Soul Eater is © to Atsushi Okubo.

Another sleepless night.

Crona woke up, for what might have been the twelfth time that night, in a cold sweat. She hugged her knees close to her chest and gulped in fear. She looked around, almost bewildered at her surroundings. She reached over to her nightstand and picked up a small pin, which she used to lightly poke her index finger.

It had almost become routine. She would constantly have nightmares, and she would always wake up to make sure that it was just that—a nightmare. She pricked her finger, sighing in relief when she saw that the blood that beaded up at the tip was in fact red.

It had been two years since Maka had defeated the Kishin Asura, and only one year since Stein had created a formula to successfully separate her and Ragnarok. Said weapon was laying in a bed on the opposite side of the room. When Ragnarok became human, using the term 'overjoyed' to describe his outburst was an understatement.

Soon after, however, Ragnarok began cursing the day that they'd been de-fused. He had an extremely difficult time turning his black blood into a shield, which used to be second nature when he and Crona were fused. He had tried to leave Shibusen and later got into a fight with a drunk gangster on the street.

He came back with several gashes along his body.

He had learned from Soul, who had recently become the new Death-Scythe, how to turn into a weapon once more, the technique having been forgotten since he'd spent years without having to even try. Crona simply had to will that he become a weapon, and that was that.

As a human, Ragnarok took on the appearance of a 15-year-old boy, with greasy black hair that he preferred to comb back, out of his eyes. He was as crude as ever, and quickly learned to fear the power of a Maka-Chop when he had tried to get away with lifting her skirt, which he'd done when he and Crona were fused.

Crona and Ragnarok were accepted as two of Shibusen's students, however, Ragnarok was notorious for skipping classes, challenging other students, and provoking fights. He'd even tried to fight Professor Stein once. He was found huddling in the janitor's closet, muttering something about his toes being switched.

Crona, however, had changed quite a bit. She was still as shy and timid as ever, but her stutter was practically gone, and she felt more confident after fighting against her mother, Medusa, and saving Maka from Medusa's Vector Arrow. She placed a hand over her stomach where the arrow had hit. There was a scar for about a year, but it soon began to fade.

Crona lay back down in her bed, grasping the blanket tightly. She didn't want to go back to sleep, despite being exhausted. However, just as she expected, the inevitable happened and her eyes closed.

The glacier sent shivers up Crona's spine as she tried to push the snow around her away. The snow had packed up beneath her bottom for sitting there so long, and Crona, who was no more than three years old, felt tears sting her eyes. Ragnarok popped out of her back. "Goddammit, Crona!" Ragnarok shouted. "You freaking moron!" He began pushing the snow away as well, trying to free himself and his meister. "You. Freaking. Moron! How the hell did you slip on snow?"

Crona sniffed. "I-I-I d-don't know!" She wailed. "I was trying to find our target, but then I fell back, and-"

"Goddammit!" Ragnarok swore. "All Medusa wanted you to do was find one of those Eskimo guys and eat his soul. But could you?" He asked rhetorically. "Oh, nooo. You just HAD to get us both trapped in this freaking glacier!" The snow finally cleared away and Ragnarok pushed them both up. "Just for that, I'm taking your dinner tonight!"

"No!" Crona cried. "I can't lose anymore weight; my ribs are starting to show through!" Ragnarok growled and reached around Crona's waist, pulling her dress up forcefully. Crona tried to push it back down, but Ragnarok was too strong, lifting her dress high enough to expose her belly to the biting tundra winds. "R-Ragnarok!" Crona wailed. "Please, stop! I-It's so cold! It hurts!" She felt more tears roll down her cheeks. "If I cry anymore, will my face freeze?" She asked herself, reaching up with one hand to wipe her eyes.

In that moment, Ragnarok's strength seemed to double, and the pair was sent backwards into the snow bank they'd just gotten out of.

"...Oh yeah..." Ragnarok looked around. "So that's what happened..."

SLAP!

Crona, now six, had been smacked across her face for the first time, and she burst into heavy sobs. She had been punched before, mostly by Ragnarok and the bullies that lived in town, but this was the first time she'd felt the sting of a fully-opened palm.

The boys that had always bullied her were jeering and hollering at her pain, having delivered the slap. The yelled insulting terms, like, "Freak!" "Loser!" "Weirdo!"

Crona covered her head in her arms as more assaults pounded her into the floor. But what hurt wasn't the names, or the hits, but the fact that no one tried to help her. The sidewalk was bustling with people going to work, going home,going everywhere. And yet no one stopped to help Crona.

No one but her.

An eight-year-old Crona was sadly drawing in the sand with her index finger, frowning, emotionless at the figure she drew. It was what looked like a rabbit, hiding in it's den.

"What's the matter, Crona?" She turned to see the one person who wanted to be her friend, Nicole. Nicole had shoulder-long brown hair and big, green eyes that always warmed Crona's heart. She was always smiling, and whenever Crona looked at her, she felt like she could tell Nicole anything.

"N-nothing." Crona sighed.

Nicole sat down next to her, picking up a small pail and shovel. "Hey, wanna help me make a sandcastle?" She asked.

Crona cocked her head to the side. "Sandcastle?"

