I imagine Black Star to be sixteenish in this one. So keep that in mind—that he’s older—while reading this.

Fan Club

It had been a week since Black Star’s whole changing-character-after-getting-hit-on-the-head-by-a-heavy-book fiasco but the aftermath of the whole escapade had yet to die down.

Thanks to the stunt she’d pulled in order to have her partner get back to his senses, Tsubaki had ensured herself quite the large and energetic bunch that followed her practically everywhere she went, offering her help, snacks and their undying love (when they happened to be a bit more forward of individuals).

She found the fact they had liked her… ahem, “performance” as much quite moving and the way they acted upon their uncharacteristic infatuation with her endearing but it was quite an inconvenience to have people she’d never even seen before in her life tailing her everywhere she went in Shibusen and shoving their affections in her face whether she liked it or not.

But worst of all was the fact that she could sense a storm brewing within Black Star every time someone from her admirers approached her when the Star clan survivor was in the vicinity.

Never the one to let chaos and discord reign for too long in their life, Tsubaki always found ways to make the pesky kids scatter before her partner could blow a fuse. She was still worried over his mental health after that character changing episode last week, so she had to take better care of him if she wanted to be sure everything would be alright (and the story wouldn’t repeat itself, much to her horror).

Even though it was obvious he was displeased with the whole situation, Black Star never said anything outright and never let loose his irritation, and Tsubaki did a fine job of keeping her admirers on a long enough leash so they couldn’t cause her or her partner too much trouble, so she guessed that everything would be all right soon enough, that their enthusiasm would die down and everything would be back to how she was used to having it.

Her calculations for a peaceful life and going back to how things were before did not include the creation of the official Shibusen “Tsubaki Fan Club” though…

He’d been in a rotten mood ever since he’d snapped out of that weird daze that had had him wanting to study like there’s no tomorrow. As if that hadn’t been enough, somehow Tsubaki had got herself a whole crowd of admirers and a private fan club before he had got his.

This was absolutely preposterous and it put him in a foul mood every time he contemplated it. How had Tsubaki been able to get herself a flock of fans before he’d managed to convince a larger part of the world how epically awesome he was? His mind just couldn’t wrap itself around the fact. It was ludicrous, totally incredulous!

He kept his mouth shut with her though—he was a big enough man to let his partner enjoy some attention. After all, she’d always be in the shadow of his greatness if she continued being his partner, so she might as well enjoy the unexpectedly garnered attention while she still could.

However, even someone larger than life like he couldn’t continue keeping his ire at bay when he came across the newly created official “Tsubaki Fan Club”.

He was first introduced to the fan club when a bunch of fools with death wishes approached him with the idea of recruiting him into their ranks.

Him, the great, almighty Black Star. Into someone else’s fan club.

They really should’ve known better.

“Tsubaki… fan… club…?” He read the header of the paper they’d shoved in his hands slowly, every word sinking in with the speed of a leaden nail put in yoghurt.

“We thought that, as the person closest to her, you’d be able to share some things about her that we couldn’t possibly know, Black Star,” one of the death-wish-having morons said, ignorantly digging his grave deeper with each subsequent word. “You live with her, after all.”

“We’re willing to give you a more important role in the club, too, as our most prized member!” another continued, making a muscle in the azure haired teen’s cheek twitch for a millisecond.

His emerald gaze skimmed the page they’d given him, each word pinning itself deeper and deeper into his mind. Tsubaki fan club… These guys had officially come together and formed a club, the sole purpose of which was to idolize his partner and shower her with their moronic notions of adoration and gifts and whatnot.

They had formed a real club in school for his partner.

Before he had ever had one of his own.

“Are you… serious about this?” His hands were slightly trembling from the restrained fury, his tone so reserved it was almost morbid.

Blinded by their enthusiasm (and imbecility, if you asked Black Star) the boys trying to recruit him failed to realize the true meaning of the calm before the storm, thinking that he was actually so overwhelmed by the greatness of their offer and the notion of becoming a part of the fan club that they continued making their situation worse and worse by telling him what they did on their meetings and how they practically stalked the girl during after school hours.

