Disappearance

How stupid of me… He thought, as he rung the doorbell to the stitched property. Every inch of this place gave him the creeps; why did everything have to look like this, anyway? Professor Stein would always be the intensely weird one; no matter how 'normal' he tried to appear. Soul just wanted to get the assignment and leave. This placed STILL creeped him out… Not much, but the feeling still lingered. That and he was always afraid of Professor Stein dissecting him someday. Not today, not today! He nervously thought again, opening the door just enough so he could squeeze his body through.

"Professor Stein?" he called out, not very loudly, but still caused an echo to call throughout the place. He carefully, and slowly, made his way through the house, coming across the actual 'house' part and passing onto the beginning of the laboratory. The hall was long, with many doors. It was dark, and Soul couldn't really see where he was going. Hell, he could barely see his own hands. Not really wanting to injure himself, he called out again, "Professor Stein?"

Still no answer. Where was he? Soul saw him enter this place not too long ago. Where the hell did he go? As he carried on through the dark abyss that was the hallway, Soul noticed a faint, sickly blue glow coming from a door. It was open ever so slightly that only a sliver of light got out, but it was enough for Soul to notice. Taking up his bravery, and his rising curiosity, Soul went towards the faint, blue light, lightly pressing is hands on the door. As it slowly opened, the creaking sound it made was overwhelming in the silence, so Soul stopped before it was even half way open, peaking inside the room. It was also dark; the light coming from a lamp over a metal table. Soul's eyes shot wide as he stared longer at the table; it was a table for surgery, or in this case… dissecting. However, that wasn't what he was thrown back by. What was on the table is what disturbed him; it was a woman. Or rather, a girl… She was quite flat-chested, now that he thought about it… Soul violently shook his head; he shouldn't be thinking about this now! The woman… Girl… Whatever you'd like to call her, had a white blanket that covered her chest to her knees. The blanket itself had a large spot of blood that wasn't entirely visible from Soul's view point. As he stared on in pure surprise, he noticed the girl's long, blonde, almost white hair. He couldn't see her face, but he did notice something else that was vital… She had horns. They weren't your typical horns that came from the forehead; instead they grew on either side of this girl's head. They were long, thin and curved a bit like a ram's. Squinting his eyes in an attempt to look closer, he then noticed something vital… Her head wasn't attached to her neck!

"Soul? What are you doing down here?" a stern voice called out from the dark. Soul nearly jumped ten feet in the air and his heart almost came out of his mouth. Breathing heavily now, he turned around to see Professor Stein, hands in his pockets, a cigarette in his mouth. As he gaped at Stein, he tried to remember why he came here in the first place. To borrow sugar? To get advice? Damn, what was it?

"… Oh! Uh… I-I was away today, s-so…" he stumbled upon his words, barely remembering his reason. Not cool... He shamefully thought to himself. Stein simply stared for a few seconds, and then gave a smirk.

"Right, right, well, follow me," he puffed out smoke then turned around for Soul to follow. "I'm curious to know as to why you came down here," he smirked, as Soul flinched in embarrassment. "But you were probably curious, that's all. Right?"

"… R-Right." Soul weakly smirked back.

The next day in Stein's class was incredibly awkward for Soul. He had seen something he really wished he didn't, and Stein still acted the same as he always did…

"Hey. Hey!" Maka whispered, elbowing Soul quite hard in the ribs.

"Ugh! What? What?" Soul grunted, very irritated. She didn't have to do that. Before Maka could answer, the bell rang, indicating a lunch period for all the students. Maka gathered up her books as she raised herself from her seat and looked down to Soul.

"I need to study for a big test next period." She stated. "You won't, but I need another perfect mark to get my average up." Soul rolled his eyes at that. As if she needed it any higher, the grade grubber. "Black*Star and Tsubaki are out on a mission, and I'm pretty sure Kid and the Thompson sisters are busy too." She said, making her way down the stairs. "Have lunch with some of your other friends for once!" she called from the doorway, giving a small smile then exiting the classroom.

