It had been three days since Stein succumbed to the madness. Three days of heavy guilt. Three days of noticing how Marie kept an eye on him whever he was near but tried to keep it discreet. She says she doesn't fear me, but I know it's true. I don't even have to look at her soul to confirm it because it's so obvious. Whenever he sat down at the table, she would shift uneasily and look down a little bit before she would look up at him and finally say something about how she found a spider in the living room or how she had just made coffee if he wanted some. She was always so short with her words, it was as if she thought just talking to him would set him off.
He had to dispose of the body of the man he had cut open the same night it happened. Marie hadn't slept at all that night, but he fell into a heavy sleep. He didn't want to, though. What if he slipped back into the madness while he slept? He guessed Marie feared the same. All that night, he had dreams of snakes and spiders, of little demons. They all taunted him, telling him to come back. He wanted to just to end the torment of constantly fighting, but he knew even in his dreams he wouldn't...
"It's good to have you back, Professor Stein," Maka said cheerfully after class.
Stein smiled lightly and nodded. Then Soul walked up to Maka and wrapped an arm around her waist, causing her to blush. Stein raised and eyebrow and adjusted the screw in his head, his other hand in his coat pocket. "So... When did...?" he asked slowly and curiously.
Maka giggled as Soul explained, "I don't know... I just decided to tell her how I truly feel, and we just ended up together." Soul's cheeks started to turn red, but he tried to keep his cool guy act by continuing, "But it's not like I told her some Jack and Rose/Titanic lovey-dovey crap. I just told her straight up, no cute giggles. I-"
"Soul," Stein cut him off, "She is so close to Maka Chopping you." Soul's eyes widened slightly as he turned his head to his girlfriend. She seemed darkened, grinding her teeth and growling quietly as she tightly gripped her text book.
"Yeah, I'll shut up now." Soul said under his breath. "But it really is awesome to have you teaching us again, Professor. Our substitute was the worst in the world, even if he is a Death Scythe."
"Yes, Spirit is not the type of person you would expect to be a Death Scythe."
"It was Mama who made him a Death Scythe," Maka cut in. There was a slight awkward pause, so she continued with a new subject. "So has your recovery been easy?"
Stein thought back to last night, to seeing Marie fear for her life in a corner because of him. Images of a large pool of blood and a pulled out intestine next to a man's body invaded his head. "Professor Stein, you alright?" Maka asked worriedly.
Stein snapped his thoughts back to reality. "Oh, yes. I'm fine. To answer your question, I had a very quick recovery. I am actually a bit surprised at just how fast it took for me to get back to a healthy state." Although he would much rather be feeling like hell than going insane.
"That's good," Maka said with one of her cute Maka smiles. "Anyway we should get going to our next class with Ms. Marie."
At the sound of her name, Stein blushed ever so slightly and the corners of his lips curved. He realized what he was doing and tried to hide it, but it only made it worse because his cheeks turned a light pink.
"Awww Professor Stein and Ms. Marie," Soul taunted. "Now that is just adorable!" He was obviously trying to annoy the doctor because he made hisself sound like a dotty old aunt. "So how was napping with her while you were shirtless, huh? Must have been nice." Soul tightened his hold Maka, trying to tell her that he did in fact think it must have been nice and he wanted to try it. Maka only chopped him with her textbook.
Stein smirked as Maka growled at her weapon. "You kids should get to class now. Marie will probably scold me later for making her students late."
"Yeah. See ya, man." Soul said with a nod as if he were talking to one of his friends. Maka smiled and nodded at her teacher also as she walked out of the classroom with Soul.
And just to think I was imagining her with Crona. Stein sat down on his office chair and rolled to the black board. He picked up the chalk, stretched his long torso so he was sitting up completely and he began scribbling down the topic of what he would be teaching. He then put the chalk down and checked the time, 10:01 a.m. The students in his next class still had another five minutes before session started, so they were all probably waiting in the hall and socializing.
Stein turned the chair around so he was at his desk. He leaned forward and put his arms on the desk then rested his head in his arms. He closed his eyes and waited for the bell for class to start, but he dozed off.
"Come on, Stein. Give up... Just let go and embrace in the madness." A small voice growled. Stein knew that he wanted to do exactly what the voice said. "Give up, give up. Let go of your sanity. Who needs sanity when you've got madness? You won't be afraid, you won't feel pain nor sadness. And don't say you don't feel sad because I know you do, Stein. I know how you felt when you saw her so terrified of you. Let me make that all go away."
Stein shifted uneasily in his sleep. "No... No. I won't... I still have a reason... To go on..."
"Just let go. Wake from this dream and enter another. Wake up. Wake up. Come on, Stein. WAKE UP!" The voice was now much louder. He was beginning to get angry, why couldn't this voice just leave him alone?!
"No..." Strips of his soul wavelength crackled around Stein's hand as he remained to refuse in his sleep.
"Uhh, Professor Stein?" Chris Anderson, one of his students, said nervously as he backed away. He could see the electrical waves of the scientist's soul and knew that if he got hit with it, he'd be in a world of pain. "Professor?"
