Gift Post #2
Title: Careers Counseling
Recipient: suspicious
Rating: K+
Characters/Pairings: Maka, Tsubaki, Marie, Liz, Patty, Azusa, Black Star, Soul, hints of Soul/Maka
Summary: Shinigami-sama, in all his wisdom, has decided to pair up students with senior members of staff for advice about their future careers and to try and gather information about how their partnerships are going.
Notes: 4,042 words.
‘Ms Marie? We’re here for our careers talk?’
Marie looked up from where she had been idly twirling a pen around her finger, the surprise on her face telling Maka that she had most probably forgotten about such an arrangement.
‘Of course, of course!’ Marie beamed, moving stacks of paper to the floor in order to better see the two girls, while gesturing for Maka and Tsubaki to sit down.
Maka was feeling agitated and irritable, a result of worrying that her idiot partner wouldn’t be able to get through the next half-hour without killing someone or getting himself killed. She slouched quite uncharacteristically into her seat.
‘Isn’t this system kind of stupid? I mean, shouldn’t we have Meisters with Meisters and Weapons with Weapons instead of going by gender?’ she grumbled.
‘Well,’ Marie looked a little upset, ‘I think the faculty just wanted to make sure that everyone was comfortable talking about more, well, personal issues, but if you don’t want to talk to me then -’
‘No, no, it’s not you!’ Maka knew how quickly Marie could fall into a self-pity induced slump. ‘It’s just that this arrangement means that both Soul and Black Star are talking with Papa, and I’m not sure they’ll end up talking about the right kind of “personal issues”.’
Tsubaki sighed quietly.
‘I don’t know about that, Maka,’ said Marie, returning back to cheery-mode like a light switch being flipped. ‘From what I’ve seen recently, Soul and your father don’t seem to be getting on too badly. When we had that flying lesson, for instance, he didn’t seem at all worried that you were going to have Soul thrust between your - ’
‘Let’s move on to another topic,’ said Maka coldly, leaning back a little in her chair and folding her hands on her lap.
‘Ok then! So, Tsubaki, how is Black Star?’
‘He’s well,’ she replied politely.
‘I see! Well, I’ve been told to try and figure out how your partnerships are going, and I had a list of questions around here somewhere, but -’ Marie gave her cluttered desk a helpless look before turning her gaze back to Tsubaki. ‘It looks like we’re just going to have to improvise!’
Tsubaki smiled slightly.
‘Is everything going well between you two?’
‘Yes, it is.’
‘No problems at all?’
‘No, none.’
‘Nothing you want to talk to me about?’
‘No, but thank you for offering.’
Marie looked a bit put out. Tsubaki’s answers weren’t rude - Maka had the feeling that it was physically impossible for Tsubaki to be rude - but there was a finality about her voice, as though anything between her and Black Star was between her and Black Star, and no one else.
That was the thing about Tsubaki. She would never talk about Black Star behind his back, not when Maka was bitching about Soul’s latest misdeed, not when Liz was moaning about Kid and his symmetry, and not when everyone else was talking about Black Star himself while he was off pulling another publicity stunt, their voices mixed with incredulity at his stupidity and awe at his nerve. Tsubaki would just sit there with a secret smile on her lips, a smile that would seem infuriatingly superior if it were on anyone else.
‘Well, that’s good,’ Marie said uncertainly, before turning her attention to Maka. ‘How about you and Soul?’
Tsubaki may have the grace to refrain from badmouthing her partner, but Maka certainly didn’t. ‘It’s the same as always. He’s still being all arrogant about becoming a Death Scythe, suddenly thinks he’s the coolest just because he gets some new title.’
Marie’s forehead creased. ‘That doesn’t sound like Soul.’
‘Well, trust me, that’s how it is - and he keeps getting stupid letters from those idiotic airheads wanting to become his partner.’ Maka snorted disdainfully. ‘All covered in little love hearts and scented with tacky perfume.’
‘Well,’ Marie smiled. ‘They don’t seem too idiotic if they want Soul to be their partner - he’s quite the catch!’
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
‘Oh nothing, nothing!’ Marie waved her hand back and forth as though able to blow away the tension. She sighed wistfully. ‘You remind me so much of your mother sometimes.’
Maka sat up straight. She had completely forgotten that Marie had gone to school with Mama.
‘Have I ever told you about your parents’ wedding?’
Maka slumped back down. ‘Oh, I’ve heard about it plenty of times.’
It had been such a beautiful day, Maka, your mother was glowing brighter than the sun, and I knew that I would love her forever, and it’s true, I still do - wait, Maka, come back here - wait - Papa loves Maka and Mama the most! Waaaaaait~!
‘I love weddings,’ Marie said wistfully. She hadn’t seemed to have heard Maka, eye inexplicably misty. ‘That was such a fun day. I remember that your father had decided not to invite Franken, but he showed up anyway and spent the whole day just staring at Spirit, freaking him out until he ended up as a blubbering mess under the bridal table. Your mother had a hard time getting him in shape for the bridal waltz. Of course,’ she frowned slightly. ‘It was pretty awkward having Stein there because I’d just started dating BJ and -’ Marie’s voice lost its dreamy quality and she looked horrified. ‘And that meant, of course, that, uh -’ Marie adopted a falsely bright and perky expression. ‘So, how have the soul collections been going?’
