5: In Which Tsubaki Returns and has Maka Meet Everyone Else

A visitor Maka wasn't expecting came three days after she arrived in town.

"Maka," Ox said.

Maka, who had been learning how to fill the éclairs with cream from Harvar (and failing horribly) looked up from her work. "Yes, Ox?"

"Someone's here to see you."

Oh no, it's Papa! was Maka's immediate thought, but she shook her head. There was no way that her idiot papa would know where she was.

Maka got up and followed Ox to the front of the store. Standing by the door was a young lady with long black hair and an easy smile. Despite not seeing her for several months she was very familiar. Maka gasped.

"Tsubaki!"

Tsubaki turned to her with a smile. "Hello Maka."

The two girls embraced. Maka was very careful as to not get any cream on her friend's blouse. They pulled apart after a second, both smiling ridiculously.

"I heard you wouldn't be back for at least another five days!" Maka exclaimed.

Tsubaki nodded in agreement. "That's what I thought too. My family was actually able to leave earlier than we expected, so we decided to come back to Dödenstad sooner rather than later.

"Oh, but it's so good to see you again Maka! How was your trip over? I'm so sorry I was out of town, but there were some family matters that had to be settled. If I knew you were planning on coming so soon I would have written it in the last letter I sent!"

Maka laughed. "It's fine, Tsubaki! I'm just glad to see you. How was Japan?"

"It was wonderful," Tsubaki said. "I visited my grandparents on my father's side. They have a lovely estate in the northern half of the country. It took almost a day to get there from Tokyo! And my brother—you remember Masamune, right?—decided to stay there, so we had to finalize a bunch of paperwork so he could enroll in university."

"Really?" Maka only had vague memories of Masamune as she hadn't been close with him. Tsubaki only ever said good things about him though, so there was nothing for Maka to worry about. "It's so far though."

Tsubaki laughed. "I know. But his Japanese is much better than mine and he will be with my grandparents. I'm sure he'll be fine. And he promised to come back once he's done. And we'll still get letters from him, even though they'll take some time."

Maka looked past Tsubaki's shoulder into the street. "How did you get here? I know you live a bit further away. Did you take the bus?"

"A friend drove me." Tsubaki pointed out the window to where a black car was parked across the street. The top was down and Maka could see a few people sitting on and in the car. "I know you met everyone who works under Dr. Stein and Miss Marie, but I want you to meet a few other people. Only if you're up to it."

She giggled when she saw Maka's excited expression. "I knew that was a stupid question. You've always been the friendlier of us."

"You're not wrong! All I want to know is how you knew I was here," Maka said to the older girl as they left the café and walked towards the car.

"My boyfriend," she said. "He mentioned meeting a witch a few days ago. When I asked him to describe what you looked like I knew immediately it must have been you. Then I ran into Kim and Jackie in town and they said you were staying here with Miss Marie until I came back."

"They mentioned knowing you," Maka said. "That's how I knew I didn't come to the wrong city. But more importantly, you have a boyfriend?"

"Oi Tsubaki," a boy Maka remembered meeting interrupted. "Was I right? Is this your friend?"

Maka's eyes narrowed a bit as she focused on Black*Star. He was still as ridiculous as she remembered, with his spiky blue hair in a point at the top of his head. It seemed Black*Star was more excited, giving Maka a grin.

"I was right, wasn't I?"

Tsubaki only smiled fondly at him. "You were right. Well done."

"Anything for my girl!" he practically bellowed. Maka winced.

Tsubaki said, "This is Black*Star."

"We've met," the two replied in unison.

Tsubaki, who hadn't been expecting that, seemed pleasantly surprised. She didn't quite catch the look Maka threw at Black*Star, who had his hands in his pocket.

"Oh, I'm glad!"

Neither decided to make a scene and upset the Japanese girl, though they did give each other even looks. It seemed Black*Star was a bit more forgiving. He jumped off of his perch on the back of the car and patted the witch on the shoulder.

"Don't worry. I, the great Black*Star, forgive you for being rude to me after I saved your life."

"Don't think I've forgiven 'the great Black*Star' for help I never asked for," Maka retorted.

Black*Star only laughed with glee. He, despite begin almost a head shorter than Tsubaki he slung his arm around her shoulder.

"Tsubaki, your friend's great!"

"Thank you."

While Tsubaki accepted Black*Star's excited praise another guy, also sitting on the trunk of the car, hopped off. His hands were in the pockets of his black jeans. It was the white-haired boy with the lazy grin.

"Soul Evans," he said, extending a hand. "Black*Star's partner in crime."

