For some reason I thought this would be good to have as a friendship story...but then I thought, nahhhhhhhhhhh. Romance between these two is something I just can't resistxD
Maka and her resonance team cruised the cobbled streets of Death City, dodging the many costumed children that zipped by. Jack-o-lantern lights hovering above zip-lined across the gaps between buildings, highlighting the intersections and noisy plazas with a bright orange glow.
As the group maneuvered through the crowd-riddled streets, Maka felt Crona's hand shake in her grasp. His attention was glued to the ghoulish decorations on houses and their lawns; he gulped toward the cobwebbed cotton stretched over the windows and gates that bore large spiders resting on them. Crona jerked when a robotic skeleton resting in a coffin launched up toward him, letting out a high-pitched cry to match the decoration's fierce roar.
"It's okay." Maka comforted. She turned her head to face the shivering Crona cowering behind her. She gave him a warm smile. "That skeleton is just a Halloween decoration some people like to put out. They may be scary, but they won't hurt you."
Crona looked at her hesitantly before turning his gaze back to the skeleton, almost as if he was considering believing her or not. Only until the skeleton retracted back into its coffin and settled into a fake sleep did he finally believe it was over.
The swordsman slowly revealed himself from his hiding spot and Maka placed a soft hand on his shoulder in promotion to move forward.
"Alright!"Black Star shouted. His laurel decorated head turned from side to side as he scanned the nearby houses. "So, which houses do you think has the best loot? I want my hoard bag to look like Santa Claus's sack on Christmas Eve once we're done!"
"I hear the west side gives out king-sized candy." Soul replied behind his mask. "I remember Kilik saying he and his group were even given money by them last year."
"Well, then that's where we're headed!"
Black Star turned on his heel to bolt toward the wealthier side of Death City, but Maka caught the collar of his outfit. "We're not walking all the way to the west side for bigger candy. There are plenty of houses in our area that have more than enough."
"But they don't have king-sized!" Black Star rebuked.
"You don't need king-sized! You'll be getting plenty of small candies, so that should be enough."
"But I want king-sized!" Patty chimed in. Her eyes twinkled brightly as she jumped up and down in excitement, the pom-poms she held swaying and bouncing chest grasping the attention of close passerby's. "And if we get money with our king-sized candy, we can use it get even more candy! I can buy all the candy bags I want! We'll be stocked for months!"
"Yeah!" Black Star loudly agreed. "What she said!"
"Okay…I have to agree with Maka on this one." Liz said. "It's hard enough preventing Patty from getting cavities during Halloween, adding king-sized candy and free money to get more of it is a battle I'm not about to face."Liz folded her arms, giving her sister a disapproving look. "Sorry Pat, we're sticking to this route."
"But 'Sis! This only happens once a year!"
"Well, the candy stores are open year round. So we'll make do with buying the bigger versions there."
Patty pouted and pursued in protesting with Black Star acting as back up, but Maka and Liz continued to shoot them down. The rest of the group idled in wait while the immature and adult members of their group argued; Tsubaki and Soul waited nearby, and Kid and Crona fumbled with their costumes.
By finally convincing Black Star to remain on route by a dictionary meeting his forehead and Liz offering to buy Patty large candies once her Halloween stock was gone, the group pushed forward. The ninja's limp body allowed Maka to pull him by his outfit's collar and follow the path to find their first house of the night.
Once Black Star regained consciousness and yelled loud enough in demand to be released, Maka's senses flipped on to alert, jolted by the sudden rustle from the bushes nearby. She snapped her head toward it, giving the hedges a frowning face of examination. Maka released Black Star and leaned closer to the clouds of vegetation, not listening to Crona's shaky protests.
As she leaned closer to scan the hedge, an eruption of pink burst from the bush, roaring loudly to frighten their victims. Crona cried out with the attackers yell, retreating back behind a puzzled Maka as high-pitched roars were bellowed from a person hiding under pink bed-sheets; the ghost-like figure sporadically moved their limbs beneath the covers as they advanced. Two small figures emerged from the brush to join their pink comrade, moaning with their arms extended as they acted like the zombies they appeared to be.
