"Whatever you do don't go over to her house!" Soul had warned before hanging up.
"It's suicide!" Black*Star had exclaimed. "You'll literally want to kill yourself!"
Maka had just hung up after making some excuse about her dad needing help with something.
Kid just thought they were being overly dramatic. Surely Crona's poetry wasn't as bad as they made out. He didn't expect her to be a genius. Although, he supposed that she was probably an okay writer, if nothing else. He waved their words and actions off as them just being silly. The front door of her house was opened by Marie who had a healthy glow to her skin along with a cherry flush at her cheeks. She told him that Crona was waiting for him up in her room and told him to be sure to remind Crona about taking her medicine later. She then went to the kitchen where she was making tea for Stein and herself. The mere mention of his name had Kid feeling on edge.
He wasn't exactly sure if Marie wanted him to go into Crona's room or not. The last time he'd been up there alone with her he'd gotten yelled at and given some subtle threats afterwards, but after a few minutes of him just standing there in the living room she reminded him where Crona's room was. Kid was quite surprised by that. Marie certainly had more faith in him then Stein did. He didn't question her judgement though. Heading upstairs he found Crona in her room just as Marie said she would be. She was sitting on her bed rocking back and forth, hugging a pillow and mumbling to herself.
That seemed...odd.
He wondered if it was whatever medication she had been put on or if she were just nervous about him being there. After a few moments of her not noticing him and continuing her quiet conversation with herself he supposed it was the medication. He knocked lightly on her door once to get her attention. She stopped mumbling and slowly turned her head to the side to look at who had entered her room. She wanted to smile but she still felt kind of funny and the swarm of butterflies in her stomach started to flutter around rapidly. A goofy smile tugged at her lips, and then fell after a short moment. She turned her head away trembling as the slightest pink tint came to her face.
"Crona?"
"Hmm?"
"Are you okay?"
"Umm-hmm. I was just thinking."
"It looked more like you were talking with yourself."
"No I wasn't."
"Okay..." he noticed some papers on her night stand. "Is that what you want me to read?"
Sitting up her eyes seemed somewhat unfocused. There was a bit of confusion there. She picked the stack up and thumbed through it, pulling out a piece of paper that had large, gothic font at the top. "I hope you like it." She said softly, handing it to Kid. "I worked extra hard on it." She gave a yawn that she tried to hide with her hand. Her eyes felt droopy, but she didn't know why though she guessed it was because they felt sad. Some rational part of her mind told her it was because she'd stayed up too late last night. Then again, she reasoned that was possibly why they were sad.
Concentrate. She told herself, forcing her focus on the boy. Kid's eyes scanned over the paper and its nice, gothic decor. It wasn't the work of an expert artist, yet it wasn't totally bad, though he felt he could improve some of the uneven or otherwise messily drawn designs. Kid took a deep breath as his eyes then ran over the lines and he was frowning as he got deeper and deeper into the meaning of the words. He was silent as he read feeling somewhat conflicted about how to respond to such writing.
It made the swarm of butterflies in Crona's stomach go crazy. It made her feel like laughing for some reason. All those butterflies were tickling her insides and she couldn't help but to giggle. I wonder if he'd tickle my insides like that. She wondered, not even realizing how her thoughts had taken such a strange turn. She looked back to Kid who seemed to be nearing the end of the poem, his grip had tightened a bit on the paper as he took his time taking no notice of the pink-haired girl as she watched him closely with a dark, lethargic stare. He finished and handed her the paper back. She sat it aside and turned back to him. He seemed shaky, paled after reading her writing.
"What do you think?" She asked.
Kid looked at her with a sharp pain stabbing at the slow beating organ in his chest. He forced on a smile that fell seconds after it came to his face. He took a shaky exhale, ignoring how his eyes teared up. Crona's lips turned up in a soft smile as she stared at his watery eyes with fascination, though he saw a bit of fear was there as well. It was fading, but it was there. She was afraid he wouldn't like it.
"Is it that good?" she asked. Her voice sounded distant and whispery, all emotion was dulled and somewhat muted. "Is it so wonderful...that it makes you cry...happy tears? Or are your eyes just bleeding sadness?"
