a fight, "Then bring it, little boy!" She called at him. He grinned, devilishly, and charged at her. At the last second, Toshi jumped into the air, and slammed down her feet on his head, it knocked him to the ground. He stumbled to get up, but before he could, Toshi shoved her hands in her pockets and kicked him, sending him into the sky and far into the city.
He didn't return within the following minutes, so Toshi let her guard down and went to his friends. "Do you really hang out with him?" Toshi asked, pittying them a little.
"Yeah, he's annoying, but oh well." Said the boy casually.
"Yeah, sorry about him," The girl said nervously, "He likes every challenge he can get, especially with new students."
"Definatly with new students." The boy sighed and looked up at the red spikes that protruded from the DWMA and shuddered slightly.
"So, you're Toshi Fukurou." The girl said.
"Yeah. Who are you guys?" Toshi asked calming down a bit and getting used to their presence.
"I'm Tsubaki. Black Star is my partner."
"Black Star is that kid, right?" Toshi asked, Tsubaki nodded with a smile.
"I'm Death the Kid." The boy held out his hand in greeting. Toshi shook it akwardly.
"Lord Death's son."
"Yup, that's me."
"Nice to meet the two of you."
"So, Toshi, are you a weapon or a meister?"
"I am a meister."
"Do you have a partner or anything?" Tsubaki asked, looking around for another unfamiliar face.
"Nope."
"Class is going to start soon. We should be going." Kid said and turned to enter the academy. Tsubaki nodded and ran in the direction of her partner, she turned back and yelled to Toshi, "Nice meeting you! We'll see you later!" Toshi nodded, not that Tsubaki could even see her that well, then followed Kid into the building, head down, but up even to see and be seen with a menacing air.
Class had already started a minute or so before, but Toshi was still looking for the right room. She finally found it and knocked. The voice on the other side she had heard right before stopped and she heard someone stepping towards the door. It swung open for her to see a man in a stitched up lab coat and a stitched up face wearing glasses.
"Are you Toshi Fukurou?" He asked. Toshi nodded solemly. "I'm Professor Stein." He said then ushered her into the room to present her to the class.
"This is the new student I know you've all been talking about-"
"YOU! I'M GONNA BEAT YOU TO A PULP!"
"Now isn't the time Black Star. Toshi Fukurou, Welcome to the DWMA. You can sit where ever you want." Stein said and waited for her to sit in the seat she found first, then continued his lesson.
She sat quietly the entire lesson, taking notes without showing her face to the eyes she felt on her the entire day. It didn't bug her, but she thought whoever it was was awfully creepy. When the last bell finally rang, Toshi collected all her notes, stuffed them into her bag. No one stopped to talk to her, just gave her weird looks. She knew Lord Death wasn't planning on leaking her secret to anyone but the staff. But the looks she kept getting made her feel as if he had. They probably are just feeling uneasy around me, they have good reason to, my soul is probably enough to set them on edge. Toshi thought to herself.
She headed for the door and noticed the small group of people standing around it, watching her and talking.
"Hi, Toshi!" She recognized Tsubaki waving at her.
"Hey, Tsubaki." Toshi said as she approached the group.
"OKAY! LET'S GO! REMATCH OUT SIDE!" Black Star yelled and started to leave the room, dragging Toshi behind him. But a girl with pig tails in her hair threw her hand down on his head, a move the Lord Death's famous reaper chop. He let go of Toshi's wrist and started yelling at the girl.
"LEAVE HER ALONE! YOU DON'T NEED TO FIGHT EVERY PERSON YOU SEE!"
"YES, I DO! I'M BLACK STAR!" He laughed maniacally and she hit him again, this time he
shut up.
"Hi, I'm Maka." The girl smiled, turning sweet from monster in a second, she motioned to a very quiet and uneasy boy, "This is Crona."
"Soul." A white haired boy said casually.
"I'm Patty! And this is my sister, Liz!" A small girl yelled gleefully. Her sister seemed unamused by Patty, she just smiled at me.
