A/N: Sorry this took so long, all. Holidays with my family were fun, but a little busy. I posted up a Christmas special for this fic if you didn't catch it, and it can be found under my account as An Evans Family Christmas. Also, just a warning. My beta, who is also my sister, is at this moment fast asleep, and so this chapter may be a little…rougher than usual, but I didn't want to keep you waiting for much longer. Enjoy!

Happy New Year! My New Year's Resolution (one of them anyway) is to actually finish this story, so here we go!

Review Responses:

OfAllTheShizz, thanks! I feel kind of bad now that this chapter is so late, but I hope you enjoy the Christmas special if you decide to read it, and Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you too!

fanficlove2014, Rei is dumb about sharing information, so he probably won't tell anyone until it comes up, lol. Glad you liked it and hope you enjoy this chapter! Thanks for the review!

Diana Raven, I thought a bully named Dick would be a little too on the nose, lol. But yes, it was intentional (although not completely my idea). There is another intentional superhero reference in this fic, and although I won't tell you exactly who it is, I will advise you to look for the guy who's a dork until he takes off his glasses. Thanks for reading and reviewing!

cherrishish, thanks so much, and glad you enjoy the omakes! Soul and Maka's parenting style is way less questionable than Black*Star's or Stein's (thankfully Ayame and Shelley have awesome mothers) but I guess darkness is just in Annie's blood, lol.

AmyNChan, sorry for the confusion. Stein was in Japan for a bit, but there was a three week time skip between that and the next scene. I wasn't happy with that transition at all, but I was in too much of a hurry to post the chapter, I think. As far as the cooking goes, Rei has transitioned from cooking to survive to cooking as a hobby, which he thinks is totally uncool (he is wrong and all his friends love that he makes delicious food). Yeah, Annie is a little dark, but in that family, it's bound to happen. And yes, yay for friendship! Thanks again!

Disclaimer: I don't own Soul Eater, nor do I own any of the songs mentioned in this chapter.


CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Death Fest Redux; Once Upon a Halloween


"Senbonzakura, yoru ni magire, kimi no koe mo todokanai yo…"

Ayame pranced across Class Moonless Night's brightly lit stage, a microphone in her hand as she sang out the lyrics to yet another song. Rei frowned from his seat in a darker corner of the karaoke booth, looking up at Clark and Vayne who were standing in front of him. He shrugged.

"You're the ones who built her a stage," Rei said, looking up at them. "Now you want to get her off of it? Good luck with that."

"Please, Rei?" said Clark, "She listens to you."

Rei frowned, looking around Class Moonless Night's karaoke booth, and at the increasingly agitated line that had formed behind Ayame. He checked his watch and looked back at Clark.

"We have a match in twenty minutes," he said.

"Just talk to her?" Clark asked, looking stressed as always on the day of the Death Festival. "Otherwise all those people are going to go to Class Full Moon's booth, and you know Maka-sensei is taking this kind of seriously."

Inwardly, Rei groaned. The contest between his mother and Ox-sensei from Class Full Moon was starting to get out of hand. He'd been training for the tournament for the past month, so he'd been spared the worst of it, but the two classes had set up their karaoke booths next door to each other, and had even placed a voting table between them, encouraging visitors to try both booths and vote on which one they thought was best. Rei, knowing full well how his mother could be when she had it in her mind to do something, did not want to touch the contest with a ten foot pole.

But he looked up anyway as Ayame drew to the end of her song, raising his hand to catch her attention. She blinked at him, squinting in the spotlight, and smiled brightly, handing the microphone over to the next person in line and leaping off the stage to join him. She was wearing her best impression of a Halloween-themed school uniform today, with a black pleated skirt that he had last seen disappearing into her shopping basket last summer in Tokyo, and an orange and black top.

"What's up?" she asked, clasping her hands together behind her back.

"Clark and Vayne want you to tone it down," said Rei, shrugging. "Apparently they want someone else to have a turn on stage."

"Hey, leave me out of this," said Vayne, holding both of his hands up with his palms out. "I'm just here as the moral support."

Ayame frowned at Rei, not at Clark, which Rei privately thought was ridiculously unfair. "It's not like there've been any complaints."

"Actually, there have been!" said Clark, looking frazzled as he waved his clipboard at Ayame. "There have been, like, so many complaints!"

"From who?" Ayame asked.

"Oh, you know," said Clark. "From people who don't worship the ground you walk on."

"Oh, then who cares?"

"Ayame—," Rei began.

