A sincere thanks to all my reviewers!

Thanks to EvaUnit01 for pre-reading this for me!

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater or Puella Magi Madoka Magica

/

The first day back, Maka used the excuse of wanting to spend time with Sayaka and her friends to get away. She had just about reached them when Homura broke off and walked up to Maka. Homura grabbed Maka's hand, and pressed something into it. Maka blinked and looked at it.

A Grief Seed.

"Go spend the rest of your day with your friends," Homura said.

"Um..." Maka blinked at her, confused.

Homura pointed at the Grief Seed, "That is my token of friendship." She ran a hand through her hair, "From now on, we'll be working a rotation system, hunting in pairs so Kyoko doesn't attack us. This will also give us all much needed free time. Today is me and Sayaka's turn, so you have the rest of the day off. Tomorrow, you will go with me, and the day after that, you will hunt with Sayaka. Is that clear?"

"I guess," Maka looked past Homura towards Madoka and Sayaka. Sayaka waved,

"Have fun Maka!" She yelled.

Maka smiled and called back, "I will!" and clenched the Grief Seed close. She looked at Homura, "Thank you."

Homura nodded, then turned and walked off.

Smiling brightly, Maka clutched the Grief Seed close as she ran to catch up with Soul and the others.

When she finally found them walking away from the school, she called out, "Hey, guys, wait up!"

The whole group, Soul, Black*Star, Tsubaki and the Thompson Sisters, Liz and Patty, all turned, surprise clear on their faces.

"I thought you went to hang out with your other friends," Soul said. Maka mentally winced at the implications in that statement. Well, now she would have time to start making it up to all of them.

"Something came up," she admitted sheepishly, "In any case, I'm now free to spend the day with you guys!" She smiled, "I'm also going to be a bit less busy, so you'll be seeing a lot of me again!"

Black*Star pumped a fist in the air, "Yahoo! That's great news Maka! Now you can spend time basking in my greatness!"

She twitched, "Don't push your luck Black*Star."

It was wonderful. Spending the time with her friends. Chatting with Tsubaki, Liz and Patty, watching Soul and Black*Star make idiots of themselves. At one point, she asked the sisters where Kid was.

"Probably still investigating that case," Liz said, "Me and Patty actually need to join him soon."

"What are you guys investigating anyway?" Maka asked.

"Top secret. Or at least that's the excuse Kid uses. Either way, we're not allowed to tell at the moment."

"Sounds serious."

"It is."

Evening came, and Maka and Soul split from the rest of the group. As the two walked down the street, she said cheerfully,

"Why don't we go out to eat tonight?" She suggested, "I don't really feel like cooking." She walked a few paces before realizing that Soul wasn't following her. Confused, she turned and looked. He was gazing at her oddly.

"What's with you lately?" He asked, "You've been acting really weird."

"Really?" She asked, even though her stomach had dropped, "How so? Other then starting to stay after school more often?"

He seemed to think this over for a moment. He then shook his head, "Never mind." He walked up and past her, "Come on, let's go to that burger joint down the street."

She watched after him for a moment. She was going to start making things up to him. She had been tuned out for far too long. She started following him.

They walked for a few blocks, when Maka caught something out of the corner of her eye. She turned, and spotted a familiar red on a nearby roof.

Kyoko.

Maka tensed. She wouldn't!

Apparently, she really wouldn't. After a few minutes observing them, she jumped off the roof and vanished.

Wondering what that was about, Maka discreetly checked her Soul Gem. It was glowing slightly, indicating a witch in the area. That was probably why Kyoko was there. Maka sighed. At least she didn't have to worry about it if Kyoko was after it. Still the whole thing was a reminder of her other life, and that it was a part of her now, no matter how she had been able to forget for a few hours.

"Something wrong?" Soul looked at her from over his shoulder.

"Just thought I saw someone I knew," She said honestly, "I thought she was here to cause trouble, but she just left."

"I see," he observed her for a few moments, "You know, you can talk to me about anything."

She smiled at him sweetly, "I know." Their fights, bickering, and the fact that he often frustrated her asides, they were close as partners for a reason.

Seemingly dropping the subject, the two of them continued on to the restaurant. They spent the rest of the evening chatting, bickering (with a couple of Maka Chops), and generally hanging out together.

As Maka went to bed that evening, she spotted Blair already curled up on her bed, her tail twitching.

Blair was a cat with a lot of magical power, and somewhere between a house pet and an roommate. The latter was, well, because...

Blair opened one eye and sat up, "Maka! You're back!"

"Hi Blair, I thought you were working tonight."

