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Story Update 15
Kanda: and, uh, what exactly is THIS?!
Author: um... welll....
Lavi: Author chan?
Author: It's not my fault!!
Lenalee: it never is...
Allen: Author-chan, what happened to the last story? it wasn't finished...
Author: i dont... really... feel like finishing it right now. =_=
Kanda: Pathetic. First your stories are too long, and now you can't even finish one?!
Author: Did you ever think to ask WHY i'm making a new entry, instead of criticizing me about not finishing the last one!?
Kanda:...
Lavi: Now author chan, sweety, just relax.
Allen: yeah author chan, it's that stupid bakanda that can't control his pms-ing.
Kanda: WHAT!?
Lenalee: So, why did you decide to move on?
Author: I've got some great inspiration, and figured that the story has been hanging in the air long enough. I re-read some of the most recent chapters, and things are good to go! That, and I want to write the wicked action scene.
Allen: That's a PERFECTLY good reason to move on. Plus, that means that i won't be dying so horribly anymore!! *hopeful eyes* maybe...?
Author: I've got some recovery planned for this chapter. So yes, a bit of peace for the cast, and some explaining for recent actions that seem a little... random. And maybe a few more hints as to what, exactly, is the source of the darkness.
Kanda: It's about time.
Lavi: Hush, yuu. Author chan! can i do the disclaimer!?
Author: I don't see why not.
Lavi: Author chan does not own D.Gray man, seeing as she is obviously not on Hiatus. Again.
Lenalee: let us mourn...
Author: yeah yeah, take your black suits and lily flowers and get to your places.
Pieces of the Heart
Part 15.
*RECAP!*
Two slim fingers ran along the edge of the sword, releasing more power.
"Awaken into darkness."
Deep saphire eyes opened, cold as steel.
"Mugen."
***
Bright light fanned through the room, slicing through the darkenss on the walls. The small group encased in the dome of light stared at the heavy back in front of them. Raven hair whipped through the air, unhindered by it's usual tie. The long black cloak, so often associated with exorcists and usually imacculatly kept, was eaten away, as if dissolved.
"Y...y-yuu..." lavi breathed, staring at the figure as if his gaze was the only thing keeping it there. Komoui seemed to be reacting the same way. If they looked away, would this kanda dissapear too?
"BEAST!" screamed the dark figure that was still floating above the golden dome. "HOW DARE YOU INTERRUPT MY PLAY!!"
Kanda's form moved ever so softly, turning as if a fast move would break his glass like figure. Deep eyes crossed over the face of each figure, before settleing on the darkness, which seethed. Kanda's form then shifted once more, slowly pulling into a fighting stance. His body seemed to coil with unrestrained power, that would only take a second to release. His sword raised and gleamed, shooting more holes into the darkness on the walls.
And without a word, he pounced.
Before the stunned group could realize what was happening, a foot collided with the top of the dome, sending lightling like cracks webbing outward at all angles. As soon as the collision happened, it ended as Kanda shot forward from his foothold. A thunder clang of steel shot through the room as swords collided. Kanda pushed away, unable to hold his force in mid-air. He flew toward the wall and landed, spreading the darkness like water. With another swing of his sword, he pushed off and back at the figure, repeating his previous strike.
"YOU THINK YOUR SWORD CAN HURT ME!?" the creature shrieked, raising his longsword to block once again. He smilled maliciously.
Kanda shot forward a third time, and as their swords met, Mugen began to shine once more. One last push forward, and Mugen drove straight through the longsword and into the shoulder of the dark being.
It shrieked in pain as it's arm and torso began to dissolve closest to the wound.
"Look at the walls!"
Komoui and lavi snapped out of their daze and turned to see the darkness quivering in place. It began to shrink and writhe and then smoke, until finally it vanished. A dull thud caused the group to turn and see Allen lying on the ground, dropped from where the darkness held him.
"ALLEN!" lavi cried, rushing to the side of the golden dome. "Link, can you let me out?!"
Link shot an exhasperated took at the red head.
"Do you really think that thing will waste a second if I drop this barrier!?" he snapped, motioning with his head to the darkness being that was still shrieking in pain.
His answer came in the form of a thunderous bang. The doors to the office flew open, and the whole area was radiated in golden light.
"Nii-san!" Lenalee cried, standing with her own light in front of many of the science department members, all of them brandishing artificial sun lights.
"LENALEE!!" komoui cried. "Stay back!"
The dark creature shrieked even louder as it began to smoke, and tried desperatly to shield its face. Black wings began to melt.
"I will NOT DIE!" it cried before it shot toward the door. The group in the doorway shrieked and knelt down, just narrowly avoiding the razor wings that blasted over them. A harsh wind blew some of them down, and the rest stood and stared down the hall after the creature.
"Nii-san, what-EEE!?" Lenalee shrieked again as she had to duck to avoid a second dark figure jumping over the group. She turned to see a dark coat streaming down the hallway, gleaming sword in hand. She blinked as she stood back up.
"...kanda...?"
"Lenalee, which way did they go!?" Komoui yelled, rushing up and grabbing his sister by the shoulders.
"...toward the central hall..." she said softly, still staring down the hallway. Komoui released her and ran. She blinked again, then turned back to the room. There were slice marks on several of the shelves, Mr. Leverielle was on the ground, foaming at the mouth, Lavi was holding an unconsious Allen, and Link was panting like a dog, while the science team was either standing around stupidly or inspecting what was left of the damage.
"Lavi..." lenalee walked up to the red-head that was gently tapping Allen's cheak, calling him softly. He glanced up at the girl, and grinned.
"'sup Lena-lady? Thanks for the help."
"s'no prob." lenalee said, still staring around in a daze. "...was that... kanda...?"
Lavi stared for a moment before breaking into a wide grin.
"I certainly hope so~!"
***
The silence in the hall was deafening. Komoui panted as he ran, faster than he ever remembered running (accept maybe for his darling lenalee! ). All he could hear was the slapping of his shoes against the floor, his own ragged breathing, and the swishing of his long coat behind him. He debated momentarily as to whether removing the coat would increase his aerodynamic tendencies, but all thought ceased when he rounded a corner and came face to back with the very person he was looking for.
"KANDA!"
The scientist huffed and puffed his way up to the boy, who was standing quietly by the railing in the central corridor.
"Kanda,*huff* are... you... *wheeze*"
His sentance trailed off as he finally got a close up at the boy he had been searching for so desperatly.
Pale just didn't seem to do justice in this case. It looked as if Kanda had never seen a day of sunlight in his life. His pure ivory skin could have been lighter than that of Allen Walkers. Not only that, but he looked.... older. His eyes held dark lines around them, and his cheeks seemed slightly sunken in. His hair was disheveled and uneven. Could it even have grown in the time that they were apart? It had only been a few days... So how had so much damage been done? Even kanda's dark eyes, that usually shown with some kind of life, were dulled over into dusty black stones.
Komoui was speechless. Was this even the same Kanda?
The boy next to him didn't seem to care about the sudden concern of the elder. Instead, he gripped Mugen in one hand, and carefully hoisted himself up onto the stone railing.
"K-kanda..." Komoui reached out, steadying the samurai upon the fragile stone. He was shocked by how much of the boys form was clothing. How had he become so thin?!
Kanda, who had finally regained some semblance of ballance, stood upon the railing and gazed up into the darkness of the central corridor. Komoui followed his line of site. The top of the hall seemed to vanish into the shadows, just like the bottom did. A soft growl from Kanda was the only inclination that something was even up there. Komoui observed the boy next to him again. He was staring right at the shadows, and almost seemed like a dog with it's hackles raised.
"NEE HEE HEE~" a voice filled the hall, bouncing off stone and shadow. "Let's see you puny flesh-bags sprout some wings! You can never hope to fly like the darkness!!"
Komoui was about to respond, when a bright flash from kanda caught his attention. This time, instead of Mugen shining brightly, it's sheath was glowing blue. Kanda took the black sheath, holding it lovingly for a moment, before he tossed it into the expanse of corridor.
"Fly."
Komoui blinked. He wasn't even sure if he heard the small, grunted word, but Kanda seemed to be convinced that his sheath would provide him with wings...
The black rod fell through the air, before suddenly stopping, glowing a bright blue. It landed on air in front of kanda, as if an invisible platform appeared. Kanda, without a second thought, stepped out onto it.
Komoui gasped as the boy plummeted past the railing.
He ran to the side, leaning over the edge. Right as he did, Kanda popped up in front of him, carefully standing on his floating sheath. He swayed front to back, keeping his balance, and then shot into the air, flying high up into the shadows.
"Did you see that?!"
