Soul Eater Fan Fiction ❯ The Rise and Fall of a Witch ❯ The Past Lingers On ( Chapter 2 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Astrid noticed that she and Katya were getting along better than they were before.  But she could see that Katya was more positive now.  Apart of her was pleased and happy to see Katya able to be someone she wanted to be, but the other part was covered in shadow and doubt.  Katya was a witch and she couldn't deny that side of her for too long.  She watched as Katya washed the dishes after a small meal they had shared after Tsubaki and Black Star went back to their home.  Astrid stood by the entrance to their small kitchen, “So, have you and Black Star made it official yet?  Are you two dating?”

“Yeah,” Katya answered as she put the last of the dishes away, “We consider each other an exclusive couple.”

“So...  What happens now?” Astrid asked, she still feared that Katya would reject her as a weapon to fully fight by herself alongside Black Star.

“What do you mean?” Katya turned and looked over at Astrid, “Nothing is going to change, Black Star and I will still be a couple while you're still my weapon.  There's nothing bad about what's going on.”

“Oh...” Astrid put on a small smile, “I'm happy for you, I mean..”

“Astrid,” Katya walked over to Astrid and grasped her hands lightly, “I know you're upset about all of this, so I signed us up for a mission that will show you that i'm still a great meister and you'll be stronger because of me.”

This made Astrid's dark eyes light up causing Katya to smile.  Their mission began with research.  This would be their second kishin soul that they would retrieve so no mistakes could be made.  Each girl hit the library books as they researched their target village and the kishin target they were hoping to get.  The village was known as Star Gazer's Village where a kishin soul only came out when it was a cloudless night to feast on unsuspecting human souls.  This kishin was once a human in this same village and was said to have become a kishin from staring at the moon too longer and devoured his entire family.  Thus, he only strikes on nights when there are no clouds blocking the stars.  Katya closed the book she had skimmed and looked over at Astrid, “Alright, are you ready?”

“Yes,” Astrid nodded.

The two left Death City in the middle of the night.  Star Gazer's Village was not too far from Death City, about a day of traveling without stopping.  As soon as they left Death City, Katya turned to Astrid, “Get in your weapon form, it'll take too long if we just walk.”

“You can't ride your broom...” Astrid murmured as she looked around, “Someone might see..”

“I'm not going to ride my broom, we're going to fly,” Katya easily spread her spirit wings.

Astrid sighed as she turned into Katya's war-axe.  Katya gripped her axe tightly as she ascended into the sky, flying at break neck speeds until she reached the village in less than an hour.  When she landed, Astrid returned to her human form and vomitted from such speeds.  Katya rolled her eyes, “You should get used to it by now, this is getting disgusting.”

“You go too fast...” Astrid spat up more vomit, then wiped her mouth.

“Just get back in your weapon form so we can get another soul and go back home,” Katya stated as she extended her hand.

Astrid then transformed back into a war-axe and Katya walked into the village with her axe resting on her shoulders.  The village was bustling with life as she made way into the village.  People stopped and stared at her, a stranger to their village, before whispering to each other.  She could partially hear what they would say.  'She's new', or 'I haven't seen her before', and 'What the hell is she doing here?'.  Katya kept quiet as she tried to find the kishin soul.  He could be hiding anywhere.  Then, Katya stopped walking when she heard a scream.  She leaped high into the air and spread her spirit wings to see a woman being devoured whole by a grotesque, demon-like man.  Katya grimaced at the gruesome sight as she heard Astrid hide a scream.

“Locked on target, let's go!” Katya shouted as she released her wings and landed on top of a roof, then ran towards the kishin, “Go to Hell!!”

She easily cut him in one blow, stopping his feast and allowing the woman to escape with minor scratches and bite marks.  Katya was about to wait for the soul to appear, but the body was slowly reattaching itself.  Her eyes widened as she took a step back, guarding herself with her weapon, “Uhm...Astrid...what's going on?”

“He's regenerating,” Astrid murmured softly.

“What!?  Why didn't you say he could!?” Katya shouted angrily.

