Substitution

Spoilers: You're fine after chapter 2/episode 5

Summary: Perhaps you've wondered exactly how Stein came to be Sid-sensei's replacement...and why anyone would choose him as a teacher in the first place

I don't own Soul Eater. Though I might claim to if the consequence would be Stein dissecting me...

"Ah, Stein-kun, I'm so glad you make time to see me. I know you're very busy with your experiments. Congratulations on your latest one, by the way."

Stein almost winced with the sarcasm laced into Shinigami-sama's voice.

"Ah, thank you. What can I do for you?" Politeness seemed the way to go if he wanted to leave the god's presence without a dent in his skull.

"Weeell, as I'm sure you're aware, Shibusen is now missing a teacher." Shinigami-sama paused, letting the silence reach an uncomfortable length. When Stein didn't move, aside from a few nervous motions of his cigarette, the god continued.

"While it may be possible to let Sid-sensei take over part of the curriculum once he's...adapted to his new condition, his former class should not be without an instructor for so long." The shinigami had the incredibly satisfying sight of watching the technician actually turn a few shades paler.

"You want me to take over his class?" Stein managed to keep his voice level, but the hand toying with his screw gave away his dismay.

"No, no, I'm going to have Death Scythe-kun take over the class until we can find a replacement. But there are a few students who I'd like you to give an extra lesson to..."

A few days later:

"Was there a problem with the extra lesson, Shinigami-sama?" Stein asked as he stood before the god's mirror.

"Hm? Oh no, not at all. In fact, you handled them quite well. So well, in fact, that I think you're the best option available to take over their claaass."

"What!? But I thought that Senpai—"

"Best option available," Shinigami-sama repeated darkly, leaving no room for complaint.

Weeks later:

"I think my mom finally decided to drop the lawsuit against the school, guys!" The clanging of the bell, followed by the mass exodus of most of the class, interrupted the rest of the Ox-kun's exclamation. The few stragglers, Maka, Tsubaki, and Soul included, turned their attention toward their fellow student.

At the front of the room, Stein also focused on the boy, pausing on his way out the door. Crap, shouldn't someone have let me know if I almost started a lawsuit?

"Oh, that's right, you guys weren't here for that. I don't know how she found out about it, but my mom thought the field trip that Death Scythe-sensei took the class on was inappropriate," Ox-kun continued. "Not that I minded, but man! He was a teacher; what was he thinking?"

Her voice barely audible, Maka inquired, "Where—where did Papa take the class?"

"Cabakura."

The snap from Maka's now-broken pencil echoed throughout the room. Crickets could almost be heard.

But finally, the silence was broken.

"Best option available...Senpai, I'm gonna dissect you..."

A/N: Cabakura is the red light district in Death City. And, in the manga, once Maka and Soul leave, Death Scythe actually does say that he's going to take the class on a field trip there. We don't know if he actually did, but...let's assume so, hey?

Augh, I don't know if this flows well, but I honestly have wondered how Stein ended up as a teacher. He's a sadist, insane, and presumably the reason that Sid is no longer the class' teacher. Well, obviously the answer is that someone coughcoughDeathScythecough was such a terrible teacher that Stein actually looked like a good option in comparison.

Bloody formatting. The weirdly elongated words in Shinigami-sama's speech should just have tildes, but apparently ff doesn't like tildes. :shakes fist: