It started with a poster.

Black Star and Tsubaki had to get a bigger apartment so Angela would have a place to stay when the school closed for the summer. They'd gone through goodwill, gathering as much kids stuff as they could to furnish the room so Angela wasn't stuck with a bare mattress on the floor. Just so the trip wasn't a total laundry list of chores, they had splurged on a few things to add to the house. Tsubaki got a nice dress and Black Star grabbed something to add to the walls.

Once they got most of the boxes in, they'd called on some friends to help with the heavier furniture. Bribing their friends with pizza, they got most of the bulky things in order and Black Star set to work decorating the shared bedroom. It wasn't ideal now that they were older, but every penny counted.

"I didn't know you liked Blondie." Soul was somewhat impressed as Black Star pinned up the poster of Debbie Harry he'd just bought. "What's your favorite album?" Black Star frowned as he looked up at the ceiling.

"Scary Monsters and Sprites?" Black Star said, he knew it was in a green case. That was what mattered when he wanted to find it.

"I meant what's your favorite Blondie album?" He pointed at the poster.

"Aw shit, she makes music too?" He hopped off his stool to where Soul was, his smile slowly falling with each word out of Black Star's mouth. "I just thought she was hot. What's her band called?" Soul had to leave the room immediately. As much as he appreciated his friends general lack of music knowledge, sometimes it hurt his head.

"I can't believe you'd do that to Tsubaki." Maka chided him as she often did when the subjected shifted to tastes in women. "I get you have limited space, but couldn't you have gotten something both of you would like?"

"I don't see what the problem is." Tsubaki checked to make sure there wasn't anything she was missing. The woman on the poster was fully clothed, looping her fingers through the belt loops of her hot pants. It was clearly meant to make her seem more desirable, but it wasn't any more risque than a perfume add. "It's just a pretty lady."

"Tsubaki's okay with it!" Black Star cheered, just to rub it in Maka's face. Even still, Maka couldn't shake the idea that Tsubaki was just being nice.

"You know what you're doing." Maka's face flushed scarlet, not daring to finish the sentence in the wake of an impish grin. She cleaned up her plate with as much dignity as she could muster. "You can't keep letting him get away with stuff like that." She muttered to Tsubaki on her way to the trash can. While Tsubaki couldn't be any more confused what wrong had been caused.

-v-

Tsubaki found dating boring. She'd tried a few times to politely accept invitations from strangers, but she never sought out attention from boys like her peers. It always ended the same way, with some guy looking at her like she was an inviting goddess, and her squirming in her seat with discomfort. Without a clear reason to tell them know, she found herself circulating through a cast of characters that would end up heartbroken when she didn't want to kiss them.

The last straw had been when someone had tried to make a move on her in her own car. She came back home devastated. As soon as things moved passed being admired it was like a switched flipped from flattered to fretful and she couldn't find a way to turn it off.

"I don't know what to do." She collapsed on the couch, already bombarded with a series of texts from her date turned friend. Well, ex friend, he hadn't taken 'this isn't working' to heart. "At this rate I'm going to be alone forever." It wasn't the worst thing in the world. She'd been coming to terms with it in bits and pieces over the summer and she'd be in good company.

"Aww don't say that." Black Star paused his videogame. He wasn't one to linger in self-pity and he hated Tsubaki being so hard on herself. "Have you tried dating girls?"

"Why would I do that?"

"You don't have to." He wasn't in her head, so he couldn't really understand how she felt about things. It just seemed like the most logical next step. "I need someone to like girls. Soul has rejected all my attempts to be a wingman." Kid was still getting used to his new role as Lord Death, he didn't have time to hang out with all of them like he used to. "I just don't like seeing you sad is all."

"I'll be okay. It's just disappointing."

At the very least she had her friends to fall back on. On such short notice, everyone was busy except for Liz. So, in order to cheer her up, the two were going to go shopping. With one last look at her clothes, she decided to change. Since she was going out with a friend, she didn't have to present herself as conservatively. Standing next to Liz could make anyone look frumpy, so at the very least, she wanted their vibe to match.

"I'm going to get ready." She sighed.

"Again?" When he got no answer, Black Star went back to playing his game. There were some things you couldn't get people to notice until they were ready.

