To Raise a Star

To Raise a Star

Author's Note: When Fullmetal Alchemist ended, I needed to find something new to read. I went to a local anime convention over the past summer and they kept making mentions of Soul Eater, so I watched the anime and read the manga all the way up to date, and I must say I LOVE IT! I prefer the manga over the anime for the most part, but the anime is still pretty entertaining.

Anyway, I love Maka and Soul but I have a serious soft spot for Black Star and Tsubaki. While Black Star starts off as completely obnoxious, you learn to love him, especially in the manga because he's pretty bad ass. I've also settled with the idea of Sid as the parental figure in Black Star's life.  It puts a smile on my face knowing that our favorite assassin wasn't completely without parental influence in his life.  With that in mind, this is my very first Soul Eater fanfic.

Disclaimer: I don't own Soul Eater or its characters.

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Sid Barett liked to think that he was a patient man- or at least that's the kind of man he was when he was alive. But for the record, with the life he lived, he had no choice but to be patient. He was a meister and an educator and more importantly, basically an adoptive father. He watched the most talented of weapons and techs either follow the path of justice or be destroyed by the desire for power and greed. As such, he took it upon himself to spare the life of an infant whose entire clan had gone down the path of the kishin, in hopes of giving the boy a second chance at life. It was after the fact that he realized how much patience was going to be needed.


He was quite young when he took it upon his self to raise the child and despite the help he received, the boy proved to be more work than young Sid had bargained for. Even the advice from Spirit-senpai wasn't enough to ease the stress of raising the active ninja infant, but then again, the Death Scythe was raising a little girl and had the help of a wife. Going to Shinigami-sama proved to be just as useless, seeing as the Death God was just far too eccentric at times to be helpful. He remembered receiving a hard stare from his own weapon, Nygus, late one night when he stood outside her bedroom door panicked and holding the waling infant at arms length. She had told him in a far too harsh manner (but in her defense it was 3am and they had to be up for school in four hours) that if he wanted to play house he would have to figure it out on his own. He was up until 6AM with the child and got in about an hour of sleep before pulling himself off the couch and dragging himself to school. Maybe it was in Star Clan blood to be impossible to handle. That much he was certain of.


With that, raising Black Star happened to be quite the life experience. The boy developed an uncanny affinity for high places by the age of two. Sid lost count of how many times he rounded a corner and saw the blue haired boy howling at the tip-top of some high structure. By three, jumping from these high structures took a special place in his heart. Stein teased him greatly one day when Black Star had propelled himself from one of the towers at the age of four, only to have his bewildered guardian run for dear life, jump dramatically through the air, and skid painfully across the ground in order to catch the boy. While Nygus scolded the glowering youngster, Stein took it upon himself to remind the knife meister about how he should have left the tyke behind that faithful night they eliminated the Star Clan. Watching as the boy stuck his tongue out and run off in a taunting manner, Sid couldn't agree more.


As time moved on and he introduced the energetic child to martial arts and assassin skills, the rumors began to surface and the bold boy would approach him with questions. "Sid-niisan, why are people calling me a demon?" He had asked, nose scrunched up in confused disapproval. Sid had stared at the six year old in shock before giving him a knowing smile and telling him they weren't the type of men to listen to the petty accusations of those who didn't understand them. He assured the little ninja that he was born at Shibusen, raised at Shibusen, and wasn't a demon child, but a great star in the making. He proudly stated that, "You've got to make it known that you're nothing like them. You're your own star." If he would have known the extent to which the boy would taken those words, he would have found another way to phrase it. Black Star had always been a strong, loud, and practically independent child, bravely moving forward and making it his own goal to have everyone know who he was, but those words seemed to be the catalyst for it all. It was that which had Nygus once express her concern with the boy's behavior and if his soul would ever match with anyone else's when his time came. She wasn't the only one concerned.

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Sid found himself rubbing his temple in exasperation years later when he heard new and old students whispering amongst themselves about the "monkey kid" that was shouting from the top of the school. Black Star had taken to running through halls declaring his greatness to everyone right before his sixth birthday and with the arrival of new weapons and meisters, Sid had braced himself for the worst from the young ninja. If you didn't know who Black Star was before, you certainly would have within the first five minutes of you touching school grounds. It was undeniable, so he'd be lying if he said he was anything less than shocked when he Black Star ran up to him, chest puffed out and fists on his hips declaring his had found a partner.


Indeed he had found a new partner. A young girl, clearly older than him by a year or two,  with long dark hair, navy blue eyes, a pleasant disposition, warm smile and curves that had the young men passing by looking curiously and trip over themselves. Sid had eyed Black Star suspiciously as the blue haired boy swelled up with even more pride declaring that she was the only one that could appreciate his greatness so clearly she was sent from the gods just for him. If it weren't for the soul compatibility testing that each meister and weapon took part in, Sid would have taken this as some sort of sick joke. Things became real when he learned that Black Star and his new partner, Tsubaki, had moved in together.


