Chapter Nine:
~Someone's POV~
'Ch…'
'…i.e.…'
'…ff,"
'…'
'I heard Lenalee's getting married,'
With my trusty drill in hand I rose from my restful nap with little need for anything else to be said.
'Morning, Chief,' a voice said as I glanced around my rather messy office, Reever, one of my trustee scientist stood before me, his eyes deprived of sleep and a slight anger twitch in his eye. I coughed and placed the drill down on my desk.
'Morning, Reever, where's my coffee?' I asked him as his anger became more evident in his eyes.
'Lenalee will get that later but to get into the point, I think you should send Kanda and Elena out on a mission soon,' I blinked at him in confusion before he handed me several more papers to add to my already mountain of paperwork.
'No more Reever, you're working me to death,'
'And whose fault is it for falling asleep when he needs to be doing work?' Reever was grumbling now as I glanced at the new paperwork with a little bit of guilt. That was till my eyes fell on a long line of numbers… I felt my jaw hit my desk.
'This is…'
'Yes, Elena and Kanda caused some massive damage in the cafeteria a while ago, they're both restless Komui,' I groaned aloud just as the telephone beside me rang. It had been three long weeks since a phone rang from the finders but that was because of the little stunt the Earl had pulled off by killing off our intelligence unit.
'Hello, head supervisor here,' I trilled excitingly, I couldn't contain the excitement of hearing the phone ring again even though I was wondering about the several small units of finders I had sent out a few days ago.
'Supervisor, there suspected innocence in Ayr, south-west of Scotland,' the finder on the other end said through hasty speech. I dropped my grin as my glasses slowly slid down the bridge of my nose.
'Has it been confirmed?' I asked curiously the finder sounded out of breath and in some sort of panic. I began to worry.
'Rumours of several ships going missing have been made here, so we went to investigate and…' that was it as the call ended in static and a sharp continuing tone that made me hold it from my ear before I hung up on my end.
'What was that Chief?' Reever asked me as I slowly leaned back in my seat thinking through the situation before I took another glance at the damage bill.
'Reever, call Elena and Kanda into my office, now,' I said as Reever gave me a curious look before running off to follow my orders. I was beginning to feel uneasy again… innocence and the strange behavior of the finder could only result in one thing…
Akuma!
….
~Elena~
Elena was almost skipping with joy when she heard that Reever had called her to Komui's office but the happiness was short lived when she found out Kanda was also called. Link, like usual, was following close behind her as she made her way through the science department and to Komui's office door.
She opened the door and walked to the couch where Kanda was already sitting as she took her seat and waited for the head supervisor to speak.
'There has been strange activities happening in a town south-west of Scotland, Ayr,' Komui said pulling down a map that showed the layout of Scotland. Elena stared at the area where he was pointing and saw that the mission would take them to a port side town.
'What kind of strange activities, Komui?' Elena asked she glanced up at the guard who was station to watch her. She had a dreaded feeling that he would also be following her on this and any future missions.
'I had been contacted by a finder I had sent out several days ago, but we were broken off while he was explaining but that is still enough to say that exorcists are needed,' Komui said as she nodded gravely, there seemed to be one thing that came to her mind and that was akuma. If akuma were appearing there, then it was possible that innocence may be in the surrounding area, if not, then they would still destroy the akuma nonetheless.
'Why do I have to team up with beansprout again?' Kanda complained with a grunt of dissatisfaction as Elena mildly agreed with him. Komui stared at them with that mischievous grin of his as he eyed both of them in turn.
'You two need to learn to work together if we are to avoid future damage bills because of your dislike of each other,' Komui replied as Elena moaned aloud and Kanda just 'che' under his breath.
(Passing time…)
It took them several long agonizing days to reach the port town of Ayr. It might have been quicker if Elena and Kanda hadn't gotten into so many pointless bickering that gave even Link a headache.
