So this is the third story in my NaNoWiMo 30/50/15 series and I'm not sure how much I like it (I think I planned it to be a lot better in my head but when you're trying to hit word counts and not deleting anything in editing something get lost somewhere but I did manage to get all the really funny bit in). Inspired by a Fall Out Boy song with Kid and Crona as the main pair, sort of a continuation from my other Soul Eater fic 'Say Goodbye, It'll Make Me Want To Kiss You' but it doesn't matter in the slightest if you haven't read it. In my mind Crona will always be a boy but if you're on the 'Crona is a girl' side of the fence fell free to change all the 'he's' to 'she's'. Also only realised last night that I've spent the last four days ignoring the massive fucking height difference between the two...I'm throwing this out there; I intended them to be early 20s so Kid had a growth spurt (I fail :( boo)
Anyway enough of my insane rambling, on with the story.
It all started with a smile which eventually led to an awkward first kiss.
"Kid?" Crona called out as he simultaneously opened and knocked on the huge door of his friend's house, wondering where the hell the young Reaper was. He, Kid, Maka, Soul, Black*Star, Tsubaki, and the twins had arranged to meet up to play basketball one afternoon when none of them were working, a rarity these days.
It was supposed to be an afternoon like the many they had spent together while teenagers studying at the DWMA before they graduated. All of them had been looking forward to it for weeks and Crona was no exception – he missed all of his friends, sure he saw Maka and Soul on a regular basis but he enjoyed spending time with all of them together. Kid however had been late…really late. Neither of the twins knew where he was and he hadn't been in contact with any of them so Crona had said that he would go and see if Kid was at home as he had already been hit in the head with the ball and was feeling a little bit dizzy.
When there was no answer from anywhere inside Crona entered, closing the door behind him. He looked around the hallway and shivered slightly; Kid's house was creepy. Everything was perfectly and eerily symmetrical (then again Crona knew he shouldn't be surprised, this was Kid's house after all of course it was going to be symmetrical). He called out his friend's name again as he made his way through the house and up the stairs till he reached the door to Kid's bedroom.
"Dirty! Disgusting! Asymmetrical garbage!" came a low distressed moan from inside. Crona rolled his eyes and shook his head; of course this was why Kid was late, this was always the reason why Kid was late for everything. He knocked on the door, pushing it open when he heard more low and agonised groaning coming from inside.
"Kid?" he asked when he took in the sight of Kid lying face down on the floor in a small puddle of his own blood. "Are you ok?" At the sound of Crona's soft voice Kid seemed to return to some state of normality and looked up from his heap on the floor.
"Crona," he said blinking in confusion. "what are you doing here?"
"I came to see if you were ok." Crona said going to kneel down in front of Kid.
"Why?"
"We were all supposed to play basketball together, remember." Crona gently reminded him.
"Oh," Kid replied airily. "Yes we were. When were we supposed to meet?"
"About an hour ago." Crona told him. Kid heaved himself into a sitting position and wiped the blood he had spit up off his chin.
"Damn, I didn't realise what the time was." he sighed. "Is everyone really pissed off at me for being late?"
"No," Crona smiled. "we were just a little worried about you. We kind of figured you were having some kind of asymmetrical related breakdown." Kid chuckled softly.
"Am I really that predictable?" he asked.
"Little bit." Crona replied a littler nervously, not wanting to cause any offence. "So what was it this time?" he asked as he titled his head to the side and gave Kid a kind smile when he didn't say anything.
"I discovered that every single painting on the left side of my room was hanging half a centimetre to the right so I had to fix them but then I noticed that every single painting on the right side of my room suddenly looked out of line. So I moved them half a centimetre to the left and the room looked fine but then it hit me; I've lived with it like this for the last six months and haven't noticed! And now that I have noticed I can't ignore it and pretend that my room isn't and hasn't been in a constant state disgusting asymmetrical horror. I mean how could I have not noticed?" Kid told him, clutching his head and groaning morosely. Crona blinked, in Kid's twisted mind it sort of made sense but it was still an insane reason to lie passed out in a puddle of your own blood for a good half hour.
"Well if it will make you feel better I can help you fix it?" Crona said calmly, giving him a small shrug. Despite the fact that he was just as mentally messed up and unstable as Kid when he was around the young Reaper Crona always found himself in a strange state of calm. When Kid didn't know how to handle things being asymmetrical Crona seemed to find that easier to deal with than anything else.
"But that could take hours." Kid said quietly. Crona shrugged.
"If it'll help you get out of the house faster then I don't mind." he smiled.
"But…" Kid began but Crona lifted a finger to cut him off. He pulled the mobile phone Soul had given him out of his pocket and tapped out a text message.
"I'll tell Maka what we're doing and that we're going to be late so they don't worry about us." he said. Kid gave him a grateful smile.
