"Great job!" Tsubaki cheered. She and Maka were alone in the choir room on a drizzly Tuesday after school, making the most of their limited practice time. A set list just designed the previous day, with barely two months to practice it, was not the most ideal situation for the two girls to be in. This was not a dramatized television program, but reality. Spartoi had managed to scrape together a win at the preliminaries, but the state final has more opponents, higher stakes, and they were not getting a home turf advantage this time.
"That was only the first chorus," Maka replied, pausing the music.
"It's been one day, and yet you're already so good at your lyrics," Tsubaki said. "Maka, I'm proud of you for that," she added, walking up to her and giving her a friendly pat on the shoulder.
"Thank 'Rock Band 2'," Maka replied. "I swear, if it weren't for Papa playing that so much with me over the summer, I would be nowhere near as good at singing 'Walking on Sunshine' as I am now," she added. So many grueling nights. I wish we had more than two controllers, so we could have invited some of my friends to make it a little less horrible. Knowing Papa, he would probably invite Dr. Stein and Miss Mjolnir, maybe Coach Blair on the nights when I'm at Mama's.
"Meanwhile I just can't get the bridge right, but I know I can work at it," Tsubaki lamented. "We only have until the end of January to practice before State, and two weeks of that will be spent on winter break."
"Well, we are getting a few more practice sessions during the break," Maka replied. "Don't know whether they're gonna be at school or the rec center again though," she added. The choir room door opened, and two seniors, a boy and a girl, entered with mischievous grins. Upon seeing Maka and Tsubaki, they immediately left. Maka watched as they ran down the hallway, before turning back around to face Tsubaki.
"Wait, when we're not practicing, do people use this room for making out?" Maka asked, closing the door back to just a crack.
"Yes, I guess it was more of a thing with the older students than the freshmen," Tsubaki replied. "It was a really popular makeout spot for juniors and seniors during my freshman year, but not as much when I was a sophomore, ever since the teachers began catching on during the great PDA crackdown," she added. "But never mind all that, I'm going to start doing my part if it's okay with you."
"We did come here to practice," Maka added, as Tsubaki started up the music. The opening guitar bit played, and Tsubaki soon started singing, trying to keep her volume at the soft tones she currently sang best in so she was more likely to stay on pitch. Come on Tsubaki, face your fears, Maka thought. I can and I will help you work on your pitch when you're louder. Tsubaki started increasing her volume on the bridge and chorus, but the louder she got, the more tone-deafness became apparent. Tsubaki stopped the music after she was done with the first chorus and sighed, the sound of her breath echoing a bit across the now-quiet choir room.
"Should I continue?" she asked.
"Yeah, you sounded pretty good, just when you sing the big 'whoa-oa', you gotta watch your pitch as you go into 'I'm gonna feel good'," Maka replied. "More like this," she added, taking a deep breath. Maka belted out the 'whoa-oa' as loud as she could, before in an instant, hitting the notes for the next lyrics with a clear, strong voice.
"All right, here goes," Tsubaki said, before attempting to repeat how Maka did the song. Her voice broke at the last bit. Tsubaki coughed, before getting out her water bottle and taking a sip. She cleared her throat, and tried again, this time not breaking at the end.
"Good, good," Maka nodded. "Pitch was still a bit off, but I know you can do better," she added.
"Okay, third time's a charm," Tsubaki said. Her voice hit from silvery to shrill in half a second. She knew the headset mics were volume adjustable, so she could just turn hers up to avoid her problem, but not only would that be a form of cheating, this was not a song that fit her ideal sotto voce, requiring more power than she could allow for without her tone breaking. Perhaps being in the lead was not the best fit for Tsubaki or her voice, a girl perhaps destined to be a supporting character even in her own life. No, it will not be like that at all. It would take time to improve, and she knew she had the patience for it. She, Tsubaki Nakatsukasa, was sure she could be able to do this. A life without challenges is not a life that is worthwhile, and this little camelia refused to fall quietly without a scent. Or a sound in this case. Tsubaki thought to herself, I will improve, and tried a fourth time to get the transition right.
