I miss Karma and the gang, and since my good friend Electric Plum says she isn't a big fan of her work on the original "Aftermath" (which I think is crazy talk), she has allowed me to take the name of the fanfic to use for my version. I urge you to go check hers out and try to get her to continue writing her version. It could be interesting to see two different versions! A while ago, my sister showed me Prin Pardus' 100 Oneshot Challenge, where each chapter had to deal with a certain theme and had to be 1500 words or more. I liked the idea but for some reason couldn't decide on what to write. Then Aftermath came to mind! So instead of 100 oneshots, I'm hoping for 100 chapters! I can do it! This chapter is 1673 words. Now, on to the story! I don't own Soul Eater, Sayuri, or Tatsuya. Soul Eater belongs to Atsushi Okubo while Sayuri and Tatsuya belong to Electric Plum. Enjoy!

A soft summer breeze fingered through the woman's crimson hair high above the school. All was quiet, save for the occasional flap of the wings of the large bird the woman rode on. A single, yellow feather drifted down to the steps below.

"Shibusen..." the woman whispered to herself. "Why do you look so peaceful...?" She sighed and patted the bird's head lovingly. "Let us leave, Nuri. I'm afraid we have nothing to report to Lady Mabaa. We should hurry, though. Naomi will want dinner soon, and you know how she can be when she is left hungry for too long." The two flew away without another sound. Only a pair of golden eyes from one of the school's windows watched their departure.

…

"A large yellow feather was found on the steps of Shibusen this morning. Its origin is unknown, but the director of the school insists it is nothing for students or any of Death City's citizens to be concerned about," the anchorwoman on the television reported.

A silver-haired teenager sat in front of the television, her face nearly pressed up against the screen."That huge bird from that kid's show maybe?" she joked, her mouth full of toast.

"Karma! Sayuri's here! Hurry up!" the sweet voice of her mother called from the kitchen.

"On the way!" the girl replied. Grabbing her black jacket and running to the kitchen, she quickly downed a glass of orange juice, threw her hand up in a sort of wave to her mother, and ran out the door to meet her meister. The blue-haired meister stood in the driveway with her arms crossed and one white boot tapping impatiently. "Sayuri, quit getting here so freaking early! I keep having to get up ten minutes earlier!"

"You keep insisting on taking this metal death trap to school!" Sayuri whined, pointing to the motorcycle in the driveway. "I think safety matters a little more than a few extra minutes of sleep."

"I think the ride would be safer if I was well rested. Just saying," Karma hissed, climbing aboard her motorcycle.

Sayuri stamped her foot and turned away from her weapon. "I'm walking!"

"Like hell you are! Get on!" the weapon shrieked, pulling on Sayuri's arm. The meister sighed in defeat and carefully climbed onto the vehicle. "Alright! Shibusen, here we come!"

The two pulled away from the house with a screech, Karma's mother and brother watching from the front door. "Seriously, Mom, you let Karma drive that thing but not me?" Michael complained.

"It was a gift from your father..." Maka explained. "She doesn't know. Let's let her think that I gave it to her a little bit longer, shall we? Now, where is your meister?"

"Tatsuya said he's walking alone..." the boy growled. "First day of school and he can't walk with me? We are partners after all."

"Don't worry. I think he's just nervous, it being the first day and all. Things will get better," Maka said. Kissing his cheek, she wished her son good luck on his first day and watched him walk in the direction of Shibusen. "Oh, Soul..." she whispered, "if only you could see them now..."

…

Sayuri's grip around Karma's middle loosened a bit as they made their way down the streets of Death City. "I'm really sorry about earlier," Sayuri shouted over the wind whipping around them. "I know I'm safe with you driving, but I can't help but worry."

"Relax! I got this," her weapon reassured her. There was no way she would ever let any harm come to Sayuri. That was her job, wasn't it? To protect her meister?

"Hey, doesn't driving this thing ever remind you of your dad?"

The motorcycle swerved to the right suddenly, catching Sayuri off guard and emitting a scream from her throat. "Woah, sorry, sorry!" the weapon apologized.

"What the heck was that, Karma?" Sayuri screamed, holding onto her weapon tighter.

"It was... a squirrel! I didn't want to run it over, so I had to dodge it!" Karma explained.

"There was no squirrel!"

"How do you know? Were your eyes on the road?"

"There was no squirrel!" Sayuri insisted.

