Meh. It took me a while to get this uploaded, I know. But, here you are. I can tell you, I'm almost done. Maybe...two, three chapters more, and that's it. So, we're closing in on the finale! Are you exited? I sort of am.

In all honesty, I really don't know how I am going to approach my ending.

Oh well. You'll just have to keep guessing about the killer. :D

So, I don't own Soul Eater, or any other thing that has to do with it.

I'm sure you all know that, though.

Tsubaki and Black Star's bodies were discovered in the early morning by a woman, who was on her way to work. She, of course, was horrified to see the bloodied, headless body and sliced throat of two teenagers, and rushed to report it. As with the other murders that had been recently happening, there was no solid evidence to work with to find who was responsible.

When Soul and Maka were made aware, they hadn't even woken up to get ready for school. And when they heard the news, Maka walked, alone, to the DWMA, to tell Chrona what had happened. He, too, was saddened and fearful. It was even worse when the three were asked to identify what was left of the bodies. The first one that was to be identified was Tsubaki. The three, Soul, Maka, and Chrona (and Ragnorok, he wouldn't let his opinion be ignored) had to look away from the photo that had been laid before them. Chrona gasped and covered his eyes, whimpering, and nodding, whispering "that's her, that's Tsubaki," and Maka's eyes filled with tears. Soul had no different reaction, closing his eyes and turning his head at the sight of it. But they had all confirmed that it was Tsubaki in the picture. And after seeing the reaction the investigator had received after only a photo of a friend with a sliced throat (the bodies had been taken in, were cleaned up and were currently lying on cold, metal surfaces somewhere in the investigative building), the investigator detested having to show them, and ask them, if the body of the "male teen they found" was Black Star.

Chrona could not look. He parted his fingers from his eyes only once, for a mere moment, and shook with fear before shielding himself again. Even Ragnorok was disturbed, he didn't crack any jokes or make any fun of it. Maka, upon viewing, whined the words, "Oh my God," and forced herself away with a few fast nods, saying that, yes it was him. Soul grunted and pushed back his tears. What was shown in the photo was definitely Black Star, or, what was left of him.

His head was never found during the investigation.

The bodies remained in the custody of the law for a long time, longer than the rest. But in the end, the bodies were cremated, and then let loose in the air from the highest point of the DWMA, the place Tsubaki Nakatsukasa and Black Star first met.

Soul and Chrona and Maka were called to the Death room by Lord Death, two days after the death of Tsubaki and Black Star. He, for one, wanted to make sure that they were holding up alright, with all of the murdering happening to their friends, and two, he wanted to see if they had any speculation on who the murderer was. Lord Death, though, was not feeling up to his old sorts, only well enough to accept company. Because of that, Spirit was also in the room.

"Hello, Soul, Maka, Chrona. How are you all?" There was no answer right away, and all three were looking at the floor.

"Not as good as we would like," Maka said, sadly. Lord Death sighed.

"Yes, I can imagine so. After all, you kids have been through quite a lot, lately."

"Mhm," Maka nodded.

"How did the, well, events this morning and a few days ago turn out?" He was talking about the identifying and some minor questioning that had gone on, and in response, Chrona made a small, scared sound and held himself tightly, trying to forget all of the horrible images embedded in his memory. Soul only closed his eyes with rage at the killer, while Maka shuddered. It was a thing that all of them wished they could forget. But that was all the answer Death needed, and he moved on. "I'm sorry, kiddos, was it really that bad? Oh, you don't have to answer that one..."

"The only things they asked us this morning was when we saw them last, and other questions relating to 'suspects.'" Soul said.

"Oh, my," Lord Death returned.

"I don't think they've eliminated any of us from the prime suspect list, considering how Chrona was too much in shock to really answer anything, not that we blame him," He glanced at the frail boy, who was still scared out of his mind. Sure, he had seen some pretty horrible things during his time with Medusa, but none of the people he killed were his friends. Tsubaki and Black Star, Kid, and the twins were all like family to him, the boy who had no family until Maka came, and showed him how to trust and love people who care about him. Now, he had seen the headless body of Black Star, and the ragged throat of his weapon, in the same day. And those pictures were not going away. It was like they were stuck on his eyelids.

