This took a bit longer to get up than expected, but here it is!

Weapon and Meister

Soul was a weapon. And he wasn't just any kind of weapon-he was a scythe, one of the rarest kinds of weapons. The thought that her new albino roommate could be a scythe, her weapon of choice, helped Maka's mood. Sure, he'd almost sliced her in half, but really, she'd provoked him. He was just so infuriatingly insightful that it pissed her off a little. It didn't help that it was one-sided. He could read her, but she couldn't even guess his thoughts.

She became worried when he didn't come home. She thought that maybe he'd never meant to show that he was a scythe and maybe he wouldn't come back at all now. A little bit depressed, Maka sat on the couch. It was obvious that he had scared her, but who wouldn't have been scared in a situation like that? She just hoped that she hadn't scared him, too. She decided it would be best if she didn't try to track him down. That might just upset him more, plus she'd have no idea where to look. She ended up waiting for him on the couch, simultaneously attempting to read and keeping her eyes glued to the front door, waiting for the tiniest movement that signaled him coming inside.

When the clock read 8:30 pm and he still wasn't back, Maka figured that maybe he just wasn't coming back. Disappointed, Maka went to bed. She needed extra rest to make sure she wouldn't fall asleep during the test in the morning.

Little did Maka know, at 8:35, the door opened and Soul crept to his room.

Maka woke up to sun rays on her face. Normally, that wouldn't worry her, but since her alarm was supposed to wake her up at 5:30, the sun shouldn't be out yet. She rolled over and looked at her clock. It said 6:43. She processed this for a moment.

"I'm gonna be late!" Maka yelled as she threw the covers off of her. She must've been so worried about Soul that she'd forgotten to set her alarm last night. She flew through her room, changing into her clothes. As she was putting up one of her pigtails, she knocked on Soul's door and yelled at him to get moving. As she put up her other pigtail, she threw some bread in the toaster. She scurried through the apartment, plucking the book and notes she'd been looking over last night and putting them in her bag.

Soul wandered out of his room, yawning. He stared at her uncomprehendingly for a second.

"What are you doing? We're going to be late!" Maka barked at him.

He looked at the clock. His eyes widened. "Shit!" He disappeared into his room.

The toast popped up and Maka snatched one of the slices. She popped it into her mouth just as Soul was hurrying out of his room, still sliding his jacket over his shoulders. She tossed the other piece of food at him, and he snapped it out of the air like a dog. She grabbed her bag and they headed out the door.

They hurried to school side-by-side without worry of looking uncool or clumsy, seeing as they had only seven minutes to get all the way to their class. They began ascending the enormous flight of stairs to the DWMA.

Six minutes later, they ran, huffing and sweating and generally looking uncool, into their classroom. The moment they stepped inside, the bell rang. They had made it. They took their seats. Maka carefully glanced at Soul out of the corner of her eye. He spotted her and gave her a crooked grin. She smiled to herself as much as to him.

"Alright, alright, everybody settle down," Sid was saying at the front of class. "It's time for the test. I hope you all studied, because that was your last chance." He began passing out the tests and moving students around to space them out more. Maka and Soul had enough space between them to fit three people. There was something strange about being so far away from him. Sid handed Maka her test and she braced herself.

When all the tests were out, Sid stood at the front of class. "You have one hour. Get started!"

Maka's eyes scanned over the test, answering the questions as accurately as possible. It took her forty-five minutes to complete it. She had checked, rechecked, and triple-checked her answers. Sid told her to just wait out the last fifteen minutes by reading or something. She glanced a few times in Soul's direction to see if he was done, but she couldn't see from how far away she was.

"Alright, hand 'em in!" Sid announced. The room filled with the sound of shuffling papers, echoing off the walls and stifling the eerie silence. Sid put the papers on his desk without bothering to look at them.

"Now, the second part of class today is also somewhat of a test." A few people in the room, Soul included, groaned. Maka tried to not find the dismayed look on his face endearing and failed.

"This isn't just going to go on today, either. This test will span only a matter of hours for some of you, and others it may take the rest of your time at the DWMA." That effectively shocked the room into tense silence. "We are going to open up the doors of the classrooms, and you are to find a suitable partner. You need to find a weapon if you're a meister, and a meister if you're a weapon. Begin your search now!"