"Umm...well...not exactly." Kid said as he wiped away the tears, feeling slightly ashamed to be crying in front of Crona. He knew it was because of his repressed depression and hated himself for not being able to control his emotions better. He took a shaky inhale, sputtering as he tried to respond in a way that wouldn't hurt her feelings, "I-I think it's really...it's just...uh...you know..."
"I...don't understand."
"It's...something..."
"Hmm, I see. What is it exactly?"
"I-I'm not sure."
She smiled playfully, gently pulling him closer. "Try me." She encouraged as she leaned against him, gently running a hand up and down his back taking no notice of how he tensed. She nuzzled against him and continued to run her hands over him. Kid was getting a bit uncomfortable with her strange actions. He tried to pull away at first, and then relaxed when he decided that it was okay as long as she didn't suddenly decide to try something much bolder.
It was just as this thought crossed his mind that he gave a surprised yelp when she licked his ear. It was just a small, quick flick of her tongue over his earlobe, but it still caught him off guard. He tried to move away from Crona, giving her a stunned, questioning look but she simply gave him a small smile in return, moving closer to him so she could rest her head against his shoulder. Kid let her and stayed tensed this time, now certain that something was terribly wrong with her.
What's happened to her? He wondered taking notice of her shift in personality, and really how could he not? It wasn't like the pinkette to be so touchy-feely and bold. If anything she probably would have a stroke under normal conditions if anyone done such a thing to her. There was only one explanation that made a lot of sense to Kid, seeing as it was the only thing he knew to have changed lately.
It's got to be that damn medication. If this is how it affects her then Stein and Marie need to get her off it.
"Did you like it?" Her voice whispered against his shoulder. "What is this...'something'...that it is? It made you cry, so was it good...or bad...why did it make you cry, Kid? What did you think?"
"It was dark." he said warily, not trusting this new Crona who seemed to just slip into the old one's skin overnight. "And I suppose it was really sad, hopeless, but it was also very well written and had some very nice decorations."
"I took my time. I'm glad you like it."
Like isn't what I was going for but if it makes her happy, he thought with a slight grimace. In all honesty it made him want to go hide in a dark corner for the rest of his life, but he restrained that urge because he supposed it'd hurt her feelings, then again he wasn't so sure because of how strange she was behaving. It was almost like someone had given her some ecstasy pills. He remembered what he'd read and learned about that particular drug, silently listing the symptoms as Crona continued to nuzzle against him.
Extreme mood lift, an increase in energy, increased social outgoingness, acuteness in all five of the senses, and feelings of love, comfort, and/or peace are more apparent. All these things could cause the users to try and explore more with those around them. When he took all this into consideration he couldn't help but to shudder, shaking away the idea, seeing as Crona displayed more than a few of those symptoms, but he knew there were also negative effects that weren't showing so either they weren't visible or they weren't there, which he knew they weren't because he could tell by looking at her that she wasn't on such a drug. There was no sweating, nausea, dehydration, signs of soreness, or anything bad like that. Besides, her eyes lacked that blurry, dazed quality that many drug users attained while under the influence.
He'd seen that look on Liz and Patty plenty of times when they came home from a concert or party and had gotten a whiff of some smoke, or actually partaken in the smoking or taking of illegal substances. Kid gave a small gasp and shudder when he felt Crona lean against him some more, moaning quietly as she rubbed her face against his clothes. He really had no idea what to do, which led to him just sitting there and letting the pinkette do whatever she wanted while he tried to not show how bothered her behavior made him.
"You're soft." She mumbled, moving so her face rested against the crook of his neck. Her arms wrapped limply around his shoulders as she inhaled his clean scent and gave a small noise that sounded like a cross between a squeak and a moan. "And you're warm and smell soapy. I like you."
"I-I like you too." he said, holding back on the urge to make a run for it. "Um, are you feeling okay today, Crona?"
It was a stupid question. Surely, though, she realized how she was behaving? The soft, vaguely confused smile she gave him told him that she apparently had no clue that she was acting different. He then winced at noticing her eyes...were off...hazy, not like she was on a drug, but...it was different...her eyes were also shaking from some strong emotion that was restrained yet very much alive within her soul. Kid couldn't read what it was, but it gave him a bad feeling.
