The door opened to reveal a man with orange, messed up hair, and worried blue eyes. Maka could have sworn that she had seen him before… but where? Taking a closer look, she noticed that it was the guy from the initiation… he was the one that agreed to let her fight Pops.
"Get inside; I just finished talking with Pops. I'm afraid he has made a decision that will impact Maka in the worst way possible." The man said, opening the door wider to let them in.
"Alright Frank, but could you do me a small favor first?" Carlo asked.
Frank looked at the arm that Carlo was cradling. "Who shot you?" Frank exclaimed as he ran over to his closet and pulled out a first aid kit.
"Black*Star, I think he might have been aiming at his weapon, but shot me instead, my hook was right there next to her after all. Black*Star would never have the guts to shoot his family." Carlo said as he followed Frank in the direction that he went and turned the corner to step into the living room with Maka following close by.
"Make yourselves comfortable, I think I left the pills in my room." Frank said as he rushed to a nearby stair well and ran up the stairs, leaving Carlo and Maka alone in the living room.
"So, what were you saying before? About the whole Star Clan living in the neighborhood, or something along those lines?" Maka asked him as she went to sit down in one of the couches.
Carlo followed her example and sat next to her. "Pops was able to buy this whole neighborhood. No one would be able to witness the crimes that we have committed. Pops drags a new body in to the neighborhood about twice every five months… We don't want to traumatize anyone that doesn't need to be traumatized, plus, we don't want the cops called on us." Carlo explained.
"What about my mom? She didn't know about the Star Clan until a little bit after I showed up, didn't she suspect?" Maka asked him.
"Kami isn't the only one Maka. There are a lot of other loved ones of the Star Clan members that have no idea about the Star Clan." Carlo told her.
"Why don't they know?" Maka persisted.
"What are you guys talking about?" Frank asked as he set the first aid kit on the coffee table and a bottle of pills.
"I was explaining to Maka that not everyone in the neighborhood knows about the Star Clan." Carlo said and his eyes trailed off to the bottle of pills. "Pain killers?" he asked.
"I have to make sure it's not infected Carlo, I'll give you some afterwards." Frank promised as he bent over to check the wound. "You're probably just confusing her Carlo, I'll explain. This is how it works. When a Star Clan member decides to be part of a relationship, they don't want to scare away their partner so they don't tell them. They make sure to hide well the fact that they are part of the Clan." Frank told her as he poured alcohol onto a cotton ball and swabbed it on Carlo's wound.
Carlo sucked in a breath and held it in a way to distract himself from the burn.
"But, isn't that a fake relationship?" Maka asked.
"It is… but Maka, it's one of the only ways to be happy. I love the Star Clan, I'm not going to lie… but it doesn't let me live a normal, happy life. I lost my family when my house was attacked by one of the clan's enemies; I was foolish for living outside of this neighborhood. Here, everyone protect everyone, no matter what. Anyways, having a life outside of the Clan is one of the only things that keep the members sane." Frank explained as he finished cleaning up Carlo's wound.
"So living a lie is supposed to make you happy?" Maka asked.
"When you say it that way, I guess so. All I can say is that I hope you understand when it happens to you." Frank said with a small chuckle as he set the alcohol bottle and the used cotton balls on the coffee table and grabbed a bag of gauze, opening it and pulling the roll out, and started to wrap it around the wound.
"So, Frank, you were saying before that you had just gotten off the phone…" Carlo trailed off.
"Oh, that…" Frank grumbled. "I hate to be the one to give bad news."
"Bad news?" Maka asked.
Frank sighed and stopped the rolling of the gauze to look Carlo in the eyes. "Training."
Carlo's eyes widened. "She just joined!"
"You too, you are her weapon." Frank told him.
"I already went through training!" Carlo exclaimed.
"I'm sorry, but you never trained with Maka, I bet that she doesn't even know how to work with you." Frank said as he started to wrap the gauze again.
"Maka is a meister, she has had practice before." Carlo explained.
"Pops has decided that you two are going to the training camp. Good luck… and don't let him get into your head. You guys are stronger than that." Frank told them as he finished up wrapping the gauze together.
"What's going on? What about training?" she asked.
"Maka… Pops is sending us to train for the battle that is going to happen between the DWMA and the Star Clan. He's sending us to a trusted friend of the Clan. He's tough man, a heartless one at that too." Carlo mumbled.
"What about Soul and his friend?" Maka asked.
"They will have to stay here, they are in no way going to be part of the battle they would betray us." Frank explained.
Maka was about to respond but she kept her mouth shut… Soul is loyal to the DWMA, that wouldn't work here. "Alright… take care of them for me Frank." She muttered, looking down at her hands.
"I'll do my best." Frank promised as he stood up and went to throw away the used cotton swabs.
Carlo's phone rang in his pocket. He took it out and answered it. "Hello?" There was a long pause. "Black*Star? At the hospital… yeah, she's here… hold up." he said into the phone and then handed it to Maka.
Confused, she grabbed the phone. "Hello?"
"Maka, it's me Pops, where are you?" he asked.
"I'm at Frank's house with Carlo." She responded.
"Ask Frank if he could bring you two to the hospital, I'll meet you at the entrance." Pops said and hung up.
"What's going on?" Maka asked Carlo as she handed him his phone.
Frank went to hand Carlo one of the pills. Carlo nodded at him as Frank let it fall into Carlo's outstretched hand.
Carlo swallowed the pill and sighed. "Can we borrow your car?" he asked Frank, completely ignoring Maka.
"Sure." Frank said as he reached into his jean pocket and handed them to Maka. "Be careful, there've been a few car crashes today." He hinted. "The car is parked in the driveway, oh and by the way Maka, you may feel better, but take it easy on the leg. Last time I checked it, it was pretty swollen." Frank said and shoved his hands in his pockets and walked out of the living room and up to his room.
"When did he…" Maka trailed off.
"After the fight, you passed out; Frank was the one that made sure you were alright." Carlo explained as he got up and made his way out of the house, Maka following him closely.
"What's going on at the hospital?" Maka asked him.
"Black*Star… he got into a car crash with his weapon." Carlo explained as he walked over to the car that was in the driveway.
"Are they okay?" Maka asked.
Carlo looked down at her, a frown on his face. "The mission that was sent out by Pops was completed… Black*Star did what he had to do."
"Mission? What are you talking about?" Maka asked him, fear starting to tear through her.
"Tsubaki is dead Maka… she is the enemy, her whole family is the enemy." Carlo explained. "Do you see now? The only way to be happy in the Star Clan is to have people there for you… people that don't know what you are going through." Carlo told her as he opened the passenger door and sat down in the car. "Now, come on, we have to go to the hospital. Black*Star wants to talk to you." Carlo told her, closing the door so that the words could sink in.
Tsubaki is dead… Maka stiffly walked to the other side of the car and sat in the driver's seat, staring straight ahead as she turned the car on. "Where do I go to?" she whispered, shock coursing through her…