The slightest thing is what saved her

Tsubaki sat with her mother, drinking tea and not really paying attention to the conversation they were having. Her brother and father were away for the day and her mother decided that they should spend some time together.

It was so nice to know she was only needed when her mother was feeling bored.

"So… how has training been going?"

"Fine,"

"… Do you feel like you have better control over your weapon forms?"

"Yes, ma'am,"

"Is your brother improving as well?"

"… Yes, ma'am,"

Her mother sighed. With each passing year, she grew more worried about Tsubaki. Having a conversation with the child was nearly impossible. When she mentioned this to her husband, he waved it off; saying she was just being a teenager and she'd get over it eventually. She was so sure though; it seemed like Tsubaki was always this way. It was so difficult to get her to say more than a handle full of words per conversation. Tsubaki really didn't even seem to be paying attention to the one they were having now; she was just staring at the table, sipping on her tea and seeming to be lost in thought. She watched her daughter for a moment and noticed her right hand shook a little when she lifted the tea cup of the table. Alarmed, but thinking maybe it was just her imagination, she asked Tsubaki to bring her a stack of papers from her office. She watched Tsubaki get up slowly and leave the room without saying a word. She frowned as she noticed that her daughter walked with a bit of a limp. Tsubaki returned and went to hand the papers to her mother; her hand trembling as if in pain as she extended her arm.

"Tsubaki," her mother said hesitantly, "is everything alright?"

Tsubaki froze, looking like a deer in the headlights, and stared at her mother for a second before quickly composing herself.

"Yes, Mother, I'm fine,"

She wasn't making eye contact and she looked rather like a cornered animal.

"Let me see your arm, Tsubaki," her mother said, holding out her hand.

Tsubaki hesitated for a moment before doing as she was asked and extending her arm cautiously toward the woman in front of her. Her mother held Tsubaki's hand gently and pushed up the sleeve of her kimono to reveal a dark and painful-looking bruise across her wrist.

Her eyes widened. "Where on Earth did you get a bruise like this, Tsubaki?"

Tsubaki didn't know how to answer. It had been a long time since her mother looked this worried about her; and, for a split second, Tsubaki considered telling her the truth, but swiftly changed her mind.

"I- I fell… while Masamune and I were training," she stammered.

Her mother didn't think she was telling the truth at all. While it was perfectly plausible for her to be hurt while training; why would she wait until now to mention it? And why would she stammer, as if she was nervous about it? Tsubaki was definitely lying; but why?

She sat back and watched her daughter closely. "And you're limping, too… Did that happen while training?"

"Yes," Tsubaki answered, looking relieved, "I twisted my ankle a little; that's all."

"Well," her mother said, eyes narrowing, "that's certainly interesting, seeing as the last time you two trained together was sometime last week, and you definitely weren't limping before today…"

Tsubaki cursed herself; she should have said tripped in the yard or something…

"Tsubaki," her mother said seriously, "how did you get hurt? And, more importantly, why are you lying about it?" What could her daughter possibly have done to hurt herself and refuse to talk about it? Had she been trying to sneak out or something? She is a teenager after all, so some misbehavior was to be expected, especially since this was Tsubaki they were talking about…

"Why do you care all of a sudden?"

She froze. Her daughter's words were so quiet, she wasn't really sure she had heard them correctly.

"What do you mean?"

Tsubaki hesitated and then said, "You never cared before. I know I have been around you while being visibly injured before, so why do you care now, but not all the other times?"

Her mother opened her mouth to angrily retort, but realized with a jolt that Tsubaki was right: she remembered seeing Tsubaki covered in bruises or limping through the manor, but she'd always assumed it was because of training. She closed her mouth a decided to let her daughter explain herself.

Tsubaki noticed the change in her mother's expression and realized that she had finally gotten through to someone.

Her mother was actually listening to her.

But she didn't know how to continue; she was too afraid.

"Take a deep breath," her mother instructed, "and tell me what happened."

With a little half-smile, Tsubaki did as she was told.

"Masamune pushed me off the steps as we were going outside earlier,"

Her mother looked startled; that was not what she expected.

"Why?"

