A/n:

I hope you all enjoy this first chapter! Please take the time after finishing to write a review! I plan on making this a longer series, I have most of the arcs set up already along with some major plot points I want to incorporate. I won't be leaving this one off like I did to Silver Ozpin, it's much more fleshed-out of an idea.

CHAPTER 1

Maka put a hand on the frame of the door, peeking her head into Kyou's room tentatively. Everything that once littered the floor and bed was now packed away into boxes he'd be taking with him tonight. All of the clothes, blankets, stuffed animals he'd given away years ago. Eyes searching the room, she remembered how it had been so full just a day ago. Kyou was growing up, he was leaving the house and starting at the DWMA. It's not like they'd never see him again though, especially considering that Maka was now a teacher at the school, but the concept was still scary. He was going out to fight just like she had, maybe even run into challenges greater than her own one day. She wouldn't be there to protect him anymore if something went wrong. This room would be empty from now on.

A smile graced her lips as she looked into the corner of the room and found a single gray sock sitting in the open, its partner nowhere in sight. She walked over and picked it up gently. You're just like my Kyou right now, but you'll both have a partner soon. She opened a box and stuffed the sock in there quickly. His bookcases were still mostly full, he was just taking some of the books he hadn't gotten around to reading yet. One of them had been written by Soul a couple years back, titled "Music and the Soul." It had sold really well, and now people all over were trying to use any musical talents at all to communicate themselves to potential partners. Maka suspected that part might be due to him adding the story of how it was his piano playing that had led him to her.

She kept smiling, but as she looked around the room it progressively became more melancholy, and for the first time in her life she understood why her Papa had acted the way he had on her first day. It really was scary to watch your child go do something so dangerous. But she swore to herself she was not going to be anything like that blubbering idiot had been on her first day. She definitely wasn't going to cry, and more than definitely wasn't going to follow him while meeting other students. She heard the shower head turn off in the bathroom and continued picking up small things that hadn't been put away or packed.

Steam rose around Kyou, forming a halo on the window and mirrors and creating a fog so thick you almost couldn't see. He stepped out of the shower and began drying himself off, glancing at his phone for the time. 6:30, incredibly early for most days. But, today wasn't like most days. Today, he would begin his first year at the DWMA, and was nervous as hell. He wasn't gonna admit that of course, had to make sure to keep his cool. Footsteps thumped in the hall and he poked his head through a crack in the door before calling out.

"Mom! Are you in my room?"

"I am! Do you need something?"

"There's a bag hanging on the back of my door, can you bring it here really quick?" A moment later, Maka's hand came around the corner holding the black garment bag. Kyou snatched it quickly and ducked back into the bathroom, getting dressed. He pulled on a pair of dark jeans, a forest green t-shirt, a blazer dark as coal, and a new pair of black high tops. Wiping the mirror down, he combed his sheer white hair and looked himself over. It felt good, it felt right. He smiled, showing off the awfully crooked teeth he'd inherited from his father, then walked out into the hallway. When his teeth had first started coming in crooked like his father's, Maka had insisted on braces. Kyou simply refused, "I'm gonna eat souls just like dad does! It's cool!".

As he opened the door, Kyou could hear Soul talking downstairs, along with his little sister as she yelled at the TV. His room was just down the hall, nearly everything was packed up into boxes and ready to move into the apartment the DWMA would provide. He took one last peek inside and smiled. He was ready for this, he'd been preparing his entire life to be a weapon. He tugged on the blazer so it sat on his shoulders better, and made his way downstairs.

Soul was sitting in a recliner, wearing jeans and a loose sweatshirt. Resting on his knee was Kyou's little sister Bri, she had the same red hair as Spirit, with Soul's eyes and was still wearing a pair of yellow pajamas. She had just turned 8. Once she noticed her brother walk into the room, she jumped down off of Soul and walked over to him, tugging on his pant leg to show she wanted to be picked up, which he of course did.

