Before They Hatch Chapter 1

First impressions are always important.

"Good morning!  Wazzup!  How you doing?  Greetings to all new and returning students!"

The quirky voice of Shinigami-sama was loud enough to be heard through the entire campus.  Of course, only foolish students would be wandering the school when the Lord of Death himself was talking.  He was, interestingly, not what most expected.  He was very tall, no surprise, but he also had a very high-pitched voice and a strange cloak that swept out in too many ways to count.  And that mask...yet his power was legendary.  No one would dare to quarrel with Death, unless they wanted to join his affiliation.  Meaning, "death wish."

Because, you know, Lord Death and a "death wish."  They're kind of the same thing, right?  Right?

It's a humorous pun if you let it be.

Such was the joke telling of one Spirit Albarn.  No student (boy or girl) seemed to quite get the hilarity that the redhead's little punch lines held.  And they were really funny.

The only guy that laughed at Spirit's jokes also found the suffering and torment of others delightfully fun.  In other words, humor was totally lost on the population of the DWMA.

Unfortunately, that guy that just so happened to be psychotic also happened to be Spirit's Partner, the infamous Franken Stein.  Said Stein was standing beside the redhead, the two of them listening intently to Shinigami-sama's words of encouragement.

"I want you all to section off into four groups, okey-dokey?  Those who are Meisters and those who are Weapons.  Then, the Weapons who already have a Meister, and the Meisters who already have a Weapon.  Is this al'ight?" Shinigami-sama asked; he used his large foam fingers to point to four different corners in a moderately close, square area.  "We want everyone to know who is Partnered and who has yet to be Partnered."  The Lord of Death gave his assembly of students a few seconds to glance around the entirety of their peers. Spirit indulged in this moment, as he did last year.

The difference between last year and this year was simple.  Last year, Spirit was a bright-eyed Freshman who had no clue what he was doing.  He had no Partner, no clue what he was doing, and he could hardly keep his temper in check long enough to stop from transforming into a blade whenever he got an itsy bit mad.

Spirit looked over to see Sid, a returning Sophomore like Spirit and Stein, and his Partner Mira (also a Sophomore), watching with all their attention turned to Shinigami-sama.  Over the summer, Sid had cut his hair into a buzz-cut, yet it already looked to be gaining back length with ferocity.  Mira stood beside her Meister, gaze focused, much more serious-looking than Sid.  His gaze would wander, and he'd start to scratch the back of his neck nervously whenever her eyes shot up to him.

Once they had finished their look-and-learn session, the students gave a collective agreement, and the crowd started to disperse.  Stein smirked in Spirit's direction before walking off in the direction of the taken Meisters, and Spirit would've also went in his designated direction, had it not been for the sight of four very cute girls.  Strangely enough, when he approached them, they all gave him a curt one-over and high-tailed it to their un-Meistered Weapon corner.  And that just left the redhead, alone, and very discouraged.  Not to mention upset.

"It's Stein.  He's ruining my game, that's it…" Spirit muttered, defeated, but still trying to keep some semblance of his dignity.  It was then that he realized that there was no way that he was going to pick up any girls, cute or not; not with Stein around, anyway.  So he began walking, and did that feel like the most mortifying experience of all time.  Dozens and scores of eyes were watching the Weapon, and the Weapon tried not to notice those (stupid) students noticing.  And so he walked.  Ignoring the tall redhead with a large bust, the strawberry blonde with golden eyes, and the curvaceous pinkette that seemed to be eyeing Spirit like a piece of candy, Spirit trudged on to his designated spot.  He hated being taken by a Meister already, because this year's group of Freshman seemed to have a lot more women that just happened to be Meister's.

But no sensible girl (or a man, really) wanted a Scythe as a partner.  They'd want something like a katana, or a dagger, or something other than a Scythe.

Especially not an overly-large Scythe with an ego that rivaled Stein's insatiable curiosity of the fragility of life.  Meaning, Spirit was the average hot-headed Weapon.  But not even a good Weapon; no, he just had to be a Scythe.

