It's official; this fanfic has become my new crack. I haven't drawn anything for a few days! O _ O That's how much I love writing this. Just to let you know a head of time, there'll probably be around 10 chapters or so…If I can make it that far. ; w ; Thank you all for reading this~

Oh, this chapter is all flashbacks, which I would originally put in italics, but because this entire chapter would have been, I'll just save you the trouble. = w =lll

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Today was first day of the first year at Shibusen. It was a fresh start, and adolescents came from miles around to attend this studious organization located in the middle of Death City, Nevada. There were hoards of people in the front yard, inside the building—virtually everywhere. They were first appointed the mission upon joining: find a partner. Weapons, find your technician, and technicians were to find their weapon. Though there was the occasional weapon that didn't need to be wielded by a technician, they were assigned one anyway, and usually the bond created the two were inseparable.

In cases where the relationship was between opposite genders, the pair usually ended up getting married. Because of the constant teamwork the pair was put through, they had to cooperate and form a connection that couldn't be severed easily. In addition to that, mere friendship didn't create resonance. In order for a technician and a weapon to properly function with each other, they needed to resonate. Compatibility was needed, and personalities and traits were a big part of this.

In the midst of all this celebration and new friendships, a blonde young girl stood rather alone. With her dark amber eyes, she scanned for people that she felt a connection to, just by glancing at them. If she and her technician were to resonate, she needed to be able to feel that in their first impression.

She wanted someone she'd bond with instantly. Preferably, a male technician, but if no one else was available; she'd team up with another girl. She sighed lightly, a little gloomy that anyone she felt a connection to had already found their other half. Don't worry, Marie, she told herself, you'll find that special technician that'll wield you like the crushing hammer you are…

She wandered around a bit, wedging her way through masses to try to find another connection with her soul. Essentially, she was looking for her 'soul mate'.

Her heart fluttered, sensing that a worthy technician was about. This feeling in her gut told her that this someone was near. But because of all these people, it was hard to tell. She worked her way out of the crowd, apologizing when she accidentally ran into someone. There, now she could breathe. She closed her eyes and used her other senses to locate this someone that could connect souls. There! She felt it, and her eyes opened.

There was a boy about her age—or so she assumed—with dark grey hair. He looked rather dismal and uninterested in anyone about in the crowd. He sat on a small raised pillar with his arms folded, his white clothes covered in little black stitches. She walked up to him with a small smile etched onto her face.

"Hi!" she greeted him with a small wave, "I'm Marie."

The boy looked at her rather strangely, as though she were ugly and disgusting, and faced away, continuing to peer into the uninteresting crowd. This made Marie only more curious, she stepped closer to him, trying to look at what he was gazing at. "What's your name?"

"Franken," He replied rather bleakly. He kept his answers short and blunt, and continued to ignore her as best as possible.

"Franken?" She giggled, "That's a funny first name."

"No one calls me that though," He said, heaving a little sigh. "Everyone just calls me Stein."

"Stein?" Marie repeated.

"Yeah, it's my last name. I'm Franken Stein."

Marie blinked, rather glad that she had managed to wheedle his entire name out of him by annoying him. "I'm Marie Mjӧlnir. I'm a weapon; a hammer."

Stein said nothing in reply for a moment. "I'm a technician."

Marie bit her lower lip in anxiety for a moment, clasping her hands together in nervousness. "D—do you want to be my partner?" she asked, her dark amber eyes glittering with potential hope and bliss.

Stein looked at her as though she had asked if he had killed someone, "No." He spat a little forcefully.

Marie felt herself sink, "Why not?" She squeaked. "I can already feel that we'd resonate without much difficulty."

Again, Stein gave her another weird look. "I've already got myself a weapon, so stop bugging me!"

