A/N: Hey there, new and old readers! I've really started to enjoy this little story, so I've made its start a lot less broken up and a little cleaned up. Consider this a proper beginning for everyone who's stuck it out and a better introduction for those of you who are new!

The main idea: Maka is a Weapon and we're working off the idea that weapons can't be partners aside from certain specific exceptions!

It was all wrong.

She was supposed to surpass her mother. The greatest meister, and she definitely wasn't being bias here, who had ever lived.

She was supposed to find herself a scythe, just like her Papa, to raise and groom into being the most incredible Death Scythe that had ever existed to replace him.

She was supposed to do a lot of things.

Instead, she…

"This isn't fair!"

…was throwing a tantrum.

"Maka, please." Her mother, her idol, was doing her best to calm her down and failing miserably. "It isn't like it's the end of the world. There was always a chance this could happen."

She glared at where her right arm was supposed to be.

Instead, all she saw was her own miserable, teary-eyed reflection in the scythe blade that had taken its place.

"Come on, sweetheart!" Said the last voice she wanted to hear. "You can be just like Papa now!"

She started to cry again.

Maka Albarn was not the kind of girl to just roll over and die just because of some bad news. Sure, she wouldn't ever be the meister she had dreamed of. Sure, her dad hadn't stopped offering special 'Father-Daughter Training' bonding experiences since he'd gotten the news. Sure, her whole life was ruined and it was wrongwrongwrong-!

Deep breath.

There was nothing she could do about it now.

Just because she couldn't be a meister, didn't mean she had to give up on her goal of being the best and brightest student in all of Shibusen! Besides, if she found a good enough meister, then she could replace her dad! It was her duty as the daughter of the Death Scythe to bring some prestige back to that title! This was totally, one-hundred percent what she wanted to do with her life! COMPLETELY.

It being Orientation Day, finally, meant that she would be able to see about getting herself a meister. Someone good. A competent, hard-worker like her. A girl, preferably, as the last thing she wanted was some jerk that talked about her figure all the time or went chasing after every skirt he saw. It also meant she had a chance to scope out her competition.

With her head held high and a 'Weapon' sticker on her breast, Maka Albarn entered the room ready for anything.

Except.

It was just a bunch of people her age, each wearing their own stickers identifying them as either a Demon Weapon or Meister, mingling and having a nice time. It was not the formal school event she had been hoping for. It was more like… a singles mixer. Like the kind her mama sometimes had to drag her papa out of.

That had been a particularly awkward wedding anniversary for them…

Her face scrunched up like she'd just bitten into a lemon. She had been hoping for something a lot more formal and organized not… fraternizing! Still, she wasn't going to lose to these other weapons. She was going to put her best foot forward!

Attempt #1:

"Hi! I'm Maka! If you're looking for a weapon, you won't find a harder worker than me."

The girl turned, nervous, and offered up a shy smile in return. "It's nice to meet you! I'm Ginne! I-I'm really not used to this kind of thing…"

Yes! This was going well! "Me either." She smiled. "If you'd like, we could see if we can resonate?" Just a bit more…!

"O-oh… already? I'm… O-okay!" The nervous girl reached out… then paused. "…wait… You're not a boy? I'm sorry, I was k-kind of hoping my partner would-" Her cheeks darkened. "Well, good luck! With a lot of things!"

Before Maka could even form words to respond, her potential partner speedwalked away… "I'm wearing a skirt! …and what do you mean with a lot of things!?"

Attempt #5:

"Hi, I saw you over here, and was wondering if-" She winced as she watched the girl she was speaking to literally buried her head into the desserts table. It wasn't an ideal partner, but she was sure she could whip her into shape! "-i…if you would like to try partnering up?"

Her future-maybe meister pulled her face out of what had been a cake and eyed her from top to bottom.

"...too boney." She declared in a deep baritone.

Maka could almost feel the words stabbing her. "B-bone-!" At least people could tell she had bones!

Attempt #11:

Cautiously, very cautiously, Maka approached a boy… She hadn't seen him leering at any of the girls. He hadn't said anything particularly dumb when she had listened (not eavesdropped!) in on a few of his conversations. "H…hello. I'm Maka Albarn… are you still looking for a partner?"

She watched as he turned her way and…

"No thanks." He smiled apologetically, rejecting her in the most delicate way he could.

Somehow, it stung way worse than the others.

The end result was her standing to the side, watching other people talk and laugh and think about they were going to be great meisters and weapons while she was left in the trash. She refused to let her feelings show on her face, gritting her teeth and bawling her fists tight enough that she could feel her nails digging into her palms.

"This whole thing ." An unfamiliar voice managed to pull her from her thoughts.

She perked up, glancing over to see an albino leaning against the wall a little further over. Her eyes immediately darted down to his chest, and she deflated when she saw 'Weapon' written sloppily across the sticker. "…it's not like this is the only chance we have. If we can't find someone now, we will eventually." She refused to let her spirits be crushed!

"Heh."

…well, he wasn't laughing at her. He seemed nice enough. Shuffling, she tried not to think about how rare it was that she actually spoke to a boy her own age. "What sort of weapon are you?" Just make conversation, Maka! Make a friend!

Wordlessly, he held his hand out and in a flash of momentarily blinding light, his arm was…

No. Nononono.

"Scythe." She couldn't keep herself from verbalizing it, despite the swirling emotions inside her. "You're a scythe."

"Apparently." He replied, sounding as excited about that as someone might a dentist appointment.

Why? Why did the one boy she'd gotten to speak to her even a little have to be her dream weapon? Was the universe just making fun of her? Had it not done enough? She gripped the front of her skirt, trying to keep from screaming. Or crying.

