Roots
As the white, winter sun began to dip low in the west, Daisya concluded Sir Lancelot could've found the Holy Grail before Galahad in quicker time than convincing Kanda to at least grin. Of course he didn't voice such thoughts aloud—Lenalee's cheerful smile banished the thought—but this task was monumental compared to the simple gift he'd picked out for her. As the light, canvas bag bumped against his hip, he kept his eyes on the ground as they pushed their way through the crowd of shoppers toward a more or less empty platform where the train was due to arrive.
Lenalee clutched his hand and Kanda's, who'd rejoined them not five minutes ago, materializing out of the swarm of people so silently, it had taken them more than a couple minutes to notice he'd returned at all. However, he was hard to miss after a poorly timed remark at the younger accommodator's feminine appearance and the resulting black eye rightly deserved from said unwitting comment.
"I said I was sorry." Daisya snapped, gingerly tapping his swollen, discolored skin. "But did you have to punch me?"
Kanda said nothing, seething with anger and far from smiling as Lenalee wished. Though a little discouraged by the thought, Lenalee convinced herself not to give up. She still had the rest of today and part of tomorrow to accomplish her task. But maybe wishing for such a thing was just as improbable as the mystic Grail. Lenalee's face fell. Maybe Kanda just won't smile at all, no matter what I try. Dejectedly squeezing his hand tighter (and unknowingly diffusing another release of pent up rage), Lenalee asked quietly, "Doesn't the culture in Town Below seem. . .you know, mixed? It doesn't seem like an ordinary small, Englishtown market."
There were too many cultures in one place. Through the entirety of the afternoon, she'd seen carpets from Egypt, silk from the East, spices from India, tobacco from America, and hundreds of others she couldn't bring to mind. Surely such a small town wouldn't have so much diversity; one would have to travel all the way to London for such an international assortment.
"Don't you know what Town Below is, Moppet?" Daisya laughed, kicking at a chunk of ice on the ground and sending it skittering away.
Lenalee frowned, tightening her grip on his hand as she was nearly swept away by a very tall man carrying a load of canvas bags. "I don't understand."
"Exorcists come from all around the world." Kanda explained, looking bored as he swung one of their shopping bags around on his fingers. "This town reflects those worldwide cultures and every citizen here is a supporter of the exorcists. Tradesmen come from all over. Even some of the finders have lodgings here, as well as the occasional scientist."
"Right, like that Russell guy, the scientist." Daisya quipped. "He has family here. I'll bet your brother stayed here for a time, too, before he became the head of the Order."
Lenalee looked at her surroundings. Most of Town Below's buildings were brick, and there were a lot of shops, restaurants, and other businesses. There was a small school and at least two theaters, the most popular being the Fantasia Theater. (She'd seen advertisements for it in the newspaper printed in Town Below.) But now that she really looked at the town, she supposed a lot of the buildings did indeed look like tenement houses. "So it's a boarding town?"
"Not only that. The diverse market provides the Order with the tools and chemicals the scientists need, the sturdy material used in our coats, and the freshest produce and the best quality food." Daisya continued. "And it shelters the Order's inhabitants during big disasters like fires or major lab accidents or things like that."
"Oh." Lenalee nodded. She remembered her brother talking to several senior members of the science division about improving the safety precautions in the lab to prevent accidents. Of course the scientists were always careful, especially with their trial and error projects, but every once in a while something would explode and set off an inferno. Maybe a flammable chemical solution would ignite spontaneously, or a forgotten candle would light up half the library.
"Okay, I get it." She nodded as a long, black train pulled up to the nearby platform, it's loud whistle nearly drowning out her words. "And doesn't the Order stay in Town Below when everyone gets really sick?"
"Only if it's a serious epidemic when simply quarantining the Sanatorium isn't enough." Kanda frowned. "The last time the Order stayed here was in 1824 during a tuberculosis outbreak."
"Where did you hear about that?" Daisya asked.
Before Lenalee could listen to the answer, she glimpsed a familiar person strolling through the crowd. He seemed a bit more tattered than he had when she'd seen him last and he walked with a slight limp, but there was no mistake. Lenalee widened her eyes and ran forward. "It's Mr. Tiedoll!"
The exorcist general whirled around upon hearing her and shouted, "Is that Lenalee I hear?"
Lenalee raised her hand and leaped upward to make herself known in the crowd. "I'm here, I'm here!"
A pair hands grabbed her under her arms and lifted her into the air. "So you are. You've certainly grown a little since I last saw you." Lenalee smiled in pride and buried her face in his coat for a hug. As usual, the man smelled acutely of paint and charcoal. "Are you here by yourself?"
The girl shook her head and twisted to point to where she'd come. "Kanda and Daisya came with me."
At the sound of their names, the boys slipped out of the crowd and approached without the enthusiasm Lenalee had displayed. "Good afternoon, General." Kanda murmured in sullen tones.
"Hello." Daisya acknowledged, equally subdued.
"Good heavens, Daisya!" The old man cried. "What on earth happened to your eye?"
"He happened." Daisya jabbed an accusing finger at Kanda.
General Tiedoll sighed despairingly. "Still a violent temper as always, Yu?"
