Chapter 6: Time to Fight!

~Maka's POV~

The pre-kishins were not hard to find. We pretty much just had to follow the destruction they were leaving behind. Though there was palpable tension between Kid, Soul and me, we were all too focused on our mission to say anything. Instead of overthinking it, we just focused on staying alert. We could all talk later, and maybe then I could figure out why Soul has been acting so weird and why he said those awful things.

I risked a quick glance over at him. He was walking with his hands deep in his pockets and, though he was looking around in case of surprise attacks, his eyes still looked a little…sad? Or maybe just guilty that he actually told me how he felt. He's probably been holding that back for a long time now so he wouldn't hurt my feelings.

Before Soul could catch me looking, I glanced over at Kid. Liz and Patty were staying close by him, ready to become weapons at the blink of an eye if they needed to. I bitterly acknowledged that Soul had a point. I found myself wondering how Lord Death's son had fallen for me when he lived with someone as pretty as Liz. Plus he had girls making goo goo eyes at him all the time. He could easily have anyone he wanted. So why me?

I thought back to that day he mentioned when I had dressed differently for school. Every time I had a sleepover with Liz she would dress me in some of her clothes for school the next day. I remember feeling awkward in the denim mii skirt she had forced ne into, and that green halter top had been awfully tight and a little too low cut for my taste. She had also gotten Patty to hold me down long enough to get some makeup on me. That Patty is deceptively strong.

As soon as I walked into school that day I could hear people whispering things like, "Is that Maka?" and "Wow, she's gorgeous! Has she always looked like that?" I just blushed and started fidgeting with my skirt, trying to pull it down a little bit. But every time I tried to pull my top up a little or tug my skirt down so it would seem longer, Liz would just yank the clothes back into place. So I just sighed and accepted it.

When I had walked into class, I felt like everyone was staring at me. Probably because they were. I knew I looked different than usual, but was it really that big of a deal? I walked to my seat next to Soul a little more quickly than usual, hoping that the lesson would start soon so that everyone would have something else to pay attention to.

Now that I really think about it, I do remember Kid staring at me and looking shocked. I thought maybe he was having one of his episodes because Liz had pulled my hair up into one ponytail and put a boy at the top of it, and maybe it was off-center or something. But knowing now that he liked me then, I can remember how he blushed and averted his gaze, trying not to stare at me. So he had thought I was beautiful. That's much more flattering than being asymmetrical.

And Soul…I remember how Soul acted that day as well. He, too, stared over at me like he was surprised. Actually he was looking at me like I had sprouted antennas. I remember asking him what was wrong and he blushed and looked away, muttering something incoherent. I was kind of flattered because I thought maybe he thought I looked pretty. I guess he just thought I looked silly trying to be something I'm not. Maybe that blush I thought I saw was just some trick of the light. And he was probably muttering something about how I was too flat-chested to pull off that outfit or that a bookworm like me should stick to my usual dorky uniform. I clenched my fists a little, my hurt feelings turning into anger.

My thoughts were interrupted by a scream. We all looked at each other and then ran in the direction of the sound. Rounding a nearby corner, we saw the first pre-kishin. He looked more or less like a human being, but he was exceptionally tall, maybe even 8 feet, and he wore a mask over the top half of his face that looked like something straight out of a Poe story. It was white with black vein-like webs crossing it, with a sharp and curved nose jutting from the bottom of the mask. Beneath the mask, a pair of beady orange eyes glowed and an abnormally wide mouth opened to reveal a sharp set of teeth, similar to Soul's. The creature smirked and threw the woman it had just killed. Her body hit a nearby wall with a dull thud before sliding limply to the ground, blood pooling under her. My stomach turned as I realized that she looked a little bit like Tsubaki. Sure enough, I looked back at the creature to find that his eyes were locked on Tsubaki, a sharp tongue crossing over his lips. He must have a favorite type.

"What a delectable looking girl…" he droned, his voice sickeningly sweet.

BlackStar's eyes narrowed as he held out his hand.

"Tsubaki!" he said calmly.

Tsubaki's face went from disgusted to determined as she nodded.

"Right!"

She jumped into the air and transformed into her chain scythe form, falling into BlackStar's hands as if they were made to catch her.

"I guess this one is ours, guys. Go find the others," BlackStar shouted, running towards the creature and grinning with excitement as he leapt into the air and prepared to strike.

"DO YOU THINK SHE LOOKS DELECTABLE NOW?! SHE IS THE POWERFUL WEAPON OF THE GREAT AND POWERFUL BLACKSTAR, THE MAN WHO WILL SURPASS GOD!"

The sounds of fighting ensued, but we were already on our way forward to find the remaining two pre-kishins. The search did not take long. The other two were together, and only a block away from their brother. They looked identical to him, and they had cornered a woman and her two children against a building.

"Looks like were just in time!" I shouted, glad that we could at least save these people. "Kid, Soul and I will take the one on the left. You take the other one, okay?

I looked over at him and he nodded.

"Right, then. Liz, Patty, let's go!" he said with determination as he held out his hands for his weapons.

With a "Right!" and a "Woo hoo!" the sisters transformed into matching pistols, which Kid caught expertly as he ran towards the creature.

For a moment I grinned at how confident he seemed in battle, but then the other creature caught sight of me and Soul and started towards us. I held out my hand towards Soul.

"Are you ready?" I asked him flatly.

Right now we had to forget what happened earlier. Killing this thing was priority one. Soul placed his hand in mine, and my fingers twitched a little, my anger stubbornly refusing to subside. Whatever, I can use my anger in this fight.

"Alright, here we go!" I yelled.