Instead of unleashing his rage, though, Black Star decided he was bigger than this kind of pettiness.

So he nodded at the goons, tore up the sheet of paper into tiny pieces in a matter of seconds and threw them in the idiots’ faces, leaving them baffled and confused in his wake.

He would let those morons have their fun for now because he was just a great man like that.

But his patience with them had already run out and the next time they did something—anything, however insignificant—to piss him off, he’d let them have a piece of his mind.

He could’ve never imagined it would happen sooner than he’d expected.

The next evening after dinner was had and dishes were long done, Black Star went into the kitchen to get himself a refreshing drink after the evening work out to find Tsubaki doing something at the stove.

Curiosity piqued, he peeked over her shoulder to see what she was cooking.

“What are you doing?” he asked good-naturedly, a sweating can of soda in his hand’s grasp.

“Hm?” Tsubaki turned her slightly surprised gaze at him—she hadn’t heard him come in or approach her. This was kind of odd, since she was always aware of his presence, but he didn’t pay that fact too much heed. “Oh, I’m cooking for the guys at school.”

Black Star’s eyes narrowed. He sure as hell hoped that she meant their friends with that and not those people…

“What’s the occasion?” Her internal alarms started going off at the tone of his voice but she subdued her reflex panic, thinking she was just reading too deep into shallow matters.

“They’re having some sort of gathering tomorrow and they invited me for it, so I thought I could bring a little something with me.” The endearing smile on her face only served to tick him off even further.

A vein pulsed into visibility on the side of his forehead.

If she’d listened in a bit closer, she would’ve probably heard the snapping noise his patience made when it ran out.

“You’re going to cook for them?” His tone was incredulous, his eyes wide with disbelief. Not only did they practically worship her but now she was going to do things that would only promote her in their eyes. If she did that, when was this fiasco going to end? “You’re going to waste perfectly good food on that bunch?”

“Well, they’re a bit persistent but they’re not bad people, so I can’t see why not,” said the oblivious Tsubaki, tasting her cooking with the small plate.

Black Star almost sputtered in his ire.

“C-…” He paused, unwilling to make himself appear any less godly by stuttering. “Can’t see why not?” He gave her the most level look he could muster at the moment, resisting the urge to emphasize his point by gesticulating with his hands. “Tsubaki, they’re only going to keep trying if you’re nice to them. You need to let them know they should just scram and leave you alone and free you of their imbecility.”

At first, when the whole thing had started, the Nakatsukasa heiress had felt a bit flattered by the thought that people considered her worthy of admiration and that Black Star possibly disliked the attention she received because he’d rather she was only at the receiving end of his attentions. Now, though, it was evident that he only disliked it because she was the only one getting attention, “eclipsing” him or something silly like that.

She wasn’t an easy to anger person but he was most certainly cruising towards that destination with the petulant way he was behaving at current.

And, worse yet, it made a whimsical, petulant streak in her rear its ugly head in retaliation as well.

“Well, maybe I want them to keep “pestering” me.” She stirred the soup with more vigor than absolutely necessary. “Maybe I don’t think of it as much as a nuisance as you might believe I do.”

Black Star gave an incredulous laugh.

“Please, Tsubaki. I know you better than you think – you’re going out of your way to appeal to those people even though their attentions are making you feel uncomfortable. There’s no need to put yourself through that; you’re not fit for standing under the spotlight for long.”

She could’ve continued that argument. Really, she could have. But she wasn’t that kind of person. She didn’t like confrontation, least of all with this boy, her partner. His words hurt because they were too well-aimed for sore spots but it wasn’t like they weren’t true.

He had gone and made her feel rebellious though, so there was no way she was going to drop the matter as easily as she might have otherwise.

When she refused the acknowledge the young assassin’s last argument, he growled ill-temperedly and slammed his fist on the table with so much force that she jumped slightly in fright.

