A/N: Alright, hopefully this chapter will be more eventful. Well, it is more eventful. I know it'll be. This chapter is dedicated to everyone who has only just joined the Soul Eater fanfiction reading society. Welcome to the club! So, hope you like it!


Much to Stein's dismay, Marie had returned to Shibusen just a week after her bout with the mystery illness. What dismayed him even more was the fact that she hadn't gotten over it. She was stuck to her seat as she taught in sync with Stein, merely watching on as he demonstrated and explained his skilled fighting techniques. It was only first lesson and Marie was already tired and feeling sick. She rolled her eyes as Black*Star stood on his desk and began to yell at Stein.

"YAHOO! That's nothing compared to my brilliant techniques!" Black*Star jumped off the desk, landing just in front of Stein. Black*Star cracked his knuckles and adopted a fighting stance.

"Ah, students, here is a perfect example of arrogance overwhelming concentration." Stein replied, rolling over on his chair to Black*Star.

"What are you talking about? I am-"

"Double Palm Soulstrike." Stein said, nonchalantly, pressing his wrists together and forcing his palms against Black*Star's chest, as an array of what appeared as green lightning bolts surged from his hands to Black*Star. He exclaimed in pain as he was smashed against the bottom row of desks, knocking him unconscious.

"Black*Star!" Tsubaki exclaimed.

"Calm down, Tsubaki. He'll awake by the end of lesson. Death forbid, he might have even learnt something." Stein replied, causing the class, sans Tsubaki, to giggle slightly.

Stein, surprisingly, managed to roll his chair up the small ledge which the teacher of the class sat on, without falling over. Stein was skilled at manoeuvring the chair, just as long as he didn't pass any doorways. He turned to Marie.

"Marie, did you want to start the next chapter?" Stein asked.

"Oh, yes, of course." Marie said. She took a deep breath and stood up, still feeling dizzy, before walking around to the other side of the desk. She leant heavily on the desk with one hand as she opened the textbook, "Resonating Techniques 101," and began to speak.

"O-Okay, class. Let's open our b-books to p-page 45..." Marie faded out, the class becoming blurry, her hand beginning to shake. She went to begin reading again, but dropped the textbook.

"Marie, let me get that." Stein said, bending down to pick up the textbook.

"No, no I'll get it..." Marie said, kneeling down to get it as well. However, as she did so, her knees buckled and her vision went black. As she fell to the ground, she heard a familiar male voice and several teenage voices say her name.

"Marie!" Stein exclaimed, jumping off his chair and onto his knees, next to Marie.

"Marie-sensei!" Maka exclaimed, along with a few other students, standing up and trying to see over the rows of desks in front of them.

"Marie? Marie, can you hear me? Marie?" Stein said quietly, pulling Marie's head onto his lap. He looked behind him at the solemnly quiet class.

"Alright, class. I am going to take Marie to Naigus-sensei. Unless you want a screw like mine through your skull, I suggest you keep quiet and read." Stein said, a deadly serious look on his face. The class did not reply, but simply picked up their books and began to read. Stein was scary, when he wanted to be.

"If he wakes up, tell him the same, Maka." Stein said, pointing to Black*Star. Maka looked up and nodded. Stein looked at Marie. It didn't seem like she had a concussion or any broken bones. She wasn't benefited by lying in front of a shocked class. Stein slipped one arm under her shoulder, the other under her knees, and picked Marie up with seeming ease.

Marie stirred slightly, much to Stein's relief, as he carefully moved her from the floor out into the hallways, then down said hallway to the infirmary. In there, he carefully placed Marie, who was still out cold, onto one of the constantly empty beds. He then went over to the medical office, the one which he shared with Naigus, and found her organising the cupboards.

"Franken? Aren't you supposed to be teaching?" she asked him.

"Mira, it's Marie. She passed out in class. I need to go back to supervise, but can you please check on her?" Stein said, his voice still calm and collected. Naigus simply nodded and walked over to the infirmary. Stein walked out of the office and glanced over in the infirmary. Marie had managed to prop herself up and had opened her eyes. Stein breathed a sigh of relief as he walked away.

"Mira?" Marie said, as she woke up in the unfamiliar environment of the infirmary.

"Marie. Franken said that you passed out." Naigus said, sitting on the bed next to Marie.

"Oh... Did I?" Marie said, feeling the dizziness once again take over her.

"How long have you been feeling dizzy like this, Marie?" Naigus asked, walking over to a cabinet in the corner of the room.

"Oh, um, not very long." Marie lied.

"Marie. Don't try and lie to me." Naigus said back, coming back to sit next to Marie, holding a blood pressure meter.

"Mira... Fine. About a month and a half." Marie said back, reluctantly.

"See. I know this. Can you take your top off, please? I have to take your blood pressure." Naigus said. Marie nodded and slipped off her blouse. Naigus strapped the meter around Marie's arm.

"What are you doing?" Marie asked.

