Mission #720

Chapter 3

Something happened during the update last night and fanfiction wasn't able to read my chapter. Sorry for the false notification!

Thank you so much for the reviews, favorites and follows! And I am incredibly sorry for the long update. This past week had been extremely busy. But here's chapter 3! Enjoy!

And if i haven't replied to your review, I'll do it asap.


For every man, woman, wizard, civilian he has met, Kakashi learns of one thing and one thing only.

That every door he's encountered is a closed door. They key, if there is even one, is lost forever to oblivion.

The only hope he dares cling to, is the fact that one door opened for him, albeit without his consent. One door, and it dropped him to a land unknown even to imagination.

One door.

And he will find it.


There is a certain fear that grips him whenever he hears his name mentioned. For every time his name leaves the confines of the lips and become a weapon at the hands of unmindful ears, he leaves a bearing stamp upon this world. A trace of a boy that should not exist.

And now to hear his name tossed around so carelessly like wilted flowers…

What are they talking about? Suddenly Kakashi's feet are walking on its own, stumbling over air particles and dust. Why are they even talking about him? In public no less.

"Oh I don't know..." He hears the high pitched snide first. "It just makes me wonder why Master even passed you in the first place. You can't even choose a proper job."

Kakashi sees a girl with silver hair, scarcely dressed, hands on hips and lips twisted in a cynical sneer. But Kakashi's attention is only drawn towards her opposer - five-feet tall, scarlet, cladded in armor, and just as angry. The girl-with as much acid she could muster, spites back, "Shut it, Mira. You don't even know what it's about."

"What can a twelve year old give you anyway? A lifetime supply of cakes?"

"Just so you know." Erza smiles, but it's all pinched and wrong. "Master chose me for this job. Not Laxus. Not Mystogan. Definitely not you. And because it's so important, so classified, I can't tell you, you bloody stinking witch anything."

When he steps inside the guild, the air is thick and heavy and there's a pressure building in his forehead. Magic, Kakashi thinks, as he rubs at his tingling nose. Very strong magic. Typical of an S-class mage.

And then he sneezes.

And all magic—purple and red—crumbles into thin air.

"Oh look, he's here." The girl jumps down to inspect him—head to toe, grey hair to black sandals. She's probably fabricating the next hot gossip to ruin Erza's job prospect. Probably his image too. Whatever brand she's stamped on him, she seems very satisfied with it, and leaves with a permanent snicker on her face. Then Kakashi turns to the other girl. The scarlet-haired, armor-wearing, 15 year old girl who's finishing the last bits of her strawberry cake.

"Erza."

She blinks at him, face slipping into a mask. "Morning, Kakashi."

He told her that their relationship would be informal, but professional. He's her working partner, not her boss, not her employer. Kakashi also didn't want a love story. Like last time. He didn't want a girl to suddenly rip his mask off and had the sudden revelation that he was an available love interest.

"Which way to the library?"

"I'll take you there. Come on." She settles her spoon, gets off the bench, and he follows her to a small wooden door nestled between bar tables and barrels. "We also have a data storage room—" she points to another door, right at the opposite direction. "—we can check it out later, if you want. Some things are restricted but we have access to most of them."

"Great," he says and is honest about it. Previous guilds have libraries so small that he'd encountered the same books and transcripts with no fresh information. It hindered the mission significantly. "Great let's get started. And—"

She turns, and for a moment the words traitorously leaves his tongue. He is not used to this. He will not be used to this. But then he remembers, of his deceased teacher who occasionally gave motivation for his students during missions. It might not have worked on him, but it had work on the other two idiots. So Kakashi steels his mind. He says it with conviction even though he does not look into her eyes.

"I'll give you permission to rub it on her face after you succeed." He quickly rephrases, "If you succeed."

Her answer is a familiar smirk. Familiar because he's seen it plastered on his own face far too often. And not because of the best reasons. "Don't worry. I'll be doing it next week."


He has been watching the back of her book for five minutes, unbeknownst to her awareness, and finally cannot stand it no more. "Don't read that," Kakashi says.

Startled and concentration broken, she settles the book down to look at him. "Excuse me?"

"Read something else. And these—" He waves his hands over the books she's taken off the shelves. "Don't read these either. Especially this one, charlatan's work."

"But, but—" Erza looks flustered already. Because he can't even trust her with reading. "We haven't even touched them yet! How can you be so sure? And a charlatan?"

"He said some very convincing things. I was bound to doubt," he says, looking over the title of the books one by one and settling them aside. "We found him at the outskirts of town, and you know what he said? He was just doing it for the money. I wasted a week on that. And yes, I have read them all."

She doesn't budge. "We can double check. Two heads are always better than one."

"Most of these only say about theories and hypothesis," he explains. "None of them mention anything on how to do dimensional travel. So don't read them."

"Fine, OK. Then—" Kakashi pretends not to notice the blush creeping up her neck. "Which one should I read?"

He pushes a book to her face. "Start with this. Looks promising."

