Silent Orchestra

by Aerys Krystie

Dark and Krad have appeared in the world of D-Gray Man, looking for a trilogy of artworks that are causing problems for the Exorcists. Throw in some foul language, violence and threats and you have this story. Not conventional pairings.

~Silent Orchestra~

By: Aerys Krystie.

Theme: AU, Xover.

Plot: Dark and Krad end up in world of D-Gray Man, much to their distaste. Unfortunately, they know that getting home won't be easy. Krad has found a way to lock his demon away, but it doesn't help when Allen can see it inside of him. And to make matters even worse, Dark develops a crush on Lavi. But wait, it gets worse! Worse than that? Much worse than that. Dark and Krad have 'Innocence', which comes out painfully in the form of their wings that they've been trying to keep hidden. So while all this shit is hitting the fan, and realizing they have the angels of Koku-Yoku at their disposal, the brain trust of the Black Order decides to send Dark, Kanda, Krad and Lavi to a creepy old mansion to find the Innocence, while Dark and Krad look for Hikari artworks. Of course, life is never easy when you're an angel. And Kanda is not making things any easier.

(Longest summary of my freaking life for a fan fiction!)

Warnings: Yaoi, sexual content, foul language, threats, coarse language, bad puns, harsh language, violence, cursing, name calling, violence, death, blood and a lot of swearing, in case that wasn't already said. There is also OOC, extreme OOC. You have been warned.

Disclaimer: Everything of and referring to DNAngel and D-Gray Man do not belong to me. This is a fan-based, non-profit parody. Please support the official releases.

A/N: …Never seen D-Gray Man. But I know I adore Kanda and Lavi.

~*~
Act I: False Night.

The Black Order trembled. It could easily have been mistaken for an earthquake, except they were on a mountain. In the middle of nowhere. And they had never had an earthquake before, as far as anyone could remember, and apparently that was enough of a reason for a grand total of three people to panic about the building coming down.

While those three people were trying to be calmed, Allen, Kanda, Lavi and Lenalee were staring up at the ceiling. The sudden quaking did not stop Allen from piling food into his mouth as he watched. If they did somehow die, he was not going to go into the afterlife with an empty stomach.

The quaking stopped as quickly as it had started. Everyone in the dining hall waited a few moments, before they returned back to their meals and conversations. They stopped when they heard the clop-clop of hooves outside the hall and a whinny.

Now that was weird. It only happened the once, and while everyone was curious no one got up to check. It seemed everyone was content with blaming it on mass hysteria. It seemed to be only logical explanation, especially after the trembling that had occurred moments beforehand.

Allen finished his breakfast and sat back, satisfied with the fullness of his stomach. He glanced at the other three people at the table with him, and came to realize that none of them had spoken a word since the trembling began. Lavi was staring up at the ceiling, as though he was expecting a piece of stone to fall down. Lenalee was watching the reactions from others in the dining hall. And Kanda was eating.

"So ––"

Allen was cut off as two screams sounded above them. He followed Lavi's eye, and stared at the vortex that had opened up. Two beams of light, white and black shot out of the vortex. The beams impacted with the floor, leaving craters around them. The vortex closed up, everyone got to their feet and went to the closest crater.

Once the dust had settled, Allen and his friends came to see that the beams were not just of light, but there appeared to have been a body in them. Their crater happened to contain the person in the black beam, which didn't seem to be breathing. No one could see any movement of the chest, and judging by the hole around the person it wasn't that surprising that they would die. It was just going to be interesting having to explain that.

Kanda jumped into the crater, and placed two fingers on the throat. He couldn't feel a pulse. He looked up at Allen and the others and shook his head. Seeing as the person was dead, Kanda stood up. There was nothing else he could do for the pitiful being at his feet.

A few seconds later, they were pushed aside as older Exorcists went down into the crater. They quickly exchanged glances with each other. It had been a while since anyone had seen that face around the town – at least two hundred and fifty years.

Allen watched as two Exorcists picked up the person, his head falling over a shoulder. Amethyst eyes were opened and Allen had to do a double take. The zombie smirked at him and winked, before his eyes closed again.

Kanda had noticed as well. But then again there wasn't much that his sharp eyes didn't miss. And he knew what he had felt. The body was warm, but there was no pulse. That only left the conclusion that the person was alive when they came through, but died on impact. How was he able to open his eyes, smirk and wink without a heartbeat?

"Any ideas?" Allen asked, hoping someone would come up with something that was believable. Well, more believable than a zombie that wasn't after his brains, and that had complete control over his facial muscles.

"Does it really matter anymore?" Lenalee asked, her dark eyes soft and filled with pity. "They are dead now."

"I don't think they're dead," Allen said slowly, holding his chin in thought. "I think they have been playing possum. Or at least our one was."

Lavi and Lenalee stared at Allen as though he had grown a second head they were curious about. And with that twinkle in their eyes, Allen wasn't entirely sure if he wanted to piss in that pool, so to speak.

However, he knew he had opened his big mouth about it and would have to tell them, so they wouldn't think he'd gone completely cuckoo for CoCo Puffs. The problem with that was trying to find a way of explaining it so he didn't sound insane. He knew that Kanda had seen it, but it would seem that the samurai was content to be silent about the whole situation.

"The dead guy smirked and winked at me," Allen finally said. He said it in a rush, praying that saying it fast would make it seem less crazy.

"He did?" Lenalee inquired, a small frown coming over her petite features. "But Kanda took his pulse. He seemed adamant that the boy was dead. Is it possible that you misread that, Kanda?"

Kanda gritted his teeth, glaring at the girl that would dare to question to him. He wasn't a novice. He could see that there wasn't any form of breathing coming from the body. And he was damn well positive that there wasn't any trace of a heartbeat inside the cadaver.

"No," Kanda growled out. "It is not possible for me to make a rookie mistake."

Lenalee held her hands up, smiling nervously. "Okay, okay. I'm just trying to look at all the options here."

Lavi, who had been oddly silent the entire time, was staring after the Exorcists that had taken the corpse. He had seen that face before; he was certain of it. And even with his memory being the way it is, he flipped through every piece of information inside his skull. He even flipped through the stuff he had glanced at, as that was filed separately from the stuff he had actually read.

"Well there's another option, and that is that beansprout here is so insane he's become delusional," Kanda shot back at the girl, whose cheeks puffed out slightly. "He was the one that saw the dead guy smirk and wink at him."

"I wasn't the only one, jackass," Allen shouted, standing between Kanda and Lenalee. "I know you saw it too, because I saw you frown at him. I know you were questioning as to what you missed on your initial examination of him."

Kanda's fingers twitched, as though he was seconds from grabbing his beloved Mugen, which wasn't attached to his hip like it should have been. He was not going to have some Pommy git telling him what he was doing when he saw a corpse open its eyes.

"You're this close," Kanda said as his eyes narrowed dangerously, "to having my fist crammed down your throat."

"Don't threaten Allen like that, Kanda. He didn't mean anything by it, and if you saw what he did, why didn't you back him up?" Lenalee demanded, standing beside the platinum haired teen.

"Hey, would you three shut up?" Lavi asked. He ignored the glares sent in his direction. "Can't you feel it?"

Allen, Kanda and Lenalee tried to figure out what Lavi was on about. And then it hit them like a ton of feathers. They were surrounded by it, and it affected everyone in the hall and likely the whole building. The aura was thick, sickening and felt dirty. The idea of destruction entered everyone's head, and that was exactly what it felt like. A shattered being that was hell bent on chaos and destruction.

Lenalee rubbed her arms, trying to remove the sticking feeling that surrounding her. She noticed that she wasn't the only one. A few of the others were getting the same sensation. It felt as though she was covered in one giant spider web that had somehow gotten under her clothing.

"What is it?" she asked, a shudder running down her spine. She desperately tried not to move, as that only made the feeling worse. As it was, she was barely keeping herself contained enough to not start screaming and ripping her clothes off. "An Akuma?"

Allen kept glancing around. He could feel someone or something's eyes on him. They enveloped him. The intensity of the gaze was murderous. He could almost imagine the dozen different ways he had been killed by those eyes.

"I don't think it's an Akuma," he said. I'm fairly certain I would have picked up on it by now, he added in his head.

Kanda tensed. He could feel something solid touching him. He could make out palms and fingers, which were beneath his clothing. They ran over his skin, touched areas that had not been touched by another living being ever. It was okay when they were only on his torso, but then he felt move down to his hips.

"Whatever it is, I wish someone would do something about it."

Lavi entered his archives, trying to find any kind of record about something like this happening before. He inhaled sharply when his archives were empty. His delicate system was blank. All the shelves in his mind were bare. And to make it worse, he swore he heard two giggles that belonged to little girls in there.

Everyone in the dining hall turned around when they heard the sinister laughing. At least Allen and his friends could rest slightly assured that they were not the only ones experiencing whatever the hell was happening.

As soon as it had started, the aura left like a gust of wind. It flew through the open doors of the dining hall, and slammed them shut in its wake.

As soon as it was gone, Lenalee lost the feeling surrounding her. The eyes disappeared from Allen. Kanda no longer had the hands on his body. And Lavi's shelves restocked themselves.

"What the hell was that?" Lavi asked. He knew he would have to investigate it so he could record it. The last thing he wanted was for future generations to have to deal with that, without any kind of knowledge on it.

Lenalee quickly looked down her shirt, to make sure there weren't any arachnids down there trying to make a nest. She sighed with relief. But like her other friends, she was just as lost as they were.

