I want this to only be three chapters to match with the three event days but I'm not sure how well that's going to work. It may end up being four chapters?
Head splitting with pain, Lenalee wiped her forehead with a shaky hand. As she felt how wet that made her hand, she brought her hand down to look at. It glistened red.
She winced and stiffened recalling the fight she was in the night before. The details were still hazy and the surrounding area helped clue her in more than anything else. The finder that had shielded her from the blast was likely killed by the akuma. Only his clothes, draped over her body with the dust that used to be him remained.
There were two more piles of clothes of used-to-be-finders among the rubble. Only one of the four finder's bodies was actually intact. Even though she hated seeing his mangled form, Lenalee had to admit that this would at least give closure to the man's family.
She wiped as much of the blood of that she could off and stood. Her feet were wobbly, one heel of her shoe had broken, and she had to hold her arms out to balance herself while the dizzy spell passed.
Dusting off as much of the residue as she could, Lenalee frowned. Her uniform was only slightly darker now — but it was still covered in a dead body…
When she walked through the grass, she failed to notice a missing chunk of the ground as she looked at the hole in the stone cottage next to the clearing. She hit the ground with a groan and rolled to her side. While she rubbed her arm and opened the eyes she had closed unconsciously, Lenalee felt a wave of dread run over her.
In front of her laid Tyki Mikk. He had been hit by the blast although she had thought that it was him that caused it. It must have been an akuma she concluded from this. She reached out to feel his pulse but the warmth of his skin was confirmation enough.
Both of their clothes were ripped to shreds. Her coat was missing a chunk of its sleeve and the frills from the top of her skirt were just barely holding on, the bottom ones were long gone. He was missing half his jacket and a shirt sleeve plus a chunk of his right pant leg.
He winced in his sleep as she brought a rag to his cuts.
Lenalee didn't know why she brought him back to their campsite. If any of the finders were alive, they would have opposed it with no question but he looked so helpless on the ground that Lenalee couldn't stop herself.
As she finished dressing the wounds, she tossed his tattered clothes aside, not even considering putting them back on him. Lenalee walked back to the battle site and approximated which of the finder's was his size.
She went back and checked on him. Tyki didn't stir at all while she prodded him or changed the ice cold cloth on his head, grateful that the finders brought an ice box with them.
Then Lenalee rifled through the personal supplies that the finders brought for a clean shirt for the noah. While she was at it she took the liberty to put on a new shirt herself.
Taking his shirt off was easy enough. Putting one on was harder. Much harder.
She didn't like slinging him over her shoulder and walking with how heavy he was but propping his back up and trying to shove his arms through the cloth was possibly more stressful than fighting him. Surprisingly, it involved dropping and apologizing to him more as well. But that was not a surprise with his dead weight not wanting to stay up no matter what she did.
When she finally got it on, Lenalee sighed and smiled. She relaxed a little, putting one leg between his and sitting on his thigh to button the shirt. As she aligned it from the center, she realized it was the right length for his arms but not quite for his torso as she buttoned upwards.
To keep it from straining against his cuts, she stopped so the top was left open and instead buttoned downwards. She heard a yawn and looked up as his eyes fluttered open and he brought his hands up to rub his head.
Tyki looked at her with confusion as he noticed Lenalee sitting on top of him. She balled her fists and tensed as he looked from her face down to her hands. "What are you doing?" He asked cautiously.
Her hands flew up as she realized how close she was to his belt and apologized. She leaned to the side and went to stand when he grabbed her arm.
She whipped her head back and prepared to activate her innocence as sheepishly looked at her. "Are we… or rather…" He glanced away before looking back. "I'm sorry but who are you?"
Lenalee knit her eyebrow and eyed him wearily. "Lenalee," she said quietly. "Do you still want me to bandage your leg?"
"My leg," he said quizzically as he looked down and saw the scrapes and light cuts on it. The blood that was there had already been wiped away. He smiled and ran his fingers through his hair, wincing fractionally. "If you're offering then I won't say no."