‘It doesn’t matter for me anymore,’ said Maka, puzzled by the abrupt topic change. ‘Soul is already a Death Scythe.’
‘Did you used to date Dr Stein, Ms Marie?’ Tsubaki asked, soundly mildly interested. Maka whipped around to look at her friend, confused as to how she had reached that conclusion.
Marie hesitated for a moment. ‘You girls … you won’t tell anyone, will you?’
Marie was one of Maka’s favorite teachers, it was true, but sometimes it was amazing just how naïve she could be. Well, she was lucky she hadn’t been paired with Liz or Black Star for this session.
‘Course not.’
‘Not if you don’t want us to.’
Marie looked between the two, a crease in the center of her forehead, before breaking into a small smile. ‘It was back in my schooldays, when I was around your ages,’ she angled her head towards them both. There was actually a two-and-a-half year age difference between her and Tsubaki, but Maka decided to keep that to herself. ‘Every night I used to follow him home and leave flowers at his door. Then I would wear those same flowers in my hair at school the next day, so he would know it was me.’
‘That’s … cute,’ said Maka uncertainly.
‘I thought so too! I also figured out the route he took to and from school so that I could casually run up beside him each morning - it was strange, he seemed to go a different way each week, it got really difficult eventually -’
Maka shot Tsubaki a worried glance, which Tsubaki returned with a look that said, through kindly angled eyebrows, I’m sure this isn’t what it sounds like.
‘I wrote him page after page of love letters whenever he was on a mission,’ Marie laughed a little. ‘I think I still have them somewhere. I stopped being able to send them after the restraining order incident.’
‘So - so you never really dated?’ asked Tsubaki tentatively.
‘Oh, no, but it was love all the same,’ Marie sighed happily. ‘My first love.’
‘Uh, Ms Marie?’ Maka leaned forwards a little. ‘It kind of sounds a bit like, well, stalking to me.’
‘What?!’ Marie’s eye flashed dangerously. ‘It was love! True love!’
‘I don’t know,’ Maka’s tone changed to irritated. ‘I have a lot of experience with stalkers. Well, stalker.’
‘You just don’t understand love!’ Marie cried, pulling back her fist.
‘Ms Marie, are you still in love with Dr Stein?’ Tsubaki’s voice seemed to bring Marie back to her senses, and she sat down from where she had risen from her chair.
‘Oh Heavens no,’ Marie chuckled. ‘I’ve changed a lot since I was a student here - Franken has too. Gosh,’ she leaned back and rested the back of her head in her hands. ‘I remember being your age, nothing to worry about but homework and boys, so many dreams about the future.’
Maka decided that it was probably not the best moment to mention that Shibusen students normally had many more things to worry about than homework and boys - fighting ravenous monsters on a near-weekly basis, for one thing.
‘When you girls were younger, did you ever imagine what your wedding would be like?’ Marie asked.
‘Yes,’ Tsubaki said happily at almost the exact same time Maka scoffed ‘No.’
Marie and Tsubaki looked at her. Maka shrugged.
‘I was never really that interested in getting married, what with how my parents turned out and all, but before I found out I was a Meister I used to imagine myself becoming a Death Scythe. I guess that’s kinda like getting married.’
‘I wish,’ Marie sighed forlornly.
Maka was having trouble preventing herself from rolling her eyes. ‘I guess I just had goals in life other than finding some guy to shove a ring on with. I don’t see what’s so wrong with wanting to have a career and an aim.’
‘Well, I never expected you to be quite so … cold about that kind of thing, Maka,’ Marie’s voice sounded sad, setting Maka on edge.
‘Why?’ she asked.
‘After your little tiff with Soul about the angel wings, I figured that maybe you had a bit of a sentimental side to yourself. You seemed pretty worked up.’
Maka could feel her cheeks burning. It was not pleasant being reminded of the ridiculous tantrum she had thrown over something so minor. ‘I thought this was supposed to be a careers talk, not a discussion of our love lives.’
Out of the corner of her eye she saw Tsubaki smile slightly to herself, as though appreciating a private joke.
‘I know,’ said Marie. ‘But it just seemed like you two had everything figured out for yourselves. I just worry that maybe you neglect other aspects of your lives that are just as important,’ Marie smiled sadly. ‘I don’t want you to turn out like me.’
‘What do you mean?’ asked Maka, genuinely shocked. ‘You’re fine!’
‘That’s very kind of you, but I know you must look at me and think how sad I am, how pathetic -’
Maka shook her head. ‘That’s not true at all. I wouldn’t mind turning out like you, really. I mean, you’re a Death Scythe! You’re one of the most powerful Weapons in existence! Not to mention you’re almost everyone’s favorite teacher, your classes are really good.’ She hesitated slightly before continuing. ‘Also, I don’t think that it’s because you’ve put too little effort into your love life that you’ve ended up single; I think maybe you might want to be just a little less -’
‘Do you girls really think that?!’ cried Marie, looking from Maka to Tsubaki; when Tsubaki nodded and smiled Marie launched herself over the table to capture them both in a tight hug. ‘Thank you.’
Embarrassed, Maka patted her on the back awkwardly. When Marie sat back down there seemed to be a faint trace of a tear in her eye.
