Another week passed by uneventfully. Soul started to seem distant around everyone else, but then when it was just me and him he was back to his regular cool, sarcastic self. That Friday we had our regular gathering and dinner at the apartment, and although it was only my second time, I felt like I had been doing it forever.

Then the weekend was boringly regular. Maka, Tsubaki, Liz, Patty and I all had a girls night, then on Sunday Crona and I had an extra-curricular lesson where we had to pair up with Black Star and Tsubaki to defeat a kishin who was hoarding some hidden key or something. According to Lord Death it was very important that we didn't mess this mission up. Shockingly, even with all of Black Star's shouting and "assassin skills", the mission was successful, and we returned to Lord Death with the needed key. He rewarded us by giving us each an extra kishin soul.

Monday rolled around and not much had changed. I was anxious for another tutoring session, wanting to spend more time with the kids. Soul showed his usual disdain for the tutoring project which he still viewed as a harsh punishment. "Might as well wear a waterproof jacket," he grumbled as the bell for our last class rang and we started on our way downstairs to room 23.

I laughed. "Soul, AJ is not going to drool on you again." I quickly added, "Now that he knows your not a cupcake..."

Soul scowled. When we walked inside room 23, Hana and AJ yelled "Red!" and ran to hug me. Mifune, who was sitting on top of his desk as usual, chuckled.

"They tell me last week went good?" he said, stepping down off his desk. I nodded. "Good to hear. In class we've been learning about the meister-weapon relationship so maybe you could start going over that a little with them." He clapped me on the shoulder and said, "Good luck," then walked out.

"He was quick to get outta here," Soul griped.

"He has a witch to look after," I reminded him.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah."

I rubbed the back of my neck thoughtfully. "Maybe we could ask Sid if we could start leaving his class early on Mondays to get here quicker."

"Red," he said, putting his hand on my shoulder. I looked up at him, bewildered. "Sometimes it's best to just stop thinking."

The children laughed. I frowned and shrugged his hand off my shoulder.

"Meister-weapon relationships, huh?" I said, turning my attention to the kids. "Who can tell me what a meister does?"

James's hand shot into the air. "Yes, James?"

"Fights," he said quickly, his blonde eyebrows knitted together in a determined line.

I chewed on my lip, unsure how to reply. "Yes, but that's not all," I said. James's confident look soon turned puzzled. "Does anyone know what else the meister does?"

No one said anything. Hana looked like she wanted to speak, then thought better of it, and looked down at her shoes.

Soul stepped forward. Shocked, I looked towards him, and he nodded to me. I stepped back and let him handle it. "This is the way Lord Death describes it," he started. "Picture the meister playing a guitar."

"Why?" Ashen asked. Soul shook his head.

"Nevermind that. Just picture it. An electric guitar, with no amp. It makes a quiet, little sound, right? Well if you plug it into an amp, it makes a huge loud noise!" He pretended to play an air guitar. Standing on the sidelines, I laughed with the children, amused but shocked that Soul was secretly so good with kids. "So if the meister is the guitar, then the weapon must be the amp. You plug in the amp to make a louder noise, just like a meister uses a weapon to channel more power. Understand?"

The children nodded, making noises of awe. "It makes a lot more sense now..." Hana murmured to herself. Crimson and AJ quietly agreed.

Soul turned and looked at me, grinning toothily.

"Look at this guy, thinks he's a hotshot just cause he's suddenly good with kids," I teased, stepping up beside him.

"You forgot great on the air guitar," he replied haughtily.

I rolled my eyes, then turned back to the children. "Any questions?" I asked.

AJ raised his hand and blurted, "Who are your meisters?"

"Mine's Crona," I said. "You might have seen him before, he's kinda hard to miss. He has pink hair."

Hana gasped. "Like mine?"

I shook my head. "No, Crona's is actually more purple. He's really shy and he doesn't talk much."

Ashen gasped. "I know who you're talking about! Is he the one that has that screaming sword?" Then her eyes widened. "Are you the screaming sword?"

