*Earlier That Day...*

When the bell finally rang for lunch, students crowded out the doorway of class Crescent Moon, eager to get to the cafeteria to get the good food before it was all gone. However, there was one pair of students who hung back behind the others, stopping just outside of the classroom as their peers were swept down the hall by the crowd of people.

"So, what'd you want to talk about?" Maka asked when the hallway had finally cleared out and it was just her and Black Star.

He looked at her uncomfortably, avoiding her gaze. "Could you do me a favor?"

The girl blinked in confusion. It was usually her and Soul that called in favors from their assassin friend, but Black Star asking for anything was unusual.
"Sure. Let's hear it."

"Help me get a good grade on the upcoming exam."

Maka's jaw dropped as she gaped dumbfounded at her friend.
"Could...could you say that again? I'm not sure I heard you right," she stuttered.

"Fine, but listen close 'cause I won't say it a third time," he snapped. "I need your help passing this exam."

Her gaze softened as she gazed at Black Star, who was still avoiding any chance of meeting her eyes as he leaned against the wall.
"I'll help you, but can I ask you why?"

He glanced at her with a grin. "Maybe I think it's time for me to outshine even you in academics, but I need a little boost."

They looked at each other for few seconds before bursting into laughter, both knowing full and well that Black Star couldn't care less about doing well in school. He never had, even when he was younger.

"Okay, come over tonight after school and get ready for the hardest training you've ever gone through," Maka smiled as she began walking towards the cafeteria. "In the meantime, we should probably go grab something to eat before all the food's gone."

"Oh, crap!" exclaimed Black Star, taking off at a sprint. "I'm starving!"

The four Shibusen students ate dinner in relative silence, marveling at how good Soul's cooking actually was when he actually tried and didn't have Blair constantly pestering him.

"Don't you usually have to tutor Soul, Maka-chan?" asked Tsubaki as she took a dainty bite of her food.

"Yeah, but it's fine," the Scythe Meister replied with a smile. "This unit was pretty easy, so he'll manage without me, right Soul?"

"Not cool, Maka," her Weapon mumbled, the slightest hint of redness rising to his cheeks. "You make me sound like some kind of problem student."

"Well, we don't want you getting strip searched again," she giggled. "How's your studying coming, Tsubaki?"

"Oh, it's going well, thanks to the notes Black Star gave me," she smiled at her Meister who was a little too busy eating to return it, so he just gave her a thumbs up.

"Slow down or you're gonna get sick," Maka snapped, glaring at him.

Sticking his tongue out, Black Star obliged, much to Tsubaki's curiosity. He usually never listened to anyone, not even her. Why were he and Maka suddenly so close? She felt her stomach doing flips as she got to her feet and picked her plate up.
"I can do the dishes if you want," she smiled.

"No way, Tsubaki, you're a guest," Maka protested, but the older girl just smiled as she turned on the water.

"You two get back to studying," Soul said, standing up. "I'll help Tsubaki with the dishes."

Maka raised an eyebrow at her partner. She usually had to bug him pretty much all day to get him to do the chores. But Soul just waved dismissively as he cleaned up the table and walked over to the kitchen.

"Hey," he simply said as he slid the dishes into the sink and picked up a towel to start drying.

"Hi," she replied halfheartedly.

"You know, if I had to guess, I'd say he's doing this for you."

Tsubaki's eyes widened as she gaped at her friend at a loss for words.

"Wh...what do you mean?" she finally managed to choke out.

"It's just a theory, so don't quote me on this, but the only reason I can think of for Black Star to be working so hard on something he's announced as useless crap on several occasions, is you," Soul told her. He didn't even know if that was the reason she was so down, but he had to give it a shot.

"That can't be right," Tsubaki murmured, her eyes fixed on the plate she'd been holding for several minutes now. "Why?"

"Beats me," shrugged the scythe, gently taking the blade from her hands. "Besides, it wouldn't be very cool to give everything away. You should find some things out on your own."

She gave him a small, but grateful smile, attempting to blow a few loose strands of hair out of face since her hands were wet.

"Need some help with that?" Soul chuckled, tucking her hair behind her ear with his free hand.

Blushing slightly, she muttered a thanks before they resumed washing and drying the dinner plates in silence.

On the other hand, Maka and Black Star weren't doing so well.

"Soul...!" growled his Meister, glaring at the pair from her room as Soul tucked a strand of hair behind Tsubaki's ear.

"Stop nagging the guy, Maka," Black Star grumbled, not looking up from the textbook. "I mean, give him some credit. He'll never be a big a star as me, but he's okay."

He had a point...

"Hey, Black Star? Does Soul ever...talk about me?" Maka asked, nervously fidgeting with her sleeves.

Glancing up at her from his reading, the assassin cocked an eyebrow. "Say what?"

"When you guys hang out..." she stated. "Does he ever talk about me?"

She jumped at the sound of Black Star's laughter.

