Platonic Stein x Justin Law, Stein x Spirit if you squint. Hints at a father/son relationship between Stein and Justin.

I do not own Soul Eater.

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A certain blond priest was leaning over the stone railing that overlooked the entrance to the DWMA, knuckles white from how hard he gripped the stone he leaned against. His sky blue eyes were trained down below him, where the final bell had released the students and the young meisters and weapons had set off for wherever Friday afternoon led them. If he looked closely enough, he could even see Maka Albarn and her scythe weapon, accompanied by her group of friends. Death the Kid walked next to her, although his focus seemed to be more on Soul. Not all that surprising; Lord Death had dropped the hint that they were dating, blunt enough for him to know what was going on.

Justin sighed, and turned away from the ledge, just in time to see Stein coming towards him on his now infamous chair. The doctor slowed down and smiled at the young death scythe, a cigarette dangling precariously from his slack mouth. The priest barely managed to return the smile. Even now, he struggled to find a reason to genuinely show happiness, or even fake a smile. Sure, he found himself smirking when fighting with a worthy opponent, or snickering at a certain redhead's antics, but true emotions were somewhat out of reach...

A scarred hand waving in front of his face grabbed his attention out of his thoughts, and glanced down - no, up - into the concerned face of Franken Stein. He was frowning down at the young priest, eyes hidden by his thick glasses.

"Trapped in your mind again, Justin?" The mad doctor moved past him to lean over the ledge, though presumably he was still looking at the younger man. Justin had looked away to pull his earphones out of his ears.

"Not as much as you are Dr Stein." He bit his bottom lip, practically tasting the disrespectful tone he'd used. Before he'd come to the DWMA, being disrespectful got him beaten and bruised, but here, right now, Stein only laughed, once a sinister sound, now one that reassured Justin that he was safe from the doctor's wrath.

"That's unfortunately true. Something on your mind?" Justin turned his gaze towards the ground, at his scuffed black boots, reluctant to admit that even he - as holy as he thought himself - was feeling the pressure of the Madness the Kishin Asura emitted. If anyone would understand, it would be Stein.

"I'm...I'm just worried about the Kishin."

"You're feeling it too."

Justin tensed, hunching his shoulders and holding his breath; the doctor was always far too observant of the priest's emotions. Probably because of how much time he'd spent with him before he became one of Lord Death's weapons. He could still remember that day he first walked up the steps, only to be stopped by a scarred hand, belonging to a man with a screw in his head and thick glasses hiding his dull eyes from view.

"Aren't you a little young to be here?" Nine (days away from being ten) year old Justin turned his distraught gaze up to the tall man kneeling in front of him, feeling fear squeeze at his insides.

"No. I'm gonna be a student here." His young voice answered, and he was proud that it didn't falter at all, and he sounded confident, even if he really wasn't. The man chuckled, and grinned a toothy, scary grin down at the young boy. Who was, strangely enough, dressed in all black, and wore a cross necklace around his thin neck. He'd tossed his earphones over his shoulder before he started the trek up the stairs, but now he wished he hadn't.

The next words the man spoke scared him, and he wished he hadn't heard the way his voice got giddy and excited.

"You'll be an interesting experiment. I can't wait to see what you do." The man leaned down, and Justin scrunched up his nose in disgust at the smell of smoke on the man's breath.

"Hey! Stein!" Both turned, a redhead barreling towards them. "Stein" smiled and lifted a hand in greeting to the other man.

"Spirit, look what I found. He wants to be a student." Justin cringed, taking hold of his cross and taking a deep breath, mantra going through his head.

Ignore everyone, keep your head down, don't draw attention to yourself.

"I will be a student here. I will not accept no as an answer." Both the men seemed surprised by his declaration, and the redhead chuckled. It was a warm, friendly sound, one that pulled him towards the man.

"Come on then, we'll take you to see Lord Death. I think he knew you were coming. I'm Spirit Albarn, this is Franken Stein."

"I...I'm Justin Law. I'm a guillotine."

Justin shook himself out of his thoughts, and turned to look down at the last groups of students leaving.

"I can't let it effect me. Weapons here...they've told me they look up to me. I can't let them down. I can not, will not, be the disappointment my father was." Stein shifted, put an arm around the priest's shoulders. For a long moment, he didn't say anything. Then, he snuffed out his cigarette and leaned over to kiss the younger man on the forehead, as he had done when the guillotine wasn't yet a death scythe.

"You'll never be like him. Your soul is a pure one; Spirit and I made sure you were brought like that. Just don't forget your mantra, and don't forget the family you have here. And...you know where to find me if you ever want to talk. I have papers to grade, why don't you go home and get some sleep?"

Justin watched him leave, smiling despite himself. His mantra ran through his mind, and he relaxed.

Stand tall, don't be pushed back, and never let the enemy get a grip on your mind.