Her voice did not break, staying roughly on-pitch throughout the whole verse.
"How was that?" Tsubaki asked. She could control her voice breaking for this one part, now to eliminate any trace of it for the rest.
"Great!" Maka replied. "If you keep up like that for the rest of the song, you'll have the state final in the palm of your hand," she added, smiling. "There's no way you won't be able to." Maka got out her water bottle and took a few sips while it was still relatively cool, while Tsubaki kept practicing without a musical backup this time.
Listening to Tsubaki's voice one-on-one felt very peaceful and special for Maka. The angelic, silvery sound before the tone-deafness kicked in had a calming effect on her, and it made her feel like she could just listen forever to its soft tones, regardless of whether they fit the song. Until Tsubaki derailed, and her pitch stopped working as well. She still sounds sort of good, though, Maka thought, drinking another sip of her water, as it adjusted to the room temperature and became lukewarm.
Tsubaki stopped singing and sighed. The brief moments of her determination temporarily faltered, almost as if they were linked with her voice. Tsubaki knew she could fix it in time for State, but there was still the possibility that it would not stop, and she was doomed like her floral namesake to fall quietly, like nobody would have ever even noticed her when she bloomed.
"I could really hear it deteriorate this time after the second verse," she said. "What'll she think?"
"Is this about Liz?" Maka asked, with a minute tilt of the head.
"I know it's really silly, but..." Tsubaki started, walking up to Maka. She glanced to check whether anyone was at the door. When she was sure nobody currently was, she spoke. "I'm worried what she'll think since I'm such an awful singer. What if her heart's really set in winning State and I blow it? Do you think that could affect our relationship?"
"What? No," Maka replied. leaning in towards Tsubaki. "I don't know her as well as you do, but I'm sure that's not going to be the case," she added. "You guys have been dating since midway through last year, right?"
"Mhm," Tsubaki replied. Maka didn't know Liz nearly as well, not even meeting her until the school year started. But they've gotten along well since then, so she figured this wasn't a make-it-or-break-it issue.
"And is Liz really that petty as to get into a dump-worthy fight over how well you sing?" Maka asked. "I haven't had much experience with relationships, but I'm pretty sure you two won't break over that."
"I know, it is really silly to think that," Tsubaki sighed.
"No, no, it's normal to have fears, they're what help us get stronger," Maka replied. "Plus, I know you two. Even if this did cause fighting, you'd make it through. I mean for Pete's sake, you're still in the honeymoon stage with her after eight months."
"I know, I could feel myself blushing when she cheered me on after our tiebreaker, you know, similar to how you blushed when you got that standing ovation from a certain pink-haired someone," Tsubaki replied, with an implied "wink wink nudge nudge" in her stare that Maka could sense just by looking at her.
"Hold on, I'm sure this is different, I mean, you're comparing us to you and your girlfriend, but I... I wasn't even blushing back there," Maka said, crossing her arms in a fruitless denial. That proves nothing, regardless of whether I blushed that day. And even if I did, it was probably because I was embarrassed at getting a standing ovation after such an impromptu number. Not because... oh shit, Maka thought, recalling how she'd been feeling around Crona these past few months. Thinking about this, she got a feeling like she might end up blushing all over again. Have I been reciprocating their feelings without even knowing it?
"Yes you were blushing," Tsubaki replied. "It was really cute," she added.
"Anyway," Maka began, taking a few steps back over to the music player and preparing to turn "Walking on Sunshine" back on, "I like Crona too much to dive into a relationship with them really fast before I even fully knew if I liked them in that way."
"Well, I guess you wouldn't want to turn something beautiful into a disaster," Tsubaki replied.
"Yeah," Maka said, nearly missing her cue for the first verse.
