Maka's POV

"I wonder what Father wants with us." Kid said as we walked into the death room. All of us had gotten messages to report to the death room immediately. "Don't even try it, BlackStar!" he yelled up to BlackStar who was standing on one of the guillotines with Tsubaki in dark arm mode in his hands. He jumped down, and Tsubaki transformed to stand behind him.

"Dang it! How did you know I was there? I am the great BlackStar, the one who will surpass god! So how did you, a mere mortal, know I was there?" BlackStar ranted while Tsubaki sighed. I'm surprised that she can put up with him without coming up with a Tsubaki-chop.

"Hello hello, what's up everybody? How are you all?" Lord Death chirped from the front of the death room.

"Good," everyone said.

"Now you are all probably wondering why I have asked you to come here today. Well, the matter is that, about an hour ago, I got an urgent message from an old friend in Japan named Jugo. His family deals with Yoma, kind of like demons. Yesterday, the heir to the family and their friend who Jugo says is the strongest fighter he's ever met were seriously injured in a fight that I think may have been fighting a Kishin instead of a Yoma. He's asking for our help, so I'm sending Kid with Liz and Patty, BlackStar with Tsubaki, and Maka with Soul. Stein will stay here with Marie and Spirit, just in case this is a diversion on the Kishin's part to get our strongest fighters away from Death City."

"When are we leaving?" I asked.

"Plane tickets have already been paid for, and the plane leaves at seven a.m. tomorrow morning. You will need to pack at least a week's worth of clothes, since we don't know how long you'll be needed. Any more questions?" By this point, everyone was speechless, our heads spinning with all of the information we had taken in.

"I have one. Do they speak English?" I asked. If not, that would make this mission difficult.

"Of course. Oh, and one more thing: Jugo will send a car to pick you all up from the airport and transport you to the Kannagi estate." We all nodded.

"Now go pack and rest up for the big day tomorrow. Here, Spirit has your passports ready."

We look behind us to see my father walking into the Death Room. He started silently passing them out to us, being strangely quiet for him. When he got to me, he barely looked at me and just handed me my passport in silence.

What is going on with him?

When we turned to leave, I heard my father very quietly call my name.

"Maka? Can I speak with you for a moment?" he looked nervous, shifting from foot to foot as I walked over to him.

"Yes? You wanted to talk to me?" I didn't hate him as much as I used to. He was trying to get my respect back. Blair told me that she hadn't seen him at Chupa Cabra's for the last month.

He stammered a couple times. "Well, um, I… Just be careful."

"I will, Papa," I said as he stood there awkwardly, looking like he wanted to hug me, but thought that I wouldn't want one. So I pulled him into a hug. He seemed surprised at first, and then almost squeezed the breath out of me as he returned the hug. I heard him murmur, "I love you, Maka."

"Love you too, Papa," I said as he released me.

"Now, go along with your friends, and good luck." He said as I walked out of the death room, where everyone was waiting for me.

"Maka, wake up," Soul said as he shook my shoulder."

"What?" I looked around me at the people on the plane around me. Kid was between Liz and Patty across the aisle from us, and BlackStar and Tsubaki were behind us. It had been a peaceful flight, which is how I fell asleep.

"We're about to land at the airport." He said, gathering his iPod and his magazines he had brought for entertainment. I couldn't read on a plane without getting sick, or else I would have brought a book along. I had one in my suitcases, just in case I had to administer a Maka-chop.

As we walked out of the airport, we were all looking for our ride to the Kannagi estate that Lord Death had told us about.

"Who are we looking for anyway?" Soul asked. "'Cuz just wandering all over Japan looking for him so isn't cool."

"Dad told me his name was Kazuma, that he was tall with brown hair and reddish colored eyes." Kid said, so we started looking for this 'Kazuma'.

"Hi, are you guys from the DWMA?" a little blonde boy with eyes that were a brighter green than mine asked.

"Yeah, your name wouldn't be Kazuma, would it?" he laughed.

"No, that's my brother. He's waiting in the car. Jugo sent us to get you guys." He said, gesturing to a red van that was waiting by the curb. As we watched, the passenger side window rolled down to reveal a guy with brown hair inside.

"Come on, Jugo's excited to meet you all!" Ren said, grabbing my gloved hand and lightly tugging me towards the van. I walked with him, looking behind me to see that everyone was following us.

Once we got our luggage in the van, we somehow squished everyone into the car, with Ren in the passenger seat and everyone else in the back two rows.

"So you guys are the ones that Jugo sent for?" Kazuma asked.

"Yep. I'm Maka, this is Soul," I said, pointing out the others who either nodded or waved when their names were called, "BlackStar, Tsubaki, Kid, Liz, and Patty."

"Well, nice to meet you all." He said as he started driving toward the Kannagi estate. Ren chatted the whole way, keeping an awkward silence from developing.

