*cracks knuckles* Alright, so I sat down and actually wrote a bunch of chapters and thought about where I want this story to go. I feel more confident in my ability to keep up on this which means hopefully no late updates and this story is switching back to updating once a week (every saturday)! Side note: the next four chapters are the beginning of a time skip, so they are sort of a prologue to the new time (if that makes sense…?). Basically each of the four chapters will feature one character (Lenalee and Kanda will share). After that I'll go back to my normal way of doing this but for now this makes the most sense. Enjoy!
Thank you to Lena-uvs-cats, amenokuma, Ryuakilover for reviewing, and others for favoriting and following!
Chapter 10
"This is stupid."
"You think everything is stupid." Though in this particular instance, Lenalee was inclined to agree. Komui, though not generally inclined to do work, always had the interests of his subordinates in mind. Unfortunately, this tended to lead to rather unique, situations. Most preferred, and used, the term idiotic. Currently, in an attempt to lighten the spirits of those who had recently returned from ongoing combat and the many who had lost a friend due to said combat. Lenalee suspected an alternate motive; and unfortunately, she was usually right.
A drunken frenzy swarmed past the pair under the pretense of (non-negotiable) fun elsewhere. Kanda sighed.
"See ya."
"What do you mean 'see ya'?"
"What do you think it means? I'm going back to my room."
"But-" Lenalee scrambled to protest only to be interrupted.
"Would you rather join the mob?"
"It's better than your gloomy room..."
"Well it's a good thing I didn't invite you there."
"That's rude."
"Whatever." Kanda went to turn, then flinched when he felt Lenalee's glare burn his back. He turned towards her. Despite the slow hesitance of his movements he too bore a glare.
"That's no way to treat a lady Kanda." He scowled, various insults surfacing in his mind. None of which he spoke aloud, because Lenalee's furrowing brow suggested she already suspected him of thinking as much.
"Kanda, you wouldn't be upsetting my darling sister would you?" Komui broke the tension as he popped up behind an unsuspecting Kanda, previously lost in a silent staring contest. He flinched, leaning away from the sudden intruder. Lenalee scowled, shifting to cross her arms, but there was no mistaking the glimmer of affection in her eyes.
"He is brother" she pouted, fighting the urge not to stick her tongue out as Kanda cast her a suspicious glare.
"He's not participating in any of the games you planned for the party." Komui gasped dramatically while Kanda wrinkled his nose at the smell of alcohol on the man's breath.
"That's no fun at all! Kanda go over there and have fun!" Komui pointed accusingly at the heart of the mob, gathering around barrels of various drinks, preparing for another one of the chief's deranged games.
"No."
"Kanda."
"No."
"Kanda."
"You can't make me."
"Ka-"
"No!"
"Please?" Lenalee cast him a longing look, batting her eyes innocently. Kanda scowled. She fought back the urge to laugh when he rolled his eyes then dragged her into mob.
"Wait-"
"If I have to suffer so do you." She hesitated. The main purpose of sending Kanda into the party, other than trying to get him to relax, was to speak with her brother. He caught her glance and sighed.
"He's drunk Lenalee, you can talk to him tomorrow." Lenalee hid her blush at being caught out, taking refuge among the crowd.
The following day, Lenalee stepped over the motionless bodies of the no doubt hungover Science Division. A few groaned as she scuffed papers strewn about, but otherwise she made it to her brothers office unscathed.
"Brother?" She whispered around the crack of the creaking door. The only response was a drawn out moan, the source of which was undeterminable considering the various mountains of papers piled about the room.
"Brother?" After a moment there was another strained response.
"Lenalee my sweet, could you bring brother some coffee?" Lenalee walked around her brothers desk and kicked through the white, like a child demolish a snow bank. Paper snowflakes fluttered about and Komui yelped, but remained otherwise still.
"I'll get you coffee if you agree to answer a question."
"Of course Lenalee, anything you want." She thought that over, then smirked.
"And work." He gasped as if she had just suggested he kill a man.
"But Lenaleeeeee-"
"No buts, take it or leave it." He whimpered, and her smirk faded to a fond smile.
"Fine" he pouted.
Fifteen minutes later found her back in his office with two mugs in hand, one with coffee the other with hot chocolate. Upon her return, she found that Komui had crawled into the chair behind his desk and was currently staring longingly at the door. When she emerged, he smiled, visibly perking up before the caffine had even hit his system.
"Thank you Lenalee."
"Your welcome brother." For a few minutes, they sat quietly across from each other, enjoying their warm beverages.
"Why did you really throw that party brother?" He opened his mouth to speak, but closed it slowly when Lenalee caught his eyes. She new of his distraction tactics, but that was not the only motivating factor at play, not this time. He closed it, gaze searching the near similar one of his sister. Then his eyes fell to his desk. He shoved off a few stacks of papers, withdrawing a folder and passing it to her.
"The next couple missions are going to be long and hard" he said solemnly. She stubbornly refused to open the folder, but her gaze never left it. Despite his already quiet voice, he dropped his volume down to a whisper.