"Yeah, sure he does!" he coughed through bursts of laughter. "He won't shut up about how much you always complain and nag. Oh, and how you're a total neat freak at home, almost as bad as Kid."

Just as Maka was about to march out to the living room and give Soul a piece of her mind, Black Star's laughter faded away and his gaze softened a little.

"You're gonna have to ask him for details on this, but he said something about your eyes sparkling like emeralds or something," Black Star added before turning back to his textbook. "...now, 1876..."

Peeking out at the living room, she saw Soul lounging on the couch, and it seemed like Tsubaki had already left. With a sigh, she plopped down on her bed and waited for Black Star to finish memorizing the dates. If he put his mind to it and had the right kind of motivation, Black Star really could do anything. She wondered if he could pull of being romantic, but only chuckled at the image that came to mind.

"Okay, I think I got it," declared Black Star with a triumphant smile.

"Good. Recite them three times in a row from the beginning to the end. And then recite them another three times from the end to the beginning," she ordered. "Go."

Tsubaki made her way home through the winding streets of Death City in absolutely no hurry. She was too busy thinking about what Soul had said to her earlier.

"The only reason I can think of for Black Star to be working so hard on something he's announced as useless crap on several occasions, is you."

Just the thought of that being true made her heart flutter and brought a smile to her face. Especially knowing how self-absorbed her Meister was, for him to be working so hard for someone else's sake was definitely something else.

By the time she even got halfway home, it was almost dark.

"Hey, Tsubaki!" yelled a familiar voice from behind her. Turning around, the Weapon saw Black Star running to catch up with her.

"You must have been walking really slow, considering you left almost an hour ago," he commented with an easy grin.

"Oh, I was just thinking. How'd the rest of your study session go?" she asked.

"It went fine. Watch me get a hundred percent on this exam!" Black Star beamed with confidence.

"I know you will," his Weapon smiled warmly.

"Of course! There's nothing the great Black Star can't do!" But even as he said it, he really hoped he was right.

The rest of the walk was Black Star going on another monologue rant. Tsubaki really didn't mind. She'd grown used to it by now, and even though she was only half listening, she nodded and smiled at exactly the right times. When they finally got home, they were both exhausted and eager to go to bed.

"You should get some sleep," Tsubaki told her. "With all the hard work you've been doing, you must be exhausted."

"That stuff was easy as hell," Black Star yawned as he sat down on the couch. "You can have the bathroom first. Let me know when you're done."

Tsubaki reluctantly nodded before heading in to take a bath. By the time she was finished, Black Star was snoring loudly, his body sprawled lazily on the couch.

She gazed at him with a soft smile as she shook her head. "If you lay like that, your back is going to hurt tomorrow."

Figuring there was no way she could drag him into the bedroom, she adjusted his arms and legs into a more natural position and went to get a blanket for him. When she came back, she could have sworn she heard him mutter her name.

With a smile, she gently draped the blanket over him and took a step back. He looked really cute while he slept; his normally arrogant vibe was diminished, replaced by a calm sereneness that you'd think didn't exist for Black Star. Tsubaki couldn't help but feel a little special, being one of the only people to ever get to see it.

As she was about to turn and head into the bedroom, something loosely wrapped around her wrist, and looking down, she saw that it was Black Star's hand.

"Hey, don't go," he said in a soft voice, his eyes drowsily gazing up at her.

She tilted her head to the side as he scooted over to make room for her.

Smiling, she lay down next to him, even if she was unsure of what was going on. For a second, they gazed into each other's eyes in the darkness before they both drifted off to sleep, snuggled rather close together on a couch that wasn't all that big.

When she awoke the next morning, Tsubaki was in bed, her Meister nowhere to be seen. Slowly sitting up, she thought back to the events of the night before and wondered how she could have ended up in bed. And what's more; where was Black Star?

She glanced over at the clock and started at the fact that she was once again late.

After getting ready on high speed, she raced out of the apartment and towards the Shibusen. She made it in time for the bell and scanned the classroom for her partner.

"Tsubaki, I'd like to have a word with you in the hall," said Professor Stein, startling her and breaking her concentration.

She wordlessly followed him out into the hallway, unable to keep the worried look off her face.

"Judging by the look on your face and the confusion in your soul; you don't know," Stein hypothesized.

"I don't know what?" Tsubaki asked, her voice filled with concern.

Stein held up a piece of paper, and taking a closer look, Tsubaki saw that it was a test and the answers were Black Star's handwriting. At the top, there was a 75%. He passed. The first test she knew of that wasn't physical that her Meister had passed.

"But when did he take this?" she inquired. "Isn't it supposed to be first thing today?"

Stein gave her a look of concern mixed with sympathy. "Black Star came in and took the test this morning and requested that I graded it on the spot. After seeing that he passed..."

Tsubaki looked at him expectantly, impatiently waiting for him to continue.

"...he resigned from the Shibusen and left Death City."