AN: Okay so this may or may not be one of my main stories. Depends on how much I love it. Meh. Meeeh.

And whether people like it or not.

Either way, I hope there are enough Black*StarxMaka shippers out there to read this... and if you're not then I swear you will be by the time I'm done.

Heh.

Chapter 1: Surprise, Surprise

This

Can't

Be

Happening.

I'm seriously about to murder something. Maybe myself.

I'm not a toy. I'm not a doll. I don't deserve to be treated like one. Especially not by...

Him.

Him. The one with the insanely spiky blue hair and unnaturally wide eyes. And that voice...

Oh God that voice.

I haunts my dreams, I swear.

So what if I needed some money?

So what if he happened to have an opening?

It's not freaking worth it.

At least I have Tsubaki. Hopefully she can help me keep my sanity.

Hopefully.

I start today, don't I? Yeah. I'm supposed to be there at four o'clock. Wait a minute, what time was it again...?

Shit!

I arrived at the Nakatsukasa household twelve minutes late. I looked the large estate up and down in awe. I couldn't believe it was really that big. No matter how many times I visited, I just couldn't wrap my brain around the fact that Black Star turned out to be a well-known businessman. What ever happened to surpassing God? Maybe Tsubaki finally got to him.

I shook my head to dismiss these thoughts and walked up to the gate. I pressed the button on the speaker and heard a small bell sound from somewhere. I was about to leave when a panting "Wait!" caught my attention. I turned back to the speaker and blinked. "Tsubaki?"

"Maka! Oh, it seems like it's been ages!"

"It kinda has! How have you been?"

"Great! Great, but please come in! Here, hold on a sec..."

The gate slowly swung open to reveal the remaining part of their mansion that I hadn't seen yet. It was enormous, with tannish-brown walls and a black tiled roof. I couldn't believe it. If I remembered correctly, Tsubaki had convinced her hubby to style the house like a Japanese one, to respect Tsubaki's heritage. I guess that was pretty sweet of him.

Before I could pound myself on the forehead multiple times, Tsubaki opened the door and beckoned me inside.

Moments later we were seated across from each other at a small table in the kitchen.

"So how have you been? I haven't seen you since we graduated." She said, folding her hands in front of her. She sat properly, with her legs crossed even though she wasn't wearing a skirt. Instead she had paired a soft purple high-collared Under Armor jacket with pastel green yoga pants and Nike sneakers. Though was dressed as if she were going jogging, they way she held her chin high gave her an air of sophistication. An air that I hadn't even come close to achieving with my pink hoodie, dark blue sweatpants and Ugg boots.
"Great! I can't believe it's been this long." I responded, slowly crossing me legs and folding my hands to match her. She didn't seem to notice.

"How has Soul been doing? I hear you two still live together." She started with the small talk, so I obliged and tried to use my best grammar while doing so.

"We split the rent, and neither of us have been able to muster up enough money to move out. But knowing him he probably just doesn't want to leave me out on my butt. He's been teaching at DWMA, actually. Being the last death scythe gives him quite a reputation."

"Oh, how sweet! He really is a nice guy under neath, isn't he? I would think he'd refuse a teaching job just to show off how cool he was."

"Oh, trust me he's matured plenty. Speaking of maturing, I still can't believe the arrogant idiot we went to school with ended up being so successful."

"Oh, I know! It surprised me too! He still mumbles to himself about truly surpassing God one day, but he's been working closely with Kid-" she stopped herself. "I mean, Shinigami-sama. They've actually become very good friends."

Suddenly, the door slammed open and the sound of arguing men filled the front hall, echoing through the empty house and making it's way to the kitchen.

"I told you, if we invest in something as ridiculous as that we'll be throwing our money away!" First a head of blue hair entered the room, closely followed by a cloaked figure with a black mask.

"Speak of the devil..." I mumbled.

"But it may pay off in the future. Just think-" they caught sight of the two of us and stopped dead in their tracks.

"Maka?" Black Star said, a confused look on his face. His voice sure dropped. But I could still hear a bit of his girl voice poking out.

"...and he appears." Tsubaki finished silently for me with a small giggle.

"Hey, what's up?" I say with a nervous smile.

"It is you!" The cloaked figure removed his mask to reveal familiar golden eyes and black triple-striped hair. Except, unlike the last time I saw his face, the white stripes traveled around his head completely.

"How are you, Shinigami-sama?" I stood and held out my hand to him, but instead he laughed and pulled me into a hug.

"No need to be so formal. We are friends, after all." He chuckled. I gave a nervous laugh and stepped back.

"Sorry. I haven't seen you guys in a while!" I said. Black Star looked me up and down, then grinned.

"You sure matured. We can't call you tiny-tits anymore." He said. I blushed and crossed my arms over my semi-developed chest.

"Yeah, well what ever happened to surpassing God, idiot?" I retorted. He rolled his eyes and stuck his hands in his pockets.

"I was young and stupid back then."

"Technically you still are. Twenty-three isn't that old."

"Older than I was."

Tsubaki laughed and stood up. "Some things never change, do they?" She folded her hands and gave a small bow towards Kid.

