MaStar Week

Maka turned around and easily spotted her childhood friend—not for his telltale blue hair, but for the growing pile of bodies all around him. Fellow students, some crawling away and others having accepted their fate to be defeated at the hands of the academy's strongest student, who for some reason felt the need to continue proving the point whether people wanted a fight or not. And despite the fact he was creating a bloody mess at Kid's coronation, despite the fact the setting was wholly inappropriate...she couldn't help the butterflies in her stomach.

"Wow..." Maka said with a dry chuckle. "At this rate he'll end up starting a new war with the witches, if he doesn't watch where he's punching."

Soul scoffed. "What's Tsubaki doing? Keeping count?" Soul asked.

"Looks like it," Maka replied, starting down the steps almost automatically as another opponent fell to a single punch of Black Star's fist.

"That's twenty-seven! You got that, Tsubaki? Oh!" Black Star said, turning as his face split into a broad grin. "Hey, Maka!"

He offered her a thumbs up, and she grimaced at the sight of his right eye starting to swell and other clear signs of bruises and a number of small cuts. Blood dripped from above one eyebrow down to the corner of his lip.

"Kid sure throws a great party, huh? Perfect chance for me to remind everyone here that I'm the star!"

Maka glanced at Tsubaki, who wore a wan smile.

"I've beat almost every student at the academy now. Soon I'll have to move on to the professors," he said, rubbing his hands eagerly. But then he startled, and his expression fell briefly before rising again to fierce challenge. "Hey... I haven't beat you yet, Maka."

Maka's brow rose, and she looked again to Tsubaki whose smile grew more strained. She turned back to Black Star, and the gleam in his eyes had changed from one of competition to mischief.

Maka grinned. "It would only be a fair fight if I get to use Soul."

Black Star looked positively manic.

"It won't be a fair fight against me no matter what! What do you think, Tsubaki?"

Maka had already assumed a fighting stance, Black Star mirroring her, but she looked back to where Tsubaki stood, her smile even more strained. Then not far behind her she saw Soul descending the steps.

"Aw... Why not?" Tsubaki said.

Soul walked up next to her and grinned.

Maka looked back at Black Star, who was cracking his knuckles. Butterflies turned her stomach again.

"Prepare to go down!"

"Not likely. But first..." Maka's cheeks colored, and she took a deep breath. "How about I give you a kiss for luck."

"Hahahaha! I don't need luck! I'm a warrior god! You're the one who needs luck, Maka."

Before she could process what was happening, calloused fingers were rested on her cheek, and warm lips pressed against hers.

The rush of heat Maka felt reach her cheeks was quickly surpassed by the racing of electricity across every one of her nerve endings. Her nostrils filled with the pungence of sweat. The taste of blood somehow passed her lips. His presence was invasive, overwhelming...

And yet all she could think as she kissed him back, her fingers curling tightly on his bicep, was, 'finally.'

"Uh..."

Maka's eyes opened at the sound of Soul's voice, and as Black Star let go and stepped back a pace she was left dazed and taking in the world around her as if it was brand new.

"Should we be looking for another party?" Soul asked, visibly holding back a snicker.

"Not yet," Black Star said, and Maka's cheeks reddened further. "Not until I've added the great Maka Albarn to my list of victories!"

Maka looked into his eyes, sparkling with challenge. She held out her hand and Soul transformed into it, as Black Star grinned at her like she was the entire world.

"What?" Black Star said as he pulled his shirt down over his face. "You found him? Where is he?"

Maka shook her head. "Soul and I been assigned to join Professor Stein to go investigate an attack in Moscow. Crona...might have killed one of the death scythes."

Black Star's jaw fell open. He blinked once, twice.

"What?"

"That's not all. That he's grown more powerful. They said he destroyed an entire city in Ukraine. And...Soul..."

Black Star leapt to his feet. "An entire city!? Wait, what about Soul?"

Maka's gaze dropped, and Black Star watched her eyes move back and forth as her hands closed into fists.

"The wound he received protecting me, the first time we met Crona... It's been aching. Hurting him. It's bad enough that it's all he can think about. It started before we received the mission."

"Then...you think it has something to do with what Crona's been up to?"

Maka met his eyes again, her own pools of worry. "It has to. What if...we find Crona when we get there? What if Soul gets worse and we have to fight?"

Black Star thought a moment. "Well... Professor Stein will be there too, right? And besides... You really think a little pain is gonna stop Soul?"

He smiled, hoping to encourage her, but her expression was unchanged.

"It's not just that... I know Soul won't quit, no matter what. It's just..."