'How many times must you fight?' Link would openly complain about their incompetence in getting into fights over such trivial things. In response to this, Elena would just glare at him while Kanda threatened him with mugen.
'Shut up, Rouvelier's dog,' Kanda hissed at him before pulling mugen away and stormed off towards the inn several houses down the street from them. Elena poked her tongue out at him just to try and feel better since Kanda had won the last argument much to her dismay. Then let out a heavy sigh.
'At least he can get angry at someone else,' she smirked at Link who just stared back with his blank serious expression that just gave her the shivers. Elena still hadn't gotten use to his presence but was slowly learning to ignore him.
'According to Komui, the finder was in this town when he last contacted him, however there is no information about where he was at the time if the call,' Link said glancing down at the one page briefing that was barely a paragraph but it was enough to know something wasn't write.
'What? Are you disappointed about our job already?' Elena couldn't help but tease him as they made their way to the inn down the street. Link just glared at her before continuing on, ignoring her attempts to mock him.
'That depends on the contrary,' Link simply said as Elena paused completely baffled about what the young man had said as she blinked for a moment and rushed up to him before he entered the inn.
'What do mean, 'on the contrary'?' Elena began to pester him as Link just sighed hopelessly like she was a lost cause. She frowned at him and closed her mouth, whatever he had meant, she'd find out soon enough.
'And you call yourself an exorcist, beansprout,' Kanda broke into her thoughts as she stared at him; angry that he had used that most despised nickname he had given her.
'Well you're not much of one, Bakanda,' Elena hissed back before Link stepped in to stop the fighting.
'As nice as this is, we should continue our investigation and get this over with,' Elena and Kanda both glared at the lieutenant before growling that it was the others fault. Link just muttered something under his breath low enough so that the two exorcists in front of him couldn't catch it.
'Beansprout, go and talk to some people about any strange things occurring, I'm patrolling the town for akuma,' Kanda ordered before heading out of the inn with Elena close on his heels.
'My name is Elena, Bakanda and who put you in charge?' Elena flared back at him as Link followed silently behind before Kanda glared back causing Elena to pause nervously.
'Since you're such I blabbermouth, you should do the talking,' he said as Elena opened her mouth but closed it again and frowned at him. The man smirked in victory and turned on his heel causing his dark hair to swing from its bindings on top of his head.
'Idiot,' Elena hissed under her breath as she felt someone tap her shoulder. She turned to see Link pointing down towards the port and they headed that way without her protesting much. The further she was away from Kanda, the better and Link seemed to be thinking the same thing.
….
~Tyki~
Tyki hissed with impatience as he stared over the lapping waters of the vast ocean. He was sitting casually on the shoulder of a level three akuma as they searched the coast for any sign of the finder that had given them the slip several days ago.
The persistent fool had jumped overboard from the boat he was on and leapt into the mercy of the sea and lost him almost immediately. Tyki was a patient person after all but this was testing it to the limit as he sighed heavily and stood up.
'Guess his gone with the tide,' Tyki smirked at his own words as he glanced at the horizon, akuma had sighted a mysterious ship sailing around the outskirts of a port town and low and behold there were finders there also. He had hoped to catch one so that he could get some information that was limited from both the akuma and the Earl, which was rare.
'Shall we return to town, Noah-dono,' the akuma said in a low drone voice as Tyki didn't say anything and nodded. The akuma gained altitude and flew off back towards the city. Tyki relished the wind that whipped through his loose hair, in his Noah form he had always kept it back with a headband but this time he just left it, as is, much to Road's distress and tantrum.
They arrived back at port a few minutes later and Tyki jumped off and waved he akuma a swift goodbye before going into his 'human' form. He casually walked into the busy street bustling with people and sailors as they made their way to the boats that would get them to where they were going.
The town wasn't bad; the crisp salty breeze that was swept from the ocean was a refreshing change from the rose and jasmine scented garden of his brother, Sheril. He had stayed there for a few days before heading off towards a port town in Scotland where the Earl confirmed that the Order had decided to move again. Tyki didn't complain much, at least it was a change in pace over that last few weeks.