“You were supposed to research the kishin not just the village!” Astrid spoke calmly.

“That's...well..that's true..” Katya glanced away, then turned her attention back to the kishin, “So how can I kill him if he regenerates at all my attacks?”

Then, the kishin was ready to fight again.  He swung one of his red, muscular arms towards her.  Katya could see inside his body, he didn't have a normal human body with blood vessels or any type of life source.  All he had was a blood-lust soul that craved more power.  She began to block his oncoming attacks and keep herself from getting hit by his claws, “Astrid, answer me!”

“The only time you can successfully attack him is when the stars and moon are covered!  Only then can you defeat him!” Astrid quickly answered.

Katya glanced upward for a split second then felt a wave of nausea hit her.  It was an hour passed midnight, they had hours to fight before the sun would come up and an attack would effectively hit.  Could she really keep this up for hours?  Katya blocked off an attack as she thought of another way to stop this kishin and destroying this town because of the fight?  She was breaking roofs by stepping and leaping on to them, her axe and the kishin were breaking houses down, if this fight continued until dawn then there wouldn't be any part of the village left!  Katya growled as she then asked, “How far are we from Death City?”

“Katya...” Astrid took in a deep breath, “We're far from Death City, but what if-”

“We don't have enough time for 'what if' questions,” Katya tossed her axe in the air, having Astrid back in her human form as the kishin cornered them, “Allow me access and I can save this city and get you this soul.”

Astrid hesitated for a second as the kishin soul leaped into the air to attack them both.  She then put her palms together as she allowed her soul to unlock the hidden witch soul for Katya.  A strange, purple-ish light emitted from Astrid and went straight into Katya who became immersed with the light.  Katya smirked as she whispered, “Soul Protection release.”

Her soul greatly became much larger than before as two soul hawks flew just above her head.  The wings that spread from her back was no longer a spirit form, instead they were real wings.  Katya's fingers became claw like as she glanced up at the kishin above her.  She then chanted, “Hawk, hawk, bird, bird, Claws of the Divine.”

Katya's claw-like fingers glowed from the purple-ish color as she flew rapidly towards the kishin.  The kishin let out a rageful roar just before Katya tore through him as her soul hawks tore the rest of him to pieces.  She whipped around and continued to slash through the kishin until there was nothing but a glowing, red soul floating down in front of Astrid.  Katya landed herself on the roof top as she put the soul protection spell back on her, allowing Astrid to hold her soul again for her.  

“That wasn't too bad was it?” Katya smirked as she turned to Astrid after she devoured the kishin soul.

“That was a good show, but lets just hope no one from the academy saw,” Astrid timidly looked around to see if anyone saw.

The only people who were watching were the villagers, but they didn't seem to get a good grasp on what happened.  Katya summed it up as they haven't seen a witch before and figured it was just another academy student fighting with extraordinary abilities.  She walked over to Astrid and put an arm around her shoulder, “I think it's time to go to bed, i'm exhausted.”

*~*~*~*~*

The next day, Katya and Astrid walked to school like any other normal day.  However, Katya stopped moving as she saw a large crowd of students huddled together outside the main doors.  She wanted to know what was going on, but something was giving her a bad feeling and telling her to run.  Going against her feelings, Katya walked towards the crowd and asked another student she knew was in her class, “Hey, what's going on?”

“Didn't you feel it last night?  Everyone felt a witch's soul,” the girl shivered in fear, “I hope they find her soon, that's just too creepy that a witch could get close to Death City.”

“Yeah, really creepy,” Katya murmured as she took a few steps back to talk to Astrid, “Lets just go inside, there's nothing for us out here.”

“Hey, Katya!  Wait up!”

Katya turned to see Black Star approaching her.  Though she really wanted to go inside and away from the crowd, he was an exception.  Black Star looked around and picked up on what the subject was on, “A witch, huh?  Well, I have something to say on that...”