Spirit continued with his slow pace, hands jabbed in his pockets, melancholy as can be.  He may have even gone at the leisurely turtle speed all the way to his already-taken Weapon, had it not been for a shock of pale yellow knocking into him.

The Weapon stayed on his feet, because the yellow fuzz only came up to his chest.  He might've even kept walking if he hadn't heard a telltale "oomph."

"Sorry," the redhead muttered under his breath.  On the ground (as graced by Death himself), was a petite blonde, clad in the DWMA uniform that seemed a little large for her frame. She had her teeth gritted together in obvious discomfort, yet the rest of her body stayed composed.

Spirit didn't mean to (he really did), but when he looked at her satisfactory chest, he happened to notice "Meister" printed on the name tag, right where her heart's located.

"No, really, I'm sorry; need a hand?" Spirit asked, extending a hand. It was hard to tell whether she would accept the offered help or kick him in the balls (both had happened, numerous times before), but Spirit felt wrong just leaving her on the ground.

The blonde reached out her hand as well, with thin little fingers that fit so well into Spirit's.  It was odd, not like any other sort of hand-holding Spirit had ever done before.  This girl didn't have long fingernails that dug into his flesh (they were short and looked to have been choppily cut), she didn't have hands that had met their match with too much moisturizer (rough, but in a strong way), and she certainly didn't have perfectly-painted nails (they were a berry red that had chipped in many places).

And when she looked up, when forest green orbs met Spirit's teal ones, his heart may or may not have skipped a beat.  It was like she saw everything through one look; her eyes narrowed ever-so-slightly, her jaw tightening.

But his heart did not skip a beat; in fact, Spirit was pretty sure that she was the one impressed.

"Going to help me up?" she asked cooly.

Okay, not so impressed.

From the way she talked, it was likely that she had an accent from somewhere Asian, though Spirit wasn't ready to place any bets.

Speaking of which, Spirit began to remind himself to quickly gain the feeling back in his legs so that he may help this poor damsel up.  The gravity in his legs still felt absent, but Spirit pulled her up despite that.  She was lighter than expected, almost nonexistent compared to Spirit (even if most of his reasonable and completely normal weight came from defined muscle).  By the time she was on her feet, the blonde's hand left Spirit's.

"Are you alright?" Spirit asked, genuinely concerned for the girl's well-being. Sure, she seemed sturdy enough, but she really was just a little thing.

The blonde nodded, a surprised expression on her face.  Maybe she noticed Spirit's checking out of her breasts (he approved, by the way) and was genuinely shocked by his kindhearted question.  He did have that effect on women, after all.  But when she puffed her cheek out with a frown plastered on her face, Spirit was pretty sure she missed the sympathetic tone to his voice.

Truth be told, the girl's face was kind of adorable.

Quick, make a conversation; otherwise, she'll walk away.

"So, Meister, huh?"

Her face changed expressions once more.  This time, it was a pleased one.  "Yes, I am.  And you're a Weapon.  But you already have a partner."

Of course.  Everyone always knew about Stein.  He just had to be a Meister prodigy on top of already being a genius.  How quaint, adorable, super.

"Yeah, Stein…so, are you taken yet?"

The blonde shook her head. "I'm only a Freshman, but I do have high hopes for myself," she said, very much proud of herself.

It was now or never.  Try to introduce yourself.  "I'm S-"

"Spirit Albarn.  You and Franken Stein are famous.  Rumor is he can get you to be a Death Scythe this year."

This was true. Spirit already had 87 Souls under his belt (or, rather, in his stomach), and Stein was nowhere near slowing down.  And the sooner he got to be a Death Scythe, the sooner Spirit could get away from Stein.  And the sooner he could get a sweet little thing on his arm.  And maybe another.

