"Alright, your homework is a two page report on Kishin births. Due Friday. Class dismissed." Stein rolled out of the room, falling twice along the way.

"What do we have next?" I asked Tsubaki as I gathered my things. She glanced at my list before answering.

"Well, we have lunch, then you go to Sid's room with me." She smiled. I grinned, glad someone was with me. I shut my satchel and slung it around my shoulder. As we walked out the doorway, a paper airplane hit my arm. It dropped to the floor. I bent and picked it up. I unfolded it and glanced at what it said.

"To THE NEW CHICK- Meet me on the roof –OX FORD"

I blinked. "Hey… Tsubaki?" I hid the paper as she turned her head to me.

"Yeah?"

"Who's Ox Ford?"

"The rude boy who tripped you. You know… bald head?" She sighed. "Why can't people just get along?" She shrugged.

"Hmm… how do I get to the roof?" I asked abruptly. Tsubaki gave me a confused look.

"Why do you ask?"

"I thought there was a roof?" I lied.

"Well… keep going straight and there's a staircase, go up that, and you'll eventually make it to the top." She pointed towards us. "But the cafeteria's that way." She pointed to her right, where there was a large hallway and the smell of salads and burgers filled.

"Oh, I'll be fine." I held up my small brown sack. She nodded and turned toward the hall. I walked straight, eventually hitting the stairs. I climbed them, scared an ankle would pop out and trip me again. After three flights of stairs I came upon a white trap door. I opened it and was bathed in light.

The roof top was huge, with a few benches here and there with pots of plants. The railing seemed stable, so I leaned against it and enjoyed the view, the breeze, the laughing sun. I walked over to a warm concrete bench and sat down.

I opened my lunch and began eating. As I sipped my water and bit into my red apple, I wondered if Ox had simply played a trick on me by ditching me up here. I didn't mind eating here, though. Everything seemed peaceful and calm. A little blue bird flew by, chirping.

I heard the door creak. I looked, not moving, to see who it was. I munched on my apple.

"Time to be fried, by the Lightning King!" Ox jumped out, as if to surprise me. He held a golden lightning rod in his hand, with a jagged end. I guessed that was his weapon, and not just some toy when I saw electricity fly from it. At first I'd think the two were off wavelengths, but no.

A new voice chimed in from the rod. "Where is she?"

"Over there!" Ox pointed the thing at me. I chewed my apple, wiping juice from my chin. I waved with my sticky fingers. "You! Level 3 meister! Where's your weapon!" He jabbed the air with the yellow stick, as if to stab me.

I swallowed. "Don't have one, don't need one." I set my half-eaten fruit down and sipped my water. I stood up and wiped my hands on my skirt. I crossed my arms. "What's the whole point of the ranks, anyway?"

The weapon answered. "It shows how strong you are, and allows certain privileges per rank. 1 – Every normal student here at the Academy. 2 – Very strong students, such as Maka and Soul, or Black*Star and Tsubaki, or Roxas." So they were all really strong compared to others? Cool. "3 – Teachers and staff members, like Sid. Kid's at that level simply for being Shinigami. 4 – Death Scythes, and 5 – Shinigami." I shrugged and went back eating. Boring.

"Don't ignore us!" Ox yelled, stepping closer to me. "You must know why I summoned you here!" I gave him a look.

"Summon? You mean throwing a paper airplane at me because you're too scared to face me yourself? Yeah, you summoned me." I used every bit of sarcasm I had into that one line. I refolded the airplane and threw it back at him.

"I'll defeat you, and prove to everyone how strong I am!" And with that, he lunged towards me.

He was very quick, I could say that. I jumped over his head, and landed on a one-hand handstand. I jumped back on my feet and bit the apple. Hard to tell, fighting a bald guy, I wasn't taking this seriously. His moves were easy to read. I dodged left and right, and flipping over whenever he jabbed. He flew back, panting from the workout.

"Nom nom nom…" I chewed. My sarcasm lighted the fire in him. I'd need both hands now. I threw my apple at him. Ox speared it with his weapon. He fried it to ash.

I smirked as I stretched. "Give me a light show." Purple sparks flew from my hands. I was pumped. "This is gonna be fun."

The weapon sounded shocked. "O-Ox! She's able to use Soul Drive!"

