Disclaimer: DGM is the property of Katsura Hoshino. My OC is, of course, mine.
It's warm. Too warm.
They started out with the A/C on too high, and the castle which we resided was blindingly cold. Everyone walked around in layers of socks and sweaters; even Kanda, the exorcist with no outward show of emotion or discomfort, was walking around with long sleeves. The Science Department had taken time from its overbearing workload to fix the problem.
It was a little too fixed, if you were to ask me.
September was melting in October, yet inside the Order was a never-ending August summer. Not only did the heat work, but somehow the air managed to become humid and sticky, making being indoors a veritable Hell. To relieve themselves of the torment, many moved outside during the day. But as soon as night fell, all were forced back inside the oven.
I had lived at the Order for three years now and had been through many of its ups and downs. Yet not once did I recall a heat wave such as this. And it was manmade, for God's sake!
Others and I would occasionally check up on Reever and other members of the Science Department to see if they had solved the heater problem yet. They had made no progress whatsoever, and tempers were becoming shorter with each rise of the mercury.
Walking back to the cafeteria—maybe Jerry had whipped up some icy drinks—I ran into an unlikely pair. Lavi and Kanda were walking toward the cafeteria—well, realistically speaking, Kanda was stomping angrily whilst Lavi lagged behind, hands behind his head, talking at and nagging Kanda, the taboo first name cropping up on many an occasion. Lavi was wearing shorts and a sleeveless t-shirt in his attempt for comfort in the heat wave. Kanda wore his own typical sleeveless shirt, which displayed his upper body most satisfactorily, and the black pants from his uniform. Naturally, Mugen was at his side. Anyway, they were walking toward the cafeteria as well so I called out to them.
Lavi turned and waited for me to catch up while Kanda only glanced back briefly before continuing on his merry way.
"Andi!" Lavi called, customary smile on his face. "Where ya headed?"
"Cafeteria."
"Us too! Yuu, you don't mind if Andi joins us, do you?"
Kanda was a good distance away but still managed to give the typical "Che" as a response.
"I suppose that's a yes, then," Lavi said, and I walked side by side with him as we followed Kanda.
"How was your last mission?" Lavi asked as we walked, suppressing a yawn.
"Good. Not too many Akuma and although we didn't find any Innocence, we took care of one of the Earl's brokers."
We had reached the cafeteria and stopped short at the sight before us.
The cafeteria was packed with people—all sweating, grumpy, swearing, and bellowing for anything cold. Poor Jerry stood behind his steel-barred window—his only protection—making ice shavings as fast as humanly possible. It wasn't fast enough apparently. And this was Jerry, who could whip up enough meals to service a small village—or one Allen Walker—in five minutes.
"On second thought, maybe this can wait 'til later," Lavi said, mouth and eyes wide open in shock. His mouth widened with another yawn which he covered with his sleeve.
An idea occurred to me then.
"Hey Lavi?"
"Yeah?"
"You can control the elements with your Innocence, right? So can't you just whip up an ice storm or something?"
Lavi looked suddenly very uncomfortable and began to scratch his head. "I thought of that, and I would, except…I kinda lost my Innocence."
Both Kanda and I turned sharply on him. "You what?"
Lavi backed away, hands in front of him defensively and chuckling nervously. "No worries, I'll find it soon!"
"A Bookman…lost something?" I said disbelievingly. "Is that even possible?"
"Baka usagi," said Kanda. However I saw the gleam in the would-be samurai's eye and knew where his thoughts had gone. So I stepped myself between him and Lavi, wary of the hand already on the hilt of the sword.
"It's tempting, I know, but you can't kill him, Kanda, just because he can't defend himself this time."
Kanda's hand did not move from the hilt of his sword as he glared down at me. I stared evenly back; Kanda didn't scare me except on the battlefield.
After a few moments Kanda's hand left the hilt of Mugen and he backed down. Satisfied I turned to Lavi and suggested, "I'll help you look for your Innocence. It's better than standing here doing nothing."
Lavi and I turned and retreated from the cafeteria and a short distance from the doors Lavi threw his arm around my shoulders.