He was not looking at her when he spoke and Lenalee was glad for that. Her eyes were so wide that she thought they might pop out of her head. She knew Tyki was more than passive she thought a noah should be from their meeting in the ark but she never thought of him as, well, meek.
She scooped the medical kit up and retrieved the roll of cloth and slowly wrapped his leg once she pushed the torn cloth up.
"That symbol," he said while looking at the breast of her coat. "I know it but I can't remember why…" He almost reached out to touch it but thought better than to touch her without asking.
She cut a look to the rose cross as she reached for sheers to cut the cloth. "It's for the church. You know — where I work ." She straightened up and looked at him face to face again.
He thumbed the yellow jacket she had rolled up to use as a pillow for him. "Why is my coat different?" Tyki asked. "I thought I had a black one?" When she studied his face, Lenalee could only see confusion.
"Y-yeah," Lenalee said. "The jacket was missing so much that I didn't think you would want it anymore. That…" She stopped herself. Lenalee didn't know if this would be a good idea. He looked at her expectantly and she decided that there was a chance, be it small, that it would work. "That's your overcoat. All finders wear them."
Tyki looked like he was about to question the information so Lenalee reached to the discarded clothes of his and patted around the pile until she grabbed a hard section and a pair of glasses were presented to him. "Here," she smiled, "You'll probably be wanting these."
"Thanks!" He replied with enthusiasm. While he put them on, Tyki remarked how many times he forgets them when he is busy. Lenalee reached for a white mask that another one of the finders wore and pocketed it when he was looking the other direction.
"We should go back home," Lenalee said picking up her bag and tossing a random finder's to Tyki. He nodded in agreement.
She knew she was going to regret this.
"As much as I'd like to hang back and not work after a mission," Tyki finally said when they were in a carriage to town, "I know someone will miss me if I'm gone too long." He sighed and closed his eyes. "This is so annoying..."
"I'm sorry." Lenalee bunched her fists. There was a seed of guilt in her heart. She didn't consider that the noah were so close when she decided to lie and take him back to the Order. She was unsure why, but Lenalee wanted to show the noah that the Order was not as bad as they all made it sound.
She felt like a hypocrite. Lenalee knew she despised the organization, the experiments, and the shackles that it provided. She was dragging him down in a way that was surely worse than when they found that she was compatible with innocence.
"You can't be sorry for something you didn't cause." Tyki put the hood over his eyes to shield from the sun that beamed through the window. "You said the akuma caused the explosion. And I'm sure her name will come back."
Lenalee could feel a headache coming on from how scrunched her features were becoming. "Her?"
"I think she's my niece," he laughed, "for all I know, I could have a nephew or wife and not realize it."
She giggled a bit, "Even with an injury like that, I'm sure that you'll remember the people most important to you."
Tyki smiled and nodded. She could tell he was thinking about some of them from the way his shoulders relaxed and a smile graced his face. "You're right, Lenalee. I can figure out their names later."
They didn't talk much longer as fell asleep.
At the church, she nervously gave them the code and they were given access to the ark. She stepped in and breathed a sigh of relief that they didn't notice that there was a difference in the finder she was with besides the fact that there were fewer.
Lenalee started walking to the door that lead to the main branch but stopped when she could not hear his footsteps. She watched him look around with his head tilted back for a few minutes. He leaned against a wall and ran his fingers against a plant that spilled down the wall.
"Is everything alright," Lenalee asked. She walked back slowly.
He nodded. "Never been better." The genuine tone of his words made a feeling she couldn't name rise up in her chest. Nervousness or nostalgia, perhaps? It wasn't bad but it made her want to step back from the gentle smile he had.
As her single heel clicked on the ground, he snapped back to reality and rubbed his arm. "Sorry again. We should probably get back." He glanced to her feet, leaving a lingering look at the red anklets she wore, before walking at her side.