"You can't go anywhere you gotta stay here with me and Mama and Papa, I'm gonna miss you too much if you go! Who else is gonna color with me?" Bri's lip stuck out slightly in a pout and she held onto his face with both hands.

"Bri, you do have other friends besides me y'know. What about that girl Cassie from school?"

"Cassie's mean, she made my art project go poof the other day!" her little hands waved all over trying to explain the incredibly devastating incident.

"Poof? How did it poof?" Kyou's eyebrow raised.

"Her arm turned into a hammer when she was walking by my table and it went poof!"

"Ahhhhh, now I see. That's just awful isn't it?"

"It's the worst!"

"Well," Kyou tussled her hair, "a lot of weapons do that when they're young. Remember when I accidently cut your doorknob off and we got stuck in there a few years ago?"

"Yeahhhh."
"You just gotta be patient squirt, maybe you'll even help her get better at controlling her transformations!"

"I guesss."

"Good! Go on back to Papa so you can finish your show." He let Bri down gently, watching her run back to Soul and settle into his lap.
Maka was watching from the kitchen table while putting various papers into her suitcase. Kyou had seen pictures her and his dad as kids, and they still basically looked the same except for their hair. Maka liked to keep her hair down now, and wore the same jacket and skirt combo from when she was younger, but with a mossy green turtleneck underneath and the jacket open. Soul had kept his hair the same, just a little shorter, and always wore a pinstripe suit when he was working. Today he had the day off, so he was going to relax with Bri.

"Hey kiddo, almost ready?" Maka asked. Kyou shrugged a little, letting out a puff of air. She smiled at him and reached over to fix a few stray hairs. Her hand rested on his cheek for a second before it dropped back down, "you're gonna do great."

"Don't forget, even if you don't find a meister today, there's always the more formal party you can go to tonight instead. That's the only one I even tried going to. It was more my scene than standing in the hot sun all day like an idiot." Soul said pointing his thumb at Maka, who stuck her tongue out at him.

"I know, I'm just nervous. What if nobody resonates with me?" His parents looked at each other for a moment, then smiled knowingly before looking back at Kyou. Soul pretended to go deep into thought, rubbing his chin like he had a beard.

"There's autonomous weapons out there. I've never been very good at it, but you might be. We can always get in contact with Justin Law and see if he can give you some extra training next time he's in town too." Kyou nodded, scratching the back of his head.

"Come on kiddo, we're gonna be late if we don't get going. You might not have to be there yet, but I have a staff meeting to attend." Maka wrapped her shoulders around his arm, and they made their way out of the front door. It was a nice day out, but even the sun looked like it was sweating up in the sky. They walked in silence for most of the way there, but when the school came into he looked up at Maka.

"Hey mama?"

"What's up bud?" Kyou fiddled with his sleeve for a second before looking up.

"Um...How will I know? If I found the right meister?" His voice was practically dripping with anxiety, but Maka knew how much he wanted to be 'cool' like his dad so she decided not to say anything, and just smile and shake her head instead.

"Well, I guess everyone you ask will give you different answers, but they always come back to one thing. Somehow, you just know."

1 hour later

The entire time Kyou had been there, nothing had happened...at all. No big reaction, no sign that this person was supposed to be his partner, not even as much as a static shock. He was starting to lose hope, and decided it'd be best to get out of the sun for a while. With his back against the wall of the school, his eyes started to simply watch the crowd around him move like the ocean, back and forth, side to side, swaying and expanding before closing in on itself once again. While he was doing this, he became totally oblivious to the fact that someone was sneaking up to him along the wall. It was a muscled boy with tousled black hair and bright blue eyes, his skin naturally tanned. He stood next to his younger friend for a moment, before tapping his shoulder a few times and whispering.

"Pssst, Kyou. What are you doing?" Kyou practically jumped out of his skin as his mind was suddenly jerked back into reality. The boy that appeared next to him was wearing a black tank top with a single teal strip cutting across it diagonally, a pair of dark grey skater shorts with metal studs lining all the seams, and a pair of black sandals that wrapped up around his ankles.

