Hello, bunnies.
Yay! I finally got around to adding some angst and the OC! I feel so accomplished now that I am following through on the things I put in the story description.
Enjoy, bunnies.
There has to be something wrong with me, Kanda concluded, shoving the memory of Allen's smiling face from his immediate thoughts.
Komui's birthday was the following day, and avoiding the sister-complex supervisor and the enormous party headquarters was bound to throw was at the top of the Japanese teen's to-do-list.
In fact, if he had his way, Kanda was not going to communicate with another being for the rest of the week.
There was a time in his life—there had been a time in his life when he might have enjoyed a party, might have enjoyed casually talking to another human being…
"Yuu-chan!" Kanda's thoughts cut off abruptly. "Come on, you can't hide in there all day," Lavi whined vociferously.
"Go to hell," was Kanda's response. This, of course, would not even slightly deter the hyperactive exorcist standing on the other side of Kanda's newly repaired door.
"Don't make this harder than it needs to be, Yuu," the read-head persisted. "Every available person in headquarters is being called for a mission."
Sighing, the swordsman stalked agitatedly to the door and pulled it open.
"Details," Kanda's blank voice demanded. Laughing nervously, Lavi scratched the back of his head.
"Well, since it's the supervisor's birthday tomorrow—"
"No," Kanda growled, closing the door.
"Lenalee-chan says—"
"Just leave," the moody teen grumbled. Not a chance.
"Well, Yuu-chan. I'm really sorry I have to do this," Lavi warned. "But if you don't come down, Lenalee-chan has instructed me to play the recording of you apologizing to Allen over the loudspeaker."
Kanda wrenched the door open violently. "Die, Rabbit!" He shouted, slashing Mugen at the junior Bookman's head.
Lavi sidestepped the assault, but the sword streaked passed his cheek by a margin of only a few millimeters. "I'm sorry, Yuu; it wasn't my idea!"
"It's your damn recording!" Kanda screamed, throwing another strike at Lavi, who dodged, chuckling.
"I should tell you that Johnny is monitoring this conversation over a wireless transmitter; he has the tape down in Komui's office," Lavi smirked.
Kanda's face paled considerably, and, reluctantly, he sheathed Mugen.
"Komui is out today, so he won't suspect a thing," Lenalee smiled, giggling.
Several exorcists, including Miranda, Krory, Lenalee, and Marie, in addition to a horde of finders and the full science department scampered around, frantically cleaning the unused wing.
From across the room, a secret spectator ogled the gorgeous Japanese teen, a light dusting of pink on her cheeks.
Nothing escaped the bookman.
"Looks like you've got an admirer, Yuu-chan," Lavi cooed.
"Don't call me that," Kanda hissed. "And what the hell are you talking about, Usagi," he sneered. The red-head took no notice of Kanda's I-will-kill-you aura, pointing to the shadowed corner, where a small, blonde girl hid. The swordsman's eyes flicked over and immediately back. "Stop making up dumb shit," he muttered, striding over to the other side of the room to assist the science division. Anywhere—anything was better than the damn rabbit…aside from, of course, a certain white-haired boy, who, at the moment, was still asleep in the infirmary.
"Kanda," Johnny greeted enthusiastically. "You decided to join us after all!"
"Che."
"We're almost done cleaning," the young science division member explained from his precarious perch on one of the ladders, "so, whatever you want to help with is fine."
"Actually," Lenalee cut in, "I have the perfect job for Kanda." She smiled. "Marie, Krory, Miranda, Kristia!" She called, waving them in from across the room. "First, let me introduce our newest exorcist, Kristia." To Kanda's slight displeasure, this was the same girl Lavi had pointed out from before.
Kristia had short white-blonde hair and a pair of brown eyes. Kanda estimated the girl was about five feet two inches and around a hundred and five pounds.
"Kristia, this is Krory, Lavi, Miranda, Marie, and Kanda," Lenalee introduced. "You six are now the decoration committee, and you," she grinned, turning to Kanda, "are the committee president."
"What?" The Japanese teen's already awful mood grew worse.
"The decorations are on the far wall," the Chinese girl informed them. "Have fun!"
Fun was the last word Kanda was going to let anyone call the next hour.
Kanda detested leading positions—hell, he loathed anything having to do with other people—but this was not to say he did not make an excellent team leader.
Grudgingly, he split the committee into three teams. "Miranda, Krory: banner painting." Kanda did not trust either of them on any sort of ladder. "Marie and I will take care of hanging anything. Lavi: balloons." Miranda and Krory headed off, chatting merrily.
"Yuu-chan," Lavi whined, taking no notice of the death threat that Kanda threw him. "I think you and Kristia should put up the streamers," the red-head added with a wink.
