First MariexMiranda fic so go easy on me. This story takes place after chapter 198 but isn't quite up to 208. Which means Kanda is still assumed DEAD in this. If you haven't read the manga up to date, this fic may have spoilers and be a little confusing.
Enjoy and please review.
D gray man and its characters are NOT mine. They belong to Katsura Hoshino.
"...Dead?"
Noise Marie stood in Komui's office with General Tiedoll and his teammate Chaoji. As they had just returned to the Black order HQ after a long mission, these three had not heard of the events that had taken place at the North American Branch a few days ago. From what Marie had heard while returning into the HQ, as he walked down to Komui's office, there was an attack at HQ by some Noahs and Allen and Kanda had been caught in the middle of it. And...Alma Karma, the one boy next to Yu Kanda who had been in the second exorcist program, who central agency had hidden from the world for so many years to use as a tool for the third exorcist program, had awakened. Well, that was all Marie had heard. He didn't know any details...until now.
According to Komui, Allen Walker had committed treason and used the ark without permission in order to HIDE Yu Kanda and the newly awakened Alma Karma from the rest of the order. Allen had done a good job of hiding those two because the Black order claimed they were never able to locate those two after that. And due to what the others at the said attacked branch saw what had happened to Kanda right before Allen used the ark, there was only one guess the order could come up with and this seemed very likely due to the circumstances. Yu Kanda was, as of now, pronounced dead. This news was unbelievable to Marie when he had first heard it.
"You said...he's dead?" Marie questioned again, opening his eyes in which he only did this when he was surprised at something. Komui, who stood before the team, nodded seriously,
"Yes...he was pronounced dead a few days ago. Allen used the ark to hide Kanda and Alma from us. We may have never found their bodies but..." Komui adjusted his glasses, "I think we have enough evidence pointing to the conclusion that Yu Kanda is indeed, no longer of this world. I'm sorry to be the barer of such bad news, especially right when you three return from your mission."
Tiedoll and his team stood there frozen for a moment, trying to take in the horrible news that had just been given to them. And then...their reactions finally came. Chaoji immediately broke into tears and ran out of the office. Tiedoll fell to his knees as he got ready to cry himself. And finally, Marie. The blind exorcist clenched a hand into a fist and bit his lip,
'Dead...' Marie blinked and looked upwards, 'Even though I was never able to repay the favor...' Tears began to leak from Marie's clear-colored, blue eyes.
The news was almost too much to stomach. Kanda was gone. Just as so many others of Marie's comrades from the past. And the favor Marie was referring to was something that happened nine years ago. Shortly after becoming blind, Marie was severely injured on a mission and was suppose to become a part of the second exorcist program. However, Kanda saved him from that before the scientists had a chance to hurt him as they had done to the other exorcists. Yes...Kanda had saved his life. Marie was always so grateful to Kanda for that and had promised to one day repay the favor. But now...it was too late. Kanda was dead. There was no way of repaying him now.
Marie bowed respectively to Komui, handed him his mission report, and walked out. The supervisor of the order sighed sadly and looked to Tiedoll who had gotten up off the floor. The general wiped his eyes and kept his head down,
"...Ma-kun and Yu-kun had known each other for a long time. Kanda was his teammate...his friend...so its only natural he'd take it hard too..." Tiedoll looked back up to see Komui nod at him,
"Indeed." Komui and Tiedoll then bowed their heads in prayer for their fallen exorcist.
In the mess hall, everyone of the order gathered, discussing and crying over various things that had come of their missions. Yu Kanda was dead, Allen Walker was now imprisoned because of what he had done for Kanda and Alma, the third exorcists the order had made were now full blown akuma and worked for the Earl, and Lavi and Bookman were missing. Yes, everything that could have gone wrong, had indeed.
At a table in the middle of the mess hall sat a quiet Miranda Lotto and Lenalee Lee.
"L-Lenalee-chan..." Miranda mustered out, looked to her friend sitting across from her. Lenalee looked up and immediately saw the worry in Miranda's face,
"Whats wrong Miranda?" She asked her friend in her usual, gentle, sweet tone of voice. Miranda then began to twirl her fingers in a nervous fashion,
"U-Um...well..." A small splash of blush suddenly appeared on Miranda's pale cheeks, 'I'm concerned...about someone that is very important to me..." Lenalee rose a brow as she tried to figure out who said 'someone' was.
