"Happy birthday, Tsubaki!"
"A-ah, thanks!"
Maka, Liz and Patty rushed to hug their black-haired friend while Soul and Kid watched from a few feet away, but the former seemed preoccupied with something else. Kid looked at his red-eyed friend and asked, "Is everything all right, Soul?"
"I don't see Black Star anywhere," muttered Soul, looking around.
"He's probably looking for the cake, Soul," replied Kid, shrugging. "We did order a big one."
"Black Star did, not me," replied the white-haired boy with a chuckle. "Still, you'd think he wouldn't take his time for his own partner's birthday, don't you think?"
"He did arrive two hours late for yours, and you're his best friend," commented the young Shinigami.
"Yeah, but he arrived with…" he looked at the girls that were giggling while chatting with each other and his pupils dilated to become dots.
"What?" asked Kid, who didn't understand what Soul meant.
"I didn't ask you to tag along."
"If there's a party and food, you bet I'm going!"
"Didn't I tell you to piss off a few times already?"
"Watch the language, boy."
Black Star scowled while carrying an enormous box towards Kid's mansion, but he wasn't alone. Dante and his crew were walking right behind him, and the white-haired man had a gluttonous expression in his face. Black Star wasn't too pleased with the situation, however.
"Tsubaki won't wanna see you," he bluffed, trying to make the group leave.
"We wanna know your crew better," said Rebellion while adjusting his glasses. "This is a good chance to make friends!"
"And to eat," chuckled Artemis after Cerberus barked twice. "Let's hope there's some good meat for the pooch."
"Goddammit…" said Black Star with a grimace.
The Shinigami Manor appeared before their eyes, and the gates opened by themselves, allowing the group to enter. Black Star wondered if Dante had an ulterior motive for crashing the party, but they all seemed as illogical as they sounded ridiculous, so he dismissed the thought. Dante whistled lowly when he saw the mansion up close. Kid obviously made the manor look symmetrical, but had done a marvelous job at it, for the mansion looked like it belonged to a God of Death. Black Star kicked on the door instead of knocking because his hands were full, and Liz answered the door.
"Hey, Black Star," she greeted happily before noticing the crowd behind him. "I see you brought guests."
"I didn't—" the blue-haired young man began to protest, but the cyan-haired boy named Rudra interrupted him.
"Yes, ma'am," he said. "We are honored to be received in your household."
"We'll be gracious guests," added Agni with a smile.
"We won't cause any trouble," promised Rudra.
"We'll only eat the food when we're allowed to," vowed Agni.
"We also brought a gift," said Rudra, pulling out a small, thin box.
"HEY! THAT'S MINE, LITTLE BASTARD!" shouted Black Star, kicking the cyan-haired boy in the stomach.
"Oi, leave my brother alone!" shouted Agni, who set his hand on fire and was ready to attack, but Nevan stepped in front of him.
"That's enough, you two," said she while putting her hands on her hips. "And Rudra, give the gift box back. We don't want a fight in front of the birthday girl."
"Oh, I'm not the birthday girl," said Liz while a drop of sweat rolled down her forehead. "But come in; we don't wanna spoil the cake outside…"
With that said, she let the whole troupe in, and told Black Star where to place the cake so they could all sing "Happy Birthday" together, which the blue-haired Meister didn't find pleasant at all. He insisted that he hadn't brought Dante and his weapons, but Liz was paying more time to the hunter's physique than her friend. The boy gave up and went to greet Soul and Kid, who were looking at him suspiciously.
"What?" asked the blue-haired Meister when he noticed his friends' looks.
"What took you so long?" asked Soul.
"Since when are you friends with Dante?" added Kid, who noticed the new visitor.
"He's not my friend!" said Black Star, starting to lose his cool. "The asshole just decided to crash the party!"
"Maka doesn't seem to mind, though," muttered the white-haired boy, who was looking at his pigtailed Meister partner interviewing the white-haired man. "I wonder what she's asking him, though…"
Maka was excited to talk personally to Dante, but the white-haired man wasn't that engaged into the conversation.
"So how come you're not tempted into becoming a full-fledged Kishin?" the girl asked.
"Cause I don't feel like it," muttered the man, uninterested. When he saw the girl's slightly disappointed expression, he added, "Besides, I have half an Angel Soul that cancels the Demon Wavelength, so I guess that also neutralizes me…"
"Awesome! I have a Grigori Soul as well!" exclaimed the girl happily. "Does your brother also resist the Madness with his Grigori Soul?"
Dante's eye twitched at the mention of Vergil; Artemis, who was drinking soda in a corner, noticed her Meister's attitude and quickly made her way to assist him. When she was close enough, she called at the sandy-haired girl.
"Hey, King girl!"
"Huh?" Maka turned her head and noticed the purple-haired girl approaching and, unable to recall her name, replied, "Oh, Poe fan!"
