I really need to stop having many ideas on the weekends. It gets me into trouble. Hello! Mr. Ree (and Mr. Meenor in the background) here, and welcome to 'Luna Moth'! This is a Lenalee-based fanfic, mostly because I decided, 'Hey, what the hell, let's give it a shot!', it is AU, might contain romance, please give it a chance, and it may consist awesomeness of epic proportions (doubtful). So! Let us commence forthwith with 'Luna Moth'!
Disclaimer: D. Gray-Man is property of Katsura Hoshino and Funimation. This series is a parody and nothing more, so please support the official release. Got it? Damn well better.
~O~
1. Prologue
I can't remember what I was doing. Her fingers twitched lightly by her side, staring up at the rain clouds and smog intertwining from excess gas emissions, shone by the lights of a nearby car lot. She inhaled a little, tasting the ozone in her throat, before coughing once again. This time, she felt blood clogging in her throat, along with a deeper pain in her chest. One of her ribs probably broke. Oh right, I remember now. I was dying. That's what I was doing.
The alleyway she wound up in was cleaner than most. She could make out a figure sleeping in the corner with a bottle by his side, hiccupping once or twice. A yellow recycling bin that vaguely reminded her of the cover of her Trigonometry book was filled to the brim of glass and plastic bottles, a ginger ale bottle slowly slipping off the top and towards the ground. She would kill for a taste of a liquid, any liquid, to distract her from the blood building in her throat and lungs. She never imagined being in a position like this before, facing Death with a less-than-stellar mood, but it did, at the very least, kill the monotonous lifestyle she previously lived.
She chuckled a little before glancing over to her right, seeing a motorcycle totaled. The back wheel spun slightly as a small breeze blew through the small enclosure. She thought she would make it to her destination, no problem, but she was so wrong. Riding a motorcycle was nothing like riding a bicycle, and she learned that the hard way.
Her cell phone in her jeans pocket vibrated twice, indicating she got one new text message, but her hands refused to move from her sides. She was waiting patiently, waiting for either a bright light or something darker to consume her, because no one was coming to her rescue now. She was the one going to do the rescuing— getting her brother some emergency coffee because of an unexpected late-night shift —but oh, how the tables turned. Next time, she would listen to her head and take the bicycle.
Next time. She nearly laughed, but her chest hurt too much. Her consciousness was assuming that she would live from this. It was late at night, no one was around except for the sleeping homeless person, and she still believed that she would make it out alive. She was assuming that she would wake up early tomorrow morning, go to school, present her speech for Advanced Placement Literature and Composition, take that Honors Biology test, and even put up with her teacher while taking down notes for Political Science.
The phone vibrated again, and she weakly forced herself to at least dig it out of her pocket, flipping the device open to read the faint message: "Thank u Lenalee -heart-".
Komui… She began to cry, even though she told herself not to cry for the past ten minutes. Death loved the crying ones; she knew that well from every story and poem she ever read. Death took every crying one, and if she stood a chance, she couldn't cry. She let go of her cell phone as it started to rain, pattering against the parapets, plastic bottles and herself. The sky was crying with her, or at least it felt good to think it was.
~O~
She didn't remember losing consciousness, but when her eyes opened, she smelled antibiotics and latex gloves. Her body was numb. She couldn't move her hands too well, and breathing was a chore. Sitting beside the bed was her older brother, sleeping with a magazine by his side. She tried to put the pieces together: The phone call from him, the making of coffee, the pouring of said-coffee into a travel mug… then nothing. She slowly blinked, trying to get the blurs out of the way to get a better view of the room.
"Lenalee?" Komui jolted up and grasped her hand, tears welling up as his expression turned to joy and sadness. "Oh, God, Lenalee, you're awake! I was so worried!"
"…what… happened…"
"Don't talk," he said, scooting the chair closer. He stroked some of the hair away from her face, letting her see a little better. "I don't know much, but some homeless person called the police when they found you. The doctor said you nearly suffered a fatal crash. A few minutes later and you would have…" He trailed off, gazing at the floor. "I'm so sorry," he finally added. "If I never called you, you never would have got into that accident."
"…my choice," she whispered. She coughed a little. "…water…"
"Ah! I'll get that for you right away." He rose from his seat and left the room in a hurried manner, leaving Lenalee to her own thoughts. She wondered vaguely if anything aside from her ribs were broken. She couldn't really feel her fingers. Maybe something shattered, too. How exciting would that be?
It didn't take him long before he returned with a bottle and a plastic cup in his hands. She noticed how his hair looked more curly than normal and that his glasses were missing. His shirt was also inside out. "Here you go," he said, pouring the liquid in the cup before pressing it against her lips. "Drink slow."
She gratefully drank some before stopping. "…thanks."
"You're welcome." He sat back down before taking her hand again, staring at the floor a moment longer before opening his mouth again. "You have several broken ribs and your arms suffered some damage. Luckily, your legs only got bruises. The way you were thrown off the motorcycle and hit the building wall at sixty miles-per-hour caused heavy damage to your spine, though. It may take months before you can leave."
"…graduate… next year?"
