"She's not going to go away Stein, she is in our class. Would it really be that bad to just talk to her?" Spirit sighed, nudging Stein in the side roughly.
"What do you mean? I do talk to her."
He gave him that look that said he knew Stein was lying, he never said a single word to Jennette Reins that wasn't class related. Spirit glanced down the hallway to where Jennette and her Weapon partner Vincent stood talking to each other. For a moment Stein watched his Weapon with a frown as Spirit pointed in their direction.
"Fine then, go talk to her right now," he demanded glancing back at his Meister.
"She's talking with her Weapon, it would be rude to interrupt their conversation."
"She wouldn't mind at all."
"And her partner?"
"If Vincent wanted her to be happy he wouldn't care either. Come one Stein! Just because you act like you don't have human emotions doesn't mean they don't exist. Jen is a really pretty girl and she likes you. What more could you want?"
The answer that immediately popped into Stein's head was discouraging. He knew that if he had said he wanted to be able to dissect her, Spirit would be angry with him. He was learning very quickly that he shouldn't share all his thoughts with his partner, or anyone else for that matter. The more he seemed to share the more worried people would get. Everyone was already spreading rumors about him around the Academy that he would one day end up being one of the Kishin eggs they hunted down. And it actually frightened him because he knew that it could be true. He wanted to do nothing more than to tear things apart and if he allowed himself to do what he wanted he would end up losing his soul.
"Fine," he demanded turning down the hall, noting how Spirit's jaw nearly hit the floor.
He half marched down the hallway toward Jennette and Vincent, his hands balled up into fists. He had a soul and he wasn't going to lose it, no matter what his true desires were. And if talking to a girl was going to help Spirit believe he wasn't inhuman then he was willing to try it. Jennette was smart, they were both ranked in the top five in their class. Why shouldn't he talk to her? The closer he came to them it was easy to see that she had taken notice of how close he'd gotten, her eyes no longer gazing up at her partner. She was glancing at him out of the corner of her vision until Vincent took notice that he was approaching and turned to stare at him openly. The tall boy didn't scare him, not many things did, but he hated the way he looked down on him. He'd seen first hand the way Vincent treated other boys in the Academy for getting too close to Jennette. He was amazed to find that he made no more to stop his advance, but when Jennette turned to gaze at him hopefully something in his chest tightened causing his feet to stop moving. The hopeful look in Jennette's eyes turned instantly to worry and he found himself ducking into the nearest classroom just to get away from her. Why did she have to look at him like that? He didn't know why but he couldn't tolerate it, Spirit be damned, he didn't need to talk to girls. Especially not to Jennette.
"Wait, you mean like…become a student again?" she breathed.
All he could do was nod at her, turning around to face his desk to busy himself with something other than her presence. At first it had been fun, toying with her. He couldn't believe that it had gone on for so long before she figured out that he knew who she was. She was amusing and now interesting. He hadn't been aware that she had a special wavelength back in their Academy days because he had purposely avoided anything to do with her. But the fact that Lord Death had asked her to try and help him confirmed that it existed, he could practically feel his hands trembling, eager to study her.
"At the very least you should start over with learning to harness your soul wavelength. We'll talk to Lord Death about it first thing in the morning," he offered, hoping that she would just leave on her own without forcing him to be rude. He just didn't know how much longer he could keep himself under control.
"I don't need to start over! I know how it's suppose to work, I just need practice," she demanded apparently offended.
Sifting through the notes on his desk wasn't enough to keep him from turning back to face her with a grin on his face, his hands clenching the fabric of his pants to keep them from shaking visibly.
"We'll talk to Lord Death about it in the morning, Doctor. For now you should get home before it get's too dark out. You don't want to be caught without a Weapon now do you?"
There was a slight undertone of irritation in his voice that he knew she would believe was directed at her when in reality, he was irritated with himself. Knowing that she didn't have any way to defend herself he was going to send her off into the city alone and just assume that she would be safe instead of trusting himself to see her home safely.
"Right. I understand. I'll see you tomorrow then," she said evenly.
He waved his hand at her quickly, turning back around to face his computer. It wouldn't be long now and he would be alone again, free of the temptation. He could hear the door groaning as she pushed it open, her soul hesitant.
"If you're not there tomorrow Professor, I will come look for you again," she demanded before she vanished into the night.
Stein let out a heavy sigh, turning to glance at his laboratory doors until her soul had completely vanished from his range. She was more safe alone out in the city than in the small confines of his lab with him and all his medical instruments. He wished that fact would make him sick, but instead it made him wish he hadn't let her leave. The moment Spirit had left them alone he had the perfect opportunity to sedate her, but he hadn't.
"She is persistent, isn't she Stein? I'm sorry to say that I am a little disappointed in you…"
He didn't even turn to regard the voice, knowing that it really didn't exist. He had killed the Witch with his own hands, watched her body dissipate into a pool of blood under his feet while he laughed maniacally at his victory turned defeat. The Witch Medusa was only in his head now, amplified by the Kishin's madness to the point of actual hallucination. It wouldn't have bothered him so much knowing that she wasn't real, if the things she said hadn't made sense to him in a twisted sort of way. She had said that she valued him, wished for him to join her and he had respectfully declined.
"She doesn't concern you," he muttered pulling his glasses off.
"Doesn't concern me? She is my major concern at this point in time. You other friends, as they would call themselves, with their pathetic attempts to keep you spiraling into this madness were amusing. But this woman, that wavelength of hers could prove to be problematic. And you had the perfect chance to cut her open and you let her go. That concerns me very much."
