"Can you believe the nerve of that girl?!" Maka screeches as Tsubaki tries to reduce the swelling on Black*star's head. My meister was going to make a permeant indent in the carpet at the rate she was pacing. The girl in question was that new student in Stein's class that somehow completely obliterated Black*star in a fight he started. Said girl also looked like she was ten seconds away from eating Black*star.

"It's okay Maka-chan," Tsubaki says quietly. "Black*star shouldn't have attacked her in the first place."

"But Tsubaki! That girl looked like she was more than ready to kill him!" she throws back. Tsubaki has held herself together fairly well under the circumstances, but now tears started to form in her eyes. "Oh Tsubaki, I'm so sorry," Maka says sympathetically before embracing her. Liz and Patty walk out of the kitchen with plates of food calling out for dinner. Tsubaki and Maka sat on the floor next to Black*star for a moment longer before joining us.

"Oh, I should change Black*star's cloth…" Tsubaki starts.

"I'll do it," I respond and move towards the kitchen cutting her off. "Go eat Tsubaki."

"Thank you Soul-kun," she smiled at me. "You don't have to though."

"It's okay a cool guy always helps girls out," I smirk at her before heading into the kitchen. Once Black*star is situated I go and sit down next to my meister.

"Thanks Soul," she squeezes my hand under the table.

I smirk at her before taking a bite out of the chicken on my plate. "Don't worry bout it." The rest of the night was spent in quiet company and taking care of our fallen friend. The girl was not brought up again.

1 Week Later

By this point I'm about to put Helena's head through the wall. As we start our second week of school I still haven't been able to shake her constant presence.

"So, when he was like 'well why not?!' I told him that I did-did not need to ex-explain myself!" she harrumphed.

"Mhm…" I mumble around a mouthful of ramen.

"Ramla you aren't even listening!" she whines. I hate people who whine. "I don't know what to do!"

"Just pick someone already," I snap at her. "You're the one lookin' for a partner so pick someone. It seems like everyone and their fucking mother want to be with you." Her eyes widen a little at my outburst before falling to her tray. She started pushing her macaroni and cheese around on the plate. I roll my eyes and ignore her.

"Ramla…" she whispers my name.

"Huh?"

"Wh-what about y-you?" she stutters.

"I don't understand what you're askin' Helena," I sigh in frustration.

"Wh-why haven't y-you as-asked me to…to be you-you're partner?!" she yells at me. I sit back in my chair at her sudden anger. Her head snapped up and her eyes bore into mine while that bright red flush washed across her features. It always caused her pale blue eyes to stand out in a very intense way. I could feel others staring at us and now I was uncomfortable.

"Why do you think?" I say in a low warning tone. Her eyes widen some more before her cheeks puffed out as she slammed her hands down on the table.

"Be-because….b-b-because—!"

"Because I don't want one," I finish for her with a growl. I stand up and ignore the flash of hurt in her eyes and all the others that continued to watch us. I adjust the gloves on my hands before straightening my shirt and walking out of the room. Chatter and loud declarations of my bitchiness were reverberating through the whole cafeteria as the doors shut behind me.

The rest of the day went quick enough, I sat out and did bookwork during gym class. I ignored literally everyone that crossed my path, including Sid-san and Marie-san. No student tried to talk to me which was fine by me. When I grabbed my bag and books I all but ran out of the school. I strode quickly down the stairs and turned sharply to the right. I did not make eye contact with anyone on my way back to Stein's house, I did not stop and stare at the car accident on the corner before his place, and I did not think about the hurt on Helena's face.

When I got inside I walked right past the lab and straight into my room. I threw my bag on the ground before stripping down to just my underwear. "I don't need a partner, I don't' need anyone…never again," I mumble to myself as I stare at my naked body. The large scar running down my right side was so old that it didn't hurt physically anymore. I lightly skimmed my fingers over the puckered flesh. I hiss as I check on the seams on my left arm and right leg. It would never not be irritating looking at the patchwork that is my flesh.

"Knock, knock," Stein says sarcastically before entering the room. He had a cigarette hanging out of his mouth as he studied my body. "Those look good," he comments on the seams. "You can't even see the soul stitching."

"That's the point," I say drily.

"You couldn't do anything about the flesh color though?" he asks clinically. He steps closer and examines my left arm. He lifted it up and bent the elbow in a circular motion. "Did it hurt?"

"Which part?" I say.

"The dismemberment and attachment," he hums as he taps on my bones. "Did the bones fuse well?"