"Thank you but what am I going to do until then?" Kid asked. "Even though we're fixing it I don't think I'll be able to get my mind off the fact that I failed to notice that it wasn't symmetrical for six full months." Crona thought for a second. He needed to find a way to get Kid's mind off the paintings for long enough so that he could actually fix the problem without him coughing up blood again. He looked around the room until he spotted one of Liz's hairbands poking out from underneath the bed (another symmetrical thing about the room that Kid had failed to notice). Crona leaned over, picked up the hairband and used it to push his lopsided bangs out of his face. He smiled at Kid, whose eyes widened.
"Better?" he asked.
"Much."
An hour and a half later Crona put down the hammer he had been using and wiped his forehead, smiling as he took in his and Kid's handiwork (well mostly his handiwork, Kid had spent most of the time trying not to have a brain aneurism every time a part of his room became even the slightest bit asymmetrical). He watched as Kid hung up the final painting before he stood back and sighed happily.
"Perfect." he murmured. "Everything is perfectly symmetrical. Sorry I made you do all of this." he added a little louder turning to give Crona an embarrassed smile.
"You didn't make me do it I was happy to." he smiled taking off the hairband and letting his hair fall back into place, hoping that Kid was too distracted by his perfectly symmetrical room to notice his offside haircut.
"But still I'm very grateful for the help." Kid replied. "It would have taken a lot longer without you and I honestly don't think I would have been able to stand that much blood loss."
"Yeah you would have ended up being anaemic if you weren't careful." Crona let out a nervous laugh. A slightly uncomfortable silence fell over the room and Crona shifted awkwardly.
"Um would you like something to eat?" Kid asked after a while.
"Um I'm fine but thank you." Crona smiled.
"Are you sure? It's the least I can do after you went to all the trouble to help me fix my room." Kid stated. "Also you need to put some weight on, you're way too skinny." Crona laughed nervously.
"Well Maka's tried 'feeding me up' many times but I guess that I just don't seem to be able to put any on." he explained.
"Liz would be so jealous if she knew." Kid chuckled as he went and sat down on the edge of his bed. He gestured for Crona to sit next to him so the slender boy perched on the very edge of the bed next to him. He shifted awkwardly; Crona had never been alone with Kid for a long period of time before. He knew that he had been alone with him while they were redecorating his room but they had been busy the entire time. Now it was obvious that he was alone with Kid; he didn't know what to say, he didn't know what to do and he didn't know how to deal with it.
"Hey listen…" both of them said at exactly the same time.
"You go." Kid said.
"No, it's fine." Crona smiled. "You go first."
"I just wanted to say thank you again." Kid stated staring intently at his hands, practically clenching his fists against his knees. "I know to everyone else I seem completely insane…"
"I prefer the term quirky." Crona laughed softly, Kid joined in.
"Well I certainly prefer that too." he stated. "Everyone else, however, does tend to lean towards insane but you didn't hit me or tell me to snap out of it, like Liz and Patti always do. You just let me get on with it, talked me back to normal and helped me to fix it when I'm sure you had better things to do with your afternoon."
"It's ok, like I said I was happy to help." Crona smiled.
"Yes but it's more than that." Kid stated. "You're always the first person to help someone out when they need it. You're kind and you're easy to talk to and I find that when I'm around you I'm a lot calmer and I don't have a panic attack every time something is asymmetrical or I think I didn't fold the corners on my duvet over. You just give off this calming air."
"Do I?" Crona asked. "I always thought I was such a neurotic mess."
"You used to be." Kid stated. "Since Medusa was killed and the Keshin was defeated you've, for want of a better phrase, mellowed."
"Thank you…err, I think." Crona laughed a little nervously. Kid was right though. Ever since Medusa had been killed and her hold over him had broken and the Keshin's madness was no longer circling around him Crona had found that everything made him less nervous and he found things easier to deal with.
"I've thought that for a while." Kid said looking up at him, a blush fanning across his face. "You're an amazing person Crona."
"Kid," Crona began, his own blush forming, looking away. "where's all this coming from?"
"I don't know really." Kid replied rubbing the back of his neck. "It's just that you're always doing things for other people and you don't seem to know how much we all like you." Kid sighed. "Does that make any sense?"
"I think so." Crona mumbled. He didn't take compliments very well from anyone but for some reason hearing them from Kid was just making him even more nervous.
"Um Crona?" Kid began and Crona looked up at him. He was biting his lower lip and the expression on his face was unreadable.
"Yeah?"
"I…" Kid began but tailed off moving his head closer to Crona's. Crona felt his entire body freeze, his face burning, as Kid's face got dangerously close to his. He could feel his heart beating so fast he thought it was going to burst out of his chest and he ws pretty sure his bottom lip was trembling with his nerves. His eyes slid closed reflexively, nervously, as Kid's nose brushed his. Crona's entire body stiffened and his eyes shot open in shock as Kid's lips pressed against his softly. He didn't know how to react to this; he had never been kissed by anyone before and now his first kiss was with another boy! And not just any boy; he was kissing Death the Kid!
After a moment Kid pulled away to see Crona staring at him in complete shock, his eyes wide as he drew his hand up to gently touch his lips. Kid's own eyes widened as he realised what he'd done – he had just kissed Crona! Why had he done that? Yes, he liked Crona; he felt calm around Crona and he enjoyed spending time with him but that still didn't explain why his brain had thought it was a good idea to kiss him. He hadn't even said anything to give him any warning either, he had just done it without thinking and he was almost certain, judging by the way Crona was looking at him, he had only succeeded in terrifying him.
