Chapter Nine – Return
Allen gave a hard cough, Shiori a yelp, and Emile a faint groan as they slammed to the floor with dull thuds. Yelping and shouting followed shortly after as Kanda fell out of midair and thudded to the ground on top of Allen, forcing what little breath he had left out of his lungs. Kanda grunted as he came awake and pushed himself off of the two now unconscious exorcists and dazed, then brushed long dark bangs out of his face. He didn't feel too bad, thanks to the wolf, Finder, and Moyashi breaking his fall, and he only had some scrapes and bumps that had already healed, but the other three would probably need to spend time in the infirmary. Scoffing he grabbed Shiori's collar and yanked her across his shoulders like before, then moved to grab Allen's arm. A voice that never failed to grate on his nerves made him twitch.
"Yuu! You're back from the mission! You better go talk to Komui! And there's someone else you should—" Lavi exclaimed in a quick stream of words, but was cut off roughly by Kanda.
"Shut up, idiot, and help me get these three to the Infirmary." Lavi finally noticed the wolf's limp body that was slung across Kanda's shoulders like a sack, and that Allen was lying still on the floor. The redhead rushed over to his friend, grabbed his right arm, and slung it over his shoulder. A flash of gold made Lavi jump slightly as he bent to grip Emile's arm.
"Lavi...we got the Innocence," Allen croaked weakly as he opened his eyes a few inches. The redhead looked over at Allen and saw the golden golem nestled calmly in Allen's white hair. "Timcampy has it," he murmured sleepily as his eyes slid shut. Lavi stiffened in concern, but then realized that Allen had just nodded off from exhaustion, and the white haired exorcist's shoes scraped the floor as he was dragged down the hallway. Lavi had Emile's left arm across his shoulders but the Finder was managing to stumble along using Lavi for support. Lavi tried to quicken his pace when he felt something getting his clothes wet—blood, probably from both Allen and Emile. He hadn't seen how badly they'd been hurt but judging by the blood it seemed pretty bad.
"So, Yuu, you got the Innocence, but what happened to the Finder? He looks like he tried to fight with you guys." Kanda's teeth ground together as he glared over at Emile.
"The Finder was replaced some time during the mission by a Noah." He scowled. "I can see those two not noticing but I can't believe I didn't. Their stupidity must be rubbing off on me." Lavi's eyes narrowed as he glared at Kanda.
"F-forgive me...Master Kanda..." The swordsman scowled at Emile as he gave an apology in a weak voice. "I failed to do my job, and what's worse I also failed to make yours easier."
"Damn right you did. You're supposed to help us find Innocence, not help us lose them." Emile looked at the ground and didn't reply.
Wait just a second. I dropped the Innocence, not Emile. A tired, but annoyed voice sounded in Kanda's head, making him flinch in surprise.
"What's the matter?" Lavi asked, giving Kanda a questioning look.
"Nothing...let's keep going." Why can I hear that mutt's voice?
Don't ask me. Oh wait, it's because I bit your sword when it was activated! I forgot about that.
...So I not only have to see you but hear you as well?
Yes. I don't know any way to undo this.
Just be quiet. You had better not have fleas.
Oh, you hate fleas, huh?
Everyone hates fleas!
What did the fleas ever do to you?
Do you have them or not?
Relax. I got rid of them years ago.
To Kanda's relief, they had reached the Infirmary and he quickly put the wolf down on an empty bed while Lavi headed towards two others that were empty. Matron and Komui glanced up sharply, and Komui saw who Kanda and Lavi were setting on three of the beds and his expression became grave. Matron saw them as well and, not wasting any time, hurried over to Allen and immediately began assessing his injuries. She pulled off his exorcist jacket and began. She saw that he had scrapes and bruises, then ran her fingers along his right arm to check for broken bones. Finding none she moved her hand to his left arm and pressed it with her fingers gently, then checked his hand the same way. Kanda left, muttering about 'stupid dogs and fleas'.
