Soul Eater: "Resonating Souls" (Black*Star/Tsubaki, Theme Set Alpha)
#1: Comfort:
Tsubaki had always been a timid and anxious to please girl; this is why she surprised even herself with how comfortable she felt in the company of an individual as flamboyant and over self-confident as her future technician when she first met him.
#7: Chocolate:
There aren’t many earthly temptations strong enough to lure the Great Black Star (or so he likes to think) but Tsubaki knows well of his child-like affinity to chocolate; he doesn’t really mind being exposed by her though, because he knows his “secret” is safe with her… and that he can always count on her to sneak a chocolate bar or two for him whenever she can.
#11: Name:
She had been called after a scentless flower, made to believe she was forever doomed to only be part of the background; he had been named with the intention of following in his demonic family’s footsteps, a black star, a black hole to devour all light and make the world devoid of hope and happiness; and yet it was thanks to his innate light that she’d been able to see that even the camellia had a scent, that even she could stand out, so she would give everything in her might to make him realize that names did not seal one’s fate for eternity.
#48: Waves:
Tsubaki was often pitied by her contemporaries and even her closest friends for having to team up with someone as selfish and “obnoxious” as Black Star; when she heard such claims she only smiled politely and changed the subject - if people thought her unfortunate over theories they came up on their own without knowing anything she did, she couldn’t even begin to imagine how weirdly they’d look at her if she told them that Black Star’s soul’s waves were actually rather soothing and elevating to be enveloped in once you grew used to the boy’s eccentricity.
#32: Confusion:
How would Tsubaki react if she found out that, if on the day she fought her elder brother she had lost or tied with him power-wise, her partner would’ve kept poking the accursed Japanese sword with the stick and continued chanting for her “encore” for hours and hours, relentlessly, until eventually his throat ran dry and gave out on him, and not a second before that?
#33: Fear:
The weapon girl could not remember another time in her entire life she’d been as scared as she’d been when her partner had been on the fork of the road towards becoming a Kishin and getting ever closer to becoming one.
#50: Supernova:
When he defeated the insanity in him, acquiring mind-boggling power thanks to his glorious triumph over himself, over his own weakness and limitedness as a human being, she felt as though something burst into billions of tiny pieces in her, all the anxiousness and fear that had made her body wired with tension getting their toll on her finally releasing her at once too powerful a sensation for her-a supernova of relief; she cried on his chest for hours afterwards, genuinely internally calm, happy, for the first time in months.
#20: Freedom:
His freedom to always do as he pleased had been the right Black Star most cherished his entire life; this was why insanity had been doomed to fail holding onto his mind forever-he listened to nothing and no one’s orders, especially those of a figment of his imagination.
#45: Hell:
Religious people believe Hell is an ethereal place on a plane we can see only after we die and that it’s a place all sinful souls go to repent for their sins committed during their living days; Black Star knows Hell to be a very real place on Earth, in his very mind, where he yielded to the madness and took the life of the only person for whom he’d even given much of a damn about-that was Hell and it was truly a horrible, terrifying place to be, more than any religious blather could ever be.
#18: Speed:
He moved with mind-numbing speed, always forward, always ahead toward his bright goal, and no one had ever managed to catch up with him-yet he’d sworn he’d never slow down for those foolish insects around him, never dithered before reaching his dream, never to look around too long lest he should forget what he’s speeding towards; he would stop for nothing and no one, he’d decided long ago, no matter how misunderstood or lonely that might make him… but he’d have never thought that there would come a person in his life for whom he would not even ponder before slowing down a bit for, so they could march forward, towards the better future, together, shoulder by shoulder, and side by side.
#43: Sky:
She loved looking at a clear sky - she became transfixed just staring at it, losing all coherency of thought whenever she did; her friends thought she immersed herself in ponderings over surreal matters and high dreams, when in reality all of her mind was filled with thoughts of a certain individual whose hair was a shade of blue equally mesmerizing as that of the clear sky.
#19: Wind:
Black Star underwent rigorous training every single day because one could not surpass God effortlessly - it was hard work, more often than not involving muscle soreness, sprains and even torn ligaments; the pain was sometimes so immense it became impossible to ignore but it took only one look at his partner’s fussing over his disheveled complexion to refuel him with all the confidence and energy he could ever need - she was truly like a cool breeze, gentle and subtle, yet impossible to imagine life without, soothing one’s feverishness and calming the nerves.