"Oh my god did I just see that!" a loud and obnoxious voice shouted. Both Kid and Crona turned to see Black*Star standing in the doorway of Kid's bedroom, Maka, Soul, Tsubaki, Liz and Patti standing behind him.
"Black*Star!" Kid shouted. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"We decided to take a break from basketball." Maka said quietly, her eyes the size of saucers. "So we thought we would come and see what was taking you guys so long."
"We did knock but the door was open so we just came up." Liz added.
"And then we walked in on you guys…" Tsubaki tailed off.
"Kissing!" Patti screeched with mirth before bursting into a tirade of childish singing. "Kid and Crona sitting in a tree; K-I-S-S-I-N-G, first comes love then comes marriage then comes…" she tailed off and turned to Liz. "What comes next? Cause they can't have a baby they're two guys."
"Oh my god!" Kid cried.
"I don't think you're helping Patti." Liz muttered.
"So Kid likes dudes, huh?" Black*Star laughed. "I always figured him for turning out to be the gay of the group."
"Black*Star!" Tsubaki exclaimed.
"How about you Crona?" Black*Star asked turning his gaze to him. "What's your deal?"
"What do you mean his deal?" Maka asked giving him a look of utter exasperation.
"I mean is it guys? Girls? Sock Puppets? Ragnarok?"
"Oh my god!" Kid cried again in mild disgust.
"How did this even happen?" Soul asked calmly looking directly at Crona. Crona shuffled nervously, his face heating up and turning bright red. It had been bad enough that Kid had just kissed him but now all of their friends had walked in on it and they were going to be talking about this for a good three weeks now. As the conversation continued around him with Black*Star making stupid jokes about both of their sexual preferences. Crona suddenly leapt to his feet, unable to think about anything other than getting out of Kid's house and out of this embarrassing spotlight.
"I just remembered I have to go!" he exclaimed and without waiting for anyone to respond he ran out of the house, ignoring the calls for him to come back.
"So what did you guys call us all here for?" Soul asked a little confused as Tsubaki handed him a champagne glass. It was very rare, these days, for all of the Miester and Weapon pairs to suddenly meet up without numerous days of planning beforehand and Tsubaki had called them all, out of the blue, the night before saying that they wanted them to come over the following evening. She didn't say anything more than that but Maka and Liz had a sneaking suspicion they thought they knew what it was all about.
"Well," she smiled as she finished handing out the glasses and sat down on the sofa next to Black*Star. He took her hand and the two shared a conspiratorial smile before they turned to all their friends. "we have some good news; we're going to have a baby."
"What?!" Kid exclaimed, his jaw dropping.
"There's going to be a little version of me running around," Black*Star grinned proudly jumping to his feet. "isn't that great?"
"Oh god," Maka's eyes widened slightly. "another Black*Star, that's a terrifying thought."
"Hopefully it'll be more Tsubaki." Soul grinned and Black*Star flipped him off.
"Yay!" Patti cried. "A new baby to play with!" Tsubaki laughed as Patti jumped on her and hugged her, Maka and Liz joining her a few seconds later.
"Congratulations, both of you." Maka said, a beaming smile on her face.
"Thank you." Tsubaki beamed as they pulled away and Crona gave her a hug of his own.
"I'm so happy for you guys." he said.
"Thank you Crona." Tsubaki smiled up at him.
"A baby?" a high pitched voice asked as a swirling black light surrounded Crona's back and Ragnarok appeared. "I hope it's not as ugly as you are when it's born."
"Ragnarok!" Crona reprimanded, giving Tsubaki an apologetic glance.
"Thank you Ragnarok." Tsubaki replied giving him a tight lipped smile, her eye twitching in irritation slightly.
"If it is ugly at least it'll be able to cook." Ragnarok added.
"Please be quiet," Crona muttered. "if you can't be nice."
"Ah fine." Ragnarok griped. "That's my contribution anyway, I'm done." The same swirling black light surrounded Crona and, once it had dissipated, Ragnarok had vanished with it.
"Sorry about him." Crona said turning to Tsubaki but she waved him off and smiled.
"Don't worry about it." she told him. "It's Ragnarok, I know he means well."
"Uh yeah…" Crona laughed privately disagreeing with her; Ragnarok never meant well.
"So how long have you know?" Liz asked changing the subject.
"I found out last night but I went to see Doctor Stein this morning and he said I was about two weeks along." Tsubaki explained.
"Well done man." Soul grinned getting up and going to give Black*Star a hug.
"Yes it seems congratulations are definitely in order." Kid smiled as he joined the hug as well. The girls and Crona watched, smiling at the touching scene in front of them.
"Soul I can feel your boner." Black*Star stated breaking the moment and the hug, laughing.
"You're suck a stupid dick." Soul said giving him a shove. "I hope it doesn't have your intelligence." Black*Star stuck his tongue out while Soul stuck up his middle finger and went back to sit by Maka on the sofa, putting his arm around her shoulders.