"I dunno. I dunno how to feel, Kid. The karners are flying around everywhere, but I feel great."
"What?"
"The butterflies are in my stomach...and I think some crawled into my head...I feel s-so weird." Her voice cracked near the end of what she had to say, as that emotion flared up in her and little giggles started to break through her mouth. They didn't sound right, though. Her laughter sounded...broken and mad...it made Kid's heart tighten in his chest, as he kept his widened eyes on her. He was more than just a little concerned about her by now.
"Maybe you should lie down."
"Good idea." She said with a single, small giggle. The next thing Kid knew she'd shoved him down onto the bed and had her lips fully on his while one of her hands was running through his hair and the other rested on the upper part of his thigh, squeezing so tightly that it hurt. This caught him by complete surprise to say the least. He tried pushing her away, groaning and growling as he struggled with her. He restrained himself from not using too much force, as he tried to not hurt her in the process of getting her off, but this was when he found out that Crona was a lot stronger than her physical appearance and typical personality suggested. She pushed back and managed to overpower him at first until he used more force to shove her away. Their lips separated leaving a thin line of saliva connecting their lips. Kid groaned quietly at this, wanting nothing more than to wipe it away, but when he tried to Crona took that time to push him back down and connect her lips back to his.
After a five long minutes of struggling with her he eventually managed to get her body off his. Falling off the bed and to the floor he got up as quickly as he could to face her, panting and red faced due to her advances. Kid was a bit surprised to be met with a rather dark, soulless glare that left him frightened, seeing as she had never appeared so dangerous before. It was like she had done no wrong, as though she silently put him in the wrong for what he was doing.
"What is that look for?" he demanded heatedly.
"You're supposed to stay still."
"Why would I stay still?" He snapped. "You were practically attacking me! What the hell is wrong with you today? Is it that damn medication you took? Did you not get enough sleep? Or...is this something else entirely?"
"I don't know. I really don't care. Right now all I want to do is get close to you."
That sounded fine. Not that Kid wanted to get close to her, of course. He just wasn't ready for that and he was sure that Crona wasn't ready for that either. It was just her medicine making her act this way. It had to be. This wasn't the same girl he'd spoken to on the phone last night, or at least Kid didn't think it was. That girl had been curious and shy, whereas this one was being quite aggressive and seemed to know what she wanted without any hesitation.
"And I want to peel all your soft skin off and wear it like a cocoon."
That...was the complete opposite of fine.
She smiled at him. It looked nothing like her usual smile. It wasn't shy or sweet like it had been before, instead it was something dark and smug. Kid felt like he was looking at a total stranger. "Then I'd be safe in you all the time. Maybe I could use...other parts of you...for other things. Your eyes could watch me all the time and I'd never be alone. Pieces of you...would always be with me...always."
"R-really?"
"Uh-huh. Would you like to give me your heart? I'd give you mine. We could take turns eating each others' hearts 'til there's nothing left."
Mouth dropping open Kid felt suddenly sicker than he had a few moments ago. Things had went from strange to weird to heated and taken a turn for being Hannibal Lector scary. He looked Crona over and was even more frightened to find that she was absolutely serious about everything she'd said. Her body language was tensed, jittery, and seemed rather lazy. Her smile grew wider and made Kid shudder. It appeared sadistic, promising dark intent. It reminded Kid of the smile Stein had given him before. There was definitely something wrong with her, something very wrong, but he wasn't sure what it was anymore. He felt his judgement falter as he turned to make a run for the door, but soon found himself tackled to the floor and struggling with the pink-haired girl who hissed and giggled numerous obscenities he'd never once thought he'd hear come from her mouth.
"Get off me!" Kid grunted as he managed to push her away and get to his feet. Unfortunately she was also quicker than he had anticipated and before he knew what was what she was at the door, blocking it. She then used her foot to close it. A moment later the lock clicked into place. He found himself shaking as he stared at her, still in shock from her behavior. It was nothing like the usually sweet, gentle, shy girl he liked. This was someone entirely different.
"Cr-Crona what are you doing?"
"I can't let you tell them." She said with a soft tone, expression seeming to be a cross between scared and sadistic. "If they know they'll get mad an-and I ca-can't let them get mad. I ca-can't let them get mad, o-or th-they'll hurt me."
