"Professor! You have to see this! It's simply astonishing!" Chiyumi's voice called from across the lab.
"What is it, Chimi?" Stein said, smirking.
"Don't call me that..." She mumbled.
"Well, what is it?" He said, walking over.
"Look here. This is the diagram that the machine produced of your soul's wavelength, measured at varying times of the day over the last three days. Your soul's wavelength's power increased consistently over that time. It means that it's working!" She gave him a sadistic smile.
"Heh. So it is. And remarkably faster than we had initially anticipated. Your up next, by the way. If it's working so well on me, the effects should greatly improve your condition." Her smile shattered.
"Still afraid? There's no need for that. I thought you learned years ago to trust me." Another of Stein's sincere smiles. "You know I won't hurt you."
"Every soul is different, Professor. What if something goes wrong? Your soul is much stronger and more stable than mine is, even now." There was fear glinting in her eyes now.
"Nothing will go wrong." Stein wrapped his arms around her, giving her a tight hug. "I promise."
Stein gave Chiyumi's hand a quick squeeze as he slid the needle into her vein. Within seconds, she was unconscious, and Stein was free to begin the work necessary to strengthen her failing soul.
"A sound soul dwells within a sound mind and a sound body." Professor Stein sighed. "Well, her mind is sound, but even eight years after the incident with her sister, her body still isn't."
Stein looked down at the pale, fragile looking woman on the operating table, following each of the scars on her body with his eyes. "This should have to be the last one, Chiyumi..."
It was hard going work. Stein had to make sure that not only did his scalpel not slip, but also that the resonance between their souls didn't. One slip, and everything would be ruined. Fortunately, Stein was highly skilled at this, and it wasn't his first time operating on her. A little over an hour later, Stein was stitching the cut back up, the medication resting directly below her celiac plexus.
Cleaning up the mess around and on her, Stein gently picked the still unconscious Chiyumi up and, giving her yet another sincere smile, carried her to the room she had claimed in his home so many years prior.
Eight years prior
"Professor Stein?" Stein looked up as he heard Chiyumi's small voice speak up.
"Yes?"
"Could I ask a favor of you?" She looked down and to the left and blushed.
"What is it?"
"Well... I've talked with some of the other meister and weapon pairs. Most of them live with their partner. They say it helps with their soul resonances. And... we're both living alone right now..." Her blush turned a darker red.
Stein blinked. "Are you sure this is something you would want, Chiyumi. You are a student here yet and I am still a teacher. It could cause some talk."
"I know that. It's just... I feel safe there... It... It feels like home."
Stein turned the screw in his til he felt the resound clank. "If it is that important to you, then it's fine, Chiyumi."
Tears welled up in her eyes, and she bobbed a half bow. "Thank you so much!"
"Get your stuff and I'll help you move later tonight."
As she left, Stein shook his head. 'Why are you doing this, Stein? She's not Marie. Neither are you. It'd be best if you just left her alone.'
Then he surprised himself by responding, 'Because she's important to me.' He began turning the screw again.
Helping her move was easier than Stein had anticipated. She had one suitcase of clothing and two boxes of personal items, most of which weren't very personal, plates, bowls and that sort of thing.
Arriving at his home, he showed her upstairs and told her she could have her pick of either of the two empty storage rooms he had, never dreaming that something would draw her to Marie's old room. But something did, and she looked at him with an expression on her face that he has never been able to decipher and told him that she wanted to stay there. He couldn't say no.
Present Day
Chiyumi woke with a start, a new ache in her lower abdomen. Moving to sit up, she felt a hand on her shoulder, stopping her.
"Let's not tear these stitches like you did the last ones, eh?" Stein said, his eyes still closed.
"Have you been sitting there the whole time?" She asked, the disbelief evident in her voice. "I know full well how long it takes me to wake from the anesthetic. It's been what, an hour or so for the surgery and then me out for the next five?"
"Four and a half this time. Your soul was vibrating though, you looked as if you were having a bad dream."
She blinked. "I was."
"Well?"
"You know, you sound an awful lot like my father when you do that. He would always be there when I had a particularly bad dream, calming me down and asking what it was about." She said laughing.
He opened his eyes and looked at her. 'And you're an awful lot like the daughter I never got to have... with... Marie...' His pained expression must have showed more than he expected.
"I'm sorry." She said quickly, turning her face away from him.
He didn't know what else to say, and the next few minutes passed in awkward silence before Chiyumi tried once again to sit up.
"What do you think you're doing? You'll pull the stitches out again." Stein said, his hand still resting on her shoulder, pushing her back down on the bed.
"Two things. I have to pee, and I'm hungry." She looked up at him. "I don't think you want to have to change the sheets because of the first. And I still don't believe you know how to cook anything but Ramen."
Standing, Stein bent over the bed, carefully picking her up and started to carry her over to the bathroom.
"Oh, come on now! I'm a grown woman, that isn't called for! I can walk."
"Two weeks of paperwork for the DWMA says that if I set you down now, Chiyumi, you'd fall before you took 5 steps and reopen at least two of the stitches." He said, pausing.
"You're on."
Stein placed her feet on the ground and smiled as she took only 2 steps before her knees buckled. He caught her before she fell, a sadistic grin plastered across his face.
"I told you." He said as he picked her back up.
"Joke's on you. You said '... and reopen at least two of the stitches.' None of them reopened. Enjoy your paperwork."
Stein laughed.
Even now, eight years after Chiyumi had asked to move into his home, and nine years after Marie had died, Professor Stein still missed Marie. He knew the name of the emotion he was feeling, "Love."
He also knew that he loved Chiyumi, though not in the same way as he knew he had loved Marie. And this was information that had take a while to process. Looking at her across the table as she slowly ate the ramen he had prepared he mentally sighed, wondering if Lord Death had seen this when he asked Stein to partner with the unstable child.
Eight years prior
"Stein, I want you to partner with the new girl, Tsukana Chiyumi. She needs someone to help train her that can withstand her abilities."
"Is that all, Lord Death?" Stein asked, exhaling a bout of smoke.
"No. Be wary around her, Stein. She's not as stable as she appears to be."
A sadistic smile spread across Stein's face and he moved to leave.
"Perhaps I'll dissect her then."
Present Day
Three days had passed since the operation, and Stein was eager to see the results for himself. He could already see the changes in her soul, and her skin tone was brightening up as well.
"Alright, lets get you hooked up."
Chiyumi smiled, laying down in her hospital gown as Stein fixed the pads to her chest so he could monitor her heart, then placed another set on her chakra points. Stein then turned both machines on and told Chiyumi to just relax. She nodded, and Stein smiled to himself to see that she fell asleep within minutes.
The results from the machines was very promising. It looked like, after eight long years, Stein had finally found a way to help his poor child.
A/N: Sorry for jumping around in time so much there, trying to build up how things came to be! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading and review if you want! Thanks! Also, Soul Eater and its character's aren't mine :(