Author's Note:
This has got to be my first time writing anything that makes some sense;
It's also my first time even considering yaoi,
considering I don't roll that way, and am as straight as dental floss.
But this is a special case!
Yaoi for anything else...? No. But Yullen...? AH... I'll have to make an exception. ;)
Read and Review; I'd love to see what I'm doing right/wrong on this first attempt.
(Required) Disclaimer: I do not own D. GrayMan. Surely I'm not worthy of it. Surely not.
-
It was a Monday. Everybody hated Mondays. It didn't matter whether you were rich or poor, young or old—unless there was a regular carnival planned, or a pay-raise coming that day, Mondays are never fun.
Lavi totally disagreed.
"A-A-A-A-LLEEEEEEN!"
By law of the jungle, whomever happened to be in hearing range of the hunting cry of the Red-Headus Idiotus got a default three seconds headstart before they were subjected to the oncoming chokehold. But, Allen, being a seasoned friend of Lavi's for over three years, and an expert eater-and-runner for all the rest of them was too experienced by then not to know how to avoid such a situation; when Lavi reached the trio, he found himself hugging the air in front of Lenalee's face where Allen had previously been. He looked up disappointedly.
Allen, who was by now balancing his Jeep-sized breakfast tray a safe distance away, tossed an apple into the air in way of greeting.
"Hey, Lavi."
Lavi caught the projectile and stuffed it in his mouth.
"Mornin'," he said, perking up.
Kanda, disgusted by the affair, made to sit down at his usual spot at the table. Lenalee set her tray down across from him and gestured for Lavi to sit down.
"You're late," she said, when he took his spot.
"Sorry, babe," Lavi grinned, crunching on his breakfast. "Got held up by your—I mean, our lunatic brother-in-law."
Lenalee scowled, but flushed pink all the same.
"Komui-niisan is not a lunatic, Lavi!" she chided. "And we're not married, get that through your head."
"Not yet we aren't," he said, green eye twinkling with glee. He got an annoyed smack on the arm for his trouble.
Kanda rolled his eyes and broke his chopsticks as Allen came to sit down next to him.
"So what else is new?" He asked, now absently shoveling soba down his famished gullet. "Besides you two and your wedding plans, that is?"
Lavi cut in before Lenalee could protest.
"Just got some new recruits. Some people transferred in from the Asia Branch," he said seriously (although the effect was ruined slightly when he started using his apple to monopolize the conversation). "Looks to be about five; not too many exorcists, and none cursed as far as I know, but who can tell besides Allen? I crossed the labs earlier, and I think Komui's trying his hand at another Komrin 2.0, 'though I pray to God it doesn't blow up headquarters like the last one. Miranda broke another set of plates somewhere on the third floor, don't ask me how, and oh, somebody stole my lucky scarf."
Kanda's left eye ticked.
"Fascinating. Anything else?"
"Nope," he said, spinning his apple core in the air. "Unless you want to hear this one HILARIOUS story I heard from Jerry about two Noah who walk into a bar, and ask for a room…"
Kanda shoved his plate away from him.
"I lost my appetite."
Lavi snickered.
"Such a dirty mind, Yuu-chan…"
Allen saved Lavi from being brained by Kanda's lunch tray by jumping into the conversation.
"So that's why you were late?" He asked, discretely trying to shield Lavi's head and most of his vital organs from Kanda's reach. "You had to show the new recruits around?"
"Oh no," Lavi said, oblivious to the death threat sitting three feet across from him. "That was Crowly, the poor man; I'm not too sure how well those guys would react to a vampire host."
"Better than they would to a rabbit," Kanda huffed, cooling down. He leaned his back against the wall and closed himself off from the conversation by observing the breakfast line. Allen just shrugged, and started on his Eggs Benedict.
"So, did you get to talk to any of them?" Lenalee asked, tucking her boyishly short hair behind one ear (it was just long enough now that it framed her face and eyes flatteringly). Lavi smiled as he stole one of her scones and starting munching on it.
