Chapter 1: Did You See That Coming?
The Black Order: 1850
With his legs damaged from one of his frequent overuses of his Charity Bell, Daisya was condemned to a total of seven days respite from any assignments, training, or even running. With a frustrated sigh, he dropped his head back on his bed and miserably wiped his hand across his face. Day One of recuperation…he was already climbing walls and pulling at his hair in aggravation.
His cloak lay discarded on the floor amidst scattered articles of clothing and other items he'd either brought with or acquired since leaving his home, most of which were shells or interesting stones from the sea. He also had collected more than a few dirty dishes he'd procrastinated in returning to the mess hall and a book or two thrown carelessly in the corners of his room. Except for the one in his hand. Energetic as he was, he disliked reading in favor of moving around. But under strict orders from the Head Nurse to take it easy, his choices of entertainment were limited.
Still, he'd been reading the same page over and over again and its contents had been lost to him since the beginning. With an irritated cry of frustration, he tossed the novel and pressed his hands to his eyes. There had to be something to do; there was no way he was practically rotting in here for nothing.
Daisya winced as he stood up and staggered. Beneath his loose pants, from his knees to his ankles, were stark white bandages. The injuries were fresh but no longer bleeding and soaking crimson splotches over his shins. They hurt though. Burning pain shot through his shins every time he so much as twitched his foot, let alone walked.
Still grimacing, the eighteen-year-old limped toward the door, paused for a moment to grab the navy blue shirt lying on the floor, and hobbled outside. Almost immediately, he heard the echoing sounds of clashing wood, labored breathing, and shouts of encouragement. Daisya grinned and started in the direction of the noise.
By request, his room was closest to the sand arena, the lowest level training hall below the pillared chamber and the dojo. He liked being close to the training hall and he normally loved the sounds of training exorcists and finders, but now, the noise antagonized him. He couldn't join in; it was so unfair.
Reaching the hall, he slipped through the great doorway and took note of the source of the commotion. Amidst a sparse crowd, he could see Kanda and Lenalee circling each other with a katana in their hands. Instead of her usual pigtails, Lenalee's forest green hair was worn in a high ponytail like Kanda's and rather than actual swords, they were using a pair of bokken, a type of wooden katana meant for training. Judging by the sweat running down their faces and soaking the bandages wrapped around their torsos, Daisya guessed they'd been at it all morning.
It wasn't surprising. Lenalee was the Order's best swordswomen despite the katana wasn't her weapon or even remotely related to it. As Daisya understood it, she began to learn from Kanda in the third year she'd come to be at the Order. In need of a sparring partner, Kanda agreed to train her. To balance her skills, the footwork of swordplay provided excellent basis for her natural training.
But in eight years of keeping fit and competing, she hadn't beaten Kanda once, but their sparring was fierce often led to a close stalemate. She moved just as quickly, but Kanda was stronger and had a longer reach, forcing her into defense more often than offense.
Lenalee dropped into a crouch and skittered out of reach, blocked a downward strike, earning several alarmed cries from the spectators. Daisya grit his teeth in anticipation without really meaning to. He wasn't even sure whom he was rooting for, just that the spar was so exhilarating, he was completely drawn into it. Lenalee backed up again and the two began to circle each other like battling lions, feet dragging in the earth somewhat. They're getting tired. Daisya observed.
Would they call a draw? He knew his friends, especially Kanda, would rather see a fight through to the end, but they looked as though they were about to drop from exhaustion. Maybe the two of them would call for a brief 'time out' and continue after resting.
But to his disappointment, the fight drew to a close quicker than he expected, considering how long it seemed to have extended. As usual, it was Kanda who came out as the victor, neatly slashing his blade against Lenalee's and knocking it out of her hand. A tense moment hung in the air as the blade landed on the gravel and slid out of reach. The point of Kanda's bokken was at her neck before she could run and retrieve her weapon. Slowly she raised her hands so they were level with her sweating face. "I yield."
The crowd erupted into cheers and clapping and surrounded the girl as though she was the victor. Lenalee smiled delightfully at everyone's praise but turned to grin at Kanda. "I thought I had you this time."
The older exorcist jabbed his blade into the dirt and left it there as he crossed his arms almost arrogantly. "You've at least ten years on you before you can even think about overthrowing me."
"Then how about I take on the winner?" asked Chakar Laboun as he approached, weapon in hand. He was the only other swordsman exorcist, although he used a broadsword and had a completely different style.