"Are you speaking of Allen-kun?" Out of reflex, Miranda put up her hands, shaking her head no. But it wasn't long before she took it all back.
"I-I'm mean, I'm worried about about Allen too but..." It was true. Poor Allen was imprisoned by Central agency now. He was Miranda's friend and very important to her. So yes, she was worried about him too of course. However, he was not the one she had been referring to previously.
Lenalee continued to ponder for a moment when Miranda spoke up again,
"...Marie." The time exorcist mumbled, placing a hand over her heart, Lenalee sat there, frozen for a moment before a big, glimmering smile spread across her face (in which that was the first time she had smiled since hearing of what happened to Allen),
"Ohhh, I see...But wait, I thought Marie hadn't gotten hurt or anything on his last mission so why..."
Miranda shook her head, "Oh, he didn't get hurt. He's in perfect health...its just, the other day when I went to greet him...he didn't seem like himself. I think he may be depressed...and knowing the countless times I, myself have gone into depression, I know how bad it is. So I'm concerned...it isn't like Marie to get upset like this." Miranda began to twirl her fingers once more. Lenalee pondered for a moment then looked up sadly,
"I think I know why...Kanda was pronounced dead a few days ago..." The green-haired exorcist said, tears filling up her eyes. It pained her to say such things...especially about Kanda who had been a long time friend.
Miranda saw Lenalee's tears and realization suddenly came over the woman. She had remembered hearing about Kanda a few days ago. Miranda now felt extremely sad herself. Part of it was about Kanda but...the other part was for Marie. He had lost one of his best friends and a comrade. The twenty-six year old could only imagine the pain Marie felt, especially knowing how big Marie's heart was. The exorcist wished there was something she could do for Marie. Something to cheer him up...just as he had always done for her. She then remembered all the times she had become depressed after joining the order, just like Marie was now. Usually Allen and Lenalee would cheer her up but when they were away, she seemed to be out of luck. That is, until she met Marie. He made the difference. When no one else could be there to help Miranda through her spazz attacks, mental break downs, or just plain depression, Marie was always the one person she could count on to be there for her when she really needed support.
He was there for her when she got depressed after she went on her first mission. He was there when she got upset after they had all returned from finding General Cross and while she was in the infirmary, Marie would sometimes come and sit by her bedside. Marie was there for her after Lulubell captured her during the HQ attack. Miranda remembered how Marie had gently held her in his arms. She also remembered waking up to activate her time record only to see Marie looking down at her, worry in his face. Even after the HQ attack, Marie made her feel better by saying those simple words,
"You did good."
Marie had always been there for her. Even after she freaked out after spilling the hair tonic all over Lenalee and Bookman during the HQ move. Yes, he was always there. He always was able to make her smile, no matter how bad the depression was or how pathetic she felt. Marie was her refuge. And now...it was her turn to cheer him up and make him smile even though he was going through depression himself.
Standing up in determination, Miranda clenched her fist and looked towards the door leading out of the mess hall, "I-I've decided I'm going to cheer Marie up!" Lenalee's eyes widened in surprise,
"Oh. That's nice Miranda," Lenalee smiled nervously, "But...how do you plan to go about cheering him up?"
...Miranda immediately sat back down. She knew she wanted to cheer Marie up, but as Lenalee had brought up, HOW would she? Marie had lost a friend. He was upset. He was probably going through a worst depression then she had ever had when he cheered her up. The only way to cheer him up that Miranda could think of was to just try talking to him. But...that was so cliche in these situations. Besides, she wanted to do much MORE for him than just saying a few things like,
"It'll be okay. I'm here if you need a shoulder to cry on." Or maybe even something like,
"There, there. Time heals all wounds."
No. Those lines were way too cliche. Besides, something like that would probably only upset him further. And besides, Miranda wasn't good at pep talks anyways. Miranda shut her eyes, trying to think of a way she could make Marie feel better...and then it hit her.
"...What if I get him a feel-better present?" Miranda suggested, looking at her friend in wonder. Lenalee smiled again and nodded,
"That's a great idea, Miranda! So what are you going to get Marie?"
...Miranda was back at square one.
'Maybe this will be harder than I thought...' The clumsy exorcist thought to herself, a dark aura of gloom surrounding her.
