She listened to the flicker of papers being flipped though her file as the man before her signed a few lines here and there. She blinked glancing about the room. It was hideously messy, how does anyone get any work done in this office? She pulled at the end of her dark brown hair before taking up the tea cup in front of her. The cup clattered loosely with the saucer as she took a sip. The warmth of the tea settled her stomach a little better than the snack she had attempted to eat earlier. Being on a ship for three days then another few hours on a train had her drained. She just wished the paperwork process would go a little faster so she can get to her room and just sleep the exhaustion off.
The manila folder in the man's hand finally closed and he gave her a bright smile, "We are so happy you can join us, Mei Yao. Welcome to the British Black Order,"
Mei pushed her hair back and stood stretching out her hand, "Pleasure is all mine, Komui Lee," they shook hands and she proceeded to pick up her single suitcase of clothes as Komui lead her to the door.
"We have a room prepared for you, my sister will be taking you there," the raven haired man was quite the strange fellow with his curly hair and thin spectacles. He opened the door and a pretty girl with hair to her shoulders and long legs greeted them with a smile, "Speak of the devil! Lenalee this is Mei Yao, Mei this is my adorable and cute sister, Lenalee!" Lenalee stepped on the head branch's foot making him cringe.
"Excuse my brother, he's an idiot," Komui whined in the background. Lenalee gathered Mei's items and walked her out of his office and towards the dormitories, "He's smart, but quite the airhead sometimes," she laughed softly. Mei couldn't help notice how pretty her purple eyes were sparkling with so much life, there was joy but she also recognized the lifetime worth of sadness that came with the job.
Mei smiled, "I've only heard great things about him from Renee," which wasn't quite true, but mostly the truth. They arrived upon a wooden door with an ornate gold number plate nailed to it, "23" was etched on it in beautiful script. Lenalee threw open the door revealing a gorgeous room of olive and pale green with a dash of white and brown. The bed had white duvet covers quilted in soft stitches as Mei ran her hand over it. The spacious dwelling also had a large window facing the main building of the Black Order throwing the whole room in a gorgeous natural lighting. The curtains were neatly peeled back and tied at each side. Mei placed her suitcase down and stared out the window with awe. Maybe Britain wasn't going to be as bad as she thought.
"This is more than I could ever ask for," the chocolate haired girl turned to the younger Lee.
Lenalee walked up next to her and gave her shoulder a gentle pat, "We just want to make sure that you're comfortable. You're a long way from home,"
Yes she was. She was transferred from the North American branch on the orders of her Renee Epstain because the European branch's exorcist number had dwindled down to a meager 18 soldiers. Not that one more would do any difference in her opinion.
"Get yourself situated and get acquainted with the place. Dinner hall starts at 6:00pm," Lenalee instructed, she then pointed to a neat wooden drawer, "Your uniforms are in there. Johnny from the science department who designs the uniform got your numbers from your lab, hope you don't mind," Mei shook her head. Lenalee handed her a golden key to her room and stepped out to give her a chance to unpack.
Mei took a deep breath before taking another look around her room then proceeded to throw herself onto her bed. Her body sunk into the luscious cushions of the bedding. A sigh escaped past her lips as she rolled around in her new bedding. She sat up and started to unpack her things, putting away her clothes and putting up photos of her friends back from her old branch. She also erected a photo of her deceased parents holding lovingly onto her in the middle as a toddler. It wasn't much in terms of possession, but it made the place a little homier.
After she had unloaded she locked the door behind her, she took her first step into her new home.
After an hour of aimlessly wandering, Mei gripped the wall in uncertainty. She could've sworn she's been down this hall before. Was it this hall? All these halls looked the same! She stared down the lit path and locked her jaws, she was lost. The dark haired girl had always been directionally challenged. Getting lost was part of her resume. She should've asked Lenalee where the dinner hall was before she left or maybe even just a map. Her stomach suddenly curled itself and Mei groaned as it growled loudly in hunger.
A snigger of laughter erupted from behind her and Mei whirled around, face flushing a deep red when she encountered a very tall boy with unruly flaming red hair falling all over his face. He wore a mischievous grin that made her want to punch him, but it was his eye, his single beryl green eye glinting at her like he knew her secret that made her heart skip. The other was covered in a black eye patch. He leaned against the metal railing of the balcony with his hands stuffed in his white long pants strapped to black boots. The girl gritted her teeth, "Who are you?" she demanded with a point of a finger. It was bad enough he caught her at such a weak moment.