"Hell, no." Kanda abruptly retorted, stalking off in the direction of the door. Daisya smirked. He was probably hungry.
A familiar redhead broke from the crowd and chased after him. "I'll join you. Coming, Lena?" Lenalee trotted to catch up to them, waving at the others as she went, then slowed to a stagger as she reached her friends.
Daisya smiled broadly as they reached him. "How long have you been going at it?"
"We haven't even eaten breakfast yet." Lenalee admitted as he fell into step with her. "Mind if I lean on you, Lavi?"
"No, I don't mind." He replied, wrapping an arm around her waist and allowing her to drape her arm across his shoulders.
Daisya muttered a mathematical equation to himself in dismay. It was almost eleven o'clock now and most of the exorcists (not including him) woke up at six a.m. to train before breakfast. If what Lenalee said was true, then she and Kanda could fight nonstop for five hours with an empty stomach, Kanda seven since he usually woke up at four in the morning to meditate. "I actually think you're starting to give Kanda a run for his money. That's impressive, Moppet."
"Exhausting." Lenalee corrected, pulling her ponytail up so it wouldn't stick to her neck. On the other side of Lavi, Kanda was doing the same; only he nearly stumbled into the wall.
"Am I the only one who can walk?" Lavi asked in amazement, eyeing Daisya's limp.
"Be quiet." Kanda snapped, discreetly putting his hand against the wall for support. Normally, his abnormal endurance allowed him to fight for twice the amount of time the training spar had covered, so why was he so exhausted now?
Daisya frowned in thought. Well, this was the first he'd seen of him in a couple weeks and Lenalee had mentioned him having a strenuous mission in Portugal. (Something about a pack of really big scorpion akuma or whatever.) If it had gone awry, that would account for his depleted energy and temper. Speaking of ill-fated missions, Daisya's train of thought returned to his legs and he scowled fiercely.
"Good God, Daisya!" Lavi cried upon seeing it. "You could make plants wilt with that kind of look! What's the matter?"
Daisya jumped and the hateful expression vanished. "Sorry, it's because of my last mission. You know the one."
Lavi nodded in comprehension. After Daisya had injured his legs, Lavi been forced to carry him back to the town five miles away. There they had taken a rather filthy barge from Norway back to England. "How's your weapon? Can the Science Division fix it?"
Daisya shrugged. In all honesty, he'd put it out of his mind since there was nothing he could do about it. Just like his legs, the Charity Bell had taken on its own significant damage. It hadn't shattered this time, but he remembered the severe fractures that had formed in its metal surface. "I would think so." He drawled, nonchalantly crossing his arms behind his head and trying to stop limping.
"You need to stop pushing yourself." Lenalee advised, concern filling her voice. "Just this year, you've broken the Charity Bell four times, and it's only May. Kanda's been here seven years and only once he's ruined Mugen. And Lavi and I have never broken our weapons."
"Okay, I get it!" Daisya snapped, harsher than intended. Her brother had given him a similar lecture in the infirmary the other day. It was frustrating, and it wasn't as though he broke his weapon on purpose. His resolve to fight was sound and his synchronization flawless. No, his problem lay, as Hevlaska eloquently put it, with his unreasonable overconfidence and desperation to prove himself.
"Hey, don't worry." Lavi reassured. "You just need to pace yourself a little and take things in moderation." Before Daisya could reply, the redhead suddenly scooped Lenalee up in his arms, to her surprise, and began to run. "Come on, it's chow time!"
-0-0-0-
By the time the four reached the mess hall, the rest of the Order was just gearing up for the time of the day Daisya affectionately called rush hour because of the men and women who hurried to breakfast or to their stations to begin their afternoon shifts much like the people of Bodrum every morning.
With a tray carrying a bowl of oatmeal, some milk, and a slice of apple pie, Daisya picked his away across the crowded mess hall to the usual spot his comrades had taken up. They often ate in the corner, so often, in fact, the finders and their fellow exorcists avoided the spot to reserve it for them.
The others had already started eating by the time he'd received his breakfast, along with a familiar someone who must've arrived before they had. "Well, if it isn't Old Man Marie!" Daisya called as he came to stand at the edge of the table. "Back from South America so soon?"
"Indeed." The Austrian man answered with a hint of patient annoyance.
"How did it go?" Asked Lenalee, sitting across from her male compatriots. "Wasn't Miss Gwen with you?"