‘Well girls, I think that this has been very productive and beneficial for us all!’
***
‘Elizabeth, Patricia, you two are late.’
Any other teacher and Liz probably would have just shrugged, draped herself over the chair and spent the rest of the session examining the split ends in her hair. Hell, any other teacher and, truth be told, she probably wouldn’t have even shown up.
As it was, she quickly trotted to her seat and sat on the edge, giving a breathless apology. Patty, as per usual, simply skipped up to her chair as though she weren’t in the presence of the greatest gun-type Weapon in the history of forever.
Yumi Azusa, Liz’s number one idol, scrutinized them both through her glasses for a moment, before looking back down at the neatly shuffled papers on her desk.
‘Shinigami-sama, in all his wisdom, has decided to arrange for students to receive careers counseling from senior members of staff. I assume that as we three are similar Weapon types he has decided that I would be the best choice to “guide you through the perilous seas of career options after Shibusen, a captain for your Meister-Weapon relationship.” ’ She shuddered a little, as though shaking off a fly. ‘However, I’m only down at Shibusen for a few days and am very busy, so while I will listen to any questions you ask, I will continue to work throughout.’
It was then that Liz noticed that Azusa wasn’t just looking at the papers on her desk, but actually had a pen in hand, racing across the papers almost too fast for the eye to see.
Put off for some reason by the older woman’s activity, Liz could only stammer out ‘Um, ok.’ Azusa didn’t even look at her, and Liz suddenly felt more intimidated than she’d ever been. Mentally she kicked herself. She had had so many questions she’d wanted to ask earlier, but now she couldn’t remember a single one.
‘Come on, sis,’ piped up Patty, to Liz’s dismay. ‘You were going on and on and on about how excited you were to finally talk to Azusa, you gotta say more than just “Um, ok”.’ Patty seemed to feel the need to splay her fingers out to the side and adopt a ridiculously low voice to imitate her older sister.
Liz turned a furious shade of red. ‘W-well, I was just wondering about - about what you meant about career options after Shibusen.’
‘By that I meant jobs that you wish to have in the future, career paths that you wish to pursue.’
‘Oh.’
‘Have you not thought about that?’
Liz shrugged, slightly embarrassed. ‘Not really. I always just kind of assumed that I’d be Kid’s Weapon for the rest of my life. Everything all nice and planned out.’
‘Assumed?’
‘Well, it’s just - it’s easier this way. I don’t really have any other skills. Besides, Patty, you like being Kid’s Weapon, don’t you?’
Patty nodded enthusiastically. ‘It’s the most fun I ever have!’ she trilled. ‘I love it when we get to fly on Beelzebub.’
Azusa raised her eyebrows slightly.
‘That’s Kid’s flying skateboard that lives in his hand,’ Liz explained hastily. Azusa’s eyebrows did not lower. Liz felt uncomfortably like she was being tested, but wasn’t giving the right answers. While she wouldn’t normally care, for some reason she felt that it was important the Azusa understand where she was coming from.
‘I mean, I know I’m not that good at, like, fighting and stuff, but if Kid still wants me to be his Weapon, then I may as well be.’
‘What does Kid wanting you have anything to do with this?’
Liz was taken aback. The wording of the question reminded her forcefully of the accusations bandied about by some of the crueler students when they’d first found out about the sisters’ lives before Shibusen - accusations they hadn’t cared about and had easily ignored, but still. This was different. Surely Azusa was much too professional to insinuate something like that.
‘How do you mean?’ Liz asked suspiciously.
‘I fail to see how Kid comes into the making of a decision about your career.’
‘Well, he saved us from the streets, you know, that’s a pretty big debt to pay back.’
‘There is no debt.’
‘Excuse me?’
‘You don’t owe him anything.’
‘Well, it’s not like a debt or anything, but that sort of thing is -’
‘What young Kid did was admirable, but it still does not mean that you owe him anything. There were advantages for him as well.’
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ Liz felt her temper rising - idol or no idol, how dare she make assumptions about their relationship with Kid. ‘What are you implying? Are you saying that Kid’s just using us?’
‘I’m not saying that, I -’
‘Well good, because you don’t know shit about what things were like back then.’ Liz was shaking, unable to say anything else. A tense silence permeated the room.
Patty abruptly erupted into a fit of laughter.
In between giggles she managed to gasp out ‘I’m sorry, sis - your face -’ she took a deep breath and managed to steady herself, still grinning manically. ‘You looked just like you did when we first met Kid, the first night we spent at Death Manor and you were talking about how spoilt and selfish he was. You got all mad and were like “We’re gonna wring him dry!”.’ Patty again seemed to feel that her Liz imitation was incomplete without a ridiculous bass voice. ‘It’s just ironical, that’s all!’
Liz realized that she had half-risen in her anger and so slumped back down in her chair, cheeks flushed again. She shot Azusa a look, and said in a quiet voice ‘You keep talking as though we’re weak or something to rely on Kid, but what else can we do? We’re gun-types, we have to have a Meister to operate. Sure, we,’ she jerked her head at Patty, ‘can use each other, but it’s safer with Kid. He doesn’t get hurt as easily as we do.’ Noticing that Azusa was watching her closely, no sign of anger on her face, Liz shifted her shoulders uncomfortably. ‘Anyway, like you’re one to talk. You must’ve had a Meister.’
