A/N; MERRY CHRISTMAS! Meh, Yuki and Kanda's Christmas is a bit behind schedual so sorry about that and I have a stupid cold that cancels out the fact I now have a working computer. Thank you to everyone who reviewed and I hope this makes you laugh a bit on this happy holiday!
Yuki's experience of travelling by boat was rather fuzzy. Cross seemed to dislike boats in general so she didn't go on them very often while she had been his apprentice. The only other time she had reason to use a boat was during her family's emigration from Japan, which had been well over ten years before. Therefore, it was little surprise that her memory of sea-sickness was also rather dull.
"I take it back," she moaned in Japanese. "I'd rather be bored than sea-sick any day."
At the present time, four days into the journey to America, Yuki hung lifelessly over the side of the ship. She had been there almost constantly, apart from around a few hours the evening before when she had fallen asleep and someone had managed to put her back in the cabin she shared with Kanda. When she had woken up that morning, she'd rushed back onto the deck, feeling sea-sick already.
The sound of chuckling caught Yuki's attention and she opened her bleary eyes. She turned her head slightly as was confronted by gloved two hands offering her a glass of water and two tablets. She raised her head slightly, confusion painted on her face (although it was obscured by the hood of her uniform) to look at the person to whom the hands belonged.
"Sea-sickness remedy," they assured her in accented English. "You look like you could use it."
Relief washed over Yuki as she struggled to stand up without the aid of the ship and took the medicine. It occurred to her momentarily that it could have been something to knock her out or poison her but she quickly decided being unconscious or dead was the better option. After only a few minutes, the remedy began to work and Yuki could stand up without falling over or needing to rush to the side of the ship.
"Thank you so much," she said vehemently to the man. "I'm really not that good with ships."
"I kind of guessed that," he laughed. "I saw you lying there yesterday and when I saw you again today I thought it would be a shame to let you suffer any more."
Yuki laughed nervously, embarrassed by her own weakness.
"I was never actually sick, I just felt very queasy," Yuki told him, carefully omitting the fact this was down to the lack of food that she'd actually consumed recently. "I'm Yuki by the way."
"Tyki Mikk," the man replied, holding out his hand for her to shake.
Yuki shook Tyki's hand, smiling at her good fortune. She had avoided Kanda's company since getting on the ship because she didn't want him to see her while she was sea-sick (he thought she was weak enough as it was) but now not only had she been cured, she got to have a decent conversation with a seemingly nice person. Replaying that last thought in her head, Yuki scanned the guy in front of her. Flawless pale skin, striking brown eyes, a mole under the left eye, handsome face and equally good looking body, dressed as an aristocrat to top it off. Yup, if she was accused of flirting with Damien, Kanda was going to blow a gasket if he saw her talking with this guy. Ah, never mind.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Tyki-san," Yuki replied.
"San?" he repeated, seeming amused. "Two Japanese Exorcists, my, that is a coincidence. I take it you're here on business."
"Yes, we have to go to America and my colleague is Kanda-kun, in case he hasn't introduced himself," Yuki replied, knowing full well he wouldn't have.
"Ah, I suppose you wouldn't be able to tell me what brings you all the way to America?" he hazarded.
Yuki opened her mouth before shutting it quickly, then opened it again to speak. "No, that would be confidential, sorry. Plus, I don't actually remember. We're going to be on this ship for longer than my memory span lasts so I figured I wouldn't bother to remember and just ask Kanda-kun what we're doing when we arrive."
Tyki chuckled lightly. He seemed to do that a lot but to be honest Yuki didn't mind, it was a rather nice sound. It made her wonder what Kanda's laugh sounded like.
"Won't your friend get annoyed?" Tyki asked. "He doesn't seem very patient."
"He isn't," Yuki clarified. "He'll probably shout at me when I do ask but he hates me anyway so what have I honestly got to lose?"
"My, my, you are a strange young girl," Tyki laughed. "I don't think he hates you, he was looking for you after all."
"Looking for me?" Yuki chirped in surprise. "When?"
"About an hour ago."