"Yeah, you know how rumors are.  So, does a pretty girl like you have a name?"  Spirit asked, feeling quite silly under the glare of the small blonde.  Her eyes were daring, a most frightening thing, indeed.  In fact, now that he got an even better look at her strong gaze, Spirit decided that he feared this girl much more than he feared even Stein.

But in a completely different way.

While Spirit feared Stein and his lack of barriers and frightening words, the redhead feared the much smaller blonde because of…he wasn't quite sure why.  But it was different, in a much better way.

"Kami," the girl said, breaking Spirit from his thoughts.  The Weapon turned his gaze upward to see her standing with her hand placed on her hip.  "That's my name.  Kami Tsutano."

"Is that Chinese?"

Kami's upper lip twitched before her face quickly got near Spirit's chest (because that's as high as she reached, Spirit noticed).  "B-b-baka!  How dare you!  I don't even know how to react!"

"Pretty badly, apparently.  Hey, are you Chinese?"

"Do you have a learning disability?  Or an aneurysm?  We're you dropped as a baby, because I'm not Chinese!"

"South Korean?"

"No!"

"Vietnamese?  Say, Grandpa Albarn served in Vietnam," Spirit said sweetly, making sure to pronounce the last part of Vietnam in a way that rhymed with lamb. Or Pam. Or spam.

"Iie!  I-ei!"

Kami was accenting herself very clearly.  It was clear that she had spent a very long time studying English, and would only lapse into her native tongue (whatever language it may be) whenever truly mad.

"North Korean?"

The blonde girl stopped to furrow her brow in confusion.  "You already said South Korean..."

"And?"

"They both speak Korean!"

"Huh.  That's weird.  Okay, how about Thai?"

The two were officially in a stare-off.  Kami's irritated expression melted into a much more calm one (or so it appears for the moment), while Spirit tried very hard not to start smiling in amusement.

"No."

"Taiwanese?"

"No."

"Indian?"

"Do I look Indian to you?"

"You're right, too pale.  Hmmm…"

Kami's cool demeanor had lasted officially forty seconds before her lip twitched again.  "You are an idiot.  Has no one told you?  Because you are.  I'm Japanese.  Japanese.  Not Chinese, or North Korean, or South Korean, or Vietnamese, or Thai, or Taiwanese, or Indian, or Cambodian, or Malaysian, or Russian, or American.  Or anything but Japanese."

Riling her up was about the best thing to do, Spirit decided.

She cut herself off after that, taking a few deep breaths and turning around.  To her horror (and Spirit's, though not nearly as terrible as Kami's), all the students were already in their proper places, leaving just those two in the middle of the clearing.

Even Shinigami-sama, under that mask, must've been amused.

Kami's pretty face turned a shade nearly as red as Spirit's hair, and she started to babble unintelligibly.  Smiling, Spirit began to lead her to the right corner that a Meister like her should be in.  When he finally did deposit her, he sauntered away to the already-partnered Weapon corner, ignoring the pointed stares of the other students.  Some of them whispered, some of them laughed, and some of them just watched with wide-open mouths.

"Now that everyone's settled," Shinigami-sama began, his voice surprisingly steady despite the humorous conversation that had just occurred, "I'd like to thank every student for coming to the DWMA this year!  I can already tell that it's gonna be a great year.  Now, how's about a fun meet-and-greet for everyone?"

Before the lord of Death turned away from his spot in the front of the school, he added, "But, of course, we may know some more than others already.  Keep this in mind; you may need more friends on your side than you think.  Welp, I'm off to do some super cool work!  Have fun!"

Shinigami-sama did turn away this time.  A few seconds passed before the students standing around began to converse among each other.  Spirit noticed Stein out of the corner of his eye and smirked.

"Saw me laying on the moves on that girl, did ya?" the redhead asked.  His friend didn't seem nearly as impressed, only raising an eyebrow and smiling his slightly-frightening half-smile.

"I saw a girl who looked particularly murderous, if that's what you're referring to."

"It's not."

Spirit's deadpan response was enough to make his Meister chuckle.  "If you honestly think that she's going to start following you around like a lovesick puppy, then you surely have been dropped on your head."

The Scythe considered his friend's words for a few moments, all the while his mind going back to that meeting with the girl and her blonde hair and observant forest green eyes.

"I've gotta see her again."

"And I've been ignored," Stein commented dryly, all the while knowing that he'd been ignored.

At the silver-haired teen's words, Spirit perked up again. "No, you don't understand!  I've gotta see her again."

"And so it begins." Stein stood very still, until a finger poked his shoulder; he turned quickly to meet with a strawberry blonde with bright, golden eyes. She, ironically, was the same girl that Spirit had purposely ignored but a few minutes ago.  Smiling sweetly, she extended a hand.

"I'm Marie Mjölnir, un-Meistered, as of now. Oh! But you already have a Partner, don't you?" she asked, sending a terrifying glare in Spirit's general direction. Which meant, of course, that her gaze focused completely on him.  And if the strange feeling of the temperature dropping meant anything, then she was certainly a force to be reckoned with.

Stein stared at the hand for a minute more, before taking it and shaking.  "Franken Stein. Pleasure."

"Frankenstein?  Like the monster?"

"No, like me."

That was odd, on both parts.  Normally, Stein would also go on a minute-long rant about how Frankenstein wasn't even the monster.  Frankenstein was the scientist; the monster was Frankenstein's monster.  And also normally, the girl that he would tell this to would just give him that confused expression and walk away, mumbling something about, "Freak."

This Marie girl, she only giggled and nodded.  "I haven't read the book; is it any good?"

"Quite.  You can borrow it, if you want," Stein answered with a surprised expression.  He let go of her hand and turned to Spirit.  "This is my Partner, Spirit. He's a Scythe."

The word "Scythe" seemed to be a trigger word of depression for Marie.  "A Scythe, huh? Why couldn't I have been born a Scythe?  No, poor Marie had to be a stupid Hammer."

"A Hammer?" Spirit and Stein repeated at the same time.  Who would've guessed that such a little thing like her could possibly be a Hammer?

Marie nodded dejectedly.  "Yeah, I know.  What kind of Meister wants a Hammer?  They're small and bulky and stupid.  Just stupid."

"That is unfortunate," Franken mumbled.  "Well, I do hope that you find a Meister sooner or later."  With that, not even bothering to say goodbye to Marie (or Spirit, for that matter), Stein sauntered away back to the Meisters-Who-Already-Had-A-Partner corner.  Or, rather, the MWAHAP corner.

"Mwahap," Spirit laughed. He chose to ignore Marie's strange look; and rudely enough, when he ignored her, she walked away (also in Stein's direction - wrong way, Marie).

#SpiritAlbarn

That night, when Spirit was holed up in his bed, he held his journal in his hands.  No, it was not a diary, but that also didn't mean that he wanted it to be read. That was a total invasion of privacy.

Besides, his roommate Jefferson was already asleep, if the snoring head of brown hair meant anything.  And when Spirit was alone, he chose to write in his super-secret journal.

Dear Journal,

Started another year of school. Not exactly a simple day.

I met a girl, and not just any girl, she was blonde.  And normally, I like my blondes, but this blonde was different.  She was short and had green eyes, but they weren't green like Stein's eyes.  They were forest-y, instead of olive-y. Anyway, I think she likes me, and I think I might like her.  And you know something else?  I think Stein officially has game.

A.N.: First chapter! So, I want this story to be my master SpiritXKami fanfiction. Now, I know that her name is not officially Kami, but I just want to go with that, since it's the only semblance of a name we've been given. This story's going to be a doozy, I know, but it'll hopefully be a lot of fun! Also, at the end of every chapter, I'm going to have a short bit of a character thinking about the day (the part with the hashtag). If you want a hashtag and a character, feel free to say something. Reviews and critique (but nice ones, of course) are appreciated. Hope you enjoyed!

Disclaimer: I don't own Soul Eater, because Ohkubo-sensei is a literary and artistic genius.