"It went well, though we, as in Gwen and I, didn't find any Innocence. Just another dead end." Marie took a bite of one of the bread rolls on his plate, then turned to Daisya. "Aren't you going to sit down? Lavi was just telling me how you injured yourself again." Daisya groaned and dropped to the floor, crawling dramatically under the table and dismally dragging his food tray after him. Marie turned to the others. "That bad, huh?"
"He's bored; what did you expect?" Lavi asked jovially, cutting one of his pancakes.
Lenalee dejectedly took a bite of the rice she'd ordered, wishing she could help her friend before his bored depression grew too out of hand. His eccentric, creepy, and sometimes disturbing antics had gotten him into big trouble before, especially a year ago when he'd gone over the edge enough to light Kanda's hair on fire. He still claimed it was an accident, but both the Chan and Epstein families were furious, and Daisya had been suspended from active duty even longer, which obviously proved later to be counterproductive despite the fairly large number of exorcists currently with the Order.
She glanced up at Kanda who was eating impassively at the edge of their group. "Something wrong, duckling?" He asked without looking up.
"No, nothing. I was just wondering if we should all do something to cheer Daisya up." She asked hopefully. "You know, since he tends drive himself and everyone else insane."
"It's not a bad plan, but do you have any ideas?" Lavi asked.
"Well, no." Lenalee admitted, realizing that was the bigger evil. She took a bite of one of her biscuits. "But I don't want to see him get into trouble again. You know what I mean?"
"You mean when Yu's ponytail went up in flames?" Lavi asked, failing to hide his snicker. At the time it was pretty serious, but in retrospect, admittedly it was good for a subtle laugh.
Kanda raised his head. "Load of fuss over nothing." He scowled. "He just burned it a couple inches shorter, I got mad and put him in his place; the Order had no reason to interfere. Besides," He rolled his eyes in exasperation. "It was just hair."
"Yeah, but—hey!" Lavi cried out and quickly slid to his right. Kanda slid in the opposite direction, looking equally surprised as Daisya awkwardly climbed up between them, clawing at the table top for a good grip until he was sitting on the bench.
Lenalee frowned in confusion and nervously took another bite of her biscuit, hoping Daisya hadn't come to criticize their speculations. She hadn't meant to hurt him, but something had to be done. There was no telling what he would do if he was frustrated enough. She worried about him.
"Hey, Moppet, you still single?" Daisya asked bluntly.
"Huh?" Lenalee froze, mouth open slightly as she was about to take another bite. Had she heard that right? But wasn't he angry with them? His bad disposition seemed to have evaporated.
"If you're setting her up for a lewd joke—" Kanda started.
"I'm not, I'm not." Daisya assured him, grinning slyly at Lenalee.
"I don't like that grin." Kanda planted a hand on his head and roughly shoved him down. "Back under the table, moron."
"Hey, hey, hey!"
Lenalee sighed and returned to her meal, only to have the Turkish exorcist scramble up to sit beside her on her side of the table. She jerked to the right to put some distance between them and looked to the other males across the table for help, but Marie and Kanda seemed more interested in finishing their meals than dealing with their comrade while the look on Lavi's face clearly stated something on the lines of 'What is this creepy bastard planning?'
"So are you?" Daisya persisted.
"I am." She answered uneasily. "Why do you ask?"
He dodged the question. "Why is that? A pretty girl like you should have a lover."
Lenalee's face reddened at the inquiry. She'd grown up surrounded by males for the better part of her life, so the idea of a girl friend was an impossibility since the only other females at the Order were young adults or older. Even before her brother came, she'd developed a close bond with Marie and Kanda when she first came to the Black Order, and then with Daisya and Lavi who showed up a few years later.
But she never thought about dating any of them. Marie was almost thirty and a little old for her, and even if he were younger she viewed him and the other three as older brothers, nothing more. There had been countless times when she was mistaken for someone's girlfriend or, these days, someone's wife, but she was always quick to correct that. "Is there a reason you're asking about that?"
"The way I see it, your brother chases off any man who gets too close to you, am I right?"
"Yeah, but—"
"So, here's the scoop, Moppet." Daisya said, all business-like. "I'm bored as hell, so I need a source of entertainment. Not like that, boys, quit glaring at me." Lenalee looked around at Marie, Kanda, and Lavi to see they were staring in suspicion at their friend, but Daisya continued on without skipping a beat, "So, how about we do a sort of…'mock relationship' to mess with the Chief's head a little."