Before stepping out into the main branch, Lenalee handed him the mask and asked that he wear it as much as possible. He didn't understand the shift in her behavior when she said it would be best for him to not ask any questions or to draw much attention but agreed nonetheless.
When they came out, Tyki saw something coming towards her quickly. He reacted before he even processed what it could have been. Tyki pulled her aside, leaving Komui to grab the empty space in the air and for Lenalee to pinch her nose. "Lenalee!" Her brother cried as he came over and pulled her in for another hug. "Last night when we had a call that a noah attacked, I was so worried. We were all worried." He pulled away to look her in the eyes sadly. "I don't know what I would do if I lost you."
Tyki stood back and slowly walked behind her to as much of a secluded area he could find while he waited for Lenalee. As she went into his office, the noah went to a bookshelf and tried to be inconspicuous.
Of course, he was in a yellow coat among a room full of people in white ones.
Lenalee explained what happened and wrote her report with creative liberties taken. She omitted the names of the finders who died, and especially the one whose coat she had stolen for Tyki, in hopes that no one who read it would catch a lie in her writing. It was a paper of her own inventions so to say. She just needed to keep it short and simple. She didn't add anything that didn't happen in detail nor did she add things that weren't relevant to the mission.
Truthfully, it was the same as most her reports. Jot down whether the mission was a waste, a failure or a success. Then there was a tiny bit more if people died. Altogether, it was half a page.
After coming out of his office and continuously reminding her brother that she was fine, Lenalee sighed as she spotted Tyki. The scientists were questionably watching him as he stood there fidgeting with the frayed bits on the sleeves.
"God, you're trying to kill me aren't you..." she mumbled as she pulled him out of the room of scientists and into the halls again. She had shield her face fulling knowing that they were all watching but it at least made her feel a little better.
In the cafeteria, Lenalee let go of him. She didn't know why she was treating him like a child that would wander off when he was an adult – she assumed he was at least older than Lavi, although younger than Krory.
She knew a lot less about him than she originally thought as he followed her diligently, much to her amazement. At the window, they ordered their food and that was the most surprising thing for her.
Lenalee expected him to say some fancy far off dish when Jerry asked but instead, he just said fish. "Surprise me" helped Jerry only a tad more for his order but in Lenalee's opinion just made it harder for the chef to cook.
While waiting, Lenalee found a seat by Allen and Timothy to sink her face into her hands and sighed. Tyki lazily waited by the pick-up window.
"We heard you had a rough night," Timothy said between mouth fulls. "Good to see you in one piece."
She sighed and leaned against the table with her arms down. "If anything thing," she exasperated, "today has felt worse."
"Maybe see the nurse after this?" Allen suggested.
He smiled, offering her a plate but she declined and went to see how her curry was coming along.
Lenalee wished she had just stayed with Tyki who was being questioned by one of the helpers at the window. "What do you mean you don't know your name?" The man asked to which Tyki shrugged and apologized. As the man made him turn around to look if it was written in the coat Lenalee practically ran over. "'J' ring a bell?"
Tyki waved to her and tried to respond although skeptical of his own answer, "Jo–"
"John," Lenalee cut off without a beat. She had the sense that whatever name he had on his mind was almost certainly going to cause trouble in the long run. "Excuse him, he hit his head on our mission and has been having some issues." Almost on cue, Tyki rubbed the back of his head with a goofy grin.
"I thought the only 'J' name on your mission was James," Link said as he moved between the two and pick up his lunch.
"Yes," Tyki and Lenalee said in unison. While she followed with John James, he said the reverse.
Lenalee smacked her face. There was no way she could see him surviving an hour much less the day. He grimaced and looked away from the visible chagrin he was causing her although the mask he wore hid it well.
While they attempted to sort out the details of his name, they and Link effectively cut off the window for meals to be picked up. Not long after, Allen joined them in trying to decide which was Tyki's "name."