"Chrona," Maka whispered, slowly putting an arm around him in comfort. At first, he flinched and pulled away, then, realizing it was Maka, he threw his arms around her and clung to her as hard as he could, crying. While Maka tried to calm him, Soul and Lord Death kept up their conversation, only, Lord Death said a very unexpected statement after a short moment.

"Well, I might as well say it, now that we're being all honest here," Lord Death began, unmoving, as he usually was. "I think Black Star's death, and the conditions of it, were fitting for him." Chrona shuddered and Maka gasped, whipping her head in Death's direction. Soul's jaw dropped and he filled with rage, even Spirit was taken aback by Lord Death's words.

"Lord Death..." Spirit said his meister's name softly, as if about to reason with him. Then, Maka burst out.

"How could you even say something like that!" She demanded, letting go of Chrona and letting Soul be at his side. But Lord Death only stood silently as Maka raged. "Black Star was a friend, a great person, he was an amazing meister, and yeah, he was pretty full of himself, but no one deserves a death like that! No one! Black Star lived under the wing of the DWMA for his entire life!"

"But you see, Maka," Lord Death spoke, sternly, although without going past his normal tone. "Black Star had nothing but pride within him. Losing his head was, in short terms, a very fitting death for someone like him. He was stubborn, headstrong, and usually blinded by his pursuit to surpass everyone, and everything." A short, and somewhat muffled chuckle came from Death before he continued. "He believed that he was strong enough to surpass a God like myself, even..." His voice was, well, it was cold, and heartless, which was unlike him. And after that, no one was able to say a word. Not Maka, not Soul, not even Spirit, could muster up the gusto to say anything to Lord Death, after a blow like that. The three teens left the Death room. Not even Maka gave Lord Death a respectful goodbye, not today. And probably not ever again.

"I...how could he even say something like that? How could anyone...say something like that...?" Maka was sitting on the edge of a fountain, with Soul and Chrona at her side. None of them were able to think of anything else than what Death said about their friend. Ragnorok, even, couldn't believe it.

"Yeah, the kid was annoying as hell but you don't see me goin' around sayin' he deserved that kind of death, 'ya know? If you ask me, Lord Death either has an evil twin, who said that about that Black Star kid, or he's gone completely insane," Of course, no one commented on his remarks. They all let him rant, and, eventually, he shut up. And soon enough, it was the time of day for Chrona to return to his room in the DWMA. Soul and Maka offered to walk him, but he declined, saying that he wanted to walk by himself. As the frail, pink-haired boy walked off, Soul spoke to Maka as they waved goodbye.

"He must be having the hardest time, out of all of us,"

"Yeah..."

"He just got to know everyone, and now they've all been killed."

"I wonder when we'll be murdered..." Maka's voice was mindless when she said those words, but even so, Soul whipped his head in her direction.

"What? Maka,"

"Think about it, Soul," She said, sternly. "Why hasn't anyone else but us, our friends, been found dead? Who could be killing all of us, and why?" She sighed. "I'm just...so numb, Soul. I don't care if I die, at this point. Everyone else has, so now it's just a matter of time, I guess," She started to walk off in the direction of home, leaving Soul a few steps behind her.

"Maka, what the hell are you talking about? We're not going to die, or be killed, or anything. Even if we were attacked, which is very unlikely, the two of us could take the guy. Trust me," She wasn't listening to his reason. Of course not, she was Maka Albarn, the most stubborn girl in all of Death City. And she had made up her mind, however limited of a spectrum it was in, she wasn't about to change her thoughts. The only thing she wanted was to lay in bed, and sleep forever. Soul, on the other hand, was determined to live through everything. Sure, he had thought about being the next victim, but he never really thought he was going to end up dead.

But there was always lingering doubt.

Black Star was dead, and he was one hell of a strong guy, even on his own, he was a handful and a half. Tsubaki, who had all of the courage in the world when she needed it, had also perished. Kid, now, he was the strongest willed of any of them. For all the sleepless nights he endured, just for a chance, the smallest hint of a chance at finding the killer of Liz and Patty...then, he had to fall, too. He was the flesh and blood of Lord Death himself, and he was killed just like his weapons before him. What was there to stop the chance of Soul and Maka from being next on the list? And what about Chrona? Surely, he was just as worried. The only people in the world who really cared about him were dropping off like day-old flies, after all.

"I'm just going to go to bed, Soul," Maka said as soon as they came in the house.

"You're not eating?" He questioned, watching her move. She was taking it hard, just like everyone else, and it was visible.