The group stared at the small scarers in unfrightened astonishment. Maka moved her head to the side while determined feet marched themselves in front of her, the ninja meister's face comedically furious. "Who dares try to frighten the lightning god's subordinates?"He pointed a finger to the small figures shrieking and moaning at him. "Just who do you think you are to mess with my loyal servants, you stupid pink piece of jello?!"
"I am not jello!" A high-pitched voice retaliated. The sound of a foot stomping against pavement shook the air. Small hands appeared beneath the sheets to pull the costume's hood up, revealing the pouting face of the young witch Angela. "I'm Ditto!" She pointed to the beady eyes on her hood and the tight lipped mouth straight across it. "See? My hood has Ditto's face on it!"
"Ditto, jello, they're both the same thing."
"They are not!"
"Are too!"
"Are not!"
"Are too!"
"Are not!"Angela grabbed the red and white ball in her costume's pocket and chucked it into Black Star's groin. His face went pale as a sheet as the poke-ball painted rock fell to the floor. He hopped while holding the space between his thighs as Angela laughed in victory. The zombie versions of Pot of Fire and Thunder giggled with her.
When the ninja recovered, he ripped off the lightning clamp on his chiton, letting his chest become completely bare as the fabric fell. "You little brat, you wanna start a fight?! Do ya? Well, come here then!"
Black Star lifted up his lightning bolt clamp as a butcher would a knife, and a wailing Angela ran away. Tsubaki slapped the back of her meister's head, leading his face into a hard swipe from Maka's book that imbedded him into the ground. Once the threat was downed, the two motherly women directed their concern to the small children hiding behind jeaned legs.
"My apologies." A formal voice said. "I've been trying to catch up with Angela and her friends for awhile now, but it appears the motivation of sweets rekindles a youth's fire that I cannot keep up with."
Maka looked toward the advancing samurai, watching as he placed a comforting hand on Angela's head. She placed her own on the hiding swordsman's hand behind her. "It's no problem. They're just having fun. I'm just surprised you were able to find them, as kids always find clever ways to sneak away during this holiday."
"Indeed they do." Mifune agreed. He peered down at Angela who was in a sticking-out-tongue battle with Black Star. He turned to face Tsubaki. "Thank you again for helping with the kid's costumes. They've been enjoying them all night."The samurai's eyebrows lowered and traces of exasperation were spotted in his eyes. "As you can see by what they pulled just now."
Tsubaki gave Mifune a warm smile, softly shaking her head. "It was my pleasure to help. I'm just glad everything fits them. That's always a sewer's number one concern."
Mifune responded with a gentlemanly bow of his head and an idea suddenly sparked in Maka's head. A smile advanced across her face. "Mr. Mifune, would you and the kids like to join us? You'll have more eyes to look after them, and we can teach your newcomers to trick-or-treat with our own."
Mifune blinked in surprise as Maka looked behind her. "Right, Crona?"
Heat flared in Crona's cheeks when all eyes looked to him. His gaze flittered to the ground and replied with a hesitant bobbing of his head.
The samurai made a sound of surprise as the rocker dressed Crona side-stepped from behind Maka. "Well, I must say I'm shocked. I wasn't expecting Crona to adopt such a rebellious outfit for this occasion."
"It shows the rebellious side he's hiding from us." Soul said. Maka could tell by the confidence in his voice that he was smirking. "It just takes a nice set of clothes to help bring it out."
Ragnorak emerged from Crona's back with a ceremonious splurt, planting himself on his head. "If you're talking about me, then yes, you're right; I'm a rebellious badass. But Crona can just call me to display my awesomeness, rather than wear something that makes him look fucking ridiculous."
A rumble was made behind Soul's ominous beast mask. "I don't think you have much room to talk on looking ridiculous, seeing as how you look like some sad excuse for a puppet."
"Oh, do I? Well fuck you too, in-rehab-Scooby-Doo. Don't turn your rage on me because your addiction to funky dog-treats made you turn to harder drugs. It's your own fault for looking like shit now."
Maka thought the grinding of teeth behind Soul's mask was so hard, sparks would fly out of his open eyeholes. He cracked one of his clawed knuckles in preparation to strike, but Maka frowned at him. Crona was already having difficulty getting accustomed to this holiday, the last thing he needed as a memory of it was a fight between his friends.
"Well, I suppose more eyes to watch the kids wouldn't hurt." Mifune spoke up, breaking the tense silence. "If you don't mind, that is."
