Title: Mistaken
Rating: T (just in case)
Pairing: Cross x Kanda (I don't actually support the pairing, but writing it was interesting)
Genre: Romance, Humor (?)
It was written as a request/gift for a friend of mine. It was quite a challenge, writing a pairing I'd never even thought of before. I've also never written yaoi/shounen-ai, so this will be interesting...
Disclaimer: I don't own -Man - all characters belong to Katsura Hoshino
One (Cross)
It had been years since Cross Marian last set foot in the Black Order. The place's oppressive rules and regulations and sheer amount of work were bad enough to make any sane person want to stay away.
In structure, it remained the same as he remembered it, with stone set in every surface, almost infinitely high ceilings, and thin glass windows that let in a very limited amount of natural light. From both the inside and outside it appeared to be nothing more than a veritable prison, impenetrable and inescapable. Not too far off, really.
In truth, he had no plans of allowing anyone to see him skulking about the corridors. What he was really interested in was making sure his stupid apprentice had successfully made it to headquarters without getting lost as he so often did on the simplest of routes.
It wasn't that the general felt any particular attachment to the boy, and he'd certainly not been anything like a father figure to him. The fact of the matter was that Cross simply didn't want the kid meandering around the world. All that training had to be used for something or else it would have been a complete waste of time—time he could've been using to seduce women and drink wine.
Cross sighed, lighting a cigarette before leaving it to hang lazily from his mouth. There was no point trying to be too discreet here. After all, since he'd stepped through the doors, he'd not seen one person roaming the halls around him, nor had he heard anything to signal the presence of human life. On one hand, he counted that as one less thing he had to worry about in his search. On the other, it also meant he hadn't found his idiot apprentice yet and the lack of progress annoyed him.
Plucking his cigarette momentarily from his lips, he exhaled a stream of smoke into the air, glancing in all directions. There wasn't much to do aside from walking in the same direction he'd been going. Maybe the kid had gotten here earlier than Cross anticipated and had already been sent on a mission.
He frowned deeply, biting down on the cigarette. If that was the case, he'd come all this way for nothing! Again, time that could have been well spent on gambling or some much more useful activity.
Really, where was everyone? Normally the Order would be alive with people bustling about with their work. The red-haired man turned, glimpsing a sliver of a window a little farther down the hall, receiving his answer immediately.
Night had fallen almost completely over Europe, leaving only faint streaks of fading neon in the navy sky. It was never a complete black, but more of an incredibly deep version of colder colors. When the stars shone in the dark canvas, the sky seemed to envelop whoever stood beneath it, reaching to Earth, invading all space to make sure no one could penetrate it.
Cross blew another trail of smoke into the window. He'd never been quite such a philosophical person, but when the moment struck, he allowed it. If nothing else, it impressed some ladies, if you could call them that, particularly those who didn't fall simply for his handsomeness alone. Unfortunately, there were those rare times he had to work for his women.
He stopped, leaning over the railing, overlooking the lower floors of the Order. Wandering the building aimlessly like this wouldn't do. He had things to take care of that were far more important than this.
Out of the corner of his eye, he glimpsed movement two floors below him. His visible eye widened in surprise, cigarette nearly slipping from between his lips.
A rather tall woman glided swiftly through the corridor, a mane of licorice colored hair tied in a high ponytail trailing behind her. She wore an ankle-length exorcist's coat, probably having recently returned from a mission. Or maybe she was just setting out on one.
But Cross simply couldn't resist the opportunity. Meeting a female exorcist who wasn't off limits for being Chief Komui's sister was a rare occurrence indeed.
Abandoning all plans of avoiding other people, Cross dashed to the nearest staircase, descending the steps by twos and threes as fast as possible without falling on his face. By the time he'd reached the right floor, the woman had disappeared. The only evidence suggesting someone had recently been walking the halls was the door to one of the rooms creaking shut.
Taking a gamble, the general crept over to it, rapping firmly on the thick metal.
"What?" answered a deep, obviously male voice.
Cross said nothing, but simply made a disgusted face before retreating to another part of the building. There was no way he'd go for a man.
The detour seemed to have worked in his favor regardless, as he finally glimpsed a shock of white hair carrying a plate piled high with a mountain of food disappearing around a corner. The gold golem trailing behind the boy spotted Cross, flitting away from him and toward the older man.