"I doubt that." Kid muttered, edging his way back as she started to slowly move forwards. "You aren't thinking clearly. Whatever is wrong with you," he eyed the door hoping that maybe he could sidestep her when she got far enough away and make a run for it, unlock it, and then get some help before Crona done something that would promptly end their relationship, "I am sure they can help you. Why don't you just calm down," he eyed the door starting to feel a bit desperate, "and let me go so we can work this whole thing out," his chance to escape was closer than ever, "without anyone getting hurt."
"I want you."
"Th-that's nice, b-but I-I don't th-think you mean that."
She didn't respond to this, but moved closer with that frightening smile on her face. Kid felt himself on the edge of panic. Never before had he ever imagined getting raped or murdered by a girl, especially not this one of all people. Patty maybe, but that was just because she seemed sadistic enough at times to do it. Shaking, Kid eyed the door seeing his chance to escape was now or never.
Scrape, scrape.
"What's that?" Crona whined, freezing and eyes becoming wide. Her smile had fallen. She looked absolutely frightened. Kid's eyes narrowed as he stared at her. That hazy look in her eyes looked as though it had gotten worse and had became more unfocused, shaking as they looked around for something.
"What's...what?" He asked uncertainly, concerned yet also still feeling frightened of what she might do if he let his guard down for too long.
Scrape, scrape.
"What is that?"
Scrape, scrape, scrape.
"Th-that sound." She sputtered. Her hands went up to tangle in pink strands. Her body trembled and she looked around appearing like some cornered animal.
"What the hell is it?!" She screeched, her eyes darting around while her breathing got out of control. Warm tears ran down her face and she began to laugh and cry at the same time as she started to have what looked like a breakdown.
Scrape.
Screaming she charged forwards and knocked into Kid so hard he was winded for a minute then felt his air supply diminish as it was choked off. Her hands were at his throat. Her eyes were dark and glazed, bleeding tears as she glared down at him with a look of absolute hate.
"Stop it!" she growled at him, losing whatever was left of her self-control. "Stop making that sound!" Her hold tightened as the tears came faster and she gave a sound that was a cross between a moan and laugh. "Will it stop? If I stop you will it stop? Answer me!"
That was when Kid done what he had hoped he wouldn't be forced to do and fought back. He kneed her in the stomach and punched her as hard as he could in the chest hoping she'd fall back but she continued to surprise him. It took several more blows before she tumbled away from him and he was able to gasp and sputter for some sweet, fresh air that cooled his heated lungs. He then got up and ran to the door.
Unlocking it he cried out as he felt nails sink into the back of his neck. Pushing the crazed girl off him he swung the door open and ran for the stairs. He was halfway down when Crona jumped after him, tackling him and causing them both to fall the rest of the way down. At the bottom he shouted for help as Crona lay groaning and mumbling nonsense he only partly understood. He tried to move away from her but soon she was up and jumped him. She started to pull at his hair, wailing loudly and screaming some gibberish he wasn't even sure about hearing correctly.
Marie appeared almost in an instant. "Crona!" She exclaimed at seeing the scene. She attempted to pull Crona off Kid; however, it was much harder than one would think. It made Kid wonder. "Get off him, get off!" Marie screamed. "Stein, get in here and help!"
Sitting up and turning his head as Kid tried to push Crona away. He saw Stein leaning in the doorway of the kitchen watching the scene before him calmly. A wide smile was on his face, glasses glinting in the light of the room. He seemed to be enjoying the show quite a bit.
Finally, after several more minutes he sighed and walked over to where Marie struggled with pulling Crona from Kid and he circled one arm around her waist before he pulled her away like it was nothing. Crona seemed to go limp in his hold and sobbed, sniffling as he took her over to the couch where he forced her to sit. Sitting close by he patted her head affectionately and watched as Marie helped Kid to his feet, fussing over him and making sure he was all right. He lied and said he was all right. In reality, he was both angry and worried over Crona, as well as physically sore with his pride being slightly bruised and battered.
"I'm so sorry this happened Kid! She seemed to be doing okay this morning. It's not her fault she's acting this way, really."
