Author's note: For those who've wanted to ask but haven't and in honor of the two that have: My update schedule for both my Soul Eater fics is every Friday, sometime between two and six Eastern Standard Time. I will warn you when I'm running out of inspiration.

Asking for updates, while kind of flattering, is not likely to actually net you them. Better way to get the updates you want: Give me ideas for them! ANYTHING is accepted: funny, serious, romantic. Crack- that right there's a dream sequence, maybe the character got drugged and hallucinated, maybe they have an epiphany about their life from it. Contribute to keeping the fic going! Also be CERTAIN to tell me about how I do in action scenes: I have big plans for the end of this fic and I need to practice and know what I'm doing well and badly on.

If you're too embarassed (which you never should be) to reveiw where others can see, I'm open to PMs, I ALWAYS want to hear from my readers. Just title it something like 'Private Review to...'

Thank you for your time.

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The following three days had gone... well, as smoothly as was likely possible, considering. Maka discovered that Blackstar hadn't been acting when they'd met, he really was just that... enthusiastic. Kid was okay; very polite, neat and tidy, and extremely Obsessively Compulsive, about symmetry specifically, and order in general. Tsubaki was just as, if not more, kind a soul as she'd first seemed to be; always helpful, offering notes if one of the others forgot, willing to help them study or explain anything they might not understand... as many times as it took in some cases.

Liz and Patty had changed over the years. They were calmer now, more open, more friendly; not as severe or serious. It was interesting getting to know them all over again, and enlightening; because it showed just how much Maka and Crona had changed, too. Some things were still the same, but it was surprising when they discovered something about themselves that they'd never noticed.

And then there was the confusing situations with Soul (for Maka) and Ragnarok (for the both of them). Soul was like a roulette: going from calm to angry (usually not at either of them) to laid back, but the worst were the thankfully rare times he went morose and quiet. Maka never knew what to do, and the others advised leaving him alone; he never spoke of what had him so upset.

Then Ragnarok had taken to escorting them to class and telling them about the school, but it didn't escape either of their notice that his appearance rarely came without Donna and -they had learned his name- Aiden in the wings. The classroom situation had devolved into an all-out war between the two girls, with snide remarks and special detentions -that didn't seem to be working- becoming ever more frequent...

Maka let her head fall against her desk, growling low in her throat at the thought of the raven-haired menace. She sighed, gathered her things, and was among the first out of class. After casting a scathing glare at a certain short raven, Maka turned to the others, "Crona and I have to go now. See you next week."

People. Why did it have to be people? She'd have rather faced- Wait... no, they were technically people, too.

As soon as they got back to their rooms, Maka threw herself onto her bed and screamed into her pillow, "I hate her! What reason does she have to be so nasty to us other than for the pleasure of it? I hate her! Hate her hate her hate her!" she let out another muffled screech.

Crona settled beside her and pet her from her head to her shoulders, "School is hard. But we can handle this."

Maka's thoughts were black as she glared at an undefined spot on the wall. The only way she wanted to fix it was to hold that evil girl against the wall by her throat and- She perked up and turned to Crona, "Let's go out tomorrow. We can have some fun away from all these - these... people."

Liz slammed the short, dark-haired girl back against the lockers, pinning her there with a strong arm across her collar, "Now listen here, you little bitch: if you don't leave Maka and Crona alone, you aren't even going to live to regret it."

Donna struggled against her hold and snarled at her, "Really? What are you going to do about it?"

Liz leaned close and smiled in a way that sent tremors through the other girl, "Me? Honey, all I've gotta do is sit back and say I never saw you the day your body turns up."

"You don't scare me, Elizabeth Thompson! I won't be intimidated by your low-class ghetto attempts!"

Liz's face darkened and she tilted her head to hide her eyes, "You know, I came here to save your worthless, ungrateful life. I wasn't worried about Maka and Crona, you stupid whore. It's not the fact that they now run with the son of Death, or that they're wards of the Snake Witch, children of a Death Weapon and another powerful Witch; none of that affected my assessment in the least. It's the fact that one doesn't fuck with one of the Black Dragon Twins if they value their lives.

"But now, when you've managed to insult not only me and my sister, but the ones that saved our lives; I really hope you don't listen to me. I hope you ignore my warning, I hope you go pick on Crona, and tease Maka; I really do. Because I'm going to sit back and watch them take you the hell apart piece by fucking piece, and I'm going to laugh at your screams and pleas for mercy and say 'I told you so' while they make you wear your insides on your outsides. And not only am I going to tell the authorities I didn't see you the day you died, I'm going to give Maka and Crona an unbreakable alibi just to spite your bloody corpse."

The little twat was finally getting the picture, "I-I-I-"

"If you're attempting to apologize, don't even bother trying: 'forgiveness' isn't in my low-class, ghetto vocabulary." she shoved the dumb girl away, "Go ahead and try your shit on one of them when you aren't in the safety of a classroom, I dare you: I've told her the rules around here and Maka will have no issue popping a pathetic little bitch-blister like yourself. Get out of my sight before I take it upon myself to practice my marksmanship in the halls. Not supposed to hit students, but maybe I'll just have a temporary bout of very bad aim."

She fled.

Liz snorted and turned on her heel, stalking off down the hall. She slowed when she saw Kid waiting for her at the corner, "You're being very protective of the new students..."

She wasn't, really. She was honestly just smoothing the way, because she hadn't been lying. If threatened and given the go-ahead, Maka and Crona wouldn't tolerate being bullied, they'd put down their enemies swiftly and mercilessly. You didn't fight against the Black Dragon Siblings unless you were willing to risk your limbs at the very least, because they didn't know how to pull their punches: they had two modes, lethal and non-lethal. And bludgeoning and dismemberment didn't belong resolutely to the former.

"I'm not. Think of it as a public service announcement."

"Why do Maka and Crona need a service announcement?"

"Because if people keep messing with them, someone's going to get hurt, and it won't be those two."

"Wh- how do you know that?"

"Because I know them."

"Oh. Well what can you tell me about them?"

"The same thing I've been telling everyone else: don't fuck with them."

"Liz-"

"No, Kid. Patty and I knew them before we met you, we owe them. Leave it at that. I won't tell you more; I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because it's not our story to tell."

"But-"

"No."

Liz and Kid looked at the almost-forgotten third member of their party, "Patty?"

The small blonde shook her head, "You can't take their secrets."

Kid hesitated, the rare serious tone in the younger Thompson's voice inciting it, "Why is that?"

"Because... Because when there's nothing left... no food, no blankets, no place to sleep, no name to be called... then our secrets are the only thing we have left. And that makes it more important and special when they're shared then, because that means you're one of theirs now, too."

Liz pulled her sister close and rubbed her arm reassuringly, "Well said, Patty. Very well said."

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