"Nah, I didn't get too close—some of them looked pretty intimidating from a distance. Plus, I wasn't too sure if they spoke English…"
Lenalee rolled her eyes.
"Typical, Lavi," the Chinese said, nibbling off a morsel from Lavi's hand. "Just because they're from China…"
"H-Hey, I didn't mean anything by it! Lenalee— !"
"Save it," she winked, stealing back her scone from the unsuspecting rabbit. Lavi scowled.
"You've been hanging around with Allen too much, if you how to hustle…"
"Nonsense," she said, though she winked at the silver-haired exorcist. "I learned it from you."
"Me?" Lavi spluttered. "Allen, you're not babysitting any of our children in the near future if you're going to be teaching them such trickery and lies—"
"How many times have I told you, we are NOT married!"
Allen, smiling politely (though by now growing bored of this conversation), shifted closer to Kanda; who had been sitting stock-still and silent during the whole exchange.
Kanda and Allen had finally decided to take it steady about five months ago; after a retrieval mission in Paris. The Innocence had been retrieved, and about eighty Level Threes were defeated; though at the cost of several rather severe injuries and Kanda lying half-naked in a hotelroom as the Finder left them both alone to recover. There had been only one bed, and… well… Allen was just too smart to let an opportunity like that pass. The City of Love tended to have that effect on people.
Lenalee and Lavi were both pretty cool about it, for two people who just returned to find that both their friends were homosexuals; and the rest of the Order was… accepting enough (minus a few squeamish individuals who made a point to turn the other direction when Allen decided to give Kanda a kiss good-night… Oh well, it was better than Timcampy, who made it a point to BITE Kanda when that happened).
The two exorcists' relationship had drastically altered; they were both pretty happy about it, and more accepting of the other… So why was it that Allen froze as he leaned into the stone-still individual next to him?
"Kanda?"
The exorcist didn't respond; his shoulders were tense against the wall he was leaning on, and his eyes wide and hard with some inner chill. Allen felt a shiver go down his spine, and, in an act of the utmost concern, set his beloved breakfast down in order to talk to him.
"Kanda?"
Nothing.
Okay, now he was worried.
Kanda was a man of very few, but colorful, moods. Even so, no matter what mood of the rainbow he was in, he would always respond in some kind of way; whether it be to pass sarcastic comment, or to threaten you with the pointy end of Mugen, or glare at you in the hopes you would spontaneously combust. It took a real experienced person to separate his individual moods from his default one—but even so, it wouldn't take a real Einstein to figure out when he was pissed.
Allen's eyebrows pulled together.
By that point, Allen was so attuned to the Japanese exorcist that reading his moods had become like reading a well-worn novel; unlike most others, he could differentiate Pissed Kanda from Aggrieved Kanda, and Aggrieved Kanda from Annoyed-as-Hell Kanda. When Kanda was happy, he would always catch Allen's eye from across the room, and make a point to be nice to Timcampy and (God forbid) Lavi; when he was in a sour mood, he'd scarf down his soba like he hated it, and his kisses would always leave off before it quite begun.
And when he was mad…
Allen followed his gaze worriedly, in the hopes of saving whatever poor soul Kanda had lasered his sights on.
This wasn't Pissed Kanda or Aggrieved Kanda, or any of the other fluctuations of his fury: this was Demonically-Possessed, Battle-Ready, Bring-Out-the-Akuma Angry. It went beyond pissed—when Kanda was in this mood, he was dangerous.
And he honestly had no clue as to what could've triggered it—no matter how it seemed, Kanda wasn't so fickle or overly sensitive as to kill everyone who annoyed him (Lavi was living proof). He only reserved that look for Akuma. So when his sights fell on the source of his partner's fury, he found himself bracing his left eye for an Akuma, or a Noah who had somehow made it past security, or an escaped convict with a killing intent…
He was disappointed.
The woman was who waiting in line looked to be about Komui's age; she was Oriental, and austere, and didn't look like she was creating any fuss. His left eye stayed silent, so she couldn't have been an Akuma in disguise, much less a Noah…
He turned back to Kanda, confused, to see him still rigid and wearing that murderous look of incredulity on his face. He looked at her more closely.
