Tenth one-shot

For: Starlight (anon)

Prompt: Rachel goes to meet Crona and Ms. Marie

Major Characters: Rachel, Crona, Mrs. Boyd, Ms. Marie

Notes: So, Rachel Boyd was the little girl that Medusa like possessed. She was listed as being five during the events of the anime/mange. Crona is referred to with the pronouns they/them, while Ragnarok is he/him.


Rachel Katherine Boyd walked down the mostly empty streets of Death City, happily humming a little song to herself. She wasn't quite sure where the tune came from, but she didn't particularly care.

"Are you excited?" her mother, Mrs Boyd, asked, smiling down at her daughter. Rachel nodded but didn't say anything. She was secretly a little bit nervous. Last week had been Rachel's 6th birthday and, after all the guests had left her party, she and her mother discovered a simple box at the front door, containing a sparkly headband, along with a large flower bouquet. There were two cards: the first was small and yellow, hidden amongst the peonies, and contained very cramped writing wishing Rachel a happy and fun birthday party, signed by Ms. Marie Mjolnir. A much larger, plain card was placed in the box with the headband, but it had no handwritten message inside, but rather just a small, almost indecipherable signature at the bottom.

Rachel had been delighted by the headband, wearing it every day for the past week. Her mother called Marie so Rachel could thank her for the flowers and also ask her about the other gift. The teacher revealed that it was from Crona, who had been too nervous to write anything other than their signature. After the call was finished, Rachel asked if she could go visit Ms. Marie and Crona so she could thank the two of them in person, not only for the birthday presents, but also for saving her from Medusa.

And so now, a week later, here they were heading towards Ms. Marie's house where, apparently, Crona was also staying. They had left the bright city behind a few minutes ago and were now walking across cracked sidewalks past shabby and abandoned houses.

"There it is," Mrs. Boyd said, pointing ahead of them. Rachel looked ahead at an enormous house. It was huge and grey, more like a compound than a home. It was covered in strange stiches, the purpose of which Rachel could not figure out (other than an aesthetic choice by the home owner). There were also lighter touches that seemed to stand out in contrast to the dull, sterile grey of the concrete home. Several flower boxes were placed under windows, showing off bunches of colorful flowers. Bright drapes could also be seen through the windows.

The bright accents didn't do much to quell Rachel's nervousness; she slipped her into her mother's, squeezing it to find some reassurance. They walked together up to the door of the house. Rachel stood up on her tippy toes to press the doorbell, causing a loud chime to echo through the house. She retreated back to her mother's side, holding the basket with both hands as she waited for the door to open.

Seconds of silence ticked by and, right when Rachel was going to ask her mom if she should try again, the door swung open. They were greeted by the bright, golden eye of Ms. Marie. Rachel ran forward and threw her arms around her middle. Or, at least, she tried to. She was blocked by a very large, very pregnant stomach.

"Hello, Rachel!" Marie greeted with a smile, reaching out to shake hands with Mrs. Boyd. "What brings the two of you here?" she asked as she ushered them inside

"Well, this little goof wanted to come and say thank you in person, but with all the conflict going on, we weren't sure when it'd be a good time to come by. You certainly are a busy person." Mrs. Boyd said. Rachel nodded, her arms still around Marie's waist. "Don't you have something to give to her, sweetheart?"

"Oh, yeah!" Rachel released the blonde teacher and presenting her with a basket. "Mommy picked it out for you."

"I heard through the grapevine that you were expecting," Mrs. Boyd said. "Got you a few necessities that I found vital when I was expecting Rachel."

"Thank you very much," Marie said earnestly, taking a moment to glance into the basket, which contained tea, chocolate, a hot water bottle, and a handmade recipe book, before saying, "Please, come in for some tea and snacks. There's someone else here that I'm sure Rachel would love to see."

Marie led the way through the house. As Rachel peeked into several of the rooms, Marie asked them to, "Please excuse my partner's mess," while shutting the doors quickly. Rachel caught a few glimpses of glowing computers and sharp knives and something floating in a jar. The hallway opened up to a nice living room, complete with green couches and a coffee table.