"Trust me, there was a squirrel. Now can you just sit back and enjoy the ride?" Karma sighed in relief as her meister went quiet. The scar under her right eye prickled uncomfortably. Any mention of him caused the sensation. Of course riding her motorcycle reminded her of him. Most everything did...

"I remember thinking he was pretty cool when we were kids. Mom and Daddy said I could never go on a ride with him though... They said he'd been in a few accidents with his bike, but I don't remember seeing any scars or anything," Sayuri rambled on. "But I suppose scars heal in time, huh?"

Karma lifted a hand to her face, lightly brushing her scar and willing the now burning sensation away. "Not all scars..."

…

The sun yawned as it reluctantly made its ascent into the sky. A young man sat on the steps of Shibusen, his dark locks falling in front of his eyes. He stared at his hands. "This is it, huh? There's no turning back from here..."

"Tatsuya~!" Sayuri's familiar sing-song voice called out to him, pulling him from his thoughts. The girl ran over to him and threw her arms around him. "Good to see you again! We hardly saw you at all this summer!"

Tatsuya gave a small smile and returned the hug. "Sorry. I needed to train by myself for a little while."

"But you and Michael could have trained with Karma and I, you know?" Sayuri said, releasing the boy. "Speaking of Karma, where is she? She was just behind me a second ago..."

Karma had hidden herself along the side of the grand staircase. She placed a hand over her racing heart. "Calm down... This is so not cool..." she whispered to herself. The girl looked up at the boy as he ran a hand through his hair.

They had met at the entrance ceremony a few weeks back. Karma and Sayuri had grown up together, joking that they were cousins because their families were so close. It only made sense for them to be that close. Black Star and Tsubaki themselves even joked about being her mother's big brother and sister. Especially after her father left... In any case, Sayuri had stood by Karma's side practically since birth. When Karma learned she could transform into a scythe, Sayuri was determined to become her meister. So why go to Shibusen's opening ceremony, held really only to help match up weapons and meisters, when the two were already partners?

Karma's younger brother, Michael, was a gifted meister, even able to wield his grandfather, Spirit Albarn, with ease. However, finding a weapon was difficult for him. So the girls agreed to go to the ceremony as moral support. And that was how it all began...

…

"Michael, I'm so proud of you! You're going to be in Shibusen with me and your big sister~!" Sayuri sang as she pulled the boy right into her impressive breasts. Michael's nose began to bleed. "Oh no! Are you hurt?" she screamed holding him tighter. "It'll be okay! I'll take care of you!"

Karma shook her head in disbelief. It was obvious to everyone but Sayuri that Michael was head-over-heels in love with her. "Maybe you should let him go before he stains your dress," the scythe suggested, attempting to pull her brother from her meister's grip.

Suddenly, Michael was ripped from Sayuri's arms and held up in the air by a young man with dark brown hair and eyes the same color. For Karma, it was love at first sight. "Figured I'd step in before this guy died of blood loss," he said in a voice as smooth as chocolate. Setting Michael down, the young man noticed his badge. "Meister, huh?"

"Uh, yeah..." Michael answered, rubbing the back of his neck. "Kinda looking for a certain kind of weapon. Something like a scythe or a sword or something like that. But maybe that makes me picky..."

"Or lucky," the young man replied. He held out his hand to Michael in greeting. "Tatsuya Iijima. I'm a broadsword."

…

"Tatsuya... Iijima..." Karma whispered, loving the way the name rolled off her tongue. She shook her head violently. How could she fall in love? She was not the romantic type at all! She didn't need a man in her life! But somehow she'd fallen for him anyway...

"Hey, Scar Face, now that we're done playing hide and seek, you wanna join us?" Karma jumped in surprise, finally noticing Tatsuya in front of her. "Woah, didn't mean to scare you. Come on, let's get this first day started, huh?" He smiled at her.

She felt weak in the knees suddenly from the smile. But upon further inspection, she noticed the smile seemed... almost forced. Why would he force a smile for her...? Deciding not to think much of it, she returned the smile with her own tiny, toothy grin and said, "Sure, let's get go-"

"Tatsuya!" a female voice called out. Karma recognized her from the opening ceremony but never really knew her name. The girl ran up to the two and took Tatsuya's arm, dragging him up the stairs. "I missed you all summer! We've got so much to catch up on!"

Tatsuya sighed in defeat and let the girl drag him away. He gave a quick wave to Karma before disappearing into the huge building. Karma waved back too late for him to see. "Catch you later, I guess..." Another arrow through her heart that day.