"Congratulations Black*Star." Crona said extending his hand, which Black*Star shook heartily.
"Thanks man." he beamed.
"I propose a toast." Maka exclaimed, standing and raising her glass. "To Black*Star and Tsubaki and the newest edition to their family."
"Let's hope it's more Tsubaki than Black*Star." Soul added smirking at Black*Star.
"To Black*Star and Tsubaki." the other chorused, raising their glasses.
"Ok so let's get drunk to celebrate." Black*Star laughed before turning to quickly kiss Tsubaki's on the lips. "Not you babe."
"I'll go get the beer." Tsubaki smiled at him, rolling her eyes. "Hey Crona can you come give me a hand?"
"What?" Crona asked suddenly tuning in to the fact that she was talking to him. "Oh sure." he smiled.
"I'll come too." Maka added following them out of the living room and into the kitchen.
"So," Tsubaki said rounding on Crona as soon as the kitchen door was shut. "have you spoken to Kid since he kissed you?"
"What?" Crona squeaked nervously almost jumping out of his skin. "Um no, I haven't."
"That was three weeks ago!" Tsubaki exclaimed.
"Hasn't he tried to talk to you about it or anything?" Maka asked (evidently this was the only reason she had come with them, Crona realised).
"No, we haven't spoken about it or anything since then." he told them. "I guess I've kind of been avoiding him."
"So what actually happened?" Maka asked. "I got your text about fixing his room then when you didn't show up we thought we'd see if you were ok. Then when we walked in the two of you were kissing and you looked terrified."
"It wasn't like that!" Crona exclaimed. "He kissed me!"
"Is that really the point Crona?" Maka asked raising an eyebrow at him.
"Well it's just that I wasn't expecting it and I don't know how to deal with surprises." Crona mumbled shuffling.
"So it was just the fact that it surprised you that bothered you?" Tsubaki asked. "Not the fact that a boy kissed you?"
"Um well I don't know." he hedged. "I mean I never really thought about that kind of thing before. I never really thought that anyone would want to kiss me."
"Why not? You're a catch." Maka stated. Crona just raised his eyebrows at her.
"So what do you think now?" Tsubaki asked changing the subject.
"Um I don't know." Crona replied nervously.
"Oh come on Crona," Maka almost whined. "you have to have some idea how you feel about it."
"What do you mean?"
"Ok aside from being surprised what were you thinking about when Kid kissed you?" Tsubaki asked.
"I don't know." Crona bit his lip. "I mean it was strange; it was kind of nice but in a strange way. I don't really know what that mean though." Tsubaki and Maka grinned at each other.
"I'd say that means that you like Kid." Maka stated.
"Really?" Crona's voice came out in a hoarse whisper as that realisation dawned on him.
Meanwhile in the living room Liz was questioning Black*Star about whether he'd prefer to have a girl or a boy and Patti was looking at photographs of Black*Star and Tsubaki when they were babies with Soul, trying to work out who their child would look like more. Kid was sitting staring in the direction of the closed kitchen door, wondering what Tsubaki, Maka and Crona were talking about although he could probably guess. Considering that Tsubaki had asked for his help and Maka had gone with them then two had probably pounced on Crona, questioning about the kiss the two of them had shared when they were supposed to be out playing basketball, as soon as the door had closed.
"Penny for them?" Soul's deep voice snapped Kid out of his reverie and he looked over at his friend who had slipped into the seat next to him.
"What?"
"What are you thinking about?" Soul asked. "You looked like you were deep in thought, while staring at the kitchen door."
"Um nothing." Kid hedged.
"You're wondering what they're talking about in there, aren't you?" Soul grinned. "I don't blame you; girls do like to gossip and jump to conclusions without thinking about it too much."
"I can probably guess what they're talking about." Kid stated turning his gaze to his hands, placed firmly in his lap.
"You kissing Crona?" Soul asked grinning. "Have you spoken to him since then?" he asked when Kid didn't make any comment.
"Er no." Kid admitted.
"Why not?"
"I don't really know." he shrugged. "I've thought about it, I've thought about what I'd say to him countless times but it never seemed like the right time or I never had the right words and I didn't know how to start so I just sort of left it."
"That's not cool man," Soul replied shaking his head. "not cool at all."
"I will confess I messed up," Kid stated. "and when I do finally work up the courage to talk to him I'll drop in 'I'm sorry' as well as if everything was normal between Crona and I and I hadn't left it three weeks. How did you and Maka get over the awkward first kiss?"
"I stayed, kissed her back then fucked her on the sofa." Soul stated bluntly. "Listen if you hadn't of just left it and gone to talk to him after it happened or gone after him when he ran off like that then they might still be. I must admit I'm quite surprised that Black*Star hasn't made some kind of stupid Black*Star joke about it seeing as you're both here."
"Patti keeps reminding me about it every now and agin." Kid told him. "She thinks it's hilarious and Liz did dress up 'Kid, you'll never live this down' but I'm also surprised that Black*Star hasn't mentioned it."
