Based on the fan-fiction by Staffmeister13

WARNING: Contains parental discipline.

Stephanie sat uneasily and constantly shifted in her chair as she glanced at her classmate. Death the Kidd sat a couple of seats away, only three, and he looked beyond uncomfortable as he squirmed in the hard wooden chair. The horrible part about this situation, she knew exactly why.

When Kidd had disappeared for three weeks, her father (Stein) had found him on the streets drunk and smoking. Her dad of course taken the boy to their home so he wouldn't hurt anyone including himself, but the symmetrical freak refused to go back to his own home. Stephanie could understand why, if she had gone off and acted like a delinquent she wouldn't want to face her father ever again. So Dr. Stein decided to take matters into his own hands, literally (well, a hand with a very nasty looking paddle attached).

Unfortunately, she had walked into his study when he was administrating the punishment. Her homework was becoming slightly difficult for her so she had just wanted to ask him for advice. Instead of knocking she had just opened the door and accidentally got a good look at her friend's crimson backside. It made her squirm just seeing him being able to sit down. She wasn't listening to what her dad was saying anymore, just thinking about how to approach Death the Kidd. She fiddled with the sleeve of her white lab coat as she thought.

"I can't just walk up and say, 'Hey! How's your butt?'" she thought, "maybe I could sneak it in the conversation. No, he will notice that. Not to mention he's probably to embarrassed to speak to me. Maybe I could-"

Someone poked her in the ribs. Maka had nudged her and as giving her a sharp glance. Stephanie glared back at the girl, and then realized that everyone was turning to stare at her. "What?"

Dr. Stein sighed and started to tighten the bolt that ran through his skull, it sent shivers down her spine still. "I asked you for your homework assignment. Where is it?"

She dug through her backpack and searched vigorously, but it wasn't there. She had it when she went to her dad's office to ask for help and that's when she saw- She must have dropped it when she ran out! "I'm sorry," she stuttered as she pushed her glasses up her nose, "I must have accidentally left it at home. I'll bring it in tomorrow."

He clicked the bolt into place and his eyes met his daughter's. "Yes, you will," he muttered and continued to collect papers.

She let out a breath of relief, that was close! When her dad was in one of his "dark" moods, it wasn't pretty. She didn't need to be in hot water with her father on top of everything else.

At the end of class, she scooped up her stuff, and ran over to Death the Kidd. Just touching him made her heart jump, he was just the most amazing thing in the world to her. The three stripes, the black suit, and even his orange and yellow irises she had memorized. He was the only guy who had ever made her feel like this, and it was amazing. He sprung about five feet in the air when she tapped his shoulder and spun around. She didn't blame him for being jumpy, she would be too. "Oh, h-h-hi Stephanie," he managed to get out.

She smiled nervously, but that was normal for her. She was known for being the quiet shy kid. "Hi."

They stood there awkwardly, not really knowing what to say. She bit her lip, this was what she had been afraid of. "So," she rocked back and forth on her heels, "are you okay? With what happened yesterday and all…"

His face flushed bright red and he straightened his back at a sign of becoming defensive. "Yes I'm fine! Why would you care?" he snapped.

She took a step back and hugged her stuff closer to her chest, startled at the outburst. "I just wanted to check-" she started.

"Well don't! You're not my mother! Just go away and leave me alone you asymmetrical disgrace of nature!" With that, Kid stomped off to his next class leaving her standing in the almost empty classroom. There was an eerie silence as Steph processed everything. She felt her eyes start to mist and a single tear roll down her cheek.

Suddenly out of nowhere, she started to cry. It was from the pain, the pain of a heart breaking. She felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her. "Shh my little one," Dr. Stein whispered.

She accepted his embrace and cried. She didn't want Death the Kidd to go; she didn't want to lose him. She wanted to blame Stein, but knew deep down she couldn't bring herself to do so.

"Love hurts," her dad admitted as he stroked her head, "but the joy it brings when you find the right person will pay back for it all."

"But he hates me!" she sobbed into his chest, "he called me an asymmetrical disgrace of nature! I didn't mean to upset him! I thought nothing would change!" Stein patted his daughter's back.

"He didn't mean it, he was just flustered," he explained soothingly. She sniffled and looked up.

"Really?" she whimpered. He nodded as he wiped away her tears.

"Now, you pull yourself together and pick up your stuff. I don't want you to be late for class." She hadn't realized she had dropped everything until she saw her stuff on the floor. Her face flushed red and she bent down to pick it all up.

Before she could leave the classroom, "Stephanie."

She turned around. Her dad sat at his desk grading papers. "If you do ANYTHING remotely close to what Death the Kidd did," he looked up, light reflecting off of his glasses, "his punishment will seem like a tap on the shoulder. Understand?"