To Katya's slight dismay, she watched as Black Star marched to the middle of the crowd with his fist in the air, “If I see that ugly witch anywhere near Death City, i'll slice her to pieces and hang her dismembered head somewhere where I can see it everyday and use her soul to make a Death Sythe!”

At this point, Katya was in shock at all that was said as Astrid lightly patted her back.  She couldn't be too surprised at the outburst when the DWMA were natural enemies with any witch.  Black Star then extended his hand to her as the crowd watched, “You're gonna fight with me!  We'll be unstoppable!”

Tsubaki smiled as she clapped, Astrid following to keep up appearance.  Katya forced herself to smirk as she joined Black Star in the middle and raised her fist in the air, “We're academy students of the Death Weapon Meister Academy, we'll kill any witch that dares to come our way!”

After the crowd died down, Maka and Soul approached Katya and Black Star, “I'm gonna guess you two heard about the witch soul too, huh?”

“It was really powerful,” Tsubaki commented as she put her hands together, “I've never sensed a soul that strong before.”

“I don't know what Lord Death is going to do about it,” Maka looked at everyone, “I'd like to know what he plans on doing about this.  A witch that powerful and that close to Death City isn't exactly safe for all of us.”

“Maybe it was just a wandering witch,” Katya spoke up, “She probably didn't even realize she was close to Death City.”

“You're too kind, Katya,” Black Star smirked over at her, “I'm sure you could slaughter that witch.”

Then, Kid, with Liz and Patti, approached from behind Katya and Astrid, “That witch was in Star Gazer's Village last night.  I looked at the mission board just now.  Katya, Astrid, you two were there last night.  Didn't you see her last night then?”

“We were fighting a kishin,” Astrid answered as Katya remained quiet, “But we did feel a really strong soul not too far.  We couldn't stop fighting to look for a witch that could put up a harder fight.”

Katya eyed Kid.  He was harder to read than the others as a Shinigami, but she could tell that he was accepting their answer for now.  She would have to be more careful next time she wanted to tap into her witch soul next time.  Katya stood besides Black Star as she then asked, “We're all not really ready for a witch's soul anyways, i'm no where near 99 kishin souls just yet.  How about we go to class and figure something out later?”

“She's right,” Soul sighed, “A witch's soul would be delicious, but we haven't even fought enough kishins to get a witch's soul.”

“The bell will be ringing any minute,” Tsubaki commented as she looked towards the entrance doors.

It was concluded, the group went to their class where they remained quiet.  Katya was nervous that she would expose herself to the others and betray her promise to Lord Death.  She could barely pay attention with fear lingering in her head.  As a promise to Lord Death to remain a meister in his academy, she would keep her identity as a witch a secret from the rest of the world.  Katya was zoning out in her head that she didn't see the Death Sythe, Spirit, walk into the classroom and announce that Death wanted to see her.  Astrid had to lightly shove her to get her up and leave.  Katya's eyes widened before she forced herself to stand up and walk towards Spirit.  Astrid stood up to leave as well, but Spirit put up a single index finger, “Lord Death only wants to see Katya, you have to stay here, Astrid.”

“Oh...” Astrid sat back down.

She was afraid for Katya.  If something were to happen to her meister, she would be a weapon without a meister.  While Astrid was worrying in the classroom, Katya was living her worst fear.  Each step was much worse than the last.  She wanted to ask what Death wanted, but she knew Spirit would never tell her.  He knew her secret and, just like many of the other teachers and staff at the academy, didn't trust her.  When they reached Death's occupancy, Katya rushed forward and passed Spirit to reach Death where she then stated, “I know why i'm here and I can only say that I had to in order to defeat that kishin.  Astrid, me, and the rest of that village would've been destroyed to pieces if I hadn't!”

“Is that so?” he asked, a few moments passed until he tilted his head to the side, “What are you talking about?”

Katya stood in disbelief as she made sure not to say a word.  She quickly shook her head before waving her hand, “It's nothing, just making sure you knew I defeated the kishin last night.”

“Terrific,” Lord Death commented in a most pleased manner, then stated, “Then you can tell me what that witch looked like since you know who she is.”

