Disclaimer: I don't own D Gray Man. I do not make money from writing this. Please don't sue. I'm quite broke.
Warning: Unbeta'ed. Possibly some OOCness. Clumsy POV shifts. Also, it is my dream to go to Japan but that remains to be just a dream for the time being. The things I wrote here are based purely on anime and manga, and is not very accurate, I assume.
Kuro-chan Chapter 1(?): Happy Train Ride
Japan is weird.
It was the thought that kept running in Lavi's head since two weeks ago. It wasn't a result of some hasty generalization, he assured himself as he inwardly grinned when he passed by a news stand which he learned did not only sell newspapers, but more importantly the colourful and rather sensual-looking (from time to time) mangas. He was afterall, a well-travelled, well-educated, and well-open minded young man.
That being said, he had studied the history and culture of this rich Asian country. He knew the language, read about the form of government, and immersed in dozens of articles published globally about Japan. When he was back in Europe, he had already heard and read a lot of things about it and was very excited when his guardian said he will be spending his high school years in the land of the rising sun. Oh the sushi. Oh the kimonos. Oh the chopsticks. Oh the temples. Oh the small, chinky-eyed people who are very hard working and reserved but used to commit seppuku when shamed. And the cherry blossoms!
Again, Lavi was not a racist or any variation of it. He enjoyed studying people and having learned about different kinds of them, plus having a weird sense of humor, he could not help but develop a caricature view of things. It was one of his good points, though the old panda may not agree as he tended to think his ward was too happy for his own good. Lavi liked to call it being naturally gifted with optimism, something that was hard to come by these trying times.
Little did he know that optimism and natural curiosity was not enough to wholly understand and be in harmony with the world. Amidst the history, philosophy, sciences, mathematics, and language lessons he had been having, Lavi failed to lend an ear to the fast-growing but equally just as important world of pop culture. Specifically, the otaku culture whose center was at the country he might be spending at least three years of his life.
Now, Lavi was not completely clueless. He enjoyed watching Dragon Ball Z, played Final Fantasy, and streamed Bleach from time to time. He even read Takeshi Ohbata's Deathnote Manga way before it got big with the anime and live action movies. But just like any culture, he found out that otaku culture had juicy nooks and crannies that were waiting to be explored. Exploring he did. What he discovered turned out to be very interesting.
Lavi sighed loudly, pausing his train of thought and feet. He was almost at the train station and his watch said that he had quite a few minutes to spare. With a small smile playing on his lips he turned to a familiar alley. It was a narrow path, not big enough for a vehicle but perfectly passable by bikes. Lavi walked the few meters before reaching the small shop he had been frequenting lately.
"Irrashaimasen," the old lady automatically greeted when he came in after the bells rang. He bowed his head politely and made his way to the cramped shelves of mangas and anime goods.
Like most (or all, really) of the things he did, he had a goal to accomplish in coming here. He had planned it well last night and made sure he got up early this morning so there would be less people, all for discovering new things. A few steps and a quick glance and Lavi immediately located what he was looking for. He grabbed the book-like volume, paid for it in the counter, and then he was walking out with a BL manga in the deepest pit of his bag.
When he got on the train, his smile got wider at the almost empty compartment save for a few Japanese businessmen and a very kawaii one-chan wearing a cute maid outfit and long purple hair, no doubt on her way to a maid cafe. Lavi flashed her a sparkly smile before taking a seat at the far end, mentally noting to plan a visit to such an establishment soon. He ripped the brown bag and plastic cover of his new purchase and started reading. After a few pages, he sighed but kept going.
"Japan sure is weird," he mumbled in english.
The lace of the new dress was terribly itchy and the length was very much reduced that he could feel the breeze right up his thighs and in his tight boxers. He pulled at the hems of the accursed skirt again, hoping to add a little more length to it and pulled down the newsboy cap he had been wearing over the long, light purple wig on his head.
One of the filthy bastards in suits was shooting him looks since they boarded the train and it made him feel a lot more uneasy and exposed than the stupid dress ought to when he had the cart all to himself. He moved closer to the door, not missing the craning fat neck that followed him that he suddenly wanted to break.
How could he forget that today was the first fucking day of school? He swore, it was that stupid Chinese man's fault. Him and that spoiled brat princess sister of his who thought it was a good idea to degrade a man like this. Actually, he took it back, she wasn't all that bad. He had been broke since forever and he needed the money badly. The only thing he could blame for all this was her idiot brother and his own damn fate for being fucked up and utterly retarded.