"Well don't say that too loudly or he will." Soul chuckled. "Why don't you just go talk to him?" he added after a pause.
"Crona?"
"No Black*Star cause we all walked in on you and him kissing – of course Crona!" Soul replied rolling his eyes at Kid's ineptitude.
"Do you think it's a good idea?" Kid asked shifting nervously. "Do you think I've left it a bit too late?" Part of him knew that he should go and talk to Crona but had he left it too long now? If he brought it all up now after all this time Crona might just freak out and run away again but if he went and spoke to him but didn't mention the kiss at all then they might be able to return to normal. At least that was the theory.
"Yes, go talk to him – you can't mess this up any more than you already have." Soul stated giving Kid a small shove off the sofa. Kid got to his feet and straightened his jacket, taking a deep breath. He might as well bite the bullet and do it now; at least the two of them could speak privately here...well somewhat privately at the very least. He went over to the kitchen, knocked on the door and walked in.
"Oh hey Kid," Tsubaki smiled. "did Black*Star send you in?"
"No, I just wanted to have a quick word with Crona, if that's ok." Kid replied blushing slightly. Maka and Tsubaki grinned at each other, their minds going to exactly the same place, Crona just looked as if he wanted to throw up.
"Ok well we have some drinks to take through." Tsubaki said grabbing a couple of bottles of wine while Maka picked up a crate of beer.
"We'll leave you to it." she sang grinning at the pair of them as Tsubaki went back into the living room. As she walked passed Crona grabbed Maka's arm.
"Please don't leave me alone with him, I don't know how to deal with this." he hissed, terror in his voice. Maka shrugged his feeble hold off.
"You'll be fine," she grinned at him. "and if you're not just kiss him again and see what happens."
"But…" Crona began but it was too late Maka had gone back into the living room, closing the door behind her and leaving him alone with Kid. He turned to face him – he looked almost as nervous as Crona felt. "So…" he began laughing nervously.
"Crona I apologise for what happened a couple of weeks ago." Kid said hurriedly, his words coming out as a jumbled mess.
"Pardon?"
"Three weeks ago, when you helped me fix the paintings hanging in my room and I…" Kid tailed off in embarrassment. "Well I just wanted to apologies for that."
"Oh no, I'm sorry." Crona jumped in. "I shouldn't have just run off like that it was just that everyone was staring and I don't know how to deal with people staring at me. So I ran off and then didn't say anything for three weeks because it was easier."
"No it was my fault I shouldn't have just kissed you like that; it was incredibly stupid of me and it was a big mistake…"
"Oh!" Crona suddenly exclaimed. "Was I not that good? I'm sorry; I didn't mean to be bad."
"No that's not what I meant in the slightest." Kid corrected him hurriedly.
"Oh ok that's good, I guess." Crona sighed. He was relieved that he hadn't been a bad kisser but he at the same time he wasn't sure why. It didn't make a lot of sense to him that he wasn't admitting that he liked Kid to himself but he didn't want Kid to think he was a bad kisser. Emotions were complicated, he thought.
"No that wasn't why it was a mistake." Kid told him, reiterating his point. "That's not what I meant at all. I meant…I don't know what I meant really. Can we just forget it ever happened?"
"The kiss?"
"Yes, can you just give me another chance and we can start all over again?" he asked after a second's thought. "Just pretend it never happened." Crona smiled shyly.
"This is new; I always feel like I'm the one asking for second chances," he stated. "although I always feel like I've had way too many."
"Well will you grant me one?" Kid asked hopefully moving a little closer until he and Crona were almost touching. Kid knew that getting closer to Crona was a big mistake because, the way he was looking right now – so sweet and innocent, biting his lower lip like that – he really wanted to just lean over and kiss him.
"Ok." Crona replied, blushing softly, completely oblivious to Kid's inner termoil. The two stood in silence for a while both just smiling at each other and shifting awkwardly, neither sure what to do next despite what Kid's raging hormones were telling him to do. That is until a shout, that was somewhat muffled by the door met their ears.
"What are you waiting for?" Liz's voice shouted. "Kiss him!"
"Kiss him!" Maka, Tsubaki and Patti's voices echoed. Kid sighed, and the moment was broken. He went over to the door and yanked it open to see the four girls with their ears pressed up against where the door had been only moments before, Soul and Black*Star on the sofa rolling their eyes.
"Oh hey Kid." Liz said grinning up at him from her hands and knees. Kid raised an eyebrow at them.
"What are you doing?" he asked flatly.
"We were just checking the quality of the wood on the door." Maka hedged giving him a large fake smile.
"It's really good wood." Tsubaki added smiling innocently.
"So did you two kiss again?" Patti asked, oblivious to the others trying to disguise their real intention. "We didn't quite catch that bit."
"Why don't you just drop dead." he growled at her.
"Dropping dead?" Ragnarok's voice asked as he poked his head out from between Crona's shoulder blades. "I can get behind that. Do I get to kill them." Crona smacked the palm of his hand to his face and dragged it down to his chin, groaning; he certainly didn't know how to deal with this.