He was cut off by Clark whirling around suddenly, facing the door. Rei, Ayame, and Vayne frowned, the three of them turning to follow his gaze.

"Why is he here?" Clark asked, narrowing his eyes at Ethan, who had stepped in through the door.

"Uh…cause it's a free country?" Vayne suggested.

Clark scowled, watching as Ethan walked over to where Cassie was seated at their makeshift sound booth, resting his arms on the side as he leaned over and smiled at her. She glanced at him and unhooked one of her headphones off of her ear, saying something that none of them could catch at this distance.

"Doesn't he have his own booth to run?" Clark asked.

"I think he's in the tournament too," said Ayame.

"I see…" Clark stared at Ethan for a moment more before looking back at Rei. "Kick his butt for me?"

"He's in a different group from us," said Rei.

"Then let him get to the finals, and then kick his butt."

Rei opened his mouth to say that he couldn't really control who got into the finals and who didn't, but was cut off by Ayame nudging him sharply in the side.

"You got it!" Ayame chirped, giving Clark a thumbs up.

Rei rubbed at his side, glaring at her.

"Hey, Rei," Vayne said, before he could complain. "Aren't those your sisters?"

Rei looked up at those words, turning towards the door. Sure enough, Annie and Cori were walking in, Annie looking around uncertainly as she held onto Cori's arm with both of her own. Cori looked around, her eyes searching the audience, then grinned as she saw Rei, dragging Annie up towards him.

"Rei!" Cori said. "Mama said you'd be in here!"

Rei frowned at them. "What are you guys doing here?" he asked.

"We wanted to say hi," said Cori, thrusting her hands into her pockets. "We've got a lot of Halloween candy, see?" She drew out a double handful of candy in bright orange wrappers, offering some to Clark, Ayame and Vayne. Vayne grinned, taking one and placing a hand on her head.

"Don't mind if I do, kiddo," he said.

Clark's scowl eased somewhat, a reluctant smile coming onto his face as he turned towards Cori. "Thanks," he said, taking a candy.

Rei looked around, as if expecting Maka or Soul to pop out of the woodwork. "Mom and Dad aren't with you?" he asked.

Cori scowled at him, drawing herself up to her full height and puffing her chest out proudly. "We're eight and a half!" she said. "We can take care of ourselves!"

Next to her, Annie didn't look quite so sure of that, pulling in close to Cori as people started moving around them.

"Well, as long as you're here, would either of you like to take the stage?" Clark asked, looking up as the first singer after Ayame finished her song. "Now that someone's finally finished her turn." Ayame rolled her eyes at that, pushing her hair off her shoulder and standing prouder.

"Um…I don't mind, but Annie doesn't really sing," said Cori. "She only knows Disney songs too."

"We can do Disney," said Vayne, grinning.

"No, we can't," said Rei, frowning at Vayne.

"Sure we can," said Vayne. "It'll be fun."

"No, it won't," said Rei. "It'll be silly and—hey! Where's Ayame?" He turned around, suddenly realizing that his partner was no longer standing beside him.

The lights flicked on again, focusing on a figure standing on the stage. He slapped a hand to his face as Ayame raised the mic to her mouth, a familiar melody ringing out through the speakers.

"I'm gonna be a mighty king, so enemies beware!"

At a wave from her, Jonas stepped up onto the stage with a grin, doing his best impression of Zazu. "Well I've never seen a king of beasts with quite so little hair!"

She took that as a cue to shake out her blue hair, grinning at the audience. "I'm gonna be the mane event…"

"We're going to miss our match…" Rei groaned, hanging his head.

"Come on," said Vayne, throwing an arm around his shoulder. "It's gonna be fine. Hakuna matata."

Clark smirked, adjusting his glasses. "Hakuna matata," he said, sidling up to Rei's other side. "What a wonderful phrase."

"Oh, please no," said Rei.

"Hakuna matata," said Vayne, picking up on his cue. "Ain't no passing craaaaaaze…"

"And I'm out," said Rei, pulling out of their holds just as they started on the chorus. "Tell Ayame I'll meet her at the match site."

He slipped out from the room before either of them could bring him back, the Lion King medley resounding behind him. Still, he couldn't help the grudging smile that came onto his face as he closed the door behind him, walking down the hallway.


"Any signs of life?" Angela asked Shelley, keeping her voice low as the two of them crouched in the shadows of the empty DWMA research facility, one of her spells thrown up around them to keep them invisible to anyone who might be watching. Her magic could, in theory, disguise their voices, but Angela kept her voice low just in case.