He strutted over (oh how she hated that strut already) and grinned down at her. He was much taller up close, easily past six feet. That meant a whole head taller than her, the height difference was staggering. Mei shrunk back, she didn't want to start a fight on her first day, but was also quite conscious of how close he was. There was a slight aroma of paper, like that of older books and pen ink on him but mixed in with the delightful smell of fresh shampoo. She felt the heat blossom from her neck to her face as she glanced away, she put a hand up. She felt his chest hit the tips of her fingers.
The boy stopped short and gave her a quizzical stare which made her flush a deeper red, "Too close," she stuttered stupidly. There was a slight pause then a burst of laughter.
Mei didn't mean to punch him, but she lost her cool for a moment when he was laughing at her. She was embarrassed and it sort of just happened, her fist landed on his chest and she stormed off not knowing where she was going. Anywhere that wasn't here with him. But he persistently followed her the last few minutes of her turning random corners, she could hear his rhythmic footsteps matching the close proximity of his whistling.
Fed up with his pursuing Mei finally whipped around to face him, "Stop following me!" she hissed at him. He smirked and turned to laugh silently to himself. She wanted to scream. This guy was so aggravating! She stalked up to him and pointed a finger to chest and jabbed him hard, "What do you want from me?"
The boy leaned down and gave her cheeky smile, "Ya going the wrong way, miss. Dining hall is thatta way," he a jabbed a thumb behind him. She stared at him with frustrated eyes as she silently cursed him to kingdom come and back, "Lenalee was worried when you didn't come down to eat. She wanted me to fetch ya. I'm Lavi Bookman by way," He had an accent that she wasn't quite familiar with, sounded almost like Kansai dialect. He struck a hand out at her and she looked at it hesitantly. "C'mon, I don't bite... That much," he winked at her and she made a face at him.
"Mei Yin Yao, new exorcist transfer from the North American branch," Mei slipped her hands into his. His face lit up when she mentioned that she was an exorcist, and she gave his hand a crushing squeeze causing him to back down.
His hands were rough in some areas and she can see the ink spots littering across his skin, "You're a writer?" she inquired turning his hand over in hers to get a better look.
Lavi had a wry grin, "Recorder," he simply said closing his eyes. Girls had such soft hand as she examined in fascination. Her fingers slipped over and under his palm and fingers. He watched as her long dark lashes rose and fell with each blink, her hair, in waves falling to her chest, and the shade of bitter chocolate would occasionally fall from behind her ear and he would get the slightest urge to caress it back.
Lavi reached up when another strand of hair fell but she spoke abruptly and he hastily retracted his hand, "Is it difficult?" she asked glancing up curiously. She had the most dazzling eyes, the color of honey and topaz speckled with brown. She was cute.
"What is?" he asked as she raised his hand. Slowly she placed her own over his, they were larger than hers but similarly both were decorated with light shades of different scars on each their hands.
"Being a Bookman," she said softly, "I've read about the clan in books, their ideology sounds like something very difficult to do. I didn't think I'd meet one in real life,"
Lavi couldn't think of a clever answer for her and found himself silent at her question. Mei looked at the boy and found his face furrowed what seems like conflicted memories, she released his hand and gave him a light tap on the cheek, Lavi blinked in sudden shock. It was then her stomach decided to growl again as Mei clutched at it turning red in the face.
Lavi stared agape at her before he let out a muffled chuckle. That was much better, he looked more brilliant with a smile on than a frown. Mei hadn't meant to delve into such a dreadful topic. Of course it would difficult, such a pity not to fall in love, find happiness all for the sake of being a observer in the shadow.
"Come on, I'll feed ya before you turn in a monstrosity," he grinned stupidly pointing to his cheek from where she had lightly tapped him earlier.
Mei could only grumble under her breath about lousy idiots like him were the bane of her life as she sullenly followed behind the tall Bookman.
The dining hall was a massive cafeteria bustling with an array of distinct individuals. Mei could pick out the finders in their beige outfits, then the scientists in their white lab coats and then there were sparse figures dressed in black and red uniforms to which she safely assumed were the exorcists of the European branch. They weren't kidding when they were describing the lack of man power. The girl could feel the familiar ache of knots forming in her stomach and she subconsciously latched onto Lavi's arm sleeve.
