"What we need is a way to get into contact with Tsubaki." Black*Star said, frustrated.
"She'll clear it all up and we can get back to focusing on taking down Arachnophobia."
They were all sitting in the den of Shibusen, after Maka had called an emergency council. Liz, Soul, Black*Star, Patti, and even Kid, who was usually busy, sat around Maka as they discussed what to do with the information obtained by Spirit. Jackie was upstairs, attending the bar as usual. No one said anything about Killik's empty seat, or Harvar silently occupying Tsubaki's usual spot.
"What we need is a way to eliminate the threat," Liz said, voice emotionless and eyes cold.
Faster than anyone could register, Black*Star was up, knocking over his seat and hands slamming onto the table.
"No one is eliminating anything," he snarled, face only a short distance away from Liz, whose expression didn't change.
A quick flash and the cool metal of Liz's pistol pressed into 'Star's abdomen‒nobody was surprised at the reaction. The fact that no one had seen Liz actually draw it wasn't a surprise them either.
"Black*Star, sit down before she kills you," Kid called calmly from his seat.
Black*Star made no move to comply. Instead he continued to glare unflinchingly into Liz's eyes, who stared back just as threateningly. She showed no fear, having faced much worse in her life with much less.
"Blake," Maka said, voice dripping with authority. She ignored Black*Star's flinch from the use of his old name. "Sit down before I regret letting you in on this meeting."
Only now did Black*Star turn away from Liz to look at Maka, eyes angry and unsure how serious she was. Leaving now would mean not knowing what they planned to do about Tsubaki, and he couldn't stomach the idea of having her taken care of all because he hadn't been there to protest.
Soul reached up and grabbed 'Star's shoulder, pulling him back down into his seat. Black*Star let himself be seated but continued to glare at Liz, who just snarled in response. Only Patti, who had been stacking cards against each other, seemed oblivious to the tension in the room. The fact that Star's outburst had knocked over her previous tower only made her annoyed enough to flick a card at him, hitting Black*Star straight in the eye, and effectively making everyone in the room laugh. After seeing him clutch his eye in pain and futilely retaliate Patti's attack, even Liz cracked a smile.
"Alright, now that everyone's done trying to kill each other, why don't we focus on trying to figure out what we're actually going to do?" Kid said, effectively bringing the attention back to the situation at hand.
Maka relayed the conversation with her father, omitting only her note to the Witches (which she wouldn't mention until she knew how Maaba would respond) and Giriko's search for her. The last thing they needed to worry about was her identity. She did, however, mention Giriko's release. While the others went through varying degrees of rage and shock, Kid was unreactive, sitting serenely. He was also unaffected by the scowls aimed at him by Soul. Maka tried not roll her eyes. Soul undoubtedly blamed Kid, partly, for Giriko's release, if only because it had been Kid's connections that was supposed to keep him locked up.
Black*Star broke in to tell everyone about the new information on Arachne that Jackie had found, face visibly contorting in disgust when he talked about Arachne's pass romances with Asura.
While everyone spoke about what should be done about Arachne, Maka took the opportunity to see how Soul was taking the information of Giriko's release. On the outside, he seemed as if he wasn't even affected, his eyes cold but his face otherwise calm. Only the occasional clenching of his fists betrayed his mask. She knew that she would have to talk to him about Giriko eventually. She only hoped that he wouldn't be too irrational if she ever told him about Giriko's search for her identity.
"We all know that we can't take the risk of Tsubaki squealing to Arachnophobia," Harvar said, speaking for the first time all evening. Everyone else was instantly silent, almost shocked at the development. It wasn't that Harvar never spoke, it was just that he rarely said anything with as much conviction as he did then.
"We haven't heard anything from her in weeks, and Black*Star is turned away at the door every time he tries to see what's going on." he continued. "Now Spirit is telling us that Camellia's is supplying them with guns, we can't ignore the signs anymore."
No one seemed to be looking at the same place, each struggling to deal with the ramifications of labeling Tsubaki a traitor. Black*Star was clenching and unclenching his hands, and it seemed to be taking all of his willpower not to say something, but even he could see the improbability of Tsubaki being loyal at this point. Liz, who had suggested eliminating Tsubaki in the first place, seemed to be struggling with the truth as well, her expression pained.
It fell to Soul to speak. "So what are we going to do?"
Even with the gravity of situation, Maka still smiled a little on the inside, grateful for Soul's word choice. 'We' not 'you' acknowledging that even though she held the name Grigori, what happened with their gang was not on her shoulders alone. He seemed to know what she was feeling even before she did.
