A/N: I have no excuse for this to be so late.
I am so very sorry, you guys. Please don't hate me.
I did the best I could with this chapter. I'm really sorry.
Kid's PoV:
The three of us, Ragnarok and myself on either side of Chrona, walk down the road towards my house. I feel something drop on my head. The drop is followed by three or four more. The rain has started. And after those few drops, I can't think the words 'It's raining' before it starts to pour.
"It's raining." Chrona giggles.
"No duh, stupid." Ragnarok retorts.
She ignores her weapon's remark and stops walking. She looks up at the orange and purple tinted sky and starts to spin in a slow circle. Lifting her arms the way children do to keep their balance, she giggles like a little girl before looking to me. I also have a smile on my face, because she's enjoying herself, but there's concern in my eyes that she seems to pick up on. She stops spinning.
"What's wrong?" she asks, dropping her arms.
"I don't want you to get sick. We should hurry." I say.
"She'll be fine. Let her enjoy it." Ragnarok says in my ear, low enough so Chrona can't hear.
"Why? Do you want her to get sick?" I whisper back, watching as Chrona continues to spin and jump in puddles.
"No, but this is one of the few times I've seen her genuinely smile."
I give him a look. He's not acting like the same Ragnarok. I wonder why.
"All... right."
I watch in amazement as Ragnarok takes one of Chrona's hands and spins her around before hugging her. He whispers something in her ear that I don't catch and she smiles even wider. I have the strange feeling that he would have been a good older brother. He's protective. That, I can tell from looking at his soul.
She shivers and he turns her around.
"Alright. Let's go." Ragnarok says.
We make it to the manor and we're all soaked to the bone. Chrona's hair is hanging straight down, sticking to her face. She goes to move it but it just falls right back into place. She tries again and when she gets the same results, she sighs. I chuckle and she looks at me.
"What? Did I do something funny?" she asks.
"Yes, you did," I say, kissing her on the forehead, "I'll have Liz help you with a bath. We don't want you to get sick so soon after a surgery. You too, Ragnarok."
"I heard my name," Liz says as she pokes her head around the corner, "Oh, my god. You guys, you're all soaking wet."
"Thank you, captain obvious." Ragnarok says, irritation in his tone.
"Shut up," Liz says. Chrona looks nervous.
"Liz, will you help Chrona with a bath, please?"
"Yeah. Come on, Chrona. Let's get you out of those clothes."
"Okay." she says, following Liz.
After the girls are gone, I turn to Ragnarok.
"Come on. I'll show you to the bathroom. I assume you don't want any help."
"Nah, I can figure it out." he says.
"Alright. Follow me, then."
"What do you want with her?"
That catches me off-guard, "What?"
"Chrona. What do you want with her. Are you doing this out of pity? I swear, if you're just pitying her-"
I cut him off, "No, no. I care about her. It was never pity. It was never anything like that. Yes, I worried those first days, but that's normal. It's normal to worry about someone you care about. I care about Chrona, Ragnarok."
With no response from him, I continue to lead him to the bathroom. He speaks as I'm about to leave.
"I'm watching you, reaper boy. I'm still connected to her." he says before slamming the door.
I sigh and go to my room. I collect dry clothes and go to my bathroom. I undress, hang my wet clothes to dry so they don't mildew, turn the water on, and step into the stream of warmth.
It seems that I have to watch my back. Though what I have to be careful about is a mystery to me.
Chrona's PoV:
Liz shows me how to work the bath and brings me some of her clothes to dress in after I'm done.
"Hang your dress up when you take it off. You don't want it to mildew. If you hang it up, it drys better and it won't mildew. There are towels under the sink. Hang those up when you're done, too, please."
"Okay. Thank you, Liz."
"Yeah, no problem." she says as she leaves.
I turn the water on and the tub fills up pretty quickly. I peel off my soaking wet clothes and hang them up. I'm not sure what to do with my shoes so I set the in the sink. That seems right. And then they won't drip on the floor.
I step into the tub and sit down, happy to be able to relax.
I pick up the bottle of apple scented shampoo and squeeze some into the palm of my hand. I work the lather through my tangled mop of oddly colored hair and the sweet smell relaxes me further. It has been a long time since I have smelled something this nice.
Besides Kid.
I rinse the soap from my hair and smile at the thought of Kid's smell. It's relaxing, too. An easy smell to remember. It's like lemon and honey mixed together. It reminds me of the sunshine.
I look at the bottle of soap meant for my body. It's labeled to smell like cucumber melon. I smell of the soap. It's a light scent, one I've smelled before. I place the scent to Liz and Patty. Which makes sense, assuming that this is the bathroom the sisters share.
I get some of the soap on my hands and start to rub it on my arms and shoulders. As I go over my whole body, I hear footsteps pass the door. I pay it no mind and I continue rising the soap off my body.
When I'm sure all the soap is off my body, I unplug the drain and the water swirls out of the tub. I step on to the mat beside the tub and open the cabinet to get a towel. I pick the first one I see, a fluffy, purple one. I wrap myself in it and I feel the water pull away from skin almost immediately. A few swipes of the fabric and I'm dry. I pull out a thinner, smaller towel, unfold it, flip my head over, and wrap my hair in the towel to dry it.
There's a knock at the door as I'm getting dressed.
"Just a moment." I say as I finish pulling the shirt, that's three sizes too big for me, over my head. I pull the towel off my head and run my fingers through my hair to untangle it. It's still damp, which I don't mind.
I open the door and am surprised to see Kid standing there.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to disturb you." he says, taking a step away from the door.
"No, you didn't. What is it?"
"I just wanted to make sure you remembered your way around this place." he says, smiling in a way that puts butterflies in my stomach.
"Um, would you show me again? Just in case?"
"Yes," he takes my hand but I remember my wet clothes.
"Oh, what about my dress and shoes?"
"Did you hang your dress up?"
"Yes, and I put my shoes in the sink so they wouldn't drip on the floor. Was I supposed to do that?"
"Yes, that's one way to do it," he says, smiling at me again, "We'll get your things and take them to the washroom. They can finish drying there before they get washed."
"Okay." I say and we gather up my clothes. He leads me to the washroom, something I don't remember from the first time, and we hang my things up there.
"There. Now, I'll show you around again."
"Kid," I say, stopping him.
"What is it, dear?"
"Thank you. For everything. I know I've thanked you before but... Thank you." I say, lowering my head. My cheeks heat up as he moves closer and lifts my chin.
"You're more than welcome." he says softly. We lock gazes and my eyes close when his lips meet mine. It's a soft kiss, I think meant to say 'I care.'
He pulls away and I smile. He takes my hand, "Alright. You know, it's late. Are you tired?"
I nod as a yawn swallows my words.
"I thought so. You've had a very tough few weeks. I bet it will be nice to actually get some sleep."
"Mhmm," I mumble as fatigue sets in. I realize just how tired I really am. The next thing I know, Kid is carrying me up the steps, "I'm sorry," I whisper.
"It's alright, my dear. Sleep. You deserve it."
I fall asleep before I'm put in bed.
A/N: Alright. There's the real chapter 11. I know I haven't made up for such a long wait but I hope this at least helps with waiting for things to get moving again. This was really just filler that I just wrote in an hour. I felt so bad about the wait. But I'm finally inspired and I'll hopefully be writing a whole lot more in the very near future.