A/N: ok, so my first story period. it's a lavixoc story, and i'm trying to make it gradual, so don't kill me if things seem slow at first! Things like this need cultivating. I noticed there weren't a lot of D.Gray-Man fics here...so my mission is to get another one out there!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own DGM or any of its characters!


He stood at the edge of the cliff, looking off into the distance. The wind blew, his long hair a ribbon, dancing. He narrowed his eyes, taking note of the village several miles away. Unconsciously, he brought his hand to his weapon, gripping its handle tightly. There may be enemy residing there. If he was lucky, his true target would also be there. A stronger gust blew, sweeping his bangs away to reveal blue-gray eyes. A smirk tugged at his lips. He was going to –

"Oi Kanda! Quit looking so dramatic and come over here! We finally found him!"

Kanda turned around slowly, eyeing the young girl who spoke. She was petite, with bright coffee-colored eyes and shoulder-length straight black hair. She brushed her side-swept bangs out of her eyes and put her hands on her hips.

"So, are you coming or not? Mari thinks he may have found the General!" She waved him over to where they were standing.

"What can you hear with your ears, Mari?" the young girl asked.

"The General seems to be drawing several yards away from here." The large boulder of a man stated.

"It's about time," Kanda said irritably.

"Let's go guys!" the girl shouted, pumping her fist in the air.

They walked for several minutes and soon enough, they could spot an elderly man, capturing the landscape before him onto his canvas.

"General!" the girl yelled, waving towards the old man. He turned around surprised and broke into a smile.

"Oh! Long time, no see!"

"General, we must ask you to come with us to headquarters," Kanda said.

"Oh, come on Kanda! Don't be so serious all the time! It's been a while, why don't we spend some time catching up?" We should tell him about Deesha Barry as well, she thought


"I see," General Tiedoll sobbed. "So Deesha is dead. That kid used to always play pranks on me…breaking my glasses with the charity bell…he was such a good kid, too." He wiped his tears with his sleeve.

"The body was shipped to headquarters yesterday," Mari said, his voice deep.

"The charity bell has been taken as well," Kanda added. "General Tiedoll, you must accompany us to headquarters."

"Deesha's hometown was Bodrum right?" Tiedoll sniffled. He sat down in the grass and began to draw.

"Ah, yes," Mari answered.

"Uh…General? Right now, both you and your innocence are being targeted by the enemy. I'd suggest –" the girl started.

"It's just what I can remember, so it may be a little off." He stood up to reveal a beautiful drawing of a seaside town. "Deesha, I'm sorry that it's just a drawing, but sending your hometown to you. May you rest in peace." He lifted a match and began to burn the corner of his drawing. "I cannot return now. We're at war and I must fulfill my duties as a Marshall. I also must find new exorcists."

Typical of the master, the three students thought.

Kanda and Mari bowed to their general. "We will accompany you, General."

The general smiled at his students.

"Um, General?" the girl asked.

"Yes, Mizuki?"

"I have further orders from Komui-san. He didn't exactly think you'd come back either," she rubbed the back of her neck and smiled sheepishly. "As soon as we found you, I was supposed give him a report and go off on another mission. I apologize," she bowed respectfully.

"That's all right Mizuki. It was good seeing you again, even if for just a short while," his kind eyes met her bright ones. "Give Komui-san my regards."

"Will do! See ya then, General, Kanda, Mari. Oh, and stay out of trouble, Kanda," she winked.

"Che," he scoffed.

She waved goodbye and left to report back to her superior.


"Komui-san, I found the General," Mizuki spoke into the phone.

"Ah, good work Mizuki," Komui answered.

"How are…things going at headquarters?" she asked hesitantly.

Komui sighed and ran his fingers through his hair.

"Not so well. There were 148 deaths in all, six of which were exorcists."

Mizuki gasped, bringing her hand to her mouth. There was a pause. She took a breath and continued.

"It's as you thought, Komui-san. The General has decided to continue to find new exorcists. Kanda and Mari are accompanying him as we speak."

"Good. Now, for your next mission, I'd like you to meet up with some of our own exorcists. Your tracking skills will prove helpful in their mission to find Cross."


