It had taken all of their courage to get there, but they'd done it.
"What if she doesn't want to see me? I don't know if I can deal with that," they mumbled.
"I told you this was a bad idea. Why don't you go back home? I'm hungry, and you haven't fed me all day." The black demon hanging over their head began to punch them lightly on the top of the head. "Come on, let's go."
"N-no. Stop hitting me, Ragnarok, it hurts." They struggled against Ragnarok's insistent fists before the demon finally gave up.
"You're no fun, Crona."
"I'm...I'm gonna do this."
Crona had been telling themselves that for a week now. They hadn't seen Maka in nearly two and a half weeks. She'd gone on a mission in Spain somewhere, and it had taken significantly longer than expected. Crona had done nothing but worry the whole time she was gone, and when they'd heard from Kid that she was back, they were overjoyed. However, the next day she hadn't shown up to school. Stein had pulled Crona aside after class that day.
"Crona, you weren't paying attention at all today."
"I–I'm sorry, I didn't–I just–"
Stein placed a gentle hand on their shoulder. "You're worried about Maka, aren't you? She's alright, but she got injured pretty badly on her mission. She's gonna be recovering for a little while."
Crona felt their eyes widen. "But...I don't know how to deal with that."
Stein's smile put them at ease. "It'll be about 10 days. Try not to worry too much, okay? And try to pay attention in class tomorrow. There's a test coming up, you know."
"I know...I'll try."
Naturally, Crona didn't get much sleep that night.
"What if she's hurting a lot?"
Ragnarok lounged on top of Crona's head. "She probably is. She's probably in a lot of pain."
"I wonder what happened..."
"She probably got injured fighting a monster or something. It was probably big. She probably didn't even beat it."
"Stop it, Ragnarok. Maka's really strong, I'm sure she beat it."
Ragnarok was unfazed by Crona's weak attempts to stop him from bullying them. "Do you have any food? I'm starving."
"I wonder if Soul's hurt too...I don't know if I can deal with both of them being injured."
"Your whining is hurting my ears, Crona. Go to sleep." Ragnarok paused, then added, "But feed me first," as an afterthought.
"Okay..." Crona said. They reached into the bag they kept by their bed - Ragnarok wouldn't stop pestering them about food, so Maka had suggested that Crona keep some food in their room - and handed Ragnarok an apple.
"An apple? How am I supposed to eat this?"
"M-Maka says apples are good for you."
"Give me something else, Crona, or I'll hit you again."
"Please don't...I don't have anything else." Ragnarok grumbled discontentedly, then swallowed the apple whole and disappeared inside of Crona.
"I really should try to sleep...Professor Stein said she'd be alright...I can do this." They laid down in their bed and let their thoughts wander as they tried to drift off to sleep.
The bed really is a lot more comfortable than my corner...Maka was right. I hope Soul is taking good care of her...is he making her enough food? Maybe Blair is making food too. I hope her dad sends her a book or something, she probably doesn't have much to do just laying in bed. I hope she isn't bored...she's probably making herself study for class, even while she's recovering. I wonder if she understands the material...she can't ask for help, what if she needs help with the questions? I don't know how to deal with that...
Ragnarok's arm snaked out of Crona's back to whack them over the head. "Shut up, Crona, you're thinking too loudly and I'm trying to sleep."
"S-sorry, Ragnarok." Determinedly, they pulled the covers up over their face so that they were in complete darkness. I can fall asleep, I can.
It was a long night.
The next day, Crona could barely stay awake in class. They'd spent all night worrying, and between that and Ragnarok beating them up every so often, they didn't have much energy for school. As they shuffled through the hallway between classes, eyes locked on the floor, they accidentally bumped shoulders with somebody. Crona let out a frightened half-shriek and backed away quickly.
"I'm sorry, I didn't see you there, I'm really sorry, I-"
"Oh, hi Crona!" Crona's shoulder muscles, which they weren't aware had tightened, slowly relaxed as Tsubaki's smiling face registered with them. "How are you today? You looked pretty bad in class earlier."
"Oh...I'm okay, don't worry." Crona blushed and looked at the floor. I don't know how to talk to girls...what do I do?
"If you say so, Crona," Tsubaki said, her face betraying her concern.
