Disclaimer: I do not own -man nor any other products/companies/etc mentioned in this story. It is called a fanfic for a reason.
--To lesson confusion: This is still from Lavi's POV – it is him waking up after the happenings of ch. 3. Pay attention to breaks with "POV" in them. It signifies a change ;) –
!!----- Who has read the latest DGM chapter?! -------!!
C – H – A – P – T – E – R
F – O – U – R
(Lavi's POV)
My head felt fuzzy, heavy, my body wasn't responding. As I tried to move a billion pins and needles erupted from every nerve in my body, searing white hot pain raced down and up my spine, causing my head to feel like it was going to split open.
Maybe trying to move when you just woke up wasn't the best idea.
I slowly tried to crack my eye open – but it only caused more pain and nausea. Alright then, opening eye was a bad idea too. Which led me to think… what the hell had I done to get in this situation?! What had happened?! Something about warning… then… then… then…
Bookman.
I tried to groan but my throat was too parched. Wincing, I had to do something about this. I couldn't just lay here on the ground all day. I took a deep breath through my nose – my jaw not functioning enough to open. I could taste something metallic and bitter in my mouth, most likely dried blood, a not to pleasant taste to wake up too.
After a while of struggling and mentally cursing my aching head and body, I finally got my eye open. The wood floor (that would explain why I was so uncomfortable) swam in and out of focus, red growing and then disappearing as the floor lurched around. Red… Was that blood too? I gave up trying to keep my eye open and collapsed again.
Damn, I had nothing left in me. As my head began to pound, feeling like any second the next pulse would sent it into millions of pieces, I began to fade again. Being conscious took too much effort…
A sullen kid sat on a hard wooden chair, fiery red hair sticking out in every direction, refusing to be tamed. Hard anger glittered dangerously in his green eye visible under the mop of red. The bruise forming on his jaw and the scrapes along his face and hands told the reason why he was sitting in the principal's office, swinging his feet for they were unable to reach the ground.
"Lavi, this is the third fight you've gotten into in the past week, care to explain?" a quiet voice sounded from across the desk. Lavi narrowed his eyes, glaring at the table refusing to look. "Lavi, it isn't like you to fight. Please tell me…"
"He…" the rest of his sentence was mumbled as Lavi glared fiercer at the patch of sunlight illuminating a picture of the principal and some celebrity.
"He what? I can't understand you if you mumble."
"He called Yu-chan a faggot! He said he was weak and girly and shouldn't be here because his parents left him! He insulted Yu-chan! Why-" the child Lavi began to sob uncontrollably. "WHY ISN'T HE IN HERE! HE'S THE ONE WHO STARTED IT! WHY?!" Lavi jumped up, knocking the picture of the desk along with papers. "I HATE HIM! I HATE THEM! THEY DON'T UNDERSTAND!"
Lavi sank down, only the top of his head showing over the desk. The principal sighed, leaning back in his chair, his face falling farther into the shadows. "Lavi, you are just a kid. They don't realize what they are saying… Ignore them, alright?" Lavi hiccupped, his glare watery now. "Go to the nurse and have her treat those cuts, then get back to class."
"What about-"
"He's going to be in trouble too," the principal's smile was evident in his voice. "From now on let me handle him, okay?"
"Fighting again, Lavi?" the young adolescent ignored the older man, applying ice to the bruise on his cheek. "Who was it with this time?"
"Who do you think?" Lavi turned, untying his eye patch. Another bruise was forming, causing ugly rising to his scar.
Bookman sat down, his expression unreadable. "About that boy again?"
"His name is Kanda," Lavi spat out, throwing the warm ice pack on the table in his momentary anger. His glare softened slightly as he ran a finger along the bruise. "Yeah, it was about him again."
"Lavi-"
"I know. Don't get attached. But I can't help it, he's my friend, Gramps. I can't just sit by and watch my friend get ganged up on six to one."
"I was going to say, you ungrateful brat, that maybe Kanda didn't want your help? He's a strong boy, prideful too. He can take care of himself." Bookman picked up the icepack, holding it back out.
"Kanda would have gotten beaten into a pulp!" Lavi ignored the icepack, shock radiating from his single eye. "I can't just leave him!"
Bookman sighed, sitting down and dropping the ice pack. It lay disregarded by both between them. "Do what you, Lavi. Just don't come running to me when you take too big of a bite." He watched Lavi walk out of the room, a slight limp. The moment the boy was out of the room he let his careful mask slip, showing the concern and love he felt for the boy appear. Perhaps letting the boy go to public school hadn't been the best idea – but he need experience. He need to taste betrayal and friendship first hand, life experiences like that couldn't be taught through books.
A group of teenagers lay in the soft grass, watching the blue sky above them. Occasionally one would lift a hand and point at a cloud, mumbling about how it looked like some strange animal.