"The dismemberment was quick didn't hurt," I grunt as he bends my arm back as far as it can go. "The attachment of the new arm was kind of a bitch though. However when I lost the leg that hurt like a mother," I laugh humorlessly.

"Mhm," he hums again before bending down to look at my leg. "So, you couldn't do anything about the flesh color?" he asks again. I sigh sadly as I gingerly touch the seam of my leg.

"No," I whisper. "I could have changed it. I could have fixed this scar, too." Stein stands up and looks at me. "But why would I?"

"Perfection is nothing but an illusion created by assholes," Stein says while blowing out smoke. "I guess you have a point."

"Yeah, I think the contrast is nice though," I comment as I spin in the mirror. "I mean I never really wanted to be as pale as I am anyways so at least one leg and arm are a dark creamy color." Stein snorts before throwing a shirt at me. I shove my head into the thing before pulling on a pair of plaid shorts. "Want dinner?" I ask.

"Mhm, if you want," he replies.

"Alright," I move past him through the door and head into his kitchen. When he brought me here the first night I was awestruck with how little he had in his pantry. Now—since I stole his credit card and went on a spree—we had a ton of food. I grab some chicken, rice, and vegetables. I start the rice after washing my hands then I start seasoning the chicken that was when Stein walked in. He picked up a knife and started chopping the vegetables while I turned on the stove to cook the chicken. It was such a normal moment that it feel weird.

We didn't talk, not really. I asked if the food was good and he mumbled something in response. He never did bring up the incident in the cafeteria today.

"Can you believe the nerve of that girl?" Maka seethed into her dinner. I rolled my eyes at her. this conversation again.

"Come on Maka you can't really care about her this much can you?" I question. She shot me a dirty look before going back to glaring at her curry.

"She just utterly humiliated that girl at lunch Soul!" she quips.

"Yeah, but that girl started it," I say while itching my ear. "I mean it was kinda the same thing with Black*star last week, right?" that idiot was back at full throttle already.

"What do you mean?" she asks more calmly. I sigh in frustration, cool guys did not have to explain themselves.

"She doesn't seem to be all that bad so long as no one is attacking her," I mumble. "Black*star did attack her when her back was turned." Maka seemed to deflate at that fact.

"Y-yeah I guess he did," she sighed.

"Plus that girl kind of just exploded at her in the lunchroom. I mean we don't know what the conversation was, but still," I shrug before taking a huge bite.

"Mhm…" she hummed in quiet contemplation. "We should talk to that girl that yelled at Ramla tomorrow."

"Huuuh?!" I say flabbergasted. "Why would we do that?"

"I just want to check something is all," she said so innocently. I grunt in response knowing that there was nothing I could say or do to change her mind.

The next day I didn't even make it to homeroom before being called into Shinigami-sama's office. "Hey, hi how you doin'?" he asks cheerily. Spirit-san was glaring at me from behind him and I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Why am I here Shinigami-sama?" I say in a clipped tone.

"Always one to get right to the point, Ramla," he said more seriously. "Alright I have a mission for you."

I stare blankly at him for a moment to see if he was joking. "You're joking?" I remark.

"No, no Ramla I need you to do something for me."

"Al…right," I say slowly. "What's up?"

"There have been some disturbances in the lower parts of Death City that concern me."

"So why not send out one of your precious meister/weapon teams?" I hiss venomously. Maybe I was still bitter.

"No need to concern any of them with non-kishin issues," he responds.

"If it's not a kishin problem what kind of problem is it then?"

"Drugs."

"Drugs?"

His expressionless face seemed to deadpan somehow, "drugs." I shrug before scratching my head.

"Alright," I drawl out. "Whaddya want me to do?"

"I have been informed that there is a supposed kingpin running the drug world in my city," his voice has completely changed. The real Grim Reaper had finally appeared.

"Who is this kingpin?" I demand. I could feel the shift, that telltale feeling that I was back in my element.

"Solomon Davis." I laugh at the name.

"The hell kind of a name is Solomon Davis? That's not even an intimidating name," I giggle. "Can I kill 'em?"

"You know how to tell a good soul from a bad one Ramla," he warns.

"I know," I snort. "I meant do you wanna interrogate him and his network or do you just want me to take it out?"

He narrowed his eyeless sockets at me. "Do what you do best." I crack my knuckles before smiling wickedly at him.

"Will do Shinigami-sama," I growl fiendishly.