"Well, at the very least, if we can't find my Innocence, we could always get to know each other better."
I pushed Lavi's arm off of me and said, "Not in the mood."
We spent the next several hours searching for Lavi's hammer, to no avail, and found our way back to the cafeteria for dinner, dejected and dying of the heat.
It was still insanely crammed inside, but we spotted Allen's usual pile and sat down. Allen and Lenalee were already seated, Lenalee eating a cool yogurt as Allen ate mounds upon mounds of cold food—different varieties of ice cream, flavored ice shavings, Italian ice, frozen fruit, chilled fresh vegetables, yogurt, frozen yogurt, fruit smoothies, iced coffee—as amazing an amount of food as any other time.
"It's so hot I can barely stomach a piece of fruit," Lenalee said, stirring her yogurt.
I wasn't even hungry. Even thinking of food in this sauna made me sick.
"You found your Innocence yet, Lavi?" Lenalee asked. Bookman Jr. and I shook our heads.
"We must have searched every inch of this place," I said tiredly.
"Well there is one place we didn't search," Lavi said pensively, and I turned to him hopefully.
"Where?"
A mischievous glint came to his eye. "My room." The attempt was ruined by another large yawn.
My hand was partway up to smack the back of his head when another hand beat me to it.
"Ow! Yuu, what was that f-f-f-for?" Lavi cried indignantly, suppressing another yawn. This boy needed some sleep.
"Not that you could even stay awake for the encounter," I said snidely, earning a few chuckles from Lenalee and Allen.
I saw Kanda continue on his way past our table after smacking Lavi and headed toward Jerry's window. I stared at his back, wondering. Had he hit Lavi because he was there, being annoying, or was it…?
I went ahead with the former option, knowing better.
"Why is Yuu always so mean to me?" Lavi pouted. He was met with three tired sighs and I said plainly, "Using his first name when he doesn't like it might have something to do with it."
Allen added, "Clinging onto him like a lovesick puppy doesn't help."
Lenalee giggled as the rabbit and bean sprout went at it, and I swiped an uneaten yogurt from Allen's pile of food and tuned them out as I ate. The yogurt smelled too good after all.
"Why are you so tired, though, Lavi?" Lenalee asked concernedly. I looked up from the food.
Lavi shook his head. "I don't know. It's like doing homework for the panda or activating my Innocence for days. I just can't sleep but I'm exhausted."
Lenalee frowned and said, "Maybe my brother has something to fix insomnia?"
Lavi cringed and said, "No offense, Lenalee, but I wouldn't trust anything Komui made to 'fix' insomnia. Or much else, for that matter."
I saw Kanda cross my line of sight again as I ate, holding a tray with steaming soba noodles on it. How on earth could he eat noodles in heat like this?
Sighing and finishing my yogurt I decided a walk would do me some good and so after wishing Lavi luck in finding the hammer and saying goodbye I got up and left the cafeteria. Somehow my walk led me to the training grounds, which were deserted at this late hour. Well, since I was here…
I sorted through the assortment of weapons and gear kept in the enclosure, not up to activating my own Innocence this late at night. Actually I didn't have much of a plan—just get worked up and exhausted enough to put myself into a deep sleep later.
I finally decided on one of the many swords kept in the training arsenal and begin going though a set of exercises—thrust, parry, dive, swing, parry again, stretch; reminding myself to keep the blade steady, watch all sides and angles, be wary of blind spots.
Soon I was working up a good sweat and I could feel the endorphins pumping through my system. It had been some time since I had put myself through a hard workout, and even longer since I'd been alone while training. It was exhilarating.
I put the sword away and decided, hell, I was alone, so why not try something different?
I looked around at the pillars, mentally measuring the distance between the ground and the next level, wondering how far I might be able to go… My Innocence gave me, as a condition, a feeling of weightlessness that allowed me to almost fly. I wondered now how far I could get without it.
Adjusting my gloves (I always wore gloves when training) I took a deep breath and leapt up.