"Maka Albarn."

Soul didn't stop smiling as he gestured back to his friend. "Don't mind Black*Star. He's always like that. But he's a cool guy. You'll probably like him once you get to know him."

Two blonde girls exited the car. Tsubaki came over to introduce them.

"This is Liz Thompson, and her younger sister Patty. They're from New York City."

Americans! Maka greeted both of them. Despite her firm shake and punky exterior Liz was surprisingly nice. Patty was giggly—it was hard to believe she was almost three years older than Maka. Both sisters filled Maka with a sense of ease, though there was something dangerous about them too. Especially Patty. Maka figured it was just her weak soul perception and made no comment.

The boy in the passenger seat exited the car. He was just a bit taller than Maka and shorter than both the sisters who flanked him. He had black hair and wore a stylish button-up with a vest and dark dress pants. His brown eyes reflected his curiosity.

"We call 'im 'Kid,'" Liz said as he went to introduce himself. "Mostly because his name is a pain in the ass to say."

"It's Keiran, but Liz complained the name was too stuffy. That, and my father calls me 'Kid' at home," the boy explained, holding out a hand. "It's nice to meet you, Maka. Tsubaki said you'd probably be coming and had told us quite a bit about you."

"All good things, I hope," she replied, shaking his hand while making a face at Tsubaki.

Kid smiled. "Only the best."

It was while she was shaking Kid's hand that Maka suddenly felt a chill run up her spine. She was sensing something strange about the boy, much like she did the first time she'd met Dr. Stein. As if he wasn't quite normal.

Maka jerked away slightly. As soon as she released his hand the unsettling feeling went away. Kid gave Maka an odd look, but thankfully didn't say anything about it.

Leave it to Tsubaki to sense an awkward situation. She immediately dissipated the uncomfortable silence.

"Maka, I was wondering if you wanted to stay the night? It's been a while, and if you still want to stay with me we need to figure out when to move your things in."

"Are you sure?"

Tsubaki nodded. "It's no trouble. Besides, I'm sure my parents would be happy to see you again."

"Weeeeeell, we do have a lot of things to catch up on…" Maka said thoughtfully, her tone entirely teasing.

"I can give you a ride over," said Liz.

"Thank you, Liz," said Tsubaki.

Maka headed back into café. "Give me one minute! Since I've been trying to help around the café until I figure out exactly what I'm going to do for work I should probably ask Miss Marie if I can take the night off."

Miss Marie was more than okay with it.

"It'll be sad to see you go," she said. "I've gotten used to your company."

"Me too. But I won't be leaving right away."

Maka was quick to grab her things for the night. Blair hopped onto her shoulder, deciding to come along.

Liz drove them to Tsubaki's house. Maka was amazed everyone was able to fit in the cramped car. Granted, they'd probably broken some laws with Soul and Black*Star not even sitting in the seats.

"I hope you don't mind, it's a bit of a mess. We're still in the middle of renovating the house. My father wanted it to be more Japanese so it's been a long year. Everything has to be imported and it takes so long," Tsubaki explained. She opened the door. "Tadaima."

"Ojyamashimasu," Maka said. Being friends with Tsubaki for so long meant she had picked up some Japanese words and phrases over the years. Not that she could speak.

The girls removed their shoes and stepped inside. The house was obviously still getting redesigned on the inside. All the wallpaper had been replaced, a few of the walls replaced with paper doors. The floors were hardwood, the furniture a pleasant beige.

Tsubaki slid open the door to the kitchen. Her mother was there, hair tied into a loose bun. She greeted her daughter before noticing their guest.

"Maka!" Mrs. Nakatsukasa exclaimed. "Goodness, what a surprise!"

"Nakatsukasa-san, hello!"

"Please, I keep asking you to call me Chiari, dear."

"Hai, Chiari-san."

The woman beamed. "I didn't expect you in Dödenstad so soon. Tell me you didn't leave the day you turned thirteen."

Maka's nervous laughter was all the answer she needed. Chiari turned to her own daughter.

"Promise me you won't dash out the door like that when you decide to leave the house. I can't imagine what was going through Spirit's head, letting his only child out the door like that. I would surely die of shock if you were to pull something like that, Tsubaki."

Tsubaki laughed. "I promise I won't, Okaa-san."

"It was hard enough making room for Masamune leaving."

"I know Okaa-san."

Her mother nodded before calling, "Sanjuurou, we have a guest."

There were footsteps from the next room. Sanjuurou Nakatsukasa stepped in. He too seemed pleased to see Maka.