The sudden pull on his left prompted Lavi to glance over and saw that Mei's skin had turned pale and her body was rigid while her eyes darted frantically into the crowd. It didn't take a genius to figure out the symptoms were connected to one thing: she had social anxiety. He paused biting his lower lip then turned towards the girl, "I'll be right back, okay?" Her worried gaze glanced up at him and he smiled at her reassuringly, "I'll be back, I promise," Lavi gave the girl's hand a soft pat and bounded towards the kitchen area of the cafeteria leaving Mei by the door of the dining hall. She looked around and walked over to the wall and waited patiently.
It wasn't long until she heard hurried footsteps when Lavi's head popped past the door with a wide grin on his face. Mei stepped back startled when she saw him. His hands were occupied with a large tray consisting of two steaming bowls and clutched between his teeth were two packages of bread of some sort. He motioned his head to follow him and she furrowed her brow in hesitation. Did she really trust this guy? She just met him. She debated with herself and finally decided there was no harm since they're both in the Black Order. This Lavi character might be a little crazy, but there's nothing wrong with a little crazy right?
She followed for a few steps until they reached a door, he kicked it open with his feet and motioned her inside. Mei approached the room slowly and entered, it was encased in glass with plants hanging from the ceiling and potted ones dotted the ground. There were wooden benches neatly placed in rows as sun light streamed through. It was an indoor patio. They took a seat at one of the empty tables as Lavi placed the tray and bread buns down.
"I wasn't sure what you liked, but it seemed like you needed something soothing from your long trip here," he said pushing a large bowl of brownish broth with noodles in it towards her. It had slices of meat, diced green onions and a split egg on top.
Mei stared at it then broke into a gentle smile, "Ramen," he had been listening to her the entire time they were talking. He had been observing her and realizing she had just landed.
Lavi broke into a wide grin at her recognition of the item, "Correct! Very good!" he tossed her a pair of chopsticks, "Ya do know how to use chopsticks right?" he inquired with a chuckle and she gave him a light kick under the table and grabbed it from him.
Mei picked at the noodles, blew softly on it allowing the aroma of the tonkotsu broth seep up her nose as she sighed. She bit into it and slurped, the noodles were perfectly al dente with the savoriness of the broth complementing the noodles. She ate another bite then another before she noticed that Lavi was staring at her. His deep green eyes watched her carefully and she gulped feeling her heart flutter again, she was so glad the soup was warm enough to block the color of her face.
Mei took a napkin and dabbed at her lips, "Thanks," she muttered sheepishly, sometimes her pride would prevent her from asking people for help even if it were something as simple as asking for directions. Lavi shrugged taking another bite of noodles as if it were no big deal. She turned and watched the outside of the glass, birds flew around the garden and cloud in the skies moved softly towards the mountains, "I don't generally make friends very easily," Mei admitted, "Thanks for not being put off with me," she faced Lavi with an embarrassed smile.
There it was again, that genuine smile from her, it seemed like something precious. Something this girl rarely showed anyone unless her guard was down. What was she protecting herself from that she had built walls so high that it was nearly impossible to penetrate causing her anxiety? Lavi felt an unfamiliar squeeze in his abdomen but thought nothing of it as he drank a spoonful of soup.
Lavi peered at the girl who was still admiring the outside view, her hair fell softly around her olive skin and her petite pink lips would ever so often smile when she saw something she liked, "I'm sure you had friends back at the North American branch? If not, at least family?" he asked out of curiosity.
The girl managed a laugh (one that was growing on Lavi every second) and brushed her wavy locks back, "If you count the head branch as one, I had very select number of friends and most of them were from the science department," her eyes sunk to the ground when the latter part of the question was answered, "I was orphaned as a child from exorcist parents. They died in the line of duty," she was smiling, but Lavi could sense the pain behind it.
He placed his spoon down, "My apologies, I didn't mean to pry,"
Mei shook her head, "No need to apologize, it was a long time ago," suddenly the door to the patio opened and both bodies turned to see a worried-stricken Lenalee come up to them.
Lavi got up, "Lenalee! What's wrong, ya look dreadful," the raven haired girl grabbed a hold of his arm and looked over at Mei with a panting breaths.