#28: Sickness:
If insanity had been his sickness, then he could safely say Tsubaki had been his cure-it was just simple as that.
#37: Technology:
Born and raised in a traditional Japanese family, Tsubaki was a very technologically-challenged person so she avoided any touch with it all costs; that’s why when her technician bought her a cell phone in order to keep in touch with her at all times, it was a great surprise to her friends with how much vigour she studied how to use this kind of alien object efficiently - they had never thought they’d see a day their raven haired fellow would willingly subject herself to “technological torture”.
#49: Hair:
The chain scythe girl was a person of habit and part of her morning rituals was tying her long flowing hair in a perfect ponytail; no matter how many times he walked in on her doing it he was always mesmerized with the precision of her hands as she smoothed in place every lock of hair - it was during those moments in the morning that it was most difficult to stifle the urge to reach out and touch that beautiful mane of onyx silkiness, since he had always been deeply fascinated by it.
#21: Life:
If life was a journey, not a destination, they felt like they could go anywhere and achieve anything because they knew their journey would never be a solitary one with the other infallibly by their side, through thick and thin, happiness and despair.
#35: Bonds:
There are many kinds of bonds in life but to Tsubaki, the bonds of the heart are the most important ones - it was exactly because of such a bond-and the person she was bound to-that she’d been able to finally make her peace with an issue which had been tormenting her most of her life and become a better, stronger, person thanks to it… thanks to him; yes, the bonds of the heart, the bonds of her heart, were firmer, thicker, more important than even those of blood and heritage.
#46: Sun:
To most, he was an eyesore - he was loud, overbearing and a hopelessly annoying show-off; to her, he was the sun - a pillar of strength, confident and supporting, with the power to soothe the mind with a single smile and reinforce the spirit with only a few well-chosen words; as a flower, she could only thrive under the revitalizing rays of the sun.
#5: Potatoes:
When Black Star and Tsubaki paid Soul and Maka a visit, found them slumped on their couch and Black Star called them a perfect pair of couch potatoes (whilst laughing raucously and pointing rudely at them), Tsubaki thought that he, who never did anything half useful or resembling house chores of any kind at home, shouldn’t be the one to talk in such a manner; but she never said such a thing out loud because, for all she knew, he might become more self-sufficient and start taking better care of himself and wouldn’t need her help outside of Shibusen anymore… and that was just too horrible a thought to handle.
#47: Moon:
He talked about himself-or rather of his past-once in a blue moon and she was always his only listener; from the fact he had never said anything about his childhood even resembling a happy memory, she could guess why he would only tell her, his better half, something about his inner demons - no one would ever be able to grasp how highly she appreciated the trust he put in her, even if she tried to put it in words.
#42: Clouds:
Whatever names anyone called him, nobody could deny that Black Star was a back-breaking kind of hard-worker - he even trained relentlessly till he could barely breathe, every single day; when he tired, he would lay on his back and contrary to his nature, cloud gaze in silence, falling into a state very much like a trance while the fluffy clouds soared on above him.
#4: Pain:
Tsubaki hated Black Star’s cloud gazing sessions with a passion not characteristic of her usual self because he always had this unnatural pained look in his eyes whenever she came to pick him up from his training ground for the day (because he would otherwise take an extra hour or two outside before he remembered to pick himself up); it was a look she recognized from those rare talks they had approximately once per year - the look of him gazing into his past; for this reason the chain scythe girl had made a point of leaving him no time to immerse himself in thought after training because, while she could handle any amount of pain on her own, she could not bear to see even a hint of it on his face.
#13: Death:
Death is a natural end to one’s life: an end that someone as big as the sole survivor of the Star clan was beyond; and because he was immortal, he would make sure she became just that too - as long as there was a single breath left in his body he would let no harm come to his partner.
#6: Rain:
Everyone either loved or hated the rain, for various reasons of their own; Tsubaki knew for a fact that Black Star on the other hand was annoyed by it - it dampened his perception of his surroundings, made him feel crippled sense-wise and kept him from getting all the attention on himself; she was sure that if he could, he would’ve beaten up the rain a long time ago because no one “stole his stage” for any amount of time-not even nature.
#16: Weakness:
He’d made sure the girl was foolishly convinced that he was invincible and fearless, untouchable and larger than life; he’d rather she thought that because there was no way he was ever telling her that she’d always be his greatest weakness, because he wasn’t sure he’d be able to live with himself should she come to any harm on his behalf when his countless enemies came to know that fact.
#44: Heaven:
There was this one guy though, foolish enough to try to lay a hand on the shape shifting young woman; he learnt in no time how heavy Heaven’s Wrath actually was to bear and every fractured bone in his body would make sure he never pulled a stunt like that ever again.
#25: Devotion:
Her devotion to her meister transcended the capability of the human mind to comprehend such an intense emotion - she was not only ready to put herself in harm’s way to save him, not only ready and willing to put her life on the line for his safety, but even capable of risking her soul and whole existence for him, all for his life, for his soul and his future; her friends thought her insane but they only did so because they did not know something she did - her technician would do the very same for her any day, because their link was a two-way one-a perfect give and take bond.
#36: Market:
She wished they could go to the convenience store with others more often because it was tiresome listening to people going on and on what an annoying selfish little brat he was; if he was as self-centered and egotistical as they made him out to be, why did he always carry every remotely heavy bag during their trips back from the market?
#27: Blood:
Blood is the most important fluid in the human body: it makes it run, it keeps it alive and well and its place is in its carrier vessels - there and only there; for this reason it was only natural that the azure haired boy flipped out whenever someone spilt his precious partner’s life preserving liquid recklessly, as though it ran infinite in her veins.
#41: Completion:
With the slow pace they’d been doing work, Tsubaki had about forgotten that their goal as a Shibusen team was to make her into a Death Scythe; thus, when her completion was a fact, despite being filled with a hundred souls besides her own, the young woman felt uncharacteristically empty and at a total loss as to “And now what…?”
#17: Tears:
Seeing her in tears had always been a thing that crumbled any and every resolve or defenses he might have built and made him submit to anything she plead of him, as long as it stayed her tears; for this reason Black Star could afford to tell her of his long training trip only in a quickly scribbled letter - should she cry and ask him to bring her along he wasn’t sure he’d be able to stand his ground for more than a second.
#31: Home:
She did cry for a long time after she found his note, written in his silly messy and hasty hand-writing but she picked herself together fairly quickly because she remembered a promise he’d given her a long, long time ago - his heart would always be with her, he’d said, no matter what happened to them; she would believe him and wait for him patiently to achieve what he could only do alone, wait at the home they once shared together for his timely return.
#8: Happiness:
She’d thought she’d been quite normal in the few years she’d spent alone in their flat at Death City - she’d laughed, joked and been just the same as she believed she’d always been; however, when she saw his silhouette-taller, broader, older-in the distance, approaching with the same confident heavy step she recalled so well, she knew what happiness-real, genuine, unbridled happiness-was once again.
#30: Star:
When she pulled herself together enough to face him, she made a number of discoveries: while she had hardly changed over the time they’d spent apart, he’d grown (he was about a head taller than her), become more handsome (it was really hard on the knee strength when he smiled, grinned and/or laughed now), mature and, while the air around him still had a very familiar feel to it, there was also a newfound serenity of sorts to his gaze, his actions and his demeanor - it was new, alien but pleasant and very much welcome as far as Tsubaki was concerned; she didn’t bother asking him if he had achieved his goal: she knew the answer and it didn’t even matter that much to her if he had anyway, because she’d feel just the same whether he did or not so instead she smiled and welcomed him home-he grinned and with that beaming smile a chapter of their lives was sealed and a new one began, unbeknownst to either of them.
#38: Gift:
Black Star was no longer a student at Shibusen and Tsubaki had long since become a direct underling of Shinigami-sama’s, one of his best weapons there ever were; however, as an award for the chain scythe’s girl’s diligence and devotion to her work with the soul reaper, the headmaster assigned the two of them together in a team again - it was the best gift the girl had been given since her partner’s return.
#29: Melody:
Even if he’d succeeded in making all their friends believe he was practically tone deaf, she’d heard him humming to himself in the kitchen often enough to know he had a very good grasp of music; she often pondered why he kept it to himself-did he believe that music was solely Soul’s domain so he steered clear of stealing the other boy’s spotlight, or “stage” as he referred to it?-but she didn’t mind the feeling of being special, of knowing that she was the only one to ever get to see this side of him.
