Crona watched the strange girl sleep in the sick bay. Who was she? Her power was something he had never seen before in something that wasn't a witch. And Maka was certain that she wasn't, even Stein seemed sure of it. She had used an incredible amout of power to destry that kishen and he was worried how much damage she had inflicted on herself. She had been asleep for almost two days.
A sigh from the girl snapped him out of his revive and he watched her face as she frowned in her sleep. Her black hair was spread across the pillow, washed free of blood. It shone in the afternoon light, her hands tangled in the thick mane. Long eyelashes cast shadows on her pale cheeks. A lock of hair fell across her face, tickling her nose. Crona reached out and tucked it behind her ear; he let his fingers rest there for a moment, tangled in her hair. Suddenly he noticed what he was doing and jerked his hand away, standing up so he could shove them in his jean pockets before they could do anything else of their own accord.
There were voices in the hallway, and Maka and Soul walked into the sick bay with professor Stien. Surprised to see Crona already there, she walked over and gave him a smile as stein checked the girl.
"Hey Crona, how long have you been here?" she asked, standing beside him. Crona, who was still looking at the girl, started a little at the question.
"O-h, uh I-I dunno, a while, I suppose." He mumbled, keeping his eyes on the girl. Really, it had been hours, there wasn't much else to do. Soul, who was still lounging in the doorway, smirked at Crona
"Well at least stop staring at her man, you look like a pervert, so un-cool." He chuckled, walking into the room. It was at that moment Ragnarok decided to appear.
"Ya Crona you're a little pervert!" he shrieked, pulling at the skinny teen's lavender hair. Crona blushed and looked up guiltily, trying to fight him off.
"W-what? N-no! I don't mean to, it's because she hasn't woken up yet. Get off Ragnorok, I don't want my hair to fall out," he whined desperately, failing above his head.
"No Crona, don't worry she'll be fine," assured Maka, glaring at Soul and Ragnorok in turn, before turning to Stein, who was checking the girls pulse, "right, Professer?"
"Definitely," said Stien, straightening up. He cranked the screw in his head, and smiled. That really didn't do anything to help their spirits, Stien always managed to look slightly sadistic when he smiled. Shrugging off their nonplussed stares, he placed a cigarette in his mouth, and headed out of the room, " her wounds are already healing, its mostly just exhaustion. She'll probably wake up soon."
For a while they waited, sitting in the awkward chairs, going over why she was here, but not a student, for the hundredth time. Ragnarok got bored of what he called "the dumbass waste of time waiting for this broad to wake up" in little over fifteen minutes and went to sleep, and it was a little more peaceful after he left. After nearly an hour, Soul stood up and announced he was hungry.
" It's not she's going to wake up anytime soon," he grumbled when Maka protested as he tried to leave. As if on cue the girl started to stir, stretching with a groan that made Crona blush. Her eyelids fluttered open, and at once her violet eyes landed on Crona. Her face clouded with confusion, and she sat up slowly, hissing as pain shot across her back.
"... Where am I?" she asked muzzily, blinking sleep from her eyes. Her voice had strange accent, clear and lilting. She looked around at them all, and Crona wondered if they looked strange in her eyes. Maka, ever helpful, stepped forward with an explanation and a handshake.
" Hello, You're in DWMA, we bought you here after-" Maka stopped her account when the girl let out a strange gasp. Crona stepped forward, "a-are you ok?" he asked, concerned. She blinked at him, and smiled, nodding.
"I-I'm Crona" stuttered Crona reaching forward to shake her had.
"I'm Faye." smiled the girl, shaking Crona's hand. He blushed at the touch of her soft skin. She looked back to Maka again, looking apologetic.
"oh, sorry...where were you?"
As Maka recounted her story, Crona stared at the ceiling, trying to quell the blush that rose every time he looked at the new girl. It didn't help that Ragnarok was trying to force his way out, screaming at him inside his head about not being let out now that there was something interesting going on. Crona often questioned how he had come to know all those swear words, because he was sure he had never thought of any , who had finished listening to Maka's report, nodded and swung her legs over the edge of the bed.
"It seems I've been asleep a bit to long" she said sheepishly, "I should probably get up," She frowned and looked down at herself, "ah, where are my clothes?"
"I'm sorry" said Maka,"They were covered in blood, we had to throw them out. School is over for today, and I've got money from the school so we can buy you some new clothes. But you can wear this in the meantime," said Maka, holding up a long black robe. Crona stared at the garment, growing red as he recognised it.
"T-that's mine" he cried, pointing a shaking finger at his old outfit. He no longer wore the long dress-like robe, but dressed in skinny jeans, and shirts with oversized cuffs. He still looked feminine, it couldn't be helped, but he was not as easily mistaken for a girl as he used to be. Most of the time.
"Don't be silly," Maka scoffed, shaking back her pigtails "it's not that bad, anyway you don't even wear this anymore"
"I know... I-I just can't deal with a g-girl wearing my clothes" whispered Crona, looking at his feet.