"Do you want to have dinner with us? Me and Tsubaki sometimes cook together for everyone." Maka asked Toshi. She wasn't sure if she want to, but ended up agreeing to go.
Maka opened the door to the house, a purple cat purred just inside the door, happy to see the people. "I was starting to think you had forgotten about me." It mewed. Toshi jumped a little, she hadn't expected it to talk. It spotted her and purred louder. "Do we have a new friend?" It looked at her closely, examining her, "I'm Blair!" A poof of smoke appeared and dissapated to show a naked purple haired girl. She threw her arm around Toshi. "Look at this! She's almost as big as me! But you're awfully short, and pretty scrawny, too." She said, squeezing their chests together and lifting Toshi off her feet. Soul stared with a nose bleed and Maka yelled at Blair to put some clothes on. She pouted, but did so. Toshi made a note to watch her carefully the rest of the night.
Toshi took a seat on the couch, everyone else sat with her except Tsubaki and Maka, who went to the kitchen to start supper. They talked and laughed and fooled around. They seemed to be trying to include Toshi, but she had no idea how to act around them. They were not what she was used to. At home, in Fukurou manor, everyone went about doing their own business, barely talking out of lessons and discussions. Even the few children were silent. These people were loud and laughing and making fun of each other. It wasn't normal. Or was it? Maybe it was Toshi who wasn't normal. Maybe not everyone grew up in silence. Maybe not everyone was forced to only strengthen themselves.
Tsubaki and Maka finally finished making dinner, they laid it out on the table and called everyone in. Toshi got rid of her coat, leaving it on the sofa and took a chair at the table. Kid passed behind her and pulled out the seat next to her.
"What's up with the tattoos on your back?" Kid asked. Toshi forgot about the wing tattoos on her back. The fatal blow to her cover if he figured where they were from, even so, she wanted them out for everyone to see.
"They are just tattoos." Toshi answered. He didn't look convinced, and watched her through the corner of his eye quite often throughout dinner.
After dinner Toshi said thank you and decided to leave earlier than the rest, she used the excuse that she was still settling into her apartment. SHe grabbed her coat and left.
"So what do you guys think of her?" Maka asked, still unsure of what she thought herself.
"I dunno ..." Soul said, staring at the door.
"I think she is absolutely beautiful! Just perfect!" Kid said hearts practically forming around him. Everyone looked at him oddly, it was a bit weird coming from Kid, "She's perfectly symmetrical. Ever little detail is perfect! The feathers in her hair and on her skirt. The wraps around her arms..." They sighed, understanding what he meant. "Even so, there's something off about her. I think I know but I just can't completely figure it out." Kid looked out the window as Toshi disappeared into the darkness.
Toshi wandered for a while. She knew where her home was, but not sure EXACTLY how to get there, not from Maka's house. Eventually she made it back home and went straight to sleep, exhausted from the chaos reality was.
It was finally break time at the academy. Toshi found herself sitting on the huge balcony at the top of the DWMA, looking down on Death City. It was beautiful up there. She felt more relaxed, more at ease, which a miracle to her after being in Death city only a few days. She hadn't used her powers at all and she hadn't fought, except for the first day with Black Star. It felt weird. Everyday at home, she would have fought withsome one for practice at least once each day. And her powers, they were something she was supposed to use. Like eating or drinking, but she didn't use them, she didn't want to in Death city. Plus there was her soul protect, she would have to lift it to use magic, she couldn't do that if she wanted to stay a secret.
Toshi heard someone behind her, obviously wanting her to find out at the last second, but with her senses, that wasn't possible. She spun around to face Kid.
"What are you doing up here, Kid?" She asked him, with a bit of hostility, she didn't mean for that part.
"I go to this school, too." Kid replied.
"You followed me up here."
"Yes, but because I want to ask you a question."
"Ask away." She turned back to the view of Death City.
Kid joined her, he watched the city for a moment and turned back to her. "What are you?" Toshi dropped her head. She knew she had to answer, even though she didn't want to, but if she didn't, Kid would figure it out, and she didn't want him to tell everyone.