"He just did,"

"Yes, but… that doesn't seem like him at all… "

Tsubaki laughed hollowly and said, "He does stuff like that from time to time; he just gets angry with me for no reason and he'll push me or kick me… or pull my hair… he calls me pathetic, too… telling me that I should just die, just fall to the floor like the useless flower I'm named after…" Her words were spilling out; from one thought to the next, she told her mother everything he'd ever done. Through it all her mother listened in silence, looking a little skeptical, until her daughter began to rant about the part her parents played in all of this.

How, ever since they found out she had the Power, they'd hated her and they'd made sure her brother hated her too.

Her mother's heart clenched. Had they really been so blind? Had they really lead their only daughter to believe that they hated her? They'd been hard on her, yes; they didn't want the Power to go to her head, after all… but had they overdone it? They'd treated Masamune more delicately, for sure… but had they really made him feel inferior and worthless? Had they turned a blind eye to what went on between their children?

Tsubaki had finished speaking. She was standing still, breathing heavily while staring at the ground.

Her mother swallowed painfully, feeling utterly distraught. She didn't really know how to fix this colossal mistake she made, but she had an idea of where to start.

She stood and walked over to Tsubaki, wrapping her arms around her gently in case of any other injuries she'd failed to notice were tormenting her daughter. She hugged her close, burying her face into Tsubaki's hair and rubbing her back.

"I'm sorry," she sniffled out quietly.

Tsubaki didn't have much to say, so she just kind of stood their numbly, wondering if it was all just a dream.

She hugged her mother back though, feeling her eyes water as her mother whispered over and over again:

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry… "

…

She couldn't believe he ran away

The confrontation had not ended well.

Not that she expected it to; it was hard to convince her father of anything.

But at least she had her mother convinced. That certainly helped when convincing her father.

What she hadn't expected was what her brother had done.

Tsubaki lay in her room, staring at the ceiling, her mind buzzing with everything that had happened that day. Her stomach churned with guilt.

She couldn't believe Masamune was gone.

When her father and brother returned home, her mother had taken her husband into another room to tell him what she had learned from Tsubaki. Masamune sat down next to his sister while they waited for their parents to come back. He glared at her and she, rather than cringing or looking away, glared back, startling him into looking away instead. Was that really all it took? All this time, and all she had to do was stand up to him? Why had she meekly sat back before? She realized that having someone on her side boosted her confidence a lot.

Her brother wasn't so scary anymore.

Her parents returned and her father sat right next to her and bluntly asked, "Is it true?"

And she replied with a simple, "Yes."

Masamune watched their exchange, confused and bit alarmed. Their father looked at both of them, and then sat back rubbing his face with his hands.

"I'm sorry," he said gruffly, "I never realized what we were doing to you two. I didn't realize that we were being too hard on both of you and no amount of apologies is ever going to make it better, but I just want you to know that I am sorry."

He turned to his daughter and said, "Let me see your arm,"

She did so, and she watch as he scowled angrily at the nasty bruise that engulfed her forearm. He turned it so that it was facing Masamune. "This," he began angrily, "is what you've done to your sister. Your little sister who has the same blood running through her veins as you do!"

Masamune watched with a bored expression on his face.

"It's just a little bruise; it'll be gone in no time."

"That is not the point, Masamune! You hurt your sister all the time! You've made her feel like she is worthless! You've caused her pain. Does this not bother you?"

Masamune looked unfazed. "You never cared before, so I don't really see why it matters now," he drawled. "Furthermore," he spat suddenly, eyes flashing in anger, "She's the one who goes around acting so superior all the time. She always has that stupid smile on her face like nothing ever bothers her, because she's the strong one. She inherited the Power that was supposed to go to me! You would think the great Tsubaki, Legacy of the Nakatsukasa Clan, could handle a few bruises."

Tsubaki held her breath; this was nothing new to her, but her father looked furious.

"Go to your room," he hissed quietly, "I'll deal with you later."

Masamune sneered, got to his feet, and walked out of the room, muttering under his breath.

Later, their mother had gone to check on him, only to realize that he'd run away.

Tsubaki rolled on to her side, curling up under her blankets as tears streamed down her face. She had hoped that with time, they could knit their family back together. She thought that with their parents finally understanding what they'd done wrong, they'd all be able to live happily again, like they did before she discovered she could change forms.

