"A sound soul dwells within a sound mind and a sound-" Maka Albarn scanned the classroom for an answer. Among the crowd were several hands raised, and she picked one at random; an eager girl with pigtails and two pink bows atop each. The girl almost reminded Maka of herself.
"A sound soul dwells within a sound mind and a sound body!" She announced, beaming with pride. Maka smiled and nodded. She heard Stein shift in his chair behind the desk. She could almost feel the boredom seeping out of him like it was tangible. The two had entirely different teaching methods, but worked well together, which was why Death the Kid had paired them together.
"Good." Maka replied.
"Well that one was a breeze, can we have an actual hard one?" Another student blurted out.
"Sure, but how about you raise your hand next time, Kazuto." Maka replied, trying to keep her posure. Teaching was quite new to her, and it was sometimes hard to not reveal her annoyance with the students sometimes. She heard Stein snickering behind her as the bell blared through the overhead speakers. "Hey! Stop laughing!" She snapped. It only made him laugh harder.
"So fun isn't it?" He said, grinning. She rolled her eyes. Her phone buzzed in her pocket, and she pulled it out and dismissed an alarm on the screen. "What's that for?" Stein asked.
"It's a reminder. I have to go talk to my landlord." Maka sighed.
"Oh? How's the new apartment?"
"Great, except we've somehow already managed to piss our neighbors off." Maka rubbed her face with her hands in a stressed manner.
"How exactly did you manage that?" Stein asked, snickering again.
"Sound complaints from Soul's piano playing."
"Have you told him it's a piano, not a drum set?" Stein replied. Maka laughed a little. She waved her hands up in a quotations gesture.
"'I'm just passionate.'" She mocked. They both laughed. Maka grabbed her bag and put a few folders inside. "Alright, I gotta run. Better not give her more of a reason to be upset with us."
"Good plan, I'll see you tomorrow." Stein said. He retracted his feet from their regular place on the desk and stood, straightening his jacket. Maka rushed out. She thought about how it was to work with Stein. They were opposites in so many ways, but somehow worked more efficiently that way. The more academically focused students liked having a teacher who was uptight and punctual, and the others liked Stein's spontaneous and laid back personality. Even though they worked well, Maka could tell that it sometimes made Stein a bit antsy splitting the work. He was always a very independent and introverted person. 'Antsy in a good way' he would chide, but Maka couldn't help but worry about it.
Black Star and Tsubaki walked down the streets of the city. Tsubaki thought about how much had changed since the events with Asura. In the destruction that he had left, the city had rebuilt, and even five years later, Tsubaki still found it crazy how much had changed. Where an apartment complex once stood, there was now a corner store. Where a church was, there was now a little clinic. These things a testament to how resilient the academy, let alone the city was. Tsubaki looked at Black Star finally. He was almost the biggest change. Years ago he was short and slim. Now he was almost half a foot taller than Tsubaki, and he'd filled out completely. It was no longer a lie when he'd boast about his size, no matter how conceited it would sound. He was arrogant, but Tsubaki could tell that he wasn't that way all around. He'd worked hard to get where he was and he showed quite a bit of modesty about it under the surface. She figured he knew that the arrogance was almost comical and played with it to keep people laughing. Now, when no one was watching, he walked with his shoulders slouched and his hands in his pockets. No pride, just a simple, carefree stride. He noticed Tsubaki looking at him and smiled back.
"What's on your mind?" He asked. She took a breath and sighed, calmly.
"Nothing, really. I was thinking. Valentine's day is tomorrow. Maybe we could invite Soul and Maka on a double date?" Tsubaki suggested. Black Star hid a blush. He cleared his throat.
"Well I'd have to get a suit fitted, 'cause a big guy like me can't just buy one from any store, y'know?" He said.
"Okay, Black Star. You do that." Tsubaki laughed. They stopped in front of their complex. "Go get your suit. I'll call Maka to go dress shopping with me."
"You're really getting into this, aren't you?" Black Star jabbed.
"Valentine's Day is only one day out of the year, and don't you want to show off how big your arms will look in a nice tux?" Tsubaki joked.
