Chapter 8

Death Meets Beauty

A/N: I've decided to a short time-skip so that Ayumi has already adapted to Death City's locality. But I be adding bonding moments in the next couple of chapters after this. Trust me, I do plan to write a full chapter where the Ayumi grows closer to the gang. So be on the look out for that. Also, the next chapter will focus some the new characters, like the villain and other students.

Anyways enjoy this chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own Soul Eater. (Sorry for not adding this in the previous chapters.)

It's been weeks since Ayumi joined the DWMA. She grew much closer to the gang, and would often hangout with them whenever they had freetime to play basketball in the courtyard. It was nice to finally fit in with a group that she could open up to. Maka manage to help Ayumi with all the homework they were given, particularly the ones from Professor Stein's class. She felt a strong bond with Maka. Ever since she first moved in the to Death City, Maka was the first person to show her kindness. She made her feel welcome by giving her a tour of the city and the DWMA.

Ayumi realized that the city despite its bizarre theme, was actually a nice place to live in. The stores were fun to shop, and the houses were neighborly, even though most of them had the same designs.

She manage to get a part time job at Deathbucks Café as a waitress to earn money. She got paid 20 dollars an hour, which was enough to buy food, clothes, and other essentials. Ayumi already grew fond of Death City. Even though it will never replace Tokyo, it was starting to feel like home to her.

On a typical Monday in class, Stein informed everyone that they will be taking an exam next week to test out their IQ levels. However, grades were still in counting. Ayumi groaned once he mention the word 'Exam'. She hated taking them, cause they make her become a stress case. Staying up late studying, not getting enough sleep, being unorganized. The pressure was already kicking in just by the thought of it.

Once class was dismissed, it was time for lunch. Everyone headed to the cafeteria. Ayumi sat down with Maka and the gang.

"Ayumi are you alright?" Maka asked. "You've been acting really nervous since Prof. Stein mentioned the Cumulative Exam."

Ayumi took a sip of her milk before answering. "I'm not really a big fan of exams, there always so stressful."

"Your not the only one," Black*Star said while munching on his drumstick. "I don't even see the point of taking it. If we're smart enough to take down a Kishin, then that should be enough right?"

"Because the staff needs to know everyone's level of intelligence to be sure who's on track," Tsubaki said kindly to her meister. "And it's not polite to talk with your mouth full Black*Star."

"Don't worry it not that bad," Soul said in an laid back tone. "Besides, it's nothing compared to the Super Written Exam."

"The Super Written Exam?" Ayumi asked right before she about to take a bite of her salad.

"It's an exam that test out everyone's intelligence unlike the Cumulative Exam." Kid confirmed. "We take one every year. Last time it was taken, the only two people that received the highest score were Maka and Oxford."

Ayumi looked over to see Oxford sitting at the table next to theirs, having an conversation with his weapon partner Havar. He was the boy who had swirly glasses and two spikes of hair on each side of his head.

He was the second smartest student in class. Not to mention he had a crush on Kim Diehl, the Lantern meister. Ayumi thought he was a bit of a know-it-all. She couldn't tell if he was trying to show off to Kim, or surpass everyone in the class.

But no one can beat Maka. She had faith in her, and unlike Oxford she wouldn't rub her intelligence in someone else's face. She didn't even care if Maka was on top of the class above her. Ayumi already knew she wasn't that smart anyway, so being beaten by a genius wouldn't surprise her the slightest.

"Don't worry Ayumi," Maka placed her hand on the Battle Axe's shoulder. "I'll help you study this weekend for the test. We can be study partners!"

Ayumi like the idea of having Maka as a study partner. With her help, she can earn an 'A' for once. In most of her exams she would either earn an 'B' or 'B-'. She was never that good enough to earn an A in any test of her life.

The gang continue to eat their meals while conversing, until they notice group of students crowding over someone. It was hard to tell what they were saying since they were talking all at once.

"What's with all the mumble jumble?" Liz asked.

"I don't know," Soul said in a lazy tone. "Probably just someone getting unnecessary attention."

Over crowded muttering, they manage to hear of couple students clearly.

"Oh my god! It's really her!" A girl said.

"I can't believe Alissa BelleRose is in our school!" a boy said.

Ayumi raised a brow, she was unfamiliar with this person they were speaking of. "Who's are they talking about?"

"What?!" Maka asked with an astonish tone. "You never heard of Alissa BelleRose?"

Ayumi shook her head in response.

"She's the daughter of the president of London." Tsubaki explained.

"Oh," Ayumi said with widen eyes. "I never knew that."

"I hear she's pretty hot." Black Star said with a mischievous grin.

