It wasn't fair.

This wasn't how it was supposed to be.

Crona had been doing so well…

Kid had thought that, since Medusa was gone and the Kishin was defeated, Crona would begin to heal. But even someone as smart as him didn't know the toll of abuse on one's psyche.

They should have seen the signs. The nightmares had been growing worse. Crona would wake up screaming and crying, about punishments, about murder, about black blood. He cried harder when he realized that no one could hear him and, therefore, no one could comfort him. Crona might mention them the next day, but usually as nothing important and then would quickly change the subject.

He had been sleeping in class. He was turning in homework late, when he even did. His moves in training were getting sloppy. He shuffled to his small apartment every night after school, where he lived by himself.

There always had been small bags under his eyes, but now they were huge. His dark outlook on life had turned into pitch black. He spoke even less than usual, and even then, his stuttering was out-of-control.

Surprisingly, it was Kid, not Maka, who got the poor boy to ease up. Kid knew something about madness. Kid knew of mental inhibitions that no one could control. Kid knew about uncontrollable anxiety.

They grew close. They studied together, took classes together, and even went on a few missions together. At some point, Crona, with a glowing blush and a bashful expression, kissed Kid on the lips and ran off. Kid spent the entire evening questioning his sexuality, tearing his room and his hair to shreds. He decided he could make one exception to his usual heterosexual attraction.

So that's why Kid couldn't understand what happened.

Crona hadn't been at school and so Kid decided to check up on him after classes. He told Liz and Patti that he'll meet them at home. He walked over to the small apartment, for some reason, dreading the worst.

It was tiny. One bedroom, one bathroom, and a small kitchen. Crona had gotten it for cheap and Lord Death had to convince the landlord to rent it out to him because Crona was still a minor. Lord Death had been prepared to pay for all the expenses. Kid spent a week trying to get Crona to stop feeling guilty over it.

He knocked on the door. "Crona?" He called. No response. "Crona?"

He was going to walk away. After all, it's what a gentleman would do. But something told him not to walk away. Something told him to enter. Despite it being against everything he believed in, he gently opened the door. "Hello?"

He paled. His eyes widened. He could have thrown up.

Crona lightly swung from the ceiling fan, a noose around his neck. His pink hair fell in front of his face, his body limp. "CRONA!" Kid screamed as he clumsily got on the chair and untied the noose. Crona fell to the ground with a sharp "thud". Kid hopped off and looked for any signs of life on the limp, pale body.

Breathing. Crona was still breathing. This was good. This was very good. But he was still unconscious. With the aid of pure adrenaline, Kid picked Crona up bridal style and sped on over to the closest medic. He wiped the tears from his eyes. There was no time. He could feel the pain later.

Crona had to stay in the hospital until his mental health had recovered. He was forbidden to have visitors.

Maka couldn't stop crying when she had found out what had happened. Soul just took her in his arms and rocked her back and forth, shushing her as she wailed. The sisters just held each other, happy that there was no death, but sad that there was an attempt. BlackStar and Tsubaki just held each other's hands and looked at the ground. Kid stayed away from them. He ran his hands through his hair and sighed. The sisters had tried to comfort him multiple times, but he didn't ever budge.

Despite their grief, they carried on with life okay. They knew Crona would be out of the hospital sooner-or-later. Maka had already been planning a party for him when he got back.

Sometimes, Kid went to the hospital, anyway, even though Crona wasn't allowed visitors. Sometimes, he just put his hands on the door that separated them. And he imagined Crona was behind the door, smiling at him, telling him that he couldn't wait to see him and that everything would be okay. But Kid knew that would never happen. Crona wasn't by that door. Crona wasn't allowed near that door. And Crona wasn't leaving the hospital for a long time.