By the time she could turn around to look at him, he’d disappeared from the kitchen, leaving the can—mangled from the way he’d clutched it in his iron grip—still overflowing with soda he hadn’t drunk, the mess of tin and fluid the only sign he’d sat at the table mere seconds ago.

The whole encounter left Tsubaki with a bitter taste in her mouth.

She wasn’t going to apologize for him saying hurtful words towards her though.

Not this time.

Another week had passed and the Tsubaki Fan Club had begun going all-out with their activities.

The girl they were centered around became the main attraction, visiting their club every other day for playing their variation of “Twenty Questions” for their amusement; teaching them how to cook or sew or showing them various things she’d learnt in her days.

She barely had time for herself anymore and it had become a very tiresome day-to-day life.

But she wasn’t going to back down. Not this time. Not while Black Star was acting all cold and disinterested in her and her matters, not waiting for her before going home, eating on his own and completely ignoring her during class, going to school at a different time than her and never talking to her anymore.

This was probably the longest argument they’d ever had because she was feeling specifically stubborn this time.

Of course, she realized it was a matter of time before she bent under the pressure and apologized for something that wasn’t her fault. Again. For the millionth time. It was always her who apologized, always her who came back with her head bowed. Never him. Always her.

It had become so tiring and vexing that maybe it was those emotions that fueled her pigheadedness with this situation. She couldn’t be sure but she’d definitely give it her best shot, even if that meant she’d drop from emotional and physical exhaustion while trying to give it her all.

The restless everyday routine she’d fallen into turned even more hectic when, during one of the question-and-answer sessions they had at the club room, someone raised a matter she wasn’t entirely familiar (or comfortable, for that matter) with.

“You’re such a talented, good-natured and great girl, Tsubaki. Why don’t you have a boyfriend yet?” someone asked.

And, despite herself, a tiny, minuscule voice in the back of her head that had taken to antagonizing her partner lately, retorted sardonically in her own mind, “That would be Black Star’s fault,” even though she knew that was barely true (but not completely false either; not that she would know at that point in time though).

She’d never even thought about having a boyfriend, really. She’d never met anyone she’d want to be romantically interested in. She had her hands full of taking care of her immature partner, fixing his problems and fixing those between them, trying hard to become a Death Scythe and being busy with chores and all the like at home in her free-time (since she loved doing chores).

She’d never even considered it.

When she voiced that thought everyone present seemed to be surprised at the fact.

“Really? But there must be something you’d look for in a guy—something you’d find attractive no matter the circumstances,” a girl continued pressing her.

A thoughtful look seized the raven haired chain scythe’s face.

“Well… I guess it wouldn’t hurt to have someone confident at my side, since if we’re both unsure of what we’re doing there would never be much progress with anything we do.” She made another long pause, contemplating. “Looks aren’t important but charisma is a good thing to have.” She scratched her cheek, eyes pinned to the ceiling as if the answer to the kids’ questions were written there. “Someone who can understand me without me having to explain myself excessively…”

And as she spoke she realized that she was practically describing a particular person with whom she was at a violent disagreement at current.

All because she was so bent on something that was doing her more harm than good.

She’d never been very apt at being in the spotlight and now she was pigheadedly holding onto it, and for what? Just to piss off her partner? What did that accomplish? They hadn’t been on a mission to gather any souls in weeks, and even if they went now, their sync would be all over the place.

All because she’d chosen to handle a matter wrongly.

She was such an idiot.

She’d been so flattered by the notion that someone other than her friends had thought her worthy their time of the day that she’d clutched onto those people who didn’t even know the first thing about her—couldn’t care less about her problems at home, or that they were the ones creating a rift between her and the most important person in her life—instead of cherishing what was really important to her.

She was horrified that she couldn’t remember the last time she’d spoken more than several words with Maka in between classes or in the halls, or how long it had been since she’d last collected a soul to bring her closer to being a Death Scythe.

The throng around her had begun to question her, to make her think about having this guy or that as a candidate for her affections but she wasn’t paying attention to what they were saying. She needed to get away from them, to tear away from these people who were changing her lifestyle forcefully and into something she did not like or even approve of.