"I-I believe you. B-but why is she..."
"It's that liquid medicine. It always has adverse side effects on people, you know how medicine is. It helps with some things and brings about bad side effects later. I'm sorry. She should get over this an hour or so after we give her the usual medication. It works quicker and doesn't make her act...you know...crazy."
"Right, I-I guess I'll...just...I'll come back later then."
"It'd probably be best if you wait until tomorrow, just to be safe." Stein chimed in from where he was at Crona's side with a firm hand on her shoulder. It was strange to Kid that he could control her so well and keep her from freaking out and hurting him, but then again when Kid thought on it he knew Stein was probably so intimidating to Crona that whether she was in her right mind or not she knew, even in her current state, that Stein wasn't someone to upset.
"He's right." Marie sighed, giving Kid an apologetic look. "You can come back tomorrow, okay? By then all this should be out of her system." She paused glancing from Crona back to him. "You can tell her good-bye if you want." Nodding in silence Kid rubbed the back of his neck as he glanced over to Crona and approached her with nervous apprehension.
"Be careful," Stein warned with a chuckle and small grin, "she doesn't take rejection too well when she's like this."
"I've noticed."
Marie then led the silver-haired male into the next room and left Kid to say his quick good-bye. He was somewhat uncertain how to say it and despite his weak-willed attempts to hide it he was afraid. He was afraid that he'd make her angry again and cause her to attack, he was afraid that she'd not understand due to her state of mind, but he was mostly afraid that this new Crona would replace the old one forever. It was like getting a glance at a two headed coin. Only this was much worse considering she came off as being homicidal. He told himself it wasn't her personally, just the bad side effects of medication like Marie said, but something made him doubt those words and he had no idea what it was. He chalked it up to fear, which he swallowed as he gathered up his courage and faced her.
"I guess this is...good-bye Crona. I'll see you tomorrow, okay? I hope you get to feeling better soon."
She mumbled something he didn't catch. He wasn't sure he wanted to know what she had said. Nevertheless, he tried to prompt her to repeat it, but she was unwilling to say anything to him and stared off into space with a blank expression. Her eyes glossy and faraway. They were still hazy and so unfocused that he felt as though she were staring right through him, no longer aware of him being there. It was a bit unnerving so he took it as his cue to leave and eased his way to the front door and left as silently as he could so as to not disturb her.
Lost in her own world now the pinkette heard the sound of the door closing and looked up. Her pupils were dilated as she looked around, feeling hypersensitive to all of her surroundings not knowing that eighty percent of her surroundings were merely imagined. The room was warm and brightly lit in the real world, but in her world it was dim and the air was cold against her skin. Getting up she headed for the door unsure why, just supposing she should try to follow the sounds out into the world beyond. Clowns and carnival grounds flashed through her mind, some distant memory that seemed very real at the moment, but was only some remembrance from a different time. Her hand was on the doorknob when she felt strong hands grab her from behind.
The touch hurt her hypersensitive body.
Screaming she turned and slapped at the one who touched her. Blond. She saw golden blond hair and felt her heart rate beat faster. Harsh, glaring yellow eyes worked their way into her vision to replace the kind, worried brown ones. Whimpering she cringed as a hand came towards her face in what seemed like super slow motion. It's going to hurt. She thought trembling. Reality twisted and she found the situation to be funny.
Normally she screwed up before she got hurt. Then she remembered she wasn't allowed to go outside. Panic bent and beat around in her brain turning some switch on that made her feel more powerful. She felt like hurting someone, making someone fear her. She wanted to taste something. She wasn't sure what but she soon found herself laughing and hugging herself as the need built up rather quickly, filling her mind like warm water stuck in her ears. It made her feel funny and for once...feeling funny was...just so nice.
The next thing she knew everything went red.
Screaming from the next room caught Stein's attention immediately. He hurried to the living room to see Marie was holding her face in both hands, shoulders lurching as she cried into her hands.
"Marie!" Stein was at her side in the blink of an eye, trying to figure out what was wrong. She removed her hands after a few minutes. He scowled at seeing shallow, yet bloody nail marks at the side of her neck and along her jawline. She pushed him away when he tried to look at them. She tried desperately to tell him something, but she was sobbing too hard to get it out. Then he saw it.
