Corporal Conspiracy: Chapter One; Eaze
A D. Gray-Man Fanfiction
By Exploding Your Universe
In need of a Beta

"Re-ow!" Scritch, scritch... "Re-ow!"

Tyki frowned at the orange and black striped cat scratching at the window from the outside, wanting to be let in, but Tyki point-blank refused to do so. He told his niece countless times she couldn't leave Lero at his apartment because Lero wasn't trained to not eat living birds, but like the spoiled - and manipulative - girl she was, Road got her way. Each week, she would drop the cat off before she went to school on Mondays and usually wouldn't pick him up until Friday evening. Even though Tyki had to take care of Lero because Road was blackmailing him for smoking after he promised his brother Sheryl he would stop for his wife's health, it was rather understandable why she did, considering that Road's mother, Tricia, was a frail woman and often sick. That, and Road's parents didn't know of the once-stray cat was living in their manor during the weekends while they've gone out of town to visit the Duke. Tyki was sure Road paid the nanny some of her allowance to make sure that the house didn't have any animal dandruff for when Tricia came back home.

"Re-ow!" Lero cried out again, golden eyes transfixed on the shivering blackbird with the given name Tease in the same saving hands that pried his tasty friend from his mouth. Tyki marched over and closed the long curtains over the wide window, sighing; he was getting real tired of Lero scaring Tease, even if Road would rat him out to Sheryl.

The blackbird known as Tease, black feathers ruffled, angrily chirped and gave Tyki's thumb a good hard pinch before flying off somewhere within the living space. Tyki grimaced at the reaction, but wasn't upset; Tease was in one of her foul moods, and it wasn't surprising: that had been the forth time that month where he'd saved her from Lero. He sighed again, pushing the digit between his lips to soothe the pulsing pain, while his other hand dug in his grubby work shirt pocket for the pack of Dunhill's cigarettes there. Tyki flipped the top and replaced his thumb for a slim cancer stick, fiddling with striking a match stick he pulled from his pants pocket.

He supposed the only reason he was more aggravated than usual with Lero was because it was Saturday afternoon. Road hadn't come over to pick Lero up last night. Tyki mumbled around his cigarette, exhaling smoke as he wondered what he was going to do with his niece. His long lightly calloused and dirty fingers ran through his untidy hair in a bored manner; he hardly knew how to spend his lunch breaks since he didn't have the money to spend for all his meals.

"Re-ow!" Scri- "Reeee-oow!!"

Tyki gave an elegant raised eyebrow to the closed off window when Lero gave an excited call. He strained his ears and faintly heard the footsteps climbing up the metal staircase to reach his apartment door, and Tyki realized that it had to be Road: Lero adores Road and only tolerates Tyki and scratch and hisses anyone else. Tyki didn't bother to hide his cigarette as Road opened the door without knocking, Lero in her arms and looking slightly put-out. Her half-lidded indigo eyes found him and with the look she gave him, he could only guess that she was about to reign her anger towards him for kicking Lero outside (having been one of the few rules when she left Lero with him the first time, followed by showing him plenty of love).

"Tyki Mikk!" Road hollered, letting down the orange, lanky cat. Tyki kept a close eye on him, not liking how it seemed Lero was silently laughing at him and how his eyes sparkled with amused mischief. The cat then glanced around the room before stalking off to probably find Tease. Tyki inwardly groaned, thinking he should have set her back within her cage, which he had to buy ever since Road adopted Lero from the streets.

"Lero was outside! He could have run away!" She exclaimed, marching up to him to throw a little tantrum on his chest. Tyki smiled around the filter, a hand lying on top of the girl's head, tousling the hair. He reached up and laid his cigarette in a nearby ash tray next to an arm chair so he could talk without dropping ash on his niece's unkempt hair.

"We both know that that cat would follow you to hell and back," Tyki stated obviously. Road had calmed down after blowing her short fuse and shifted her arms around his mid-drift in hello. She let him go and turned to sit on the couch, and Tyki took this time to regard the clock to see how long he had until his lunch break was over. Not long.

"Besides," the Portuguese man began, going to the worn arm chair opposite of her, "he's been in side all week; I let out Tease on the weekends."

Road didn't look concerned about the blackbird, but went on to explain, "My parents are in for the weekend; I overheard them saying that the Duke went to Japan to converse with the Kanda family."

Tyki sighed and leaned over to take his cigarette from the tray, asking, "Couldn't you take Lero to those freaky friends of yours instead of leaving him with me all the time?" His niece set him with a leveled look as he took a long drag.