"Of course not!" Maka replied, turning her head toward the samurai.
"We'd be happy to have them." A smiling Tsubaki backed Maka up.
"Wait…so, we're babysitting now?" Black Star frowned.
Maka turned toward the ninja meister, her frown deepening. "For once Black Star, try not to be a dick tonight. You've had plenty of Halloweens in your life, the least thing you can do is help teach others who have never experienced one."
Black Star looked to Angela and Crona, rolling his eyes afterwards. He opened his mouth to say something, but Maka wagged her book in front of him expectantly. An invisible zipper closed his lips, and the ninja kept his frown as he walked.
Tsubaki took the hands of Pot of Fire and Thunder while Angela stayed beside Mifune. They walked until they reached the first house of the night: a two-story residence with ghosts hanging from tree branches and tombstones rising from the lawn; a series of frowning, sharply smirking, or intricately designed jack-o-lanterns lined up the brick pathway to the house.
The group parked themselves outside the gate and Maka and Tsubaki gave the trick-or-treating guidelines: how one should speak the mantra of the holiday once the door was opened, politely wait for their treat, and to stay nearby the group at all times.
As the girls spoke, Angela kept to her childish roots and lost interest quickly. Her head turned around in scanning circles, sighting the swordsman next to her who held his arm tightly, intently listening to Maka's Halloween lecture.
Angela examined him curiously, a small sparkle lighting up her eyes. She released her grip from Mifune and leapt toward the swordsman, saying, "Hey!" She took a hold of her pink hood and flipped it over her head, smiling as she looked to startled meister. "You and I match!" She pointed to the beady eyes on the hood of her outfit, thinking they were similar to the black shades resting on Crona's forehead. "See? You and I have the same color for our heads and eyes! Are you also a Ditto?" Her eyes scanned a shocked Crona again. "And if you are, why is only your head pink? Are you some kind of new evolution? Or are you hiding the color under your clothes?"
Crona stared at Angela in puzzled astonishment, like she was some odd creature he had never encountered before. But before he could reply, Ragnorak supported himself on Crona's shoulder to lean down toward the small girl.
"Oh, we are so much cooler than some stupid version of The Blob." Ragnorak snarked. "Even if this fruitcake looks like a rocking wanna-be, a little girl in a lame costume doesn't come close to our awesome badassery."
Angela's mouth opened in surprise of the demon's close range, realization dawning in her eyes. "Oh, I see now! You guys are two summoned Pokémon in a battle, right? Except your costume lets you summon your partner back and forth? That's cool!" She tilted her head farther to the side in wonder. She pointed her finger at the lowered Ragnorak and looked to Crona. "But how are you making your Banette talk? I thought he had a zipper over his mouth. Are you speaking for him?"
Crona's blushing face squirmed as an angry growl left Ragnorak. Soul grumbled behind his elastic mask, "If only we could have such nice things…"
The demon lowered himself farther, opening his large, drooling mouth over Angela's hand. She shrieked as he snapped it shut, attempting to bite her extended finger she quickly withdrew. She recoiled back behind Mifune while Ragnorak loudly screeched, "Go on, twerp! Call me some kind of puppet one more time! I dare you! And the next time you do, I'll eat you whole rather than aim for your stupid hand!"
Angela's half-hiding face behind her guardian became determined, accepting the sword's challenge. "Well if you do, I'll just use my Ditto powers to evolve into something much bigger and make you explode!"
"Then come over here and try it, you little brat!"
Angela struggled to charge forward while Ragnorak egged her on, refrained by the hold Tsubaki had on her Ditto hood. The noisy sword was hushed by the impact of a book striking the top of his head and the steel fist of his meister to his jaw, both scolding him for treating a small child in such a way.
As the pair cooled off and Ragnorak retreated back into an embarrassed Crona, Black Star took the stage.
"Wait, why are you that Ditto thing anyway? It's not even scary. Why not wear some fairy princess outfit or something else that's super girly?"
"Because Ditto can change its color and form, kinda like my chameleon totem can! Watch!" She raised her hands to her sides, a determined pout coming over her face as she squatted. "Turn intoooooo…Mifune!"