"I didn't think to see you this soon," he said as he gave the girl a hug. "How did Spirit take to your leaving."

"He cried."

The man laughed. "I figured as much." Sanjuurou crouched down to where Blair was standing on the floor, petting her. "And how is this little girl doing?"

Blair purred loudly.

"I was hoping Maka could stay the night," Tsubaki said.

"Why of course! You know she doesn't have to ask. Maka-chan has always been a welcome guest, right dear?"

Sanjuurou agreed. "We'll need to set another place at the table."

"Oh that's no trouble whatsoever!" his wife exclaimed. "Honestly, you make it sound like much more of a nuisance than it actually is. Dinner will be done around seven. Why don't you girls go out for a bit? There's money in my wallet you can take."

"Thank you!" they said. Tsubaki grabbed a few bills and the girls headed to explore the surrounding area.

マカの宅急便

After dinner the two girls went upstairs to Tsubaki's room. It was as immaculate as always. Maka smiled as she saw a few familiar pictures hanging from the wall. They flopped down onto the floor and turned on the radio.

"How long did it take you to get here?" Tsubaki asked.

Maka shrugged. "About a week."

"And the weather?"

"On and off rain."

Tsubaki winced. "I'm surprised you didn't get sick. You and Blair both."

They looked down at Blair. The cat had taken residence in Tsubaki's lap and was purring contently as she slept. Tsubaki continued to stroke her soft fur.

"Did Blair give you a lot of trouble? I know you said she can be a bit finicky."

"Not as bad as I thought it would be," Maka admitted. "I think I was in a worse mood because of the amount of magic it took to fly the broom. Not to mention staying on track was annoying. I almost got lost over Häxorskod."

"Was it as scary as they say?" asked Tsubaki.

"I did get nervous there. Blair said there was powerful magic and that the trees spoke to her. I also saw a will-o'-the-wisp there."

"A will-o'-the-wisp? I thought they were only a myth."

Maka shook her head. "It was strange. I know they're supposed to lead people off the path and into the forest to be lost forever. But this one came towards me. And I felt like I was supposed to lead it somewhere."

"Could it be because you're a witch?"

"Impossible. Even powerful witches have been led astray by them." Maka stared down at her hands. "I'm not quite sure what it means."

"Maybe it has something to do with your ability?" Tsubaki suggested.

It was possible. Almost all witches had some unique magical ability they were able to perform. Maka thought back to her mama's ability to make plants grow at will, and Eruka and her talk about pyromancy. However, the young witch could not think of anything that could relate to a will-o'-the-wisp moving towards her.

She decided to change the subject. Maka raised her eyebrows and gave Tsubaki a sly grin.

"So, a younger boy?"

Tsubaki blushed. "Don't say it like that! And it's only by a couple of years. It's not that weird."

"You and Black*Star was not a thing I would have expected."

Blair cracked an eye open. "It was that loud boy with the pointy hair, right? His wavelength was so jumpy it made me nervous. I'm surprised a girl like Tsubaki chose him."

Maka looked down at the cat before covering a laugh with the fakest cough on earth.

Tsubaki hid her face in her hands. "Now I feel like Blair's judging me too!"

"She is."

Tsubaki sighed. "That's my fault for becoming friends with a witch. Her familiar had an opinion and agrees with the witch."

Maka giggled. "You have to start from the beginning. Tell me, how did you two meet?"

"It was on the first day of school. Remember how I moved in the summer last year? It was so my brother and I could start school at a good time. I was very nervous, and got lost to my classroom. It was very embarrassing. But then Black*Star came along. He was giving a speech about how was going to help anyone in need. It took so long we ended up missing the first bell and being late." Tsubaki laughed at Maka's wince. "It sounds bad, doesn't it? I wasn't exactly thrilled to be late. But after class Black*Star was back to walk me home for lunch, and then back to school. At the end of the day he announced he wanted to be my friend. I said yes. That's how I met everyone else.

"About four months later he asked me out. It was his New Year wish that I would say yes. I didn't know that until after he told me."

"Let me guess," said Maka. "It was right after you said yes."

"It was!" Tsubaki was laughing. "He's a bit predictable sometimes."

"Do your parents approve?"

"My father took quite a liking to him."

Maka was incredulous. "Your father? To Black*Star? Really?"

Tsubaki nodded, a smile on her lips. "Trust me, I was just as surprised as you are. They got along very well, he invited Black*Star over for tea, and is teaching him sword techniques. Now they do kendo together every morning. I always wake up to the two finishing up."