The exorcist was wearing the standard-issued uniform of the Black Order, although with a floor-length skirt that brushed the ground when she walked. She was tall, with long, black hair, and moderately attractive features; her face was expressionless, and she had an imperious, straight-backed bearing that reminded Allen of someone… Perhaps Anita?
Allen hadn't seen her around before, and her features were clearly Oriental…
Maybe this was one of the new transfers… he thought.
Just then, as if she felt the holes being lasered in her back by Kanda's gaze, the woman turned around. There was a moment where Allen thought about shouting a warning out to her, to look away before his boyfriend tried to kill her. However, the warning was unneeded. While the exorcist stiffened as Kanda's eyes speared hers, Allen was mildly impressed by the fact that she wasn't shrinking away. In fact… For just a brief second, her eyes widened while a confusing mixture of emotions flashed across her face.
Was that anger he saw there?
But before Allen could register what he had seen, the exorcist had already turned her gaze away. She calmly paid Jerry for her food, thanked him, and walked away. At that moment, Kanda suddenly leapt up out of his seat and set off in a mad dash out the cafeteria; leaving behind a startled Lenalee and an overturned Lavi; the latter gave a loud shriek as he fell.
"K-Kanda! What the heck…? Where are you going!"
"Kanda! Wait, Lavi, let me help you up— Allen! What's wrong?"
But by that time, both exorcists were gone, and only the still swinging double-doors signified where they had went.
-
Allen felt the blood pounding in his ears as he dashed after Kanda, wondering what the heck was setting his boyfriend off to such extremes. By that time, they'd tailed the female exorcist past the cafeteria, out to the stairwell, and Allen (who was somewhat out of breath by that point) fervently hoped that Kanda wouldn't try to climb the goddamn steps. How the hell did that woman walk so fast?
Before he could consider tackling Kanda and letting the exorcist make her escape, however, Kanda; who was several yards ahead, made a rough grab for her shoulder, before whirling her around. In a flash, Allen caught up with them, surprised that the former would be so violent—he always showed some measure of respect for women. Kanda glared at the exorcist, and his expression, which had previously been staggered with shock and fury, now displayed murderous intent.
"You?" he snarled.
Allen, who had no idea what the hell was going on, tried to pry get Kanda to pry his fingers off of the woman's shoulder (which by now should be losing all circulation). Shock, however, stopped him from ever completing his mission; the next words out of Kanda's mouth made his fingers freeze before they left his side.
"What the fuck are you still doing alive?"
As the woman appraised the Japanese coldly, it hit Allen.
The blue-black eyes; the imposing stature; the cold, imperious gaze.
It took the two of them side-by-side for it to click, but now he couldn't believe how he had missed it; the impossible truth nailed Allen in the lungs. It wasn't Anita that she reminded him of.
Two pairs of identical eyes exchanged a long, hard gaze; one murderously angry, while the other coldly appraising. Finally, she responded.
"Hello to you too, cousin."
Author's Note:
The idea came to me out of nowhere one day while I comtemplated Kanda's family.
After all, he was adopted by Tiedoll (or Theodore, whichever you prefer)
in the manga and they don't go on to say much else.
At first, I was just considering going on to write Yullen fluff and leaving it at that;
but then, me, being me, really hated to see things work out that easily:
After all, isn't half the journey the way you get there or whatever?
Kanda's so aristocratic or stuck up or just plain irritable that, you gotta admit,
it's not that hard picturing him coming from some
horrible family background where it's all royalty and high expectations and not living up to it.
I mean, he's got to get his perfectionistic, stick-up-the-ass nature from somewhere, right?
And it sure as hell aint Tiedoll who instills it in him.
Anyways, it really intrigued me to have this obstacle stand in between the two,
and I hope that I can write it out in a way that it seems like that for you guys too.
And now I'm rambling.
I should really cut this short.
Review! :D
