Disclaimer: No money, no own.
Note: Since I don't curse, chick is my replacement for b*tch.
Bruise
Chapter 4: Dolls
A knock on the door made me jump slightly. This in turn caused me to wince, because I still hadn't healed completely even though I basically slept all day yesterday and this morning. Continuing to rub Proactive into my skin, I power through the burn and say, "Lavi?"
"Open up, Moyashi!"
Rolling my eyes, I grumble, "It's unlocked."
"I thought you weren't coming until thirty minutes before we needed to leave. An hour early?" I ask, splashing my face with water.
"You haven't been eating," Kanda deadpanned from behind me. Drying my face and starting the second step, I look at the bluenette through the mirror, "How do you know that?"
"Jerry asked me this morning where you had been. He said he hadn't seen you since you ran out of the cafeteria."
Why would he ask you and not my boyfriend? Pushing the thought away, I glare at him, "And whose fault was that?! Regardless, I couldn't get to the cafeteria in the shape I was, and am, in."
"My point is that I told him that you'd eat lunch, so hurry up," he growled.
"You try being a guy and putting on perfect make-up," I mutter. Rolling his eyes, Kanda stated, "I'm not gay. Why do you even have that?"
Starting on my foundation, I say, "I get bruises sometimes, and I cover them with make-up."
He scoffs, "That's stupid."
"I didn't ask for your opinion."
Instead of replying, he moves back into my bedroom to wait for me, which wasn't long, and I quickly get on his back, squeaking in pain before I end up sneezing from his hair tickling my nose.
"Gross," Kanda growled, beginning to walk towards the cafeteria. "I'm not going to do this through the whole mission."
"I can't help it. It will take over a day to get there anyways, so I'll be okay by then, I think," I say, tiredly resting my chin on his shoulder.
"You think?"
"Well, if we get into a battle with akuma then I can't promise that I won't rip again."
The cafeteria comes into view, and I attempt to hide my face in Kanda's neck when I see Lavi and Lenalee staring at us. Truly, everything is silent as Kanda lets me slide off his back and into a chair, and I can smell the testosterone emanating from my boyfriend as he stands and walks over to me.
"Hey, Babe," he says playfully, tilting my chin up before crashing our lips together. As Lavi pushes his tongue in my mouth, I hear Kanda walk away, and I'm panting and out of breath by the time the redhead breaks away from me.
"That's one heck of a hello," I say, smiling.
"I must surpass expectations. I'm going to get your food, okay?" he doesn't wait for an answer before bolting towards the line. It doesn't take long for me to see him saying something to Kanda, to which the samurai scoffed and said something that really set off Lavi. Glancing at Lenalee, I realize she's watching, too, and I ask, "What do you think they're arguing about?"
She gives me a "you are the biggest moron on Earth" look and replies, "Let's see, you came in on Kanda's back with your face in his neck, and then Lavi kissed you the first chance he got. Oh, did I mention that while he was doing that, he flipped off Kanda? So yes, I wonder what they're arguing about, idiot."
"Hey, I was getting my face sucked off while the bird flew, so don't expect me to know that," I say. "For the record, it's Lavi's fault that Kanda had to give me a ride. I can't walk, because he likes it rough."
Giggling, she says, "Did you feel the testosterone in the air? When Lavi kissed you, you should have seen Kanda's face!"
Tilting my head, I ask, "He's that disgusted by gay people?"
"Never mind," she dismisses as ten plates are set in front of me. Smiling, I say, "Thank you, Lavi!"
"Anything for my boyfriend," the redhead says, pulling up a chair beside me. Kanda sat on my other side, silently beginning to eat his soba, and Lenalee asks, "So where are you going for your mission?"
Finishing my first two plates, I respond, "Rhone, Lithuania. We leave after lunch."
"We?" Lavi asks.
"Kanda and I were assigned to it. We shouldn't be gone too long, two weeks absolute maximum," I say cheerfully, not understanding why Lavi's expression darkened quite noticeably.
In about fifteen minutes, I had finished eating, and I took my own plates, knowing I had to power through the pain and start walking normally. It took longer than it should have, but when I got back, Lavi and Kanda were gone, and Lenalee said that they went to talk somewhere. That leads to now as I stand behind the door of the training room, watching through the crack in the door.
Lavi had Kanda pinned to the wall, forearm pressed to his throat, but I knew that the bluenette was letting him do that, because really, Lavi was not even close to stronger than Kanda. Trying to remain silent, I listen as Lavi hisses, "If I hear that anything goes on between you and Allen, I swear I will make you wish you were dead!"