"Heh, my name's Artemis," chuckled the older girl while adjusting her glasses and shaking Maka's hand.
"Maka," replied the green-eyed girl with a smile. "What's up?"
"Oh, um," Artemis wasn't prepared to start a conversation, but she quickly improvised. "I was wondering if you read comic books."
"Comic books?" Maka looked uncomfortable. "That's more Soul's domain…"
"Soul?"
"Yeah, Soul Eater; my partner."
"That's a pretty lousy name, if you ask me," commented Artemis lowly.
"Well, he is a weapon…" said Maka with a faltering smile.
"What's his form?"
"He's the last Death Scythe… and a literal one at that."
"Nice job, then!" Artemis was impressed to meet the person who forged the last Death Scythe before the Shibusen-Witch alliance.
"What about you, Artemis?" asked Maka. "What's your form?"
"I'm a gun… I guess…" Artemis looked unsure as to what her weapon form was. "I'd say it's also an arm-brace… but I could also be a dart-gun…"
"Why don't you show me?" asked Maka, who was unsure as to whether laugh at the girl or feel sorry for her.
"That'd be better," replied Artemis before leaping and transforming into a silver arm-brace/gun, which fell rather heavily on the sandy-haired girl's left arm. "Whoops, sorry!"
"It's ok; I can handle it," replied the green-eyed girl while struggling to hold the weapon in her hand. "Cool! What kinda projectiles do you shoot?"
Before Artemis could reply, however, Black Star's voice interrupted her.
"All right, everyone!" he hollered. "It's time to sing Happy Birthday to Tsubaki!"
"Welcome back, Sid," said Spirit Albarn while sitting in the Death Room in Shibusen. "Did you hear the news?"
A tall blue-skinned zombie with black dreadlocks shook the Death Scythe's hand and replied, "So it's true that the half-Kishin came back?"
"Only one of them," answered Spirit. "But don't worry; Dante seems much more fun now than when he left."
"Dante, huh?" Sid Barett's partner, Nygus, stroke her chin pensively. "No sign of Vergil?"
"By the sound of it, the Sparda twins had a quarrel and a parting," shrugged Spirit. "But Dante took a job here, so at least we won't have to worry about Vergil coming back to resurrect Asura…"
"How do you think he'll react when he finds out he's gone?" asked Sid, whose undead face contorted into a smirk.
"He'll probably try and best whoever did it…" analyzed Nygus.
"…and only I'm awesome enough to have the best partner in the world!" Black Star finished his birthday speech to Tsubaki, and everyone present applauded his failed but honest attempt at driving everyone's attention to someone other than himself. The blue-haired boy then hugged his partner tightly and said, "Happy birthday, Tsubaki-chan."
"B-Black Star," the busty black-haired girl was speechless at her partner's full dedication to her during that special day, and she hugged him back.
In a corner, Dante was grabbing a drink and sharing it with Revenant and Rebellion. He looked slightly disgusted at the pair, and Revenant noticed.
"You okay, Dante?" asked the man with the Mohawk.
"I wish Lady could hug me like that…" replied Dante with a hiccup.
"He's drunk again…" remarked Rebellion to Revenant, and the two men grabbed Dante by the arms and were about to drag him out of the mansion, but the twin boys Agni and Rudra rushed in front of the trio and tripped Dante. "Goddammit, kids! Hold still!" Rebellion smacked the boys' heads and made them help Dante up.
Maka noticed the crowd was diminishing in size, and she quickly ran to the front door to see who was leaving the Shinigami Manor; she quickly caught up to Artemis and asked her why her group was leaving.
"Dante's drunk again," replied the purple-haired woman with a disappointed face. "I know you guys aren't too much into booze—"
"Well, it's more like we know someone who makes the booze go super-effective…" Maka remembered that the previous week she had sent the cat-witch Blair to explore the Witches' Realm with Kim, but the pinkette had returned cat-less. But that story could wait for another day, Maka thought, and she went to accompany Dante and his troupe out of the mansion, when suddenly…
"THE LITTLE BASTARD!"
Black Star rushed at incredible speed and tackled Rudra to the ground, quickly removing a familiar box from his person and yelling triumphantly, "You thought you could just pull that trick off again, could you?!"
"Oi, get offa the kid!" shouted Dante, who quickly straightened himself up and punched the blue-haired young man in the face, sending him reeling.
"Dante?" Rebellion, Revenant and Beowulf were surprised to see their Meister partner so steady after them having to carry him out of the mansion. Then again, this wouldn't be the first time the white-haired man pretended to be drunk just to get out of a party he found unamusing. Artemis' hand found its way to her frustrated forehead.
Maka looked at her childhood friend, about to reprimand him, but kept quiet when she realized that box was the very gift the blue-haired assassin had asked her to keep safe in her closet until the party arrived. She looked back at Dante, who was reprimanding Rudra for stealing, but the cyan-haired boy looked away in disrespect.