"David and Jasdero would torture Lero until he ran away." Tyki shrugged as though saying "not my problem." Road was silent for a moment until Tyki finished his expensive cigarette, and squashed the butt against the glass ash tray.

"Since Mother and Father are in, they want to have you over tonight," Road drawled, and Tyki, coughing lightly with amazement, realized that she had purposely waited until he had finished smoking and had the smell on his skin to tell him. Well, he shouldn't have been so surprised.

"I'm working later tonight, Road," Tyki lied, and glanced to the clock, and realized he was going to have to leave very soon now. "Where are you going to take Lero when I'm gone? He's not staying in the house with Tease while I'm not here."

Road kicked her feet. "Probably to Lulu's."

Tyki blinked. "She's allergic."

"And you have a bird, so? Besides, it's not like one or two nights is going to kill her."

"I'm not allergic to birds," he returned, but she remained uncaring. He tried again. "Do they still not allow animals at the orphanage?"

Road was silent for a moment, an almost sad look in her eyes. "…No, they don't. They should, though; he liked Lero."

The smoking addict shook his head with a sigh and left it up to Road to where she was placing Lero next. He was distracted from the topic when she asked him to tell her everything he knew about rabbits. Tyki raised a brow; he wasn't sure he heard that right.

"Coelhos?" He asked in native language, honestly confused.

"Yeah, I have a report on them, it's due on Wednesday," she explained.

Tyki thought for a moment. "They eat carrots. Multiply like crazy." He listed, but that was all he really knew about them. Road gave him a blank look, easily saying that that wasn't good enough. Tyki hesitated, fishing out another Dunhill since he already bought himself out of going to the Kamelot's estate and wouldn't have to worry about the smell. He stroked a match and inhaled, talking around the filter.

"Look, dear," he said, his coaxing gentleman side showing despite his hobo attire, "I apologize you caught me at a bad time, but I'm about to leave for work. I don't know anything about rabbits, and I don't have time to go to the library. I'm going to be working tomorrow and next week because I really need the money." He tried to look as sincere as possible, which for him wasn't all that hard, but might have been better if he was cleaned up.

Road looked unaffected from his persuasive tone. "It's because you buy the most expensive cigarettes on the market..." Then she had a sudden look, and said, "You wouldn't be so poor if you'd just come and lived in our district; the Duke's offered you many positions in ARK, but..." she stood, clicked her tongue, and in no time at all, Lero came dashing out from the hall meowing adoringly at her. Tyki narrowed his eyes at the cat, making sure there weren't any black feathers tailing him. She gathered him in her arms, walking slowly to the door.

"But if you don't go by the library tonight to fetch me some info on rabbits," Road began, back towards him. Tyki could almost hear the wicked grin on her face, and grimaced at the sickening sweet tone that said "I'm going to get what I want."

"I'll tell Father I caught you smoking, and he'll come see for himself."

Tyki blanched, newly lit cigarette almost dropping from his open mouth. "I-I already said that I'm working tonight!"

"No you're not. Mother wanted me to stop by the mining company to see if you were free so she could prepare dinner, so I saw your card and it said you were going to be off by six." Road glanced at him over her shoulder. "If you go to the library after work, I'll tell them you had already made plans to stage in for someone."

He hummed thoughtfully; he could deal with Sheryl, but not a hurt woman that had been so kind to him as Tricia, but Road wasn't going to land him with the homework for free while she would still bring Lero over during the week. So, he laid down his choices like laying down cards.

"If I do your research, you must pick someone else to take care of Lero."

She shook her head. "He doesn't like anyone else."

"That's because you don't let him out much, because frankly, dear, he doesn't like me all that well, either." She was silently for a moment, indigo eyes narrowing in concentration before narrowing even further in anger.

"But then you'll be scot free, Tyki Mikk; it doesn't work like that! Lero is suppose to be punishment of your smoking-"

"No, that's blackmailing, sweetheart," he smirked, waving a finger at her. He paused, a new idea coming to mind.

"Give Lero to someone you know and will be able to see frequently." Road opened her mouth, but Tyki cut in quick, "And in return, I'll slow down on my smoking to where it won't become a problem for your mother." And when she still didn't look too satisfied he sighed and gave in to her utmost wish, "I'll consider taking the Duke's offer."

Immediately she smiled at him, said her goodbyes ("thank you uncle Tyki! And say hi to Eaze for me if you see him") and left with cat in arms.

