Hand on hip, he glared at the building. Why? Why was he stuck going here? He was a damned reaper, not some school kid, who did Will think he was? Just because a witch turned him into a teen, doesn't mean he couldn't fight. He began to ascend the stairs to the place.
"One day, I'll surpass god!" Some kid almost yelled as he walked past him. "Right kid, I'm sure of it." Grell muttered under his breath.
"Hey!" The kid turned to face him, "Just who do you think you are?!"
"Please kid, you're not going to frighten me…" Grell pushed him aside, and continued to walk.
"Fight me."
Grell laughed and kept walking.
"I'm serious. I will beat you, weirdo. I don't care if you're new, either. I will beat you."
Grell grinned and turned. "Fine."
"Good. There's a good spot right up there." He pointed to the top of the stairs. Grell turned back, and continued up the stairs.

They stood, twenty feet apart. Grell stood, hand on hip, waiting for this kid to make the first move. After only a few seconds, the kid made his charge. Side-step, block, block, block. Damn the kid is good. Grell thought as he blocked more and more hits. If only I had my scythe… He thought as he blocked another flurry of hits.

Maka and Tsubaki stood and watched as the red haired teen sidestepped to dodge and continued to block. "Why's Black Star going easy on this guy?" Soul asked as he joined the two, "It's taking much longer than normal." Maka shrugged in response.
"What's going on here?" A voice behind them asked.
Maka turned. "Oh, Doctor Stein… Black Star's fighting some new guy. Why? Is something wrong?"
"Partly." He continued to walk past them. Black Star looked over at Sein for a split second.
Finally! An opening! Grell stepped to the side, and punched the kid in the face, sending him flying a few feet. As the kid jumped to stand and charge, a man grabbed him by his collar.
"What are you doing!" the kid almost shouted as he looked at the man.
"He's new, he's not used to the DWMA's rules," He turned to Grell, "You wouldn't last much longer than you did."
Grell pouted, "I would have beaten him!"
"No you wouldn't have," He let Black Star go, "Now, Grell come with me."
"Fine!" Grell walked slowly towards the man.

"I can't believe Stein wouldn't let me finish the fight!" Black Star said angrily to Tsubaki, Maka and Soul as he massaged his cheek.
"Well, something did seem off with his soul wavelength… Different somehow." She frowned slightly.
"Well it doesn't matter, I'll beat him one day." he gave a big grin and laughed.

"So… I'm guessing you're Stein?" Grell said indifferently. He still had yet to look at the man.
"That would be me. I'm guessing Will told you about me?" He spoke dryly.
"Yep."
"Good… Good… So you know you'll be staying with me until we find some other place of stay where we can watch you." He continued on about rules, regulations, schedules, and classes as he slowly lead Grell to his classroom.
"Your seat is up there," Stein pointed to somewhere into the rows of seats, "I'll talk to you after class. Don't cause too much trouble."
"Yeah, sure…" Grell mumbled in response as he walked to sit where he wanted to sit, what did this "Stein" guy know? What made him so special?

He sat in a seat in the middle row of the classroom. As it began to fill, Grell began to drift to sleep.
"Alright class… Today's lesson…" A cold voice came from the center of the room. Grell looked up.
"Oh my, aren't you a sexy one!" he said very loudly out loud as he saw the man who would be teaching them.
"Grell! Be quite. And, besides, you've already met me. I walked you here. Pay more attention. One more outburst, and I'll dissect you."
"Oh dear…" Grell gulped and looked down slightly.
"I'm sure he won't…" A soft spoke next to him.
"Huh?!" Grell looked over at the origin of the soft words.
"He hasn't yet… he might assign you a remedial lesson though…" The pink haired boy smiled slightly and looked away slowly. Grell turned back to the center of the room, back to Stein.

I don't understand a damned thing… Grell thought only a few moments into the lesson. He rested his chin on his hands and tried to pay attention.
Maybe this won't be the walk in the park I thought it would be… Maybe Stein will help me out tonight…

"So… This is where you'll be staying...And, unless you have any questions, I'll leave you to yourself." Stein began to walk out.
"I...I do have a question… Or questions, really. I'm really not understanding the lessons and-"
"No," Stein cut him off, "I cannot answer any questions regarding the lesson. I'll wake you tomorrow for school." He left Grell alone in his room.

Nothing made sense, not one bit. Soul wavelengths? Kishins? What did any of it mean? It was nothing like what he had to learn to become a reaper. The only one who had even helped him at all was that pink-haired boy, and that wasn't really much, he was too shy.
Grell sat in his seat, his thoughts swirling as class neared it's end. He heard Stein talking, but barely heard. He almost wouldn't have heard it, but he did.
"And, remember, there is a test tomorrow, I trust you all have been studying."
"What?!" Grell shouted out loud.
"One more outburst like that and I'll have you dissected." Grell immediately looked down.
"D-don't worry… He'll just throw you out… he wouldn't hurt you…" Grell looked over at the boy who gave him a slight smile. Grell gave a slight smile back. And Stein took notice.