"Bright Star? What are you doing here? You're a second year, classes don't start till tomorrow." The older boy simple smirked down at Kyou, putting his arm around him and leaning his full weight onto the boy.

"Oh, y'know. Just taking some time out of my very important schedule to come see my favorite little dude, and make sure that he's not being antisocial." Bright Star was a weapon like Kyou, but unlike him, he had multiple weapon forms. It was a trait he had taken up from his mother, since he was their oldest child he inherited the power of the Dark Arm. He had all the weapon forms unique to the people in the Nakatsukasa Clan, as well as his own. Originally his family had considered it a curse, since it was forced on them by the witch Medusa, but the opinion changed as each generation became stronger. Still, he was definitely his father's son. Loud, not the brightest, a tiny obnoxious, and incredibly powerful.

"So it's not because you have more remedial lessons?" Bright Stars eyebrow twitched slightly as Kyou smirked up at him. "I knew it," Kyou looked pleased with himself as he observed the crowd again.

"Listen here you little son of a-"

"Bright Star! Get down here already! We need to get going!" A boy with brown hair and aviator sunglasses stood at the bottom of the stairs leading up to the school, a frown on his face and arms crossed.

"Sorry Brendan! I'll be right there! I'm just talking to Kyou!" Brendan stood up a little taller, spotting the white hair, and waving. "I gotta get out of here man, stay sharp!" Bright Star clapped his shoulder before running off.

"Razor sharp!" Kyou watched the two walk away until they disappeared around the corner. He blew a puff of air out of his nose, realizing he had nobody to talk to now. Might as well go home till tonight, I'm not really in the mood for this now, he thought to himself, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Crap crap crap crap crap, I'm so LATE!" Aurora ran at break-neck pace, her feet kicking dust up behind her as she went. "It's the first day and I'm already gonna be behind everyone else! I knew I should have gone to bed sooner last night!" Ahead was a large skull-shaped building with candles sticking out of the sides, the DWMA. Grimacing, she closed her eyes and tried to run even faster, feeling the pace pick up and her muscles start to get hot. As she got closer to the school, a guy with white hair started going down the long steps, his hands in his pockets and face totally calm. "LOOK OUT! I CAN'T STOP!" He looked up for half of a second, then dodged out of the way as she barreled past him and up into the courtyard.

"Slow down you friggin' lunatic!"

"SORRY!" Aurora yelled over her shoulder. She ran into the crowd and up to the check-in station. A girl a few years older was sitting there and looked terrified as the blue haired girl wheeled to a sudden stop right in front of her, a grin plastered on her tanned face.

"Um, hi?" she said, a little sheepishly.

"Hi! My name is Aurora Star! I'm a new Meister!" The girl picked up a clipboard and began leafing through it, before her eyebrows raised and she marked on it with a pen.

"Yup, you're right here. Just take one of the name tags and write 'Meister' on it before you go around talking with everyone else. You won't have classes until tomorrow. Also, if you can't find a partner during the school hours, at 8 tonight there will be a more formal setting that you can attend and look there too. It's black tie though, so you'll be required to dress properly. You understand all that?"

"You bet! Can I get a pen?" The older girl grabbed one from under the desk and handed it to her. It was all black with a gold clip and the little clicker-thingy looked like a skull. This is so cute! She wrote down on the name tag and stuck it on her shirt with a pat. Aurora nodded to the girl and turned away, looking around at all of the other people. She looked down at herself, checking out her outfit. A white shoulderless long sleeve shirt, showing off a Star Clan tattoo on her right shoulder; baggy black pants that provided plenty of room to move, and a pair of boots identical to the ones her dad wore when he was a kid, all the way down to the toes having little stars on them. She smiled, looking back up the mob.

