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don't leave me hangin'

Summary:

Maka and Soul aren't back from their first mission. Black*Star, aka Maka's childhood best friend, is worried, and Tsubaki comforts him.

Notes:

yes this is me expanding on the soul eater universe bc it is underrated and because I CAN!!!!

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Work Text:

As much as he wouldn’t admit it, Black*Star was nervous. He was trying to hide it, pass it off as just excited to be training, but he couldn’t help being more unfocused than usual during class. He and Tsubaki were practicing to master her shuriken mode in DWMA’s outside training grounds with Sid and Naigus. 

Maka wasn’t back from her first mission yet. She and Soul had been set out to take care of some small fry in Europe who were alerting Death, and he’d thought it was perfect for Maka and Soul’s first mission. They were supposed to be back yesterday , and Star’d been expecting her to walk through the doors, excited she’d completed her mission and talk his ear off about it at any given moment. When she didn’t show, he felt a coldness settle in his stomach and hadn’t been able to get rid of it. Did something happen? Did she get hurt? Did Soul get hurt, and maybe their flight back was delayed because of it? It was driving him up the wall that he didn’t know.

“Black*Star! Stop!” Sid demanded, snapping Star out of his thoughts. He stopped what he was doing, realizing that Tsubaki, in shuriken mode, was slipping out of his hands. He dropped her as she transformed back into a human, giving him a worried expression. “Your movements are slow and it’s clear you’re unfocused. Is something wrong?”

Naigus turned into her human form, standing next to Sid with her arms loosely at her sides. “You need to communicate with each other,” she instructed. “It’s imperative that partners communicate with each other so their wavelengths are in sync and strong.”

“I know, I know,” Black*Star said, rubbing the back of his neck. He opened and closed his mouth, trying to get his voice to work. “I’m just… ugh. I don’t really… know what’s up, Da--Sid.”

Sid was silent for a minute, trying to figure out what to do. “Let’s take a break for today,” he suggested. “Go get some lunch. We’ll figure it out later.”

Tsubaki and Star went inside, extremely quiet. He didn’t want to admit he missed her, but it was getting lonely when there was no one to spar or banter with like how he and Maka bantered. He could tell Tsubaki was also worried, but it seemed like she was able to stay focused and keep her mind off of it. Death should’ve just sent us on our own mission, he complained to himself. To get my mind off of this. Bastard.

He tugged at his shirt collar as he placed his order at the cafeteria, suddenly aware of how tight his shirt was. What was wrong with him? He didn’t normally think this much about someone or worry for them much--he had confidence other people would take care of themselves. Why couldn’t he shake this off?

“Are you worried about Maka?” Tsubaki asked after she’d ordered her food. They made their way through the lunch line as Star tried forming a response.

“I’m not worried,” he said finally, letting out a long breath. “I’m just… okay, yeah , I’m worried. But don’t tell her I said that.”

“I won’t,” Tsubaki promised with a giggle. They left the cafeteria to find a private area on a balcony to talk alone, finally finding one in the front of the school. “Is that why you’ve been more... inattentive than usual?”

Star nodded, setting his tray down on the balcony and hoisting himself on the ledge. He didn’t really know how to go about this conversation--he wasn’t really used to showing his emotions, especially the ones that could show weakness . As close as he was with his Weapon partner, he still didn’t know if he was quite ready for this.

Tsubaki sat next to him, taking a bite of her sandwich. They sat in awkward silence for a while, eating their lunches. Black*Star, although not showing it, admired his partner’s patience with him; it was something everyone seemed to have with him, something he wished he could have for others.

“Maka and I grew up together,” Star began. Tsubaki was still silent, clearly listening to him as he told his story. He couldn’t meet her eyes--he stared at his lap. “Sid and DWMA adopted me when I was a baby, and… I dunno, Maka’s always just been there. Sid and her dad are friends and because of that we’d always been on play dates together. It was hard for both of us to make friends, anyway, so…”

“Star, I completely get that,” Tsubaki said, resting a hand on his shoulder. When Black*Star looked up, he noticed a hint of nostalgia in her eyes, a deep reflection of his own drowning feelings of worry. “It’s a scary thought, losing someone close. But you have a connection with Maka that can’t be severed, and… what I’m trying to say is, it’ll be okay.”

Black*Star felt something inside him relax; Tsubaki’s words were comforting to him, like the cold, calming snap of water after a long work out. He let out a long, shaky breath, putting the heels of his palms into his eyes--he refused to cry right now. 

“Thanks, Tsubaki.” Star sniffed. “I really mean it--”

Ughhhhhh , I’m starving!” A loud groan came from far below, catching both of their attention. Tsubaki and Black*Star, in unison, strained their necks to look. “Can we eat after we go report to Death?”

“Already planning on it.”

Star already knew who the voices belonged to. In an instant, he was standing on the ledge, eyes searching among the friend groups sitting outside the front doors. Sporting the iconic pigtails, Maka conquered the huge staircase, followed quickly by Soul. They were panting with their hands on their knees, wiping sweat from their brows. Black*Star gasped.

“MAKA! SOUL! YOU’RE BACK!” Star shouted, voice echoing through the desert that surrounded Death City. He didn’t want to show how relieved he was for her return, but after hearing her voice and seeing her tiredly walk into DWMA, he couldn’t stop his body from scrambling over the balcony ledge, sliding down the walls of the academy and running full speed to her. Unable to hide his excitement, Star pulled his best friend into a tight hug, lifting her up and spinning her around.

“Didn’t know you missed me that much,” Maka pointed out with a sly smile.

“I did not miss you,” Star protested, putting her down and crossing his arms. Tsubaki came jogging through the entrance of the academy, waving. “Nor was I worried . I was just hoping I didn’t lose my competition for transcending the gods.”

Maka rolled her eyes before sticking her tongue at him. Black*Star returned the gesture, this time with the finger. Letting out a snort, she told him she and Soul had to go report to Death, then afterwards they were up for telling him and Tsubaki how it went. Star and Soul fist bumped as Maka and Tsubaki greeted each other with a hug, then he watched as the other meister-weapon duo made their way to the Death Room.

“Feeling better?” Tsubaki asked, playfully jabbing his arm.

“Yeah,” Black*Star said, not even trying to hide his feelings from her. “Let’s go master shuriken mode.”

Notes:

follow me on tumblr--wybiegowritey ! also kudos and comment if you'd like! :)

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