‘I did.’
‘And?’
‘She died.’
Liz felt something like a cold hand grab and twist her stomach. Patty, who had been swinging her legs back and forth robustly, froze, a look of horror etched onto her face.
‘I am very gifted with my Senrigan, which allows me to see far through the eyes of others, but as a Weapon I don’t have Soul Perception. Since I am generally used as a sniper, I don’t normally encounter or expect direct attacks from the enemy.’ Her face and tone had not changed the entire time she was speaking, but Liz thought she could hear just the tiniest catch in her voice as she continued. ‘An enemy solider snuck in undetected. He came up behind us, but we were too busy trying to discern the movements of the enemy on the other side to notice.’
Azusa paused, then shook her head.
‘Like you said, a gun-type Weapon needs a Meister to operate. When my Meister was down, I could do nothing. You have to be sure that this is the road you want to walk down before you do so, because any uncertainty will cause you immense pain in the future.’
‘I-I didn’t -’
‘What I was trying to say before, Elizabeth, is that you are under no obligation to Kid or anyone. The decision about your future is yours to make, and yours alone.’ She paused. ‘I’ve seen you in action. I think you underestimate yourself.’
Azusa turned to Patty. ‘What about you?’
Patty twisted her bottom lip a little before her mouth formed a huge grin. ‘I want to be a vet, an actress, a zookeeper and a gunslinger, but most of all I want to stick with Sis and Kid forever and ever.’ Liz smiled fondly at her younger sister and fought the urge to gather her up in her arms and squeal about how she was adorable and the best sister ever; she had the feeling that Azusa would not approve of such a thing.
‘I wish you well with that.’
Liz turned to look at Azusa incredulously. As much as Patty was adorable and the best sister ever, even Liz was pretty much certain that Patty’s dream was … impractical, to say the least. Just what kind of career advice was Shibusen trying to give out? Typical.
‘As I said to you before, I’m only here for a few days. I am incredibly busy, but if either of you wish to talk to me please don’t hesitate. I will gladly accept you in my office, so long as the matter is not frivolous.’ She looked back and forth between the sisters. ‘If that’s all?’
‘Yeah,’ Liz said, sounding far too loud in her ears. ‘Thanks,’ she added more softly.
‘Thank yooouu~’ sing-songed Patty.
As Liz turned to close the door behind her, she noticed that Azusa, despite all her claims to being busy, wasn’t writing anymore. She had stopped at some point during the interview, although Liz couldn’t say when.
***
‘I can’t believe you got out of it just cause you’re a god,’ Black Star was complaining. ‘What the hell, when I surpass you, I’m gonna make careers counseling obsolete.’
‘What dazzling foresight,’ said Kid. ‘I must say, your dreams are getting bigger.’
‘How did counseling with Papa go?’ Maka asked Soul, ignoring the sounds of Black Star’s angry retort as they walked the path through Death City that would lead them home.
‘Weird.’
‘Oh?’
‘He started off by making these lame jokes with me as though we were some boys club or something, then asked us what the “word on the street” was,’ Soul shuddered. ‘He told us that he had to question us about our partners, and so started asking me how you were doing, if you were going well in school, if you had many friends, what your favorite color was, your favorite animal, your favorite band -’
‘And what did you say?’
‘I said that I don’t keep track, because your poor taste depresses me so much. Don’t look at me like that; you know it’s true. Anyway, he got increasingly more desperate and the questions got increasingly creepier - around what time to you get home normally, where do we leave the spare key - until he was begging me to let him see you. I told him that that wasn’t my decision to make.’
‘And?’
‘And then Black Star finally exploded from being ignored for so long and I used him as my excuse to leave.’ Soul grinned. ‘That’s probably why he’s so agitated right now; I deprived him of his confrontation.’
A few feet away Black Star tried to punch Kid on the nose, but Patty jumped on his back before he could get close, pulling at his hair.
Maka sighed. ‘Well, mine wasn’t much better. All I got out of it was that, according to Marie, if I’m not married by the time I’m 25 then my life will be completely horrible forever, the end.’
Soul snorted. ‘Yeah, good plan. Look at Spirit - married at 18 and life’s great! Just think, he actually got to spend today interrogating a 15-year-old about the mundane habits of his own daughter because she still refuses to speak to him! Doesn’t get much better than that.’
Maka laughed. Watching her, Tsubaki gave a smile that was just a little bit too knowing. Maka noticed this and hastily turned to Liz.
‘How about you?’
‘Huh?’ Liz’s head snapped towards Maka, evidently just coming out of a reverie.
‘How was your careers counseling?’
‘Oh,’ Liz flicked her long hair back over her shoulder nonchalantly. ‘It was pretty good. Kind of interesting.’
Tsubaki opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by a heart-wrenching wail.
The four turned to see that Kid had somehow ended up on the ground, hands clasped over his head, feverishly muttering his usual fare about being disgusting, depressed, die. Black Star stood over him, looking torn between laughing raucously at his victory and swallowing his pride to flee from Patty, who was asking him threateningly if he wanted a rematch, because she could ‘still remember where to go to make you hurt, buddy!’
Liz smiled as she watched her little sister try to beat up one of the most powerful Meisters in all of Shibusen. She didn’t need to make her decision right away.
