Keeper of the Keys
The OC's name – Nadeshiko Yuzuki – is pronounced: 'na-day-she-co {Nadeshiko} you-zoo-key {Yuzuki}' and Nade is pronounced 'na-day'.
Chapter One –
A teenage girl sat alone in a corner of the library at the religious organization known as the Black Order. She looked to be about seventeen, with a slender figure, long russet-coloured hair that fell just beneath her shoulder blades and strange hazel eyes that held flecks of gold. The brunette wore a plain forest green shirt with sleeves that reached her elbows, a long-sleeved dark brown button-up shirt left undone, a dark blue miniskirt with a brown belt, and knee-high leather boots - the same colour as her button-up shirt - that had a golden buckle at the ankles. Attached to the back of her brown belt was a brown pouch. The only piece of jewellery on her was a brown necklace with a gold ring supporting nine golden keys that ended halfway down her stomach.
In the girl's hand was an old, worn out book with a brown leather cover. There was no title on the cover or spine of the book, so anyone walking by wouldn't know what it was about. The teenager lifted her elbow onto the desk in front of her, and rested her cheek against her palm. She carefully flipped to the next page with her other hand, as if any more force would rip the page – and it could have, judging by how old the book looked.
Meanwhile, an eighteen year old male walked into the library, muttering about an old man giving him too much work. He had red hair that was held up by a green and black bandana and emerald green eyes, but the right one was covered by a black eye patch. The red-head wore the standard male Exorcist uniform, with the exception of white pants – instead of black – and an orange scarf around his neck.
The eighteen year old scanned the library, and instantly noticed the girl in the corner.
"S…Strike!" He whispered, eyes wide. 'But wait… She's not wearing an Exorcist uniform, and I've never seen her before… I wonder if she's lost or something… No, the gatekeeper wouldn't have let her in.' The red-head decided to approach the girl, and walked up in front of the desk she was sitting at.
"Excuse me Miss, can I ask what your name is?"
The brunette instantly looked up, taking notice of the teenage male in front of her. "…Nadeshiko Yuzuki, and you are?"
"My name's Lavi. Are you a new Exorcist?" The male – Lavi – replied, looking at Nadeshiko curiously.
"No – I've been with the Order for five years."
Lavi's jaw dropped and his eyes widened. "F-Five years? I've never seen you before and I've been here for four years…"
"Eh, I was gone on long-term missions. I actually haven't been back to Headquarters in a long time." The brunette closed the book in her hand, and a few dust particles flew into the air. "Well, I've got to go see Komui… It was nice meeting you, Lavi." Nadeshiko stood up from her chair, and walked away from the red-head.
"You too Nadeshiko!" Lavi called after said girl, who looked back over her shoulder at him.
"You can call me Nade if you want, either one's fine." She smiled faintly, but Lavi wasn't close enough to notice it didn't reach her eyes.
-:-
Nadeshiko strode into Komui's office, took one look at her Supervisor who was sleeping at his desk and sighed. She walked over to his desk until she was next to him, crouched down slightly and whispered in his ear, "I heard Lenalee was pregnant."
Immediately, Komui jolted awake and sat up straight, only to slump over crying. "Lenalee! No!" He wailed.
At that exact instant, said violet-eyed girl walked into the office with a tray holding a single blue coffee mug with a pink rabbit on it.
"What is it, big brother?" Lenalee asked, then noticed the girl beside him. "Oh! Nade! You're back!" She smiled warmly at her friend. "It's been so long!"
"Yeah, four years…" Nade replied, a faint smile on her face that, yet again, didn't reach her eyes.
Komui flung himself over his desk, hitting Nadeshiko's shoulder on the way, and attached himself to Lenalee's legs. "Why didn't you tell me Lenalee-chan?" He cried, sobbing comically.
Lenalee looked down at her brother and sighed, before looking back to her brunette friend who was sitting on the floor from when Komui rammed into her. "What did you tell him this time?"
Nadeshiko shrugged. "Only that I heard you were pregnant."
"You what?" Lenalee exclaimed and quickly placed the tray of mugs down on a nearby stack of paper. "It's okay big brother! Nade was just kidding!"
Komui sniffed and wiped his eyes free of tears. "You're so mean to me Nade-chan!"
Said girl only sighed and got up from her spot on the floor. "I just came to give my mission report." Nadeshiko dusted herself off as Komui immediately went into 'business mode'.