Komoui jumped, turning to find Lavi next to him. Not only that, but lenalee, and an unconsious Allen, and most of the science department, and link, dragging leverielle, and a whole bunch of other people were grouping around, comming into the hallways to find out what was happening in the order again.
"When did he learn how to do that?" Komoui asked, pointing into the open space of the main corridor.
"Never." lavi responded, keeping his eyes on shadows where kanda had vanished to. "Or just now. I'm not really sure. But... didn't that look just like..."
"Rhode." lenalee said, watching the shadows as well. "Rhode rides the earl's umbrella just like that."
Komoui gaped. What did this mean? Kanda had picked up the skills of a noah?
"Is it even Kanda?" Inspector Link but in. "What if it was that transforming Noah?"
"Why would a transforming Noah help us?" Lenalee shot back.
"It has to be Kanda." Lavi said softly.
"But how can you be sure" Komoui responded, sounding slightly desperate.
"That one's easy." Lavi said. "After you ran out of the room, the rest of the darkness vanished. Guess what appeared?"
Komoui stared for a moment, and then shrugged, meaning that he wasn't up for guessing at the moment.
"An hourglass."
"Wha-"
Loud shrieking cut off the conversation. The group turned back to the corridor just in time to see a dark mass collide with one of the collumns on the side. Rubble flew in all directions, falling into the dark abyss below. For a moment, the scene cleared enough to show the dark creature glaring up into the hallway. Kanda came flying down, just barely followed by his sheath, and using the pull of gravity to increase his speed. He curled his body tight, drawing up his legs and extending mugen in front of him, preparing for a deadly impact.
The darkness sneered at the boy, before dodging to the left, narrowly avoiding Kanda's impact with the wall. More rubble flew and the collumn began to crumble. Kanda pushed away and landed gracefully upon his sheith once more.
He turned and faced down the darkness. Both were slightly worse for wear, with kanda's clothing being ripped in several new places, and dark bruise like marks marring his cheaks and neck. The darkness was missing a chunk of it's right wing, and was obviously compensating for the lack of use of it's left arm.
"Disgusting human." The creature spat, flicking blood-like ooze into the air. "How dare you assault me! Weren't you content to just lay down and die!? I thought that was what you wanted!"
Kanda continued to stare quietlly. His gaze never wavered.
"I even destroyed that pitiful flower that you held on to so dearly! There is nothing left to connect you to this world! So just PERISH!" The creature extended a harsh claw, sharpening the nails to deadly points, and rushed toward the stoic samurai.
Kanda stared down the approaching threat.
"What did it mean by saying he was... content to lay down and..." Lenalee stared wide-eyed at the battle.
"Yuu-chan wouldn't...." lavi's strong start came to a weak end as his smile and voice faultered. The same thoughts were running through everyone's minds.
Would Kanda throw away his life?
The sickeningly distinct sound of ripping flesh and bone sounded through the hallway. The group turned and staired, horrified. Mugen's sheath slipped from under Kanda's dangling feet and fell, spiraling into the darkened shadows of the corridor. Kanda's body remained aloft, held up by the five dagger like points of the darkness's hand.
"UAHAHAHAHAHA!"
The maniacle cackle of the darkness rang through the silent hallways, ripping through the horrified bystanders.
"No..." lenalee cried, bringing her hands to her gaping mouth.
"Yuu-chan!" lavi cried, leaning over the railing.
"Kanda-kun!" Komoui cried.
"FOOLISH MORTALS!" the darkness responded. "You place your hope in a DEAD man!"
"BAKANDA, DON'T DIE!"
The group turned, stunned at the sudden outcry. Allen, who had been completely outcold, was leaning on the railing, calling out with wide eyes.
Kanda's hand twitched.
"BAKANDA, STUPID, IDIOT, BLOODY TWIT, STRAIGHT CUT FRINGE, GIRLY MAN, SOBA BRAIN!" Allen screamed at the top of his lungs, doubling over from the force. The rest of the group was left speechless.
"BRAINLESS, PATHETIC,... jerk.... pansy... *sniff* buffoon... muscle brained... *sob*" Allen slowly slid to the floor from the railing, kneeling on his knees. Tears streamed down his face.
"if you give up... i'll kill you..." he whimpered.
And Mugen slipped from Kanda's fingers.
***
It had been dark for a long time.
That was all he could seem to remember.
Dark.