"It's been a while, Tim," Cross greeted his former companion. "Good to know my stupid apprentice found his way here without much trouble."
Timcanpy affirmed the statement by fluttering in circles and figure eights beside his master's head. Cross nodded, the shade of a smirk playing across his features, before shooing the golem back to Allen.
He'd found what he'd come for, yet his business didn't seem finished. After just a moment of thought, he recalled what he still had to do. The figure of the woman from earlier materialized in his mind. The odds of coming across a female exorcist who wasn't Komui's younger sister or otherwise averse to his tactics were astronomically low. The rarity of said woman being beautiful, even from a distance, even greater. In short, she must be pursued!
Cross dashed off down the hall in search of her, abandoning all stealth efforts. He'd end up being seen by at least one person who probably wasn't all that skillful with keeping secrets, judging by his considerable experience with women.
"General Cross?"
He cursed under his breath, turning around to face the person addressing him. Komui stood, mug of hot coffee clutched in one hand as always. His face betrayed all manner of surprise, Cross being the very last person he expected to be roaming the halls of the Black Order. The man stepped forward as if needing to examine Cross more closely to make sure it was genuinely the long missing general.
"What do you want, Komui?" Cross growled, unhappy about the sudden distraction from his personally assigned mission.
"What do I want?" he repeated, shock still evident on his sharp features. "You haven't been to headquarters in years! Of course, it's strange to see you here, and without us having to chase you down. I was worried I'd have to send my poor Lenalee and her friends to track you down because you evaded us so easily."
Cross tuned the talkative man out quickly, continuing on his way, even as Komui failed—or refused—to take the hint. Cross guessed he didn't want to lose the general again so quickly, so naturally remaining constantly vigilant until he could find someone else to take over the job was the best solution.
However, the one thing Cross regrettably neglected to notice was the way Komui steered him discreetly in the directions the Chinese man wanted to go. Specifically, to the science department. By the time he did realize his mistake, it was far too late. He stood mere feet from the entrance and a few scientists had already looked up from their tasks, doing double takes at the unlikely person in their presence.
"Hey, everyone!" Komui called in his sing-song voice. "General Cross Marian has returned!"
To Cross' mild disgust, he suddenly became encased in a mass of people, half of whom seemed to forget that he wasn't a fan of them unless they were beautiful, easily seduced women who enjoyed drinking wine almost as much as he did.
His mind remained fixed on the woman he'd been searching for all this time, cursing Komui for bringing him away from his goal. Then, through the teary-eyed people before him—whether they cried out of excitement or fear of him—he caught a glimpse of a flowing cascade of raven hair. Although it was untied this time, Cross still recognized the figure of the woman, who now turned out to be even taller than he expected. Not that he was complaining.
He attempted to shove aside the massive crowd of bodies to follow her, but it seemed as though once he finally got one out of the way, another immediately replaced it. By the time he'd finally removed himself from the throng, she had, unsurprisingly, disappeared.
"Damn it!" he spat, not bothering to conceal his frustration.
"You must be tired," Komui interjected. "Why don't you find a room to sleep in for a while? There are a few free on this floor if you'd like."
Deciding there was little point in going on with his hunt, he resigned himself to doing just that, even as he muttered something about everyone being oblivious to what he said to them. Then again, this was the science department he was dealing with. Most of them probably hadn't slept at all for days. Komui himself, that was just normal behavior for him. Annoying, but not much anyone could do other than learn to ignore the man.
Cross found an empty room after walking half the circle that was the corridor, across from the spot he had just stormed away from. Without knowing it, he had navigated the Order headquarters for hours. It was the middle of the night, he noted, a little surprised. The plate of food he saw Allen carrying earlier must have been more of a midnight snack than dinner, and the science department was no doubt pulling another all-nighter.
Nevertheless, Cross ultimately decided sleeping at this point was acceptable. Despite his willingness to look for the mystery lady, he resigned himself to the single bed placed in the corner of the room, only to find sleep eluded him for the rest of the night.
Review if you're so inclined please? I'm hoping for a simple "It doesn't suck", but I can take some constructive critique. The next chapters have already been written and will be up as soon as I figure out how to successfully work the site! Thanks for reading!