"Camellia's is the main supplier of guns this side of the Mississippi, to have them taken out would be losing a valuable ally if it turns out Tsubaki is innocent," Black*Star said, clinging to anything that might mean not having a hit placed on Tsubaki.
"We can't risk being wrong about this, Arachnophobia has already started warming up to the police. I've been holding them off for now, but it won't be long before the cops start a bidding war between the two of us," Kid argued.
"Tsubaki's been here since the beginning!" Black*Star exclaimed, unable to keep it in any longer. He shot a look to Soul, telling him that he wasn't going to hurt anyone, but still wanted to have his say.
"She's saved all our asses at least once over these years. There's no way she would betray us, and we can't go believing everything either, for all we know, Spirit could be right and she doesn't even know anything. She deserves the benefit of the doubt," he finished, turning to Maka to see her reaction.
The truth was, at this point, it would be stupid to think Tsubaki hadn't double crossed them. Maka knew that, but she also knew that Tsubaki would never do something like this, it wasn't like her. But how well did Maka really know Tsubaki? They hadn't met through any conventional means, and, even though Maka herself was a criminal, she hadn't been raised in the same criminal environment that Tsubaki had been. For all Maka knew, Tsubaki may have been trained to con people since she could sit up straight. It was even possible that she had been playing Maka since they'd first met.
But Maka's gut was still reluctant to label Tsubaki as anything but a friend.
"We'll check one more time," she decided aloud, looking at each of them to see how they would take the news. "If we're going to label Tsubaki as a person to be taken care of, it's going to be because we're one hundred percent certain that she's a traitor."
"So what are we going to do?" Soul asked, expectant.
"First things first, we have to worry about the log, then we'll deal with Tsubaki," Maka replied.
"Woah, woah what do you mean deal? I thought you just said we were going to be one hundred percent sure. And what's this about a log?" Black*Star demanded.
It fell to Kid to answer.
"Black*Star think about it, how were we to keep track of whether or not we got the right amount of guns at each drop off? How would we keep record if any order came up short?" he questioned.
"Most bootleggers keep a book of who owes who what and how much. Maka and Tsubaki adopted the practice but instead kept record of ammo and weapons shipments, as well as their drop off points. That log has every one of our warehouses from here to Florida, and it's in Tsubaki's possession," Kid said, staring at Maka.
"How do we know she hasn't already handed it over to Arachne?" Harvar asked, curious at this turn of events.
"She wouldn't." It was Liz who spoke this time, staring at her gun as she cleaned it (a nervous habit she had yet to drop). "Think about it. If Tsu is working with Arachne, then she has to know not trust that bitch farther than she can throw her. She's smart enough to tell Arachne she knows the locations of all our warehouses but keep the actual book hidden incase Arachne ever wanted to bump her off."
Liz looked at Maka, who seemed to have come to the same conclusion.
"Tomorrow, me and Soul will go to the factory one more time. We're getting in there one way or another and getting that log. Even if she hasn't crossed us, there's no doubt that the factory is in Arachnophobia's sights and we'll have to cover all our bases."
"Why don't we just raid it now and get the book before they know we're looking for it?" Liz questioned.
"This isn't a smash and grab type of job," Soul said, "She probably has that book hidden somewhere only she knows."
Black*Star was looking at Maka, who had stiffened with what Soul said.
"Oi, pigtails, what do you know that's got you all stiff?" he barked, irritated with the way the conversation was turning.
Maka was still lost in her own thoughts that she didn't even notice the use of her old nickname.
"When we first went into business," she started. "We asked Stein to be Camellia's official trapman."
Harvar visibly groaned.
"Shit," Liz swore.
"That's an eloquent way of putting it," Kid muttered darkly.
Maka all but banged her head on the table, cursing her own paranoia.
It was no secret that Stein was the best in his trade as a doctor. But he had another talent, one not as openly known, an affinity for making furniture into puzzles. It had been Maka's mother who first suggested Stein make a desk with drawers that had false bottoms to store important documents. He had gone above and beyond, creating an extremely elaborate desk with more hidden crevices in it than actual drawers, while having its exterior remain utterly mundane. And so Stein became the most sought-out trapman in the state, if not country, among those who knew about it.
When she had started business with Tsubaki, she knew better than to trust the security of the company that could be easily bought out by competitors with wallets. Tsubaki had shared her sentiments, and the two had asked Stein to construct a desk with enough false bottom and hidden drawers, that it would take hours for someone to find unless they knew where to look.
"How big of a desk are we talking 'bout?" Soul asked, already dreading the answer.
"Enough to keep us busy all night if we don't know where it is. The book is usually kept behind a loose panel on the left of the desk, but who knows where she would have put it by now." Maka groaned.