I watched as Ramla entered the classroom late and something was different about her. She walked straight up to Professor Hedge and handed him a note. He read it quickly before looking back at her, "very well." Without another word she turned back around and walked back out. She didn't even look at me once. I cast my eyes down to my notes in shame as Professor Hedge continues on with his lecture without any indication of what just happened.

I walked down the hall with Holly and Namoki, two weapons I met in the weapons only class. Holly is a sniper rifle and Namoki is actually a scythe, they both want to be weapons for Lord Death himself someday. "Nay Helena-chan are you going to pick a partner at the dance next week?" Namoki inquires. She found her partner the very first day. The boy she sat next to in homeroom apparently wanted to be like Maka Albarn a deathscythe meister.

"I-I don't kn-know," I stutter stupidly. Her and Holly share a look, "wh-what?" I snap.

"We're just worried about you is all Helena," Holly says quietly. "I mean…Ramla—"

"Just drop it," I hiss quietly. A group of meisters walk past us laughing about something. "I don't want to talk about it right now." They share a look again but say nothing this time. By the time we get into the cafeteria the place is packed.

"Helena! Helena Boughwright!" it was Maka Albarn! I turned five shades of red as her and her weapon approach us.

"Y-y-y-y-yes?!" I squeak in embarrassment.

"Do you want to sit with us?" she asks with a smile. I felt faint as she held her hand out to me. "My name is Maka by the way and this is Soul my partner."

"Albarn-san my partner is a huge fan of yours!" Namoki squeals. "He would die to know we were eating with you!"

"Oh? Who is your partner?" she asks kindly.

"Harrison Henry, Jr.!" she says proudly.

"Well, you should have him join us next time," Maka beams. Her weapon looks bored to tears. "Does that make you a demon scythe?"

"Yes ma'am! My great-great-great grandmother was a scythe as well," Namoki boasts.

"Impressive. Come on!" Maka grabs my wrist and pulls me towards a table. I could not be any more embarrassed if I tried. Death the Kid with his twin pistols sat at this table! Along with Black*star one of the strongest people at our school with his awesome weapon Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. Maka guides me into a seat right next to her and Tsubaki while Holly and Namoki sat by the others.

We eat and have a casual conversation and just when I think I can relax Maka asks me a question. "So, where's your friend Ramla today?" she asked casually.

"R-R-Ramla?" I stutter. "U-Umm she-she l-left early to-today."

"Oh really? How come?" she inquires.

"We don't know why all we know is she came in late, handed the professor a note, and then left again," Holly answered for me. "She seemed…off though."

"What do you mean 'off'?" Death the Kid asks. One of his weapons was sculpting something out of her mashed potatoes while the other filed her nails.

"Like she just seemed like a different person," Namoki states. "Her face was…she just seemed to be someone else."

Maka placed her hand on top of mine and I yelped in surprise. "Are you okay? You know after what happened yesterday?" I saw her weapon roll his eyes. He did not comment on anything however as he continued to eat his burger.

"Y-y-yeah," I reply sheepishly. "I was out of line. I know Ramla has just been putting up with me out of pity these past few days." My sadness straightened out my stutter for a moment. I hate that I can talk normally when sad and not at any other time.

Maka's lips formed into a hard line. "That's not anyway to treat a friend."

"She never said we were," I respond defensively even though it hurt. "She just let me sit with her in a couple classes is all." Everyone at the table was silent and staring at me. "I-I need to-to go," I stammer as I stand up quickly. I grab my tray and exit the cafeteria hastily trying to hide my hurt feelings.

It was lunchtime but I was having a hell of a time with my hair. I used to love how wild and untamable my hair is, but today it is a pain in the ass. I finally manage to wrangle the curly afro into two buns on my head and tied bows on them. I grabbed one of my sleazy dresses and wiggled into it while opening the box of new heels I just bought. Courteously bought by the DWMA. I slip on the bright red shoes before checking myself in the mirror. All in all I looked nice, but that wasn't what I was going for.

I made one bow crocked while pulling out a few strands of curls to stick wildly around my head. I grabbed my makeup kit and smeared black eyeshadow under my eyes and on my dress before applying bright red lipstick and smudging that around. I took some purple and dark yellow eyeshadows and created bruises along my jaw and the visible part of my chest. I went into Stein's lab and grabbed a syringe. "This is gonna be a bitch," I say frustrated. I fill the vile with saline solution and plunge it into the crease of my elbow. I hiss as I remove it and do it again and again on both arms.

My pale arm showed nice bruising around the puncture wounds and my dark arm was visibly throbbing. I looked in the mirror one last time, grabbed an apple, and walked straight into the underbelly.