"We'll just have to make her game…" Ox looked for a good comeback. "We'll have to give her a better light show for her stupid game!" He sounded pleased.

"That doesn't make any sense!" I yelled as I ran towards him. He lunged the rod out, and electricity shot out. I was enveloped in it. I crossed my arms in an 'x' formation, and lavender shards circled around me, creating a barrier. The lightning shots bounced off.

I threw my arms to the sides. The barrier shattered. I slashed my arm twice, creating an 'x' sword cut. Ox blocked it.

"Time to finish this!" He jabbed the rod at me. I was too close to move. It would've pierced my stomach if I didn't clasp the jagged end with the palms of my hands. It looked as if I was praying. Electricity burned into me, I felt it go through my body and out anything it could, and the only way out was back through the weapon and into Ox.

"Negative versus positive, eh?" I growled. I was pissed, my first day and I was being electrocuted! Purple sparks shot out of me and hit Ox. I threw my end of the rod up towards the sky, making Ox drop it. I ran over to him and punched him, straight in the stomach. Purple shots flew, and so did the bald boy.

He landed up against the wall, his weapon on the floor near him. He couldn't get up, his breathing unsteady. Blood dripped from his mouth. I shook off the fact I was nearly burned and walked over to my lunch. I grabbed my water and walked back over to Ox. I wet my napkin and placed it over his mouth to clean it. I let go when he touched the napkin and wiped his forehead. The weapon turned back into his human form.

The lightning rod was a tall, tanned boy with his spiky hair in a small ponytail. He wore a blue undershirt with a white jacket and white pants with black shoes, but there was something more peculiar to him.

There was a red visor covering his eyes. I wondered what his eyes told, since his face was frowning. He didn't walk over to his meister, just stayed there looking at me. I poured the rest of my water out on to the ground, simply to do something.

"And now you know why I made Alice a level 3." The bouncy voice rang from nowhere, scaring all three of us. I turned my head to see Shinigami standing at the doorway. I wondered how he fit through there.

I bowed to where I was looking at my knees. "I'm sorry, Proffessor!" I straightened and walked over to grab my lunch and backpack.

"P-Professor!" Ox exclaimed. He stood up, but winced in pain.

"I saw the whole thing." Shinigami nodded. "What happened to Stein's words 'treat her nicely'? That's why." Shinigami pointed at the mess we made. "Alice is a quick-thinker, not to mention swift and tough. That's why. Now… should we get back to class? It's about to start!" He crouched down low and squeezed through the door.

I slung my backpack around my shoulder. I turned to the two boys. "Hey, do you know where Sid's class is?" They stared at me, then back at each other. They ignored me.

"Whatever. See ya." I walked over and opened the door, and went down the stairs. "Room 62… where are you?"

Ox looked at his weapon. "What a weird girl." He nodded.

*-.-.-.-.-*

"Here it is!" I looked up towards the large wooden door leading into the office.

"ROOM 62- SID BARRETT AND MARIE MJOLNIR- HOME ROOM"

I walked into the room. It was like an exact copy of Stein's room, only there was no ramp or dissecting table with knives and tools.

I saw Soul, Maka, Tsubaki, and Roxas all sitting around each other, talking and looking at various books. I was surprised to see Soul studying, but on further notice I saw he was just staring into space. I looked for the two teachers.

Sid was blue-skinned with a muscular build. His eyes had no pupils. His mouth showed his square smile and teeth. He wore a beanie, with a basketball white tee with blue jeans and sneakers. I was surprised seeing a blue teacher dressed so casually. I saw he had tattoos over both of his arms, making me feel more welcome. I touched my right shoulder.

Marie was a tall thin young woman with orangey-blonde hair that came down to her mid shoulders. She had on a black and orange dress with a spiked pattern on it, with black heels. She wore an eye-patch over her left eye with a thunder-bolt pattern.

Marie noticed me first. "Ah! You must be the new student! Alice?" I nodded as she scurried over to me and placed a hand on my head. "My you're tall!" I barely went up to her nose… "Why don't you go to where Roxas and the others are?" She pointed. I nodded. People finally started noticing me, sadly. Most of the kids looked new, so I hugged my backpack tighter. Once I reached the row I started poking Soul's back without stopping.

"Quit it." Poke. "Quit it." Poke. "Quit it." Poke. "Quit it." Poke. "Quit it, damn it!" Poke, poke, poke. "I'll kick your ass!" Soul whipped his head around to stare at his poker. I grinned.

