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Story Update 21
Allen: Author-chan?
Kanda: Will you give this a freaking break already?!
Lavi: Yay! My sweeties back! My sweeties back! *Twirls*
Lenalee: Seriously Author-chan, what's the deal? Why do you keep abandoning entries!?
Lavi: I could care less, as long as she's here with me.... *latches on to author*
Author: Ah, well... you see... ugh. This is going to sound horribly lame, but I really have no excuse for the past few abandoned entries. First the party, then the drabbles, now easter... bleh. I just can't get into the mood for those stories! Maybe when the season rolls back around....
Kanda: Che. Maybe if it didn't take you seven months to get around to writing a freaking update, you would lose your so-called inspiration.
Author: Aha... That may also be part of the reason... But it's hard to write updates at school, since I have limited access to the internet, and work always leaves me way too tired to write much... Oh, I sound horribly lame.
Lavi: *Cuddles Author* It's okay sweety... just take it easy and we'll try to do the rest.
Allen: Well, I guess since you're here that means something is bound to happen then right?
Lenalee: Oh PLEASE let it be more screen time for me!
Author: Really I think screen-time for anyone would be good at this point. I think the big problem is that with the end of the show, and chapters only showing up once a month, i'm just not as exposed to D.Gray Man as I used to be. I've tried re-reading this story, and it helped a bit, and I think the recent chapters with Kanda...
Allen: Ah, that's right! Bakanda is back in action huh? Guess the actual show took a note from your story.
Kanda: Too bad they had to take the dumbest note they could find. Che. What did they think they could prove? Fake-killing me off? If it didn't work here, then why would they be stupid enough to think it would work there!? Morons.
Lavi: Yuu-chan that's not very nice! I cried when I read that chapter you know! I really thought you were dead!!!
Kanda: ...Are you an Idiot?
Lenalee: Ohh, you cried too? I was sobbing by the end! *clasps hands with Lavi*
Lavi: It was soooo sad! *nods*
Kanda: ... Whatever. I can't even... Ugh. *head-wall*
Allen: I think we may have finally killed him...
Author: He's just a bit rusty. I think you all are. Accept maybe Komoui. But really he only has one setting.
Komoui: LENALEEEEEEEEEEEAFHEOANFJD!!!!1! *dies*
Author: Yeah. That one. Anyway, Please forgive any akward-ness in the characters for a bit, while I try to re-set my brain to the proper settings. Hopefully within a chapter or two everything will be back up and running, and I will have worked out the huge missing chunk of story that has kept me from finishing this monster.
Allen: Finishing-
Author: Oh don't even get me started. I've got it all planned, but there's still quite a while to go. But one day I hope to happily type the words "The End" on one of these entries.
Lavi: Author-chan....
Author: and then I'll write filler for the rest of my life. *sweat*
Group; *Head-wall*
Kanda: Alright you idiots. Lets just get this crap over with.
Lenalee: ohh... someone's happy to be back.
Lavi: I haven't seen yuu-chan this perky in a while!
Kanda: I'll kill you!
Allen: Oh yeah, he's a regular bucket of sunshine.
Author: Lets flex your muscles guys, because this one is going to be rough. But we won't stop until something comes out of this!!! /end desperation
Group: Yeah.... *half-hearted*
Author: No, No, No! Not like that at all! With feeling!!!
Group: YEAH!
Kanda: Che.
Author: Good enough. Lets go!
Lenalee: In case you've forgotten during the ridiculously long hiatus, Author-chan still doesn't own us. Accept she occasionally owns Kanda. But I think that's in a different way... *Snickers*
Kanda: WHAT!? *Pulls out Mugen*
Author: PLACES! *runs away*
Story Update 21.
Pieces of the Heart-
Stories of the Soul.
Kanda watched from the red couch as Komoui fidgeted at his desk. The man kept reaching around, picking up pieces of paper and looking them over, before putting them back in place. He would then pick up a pen, and pull over a fresh piece of parchment, the tip quivering in the air just above it's destination, before he would shake his head and put away his materials. He would then begin the process anew, gathering up another piece of information before putting it back. Every time he completed this loop, he would leave smudges of blood on pieces of paper, or on a new writing utensil.
Beside him and a bit behind stood Lenalee, looking like she would like nothing more than to hug her brother and soothe his nervous jittering, but stayed in place none the less. Her face was torn between sorrow and determination.
