A/N - Ah, man, Christmastime. It sure is a time. A time of chaos and significantly reduced writing time, joy of joys! I do hope you lovely folk had a wonderful Christmas, and if you don't celebrate Christmas, well, I hope you had a really great Wednesday! I hope you all have a great every day, because you all are great.

Now that the tinsel and the noel hubbub is over, I should be able to pick the pace back up a little. Of course, I got the blu-ray of Puella Magi Madoka Magicka that I want to sit down and watch with my sister, so it might take a couple more days to get back into the daily grind. I'd have updated this sooner, but I accidentally lost about 500-600 words of work because my computer got unplugged by accident and I needed a few hours to calm myself down so I didn't throw something at a wall. Leave me a review and let me know if the wait was worth it.

I'd like to thank Superhero17 and KaseyKay10 for reviewing! I'm afraid I can't respond to your reviews in depth without going into spoiler territory, but I can respond with this: :)

Oh, we've also breached the 50k word mark! Go us! Soon enough we'll be at the 100k word mark, then the 200k word mark... don't look at me like that, it took us 50k words just to meet Death the Kid. This is probably going to be a whopper of a fic by the time I'm done, folks.

Notes and translations of the Latin will be at the end of the chapter.

DISCLAIMER: Soul Eater is the intellectual property of Atsushi Ōkubo. I have no intention of monetizing my fanwork, and this is merely an enjoyable passer of time.


Chapter Fourteen - A Boy to Remember - The Son of Death's First Day at the Academy, Part 2


"Well," Tempus said, "He's thin. One out of four isn't bad."

To say that Death the Kid didn't look like Alecto thought he would was a vast understatement. The boy looked to be around her chronological age or at most a year older, and he was short, about as short as Alecto herself was. Tempus was correct in that he was very thin as well. Pale skinned and black-haired, the boy wore a very well-kept black suit that had four white rectangles running down the center of the jacket's front and three white rectangles on each shoulder. What stood out the most, though, were the three snow white stripes that cut through on half of his hair.

He wasn't what she'd been expecting, surely, but she didn't find herself disappointed in the slightest. There was something about him that made Alecto believe that yes, this boy was the son of Lord Death himself.

Maybe it was the fact that he was pretty much kicking Soul and Black Star's respective asses without even having to move from his spot. He had his arms outstretched, with a pistol gripped tightly in each hand. He was holding the pistols upside down, Alecto noted, but it didn't seem to affect his aim at all, as his shots at his opponent's feet were enough to keep them darting about in a panic. None of them seemed to notice that Alecto and Tempus were there.

"You were right," Alecto said quietly. "It seems that Black Star did end up challenging Death the Kid to a duel. But what's Soul doing out here?"

"I don't know," Tempus replied, sweeping his bangs away from his face so as to get a better view of the duel. "But I'm sure I'm sure the reasoning is something stupid. The short shit knows that that's not how you hold a gun, right?"

"Short shit? What does that make me?" Alecto asked.

"Oh, you're a short shit, too." Tempus propped his elbow up on Alecto's head, the difference in their height becoming even more apparent. "But you're my short shit."

"Right." Alecto fought the urge to roll her eyes like a bratty eleven-year-old. "Tace, I want to see what happens next."

At this point, the fight was pretty decidedly one-sided and not very fight-y at all, and it seemed that Black Star and Soul were aware of it, to their credit. "We can't even get close to the guy!" Black Star shouted after another bout of acrobatics in an attempt to dodge the shots.

"What was that?" The black-haired boy replied, his voice bearing a sharp cadence to it. "You're looking for a more up close and personal fight? Fine by me!" He jumped several feet into the air, turning heels over head and bringing his foot solidly down to Black Star's face, that latter only barely managing to block it with his wrists.

"Quod incredibile!" Alecto exclaimed under her breath. Even if Black Star had managed to block the blow, that was still a damn good move. She didn't know much about this kid, but she was starting to like him. At the very least, she could respect the talent that he clearly possessed.

The kid landed on his feet effortlessly just as Soul Eater rushed forward. One of Soul's arms was morphed into his scythe form's blade, and it was that arm that he swung at Death the Kid, who simply blocked it with one of the pistols in his hands. "Damn it!" Soul swore.

It was then that Alecto saw why the kid held his guns the way he did; he was clearly proficient in close-quarters combat, if the ease with which he deflected Soul's attack was any indication, and holding the guns upside-down probably allowed them to double as melee weapons. She still didn't quite comprehend how he was able to pull the triggers with his pinkies, but maybe Grim Reapers were capable of doing that.

But the kid wasn't done yet. Without pausing, he brought the other pistol around and pressed the muzzle against Soul's torso.

"What the hell?!" Black Star shouted.