“No, I don't,” Katya retorted, she had to keep to her own story if she wanted to remain at the academy.

“I see.  Then I can only guess that it was you who let out that much power if you released your soul protection spell,” Death concluded as he kept his gaze on her, “Is that true, then?”

Katya was cornered.  If she confessed, she could be killed on the spot.  If she lied, she could be killed as well.  She kept her gaze on Death as she nodded, “It was me.  I did it to-”

“Keep yourself, Astrid, and the village safe from the kishin.  Funny, the soul was very powerful, indeed...  But, you only remained a witch for a few minutes before putting your spell back on.  If I had anything to worry about, you would have remained in your normal form for much longer.  I do have to remind you to keep your promise and never use your magic,” Death explained as he loomed closer until he towered over her, “I did not bring you here to start a quick process of allowing witches into my academy.  You are simply here for a trial basis and you have showed much progress over the years, don't slip up and fail me now.”

She kept her gaze averted as she listened to his words.  Katya then nodded before looking up at him, “I apologize, Lord Death.  It won't happen again.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Meanwhile, the others sat in the classroom as Dr. Stein dissected yet another rare creature to see what lay inside it's organs.  Soul, growing disgusted of the lessons, brought out his own reading material that he brought from his home.  He looked over at Black Star to see that his friend was already sleeping.  Usually, Black Star waited until at least a little after the halfway point of their class time.  Soul pulled out a small coin from his pocket and flicked it into the air and hit Black Star's forehead.  Instantly Black Star jerked awake and sluggishly leaned forward to peer down at Soul with an annoyed look, “Class isn't even over yet, what?”

“I'm sick of this class, ditch with me,” Soul whispered, fearing Maka would hear him.

This woke Black Star right up as he looked at the clock and then at the door.  Dr. Stein knew them well enough to know that if they left, they wouldn't come back.  Black Star nudged Tsubaki's elbow slightly, “Hey, help me get out of class.”

“But what if-”

“Will you help me or not?” Black Star rushed her, causing her to look away and nod slightly, “Alright, just follow my lead.”

Dr. Stein made another incision in the intestinal tract before he heard Tsubaki shriek in terror.  He glanced up to see her holding Black Star's lifeless body as his face was a pale shade of green, “What is it now, Tsubaki?”

“Black Star fainted!  I think he needs to go to the nurse!” Tsubaki quickly stated as she did her best to keep him off the floor.

Dr. Stein fixed his glasses for a second before shrugging, “Alright, take him and bring him back when they're done.  If anyone else has a weak constitution then-”

He noticed that most of the class was preparing to leave at that point.  Dr. Stein then twirled his instrument with his fingers before stabbing the creature's throat.  This caused most of the students to sit back down as Dr. Stein stated, “The first five, after Tsubaki, that make it to the door can go.  After that, the rest of you can stay and take closer notes at what i'm doing.”

Tsubaki rushed Black Star out of class as Soul, and a few others, made it out as well.  As soon as they reached the main doors, Black Star straightened up and began to walk out with Soul.  He was about to leave until he heard, “Hey, Black Star...”

He turned to see Tsubaki staring at the floor, “Tsubaki, is something wrong?”

“I was thinking..uhm..maybe we can hang out tonight.  Like at a movie or play at the arcade again,” she blushed slightly before making eye contact with him.

Soul noticed Black Star hesitate for a second before he gave an apologetic shrug and said, “Sorry, Tsubaki, but I'm going to be training with Katya tonight.”

“Oh..ok..  Tell Katya I said 'hi' then,” Tsubaki quickly walked back to the classroom, leaving the two boys behind.

Black Star turned and walked back to the main doors with his hands behind his head.  Soul walked right besides Black Star, but remained silent.  For Soul, it was unexpected that Tsubaki to act like that and ask Black Star on a private get-together when she knew Katya had feelings for Black Star.  Then again, he really didn't want to get involved in his friend's private life.  Once they were out of the building, Soul asked, “So, what's up with you and that Katya chick?”