"I shouldn't have too much trouble finding a partner, or at least that's what they told me. Scythes are supposed to be pretty rare. I think half the people here are swords." The albino went on, snorting a little.

Her heart felt like it was about to burst. "You… were supposed to be mine…" It came out under her breath.

"Huh?" The scythe-boy turned. "You say something?"

"You were supposed to be mine!" All her frustrations had bubbled up and burst out of her, loud enough that a hush fell over the entire room.

She stood still for a few moments, face turning increasingly red from shame… and then booked it out of the room, cursing her temper, cursing her luck, and, more than anything, cursing the unfair, miserable world she lived in.

"Maka, it's been a week."

That was an accurate measurement of the time she'd spent in her room.

"I don't think anyone will remember one little outburst…"

Really? She didn't think that she wouldn't be the laughing stock of the entire school? 'You were supposed to be mine'? She might as well be in prison for how well she'd murdered her reputation.

"Besides, if you don't snap out of this, you'll never find a meister!"

Maka's response was to hold her pillow over her face and scream for a solid minute. She hated it when her mother had a point. Which she always did.

After a badly needed shower, her hair brushed and put into her trademark pigtails, and a balanced breakfast, Maka Albarn was ready to take on the world!

Or, at least, that's what she told herself. Lately, it had felt like she was in a boxing game(?) with the fattest(?) belt(?) winner? She wasn't all that clear on the sport except that it involved being punched in the face a lot. That was her life right now. Being punched directly in her face.

Sigh.

She'd always thought her first day of school would be something to look forward to. She'd been downright giddy when she'd received her NOT uniform and everything had felt so real. Instead, she just wanted to put a paper bag over her head and wait until everyone who had seen her little outburst died from old age.

Even her usual trek up the steps of Shibusen and the view from the top wasn't enough to make her feel better. Well, at least not completely.

She still felt proud of herself seeing as how many of the other new students were struggling to make it to the top and the ones that did appeared winded. Ha. Weapon or not, she was still better than the others in her year, wasn't she?

"You're lookin' awfully smug this morning, Maka. Getting a little big for your britches, aren't you?"

And just like that, whatever joy she'd been feeling curled up inside her and died. On the list of people she didn't want to hear from, this one was second only to her Papa. "Black*Star." She greeted, trying her best to be polite to her childhood frenemy.

Short, loud, and insufferable were all accurate ways to describe the ninja who refused to quit pursuing his ridiculous ambition of surpassing God.

"Oh?" Hands on his hips, raising his head up as high as he could, the brat in front of her seemed to be trying to look down at her… which wasn't going to happen, even standing on the tips of his toes. "You've got a look on your face like you want to say something."

"Did you need something?" She wasn't going to back down. "Or, are you bugging me just because you're looking for a partner?" She would not settle for him. She could only imagine the kind of expectations he'd have of his partner.

"Partner?" Black*Star's head cocked to the side and, with the breeze, people could almost hear the wind whistling as it passed through his ears and his empty skull for how clueless he looked. It wasn't until he spotted the now somewhat wrinkled 'Weapon' sticker that his eyes lit up. "Maka…" He trailed off. "I know that you've always had a thing for me, but just becoming a weapon doesn't mean we're going to be partners."

Not a single part of that sentence didn't piss her off!

"Besides, I already have one." Black*Star was practically glowing as he said so.

The shock actually managed to make her forget about her angry. "You-...what?" Black Star? Had a partner? And she didn't?!

"Tsubaki!" Calling her name was unnecessary, as the girl was standing quite literally right behind him.

"H-hello. Tsubaki Nakatsukasa." The dark haired Asian girl waved nervously as she introduced herself.

It wasn't hard to tell why so many people's eyes were drawn to her. She was gorgeous. It wasn't like she cared about that kind of thing, because she totally didn't, but it was obvious this girl was gifted in a way she wasn't. That she was wearing the same outfit as her just made it even more apparent given the difference in how it… fit.

"It's… It's nice to meet you. Maka Albarn." She managed to get out, even as she wondered the how of this situation. "…he's not threatening you, is he?" Her hand went to her book once more. She was prepared to save this girl if need be!

Black*Star, to his credit, just burst out laughing like it was a great joke.

"N-no! Not at all. I just think he's…" Tsubaki glanced over at the boisterous ninja. "…got a lot of potential, that's all." She smiled as she spoke.

The ninja's laughing stopped and he started rubbing the underside of his nose with the back of his index finger. The faint dusting of pink on his cheeks gave his embarrassment away though.

Maka almost fell flat on her face. What was with this wholesome relationship?! This supportive partner?! It was all… backwards! "H…how nice."

Somehow, she had less appeal to people than Black*Star?

"Well, we'll see you later, Maka." The ninja who clearly hadn't ever read the job description turned away from her. "Try not to screw things up being socially retarded, okay?"

"Black*Star, that isn't very nice…" Tsubaki looked between her two juniors with disapproval for her partner showing. "I'll talk you later, okay, Maka-chan?"

The two were gone moments later, leaving her standing there alone. Because unlike the loud, crude, obnoxious, selfish, narcissistic Black*Star… she didn't have a partner.

What did that make her then?

She could feel her nails digging into her palms again, but she willed her eyes to remain dry even as she stared at the ground. It was still just the first day of the school year. It wouldn't be long before she had a partner, someone truly great, and was bragging about them to her mother. All she had to do was grit her teeth and bear it for now.

Just a little bit longer, she told herself even as others laughed.

Just a little bit longer.

A/N: Thanks so much for reading. I hope you'll consider checking out the rest of the story as it doesn't get much easier for our protagonist from here on out!