"It's Rouvelier," Lenalee gasped out and every body in the room stiffened. Mei felt her blood run cold, she had met this man on several occasions when he visited North America. He had an odd fascination with her for some reason, she never delve into why but he always gave her the skivvies when the mustached man stared at her.
"I tried looking for Mei everywhere and this was the last normal place in this building," Lenalee sighed, "He wants to see her in my brother's office in thirty minutes,"
Lavi slammed his hands on the table causing the tray and bowl to scatter, "That's bullshit," Mei and Lenalee flinched from his action.
Lenalee gave him pleading glance, "Lavi," she mouthed sternly placing a hand on his arm to calm him down.
"We're not all enemies," the younger Bookman exclaimed rather fervently, "That bastard needs to cut his shit out. First Allen now her? What is this? The inquisition?" he hissed at Lenalee. Mei at this point wasn't sure what was going on, but both seemed rattled by Rouvelier. It left a warm sensation in her heart that they cared so much even though they had just met. She reached out and placed a hand on both their arms, they looked over at her surprised.
"It's going to be okay, you two," Mei reassured them, "I better get going, shouldn't make them wait all day for me," the girl grinned. She picked up the tray when Lavi motioned to her that he'd take care of it.
Before Mei could make her exit Lenalee ran up to her clutching her hand, "We'll be waiting in the drawing room down the hall from my brother's office," she said in a hushed voice. Mei and Lenalee exchanged smiles before the Lenalee released Mei into the cold world of Rouvelier's arms.
x x x x
The hallways seemed darker on this side of the building. There were no windows and papers scattered itself among the walkways. Mei swallowed hard, she's never been to this part of headquarters before and she had forgotten to ask for directions to Komui's office from the dining hall. That was a regrettably big mistake on her part. The struggle of not getting lost was strong. It was getting awfully dark when notes floated to her ears from afar. Mei froze as cold sweat broke onto the surface of her skin as she swallowed hard. Fuck. She should've asked for directions. She hated the dark.
She stood debating with herself when the sound continued. Mei listened and the more she heard it the more it compelled her. It was the sound of music. It was a melody so sweet that she found herself following after it. Mei stopped abruptly before two large wooden doors, a large sign indicating that it was the science department and that only science division's staffs were allowed in. Mei didn't usually go around breaking rules and such, but this time the song dictated her forward. In a daze like haze, she pushed open the doors. The gentle creak of the wood revealed a large facility containing a bright luminescence in an egg shape vessel. There were large pipes and wires attached to it and multitude of buttons lined against the metal walls. Mei's lips fell apart, her eyes wide with realization that she had just stepped into the room holding Noah's Ark. The other branches were abuzz with the news that they had obtained it, but she never believed the rumors that were going around.
The volume of the music had increased, but only by a bit and it was coming from inside a doorway labeled '64'. She pursed her lips knowing she would get in so much trouble if she were caught being in the room, but her curiosity got the better of her. Mei scoured around before taking a giant leap into the highlighted doorway. She stepped onto hard ground, surprised by the solid footing she stepped the rest of the way in. Mei blinked several times adjusting to the sudden brightness before she noticed the sunlight flooding the land before her. What a peculiar place inside the ark was! In itself was the outside world. There was a sky and there was a sun glaring down at her. The path below her was made of hexagonal tiles leading to various buildings. Plants hung delicately from planters off walls and in the center of this seemingly large cityscape were an enormous dome pantheon encircled with fountains. It was beautiful and took her breath away.
Distracted by the peculiarities of the ark, Mei didn't even realize that the music from before had stopped until a loud bang of a closing door made her whirl around. Mei, petrified, realized that she wasn't alone. Before her stood the white-haired boy, Mei felt a ping of familiarity and realized that she had seen him in the cafeteria. It was brief, but she recognized the blatant white colored hair that stood out amongst the crowd. This time she could see him more clearly. He had a faint scar on his left eye and his left arm was jagged with a deep burgundy color. She noticed the cross on the top of his hand and it was then did it occur to her that that was his Innocence. His weapon was a parasitic type, one that infused with the accommodator's body. He also had these clear crystal gray blue eyes, ones that seemed to look right into her soul.
The white-haired boy broke their gaze and frowned slightly, "You're not supposed to be here, if the branch heads finds out, they'll have you by the skin," he reprimanded, but she felt like he wasn't being actually serious.
Mei opened her mouth trying to think up an excuse but words not of her own seem to tumble out on their own, "That song, where did you learn that song from?"