The following weekend Crona found himself behind the wheel of a car, gripping it so tightly his knuckles were whitening, with Maka beside him and Soul, Kid and Black*Star in the back with Tsubaki perching on Black*Star's lap. This was certainly not what Crona had expected he would be doing on a Saturday afternoon. Maka (in her infinite wisdom) had decided to teach Crona how to drive; he had gotten the hang of it but he had never had more than one of two other people in the car with him at once and he was pretty sure that having Tsubaki sitting on Black*Star's lap like that was kind of illegal.
"Ok turn right here." Maka instructed as they approached a set of traffic lights.
"Where exactly are we going?" Kid asked.
"I have a meeting with my doctor just to make sure everything's alright with the baby." Tsubkai smiled.
"Yeah we need to make sure that it's got ten fingers and toes." Black*Star stated.
"And it doesn't look too much like Black*Star." Soul added.
"You two do realise I'm only a couple of weeks pregnant." Tsubaki stated.
"Yeah it's only going to be about the size of walnut." Maka added.
"Yeah but it's got my genes it'll still be super awesome." Black*Star beamed puffing out his chest proudly.
"If you say so." Soul muttered. "Hey Maka, why did you drag me and Kid along on this driving lesson too?"
"Crona needs to practice driving with more people in the car." she stated. "Plus you said you wanted to hang out today."
"I meant just you, me and a tube of massage lotion." he muttered leaning close to her ear, giving her neck a soft rub. "Not stuck in a car with these guys."
"We can still do that when we get home." she replied giving him a radiant smile. Soul groaned.
"Damnit woman, why can't I say no to you." he said sitting back and grinning at her.
"Is anyone else feeling uncomfortable?" Kid asked.
"I am." Crona stated.
"Hey Kid there's something I've been meaning to ask you." Black*Star piped up.
"Sure Black*Star, what is it?"
"Here we go." Soul sighed.
"Are your balls symmetrical?"
"What?" Kid cried in indignation.
"Are your balls symmetrical?" Black*Star asked again.
"Black*Star!" Maka cried. "Why the hell would you ask something like that?"
"What?" Black*Star asked innocently. "I just wondered cause balls aren't symmetrical but Kid's must be otherwise he'd have a freak out panic attack every single time he went to take a piss."
"I can't wait to bear the fruit of you loins." Tsubaki stated giving him a smile that clearly said 'you're an idiot'.
"Of course you can't." Black*Star said, ignoring her tone completely. "I'm Black*Star, I'm amazing and any child that has my DNA is going to be just as awesome as I am."
"Speed bump guys, brace yourselves." Crona told them changing the subject swiftly and keeping his eyes fixed on the road; he wasn't the most confident driver in the world (considering he'd only had about nine lessons) the conversations going on around him were very distracting and every so often he'd catch Kid's eye in the rear view mirror, which really wasn't helping. Even though the two of them had decided to forget about the kiss and go back to the way things were beforehand Crona hadn't been able to stop thinking about it. He couldn't quite work out why but he found himself drawn to Kid. It also wasn't helping that Kid seemed to be looking at him like he was in love (although that might have been the angle that Crona was looking).
"Black*Star!" Tsubaki exclaimed as the car drove over the slight bump. "Is that your…?" She never finished the question as Black*Star smirked at her and a grin formed on her own face.
"What?" he asked shrugging. "I've got my gorgeous wife sitting on my lap and we just went over a speed bump, of course I think it's hot."
"Should I move?" Tsubaki asked wiggling her hips slightly making Black*Star let out a low groan. He turned her head to face him and kissed her heatedly.
"Oh my god!" Crona muttered as the couple began furiously kissing in the back seat.
"Can I swap seats with someone?" Kid asked trying to put as much distance between himself and the pair, shuffling closer to Soul and nearly ending up in his lap.
"Oh hell no!" Soul cried pushing Kid back towards them. "You're not sitting on my lap!"
"I don't want to be a part of their make out session!" Kid cried jumping away from the couple as quickly as he could.
"Will you two stop bickering; I'm trying to read a map." Maka snapped turning round to glare at Kid and Soul.
"Don't you know where we're going?" Kid asked.
"That's great; you have no idea where we're going and you're directing Spaz Attack here." Soul groaned gesturing to Crona.
"Don't call him Spaz Attack!" Maka reprimanded, trying to give Soul a clip round the ears from her position in the front seat.
"Yeah!" Ragnarok's voice piped up as he appeared from between Crona's shoulder blades and tried to take a swing at Soul himself but found it difficult in the cramped space. "No one's allowed to insult Shrimpy here but me!"
"Don't call me Shrimpy." Crona whined forlornly.
"Oh will you just get lost or I swear to god I'll throw you out the window!" Soul growled at Ragnarok who leap away from him, in fear of him taking a swing at him, and grabbed onto Crona's head.
"I can't drive like this!" Crona shouted suddenly, his voice cracking nervously as he slammed his foot on the break. Maka, Soul, Kid, Ragnarok, Black*Star and Tsubaki all stopped what they had been doing and slowly turned to stare at him. A few cars honked loudly, angrily, behind him but Crona didn't seemed to notice, he kept staring at the road ahead of him, his hands still gripping the steering wheel for dear life.
