Author's Note: Well time for Masquerade's first performance with Travis now unfortunately. _ the song they play in this chapter is based on Culture Club's instrumental version of Time (Clock of the Heart aka Romance beyond the Alphabet) and thanks for all the feedback as usual!

Chapter 15: Black Star goes Undercover

"Wait a minute Soul are you sure you really want to trust Black Star do this?" Kid questioned as he watched Black Star happily kiss the 50 dollars Soul had gave him.

Soul shrugged. "Well I would feel more comfortable if you did it, but hey I don't have much in the way of options do I?"

"Hey! I'm still here you know! I bet that I'll find out not only what Maka's doing, but I'll figure out and solve the mystery of that guy who she has to follow around because that's how great I am!" Black Star snapped loudly.

"Just remember to remain hidden and stay a good distance away from her. Anyways I should be getting back home now I'm sure Maka has gotten up and is wondering where I am." Soul finished as he stood up and prepared to leave.

"Yeah I know already you don't need to tell me twice! Trust me by this time next week we'll know what Maka is up to!" Black Star yelled out to Soul as he walked back onto the street.

Soul sighed quietly. "I just really hope Black Star doesn't mess this plan up."

By the time Soul reached back to the apartment, it was already 11 am and Soul's first thought was that Maka had apparently stepped out until he had peeked inside her room.

Soul smiled as he looked over Maka's sleeping form, it was obvious she had awakened and gotten up beforehand because her bed was already made and she had just chosen to lie back down on top of the covers.

Soul brushed a few strands of her ash blonde hair out of her face as he noticed an opened magazine was lying across from her on the side.

Soul glanced at it curiously, wondering what Maka had been reading about as he read the title of the article: Top 10 things you can do to improve the sound of your Sax

"Why would Maka be reading about that?" Soul pondered about to look at the article in more detail when he noticed Maka starting to stir.

Immediately, Soul stepped back quickly not wanting Maka to know he had been snooping in her business as he watched her yawn and then turn towards him sleepily.

"Soul is that you? Where were you? It's not like you to get up early?" Maka questioned still drowsy from her nap.

Soul grinned internally to himself at how much easier it was to deal with a cute sleepy Maka questioning him and not an angry and alert Maka ready to chop him.

"Yeah I'm sure you were wondering where I was. I just stopped by Kid's, he really needed me to drop off some notes he had wanted me to do." Soul lied partially. Kid had told him to take some notes for practice missions they had planned to do, but he had told he wouldn't need them until later on in the week.

Maka stretched a bit starting to awaken more. "But why so early in the morning, couldn't it have waited until like the evening time when you usually hang out?"

"That's what I told him, but you know how OCD Kid can get about things that aren't in order or symmetrical." Soul said with a laugh.

Maka smiled and nodded in agreement as she finally stood up and walked over to her mirror to get a good look at her appearance.

"Well since you're finally back now I was thinking would you like to go out for brunch and maybe see that new action movie you were talking about earlier in the week?" Maka asked trying not to sound too nervous or shy.

"Any alone time I get to spend with you Maka is cool with me!" Soul whispered flirtatiously in her ear before he left her room to let her get changed.

Maka's face reddened, but she still grinned in enthusiasm as she watched Soul close the door behind him.

As Maka threw some clothes onto her bed from her closet, the magazine she had been reading earlier slid and fell off. Maka picked it back up and closed it, though a troubling thought popped into her head as she glanced back over the article it had been open to.

"I fell asleep as I was reading this and Soul was in my room when I woke up. I wonder if he saw what article I was reading because then he would just get suspicious all over again. I'm not exactly sure where our relationship really even is right now, but I know I don't want it to start being filled with lies and secrets." Maka mused before trying to brighten up. There was no need to be afraid Soul would find out about Emerald anytime soon since most of that stuff was hidden away and she would rather think about enjoying the day with Soul than stress over her alter ego.

~X~

"So apparently it was Medusa who experimented with black blood in order to study the effects it had on human body." Travis muttered under his breathe.

It was finally Wednesday afternoon again around 1:00 pm and Travis was back in the library, skipping class again as usual to investigate more into capturing Maka's grigori soul.

"Soul may think that he's able to protect Maka from me, but that idiot hasn't even figured out yet what Maka is really doing while he's off training. I should have been able to gain Maka's trust by now, but every time I try and get close to her that bastard shows up out of nowhere and Maka just completely forgets I'm even there. I really need to develop something that will get her to finally look my way even if it is by force." Travis growled to himself.

"The witches who have attacked the DWMA in the past have used forms of mind control and the black blood inside Soul only seems to only be activated when you need more power with the price of using it possibly causing the person to become insane. I can't just go off of their works though; I need to develop my own type of poison that I want Maka alone to have." Travis smirked as he continued to read more over the past enemies of the DWMA and write down options.

Meanwhile a few tables away from Travis, Black Star watched Travis taking notes with boredom.

"Geez I skipped class just for this? He's just taking notes and being a bookworm just like Maka nothing interesting about that." Black Star grumbled to himself.