He had Spirit accompany him to the duo's small apartment late in the day. The Death Scythe was still torn when he found out his darling daughter had found not only a partner, but a male partner that she would be moving in with. Maka was a good girl and nothing like her father so Sid was certain she would be fine. When they arrived at the small apartment, Tsubaki answered the door. "Oh! Hello Sensei! Death Sycthe-sama!" She bowed deeply, causing Spirit to swell up with pride and Sid to smile.
"Hello, Tsubaki. We came to check up on you two… Where's Black Star?" Sid asked as she allowed the pair in. Pausing, the teenager began fiddling with the hem of her shirt.

"Um, well…"

"TSUBAKI COME LOOK!" Black Star stuck his head out of the bedroom, which Sid promptly noted there was only one room. "I've got it alllll figured out! Only the great me could come up with such an amazing idea!" The shocked gasp that left the girl's mouth when she saw the room was enough to make the pair of adults inspect whatever damage the proud preteen had done. Eyes widening, both Spirit and Sid gaped at the massive hole in the wall.

"W-what did you do?" Spirit managed. Grinning broadly, Black Star ran into the room and began shoving some of his things into the giant hole before pointing at the closet which was practically empty.

"Making room for Tsubaki! I was told girls have a whole bunch of junk and need lots of space. A big guy like me can't have my new partner uncomfortable." He answered proudly. "Now I just have to make room for both of our futons… What do you think, Sensei?" To say the least, he was sent to assist his distraught partner in grocery shopping while Sid and Spirit repaired the hold in the wall and situated their possessions accordingly.


Fights had broken out within the first month of Black Star and Tsubaki's partnership when male meisters approached the modest weapon and asked her to be their weapon. Sid knew Black Star could be possessive and with that, there were occasions in which he rampaged through the large school and either scared the living daylights out of some poor student that dared approach his weapon (being held back by his best friend Soul and calmed by Tsubaki) or proceeded to slam the unfortunate soul around a bit. It was surprising how it took three of these incidents for the male half of the population to take the hint. That aside, it appeared that Black Star would do fine. He had friends and a faithful partner. He was growing up.

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When he began to get word of each of Black Star's assignments and shook his head knowingly with each report. Black Star was used to doing a lot on his own, so in the beginning Sid chalked it up to the fact the boy needed to learn to share the burden of the fight. Black Star had all the talent and skill to have collected twice as many souls as his classmates, but his need to be center of attention was holding him back. He knew of Tsubaki's capabilities as well, making it known that the pair were a force to be reckoned with if they took their battles seriously. Clearly, someone wasn't taking their battles seriously. Sid finally approached the pair only to have Black Star state that he out shined everyone whether he captured a soul or not and Tsubaki would become a Death Scythe in no time. "When it happens, it'll be the show of the century!" Black Star all had but shouted up at his mentor. As expected, Tsubaki would smile and praise him all the same. They were an interesting pair and everyone knew it.

"Hey, Sensei?" Zombified and tired from several kishin related tasks, Sid had looked curiously at the 14 year old standing in his office door. The kid seemed like he was conflicted with something. Taking into consideration his weapon wasn't with him, Sid had surmised that maybe the teen had done something to upset her. Though he couldn't figure out why Black Star would come to him. Tsubaki rarely stayed upset with him for long and he usually went to Soul as far as he knew about such issues. That was if 'the great him' couldn't figure it out on his own anyway. He still remembered the first year Black Star went hunting for a birthday gift for his partner. In the end he simply spray painted "Black Star and Tsubaki- #1 Team!" across the school walls and presented it to the shocked weapon her birthday morning. That day he would have done better asking for suggestions.

"What is it, Black Star?" The teen moved further into the room and fixed his long time father figure with a serious look.

"Why am I still short?" he asked bluntly. Sid stared mutely causing Black Star to sigh and roll his eyes. "I mean, not that I need to be any bigger than I am now, seeing as people can barely handle my greatness as it is, but it's plain weird for a man as great as me to still be this height! If I'm supposed to surpass God I can't still be the height of a twelve year old!" he argued. Sid held back a smile. He knew where this was coming from.

"Getting strange speaking to Tsubaki and still having to look up at her, eh?" Black Star froze before he scoffed, crossed his arms, and looked away.

"Hardly!" he all but shouted. "I just need to know when my Godly height will kick in. A guy as big as me can't have everyone else in the group towering over them." He answered boldly. Nygus had chosen that moment to walk in and arched a brow at the young man.

