A Soul Eater Story: Wandering Souls

Chapter 11 Gathering Death scythes! Stein has a daughter?

A/N: Sorry for the late update, everyone! I got distracted by another story my friend and I are working on together, only this one is a Naruto fanfic! BTW, does anyone even read author notes anymore? Or should I just start posting stories on Fanfiction.net instead?

Read. Enjoy. COMMENT!

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Inside the Death Room, which can be strangely described as cheerful despite the given name, four people stood in front of Lord Death as they waited for the fifth member of their meeting to show up.

"When is Stein going to show up?" said a dark haired woman, adjusting her glasses, a sense of irritation coming off her.

Spirit laughed awkwardly at her inquisition. "Honestly, who knows; Stein can be fickle when he wants to be....."

Sighing, the woman adjusted her glasses.... Again.

"That man... he has delayed this meeting for too long. Lord Death, may I go out in search of him?" she asked.

"Ahhhhhh...... ok" Death chirped even as he sweat dropped. 'May God be with you Azusa' he thought silently.

As the woman, known as Azusa, walked haughtily out of the room, Death turned to Spirit as an afterthought. "I think it would be better for everyone if you go with her."

"Already ahead of you!" yelled the man as he followed after her into the school in search of their missing co-worker.

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Stein had been sitting by Lorranna's side now for a while. How long, he had no idea. This past week had been hell for him on a physical, mental, and emotional level, and for a good reason. His daughter, which he was still trying to come to terms with having her in the first place, lay inert on the bed in the infirmary and was hooked up to an I.V. and heart monitor with several other wires sticking out everywhere. He carefully held her delicate hand in his own larger hand, as he quietly talked to her even though she couldn't hear him.

"Please... wake up... I'm so sorry... I'm so sorry I forgot you... I should have realized sooner..." he whispered, closing his eyes. He had no more tears to shed for the brave young girl, and his emotional state was extremely fragile. He hadn't slept well these past seven days, save for the times he had been so exhausted that he passed out in his chair or on the floor, and he hadn't eaten anything either. The one bath he took was merely to wash off the stench of Medusa's blood, and he otherwise hadn't left the infirmary. He had just barely had enough self-awareness to treat his own injuries.

"Professor Stein?" the scientist looked over to see Kid coming in, a worried look on his face. "Aren't you supposed to be in the meeting?"

"I don't care about the meeting..." Stein replied, turning back to his daughter. The dark circles under his eyes made him look almost like a zombie, and he was slouching more than usual out of exhaustion. Then, he felt two hands grab his free arm.

"You're going to the meeting, Professor," Kid told him sternly, trying to drag him and the chair to the door. Stein merely hooked one of his legs around one of the bedposts, letting go of Lorranna's hand so that he wouldn't risk her falling off of the bed.

"No."

The two didn't notice Azusa and Spirit now standing in the doorway as they fought against each other; one trying to get the other to stand while the second was fighting to remain in the rolling chair.

"What's... going on?" the raven-haired woman asked, while rooting around in her pockets for a camera. Spirit casually handed her the camera he kept in his own pockets, and she started to record a video while he replied.

"Stein's been... a little unstable since the battle," the red-head Death scythe told her, watching the woman out of the corner of his eyes. "I was there... he's been in here with Lorranna ever since he brought her back here..."

Meanwhile, Kid was still trying to drag Stein away from the bed...

"You... Are... Going... To... The... MEETING!!" the boy strained, even while Stein had an unyielding grip on the bed.

"No," Stein said calmly, sounding like he was completely drained of all emotion. With how exhausted he looked... they didn't doubt it.

Finally, Stein seemed to grow tired of the attempts to drag him to the meeting, and unhooked his leg from the bed, causing Kid to stumble backwards and let go of the scientist while he fell to the ground. Stein simply rolled his chair back to the bed, and gently grasped the girl's hand again, looking at her sorrowfully.

Azusa blinked, hardly believing that she had been able to get that entire scene on camera. She ended the recording, handed the camera back to Spirit, and took a few steps over to where the scientist was sitting at the blonde girl's bedside.

"Stein, you are aware that we've all been waiting for you, correct?" she asked, but was surprised to see that he was ignoring her! "Stein! You must come to the Death Room! Now."

"No." He turned to glare at her with an intensity that surprised the raven-haired woman; his exhausted look only seemed to add to how angry he seemed at the idea of being forced to leave the girl's side.

"You must come to the meeting; it's important!" she insisted, not seeing how Spirit was motioning for her to back away from the scientist, who just glared at her more angrily.

"Make me," he growled, then turned back towards the girl, "I'm not leaving my daughter..."

"Wait, you have a-" Azusa started to say loudly, before Spirit clapped a hand over her mouth! She glared at him, even as he was looking at her desperately.

"Don't. Say. A. Word." Spirit said quietly, glancing over at Stein. The exhausted man was whispering again, his head lowered.

"I'm so sorry, Lorranna... I wish I realized sooner... I'm sorry I forgot you... Please wake up......"

Stein, who sat morosely over his daughter with her hand in his, was surprised when he suddenly felt her squeeze his hand back.

"Lorranna? Lorranna sweetie? Can you hear me?!" Stein whispered in shock, standing up from his chair slowly.

To everyone's surprise, Lorranna's eyes began twitching, as if she were trying to open her eyes. Finally, after a few tries, her gray-green eyes finally opened enough to see her father standing protectively over her.

"Papa?" her voice said in a soft tone, sounding a bit rough as she had not spoken in a whole week, which Kid noticed and got her a bit of water to drink.

Azusa stood back as everyone, including Spirit, rushed forward to help the blond-haired girl who had been unconscious the entire time since the Kishin Asura had awakened from his prison. With a small smile on her face as she watched the father-daughter pair, hoping that this miracle would be the beginning of more and a sign that hope still lived during these dark times.

Yay! Lorranna's awake! How many of you were actually thinking she was gonna die? No answer is a stupid one! I'm still working on Third Time's the Charm, so don't send flames at me to hurry up!