Truthfully I was seriously going to wait till i got into school to put this new story up but seeing as so many people already want to see what happens next I was like what the heck.
For those who're reading this one for the first time, you should know that this is a sequel of one of my previous DGM stories, Not :One: of Us. So you might want to read that first. ;) Just saying.
Before starting I have to give the sum as always.
Summary: It's been three months since Allen's escape and now with Kanda's unexpected return comes an even more unexpected arrival with great unexpected results. Now both Kanda and their unremembered friend, Celia, have returned from the dead. Celia however seems to have no recollection and has only one goal to accomplish. When all goes south and Kanda journeys with Johnny to find Allen, it seems that they don't just have the Akuma and the Noah after them. Madame has sent the Six God Brigaiders after Celia Valentine and will stop at nothing to retrieve the last piece to their mistress' plan. But will they be able to go through Kanda who guards her wanting to keep her away from harms way and losing her again? Then again does this seemingly unharmful little girl need any protection at all?
Not really tells much but anyway.
With no further ado to those who've been waiting for this, here it is.
Chain One: Reunion
Celia Valentine sat oblivious to everything surrounding her. She could see it, hear it, touch it, but regardless of what it was, she had no recollection of what they were. Or who they were for that matter.
So she just sat there looking at her hands as if nothing had happened. As if not a few hours ago she hadn't gotten out of a driblet of his blood.
"Do you remember my name?" Asutsuo came up to her for the umpteenth time. Celia -a name she was being called as, so she figured that must be her own name- thought of the boy before as kind of annoying. He had been there for over two hours trying to get her to say his name. Sure he annoyed him but she also thought he was sort of adorable. She knew what it was but her vocal chords refused to pronounce something other than monosyllable words at the moment. Nonetheless, she attempted to shut the annoying but cute boy.
"Asu..." she mumbled unable to say such complicated name.
"A-su-tsu-o!" the boy that was now after three months in the body of a ten-year-old. His jet black hair was short to his neck and spiked down. His red eyes looked up at the seventeen-year-old girl who sat before him. Her dark chocolate bangs veiling her bright amethyst orbs from his. "Come on, can't you say it? Celia nee-chan."
"Asu-" she blushed when she couldn't get the whole word out. This was seriously starting to frustrate her. Stupid voice box. She took another breath and tried again, "Asut-" Asutsuo simply sighed and tried again.
"It's amazing isn't it?" Kanda turned to the voice that appeared beside him in the doorway unnoticed. The girl with the same face as Celia's, Alice, simply grinned. Her red orbs staring inside at the two and her long platinum hair up in a tail away from her face. And of course they had the same face, they were twins. Sad twins that after being torn apart by fate found a way to each other only to be seperated again this time by death. She stood against the doorway with her arms crossed before her. "She's here and nobody remembers her but you."
"You don't say-"
"Yep," she said with a grin tapping her temple twice with her forefinger. "I don't remember crap about the girl there. You say she's my older twin sister but truthfully I can't remember her. Sure, I'll give it to you that she looks quite alike me just in a darker tone. She could pass as my sister."
"That's because she is your sister," Kanda called getting tired of her sardonic tone.
"Is you say so," Alice said with a shrug of her shoulders. "However crazy your story, I find that I might believe it."
"After being such a believer towards what I say?" he called with a snort. "How come?"
"Asutsuo said something a few hours before when we visited Zhu," Alice said with a serious expression on her face. "He said that someone kept talking to him in his dreams and that when he asked about them that the person would only say that their name started with a 'C'. Needless to say, when he told me that the name 'Celia' sprouted in my mind. I didn't know who it was and didn't get why that name came to mind. The moment you came with her through those doors, though, was frankly the happiest I've ever felt since I woke up. Weirdest thing is that I have no idea why I'm happy of meeting someone I don't know."
"That's because you do know her," Kanda insisted getting majorly tired of repeating himself. "She's your older sister, Celia. You love her in a disgustingly close manner and always used to scowl at me because of how she would run to me when troubled."
"That I would believe if it weren't for the fact that you naturally tick me off, no matter who or what the situation is," Alice said turning on her heels to walk into the room. "Asutsuo, we have to go. General Kloud said that you're going out with Timothy and her for a mission today."
"Yes!" Asutsuo called to her mother. He turned to Celia before leaving, "We'll work on that when I get back, okay?"
