Disclaimer: I do not own D Gray-Man!
AN: Hello! Thanks to the reviewers so far, I have decided to post up another chapter a bit earlier! I'll try be consistent with my updates, so it doesn't get frustrating :D You find out a bit about Ai, but overall it's going to be a slow release of info on her :D I hope you enjoy!
When I came to, I was lying on the chair of a moving train with my coat covering me.
Seriously? In the last couple of months, I've been knocked out twice, when before that, I hadn't been knocked out once!
"Urgh..." I slowly lifted myself up on my elbows, my coat falling into my lap as looked around. There was the white haired boy I had hit first, the red haired boy with the eye patch and a depressed looking caped man with black and white hair.
"Are you okay?"The white haired boy asked and I saw an odd symbol around his left eye and his outstretched red arm. I hid my surprise, my head aching every time I blinked, or moved minutely.
I also noticed something else. My back was tingling, or more precisely, the tattoo on my back was prickling. It wasn't pleasant or unpleasant but it was strange. This had never happened before.
"I'm fine...more importantly, where am I?" I sat up, subtly checking whether my knives were still tucked in my coat and I was relieved they were.
"You're on the train."
"This guy didn't want to leave you alone when you got knocked out, but we had to leave so we took you with us. I'm Lavi, by the way and he's Allen, and that's Kro-chan."
"My name is Ai. You...are you guys exorcists?" I had noticed the cross on their black uniforms that represented the Order. I couldn't help a twinge of anger, the last person I had seen with that was Cross.
I owe my life to Cross. I owe my life to Cross. You can't get angry at him.
My chant didn't work half the time I was with him, let alone when I wasn't.
But he had saved my life, and he had my utmost loyalty. Even if he was an unbelievable womanizer and extravagant spender.
"That's right."
"Are you going back to the Order?" I asked, hardly containing my excitement.
"Why do you want to know? We need to meet a couple of people first..."
"Oh, didn't I tell you? I'm a newly recruited exorcist." I smiled sheepishly.
"Huh?"
"Sorry, I was too busy running away from a bunch of people, I forgot to mention that I was recruited by one of your generals. I thought I was going to die when I was attacked by akuma, and all of a sudden, the general was there and he told me I was a candidate for being an exorcist." I pulled my knives out of my coat. The bladed edges glinted dangerously and it tilted precariously, almost slicing Allen, who barely dodged. I had been distracted by my back, it was like it was excited.
"Oh! Sorry!" I slipped them away. I was a little excited of this newfound ability, and had several new abilities when my innocence was activated.
"This general, do you know his name?" Allen asked, a little malevolent.
"Y-yeah, his name was Cross. I travelled with him for a few months, but after that he left me with a few directions, told me to 'handle his unfinished business' and knocked me out. When I woke up, he had left, and I was suddenly being chased." I said sullenly, recalling these past couple of months. For some reason, Allen looked incredibly out of it as well, depression clouding his features.
"General Cross took care of Allen for a long time, so this guy's been through a lot. We're also looking for Cross, do you remember where you last saw him?" Lavi explained.
"No, I'm sorry. I don't even know where I am now. Thank god I ran into you guys. I thought I was going to be chased and wander forever."
"Wait, but why did you try to steal my hammer?"Lavi asked suspiciously.
"Haha, well, accident I guess..." I said sheepishly, looking away.
"Oh yeah, he also told me to look for Bookman or something, my memories just before he knocked me out are kind of hazy." I said bitterly. He had also said something else that niggled at the corner of my conscious when I asked about the Order and exorcists.
'You were always going to be involved, because of who you are. From here out, nothing is a coincidence.' Though he also said 'Sorry, my cute pupil' just before he knocked me out, so I wasn't sure how relevant his words were.
Coincidence...and involved with what? Who I am? Since when was Cross this confusing?
He was normally...painfully straightforward.
Did it have something to do with my real parents? The weird marks on my back?
Damn that cryptic, secretive bastard.
"Bookman? Me?" Lavi pointed at himself.
