Fire Away
Fandom: D. Gray Man (AU setting)
Pairing(s): LavixOC, slight TykixOC later
Inspiration: Song – Titanium by Sia. Any lyrics used will most likely come from this song.
Full Summary: Lavi's gotten himself into some trouble, so his manager decides to hire a bodyguard to keep the young actor protected. Enter Ishi Hādodisuku, a strong girl who used to be a simple waitress. God have mercy.
Additional Author's Notes: Hello everyone! I recently took an interest in AU stories, so here I am! There are only a few LavixOC stories out there that take place in our current time period, and most of them only have LavixOC as a background pairing to Allena (AllenxLenalee). So my reason for creating this story is quite obvious. I'm also in the process of creating an AllenxOC AU story, but it's not going so well… In any case though, I'll let you get to the actually story now.
Dedicated to: All my readers. Thank you for supporting my story (or stories in some people's cases).
~ I'm bulletproof, nothing to lose,
Fire away, fire away.
Ricochet, you take your aim,
Fire away, fire away. ~
Fire Away – Chapter One:
[Italy, Europe; November 13th, 2011; 10:30pm]
"Damn it Bookman! Can't you go a month without getting into some sort of trouble?"
"Hey! It's not my fault! The guy was practically begging for it!" Famous actor, Lavi Bookman, protested. "And, for your information, it's been two months since we arrived in Italy."
"Don't get smart with me!"
"Aw, c'mon Toyama," The red head dismissed his manager's scolding with a wave of his hand. "I can't help the fact that I'm a genius with a photographic memory."
Manager Toyama looked ready to explode, face red with anger. "Well, now we have to move again! All because you got into another stupid quarrel!"
"Ooh~! New word, eh, Toyama? 'Quarrel', nice." The actor laughed obliviously. "And as I said before, the guy was totally asking for it."
Toyama sighed heavily, lightly massaging his temples with his index and middle fingers. Sometimes – actually, he did it quite often – he wondered why he was even still working for the child-like actor. If only this job didn't pay so damn well, he'd already be long gone. "That matter aside… We need a new place to move to – somewhere far away."
"Oh! I know, I know!" The emerald-eyed teen grinned. "Japan."
[Tokyo, Japan; November 14th, 2011; 6:30am]
A seventeen year old girl with long black hair and hazel eyes lifted her hand lazily to muffle her yawn. She got stuck working the early morning shift at Tsurai again. She didn't really see the point, as there were only a few costumers, and they didn't stay any longer than three minutes, grabbing their morning coffee or tea, and leaving.
She washed yet another table with the old dish cloth in her hands, clenching her teeth together to hold back another yawn. It was too damn early for her to be up, especially since she had school in an hour.
…Wait, no she didn't. It was Saturday.
See what being tired does to her? It makes her a total retard!
"Oi! Ishi!"
The girl glanced over her shoulder, seeing an older woman in a pale blue apron that was soiled from all of its days in use.
"Yeah? What do you need now, Saito-san?" The teen – Ishi – asked rather rudely.
The woman was suddenly next to Ishi, and wacked the hazel-eyed teen on the head with a wooden spoon. "Don't be so rude, you damned brat! I was just going to tell you that you can get the hell out – your shift is over."
Ishi blinked. "Oh, well, thanks I guess…" Then she muttered under her breath, "Old hag."
Saito wacked the black-haired teen on the head again, earning a scowl. "Just get the hell out already, brat."
"Mattaku…*" The younger female muttered, shouldering her plain forest green messenger bag before stalking out of the small café.
"Don't forget! You work the late-night shift tonight, too!" Saito hollered after her. "Make sure you're back here at eleven!"
"Yeah, yeah," The teen muttered as she walked down the mildly-busy sidewalks. "Damned old hag."
[Tokyo's Airport; November 15th, 2011; 1:23am]
Lavi Bookman and his manager, Ryo Toyama, exited their private jet that had just landed in Tokyo, Japan, ignoring the press, paparazzi, and screaming fans that – even at this ungodly hour – called out to them. They entered an awaiting black limousine, and told the chauffeur to head to Lavi's apartment that was going to be his home during his stay in Tokyo.