"O...Okay," she answered sheepishly. He smiled and left running followed by his mother. After seeing him leave she sighed in relief. He wouldn't bother her until he came back. Then again she didn't know when that would be.
Kanda came in making her lose her train of thought. "You feel any better?" She nodded once but that was it. "What about your memory? Remember me or any of the people?" She shook her head and shrugged her shoulders slightly. It bothered him how she spoke to all the others but barely to him. He scowled making her flinch thinking she'd done something wrong. "You're pathetic. You used to be so much more annoying in the good way. Now you're just plain stupid."
Her brow furrowed and she opened her mouth about to repproached but was halted when Komui came into the room. "Kanda-kun, Hevlaska's willing to meet your friend."
"Finally," Kanda said with a sigh as he stood up. He turned to Celia, "Come on dumbest. We're leaving."
Her cheeks puffed at the insult, What a jerk!? She crossed her arms before her and adverted her eyes apparently mad about the name calling. He scoffed and surprised her when he picked her up over his shoulder. She yelled undecipherable mumbles and jibbers white punching his back and kicking at the front. "Seems like that sassy attitude of yours doesn't go away even when you have no recall of the past."
After a good walk and a good kick square on the jaw he dropped her roughly on the floor of a dark room. She sat there with her cheeks still puffed in anger and crossing her legs and arms.
"Is she...?"
"She's fine. Just call her already," Kanda called.
"Hevlaska, I've brought the girl I spoke to you about," Komui called to the woman. Hevlaska appeared from underneath were no floor seemed to be and scared Celia a bit. So much that she had to stand up to avoid the limbs that came towards her.
"Don't run, young one," Hevlaska said in a soothing voice. "I mean you no harm. I just wish to know more about you."
Celia didn't feel quite safe with so many intimidating people there but she had to relax for at least a little while. If she did then the sooner she would be able to be let go of. She let the tentacles come over her body and raise her up to the face of the woman.
"Just calm down," she said in a soothing voice. Celia tried to and her shoulders relaxed letting Hevlaska do her inspection. "Amazing."
"What is it Hev?" Komui asked.
"This girl," she said with great thinking. "She is not human."
"What?" Kanda called startled by the comment.
"Her body, blood, and every organ in her body are made out of Innocence," Hevlaska said. "The greatest concentration of it is the mark on her chest. It appears to be where all the rest is connected. Mmh."
"And now," Komui said calmly.
"Her essence. The Innocence's essence she has resonates with that of Mugen," she answered. "Curiously enough, it seems that both Mugen and her are connected by Kanda's blood."
"You're making no sense," Kanda snapped, hissing at her in anger. "Are you trying to say that she's turned to Innocence."
"In such a case where an Innocence takes an independent body and has no need for an acomodator would be when they are referred to as 'Apocryphos'," she explained to his outburst. "However, she does not meet all qualifications of being one. Although she is Innocence and has an independent body of her own, she does have an acomodator." She turned her head towards Kanda, "It appears as if you are it, Kanda."
"W-What...?" he mumbled confused.
Hevlaska didn't answer his small voiced thought but instead went back to examining the girl. Suddenly Celia's body began to writhe under her touch as the scar on her chest began to glow a bright scarlet. When Hevlaska wouldn't recede violently sparks of red energy began lashing away at her but she still wouldn't let her free.
"Let go..." Celia mumbled struggling to be free of her.
"Just a little further," Hevlaska mumbled as she pried deeper into the girl's subconscious.
"Leave me alone!" Celia exclaimed furious as the sparks suddenly became aggitated and attacked Hevlaska. At the unexpected ambush, the large Exorcist released Celia's body drawing back herself. The girl landed swiftly upon the floor of the room facing the floor and her arms at her sides.
"Celia-chan?" Komui voiced. At that moment Kanda felt a sharp pain on his forearms and held fast to them.
At hearing another's voice, Celia reacted by holding her hands apart from each other and in front of her body. A beam of light shot horizontally in her hands' grasp. Holding it tight, the light snuffed out leaving only white feathers to dance about as she twirled the kwan dao over her shoulders and onto her left hand. She aimed it straight at Hevlaska who only stayed in place.
"I said." Both present were shocked to hear that th girl's sweet toned voice had changed to a more rough one; to Kanda it was the same voice he heard all the time back then. "To let me go. You had no motive to search memories."