Lavi was silently leaning against a bookshelf off to one side. He was so close to the curtains on the window that it almost seemed like he was hiding behind them. His arms were crossed and his face was closed off. If Kanda didn't know the man, he would have said the bookman Jr. was trying to separate himself from the situation. As it was, though, the rabbit was the mans (self-proclaimed) best friend, and Kanda could tell that the red-head was spoiling for a fight. The slight twitch of his fingers, and the occasional restless switch from one booted foot to the other was a sure sign that whatever judgment was passed on their supervisor, it would have to be approved by him first.
Kanda turned his eyes back to the supervisor who was bloodying a new piece of paper. He gnashed his teeth together with a growl and stood.
"You're all idiots!" He ground out as he marched up to komoui's desk. He grabbed the mans still bleeding hand with his right hand, and brought his left up to his mouth. With a sharp n**, the samurai pierced his thumb, letting a small flow of crimson loose. He reached down and ran his thumb over shallow blade wound on Komoui's palm. The man hissed for a second, jerking his hand back as pins and needles began spreading like fire through his nerves. As quickly as they came, they disappeared, and Komoui stared at his healed palm in amazement.
"Kanda-kun..." the man breathed.
"They're not going to kill you." Kanda replies, leveling the supervisor with his gaze. "Anyone worth their value in salt would be able to see that."
Komoui smiled at the man, then blinked.
"Did you say... Worth their value in salt?" Lavi snickered from the side. Behind them, Lenalee was doubled over, clutching her stomach and desperately trying not to laugh.
Kanda blinked again before growling at the pair. "What's so funny!?"
Komoui, for his merit, was doing his best to keep a straight face. "Um... Kanda-kun... I really appreciate your thoughts." He smiled.
Lavi and Lenalee were still giggling, and by then the tension in the room had diminished considerably.
"Yeah, whatever." Kanda grumbled, before turning and slinking back to the couch. The slight waver in his step cause Komoui to somber immediately. The dark haired boy was still feeling the effects of the medication given to him earlier, and it was all the more evident by the way he sank into the couch. Komoui could just barely see the signs of exhaustion nipping at the edges of Kanda's expression, and it worried him.
He glanced up at the clock on the wall and grimaced. An hour was a long time to wait.
***
Two girls stood in a darkened room. One, a red head, was sitting on a wooden chair, arms and legs crossed and eyes closed. To the careless observer, one would think she was sleeping, if not for the occasional furrow of a delicate brow or drum of her fingers. On the opposite side of the room, a blonde leaned against a wall, watching the other intently. She stood frozen, waiting.
The red head's eyes snapped open, and her head tilted upward, locking gazes with the blonde.
"Luna." The standing girl began. "I know that Komoui-san seems a bit irresponsible, but that's only because he's trying so hard... I'm sure there's a reason for his actions."
Luna gave a short nod, still staring into the azure orbs of the girl in front of her.
"Don't worry Alteara." The girl responded. "I have been keeping track of the happenings here through the dreams of these people. What I'm truly worried about are his actions from now on. He's not going to like what we must do."
The blonde responded with silence, lapsing into thought. Certainly the head supervisor would not agree to what they had planned for Allen Walker. Though if it were to save him in the end...
"I'm sure he's made tough choices before... He would want to do what's right."
"Would he?" Luna returned.
The blonde stared in suspicion as a smirk crossed the red-head's face.
"Shall we make a bet?"
***
Kanda woke with a start.
He was lying on that red couch again. He must have fallen asleep while waiting for the hour to end.
Grumbling under his breath about the medicine he was forced to take, it took him a moment to realize that the room was dark.
And also that he was the only one in it.
"Komoui?" Kanda called into the empty room. "Lenalee? Oi, Baka-Usagi?"
He stood from the couch, turning this way and that, but no one was there.
Narrowing his eyes, he turned and headed for the door. If something had happened, and he had obviously missed it, then he wanted filled in. Did the meeting happen already? Did those mysterious girls make a decision? Was everything okay?
He burst through the office doors, and was suddenly blinded by the light in the hallway. He shielded his eyes for a moment, grimacing at the assault, before everything began to come into focus. He turned to head toward the cafeteria when he noticed something on the floor.
A small dark spot.
Normally he wouldn't even care for a bit of dirt on the order's floor. This place was usually pretty filthy anyway. But this spot was of a sickeningly familiar color, something that Kanda had seen enough of recently to immediately send his senses into high alert.
It was blood.
And it wasn't just a single spot, now that he looked around. A few yards ahead was another spot, slightly larger. Kanda walked over, and sure enough another spot was a few yards away again, this one accompanied by a second smaller spot. He began to follow the trail. The blood was coming more frequently, and in larger amounts. He began to jog when the spots became startlingly larger, forming small puddles that sank into the crevasses in the stone. He was dashing past doors, through hallways but stopped when something caught his eye. On the wall next to one of the larger puddles was something he had NOT wanted to see.