"Quid?!" Alecto said. He wasn't really about to…

He pulled the trigger. A strange black energy with red lightning arcing through it shot from the barrel of the gun through Soul's body, passing through him like a hot toothpick passed through soft butter. The force of the energy knocked Soul back a bit, the white-haired weapon falling limp to the ground.

"Holy crap," Tempus said, his eyes wide. "He just shot Soul!"

"Is he…?"

After a moment of tense silence in which Alecto weighed the pros and cons of desynchronizing and running in to find out just what the kid had done, Soul clutched his midsection and rolled on his back, he voice strained as he shouted, "Oh, man, that hurt really really bad!"

Alecto let out a sigh of relief. "He's fine." Now that her worry about Soul had been assuaged, she had to admit that she was a little excited by all of this. She wondered what that said about her as a person.

The bubbly, infectious laugh of a young woman emanated from one of the guns in Death the Kid's hands. The other gun spoke, also a young woman, but with a deeper, less upbeat voice. "Did you think a pair of normal pistols would be enough for a Grim Reaper? We aren't like regular guns that shoot bullets," the gun said matter-of-factly. "We shoot compressed wavelengths of our meister's soul."

So that's what the dark energy was. It didn't look anything like the energy that came off of Black Star when he used his soul wavelength to attack, nor had it looked anything like what Stein had used in his fight with the six of them a couple weeks ago. Was it because he wasn't human, like those two were? At least, she assumed that Stein was human, but frankly she wouldn't be surprised if he turned out to be something else.

As if thinking about Stein offhandedly had summoned the professor, the dread-inducingly familiar sound of an office chair's rolling wheels came into Alecto's range of hearing, and she looked over her shoulder to see Dr. Stein, Maka and Tsubaki, the three of whom having finally arrived. "I thought that was you back in the hall. Aren't you two supposed to be back in class?" Maka said pointedly.

"We wanted to see what was going on," Tempus said just as pointedly, maneuvering so that Alecto was between him and Dr. Stein. "I'd make some excuse about how watching Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dummy get the stuffing beaten out of them like a particularly abused training dummy is an educational experience, but the only education I'm getting from this is that yes, I should most assuredly be fearing the reaper."

Stein didn't seem to be too bothered by Alecto and Tempus's presence, however. His gaze was focused on the battle, a disturbing about of interest visible in his pale grayish-green eyes. However, when he spoke, his voice was as calm as always, with only a hint of amusement lacing his words. "Oh, my," he said. "They probably should have picked a different opponent."

"Dr. Stein, is that the boy?" Maka asked. "The one with the guns, is he the new kid that everyone's been talking about so much?"

"Yup," Dr. Stein replied, almost casually, as if he were confirming that it was a Tuesday. "That's Lord Death's son, Death the Kid. It was his own decision to attend the academy, but he won't be a normal student. His abilities are far greater than anyone else's here." Alecto suspected that included the teachers of DWMA as well as the students.

A small, crestfallen sigh caught Alecto's attention, and she turned to glance at Tsubaki, who'd been the one to sigh. If she'd been sad before, it was nothing compared to the look on her face now. "But why, Black Star?" Tsubaki whispered, so quietly that Alecto wasn't even sure that she'd heard correctly.

Maka seemed to notice the taller girl's distress as well, as she glanced up at Tsubaki with a concerned expression across her features. "Tsubaki? Is something wrong?" she asked.

Tsubaki smiled, but it was as about as convincing as that one time that Tempus had claimed that he hadn't eaten all the chocolate muffins despite still having cocoa crumbs on his face. "Oh no, it's nothing," she said. Maka looked about as convinced by those words as Alecto felt. What was it that had caused Tsubaki to be so downhearted all morning?

And then the gears clicked into place. Tsubaki's sadness and the way it seemed to exacerbate whenever Black Star was around. The fact that Black Star was fighting alongside Soul instead of his actual partner. That blue-haired, two-timing, trash-on-the-side-of-the-road spurius.

Anger found its way into Alecto's consciousness, an anger so condensed and pure that she couldn't stop herself from taking a couple steps forward and calling out, "Hey, new kid! Kick their asses for me, sīs!"

Death the Kid looked up sharply, only just now acknowledging the presence of the quintet of onlookers. Expression still stern, his gaze locked with hers for a second, and Alecto was taken aback by the rather startling color of his eyes. They were yellow, like Tempus's, but Tempus's eyes could be and often were likened to the color of burnished gold, whereas Death the Kid's eyes were much brighter and sharper. Everything about this boy was sharp, Alecto noted. She met his gaze and stared back just as steadily, and it was almost about to turn into a full-blown staring contest when Soul shouted, "Hey, quit rooting for the other side, damn it!"

"Make me!" Alecto shouted back, wrenching her gaze away from Death the Kid's and giving Soul a sharp glare and a cheeky grin instead, her cheeks flushing slightly.