She hurried to sing the first line, and paced herself until she got back on rhythm with the song's lyrics. Wait, if possibly blushing at Crona's standing ovation really was evidence of a budding crush... no Maka, you have to focus on the song. She did a little twirl in with the beat, just for fun, using that as a to hopefully try and regain her focus. But her chorus slipped as a few memories unintentionally flooded into her head.
Still, Maka thought, as the images fully entered her brain, wrapping my arms around Crona, and holding them close when they're sad, damn it, focus, Maka! Don't think about that rare and precious little smile, or the moments when we're close together, almost gazing into each other's eyes even for half a second. Or the way you've seen them look at you when they don't think you're looking back, and how adorable that look is. As well as how adorable they look when they're flustered and blushy. And especially do not think of how you nearly fantasized about kissing them. More than once. Damn, I'm thinking about it. Thank you brain, and damn you.
"Maka, aren't the lyrics 'and I don't wanna spend all my life just in waiting for you', not 'and I don't wanna spend all my life just... damn you'?" Tsubaki asked. I said that out loud. "Who are you even damning?"
"My own brain," Maka replied, pausing the music. "Don't ask why," she added, restarting the peppy, joyful-sounding track. I'm pretty sure I can get through the entire song today. Maka started the first verse, trying to focus on the song, and only the song. She had to be serious about this, there was no time to think about whether or not she was unknowingly developing a crush on anyone, especially not a friend that may need her help with something. Were they still afraid of their own mother? Maka wasn't entirely sure, since Crona was keeping that subject quiet ever since the preliminaries ended. Focusing on only the song, Maka began the bridge, again doing that little twirl. Maybe she would incorporate that little twirl in her routine if her costume involved a skirt.
But just before she got to singing the first chorus, she heard a knock on the door. Maka paused the music, thoughts racing through her head at breakneck speed. I wonder who that could be? A teacher coming to kick us out for using the choir room when we're not on club time, and therefore not supposed to be in here? Ms. Yumi would certainly do that, and so would Mr. Buttataki. Or worse, it could be Papa, coming in because he heard my voice, and there is no doubt he would then say or do something embarrassing.
There was another knock.
"Come in," Tsubaki said. The door opened to reveal Soul. There was a bruise, likely fresh, on his face.
"Hey," he said, walking in.
"What happened?" Tsubaki asked.
"I hit the corner of the door frame on the way out of class," Soul replied. "How'd you notice?"
"I thought someone punched you, considering that bruise," Maka said.
"Bruise?" Soul asked. "Well, that explains how my face is feeling right now," he added. His phone started ringing. "Gotta take this, it's my parents," Soul said, walking back out into the hallway. There was soon a very audible "yeah, what?" from his mouth.
"Should we get back to practicing?" Maka asked.
"He's right outside the door, we might disturb the call," Tsubaki replied, sitting down in one of the many chairs. Maka sat down in another one and took a few sips from her now-completely lukewarm water bottle. She looked over at the stain of marinara sauce on the back of the chair, and wondered a bit as to how it got there.
"Who even eats in here?" Maka asked, pointing to the stain. "This is marinara sauce, right?"
"I don't know," Tsubaki replied. "Looks like paint to me," she added, glancing over at the stain.
"There's flecks of basil," Maka stated.
"Oh, I couldn't see them from here," Tsubaki replied, walking over. "It doesn't have much of an odor, so it's probably been there a while," she noted.
"I wonder if there's anyone we know who'd eat it," Maka thought out loud, as Soul returned, with a big grin on his face.
"Wes is taking the judging gig," Soul beamed. "He's moving over there to crash with a friend this weekend, so I guess he's gonna be gone."
"And we still haven't even met him," Maka grumbled. I really wanted to meet Soul's brother at least once, she thought. Actually see whether he's as horrible and obnoxious as Soul says he is.
"Finally, after forty-seven years," Soul said.
"You're fourteen," Tsubaki replied, not fully getting the joke.
"Finally, after practically an entire semester plus last July," Soul groaned. "There," he added. "But it doesn't matter now, because I only have to deal with him for the rest of the week. And since my family's rich enough to hire a bunch of people to help him move, I don't even have to worry about that."
