Black Star's POV~

After Black Star got back, he headed straight for the infirmary with Soul, who hadn't woken up yet. Tsubaki left to go inform Shinigami-sama and the others about their rescue mission.

Maka cried when Black Star brought Soul back, unconscious and limp in his arms. Kid let out a shaky sigh and the Thompson sisters hugged each other before swarming Black Star with questions. Crona came out of his/her corner (Black Star still didn't know the teen's gender) where he'd been sulking since Soul was taken.

Everyone was antsy. Shinigami-sama was not happy with the news Black Star brought back. He sent a team of adults to go examine the crime scene, not wanting to expose the others to the horrors Black Star, Soul, and Tsubaki saw. Black Star still gets shivers from that grisly sight. All the blood, the mannequins, the girl. He wondered how Soul even lasted in that room; it was enough to drive anyone insane.

He hadn't left Soul's side, wanting to be the first one Soul saw when he woke up. Nurse Nygus couldn't find anything wrong with Soul except for a few scrapes, cuts, and his dislocated shoulder. She was afraid to use any needles on Soul in case he woke up and panicked, so she said she'd check on him later. Black Star sighed.

Soul looked bad. His skin was a sickly gray color. After Black Star set him down, he started shivering. His forehead was beaded with sweat and his lips were dry and cracked. He was bruised all over from his abduction. Three lines ran parallel on his cheek where the murderer had scratched him. He wished Soul would wake up and tell him what happened. He hated seeing the other so broken.

He gulped, remembering the look of pure terror on Soul's face when he found him; the blood-curdling scream the weapon had released. He wanted to kill the man who did this to Soul. He was contemplating the many ways he could kill the guy, when Soul stirred.

"B-Black Star…" he croaked.

Black Star jumped, rushing to the boy. He grabbed Soul's hand. His hand felt like ice.

"Soul! Thank god you're awake! How're you feeling? Are you okay?" Black Star was hyperventilating.

Soul groaned, trying to lift a hand to rub his head. Black Star noticed his eyes were almost black instead of red.

"Wha… where am I?" he looked at Black Star confused.

"You're back at the DWMA, Tsubaki and I found you last night…" he explained. Soul tensed up, memories coming back. He started crying, black tears dripping down his cheeks.

"Shit!" he screamed, jumping back from Soul. "What the hell's up with your eyes?"

Soul panicked, looking at the tears collecting in his lap, crying harder. Black Star felt bad for scaring him more. He walked back to Soul, afraid something might happen. Soul turned to him, tears streaming down his face. He pulled Black Star into a hug. Black Star could die right there; he never ever dreamed Soul would hug him like this. He let out a happy sigh, feeling Soul go rigid again. Soul pulled back, looking at Black Star. There really was something off about Soul's eyes…

Soul leaned in and kissed Black Star, shutting off the assassin's train of thought instantly. He couldn't move, couldn't think, all he felt was Soul's cold lips pressed to his, black tears still staining his cheeks. He felt so happy and confused that he didn't know what to do.

And then Black Star felt something stab him.

He lurched back, causing the knife to tear from his side. Black Star swore, placing a hand on the small wound. He glanced up at Soul and saw a surgical knife in his hand. His eyes were pitch-black, the tears still spilling.

Well now he knew something was wrong.

Soul lunged at Black Star, the knife swiping at his throat. Black Star jumped to the side, not wanting to hurt his best friend, but not wanting to die either. He scrambled for the door, but Soul leaped over him with surprising speed and blocked the path, turning to stab at him again. Black Star gritted his teeth, before delivering a swift kick to Soul's ribcage, hoping to stun him.

Soul staggered for a second, before straightening up. His eyes were void of any light.

Soul charged at Black Star, managing to cut him across his cheek. Black Star swore, before pushing Soul away from him. Soul crashed into the medicine cabinet, sending glass and bottles to the floor, several cutting Soul in the process. He stood back up like nothing happened. He heard footsteps from the hall, glancing to the side to see Kid, Nygus, and Stein rushing through the door.