"What?" Black Star asked, stepping closer. Maka's gaze dropped again, and after a moment Black Star set a finger under chin and gently lifted her head, but she kept her gaze upon his chest.

"If it's all true... If Crona did everything they said he did, and then we find him there... We'll have to kill him."

Maka finally lifted her eyes, and Black Star's lips parted as understanding reached his. Memories filtered through his vision, of basketball games, surprising training exercises, parties, and shy smiles. But those images faded, replaced with darker ones of a different friend fallen to madness.

He had never believed, not even for a moment, that Kid couldn't be saved. But if he'd been as far gone as Crona seemingly was, would he have had the strength to do what was necessary?

"Maka... You remember the first time I gave you the spotlight?"

"What?"

"When I failed to stop the kishin's revival. When I was supposed to fight Crona, but you wanted revenge so I let you have him."

Maka looked back at him curiously.

"You were already strong enough back then. And hey, you weren't just strong enough to defeat him. You were strong enough to give him mercy."

Maka blinked, her gaze falling again as she grew confused. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying you'll know the right thing to do this time too, Maka. As long as you don't let your anger with yourself get the better of you."

Maka's eyes snapped up. "How did you know—"

"Because I know you, Maka. I know you're blaming yourself for Crona's running away, and for all of the stuff he's doing now. But it's not your fault." Black Star set his hands on her arms, his thumbs gently rubbing her shoulders. "Sometimes we can do everything right. But the other guy's choices are still their own. And in Crona's case, who knows what's really going on."

Maka reached across and found one of his hands with hers, entwining their fingers.

"So when you take the stage this time, I'm sure you'll know whether it's the final act, or if it's just intermission."

A hint of a smile began to brighten Maka's eyes, and Black Star grinned at her.

"I have always been pretty good at improvising," she said.

Black Star gave her shoulder a squeeze. "That's the spirit! And I know Soul will be right there at your side, following your lead no matter what."

Maka's lips curled upward. "You're right about that, too. I just... I hope Crona hasn't passed from the path of humanity."

"Hey, Maka..." It was Black Star's turn to avert his gaze, staring at the towel he'd dropped on the weight bench.

"Yeah?"

"I just want you to know...if I hadn't been able to pull Kid back, when the madness had him... I'd have killed him."

A soft gasp left Maka's lips, and Black Star turned back to her, his expression solemn. For a moment he thought Maka was about to cry, but then, familiar determination filled her eyes.

"I'm glad you didn't have to."

Black Star sighed and found his next inhale feeling thin, and for just a moment it seemed his legs wouldn't support his weight. But he nodded to Maka and let an honest smile reach his eyes.

"Me too."

Ayyyyy. Going to keep doing my best to share and leave comments on everyone's post.

The master post linking to everyone's stuff will go live at 4 am MST. So for all of you working hard for that extra prize, that'll be the deadline (of course, if l missed a post feel free to tag me)

I've gotten a few questions I'd like to answer here.

If it takes longer to make, is it okay to post as a part of MaStar week? - Yes! You made it for a prompt, it counts.

"What did Doctor Stein say about how long it will take to heal?"

Black Star startled, winced, and held his shoulder tighter.

"Sheesh, warn a guy before you sneak up on him, Maka."

"Sorry. It still hurts pretty bad?"

Black Star hesitated, but then he stretched his legs and revealed the bandage on his foot, and the splints on his fingers. Maka knew there were further injuries hidden under his clothes.

"I'll have to do double the training to make up for all this lost time, but... He said if I don't give everything time to properly heal, I'll risk permanent injuries."

"He's the doctor," Maka said, finally descending the wooden steps into the zen garden. "I'd listen to him."

Black Star lifted his eyes, and the gentle smile he fixed her with caused her steps to falter.

"So...what's it like, now that Soul is a death scythe? Bet he's really hogging the spotlight while I'm stuck getting better."

Maka grinned. "Actually, it's not that different. He'd still rather just listen to music than do anything else. Although, since it's summer break he's getting bored of that pretty quickly too."

"Well! Tell him if he doesn't keep up his Road Rash game, then I'm gonna wipe the pavement with him!"

Maka rolled her eyes and scoffed, but smiled.

"So what was it like for Tsubaki absorbing such a strong soul after you defeated that samurai?" she asked.

Black Star's face fell. "We didn't exactly...absorb his soul. Not the usual way, at least. I think," Black Star said, scratching his head with his good hand.

Maka continued down into the garden and sat on a smaller rock, one that required she tilt her head back to see Black Star.