"I apologize," Hevlaska actually called. "It was my error to pry deeper into your mind. I just wished to see what is it that Kanda sees that we have all, apparently, have blinded out."
"There's nothing there to see," Celia held the kwan dao steadily. "My Master wished it so."
"Your master?" Komui said turning to Kanda who only looked down trying to think what could she mean by that.
"Don't flatter yourself punkass." Kanda's vein popped at hearing the insult spill from her mouth. Celia smirked mischievously and tilted her head back to see them two, "When I say my Master, I mean my true one. Not you."
"Who're you talking about, Celia-chan?" Komui asked her.
"He doesn't want me to know apparently," Celia answered her smirk changing to a frown. "He said it is better for me that I do not know of him so he erased his true identity from my core."
"Your core?" he repeated.
"The red scar on her chest is the source of her life," Hevlaska told them. "It is her 'heart'. If it were destroyed it would indeniably kill her."
"My Master did it to safekeep my existence." She turned up but stuck her tongue out at Kanda, "But he made a bad decision putting me with such a dumbass Apostle."
"You little-" Kanda bickered drawing Mugen out but managed to be stopped by Komui.
"Well it seems you are able to speak normally now, Celia-chan," Komui commented to her, changing the topic.
Celia stared at the floor pondering with her fingers on her chin. "It seems that Hevlaska's pounding on my memories triggered my rebooting functions. The reason I wasn't able to speak earlier seemed to be because of my wrong landing."
"Wrong...landing?" Komui repeated.
"I wasn't suppose to come out just yet, it seemed." She frowned yet smirked at Kanda, "I blame that on you, dumbass Apostle." Komui held on tight to Kanda while Celia sighed with her hands on her hips, "But my Master did place me with you and it had to be for a reason. I guess I have no choice but to follow you then."
"T-Then it's settled!" Komui said rejoiced. "You'll be joining the Black Order."
"Cool," she said with a toothy grin. She walked heading for the staircase and passed by Kanda who was still being held by Komui. She slapped his chest twice, harder the second time to make it hurt, "Let's get going them, Bochan~ I've got a hunger beyond words. I need food, pronto."
"Kanda-kun, please promise you'll behave with her and try not to harm her," Komui whispered.
Kanda finally jerked away from his grasp and straightened up. He was about to speak when she called again. "Hurry your ass, Mr. Egocentric! I'm getting hungrier by the second!"
He turned to him and scowled, "I can't promise anything."
Komui sighed at them and watch them walk away. Celia wakled away with her hands on the back of her head. When Kanda finally caught up to her she turned to face him and started walking backwards up the stairs. How, was beyond him, but he was sure that she started bickering at him again because he saw a huge grin cross her face as Kanda's hand shook temptingly on Mugen's hilt. Another sighed escaped him but somehow this seemed to be normal.
Even when he didn't remember the girl at all, it frankly felt like he knew her from sometime ago.
"Wow, Celia-chan," Lenalee mumbled watching Celia consume countless of plates of food in no time. She chuckled it away, "You remind me of someone who had a very similar apetite to yours."
Swallowing a recent bite of lasagna. "Really?" she said curiously. "Who?" Lenalee's face sullen but she kept her smile.
"A snarky ass beansprout, that's who," Kanda barked at Celia. "Now shut up and eat."
"What are you, my mother?" Celia snickered mockingly and went for a bowl of chicken noodle soup. After finishing that in a minute she turned about watching the rest of the dinning hall. The place was so full of people; they were people she didn't know and yet there was something spreading in her chest. "This place is so...warm."
"It's probably because we're so close to the kitchen, Celia-chan," Lenalee assured her taking a bite from her food.
"No," Celia said softly grasping at her chest over her dress. "I mean that it feels warm...in here. This place...why does it make me feel like that."
Kanda glanced at her from his plate of soba. She had stopped eating and stared down at her own chest. She was describing the same thing she had said back when they first met. It seemed that, back then, leaving out in the streets really left her with a lonesome issue. If he counted right, it would be eight years since she left the Order going MIA after a mission when she was ten. That's true, she'd soon be eighteen too just a year younger than himself. When she came in the first time, she really liked the warmness of the place because it felt homy and cozy. Her words, not his.
"Perhaps..." he said not even knowing he had begun to speak. "It's that you feel at home here." When he finally caught himself he scowled and 'che'd'. "If you're that kind of sentimental brat, that is."
