A/N: Alright, so... Another chapter. I really think I need to sleep before I update these stories. I tend to go a little crazy and think I've done things wrong. :/ Well, enough rambling, read on~

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Chapter 5: Dreams

"I don't wanna sleep,

I don't wanna dream,

'Cause my dreams don't comfort me

The way you make me feel."

-Skillet, "Comatose"

Soul sat on the bed once he heard Maka shut his dorm door. Out of everyone possible… Out of everyone in the whole damn school, she had to be the one to ask the question he dreaded most.

Can't you be useful?

He shut his eyes. Stay calm. That was not cool, getting that angry over such a simple phrase, it just wasn't. He sat on his bed, looking into his hands. The Dreamscape, old man Stein had called it. Maka had dreamed about him, probably during the same time he'd been asleep, dreaming of her. His eyes squeezed harder shut. He could still feel his heart racing from the argument.

Calm down, Soul.

He leaned over, pressing the palms of his hands into his eyes, stars erupting over his vision. There was faint cackling in the back of his head.

It's powerful, you know. You wouldn't even need the Dreams anymore~

Soul dropped his palms and looked straight ahead. He was crazy. He was not hearing voices. That was definitely not cool in any sense of the word. He'd be locked up in an asylum faster than Black Star could eat a tray of food, and considering Soul had already eaten with the blue-haired boy once, he was fairly certain it was an accurate measure of time for just how long it would take.

After all… Hearing voices…? It was definitely not on his list of things to accomplish before he died. The list was short, almost pathetically short. He recalled the floating circle, the feeling of loss when the link was broken as Maka ran from him. The instant she had broken the connection to his platform, she'd vanished into the dark.

What if he had been to blame, and she hadn't been able to get out?

Are you frightened? You wouldn't be anymore… Just let it in… I promise it's worth it~

He shook his head, opening the door to his room. He busied himself with unpacking his boxes, and then paused. They'd said it could take months to find a meister for a weapon, that he should report to them when he'd dreamed a meister into the Dreamscape.

Sleep well, Evans.

It seemed everyone's words were haunting him. He remembered the look of interest on Stein's face, the worry stemming from Marie. He recalled their anticipation that he would tell them who had met him, but when they had pulled him out, expectations dropped dramatically. When he told them he'd simply slipped into it, entirely by accident, they nodded and left, though he could tell the pair would be discussing it later.

Can't you be useful? Her voice was taunting him now. He stood up, shoving his hands into his pockets.

His red eyes bored holes in the thin wooden door. Screw you all. His hand reached out for the doorknob, wrist twisting it open. It was easy enough to him to remember the way from his room out of the school. First day and he already needed a break.

"I'm a real record-breaker, aren't I, Maka?" He told the gray sky as his feet pounded the well-tended school grounds.

===*===*===

Maka was all irritation and rage as she stormed out of the temporary housing. The hallways blurred past her, and a door next to hers slid silently shut as its two female residents saw the reaction of the A-student. Her door opened and slammed. The sign noting who lived in the room quivered.

Inside, Maka paced her room. It was his fault, after all. His fault for coming to Shibusen, his fault for scaring her half to death, his fault for the Dreamscape (or nightmare) incident… His fault for…

For? She prompted herself. Maka sat down on the couch cushion, creating a noise as the air deflated to allow for her minuscule weight. She pulled her knees up to her chest, looking at the wall. She rested her chin on her knees. "For making me move."

It was later than she would've liked, and she hadn't even finished studying yet. The girl stood and walked over to her half-finished work, sitting down, trying to finish. Her mind still swirled around the idea that there had been a consuming darkness in that nightmare-Dreamscape.

I'm not scared of it. She pushed her pen harder against the paper. It's just the dark. I haven't been afraid of the dark for a long time. And if she got lost inside it again… Maka shook her head, pigtails swinging against her head. It was hard to focus with his words in his head.

He's just a stupid boy. Don't listen to him. What does he know?

"Nothing." She managed to finish the most pressing of her work. "If he's nothing, then his words are nothing."

But he's a weapon… And I don't have one.

Maka's eyes looked at the door that connected her living space to her bedroom, the one that faced the spare bedroom, currently being used as a storage space. "I'm not scared of the dark."

===*===*===

A grin split his face, brilliant blue hair shimmering in the desert sun of the Dreamscape. In his hands, a chain-sickle gleamed as he twisted it into his grip. Before him stood a mix of man and sphinx. Sand was kicked up as the boy jumped into the air and fell free-fall towards the night terror.

"Yahoooooo!" He screamed while his blade descended. The terror raised its arm, dust swirling around its hard and solidifying into a shield. The blade slammed into it. Twisting his body, Black Star kicked off the quick defense and flipped in the air, skidding across the sand as he moved away from it. One hand touched the ground as he did so.

A face flashed across the blade, a concerned woman on its face. "Black Star! Are you-"

He flipped the weapon around, and grinned at it. "Fine, Tsubaki." One hand pressed against the ground and he pushed himself up onto it into a handstand. The weapon's sighed and disappeared from view again. His arm lowered and he launched himself into the air again. The man-sphinx raised its shielded arm once again, but as one of Tsubaki's blades collided with the shield, it sunk in. The sphinx roared in pain.

Quickly, she changed into a single knife blade, freeing one of her meister's hands. Using her handle as leveraged, he flipped onto the unprotected side. The sphinx had little time to react as Black Star pressed a hand into its side. With a quick twist, there was an explosion. In time, the boy wrenched Tsubaki out of the shield and jumped back.