"I'm afraid so." He looked at her sadly. "I'm sorry. You worked so hard, and now you might have to stay behind a year. I have to ask, though. Why did you ride the motorcycle in the first place? You know you don't have your license for it yet…"
She didn't respond. Her reasoning was against her character, and Komui wouldn't believe her in the first place. Her brain, though the thought processes slowed down, tried to think of a lie. "…wasn't thinking… late… wasn't sure if cabs were available…"
He shook his head and sighed. "Well, we might just scrap it, then, but I know how much work you put in for it. I asked my co-worker, Reever, to help me repair it. You totaled it pretty good." He patted his sister affectionately on the forehead. "Don't worry about anything else, alright? Focus on getting better."
She nodded a little before sighing, letting her eyelids droop. "…'kay…"
Komui, she heard her own thoughts say, how can I get better when all I can do is study?
~O~
For the several months, she resided in the hospital. She missed her graduation and got a phone call from the principal, saying that she exceeded the amount of days allowed to miss and that she would have to stay back a year. She didn't particularly mind. Instead of graduating, she got the longest vacation she had for about three years and more time to look at colleges. That is, if she even wanted to look at colleges.
The afternoon she came home was nice. Komui gave her a big hug as always while Johnny and Reever greeted her. They told her the bike wasn't quite done yet and they had to buy a new one for its engine. The other one apparently was busted beyond repair. She told them that it was fine. They all ate, and she thought she smiled just enough to get by.
"…We'll see you later, okay, Lenalee?" Reever waved as he stepped onto the front porch, heading towards his car. Johnny already left because their boss called him in. "Make sure you don't crash again any time soon."
"I won't!" She waved back at him. "Drive home safe, Reever!"
Komui came up from behind her and hugged her. "Lenaleeee," he whined, "I just got called in, so I'm gonna go to work. You stay home, alright? I don't want you to push yourself just after you got out of the hospital. Tell you what, when I come home, I'll make sure to bring some chocolate cake. Deal?"
"Deal!" She smiled and hugged her brother back. "I'll be looking forward to it!"
He released her from his grip before walking down the front steps of their porch, waving after he got himself settled in the car. She waved back, watching the SUV drive away down the dirt road. The summer sun began setting behind the rolling hills, the neighbor's horses going back inside after a long day of riding. The long grass of her brother's front lawn swayed with the breeze, wild flowers dancing with its rhythm.
She turned back into the house, entering the living room cluttered with magazines and post-it notes. Her brother always kept them around in an unorganized way until it was recycling day. She sighed lightly before going upstairs and down to the end of the hall to her room. It was the same since the last time she was there. The desk was in the left corner, covered with drafts of important papers and deadlines of applications. Her bed was against the wall painted blue (she only painted the one blue and the rest of them yellow), right beside the window where the sunrise never failed to wake her up.
She pushed aside the covers of the bed, feeling around before her hand touched one of her most prized possessions. She slid out the magazine, staring at its cover boasting a Harley Davidson motorbike that was custom-made. She gazed at it a little longer before flipping the pages over to the news section. Since it was about five months ago, she missed it, but it was the annual 'Biker's Meeting'. She desired to go there and see what kind of things riders did, how they rode, and what tricks she could learn.
Sighing, she pushed the magazine back under her bed. She knew dreams rarely came true, and the first time she really tried to ride, she nearly killed herself. She wasn't even certain that she would even approach a motorcycle again. It was the only thing she wanted to do, and now, she wasn't even sure she could do it anymore.
I lost my confidence. She frowned. Maybe I should just stick with the schoolwork, after all. I don't even know what I could do with a motorcycle. I guess I'll just become the neurologist I claimed to become. That's all I'm good for, isn't it? To be smart. I don't know if that even makes me happy. Next year, I'll apply to Harvard, I guess. They have a great researching place… I have the right GPA and extra-curricular activities, and I'm ranked the top 5% in my class…
She bit her lower lip hard enough to make it bleed, her eyes brimming with tears. I have to make my brother happy. My dreams are rendered useless now. I should think about what's best for my future instead of my pleasure.
She crawled on top of the bed before lying down and staring at the ceiling. Her imagination generally took her to the open desert, or some winding road, with the fastest bike on the face of the Earth. This time, however, her imagination took her to a doctor's room, filled with dead or dying patients, one of which being her own brother. He would smile at her out of old age and say,
"You did a good job, Lenalee."
I know I did. However, is that all I want to accomplish? 'Good'? She rolled over to her side, trying not to cry again. She was so sick of crying, sick to her stomach. She couldn't get sick, though. Her brother was going to bring home perfectly good chocolate cake, and throwing up meant not getting any chocolaty sweetness. I'm so bored. I want something exciting to happen to me. I want to become a revolutionary person, living on the edge, instead of living a life of band-aids and sick people.
She closed the curtains and sighed.
Two weeks until school tomorrow. Might as well hit the books now.
~O~
I realize it is short. It's a prologue. Next chapter will at least be twice this size, I promise, and a lot better. Until then… So! Did you like it? Hate it? Love it? Destroy it? At least a decent plot? It will be better. Hit me with a review, por favor! See you in Chapter 1 (whoa, that's odd. XD)! —Mr. Ree