She complies with out a word, starts flipping through the pages, and settles into firm determination. Satisfied with this change, Kakashi returns to his own reading list. His current book tells of all the great mages who could manipulate space and time, twist and contort them into unimaginable things. It's a lost art, and half of the book is wasted on warning him of the dangers and catastrophe it can cause if fallen to the wrong hands.

The next one tells of alternate dimensions. There aren't any substantial proofs of their existence. He closes it and moves hours the are locked in this routine: flipping through pages, perusing through words, searching for hidden meanings and possible clues. They don't find any.

"Kakashi?" Beside him, Erza closes her book and lies her head on the table.

It must be nearing nighttime, Kakashi thinks. The lines blur together at the smallest interruption. He rubs and blinks his eyes. "What is it?"

"Your world." Kakashi stills ever so slightly. "What is it like? Do you have magic?"

"I don't think I should tell you," he says, almost coldly. He swallows and tries again. "The place where I come from—we're not in the best conditions. I don't want to drag your world into this mess."

Because we've lost so many… So many.

"Oh," she says. Her eyes are glazing over. "It's just that I was wondering how we can even find your world if we don't even know what it is."

"I'll tell you…if the circumstances call for it. We haven't even found a way for dimensional travel."

"We'll find it," she says and the fire is back in her eyes. "If there's a way in, then there must be a way out. We'll get you home."

Kakashi tries very very hard to believe her.


When the hour strikes eight, fatigue becomes a burden too heavy to carry, and both children, too stubborn to admit it, subtly excuses themselves to go home.

Kakashi has a dog to feed. And Erza, never wanting to disappoint her partner, tells him that she'll continue their work at home, even going so far as promising him to have something new to show by the next morning.

Minutes later, they bid their goodbyes and that marks the end of their second day.

When Kakashi reaches his motel room, he does not bother to clean himself up. Instead he tosses his half-eaten chicken drumstick to the pug, kicks off his sandals, and drops himself on the rickety bed. For the next 13 days, this will be Kakashi's home, where the windows are cracked, and the air smells like piss and sex. Tomorrow, he'll be heading to Erza's home, where the rooms cost 100.000 gold each, are completely free of boys, and has Magnolia as its backyard.

Tomorrow, Kakashi is heading to Fairy Hills.

XOXOXO

There is an old lady standing behind him. And Kakashi, who is still clinging to his stubborn conviction that no, no one should have been able to sneak up on him like that, not with Pakkun beside him, not like that, does not dare turn around. But alas the lady speaks and she is furious.

"And what's a boy like you doing at my home?"

This is the moment his conviction, self-confidence, and self-esteem shatters completely. Irreparable. Has the lack of proper practice reduced him to this? Aghast but careful not to show it, he turns, finds nothing but white hair, and cranes his neck downwards. This, he thinks, this is his assailant.

Very casually he says, "Isn't this the girl's dormitory?"

"It's also where I live," The lady says, like he's stupid. Kakashi is beginning to think he's impaired too. "And no boy nor man alive has ever stepped a foot into my home! I'm not going to start letting you stomp all over my floor." The lady's not finished yet—Kakashi closes his mouth. "And don't even try saying you're a crossdresser. I've smelled your stinky male ass since you entered my property."

"Wasn't trying to." He looks around, from the garden to the porch, then to the windows lined along the walls. "I'm just looking for Erza. Is she here?"

At the mention of her name, the old lady falters. "What business do you have with her?"

"I'm her partner."

A pause. "Romantic...partner?"

"Working...partner," he mumbles quickly and feels the blood rushing to his cheeks. "We…We're working on a mission together."

The old lady laughs. Cackles. And now she looks more amused than anything. "Don't lie to me. You're not even a mage!"

"I never said I was." Again, he glances at the windows. "Look, I don't even need to go inside. I only need to talk to her. So if you can just call her outside-"

"Not possible," the lady snaps at him. "Now get out! You're not welcome here. And bring your dirty mutt with you!"

At this Pakkun barks and bares his teeth. It's as if he's saying, "I'm a ninken you old hag! A ninken! not some kind of useless disgusting mutt!"

"I'm just going to get her," Kakashi says, reaching for the spot between his ears to calm him down. "Then we'll leave, OK?"

There is that moment of silence when it occurs to both minds that neither party is willing to back down. Kakashi turns at the same time the lady grabs his arm. She screams, fingers scraping and scratching his skin, but Kakashi is stronger; he tells Pakkun to stay outside and then it's him who is pulling her inside.

When the hand disappears, it takes everything he has not to turn around. Instead, Kakashi rubs at the pink scratch marks around his arms and walks inside.

XOXOXO

The living room is empty, so he takes the liberty to make himself comfortable at the sofa. Seconds tick by. Minutes. He hears soft footsteps, but when he looks up at the stairs—it is not Erza. Instead the stranger says, "Boys aren't supposed to be here."

