As Catori glanced about the room to the horde of freshmen DWMA students, she smiled yet again as she adjusted her headphones over her ears. When her classmate Death the Kid had asked her to be the DJ at his house party to welcome the new students, she was skeptical at first, but now she was glad she had accepted. Her vast collection of music was almost as well-known as Soul Eater's and she had even asked Kid why he hadn't chosen him in the first place, but apparently Soul's type of music wasn't really made for this crowd, so she eventually accepted.

Catori loved going to parties and having a good time, but had never actually been a DJ before; however, as soon as she put the first disk into the stero system and heard the first cheers of the guests as they launched into epic dance sequences, she felt right at home. She was in charge of the dance floor and liked the responsibility. Being born as a weapon, she was always used to following her meister's orders letting him lead, but here she was completely in control. It felt different and she liked it.

As the current song continued to the last repetition of the chorus, she flipped through the collection of CD's she had brought in a large box, searching for something more current that the freshmen would enjoy. Her dark black eyes lit up as they fell on a disk that just came out in stores last week.

Bingo! This one's perfect!

Her fingers pulled it out and flipped open the case just as the song on the stero came to a close. Catori quickly popped out the disk and fed it into the stero system before the silence could last too long and cheers rose up from the crowd as the hit song began blasting through the speakers at a volume that only teenagers could tolerate. The bass was so loud, that every guest could feel it pounding in their chest and ears and some paintings hanging up on the walls shook with the stereo vibrations. Catori smiled as she crossed her arms over her chest and watched the freshmen enjoy themselves.

Wow. Kid sure knows how to throw a good party! I didn't know he had in in him.

Though the shinigami was more commonly known for his apparent OCD, he really did have a secret talent for throwing great parties like this and he certainly had the space to do it. His house was totally decked out with symmetrical decorations that, to Kid, would look neat and tidy, but he totally made it work to seem like they just fell right into place. The lights were dimmed down to a bare minimum and colorful lights illuminated the room and pulsated to the beat of the music. The center of the room acted as the dance floor and countless teens moved together as they danced to the popular song. The majority of freshmen occupied the dance floor, but others chatted together in small groups or crowded around tables with plates of snacks in front of them. It was clear the many weapon and meister pairs had already been made and Catori's eyes dimmed slightly as she watched them happily conversing or dancing togther, already practically in sync.

Before Catori dazed out for too long, she felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to the source. Maka Albarn, another classmate of her's, stood with her green eyes sparkling and a huge smile on her face. She had changed from her school uniform into a simple blue dress and had taken her hair down from its routine pigtails and curled it. She actually looked great and was catching the eye of many freshmen boys in the room. Maka gestured to her ears to signal Catori to take her headphones off.

"Yes?" Catori said as she obliged.

"How are things going?" she asked, raising her voice so she could be heard over the music.

"Great! Everybody seems to be having a good time."

"That's not what I meant. I didn't have a chance to talk to you over the summer so I wanted to see how you were holding up."

Catori's face flushed slightly as she was reminded of last school year. This year she was going to be a sophomore, but she would give anything to go back to last year to be a freshman again if it meant she would get to see her partner again. When she arrived at the school last year and finally found a partner that she could match wavelengths with, she ignored the fact that he was a senior just out of eagerness. Now she was feeling the full effects of her decision after having her perfect partner graduate after just a year of working with him. To say the least, her summer had not been the best and the stress of an incoming school year with no partner had almost eaten her alive, but she did her best to remain positive.

"I'm hanging in there," Catori assured Maka as she fiddled with the headphones around her neck.

Maka tilted her head, not entirely convinced. "You know, Kid set up this party so that the freshmen could get to know eachother and get an early opportunity to find a good partner. Maybe you could do the same," she suggested.

Catori looked around the room of freshmen and bit her lip. "I don't know. I'm kinda busy right now…"

"I'll take over for you!" Maka said, not letting her make excuses. Catori sighed heavily.

She's not gonna give up, is she? Oh well, it could hurt, right?

"Fine," she said as she yanked the headphones from around her neck and handed them to the blonde scythe meister. "But don't get too comfortable. I'll be back," she said as she pointed a threatening finger at her classmate and mockingly narrowed her eyes.

"Got it," Maka said as she placed the DJ headphones over her own ears and gave Catori a thumbs up. Catori smiled and turned away from her DJ station to face the crowd of freshmen.

How am I ever supposed to find somebody to talk to in this madness, let alone find a suitable partner?