The front door stood open and Crona was gone.
"This is my entire fault." She sobbed, keeping some distance between her and Stein. She looked to him with the same sad, pleading brown eyes that always seemed to make him give into whatever she wanted of him."Y-you have to go get her. Sh-she c-can get hurt out there."
"I know. But where would she go this time?"
"I-I d-don't know." Her voice cracked as she shook her head and sobbed. "I don't know." She gave it some thought and gasped as an idea hit her. It made her feel sick to think about, but she knew it was one of many probabilities. "You don't think she'd try to follow Kid home...do you?"
"If she did," Stein replied apathetically, "I'm sure we'll know soon enough."
Marie's eye widened and her face paled drastically. She could only imagine what terrible things could be happening with each second that passed.
"Go get her!" She shouted at Stein knowing all too well that if that was where she was going then she'd possibly get hurt, or even killed if she forced others to fight back. And Marie knew as well as Stein did that when Crona got the way she was she really didn't give people any other choice. Like a wolf or lion on the prowl if someone tried to run she gave chase and if they tried to fight back it seemed to only make her more violent.
"In the meantime, get yourself cleaned up and start making pasta. I'll be back in an hour or two, possibly three."
"O-okay." she breathed shakily, wiping away at her tears. "B-but S-stein, please be careful."
Sighing he nodded and headed out knowing it was best for Marie to stay there in case Crona came back. She had before but that time neither of them had been home and she ended up destroying the place and hurting herself in the process. He knew it'd be better to track her on foot and bring her back that way. A car only complicated things especially if she were in a particularly wild mood and tried to break through the windows. It happened once before and only led to two things, one being a long chase and the second being an even longer hospital visit. If he chased her on foot then he could catch up faster and if she decided to fight he didn't have to worry about her getting too badly hurt because of glass, plastic, or metal getting in her way. Worst case scenario was that someone who didn't understand the situation saw and tried to interfere in some way.
It didn't take long for him to find her trail, seeing as she wasn't the most sane in her current state and left numerous little tell-tale signs such as a lost shoe, piece of torn cloth, a wounded dog whimpering beneath a parked car, destruction of public property, another lost shoe, and some hair that had tangled in a fence gave him all the directions he needed to follow after Crona. Stein quickly found that she wasn't following Kid home after all. It seemed she was taking an entirely different direction.
He soon found himself in a neighborhood he hadn't been in for a while. It was kind of nice. It was where most of the well-to-do people lived. There were numerous houses here and there that looked really nice then there were houses that looked totally abandoned. He found the trail came to an end in front of a nice white house that had a gray tiled roof, black front door, and some rose bushes out front.
606 Drakon Street. His eyes narrowed as he silently read the address. "Of course you'd run here." He muttered to no one. Stein looked around but she was nowhere to be seen
Sighing he supposed it wouldn't hurt to ask the resident to make sure nobody had seen her. He went up to the house and knocked lightly on the door, waited five minutes and then knocked again. He heard sounds inside and supposed that the owner was in no hurry to see who was at the door.
After about five minutes the door opened. He found his green eyes meet with yellow and instantly knew he wasn't welcomed. He hadn't seen the woman in quite some time and could see she'd changed since their last encounter. She'd dyed her hair black and had it cut short for a change, though she still had it spiked and wore black clothes. Her choice of clothing seemed different as well. A small, ripped black sleeveless top that shown off her midriff and well-toned arms with black pants that were slightly baggy and no shoes or socks adorned her feet.
She usually dressed much nicer. Then again he supposed she hadn't anticipated seeing anyone that day. Other than those few differences it seemed as though nothing else had really changed. She seemed less than welcoming, considering their last encounter had ended badly.
"What do you want?"
"What's wrong? You used to be so welcoming."
She rolled her eyes and gave him a look that reminded him of Crona when she got annoyed, though this look held much more malice than the pink-haired girl usually cared to show. "What do you want?" she demanded again, leaning against the doorframe. He frowned, uncertain about how to tell her what he was there for. His eyes eventually settled on some bandages that peeked out from beneath her clothing. There were a few bandages on her arms as well.
