Maka Albarne sat up straight in her chair, listening carefully to Professor Stein's lesson. She wasn't really with the lesson though; more like she was just listening to the words, and copying them down in her head, but without learning anything. She was thinking too much about the recent events.

The Kishin had nearly killed them. She, Black Star, and Kid had nearly been killed by one of Lord Death's students. What was worse, everyone treating them like heroes for it.

Maka didn't feel like a hero. She felt like a cowardly chump, who couldn't even protect her friends from a sick psycho. What was even worse than that was that she now knew she had the capabilities of a weapon. She wasn't just a meister anymore. She had something even worse to worry about now.

Maka sighed.

Now wasn't the time to be thinking about this, she decided; Pay attention.

Soul was in worse condition than Maka. He felt like he couldn't protect his meister even when she'd needed him most. But… thinking about that type of stuff wasn't cool, so he didn't show it on his face, or talk to Maka about it. She'd roll her eyes at him, or say something peppy that would just make him feel worse anyway.

So, he sat there…ignoring Professor Stein, wondering what Patty was doing with that peanut butter jar, glancing at Black Star a couple of times, who just looked at him like "This sucks, huh?" and they both glanced away. Tsubaki was sitting beside him, looking attentive as always, but Soul knew she didn't really get anything either. Liz was just doing her nails, like that was the most important thing in the world. Soul made a "puh" sound with his mouth.

Finally, the bell rang. Maka stood up and asked Soul if he was ready to go. Soul agreed that they should get going, and they both headed towards the door.

That's when Maka and Soul heard Tsubaki,

"So Liz, Patty, where's Kid today?"

Maka turned around in surprise. She hadn't even noticed he wasn't there,

"Oh," Liz said, "Something about having to talk to his father."

"All day?" Black Star said, "Must've been a long tea time."

"I guess so." Liz answered, looking exasperated. Then she sighed, "Although he also might've gotten distracted by something symmetrical on the way here."

"That's probably what happened," Maka agreed, relieved to know Kid wasn't stuck home depressed or something.

"Maka…" Soul said.

Maka turned to him, and they both met each other's eyes. Maka nodded.

"Later guys!" Maka called with a wave.

"Where are you guys going in such a rush?" Black Star asked.

"It's a secret." said Maka mysteriously, grinning at them with her sand-blond hair flipping in the air in its ponytails.

Black Star looked irritated immediately,

"What kind of friend keeps a secret from the rest of their friends?" Black Star demanded.

"Oh, you're one to talk!" Maka argued. They stuck faces with each other.

"Maka!" Soul called, miraculously all the way down the hallway, "Let's go already!"

"Whoa!" Black Star said, realizing how far Soul had gotten without him realizing it, "He's good."

"That's Soul for you…" Tsubaki said, with an exasperated smile on her face, "Always growing. Just like another person I know."

"Who?" Black Star demanded, "And why are you complimenting him and not a great guy like me huh?"

"Sorry… Black Star…" said Tsubaki, ignoring his stupidity.

"Well," said Liz, "We better get going. Kid's probably home by now."

"Peanut butter and jelly sandwich?" Patty offered. She handed Tsubaki and Black Star a bag with a sandwich contained in it, very sloppily made.

"Good girl, Patty." Liz said patting her sister on the head, "Why don't you go on ahead of me?"

Patty zoomed away, arms out behind her like she was an airplane,

"Can't catch me, Liz! You can't catch me!" she laughed.

"Nope," Liz said, "Can't catch you."

Liz turned to Tsubaki and Black Star, "Sorry," she apologized, "I just recently got her out of reading children's books on animals…"

She then slapped her face.

"I'm guessing she started reading books on recipes now?" Tsubaki said, smiling in that exasperated way she did some times.

"Children's recipes," Liz sighed, "Between her, and Kid, there's no end. See you!"

"Bye Liz! Patty!" Tsubaki called.

Black Star folded his hands above his head, "Looks like everyone's going off to train." he said.

Tsubaki turned to him, eyes curious, but kind, "And what about us? Are we going to train, Black Star?"

"Nah…" said Black Star.

Tsubaki looked surprised.

"Just kidding!" Black Star said. He turned to her, finger pointed at her like a little kid, "Got you, didn't I Tsubaki? You were totally fooled! Another hilarious out burst from the great Black Star!"

Black Star laughed deeply.