Shelley adjusted her glasses, looking around the room with a frown of intense concentration that told Angela that she was using her Soul Perception. She shook her head, turning back to Angela.

"Nothing that I can see," she said, keeping her voice low as well. "But stay on your guard anyway."

Angela nodded, surveying the area. They'd gotten a tip from one of their intelligence agents that the Assassin would strike this base next, and so it had been evacuated in preparation for the Assassin's arrival, with the only security left in place being the automated security that Jinn Galland had left in place, and Angela and Shelley.

Privately, Angela thought that the automated security systems were an unnecessary redundancy.

"You don't think the Assassin saw us preparing and decided to call it a day, do you?" Angela asked, folding her arms and leaning against the wall. Her magic would keep her hidden whether she was standing or crouching, so there was really no point in being uncomfortable.

Shelley opened her mouth to reply, then immediately closed it, her eyes narrowing as she glanced at something invisible off to her right. "I've got movement," she said, pressing a hand to her ear to activate her earpiece. Angela tensed.

"Where?" she asked.

"Twenty-three degrees to my right. About twenty…no, thirty meters away. Around the front gate and coming in fast."

Angela took the moment to heave an exaggerated sigh, making a show of adjusting her skirt and making sure that her hat was firmly in place as she peeled herself off of the wall. Outwardly, she looked bored, even though her heart was already pounding with the excitement of an impending battle. Just one of the habits that she and Shelley had fallen into over the years.

"Typical of Shinigami," she said, "Making a witch work on Halloween. Should we go earn our pay, Shelley?"

"I guess we'd better," said Shelley, shooting her a smirk that was almost but not quite reminiscent of happier times.

Angela held out her hand and the weapon stood up, transforming in a flash of light as she did. She settled into Angela's hand, becoming a familiar naginata, a long spear with a blade whose curvature reminded Angela vaguely of an oversized scalpel. She tightened her grip on the spear's shaft, tugging the brow of her witch's hat down.

"One Assassin soul, coming right up," she said, keeping her cloaking spell up as she started off down the hallway towards their target.


Unlike the colosseum, which had ample seating for anyone who wanted to come view the matches, space at the grass field tournament site was limited, and mostly consisted of people getting as close as they could to the ropes that cordoned off the match area, or giving up and finding somewhere with a good view of the battle. By the time Vayne had managed to get away from the karaoke booth to watch one of Rei and Ayame's matches, a crowd had already gathered, blocking the fields from view.

Ordinarily, that might have been a problem, but since he was with Morgan, he grabbed her wrist followed her lead as she slipped through the crowd, managing to move people out of her way with a combination of glares and angry looks as she drew them past the spectators, finally coming to a stop right up against the ropes, with a perfect view of the middle of the field.

He released her wrist as she stopped walking, a smile on his face as he drew up beside her. Across from him, Rei and Ayame were already getting ready to fight, squaring off against their opponents, a third-year weapon and meister team that Vayne didn't know. He came to stand next to Morgan, watching them warm up, and smiled as he saw her start to relax out of the corner of his eye.

"It's nice to finally get out of that dark room," he said, tilting his face up and into the sunlight that rained down from overhead.

"Tell me about it," said Morgan. He looked over at her, surprised.

"I thought you don't like the sun," he said.

"I don't," said Morgan. "I just can't take another round of 'oh Ethan, you're so sweet', 'no, you're sweet, Cassie'."

"Ugh, tell me about it," said Vayne, rubbing the back of his neck. "You should see what I have to deal with. At least Clark's too busy with the booth right now to complain."

"He didn't look that busy when he was up on stage with Ayame," said Morgan, the hint of a smirk tugging at the corner of her lip.

"Ah, well, you know," said Vayne. "Sometimes you just need a break. Speaking of which, how come I haven't seen you up on stage yet, Morgan?"

A shy smile appeared on her face, and she turned away, tucking a strand of dark hair behind her ear. "I'm, uh, let's just say I'm not the singing type."

Vayne grinned, raising his hand as Rei and Ayame spotted them. Ayame grinned back from her corner of the field, swinging her arm back and forth in an enthusiastic wave. Beside her, however, Rei only frowned, his eyes drifting from Vayne to Morgan. The smile dropped away from Morgan's face as he spotted her, and while she inclined her head towards them in greeting, she turned slightly, keeping her face away from them. Vayne watched her out of the corner of his eye, suddenly concerned.