As the train slowed as it approached the next station, he prayed that the bastard would get off or that nobody he knew or might recognize him would get on. No such luck. Not only did the perverted old man stayed put and was now winking at him, but a guy with red hair wearing the uniform of his school boarded happily. He tried to make himself look as insignificant as possible, or as insignificant as a man wearing a wig and a dress could be, but that also failed. The guy smiled toothily at him before taking a seat at the far end.
"Tch," he muttered out loud, feeling pissed and stupid.
He wanted to get as much distance as possible between him and the geezer but that would mean he'd risk exposing himself to his schoolmate. Dignity and pride, he told himself but he quickly made his way to the opposite seat of the redhead when the old man made to move closer to him. Clutching the hem of his skirt and the tip of his hat down like his life depended on it, he sat dirctly in front of the boy who was now reading manga.
He wiped his sweat, careful not smudge any of the makeup and saw that the geezer had now taken his former seat. Try again and I will end you, low life.
"Japan sure is weird."
He looked up to find the other boy concentrating on his manga like a kid watching cartoons. He was going to dismiss him but his eye couldn't help but catch the front cover of the reading material the other had chosen.
"Fuck," he muttered lowly. His luck was extremely bad.
Lavi's eyes were wide. He could not believe the turn of events that had unfolded in this cute uke's life. How... Interesting.
Just like the otaku culture, he was not completely clueless about the things that might happen between two men in a romantic relationship. He knew what went where, basically, but he had no idea other things could happen too. Like what he was reading now.
He shook his head. The androgyny clearly helped the act, he thought. Had the private areas been covered, anyone would think that this was just ordinary sex. He found himself nodding at his analysis of the BL manga that he was slightly taken aback when he turned the page and found he had finished the first chapter already. That was an experience.
He closed the volume and flipped it over to see the back cover. He scanned through the back pages one by one and saw other manga promotion ads, subscription sheets, and some advertisements for sweets and cosmetics. He was about to close the volume when he saw a full-page picture of a girl with long and straight jet-black hair in black sleeveless top and long black shorts, with a red ribbon tied on her arm and wearing short black gloves.
"She's real!" he couldn't help but say out loud.
He could hear choking sounds from someone seated in front of him but he was too engrossed by the image of Tifa Lockhart in the flesh, posing for some magazine. His Kanji reading was still slow but he quickly decoded the characters. It was an ad for an upcoming gaming convention. The date indicated that it was still a few weeks away and that some famous cosplayers will be there. There was also going to be a tournament of sorts.
Lavi continued scanning the page and found the photo credits at the bottom:
Model: Kuro-chan
Photography: Dark Boots Studio blah, blah, blah...
"Kuro-chan," he muttered, still staring at the cosplaying girl.
"Kuro-chan"
He lowered his head even more as the boy, whom he found he disliked more and more with every passing second, mumble the familiar name. He checked his watch and glanced at the window. Just two more stations. Please don't look at me, don't look at me, fucking don't look at me...
"Hi there, cute miss"
Fuck
It was the geezer. How he managed to drag his fat ass all the way to where he sat now, he could only guess, but how he missed the sneaky bastard was undoubtedly due to his excessive stressing over the possibility of being recognized. Damn redhead. But now he had a bigger problem that would surely cost him either his pride or his job.
"Where do you work?" the geezer asked, smiling an ugly smile and putting a slimy hand on his shoulder. "I would love to get some tea after work, you know?"
A vein popped on his temple. "Get your fucking hand off me or I will break your face."
"Ohohoho! What a dirty mouth you have!" the pervert and apparently dumb old man said.
His hands clenched into a fist, rage filling him. He grabbed the hand on his shoulder but before he could reach it, the man was howling in pain with both hands clutching his bloody nose.
"Ooops," the redhead muttered. He was still sitting across the train car but his manga was gone. It was now lying on the floor near the geezer's feet, opened at a particularly sketchy part of the story, dotted by red. "Sorry."
"Why you little—pun," the man managed to say under his nosebleed but he was interrupted by the announcement of their arrival at the next station.
"I am not from here," the redhead announced happily in fluent Japanese, "but I'm quite sure that sign reads police station, does it not good sir?" He was pointing at the big police station sign on the platform.
