Authors Notes

This should be fun. Never enough StarSoul.

I'm not even gonna try to predict my update schedule but I'm shooting for shorter chapters than I'm used to, so probably updates will be much easier on me.

This fic gonna be fluffy afff ;33333333

Also yaoi warning -XXX- ;p

"Patty, no! Not again!"

Patty giggled and threw a forkful of spaghetti across the table, the glob landing directly on Liz's fresh white blouse.

"I just fucking bought that yesterday!"

"White doesn't suit you, sis! Heeheee!"

"Kid, I told you! We can't give her wine yet, she's not old enough!"

Kid was trying not to pay attention to the two, preferring to sit silently chewing. Black Star grabbed the spaghetti off Liz's blouse and gobbled it down before she could react. Soul couldn't help but laugh a little.

"Liz, this stuff tastes great! Ask her to toss some more over!"

Liz stood up and stomped out of the room. Soul heard the bathroom door close and the sink turn on. Kid took the opportunity, and stood up.

"Patty, you should really stop."

Patty giggled again, grabbing a fistful of spaghetti and tossed it up in the air. It got hooked on an arm of the chandelier, the added weight setting it off-kilter; Kid's face turned a pale green and he ran to join Liz in the bathroom.

"Yay! Spaghetti party!"

Tsubaki kept silent. Maka looked to be trying to stifle a laugh that could burst her lungs at any second.

The spaghetti slipped off the chandelier and landed in Patty's hair, coating it in a layer of red sauce and meat chunks. Maka burst out in shrieking laughter, pounding her fist on the table so hard it made ripples in Soul's glass of water.

Soul stared into the water. Kid had invited everybody over to Gallows Manor for the weekend before classes started, and it was already getting far out of hand. He wondered if they'd all still be alive by the first day of class. Or more importantly, how he would ever explain that Patty had been the cause of death.

The bathroom door opened, and Liz and Kid came back to the table. Kid breathed out a sigh of relief upon seeing the chandelier back on center, then turned to address the room.

"Liz and I have decided to go to bed early. The rest of you can stay up to do whatever you like."

Patty looked at them without the slightest shred of guilt. "Aww, but I'll miss you guys! Are you sure?"

Liz gave her a faint smile. "I'll see ya tomorrow, sis." And with that, they turned and headed for the stairs.

"Soul, is it okay if I take a shower?"

Soul looked over. Maka was in her bathrobe, peeking out the bathroom door.

"Sure, go for it."

The door closed. Soul turned back to his suitcase, looking for his pajamas. He still hadn't unpacked, as they were only staying at Kid's place for a few more days. Still, Maka had insisted on emptying her own suitcase completely, and her clothes now spread out over the entire guest room: shirts on the bed, pants on the floor, bras on the dresser. How the two would find anywhere to sleep was still anyone's guess.

He was torn from his thoughts by a tapping on the window. There, looking in, was Black Star. Grinning like usual.

Soul went over to the window and unlocked it. Black Star pushed open the sash and climbed in. "Hey, so you got a tower room too! Nice!"

He hadn't considered it, but actually the room probably was in a tower; it was round and relatively small. "Yeah, the views are nice. I guess Kid was feeling generous."

"Come on, I wanna show you something." Black Star walked over and climbed out the window, turning to beckon Soul to follow. Soul moved to the window and looked out: the tower peeked out of the roof, and the window opened right out on to the shingles. He climbed out and immediately felt the cool rush of the nighttime air. It was dark out, but an open window nearby let light out to illuminate the shingles. That must be Black Star and Tsubaki's room.

He looked over and saw Black Star laying on the shingles, hands behind his head. Soul did the same, grunting slightly. "So what was it you wanted to show me?"

Black Star pointed out into the sky. "Look, it's that one star thingy. The guy with the belt."

"Lame."

"Hey!"

Soul chuckled. "Relax, I was joking." The two lay there in silence, watching the sky. Soul's eyes were adjusting to the darkness. He could make out dark clouds moving in front of the stars. The moon stared down from on high, grinning that same creepy grin. Below, the streets of Death City, here and there a streetlight, a cat, someone making their way home from a late shift at work. And off to the side, Shibusen, looming like a dark fortress. In a couple days, they'd have to go there every day and listen to Stein drone on for hours on end, about mundane things like dissections. Nobody said anything, but Soul doubted anyone was looking forward to it. Except Maka, he thought with a smile.

"Hey, Soul."

"Yeah?"

"You think Tsubaki's been happy lately?"

Soul furrowed his brow. "I don't know, have you two soul synced lately?"

"Not really."

"Try it. See what she's thinking, maybe she misses it."

"Yeah-" Black Star trailed off.

Soul didn't know what exactly to say. He wasn't very close to Tsubaki, but he'd always loved giving Black Star advice when something was wrong between them. Seeing them make up, seeing their resonance pick back up, it satisfied him on some level. At least, that's what he thought it was.

"Soul?"

"Hm?"

"You know you're my best friend, right?"

"I guess so, yeah."

"And I can tell you anything?"

Soul paused for a second. Black Star was acting strange, like he had a topic in mind but didn't know how to bring it up. "Yeah, probably."

Black Star took a deep breath and waited a second to speak. "It feels wrong to say this, kind of, but," his voice lowered,

"Sometimes I wonder if we could be partners, weapon and meister."

Soul took a minute to take in the weight of the statement. It sounded almost like a confession, something they weren't allowed to actually think.

He sighed. "We're just not compatible, Black Star."

"I know. I just..."

Soul adjusted himself on the shingles. "That test was a disaster. We just don't work. The way we think is too different."

"But we get along so well! And I know we're different, but it just seems like-"

"Our minds don't sync. It's as simple as that. You're being dumb."

Black Star seemed ready to say something, but decided against it and lay his head back down. "Yeah, I guess."

A silence once again took over. Clouds continued to pass overhead. Soul found himself reliving memories of back when they were kids. Sid would take Black Star, just a kid with a tuft of blue hair, out on the porch, Soul waiting out in the yard. Black Star's eyes would light up, and he'd run down the stairs and tackle Soul to the ground. The two would play in that yard for hours, sometimes far into the night until Sid decided it was too dark for them to be out. It was dangerous to walk home at night, so Sid would call Soul's parents and they'd arrange an impromptu sleepover. They'd stay up into the early hours of the morning, telling ghost stories under the blankets with a flashlight, talking about girls they had crushes on, making mean jokes about teachers, until they fell asleep. The next morning was always waffles with strawberries.

Soul looked over to Black Star. He had his eyes cast to the stars, mouth open slightly, staring. It was hard to deny the boy was his best friend. As much time as he'd spent training with Maka, there was some sort of bond between them, a bond Soul sometimes wondered if he would ever be able to make with another person. Sometimes, the thought seemed impossible.

Maka got out of the shower. She opened the bathroom door and let a cloud of steam out into the bedroom. A slight chill crossed her wet hair, and she turned to see the window was open. What on earth..

She moved to the window and saw Soul and Black Star pointing at stars, laughing. She rolled her eyes. "You guys are gonna slip and die out there!" They just laughed even harder.

"And by the way, that's Orion!"

Black Star sat up. "No, it's Soul! Don't you have eyes?" Soul laughed so hard he began sliding down the shingles. Black Star reached down and caught him by the collar.

Maka rolled her eyes and walked back to the bathroom. Those two can be so dumb….