Her face turned as white as a sheet of paper and she swallowed hard. "Yes dad, I mean father, I mean professor, I mean doctor, I mean-" she stuttered but he cut her off.

"Go to class before you're tardy," he ordered. She nodded and sprinted out of the room. She liked her dad sane a lot better than mad scientist dad. He was nicer, and kinder. Mad scientist dad tried to perform experiments on her and smacked her around when she did something wrong. Mad scientist dad never showed any true feelings indicating he was human. Father dad made her comfortable, and showed her that he loved her.

She got to class right on time as the bell rang and sat next to Maka. The girl first smiled, but then noticed Stephanie's puffy red eyes and tear streaked cheeks. "What happened?"

She looked away from the concerned classmate and rubbed her eyes to get rid of the still lingering tears. "Oh nothing," she mumbled, "just Kidd."

Bad mistake. The student's eyes lit ablaze. "Don't worry. I'll crush him so bad he'll be permanently asymmetrical," she hissed and continued to listen to the lesson. Stephanie couldn't help but be scared for Death the Kidd, he had an angry Maka coming after him.

After class came to an end, Maka stomped right up to Death the Kidd. "Hey!"

He turned around and before he could comprehend who he was talking to, a fist nailed him in the face. He flew back and crashed into the wall as blood dripped down immediately. "What was that for?!" he scowled as he got up and clutched his nose, "no, the better question to ask is, WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM?!"

Maka crossed her arms. "What's my problem? I'm not the one who made Steph cry!" she retorted.

He raised an eyebrow as he brushed off his outfit with one hand. "What do you mean I made her cry? I didn't do anything to her!" he yelled defensively.

"She came in her eyes puffy and red and her cheeks were stained with drying tears! Now I don't care what you did, BUT APOLOGIZE!" With that, she sashayed away to leave the boy to process just what happened.

What was this all about? What did he do to make the girl cry? Then he remembered what he had said to her earlier. He had completely blown her off, and she was just trying to be nice! How could he be so stupid?! He scolded himself at his stupidity and flat out ignorance and rushed outside to find Stephanie.

Where could she be? he wondered as he looked around frantically, then saw a flash of dirty blonde running to a car. "Stephanie!" he shouted, but it was too late.

The car was driving away, leaving Death the Kidd in the dust.

Later that evening…

Stephanie sat in her chair reading a book. She didn't feel like doing anything else, the conversation between her and Kidd still haunted her mind. Stein stepped into the library and glanced at his daughter who had her feet swung over the arm of the recliner. "You should be doing school work," he commented as he strode towards her.

She pointed to the open book. "We're supposed to read literature for ELA," she reminded him.

He plucked it from her hands and read the title. "'Twilight' isn't literature," he said dryly and put the book on a shelf.

She huffed and crossed her arms getting slightly agitated. "Well I have nothing else to do!" she snapped.

He handed her a piece of paper. "Work on this," he said simply, his voice slightly dull and with no questioning.

She read the title, and realized it was the paper that was due today. She sighed and got up. "Okay, okay. I'll go to the study and work on it," she muttered as she straightened her glasses and flounced off.

Stein shook his head as he scanned through the books, what was he going to do with that girl? She was usually so quiet and timid, yet this rebellious stage of hers what getting out of hand. He wondered though, if it had anything to do with Death Kidd's little escapade. Could she be trying to impress the boy?

He smiled at the thought of his daughter swooning over the symmetrical test subject. Maybe if she did end up with him, Stein could finally dissect the student. He just hoped he wouldn't have to perform his other experiment a second time before she learned her place.

In the study…

Stephanie tried to work on the problems, but she didn't understand about half of them. She started to throw a rage quit at problem five. "THAT'S IT!" she chucked the pencil across the room, "I'm done!"

But then she heard a thud. Looking to where the pencil hit, she saw a little box on the floor. She gasped and picked it up, it was her father's cigarettes.

Her very first thought was to put them up, she didn't want her dad to catch her with them. The first time he even caught her holding the box he had spanked her with a hairbrush and scolded her the whole time. But then again, Death Kid had smoked some cigarettes. What if she told him that she took some too and he thought she was cool and repaired their friendship? It was a stupid plan but she was willing to risk and try it.

Her hands shaking, she took out the slender white stick. Her dad kept a lighter in his desk drawer so that was easy, she simply pulled it out. She had seen her dad perform this task many times so she didn't need instructions.

Putting the cigarette between her teeth, she snapped the lighter to life. A small flame soon possessed the object and smoke flooded into her mouth. She took a long deep breath; that was some good stuff. The smoke calmed her down, no wonder her dad did it. It was as if she wasn't even a part of the world and it was all melting away in front of her eyes.