The fight resumed as before, with Soul and Black Star both trying to get close enough to land an attack on Death the Kid, but between the latter's advantage with range and superior fighting skills, they stood no chance. If Alecto weren't so fiercely eager to see Black Star get his ego bruised, battered, and handed to him on a silver platter, she'd almost take pity on him. She had no qualms feeling a little sorry for Soul, though. The snow-haired boy had been shot, even if non-fatally, and it wasn't as if he was the one who'd made Tsubaki so sad.

Stein spoke. "My dear soul-seeing scythe meister Maka, can I borrow you for a moment?"

"U-uh, yeah?" Maka said.

Alecto tried to concentrate on both the conversation about to take place next to her and the battle in front of her. It turned out to be a bit more difficult that she had figured it would be. How Tempus managed to do it on a regular basis, she'd never know.

Black Star jumped up and forward, aiming a kick at Kid's head. When the black-haired boy ducked easily, Black Star used to momentum to swing a second kick out. That kick missed too, with Death the Kid jumping back and well away from Black Star's foot.

"I have a special lesson in mind for you today," Stein told Maka.

Soul lunged towards his opponent, the black-and-red blade of his arm gleaming sharply in the late-morning sun as he swung it. Kid shot at him in response, the force of the wavelength sent him flying back.

"O-oh, okay!" Maka said, the apprehension clear in her voice.

"Now, now," Stein admonished. "There's no reason to be worried. It's a very simple question. I want you to take a look at the duel. Watch Kid and his twin pistols as they fight. I want you to pay particular attention to their souls' wavelengths."

Maka gave a short, curt nod of understanding in reply and turned to the fight, her vision focusing on something that only her and Dr. Stein could see. Being unable to look at the wavelengths of the combatants, Alecto simply settled for continuing to the fight itself. At this point, the word "fight" was a bit of a misnomer, as it implied that Soul and Black Star had any chance of winning. It was a thrashing to the two's egos, nothing more.

Not that they didn't need a ego-thrashing every now and again, though. And it wasn't as if Alecto didn't enjoy watching Black Star and Soul flailing about like idiots while trying to dodge Kid's attacks.

Her vision still focused on something imperceivable, Maka said, "Normally it's almost impossible to sync the wavelengths of two weapons like that." True; Alecto only knew of one other person who could work with two weapons at once, and that was Kilik Rung, a boy in their class who Alecto didn't know very well. "But the connection between all three of them is strong and very stable. And the weapons seem to share a respect for him. Not, that's not the word." Maka's brow furrowed slightly as she tried to put what she saw to words. "Admiration, is that it?"

"Exactly correct," Stein said. "A good observation. The twin pistols are called the Thompson sisters. They grew up on the streets, and their lives were much harder before they met Kid. It's natural they would have a strong admiration for him," he explain. "The partnership works for Kid, too. It's good for him to be around people so different. The Thompson sister's laid-back attitudes have a positive influence on him by quieting his neurotic tendencies."

Neurotic tendencies? Kid didn't look particularly neurotic. Then again, Alecto didn't know what neurotic looked like, and the battlefield often had a way of changing a person's demeanor. People were different were fighting. Alecto didn't know much about people, but she knew that much.

"They do make a really good team, those three," Maka agreed.

"Don't they?" Stein said.

Tempus spoke up. "They certainly work well in battle." He'd been pretty quiet for the most part, a nervous gaze trained on Dr. Stein. "If they didn't have that, they'd… well, they'd probably still win, but it wouldn't be as decisively absolute as it's turning out to be right now."

"Yeah," Maka said," you can't even compare them to our two idiots out there."

Speaking of those two idiots, Black Star and Soul had regrouped, for lack of a better word, standing next to each other and glowering at Kid determinedly. "Let's hurry up and finish this guy off!" Black Star said.

"It's about time," Soul said, eagerness and anticipation apparent in his words.

Death the Kid reacted in an appropriate manner: with an expression of disbelief and confusion. "For what?" he asked.

"You should quake with fear of your impending death!" Black Star taunted.

"When you say that it just makes me want to laugh."

A shared sentiment, Alecto thought.

"You won't be laughing when you taste our power of friendship!"

"That's right, it's incredible!" Soul added. "The power is beyond belief."

"What?!" Kid looked shocked at this, as if he actually believed them.

Alecto had a different reaction entirely, however, She laughed. Mirth bubbling in her stomach, she couldn't help herself as she burst into incredulous merriment. "Oh, that's certainly one way of putting it!" She said between hysterics. "It sure is unbelievable. As in, non credo quod!" She couldn't believe that Death the Kid was buying this even for a millisecond. Hell, she couldn't believe that Soul and Black Star were buying their own words for a millisecond. After all, who looked at Black Star and thought "power beyond all belief and comprehension?"