'Walker!' a voice cried just barely over the crowd as Tyki paused and turned in the direction of the sound. Several metres away, he saw a figure graced with white hair flowing over her shoulders. She was sitting down at one of the many food stands that lined the main street; she glanced up with a mild frown as a man with blonde hair walked over to her. Tyki noticed that he was in some sort of uniform hidden under a light tan trench coat despite not even looking like a finder.
'What Link? I'm starving…' The girl complained as the man, whose back was turned to Tyki stood over her with his arms obviously crossed over his chest.
'You shouldn't wonder off like that, it's…'
'An abstraction to your duties… yeah, yeah I got it,' She moaned aloud before continuing to eat, not even caring if the man wanted to say more. Tyki felt curious, what duties were the man doing, especially with her. As went closer, but not too close as he leaned against the corner of a building that lead into an alleyway.
Suddenly the blond man looked up and met Tyki's eyes, suspicion was evident in the young man's narrow frown. Tyki just smirked at him before wondering off into the alleyway with a shrug of his shoulders.
….
~Elena~
Elena looked up from the local cuisine she was eating as she realized that Link was no longer staring at her. She glanced up her spoon full of food hovering just above her bowl as she eyed Link in confusion.
'What's up Link?' she asked curiously as he didn't respond immediately and slowly seemed to be processing things.
'I think there might be akuma around,' Link said sternly as Elena almost choked on the spoonful of food in her mouth. Laughter was rising fast in her throat she leaned over her bowl and spat everything out, including her humor.
'Stupid Link, if there was any akuma near here, I would have sensed them,' Elena said wiping her mouth with a napkin before continuing to eat. Link seemed to glare at her, probably because she had called him stupid.
'… It doesn't matter now,' Link grizzled as Elena quickly finished her dish and stood up, thanking the storeowner for the meal.
'There's still no mean to be secretive, Link,' Elena teased him as they made they way closer to the ocean, the breeze was carrying its saltiness and the crowing of seagulls swooping above their heads gave it away.
'Let's just get this over with,' Link said in a low voice as Elena laughed and rushed ahead into the crowd that began to gather.
'Walker, stop this nonsense this instant,' she heard Link call after her as she began to lose him in the crowd, Elena could barely hear him curse and he tried to follow her. She was beginning to join this mission as much as that it was easy to lose Link when he wasn't prepared for her sudden reactions but he was beginning to catch on. Elena had to admit annoyingly that Link was a quick learner, a little too quick and that meant it was only going to get harder for her to lose him.
Elena skidded to a halt as she noticed a commotion happening on one of the piers. A young man with ragged brown hair was dressed in simple fisherman clothes and thick heavy boots. He was surrounded by a couple of tough looking men who seemed to be looking for trouble.
'I'm telling you, I saw it,' the young man exclaimed aloud but not loud enough to draw an unwelcome attention that could come from this.
'It's nothing but heresy Jock, give it up and go back out there,' one of the older men seemed to demand as Elena stepped closer to listen to their conversation better.
'I said no, I don't want to end up like those people in the ship wreckage,' the younger man continued to complain until Elena caught a glint of something flashing in the sun and frowned as one of the men held a knife to the man's throat.
'I hate repeating myself Jock, remember you do need the income to keep that petty little on of yours after all,' Elena watched as the young man's lips quivered in fear and anger but he nodded and the knife was pulled away from his throat.
'Good lad, I expect something this afternoon,' the man said as he and the men beside him left Jock standing beside the small fishing boat. Elena stepped aside to let the men pass and walked up to him as the man began to load the boat with ropes and fishing line.
'That was harsh of them,'
'No kidding, they don't want to believe the stories that are circling around town and… hey who are you?' The man's last words stammered out in surprise as Elena made a grab for the ropes he just dropped before frowning and untangling the cords.