"Boy's got sense if he's got killing on the mind." Came a gruff voice. Lenalee squeaked in alarm, shrinking into herself as if to hide from the massive fellow coming up behind Tiedoll. Brutus was big man, but as General Zokalo materialized behind Tiedoll, massive boots thudding against the platform, she could easily imagine the scary exorcist dwarfing him. As usual, his scarred face was concealed behind a grey mask with small slits for eyeholes. The sight of him earned the group quite a few awed stares from the Christmas shoppers around them and more than a few gossipy whispers and quickened paces.
"Killing is not what being an exorcist is all about." Chided a woman's voice. General Cloud Nyne made an appearance behind the Mexican general, her anti-akuma weapon, Lau Jimin (Was he wearing a scarf?), perched snugly on her shoulder. "You know this."
"Wait, did all the generals arrive on the same train?" Lenalee asked incredulously. It was rare to see all of them in one place outside the Order's fortress, even within their territory. But the idea of them traveling the same way all at once? Impossible!
"Not quite." A new voice amended gently. "Kevin and I arrived by sea."
Lenalee stiffened.
"Oh, good day, Tobias! Kevin!" Tiedoll greeted warmly, lowering the girl back to the ground. But as soon as her toes touched the cobblestones, she darted between Kanda and Daisya and stared the newcomers.
They were both Generals. One was an old man, probably in his eighties if his long white hair was anything to go by, and he wore something of a cloak-like uniform. As he cheerfully raised his hand in greeting, Lenalee glimpsed a number of chains coiled around his arms. The man beside him merely nodded distantly. His uniform was of the standard design, except with a hood he kept pulled over his slightly curly, brown hair. He was a little younger than his companion and his stature sturdier. His anti-akuma weapon was more conspicuous than his companion's, slung across his back in the form of an English longbow.
"How do you do, child? Do you live around here? I'd like to speak to your parents if that's all right."
"It's a pleasure to see all of you again." He spoke perfect English, but a touch of a German accent slipped into his speech, interfering with his r's, making them harsher than British speech. Lenalee shrank back as his deep, forest green eyes focused on her. "How do you do, Lenalee?"
Lenalee refused to answer, slipping even further behind her friends, who noticed her reaction and discreetly shifted to stand in front of her.
"It's an uncanny substance. Whom it chooses to accommodate and why is a mystery to us. Men and woman and children, Innocence does not discriminate. And I fear a shard has chosen your sister."
The man cocked his head to the side, glanced at his fellow generals, cleared his throat and turned to the elderly accommodator beside him. "Well, I do believe you know everyone here except for this young lady. This is Lenalee Lee, the girl—
Don't say it!
"There's only one course of action to take. I'll be bringing Lenalee to the Black Order and she'll be trained as an exorcist. A straightforward job but dangerous. I guarantee she'll be well cared for. In return for their service, exorcists are honored, respected, and are treated as upper class citizens"
"—I identified during an assignment I took in China."
"I'm afraid joining the Order for non-exorcists is much more complicated. We don't simply allow anyone to join. Are there any noteworthy skills you're capable of? If not, I'm afraid Lenalee will be coming alone. But I suggest you enlist immediately and work as hard as you possibly can. In the meantime, I'll take your sister. It's too risky for her to remain here with an unrefined weapon. The akuma may already be aware of her existence."
General Tobias Mandel. The very exorcist who'd taken her from her brother.
Trembling, Lenalee lowered her head and remembered the night she was forcibly taken, bewildered, from the house where she was born. She hadn't fully understood what was happening at the time, just that she was being separated from Komui. Of course, he hugged and kissed her goodbye and promised he would see her as soon as possible, which had abated some of her fears. However, she didn't like the way he said this Lord Mandel was taking her away. She remember him crying as she was led away with her tiny hand trapped in one of a stranger and settled inside a black coach adorned with the silver Rose Cross.
Daisya's hand closed around hers and gave a reassuring squeeze, drawing her back into the present. Lenalee jolted in surprise and looked up to find him smiling gently. "Everything's okay, Moppet."
"Hai." Kanda lisped beside her, though he kept his black eyes trained on the crowded train platform. "Let's go. At this rate, Central will rear their ugly heads."
"Good point." Daisya agreed, leading their sister by the hand as he followed Kanda off the platform, disappearing amongst the Christmas shoppers, departing passengers, and reuniting families. "Are we going home?"
Home? Lenalee turned her head to look at the Black Order's fortress looming in the distance. In the fading light, the tower was coal black and illuminated by a series of gleaming lanterns. With a startled jolt, she realized this was the first time in four years she'd seen the Order from the outside. Four years she'd been shut in the dark, unable to put so much as a toe out the door. Central mistrusted her that much. Four years, she lived seeing awful things from battle wounds to children dying from Innocence trials. Four years she'd been subjugated to living without her brother.
How could she call that black shape marring the skyline her home?
-0-0-0-
It was unnerving how their eyes appeared. Whenever he saw them, the only words that came to mind were 'submissive' and 'wary'. The people of the Order seemed to tiptoe around him, flashing discreet glances like hunted animals. They treated him with what felt like artificial respect, as though he would enforce unspeakable and cruel punishments upon them if they didn't show proper reverence.