"We could sneak in at night, I could use my godly powers to create a distraction, and you minions can sneak the desk onto a truck driven by Liz," Black*Star offered.
"Black*Star be reasonable," Kid snapped. "That place is bound to be crawling with workers and there's no way we could sneak out a desk the size of a couch without someone noticing."
Everyone else began shouting out possible ways to get the book out without losing any limbs.
"Mmm, why don't we just burn the damn thing? That way Arachnophobia can't figure out where the warehouses are and we can get Tsu in case she plans on sharing," Patti suggested boredly from her seat.
"Of course we-" Kid started but then stopped short.
They all considered the possibility, which, with every passing second, seemed to be less of a crazy idea and more of an actual plan. It was incredibly simple, by eliminating the book in the first place, there was no way that anyone else would know of their hideouts.
"This would only work assuming that Tsubaki hasn't told anyone else where the safe houses are," Harvar noted.
"She wouldn't do that," Liz said. "She knows that the moment she tells them everything, she doesn't have any worth and she becomes easily expendable. Right now her position is secure because they've been able to get some of our runs, but pretty soon she'll be out of the loop and won't be able to give them that type of information anymore. She'll need a new way to make herself valuable."
No one could argue with her logic.
"Then how do we get rid of it?" Kid asked skeptically.
At this Patti perked up considerably, a sort of manic grin spreading on her face.
"Oh, I think I can help you out there," Patti said, her eyes visibly darkening.
After the plan was announced, Maka stared at the pages on the table for a very long time.
They had worked out the plan fairly easily after Patti had announced she knew how to destroy the desk with them from a fair distance away. It would be a quick operation. Black*Star and Liz would create a distraction by the entrance, guarding it against anyone who tried to stop them. Meanwhile, Soul and Maka would go inside, watching Patti's back as she set up the 'totally-awesome-and-huge-but-totally-safe-and-yes-symmetrical-bomb.' It had been difficult to convince Black*Star to stay outside, he had wanted to come and personally set up the bomb in case they ran into Tsubaki. Only when Maka threaten to lock him in a room with Excalibur, did Black*Star concede to staying out of the factory itself.
The other's got to work quickly, Patti off to find the materials for her bomb, Liz to get maps of the area surrounding the factory, and Soul to help Kid with the logistics of the plan. Black*Star was off sulking in the corner, cleaning his knives and guns so he wouldn't feel useless. Everyone else let him clean theirs as well-the last thing they needed was their guns jamming tomorrow. Since Maka was the only one who had been in the factory before, it was up to her to test the accuracy of the blueprints Kid had acquired.
It was well into the night when Maka started to feel her eyelids droop. She hadn't slept properly since before Killik, and it was showing.
"You look like hell," Soul said, noticing the drink in her hand.
"Says the insomniac albino,' she shot back, grimacing only slightly at the drinks burn.
"Scotch isn't going to keep you from keeling over," he chided.
"They only have instant coffee here," she complained. "Besides, it helps me focus."
"You've been staring at the plans for the last hour. Focus any more and I'm pretty sure they'll get intimidated," he said.
"I just want to make sure everything's in order," she responded.
Soul let out a derisive snort at that.
"Please," he scoffed, "You have Kid in charge. You really think he'd be able to go to sleep if everything wasn't in order?"
He had her there.
Still, she couldn't help but feel helpless at the way things had escalated. What had originally been a small plan, had quickly evolved to a full-scale operation. She really didn't know what she had been planning on originally, but now with Tsubaki's loyalty almost undoubtedly gone, she would have to confront the other woman sooner or later. Even if they didn't come into contact with her this time around, it wouldn't be long before Tsubaki would be forced to take a car ride.
"Everyone needs to know you're okay for tomorrow, Maka," Soul continued. He tried not to make it obvious that by everyone he meant predominantly him.
"Of course I am, why wouldn't I be?" Maka snapped, drinking from her glass again.
"Maka," he said, voice far too soft for her to lie. "None of us wanted it to come to this."
"I know." She said it softly.
"We don't need to do this, you know. We can have someone else take care of this," he offered.
He knew she would never consider it, it wasn't in her nature to let others carry out her hits. Once, in the early hours of the morning, after having slept together earlier, she confessed to him that she hated having others kill for her. She said that if she had to judge someone too dangerous to live, she wanted to be the one to carry it out. He never told her, but he fell in love with her just a little bit more than. He would have told her it now, but he doubted it's what she wanted to hear when her principles were about to make her kill her best friend.
"We live by the knife and gun, we die by the knife and gun," she said, answering his unspoken question.
How many times had she been told that over the years? How many times had her mother heard it before it inevitably came true? How many more times would she be forced to both say and hear it before it become true for her?