"What the hell's going on?!" Kid shouted. He yelped, dodging the broken beaker Soul threw at his head. They looked at Soul and gasped. Stein and Nygus quickly swarmed Soul, wrenching the knife from his hand and pinning his arms behind his back. Kid ran over and used reaper spells to bind Soul's arms. Soul started thrashing about, making some sort of chittery-screech noise. Stein threw him on the hospital bed and strapped him to the restraints used for criminals and insane patients. They backed away, panting.

"What the hell is up with Soul?" Stein asked. He glanced at Black Star and noticed the wound in his side. He walked to the remains of the medicine cabinet and grabbed some gauze, returning to Black Star's side and bandaging the wound. Black Star shrugged, knowing no more than them.

"I don't know. He woke up, acting like himself. I noticed his eyes looked weird, but he was acting normal. Then he started crying black stuff and he hugged me." He hesitated, not sure if he should tell them the rest, then decided it would help. "He then kissed me and stabbed me. I pulled away and saw his eyes were black and then fought to avoid getting killed."

Stein and Kid were in a silent debate with each other, going over Black Star's story. Black Star noticed some glances between the two; he'd have to ask about that later.

"I think that Nightmare is controlling him somehow, though I don't know how." He added. He looked back to Nygus. "I think you should test his blood now."

She nodded, retrieving an unbroken needle and walking over to Soul. He struggled harder when she approached, but went rigid when the needle entered his arm. They watched as the vial slowly filled with black.

"That's unusual…" she murmured. "I mean, I know he has some black blood, but it's usually not noticeable."

She pulled the needle from his arm and he started thrashing again, snarling in his weird chitter. Stein placed a hand on his forehead and sent a surge of soul energy into him. Soul tensed, then relaxed, falling back asleep, black liquid still pouring from his eyes.

"Whatever it is, it's still controlling him. We could set him up with a blood transfusion, but that didn't work with the black blood. Maybe Crona or Maka could manipulate his black blood to cleanse the dark liquid from him." He glanced at the black tears on Soul's cheeks. "Maybe he'll cry it all out…"

Kid stepped forward. "We'll have to ask Father what to do… this hasn't happened before…" he mused.

Black Star sighed, wishing the answer was more obvious. He peered at Soul, worry crossing his features. He turned from the bed, walking with the others to go see Shinigami-sama.

Soul's been screaming for five days now. Everyone's worried. Maka's afraid to go see him in his current state, Crona's afraid just in general. Patty wants to see him because it's "cool," but Liz blocks her every time she tries. Kid's been in a meeting with Shinigami-sama and hasn't come out since the incident, Stein, Sid, and Nygus in there with them. So far, Black Star's the only one who will even be in the same room as Soul, with Tsubaki waiting in the hallway for Black Star to emerge.

After five days, Soul's screaming has turned his vocal chords into a wreck. Sometimes, he'll stop long enough to pant for air, a little bit of blood dribbling from his chin, but he'll start screaming again the second he sees anyone. The weird chitter had molded into a high-pitched screech after the first few hours.

Black Star was genuinely worried for his friend now. Not only was this slowly killing Soul, but it somehow knew something about his relationship with Black Star. But what relationship was that?

Black Star wondered about that weird, possessed kiss. Soul didn't know about his feelings for him; the most Black Star's shown was that good luck charm.

Something didn't make sense. This whole charade has been centered around Soul and Black Star; first with the blood-written message, then the corpse of the albino girl, and then the kiss.

Black Star groaned, ignoring the screams of his friend, and decided to sleep through some of this nonsense.

"Black Star…" someone whispered.

He groaned, deaf to the world.

"Black Star." The voice said again, more persistently. He waved it away, still wrapped in slumber.

"Black Star!" it shouted.

"What?!" he bolted upright, getting ready to smack whoever had woken him. He blinked a couple times before his eyes settled on Soul…

Or what he thought was Soul.

Soul's bed was empty, only his sheets and bindings remained, the restraints still bound. What stood a few feet in front of him, slightly hovering off the ground was Soul, only… not Soul.

Black Star nearly choked. "Soul?!"