Crona suddenly straightened up, eyes widening in sudden terror. "Wait, if you're here, that means-"
"Hey Crona!" somebody practically screamed right next to their ear. The words were followed quickly by obnoxiously loud laughter. Crona felt an arm forcefully land around their shoulders.
"H-hey Black Star," Crona said to the floor.
"Black Star, don't be so careless! Look, you scared Crona." Tsubaki scowled at Black Star, then turned to give Crona an apologetic glance.
Black Star ignored her entirely. "I'm sure you'd love for me to stay and talk to you, since I'm such a big star, but I've gotta go. Tsubaki and I are gonna go visit Maka and Soul!" He punctuated his statement with more laughter.
Tsubaki spoke up quietly. "Would you like to join us, Crona?"
Crona could feel their cheeks flush. "N-no thanks. I...uh..."
Tsubaki smiled. "That's okay! We'll let you know how they're doing, okay?"
"Come on, Tsubaki!" Black Star grabbed her arm and dragged her away down the hall. Tsubaki waved goodbye with her free arm, then turned to follow him.
Crona folded their arm across their chest nervously. They felt Ragnarok loom over them. "Why didn't you go with them? You chicken?"
"I'm not chicken! I just..."
"You're scared to visit! You're a chicken!"
"You shouldn't bully Crona like that, Ragnarok." Crona turned, startled, and Ragnarok slipped back inside of them. Stein had managed to sneak up on them.
"H-hi, professor Stein."
Stein smiled, and Crona looked down at the floor again. "I've told you, you can just call me Stein."
"Okay...I'll try to remember." Even though Stein had already insisted on multiple occasions that he held no grudge, Crona couldn't help but feel a little guilty whenever they saw him. They couldn't even begin to think of calling him just Stein.
"I actually wanted to talk to you, Crona." Crona looked up, nerves painted on their face. "I think you should take a day off to visit Maka. I can tell you didn't get much sleep last night. Going to see her might help you feel better."
"B-but-"
"I already told Tsubaki and Black Star the same thing, and I suspect that Kid is planning on visiting them sometime later in the week." He placed his hand on Crona's shoulder before they could start protesting again. "Just go visit her, okay? Doctor's orders." He turned and walked away, slipping a cigarette out of his pocket.
"O-okay, profe - Mr. Stein."
Stein waved his hand dismissively behind him. "Just Stein."
Every day since then, Crona had tried to convince themselves to go visit. And every day, they would panic as they left the school and change their mind. Stein didn't talk to Crona about it anymore, but Crona knew that he noticed their deteriorating functionality. They were beginning to fall asleep on their feet now. Ragnarok teased them more and more as time passed, and Tsubaki, Black Star, and Kid all talked about their visits to Maka and Soul's house almost every day.
"I can't wait for Soul to be back at school! He's healing a lot faster than Maka, he'll probably be back soon!"
"I highly doubt that." Kid's composure was impenetrable as he spoke. "Soul cares about Maka too much to simply leave her in the house with that cat. He won't be returning until Maka has completely finished recovering."
"Unlike this asymmetric loser," Liz interjected, snark oozing from her very being. "He wouldn't stick around and make sure we got better if we were injured."
In no time at all, Kid had crumpled to the floor. "Why do you always have to point out the hair? I've tried to dye it, but it doesn't stick, usually I can ignore it but now I'm thinking about it, I can't go to class like this, I have to go home and try to cover it again, this is terrible..." Kid's rantings became more and more unintelligible as they continued.
"Look, sis, Kid's on the floor again!" Patti giggled uncontrollably as she pointed at Kid's prone body. Liz looked very proud of herself as she helped Kid to his feet.
"Come on, Kid, we've got class in five minutes." The limp, moaning reaper and his two weapons disappeared down the hall, Patti's laughter and Kid's mutterings becoming less and less audible as they mingled with the crowd of other students.
"We should get to class too, Black Star," said Tsubaki timidly.
"Alright Tsubaki! Let's go!" Black Star and Tsubaki were gone before Crona could even begin to say goodbye.
"See? You really are chicken. Everybody else has gone to see her. It's almost like you don't even care about her."
"Go away, Ragnarok. I do care about her. I do."
"Well you've got a funny way of showing it, don't you?"