"I see a plate of dango," Allen mumbled, letting his hand slowly raise and point out the fluffy cloud.
"Everything you've said so far has been food!" Lenalee laughed, nudging him with her elbow.
"Che, stupid Moyashi. Trust his brain to be where his stomach is," Kanda grumbled, shifting slightly so his pony tail wasn't digging into the back of his head. Quick fingers worked the tie out, dangling it above his face.
"Better, ne?" Lavi asked, his face splitting into a grin. Both his and Kanda's were in between that of a child's and that of a man's; Lavi's face becoming more defined, the jaw strengthening, while Kanda's became more delicate, the high cheekbones complimented by his raven black hair.
"Che, I see a usagi being killed," Kanda glared, pointing at a blob. Lavi cried out, pretending to look offended. The group fell into laughter, Kanda even permitting a rare smile to grace his lips.
"I wish every day could be as beautiful as this," Lavi sighed, resting his head on Kanda's stomach.
"Get off my baka," Kanda growled, lifting his head slightly to see the mess of red. Lavi grinned, but when Kanda made no move to push him off he settled back, pulling down his bandana to let his hair fall into his face. A soft breeze blew by, stirring the group's hair and clothes, almost as if the world was making a delayed reply to Lavi's comment. It was a beautiful day.
"Ah look! Doesn't that one look like ge ge's* robots?" Lenalee asked, her finger tracing another cloud. Shudders went around, everyone glancing fugitively around to make sure the experiments from hell weren't around.
"No I think it looks more like a demented unicorn," Lavi commented, shifting on Kanda's stomach, causing another glare and a halfhearted hit to the head.
"If you are going to use me as a pillow, don't move!" he growled out, raising his hand to knock on Lovi's head again.
"Aw, Yu-chan!" Lavi twisted around, trying to give Kanda an awkward hug. However he was faced with Mugen's gleaming blade. A moment later, Allen and Lenalee watched amused as Kanda chased Lavi around and around the park, the blade swishing through the air each time Kanda missed. Lavi's maniacal laughter rang through the air along with Kanda's curses…
(Kanda's POV)
Che. That idiot was late. Later than usual, that is. He always showed up in the morning 20 seconds after the agreed meeting time. But not today.. Today he was five minutes late. I tried to hide my anger – and underneath that emotion I was not feeling, worry – as the minutes passed by. At this rate we'd barely make it Lenalee and Allen's school by the time the first bell rang.
"Um… Kanda?" Lenalee spoke up, a little hesitant. "Shouldn't Lavi be here by now?" Moyashi perked up, narrowing his eyes as he glanced between us and then down the block toward Lavi's apartment.
"Che. That baka probably slept in. " I scowled and glanced at the cell phone I was clutching – but not repeatedly looking at – incase Lavi sent a message.
"Um should we call him? He might not even be up yet." I pretended not to notice the hard stare she was giving me. Unlike the naïve Moyashi, she knew something was up. When she'd called on Sunday morning after seeing Daisya's interview, she'd asked if Lavi knew. I'd been forced to tell her that Lavi had slept over. Yes she'd been shocked to find out I'd allowed Lavi to sleep over – especially after spending the whole day with him. She could see the way I was fighting to keep worry off my face (damn woman intuition), yet she didn't know the reason why I was so concerned.
Lavi had never called last night. I never told him to call – but he always did when he walked home, telling me he'd gotten home safe and what he'd seen on his brief walk. Over the years I'd realized how used to the calls I became, I came to a point where I could no longer relax unless he called. However the moment he called, I acted as if the calls were the most annoying thing in the world. So last night – I'd never received the call that allowed me to relax… and damn it I was not worrying over him!
"Tch. I'm going to call him," I flipped open my phone, holding down two. There were only eight numbers in my cell phone – all having a corresponding speed-dial. I held my breath waiting for him to pick up, his voice would be groggy, but he'd sound happy because he'd have seen that picture of me (when –and how- he'd taken – and with my hair down – I'd never know) and heard that stupid ring tone he insisted was "perfect" for me.
The phone clicked and I waited for that – "Hey~ This is the super-sexy-awesome-loveable-really-hot-like-fucking-hot-pirate-wanna-be-rabbit Lavi! Leave me a message and-"
I growled, shutting my phone with a snap. "Get in the fucking car." Two pairs of startled eyes stared at me. "Che, we're going to wake him up."