The sphnix went down, side dissolving. He stood, holding Tsubaki aloft in a showy finale. The knife glowed and the woman appeared next to him, smiling widely. Tsubaki reached out for the dying terror, already dissolving into red sand. It spun into a vortex, and as the weapon reached out and touched the miniature whirlwind, it spun faster and surged upward, descending like rain on her skin. Her blue eyes looked at her partner, delighted. Any of the falling sand that missed her initially then floated toward her, attracted by the polar opposite of its origin and destination.

Tsubaki breathed in deeply, reddish for a second, before she completely absorbed every bit of sand. She looked at her partner, smiling once more. "Thank you."

He cackled and raised his hand for a high-five. She shyly responded to the gesture. He smacked it hard, and as he began to shout to the endless desert of their victory, Tsubaki shook out the pain in her hand. She placed a hand on his shoulder. Around them, the desert faded briefly, returning them to an old Japanese house. No one was around except the pair and Black Star spun around, ready to continue.

"Good night, Black Star." She murmured.

When he realized where they were, the boy looked disappointed. "I was on a roll!" Before he could protest more, the Japanese house dissolved like ink running off a wet page. Her meister was sent into the realm of true sleep, momentarily away from the memories of the man-sphnix.

Tsubaki's eyes opened as she stared at the ceiling, awaking. The moonlight that came through the window illuminated her room, striking her face. It sent red sparkles onto the walls. A hand slipped out from under her cover. The movement allowed some to fall to her bed, but the room was slightly redder.

"Thank you, Black Star." She murmured again before allowing the hand to fall. She closed her eyes, falling asleep again, this time to a place where dreams were nothing more than projections of the subconscious.

When the triumphant pair entered class the next morning, they found a sullen Maka. It was unsurprising that Soul's seat was empty, after all, it was a few minutes before class. Tsubaki thought he still had more time to make it before he was tardy. She abandoned her meister to go brag to his fellows before working her way over to the loner-bookworm.

Tsubaki could see the air of annoyance surrounding the girl as she read. The way she grasped the book, her almost-slouch… To a casual observer, Maka was simply reading. She put on a smile and walked over, hands tucked behind her back. The result of the terror's defeat had washed off in a shower.

"Hello Maka." She greeted simply.

It was a while before the girl responded. She placed a bookmark near-reverently into the spine and looked up at the tool-weapon. "Hey, Tsubaki." She set the book to the side and pulled out a pen.

The weapon leaned up against the desk between Maka and Soul's. She could wait for the weaponless meister to talk to her. Patience she had in abundance. The bell for class rang as the silence continued between the two. Tsubaki glanced at the raised desk.

No Stein. Maka looked up, a confused look on her face.

"Isn't Professor Stein always on time?" She asked Tsubaki.

The weapon thought about it for a second. "Maybe he's sick today. I wish him well." Black Star was making a fool of himself, and class had technically started.

Tsubaki shifted. "I'll talk to you at lunch, okay, Maka?" The other responded with a quick nod. Where's Soul? As she thought about the missing student, the quirky teacher entered the room. Without even taking attendance, the man began his lesson. She couldn't help but notice it focused on the strength of a soul. Still, she studiously took notes.

It seemed like an eternity before the clock showed a minute before lunch. Maka frowned as Stein ended his lecture and found her eyes wandering to Soul's still-empty seat. "Miss Albarn, I'd like to see you after class." Her cheeks were hot as the class's eyes fell on her. The bell rang, and the class shuffled out. "You may go to lunch as well, Miss Nakatsukasa, Miss Albarn can meet you there." The end was tacked on as Tsubaki waited by the doorway. She blushed and quickly departed with an apology.

Maka approached the raised desk, wide eyes watching as her teacher dug around his desk for an unknown item. With a quiet ah-ha! he produced a pen and a piece of paper. He began talking as he wrote. "If you and your weapon are up to it, come back here at nine o'clock sharp." He handed her the sheet. She quickly glanced down at it: a letter explaining that she was allowed out of the dormitories after lights-out. When her eyes fell on the second name, his words registered.

"My weapon? Professor… I think you've mixed me up with someone else." She held the piece of paper out for him. "I don't have a weapon."

Her statement was punctuated by a crack as Stein slapped his briefcase on the desk. His silvery eyes looked on her. "Perhaps I was mistaken in assuming Mister Evans was your weapon?"

Maka stepped back. Her mind told her not to take another step: it was a step down next. But not Soul. It was still his fault for all that anyhow… "He's not my weapon." She managed carefully.

The glasses he wore glinted as he looked on her, smirking in his unnerving way. It seemed the room was much smaller with his eyes on her and seeing right through her pathetic attempts. Years of book learning told her exactly what the man was thinking with regards to Soul and her. "If you say so." He lifted the briefcase off the desk and hopped down the few steps. He was out the door and off to lunch before Maka could raise another protest to Soul's new classification.

He's not my weapon… She told herself as she grabbed her lunch and walked down the hall. He'd shown her the Dreamscape. …Is he?

Next Chapter:

"And, hey now, what am I to do?

I better think twice before I make my move

'Cause last time I didn't think it through

Don't know where it's gonna go,

Don't know what we're gonna do.

And, hey now, what am I to say?

My foolish words got in the way

Of us being friends.

Wake up, make up, can't we get along again?"

-Sanctus Real, "The Fight Song"

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A/N: Aaaaand I really love that song, the preview of the next chapter. :D Reviews are love, and I love people for reading, even without a review. Thanks for reading!