Sorry about the minor wait; I, for the life of me, could not figure out how to set up new chapters. This problem is solved now.

Chapter 2: The Front Stairs of Shibusen

A group of teens sits at the top of the stairs in front of the school staring at the hundred or so other stairs below them. An albino boy with shark teeth argues lazily with his partner, an ash-blonde girl with long pigtails and forest green eyes. A few feet away a electric blue-haired boy wearing ninja-styled clothes is shouting about how much of a big star he is, while his long, ebony haired partner tries to calm him down. A little further along a boy completely dressed in black and white dress clothes with two-toned yellow eyes is jumping up and down in front of his partners, the Thompson sisters, yelling about symmetry. The sisters are wearing cowgirl styled clothes, and seem to be used to the boy's rants. The younger sibling is laughing maniacally, while the elder sister has a bored expression on her face.

The albino is Soul "Eater" Evans, the resident "cool" guy. His partner is Maka, the smartest out of all the students at Shibusen. The two ninjas are BlackStar and Tsubaki, and both are trained in the art of assassination, though BlackStar's personality usually ruins their stealthy approaches. The last boy, who has finally stopped yelling, is Death the Kid, Shinigami's son and a young reaper. The almost-twin sisters are Patty (Patricia), the younger girl, and Liz (Elizabeth), the older sibling. All of them jump up upon Patty's yell of "'Ria!"

Aria and her new partners are just leaving when they hear a shout. Aria's wolf ears perk up from under her hair where she had hid them, while her tail sticks straight out from underneath her coat, which was its hiding place. Ren and Ryu stop to stare at the new appendages. I guess she wasn't lying. Ryu can only nod in agreement with his brother. Then, they notice who Aria is talking with. The twins had met the other students, but it hadn't gone too well the last time they'd met.

Soul and BlackStar had cornered Ryu, asking why he wouldn't talk to anyone. They were quite aggressive about it, which had caused Ryu's body to go into something akin to shock. Ren walked around the corner and found them immediately attacking the other two for scaring his brother. A fight broke out when their friends showed up and the brothers were outnumbered. They had all gotten detention for fighting without a teacher present, and some of them, mainly the brothers, Soul, and BlackStar, still held a grudge.

It takes Aria a moment to notice her partners' reluctance. She looks back and forth between the groups in confusion. She doesn't know about the incident, as it had occurred while she was away. Come over here you guys. Why're you hanging back? We don't get along too well with them. Why not? They were picking on Ryu, and we ended up in detention. And you won't come over here why? I just told you why! Your reasoning isn't good enough. That was then, this is now.

Ryu takes a few steps further, wanting to stand with Aria. Ren looks on surprised. This is not just a rarity; Ryu never takes to people like this. He decides to see where this will lead, and starts walking the last few feet to their Meister. Ryu sighs in relief and falls in step behind his brother. Aria smiles and nods. Better.

These two are my new partners. Her ears flick back in annoyance as her friends yell. "What do you mean THEY'RE your partners!" comes from Maka and Soul. "Those little stars aren't deserving of someone who can match me!" That was BlackStar, and his out-burst is extremely shocking; BlackStar has only admitted to two people being stronger than him, Death the Kid and Aria (who could barely manage it with her old partner, and synchronizing their souls). Kid is too busy drooling over the symmetry to care, but Liz and Patty say one thing that puts her over the edge. "You're going to replace Shiro with them?!"

They gasp as Aria slams them into a nearby pole, murder in her eyes. Her eyes flash ferally as she glares up at the sisters. Her voice rumbles dangerously low. You will never say that again. Shiro was everything to me, he is irreplaceable. Understand? The Thompson twins nod vigorously, and slide to the ground when she releases them. Good, Aria purrs. Her head flips back to look at Ren and Ryu diagonally and upside down; her eyes have returned to their usual emerald. I hope you don't regret becoming my partners. I'd understand if you cut it off.

Ren had frozen at the feral display of power; everyone else had too. His legs had started shaking when she'd spoken. He'd felt the extreme presence of primordial fear. Ryu, however, wasn't very affected. He'd noticed that the dangerous energy had been directed solely at the sisters. Aria had tried to direct the energy away from them, but some had slipped through.