In the training area of the order, Marie sat alone on the floor, listening to all the different sounds he heard going throughout the HQ. Things in the order had seemed to calm down compared to a few days ago. But maybe that was just the depression and sorrow for various things setting in. Even now, the blind exorcist still couldn't believe it. Kanda was dead. It was sad, yes. However, his feelings for the news had changed over the course of the past few days. When Marie thought about how much Kanda had hated the Black order, then perhaps his death was a good thing? He was finally free. Free from the living hell known as being an exorcist and a member of the Black order. Freedom was something Kanda had finally achieved and it was always something he had deserved. And now it was his.
Those thoughts put Marie's heart a little at ease and made him less sad about his fallen comrade. That isn't to say he still wasn't upset. He was...but Kanda wasn't coming back so moping around the order, whining and moaning about it wasn't going to help. So he decided to go to the training area and try to take his mind off things. He didn't have anyone to train with at the moment. Allen was imprisoned, Kanda was dead, Lavi and Bookman were missing. Thus the reason he was all alone in the training room.
'I guess that's enough training for today.' Marie thought, standing up. Before he could make his way to the door to leave, a certain sound wave came through the exorcist's headphones, 'Foot steps...?'
The footsteps Marie heard were familiar ones he had heard countless times around the order. They were light and swift yet not very graceful at the same time. Just then Marie heard the foot steps come to a stop and then a loud scream following the sound of someone falling shortly after. The Noel Organon user made his way to the door, slid it open, and looked down towards where he now heard the heavy, panicked breathing that was coming from the person on the floor before him. He immediately recognized the heard beat pattern causing joy to suddenly overwhelm him,
"Miranda...What are you doing here?" He asked, holding out a hand to help the distressed woman up. As she opened her mouth to speak, Miranda graciously took hold of Marie's hand and breathed a deep breath as she attempted to calm herself down,
"I-I was just...ummm..." Miranda anxiously looked down and felt her heart stop when she saw that bits of cake now covered her dress and the floor as well. 'Damn!' She thought, realizing that her clumsiness had caused her to crush the gift she had planned to give to Marie.
Sighing out of failure, Miranda bent down and began to pick up the pieces of cake that were scattered across the floor of the Black order. The female exorcist was thankful for one thing. Marie's being blind. She only was thankful for it since he could not see, then that meant he did not see the cake that she had planned to give him. Now, she could just as easily go back and prepare another cake and give him the new one later without him ever knowing she had crushed the first gift with her body...
"...Is that cake, Miranda?" The time record exorcist dropped the left over cake from her hands and fell to the ground, sweat dropping. If he was blind, then how could he know there was caking laying everywhere and on her? Miranda thought for a moment. Oh yeah...he had enhanced hearing so perhaps he had heard the cake fall when she tripped. However, to Miranda, that sound seemed to be a hard one to distinguish and so she asked the question anyways,
"H-How did you know it was a cake?" Miranda asked in the most polite voice she could manage. A small smile spread across Marie's face,
"The smell. I thought it had smelled like a freshly baked cake. I wasn't sure but it seems my guess was right." The man leaned down to help pick up the remaining pieces of food, "...What was that cake for, anyway?"
Miranda's face instantly turned a shade of red that would put Cross' hair color to shame. Marie heard the blood rush to Miranda's face and he couldn't help but let out a small chuckle.
"Oh, um...well, the cake...the cake was for..." Miranda looked at her fingers that were now covered with frosting. She bit her lip hard, feeling an overwhelming amount of anxiety sweep over her, "...I'm sorry."
Marie rose a brow in confusion, "Huh?"
Miranda stood up and held her head down, causing her bangs to now cover her eyes, "I'm so sorry..."
The blind man could sense Miranda was about to break down, as she always did after having an accident such as this,
"Miranda...?"
Just then, the sound exorcist heard tears pour from the woman's eyes. Marie opened his eyes in concern,
"Miranda, why are you..."
"The cake was...for you-" The time recorder grabbed her throat as she could feel herself began to have breathing troubles from her crying. Not only that, but now she could feel as if she was actually being swallowed up by her own failure, "B-But I crushed it with my body...! I'm so sorry!"
Marie's eyes widened as he heard Miranda's previous words play over and over in his mind,
"The cake was for you."
Noise could feel the blood rushing to his face, "Miranda, you made me a cake?"