Occasionally, a piece of something that felt important would appear.
kanda!
Like... a name... or maybe a whisp of memory. He always reached out, and tried to grasp thost things. Those fragments.
Yuu-chan!
But they would always slip right though his fingers. It was like trying to hold water. Eventually, it just slid away, slowly...
sadly...
Kanda-kun!
He kind of liked it though. Everything was quiet. So... quiet. He didn't have to think about things anymore. Nothing was bothering him...
KANDA!
Accept for that lotus.
It sat innocently on the ground before him. It gave off a soft pink glow. That was how he first discovered he was human. The pink light let him see fingers, and arms, and a torso, long dark hair. He couldn't see his face, but he could touch it, and so he made his own guesses. Two eyes, a nose, a mouth. Yes. He was human.
k-kanda...
Other than being a light source, that stupid lotus was also a source of noise. Constantly, voices were flooding through, calling "kanda, kanda!" or maybe "yuu, yuu-chan!" He just wished that that stupid lotus would either shut up or learn some new words.
...yuu...
But...
but...
Sometimes, those words... sometimes they would hit him in the chest. 'that's just stupid' he thought, 'words are obviously not physical things, so they cannot hit me in the chest'.
but...
that didnt' explain the feeling. Sometimes, the lotus would scream, or cry, or beg those words, and he felt like screaming and crying and begging along with it. Why did the flower force him to feel these things? All he wanted was to sleep...
sleep
Cold wrapped around his torso, spreading to his limbs and around his neck. He felt like he was floating chin deep in ice.
Do you want to sleep?
YUU-CHAN!!"
sleep? That sounded nice. But how... how could he sleep with that... that...
that lotus.
KANDA!
I can make it stop... I can make the noise stop. I can let you... sleep...
Really? Could you really? Sleep... sleep sounds so nice... He was so tired. Why was he so tired?
that's right. I will make that lotus go away.
kanda-kun
But why? Why will you do this for me? What are we to each other?
You think too much little one. Now be eased.... sleep...
But... what if it's scary?
kanda...
What is scary?
The silence.
...
...
Then all you must do, is make the flower bloom once more.
SILENCE. You must not listen! I will destroy the flower, and you must sleep for eternity!
Eternity?
Only until the time comes that you are needed once more.kanda...
NO! you will sleep for eternity! Now sleep!
sleep?
KANDA!?
that's right. Sleep. For now.
But some day soon, you must make that flower bloom again.
***
"Mugen."
Kanda's voice was barely a wrasp of it's former power, but in the stunned silence of the corridor, it was like a gunshot. The blade had slipped from between his fingers, and he grinned past the blood dribbleing down his chin.
It twisted and fell, until it stopped right below the pair, blade upward, pointing like an accusing finger toward the heavens.
"Bloom."
The white light was blinding. The blade expenentially increased, growing outward and upward into an egg like shape. Curves of glass twisted this way and that, creating petals in the air. A dome rose, encircleing the two fighters. More blades of glass wrapped round the air, twisting and twining into deadly and beautiful forms. The glass sculpture was finally taking form.
A crystal lotus.
"WHAT IS THIS!?" the beast screached, wrenching its claws from kanda's body. The boy fell onto the smooth glass floor, barely able to soften the fall with his hands. The darkness rushed to the glass, separating it from the world around it. It clawed desperatly, but left no scratches. It attacked ruthlessly, but left no dents. It paused in it's frantic attacks when it heard a wraspy laughing. It turned to glare at kanda, who's body was shaking on the floor.
"Game over." Kanda smirked.
The glass beneith him tinted pink with blood, before soaking into a dark red. The color spread through the glass like water, coloring the entire structure into a ruby. Suddenly, the air seemed to change from a crystalized peace to a glass covered fury. The crystal moaned and creaked as it began to warp.
The darkness felt a sudden jolt in it's torso. It looked down to find a red spire of glass protruding from it's chest.
"What..."
Another spire came from the walls of the lotus and impaled the creature in it's left arm. It screamed, casting more flicks of red into the air.
Kanda smirked again, before lowering his head. He succomed to sleep as the lotus brutally tore apart the beast before him.
***
"What... in god's name..." komoui stared at the carnage before him. The crystal lotus had expanded in the hall, taking up most of the central corridor. Glass twisted and twined into corkscrew patterns, digging into the walls for support, or simply hanging in the air, like beautiful deadly weapons. The whole structure had turned a deep red, almost like blood, and had suddenly decided to kill the enemy inside of it. But... what about kanda?
