He couldn't accurately pinpoint when or where it had started. Maybe it was on her birthday, where she'd drunkenly clung to him. Or maybe before then, when he heard her singing a song for her brother and his soon-to-be girlfriend. Maybe it was the day they met, when he'd noticed her symmetry. No matter when it had started, it had started, and he couldn't shake these feelings. Namely, his feelings for her.
He knew she was off-limits; she was four years younger and the younger sister of one of his closest friends. That didn't stop his feelings from springing to the surface or wanting to be more than friends.
Still, at least he got to be close to her, and the closer he got, the more about her he learned.
She loved her brothers and mother but hated her father.
She preferred peppermint tea to coffee.
If you triggered her bad side, her tongue could cause as much damage as her fists.
Her favorite candy was cinnamon hard candy.
She'd had extensive self-defense training while living in New York.
She hated being woken up in the morning.
All the big and little things added up to his crush, the forbidden Kristen Evans. He was fine with admiring her from afar. It would lead to far less bodily pain from Soul and less chance of rejection. He thought he was being subtle and keeping it well-hidden.
His Weapons begged to differ.
"Hey, Kid!"
Oh, fuck!
Kristen stood over him, a smile on her face. She looked even cuter than usual in a knee-length violet skirt and a long-sleeved white blouse with her white hair in low pigtails tied with lavender ribbons.
"Has anyone else arrived yet?"
"N-no, not yet."
"Liz and Patti told me two o'clock."
I'm going to kill those two…
"Well, the movie starts at 2:30, so let's just wait a few minutes for everyone else to show up!"
She sat down next to him, her legs not even reaching the floor due to her short stature. More people sat down on the bench, squishing her closer to him until she was practically in his lap. Kid squirmed internally; Liz and Patti had set him up.
"Remind me why we're doing this again?" Black*Star hissed to the Thompsons as he and Tsubaki watched Kid and Kristen alongside them.
"Because Kid needs to get over his awkwardness around her, and this was the best way to do it!" Liz replied.
"And if they get all smoochy-smoochy, that's just a bonus!" giggled Patti.
"You two know Soul's going to kill us, right?" Tsubaki asked.
"Duh, that's why we specifically did it on a day when he and Maka were out on a mission," Liz snorted.
"I guess they're not coming," Kristen sighed. "We'd better get going if we want to see the movie."
"Y-yeah, you're right." Kid followed Kristen into the theater but paid for their tickets and snacks.
"I could've paid for myself, Kid," she grumbled.
"Yes, but I was trying to be a gentleman."
"Okay, whatever floats your boat."
They sat down next to each other, each obviously uncomfortable with the situation. Kid had only bought one popcorn, figuring they could share since that was what he did with Liz and Patti. Plus, there was always the chance that he could touch her hand—
No! Bad Kid! Off-limits!
The previews rolled through, Kristen offering him quiet commentary on how good, bad, cheesy, or obvious-cash-grabbing each upcoming movie was. Despite the fact he hated talking in movie theaters, he found it endearing and a bit humorous.
By the time the movie started, Kid was ready for it to be over so he could go home and remind himself that Kristen Evans was off-limits. Despite that, he found the movie to be an extremely good one. Kristen had pointedly told him it was a remake and not to expect much, but they found themselves enjoying it more than either of them had enjoyed the original.
"What'd you think?" Kristen asked as they stepped out of the theater, still followed by the conspirators.
"Well, the group scenes were well-choreographed and I enjoyed the music. The story was great as well."
"It's centuries, maybe even millennia old."
"Really?"
"Yep. Beauty and the Beast was originally a Roman folktale and eventually evolved into what we know it as today, just like most fairy tales."
"How intriguing!"
"Maybe one day we can see just how much the stories have changed. Together."
Damn it was hard to remember that she was forbidden.
"Er, Kristen, shouldn't you be getting home?" he asked.
"I'm having fun, and besides, Spirit won't be picking me up until eight. We still have almost three hours to kill, so how about dinner?"