"Hmph," she huffed and frowned. Ignoring him she continued eating but couldn't keep the words he'd said. Could it be that she actually felt like at home in such a place as this? She smacked the idea out of her mind and continued eating.
Tinkle, tinkle.
Her head snapped up hearing a very distinctive sound of bells. At turning behind her something white clashed with her forehead.
"Ah!" she shrieked holding her forehead fast as the stinging of the blow hurt her. She looked down to the floor and saw a very weird white ball.
"Celia-chan?" Lenalee inquired when the girl turned her whole body around from the table. "What's wrong?"
"This thing-" she picked up the white golem that squirmed under her hand whilst she held it by the wings, "-hit my face. It looks like a marshmellow." She turned to Lenalee, "Can I eat it?"
"N-No! That's not food!" Lenalee exclaimed trying to undo Celia's grasp on the golem. Once able to the golem flew in front of Celia's face. "That's a golem and her name's Navi."
"Navi?" Celia repeated as the golem continued to fly around her head. It stopped before her face again and flapped her wings together making that tinkling sound she had heard before. Then it landed upon her shoulder and snuggled at the crook of her neck. Celia chuckled at the feeling, "It tickles."
"Navi's been quite depressed since three months ago," Lenalee noted to Kanda but not taking her gaze from the girl who played with the white golem, stretching it by its wings and shooting it away. The golem nevertheless came back with glee. "Refused to work and now look at it. It's like she's the happiest ever."
Kanda finished his meal and only gazed at the girl who happily bullied the golem in her hands. Of course the marshmellow would be happy, she'd been reunited with its master after all. He sighed and stood up taking his tray to Jerry.
"Ah," Celia said doing the same with Lenalee following behind her.
"I already placed your uniforms in your room, Kanda," Lenalee said after turning a corner and stopping since she was heading another way.
"Sure," he said turning to leave.
"See you later, Lenalee," Celia said with a grin with Navi ontop of her head as she followed behind Kanda.
"Am I suppose to wear this?" Celia asked inspecting the uniform that was laid on the bed. Kanda had already taken his and changed in the bathroom.
"For the fifth time, yes," he said irritated enough. "Now go change."
She pursed her lips but shrugged her shoulders. Placing the black V neck shirt down she reached for the hem of the dress she wore and began to lift it up. She was suddenly stopped when Kanda's hands halted her hands from moving by grabbing her wrists.
"What do you think you're doing?" he called noticing that she had almost raised the dress past her thighs.
"Changing." She smirked mischievously, "What, you've never seen a girl naked?"
"You damn brat!" He shoved her inside the bathroom and threw the clothes at her. "Change in there!" And he swiftly slammed the door behind her.
Celia poked her head out, "Wittle Kanda's embawessed?"
"Just change!" he bellowed making her shut the door with lock. He sat down tired of her attitude. She was truly insufferable even more than before it seemed. He laid down on the bed actually liking the feel of his own mattress after three months out there. When he heard the water of the shower starting to run, he figure he could get some rest at least while she was in there. He had twenty minutes of peace before he heard shuffling of clothes inside and the door opens afterwards.
"That felt good," she swooned drying her hair with the towel. She stretched and was only on the V neck shirt and white shorts and stockings leaving the skin boots aside along with the Exorcist jacket. She rushed and jumped ontop of him. When he didn't move or pester her like she thought he would have, she looked at his face covered by his arm. She poked his cheek. "Are you alive, Bochan?"
"Don't call me that," he hissed but not showing his eyes.
Curiously enough, since she didn't get a reaction, she got off from him. "You lack much interior decoration in this place." She looked about but there was nothing really to see. The room was clearly obscured since no lights were on. There was only the bed where he slept a desk and a bedside table with an hourglass. At closer inspection she noticed that on the top chamber of the hourglass was a lotus bud that was flourishing since sometime. A couple of petals had already fallen onto the lower chamber announcing that its life had begun to roll downhill. "Pretty flower."
"Don't touch it."
The remark made her want to touch it even more. "I'm not touching it," she grumbled hovering her slick index over the glass. She looked at it more closely and her eyes widened when yet another petal fell from he lotus. "Ah," she whispered to herself.
"What?"