Marie felt a little crushed, so flatly turned down. "O—oh," she forced a smile, "I…I see. Well, sorry about that…I'll be on my way." She said with a nod, turning around to leave when she saw someone emerge from the crowd. He looked a little older than Stein, with dark turquoise blue eyes and bright scarlet hair. "Phew!" He breathed. "Sorry about that, Stein. That crowd is massive."

She was rather surprised to see that Stein smirked in response when he wouldn't even give her a reply without giving her an odd look. That must be his weapon…She thought.

"Hey, Spirit…What weapon do you transform into again?" Stein asked, jumping off the pillar and landed on both feet, folding his arms again.

"A scythe…Why?" The other male replied, tilting his heat to once side for a brief moment.

"No reason," Stein replied. "Transform, Spirit. I want to see what kind of scythe you are." A gentle smile formed on his face, like the two were already best friends.

"Uhm, okay." Spirit shrugged, a bright flash of light green light appeared, and within an instant, Stein held a grey metal scythe with a cross for the handle, and the horizontal bar grew into the blade of the scythe. With seemingly effortless motions, Stein twirled the scythe around like a baton. "Huh," Stein muttered.

"What is it?" Spirit asked, the voice coming from the scythe's core.

"You're surprisingly light. I though scythes were much heavier…"

"Are you calling me overweight!?" Spirit roared.

"Not exactly,"

Spirit huffed, "Well, whatever. That just means that we're able to resonate well. If I'm light then that means we can be partners."

"Good," Stein smirked rather slyly.

Marie closed her eyes for a brief moment, sighing to herself and emerged back into the crowd, searching for another suitable technician.

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Quite a lot of time had elapsed since the hammer and the scientist had met. The two were remotely friends, only connected by their other friends. Though there were usually a lot of disagreements, the group consisting of Marie, Asuza, Spirit, Stein and their new friend, Kami. Kami was an exchange student from Europe, and had adapted quite well to the life at Shibusen. She was a technician, and a rumored great hero in Europe. She, unfortunately, had to leave behind her weapon when she moved, but she was very eager to find one.

She had chose Marie in the time being, and the two were pretty good friends. Kami was intellectual, but always could find someone's weakness and make them laugh. She was analytical, and in her serious occasions, she and Asuza could have lengthy discussions about things that Marie was not familiar with. She felt a little out of her league at times, but Kami did a good job of filling her in at necessary times.

In their time at Shibusen, Marie had noticed that Stein had started to wear glasses, though would never answer the question if they were really for his eyes, or he just liked wearing them. He became more interested in dissecting things, and seemed like a really creepy kind of guy in a stranger's eyes.

Though he was never as competitive as Kami, the two were always neck and neck in who ranked first in their class. One day, it was Stein, the next, it was Kami. Stein never cared. He pursued that knowledge, but never studied for tests. If he didn't know a question, he'd answer it to the best of his ability and moved on. Though 98% of his tests and assignments, if not all, were perfect, or near so. Kami's intelligence closely rivals Stein's. Though unlike Stein, she actually put effort into studying. Whenever a test would rear its ugly head, she'd inform Marie a head of time, and the two would start studying together.

Kami's words were reassuring, and she knew how to teach others. Marie usually passed in most things because of that girl—her technician.

Then as the years in Shibusen progressed, Marie started finding boyfriends. She had said that she wanted to settle down and start a family as soon as she graduated, but would often break up with whoever it was because she didn't consider them 'husband material', though she never told anyone what her criteria was. Marie had her own little reputation around school, but it was Kami who defended her. Marie wasn't just "a slut". Marie also relied on her own temper and strength as a weapon to crush and defeat all who opposed her.

During this time, Marie's feelings for Stein started accumulating greatly, and with each day she saw him, her heart fluttered and she was nervous around him, although tried to hide as best as she possibly could. Kami quickly caught word of this, and would often tease her about it, but it was just good-natured joking.

"Today's the day, right?" Kami smiled, her green eyes brimming with hope and reassurance.