As she inhaled, all her troubles faded away. All that was left was her and the smoldering cigarette. What she didn't know about, was the doctor heading her way.

Stein decided to go help Stephanie. She's been having a rough day, he thought as he headed down corridor, she probably needs some help. He maybe wasn't the best father at times but he knew what it was like to be a teenager still. Growing up with Spirit wasn't easy on him either. He was thinking about how much fun it would be to bond when he stepped into his study, and his whole body froze.

Steph sat in his office chair (which she knew not to sit in), feet on top of his desk, and puffing on a cigarette. His eyes widened and flashed as he recognized the smell as well. "STEPHANIE MARIE STEIN WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" he roared.

The yell startled her so much, she tumbled out of the chair, smashed onto the floor causing the object to fall out of her hand, and lighting the carpet on fire. She jumped to her feet as the fire started to consume the floor in front of her. Stein grabbed the fire extinguisher on the wall (hey, he was a mad scientist. Fire extinguishers were vital) and sprayed.

White foam filled the room, but the orange slowly disappeared. He took a deep breath, looked from the now ruined carpet, and then to his terrified daughter. Stephanie was trembling and her hands were clasped together tight over her chest. "WHAT IN THE NAME OF DEATH WERE YOU THINKING?!"

She took a step back and whimpered, this was not good at all. "They were sitting out in the open so I decided I wanted to follow in your footsteps," she stammered quickly.

His eyes narrowed, he did not appreciate the girl lying to him on top of everything else that happened. He knew he had put the cigarettes away, or at least on the shelf. Not to mention the lighter never left his drawer besides when lighting a cigarette. "I know you're lying through your teeth, but I'm not concerned about that right now!" he snapped.

Walking over to the desk, he pulled out the paddle out of a drawer he had used on Death the Kidd yesterday. It had served it's purpose, maybe it could bite again. "Maybe I need some more data," he whispered.

Stephanie's eyes landed on what he had in his hand and her face turned white. "No, you have enough data!" she stuttered as she inched backwards from her angry father, "besides, it's your fault! YOU left out the cigarettes!"

He crossed his arms, the paddle still in hand. "Let me give you a quiz. Who picked a cigarette out of that box?"

She squirmed under his piercing gaze and dug her toe into the carpet. "I did," she admitted.

"Who got out my lighter?" he questioned. She had a sudden interest with her feet.

"I did."

"Who put the cigarette between your teeth?" She sighed, this battle was not one she could win.

"I did." Stein nodded.

"And who lit that cigarette?" he asked. She looked away guiltily, knowing her answer but not wanting to say it out loud. "It's a very simple question," he grabbed her chin and turned her face towards his, "who lit that cigarette?"

She didn't even try pulling his hand away. "I did," she mumbled.

He let go of her chin and took a step back. "So this is not entirely my fault, it's your fault," he concluded.

She shifted her weight from one foot to the other. "I guess…" she looked up, "but this isn't fair for you to punish me!"

He cast a downward glance, the reflection coming off of his glasses making his ten times more intimidating. "I warned you today about what would happen if you did ANYTHING close to what Kidd did," he pulled his office chair forward, "and smoking is one of the things he did. I keep my promises."

Tears started to come to her eyes as he sat down. "Professor-" she tried but he started to tighten the bolt.

"Stephanie Marie," he looked up at her as he screwed, "I am going to give you five seconds to make your decision. You can get on yourself, or force me to drag you on. Either way you will be punished for your actions." She swallowed hard.

"Dad," she whined.

"Five," he started to count down.

"Please!"

Click. "Four."

"Father! Don't!"

Click. "Three."

"Just let me explain!"

Click. "Two."

"You don't want to do this!"

Click. "One-"

"Okay! I won't fight!" she finally yelled.

Clack. The bolt fastened into place. He put his hand down and crossed his arms. "Then what are you waiting for?"

She gulped and took a few steps towards him. Her feet shuffled against the carpet and her head was down. The worst part so far was just climbing onto his lap willingly, and doing so made her stomach do flips. She found herself staring at the floor in panic mode as he positioned her and lifted her lab coat out of the way so her clothed backside was squarely on centered on his thighs.

He placed his free hand on her back, indicating that he was ready but set down the paddle for now. She clenched her jaw tight, and braced for impact. Bringing his hand high over his head, he aimed, and- SMACK!

Nothing could have prepared her for that first stroke. She yelped and twisted. He brought it down on her backside again. "Stop moving," he ordered and continued to punish the girl. Tears had already started to flow.

SMACK! "How many times have I told you to not touch my cigarettes?" he questioned as he landed another blow.

"I- OW! Don't- Ah! Know!" she answered between smacks, "many?" He nodded, even though she couldn't see as he alternated between sit spots.