He opened up the doors and a few people got up from their seats. Maka and Soul didn't move. They must've been thinking exactly the same thing. They were a weapon and a meister. It made sense, didn't it?

Soul got up and left the room. Maka wondered if he was still bothered by her knowing that he was a weapon. Everyone would know he was a weapon now, because Sid was handing out tags so that you knew at first glance who the weapons and meisters were. Maka fixed her pin in place. She felt proud wearing the tag that read "Meister". Soul had vanished into the halls, so she decided to try and find him. She searched the rest of the day, all throughout the school, and she never found him. When the final bell rang to signal the end of the day, she walked home alone and depressed.

She was tired and frustrated, so she went right to bed. Soul could mope around as long as he wanted. She wasn't going to baby him.

Tuesday morning was much more organized than the day preceding it. Maka woke up on time and prepared at her own pace. She woke up Soul at the exact time he needed to wake up. She made a proper breakfast. She showered. Everything was on schedule.

She left the apartment, right on schedule, but she stopped at the top of the first step. She hadn't quite closed the door yet. She leaned inside. "Soul! Hurry up!"

The weapon was grabbing his jacket and simultaneously trying to consume a donut. He said something that sounded like "Rmmffmmff?" that Maka roughly translated as "You serious?"

"Like it or not, we're walking together," she informed him. He shrugged, finally getting the jacket over his shoulders and taking a bite of his donut. He walked out the door that Maka held open for him. She closed and locked it, expecting to find an empty hallway when she turned back around. Instead she found Soul, waiting patiently for her to put the key in her pocket. He grinned a little bit, like this action confused him too. They walked together in a companionable silence.

"For the rest of the week we get to just keep looking for a partner?" a weapon girl asked.

"Yeah, that's what Professor Sid told me when I asked," another weapon answered her.

Soul and Maka passed them, Maka picking up the conversation. She sighed with relief. If she could convince Soul to be her partner by then…

She turned around and saw her would-be partner sneaking around a corner, trying to lose her. She chased after him, having to swerve around a group of snobby meisters. She turned the corner and found the hallway abandoned except for the white-haired boy who was walking quickly through it. She called his name, but he didn't slow down. She followed him, determined not to lose him again.

No matter what she did, she couldn't seem to catch up to him enough to talk to him. If he saw her gaining, he'd pick up the pace. At long last she turned the corner and found only a door. She opened it.

Soul was inside, and he was removing his usual bright yellow jacket. She never really paid any attention to what he wore underneath, seeing as the bright outer colors always distracted her too much. However, she was pretty sure he didn't usually wear a red dress shirt beneath it. He picked up another jacket, a formal one, and put it on.

There was a drastic difference in his appearance compared to his casual wear. He was actually standing up straight, his cocky slouch gone. When he turned, Maka saw that his demented grin was also absent. There were a few instruments in the room, and Maka wondered why Soul would lead her all the way to this part of the DWMA, where no one was around. He sat down at a black grand piano. She slowly walked up behind him. Without looking at her, he spoke.

"This is the kind of guy I am."

He started to play, a haunted, slightly mad tune echoing off the walls. Maka listened intently throughout the entire song. This must be Soul's own design, she realized, because it was eerie on the surface, yes, but something about it was also beautiful in its own way. Maka gently swayed to the rhythm. When it stopped, she felt closer to Soul somehow.

He glanced uneasily over his shoulder at her. When he saw her smile, he seemed to relax a little. His grin returned, a little wider than before. He stood up and faced her, as if expecting judgment.

Maka held out her hand to him. "Soul, will you be my weapon partner?"

Soul calmly clasped her hand. "Sure, Maka."

She looked him in the eye. "But first I need to know your last name."

"What for?"

"You know mine! It's only fair. C'mon, just tell me."

He thought for a moment. "Eater."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Soul Eater?"

He nodded. There was a challenging gleam in his eye. "Got a problem with that?"

Maka smiled. "Nope. It fits you, with how much you can eat."

Soul actually laughed at that, the stress and tension vanishing from the room. Maka's knees went a little weak for reasons she couldn't fathom. When he looked at her again, there was such joy in his eyes that Maka's heart skipped a beat.