She had all the time in the world.
Recipient: suspicious
Rating: K+
Characters/Pairings: Maka, Tsubaki, Marie, Liz, Patty, Azusa, Black Star, Soul, hints of Soul/Maka
Summary: Shinigami-sama, in all his wisdom, has decided to pair up students with senior members of staff for advice about their future careers and to try and gather information about how their partnerships are going.
Notes: 4,042 words.
‘Ms Marie? We’re here for our careers talk?’
Marie looked up from where she had been idly twirling a pen around her finger, the surprise on her face telling Maka that she had most probably forgotten about such an arrangement.
‘Of course, of course!’ Marie beamed, moving stacks of paper to the floor in order to better see the two girls, while gesturing for Maka and Tsubaki to sit down.
Maka was feeling agitated and irritable, a result of worrying that her idiot partner wouldn’t be able to get through the next half-hour without killing someone or getting himself killed. She slouched quite uncharacteristically into her seat.
‘Isn’t this system kind of stupid? I mean, shouldn’t we have Meisters with Meisters and Weapons with Weapons instead of going by gender?’ she grumbled.
‘Well,’ Marie looked a little upset, ‘I think the faculty just wanted to make sure that everyone was comfortable talking about more, well, personal issues, but if you don’t want to talk to me then -’
‘No, no, it’s not you!’ Maka knew how quickly Marie could fall into a self-pity induced slump. ‘It’s just that this arrangement means that both Soul and Black Star are talking with Papa, and I’m not sure they’ll end up talking about the right kind of “personal issues”.’
Tsubaki sighed quietly.
‘I don’t know about that, Maka,’ said Marie, returning back to cheery-mode like a light switch being flipped. ‘From what I’ve seen recently, Soul and your father don’t seem to be getting on too badly. When we had that flying lesson, for instance, he didn’t seem at all worried that you were going to have Soul thrust between your - ’
‘Let’s move on to another topic,’ said Maka coldly, leaning back a little in her chair and folding her hands on her lap.
‘Ok then! So, Tsubaki, how is Black Star?’
‘He’s well,’ she replied politely.
‘I see! Well, I’ve been told to try and figure out how your partnerships are going, and I had a list of questions around here somewhere, but -’ Marie gave her cluttered desk a helpless look before turning her gaze back to Tsubaki. ‘It looks like we’re just going to have to improvise!’
Tsubaki smiled slightly.
‘Is everything going well between you two?’
‘Yes, it is.’
‘No problems at all?’
‘No, none.’
‘Nothing you want to talk to me about?’
‘No, but thank you for offering.’
Marie looked a bit put out. Tsubaki’s answers weren’t rude - Maka had the feeling that it was physically impossible for Tsubaki to be rude - but there was a finality about her voice, as though anything between her and Black Star was between her and Black Star, and no one else.
That was the thing about Tsubaki. She would never talk about Black Star behind his back, not when Maka was bitching about Soul’s latest misdeed, not when Liz was moaning about Kid and his symmetry, and not when everyone else was talking about Black Star himself while he was off pulling another publicity stunt, their voices mixed with incredulity at his stupidity and awe at his nerve. Tsubaki would just sit there with a secret smile on her lips, a smile that would seem infuriatingly superior if it were on anyone else.
‘Well, that’s good,’ Marie said uncertainly, before turning her attention to Maka. ‘How about you and Soul?’
Tsubaki may have the grace to refrain from badmouthing her partner, but Maka certainly didn’t. ‘It’s the same as always. He’s still being all arrogant about becoming a Death Scythe, suddenly thinks he’s the coolest just because he gets some new title.’
Marie’s forehead creased. ‘That doesn’t sound like Soul.’
‘Well, trust me, that’s how it is - and he keeps getting stupid letters from those idiotic airheads wanting to become his partner.’ Maka snorted disdainfully. ‘All covered in little love hearts and scented with tacky perfume.’
‘Well,’ Marie smiled. ‘They don’t seem too idiotic if they want Soul to be their partner - he’s quite the catch!’
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
‘Oh nothing, nothing!’ Marie waved her hand back and forth as though able to blow away the tension. She sighed wistfully. ‘You remind me so much of your mother sometimes.’
Maka sat up straight. She had completely forgotten that Marie had gone to school with Mama.
‘Have I ever told you about your parents’ wedding?’
Maka slumped back down. ‘Oh, I’ve heard about it plenty of times.’
It had been such a beautiful day, Maka, your mother was glowing brighter than the sun, and I knew that I would love her forever, and it’s true, I still do - wait, Maka, come back here - wait - Papa loves Maka and Mama the most! Waaaaaait~!
‘I love weddings,’ Marie said wistfully. She hadn’t seemed to have heard Maka, eye inexplicably misty. ‘That was such a fun day. I remember that your father had decided not to invite Franken, but he showed up anyway and spent the whole day just staring at Spirit, freaking him out until he ended up as a blubbering mess under the bridal table. Your mother had a hard time getting him in shape for the bridal waltz. Of course,’ she frowned slightly. ‘It was pretty awkward having Stein there because I’d just started dating BJ and -’ Marie’s voice lost its dreamy quality and she looked horrified. ‘And that meant, of course, that, uh -’ Marie adopted a falsely bright and perky expression. ‘So, how have the soul collections been going?’