He walks around his brother, who tries to grab him, and over to Aria. Her head flips back around as she turns to face him. Her eyes and ears flick back, ashamed. Ryu reaches towards her, but she flinches back, as if expecting an attack. He frowns and grabs her hand. Aria's ears and tail lift, while her eyes widen. He is smiling at her, relaxed and uncaring, but she knows that she will be hard pressed to reclaim her hand. He is acting like nothing had happened, while everyone else is stiff and wary. No one is close enough to hear their conversation, and no one wants to be close enough to hear.

Some of her hair falls forward to shadow her eyes as she looks down. She smiles softly, Arigatou, Ryu. Thank you. What for? You lost control for a second, but that just proves you're human. Aria shakes her head, Only Shiro has approached me after an outburst. It would seem you've inherited his spirit, Dragon. Though, the Tiger seems frozen. Dragon? How can you possibly compare me to a powerful creature? I can see how Ren would be a tiger though. Besides that Ryuu means dragon, power is not everything. You have many traits associated with dragons, and a few even rarer: wisdom, the ability to separate friend from foe, honesty, trust, being able to pass unnoticed by others, and a shadowy grace I haven't seen for years. Ryu blushes at the compliments. Aria laughs. I never thought I would repeat those words to anyone ever again. I mean them though. You said this to your old partner! I can't possibly be compared to someone who meant so much to you! You can be rather daft at times, Ryu. He was my partner then, but you two are my partners now. He was very special to me, but it's a little early to think you will mean less. Loners like me always seem to find the special ones; even if they don't stay long. Ryu looks at her confusedly before the words sort themselves out. He pulls her into a hug that she gladly returns. I won't leave you if you won't leave me. I'll stay even if my brother won't like it.

Ren chooses this moment to regain his movement. He doesn't know what they were talking about, but that girl, Aria, is dangerous. When Ryu hugged her, his paranoia and protectiveness skyrocketed. She somehow managed to trick his brother, who was now others started moving towards Aria, taking her actions as a sign that she had calmed down. Ren moves slightly ahead of them, trying to reach his brother instead of the twins. While the other DWMA students group around Liz and Patty, Ren stands between Aria and Ryu, who have just been broken apart.

Ryu! What on Earth did you think you were doing?! You could've been hurt! I think anything I say would just make it worse, Aria said nonchalantly. Ryu, you'll have to explain it. Ryu nods and turns to his brother. I want to stay with Aria. She- don't interrupt. She wasn't going to hurt anyone. She just lost control for a moment, but she said it doesn't happen often. I don't think she'd ever try to hurt anyone here. She's just lonely, and misses her friend. Ren is speechless; his twin, Ryu, Prince of Silence, talked back to him. Ryu betrayed him for a psychopath! Why couldn't he see that, that cross-breed would hurt him? Sure, Ren had liked her at first, but she had carefully hidden this aspect of herself. You'd rather be with her than me? He couldn't keep the hurt and accusation out of his voice. Ryu sounded distraught, but determined. I promised, Ren. I don't break my promises.

A shadow flickers over Ren's face, and a mask covers his emotions. Then you can just stay with her. I've tried to protect you, but I can't protect you from yourself. He glares at Aria over his shoulder. I don't know what you did, but you can keep him. I don't need to keep traitors around.

Everyone watches as Ren stalks off, and Ryu starts crying. He just wanted to convince Ren that Aria was good. Don't worry, Ryu. He doesn't mean it. He's upset,and he'll come back for you when he's cooled down. "Wow, Aria," Kid says. "You took it too far this time. You need to learn to control yourself. Until then, I'm afraid our friendship will have to be put on hold." The other girls, Liz, Patty, Tsubaki, and Maka, nod in agreement. Soul adds his thoughts,"Not cool, Aria. Not cool."BlackStar stares at her forlornly before turning to follow the others into the city, "You aren't being a big star now. The Aria I know wouldn't hurt her friends." Maybe you don't know me very well then, she says softly. Three months on your own, is a long time. Once you all left, I had nothing.

BlackStar disappears after the others, a worried look on his face. Should they have tried harder to get to Shiro and Aria? Would it have helped if they had? 'No,' he thinks, 'Nothing would have changed.' Should we have searched longer? 'She was all alone, and we didn't do anything.' When he finally catches up with the others, he is unusually quiet. The small group of friends watch him confusedly. He seems sad that they had left Aria. . . again.