Although he'd led the Main Headquarters for a couple months, it was clear the intimidation spawned by his predecessor had not yet relinquished its hold on the inhabitants. Even standing in the door of his office, watching them haul tree after tree from the canals, Komui observed the guarded expressions of the exorcists and the finders as they passed by, if they even looked at him at all.
If they did, it was usually by accident. Most of them smiled in discussion with their neighbor when they happened to notice him watching. Their smiles usually faded and they would nod curtly, continuing their undertaking with a renewed air of obedience. The hallway filled with an uncanny silence, save for the brushing of needles and branches against the stone floors.
Be silent. The Supervisor of the Black Order is watching.
Komui sighed as yet another finder quickly avoided his eyes, so he turned down the gigantic corridor in search of his sister. There had been no news of her that could be gleaned from the few finders he'd asked of her whereabouts. All of them seemed so paranoid with their ignorance he didn't dare question them further. But where was Lenalee? Knowing her, she would've come running straight to him the second the troupe reached the front gate. However, it had been almost thirty minutes since the first tree was dragged past and girl was still absent.
When he was about to stop a fourth finder, Komui heard someone scream his name. It wasn't his sister. He shouted in alarm as Exorcist Gwen Frere materialized and energetically threw herself at him. Komui was compelled to take a step back and pivot slightly to avoid toppling over. "Whee-oo!" The French accommodator squealed, throwing her arms around him and speaking very rapidly in her native tongue.
"Miss Frere! Frere!" He cried, holding his hands up in surrender and staring in astonishment at the woman's short, trendy, brown hair. So far as he'd seen, Gwen had been one of the more reserved exorcists, not bothering to hide her suspicious glares. Every time he'd given her an assignment in the past two months, she regarded him in disdain and seemed to want nothing more than to be out of his office. "What's wrong?"
"Merci! Merci beaucoup! Whooo!" Gwen finally pulled away, hands on his cheeks and laughing with her crystal eyes bright as an ecstatic schoolgirl's. "Thank you so much!" She finally blurted in English, patting his face multiple times before hugging him again.
He hesitantly wrapped his arms around her lithe frame, though utterly confused and distinctly sensing he'd missed something. Around them, the other volunteers of the tree expedition stared at them in shock and altogether ceased their activity, whispering amongst themselves.
Komui heard a deep, throaty laugh and a huge hand slapped him in the back, knocking him forward and causing his chin to hit Gwen's head.
"Ouch!" She cried, pulling away and rubbing the sore spot. "Brutus, control your strength, big guy!"
The giant exorcist flashed a toothy grin at them and clapped a hand over Komui's shoulder. "Apologies! Had to thank ye again, Chief."
Komui massaged a hand against his jawline. "I feel thanked. This seems to be more than one tree." A look of apprehension appeared on their faces so suddenly he immediately amended. "Are you inviting the forest for Christmas?"
"Oui." Gwen smiled, tilting her head and turning to Brutus. "Come, we'd best help bring up the rest. Merci, Superviseur Lee!"
Before they could disappear into the felled trees again, Komui stopped them. "Hold up, have you seen my sister?"
"Huh, zhey're not back yet?" Gwen asked, looking genuinely surprised, which sent a jolt of panic through him. "Not to worry. Zhey went into Town Below for some Christmas shopping."
"They?"
"She's with Daisya and Kanda." She winked. "Don't worry, Chief. Those two will keep her out of trouble."
Brutus snorted good-naturedly. "More like the other way around, Gwenny."
The female sniper sent him a considering frown, then smiled with a slight shrug and began tugging away at the tree, though Brutus was undoubtedly accomplishing most of the work. Komui relaxed somewhat but found himself falling into step with the two accommodators, grappling with a cable secured around the tree's severed trunk. "She seems to get along very well with those two." He commented.
"She adores them." Gwen agreed. "Who wouldn't? Daisya may be a little immature and Kanda's normally grouchy, but both of them can be really sweet when they choose to be."
"I see."
"All three of them are joined at the hip." Brutus grunted and seized considerable number of cables in his gorilla-like hands, then heaved the tree another five feet in one powerful stroke. Komui yelped in alarm, trotting to keep up and grasping another cable. It felt like being a little kid again, helping the adults bring in a load of rice back home. "Pretty sure they stayed together the entire time outside."
"So you're confident Lenalee's with them?" Komui asked, surging forward with the tree again.
"Absolutely certain." Gwen smiled reassuringly. "Like I said, you shouldn't worry. Those two won't let anything happen to her."
With a mighty strain of exertion, Brutus hauled the tree forward again, knocking both Gwendolyn and Komui off their feet and leaving them to the mercy of the needles and branches. Instinctively, Komui curled into a ball and covered his face as the tree scraped over him. It didn't hurt as much as he'd expected, but it still felt pretty uncomfortable lying completely helpless while greenery buffeted him. At one point, branches caught his collar, dragging him a couple yards before he managed to work himself free. When at last he finally emerged from under the gigantic conifer, he was pleased to find he was more or less unhurt, though his cap had been snagged and there were far more needles in his clothes than there were before he'd fallen.
"You all right, sir!" Called an agitated voice, accompanied by a stampede of footsteps. "Miss Frere! You two aren't hurt, are you?"
"Non." Gwen replied, leaping to her feet and stamping one of them in a childish fit of irritation. "Brutus, you idiot!"