‘It doesn’t matter for me anymore,’ said Maka, puzzled by the abrupt topic change. ‘Soul is already a Death Scythe.’
‘Did you used to date Dr Stein, Ms Marie?’ Tsubaki asked, soundly mildly interested. Maka whipped around to look at her friend, confused as to how she had reached that conclusion.
Marie hesitated for a moment. ‘You girls … you won’t tell anyone, will you?’
Marie was one of Maka’s favorite teachers, it was true, but sometimes it was amazing just how naïve she could be. Well, she was lucky she hadn’t been paired with Liz or Black Star for this session.
‘Course not.’
‘Not if you don’t want us to.’
Marie looked between the two, a crease in the center of her forehead, before breaking into a small smile. ‘It was back in my schooldays, when I was around your ages,’ she angled her head towards them both. There was actually a two-and-a-half year age difference between her and Tsubaki, but Maka decided to keep that to herself. ‘Every night I used to follow him home and leave flowers at his door. Then I would wear those same flowers in my hair at school the next day, so he would know it was me.’
‘That’s … cute,’ said Maka uncertainly.
‘I thought so too! I also figured out the route he took to and from school so that I could casually run up beside him each morning - it was strange, he seemed to go a different way each week, it got really difficult eventually -’
Maka shot Tsubaki a worried glance, which Tsubaki returned with a look that said, through kindly angled eyebrows, I’m sure this isn’t what it sounds like.
‘I wrote him page after page of love letters whenever he was on a mission,’ Marie laughed a little. ‘I think I still have them somewhere. I stopped being able to send them after the restraining order incident.’
‘So - so you never really dated?’ asked Tsubaki tentatively.
‘Oh, no, but it was love all the same,’ Marie sighed happily. ‘My first love.’
‘Uh, Ms Marie?’ Maka leaned forwards a little. ‘It kind of sounds a bit like, well, stalking to me.’
‘What?!’ Marie’s eye flashed dangerously. ‘It was love! True love!’
‘I don’t know,’ Maka’s tone changed to irritated. ‘I have a lot of experience with stalkers. Well, stalker.’
‘You just don’t understand love!’ Marie cried, pulling back her fist.
‘Ms Marie, are you still in love with Dr Stein?’ Tsubaki’s voice seemed to bring Marie back to her senses, and she sat down from where she had risen from her chair.
‘Oh Heavens no,’ Marie chuckled. ‘I’ve changed a lot since I was a student here - Franken has too. Gosh,’ she leaned back and rested the back of her head in her hands. ‘I remember being your age, nothing to worry about but homework and boys, so many dreams about the future.’
Maka decided that it was probably not the best moment to mention that Shibusen students normally had many more things to worry about than homework and boys - fighting ravenous monsters on a near-weekly basis, for one thing.
‘When you girls were younger, did you ever imagine what your wedding would be like?’ Marie asked.
‘Yes,’ Tsubaki said happily at almost the exact same time Maka scoffed ‘No.’
Marie and Tsubaki looked at her. Maka shrugged.
‘I was never really that interested in getting married, what with how my parents turned out and all, but before I found out I was a Meister I used to imagine myself becoming a Death Scythe. I guess that’s kinda like getting married.’
‘I wish,’ Marie sighed forlornly.
Maka was having trouble preventing herself from rolling her eyes. ‘I guess I just had goals in life other than finding some guy to shove a ring on with. I don’t see what’s so wrong with wanting to have a career and an aim.’
‘Well, I never expected you to be quite so … cold about that kind of thing, Maka,’ Marie’s voice sounded sad, setting Maka on edge.
‘Why?’ she asked.
‘After your little tiff with Soul about the angel wings, I figured that maybe you had a bit of a sentimental side to yourself. You seemed pretty worked up.’
Maka could feel her cheeks burning. It was not pleasant being reminded of the ridiculous tantrum she had thrown over something so minor. ‘I thought this was supposed to be a careers talk, not a discussion of our love lives.’
Out of the corner of her eye she saw Tsubaki smile slightly to herself, as though appreciating a private joke.
‘I know,’ said Marie. ‘But it just seemed like you two had everything figured out for yourselves. I just worry that maybe you neglect other aspects of your lives that are just as important,’ Marie smiled sadly. ‘I don’t want you to turn out like me.’
‘What do you mean?’ asked Maka, genuinely shocked. ‘You’re fine!’
‘That’s very kind of you, but I know you must look at me and think how sad I am, how pathetic -’
Maka shook her head. ‘That’s not true at all. I wouldn’t mind turning out like you, really. I mean, you’re a Death Scythe! You’re one of the most powerful Weapons in existence! Not to mention you’re almost everyone’s favorite teacher, your classes are really good.’ She hesitated slightly before continuing. ‘Also, I don’t think that it’s because you’ve put too little effort into your love life that you’ve ended up single; I think maybe you might want to be just a little less -’
‘Do you girls really think that?!’ cried Marie, looking from Maka to Tsubaki; when Tsubaki nodded and smiled Marie launched herself over the table to capture them both in a tight hug. ‘Thank you.’
Embarrassed, Maka patted her on the back awkwardly. When Marie sat back down there seemed to be a faint trace of a tear in her eye.
‘Well girls, I think that this has been very productive and beneficial for us all!’