“I guess we're dating,” Black Star answered as he looked up at the sky, “I like her, but it's like I like the outside of her.”

“So you like her body...” Soul smirked as Black Star grinned slightly.

“Her body is nice and all,” Black Star put his arms down before glancing over at Soul, “What I mean is-”

“You only like what you can see, but she's not giving you everything about her.”

Both Soul and Black Star turned to see Kid had been following them with his hands perfectly, symmetrically behind his back.  Along with his normal, black outfit, he wore a full black fadora hat to cover the unsymmetrical lines in his hair.  Kid approached his two friends as he stood in between them to be in the perfect alignment, “Quite frankly, it's hardly expected that she would want to.”

“What's that supposed to mean?” Black Star's annoyance level grew quickly.

“He means that she's the type of girl who wants to keep a few things about her hidden so you won't see something you won't like.  A lot of girls do that, it makes them annoying sometimes,” Soul rolled his eyes as they continued to walk into Death city.

The three of them continued to walk through Death City until they found a place to eat at.  Deathway was the sub-sandwich place to eat at when Black Star and Soul would skip their class for the day.  There weren't many people inside so they could enjoy the AC in the restaurant while eating their favorite subs.  While Soul ordered for everyone, Kid prepared a round table with three stools to be evenly separated and made sure the other two knew where to sit.  He wanted to place the table and chairs in the correct place in the store, but the manager was already throwing a fit about Black Star going through all the drinks to see which one he liked the most.  

Finally, once they were all seated with their own meal, they began to eat.  Halway through their subs, Soul asked Black Star, “How's Tsubaki taking everything?”

Black Star took another bite of his sub.  Soul remembered what happened and understood Black Star's silence.  Tsubaki had turned Black Star down on many occasions and all for the same reason: she wanted to be a Death Sythe and partnered with Lord Death before she would take Black Star in a relationship.  After she said that, Soul remembered the numerous times Black Star went on extreme missions to collect more souls, but he barely made a dent in the number of kishin souls before Tsubaki completely denied him.  Black Star had been crushed and Soul couldn't even bring him out of that funk before Black Star finally came around to going back to his old self.  

That only told Soul that Tsubaki was making this transition hard for Black Star to allow Katya into his life.  Even if it's for a few weeks or a few years, Soul could see that Tsubaki wasn't too pleased at Black Star's attempt at another female.  Soul dropped the subject before digging into his sandwich when Kid spoke up, “How did you manage to persuade Katya to dating you?”

“I didn't persuade her,” Black Star glared over at Kid, though they were friends they still knew what buttons to press to piss the other off, “She came onto me.”

“A bold woman, how attractive,” Kid mused as he continued to cut his sandwich into perfect, tiny pieces in an orderly fashion, “Of my time knowing you, she seems to be the only attractive female you've managed to catch.”

“Alright you two, that's getting old,” Soul spoke up, trying to stop the fight while it was still cold.

“Oh yeah?  I've had more sexy girlfriends than you've ever had!” Black Star growled as he turned his seat to face Kid, “And what's with this idea that you think I can't get a hot girl?  I'm stronger and better looking than you!”

“I hardly believe that 'sexy' would define the past few females that you've managed to date,” Kid shrugged before taking a sip of his iced tea, “That fat girl from before wasn't as attractive as you're making her out to be.  Also, have you looked in a mirror lately?  In honest comparison, i'm a fresh cut while you just woke up in a trashbin somewhere.”

“That's it!” Black Star lunged at Kid, but was tackled by Soul to keep them apart as Kid made a few attempts to fight back.

This little scene caused the three of them to be kicked out of the store.  Kid and Black Star walked with Soul in between them as they glared the other way.  Soul sighed at the uncool day he was having.  He wanted to leave class, now he was stuck babysitting two guys that were completely opposite of the other.  

*~*~*~*~*~*

As soon as class was over, Astrid was packing not only her materials, but Katya's as well.  Maka, Liz, Patti, and Tsubaki stood not too far from the classroom door as they waited for Astrid.  She was happy to know that she was getting along with all of them, but where was Katya?  Surely Lord Death didn't kick her out...  Astrid glumly stared down at the floor as Maka asked, “Hey, what's wrong?”

