Spartoi Revived Chapter 10: Know Thy Enemy, a soul eater fanfic

Chapter 10: Know Thy Enemy

Growing up in constant chaos was supposed to make you immune to certain situations she supposed, but for Aimee, there were just certain things one never got used to. Growing up, she had seen strange things thanks to her parents and their ability to not only relocate on a constant basis, but more to less the reputable areas. She had heard the gun shots at night and had witnessed shady activity, but she survived and so did the people she cared for. Her family was still together in the end. That being said, she couldn't control her own emotions when she had seen the fathers of two people she considered to be close to her being carried back, a bloodied unconscious mess. It didn't help that the two men were the strongest she had known and she couldn't wrap her mind around how they had ended up in such a state. The red head was certain she had never, and probably would never again, see Ayame cry the way she did when she saw Black Star. It was terrifying.

"Aimee." Snapping from her thoughts, the red head jerked her head up at her patiently waiting partner. He wore a sympathetic look on his face from where he stood at the other end of the couch. They were home now. Everyone had been sent home and all activities, even those of the senpais and Death Scythes had been cancelled. She lowered her gaze back to her mug of no longer hot tea, eyes saddening. "What's on your mind?" Liam sat down next to her, dressed in saggy grey sweats and a plain black t-shirt and holding his own skull covered mug of hot chocolate.

"I'm freaked out." Aimee answered honestly and glanced to her side at the calming expression on her partner's face. He was always so collected… at least on the outside. "We don't know what we're supposed to be doing. Who are we supposed to be fighting and are we allowed to even fight?" she asked.

"My dad will figure it all out, I'm certain." Liam informed but Aimee shook her head, placing her mug on the table in front of her and pulling her knees to her chest.

"This is different, Liam. These are regular human beings lashing out against us and they somehow have a way to retaliate." She closed her eyes and dropped her head back. "I never thought I'd see the day someone like Black Star would be brought back a bloodied mess… not like that anyway." Her voice had dropped. "And Death Scythe too. I'm scared." She heard the tired sigh, but didn't expect the following action as an arm wrapped around her shoulders and she was pulled to the young Shinigami's side. He wasn't looking at her as he spoke.

"I can't really say I know what's gonna happen and I'm kinda freaked out too…" His voice had dropped significantly, but Aimee found herself distracted with the fact she could feel a change in his physique from where she sat pulled to his side. Were those muscles she felt through his shirt? Was Liam allowed to have muscles? Was she allowed to wonder what they looked like or why she'd never seen them? "Aimee?"

"Huh?" She blinked, starting up at him in confusion, shocked green meeting with confused blue.

"I was saying that you don't have to be afraid cuz as your partner and as a Shinigami myself, I'm gonna protect you." He spoke once again and raised a brow. "We you listening to anything I had to say?" He narrowed his eyes suspiciously. At this, Aimee sat up swiftly, giving him a shove and laughing awkwardly.

"Look at you! Accusing me of being insensitive! There're too many things going on to worry about that!" She informed and scrambled for the television remote. "How about a little TV! Set our minds straight? Cartoons maybe?" Liam watched her carefully as she rambled and searched through the channels, pausing when something caught her eyes. The news. There was a lot of yelling and different scenes flashing across the screen. It looked like a lot of people rioting. The remote was promptly snatched from her hands and the TV was turned off.

"How about we focus on something more hands on. I think I saw a lot of things in that stye you call a room that need to be thrown out." Liam had now pushed himself from the couch, ignoring Aimee's harsh glare at his choice of distraction. She glanced momentarily at the shut off device before following after him. Maybe the news wasn't the most practical thing to do at the moment.