"Ohh, yeah. You're right. I'll rush to get myself tailored immediately." Black Star kidded back. He kept walking down the street as Tsubaki went inside. He wasn't a big fan of going out, but a part of him was excited to see Tsubaki all dressed up. Suddenly as Black Star turned the corner he ran into a girl. She dropped the books she was carrying in the street. "Shit-I'm sorry." Black Star exclaimed. He bent down to help her pick up her stuff. He grabbed a few of her books and looked up, handing them to her. Just then he noticed her eyes. They were piercing. She was younger than him, probably in her final year of school. Her eyes were deep purple, and she had long, wavy black hair, which was partially pulled up into a high, short ponytail. She wore thick, black eyeliner and black lipstick. Black Star felt almost hypnotized by her, but something deep within him felt threatened.
"Thank you!" She said, reaching for the books. Black Star was so entranced by the girl, that he failed to notice a small black spider run up his arm. The two stood and maintained eye contact. There was an awkward pause, but the girl broke it. "I'm Izumi." She extended one of her hands, balancing the books on her other forearm. Black Star broke the eye contact, quickly shaking his head and blinking his eyes a few times. He almost struggled to speak.
"B-Black Star." He swallowed.
"Nice to meet you, Black Star." His name in her voice sent shivers down his spine. "You too." He said.
"Hey-Uh-I'm quite new, can you show me to the academy?" She asked. Something deep in Black Star told him it was a bad idea but something felt so magnetic about the girl.
"Uh-yeah, of course." He agreed. He stumbled around her. "T-this way."
Kid, Soul, Liz, and Patty stood staring over a large field.
"Whatever did this had to be big." Soul remarked. Kid tried to contain the stress within him as he stood before a field of hundreds of human souls.
"Spirit…?"
"Yes?"
"Why are we having lunch at a male strip club?" Stein tried to force himself to stare at his gin and tonic instead of the men on the stage. Had he been aware of where Spirit wanted to go, he would have declined the offer. He looked up to see Spirit intently staring at the men.
"Well you see, maybe if I convert myself to liking men, I will feel less inclined to whore around with women."
"If that works, which it probably won't, wouldn't you just be 'whoring' around with men then? What would that accomplish?" Stein inquired. Spirit slammed his head down on the table and sighed heavily.
"I'm never gonna be the man Maka wants me to be…" Spirit muttered into his crossed arms. A waiter came around, holding a tray.
"Another Gin and Tonic, sir?" He asked, looking at Stein.
"Ooh, yes, please." Stein smiled, spinning the screw on his head.
Maka walked through her door, and sighed, placing her keys on the table near the door. She looked over at the grand piano sitting in the light of the window. She loved to hear Soul play, but she could agree that he slammed the keys a bit too much sometimes. She looked over in the opposite corner where a pile of boxes stood. She sighed again and strolled over to the boxes.
"Might as well." She muttered to herself, as she ripped the duct tape off the top box. Right on top was a framed photograph of her and Crona. She stared at it for a long moment. She wondered what had become of Crona since the last time she saw him, five years before.
Maka stood looking over several ruined buildings. She couldn't help but feel like a lot of it was due to her big fight with Asura. She wasn't responsible for cleaning up, but she felt like she should have been.
"Oh hi Maka." She heard a familiar voice and turned around to see Crona. She smiled, before looking over him and seeing the backpack slung over his shoulders. Behind him was Stein and Marie. Maka furrowed her brow.
"Where are you going?" She asked.
"I'll be taking him back with me." Marie chimed in.
"Why?" Maka asked.
"To train. I think we could really work with the unique abilities he has." She replied, putting a comforting hand on Crona's shoulder. It jolted him at first, but he smiled back at her.
"Oh. Well, you'll come back and see us, won't you?" Maka extended her hand. Crona hesitantly shook it.
"Definitely." Stein butted in. "It's only temporary. There is still too much madness lingering around, and it would benefit him to be away from it all." He explained. Him and Marie shared an awkward glance at each other. Maka could tell that they had feelings for each other, but were too timid to act on them.
Maka pulled Crona in and hugged him. "I'll see you when you get back then, okay?" She said. She felt him nod. He hugged her back. There was no comment from Ragnarok, but she could feel his beady eyes watching.
It was dark by the time Black Star was done showing Izumi around. He had completely forgotten about the suit, and the plans he had for the next day. All he could think about was the raging headache he had. It was rare he got them, which was off putting in a way. Despite his growing sense of unease, he shrugged it off and walked home, more than ready to lay down and go to bed.
It was late, but Kid kept himself up thinking about the souls. He wished he could talk to his father about it. He hadn't felt this uneasy since asura's awakening.