"I'm not hungry," And with that, her bedroom door closed, and Soul didn't really see much of her for the rest of the night. Once, she came out before Soul was about to go to bed, and sat next to him on the couch. "Soul," She started, sounding as if she just woke up. "Do you remember what Lord Death said?" He looked at her with narrowed eyes.

"How could I forget what he said?"

"Tell me exactly what you remember,"

"What? You know for yourself,"

"No, I want to see if you remember something. Tell me what you heard him say as close to exact as you can," Soul sighed. Maka wasn't looking at him, her eyes weren't even opened, and she sounded exhausted. Letting go of a breath, he recited his memory.

"He said 'Black Star had nothing but pride, and losing his head was a fitting way for him to die, he was stubborn and wanted to pass everyone.' That's what I remember." Maka didn't say anything right away, but she opened her eyes tiredly.

"Is that all?"

"Yeah,"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure," Soul's eyes pierced her, he wanted to know what she was thinking. Then, he got his wish.

"Lord Death said that Black Star thought he could surpass anyone, and anything," She started, her voice getting stronger, less tired. "And after that, he laughed, and said 'he believed that he was strong enough to surpass a God like me,'" Soul only narrowed his eyes at her quotation, then she looked at him with confidence. "You get it, Soul?" She asked, concentrated. "Lord Death said that Black Star was stupid for trying to pass God, to pass someone like Lord Death himself, which is why it was alright with Lord Death that Black Star ended up dying! Lord Death was perfectly okay with Black Star's death, and he sounded happy that he died, because of the fact that Black Star was so full of himself that he thought he could surpass a God like Lord Death!" She stopped when she saw a reaction from her weapon, who's gaze slowly moved across the floor.

"What are you saying, Maka?" Soul asked, not wanting to hear her answer.

"I think Lord Death wanted Black Star to die because he didn't like Black Star's disrespect towards Gods like Lord Death," Yep, that's what Soul didn't want to hear.

"How could Lord Death be the killer, Maka?"

"Think of it this way," She started again, almost excited at her possible breakthrough. "We defeated the Kishin, right?"

"Right,"

"So why does Lord Death need to stay in the DWMA when there's no more Kishin to keep under wraps?"

"..." Soul was going to respond, but his meister proved a very good point. So, she went on.

"Exactly! He has no reason to stay, which means that he can go places, but, he would only be able to do it at night, when no one sees him! He has to keep the story that he has to stay at the DWMA all of the time, it makes perfect sense!"

"Alright, Maka," Soul closed his eyes, spotting an error in her little theory. "Sure, let's say Lord Death wanted Black Star dead. Well, he got his wish. Black Star's dead. But why, if he only wanted to kill him, would he kill Tsubaki, as well? And what about Liz and Patty and Kid? Why would he kill his own son?"

"Oh, I've already got all that figured out!" Soul sighed heavily, rolling his eyes and preparing for his meister's rolling words. "Lord Death killed Tsubaki because she saw the killer, which is him, so, not wanting any witnesses, he had no choice but to kill her before Black Star got to her, because then they'd be harder to fight. Or, he killed her afterwards, I don't know. And he killed Kid because he may have been coming close to finding out that his own father killed his weapons, and being Lord Death, I'm sure he's got a heartless side, which is how he was able to kill Kid. And of course, he killed Liz and Patty so Kid wouldn't have any weapons, and it was to weaken Black Star's defenses. Losing two friends is hard, so I'm sure Death thought it would be easier to kill him when he was weaker. Maybe he didn't originally plan to kill Kid, but when he came close, he had to. That's why," Her voice had been very excited and fluent during her entire explanation, which, kind of disgusted Soul. Shaking his head and uttering a "Whatever," he got up and went into his room. Maka, though, tried to follow him to tell him more of what she thought, but after he nearly yelled at her to stop, she fell quiet and returned to her room to sleep, totally confident in her words to Soul. She wanted him to think over them, because then maybe he would believe what she said.

It was the middle of the night, and Chrona had been sleeping soundly and peacefully, until something woke him. He sat straight up as soon as he woke, as if his name was called. But, there was nothing there. Scared, Chrona hugged a pillow and listened for anything that may be coming for him. But even when there were no sounds, he couldn't help but feel like something was there, waiting. He could sense it, and after enough time of waiting, he started to call for Ragnorok.