"Did anyone else feel as though they had a spider web covering their entire body?" She shuddered at the memory of it.

Allen frowned but shook his head. "No. I felt as though I had dozens of eyes staring at me, as though they wanted to kill me."

Lavi lowered his eyes. "My archives were empty," he admitted. "There was nothing on my shelves, and swore I heard girls giggling as though they were responsible for it."

Kanda made fists with his hands. He knew enough about the people he hung around with to know that Lenalee had severe arachnophobia, even to the point where she couldn't stand walking through a spider web without having a panic attack. He knew that Allen wanted to be accepted for who he is. And he knew damn well how important a Bookman's mental archive was to them.

Kanda looked down at his body. He didn't want to be touched by people. He didn't like it when people touched him. That was his biggest fear, as pathetic as that was. He could have sworn that losing Mugen would have been his biggest fear.

What the hell kind of aura was that, anyway? He had never known a presence to play out someone's worst fears. Actually, he had heard about it. But that was mainly rumors he had heard when he was younger, and living in Japan.

"This is sounding a lot like a horror story," Lenalee said, trying to forget the feeling of webs on her. "I didn't think the Black Order would be haunted."

Lavi grinned. "It isn't, Lenalee. You can be certain of that. Spirits and ghosts don't exist. There's never been a proven, documented case about it."

"Besides," Allen added as he began heading towards the doors of the dining hall. He doubted that their day would be cancelled because of a couple of John Does. "They can't hurt you."

Lenalee's eyes widened dramatically. "Maybe not physically!" she shrieked, following Allen out to the hallway. "But the mental damage was more than enough for me! And I don't know about you, but those webs felt real."

Lavi glanced at Kanda, curious on what fear of his happened to him. The redhead hadn't noticed any difference with Kanda while the aura was around, but that could also be because he was too preoccupied with the fact that his archives were empty.

"What was ––"

"Don't bother to ask, useless rabbit. It isn't any of your business anyway." Kanda cast a glare at Lavi that would make a demon shrink back.

Lavi just grinned. "Next time that aura is around all you really need to do is just glare at it, Yu-chan," he taunted in a sing-song voice, and ran out of the room before Kanda moved his threat from Allen to him.

Kanda sighed when he was alone in the room. He pinched the bridge of his nose, knowing he was going have a headache arriving soon. "Useless," he muttered to himself, and followed after his colleagues.

---

"And this is them?" a voice rasped from the shadows of the room.

On cold, metal tables lie the two bodies retrieved from the dining hall. They were stripped of their clothing, which were in no condition to be worn again and were sent away to be burned. Blood, dirt and likely sweat had been washed from the bodies, and that took an hour to do both bodies.

Upon slicing into the bodies, the medical examiner had removed thirteen scalpels from the purple haired one, and a grand total of sixty-eight from the blond. Before he could remove any of the vital organs, he sensed that he had visitors, and he was correct when the question was asked.

"This is them. They were still warm when they arrived, which was shocking. There was a total of eighty-one scalpels between them. They are no fractured bones, which means they received no injuries from spearing into the floor, as well as no bruising. This is my initial examination, you understand."

Dark eyes slid over to the blond, who was still wearing a gold collar and bracelet. He had tried to remove the bracelet, but the moment he did he felt a shocking wave of evil leave the body. It took all his strength to put it back on, uncertain if he wanted to risk taking it off again.

The hooded figures in the shadows murmured to each other, while the examiner turned back to his patients. His eyes widened slightly when he saw that the wounds had healed on the bodies. He had cut into them. He had not heard their hearts beating, which meant they were dead. It was impossible for their body to heal – and that fast.

He stood beside the purple haired one, and opened the eye. The pupil didn't react to the light, but the body was still warm. In order to keep the body preserved for as long as possible, the room was kept cool. It wasn't possible for the body to still be warm.

Instead, he picked up a clean scalpel and began to slice into the purple haired teen again. Not taking his eyes off the body, he picked up the bolt cutters he used on the ribs, and began making his way through them. There was not a sound of pain, a flinch, a twitch or anything. The body continued to lie there, even when he started to remove the ribs from the open cavity he had created.

He paused in his duties, when he saw that there was blood pooling around the back. He placed the ribs he was holding down, and tenderly turned the body over. He had cleaned it, and knew for a fact that it was highly unlikely for him to have missed the twin gashes on the back, which started at the shoulder-blades and stopped half way down the back.

He opened the wounds. The blood was running freely, which meant there was a heartbeat to pump it around. It was the strangest case he had ever had, and he was meant to go on vacation after today. He decided to take this case as one last hoorah before he kicked back and enjoyed some sunlight. Yeah, he was regretting that decision now.

With the wound open, he saw something moving around inside and picked up a pair of tweezers. He took hold of what was moving and pulled it out with a bit of effort. It seemed apparent that the body didn't want to depart with whatever it was.

He rinsed it off and stared. He had just pulled a black feather with a purple sheen out of the back of a dead teenage boy. With a calming sigh, he decided that someone was having a grand laugh at his expense. Did they really think he would believe he was dissecting angels?

Placing the feather in a silver tray, along with the tweezers, he rolled the teen over again. This time he was not surprised to see that the wounds were healed. He was surprised that the ribs were back. The very same ribs he was staring at, which had their own tray that they were lying in.

Instead of being gentle, he just sliced into the body. He froze when he realized that the boy was staring at him. "If you're gonna get that intimate with my guts, I suggest you buy me a drink first," he said, a smirk curving up his lips. "Or possibly take me to a bed that's more comfortable."

The hooded figures stopped their conversation at the sound of a new voice. They watched as the supposedly dead teen sat up, stretched his arms above his head and cracked his back. He ran a hand through his untamed hair and gazed back at them, his amethyst eyes sparkling in the bright lights.

The boy raised a purple eyebrow. "So whose fucking leg to I have to hump to get some clothes around here?"

The medical examiner closed his eyes. "We thought you were dead."

"I got better." The boy got off the table and went over to the blond. "Rise and shine, sunflower. We're not in Japan anymore."

A gold eye cracked open. "Fuck off and let me sleep, before I pull rip your head off and play soccer."

The other chuckled at the threatening words. "C'mon on now," he whined. "We have a whole new place to explore."

"Koku ––"

"Don't you fucking dare," the teens snapped. Amethyst eyes lost their mirth and turned dark, while hard gold eyes were trained on them, waiting for them to make a mistake.

"Last I heard, you angels were meant to be fighting each other," a hooded figure said. "How the times have changed."

"Shit happens," Dark snapped. "So I can only guess that one of you 'bright sparks' has brought a Hikari artwork here."

A hood moved side to side, as the owner shook their head. "No. There was a Hikari artwork that was activated. I guess that is what you sensed, and made you appear here. You gave our students quite a fright."

Dark and Krad glanced at each other. "If you know about Hikari artworks, why in the fuck would you let someone activate it?"

"We did not 'allow' someone to activate it. We try to stop everything evil that we can, but sometimes even our forces need to rest."

Krad sat up, rubbing his head. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, listening in through all different channels of different beings. "Huh. There are some really evil things around here." He frowned when he saw an orchestra playing. There was a knight atop a black horse with blazing green eyes, a lance in his hand. "These people are screwed."

Dark knew that Krad had a strong attachment to the Hikari artworks, and knew each and every one of them. So he knew what he was talking about. And saying that these people were screwed was not a good sign.

"Which one is it?"

Krad slowly opened his eyes, staring hard at the hooded figures. "The 'Silent Orchestra' trilogy. 'False Night' has already awoken the 'Ghost Opera'."

Dark frowned. "We just arrived. I can understand our energy waking up 'False Night', but how the hell did it wake up 'Ghost Opera' so quickly?"

Krad's eyes slowly moved over to the medical examiner. "Someone removed my bracelet."

Dark glared at the examiner. "Are you retarded?"

The man held his hands up. "Again, thought you were dead. Was not expecting some demonic aura to shoot out of him like a Fourth of July firework! I've never seen you before, so how was I meant to know?"

Dark growled, his hands moving up as though he wanted to wrap them around the doctor's neck. He restrained himself, just barely and turned back to the hooded figures. "So are we gonna get any clothes, or what? You obviously want this cursed set out of your…" Dark looked around. He was in a freaking autopsy room. "…whatever the hell this place is!"

"Of course we do. We also want you to be ––"

"Discreet, not cause trouble and not to draw too much attention to ourselves. We know already," the angels finished.

"Do you think this is our first rodeo?" Dark demanded. But raised another question. "How long have you been waiting for us?"

"A little over twenty-four hours. We sensed that someone had woken one of the artworks up, and we knew that your presence would fuel it. We were hoping that it would only be the one."

Dark caught a bag that was thrown at him. He opened it up and pulled out a black uniform. "Nice. I think I could rock this very well," he said with a smirk, as he dressed.

Krad caught the bag thrown at him. He opened it up, and pulled out a black uniform identical to Dark's. "I don't wear black, asshole," he stated.

"You are to mix in with your peers," a Hood snapped. "If you wear a uniform of different color you will stand out."

Krad raised an eyebrow. They did know who they were talking to, right? "I will walk around this place naked. And trust me, I think that will stand out more than me wearing a white uniform!"

Dark tapped the toe of his boots on the floor. "He'll do it. He doesn't care if anyone sees him naked. The boy has no shame. And that's coming from me! A self-proclaimed slut."

Krad snarled, and pulled the pants on. He disappeared from the room, as did Dark. It appeared as though they would not be returning, and the Hoods also left the room.

