Episode 3: Parting Ways
"Okay," Professor Stein was saddened, "since the school prohibited me from continuing with my dissections class, we'll just have to make due with these books," he wheels in a cart full of books. They were all about dissection and the anatomy of mammals, birds, and reptilians.
They were two hours into their class when the door opened. Dressed in an obvious witch's outfit and followed by a black cat, Blair came in and surprised everyone. Stein cranked up the giant screw on his head, "hmmm, it looks like we've got more latecomers."
"Please take a seat over there," he pointed over to an empty seat.
"Professor!" four students reacted. Due to the new school year, they were rearranged. Maka and Soul protested since they were seated behind the empty seat. Black Star and Tsubaki objected since they were in front of the empty seat. Kid was shocked, but didn't utter a word even though Blair was going to be seated right next to him. Liz was too surprised to speak, while Patti simply laughed. Most probably, she realized the irony of it all.
"Perfect," Blair smiled.
Stein notices the black cat, "Um, normally, we don't allow animals in here. Not unless they're for dissection purposes," he grinned, quite wickedly. The cat was frightened, but before she could say anything, her Okami picked her up and apologized to Stein.
"I'm sorry, sir. But I can't leave my cat at home. She gets lonely, you see, and I wouldn't want that to happen," she bowed. "Act normal," she whispered to Blair. This was relatively easy to do, given that her Okami was wearing her hat and outfit. And that she looked like any other normal black cat now. Stein tightened the bolt on his head as he looked at the cat. He knew that Blair had concealed her soul with Soul Protect, however what about the cat? Was she another witch as well? Soul Perception yielded nothing. Nevertheless, he still kept an observant eye on them.
"Okay then, you may take your seat," he began distributing the books.
Blair proceeded to her seat. "Whoa, what happened to you guys?" she asked, seeing as how Maka and Black Star were both red all over. The reaction was nothing but angry stares.
"Maka," Soul whispered.
"I know. What's that cat doing here?" Living with her a number of months, it was only normal that they recognized their former feline occupant.
Meanwhile, at the front, Black Star kept turning his head to the back. Even though Tsubaki advised against it, he couldn't help feel that something was about to happen behind him. Unfortunately for him, he felt wrong!
"Is there something wrong with your neck?" Stein was suddenly face-to-face with him.
"Crap…" were Black Star's words before he found himself standing before the entire class in his underwear. The sunburns were apparent on his face and arms. For reasons known only to himself, Stein switched from Taxonomy to Human Anatomy.
"To help you further with your combat abilities, I would like to teach all of you several points that are susceptible to cutting and blunt attacks," he said and pulled out a black marker.
"I don't think I like where this is going," Black Star was getting nervous.
"Let's start with the basics," he placed a large X on Black Star's cheeks. The result was pain! As a typical human defense mechanism, the "Great naked One" quickly cupped his cheeks to protect them. The result was even more pain!
Meanwhile, as their classmate was being tortured before them, the students focused on their newest addition. The fact that she wore a witch's outfit to school showed her to be bold, reckless, or stupid. Any of the younger, trigger-happy students, would've mistaken her for a witch and attacked. Of course, unbeknownst to them, that would have been futile if not fatal. Be that as it may, the majority of the males were impressed. Soul would occasionally hear some of the guys speaking of how they'd be happy to meet a witch like that any day.
"Idiots," he thought. Yet, some of those guys included veteran fighters like, Kilik, Ox, Harvar, and Hiro. Although, how Hiro got into that class was a mystery.
"Man, this is getting dangerous," Liz thought. She was most worried since Kid and Patti were seated closest to the enemy and still they managed to act as if nothing was wrong. Patti was busy cracking the mysteries of science and the universe while Kid was reading a book.
"Wait a minute!" the book was about chiropterans or better known as bats. "Ha! That's Kid for you, always reading up before taking on something." Liz was finally able to put her fears to rest.
In the meantime, Blair de Valesti or better known as Blair the witch wrote diligently on her notebook, while her cat slept soundly on her lap. Blair listened and recorded each and every word spoken by the people around her. With their souls sending out wavelengths at different frequencies, she was able to get a good idea of what their souls were like. It appears that it wasn't only Kid who was doing his researching.