Aurora began to mingle about, talking to a few people with "WEAPON" displayed on their name tag, she even tried resonating with a few weapons she got along well with, but none of them ever worked out. Either her soul wavelength was too large for them to handle, or their weapon form just didn't match with her fighting style. There was one girl she resonated well with, but her weapon form was a mace. Aurora was more about slashing and stabbing than she was about crushing things with pure force. She'd leave that up to her older brother. But before long, she began to get bored, and started to look around for ways to entertain herself, looking up at one of the large spikes jutting out of the school. With a grin on her face, she walked up directly next to the wall.

Time for the Queen to show off to these bunch of losers! Crouching slightly, the muscles in her legs began to contract like springs in a trap, until they released like a gunshot and launched her twenty feet in the air, planting her feet on the sleek white skull. She began to run up the wall until coming to the very top of one of the spikes poking out of the school's eyes. People noticed her standing up and quirked their eyebrows, a few of them starting to whisper. Her smile only widened, the spotlight was directly on her, and to her there was nowhere else it belonged. She planted a foot forward and leaned on it confidently, striking a pose.

"DWMA! Your Queen has arrived! All of you don't even realize how lucky you ARE to bask in my very presence! Bow before me now, and I will gladly show mercy when I inevitably take over the entire school for myself!" Below, a few snickers rose up. Suddenly the blood was rushing to her face. Before it could show, Aurora turned the embarrassment into anger and yelled down at them. "What? Is there anyone willing to challenge me?"

"Sure! Just get your partner and we'll fight right now!" someone below yelled. "You DO have a partner already right? After all, what kind of Queen doesn't have a partner?"

"I….I don't have one yet! But I don't need a partner to kick your ass!" The heat kept rising closer and closer to her face, but she was holding it off. Until the next person below started yelling as well.

"You're Queen alright! Queen of the Dumbasses!" She watched it happen then, as the crowd's interest and amusement turned into scorn. Suddenly, the spotlight was turned into a search light, and the insults came, one after another.

"Dumbass!"
"Get the hell down from there you freak!"

"The fuck is your deal?"

"Just more first year trash!"

She covered her ears, running. She ran off the school, down the streets, the whole time barely watching was happening around her. Even if she wanted to, she wouldn't have been able to see. Her tears were too thick, clouding her entire vision. It happened again, it always happens like this. Why can't I just learn already? Her legs started slowing down, head shaking. I'm such an idiot. Without meaning to, she walked straight into someone's back and bounced off of them, falling backwards. Her head hit the pavement, and when she looked over, the person she'd walked into had fallen too. The blood drained from her face, terrified he was going to yell at her too.

"I'm so sorry! Are you okay? Is there anything I can do to help you?" Aurora reached a hand out.

"Nah, I'm alright really, just a little tear on my pa-It's you!" A slightly familiar face was staring at her, open-jawed. She pulled her hand back and looked at him for a moment. He had bright green eyes, they were almost piercing. Kinda like they were looking into your heart. But what triggered her memory was the white hair on top of his head. "You're the girl who almost ran me over earlier!"

"You're the guy who was all mopey and leaving the school earlier! I'm so sorry about that! I woke up late this morning, and then I missed the first bus to this part of town, and then I realized I might not find a partner and and and-" Aurora started to trail off but he held a hand up

"Whoa, alright just relax. I'm okay, you're okay, it's okay. I'm not mad or anything, take a second to breathe." She nodded, sucking in a deep breath. Her shoulders relaxed slightly, the tension seeping out like water from a tank. "See? Better isn't it?" Aurora looked up at him and noticed a small smile playing on his lips.

"Sorry about that. Here, let me help you up" She pushed herself up, reaching a hand out to him. His hand grasped her, and something...strange, passed between them. It was like, the world had a balance all of the sudden. She pulled him up, and their hands stayed together for just a moment, both of them staring down at their hands. After another moment, they both let go and stared at each other quizzically, like trying to solve a puzzle.

"Did we just-" Aurora started.