"What did Wes even do to deserve your hatred?" Maka asked.
"Exist," Soul replied. "Wes is the worst, just like I told you guys at the beginning of the year," Soul added. "But you're an only child, you wouldn't understand what an older brother's like."
"I'm sure you don't have the worst older brother of all our friends," Maka said.
"Other than Tsubaki here, whose brother's acting dickishly nonexistant, I'm the only one with an older brother," Soul replied. "I mean, Kilik is a damn good older brother to Fire and Thunder, and Ragnarok is Crona's cousin, not their brother," he added. "Come to think of it, Principal Morte's called Kidd his favorite child, implying Kidd has at least one sibling, so I might be wrong."
Tsubaki went quiet for a few seconds.
"My brother's in jail for attempted murder," she said, looking down to the floor. She clenched and released her fist as if she was going to say something else, but did not, keeping silent.
"Oh," Soul replied. "Sorry."
"It's fine," Tsubaki said, forcing a smile.
There was a long silence, lasting for what felt like nearly two whole minutes.
"So, you two were practicing?" Soul asked, finally breaking it.
"Yes," Maka replied.
"I'll back you guys up, just let me do some vocal warmups," Soul said, walking over to the other side of the choir room. He started to do some scales, until he figured his rough voice was viable enough.
"Okay Tsubaki, we'll do a run of your verse first," Maka said. "Don't worry, Soul and I are here to back you up."
"I'm not worried about that," Tsubaki replied. "Just... what if you guys drown me out?"
"Then sing louder, who cares how you sound when you do it?" Soul asked. "Enough voices'll muddle it, that's why I wasn't called out during any of our practice."
"You weren't called out because Ragnarok sounds like a sick goat going through a meat grinder alive," Maka interjected. "While being choked," she added. "Compared to that you sound pretty good."
"You mean 'pretty cool,' right?" Soul asked.
"Just get to practicing," Maka groaned. She walked back over to the music player, restarted "Walking On Sunshine", and the three teens began practicing what was already choreographed of the number so far. It was painfully obvious after a few tries that Soul didn't yet know the words for his backup part.
"Soul, you're still getting the words wrong," Maka said.
"Well what do you expect?" Soul asked after being notified of this. "It's been only a day and I wasn't the one given the lead role," he added. "And yet you're going at me for not having perfect memorization skills? So uncool, Maka. So uncool."
"No need to get so defensive, I was just reminding you that you keep getting a lyric wrong," Maka replied.
"Um, guys, please don't fight again," Tsubaki interjected.
"Again?" Soul asked. "When have we fought before?"
"You did bicker a lot in middle school," Tsubaki replied. "I am not going to stand here while you guys end up fighting like that again, except now you're both in high school and should be more mature." she added. Maka made a small "hmmph," as Tsubaki walked back to the music player.
The three of them kept practicing and practicing until the bell finally rang. Soul was the first to pick up his bag and open the door.
"See you two on the bus," he said, leaving the room.
"I've got to head on as well, I had a good time practicing with you guys!" Tsubaki beamed, walking out of the choir room towards the locker halls. Maka joined her, having put her own bag in her locker as well. The two of them made their way down the hall, their footsteps joining those of the students who were leaving their clubs, creating a mixed-up and out-of-tune rhythm down Shibusen Academy's many halls. Tsubaki split off from Maka at the juniors' locker halls, and after a quick "see you on the bus" from both girls to each other, Maka was off down to the freshmen's halls. She walked down the short way past the sophomores' halls, noticing Patty and Jackie talking about something as they exited their hall. Maka didn't stop to chat, instead walking right past the sophomore halls. Right when Maka nearly reached the freshmen's hall, she nearly bumped into Kilik as he left with his bag.
"Crona's waiting back there, they told me it was important, and I had to go get you," Kilik said. "Poor kid was on the verge of tears," he added as he left earshot. Maka stopped walking for a second, feeling a pang in her chest. She took a few more steps into the halls to see Crona standing alone in front of their locker, shutting the door. Maka gave a quick wave to acknowledge their presence before walking over to her own locker and taking out her backpack. She slung it onto her shoulders, before turning around.
