Disclaimer: As always, I do not own Soul Eater! I only own up to the crazy ideas that wind up in my head and then down on paper. And all of the disturbing content from the previous chapters is still prevalent.

Chapter 7

Stein's POV

As I looked around Maka's room, I could not believe what I was seeing. Her room was a disaster. Her desk was cluttered with books and papers. The floor surrounding her desk also had accumulated superfluous amounts of crumpled up paper. Books had been knocked off of the shelves and stuffed animals were scattered across the room. A pile of dirty clothes was lying in the corner of the room. I walked forward and stepped on something. I looked down to see that it was a photo album. I took a step around it and took a deep breath. This was very unlike Maka. She was never messy or unorganized. By the looks of this room, something must have gone terribly wrong and I just hoped that I didn't find the young meister in the same condition or worse.

I twisted the screw in my head until I heard it click. I opened my eyes to see Maka sitting on the corner of her bed backed against the wall like a scared animal. I slowly walked over towards the bed trying to manage to not break anything in the process. I sat on the opposite side of the bed. I noticed little stains of blood on the sheets. I looked back up at Maka. She looked horrible. She was emaciated. Her face had sunk in a bit and you could slightly she her ribs protruding through her clothing. It was very obvious that she had lost quite a bit of weight. She looked pale and sweat was running down her forehead. Her breathing was erratic and she seemed to be shaking almost as if she was cold. She appeared to be very hyper-vigilant; watching my every move.

"Maka," I finally said in a soft, gently voice. I reached out to touch her hand, but she flinched away. "Maka, are you alright?" I asked already knowing the answer. I moved a couple inches closer and she just backed deeper into the corner. There was fear in her eyes. She looked at me like I was going to attack her.

"Maka, I am not going to hurt you. I am here to help." I reached out and touched her arm trying to comfort her. She pulled away and winced. I looked over at her to see that her dark blue long-sleeved shirt also had a small blood stain on it.

"I am here for you, Maka. Please talk to me. I want to help," I said. We sat there for a while. There was pure silence. She never moved once and remained alert. She took a deep breath. She buried her head in her hands. It was the first time she had looked away from me. She stayed that way for a few moments before she finally spoke.

"Please leave," she whispered. Her voice was hoarse.

"I'm sorry, Maka. I can't do that."

"Please, go away," she whispered again. You could hear the pain in every word she spoke.

"I can't leave you here alone. Do you want me to have Soul come in instead?" I asked. I figured that maybe if she wouldn't speak with me maybe she would with him.

She shook her head. "I don't want to see him!" she sobbed. Tears were now streaming down her face.

"You don't have to if you don't want to," I tried to reassure her. "But I cannot leave you in the state you are in."

"I just want to be alone," she said while turning her head to avert my eyes. Maka was so vulnerable right now. I had never seen her in this much emotional pain before; not even when Soul was injured. She look liked she was going to shatter into a million broken pieces any minute.

"I am not leaving. I will be here until you are ready to talk."

I sat there for what seemed like an eternity. And she never once said a thing. She needed medical treatment. I could tell just from looking at her. I could tell that her recovery from whatever it was that was distressing her was going to be a long one.

Maka's POV

"I am not leaving. I will be here until you are ready to talk," Stein said genuinely.

Was he really not going to leave? Why was he so concerned? There was no help for me. I am broken. I have broken into tiny little pieces and will never be able to be put back together. I don't even know why he would want to try. It would be a wasted effort.

I pulled my legs closer to my body and stared at Stein. He was examining me with his eyes. Every part of me was under his gaze; my face, arms, legs. I turned away. I felt shame for what I had done to myself, but I deserved it. I needed it.

I remained in that position for a while; never saying a word. I wondered if I should say something to him. Tell him everything. I just wanted this dark shroud that was covering me to go away. Maybe telling him would help. I just wanted to cry into his chest, have him hold me close, and tell me everything was going to be alright. But could I trust him? Would he hurt me too? He is a friend of my father's. He would think that I was lying. But he was also my teacher. Maybe he would believe me. I debated for a while with myself. I decided that maybe it was for the best to remain silent.

