Hear Part I
* Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN D. GRAY MAN OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS.
The young woman pushed her way through a clump of nettles and continued on toward the tall mountain. Her chestnut brown hair waved in the wind as it blew, making her squint to see where she was going. Her emerald green eyes watered, but the wind just blew harder. At the foot of the mountain a tall man with a silly beret on his head greeted her. 'How are you doing? How was your trip?' he signed to her. 'Great, everything went smoothly,' she signed back. "Good," said Komui out loud. Nicolet could read lips, but she liked it better when people signed to her. She felt less out of place. Nicolet knew Komui since she was a toddler, and Komui loved her like his daughter. He even learned sign language for her. Komui motioned her to a wooden door that lead to the canal waterway, getting into a small boat with a finder standing at the front, ready to go. As soon as her two suitcases were settled in the back, Komui waved his hand at the driver, signaling for him to go.
The ride was short, for the water canal didn't go very deep into the mountain.
"Here we are!" exclaimed Komui. Nicolet remained silent. Being born deaf, and with no family, the poor girl never learned how to speak. Komui tapped her on the shoulder, and she turned to look at him. 'We're here,' he signed. She smiled excitedly, then grabbed her two bags and jumped out of the boat like a child at a circus. Komui pointed at the elevator across the clearing. Nicolet understood right away, and ran across before Komui could do anything else. He smiled at himself. She's such a character, he thought to himself. She waited impatiently for him in the elevator and soon Komui joined her inside.
'Well, this is your room,' Komui signed. 'You can meet all the other exorcists tomorrow; its too late to meet anyone now. You just get settled in and get some sleep.'
Nicolet nodded. She hugged Komui gratefully, and stepped into her room. It was quite plain, with only a bed, bookshelf, and a desk with a chair and a lamp. A large window dominated the back wall, giving her a view of the ocean. She dragged her suitcases into the room and rolled them to the foot of the bed. She looked up from her bags and saw Komui still there, and realized he forgot to tell her something.
'I'll send my sister here every morning to wake you up, ok?' he signed to her. She nodded joyfully, for Lenalee was a great friend, and this service would be much appreciated. 'Thank you,' she signed back. Komui nodded, signed Goodnight, closed her door, then left.
Nicolet pulled her pajamas out of her first suitcase and threw them on, not bothering to unpack the rest of her belongings. After changing, she threw herself onto her bed, hid under the covers, and fell asleep instantly.
Lenalee nudged Nicolet, pulling the covers off of her to wake her up. Nicolet opened her eyes and sat up, happy to see Lenalee there.
"Good morning!" greeted Lenalee, making sure Nicolet was looking at her. 'Good morning,' Nicolet signed back.
Lenalee motioned her out of bed, picking up her suitcase and setting it on the bed. Lenalee pulled out a pretty white halter-top dress with brilliant red roses scattered across the fabric, holding it up for Nicolet to inspect. Nicolet nodded gratefully, and took the dress and started to undress. Lenalee turned around to give her some privacy and noticed that she left the door open. She ran across the room to shut it, and when she turned around Nicolet had already changed into the dress. It fit perfectly, and looked absolutely adorable on her, bringing out her green eyes. Lenalee nodded in approval and waved her hand to have Nicolet look at her.
"Let's go get some breakfast, shall we?"
Nicolet nodded, and followed her friend out of her room and down the hall.
The cafeteria was flowing with people, and Lenalee lead Nicolet to the line to order her food. When they got to the front of the line, the cook looked her over and smiled happily.
"A newcomer huh? Aren't you just the cutest thing! What can I get you honey?"
Nicolet pointed at Lenalee. The cook looked to Lenalee then back at Nicolet, confused.
"She's deaf," said Lenalee quietly, making sure Nicolet was looking ahead and not at her lips. The cook nodded in understanding.
"Well, what does she want, then? I'll make her anything she wants!" he said, smiling from ear to ear. Nicolet signed something to her.
Crap, thought Lenalee. I dont know sign language as well as my brother.
"Um, what was that?" asked Lenalee wearily.
Nicolet signed it again.
'Same.'
"Oh!" exclaimed Lenalee. "She'll have the same thing as I am. The usual please, Jerry."
"Coming right up!" said Jerry excitedly.
Lenalee turned to her friend.
"Sorry about that. Do you want to go find a table? I'll wait here for the food."
Nicolet nodded and walked to the tables. All of them were almost completely full. She wandered around the room, looking for two seats together. At last, she found one occupied by a group of exorcists. She came to to end of the table and pointed at the two seats.
All of them looked at her weirdly, wondering to themselves what she wanted.
Finally one with white hair stood up and asked "Is there something you need, Miss?"
She nodded yes and continued pointing at the seats.
"I don't get it," muttered one with dark black hair in a ponytail, annoyed.
The one with white hair looked at her curiously. She blushed under his gaze, not used to having a boy look at her so closely.
"Heh heh, she's blushing. Allen, stop looking at her like that, you're embarrassing her." A young man with red hair and a bandanna tied on his head like a headband stood up and looked her over.
"Well," he began, "she obviously wants something. What do you need?"
But Nicolet wasn't watching him. She looked up to see everyone looking at her as if they were waiting for something. She looked around the table with questioning eyes.
"What's wrong with her? Why doesn't she answer the question?" asked the dark-haired one.
"Shut up, Kanda!" said Allen sharply, then turned to Nicolet again. "Maybe she can't speak."
Just then Lenalee appeared behind Nicolet with a big smile, startling everybody.
"Hey guys! Can we sit with you?"
Allen nodded.
"Of course! Is that what you were asking, Miss? If these two seats were open?"
Nicolet nodded.
"Oh! Well that explains a lot!" exclaimed Allen, sitting back down.
The red head sat back down too, studying the young woman closely.
Lenalee sat herself down next to the one called Allen, and Nicolet sat on the end, looking down all the while.
"So who's this?" whispered Allen to Lenalee. "She seems different. Is she new?"
Lenalee nodded in response, then whispered back, alittle louder so that everyone but Nicolet could hear. "She's deaf, and she can't speak."
The one called Kanda scoffed.
"Then what's she doing here?" he asked angrily. "Is she an exorcist?"
"Yes. We just found out that she's a compatible user, so she's going to stay here for a while to train. We're going to try to figure her innocence out though first. It's quite strange."
The red head sighed.
"Can I help take care of her?"
Everyone eyed him suspiciously.
"Lavi, she's not just some girl you can mess around with, she's different." said Lenalee.
"I know!" Lavi retorted. "I want to help, honest. She's...I don't know, different, like you said. I like her...and I want to get to know her."
Lenalee sighed.
"Alright, you can help. But I'm watching you."