Maka was unnerved. Maybe that was an understatement, but for those around her, she allowed an more unnerved look surface. She had stared silently at the television screen, not realizing she had placed all her anger into her fists until Blair, having just arrived mentioned something about crushed pieces of hard plastic. Sure enough, she had completely crushed their television remote. Now leaning back heavily into her couch, the woman stared silently at the ceiling, allowing her mind to revel in what was happening. Shibusen was closed for yet another day and most likely for the remainder of the week. Her husband was in the hospital. She closed her eyes, letting out a slow sigh when she thought about his injuries. Nygus promised to call when he finally woke up.. Nearly a full 24 hours had passed since they were brought back. But lastly, and most important, was the travesty she had seen on the news.

Meisters and weapons alike, or 'these brutes' as expressed in the news, were being bashed and condemned as monsters. People of the city were suddenly in fear of them with the beliefs that all that has been happening is because of them. How could they think such when it was Shibusen weapons and meisters protecting them? And to think that people were going as low as to set up attacks against them when they least expected it. What bothered her even more was their success in causing as much damage as they did. Her grip clenched once again.

"Maka-chan!" Opening her eyes slowly, Maka's eyes met with Blair who was standing over her in her human form with a concerned look on her face. "Have you not heard anything about Soul-kun yet?" The woman shook her head.

"No… They said he seemed stable but hadn't woken up yet." She answered and sighed in defeat. "It doesn't help that Kim is away right now, so we can't even use her magic to even do an ounce of healing on the guys until she's back." And no one knew exactly when she would be back. These meetings she had with the witch council always ranged different lengths of time and considering she had left the same night as Soul and Black Star, they had no idea when she'd be returning. If they were lucky, she had gotten wind of what was going on and was heading back, especially considering the safety of her family being at risk.

"If you like, Bu-tan has a special potion you can use to help with their healing." Maka raised a brow.

"What?"

"A potion!" Blair chimed. "I was watching a little lesson at Shibusen one day between that cuddly little witch that Star and Tsubaki raised up and the healing witch." Blair reached between her breasts and pulled out a small vial, holding it breezily between her fingers as she beamed at the shocked meister in front of her. "I took a bit for myself in case any of my patrons ever got into a bit of a troublesome scuffle and needed some instant fixing."

"Blair do you have any idea how risky that is?!" Maka snapped, but the curvaceous cat simply waved her off while still holding the potion up.

"But you want it, don't you?" she asked, a teasing smile on her face. Maka's eyes narrowed. This was no time for teasing and she sure as hell wouldn't be testing some unknown potion on her husband. She opened her mouth to argue but the phone ringing caught her attention first. Scrambling from the couch, she snatched the device off the hook and answered anxiously.

"Maka?" It was Tsubaki. She sounded stressed herself.

"Hey, is everything ok? Is there any new news on the guys?"

"Yeah, Nygus called. They seem to be waking up. Apparently Black Star is trying to get out of bed so I'm heading to the school now. Meet you there?"

"Yeah, of course." With a quick good bye, she hung up and grabbed her sweater from the couch. Blair was watching her curiously.

"Is everything ok?" she asked, pursing her lips.

"Yeah, it looks like the boys are starting to wake up so I'm meeting up with Tsubaki." She answered. "Take any calls and messages for me 'til I get back, please?" The cat saluted with a perky smile.

"Bu-tan is on it!"

Nygus had always been a collected person. She had to be. When she was younger, her partner, while mild mannered, would sometimes catch himself in not the most ideal situations, and lets not forget she took part in the upbringing of a certain azure haired, loud mouthed ninja brat. She worked at Shibusen for many years now and dealt with various situations, even as school medic, but she wasn't as young as she used to be and was considering causing more damage to her current, obnoxiously loud patient. Sedating him was going to have to do… if she was lucky.

"Quit moving before you reopen your wounds, moron." She chided, shoving Black Star back into his pillows and injecting another needle ruthlessly into his side. The assassin hissed in pain and glared at the woman. "Honestly, you sustained more damage than that thick skull may understand so relax and quit being a twit." She moved over to Soul who was staring at his friend silently from where he was reclined in his own bed, personally reflecting on how he was put in this predicament.