Marie nodded slowly, "If I can manage to keep myself together!" She cried, burying her head in her hands. "Uwaaaaaah…I'm a nervous wreck, Stein'll never accept me like this!"

"Pfft," Kami scoffed, "You're fine. Now don't try to rub your face anymore, or you'll ruin the make up!"

"Uugh," Marie sighed, "Okay, Kami."

A male figure with grey hair and glasses walked across the hallway, his hands crammed in his pockets and his usual aloof expression remained as prominent as ever. He was completely oblivious of Marie and Kami giggling like little girls off in the corner, discussing a game plan for Marie.

"Get out there!" Kami said with a laugh, shoving her weapon in Stein's direction.

Kami's gentle nudge had turned out to be more like a forceful push. Marie bumped into Stein, and she turned bright red, standing there like an idiot. Stein didn't look amused, a little aggravated that Marie had just bumped into him out of nowhere. "What is it?" He asked her in an annoyed tone.

"S—Stein!" She managed to say, "Please go out with me!"

Gwuaaaaah… Marie cried on the inside. That came out horribly! The reason for her intense lack of self-confidence in herself was because Stein had rejected her on several different occasions. But ever since she had met him, she felt that special connection, and she wanted to be his weapon. "Please!" She uttered, "I love you."

Though to her dismay, Stein's feelings weren't mutual. He didn't like her the way she liked him. In a strange sort of relationship, the two would consider each other friends, at least.

"No," He replied in a rather harsh tone. "I am incapable of love. You wouldn't want me anyway. You can find someone much better than me."

Marie blinked. This had been the only time he had given her a real reason why he always turned her down. Before, it had always been, "You're annoying, stop bugging me" or "You're nothing more than a friend to me" and there'd even been the occasional just leaving. The times that he said nothing at all and just walked away hurt the most.

"Why?" Marie asked him, almost starting to cry. It had taken so much more courage again, only to know that she'd be rejected again.

"I know what kind of life you're pursuing. I can't promise you a steady relationship, or a would-be family. I know what kind of person I am, and I know what kind of person you are. I'd only end up hurting you." He turned to leave, but Marie grabbed one of his white sleeves.

He turned around to look at her, their eyes locking for a long time. She was crying, and her mascara and eyeliner was starting to dribble down her face along with her tears. "Why are you so sure of yourself, Stein?" She asked, "Why not give this a chance. I've loved you for years, and I've tried to get over you…Believe me. You were the only person I truly hated for a long time, but I couldn't get rid of my emotions. I love you Stein. Do I just not live up your expectations!?" She yanked his arm, anger seeping into her heartache.

Stein continued in an unwavering voice, "No, I don't live up to your expectations. You haven't seen what I really am—"

"And you haven't seen what I really am!" Marie thundered. "Why do you always reject me? I'm a lot stronger than you think! A few more months and I can become a Death Scythe, Stein!"

He pulled his arm away, and placed a hand on her cheek, wiping away some of her tears with his thumb acting like a windshield wiper. "Marie," He breathed calmly, in a strangely comforting voice, "I don't hate you, and I never will, but I know that I can't be with you without hurting you."

"Stein," She cried in a lower voice, "You're hurting me now."

"Yes," He replied, "And if you and I get married, you won't be able to imagine the pain you'd be in. Spirit and I are only partners and I've cut him open on many occasions. He's seen his own muscles and tendons and organs. I've experimented on him without his knowledge for years. I can't control myself, and if you were to get any closer, I couldn't guarantee your own safety."

"I don't care about my own safety!" She whimpered.

"I do," Stein whispered tenderly, recoiling his hand, and left her standing there, returning to whatever he was doing last before she interrupted him. Marie started crying again, unable to bottle up her emotions anymore. Kami had been in hiding for a while, so Marie could feel a bit more relaxed knowing that Kami wasn't watching her every move.

Kami rushed to her best friend, and embraced her in a sympathetic hug. Marie cried onto her shoulder, holding her back. "He'll learn that he's just rejected the love of his life. When he gets older, he'll beat himself up over how he never went out with you." Kami reassured her in a convincing voice.