"Just taking your blood pressure, Marie. Calm down." Naigus smiled at her, or flashed her what vaguely looked like a smile through her bandages.

"Wha-oh. This is getting awfully tight, Mira." Marie's eyes darted nervously. Naigus nodded, taking off the bandage. Her eyes widened.

"Oh, no... is this bad?" Marie fretted, trying to lean over and see the reading.

"Well... it's a bit high." Naigus sighed, folding up the meter and replacing it in the drawer, taking out a syringe in its place. Marie's eyes widened and she began to twitch nervously. As Naigus approached her, she flinched, crawling backwards towards the wall.

"Mira… I only passed out. Do you really have to… I hate needles." Marie said, hyperventilating slightly.

"Marie, you'll be fine. It'll be over in two seconds." Naigus said. Marie, still nervous, turned her head to the side, shut her eyes tightly and stuck her arm out.

"Fine. But make it quick." Marie said, close to crying and trembling slightly. Naigus looked at her sympathetically, and held her arm, looking for the vein. As she brushed the needle slightly against Marie's arm, she pulled away.

"Marie!" Naigus replied.

"I'm sorry, Mira! I-" Marie said, looking down at the needle which Naigus had put in her arm as she wasn't looking. Instead of exclaiming in pain, she began to turn white as Naigus drew the blood. By the time she had enough for a sample, Marie's face had gone completely pale.

"M-Mira, I-I don't f-feel so good..." Marie said, shivering slightly.

"Come on, Marie. Lie down and rest here for the day. Franken will take all of your classes, but you need to rest. I can tell that much." Naigus said, walking over to a bench, taking a vial and filling it with Marie's sample. As she scribbled on a label, she turned back to Marie.

"We should have your samples back by the end of the day, if I tell the hospital that it's for a Deathscythe teacher at Shi-" Naigus took a good look at Marie, who had fallen asleep already, only under the thin covering of the infirmary sheets. Naigus shook her head, smiled, and stuck the label to the vial. She opened a drawer which contained blankets, pulled one out and covered Marie with it.

She once again picked up the vial, as well as scribbling a note onto a piece of paper. She looked at it, shook her head, crossed something out and wrote it again, smiling this time. She glanced over at Marie, who was still sound asleep, and left the infirmary, shutting the door and sticking a note to it as she left. The note read:

Infirmary closed for today. If you need medical attention, go and see Doctor Stein too bad. Stop getting into fights. Yes, I'm talking to you, Black*Star.

Naigus took one last look at the sign she had written and smiled. She knew that the boy she had helped raise would appreciate her little joke. Or, perhaps hate her for it. Either way, it was true. She walked down the corridors and out the front entrance of Shibusen, off to find out just what was wrong with Marie.


Marie awoke to the familiar chimes of the end of lesson. She sat up, rubbed her eyes and looked at the clock. The time suggested that the students were heading off to one final lesson. Marie sighed, slid out of the bed and stretched. She felt a bit better, but she still felt something niggling at her, a dizziness which just wouldn't go away. She slipped her top back on and did it up. As she was about to leave the infirmary, Naigus stepped in front of her.

"Uh, Marie... I need to talk to you about your test results." Naigus said, her voice solemn. Marie's pupils expanded as she adopted a defensive stance.

"Oh, goodness, is it bad? It's bad, isn't it? It's very, very bad. I knew it was going to be ba-" Marie was cut off.

"No, no, Marie... It's the exact opposite. I think." Naigus said, taking Marie's arm and leading her over to her desk.

"It's good? How can this constant dizziness, headaches and sickness be good?" Marie asked, confused.

"Uh, Marie... how can I ask you this? Uh... when was your last- no. Um... when did you last ha-no, that's no good either." Naigus said, rather jumpily.

"Mira... what's wrong with me?" Marie said, placing her hands on top of Naigus'.

"Well," Naigus gulped, "Your blood test results came back. They showed elevated levels of a hormone called relaxin." Naigus said.

"Relaxin? Believe me, with Class Crescent Moon, I am the opposite of relaxed." Marie said, laughing.

"N-No. Marie, this hormone, relaxin? It only presents itself when something happens. In a woman's life." Naigus said, hoping that Marie would get the hint without her actually having to say anything.

"I'm not following." Marie said. Naigus sighed. She clutched onto Marie's hands. She knew how happy she was at Shibusen. She knew that Marie had just resettled into a routine of work. She was about to shake it all up.

"Marie..." Naigus said, looking up at the oblivious hammer.

"You're pregnant."


A/N: OMG. No way. That was so unexpected, right? Anyways, sorry if it was a bit predictable. I'll try to make the next few chapters less predictable. I hope you liked it anyway! Plus, I'm very proud of the part that Naigus has played in this chapter. She's so underappreciated. Oh, and BTW, in this story, I'm following the rather widespread (I think it's widespread) presumption that Naigus is like a mother figure to Black*Star. Because I think it's sweet. See you next chapter!