She smiled, a rare thing, "I'm surprised Lord Death didn't tell you. He said he wasn't going to tell any of the students, but I had expected him to tell his son." Toshi said, Kid waited patiently for an answer, "I am a witch. A witch from the Fukurou, or owl, clan. Until now, my family practiced with weapons on our own property, not disturbing anyone in the world, so no one came after us. We were left in peace.
"But after a while, the entire family decided they were sick of that peace, they wanted action, they wanted complete control over the world and thought to attack the DWMA first. I have to admit, we had a very good plan, but I did not think it was right at all. I knew there was no reasoning with any of them. No one would change their mind, especially not if it was all coming from me. So I had to get rid of them before they did anything really bad. I killed my own family, all of them, not that I was not even remotely close to any of them. They were like strangers in my own home. But still, they are family, I still can not believe I killed every single one." Toshi felt like she was about to cry, but she was raised not to cry, ever, so as much as she wanted to let it all out, she couldn't.
Kid was a bit stunned. He hadn't expected something this brutal from her.
"Just promise me you will not tell anyone." Toshi said.
"I promise," Kid agreed, "But I will warn you, if Maka ... or, well, anyone goes looking at souls with you around, they'll figure out you're a witch." Toshi nodded, knowing what could happen, but just because she was a witch didn't mean they would know what she did. She recalled another meister in the school that was a witch.
"Thanks, Kid." She smiled weakly.
"No problem." He shrugged non-chalantly.
After that one day, Toshi and Kid had made it a routine to meet on the balcony overlooking Death City. They would talk, alone, and since that day, Toshi also began to laugh a lot more, she was more open and not as gloomy and scary-looking, though mostly it was during their time alone.
"What weapon do you usually use?" Kid asked randomly the one day.
"Hmm ... I use a scythe a lot, like Soul." Toshi said.
"Oh, of course some one with such perfect symmetry, would use a weapon that destroys all the symmetry in it's surroundings." Kid pouted.
Toshi laughed at him, "I do not understand why you are so obsessed with symmetry, but scythes are not completely without symmetry."
"What do you mean?" He asked, curiously.
"Well, if you look at both sides on most scythes, they are the same. Mine is exactly the same on each side." Kid thought about her logic for a minute and nodded, impressed.
"Hm ... I hadn't thought of it that way."
"Of course you had not." Toshi mumbled with a grin.
"Hey, are you making fun of me?"
"Maybe."
"If you just use a regular scythe, not a death weapon, why are you at the DWMA?"
"Well, I do not have a home now and this way Lord Death can keep an eye on me, I do not mind that, and I can also practice with my weapon by coming here."
They sat in silence for a few minutes until Kid remembered something he wanted to ask her. "So, you can turn into an animal like other witches, right?"
"Yes, of course."
"I'm going to guess an owl."
"You are right." Toshi nodded, closed her eyes and relaxed. A moment later a small snowy owl sat on the cement beside him.
"My middle name is actually Snow."
"This would explain the entirely white get-up."
"It's not ALL white."
"Oh, really?"
"My sandals are not." Kid chuckled at her, "My mother was a very light brown. Lightly tanned skin, light brown hair, almost white, she was our barn owl. And my aunt, she was pretty small, like a screech owl."
"Well, I think snowy owls are the prettiest." Kid said without thinking. Toshi looked at him, raised an eyebrow, and turned back into her human form. He noticed the expression and remembered what he said, "Not that I'm saying you're pretty. I mean, you are but ..." He exclaimed, not sure what he was supposed to say after that.
"I am symmetrical, very symmetrical. That is what you mean." She laughed.
He laughed as well, glad for his obsession, "Yes, that's what I mean."
"Hey, Kid." Soul said, trying to get Kid's attention. It was just them and Black Star, and Kid kept zoning out on them. "Kid!" Kid jumped when Soul yelled at him. "What's up with you, lately?"
"I was just thinking." He replied, it was true, but it sounded like he was lying.