The examiner looked at the two tables, which once held dead bodies. He had no idea what the hell just happened. He was almost certain he didn't want to know what had just happened. Every logical neutron in his brain was telling him that what had happened was impossible, and that it was a very bizarre dream. He accepted that answer, but still couldn't shake the urge to have an Irish coffee.

---

By day's end, Lavi had gone slightly insane trying to remember where he had seen the purple haired teen's face before. He had checked all his archives, double and triple checked them. There was still no glimmer of knowledge anywhere about him. He was certain he would remember someone with purple hair walking around, if he had bumped into the teen.

It was after he had fallen asleep that his archives reset themselves. He saw pages flashing, newspaper articles that were being filed away. But there was one word that stood out on all of the papers that he saw: thief.

Lavi woke with a start. He stared at the dark ceiling. He had been checking his archives for someone with purple hair. He remembered hearing a small tale from his time travelling in Japan. It wasn't anything major, and he had no idea why he suddenly remembered the story of the Phantom Thief.

An old lady had told him the story while he was waiting for Panda to finish something. She spoke with him, her voice was harsh. She told him that the Phantom Thief would come to meet him one day, and that he should be wary of the one that will follow the Thief.

Lavi had positively no bloody idea what the hell the old lady was talking about back then. He had asked questions, and came to find that the rumor was ancient. If there ever was a Phantom Thief it was highly unlikely that he was still alive, and that the corpse he saw was said thief.

Lavi sat up when he heard a child's giggle in his room. Why was he the one being harassed by the kid? Wouldn't they have found it more amusing to toy with Yu? Lavi knew he would, if he could appear and disappear.

"Is someone there?" he called out, slightly nervous that he would receive an answer.

He heaved a sigh of relief when silence was his only answer for a minute. Unfortunately, the sigh turned in a short scream of pain. Something flashed before his eye, which was screwed shut trying to ease up the pain. His head felt as though it was in a vice that was being tightened not-so slowly.

Another scream ripped its way from his throat as another image flashed behind his lid. It lasted a second longer than the first. It was some old mansion that appeared to be in disrepair.

Go there, a voice whispered around the room. Take the Phantom Thief and the Hunter. The voice seemed so distant and raspy that for a moment Lavi wasn't certain he had heard anything, until another painful image flashed in his head.

It showed the dead teen from earlier that day. He stood beside a blond, whose glare could give one of Yu's a run for its money. And he recognized – somehow he did – that the dead teen was the Phantom Thief.

Not wanting to, Lavi slowly opened his eye. A gasp of shock escaped his mouth. A little girl with black curls and huge blue eyes was standing over him. She held hands with her identical sister. They had dark circles around their eyes, and their lips were nearly black. But the shocking part was that Lavi could see right through them.

"Ghosts…don't…exist!" he choked out, closing his eye again. When was the pain going to stop?

Behind the blood pounding in his ears, Lavi was certain he could hear someone thumping on his door, begging for him to open it. If he could summon the energy to move over to the door, he would. He didn't even remember locking it.

"We do exist," the girls said.

Something shattered, and Lavi could only assume that it was his window. He groaned in pain when the girls screamed at something. It was long, it could have shattered glass.

And then there was silence.

Lavi slowly opened his eyes. Allen, Yu and Lenalee burst through the door. He wasn't interested in them, though. He was interested in the other two people that were standing in front of his broken window.

The purple haired teen wore the uniform of an Exorcist, while the blond wore what appeared to be casual, tight fitting clothing. He knew why none of his friends had rushed to his side when he saw the purple haired one. He was the one that was meant to be dead.

"I thought you were dead," Allen finally said after a long minute of silence.

"I got better," the teen said with a shrug, as though it was completely natural for him to be pronounced dead, and then to show up as though nothing had happened. He moved towards the bed, only to find a katana aimed at him. "Whoa." He held his hands up. "Compensating for something, are we?"

Kanda's eyes narrowed. "Who the hell are you?"

"Mousy Dark. And this is my adorable brother, Hikari Krad."

Recognition flashed through Kanda's eyes at the last name. He had heard of that demon before. It was rumored that the Hikari Demon would devour misbehaving children. Of course, Kanda believed it to be nothing more than a fairytale told to keep children in line.

"The demon of the Hikari line." It was a statement, and that worried Dark and Krad. Neither of them thought for a second that anyone in the building would know about them. "You are meant to be a story."

Krad gazed at Kanda blankly. For several seconds that seemed to drag on, no one said anything. "A story, huh? Which one? The one where I eat children that have been misbehaving? The taste of children is not something I want to experience more than once. A nineteen year old wielding a pointed stick would go a down a treat, if he doesn't stop waving it at my brother."

Dark rolled his eyes at the glaring contest going on between the two hard asses in the room. He moved the sword out of the way, and opened his coat. He got the feeling that one of four he had seen would be contacted by the girls, and so he had prepared for it.

He pulled out a small vial, and tenderly opened the redhead's mouth pouring the sweet liquid into his mouth. "There you go. That should take care of the pain in a few moments."

Lavi groaned, feeling whatever it was taking effect almost immediately. He opened his eye, gawking at the Phantom Thief. "What the hell hit me?"

"Psychic powers," Dark answered, returning the empty vial to his coat.

Lenalee knelt beside Dark. "Is he going to be okay?"

Lavi rubbed his eye. If it wasn't for the fact that the Phantom Thief was still beside his bed, he could have easily believed that what just happened was a dream. A terribly, terribly painful dream. How was he expected to believe that ghosts exists, because a couple of freaky ass little girls showed up in his room? As it was, he was still trying wrap his head around the Phantom Thief being in his room.

"Yeah, he'll be fine. We need to know what the girls showed him, though."

Lavi glanced over at the blond and Yu. He could only assume that the two of them were content to have a glaring contest, while Allen tried to break it up. He was grateful to know he wasn't the only one that had to do that.

His attention went back to Dark. "What they showed me?"

Dark tried not to roll his eyes. "Yeah. All that pain you were in before? That was from them inserting images into your head. They're not exactly known for their delicate touch."

"But…They were little girls. Why would they look so evil?"

This time Dark did roll his eyes. "You know about me, right? You were staring at me in disbelief and it wasn't because you thought I was dead. You thought I was a legend, much like Bitch Pants McCrabby over there thought that Krad was only a story. To make a long story short ––"

"Too late," Krad cut in, his eyes not moving from Kanda's.

"You know what Krad and I deal with, kind of. Much like how you guys deal with the Innocence or whatever the fuck you wanna call it. The evil entities that you deal with are kind of like what we deal with," Dark explained. He smiled and nodded, hoping that he wouldn't have to go into greater detail than that.

Everyone in the room stared at Dark. While the black winged angel had hoped that he had answered all questions that anyone could think of, all he did was create more questions than answers. The main one being…

"How are you not dead?" Lavi asked. He knew it was a stupid thing to ask, but he could hardly believe that someone as old as the Phantom Thief could still be alive.

Dark groaned, slapping a hand over his face. "Seriously, that's all you can focus on? I'm the Phantom Thief! Phantom Thief!"

"Okay, okay!" Lavi held his hands up. He had to ask these questions if he wanted to archive it correctly. "Why do you have an Exorcist uniform?"

Before Dark could utter a sound, Krad ran out of the room. Kanda gave chase after a curse. Dark stood up and looked down at Lenalee. "Watch him, while I try to figure out what my brother is up to."

"What the fuck is that?" Kanda shouted.

"What does it fucking look like?" Krad shot back, annoyance in his voice and Dark thought for a moment that Krad was talking to him. "It's a knight on a horse. What are you, blind?"

Dark sighed and shook his head. It was going to get bloody between the long haired ones if he didn't get down there. He glanced at Allen and beckoned to the platinum teen. They left the room, and jumped over the balcony.

Dark smirked as his brother danced around the knight. He noticed that Allen couldn't keep up with his movements, and that Kanda was confused on what the golden blond was doing. Kanda had obviously never tried to rip a knight's head off with the helmet attached to the armor.

Krad kicked the knight off of his horse. The man fell off and out of his armor. Krad stood on top of the horse, which reared when it came to realize that its master was not there.

Krad walked over to the knight, and Dark stood in front of Kanda and Allen. "You probably don't want to see this, it can get pretty messy when we're looking for the artwork."

Kanda ignored what Dark was saying and continued to watch Krad. The blond kicked the lance away, and removed the helmet of the knight. Kanda frowned slightly when he saw that the knight's face was starting to decompose. That didn't seem to bother Krad as he ripped the man's head off his shoulders with little resistance. He placed his hands on the bleeding neck, and ripped the torso in half.

Blood sprayed everywhere and Allen cried out in surprise. He hadn't taken Dark's word and had watched Krad's every move. It would seem that Krad was the brutal one of the two, despite the fact that he looked rather angelic.

Allen tried not to lose his dinner when Krad began hunting through the knight's innards. But that got him curious on something. The shouting between Kanda and Krad would have woken many people in the building. Why hadn't anyone come out to see what was happening?

"The artworks have basically sent us to another dimension. While we're shouting, nothing escapes the bubble we're in," Dark explained, having seen the glazed over look in Allen's eye as he looked around. "It could be a good thing, too. I'm not too sure how many people would be able to handle seeing someone get ripped apart."

"What the hell is he looking for?" Kanda demanded.

"The artwork," Dark replied. "I don't have my gloves on, so I can't really touch the art without it reacting violently. However, Krad is a Hikari and therefore able to do whatever he pleases with it."