"Did you find any Innocence?"
The brunette removed her pouch from the back of her belt as she answered. "In Germany, China and Pairs, I found Innocence, but it had not yet found a host." She opened the pouch to reveal three glowing pieces of Innocence.
"I see…" Komui nodded. "And in Egypt?"
Nadeshiko shook her head. "Just hallucinations from dehydration."
"Alright then, can you bring these three pieces of Innocence to Hevlaska then?" The Supervisor asked.
"Of course." Nadeshiko headed to the door, closing her pouch to keep the Innocence from falling out.
"I'll go with you Nade! We can chat on the way!" Lenalee said, quickly handing her brother his coffee.
"Sure."
"Bye-bye Lenalee-chan, Nade-chan!" Komui waved as the two girls left his office.
-:-
Nadeshiko and Lenalee sat in the dining hall together, talking and eating. They had just finished delivering the Innocence to Hevlaska and, since it was about six thirty, decided to have something to eat.
"So, how were your missions? Was it exciting to go to all those different places?" Lenalee asked after swallowing a mouthful of her miso soup.
"Eh, the missions themselves weren't very eventful… but the scenery was nice." Nadeshiko admitted, picking up some noodles from her bowl of beef ramen.
"Which did you like the best?"
"Hm… Well, Paris and China were too crowded for my tastes, while Egypt was very… plain, I guess. So I'd have to go with Germany."
"It's good to have you back home, Nade." Lenalee smiled.
Nadeshiko nodded in agreement. "It's a nice feeling." Suddenly, a thought popped into her head. "Say, Lenalee, do you know a guy named 'Lavi'?"
"Lavi? Yeah, why?"
"I ran into him at the library earlier… He said he'd been here for four years so far, so I had left before he even came." Nadeshiko replied.
"Oh, he's Bookman's apprentice." Lenalee stated, and the brunette's eyebrow rose.
"Really? That's surprising… But then again, he was at the library – not many people come there other than the Science Department."
Before Lenalee could reply, someone called out, "Nade-chan!" Said girl looked over her shoulder to see Lavi there.
"Speak of the devil, and he shall come…" Nadeshiko muttered, and turned back to her still half-full bowl of ramen.
"Huh? What was that Nade-chan?"
"…Nothing."
"Aw, don't be like that Nade-chan~!" Lavi protested as he sat down next to the brunette.
"…" Nadeshiko remained silent for a moment. "I heard you're Bookman's apprentice, is that true?"
Lavi blinked. "Yeah…" Then he lowered his head. "Stupid old panda… giving me so much work…"
THWACK!
"Ow! What was that for, old man?" Lavi exclaimed, holding his head in pain where said 'old panda' had hit him. "When'd you even get here?"
Bookman placed his hand back into his sleeve. "You should learn to respect your elders, boy." Then he turned to Nadeshiko. "Ah, Nadeshiko. I am glad to see that you are back from your missions unharmed. I trust you are well?"
Nadeshiko nodded. "Yeah."
"Wait! You know Nade-chan?" Lavi questioned, looking incredulously at Bookman. "How?"
"That is not of any importance to you. Now, unless you are done all of the work I gave you, I suggest you should go back to the library." Bookman replied, grabbed Lavi by his ear and dragged said boy away.
"Aw man! No more, panda!" Lavi cried.
THWACK!
Lenalee giggled as Lavi's cries faded away. "Ah, everything's normal for the time being."
"Normal? That's normal? Damn, Lavi must've messed this place up bad…" Nadeshiko retorted as she pushed her bowl away.
"You done eating, Nade?" Said brunette nodded. "But you only ate half of the ramen…"
Nadeshiko shrugged. "You know how I am, never really hungry… Jeryy really should know by now not to waste so much food on me."
Lenalee sighed. "You should eat more, Nade, it's not healthy to eat that little."
"Eh, I'm fine." Nadeshiko replied. "Oh, also, I heard Kanda bad-mouthing some 'moyashi'… You know the poor soul?"
"Oh! That's right! You haven't met Allen yet!" Lenalee suddenly exclaimed. "Come on!" She grabbed her friend's hand and pulled her up from the bench before dragging her out of the dining hall.
"Hey! I can walk, you know!"
AN/
Yay! That's it for chapter one! How do you guys like it so far…? I'm sorry if Lavi, Lenalee or Komui weren't in character! If they were, then… thank goodness!
Anyways, please review!