The giant exorcist was marching away with his back to them, whistling a Christmas carol and completely oblivious to their ordeal. As Komui sat up, several pairs of hands gripped his arms and hauled him onto his feet. "Are you hurt, sir?"
"Er…no. No, I'm all right." He whirled and startled the three finders who'd presumably helped him up. "I'm fine." One of the younger finders shrank back, realized his mistake, and rejoined the line with the others. None of them looked him in the eye and kept their faces devoid of emotion as they waited to be dismissed. Komui almost did so, but he hesitated, frowning at their uneasy postures. Sweat beaded on the younger one's forehead and the hands of the others kept twitching nervously. "Thank you. All of you."
"Yes, sir." They replied in unison.
"Do you think if I went outside, someone would try to chop me down, too?" The trio frowned in consternation, glancing at each other in puzzlement. The joke penetrated their confusion and tentative smiles appeared, easing some of their apprehension. Satisfied, Komui straightened and waved an arm, dislodging a few needles. "Carry on."
With a nod, the three turned and darted back to their tree and resumed pulling. Komui stepped out of the way as they passed by, raising a hand to wave cheerfully. One of the finders replied with a wave of his own, then hissed to his companions, who all turned and nodded cordially and continued on their way. Komui turned to see what had become of Gwen and was surprised to see her still shaking her fist at Brutus, who was still unaware of what had happened.
"Watch out, Gwen!" Komui called.
The woman turned about to face him and saw the finders' tree just in time, diving out of the way and redirecting her annoyance at the group. With a smirk, Komui shook his head and journeyed back the way he'd come, wondering if his sister had returned yet.
-0-0-0-
"Maybe he's hiding from Reever again." Daisya suggested with a shrug.
Lenalee shook her head. "No, he only does that when he's sneaking away to see me."
Kanda said nothing, only flicking his black eyes to various parts of the currently unoccupied office before turning on his heel and striding out. Reaching the same conclusion Komui wasn't there, Lenalee and Daisya followed suit on their way first to their individual rooms to change and drop off gifts, and then to the Great Hall. "Where else would they put eight trees?" was Daisya's logic.
Truthfully, Lenalee could think of several rooms in the Order big enough to house over a dozen conifers, and then considered the possibility the trees were spread out between other rooms of the citadel. But she didn't have the energy to argue with her friend, so she wore a bright smile and ran hand in hand with the boys, almost towing them after her, until they reached their destination.
"Heave ho, laddies!" Boomed Brutus' powerful voice as a sixth tree was pulled upright with a shower of pine needles raining down upon the heads of several finders.
Sure enough, the Great Hall seemed to have become the center of the Black Order Christmas. In contrast to the rest of the Order's crude and dark hallways, the gigantic Hall was an elegant white marble chamber with a tiled floor, not cobbled. The ceiling was painted with the intricate pattern of the silver Rose Cross with a large chandelier in the center and four smaller ones at the prominent points.
"It's huge!" Lenalee cried, throwing her arms out and spinning on her heels, black ruffles of her skirts flying.
"Have you never been here for the Awakening?" Kanda asked, raising an eyebrow at her behavior shift.
"They always kept me locked in my room because they thought I'd take the opportunity to escape again."
"What's the Awakening?" Daisya asked, puzzled.
"The gala held for the Order's founding day." Answered a woman behind them. Both boys whirled around and Lenalee stopped spinning, wobbling dizzily. Gwen smiled broadly, showing her teeth and asking, "You're 'ere to 'elp, right, mes chéris?"
"Sure." Daisya answered automatically.
The markswoman's smile broadened and she took Lenalee by her arm. "You three come with me, then." Lenalee squeaked as the taller woman pulled her along through the myriad of decorators rushing about. "Solly, mi amour! I've got some 'elpers for you!"
"Fantastic!" The white-haired woman replied, clapping her hands. Her mismatched eyes beamed at them as she waved them over.
"What do you want us to do, miss Sol?" Lenalee asked as she darted forward to meet her.
"Actually, I only need one helper really." She looked up at Gwen. "Mind giving the boys another job? I don't think what I've got planned is challenging enough for these two." Lenalee cast an alarmed look toward the boys, apprehensive of being left alone, but Gwen was already whisking them away through the busy crowd.
The girl flinched as Sol clapped a hand over her shoulder. "Right, then. Let me show you what you'll be doing, girlie." The Scandinavian woman led her over to the sea of cardboard boxes surrounding her tree of choice and unfolded the flaps of one. After rummaging inside for half a second, she deposited a handful of green and red thorny objects into Lenalee's hands.
Lifting one up for inspection, Lenalee could see each piece was a pair of spiky, green leaves and three bright red berries. "This is called holly." Sol explained. "I want you to hang it on this tree here, but try to scatter it about, all right? Nothing worse than a tree looking like its about to fall over."
Lenalee smiled and turned to the tall, dark green conifer, then craned her head back to look at the topmost part of the tree, untouched save for some kind of strand of silver, fuzzy string and a what looked like tiny lights. "I can't get up that high."
"You don't have to." Said Sol, back in the box. "I'll borrow a step ladder when someone's done with theirs. Just get the bottom for now. Go ahead, knock yourself out."