Of course, when she announced her desires, they wouldn’t let her pass and she barely managed to get out in the hallways—wow, she’d known they were persistent, but this was almost criminal, the rational part of her mind reasoned—when she bumped into someone rather violently.

“I’m truly very sorry!” she rasped out, rubbing her hurt nose. She’d been pushed with such great momentum into the broad chest of the individual in front of her that tears had welled in her eyes at the force with which her nose had connected with his frame.

When she looked up from her position bowing in apology before the person, she discovered with great surprise that it was none other than Black Star standing in front of the club room, a withering look in his stony emerald gaze.

“Had enough of popularity yet?” His tone was so cold it sent a chill down her spine.

The crowd behind her was becoming rowdy with trying to get to her but she didn’t move while they crowded her, almost blocking him from her view. She had hung her head again, teeth digging in her lower lip.

“I’ve had enough,” she said, barely above a whisper and she wondered whether he could even hear her. “I’m an idiot for behaving this way the last few days and I’m sorry, Black Star. I don’t even know what I was trying to prove. I just… I just want to go home and… and…” Her eyes filled with tears she refused to shed and, unbeknownst to her diverted eyes, the stern look on her partner’s expression melted into something much less cold and quite a bit gentler.

“Let’s get you home then,” he murmured in her ear and it was only then that she realized he had deftly maneuvered his way through the crowd to seize her by the shoulders, navigating her through the crowd towards the closest exit.

“B-but—!” she began, trying to draw her savior’s attention. “But even if I go home now, tomorrow it will be the same thing all over again!” she complained, the helplessness of the situation stabbing her through the heart like a dagger. She was so tired of all this… She desperately wanted her personal space back.

Black Star stopped pushing her onward, a thoughtful look on his face as he considered her words.

“You have a point there,” he admitted, rubbing his chin as he thought. She reckoned that he was being much too thorough in his show of mulling the matter over—something was definitely fishy. She knew he was plotting something—probably to make her regret having acted against his will for so long—when he seemingly came up with an idea. “I know what to do but you’ll have to play along.” He bent a bit so that his mouth was next to her ear and for some reason the action and his warm breath at her earlobe made her heart flutter in her chest. “And make it look convincing, okay?”

“What—” She never got the chance to ask him what he was plotting because he shoved some of the people out of his way and posed in the way he usually did when he was about to make a silly proclamation of some sort.

“At your attention, Tsubaki Fan Club! The great Black Star is here and he has an announcement to make!” His tactic worked and the throng moved to accommodate the two of them in its midst, eyes pinned to the star team of Crescent class. “From this day forth, the Tsubaki Fan Club shall be disbanded because of the inconvenience you’ve caused to your mascot.”

There was a large echo of displeasure that rippled throughout the mass of people gathered at his declaration.

“Black Star, what are you doing?” the girl in question asked anxiously while she sweated bullets at the notion of how violent these people could become when displeased for all she knew. She wasn’t too worried about herself—they were supposed to love her; shouldn’t they be careful that she shouldn’t get harmed during their outbursts?—but she was sure that even someone like her partner wouldn’t be able to stand up to so many technicians and weapons gathered at one place.

“Easy, Tsubaki—I’ve got it all under control,” he whispered back at her and she cocked a dubious eyebrow while the throng started to close in on them. She really wondered how this was having the situation ‘under control’. “So, if you’ll excuse us, we’re going to leave now. Have a nice evening and take care!”

Before he could make their hasty escape, a bunch of sturdy, broad guys blocked his path towards the exit. They had mean looks in their eyes that spelled trouble.

Tsubaki swallowed thickly. Well now, this certainly looked like it was about to backfire…

“And who are you to tell her what to do, huh?” One of the gorillas asked in a nasty tone.

“With what is doing that different than what we do?” Another piped up.

Black Star’s lips curled into an impish grin.

“Who am I?” Tsubaki felt the dread rise in her. Oh no… Here came the tirade… “Who am I?” He laughed raucously, lifting an index finger in the air, pointing towards the heavens. “Why, I am the great Black Star, the man bigger than life, the one who has surpassed the gods!”