It was raining heavily upon the town. No ships would be departing today. Which is good for me, it'll make it a lot easier to track down those exorcists, Mizuki thought, putting her hood up. I might as well look for somewhere to say for the night, she looked up towards the unrelenting sky.

"Argh!" Mizuki groaned. After being turned down by 4 places, it seemed as if no one would take her in. Am I really going to have to sleep outside in this crappy weather?

Then she noticed a group of four people huddled together.

"Hey!" she waved and ran over to them. They looked up, surprised. She took a step back and rubbed her chin. Then she began ticking everyone off on her fingers. "A pirate, a vampire, a bean sprout, and a Lenalee. Just like Komui-san said. Hi Lenalee!" She waved happily.

"Mizuki? What are you doing here?" Lenalee asked, confused.

"Your dear brother sent me here to help you out!" Mizuki said cheerfully in spite of the rain.

Just then, a cat came out of the alley next to the street they were standing on, the collar on its bell ringing. Lenalee walked up to it and tried to coax it towards her, but to no avail. The cat ran a bit farther down the street and looked back, meowing at them.

"It looks like it wants to lead us somewhere," Allen said.

"I'd settle for any lodging as long as it'll get us out of this rain. C'mon! Lead the way!" Lavi ran after the cat, and was followed by the rest.

The cat led them to an alley, which led out to another street. However, as soon as they stepped out on the street, the cat disappeared.

"Hey, look!" Lenalee pointed to an inn, which seemed to be the only thing open on that dark street.

The five walked in tentatively.

"This is a strange place to find an inn," Allen noted.

"My thoughts exactly, bean sprout. We definitely need to stay on our toes while we're here," Mizuki said thoughtfully.

"Bean sprout? My name is Allen," he said, slightly ticked off, but offered his hand anyway.

She took his hand and shook it. "Oh, you don't like being called bean sprout? But Kanda told me –"

"Kanda! I'll kill that guy!" Allen said menacingly, shaking his fist.

"Uhh…right. So…pirate dude and vampire-man, what are your names?" Mizuki asked, lifting up her hands and putting down her hood. She shook the rain out of her hair and looked up at the two.

Lavi's face tinted pink. She's so pretty up close, and totally my type! He cheered inwardly, taking in her warm eyes and soft hair.

"Huh? Are you all right?" she cocked her eyebrow.

Oh shoot! Did I say that out loud? He covered his mouth quickly.

"I'm Arystar Krory," he shook her hand. "And this skirt-chaser is Lavi." Krory jerked his thumb over to the red-head.

"Shut up!" he retorted. He turned to Mizuki, composing himself, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm Lavi, future Bookman! Pleased to meet you, my beautiful lady." He grinned from ear to ear.

"You're funny. Future Bookman, huh? That's impressive." Mizuki chuckled and bowed, "I'm Mizuki. Komui-san sent me because I'm a tracker, of sorts. I just finished a mission with Kanda and Mari, and was able to find my master, General Tiedoll."

"My master's extremely elusive," sighed Allen.

"Don't worry Allen," Mizuki patted him on the back, "we'll find him together!"

"By the way, is that your anti-Akuma weapon?" Krory asked, pointing to the stick-like thing on her back, where a katana would normally be.

"Yep! It's called a bō. When I activate it, blades come out of the ends," she pointed.

"So how'd you become an exorcist?" Lavi asked.

"Erm…It's a bit of a long story…probably for another time," she smiled.

"How old are you?" Lavi questioned.

Mizuki laughed. "You're a curious one, aren't you? I'm eighteen," she said proudly.

"Hmm…when's your birthday then?" he pressed.

"December."

"Ha! That means I'm your elder. I'm eighteen too, but my birthday's in August."

"I don't think being older really qualifies you as being my elder. I don't think older means wiser, either, if that's what you were going for," Mizuki said with a grin.

"Hello?" Lenalee pressed the bell repeatedly.

A blond woman wearing dark sunglasses came up to the front desk. "Welcome."

"My goodness…" Allen said softly.