"I think so. I mean, I've never felt it before so I don't exactly know, but it felt like resonance to me." He flexed his hand a couple of times, staring at it, before holding it out again to her. "My name is Kyou, it's uh, nice to meet you I guess?" He rubbed the back of his head, looking incredibly awkward. Aurora smiled, grabbing his hand tightly and shaking it once.

"My name's Aurora, it's nice to meet you Kyou" She was beaming! Finding her partner totally on accident! How cool is that? She looked him over for a second, noticing that right right pant leg now had a sizeable tear in the fabric. "Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry!"she said looking down.

"Oh, uhhh, yeah. It's fine really. I can just patch it up when I get home later. Should we go to the school and tell the chick at that desk?" he pointed a thumb back up the road.

"Whoa buddy, hold your horses there! I'm not gonna partner up with anyone until I've had their weapon form in my own two hands!"

"Seriously?" his eyebrow raised.

"Of course I am! Why would I not be?" A grin spread across her face as his shoulders slumped.

Kyou wasn't exactly a fan of his weapon form. While most weapons have some kind of extra ability on their own to help them fight, scythes don't have that. The closest they have is some control over over how long their blade is. They need to have a meister to do anything else. He took pride in being a scythe, don't mistake that. They were the weapon that Lord Death would choose to wield over any other weapon. But, it's also a lot to live up to, and Kyou didn't find himself that spectacular. Kyou sighed once again, adjusting his shirt.

"Look, I'm just a scythe, is there anything else you need to know?"

"Absolutely! What does your balance feel like? Does your blade have anything on it? What material are you made from? There's a million questions! But if we do this now it just gets them all out of the way!" Her smile widened, "pleeeeease?" Kyou stood there for a minute, his thumb nail digging into the finger.

"Alright. Just, please don't say anything about how I look okay?"

"Promise!"

"Thank you." He searched into the center of his soul, where his weapon form sat waiting to swap out with the human one. In a flash of light, he moved into her outstretched hand and settled there, their souls resonating enough for her to hold him with no weight repercussions. The snath was made of bamboo, straight as a pole the whole way up. Above that, a ring made of blacksteel connected the blade to the snath, the blade taking the same zig-zag pattern as his father's but with green rather than red. Also like his father's scythe form, there was an eye inside the ring with a bright green iris inside of it. Kyou leaned back inside his soul space and looked out at Aurora, trying to read her expression. "I know it's not as flashy as you probably would have-"

"Wow, your weapon form is so slick. It's like I'm holding air." She spun him around a few times, testing the reach before snapping into a stance. "I like the little eye up there too, can you see out of it?"

"Yeah, that way if you drop me somewhere I can still see independently from your own vision. Anything else you wanna see?"

"Show me how long or short you can make your blade so I know my limitations." He nodded, reaching an arm out to stretch the blade out to seven feet, before pulling it back flush against his leg so the blade disappeared entirely, leaving the pole and ring at the top. She nodded again, a smirk coming to her face again. "That should be good!" With another flash Kyou was standing in front of her again.

"What do you think?" Crap, she probably thinks I look lamer than hell.

"Well, you were right about one thing. Your weapon form isn't all that flashy, but it still draws attention! As far as I'm concerned that's good enough! Top that all off with you being perfectly balanced at the ring and your pole being made of super flexible wood, it's perfect!" Kyou cringed slightly after she finished. "What?"

"Please don't say pole. Or shaft, it just sounds dirty. The pole section of a scythe is called the snath."

"Y'know, you're one strange guy" Aurora's eyebrow was quirked with a tilted head, before she put a hand on her hip and smiled. "Come on! Let's go tell the DWMA we partnered up so we don't have to sleep in those shitty dorms tonight!" She grabbed his wrist suddenly and started running. Again. "This is gonna be so much fun!"

Behind her, as dust was getting kicked back into Kyou's face, a single thought crossed his mind. This is gonna be hell.

A/n: Once again, please review! I'll see you all next time!