Silent Moments

"I know you're in there, now come out and show yourself."

His words had floated around the silent air as he stood there; his hands were inside of his pockets of his signature stitched lab coat. Stein had his cigarette placed upon his lips holding it lazily. The smell of the toxic smoke escaped his lips with a sigh.

Alice just stood motionless behind the door, not even daring to try and move a single muscle. A single sweat drop traveled down her forehead, the tension in the air was heavy and she wouldn't dare to break the silence that had welcomed her.

'If I say something he knows where I am. But if I don't he still knows where I am!' She screamed to herself hoping the Professor would kindly walk away.

His footsteps were heard, but this time it was getting closer until it stopped in front of the door she was currently hiding at. Alice placed both of her hands on her chest closing her eyes tightly. 'Please don't open the door, please don't open the door!'

Stein stood in front of the door as he used his abilities to try and indicate any souls behind the door. He reached out his hand as it began to twist his screw. The professor was lost in his thoughts as he continued his actions before a loud 'click' was heard.

'That's odd. I could have sworn there would have been a person behind this door. Oh well...' the professor thought to himself, he shrugged in deep thought before taking his leave down the hallway.

The sounds of the professors' footsteps had died down leaving a certain girl in utter relief. Alice gently opened the door and her head emerged out first looking around cautiously. With a deep sigh, she closed the door and proceeded to find her way towards the death room.

Finally! The large door was now in her view as she approached it. She grabbed the circular handle knowing the door gently. No response. Alice knocked on the door again; still, there was no response from the other side. A frown had formed on her features as her head hung down sadly.

'What now? I came all this way just to knock onto an empty room with a possibility that no one is even inside the room.', closing her eyes as she stood there in silence, 'So much for trying to make a difference and to be of use to my friends. I'll never be able to keep up with kid and the rest.'

A great deal of sadness flowed inside her as she tried to hold back the tears that wanted to spill out from her eyes. No, I mustn't' cry... I mustn't. Alice turned around and began to walk away from the door. While walking down the hallway, her head hung down sadly and her eyes remained closed shut, she suddenly bumped into someone which unfortunately made her trip forward.

Not bothering to open her eyes as she awaited the floor below her. To her confusion, she never reached down to welcome the floor. The person who she bumped into had caught her before she got the chance to hit the floor. Their arm was wrapped around her waist making sure their grip wasn't too tight. Although, when the stranger spoke she immediately knew who it is was. This made her cheeks heat up a deep red color.

"You should watch where you're going Alice, you're lucky that I caught you in time otherwise you would have fallen head first onto the floor by now." he nonchalantly said as he gently lifted her up.

Once she was on her feet, she stepped back leaving a great deal of space between them. Her eyes were glued to the floor not wanting to meet his gaze; the other reason was that her entire face was now crimson red. Stein tilted his head, a smile spread across his features as he leaned down near her forehead before speaking.

"Now, what's got you so timid today?", he said teasingly as he observed her shift, lowering her head more, avoiding any possible eye contact, "Come now, why don't we head out to the balcony of the academy. There is a lovely view of the city today." his posture was now once again aligned, though; he appeared to be slightly slouched forward.

Alice raised her head, now feeling the professors' presence was now at a good distance away from her. Her bangs allowed her to see through and caught a glimpse of the professor, who was standing there waiting for her to follow him. She fiddled with her fingers before nodding in response.

Both of them walked in silence down the corridors of the academy. Alice had her eyes glued to the floor, avoiding the professors' eyes. Stein was fully aware of her actions, though, he simply brushed it off as they now arrived at the balcony. The two of them approached the enclosed cement wall and stood there in silence as the wind blew over them.

The view from the balcony was absolutely stunning. The sun had a wide smile, laughing above the sapphire sky. A smile spread across the girls' features as she stared off into the city below her. The professor had been watching her; luckily, she didn't feel uncomfortable at the moment. This pleased him.

He took out his cigarette, blowing the toxic gray cloud from his mouth as it formed a death skull, "Beautiful, isn't?", his sudden remark caught her off guard as she now stared at him. Alice's gaze softens and nodded in response.

Stein looked down at her; the shine from his glasses disappeared allowing her to see his eyes. Her cheeks turned pink before she broke eye contact with her professor. This made him curious as he raised his left brow.

"Is there something wrong?" he asked lazily seeing her tense.

'Waa... What do I say!?', she turned her head around facing the professor with a nervous smile upon her lips, a small drop of sweat appeared on her cheek.