"Nothing." She snapped quickly turning away fromt he hourglass. It wasn't her fault. It fell 'cause it was already withering, right? She went over to sit on the bed's edge where he wasn't lying down. "Ah, that's true," she said to herself while snapping her fingers. She got up and shuffled through the thigns in the drawer until she found what she wanted. Kanda didn't seemed bothered by her as long as she didn't touch the hourglass but when he heard snipping he got up and turned her way.
"What are you doing?"
"I hate my long hair," she rambled snipping her bangs the lenght of her chin. It had taken her about two minutes to do her bangs but the rest of her hair was simply too long for her to cut herself. He sighed and stood up taking the scissors from her hands. "Hey!"
"Knot you hair to the length," he ordered her. Confused she tilted her head towards him. "This is the one time I'll offer you help, so do it!" Startled she did as told and parted her hair and knotted it in two low tails with the knot being just below her shoulders. He sat on the bed's edge while she went and has a sit between his legs but on the floor.
"Do you know what you're doing?" she asked a little scared.
"How do you think I take care of my own?" he inquired and move one of the tails over her shoulder. Her nape was at full view for him and somehow that made him quite uneasy. A feeling yearned him to do something that he hadn't done ever since that one time that he 'harrased' her. With good intentions in mind but nonetheless harrased her. He began to snip away the long strands of her hair leaving that one side shoulder length. Grabbing the other he continued and to her surprised by the end, her hair was shourlder length from the back and a bit longer up front. The ends of it were trimmed quite well with the scissors edge. Overall it looked good.
"Thanks," she said turning to him.
"Whatever," he said picking up the mess he made and throwing what remained on the trash.
"I was going to ask you," she said while he came back towards the bed passing by her while she stood. "What's your name?"
"Huh?" He turned on his heels and glanced at her a bit surprised. That's true, he hadn't told her his name since she came back.
"I've heard everyone else calling you 'Kanda'. But Lenalee told me that it was your surname," she said. "You seemed to have already known mine. Celia Valentine, you said, right? What's your name?"
It felt awkward since he really didn't want to be called that specially since it's only been three months since Alma's death. He didn't wish to hear his name come from anybody else's lips. And yet...something in him wanted for her to call him out. To hear her voice call him by his name even if it made him mad like usual. If she could, he thought it would feel like if she hadn't forgotten anything at all.
"It's...Yu."
It surprised him that she remained quiet all of a sudden. He turned her way to see her eyes looking at him in wonder. All of a sudden he saw the single tear trickle down her left cheek.
"What's wrong?"
"Huh?" she blinked twice and reached her fingers up to her cheek. "T-That's strange." She wipped her face fervously and chuckled, "I'm feeling strange inside. My stomach's all fluttery and stuff. I wonder if it's because I ate so mu-" But her words ended when she felt his warm palm on the back of her neck as she was suddenly being pulled towards him.
She felt something in her chest beating faster and felt her cheeks quickly get hotter from the blood that rushed up to her cheeks. She could feel his breath on her lips and his delicious scent through her nose. She swore they were so close that he could probably hear that constant beating that only got louder. But every entrancement that they were in suddenly broke when the two knocks came to the door. Followed by reality knocking at her brain made her hands push him away. Flusttered by the odd actions she simply rummaged with the sim of her shirt while Kanda went for the door.
"What is it, Marie?" he called after opening the door.
"Johnny," he said almost telling the news way too loud. "He's resigning from the Black Order." Celia only heard the news from her place as her heartbeat returned to normal. Johnny? Curiously enough that name sounded familiar to her. "Do you think that he's going to go after him?"
Kanda came inside taking his Exorcist coat from the bedpost and putting it on. "Of course he is."
"Where're you going?" Celia asked, her snarky demeanor returning to her.
"Nowhere you are," Kanda said getting Mugen as well.
Celia's cheeks puffed in anger as she suddenly held fast to Kanda's free arm unabling him to leave. "If you're going then so am I, Yu."
His eyes widened at her lips saying his name. It gave him a sort of warmness in him to hear it coming from her. He smirked and patted her head. When he saw her pout he noted that she still found it completely frustrating to be treated like a child. "Don't force yourself. Call me whatever you want." He sighed and walked over to his bed grabbing her coat and pushed it in her hands. "Hurry up and get Xiao from the midget's room. We're leaving this place for good."
Well how was it? Quite long, huh? I usual wrwite 3 grand but I thought what the heck I might as well. So here you guys got it. The first chapter. See, I promised there would be more KandaXCelia in this one.
Hoped you liked it
Please review~