"What happened to you?" he questioned, looking at the bandages on her arms that covered some of the snake tattoos she had there. She gave a low growl and stepped back giving him a glare. It was clear she wasn't in the mood to talk about it, or anything really. "Alright, alright," he sighed. "I'm here looking for Crona."
This seemed to spark some interest. The woman ran a hand through her dark hair as she absorbed that information. She gave him a quizzical look as she thought on that for another minute before simply asking, "Why?"
"She's ran away and as crazy as it sounds I thought she was looking for you."
"I washed my hands of that brat long ago. Why would she be looking for me?"
"You're still her mother."
"I don't want anything to do with her."
"She might want something different. Believe it or not, but she doesn't hate you completely, which got me to thinking and I came to the conclusion that there are some unresolved feelings between you two. It leads me to ask you why she wouldn't come here?"
The woman didn't reply right away. She seemed ready to dismiss him. He then wondered if it was a mistake even bothering with her. She was like him back when he'd first gotten involved with Marie and Crona. He hadn't cared for Crona because it was solely Marie who held his interest. If anything happened to Marie back then he knew he wouldn't have hesitated in giving Crona away because she meant nothing to him at the time. The woman before him seemed to think the same way, seeing as she had given her only child away and seemingly without a second thought. It wasn't surprising considering she could be quite cold-blooded and wasn't known to be very compassionate. The big difference he saw between them was that she'd never really changed her stance while he did after some time. Now as she stood thinking on it he had a feeling she didn't care at all. As far as she was concerned Crona was just half her DNA and nothing more. No surprise considering this was a woman of science, who apparently lacked the natural maternal instinct like Marie had.
Finally she shrugged, wincing slightly as she did so. "I haven't seen her around here. Even if I did I doubt I'd know her right away. It's been what...ten...eleven years since I last saw my child's face?" She shook her head and gave a small, bitter laugh. "You're not getting any help from me in this search so you'd best move on before the poor thing gets hit by a car or something."
"I see you're still as big of a bitch as ever."
"Are you sure that's what you mean?" She gave a taunting smirk as she watched him turn to leave. "Or did you mean to say witch?"
"Whatever term you like better." He responded casually without looking back. "Both describe you fairly well."
Stein heard her huff at that. She shouted an insult back at him before she slammed the door shut. It was no surprise she was acting so hostile. He supposed she was in pain, judging from her bandages she'd gotten some pretty nasty wounds. It made him grin a bit to think about.
Dark eyes opened slowly as Crona tried to process where she was exactly. Her vision unfocused and bleary at first but then came into focus. She groaned as she sat up, hissing in pain and feeling like she had the worse migraine in history. Looking around she found that she was under a tree in some unknown location with someone sitting close by. "P-Professor Stein?" she mumbled confusedly.
"How are you feeling?"
"O-okay, I guess. M-my head hurts."
"Sounds normal. Do you remember anything? Where you are?" He didn't sound so much concerned as he did curious. Looking around she quickly realized where she was. She and Stein were both in front of the school. Confused she looked at him feeling really puzzled on everything.
"What happened?" She groaned. Crona whimpered and hissed in agony as she felt a sharp pain in her head and torso. "Ow! Why do I hurt so badly, Professor Stein? This hurts worse than having a tack in my shoe and that really hurts!"
"I'll bet."
"What happened today?" She whimpered, trembling. Crona tried hard to remember what could have happened, but nothing came to her. "Everything is a blurry mess! Am I sick? P-please, tell me what happened! Did I fall "
"You tell me."
"I-I don't know." She mumbled and explained that the last thing she remembered was waking that morning to greet Marie, and then everything seemed to get fuzzy from there on out. That was when she realized she was barefoot. It felt weird to her and she saw that her feet had a few cuts here and there. "What happened to my shoes?"
"There." he said pointing on the ground beside her. "And you tore your dress running," he paused for a moment then continued, "lost some hair, too. You must have been really mad at me."
"I-I was?"
He smiled, nodding. "You sure were." His tone was apathetic, but she could tell he cared because of how softly he smiled at her.
"Why?"
"Does that really matter?"
"I-I guess not. I'm not mad at you anymore...an-and I can't remember why I was...so I-I guess it wasn't important."
He didn't respond, just kept his soft smile going.