"Blair is!" In an poof of smoke, Blair had gone from her cat form to her human form. She had large breasts, hips, and was scantily dressed. The only way you could tell she was a cat in this form were the cat ears on her head. "Blair just wanted to ask Maka something."

Maka always felt more self-conscious when Blair was in human form. Blair's endowments always made Maka more aware of her...underdevelopment. She always tried to hide it though, as she maneuvered around the room, starting to get ready for bed.

"What did you want to ask?"

"Who's that strange cat that keeps coming by your room, meow?"

Maka glanced at the curious looking cat-lady. "What strange cat?"

"You know. He had white fur, pink markings, and long ears! Blair isn't sure if its really a cat though. Maybe a fox, or a weasel, meow?"

Maka stiffened. Blair could see Kyubey! How was that possible? Maka turned back to the other, "He's just a stray that I've taken to feeding. I would invite him in, but he always seems to prefer wandering off on his own."

"Oh, Blair sees! That very kind of you, meow!" Blair hopped off the bed. "Blair's going to go to work now, kay? Bye!" With that, the cat was out the door.

Maka exhaled. She didn't see that one coming. But how could Blair see Kyubey? Then again, she wasn't really completely sure of the mechanics behind how one could see Kyubey or not. It was possible that anything with magic or magical potential could see him. She would have to ask him about it later.

She otherwise went to bed content. Tomorrow, it would be back to hunting, but this day had been fantastic.

Too bad it couldn't last.

n/n/n/n

The next day, Maka told her friends that she wanted to spend time with Sayaka and company. It would be her new excuse for witch hunting, she decided. She went to the meeting spot, and met with Sayaka, Madoka, and Homura.

They talked about the results of yesterday's hunt. Maka related to them her encounter with Kyoko, to which the other two confirmed that she had been hovering around them too.

"She probably feels threatened," Homura said, "With four magical girls in this city, she is afraid that there won't be enough Grief Seeds to go around."

Maka had never thought of that, "Will there be?"

"Enough for us," she said simply, "We will leave enough witches for Kyoko to get the kills she needs."

"Why don't we just invite her to be on the team?"

"You remember your first encounter with her?" Sayaka asked. Maka nodded. She remembered all too well. "That's why. Kyoko wants things done her way or not at all."

After chatting for a few more minutes, they decided to split off. Maka and Homura were going hunting, Madoka accompanying them. Sayaka was going to look into a few partnership requests she had gotten.

"Don't hold your breath," Homura said.

"Hey," Sayaka put her hands on her hips and glared, "I could actually have something this time. One of them sounded really nice."

"Even if they sound nice, will you be able to match soul wavelengths with them?"

Sayaka looked away nervously, "Er..."

Maka looked at Sayaka curiously, "You mentioned have trouble with that before."

Sayaka rubbed the back of her head, "Yeah. Apparently, I have a 'really inflexible' wavelength or something like that. It's been making it hard for me to find a meister."

Maka smiled at her comfortably, "I know someone else like that. Except his problem is mostly his ego. He ended up finding a partner who could match her wavelength to his, rather then the other way around. You might find someone like that too."

"Who says Sayaka's problem isn't ego too?" Homura asked coolly.

Sayaka was about to retort, when Maka cut in, "You know that guy who's constantly yelling about surpassing the gods and holding a big show?"

"Yes..."

"That's who I'm talking about. If Sayaka has an ego as big as that, I would like to see the two of them in the same room together. Could be interesting."

"...I see your point..."

They were about to split up, when Maka spotted none other than Death the Kid approaching, flanked by the Thompson Sisters.

Death the Kid was the son of Lord Death, the Academy's founder. Kid himself was a Reaper, albeit one still coming into his powers. He wore a black suit over a white shirt, and had short black hair. One one side of his hair, were three white lines.

Maka was surprised. She hadn't seen Kid in a while.

"Good day Maka," Kid greeted, nodding to her, "I see you opted out of spending the day with your other friends."

Maka shrugged, "There's only so much one can endure from Black*Star."

"I agree," he then turned his attention to the other girls. Maka noticed Homura tense out of the corner of her eye. "Good afternoon, I trust you are all doing well."

"Um, Maka, do you know this guy?" Sayaka asked.

"Yeah," Maka nodded, "Everyone, this is Death the Kid, he's a friend of mine."

"He's also the son of Lord Death," Homura said, "He's one of the most talented meisters here at the Academy. So, tell us, what are you doing here?"

Kid looked amused, "Cutting right to the chase I see. Very well. I'm actually here to talk to Sayaka Miki and Madoka Kaname."

The two of them looked confused. "Talk to us about what?" Sayaka asked.