In Alecto's first language, there was a word for this whole mess: stultus.

The three kids engaged in a face-off that lasted a few seconds before Soul spoke again. "Let's do it."

"Yeah," Black Star replied.

Another second passed, though it felt much longer, to the point where Alecto wondered if her laughter had ripped her personal time out of sync from the rest of the temporal flow. Then Soul shouted, striking a ridiculously over the top pose as he did so, "Trans! Form!" As the brilliant light of the transformation wavelength enveloped him, he jumped, propelling himself into the air and spinning about as he made his shift into weapon form.

This is silly.

Perhaps it was simply a matter of viewpoint, but Alecto didn't understand why Death the Kid had a look of awe on his face at this spectacle. It was pretty, yes, but there was nothing good that could come from having a sharp and pointing weapon spinning recklessly in the air.

This is really silly.

Black Star threw his arms up in the air, stretching his hands to the sky enthusiastically. "Come on, Soul!" he cried out.

This is incredibly silly!

Soul came twirling back down, his voice echoing across the grounds and possibly over a bit of Death City as well. "FRIENDSHIIIIIP!"

"FUSION!"

Soul landed blade-first on Black Star's head.

A few horrifically awkward seconds passed as Soul fell to the ground with a clatter and Black Star stood there, as still as a statue. The he started screaming at the top of his lungs, blood coming out of his head and his eyes practically bugging straight out of his skull.

This time, the hysterics forced Alecto to the ground, doubled up in raucous laughter. "Ha ha ha ha ha! Oh, sweet mercy, aah haha ha ha! I - aha hahaha - can't breathe!"

"Is his hair bleeding?" Tempus asked. "Actually, nope, not going to question it. Not going to question anything anymore. I give up."

"Why the hell did you catch me with your head, moron?!" Soul snapped.

Black Star paused in his screaming to push the big spike in his hair (which had been neatly bisected by Soul's blade) back together, and shouted back, "I don't know!" He reached down and tried picking Soul up, but it was as if the scythe was welded to the ground. "Augh, you're too freaking heavy! I can't pick you up!"

"I'm not heavy! Maka swings me around without breaking a sweat!"

Tsubaki looked like she couldn't believe what she was seeing. Maka sighed. "Black Star and Soul are definitely lacking in the compatible wavelength department," she noted.

"So it seems," Dr. Stein said in agreement.

Alecto was genuinely starting to have difficulty breathing through her laughter, but she didn't care. This whole mess had just turned about a dozen times more interesting, and she was. "Ha ha ha! Pro di immortales, this is incredible!"

"I think you're enjoying this a little too much," Tsubaki said.

"Hah ha - I think I'm going to - HA HA HA HA - have to disagree! Ha ha! This is beautiful!"

Tempus's next words summed up the situation quite succinctly.

"It's a damn train wreck is what it is."


A/N - Alecto's getting sort of swept up in this whole thing, isn't she? If she weren't so angry at Black Star, I highly doubt she'd be as enthusiastic about it as she is right now. Though I will admit that I had a pretty similar reaction when I first watched this episode. Oh, Black Star. Oh, Soul. You goofballs. (Not that Kid isn't a total goofball or anything. Jeez, everyone in this show is such a tremendous dork.)

I admit, most of the reason I left the cliffhanger ending was because there wasn't any "love at first sight" going on. Narrative build-up and anticlimax for max laughter on my part, because I am a writer and thus am required by writer law to be an evil, evil person. Well, that and it was a good place to cut the chapter off after 5000 words, but mostly for narrative hilarity. So yeah, to answer KaseyKay10, there is no love at first sight. There is respect for combat prowess at first sight and curiosity at first sigh and maybe a little bit of attraction at first sight, though.

On to the Latin!

Tace: Means "Shut up." Alecto's been saying that a lot lately.

Quod incredibile: "That was incredible" or "That's incredible." The exact tense escapes me right now.

Spurius: Means "bastard." Not in the illegitimate child sort of definition of the word, but it's pretty much the equivalent to when we call someone a bastard because they're being a huge jerk.

Sīs: Pretty much means "please," it's more direct translation would be "if you're willing," or "if you want." It's a pretty polite word. Hey, Alecto may be a little abrasive, over-enthusiastic about seeing her classmates get the stuffing kicked out of them, and determined to a fault, but god damn it if she doesn't have good manners when speaking to the son of Lord Death.

Non credo quod: "I do not believe that."

Stultus: the basic form of "stupid" or "foolish.

Pro di immortales: "Immortal gods!" It's a similar sentiment as the well-known "Oh my god!"

So much Latin, so little time.

Chapter fifteen should be up at some point over the weekend. In the meantime, please feel free to leave me a favorite and a review telling me what you think!

- Diana "Nocte"