17. Solitary Lavender with Starfruit
Unexplained Kisses
"Oh, crap!"
Tsubaki jumped in surprise at her meister's sudden outburst, even though she should've been used to it by then, and she watched the assassin bolt down the street at a disturbing speed.
"What's wrong?" she called after him as the speck of a boy almost vanished from sight, stopping once to look back at his partner and yell, "I promised Maka I'd visit Crona for her while she went on that mission with Soul! I completely forgot. You head home without me; I should be back pretty soon. Make something tasty for dinner! The Big Star always likes that rice hot dish thing!"
Tsubaki blinked at the retreating form of her meister as he sped back to the Academy and with a shrug and an exasperated smile, she continued on her own way back to their apartment.
-/-\-|-/-\-
Black Star sped down to the Academy's basement almost as fast as the night the kishin Asura was being freed. He jumped at least three stairs at a time, finally landing on the cold, stone floor of the hallway and hurrying down it. When he finally screeched to a stop outside the heavy, metal door of the nervous meister's room, he hastily threw it open without too much thought or dialogue in his head.
The door squawked loudly, and Black Star poked his head into the room, looking about curiously and spotting no one. He was just beginning to think he had the wrong room when a quiet snore brought his attention to the corner of the room behind the door. Sure enough, when he squinted his eyes to adjust to the darkness, the dark, curled up shape of Crona could be seen in the blackened corner.
With a sigh and an empathetic smile, Black Star walked over to the meister and bent down, gathering her frail body up into his arms, muttering, "Sleeping in the cold corner… sheesh."
Carefully placing her on the tattered mattress of the squeaky bed, the assassin gently pulled away the pillow Crona was clutching to her chest and laid it under her head. Then with a gentleness he sometimes doubted possessing, he pulled the thin, quilted blanket up to Crona's chin and wrapped it tightly around her.
"Well, good-night, I guess," Black Star said with an amused smirk. As he turned to leave, cold fingers brushed against his hand, and he turned back to Crona with a curious look. The meister was still asleep, but her face was twisted in a grimace, and her fingers tightened around Black Star's, causing the assassin to sit down beside the trembling figure.
Black Star looked around the room as if someone might magically appear and help him, but seeing no one, he turned back to the sleeping Crona, unsure whether to wake the sleeping meister or leave her to her nightmare. Knowing he couldn't do the latter, and not sure if waking her would be the best idea seeing as she still wasn't comfortable around him, he squeezed her hand back as comfortingly as he could.
For a few moments, it didn't seem to help, but soon enough, the sleeping sword wielder didn't appear as frightened and didn't shake as much.
With a smile, Black Star placed his free hand on Crona's head, brushing her long, pink bangs from her eyes and nose. She didn't appear so paranoid when she was sleeping, in fact, Black Star found she looked rather peaceful, cute even. Lifting his hand gently from her forehead, the assassin slowly leaned towards the sleeping meister, softly resting his lips on her temple for a few moments and then pulled away.
Crona stopped trembling completely, and Black Star smiled victoriously for two seconds before his eyes widened in realization and he hissed, "Holy freakin' Excalibur! What the hell did I just do?"
Almost immediately, a hand shot forward, gripping his nose and forcing it upwards with a protesting snap!, and Black Star flailed about for a few moments, unaware Crona had such strength before he saw the black blood oozing from her back and realized it wasn't her.
"Yeah, good question!" came an irritated voice, and Ragnarok's head materialized with a splash of blood. "What the hell were you doing to my meister! Sure, Crona's a little weakling at times, and I honestly couldn't care less about her face, just as long as I can survive, but seriously!" The little creature got right in Black Star's face, X-shaped pupils rolling about angrily. "What were you doing? Transmitting a disease of some kind? Killing someone while they're sleeping? That's low, little assassin boy!"
"N-No!" Black Star protested, pushing the demon sword's hand from his aching nose. "I didn't do anything bad! I just gave her a kiss on the forehead, that's all!" Saying it out loud seemed to make the memory even more absurd, and Black Star felt his cheeks grow warm. Shaking his head angrily, he whispered frantically, "That's not bad or anything, right? I mean, yeah we're friends, I guess, but honestly, I barely know the girl! Was this sexual harassment in any way? I doubt this is was Maka had in mind when she said I should visit her!"
Ragnarok grew less irate and began looking more confused than anything, muttering in bewilderment, "Hey, kid, are you even talking to me anymore, or are you having some sort of crisis?"
"Uhg, this is something creepy, perverted stalkers do! The great me doesn't stalk sleeping girls! That's just not right!"
"Yeah, and it's also a little distasteful when you wake them up while they're sleeping," Ragnarok pointed out as Crona began shifting, eyes inching their way open. "Of course, I wouldn't care about that," the black blood added as he seeped back into Crona's back. "I punch her to wake her up all the time…"
By the time Crona could fully comprehend what was going on around her, Ragnarok was already back in her bloodstream, and Black Star was on the other side of the room, sitting cross legged on the floor with his head bowed. When she saw him, Crona flinched and inquired in a wavering tone, "W-What are you doing here?"
Black Star looked up, feigning a look of surprise and replied, "Oh, you're awake! I was just… um… leaving. Yeah, yeah, that's it. You were sleeping so soundly in the corner, but it was, well, the corner, so I moved you to your bed and just sat here for a bit in case you woke up." He began nodding like a bobble-head and didn't stop as his face grew red again. "So… yeah."
"Oh." Crona looked at the blanket clutched in her fingers and back at Black Star who was now rocking himself back and forth. "…Thank you."
"Yeah, uh-huh, uh-huh. No problem!" Black Star replied a little too quickly, getting to his feet and walking hurriedly to the door. "I should be going, now. Late, all that stuff." He gave a fake, obnoxious yawn, stretching his arms above his head. "Well, good night and all that. See you tomorrow or at sometime…"
"Okay," Crona murmured quietly, surprised to see the boy leaving so quickly and watched him dash out the door without another glance behind him. "Um… wait!" It was a soft call, and she couldn't remember the boy's name, so she was hoping he'd heard her. A few moments later, much to her relief, the blue haired teen came walking backwards, mouth set in a thin line while the candles in the hall showed his cheeks were alarmingly red.
Crona squeaked, afraid the boy was angry with her. He looked to be, and in a steady voice, the assassin whispered, "Yep?"
The demon meister raised a trembling finger and pointed at the corner of the room. "You forgot to close the door behind you."
Black Star smiled grimly, tip toeing into the room and grabbing the handle of the thick slab of metal. "Sorry about that…" With a gentle click, the door closed and the room was sent into darkness.
In the hallway, Black Star gently pounded his head into the stone wall, over and over again, muttering, "You. Awkward. Weird. Perverted. Star. Kissing. Sleeping. Girls. Ahk!"
When he returned home, he collapsed to the floor with a massive headache, much to the horror of his weapon partner, before asking if she considered him a creeper of any kind, to which Tsubaki raised an eyebrow and wondered exactly what had happened to her meister on his trip back to the Academy.
-/-\-|-/-\-
A/N: Oh, poor Black Star. And Crona will never know… unless Ragnarok says something…