I laughed. "No, I'm not, I'm a scythe, remember? Crona got rid of the screaming sword, Ragnarok a while ago. So don't worry."

Ashen let out her breath, seemingly relieved. "What about you?" she asked Soul curiously.

"My meister is none other than the amazing Maka Albarn," he announced proudly. This caught my attention, and I stared at him, trying to figure him out. How could he go from insulting Maka and pissing her off completely, to praising her and calling her amazing?

"The Maka Albarn?" James crowed. "The one who defeated Asura?"

Soul nodded coolly, flashing me a wide sharp grin.

"Wow, cool," the kids breathed in unison.

"Were you there when it happened?" Crimson asked. Soul nodded.

"I was knocked out, though," he admitted. "Only because I stood in front of her to take a blow that would have killed her."

I ran my hand through my strawberry hair, getting irritated by his bragging.

"You're cooler than Red, Soul!" AJ exclaimed. My fists clenched.

That's it. "So," I interrupted loudly, stopping Soul from whatever boast was coming out of his mouth next. "When are you guys getting your partners?"

"Mifune said not till next year," Ashen said sadly.

James snorted. "I'm getting mine next month."

"You can't," AJ contravened. "Mifune said we have to wait -"

"Shut the hell up Archie, no one's gonna want to be your partner anyway," James snapped.

AJ's face fell. "You take that back, James Hearthrow."

James laughed cruelly. "Never. You know I'm right, you can't deny it. You're just being a prick because you know that when the time for partner-choosing rolls around, you'll be stuck all by yourself."

AJ's fists clenched and he shut his eyes tight. "You're wrong," he said quietly.

"James," I said quickly, "I think you should -"

James paid no mind to me. "I'm right," he spat at AJ. "I'm always right! The sooner you come to terms with that, the less pain you'll be faced with."

Desperately, I looked to Soul for help, but he seemed to be at as much of a loss as me.

"YOU'RE WRONG!" AJ screeched suddenly. Both mine and Soul's attention snapped back to AJ, and to our horror we watched the scene unfold. AJ seemed to light up with anger as his whole body glowed and his bright green hair stood on end. His black eyes were now much larger - in fact the black had spread, now not just his eyeballs were black, but the whole eye as well. They looked like two pitch black stones in his eye sockets - but of course they were glowing too, along with the rest of his body. He screamed and lurched forward towards James and there was a blinding flash of light in which Soul and I both had to cover our eyes or else be blinded. When the light finally faded we recovered ourselves and looked around to see the three other children huddled in the corner, as far away from the action as possible.

Then we looked down to see AJ sitting on the floor, huddled in a position with his knees up to his face. He was still glowing but his black eyes had shrunk back to their regular size. His hair was still a bit more all-over-the-place than usual. Then on the floor a few feet away, lie James. He was sprawled out in an awkward position and I nearly had a heart attack until I saw his chest rise and fall, realizing he was still breathing. Relieved I dropped to my knees next to him.

"What did you do to him?" I asked AJ breathlessly, taking James's head and carefully putting it in my lap. His breathing was ragged and shallow.

AJ shrugged. His eyes were wide and frightened.

"AJ," I said louder, firmer, "What did you do?"

Soul placed his hand on my shoulder. I relaxed a bit, burying my head in my hands.

"I don't think he knew he could do that," Soul murmured so only I could hear.

"No, of course not," I replied, sighing. I looked back down towards James. I saw his eyes move beneath his closed eyelids. Gently, I pulled him off my lap and propped him up against the wall.

"You guys can go," I said softly to the other children. "You're dismissed."

They quickly filed out. "I-I'm sorry," AJ choked out, before rubbing his eyes and scurrying away.

I turned to Soul. "Do you think we should take him to Stein?"

Soul shook his head. "He seems fine to me."

Puzzled, I turned back around to see James staring at me, a scowl written on his face. "What the hell happened?" he asked crossly.

"Uh, AJ -" I started, but he cut me off.

"AJ's a basket case," he grunted, standing up. He shot me one last threatening look before turning away and heading towards the door. "Keep him away from me."