"This is bull shit." Black Star growled, scowling further when Nygus turned off the television they had once been focused on. "We saved this ungrateful city… this ungrateful planet from sudden death and somehow WE'RE the problem! BULL SHIT! ARGH!" The assassin clenched his side in pain, dropping back into his pillows and finally silent for once.

"You need to relax and let things fall into place. Precautions are being taken and you need to worry about getting your health back up and being able to protect your family." Nygus informed and took a seat, flipping through her clipboard and scribbling something down.

"How long has this been going on?" Soul asked, allowing his brain to try and catch up to where each of his injuries were.

"Probably since the night you, Black Star and the others were returned. The others haven't woken up yet though, which means we'll be looking to the two of you for information on what exactly happened." Nygus answered, lowering her forms. "How did regular humans manage to do this much damage to you two?" Both men frowned.

"They weren't human." Soul answered darkly. "There was nothing normal about any of what happened."

0o0 Flashback 0o0

Black Star glared straight into the barrel of the gun pointed in his face. Were these freaks serious? Worse enough, it felt as though the energy was being drained from his body by the black masses holding his body down. Soul didn't look like he was holding well himself. The assassin grimaced. He wasn't seriously going to go out like some weakling. A bullet to the brain? Not an option. If this hurt, body be damned, he was going to survive no matter what. "LET GO, DAMMIT!" He jerked roughly away, feeling piercing and stabbing pains going through his flesh, but he still fought through. Soul must have gotten the same urge because now the two were using whatever hand to hand skills they had to get out of their situation.

"We need to get the hell out of this room!" Soul growled, slamming one of the strange beings through another and clenching his teeth, holding his wounded side. Black Star could make out the blood starting to seep through the side of his shirt. From the warm feeling on him, he was certain he was bleeding heavily from different wounds as well.

"On it!" Black Star shouted, rushing through the minions despite the shouts of the mayor and the slashing on his skin as he full power kicked a hole through the wall. Stumbling slightly, there was the sound of shouts and lights flashing. He had smashed through the wall leading straight into the town and it seemed like the towns people were alerted that something was amiss. The first to spot the bloodied assassin was the man they had encountered earlier that evening. He was pointing a shaking finger at Black Star with wide eyes and paled skin.

"T-the Star Clan! They're attacking again! They're coming to kill us all!" He screeched. Black Star scowled deeply as he stepped out in the street, feeling more of a relief on his soul than anything.

"Any time now, Soul." He muttered as his best friend stumbled out of the hole he created and grimaced himself when the townspeople began flooding the streets. Behind him, the strange shadow minions made no effort to morph back into their human forms and they slinked into the street. The people didn't even react to them.

"This is getting ridiculous." The white haired weapon growled and shot his best friend and weak smile. "Let's get out of this without any deaths, ok?" he transformed and was easily caught by the annoyed assassin.

"Let's focus on our own lives for a moment here." He could see Soul's blood and even his own on the ground as he positioned himself to defend. He wasn't sure how exactly he was going to get out of this without hurting those who were considered innocent, but in the same breath, he almost didn't care.

"Now, now boys. Why don't you just take your fate like men?" Without warning, something shot through the people, slashing through a few of them, knocking Soul from Black Star's grip, while something sharp impaled him in the side.

"Shiiiiit." Black Star growled as a stinging pain with through his side. Soul had transformed from weapon form, gripping at his shoulder.

"Are you alright?!" he called.

"Just transform! I'm getting us outta here." Trying to ignore the fact his head was spinning and his vision seemed to be blurring, Black Star caught the scythe with ease. "If this hurts ya, my bad bro." he announced before focusing his wavelength into soul. He then took the staff end and slammed it into the ground, sending a huge wavelength that sent everyone in the vicinity flying. He wasn't much for leaving a fight unfinished, but there was more to this than he was capable of fully understanding and if he was correct, as he ran top speed, steps becoming stumbles at one point, he was certain that he had somehow been poisoned in action.

