I walked quickly over to the end of the pavement. Well, more like ran. "Oi, hurry up!" I called out impatiently. Yes, I am very impatient. I think it's mostly because I'm fast, too fast for other people's taste. But today, I had a reason- it was our first day in Shibusen!

"C'mon!" I shouted. "I'm going!" replied a very annoyed voice. I tapped my foot, a small frown playing on my face.

"Man, you should really slow down a bit, Neruki," My partner Miguel was panting, bending down with his hands on his knees. "Whew." He's always taking things in stride, while I'm such a speed demon. Him and I are polar opposites, and yet we understand each other pretty well. It's a push-and-pull relationship, I guess.

"Seriously, what took you so long?" I asked.

"Nothing! It's just that you practically ran the whole way..."

Don't take this the wrong way- while Miguel and I fight, we don't do it seriously. It's just a thing we do for fun.

"I know I'm way too excited, but look! Isn't it beautiful?"

We stared down at the school.

"Wow." Miguel breathed. "Pretty symmetrical. I wonder how long it took them to build it....Neruki?" He turned around, searching for me.

"Over here!" I yelled, already to the other end of the street.

"How did you-"

"Let's go! We're going to be late!" I started to head over to the entrance.

"Oh, god," I heard him say before he ran after me.

We climbed the last of the stairs and finally reached the top. Miguel let out a low whistle.

"It looks pretty big."

"Uh-huh," I said absentmindedly. We were at some type of mini-plaza in front of Shibusen. The building was very different from the rest of its surrondings. It had very bright colors, with some strange skull designs on the sides.

'The insignia of Shinigami-sama,' I thought. And some red spikes coming out of the walls. I have to admit, it was pretty awe-inspiring, and yet, somewhat goofy....

"Hey, look." Miguel's voice interrupted my train of thought. "Someone's over there."

"Hmm?"

I turned to look at where he was referring to. There was a boy sitting down on the floor, his back aganist the wall. The guy was wearing a red shirt with a black jacket, combined with dark jeans. He had white spiky hair held back with a headband, with startling crimson eyes. And they
were staring right at us.

"You new?" I heard him say casually.

"Yup," I replied.

"Really?" He looked shocked, yet his eyes remained unchanged. "Huh. Black Star never said anything about this...." I heard him mutter under his breath, scratching his head.

"Black Star?" Miguel asked.

"Ohohoho!" Me and Miguel craned our heads up to see whose obnoxious laughter it was. A spiky haired boy was standing on one of the red spikes. I wondered how he got up there. "So you know my name!"

"Oh boy," I heard Red Eyes say.

"Well, it's no wonder that you know! I'm known everywhere! Nyahahahaha!" The boy threw his head back and laughed.

"Who's the noob....?" I questioned.

"I don't know."

"I am Black Star, the man who will surpass God! How dare a measly human like you be talked more about than me! Why? Because I'm Black Star, the man who will-"

"You said that already! Idiot!" another voice called out. I switched my gaze over to the girl. She was blond, and wore two ponytails. She was dressed in some type of uniform-white shirt, yellow vest, green tie, and a plaid red skirt. Funny though, no else was....

"Soul!" She directed her rage at Red Eyes. "You were going to fight alongside Black Star again?!"

'Fight?' I thought. The pieces began to fall in their place.....

"Course not! I didn't even know what he dragged me here for!"

"Yeah right!"

The boy named Soul put up his hands in defense because it looked like the girl was going to chop him with her textbook.

"Seriously, Maka! N-no, wait!"

"Hey," Miguel gave an awkward wave. Maka stopped mid-chop to tilt her head at us.

"Oh, sorry....Eheheheh!" She rubbed her head with her hand nervously. Soul stopped flinching and shot us a grateful look.

"Hello, my name's Maka!" She returned Miguel's wave warmly. Soul got up and shoved his hands into his pockets.

"Name's Soul Eater Evans. Just call me Soul."

"Hello, Soul-san," I replied.

"Oi!" All of us turned to look up again. "Have you forgotten about the big me?!"

"No," I yelled, cupping my hand around my mouth.

"Sadly," Miguel added. We all laughed, Maka giggling and Soul practically gagging.

"I officially challenge you new people to a fight!"

"What?!" Miguel stopped laughing.

"Really?" I called. "Nah, I don't think so." I waved my hand as if to shoo the statement away. Soul looked my way, pity playing in his eyes.

"I don't think you can get out of it easily..."

"What's the matter, are ya scared?!" That did it. I clenched my teeth and fists together. I guess it was noticable, because Maka sighed and said "Oh no."

"It's no wonder you're afraid! Everyone has the right to cower in the face of-"

"Alright, shut up already!" Miguel tensed; he knew me well. He knew what was coming. "Monkey Boy! Want a fight? You got it. Miguel," I held up my lower arm. "Transform."

"What?!" Miguel stared at me wonderously. 'Neruki, don't be stupid!' He hissed telepathically. We were able to do that, as many other shokunins and bukis could. 'Are you actually going to listen to him?'

'It's not being stupid,' I replied, turning my gaze towards him. 'Besides, we need to show our strength.'

'Well, when you put it that way....' Miguel sighed, defeated.

"So much for being early to class..." He hesitantly transformed.

"Whew," I heaved as a bright blue light engulfed my arm. The light faded, and a silver crossbow was revealed. "Monkey boy, you are so going to regret this...."