"Now," said Black Star holding his arms up in the air, "Let's go train!"

Just like that, he took off. Screaming,

"YAHOO!"

Tsubaki smiled cheerfully, and followed along in his wake.

Death the Kid sat quietly at home, thinking deeply about some of the things his father had just told him. Aibon's ultimate creation? A prophecy? How confusing. Kid brushed his hair evenly down his face, so it would be perfectly symmetrical. A hair piece popped up.

Kid looked irritably at it. Put it down.

On the other side of his face, hair popped up. He put it down.

Suddenly, pieces of hair were sticking up and looking more uneven every time.

"AGH!" Kid screamed just as Liz and Patty came into the house.

Liz and Patty came rushing in the room immediately,

"KID? What's wrong?" Liz demanded.

"MY DAMN HAIR!" Kid yelled angrily, brushing it carefully with his brush. It wouldn't stay down. With that, his eyes widened, and then he curled up in the corner, looking depressed,

"As if the three white lines in my hair weren't bad enough…" he said, "Damn hair. Damn you. Why have you forsaken me? I'm a despicably piece of garbage, who does not deserve to exist…"

Liz sighed, and took the brush. She walked over to Kid,

"Get up and come sit in this chair."

"No."

"Get in the chair!" Liz commanded.

"I can't."

"Why not?"

Kid then looked at her, eyes full of tears, and looking desperate,

"Look at that beautiful creation!" Kid said, looking at the gray poofy chair on the right side of the couch, which had an identical twin on its other side, "It's so perfectly symmetrical. I'm perfectly garbage…"

Kid sulked.

Liz sighed, and turned to Patty,

"Patty," she said exasperatedly, "Help me out here."

"Okay," said Patty, grinning. She walked over to Kid, beaming brightly at him. Kid looked at her.

"What do you want Patty? I'm a despicable piece of garbage."

Patty put her hands on his shoulders, and Kid looked suddenly alert,

"Patty! What are you doing?" he demanded.

"Wah!" Patty flung him up into the air, his legs flailing, and suddenly threw him into the chair.

Liz took the brush, and calmly brushed the piece of hair sticking up down onto the other side of his head,

"There you go," said Liz soothingly. She turned to Patty, "Thanks sis!"

"Yeah!" Patty said cheerfully.

"Alright Maka, you ready?" Soul asked. They were standing in one of the school's training yards. Soul was in his reaper blade form, with the red shadow outline, and the eye-like design on the top of its hilt.

"Yeah…" Maka agreed, and then focused all of her soul-wavelength. She grunted loudly,

"Huuuuuugh….!" she built up all the energy inside her. Soul focused his wavelength too.

"Now Maka!" Soul called. He flipped out of Maka's hand, and into his human form. Maka jumped into the air,

"Maka Death-Scythe Form!" she called.

A fluffy white cloud appeared around her, and Soul caught hold of a handle. The handle was smooth, and silver.

As the cloud of smoke disappeared, Soul saw what the rest of the handle looked like. It had a grey blade sticking sourly out beside it, in a funky shape, but the scariest part was… at the very top of the scythe, Maka's head stood, still in human form.

Soul was so surprised he dropped Maka on the ground and busted out laughing.

"Ouch!" Maka yelped. She turned back into human form.

Soul was still laughing his butt off.

"It's not funny, Soul," Maka said crossly, brushing the dirt off her long trench coat.

"S-Sorry…" Soul said, choking on his next laugh.

Maka glared at him,

"Maka…Chop!"

Maka brought a book fiercely down upon his head, "Laugh at that, you jerk!" she said.

"Ow!" Soul struggled back to his feet. Whoa, Maka had left his head spinning, "Sorry Maka. Okay, let's try…"

That's when Soul realized Maka was walking away,

"Maka!" Soul protested, "I said I was sorry!"

"It's not that," said Maka, her back still turned, "I think we should give up on this."

Soul was a bit surprised, but he recovered quickly, "Oh come on, Maka!" he said, "You can't give up now! I mean, look how far we've gotten! You almost turned into a full scythe just now! We're making some real progress!"

Maka turned her face slightly to him, "Maybe I can't even do a real weapon form…" she said, "I mean, I didn't fully transform when I battled the Asura by myself…"

Soul didn't say anything, but her saying that really hurt him,

"Look," he said, keeping his voice steady, "Can you imagine how much stronger we'll be if we both are weapons, and both are meisters?"

