Silence in Study Hall

[Luna]

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[atrb=background,http://oi55.tinypic.com/5xtqmo.jpg] Luna glanced around boredly at her fellow students, picking out the faces she knew. Kitt was sitting next to her, avidly reading a beauty magazine. Jackie was exchanging notes with Sabrina on Luna's far left. Soul was unwisely criticizing Maka for reading a book. Crona looked around nervously. Tsubaki looked a bit lonely. Liz and Patty were trying to talk around Kid, who'd slid in closer to his table to allow them to talk behind him. Luna sighed, waiting for study hall to be over.

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[atrb=background,http://oi51.tinypic.com/2cdfklw.jpg] Sabrina studied her black fingernails as she hastily scribbled a note to Jackie, who was sitting to her left. She noticed Crona sitting to her right, and gleefully kicked his ankle. He jumped, and his eyes widened. She smiled and passed her note to Jackie, which read: "Do you want to go check the board and see if there are any assignments? I'm bored and hungry."

[Luna]

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[atrb=background,http://oi55.tinypic.com/venl2p.jpg] Jackie scribbled out a reply on a post-it, reminding Sabrina, We'll have to get past Stein. Jackie looked at where Stein was sitting, absently looking through a manual on dissection. She knew from past experience that he was a lot faster then he looked. Jackie distracted herself by nudging Sabrina's foot into Crona's. She enjoyed causing misery to other people, even Kishin Eggs. That's why she was glad to be a meister.

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[atrb=background,http://oi51.tinypic.com/2cdfklw.jpg] Ha...getting past Stein? He may be a three star meister, but this is Stein we're talking about, she thought. She looked to Jackie and smiled, easy. Sabrina kicked her feet up onto her desk and raised her hand. "Dr. Professor Stein, I require usage of the facilities." She yawned and tapped her fingers on the side of her chair, waiting for an answer. Study hall was meant to be skipped.

[Luna]

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[atrb=background,http://oi55.tinypic.com/venl2p.jpg] Stein nodded. Jackie leaped up and said, "Me too." Stein laughed, "Nice try, Jackie. I'm not stupid--you'll just go roam around the city like you always do. Sit back down." Jackie was fuming. Now she was mad...she had to vent it somehow. Aha. She slid into Sabrina's seat, and stepped on Crona's foot as hard as she could without being noticed by Stein, putting on her best innocent face.

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[atrb=background,http://oi51.tinypic.com/2cdfklw.jpg] Sabrina left the room, smirking. No one else was in the hallway, so she didn't even bother putting on a show of innocence. She scanned the board, looking for a mission where the turnout would be a kishin egg for her to eat. Her eyes finally fell on what looked like a doable mission: Sven the Soul Thief: known to be eating human souls and runs the risk of transforming into a kishin, last seen in Death City alleyways, suggested for one-star meisters That's it, she thought, claiming it for her and Jackie. She assumed they would do it after study hall.

[Luna]

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[atrb=background,http://oi55.tinypic.com/venl2p.jpg] Jackie agitatedly sketched in her binder. It was rare for someone to actually call her bluff, and it didn't put her in the best mood. She sketched a drawing of what her next vandalism would look like as she kicked Crona's ankle hard enough to leave a black and blue mark.

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[atrb=background,http://oi55.tinypic.com/34gvwuo.jpg] My ankle hurts. Crona's eyes were as big as moons, and he was was afraid tears would come. Ragnarok suddenly shifted on his head. No...please, Ragnarok, don't do it now of all of times..., he thought, but before he knew it, his weapon was down by his ankle, repeatedly poking his ankle, again and again and again and again... Crona squinted and his eyes stared to tear up. Why did he have to be seated next to Jackie and Sabrina, of all people? Why not Maka?

