The door to the master bedroom swung open and shut. Angela tensed from her curled up position on the couch, her game controller clutched tightly in her hand. There was only so comforting the fuzzy avatars on screen could be when she's just gotten in trouble at school. She held her breath, counting to four. He didn't sound angry, but that didn't mean there wasn't a lecture on the horizon.

"Good morning to you too." Black Star said as he got his keys in the bowl. She faked a laugh and greeted him. "I see you brought in the mail... and a pamphlet for Royaume."

"It's not that far into the first semester." Angela powered through the suspicion. "I could start tomorrow, if you'd just sign-"

"Angela, we've talked about this." Black Star sighed. "I don't think going abroad to magic school is a good idea right now." There was a knock at the door. He immediately went to answer it.

"You don't know that, you haven't even looked at the place." Angela paused her game. "Miss Kim can't teach me higher level magic and all those little kids at the same time. It's embarrassing. We've been stuck on meditation for weeks." The rest of her argument died in her throat. He'd brought that blonde woman over again. She was in a professional uniform from DWMA and he had the school colors on too. Even if it was clear they were just working together, she couldn't help but turn invisible. Maka could tell where Angela was sitting, but was at least polite enough to pretend not to be able to see her.

"What's wrong with magic school?" Maka asked, like he was an idiot for disregarding the idea entirely.

"It's in another dimension!" Black Star said. "It's hard enough finding people who'll look out for her here, we don't know anyone there."

"Oh, so you don't trust her?" Maka hummed.

"I didn't say that." He felt a migraine coming on. "Don't give me that smirk like you're right. She could get bullied, or the teachers could suck, and I wouldn't be able to do anything about it."

"That sounds like every school." There was a sharp inhale as Black Star tried to think of an argument Maka couldn't refute.

"I hate when you're like this." He groaned. "You don't have to be right all the time. She's not even your kid!"

"I just think if you're going to tell her no," Maka said, "there should be concrete evidence why it would be a 'bad' idea." Her tone was light, having long recognized when she was able to get the last word in a debate. Were there any evidence he was genuinely mad, she might not have pushed the issue, but it was kind of amusing to see him flounder.

"...I'll think about it." He said.

Angela had sunk back into her seat, but was too skittish to touch the controller and let them know she'd heard everything. The whole thing left a squirrely feeling in her gut. That had been the closest he'd ever come to letting her go anywhere on her own. Tsubaki always folded the moment he told them he didn't want her going. As happy as she was that she might finally be able to learn magic like other witches, she couldn't help wonder why this woman wanted her gone.

"Is she staying here?" Angela asked as politely as she could. Traditionally weapon-miester pairs would share dorm space for schooling, but they weren't kids anymore. The look on Black Star's face was enough to make Maka falter. All polite smiles aside, it was clearly a non-starter. Kid had offered to cover Maka's living expenses while she was on the mission, though it wasn't ideal.

"No, this is," Maka pointed between them, "it's just one mission." She could tell she was just making things worse.

"As soon as we find the culprit, things will go back to normal." Black Star said. Internally Maka cringed, that was not much better. A few gentle clicks of the controller and the spell had lifted. Angela was now outwardly ignoring them. After all, if it was just work stuff, Maka would be leaving soon. As much as Angela didn't like him going on missions with a different weapon, it was still better than being in trouble. She didn't say goodbye when they left.

"What is everyone's problem?" Maka asked. All she'd done was try and check for directions, and the locals had given her the cold shoulder. The Hoshi family was well respected, and yet, people didn't want to give them the time of day.

"It happens." Black Star shrugged. He shot a glare at an elder couple who looked like they were about to say something. "The uniform only does so much."

"Well, it looks like we're going for a hike." Maka sighed. "North side of the mountain. How's anyone supposed to find this place?" They were talking about a reclaimed assassin's lair and she could feel him prepare some kind of joke. "Don't. I heard it." She made a wide gesture towards the path leading to the forest. "Go ahead, I'll see if I can track down Akane." She followed close behind. Trying to use her soul perception and walk at the same time was a little disorienting.

The Hoshi household was tucked away in the underside of a mountain. A rich labyrinth of caves carved meticulously into support beams and decorative filigree, all masked with rice paper and wood. Entering the home from the brightly lit quarry was like stepping into the dead of night. Only small lamps lit the way.

"The family's spent the last fourty-so years preparing like the apocalypse was coming." Akane said after welcoming them inside. Clay at his side, held a brighter light source to lead the way. "Seems less silly in hindsight." They navigated to the center of the home, where a vast sky light nurtured a small garden. "No one here's responsible for what happened to those staff members."

"I never said they were." Black Star and Maka took a seat on a wide stone bench that looked out on the garden. "It looks bad on both of us if things keep spiraling." He showed the blurry picture Angela had taken. Clay leaned over his shoulder and hit the view motion photo button. A short clip played, the star pattern on the assailants back coming into better view.

"It looks like a copy cat." Maka said. "But we didn't want to jump the gun."

"It's an unusual spot for the mark." Akane agreed. "In the old days, the placement of the star showed what part of the family you came from. You'd see them on the arm, hips, even the neck, but never over a shakra like that." He played the clip a few times, though any time he zoomed in on the face, the details would get muddled. "If Angela wasn't invisible, I'd think this was staged. No one in their right mind would have a mark that large out on display by accident." He tossed the phone back to them.

"So it is a copy cat then." Maka breathed a sigh of relief, but Akane wasn't too sure.

"You'd have to check the eyes." He shook his head. "But regardless of where they came from, the method of assassination is similar. Have you checked the bodies recently?" He asked. "If they've been trained by a descendant, then the soul should be delivered to a spirit line by the 3rd day. Otherwise, it's just someone in distasteful cosplay." So they should know some time tomorrow. It wasn't ideal, but it would give them more evidence.

"If you see anyone that matches the description, please let us know." Maka said. "Are there any other places they may have trained at?"

"A branch of the family fled to Brazil in the thirties, then there's the ancestral home is somewhere in Kyoto." He paused, choosing his words carefully. "You'd have to get authorization first, but there had been an operation somewhere in Texas in the nineties. I wouldn't be surprised if Shinigami-sama tore it down during his reign." Most things Star Clan related had long been erased, even by the Hoshi family.

Black Star had pulled off to the side and answered his phone.

"Yeah, what's up?" On the other end distorted digital music played at full blast. "Angela?" There was shouting and someone cackling in the background.

"Come out, come out nark!" An unfamiliar voice giggled. He pulled the phone away. Angela had been with Kilik for beginner miester training, so she was in good hands.

"We have to go." He told Maka. The wrong person had found out what she'd seen.

Large base speakers had been kicked over into the streets. Vibrations reverberated through the stone and rattle the windows. A girl with neon pink hair in wild messy buns posed with twin flails on thin connecting chains. Her eyes were covered with a brilliant yellow fabric. The brutalist she'd been locked in arms with was quite distracting, but he wasn't her main target. She'd been summoned to fight something the other assassins couldn't see. Kilik could overpower her bubbly techno with fierce lightning bolts. So, she'd have to rely on feeling the vibrations to find her target. She back flipped away from an arc of flame and sent out her flails in crescent swipes.

"Aww, don't be like that." She whined. "I just want to talk." She snapped her head toward the direction of a muffled phone call. "There you are." She flattened against the pavement and sent her flails toward Angela's feet. Nothing, was the witch invisible and levitating? What a pain. "This isn't your first time getting kidnapped, is it?" She joked.

"WHY ARE YOU TELLING THEM THE PLAN!?" Her commander shouted into her ear piece.

"I didn't-" A metal fist sent her flying back into a brick wall. "Don't distract me." She found her footing and launched herself toward Kilik. "And you, stop interrupting!" She twirled the flails. Four spiked balls orbited her and lashed out at the nearest target. "If you want subtlety, don't send me!" She threw all of the fails against the ground. Shrapnel rained at toward her opponents. She landed gracefully. It was quiet, too quiet. "Shit, did I ruin both speakers?" A fist slammed across her stomach and knocked the wind out of her. She stumbled backwards. Kilik was still pulling himself out of the dumpster, and her target was somewhere to the left of her, watching. So, who attacked her? She was jabbed by the end of the weapon, thrown overhead in an arch and dumped on her head.

"The tattoo's in the same spot." Maka said. "But, she's not a kishen egg." She wasn't entirely normal either. Something foriegn was wrapped around her soul. Behind the neon mesh was a large star across the young girl's back.

"Get over yourself old lady!" The girl picked herself off the ground. "It's not like it's a tramp stamp."

"O-old lady!"

"I just came to pick up my new friend." She said, six flails orbiting her playfully. "It's apparently top-secret business." She sighed, getting another earful from her commander. "Well how the hell am I supposed to see that, hunh!?"

On instinct, Maka held out her hand. After a beat too long, she looked over at Black Star who was doing the same thing.

"What are you doing?" He asked. Right, she wasn't technically the meister on this mission. She transformed, and he caught her with ease. Though mentally, she could help but critique his stance. If he was planning to attack, he needed wider footing to throw his weight into the strike. "I'll work on that later!" He caught the girl off guard and pressed the blade against her neck. He was standing too close. "We can do this the easy way, or the hard way." Black Star said to the girl. He cut off the blindfold she was wearing, her eyes a galaxy of stars with no pupils. She covered her face with one hand and launched herself backwards. "Hard way it is."

