So I've decided to write another fanfic. Sounds like a great idea XD I became inspired for this after seeing a couple of Facebook comments on a picture of Spirit and Stein as kids. All the comments said that it was a great idea, so I decided to try it with this. All of the characters are in their early teen/preteen years, with similar outfits to their adult appearances. I'll try and explain them all at one point ;) On a side note, I'll try to keep chapters shorter than some of my other ones to make it an easier read LOL *I disclaim; I own not Soul Eater*

Without further ado, TotalGamer98 presents to you:

Innocent Hearts, Tainted Souls

Chapter 1: Entrance


The boy's hand continued to grip the knife's handle, his ragged breath filling the room like a haunting soundtrack. He kneeled on the bloodstained bed sheets, causing the blood to pool around his knees and stain his pants as well. His dull green eyes did nothing but stare forward at the carnage before him as his whole body shook.

The police arrived shortly, called by a neighbor who reported screaming and seeing blood splatter on her friend's window. The boy slowly turned to face them, but his eyes seemed to bore right through them instead of looking directly at them. He waited a moment, as if letting them take in the scene of the toppled bedside table, shattered lamp, crimson blood splashed on nearly everything, and an elementary-aged boy who had seemingly just brutally murdered his parents in their bed. Then the boy spoke.

"What… Happened?" His voice was slow and quiet, asking a question to which the answer was obvious. The police seized the knife from his hands and took it away, but the boy showed little resistance. Grabbing one arm each, two men hauled him to a squad car waiting outside. Its lights flashed in the boy's eyes. Again, he repeated the same quiet phrase, like a broken record.

"What happened?" He looked around, seeming to slowly regain life in his eyes and movement. He glanced upwards towards the moon, seeing its grinning face and the blood cascading down its teeth which indicated that someone had died that night. The boy turned his face back to himself, but his eyes widened with shock when he noticed the same scarlet liquid drenching his pajamas. He screamed in horror.


The school's bell rang loud in the teen's ears, clanging like an alarm clock he couldn't shut off. He groaned a little, spreading his schoolbook over his head to block out the noise instead as he rolled his head over on the desk.

"That bell means the teacher's almost here, Spirit," Muttered a nearby classmate. "Wake up." Spirit groaned again in reply, which caused the same classmate to pull the book off his head and hit him with its cover. Spirit merely chuckled, not opening his eyes.

"That didn't hurt," He teased. "You should hit me like Kami does when I flirt with her, with the spine-OW!" The blue-eyed teen's head shot up as his classmate did just that. "I didn't mean it literally, Azusa!" He snapped.

Azusa shrugged as she handed his book back to him. "Think before you speak, then," She shot back.

Spirit rolled his eyes. "Teach isn't even here yet. She's taking her good old time."

Azusa turned towards the student to the other side of her, choosing to ignore Spirit for the time being. "Doodling again, Marie?" She spoke accusingly. "Really. Ms. Celeste is almost here; put away the sketchbook."

Marie shook her head. "I'm almost done with this sketch; look at this cool pattern I came up with," She protested.

Azusa sighed at her friend. "Guys will never like you if your head's constantly stuck in a sketchbook," She told her.

"She's right!" Spirit interjected, leaning over in front of Azusa. "We love to see your pretty face!"

"Get out of my 'pretty face' or I'll slap yours," Hissed the raven-haired girl, prompting Spirit to scuttle back to his own seat.

"I don't really care if guys notice me," Remarked Marie in response to their statements. "All the relationships I've witnessed end badly."

"That's because you keep hanging out with Spirit and have watched all his girlfriends dump him," Azusa told her.

"Hey! I've only had five in the past year!" Spirit defended himself.

Marie chuckled. "Really, Azusa, I'm fine," She assured her friend, her golden eyes shining.

"Attention please, students."

All eyes turned to Celeste, the blue-haired spear Death Scythe that was the teacher of their class. She smiled at them with her brown eyes, and had her hand on the back of a small student in front of her. "I have an announcement to make," She continued. "This young man is Franken Stein, and he's your new classmate. He may be a bit small, but he's already shown extreme promise and interest in his combat abilities in addition to the study of souls, so let's all give him a warm welcome," She smiled.

"Hello, Franken," Echoed throughout the class. Azusa happened to glance over at Marie, and was surprised to see her friend staring at the new student with her jaw hanging open. "Are you okay, Marie?" Asked the raven-haired girl, to which the blonde turned to her friend with an immense grin now plastered on her face.

"I think I'm in love," She beamed.

Azusa stared at her friend. "Not two minutes ago you were telling me you weren't interested in guys!" She hissed.

Marie turned her head back to staring at the new student again. "Yeah, but then he walked in," She sighed with a smile.