[Luna]

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[atrb=background,http://oi55.tinypic.com/venl2p.jpg] Jackie snickered when she saw tears filling Crona's eyes. She noticed Ragnarok--that ugly little thing--repeatedly poking Crona's bruised ankle. Jackie chuckled softly. She was so glad she could sit next to Crona. Hurting him brought her great joy, and made Study Hall a lot less boring. Even so, she looked towards the door sadly. Suddenly, her eyes raked the room. Where was that girl he always followed around...aha. Jackie tried to remember the girl's name--something with an 'M'...Maya? No, Maka. Maka was glaring at a boy Jackie assumed was her weapon, who was slumped on his desk, holding his head like it hurt. She managed to catch Maka's eye, and subtly tipped her chin at Crona, her short black hair swishing. Jackie saw Maka's eyes widen, and her weapon sat up. Both of them glared at Jackie, who shot them a, "Haha, I can do whatever you want, and there's nothing you can do about it" look. She loved being mean.

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[atrb=background,http://oi51.tinypic.com/2cdfklw.jpg] Not wanting to go back into study hall, Sabrina walked down the hallway in the opposite direction. She tilted her head to look up at the ceiling, but, finding nothing of interest to ponder there, stopped walking and looked in front of her again. Sabrina glanced at a clock. Study hall would be over in thirty seconds, so she turned around and walked back to the classroom. She heard footsteps behind her and turned to find Sid. Before he could ask what she was doing, she said "I was in the ladies'." Sid nodded and continued walking. Relieved, Sabrina opened the door at the exact moment the bell rang.

[Luna]

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[atrb=background,http://oi51.tinypic.com/6zaolz.jpg] Soul frowned. He wouldn't admit as much, but he hated it when Maka was upset, and Jackie and Sabrina's constant bullying of Crona obviously upset her. Also, he didn't like the fact that his emotionally fragile friend was being constantly hurt. Soul glanced at Maka. Her jaw was tight, her muscles were taut, and she was glaring at Jackie and Sabrina, who were trotting off as Sid looked at Sabrina suspiciously. Soul noticed his friends Kitt and Luna chatting and began to move off to talk to them when Maka tugged on the gold sleeve of his jacket. He turned around, "Hm?" "Let's go find Crona. I want to make sure he's OK." Soul nodded. He was concerned too, but Maka was almost overly concerned...Soul was aware of a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach but didn't say anything. Maka's eyes widened and he followed her path of vision. He saw Crona, who was trying not to limp with his black-and-blue ankle and had tears in his eyes.

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[atrb=background,http://oi55.tinypic.com/34gvwuo.jpg] Finally, study hall was over. Crona saw Jackie and Sabrina snickering. Why were they so mean? He wasn't safe around them, all they did was cause him pain. He wished Maka or some nice people could help him, but he didn't see anybody close by. Saddened, Crona limped out of Class Crescent Moon, trying not to put too much stress on his bruised ankle.

[Luna]

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[atrb=background,http://oi51.tinypic.com/6zaolz.jpg] "Hey Crona," Maka called pleasantly. Crona turned around sadly. Soul smiled amiably, but he was impatient to get going. He wanted to get more souls. Becoming a Death Scythe would be the only thing that could make him even cooler that he already was! But, of course, his friend needed help. It wasn't Crona's fault, of course. It was that rebel girl, Jackie, and her delinquent weapon, Sabrina's fault. Maka gently led Crona by lightly tugging on his arm, while Soul followed like a honor guard. Suddenly, Kitt and Luna came up to him. "Hi Soul!" they said simultaneously. "Hey," he responded to his two friends. "What's up with Crona?" Luna said. "He's kinda depressed. Be nice to him." Kitt added, "'Cause of what Jackie and Sabrina were doing?" Maka nodded over her shoulder.

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[atrb=background,http://oi55.tinypic.com/34gvwuo.jpg] "Oh...h-hey guys..." stuttered Crona, his back hunched, "W-what's up?" He was guessing they were mad at Sabrina and Jackie, but he didn't want them to go and yell at them. They did that a lot, and he didn't really like it. It didn't seem to help any, either, because Sabrina and Jackie just kept harassing him.

[Luna]

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[atrb=background,http://oi51.tinypic.com/6zaolz.jpg] "Not much." Soul said, putting his hands in his pockets. "Were those dumb girls giving you a hard time?" Luna and Maka said simultaneously, then looked amusedly at each other. Kitt laughed. "Jinx!" Soul managed to get Crona to look him in the eye. "Hey, it's ok. We could try to get them to back off, if you'd like." he said.