"She's also attending the school as a gunman meister," Soul added after taking bite of his apple. "Or should I say gunwoman. Apparently, you got yourself a competitor, eh Kid?" The Demon Scythe rolled his eyes at the young reaper.

"Are you kidding?" Liz said narrowing her eyes at Soul. "No one stands a chance against Kid. What makes you think that BelleRose girl can compete with him?"

"Now, now Liz," Kid said in a gentleman manner. "There's no need to be like that. I've heard some incredible stories about her. It wouldn't hurt to have a competition once in a while, even a Death God needs a worthy opponent."

"Don't you know who you guys are talking about?!" Maka asked in a firm voice before putting down her fork. "Your talking about the girl who went to military school at 7, won certificates in 'Gunman Approval' and 'Success in Machine Guns', and became the Leader of the White House at 13. She's not just an average girl, she's a huge success, and I praise her so much."

Maka seem to have great admiration for this Alissa BelleRose person. Of course, anyone who's well-known for their achievements and talents, is totally worth being appreciated.

"Who knew you were the 'fangirl' type," Soul teased with a toothy smirk. Which caused the ashy blonde to give a fierce glare.

"It's not like that!" Maka barked while blushing. "I just think she's an amazing person, that's all!"

"Well, I'm sure you'll be to talk to her," Tsubaki assured. "After all, she is a student here now."

"I'm am curious to meet her," Kid said while folding his hands. "I've been hearing stories about her, but I have no idea what she looks like."

"Oh, she's very beautiful," Maka added with glee. "She has a lot of male admirers, no doubt."

All this talk about Alissa, made Ayumi curious to meet her. It's not often she gets to meet foreign people, besides her friend Isabelle.

"Excuse me?" Kid felt a tapping on his shoulder. Not recognizing the voice, he turn to see who the owner was. "Are you the headmaster's son?"

Once he took a look at the person that was speaking to him, his eyes couldn't believe what they were seeing. A girl who appeared to be his age, she had the most beautiful hair, it was long and golden blond. Her dress was red like a rose, and her face was elegant and smooth, like a doll's face. Her eyes were sparkling and light brown. He was in awe by her beauty, like a angel from heaven was standing right before him.

"I'm new here, so I don't know my way around." she said in such a heavenly voice. "I need someone to aid me to the nurse's office, I'm having a bit of a headache. They'd told me you know the school better than anyone. If it's not too much to ask, I'd appreciate if you'd show me. I'm worried I might get lost on my own."

"Could this be the girl they were talking about?" Kid thought.

She seemed so kind and well-mannered like him. Her smile was so angelic, no wonder everyone was found of her. He heard rumors that those that laid eyes on her will instantly succumb to her charm, but he thought those were just ridiculous stories, or maybe exaggerations. Seeing her in person however was a whole other story, she was incredibly gorgeous. He never thought such beauty actually exist, other than symmetry of course. He was zoned out, admiring her appearance that he completely forgot that she was talking to him.

"Um, are you ok?" the girl known as Alissa BelleRose asked.

"O-Oh right," Kid snapped out of his awe daydreaming. "I'm sorry, that was very rude of me."

Alissa let out a small giggle. "It's alright, I'm used to it."

Even her giggle was cute and appealing. The sound of it gave Kid a tingling feeling inside.

"Well then...uh, I'll lead you to the nurse's office," Kid gave off his gentleman posture to Alissa. "This way."

Kid and Alissa left the cafeteria as they were on their way to the nurse's office. The gang watch as the two exited together. Black Star sneakered while Patty was doing heart sign with her fingers.

"Wow, he's only known her for a few seconds, and he's already hitting it off with her." Black Star said. "He sure is a lucky guy isn't he?"

"Don't be silly," Maka said. "He's just showing her around, that's all. Nothing more than that."

"Maybe," Soul said as he finished his apple and tossed it in the trash bin. "But who knows, he might eventually take a liking to her. Did you see the look on his face when he saw her?"

"Well, he's never seen her before" Ayumi said finishing her lunch. "I mean, any boy would react the same way if they saw a pretty girl they never saw before, right?"

"Yeah, Ayumi's right," Maka said with a upbeat tone. "Kid's just not use to seeing beautiful girls, he needs time to adapt to Alissa as all."

"Well, we'll see about that," Liz said.

Kid show Alissa her way around the academy. He wasn't sure if he should feel honored, he was walking with the First daughter of London. He been hearing some fascinated stories of her, her achievements, her accomplishments, and her personality. They say she's a kind-hearted girl who fond of children and support charity for orphans. For her combats skills, she's studied in a military school, which let him to wonder about her gunman states but that's something he rather not pry on.

He also heard that she been attending private schools most of her life, and it's her first time participating in a public type school. He wonder how she was enjoying her time so far here in the academy. There was so many questions that were wondering in his head.

"If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask," Alissa said breaking the silence. "I'm a open book."

Perfect timing. Not that Kid wanted to barge into her business, but at the same time he wanted to know more about her.

"I wouldn't want to intrude into any personal business of yours Ms. Alissa," Kid delaired.

"Oh please just call me 'Lisa'," Lisa said. "That's what my friends usually referred to me as."

"Lisa," Kid repeated. "Sounds a bit casual for someone of high class as you."

"Yeah, I preferred a more casual name than a formal one," Lisa said while folding her hands. "I'd like to blend in with normality rather than being seen as a superior."

This was something new, Kid never expected this from someone like Lisa. Some of the girls thought she was just a snobby rich girl who loved getting attention from everyone around her. Of course, he'd wouldn't just assume something that was just a rumor. He's the type that would judge a person by their actions before jumping into conclusions. Apparently this girl was none those things that they assume of. In fact, she was the exact opposite of that. He began to analysis her soul to see for sure if she was being honest about herself.

According to her soul, it was filled with Elegance, Charisma, Passion, and Pity. The last one caught him off guard. This person who seem so happy, had pity for someone? Of course, he didn't want to dwell too deep into her. Perhaps, it was best to ask her a regular question that he'd ask any other that was new to the school. She did say she wanted to be treated like a normal student.

"I've been wondering,"

"Yes?"

"What made you want to join the DWMA?" a moment of silence came after Kid asked that question. He was beginning to regret it now. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have ask. It was very uncalled for-"

"It's fine," Lisa said in a assuring tone. "There's no need to apologize."

Kid felt relief as he put his hand on his chest. He could feel his heart pounding from the humiliation, or was it humiliation? He couldn't identify what this feeling even was.

"My reason for coming to this academy, is to learn how to resonate souls," Lisa explained. "Even though I'm a well-trained gunwoman, I still need to learn the technique of resonating souls. That why I came here."

So that was her reason. It not surprising since most of the students that come to the DWMA learn how to resonate souls. It was one of the main techniques require for combat, however it's not very easy to accomplish. The meister and weapon souls had to be in sync in order to perform their own ultimate technique.

"Have you gotten the hang of it yet?" Kid asked.

"Not yet," Lisa replied. "I do know how to energize soul wavelengths though, its one of the only techniques I learn from the academy that I manage to achieve at."

"I see," Kid said impressed. "You must be a quick learner to be able to accomplish the Soul Energize Wavelength technique."

"Well not exactly," Lisa said sheepishly while tapping her cheeks . "It took me two weeks to practice it, luckily I manage to unlock it during my first two-star-mission when I fought against a evil human."

"That's impressive," Kid said. "Most students wouldn't be able to energize their soul wavelengths during their first couple of weeks here."

"How'd you know that?" Lisa ask tilting her head.

"Last year a lot of students tried to energize their soul wavelengths," Kid explained. "But many have failed, some manage to achieve it after a month of training."

Lisa began to notice that this boy wasn't just informing her, it was more than that. It wasn't hard to tell, she could read him like a book.

"Are you praising me?" she asked the striped haired boy.

Kid stood shocked as his whole face turn red.

"How'd she knew?" Kid thought. Could she see souls too? Was she a witch? It's like she could read his mind.

"How'd you-"

"It's quite obvious," Lisa said with a smile. "When a guy gives a girl important information based on her accomplishment it's usually a sign that he's praising her."

"O-Oh," Kid said bashfully. "I didn't expect it to be that obvious."

He rub the back of his head embarrassed. To think that he was discovered by someone who didn't even had supernatural abilities. Especially for a reaper such as himself, and reapers shouldn't be obvious towards people.

A minute afterward they made it to the infirmary where the Nurse's office was.

"Oh, by the way," Lisa spoke standing by the door. "You never told me your name."

"Death the Kid, but you can just call me Kid." Kid extended his hand. "It's been a pleasure to meet you Lisa."

Lisa took Kid's hand and shook it gently. "Same to you Kid, I look forward to working with you in class. Maybe we can go on a mission together someday."

"Yeah, I would love that." Kid said releasing his grip. "It would be an honor to work with the beautiful Alissa BelleRose."

"I told you, you don't have to be formal," Lisa giggled. "Just treat me like a normal student while I'm here, okay?"

"R-Right, sorry." Kid said while blushing.