"I'm here to discuss the matter pertaining to the recent disappearance of Mami Tomoe."

Both Madoka and Sayaka looked taken completely off guard. Homura's stance had become even more tense, and Maka could tell that the raven-haired girl was ready for a fight at a moment's notice.

"Wh-" Madoka stuttered, "Why do you need to talk to us about Mami?"

Death the Kid's tone was matter-of-factly, "According to her weapon partner, Thomas Moran, she spent quite a bit of time with the two of you before she disappeared. I wanted to see what you know about what happened."

"I wasn't aware that she had even been reported missing..." Sayaka admitted.

"Thomas was, naturally, the first to notice that she was gone. According to him, when she didn't come home, he initially didn't worry, as she had taken to sometimes disappearing for a couple of nights. However, after she had been gone for several nights, he reported her missing. There are...odd circumstances regarding it. Therefore, Lord Death put me in charge of the investigation.

"Therefore, I must ask you again. Do you know anything about the disappearance of Mami Tomoe?"

Madoka and Sayaka cast nervous glances at each other. They were obviously trying to rack their brains for what to say.

"A pre-kishin got her." Everyone turned to surprise, as Homura walked up to Kid, "I didn't see those two with her when it happened, but I was there. I was out shopping when it happened. She's dead."

Sayaka looked surprised. Madoka looked like she was about choke up.

Kid looked thoughtful, "That isn't the whole story, is it?" Homura tensed again. "There's something else going on. I'm going to find out what."

"...Look at you shirt..."

"Hm?" Kid looked down. Maka could practically feel the sweat drop as she saw what had suddenly appeared there. Several tears, and some stains. She was willing to bet that Homura's magic had something to do about it.

"NOOOOO! It's not...! I'm not...!" He suddenly collapsed, "I'm not symmetrical! How did this happen? When did this happen? Oh...I'm useless...garbage..."

Liz groaned, "And there he goes..."

"I don't envy you two," Maka commented, "He seems like a real handful sometimes."

"You have no idea. Excuse me while I try to keep our meister from contemplating suicide or something."

While the sisters tended to the distraught Kid, Homura turned, "Let's go." She said.

Sayaka was staring at the scene with Kid and the Sisters, "What's with him?"

"Kid has a thing about symmetry," Maka explained, "I'm kind of used to his breakdowns by now but still..." She glanced back at the trio as they walked away.

"Will he be okay?" Madoka asked.

"He'll be fine," Maka assured her. "Liz and Patty know how to handle him when he gets like that. They'll pull him together soon enough."

As they walked away from the school, questions nagged at Maka's mind. She decided she needed to voice them.

"Hey..." she started, "Who was Mami Tomoe?"

Both Madoka and Sayaka stopped in their tracks. Both of them hung their heads. Homura turned around, and looked at them both. She seemed to be looking at Madoka in particular.

"Mami was..." Sayaka started, "Mami was..."

There was a sniffle. Maka realized that it came from Madoka. Instantly, Homura was at her meister's side, holding her shoulders.

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," Homura said, her tone soothing.

Madoka shook her head, "No...I want her to know...I don't want Mami to be forgotten like that..." She turned to Maka, "Mami was the magical girl who guarded this city before Sayaka made the contract. She was brave, kind, strong, and she believed that magical girl should stand for justice. She was...everything a magical girl should be..." Madoka sniffed again and wiped at her eyes.

"She was my inspiration," Sayaka now spoke, looking down, "She was the one who mentored me and Madoka, introduced us to the world of magical girl. Then she..." she swallowed, "A witch got her. Me and Madoka saw her die right before our eyes..."

"She was foolish," Homura now said, "She was overconfident and payed the price."

"Don't say that!" Sayaka hissed, "Mami was the greatest!"

"If she was so great, then why is she dead?"

Sayaka couldn't answer that and looked down. Madoka looked at Homura sadly, "Why do you keep saying things like that?," Madoka asked, "Why do you keep...?"

"I am merely stating facts," Homura replied, "Mami Tomoe was a skilled veteran, I will give her that. But she made a mistake, and that cost her her life."

Madoka choked. Homura placed a hand on her shoulders, "I know that you looked up to her. I'm truly sorry that what happened to her happened. But that doesn't change the facts." The only response she got was a nod, and Maka could tell that the other girl was trying to keep from crying.

"A witch killed her?" Maka now asked, "Then..."

"When you die inside a barrier," Homura said, "You don't leave behind a body. That is why Mami will remain a missing person. Or at least I assumed." She looked at Maka seriously, "Who knows that you're a magical girl?"

"No one!" Maka said quickly, "I haven't told anyone! Not even Soul!"