"That's odd," she mumbled. "Okay, maybe not so odd, I have been MIA for the last four days. Either way I should probably go find him."
"I don't suppose you'd like some company while you search?" he asked politely. "You seem to be the only one on this ship who can hold a decent conversation."
"Yes, please," Yuki replied, also grateful for the company. "I'd lo-"
Suddenly, Yuki stopped speaking, her large blue eyes going blank for a split second. Tyki regarded her carefully but she snapped back to her normal state soon enough.
"Actually, if you don't mind, I'd like to go myself," she corrected herself, smiling apologetically.
"That's quite all right," Tyki replied, though slightly confused.
Yuki smiled and headed off, her normally good-natured smile dropping from her visage. She tugged her hood further over her face, plunging her features in shadow in an attempt to hide her now murderous expression. She shoved her hands in her pockets to prevent them reaching up to her swords before it was necessary and headed towards the nearest set of stairs. She started on the first step down just as Kanda rounded a corner and saw her black Exorcists' coat disappearing down into the floor.
"Oi, gaki!" Kanda shouted.
Against his expectations, the girl ignored him and continued down the stairs. Cursing the gaki's name, he hurried to catch up but only managed to do so when she had made it down two flights of stairs and was well down the hallway. Even then, she didn't stop nor did she turn to speak to Kanda.
"Oi, what's goin-"
"Akuma."
The one word revealed a lot about the situation. The gaki's voice was deeper, meaning the reason Kanda had been so blatantly ignored was because the gaki's more serious side had taken control. For some reason that made him feel more reassured but he pushed that feeling aside and fell into step with the gaki. He stared ahead, trying to pick out anyone who looked suspicious but among the few who littered the hallway, none seemed stand out. Suddenly, the gaki stopped and Kanda had to back track to stand outside the doorway that the gaki was knocking on. A young woman answered the door and Yuki smiled up at her.
"Hello, miss," she said happily. "Do you mind if we come in? Me and my colleague would like to have a chat with you."
The woman smiled nervously but let both Exorcists in none the less. Before another word could be said, Yuki had drawn one of her katana and rushed the woman. Even Kanda was surprised to see the gaki run the woman through so hard she ended up pinned to the wall behind her. The woman screamed, the sound humanoid at first before becoming metallic as the woman became a level one Akuma. Kanda drew Mugen, ready to fight when the play toy of a sword broke like he expected it to.
"Innocence, activate," the gaki muttered.
Slowly, the dark red substance imbedded in grooves in the katana's blade started to glow. It was unnoticeable at first, because of the hue's darkness but it soon because a vibrant blood red and was easily seen. The Akuma continued to scream, thrashing around as it tried to dislodge itself. It seemed to be in more pain that the weapon on its own could warrant and as it tried to grab the blade trust through its body, steam rose from its hands and it let go, its screams even louder than before.
Kanda sheathed Mugen as the Akuma stopped moving and fell limp. He watched it carefully for any move signs of life but it started to dissolve into sand, scattering around the cabin so that it covered everything in a fine layer of dust. Kanda shook his head, dislodging the layer from his head but stopped dead when he heard something click behind him.
Both Exorcists turned slowly, eventually facing the doorway through which they had entered. Outside, a crowd of horrified people had accumulated including the owner's son, Damien. He stood at the front of the crowd, pale and shaking as his wide eyes observed the scene before him. Normally, that wouldn't have bother the Exorcists, being disliked was often a side effect of their job. However, in his trembling hands was a gun – the click had been the young man removing the safety catch.
"You killed her," he breathed out, eyes focused on Yuki. "You murdered that poor woman."
Kanda watched out of the corner of his eye as the gaki walked forward slowly. The young man's grip on the gun tightened, realigning the weapon so that it was aimed solely at her. The gaki's feet were spread apart, her weight equally balanced and her muscles tensed – lesser traits of trained fighter – and Kanda knew that the gaki's serious side had not yet given up control.
"She – it – wasn't human," the gaki told him, her deeper voice holding the tone of a mother explaining something difficult to a child. "It was an Akuma, who stole her life and then used her appearance. That woman was dead long before I destroyed her skin."