"Severe lacerations, three broken fingers, and a broken wrist." Her fingers travelled to his head, where she felt a bump near the back of his neck that was the size of a fist-sized rock. "Minor concussion, probably." Matron pried Allen's eyes open gently and checked his pupils. "He seems fine, but will probably be a little confused when he wakes up. He got hit hard there. Supervisor, check her, will you? And Lavi, check the Finder." The woman gave out the orders smoothly, without stopping what she was doing, and they darted over to the wolf without any second asking. Shiori lay on her left side on the bed, her head resting where a person's feet would be. Komui took her right front paw carefully in his hand and stroked it a little. Shiori gave a weak whine, and his suspicions were confirmed; her wrist was bent a little oddly, and he guessed her leg was broken. He noticed he'd barely been able to hear her whines of pain when he touched her paw, too, and figured out why since her Innocence was her voice—it seemed like she'd used it a lot while on the mission when she wasn't used to doing so repeatedly. Looking up Komui saw that Matron had just finished cleaning Allen's scrapes and was bandaging them.
Lavi strode over to Emile and carefully pulled him to a sitting position. He pulled off the long tan Finder's jacket and white mouth cover, which were both ripped and bloody, to see how badly he'd been hurt. Throwing the articles of clothing on the floor Lavi pulled up Emile's white sleeves and checked for broken bones and stopped prodding the left arm when it twitched away from him reflexively. "I think Emile's left arm is broken, and..." Lavi stared down at the white sheets and gave a start as he saw they had been soaking up blood and were now practically dripping in the sticky red liquid. He didn't have to look far for the source; long gashes had been ripped in both Emile's black dress pants and his skin. The redhead noticed the Finder's right ankle was bent in an odd way. Blood had stained the Finder's brown hair and Lavi immediately found a vertical cut running down the left side of his face, starting at the hairline, running past his ear to the beginning of his jaw line.
"Kimura's left front leg is broken and her voice seems to have been strained. Her paws are also torn slightly, but the bleeding seems to have stopped," Komui reported quickly but clearly. "What about Emile, Lavi?"
"Well...broken left arm, broken right ankle, cuts in his legs and a deep cut on the left side of his head." Matron had taken the Allen's left arm and was setting his forefinger, middle finger, and thumb. She put padded splints on each of them when she'd finished setting them, then wrapped thick white bandages around each of them and moved to his wrist and began to set it. She nodded her head towards an ice pack that was lying on the tray next to Allen's bed.
"Thank you, Supervisor. Put that on his head and I'll fix him up once I'm done with his wrist." Komui quickly obliged. "And Lavi, try and stop the bleeding on his injuries." Lavi found some large pieces of gauze around the size of hand towels and pressed them to the gashes on Emile's legs and pressed another to the one on his head. At first the blood just kept streaming out no matter how hard Lavi pressed but soon the blood flow began to lessen. In his sleep Allen twitched and gave a grunt of pain as Matron put the bones in his left wrist back in place, put a splint against his arm, and started to wrap bandages tightly around it. Once she was done Matron started treating Shiori. Komui remembered seeing a slightly-beaten up (and disgusted, for some reason) Kanda at the door, but he was nowhere to be seen now. Lavi glanced towards the door and chuckled slightly as he changed the blood-soaked gauze for some fresh pieces.
"Oh, that Yuu. Wanted to get out of here ASAP. He didn't seem as badly injured as any of them...and I doubt he'd sit still long enough to get a checkup anyway." Komui noticed Timcampy was nestled in Lavi's palm, and as he watched the golden golem shuddered, then coughed something up into the red-haired exorcist's left hand. "Thanks, Timcampy. They managed to get it back from that Noah Lulubell after she swiped it from them." Komui stiffened and narrowed his eyes; it had been too close a call. "Kanda told me as much before he left."
"Do you mind taking it to Hevlaska, Lavi?" Komui asked as Matron finished treating Shiori. She rushed over to Emile and took over for Lavi, who stood and stretched.
"Nope, I'll be right back. Look after those guys. After I go to Hevlaska I'm going to tell Lenalee and everyone they're back." Komui lifted a hand cheerfully and waved as Lavi left the infirmary with the glowing Innocence in his hand.
"Hey...where's the Innocence...?" Allen murmured, but sounded like he was sleep-taking.
"Lavi has it," Komui explained calmly, even if he was asleep. "He took it to Hevlaska." By the time Lavi returned with Lenalee and Miranda, Allen was in a deep sleep and Matron had set Shiori's broken bones and given her a drink that would help her throat and make her sleep better. While they were waiting Komui suggested that Shiori practice singing everyday so she could make her voice stronger, which would prevent any problems when she was on the battlefield. If her voice was stronger she could keep her Innocence activated for longer and have quicker recovery times if she strained her voice like today.
