"A mission with Shinigami-kun? No! I-I wouldn't know how to deal with that!!"

Sometimes Sid wondered if Shinigami-Sama sent him down to deliver news to Chrona just to mess with her. Or him, really. Probably both of them.

"You… Don't really get to pick," The zombie said, watching as Chrona hugged her arms around herself and murmured feverishly under her breath some nonsense that he didn't understand. If it were up to him, Sid wouldn't make Chrona go do these things. That's not the type of guy he was. If it were up to him, he wouldn't mess with Chrona at all.

"I-I can't do that," Chrona whispered, looking as if she was about to faint. Maka was fine, but Shinigami-kun as an entirely different story. How would she act? What would she say? How would she fight? What would he think?

"M-Maka," She finally choked out, looking up at Sid. "I-I want to talk with Maka!"

+~+~+~+

"So," Prompted Liz, settling herself on the arm of the chair her meister sat in. "I hear we've got this big important mission from Shinigami-Sama with Chrona. When does it start?"

"Tomorrow," Kid droned, eyes never leaving the book he was reading. He casually called Patty over to sit on the other arm of the chair, and flipped a page. "We leave tomorrow at noon."

Patty laughed loudly as she clumsily sat on the arm of the chair and smiled at her sister. "It's gonna be fun!" She declared. "I've never gotten a chance to talk with Chrona! I can't wait!!"

Kid winced, closing his book and looking out the window. "Somehow," He sighed. "I don't think it's going to be all that pleasant."

+~+~+~+

"What's wrong with Chrona, again?" Asked Soul, hands in his pockets, as he made his way down the hallway to get to Chrona's cell-like room.

Maka was hastily walking in front of him, a stern expression on her face. "I don't know. She said it was an emergency."

"Well, an emergency to Chrona isn't always an emergency to normal people, you know…?"

Maka stopped, turning her body so that she could look at her weapon. She was scowling at him. She had been doing a lot of that lately. "For once," She hissed, before opening the door. "Could you just keep quiet and try to be a little comforting?"

Soul groaned, looking to his side before following after the girl, who was promptly tackled by a pink-haired swordsman. "Maka-Chan!" Chrona cried, tugging her away from Soul and into Mr. Corner. "I need your help! I-I don't know how to deal with this!!"

Giving a sympathetic look, Maka sat down in Chrona's corner and let the pink-haired girl shiver and snivel on about her problems, even though Maka couldn't even understand most of it. "Calm down, Chrona," She smiled, patting her back. "Tell me what's the matter."

As if on cue, the tiny, aggravating being that was Chibi Ragnarok sprang forth from Chrona's back and waved his fist in the air, as if he could anything threatening to anyone. "The little bitch is just a whiner," He exclaimed. "And I don't seem to recall letting you into the corner-"

Promptly striking the demon sword with a book, Maka cleared her throat and went back to being motherly. "What were you saying, Chrona?"

Chrona sniffed, looking towards the ground. "W-well," She began. "S-Sid told me that I-I was instructed to go on a mission with Sh-Shinigami-kun, and-and I don't know what to do!" She shivered, hugging her arms again and sniveling at Maka. "I've only ever been on missions with Maka-Chan! Why am I being given this mission when Shinigami-Sama knows that? It's confusing and I don't know how to deal with it…!"

"Wait," came Soul. "That… was your emergency?"

Maka shot him a deathly glare, making the white-haired weapon jump and look to his side, whistling some sort of tune and promptly removing himself from the conversation.  

"I think it's a good idea," smiled Maka. "You should become friends with as much people as you can, not just me. And if you do this, in the future, you'll know how to deal with it."

Chrona's tear-filled eyes shone with admiration as she brought her knees to her chest and thought this through. Her sight trailed down to the ground away from Maka, and she began to look very contemplative (or, as contemplative as Chrona could seem). Maka wouldn't be able to come with her. It would just be Chrona, alone, with Shinigami-kun and his two pretty weapons… Just thinking about it made her head spin…!

She wiped her tears away, sniffing once more and nodding towards Maka. "A-Alright," She whispered. "I'll do it. But only because Maka-Chan says it's good for me."

And at this point, Soul could no longer restrain himself from saying something. He scratched the back of his neck, eyes closed, and tried to force out the tiny blush making its way across his cheeks. "I-It'll be alright, Chrona," He mumbled. "I'm sure you can do it…"

Maka stopped, turning to look at her weapon, and her harsh expression quickly turned to a smile, nodding once. Chrona simply continued to compose herself, but gave her best to give a tiny smile towards Soul and whisper, "Thank you, Soul-San."

+~+~+~+

"Sekhmet," Shinigami-Sama sang, "Is a witch much like our beloved Arachne. It seems she's been awakened by the aura of the Demon God's madness." His expression sank. "I was hoping that there wouldn't be much concern with the witches at a time like this. I've sent so many groups of students to deal with the minor ones, and all of my Death Scythe's are busy dealing with the major ones. I don't have anyone left to see to Sekhmet but my cute little son."

"…Except me," Spirit prompted, the color drained from his face.

"Yes, Spirit-Kun. Except you."

"Why?!"

"It was going to be a surprise," Shinigami-Sama piped, "But I wanted to let you accompany Soul and Maka on their witch-hunting mission. I figured you could show the both of them how a real Death Scythe does it."

Had Shinigami-Sama the ability to form a visible smirk on his plated face, he would've smirked Spirit to death. Luckily, he had no such ability.

Spirit was absolutely speechless, and Shinigami-Sama could see the fantasies running through his head. Eventually, the redhead jumped up and bowed deeply to his Meister. "Thank you! This mission will be the highlight of my life! My Daughter and I will do our best-

"-Err… and, Soul-kun…?"