A bloody hand-print.
The blood was smeared across a wooden door, as if the hand had been dragged. From there on, Kanda could see more prints on the walls. A hand there, some fingers here, occasional smudges, and the puddles on the floor kept getting larger and larger.
With a hand on Mugen's hilt, Kanda started forward again. Whoever had attacked while he was unconscious had made a fatal mistake in leaving him alive. He was going to destroy whatever had hurt his family.
He kept running until he reached the library.
It was dark in the tall room, and the lights refused to turn on. Kanda exhaled and was surprised to see his breath rise in a puff of white. When had it gotten so cold?
He followed the prints through the dusty shelves, stepping over volumes that had been ripped and torn and thrown across the floor, crimson forever staining their pages. He drew Mugen, carefully peering around each shelf before moving forward. He didn't know what his enemy was, or where it was coming from, and the dead silence of the library was setting the hairs on the back of his neck on end.
He followed the bloody trail to a shelf in the back, where it suddenly dead-ended. Kanda stepped forward and was surprised to hear a small splash. He looked down to find the largest puddle of blood, surrounding the base of the bookshelf and soaking into the torn books lying in it.
Turning back to the shelf, his eyes focused in on a large dusty green volume left untouched by the carnage. He reached up, as if he knew what he was doing, and pulled the book forward. It didn't come loose from the shelf, but it did set off a series of clanks and clacks before the bookshelf folded inward, revealing a doorway.
Kanda peered intently into the dark passage. He could hear a faint echo of someone talking. But the timing was odd, as if they were holding a one sided conversation. Raising Mugen, the samurai stalked forward, carefully keeping silent. He walked through the darkness for a short while, before he came to a stop. A dusty green door was ahead of him. It was slightly ajar, and a soft orange light was coming from behind it. He could just barely make out a cacophony of bloody prints staining the door and it's handle.
He moved closer, trying to hear the voice coming from inside. He stepped behind the door and listened.
"That's right Allen-chan! I totally forgot about that!"
...
"What do you mean 'how could you forget'? Just cuz i'm a bookman-"
...
"Lenalee, you know, it's totally rude to interupt and-what's that Komoui?"
...
"Ahahahaha, good one!"
...
"Ah yeah, I did invite Yuu-chan, but he didn't want to come, like usual."
...
"What's that Allen? He's listening outside?"
Kanda jumped as the door was suddenly thrown open by none other than Lavi. Kanda stared in alarm at the bookman's appearance. He was marked from head to toe in blood, hand shaped smudges on his clothing and skin.
"Ah, Yuu-chan!" Lavi greeted. He grabbed the stunned samurai by the arm, and dragged him over to a round table, pushing him down into a chair. Kanda looked at the others around him and gasped.
None of them were moving. All of them were sitting as though dolls in a collection, dressed for a tea party. Komoui, Lenalee, Allen, even Marie and that mousy woman that Kanda didn't know the name of. A few science department men were there as well, slumped over place settings filled with imaginary cake and cups filled with non-existant tea.
And it almost would have been funny, had it not been for the fact that all of them were missing their eyes.
The gaping holes stared straight at kanda, crying endless tears of crimson, adding to the blood soaked floor.
"Do you like them Yuu-chan?" Lavi grinned as he turned away from Kanda to pick something up off of a cart. "I really think they're my best work yet!"
Kanda snapped back to reality, and tried to turn, to brandish Mugen, to do something, but he was horrified to find he couldn't move. His body wasn't responding, and he was frozen stiff on his seat.
"You see." Lavi began. "I thought we could all sit around and have fun like the old days! But all of them were so hesitant! So I tried to calm them down, but they fought back. Eventually it was just too much of a hassle and I had to kill them. But at least they stood still. It would have been perfect had it not been for their eyes." At this point, lavi turned around, brandishing a thin, long knife.
"You see Yuu-chan," he began, waving the knife around to prove his point," Once you kill someone, the light in their eyes just... goes away. Its something scientific about the rods and cones ceasing to function and blah blah, I won't bore you with specifics."
He edged closer to Kanda, and the boy struggled desperately to move.
"But I just can't stand it. Those dead eyes, STARING. It's a little creepy ya know?" He laughed sheepishly, as if admitting that he had been afraid of the dark as a child. "So I cut em out. Hell of a lot better if I do say so myself!"
He grinned and looked at his dolls, before turning to Kanda.
"But YOU." He ran his hands through the raven's long dark hair, weaving through the silky locks. "You will be my favorite. I've always wanted to play 'house' with you Yuu-chan." He smiled fondly as Kanda stared back at him. The samurai was torn between unimaginable rage and heartbreak. Why would Lavi do something like this...?!
