Chapter 1:
"Yeah...Yeah. Okay, we'll see you later today. Bye." Said a fairly tall girl with long, straight black hair before putting the receiver down. She unhooked the small winged turtle from the wires before striding over to a set of wooden stairs on the far left side of the wall.
"OI! BUOTOKO! GET UP, DAMN IT!" She shouted crudely up the stairs. A series of loud crashes and bangs were heard from one of the upstairs rooms and shortly after the crashing stopped a tall, blond-haired girl stormed down the stairs in a set of baggy shorts and t-shirt.
"Moyashi!" She hissed, then stomped off towards the kitchen.
"If you were up I wouldn't have to shout. And don't call me that!"
The blond girl just ignored her and made herself a cup of coffee before slouching into one of the wooden chairs. The other girl went into the kitchen to join the blond for a cup of coffee.
"Question. How tall you are anyway? It's a good job you have a loud voice else I might not have heard you from down there." The blond said seriously, despite the amused grin threatening to break as she put her sheep cup down on the table-top.
"EIKO, YOU FUCKING MAN!" The girl shouted, almost dropping her cup in anger. "And I'm five foot six for your information; that's only three inches less than you!"
"Now, Nana-pon, no need for such profanities." Eiko mused, waving a finger at 'Nana'.
"HEY! Don't use strange suffixes on my name!! It's Nanashi!"
"Not my fault, I've been watching Tsubasa Chronicles lately..." Eiko pouted, holding her cup to her lips and inhaling the scent of coffee.
Nanashi breathed lengthily, deciding she should calm down before she de-briefed her partner. "Anyway just hurry up and get dressed, we have to leave earlier." She brought her own Gackt mug to her lips and drunk.
--Later that morning--
"Moyashi."
"IT'S ALLEN WALKER! Are you really that slow?!" The short, white-haired teen shouted across the table. The people around them sat in ignorance of the scene. This was how the morning of these two particular teens started; order food from Jerry the flamboyant chef, eat, then one thing would lead to another and as soon as 'moyashi' was mentioned by the taller blue-haired boy, Allen would fire back and their morning brawl would begin. After the third time this occurred, people no longer attempted to break it up out of fear for their limbs.
"Stupid straight-cut." Allen retorted, pulling on one of Kanda's long bangs.
"Baka moyashi!"
"Okay Yu-chan, I think it's-" A third teen with red hair and an eye patch, roughly the same age as Kanda, finally decided to step in, only to find a katana a few millimetres away from his nose.
"Don't call me by my first name." He glared at the Bookman's successor coldly. Yu Kanda hated being called by his first name, though the reason why is still unknown to anyone, most likely because no-one dares ask him.
"Come on Allen-kun, Nii-san needs to see us."
A girl with long green hair - and a skirt that barely covered what it was suppose to - was the last to arrive on the scene. She none-too-hastily grabbed Allen's arm and dragged him out of the room, only pausing to call another summons over her shoulder. "Lavi, you need to come too."
"Comin', Lenalee." Lavi smiled, avoided Kanda's swinging sword and quickly made his leave.
"Jeez Allen, stop pissin' Yu off so much. He's scary." Lavi whined as he caught up to the pair.
"What does Komui-san want?" Allen asked, his question directed at Lenalee. The ignored red-head pouted in renunciation.
"I don't know, he just said he wanted to see us."
Sometimes it just seemed like Allen, Lavi and Lenalee were the only ones going out on missions. Though on some occasions the tall, vampire-like Arystar Krory or Allen's worst-enemy-ever, the dreaded Yu Kanda, would join them.
It was a few staircases and hallways before they met with the door to Komui's office. As the door creaked open, Allen immediately felt his stomach drop when he saw the tall form of Yuu Kanda standing just off from the sofa, his arms folded and sword by his side. He looked up as they entered and they were met with a stoic frown when he saw who they were, and Allen inwardly flinched. How did Kanda get there before they did?
What caught Lavi's attention; however, were the backs of two unrecognisable women, both seated in front of Komui's desk. He looked closer and noticed that they were both wearing the traditional Exorcist coats, meaning they must be new Exorcists to the Black Order.
Lenalee closed the door behind them as they approached the bespectacled man waiting patiently, his chin resting on the backs of his hands.
"Now that everybody is here I'll start by introducing these two ladys." Komui said, gesturing to the two unknown females. "This is Nanashi," the black haired girl waved a hand in acknowledgment, "and this is Eiko." The blond haired girl bowed her head politely.
"It's nice to meet you, I'm-" Lenalee stepped forward from behind Allen but was quickly interrupted by Nanashi.
"Lenalee right? That's Allen and that's Lavi. That's right isn't it, Komui-san?" Nanashi stated unfolding her arms only to point at the three.
"Nana-pon, don't point. It's rude." Eiko warned sternly, only to have Nanashi pull a funny face at her.
Komui coughed loudly to gain everyone's attention. "Now that everyone knows who everyone is, let's get on with the important stuff. The six of you will be going to Egypt, it seems there is a problem with the dead walking around-"
"You've got to be kidding me." Nanashi interrupted. "The dead are just waltzing around and-" Eiko interrupted her friend's outburst with a swift hit on the head.
"Questions and rants after the briefing." Eiko said. Nanashi replied with a 'hmpf' and Komui continued.