"Yeah, but you don't zone out like that. You never did before."
"Before what?"
Soul paused, "I dunno..."
"You guys shouldn't just be thinking! Not when there's a big star around like me!" Black started up, "We should go use my talents! Let's go find a fight, you guys can watch my glorious victory! HAHAHA! C'mon, we should go find Toshi! I still haven't gotten that rematch!" Black Star stood up, he was serious, of course.
"Just leave her alone." Kid told Black Star meanly. Soul looked at him, wondering what was going on with him. Kid got the message and sighed, "I accidentally told her she was pretty the other day."
Soul didn't say anything for a minute, "Well, she IS pretty hot." He grinned at Kid.
"Yeah, and pretty ANNOYING!" Black Star said.
"Quit whining." Soul told him.
"I have an important mission for the two of you." Lord Death told his son and Toshi. "In Canada, there is a Kishin egg, he is very powerful and very close to becoming a full Kishin. I want the two of you to go destroy him, Toshi, your magic could very well come in handy here."
"Right. We can do this." Toshi said.
They flew seperately, so Liz and Patty wouldn't see Toshi change from owl to human. She wanted them to not find out, if possible, but if her magic was needed, they would find out. She landed in the city of Regina, Saskatchewan, perched on the top of a building where she was to meet Kid. She changed back into her human form and produced a scythe from the air.
She spotted a black spot in the dark blue sky heading towards her, she waited patiently for Kid to land on the building. Liz and Patty switched back to their human forms as well for the time being. The three were wearing heavy coats, but Toshi was just wearing her usual attire.
"Toshi, you're crazy! It's freezing!" Liz shivered.
"I do not think it is cold. It is actually quite nice out tonight." Toshi turned to look over the edge of the building, down at the street below them. Liz gave her back a quizzical look, she was becoming more and more suspicious of Toshi.
They had to climb down all the stairs in the building to get to the ground. Toshi wanted to just jump off the edge, it would be much easier. But she followed the other three down the stairs and back outside onto the streets.
"Kid, can you detect it's soul?" Toshi asked.
"Yes, it's a few blocks away. This way." Kid said and led his friends down another street. A few blocks over, they came to an alley, the inside was dark, but they could hear something in it. "It's in there. Liz, Patty." Kid said to his weapons, they nodded and jumped into the air, transforming into guns. Kid grabbed them and they inched into the alley.
"It's so dark in here!" Liz whined, Kid shushed her.
Toshi saw the soul of a human far into the alley, it rose and disappeared, she assumed into the Kishin egg's mouth. She couldn't see where she was going and tripped over a garbage bag and yelped in surprise. They all stopped and looked in the Kishin egg's direction. A moment later, it jumped out at them and Liz screammed. Kid raised Liz and Patty and shot at it. Toshi scrambled to her feet and ran to the Kishin egg with her scythe raised in the air, poised to strike it. It deflected her attack and kicked her in the chest, sending her back out of the alley.
"Toshi!" Kid looked back at her, but he didn't have to worry, she was already back on her feet. He turned back to the egg and shot at it again. There was no movement for a moment until a huge claw flung out of the darkness and almost caught Kid, but he jumped back just in time. The egg jumped out of the alley and over Toshi, into the street. He growled at them.
"Screw this! I'm using magic!" Toshi yelled at Kid. He nodded, confusing Liz and Patty ... Mostly Liz, even more "Fowl owl, owl prowl!" Toshi lifted her soul protect, her scythe lit up like a star and she charged at the Kishin egg. She swung at him, he dodged. Toshi hit her scythe on the ground to push herself into the air. Kid shot at the egg, hitting him square in the chest. Still in mid-air, Toshi swung her scythe again, pulling it straight through his body. It screamed, it's body shuddered, disappearing into the air.
"Well, that was quite a bit easier than I had expected." Toshi said, looking at the spot where the Kishin egg had vanished.
Kid nodded, "But you did use your magic." Toshi shrugged and Liz spoke up.
"Speaking of her magic, since when are you a witch?"
"Since always."
