Tsubaki watched the blade enter Black*Star's chest as though in slow motion. The whole scene was shrouded in a horrific surreality. A shower of scarlet droplets as the knife was violently wrenched from his flesh. Arachne's deranged cackle. Black*Star's agonized gasp as his body slumped forward in the witch's grip. This isn't happening. This isn't happening. This isn't happening.

Arachne raised the knife again. The scarlet sheen on the steel, glittering like rubies in the daylight, is what finally snapped Tsubaki out of her trance. Black*Star would survive. Tsubaki would make sure of it, but she had to act quickly.

Struggling to her feet, she winced slightly at the dull ache beginning in her side. She must have cracked a few ribs on the landing. Pushing the pain aside, Tsubaki allowed the end of her hair to transform into a partial chain scythe. She gripped the chain in her fist, allowing the cold metal to bring her back to reality. Black*Star was injured and she had no idea what had happened to Kid and Maka. It was up to her to make sure that Arachne didn't destroy everything.

The witch had paused before striking. She was whispering to Black*Star. The meister was shaking; whether it was in rage or pain, Tsubaki didn't know. All she knew was that she had to save him. If she didn't…what was left? To her, the foolish boy with the gravity defying hair was everything. She couldn't lose him.

Something Arachne said made Black*Star jerk his head up. Rage was etched in his features as he spat a glob of blood directly into the witch's face. She whipped her head back in disgust, a furious snarl marring her face. With Arachne distracted and blinded by blood and anger, Tsubaki struck.

The weapon darted forward, swiftly closing the gap between her and the evil enchantress before her. With practiced ease, Tsubaki brought her scythe up and slashed toward Arachne. The wind whistled with the speed of the attack, alerting Arachne just before the blade would have buried itself in her back. Arachne turned, catching the glint of silver in her peripheral vision. With an enraged scream, she plunged her own knife back into Black*Star's chest and flung him to the ground. The assassin, losing himself in the pain, broke his own personal vow to silence and cried out as his body hit the cold asphalt below. Arachne whirled around, but wasn't fast enough to avoid the attack. Tsubaki buried the weapon into the witch's ribcage and then sprung away, leaving a hideous gash in Arachne's chest.

Though it had felt like eternity, it all happened in mere seconds. Tsubaki stood, mere meters from the witch, blood-stained chain scythe clutched in her hand, watching as scarlet pooled at Arachne's feet. The witch was staring at the wound in blatant disbelief. She swiftly composed herself, raising her head to stare at Tsubaki.

"Impressive, child," she said with a feigned sweetness in her voice. "But you're going to have to do better than that. I'm not fragile, you know."

Arachne lunged at Tsubaki, her speed barely diminished by the gaping hole in her side. Tsubaki dodged, but only just. The weapon could feel the crackle of energy hiss past her cheek, crashing into the alley wall behind her and leaving a smoking crater. Tsubaki took a step back to steady herself, noticing that Arachne had cornered her against the wall of energy. Belatedly, she realized that she stood next to Kid's prone form, and that Maka and the weapons had too escaped the confines of the witch's nightmare.

Arachne smirked, blood staining her dress and magic crackling in her palms. "Nowhere to run anymore, my dear. How is it that you fight so valiantly, even though you've so thoroughly lost?"

Tsubaki glared at the witch, showing anger but inwardly terrified. She couldn't see a way out. She hadn't felt fear like this since the kishin. Asura had been powerful, but Arachne was something else. The witch played by no rules; she had no Achilles' heel. Tsubaki had never been this afraid, but she sure as hell wasn't going to let Arachne know that. Standing taller, Tsubaki responded.

"I won't give up. Not when there are people who need me."

Arachne laughed, a gleeful, derisive giggle. "Who needs you, girl? Them? They'll all be dead shortly. Face it. You're nothing. You've lost."

Tsubaki could feel herself shaking. Fear, anger, and sorrow swirled within her, battling for dominance. Anger won.

"No, I haven't!"

Arachne braced herself, preparing for an attack, but it never came. Instead, a cloud of opaque smoke erupted from where Tsubaki had been standing, obscuring Arachne's vision. Outraged, the witch began to blast energy at random, spewing black blasts into the smoke.

Tsubaki could hear Arachne shouting. Knowing she had limited time, she darted over to her fallen meister. Black*Star was leaning against the alley wall, blood pooling beneath him. His eyes were closed and his breathing shallow. The knife was lying by his side where he'd dropped it after removal, stained with crimson.

Suppressing a sob in fear that Arachne would hear her, Tsubaki unwound her scarf from her neck, pressing it gently into Black*Star's wound. With a strangled gasp, his eyes cracked open and looked up at his weapon through a haze of pain.

"It's going to be okay, Black*Star," she whispered, brushing a few stray strands of hair from her meister's face. "It's okay; I'm here."

"Tsubaki…" Black*Star breathed, barely getting the words out.

"Shh. Don't talk. Please. You need to save your energy."

Black*Star shook his head weakly. "You need to…you need to get Kid…"

Tsubaki bit her lip. "I won't leave you."

"Please, Tsubaki. He can kill her. I know he can."

"Black*Star—"

The blue-haired meister gently pushed Tsubaki's hands away. "That bitch needs to die. I don't want her to get you too."

Tsubaki could feel the tears flowing down her cheeks. This felt less like strategic advice and more like a farewell. She wasn't prepared for this. She wasn't ready to say goodbye. Tsubaki stared at her hands, stained scarlet with Black*Star's blood.

"Look at me, Tsubaki." Tsubaki raised her head, indigo eyes meeting green. Black*Star flashed a weak version of his trademark grin. "I love you. You know that, right?"

Numbly, Tsubaki nodded. He loved her, and she loved him too. She opened her mouth to respond in kind, but Black*Star pressed a finger to her lips. "Go."

Slowly, Tsubaki stood. The tears were drying, leaving tracks on the sides of her face. She looked once more at Black*Star, uttering "I've always loved you."

Then, Tsubaki turned away, stepping forward into the thinning smoke. She would wake up Kid and then they would kill Arachne.

For Black*Star. For everyone.

"I hope to get an update out soon." Oops. Five months later.

Y'all can thank Kevin for this cause he's a little fucker who wouldn't leave me alone and ranted at me for like ten minutes today about how I hadn't updated.

And oh, look, TsuStar feels. Sorry if you don't like it, but it's my SE OTP. So yeah.

I'm not even going to bother saying the next update will be out soon. Maybe it will, maybe not. I make no promises. Sorry.

Really though, thank you all for sticking with me. I'm sure I'm not easy to deal with. So thank you all so much.

Hope you enjoyed this, though. Let me know what you think ^^

-AO121