Disclaimer: Soul Eater has been previously established as the work of one Atsushi Ohkubo. I am not that man. I'm not a male in general. I'm not even from Japan.

Author's Note: This little story is a tangent based on a tangent from a non-tangent in a Stein/Marie fic I wanted to write. Think you can figure out who Tsubaki's talking about? I think I dropped too big a hint. Also, I had the urge to end all of Marie's dialogue in ':D'. I couldn't help but throw a smidge of Stein in there, too. Hope you enjoy!

When Tsubaki had a dilemma, she usually took care of it herself. Her brother, her wounds, anything that could be fixed up by her would be.

But at some point—today, unfortunately—she needed help.

The problem resided in her sleep. Dreams that were normally peaceful had been hinting towards another problem; one she hadn't experienced before. Even Black*Star, her closest friend-slash-deity, was in the dark (at the moment, he was off on personal training—as he had been doing for the past several days).

Then again, he was in the dark about a lot of things. The man she dreamt about wasn't, though.

Oh, why would I even think that?

Tsubaki sighed and gently hit her head, scolding herself for the less-than-nice thought. Things like that were the reason she was standing outside of Ms. Marie's makeshift office in the first place. She hoped desperately the teacher would be able to help.

Two soft knocks, and Marie's head appeared in the doorway. "Tsubaki! You wanted to speak to me?"

"Ah, yes, ma'am…"

The ninja weapon was ushered inside—it was small, but Marie made the best of it. Flowers of all kinds dotted her cabinet and windowsill in colorful pots, and pictures that the students had given her (Tsubaki was one of them) were carefully placed around her desk.

"So," Marie said, leaning forward with a smile. "What seems to be troubling you? Is it Black*Star?"

"No, not really. He's off training right now."

"Well, I'm sure he'll be back in no time. If he's anything, he's dedicated."

Tsubaki fidgeted in discomfort and stared at her hands; the Death Scythe waited.

"About that…um, I…I've been having these dreams," she said quietly, avoiding names. "Dreams where I'm being wielded by...this samurai, a-and he's really skilled, too--"

The teacher held up a hand. "Tsubaki."

She flinched; she knew what was coming. She was wrong for those thoughts, she just knew it…

"You've been dreaming about being wielded by a meister other than Black*Star, haven't you?"

Tsubaki's eyes were shut tight as she nodded. There was silence following her confession—and it dragged on and on, until the ninja weapon peeked at her waiting, smiling teacher. "Don't be embarrassed, Tsubaki."

"W-what? Really? But he'd think I was terrible, wouldn't he? Who dreams of such things when they're partnered with a good meister?"

"It's completely normal for weapons, I promise," Marie said, running a hand through her head. "Skill is skill, no matter if it's your meister, or someone you just saw fighting on the street. Think of it like a girl wanting to hug a cute celebrity, even though she has a boyfriend."

Tsubaki allowed herself the smallest of sighs. "I'm so glad. I thought I was being ungrateful."

"Ask one of your fellow classmates about it. They feel exactly the same way," Marie said with a laugh. When the girl looked less than enthusiastic about discussing the matter with anyone who wasn't inside the office, Marie glanced around and nodded at her to lean closer.

"Personally," she whispered, hand cupped around her mouth, "I'd like to have—"

A sudden knock at the door interrupted the two.

"—er, come in!"

Stein stepped in, scratching his ear. "Ah, there you are, Marie. I see you have Tsubaki too. This room must be soundproof—neither of you hear Black*Star throwing a fit about his weapon's whereabouts? He's disrupting my extra-curricular class."

In the distance, they could indeed hear his threats to kill anyone messing with his partner. It was a wonder they couldn't hear him before. Tsubaki smiled sheepishly, and the teacher shrugged.

"I'm sorry, I should get him," she said. She glanced at Marie, who dismissed her with a playful wave—and after a bow, hurried off.

"It's like she'd completely forgotten why she came to me in the first place," Marie said with a chuckle, shaking her head. She stood up. "Did you need anything else, Stein?"

---

Tsubaki was almost halfway to the classroom before remembering that she'd rudely forgotten to let Ms. Marie finish her answer (though if she'd glanced backwards at that moment, she would've seen a Death Scythe cheerfully agreeing to be wielded by her dream meister to help his current class).

Not knowing didn't bother her, however, when Black*Star saw her coming and waved. "Finally, Tsubaki! Where've you been? You weren't at home, so you couldn't receive my godly welcoming hug! I thought these low-lives were trying to steal my weapon, haha!"

She couldn't help but smile. Her meister may not have been the one of her dreams, but he certainly was her favorite.

Thank you for reading.
--Blitz