Disclaimer: I don't own D. Gray-man. I could never have created something as cool as that.
A/N: Taking a break. This is a crack pairing and just something to update. Review if you would like me to continue.
NOTE!!!!!!!! Updates are going to be slow since my stupid ass siblings just fucked up the computer- AGAIN! Until it crashes, I'll try to update as many stories as possible. I haven't gone writer's block or lost interest or anything. It's just this the only computer I have and my siblings are idiots. Sad to say but it's true.
Answers to reviews:
f4aw2v: …. Sigh, I wish. And it wasn't my brother. It was my stupid, immature, OLDER sister who ruined it. And yes, he was. :3
nmshy: Thanks!
Isa: Thank you! As always, your words fill me with such inspiration. (Glad to hear it. Mine was simple, but I got what I wanted so it was good all the same)
MiranKaya: This chapter was inspired by the first opening of the show, when Tyki comes out then Miranda. They made it seemed like they had something together so I was very disappointed when they didn't : And no, you're not greedy.
RyosukeofDark: Yeah, I had my muse give me that idea. And no, Tyki-pon wasn't a rapist but his attentions to Miranda did cause some bad circumstances.
mizikisan: Thank you very much! I'm glad you like this story so much.
Erika Hearken: Thank you!
"What if I told you I loved you?"
From the moment he said it, I knew it couldn't be true. It was just simply to much to ask. And in my already dreary life, I knew such a thing couldn't be honest. I just knew. And yet, I couldn't help but wish with all my heart, that maybe, he was telling the truth. I yearned to dream, hoped to dream.
Months passed and they were blissful, everything I imagine. However, my thoughts continued to wonder… why me? Of all the women he could have had, why me? What was so special about me?
But then his family came and showed what I already knew. How insignificant I am, how stupid. For such incompetence, I received these scars, these horrible marks of dishonor on my hands.
When Miranda woke up, she realized she was crying. She remembered now why she no longer trusted men, why she feared them. Why she refused to ever speak to one in person.
But then she met Kanda and everything turned around on itself. Her vows forgotten, she began to wish again, to foolishly desire something lesser than before but might as well be the same - friendship, believing she was now strong enough to achieve that much.
She sat up, wiping at her tears, starting at what she saw. Though years old, her scars had opened, seeping blood. She stared, unbelieving what she saw. Could this really be happening? Could this be a premonition of some kind?
Miranda wouldn't be surprised if it was.
The door opened and she started, hiding her hands underneath the sheets. Inside came Lavi, smiling warmly at her and holding a bowl filled of sweet smelling water and some salts.
"Hey, Miranda. Good morning," he greeted, walking towards her. "I was just going to wake you up."
"G-good morning, Lavi," she said, giving a smile she did not feel. "How long has it been-"
"Since you were knocked out cold, I'd say a few hours. Lenalee and the others had to go help with the tournament so it's just you and me for a while," Lavi told her, coming to put the items on the side table by the bed. "Are you feeling better now, Miranda?"
"Yes. I don't know what went over me. I guess I was simply exhausted."
"Really?" Lavi's voice took a tone of puzzlement. "Lenalee had said you fainted after getting a phone call. She assumed it was someone you didn't want to hear from."
Miranda grew quiet. She wrung the sheets in her bloody hands, ruining them with stains of red. She wanted to run away, hoping against hope that this was all a dream, that she didn't have to explain her past foolishness to any one.
But that was never the case and she opened her mouth to tell the story.
Lavi patted her head fondly, quieting whatever words she was going to say. "You know, I want to be a historian, just like the man who adopted me," he said to her, in such a soothing voice it was hard to resist its effects. She melted anyway, underneath this man's comforting presence. "I'm a very curious person," he admitted too, "but not enough to force people to tell me stuff they don't want to talk about. So you don't have to tell me something if you don't want to. But if you feel if you have to, if you need to have someone hear it, I promise I wont judge you, 'kay ?"
She looked up, her eyes brimming with unshed. Biting her lip, she shook her head. "I want to," she said. "But I_"
"Right. You're not ready. But how about first we take care of these first." Carefully, he lifted her bleeding hands from the mess in the sheets, and got out a roll of bandages from inside his coat. "Then afterwards, how about we get something to eat, huh? I bet you're starve. Oh, and I forgot to mention Allen's still here. Hopefully he hasn't eaten everything in Jerry's kitchen yet."