I ran up the pillars, jumping from one to the other as I climbed. This was much harder than I had anticipated, but the rush of air in my ears, the momentary weightlessness combined with a sudden and temporary freefall before my limbs hit concrete again—God, what a rush!
I stood on the balcony on the next level up, staring down at the sand, noting the marks my shoes had left on the stone pillars. I was giddy with relief that I had made it in one piece. Now I needed to get down.
Well, nothing for it. I leapt.
Amazingly I landed on my feet and in one piece, the sudden silence after the rush of air slightly alarming. I smiled—God, this was such an adrenaline rush.
And that's when I finally noticed that I was not alone. I snapped my head in the direction of the training room entrance—and saw one Japanese swordsman staring blankly at me from just inside the doorway.
"How long have you been there?" I said, my smile fading along with the rush.
Kanda's expression turned to a frown as he said, "Since your cheap gymnastics trick with the walls."
Wow, an actual answer from Mr. Stoic himself. But my surprise was worn away by my embarrassment.
"You saw that, did you…" I muttered sheepishly.
He didn't answer but walked out onto the grounds. "If you're done…" he began.
I suppose we were both crazy for training in this heat. I knew not to ask. Kanda, being Kanda, would train no matter the conditions—it was simply the person he was—and I myself didn't have anything to say on the matter, as I myself was working out. A little breeze circulated from the doorway, and it brushed against the sweat. I shivered at the cool touch of the wind, and wiped the sweat away from my brow. Meanwhile Kanda had been stretching, totally oblivious to me.
I looked over at Mugen, which Kanda had drawn already, and out of the blue said, "You want a sparring partner?"
He stared at me, the frown flicked with a dubious air.
I shrugged. "I'm not really great, but having some practice can't hurt."
For some moments he said nothing, then sighed and replied, "Do as you want."
Is it really so hard to say "Okay"? But I didn't argue, retrieving the sword from my earlier practice and taking my stance opposite Kanda.
A deep breath, a rush of air, shoes scraping against sand, and our blades clashed.
If there was ever a word to describe Kanda, it would be 'relentless'. From strike one he was serious, each move deliberate and confident, charged with aggression, every blow I blocked felt in my nerves, in my bones. I was blown away by how forceful Kanda was. And this was only training.
But as I said before, Kanda didn't scare me off the battlefield, and he wasn't the only one good in close combat.
I returned his blows with my own, and the sounds of heavy breathing, metal clanging, stomping of limbs on the sand filled the arena like a symphony as I pushed back at Kanda's assault.
Suddenly an unexpected quick movement, a set of unseen hand motions—and my sword flew out of my hands and flew a good couple yards away. The tip of Kanda's blade was at my neck, a triumphant smirk on his face as I stared back at him, surprise and shock etched on my face. My heavy breathing filled the silence, but Kanda's chest was rising and falling minimally as well. A sheen of sweat glistened on his arms.
I dipped down to a crouch and kicked Kanda's legs out, upsetting his balance long enough to twist my way forward and jab his wrist at the pressure point there. Kanda cried out in pain and then rage as I leapt away from him, Mugen in my hands and I flying away atop the pillars, landing on top of the balcony on the level above. I smiled triumphantly down at Kanda, who glared back up, enraged.
"Give Mugen back. Now," he ordered, his tone bordering on unhinged.
"Come get him," I goaded, glancing at the pillars, marking my foot placements. My ascent had been faster and had taken three fewer steps to complete. It was an improvement.
My analysis gave Kanda the seconds he needed to reach the balcony at the next level. He stood directly behind me, close enough for me to feel the heat radiating off his skin and his breath at the back of my neck. I froze, shocked that he'd gotten here so quickly.
The hand that held Mugen was enveloped by his hand, the other on the edge of the balcony, effectively trapping me between stone and samurai.
"Never. Do that again," he ordered huskily in my ear, cold fury etched in every syllable. I was too terrified to move, and yet I still noticed how his voice sounded. His breathing was somewhat heavy. He was more tired than he'd let on.
"Where did you learn to do that?" he asked, his breathing slowing down.
I swallowed hot air and replied, "General Nyne."