Stopping her crying, Miranda let out a loud sniffle, "Y-Yes...well, I tried to at least. I wanted to cheer you up since you've been down lately..."
A slight pause...Marie stared towards Miranda, "Wait, how did you know I was feeling down?" Miranda wiped one of her eyes,
"B-Because you weren't acting like yourself...You seemed...upset. I could tell somehow. So I made the cake in hopes of making you feel better...because you lost a friend. I felt like I should...make you something or do something to cheer you up. After all, you've cheered me up so many times...so I thought that it was my turn now. To repay the favor..."
'She wanted to...cheer me up?' Noise thought before a small smile spread across his face,
"But I messed everything up!" Miranda cried out, covering her eyes as more tears came, "I really am useless...I couldn't even be careful this one time even though it meant getting something special to you...Now I won't be able to make you feel-"
"Thank you Miranda."
"...?" The time exorcist uncovered her eyes and rose her head in shock. Marie's smile only grew warmer,
"I feel much better now. Thanks to you."
Reaching out a hand, Marie took one of Miranda's frosting-covered hands and licked some of the frosting off, flirtatiously. The twenty six year old immediately turned as red as a tomato.
After a moment of trying to regain her composure, Miranda frowned sadly, disbelieving what he had just said to her,
"B-But...I wasn't able to give you the cake...That was the thing that was going to make you feel..." Miranda's voice trailed off at the sudden feeling of a hand stroking her cheek,
"Miranda, you're the one that cheered me up. I mean, the cake was a nice thought and I would have loved to have some but that isn't what helped me feel better. Its because you were here. Thank you, Miranda."
Blushing even more, the woman nervously twirled her fingers as she tried to contain the happiness she was now feeling,
"Y-You're welcome...It was just to repay you for all those times you helped me. And..." Miranda paused to take a deep breath, "I...don't enjoy seeing you sad."
Down the hall, Tiedoll and Komui walked together to go to Hevlaska's chamber,
"I wonder if we should hold a funeral later for those who died. What do you think General?"
Tiedoll suddenly came to a stop in the middle of the hallway. Komui noticed this and looked back at the artist in wonder,
"General...?"
"Oh my..." Tiedoll stared towards something that seemed to be down the left corridor in front of him.
Now curious, Komui walked over to the general and looked to where he was looking. The chiefs jaw dropped. Down the corridor before them stood Marie and Miranda. Only, what they saw was truly unexpected, especially of those two exorcists. They were...hugging. In a strong, and what seemed to be quite loving, embrace. The sight made hairs stand up on top of Komui's head,
"This is...um...an interesting development."
Tiedoll nodded in agreement as tears filled his eyes, "Indeed...Ma-kun is growing up so fast. Oh, I so wish Yu-kun was here to see this."
Sweat dropping, Komui watched as Tiedoll turned and began to walk back down the hallway towards Hevlaska's chamber, a waterfall of tears following behind him.
'Are those tears of joy or sadness...? Oh well.' Komui shrugged and smirked to himself, breathing a sigh of relief, 'Ah Kanda...You're missing all the good stuff now that you're gone. If only there was some way for you to come back.' Komui turned to walk away but looked back at Marie and Miranda who seemed to still be in an embrace. The supervisor smiled, 'But I don't think there is anything to worry about. It looks like your teammate will be just fine...'
Back down the corridors, Marie and Miranda broke their hug and were now looking at the floor with bright red faces,
"D-Do you feel better now?" Miranda stuttered, trying to look Noise in the face,
"Much better." He responded, chuckling slightly. A few seconds of silence passed when, out of no where, Marie took hold of Miranda's hand, "Miranda...would it be too much to ask if you could bake another cake? I'll help in any way I can..."
The woman's face lite up in excitement, "O-Oh, yes, of course! I just need to get supplies from the kitchen and I can make a cake for the both of us..." Marie grinned at this,
"Sounds good." The two happily made their way to the mess hall hand in hand. And finally, after a week of hearing about his fallen comrade, Noise Marie finally felt back to his old self. And it was all thanks to the clumsiest, craziest, and most spastic woman he knew in the order...Miranda Lotto.
Authors comments: Sorry for any ooc-ness. I feel that happened a lot in this. I meant to submit this a few days ago but got lazy and didn't type the rest up until today. Well, as I said, this was my first one shot so go easy on me.