"Liar!" Damien cried. "You're the monster, the demon, the Akuma."
"I get that a lot," the gaki replied in a strange monotone.
She took a step forward and swooned slightly although she managed to stay conscious. Kanda found himself moving forward instinctively, grabbing the back of her Exorcists' coat to keep her steady. She regained her balance and nodding towards Kanda in a silent gesture of thanks before turning back to Damien.
"But think of it this way," the gaki continued. "If Kanda-kun or I hadn't stopped her, then this entire ship would be filled with corpses."
The young man flinched but kept the gun trained on Yuki. A gloves hand reached and steadied Damien's hands. His wide, frightened eyes turned to the person as their other hand rested on his shoulder. Yuki blinked to see Tyki by Damien's side, shaking his head in an assuring manner as he removed the gun from the young man's hands. Kanda watched this newcomer carefully but the gaki relaxed, losing her fighters' stance.
Tyki led Damien away and the crowd dispersed, mixed reactions showing in their expressions as they left. Kanda turned to question Yuki just as she swooned and almost fell to the floor. This time, Kanda managed to catch himself before he moved forward.
"Oi, what's the matter with you?" he snapped instead, pleased that no concern entered his voice.
"Sorry, Kanda-kun, I haven't eaten in a while," the gaki replied, her voice back to normal.
He scoffed but watched her carefully as she walked towards the now vacant wall and withdrew the katana driven into it. As she wrapped her tiny fingers around the hilt, the red substance stopped glowing and became that dull ruby red from before. The intricate blade disappeared into its sheath and the gaki moved back towards Kanda.
"Ne, Kanda-kun," the gaki asked. "Where can I get some food?"
Kanda rolled his eyes but silently led the way to a serve-yourself restaurant and watched as the gaki chose a surprisingly little amount. He sighed and grabbed a tray, getting himself a meal, duplicating whatever the gaki got.
"Ne, Kanda-kun, I thought you only like soba?" the gaki questioned once they were seated.
"I do, it's for you," Kanda replied gruffly, pushing the tray towards her side of the table.
The gaki's hood was down and he could see the colour drain from her already rather pale face before a blush over took her face.
"It's all right, I'm not hungry," she mumbled.
"You just said you haven't eaten for a while."
The blush deepened slightly. "Yeah, well, but I'm not that hungry."
"When was the last time you ate?"
Crimson by now. "Around six days ago."
Kanda didn't speak any further, he simply waited for the gaki to finish eating. In truth, he was a little stunned. He knew that the moyashi wouldn't skip a meal if he could help it, let alone go six days without eating and still restrain himself to a normal sized meal afterwards.
"Ne, Kanda-kun," Yuki asked as the silence continued. "You haven't asked about my Innocence yet."
Kanda stared blankly at the gaki.
"Aren't you curious?" she asked. "Most people ask loads of questions."
Kanda continued to portray a nonchalant expression and Yuki decided he would be the first not to ask. She finished her meal and then Kanda's, grateful that he had gotten the second meal. She didn't like to look greedy, it might have been alright for Allen to scoff food like no tomorrow but he was a guy and, beyond the politeness Mana had instilled in him, he was fairly oblivious to what people thought of him anyway. Yuki however had been brought up to be self-conscious and was glad to eat a good amount of food without looking greedy. Even if she was still hungry.
"I'll ask only one."
The gaki looked up, sapphire-blue eyes trained to the samurai's face.
"What was that red stuff?" he asked.
The gaki smiled. Not her normal smile. The smile he had seen briefly on the train on that first mission. There was no brightness in it, but a mischievous glint that bordered on malice that was reflected in her large eyes.
"That? That was my blood."
A/N; Okay, I know that Krory's Innocence is in his blood as well but this is different and in my defence I did come up with the idea before I knew the nature of Krory's Innocence (completely disregarding the fact I could just change Yuki's Innocence but I like the idea so I'm sticking with it.) So sorry to anyone who doesn't like it. Once again, no proof-reading, please tell me any slip ups.