A/N: Hey everyone! I can't believe I'm a day late... Did this with my other story too. -_- Damn. So, I have bad news and good news. Well, okay news anyways. Bad news? I'm pretty sure that–to quote another FF author–my 'muse' has curled up and died somewhere. Yeah, it's pretty bad... But I am still a chapter ahead for this fic so hopefully I'll get my inspiration back before I fall behind! My other fic is so not going to be as lucky...

Also, note that I'm setting up a poll for CO. I've gotten a lot of requests for Chrona, so I'm going to make that happen! Don't know how, but... I just want to know whether you guys want a girl Chrona or a guy Chrona. (I'm pretty sure he's supposed to be a guy, but this time it's your call.) So please vote! I'll add him (her?) in as soon as I figure out how. Btw, if you have any ideas for that I'd love to hear them.

Enjoy the chapter!

Scarlet Shayde


"Hey, what's taking the girls so long?" Black Star asked, hands behind his head as he leaned against a tree.

Soul shrugged. "They're girls, dude. I mean, think of how long they all spend getting ready in the morning." Well, except for Maka... but she never was one to bother with primping other than tossing her sandy hair into pigtails.

Black Star considered this, then a grin spread across his face and he began sneaking over towards the forest.

"Hey, where d'you think you're going?" Inuyasha asked, noticing the assassin's movements from his perch.

"I'm just going to do a little harmless reconnaissance," Black Star snickered.

"Oh! I shall accompany you," Miroku said, violet eyes twinkling.

"Like hell you will!" Inuyasha snarled, jumping down from his tree to stand next to a livid Soul.

"Yeah, 'cuz lowly beings like you could stop me!" Black Star laughed, dodging Kid with Miroku beside him and taking off into the forest.

Inuyasha skidded to a stop at the boundary of the woods with Kid and Soul and growled.

"Damn it," Soul cussed, looking pissed as hell. "If we follow them now, we'll look like the perverts!"

"I'm sure the girls will take care of them," Kid said, sounding outraged at the two men. "But if you would like to help me murder them when they return, I will welcome the assistance." Black Star should really know better than to mess with the Reaper's weapons...

"Done," Inuyasha snarled.

Shaking his head, Shippō looked over at Kirara. "They're gonna regret this big-time." The fire-cat meowed in agreement.

The girls were exchanging battle stories when Sango hushed them. "Do you hear something?" she asked with a frown, tilting her head slightly to the side.

The others concentrated. "Yeah, I think I do now that you mention it..." Kagome said, listening carefully.

Behind some bushes, Miroku and Black Star froze. Uh-oh.

"Wait, is that... YOU PERVERTS!"

Two seconds later, both men were on the ground, Black Star with a throwing star embedded in his forehead and a rock smashed into his skull and Miroku sporting head wounds from both Hiraikotsu and Maka's trusty book.

"Hey!" the ninja said indignantly, trying to sit up.

Patti moved to the edge of the pool closest to the boys, being sure to keep her body out of their sight. The boys looked at her face with something akin to panic.

"Get out or I'll tear you limb from limb," the pistol threatened, a half-insane look in her usually bubbly blue eyes.

Miroku and Black Star immediately scrambled to their feet and ran as far away from the terrifying girl as possible.

The girls regarded each other in silence for a second.

"Who threw the shuriken?" Sango inquired. Tsubaki timidly raised her hand. "Nice."

"So whaddaya folks have to eat?" a calmer Liz asked, dunking her head to rinse out the shampoo and changing the subject.

"Hmm," Kagome mused, tapping her chin. "I think I should have enough ramen for one night, maybe. Good thing Inuyasha loves it so much."

"That sounds good," Maka said with a smile. "I know Soul and Black Star both like ramen."

"Yes, that should work," Sango nodded, stretching. "Are you all ready to go back? I'm getting hungry."

"Yeah! Food!" Patti cheered, jumping out of the spring. Tsubaki sweat-dropped at the complete 180 her personality had taken. The others followed and quickly dressed before heading back towards the campsite.

The girls arrived back at the campsite to find Miroku and Black Star knocked out in a heap. Inuyasha was still cracking his knuckles and Soul kept glaring at the unconscious duo. Kid had finally gotten a fire going, although a furious tic was visible in his forehead. Shippō was trying to keep from giggling and failing.

Tsubaki winced and Liz snickered. "Looks like you boys gave those pervs what they deserved," she drawled, sitting next to the fire.