Why do people keep saying that? It's not like he came all the way here to peek on naked girls. "I'm just here for Erza. "

The girl only hides more behind the rails, but nothing could really hide her uncanny blue hair. "Erza is... she's still asleep."

Kakashi cannot believe this. "Asleep?"

"Yeah. She stayed up reading last night. I helped her for a while but somewhere around midnight, she called it a day." She pauses here, like she is considering the weight of her next words. "I didn't think she did though. I think she pulled an all nighter."

"You helped her?"

"I only helped her summarize a few books. Erza wouldn't tell me what the mission is about," she says. "Erza keeps her promises. You don't have to worry about that."

"OK," Kakashi says, tense shoulder slumping. "OK."

"Do you want me to wake her up?"

"No, I'll come with you," Kakashi says, already climbing up the stairs.

The girl just stares at him.

"Please," he says, and it kills him to hear himself sound like a crying dog. "I've had enough of girls for today."

XOXOXOXO

Erza's room is on the second floor, fifth door from the stairs, second door from the other end of the hallway. He commits it to his mind, so that the next time he comes, he won't bother with the front door and the crazy old lady and Erza's other neighbors with uncanny colored hair. He'll just climb her window.

The girl-Levi presses her ears against the door, then shakes her head.

"She's definitely asleep," Levi whispers at him and turns the knob.

When they enter, the room is dark, the curtains are closed, and the bed is neat and tidy. Untouched. The only sign of Erza is the desk. That's where they find her- a messy heap with her faced pressed on an open book, drool puddling on a random page. That's where the snore comes from. Where he sees the loose tendrils of scarlet hair.

"Do you want me to...uhm." She stops there to stare at him with wide eyes, hands wrung together. Kakashi glances back from the sleeping girl, then to Levi. He knows exactly what is going through her head right now.

Erza is pretty terrifying.

"Leave now," Kakashi says quietly. "Before she wakes up. I won't tell her."

"OK," Levi whispers and then stiffly turns towards the door. "I'll leave you two be—"

"Wait," Kakashi says. He grabs a picture frame from the desk and points to—what a surprise— the old lady from before. "Does she own this place?"

A flicker of a shadow. Levi turns to him with tightened lips, but her eyes carry a deeper meaning. "Hilda was our previous matron. She…"Her voice hitches. "She died sometime ago. Her carriage fell from a cliff."

Everything clicks. He offers a solemn nod to the girl, and Levi nods back before closing the door.

When she's gone, Kakashi inspects the mess, notes the opened and marked books, then picks one that is still untouched.

"You." It's the old lady again. Standing behind him. He turns, just to regard her. "You're not from here are you?"

"I should be saying the same thing," Kakashi says, and calmly goes back to the line he's reading.

"Why did you come here? Did you bring trouble with you? Enemies from land unknown?"

"Why do you care?" Kakashi says. "You're already dead."

"It's my business if it involves my girls. It's my business if you come knocking on my door. Now answer the question. Did you or did you not come here with an enemy?"

"No one is chasing me," Kakashi says, flipping the page. "When I woke up here, I was alone."

"Then why are you here?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know? Don't lie to me," she presses. "I know that face. I've lived with enough mages to know when they're troubled. To know that today might be their last day."

"What you see," Kakashi says, voice hard and fists clenched. "Is the face of a lost child. A child finding his way home."

Beside him, Erza stirs. "I cannot leave my girls to a stranger-"

"I am not going to hurt her," he cuts in, and returns her skeptic gaze with his own. "I am not going to hurt anyone. That, you have my word."

"Kakashi?"

The distraction is her escape. Kakashi blinks and Hilda is gone. After a beat, he replies without looking, "Morning."

In her groggy state, she is completely oblivious to the weight of the reality she's currently in. When it settles in (and it is a gradual process—Kakashi sees it in her eyes), she sits up so fast the page she lies on tears and sticks to her cheek instead.

"How did you find my room—"

"I searched."

"I thought we were meeting downstairs. Not here, in my room—"

"I was, until I learnt you were still asleep—"

"How did you know I was still asleep?"

He stills. She caught him there. "Go shower," he says, looking away. "We've wasted enough time."

Too embarassed to continue, Erza drops the argument. "I'll make it quick," she says. "Just don't touch anything, okay? Especially the books."

His gaze drops to the book in his hand. So did hers. "Kakashi," Erza says slowly. "Kakashi, what are you reading?"

"You tell me," Kakashi replies, not catching up. "I've only read the first page—" He holds up the cover in front of her, and then quickly, like lightning, she slaps it off his fingers.

"Shit—Erza!" If Kakashi hadn't caught himself, if he hadn't stopped, he would've twisted and broken her arm by now. "Sh— What was that for?"

"Don't!" Erza has her arms in front of him like a shield. "Don't touch it!"

"What?"

"It's not a normal book," she says to him and swallows. "I think this might be it. I think this is our answer."


When he is alone and completely sure that the book will not jump at him does he dare look at it again.

It reads : Memory Days.


A/N :Don't judge yet. More to come. Any thoughts?