Chapter 3: The Party
It had been a couple of weeks since Blithe's first mission, and he was not having a good time. Streams of people were all over him asking about how he took out an Egg without a weapon. He usually retorted with a snarl and an angry look, and that about shook off most people. Maka, however, was not one of them. She was intent on finding out more about Blithe, so much so the boy himself was put off by her stubbornness.
It was not long until Maka found out where Blithe went after school was over.
She was walking past an old water tower when she happened to look up. There, up on top of the round construct, Blithe was sitting, gazing off into the sunset. She decided to intervene.
Climbing up onto the tower next to him, she said hi in a normal matter. Blithe grunted in response. Sighing, Maka proceeded to ask,
"What are you doing here by yourself?"
Blithe pointed at the sun as it was setting. "They say that if you look hard enough, the sun will appear to have a face. They say it is laughing during the day, and then gets tired and wheezes itself to sleep." Maka laughed. "That's an old fairy tale. No one believes that." Blithe shrugged and went back to staring at the sun.
They sat there together for about half an hour, not saying a word to each other. When the sun finally went down, Maka looked over at Blithe and asked him, "Do you come here every day?" Blithe nodded in affirmation. "Where do you stay? Do you have a place to sleep?"
"I don't sleep." Replied Blithe matter-of-factly.
That was unexpected.
Noticing Maka's current expression, Blithe hurriedly said "I meditate! I meditate! It's very soothing, and gives me the same benefits sleep would give anyone else. This is also a very nice spot, although it gets cold during the night sometimes. Plus, the dreams are so much more vivid..." Blithe's voice trailed off.
Maka watched Blithe's face as he spoke, noticing that no emotion crossed his eyes. The boy was like a stone cliff. Actually, more like an iron cliff. He was impenetrable in his emotion. The only time Maka really saw him show passionate feelings was in that battle with Terran.
"Hey, Blithe?"
"What is it?"
"There is a school dance coming up, and I think that you definitely need to go."
Blithe looked up with a blank expression. "A formal thing? Like with a suit and everything? Geez, I know I look good in a tie, but what about my face?"
"It'll be a masquerade! Everybody at the dance is dressing up! You'll fit right in, especially if you have an interesting costume. Like, don't go with nothing. Fly your colors!"
Blithe looked confused for a second. "If I dress up, how is that showing my true colors?"
"Just go. It'll do you good to be around people, to mingle and just have some fun with your life. It'll be a change from all of the skulking you do normally. And it sure as hell beats sitting on this water tower watching the sunset. The school ballroom has a nice balcony facing the sundown as well. Come on!"
Blithe was rubbing his temples. "All right, I'll go. Just stop talking. I don't even get migraines and I'm feeling their symptoms."
Maka chuckled. Good. Now I can see how he acts in a public spot. I really want to get to know this kid. He seems like such an interesting person.
"I'll see you there, Friday night at 5. Don't be late!"
Blithe turned up at the party a half hour late.
First off, the colors amazed him. Everybody had something different on, and the colors were so vivid in his true eye, he was blinded for a second. The ballroom was huge, and he felt tiny compared to the vast space. He noticed Maka out of the corner of his eye. She was wearing a witch's outfit, with the hat and everything. He looked down at his own moon god suit, with black streaming robes and a white crescent moon covering half of his face, and smiled. This could actually be enjoyable. "Just like old times..."
Maka caught Blithe smiling. Finally, some emotion other than anger or blankness. Unfortunately, Death the Kid, who was dressed as a waiter ("The suit is symmetrical!"), also found Blithe. After berating the latter for about ten minutes on the symmetry of timely arrival as well as the asymmetrical form of his costume, Blithe finally found it in his heart to tell Kid that his collar was off center. That sort of got him packing.
Maka approached Blithe casually, waving hi when he noticed. "See? I told you it would be a lot of fun. You really need this. I mean, it sure beats stalking the corridors, right?" Blithe shrugged. As Maka looked at him, she noticed that his attention was hardly on her. In fact, it was on someone else entirely. She followed Blithe's piercing gaze to a corner, where stood a figure who was not dressed in a costume, nor seemed to be enjoying itself. Blithe was staring straight at Crona.
Crona noticed another student approach him and cringed. No doubt they were there to beat on him. What did he do wrong?...No. The other student put his hand on his shoulder and smiled in a friendly manner. Crona could only see half of his face, the other half being obscured by a crescent moon.
"What are you doing here all alone?" A deep voice rumbled. "It's a dance. Aren't people supposed to have fun?"
Crona looked down in dismay. There was no way someone like this could understand him. The hand gripped his shoulder tighter. "You're too skinny. Eat something." A slight chuckle. His shoulder was let go and the other student walked away. Crona watched the black robes carefully as they flowed away from him.
Maka watched this exchange with great interest. It was as if Blithe felt some kind of connection to Crona, to act so close to him. Geez, what am I doing wrong? It's like he's known Crona his entire life.
Blithe looked at Maka's questioning gaze as he slid by her. Let her sweat it out. As he walked through the room, he thought about the boy in the black dress thing. Why was he so interesting? Duh. It was because he seemed to be the first person Blithe saw here who seemed to really not fit in. It was an empathy thing. He turned around to see what the purple-haired kid was doing, saw that he was eating some salad, and smiled. He's just like me, in a way.
After fixing his collar (PERFECTLY), Death the Kid stood back up and sighed. Who the hell is that kid anyways? And why in the world does Maka think he is so amazingly interesting He's all she talks about these days. That first mission, the one with that sound-controlling Kishin egg. He's always wearing that cloak, too. What can he be up to?
Blithe stood out on the balcony overlooking Death City. It was a beautiful view during nighttime. Despite the bright lights, Blithe could see the stars clearly. For the thousandth time, he tried to count them, but to no avail. There were always too many for him to spend his time on. He turned, faced the people also attending the dance. They are having so much fun. He greeted Maka with a glance as she approached him.
"Do you dance?" She asked.
Blithe was surprised by the question. "Why do you ask?"
"Well, technically, this is a dance party."
Blithe shook his head. "I used to dance all the time. We were great. It was the two of us. I don't dance anymore."
"'Us?' Who's 'us?'"
Blithe glared at Maka for a second, and then looked away. "None of your concern."
Maka rolled her eyes. "God, you are annoying. You won't let anything out of your brain. You should learn to be less secretive about things, especially for someone who spaces out into their own past so much."
Blithe responded with a shrug.
Maka grew angrier by the second. "How in hell are we supposed to be friends if you keep this stuff from me?"
Blithe's turn to be angry. "Have I not told you before, that I am uninterested in friendship? It holds people back, makes them weak. I can't afford that."
Maka waned a bit. Blithe sighed, relaxing, and walked away. Dances sure were fun.
Maka's thoughts on this chapter: Blithe seems like such a spaceshot. He is constantly drifting off into some shady past. He seems to feel some empathy with those who look weak and don't fit in. Crona, in other words. Well, we'll see. I'll pull the truth from him, someway or another.
A Note to my readers: Thank you for sticking with me even though the long break that I took. Be expecting a flashback chapter next, showing a part of Blithe's mystery...hint hint nudge nudge. R+R!