"Everything alright?" he asked.

"Yeah," said Morgan, not looking up. "Why wouldn't it be?"

He drew in a breath, wondering if he should ask about it, and then decided it was probably nothing. It wasn't as if the six of them hadn't fought amongst themselves since forming their team, and although Rei and Morgan were the last two people that he would have expected would start fighting with each other, he was fairly confident that the situation would resolve itself if given time.

He let the matter drop, turning his attention back towards the fight.


The desert wind whipped at Angela's face as she rose up above the DWMA base, one hand on the shaft of her spear to steady herself as she perched neatly on it, both of her legs hanging off one side. Below her, she saw the base in detail, her eyes quickly picking out the form of the intruder. A slight figure, as confirmed by the information they had on the target, dressed all in black and moving rapidly across outer courtyard of the base.

The Assassin might have been difficult to spot, had Angela and Shelley not had the amount of experience they had. Angela drew in a breath, calculating the distance between them, the speed at which the figure was moving.

"What's the plan?" Shelley asked from within her Soul Space, looking up at her from a void of light gray.

"Let's get this over with quickly," Angela muttered, tightening her hold on the spear's shaft. Shelley nodded in response, her expression growing serious as the wind picked up around her weapon form.

Angela moved quickly, before the enemy had time to react. She launched herself over the side of her perch, dragging the spear down with her as she fell from the sky. As she fell, she gripped the spear with both hands, narrowing her eyes as she angled the point below her, the wind whipping around them and coiling around the spear's blade.

The spell that concealed her and Shelley broke at the last moment, the spear's point stabbing straight through the Assassin's back. The Assassin's back arched as Angela landed on the ground, Shelley's spear point erupting from the figure's chest. Angela exhaled in relief as she straightened up.

And then the Assassin shattered into a million fragments of bright light, and Angela whirled around, her eyes narrowing dangerously.

The real Assassin was crouched a few feet away from her, a pale pink light gleaming in her hand. Angela had a moment to take in the fact that the Assassin was a woman, that the hair beneath the hood of her cloak was a fine blond, and that she was wearing a mask that covered all of her face, half of the mask painted white and the other half painted black, before the Assassin was on her, the light in her hand shifting to form a square blade that jutted outward from her wrist.

The Assassin ducked just inside of the range of Angela's spear, her movements lithe and catlike as she raised her arm, bringing it sweeping down on top of Angela's head.

Angela moved quickly, the wind that wrapped tightly around Shelley flaring up as she spun the spear around, knocking the Assassin's blade away with the spear's shaft. She leveled the naginata, thrusting it straight at the Assassin's chest. The Assassin leaped back out of the way of the thrust, executing a graceful backflip before getting to her feet.

She reached out with her free hand, her fingers piercing straight through the blade of light attached to her arm, and it parted like liquid, becoming a thin knife in her left hand. The remainder of the light formed a dagger in her right hand, the blades solidifying as she closed her fingers around them.

"The Magatama," Shelley said, frowning at the light from behind her glasses.

Angela nodded. "I noticed," she said, sinking into a wider stance as the Assassin leaped to the side, running towards Angela's left in an attempt to flank her.

Her eyes darted to the left as the Assassin charged, and Angela turned, swinging the spear's blade in a wide arc to cut off her approach. The Assassin jerked back, avoiding the slash, then stepped in after the blade had passed, moving rapidly towards Angela's other side.

Angela leaped to avoid the cut as the Assassin slashed at her face, bringing the spear point around and slamming it down into the ground in front of the Assassin a half-second before the other woman's foot moved into that space. She quickly snapped the spear point back up, thrusting at the Assassin's face before the Assassin had time to react. The Assassin didn't jerk back or cry out, instead ducking to her right to avoid the blow.

Angela scowled, the wind whipping around her spear as she flipped it over, thrusting the butt of the shaft at the Assassin's midsection. That strike connected, driving the Assassin back with a powerful crack and giving Angela time to leap away, the wind wrapping itself around her as she darted into the shadows again, throwing up another cloaking spell.

"Something's wrong," she said to her partner as she moved, trying to flank the Assassin.

Shelley nodded from within her soul space, pushing up her glasses with one hand. "She's too calm," Shelley said. "It's more than just training. It's like she's…empty."

"I know," Angela said. "Creepy, right?"

"Stay on your guard," Shelley said.