Krad stood up and stared at the horse, which whinnied and reared again, as though it knew what the blond was thinking. Krad walked over to the beast, hating it when the artworks had animals with them. While they were evil, they were still animals and it still took him a while to work up the courage to kill a defenseless creature.

With an exclamation of disgust, Krad did three back handsprings to Dark. The horse's mouth opened wide, the jaw basically unhinging as something crawled out. Allen couldn't keep his dinner down and vomited as a human came out of the horse's mouth. Even Kanda was looking a little ill. Just when they thought they had seen it all. Something newer and freakier came along.

"How the Hikari curse has fallen," the knight muttered. "Now you side with the one that wishes to seal us, instead of fighting against him."

"Oh yeah. Because you cock stains did a lot to help me out when I was getting my ass kicked by him. Fucking jackass. I'm gonna call you Kanda. You're as retarded and annoying as he is!"

Kanda sent his best glare at the blond. He was being compared to some thing that had just been born via a horse's mouth? He thought not. And the blond didn't even know him enough to make an accusation like that.

"Who the fuck do you think you are, Blondie?" Kanda growled out, taking a step towards Krad.

"Take one more step towards me in that threatening manner, kitty and I'll make you lick the blood of my hands."

Kanda weighed his options. He wasn't sure if he wanted to test the blond, and see if he would really do that. So instead, he settled for glaring death at Krad and hoped that this mess would be over soon enough. He didn't enjoy having someone that could match him on threats.

"You're a heartless bastard, right, Kanda?" Krad asked suddenly, which took everyone by surprise. "Kill that horse."

Kanda looked at the horse. The animal appeared happy to have its master back. And that was when Kanda decided that he really didn't like these artworks that Dark and Krad were going on about. The Akuma were completely different, and so much easier to take out. They rarely resembled humans.

Kanda realized that Allen, Dark and Krad were staring at him expectantly. What was he meant to do? Sure, the thing was evil. But it was still an animal. He took a deep breath, knowing that if he didn't do it his reputation would be ruined.

"Will our Innocence work on your art?"

Krad scoff. "Pfft, fuck no!"

Kanda glared. "Then what use is attacking it?"

Krad screamed in frustration, and did the only thing Allen had never seen anyone stupid enough to do. He snatched Mugen from Kanda's hand, and cut his own forearm, on the right side nearly going down to the bone.

"It's still a fucking sword, you retard! I said to kill it, not destroy it with the fucking Innocence. What even is that?"

Kanda growled and took back his Innocence. "Don't you ever touch my sword again," he warned.

Krad appeared behind Kanda and pushed him towards the horse. "Make yourself useful!"

Lavi looked over the balcony. He had laughed when Krad took Mugen from Yu, and was actually quite surprised that Yu didn't kill the blond. Lavi was almost certain he was going to enjoy Krad's company.

As though sensing that someone was thinking about him, Krad looked up at the redhead. "Get back into bed, you walking hazard," he snapped.

Dark shook his head. Great. Krad was in a foul mood already. That was the last thing he needed to deal with. "Hey, kid," Dark called up to Lavi. "Just do as he says, okay?"

"But its so cold and lonely in my bed," Lavi whined, noticing the way that Krad's hands became claws. Perfect. It was another Yu.

"If you don't get back into that bed and get some rest, I'll make sure you never have to worry about being cold and lonely again!"

But considering he had no idea what kind of a person Krad was, Lavi shuffled back into his room. While he knew that Yu would only go as far as hitting him, he got the feeling Krad would live up to his threats. And that wasn't a very comforting thought.

"Well," Lavi said to Lenalee as he threw himself on the bed. "Everyone seems to be having fun down there."

Lenalee stared at the stone railing of the balcony. "It sounded very angry, actually. I hope that Kanda and that other guy don't kill each other."

Lavi laughed again. "You should have seen the look on Yu's face when that other guy snatched Mugen out of his hand! I wish I had a camera."

Kanda decapitated the horse, and Dark moved in on the knight. Krad did his usual thing, by ripping the horse open and searching through the guts for the artwork. The massive majority of the time the curses rarely strayed too far from their art. So why wasn't it anywhere around here?

As that thought entered his head, the knight and horse vanished. The only trace that remained of them was the blood on Krad's body, and the blond sighed. So they weren't near the artwork.

"We really need to find out what that kid saw," he said to Dark. "Whatever place he was shown is where the artworks are. And I think it's likely we'll find all three of them there."

"I like this place. It's made of convenient things." Dark grinned, which slowly left his face. "I have a bad feeling about this."

"You aren't the only one," Kanda piped up.

"Look, princess," Krad said stepping up to Kanda. "Shut that black hole under your nose, before I rip your lungs out through your kneecaps!"

Kanda snapped. He was already tired of being threatened by the blond, and he was sick of him running his mouth. He punched the pale blond, who accepted it. Kanda had seen the way the boy in white had moved around the knight. He knew his attack would have been easily evaded, but still it landed and he was beginning to feel a little better.

Krad held the cheek that had been punched. He glared at Kanda calmly, which didn't seem possible. In his right hand a white feather appeared, which shone red when the light hit it. He threw the feather at Kanda, who jumped to the side.

"Did you just throw a feather at me?" Kanda's eyes widened when the feather exploded behind him. Literally exploded.

Of course, without the Hikari artworks keeping their noise down in their little dimension bubble, everyone woke up from the explosion and came to see what was happening. And since it was hard to not recognize people of Dark and Krad's coloring, whispers began among them.

Komui was the first official at the scene. He had already been briefed about the angels of Koku-Yoku joining their ranks. He was not, however briefed about the fact that they could make shit explode.

"What are you all doing up at this hour? Get back to bed," he told the others that had only just come out to see what was happening. Muttering, everyone did what they were told, except Lavi and Lenalee. "What is going on here?"

Kanda growled and glared at Krad, who returned the hateful look. Komui glanced at Allen, who shrugged and then to Dark, who smiled innocently and shrugged. He got the feeling none of them were going to talk, but he would be damned if he was going to let them go before finding out why there was a hole the size of east Texas in the wall.

"Someone had better start talking before all of you get punished," Komui threatened.

"It was him," Krad said, pointing to Kanda.

"It was him," Kanda said, pointing to Krad.

"It was them," Dark and Allen said, pointing to Kanda and Krad.

"You fucking snitch," Krad seethed at Dark. "If I have to clean toilets, or do something that makes me get a blister or break a nail, I'll be sure to take it out on you."

Dark snickered. "You can try, but I'd just kick your ass back to Japan," he taunted, sticking his tongue out.

"And I'll be sending you back to Japan in several pieces. And I'll be sure to reassemble you with your cock on your head."

Komui closed his eyes for a second, which was apparently long enough for the two angels to get into a fist fight. "Stop it, Koku ––"

"Shut up," they cut in, before standing at attention.

"Allen, Dark please return to your rooms. The same goes for you two." Komui looked up at his sister and Lavi. The two muttered mutinously but did as they were told. When they were alone, Komui turned his hard eyes onto Kanda and Krad. What was with the Ks? "What am I going to do about you two? Krad, this is only your first night here, and already you're blowing up the building?"

"I was provoked," Krad stated bluntly.

"And Kanda, you should know better by now. Report to the kitchen after breakfast. You two will be doing the dishes. Now go to bed."

Kanda and Krad nodded at Komui, and headed towards the stairs. "If you weren't such an asshole, we wouldn't be in this mess," they growled at the other.

With a final glare, they went their separate ways on the landing. Krad went into Lavi's room, pressed a finger to his lips and jumped out of the broken window. Lavi had no idea what that was about, he wasn't going to ask, either. If the blond wanted to pretend he could fly, then that was fine with Lavi.

---

When Lavi opened his eye, he could make out a grayish blob standing over him. The incidents of last night came crashing back to him, and thankfully they came back without the pain. He sat up, half expecting it to be the girls that had been more terrifying than any Akuma he had ever seen before.

His heart calmed down when Dark came into focus, staring at him with a raised eyebrow. "Sleep well?"

"I had the strangest dream…" Lavi trailed off and stared at his broken window. Perhaps it wasn't a dream then. "Why are you back in my room?"

"We need to know what images the girls sent you, so we can find the artworks, seal them, and then get out of your life," Dark answered with a happy grin. How could he look so fresh, so early in the morning?

"And I can finally get out of this forsaken era," Krad added from his position at the end of the bed. "So can you just tell us, so we don't seem like perverts?"

Lavi just stared at Krad. He actually had no idea what the hell the blond was wearing, and he had seen prostitutes covering more skin than he was. He was dressed in what looked like white pirate boots, shorts and a waist coat with two tails, which didn't even stop at his waist. It barely covered his chest. And then there were the white lace gloves.

"What the hell are you wearing? You look like a whore."

"Then my job is done. By the way, Lavi?"

"How did you know my name?"

"There isn't anything we don't know about you. But anyway, what's wet and clueless?" Krad asked as he came to stand beside the redhead, who stared up at him.

"What does that ––?" He cut off in a scream as a bucket of water was dumped over his head.

"Your face!" Krad stated and shoved the bucket on his head. "I'll be outside. If you need to extract the images, just call me in."

"Sure," Dark said as he removed the bucket from Lavi's head. "You should probably learn not to piss him off. Now, can we back to the images? You seem to find a way of avoiding the topic every time I bring it up."

"Because ghosts don't exist," Lavi said, pushing his wet hair out of his eye. "They don't exist, so I don't have any images."

"You're full of shit," Krad's voice floated in from the door. "If I have to extract those images I promise you it will be ten times more painful than when they were inserted, so just tell us."