"You little punk!" the geezer retaliated but did not do anything more. He grudgingly retrieved his briefcase and stepped out of the sliding doors. He gave the foreign kid with red hair one last glare before the doors closed.
"Are you okay?" Lavi asked, walking towards the cute maid. He ended up standing in front of her as more passengers boarded the train. He held on to the pole standing right beside where the girl sat, waiting for a reply.
She just nodded without looking up at him, keeping her head down and lowering her newsboy cap.
"That's great," he said cheerily. "It's true though, I really am not from here and OH!" The girl seemed a bit startled at that. He stooped down to retrieve his bloody BL manga and brushed of the dirt. "Aw, It's ruined!"
Foot marks were all over the open page and the volume as a whole looked odd as it was bent and squeezed in different angles. Lavi sighed and turned to the page of Tifa again. It was miraculously unharmed. He sighed in relief as he placed the manga back in his bag, deciding to re-flatten it with his study table later after school.
"You're outfit looks great by the way. You look really cute," he told the girl who stiffened but remained quiet.
What a nervous maid... Well, she just had been hit on by that old man.
"Not that I'm hitting on you or anything," he quickly added with a laugh. "Just trying to make friends around here. I'm new, as I've told you, so..."
The rest of the ride was spent in silence which disappointed him a little. He would have loved to talk to the girl and ask about the establishment she worked for but that would make him very much like the guy he had flung his BL manga at. So Lavi waited, watching the buildings, people, trees, cars, and streets wheeze outside the train in a blur.
The cool, calm voice of a woman announced that the train had reached his station.
"This is my stop," the redhead told him.
Did this idiot think he cared to know that? Instead of voicing his sentiment, he settled for a slight nod of acknowledgement which apparently was good enough for the other boy. A beeping sound was heard and then the doors were swinging open.
"See you, one-chan! I really hope I run into you again!" the boy told him happily before stepping out onto the platform.
He waited until he could no longer see the red hair before quickly following suit. He bumped a few people on his way out but made it just in time before the doors were swinging close again.
"You look really good."
He turned to see a girl wearing his school's uniform, smiling widely at him. "Tch, watch it, Lenalee. I had one hell of a trip here because of your brother's mistake."
Lenalee just smiled and flicked the purple locks. "He mistook your uniform as the one he needed to bring to the lost and found. I did not check the bag before leaving so... An honest mistake," she told him and started dragging him by the hand to the station's rest rooms. "I have it in my bag so let's go get you changed."
"How the fuck can someone make such a stupid mistake? Why would a lost uniform be in your studio? I can't believe he's really a doctor," he ranted on.
The station was starting to thicken with people so he hurried to the men's room and quickly took a cubicle after she handed him his uniform. The restroom was thankfully empty when he got in. In under two minutes, he had ripped off the wig and hairnet, changed into his uniform, and put on his sneakers. He stuffed the maid costume and wig in Lenalee's bag and fished out a white towel. He started vigorously wiping his makeup off and unlatched the lock of his cubicle.
He was still alone when he turned a faucet on and started washing his face. This was the part he hated the most. The makeup was a pain to put on and it was a bigger pain to get off. A few other commuters had gone in when he was finally walking out of the restroom. He found Lenalee waiting for him just outside and she grabbed her bag.
"Welcome back, Kanda-kun!" she greeted and proceeded to checking her bag. "Oniisan said your photoshoot this morning went really well and he will bring some sample prints when he get to school later," she said while she rummaged through the contents with a frown. She glared at him and gave him a good hit on the head.
"Ow!" Kanda muttered. "The hell?"
"How many times do I have to tell you to take it easy with the wigs?!" she said sternly. "This one in particular is very long and hard to comb and not to mention very expensive!"
"Sorry, I was in a hurry," he said, resisting the urge to roll his eyes while she was still looking.
"Whatever, Kuro-chan," she said and ran ahead of him.
Author's note:
Another random AU. Insomnia's next chapter is still being written so please don't hate me for starting another one. I'm just putting this out here to see if you guys would be interested.
This story was inspired by 'Nonomy.' If you don't know what that means, I suggest you type 'nonomy' on google images and be prepared to be blown away. And keep in mind that he is a 'he.' You're welcome. :)
Anyway, TBC? Please review! Onegaishimasu!