"Pleasure to see you again, Kid." She said. Kid smiled and held up a hand. "Pleasure is all mine, Mrs. Nakatsukasa." He said.

Then the sound of multiple people trampling down the stairs rang throughout the first floor and three children sprinted into the room, tackling Black Star and almost knocking him backwards.

"Whoa!" He laughed as they giggled and rubbed their faces into his stomach. They all seemed to be different ages. The tallest was a boy with shaggy hair the same shade of blue as Black Star's, but with Tsubaki's dark purple eyes. The middle child was a girl who looked almost exactly like Tsubaki, but with her long silky black hair pulled into two loose side braids. And the final child had, again, Black Star's blue hair. But his eyes were green as well.

"Daddy!" The youngest cried.

"Now, now." Tsubaki laughed. "We haw guests." They glanced over to Kid and released Black star. They all bowed their heads and said, "Konichiwa, Shinigami-sama!" They spoke Japanese? Kid smile contents an bowed as well. "Konichiwa."

"We're teaching them cultures from Japan. Black Star insisted we do." Tsubaki explained. I nodded and watched as they turned to bow to me.

"Konichiwa!"

"Uhh... konichiwa?"

They giggled at my messy pronunciation of the foreign word.

"Now, now. Introduce yourselves." Tsubaki told them.

"Watashi wa Nakatsukasa Ren-chan!" Said the eldest.

"Watashi wa Nakatsukasa Tsugumi-chan!" Said the middle.

"Watashi wa Nakatsukasa Takeshi-chan!" Said the youngest.

I laughed. Tsubaki gave me a smile that said I could use English. "I'm Maka Albarn. Nice to meet you." So these were the three Nakatsukasa siblings I'd heard about? They were so polite.

"Maka will be our housekeeper for a while. Would you like to show her around?" They nodded. "Hai!"

Tsugumi grabbed my hand and dragged me out of the kitchen and towards the stairs. "You can see my room first!"

After I got a full tour of the massive house, which took almost an hour, they lead me to the playroom because Tsubaki, Black Star and Kid weren't finished whatever they were doing downstairs.

"So you're gonna be our maid, huh?" Ren looked me up and down. They had at me down on a bean bag and were proceeding to interrogate me.

"You could say that." I responded, sitting criss-cross. "I'll also be your babysitter, homework helper, and Bla- I mean, your father's personal assistant."

"That's so fun!" Tsugumi said. I smiled. "Yeah, I guess. So how old are all of you?" I asked.

"I'm ten." Ren said with a smirk, as if it were some sort of accomplishment.

"I'm eight!" Tsugumi held up four fingers on each hand to demonstrate.

"Hmph." Takeshi crossed his arms. Tsugumi rolled her eyes. "Takeshi's six. But he doesn't talk much. Especially not to people he's just met." She explained.

I nod. "Ah. Well hopefully he'll grow to like me." I said. Then the room went quiet. I felt like I should have said something, but couldn't think of anything to say. Then I caught

Tsugumi and Ren exchange knowing looks. Then Tsugumi transferred the same look to Takeshi, who shot it back at her. They gave small nods, then Tsugumi turned back to her right side and nodded at Ren. I blinked.

"Are you guys okay?" I asked. Tsugumi nodded and gave me a serious.

"What do you think of Papa?" She asked. I blinked a couple more times before responding.

"Well, to be honest he used to annoy me to death. But he's matured so much since the last time I've seen him, so I can't really say anything about the new him. I haven't gotten to know him enough." I said. Tsugumi nodded, like she actually processed the information.

"We have a secret to tell you." She said. I smiled. "Oh, you do? What about?"

She cleared her throat and gave side glances to her brother and sister.

"Papa said he loved you."

My breath caught in my throat and I felt my cheeks get hot.

"Eh?" I stumbled over my words. "Wh-whadaya mean, he... wha...?"

"He still does." Ren added. "But he loves Mama more."

"Don't say anything to him about it, though." Tsugumi added. Honestly I was still trying to comprehend her first statement. "We were worried about you. Please don't let him do anything. We don't want Mama and Papa to split up. They're not as close as they used to be." She said. I snapped back to complete consciousness. Then I was whisked into a set of memories of when my own mother and father had split up. Even though I hated my father with a passion, it was still a hard thing for my mother to do. She really loved him. And in that moment I knew that I would do everything in my power to keep Black Star and Tsubaki from splitting up. No matter what. I just couldn't put these kids through what I went through.

"Don't worry." I smiled kindly at the three of them. "I promise I won't let them split. Pinkie swear." I held out my pinkie. Two little pinkies wrapped around mine, and with a small nudge from Tsugumi a third was added. Then the eight-year-old crawled over to me and hugged me tight.

"Thank you, onee-chan." She said into my shoulder. I was shocked at first, but then I smiled again and wrapped my arms around her small body.

"You're welcome."

AN: Yes, I know. You're not used to sappy endings, are you? Just admit it. You thought this was adorable.

But I'm not gonna ruin the moment by blabbing about some crazy experience I had today. Instead, I just say READ AND REVIEW PLZZ!

Later, losers!

-TRG