"No," Kanda answered without a moment's consideration, noting the obvious disappointment on the girl's face. Kanda almost felt—no. He did not feel anything. The teams were strategically determined, nothing more; this was not about feelings.
Half an hour later, Kanda and Marie finished a perfectly symmetrical web of silver and gold ribbons…unfortunately, just in time to spot Miranda at the top of a twenty-five foot ladder with an enormous box of gold glitter, a spool of ribbon, and a newly painted banner. Krory stood below her, steadying the ladder. Kanda's heart dropped.
"Miranda, come down, now!" The raven-haired president shouted angrily.
"Oh, hi Kanda," she smiled, waving excitedly.
"Watch out!"
Too late.
A certain idiotic, hair-brained, red-headed exorcist came soaring across on his extendable Innocence weapon, aimed to intercept the banner-hanging operation.
Backwards.
With a loud crash, the two collided. Wood splintered, shrieks reverberated through the hall, and a massive waterfall of shining glitter rained down on exorcists.
Kanda caught Miranda deftly but intentionally let Lavi fall to the stone floor. Of course, the idiot rabbit landed on his feet, but this did not mean, however, that he was not going to clearly express his disappointment and distress.
"Yuu-chan! Why didn't you catch me?"
"Because you're the cause of this, damn rabbit!" Kanda shouted, setting Miranda down so that he could draw Mugen. "Clean it up," he hissed dangerously, threatening the red-haired exorcist with the katana. Mumbling under his breath, Lavi grabbed a broom and began to sweep up the heaps of glitter. A cluster of finders assisted the effort, and, for a moment, Kanda Yuu closed his heavy eyelids and breathed deeply, trying to relax the angry demon inside that threatened to overwhelm him and kill every single being in sight.
…And then another yelp sounded, and the Japanese youth decided that he was cursed, cursed and damned to an eternal hell for some god damned reason that he could not ascertain.
With a simple slip of the foot, Kristia toppled from her delicate position on top of the second ladder and plummeted towards the ground.
Instinct driven, Kanda darted to the other side of the room, barely in time to save the girl from, in the best case scenario, more than a few broken bones.
Still bitter, though, the swordsman released Kristia roughly, turning away. Dizzy and shaken, she staggered back into the strong arms of Marie, who steadied her.
"Thank you," Kristia whispered softly.
"Che. Idiots shouldn't climb ladders," Kanda snapped back. "Finish the decorating," he ordered, heading out.
"Don't mind Yuu-chan," Kanda heard as he reached the door. "He may act like a total asshole, but he's actually a real sweetheart."
Kanda glared bitingly at the red-haired boy. Lavi wanted to play dirty, and Kanda would not refuse a battle. "Call me that one more time, Rabbit, and Lenalee will be crying over your dead body." The blood drained from the Bookman's cheeks.
Kanda collapsed onto the uncomfortable mattress, anger and pain flooding his senses.
Even in the darkness, the lotus blossom appeared.
A single, pink petal slipped from the bloom.
Pain. Anguish. Everything hurt, every muscle, every fiber, every thought, every hope. Damn it all, Kanda thought, burying his face in a pillow and letting it all wash over him.
He hated himself for that. Prisoner of the Black Order… The rest of his limited life would be spent serving the organization which had stolen away his freedom.
The agonizing memories returned.
"Twenty-five seconds to rebirth."
The child of Kanda Yuu got to his feet, shaking violently.
"Again."
The raw pain, the agonizing, consuming pain enveloped the child's form.
"Seventeen seconds to rebirth."
It just looped. Over and over and over. Damn it all. Damn it all. Let me die, Kanda wanted to scream.
"Synchro."
Those lecherous, repulsive feathers came, and the pain that followed them never got easier, never.
"Thirty-nine seconds to rebirth."
That face…the lotus…and then the pain.
"Twelve seconds to rebirth."
A puppet, a pawn in the Holy war.
…Alma…
Another petal fell, and the woman's face disappeared. She always disappeared, just like his freedom had.
You're weak, he told himself. Weak and pathetic.
And then Kanda did something very uncharacteristic. Shunning the unpleasant thoughts, he wondered-just for a moment-how Allen was doing.
In his mind's eye, the gentlemanly youth smiled at him.
The swordsman's worries eased ever so slightly.
Kanda pulled the tie from his hair, shed his coat and shoes, and climbed under the thin sheet, slipping into dreamless sleep.
Anyways... I hope this wasn't a terribly boring chapter.
Allen kinda got excluded from the decorating crew... :(
But he'll have to show up on Komui's birthday and look for the reclusive Kanda! :D
Good morning, bunnies