"And you didn't tell us?"
"I told Kid." Toshi said innocently.
"Yeah, I figured that out, but I meant the rest of us."
"I wanted it to be a secret. Can you keep a secret?"
"Sure I can, I'd be more worried about Patty saying something."
"I don't think she noticed anything at all." He said, referring to the humming and Patty talking to herself ever since she switched back into weapon form.
"Good, now is someone going to eat this soul?" Toshi asked.
"Patty's not paying attention, I'll take it." Liz transformed, took the soul, and went back to being a gun. Kid produced his skate board and shot up into the air. Toshi transformed into a snowy owl and joined them in the air.
Toshi exited their class the day after they had beaten the kishin egg with Kid next to her.
"What's all this about a holy sword or something?" Toshi asked, she was curious, she kept hearing people talking about some holy sword that brought everlasting glory to it's bearer.
"You mean Excalibur?" He snorted, "He's annoying and not worth a second of your time."
"Are saying that just because it is very un-symmetrical?" Toshi asked, not actually knowing if that was the truth or not.
"No, actually he is perfectly symmetrical." Kid recalled the perction of a sword. "C'mon, I'll show you." He grabbed her hand and they ran to the balcony. Kid hopped on his skateboard and Toshi transformed into her owl form, then followed Kid away from the school.
They finally came to a cave with water pouring from it's mouth. They flew straight in. It was dark and awfully damp and moldy. A little ways in, Toshi noticed little bugs flying around them, but with a closer inspection, they were more like pixies or fairies. The two came to a little island in the middle of the water. They landed and Toshi returned to being a human, while walking towards the sword protruding from the ground.
"Pull it out of the ground." Soul told her daringly. She took the hilt and slid the sword out. There was a flash of golden white light and a little white ... creature appeared in front of them.
"This is the holy sword Excalibur? Not exactly what I was expecting."
"He's not what anyone was expecting."
"Fool!"
"Uh ... Why are we here?" Toshi asked.
"Fool!" Toshi gave him a mean look he ignored her and continued, "My legend dates back to the twelth century!"
"Uh .. good for you?"
"Would you like to hear this heroic tale?" He asked her, but he continued before she could say no, "Of course you do! But if you want to be associated with, you must observe to one thousand provisions."
"I do not wish to do that." Toshi said, but he ignored her once again.
"Fool! My morning starts with a cup of coffee. Why is this?"
"Because you like coffee?" Toshi was becoming very unamused by the sword.
"Fool! Nothing is better than a nice cup of tea in the morning. Thus, I always start my mornings with a cup of coffee!"
"That doesn't make sense."
"Fool! That is the first of the provisions you must observe. Which leads me to number three hundred and forty eight! Every evening I must take my evening walk! Even if the weather does not agree! This started started on a very cold November afternoon ... or maybe it was a rainy day in April ... it could have also been a horribly hot day in August. No, it was a rainy day in April, I'm sure of it. Unless it was a pleasant day in June. I was playing a game with a dear friend of mine, a particular favourite board game. But, alas, he beat me!"
"Will he notice if we leave?" Toshi whispered to Kid when Excalibur had his back turned. He smiled and shook his head, then they left Excalibur as he began to sing.
"Excalibur! Excalibur!" Rang throughout the cave as they left him alone.
Since the second day at the academy, Toshi sat with Maka and everyone else instead of the front row. She had ended up being seated beside Liz, who, after the night of their fight, seemed to be on edge around Toshi. She thought Liz had pretty good reason, she had after all kept the fact she was a witch secret, pretty suspicious. But she did seem to be acting a bit more irrationally than Toshi thought was reasonable. Liz kept glancing at her, waiting for her to jump up and destroy the DWMA or something. Patty was sitting on the other side of her, head down, deep in sleep. Maka and Soul were sitting behind her, talking.
Toshi only caught a few words in their conversation, but eventually she heard one of them say 'secret' and Patty jumped up, sleep partly asleep.
