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The sunshine beat down on them in golden rays as the group of friends gathered on the beach. It was luckily fairly empty of other people besides the group, and Blackstar had decided it was the perfect opportunity to get away from the DWMA. Maka sat on her towel reading while Soul, Blackstar, Tsubaki and Patty played volleyball not far from her. Liz had already excused herself to go to the bathroom, in an attempt to avoid getting roped into the intense ball game. Crona stood a little while away from the rest, looking down at the sand and glancing at the others from time to time.
“I don’t know how to deal with having friends…” They mumbled to themselves, and gently kicked a stone.
“Crona! Come join us!” Blackstar’s voice rang out from the volleyball court. Crona looked up at them, and quickly back down at their feet again as they saw the four players looking towards them expectantly.
“Uhm. No th-thank you. I think I’ll- I’ll just stay over here…”
“Oh, come on-“ Blackstar started but was cut off by Maka, who looked up from her book sternly.
“Don’t listen to him, Crona, you don’t have to play if you don’t feel like it, okay?”
Crona nodded at her shyly and then turned back around to face the water. Nobody had bothered to change into more suitable clothes for the beach before they had made their getaway after school, so nobody was wanting to swim today. Crona still walked a little closer to the gentle ripples that crept up the beach towards them, feet sinking into the wet sand. The sensation was strange to them, but not entirely bad. A twisted stick washed up not far from them, carried by the calm waves. Crona bent forward and picked it up. The feeling of it in their hand felt familiar, maybe since it’s a similar length to Ragnarok? Or something else they couldn’t quite remember?
They slowly started tracing the stick through the wet sand, thinking quietly to themself.
Everyone here is so nice to me… But why? I don’t know how to handle that…
Faces and moments played on their mind as they pondered. Maka hugging them, guiding them through the school, Soul’s calm but welcoming energy, Blackstar’s loud (if not scary) encouragement, Tsubaki’s gentle smiles towards not just him, but also Ragnarok, Liz and Patty hanging out with them just because they wanted to? Why was that? And their meister…
Crona’s stomach twisted wierdly when Kid’s face flashed across their mind. A gentle hand on their shoulder, quiet words that put their heart at ease, a friendly smile… These were actions that seemed so small and yet felt large and for some reason meant so much to Crona. They swallowed shyly, as they thought of the reaper.
Why does my throat feel funny… And my chest… I don’t know how to deal with these weird feelings!
All of the sudden a voice appeared behind them, making Crona jump. They span around to see the very object of their thoughts standing close behind them, looking over their shoulder. Kid stepped forward to stand beside Crona, and looked down at the sand in front of them. Crona stared, embarrassed about being caught off guard. The silence between them stretched on for a couple of seconds, until Kid put his hands on his hips.
“Your letters are uneven, and the lines are all wonky. Don’t worry of course, I will correct them so that they’re perfect and you won’t have to worry about the dreadful asymmetry!”
With that, Kid took the stick out of Crona’s hand and began slowly redrawing the letters Crona had been subconsciously tracing. Crona looked down at the sand in front of them, and felt their face completely flare up.
Oh no! I wrote our initials together! He probably thinks I’m even more crazy now…
Crona stood frozen as Kid kneeled and painstakingly drew lines in the sand, remaking the two initials.
“I.. I..” Crona began stammering but was interrupted by a loud gasp behind them.
“You’re writing your names together on the beach?! THAT’S SO CUTE!” Patty squealed from behind them and started laughing manically. Crona’s cheeks darkened considerably more as everyone else in the group looked over at them. Where was Ragnarok when they needed a distraction?
“There! Perfect!” Kid stood up and dusted himself off, looking down at the even lettering contently.
Crona wished that they could sink down into the sand forever.