She clapped her hands together, and the expected plume of magic smoke failed to bloom over her. Angela kept her kiddish pout and stance while the group stared, looking like she was in deep thought. She then ran toward her guardian, climbing up his limbs to sit on his shoulders; she hid her face behind his head and grabbed his cheeks to manipulate the flaps. "See?" Angela said in a failed attempt of Mifune's voice. "Now I'm Mifune! Fear my awesome samurai powers! Rawrrrr rawr rawr!"
Liz joined in with a laughing Maka and Tsubaki, Patty playing along with the supposedly transformed Angela and lifted her fists in challenge to her new form. Mifune went with the act, and did as his controller ordered to unleash his katanas and display them to his cheerleader opponent.
Black Star, however, was not as amused as his group mates.
"That's what that chewed-up piece of gum can do?"The ninja blatantly mocked. "That's even lamer than I thought."
"No you're lame!" Angela rebuked, pushing her hands on top of Mifune's head. "And you look like a sweaty man who smells like stale meat rather than a god!
"Oh yeah? Well, you know what I think you really look like? You look like a little pink cu-!"
"Okay that's enough bad words for today!" Maka stepped in, plunging her book into Black Star's mouth. "I think we've had enough excitement for tonight. It's getting late, and we should head to our first house of the night." She looked to Black Star, a dangerous glint sparking in her eyes. "Sound like a plan, Black Star?"
The ninja meister and Angela kept their angered faces toward each other, the childish downturns of lips creasing their faces. Only when Tsubaki promoted the candy inside the house before them did their attention finally divert away from the other.
Angela jumped off Mifune's shoulders to travel up the jack-o-lantern pathway, her zombie friends not far behind. The rest of the group followed their lead, Patty and Black Star sprinting to the door, while others approached calmly.
Once again, a nervous Crona and calm Maka were all who remained behind the cobwebbed gate.
"How are you holding up, Crona?" Maka asked.
"F-Fine." Crona's shuddering voice replied. His hands tightly wringed the fabric of his pillowcase.
Noticing his distress, Maka smiled softly at him. She laid a hand on his shoulder. "It won't be too bad, Crona. I promise. You just walk up to the door, say trick-or-treat, and you get candy. Simple as that."
Crona's hands held the pillowcase tighter as he hunched his shoulders. His body started shaking. "I-I understand that part…b-but…w-what if there's something scary waiting up there like that coffin skeleton from earlier? What if there's something even worse waiting up there for me?"His pupils shrunk into a panicked ice-blue as he looked to the fake tombstones in the lawn. "W-What if zombies erupt from the ground over there? And what if those ghosts in the trees suddenly come alive? I-I can't deal with zombies or ghosts chasing me!"
It was an effort to not laugh from Crona's claims, but Maka kept her humor hidden behind an empathetic face.
For a sheltered sixteen year old who had seen more darkness and death as a grizzled veteran had, she knew he deserved the utmost care and patience in any new experience.
"I promise you, Crona. It will be fine. I don't see any coffins or disturbed dirt that would signal a zombie being underneath the lawn. The only thing that will show itself is the owner of the house, nothing else. Okay?"
The hunching of his shoulders eased back a little, but his hands still messed with his pillowcase. Small shakes shook his rigid body as he gulped.
Knowing it may be her only weapon to help calm him, Maka took one of Crona's hands and combed her fingers through his. She showed him an encouraging smile. "But, if for some odd reason that does happen, then you have me to help scare them away." A confident smile brightened her face. "I'm sure a skilled swordsman like yourself and a meister like me can handle a few big-bad ghouls easily. That is, if they dared to show themselves. Don't you think?"
Crona's face was blood-red as he looked to her, his gaze darting back and forth. It was shaky and light, but he squeezed her hand back. "I-I…"His eyes moved to meet hers, and his frightened crystal-blue eyes slowly devolved into hypnotizing ebon. "I-I think…m-maybe you're right."
"Exactly!" Maka grinned. She pulled on his hand, dragging him forward. "So let's go!"
Maka hauled the uncertain boy whose feet were extended in front of him. His heels smoked from his resistance of the sudden plunge and he stood motionless once they reached the porch's steps. He trembled at the sight of the stitched, smiling face painted on the house's door.
Not allowing fear to overtake Crona, Maka fled behind the swordsman and pushed on his back, getting him to slowly clamber up the steps one foot at a time.