"You should tell him," Homura said.

"What?"

"You need to tell him. You can't continue to keep this a secret from him."

Maka leaned back nervously. She knew that. Of course she knew that. "I'm going to tell him...just not yet..."

"And how many times have you told yourself that since you made the contract?"

She flinched. Madoka looked at Homura, "Please, Homura. Don't push her like that."

"I am merely stating facts," Homura looked at Maka, and she suddenly felt like the other girl was staring straight into her soul, "You can't keep something like this hidden from your own weapon."

Maka nodded, "I know. I'm going to tell him. I just need to figure out how."

Homura eyed her, then said, "Death the Kid's 'investigation' worries me. If you haven't told anyone but us, then that means that he is likely unaware of the system. At least for now. We're going to have to keep an eye on him. Otherwise, at the rate he's going, his curiosity will get the better of him, he'll stumble right into a witch barrier and get himself killed."

"A witch barrier wouldn't kill him," Maka said, "I mean, he has Liz and Patty..."

"But as someone without magic, he won't be able to fight effectively, assuming he'll know what's going on at all. Assuming that he'll even be able to see everything clearly. Demon Weapons can harm witches and their familiars, but usually only when the meister is a magical girl. I'm not sure if they will affect them if this isn't the case.

"And if he is able to fight, the chances of him actually escaping the barrier are slim. He would have to do what we do, find the witch and kill it. All without being a magical girl. What do you think the chances of him being able to do something like that are?"

Maka went silent at that. She had a point. Then something she said struck her.

"Wait, Demon Weapons can be used to fight witches?"

"If the meister is a magical girl, yes. The meister in magical girl form can run magic through the weapon, giving it the ability to destroy witches."

"Mami was a meister, wasn't she? Did she ever...?"

Homura gave Maka another look, "If her weapon knew what had been going on, he would have never have reported her as missing, and Kid's investigation would not be occurring right now."

"But, Soul could..."

"If you brought him with you, yes. You could easily use him."

Maka considered the implications of that. If she could tell Soul...use him in these battles...Then it wouldn't be much different from hunting witches then, would it? They could fight together, just like they usually did...

Then the memory of that day surfaced. It reminded of her of why she had made her wish in the first place. What she had accepted this life for. She looked at Homura hard, "No, I won't let him get involved in this."

Homura looked like she was about to say something else. Then she stopped. There was a moment of silence, and Maka noticed her glance at Madoka. Homura then said, "Very well then. But you still need to tell him. He needs to know."

Maka nodded. She would, when she was ready.

"So," Sayaka spoke, "Are you two going to go out hunting or not?"

n/n/n/n

They didn't find a witch, but they did find a familiar. Once they were done, Maka had to split off from them to head home to eat dinner.

As she walked down the street, she suddenly felt a twinge. Her Soul Perception was picking something up. She concentrated slightly. It was...Kid!

She whirled around, just in time to see the Reaper emerge from the shadows nearby. The sisters weren't with him, and she suspected he had already sent them on ahead.

"I see your Soul Perception had been getting stronger," he noted.

Maka nodded, hoping she wasn't coming off as nervous. She had a pretty good idea of why Kid was here. "Yeah, it's getting stronger all the time."

Kid looked at her seriously, "Maka, did those two girl tell you anything about Mami Tomoe."

She tried not to flinch. She nodded, "Yeah they did. Apparently, they were really close to her. They hadn't seen her for a while. It was a real shock to learn she's dead."

"I'm not sure if she's really dead or not," Kid said.

"What do you mean?" Maka asked, despite the pit forming in her stomach.

"Contrary to Homura Akemi's statement, there was no pre-kishin in Death City during the timeframe that she went missing." She stiffened. "In addition, a body hasn't been found. While her soul may have been eaten, there is no evidence of such."

Maka paused, before speaking, "I'm not really the one you should be talking to about this."

"Perhaps not," Kid studied her. It took a lot of willpower for her not to appear nervous.

"Anyway, I need to get home before Soul starts to worry. He's probably already started dinner." She started to walk past Kid, when his next words stopped her.

"It's interesting that you should mention Soul," She turned to face the other, even though his back remained turned to her, "I've talked to Liz and Patty, and they've talked to Soul in extension. He says that you haven't been around all that often. In addition, you've recently revealed that you have been spending plenty of time with Sayaka and Madoka." He now turned to face her.

"Are you aware, Maka, that you are displaying similar behavior that Mami Tomoe did before she disappeared?"