"Secrets? There was a secret Liz and Kid were supposed to keep... What was it?" Patty thought for only a second, before Liz, Kid or Toshi could shush her, "Oh yeah! That Toshi's a witch!" She didn't seem to realize she was in a room full of people, she was more or less talking in her head and not realizing she was talking out loud.
"Patty!" Liz and Kid yelled together.
"Was I supposed to keep that secret, too?" She asked innocently as her sister shook her shoulders.
Whispers started flying across the room. Eyes stared at the four of them. She heard her friends behind her talk the loudest, sad she hadn't told them. She didn't know what to do. She looked around the room at everyone. Liz and Patty looked ashamed. Tsubaki and Maka looked a little betrayed. Soul seemed a bit astonished, but as did everyone else. Black Star ... he didn't really have much of an expression at the time. And Kid, he looked worried, worried about her. She really had no idea what to do. She wasn't used to this many people, especially not with them all looking at her, talking about her, and probably negatively. She felt horrible, and for the first time, she felt tears welling up in her eyes.
Toshi jumped up onto her desk and flipped into the air to land in front of Professor Stein. She didn't look at him, she just ran for the door. Toshi heard someone yelling after her, but she didn't look back, she just ran for her sanctuary. The balcony.
Kid looked on the balcony last for Toshi. He didn't see her, he had no idea where else she would go, unless she went to her home, but he had no idea where that was. Before he left, he saw something on the tip of one of the spikes. With that thing, the DWMA no longer had perfect symmetry! He walked towards the spike and realized what it was ... or, who it was. He sighed and produced his skateboard, then flew out to Toshi.
"What are you doing?" He asked.
She didn't look up, she looked depressed, "Thinking."
"You could fall and hurt yourself. Get off."
"If I fall I'll turn into an owl."
Kid sighed, "So, what's the problem with everyone knowing you're a witch? Now you don't have to keep it a secret."
"Yes, but now I will have to tell at least Maka and the others what I did. I do not want anyone to know. And even if I tell them, Patty will probably let it slip again."
"Then don't tell Patty. She won't be mad at you for not telling her, she probably won't even know everyone else knows something more than her. She'll probably just keep thinking the witch thing is the biggest secret."
"Sure, but it still does not help me with everyone else."
"They'll understand why you didn't tell them once you tell them."
"They will still be mad, I could have at least told them I am a witch."
"They won't. Trust me." Toshi turned her head to look at Kid, he smiled, trying to convince her everything would be okay, "Now let's go." She nodded lightly, and looked down at the cement below her. "No, you're coming with me. Just in case." He slowly pulled her off the spike, making sure she didn't fall. He finally had a good grip on her and she curled her arms around him. She wasn't as heavy as he had expected, Kid thought to himself.
He carefully set her down on the stones of the balcony, they sat together on the edge, like always.
The sun slowly fell to the ground while they were out there, getting closer and closer to nighttime.
"Come on, it's time for you to go home." Kid said, he stood up and waited for Toshi. She sighed and got to her feet. Toshi showed him the way to her house and invited him in, to not be rude, but truthfully, she didn't want him to say yes at the moment. Luckily for her, he declined, saying he had to go talk with his father. She nodded and closed the door behind him.
Toshi decided to avoid everyone as best as she could. No one could talk to her during class. And as soon as the bell rang, she was out the door, heading for the balcony or home. No one looked for her on the balcony except Kid, and no one knew where she lived, except for Kid. So avoiding everyone she wanted to avoid was pretty easy.
A week or so after Patty's outburst, Kid had to stay in the classroom a few minutes into their break, so Toshi headed up to the balcony to think alone. She climbed onto the edge of the balcony and closed her eyes. She was so tuned into the thoughts in her own mind she didn't hear anyone behind her. A hand slipped around her mouth and stomach, almost suffocating her as she tried to wiggle free, but she passed out from lack of oxygen. The girl that had done that to her smiled and tied her up. She used her magic to make her wings grow out of her back, so she could fly and still carry Toshi.
