Broken Ice (Chapter 8)

A series of vibrations, induced in the earth's crust, shook the very surface they had their feet firmly placed on. Now, all three of them were plunging

down,

down,

down,

into the abyss below. Massive, jagged cracks appeared on the ground and Bookman, being so small, was pulled downwards by the force of the seismic eruption.

Kanda had his Mugen out and had it firmly wedged into the side of the ground that had emerged along the fault line. Lavi didn't need to worry so much. Kanda was capable enough. It was his grandfather he was worried about. He was rapidly being hauled down by gravity into the vast chasm below.

"Jiji!!!"

No answer.

He waited.

Silence.

He jumped.

As the air rushed up beneath him, Lavi extracted his anti-akuma weapon from a strap on his right leg. He brought it over his head, then brought his knees closer together in a fluid motion upwards.

"Oudzuchi Koudzuchi!! Shin!"

The handle of his hammer extended to its full length as he glued his bottom onto the front end of it. The mallet's head had grown to an immense size, though Lavi, as the accommodator, felt no difference in its weight. His eyes scanned the deepest, darkest, most obscure reaches of the bottomless gulf. It had occurred to him that Bookman may have had his coat stuck onto one of the jutting out pieces of rock, but try as he might, he didn't spot any sign of him at all.

A broken body. Mangled. Lying in a pool of blood. Motionless. Absence of sound. Deprived of life. Will I be able to record that?

Onwards, never ceasing, he flew. The silence was excruciating.

Vigilant eyes.

Hammer slicing through the air at breakneck speed.

Any sign now…

A crushed head? Spilt brains? Disintegrated???

No

Stop it! That won't happen!

As the seconds ticked on, ever more gruesome thoughts flit through his mind, one after another. They were stemming from the overwhelming panic in his head and no matter how hard he tried to suppress them, they kept returning. Haunting him to the point of near insanity.

Where are you? Dammit, answer me!!!

It'd been nearly half a minute now. Surely the gorge wasn't that deep?

Then, out of the corner of his eye, he caught it. A mass of black. He caught the silver glint of the Black Order's emblem on his chest.

He was still falling, though his eyes were shut so tightly, he thought no light could penetrate them at all.

Relief exploded inside him, coursing through his nerves and cells. Every single part of his anatomy. So much so that he nearly failed to grab hold of Bookman's coat, thus rescuing him.

Idiot. He lost conscious and couldn't answer my calls. Thank god he's still intact. Heaven knows all those thoughts I had regarding his death.

He reached out as far as he could, without parting company with the mallet's handle. So close…

"I…won't…leave you, old man. Wake up. Tell me you're alive. Damn, damn, damn" Lavi rasped, as he seized his mentor's arm. He wasn't so heavy, but Lavi had used up almost all his energy searching for him (the mental pain really tired me out)

Bookman's eyes fluttered open, as he regained consciousness (due to Lavi's painful grab, mostly)

"So, I've saved you, eh? Care to grant me permission to have the freedom of what I want?"

Bookman only stared at him, eyes glazed. His brain was still fuzzy and could not comprehend the meaning behind Lavi's words.

"You know…the one where I get to be with Kanda through everything," Lavi placed emphasis on the last five words, implying his meaning, before ending off with a grin.

Bookman was at a loss of words.

Why is this idiot saying this at this point of time?

"Bring me up first before I give my verdict, idiot,"

"Yessir!"

Lavi painstakingly altered his course, so as not to damage the foundations of the earth any more. Any wrong move and the whole mound of soil would topple over, burying them within. He flew vertically upwards, Bookman gripping his waist as firmly as he could.

"Hold on tight! It's gonna get rough!"

"What do you think I'm doing?"

Customary grin. With that, he zoomed forwards out of the gorge and into the open, as sunlight bathed them in its radiance. Somehow, the fault line had been progressing gradually during their time spent in the Earth's crust. The opening had apparently shrunken and Lavi couldn't extricate his enlarged hammer from the gorge that easily. He swung Bookman onto the surface and, with one hand gripping the edge of the ground; he proceeded to shrinking his anti-akuma weapon.

Then, trouble struck. The chunk of rock Lavi had been clutching onto for dear life broke free of the ground it was attached to, and he succumbed to the power of gravity. Before he could even give a shout for help, Kanda found its way into his mind's eye. He blacked out.

Bookman had been observing from a distance. He'd seen Lavi slip. He'd seen Kanda running. Kanda. He was running. He was running to save someone's life. Kanda never did value anyone's live. Then, he felt the extent of their love overwhelm him. They did love each other. It wasn't some puppy-love thing. It was the real thing. He looked on, as Kanda brought Lavi's body out and cradled his head in his lap, oblivious to the stares of the old man 5 metres behind him.

"Baka usagi. I told you, you black out at the wrong times. Che. Get up, dammit,"

"What's the matter, missing me already?" Lavi broke into a smile; eyes still closed. He trailed a finger on Kanda's cheek, all the way down to his neck. He twirled the fine blue strands of hair between his fingers, relishing the thought of having Kanda finally by his side. Kanda's voice had stirred the depths of his soul and brought him back into the real world.

"Che, who said that. We still have a long journey to get back to headquarters. I'm not gonna lug you around all day,"

"Haha, yea right… then what are your blushes implying, then?"

Kanda was silenced. Dammit, why must they crop up so fast?

Then, both turned simultaneously at Bookman, who was gazing at them, devoid of any expression. He cleared his throat, then stated,

"Right, I'm granting you permission then. If I don't, perhaps your exorcist skills shall sink to the depths. And your Bookman skills, Lavi. As long as you don't do any…things…in front of me,"

As they exchanged looks of glee, Bookman could only play along with his own thoughts.

Perhaps with Lavi's involvement with Kanda, we might finally know the secret to his highly regenerative skills, that mysterious tattoo on his chest and that pink glow emanating from his room. The glow of a lotus.

The glow of a lotus. Bowed melancholically, suspended in vacuum within a plain, glass jar. Little did they know of Bookman's plans in making the most of their relationship. All they had on their minds were the possibilities hanging over their heads. The both of them together, forever.