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After that incident, Stein and Marie hadn't spoken and had avoided each other for several months. Kami and Asuza knew how sensitive Marie could be, and they protected her. Graduation from Shibusen was nearing, and already, people were planning out their lives. Kami had been going out with Spirit for quite some time now, and though it wasn't obvious yet, she had confided in Marie that she was already pregnant.

Marie couldn't help but feel envious that her best friend had found her someone before she did. They even planned on getting married as soon as they graduated, and they already had a family started. What made matters worse was that Kami wasn't Marie's technician anymore. She was Spirit's technician. They had swapped so close to graduation that it didn't matter. They weren't going to be accepting any missions, so Marie was completely devastated.

She told herself that Spirit and Kami needed to be there for each other if they were going to get married. Marie had realized that she and Kami had the same sort of wave length that Spirit and Stein did, the reason that she felt so connected to him as a technician. She and Spirit her similar—not in personality—but in wavelength, while Kami and Stein were similar. If only, she wished, that their personalities were.

It was graduation day, and Marie had gone to seek out Stein to apologize for all that she'd put herself and Stein through in her ridiculousness. Stein was preoccupied with a gleaming scalpel in one hand, slicing through the bottom of his shoes, to see what exactly was in between the sole of his shoe and the foot padding. He had noticed Marie coming, but made no obvious sign of it.

"Stein," she started, holding her hands together and spoke in a low voice. "I…I'm really sorry for how annoying I was. I'm just…I'm just a really stubborn kind of person, and I feel like we won't see each other for a really long time…Years, or so…So I just wanted to apologize for all that I've done…And to say good-bye as well." As Stein remained motionless, Marie leaned in closer to him and quickly pecked him on the cheek.

Stein whipped around with the speed of a barracuda and glared at her, scalpel tightly gripped in his right hand. "Don't come near me."

"I…I'm sorry Stein, I jus…I just wanted to say go—"

Marie felt a strange coolness in one of her eyes. She blinked, but one of her eyes didn't follow the same order as the other. She felt whatever had plunged into her eye being forcefully ripped out as her eye started bleeding. Her once beautiful dark amber eye morphed into a sickening red, and she could no longer use it to see.

She staggered back, clutching her left eye and let out a scream. The scalpel clinked to the floor loudly, lightly dipped in blood. Stein also tottered back, letting out something like a scream of his own. "M—Marie!"

Marie looked up at him, her expression totally devastated. "S…Stein…" She sputtered.

He said nothing, only looking petrified beyond belief. This was the most terrified expression she'd ever seen him make. Without saying another word to her, he bolted like a frightened rabbit who caught sight of its predators and continued to run, leaving Marie feeling weak from blood loss. "S...Stein…"

Directly after graduation, Marie became a Death Scythe and was appointed to supervise Oceania and that was to be her permanent home. She moved to a part of Australia before Stein could apologize for what he'd done—permanently blinded her in one eye. Because her eye had healed a little deformedly, she wore an eye patch. What good would an eye be if it looked ugly and served no use? Just better to cover it up and not let it be seen. No one should have to see that mark that he gave her.

With that, she'd been able to move on, and fell in love with BJ, another technician in Australia, who became her partner. They had managed to keep a strong relationship for a while, but after a while, she missed Stein. She had ended their relationship right before the Kishin was awakened by Medusa, and she was summoned to Death City because of her obligations as a Death Scythe.

…I wonder how much Stein has changed in over ten years? I wonder if he still hates me…

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HOLY POOPS. And emo chapter. Sorry if I forever ruined your imagination on how Marie wears an eye patch. ; 3 ; They never explained way, and because this is a SteinxMarie fic, it just had to happen. This definitely IS my new crack, and if I have enough time, I'll crank out chapter five by tomorrow. Please read and review! 0 w ~