Just as Maka had promised, it took nearly two hours to get to the little town they were staying at. They all parked in an alley a block away from their lodging, a tiny, quaint house available for rent among fifty of the same houses. Maka ran up the porch and stuck the key in, a big grin on her face. "This reminds me of that time we were in the Philippines and we had to stay in that shack on the beach. Do you remember that?" Soul's nod cleared Tsugumi's confusion, as she had thought Maka was talking to her.

Leaving them to their conversation, Tsugumi hung back next to Anya. "Hey, are you okay? Ever since they got here you've seemed a little…off." Off was putting it lightly, but Tsugumi didn't want to upset Anya. Her meister's blue eyes held Tsugumi's, and she sighed. "He's…Have you really not noticed? The weapon, Soul, he's gorgeous!" Anya's fierce whisper dragged Tsugumi's eyes to study him. His hair was even messier than it had been, and it now registered with Tsugumi just how tall he was. He towered over all three girls by at least six inches. It made it hard to believe that Tsugumi and Anya were both a year older than him. He held two backpacks, one of which had to be Maka's, and leaned against the wall next to his meister as she talked to him. A small smile tugged at his lips, and it was clear that he was only half-listening to his meister. His blood-red eyes were focused on her, however, an unidentifiable emotion flickering in his irises. Tsugumi couldn't deny that he was attractive, and agreed wholeheartedly with Anya. Suddenly, she realized what had been wrong with Anya.

Tsugumi couldn't help it: she giggled. Anya looked briefly mortified, but soon enough joined her weapon. 'So that's it,' Tsugumi thought. 'Anya likes Soul.'

With a loud click, the door finally swung open. Anya and Tsugumi quieted and followed Soul inside. The three of them stood in a line and watched Maka check out the little cabin. Tsugumi looked up at Soul, her lips quirking up at his expression. His eyes followed Maka around the room, a tiny smile tugging at his mouth. "Is she always this excited?" Tsugumi asked, trying to get on good terms with the younger weapon. The smile didn't leave Soul's face as he looked down at her. "Pretty much. She loves traveling, and every mission we go on is in a different part of the world. I don't think there's a country she hasn't loved." His eyes clouded over, and he moved his hand to rest over his heart. His fingers clenched the fabric of his shirt tightly. "Well, except for Italy."

"Okay, this is what we'll do for today." Maka announced, walking back up to them. Tsugumi felt a spark of disappointment, for she desperately wanted to know what happened in Italy, but she figured she could ask Soul later. "There are only three rooms in this cabin: two bedrooms and a kitchen. If it's okay with you girls, you'll share one of the beds while me and Soul share the other." Soul's eyes widened at this, and his red met her green. They had a small staring match with nods and eyebrow movements sprinkled in before Soul finally nodded and went to put their bags down in the rooms.

Maka turned back to the NOT pair. "Today I figured we'd go to the beach and gather information before coming back here. Sound good?" Tsugumi nodded vigorously, Anya doing the same. Maka smiled at them and walked into a bedroom.

In their bedroom, the Anya and Tsugumi changed quickly. When they were ready, Anya fell back onto the bed while Tsugumi sat on the floor. She met Anya's blue eyes. "What did you think they meant by 'show us what a true weapon and meister pair is'?" Anya asked, repeating Maka's promise from earlier.

Tsugumi shrugged. "I don't know, but something tells me that those two have something we don't."

Anya turned her head towards Tsugumi, and the look in her eyes made Tsugumi unsure of her observation. "What? Am I wrong?" Anya stared at her for a minute more before looking back up at the ceiling.

"No, you're not wrong. They do have something we don't. And I intend to find out what it is before the lesson is over."

Tsugumi was about to point out that that was the whole point of the lesson, but just then someone knocked on the door. Soul's deep voice resonated through the wood. "Hey, we're outside and ready when you are." His footsteps echoed down the hall as he walked away.

Ten minutes later, the four of them were walking down a small beach on the shore of a lake. Soul and Maka were walking in front of them, Soul's arms tossed casually behind his head as they talked. They found a shady spot free of the midsummer heat as well of nearby beachgoers. The beach wasn't packed, but there was a fair amount of people scattered across it. They all peeled off their clothes and tossed them aside. Tsugumi jealously eyed the other girls' bathing suits: Anya's expensive string bikini the color of the night sky and Maka's black haltered bikini. Tsugumi's simple pink and blue one suddenly didn't feel as cute as when she had bought it.

Anya's gasp turned her head towards Soul. 'He probably has a rippling six-pack or something, with that reaction.' But all the lighthearted thoughts she had were discarded at the sight of Soul's chest.

He didn't have a six-pack, but he did have muscles. She wasn't wrong about that part. However, Tsugumi hadn't expected the scar slicing across his abdomen from his left collarbone to his right hip. It was obviously old, since the skin had smoothed over. There was evidence of stitching in some places. Tsugumi tried not to stare, but she couldn't tear her eyes away. She had a feeling Anya was doing the same thing.

Maka caught them before Soul did. Tsugumi's face flushed in embarrassment. She began to apologize, but she noticed Maka was staring at it too, her almost watery eyes tracing its path down her weapon's chest. The smile had fallen from her lips, and a little of the color had left her face. The girl seemed to have gone into a trance, her world orbiting solely around the scar cutting across Soul.

Soul finally straightened, startling all three girls. Out of the corner of her eye, Tsugumi watched as Maka reassembled herself so easily that Tsugumi thought she'd imagined it . 'She does that a lot.' Tsugumi realized. "I'm gonna run back to the house and grab some food. If this goes well, we'll be here for a few hours. And I'll get hungry." Maka rolled her eyes but smiled, any traces of her earlier behavior gone. "Okay, but don't expect us to wait for you. Right, girls?" Anya laughed in agreement.

Tsugumi broke in. "Actually, I left something back at the cabin, too. Is it alright if I tag along?" She looked timidly at Soul. She had to know where he had gotten that scar. And why it had made Maka react the way she had.

"Yeah, sure." The older weapon shrugged and started walking. Tsugumi didn't miss the smirk on his face. "But don't expect me to wait for you."