'My name's Elena Walker, sorry for scaring you,' she said with a smile that seemed to put the young fisherman at ease as he took the ropes back with a murmur of thanks.
'Jock Hagler,' he said swiftly before dumping the ropes on board, Elena nodded and eyed the boat with an expert eye.
'The boat's well kept, do you enough fishing?' She had to ask as Jock stared at her with curiosity before nodded with a recollected sigh.
'I use to but since the ships traveling along Firth of Clyde have ended up beginning destroyed, I felt anxious to even leave port now,' Jock said, Elena caught the sad tone in his voice and almost felt sorry for him.
'And ya boss won't listen, huh?' she said as she blinked when she noticed that she had switched back to her persona she used when she was working off debts for Cross. Jock looked at her with wide eyes and slowly nodded.
'So you did hear that?' Elena cocked her head sympathetically as the young fisherman and leaned on a stack of crates while Jock gathered some more tools from another.
'Kind of hard not to, beside I'll tag along with you,' she confirmed with another smile as the man blinked in profound confusion. He had not expected her to offer him help as he scratched the back of his head with a look of worry.
'I don't think that's wise, I wouldn't want to drag another innocent soul with me if whatever it was attacked the boat,' Elena politely covered her mouth to hide her smirk and shook her head.
'I'm an exorcist, and strange happenings such as this, is what I investigate. I also know my 'round a fishing boat,' she added the last part with a knowing wink as the man stared at her as if considering her cooperation. He turned slightly and fiddled around with some fishing nets before turning back to her.
'I suppose I could use the help,'
'There is also another exorcist with me but he's an asshole…' Elena couldn't help but added with a smirk.
'I heard that beansprout!'
Elena couldn't help but flinch as the girly-looking samurai stormed up to him and held the tip of mugen in her face. She casually pushed it out of the way with her left hand and placed her hands on her hips.
'ELENA, but I'll forgive you this time, I've found us a ride but in exchange we have to help,' Elena said as Kanda gave his infamous 'che' and left it at that. Several moments passed until Link showed up, his face was red with anger as Elena avoided the glare in his eyes.
….
~Tyki~
He was sitting back against a bunch of crates that seemed to have a good view of the pier the white haired exorcist was standing on. She was talking to a rough looking man several years older than her in fisherman clothes. The seemed to be having some sort of conversation till an angry samurai stormed up and interrupted them.
By the looks of things he wasn't happy, but that left Tyki to wonder if the man was ever happy from the way he snarled. Then the blond guy shouted out a single word…
'WALKER!'
Tyki couldn't help but smirk at how easily he had lost the girl in a crowd of a hundred people. It was entertaining to say the least but he knew by just looking at them, that the exorcists must have found a trail and were using the fisherman's boat to help them.
'Noah-dono, shall we attack them?' An akuma jittered behind him as Tyki stopped himself from groaning aloud. There were several akuma behind him; all were waiting eagerly to attack the exorcists But Tyki waved his hand as if rejecting the question.
'No not yet, let them think they have the advantage,' Tyki stood up and pulled a cigarette from his pocket, to his disappointment, it was his last one. He lit it anyway and inhaled the intoxicating smoke.
'Gather several groups of akuma, tell them to stay within distance but not too close, shojo can still detect you if you're within her cursed eyes reach,' Tyki ordered the akuma behind him as they disappeared to do his bidding. He turned on his heel and walked back to town wondering where he saw the last store selling his favorite tobacco.
….
Author's Note:
Things are getting interesting even for me…
I had to do some research to complete this chapter though; Ayr is actually a town in Scotland just like Firth of Clyde is too (but that's a stretch of ocean). All I needed to do was add a random scenario and… tadah… I have a mission… I really do love this manga, so please support the actual series by Katsura Hoshino!
Please continue your reviewing; I always enjoy reading them especially after a bad day…