"Don't hit me! I don't like it."
Ragnarok paid them no mind, laughing as he punched them lightly but mercilessly for a few moments. Then, he abruptly stopped. Crona's gut clenched. Oh no...
"I know why you haven't gone to visit her. You're afraid of Soul, aren't you?"
"N-no, it's n-not like that, I-I just..." Crona tried their best to protest, but there was nothing they could do. Ragnarok had hit the nail on the head.
"Well, nothing to be done. I guess you'll just have to leave her to suffer by herself." Ragnarok paused thoughtfully. "I'm hungry. You know, Soul makes pretty good food. Are you sure you're too scared to visit Maka?"
"I...I'm not scared!" Crona's voice no longer held nerves. They had been replaced by irritation. "I'll go visit her, just watch!"
Their next class was Stein's, but Stein was the one that had told them they should take a break to go visit Maka, so Crona didn't waste any time leaving the school. As soon as their feet hit the pavement outside the school, they began to have doubts.
What if Soul tells me to go away? I don't know how to deal with that...but Ragnarok will hit me again if I stop now, and I really want to see Maka. I can do this.
And now they were here, standing in front of Maka's house.
Just take deep breaths...I can handle this...right?
"Are you gonna knock, or do I gotta do it?"
"N-no! I'll knock." Crona swallowed, then raised a shaking hand to timidly knock on the door.
Oh no, what if that wasn't loud enough? I don't think I can deal with having to knock again...
Crona's heart nearly stopped as the door swung open to reveal Soul's face. "Oh, hey Crona. I was wondering when you'd show up," he said coolly. "Maka's not awake right now, but if you wanna wait, you can come in."
"I-I-I-"
"We're only coming in if you got food," Ragnarok interjected rudely.
Soul laughed quietly, his unnerving smile flashing across his face. Crona tried not to look afraid. "Yeah, we got food. I've been making a lot lately since Black Star shows up all the time, but he didn't show today. I was wondering what I was gonna do with all of it. Now I don't have to." Soul motioned for Crona to come in, then walked back into the house, leaving the door open. Crona took one hesitant step forward, look up at the facade of the house, then forced themselves to keep walking into the house.
The interior was surprisingly cozy. There was a family sized dining table in the kitchen, which surprised Crona considering that it was just the two of them and Blair that lived there.
Blair
Crona felt themselves freeze up. They turned to Soul in a panic. "I-is Blair here?"
Soul laughed again. This time, it didn't seem quite as threatening. "Nah, she doesn't hang around here as often as she used to. You don't have to worry." He paused. "Does she freak you out, too?"
Crona stared intently at the wall. "She m-makes me uncomfortable. I don't know how to deal with girls very much."
"You seem to deal with Maka just fine." Soul walked past Crona into the kitchen. "I think you're doin' pretty good for someone who didn't grow up around people." Something began sizzling. Crona tore their eyes away from the wall to look, confused. Ragnarok perked up.
"Is that bacon?! I like bacon. Let me have some! Come on! Gimme!" Ragnarok reached out for it, and Crona stepped back so he couldn't reach.
"It isn't for you, Ragnarok! Go away!"
"Fine," Ragnarok grumbled. "It's boring out here anyway. But you better let me have some later." He shrank back into Crona. Crona sighed in relief.
"Good riddance," Soul said, poking apprehensively at the bacon. "That guy's annoying. I don't know how you live with him." He turned to look at Crona, cutting them off before they had time to respond. "Have you ever made bacon before?"
"Uh..." Crona's face betrayed their terror.
"It isn't hard, I'll show you. I need to get the eggs started, and it's easier if I have help. C'mere." Crona timidly approached, peering suspiciously at the spattering meat.
"Take this," Soul said, holding a spatula out to Crona. They took it, holding it protectively across their chest. Soul saw that and paused. "I don't bite, ya know."
"R-right, I-I know that," Crona stuttered.
Soul shook his head. "Anyway, all you have to do is make sure the bacon doesn't stick. So just kinda...here, let me see the spatula again." He plucked it cleanly out of Crona's hands, then poked at the bacon so that it slid back and forth in the pan. "Like that. And be careful, it'll spit grease at you when you do that. You got it?" He handed the spatula back without waiting for an answer and walked past Crona to the fridge. Crona stood, holding the spatula in a death grip for a few seconds. "The bacon, Crona."