"What do we do Komoui-san?" Lavi asked, nervously staring at the structure. "How do we... get kanda out?"
Almost as if on cue, the edges of the glass began to fizzle and dissolve. Red sparkles fell through the air, as if the glass was being ground away. the result was a waterfall of red and gold, slowly increasing in size until all that was left was Kanda and the mangled remains of the darkness, that immediatly dissolved into smoke the instant the dome released them into the air. Kanda's body slumped as the glass beneith it dissolved, until he, too, went tumbleing.
"Kanda!" Lenalee cried out, but stopped her movement when lavi caught the samurai's body from mid air.
Poised on his Hammer, Lavi could feel the heavy burden of the light body he held. As he carried the unconsious man into the awaiting arms of the science department, he could help but wonder....
what the heck is going on?!
***
He started to remember things slowly. The memories would trickle back into his mind like a soft rain. Pieces would land everywhere, and only when the ground was soaked with parts could he step back and see the entire picture.
*Flashback!*
Allen stared intently, his hand outreached toward the hourglass.
TOUCH IT!
His hand moved forward, and he could almost feel his fingers ghosting over the cool glass.
But then he stopped.
Blinking for a moment, he retracted his hand as if the gentle flower had grown sharp teeth.
"NO!" he screamed, stumbling away. "whoever you are, I don't care how much you want it, I WON'T!" he shouted into the corners of the room, directing his cry at the shadows.
He was immediatly asaulted by hundreds of thousands of dark voices, each one urging him to touch the hourglass, to break the case and touch the velvet flower.
"NO!" he cried again, curling into a ball in the center of Kanda's room. "Kanda... I CAN'T!"
And just as quickly as the voices started, they vanished in an instant.
Not one to be fooled, Allen remained curled up in the center of the floor.
"maybe..." he muttered to himself through his panting, "maybe if i just stay here... komoui... or lavi will come... and then they'll take me away and it will be okay!... yeah... yeah!"
"Moyashi."
Allen sucked in his breath, eyes open wide.
"...don't." he said shakily, his mind reeling under strain.
"Moyashi... look at me."
"Please stop!" Allen whined, keeping his head firmly planted in his knees.
"What is wrong with you, you dumb sprout!"
"Augh!"
Allen's hands shot up to his head to press on the lump he knew was forming. He jumped up in place.
"What did you do that for BAKANDA!?" he cried, rubbing his cranium.
"Because you were being stupid." Kanda scoffed, as if it was completely obvious. "Now what, exactly, are you doing in MY room?"
Allen blinked, and suddenly realized he had been caught. 'Oh gee, kanda, well ya see I was hearing these voices, and they really wanted me to touch that hourglass of yours. Is it okay if I pick it up for a bit?' Allen wanted to smack his head into the wall. At least that death would be less painfull than the one the samurai in front of him would most likley deliver.
The light clink of metal on wood brought him out of his morbid thinking. He watched as Kanda plucked the hourglass from its little wooden table and held it up infront of himself, as if scrutinizing it.
"Um... Kanda...?" Allen stared.
"Is this what you wanted to see?" Kanda interjected, keeping his eyes on the glass.
Allen nodded hesitantly. "But... I don't think..." He stopped when a smirk spread across Kanda's lips.
"You're certainly welcome to touch it." He said, extending his arm and the glass so that is sat infront of the brown haired boy. Amber eyes flashed from the glass to Kanda's face several times. Kanda, keeping the smirk on his face, nodded.
"Go ahead. Touch it."
Allen's eyes widened, and he took a step back.
"Y...y-you're not Kanda." He said, shaking his head. "K-kanda... kanda's on a mission! Who are you?!"
The kanda figure's smirk fell off his face.
"Well that's not very nice dear Al-len." The figured whined, playing with the glass between his hands. Suddenly, Allen realized just how bad this situation was.
"G...give that back." he said softly, cursing the tremble in his voice. "That doesn't belong to you. Give it to me." He extended a shaking hand, frozen between moving forward toward danger and retreating to safety.
Kanda's smirk returned.
"And what if I don't want to." It said, hap-hazardly balancing the hourglass on the back of one hand.