"Wow…"

"He lives right between my house and the café you're staying at. He runs here every morning, and that takes him about ten minutes or so. Then he and my father spar for a bit. I usually wake up and make them breakfast." Tsubaki was smiling at the thought. "Black*Star's really warmed up to the idea of fish and rice with miso in the morning. Even days they don't spar he comes over to eat."

"So he's really a bit sappy sweetheart underneath all that energy, huh?" Maka said teasingly. "How very like you to choose him, Tsubaki."

Tsubaki threw a pillow at Maka as she laughed and rolled away from the assault.

They ended up talking about everything they could think of: school, life, their parents, their friends, the best things on Miss Marie's menu. It was quite a while later, around three in the morning, when the two girls finally turned off the lights. They lay side-by-side on the bed in familiar silence. Thirty minutes later Maka felt Tsubaki shift to face her.

"Maka? Are you awake?"

"Yeah," she whispered back.

"Have you decided what you'll be doing for your job?"

Maka shook her head, then remembered Tsubaki couldn't see her and spoke. "No. It's impossible! I have no skills whatsoever. All I can do is fly at this point, and that doesn't exactly start a business."

"I'm sure you can find something to do out of it. You're creative, and smart." Tsubaki's voice had a smile to it. "Just think how us normal people feel. I'm jealous you can fly. I'm bound to the ground unlike you. You can just hop on your broom and float away faster than any car can drive."

Maka remained unconvinced. "I guess so."

"It's just been a bit rough settling into a new town. Don't worry so much." Tsubaki sighed. "Still, I'm glad we were able to find each other through friends. I'm still upset I wasn't able to get your letter telling me you were coming before I went to Japan. The postal service is so slow, especially from the country to the city."

"That's true. If only there was a faster way…"

Tsubaki took Maka's pensive silence as her cue to bid her friend a final goodnight and turn away. After the Japanese girl's breath evened out Maka stayed up a while longer. That last conversation had her thinking about something. A business idea. Granted, it was a bit of a long shot, but if it were to work…

マカの宅急便

Maka was dropped off the next day back at the bakery. She thanked both of Tsubaki's parents. They were all smiles. As Maka said her goodbyes, Tsubaki called to her. The older girl got out of the car and handed Maka a wrapped box with a pink ribbon around it.

"I almost forgot about this! Since I knew you would be coming to Dödenstad once you came of age I was able to convince everyone to buy this for you. Think of it as a housewarming gift."

Maka took the wrapped box from her friend and held it gingerly. For a relatively small package it was surprisingly heavy.

Tsubaki nodded. "Go on, open it!"

Maka did, ripping off the wrapping paper carefully and taking off the lid. She pulled out the present in shock. "A camera?"

"I know it's a bit of an odd gift, but they're quite affordable now too! You can buy film at a bunch of stores in the area. Since you're here working I know you won't have much time to use it. But wouldn't it be nice to document some of these memories?"

"It's wonderful." Maka placed the gift down carefully and gave Tsubaki a goodbye hug ("But not for long! I'll be visiting soon!"), and ran back to the spare room she was using.

"Why the rush, Maka?" Blair asked as she jumped off of her perch on her mistress's head.

"I need to make some phone calls!"

マカの宅急便

Miss Marie seemed quite shocked when Maka brought up her idea.

"A delivery service?"

"Yes!" Maka helped refill the coffee machine before continuing. "Tsubaki gave me the idea when she told me how slow the postal service was. That's why she didn't get my letter on time before going to Japan. She mentioned it must be nice to fly since it's so much faster than driving! Besides, I don't have any skills outside from flying right now. So why not make a delivery service?"

"I think that's a wonderful idea!"

"I just need to set up a phone number, and a place to do business from."

Miss Marie was thoughtful. She made a suggestion Maka didn't expect.

"How about this? Until you have enough of a business to request your own phone number you can use the phone here. I'll put a word out among my regular customers and see if they can spread the word."

"Miss Marie, I don't know what to say!"

"Then say nothing! I'm here to help!" She gave Maka a warm hug. As Maka turned to leave, Marie added, "You can also keep using that spare room. No extra charge! And I'll even throw in breakfast for free!"

"Thank you! I'll work very hard!"

Marie couldn't help but laugh at Maka's enthusiasm. Perhaps it would be good for everyone after all. Her husband came in.

"Is everything alright? I heard shouting."

She kissed him on the cheek. "Everything's just fine."

I love SteinMarie.
Also, I think the driving age back then was 18, so just age Liz up as much as you want I guess.

Next chapter: Maka's first delivery. Things go wrong and she meets an interesting man living alone in the woods.