Kanda Yuu and other -Man characters appearing in this story belong to Katsura Hoshino-sensei. Other characters have been created by me or are based on really existing people. The DGM characters are mostly OOC though and their names as well as places have been used by me to create another story freely based on DGM.
If you don't like it, don't read it. It's just that you have been warned.
Prologue
The darkness wraps around him like a soft and warm blanket. He breathes slowly and doesn't dare to make a single movement, in order not to wake up the pain. Only a few hours ago the pain pulled an gnawed on his body like a pack of dogs. His now short hair is still damp with sweat and traces of salty tears can be seen on his pale cheeks. After some time, that could be either a few seconds or a year, somebody quietly opens the door to the room he lies in. From the sound it makes, one can say it must be heavy and old. It squeaks pleasantly. Some barely audible steps of bare feet can be heard on the wooden floor. A warm, bony and strong hand touches his slender arms in a delicate, reassuring way.
- Yuu? – it's the voice of an old man. – Yuu, are you awake?
Kanda Yuu, the former exorcist of the mighty Black Order slowly nods and turns around to look into the old man's eyes. Doing so he mentally prepares himself for a shot of unbearable pain but nothing like this happens.
The man smiles to him in the darkness, which is not so thick any more, thanks to the slightly opened door and a stripe of yellow-reddish light seeping through the crack and placing itself on the floor.
- Sit up, drink this. – Kanda notices the man holds a brown mug in his hand.
He slowly takes the dish and drinks the cool liquid. It helps him breathe normally again. He feels blood rush through his veins and the fear of pain vanishes. He is home now. Nothing bad can ever happen to him again. No one is going to do him any harm. He is home.
Part I - Here and now.
Sweat covers his bare torso. He is wearing only a pair of black training trousers. Barefoot, he stomps the dusty ground behind the shrine. It's a late afternoon already. A group of children watches him train with a wooden stick. He smiles to himself. He used to train with a sharp katana once. With Mugen. Now his weapon is a mere wooden stick, not even a bokken. It's not well polished and wry but it can be lethal in his hands. Kanda Yuu already proved it once.
If anybody skilled in martial arts watched his slender and somehow girly posture now, he wouldn't ever thin that boy could be a danger for him. One has to touch Kanda Yuu to be aware of his strength sleeping under his pale skin. At the first sight he looks like a child: small and lost. His uneven and badly cut hair barely covers his neck now, his fringe constantly falls into his big dark blue eyes. The kids who gathered around the training square and are watching him now, admire Kanda as a hero though. All of them come from poor families or are orphans. Most of them are crippled, some suffer from different kinds of mental diseases. He is their brother and hero. He is their hope for a bright day and a pot of steaming rice dish. He takes care of them every day. Feeds them, helps them with everyday's tasks, gives them a smile and a good word when they need it most. None of them realizes they give even more to him. They give him love, something he never had before. He stops now and looks at them, their black haired heads in the last orange beams of the setting sun.
'I'm home' he thinks and his lips repeat this though without him realizing that.
After the training it's the usual time for supper. Kanda loves the daily routine, it makes him feel safe. He brings his stick to the training hall and places it under the wall. Once he goes out, he's immediately surrounded by a swarm of children, following him closely to the kitchens of the Temple. Some of them clutch to his trousers and he knows they won't let go until he forces a bowl of soup into their hands and orders them to eat. He is the last to eat. He thinks of feeding others at first. To be honest he should eat his supper with the other monks in the Temple's dining room. He loves the dining room in fact. He loves the big hall, it's wooden floor covered with colorful long carpets, the sitting cushions. He loves eating breakfast there, listening to the monks discussing quietly. But supper is reserved for his friends. He wants to eat with them. The monks of the Temple accept it and don't feel offended when Kanda doesn't come to eat with them in the evening. They know where he is. At this time of the day, they can find him in the kitchen, among the always hungry kids, if they should need him. He feeds them, then makes their faces and hands clean and in the end he eats his soba, a dozen of pairs of black eyes staring at him when he does.
- Yuu-kun eats so elegantly, ne? – a twelve years old girl makes a statement shaking her head violently. – And never spills soup, like I do.
Kanda smiles at her.
– You wouldn't spill your soup if you tried hard enough, Qiu. – he replies her.
- B-but Qiu tries hard enoooough… - the girl is on the edge of breaking into tears all of a sudden. Kanda puts his bowl aside and grabs her into his arms, wiping her first tears away with his fingers.
- Of course you try hard. – he reassures her – But remember what our Master said. Even if one tries hard, he can always try harder, right?
Qiu now smiles at Kanda showing presenting all her white small teeth.
Kanda knows all the names of his little friends. He knows where they come from and never forgets their stories. He knows who lacks a mother and who's father forced his child away from home, because he couldn't accept the shame of having a 'stupid' son. They love him just for remembering.
Qiu is one of his favorite pupils. Even though she tends to cry a lot, cannot eat her soup without spilling the half of the bowl's content on her blouse and Kanda has to remind her of blowing her nose constantly, he loves the girl. For her most beautiful, genuine smile.
He is also very fond of the seventeen years old Shun. Shun tries to learn sword fighting from Kanda. They don't use real swords for trainings of course. Kanda doesn't even use his usual wooden stick he still happens to call 'Mugen' in his thoughts. He knows he could harm his 'apprentice' (as he refers to Shun and makes him feel proud because of it) because Shun is and always will be too slow to dodge Kanda's hits. They train with light wooden stick, which break immediately when they hit too hard against something or someone or sometimes they just pretend to have swords in their hands. In the end of their 'fight' Kanda usually pretends to be tired or hurt and gives up, awarding the victory to his opponent.
After the supper Kanda wishes his friends a good night and leaves for the mediations in the Temple. It's the best part of the day for him. He sits on his cushions, feels relaxed, closes his eyes and listens to the soft humming of the monks meditating next to him. It's already a late night when they leave to their bedrooms. They'll wake up only some for hours later to start a new day and welcome the rising sun with a prayer. Another peaceful day will begin for them and for Kanda Yuu.
Kanda doesn't have the official status of the Shaolin Monastery monk. He doesn't wear the orange religious habit. His clothes are usually black or grey. He doesn't have to take part in the typical Monastery life but he still does and want to. He has his own tasks though. He takes care of the children living in the village. He feeds and nurses the stray cats and dogs. He trains his own sword fighting skills, completely unknown to the monks. He studies the books in the library, meditates with others, but also helps in the kitchen and takes care of the Temple's gardens. It's his way if saying 'thank you' for giving him a new home and a new life.
He doesn't feel compatible with his innocence any more but he doesn't feel the painful emptiness he used to feel shortly after desynchronizing with it. Now he would rather say they filled him in with love and peace. Compatibility: one hundred percent.
It's four o'clock in the morning and Kanda Yuu wakes up in his room. He can already hear monks going for the morning prayers. He shots out off his bed and makes himself clean and ready within the next ten minutes. He wants to be outside before the sunrise. Watching this daily spectacle became his habit. He stands at the edge of the rock and watches the orange glow light up the shadows of the night. Then he closes his eyes and feels how the shadows in his mind disappear too. He is ready for the next day.