Hitomi: Again, thank you to those who have reviewed! Seriously… I can't thank you guys enough for it. XD I thought it would be boring to you guys, but it doesn't seem to be. *SHOT*

It's just so much fun to find Rue in this situation and that. XD And with the trouble she had with Kanda, let's see what else is going to happen.

Disclaimer: I do not own D . Gray-Man, Hoshinou Katsura-sensei does. The only thing(s) I do own in here would be my OC(s).

Unravel

IV

New Beginnings

[In a new chapter of my life, in a new place I'm not familiar with…

What could be waiting for me?]

Lavi lead Rue to Komui's office, relieved to be away from Kanda. Obviously, the both of them clashed too much and he didn't want to be responsible for what could happen should the two fight each other seriously. For all he knew, they might end up killing one another when they're supposed to be comrades. Honestly, this was Rue's first day on being in the Black Order and, already, she's gotten into a fight with an Exorcist.

Looks like the Black Order might be having some changes.

"Ah, you're back from the mission in one piece." Komui observed when the two came into his workplace, having looked up from his desk as he momentarily stopped doing his paperwork. "Where's Kanda?"

"Went to his room," the redhead replied with a light sigh, shaking his head. "Believe me, he doesn't need to be here."

"Oh? I wonder what could've gone wrong…" The supervisor reflected, a puzzled frown on his face. His dark purple eyes' look changed to a curious one as he spotted Rue beside the older boy; apparently, she seemed to be keen looking at her hands and with such a mixed expression. "And I'm guessing this girl… Has the Innocence." It was a wonder how Komui could tell what gender Rue was when the majority couldn't figure out at all.

A nod confirmed the fact as Lavi introduced her, "This is Rue."

"Rue, hm?" A small smile formed on Komui's lips. "Interesting…"

Snapping back to reality, the girl in question nodded a little. Still staying by Lavi's side, she bowed to the person who would be her new boss. While she was still in Underground Society, there were some missions where she had to go undercover and learned some forms of courtesy before going out. This was one of those situations, but she was doing this out of sincerity.

"My name is Rue Marucut," Rue introduced coolly with formality, now attentive as she gave a crisp salute. "I hope that I'll be of use to you, Sir…?"

"Komui, Komui Lee." He replied with a still lingering smile, amazed on her manners. Lavi's eyebrows rose up when hearing the girl's last name for that he thought she was a native French; apparently, he knew now that she was only half-French due to the origin of her last name.

"All right, Sir Komui. I really hope that I'll be of use to you."

"Oh, you're more than enough help to us for that we need your Innocence to defeat the Earl of the Millennium." When he met Rue's quizzical face, he was more than happy to explain the history of the Innocence, the Earl, and the Akuma. While he did this, the girl decided to make note of this useful Information, so she can remind herself why she has the Innocence's power.

As the redhead listened to their discussion, his mind was reeling with questions about Rue. Ever since he and Kanda got her to go to the Order, it did make him a little curious on who she was. From what he could tell, though, it seemed that she was all a mystery to him and the rest of the Order. She didn't look to be the type to answer personal questions; then, that would mean that he would have to wait for her to reveal herself to him.

But, why the sudden interest when he shouldn't even care in the first place? Who knows, it was probably because of that damned personality he was starting to develop during his stay in the Order. He was supposed to remain as "Deak," also well known as Bookman Jr., and nothing more than that. But, his persona as "Lavi" was really starting to get to him these days…

"Um…" He spoke up from the two's conversation, lifting a hand. "Is it all right for me to leave now?"

Komui turned to him and said, "All right, it would be okay to leave, Lavi. But, this girl…" Referring to Rue, even though she wasn't one to show emotions easily if at all, he noticed that she seemed to be in thought; or, if not, it was possible that she was still a little jumpy and panic-stricken as much as she didn't want to show it. "She still seems to be rather uncomfortable with me."