"Hey, Ragnorok...Ragnorok, please wake up..." At first, they were whispers, but as his paranoia grew, his voice got louder until he was speaking at a normal tone. Finally, the infused weapon known as Ragnorok complained about being woken up at such an hour, and how even someone like him needed beauty sleep. But Chrona didn't even crack a hint of a smile, and in a short moment, Ragnorok also felt that there was something wrong.

"Hey, Chrona, what's going on here?" He questioned. But the pink-haired boy only shook his head.

"I dunno, Ragnorok," He said, hugging his pillow tighter. "But, I'm afraid..."

"Oh, yeah? Afraid of what? There's nothing-" And then the sound of a metal door closing echoed through the stone walls, cutting off Ragnorok. "Whoever it is, if they're even headed this way, we can take 'em! I may be small but I pack a big punch!" And so they waited. But there were no footsteps, not a sound. And after a small while, Ragnorok had pretty much given up, saying that it must have been the wind, or something. "Maybe someone has been down here and they left, that's prob'ly it." Chrona shook his head again, unable to take his eyes off of the door. He was worried, he could feel something wrong. He wouldn't be able to sleep, he was too afraid, now.

"Something's wrong..." He whispered. Then he jumped out of bed, and Ragnorok transformed into a sword that fit perfectly in the palm of Chrona's hand. His metal door swung open at an incredible speed, one that shouldn't be possible for a metal door, the very moment Ragnorok finished changing. The sound of it smashing the brick wall rang through the small room, and a shadowed figure moved fast at Chrona. Making no sound, the small boy blocked the oncoming blade of his attacker, and held his ground as they pushed blades against each other. Slash after slash, and shining blade after shining blade, Chrona blocked the attacks. But not once did the figure let itself be seen. And it was moving around too fast for Chrona to get an idea of how tall they might be, or what they may have looked like. Whoever it was, they were sly and fast. Luckily, with Ragnorok and the black blood running in his veins, Chrona was turning out to be a formidable opponent.

Their battle went on for minutes, which feels like hours to the ones fighting, but not one drop of blood or sweat had been shed. Neither of them were tiring, neither of them were leaving any openings. It was just blow after blow, deflection after deflection.

But, of course, someone had to win.

Dawn was on the brink of approaching, which meant a revealed identity for the attacker. Knowing this, Chrona and Ragnorok tried to up their guard, determined to find out who had been the one behind all of the killing. But the attacker did the same, keeping on their toes and using nothing but strong and fast attacks. Each blade shone in the light, and as fast as it was thrust forward I was taken back and another one came forth.

And then there was the single blow that turned the battle around.

Chrona and Ragnorok used their scream resonance, and it left the attacker faltering for just the right second so Chrona could slash the body of his enemy. Trying to dodge in the shaking and ear-piercing sound, the attacker managed to get away with an arm wound. Letting out nothing more than a grunt at the moment of contact, the frail boy froze, in shock. Ragnorok spoke from his blade, questioning Chrona.

"What are you doing, just standing there like that, huh? Get your game face on!" The boy shivered, the attacker grinned.

"B-but, it, it's, I...I don't understand...!" His voice was almost pleading, and when Ragnorok realized who they were fighting, and after remembering what he had seen them do, he shrunk back into Chrona, saying the battle was a pretty hopeless one. That, of course, only made the poor boy want to scream for mercy, while his suffering made the enemy begging to slash up his small body. In the end, Chrona was reduced to a play toy.

The attacker surrounded him with blades, first as much as nine inches away from his skin, and slowly but surely, those blades came closer and closer to tearing the fabric of his clothes. And when he let out a scream, the blades caved in all around Chrona, silencing him. With a grin, the killer removed the blades, but that was a mistake. The boy's head hung low, and he was standing straight up, only having tears in his clothing where the blades had cut. The black blood was one thing the killer overlooked, it was forgotten about. And Ragnorok's sudden move of courage had saved both his own, and Chrona's lives. Laughing, the black demon was forming himself back into the shape of a sword, when the both of them, meister and weapon, felt a sharp pain, and saw unconscious blackness.

Any idea who the killer is?

I hope I'm spinning you around in circles.

After all, there are only a few possibilities.

:]

Tell me who you think it is. I'm always curious.

Thanks for reading and all. Ill update ASAP. Bye, now!