The boy stepped back in surprise, caught off guard by the question, "That's classified information. I'm sorry," he answered her with a quizzical look. It wasn't everyday somebody asked him about the song that Timcanpy had hidden away inside itself. It was a song that triggered part of the 14th's memories inside Allen. A foreboding feeling settled itself in his stomach and Allen guarded himself against the girl's questions.
She saw the precaution in his movements and the moment the term 'classified' was used, Mei's eyes were cast downward. Maybe it was best to keep her own mouth shut and not ask too many questions. There was more to the song because she was familiar with it too, but Mei didn't know this person and wasn't about to spill her guts to a stranger.
Mei flung her head as if to shake off a bad vibe, "I'm sorry, I'm got lost and wandered in here," she said looking around. Allen narrowed his eyes; he knew she knew more than she was letting on. There was something else that made her wander to the ark of all places and how did she even find her way in? There was something familiar about her face, like he had seen her before.
"I'm sorry, have we met before?" Allen asked trying hard to recall her name and face.
"Not officially," she said scratching her head, "I'm Mei," she said stretching a hand out to him. Her smile did not falter when Allen hesitated to return the favor.
"Ah, you're the new transfer, I'm Allen Walker," he slowly shook her hand. Allen looked around him before he motioned her towards the exit, "We should leave before anyone finds us," Mei then remembered she had a meeting with Komui, "Ah, I'm late for a meeting, is it possible for you to direct me to Komui's office?"
She exited with Allen leading the way. As they made their way back to the common area, he would make her stop whenever they heard footsteps pass by them. It wasn't until they were in the clear that he steered her towards the administration department. They didn't say much on the way. Allen was still cautious of the girl that walked next to him. Of all places she could've wandered to, she found herself inside the ark instead.
"So how do you like it here so far?" Allen asked nonchalantly giving her a glance. Mei had a small smile on her lips, but he could see the anguished emotions streak across her face. His heart sunk, she was probably very homesick and he had just made her dwell upon the fact that she may never return home, "I'm sorry,"
There was a chuckle, "For what?" she said softly brushing some hair behind her ears. But he saw her shoulders sag and knew that she wasn't all right. She walked a little ahead of him as she didn't want him to see the lump that was welling up her throat or her eyes pooling. They momentarily stopped.
Allen watched the small of her back, they were strangers but they were also exorcists bounded by the ties of Innocence. Nobody knew the frailty of life more than they did and by that line alone, they were also family, "For you being in this war, displacing you from your friends and family, and for making you having to grow up too fast," most of them were just kids, terrified and alone.
Mei looked over her shoulder with a wry smile, tears spilling over "Then I ought to be sorry too then," they looked at each other briefly and broke out in laughter. She cried and laughed until no tears were left as she leaned against the wall.
"You're not too bad, Allen Walker," Mei grinned giving him a pat on the arm.
"Don't get too attached, people may start to think we're cohorts," Allen joked, Mei rolled her eyes, "But Komui's office is just down the hall to the right. You'll see his office placard on the wall," he motioned down the hallway. Mei felt so much better after a good cry, she's been bottling up her feelings and with nowhere to turn to she felt trapped. Maybe, just maybe she had made a friend.
"I'm meeting Lenalee and Lavi in the drawing room after my meeting with Komui, I'd like it if you joined us," Mei gave him a shrug before she left.
"I'd love to, I'd bring the others with me as Im'" Allen's reassuring smile lifted her spirits as they parted ways.
Mei jogged the rest of the way to Komui's office, as she knew she had made him wait longer than necessary. She took a breath and knocked, a muffled 'come in' was issued as she pushed open the doors.
A stinging voice welcomed her. "You're late," a tall large man grunted out from behind a toothbrush moustache. His eyes pierced her topaz ones with annoyance and anger. Mei felt the hairs on her neck rise from his glare alone, but she wasn't about to show him fear. Komui coughed motioning her to sit.
"It's nice to see you again too, Rouvelier," Mei replied with a nod as she sat down on one of the cushioned chair, "What can I do for you, Komui?" Rouvelier had visited a few times before at the North American branch, Mei never did like him. He was dismal, awful and sometimes abusive in nature when he came to making people do his bidding. She had always attempted to avoid him the best she could so that they would never have to meet face to face. But it was unfortunate for her that he had expressively taken a keen interest in her Innocence. It was only because of Renny Epsteine that he never got too close to Mei.