"I just wanted to spend some time with you before you go." An unspoken statement hung over the siblings head. Just in case… A few minutes transpired.
"Will…" She trailed off, but her brother understood.
"No, I'll be sending Kanda out with you as well." She sighed, then rose.
"Goodbye brother." She smiled, as she had done for the past five years, fighting back tears.
"Goodbye Lenalee." The door creaked shut.
A few hours later found Lenalee and Kanda cooped up in a first-class compartment, going over the mission plan while the scenery flew past the train's window.
"Three fragments? That seems a bit risky, a general would probably be bettered suited." Lenalee crossed her legs, eyes darting from paper to paper.
"Ya, but all the generals have fallen out of touch, which leaves-"
"The Order's best?" She arched an eyebrow, a slight smile playing across her lips.
"Something like that…" She would much prefer the title herself, if not for all that it entailed. No doubt the reason for Kanda's sudden silence was the mulling over of the same thing. She studied his face for a few moments, then sighed, figuring it was a lost cause. Once he entered a resentful trance, it was exceedingly difficult to break him from it. Instead she refocused her attention to the folder.
This mission was going to be difficult and long, likely to stretch on for weeks if not months. Over that course of time they were to collect three fragments of Innocence. Given the varying locations of said fragments, they were in position to travel through areas with a high akuma population, meaning even more work. She sighed, part of her hoping that not all three places had a fragment. If they did, that would make their journey home exceedingly more difficult. There was, after all, a reason only generals carried multiple fragments with them.
There first stop was Spain, where a number of akuma had been rapidly gathering then disappearing, making the most probable explaination Innocence. Then to a small village in Nepal, at the base of the Himlayans, where there was spontaneous changes in weather. Finally, they would venture into a small village town in China. A finder had only recently begun investigating there, but given the oddity of the situation, the likelihood of Innocence was high.
A knock of the door summoned the pair's attention, though Kanda continued to stubbornly stare out the the window, leaving Lenalee to respond.
"Yes?" A finder opened the door.
"We're getting off at this stop" he informed them.
"Thank you." The door closed. She cast a glance at Kanda, who was now scowling at the window.
"Did you hear that?"
"Ya." Heavy silence befell them as they gathered their things. The train drew to a halt a few minutes later and they disembarked.
While not a failure, it was safe to say the mission was not a success. There had been a highly political aspect, given the involvement of a nobleman's daughter. Given Kanda's people skills, that meant any negotiations were up to her. This particular city however was… Old-fashioned. This ultimately made Kanda more angry than Lenalee, so after an attempted execution, they went to the source of the rumors, a stadium. That was also what was drawing in the akuma.
The pair fell into a routine. Lenalee fought off the akuma, while Kanda fought a gladiator whose broadsword was suspected to hold Innocence, thus while he was still alive. After a particularly strenuous round of fighting, Lenalee glanced outside. No more so far. She knelt to catch her breath and glanced at Kanda. He wasn't fairing much better, the gladiator had gotten in a few good hits, and because of the continuous movement, he wasn't regenerating very quickly at all. Another glance behind her showed no signs of akuma. She rose, taking a moment to study their fighting patterns. Then she jumped.
Lenalee shot forward like a bolt of lightning, impacting the man's side midswing. Kanda, having seen the attack coming, thrust Mugen through the man's wrists. The combined attack sent the gladiator one way and his hands, still clinging to his sword, another. No longer connected, to his Innocence, the brief detachment from time hit the man in a wave. He withered away before their eyes, crumpling to ghost of his former glory. Kanda kicked away the decayed hands and went to pick up the sword. Lenalee nudged him away, retrieving it herself.
"You can't carry that thing and fight." He scowled.
"And you can't carry it and heal. Get some rest and you can drag this around to your heart's content for the rest of the mission. He rolled his eyes and they headed for the exit. Wails resounded behind them, causing Lenalee to turn then wince.
"Good luck with that" Kanda called as he unsympathetically continued forward. She would probably need it.
The first assignment in Spain took four days. On the fifth, the pair was joined by three finders, who purchased their own compartment, who would escort them to Nepal.
"You took longer to heal." Lenalee said to the silence a few hours in. Kanda shrugged, but refocused his attention onto her. A few minutes passed, and her fidgeting continued.
"I'm not going to leave you."
"Eh?" This time Kanda broke the silence, capturing the girl's attention.
"Of course you're not, Komui wouldn't have assigned you if he thought-"
"That's not what I meant." Her eyes widened, then lowered to the ground, sheltering the violet beneath a veil of bangs.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"It's been five years, Lenalee, he's not coming back." The tension brought about by that statement was nearly tangible. The screech of the train as it bounded across the rails became near deafening as a result of the lack of noise in the cabin.
"I know. All I wanted was a goodbye…" There was no snarky comment Kanda could make to fix that, he shared similar feelings with a different individual. Instead he rose, and sat beside her. She leaned onto his shoulder. Silently they sat, waiting for a sleep that would not come.