"Nyne's not a close-range fighter."
"She still knows her stuff." Was it me, or was Kanda being rather chatty tonight?
"Show me." It wasn't a request; it was an order. He was still angry—I could clearly hear it in his voice—but he was beginning to calm down. Odd. I'd never seen Kanda calm down so quickly before. His breathing slowed, deepened.
"You'll have to let me go," I said, my voice slightly breathless. The evening's training was catching up to me; that was all. It was this damn mysterious heat wave getting to my head.
For some reason his grip on his sword hilt (and therefore my hand) tightened and he replied, "In a minute then."
His warm breath was now brushing my ear and his forehead was resting on my shoulder. My breath hitched involuntarily and I prayed silently that he didn't just hear that.
A low chuckle told me otherwise.
"Something wrong, Andi?" he asked, his voice low in my ear. He had picked his head up again from my shoulder, and I sensed how much closer he was.
"N..no," I said shakily.
The arm entrapping my other side was suddenly on my arm, and I could feel his hand burning my skin. Excruciatingly slow he slid his hand from my arm to my waist, and I felt his chest make contact with my back. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest. I'm quite sure he could too.
"Kanda…" I said shakily, hating how my voice betrayed me.
"Shh," he murmured quietly, the tip of his nose brushing my ear. His lips brushed against the tip of my ear, and I felt him press his face into my hair, inhaling its scent.
"Full of surprises…" he murmured; I shut my eyes, my breathing slow but strangely heavy. I could no longer pretend that this had to do with training.
The hand that held mine lifted slightly, and my grip on Mugen relaxed as well. It was this hand that moved and found its way to my face, and his fingers lightly traced my lips, his thumb resting and pressing just slightly on my bottom lip. They parted involuntarily and I felt more than heard Kanda say, "Eager, are we…"
The fingers that brushed my lips lightly made their way to my neck, feather-light caresses brushing away loose strands of hair. He bent his head down and lips met sensitive skin.
I bit my lip to stop from crying out; hyperaware as I was at the moment, the whole Order didn't need to know it too.
His lips made their way up my neck, nibbling on my earlobe and stopping on my temple, where he pressed a light kiss and muttered, "You'll have to teach me that little trick later."
"Or what?" I said breathlessly, amazed that I could form any coherent sentence.
He chuckled, sending a wonderful chill up my spine. "I'll find a way to punish you even more." He pulled away suddenly, taking Mugen with him, and walked away toward the dorm rooms, leaving me clinging to the balcony for support.
Well, if this was punishment, then I planned on being a very bad girl indeed.
xoxox
The source of Lavi's missing Innocence, insomniac behavior and the faulty heater turned out to be connected. Apparently it was his Innocence that had caused the heat wave. After mysteriously finding its way into the air vents, the hammer had activated itself. The Fire Seal had done its best to be noticed by one and all after the other seals had failed to garner Lavi's attention. I got a kick out of watching Lavi being chased around by a crazed mob of Finders after they heard the story. Then Komui managed to find a mysterious mixture that put the boy asleep for days, and had the interns at the science department looking for a cure to the concoction. After they woke Lavi up, Bookman had several assignments for him to complete, including a particularly humiliating public apology.
While nearly everyone had a bone (or a skeleton, in Bookman's case) to pick with Lavi, I personally didn't mind. The impromptu heat wave had unintentionally led to a few consequences I couldn't help but enjoy.
I realized something after I finished writing this and going over to edit. Had anyone in the actual story pulled the stunt that my OC did, he or she would have brutally murdered by Kanda. Or at least not be able to walk for some time after. But, author's privilege to make non-canon plot and provide OOC-ness. Not to mention, I think that even Kanda has enough sense sometimes to know when to fight and when to use other methods as a means to an end (though judging by the latest chapters, you wouldn't really know it).
For anyone who's guessed, here's confirmation: This isn't serious. Kanda's playing with the poor girl's mind. Cause he can do that. Admittedly I'm probably making the guy out to be more clever than he really is, but more clever=more fun. For you and for me.
I hoped you enjoyed it, nonetheless.