A smirk spread across Kanda's face as he growled, "And if I get another feeling that…."
That what?! I scream in my head as the samurai lowers his voice so I can't hear, but I do know that whatever he said, it sure set off the redhead. Kanda grabbed Lavi's fist as my boyfriend threw it, twisting it into an unnatural angle before the bluenette kicked him in the side, sending the rabbit sliding across the training room until he hit the wall with a thump.
That's it! Bursting from where I had been hiding, I run to my boyfriend lightning fast, squeaking in pain the whole time, and I drop down on my knees beside him, holding his face in my hands, "Lavi?! Are you okay?!"
"M-moyashi? When did yo―"
"Shut up!" I scream, my voice bouncing off the walls around me as I glare at Kanda from across the room. Turning back to my boyfriend, I see his eyes open slowly and then widen as he sees me, "Allen? When did you get here?"
"Lenalee told me that you guys had gone to talk, so I came looking and I hid behind the door. Are you alright? Did Kanda hurt you very badly?" I inquire, lifting his shirt to inspect the area he'd been struck. Gently pushing me away, Lavi shakes his head, "I'm fine. Really."
oO_Oo_oO_Oo
"I can walk on my own," I mutter, pushing past Kanda as he tries to get me to climb onto his back. The issue was that my voice was seriously pained, so despite my attempts, walking through the train station was extremely painful.
"You're a moron," he grumbled, beginning to walk towards our platform at a normal speed, and it takes less than ten seconds for him to be several yards away, because it hurt so much for me to walk. Noticing this, Kanda stopped walking, waiting for me to catch up before tripping my knees with his arm, and he lifts me bridal-style, smirking as I yelp in surprise and cling to his chest. Hiding my face in his exorcist uniform from embarrassment, I say, "Put me down, Kanda!"
Huffing, he growls, "You're slowing me down, and if you really have an issue, then you can always kick and scream."
Despite this, I continue to let him carry me. The humiliation was just awful! I mean, seriously? I'm sixteen and an eighteen-year-old hunk can carry me. Then I realize that I just called Kanda a hunk and I squeak, flushing strawberry in his uniform, but by definition, I really had just thought that Kanda is a "sexually attractive man". Risking looking up, I steal a peek at the bluenette's face.
Of course, the ever-present frown is on his face, but other than that, he truly was a hot guy. He had chiseled features, full lips, and the darkest eyes I've ever seen, long lashes flaring out from the sides, and his beautiful hair framed his face. People may call him a girl, but there was no way, not even from looking at him from behind, because of his muscles. I could feel said muscles flexing under my back and knees, but my face was still nuzzled into his uniform around where his collarbone was, my arms locked around his neck and hands clasped on his other shoulder.
I'm not enjoying this! No matter how hot my cheeks were and how much I internally shivered whenever his hair brushed my skin, I wasn't happy about him carrying me!
Two minutes later, I'm sitting across from Kanda in our compartment, watching out the window with my knees held to my chest. Looking up from his book, the samurai mutters, "You can't just stop talking to me all together."
"Yes, I can," I say bluntly. "You kicked my boyfriend in the ribs. I can do whatever I dang well please."
"How long were you behind the door?"
Staring at the rain pounding on the window, I don't reply, and he continues, "You saw him throw the first punch."
Nodding, I say, "And you caught it. That didn't mean you had to kick him."
"Is your vision screwed up? Last time I checked I was Yu Kanda: the heartless jerk. At what point did you start thinking that I was going to let the Usagi try to punch me and then let him walk away unscathed?" Kanda growled, his eyes boring into the side of my head.
"I know that you're like that, but that doesn't mean I'm going to just ignore it and pretend it didn't happen. Stop staring at me," I say, turning my agitated gaze to him. The cobalt blue seemed to darken when it met liquid platinum, an unwinnable battle breaking out before he finally looked away. As I took my mp3 out and started flipping through the songs, he said nearly inaudibly, "Your eyes are different."
"What's that supposed to mean?" I ask casually, turning on "Misery Loves My Company" by Three Days Grace.
He doesn't reply, glancing down at the book in his lap, and I just ignore him. It's not like I really cared about what he thought anyways.
Quietly, I sing along to the rock music, "I don't need your condescending words about me looking lonely. I don't need your arms to hold me, because misery is waiting on me.
"I am not alone. Not beaten down just yet. Well, I am not afraid of the voices in my head. Down the darkest road something follows me. I am not alone, because misery loves my company!"