"So i'm going to take extra special care of you Yuu-chan. I figure, if I take your eyes out while you're still living, maybe they'll keep their sparkle!"
Kanda's eyes widened, and he tried to move again, but it was as if he had lost control of his body. Something was holding him perfectly in place, no matter how much his mind screamed.
"Don't worry Yuu-chan." Lavi smiled, as he leaned down over the samurai. He tilted the boy's head back, and it stayed that way on it's own. Moving the knife to his right hand, he tilted over the boy and pried his left eye open with his free hand, lowering the knife into place.
"It will only hurt till you're dead."
***
Kanda arched his back off of the red couch, hands tearing at his face and crying out in agony.
"KANDA!" Lenalee cried, pulling at the boys hands in a desperate attempt to keep him from causing more damage. Komoui stood by in shock, unable to understand what had just happened.
One moment Kanda had been nodding off on the couch, and the next the boy had started screaming...
"Kanda PLEASE.... Wake up!" Lenalee kept at her approach, ignoring the claw marks left on her by the frightened samurai.
"Kanda-kun!" Komoui joined in the fray, pulling his sister away and grappling kanda's arms to his side. "Kanda-kun! You are DREAMING!"
"Yuu-chan? What's wrong?!" Lavi cried from the side.
The effect was instantaneous. Kanda thrashed around even harder than before, struggling to get away from Lavi's voice and lashing out in his direction.
"Yuu-chan-" Lavi tried to grab the struggling Kanda's arms.
"NO!" Kanda screamed back. "DON'T TOUCH ME! MY EYES- DONT- MY-"
Lavi released the boy, stepping away with a confused expression. Was Kanda... frightened of him?
"Kanda-kun, please calm down! It's alright! There's nothing wrong with your eyes!" Komoui tried to soothe the boy, grabbing his hands and pulling them away. He ignored the midnight hair that was wiping him as the boy shook his head.
"NO... NO.. HE'S- MY- MY EYES"
"KANDA-KUN!" Komoui snapped.
The shaken samurai stopped screaming, but was still fidgeting, as if trying to edge away from something.
"Kanda-kun." Komoui spoke more softly now, edging toward the boy. "It's okay. There's nothing wrong with your eyes. Just open them." He coaxed.
"N-...No... No... " Kanda shuddered, screwing his eyes closed even more. "No... He's-.. No..."
"Yuu-chan." Lavi whispered from the side. Kanda flinched, and from the side, Lavi could see Lenalee's expression switch from concerned to confused.
"Yuu-chan, listen to me." Lavi licked his lips. "It's okay. I'm not gonna hurt you! No one is! But especially not me." His voice cracked at the end, and his eyes stayed fixed on his best friend. "So please... open your eyes."
Kanda's head still jerked slightly, but they could see his face relaxing. Komoui felt his arms fall, and released his grip on the boy, assured that the struggling, at least, was over.
Kanda's lids twitched, before his eyes fluttered open, blinking away the harsh light of the room. He seemed surprised at everyone's proximity, shaky gaze moving from Komoui to Lenalee, and then falling to rest on Lavi, who was smiling half-heartedly.
"See." He shrugged. "It's okay."
Kanda blinked owlishly once more, before his eyes rolled back into his head and he collapsed back onto the couch.
"Kanda-kun!" Komoui gasped, quickly looking the boy over.
"Nii-san..." lenalee whispered behind him. "What's wrong with him? Isn't this kind of like..."
"What happened with Allen?" Lavi narrowed his eyes at his friend. "Do you think that somehow... whatever got the moyashi moved on to Yuu-chan?"
"That is a possibility..." Komoui nodded, eyes never leaving the unconscious samurai, "But it's also one I really wish wasn't true..."
They were interrupted by a soft knock at the door.
Komoui stood after quickly making Kanda more comfortable on the couch.
"Please, come in." He called.
The doors opened and there stood Luna and Alteara.
"Are you ready for our decision, Komoui-Lee-san?" Luna asked. Komoui nodded and the two girls walked in. They both rounded the couch, only to stop and stare at the boy one it. One pair of eyes was concerned. The other seemed unsurprised.
"I'm sorry," Komoui sighed, "But Kanda-kun really isn't feeling very well. Is it alright if we move somewhere else? Or maybe you want to take some of the other chairs..?" He trailed off.
"It's fine." Luna waved the suggestion away. "It's best if he is around friends for now. We will try to keep this quiet."
Lavi raised a brow at that, and Lenalee moved a step closer to her brother. The blonde and the red-head ignored both actions.