Kid waltzed onto the balcony a few minutes later. He looked around, but didn't see her, and the black dot in the sky was too far away for him to even notice it. He knew right away something was wrong and ran back into the school, looking for his friends and hoping she was with them. He spotted them in a hallway and ran to catch up with them.
"Hey! Does anyone know where Toshi is?" He asked, panicking when he noticed she wasn't with them.
"No, she hasn't talked to any of us in a week." Tsubaki said, looking a bit hurt.
Kid moaned in frustration and ran towards the exit in the school without giving his friends any kind of explanation. He ran out and kept running until he came to the apartment building she lived in. He flung the door open and went straight to her door. He knocked and got no answer. Kid backed up a few paces, and kicked the door in. He searched frantically around her home, but found no trace of her. He gently closed the door behind him and ran back to the academy even though he was already out of breath.
He ran straight to the Death room, ignoring the people yelling at him for bumping into them. He walked right in on his father and Spirit, Maka's father, talking.
"Dad, do you know where Toshi went?" Kid asked, trying to catch his breath.
"No, I have to say I have no clue," He said, which dissapointed Kid, but before he left Lord Death had something else to say, "But I must tell you that I felt the soul of a witch come to the DWMA for a very brief period, it was a witch soul that wasn't Toshi's. And I did sense her soul leaving along with it."
"Which way?"
"East. Towards the Fukurou property."
"Could it have been someone getting revenge on her for what she did?" Kid gasped.
"That is possible. You should head that way to check it out."
"Should I bring Maka and Black Star and the others for back up?"
"That soul felt very powerful. If Toshi cannot help you, then the others would be a good group to bring."
"Alright. We'll be home by dinner." Kid said and ran out.
"YOU BETTER KEEP MY MAKA SAFE!" Spirit yelled after Kid.
Kid found his friends again and explained the past ten minutes, and another ten minutes later, they were on their way to Fukurou Manor.
Toshi's eyelids fluttered, she was still groggy from sleep. She let her eyes open fully and realized she was bound to a big, old and uncomfortable chair, just like the one back home. Then she realized where she was. Exactly where the big, uncomfortable chair she knew so well was. Back in Fukurou manor! The striped purple and black, peeling wallpaper. The musty carpets. The dark lighting.
She wiggled inside the ropes, but they felt like they got tighter and tighter they move she moved.
"Hello, little cousin. Are you happy to be back home?"
"Do you think I am, Amaya?" Toshi recognized her cousin's voice right away. She was a great deal older than Toshi and quite a bit more talented and powerful. She was a type of Masked owl, so she always wore a mask as part of her usual attire.
"Well, you should be. I always though this was the best place in the world to be." Amaya said snottily, "Or at least, I did until someone killed my entire family in this place. Do you remember who that was?"
"It was me!" Toshi yelled, not even trying to hide the fact any more.
"Yeah, that's right! And then you ran off to that stupid little school to Lord Death for protection that your family would have given you!"
"I had to get rid of you all before you did something bad!"
"Like what? Destroy that new home of yours? Well, I'm going torture you, make you feel the pain I felt while I waited to heal enough to support myself, then I will kill you and destroy that precious school of yours brick by brick!" Amaya shouted in Toshi's flace, sending spittle across her flesh. Amaya produced a knife and grinned evilly at her cousin. She placed the blade on her arm and put a slit in the skin. Toshi tried not to scream, she tried not to give in to what Amaya wanted, but after the first few cuts, she let a scream slip from her mouth, and she continued to scream.
Amaya finished with Toshi's left arm, she cleaned the sides of her blade on Toshi's cheeks then turned to the right arm. Before she put the knife into the skin, Toshi could faintly see her left arm, it had 'Fukurou' cut into it with a long slice down the middle of the name. Then Amaya cut more random slices on her right arm and Toshi screamed some more.
Outside the mansion, Kid and the others were quickly approaching. Kid slammed in the door, they decided, as risky as it was, to split up, that way they could find Toshi quicker. Kid flew through a series of hallways, until he came to a large living room. He stopped for a second he felt sick watching his friend being electrocuted by the other witch. He yelled to the rest of their rescue party, telling them where Toshi was, which also made the witch stop and turn around. Kid only saw Toshi for a second before the witch blocked his sight again.