Stein's eyes snapped opened. He picked his head up and looked around his classroom. All of his students were ready to begin the session, they were just sitting quietly at their desks wondering about his strange behavior. He looked at his hand and immediately extinguished the dangerous crackles of his soul. "I uh, apologize. I didn't really sleep well last night," he lied. He had been in such a deep sleep that Marie had to shake him awake.
"It's all good," Chris said slowly as he walked back to his desk. Stein took a look at all of his students and sighed. How much longer will I be able to teach properly?
"Alright, now today we won't be doing any dissections." A few kids murmered amongst themselves in surprise as he continued, "I know, I know. You all missed me and my dissections so much. But anyway, I want you all to..." Stein took a few minutes to explain the assignment to his students before he resumed his place at his desk. He opened the top drawer of the desk and pulled out a black composition notebook. Come on, I know I took some notes on this before... Stein flipped through every page about halfway through the book until he found a page titled "Black Blood". Creates madness... Can harden to be used as a weapon... Origin: Witch Medusa. It also says here that the blood can easily be transfered by of course injection, and... Digestion. Did Crona's blood drip into my coffee a few days ago? If so, that would explain why my insanity has been going berserk lately, as well as the odd flavor of the coffee. I need to speak to Crona.
"Crona, are you in my class right now?" Stein picked his head up to search for the pink-haired boy.
A student raised her hand. "No, sir. He's in Ms. Marie's class right now with Maka and her team." Stein aknowledged the girl with a nod of his head.
"Class, I will be back in a few minutes. Continue with your assignment, and no talking." He added emphasis to the last few words, looking two male students straight in the eye.
"Do you need something, Franken?" Marie asked. She was pointing to something on the board, she was probably explaining a lesson. Although, almost all of her students were talking, and she was trying to speak over them. "Could you all please quiet down?"
Stein nodded his head affirmatively. "I need a word with Crona." All of the students continued talking, they hadn't even noticed Marie trying to tell them to be quiet.
Marie nodded and once again tried to quiet her students, but to no avail. She sighed and looked hopelessly to him. All of the students were suddenly quiet when a scalpel flew just millimeters away from the loudest student's head and was stuck in the wall right next to him. "Crona? I need to speak with you." Stein said. All of the students turned their heads to him. The pink- haired boy trembled slightly and gritted his teeth as he stood and slowly wobbled to Stein.
"Y-y- yes, Professor St- Stein?"
"It's alright, Crona. I just need to talk to you. You're not in any trouble." Soul and the rest of the students took another glance at Stein and Crona before they returned their attention to their work. Maka, however, eyed them curiously. What does the professor need with Crona? "Step outside with me, would you?" Stein asked.
Crona nodded and followed his teacher out to the hallway. "So, what is it, Professor?"
"When Soul cut you, was my coffee cup any where near you?"
"Uhm... I'm not sure... I think so. Why do you ask?" Crona replied nervously.
"I think some of your blood got in my cup..."
The boy gasped lightly before he asked, "A- are you alright?"
"I don't know... The madness inside of me has been growing rapidly. I don't know how far it will go."
"So... Is that what is wrong with Ms. Marie?" Crona asked curiously.
Stein's heart beat picked up. "What's going on with her?"
"She seems really shaken up. She has been stuttering a lot too. But then she also seems really tired, so she probably only had a bad dream and couldn't sleep after it." Crona theorized.
"Perhaps. Now I have a few more questions." Stein said quickly. "How long did it take for the black blood in you to lose its properties of hardening?"
"Uhmm... Maybe a week or two."
"Has the madness in you died down at all?"
"Yes, very much. But it's still there..." Crona seemed a bit saddened by his confession.
"But you are easily able to control it?" Stein asked hastily.
"Yes, very easily. Really, Professor Stein. You are ok, right?"
Crona must think the only way the blood can transfer is by injection... "I'm fine. Thanks for your time, now get back to your seat." Stein said with a light smile as he nodded to the boy and slowly walked to the men's room. Stein turned on the faucet and removed his glasses before he bagan splashing cold water on his face. He sighed and stared down into the sink as he listened to the splashing of the water.
"I'm so sorry, Marie..." Stein looked up to the mirror and gasped in startlement at what he saw. His face was his own, but it looked like the madness took over, and demons danced around him. Stein took a step back and watched his reflection in horror. "INNOSENCE! INNOSENCE! INNOSENCE!" All of the demons shrieked at him.
"SHUT UP!" Stein screamed back at them as his fist collided with the mirror. He stepped back and looked at his reflection in the shattered mirror. Blood dripped from his knuckles and small shards of glass were stuck in his skin. Why is it happening now...? Stein sighed and closed his eyes. I need to clean this up and get back to class.
Hey guys. I apologize for another boring chapter, but as I said before, this all needs to be said. Btw, the part where the demons are screaming "Innosence" to Stein is actually a part of my favorite song. It probably is the BEST song to describe Stein. Every time I write a chapter, I listen to that song and it usually helps me to stay in character with Stein. I highly recommend you check it out, it's called "Confession" by the band Red. It's so freaking amazing XD Thanks for reading! :D -Mikshizels