Telling them would admit that he acknowledged the spirits that had visited him. At least the knight could be waved off as a different breed of Akuma. But he had been able to see right through those girls. His logic kept telling him that it had been a really bad dream.

But he did remember the pain of the images flashing behind his lid. And Krad made a promise that he didn't want the blond to keep. So, through a sigh, Lavi finally said that he saw a creepy old mansion.

"Awesome," Dark muttered sarcastically. "We're in Europe where there are a fucking shit load of creepy old mansions." Dark picked up the cream coat of a Finder, and went to the door. "You're a Bookman-in-training, right?"

"How did you…?" Lavi decided not to finish that question. They already knew his name, and his desired profession. What use would it be to know how they knew? One of them was already wearing the uniform of an Exorcist, despite having arrived dead yesterday. "Yeah. Why?"

"Part of that job is to record things that don't usually get recorded, if I remember your words correctly. We're going to be needing Exorcists with us on our little mission to the creepy old mansion, as the evil of the 'Silent Orchestra' trilogy will attract all kinds of Akuma." Dark gazed at Lavi and smirked. "Plus you're cute, and I need something to perv on while we're there."

Lavi smiled nervously. "Sorry, dude. I'm straight."

"I said 'perv on' not 'rape', you idiot. It's a good thing you are cute, because at times you can be so stupid." Dark shook his head and left the room. He handed Krad his coat and stretched his arms above his head.

"We're not taking Kanda," Krad stated as they walked away from the door.

"We're taking Kanda," Dark confirmed, not surprised when Krad threw him over the balcony railing.

"Fly, bitch, fly!"

Lavi stared at his open door. "What have I gotten myself into?"

And that was a question he didn't even know how to begin answering. He hadn't gotten himself into anything. It was more like he and the others had been dragged into it. They didn't go looking for this kind of trouble. They were happy fighting Akuma, and bantering with each other. Why did the crazy shit always happen at the Black Order?

Lavi dried, dressed and went down to breakfast. It seemed he walked into an eating contest between Allen and Dark. Kanda and Krad glared at the two. Kanda's held more spite than usual.

Allen and Dark slammed their utensils down at the same time, getting to their feet. They picked up mugs, and drank the steaming contents without flinching. Krad kept trying to take the mug away from Dark, shouting something about not dealing with him on a caffeine rush.

Lavi took a moment to wonder if he had entered the Twilight Zone, or some form of alternate reality. And the strangest part was this wasn't the weirdest it got around the Order. Oh no. Nothing could possibly beat Allen's story about a cat in the freezer.

Krad shook his head, and sank back to his chair in defeat. Why would they serve coffee to people so young? Granted the youngest at the table were Allen and Lenalee. But that didn't excuse them from serving Dark coffee.

Instead, Krad gazed at Lavi. "You're finally down. Sweet. Sit down, shut up and don't move." Krad reached out, and pulled Lavi into the seat beside him. He removed the glove from his right hand, and placed his hand on Lavi's forehead. "Don't ask anything stupid," he warned.

Dark handed Krad a sketch pad and a pencil. Lavi watched as Krad began to draw the mansion from the images in his mind. "You're left handed?" He wasn't entire sure if that classed as a stupid question.

"Ambidextrous. Now shut up."

Lavi sighed softly but didn't say anything more. Thankfully it only lasted a few more minutes before Krad was done. He snapped the pad closed and handed it back to Dark.

"I have to do dishes, since someone was douchebag." He stared pointedly at Kanda, who glared back. "So you need to begin the search for that place. I get the feeling it'll be somewhere rural. Just my luck."

Dark grinned. "Just think of the fresh country air!"

It took Krad a second to reach across the table and slam Dark's head onto the tabletop. "Think of that," he fumed. "And you know damn well that the air doesn't do a thing for me."

Lavi moved to sit beside Yu. The brothers were a little violent, and that was saying something. He couldn't believe that he actually felt safer sitting next to Yu, who had threatened him on way more than one occasion to gut him. And yet, he never attacked without warning.

"What's so terrible about the Hikari artworks?" Lavi asked suddenly. Even Yu looked up from his food and waited for the answer.

"They're cursed." Was the short answer from Krad.

"Why are they cursed?"

Lavi was almost certain that he saw Krad's back press against the chair more, as though he was trying to keep something hidden. And unless someone had punched him so hard he was in a delusional coma, he could have sworn that Krad looked uneasy and slightly sad.

"Because the Hikari bloodline that I'm from are a bunch of wankers," he suddenly snapped, anger replacing any other emotion that might have accidentally slipped into his eyes. "Anything else you wanna know?"

Lavi nodded. Since Krad had asked he took that as an invitation to ask more questions. After all, the more he knew the better. "What are the artworks cursed with? An evil spirit?" He couldn't keep the smirk from his face at the last part. He still didn't believe in ghosts.

Krad stood abruptly and left the table, heading towards the kitchen. Dark smiled slightly. "They're actually cursed with the souls of the creator. Every Hikari artwork, while beautiful is also deadly."

"Like the 'Raven Moon' trilogy?" Lenalee inquired quietly. She knew that not many people knew she was into art. And there was always something so hypnotic about the Hikari works. 'The curse of the roses, right?"

Dark raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, exactly. I had no idea anyone at this table knew about that."

Lenalee shrugged. "I do enjoy art, and generally the history behind the art is a little more interesting than the work itself. Especially with the Hikari works. The history behind those pieces are usually so brutal. But I haven't heard much about the 'Raven Moon' series. Did something happen to it?"

"It was sealed, and has returned to its normal state. All the souls were released." Dark grinned.

Lavi lowered his eyes in thought. That kind of information didn't seem easy to come by. So how in the world did Lenalee know about it, while he didn't? Well, there was only way to get the information she knew about Hikari artworks.

"What are you two talking about?"

Yu glared at Lavi. "Even I know about the 'curse of the roses'," he stated, enjoying the look of dismay on the Bookman's face.

"Well, I didn't spend much time in Japan. So would someone like to explain it to me?"

"Sure," Dark said with a shrug. "Basically the 'Raven Moon' trilogy consists of the paintings 'Raven Moon', 'Endless Rain' and 'Dark Light'. The original paintings all had seven roses in bloom around the border, in the seven colors of the rainbow. One gay remark from you, Kanda and by the time I'm through with you, you'll be calling me 'Bubba'." Kanda gritted his teeth and glared into his empty bowl. "Of course, once the paintings were complete the artist died of…unnatural causes. Being possessed by a demonic angel didn't help. And since then, every owner of any of the 'Raven Moon' paintings has ended up dead, and another rose blooms in the painting. The end."

Lavi stared at Dark with a wide eye. Krad was right; Dark really didn't know how to tell a short story. "What the hell is a demonic angel?"

"There are some answers you'll need to find out on your own, Lavi," Dark said as he stood. "If you'll excuse me, I have a little research to do."

Lenalee fixated her eyes on Lavi. "You really didn't know about the curse, did you?" Lavi shook his head. "Then I guess you didn't know that Krad is the demonic angel."

Lavi frowned. He had not had enough sleep to be dealing with these paradoxes. "How is that even possible? One cannot be a demonic angel – it's completely redundant."

Yu dragged himself to his feet. He looked at all the dishes that had come from just Allen and Dark. How could those two eat so much? It had never made much sense to Yu, but he went to the kitchen. He would be damned if he was going to be bussing tables.

Lavi inhaled deeply. He wasn't feeling particularly hungry, which could be a good thing. He would just eat a little extra at lunch. In the meantime, he wanted to interrogate Dark and Krad a little more about their pasts. Of course, if Krad is meant to be a 'demonic angel' he had no idea if he would remember any of the information he could extract. At least Dark was a little nicer, and it was possible that he could help the other with locating the mansion.

Lenalee was called away by a Finder for a new mission. Allen said something about needing to seeing Komui about, after he had finished debriefing his sister on her new mission. Lavi dragged himself to his feet, and followed after Dark.

---

Kanda and Krad stared at each other. Krad had flat out refused to be the one who washed the dishes, and Kanda flat out refused to do anything. He still believed that he was innocent in all of this, and that Krad should be the one to do everything. Of course, Kanda had come to learn that Krad was just as stubborn as he was.

Instead of doing anything, Krad sat on the island counter and crossed his legs. He raised an eyebrow when he saw the way that Kanda's fingers twitched, as though he had Mugen by his side.

Knowing that he wasn't going to get anywhere with the blond, Kanda just glared as Krad delicately and slowly removed his gloves. That was not something that Kanda wanted to happen. He might not want to be there, but he also wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible and work out his frustration in training.

By the time Krad finished dicking around with his gloves, Kanda had the large sink filled and was already getting started on the large stack of dishes used to cook breakfast. Krad picked up a tray and went around the dining room.

However, when Krad got back from the dining room, he sighed and Kanda hoped that the blond wouldn't talk to him. Not unless it was to apologize for their current predicament, which Kanda seriously doubted. Krad still blamed him wholly.

Krad picked up a clean dish towel. "This really sucks," he groaned. "At least I'm not cleaning them."

Kanda shot a hateful look at Krad, who was smirking triumphantly at him. "Why are you complaining? This is entirely your fault!"

Krad lost his smirk. He usually took credit where credit was due. But something in him was telling him that this wasn't fully his fault. Kanda was just as much to blame as he was. It was not surprising that Kanda believed he was innocent in all of this. Krad saw a lot of himself inside the samurai.