The witch hadn't had her very long, but she looked horrible already. There was blood all over her arms, and she looked really weak, she could hold her head up completely and it kept rolling around on her shoulders. Maka, Black Star and Crona ran into the room, weapons ready.
"Awee .. Toshi, did you make some friends at that school?" She asked sweetly, "Too bad you will have to watch them all die."
"Like hell, she will!" Kid screamed, it was very unusual for Kid, but he was so full of anger at the witch. He lifted Liz and Patty and shot at her multiple times. She dodged most of them, moving back and forth, getting closer and closer to their group.
Kid noticed his voice woke Toshi a little and became a bit more confident. He let Liz and Patty grow, merging onto his arms then shot at the witch again.
"Kid! You need to get Toshi! Let us take care of her." Maka yelled at Kid, then turned to the witch menacingly, "Now it's your turn for torture."
"Liz, use Patty!" Kid dropped the two guns after they shrunk, one transformed into Liz, she grabbed Patty and went to help the others.
Kid ran to the big chair, fumbled with the knots but the ropes fell to the ground and Toshi looked up at his face. Her eyes widened and she stood up, apparently could she regain her strength in one second. "Kid! And Maka and Tsubaki …" She looked around the room at her fighting friends.
"Yeah, we came to get you. Come on, we need to get you out." He tried to pull her away, but she resisted and stayed in the one spot.
"Why are Maka and Tsubaki and Black Star and Crona and Soul all here?" Toshi asked stupidly.
"Because they're your friends. Now let's go!" He tugged on her arm again.
"But they are mad at me!"
"We're not mad at you!" Maka yelled as she deflected an attack.
"We're just dissapointed you didn't talk to us for an entire week afterwards! We're your friends! We don't care if you're a witch, or what you've done!" Tsubaki yelled from Black Star's hand.
"Exactly. And now you need to get out, before she tries to hurt you again." Kid told her.
"No! We need to kill Amaya first, or else she will come to the DWMA!"
"And that's what everyone else is doing!"
"But I need to help. If they die, then I might as well die, too!" Toshi produced her scythe, though it took her a moment from the lack of energy, then charged into battle with her friends. Kid knew she wouldn't leave until Amaya was dead, so he ran after her and grabbed Liz and Patty.
Toshi swiped at Amaya from behind, just nicking the side of her torso. Crona swiped at the witch as Black Star yelled, "Tsubaki! Enchanted Sword mode!" Black Star jumped into the air, cackling, and aimed the Tsubaki at her chest. Amaya noticed at the last second and moved from the spot. Toshi, Crona and Black Star kept swiping at the witch, forcing her to back towards Maka unknowingly. She had too many opponents and couldn't keep track of all of them, Maka switched to Genie Hunter and waited for Kid to shoot her right in the head, which made her topple over. As she fell, Maka ran behind her and slashed Soul right through her. She let out an agonized scream as her entire body disappeared.
The weapons turned back to their human forms and everyone hugged Toshi, glad to have her back for good. They took their time going back outside the mansion, basking in their latest victory. Once they were outside, Crona hopped onto Soul's motorbike with him and Maka, Liz and Patty became weapons once again and the only way for Toshi to get home, because Kid insisted she was not walking, was for Kid to gave her a piggy-back ride on his skateboard, since he also insisted she should not transform into an owl and hurt herself.
Toshi closed her eyes and relaxed for the ride back. Kid was right, she felt pretty weak, but not weak enough to do something she had wanted to do since she first saw Kid in Fukurou manor. She strained her neck a bit so her face was almost right beside Kid's then whispered in his ear; "Thanks, Kid." He turned his head, wondering why she was thanking him, before he could ask, she stretched her neck a little farther and kissed him right on the lips.
He smiled slightly, "You know that if I fall off this, you'll be coming with me, right?" Toshi let out a small and very content laugh.