"Please make yourselves comfortable. I'm going to go put on some tea," Marie said as she disappeared into the kitchen. Rachel hopped up onto one of the couches while her mother sat across from her, smiling as Rachel wiggled and glanced around.

Marie exited the kitchen and crossed the living room, disappearing down one of the hallways. She could be heard opening a door and having a quiet conversation before returning. "Crona will be out soon," Marie said as she returned to the room. "They just got back from a mission and is going to take a quick shower."

"I'm sure Rachel will be happy to wait for them," Mrs. Boyd said. Rachel nodded again. Most of the time waiting for Crona (and the tea) was filled with idle chatter between Marie and Mrs. Boyd, catching up on recent events together. Roughly five minutes passed before Crona silently entered the room as if trying to go unnoticed.

Rachel, who was bored listening to the adult's conversation, immediately noticed Crona's presence and jumped up from the couch. She practically sprinted over to hug them, wrapping her arms around their skinny body.

"Oh! Hello Rachel. I thought I heard Ms. Marie talking to someone," Crona said, awkwardly patting the little girl on the head. "I like your headband." Rachel just giggled and led Crona back to the couch.

"It's so nice to see you again," Mrs. Boyd said, getting up from the couch to shake Crona's hand. She heard a quiet huff and quickly added, "And you, too, Ragnarok."

Ragnarok popped out of Crona's back and started shouting something in reply, likely laced with vulgar and inappropriate words, before glancing down at tiny Rachel, who was watching him with big eyes. "Thanks," was all he ended up saying. Any other conversation was cut off by the sound of the teakettle whistling.

"Oh, I'll go get that," Marie said, getting up off the couch with some difficulty.

"Let me help you," Mrs. Boyd said, following her into the kitchen and leaving Rachel and Crona in the living room. Rachel maintained her grip on Crona's hand and pulled them onto the couch, having them sit next to her.

"I'm glad you like the present," Crona said, gesturing to the hairband again.

"It's my favorite thing!" Rachel exclaimed. "It's like a tiara, but it doesn't fall off as easily or break."

"Well, I helped him pick it out," Ragnarok said, proudly crossing his arms behind Crona.

"And so did Ms. Marie. We weren't sure what present we should get you," Crona admitted. "I'm wasn't sure exactly if I could handle shopping, but Ms. Marie was really nice and helped me out."

Rachel suddenly stared bouncing in her seat, saying ,"I have something for you,". After a few seconds, she pulled out four small, colorful envelopes from the pocket of her jacket and handed them to Crona. "For you."

"Thank you," Crona said earnestly as they went to open the blue envelope.

"No, wait! Not that one yet," Rachel said, scooting closer and taking the cards out of their hands. She picked out the yellow card and handed it to them instead. "This one first." She then handed an orange card to Ragnarok, who was still watching quietly over Crona's shoulder. "And this one if for you." The weapon seemed surprised, but still took the small envelope in his hands.

The meister and weapon said their thanks and went to work carefully opening the cards. They were small, store bought thank you cards, complete with drawings and personalized notes written in crayon where Rachel thanked them both for the headband, and also for saving her from Medusa.

"We're glad you liked the headband," Crona said with a smile. "And you don't have to worry about thanking us for saving you from Medusa. We're jus glad you're doing alright."

Rachel smiled and leaned against Crona, giving them a sort of weird side hug before handing them the next card. This one was purple, while the matching card for Ragnarok was green. When they opened these envelopes, they found two more cards, these ones hand made and covered in drawings of balloons and confetti. Each card had a tiny scene doodled on the inside cover that was clearly meant to be a birthday party. Crona could pick out themself with Ragnarok in the middle, holding hands with a small crayon representation of Rachel. Off to the side was Ms. Marie, Dr. Stein, and Mrs. Boyd, with presents and cake and even more balloons. A banner across it read "Happy Birthday."

"Sorry if it's not your birthday," Rachel said, looking a little down. "I just wasn't sure when it was, so I wanted to give you a card a soon as possible, just in case I missed it."