The emerald-eyed teen rested his head against the window, muttering, "Stupid jetlag…" with his eyes – technically, eye, as his right was covered by an eye patch, leaving only the left visible – closed.
"Bookman-san," The chauffeur spoke up in perfect English, holding only a slight accent. "There are numerous cafés in this particular part of Tokyo – perhaps you would like to stop at one and get some tea or coffee?"
The red head immediately perked up. "Coffee sounds great, Niigata-san!" He looked out the window of the limo, scanning the buildings on one side of the street. Finding one that was still lit up and looked reasonable, he exclaimed, "There! There!"
Niigata pulled the limousine over and parked the vehicle in one of those side-of-the-road parking spaces. Lavi immediately hopped out, exaggeratedly stretching his body, even though he couldn't have spent more than ten minutes in the car.
When he was done stretching, he skipped over to the café named Tsurai with Toyama right behind him, walking calmly.
[Tsurai Café; 1:30am]
Ishi was sitting in behind the counter in Tsurai café, enjoying her break. She got very few breaks since Saito 'didn't pay her workers to laze around, uselessly', but because it was one-thirty in the morning and there were no costumers, Ishi was allowed to relax momentarily.
The sudden chime of a bell made her look up as a strange pair came into the small café. One was probably about a year older than her, but had the air of a small child as he kept looking around wildly, examining every little thing inside the café. He had flaming red hair and a single emerald eye, with the other one hiding behind an eye patch. The other was certainly less interesting, watching the red head calmly. He was probably in his late forties, with short graying black hair and plain dark eyes.
She popped another piece of dark chocolate into her mouth as she watched them – the red head, more particularly – until the teen spotted her. He waved cheerily to her, and she rolled her eyes, deciding to just ignore the weirdo.
She turned her head to the side, only to be hit on the head with a wooden spoon.
"Don't just sit there, you lazy brat!" Saito snapped, waving the spoon threateningly. "We have costumers!"
Ishi clutched her head in pain. "Itai! You damned old hag! Stop doing that!"
Saito wacked her again. "Keep your voice down! You'll scare away the costumers!" She hissed.
"No, I'm pretty sure you're the one that's going to scare them away," The black-haired girl deadpanned. "With your scary face." She popped another piece of chocolate past her lips, and pressed the morsel to the roof of her mouth with her tongue, feeling it melt.
"That's enough outta you!" The older woman glared at her employee. "Go serve them or you're fired."
"…Bitch." Ishi reluctantly stood up and went over to where the red head and older man were. "Well, are you going to sit, or what?"
In less than two seconds, the red head was sitting in a chair. The man walked over to the same table – much slower – and sat down as well.
"…Okay then…" She ran her fingers through her side-swept bangs before sighing inaudibly. "So, you guys know what you want?"
The red head nodded, very hyper. "Coffee please!"
Ishi stared at him. Coffee? Oh god… She didn't even want to imagine what this already insane teenager would be like after he got some coffee into him. If it was up to her, she would refuse to serve him the drink, but her job – damn that old hag – was riding on her actually serving the pair, so she couldn't.
"Uh, alright…" She turned to the obviously still sane person sitting across from the insane one. "And you?"
"Just water, thank you."
"…Alright…" She memorized the order – not like it was that hard. "You're drinks should be ready in a minute or so." Both males before her nodded, and she hastily headed towards the kitchen.
'Well, that red head certainly is weird.' Ishi thought to herself as she got a glass of ice water for the man and put on a new pot of coffee for the said weirdo.
Soon enough, the coffee was ready to be served, so she poured it into a mug and grabbed a couple packets of sugar and two small pitchers – one of milk, one of cream. Then she returned to the only costumers in the café.
"Here you go." The hazel-eyed girl said as she placed the coffee fixtures on the table and placed their drinks in front of each male. When she placed the coffee down though, she got a good look at the red head's face.
"Hey, you look kind of familiar – have you come here before?" She didn't think it was likely, seeing as she definitely would have remembered anyone with the red head's hyper personality, but it was possible that she forgot.
She was only human, after all.
The red head only blinked at her though. "You don't know who I am?"
"…Uh, you look kind of familiar – as I said just a second ago – but no names are coming to mind right now."