0o0 End Flashback 0o0

"When we got out of the village boundaries, they seemed to stop following us. All the blood loss kinda messed us up though." Soul was explaining. "Those things, whatever they were, when you try to get away from them they instantly start slicing into you."

"As we can see from those wounds. And the poison found in your system wasn't helping your situation." Nygus answered. "You're saying the people didn't even respond to those creatures?"

"Not in the least… Almost like they felt those things were protecting them. And to make things worse, they had something that seemed to block out soul wavelengths in that office." Soul answered. "That bastard of a mayor was nowhere to be seen during all the fun though." He spat, glaring at the sheets bitterly.

"When I find out whose behind this I'll make sure they pay." Black Star growled from his own bed. Leaning back in her seat, Nygus let out a tired sigh.

"Well for the time being we can't do much until the others wake up and we compile data, but those things you're describing sound like what the kids ran into back during the incident with Zeke, meaning the culprit is tied to that as well as the spreading apprehension of the past few years."

"The question is, why is anyone doing this so suddenly?" Soul murmured. "You don't think witches do you?" Black Star scoffed.

"I wouldn't be surprised. There are rogues in that bunch just like in our own. They're still threatened by is, treaty or not!" he accused bitterly.

"All the same, something would have come to light by now. Enough of them are on our side and why risk something knowing your own kind has such close tides with this academy?" Soul countered.

"Why not?" Nygus asked, catching the attention of both men. "Inside sources are the best way to get details of your enemy, but the question is, is it one of our own or an outsider trying to pose themselves as a friend?"

Zeke allowed his eyes to open slowly when he felt an extra presence in his room. Sure enough, Ayame was walking into his room, dressed in an over sized t-shirt and a pair of shorts, her dark hair in a sloppy bun at the top of her head. She looked as though she had once wanted to take a nap of her own, like he had decided to do on this lazy day but opted out. Shibusen, they had been informed, was going to be shut down for the remainder of the week. There were investigations going on. Not only by the city but the school itself and people would be in danger, more than usual, if things weren't taken care of properly. The two would be visiting their fathers when told, but for now they were asked to stay out of trouble, which lately meant to stay in and avoid potential threats.

"Hey," She stopped beside his bed, leaning forward some and tugging his ear. Zeke swatted her hand away with an irritable grunt. "Good you're awake." She climbed into the bed, forcing him to move over as she got comfortable. He stared at her blearily, trying not to think to hard about the determined look on her face. "I want to see him."

"Who?"

"Aku!"

"No." Zeke rolled over, facing his back to her and pulling his covers fully over his body. He heard her let out a miserable moan but didn't move. There was some shifting before he felt a weight on his back and groaned miserably.

"Zeke!" She whined, sitting full straddled on his back and shaking his shoulders. "C'mon!" she continued to pout and he grunted in response.

"There's no point. There's more important things you need to be worried about." He grumbled and she pursed her lips in response.

"I figured with everything going on maybe we should start figuring out how to work with that oni you've got in there." Ayame informed, now prodding him obnoxiously in his back. "I talked to your mom before and she said there's a way that we could channel energy from him and use it to improve our own fighting." Shifting, Zeke waited until Ayame slid from his back before rolling back over and narrowing her eyes at him suspiciously.

"When did you speak to my mom about this?"

"Like a week ago." Ayame hummed innocently and beamed at him. "She said she and your dad had a similar situation to ours when they were younger and understanding something like this together could prove to be valuable in the future. My mom said even she and my dad have done this before, though the circumstances were different." She said with a shrug of her shoulders. "Let's face it, it looks like we'll need whatever extra power we can get." Zeke rolled his eyes.

"You say it like a war is about to start, Aya." He informed, rolling fully over and sitting up on his elbows. "There's nothing to prepare for because Uncle Kid is gonna take care of everything."