They released each other's hands. Maka nervously fiddled with one pigtail, avoiding Soul's gaze. He sighed.

"What is it?"

"I-it's nothing!" Maka said.

"Just tell me, would ya?"

She slowly met his eyes. "Would you mind if…could I see your scythe form?"

He didn't look surprised. She had no doubt that he'd been asked that plenty of times. He looked a little stressed as he stared intently at the wall. In a moment there was a bit of light, and then there was a beautiful red and black scythe where he'd been standing. It was leaning against the piano precariously. It started to slip, and Maka instinctively caught it.

That was her mistake. Their wavelengths weren't lined up properly, so the handle burned Maka's hand. She yelped, but she didn't want to drop him on the floor. Ignoring the pain, she leaned him against the wall so she could see what she was going to be working with. The design on the blade itself was breathtaking. There was a single red eye near the blade, and she gasped when it looked at her.

"Well?" a metallic voice asked. It was definitely Soul's, but he sounded different in scythe form.

She smiled. "It's amazing."

If a scythe could blush, she was pretty sure it just would've. "Uh, thanks. D'you mind if I change back now? I can't stay this way for very long."

Maka stepped back. "Oh, right."

Once he was human again, Soul changed his jacket to his regular one, and they went to inform Sid that they'd be partners.

"Hmm. Yup, you're souls should be compatible," Sid said as he checked their wavelengths. He jotted something down on his paper. "Soul…Maka…Done. Alright, you two are now partners. Since you don't have to worry about that now, you can go home. Spend some time together, and come back tomorrow."

Soul looked at him incredulously. "It's eight o'clock. You mean we get to go home already?"

"Yup," was Sid's simple reply.

Soul shrugged. "Cool." He started to walk away, then noticed Maka wasn't following. She was still lost in thought, trying to figure out why her knees had gone weak earlier. She had a theory, but…

"Maka?"

Soul's voice shook her out of her thoughts. "Uh?"

"He said we can go home, Space Cadet."

"Oh…oh right."

She decided to ignore the fluttery feeling she felt as she and Soul walked home. It was because he was her partner, she decided. You were supposed to feel different around your partner than other people, right? Right. Maka knew that. She definitely wasn't attracted to him or anything. Her knees had gone weak because she was so relieved. Yeah, that was it. She had a partner, a scythe, at long last. That was all she needed to be thinking about now.

They were almost to the apartment when they heard some maniac screaming at them from up the street. Maka turned to see who it was, and she groaned.

"MAKA!" the boy yelled as he sprinted toward them. He ran up to them, still shouting her name even though they were two feet apart. Maka tried to be patient.

"What is it, Black*Star?" she asked, barely keeping her temper under control. Her overly-jubilant ninja friend was obviously (even more) proud of himself for some reason. Maka also noticed that there was a seemingly timid girl behind him.

"Bet you'll never guess what just happened to the great Me!" Black*Star boasted.

"Who's this guy? And why's he so damn loud?" Soul drawled. Maka admired Soul's ability to sound incredibly bored and annoyed at the same time.

"Soul, this is Black*Star. Black*Star-" Maka didn't get to finish her sentence because he started talking over her.

"Everyone knows who I am! It's me with a capital M! I'm the biggest star on this planet! Anyway, Maka, you're one of the first to notice how great I am, but someone else noticed too! Meet Tsubaki, my new weapon partner!" Black*Star jerked a thumb over his shoulder at the timid girl. Maka got a good look at her for the first time. She was tall, Japanese, and had long black hair. She had an air of elegance about her.

"Nice to meet you," Tsubaki said, her voice a little more than a whisper. What the heck was this quiet girl doing partnering up with the ear-splitting Black*Star?

"Nice to meet you too, Tsubaki. I'm Maka." They shook hands. "And this is-"

"Who's this guy? Another admirer of mine?" Black*Star asked loudly.

Soul grimaced. "Maybe if you listened more and shouted less you'd already know who I am," Soul growled.

"What was that?" Black*Star asked dangerously.

"I said-"

Maka sighed at the two boys started arguing. Tsubaki leaned over to whisper to Maka, "Shouldn't we stop them?"

Maka shook her head. "Just let them get it out of their systems."

