Not So Alone
Summary: After the fall of Arachnephobia and the discovery of the threat of Noah's group and the Kishin, Shibusen begins preparations to fight once more. With battle just over the horizon, a new student is brought into the school, and with him comes suspicion from the other students, as well as the threat of a hated enemy who has ties to the new student.
Authors Note: Hey, Hi, Hello! Thank you for taking the time to check out this new fanfiction :3 This will be the first published fanfiction of mine in the past 6 months, so I apologize if it starts out a little rusty XD This story takes place in the mangaverse of Soul Eater just after chapter 66, so if you haven't read the manga, I suggest doing so :3 Now for the legal portion.
Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater or any of the characters within, with the exception of Keikoku who is an original creation. Soul Eater is owned by Ookubo Atsushi and Yen Press. Support the manga and mangaka by purchasing the manga when it becomes available in your country.
Now that THAT is over, enjoy the fanfic. Please be sure to R&R :D
Chapter One: Arrive, New Student. The Boy in the Bandages.
It had been a month since the battle with Arachnophobia had ended and things in Death City had almost returned to normal. The only things that remained wrong were Kid's mysterious abduction and Chrona's disappearance. Shibusen was constantly abuzz with activity, what previously was a school for weapons and their meisters, who's sole duties were to hunt witches and those with evil souls, now turned into a command post for the imminent fight with the group lead by the man known as Noah. On top of this, the escape of the Witch Medusa after the fight with Arachne made things even more tense at the school. The ones that felt the weight of this the most were the students, and out of them all, Maka Albarn had suffered the most.
Maka sat in the full classroom, her arms laid crossed atop the desk with her face buried in them as she peered out across the room at the door, expecting to see Chrona come into the room at any minute, however in her mind she knew that the lavender haired girl would not be coming to class today, just as she hadn't for a few weeks now. Her partner, Soul, sat in the seat beside her, leaning back in his chair with his hands cupped behind his head, a bored expression on his face. He understood how Maka felt about losing Chrona, but he had to keep a strong front about him, if nothing else than for Maka's sake. They would have to fight again soon, and worrying over Chrona would only cause them trouble.
"Oi, Maka. Where do you suppose Marie-sensei is?" The white haired weapon asked, trying to arouse some response out of his partner.
"I dunno..." She mumbled, hearing the door open she quickly looked over, however her ears were faster at discovering who it was that arrived than her eyes were. The motley crew of weapons and meister that were entering the room were none other than her other friends, Black*Star, Tsubaki and the Thompson sisters, Patty and Liz.
"Yahoo! The Great Black*Star has arrived, Yahoo!" The aqua haired boy yelled out, attracting very little attention despite his effort. The other students had gotten so used to his antics every day that it had become something commonplace. The four of them made their way to their seats in the same row as Soul and Maka, and took their seats. Soul and Black*Star greeting one another with a high five.
"Good morning Maka-san, Soul-san." Tsubaki greeted politely as she took her spot next to her overly energetic partner.
"Ohayoo~!" Patty said energetically, though not nearly as much as Black*Star. The short haired blonde grinned at the rest of the group. "Hey, hey, Maka-chan! Any word on Chrona-chan?" She blurted out, grimaces appearing on the faces of the other four around them. Maka buried her face further into her arms.
"Oi, Patty, you really shouldn't-" Liz began to say, trying to change the subject, however she was cut off by Maka speaking.
"No..." She said, the sound of her response being drowned out by her arms and clothing that covered her mouth. Finally raising her head again, she looked to her friends, seeing the expressions on their faces. She could tell that they were worried, they each had a pained expression, even Black*Star who rarely felt down about anything. "Don't worry about me you guys, I'll be alright. I believe in Shinigami-sama, he will find Chrona, I'm sure of it..." She said, faking a smile to ease the unrest amongst their group. A few more minutes passed before the door opened once more, and into the classroom came a woman with long blonde hair and wearing a black eye patch with a lightning bolt on it.
"Good morning, everyone! Sorry for my tardiness, students, but I have someone for all of you to meet today!" Marie-sensei said happily, waving to her students. Maka sat up straight, almost leaning over their desk counter. Someone she wanted them to meet? It couldn't possibly be... could it? The anticipation made Maka nervous. "Come in, please." Marie said as she motioned to the door and a figure entered through it. It was not Chrona, Maka was disappointed, sitting back in her chair once more she watched with mild interest at this new student.
"Class, I would like to introduce Keikaku-kun. He will be attending Shibusen from this day forward. Please be sure to make him feel at home here." Marie told the students, who were all busy checking this new person out. Maka glanced him over, he had azure blue hair that was styled almost that it reminded her of her fathers hair, and was dressed in a golden yellow collared shirt and black slacks. He was somewhat attractive, however one thing was unusual about him. He had bandages wrapped around his forehead and covering his right eye so that it couldn't be seen, though his bangs covered most of it. "Keikaku-kun, do you wish to introduce yourself to the class?" Marie asked him with a friendly smile. The boy glanced at her with his one eye and shook his head in response. "O-oh...Well then...If that is all, why don't you have a seat next to Maka?" She told him, pointing to the empty seat next to the blonde.