"Fuck yeah we did," Soul muttered angrily. Liz grinned even wider at that.

"Soul, Maka said you like ramen, right? What about you, Kid?" Kagome asked as she sat next to Liz and started digging through her yellow backpack for the noodles.

"Ramen is quite satisfactory. It's just a shame that it is so impossible to prepare symmetrically," Kid bemoaned. Nonplussed, Kagome glanced at Liz who whispered, "Ignore him." Shrugging, the priestess took a water-filled pot from Patti with a quick "thank you" and set about cooking dinner.

Ten minutes and a bit of arguing later (not to mention Patti kicking Black Star and Miroku awake), everyone was sitting around the fire in a large circle. Kagome had been forced to get creative with dishedfs, as she had only six or so bowls, so she had utilized mugs and cups in order to make sure everyone got dinner. Patti and Liz had ended up sharing the pot Kagome had cooked the ramen in when the priestess realized she was two short.

"I hope you are all okay with sleeping on the ground," Sango said, slurping her noodles. "We don't carry around extra blankets..."

Maka shrugged, watching the boys in faint amusement as they sucked down ramen like they hadn't been fed in months. "We've all ended up crashing outside with no supplies after a mission at times, so we're kind of used to it. It shouldn't be too much of a problem." She finished her supper quickly and gently set the mug on the ground, chopsticks balanced on top.

"Oh, good," Sango said, letting out a breath as she lowered her empty bowl. "I wasn't sure; obviously this has never really been a problem before." Maka just laughed lightly and Tsubaki smiled softly. "It's perfectly alright," the dark blade assured kindly. "We don't want to impose."

"It is not a problem, Lady Tsubaki," Miroku said in a deep voice, thankfully not trying to proposition the elegant woman. The DWMA students let out a silent sigh of relief; they could easily guess how well that would go over with Black Star.

"Is everyone finished?" Kagome asked, glancing around the circle. Seeing their nods, she began to gather up the dishes carefully. Maka, Tsubaki, and Sango quickly stood to assist her.

"What can we do to help?" Liz asked, feeling sort of useless.

Kagome looked thoughtful, then answered, "Well, someone should double-check and make sure the fire isn't going to catch if we leave it burning all night, which we probably will have to–it's gonna get cold. A couple people can help me wash the dishes, and somebody should put the food away. Everyone else could start clearing off spaces on the ground so we can all sleep."

"Okay," Liz said with a stretch. She got up and waved to Patti. "We can start clearing the area up a little so we don't wake up with rocks embedded in our asses." Soul let out a small chuckle at the pistol's blunt words.

"I can check the fire," Miroku offered helpfully.

"I'll put away the food and Tsubaki and Maka can help Kagome clean the dishes," Sango said, tossing a few washcloths to the priestess. "Which means the rest of you boys can work on clearing the area for us."

Soul shrugged indifferently, Inuyasha snorted, Kid nodded primly and Black Star began laughing at the top of his lungs. "HAHAHA! THE GREAT BLACK STAR WILL SHOW YOU PUNY MORTALS HOW IT'S DONE!" he shouted, running to a small part of the clearing and enthusiastically chucking small rocks and sticks over his shoulder into the forest. Inuyasha felt his eye twitch a bit at the assassin's words. He had to get stuck traveling with an egomaniac...

Maka just sighed and led Kagome and Tsubaki back towards the stream leading off the hot spring.

"So Black Star..." Kagome began as she scrubbed out the pot, not sure what to say. "He's, uh, an interesting guy."

"That's one way to put it," Maka said dryly, rinsing a bowl and handing it over to Tsubaki to dry.

"I know he's a little rough around the edges," Tsubaki said softly, "but he's really an amazing person once you get to know him and he'd do anything for his friends."

To Kagome's slight surprise, Maka nodded in agreement. "Yeah. He's crazy but I've known him my whole life. He's my oldest friend–like a brother, really. So don't judge him too harshly. He had a pretty hard life back before the DWMA."

Tsubaki looked at her best friend with a bit of sadness in her eyes. "So did you," she reminded gently.

Maka gave a self-deprecating little laugh and looked down for a moment. "Yeah," she said, her voice lost in thought. "I guess we all did."


A/N: Hm. Well. Definitely not my best work. Anyways, action is coming in a few chapters, so hang in there! The next update has so much fluff I could make a mattress with it... well.

Like I said, I'm hoping to get my inspiration back before I fall behind on this story. I'll do what I can...

Don't forget to go vote on the poll and review!

See you next week!

Scar