By that time everyone present had begun rolling their eyes while Tsubaki indiscernibly shook her head in disapproval, knowing he was really just adding oil to the fire when they got out of their stupor. Before the crowd could lash out at them, though, Black Star continued.

And in a rather uncontroversial way too.

He grabbed her by the arm, pulling her against his slightly taller frame until she was flush up against him. She only had the chance to open her mouth to take a breath in but her question died in her throat because his mouth covered hers and made her unable to say whatever she meant to.

A millisecond later even she couldn’t remember what it was she had been about to say because the contact of his lips against hers—confident and demanding, pliant and unyielding—made her mind blank out and her heart practically leap in her throat, hammering against the confines of her air pipe.

Just as she was wondering what the hell he was doing, and in front of so many people, too—which did not mean to say that she’d considered doing this at all before, spectators or not; it was news to her; honest!—his earlier words made it to the forefront of her conscious.

Play along and try to make it look convincing, was it?

Her heart was still pounding like there would be no tomorrow and her knees had practically become jell-o, but her hand advanced rather boldly—by Tsubaki-standards, at least—to hold him by the back of his neck and putting some effort into the kiss that quickly became rather fervent—to her weak heart’s utter horror and to her girlish fantasies’ total bliss.

Her eyes had closed as though by their own volition, but she could practically feel the myriad of gazes on the two of them and the jaws that hit the floor simultaneously while her partner worked miracles to her insides by the way his tongue swept over her mouth.

When he pulled away for air and she leant against him for support—because, if she trusted herself with even a task as simple as standing at that moment, she’d probably crumple to her knees—he flashed a smug grin to the gathered crowd, his hand placed on his companion’s waist to hold her close.

“And I’m her partner.”

The way he said the word after the kiss he’d just smothered her with in front of all those people left them with no doubt whatsoever that it wasn’t just the apartment that the two shared (even though the assumption was so way off it was barely comprehensible) and, miraculously, they were absolved of having to suffer the Tsubaki Fan Club’s company much longer.

It was on the way to their abode that the Nakatsukasa girl finally snapped out of her daze, realizing with another leap of the heart that he still had his arm around her waist.

He had never lied to those folks; she had to give him that.

But to have scandalized them so completely…

Her mind was frantically going over the events of the past few minutes—trying to reason out this bout of utter insanity on Black Star’s part, and with even doubly more effort trying to figure out why she had decided to follow his lead—when her partner (the word would never be the same, she could swear on that) grinned widely at her.

“You were saying earlier?”

She blinked several times, her expression screaming that she barely even knew who she was, not to mention remembering what she had been talking about.

“You said you just wanted to go home and you never finished,” he clarified, a mischievous look in his eye.

Her face flushed red at the remembrance of the moment—and what followed after it as her assassin partner’s brilliant solution to her problem.

What did she want to do, she wondered.

Looking up hesitantly to his profile and his smug expression, she smiled tentatively as well.

“We’ll see when we get home,” she said while they trudged on, his arm still wrapped snugly around her waist.

She’d said it even though (having her easily affected self infected by his contagious mischievousness) she would’ve preferred to say, ‘We can continue where we left off at the club.’

The very next day the official Tsubaki Fan Club was officially disbanded, having its purpose threatened by the man greater than any other.

However, with the club’s infamous disbanding becoming a common fact among the student body of Shibusen, news traveled fast and various rumors were given birth to thanks to the occasion.

Black Star didn’t mind though. He had all the time in the world to prove the rumors right.

A/N: This one was inspired by the CD drama about Black Star and Tsubaki. I had the idea a long time ago but Milli Tora’s inspiring reviews led me to getting my inspiration back for this pairing and writing this idea out. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

I’m taking requests, in case anyone has an idea they’d like to see written out. Just don’t be mad if I can’t comply with it, okay? My muse is a very whimsical creature.

Story written for LJ’s “30 Kisses” prompt number 7 – “Superstar”.