Tyki Mikk whistled for Tease and she came almost as soon as Lero did for Road, landing on his outstretched hand. His other hand stroked the blackbird's sleek throat. Tyki dazed off, absentmindedly handling the bird, thinking hard, but he couldn't make a legible excuse as to why he couldn't live in the Kamelot's district; he wouldn't be living off his brother's money, nor would he have to worry about his landlord coming up the stairs to demand the rent that he had spent on gambling. Tyki sighed, and gave up.

He inhaled around the filter, the cigarette bouncing as he spoke to his little friend.

"How would you like a backyard, Tease?"

Tyki needed no one.

For as long as Tyki remembered, he wanted to do things on his own. After he moved out from his parent's manor he rented himself an one-person apartment so no one but him would live there (which pissed off his spoiled parents plenty enough to lay their entire fortune with Sheryl). He employed at a mining company so he would only have to do his own work and no one else would be offering to do his. Tyki tried to stay as far away from Sheryl as he could sometimes because Sheryl was a family man and his family depended on him as he depended on them.

Sheryl joined an exclusive, rich family company five years ago called ARK, and when he did, the president of the company, the Duke, personally met with each of the members of his family, Tyki included. Needless to say, Tyki's first impression of the Duke was rather...interesting. In a bad way. The Portuguese man didn't like how the Duke was all smiles when he talked about serious things such as the failing economy around the world that might spread to this country. After settling in Tyki's apartment, the Duke started to ask personal questions about his life, which Tyki did not like at all, but seeing how this was to be his brother's boss, he kept his words and tongue civil (see, even though he wasn't so attached on family, Tyki wouldn't do anything on purpose to displease them).

The Duke smiled and walked around Tyki, entering the apartment as though he owned the building itself (which he could have, Tyki could only guess). He walked with ease, hardly making a sound considering his weight and Tyki stared after him with narrowed eyes, curious yet mean. The Duke sat on the couch, which surprised Tyki more than it should have; the Duke looked as though he wouldn't have settled for anything less than silk and satin, yet there he was lounging back on a worn leather couch casually that Tyki had gotten at an used furniture store. Wary of this character, Tyki sat across of him, in the arm chair.

"What is it that I can do for you, Duke?" Tyki asked, his gentleman side peeking through naturally. The Duke grinned up at him and said:

"There's no need for formalities, Tyki-pet; you can call me Adam."

When the Duke came around to visit him again, Tyki kept his door closed and escaped from a window attached to a fire escape, pretending to have been out. Then, at a formal ball Tricia hosted, he was forced to come along by Road because that was around the time he had promised Sheryl he would quit smoking. Surprise, surprise. Sheryl and Tricia invited the Duke to their mansion then, as well. Tyki tried to keep himself busy by taking the damsels onto the dance floor and left before midnight...unsuccessfully. The Duke had cornered him right when he was getting into his car.

Adam caught the door to the Rolls-Royce before it closed, and feeling the hold back, Tyki peered out from in the classic and fully restored Silver Wraith. Inwardly, he groaned at having failed to avoid the noble, yet he smiled tiredly at Adam.

"What is it that I can do for you, Adam?" Tyki asked, knowing where this sense of déjà-vu came from. The Duke grinned down at him and said:

"Join my company, Tyki-pet; you won't find better work else where."

And Tyki had declined, probably because he was uncomfortable with being around the Duke, but the Duke didn't give up on him; offering higher positions in his company. Still, Tyki said no and tried to get more hours in his mining job so he could evade the Duke more often, but it didn't help now that his brother's family was persuading him to take the offer, Road more so than the others.

Tyki lifted the pickaxe above his head and brought it down with a metallic clang on the rocks. It was close to quitting time, so Tyki used the few minutes left to mine the silver for his own want. If he found any today, on the way to the library he could drop by the orphanage to give the silver to Eaze.

Eaze was a sickly young boy, almost the age of Road. They used to go to the same private school until Eaze's parents were killed in a burglary. Before he was sent to the orphanage, Eaze used to follow Road around everywhere like a little brother to a big sister so Tyki met him quite a few times when they would stop at his house on Fridays. He managed to surprise the Portuguese man since he was the exact opposite of a spoiled brat like most of the kids that were in that school.

When Eaze had found his small collection of geo rocks from the mine, Tyki had never seen eyes gleam with fondness like his had. Then the boy had turned his head to give him a big, toothy smile, pointing at the rocks and said, "These are really pretty, Mr. Mikk! They sparkle!" Tyki had given Eaze one of the bigger rocks, one where the insides were most visible since he really seemed to take a liking in it.