Maka didn't respond. She just stood there, tense. Kid continued, "And it's not just you and Mami. I've been investigating. There are other girls in the past who suddenly became secretive, seemingly overnight, slowly cutting themselves off from friends and family, and occasionally seen suddenly spending time with a new group of friends, other girls usually. All of them have disappeared without trace."

He looked at her, serious, "There's something going on Maka. Something big enough that it affects multiple people, yet has also managed to escape the attention of my father up until recently. Tell me, what is happening?"

Maka clenched a fist. Kid was close. Close to finding the truth. But for his own safety, he could never know the full thing. "There's nothing happening," she said flatly.

"That's a lie. We both know that."

She looked at Kid over her shoulder, "I really need to get home." Before Kid could say another word, she ran off, in the direction of her apartment.

She didn't stop until she reached the front door. She stood in front of it, panting.

A part of her wanted to just run in there and tell Soul everything. About being a magical girl, about the witches, and about what had happened to Mami. But another, stronger part of her reminded her of her wish.

"I wish..."

If she told Soul, he would want to get involved. He would want to protect her, like he usually did. But to allow him to do that would be to go against her wish. To go against what she had made the contract for...

She stepped inside the house, and was hit by the smell of food cooking. She knew that Soul was in the kitchen, making dinner.

"I'm home," she called.

"Where have you been?" Was the answer she got back.

"Out with Sayaka and the others," she collapsed onto the nearby couch. She suddenly felt tired. She fingered her Soul Gem ring. After a few minutes, Soul announced that dinner was ready. She took her seat at the table, as Blair, in cat form, jumped up on the table. Soul soon came out with dinner, a fair-looking soup.

Once the three of them sat down and started eating, Soul spoke, "Blair mentioned something interesting today."

"Really?" Maka asked, "What?"

Blair, was had been lapping her soup from the bowl, lifted her head up and licked her chops, "Blair saw that strange cat again today." Oh no. Maka tried to suppress her growing dread as Blair continued, "Blair tried to talk with him, but he said he was too busy to talk! He wouldn't even say his name. How rude, meow!"

Maka mentally exhaled. So, Kyubey hadn't said anything to Blair. Not yet at least.

"Who exactly is this strange cat anyway?" Soul asked.

Maka decided a partial truth would be best here, "His name is Kyubey. He's just a stray I feed and talk to every once in awhile. He's not very social, but I think he keeps coming back because I keep giving him food."

"This is my first time hearing about it," He commented.

"If I told you about it, you would want to see for yourself. He's very skittish, and I didn't want to scare him off."

"I see." The rest of dinner was spent in relative peace.

When Maka retired to her room, she was greeted by a surprise.

"Good evening Maka," said Kyubey, who was sitting on her desk, tail swishing.

Maka shut her door and groaned, "There better be a good reason you're here."

"There is," Kyubey said, "It concerns something that I believe Homura talked to you about earlier. Sayaka told me about it. About Demon Weapons?"

"Yeah," Maka said, "What about it?"

"Such a thing has never been tested before. Although it is possible that Homura was merely theorizing, from what Sayaka related to me, she seemed to be talking from experience. However, how could she have experience with something that has never happened before?"

That gave Maka pause. She decided to see something first, "Do you mean 'never happened' as in no one has really ever tried using a Demon Weapon before, or 'never happened' as in it's been tried, but no one has ever been successful before?"

"As in no one has tried using a Demon Weapon before. Certainly it's possible, in theory. But such a thing has never been attempted."

She looked in the direction that she knew Soul's room was in. Kyubey seemed to notice, "I wouldn't recommend it. It's entirely untested, completely theoretical, and there's no telling the chances of success. In the worst case scenario, you would be putting the weapon's life in grave danger."

"Who said I was thinking about it?" She asked, slightly miffed, "I wouldn't dare get Soul involved."

"I didn't think you would. That would be going against you wish, wouldn't it?"

Maka sighed. She flopped down on her bed. Kyubey spoke again, "The main problem remains, how did Homura know of this? Why does she know the things she does? She's just one mystery after another."

Maka shook her head. She was too tired. "I can't think about it tonight." She then remembered something and sat up, "Wait, is it true Blair can see you?"

"The cat?" Kyubey asked, "Of course. Almost anything with a decent amount of magic can see me. The 'other' kind of witches can see me, although they can't make a contract. I usually don't bother with them. My business is with magical girls."

"That makes sense." She sighed. "You have other things to do, don't you? Spend the night somewhere else. The last thing I need is Blair coming in and alerting Soul that you're here."

"I understand. I was planning paying Madoka a visit after this." Kyubey was then gone. Maka was glad that he went.

She fingered her Soul Gem ring. Things were starting to get complicated. Really complicated.