Usual disclaimers apply~ enjoy reading guys :D

SOUL----

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Maka blinked back at him and his statement. She repositioned the box she had in her arms – the box contained random stuff like books and pens and lots and lots of pieces of paper. "Helping...?" Her remark was laced with uncertainty and it ended up sounding like a question.

Dropping his messenger bag on his feet with a grunt, he strode over to her and gently took the box from her arms. With his free left hand, he ruffled her hair roughly but not so much that he might hurt her – she was still healing from broken bones. He kept his hand on her head, tenderly rubbing his thumb againt her scalp. "Don't carry these, they're pretty heavy. Kim told you that even though she finished fixing your broken bones you still need to be careful."

Kim was kind enough to make the damage heal quicker using a regeneration spell. It obviously worked for the sprain and her bruises, which were now yellowing meaning it was almost healed. Hopefully, all those regeneration stuff were working on her ribs. He didn't like how she might possibly be hiding her pain from him. That was how she worked, he knew since he did it too.

"They aren't heavy though," the meister muttered with a huff as she walked towards her kitchenette.

Yes, he was in her apartment again. No, it's theirs once again since she had asked him to move back in. And that's what he was doing now. He didn't have that much stuff from Kid's place, just lots of clothes, school books, and one or two game consoles. Speaking of Kid, he hadn't told him about moving out yet. Oh well...

Nostalgia rushed back to him. The apartment was so peaceful. And everything was so...Maka.

"You guys want anything to eat or drink?" Maka offered as Soul started placing his things inside his old room.

Guys...

He forgot that he was there.

A clattering was heard at the front door as Kiel had a box in his arms as well, filled with similar objects. As Soul peeked out from his room, he saw that the knife weapon had the box by his feet as he took a seat on the sofa. "Yeah, drink please," he said breathlessly as he tipped his head to rest on the back of the couch.

"Oi, I hope you didn't drop the box," snarled the scythe, eliciting a scared look from the knife which he managed to hide after a second. He was getting used to Soul's threats now and it was getting boring. He liked scaring Kiel.

"Why am I helping again?" Kiel asked, taking the glass of clear liquid from Maka's hands. "No, wait. An even better question: why are you moving in together again? You're not her weapon... Actually I should be moving in, right?"

"You have a place of your own Kiel," Maka replied as-a-matter-of-factly, drinking from her own glass of water as she headed back into the kitchenette. "And you're still on probation."

Yeah! And as if I'd ever let you live with her, Soul thought with a snort.

"So? What's the real reas—," Kiel's head shot up from its resting position and swivelled to gape at the white haired boy who was leaning sideways on the door frame. What was with his look? It looked like one of realization. Shortly, Kiel continued, blurting out. "Are you sleeping together?!"

From the edge of Soul's vision, he saw Maka spurt out the water she had in her mouth in surprise, choking shortly afterwards. "NO!!" she screeched in protest, her face as red as a tomato. Soul couldn't help it; he started to laugh out hysterically, leaning his head on the door frame that was supporting him. If he wasn't leaning, he was sure he would've been rolling on the floor. He should've reacted with a denial as well, but instead this was his reaction.

"Ah..." Kiel said in embarrassment. "So you guys are going out then?" he asked instead.

"What th—," Maka's protest was cut off by Soul's own proclamation which seemed to have been a bigger shock than the last one.

"Oh yeah," Soul answered happily. "We're actually much more than that." At that, he saw Maka's head slowly turn towards him, her face a mask of disbelief, gaping at him, her jaw unhinged, almost falling to the floor. Kiel sat up in curiosity, his eyebrows knitted together.

"Excuse us Kiel," Maka begged as she turned back to Kiel with an apologetic expression. Abruptly, as her head turned to Soul - her glare almost made his knees weak – she started to stomp towards her old partner, shoving him inside his room and slamming the door behind her back.

"Soul!" she chided in a frantic whisper, not wanting to let Kiel hear. "What the hell are you doing!? Were you going to tell him about the arrangement!?"

Feeling her panic wash over him, he felt guilty. Breathing deeply, he replied gently as he held onto her shoulders. "Maka, I'm not going to tell him that we're...engaged. That's just our secret, okay?" Despite the calmness of his voice, he was trembling, and that was one reason why he held onto her. She really didn't like the arrangement with him. Was it him? Can he never be anything more than a friend to her?

Why does he suddenly feel hurt?

Something blocked his throat – just lodged there preventing him from breathing.

Her eyes softened and calmed from his revelation, but it was quickly replaced with a piercing glare. "Well what were you supposed to tell him then?" she questioned with a hard tone as she folded her arms across her chest.

"A lie," he answered simply, hiding the trembling of his voice with difficulty. "I wanted to annoy the brat." He looked away, feigning annoyance when all that he was feeling at that very moment was...rejection. She seemed to breathe out her relief from his answer but her glare didn't cease.

"Soul, don't do that again," she chided with a harsh tone and yet there was a begging tone twisted into her words as well. Roughly shaking off his hold on her shoulders, she turned, heading for the door.

Before she could exit his room, Soul's hand shot to immediately grab Maka's arm, her attention returning to him as she turned her head. She looked back to him with a puzzled and annoyed expression.

He blinked as he registered what he had just done. For a second, their expressions were the same – mirrored. Confused. Why did he stop her for?

Oh right. There was a question at the tip of his tongue and too easily, it quietly made its escape. And he wondered why so suddenly, it felt as if he had made a big mistake.