"I don't care what you want!" Allen snapped again, "All that matters it that Kanda-"
"You mean THIS kanda?" The figure held up the hourglass again, and all Allen could do was stare. In the bottom half of the glass, a tiny kanda, maybe 3 inches tall, lay strewn amongst the petals, as if he, himself, had fallen from the lotus, and lay dying on the bottom.
"Oh, this isn't really him." The fake grinned. Allen felt sick seeing that smile on Kanda's face. "This is simply a projection of him. He's already been absorbed by darkness. Right now... he's trying to get some... ah... Sleep."
Allen stared wearily at Kanda's image. So it was true? Kanda had been taken during his mission? So... was he dead?
"Oh no, not dead per-sae." The figure laughed when Allen looked startled. "Little one, you're rather close to the edge of your sanity. It's not suprising that you're speaking your thoughts out loud, even when you think you're not."
Allen glared.
"I don't care." he said. "I don't care, I don't care, I DON'T CARE!" he stomped his foot on the ground like a child. "Just GIVE IT BACK. Give it ALL back! Give back Kanda, and give back the hourglass, and give me back my curse, and give me back my LIFE! Stop TAKING things from me!!"
"This world is one filled with give and take." Kanda's figure grinned. "One must take to give, and give to take. And if I cannot take, then I CERTAINLY cannot give."
Allen stared in horror as he began to tilt the hourglass on his hand, teetering it dangerously between safety and plummeting to the floor.
"Don't worry." the creature grinned. He dropped his hand to his side, and the glass fell through the air.
"I always take good care of my things."
*end flashback*
Allen awoke to the sound of glass shattering. He could see it clearly now. The hourglass lying on the floor, water spilling from it's insides.
The tiny kanda broken and mangled among the glass, his blood staining what was left of the water a sick pink.
But as he blinked his eyes open, there was no panic, no darkness, and the horrific pain he had felt in his chest at the time, was nothing but a dull throb now.
He shifted among the thick quilts and pillows. From what he could see when he cracked his eyes a little... the room was way too bright. He scrunched them shut immediatly. It was like it was daylight, with flourescent lighting, and maybe a few spotlights, shining down on him in sheets.
Groaning, he turned (or rather flopped, he felt much to tired to do much of ANYTHING) his head to the side.
"Allen? Ya in there buddy?"
He groaned again, this time in what he hoped sounded like an affirmative, but ending up sounding more like a regular old grunt.
"Hey, komoui, can we dim the lights or something..."
The conversationg continued in a dull murmer around him, but he was simply content to just focus on the thought of being greatful for Lavi's bright (pun intended) idea. Maybe if all of this light wasn't sapping his life energy away, he would be able to wake up more.
As if on cue, the horrible gleaming behind his eyelids seemed to lessen, and he chanced another peak at the world.
Yes. He was definitly in the hospital ward. How many times has he awoken to these white walls again? Lavi was next to him, sitting on a chair and leaning in. He looked concerned, but also extremely pleased. Or maybe he had just gone crazy too. They say it's contageous.
Komoui was buzzing around somewhere on the parameter of the room, flitting behind and around another bed that was curtained. Allen blinked sleepily.
"What.... day is it?" He finished lamely, unable to focus his questions in any kind of order.
"You heard the man, pay up komoui!" Lavi laughed, turning to the older male who was making a face from beside the curtain.
"What?" Allen asked, brain not functioning NEARLY fast enought to even REMOTLY understand what the two were talking about.
"Komoui bet that you would ask for food as soon as you woke up. I bet that you would ask something else. And I WIN!" the red head smiled gleefully as komoui grumbled and returned behind the curtain. Allen simply stared at them a bit more, hoping that if he waited long enough, NORMAL people would come into his life.
"To answer your question Allen-kun." Komoui's disembodied voice floated over to his bed. "It's wednesday. Youve been sleeping for three days now. But more importantly, how do you feel?"
Allen blinked again as komoui came out from behind the curtain, taking off his coat and pulling up another chair to sit by Allen's side.
"... fine I guess-WHAT!?" His eyes bulged. "I've been sleeping for THREE DAYS!?" He started glancing around as if the apocolypse was trying to sneak up on him.
Komoui and lavi laughed.
"It's not funny!" Allen cried, peeking under his bed. "What... who got hurt? what happened? How many people-" He was cut off by hands on his shoulders. Komoui was smiling sadly at him as he gently pushed him back into place on his bed.