As Travis got up though to put a book back, Black Star decided to take a closer look at what he had been writing down.

"Alright now's my chance to see what this guy has been writing about this whole time!" Black Star announced a bit too loudly causing people nearby to shush him.

Black Star quickly covered up his mouth. 'Oh crap I nearly gave myself away there! I need to actually try and be quiet if I don't want to get caught!'

Black Star crept up to Travis's notes and took a quick glance over what he wrote. What Black Star saw actually made him shiver a bit disturbed. Inside Travis's notebook were listings of ways to poison, drug, or torture a person into submission. He had even taken the time to draw out pictures and examples of items one could use to accomplish different forms of pain.

Black Star was about to take out his phone to snap a few photos of what he saw when Travis came up behind him.

"Hey, what are you doing by my stuff?" Travis asked Black Star as he gazed at his appearance up and down.

Black Star had actually taken the time to slightly change up his appearance, though he was still recognizable to most people at the school since the only thing he had done was slick back his spiky blue hair and put a cap on over it, but Travis hadn't really seen him much up until now or paid him any attention to recognize the difference.

"Uh err I was just looking for a book I thought you had on this table that I needed for a report." Black Star managed to gruff out as he looked over the textbooks Travis had scattered across the table.

"Well, I did just put one book back maybe that's the one you were looking for or you could just ask the librarian instead of going through my stuff." Travis spat out rudely as he moved his notebook away out of Black Star's view.

"Damn it he purposely put his notebook away! I guess I'll need to just watch and see what Maka does with him now once she gets out of class." Black Star muttered to himself as he moved into a different hiding spot incase Travis still thought he was spying on him.

For the next 30 minutes or so, Black Star resisted the urge to fall asleep as he watched Travis continue to take notes and just read until Hiro suddenly walked up to him causing Black Star to sit up in interest.

Unfortunately, Black Star was too far away to properly hear their conversation, but whatever Hiro had said had caused Travis to grin and pack up his stuff and then leave the library with Hiro.

Black Star waited for a few minutes to pass before following the two out the doors to see where they were going. Hiro had gone to his locker to take out two cases and then the two went to wait outside Class Crescent Moon.

'Hmm that's where Maka has her afternoon class. I wonder if that's just a coincidence or if there waiting for somebody else to show up.' Black Star thought as he hid at the corner of the hallway.

Around 2:00 pm the bell rang and students filed out of the classroom in different packs. Black Star looked around for Maka, but noticed even as the crowd died down that she hadn't walked out yet and Travis and Hiro were still by the door.

Black Star was beginning to become impatient, when Maka eventually walked out of the room and noticed Hiro and Travis were nearby. She frowned at the two of them and from what Black Star could make out, said something about not wanting to meet at the school before she took one of the cases from Hiro and all three left together.

'This is already becoming weird. Why is Hiro with them if Maka is only supposed to be investigating that one guy alone?' Black Star pondered as he followed them out the exit.

This time though, Black Star put on some sunglasses and really made sure to keep a good distance away from the trio now that Maka was with them.

"I don't know where they're going, but they are certainly trying to get there in a hurry." Black Star huffed out as he had taken to roof hopping to watch them.

~X~

"I told you guys I don't want us to meet at the school anymore! It's too much of a risk that someone will see us!" Maka grumbled in fury.

"That's what I was trying to tell Travis, but he insisted he wanted to see where you had class at." Hiro replied back.

"Yeah Maka, lighten up! What's wrong with me seeing your classroom?" Travis asked innocently.

"Maybe because you're a creep and trying to get on my good side by buying us presents and stuff won't work!" Maka snapped back.

"Oh Maka there's no need to be so angry! I bought all those clothes and accessories because you two don't really seem to splurge on any of the money you get from performing. I mean you guys make at least between 500 to 1000 dollars for each show you do that's a lot to have saved up by now!" Travis explained sincerely.

"Hiro, don't you think it was a waste of money though to just randomly have a shopping spree?" Maka asked trying to get Hiro to see her point of view.

"Hmm well I don't know Maka I do like these new jeans and shirts Travis got me! Plus, he even said having all this stuff would definitely help me get more dates with girls both as Hiro and as Diamond!" Hiro stated gleefully.

Maka sighed and rolled her eyes at Hiro's stupidity. 'What I really want to know is how did Travis know what size clothes fit us? How could he have looked that information up?'

Eventually all three of them were back at Hiro's apartment and Black Star hopped down from a nearby roof to inspect the area once he was sure they were inside.

'So apparently Maka has been doing this for quite a while now just going to Hiro's apartment with that other guy perhaps. My first hunch was that she was dating that one of them, but hopefully that won't be the case." Black Star pondered as he stood outside the building.

Surprisingly, Black Star didn't have to wait too long for them all to come out again as he noticed Hiro was now carrying a backpack on his shoulders that appeared to be stuffed.

Black Star quickly took back to roof hopping when he noticed Maka suddenly stopped and turned around. Black Star immediately stopped and jumped down into a nearby alleyway to avoid detection.

"What's up Maka, why did you suddenly stop?" Hiro questioned as he glanced around also.