#40: Innocence:
Ever since Black Star had returned to her, Tsubaki had picked up on it: he had become better at doing things by himself, that he’d become so accustomed to living alone that he often forgot she would take care of him now that he was back home; while the fact he had never thought of replacing her and opted instead for a solitary life made her relieved and flattered her, she couldn’t help but feel as though what little had been left of his innocence she had strived so hard to protect while he’d been under her wing had been irretrievably lost.
#9: Telephone:
What had helped her hold onto her sanity in those years he’d been away had been the telephone he’d given her so long back; now, even though he was once again with her and she didn’t need it as much, the young woman refused to buy a new and better one - after all, it was that one she remembered holding to her ear and soaking up like a sponge every word he said from across the world, about his daily adventures and happenings in his life away from her.
#39: Smile:
Tsubaki had always been on the firm opinion he had the sunniest, brightest and most heart-warming smile ever; however, now that he was older, more handsome and completely rid of his childish aura, a few too many girls for comfort realized that fact as well and tried way too consistently to worm their way into his life.
#22: Jealousy:
The Chain Death Scythe girl had always sported a very protective streak when it came to her former meister; however with all those females flocking to him like flies on honey and daily annoying the daylights out of her to a blood boiling point, denying she was jealous of the ease with which they hung onto him and so naturally confessed their feelings to him was becoming rather impossible.
#10: Ears:
She’d never done any good at hiding anything from Black Star, so, naturally, he caught onto her distress very soon; Tsubaki would definitely remember for a long time how he’d come close to her, his front against her back, when he lowered his mouth to her earlobe and said in a voice barely above a whisper, “I thought you knew that in my life there’s always only been one person I’ll ever have eyes for… Tsubaki;” - she never fretted over those mindless pesky airheads again.
#34: Lightning/Thunder:
She should’ve caught on when after her jealousy fits whenever his skin made contact with hers and a pleasant, exciting, inspiring jolt ran through her body like lightning what was going on between them, caught onto the fact the tides were shifting.
#2: Kiss:
Their first kiss was just a brief brush of lips against lips but it was also a promise, the harbinger of something much more, something neither of them could imagine would stem from a simple little touch.
#24: Taste:
Their first real kiss was passionate, exhilarating and urgent in their vehement longing to convey too much in too little time; it also tasted like oranges and chocolate-a unique mix that both became addicted to quite quick.
#45: Touch:
She’d known that Black Star had always been eager to know more and to explore but she’d never had him keen on exploring her; it was the most elevating feeling, being showered with so much care and attention-especially since she always became so hypersensitive whenever he let his hands roam her.
#23: Hands:
After his nimble tongue, his large masculine hands that knew no rest in her vicinity were his second most delectable feature; when he got in one of his moods out of the blue, even if she had had other plans before that, she could never keep herself from giving into him if he unleashed his evil magic over her body-not when he knew the exact right places to touch to make all her defenses crumble.
#14: Sex:
Sex with Black Star was like nothing she could’ve ever imagined; the thought she was the only one who got to see his flushed face, glistening with a thin film of sweat, sharp, deep thrusts between her legs robbing him of his breath and excitement making him lose any and all composure was enough to bring her over the edge any night.
#3: Soft:
He had fully expected that the skin her clothes hid from view would be smooth and soft as silk; what Black Star had failed to foresee was how addicted to it he would become, how protective he’d be and how insatiable his desires would turn to be in the first few weeks of being his life-long partner’s lover.
#12: Sensual:
Sensual was the single word to describe best the way the young man treated his significant other once their clothes were gone-how he worshipped every inch of her body, how he greedily took in every appreciative sound he drew from her, how he made her writhe in pleasure beneath him, making an incredibly arousing sight of herself all tangled up in the covers,… and sensual was the only way to portray fully well how he made love to her.
#26: Forever:
They had finally found themselves in one another, discovered the piece which had been missing their entire lives, in being together finally became whole; both Black Star and Tsubaki realized perfectly well that it wouldn’t be all sunshine and butterflies from then on even if they’d found their soul mate in one another but as the saying goes, “true love conquers all” and they’d put that saying to the test since they had an abundance of love anyway, and together, through it all, despite it all, they would definitely prove that ‘forever’ was more than just a word.