Nicole filled the pail with sand and turned it upside-down, forming a rectangular shape. "Yeah. See? It's easy!" She grinned. "Come on, you try!"

Crona picked up the pail and filled it to the brim. She gulped nervously and placed it on the ground. She lifted the pail gingerly, as if it were made of thin glass.

"There ya go!" Nicole cheered.

The smiles were ended abruptly when one of the bullies kicked the sand into Crona's face.

Crona screamed as the particles landed in her eyes, and she fell to her side, clawing at her face. "OW OW OW~!" She wailed. "I can't see!" She rubbed at her eyes, only making it worse. "I don't know how to deal with this!"

She was crying so loud that the was unaware of the outside world until she felt Nicole grab her by the shoulders. "Crona! CRONA!" She shouted, trying to calm her friend down. "It's alright! They won't hurt you anymore!"

Crona opened her eyes painfully, looking around. The bullies were gone, and her vision started to blur. At the same time, the pain subsided as her tears washed the sand away. Nicole removed the last few grains as she wiped at the corners of Crona's eyes.

Crona's bloodshot eyes should have been red. But her blood was black.

One year later, Nicole was comforting her friend once more. Crona's left eye was swollen and black, and her bottom lip was split. One of her teeth was also knocked out, and she had multiple cuts on her arms. Crona was letting out hiccuping sobs, and it only made her wounds worse. Nicole wrapped both arms around the pinkette.

"It's okay, Crona. Those jerks won't hurt you anymore..." She soothed her crying friend.

Crona wiped her eyes, cringing as she brushed across her swollen one. She suddenly felt a searing pain in her spine, and began to panic. "Oh no, NOT HERE!" She thought to herself as she jumped up and ran. Ragnarok surfaced and began insulting her, but Crona was unaware of what they were exactly; she was too busy trying to hide from the one person she called a friend.

Nicole had a look of horror on her face as a ten-year-old Crona loomed over her. Ragnarok had erupted from the pinkette's back, frightening the other girl. "Now do you see?" Crona asked, feeling tears enter her eyes. "This is why we can't be friends. My blood is black."

"C-Crona, what-?" Nicole stuttered.

"If my mother knew I was friends with someone, she'd kill you." Crona felt a sob enter her throat. "We can never be friends, because my blood is black."

Crona, now twelve, broke down, sobbing over the corpse of her friend. "WHY!" She screamed, heartbroken. "She was my only friend, WHY—HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO HER!" She shouted, for the first time, at her mother.

"She knew what she was getting into by befriending you." The woman said, calmly. "Crona, you don't need her. You have the black blood, the demon sword."

"I DON'T CARE!" Crona wailed. "I WISH I DIDN'T HAVE BLACK BLOOD! THEN MAYBE THINGS WOULDN'T BE LIKE THIS!" She growled for the first time ever, now crying in anger in place of sadness. "THEN YOU WOULDN'T HAVE KILLED HER!"

"Did I really kill her?" Medusa asked, pointing at Crona. "Then why is Ragnarok covered in blood?"

Crona's eyes widened, and she looked down at her weapon. Indeed, Ragnarok's shiny black surface was stained red with blood. The blood of her friend. "No..." Crona felt a lump in her throat as she collapsed to her knees. "No...NO...NO-O-O-O!"

"NO-O-O! NO NO NO!" Crona screamed, bolting upright. "NO, NO NO!" She sobbed, hugging her knees to her chest. "NO NO NO NO!" She continued screaming, letting out heavy sobs and wails. "NO! No! No...no-ho..." She sniffled a little as she finally recognized her surroundings. He pulled her sheets close and dried her eyes. "Oh, god..." She whimpered as she buried her face in the blanket.

Ragnarok, who had arrived outside the door, bringing Crona some toast, stared in through the crack, surprised, and even somewhat frightened at her outburst. He ran a hand through his greasy hair and sighed. "Okay, just walk in, pretend that you didn't see anything." He thought to himself.

Crona didn't move as he walked in, still sobbing silently into her blanket.

"Hey, uh, Crona?" Ragnarok poked her, getting no response. "Crona, I brought you some breakfast."

"I'm not hungry." She whimpered.

Ragnarok let out a fake chuckle. "Heh, r-remember when I would steal your food, Crona?" Still, no response. "A-and you always said how if you lost anymore weight, your ribs would start showing through?"

Crona remained silent, not even bothering to lift her head.

Ragnarok growled a bit. "Look, Crona. If you don't eat anything, no guy's ever gonna wanna ask you out." He threatened.

Finally, Crona raised her head. "Why should I care?"

Ragnarok sighed and set the plate aside. "Alright, what's wrong?"

Crona whimpered. "I don't wanna say. It's stupid."

"Hey, c'mon." He persisted. "Would I make fun of you? Don'tanswerthat." He said quickly.

"Nu-u-u." Crona whined. "I dun wanna say~..."

"Huh..." Ragnarok sighed. "Alright, fine." He stood up and walked to the door. "Maka said to tell you that summer vacation starts today, and she and Tsubaki wanted to take you somewhere." Crona nodded slightly and Ragnarok left.

TBC'd...