Episode 32: Happy Holidays 1

Previously: Maka and Chrona tried to sneak into the party unnoticed… which ended miserably as the two found themselves at the very center of attention…

As everyone kept starring at them, nobody said a word. It was really difficult to get an idea of what'd happen next. But, before the eerie silence got awkward, it was broken and sadly replaced by something even more embarrassing…

"MAKA!" Spirit shouted out with tears flowing from his eyes and green slime oozing from his nose. After realizing what everyone was looking at, he quickly blitzed through the crowd of students until he finally reached the two girls.

"Maka! W-What's wrong? Why— Are you hurt?" he gasped, seeing Chrona gently set her down on a chair.

"It's nothing!" she was quick to answer back.

"Wait! Let Papa help you!" he reached for her feet when…

SLAP!

Chrona suddenly struck his hand. "Sorry, but she sprained her ankle walking up the steps. It might swell up if you bother her any further," she explained, "but she's really tough. All she needs is just a little rest and she'll be all better."

Everyone was taken aback by this, especially Spirit. "O-Oh, okay… thank you, I guess."

"No problem, we're family after all," she smiled.

"Yeah, we're family…wait! What?" he looks at her, confused.

"C-CHRONA!" Maka gasped in disbelief.

"It's alright," she winked. "Everyone knows so we might as well come clean."

"W-Wait! We can't—"

"I am Maka's girlfriend!" she announced, quite boldly. At once, jaws fell and eyes popped. As people were shocked by the revelation, Maka cringed, anticipating a horrible reaction when…

Gurgle…Gurgle…

"Whoa! He's foaming at the mouth!" Patty laughed as she pointed to Spirit who was lying on the floor suffering what appeared to be an epileptic seizure.

"Looks like the shock was too much for him, huh?" Liz kneeled down, poking him with a stick. "Should we call an ambulance or should we just kick him off to the side?"

Well, it wasn't much of a question as everyone automatically opted for the latter choice and helped him tumble down the steps. Then, when attention drew back to Maka and Chrona, the two girls expected the same treatment but then…

A roaring "CONGRATULATIONS!" was shouted as the students erupted with thunderous applause. Each and every one of them stood up and praised the new couple. "Ha! It's about time you guys went and said it!" chuckled some of the students who gave them thumbs up.

"Hey, what's—Wait! You all knew!" the two girls were shocked.

Everyone immediately laughed as Tsubasa stepped forth to explain, "We did. But since you guys didn't say anything, we didn't want to get ahead of ourselves." As she said this, many of the male students even joked that they might have gotten a 'Maka-Megaton-Chop' if they mentioned something.

"I-I don't understand," Maka was confused. She didn't expect this kind of a reaction. At best, she expected some kind of general uneasiness or at least a little berating from the male students, but never full acceptance from everyone.

This was too good to be true, and yet seeing all the happy smiles of their friends and classmates, she couldn't help get teary-eyed. All the fear and worry that stressed her out and kept her dreading this moment—all of it seemed to melt away.

"Maka," Chrona leaned to whisper, "Looks like everything's going to work out fine, huh?"

"Yeah, but it's all thanks to you," she smiled warmly at her.

Meanwhile, high above the crowd, Black Star was sitting cross-legged on one of the parapets. Wearing a blue suit and smelling of cheap cologne, he looked down on the people and smiled to see how everyone was fired up. It looks like it was now time to for him to shine.

As he went up and got on the spire that was protruding above the party area, he brought with him a box full of fireworks. It would seem that he intended to make his entrance to be as magnificent and flashy as ever before. Well, considering how Maka and Chrona were always at center-stage, it was a smart move on his part.

However, as he was arranging the fireworks to fire off every which way, he suddenly froze upon realizing that someone had been watching him from the shadows this whole time. He couldn't make out who it was, but he knew it wasn't someone good.

As he stood up to confront the person, he felt something was off. The air around him grew cold and thick that he found difficulty in breathing. And for some reason, his body was a lot heavier than it was and even moving his arms needed some extra effort. It was like being underwater.

"Who are you!" he shouted.

At once, a tremendous wave of force slammed against his body, almost knocking him over. As he regained balance, he found himself standing before the Shinigami.

"H-How did—?"

All of a sudden, the Shinigami pulled out the Excalibur sword from within his body and brandished it high. Before Black Star could react, wings of light appeared from the weapon and the two of them were instantaneously teleported away.