Listening to his continuous talk and watching as he fixed the bandages over her scars, Miranda smiled and nodded. "Yes. Let's go get breakfast."
---
The cafeteria was empty except for Allen, stuffing his face like Lavi predicted. The white haired British boy waved them over to where he sat, surrounded by plates of food and empty ones.
Swallowing, he greeted, "Good morning, Miranda. Are you feeling better?"
"Uh, yes. I am," Miranda said, feeling a little embarrassed. She wondered if everyone knew she had fainted. But then she realized that Lavi probably had told him.
"Beware, Miranda. You're going to be the center of attention for a little while," Lavi warned, stealing a plate from Allen's pile and putting it before the young woman.
"Eh? Why!" she demanded hysterically. "Surely fainting shouldn't be-"
"No. It's not that you fainted in the hall," the redhead told her. "If you want someone to blame, blame Yu for not wearing a shirt when he arrived you to the infirmary AND not letting Lenalee cover you up when he took you."
"Don't worry, though. No one saw past your legs but you might want to avoid Professor Cross for a while," Allen said, chewing dango off the stick. "Better yet, just stay with one of us for a while, just in case."
Miranda felt like her face was on fire. Sure she had changed clothes before coming to the cafeteria, but she might as well hadn't. Already she could feel the weight of the humiliation, felt almost ready to faint again.
Lavi patted her head and in her brief moment of surprise, slipped a spoonful of oatmeal into her mouth. "Just chew and swallow, Miranda," he said to her. "Lenalee said to take it easy and so after breakfast we'll be going somewhere."
Swallowing, she asked, "Where exactly?"
"Well, since it's Halloween, we might as well get you a costume for tonight."
That took a while to process. Then…
"EHHHHHH??!!!"
----
Obviously, Lavi hadn't taken her to all the stores that day. She couldn't comprehend the vastness of them all, and she barely knew what most of them were for.
Lavi and Allen took her to a small little shop not quite far from the school. It was a bit shady looking and there was a strange smell in the air that smelled suspicious. But the two boys felt quite at home and she decided to trust them.
"Hey, Lavi, Allen! It's been awhile. How are you two doing?" the owner of the shop greeted them. He was quite young, probably a few years younger than Lavi but older than Allen, with brown frizzy hair and swirl-ly glasses. He came up to them in a wheelchair, the cast on his leg speaking of recent injury.
"Hey Johnny!" Allen shook the boy's hand while Lavi gave him a lopsided hug.
"Didn't think you be opened today, with it being Halloween and all," Lavi said, pulling away.
"Are you kidding? Today is when I get the best business. Late buyers, you know. And besides, I didn't have enough cash to go see Kanda." The boy peeked over and saw Miranda. "Oh, who's this?"
"The most important reason we're here!" The two boys grabbed each side of her and introduced her. "This is Miranda. Miranda, this is Johnny, the best costume maker on the world and the fastest too!"
"Now you're just exaggerating," Johnny scoffed but he flushed with pride. The two greeted each other politely. "So I take it you're here for a last minute costume?" he asked, taking out a measuring tape.
"But I already have a costume-" Miranda was cut off when Lavi covered her mouth.
"Yep!" Lavi said cheerfully, cutting her off. "And one to make her the cutest in the world!"
"L-Lavi," Miranda stuttered, blushing madly. "I don't think…!" She squeaked when Johnny suddenly put his face real close to hers. She hadn't even heard his wheelchair move.
"Hmm…" The boy scrutinized her closely. He began to measure her, taking down her measurements silently on a notepad he took out and occasionally asked Miranda to lift a limb or stand in a certain way. She stood still as a marionette, obeying every one of the boy's commands.
Finally, Johnny wheeled himself to the back of the shop, on his way taking necessary items, like cloth and stitching. Before closing the door, he called out, "Be back in an hour. I'll have the basic fitting done by then."
"There he goes," Lavi grinned. "Well, let's go. Johnny doesn't like to be disturbed while he's weaving. Makes him feel nervous if we crowd around him. I'd say he be done in half an hour. What do you say? Want to hang out at the bookstore?"
"But-but I already have a costume!" Miranda protested, stopping the two boys on their way out. "You saw it when you went through my closet!"
"Yeah, but you don't have one that's made by Johnny," the redhead pointed out. Then he patted her head fondly. "Don't worry. Johnny's going to make it cute, not slutty. He's not that kind of costume maker. The only times he makes those are when the shop is doing bad and he's desperate."
"But still… I cant keep receiving these kind gifts from you. You've already given me too much than I deserve."