Perplexed, Lavi looked from his boss to the girl herself. He wasn't sure what that meant for him. The girl was only a fellow Exorcist, someone he was working with; nothing more, nothing less. Honestly, he didn't really care about this and he definitely shouldn't due to his Bookman duties.

But, to play his part as "Lavi," he simply smiled and nodded as the following came out of his mouth, "I'll wait with her, then."

Hearing this, Rue gave him a befuddled look at the corner of her eye as she sensed that she might be burdening him and figured that he had better things to do. But, she spoke out nothing of the sort as she directed her attention to Komui again. Since he was curious about her Innocence, she activated it. The black and white gloves, once more, appeared onto her hands.

"Thank you," Komui expressed his gratitude to Lavi; then, looked at Rue as she activated her Innocence. "The Innocence you have, Rue… It's an Equipment type. Since it's used for unarmed combat, I suggest you be careful when battling Akuma for that you don't have much range. Since you recently activated it, you're not powerful enough yet. But, I'm sure that as you develop your skills while you begin to use your Innocence often, you'll be able to protect yourself more. Even when you unlock skills for distant attacks, you'll be able to fight Akuma with no problems at all."

Rue made an acknowledged nod, making note of this.

"Of course, Sir Komui. Is that all you have to tell me?"

"That is all. Both of you are dismissed." Komui said with a sip of his coffee. As they were making their way to the door, the director caught Lavi's notice once more, "Lavi, go ahead and show her around the Order. She'll need to know her way around here."

Another reason he kept me here… The redhead thought; but, nonetheless, he smiled and nodded.

"Let's go." Lavi notified Rue as he went out the door, turned, and led the way.

Rue followed the older boy out the door, but not before giving Komui another nod as she went off and closed the door.

* * *

On the way around, they met up with a fourteen-year-old girl whose long, dark teal pigtails trailed behind her.

"Lavi, welcome back! Glad to see that you're safe!" She greeted him cheerfully, her dark purple eyes lightened up as a sign of relief.

"Thank you, Lenalee." The boy expressed with a smile.

Lenalee Lee smiled back, but her eyes caught a head of strawberry blonde hair. Inquisitive, the young girl looked to find a girl one year younger than her.

"Hey Lavi, is he… Or she… a new Exorcist?" She specified to Rue confusedly (due to obviously being unable to tell the gender), who shifted behind the redhead at the mention of her.

"Ah yes, she is." Lavi noticed Lenalee's bafflement and he looked back at Rue a moment to observe; she looked to be a little uncomfortable. "That was why Yuu and I went off to the mission. There was Innocence in France and she just happens to be the one who wields it."

"I see… What's your name?" The Chinese girl asked with a welcoming smile. "My name's Lenalee Lee."

Coming out from behind the male Exorcist, the other young female looked at her with a vague look; nonetheless, she had established herself.

"Rue," she told her in a calm voice, a serious expression on her face. "Rue Marucut. It's nice to meet you, Miss Lee."

"Oh no, Lenalee is just fine, Rue. Welcome to the Black Order!"

"Thank you for the welcome. I think I want to go rest, though…"

"Mm, okay! It's been a long day for you, right? So yes, it'd be better to get some rest. Besides, I was on my way to see what my older brother was up to." She quipped with a nod, walking on her way to the command post. "Nice meeting you, Rue! I hope we can be friends. And Lavi, get some rest too!"

"All right," Lavi called back to her with a smile. "See you later, Lenalee." Rue, however, only nodded quietly.

Following him again, Rue asked, "…Brother? So, Lenalee's brother is…"

"Ah, right, I forgot to mention… Yeah, both Komui and Lenalee are siblings." The older boy grinned at the fact Rue was astonished at such information. "Why? Find it hard to believe?"

"Yeah… They don't look anything alike…"

"Heh, you'll get used to that. But really, as much as they don't look like it or even act like it, they're blood-related."