"As I was saying, we think this is the work of an innocence and we need you all to go and solve the problem. Now, any questions?" Komui asked, looking at Nanashi who was sat with her arms folded.
"Why six of us?"
"The Noah have been active lately so we want to make sure we're prepared in case they show up at the scene. You will leave immediately."
The group nodded and let the room.
--Train--
"Wow, spacey." Eiko awed as the black haired teen took the corner seat by the window.
"Who wants to play cards?" Allen asked, producing a deck of cards with a black and white diamond patterned back. Everyone except the two new teens moved away.
"I will!" Nanashi chirped happily.
"Nana-chan, you shouldn't. Allen's really good at cards." Lavi warned.
"Tch, so am I." Nanashi stated confidently as Allen dealt out the cards.
"Royal straight flush." Allen's face dropped as he gazed at the poker hand the female opposite him laid down. "I guess that makes it a draw," she smiled kindly. The group was shocked since no-one had ever even drawn with Allen.
"For future reference: Nana-pon is the devil when it comes to cards." Eiko pointed out.
"HEY! I said not to add strange suffix's to my name!" The teen snapped back.
Allen and Nanashi kept playing cards. The games became a war zone after about 3 hours when both of them got a bit carried away and it soon became a contest to see who was the best at cheating. However, no clear winner was decided.
"Finally, land!" Nanashi cheered, running down the plank off the ship.
"I sure am glad that's over." Eiko muttered, rubbing her eyes. "I hate travelling."
"Well, it isn't over yet." Lavi said. "We still have a train to catch to Tunis--"
"Nooooo!" Eiko wailed.
"--and then another boat to Al Iskandariyah--"
"Nooooo!" Nanashi cried.
"--and then a train to Cairo."
The two slumped in anguish.
"Can't we just go by train the rest of the way?" Nanashi asked. Now she was back on land, she didn't want to leave it again.
Lavi blinked. "You guys...don't go on missions much, do you?"
Nanashi glared daggers at him.
"Actually, we've been on quite a few missions." Eiko replied.
"Just because I hate ships doesn't mean I'm pathetic!" Nanashi yelled.
"Eheh...I didn't say that." Lavi said, holding his hands up defensively.
"When you all stop playing around, we have a train to catch." Kanda interjected, his hand fisted around Mugen's hilt.
-------
It was seven hours later when they finally reached their destination. It was a small bed and breakfast in Cairo, and not too far in the distance were the pyramids they'd soon be infiltrating, searching for these wandering corpses that are terrorising the nearby citizens.
"We're staying here for the night." Lenalee said. "Onii-chan said to start tomorrow morning."
"Heee!" Lavi grinned mischievously and slung his arm over her shoulders. "I bet he doesn't want his precious little sis venturing out into the dark night with the undead wandering around, huh?"
"Lavi..." Allen said, probably to gently scold him for teasing Lenalee, but he was interrupted by Kanda.
"I'm going to bed." He said abruptly, walking swiftly up the stairs.
"Ah, wait for me Kanda!" Lavi called, chasing after him.
"Why the hell should I wait for you, damn usagi."
"We're sharing the same room remember?"
"WHAT?!"
"Well, I'd better call my brother to let him know we're here." Lenalee said, then ran over to the phone by the front desk.
"Sleeeeeeep..." Eiko drawled.
"Ah! Eiko, that's the wrong way, baka." Nanashi said, grabbing her by the shoulders and leading her in the direction of the stairs. "See you in the morning, Allen." She called over her shoulder.
"Yeah, see you then." He replied, following shortly after.
When he reached his room, which he found out from Lenalee that it was for both Lavi and Kanda as well as himself, he got a bit of a shock when he found the last bed shredded and destroyed.
"Wh-what happened here?"
"Kanda did it." Lavi said instantly, peeping from the covers of his own bed.
"Tch." Was the swordsman's reply. "You shouldn't have hidden behind it when I tried to kill you then."
"Well I wasn't exactly happy with you killing me either."
"So where am I going to sleep?" Allen demanded.
"You can share with me, Allen!" Lavi called, whipping the covers up beside him. "I got the biggest bed after all."
"They're all the same size, baka!" Kanda yelled, looking fairly disgruntled.
'Eheh, Kanda's looking a bit more angry than usual.' Allen thought. 'Lavi probably got him angry earlier.'
"It's okay, I'll sleep with you, Lavi." He said, quickly choosing between the murderous and welcoming auras. Kanda rolled over with a huff and fell silent. Allen stripped down to his undergarments and slipped in beside Lavi, rolling onto his side with his back facing the redhead. With one last look at the back of Kanda's head, he closed his eyes, ready to fall into a light sleep.
"Eeeh?" A girl muttered, crouching on the edge of a roof. "Why's he in bed with that Lavi guy?"
The man beside her shrugged. "Perhaps he's not as innocent as he looks."
The cards in his hands thrummed as he shuffled them again. The girl looked up to him.
"Allen? With Lavi?" She let out a harsh, mocking laugh. "Like I could believe that."
"Hm," the man said, flicking a card up to his eye level and staring at it for a short while before continuing. "I could."
"Well Tyki, you're the Noah of Pleasure." She said, before getting to her feet. "Anything in that area, you could believe."
He smirked and tipped his hat forward. "Come on Rhode, we have work to do."
"Hai, hai."