"You don't have to tell me twice." She muttered an incantation under her breath, then pitched her voice to carry, creating the illusion that she was standing directly in front of the Assassin. And directly beside her. And to her right and to her left. A multitude of Angelas appeared from the darkness around her, standing around the Assassin in a circle while the real one remained safely hidden, her back to one of the base's walls.

"You are wanted for crimes against the DWMA," the Angela in front of the Assassin said, her voice as loud and imperious as Angela wished her own voice could sound naturally. "Surrender, and if you cooperate, you may be allowed to live. Fight, and your soul is forfeit."

She didn't really expect the Assassin to cooperate. What she did expect was for her words to get a rise out of her, for some sort of human emotion to break the stillness that seemed to surround the other woman. For something, some sort of clue as to who she was and who had sent her.

What she didn't expect was for the Assassin to simply stand there, considering, and then for the pale pink light around her to suddenly shatter, shards of light shooting through each of the Angelas that surrounded her, including the real one that was still supposed to be hidden.

Angela's eyes widened and she rolled out of the way, managing to avoid a direct blow as her cloaking spell and her illusions shattered. A shard of light pierced straight through her hat, knocking it off of her head and tearing it in half as it whizzed past her. Angela straightened up and looked over her shoulder, glancing at the pieces of her hat as they fluttered down to the ground.

She looked back up at the Assassin who continued to watch her impassively, her eyes narrowing as she straightened up and tightened her grip on Shelley's shaft.

"Alright," she said, pushing her hair out of her face. "No more Miss Nice Witch."


The crowd cheered as Rei and Ayame's opponent fell to the ground, Naigus stepping forward to call the match. Rei exhaled, lowering Ayame's ninjato form back to his side. The blade vanished in a flash of light, Ayame appearing beside him as, on the screens above his head, their names moved up the bracket into the next round.

"Aw, over already?" Ayame asked, raising her arms over her head in a languid stretch. "I was just getting warmed up."

"Don't show off," said Rei, placing a hand on her shoulder to guide her off the field before their opponent could regain consciousness. The next set of fighters waited in the wings, ready to step forward at Naigus's signal. "Come on, let's get out of here."

"Let's get some lunch," Ayame said, as they pushed their way through the crowd and walked back onto the open space of the concourse. "I'm starving."

"My parents said they'd be having lunch around here," said Rei, checking his phone. "We're invited…if you don't mind eating with them."

"I don't mind," said Ayame, with a grin. "Food is food. And I like your family."

"I'm sure they'll be glad to hear that," said Rei flatly, checking his phone one more time, before looking around. He caught sight of his parents sitting on a blanket that had been spread out on a grassy hill, his sisters sitting with them. He slipped his phone back into his pocket, grabbing Ayame's wrist to catch her attention and inclining his head towards it. She nodded, and he released her as the two of them walked up the hill towards them.

Maka smiled as they approached the blanket, already laying out lunch. She'd packed it in a multi-tiered bento box, so Rei helped her spread the layers out, slipping off his shoes and stepping onto the blanket.

"Good match," Soul said, nodding at him.

"Thanks," said Rei, sitting down.

Ayame plopped down onto the space beside him, grinning as Maka offered her a plate. "Thanks, sensei," she said.

"Oh, don't worry about it, Ayame-chan," said Maka. "After all, you're practically family." She said it with a smile that was almost too wide for Rei's liking, and Rei deliberately turned away from her, stuffing his mouth with rice and sausage. Across from him, Annie and Cori were sitting cross-legged on the blanket, each of them holding a particularly large caramel apple. He frowned at them.

"Aren't you two going to eat?" he asked.

"In a sec," said Cori, tilting her head as if she was trying to work out the logistics of actually eating the thing. "Uncle Kid gave us these. They're going to get all sticky if we don't eat them."

Soul frowned, looking over at them. "I told you to call him 'Shinigami-sama'," he said.

"But Papa, you don't," said Cori.

"And he said we could call him that…" Annie added, looking down uncertainly at her own apple. Rei winced. Shinigami had been almost painfully formal with him when he was growing up, but just because his sisters were symmetrical scythe twins…

"I don't care what he said," said Soul. "If you're going to go to this school, you can't keep calling him 'Uncle Kid'."

"And you're not eating dessert before lunch," said Maka. "You probably shouldn't be eating so much candy anyway. It's bad for your teeth."

"But my teeth are great!" said Cori, opening her mouth wide to show Maka. "Thee?" she asked, as best as she could with her mouth open. "Ah've even gotta new one comin'in."