Lisa waved goodbye before entering the door towards to the infirmary. Kid continued his way back to the cafeteria as he picked back what just happened. He spoke to with the president of London's daughter for the first time, and he finally got to see what she looked like. He never thought that he would meet a girl with such glorious features. She was like a flower, so delicate and yet so lovely.

When he first laid eyes on her, he felt like he was under a spell. But no one with a beautiful face like hers could possibly be a witch. Her soul was too pure to be one of them. He placed his hand on his heart again. It was still pounding really fast, was it anxiety that he was feeling? No, that's not it.

It was a feeling he never felt before. Could it be...NO! It couldn't be, it's too soon. He's only known her for one day. How could he be getting this feeling inside from a girl he's just met. Then again, she was an interesting person.

After talking with Lisa, he got to learn more about her. It turns out that she was nothing like the negative rumors. Despite being wealthy, she wasn't snobby or full of herself. She was actually a kind and polite girl, who just wanted to be treated as a equal.

Never in his life has he met a high-class person who wanted to be treated as a normal citizen. Most of them would look down upon others just for being commoners. But Lisa wasn't one of them, she was a completely different person. She never called out Kid for not being at the same level as her. In fact, she told him to treat her as a equal rather than some idol.

Is that why he developed an interest for her? Because of how much of a charming individual she was? He never in his life have he felt this way with anyone before. It was an incredible feeling.

Though he was curious to know why she had pity within her soul. Could it be that deep down felt sorrow for someone, but didn't know it? If anything, it was best not to intervene yet, and wait til the moment to discuss with her about it when he has the chance.

He actually wanted to see her again. But, that won't be a problem since she'll be attending the same class. Hopefully he'll get the opportunity to talk to her more. No matter what this feeling was, he knew for sure that it was a good feeling. A very strong one to be exact.

"Honestly, how hard could it be to keep track of all this paperwork?!" Esmeralda shouted in frustration. "Never in my life have I been put to do so much work in one day! A lady like me shouldn't be dealing with labor, it's completely uncalled for!"

She was put by Lord Death to make sure that every paperwork to put in their right folders. It may not seem so difficult at first. However, because there was dozens to keep count of, it wasn't as simple as she thought it would be at first.

Her hair was becoming a mess from the stress, and her nails were breaking. She couldn't even keep her beauty up. And her beauty was what define her, a witch must never be hideous in any way. So this is what humans means when they say 'A typical day in the office.' Well it was certainly a typical day indeed.

The only thing that could make up for this horrid day, would be a sweet drink of blood. Luckily, she manage to sneak in some packages of blood from the infirmary. Esmeralda kept them in her bag with an empty bottle of tomatoes juice, so no one would grow suspense.

After all that disaster, she cleared up her office to make preparation for her appointment. It's been weeks, but she took the opportunity and got everything she needed for Ayumi. She was interested in meeting the young girl. She wanted to know about this mental problem she had.

If she was lucky, she could use it to her advantage and have Ayumi be her test subject. The study of humans was something she been wanting to do for a long time. But she never had the chance to do so back centuries ago, since Lord Death had the freedom to roam around the world at the time, there was no way he would allow a witch to be in the presence of a human. But now that he's restricted from leaving Death City's vicinity, she was finally able to hide her witch appearance and pose as a human without drawing an impression.

Fortunately, Lord Death was able to fall for her kind-hearted facade. So he needn't to look into her soul for anything out of the ordinary. She got a job as a councilor in the DWMA because of her apparent sweet nature. And since the defeat of Asura, the students needed some counselling to cope with the tragic events that have happened.

Esmeralda accepted the promotion, even though she had no idea how this counselling thing work. But it's not like she'd care about how these petty children felt, if anything she could give them potions disguised as pills if they were so desperate to feel any bliss. However, she'll make an acception for this Battle Ax girl.

Humans were interesting creatures she admitted, she wanted to learn about their lives and how the madness affects them. Humans have an interesting connection with it. So it was an experiment she couldn't wait to study on.

At that moment she heard a knock at the door. Esmeralda immediately set everything in its rightful place, and went to her desk with her hands folded.

"Come in," she said in a sweet tone of voice.

A young girl came in and close the door behind her. It was her.

"It's nice to meet you," she greeted the young girl. "Ayumi Kimura."

A/N: Just to let you guys know, I've been without my computer for a while and most of this chapter was written on my phone. But I like how it turn out. If you guys thought that romance was done a bit soon. Haven't you ever heard of 'Love at first sight'? And don't worry there will some moments with Kid and Lisa, but that's gonna be in future chapters. For now I'm gonna focus on the other characters.