She glanced back to the safety of her DJ station, but Maka caught her eye and made a shooing motion with her hand. Catori pouted and returned her eyes to the partying frenzy. To be safe, her fingers travelled to her wrist as she yanked off one of her hair ties and pulled her long black hair hair into a low ponytail where it would be safe if things got ugly. When she was finished, she walked forward and cautiously tried to make her way around the throbbing crowd of teenagers on the dancefloor.

I might be desperate, but not THAT desperate! I think I'll stay away from there.

Keeping to the edges of the room, Catori tried to make her way over to the snack table. After all, DJing did make a girl hungry and she missed dinner trying to put that mix of CDs together. As she slipped her way through the crowd, she eyed the dancefloor with curiosity. Some of the dancers were obviously just making fools of themselves while others danced fluidly and gracefully to the beat. Most were in large groups, but there were some dancing alone or as couple. One particular couple caught her eye as they danced together, looking like they had just partnered up. An attractive blonde boy encoraged a shy looking redhead to follow his dance movements as they moved together. The redhead didn't look like she knew what she was doing, but she still wasn't too shabby of a dancer as she smiled at the boy, looking comfortable and at ease with him.

Catori's heart clenched as she watched them, noticing the similarities between them and her when she had met her partner for the first time. At times she felt bad for taking their time working together for granted, but tried to shrug it off. After all, what's done is done and she needed to just move on. Its not like he was the only partner out there.

When Catori finally reached the snack table, she headed for the punch bowl, quickly poured herself a glass, and chugged it within seconds; after DJing for hours, she was beyond parched. Her eyes scanned over the variety of snacks before her hand reached out for the bowl of pretzels.

"What are you?"

Catori's hand froze halfway to the snacks and she looked up. A girl with red hair just below her shoulders and large blue eyes framed by small rectangular glasses stood on the opposite side of the table and looked at her expectantly with her hands held behind her back.

Catori blinked in confusion. "Excuse me?"

In a flash, the girl grabbed her hand that was still hovering over the snacks and observed her arm. "Your skin tone in really unique,"she said with interest as a British accent punctuated her words. Catori's eyes followed her's as they examined the skin on her arm. In this setting as her dark skin and hair reflected the colorful lights, she seemed to be glowing.

The strange girl released her arm and said, " I guess that wasn't the best way to phrase my question. I really meant 'what race are you'? I'm sorry if I'm being rude, just curious!" she said cheerfully as if randomly grabbing people's arms and asking about their race is just an everyday occurance.

"Oh….no that's fine, I guess. I'm actually Native American." Catori was taken aback by this girl. Nobody had ever taken an interest in her race before, or if they had they were at least more subtle about it.

"Native American, huh? That's cool," the redhead replied as she casually took a handful of pretzels from the bowl. "I'm Sarah," she said as she popped a pretzel in her mouth.

"Oh, my name's Catori."

Sarah met Catori's eyes with newfound curiosity. "So Catori, I'm guessing you can already tell where I'm from so where are you from?"

Catori hesitated, then tried to act as casual as Sarah and replied,"South Dakota," as she also snatched up a couple of pretzels, hoping that Sarah wouldn't ask anymore questions about her home.

"So what made you come here this year?"

"Oh, I'm not actually a freshman," Catori said. "This my second year at the DWMA and my partner graduated last year."

"Aw, that's too bad," Sarah sympathized. "So you're looking for a new one, then?"

"Yeah."

"Are you a weapon?"

"Yeah."

"Good, then I guess that's settled."

Catori coughed as she choked on her pretzel. "What?"

"I'm a meister and I'm looking for a partner too. I think it might be fate that brought us together! A Brit and an Indian; what a sight we would be!" she said dramatically while leaning forward over the table excitedly.

Catori laughed at the image."Hm, fate huh?" she said thoughtfully. Sarah was definitely an interesting person and they seemed to be getting along well enough already. Sarah may be a little strange at first, but Catori liked things that were different and unique.

And this might just be my last chance to find a partner before school starts…

Meeting Sarah's blue eyes with her black ones, Catori smiled. "Sounds like a good idea to me. Partners?" she asked as she held her hand out.

Sarah grabbed her hand without hesitation and shook it resolutely. "Partners."

Sorry if this chapter wasn't the best, but I kinda wrote it in a hurry. I wanted to post something before exam week started. So you guys know the drill. Read, review, yadda, yadda, yadda….