"Are you whatever a Bookman is?"
"Well, he's Bookman Junior...not really Bookman yet..."
"Hm, well, I need to show whoever Bookman is the tattoo on my back." I jerked a thumb backwards, indicating my back. It always felt like Cross kind of knew what it was, but he just didn't want to tell me. I didn't really care either way, the odd black shapes and lines on my back had been there my whole life. I was never that curious and I just assumed it might've been something my deceased parents had been involved in.
"A tattoo?" Allen asked.
"Your back?" Lavi asked a bit too eagerly.
"Can I see-"He began cheerfully.
"No." I said straightaway.
"Your motives are really obvious, Lavi..." Allen sighed.
"Don't be so depressed, Krorykins! It can't be helped, can it? No matter how much I tried to explain, they wouldn't believe me." Lavi tried to cheer him up.
"Why is he so down?" I asked.
"Well, there was a bit of trouble where we came from, and Krorykins isn't really good at dealing with..."
"Yeah, they got angry at me too." Allen said, not half as depressed.
"It's fine even if you can't go back. As long as a man can still breathe, it's all good." Lavi said cheerfully.
"Why don't you look around the train for some fun? It's the first time you've ridden on one, isn't it?"
"Y-yeah, that's true. I'll walk around for a bit." He looked excited and left.
"Krorykins! Hey!" Lavi called. Krory had left for three hours, and he had yet to come back.
"How do you spend three hours wandering around on this small train?"
"Could it be that he got lost?"Allen opened the door to the other carriage and we came face to face with a scantily dressed Krory with a group of people holding cards.
"Sorry, right now young kids aren't allowed to enter here." A man with wild hair and circular glasses said cockily. I'm guessing he was winning.
"Now, sir, let's have another match. What will you wager next?"
"No, but..."
"What are you doing, Krory?" Allen asked.
"Th-these people invited me to play something called poker...and before I knew it, it turned out like this..."
"Hey, hey, you running away?"
"You've already accepted this match, haven't you? If you're a man, stick with it until the end."
"All the trimmings on this coat are made of silver." Allen dangled his exorcist jacket in front of the apparent leaders face.
"If I bet this for all of Krory's clothes, will you have a match with me?"
"Haha...alright."
"Allen's...winning..." Lavi said in disbelief.
Allen had won not only Krory's clothes back, but had won over his opponent's things as well.
"Royal straight flush. I win again." Allen smiled.
"Argh! Damn it! One more time!" They yelled.
"That Allen, he's wonderful!" Krory said in awe.
"He's an exceptional cheater..." I whispered, impressed, but not particurlarly surprised. In the few weeks I followed Cross in, I learnt how to cook, clean and do odd jobs like a pro to try accommodate for his ridiculously extravagant spendings. I remembered considering running away, but I couldn't bring myself to do that to my benefactor.
For all that, it was clear he was much stronger than even the average exorcist. I didn't remember much from when we first met, the snippet of one sided conversation a complete blur to me but he's been the only one so far that's caught me before I was able to take his weapon.
Poor, poor, Allen...
"Gee Allen, you're too nice a person. They didn't deserve their clothes back." I leaned out of the train window.
"They're not horrible people, just trying to make a little extra on the side." Allen smiled.
"What a nice way to put it. Well, at least you got cards."
"Here's your first job. I want you to go to this location as my servant." The Millennium Earl grinned as he showed Tyki a card.
"That's pretty damn far away."
"Come on, don't say that. Your second job...please delete the people whose name I've listed." He handed him a card.
"That's a lot."
"There's still more~"
"How many jobs do you need me to do?"
"Just one more...you'll enjoy this one... Please find this girl and bring her back to me!" The Earl pointed to a name on another card.
"Fine, fine."
"You're not going to ask why?"
Tyki just stared at him.
"She's going to be the newest addition to our family." The Earl said excitedly.
AN: I find cliffhangers add to the suspense! Leave a review if you can, they are really helpful :D Thanks for reading!