It was such a stupid thing to tear their family apart.

…

The Enchanted Sword is what they call him

A few weeks later, the Nakatsukasa's received news of powerful weapon called the Enchanted Sword that was becoming notorious across Japan. He was a rising kishin that would possess a person, forcing them to be his meister while he controlled their every move and slowly devoured their soul.

Tsubaki's heart sank. Her brother had used that technique once and their father had made him swear never to do it again. But it seems he'd been practicing.

Tsubaki listened to her parents quietly arguing about what to do; they were worried the DWMA would get involved if Masamune got out of hand. But Tsubaki knew there was nothing they could do for him: weapons are forbidden to eat human souls. He was trying to become a kishin, and sometime in the future he would attract enough attention for the DWMA to send someone to collect his soul. There was a chance even they could fail; from the sound of it, Masamune was becoming very powerful… She felt guilt clench at her heart again; she should be the one to go after him, it was her fault he did this after all…

Suddenly, she realized what she needed to do.

She walked into the other room, catching bits of her parents' whispered conversation.

"We should just let the DWMA deal with it…"

"No, we need to take care of this now, while we still can! The DWMA doesn't get involved until things get really bad. Do you not remember all the death and destruction that occurred when they finally came to take care of the Star Clan? Talk about a nightmare-"

They stopped when they noticed Tsubaki.

"I should do it," Tsubaki stated bluntly.

Her parents just stared.

"… And how do you plan to do that?" her father asked.

Tsubaki took a breath, knowing they wouldn't like her answer, "I'm going to join the DWMA."

Her mother narrowed her eyes and her father frowned.

"If I find a good meister," she continued, "I could stop him."

"No one in the Nakatsukasa Clan has ever had a meister, Tsubaki," he father said, "It's disgraceful."

"It's the only way to beat him," Tsubaki argued, "He won't expect it. We can't risk someone else trying. I know more about him and how his Soul Possession technique works. It has to be me. We can't keep letting other people die because of our mistakes. I'll contact them later and see what I have to do in order to join."

With that, Tsubaki left to make the call to the DWMA.

Her mother looked at her father and asked, "What do you think?"

"She seemed pretty determined," he said, with a smile, "It's nice to see her gaining confidence. And she's right; this is her fight."

He realized this was the first time in years he allowed himself to be proud of his daughter; he'd always suppressed the feeling before in an attempt to be fair to his son…

He left the room, waving off his wife's confused inquiry as to where he was going, and went out into the hall where Tsubaki was asking a maid if she knew how to contact the DWMA. She saw her father and a worried look flashed across her face; she probably assumed he was there to try and change her mind.

"What is it, father?" she asked.

"Nothing really," he replied, pulling his surprised and slightly confused daughter into a tight hug, "I just wanted to let you know that I'm proud of you."

…

She could relate to the boy on the roof with ease.

Tsubaki felt nervous as she approached the DWMA for the first time.

Lord Death had been nice enough when she talked to him, but being more than five thousand miles from everything she'd ever known was a little daunting.

And, she had to admit, a bit of a relief.

The flight from Japan had been a long one, almost twelve hours, and sleeping most of the way had probably not been the best idea as she always felt confused and completely unrested upon waking from long naps. She'd arrived just in time for the entrance ceremony, though and she was thankful that the academy had been so easy to find; the building was huge and rather… unique-looking. It looked almost like a castle, but covered in huge white skulls, giant red needles and spires, and… were those giant functioning candles? That had to be a fire-hazard.

Overall, it was kind of weird-looking, but the silliness of it all actually made Tsubaki feel a little better.

All those steps could kill a person, though.

No, seriously; had they never heard of escalators?

When she finally reached the top of said staircase, she felt both out of breath and out of place as she took in her surroundings. A huge crowd of kids from all parts of the world were chatting excitedly in front of the school while teachers walked around handing them name tags out of boxes. Tsubaki could see that the doors hadn't opened yet, so most students were getting know one another better or revisiting with old friends while they waited. Tsubaki stood off to the side, trying not to look too lost or nervous, and watched other people climb up that ridiculous stair case. It made her feel a little better to know she wasn't the only who had difficulties breathing upon reaching the end.