"Right!" They nervously poked a piece of bacon with the spatula. Grease splattered up and hit Crona smack dab in the middle of their forehead. They let out a startled scream and dropped the spatula on the counter as they reeled back.
"Hey, be careful! Don't be so harsh about messing with it, just kinda prod it occasionally, okay? You'll get yourself hurt if you don't watch out. And try not to drop the spatula on the floor, we're out of soap so I can't wash it."
Crona carefully picked up the spatula again and poked the bacon again, much more gently. It slid smoothly along the bottom of the pan. They slid it back and forth a bit and then let it sit. This isn't so hard, they thought, and a small smile crept across their face.
"Hey, look at that. You're a natural," Soul said from right behind Crona. He began to fumble around in a cupboard, presumably looking for another pan. It took Crona a few seconds to realize that they hadn't jumped when Soul spoke. They let their smile become a little more noticeable.
There was a comfortable silence for a few minutes as Soul used the burner next to Crona to make the eggs, got a plate ready, and poured a glass of water. Eventually, he gently nudged Crona out of the way to add the bacon to the plate.
"Thanks for helping. It made things a lot easier." Crona nodded. Soul paused. It was clear he had something to say. Crona began to feel fear clutch at their heart, but before it could get out of control, the moment passed. Soul picked up the plate along with a fork and knife and the glass of water and handed them to Crona. "Since you came to see her, you can bring her food when you go in. She usually wakes up right around now, so you can just go in. Her room's the one over there." Soul pointed down the hall. Crona looked at Soul helplessly for a moment before Soul realized the problem. "Oh yeah...no hands left. I'll open the door for you." Ragnarok rose his head indignantly from between Crona's shoulderblades.
"What am I, chopped liver?"
Soul shrugged. "That works too." He turned once more to the kitchen and began cleaning up the mess left from the cooking. "And don't you dare eat Maka's food, you black weirdo." Ragnarok pouted, then crossed his arms.
"You better feed me something soon, then. I'm starving."
Crona's heart started beating quickly again. Now that the moment had arrived, they were feeling a little bit queasy. They slowly crept down the hallway, stopping outside the door. Ragnarok was surprisingly quiet, only reaching down to open the door.
"Soul?" an extremely drowsy Maka called quietly as the door creaked. Crona's heart skipped a beat. She doesn't want me here after all, she wants Soul, I should go. But it was too late. The door had opened wide enough for her to see that it was Crona. Instead of the disappointment Crona had expected, Maka's face broke into an enormous smile. "Crona! I wondered when you'd come. I was really worried about you."
"Y-you were worried about me?"
"You thought I wouldn't be?" She laughed, and then her eyes focused on the food in Crona's hands. "Oh, did you make that?"
Crona looked at the food, surprised. They'd forgotten they had it. They stumbled forward a bit awkwardly and half dropped it onto the table next to Maka's bed. "N-no, I didn't. Soul-"
"He did too. Crona made the bacon and they screamed like a little girl."
"Sh-shut up, Ragnarok, that's not nice." Ragnarok laughed, hit Crona on the side of the head for good measure, then sunk back into Crona's body again. Crona looked from above their head where Ragnarok had been back to Maka. "I-I did make the bacon, but Soul made everything else, and he showed me how to make it so I didn't really make it, I just sort of helped."
"Thank you, Crona. It's delicious." Maka had started eating while Crona had been panicking. She'd only touched the bacon.
"Oh, um, thank you." They stood awkwardly, not knowing how to phrase anything they wanted to say. "H-how are your injuries?" they finally said lamely.
"They're feeling a lot better, thanks. I keep telling Soul I'm ready to go back to school and he keeps insisting that I should rest. He only thinks that because Stein said to wait that long, though. He doesn't really have any idea. And he should be resting too, he got pretty beat up himself."
"Oh, it's good to hear that you'll get better soon." Crona's voice trailed off uncertainly. "What kind of mission was it?"