Mifune knocked on the door, a soft chatter wafting around the group until the entryway opened. A middle-aged woman stood before them with a large bowl of candy.
The group extended their bags, all following the holiday's mantra, "Trick-or-!"
Black Star launched himself forward and shoved his bag into the woman's face, "Your all powerful god will smite thee and maim your house if he isn't given all your candy!"
Patty followed the ninja's example, thrusting her own bag into the woman's face. "Yeah! Unload the bowl or we'll coat your house with toilet paper!"
The woman stared in shock toward the lively teenager's determined faces. She frowned in irritation of their threat and complied by giving each one piece of her smallest candy in their bags.
Insulted frowns wrinkled the pair's faces toward their amount of loot. Their mouths opened to demand for more, but Patty was pulled away by Liz and Maka put her pillow case over Black Star's head, yanking him back, and kicking him away from the door.
After the loud duo was put on the sidelines, the remaining crowded outside the door, saying the chant of the holiday with their bags out. The only one who didn't follow that form was the frozen Crona standing at the borders of the group.
The woman complimented the costumed children as Crona rehearsed the holiday's line underneath his breath. His hands shook as the wringing of his pillow case grew more intense.
Maka softly nudged Crona's arm, whispering. "Remember, simple as that. I'll say it with you. Ready?"
Crona looked to her, swallowing the lump in his throat while nodding. He turned his head back toward the house owner, and lifted his shaking arms to hold up his open bag. Crona appeared like a beggar asking for food as he bent his head in submission, softly muttering, "T-T…Trick-o-or-Treat."
Smiling widely, Maka followed his example, "Trick-or-Treat!"
The woman turned to them in awareness, a wide smile extending on her lips. "Well, don't you two have some fantastic costumes!" She looked to Crona, a small laugh leaving her. "And I don't think I've ever seen a pink-haired rock-star before. You look adorable!"
A violent blush highlighted Crona's cheeks as the woman dropped three candy pieces into his bag, winking at him for how well he pulled off his look. Maka laughed to herself as Crona cutely brought his chin closer to his chest, acting like a frightened tortoise retreating into his shell.
While Crona tried to recover from the storm of comments, Angela appeared beside him. "He's not a rocker, he's a different version of Ditto! Like me! And we're going to be in triple Pokemon battle if we see any enemies who dare come out of their wild patches!" She looked up to the sword meister expectantly, a happy twinkle in her eyes. "Aren't we?"
Crona's eyes darted to Angela's, his confused features fidgeting at the idea. The swordsman's gaze returned to Maka; he softly nodded his head, his eyes silently asking her if that was the right response.
A joyous squeal left the small girl. She jumped forward and hugged one of Crona's black pant legs. "Yay! We're going to be the best team ever!" She looked to the zombie shamens beside her. "And you guys can come in on the fight too! We can use some support! Those wild Pokemon won't know what hit em!"
Pot of Fire and Thunder jumped in excitement and ran to where their friend was, hugging the alarmed Crona's non-occupied leg.
A wide smile was on Maka's face before she could stop it, seeing Crona struggle against the children's grip. He lightly wriggled his legs, kindly asking for his limbs back, but that only made the kids hold him tighter. Crona's panic and chattering of his teeth escalated while the children laughed.
"It looks like your image is already attracting kid of all ages." The residence owner joked. "I can see how you must be Mr. Popular."
Crona looked to the woman in surprise, his eyes framing wider as the familiar ripping of flesh came into the air; Ragnorak rested his fists on his meister's head. "Oh, now that's just fucking disgusting. I can understand that Crona looks like a creep with this outfit on, but there's no need to be calling him a damn pedo. That's going too far! And you people say I'm sick."
The woman's face fell, staring in silent shock at the creature perched on Crona's head. Ragnorak's eyes swiveled at her reaction and a snicker of mischief escaped him. "But if you're too ashamed to apologize, there's no need to worry about saying you're sorry. I'll just take your candy bowl as an apology offering!"
The demon thrusted his arms forward into the candy bowl to stuff what he grabbed into his open mouth, bits of chocolate and wrappers sticking in his pearly whites. Shock brimmed in the woman's eyes, and a terrified scream escaped her, the candy bowl dropping from her grasp.