"But I haven't given you anything so that's why I'm paying for this," Allen said, surprising her.
"You are?" Miranda repeated a bit dumbly and stopped. There was something in his gray eyes. Something like… guilt?
"Let's go the bookstore that has the café. I'm starved." Suddenly moving away from her line of sight, the British boy led the way.
"What? But we just ate thirty minutes ago!" Lavi said incredulously.
---
The team had won. They were going to the next round of the tournament. It was a cause for celebration. Everyone else sure was. The team had already dispersed, each member going to find a different way to celebrate.
All but one.
Yu Kanda, the captain of the kendo team, was in a very bad mood. Not the one to celebrate a hard earned victory, he usually gave a nod of acceptance to his team and leave. But today, he lingered, glaring profusely at the locker in front of him. His mood had been the same since this morning and nothing seemed to lessen it or improve it.
The bad part was no one knew why. Not his teammates, his master, no one. In the end, however, it didn't matter as uch. Especially since his foul temper was partly the reason why so many of their opponents lost. Stiffened by instinctive fear, they couldn't move and therefore couldn't defend when the young man attacked.
The problem was, however, that not even Kanda knew the true cause of his anger. Was it because when he saw that expression on her face, that horrible look of terror mixed with undeniable longing?
He hadn't known the college partner that had been assigned to him for long, but he knew her long enough to know this: he didn't like seeing that expression, not on her.
Kanda growled silently and exited the locker room. He was in such a haste, he nearly missed the person who was waiting for him.
"Hey! Kanda! Wait up!" Lenalee ran after the fuming young man.
"What?" he demanded, but didn't turn around.
"Now is that the way you greet a friend?" the girl scolded, hitting him over the head with her clipboard. "Fine then. I wont tell you what Allen told me about Miranda's early bird caller."
That got his attention, as he swirled around to face her. "What?" he said, nearly yelling it. "What did that bean sprout say to you?" He grabbed her shoulders as he demanded to hear the information.
"Number one, his name is Allen, and number two, do you really want to know?" Lenalee asked him quizzically. "It's Miranda's business after all."
His brow twitched with irritation. "Then why mention this to me if you weren't going to tell me?"
"Maybe just tell you a little," she retaliated. "Since you seem to really care about Miranda a lot."
"What? No I don't!" The response had been immediate, like from a young boy who wouldn't openly admit a crush. Kanda had realized this and his scowl turned fierce.
"Really? You don't?" Lenalee looked at him knowingly. "But maybe I'll tell you anyways, if I have some extra provocation…" She trailed off and Kanda sighed.
"Fine. What do you want?"
"A new pair of ballet shoes and for you to be nicer to Allen."
Kanda tsked in anger, knowing the last had been deliberate. "Fine and I'll try on the last one. But I'm not making a promise," he muttered. "Now tell me. Who called Miranda this morning?"
The Chinese girl looked at her friend, wondering for the moment how he was going to take this news. Especially if her hunch was right and Kanda liked the young German woman. Steeling her resolve, she told him.
"It was…"
---
"Miranda, can I talk to you alone?"
"Eh?" Miranda looked towards the British boy. They were currently on their way back to the dorms, Miranda's costume in tow to be in time for the kendo team's arrival. "S-sure."
Allen looked towards Lavi and Lavi, interpreting that look, smiled in response. "I'll go up ahead then. don't be long." With that reply, he went on ahead, leaving the two alone.
When he was sure the nosy Lavi wasn't in earshot, Allen stopped walking and turned towards her. "I take it you know from Lavi a part of my history," he began and continued when she nodded. "Well, I lived with a foster father by the name of Mana, who died of natural causes five years ago."
"I'm sorry to hear it," Miranda told him, feeling great sympathy for the boy.
"Thanks but you don't have to be courteous. You didn't know him or me." He smiled. "I lived with my second foster father, the man you know as Professor Cross Marian, ever since. But before that, long before Mana came to my life and adopted me, I was the abandoned son of a noble family, who continue to have much influence to this day." He glanced at her. "I think you worked for them once, if I remember."
"You…you don't say," she whispered, beginning to understand where he was going with this, what he wanted to say to her.
"Miranda, believe me when I saw I didn't know about my family or their doings at the time. And neither did he." Sighing, Allen said in a bit of a rush, "My Brother, Tyki, is transferring to this school this Monday. He wanted me to tell you, that he still loves you, even if you don't feel the same."