Lavi returned shortly after that with Kanda and Lenalee trailing behind him. Lavi had managed to coax Kanda back because another firsthand account of what happened on the mission was needed. Komui passed the ice pack to Lenalee, and she curled her fingers around the back of Allen's neck and lifted his head before pressing the ice pack to the swelling on the back of his head. Her ears intently tuned in as her older brother began questioning the Japanese exorcist.
"So the Finder that accompanied you was attacked and then impersonated by Lulubell?" Komui asked, a feeling of apprehension knotting in his stomach.
"Yes," Kanda replied, looking touchy.
"And how did you get back here, if it wasn't the train?"
"We fell through a portal," Kanda said shortly, leaving Komui to figure out what that meant on his own.
"Road," Allen's voice suddenly whispered, and everyone in the room turned their heads toward him; he seemed to have been dozing instead of sleeping. "She can create portals. Could it have been her?" Komui shook his head and held up a hand—he knew exactly how they'd gotten back but had wanted to their account of what happened.
"I wouldn't start panicking yet, Allen-kun. Since we were all so busy treating you we didn't get a chance to tell you. There's someone I want you to meet." He looked towards the door and called, "Kisho, come in now." A boy of around fourteen with chestnut brown, stringy hair entered and glanced around the room carefully. At first glance he appeared to be carefree but upon closer inspection his eyebrows were dipped slightly, showing he was wary of the people around him. His clothes consisted of a white Chinese shirt with black buttons, dark blue pants, and black shoes. Kanda narrowed his eyes as he studied the kid's features: sharp, dark brown eyes that seemed analyzing and confident even though he was in an unfamiliar place. His face was devoid of any lingering baby fat but still looked childish—the kid was in his young teens after all and Kanda hated that about this kid and Shiori—they were just brats running around pretending to be exorcists. Kanda suddenly noticed that something resembling a sickle with a two or three foot long wooden handle was tied to his back with a thick brown strap. The sickle itself was wrapped in a thick black cloth.
"What are you doing here, brat?" Kisho glanced towards Kanda and raised an eyebrow. "You don't look fit to be anything but a Finder," Kanda scoffed, his teeth gritted. Kisho turned slowly towards Kanda and locked eyes with him, studying the older male's face carefully. Kanda was much taller than Kisho—the young teenager's head only came up to Kanda's chest, but Kisho didn't seem intimidated. He gave a slight grin, one that showed self-assurance rather than arrogance. Shiori raised her head and pricked her ears as she finally realized who the newcomer was, but couldn't believe her eyes.
"Well, I'm not a Finder—I'm an exorcist."
A vein began throbbing on the Kanda's head as Kisho laughed. The swordsman was about to reach for Mugen but Komui stepped between the two, saving Kisho the trouble of dealing with the angry exorcist. Even if the kid had avoided a slash from Mugen it would be conflict they could avoid.
"Settle down. I haven't even introduced you all yet. Try and save the bloodshed for later, please," Komui said firmly, and Kanda scoffed again. "Everyone, this is Kisho Morioka. According to his report, you should know him, Shiori." Kisho finally looked towards the black-furred wolf lying on a bed and his eyes widened.
Kisho! Allen, Lenalee, and Miranda jumped as Shiori's excited voice echoed in their heads. Komui and Kisho gave them strange looks. Kanda gave Shiori a scathing look—he could now hear her too, but wished he couldn't and hated Shiori for preventing him from killing Emile to make sure they weren't attacked again. It was hard enough being around Shiori without her thoughts barging in on his.
"Shiori, do you know him?" Miranda asked.
Yes! I haven't seen him for years!
"Shiori, is that really you? I guess...I thought you were someone's pet or something. You look older even though it's hard to tell how old you are." Kisho pushed past Lavi, Komui, and Miranda in his haste to reach her. "Kimura Shiori?" Shiori licked her brother's face and wagged her tail furiously. "No way! Shiori! I knew what happened to you—I mean, that you weren't human anymore—but I never knew you ended up here...it's been ages..." Allen stared dumbly as the kid raised his hand and brought it down hard on Shiori's head. "You IDIOT! Why weren't you at the China Branch!" Kisho yelled loudly, startling everyone. "It's closer to Japan! Didn't Tiedoll mention it was nearby? Or were you not listening?" Kanda gave the slightest smirk and Lavi burst out laughing, while Shiori whined and lowered her head, which caught Lenalee's interest—in the presence of Kisho she seemed a lot meeker than normal. If anyone else had said something like that to her Shiori would have acted like she hadn't heard anything, or said something rude back...or growled back, rather. Komui stepped forward and put a hand on Kisho's shoulder.
