42_souls, table 3, theme #20) "dreams may not come true." I can honestly tell you that, aside from lustful Stein, Shinigami-sama is the hardest character for me to write... and I feel like he's the character I most relate to. How sad is that?
Disclaimer; Ohkubo owns Soul Eater. Maybe I should kidnap him...

"Hiya, hello, Marie-chan!"

"Shinigami-sama," she replied, inclining her head respectfully."You called me?"

"Marie-chan, I called you to congratulate you!" Shinigami-sama brandished a New Years noise maker and popped it above her head. Marie was showered with confetti. "A little birdy told me," he continued jovially, bouncing, "that you are flexible enough to be wielded by any meister! Marie-chan is wonderful! Good job! Good job!"

Marie blushed and rubbed the back of her head bashfully. "Thank you, Shinigami-sama."

"So, so!" He leaned in as if to ask her for her deepest, darkest secret. "Does Marie-chan have someone special in mind, or is she an opportunist, hmm?"

"I want to be Stein's weapon," she answered immediately. It had been the only thing on her mind for the past year or so. Tomorrow would be the ceremony in which meisters and weapons came together to meet and greet, to scope each other out, to find someone compatible. Someone to, essentially, be their other half. To complete them. Marie knew exactly who she wanted to be associated with. In her heart, the words she longed to hear were, "There's Franken Stein, the greatest meister in history. And that's his partner, Marie Mjolnir. They work so well together."

Marie's face turned a violent red once more and she covered her cheeks. O-or something like that...

"Hmmm? Stein-kun? He has potential, doesn't he?"

"Oh, yes!" Marie's eyes sparkled with a proud determination. "He'll be the best technician in the world someday! He may not show it, but his soul is compatible with so many others, and... and I'd like to be his weapon."

"Would you, now? Would you really?" Shinigami-sama asked teasingly.

Marie nodded.

Tomorrow was the beginning of her destiny.

"No." Marie shoved the covers off and slid off the side of her bed. On wobbly, unsteady legs she started toward the door. "I'm going. I have to go."

"I know this day is important to you, dear, but you're just too sick!" Mrs. Mjolnir grabbed her daughter by the hand and gently pulled her. "Come, get back into bed."

"No! You don't understand!" Marie coughed, and the world spun. "I need to go. I have to go to school."

"Lay down, Marie. Don't make me call your father in here."

"I want to be his weapon!" she said. It baffled her that her mother could push her into bed so easily when she was the trained warrior in the room. "If I don't go, he'll be taken!"

"Marie Mjolnir, I did not raise you to be such a selfish child," her mother clucked, forcefully tucking the blankets around Marie. "You've got a temperature of one hundred and two, and not even Shinigami-sama could convince me to allow you to go to school today. Now, stay put while I get you a cold towel."

Mrs. Mjolnir walked briskly from the room, and the second she was out, Marie rolled out of the soft confines of her bed and made for the door. It was hard to focus, and the fever made her dizzy, but she couldn't stop. She wouldn't let her own body keep her from what she desired most. This was the day she had dreamed about for a year, and there was no way...

"Marie, are you giving your mother trouble."

The blond man leaned against the wall outside her bedroom door. Marie attempted to glare. "Don't stop me, daddy."

"You know your limits, I suppose," he answered unmovingly. Marie leaned for a moment against her door frame and then pushed off, trudging down the hall with the wall for support.

She would get to school. Stein wouldn't be taken. She would propose a partnership. She would wait anxiously for his answer. They would be great. She would help Stein make history. She would become Shinigami's weapon. She would make him proud.

She was falling.

"Marie!"

Spirit.

Spirit-senpai was his weapon.

Their interaction was minimal but Stein was different around him. Comfortable, almost. It was like they had the mutual agreement to allow their souls to interact enough to form a bond, but not so close as to become attached. Marie was more jealous than words could relay. When she looked at them training together, a little bit of her heart twinged. When she saw the scars on odd parts of Spirit's body, obviously made by Stein's beloved scalpel, envy burned her.

But there was a little part of her that reminded her to look at Franken Stein closely when he held the cross. He was concentrating. He was trying. He was on his way to becoming the best of the best, and even more than her envy, this pulled at her heartstrings. Marie was happy for Stein. Months would go by. Then years. They would graduate and go their separate ways. When Marie watched Stein and Spirit, a bit of relief touched her.

Stein was with someone that could help him achieve greatness, and that was all that mattered.

Spirit Albarn pushed away from the water fountain and turned to walk to his next class, only to find a blond underclassman in his way. Her face was set with determination. She was cute, but not his type. Still, she was worth a shot. Spirit let his moth relax into a flirtatious lopsided grin.

"Hey there. Need something, gorgeous?"

"My name is Marie. I just needed to tell you that I'm leaving it to you, Senpai. Don't let him down."