A Soul Eater Story: Wandering Souls

Chapter 12 The Black-blood Swordsman, Crona (and yes he's a boy...)

Stein fell silent at that, and allowed the younger woman to force him to lay down on the bed. However, not without a glare.

"I hate when you're right..." he muttered, getting into a more comfortable position, and despite his earlier resistance, his eyes closed and was out cold in mere moments.

"I think he'll be out for a good long while," Azusa said after a few moments, smiling a little in satisfaction.

Looking over Marie's shoulder when the dark-haired Weapon noticed the blonde, she noticed a youth wearing a dark dress-type of outfit and had unique purple-pink hair who seemed a little shy. "Who is this Marie?" she inquired.

"Oh! This is little Crona. He's gonna be a student here at DWMA and Lord Death thought it a good idea that I show him around the school. I see you managed to get Stein in bed!" Marie chirped happily, remembering how exhausted Stein had looked during their meeting earlier.

"Yeah.... Finally. Stupid man didn't want to even sit down." Azusa said, her voice darkening at the memory of her attempts to get Stein to relax.

"Can I leave Crona with you Azusa? I've got some other business I need to do, but I don't wanna leave him all by his lonesome." Marie's face was tender when she spoke of him, looking back at him as he stood silently over the sleeping man. Azusa nodded and reassured Marie that things would be ok since she would stay and make sure Stein got enough rest.. And that the other resident in the infirmary got some food whenever she got up today. Must be a Stein thing.

Azusa took out a book she had been reading and sat down in one of the chairs that decorated the room, keeping an eye on Crona.

He must've gotten tired of looking at Stein after a minute or two and sat awkwardly on a bed that wasn't being used.

"Ummm.....Ma'am..... Why is he in the infirmary even though he's a doctor? Is he hurt?" Crona asked timidly, glancing over at the man like he would get up any moment. His gaunt appearance scared Crona, so he asked the scary lady with glasses what was wrong with him. He remembered fighting him from before in Italy when Medusa had told him to eat those human souls and fought with that one girl and her scythe, and that he had been strong. So why would he be in the infirmary unless he was seriously hurt?

Just as Azusa was about to answer the boy, the curtain that separated off another smaller room was pushed aside, revealing Kid who looked rather interested in the conversation he had heard as he was tending to Lorranna's injuries. Crona, who had only met Kid once in a battle, was extremely startled and yelped as he stood up, only to crash onto the floor. Hard.

"Oh! I didn't know you were still here Kid! Were you tending to Lorranna?" Azusa asked, Kid nodding his head in reply. "How is she doing?"

"Lorranna is getting better, but she still wears herself out trying to do too much." Kid replied, a soft fondness for her in his voice.

Azusa couldn't help but roll her eyes at what Kid had said. Of course that girl would push herself to do things she wasn't ready for. She was a true Stein through and through.

"Anyway," Azusa said, standing and helping Crona to his feet, "Professor Stein is in here because he worked himself to exhaustion taking care of his long-lost daughter. He refused to eat or sleep, so this will be good for him. All he really needs is a good night's sleep... and possibly a shower when he wakes up as well."

"H-His- His daughter?! And what do you mean 'long-lost?'" Crona managed to croak out, confused.

"I think it's best if I explain this time," Kid said, taking a step forward. "Lorranna had searched for her father for a long, long time, with barely any memories of who he was. Professor Stein, himself, apparently forgot that he had fathered a child, most likely due to how long ago and a past head injury he sustained that caused memory loss. Lorranna told me her story, and I must admit that I was shocked to find out about it." He took a breath, and continued, "Just a week ago, during the great battle that we lost to the Kishin, Lorranna apparently put herself in danger to protect Stein, just after realizing that he was her father. It was when she lay wounded in his arms that Stein himself found out that she was his daughter, and he was... enraged, to say the least, at Medusa for hurting her. He... we both thought she was dead for a little while..."

As Kid explained the story, Crona couldn't help but start to cry. He had known only Medusa, as she was his mother, but she had not been a nice woman. He used to daydream when training had been really bad that his real family would take him away from all the pain and sleepless nights and they would live happily. But to hear of what Lorranna and Professor Stein had been through.....

Even as tears fell from his eyes in abundance, he managed to speak through them. "I'm *gulp* glad that Lorranna and *gulp* Professor Stein *gulp* found each other..."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: Just wanted to post another little comment here because I wanted to. Autobot Guardian and I had A LOT of fun writing this chapter since we got to delve into Crona's cute and meek personality. Aside from maybe Maka or Kid being MY favorite character, Crona is on my top 5 Soul Eater characters.