"You mean like 'pretending to date'?" Lenalee asked, raising an eyebrow. "But doesn't that seem a little mean?"
"Why not?" Daisya asked, prodding for her assent. "It'll keep me busy since I'm injured. Besides, things have been pretty dull around here. Stirring up some excitement would be a public service."
Marie snorted through his nose and took a sip from his water glass, muttering something like, "Only you." But Lenalee didn't quite catch it.
"So, what do you say?" Daisya leaned toward her face with a wide grin. "We'll even set out ground rules if you like. Whatever."
Rules sounded a bit safer, Lenalee noted against her better judgment. She turned to the others for help but found them in their own worlds light years away from the one she'd been stranded in. So do I go with it? She wondered, looking back at Daisya. He was right; it would keep him out of trouble. And perhaps her brother's paranoia of her dating was annoying her just a little; this would teach him a more permanent lesson in contrast to her destroying an insane robot he'd sent after the nice boy she'd had a casual conversation with, or the man she'd met who was married with three kids, or those gentlemen she'd talked to who were just plain too old for her. Lenalee put a hand to her head at the memory. Seriously, where was Komui's logic coming from?
"Moppet?" Lenalee jumped. Daisya grinned in amusement and poked her forehead. "You're getting the glass eyes again."
"Never mind." So what to do? She held up her finger. "I'll do it on three conditions." Daisya's face perked up a little, eyes wide in anticipation. "Number one, don't do anything that'll endanger our friendship."
"Didn't even occur to me."
Lenalee put up another finger. "Number two, when this is over, you'll explain everything to Komui from start to finish and take responsibility if he decides to punish you."
Daisya looked a little uneasy at that one, but he nodded all the same.
"And three," Lenalee concluded, holding up her three middle fingers. "You have to know when enough is enough. I don't want anyone getting hurt."
"Absolutely." The grin returned to Daisya's face. "So we're in agreement. Anything else goes?"
"I guess."
"Starting now, then." He snickered wickedly and Lenalee squeaked quietly in alarm, suddenly finding his arm leisurely wrapped around her shoulders and pulling her close.
A loud crash sounded on the other end of the mess hall. Lenalee turned to see her brother staring at her in shock, hands shaking and a pile of food sitting under an upturned tray at his feet. Around him, the rest of the Black Order had turned their eyes to him, then followed his gaze. Lenalee ducked her head in embarrassment as a low murmur rose up from the crowd.
Across the hall, she could see Suman Dark casting them a considering glance before he shrugged and returned to his breakfast. Nearby, two of General Cloud Nyne's former apprentices blinked in surprise then whispered inaudibly between each other, feminine eyes glinting in humor. Lenalee didn't even bother counting all the finders she knew in the mess hall.
Komui suddenly let out a loud, wailing scream of despair with the equivalence of a sick feline's serenade and a corroded train whistle. He probably was caterwauling her name, but it was hard to tell and followed up by a loud, "Daisya, you're a dead man!"
"Uh-oh." With that, the Turkish accommodator sprang up and sprinted out of the room at a speed that would have transformed the Head Nurse into a screaming banshee.
Lavi looked back at the other two exorcists from Tiedoll's group. "You see that coming?" Hearing a thump, he turned to Lenalee and saw the younger exorcist had dropped her head onto the table. "You all right?"
Lenalee lifted her head, a dismal expression etched in her face. "All right, guys, tell me how dumb that was."
Marie reached forward and rested one of his large hands on her shoulder. "I wouldn't say 'dumb' is the right word. You are going along with it to help your friend and you had the common sense to set boundaries. The word you can use is…" He turned to Kanda and Lavi. "One of you help me out. I can't think of it."
"Awesome?" Lavi gave her a thumbs up. No surprise there; he and Daisya were close friends and bound to find themselves in the same kind of mischief.
"Imprudent?" Kanda suggested, finishing the last of his soba.
"No…" Marie frowned. "I'd say it was problematic, but that seems too weak."
"Not at all." Lavi smiled smugly. "Unsettling with an uncertain outcome. I'd say it fits."
-0-0-0-
Author's notes: Why? Because I've only seen this pairing once.
If Boredom Kills takes place maybe a year before Allen came to be at the Order.
…Has anyone else noticed that if you take off the last 'a' in Daisya's name, it spells 'Daisy'? Just saying.
I'm only going to say this once, so pay attention! D. Gray Man belongs to Katsura Hoshino and that's not going to change.
Thank you for reading. Expect Chapter 2 soon!