Spirit leaned over to Azusa. "That guy's got a crazy name. Franken Stein? Isn't that the name of a monster in a book?" He chuckled a little at his tease, not realizing that the student in question had decided to sit directly next to him.

"No, it isn't," He said suddenly, causing Spirit to jump. He stared at the silver-haired boy.

"W-when did you get here?" He stammered.

"My name isn't the same as a monster," Franken continued, "The monster wasn't named 'Frankenstein'. The name was, in fact, the last name of the scientist who created him, Victor Frankenstein. Since my last name is Stein hereditarily, my parents thought it nice to name me after a great scientist."

Spirit grinned awkwardly. "Well, isn't Victor Frankenstein, you now, fictional?" He chuckled, but when Franken smirked at him, he shied back.

"That's what you think," He said.


"So, Franken-"

"Call me Stein, please. The name 'Franken' is irregular. Besides, 'Stein' makes me seem more professional."

"But you're a kid, not a professional," Retorted Spirit. "Besides, I thought you said you liked the name your parents gave you."

"I do," Replied Stein, "When it's used with my full name. Alone, 'Franken' just sounds like a jumble of sounds. Besides, I'm only on a first-name-basis to those I'm closest to, like my parents."

Spirit huffed, standing next to Stein in the training area after class. Their group of friends sat in the same clearing every day after school to hang out. Today, of course, Marie had invited Stein. Spirit had now known the silver-haired boy for a whole day, and he felt like he should know more about the boy than his name by then.

"So how old are you?" He asked, desperate to know something about his new classmate. Instead, Stein replied with another question.

"How old are you?" He asked, only infuriating Spirit further.

"I'm fifteen!" He yelled. "Just answer the question!"

"Calm down, Spirit," Muttered Azusa.

Stein chuckled. "I'm four years younger than you," He told Spirit. Spirit stared at the younger boy for a moment, but then began to laugh.

"You're only eleven!" He exclaimed. Instantly Marie blushed; she had just realized she had a crush on someone two years younger than her.

Stein shrugged. "What does that matter?" He asked, getting a little irritated at Spirit for belittling him because of his young age. He stood, walking off. "I'm going home now," He muttered. Marie gasped, getting up to follow him.

"Wait, you can't leave yet!" She called after him. "We're only just getting to know each other!"

Azusa sighed. "There she goes," She said, watching them leave. "Great job, Spirit. Anyway, Marie's gone, so I'm going home with my meister," She said. Spirit frowned a little. He wasn't sure if it was deliberate or not, but everyone always seemed to take any available opportunity to remind him that he didn't have a meister.

"See ya," He mumbled.

Stein glanced back at Marie upon noticing that she was following him. "What is it you want?" He asked curtly. This stopped Marie for a moment, but she quickly gathered her resolve.

"I… Just wanted to ask more about you!" She stated loudly. Stein raised an eyebrow, but then shrugged.

"All right then. But I probably won't answer a lot of your questions," He said as he stopped walking and turned to face her. Marie relaxed a little.

"Well, for starters, um… You're a meister, right?" She asked.

Stein nodded. "Yes. Actually, if I may change the subject a little, I was wondering if you could point me in the direction of a good weapon."

Marie's face lit up. She hadn't found a permanent meister yet, even though the school year was nearly halfway over. She had had a few, but most of them had traded her for another partner because she always had her face in her sketchbook. "Of course," She replied to Stein. "What kind of partner are you interested in? I happen to know a good hammer…"

Stein looked thoughtful, but then shook his head. "Actually, I'm interested in a scythe."

Marie's expression instantly fell. "Oh… A scythe…" She sighed. "Yeah, I know a scythe too…"

Stein began to smile. "You do?"

After seeing his excited face, Marie smiled again. "If he's happy, I should be," She thought to herself. "Yeah. Our friend Spirit," She said. However, as soon as she said this, she felt as if she had said something wrong, for Stein frowned again.

"Oh," He said dispassionately. "Him."

"I-I'm sure you'll get along if you give him a chance," Marie replied.

"He's annoying," Stated Stein.

Marie sighed. "Well, he's the only available scythe. Of course, there's that hammer we were talking about…"

Stein shook his head again. "No. It has to be a scythe. It's my destiny," He said with assurance. Marie raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

Stein looked her straight in the eyes. "It has to be a scythe," He repeated. "Nothing else would be right. Grim Reapers are meant to have scythes."

Marie only got more confused. "You wanna be like the Grim Reaper?"

Stein narrowed his eyes. "No. I am like a Grim Reaper," He snapped with such assurance and ferocity that Marie shied back a little. "There's more than one, and my Dad is one of them."