"Crona?" Maka asked after a long pause. "Are you ok?"
"Right!" Crona yelled suddenly coming back to himself He turned to face Black*Star and Tsubaki first. "You two please stop dry humping in the back seat – I'm pretty sure you sitting on him is illegal without you doing that as well. You two stop arguing!" he told Maka and Soul before looking up at Ragnarok. "You either shut up or go away and you," he yelled turning to Kid. "stop looking at me like that I don't know how to deal with it!" Silence fell over the car before Crona took a deep breath and began to drive again. "So Tsubaki, doctors?"
"Yeah just round the corner." she replied a little nervously. "Thanks Crona."
"Are you sure you want to take this bet?" Ragnarok asked turning to Kid. "Write him off, he's a long shot. I'd give up on him if I were you – I would if I could."
"So what was all that about back there?" Kid asked leaning against the side of the car next to Crona and folding his arms across his chest. He stared straight ahead, watching Soul and Black*Star receiving a beating from Maka as they waited outside the surgery for Tsubaki.
"What do you mean?" Crona asked nervously, keeping his gaze resolutely away from Kid and on the ground.
"Your little outburst in the car." Kid stated. "What did you mean by 'stop looking at you like that'?"
"Um I…well I don't…I don't really know." Crona hedged. He did but he didn't want to tell Kid that. He didn't want to have to confess to the fact that Kid sitting behind him, looking at him like he was in love made him so nervous was because he was pretty sure that he was falling in love with Kid.
"Oh," Kid muttered and Crona thought that he sounded disappointed. "ok. I'm sorry."
"What for?"
"I didn't realise the way I was looking at you was making you feel uncomfortable, that was the last thing that I intended to do." Kid told him. "I didn't realise I was looking at you strangely."
"It's ok," he replied. "A lot of things make me uncomfortable."
"Yes I've noticed that." Kid chuckled.
"I'm sorry; I don't mean to be so nervous all the time." Crona mumbled. "I thought I'd gotten better at not being a nervous wreck all the time." His eyes remained glued on the floor, having no idea where to look and knowing that if he looked at Kid his face would like up like some kind of Firework Night display. Suddenly he felt a hand on his head and fingers ruffling his hair slightly.
"You're doing fine." Kid muttered not looking at him. Crona turned to him and gave him a small smile, a blush fanning across his face.
"I'm sorry about Ragnarok as well." Crona added. "About what he said in the car. He's sometimes…"
"A raging arse-hole?" Kid laughed.
"Yeah," Crona agreed. "but he is right though; I am a bit of a lost cause."
"I don't think you are."
"What?"
"I don't think you're a lost cause." Kid repeated. "I actually rather like you the way you are."
"Um, Kid…" Crona began tailing off as he looked up into Kid's golden eyes.
"Yeah…" Kid replied, his gaze slipping down to Crona's lips and closing the distance between them a little bit. Crona felt his heart rate rise the closer Kid got, his eyes slid closed and he gently licked his lips in mild anticipation. When they were only a hair's breadth from each other a loud shout made them jump away from each other as if they were opposing magnetic poles.
"Oh my god, what the hell are you two waiting for? Just kiss already!" Black*Star yelled at them. They both turned to stare at him, now lying in a small pool of blood with a large book shaped dent in his cranium and Maka holding a book and glaring at him. Crona sighed and heaved his slender frame off the side of the car. Once again the moment between them was gone.
"I'm going to go check the petrol tank, make sure we've got enough to get home." he mumbled and before Kid could stop him and regain the moment he had gone, only to be replaced by Maka a few seconds later.
"Kid can I talk to you?" she asked but Kid had the vague impression that he didn't have a lot of choice in the matter.
"Sure." he replied, unsure where this was going. "What did you want to talk about?"
"I want to talk about Crona." Maka stated.
"What about him?"
"Crona is…well, you know, Crona," she began. "and he's not all that good with people, or being normal, and he's kind of nervous about everything."
"Maka is this going somewhere?" Kid asked raising an eyebrow at her, hoping she would get to the point soon.
"Ok I'm going to level with you and play the part of the big sister in all of this." she said looking directly into Kid's eyes. "If you do anything to hurt or upset Crona in any way, shape or form I swear to god that I will move everything on the left hand side of your room one centimetre away from where it should be but I won't do it in the same direction. No, I'll do it in a zig-zag each way so that it'll look even more asymmetrical and it'll take you even longer to fix. Are we clear?"
"Perfectly." Kid replied trying not to bleed from the eyeballs at the thought of the devastation that Maka could wreak on his bedroom if she thought he had done anything to upset Crona.
It took another week and a half before Kid had a chance to get Crona alone again although it was under circumstances that neither of them thought were in any way ideal. All eight of the friends had been supposed to meet at Maka and Soul's for their regular monthly dinner and Crona was on his way when he received a text from Maka asking him to stop by Kid's because the twins said he was having another asymmetrical induced anxiety attack and he was the only one who still hadn't arrived yet. Crona sighed, he knew his panic attacks were annoying but Kid's were starting to reach new levels of irritating.
