The atmosphere at the renowned Death Weapon Meister Academy was much more relaxed once the kishin Asura was defeated. In fact, the incident had become only a source of stories for parents hoping to seem cool to their children, and even with the common knowledge that the battle was fought with only three weapon/meister pairs, it now seemed that Asura had actually fought a small army.

New students had poured into the academy, each desperately hoping to be like the Maka Albarn-Evans someday and sending furtive glances about in the halls for a glimpse of the heroine's elusive young daughter, Lily. Nobody bothered to look for the boisterous children of Black*Star and Tsubaki. Attention was their forte, even in battle. A set of the loudest prankster twins to ever be conceived, they were impossible to miss. Kid's son was also a rather well-known spectacle, what with his pink-tinged, always unruly hair with black lines of Sanzu and his father's gold eyes. He was quiet, structured and intelligent- a wallflower in many ways, but being the headmaster's son, nobody could forget his presence.

Zipping through the bright halls of the academy was a dull, comfortable pulse of the soul wavelength of Death himself- Death the Kid, that is. With the younger soul taking over his father's position, there was a definite crackle of life that had shot through Death City- life and activity and an overabundance of Nevadan sunshine. Also unnoticed in the halls, however, were many new students waiting to be matched with a compatible soul…

"Yes, yes, everyone gather 'round," boomed a blue-skinned man at the front of the room, standing beside a tall reaper, who nodded to him as he stepped back.

Death stepped forward, his usual slight scowl replaced with the ghost of excitement. "Ladies and gentlemen, weapons and meisters, I have invited you here today to assign you all a partner. As you know, each one of you is either a weapon or a future meister. To assign you to yo-"

"Get on with it or get it over with!" shouted a slim girl with midnight-blue hair from the front row. She was surrounded with doting boys (and a few girls), her head held in the cocky manner of someone who knows their own importance very well.

The young shinigami nodded in a fatherly fashion to the blue-haired girl. "I will be finished soon, Blue*Star. Now, remember, you get many things from your mother. You must learn her gentility and humility before you are able to learn anything else," he said with a sigh, addressing her personally and quietly. "Your father used his arrogance to become great, his willpower to be good. Do not become so selfish that you are hindered." Blue*Star nodded, rolling her eyes after the reaper had turned back to the crowd.

"In any case," the shinigami continued, "You must mingle for a while. See how your personalities meld and mix. Once your choice is narrowed to five potential partners or less, I would like you to stand on the far side of the room. Good luck."

The room fell silent and still for a split second before erupting into chaos. Kid cringed at the disorderly, writhing mass of students before him and turned to watch the mirror. Very few people noticed the pink-haired figure in the reflection.

One of those few was a shy girl, hiding under a long brown curtain of hair and smiling gently at the mirror. The kind, stuttering Crona Gorgon, her hero. Not a hero in the Kishin Incident, but a hero nonetheless, she'd been raised on stories of the half-witch's bravery and backbone in the toughest of times.

She straightened, and with a sharp intake of breath, made her way to the nearest person to herself wearing a pin reading "Weapon" in tall red letters.

"Hello." Her voice was soft and high-pitched.

The other student nodded to her coldly in acknowledgement.

"What's your name?" She asked.

The white-blonde weapon shook her head. "Are you mocking me?"

"No…" The shy girl shrunk visibly. "I… don't mean to be a bother…"

"Oh," The blonde chuckled a little. "No, you're not. I'm Lily Albarn-Evans. I thought you were another faker, using me to meet my mum."

A look of stunned recognition passed over the quiet meister's face. Lily. Her mother's fame had made her an antisocial recluse, trying to hide from the recognition and the false friends. She was unapproachable, everyone knew. So stupid of me to not recognize her, the brown-haired girl thought with a grimace.

"Certainly not, Lily… I'd best be going?"

Lily nodded sadly. "Best not to give anyone else the wrong ideas. I only talk to the other two pair's kids, so far. Nice to know that they're not the only ones who are worth it."

"Okay. Bye," the brunette said with an obligatory nod.

"Wait, you never told me your name," Lily called.

"Kata," The girl said as she sank into the crowd.

Kata smiled nervously as she searched for another friendly-looking weapon, chuckling slightly at the irony of the statement. Everyone seemed occupied. Nobody ever has time for me, though… But I thought it would be different here. I'm already in the EAT program. Wouldn't people respect me? Scanning the room, no unoccupied weapon was in sight. She let out a resigned sigh.

"Excuse me."

"Yes?" Kata spun a bit too quickly and crashed into a boy only a few inches taller than her. A weapon, she noticed as she quickly backed up. "Sorry, sorry. I-"

"It's alright," He said with an awkward grin. However, it was, judging by his flushed cheeks and surprised expression, absolutely not alright.

"I'm Allen, by the way," the weapon added. "Looking for a meister. You're a meister, right?"

"Right. Um, okay. Which program?"