“I'm just worried about Katya...that's all,” Astrid smiled as she followed her group of friends into the hallway, “She's just..has me worried.”

“I'm sorry to hear that.  It seems like you and Tsubaki both seem kinda down today,” Maka noticed as she glanced from one female to the next, “Is there anything we can do to make it better?”

Astrid looked over to see Tsubaki had looked over at her as well.  She didn't know why Tsubaki was down.  Her only conclusion was that it was because Katya and Black Star started hanging out every night again.  Sometimes they would sleep at one apartment or the other, they never stayed apart at night.  Astrid shrugged as she put on a bigger smile, “Lets try and make it a nice day then, even if we're a little down.”

Tsubaki smiled as well towards Astrid, “Of course.”

The girls left the academy before parting ways, only leaving Astrid and Tsubaki alone at a corner.  They faced each other as they kept their gaze away from each other.  Astrid then spoke up, “So..uhm..do you know where they're staying tonight?”

“I don't know...” Tsubaki murmured, “If it's not too much to ask, could you ask Katya if I can have a few hours tomorrow to talk to Black Star in private?  It's kind of important...”

Astrid then turned her gaze to Tsubaki.  She had a bad feeling about what Tsubaki had just said, but it wasn't enough to make her question her new friend.  Tsubaki didn't seem like the type to come between a relationship, new or old.  As much as Astrid wanted to ask her what she meant, she decided against that idea.  Instead, she nodded silently before walking away.  She turned back to look over her shoulder at Tsubaki, but she was already gone.  Astrid knew Katya wouldn't like the idea of how Tsubaki was handling the situation, but beyond what her meister would do or say was an uncharted area.

The apartment was full of light when Astrid walked into to see the door had been unlocked.  Katya and Black Star must've came and left before Astrid made it home.  She was glad to have a few hours by herself again, but she honestly missed her meister's companionship.  Astrid pulled out leftovers from the night before and began to study the material she had learned that day in class.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Sweat poured down her brow as Katya stood in front of Black Star, who was panting deeply.  She watched his chest rise and fall as she felt her own heart beat rapidly.  Her mind was silenced at the heat of the moment.  If she let her guard down for just a second, Black Star could win this round.  Katya slid her right foot forward and quickly raised her right arm to block the kick Black Star had tried to use with his immense speed.  It was out of pure luck that she was still standing when it came to sparring Black Star at night when it was harder to see.  She had to use her senses more rather than physical capability.  Black Star sent her many punches as she managed to block most of them.  A few got her, but he wasn't trying to do any damage.

Katya found an opening!  She ducked backwards before standing back up and used her own spiritual energy behind a punch she aimed at Black Star's abdomen.  At the last second she stopped, and Black Star paused as well when he saw that she found the opening.  The pair smirked as they gazed at each other, breathing heavily as the darkness of the night clouded their minds of where they were.  Katya stood up as she wiped the sweat off of her brow, “I'm getting better at this.”

“It's different when you don't have a weapon to use,” Black Star sat in the open pavement of the academy's training stations, “Open some windows...it's hot as Hell in here.”

As Katya opened the windows in the training station, a cool breeze wafted in and seemed to settle the two down.  Katya sat next to Black Star before laying down on her back.  She enjoyed their training at night because it gave them some time alone and not having to hear about what the others think.  

“So..what exactly is this?” Katya asked as she gazed up at the ceiling.

“I'unno,” Black Star looked away from her.

“That's not typically a good answer...” Katya sat up on her elbows to look over at him.

“How am I supposed to know?” he turned his gaze back to her, “You're the one who's leading this.”

“I'm asking you what you want.”

“I want something to eat.”

“....That's not what I mean.”

“Argh!” Black Star grumbled as he popped his neck before rubbing his head, “Girls are confusing...  I'd rather have someone kick my ass than try to understand what you're saying and what you actually mean.”

