Chapter 6: Innocent Girl

"Young master, I don't mean to sound rude but don't you think we could have just brought Crona to a hospital in Death City?" Maka said to Kid. Both of them, along with Justin, were standing outside the emergency room. "I mean… did we really have to go this far?"

Justin just sweatdropped. He's been willing to ask the same thing ever since they were in the train.

"I assure you, Maka," said Kid who just kept resting his back against the wall. "This is one of the best hospitals I know. I am not very confident of what we have back at home."

"Trust issues, I see," Maka whispered.

Kid heaved a sigh. "Look, you two." Justin and Maka turned to him. "There's this creepy and suspicious doctor back in Death City Hospital. He has stitches all over his body and he's got this screw on his head. I never asked him about them but they're enough reasons for me to consider him a suspect."

The two blondes could clearly see that Kid still haven't given up on finding out who killed Medusa.

"Honestly, my Lord, I couldn't tell if you're doing this for Crona or for yourself," said Justin.

"Of course I'm doing this for her," Kid retorted. "After all, she's under my custody now. It's my responsibility to know about her background."

"What will you do with such information?"

"I…" Kid suddenly forgot what he wanted to say. For a second there, he realized he didn't really have anything to say after all. But he had to say something. He didn't want to sound illogical. "People are going to ask me about her," he managed to come up quickly. "I wouldn't want them to think I'm taking care of a stranger."

"But you are," Justin said as a-matter-of-factly.

"And that's exactly why I want to know her, Justin," Kid said as he closed his eyes, raised one of his index fingers and smiled. "I want to know this stranger." He turned his gaze to the emergency room's door. Suddenly, it opened and Doctor Heilmich came out. Kid, Justin and Maka approached him.

"Doctor, how is she?" Kid said, trying to maintain his composure.

"Ah, you mean Crona Gorgon? She's fine," answered the doctor. Kid slowly felt relieved as the doctor spoke but one word zapped him back to worry. "But…"

"But-? But what, doctor?" He gripped the doctor's shoulders.

"Calm down, Kennedy."

Kid frowned as he lightened his grip. "Please don't call me that."

"Sorry, I mean, Kid. Ms. Gorgon has concussion, which explains why she loses consciousness sometimes."

"It's not that severe, is it?"

"You really are concerned for her, aren't you?" The doctor smiled playfully.

"Let's not mind the small details please," Justin said, sweatdropping. He saw that his young master was flustered already.

Heilmich acquiesced. "Yes, it's not severe. But we still need to examine her further. You can help by asking her what happened to her. She might have accidentally hit her head on something."

"We will," Kid said. "Can we see her now?"

"Oh, sure. She's just sitting right next to my desk."

"Thank you, doctor." He gestured his hand, signaling Maka and Justin to follow him.

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On the snowy streets of Derion, Maka and Justin walked passed by different stores and people who are, like them, wrapped in thick layers of jacket.

Maka sighed in relief. "I'm glad to know Crona's alright. I hope she doesn't faint now that she's with young master again."

"I'm sure Master Kid will be more careful this time not to overwhelm her," Justin reassured her. "They're off to a cafe just around the block to have some private talk. We should meet up with them by three thirty."

"Alright, so where are we going now?"

"Well… He wants us to buy Crona some clothes."

Maka's face suddenly brightened up. "Really? That's great then! We just passed by a cute apparel store. We should be going back there." She pulled Justin by the arm.

"Wait. We don't know her sizes yet." He was letting himself being dragged by Maka now.

"You should have asked her." She let him go and faced him. "But then it wouldn't be a surprise anymore."

Justin raised an eyebrow at Maka as he fixed his sleeve. "We are not aiming at surprising her."

"So now you are suggesting we should go back to them this instance?" Maka said, folding her arms in front of her chest.

"I didn't suggest anything like that."

"Well, it was like you were implying it."

"Anyway, we can't disturb them right now."

"You make it sound like they're going to do something top secret." Maka smiled. She turned around continued walking towards the store. "Crona is slightly taller and skinnier than me so I guess I can find the right clothes for her. Justin, you know how to sew, right?" She gazed at Justin. "You can make adjustments if Crona doesn't perfectly fit in her new clothes."

"Of course," Justin smiled. "We wouldn't want to disappoint the young master."

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The chimes hanging from the ceiling rang as Kid opened the doors of a cafe called Le Dolce Dente, letting in a frizzle of snowy wind. Crona followed, waddling behind Kid. The cafe was lightened up by yellow lights which was comforting to the eyes of the customers. Dancing Christmas lights caught the pinkette's attention, triggered her curiosity. The square windows were surrounded by them. Kid had led them to a table near a window where the town square can be seen. Crona sat across Kid and clutched her knees nervously. She stared blankly at the mahogany table while Kid studied her for a moment before grabbing the menu.