"I just got the feeling for a second that we were being followed so I'm just checking around to make sure." Maka replied back as she scanned the area, but couldn't find anything out of the ordinary.

"Maka there's really no need to be ashamed of the time you spend with me!" Travis stated as he tried to grab Maka's hand only for her to slap his hand away and walk ahead of both him and Hiro.

Black Star watched as they passed the alleyway he was hiding in before crossing the street to enter into some café.

Black Star stopped outside the café and read the sign of the establishment: The White Lily Pub and Café.

'I know I've heard the name of this place somewhere before, but I can't remember from who.' Black Star thought as he went over what his next move should be.

'I guess I'll just go inside and sit in the way back so Maka won't notice me.' Black Star figured as he finally walked in.

"Hi welcome to the White Lily Pub and Café! Hmm you don't really look like the type of person who would listen to Masquerade's music, but who am I too judge?" Jessica stated as she greeted Black Star when he came in.

Black Star scoffed becoming offended. "Hey, you better watch what you say to me you're speaking to the great Black Star after all!"

Jessica didn't look impressed. "Yeah, that's nice. Anyways, I'm pretty sure you must be here for Masquerade's performance you should hurry and find a good seat, this place fills up fast."

Black Star was about to retort that he didn't really care about Masquerade's music or even who they were, but Jessica was already talking to the next customers coming in so Black Star just found a seat in the back.

"Hmm that lady at the front was right. People really do seem interested in this Masquerade group. I wonder if Tsubaki has heard about them." Black Star mused as he took off his sunglasses to take a better look around. The whole pub was beginning to become crowded with some people who had just come in having to stand by the doors or the bar.

~X~

Eventually, the same lady that Black Star had talked to earlier went on stage to make an announcement.

"Hello everyone thanks for coming to our 4 o clock variety music hour with Masquerade playing for us once again!"

A chorus of applause and cheering came up as soon as Jessica finished with some people even shouting out cries of "I love you Diamond!" and "Rock that sax again today Emerald!"

'Wow why don't people act like this whenever I enter into class or go anywhere?' Black Star thought as he stood up to get a better look at the stage.

"Masquerade also has informed me that they have some exciting news for us today. They have added a new member to their group who would like to go by Platinum! Now without further to do let's give all 3 of them a big round of applause!" Jessica cried out as she left the stage and the curtains opened.

Black Star took a sweeping glance at Emerald, Diamond, and Platinum. Emerald had on a green halter top with dark blue jeans, Diamond had on a grey short sleeved polo shirt with light blue jeans, and Platinum had on a blue V-neck shirt with light blue jeans also.

After all the cheering died down, the performance finally started with Platinum and Diamond starting things off with a light playing of the drums and guitar that matched with the orchestral strings playing in the background. Black Star even questioned for a moment if Emerald was even going to do anything until towards the end of the song she came in with her Sax and matched up with Platinum and Diamond's playing all the way until the end.

When the song was over even Black Star had to admit he was impressed by how good they were, but there was one small thought nagging him as he watched the trio take a bow from the applause.

'Even wearing those masks, it can't be just a coincidence that Maka, Hiro, and that one guy came in here all together and now they are nowhere to be found. There's no doubt about it Emerald must be Maka, but I'm going to have to corner her in order to get the truth.' Black Star thought as he stood up and made his way towards the stage.

Just as Black Star was about to approach Emerald, he was suddenly pushed back by fans trying to get each member's autograph or ask them a question.

"Damn it all these people are getting in my way!" Black Star growled out as he tried pushing people aside, but the time he was close enough to the stage all 3 of them were now gone.

"Great I lost track of them. I'm going to have to check outside or backstage before Maka leaves!" Black Star quickly tried to run backstage, but Jessica stopped him.

"Hey customers aren't allowed back here I can't allow you to go any further!" She snapped.

"Where's Emerald? I need to talk to her!" Black Star questioned anxiously trying to push Jessica aside.

Jessica scoffed and pushed him back. "Masquerade already left! If you wanted her autograph so bad you should have sat closer to the stage."

"You should have said that earlier! Maybe I can still catch her…" Black Star snapped as he took off outside.

As soon as Black Star got outside he looked for any sign of a familiar pig tailed blonde and grinned when he saw her further down the street.

"Hey wait up Maka!" Black Star yelled out causing Maka to freeze in her tracks.

"What's Black Star doing on this side of town at this time of day?" Maka thought to herself as she forced herself to greet him with a smile as he approached her.

"I bet you're wondering what I'm doing here. I just wanted to check out Masquerade's performance, I didn't know you could play the sax!" He stated in amusement as he took off his cap and spiked back up his hair.

Maka feigned confusion. "Black Star, what are you talking about? I don't play the-"but Black Star just continued to talk and stopped any words she was going to say next with his next statement.

"You can't keep secrets from your God! I've been following you Maka and I know you're Emerald! Now the real question is should I tell Soul what I've found out today or are you going to find a way to make sure I keep quiet?"

Author's Note: That's it for Chapter 15, let me know what you think with a review and as always thanks for reading!