***
‘Elizabeth, Patricia, you two are late.’
Any other teacher and Liz probably would have just shrugged, draped herself over the chair and spent the rest of the session examining the split ends in her hair. Hell, any other teacher and, truth be told, she probably wouldn’t have even shown up.
As it was, she quickly trotted to her seat and sat on the edge, giving a breathless apology. Patty, as per usual, simply skipped up to her chair as though she weren’t in the presence of the greatest gun-type Weapon in the history of forever.
Yumi Azusa, Liz’s number one idol, scrutinized them both through her glasses for a moment, before looking back down at the neatly shuffled papers on her desk.
‘Shinigami-sama, in all his wisdom, has decided to arrange for students to receive careers counseling from senior members of staff. I assume that as we three are similar Weapon types he has decided that I would be the best choice to “guide you through the perilous seas of career options after Shibusen, a captain for your Meister-Weapon relationship.” ’ She shuddered a little, as though shaking off a fly. ‘However, I’m only down at Shibusen for a few days and am very busy, so while I will listen to any questions you ask, I will continue to work throughout.’
It was then that Liz noticed that Azusa wasn’t just looking at the papers on her desk, but actually had a pen in hand, racing across the papers almost too fast for the eye to see.
Put off for some reason by the older woman’s activity, Liz could only stammer out ‘Um, ok.’ Azusa didn’t even look at her, and Liz suddenly felt more intimidated than she’d ever been. Mentally she kicked herself. She had had so many questions she’d wanted to ask earlier, but now she couldn’t remember a single one.
‘Come on, sis,’ piped up Patty, to Liz’s dismay. ‘You were going on and on and on about how excited you were to finally talk to Azusa, you gotta say more than just “Um, ok”.’ Patty seemed to feel the need to splay her fingers out to the side and adopt a ridiculously low voice to imitate her older sister.
Liz turned a furious shade of red. ‘W-well, I was just wondering about - about what you meant about career options after Shibusen.’
‘By that I meant jobs that you wish to have in the future, career paths that you wish to pursue.’
‘Oh.’
‘Have you not thought about that?’
Liz shrugged, slightly embarrassed. ‘Not really. I always just kind of assumed that I’d be Kid’s Weapon for the rest of my life. Everything all nice and planned out.’
‘Assumed?’
‘Well, it’s just - it’s easier this way. I don’t really have any other skills. Besides, Patty, you like being Kid’s Weapon, don’t you?’
Patty nodded enthusiastically. ‘It’s the most fun I ever have!’ she trilled. ‘I love it when we get to fly on Beelzebub.’
Azusa raised her eyebrows slightly.
‘That’s Kid’s flying skateboard that lives in his hand,’ Liz explained hastily. Azusa’s eyebrows did not lower. Liz felt uncomfortably like she was being tested, but wasn’t giving the right answers. While she wouldn’t normally care, for some reason she felt that it was important the Azusa understand where she was coming from.
‘I mean, I know I’m not that good at, like, fighting and stuff, but if Kid still wants me to be his Weapon, then I may as well be.’
‘What does Kid wanting you have anything to do with this?’
Liz was taken aback. The wording of the question reminded her forcefully of the accusations bandied about by some of the crueler students when they’d first found out about the sisters’ lives before Shibusen - accusations they hadn’t cared about and had easily ignored, but still. This was different. Surely Azusa was much too professional to insinuate something like that.
‘How do you mean?’ Liz asked suspiciously.
‘I fail to see how Kid comes into the making of a decision about your career.’
‘Well, he saved us from the streets, you know, that’s a pretty big debt to pay back.’
‘There is no debt.’
‘Excuse me?’
‘You don’t owe him anything.’
‘Well, it’s not like a debt or anything, but that sort of thing is -’
‘What young Kid did was admirable, but it still does not mean that you owe him anything. There were advantages for him as well.’
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ Liz felt her temper rising - idol or no idol, how dare she make assumptions about their relationship with Kid. ‘What are you implying? Are you saying that Kid’s just using us?’
‘I’m not saying that, I -’
‘Well good, because you don’t know shit about what things were like back then.’ Liz was shaking, unable to say anything else. A tense silence permeated the room.
Patty abruptly erupted into a fit of laughter.
In between giggles she managed to gasp out ‘I’m sorry, sis - your face -’ she took a deep breath and managed to steady herself, still grinning manically. ‘You looked just like you did when we first met Kid, the first night we spent at Death Manor and you were talking about how spoilt and selfish he was. You got all mad and were like “We’re gonna wring him dry!”.’ Patty again seemed to feel that her Liz imitation was incomplete without a ridiculous bass voice. ‘It’s just ironical, that’s all!’
Liz realized that she had half-risen in her anger and so slumped back down in her chair, cheeks flushed again. She shot Azusa a look, and said in a quiet voice ‘You keep talking as though we’re weak or something to rely on Kid, but what else can we do? We’re gun-types, we have to have a Meister to operate. Sure, we,’ she jerked her head at Patty, ‘can use each other, but it’s safer with Kid. He doesn’t get hurt as easily as we do.’ Noticing that Azusa was watching her closely, no sign of anger on her face, Liz shifted her shoulders uncomfortably. ‘Anyway, like you’re one to talk. You must’ve had a Meister.’