"EAT. My weapon form is pretty flipping cool," he said with a mischievous grin. He had braces, Kata noticed.

"You have me intrigued," she said, shyness aside. Hints and mystery excited her like nothing else.

"Hold out your hands."

Kata did.

Light flashed. The boy in front of her disappeared and Kata found herself wearing a pair of long black gloves. Protruding from the black leather fingertips were six-inch blades, curved into cruel, blood-red points. She felt a strap gently resting on the small of her back, connecting the gloves like a hug. "Holy shinigami," she muttered. "This is pretty badass."

Allen's face shone in the blades like a hologram. "I know, right? Totally makes up for my lame-ass face."

Kata chuckled. "Get back to your human form, your face isn't lame."

"Fine, fine," Allen said, obviously not as irritated as he made himself sound.

Kata smiled as the short boy appeared in front of her again. He seemed easygoing enough, despite his angular, sharp form and the stark contrast of his curly black hair and pale skin. "Hello again," she said.

I'm actually talking to someone I just met… confidently.

Allen smirked. "You like?"

Kata shrugged, smiling. "You could say that."

A flash of light, and she was wearing the gloves again.

"Usually I have to stretch like hell to fit over someone's hands," the weapon said, a hint of a smirk in his metallic voice. Kata just shrugged. He was pushy. She liked it. That may come in handy- literally. She was known by the friends she'd left as being very indecisive, always looking for the perfect solution to every problem. This Allen seemed rather compatible.

"That was easy, wasn't it?"

Kata startled. It wasn't as simple as she would like to get used to clawed gloves talking to her, meister or not- even if she did have a tendency to talk to inanimate objects. "What was easy?"

Allen went back to human form.

"I can sense a basic idea of people's feelings," he explained. "That's why, even though I didn't get the most fantastic grades, I was put in the EAT program."

Kata inwardly grimaced. He's the perfect weapon, but why on earth must he be a stupid—

Her thoughts were interrupted. "I felt your disappointment. You should learn to hide these things better. You practically scream your feelings at people. In any case, my grades were from lousy concentration. I'm not an idiot." Allen seemed a little hurt, but his words sounded memorized and dull, as if he had explained this hundreds of times.

Kata nodded, unsure of what to say. Memorized sentences confused her to no end, as she mainly relied on facial expression and tone to understand and take a conversation somewhere acceptable. There was nothing to draw from, no shine in his eyes, no twitch of his lips. He was a puzzle, and a good one at that.

Allen grinned, his embarrassment fading. "Ever resonated with someone before?"

He felt a sharp stab of fear shoot through Kata. "Yes…" she muttered. Her discomfort prickled through the air like invisible thorns. "It… didn't go well."

Allen nodded. Crap. I hate making people feel bad. It's itchy…

Kata's odd nature led her on. "She would have been in the NOT program."

"Would have been?" Allen asked, his discomfort in her word choice twisting through the air to entwine with hers.

White-hot pain and the silky dampness of grief shot through the air with such intensity that people around the pair started shifting awkwardly. Allen doubled over in her memory.

"She… didn't make it." Kata felt her eyes grow hot, her face freezing.

"Oh…" He croaked from the floor, eyes shut tight. How does she deal with this, still standing? How does she not let this show?

"You're… stronger than you look… think about puppies… kittens… anything… please…"

The feeling lessened slightly. He stood, his lungs aching for air.

"It's not okay," he said, "But it can be."

Kata nodded acknowledgement and shook her head like a dog, her hair going everywhere, as if that made the pain go away. Allen let out a short breath.

"Please try not to do that during battle," he breathed, his cynical nature peeking back out, supposing it was safe.

"Right." The girl looked as if nothing was wrong.

The hell? How does she—?

"I see you've found each other," came the voice of the shinigami himself, towering slightly above them. "I knew this would happen."

Allen sensed a repressed worry behind the reaper's thick wall of wavelength.

A/N: Hey, guys. This is my first official Soul Eater fanfiction. It's kind of a plot bunny, so if it makes no sense, I'm terribly sorry. Basically, it takes place about 20 years after the series ended. Lord Death has retired, leaving Kid in his place as the DWMA's headmaster. The originals' kids are going to school there- Lily Albarn-Evans, Blue*Star and Grey*Star (twin children of Black*Star and Tsubaki), and Theodore Gorgon, the son of Death the Kid and Crona- excuse me as I basically just promote every ship ever.

However, the series focuses on six newbies- Allen Callaghan, Kata Monet, Solus Stein, Jono Glenn, Alice Julian, and Jane Ferrel, respectively, with Lily, the Stars, and Theo hanging out with some background appearances.

So pop some popcorn, sit back, and enjoy.

(If you don't enjoy, do tell me why so that I can fix it. Constructive criticism is extremely helpful! I have no beta reader, so all mistakes are mine. Spell-check and Soul Eater just don't mix, ja?)

-Nowhere