"Let me see," said Maka, tilting Cori's chin up and frowning at her. She 'tsk'ed, tilting Cori's head slightly to the side to get a better angle. "That's not going to come in straight." She sighed, letting go of Cori's head. "It's alright. There's always braces."

"I don't need braces," Cori insisted, pulling her head away and rubbing her jaw. "I'm going to look just like Papa!"

"That's…not a good thing, dear," said Maka, piling rice and food onto a plate for Cori.

"Hey!" said Soul sharply, turning towards her.

"I'm gonna eat souls too," said Cori, oblivious to the fact that Maka had already turned away. She chomped her teeth together twice, a grin on her face. A look of consideration crossed over her expression, and she tilted the caramel apple to the side, considering its size. Cori opened her mouth wide, her lips hovering over the apple.

"Don't even think about it, Corpore," Maka said without turning around.

Cori froze, dumbstruck. Rei took the caramel apples from both of them before either of them could get any ideas, laying them on a napkin and distributing their plates. Beside him, Ayame clapped her hands together, chopsticks between her fingers.

"Itadakimasu~" she said, digging in. Rei and the others followed suit, eating in silence for a few moments as they watched the ongoing tournament match.

"How's the contest going?" Soul asked as they ate, turning towards Maka.

Maka wiped at her mouth with a napkin, turning towards him. "Our booth is definitely more popular than Ox-kun's," she said, smiling. "Isn't that right, Cori?"

"Yep!" said Cori. "Although Mr. Ox is hosting a performance this afternoon, so he's saying he might get ahead."

"Performance?" asked Soul. "Who's performing?"

"One of the students, I think," said Cori. "His weapon's name is, um…Ham—Hamlin? He says he's a Demon Flute."

"We can put on a performance too, can't we, Rei?" asked Ayame, nudging him.

Rei almost choked. "No," he said. "No, we can't."

"Oh, come on," said Ayame. "I know you play the guitar."

"Yeah, but not—not like, well or anything."

"Rei, I've heard you play in your room," said Ayame, frowning at him in confusion. "You're pretty good."

"Rei's like Papa," said Cori, around a mouthful of rice. "They're weird about playing music. I'm not, but I'm not part of your class." She pouted at that, pushing the rice around in her bowl.

"No," said Maka. "You're not." She frowned in thought, tilting her head up to the sky. "I wonder if Rhythm and Rhyme will do it."

Ayame made a face. "Ugh, those two? They think they can rap, but they can't. Just let me at them, Maka-sensei. I'll blow their socks off."

"You do not want to let Ayame back on that stage," said Rei.

"Why not?" Ayame asked, placing a hand on her chest. "My people love me."

"Yeah," said Rei. "All ten members of your fan club."

"That's what I meant."

Rei shook his head, reaching forward and piling more food onto Ayame's plate. "Just eat," he said. "We have another match coming up soon."

"You're just jealous because I've got more stage presence than you," said Ayame, grinning at him. She ate anyway, though, picking up an entire piece of fish with her chopsticks and dangling it in the air before dropping it into her mouth.

"Yeah, sure, Ayame," said Rei, rolling his eyes. "That's exactly it."

He raised his bowl closer to his face, continuing to eat.


"Shelley!" Angela said, her voice sharp.

Shelley nodded in her soul space, closing her eyes. The wind around the spear began to pick up, Angela's own, distinctive Witch Soul pulsing as it took Shelley's Soul Wavelength into itself. Her eyes began to shine as she looked up at the Assassin, her grip tightening around the shaft. The wind packed in close around her as her soul swelled, two diagonal lines of stitches appearing across the top and bottom of her soul.

"Soul Resonance," Angela said, her voice low. The wind around her exploded outwards, forming the shapes of seven more spears, arrayed in the air around her, their blades angled towards the Assassin. "Infinite Spear Strikes: Persecution."

The spears shot forward, all seven of them converging on the silent figure of the Assassin. Angela followed directly behind them, the real spear's point arranged in the center of the other seven, a flower of steel and wind. The Assassin leaped back, her blades moving rapidly to deflect the blows as she fought to gain distance. She pushed off the ground and landed a few feet away as Angela's true spear point came through, landing lightly her feet.

Tears appeared in the fabric of her black cloak, her hood falling away from her face in two pieces and revealing a curtain of light blond hair. Angela didn't relent, pushing off the ground as she landed and letting the wind that surrounded her and her spear push herself towards the Assassin, the blades arrayed around her angling themselves for another assault.

