Soul Eater: Resonance Regression — Heir to the Reaper
Soul Eater Evans died shielding Maka from a fatal blow—and then he woke up.
Thirteen years old. The morning of the entrance ceremony at Death Weapon Meister Academy. Three years before the battle that killed him. Three years before the kishin Asura, before the madness that swallowed his friends, before Maka screamed his name with tears streaming down her face.
He remembers everything. Every battle. Every loss. Every face of everyone he failed to save.
But this second chance comes with a warni
Soul Eater: Resonance Regression — Heir to the Reaper - Soul Resonator — The Disciple of the Reaper Who Went Back in Time
My eyes opened.
No—that's not quite right. Not opened. Dragged back.
Soul Eater shot upright. His heart was pounding, absurdly fast. His fingertips were cold. Sweat ran down the back of his neck.
(I died. I know I died.)
His throat was dry. His breathing came shallow. He gulped air again and again. His lungs were working. His heart was pumping blood. No pain. No heat. Nothing.
He scanned the room.
Small. The wallpaper was peeling a little. The curtains were a faded blue. Thin morning light leaked through the window. He knew this place. No—he knew it too well.
This was the Death Weapon Meister Academy dorm.
And not just any room. The one they'd assigned him when he first enrolled.
"...Why."
His voice came out cracked. It was his own voice, but it sounded like it came from far away.
He climbed off the bed. His legs shook. The feel of the floor against his bare feet was strangely real.
In the corner stood a full-length mirror. Cheap thing, its frame half-rusted. And in it—
Whitish silver hair. Short and spiky. Red eyes. Small piercings in his ears.
...Young.
No. Young didn't cover it.
This was him at thirteen.
Soul stepped closer to the mirror. Reached out. His fingertips touched the cold glass.
(No mistake. This is me.)
He wore the Academy's puffy-sleeved uniform, sloppily as ever. And between his teeth, like always, was a toothpick-thin stick. When had he even put it there? He didn't know. His body remembered.
He went back to the bed. A phone sat by his pillow. He picked it up. Turned on the screen.
The date appeared.
Three years ago. The morning of the entrance ceremony.
"...You've gotta be kidding me."
Soul gripped the phone. The corner of the screen bit into his palm. It hurt. But the pain pulled reality closer.
This wasn't a dream.
He'd come back three years.
The memories flooded in all at once.
The kishin, Asura. The final battle. That fight on the moon.
Maka had been screaming. Screaming his name.
And then he—
Soul closed his eyes.
He'd shielded Maka. Taken a fatal blow for it. The feeling of his body splitting in two. The smell of blood. His fingertips going cold.
Maka's tear-streaked face was the last thing burned into his sight.
"...Ngh."
Something clenched deep in his chest. His breath nearly stopped.
(I died.)
(But I'm alive.)
(On the morning of the entrance ceremony, three years ago.)
It made no sense. Why this had happened—he had no clue.
Only one thing was clear.
He knew the future.
Everything that was about to happen.
The future where Maka suffered. The future where his friends got hurt. The future where Kid was swallowed by madness.
And the fate where he died.
"...I'll change it."
Saying it out loud settled him, just a little.
He'd change it. No matter what. This time, he'd protect them all.
—Knock, knock.
Someone rapped on the door.
Soul's body jerked.
"Soul, are you awake?"
A voice he knew. But right now, it stabbed into him like a sharp blade.
Maka.
Maka's voice, from three years ago.
"...Yeah."
The word wouldn't come out right. The back of his throat burned.
"I'm coming in, okay?"
Before he could answer, the door opened.
Standing there was Maka Albarn.
Dark beige hair in twin tails. Green eyes. Barely five feet tall. She wore the Academy uniform neat and proper.
Maka, still thirteen.
The Maka he knew so well.
"Good morning, Soul."
Maka smiled.
Innocent, bright—a smile like the sun.
The instant he saw it, something broke deep inside Soul's chest.
(Ah. That smile.)
(That's the smile I wanted to protect.)
The memories surged again.
At the final battle, Maka had been crying. Crying while she screamed his name.
He never wanted to see that face on her again.
"...Morning."
Soul forced a smile.
But he wasn't sure it looked like one. The back of his eyes burned. Tears threatened.
"What's wrong? You look pale."
Maka tilted her head. She peered at his face, worried.
"It's nothing. Just woke up."
"Really? Okay then."
She didn't press further.
"Let's go to the entrance ceremony together. Come on, hurry up and get ready."
Maka held out her hand.
Small and white.
Soul stared at it.
(Is it okay to take this hand?)
(I know the whole future. But Maka knows nothing.)
(And I—to a Maka who knows nothing—)
"Soul?"
Maka looked puzzled.
Soul laid his hand over hers.
Maka's hand was warm.
"...Let's go."
"Yeah!"
Maka smiled happily.
Seeing that smile, Soul swore in his heart.
(I will protect it. No matter what.)
(This time, Maka's smile—)
(I'm the one who protects it.)
They passed through the Academy gates.
The same morning as that day. The entrance ceremony.