Again, I can feel a cold gaze in the side of my head, and I sigh, looking over at him, "Seriously, why do you keep staring at me?"
"Because some of your make-up came off, moron," he finally growled, glaring at me. Raising my hood up immediately, I rummage through my bag under the seat, pulling out my foundation, powder, Proactive, toothbrush, and toothpaste. He gives me an odd look at the last two items, and I say, "I'm just going to sleep the whole way."
"Can't stand the pain, weakling?" Kanda smirked.
"Yeah, is that a problem? You don't know what it feels like to be ripped, so you can't say anything."
oO_Oo_oO_Oo
I found that it was much easier to purge after the first time, because my throat isn't as tight when I pushed my fingers in, and that helped a lot. It was quicker, too, since my gag reflex kicked in faster.
"Here, look at this," Kanda said, handing me a file. Confusedly, I take the folder and open it, finding four pictures of teenage girls around my age. Pausing my music, I glance between him and the pictures, "Are these the victims?"
Nodding, he says, "I've been reading through it to see if there's a pattern, but other than the age, gender, and that they're healthy, I can't find one. Innocence killed them for a reason."
"It might be a disease, you never know."
"Just tell me if you see something."
Rolling my eyes, I hand the file back to him, "They're dolls."
"Dolls?" Kanda echoes, looking back at the photos. "How do you figure that? They don't look like Lala."
"I don't mean that they are physically dolls."
"Shut up and tell me what you mean!" he growls exasperatedly, reclining back in his seat. After kicking my jacket off my body, I sit beside him nonchalantly, leaning against him as I point at the pictures, "Pay attention to the appearance. Bottle blonde hair, no acne whatsoever, natural-looking make-up, and big chests. They're practically models, making them dolls."
"Hm, you prove useful for once. So what, the Innocence is targeting girls that look hot?"
I shoulder butt him playfully and say, "Shut up. There's a difference between being hot and being a priss."
"What does that mean?" he asked, glancing over at me, and even though he was trying to contain it, I could tell I'd perked his interest.
"Ever heard about appearances relating to personalities? Girls with thin lips are supposed to be chicks," I explain, pointing to each of the girls' mouths, and without a doubt all of them had thin lips. Well, one girl had full lips, but they looked so unnatural that it had to have been surgery.
"And they all have the same tattoo," I add, poking the images. Each girl had what seemed to be part of a butterfly wing on the left sides of their necks. Nodding, Kanda asks, "How do you notice this stuff? Are you a closet therapist?"
Blushing, I quickly go back to my seat, "No. If I was, I'd have already tried to fix you."
"Fix me?" he repeated skeptically.
"Your jerkishness should be considered a disease," I grumble. Smirking, he says, "I take that as a compliment."
Ignoring the comment, I say, "To answer your question, I read body language very well, and appearances go along with that."
"Why did you start that?"
Smiling innocently, I say, "Well, it helped to know when I was being believed or not when I was gambling. In order to become fake, you have to recognize the other fakes around you."
The way Kanda looked at me told me clearly that he could sense a deeper meaning to the statement, but he remains silent, switching the file for his book. Turning my music back on, I find it on "Pretty Handsome Awkward" by The Used, "Hey, are you okay? You look pretty low, pretty handsome awkward. Do you feel okay? You look pretty low, pretty handsome awkward."
A small thumping to the beat causes me to glance around the train compartment, finding the source to be Kanda's foot hitting the back of his seat, and I smile, "I didn't think you liked music."
"Most gets on my nerves―"
"Like everything else," I interject. Scowling at me, he continues, "But I do like hard rock like that."
Never in a million years did I think that at some point, I would actually be having a decent conversation with Kanda, but I'm not complaining. For some reason, I feel wanted in his presence. It's not that he seems happy about me being here, but I don't feel like I'm a burden, even if I wouldn't care if he thought that anyways. Part of me wanted this to be normal, to be what I could expect everyday when I wake up, and I liked it. I liked feeling as if I was worth something, not just an object.
In order to become fake, you have to recognize the other fakes around you.
I really hope that doesn't Kanda realizes just how fake I am, because really, no one truly knows who I am.
No one knows the person behind the mask of a clown.
Author Note: I feel like this chapter was a rollercoaster, except it started at the top, and then got boring. Anyway, next chapter should be out Saturday, and I think that the mission will be interesting. Show of hands who wants some fluff in the next few chapters? And I'll be nice and post the chapter a bit early if I can get fifteen reviews! Thus, please, Please, PLEASE R/R!