As she turned to sort through another box, Lenalee looked down at the objects in her hands then up at the tree. There's a blank space there. Is that where I should put it? Standing on her toes and stretching her arm upward, she set the leaves on a branch just within her reach. Lenalee stood back to survey her work. That looks okay.
"Perfect!" Sol cried, reappearing to hang a shiny, red orb from a branch out of Lenalee's reach. "That's perfect."
Lenalee smiled and searched for a new location. There was another blank spot toward the bottom branches. And another over there. And another…by the time Lenalee had circled the entire tree, she had run out of holly. "Miss Sol, is there any more?"
"Whole box of it, honey." She pointed. "You know, in my home country," She explained cheerfully as she stood on her toes, placing a small, dough-like man—gingerbread, the Scandinavian exorcist called it—on a high branch. "we hitch a special animal to our sleighs. Reindeer, they're called in this language."
Lenalee nodded her understanding. "What does a reindeer look like?"
"Hrm." Sol looked around, lips pursed in thought. "You know, like a deer. Except…woollier and bigger antlers." She held her hands behind her head to demonstrate. "Ask General Tiedoll to draw one for you, I don't know." She bent to rummage through another cardboard box. "Now where are those candles?"
Lenalee turned to another box and lifted out what looked like a small drum made of an old soup can with a little pair of toothpick drumsticks.
"We depend on the reindeer a great deal in the north." Sol continued as she reappeared. "Transportation, food, milk, even our clothes come from them."
Lenalee widened her eyes in realization. "That's what your uniform is made of, isn't it? Yours if made of reindeer fur!"
"Right on." She grinned and turned to the tree. "Nice and cozy and not to mention very durable."
"She specifically asked me to use it when I made her uniform." A new voice answered. Lenalee turned around, only to find a short haystack of green cords covered in what looked like tiny, tinted light bulbs. "Did you want lights here or just candles?" The haystack asked.
Lenalee squinted, glimpsing a small pair of feet beneath the spaghetti of cords and lights. Sol stepped forward and lifted it up, revealing a small, timid-looking scientist with a funny pair of glasses. Lenalee recognized him, though she didn't know his name. However, Sol, "Johnny! I thought that was you!" With a small sound of exertion, she lifted the cords up and set them on the floor. "Where's Tapp? Doesn't he usually help you with the heavy lifting?"
He really was a small fellow, Lenalee thought as she tilted her head. Sol had seemed smallish before but maybe that was because she was so willowy and slender. Now, she seemed to tower over the poor scientist with the lights.
"He was busy finishing a project." Johnny explained. "I thought I'd bring the lights up myself."
Sol opened her mouth to say something, then smiled. "You're funny." She gathered a clump of lights in her hands. "Okay, buddy, show me how to set these up. There's a lot of work to be done. Lenalee, you help, too."
"Kay." Lenalee listened carefully to the woman's instructions on how to threads the lights between the branches.
-0-0-0-
"So what'd you get Moppet for Christmas?" Daisya asked slyly, lashing loose pine branches together with cord, forming a large ring of green prickles. Gwen called it a 'wreath' but he had silently dubbed it the vegetation nightmare. "Ouch!" He yelped, stabbing himself for the umpteenth time with needles.
Kanda looked on solemnly but didn't answer his question. Gwen had given him the simple job of adorning each wreath with a bright, red ribbon, some bells, other assorted decorations, and holly, which Kanda and Daisya knew as yew berries. Daisya grinned to himself but decided against pointing out 'yew' and 'Yu' to the younger boy. One black eye was enough.
"Hey, are yew berries edible?" He asked as his stomach growled, reminding him that he'd skipped lunch.
"They're full of taxine, ephedrine, and some volatile oil." Kanda replied distractedly, more interested in looking for something he'd dropped than attending to Daisya's question.
"So, can you eat them?"
"Sure." Kanda fixed his grave, black eyes on him. "If you want some major indigestion and an uncomfortable death following, I highly recommend it."
"You could've just said no." Daisya muttered sourly, plucking one of the red berries and flicking it at Kanda. The younger accommodator recoiled as the berry bounced off his head. Irritated, he glared at Daisya but resumed his work without fuss. "So where'd you learn about the stuff in the berries? I don't recall that being in the old man's lessons."
"That's because Marie taught me that." Kanda turned back to the wreath. "I was stupid enough to try eating them once. He told me what was in them when I recovered."
Daisya frowned, tilting his head as he passed him another finished wreath. "I thought you said you'd die if you ate them."
"I did."
"But—"
"Daisya, drop it." He cast him a warning look, cutting off any more protests.
Daisya opened his mouth to speak but thought better of it and went back to work. Needles pricked his fingers again and again until he was ready to hurl the darned thing into the distance. Noting his frustration, Kanda offered to trade jobs with him, but Daisya declined, bound and determined to finish what he'd started. So, the younger boy shrugged and set a newly completed wreath aside, waiting patiently for Daisya to finish another one.
However, after twelve minutes of watching the Turkish accommodator battling the same one, he found his tolerance wearing thin. Without warning, he leapt up and pounced on Daisya, wrestling the unfinished wreath away from him in a flurry of needles and twigs.
"Hey!" Daisya cried out in protest. "Not cool, kid!"