-v-

Tsubaki's favorite bookstore was a two story shop that had piping hot Taiyaki for anyone looking to spend the day there. Liz insisted on driving them there in her beat-up pink car, a trophy from her earlier years as a delinquent. When not attached at the hip to Kid or her sister, she allowed herself the freedom to wear a variety of colors or even have her hair up. It was always something new, and Tsubaki looked forward to seeing which polish she'd decorated her nails with. This time the design seemed fresh, and Liz kept resisting the urge to push her hair behind her ear.

"Thanks for taking me out today." Tsubaki said. As much as Black Star tried to cheer her up, she felt much better now that she was back out of the house. Inoffensive pop covers played quietly over the intercom. Fresh red bean and vanilla fillings wafted through the entire store. It was all so cozy feeling.

"Of course!" They walked in together, bombarded by a maze of shelves and displays. Liz pointed to any shiny trinket she thought would catch Tsubaki's eye. Tsubaki didn't really want to buy anything, she just wanted to enjoy the company and a little Taiyaki. "Oh, my sister and I used to do this all the time back home. They usually have some chairs around, and you can read the books for free." Of course, they could do the same thing at a library, but there was a bit of a rush that only came from breaking an implied rule.

"I didn't take you for a fast reader." Tsubaki said.

"I'm not." They made their way through different sections. "Buuut, I can skim through a manga in seconds flat." She picked a first volume at random. "I heard the movie for this was pretty good."

"Yeah, I saw it with Black Star." Tsubaki combed through the shiney colors looking for something of interest.

"Oh my gosh, I haven't seen it yet. Tell me, how good was Shin Kaguya in that?"

"He was pretty good." Tsubaki had finally found the magical girl section. "His stunt work wasn't that great, but his comedic delivery on the lines was pretty good. I don't want to spoil it too much." There had been a new series about a magical girl partnering up with a demon that had caught her eye. She was fortunate enough to find a copy, with how eager fans were for the first volume to come to print.

"Yeah, yeah, but how hot was he?" Liz was at the edge of her seat. Tsubaki knew the actor was featured in the trailers. He had the same black shirt and haircut he did in every other movie he was in. She wasn't quite sure what the movie had anything to do with how he looked. "Did he have any transformation scenes? I feel like it's been forever since he's played a weapon part."

"Oh," she dodged around the first question and went straight to the second, "yeah. They had quite a few actors self wielding for stunts."

"We should see it together when it comes out on streaming."

"Sure." She was thankful Liz let the other question drop and was a little too eager to use the book as an excuse not to pursue the topic any further. The story had a strong start. She liked that the magical girls got to have different styles of outfits instead of one uniform in different shades of grey.

As it got closer to closing, she checked her phone, a new notification told her Liz posted something. Tsubaki opened it to find a picture of herself along with the caption 'on a date kind of nervous'. Her heart ran a hundred miles a minute.

"Is this?" She showed the picture to Liz, unable to form a coherent question. Likely slack jawed while Liz laughed at her.

"It's a joke." Liz said. "You've never seen it before?" Tsubaki's heart hit rock bottom in a way she'd never experienced before. The disappointment must have been evident on her face, because Liz quickly shifted gears. "I can delete it if it makes you uncomfortable."

"No, it's fine." Just a joke between friends. She was still recovering from the whiplash, surprised that her initial reaction at seeing it was excitement.

In the end, she did end up buying the book. It just felt wrong to read it, then put it back when she was done. She tried to keep up a chipper mood on the drive back, not wanting Liz to feel the need to apologize for being more up to date on the latest memes. Bidding her friend goodbye and a quick hello to her roommate, she entered the bedroom. From the floor she locked eyes with the poster on the wall, now more aware of the crop top and denim hugging her hips.

"Oh." Gears slowly clicked into place. "Oh no. No, no. Don't do this." It was just a joke. If she did like girls, it could be literally any other one on the planet. It certainly should be someone that hadn't been ogling actors on google images. Soul had told her so many times he worried their friend group would fall apart over a relationship turned sour. Even entertaining the idea was walking into shark infested water. She needed to let the feelings that threatened to grow die before fully taking root.