Crona shared a glance with Ragnarok before turning back to Rachel. "I actually don't have a birthday," they said. "Neither does Ragnarok."

"What?!" Rachel practically shouted in alarm. "Why don't you have a birthday?" Ms. Marie and Mrs. Boyd chose that moment to walk back into the room, carrying two trays containing tea, hot chocolate, and cookies. Rachel immediately turned to them and asked, "Why doesn't Crona have a birthday?"

Marie and Mrs. Boyd shared looks as they sat down. "Well, you see," Ms. Marie began, "Crona's mom never got Crona a birth certificate, so we don't know when they were born. We know they are around fourteen years old and should be fifteen soon, but not the exact birthday."

Rachel sat back on the couch and frowned, crossing her arms and ignoring her hot chocolate for the time being. Mrs. Boyd looked at her with concern.

"Are you okay, sweetheart?" she asked.

"It's not fair that Crona and Ragnarok don't have birthdays," she muttered. "That means they don't get birthday parties or birthday cake or birthday presents!"

"Well, Crona could pick a birthday," Marie said as she took a sip from her tea. "They would just need to talk to the school to make it official, but if they want to then they can pick whatever day."

"I- really?" Crona asked, looking at Ms. Marie again, who nodded.

"It's in our list of things for you to do. We probably would've gotten around to it next week." She paused for a moment. "Actually, I think we have the paperwork here, if you would like me to go and get it." Ms. Marie disappeared down yet another hallway, returning a minute later with a single piece of paper. "Here you are," she said, placing it, along with a pen, in front of Crona.

"Ragnarok, do you want to have the same birthday or a different one?" Crona asked, looking up at their partner.

"A different day, of course!" Ragnarok exclaimed, "then we both get more cake!"

"Fair point," Mrs. Boyd said while Rachel nodded, seeing the wisdom of the weapon's choice.

Both weapon and meister though about when their birthday should be. After about a minute, Ragnarok said, "I want January 1st! What better way to start out the year than a birthday party, eh?" Ms. Marie just smiled and shook her head, handing him a clipboard and a pen so he could write his signature down. After he handed it back, Ragnarok continued to mow through his plate of cookies like a lawnmower, taking a pause now and then to brush the crumbs out of his partners hair and sip tea.

"Uh, how about today?" Crona said, almost making Ragnarok spit out his tea. "I mean I did get a birthday card, so why not?"

Rachel let out an excited gasp as Crona signed the paper. The second they returned it to Ms. Marie, Rachel jumped off the couch and started to sing "Happy Birthday" to Crona, with Mrs. Boyd, Marie, and even Ragnarok quickly joining in. Once they were done, they all clapped.

"Congrats on turning fifteen," Mrs. Boyd said before turning to Marie. "It's about time for Rachel and I to leave, but we would love to invite you, Dr. Stein, Crona, and Ragnarok over next weekend for a proper birthday party. We can invite anyone else that Crona wants."

Marie looked and the meister, who nodded their approval, before looking up and smiling. "We would be happy to accept."

As Mrs. Boyd helped Marie clean up the dishes, Rachel chattered excitedly with Crona and Ragnarok, planning out parts of the birthday party, from the guest list to the cake flavor. All too soon, the adults were done and Mrs. Boyd was telling Rachel that it was time to go home. Marie and Crona walked the duo to the door where the final goodbyes would be said.

"Goodbye, Rachel," Crona said, crouching down and giving her a hug, something they had never really considered doing before in their life.

"See you at your birthday party!" Rachel said. "I'm going to get you the best present!"

"I look forward to it!" Crona said with a genuine smile. Rachel and her mother finished saying their goodbyes and left the house. Rachel walked backwards the entire way to the road, waving as she went. She only stopped once they were obscured by the wall that surrounded the compound.


There you go! One-shot done.

I hope you all liked it!

Just so you know, I'm going to be pretty busy until this coming Wednesday, so I'll try to write/update when possible!

I have quite a long list now.

Orochi's Child submitted a request a while ago via PM, so they will be next!

Thanks for reading.