"How is all my fault? You were the one who wouldn't shut up and admit defeat."

Kanda's shoulders tensed slightly. Krad was that insane he thought he had won their little disagreement? "Shut up; you're annoying."

Krad growled and tackled Kanda around the waist. The samurai yelled in annoyance, and snarled when Krad punched him. He was never going to relax ever again. He caught the fist that was heading for his face again, and kneed Krad in the ribs, changing their position at the same time. He would not have some overly effeminate male straddling him.

Kanda took hold of Krad's hair, and shoved the blond's face into the sink. After a few seconds, Kanda brought the spluttering blond up for air. Krad could be grateful that the water was still relatively clean.

Krad blinked his eyes a few times, trying to remove the stinging sensation of the detergent. He elbowed Kanda, making contact on the outside of the samurai's left eye. It was enough to make Kanda let go of his hair and give him a look of pure death for daring to attack him.

Kanda looked at the tray that Krad had brought in from the dining room. Krad seemed to know what he was thinking. "Don't you fucking dare," he warned. "You mess up this outfit and I'll mess up that pretty face of yours."

Kanda raised an eyebrow. He would seriously love to see Krad try. Instead, he picked up a plate and threw it at the blond. Krad ducked it, and moved in to trip Kanda. The dark haired boy jumped onto the counter island, and knocked the tray over, which spilled onto Krad.

Krad got to his feet, staring down at his messy outfit. He didn't care about the coat, but the waistcoat, shorts and boots had been damn near impossible to locate. And now they were covered in the remnants of someone's breakfast. A thought that he was trying desperately to push away.

"I will end you," Krad threatened as he turned his raging eyes to Kanda, who snickered.

"Bring it on, bitch."

Krad threw another feather with a red sheen at Kanda, who easily jumped out of the way. It was not surprising when the back section of the kitchen exploded. Kanda was weary of those feathers now. He had no idea where they were coming from, as he highly doubted that Krad was an actual demonic angel.

Kanda was forced against the walls, as Krad refused to let him get closer. The explosions were near on deafening, and Kanda was curious on how no one could hear them. The entire building was stone, and a single cough echoed up and down the halls.

While against the walls, Kanda found the clean china. He flung plates at Krad, who easily deflected the porcelain; even catching a few. He threw them back at Kanda and they shattered against the walls. Kanda had to admit that he was not expecting this kind of work out from Krad.

With a growl, Krad grabbed the tray of dirty plates that people had taken up themselves, and threw it at Kanda. Without indication, Kanda lunged at Krad, unpleasantly surprised when the blond took hold of his shoulders, and shoved him onto the floor where the first lot of dirty dishes had been broken. Half eaten breakfasts were smeared onto his clean uniform.

Kanda got to his feet gracefully and wrapped a hand around Krad's throat. Unfortunately, Krad did the same thing. With their free hands, they tried to the upper hand on the other, which was cut short when a voice boomed at them.

"Enough!"

Kanda and Krad looked over at the entrance to the kitchen, and saw Komui standing there. His eyes were alight with wrath, and even Krad swallowed thickly as the man moved towards them.

Komui's eyes took in the amount of damage done to the kitchen. He honestly thought that making those two psychos wash dishes would be harmless. He was not expecting chunks of wall to be missing, and the massive majority of the dishes to be destroyed within a half an hour of them being on duty. Nor was he expecting them to be covered in food.

Kanda and Krad removed their hands from the other's throat. Both lowered their eyes, awaiting the punishment they knew they would be receiving. They might have wanted to get out of the kitchen quickly, but neither were expecting a fight to break out between them. And Kanda was still amazed that Krad had his feathers on him. He wasn't allowed to walk around with Mugen, unless he was on guard duty, but Krad was free to keep an endless supply of feathers in his pockets?

Komui forced himself to remain calm. He couldn't think of a place to put the pair where they wouldn't have any weapons around. Well, except for one place. "Laundry room. Now."

Kanda and Krad nodded and ran out of the kitchen. At least they didn't have to repair the walls, or glue together the plates they had demolished. Krad followed Kanda, figuring he would know the way. At least in the laundry room they would be able to clean their outfits.

Krad stared at the industrial sized washing machines, which were run by steam. What kind of barbaric period was he in? He never thought he would miss the modern machines, like washing machines and driers.

Kanda had noticed the look of confusion on Krad's face. It somehow didn't surprise him that Krad had never had to wash any of his clothes before. Something told Kanda that whenever Krad needed clean clothes, he probably just went out and bought more. And Kanda was not a judgmental person, but that was the kind of vibe that he got from Krad.

"Don't you people have electricity?" Krad demanded. When he actually thought about it, everything was lit up with candles. It was going to be a long ass case.

Kanda narrowed his eyes, and went over to a giant pile of white linen. He started to sort the pile, while Krad looked around and tried to figure out how most of the ancient machines worked. He knew how to wash some clothing by hand, as he had expensive taste and wasn't going to run the risk of his clothing being destroyed at a Laundromat or by machine. And that was when it struck Krad that he and Dark had gone back in time.

Kanda heard Krad sigh dejectedly. Maybe the idiotic blond had gotten it through his thick skull that there was no way he could skip out on this duty. If worse came to worse, Kanda had no doubt that they would receive a chaperon to make sure they did their work, without so much as talking to each other.

"You people are so barbaric," Krad stated as he looked into one of the giant wooden tubs. "How was anything ever done in an era like this?"

Kanda closed his eyes. He would ignore Krad for as long as possible. He was not going to be baited. And what exactly was he talking about, anyway? Kanda thought back to when he had first seen Dark. What he wore, while messed up, was not standard clothing for that country. Or any country as far as Kanda could remember. So where exactly were Dark and Krad from?

After going through the pile, Kanda found that the linen was clean and only needed to be pressed and folded. He glanced at Krad, who was staring at the washing tub with curious eyes.

"Undress," Kanda said, as he began removing his uniform.

"What?"

Kanda glared at Krad. "If you want to spend the rest of the day in dirty clothing, be my guest. If not, I suggest you undress so they can be washed."

Krad set his jaw. Unlike Kanda, Krad didn't have any kind of undergarment on. His shorts were tight enough to reveal that. So he walked away from the samurai, and stood behind a large pile of clean linen. He undressed quickly, and wrapped one of the tablecloths around himself. When he walked out, he saw that Kanda had done the same thing. Obviously neither of them wanted to be naked in front of the other.

Kanda took Krad's clothes, and threw them into a smaller tub. He could wash those while Krad folded the other linen. When told of this arrangement, Krad shook his head. He had no earthly idea on how to use a pressing machine. And he refused to lose a limb attempting to learn.

"I don't know how to use that machine. I do know how to wash clothes by hand, though. So you do the pressing, while I do the washing."

Kanda gritted his teeth. At least Krad knew how to do something other than bitch. "Using the pressing machine is not that difficult. Even a blond like you could understand it."

"Are you calling me a dumb blond?"

"If the shoe fits…"

Krad's hands became fists. "You're insulting me because I don't want to lose a limb from using a machine I've never even fucking heard of before now?"

"Something like that. It's a simple, straight forward procedure."

"You obviously know it. So why don't you do that, while I sit back and file my nails?"

Kanda stood as Krad sat on the table with the linen he had been sorting earlier. The blond pulled out a small flat object, and started to run it over his nails. Kanda honestly could not believe that Krad was going to sit there, and do nothing simply because he couldn't wash the clothing.

"Wash the damn clothing then, you twat."

Krad glanced at the bracelet around his left wrist. Never before had he been tempted to remove it and destroy someone so badly. Instead, the nail file disappeared and Krad took Kanda's spot. He would not resort to pure evil just to put that uppity little shit in his place. There would be more than enough times in the future for that to happen.

Kanda was half way through pressing all the linen by the time Krad had finished the washing. Now the blond was standing opposite him, watching the way the pressing machine worked. Instead of asking questions, Krad announced that he would do the folding once Kanda had finished pressing them. Not wanting to get into another fight, Kanda just went along with it.

"Of course you would want to take the easy part," he muttered.

"Did you say something, buttercup?"

"I said you're lazy, and every little thing about you makes me to kill you."

Krad continued to fold the linen, almost as though he had not heard what Kanda had said. "And everything about your overly arrogant, egomaniacal, self-centered, emotionally fucked up, hormonal self makes me want to kill you as well."

Kanda stared at Krad. He had no doubt that people had probably thought that about him, but no one had the balls to say it to his face so casually. He actually had no idea how to react to that.

"Bitch, you just got served."

But no one called him a bitch if they expected to live. Kanda grabbed the linen he was currently pressing, threw it at Krad, jumped over the blond, grabbed the ends and tightened the material around his throat.

Krad looked at Kanda from the corner of his eye. "Are you trying to turn me on?"

Kanda's eyes widened a fraction for a second, before they narrowed and he gritted his teeth. He would be damned if the blond was going to get out this one alive. And yet, somehow, it was not surprising that the material he was choking the blond with ripped into two pieces, releasing Krad.

With wide eyes, Krad stared at Kanda. "You take things way too seriously, dude."

"That coming from a blond that got upset because I said you're dumb? Your hormones are more disorganized than mine! Are you sure you're not female?"

Krad raised the sheet that was wrapped around him, as well as an eyebrow. "Does it look like I have female parts?"

"You really have no shame!"

"I'm not going to let some asshole call me a woman without proving them wrong!"

Kanda still hadn't looked away. He was fairly certain that he was shock over the whole thing. And while there were many that Kanda was certain wanted to flash him, none of them actually had. What the hell was wrong with Krad?