After Tyki had found out the orphanage Eaze was in was near his current work site, he would try to visit him when the sisters would let him. For some reason the nuns didn't like him all too well… Anyway, Eaze was doing amazingly well for a kid whose parent's had been murdered. The first day the miner had gone to visit the boy Eaze had gripped on his sleeve and said, "Bring more sparkle things for me, please, Mr. Mikk?" Tyki couldn't say no to him.

Then the miners had moved location to mine silver. The only regulations there were that five minutes before work ended they could mine for themselves unless the silver weighed more than eight ounces. Tyki usually found small rocks of silver that weighed only somewhere in between three to six, and after cleaning away the black rock that surrounded the mineral, he would give it to Eaze the next time the sisters let him in. The sick orphan seemed to appreciate it a lot and his reactions put a grin on Tyki's face.

Clank. The miner dropped the pickaxe on the ground and started through the pile of loose rock he'd mine apart, picking each one up and carefully examining the weight and the outer black shell. After rejecting more than half the pile, he picked up one more, the whistle from far off telling Tyki he could leave, and automatically knew that it was silver. Heavier than the rest, but still small in size, Tyki reached into his pant's pocket and fished out a folded knife, flipping it open to scrape at the black layer. Tyki had to dig for a minute or so, but it was worth it! The silver in his hand was amazingly pure, considering how hard it was, and it weighed possibly around one pound.

For the first time, Tyki was torn on what to do next; he was off the clock officially three minutes ago, but it was still company policy to turn in what you find. At the same time he wanted to take it home, clean it of the useless rock, and give it to Eaze…

Inconspicuously, the gambler glanced around to see if anyone was watching him. Finding the coast clear, he slipped the silver into his pocket the same time he was bending down to pick up his fallen tool.

A loud call of "Tyki!" made the Portuguese man jump and whirl around. Momo and Clark called from the entrance of the mine, waving. They both had grins on their sweaty faces and Tyki relaxed, waving back to them. When he hung his pick with the rest of them, he met with his friends.

"Any good finds?" Momo asked while showing his oddly shaped agate. Clark shook his head and Tyki did so as well. Momo grinned thinly. "Guess we're pickin' the streets tonight, then, boys." Tyki felt a little guilty holding back a find that could have paid for a dinner for the three of them, but for some reason, Eaze's smile seemed to weigh more to him.

"I know where there's a good pond to go fishing at," Tyki offered. "The koi's amazing, and there's a bakery not far from there; if the lady's working tonight she'd spare us some rye." Their brightened faces eased the guilt on Tyki's end, but he still excused himself from the small party to visit the orphanage. Momo and Clark knew about Eaze and they told Tyki to give him their hellos as they waved goodbye.

The walk to the orphanage from the mine was a little long, but if he didn't think about it he soon stood outside the gates, his eyes automatically threading through the bustling kids to look for one in particular. Tyki found him on the orphanage steps with a book in his lap, but he wasn't alone today.

A red-haired young man was sitting next to him, pointing at the pages in the book. Tyki could see his lips move, but the distance was too far to hear what he was saying. They were interrupted by a nun that subtly pointed in Tyki's direction, and the redhead looked up at her then to him, changing the angle of his face. Surprised, Tyki stared. The young man wore an eyepatch over his right eye. Eaze moved first and bounded quickly to Tyki after a hug to the stranger who smiled. Afterwards he left the book where it was and crossed the yard to another gate and disappeared from sight.

Tyki's attention immediately focused on Eaze as he came up, and he smiled even though the boy had changed dramatically since he last saw him. He crouched on one knee to meet him at eyelevel and nearly winced at the obvious sickness that was taking over the young boy.

"Hi, Tyki!" Eaze greeted softly, yet very enthusiastically. Even though under his gleaming, big blue eyes the shadows were darker, and there was now a face mask over his mouth and nose, Eaze was still so bright and joyful. There was a smile on the boy's face that much was easy to tell. Without further adieu, Tyki pulled the silver from his pocket to present it to the eager blonde.

"Just found it today," the man said proudly as Eaze rolled it around, looking especially at the silver spot shining through the black. It shone in the sun at him. "Like it?"

The blue eyes moved on him. "I love it, Tyki! It's so pretty, thank you so much for it!" He held the stone to his chest and squeezed as if hugging the stone itself. "The Earth makes cool things," he said in awe. Tyki swallowed thickly and fought to keep his grin up and ignore the prickle in his eyes. He reached through the bars of the gate and ruffled Eaze's hair and drew him close by the shoulders.

"That it does," he said.