"Dinner sounds great!"
"So… Waffle House?"
They sat down in the restaurant and ordered their meals, still being watched. Kid watched as she folded her napkin into an origami swan.
"How's your training going?" he asked, trying to make small talk.
"It's going okay. I still haven't resonated with Maka yet, but Soul says it's fine if I don't get it yet."
"He and Maka didn't resonate until they'd already collected 99 Kishin souls and lost them."
"Oh, yeah! They told me that story!"
"It's not unusual to have trouble with resonance. Just keep trying."
"…hey, Kid?"
"Yes?"
"Am I… pretty?"
He froze.
Out of all the questions she could've asked, she just had to ask that one?!
"Um… er…" he stammered, trying to think of a way to say it without telling her he was interested.
"You're stalling." She'd turned her ruby eyes on him.
Good Lord, was this how Maka felt when Soul looked at her?!
"Yes, you are. You're going to make some guy very happy someday. Why did you ask?"
"Well, it's just… you avoid me like the plague most of the time yet today you spent most of the afternoon with me. I thought I was just ugly or something."
"No, no! It's just… I don't want your brother to get the wrong idea."
"Ah. Yeah, Soul's overprotective, but he means well."
"Now, kiss!" snickered Patti as they watched.
"Shush!" commanded Liz.
After dinner, Kid and Kristen wandered around the mall for a while, looking into stores and not really buying anything. As eight o'clock approached, they sat down on the bench where their outing had started. Kristen started to nod off, her head landing on Kid's shoulder. Instead of stiffening, he put his arm around her so that she'd be more comfortable.
"Hey, Kid?" she said sleepily.
"Yes, Kristen?"
"Liz told me what I said to you on my birthday… and I wanted to tell you that I meant it."
Kid's face turned a color usually reserved for cherries and tomatoes. Before he could respond, however, Kristen's phone buzzed and she sat up to check it.
"Spirit's here," she told Kid. "I've gotta go. I had a great time, though!" She kissed him on the cheek before dashing for the doors. He sat in dumb silence for a minute, his brain trying to process what had just happened.
She'd meant it? Did that mean… she liked him? His feelings weren't unrequited?
And why had she kissed him?!
"Sorry we weren't there, Kid. It completely slipped our minds."
Liz was smiling as Kid got into the backseat. They'd stopped watching after dinner, since everything seemed to be going well.
Kid didn't answer.
"Kid?" Worriedly, Liz turned towards her Meister and realized he had a look on his face that said his world had just been shaken. "What happened?"
"N-nothing!" he insisted, holding his hands up defensively. "L-let's just go home!"
"Something happened, because you're super-out-of-it."
"Er… Liz, can you keep a secret?"
"Sure can, buddy."
"I… may or may not… have feelings for Kristen."
"Really?"
"Yes, and I'm afraid today only pulled me in deeper. I ended up spending almost the entire afternoon with her alone and it felt like… a date. At the end, she kissed me on the cheek after telling me she meant what she said on her birthday!"
"Oh, Kid. You've got it bad for her."
"N-no I don't! And she's off-limits to date since she's Soul's little sister!"
"Geez, calm down. I'm just saying you have a massive crush on her. At least she's cute!"
"She's not cute! She's beautiful!"
"Knew it! You've got it bad for Krissy Evans!"
Kid sighed.
This crush on Kristen was going to be the death of him.
Yeah, this is a shorter chapter. Gotta keep up with my one-chapter-a-week status, so you got a short chapter this time. Next chapter I'll spend longer than three hours on, so it should be super-long to make up for this.
This is the chapter that sets up Kid and Kristen's sort-of-dating-but-not-really-because-there's-a-four-year-age-gap-and-her-brother's-overprotective relationship. As you can see, Kid has definite interest and so does Kristen—grow a pair, Kid, and tell the girl. Just kidding. You'll tell her after her brother finds out he's gonna be a dad.
So long and thanks for all the fish!
