1. The Child and the Upperclassman.

The little blond boy takes a breath.

Ed finds himself before an extremely, extremely long stairwell. It was intimidating, really, to see block after block of cement lined up neatly, leading up to a further beyond that wasn't visible from the bottom.

"D-Do I... really have to climb all of this?" his voice came out as a cracked whimper, fearful, despaired-- and laced with a cry.

Clutching the edges of his long-sleeved school sweater, he resisted the cowardly thoughts flooding his mind and bit his lip.

Gripping a tight, resolved fist, he takes his first step up the famous Death Climb.

-

Around the end of the first flight of steps, Ed stopped for a short break.

Resting his sore knees, he took a few large gulps of water, wiping away sweat that dribbled down his chin. The sun was scorching today of all days-- Ed was really considering turning back.

Just then, someone stepped in beside him.

Someone that had just finished climbing up the first set of steps too, and found him exhaustively taking a break at the side.

"Need help?"

It was a girls's voice. A girl and her voice held a hint of deepness in the tone.

Ed looked up.

The girl, with a head of hair that was a faded, sandy shade of brown-- blowing a piece of gum, a casual look over her shoulder toward the boy.

Her hand reached down toward the backpack Ed had left aside. Scooping it up by the sling, she threw it over her shoulder and stepped toward the next flight of steps.

Ed jumped up the moment she picked up his bag. "Ah-- It's, it's alright!" he tried to say, but the girl only spared him one more glance before continued on her way up.

The little blond boy scurried after her quickly.

-

They reached the top quite soon, and finally, the bag was handed back to the boy.

Breathing heavily and absolutely tired out, the boy collapsed onto the ground, whining in absolute relief that the hellish climb up those stairs was over. For now.

The girl stood by Ed, eyeing the boy as he pushed himself up and gulped down more water. She wasn't carrying anything, so Ed assumed her to be an upperclassman.

When Ed had caught enough breath to speak, he turned to the girl.

"Uhm--" he called out, flinching as the girl stared blankly back at him, "Th- Thanks a lot for your help... I really appreciate--"

The girl let out a light chuckle. "No problems!"

Ed jumped. After all, the girl who had been stoic and blank-faced this whole time had suddenly cracked a very, very delightful and adorable smile.

"I-" Ed spoke up again quickly, hoping the blush on his face wasn't obvious, "I'm Ed!" he introduced himself, "Are you a senior in Shibusen?"

The girl responded with an outstretched arm. "I'm Miko." like a form of greeting, "and yes, I'm a senior."

Taking her hand gratefully, Ed stood back up.

"Well then," Miko did not let go of Ed's hand, "let's get you to the freshman hall, shall we?"

-

"Edward, was it?" Sid repeated the name, "Weapon or Meister?"

"M-Meister," Ed answered in a panic. He never really spoke well with teachers or adults, so he was really wracked with nerves right now--

"Wear this tag on your chest," was Sid's next request.

Ed took the blue Meister tag from the teacher. Giving a quick nod and a thank you, he stepped aside and away from the door quickly.

"I'm Miko from the MINUS section."

Ed turned around quickly. Miko was there, talking to Sid, registering like what he himself had done a second ago. Wasn't she a upperclassman?

...MINUS section?

"Ah, welcome back." Sid was unfazed, and as the teacher he was, he knew what the word meant. "Weapon, I take it?"

"Yeah."

"Urgh, look at that." Ed heard a boy in the back mumble to his friend, "it's a MINUS. What a waste of her looks."

The two that were conversing didn't seem to like the 'Minus' much. What exactly was a Minus? Ed was curious, but the two people had noticed his stare and kept quiet from more gossip.

Receiving the red Weapon tag, Miko thanked the teacher and stepped toward Ed, pinning the badge on her right chest.

"Huh-- uh, Miss Miko... weren't you a senior?" Ed asked, and a second later he hoped he didn't sound accusing.