‘I did.’
‘And?’
‘She died.’
Liz felt something like a cold hand grab and twist her stomach. Patty, who had been swinging her legs back and forth robustly, froze, a look of horror etched onto her face.
‘I am very gifted with my Senrigan, which allows me to see far through the eyes of others, but as a Weapon I don’t have Soul Perception. Since I am generally used as a sniper, I don’t normally encounter or expect direct attacks from the enemy.’ Her face and tone had not changed the entire time she was speaking, but Liz thought she could hear just the tiniest catch in her voice as she continued. ‘An enemy solider snuck in undetected. He came up behind us, but we were too busy trying to discern the movements of the enemy on the other side to notice.’
Azusa paused, then shook her head.
‘Like you said, a gun-type Weapon needs a Meister to operate. When my Meister was down, I could do nothing. You have to be sure that this is the road you want to walk down before you do so, because any uncertainty will cause you immense pain in the future.’
‘I-I didn’t -’
‘What I was trying to say before, Elizabeth, is that you are under no obligation to Kid or anyone. The decision about your future is yours to make, and yours alone.’ She paused. ‘I’ve seen you in action. I think you underestimate yourself.’
Azusa turned to Patty. ‘What about you?’
Patty twisted her bottom lip a little before her mouth formed a huge grin. ‘I want to be a vet, an actress, a zookeeper and a gunslinger, but most of all I want to stick with Sis and Kid forever and ever.’ Liz smiled fondly at her younger sister and fought the urge to gather her up in her arms and squeal about how she was adorable and the best sister ever; she had the feeling that Azusa would not approve of such a thing.
‘I wish you well with that.’
Liz turned to look at Azusa incredulously. As much as Patty was adorable and the best sister ever, even Liz was pretty much certain that Patty’s dream was … impractical, to say the least. Just what kind of career advice was Shibusen trying to give out? Typical.
‘As I said to you before, I’m only here for a few days. I am incredibly busy, but if either of you wish to talk to me please don’t hesitate. I will gladly accept you in my office, so long as the matter is not frivolous.’ She looked back and forth between the sisters. ‘If that’s all?’
‘Yeah,’ Liz said, sounding far too loud in her ears. ‘Thanks,’ she added more softly.
‘Thank yooouu~’ sing-songed Patty.
As Liz turned to close the door behind her, she noticed that Azusa, despite all her claims to being busy, wasn’t writing anymore. She had stopped at some point during the interview, although Liz couldn’t say when.
***
‘I can’t believe you got out of it just cause you’re a god,’ Black Star was complaining. ‘What the hell, when I surpass you, I’m gonna make careers counseling obsolete.’
‘What dazzling foresight,’ said Kid. ‘I must say, your dreams are getting bigger.’
‘How did counseling with Papa go?’ Maka asked Soul, ignoring the sounds of Black Star’s angry retort as they walked the path through Death City that would lead them home.
‘Weird.’
‘Oh?’
‘He started off by making these lame jokes with me as though we were some boys club or something, then asked us what the “word on the street” was,’ Soul shuddered. ‘He told us that he had to question us about our partners, and so started asking me how you were doing, if you were going well in school, if you had many friends, what your favorite color was, your favorite animal, your favorite band -’
‘And what did you say?’
‘I said that I don’t keep track, because your poor taste depresses me so much. Don’t look at me like that; you know it’s true. Anyway, he got increasingly more desperate and the questions got increasingly creepier - around what time to you get home normally, where do we leave the spare key - until he was begging me to let him see you. I told him that that wasn’t my decision to make.’
‘And?’
‘And then Black Star finally exploded from being ignored for so long and I used him as my excuse to leave.’ Soul grinned. ‘That’s probably why he’s so agitated right now; I deprived him of his confrontation.’
A few feet away Black Star tried to punch Kid on the nose, but Patty jumped on his back before he could get close, pulling at his hair.
Maka sighed. ‘Well, mine wasn’t much better. All I got out of it was that, according to Marie, if I’m not married by the time I’m 25 then my life will be completely horrible forever, the end.’
Soul snorted. ‘Yeah, good plan. Look at Spirit - married at 18 and life’s great! Just think, he actually got to spend today interrogating a 15-year-old about the mundane habits of his own daughter because she still refuses to speak to him! Doesn’t get much better than that.’
Maka laughed. Watching her, Tsubaki gave a smile that was just a little bit too knowing. Maka noticed this and hastily turned to Liz.
‘How about you?’
‘Huh?’ Liz’s head snapped towards Maka, evidently just coming out of a reverie.
‘How was your careers counseling?’
‘Oh,’ Liz flicked her long hair back over her shoulder nonchalantly. ‘It was pretty good. Kind of interesting.’
Tsubaki opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by a heart-wrenching wail.
The four turned to see that Kid had somehow ended up on the ground, hands clasped over his head, feverishly muttering his usual fare about being disgusting, depressed, die. Black Star stood over him, looking torn between laughing raucously at his victory and swallowing his pride to flee from Patty, who was asking him threateningly if he wanted a rematch, because she could ‘still remember where to go to make you hurt, buddy!’
Liz smiled as she watched her little sister try to beat up one of the most powerful Meisters in all of Shibusen. She didn’t need to make her decision right away.
She had all the time in the world.