"First, Komoui-san, we must give you a test." Alteara started. "If you can pass our test, then we will consider you worthy of your position, and will have our services to utilize however you please."
"We are as loyal as your own exorcists." Luna picked up. "We will serve you with all of our strength and information. I'm certain that is something the Japan Branch could use at the moment."
For a second, Komoui mulled over the thought, and realized that the two girls would be huge assets. "But that's only if I pass the test right?" He asked.
The girls nodded, and komoui's face was set in grim determination.
"Then are you ready for your test?" The blonde asked. The supervisor nodded.
"Alright then." Luna nodded back. "Your test is a simple question. Answer correctly and you pass. Simple as that."
Komoui blinked, surprised at the information. Just one question?
"Ready?" Luna asked. Komoui schooled his face and nodded.
"Then here is your question." Luna stared into his eyes. "Allen Walker is currently dead. We have two methods to change that. Method one, we measure the value of Walker's life, gather the appropriate number of human sacrifices, and make an exchange."
Komoui paled at this, and even lavi blanched. Lenalee looked as if she were about to cry, but the two remaining girls kept their expressions neutral.
"The second option" continued Alteara, "Is to transfer his soul to a new vessel. In this instance, we must destroy what is left of Walker's body, and find a suitable new host. Someone who is considered 'brain-dead' or someone that we can... craft... into a new vessel would be acceptable in this case. We then move Walker's soul to this body."
Komoui looked equally sickened by this choice, and Lavi's face had contorted into anger, but he kept silent.
"So Komoui Lee." Luna continued. "Of these choices, which do you wish us to undertake?"
Silence reigned in the room as Komoui stared at the floor. Lavi looked to Lenalee and the girl met his gaze with startling determination. Luna and Alteara regarded the supervisor.
"Take your time before deciding." Luna added. "This is not a decision to be made lightly."
"So you're telling me..." Komoui spoke softly, as if unsure of what he was saying "that no matter what we do... If we want Allen-kun to come back we must sacrifice another life?"
"Well." Luna shrugged. "If you think about it, taking someone who is already brain-dead isn't really ending a life-"
"Get out."
The two girls blinked. "Excuse me?" Luna narrowed her eyes at the supervisor, who was practically shaking with fury.
"I want you out of this building. Right. Now." Komoui growled, pointing toward the doors.
"Komoui-san" Alteara started, "You realize that if we leave... Allen Walker will simply die, right?"
"Of course I understand that!" Komoui snapped. Lavi was surprised to hear the waver in his voice, and even more shocked when tears began streaming down his cheeks. "I understand that better than you probably do! If there is one thing I completely understand, then it is the death of and Exorcist!" He smashed a fist down on the desk behind him, and raised his other hand to cover his face, shoulders shaking.
"No matter how much I don't want to see it... How much I try, and try, I understand that exorcists die! But something I also understand is that everyone in this order... EVERY. SINGLE. MEMBER. Would NEVER exchange someone else's life for their own! What do you think we're fighting here?! Demons?! Devils?! We're fighting the Millennium Earl. We're fighting humans who do the very thing you are suggesting and I SHUDDER to think what Allen-kun would do when he realized what we had done bring him back! Exchanging lives?! Exchanging bodies?! He would sooner tear apart his own soul than condone something like that!"
He dropped his hands from his face and leveled the girls with a glare.
"And I will NEVER allow something like that to happen so long as I am supervisor here."
"You realize that by saying this..." Luna turned slightly, as if heading for the door. "You are condemning Allen Walker to death."
Komoui gripped his fists hard enough to draw blood, bowing his head.
"In this line of work... death is never a punishment for the deceased." He mourned. "Only for those left behind."
Luna stopped at this, staring down the supervisor with piercing green eyes. Alteara stared as well, accept her gaze was slightly more warming.
"The test is over then." Luna said suddenly. "Alteara."
Lavi watched as Luna held out her hand toward the girl, unsure of what was about to happen. He reached a hand into his own pocket, fingering the cool iron head of his hammer and getting ready to defend if needed. His expectations were not cut short as something similar to a black sheer cloth appeared from Luna's hand and began twining around Alteara. The girl remained calm as her body morphed, growing thin and long, with a dangerous curve at one end. When the black light faded, and everything stopped moving, only Luna stood in the center of the room, a long white scythe clad in silver armor in her hands.
"W-what just..." Lenalee muttered in the back, hesitating for a moment. Lavi was quicker, jumping in front of the science head with his hammer extended.