Kanda wasn't happy with the backlog. He tapped his foot for a hot minute before calling out Allen as the cause of the problem. That immediately caused a bigger issue with threats and pushing. Lenalee ignored it and stayed out of the way until Kanda went to draw his sword. She grabbed the samurai's arm and Link grabbed Allen's to keep them from getting much closer to each other. His patience snapped, however, when Allen continued to taunt him.
Unsheathing Mugen, Kanda practically lunged at the white haired teen, slashing upwards. Link pulled Allen out of the way while Lenalee watched in horror as he missed him by an inch. Allen continued making digs and snide remarks. Even though Kanda's anger was rising, he couldn't resist pressing any button available.
Link, with exasperation, could barely keep Allen out of range. "Walker, if you don't stop this I am going to report you," Link scolded as Kanda tried to lunge again.
"Oh It's fine," Allen said dismissively. "He's just high strung because he can't get laid by anyone."
"Excuse me?" Kanda yelled, his anger boiling to new heights.
Allen replied with mirth, "Bye then~!"
Lenalee could see Tyki trying to help her hold Kanda back from the corner of her eye while she and the inspector chastised Allen. "Ty— Team!" She yelled with wide eyes. "W-we're a team, so stop fighting."
She couldn't figure out how to tell him to stop without using his actual name as Kanda circled around. The swift movement of his sword and their close quarters made Lenalee anxiously squeeze her eyes tight. A few gasps sounded from the tables.
In the silence, Lenalee cracked an eye open. Her hesitance was ignored as she saw the blood dripping from the hand over Tyki's mouth. What was left of the mask was stained red.
The sneer he had could be seen in his hard eyes and in his harsh voice as he pulled Kanda forward by the collar.
"What the fuck was that for?" Tyki snarled. His knuckles were white from the pressure of his fist, pulling Kanda so close that his heels left the ground and he could feel the rage radiating off the noah.
Lenalee ripped her handkerchief from her pocket and forcefully pressed it against the noah's mouth. "We're going to the nurse," she croaked.
Pulling the two apart was easier than she thought it would be. Tyki reluctantly let go of Kanda. Kanda, on the other hand, was too awestruck to object to any of her actions. As fast as she could, Lenalee pushed him away from all the gawking stares and down the hall.
Lenalee forced him to sit on a bed in the medical wing. "Just when I thought you might be fine by yourself." Lenalee shook her head. She switched hands that were applying pressure. From the scarlet hue glossing her hand, she could tell her handkerchief was as useful as trying to break up a fight between Allen and Kanda.
"Lenalee, I heard you come in– Are you alright?" The head nurse grabbed Tyki's face to look at the cut more closely. He winced as she looked him over, turning his head and checking how deep the gash was. He flinched at her hand coming in contact with the wound but didn't stop the woman.
While cleaning the wound, Lenalee could hear him yelp and be scolded for moving. She was having another nurse check her for a possible concussion after explaining what happened on the mission and in the cafeteria.
After their assessments and his treatments were completed, Lenalee dragged him back through the halls by his wrist. He rolled his eyes but went along with the method she seemed to prefer to lead him with. He wanted to ask all the questions whirling around his head but Lenalee was busy talking to herself and his mouth still hurt.
She had a tight hold of him. Her fingers were curled around his joints snuggly but dimly he noted that her hold would be easy to break from.
Swinging a door in the halls open, Lenalee let go of Tyki. "In," the exorcist demanded as he rubbed the pink tone that she added to his wrist. He watched as she took the pair of shoes off and threw them across the room in a can by a desk and crossed to the bed on the other side in a tizzy. She dropped back onto the fluffy surface with an aggravated huff.
Tyki sat next to her and bumped her foot until she moved her bangs aside to glare at him clearly. He started to smile but flinched and put a hand to his mouth.
"Aurghh," she vexed, "This is all my fault."
Tyki watched her unbutton her coat and sigh before he spoke carefully, not wanting to open the scabs that had started to form. "I still don't know what's all happening here but…" He ran a hand through his hand through his hair. "I'm not supposed to be here, am I?"