"You're fucked up," Kanda stated calmly. "Now put that thing away."

Krad dropped the sheet, and flicked his hair over his shoulder. "Jealous that yours isn't as big? I knew you were compensating for something with that sword."

Kanda punched Krad, who gasped at the attack. He glared at Kanda, his gold eyes flashing blue for a moment. And just when Kanda thought it was going to be a glaring match, Krad swung back at him. He blocked the fist, but missed the leg that was aiming for his face. The kick knocked him to the ground.

"Stop hitting my face! Do you have any idea how ugly I look with bruises on my face?"

Krad's eyes widened as Kanda got to his feet and punched him in the gut, all before he could even fully comprehend what was happening. He struggled for air and collapsed against Kanda. That was by far worse than anything else he had ever experienced. And he hoped he would never have to again.

"You asshole," Krad muttered against Kanda's shoulder. "That really fucking hurt!"

Krad was almost certain that Kanda had broken a rib or two. And when he looked down at his torso, he could safely assume that the majority of the pain was from a broken rib. It was only an assumption. The blood on the linen could be from anything, really.

Krad pulled away from Kanda, and undid the cloth around his body. He tied it off around his hips, and stared at the bone that was jutting out through his skin. It hurt a lot more now than when he had landed in that hellhole yesterday. And since when had Kanda been able to get the drop on him? When did his reflexes become so slow that Kanda, a human was able to beat the crap out of him, and break one of his ribs?

Kanda looked at his fist. He honestly had no idea that he had hit Krad that hard, and was grateful that he hadn't broken the blond's face. He got the feeling that if he had done that, Krad would have done more than just throw feathers at him. Kanda felt as though Krad would have forced him to eat them.

"We should probably get you to the infirmary."

Krad stared at Kanda. "Are you insane? If we do that then Koma…Komu…Whatever the hell his name is will know we've been fighting again."

Kanda's right eyebrow twitched. "So you would rather walk around with a broken rib?"

"No shit. If what's-his-name found out that you broke one of my ribs imagine the punishment! Although…" Krad trailed off and into a smirk. How he wanted to laugh evilly at the idea that had popped into his head. He suddenly found the need to go to the infirmary. "Maybe I should get the nurse to check it out."

Kanda knew exactly where Krad's mind was going. The only reason the blond wanted to go there was because he wanted to know what kind of punishment Kanda would receive. And it was the kind of discipline that Kanda didn't want to know about. The last thing he wanted to do was weed the gardens.

"You already said no, so I'm not taking you there."

Krad rolled his eyes. "And what use am I going to be around here?" He tenderly touched the rib and winced. Why the hell was it hurting so much? He still couldn't find a reason as to why he was suddenly feeling pain.

Krad's eyes widened as the room started to spin. Now the pain was affecting him that way? Normally he had no problem with pain. In fact, nearly four hundred years had taught him how to enjoy it.

Krad collapsed and Kanda caught him. He was tempted to take the blond to infirmary, but not in what he was wearing. He did not want to be seen around the place wearing only a sheet. And yet he knew that he couldn't wait for his uniform to dry, as that would take too long.

Kanda glanced down at the broken rib, his mouth parting slightly. The bone was being pulled back into the body, and he could hear it clicking into place. The exit wound healed over, and Krad's skin appeared flawless; there was no sign of a broken bone. What the hell was he dealing with?

---

By the time Dark had found the library of the building, he was already bored with his portion of the mission. Did Krad have any idea how many mansions there would be in any one country? Hundreds! Possibly thousands! And Krad wanted him to check each and every one of them? That would take years.

Dark looked at the picture that Krad had drawn from Lavi's memory. If it was still being maintained it would have been a beautiful and elegant mansion. Now Dark got the feeling that if he sneezed in its general direction it would crumple.

Dark searched the shelves of books, hoping to find some kind of tome that would have a list of mansions. And as it would be, luck was on his side. There were a series of books that listed all the mansions of the continent he was on. Unfortunately, there were four books to the series and each book was at least a foot thick.

Not wanting to growl, groan or curse, Dark just settled on sighing wearily before he took the first book of the series off the shelf. He sat down on the floor and flipped through the pages, hoping that they would at least have pictures of the houses. Of course, he had no idea what era they were in and it was possible that cameras did not exist.

Dark's gem eyes lit up when he saw that the first mansion did have a picture of it in there. Of course it wouldn't be the one he was looking for, and he got the feeling it was going to be a long day. That feeling got worse as Dark came to realize that some of the mansions had names but no pictures.

Muttering mutinously, Dark pulled the page of Krad's drawing out of the pad, and used the pencil to write down the names and locations of the mansions that were without pictures. By the time he was half way through the first book, he already had thirteen mansions that he and Krad would need to visit personally. Unlike Krad, Dark did not have an eidetic memory.

Dark looked up when someone joined him. He smiled at Lavi, as the Bookman-in-training sat beside him. He knew that Lavi was there to interrogate him a little about his past, and Krad's. Dark honestly had no idea that they would seem interesting to anyone else.

"What's up, Lavi? Shouldn't you be at lunch?" Dark asked, taking a moment to pop his back.

"Lunch finished a few minutes ago. I was surprised when you didn't show up. Are you still full from breakfast?" Lavi looked at what Dark had written on the pad, which was written in Japanese.

"If I take a break from finding this mansion, Krad will kill me. I kinda like my head where it is – on my shoulders." Dark grinned, winking at the redhead.

"Krad does seem rather violent. I never thought I would actually feel safe next to Yu." Lavi returned Dark's grin. The Phantom Thief was actually quite good looking, even if he did seem like a pervert. "Do you really think Krad would decapitate you, though?"

Dark stared at Lavi with serious eyes. "He has thrown me off the top of the Eiffel Tower. He has stabbed me nine times in the chest, piercing my heart five times. He has thrown me down a flight of stairs, just because I asked him if he was okay when he was pissed off. He has broken my legs with his hands three times. And he has decapitated me seven times." He had watched the way Lavi's eye widened with each word. They really had no idea what they were fucking with when it came to Krad. "Yeah, decapitating me for the eighth time will be nothing to him."

Lavi's head was spinning. Krad had done all of that to his brother; his own flesh and blood? Krad obviously had no idea how lucky he was to have family left in that world. And that was how he thanked Dark?

"Has Krad thought about seeing a therapist for his anger?" Lavi asked quietly, fearful that Krad might overhear somehow.

"Several," Dark answered, turning a page in the book. "He even visited Freud, which was a bust. According to that hack, Krad was acting out due to sexual tension between the two of us." He shook his head. He had laughed right alongside Krad when the blond told him that.

"Why is he so violent?"

Dark laughed. "I don't even think God knows!" He calmed down after a few moments. "Krad is Krad."

Lavi nodded slowly. He was used to that analogy. He had used it many times himself with explaining Yu to everyone. It still didn't answer his question, though. Even if Dark had no idea. It was likely that Krad might know why he harbored so much resentment towards life.

Lavi watched as Dark wrote down another mansion that had no picture. He had seen Yu writing in Japanese before, too and he was still amazed at how quickly they could write out those characters. He had attempted to learn, but could not get his wrist in the correct position.

"Why ––?"

"I know that you're a Bookman in training and all, Lavi," Dark started, as he looked up from the page. "But there are some questions that I cannot answer. You'll have to get to know Krad…if you can."

Lavi shook his head. "I was actually going to ask why you chose the name 'Phantom Thief'?" he lied quickly. He didn't like it when someone could read his mind.

"I didn't chose the name; it was bestowed upon me. It was given to me when the authorities realized that I could get into any place. They actually thought that I was a phantom." Dark smiled at the memory of hearing it around the village. "I have a question for you."

Lavi blinked. "For me? But you already know everything about me."

"Krad and I won't be around for much longer – a few months at the most. Why do you want to know about people you'll never see again?" Dark's eyes focused on Lavi intently, awaiting the redhead's answer.

Lavi lowered his eye. Why did he want to know as much as he could? It was the Bookman in him that was screaming out for answers to all of his questions. And yet, he knew that wasn't the answer. Maybe it was because he was hoping that Dark and Krad wouldn't be another Yu.

"Curiosity, I guess," Lavi finally answered after a few minutes of thought.

"Curiosity killed the cat," Dark said with a slight smirk.

"But satisfaction brought it back," Krad announced from the end of the aisle. "Apparently you have a mission, Dark. No idea why they sent me. But I've finished with my punishment, so I'll take over where you left off."

Dark nodded, eyeing Krad's choice of attire. The last time he saw his 'brother', he was wearing actual clothing. Why the hell was he in a sheet that was wrapped around his waist?

"Don't ask," Krad instructed when he noticed the way that Dark was staring at him. "It's a long and painful story."

Dark got to his feet, grinning. Kanda obviously beat him, which would explain why Krad didn't want to talk about it. If it had been the other way around, Krad would be crowing about his victory over the samurai. He left the library, and bumped into Allen in the hallway.

"Hey!" Allen greeted with a giant grin. "We didn't see you at lunch. Are you okay?"

Dark nodded. "Fine. I just want to find the mansion so Krad and I can leave as quickly as possible."

Allen opened his eyes, his smile fading away. "Oh. Does this happen often?"

"A little too often, yes. So apparently I have a new mission or something. I've no idea why or what for, considering I just started here today." Dark looked around, hoping that Allen would be able to show him where he was meant to go.

"It looks like we're partners for this mission, then. I have a new one, too." Allen jerked his head to the left. "We need to report to Komui, as he's the head of this branch."