"Don't think this will be easy!" He shouted, enlarging the head and swinging toward the girl in front of him. There was a strong clang of metal as the hammer's staff was blocked by the staff of the scythe. Lavi pushed forward, but Luna remained un-moving, and in-fact had yet to take her eyes off of the science head. With a fierce swing, Lavi's hammer was jerked from his hands and thrown into a nearby shelf. The boy baulked for a moment, but kept up his position in front of Komoui.
"I suggest you move." Luna demanded.
"Don't think I'll go easy one you just cuz you're pretty." Lavi growled back.
And for a moment, he was surprised to see red dust over the girls cheeks and a look of incredulity pass over her features.
Never one to miss a chance, Lavi rushed forward for a strike. His opening passed too quickly though, and the girl recovered enough to force the head of the scythe into his chest, just under his ribcage.
He gasped painfully, air rushing out of his lungs much to quickly, and he fell to the floor in a heap, clutching his chest in pain and desperately trying to replace the air he lost.
Luna watched him fall, and stepped over his form, approaching Komoui with ease.
"Wait!" Lenalee spoke up from behind. "Must you-"
"NO." Komoui snapped, holding out a hand to keep his sister behind him. "Stay out of this Lenalee."
The girl flinched back, un-used to the cold tone in her brothers voice.
Luna stalked forward, and then placed the curved blade around the back of his neck, trapping him in the glittering arc.
"Komoui-Lee." She said. "Are you ready to face your death?"
"If it is for my family..." He spoke with a sad smile. "Then I will accept any fate I am given."
And in a blinding flash of light, Komoui found himself, no longer encircled by the menacing white blade, but by a pair of arms wrapping around his shoulders.
"Yes!" Alteara cheered, hugging the man and jumping slightly. "He said the right answer! That mean's I win!"
The red head, who had lowered her now empty hands, had a look of mock pout on her face.
"And here I thought I was going to win this one." She sighed, shrugging her shoulders.
"Wait..." Lenalee trailed off, unsure of what, exactly, was happening. "What..."
Lavi coughed as he rose from the floor, a hand pressing against his chest. He glared at the two girls. "What do you mean 'I won?'." He said to the blonde.
"We made a bet." Luna answered after the blonde shied away from his heated gaze. "If Komoui Lee could correctly answer our question, then he would pass our test. If he failed, then we would judge him unworthy and remove him from his post. But he answered correctly." She smiled at Komoui, who was still standing in the same place with a confused look on his face.
"But..." He muttered. "I thought... I choose... Allen-kun would..."
"Yes." Alteara supplied. "With the answer you chose, Walker-san would eventually die. But I believe he would be much happier with that result than with either of the two options we gave you."
"As members of the original order, we have seen many supervisors come and go." Luna added. "We have watched the interactions between supervisor and exorcist, and we have seen how those interactions help or hurt the order, and over time we have discovered just what it is that makes a supervisor successful at his job."
"And that is...?" Komoui asked weakly.
"Love." Alteara answered. "A supervisor must see his exorcists as his own family. That is the only way that we will truly know that he will strive to keep them safe. If he seems them as anything less than his own flesh and blood, then his vigilance may slip, and even small slips can cause unnecessary casualties." The blonde trailed off, eyes slipping over to the unconscious samurai on the sofa. Komoui followed her gaze, and his eyes softened.
"So, this means..." Lavi finally managed to drop his hand from his still aching ribs. "Komoui-san is going to stay as the active supervisor?" He dared to chance a grin.
"Of course." Luna answered, turning toward the large doors. "But we'll still be watching. Just because he feels this way now isn't any reason to become slack in our duties." She nodded to those in the room before excusing herself.
Lavi turned to the blonde who was watching her friend retreat.
"Is she always like that?" he whined. "I don't think I'll be breathing alright for a while..."
"Oh!" the blonde blushed suddenly. "Sorry about that! Are you okay...?"
"Fine, fine." Lavi waved the concerns away. "She was just a little rough, but nothing old lavi-kins couldn't handle." he patted his chest as if to prove a point, but couldn't contain a wince at the action.
"Nii-san this is great!" Lenalee cried, jumping over to her brother and grabbing him in a hug that he happily returned.
"Lenaleeeeeee~" He cried, snot dribbling down his face. "your nii-san was so scaaaared!!"
"Oh Nii-san..." She sighed, patting his head as he shoved his face into her stomach.
"What the heck is everyone shouting about..." A gruff voice grumbled.
"Ah, Kanda-kun!" Komoui called, prying himself off of his precious sister.
The dark haired boy had drawn an arm up over his face, hiding his eyes from the bright light of the room.
"Kanda!" Lenalee called, rushing over to the boys side and placing a gentle hand on his resting arm.
"Not so loud..." He grumbled. What they could see of his face, from underneath his arm, was scrunched in pain. "My head is killing me..."