"No," Lenalee said. "I was an idiot for bringing you here." She rolled over so she wouldn't have to look him in the eye. "But if others find out then you and I will both pay for it." Humming in wonder, Tyki leaned on his hand and side to watch her. "Imprisonment, death, things like that." She turned her head to look at him apologetically. "You'll probably be killed or tortured since you're technically our enemy."
"Delightful," He deadpanned.
"I'm sorry." She buried her face in her blanket. "This is all my fault," she screamed into the mattress. Tyki, unexpectedly, patted her back and told her it was alright.
After explaining that his memories should come back slowly, they came to the agreement that they would cover for each other until he knew what to do with himself. Lenalee took most of the time after to explain his job as a finder and how the order worked.
As she was showing him a map, there was a knock on the door. Lenalee closed the paper and got up to open it. Cross grinned and came in with a quick hello.
"So this is what's happened," the general said with an understanding that she couldn't interpret, "Allen said he saw someone familiar." As she closed the door, Lenalee saw his mood shift from his calm façade to the blatant bewilderment that he was masking. "Why do you have a noah in your room?"
She held a finger to her lips and shushed him.
"Why is he here?" Cross questioned more darkly. "Do you want to be killed?"
"Because I was stupid and thought it was a good idea at the time!"
The redhead pushed Tyki aside and crossed his arms. As he glared at the noah, Tyki tentatively sat back on the side of the bed. Lenalee pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed deeply. She spoke with as little frustration as she could, "It's fine. He doesn't even remember who he is."
"That's right," Tyki said confidently. He crossed his arms triumphantly and stuck his nose up. "I have retrograde amnesty."
Incredulously looking at him with wide eyes, the general couldn't even muster a fake laugh. "Idiot." He shook his head and turned back to Lenalee. "I'll help where I can and I bet my stupid apprentice will too. And to make myself clear: I'm doing this for you. You better think of a way out as soon as he slips up."
"I'm confused," Tyki said with concern, "I'm a finder and from what I got from Lenalee just now, no one even gives most of us a second look."
Lenalee plopped down on the empty space between them on the bed and pushed Tyki's shoulder to move him over more. "You're a finder now, so try to just work on fitting in with them. I'll explain more when some of that amnesia goes away." She wished he had amnesty at this point.
Cross scoffed. He didn't believe this was real and examined Tyki with scrutiny in his eyes.
In the library a few weeks later, Lenalee was searching for cookbooks when she lost track of Tyki. After hunting for him by herself she came across Emilia who was looking for Timothy. The two agreed to split up and look for both of them at the same time. The young exorcist was supposed to be studying while the noah was supposed to just stay out of trouble.
The incident in the cafeteria was bad enough. Everyone knew who "J.J." was thanks to him blowing up at Kanda. Lavi had suggested the nickname to keep figuring out what to call him off of others minds and make it seem like he fit in more. Occasionally Lavi called him "Jay" which didn't help Tyki to keep track of who was calling to him in conversations. But it was just another thing he slowly became accustomed to.
Emilia and Lenalee turned over the whole library looking for the two of them. Bookman, who came to observe the ruckus they were making when the noise became too much, stood near the entrance of the room to ensure that the two boys couldn't get away.
Tossing a couch pillow aside, Emilia sat on one of the couches and cracked open a book on mathematics. "I swear," she said, "Timothy is understandably hard to find, but J.J., a man who is nearly 190 cm tall? It makes no sense."
Lenalee hummed in agreement as she continued to browse the shelves.
Bookman watched her, perplexed that they were nowhere to be found. The sound of a wheel squeaking led him to turn around and see one of the metal ladders move. As he followed the metal piece to the top he spotted the boys on top of the tall wooden shelves playing a game of cards.
They quietly took turns pulling cards from each other. Tyki congratulated the boy with a smile or hair ruff when he won rounds.
Although he couldn't see them well, the bookman could tell they were having fun and decided to not give them away. Instead, he directed the girls' attention away for long enough when it looked as though they were going to come down.