This time, she raised the spear and swept it down in a diagonal arc, the spears around her reconfiguring themselves and sliding into the gaps in her offense, thrusting at the Assassin from above and below the spear's main path. The Assassin leaped back, the pink light that surrounded her shifting to form a pair of domed shields that caught the brunt of her assault.

The shield nearest Angela cracked under the force of the blow, shards of light skittering to the ground. Before Angela could exploit that weakness, the Assassin leaped back, bounding off of the fortress walls that surrounded them and appearing on top of the base wall, running for the main building's rooftop.

Angela threw her spear down, the wind bearing it aloft as it hovered an inch off the stone ground. She leaped onto it, crouching down and bracing her feet and one hand on the handle. The spear surged upward towards the Assassin, the wind spears keeping a tight, spinning wall around her as Angela closed the gap.

As she crested the top of the wall, the seven wind spears around her angled themselves downward, thrusting at the Assassin. Light flared as the Assassin tried to form a shield, the shield breaking under the force of the attack. A crack spread diagonally across the Assassin's mask and the light around her shattered, pale pink shards littering the air around Angela and Shelley as they surged in for the kill.

The Assassin moved quickly, recovering her balance and stepping inside Angela and Shelley's range. White light, not the light of the Magatama now, crackled down her arm, pooling in her fingertips as she thrust her hand at Angela's shoulder.

Angela's arm went numb, her hand releasing its hold on Shelley. She stumbled back, nearly falling from her perch on the spear's handle, and managed to keep her balance just barely, her other hand going up to grip at her shoulder. She stared at the Assassin with narrowed eyes as the other woman backed up, the lower half of her mask clattering to the ground. It revealed a youthful, pretty face, with clear gray eyes the color of steel.

Those eyes stared at Angela, completely empty, that face emotionless. She felt a shiver run through her as she studied the woman.

And then something beeped on the Assassin's wrist, pulsing with a red light. She glanced down at it, her expression never changing, her eyes still wide and a thousand miles away. Before Angela could stop her, she leaped over the side of the wall, the light of the Magatama flaring around her as she landed lightly on the ground beyond, disappearing into the shadows of the desert, toward the outline of two figures that waited just beyond the horizon, dark shapes against the rising crescent moon.

Angela stared after her, breathing hard, her fingers still closed around her numbed shoulder and her arm hanging uselessly at her side.


"Woohoo!" Ayame said as they walked in through the front door of the apartment later that evening, her arms spread wide. "Two-time tournament champions!" She spun around in excitement, collapsing onto the couch with a giggle.

Rei walked into the apartment after her, a frown on his face as he placed his keys in a bowl by the door. He still had an ache in his shoulder from where their last opponent had struck him—what was with empowered suits of armor and their tendency to make it to the finals anyway? "I don't understand how you can still have so much energy," he said.

Ayame grinned at him from where she was sprawled on the couch, looking at him upside-down from over one of the armrests. "Because we are awesome."

"Sure, we are," said Rei, slipping off his jacket. He winced as the movement made his shoulder twinge with pain, sucking in a quick breath and rubbing at it with his other hand.

"Aww," said Ayame, sitting up and giving him a mocking pout. "Does the poor baby need some ice?"

"You were a sword the whole time, so I don't want to hear it," said Rei, shooting her a look as he bent down to pick up his jacket and hung it up.

"Yeah," said Ayame, flopping back against the couch with a smile. "But if I were a shuriken, you wouldn't have gotten hit in the first place."

"Yeah, yeah," said Rei, waving the comment off with a dismissive hand as he dropped into the nearest armchair. "What does it matter, anyway? We won."

"Yeah, we did," Ayame said, still grinning at the memory. "And the booth went off without a hitch. So…" She turned over, folding her arms on top of the armrest and resting her head on them as she smiled at him. "…I think you owe me a song now."

"Really?" Rei asked, brows raising. "Now?"

"Yes, now," said Ayame. "After all, didn't I just carry you to glorious victory?"

"Carry me?" Rei repeated, frowning at her. "I trained for a year to be able to do that."

"Yeah, with my guidance, Mr. 'I-need-to-be-dragged-out-of-bed-at-any-time-before-noon'," said Ayame, placing a hand on her chest for emphasis. She sat up, lowering her hand. "Come on, Rei. One song."

Rei met her eyes and tried to come up with a solid argument to not play the guitar for her. It was surprisingly difficult, either because he was too tired to argue or because he already knew just how persuasive Ayame could be. He sighed, leaning back into his seat with resignation. "Fine," he said. "But I'm not getting out of this chair."