"Well you'll have to, it's just until we buy new ones for her anyway." Maka hissed back, dragging Crona and soul out of the sick bay as Faye changed.
Faye slipped the black dress over her head, the fabric cool against her skin. She winced as it scraped against her back, over the scabs that had formed there. They would be gone by tomorrow, at least. She smoothed it down, and smiled to herself. Finally, she had reached the DWMA. She was safe at frowned but for how long? Could she last in a place like this? A sudden pain racked he body that had nothing to do with the scratches on her back, and she gripped the curtain surrounding the bed to steady herself. She took deep breaths, and soon her body stopped shaking. Straightening up, she turned to look at herself in the mirror, and decided that the collar had to go; it made her look like a priest, she didn't like priests. Spotting a scissors on the desk, she grinned. Faye stepped into the hallway and stood before the trio, smiling nervously
"So... how do I look?" she inquired. Crona stared at Faye in disbelief. His old robe hugged to her body, showing off her slim figure. She had chopped off the collar of the tunic, making it look even more like a dress, and showing her off graceful neck. But he couldn't help but notice that she was almost painfully thin.
"Y-you look r-really pretty" he stammered, his right arm gripping his left. Maka looked at Crona in surprise, had he just complemented Faye? Normally Crona didn't speak much around new people –maybe all her lessons on social skills are paying off.
"WAAIITT! Did I just hear Crona call somebody other than flat-chest 'pretty'?" With a cry Ragnarok burst from Crona's back and eyed Faye "hah, she looks better than you ever did in that thing! Faye yelped, staring at the small inhuman being, her eyes growing huge.
"oh, Faye, this is Ragnarok, Crona's weapon" Maka explained quickly, moving in front of Faye. She lowered her voice" he resides inside Crona because of the black blood, I'll explain more later." Crona blushed; he didn't know how to deal with people talking about him.
Crona trudged along the hallway of sibistun. He hadn't much sleep last night, ragnorok had, in a fit of nostalgia, kept in up half the night poking him and pulling his hair. His arms were coved with bruises. He hated dealing with bruises.
A group of his classmates surrounded the door to homeroom; he made his way toward them and saw they were surrounding Faye, who seemed slightly uncomfortable. She fidgeted with her fingers and tugged at the hand-me-down-robe she still wore. Faye didn't want the attention, and as soon as she saw Crona she made her way over to him and slipped her hands around his waist, hiding her face from the crowd.
Crona's face burned crimson and he stared at her, his mind reeling, he didn't know how to deal with this. What was she doing? He hadn't spoken to her much yesterday, he kept getting distracted by her eyes, or her laugh, and of course by Ragnarok, who wouldn't pass up and opportunity to embarrass him. Everybody was looking at them, and already whispers were flying through the crowd. He could feel her body pressed against his, her face buried into his shirt. He felt he should do something with his arms. Raising them, he hesitantly wrapped them around her back. He was never sure what to do when it came to hugs. Faye stayed in the hug with Crona until the crowd had dispersed, then broke away and smiled, but the expression in her eyes was confusing. They were filled with sadness. And...fear?
"I-ah kinda got lost" she said, blushing
Faye stared at the book in front of her, trying to ignore the whispers of the shadows in her head and of her new classmates. The words swam in front og her eyes, meaningless. It had been too long,she needed a proper source of power, or she might just kill someone. She bit her lip as a voice in the back of her mind whispered "again."She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see Crona smiling nervously at her.
"Are you ok?"He asked, his grey eyes concerned. Faye didn't answer; she found that she was staring at Crona, taking in the details of his face, how his eyes seemed a different shade of grey every time she saw them and how his tousled lavender hair fell at different lengths. Crona waved his hand in front of her face, snapping her out of her daydream. Her weakness was making her slow, and stupid.
"Hmm? Oh,yes. I'm fine.." she said reassuringly, " hey is there a graveyard around here?" the question slipped out of her mouth before she even knew what she was saying, and she almost clapped her fingers to her mouth in shock and embarresment.
"w-what? Graveyard? Stammered Crona, " y –yes, do you want to go there?" he asked nervously, it was an ominous sounding question. Faye nodded, looking just as nervous as he felt.
"w-well I'd just heard that the graveyards of death city are really interesting.." her mind spun fabricating a plausible excuse, "And I'm really interested in… places like that." Ugh, pattetic. But already she could feel her fingers shaking at the thought of it. She smiled her most dazzling smile at Crona. "Do you think you could take me after this class? I cant understand a word of this stuff anyways." she ended her sentence in a whisper and a smile of embaressment, placing her hand over his.
Crona stared at faye's hand, covering his own. He barely knew Faye, and he didn't know why she needed to go to the graveyard, a place he would much rather avoid. But before she had hastily backpeddled she had seen the look of shock and panic in her eye, he recognised the expression on her face. It was one he had worn when he was afraid of losing control. He didn't like to think of anyone feeling like that. And even if his hunch was wrong, a little time with faye wasn't something he was going to complain about. He glanced at the board, to where Stien had paused in his teachings to light a cigarette.
"We'll leave right after the bell rings" assured softly.