"Weapon or meister?" a voice asked, startling her. She turned toward the sound to see a muscular man with dreadlocks holding one of the boxes.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you," the man said sheepishly, "I'm Sid, I'll be one of your teachers here at the academy. I need to give you a label to make it easier for you to find a partner. So, which are you: Weapon or Meister?"

"Oh, nice to meet you," Tsubaki answered with a small bow, "I'm a weapon."

"Okay," he rummaged through the box for a second and pulled out a plastic name tag with the word WEAPON written on it and handed it to her, "Careful not to stab yourself with the safety pin; you'd be surprised at how many times that's happened today…"

"Thank you," Tsubaki said, taking the tag as Sid moved on to give out the rest out to other students.

Tsubaki fumbled with the pin for a minute, having a little trouble hooking it to clothes without pricking herself. She was so engrossed with her task that she, once again, allowed someone to sneak up on her.

"Do you need help?" asked a voice nearby. Tsubaki looked up to see a blonde girl with large green eyes standing before her. The girl smiled and took the pin, fiddled with a little and then hooked it onto Tsubaki's clothes with ease.

"The metal's bent in some of these things," the girl explained as she took a few steps back, bowing slightly and cheerfully saying: "I'm Maka Albarn!"

Surprised, Tsubaki bowed back wondering if this girl had some sort of Japanese background, considering her name and her quick and polite recognition of Tsubaki's origins.

"I'm… Tsubaki Nakatsukasa," she replied a little clumsily; she'd only remembered at the last second to switch the order of her name around. She was fluent in English and a few other languages, as was tradition in her clan, but it was still a strange language and sometimes she had to think before speaking or she'd mess something up.

"MAKA!" a frantic voice called from behind them. A red haired man was approaching them, waving his hands wildly and obviously trying to get Maka's attention.

Maka's cheerful personality suddenly vanished and her expression soured.

"Sorry, I've gotta run now," she said through gritted teeth, "I'll see you later; it was nice meeting you, Tsubaki!"

And she took off in the opposite direction of the red haired man, blending skillfully into the crowd.

"Maka, wait for Papa!" the man cried, trying to follow her through the mass of people.

Tsubaki didn't have much time to wonder at this strange scene because the doors to the DWMA were opening and the crowd had begun to make its way toward the building. Tsubaki decided to wait at the back for the crowd to thin out some; she wasn't really in any hurry, and she didn't feel like getting trampled.

The fairly loud and excited chattering of the crowed was suddenly interrupted as a loud "YAHOO!" shattered the air from above.

Startled, the students who were still outside paused to look up and see a small figure far overhead flailing his arms around on one of the huge red needles that stuck out of the front of the school. Tsubaki couldn't really make out what he was saying over the crowds murmurs to each other:

"Is that a jumper?"

"-Or an acrobat?"

"-Or an escaped lunatic?"

Many people shrugged and continued inside, quickly losing interest, but Tsubaki hadn't noticed them. She was still trying to hear the boy's shouting, which was becoming a little clearer as more people went inside.

Something about transcending Death?

She wasn't quite sure.

After a second he abruptly stopped and Tsubaki realized the courtyard was empty. She was the only one who stayed through his whole performance. Not wanting him to be disheartened, Tsubaki decided to stay where she was, at least until he left, and was wondering if she should clap or something when it suddenly struck her that the boy wasn't doing this to "show how great he was" or whatever; he was doing it purely for the attention.

He just wanted someone to listen to him.

Tsubaki could relate to that.

She clapped for him, making sure she was loud enough for the sound to reach him from so far below him.

Tsubaki was surprised when the boy jumped from the needle and landed in front of her. He didn't even stumble or grunt. She didn't even want to know high that was, and he'd done it like it was easy as walking.

"That was amazing!" she told him, referring both to his speech and the jump.

He got uncomfortably close to her face (which was sort of funny seeing as he was quite a bit shorter than her) and told her she was the first to recognize his talents and that she'd "go far" as he put it. Not really knowing how to respond to this, she just politely told him her name and discovered that he was a meister by the name of Black*Star. They headed for the doors of the DWMA (now a little late after all that) and talked with each other along the way.

Tsubaki wondered if the boy would take her as weapon partner. He was very strong and he seemed to have a good heart.

With his help, she might be able to defeat her brother.

