(Y/N) = Your Name

Chapter 1:

[Reader's POV]

The DWMA loomed in front of me, only increasing my first-day-at-school-jitters. Three huge skulls marked the front doors, and before that, stair upon stair stood in my way.

'Well, this is going to make things a little complicated...' I thought to myself.

My suitcase is one of those wheeled bags you pull around with you, like a dog on a leash, so of course lugging the thing up stairs wasn't going to do me much good. It was already like 20 pounds. Dragging it from the train station took a LONG time, considering the academy was only a ten minute walk from there. I bet if I didn't have my suitcase slowing me down, I would've been in my first class already.

'Might as well get started then.'

Reaching the top, I stopped to catch my breath, glad I made it up in one piece. Ok, maybe I'm exaggerating, but it wasn't exactly a walk in the park. There are so many stairs, I'm starting to think they only included them for detail purposes, to give the building a nice depth to it.

Heading to the head master's office, I picked up my pace, knowing all too well when the first class started.

'I'm so late!' I thought, 'If only I didn't miss my first train, I would've been early and already settled in!'

"There you are, (Y/N)! I was starting to think you weren't going to show up!"

I turned, curious to see who already knew my name. A tall black figure bounced along the hallway, with a white skull as a face. I'm not sure if it's a mask or his actual face, but since he's the grim reaper, it could just as well be a legitimate part of his body.

"Sorry Lord Death! I missed my first train, and I had to walk here. My suitcase didn't make it any easier..." I explained.

"Oh, I'm just teasing you~! Come right this way, I'll show you where you can leave your stuff for the day." he invited.

I bolted to my first class; I hate being late for anything, even if it's something small like going to a friend's house. Finding the right room number, I poked my head in. A tall man in a stitched up lab coat was sitting at his desk, lecturing the class on how meister's were connected to their weapons. Noticing my presence, he stopped mid sentence.

"Are you (Y/N)?" he asked.

"Y-yes... s-sorry for interrupting..." I stammered.

"C'mon in, take a seat. I'm afraid we only have one left. Oh, I almost forgot, I'm professor Stein. Nice to meet you."

"The same to you." I replied softly, not sure if he heard my response.

I quietly entered, searching the crowd of eyes staring at me for a seat that wasn't taken. Finding it, I quickly made my way up the rows of desks and sat down. I could feel everyone's eyes on me; my stomach churned.

"Now, where were we... ah yes. See, your soul's resonance affects who you're able to have as a partner, whether you're the weapon or the meister..." Stein continued.

I tried to relax. It's only normal for everyone to be interested in the new kid. After all, in my old school, we had a new kid once too, and I stared at him the entire day, trying to see what kind of person I was dealing with. That only made me feel worse, because now I know what it's like.

'I feel like such an asshole. I should've introduced myself or something.' I thought.

I decided to look around, try to get to know the faces that surrounded me, and would continue to surround me for the rest of the school year.

In front of me (and below me, since the desks were arranged in a staircase-like design, almost like bleachers) was a kid with spiky blue hair; he kept throwing little eraser chunks at the girl next to him, who had long black hair tied back into a ponytail. She elbowed him, warning him to cut it out. To my right was a girl with ash-blonde hair, glued to the professor. She was obviously a girl with straight-As, dedicated to her education. Beside her, a guy with white hair wearing a headband. I'm pretty sure he was sleeping, because he had his head on his desk and had a lazy air about him. Behind me were these two girls, looked like sisters. If I didn't know any better, I'd say they were twins, but one was taller and seemed a bit older than the other.

And to my left? A fairly tall guy with black hair. He wore a nice suit that was oddly symmetrical in every way. In fact, everything about him was symmetrical.

'Well that's odd...' I pondered.

Of course, my position didn't exactly help me see what his face looked like. He seemed fairly attractive, but I couldn't tell until I actually met him face to face, but he didn't completely leave my mind. He had a certain mysterious air about him, sort of like the dark and brooding type.

My thoughts were interrupted as the bell rang, signalling the end of my first class. I hoped I wouldn't be late for the next one, and I had no idea where I was supposed to find it.

'Damn! Where's the combat class? Every other room was so easy to find! Why does this one have to be any different?!' I wondered, frustrated.

I searched the halls, looking for a sign, anything, that could tell me where it was. It was the last period before lunch, and so far, I didn't have much trouble besides being late to the first class.

'I'm gonna be late again!' I worried.

"(Y/N)? Hi, I'm Maka."

I looked down from my sign-searching and saw the girl that sat beside me in my first class.

"H-hi! Nice to meet you, Maka." I answered, trying to hide the panic in my voice.

"What do you have next?" she asked.

"Combat class... but I can't seem to find where it is."

"Hey, me too! I'll show you, come with me!" she replied, smiling and hooking her arm through mine.

Happy to have someone show me around, I followed.

Entering the classroom - which really seemed more like a gym in my opinion - my eyes grazed over all the students. Some were familiar, and some were brand new.

My eyes continued to travel, studying everyone's faces until they landed on the boy from my first class. His eyes locked with mine, and I couldn't look away. He had the nicest face I've ever seen in my life. I also noticed that he had three white stripes cutting through the left side of his hair, which amused me because it made him unsymmetrical and didn't exactly fit with his theme. But, it added some kind of charm to him I couldn't put my finger on.

He didn't seem to want to break eye contact either, but Maka shook me. I didn't notice I was holding my breath, nor did I notice my heart rate was rising, until my thoughts were interrupted.

"Hey, are you ok? You seem starstruck." she asked.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine..." I whispered, throwing another side glance as we continued into the room, trying to catch those gold eyes again.