Tsubaki came out of Shinigami Manor's main building and into the courtyard to check on her hot-blooded partner, and Black Star looked back at her for half a second before realizing she was there. He uncharacteristically stumbled to his feet and walked to his raven-haired partner, who looked at him curiously. He mumbled something that made her eyes widen while he presented the box to her, which Rudra scowled at. The birthday girl didn't open the box, though; her arms wrapped around her partner tightly and her lips met his cheek quickly.
Dante punched a hole in his apartment wall. Rebellion had never seen his friend this angry at nothing he knew about before, but he knew that face was only made whenever Vergil and Dante met. The claymore then thought to himself that Dante's older twin wasn't around anymore; the defeat of Nero Angelo was certain proof of that. Finally out of any possibilities for what could make his Meister partner so wrathful, he decided to ask him.
"What the hell, Dante?"
"I dunno, man." Dante ran a hand through his hair in frustration, but he didn't know what else to do. "That kid is seriously incorrigible…"
"Who, Rudra?" Rebellion shrugged and rolled his eyes. "I told you that crashing a party was the worst idea you could have today."
"What? No!" Dante shook his head quickly. "They were practicing their stealth; that's much better than having to listen to them—"
"You idiot; you don't tell Agni or Rudra to practice pickpocketing!"
"I still hate his guts!"
"Who the hell are you talking about?!"
"Black Star!"
Rebellion's glasses slipped to the tip of his nose, and the man thought that maybe his partner wasn't entirely sober after all. He adjusted his lenses and sighed deeply before saying, "Go to sleep, moron."
"Yeah, I'll do that…" Dante deepened the hole in the wall before stomping into the room that the men shared.
The black-haired man groaned and decided to go for a walk in the city. After walking for a few blocks, he saw a shadow he immediately recognized as Nevan's (who wouldn't forget those tantalizing curves?) slipping away. He accelerated his pace and caught up with her after a minute or two and called her out softly.
"Psst, Nevan!"
"Oh?" Nevan turned around and easily recognized her ally and companion. "What're you doing here, Rebellion?"
"I figured I should walk around now that our friend went to bed…"
"Was he really drunk, though?"
"I think so," replied the green-eyed man with a shrug. "I've never seen him so pissed at a kid. Especially when he knew the kid was in the right this time."
"Who the hell taught Rudra to pickpocket?" wondered the redheaded woman aloud, and Rebellion nodded austerely.
"Anyways," continued the attractive man, "what're you doing here, Nevan?"
"I work at the cabaret," replied the Demon Guitar with slight coyness in her tone.
"Figures," muttered the Claymore while he crossed his arms. "I guess you didn't want Dante to know?"
"It's not like he's not gonna visit it, though." Nevan shrugged with a smirk and looked at her friend in the eye.
"Whatever." Rebellion made as to resume his way, and Nevan followed closely. After a short chat, the pair made it to a flower shop, where Rebellion bought a bouquet of camellias.
"Who're those for?" asked Nevan, interested.
"The birthday girl," replied Rebellion flatly.
"Don't let Artemis see you with her," teased the redhead before bidding the man farewell through a kiss in the cheek.
"Don't be silly; I'm gonna apologize for Dante," replied the green-eyed man while the pair parted ways.
"Is it just me, or is everyone being too nice today?" asked Soul aloud while he and Maka saw Rebellion leave their doorstep—it had been ten minutes since his encounter with Nevan—, headed to Black Star and Tsubaki's apartment.
"Well, Tsubaki does deserve an especially good treatment today, you know." Maka put her hands on her hips and stared at the man's well-built figure while the view lasted.
"Yeah, but even the Star-man was being… well…"
"A little out of character? Yeah, I noticed it too." The sandy-haired girl remembered how bashful Black Star had looked earlier that day when he handed his very special gift to his partner. "Maybe they do like each other?"
"How many times have we been over this, Maka?" chuckled the white-haired boy.
"Pretty much since you met him," replied the giggling green-eyed girl.
FINALLY! XDDD man, we procrastinated a bit on this one... sowwy~! but Tsubaki's birthday was a pretty special occasion, and we didn't wanna ruin it with a fight... :P maybe next time, folks~~
So what did Black Star give to Tsubaki as her present? (seriously, I wanna read your guesses-post them as reviews!)
Was Dante really drunk, or was he just high? Why the hell is Blair still in the Witches' Realm?! (I think Klaus doesn't know what she'll do in this series, so that's why she's still left out) How do you think Tsubaki will react to dat sexy-ass Rebellion sending her a bouquet of flowers?!
All this and more in the next chapter of Kishin May Cry~~!
~Humbert
PS. I think it's kinda obvious that we're trying our best to mix both Dantes for this series, if our dear readers hadn't noticed already...