How could I be so selfish? Maka asked herself, Maybe Soul wants to be a meister too, stupid Maka…

Maka turned all the way back around, and Soul sighed, obviously taking it the wrong way,

"Maybe your dad can help you out?" he suggested, "After all, he's the one that gave you your scythe powers."

Maka balled her hand into a fist out beside her. Soul noticed,

"You don't have to, Maka. I know how your dad makes you fee…"

"No," said Maka.

Soul looked at her.

Maka turned around,

"I'll do whatever it takes, Soul," said Maka showing him her fist, "I'll do whatever it takes to make you my meister."

Soul paused a second, and then grinned, "How inspiring," he said. They high-fived, and Soul took Maka's hand as they were walking home.

"Do you think Blair's made dinner yet?" he asked.

"Probably," Maka said, then scowling, "For herself."

Down at the bar, Deathscythe was on his fifth cup of licker, while Blair fed him some rice cakes,

"Now why don't you tell me more about your awful divorce?" she offered.

Deathscythe laughed haughtily, and started rambling on and on about his divorce with Maka's mother, completely not understandable, and giggling when he forgot what he was talking about.

"Ready Tsubaki?" Black Star asked, holding his fingers in a ninja focus stance, "Get ready for Soul Resonance in masamune mode."

"Right!" Tsubaki agreed, and then turned from kusarigama mode, to the long thin black blade of masamune. It radiated dark soul power.

"Soul Resonance!" Black Star and Tsubaki both cried.

Their souls intertwined, both of them focusing all their might into this strike. Black Star looked at the tree he was aiming at, with a bad picture of Kid taped un-neatly to it,

"Die, Kid!" Black Star yelled, striking at the tree with one swoop. A black wave radiated across the ground, and the tree eradicated itself in mere seconds.

Next, Black Star turned to a tree with a bad sketch of Maka and Soul taped to it,

"Die, Soul!" Black Star cried, "You too Maka!"

Next tree eradicated.

"Alright Tsubaki," Black Star said, "Double Soul Resonance!"

"Right!" Tsubaki said, and the two of them focused with all their might.

Masamune's blade turned white and silver,

"Hah!" Black Star cried shooting a white beam at a tree with the Grim Reaper taped to it, waving with his ridiculously huge hand. The white beam was humongous. It crushed the ground underneath as it passed. But, just as it almost hit, it swung back, and whammed into Black Star instead,

"Black Star!" Tsubaki cried.

Tsubaki was shaking him, looking very worried. Finally, Black Star opened his eyes,

"Tsubaki?" he asked, "Did we get it?"

"Well…no… Black Star… not exactly…" Tsubaki trailed off, and looked at all the destruction around them. Black Star sat up, and looked around. They were sitting on a thin hunk of earth that was barely hanging on in the middle of a deep pit.

"It still needs some work," Tsubaki said, holding her hand out to Black Star.

Black Star sighed, and got up by himself, ignoring Tsubaki's hand, "It's no good to me if I can't use it…" he said.

"Black Star…" Tsubaki said sadly.

"Tsubaki," Black Star said, turning to Tsubaki with his sharp, tiny-irised turquoise eyes.

Tsubaki looked alert.

"Let's do this," Black Star said, "Masamune form."

"Right!" Tsubaki said immediately.

They started the drill again.

"See Kid, it's better now, isn't it?" Liz said back at Kid's house.

"Sandwiches, sandwiches!" Patty was singing.

"Too…much… to the right…" Kid was murmuring.

"What was that Kid?" Liz asked, "Thank you?"

"Damn it!" Kid slammed his hand sharply on the ground, "Now my hair is uneven on its weight! I'm useless! A despicable piece of garbage! How dare I even exist in this beautiful home!"

Liz sighed.

"Huh," Maka said as they entered the house, and found some rice and curry on the table, "Looks like Blair did make dinner before she left."

"Alright!" Soul cheered, "Rice and curry! Let's eat!"

"Right!" Maka said cheerfully.

The Grim Reaper watched his three students sadly from the mirror in his office. His son had been so upset to hear about the Lines of Sanzu cracking his mask while the Reaper was injured. Not to mention Maka's confusion, and Black Star's frustration. What could he do, Reaper wondered, that might distract them from their troubles for a while…

The next morning, the answer came.