"Ok... if you say sooo..." she replied in a teasing voice.

I only prayed that she didn't see me staring at him, and that she didn't hear the thunder going off inside my chest.

"Okay, settle down. Welcome to your combat class. My name's Mr. Barrett, but you can call me Sid. I'll be teaching you the basic fighting techniques you'll learn, to take on the many jobs we provide at this school. Your goal is to consume, or help collect, 99 kishin souls and 1 witch soul to create a Death Scythe..." the teacher rambled.

"This is one of the only times he talks, don't worry." Maka assured, "We'll get to the fighting when he's finished his introduction."

I only nodded, most of my attention on the guy standing to the farthest side of the room. I couldn't keep my mind off him, and it took all my power to keep my eyes glued to the teacher. The urge to admire the guy's good looks and golden eyes was overpowering.

"Ok, enough talk." Sid concluded, "Time to start off with finding your weapon or meister."

Everyone around me shuffled into their groups of two, Maka finding the guy with white hair from earlier. I didn't have a partner yet, so I just stood awkwardly in the middle, not sure what to do.

"Ahh, we have a new student. Are you a weapon or a meister?" the teacher asked.

"I-I'm a meister..."

"Perfect. Fletch, here's your new meister. (Y/N), Fletch will be your weapon from now on." Sid stated.

The teachers commands were soon white noise as me and Fletch got acquainted. After all, we were going to spend a significant amount of time together, so we might as well talk and get to know each other. His brown hair seemed to almost flow from his head, and he has these intense blue eyes that seem to wash away all your negative thoughts, like an ocean's tide coming in.

"Hey (Y/N)! Nice to meet you. So, you're new here?" Fletch asked.

"Yeah, I only recently found out that I was a meister. We didn't have any schools back where I used to live, so my mom sent me here." I explained.

"Ahhh, I see. Well, I hope your day wasn't too stressful, I know what it's like to be the new kid."

"Really? When did you start here?" I asked.

"Last year. It was really nerve-wracking if you ask me, I had a bit of trouble finding friends too." he explained.

"Really? You? No way! You seem like a major extrovert, and you seem to know exactly what to say!"

"Well, I guess that's why people didn't like me as much; must've thought I was trying too hard to fit in? I dunno."

He shrugged it off, but I could tell he was a bit hurt from it. He seemed to be the type of guy that hides all his emotions behind jokes and laughter, when really he's going through things at home or he's having trouble in school. Guys like that are very considerate, and you can tell because all they do is try to keep it to themselves; they don't want to worry you, or cause any more problems then you might already have.

I just hoped he wasn't that type of guy. Not that I wished that he wasn't funny or considerate, but I would never wish pain on anyone.

"Well that's beyond stupid. I can't imagine why someone wouldn't like you." I replied.

"Thank you! That's the nicest thing I've heard all day!" he exclaimed, his smile growing bigger and warmer than before, reaching his eyes.

I smiled back, happy to have been paired with someone like Fletch. I could tell already we were going to get along.

"Ok! Now that everyone's settled, let's get to the REAL action." Sid said excitedly, with a gleam in his eyes. "Everyone head outside to the fighting grounds."

'I do not like that look.' I thought to myself.

Me and Fletch were soon paired up with Maka and her partner. I found that his name was Soul when we told each other our names. When we got into our stances, he smirked and transformed into a red and black scythe with zigzags along the blade. I then realized that I didn't even know what form Fletch took.

"Fletch, what kind of..?" I started to ask, but he only put his finger to my mouth and transformed, landing in my hand.

Fletch was a bow, and he came with a quiver, matching the designs he had along the wood. What seemed to be waves were etched into the bow, and his colour theme was blue and white, some brown too, reminding me of a boat floating on the water. The feathers on the arrows were light-blue and white, matching everything and completing the set. The whole thing only reminded me of the feeling I got when I saw his eyes: the calm, ocean-like feel of waves and water spraying your skin.

"Ready?" Maka asked me, shaking me from my observations.

"Ready as I'll ever be..." I murmured, again unsure if I spoke to quietly, but Maka seemed to have heard me as she lunged forward with Soul crossed against her back.

Maka made the first move. Bringing Soul in front of her and into better grip while she ran towards me, she swung. She only just missed me as I jumped to the side. Barely having any time to gather my bearings, Maka took another swing, this time nicking my left thigh.

"Damnit!" I exclaimed, jumping back and drawing an arrow.

I quickly nocked it, pulling back and firing, grazing her waist. She didn't seem to notice, not missing a beat as she shoved me back with the top of Soul's blade. I hit a tree, the wind knocked out of me. Taking advantage of my loss of breath, she pinned me against the trunk of the tree with her scythe, about to claim victory. She was so close.

But not close enough.

Regaining my strength, adrenaline pumping, I brought my bow over her head, connecting with her cheek, not pausing to watch her hit the ground. I ran to the other side of the clearing, turned on my heel, and with surprising agility, nocked another arrow within seconds and drew back. I had to focus, aim. Maka was getting up and started to make her way towards me. I fired, everything seeming to go in slow motion. I watched the arrow fly, finding its target in her right sleeve. Just as I had wanted, the arrow pinned her arm to the tree behind her, whipping her arm back and making her drop Soul. I quickly grabbed the scythe and caught my breath, panting and surprised at my accuracy.

Maka stared at me in disbelief. As I regained my ability to breathe, I stood up straight and looked around. I found every last pair of eyes on me. Even his. I wasn't aware of Fletch turning back from his weapon form, my gaze locked with those gold orbs. I could feel my face heat up, realizing that he must've watched my fight.

But I felt more excitement than embarrassment.