"When he died his body vanished, but there was no soul. Just a whole tree's worth of leaves and flower petals. They blew away on the wind... Almost like a scattering of ashes."

Maka crossed her legs and considered. There wasn't any understood precedent for the lack of a soul, except when it was obliterated by violence or was somehow transferred by magic into a different body. She was considering which option might be more likely in the case of the mysterious samurai, when Black Star continued.

"Tsubaki has said that when we resonate, she can feel his presence within the will of the Nakatsukasa, except it's different. There isn't pain or fear or regret. Somehow...it's separate from the burden of all of the others who the sword has defeated, all of their collective experiences."

Black Star's brow furrowed, his gaze drifting from Maka's face toward the fountain. Maka studied him and considered.

"What's that like? Carrying the burden of...all of those souls?"

A grin broke across Black Star's face, and jerked his thumb toward his chest. "Well, for someone who isn't a god, it would probably be overwhelming."

Maka giggled.

"But for me, I use it. With Tsubaki, I can filter through the pain and confusion. Sometimes if I concentrate, I can almost feel individual souls and pull from their wisdom." He paused, and looked down as he thought. "I can almost feel them...counting on me. It's hard to explain."

"It must...take a lot of training to not let it consume you."

"Heh, and you know I'm no stranger to that!"

Maka met Black Star's grin, and then her eyes drifted to the bandage on his shoulder. She looked at the way he almost struggled to sit upright without proper command of his digits and limbs. But to anyone else, save his closest friends, he probably would have looked no different than after any other fight, and not a fight to save the world.

"Um... So what happened to that child witch the samurai was protecting?"

Black Star's eyes snapped to hers, almost defensively, but then quickly grew sad.

"We found her in Baba Yaga castle and brought her to the academy orphanage. That's actually where Tsubaki is now... To tell her the truth about Mifune."

Maka watched his expression tense.

"I wanted to face her myself, but..."

He bared his teeth and hung his head.

"She must feel so....lost. Alone. Abandoned..."

Black Star's good hand clenched into a fist, and Maka watched his frame tremble as he fought to hold back the moisture darkening his eyelashes. Her chest constricted, and after a moment she rose and carefully, gently wrapped her arms around him, avoiding his shoulder.

"I wonder... I wonder, how much pain..." he began, but his voice broke and he turned his face away as Maka set her head against his.

Black Star had known this day would come— has known it for a while. He'd called it years ago, long before the concept of marriage was anything more than a distant, nebulous future milestone for any of them, back when the idea of tying the knot or settling down was strictly in the realm of stuff grown-ups did— when weddings were merely things that the girls fantasized longingly about and the guys mostly scoffed at. Long before Soul and Maka's partnership blossomed into something more, something beyond merely that of a meister and her weapon achieving perfect harmony in and out of battle, and long before the idea of proposing was even a glimmer in Soul's mind.

No, Black Star had called it back when they were all merely teenagers.

It was no secret that Soul loved Maka— anyone with a halfway functioning set of eyes could tell that she was basically his entire reason for existing, the very force that he orbited around like a planet caught up in the gravitational pull of a sun— but to Black Star, what was more telling was Maka’s behavior. 

It was subtle at first, but the signs were there from the very beginning— the hopeful, fond way she'd smile at him when she thought no one was looking, how flustered and frustrated she'd get with him when things didn't go her way. How her entire face would soften when she looked at him, how quickly she came to trust him in a way she'd never done for anyone else in her life. 

Black Star would know— he'd been vying for that trust of hers since long before Soul came into the picture. 

Later on, the signs grew more obvious— her demands that Soul refer to her as his angel, the blatant jealousy she'd display whenever he'd receive partner requests and love letters from his adoring fans. The way she'd blush at almost any attention from him, how more often than not, when they'd hold hands in the hallway or in class under their desks, it was Maka reaching for his hand. The trusting way she leaned on him like she did for no one else. How easily she relaxed around him, unfurling herself completely and allowing herself to be vulnerable with him.

He's the world's greatest assassin and therefore an expert on body language. Of course he notices these things. He'd watched the two of them fall in love as they'd grown up, all while at the same time Black Star was falling in love with Maka himself. 

He'd made peace with all of it a long time ago — when you’ve known something's coming all your life, it softens the blow, makes the medicine go down easier. As far as Black Star is concerned, Soul and Maka falling in love and getting married was about as inevitable as death is for any human, one of the few things you can expect out of life with absolute certainty and inevitability. 

Death, taxes, and Soul and Maka.