Kanda ignored him and the needles stabbing his hands as he secured two boughs together with a pair of strings and reinforcing the binding with a third. In no time, he'd produced a finished wreath, which he tossed to Daisya and nudged a box of décor toward him with his foot. Daisya glowered resentfully but dug his hands into the box and began adorning the wreath. Reluctantly, he admitted to himself this job was much easier and maybe a bit more fun. He uncovered a set of small, brass bells in the box and arranged them in the wreath and finished with a dark green ribbon tied on a large, bulky bow. With a smile, Daisya set it aside and reached for one of the two Kanda had completed.
"Better now?" Kanda asked bitterly.
Daisya kept quiet, annoyed with his companion. Kanda looked rather pleased with himself, an emotion Daisya scarcely recalled seeing in him. He scowled grumpily and wove a red ribbon into the bare wreath. "Whatever, you were right. I was wrong."
A new wreath smacked him in the head.
"Hey!" He shouted again, but Kanda was pretending it wasn't him, black eyes gleaming in aberrant mischief. Eventually, he settled back into his ordinary, stoic self, quietly finishing up the wreaths before helping Daisya decorate them. As they worked, the pair watched the happenings around them with growing interest.
Every tree was up and full of decorations, many of them primarily in one color like silver, red, white, blue, or gold. Others looked to be a comical haphazard mess reflecting whimsical and sometimes careless work. Daisya grinned at those ones. "Hey, which one do you like, kid?" He asked. Kanda looked up at him with puzzled frown. "The trees. I like that really colorful one over there. So which one is your favorite."
"The red."
"The red one?"
Kanda nodded. "It's pretty."
Daisya tilted his head somewhat, then broke into a wide grin. "Actually, I think that's the one you cut down."
-0-0-0-
Lenalee pursed her lips in determination as she stood on her toes, wondering where to hang the small, white angel she held in her hands. It was a pretty piece made of porcelain and fitted with a pure white, silk robe and white, feathery wings, and she wanted it where her friends and allies could easily see it. Ideally, she would've put it at the very top, but as she was barely a fourth of the tree's height that hardly seemed realistic.
Lowering her arms, the girl turned about in search of the ladders, but nearly all of them were currently employed in hanging what Sol had called wreaths along the walls with red ribbons, bells, candles, other thick strands of greenery. She spotted Kanda and Daisya among this group, chasing each other and roughhousing or whatever it was boys liked doing. For a moment, Lenalee considered abandoning her task and running off to play with them.
But Sol passed her by, giving her a thumbs up on the way, and the girl resumed working, ignoring the shouting of her friends. Around her, other scientists that had come up from the labs were stringing their 'electric' lights along a number of the trees and the wreaths. Another group of finders were engaged in positioning the last of the candles in the last tree's branches. Additional adjustments and details were performed: mostly tweaking the blinding lights to glow a little dimmer, rolling out a dark crimson carpet, and someone had taken to placing something—sometimes a star or small wreath or angel—on the top of each tree.
Smiling, Lenalee turned away from the hall and refocused on her job, staring up at the monumental treetop with an air of apprehension. No way was she able to get up there. She would knock the whole tree down if she climbed. Balancing on one leg, the girl tilted to the side in search of an alternate way, but nothing came to her. With a sigh, she turned to give up and call for her friends, when she suddenly felt the ground fall away from her feet as a pair of hands gripped her firmly under her arms. "Brother!" Lenalee cried, twisting her head to get a better look at him. "What're you doing here?"
"I thought I'd come down and help out for a bit." He answered with a smile. "You didn't stop by when you came back."
"I did, actually." The girl answered, twisting in his arms to hug him. "You weren't there."
Komui looked perplexed, as though the notion hadn't occurred to him, but he made no comment and smiled. "I'm glad you're back. Did you have fun?"
"Mm-hm!" She nodded. "Lots. We all went out searching for a tree and Kanda cut one down when he wasn't supposed to, I helped Daisya build a snow house, we all had hot cocoa and it was yummy. Oh, and I bought you a present in Town Below!"
"Did you?"
Lenalee nodded again, violet eyes gleaming. "I think you'll like it."
"Like it? I think not." Her brother teased, tenderly kissing her forehead. "I'll love it. Now, what are you up to?"
"Well, I'm trying to put this angel on top of the tree." She answered, holding up the celestial doll for him to see. "Pretty, isn't it?"
Komui seemed to notice the ornament for the first time, studying it with a warm smile. "Yes, very. And you want it at the top?"
"The very tip-top."
Her brother frowned contemplatively at the evergreen, adjusting his glasses as he gauged its height and looked around for an unoccupied ladder. When he saw none, he set Lenalee back on the floor and approached the tree, craning his neck to peer at the top. Lenalee giggled, thinking Komui looked very small next to the tree. He looked back at her, or rather the angel in her hands, then to the top again.
Something seemed to occur to him and he darted back to her, but before he could say anything, they were distracted by a commotion at the other side of the hall. "You're crazy, Mandel, this'll never work!" When the siblings turned, they saw a large crowd had gather around the exorcist general, who was drawing an arrow from his quiver.
"What's he doing?" Lenalee asked. Komui shook his head, unsure, and approached the cluster of people, ready to intervene if need be.
"If I burn the tree down," Tobias admonished. "I will personally venture outside and find a suitable replacement, ja?"