"Kick who's ass?" I sat down next to him. He chuckled.

"You better be glad you're my friend or you'd be on the floor crying." I laughed.

"Hey, Alice!" Tsubaki came over to me. "Did you get to where you needed to go?" I nodded.

"Huh?" Maka looked at me.

"Nothing." I shook my head. I didn't want to explain the whole bit with them about Ox and his partner. "So… what are we doing?" I got up and went over to where they were pointing and talking.

Roxas explained. "We're doing a project on Soul wavelengths. It's a big deal." He shrugged as he chewed Pocky.

"Mind if I butt in?"

"I don't care." Roxas chuckled. Maka agreed.

"It'd be wonderful to have you!" Tsubaki clapped. I grinned and we got right to work.

The project was a really big deal. Our groups had to be able to connect soul wavelengths with different partners, and if not, explain why. I finally brought up the request of joining their resonating group to Maka, explaining what Shinigami said to me.

"Of course!" Maka didn't even think about it. "It would be wonderful to have a person like you in Spartoi!" I grinned at her.

"Thank you, I hope I don't seem like a burden." She shook her head.

"Never! It'd be awesome to have you on missions!" I smiled. "Who's your partner?" She asked.

"I don't have one… but neither does Roxas, right?" She nodded, and a light bulb popped above her head.

"Why don't you guys partner up?"

"No way!" I laughed.

"Why not? It could work…"

"Well… I work better solo, and can't Roxas fight without a meister?"

"Yeah, a blade comes out of both his arms, but that's it…" She sighed. "It was worth a shot."

"So is this a class team or Spartoi?" I made a circling motion with my hands.

"We have outside lessons with Stein as Spartoi, this group is just for the project."

"Oh…"

"Ding- Death! Dong- Death! Ding- Death! Dong- Death!" The bell chimed.

"That's one odd bell." Roxas nodded as we all packed our things together. We all got our stuff together and walked out the hall.

*-.-.-.-*

Soul must've seen my dismay in trying to find Kid and the guns, so he tried to calm me down by saying they wouldn't leave without me. I walked faster than the others, hoping to find Kid. Once I got through the doors and into the platform, I instantly found them, looking around through crowds for me.

Patty noticed me first. She quickly ran over to me and picked me up. I was surprised at her strength, especially since she carried me all the way to Kid and Liz.

"Hey!" I said when I was finally set down. Kid smiled at me.

"How was your first day at school?" Liz asked. We began walking down the stairs, slowly, so I wouldn't trip and fall. I shrugged.

"Interesting."

"Oh!" Patty suddenly exclaimed. "Where were you at lunch time? Tsubaki said you were asking how to get to the roof…?" She seemed confused. I searched my satchel for the crumbled up piece of paper I had picked up on my way out. I handed it to Kid.

Kid handed it to Liz. She rolled her eyes.

"Ox usually doesn't do that…" She handed it to Patty.

"He was no match for you, huh!" Patty jumped up and down on my shoulders. I shrugged her off.

"I beat them yeah, then Shinigami appeared and explained to Ox that's why I was a level 3 meister." Kid's eyes widened.

"You're a level 3?" I took out my ID and showed him.

"Aren't you one?" He pulled out his card and handed it to me.

"Death The Kid, Age 14, Birthday- October 10- Meister- Rank 3- Gender Male- ID 888888"

A picture of a Kid doing two peace signs and a blank face was his profile picture.

We traded back cards. "I've never seen you with a blank expression, Kid!" I chuckled as I put my card back into my satchel, but it was grabbed out of my hands before I could do anything.

"Don't ditch us." Roxas waved the card in the air before reading it. I tried to get it back, but I was short compared to him, barely going to his chin. He was only a little bit taller than Kid, though. I sighed and kept walking down the road.

"You don't have a last name?" He looked at me. I shook my head.

"Do you?" I put my hands on my hips.

"Yamui. Roxas Yamui." He smiled.

"Gimme my card back, Yamui." As soon as Roxas handed me the small piece of plastic, something knotted in my stomach.

I stopped in my tracks, card held out. My eyes were wide open with fear.

Darkness.

"Alice?" Roxas turned to me. I looked down at the floor.

"I sense a Kishin."