"What's troubling you, Crona?" Kid finally said after deciding what he should order.

Crona quickly glanced at Kid. "N-nothing!"

"It doesn't seem like it's nothing." He frowned a bit. "Am I making you uncomfortable?"

"No, it's not like that!" She shouted in a small, cute voice, waiving her hands frantically in front of Kid.

Kid's shoulder started twitching as he chuckled.

"What's funny?" Crona said, looking somewhat like a clueless child at Kid. The nervousness slowly left her after hearing Kid's genuine warm laugh.

"I'm sorry," Kid said, still laughing a bit. "It's just that you're so cute when you're panicking." He took her hands, gripped them and stared into her baby blue eyes like he did a few days ago. His face suddenly changed expression. "Please tell me what's bothering you," he said firmly. "Maybe I can help." He wanted her to trust him so he had to sound as serious as possible but what he did only made Crona's face turn red and brought her nervousness back.

"It's just that…"

"Yes?" Kid leaned closer.

She faced down, making her asymmetrical bangs cover her eyes. "It's just that I don't want you to be seen with me… or anyone like me." Her voice was getting smaller. It was as if she was too embarrassed to say what she wanted to say.

"Anyone like you? Surely, you're just as human as them." Kid looked around the large room full of people enjoying their pastries and hot drinks. "Everyone else in this room is minding their own business. If they have a problem with us, they can approach me anytime."

Crona slowly looked up and joined Kid in glancing at the people in the room. She completely forgot that Kid was still holding her hand. She heard sweet instrumental Christmas songs in the air. She closed her eyes, listen to music along with the chattering in the room and gradually felt comfortable.

"See? There's nothing to be afraid of."

"What if they're talking about us?"

"People around here don't know much about me. Even if they do, I don't give a damn about what they think. Listen, we're here to relax and enjoy the holiday, not to be judged by people." He smiled. "I want us to cut some slack. Take a break, Ms. Gorgon. I know you've been through a lot."

"H-how do you know that?" Crona felt her throat burning. She could feel the tears that were about to escape from eyes already.

Kid looked outside, looked at the children playing around the frozen fountain in the town square. "I saw you walking helplessly, looking for your mom. You've seen the killer, haven't you? But you didn't know what to do. You thought you were no match against him… so you ran away… ran away until you encountered that bastard."

"That's… exactly what happened." Crona stared at Kid in wonder, her eyes glistening with tears already.

"How does he know that? Has he really been watching me?"

Kid returned his gaze to Crona.

"Those eyes… those eyes are full of determination."

"We will look for the culprit. He needs to get what he deserves. I'll need your guidance, Ms. Gorgon. After that, we can proceed with looking for your father… or we could atleast find out what happened to him."

Crona buried her head into her hands and released her tears. "Thank you," she gasped. "Thank you, young master."

"H-hey! Stop doing that," Kid whispered. "People are going to think I'm making a girl cry!"

Crona wiped her tears with the sleeve of her jacket. "Atleast you're making her cry with happiness. Whatever happened to not caring what other people think?"

Kid paused for a moment of realization. "Touche," he said. "Well, I wouldn't want your eyes to be swollen from crying too much. It would ruin that beautiful face of yours."

"What—"

"Waiter!" Kid said, trying to change the topic.

A waiter came to their table and took their order. "Yes, sir?"

Crona just smiled as she felt a hope in Kid.

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Giriko, an illegal wood logger and former soldier, happened to stop by at the store where Maka and Justin were looking clothes and shoes for Crona. He was walking through an aisle of leather boots when he saw Justin holding a boot with laces. He thought it wasn't Justin until he rechecked him.

"Hmm? Could it be really Justin Law we have here?" Giriko exclaimed, standing behind Justin.

Justin smirked, not looking back at Giriko just yet. "Of all places, why did we have to meet here?"

"How am I supposed to know? I heard you're working for a little brat name Kennedy… something."

"Thou shall not tarnish the name of the lord!" He struck Giriko by the head with the boot he was holding.

"Oww! Don't tell me you're angry just because I called him a brat!"

"He's far from being a brat. Unlike a coot like you, he's a responsible young man."

"I still pity you for being under the control of that disgraceful aristocrat. How dare he go out with the child of a filthy woman?"

"That's none of your business, Giriko. And leave her mother alone. She's already dead. Crona is different from her!"

"Crona? Ah, so that's her name after all? You really don't know her, do you?" Giriko started walking away. "What a hopeless case."

"You don't know her either."