"Kanda-kun." Komoui said, much more softly. "Are you alright? You... er... passed out."
"Feels like it. What the heck happened?" Kanda grumbled back. Lenalee couldn't help but give a little grin at Kanda's usual grumpy behavior.
"You were having a nightmare." Lavi answered from the side.
Kanda froze at the sound of his voice, and lenalee could feel him tensing beneath her hand.
"Kanda...?" She called.
"Mumph." The boy lifted his other arm to his face, hiding himself completely. Lenalee giggled a little at the behavior, but Komoui and Lavi shared a curious glance between them. It wasn't usual for Kanda to hide himself away. Usually he was pretty frank with his feelings; being annoyed, angry, or just plain indifferent. Komoui shrugged, but Lavi turned back with narrowed eyes, scrutinizing his friend. As if Kanda could feel the eyes on him, he rolled himself over, turning his back to the group.
"mm'tired." He growled into the back of the couch.
"Are you sure you're feeling okay?" Komoui asked again. He was getting a little anxious with the samurais strange behavior.
"Ah, well.. I'm gonna go... eat lunch." Lavi finished lamely. The red head put his hands behind his head, leaning on one hip before he addressed the others. "I've had way too much excitement today! So... See you guys later?" He gave a wobbly grin before heading toward the door. Without so much as a backward glance, Lavi quickly left.
Komoui practically winced when the door closed. That had been awkward. But since Kanda seemed so uncomfortable around the red head....
"Kanda?" Lenalee asked, once again placing an hand on the samurai's bicep.
"I'm sure Kanda-san will be back in good spirits once he gets a little rest." Alteara added. The Lee siblings practically jumped, almost forgetting the blonde was in the room. She had been silent during the whole ordeal.
As if the suggestion had been an order, Kanda suddenly sat up, maneuvering out of his awkward position, and standing from the red couch.
"I'm going to go to my room." Kanda said, turning from the rest in the room.
"Ah, kanda-kun... You should technically still be in the infirmary!" Komoui called out. He was answered by the gentle 'clack' of the office doors closing.
"Why is it that no one is listening to me today..." Komoui sighed.
"You say something Nii-san?" Lenalee asked with a mischievous grin. Komoui grinned back, nudging his sister with his elbow.
"Komoui-san." Alteara broke in. "Luna is waiting for us."
"What?" Komoui turned around, staring at the blonde with confused eyes.
"We want to go over the actual ritual that will occur to return Walker-san to health." She smiled, gesturing for the man to begin walking. "She is waiting for us with Walker-san."
"You... you're going to see Allen-kun?" Lenalee timidly asked.
"Lenalee..." Komoui sighed. "I've already told you, he wouldn't want you to see-"
"PLEASE Nii-san!" Lenalee cried, clinging onto the man. "You wouldn't let me see him, but... I just... I need to see-"
"You really can't." Alteara said. "It wouldn't be good for you, or for Allen-kun. Please... Just be patient. For his sake."
Lenalee look severely put-out, but nodded none the less, looking away and discretely wiping the beginnings of tears from her eyes.
"Komoui-san?" Alteara gestured toward the door again, and the science head nodded, before heading out the doors.
***
He was starting to lose it.
Kanda stumbled into his room, pushing the door hard enough that it bounced back and almost closed. He wobbled over to his bed, tripping over his own feet and twisting to land on the cold stone floor, the cold metal frame of his bed biting into his back. That would leave a bruise later.
That's gotta hurt yuu-chan...
"Shut up." Kanda growled into his empty room. He turned his head toward the window, eyes lazily turning to trace the cracks in the glass.
So this is what your room looks like...?"
He kept his eyes trained on the cracks, looking for features in their intricate design.
And what do we have here?
Kanda's eyes snapped to the side. Lavi was leaning over the table where the hourglass should have been. Accept the delicate glass was up in the infirmary. Though that didn't stop the shimmery almost-transparent Lavi from picking up a shimmery almost-transparent hourglass.
The worst part was that it made him almost as nervous as if it had been real.
"Put it back." bubbled out of his mouth before he could help himself. It was as if he wasn't even in his body anymore.
oh? Is this important to you?
A grin split across lavi's face, white teeth shining in the light.
"You're not here." Kanda growled. It echoed in the empty room.
i'm not?
"No."
The sound of breaking glass made him jump into alertness. He quickly glanced around his room, but nothing was broken. Nothing was even out of place. Actually, nothing was even there.
"I'm not crazy." He said, more to himself than the empty room.
Of course not Yuu-chan.
***
Lavi shivered, wrapping his arms more tightly around his torso. The red sweater he was wearing bunched around his hands.