This made him even more suspicious. She had to think of something fast before he can ask any more unnecessary questions. Aha! I got it! Alice motioned with both of her hands for him to give her a moment. Stein just watched with a slight of amusement at the sight of her fiddling around with her small backpack. She took out a notebook along with a pen as she began to write. Stein resisted the urge to peek not wanting to seem too nosey.

Once she was done scribbling down her words, Alice revealed the notebook to him: 'Professor, do you know about Lord Deaths whereabouts?'

Stein blinked, he glanced at his student who was now staring at him intently, "Umm..." unsure of what to say. He placed the cigarette stick in between his teeth while he rubbed the back of his neck, "To be honest with you, I haven't had the slightest clue on where he is."

Her mouth gaped open slightly; her features sadden before nodding in response. The professor watched as she gathered her belongings and placed them inside her backpack.

Stein gently placed his hand on her shoulder, which made her flinch as her gaze landed on her professor who was awfully close to her. Their faces were only a few inches apart. Alice's face became a hot mess and she was certain that the professor was not trying to flirt with her in any way. He's a sadistic scientist; after all, love was irrelevant for him. By now her professor is fully aware of her reddened face if it were possible to be redder; her face would be as red as a tomato and an apple combined.

"Since Lord Death is nowhere to be found." he slurred his words playfully, the smell of nicotine invaded her nose as she tried her best not to make an unpleasant expression.

"Alice, will you-", Stein was interrupted by a certain redhead as he turned his head around. It was Spirit.

"WHAT IN THE WORLD IS GOING HERE?!" Spirit shouted pointing his finger at Stein.

"Oh, hello there Spirit." he removed his hand from her shoulder as he now stood up straight, "It's a nice day out here isn't?"

"DON'T PLAY DUMB WITH ME STEIN!", the redhead practically ran over to the nonchalant professor, grabbing him by the collar of his lab coat and swinging him back and forth," WHAT WERE YOU DOING BEING SO ODDLY CLOSE TO A STUDENT OF YOURS?!"

Alice stood there. Watching in complete horror as her professor was now being swayed all over the place by Death Scythe.

"Now, now, Spirit I wasn't planning on dissecting her if that's what you're implying." Stein raised both of his hand in defense, "Oh yeah?! How do I know she isn't one of your targets to be mutilated by your twisted tendencies?" Spirit raised his brow suspiciously.

Stein laughed half-heartedly before speaking, "Unless you would be willing to let me experiment with you like old times now.", he smiled sadistically which caused Death Scythe to scream in terror before being in a fetal position on the floor in a puddle of his tears.

Alice was dumbfounded by the scene before her. She felt terrible for him, although, it was funny seeing him freak out like a child. Spirit whined for a moment before regaining his composure, his gaze landed on Alice who was staring at him. He blinked a few times before his eyes, literally, changed into large pink hearts.

In a flash, he was in front of her. He kneeled down, grabbing onto her right hand, "Oh my dear Alice. It's so wonderful to see you again my love!"

A giant sweatdrop appeared on her head as she stared at Spirit awkwardly. He was clearly love-struck at her. Sadly, he does this to every woman. She doesn't hate him; he's just being dumb at the moment. Alice avoided her gaze at Spirit, her eyes then landed on Stein. Her heart dropped, he didn't look too pleased with the sight of Spirit being all lovey Dovey around her. A dark aura surrounded him that spread like wildfire. Oh no! Alice worriedly tried to think of something before her professor literally kills Spirit. She took a deep breath as she pulled back her backpack that was on her left hand ready to strike poor Spirit. I hope you can forgive me for this.

She swung her backpack onto Death Scythes' cheek. Though, what she did not realize was that her strike was so strong that she sent the poor man flying. His face had happily introduced itself by the wall, forming a huge dent along the way. Alice gasped silently, her hands cupping her mouth as she stared at a now bloody spirit sprawled on the floor, twitching.

'Oh... I used way too much force!' she screamed in her mind in terror.

Stein couldn't help but stare at Alice in awe; a small sweatdrop appeared on his cheek along with his mouth half open. A sadistic smile spread across his lips in amusement. The girl was simply full of surprises today.

He cleared his throat catching the girls' attention, "As I was saying." he nonchalantly shoved his hands into his pockets, "Will you accompany me around the city. I need help to pick up a few items I need for my experiments."

Her eyes widen slightly. A light blush appeared on her cheeks as she gazed down at the floor. A walk around the city wouldn't hurt anyone, right? Alice glanced at the professor who was patiently standing there in silence. A smile appeared on her lips, nodding in response.

A wide grin formed on his lips, "Well, then. Let's get going Alice."