"And if he doesn't?" Ayame challenged. Zeke groaned, allowing his head to fall back.

"You expect to harness a demon power from me to fight regular humans that can't fight back?" he asked.

"They aren't normal humans." Ayame countered with an annoyed pout on her face. "With what they did to my dad… our dads, there's no way the people involved in this are normal!"

'She has a point, kid. Let her in why don't you?' Zeke glowered at the voice sounding in his soul.

"And how do you propose we go about this?" he asked in exasperation.

"Soul Resonance." Ayame answered brightly and beamed despite his cocked brow. "That's when our souls become one and I can see this think you've got going on in there." She answered, reaching over and giving his chest a thump. Zeke eyed her in false irritability as he swatted her hand away.

"You're not going to leave me alone until we do this, are you?" he asked and rolled his eyes when she shook her head speedily. Sighing, he sat up fully, slouching forward some, and ran his fingers through his hair. "Fine, but once this gets to weird I'm cutting this short, got it?"

"Course!" She agreed with too much excitement and reached out her hands to him, beckoning him to transform. Sighing, Zeke tugged his large headphones from around his neck, regretting sleeping in such a way to begin with, before stretching and transforming easily into his partner's lap.

"Alright… so how do we do this?"

"Soul Resonance." Ayame answered. Zeke sighed and gave a nod, closing his eyes and focusing.

"Let's go." He allowed himself to focus and felt the familiar sensation that came with every time he and Ayame resonated souls. Opening his eyes slowly, he grimaced at the beaming little imp sitting in a cushy seat not too far away from him. He really didn't miss this place.

"Welcome back ya little brat."

"This isn't any choice of mine." Zeke informed, shoving his hands into his pockets and looking towards the only door of the small room. "Where is she?" The imp let out an entertained hum.

"Anxious aren't we?" he asked before snapping his fingers and allowing the door to slowly creek open. "She's on her way now." Zeke glanced temporarily over his shoulder, eyeing the imp for a moment before turning his attention fully back to the door. It wasn't long before Ayame came walking casually end, beaming for a moment when her eyes fell on her partner.

"I made it." She informed causing him to involuntarily smile. The two of them stood in their matching Shibusen uniforms, though Ayame was wearing the school skirt and her usual oversized school cardigan. "Looks like we did it… Interesting choice of location though." She informed, looking around the room. Zeke simply shrugged.

"It's always the same since that time." He informed. The room they stood in was a dully lit replica of the Shibusen music room, one wall consisting of a large book care filled with books of various sizes, masses and quality. "You asked to come into my soul. Don't complain."

"Yeah, yeah I know." Ayame answered. "So where's this little demon at." Letting out a sigh, Zeke moved slightly to the side and gestured to the beaming imp across the room. She stared at him blankly for a moment.

"Hello cutie." The imp cooed causing Zeke to scowl.

"Knock it off, creep." He growled and grabbed Ayame by the wrist as she moved closer to peer at the little red oni. "Don't get any closer to that freak. He might try to find away into you next." He accused. Ayame paused, though she still stared calculatingly at the imp. She then stood straight and crossed her arms.

"So this is the thing calling the shots huh?" She hummed and a stern look crossed her face before she pointed a finger. "You listen hear, ya creep, I need you to understand that until we figure out how to get you outta my partner, we're calling the shots." The imp snorted in response.

"We?" he asked and leaned back heavily in his seat, closing his eyes and chuckling knowingly. "Sorry sweet heart, but you don't have as much power as you think you do… This brat barely does." Zeke glared. "But how about this? I can teach you a think or to myself." The imp then opened his eyes slowly and a sleazy smirk crossed his face.

"Knock it off." Zeke hissed and the imp gave him a bored glance.

"Don't worry, kid, you'd be part of the fun… I'd have to borrow your body of course." Ayame stopped her partner as he prepared to storm towards the taunting parasite, her face calm, though she was annoyed herself.