The sky was piercing blue. The wind was a little cold.
New students had gathered in front of the school building. Every face was a mix of nerves and hope.
Soul felt like he was watching it all from somewhere far away.
(Three years ago was like this too.)
(Back then, I knew nothing.)
(I never imagined things would get this hard.)
"Soul, are you nervous?"
Maka peered up at his face from beside him.
"No."
"Hmm. I think I'm a little nervous, maybe."
Maka fidgeted, twisting her fingers together.
"But if you're with me, Soul, I feel like it'll be okay."
She said it and gave a shy smile.
Soul's chest tightened painfully.
(Don't. If you say things like that, I—)
(I want to protect you.)
(I don't want to put that kind of face on you.)
"...Yeah."
Soul answered shortly.
He couldn't say anything more.
The new students were gathered in the gym.
The entrance ceremony began.
Lord Death stood on the stage.
Huge body. A skull-like face. Yet somehow, his presence wasn't frightening.
Lord Death was the founder of the Academy—and its headmaster.
Lord Death opened his mouth.
"Welcome to the Death Weapon Meister Academy."
A low voice that carried well. It echoed into every corner of the gym.
"This school is the Death Weapon Meister Academy. DWMA for short."
"This is an institution for training weapons and meisters."
"Among you are those with the talent of a weapon, and those with the talent of a meister."
"A weapon can transform their own body into a weapon. A meister wields that weapon."
"Weapons and meisters form pairs. They resonate their souls' wavelengths and fight together."
Lord Death's speech went on.
"The ultimate goal is for a weapon to consume ninety-nine evil human souls and one witch's soul."
"And thus create Lord Death's weapon—the Death Scythe."
Soul listened with a sense of nostalgia.
(Ah, right. This is where it all starts for everyone.)
(Me, Maka, all of us.)
(Collecting souls to make a Death Scythe...)
(And then, that battle...)
"—But."
Lord Death's voice suddenly grew heavy.
"In recent years, a new threat has begun to appear in the world."
The air in the gym snapped taut in an instant.
"Its name is the Anamnesis cult."
Soul's heart gave a hard thump.
(The Anamnesis cult...?)
(I've never heard that name.)
"They are a dangerous group that worships the Devourer of Memories."
"Their full scope is not yet clear. But you must all be sufficiently cautious."
Lord Death said no more details.
But Soul was certain.
(This is a future I don't know.)
(Three years ago, at the entrance ceremony, Lord Death never said anything like this.)
(The Anamnesis cult? The Devourer of Memories?)
(What the hell is that?)
(The future has changed.)
(No—maybe because I came back, something...)
A dark unease spread slowly through Soul's chest.
The ceremony ended, and class assignments and dorm room assignments were made.
Soul and Maka were recognized as partners.
Same as the future.
Soul let out a quiet breath of relief.
(Good. This part hasn't changed.)
(Maka and I become partners. That doesn't change.)
(If I just follow the future like this...)
"Soul, let's do our best together from now on."
Maka held out her hand to him.
"...Yeah."
Soul took it.
—And in that instant.
Soul sensed Maka's soul wavelength.
(...Weak.)
(Still totally inexperienced.)
(So this is how Maka really was back then—she couldn't do anything yet.)
The future Maka had been stronger. Her wavelength sharp and powerful.
But Maka's wavelength now was thin and fragile, like a newborn bird.
(This is Maka's strength three years ago.)
(As we are now, we might not be able to change that tragedy of a future.)
(No—we have to change it.)
(Because that's why I'm here.)
Soul gripped Maka's hand tight.
"Soul...?"
Maka's eyes went round with surprise.
"...It's nothing."
Soul let go.
(Don't rush. This is only the beginning.)
(One step at a time.)
(I'll protect them all.)
(For that, right now, I have to hold everything back.)
Night.
The dorm rooftop.
Soul leaned alone against the fence.
Stars floated thick in the sky.
The wind was cold.
(Think about the future.)
(Maka's tear-streaked face.)
(Kid swallowed by madness.)
(My friends' deaths.)
(And my own death.)
(I have to change all of it.)
(But how?)
(Knowing the future is exactly why I can't move sometimes.)
(If I do something unnecessary and history goes off the rails, it might end even worse.)
(Even so, I—)
Soul gripped the fence tight.
(I'll change it. No matter what.)
(This time, I'll protect them all.)
(Maka, Kid, Black Star, Tsubaki, Liz, Patty.)
(All of them.)
Just then.
Something moved at the edge of his vision.
Soul whipped his head toward it.
Outside the dorm window.
A black shadow flickered past—just for an instant.
(...What was that?)
Soul strained his eyes.
But there was nothing there anymore.
Only the darkness of night, spreading wide.
(Just my imagination?)
Soul shook his head.
(I'm tired, that's all.)
(I should sleep. It's been a day.)
Soul left the rooftop.
—He didn't know that the shadow had appeared outside the window once more.
The shadow stared at Soul's window for a while.
Then, as if sizing up its prey, it slowly melted into the night.
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