"Yeah, right. Like not working with her for three months wasn't enough for me to get to know her. She's just as filthy as her mother. You want a free advice? Leave her in the dirt where she belongs, otherwise, you'll put your young master at risk of losing his position in the government."

Justin grunted. He ran to Giriko and drew a small knife to his neck. "Tell me… what did she do?"

"Don't worry, she didn't do drugs and prostitution like her mother… but she did pretend to be a boy, hoping to be able to meet her father in the camp. Ofcourse, when the general found out she was a girl, we had to throw her away."

"Throw her away? Where?"

Giriko smiled. "In a deep lake… with her hands tied and mouth covered."

"You're lying! How was she able to survive that?"

"A friend of her helped her. Crona was free to run away after being saved, but the brave soldier who saved her had to face the consequence of his foolishness."

"What happened to him?"

"Shot to death."

Justine suddenly felt weak. He loosed his grip on Giriko. "You merciless scums. How can you call yourself protectors of the country with what you've done?"

"Indeed you may say we're murderers but it's better to get rid of one young man than to sacrifice a hundred. We didn't need a soldier like him. We didn't need someone who was in favor of that traitor. He was a threat to us."

"You and your mindless beliefs!" Justin stepped back. "He saved an innocent young girl, a girl who was just trying to find a way to see her father again. She was actually willing to put her life at risk just for it!"

"Well, she shouldn't have. Being in that place isn't some kind of game. It wasn't a place for a girl like her to wander off in search of a lost loved-one."

"Forgive her; she's just a naïve child that time. All she thought about was retrieving her father."

"We had to shed innocent blood because of her. She made a traitor out of a loyal soldier. That's what makes her filthy, Justin. She shouldn't have done what she did in the first place. It wouldn't have gone that far."

"Whatever happened, I'm sure she regrets what she did. I'll talk to her about it."

"She'll probably lie to you." He dug his arms in his pockets and continued walking away. "Keep your eyes open."

"Oh, we will."

As soon as Giriko disappeared from the aisle, Maka came near Justin, holding some clothes and looking worried

"You heard everything, haven't you?" Justin said.

Maka nodded weakly.

"So what do you think?"

"I think Crona was foolish… but at the same time, I also think she had been brave. I never thought she'd do something as crazy as that… entering the military with a fake identity. She went that far just to see her father, Justin. This means we really need to find him for her before she does anything like that again."

Justin closed his eyes. "I couldn't agree more. We should report this to the young master."

"No! He might not help Crona anymore after hearing that!"

"I am obliged to tell him all information I gather about Crona. I'm sorry, Maka, but he has to know. We can't keep the truth from him. He'll find out eventually anyway."

"But I don't want to see the young master looking at her with hate after the kindness he showed her. It would break her heart!"

Justin cupped Maka's shoulders with his hands. "Trust me… he'll understand as long as it is explained clearly. You can help me in explaining if you want to."

Maka was quiet for a moment before she nodded.

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"How did it go?" asked Marie who was smoking a cigarette in front of a fireplace, sitting comfortable on a sofa.

"I told him what he needs to know," Giriko said. He sat beside Marie and closed his eyes, hoping to fall asleep already.

"Good. Surely, Kid will have to rethink about keeping that scoundrel. He wouldn't want his reputation to be ruined now, would he?" She chuckled.

"Who the hell cares about reputation? He can just live a normal life like me."

"I won't allow my nephew to sink to your level."

Giiko suddenly pulled Marie to him by her pearly necklace and gritted his teeth. "Do you want to work with me or not? !"

"Let… go… of me."

"Answer me!"

"Yes. Now keep your dirty face away from me."

"You don't really care about your nephew, do you? You're just thinking about yourself. You wouldn't want your nephew to have a bad image because it will clearly affect you… you, who is supposed to be taking care of him."

"You don't know what's going on in our family so shut up."

"Believe me, woman, I do. Ever since that boy's parents died, your family had a lot of bad debts and in order to pay those bad debts, that brat will have to marry a rich girl, am I right? The rich girl is coming here after three months and that brat isn't even aware of the arranged marriage."

"Well you're well-informed. I wouldn't bother where you got that information though. The source seems reliable enough. Not one single lie did I hear. Tell me, Giriko… whose side are you really on?" She leered at him in suspicion.

"No one. I work for myself. I'm just here for the money. Make sure you pay for it or I'll have to tear you to shreds with the chainsaw I use for cutting trees."

Marie smiled. "Is that a threat?"

"It's a warning." He let go of her necklace, stood up, picked up his jacket and stormed out of the house.

"That boy sure has a bad habit of walking away from an important discussion." She collapsed on the couch and looked up at the ceiling. "All I want is for this family to be at peace. And that can't happen if we don't get rid of that shameless girl."

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