…

She hadn't expected she could save him, but that didn't stop her heart from breaking as he died

Tsubaki lay against her brother's shoulder, with a sword stuck straight through her chest. She could feel her soul fading into some distant place of no return. Some place where she would just conjure up memories of when they were kids for all of eternity. The white sky was suffocating and an image of her brother stood over her while she stood in front of a camellia bush, feeling like a small child again and holding that stupid red ball with that meek smile on her face. Her brother was just saying what he always had: reminding her of how she had ruined his life and it was all her fault that he started down this path in the first place…

But a voice cut through it all: "Please tell me that's not actually what you're thinking!" her meister voice said from somewhere behind her, "Come on Tsubaki! You know better than that; don't even listen to this guy!" She spun around but there was no one there. Had Black*Star actually found a way to reach her here, or was she just imagining him and what he'd say…? Regardless, she felt… taller and stronger. She felt her soul regaining strength. And, most importantly, she realized something crucial, something important.

It wasn't her fault.

Nothing her brother had ever done was her fault!

"You're wrong," she growled in her brother's ear. He flinched at her sudden revival and kicked her away. She leapt to her feet, angry that for all these years she had let him convince her that any of this was her fault. "You're wrong!" she cried over and over. She wasn't going to baby him anymore and he shouldn't expect her too. She told him as much, begging him to see how serious she was. She even managed to throw his favorite old insult back in his face by pointing out that she had made a friend who helped her realized that a camellia does have a fragrance.

Masamune was not too happy at that retort.

She charged her brother, fending off all of the attacks from his shadows, and they stabbed each other, through and through.

Tsubaki could feel his soul fading. Despite the unbearable pain she was in, she knew she was alive and had defeated her brother. She could her Black*Star's voice somewhere far in the distance, begging her for an encore. She'd never heard him sound so worried before, she needed to leave here; go back to him…

She opened her eyes to see the remains of her brother floating in front of her. The dark, angry expression she'd come to know was gone and instead she was staring into the face of the older brother she'd loved as a child. She whimpered out his name and watched as he faded away, leaving nothing but his corrupted soul behind. She wrapped her arms around it and sobbed.

She became aware of a tapping sound and a feeling like she was being poked in the side… Oh, Black*Star, she needed to get back to the physical world.

She focused for a moment and somehow returned to her human form, standing in front of Black*Star who was on the ground and covered in blood for some reason. Tsubaki put on her best fake-smile, afraid she'd break down if given the chance. Black*Star stood up and asked if she was okay. She said yes with a fake-laugh, but he just grew more serious and asked again. It was sweet of him to care, but if he kept asking, she was going to lose it; she was finding hard to fight the tears. But when Black*Star spread his arms out and offered her a hug, that was it. She was gone. She felt the tears well up and tried to fight them but failed, so she just choked out an apology and through her arms around his waist, burying her face in stomach so he wouldn't see her cry. She felt him patting her head, which made her feel a little better… She couldn't remember the last time she cried like this. She never expected to get so attached to this boy…

…

Later, as they entered the Death Room, Black*Star asked if she still wanted to be his partner. She stopped, surprised by the question. She'd forgotten for a moment that her original plans were to go back home after defeating Masamune. To be completely honest, she hadn't really been sure that she'd survive her fight with her brother, so she hadn't thought much about what would happen after… Black*Star was looking a little worried that she was taking so long to answer, so she smiled and said, "Of course!" and was flattered by how happy he seemed. She was sure her parents would understand. She wanted to be far away from that house for a while. She couldn't imagine going back and returning to the dull day to day clan activities with memories of her brother and her childhood to haunt her every step of the way. To her surprise, Tsubaki really enjoyed the hyperactive, random and spontaneous life she lived here at the DWMA. She'd come to love all of her friends and she couldn't imagine a day without them.

In fact, as she and Black*Star made it to Lord Death's mirror; she realized that their friends and even one of their professors were there to welcome them back. She was surprised; by their reactions, they must have been watching the whole thing. Geez; they'd left in such hurry to make sure they wouldn't find out (she hadn't wanted them to worry) and here they were, watching the whole thing from Lord Death's mirror. She was happy to see them though.

It was a good reminder of the happy future she could see lain out in front of her…