"I'm –" The red head was cut off when the front window suddenly shattered, something small flying past the trio and embedding itself in the far wall.
"What the hell did you do, brat!" Saito hollered angrily as she came out from the back room, instantly noticing the broken window.
"I didn't do shit, old hag! Get your vision checked already!"
Saito noticed the small cracks on the wall beside her and inspected the damage. "…It's a bullet." She murmured just loud enough for the other three occupants in the room to hear.
"What the hell! Why –" Ishi was interrupted as another bullet soared through the broken window, and she ducked. "Oh, screw this! C'mon!" She yanked the red head out of his seat, trusting the older man to follow as he seemed very protective of him, and dragged him behind the counter at the back of the café.
Saito was hiding behind the back wall. "Brat! Do something! I'm too old for this!"
"Okay! How about I use you a distraction so the three of us can get out of here!" Ishi snapped back, glaring at the old woman's hiding spot. "I'm thinking damn it!"
Another bullet came flying into the café, embedding itself in the area of wall above the counter.
Ishi suddenly removed a lose floor tile nearby, and reached inside, pulling out a small, black, hand gun.
"Heh, almost forgot we had this hidden here…" She muttered, checking to make sure the gun was loaded before removing the safety guard.
"Wait a second!" The red head exclaimed, eye wide. "You're not seriously going to use that, are you?"
"Hell yes, I am."
"But you don't even know where the attacker is!"
"So you want to sit around and wait until he or she reveals him or herself?" The black-haired teen hissed. "You're nuts!"
"But –"
"Listen, just stay here, and don't go out into the open!" Ishi interrupted, crawling over to the end of the counter. "I'm going to kick this guy's ass."
"Wai–"
Ishi poked her head around the end of the counter, only to duck back as a bullet came fly towards her face.
"Holy hell!" She exclaimed, sitting back on her heels.
"Hehe, you really think you can stop me, girly?" A new voice inquired, and the black-haired teen looked up.
On top of the counter was a man dressed all in black. He had extremely short brown hair, black eyes and a little stubble.
In his hands was a black pistol, which he pointed at Ishi.
"Nothing is going to stand in the way of the Boss' orders." The man stand, tightening his hold on the gun. "Sorry, girly, but this is the end of the line for you."
Just as he pulled the trigger, Ishi rolled out the way. Springing to her feet, she pointed her own gun at the unknown man and fired. He jumped off of the counter and out of the way, however, but that didn't stop the strong-willed female.
She jumped over the counter and tackled the man, wrestling his gun from his grip and throwing both of the weapons away, out of reach from the attacker.
"Saito!" Ishi hollered, and the old woman stepped out from her hiding spot, holding a pair of real handcuffs.
"I already called your mother." She said as she handed the method of confinement to her employee.
Ishi nodded distractedly as she snapped the handcuffs onto the man's wrists, preventing him from doing any more harm than he already had.
She was so busy doing this, that she completely missed the conversation between the red head and older man.
"'Boss' orders'? What did he mean by that?"
"I think he may be in league with that man you got in a quarrel with back in Italy."
"Eh? Really? How'd He find us so fast?"
"…I don't know, perhaps that chauffeur tipped Him off though. Actually, anyone we've met so far in Japan could have been working with Him."
"Except for that girl and old woman. They helped us, so there's no way they're working with Him."
"That's true… But, Bookman, I think you would be safer if you had a bodyguard for the time being."
"I'm fine!"
"Yes, that explains why we needed to be saved by a girl younger than both of us. I'm hiring a bodyguard whether you like it or not, Bookman."
"…Fine – but on one condition."
"And what would that condition be?"
"You ask that girl over there."
Author's Notes:
Damn! That action scene totally sucked! *Crying anime tears* Sorry for the suck-y fight scene everyone! More will be revealed next chapter though, like how Ishi knew how to kick ass like that.
Translations:
* Mattaku: It's kind of like saying "Really?" in a aggravated way… Or, "Good grief!" and things like that. Mattaku has many different meanings…
* Ja ne: The shortened version of ja mata ne. Both mean something like, "See you later!" So saying just 'ja' would be like saying, "See you!" and saying just 'ne' would be like saying "Later!"
Sorry for any incorrect translations.
Until next time, ja ne*! And please review!