Stein's POV

It had been an hour and Maka still remained silent. I glanced at her clock. It read 6:07 p.m. I needed to speak with Lord Death about the situation at hand, but the last thing I wanted to do was drag Spirit into this. That would only make matters worse. I decided to make a call to Lord Death and leave Maka alone for a few moments.

"Maka, I have to leave for a few moments, but I will be back as soon as I can."

She looked at me like she wanted to say something.

"When I get back, I have to do a medical examination. And I am willing to listen if you decided that you want to talk."

I got up and walked out the door. As soon as Soul saw me walk out the door, he was on his feet and by my side.

"How is she, Professor?" he asked.

"Soul, it is worse than what either of us could have imagined," I said to the boy solemnly. "There is a lot of work that needs to be done. I need to call Lord Death. Please, excuse me for a moment."

I walked down the hallway and entered the bathroom. I fogged up the mirror using my breath and dialed Lord Death's number. After a few rings, he appeared in the mirror.

"Hey ya, Stein! What's up? What's up?" Lord Death happily said whilst holding up his large hand in the form of a peace sign.

"Lord Death, we seem to have a problem," I stated bluntly trying to convey my seriousness.

"What is it, Stein?" he asked now curiosity spilling into his voice.

"I need to speak to you about it in private. Spirit is not there is he?"

"No, Stein. He is not here. Please, continue," he said to me his face now looking very serious.

"It's Maka," I said. He raised an eyebrow at me urging me to continue. "Maka has encountered what seems to be something she cannot cope with. It has brought on some severe psychological issues. I have not been able to do a proper evaluation of her yet, but I can tell you that her condition is very serious."

"And what made you go and investigate her situation in the first place, Stein?"

"Soul approached me with his concerns. And it did seem odd that she never came and saw Nygus or myself for her illness. So I thought I should probe the situation."

"I see. Well, what do you suggest we do? I can't have one of my best meisters out of commission."

"First off, we cannot inform Spirit. He would make the situation worse. I would also like to avoid having anyone else know about her current state."

"Ok, I think that can be arranged. How are you going to go about treating Maka?"

"I am going to need to take some time off from teaching. From what I can tell already, Maka's road to recovery is going to be long. She is going to need someone with her constantly to make sure she doesn't hurt herself. She needs to reconstruct her entire being from the looks of it. It is going to be very laborious work. "

"Why do you want to take on this task Stein?"

"Because when I was broken she helped pull me out of the madness. She did not leave me like so many others had. I want to return the favor. I want to help her out of this dark time in her life. And right now she needs somebody she can trust and she doesn't want to even look at Soul."

"I understand. Is there anything else that you need from me?"

"Can I just make the request to move Maka to my laboratory? She will be away from others and the environment that she is currently in. It will also provide me with easier access to tools I may need in case of an emergency. I will also need someone to cover my classes in the meantime."

"Don't worry about your class. I will have Sid take over until you are able to return. And taking Maka to your lab is perfectly acceptable, but Stein I expect an update daily. And no funny business. "

"Yes, sir. And thank you."

"No need to thank me. Now go and help Maka," he said and disappeared from the mirror.

I walked out of the bathroom and headed back towards Maka's bedroom. Soul was there waiting for me. There was anticipation in his eyes.

I laid a hand on his shoulder and proceeded to tell him the plan. "I am taking Maka to my lab. She needs careful monitoring and medical attention."

"You don't need to take her. I can do it. Just tell me what to do," he said with determination to help Maka in any way he could.

"Lord Death has entrusted me to take care of her. We agreed that this is the best thing for her. Soul, you asked for my help and I hope you can trust my judgment."

"Alright, but is there any way I can help?"

"I just need you to keep quiet about her condition. Can you do that?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"Good. And if anyone asks just tell them that she is still sick and if they ask about me tell them that I went on a mission. Okay?"

He nodded his head. Now the challenge was really going to start. How was I going to get Maka to come with me? She is so stubborn and she doesn't even want to be around anyone right now. I took a deep breath, turned the knob to Maka's bedroom door and slowly reentered all whilst trying to formulate a plan. I had this feeling in the pit of my stomach that the few hours were not going to go well.

So what did you all think? Was it bad? Yeah, it was probably pretty bad! Not sure where I am going with this, I can tell you right now that this is not what I had in mind when I was writing this, but I am still content with it. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it and reviews would be much appreciated! ^_^