Maka was shocked when Marie-sensei instructed the new boy to sit in that particular seat. That is where Chrona had sat when she was still there. Nobody else had sat there since the girl went missing. As the boy made his way up the stairs towards them, Maka glared daggers at him, how dare he take Chrona's place! It was then that she noticed it. Her Soul Perception let her see down to his soul and what she saw was shocking. His soul was...abnormal, unstable, as if it were fighting itself. Something in his soul was trying to consume him while his soul fought against it. She had seen this sensation before...but where had she seen it?
"This guy...trying to steal my spotlight!" Black*Star said in a low voice as he watched him with the others.
"I wonder if he is a Weapon or a Meister....and where is his partner?" Liz whispered to the others.
"Guys, I don't feel right about him...somethings strange..." Maka said, looking to her friends. Their eyes returned to the new boy as he took a seat, his eye not leaving the front of the room and he never said a word. Marie went about teaching the class for the day, though some students were busy whispering amongst themselves about Keikoku, and while her friends had taken their attention off the new student to pay attention to the lesson, Maka couldn't take her attention off of Keikoku for long, something about his wavelength was familiar. Before long, the lesson was over and the students began to file out of the room. Liz and Patty waved to the rest before leaving as well, however Black*Star and the others had different plans. They wanted to find out about this Keikoku person.
When the boy began to leave, they intercepted him.
"Yahoo! Hey you! How dare you take all of the attention onto yourself! Don't you know I am the great Black*Star! Haha!" Black*Star said, placing himself in between the boy and the door.
"Black*Star..." Tsubaki said, trying to calm the boy down. She remembered what happened when Kid joined the class, and she hoped that this would not be a repeat of it.
"Um...Where are you from, Keikoku-san?" Maka asked the boy, ignoring Black*Star who was being held back by Tsubaki away from the rest of them. The boy stared at her for a minute with his one black eye, remaining silent until he finally spoke.
"I'm from Japan." He said simply. Despite having asked herself, Maka was shocked that he had even spoken.
"Japan...Isn't that where you are from, Tsubaki-chan?" Maka said, looking back to the taller girl who had managed to get Black*Star to calm down a little bit. The girl nodded in response before rejoining Maka and Soul. She too wanted to learn more about him. "So...my name is Maka Albarn, and this is my partner, Soul. And that is Black*Star and Tsubaki" Maka introduced the group, offering a handshake as a friendly greeting. He stared at her hand for a moment before shakily accepting, shaking her hand. When their hands made contact, Maka shivered, feeling a shock run throughout her body. It was an unpleasant feeling to say the least. It made her suspicions about him even bigger. She tried to put her awkward feelings about him aside, if possible she would have liked to be friends.
"Say guys, why don't we have a party to welcome Keikoku? Tsubaki you can help me cook right?" Maka suggested, looking to the others to see their reactions. Soul raised an eyebrow and walked over to her, whispering in her ear.
"I thought you said you had a bad feeling about this guy? Why the sudden turn around?" He whispered to her.
"If we find out more about him, maybe he won't be so suspicious. You trust me right, Soul?" Maka explained, looking her partner in the eyes. He sighed and rubbed his head.
"Sounds good to me. What do you think, uh, Keikoku?" Soul asked, looking to the new guy. Keikoku looked to the ground. He was being asked to come with them? He wondered what he should do, it wasn't every day that something like that happened, and on top of that he didn't know if he could trust them.
"I don't know..." He said, looking up at them again. He thought it over in his head, this was his first day here, it would probably have been best to just go home but something felt like he should go with them. "Ok." He nodded.
"Then it's settled, we will have a party to celebrate Keikoku joining Shibusen!" Maka said cheerfully.
A tall black figure stood in front of a large mirror as the sound of wheels rolling echoed through the room. Turning about, the figure revealed a white skull like mask.
"Yes, yes, hi, hello! How can I help you, Stein-kun?" Shinigami asked as he swayed back and forth. The sound of rolling wheels stopped as the tall man in a stitched lab coat arrived at the end of the long hall. Stein sat in his chair, a cigarette hanging from his mouth as smoke rose from the end and into the air.
"Shinigami-sama, I just finished analyzing the data on the new student, Keikoku. You are aware of the state of his soul, aren't you?" Stein asked cautiously.
"Oi? What are you referring to, Stein-kun?" The death god asked, the expression on his mask changing to a questioning one. Stein looked at the schools leader with a blank stare, he knew that the death god knew more than he was letting on.
"That boy...His souls wavelength shows similar responses to a witches, as well as that of the Devil Sword wielders..." Stein explained, looking at a clipboard that he had tucked under his arm. "Do you think its fine to leave him as he is?" He asked, holding the cigarette between his fingers.
"Hmm....." Shinigami thought, a large white hand appearing and making a motion as if he were scratching his chin. "Stein-kun. Could you look into Keikoku-kun's background?" Shinigami asked the scientist, "For now, we can just watch him."
"Understood." Stein said, exhaling a cloud of smoke.