So, there he was, sitting all alone at lunch. He didn't even know where everyone was; it seemed everyone was busy doing something, except for him. Not wanting to look like a loner in the cafeteria (which, of course, would be uncool), Soul decided to walk around the school grounds. The hallways were a bit barer than they usually were, so it was easy to take his time walking through them. Looking out through the windows as he walked past, he realized what a lovely day it was. The sun was shining brightly, and there wasn't a single grey cloud in the sky. There was a soft breeze that further complimented the day. Soul then looked to his left; he was never really sure why he turned his head. Perhaps something caught his eye, or just a habit, either way, his head had turned and his eyes shot open. Standing mere inches from him was an elegant girl with long, blonde hair. She was looking out the window too, a small smile on her exquisite face. It wasn't her hair, or even her dark crimson eyes that held his attention; it was her horns. He kept staring at them, because no doubt, this was the girl he had seen yesterday evening at Stein's place. The girl slowly turned her head to Soul, her smile still in tact.

"My, it's rather lovely, isn't it?" she softly commented, lightly crossing her arms. Looking down to her arms, Soul noticed she wasn't wearing a uniform. She doesn't go here then… He thought, almost in relief. He didn't understand anything right now. How was she still breathing? Her head was severed, for god's sake! He couldn't say anything, so instead he slowly nodded his head, still staring at the girl dumbly. Soul looked down to see her short skirt and… A tail? What the hell is this? He thought again, eyes once again shooting open. It was long and thin, the end was shaped like a heart. Now, this looked rather familiar to him, and he knew he had seen a tail like that before… And those horns, too. A succubus? He hummed in thought, a hand coming up to his mouth and covering it. Her eyes aren't the same, though…he argued, noticing her slit pupils, almost unnoticed by what a deep red her eyes were. The girl smiled still and nervously laughed.

"Oh! Please don't stare at me like that…" she said, acting rather bashful and her knees almost facing each other. After realizing how foolish he was being (and uncool), Soul gave a short gasp and violently shook his head.

"S-Sorry, you just seem… Familiar." He mumbled, looking at her up and down again, pretending to be distracted by the laces on her knee high boots.

"Hmmm." The girl hummed with a giggle, imitating what Soul was doing. "Do you perchance know of where the fair Death God's quarters are?" she inquired, smiling again.

"… Huh?" Soul dumbly spat out. He couldn't believe what a loser he was being today. "O-Oh! Yeah, I know." He sighed. He was so disappointed with himself. The girl stared at Soul, then gave another nervous laugh.

"Well, uhm… Could you maybe take me there?" she chuckled, a hand coming near her mouth. Capturing his gaze, Soul looked to the girl's lips. Unlike most of her pale complexion, her lips were a rosy pink.

"Yeah, sure." He shrugged, trying to seem cool. For some reason this girl made him act stupid.

"Aw, thanks!" she smiled again, letting Soul take the lead, then trotting up beside him. It was rather a quiet walk between the two, neither of them mustering up the courage to say something to the other. After a long period of silence, the girl gave a small cough and opened her mouth to say something. "Are you a student here?" she asked, looking at Soul. Soul didn't meet her gaze, not wanting to be distracted by her horns or eyes again.

"Uh, yes." He dumbly answered again, looking to the ground as they walked. "… Are you?" he asked, then looking up to the ceiling. The girl pulled down her ¾, grey sleeves a bit below her elbow and gave another giggle.

"Hmmm! I wonder, I wonder!" she teased, giving Soul a wink and a playful smile. Soul wished he hadn't looked over to her. "Ah, is this it?" she asked, though it was more of a rhetorical question, as it was apparent that this was the hallway to Shinigami's room. She walked up a bit, and then turned around to face Soul again. "You're quite the gentleman!" she giggled. "A bit shy, however…" she laughed, brushing a hand through her silky hair. Soul simply gave a nod, not able to find any words. This girl made him weak in the knees. "People usually make rude comments about how I look, but you're different…" she smirked, a hand touching his cheek. "I hope to see you around again." She said, her usual smile retuning to her face. She flipped her hair as she turned around and made her way down the long hallway. Soul stood there until he couldn't see her anymore. What WAS that girl? Was it even the girl he saw from yesterday? It couldn't be… Any normal person would be dead, but then again… She wasn't normal, was she?