He glanced left and right, looking down the hallway he was currently in.
"So this is..." He looked at the doors around him, a frown tugging at his face. He walked a few paces, dark boots thudding on the stone, before he faltered to a stop and turned.
"I was..."
He walked a few steps in the opposite direction before stopping almost exactly where he started. He shivered again, unable to shake the chills wracking his body.
And they were only getting worse because he couldn't remember.
"I... was talking to yuu-chan... and komoui... in his office? and then..."
He trailed off again, pacing once more.
'This isn't good' He thought, running a hand through his unruly red hair. He sucked in a deep breath, blowing it out in a stream. It felt like his body just couldn't get warm enough.
"I'm a bookman." He called into the empty hallway. "I can't forget... I CAN'T"
He grabbed at his hair again, and was surprised to feel it give way. He stalled, freezing in place, before slowly dropping a hand down into his line of vision. A clump of red strands was tangled in his fingers, sizable enough to shake him to the core. He wasn't sure when he started it, but the spots edging in on his vision told him that he was breathing much too fast, hyperventilating even, but he just felt like he couldn't get enough air.
And before his eyes, the hair in his hands seemed to melt, sagging downward until it liquidized, and falling to the floor in crimson red droplets. A strong scent of copper hit his face, and he recognized it almost instantly.
Blood
"What... What is this!?" He cried, pulling his hand away from himself as if the offending limb was burning him.
"Bookman?"
The red head froze, the cool voice pulling him from his panic for just a moment. He turned, hiding his hand behind him and trying to school his face into a more neutral expression. In front of him, another red head approached. She tilted her head at the man in front of her, red hair dropping in a curtain onto one shoulder.
"Uh... Luna... What brings you... here." He finished lamely, gesturing at the corridor that he still couldn't identify.
"I could ask you that question." Luna replied, staring down the bookman. "You realize this hallway is restricted?"
Lavi just managed to keep the look of surprise from his face, before narrowing his eyes at the girl.
"If it's restricted, then why are you here." He growled back. "Just because you have a high rank-"
"It's restricted because I restricted it." The girl shot back, stopping Lavi in his tracks.
Lavi's face dropped back into a neutral calm as he tried to hide his surprise again.
"Oh." He shrugged. "Well, I was just wondering what, exactly, you were hiding here."
The red head looked him over, green eyes boring into his form. Lavi tried his hardest to keep his cool under the gaze. Had she seen the blood on his hand? How long had she been around...?
"Allen-kun is here."
Lavi jumped, finally losing the battle with his face and giving the girl and incredulous look.
"I've locked the boy away here until we can attend to him." She continued. "And I expressly marked the hallway with 'Do Not Enter' signs. Which, as I reconsider them, I probably should not have expected anyone to heed, knowing this lot."
Lavi gave a little sheepish grin and scratched the back of his head.
"What's that on your hand?"
He froze. "Uh... which hand?"
"The one you're hiding behind your back." Luna raised an eyebrow, and tried to circle around the bookman, who turned in time to keep his front to her.
"What do you mean hiding?!" He laughed nervously. "Why would I hide my hand, it's not like there's anything wrong with it..."
"Oh?"
If lavi didn't know better, he would have said the girl had gained a mischievous grin. She reached out and grabbed his arm, and as if he had lost control of his body, it flew out in front of him.
"Oh." She blinked. "It's just a bit of ink."
Lavi, who had clamped his eyes shut, blinked them open and glanced at his hands. As she had said, there was just a bit of ink smudged on his palm. No red hair. No blood.
She released him and watched intently as he blinked at his hand, as if unsure it was even really there.
"You should leave now." She broke the silence.
"...oh." Lavi blinked again, before shaking his head and turning down the hall. "Yeah, right... sorry for intruding." He reached out to shake her hand, but the girl just looked at it with a raised brow, before turning away and walking down into the shadows.
"Geeze." Lavi sighed. He reached up to run another hand through his hair, but froze, before snapping it to his side.
"Maybe... I should go lay down or something. I must just be tired... yeah..." He sighed before starting down the hallway, still wracking his brain on how he had ended up somewhere without remembering how he had gotten there.
Author: And so ends another installment of... How Creepy can the Author Make the Characters...
Allen: Author-chan, I'm really starting to think that you have a thing for abusing your characters!
Author: It's not abuse! It's just... uh... plot... development? Or something?
Kanda: Hahahaha, ha. Plot. Good one. Not.
Lavi: Are you dissing my honey bunny!?
Kanda: Of course not. I would never do something so mean.
Lenalee: Oh lord.
Kanda: at least not to someone who had half a brain. cell.
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