"That's what we had the lights for Allen-kun." Komoui said softly. "The artificial sunlight, combined with a few other lights, kept anything bad from happening while you were out."
Allen shook his head.
"I don't understand... why was I asleep anyway? I don't-" Ah yes... leverielle, and his stone guardian, and then kanda-
Allen turned to the other two so quickly that he was sure his neck snapped. The pair by his bedside winced, though from the sound of the crack or the crazy look in Allen's eyes, they weren't sure.
"Kanda." He snapped. "Where is he?"
"Now just relax Allen-chan-"
"NO!" Allen yelled, pounding his fists down beside him. The other two stared in shock.
"He's been taken and hurt more times than I can count! I can't even remember some of the horrible things i've probably put him through so I want to see him and make sure he's okay RIGHT NOW."
The look on his face clearly spelled out that he should not be messed with right now, and with a sigh, komoui was the first to break out of his stupufied trance.
"Alright Allen-kun." he stood and moved over to the curtained bed. "I guess we no longer have a right to keep him from you."
"You NEVER had a right." Allen muttered. Komoui seemed to miss it, but Lavi's eyes only widened further. The sound of sliding curtains filled the room.
And there he was.
He lay in the hospital bed, fast asleep, or unconsious maybe, flat on his back and under another thick looking quilt. Allen recognized the black sweater that Kanda often wore while staying in the hospital wing. It looked like he was drowning in it. Allen didn't dwell on the samurai's suddenly smaller frame. Instead he was mesmorized by the bare feet just barely peaking from the opposite end of the bed. He had NEVER seen kanda's feet before. At least not anywhere besides the bath. It was rather strange. If anything, he kept away from looking at the peaceful expression on the boys face. Dark hair was strewn about, and his ever present frown was missing completely. There were frown lines anywhere.
And it felt completely wrong.
"What's wrong with him?" Allen asked, still keeping his eyes away from the boys face. "Why is he asleep?"
"His body seemed to have... started to deterriorate...while he was... er... missing." Komoui barely managed to string together the sentance.
"What does that mean?" Allen said softly.
"Basically." Lavi said matter-of-factly, "While he was gone, his body was convinced it was dead, and started to decompose... a bit..." he grimaced. "but now everything is back up and running. It will take a while to repair any damage, but he'll be good as new in no-time."
Allen signed.
"Thank god."
***
Several days passed in the order. For many, they were completely uneventful (aside from the usual business of chasing akuma and hunting innocence). But for some, they were uneventful in a different sense.
Blissfully uneventful.
"Allen-kun, Good morning!"
The brown haired boy perked up from his place at the wooden picknic table, cheeks bulging with whatever one of Jerry's delicacies that he was currently stuffing his face with. He managed a smile at the girl bouncing toward him. Lenalee was as cheerful as ever, since all of her friends were alive and in the building.
Gulping down his food, Allen politly whiped his face and smile more gracefully at his female friend.
"Good morning Lenalee." he smiled back.
"You look SO much better!" lenalee gasped, leaning in to examine the boy closer. And it was true. A few days of recuperation in the hospital ward, sleeping under solar lights, and finally getting his sanity back. Who would have thought that that was the golden combination to keeping Allen Walker healthy?
"Thank you Lenalee." Allen responded politly. "It's much in part to your brother's workings. He's been keeping a much closer eye on things now, and so far it's going smoothly."
"So..." lenalee stared him down for a moment, stumping him for words, before she gave an exhasperated sigh and flopped down onto the bench across from him.
"Are you going to fill me in or WHAT?! I've been gone for like... i dunno, FOREVER? I come home and all of the sudden kanda is dead, or missing or whatever, and then I find him in his room, which was totally bogus by the way, and then leverieller is here, and all of the sudden my brother is screaming for me to bring lights into his office and then kanda is totally NOT dead, and I'm SO lost."
Allen blinked at the girl infront of him. His piece (stack) of pancakes that had been dangleing on his fork by his mouth fell to the table with a splat.
"Oh my..."
And so the explanation began once again.
***
Komoui looked up from his make-shift desk in one of the few abandoned corners of the hospital wing, his internal alarm clock telling him what was about to happen. What with Allen and Kanda and so many others trying to recover from what was now dubbed as "the office incident", Komoui just figured that staying in the hospital wing would not only make him easily locatable, and help him get information quickly...
but it motivated him to work hard like nothing before.