"Correct. And who is your father and boss?" he asked and continued to rain down smacks. She cried out as his hand made contact, his hand stung enough and yet he hadn't even started using the paddle yet.

"You are!" she shouted.

"And that means to listen to me, right?" She shrieked at another stroke.

"Right!"

"Then why" SMACK, "did you" SMACK, "not" SMACK, "listen?!" She bit back a howl and her hand tightened into a fist.

"Because I am a teenager and it's my job to object to authority!" she tried to reason. He raised an eyebrow and silently debated how to answer this.

"Oh really?" He came to a stop. At first, the girl thought her father was done with the spanking until she felt him start to lift up the skirt of her dress. All hope faded.

"Please dad!" she cried but he gave her a sharp slap with his hand.

"You are not allowed to speak unless I ask you a question," he ordered as he pulled her underwear down as well. The skin was a bright red, but it didn't satisfy Stein. He wanted to make sure his daughter learned her lesson so she wouldn't make the same mistakes he did. He wanted her to have a better future then his turned out to be.

She continued to struggle against him, but Stein wouldn't have it. He picked the paddle back up and had it strike on her bare backside CRACK!

The wood started to leave large red welts as the skin turned a dark crimson. Stephanie couldn't do anything but sob and beg and wail for forgiveness.

"I won't touch another cigarette!" she bawled, "just please stop!" He shook his head to her dismay. CRACK!

"You need to learn your lesson to the end! I told you that I would make Kidd's punishment seem like a tap. I keep my promises!" he said simply and continued to chastise.

She continued to sob and tried to keep her mouth shut, but it was hard. CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! Finally she started talking again and it came out in a blubbery whine almost. "Daddy I'm sorry!" she wailed and his heart ached a little. After eternity, he finally set the implement aside and pulled up her panties as well as positioning her dress and lab coat.

"You can get up," he whispered.

She slid off of his lap and backed away as far as she could. Stein instantly felt guilt cut through him when he saw the tears streaming down her cheeks. It was for her own good, he told himself.

He knew he had to leave her alone for a few minutes, the memory was too fresh. After five minutes, he went over to his daughter and helped her up. She first struggled a tiny bit, but stopped when he hugged her. "I'm sorry," she whimpered ans buried her face into his chest as she sniffled, "I'll never touch a cigarette ever again."

He sighed and pulled her away and held her by her shoulders so he could look at her. "I hate doing this to you. But I just want you to grow up to become a good person. I don't want you to make the same mistakes I did. I do it because I love you."

She nodded and wiped away some of her tears. "I know," she whispered and wrapped her arms around her dad one more time, "I love you too daddy."

He felt tears come to his eyes; she was growing up so fast. "Now," he sat down, "what's the real reason you took the cigarettes?"

She stared at the floor in shame, still feeling guilty about touching them. "I was thinking it would impress Death Kid," she finally admitted, "I thought it would repair our friendship."

Stein shook his head in dismay, it was as he feared. "If he doesn't like you because of that then he doesn't deserve you! But enough of that," he picked up the piece of paper, "how about I help you with this?"

She grinned. "That would be great! But…" she looked down at the wooden chair that looked very stiff and uncomfortable. "Can I go get a pillow?"

He smiled slightly. "Go ahead."

The next day…

Stephanie sat in class beyond uncomfortable. The sting still shot through her backside and it was beyond aggravating. Her backside was still a light pink but no horrid damage physically. Every time she shifted in her seat Stein seemed to notice and gave a small crack of a the Kidd sat a few seats away like always and all she wanted to do was talk to him.

Death Kid's POV

Kid couldn't help but keep glancing at Stephanie. Her bright green eyes were focused on her paper intently and he found himself sighing, he had ruined their relationship. He continued staring but froze.

One piece of her blonde curls stuck out, her hair was asymmetrical. The next thing he knew he was climbing over the desk and on top of her trying to fix the stray piece of hair.

He took off his glove, licked his fingers, grabbed the hair, and ran his fingers down it. The curl went back to its normal position and he let out a breath of relief, it was perfect now. He looked at her face.

She was half scared and half surprised. His eyes widened when he realized that her lap was squarely between his open legs. "Oh!" he backed up, "S-s-sorry. Your hair was asymmetrical."

"Death Kid," Stein crossed his arms, "I would appreciate if you could refrain from sexually harassing my daughter." Kid's face flushed bright red as everyone laughed and he sat down.

As he continued the lesson, Death Kid looked over at Steph and met her gaze. She smiled and mouthed "friends?" He nodded and winked. She blushed ferociously and looked away.

He sighed, so he was probably more embarrassed then any other moment in her life, but he had repaired his friendship with Stephanie making it all worth it.