Miko let out an embarrassed chuckle. "Well, guess you could say I got held back a year."

"Eh??"

-

"Well then, I would like you to spend a day to find yourselves a partner." Sid informed the new class, "With that, your orientation is over."

Ed left the classroom with a heavy heart.

Find a partner, eh. Socializing was one thing Ed's social anxiety did not aid him in. Why, oh why did he had to come here of all places? It was scary being alone in an unfamiliar environment. He almost wanted to bolt home right now-- but-- he let out a sigh-- he can't.

"There are three MINUS students in this year." a passing girl spoke to her friend, "thank goodness we found out before anyone partnered up!"

"Yeah," her friend agreed, "Getting partnered with a MINUS would've been terrible!"

Again, what on Earth is a Minus? Why do they get such horrible treatment?

"What's wrong, Ed?"

Miko was by his side again, her hands tucked into the stomach pocket of her jacket.

He jumped. "Miss Miko," he addressed, "I...I was just, uh, kinda worried..."

"Worried?" Miko asked, "Why?"

"Getting a partner and all." he answered, "I don't really know how to start conversations and I don't know if I can even make any friends in the new class." His head lowered and his lips curled into a pout.

Miko let out a chuckle. "I think you'll do fine."

"Hey, Miss Miko," he lifted his head again, "You're a weapon, right?" he asked hopefully, "Could-- Could you become my partner...?"

There was a second of awkward silence before Ed flushed bright red.

"No, no no!" he quickly waved his hands before him, "It's alright if you don't want to, Miss Miko! I mean, I'm not a very good fighter at all so I think I'd just hold you back and--"

"Sure!" came the answer, "I'd be honoured as your partner, Ed."

"...Huh?"

-

They were now back in the classroom. Sid had told them it would be empty, so they could go in provided they don't make a mess or stay in there for unqualified reasons.

Miko stood taller than Ed. She wasn't a particularly tall person, but Ed was just so much smaller in stature.

"Take a deep breath, Ed," she told him, standing right before him in the center of the room. "Concentrate-- and visualize. Imagine."

"Imagine... what?" Ed couldn't resist the question. He was nervous, really. He had never wielded a person before, so he didn't really get wavelengths and the such.

"Me." Miko grinned. "Imagine me."

That sounded like a pick-up-line, Ed thought embarrassingly.

But Ed found himself calming down. Closing his eyes, he recalled the demonstration in the morning. That senior girl who wielded the Scythe with perfect mastery and elegance--

And Ed was given the opportunity to wield a weapon as beautiful as Miss Miko.

He was incredibly honoured.

And that was when he found himself holding something. Opening his eyes, he found a rod in his hands. A sleek, red beam-- it wasn't very long-- and at the end of it, a simple, curved blade. At the hilt, a long, brown cloth that wrapped right before the blade. The fabric like a scarf, the colour of Miss Miko's hair.

A spear-- not, a halberd. A Japanese halberd. A naginata.

Ed found himself entranced.

So captivated by the beauty and elegance of this weapon-- he awed it, eyes sparkling in fascination. He couldn't stop complimenting about its glamour.

When he began swinging it about-- he found himself even more interested. Despite having only wielded a staff as a familial tradition, his newfound instinct brought him to the ways of wielding the naginata.

As if Miko was leading him through it, he displayed his swordplay marvelously.

Even at home, he had never been able to wield a long weapon well. He was always too short, and all the weapons were too long and ended up a burden to his stature.

But wavelengths-- just by joining wavelengths with someone, he had become a Master on par with everyone else in the dojo.

Clutching Miko close until she returned to being a human-- he thanked her from the bottom of his heart. A heartfelt "thank you so, so much", a bright, beaming grin that brimmed with overflowing joy and happiness--

"Thank you too," was the girl's response.

Perhaps because he was too focused on his own emotions, he failed to see the tear trickle down Miko's cheek. But in the back of his mind, he wondered why the girl thanked him back.