"You'll hit your growth spurt soon, Black Star," she answered. "It's normal for girls to be taller than boys at times." She answered smoothly, ignoring the skeptical look she was receiving.  "Why don't you go and find Tsubaki. I heard she's looking for you." Without another word, he turned on his heel and ran down the hall, declaring something about Tsubaki having packed him a lunch made only for someone as great as him and she apparently couldn't eat without him. Sid chuckled knowingly and leaned back in his seat. The kid was actually growing up.

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It wasn't long, to Black Star's joy, before his growth spurt finally kicked in. Thankfully, part of him had matured along with this, though he was only mature to a certain extent. He wasn't jumping off the top of buildings for attention nearly as much to say the least. But as expected, old habits die hard and here Sid found himself walking through the halls of Shibusen looking for 16year old Black Star. He hadn't shown up for Gym, which happened to be the one of the few points of the day he wouldn't skip, aside from lunch, and Tsubaki was missing as well.

"Black Star and Tsubaki? They've been missing half the day." Maka had told him innocently enough, ignoring the knowing snort coming from her partner. "They might have gone home. They've both been acting weird all day."

"They won't be back today." Soul added causing both Sid and Maka to look at him in confusion. "What? It's pretty obvious."

"How do you figure?" Maka shot back, earning a roll of the eyes from her partner.

"How could you not tell?" he shot back.

"I'll go check their apartment." Sid decided as the pair bickered their way down the hall. Soul knew something and he wanted to know what exactly Black Star was up to that he dragged Tsubaki into.  He had already asked around if the pair had picked up any missions, but found they had only been seen with Black Star anxiously pulling a red faced Tsubaki down the hall during class transitions. That in mind, Sid made his way to their apartment, ready to either scold or console, after all, if Tsubaki wasn't feeling well, letting Black Star try to care for her wasn't very productive. The poor girl would have been better off walking off the any ailment in comparison to letting her partner care for her. Sid shuddered when he remembered helping Black Star make chicken noodle soup once before for her. That was a disaster within itself.

Ignoring the curious looks of those in the neighborhood, Sid walked up to the shared apartment and pounded on the door. "Black Star! Tsubaki?" He waited a few moments before pounding louder and calling their names. It was then when the distinct sound of stumbles and swears caught his ears.
"Leave it alone!" Black Star could be heard loudly whining.

"We can't just leave it!" Tsubaki's voice had countered. Sid allowed his eyebrows to rise when a shocked squeak was heard. There was a pause before whining was heard again followed and a muttered apology before the apartment door opened. Sid blinked when a clearly healthy Tsubaki stood in the door, dressed in an oversized t-shirt falling off her shoulder and hair loose. Her hair was mussed and around her waist, shamelessly hung Black Star, clad in his boxers and glaring up at the man in their doorway.

"Old man… what do you want?" He grumbled out, not bothering to let go of his now flustered weapon.
"You're supposed to be in school… what're you two doing?" Tsubaki's face started to redden as she stuttered over her words but Black Star had thankfully taken that moment to release his grip around her waist and stood straight, standing to his full height which now was just about two inches above his partner.

"Stein's going on about dissections again and none of the missions are worthy enough for a big guy like me. We're taking the day off." He answered coolly. Sid scoffed. Black Star taking a day off for anything other than training was not likely.

"You don't just get that decision, especially since I recently came across your newest bit of graffiti. I expect you back at school before the end of the lunch period. You'll be running some extra drills with me when you get back. And if you're not back by time lunch is over, that's remedial lessons for you on top of everything else." While Tsubaki bowed deeply and apologized, Black Star narrowed his eyes and huffed.

"Whatever," he muttered and turned to Tsubaki, a raised eyebrow. "We still have enough time to play around some more right?" he asked, ignoring the shocked look from the man at their door and his weapon's clear embarrassment as she let out a distressed moan and buried her tomato red face in her hands.

"Black Star~!" With that, Sid turned on his heel and walked away. He had summed up what they were doing before Tsubaki had even opened the door. If Black Star practically hanging off of her in his boxers wasn't enough of a giveaway, the charming little marks on her neck were. Sid let out a sigh. He knew they should have moved those two into a two bedroom apartment a while back. It was only a matter of time before Black Star's hormones kicked in and he was thinking fully on the same level as all the other boys his age. Training, eating, and surpassing God could wait when you discovered other ways of entertainment. Even Black Star was no match for the overactive sex drive of a young man. Not with a weapon like Tsubaki sharing his not only his living space, but bed. Sid sighed and shook his head. Indeed, he had raised quite the star. And the boy still had a long way to go.