And today, like the last few days since "the office incident", right on schedule, Lavi bookman Jr. would peek his head in the door, waltz past the nurses, and lean over his desk to ask him the same question. 'How is he?'
And everyday, Komoui had delivered the same answer.
"No change. He's still sleeping."
And then both of them would turn and look at the bed before him, closest to him, at the sleeping form of Kanda Yuu.
Why wouldn't Kanda wake?
Komoui had spent many hours wracking his brain over this problem. Sure, the boy had been badly damaged while he was 'missing', but his lotus had always taken away that damage, or at least helped him heal more quickly.
Komoui glanced over at the pristine crystal hourglass on the table next to his desk. It certainly looked the same. The same as the glass that used to lay broken on the floor in Kanda's room, but had mysteriously dissapeared after "the office incident". It was the same pink lotus, the same silver trimming, the same unearthly glow. But the number of petals on the bottom was.... confusing.
"Only five?" he muttered to himself. How could that be possible? He knew for a fact that kanda had lost more than that. So how? How were their only 5 petals?
Not that he was complaining.
Komoui immidiatly shifted his thought away. He wouldn't question how Kanda was able to re-gain some life-force, in only for the hopes that he would not jynx the boy. He had no idea what he would do if this hourglass turned out to be fake.
If this kanda turned out to be fake.
Sure the boy had saved them from the darkness. But he had also come from the darkness.
Komoui growled and toussled his hands through his hair. It was all so confusing! and he couldn't get any answers until the boy infront of him woke...
The soft sound of the infirmary door barely pulled him from his thoughts. Soft feet padded across the floor, until Komoui could feel a presence lean over his desk.
"Hey Komoui..."
How long would this take?
"How is he?"
The same thing over and over.
"No change."
When would it end?
"He's still sleeping."
***
Lenalee stared.
Allen stared back.
"So." she said, leaning on the table that was now littered with empty plates and bowls.
"So." Allen nodded back.
"... How many kanda's were there again?"
Allen sighed as his forehead managed to find a spot on the table that wasnt covered in ceramic.
"Sorry... " lenalee sighed. "It's just... a bit too much for me to handle... There's so much information. But lets just put that over here... " she pushed her hands to the side as if moving something away, "and focus on the here and now."
"That sounds like a good idea." Allen sighed.
"Hey!"
The pair turned to see Lavi comming up to their table, waving with a smile.
"Hey Lavi!" lenalee smiled back. Allen smiled and waved as well.
"Visiting Komoui again?" The brown haired boy asked.
Lavi's grin dimmed a bit.
"Yeah... No changes again."
"That stupid Bakanda." Allen muttered. "Sleeping all the time..."
The other two cast sad glances his way, but he didn't seem to notice.
"Good news is!" Lavi piped up. "He's recovering nicely, so when he DOES wake up, he should be ready to go!"
Allen seemed to perk up a bit at that, and the other two shared satisfyed smiles.
"I guess now... we just have to wait..." lenalee sighed, resting her head on her hand. Lavi nodded and took a seat next to her. The three exchanged glances, before sharing a sigh.
***
Author: UGH, that was almost PAINFUL.
Lavi: you alright author-chan?
Lenalee: What's the matter?
Author: i totally ran out of inspiration at the end there. And so the last three sections were just... fluff. =_=
Kanda: Pfft, the whole thing seemed like crap to me.
Author: But I went through all of the trouble of bringing you back to life!!
Allen: is it even him?! we've had so many kanda's, i'm not even sure if this is the real one anymore! *pinches kanda's face*
Lavi: ah... moyashi... I wouldn't...
Author: no, shush... this is good... *eats popcorn*
Kanda: *grinds teeth* Mo-ya-shi...
Allen: see!? *pinches harder* He even talks funny!!
Kanda: *unsheathes mugen* You. Dead. Now.
Allen: eep! *runs*
Lenalee: so author chan, what are you going to do now?
Author: well... I have a general idea about where the next installment is going to start... but after that... i dunno how to connect it to where I want to be. I'll probably take tonight to get some inspiration.
lavi: I'm going to be alone all night!?
Group: sweatdrop
Lenalee: gee lavi, it's not like i'm not here.
*Allen runs by being chased by Kanda*
...
And them, I guess...
Author: alright, alright, i'll see what I can do! Anyway, until next time, no preview! Because even I don't know what's going to happen!!
Lavi: how exciting!!
Ja' ne!
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