My fingers tightened against the steering wheel as I dove. To anyone else, it would look like I was furious at having to wake Lavi's lazy ass up (and a very large part of me was calling for his blood). "Stay here," I growled, slamming my door shut. I flipped through my keys – one for my car, my apartment, my locker at work, the locker at school, Tiedoll's place, Marie's small condo and finally the red key (it wasn't really that hard to find- it was fucking red) with a sticker of a very cartoonish rabbit on it. Lavi's sense of humor…
I was about to ring the bell when I heard the car door slam shut bellow. Glancing over the railing I watched irritated as Lenalee hurried over to the stairs and up to me. "I thought I told you to stay in the car."
Lenalee sent me a pout, ringing the door bell for me. "What if he's sick?! What if-" I shook my head, placing my hand over her mouth to silence her. Both of us waited for some sign of life from inside Lavi's apartment – a feint voice, a crash, anything… Using the red key I unlocked the door, shoving the door open and entering before Lenalee. Lavi's book bag lay against the wall, some of his books scattered, mixing with the mail that had spread across the floor. Tiny dots of reddish-brown on some of the papers made the knot in my stomach tighten. Lenalee tried to move past me, anxious in her quest to find Lavi, but I held out my arm, giving her a sharp shake of my head.
There was a dim light coming from the living room that I recognized as the old TV Lavi had gotten from one of his neighbors. There was a small beep, most likely Lavi's cell phone. So the baka was here…unless he'd forgotten his cell phone and was now slumped over in some alley unable to find his way back home… I forced the thoughts away, walking briskly toward living room.
The lights flickered, taking their time turning completely on. In a matter of seconds I took in the mess of books, papers, though none of it was in Lavi's normal "organized mess". Another few seconds of searching and him.
I spun around, stopping Lenalee from entering the room an seeing him, crumpled on the ground among the books, obviously hurt. Quickly I worked off my car key, placing it in her hand. "You and Moyashi take my car – if you fuck it up in any way, I'll kill Moyashi!"
"But what about- "
"He's sick. Really sick." I started to push the complaining Lenalee out of the door. "Probably got that swine flu or some kind of shit like it. If I have to take him somewhere I'll borrow Marie's car. Maybe take Lavi's." I didn't mention that Marie was most likely out of town and Lavi's car probably didn't have gas.
Lenalee wasn't convinced but she left, making me – no forcing – that I'd call or text if anything changed in Lavi's "well being". I closed the door in her face, cutting of her voice that was starting to give me a headache, locking it just in case she tried to get in.
Lavi's fiery hair was spread out around him, contrasting beautifully with the hard wood floor. I would have thought he was sleeping if not for the pained expression and the trail of blood trickling from his mouth and hair line. I took a deep breath, forcing my queasiness back and moved to crouch next to him.
"Lavi? Lavi can you hear me?" I called quietly, raising my hand and placing it on his head. Lavi's eyes twitched and a soft moan escaped his chapped lips. I got up, grabbing a blanket from under a pile of books, causing them to tumble and add more mess. Shoving more books off the couch, I spread the blanket across it before moving to Lavi's side again. Grunting with the effort to pick him up, I finally got him to rest on the couch. No longer on his stomach, I was able to examine his injuries; bruising along his face and neck, a shallow cut across his forehead, split lip and a possible dislocated shoulder. What happened to you? I wondered, carefully untying his eye patch. I'd never asked and he'd never explained where he'd lost his eye – it was something completely trivial to us.
"Che. Idiot, there's no way you can write this one off as 'falling down the stairs'," I muttered, getting up to find the first aid kit. From as long as I could remember there had been days when Lavi hadn't come to school- or had come with a black eye always with the excuse he fell or ran into something. The feint bruising around his neck in the shape of fingers told the truth.
After a good twenty minutes of searching his apartment I came up empty. "How the hell do you find anything?!" I stormed back into the living room of doom, nearly tripping over a book.
"Yu…?" Lavi's broken dry voice came from the couch. "Is…that…Yu?" I hurried over to his side, trying to keep my heartbeat calm; though it didn't stop the butterflies erupting in my stomach.
"I'm here baka," I leaned over him so he wouldn't have to move. His eye was painfully swollen, only a small glimmer of the green showing.
"Yu…" he groaned, closing his eye. "Water."
I nodded, going to the kitchen to find him water. I held Lavi's head as he drank, watching as the bruises stretched every time he swallowed. "Easy…" Lavi slowed down, finally stopping and opened his eye again.
"Thanks, I felt like I was dying there," he said, sounding almost back to normal. My heart gave a painful squeeze as he tried to smile only to flinch in pain.
"Che, don't move. Where's you first aid kit? You do have one don't you baka?" I asked him, getting up to return his glass to the kitchen (which surprisingly was clean compared to the rest of the place).
"Under the sink, behind the cleaning stuff."
I rolled my eyes; of course he'd keep it in a weird place, instead somewhere normal like the bathroom. As I walked by the small island table I glanced at the pile of mail, catching sight of a note written on heavy parchment. Frowning, I paused, tilting my head to read the note.