"Listen, you're making this more complicated than need be. I just wanna strike up a deal with you." She informed. "Aku, right?"

"Oh, so lover boy shared my name with you after all. I was starting to think you'd be calling me a freak throughout this entire encounter." The imp then pushed himself from his seat, standing and stretching. Ayame noted his abnormally large head and super long arms. He was actually kind of comical looking. He turned his beady eyes to her and grinned a sharp toothed grin. "It's simple, little girl. I want a body to control and quite honestly, I'm quite comfortable in this body right here."

"Well you can't have it." Zeke spoke up. He grabbed hold of Ayame's hand, tugging her away as Aku walked up to her, eyeing her almost too curiously. "And you can't have hers either."

"Ah, because she's already been claimed, right?" Aku asked. Ayame blinked in confusion and turned to Zeke.

"What's that mean?" she asked, but was ignored.

"Making a deal with him is pointless. We're not going to access his power and that's it." He stated.

"But why not?"

"Because I said so."

"It could help us both!"

"No Ayame!"

"But-"

"I said no!" Zeke snapped harshly and released his grip on her hand, turning away. "I'm breaking resonance. I don't want you to have to encounter this thing again…"

"No." Zeke blinked and looked at his stubborn partner. She shoved him out of her way and stormed up to Aku who easily held his ground. "The best way to understand your enemy is to know a little something about them and this guy likes to play games. Just say you know, you're not calling the shots in here, I am."

"Ayame…" Zeke started, but was easily ignored.

"I want to be able to protect my family, my partner and my friends and I can only do that with Zeke by myside."

"I respect it." Aku hummed. "So what is it you're ask of me?"

"Stay out of our lives." The red demon raised a brow. "I know every so often you like to trigger something in Zeke he can't control, but from now on, you stay out of the way unless called on." Ayame threatened. Both the oni and her partner stared at her blankly before the red being let out a loud laugh, slapping his knee and clutching his gut.

"And tell me, little girl, why the hell should I listen to you? This isn't your soul. It's his." He scoffed.

"Trust me, you don't wanna know what damage I'm capable of doing." Ayame answered back, her voice strangely calm. It even caused Zeke to hesitate. Aku peered at her for a moment before throwing up his hands.

"Right, right, have it your way Star brat. I'll behave, but under one condition."

"No conditions." Zeke cut in swiftly, moving between the two and giving his partner a pointed look. "We're not making conditions when its MY soul at risk."

"Oh no, its not your soul." Aku interrupted. "Its hers." Zeke's eyes narrowed dangerously. "I want a body of my own… I had one before you consumed me."

"Unintentionally!"

"But it happened all the same." Aku answered. "So if you can find me a new soul to latch on to then off I'll go."

"That's a horrible deal."

"But it's a deal all the same." The imp hummed. "Just know that at the end of the day, its possible to release myself from this body."

"Deal." Ayame answered. Zeke groaned, rolling his eyes at his partner's enthusiasm. It could have been him, but she was either more naïve than he had ever realized or more manipulative that any of them understood. Turning with an spin, Ayame grabbed hold of her partner's hand and beamed.

"Know thy enemy, Zeke." She hummed. He snorted and shook his head.

"It's not always that easy you know?"

"Maybe not, but I'll have you back to normal in no time!" Zeke smiled.

"Yeah… I know." Allowing their resonance to subside, Zeke opened his eyes, sitting on his bed once again, with Ayame in front of him, their foreheads leaning against one another's. He hesitated for a moment before scooting back, practically falling off of his bed. Ayame blinked back at him wide eyed before her cheeks started to redden and she shuffled off the bed as well.

"How bout I make us some snacks!" Her voice cracked when she spoke. Zeke nodded mutely and watched as she left the room. Aku triggered or not, these moments seemed to get more and more awkward with each passing day.