"I need an exit!" She smacked the device in her ear, and took a sharp turn. "Come on, come on." She climbed up a fire escape to get to the roof, Black Star close on her tail. "You're literally killing me right now, you know that!?" She took a defensive stance, her hands up while hiding the flails on her back. "If you were really from the Star Clan, you'd know this isn't right." She took a step up behind her onto the back wall. "Not to sound childish, but we didn't start this mess." She took a deep breath and trusted her leader would have the exit ready. "The monster Lord Death made did." She fell backwards off the roof before Black Star could grab her. It was old magic, but it was strong enough to give her a head start. She vanished through a fragile portal and popped out in another place in Death City.

"Fuck!" Black Star shouted. Maka transformed back, not wanting to be in weapon form in public more than necessary. They were both too experienced to let someone get away like this. But Black Star was used to working with short-ranged combat and speed. She took for granted that he'd be able to ease into a different fighting style when the chips were down. Clearly this wasn't something they could just jump into. This was so embarrassing. They were better than this.

"Angela's okay." Maka said. She could see the witch's soul clear as day from the rooftop. "We should go help Kilik."

Soul had finally taken Maka's offer to get a cup of coffee together. It was broad daylight, not the quiet intimate affair it had been when they were younger. The bustling traffic in and out of the shop was a welcome distraction from the long awkward pauses. She welcomed anything that wasn't wallowing in self-pity in front of Kid at this point. She'd need to start training from the ground up for this new arrangement to work.

"A triple shot?" Soul asked when Maka got her order out from the sea of to-go cups waiting to be picked up.

"I've been really tired lately." She said. "So..." Don't talk about the wedding. "How's Blair?" The cat had always been clingy when it came to Soul. It was a wonder Patty put up with her parading about their apartment. If the three even lived together, she had no idea what was going on in his life anymore.

"She's on her sixth or seventh life." Soul said. "Every time she gets towards the end of one, she gets forgetful. She thought Patty was you the other day." This man had a talent for walking into verbal minefields. "She keeps wanting me to get back into music, but I don't know. Kid pays better than any local gig would." He sighed. Originally, his plan wasn't to say anything, but after what he heard he had to know."Why haven't you asked me to join the mission?"

"I never said you couldn't." Maka said. Because that would be unprofessional and childish.

"No, but you were asking other weapons." She hid behind a long sip from her drink. Her other previous weapons were either retired or settled with other partners. Butting in for one mission seemed crass. "And now you're trying to be a weapon instead of asking for help." He more than anyone knew how uncomfortable the NOT class had been for her. "I'm the local death scythe, you didn't think I'd find out?"

"I didn't think it would matter." Maka said. "How's the wedding planning been going?" He rolled his eyes and she tightened her grip around the cup.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you, alright? I thought you already knew." He had hoped someone else would have brought up he and Patty were together, it wasn't exactly a secret. Maka shook her head.

"And when exactly were you planning to tell me, on a save the date?" Of all times to suddenly loose her appetite. "I don't think..." They were still friends, and time healed all wounds. She'd come to accept what happened, even if it hurt right now. They were too old to play this game anymore. "If you don't feel comfortable talking to me about these things, I didn't think we'd be able to resonate." Even if it had been to spare her feelings, or make things easier in the long run, it didn't change how out of sync they'd become. Honestly, she didn't want find out if she was right. "I can't risk botching a mission over personal stuff." Even though that's exactly what she did. Still, it didn't seem fair to put Black Star in a position where he'd get pulled from a mission involving his family. When did everything get so messy?

"No, of course you can't." Soul said, even though it wasn't the ideal resolution. He always was good about picking up on when to leave well enough alone. "...Patty's been looking at maids of honor, but I didn't know if... y'know."

"Of course I'll be there." Maka said. "I'm a little off kilter, but I don't hate you guys. It was just a lot to take in at once." He'd strategically cut her out of four years of his life to avoid this conversation. "I'm going to need time to catch up."

"Thank god. Patty was talking about inviting Wes' stalker, because she'd think it'd be funny. Which, it would, but I need someone other than Liz to help with damage control." She laughed, even though she still needed a little time before sliding fully back into best friend mode. It would get easier. She just needed a little more time. "You sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." She said. Eventually she'd actually mean it. "Do you want any of this? I don't think I can finish it." She pushed the half-finished latte toward him. Even though she was feeling better, she still couldn't find her appetite.