"Hey!"Ragnorak growled. "I was eating that, damn it! Pick it-!"
Crona slammed his weapon's mouth shut before he could finish, panic overtaking his face. He struggled to keep his weapon's mouth confined while Maka tried to calm the woman down, but her terror only grew louder as Ragnorak bit Crona's hand, forcing his mouth out of his clutches. The sword meister fled the scene before the woman could let out another outcry, apologizing over and over as he ran down the jack-o-lantern path.
From that point on, Maka wished the rest of the night had turned out better for her friend. But the results of tonight were far from the truth.
It didn't irritate her that the struggle became greater to make Crona walk up the house's steps to get candy, but the constantly erupting Ragnorak who appeared to steal candy did. Not only was he setting a horrible example to small children and embarrassing Crona, but the demon was creative on where he would erupt: Ragnorak's favorite places of emergence was his meister's chest to leap out in the owner's faces, or materializing a hand in Crona's leg to poke at his victim's legs. The demon even made only his head appear on Crona's shoulder, blabbering and loudly pleading to get him out of his hellish prison.
And the results? Well, Maka now knew how door-to-door salesman felt. The screams were difficult enough to handle, but having the door slammed in your face was something thick-skinned people were made for, not the poor, sensitive soul who hung his head beside her.
Maka pointed to the blooming flowers as they walked past the school's dormitories, hoping the bright colors would help cheer him up and erase his inner turmoil. But to her dismay, only a look of sadness and possible burdening to others was all that was returned to her.
Maka ignored the snickering whispers behind her, knowing Soul and Black Star were either laughing at her attempt to cheer Crona up with something so girlish, or were still re-enacting some of the reactions of home-owners who bolted into their houses. Of course they didn't have a problem with what their reactions did to Crona, as the candy they dropped often made it outside the door, leaving their bags heavy and full.
If only she could just see him smile again…if only she could see her dear friend happy at least once on this traumatic night. Then the spike of guilt piercing through her heart and soul may partially ease from its painful sting.
Just one smile…
A symphony of loud sounds filled Maka's ears when her group turned a corner. She watched as people crowded the sidewalks around them to view the city's Halloween parade storm the streets.
Cheers and music boomed as floats showing the spooky tales from popular culture ride down the streets: a castle car with fanged lurkers hissed in show of Dracula's frightening troupe of vampires, a green monster on a steel bed shook from electrocution light to embody Frankenstein's story, and mummies from Egypt's sandy lands rose from their tombs by an ancient curse.
Maka was more than pleased with the creative parade, but the same could not be said for Crona. He shook from the simple knowledge that such frightening creatures could live with such freakish forms: people having missing limbs, blood oozing from their mouths, or skin painted sickly colors. A frightened squeak escaped him when a zombie launched up from a dirt patch in a passing float, another undead walking beside the float roaring to startle the boy again. Crona attempted to flee from his terror, but the wall of people behind them and Maka's grip on his jacket sleeve denied him.
The scythe meister laced her fingers through Crona's, lifted up their molded hands, and pointed to calmer floats to show him more humorous sights of the holiday.
"Look," Maka said, pointing to robed figures with beaming swords of red and green fighting on a space cruiser. "There are costumes that aren't meant to be scary on Halloween. They can be used for entertainment." Her attention turned to the Japanese float with low squatting men wearing padded sumo suits. "Like those guys. Sometimes people dress up as other things just for the fun of it. Not to scare people like the ones from the other floats."
Warm reluctance colored Crona's face as his eyes followed her fingers, watching as the sumo performers laughed while wrestling the other, the bearded men from space smiling as one jumped backwards from his opponent's force attack. Crona even looked shocked that people could laugh and smile when a man in a gorilla suit grabbed people from the crowd to dance with them on the streets.
Maka resumed in pointing out funny costumes scattered around the parade, and soon enough, the rare smile she searched for quivered on Crona's lips. The determined fire to fully bring out one of the sweetest smiles she ever witnessed burned brighter within her. She used their combined hands to continue pointing toward amusing performers in costumes, squeezing his hand tighter in hope to fuel a further curve on his lips.
With help from the clever humor of costume design and their performer's actions, the genuine smile Maka searched for finally revealed itself. Warmth filled Maka's chest and soon she found herself smiling brightly with him. Crona's gift to her extended as he allowed her to hear a breath of laughter caused by Halloween's comedy, leaving Maka nearly barren of breath.
