Tsubaki slowly opened her eyes, squinting at the bright sunlight streaming through the window. She glanced over to her right and saw Black Star still fast asleep. His face had a distressed expression on it and she wondered momentarily if she should wake him up.
Deciding against it, the Weapon got up and went to take a morning shower to wake herself up a bit. The events of last night still swam around in her head as she got undressed and stepped into the shower, but she'd calmed down from the initial shock quite a bit. She'd been hyperventilating for about five minutes after rushing into the bathroom, her face so hot she was convinced it might melt right off.
But one thing Tsubaki would never want to forget was the kiss she'd shared with Black Star. It was her first kiss, and she didn't regret it one bit.
Smiling to herself, she got out of the shower and got dressed before heading out into the suite.
Her Meister was already up and had apparently ordered room service as he ws scarfing down a plate of eggs and was a plate of pancakes set aside as well as scrambled eggs and bacon.
"Morning, Tsubaki. I wasn't sure what you wanted, so I told them to surprise me," Black Star said through a mouthful of bacon.
"Chew and swallow, Black Star," Tsubaki giggled as she sat down and started on her pancakes. "Thanks for the breakfast."
"It's technically on your tab. I'll pay you back later, though."
"No need," Tsubaki replied. "It was the money Shinigami-sama gave to me. Anyway, what should we do today?"
Tracking Free and Eruka down might be our best move," her Meister replied thoughtfully. "I'm not usually a man for strategies. That's Kid's forte."
"This is one thing we should really not barge into," Tsubaki reminded him.
Black Star shrugged, looking out the window at the city skyline. "Whatever. There's always our go-to plan."
The Weapon tilted her head to the side curiously, blinking. "Our...go-to plan?"
"Yeah," her Meister grinned. "Get in, kick ass, take some souls, and get out."
"Um, I don't think that plan would work in this context, Black Star. We should really think this one out," Tsubaki begged.
"Fine, we'll figure something out when we find them. So where should we start?"
"Well..." Tsubaki trailed off as she remembered what Shinigami-sama had told her. But she couldn't break a promise, even if it was killing her to keep a secret from Black Star of all people.
"What is it?" Black Star questioned, gazing at her curiously.
"Oh, nothing. I just lost my train of thought," she replied composing herself. "But I think you're right about tracking down those two. They should lead us to everyone else."
"It'd be a lot easier if Maka the Soul Perceptionist was here," Black Star grumbled. "But how hard can it be to track down an immortal werewolf and a frog girl?"
Incidentally, it proved to be quite the challenge. Not knowing the area well was a disadvantage, and the fact that everything in the city was different didn't help matters.
"It's been three hours and we still don't have a single lead," Black Star grimaced, putting his hand against a brick wall of an alleyway and blasting it with his Soul Force.
"Well, maybe they'll come to us," Tsubaki suggested.
Before her Meister could utter a word, a shadow caught their attention. Tsubaki instinctively turned into a kusarigama, her Meister catching her with ease as he scanned the alley.
A boy with stark white hair emerged from the shadows dressed in all black, his pupils the shape of stars as his eyes studied the Meister and Weapon.
"You don't seem like much," the boy drawled, walking closer, his eyes seeming to glow with malice. "I hate to have to kill one of my own, but since you're in the way."
"I don't know what the hell you're talking about, kid," Black Star replied.
"We just want some answers," Tsubaki added. "We didn't come looking for a fight."
"Well, that's too bad," the boy chuckled with a twisted smile. "'Cause you've got one!"
He lunged at Black Star, who easily dodged his attack, but had to kick it into Speed Star in order to keep up with him. However, even the punches that did hit had little force behind them and Black Star took them without a cringe.
"You think you can take down some one who's going to surpass god with your bare hands?" he asked, blocking a kick with his forearm.
"There is no god," the boy replied in a dark voice, his attacks not missing a beat. "The Star Clan are the gods."
"Yeah? How's that working out for you when everyone's dead?" Black Star retorted, landing a hard punch in the boy's solar plexus, sending him flying backwards, slamming into a building.
"Once we're reformed, we'll be even stronger than before," the boy answered. "Why did you turn down Free's offer to join us, brother?"
For a moment, Black Star didn't answer and Tsubaki could feel an array of emotions waging war in his soul as he looked the boy in the eye and said simply, "I have someone I need to protect."
"And what better protection can you offer them than that of the strongest clan ever to live?"
Black Star didn't have time to reply before Tsubaki returned to her human form and stood beside him.
"You intend on becoming the strongest by killing people. That's not the right kind of power," she pointed out.
The boy smirked, peering at Tsubaki through his long bangs. "Oh? Is she perhaps the one you feel such a need to protect?"
The Meisrer didn't answer, just glared at the younger boy. Not particularly with hate, but rather pity and sympathy.
"Say I change my answer and take the offer," Black Star said in a low voice.
The boy only chuckled and turned, walking towards they alley's exit. "Then come find find the HQ. My name's Haru, by the way."
With that, he rounded the corner and disappeared, leaving Black Star in silence and Tsubaki stunned.
She couldn't understand why he'd even consider joining them.
"Black Star, wait," Tsubaki protested aa her Meister made to take off after the boy.
"What is it?" he asked, impatiently. Every second counted when it came to tracking, especially with a trained assassin like Haru.
"Maybe it's not such a good idea to follow him. It could be another trap," said Tsubaki.
"Even if it is, you've got ol' Black Star to protect you and nothing can touch you while I'm around!"
She hesitating before nodding, turning into a ninja blade and silently allowing Black Star to follow the younger assassin through the winding streets until the got to a more abandoned part of town where it was mostly warehouses. They lost track of Haru as they entered the maze of warehouses,
"Dammit, this blows. Hey! Come out here and fight me!" Black Star shouted.
There was movement in the rafters and they knew off the bat that they were surrounded.
Free and Eruka stepped out from behind a stack of crates and Tsubaki's prediction was confirmed, despite not knowing exactly why they wanted to trap the two of them.
There was a moment of silence as the two pairs stared each other down. Neither spoke first until Haru dropped from the rafters to stand between them.
"Well, I brought them," he stated irritably.
"Right. You're the second most difficult of the lot," Free grumbled.
"Did you change your mind about joining us?" Eruka asked.
Tsubaki felt her heart stop when Black Star didn't respond. She knew what the answer would be before the words left his mouth.
"And what if I am?" he uttered in a low voice.
"Black Star," Tsubaki protested as he placed his Weapon on the ground.
"Go back to Death City and the Shibusen, Tsubaki." He didn't even glance at her.
She returned to her human form and gazed at him in dismay. "Wh...what? But...you're not really going to... You can't!"
There was no response and the silence rang louder than any answer he could have given her. She couldn't accept it. She just couldn't.
"Why?" she whispered at last.
"I'm an assassin. I don't belong with all you do-gooders at the Shibusen," Black Star replied, finally turning to look at her, his eyes telling a whole other story of their own. One that only Tsubaki could read. "It's simple as that, but I'll see you soon when we come take that place down for killing the rest of our clan."
Turning, the Weapon ran from the warehouse as fast as she could, trying to hold back the tears. She ran and ran and kept running until she got into town. As she rounded the corner into a bustling sidewalk, she ran head on into no other than Maka Albarn.
At the sight of her friend, she couldn't hold them in anymore and the tears came streaming out as she clung to the awestruck girl and cried. Cried for Black Star and herself and the mess they were in because she hadn't told him the truth in the first place. Now, she wondered if she'd ever get to, or if things could ever be the same between them again.