"Why do you wear gloves?" he asked me.

"Well, it's mostly when I'm fighting, or expect to be fighting soon. It keeps my hands from getting hurt too bad if something tries to knock my weapon out of my hands. But," I paused, pulling my gloves off my hands to show him the small scars I had acquired on the top of my hands, then twisted them to show him the calluses from wielding Soul, "they can't stop everything. This is my fifth or sixth pair this year."

"Wow. Do you guys fight a lot? I mean, like the demon things you guys fight?"

"You mean the Kishin?"

"I guess. I don't know what they're called."

"Yeah. We fight the Kishin eggs too, before they turn into Kishin."

"Cool. It has to be hard, fighting all the time." He said, looking at all of us. Kid was looking out the window, BlackStar was dozing with his head leaning back against the seat while Tsubaki watched over him, and everyone else was listening intently, even Kazuma. He was watching the road, but he had his head turned slightly in our direction, so I knew he was listening.

When he parked, I saw the gate to the Kannagi estate, which looked so beautiful from here.

"Come on," Kazuma said, walking forward, "Jugo's waiting to meet you all."

"So how does the weapon-meister thing work?" Kazuma asked as we walked. Ren looked to us with bright eyes.

I looked at Soul, who nodded at me. I turned to Kazuma. "Watch." I grabbed Soul's hand.

"Wait, Maka," Kid said. I turned to look at him. "Let's wait until we meet up with Jugo. He'll probably want to see what we can do too."

"That makes sense." I turned to Kazuma and Ren. "Sorry."

"No problem. We'll get to watch anyway, so it's no big deal." He said as we kept walking. Eventually we came to what I assumed was the main house. I heard quiet bickering from inside.

"Father, I'm fine. I don't need to rest any more. So I hit my head. So what?" a female voice said in a voice that rose in volume and pitch the longer it went on.

Kazuma sighed, slid the door open, and popped his head in. "Jugo? They're here."

A voice from inside said, "Bring them in."

As we walked inside, I noticed the ornate designs on the walls. It was very beautiful. We sat down. Kid was between Liz and Patty, Tsubaki was on BlackStar's left, and Soul was on my left.

"Welcome. I'm Jugo, and this is my daughter, Ayano. What are your names?" An older man with gray hair that had white streaks in it said from the front of the room where he faced us. Kazuma and Ren sat between him and us, near a young woman who looked like she was sixteen or seventeen.

"I'm Maka, this is my partner Soul," I repeated the introductions from the car. "This is BlackStar with his partner Tsubaki, and then that's Kid, with his partners Liz and Patty."

"Thank you for coming so quickly. I appreciate your help."

"You're welcome. It's what we do." Jugo looked at each of us.

"Would you mind answering a few questions for me?" he asked.

We all looked at each other and shrugged. "Sure, if we can," Kid said.

"How do you fight? I have heard stories and rumors, but I've never seen it with my own eyes." We all looked at each other, and then they all looked at me.

"I guess we're up, Soul," I said, pulling Soul up with me as I stood up.

"Guess so," he said before transforming into a scythe. I heard four gasps as I spun him around me, then above my head. I put him back down on the ground and let go as he transformed back.

"Whoa, that was so cool!" Ren said. The other three were speechless for a moment.

Once he had recovered, Kazuma asked, "Can you all do that?"

Kid answered, "In a way. Each weapon can do something different. Liz and Patty here, my partners, are twin pistols. Tsubaki has more than one weapon mode."

I jumped in with, "But we can't show you everything in here without destroying something."

Everyone laughed a little at that. "No, that wouldn't be a good idea then," Jugo said. "Now, it's starting to get late. While you're in town, I've arranged for you stay at the same hotel Kazuma is staying in. Since he is one of two people who know what you're looking for, you will be working mainly with him on this."

Kazuma got up and walked to the door, sliding it open for all of us leave.

"Oh, Maka, Soul, can I speak to you privately?" Jugo asked. We looked at each other, then moved away from the door so everyone else could get out, Ren and Ayano with them.

"We'll wait for you guys outside," Tsubaki said, looking worried. I nodded, then turned back to Jugo.

"Did you want something, sir?" I asked.

"Yes, I have one more question for you. How strong is the bond between a Meister and their weapon?"

"Very close. You have to be able to trust your partner with your life, because your life is in their hands every time you fight." I said.

"Another thing," Soul said, "is that, before a weapon and meister can go out on their first mission together, the weapon has to take an oath to protect the meister with their life, to be ready to die for their meister at a moment's notice if needed."

Jugo listened intently, then said, "And is this oath taken seriously?"

Soul and I looked at each other and nodded. He took his jacket off, handing it to me. I held it, watching Jugo closely. As Soul lifted his shirt up to show Jugo the scar, his eyes widened.

"Very seriously." I said. Then I turned to walk out the door, handing Soul his jacket as he followed me out.