Black Star's POV

"Tsubaki…come back. I need you to come back. Come on, damn it! Wake up!" I shouted as I shook her slightly. "She's not going to wake up; especially with you shaking her like that." Stein walked up to me with a cigarette in his mouth. I got up, but I didn't move my head.

I just looked at Tsubaki. "How is she?" I asked. I was hoping that this day would never come; I never wanted to see Tsubaki get hurt.

"Well, she got hurt very bad. I'm surprised she's even still alive. I don't know if she will ever wake back up. If you like, you can try to resonate with her. At least you'll see the condition of her soul. But even if you did that, her injuries are not in her favor. I honestly don't think she's going to make it until next week."

I froze where I stood. "No. You're wrong. You can't mean Tsubaki, right? I mean, she's my partner! She can't just die!" I sat back down and buried my face in her chest, hoping for some sort of comfort in it. I heard her heart beat, so that was something, at least.

"I'm sorry, Black Star. No one's safety is guaranteed at the academy. You know that. And in her case, she let her guilt get the better of her and her brother's soul came out and she lost the battle. Her soul is weakening, though. It's fading, and fast. I suggest if you would like to say goodbye to her, Soul Resonance would be the best option right now. Would you like me to help you?"

I turned away from Tsubaki to face the professor. "No." I said. "I understand. I've got to go now; tell Tsubaki that she was a great student in my class." Then he opened the door and left. A tear fell from my eye.

Why am I crying? She's going to be fine; no reason for me to get all worked up about it. Okay, here goes. I moved my forehead to Tsubaki's and concentrated on her wavelength.

It was faint, but still there. When I opened my eyes, I saw a large room. It was the room of the enchanted sword; I knew because I've been here before. "Tsubaki! Where are you?" I called as loud as I could.

I scanned the whole area until I found her on the floor, bleeding. "Tsubaki!" I sprinted towards her. She turned towards me and looked at me, confused. "Black Star?" she was so silent; more so than usual.

"Are you okay?" I asked, knowing the answer already. She sat up, wincing. "No, not really. And if you're here," she looked down at her wounds. "I'm dying…aren't I?" I hugged her, despite her groans.

"No. I won't let you die." She hugged me back. "You have to, Black Star. It's alright. At least you're here with me. I can feel myself slipping away…" I hugged her tighter.

"No, you can't die, Tsubaki! Please, don't die! I need you!" I let the tears fall this time. She pulled away. She had been crying too. "I don't want to die, Black Star. But I have to. I'm so sorry. But I want you to know one thing before I go."

I took her hand in mine. "No. No, you can tell me when you wake up. You're not going to die, Tsubaki. You're not. You're perfectly fine." She smiled as she cried.

"It can't be helped, Black Star. I lost a fight, and it was fatal. But that's really sweet." She held on to my hand. Then she fell to the floor. "I'm not going to last much longer," she said, barely under a whisper.

I cried even harder and buried my head in her neck. "No, Tsubaki. Don't go. You can't. I haven't even turned you into a Death Scythe yet! What about everything we still need to do?" I lifted my face up enough to see hers, and I blushed when I realized that we were only inches away from each other. "I love you, Black Star." Then she closed her eyes.

"You think I'm just going to let you die after you tell me something like that? If you think that you're going so early, you're wrong!" I shouted as I shot her with my soul wavelength. Her soul didn't respond much. But there was still a spark, and that was enough to keep me going.

"You can't just leave me like that! And do you want to know why?" I shouted as I stopped hitting her with my soul wavelength. I pressed my lips against hers, then pulled away and continued with my soul wavelength.

"Because I love you too, Tsubaki! I love you and I never want you to leave me!" Finally, there was a response from her soul. It was flickering, but that was enough. "Yes, Tsubaki, I love you! Now wake up so I can finally turn you into a Death Scythe!"

I put all of my power into the last blast and then collapsed on the floor. For the first time in my life, I felt weak. I didn't let myself fall out of the Resonance, but I laid unconscious inside of Tsubaki's soul.

Kid's POV

Surprisingly, neither Black Star nor Tsubaki were here. That was strange, since I know Black Star would have felt this wavelength and come running. But as I approached the school, I saw a huge blood stain on the stairs, and it was fresh blood.

"Um, K-Kid? Whose blood is that?" Liz asked shakily. Patty laughed hysterically. "Maybe it's your blood, sis!" she joked. I turned around to face Patty. "This is no joke, girls. Something really bad is happening tonight. We must find out immediately what it is. Come on."

I grabbed Patty, who grabbed Liz and started climbing the steps. "But it wasn't even me who said that! It was Patty!" Liz complained as Patty just kept laughing. I increased our speed.

What must be up there…it can't be good. When I reached the top of the stairs, I let go of Patty and Liz and I ran towards my father's room. I busted down the doors. "Father! There's something you should know…"

I stopped speaking as I saw Asura and my father fighting. Is that…Asura? So Maka lost…This isn't good at all. Suddenly, Asura sent a large light at me, but my father blocked it with a shield in front of me.

I turned back to the girls. "He's weak right now, so let's use this to our advantage. We have to use the Lines of Sanzu. It's the only method of ours that has proven effective." Liz looked stunned.

"Kid, I don't know if we can do that. The last time we used it, you were nearly dead. You had no idea what was going on." I realized that it was going to be difficult, but this was the only way to defeat the kishin.

"I had some sort of control over it. I think I might remember how to do it again." Liz sighed in annoyance. "Okay, fine. Let's say it works and we miraculously pull that technique off. You still have to remember that that is Maka up there! It's just like what that witch did to the little girl, Rachael."

I shook my head. "Look at the kishin closer, Liz. When Medusa possessed that girl, she looked like a little girl still. I don't see anything on that body that represents Maka. My guess is that he killed Maka and filled her body with his soul. So that's not Maka anymore. She's dead."

Liz stared at the kishin. Then she turned away. "Oh, god!" She sniffed. She put her hands in her hair, frustrated. Then she turned back to me. "Is there any sure way to make sure she isn't still in there? She can't just be dead!"

I nodded. "Yes, and I already checked. I used my soul perception; she's not there. Her soul is just gone." I was shocked at this, too; just as much as Liz was. I was very sad that Maka had died; she was one of my closest friends.

But right now, I had to worry about defeating that kishin. My father wouldn't have been fighting Asura if he didn't check, as well. I looked up to the fight. It appeared that my father was losing the battle.

We had to act quickly, before it was too late. "Come on; let's do this." I said, and Liz and Patty. Patty stood forward. "We'll kill that damn kishin for what he did to Maka," Patty said.

Liz walked up to her sister and put her hand on her shoulder. "You're damn right, we will, sis. He has to pay for his crime. Don't you think, Kid?" She turned to me. I smiled slightly. "Quite," I said through my teeth.