"-Yeah, Soul, sure. You won't regret this, Shinigami-Sama!"

With that, Spirit skipped down the hallway, back to his room, giving a much-needed heel-click of pure and utter joy. He was singing some tune to himself, and he slammed the Death God's door rather harshly.

He sighed. "I think I'm already beginning to regret it…"

+~+~+~+

He had to admit, Kid found it a but unnerving the way that Liz and Patty carried on about Chrona as if she were some adorable dog that they were about to take home with them.

"She's been so cute with Maka recently," Squealed Liz. "I wonder if she'll be like that to me. Oh, that would be so cute!"

"Yeah!" snorted Patty, punching her fist in the air. "It'll be like having another Thompson sister! We'll be triplets! And Kid, you can dress her up like us and then we'll be really symmetrical!"

He winced. How was he supposed to pack their necessities into this tiny bag in a symmetrical fashion with those two carrying on? However, the idea did appeal to him… No! They would walk in pairs! Because adding Chrona to Liz and Patty would make them unsymmetrical, but adding her to himself would put them in pairs and make them very symmetri-

But there was no way Chrona would go through that. Well, Chrona would nod and do whatever Kid said, he was sure, But Ragnarok would throw a complete and utter hissy fit, and really, Kid had no time for that…

…He liked to think, at least…

"We'll have to leave early, so you two had best get to sleep," He said sternly, evening out his clothing, his eyes never leaving the mirror before him. "And I'm not even sure when we'll reach Sekhmet's hiding place, so-"

"Lighten up," smiled Liz. "I mean, I know this is an important mission, but there's no need to be so stern about it. Get a good nights rest, and please don't scare Chrona, OK?"

"S-scare…?"

"Yeah!" Patty appeared in front of his face, pulling at her own face to create a frightening one that would most likely give Kid nightmares for the remainder of his life. "You're always really scary, and I bet Chrona would freak out!!"

"B-But I'm not-"

"Don't argue with me," hissed Patty, pressing her nose to Kid's.

"O-OK," he replied, meekly. "Well then, goodnight."

"Wait a minute," Came Liz, making a grab for Kid's arm. "Where are you going? You're bedroom's that way!"

"I have to go talk to Maka and Chrona first," He replied, smoothly. "I won't be long. You two get to sleep."

Liz tried to interject, but Patty was quickly pulling her towards the bedroom, laughing loudly and prancing about. "To sleep!" She cried. "To sleep!"

And once Kid was sure no one was watching him, out and about on his way to Maka, he sighed deeply and slightly hung his head. At the prospect of the upcoming couple of days, he almost shivered.

First, there was the manner of locating Sekhmet, along with trekking to wherever she was with Chrona and Ragnarok, then, there was the possibility that the Witch could sense them coming and relocate, which would be a bundle of joy. Then, Kid got to fight her, A Witch who had an entire army at her disposal, hope that Chrona would be able to fight at all, take everyone he had defeated's Soul and begin the trek back to Shibusen, again having to cater to Chrona and Ragnarok.

By the time he got to Maka's house, he really, really wanted to call his Father, say he was sick with a life-threatening disease, and pass this off to someone else. But his pride as a Shinigami wouldn't let him do that, and he eventually had to knock on Maka's door, feeble though it was.

Maka was looking as cheerful as ever, a very light smile plastered on her lips as she opened the door. It seemed she wasn't expecting anyone - let alone him - at this time of day - or night. "Ah, Kid-Kun? What is it?"

Kid cleared his throat. He felt like he was a date to someone, in front of that someone's mother, who had nothing to say. "C-Chrona," He coughed. "I've never been on a mission with Chrona before. Is there… anything I should be aware of?"

As Soul peeked his head into view of Kid, Maka's smile slowly widened.

+~+~+~+

"Chrona," Maka piped, knocking on the cell-like door. "Someone's here to see you."

"M-Maka-Chan," came Chrona's reply from the other side of the wall. Kid could hear her move about and rush to the door. He could also hear the hoper voice as she realized Maka was there. "W-Who's here to see m-me?

Maka smiled cutely. "Come on out and see."

All was still and silent for a while, until finally, Chrona opened the door and peeked out.

"Sh-Shinigami-Kun!" She exclaimed, holding desperately to the frame of the door. Her face turned bright red, and she found that she couldn't choke out any words to sputter towards her… partner. She gulped, then looked towards both sides of the hallway and stuttered, "W-w-what're you doing here s-so early? A-Are we leaving r-right now?"

Kid looked the swordsman up and down, confused. She certainly didn't seem like this when they fought on the Nidhogg. It was as if she had never been with Medusa at all, and had always been this timid and soft-spoken.

Then again, he reasoned, maybe she had.

"No," He said, calmly, though still confused by her actions. "No, we leave tomorrow at 6 A.M. I just thought I'd come by and say hello." He looked towards Maka, trying to remember what she had told him, and cleared his throat. "I thought that we got off on the wrong foot, so to speak. So…" He sighed, and extended his hand. "My name is Death the Kid. It's nice to meet you, Chrona."

Chrona could only stare in complete wonder at the young Shinigami's hand. Should she take it? Was he messing with her? She felt her stomach lurch. What if Shinigami-Kun was a cruel person? No. No, Maka-Chan would not bring her someone unkind - Maka-Chan was too sweet. So, her frame shaking, the pink-haired girl moved so that she could touch her partner, and with a flushed face, heavy heart, and doubtful mind, she slowly brought her finger to touch his hand lightly. This was too much… Could she really make contact? Could she really do this? She didn't know how to deal with any of it… Her finger slowly moved forward… "I'm…"

Contact was made.

"Chrona."