Katya sat up straight to turn herself towards Black Star, “What I mean is that I want us to be an actual couple.”

Black Star's reaction unsettled Katya.  She was used to be quite forward and able to let everyone know what she wanted.  However, she grew nervous when she saw Black Star hesitate when she mentioned about being a couple.  They've been hanging out almost every single day, and she had been saying they were a couple when mostly they would talk, train, or go on outings with their friends.  She had yet to ask him if they were in a relationship or not and had avoided the topic until that moment.  Black Star smirked slightly before lowering his chin until his mouth was covered by his shirt collar and closed his eyes.  Katya sat in silence as the dread of her statement began to eat at her.  Did she say it too soon?  Did he not feel the same?  Was telling him that she liked him pressuring him into liking her when he possibly didn't?  She couldn't take it any longer.  Katya then began to stand up.  Before she embarressed herself anymore, she needed to leave.  Right when she was about to leave, she felt him grab her wrist.

“If you don't feel the same, then you don't need me to stick around like a completely stupid idiot,” Katya stated as she kept her  back turned to him.

His grasp slid down her wrist before intertwining his fingers with hers.  Katya smiled to herself as she kept her back turned to Black Star.  He didn't need to say anything.  In that moment, she knew what his answer was and couldn't be more happy about it.  

It was around midnight when Katya returned home by herself.  She was content with her new relationship with Black Star and was looking forward to telling Astrid.  When she walked into her apartment, she saw Astrid sleeping on the kitchen table with a pile of books beneath her.  A small frown formed on Katya's lips when she saw this.  She walked slipped off her shoes by the front door and tip-toed over to Astrid.  Gently tapping on Astrid's shoulder, Katya whispered, “Time for bed, Astrid.  Lets go to sleep.”

Astrid slowly opened her eyes to see Katya.  She gave a sleepy smile at the surprise before nodding her head and following Katya to their bedroom.  Katya helped Astrid into their bed before climbing in.  As they laid in bed, Katya watched as Astrid quickly fell back asleep.  She decided that her friend would hear her news in the morning.  As her thoughts went to Black Star, Katya kept a pleased smile as she soon fell asleep.

Meanwhile, Black Star quietly entered his own apartment.  He didn't want to wake Tsubaki nor did he want to go to bed hungry.  Apart of him had hoped Katya would've invited him over for something to eat, but she never asked and he wouldn't be the one to say something either.  If she were Maka or any other girl, then he would've just invited himself over.  Black Star snuck into the kitchen and opened the fridge to find that Tsubaki had made him a large dish of his favorite foods.  He greedily snatched the plate and waited it to heat up in the microwave.  As soon as the time was up, Black Star retrieved his plate of food and turned to come face-to-face with Tsubaki.  He sucked in a breath from surprise before noticing the small dress she wore, “Tsubaki!...What are you doing up this late?  Did I wake you?”

“I've been waiting for you to come home,” Tsubaki greeted him with a smile as she bowed lightly, “I was worried you would be out too late again and be late to class.”

Black Star strictly kept his eyesight on her face though it was torture not to look.  He forced himself to look away as he walked passed her so he could eat the dinner she had prepared, “Uhm, I'll go to sleep soon after I eat.  Katya and I trained really hard tonight.”

“You train really hard every time you train,” Tsubaki mused as she followed him into the living room.

As much as he wanted to turn around and look at Tsubaki's body, Black Star remained diligent and only thought of going to bed.  He was about to walk away until he felt Tsubaki approach him more.  It didn't take a genius to know she was right behind him.  As an assassin, he could hear her breathe, he could feel her body heat, and he could sense the small distance away from each other.  

“I miss when it was just you and I,” he heard her murmur.

This sent Black Star on the edge.  His surprised features then turned to that of dismay.  He carefully put the plate of food on the table before walking to his room in silence.  Tsubaki remained standing where she was and kept still.  She knew this wasn't like her at all, but she couldn't help feeling as if she were losing something she had cast aside long ago.