"WHAT?" The screech was voiced by nearly everyone in the room. Stein just smiled and tightened his screw.

"Ain't nobody touching my Tsubaki, but ME!" Black Star crowed, as his partner blushed.

"What about the wavelengths?" Ox called out.

"No way in HELL!" Said someone else.

Stein listened for about a maximum of five minutes before holding up his hand. One by one, everyone shut up.

"Now, now" He said calmly. "No one ever said that it was permanent. Just one measly month. I think that you are all mature enough to handle it. And as for your wavelengths…. I have already thought of that. In fact, I have already decided your new partners, and they will be on the announcement board after lunch. Now, lets dissect this gorgeous specimen I found on the way to work today."

Needless to say, it wasn't like anyone could concentrate for the rest of the lesson.

Maka smirked. This was perfect! Maybe she wouldn't be getting rid of him for real, but this was the next best thing. Stein was a genius!

.:S.E-*-M.A:.

"Okay!" Stein said as he snapped his book shut, "before we switch partners, I want to explain the rules. Number one, you cannot live together. The one who owns the apartment or house can stay, and out of courtesy, the other must move in to their knew partner's home."

Stein ignored the murmuring.

"Number two, you cannot hang out with one another after school. It defeats the purpose if you see your partner every day. Number three, if you go out on missions, you can split the number of souls between the two of you, and if you get an odd number, the weapon gets it. Number four, no begging or complaining about the setup. If the two of you are not compatible on a normal conversational level, that is not my problem. Number five, if the pairing works out better than the one you had before, you can keep the arrangement."

"Tsubaki, you won't leave me, will you!" Black Star cried, clinging to her arm with tears in his eyes.

"Of course not!" The Camilla flower smiled.

Soul leaned back in his chair. He couldn't decide if he liked this arrangement or not. On one hand, it would get him away from Maka for a while, which would be nice. But he didn't know if he liked the thought of her holding some other weapon in her hands, especially if it was a guy. Oh damn, that brought on a whole nother list of problems. He defiantly didn't want another guy walking through his house, touching his things, eating his partner's cooking. He shook his head. Whatever, what will be will be.

Stein tightened his screw. "Are you all done talking now? Good. Now here are your arrangements. Oh, and Kid, you don't have to switch. There were plenty of weapons that could match your wavelength, but none were symmetrical and I didn't want to have to wheel you off to the infirmary.

The class laughed as Kid sighed. "Very funny" He said out loud, while doing a happy dance inside. He was spared from Asymmetry!

.:S.E-*-M.A:.

"Alright, so those are your new groups. I hope that you are happy with them, because you're stuck with them!"

Maka looked down at the small girl that she had been paired with, one who she had never noticed before. She looked shy, and was very small, with odd purple hair and green eyes.

"Hello!" The taller girl ventured, "What's your name?"

"L…l….l…. Lyssa" she stuttered.

"Lyssa! That's a pretty name! What kind of weapon are you?"

"A d-d-d-double b-bladed staff." Lyssa said with her seemingly characteristic stutter.

Maka nodded with a smile. That would be good, still the same concept as a scythe, but with two blades instead of one, and more equally balanced. If she made compensations in her fighting stances, this should work out just fine.

Meanwhile, Soul was getting used to his new partner.

"You're a guy," the brown-haired meister said tactfully (not).

"Yeah." Soul said, wondering if this guy was an idiot.

"I was hoping that you'd be some hot girl or something"

"Sorry to disappoint."

The meister scoffed. "I'm Jack"

"Soul"

"Wassup, Soul"

Wishing I could kill you where you stand, Soul thought, but instead said, "Nothing. So, I guess I'm staying at your place."

"On the couch"

"No shit."