She finally let Soul call her cab, making him promise to be home as soon as Kid allowed him.
Now sitting in her living room, Maka glared at the telephone, as if it was responsible for all her issues. She had been calling Tsubaki occasionally for the last two weeks, ever since she missed their usual gatherings at Shibusen. No one had answered, not even her secretary. In her ignorance, Maka thought that something with the bakery had come up, which happened every now and then. Usually it was just a late report or something equally as trivial and Tsubaki would be back after a day or two, apologetic for worrying them.
Even before she had met with her father, Maka was still holding on to the naive hope that her absence was due to something with her business. It wasn't unusual that something more serious had come up, like a damaged delivery, and Tsubaki would be forced to stay in her office and attend to the matter personally. In the past, however, if Tsubaki was to be absent for more than two days, she would call Maka so as to not worry her. The silence that Maka had been experiencing for the last few weeks only seemed to taunt her.
Picking up the receiver, Maka felt something akin to nervousness in her stomach. The fact that they hadn't heard anything from her only intensified the fear that Tsu was working for Arachne.
"Operator, give me Windrow 5-0-7-9," Maka said, voice a little too strained to sound polite.
"One moment please," answered a monotone voice.
The ringing seem to be excruciating slow and with every passing second, Maka felt dread at the realization that Tsu was probably not going to pick up again. She almost hung up when a familiar voice said, "Hello?"
It was Tsu's voice but it also wasn't. It was strained, as if she had spent too many hours saying nothing.
"Maka?" the voice said again, "Is that you?"
"It's me," she heard herself say. She hadn't really been expecting anyone to answer, and now that she had, she didn't know what to say. Suddenly, she remembered why she was calling.
"Tsubaki, where have you been? Black*Star's been trying to talk to you for a week now and is turned away at the door. He would have busted in there if Soul hadn't been walking by! I know that you have your company to run but you also have friends who were worried about you. Everyone's thinking that something serious has come up and none of know how to get to you when you won't answer the phone." Maka hadn't realized how worried she'd been for her friends until now.
"Ah, I'm sorry, Maka. I've been really busy with things over here." Her voice was too tense to be reassuring.
"Listen, Tsu, there's some really bad things that have been going on here." Maka said seriously.
"There's a lot of questions about you that need answers and it's best if you're here to answer them."
She was careful to keep her voice neutral, the plan relied on her not suspecting that they knew of her betrayal.
"Ah, gomen Maka. I've just been really busy and completely forgot about the parties. I'll be back soon and I promise I'll explain to you why I've been absent." Tsubaki said in the same tone.
Something was wrong. Tsubaki rarely fell back into Japanese, she had been through too many experiences at the hands of "Nativists" to speak her language freely. Years of practice had kept her accent hidden, enough so that most people didn't even know of her heritage. It was safer this way, she had told Maka. Only when she was too worried, too stressed, did she fail to hold back her native tongue.
"Tsubaki are you sick?" Maka asked, worry back in full force.
Suddenly, the health of her friend seemed to overshadow all doubts of her loyalty. In retrospect it was stupid of her, but Black*Star had been right in one aspect, she had been there for them all these years. Even know, when all evidence pointed to her being a back-stabbing cheat, Maka found it hard to not care about her friend.
"Ah, yes. I've had a bit of a, um, well a bit of a cold lately. Luckily it's mostly passed by now. I'm so sorry to have worried you," she said.
The last part was perhaps the only thing she said that even sounded vaguely like the Tsubaki Maka knew.
"Hmm, that's nice to hear," she heard herself say, careful with her tone.
"It's nice to hear from you. I'll be sure to keep in touch, Maka," Tsubaki breathed.
The click from the receiver announced the end of the conversation. Maka stood there, staring at the phone again. It felt like everything had changed, but nothing really had. Tsubaki's loyalty was still in question, and the plan was still on.
Deciding that she was being silly, Maka went up to bed for a nap. They would all need their strength for tomorrow, and Maka had been running on stubbornness alone ever since Killik was injured. It didn't help that whenever she and Soul got home the last thing on her mind was sleep.
Maka was conflicted, something was obviously wrong, but what could she do with this information? Bringing it to the attention of the other would only derail them at this point from the mission. It was hard enough for all of them to be marching into a friend's territory, with the intent to hurt her if they came across her, if she entered doubts into their minds now and her gut was wrong, it could only result in dangerous complications. Besides, what did she have to go on? All she had was the idea that something might be wrong because of Tsubaki's word choice. Whether she liked it or not, Maka had to go into the factory tomorrow with the assumption that Tsubaki was the enemy. With that in mind, she closed her eyes, trusting Soul to call if she was needed.