Soul looked confused. He tilted his head to the side, staring at Black Star, wondering what had freaked his friend out so much. Black Star realized Soul hadn't seen yet. He shakily pointed a finger behind Soul, directing him to the mirror. Soul turned and gasped…

Soul's POV~

Soul was shocked, startled, scared beyond belief. He doesn't remember anything after he saw that girl who looked like him. Next thing he knew, he was in the infirmary, no nurses or doctors in sight, only Black Star. He felt like he was floating, drifting over to Black Star, almost at will. He shook Black Star, trying to wake him.

"Black Star…"

Nothing.

"Black Star."

He got waved away. He was just ignoring him. That pissed him off.

"Black Star!"

Black Star jumped, obviously about to murder whoever woke him. If it wasn't for the far off look in his eyes when he saw Soul, Soul would've laughed at his usual wake-up manner.

But Black Star looked as though he saw a ghost. Soul felt cold just looking at the fear in his eyes. He wanted to ask him what was wrong. Black Star answered the unasked question with a trembling point of his finger. Soul turned. He gasped.

He rushed to the mirror, looking over the demented image he saw. His skin was dark gray, almost shadowy. His lips and tongue had turned black; his teeth were sharper than before. His hair remained white -not surprising, even dye didn't change the color- but what caught him off guard was his eyes were glowing red. Black tear lines ran down his cheeks. They almost looked painted on. A dark black aura surrounded him, casting evil shadows on the ground below him. He looked down and noticed he wasn't even touching the floor, he was hovering.

He yelped, flying backwards, crashing into Black Star, who was just as surprised. Black Star shoved him away, scrambling from Soul like he was on fire. He will admit: that hurt. He felt himself pouting, angry at the blue-haired assassin.

"What the hell Black Star, it's still me!" he complained, noticing his voice sounded hollow and echoey, like he was talking in a tunnel.

Black Star regained his composure, gazing at the albino. He reached a hand out tentatively, lightly tapping Soul on the shoulder. Soul got fed up and threw a punch at Black Star, pegging him in the shoulder; something that never hurt Black Star before, yet caused him to cringe now. Soul stared at his hand disbelieving. Black Star inched closer, examining Soul.

"Soul… is that really you?" he asked. Soul huffed, annoyed at the obvious statement.

"Of course it's me you dumbass! Who else would it be?" he snapped. He paused, worried about how bitter he felt. Black Star seemed confused by Soul's words. "Black Star?"

Black Star sighed, running a hand through his spikes. "Shit… you're still screeching like before…"

"What are you talking about-"

"Soul, stop trying to talk, all I'm hearing is screeching and it's giving me a killer headache."

Soul huffed, crossing his arms and pouting. Black Star grinned now that Soul was acting normal again. He stood, crossing to Soul, and grabbed his hand, pulling him close.

"God, I'm just glad you're finally awake…" he mumbled.

Soul felt tingly and knew his face was red. He leaned against Black Star, noticing he was cold. Black Star's skin was like fire compared to his own. He wanted to ask him what happened, but he couldn't. One: his voice was apparently a screech; and two: Tsubaki came in and proceeded to flip-a-bitch.

She screamed.

"Oh my god! What the hell is that?!" she shrieked, pulling her meister away from Soul. It was weird to hear Tsubaki swear; she must really be startled. Even though Soul knew she was just surprised, he couldn't help the predatory growl that ripped from his throat. Tsubaki and Black Star both cringed. Soul stopped, looking down at his feet.

"Chill Tsubaki… it's only Soul." Black Star said after he recovered. Soul heard Tsubaki gasp, then she ran up to Soul, holding him in her arms. He felt tears on his shoulder.

"Thank goodness you're okay…" she paused, looking him up then down. "Well… mostly…"

Soul sighed. "Thanks Tsubaki… sorry for growling…"

She jumped a little, glancing back at Black Star. "He's still screeching?"

Black Star shrugged. "Well, I woke up thinking he was calling me in English, but then he just sounded like that afterwards…"

They both sighed, not liking this newfound situation. Tsubaki finally let go of Soul, turning fully to Black Star.

"We need to take him to Shinigami-sama and Kid and Professor Stein, they'll know what to do."

"I'm not sure they will, but if anyone can figure it out it's them…" he agreed.

Black Star grabbed Soul's hand again, leading him out of the infirmary room. He glanced back at Soul, tossing him a grin.

"Well… you're going to make quite an impression…"