"Huh."

Dark followed Allen to Komui's office. His eyes took in the total disarray of the room, and was grateful that Krad wasn't with him. He knew his 'brother' would not be able to stop himself from cleaning it up.

Before Komui could open his mouth, Dark asked, "Why me?"

Komui stared at Dark. "You were chosen because the Finder said there was something that he did not recognize as an Akuma. We assume it is likely a Hikari spirit."

"Isn't that racial profiling?"

Komui raised an eyebrow, and Dark quickly looked away. As far as Dark was concerned, he was in school and pissing off the principle was something he prided himself on. He was the only one that could get under anyone's skin. Maybe not Kanda, but that was where Krad came in.

"Anyway," Komui went on. "We're sending you and Allen so Allen can hopefully learn how to use that eye of his in order to pick up ––"

"Not possible, old man," Dark cut in. "The only two people in this world that can sense Hikari artworks, spirits and whatever else are Krad and myself. Do you know why that is?"

"Yes, I do. However, Allen might be able to learn something." Komui stared at Dark, the teenager shaking his head. "You're going with Allen and that's final."

Dark snatched the file from Komui's hand, narrowing his eyes. It was possible that he should have at least tried to find out what an Exorcist does. As far as he could make out, they locate Innocence. Something that Dark and Krad still had no idea about. He was beginning to wonder if anyone knew what the Innocence was.

Dark read the file, frowning slightly. 'False Night' and 'Ghost Opera' had only become active yesterday. So how was it possible for them to have travelled so far? Maybe it wasn't that far, considering Dark had no idea what country he was in, but he was going to assume it was England. How did one of them end up in Norway?

Dark lowered his eyes. Sensing the Hikari artworks was going to be a little difficult without Krad around him. Dark was great and all, but Krad's sense of them was a lot more refined than Dark's.

With a sigh, Dark went to the door. "Let me guess, we leave immediately?" Komui nodded. "I need five minutes."

Dark ran back to the library. "I need a list of all of the mansions in Norway that don't have pictures, and I need it now."

Krad didn't ask any questions. He got the fourth book, and flipped through to Norway. He scanned all the pictures of the mansions, and quickly wrote down the ones that were missing. He handed the list to Dark.

"Be careful. They may have 'eaten'."

Dark smirked, nodded and ran out of the library. He joined Allen outside, and looked up at the blinding sky. He had no idea how his first mission was going to go. He was happy to be with Allen. At least he knew what he was doing. And then there was the question of expenses.

Dark's eyes lit up. He had never robbed Norway before. This could prove to be a very interesting mission. Of course that was depending on how long they were in the country for. Dark did have to do a little research on a few things. And he would have to steal some uniforms to make sure he blended in correctly. But the idea of being sent to several countries, under the command of the Black Order had just made thieving twenty per cent cooler.

Dark looked up when he heard someone yelling out, and saw that Lavi had been thrown out of a window. Dark jumped up and caught the redhead, safely landing beside Allen and putting Lavi back on his feet.

"You asked him why he had a sheet wrapped around him, didn't you?"

"I wasn't expecting him to overreact that much." Lavi took a few breaths to calm himself. That was his first time being thrown out of a window. He wasn't entirely sure if he liked it.

"Do me a favor, Lavi. While I'm away, don't go near Krad. At all. In the slightest. Ever. Period. Just avoid him as though he has the Black Plague. Think you can manage that?"

Lavi nodded and went back inside. Dark glanced at the window as it repaired itself, and assumed that that was Krad's doing. Throwing his 'brother' out of a window was one thing. But Dark knew that Krad didn't want to be punished for throwing an Exorcist slash Bookman-in-training out of a window. That was just sheer insanity. And all Dark could do was hope that Lavi would take his advice.

---

Dark literally dragged himself back to the Black Order. The previous week in Norway had been fun. Half of it had been, anyway. The half where he was able to break into three banks, rob them blind and disappear without leaving behind any trace. Of course, it was as they were walking around that Dark came to realize he could rob any country he wanted. It was before the digital era, which made things just as easy, but the safes were old school. Dark had forgotten how much he missed those old combination locks.

Dark looked at Allen. The Exorcist wasn't fairing much better than Dark, but was still standing after his first proper encounter with a Hikari artifact. The Akuma had been the easiest thing to take down. Attempting to find where the artwork was stashed was the reason why they took so long. None of the picture less mansions from Norway matched the mansion that had been inserted into Lavi's mind.

Allen and Dark entered the building, not surprised when Komui appeared before them. He looked the Exorcists over, before telling them to head to their rooms and rest a bit before reporting back their findings.

Allen and Dark just groaned, looking at the stairs they would have to climb. Krad showed up behind Komui, and shook his head when he saw the state that Dark was in. He scooped Dark into his arms and carried him up the stairs. Allen wished someone would do that for him.

"Did you find any of the artworks?" Krad asked when they were behind closed doors. He placed Dark on the bed, and began removing his 'brother's' clothing.

"There weren't any in Norway. I was able to get away with some sweet loot, though. We've gone back in time. Most likely the late eighteen hundreds." Dark pointed to a sack he had been carrying. "And none of the mansions matched, either. I guess we're back to square one on this."

Krad frowned at the wounds on Dark's body. Resting should have healed those, even if they were done by a Hikari spirit. So that answered the question on if the spirits had eaten any souls lately.

"Not entirely," Krad revealed, as a white feather with a blue sheen appeared in his hand. He stabbed it into Dark's leg and snapped his fingers. The feather dispersed into blue glitter, being absorbed by Dark's body. "I made copies of the drawing, and sent it out with every Finder that was available. As long as they don't forget about it, we should be going home soon. And of course, providing that 'Silent Orchestra' doesn't awaken."

Dark sighed happily when he felt the effect of Krad's feather healing his body. He honestly had no idea why he hadn't thought of that. In hindsight it seemed like the completely logical thing to do. Sending it out with the Finders was so painfully obvious that Dark was mentally kicking himself for not thinking of it.

"How did Allen do for his first formal assault with a Hikari artwork?" Krad asked as he sat on the edge of the bed.

"Really well," Dark replied, sitting up. "I was actually surprised. He got hit a few times, but that was because 'Ghost Opera' also came out to play. Verito, the leading bad guy in the play, fucked him up something shocking. A couple of days later, it was as though nothing had happened."

Dark looked at his hands. The Akuma were strange creatures. They inhabited the bodies of regular looking people; not something that Dark was expecting. And then there were the Hikari artworks that looked like normal people, except they were unbelievably evil. They didn't transform, which was what had taken Allen by surprise.

"We really lucked out with this group," Dark muttered. "The group we hang out with are brilliant at their jobs."

"Even Kanda?"

Dark forced himself not to roll his eyes. "What's the deal with you two? Are you still fighting like an old married couple?"

Dark flinched as Krad punched him in the face. "He irritates me."

"And you obviously irritate him. Why don't you two screw and get it over with already?" Dark grabbed a pillow and held it in front of him. He sighed with relief when Krad's punch was absorbed by the pillow. "I'm just saying. You didn't get any from the Jackal, even though I know you were gunning for that ship."

Krad closed his eyes. "Back to the case, please."

Dark chuckled. He knew that Krad would deny any sexual attraction to Kanda, though he had no idea why. Kanda was a damn fine looking young man. All Krad had to do was stop being an idiot.

"There isn't much else to say," Dark said with a shrug. "We just need to wait for the Finders to do their job. Speaking of which, shouldn't you be out there as well?"

Krad shook his head. "I asked Kuma the ––"

"Kuma?" Dark cut in. Who the heck was that? "Do you mean Komui?"

"Whatever," Krad growled, waving his hand. "I asked him about it, and he said that if I wasn't such a masochist he would send me out. Apparently he's scared that I'll take on the Akuma and the Hikari artworks alone."

Dark thought it through. It made a lot of sense. And it was something he could see Krad doing, as well. Krad, while intelligent and brilliant at strategy, preferred to burst in guns blazing. And that was when he thought he might have found what he was looking for. There was no holding him back if he had found what he was looking for.

"You gotta give him credit," Dark stated. "He already knows exactly what you're like, and he doesn't even know you."

Dark looked away when Krad glared at him. "I'm not a masochist. I prefer the term sadist."

Dark couldn't keep the smirk from his face. Krad could deny it all he wanted, but Dark had spent centuries with the blond. He knew what Krad liked, and what he didn't like. And he knew for a fact that as much of a badass as Krad is, he enjoyed giving up responsibility in the bedroom and letting his partner do all the work.

"Right," Dark said. He lowered his eyes. "So remind me again, for exposition sake, what happens when the artworks 'feed'?"

Krad stared at the mirror opposite of Dark's bed. His reflection gazed back, just as tired and worried as he was. "Once they've found someone stupid enough to touch the artworks without gloves, they absorb the soul, adding it to the collection. Think of it like a vampire, the more blood they have the more powerful they are. That would explain how they're able to appear so strongly so far away from the actual artworks."

Dark rubbed the nape of his neck. That was not something he wanted to hear. "So, we need to find them. And soon."

Krad nodded glumly. It was a feat easier said than done.

---

End False Night.

I'm actually having fun writing this story. If the characters are OOC, I apologize. I haven't seen D-Gray Man, other than the abridged series.

Anyways, the second chapter 'Ghost Opera' will be out shortly. I hope.

Thoughts? Comments? Questions? Leave them in a form of a review, and I'll try to answer them!

Until the next one, have a great day!

Peace.