At a quarter past eleven, Stein decided to dismiss the class early. However, he made all the latecomers stay for a little while. These were Maka, Soul, Blair, Death the Kid, Liz, Patti, Tsubaki, and Black Star who put his clothes back on.
"It seems to me that there are some lingering feelings between you guys," Stein spoke, eyeing them from behind his desk.
"I'm sorry Stein-sensei, but we can never accept someone who used kidnapping and trickery to get into Shibusen. She's planning something, I know it," Maka tightened her fists as she thought of this.
"Maka!" Stein raised his voice a little, "I think someone else needs your attention. I didn't see Crona anywhere, did you?" The mere mention of Crona snapped Maka out of her furious state.
"C-Crona?" she could hardly say that word. For the past few days, she was so concentrated on Blair that she neglected her best friend. The last time they talked was only at the infirmary. After that, it was like she disappeared. This was most likely because she forgot about her! And a thing like that can be pretty devastating to someone who has been treated like dirt for most of their lives. She was probably sulking in a dark corner somewhere.
"I-I have to find her!" she blurted out upon realizing. Stein gestured her to the door. It was his permission, so she darted out of the room.
"Hey wait-" The door slammed close before Soul could say anything else. He sighed, "It's so like that idiot to go rushing into things." It couldn't be helped. As her weapon, he had to tag along. He chased after Maka even without the professor's permission.
In any case, the focus shifted back to those who were left behind. Stein gave out a heavy sigh. He reclined back to the comfort of his chair. Lighting a stick of his favorite brand, he blew a cloud of smoke into the air. When did things get so out of hand? He closed his eyes to think. When Asura was defeated, he thought that life would get a little easier. Why, he even considered a little vacation time in Hokkaido or at least in the Bahamas. Maybe he would've asked Marie to join him. It would have been nice. Sadly, he was wrong. Now, with the knowledge that the witches were plotting a major comeback, the lines of worry on his face grew ever deeper. It seems that it'll be quite some time before that dream would turn into reality.
"Professor Stein?" Tsubaki called out, meekly. The professor seemed out of it. He didn't reply and he appeared to be asleep. So they assumed it was okay to leave.
"Where do you think you're going?" his voice thundered across the room.
"Oh come on! Do you expect us to just sit here?" Black Star complained.
"Yes. But if you're getting bored, why don't you have a test battle with the witch?"
"Are you serious?"
"Do I look like I'm joking?"
"Alright!" Black Star was beside himself. He couldn't wish for a better opportunity. Tsubaki knew full well how this was going to end. She looked at Blair, who didn't appear to be affected at all.
"Did you hear that?" purred her cat.
"Yeah, let's go for a walk, shall we?" she got up, stretched her arms a bit, and led the way to the combat zone. Blair the cat, Black Star, Tsubaki, and Stein followed closely. Only Kid and his partners were left behind.
"Hey, Kid. Aren't we going with them?" asked Liz, seeing as how Kid was still reading.
"Let's go watch!" cheered Patti. Kid set down the book and said, "You go on ahead, I'm just going to check something out." It looks like the great detective got a lead. The Thompson Sisters could do nothing about it if not to wish him luck.
At a quarter before noon, a showdown was about to take place. Right in front of the school, Black Star "the Boy who Surpassed God" will be facing the newcomer, Blair de Valesti in a test battle organized and witness by Professor Franken Stein.
Two floors below, Maka and Soul traveled through the network of tunnels within Shibusen. Both were rushing towards the sleeping quarters of the ever enigmatic Crona.
Elsewhere, Kid soars across the blue cerulean skies on his skateboard and heads towards an unknown destination.
Author's Notes: To my beloved readers, I am going to try something new. You'll have to wait a little longer with each chapter. But my next post will be a tri-saga. Branching out from this chapter will be three separate chapters that will feature: "Dark Path of the Stars" with Black Star, and Tsubaki; "Weapons of Fate" with Soul, Maka, and Crona; and "Twilight of the Gods" with Liz, Patti, and Death the Kid. As always, thank you all for your patronage. Please don't forget to tell your friends about Soul Eater Chronicles. Thanks again!