"Maka, I have to tell you something," Crona said. They nervously looked around to make sure nobody else was there.
"What is it?" Maka asked. Kilik was right, they do look like they're about to cry. Maka walked up to Crona, noticing the slip of paper they were holding in their left hand. Crona handed Maka the paper and mouthed the words "look at it". Maka held the piece of paper up and scanned the words, written in the blue ink of a cheap ballpoint pen.
"Read the other side once I'm done talking."
Maka nodded her head in understanding. She knew this was going to be serious, but why was Crona feeling a need to give her a note about it? Maka almost turned it around, but she hesitated.
"Why I'm afraid," Crona replied, lowering their voice to a hushed tone. "Afraid of Lady Medusa," they added, even though they knew it needed no clarification.
"I knew what you've given me so far wasn't the only reason," Maka said, getting a bit closer to Crona. "Please, if there's any way I can help, I want to know," she added, putting her hands on Crona's shoulders.
"Help?" Crona asked. "I'm not sure if there's anything you can do about it," they added, their voice shaking as tears formed in their eyes. "It feels like she's been constantly watching me, and that everything I do has become wrong in her eyes, and I don't know why, but I'm sure I deserve it. I can't stand up for her, since she's my mother, and she says she's doing this all for for my own good and that she knows best. She's probably just trying to make sure I still trust her regardless of whether she trusts me. I can't even be in my own home without feeling horribly nervous, like the whole world is closing in around me. I'm not sure I'm even supposed to be talking to you like this."
"What?" Maka asked, her eyes widening in fear. This was similar to what they had already told her, probably for safety reasons, but this time they were a lot more emotional, which was alarming.
"I don't think I can deal with it anymore," Crona replied. They tapped the note with their thumb. Maka turned it around and read what was written.
"I couldn't say this in person, but she's also starving me. She said to tell you I was doing that to myself, but I couldn't. I know just by telling you what I could and leaving out what she wanted, it'll get worse for me. Please, make sure I'm still okay a week from now. I just want to live without any more fear, but I can't."
Maka stared at the note in disbelief. How? How could someone willingly treat their child like this? And "please make sure I'm still okay a week from now?" That's so... so... shit, I don't have any words right now, Maka thought. A teardrop hit the note, smudging the writing, and Maka could tell it was from her. She threw her arms around Crona, holding them as close as she possibly could. The note fluttered to the floor, brushing up against Maka's foot as it hit the ground.
"I'll make sure you're still okay," she said. "I'm going to help you get out of this, I promise." By that point, Maka's voice had become crackly with tears.
"Do I deserve to get out?" Crona asked. What? Why would someone think this way? Crona leaned really close in to Maka and put a hand over one of their ears. "She's my mother, I'm not sure… I… I can't leave her," they whispered into Maka's ear. "I have nowhere else to go."
"I'm sure we can remedy that, and I'm here for you, okay?" Maka whispered back. Ms. Gorgon must be watching them right now somehow. Wait, they covered their ear. She must have a listening device. "She's listening to us, isn't she, Crona?" Maka asked.
"Mhm," Crona replied. "I think the battery died since I haven't heard her for a few hours, but either way she's going to be furious," they added. Maka could feel their body tremble against hers, shaking with fear at the thought of what Medusa must have planned to do if this happened. First thing when I get home, I'm calling child services on Ms. Gorgon. And next time I see her, I'm going to have to try really hard to resist all urges to punch her in the fucking face.
"When did all this start?" Maka asked.
"She's been like this for as long as I can remember," Crona replied. Okay, now I'm going to have to try really hard not to break Ms. Gorgon's fucking neck. "I can't take it much longer," Crona said.