"One guitar fetched, coming right up!" said Ayame, bounding to her feet. She ran up the stairs, her footfalls surprisingly silent against the carpeted floors as she darted into his room. She returned a few moments later, carrying his guitar by the neck and handing it to him. Rei frowned at her as she arranged herself expectantly on the couch, placing the guitar on his lap and checking its tuning. It would do.

He didn't know what song to play, so he went with a song he had heard earlier that day, one that was still fresh in his mind. He didn't look up at her as he strummed through the opening bars, keeping his eyes firmly on the ground as he played.

"Loving can hurt…Loving can hurt sometimes, but it's the only thing that I know. When it gets hard, you know it can get hard sometimes…it is the only thing that makes us feel alive…"

He practically mumbled the lyrics into the air, refusing to look up at Ayame. A blush crept up his neck, spreading towards his face as he realized too late that he was singing a love song, but he kept on going because it would be weirder to stop and acknowledge it than it would be to just keep playing.

"…We keep this love in a photograph. We made these memories for ourselves…"

Hesitantly, he raised his eyes, looking over at Ayame. She was perched on the edge of the couch, watching him intently, a flush over her cheeks as well. He looked away, his heart racing, and tried to focus on the song.

"…where our eyes are never closing, hearts are never broken, and time's forever frozen still…"

Her mouth moved with the lyrics as he started on the chorus, but he didn't hear her voice. Rei took a deep breath and tried to focus on the song and not on the blush that was making its way across his face.

"So you can keep me inside the pocket of your ripped jeans, holding me closer 'till our eyes meet. You won't ever be alone. Wait for me to come home…"

The last notes of the song trailed off, fading into the silence of the apartment. He drew in a deep breath as he set the guitar aside and slowly, reluctantly, raised his eyes to meet Ayame's. She was still staring at him, an expression on her face that he didn't recognize.

"Uh, well…" she said. "…that was, um…" He watched as she cleared her throat and blinked slowly, seeming to come back to herself. A grin appeared on her face, but it didn't quite touch her eyes. "Rei, you sap. I didn't know you had it in you."

"You asked for a song," said Rei, his face still burning. He hoped she didn't notice. "See? This is why I don't play for people."

"No, it was great, it was great," said Ayame, waving her hands quickly. "It was just—uh—not what I expected. So—um, uh—." A panicked look appeared on her face for a second before her eyes widened and she jumped to her feet. "—Dinner? How about I get dinner together?"

"Dinner sounds great," said Rei. "There's—uh—in the fridge. Leftovers. You know, those."

"On it," said Ayame, clapping her hands together. "Just sit tight, Rei. Food, coming right up."


A/N: Songs used or referenced in this chapter, in order of appearance:

1) Senbonzakura by Hatsune Miku (Vocaloid)

2) I Just Can't Wait to Be King from the Lion King Soundtrack

3) Hakuna Matata, also from the Lion King Soundtrack

4) Photograph by Ed Sheeran (just the first verse and chorus)

Since Rei is basically Soul with softer edges, Rei tends towards playing slow, sappy songs instead of dark songs like his father. He finds this embarrassing, which is why he doesn't like to play in front of people.

I used pretty much all of Erza's themes from the Fairy Tail OST while writing Angela's fights, but heavy on Against Magic, Scarlet Warrioress, Titania Dances, and Erza vs. Erza.


Omake

"Alright, and the votes are in," said Ox, tilting the ballot box over and letting pieces of paper spill out onto the tabletop. "Let's see whose class made the best karaoke booth."

He grabbed one at the same time as Maka did, the two of them unfolding them rapidly and sorting them into two piles.

"And the last count for my class," said Ox, "107…108…109!"

"And for mine," said Maka, frowning as she counted. "107…108…10…9?"

The two of them looked up at each other, confused looks on their faces as they looked back down at the piles.

"That can't be right," Ox said.

Maka nodded. "We can't be tied," she said. "Count them again?"

Ox nodded, the two of them going through the piles a second time. At the end of it, they both looked up.

"I have 109," Ox said. "You?"

"109," said Maka.

"That still can't be right," said Ox. "Again."

Maka nodded, the two of them sorting through the piles at breakneck speed.

A few feet away from them, Soul sighed, standing next to Harvar. "Think we should stop them?" he asked.

"No," said Harvar. "Just…let it go."

Soul watched Maka for a moment more before nodding. "Good plan."