Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater, its characters, or its concepts!

Chapter 7: Early Resignation

Black Star stood firmly in front of the Shibusen training ground. The vast field contained a great number of training devices. The students scattered in front of him were still in their white dingy gis with belts of various colors wrapped around their waist indicating their levels of achievement. Sweat dripped down their faces after two hours of training, Black Star style. Many of the other students had already left for the day.

Shortly, Kid approached the physical fitness instructor. "I see things are going well so far!" Kid was always pleased with how Black Star trained his students, with a hint of discipline. They needed these elements since nothing seemed to disturb the peace to push them otherwise. "Sorry to interrupt you, but I need to speak to you for a moment." The students ahead paused, curious to know what he had to say

"Up and at em', guys! Don't you stop now just because he's here!" Black Star shouted, pointing a thumb Kidd's way.

The Shinigami grinned sheepishly. Something about the way he'd said it… would the ninja ever get over his own ego? Now that the students had resumed their exercises and sparring, the two men turned to face each other. "Black Star," Kidd began with a disappointed sigh. "You're going to be short one student now. For some unexplained reason, we've received a resignation notice from Sloan."

"What? Sloan's left DWMA?" Kidd nodded to his question. "That idiot… he was my number one student! Why would he just up and leave like that?"

"Honestly, I don't know. The notice seems pretty legit from what I can tell, but I'm going to try to look into it. There really was no explanation. What's ironic is that he left immediately after facing a witch he wasn't noticeably prepared for."

Black Star huffed under his breath in wonder as he said the witch's name. "Liv… I don't think anyone expected her to pop up like that. I mean, yeah, we obviously solved that mystery of finding her now. But still, the boy was doing so well, top of this class in fact, despite his… rebellious ways."

"Mr. Star!" a student interrupted, panting from the tiring and repetitive cycles of single-handed push-ups. "What's going on? Are we free to go or somethin'?"

That greeting… the one the blue haired man hated! "It's master, mind you!' Mr.' makes it seem like I'm old, which I'm not…" The usual confident grin spread across his face. "Ahem… All you should know right now is that you are to continue training… If I see anyone slacking I'll take you on myself!" There was no way he was going to let them go home without any pain! No pain, no game was his theory.

The group of boys who'd stopped gasped in panic. Face Black Star?! Their instructor would pummel them to the ground! In a sudden burst of motivation, they all instantly went back to their drills and excused the men to finish their conversation. The sight made Kidd chuckle a little.

"I'll get back with you when I get an answer, 'Star. You may resume your class!" With a courteous bow, Kidd left the training field under the ninja's care again.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Inside the school halls, a group of students stood in a close circle among each other. "Did you hear anything about the other night?" The blonde's words struck a conversation that caught all her friends' attention. Her voice remained low, almost to a whisper, but audible enough for her friends nearby to hear.

"What are you talking about? I was at home all weekend, trying to study! You know I'm not good at this sort of test. Biology sucks!" her friend replied, sighing in disappointment of missing out on any action they could talk about. Curiosity filled her deep amber eyes hidden under her brunette bangs.

"You don't know? Remember that Sloan guy?"

"You're talking about that meister in the combat class? Supposedly he's ranked number one in there!" The third friend commented.

"Oh yeah, he's the one that declared to fight his crush! I don't get how that would attract anybody…. To get beat up?" The brunette gave a skeptical look, wondering how any such an action would win a woman's heart. After all, weren't guys supposed to be courteous, pulls chairs out, open doors, and give presents to their woman?

Chrona walked confidently through the school. She happily hummed a random tune, making it up as she went along, a slight strut in her stride. Finally, she reached her locker, and popped it open quickly, grabbing her text book that she would need for the first upcoming course. 'They thought I was a challenge before… just wait till they see me now!' Because, of course, who else would possibly know how to control time?

Her newest achievement certainly didn't change her attitude about voluntarily causing chaos. In fact, it was no surprise if it had only enhanced it. Some might wonder if it was even a mistake to allow her to become a death scythe. She stopped humming the gleeful tune, noticing the chatter going on around her as she stood near the gossiping girls. 'Wait, are they talking about… Sloan?'

The nearby blond continued her story as Chrona began to pay closer attention. "Well supposedly, he dropped out for no reason!" The grouped girls were shocked.

Sloan was the kind of boy who learned quickly enough to achieve over his instructors, having nearly out-grappled Black Star alone. (Of course, Black Star had more experience.) He was the kind of boy who wasn't afraid of anything and did what he wanted to without worrying about what others thought. He was the kind of boy that intimidated others by his loud personality.

"That's not what I heard. I heard he was kicked out! He's just trouble anyway, talented or not. It's no wonder he couldn't keep a partner!" The girls laughed as they walked off, moving their conversation to downsize another innocent student.

Chrona stood in shock. 'Dropped out? Kicked out? It can't be true… he's more stubborn than that, he wouldn't let himself get expelled… unless… no, that incident with Liv wasn't his fault!' Mina and Jade walked up behind her and stood for a moment. When they realized that she was in a deep consultation with herself, Mina proceeded to tap her on the shoulder.

"Uh, Chrona? Earth to Chrona!" Chrona jumped in surprise to the call. "Geez, you mean it's actually possible to scare you?" she continued, laughing and ringing around her short pink curly hair with her finger. Her green, almost mid-drift sleeveless shirt expressed her lack of enjoyment to wear clothes, as though it was equal to marrying a demon.

"Oh! Ah…. I guess so!" Chrona threw her hand behind her head, blushing in embarrassment. If she told anybody that Sloan was with her before his disappearance, then everybody might start blaming her. It was a relief to know that she wouldn't be stalked obsessively anymore, but still lurking in her mind was the wonder of where he'd disappeared to so quickly.

Jade saw what Mina had not. The two were polar opposites in personality, but Jade cared just as much for Chrona as she did for her own. Her white-haired friend was the one who often put excitement in life, set aside from Mina's escapades. "You're not yourself, Chrona. It's surprising that you're not out reading or enticing some trouble. What's up?"

The death scythe looked back at Jade. She shrugged the issue off her mind quickly. Besides it wasn't that important. This was Sloan she was talking about. "Oh, nothing… just can't decide what to read next!" Chrona gave a convincing smile, raising a book in her hand. 'Sloan… you're such a stubborn idiot! Who am I going to challenge now…'