Lenalee glanced at the tall, thin windows, now painted black to illustrate night had fallen. A half moon gleamed in one of the windows, which would probably provide enough light for a walk outside, but she shuddered at the thought. General Mandel must not be afraid of the dark.
There was some grumbling from the crowd as the man positioned himself at least thirty paces from one of the trees. From this distance, Lenalee could see that it was mostly unadorned, save for some sparse garland and a quite a few well-placed candles. What was he planning to do, she wondered as he nocked the arrow he'd drawn. Was he going to shoot the tree? Lenalee glanced up at her brother for an explanation, but he was too focused on the happenings to attend.
Instead of yelling a command to activate, Mandel bowed his head and quietly murmured his invocation. An assortment of circles appeared, arranging themselves in a wide ring high above his head, spinning to stop. The tall man jerked upright, shoulders square as he drew back on his bowstring. He braced his feet apart on the floor and stood still for a long time. Lenalee could almost hear his breathing coming in long and slow as General Mandel inhaled deeply, "Fire Target!" And released the arrow.
He hit his mark without fail, but as soon as it passed through the Target a flaming serpent sprang forward, coiling and worming through the air until it wrapped around the Christmas tree he'd been facing. Lenalee squeaked in alarm, fearing he planned to incinerate it. Instead of going up in flames, or even the candle wax melting, the tree burned merrily, and when the flames dissipated, all the candles were lit.
Mandel lowered his bow and whirled around, extravagantly bowing at the waist and extending one leg backward with his arm waving with a flourish.
An uneasy applause rose up, growing in volume as Mandel slung in longbow over his back again. "Very impressive, Tobias!" Yeegar called as he approached his friend. Other decorators clapping him on the back and shouting for another display of his skill quickly surrounded the archer. Lenalee found herself grinning at the newly lit tree.
The fire Mandel had left behind with his Innocence seemed to glow with an unusual, bright hue, occasionally flickering green here and there. Turning on her heels, the girl surveyed the Hall. Almost every tree was now adorned, only three were still incomplete: hers, the one Mandel had just lit, and a smallish scots pine where she spotted Kanda and Daisya looking on with the other spectators.
Hugging the angel to her chest, Lenalee turned back to Komui and was surprised to find him watching her. A sad look had crept into his dark eyes and was interfering with his smile. It was the very same face he'd worn the day she reunited with him in the Sanatorium. "Hey, what's wrong?" She asked, alarmed.
He looked startled, as though she'd caught him trying out one of those experiments Reever had forbidden him from doing, but he recovered quickly. Lenalee took a step as he knelt in front of her, but he gathered her into his arms before she could go very far. "It's nothing. I'm just happy to see you smiling again. I haven't seen you smile in four years."
Lenalee widened her eyes. But she'd been smiling all day. She'd gone out and had fun, she'd laughed, she'd played with her friends, and yesterday…Lenalee frowned…yesterday she'd…
She'd giggled at something Daisya had said, a wildly incorrect grammatical error that ended the Chinese lesson for the day.
Besides that, her brother had made his point. It had been a while. Komui tightened his hold on her. "God, I missed you so much."
"I missed you, too." She replied in a voice somewhat akin to a whimper, eyes beginning to water.
Komui placed his hand on the back of her head, stroking her dark hair. They remained together while the crowd shifted around them, a blend of color and needles hurrying to assemble the finishing touches to the Hall. Lenalee buried her face in her brother's shoulder and squeezed his neck one last time, then pulled away with a smile.
Standing quite a distance away, she spotted the boys watching them. Forcing a happier smile than her current one, Lenalee waved her hand in greeting but faltered when only a grinning Daisya returned it. Beside him, Kanda's black eyes met hers, and she was startled to find him wearing a somewhat forlorn and thoughtful expression. Lenalee started to run to him, but the older boy slipped into the crowd, disappearing easily among the taller Black Order residents.
"Lenalee, what's wrong?" Komui asked, following her gaze but seeing nothing.
The girl lowered her eyes. "Brother, do you know what would make Kanda smile?"
"Pardon?"
Lenalee solemnly repeated her question, then added quietly, "Kanda always looks sad when he's not angry, so I want him to be able to smile tomorrow."
"I see…" Komui said slowly, a little stunned. It was true; he had never once seen the boy smile and he was well aware of his livid/depressed moods. In all honesty, though, he didn't think he knew the kid well enough to determine what he enjoyed. "Well, to start off, do you know what's making him sad?"
Lenalee winced and looked down at her feet. "No, not really. I mean, I know his parents died in an accident when he was little, so I guess he's an orphan like us. It could be that he misses them. And he was abused just like I was when he came to Europe, but I don't know what the scientists did to him. He never tried escaping like I did, though I'm pretty sure the medics kept him restrained for a while."
"Who told you about his parents?" Komui asked suddenly, a confused look in his eyes.
"Kanda did." Lenalee answered uneasily, wondering why that mattered. "He told Daisya and I that he was born in Asia Branch, and I wanted to know who his parents were, so he answered they were scientists who had died in an accident. I don't know their names, though. He didn't tell me. Do you know who they were?"
Komui shook his head, frowning in bewilderment. Eventually, he gave up on whatever was troubling him and brushed a hand against his sister's hair. "I'm not trying to discourage you from trying, but it is possible that whatever trauma your friend has experienced…well, he may not be willing to cheer up as you want him to."