"Since you just transferred, it's customary to be evaluated by Hevlaska," Komui explained. Mei fidgeted with her fingers.
"Why? I thought only first time accommodators were evaluated. To prove our worth, right? I've been on the field for as long as I can remember," Mei replied swiftly with furrowed brows. She was immensely confused as to why she was being targeted. She had an inkling feeling that Rouvelier had something to do with this.
"Don't question your superiors," Rouvelier stood from his couch and looked down at her with a frown, "Is that how Renny taught you to behave? Or is it because you don't have parents to teach you proper manners?" Mei gritted her teeth, taking a breath at a time to calm her boiling blood, "Must be the orphan tendencies in you," he sneered. Yes, her parents had died and she was basically left an orphan, but they had died for the Order, for people like Rouvelier who only sit in their cushioned thrones as they watch exorcists throw their lives away. Rouvelier was the last person she was going to let insult her parents.
It was instantaneous, there was fire, and then heat as a loud cracking noise broke through the office. Mei's emotions got the best of her and had activated her Innocence at a Vatican inspector. Fire engulfed her arms as a fiery whip materialized from her hand pointing at Rouvelier, "Shut up," she snarled. Komui ran from his desk and stepped between the two.
"That's enough!" Komui's voice resounded heavily in the room as Mei distinguished her Innocence in and instant and forced herself to not strangle Rouvelier, "Malcolm," he looked over at the older gentleman, the two adults stood in silence before Rouvelier clicked his tongue in disapproval and strutted out the office. Mei exhaled a deep breath clenching her fists she wanted to break something. Komui shifted his glasses and sighed, "Go take a walk," he advised. Mei shrugged, she was more than happy to oblige.
x x x x
It wasn't even half an hour when the door came bursting open and an upset Mei stormed through the drawing. About half a dozen heads turned to greet her fuming face, a few she recognized from earlier and especially the head of blazing head of red hair that belonged to Lavi as his smile widened upon seeing her. Allen strode over and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"What the hell happened?" he asked, worried. Both Lenalee and Lavi sat up from their chairs with pursed lips and expressions of fear and worry.
"Rouvelier happened," Mei fumed throwing her hands up and walking towards the window to get a breath in. Stormy clouds were rolling in, seems like it was going to rain. Perfect, because she felt just angry as those stormy clouds outside. Droplets hit the windowpanes as the rain started to fall in a rhythmic pattern.
The sound of his name hushed the room momentarily before Allen spoke up again, "Well, I bought the others as I promised," he knew she probably wouldn't want to talk about Rouvelier. Most people didn't as Rouvelier had a knack for leaving people traumatized.
A tall angular man leapt from the top window and landed gracefully on the wooden floor, he had sharp facial features, pointed ears, and when he smiled fangs protruded out. He had short black hair with a long white streak that fell across his face. The man bowed, "I'm Baron Arystar Krory III, a pleasure meeting you,"
Mei gave him a nod in return, "Pleasure is all mine," she smiled. Next, a man of large stature stepped up, his skin was dark like that of a coconut and practically no hair. His eyes were glazed white with a soft smile. He was blind. His fingers were adorned with ten rings on it and wore headphones. He shook Mei's hand stating his name was 'Marie Noise'. Finally a hauntingly beautiful woman by the name of 'Miranda' came over with a cup of warm tea in her hands, she had pale skin and dark circles under her eyes as if she hadn't slept in a while. Even so she had beautiful raven black locks of wavy hair cascading down her shoulders and the look of maturity in her eyes. Her motherly tone of voice and gesture settled Mei's jittery nerves.
Lenalee finally leaned in and took Mei's hands in hers, "I hope Rouvelier wasn't too hard on you," her voice shook and her eyes spoke of terror from personal experience. Mei didn't know what to say as her heart clenched.
She drew her eyes down to the floor, "Sorry," she mumbled and Lenalee cocked an eyebrow at her, clearly confused as to why she was apologizing, "I haven't been exactly a welcoming guest and yet you guys worry about me already," she felt Lenalee's grasp tighten and her head popped up.
"You're family now, and family has to look out for one another, you understand?" she scolded lightly before her lips broke out into a warm smile. A tingling sensation crawled its way to Mei's heart. Perhaps it wasn't so bad here after all.