Lavi-
Don't forget. You've got a month to sort it all out, mess up again and it's over.
B.
There was only person I could think of who went by a name with "B". Bookman. Which meant…
"Can't find it?" Lavi called, seeming to be getting impatient. I grabbed the paper stuffing it in my jacket pocket – Lavi was going to talk about this later.
"No, I found it." I sat down on the couch, gently pushing Lavi so I had room to work. "This may sting a little," I told him ripping open an alcohol wipe with my teeth. Lavi closed his eye, tensing as I dabbed lightly at the cuts. After years of bandaging all the injuries from my sports and playing with Daisya I'd learned how clean and bandage fairly well. Though I never managed mine to look as neat and perfect as Marie's.
"How bad do I look?" Lavi mumbled as I cleaned up the rest of his face.
"You want the truth?" I asked, pausing in my work.
He hesitated for a moment before saying slowly, "Truth…"
"Like hell."
Lavi flinched and chuckled darkly. "Damn, that bad? Heh…Ouch memo to self, don't laugh." I frowned, hating how he was managing to turn this into a joke. "Yu-chan, I never did ask, but why are you here?"
I got up, picking up the kit and returning it back to the kitchen. I found an icepack in the back of his fridge and wrapped it in dish towel. "You didn't call last night."
Lavi accepted the icepack gratefully, pressing it against his eye and sighing. "So you were worried. Aw, Yu-chan I love you too!"
I thanked kami that he couldn't see the light blush on my cheeks. He always went around saying things like that; did he ever really mean it or was it just "Lavi". "Che. Why would I be worried about a stupid usagi like you?"
He seemed to have forgotten his memo to self for he started laughing quietly. "I'll get you to admit it one day. Inside you are just one big teddy be-"
I put my hand over his mouth, irritated by his talk. "Lenalee was here earlier." Lavi froze, I could feel his jaw clench under my hand. "She didn't see you, but she was pretty worried. I wouldn't be surprised if she comes straight here after school." Lavi said nothing, probably trying to figure out what excuse would work. "Lavi…"
"Don't." He removed my hand, using it to help him sit up. "Don't say anything." I stared at him, surprised by the hard tone in his voice. He got to his feet unsteadily and walked toward the kitchen. I could only watch helplessly as he slammed his fist on the island, his whole body shaking.
"…Bookman…"
"What?" I asked, walking to his side.
"You…you didn't see Bookman when you came…did you?" Lavi looked up, his bruised face fearful. My hand clenched around the paper in my coat.
"No…" Shit, what the hell was I to do? Something was up- and Lavi wasn't letting me in. He went around avoiding me, avoiding my eyes, always changing the subject when it got to close to him…to us.
He was nodding slowly, mumbling something. "Good…that's good…Worse…"
"Lavi." He looked up, his eye fixing on a spot just above my eyebrow. Fuck… "What's this all about? Why'd Bookman hit you?" I drew out the paper, shoving it under his nose. "I swear, Lavi, I'm going to find out."
He stared at the paper, eye widening slightly, before he looked up a leer twisting his face. "I messed up, there are three strikes right? I messed up twice, but this time I'll score. I'm not going to mess up any more. Not any more…"
Your insecurities are concealed by your pride,
Pretty soon your ego will kill what's left inside,
Just as beautiful as you are,
It's so pitiful what you are,
Should have seen it coming,
All along…
Beautiful – 10 Years
. . . Er what? You waited weeks, for this?! Yeah. (BTW- not edited yet)
Before I get people flipping out on me, let me explain. Bookman's "Noahishness" as I've seen it described, is just how I've always viewed him. I'm sorry. Honestly I've always found Bookman creepy, cruel, and brutal, 'specially after Lavi's "dream" where he was trapped by Road. So you don't like it, I don't care. End of story.
Second – the whole italicized part? Memories. I think everyone figured that out, but I just wanted to clearify. They start with Lavi being around seven-nine? I don't really know. The next one would be him around 12-14ish, the last one 15-17ish. Something like that. There's a point to the memories I swear- I'm just not ready to tell you ;)
So anyways, comment, critique (we all know I need it), muse, give me ideas whatever… Just don't flame it. T_T I find that annoying (so far everyone is very nice and I haven't had the fire alarm go off yet). BTW- the song? Great song, GREAT band. Their music is very pretty. I've gotten some of my muse from their songs on several occasions…
SORRY ABOUT THE LONG UPDATE!!! *bows* I've been busy with exams and such... And writing my Original story (links can be found on my profile, or on my deviant..which is also on my profile). If you are ever wondering where the hell I am, check deviantart, for I update there more often. Sorry.
-Blue-
Next Update: When I get a damn chance!