"I will end her," Maka grumbled. "Or at the very least, let her know how horrible of a person she truly is for treating you like this, and making you feel so hopeless you think you deserve it," she added. "I love you, and I absolutely cannot let this stand any longer. Trust me, I will find a way to help you get out of this."
Crona put their hand down from their ear and hugged Maka back, even if it was just with one arm due to Maka accidentally crushing the other one against them.
"Maka, nobody's..." Crona started, before the sound of rapid footsteps echoed into the hall, growing louder and louder.
"Maka, the bus is about to leave!" Soul shouted. "If you run, you can make-whoa..." he added, looking over at the scene. "Why are you two hugging each other and crying?" Soul asked.
"Long story," Crona sighed, letting go of Maka. "You should probably go, I'd hate for you to be stuck here," they added, wiping the tears and snot off their face.
"I don't have to go just yet," Maka replied, sniffling a bit. "I can get Papa to drive me home."
"Yeah, and he'd have to drive me too unless we hurry our asses up," Soul added. "Come on," he said, pulling Maka off from what remained of the hug.
"I'll call you as soon as I get home," Maka said. "We'll devise a plan, okay?" she asked, picking up the note from the floor.
"If we can," Crona replied. "Otherwise, I'll hopefully see you tomorrow, okay?"
"Okay," Maka replied, quickly turning to catch up with Soul, who had gotten a head start.
The two of them ran down the halls as fast as their legs could carry them, until they reached the parking lot to find the last bus already leaving campus.
"No, no, no, no, no, aw, crap," Soul groaned.
"Great, now I'm going to have to get Papa to stop by Evans Manor unless one of your parents is willing to pick you up," Maka said.
"Fat chance, the limo driver's already took Wes to sign the deal on his new place in Vegas," Soul replied. "And my parents are too proud-rich to drive anywhere," he added. Maka got out her phone and started texting Spirit to get out to the parking lot to drive her and Soul back to their respective homes.
"So you missed the bus because of a boy?" Spirit's message read. He then sent an angry face emoji.
"No," Maka texted back. "Long story, actually involved Crona. Get out here."
"Hey, Maka," Soul began. "What the hell was up with all the hugging and crying back there?" he asked. How do I say this? Screw it, I'll just get right to the point.
"Ms. Gorgon's been abusing and neglecting Crona right under our noses this whole time," Maka replied. "I'm going to try and help Crona get the hell out of there."
"Holy shit," Soul said, as Medusa walked out of the school's entrance doors, dragging Crona with her by the ear. "Should I flip her off?" Soul whispered. "I know it's not enough retribution, but hey, it's a start," he added with a cocky grin.
"Do it," Maka replied. Soul immediately showed off to Medusa both his middle fingers.
"What did I do, Soul?" Crona retaliated with, mistakenly believing the gesture was meant for them.
"Not meant for you, sorry!" Soul called out. He gave Maka a wince of "oh shit, I messed up."
"Solomon Evans, you are still on school property!" Medusa shouted. "If I wasn't about to leave, I'd make sure you were punished for this!" After those words, she stormed off to her white sedan and got in, Crona resigning themself to the passenger seat. The sedan drove right out of the parking lot, barely under the speed limit. Maka could almost feel herself shaking at the dread of what was going to happen in the Gorgon household that night.
"You think maybe I made it worse?" Soul asked, right as Spirit left the building, approaching Maka and Soul.
"You guys ready to go?" Spirit asked.
"Yeah," Soul replied, texting his parents about the unforeseen event of Spirit driving him home.
"I... I call shotgun," Maka added, sounding far more trembly than her usual "I call shotgun" voice. She walked with Spirit and Soul back to Spirit's car, and the three of them sat down into their respectively chosen seats. Spirit driving, Maka in the passenger seat, and Soul sitting in the back all by himself, save for his and Maka's backpacks.
"Maka, is there something wrong?" Spirit asked, eyeing the concerned look on his daughter's face. There was a pause before Maka replied, as thoughts ran through her head about the Gorgon situation.
"Papa, you don't happen to know the number for the town's child protective services, do you?"