He could practically feel the warmth of her hands resting on his shoulders, pulling him back in his chair against her chest. Her arms draped around his neck, those black painted nails adorned with yellow arrows tugging at his coat. He could see her golden hair framing her face as she laid her head on his shoulder.
"You are not suited for this life Stein. You know that as well as I do and it is only a matter of time before you can no longer deny it. If you keep ignoring the truth of the matter, you will end up hurting the people you believe you care for. I would personally love to see that, but you know that you could avoid it. All you have to do is walk away…"
"I will not be that man. I will not lose my soul," he groaned pulling himself forward to lay his head down on the cold desk.
"Say whatever you like, you will come to me… I just wonder if you will kill that woman before you do. Wouldn't that be fun Stein?"
"So what you're saying is that you want her to re-enroll in classes Stein?" Lord Death asked, tilting his head to the side to stare at him.
"Yes. She has been out of touch with her Meister abilities for so long that I'm afraid it has rendered her soul wavelength completely useless. It will be a miracle if she can manage to get it working again before it's too late."
He could hear the hitch in Jennette's breathing beside him, knowing that she felt guilty for not being able to help him. The part of him that wanted to reassure her made him feel sick to his stomach. He was starting to hate any positive interactions with the people that surrounded him, partly fearful of what Medusa had said. That he would end up hurting them if he insisted on ignoring the fact that there was no saving him from the madness.
"I suppose that it would be acceptable for her to sit in on your classes and participate in any assignments you feel may help her to improve the function of her soul wavelength. Assuming that you agree of course Jennette?" Lord Death mused tucking his large hand under his mask as if her were grasping his chin.
"Of course Lord Death, anything that will help I am more than willing to do. I was naive to think that I could ignore my abilities for so long and expect them to work properly," she demanded, more regret laced in her voice that made him even more irritated.
"It's settled then. She can sit in on your classes and balance the appointments she has set up with the students. How many are you currently seeing consistently?"
"Crona is by far the most consistent. I believe that he needs our constant meetings as a source of reassurance. I haven't made any progress with him as of yet, but he does seem eager to attend our sessions. Then there is Evan, he was consistent for the first few days but I saw him just this morning and he seems to be doing better."
"Crona is the most important then. Will you be able to attend classes and take care of him?"
"Yes I believe that I can."
"Very well then, I have no problems with it. Oh and Stein, the next time you decide to take personal days I would very much appreciate it if you would inform me first."
"Of course Lord Death, I apologize," Stein sighed, knowing that he only wanted to be informed so that he could have someone keep an eye on him during his absence.
While he was inside the Academy there were several teachers that could keep tabs on him at any given point in the day, but while he was alone in his lab there was no one to monitor his condition. Now Jennette would be with him throughout most of the day to work on her soul wavelength so that he was never really alone. He wasn't exactly happy about the idea, but as long as she wasn't following him home he would be able to keep his mind from wandering back to dissecting her. Once Lord Death had dismissed them Jennette followed him closely out of the Death Room into the crowded hallways. Students were amassing before classes began, quite a few of them watching as she and Stein walked past as if it were the strangest sight they had ever seen.
"I'll set up my sessions with Crona over lunch so that I can be there for your classes. Maybe the repetition will jog something in my brain," she groaned hanging her head.
"You're going to have to take some remedial lessons as well. We can work after classes are dismissed with some of the other students who need extra attention to practice using your soul wavelength."
He couldn't stop his voice from sounding tired. He hadn't really slept very much the night before, trying to calm himself down was taking more out of him than he anticipated it would. At this rate he was going to turn into a full blown insomniac and then he would be useless as a teacher with his patience worn so thin from lack of sleep. He could just see Black*Star setting off a chain reaction of potentially fatal arguments in the middle of class.
"I'm sorry that you have to do this. I can study on my own Stein, I don't need you to supervise my practice's. Spirit is always here, I can borrow him so that you can focus on your students," Jennette offered pulling him away from thoughts of dissecting his loud mouthed, attention hogging student.
"Who ever said that I was supervising you because you needed me to? I simply have sessions set up with certain students and you might as well tag along for your own benefit. I trust that you'll have your own practice sessions while you're on your own. Besides, you're suppose to keep an eye on me aren't you?"
He smiled down at her, noticing how she seemed to perk up. If she thought that she was being a burden to him it would only be counterproductive. For a person that spent most of her time encouraging others, she needed a fair amount of encouragement for herself. But then again that was most likely his fault. He'd spent a great deal of time ignoring her, probably adding to her self confidence issues when it came to interacting with him. She seemed somewhat relieved that he was smiling at her, smirking back up at him as they weaved through the sea of students. In that small instant he forgot about the nagging whispers radiating through his mind, happy to see her without a worried expression. He had to give Spirit one small bit of credit, Jennette was an attractive woman.
"She would be even more attractive if you could see her from the inside out. You know you want to dissect her Stein, that's the only attraction you feel toward her…"
And just like that the Witches nagging voice ruined his moment of peace, causing him to speed up his pace down that hall leaving Jennette behind as she was stopped by a student in the hallway. He could hear her call out to him but he ignored her, ducking into his classroom to try and compose himself before he had to teach. It was going to be a long day indeed…that awful woman smiling at him from his desk, pressing the limits of his control. He could only hope that he could get Jennette's soul wavelength to work before it was too late to save him.