"Where were you two?" Lenalee asked as she saw them coming from around a bookshelf.
"J.J. was teaching me some things he'd do with his family," exclaimed Timothy.
His blonde tutor raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. "Really now? What exactly did you teach him, Jay?"
He flashed a smile. The wound he had received had healed into a scar that ran from beneath his glasses to just above his chin. "How to hide."
"And poker," Timothy chimed in.
"And poker."
Emilia waited for Tyki to put the boy on his shoulders down before she grabbed their ears and pulled them to the table. They both let out exclamations of pain before she let them go in their seats. "Now," she announced, "While you were playing, I was reading. You can both leave when I see that you understand the material that I went through." Emilia smiled sweetly as Timothy pouted.
He reluctantly took a pencil and paper to copy the problems down. Timothy grumbled, "This isn't fair, you always get farther by yourself."
Tyki frowned but copied the notes down with Timothy. "Next time, we can play after." Using his other hand, he rubbed his ear. It stung from the pressure Emilia used. "Hey Lenalee," Tyki said in a sing-song voice, "Will you see if my boy wants to play poker after this?"
"If you finish before your mission then sure," She pointed out before leaving the library. "You're going on it with Lavi and Krory."
Tyki balanced the stick on top of his lip while trying to figure out the multiplications in front of him. Nonchalantly, he agreed to Lenalee's terms without the forethought that he wouldn't know how to do the problems before him without much guidance from the tutor.
Lenalee greeted Kanda as she entered the training grounds. He glanced at her but didn't acknowledge her otherwise as he practiced his swings. Lenalee didn't mind as she began stretching a few arms lengths away. Their practice was absent of speech for its duration. Kanda left before the dark haired girl could begin to try and strike up another conversation with him so she moved to the dining hall in the hopes of finding Allen.
She didn't need to even ask for Allen's whereabouts as she spotted his white hair as soon as the smell of mouth watering food hit her nostrils. "Want to eat together?" She asked as she jogged over to him.
Allen smiled and looked behind her. He frowned when he didn't see Tyki anywhere in the area. "Aww, no shadow today?" The dejection in his voice made her laugh. "I thought we could match again today."
"Nope, Jay is forced to study with Timothy." They both giggled at the name as they entered. Link furrowed his brow at the inside joke he couldn't understand but didn't ask since he found comfort that Tyki himself didn't understand the joke either when it was used in his presence.
Once they got their food and sat down, the exorcists moved on from small talk. "So how much does he remember now?" Allen glanced to Link to check if he cared. He didn't. They couldn't be too careful though.
Lenalee vaguely explained that he knew who Allen was and most of what had happened between them but not who most of them were. "J.J." could barely remember who the noah were but could recognize a feeling of familiarity when they were brought up. Most of the things about himself that he remembers, she said, relied on his muscle memory at the moment. She gave short examples like poker and reflexes. "Some of the finders that I've talked to said they like that he's more talkative now, compared to when they were training to be finders," She said with a lit.
Allen spat his drink on Link with a cackle. The inspector closed his eyes and took a deep breath before wiping his face off. The teen apologized but Link's set frown wasn't buying his words from the giggles that wouldn't cease.
"Anyways," Lenalee sang, "J.J. said you two play poker a lot more now."
"Yeah," he said moving on to the desserts from his cart. "Do you know when we can next?"
"He wanted to today but after studying will probably just be straight to a mission."
Allen groaned. "I know we need more people at the Black Order but sending out a man who can't even be quite sure of his own age is a little much."
Clinking his cup to get their attention, Link coughed. "I shouldn't say this – but there's no harm in me telling you." The exorcists glanced at each other before looking at the blond perplexed. "I requested that he be put on missions again. Since finders experience a plethora of dangerous situations, that may jog some memories."
"Oh Howie," Allen cooed with a hand on his heart. "You do care." Link smacked him up the head while the exorcist grinned.
Lenalee wasn't so happy about this. After all, one slip up would be both their undoings.