Night of the Smiling Moon (Prologue)

One month before it begins... (Carson City, Nevada)

Maka sighed in relief soon after leaving her class "I wonder if Tsubaki's online yet?" she asked herself as she entered the small shop she worked at, despite the fact the shop wasn't near her neighborhood, she was able to arrange her school schedule, so it wouldn't interfere with the job. She went into the bathroom, took out her work vest and put it on over her casual attire. Her work day was pretty calm, she was also very good with talking to the customers and studied or used her laptop when the shop wasn't so busy. Sometimes, her college friends recognized her and they would ask how she was doing or how the apartment search was going.

Unfortunately for Maka, being asked about the apartment search, would always remind her of the fact that she still lived with her annoying dad. No matter how much he spoiled her, she still hated him for being the cheating dog he always has been and always will be. "Still can't find one near the college and there's no way I'll be able to ask for a dorm now." is now her go to answer whenever she's asked the question. After a few hours of work, Maka got a notification on her chat inbox, it was from Tsubaki!

The message read, "Sorry I won't be able to chat today, going to university is such a pain in Japan". Maka just smiled and responded "Don't worry about it, I'm pretty sure it's a pain to be in school anywhere XD". She ate some chocolate and switched tabs to work on a narrative for her writing class. Her shift ended a few hours later and she made her way back home soon after closing up the shop.

5 hours later (Carson City, Neada)

"I'm home." Maka closed the door behind her and sighed when she saw yet again another note from her dad, letting her know that he was out and that there was pizza in the fridge. She threw the note away and heated up a slice of pizza "I bet Tsubaki's dad, doesn't pull stupid shit like this." she complained while slamming the microwave door close as she took out her pizza "I bet her mom wouldn't just leave during the di-" Maka winced as some of the melted cheese dripped onto her finger. Maka placed the plate of pizza on the table quickly before running to the sink and put her finger under running water. She got another notification on her phone as she did so "What is it now?" she muttered annoyed while checking the notification

"Oh" Maka was less annoyed when she saw a message from Tsubaki which read "Finally out of cram school, I take back what I said about university. Cram school is more of a pain -_-". Maka chuckled and responded "Let me guess, you got to head straight home and ate only the finest of sushi" she has enjoyed teasing her friend ever since Tsubaki told her about her father's business and how her family has a high income. It took a few minutes but she got a clever comeback to her witty little remark "And I'm assuming you got home to your trailer park, safe and sound" and Tsubaki enjoyed teasing Maka through the common misconceptions, her parents tend to joke about from time to time.

Maka rolled her eyes and responded "Since when could you come up with a proper comeback" she giggled after reading Tsubaki's answer "That is for me to know and for you to wonder about what I know" the blond stood up and threw away her plate after finishing her pizza. She yawned as she entered her room and changed into her pajamas "So mysterious" she responded sarcastically and lied down in bed. A while later, she got another message "You wanna know what is mysterious" the question seemed pretty serious considering Tsubaki usually responded with an emoticon to her sarcasm "I guess I might" she got a response in a few seconds

"Here it's called the phenomenon known as 'The Night of the Smiling Moon' and it leads with a tiny rhyme" Maka stretched and found the name a little interesting "How's the rhyme go" once again it only took a few seconds for Tsubaki to respond "The smiling moon is a rare sight to see, through a different perspective, beautiful it may even be, but beware once the moon's mouth begins to bleed and you see red liquid seeping through it's teeth, for that night the grim reaper will come out and it is innocent souls he should seek"

"It sounds like one of those nursery rhymes connected to a dark origin" Maka replied pretty unfazed by what she read, then followed up her reply with a question "You're not trying to scare me, because I made you think I was getting kidnapped, are you" and waited for Tsubaki to answer as she got out a bag of chips and decided it was snack time. She went to the bathroom before checking her phone again "Hmm?" she raised an eyebrow when she noticed that Tsubaki sent her a link instead of a text.

She clicked the link and realized it was to an article about the rhyme, thankfully the article was not written in Japanese. Maka's grandmother had taught her a bit of Japanese, but only the basics so her limited knowledge of the language wouldn't necessarily help. Anyways, the article said that the rhyme was from a small scroll of paper found in Kyoto, after the people of the prefecture were suddenly massacred one strange night where, other prefectures couldn't send help, turns out the death toll was high. The phenomenon happened in many other prefectures as well, but Kyoto is where it all started. Many people were reported missing and only a small number of the citizens survived, the phenomenon has happened in other countries too, but nowadays we consider 'The Night of the Smiling Moon' more as an urban legend and so no one has done any research...

Maka stopped reading and let the shiver travel up her spine as she went back to chatting with Tsubaki "You hate me, don't you" she asked, still thinking Tsubaki was trying to scare her. "I didn't believe it when Masamune told me about it either" Tsubaki responded and then followed it up with a "But he told me to look up the article, and to see for myself" Maka narrowed her eyes "Oh really, when did he tell you" she was starting to feel Tsubaki really was trying to scare her. "He told me when I was thirteen and the funny thing is the incident in Kyoto is documented too, I asked my history teacher because I thought Masamune made up the article and posted it on the website under a pseudonym, he likes to scare me sometimes and goes way too far"

Maka thought Tsubaki was still lying "How did your history teacher know the incident was documented and how come you just remembered it now" she didn't need to this when she was alone in her own house "My history teacher knew one of the survivors when I asked her about it, and since it's pretty close to Halloween, Masamune kinda remembered and wanted to see if the story would scare me again".

Maka took a deep breath before responding "How long ago did it happen" she hoped her suspicions would be confirmed if Tsubaki answered her question "Can't say, after my history told me the incident did happen and that a survivor told her that it was documented, I kinda took her word for it" Maka let another shiver travel up her spine before putting down her phone and went to the kitchen for some more pizza to calm herself down. After coming back up she saw another message from Tsubaki on her screen "Yo Maka, considering that your 13 hours behind in the states, I think you should head to sleep" Maka checked the time and realized that it was already one in the morning. She sighed "Fine but if you ever visit the US again, you're going to give me a hug and tell me this phenomenon isn't gonna get me or anyone else".

"Awww that's so cute, you're scared and the first person you want a hug from is me" Maka blushed in embarrassment before replying "I'm going to sleep now, shut up" she shut off her phone and put it to charge. She closed her eyes and thought about what the rhyme meant by 'innocent souls'. The thought sure enough took her focus away from the story and Maka dozed off to sleep.