"Is it so hard to accept me as your fiancé?"

WES----

His mother clung to him, sobbing, causing him to look down at her in bewilderment. But instead of being afraid, he was strangely feeling the opposite. For his mother had been crying tears of joy.

Did his father wake up from his coma?

"What is it mother?" he asked gently, leading her to the chair in the library that he always sat on.

As soon as he entered the library, the sight of his crying and smiling mother met him and she had immediately rushed to him, embracing the life out of him. It had been six days since their unconscious father was delivered home and his awakening would probably be the only thing that would make his mother as happy as this.

What else could it be?

"We're free," Cordelia sobbed in relief on his chest, clutching at his back, her fingers almost digging into his skin if not for his suit. Free? Free from what? "We're free, Wes dear!"

So it wasn't his father? "What are you talking about mother?" Wes frowned as he tried to make sense of what his mother was saying. For some reason, Wes' blood had run cold from her overjoyed comment. Free? Were they even ever trapped? Were they in some sort of danger before?

Behind him, Wes felt someone walking up to them. Turning his head, he found Kami towering over them with an expression of tearless relief, smiling overhead. The son became even more confused.

"Kami? What's this about?"

"I'll explain it to you. Don't worry." Kami once again smiled, almost angelically that Wes felt a sort of calm wash over him.

A few more secrets were about to be revealed.

KID----

Black. White.

Which is it?

"Maybe it changes colour?" Patti innocently suggested.

"What are you talking about?" Black*Star chided the girl, "Things don't just change colour just like that!"

"No, Black*Star," Tsubaki sighed, intending to correct him. "There are objects that are able to change colour because of their environment. For example, something could change colour depending on the amount of light or the temperature."

"Tsubaki has a point, but I have to somehow agree with the egotist here," Liz said as she jutted her thumb out at Black*Star. "There's a possibility that the black diamond is different from the white diamond; that they are actually two different objects."

"But they look the same!" Patti cried in immature exasperation, stomping her foot against the desert sand as her arms were stiff and straight beside her, fists clenched.

"There might even be a chance that this picture isn't even related to the stolen black diamond," Kid commented and everyone looked to him. Then everyone seemed to grunt simultaneously in frustration.

Information. They needed more. Much, much more than what they have now. Only a measly twelve pages of unreadable script and one picture. The excavation shelter had been emptied and Kid found no more clues apart from what they held now and what the shapeshifter had taken away.

Another mystery. That shapeshifter's method of escape... How could he so suddenly disappear? Without footprints even. Where could he have run off to?

"Look, guys," Liz prompted as she slapped a hand to her forehead, wiping away the perspiration. "Can we go back to Shibusen? Professor Stein would probably know something."

"And we haven't checked the paper thingies anyway~" said Patti. "There might be a clue somewhere." And then she began giggling when she realized that she had made a logical point.

Kid nodded and looked to the few pieces of paper he held in his hands. Somewhere in these documents was a definite revelation as to what the shapeshifter was after.

----------

Liz and Patti were asleep on the queen sized bed they shared, limbs entangled with one another. Black*Star was face down on his own single bed, snoring delightfully. Tsubaki was still awake as was Kid who was curiously poring over the documents.

The light from the table lamp glowed yellow and was not enough to illuminate the already illegible letters. Kid squinted through the dim light, making out some words and noting down what he understood on another piece of paper. The writing, he noticed, was rushed and it looked like it was written on an uneven or soft surface – he could tell from the various dips in the paper, ones where the article was almost punched into with a pen. There were also smudges, giving Kid the image of the author using a pencil without an eraser and he had to rub mistakes with his skin or that he accidentally smeared it.

The paper itself wasn't in the best condition. It appeared that during the fight, some pieces were ripped from the force of his shots or singed as it made contact with the energy bullets.

Kid sighed as he propped his forehead with his left hand, clearly frustrated now that translating the contents and writing were almost impossible for him. Additionally, the pieces of information didn't correspond with each other – like it was missing the other pages.

The chain weapon laid a tray with two tea cups onto the table that Kid was sitting at and she took the seat opposite his. The Death god thanked Tsubaki with a mumble and allowed himself to take a cup, ignoring the scalding warmth.

"Did you find anything Kid-kun?" Tsubaki asked quietly as she sipped from her own cup, waiting intently for Kid to answer.

"Translation is hopeless," Kid breathed out in frustration, clutching at his hair, a miracle that he had not gone crazy since he still hadn't noticed how asymmetrical he was at the moment.

"Don't force yourself with the translation," Tsubaki advised him, a tint of worry in her fatigue-filled voice as it gently shook. "We'll be in Shibusen tomorrow and someone there would definitely translate it for you."

"There is one thing that's clear, though," the meister said, and the weapon in front of him perked up in interest. Kid picked up a piece of paper that had the least bit of writing on it. There was a small signature at the bottom right corner of the page and with it was a very clear print name. "I know who the author is."

Underneath the more delicate and cleaner scrawl was a neat piece of writing. A name that he clearly recognized.

Charles Evans.

He was the key after all.

A/N: wow...i can't seem to stop playing minesweeper...weird...
all i have to say for this chapter is...
wait for the next one since it will be a Soul pov chapter~!
strangely excited/anxious about the next chapter now o wo;;

Thanx to all the readers and reviewers!
i really appreciate all of your support as i have always done since the beginning of this story~
Please dont forget to review :D