"Th-that doesn't explain why I am here, though."
"Right. Well, thankfully, you didn't get into any serious trouble and I found you sleeping here about an hour ago."
"Why didn't you wake me?" She whined, upset that he'd just let her lay there for the past hour. What if someone had came by while she was asleep and he wasn't around? What if her legs had spread apart in her sleep? Whoever passed by could have seen up her dress! Oh, that thought was so embarrassing! Stein could tell she was freaking out about something, which made him sigh and assure her nothing bad had happened while she was unconscious.
Crona seemed a bit more relaxed after that, allowing him a chance to explain why he had chosen to not wake her immediately after finding her.
"Frankly," he said wearily, "it was because I was tired of looking for you and wanted to rest a bit before walking all the way home."
"Oh. Why do we have to walk?"
"It's healthier to walk."
"Oh, yeah, okay that makes sense." She said. Crona looked him over for a moment before whispering her next question, "Are you mad at me?"
"No. I'm not mad, Crona."
"Okay. Can we go home now? Miss. Marie would be mad if I didn't take my medicine today. And I think she might start missing you."
"Yes," Stein agreed. "she might." He stood up, stretching out his sore muscles while he watched Crona put on her shoes. "You don't have to worry about your medicine though." he said with a blank expression. She gave him a quizzical expression that prompted him to explain, "You've already taken it. We stopped by the pharmacy on the way here to get it. It was a bit harder getting you to take it this time around, but you're a very good girl, Crona, and done very well."
"Thank you."
"C'mon," he ushered, wanting to get home and rest for a bit after such a hectic day, "I'm sure you're hungry and Marie should have some pasta made for you by now."
"Ooh, really? That's great!" She smiled happily, as she began to follow him away from the school. Her smile fell a moment later when she thought of something, causing her to give a small frown. "Wait...if I'm here...then does that mean...Kid didn't visit me today?"
"Marie will want to explain that later, I'm sure."
The walk home was relaxed, laid back and easy. Crona anticipated the promise of pasta while Stein kept his eye on her the entire time, wincing every now and then when she didn't look or pay him much attention. Soon, they were home and the second they entered the house there was a loud cry of joy and relief.
It was accompanied by the smell of freshly made pasta in the air. Crona smiled and like a mouse drawn to cheese headed for the kitchen right away. Sadly, just as a mouse walking into a trap, the next thing she knew she was hiding behind Stein who was taking Marie's monstrous strengthed hugs for her. They didn't seem to bother him so much as annoy him. Crona blushed as she supposed that he probably preferred Marie's kisses to her hugs.
She tried to slink away while Marie was busy thanking Stein and saying how happy she was to have them both home safely, but the second her foot connected with the kitchen floor Marie whirled about and came after her, appearing both angry as well as relieved to see she was all right. That's when Crona ducked away from her and ran up to her room where she slammed the door behind her, feeling pretty certain that she'd get a pain-filled hug as well as a bunch of questions she wasn't sure she could deal with at the time.
Other than that everything pretty much seemed more or less normal once Marie calmed down and let Crona get some pasta. Stein stopped lingering close by, giving her a look she wasn't too comfortable with, but ignored fairly well seeing as she was enjoying her pasta at the time. It was like he was silently analyzing her.
It unnerved her and yet...at the same time...it calmed her to know he was there for her, to know that he would always be there for her no matter what. It made feeling as strange as she sometimes did a lot more bearable with him around, especially since he assured her that she was a perfectly normal teenage girl.
Wow...that was a total lie at the end.
Ooh! I just realized that this chapter turned out a lot longer than I anticipated it being. That's so sweet! I've been meaning to do a long chapter for a while now. I'm so happy that I've finally gotten to it. I'm also glad I got this done on time! I feel accomplished for today. Ha! Did you see how I kind of managed to sneak Medusa in here? And how Crona is a bit nuts?
Lol.
I so enjoyed writing this! It was fun for me and helped a lot. I already have next chapter planned thanks to this one, though I'm nervous about writing it, so my warning in advance for it is that it may be a tad awkward. I will try to make it as awesome as this chapter, though. Sound good? Great! Well, I shall see all you little pretties again in two days time with a new update!