A loud clap made both girls look at the pair of boys. Soul and Black*Star were grinning at each other. Black*Star looked at Maka.

"Where'd you find this guy? He's almost as cool as me!"

"I'll take that as a compliment," Soul said.

Maka rolled her eyes. "See?" she told Tsubaki. She turned back to the boys. "Like I tried to tell you, this is Soul, and he's my new weapon partner."

Black*Star stared at her like she'd dropped from space. "You partnered with a dude?"

She huffed. "Yes. What's so weird about that?"

"Well, there's your dad-"

"Soul is nothing like that cheating scum, understand me?" Maka said fiercely. She already was a little scared about having a male partner, she didn't need Black*Star reminding her. He backed off.

"Fine. So you guys got out early like Tsubaki and me, huh?" Maka and Soul nodded. "Great! Then you should spend the afternoon with a great star like me!"

"I don't know..." Maka thought back to what Sid had said about spending time with your partner.

"Sure, we'll go," Soul decided for them. Why did he get to choose?

"Alright!" Black*Star started marching triumphantly down the street as though he'd just won a battle, not invited some friends to hang out. As Soul started to walk away, Maka grabbed his sleeve.

"What the heck? Why are you so interested in Black*Star?" she hissed. Though she'd known him a long time, Maka still had a tough time being around the energetic ninja.

Soul glanced at her, but then focused on where they were walking. "Sid said to spend time together. It couldn't hurt to be around these two, right? No matter how incredibly loud he is."

Maka was still suspicious. It seemed to her that Soul just didn't want to be alone with her. It was both a relief and a little saddening.

They spent the entire afternoon with Tsubaki and Black*Star. Occasionally the two boys would argue, but they'd resolve it before anything got too serious. When the sun started to set, they went their separate ways.

"See you in class tomorrow!" Black*Star said.

"What? You're not in our class," Maka pointed out.

He grinned. "Heheh, I am now! I got transferred today!"

Maka tried to suppress her groan of annoyance, and she was pretty sure that only Soul heard it. "Okay, see you tomorrow."

As she and Soul headed for the apartment, Maka debated asking him about why he'd seemed so eager to avoid time with her. If they kept secrets from one another, then soul resonance would become impossible.

"Soul?" she muttered, barely loud enough for him to hear.

"Hmm? What is it?"

"Why did you want to hang out with Black*Star and Tsubaki today?"

He risked glancing in her direction. "Well, he's your friend, right?"

Maka stopped. "That's not the point. And why won't you look at me?"

Soul sighed, refusing to turn around. "Can we just go home and talk about this later? I'm tired."

Part of her wanted to drop it, to keep going like nothing was happening, but she couldn't ignore this. "No, we can talk about it now. I want to know Soul. You purposely avoided spending time with me…if you don't like me, it'll be pretty hard to be partners, won't it? Look at me!"

Reluctantly, Soul's eyes met hers. "Look, I just thought it might get kind of…awkward, just the two of us all day, and I thought that annoying runt might ease the atmosphere a bit. Stop making a big deal out of nothing. It's not cool." He continued his walk.

She still had questions she wanted answers to, but she figured that was the best she'd get right now. They'd just have to take this partner thing slow. Maka could handle that, right? She just had to give it some time. They'd only known each other for three weeks now, so there shouldn't be so much of a rush on things. She caught up with him.

"Your right. Sorry, Soul."

He grinned. "Don't worry about. You can make up for it by cooking dinner tonight."

There it was again. Maka's knees had gone weak. She just managed to keep walking in a straight line. Why didn't that happen with anyone else? She nodded, taking off at a run, yelling, "Race ya there!"

"Aw, c'mon, Maka! That's not fair!" He sprinted after her.

What he wasn't aware of was his new partner's fear. She wasn't scared of him. She couldn't be. To the contrary, she was scared of how much she trusted him. And why wouldn't that stupid fluttery feeling go away? Why did she get that warm sensation when he was around? Why was her heart racing? What was going on?!

A/N: Okay, maybe a wee bit cliche, I'll admit. Sorry. I'll try to veer away from that next chapter, I swear! I should be able to get a lot of writing done this weekend (I had hoped that I could get this one up last weekend, and seeing as it's Thursday, I failed more than a little bit). I'd love to know what you think! Please review!