It wasn't until a sister came up and ushered Tyki away did he leave. He watched as Eaze slowly went back up the steps and inside before actually hightailing out. After giving Eaze his messages from Road and Momo and Clark, the young boy looked so happy to be hearing from his outside friends. He asked if Tyki could give them a hug for him, and the Portuguese man agreed.

Tyki had casually asked who the redheaded young man was when he first arrived, but all that Eaze could answer for was his name ("He's Lavi. He's very nice and reads to me when he comes by. Did you know that there're giants living in the clouds that go 'fe, fi, fo, fum'?"). But hearing about a story book reminded Tyki that he needed to stop by the library before he went home to do that assignment for Road.

The library was a definite shorter distance from the orphanage than the mines were, and Tyki was there in no time at all. He reached for the glass door, but it wouldn't open.

"What the…" Tyki said to himself. He looked at the times stamped on the door and found that the library closed at five on Saturdays. An hour before he was even let off from work. Tyki grumbled and peered through the door, seeing lights on in the back. He began knocking loudly without letting up. Surely they heard him, if they were there.

"Can I help you?" an irritated voice came from behind him, and Tyki whirled around much like he'd done in the mine shafts, but this time he was startled to see the redhead he saw earlier reading to Eaze. Eyepatch over his right eye, his left one was a very vibrant green. He appeared to be in his late teens or early twenties, carrying a brown bag of groceries in one arm while his other hand held keys. Tyki remembered that Eaze had said his name was Lavi.

Tyki stumbled. "Um, yeah, I need to get—"

"We're closed," the younger man said with a cold tone and pushed by him to stick a key into the door. "Come back on Monday."

"Segunda-feira?" Tyki parroted and looked at the schedule on the door. Monday – Friday: 10am-6pm. Uh-oh, that wasn't any good.

"Yeah," the librarian said, seeming to have understood his Portuguese. "We're closed on Sundays." Lavi made to close the door behind him, but Tyki's foot caught between the jam.

Ignoring the redhead's peeved expression, Tyki quickly asked, his gentleman side reappearing for the second time that day, "My work schedule won't allow me to make it at those times, and because of my scheming niece I've been held to do her homework report that's due on Wednesday. Please allow me to come by tomorrow and use twenty minutes of your time to look up information about rabbits."

Lavi almost looked understanding. "There've been a lot of kids coming through to check out books on rabbits. Seventh grade?" Tyki nodded, and suddenly he found himself being scrutinized. "How do you know Eaze? You aren't some creepy, homeless guy stalking this kid, are you?" The Portuguese man blinked, surprised.

"I assure you I'm not homeless, and—"

"Low class?"

"Not for long," Tyki returned, wondering what difference his financial living status made.

Lavi narrowed his eye even further. "You look really familiar. Are you related to Sheryl Kamelot?"

Slowly, Tyki nodded. "He's my brother…" he answered carefully, but that was enough for Lavi to set down his grocery bag on the floor, open the door only a bit, and slam it back on Tyki's foot. Tyki howled more in surprise than pain.

"O que o inferno?!"(1) He cussed in his native language.

"Get out! Vá embora! Raus!" Lavi hollered and tried to slam the door again, but Tyki moved. The compact the door had with its jam cause the glass pane to make spider-web cracks though it. In quiet apprehension, they both watched the glass to see if it'd shatter. After a moment, Lavi let out a sigh of relief and glared hatefully at Tyki.

"If you really cared for Eaze you'd stop what ARK was doing," Lavi said accusingly from the inside. Carefully he touched the side of it and turned a locking mechanism.

"Wait!" Tyki called as the librarian retreated towards the back. "What is ARK doing!?" But Lavi never looked back, and even flipped him off.

"Who was that, Lavi?" The old man under the bedcovers sat up to get comfortable. Lavi smiled, nearly strained, at his grandfather and set the paper bag on the floor next to the bed. He took an apple from it and pulled open the night stand's drawer for a small knife, beginning to slice the apple in small chunks.

Lavi shook his head slightly when his grandfather asked again. "Just someone who could make a difference and chooses not to, that's all," he replied grumpily.

The old man sighed. "Are you still going on about the orphanage? There isn't anything you can do about it," he said. The redhead nodded sadly.

"I know... I just feel sorry for those kids." Lavi gave the first piece to his grandfather before cutting himself a slice. Lavi thought it was inhumane that ARK would force the orphanage to close down just because they wanted the land there.

If only he had help, he could do something.


Footnote: (1) I'm really unsure about that. It's supposed to be "What the hell?" but I had a horrible time trying to find the European Portuguese translation.

True fact: This was only to be a oneshot...