"Kid?" Crona called as he knocked and entered his friend's bedroom. He sighed again as he saw Kid lying in a crumpled heap on the floor, wondering what the hell it was that was the matter with him this time. He nudged Kid's leg with his foot in an attempt to rouse him before going to kneel down next to him. "Kid, are you ok?"
"Crona?" Kid asked looking up from his heap on the floor. He opened his mouth to ask what Crona was doing there but the more he thought about it he suddenly realised the answer. It was exactly the same reason Crona had showed up, unannounced, as last time. "I'm late again aren't I?"
"Yeah." Crona chuckled. "What happened this time?"
"I was getting ready to go to Soul and Maka's for dinner when I noticed that the right side of my clothes had more creases than the left side so I ironed them, making sure that the only creases on the shirt were supposed to be there and that they were perfectly symmetrical." Kid explained. "I sent Liz a text saying that I'd be ready soon and I got dressed, then just before I left I noticed this. Kid opened his jacket and Crona saw a large iron shaped burn on one side of his shirt.
"Did you leave the iron on your shirt while you were texting Liz?"
"Maybe." Kid muttered, pouting slightly.
"Do you have any other shirts?" Crona asked after a moment's thought.
"Not ones that don't need meticulous ironing or washing." Kid replied.
"Well maybe you don't need it to be perfectly symmetrically ironed. No one is going to care if your shirt isn't symmetrical we just want you to be there." Crona gave him an encouraging smile. Kid stared at him as if he had just suggested reviving the Keshin and committing mass murder.
"You've met me right?" Kid asked flatly giving Crona an incredulous stare.
"Yeah I have," Crona murmured. "and I don't blame you for being you but you can't blame me for hating it." he added a little louder.
"Well I could say exactly the same thing about you." Kid shot back angrily. "You're just as bad as I am but in a different way." he added his voice softening.
"And I'll be the first to admit that," Crona replied shrugging. "but I'm trying to get over it."
"So you're saying I should just get over an affliction I've had my entire life?" Kid asked a little sarcastically.
"N…No," Crona stuttered softly trying to work out how to put what he wasnted to convey into words. "But…" he began before he closed his mouth and thought for a moment. "Kid why did you kiss me?" he asked after a pause. Kid was not expecting that. They hadn't really spoken about the kiss since that night at Tsubaki and Black*Star's when the two had announced that they were having a baby.
"I…I don't know. I guess because I like you." Kid replied and he blinked in mild surprise. He had never expected Crona to be so forward about it.
"Why?" Crona asked and it wasn't his usual self-pitying, nervous tone; he sounded like he was challenging Kid. "I'm not perfectly symmetrical." he added before Kid could say anything.
"No…" Kid murmured softly. "I suppose you're not." And it was true. Crona wasn't perfectly symmetrical; one of his eyes was ever so slightly bigger than the other, he had a tiny scar under his left ear, he always held his left shoulder a little higher and the right and Kid didn't even want to start on his hair – it was all over the place! No he wasn't perfectly symmetrical, far from it in fact, but Kid wanted him anyway.
"Then why do you like me?" Crona asked still challenging him.
"I…" Kid began but no more words would come to him to make Crona understand. His brain had decided to stop functioning and a part of him was wondering if taking in every single little asymmetrical flaw on Crona's body all at once had caused him to have a brain aneurism and he had put himself in a coma. Crona was still looking at him with that challenging look and he knew that he needed to do something but he couldn't seem to make his brain work. He couldn't function like a normal person because he wasn't; he was insane (as Liz and Soul always so kindly put it).
But, then again, neither was Crona. He was just as messed up and socially awkward as Kid was and because of that, among a number of other things, he was perfect in Kid's eyes. He opened his mouth to tell him before Crona got tired of waiting for a response and walked away when a chorus of voices sounded through the door.
"What are you waiting for? Kiss him you idiot!"
And that was all the encouragement Kid needed. He grabbed the front of Crona's shirt and pulled him into a searing passionate kiss, putting everything he was feeling into it. He wasn't good with words so he'd give actions a go instead. Rather that freaking out and pushing him away (as Kid expected him to) Crona responded, wrapping his arms around Kid's neck and kissing him back, running his fingers through his hair and gripping his scalp.
After what seemed like an eternity they pulled away. Kid brushed a lock of Crona's messy hair out of his eyes. Crona simply smiled at him, feeling completely calm for the first time in a very long while. A chorus of girlish cheering sounded from outside the door and they both laughed; clearly one of their friends hand been spying on them through the keyhole. Kid sighed contentedly as he continued to run his fingers through Crona's hair.
"We're going to be a train wreck aren't we?" he stated but he was smiling. Crona smiled back.
"I think we can make it work."
"I believe you." Kid replied before pulling Crona in for another soft kiss.
It all started with a smile which eventually led to an awkward first kiss and ended with a kiss that led to a loving smile.
3 down, 12 to go :S