Maka inhaled shakily at her overwhelming joy to see Crona smiling. The gentle heat within her chest spiked in warmth when Crona turned to her, thanking her silently through a squeeze of her hand and softness of his smile.
A fluttering sensation beat against the insides of her belly as their stares lingered, the warmth in her chest branching into her cheeks. And that warmth she felt may even be infectious, as Crona's reddening face looked to be growing as warm as hers.
Maybe it was the heat of being in their costumes or that so many bodies were wrapped around them to make her feel so warm. But all she knew was her voice had left her, her mouth opening and closing like she had something to say. Crona lolled his head to the side, wondering what she wanted to bring up.
But as her mouth opened again, the bursting of celebrating music and an outcry of agony startled the pair. Their hands broke away and eyes moved to peer beside her, seeing a distressed Kid holding the sides of his head.
"This parade is just…atrocious."
"Oh come on." Liz responded, resting her hands on her hips. "It's not that bad. I think they got pretty clever this year."
"Yeah!" Patty said. She approached the group with her pillowcase hauled over her shoulder. "And the candy vendors here are pretty cheap too. I mean, all you have to do is just stand in front of them in an outfit like this, and they give you anything you want! I didn't have to jump around or anything!"
"No no no, this is just a… catastrophe." Kid whimpered.
"Oh, great."Liz sighed. "Here we go."
Kid pointed a finger to numerous floats, shouting, "Not only is there is an uneven number of vampires and werewolves, but the undead's make up is far too thick! The flesh doesn't even match the other portions of the face! They are either too large, too small, or have none at all! It's ludicrous!" Kid looked to a float with a haunted house, his fists clenching tighter. "And you. If you have one broken window on the right side of the house, so must the other! And three steps to the house is not an acceptable number! It must be eight! Eight, I say!"
"…Just because your house has eight steps, doesn't mean everyone else should have them." Liz shook her head.
Kid closed his eyes and stood up from his crouched stance to adjust the skull in the middle of his suit. "Well, I suppose it is up to me to take responsibility and be the symmetric idol these poor souls need. That was my whole intention of dressing up as such a magnificent insect."
"Oh yes. And we would just love to be saved by a butterfly superhero." Liz taunted.
Small boots clopped on the floor as Angela walked to Liz. She tapped the teenager's bare leg, asking, "What's symmetrical mean?"
Liz looked down at the small girl whose costume's edges swayed from side to side with her body. She smiled at the small witch, replying, "It means that if something is cut in half, the two halves will appear the same and are evenly distributed. Like it appears to have a mirror image." She looked to Kid who was dusting off the tips of his butterfly wings. "And that's what that nut-case over there is obsessed with."
"Oh." Angela looked to Kid, blinking as she scanned him. "Then how come his hair has streaks on one side, but not the other? Is he still symmetrical?"
The group was still, the only noises heard being the musical tunes of Halloween music and Liz's grumble underneath her breath, "…Damn it."
Immediately, Kid fell to the floor, his fist slamming on the ground as he sobbed to himself, wailing his uselessness and hideous appearance. He floundered on the floor, costumed and normally dressed passerby's looking at the loud Shinigami in awkward curiosity.
Maka rolled her eyes as Kid blubbered. Patty offered one of her many candies, saying she'll make an exception just for him, but recoiled it into her mouth when he acted too slow. Angela skipped back toward her guardian, not knowing or uncaring of the damage she had done.
She looked to the parade and saw the man in a gorilla suit walk by to snatch a startled Tsubaki, dancing and twirling her around in promotion to fuel the laughter of the crowd.
The scythe meister turned to show Crona, hoping Kid didn't spoil his happiness, but her eyes were met with a confusing sight.
Where she hoped to find her best friend, a new series of people took his place. They looked at her oddly, narrowing their eyes at her momentarily before looking back to the crowd. Panic tightened Maka's chest as she stared, her breath catching in her throat.
Her fear rose higher as she moved her head to examine the crowd, her brain panicking at the fact that among the sea of heads and bodies around her, the tell-tale pink of Crona was nowhere to be seen.
Just one more to go~
I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and that you'll tell me what you think!