"Just a normal mission, but the kishin egg we were hunting was a lot tougher than we thought. It ended up getting behind me while we were fighting, and I wasn't quick enough to block its attack." She could see the worry building up on Crona's face and tried to dispel it. "It really wasn't that bad, though. Soul really helped me, and we completed the mission just fine." She leaned a little closer to them. "I think Stein and Soul are worrying more than they should."
"I HEARD THAT MAKA," Soul yelled from the kitchen.
Maka shook her head, eyes flicking towards the ceiling in exasperation. "Anyway, how've you been? Are you doing okay in your classes? I know it makes you nervous when I'm not there."
"Y-yeah! I mean I-I did worry about you a lot." Crona's gaze reverted to its natural position of staring at the floor. "B-but Professor Stein let me come see you instead of going to class today."
Maka smiled. "That was nice of him. He really cares about his students, doesn't he?"
Crona couldn't help but smile too. It made them really happy when Maka smiled. "Yeah, he does. I'm glad I have him as a teacher."
Maka set her utensils down on the now-cleaned plate and sighed. "Another delicious meal. Soul spoils me too much, especially when he's worried. And thank you again for helping him. He takes on too much sometimes, and it's good for him to have somebody to take some of the responsibility off of his shoulders."
"You don't have to thank me, Maka." Crona's words had a surprising amount of steadiness after having spent even a few minutes with Maka. "I'm really glad you're okay."
Be glad that I'm lazy today, otherwise I'd come out and tell her how scared you were. Ragnarok's voice rang in their head.
"Yeah, me too." Maka's smile evolved into a prolonged yawn.
"Are you still tired?"
Maka looked away sheepishly. "It's not that bad."
Crona shook their head. "You should rest. I can-" they paused uncertainly before forcing themselves to complete the sentence, "-I can come back tomorrow to see you again."
Maka glanced mock-disapprovingly at them. "Not you too." She sighed. "You're right though. Everyone's right. I'm sorry I can't stay awake very long. Stein says I should be ready to go to school some time next week, but I'll be stuck in bed for at least another few days. But, at least I won't be lonely. Somebody's been by to visit nearly every day since I got back. It makes me happy that I have such good friends."
"It makes me happy, too." That rare phantom of a smile crept back onto Crona's lips. "I'll go now, okay?"
Maka yawned again and snuggled her way deeper under the covers. "Tell Soul thanks for me, would you?"
"I-I will." Crona picked up the plate and glass, then quietly left. A sole hand appeared to close the door behind them before sliding back inside Crona. Crona made their way into the kitchen and set the dishes onto an already enormous, precarious pile of dishes inside the sink. They didn't see Soul, and let out a small sigh of relief before heading quickly towards the door.
"Hey, Crona." Soul stuck his head out of the next room. Crona stopped dead, slowly turning their head to look at Soul. "Thanks for coming to see Maka today. She's been asking about you for a couple days now, so it was cool of you to visit."
"O-of course. I've been w-worried about her too."
"And..." Soul walked the rest of the way into the room. The look of having something to say had returned. Crona was caught between desperately wanting to sprint for the door and knowing that they should wait and listen. Finally, Soul opened his mouth. "Look, you know I don't hate you, right?" Crona stepped back a bit.
"Y-yeah, I-"
"You always look scared when I'm around. I mean, more scared. So I wanted to say that. We were enemies back then, and a lot of things were different. You're a different person now. You're my friend now. You got that?"
"U-um, y-yeah. I know that."
Soul stuck his hand out. "We cool?"
Crona carefully took Soul's hand. It was a lot warmer than theirs, but Crona's hands were always as cold as ice. The warmth was comforting, like Maka's smile. Soul shook Crona's hand firmly, then let go and turned back to head into the room he'd come from. "Come back again, okay? She really likes when you visit."
"I'll be back tomorrow, if that's okay."
Soul looked over his shoulder, his signature grin on his face once again. "I look forward to it. See you then."
"See you...then."
As Crona left, Ragnarok once again appeared, sitting discontentedly on top of Crona's head. "Soul lied to me, he didn't give me any food at all. You better feed me when we get back to our room, Crona."
"I will."
"What's with the doofy grin?"
Crona's hands flew to their face. Sure enough, the phantom smile had evolved into a much wider, much happier one.
"N-nothing. Let's go home."
The smile stayed on their face all day, only fading with that night's uninterrupted sleep.