"I-I see…"

The tour went relatively quickly. As they went around the Black Order, people noticed the two together and had yet to question the girl's purpose. Then again, even when they were talking about them, Rue ignored what they had to say and paid full attention to the older boy. Lavi was sure to point out the cafeteria, library, and the Science Department before leading her to where her room would be.

" And this… Will be your room." He stopped in front of a closed door, Rue almost bumping into him because of the sudden halt.

She blinked at this, walking to the front of him. Slowly, she turned the doorknob and took in the view. It was a big room… And this would be hers… All hers…

"…I see." She finally said with an appreciated nod, turning to the redhead to meet his eyes. "Thank you, Lavi, for helping me."

"Not a problem!" He nodded back to her, turning around to go back down the hall. "Now, if you're all set… I should get going."

"All right, then. Get some rest. Mmm…"

"Hm? What's wrong?"

"Nah… Just wanted to say goodnight, Lavi." With that, she went into her room.

"Ah. All right, g'night, Rue." As the girl shut her door, he wandered down the hall to get to his own room.

* * *

The following day, Komui and Rue were walking to a certain place that had yet to be pointed out to her…

"Where are we going… Supervisor?" Rue asked calmly, following behind the older male.

"We had not done this yesterday, but… We forgot to check the synchronization rate of your Innocence. New Exorcists need to have that checked." Komui responded, still taking the lead.

"Synchronization?"

"To check how compatible you are with it, how much potential it has… We have to check on it because since the lower the synchronization, the more endangered you are in since it'll be harder to activate your Innocence."

"…I see…" She could only mutter this, clearly not really getting it.

"You'll see when we get over to the person who'll check it out." Looking ahead, he found the person he needed to see. "Good morning, Hevlaska!"

Immediately, she appeared in the room.

"Oh, hello, Komui." She greeted.

"I want you to do a synchronization check. You see…" He nodded to Rue, implying the obvious.

Rue felt stunned when she saw Hevlaska. In her eyes, she wasn't sure how to describe her physical appearance. The only way she could say was that she was a non-human with no eyes and had tentacles that made up her body. Some would say she was a spirit.

"I understand." Hevlaska said dutifully.

"This girl is a new Exorcist, so if you please…"

Grabbing Rue to her, one of Hevlaska's other tentacles had entered her body. The girl was trying not to show any fear, or at least intimidation, whatsoever, but she looked to be squirming in discomfort.

"Don't worry, Rue!" Komui called from below, which she responded with an indignant scowl. Easy for him to say, he's not the one getting checked out by her. "She's not your enemy!"

"He's right," Hevlaska was trying to put her at ease. "I am not your enemy; I just want to check your Innocence."

Though Rue couldn't say anything, after having some skepticism, she had let go of that reluctantly and complied.

The tentacle stayed inside her body and it had taken Hevlaska a long moment to speak again.

"Her synchronization… Is surprisingly low." Although she sounded rather serene, there was a sense that she was taken aback.

"That's…" Komui was off-guard, unsure if he heard right.

Rue could feel at the pit of her stomach that there was bad news about to be announced.

"How low… Are we talking about?" The supervisor spoke his question weakly, feeling himself growing pale.

"25%."

Hitomi: That's the end of this chapter! Surprised? I told you to wait until you hear about her synchronization rate and this is the result. Very low, isn't it? I wonder how everyone is going to take the news…

I hope Lavi's Deak/Bookman Jr. persona was kept in character. Even though he's already a few months in the Order than Rue has been, he's still like this. So, give him time to develop on his personality too… Haha, I'm worried on whether I kept Komui and Lenalee in character too. As for Hevlaska, both Marlin-Rae and I had to improvise on that.

XD If you noticed, I also improvised on how to describe Hevlaska and the room she was in. It doesn't say what part of the Black Order she's in and I had no other way to describe her appearance! So, I'm saying my apologies in advance for such inconveniences.

Also need to think up of a name for Rue's Innocence. As for her Innocence's power and such… XD Well, I can't say.

Please, read and review!