"No doubt about it…" Krory muttered.

"What?" Mizuki asked confused.

"S-STRIKE!" Lavi shouted, hearts in his eyes, and with a 'thumbs up' to boot. "She's totally my type!"

"We knew it" Krory and Allen sighed.

Mizuki sweatdropped. "Does he say this to every girl he sees?"

"Yeah, to every pretty girl he sees. Usually with a 'STRIKE!'. And most of the time, they're older," Allen answered rubbing his temples.

"Oh, well I suppose since he didn't say 'STRIKE' with me, that must mean I'm different," Mizuki said thoughtfully.

"Yeah, I was wondering about that because you're really –" Allen began, but was cut off by the woman.

"May I help you?"

"Um, excuse me, but do you have a room available for tonight?" Lenalee asked hopefully.

The woman set down two keys. "I can only provide you with sparse accommodations since my mother and father are away," she spoke softly.

"Yes!" Lavi cheered, arms in the air. "By the way, can I have your name?"

"My name? Lulubell."

He grasped her hands in his. "Thank you so much!"

"Wow, he's really forward, isn't he?" Mizuki noted.


"Blehh, this looks gross," Mizuki said with disgust, poking at her dish. "What is this? Milk?"

"Is that why you're kinda short? Because you don't drink milk?" Lavi asked innocently.

A roundhouse kick in the face later…

"Even for sparse conditions…this is disappointing," Allen sighed.

"Well, beggars can't be choosers," Mizuki said wisely.

"We practically forced her to take us in. Try not to whine about it." Lenalee said.

"That's right," Lavi said, still rubbing his cheek with one hand. "This nice warm milk will warm our soaked bodies," he took a sip and made a face. He spit it back out at Krory.

"It's cold milk," he said sadly.

"By the way, they say the Bosphorus Channel is where the Noah lived before the great flood," Lenalee pointed out.

Mizuki nearly gagged on her meager meal. "The Noah?" she choked out.

"Yeah. We've already encountered one. Rhode Kamelot," Allen grimaced.

Mizuki frowned and continued to poke at her milk sadly, which began to solidify slightly.

"Something wrong?" Lavi asked, concerned.

"No! Nothing!" she forced a smile. I don't know if I'm ready to relive that yet. She got a sidelong glance from Lavi, showing that he didn't believe her in the slightest.

"When do you think the storm will be over?" Krory pondered.

"Yeah, it really sucks to be waiting here when we're so close to Asia and the Marshall's trail," Lavi added.

"Allen…are you all right?" Mizuki put a hand on his shoulder. He was almost doubled over, clutching his stomach.

"I'm so hungry…" he whined. "If the ship doesn't come tomorrow, I might collapse from hunger!"

Lenalee giggled.

"I'm serious! I'm not joking. I could seriously die of hunger!"

"What's with that sound?" Lenalee sat on her bed, holding her ears.

"Yeah, that's getting annoying," Mizuki tried pulling the covers over head to shut it out.

growl

"That's it! It's definitely coming from next door! I'm going over there to see what's up!" Mizuki yelled, throwing off her blankets. "I'll be back soon, Lenalee. Try and get some sleep."

Mizuki burst through the boys' door and shouted, pointing at them, "What's up with you guys? Lenalee and I are trying to sleep!"

"I know, so am I! And I can't take it anymore!" Lavi held his hands over his ears.

A crash burst through the wall next to Lavi, revealing an Akuma.

"Oh no! Lenalee!" Mizuki ran back to the girls' room quickly. "Lenalee! Akuma!"

Without a word, the two girls ran after the boys, whose fight had led them outside.

There were only two Akuma, and both level ones at that, so they were destroyed rather quickly.

"Aw, man. If I was going to lose sleep to a couple of Akuma, I'd want them to at least put up a fight," Mizuki whined.

Lavi's eyes widened as he looked back at the half-destroyed inn.

"Lulubell!"

Whoops.


Ok, so that's it for now. I'd still like to know what you guys think! Any comments are appreciated...a LOT! So please review or message me! If you guys have suggestions, I'm up for those too!