He didn't study, he knew he wouldn't have to. Study or not, he would fail, but when it came time to take the test, his mind decided that he wouldn't fail. He would try his hardest on the test. He would pass, he knew all of this, of course…

None of the test results had been released yet, but Stein felt that he had to tell Grell before he found out on his own. He didn't want to have to post his grade. He knocked on the door to Grell's room. "Grell?"
"What?" there was no sound to indicate movement inside.
"That test from yesterday… Do you want to know what you got?"
"Of course…" the reply was just loud enough for Stein to hear
"You didn't do well… You got only four of the questions correct. A failing grade." There was silence for a few seconds, then a loud slam was heard followed by a scream

Stein sat across from Lord Death, who slowly sipped his tea. "I'm not sure what we should do with Grell, he's becoming a burden to us. He's already failed the first test."
"Well, we can't send him back. What do the other students think of him?"
"Other than fighting Black Star, he hasn't really interacted with any other students. He's talked to Crona a bit, but that's about it… It almost seems as though he wants to help Grell, but isn't too sure as to how…"
"Hmm… How's Crona doing in his studies?"
"Crona? He's doing much better than he used to."
"Good, good… So Crona's talked to Grell, a stranger to him…" He paused for a moment, "Maybe we could use Crona to bring up Grell's grades, and Grell to help Crona become more social." He took a sip of his tea.
"That just might work…"

Grell stared at the thin pink-haired boy sitting in the corner of the room. His eyes narrowed at the pillow the boy had his face buried in. Grell groaned, hoping the kid would react. How the hell long is he going to stay like that? The boy made no motion. Grell's eyes darted about the room.
"So…" Grell brought his foot to rest upon his knee. Stein's going to be pissed if I don't at least start talking to him.
"Crona…?"
The boy glanced up slightly.
"Why the hell are you just sitting there?!"
He buried his head once more.
God dammit.
Grell shook his head, and didn't speak again. Not a word more was spoken until Stein pulled the two out, and sent them both home.

Stein did not say a word to Grell, until he had thrown him into his room. "I'm giving you a chance. Tomorrow, you will met Crona again. You will get along with him, and he will get along with you. This is your chance to succeed."
"B-but-" Grell was cut off by Stein, "No "buts" Grell, this is your last chance. I will not give another to you."
"Y-yes sir…"

Once more, Grell sat, staring at the pink-haired boy, whose face melded with pillow. Minute by minute, Grell stared, thinking of what to say, what to do. Finally he decided. This boy was no different than anyone… but what if he frightened him, was too loud, was too… "Grelly?"
Finally, Grell stood, walked along side Crona, and slumped down besides him.
"Is there something bothering you?" He asked the pillow.
No response.
"Come on, you can tell me," He smiled at the pillow.
No response.
He thought for a moment, then said with a grin, "If you don't tell me, we'll have to find out, another way."
"No!" The face separated from the pillow.
"Another way wouldn't be bad…" Grell smiled, "Now will you tell me what's bothering you, so I may help…" And you can help me, he thought.
The boy spoke into the pillow.
"Can you only speak to the pillow?" Grell asked, half joking, half serious.
He buried his head further.
Grell thought about what he could do, and then thought to himself, fuck it. He ripped the pillow away from the boy.
"W-what are you doing?!" The boy cried, reaching out as the pillow flew across the room. "The pillow.. uhm… It's a barrier between us, do you think we really need that?" He smiled softly as Crona's lip quivered slightly.
"B-but… I… needed it…"
"Why though, I'm not going to hurt you." I need you to help me, dammit.
The boy face turned a light red.
Oh… Grell thought. He looked at Crona, "Come on, now…"
"I… I don't know you," the boy spoke from his knees.
"Okay… Well, I'm Grell, though you should already know that... and I'm sure we'll get along," If you just start to talk!
Crona mumbled something before picking his head up. His eyes looked ready to burst with tears.
"D-don't cry!" Grell frowned, "It'll do you nothing, now…"
"I….I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do…"
"Well, you're supposed to help me learn what I need to to pass the test…" Grell cocked his head slightly, not sure if he had answered the right question, "And then we can go from there." He smiled.
"Uhm… o-okay…" Crona said softly.
"Here, let's go sit in some chairs." Grell stood, and offered his hand to Crona. He stared at it for a long moment, before raising his hand to meet it. Grell thought he could almost see a small smile appear on the boy's face.

Stein periodically checked on what was happening in the room, but when he saw that the two were sitting in chairs, talking, he shook his head in disbelief, and decided to stop checking, for all seemed well.

When he finally went in to tell them it was time for the two of them to leave, they seemed almost disappointed. "D-don't worry, this is going to be an every-other day thing, plus you'll see each other in class tomorrow," Stein stopped himself from smiling. How his plan worked was beyond his comprehension. "Oh, and, Grell, I will no longer be escorting you to the DWMA, I can only hope you can found your way there tomorrow."
Grell frowned, and said, "Th-thanks… I guess?"

~End Chapter One~