Lenalee's eyes took on a downcast quality.
"Don't take this the wrong way!" Komui added hurriedly, grasping her shoulders. "I'm not telling you to give up; I just don't want you to force it. Time heals all wounds, as they say. But some people don't bounce back as quickly as you have." He knelt before her and brushed a hand to her cheek. "Remember, to your knowledge Kanda doesn't have an older sibling to wait for. The most you can do at this point is to be the best friend you can possibly be."
-0-0-0-
Lenalee was silent as she walked back to her room. Both Daisya and Kanda were in front of her, the older boy telling the other a joke about a starfish and a seashell and getting no reaction at the punch line. "Aw, come on! That was gold!"
"Your jokes suck." Said the latter with vehemence.
Lenalee smiled softly.
"Come on! Moppet thought it was funny!" He looked back. "Right, kid?"
"Sure."
"See!" Daisya gestured as he turned back to Kanda. "She loved it! Where are you at?"
"It wasn't funny." Kanda answered, giving no explanation why.
Lenalee sighed and lowered her head. After the stir General Mandel had caused with his performance and her discussion with Komui, the boys had found her and they'd left the Hall for dinner. She resisted at first, wanting to place her angel in the tree, but her empty sharply reminded her the only thing she'd eaten today was a pancake and a cookie. Upon hearing her growling stomach, the pair had led her down to the mess hall and quickly remedied the issue with a plate full of rice and large bowl of carrots and peas, which they all shared.
However, in the eagerness to eat and being swept through one corridor after another, Lenalee found to her disappointment she would not be returning to the Great Hall to finish her task.
And she was still no closer to getting Kanda to smile than she was that afternoon. Swallowing painfully, she thought about what her brother said. Be the best friend I can be… Even so, was that enough to help him cheer up? She didn't even know why Kanda looked so sad whenever he wasn't angry? Well, not sad per se, but every so often, she caught him staring wistfully at nothing. Like he was lonely or depressed. Or despondent as she'd just witnessed in the Hall. Something about him had always struck her as tragic, and that something terrible had caused him to be that way. It was just the way he carried himself, it seemed.
"Hey, Kanda?" She asked hesitantly.
"Mm?" He turned his head, then turned when he realized she'd stopped walking. "Yeah, what's up?"
Lenalee hesitated. She'd promised Komui she would never ask Kanda about his parents nor did she want to, unwilling to cause him any unnecessary pain. A lump caught in her throat. So why did she get he attention? He was still watching her and waiting for her to speak, probably growing more and more impatient by the second. What should she say? Daisya asked her if she was all right, and she answered that she was; but inside…
Without a word, she darted forward, throwing her arms around his skinny torso and burying her face in his chest. Kanda yelped in surprise, looking helplessly between the girl and Daisya, who looked on as though he weren't sure whether to smile or be concerned. "What's wrong?" He demanded, irritably. "Let go!"
Lenalee shook her head and looked up at him, violet eyes gleaming. "I just wanted to tell you I'm glad you're my friend."
Kanda blinked in bewilderment, then narrowed his eyes. "Che, couldn't you have just said that without hugging me?"
"Nope!" She shook head again and released him. "It had to be this way and I'm not apologizing for it." Then she turned to Daisya and hugged him as well. "And I'm happy you're my friend, too!"
"Uh…yeah, I'm happy we're friends, too." He answered awkwardly, wrapping his arms around her shoulders. "What's gotten into you? Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." She answered, pulling away. "It's Christmas tomorrow, so I thought I would tell you that."
"We already know you're glad we're all friends." Kanda muttered indignantly. "We're glad, too, and you know—" Suddenly, there was a mechanical straining sound and Kanda's golem, which Lenalee had affectionately called Tsuki after the Shinto god of the moon, wrenched its way out of its owner's coat collar. "What is it?" Kanda asked, not even looking at the fluttering machine, so she wasn't sure whether he was addressing her or the golem.
"Yu Kanda, please report to communications." Said a pleasant female voice. "There's an incoming call for you."
The older exorcist blinked in surprise. "I'd better get that." He said as he turned to leave. "I'll see you two tomorrow, then."
"Good night, Kanda!" Lenalee called after him.
"Night."
With a smile, the girl turned to Daisya who was watching her with a concerned look. "Are you sure you're okay?"
Lenalee nodded happily. "Mm-hm! I'm perfectly fine."
For a moment, the Charity Bell exorcist seemed unconvinced, but he smiled in the end and ruffled her hair. "C'mon. I think we've a couple Christmas presents to wrap. Wanna help me?"
"Yes!"
-0-0-0-
Translations
Mes chéris: (French) Darlings
Special thanks to all reviewers, followers, and favoriters! Thank you all for waiting for the third installment of Needles. There's going to be two more chapters after this, so stay tuned.
A note on Tobias Mandel, obviously he is an OC, but the invocation of his Innocence in this chapter—Fire Target and the other circles—is supposed to be reminiscent to the 'Seals' or 'Stamps' Lavi uses. The reason is Lavi began using Tobias' power after his death. Although he's an OC, he is a nameless character from the anime. I just gave him a name. He's the archer exorcist who found Yeeger in episode 25.
D. Gray Man is the property of Katsura Hoshino.