"Kisho, calm down. You can talk about this later—they need to get rest now. I'm glad to see that you made it here safely. How was everyone at the China Branch?" Kisho looked over his shoulder and up at Komui.
"They're fine, and they helped me out a lot. I'm glad Cloud Nyne took me there...too bad a certain someone else wasn't there too." Shiori lowered her ears, looking humiliated and guilty. Lavi started laughing again. Kisho thought the main branch of The Black Order was impressive but he liked the easy accessibility to the China Branch—it was in a quiet bamboo grove and didn't require climbing to reach. Kisho had used the sickle on his back as a sort of climbing hook as he scaled the long cliff to the main Black Order Branch. Bak told him he didn't have to go there to be trained as an exorcist, but when he heard that Shiori was there, he made up his mind to go. Shiori lifted her head and nudged Kisho's face with her nose, causing him to splutter and step away.
"Well, I guess it doesn't matter now. That general—Tiedoll—came by a few times—the first time about a year ago and the second a few months ago—and told us you were doing alright. I was mad at you for leaving, but I'm an exorcist too, now. I guess I understand now that you had to go. We can hang out like we always did, right? Hey, are you going to be a wolf forever? Tiedoll said if you used your Innocence enough you could go back to human again." Komui interrupted the new exorcist again and received a questioning look.
"Kisho," Komui said sternly, and the teenager reluctantly fell silent and began listening. "You know Shiori already, it seems, so I'll introduce everyone else. This is Lenalee, my younger sister." Lenalee gave a polite smile and Kisho returned it. "This is Lavi, apprentice to Bookman. He's a good ally to have. You'll meet Bookman another time."
"Yo," Lavi said unceremoniously, flicking his hand in a gesture Kisho assumed was a wave.
"That is Kanda, and if he lets you, you'll learn more about him later."
"Not likely," Kanda scoffed, then left the room. Komui smiled faintly and shook his head, then gestured towards Miranda, who smiled shyly and nodded at Kisho, who nodded back and gave her a friendly look.
"This is Miranda Lotto. She's very reliable in battle and I trust you'll get along well with her." The German woman blushed and looked at her feet, and Komui turned to Allen.
"This is Allen Walker. He's also been a good asset to The Black Order." The white-haired teenager smiled slightly and Kisho glanced at him briefly and nodded in greeting before looking at Komui again. "They just got back from a mission, and are injured and tired; they need to rest for a while. Don't you want to see the rest of the Order and your room now?" Kisho shrugged his shoulders with his arms still crossed.
"Alright," Kisho replied slowly. His eyes were hesitant—he wanted to talk to Shiori more about what she'd been doing the past two years—but he didn't want to be the reason Allen and Shiori didn't heal properly so he agreed to leave. Komui waved to the exorcists and followed Kisho out of the room.
Shiori's dark eyes had been studying her brother for the past few minutes. Kisho was confident (too confident, and annoying, some would say) and loved to speak his mind—loudly—but Shiori knew well that her friend was a considerate person. Even though Kisho tried to hide it he was a bit of a softie. It's so good to see him again. Shiori thought, causing Allen and Lenalee to smile softly.
"Shiori…what did Kanda say before? It was something about…um, fleas?" Lenalee asked cautiously, and suddenly Shiori realized why she had been keeping her distance. Lavi leaned away from the wolf, who lifted her head in surprise, then groaned and lowered her head sourly.
I do not have fleas. Just like I told Kanda, I got rid of them! She narrowed her eyes. A long time ago, too!
"Of course you don't have fleas," Allen said evilly, his sinister card face on. "I'm sure we can schedule a flea bath for you. And maybe Komui can design an exorcist flea collar as well." Shiori barked loudly and pinned her ears in frustration.
Shut up!
New Author's Note: EDIT—I noticed I made Miranda say she could hear Shiori even though she can't yet…. (Slaps forehead) But I found that little problem and just fixed it. If anyone noticed, good for you, because I didn't for ages and this chapter was released years ago. Embarrassing. XD And I had Shiori call Kisho an 'old friend' but changed it to 'brother'. I guess your siblings can be your friends but usually you don't call them that, so I changed that, too.
Old Author's Note: Might have been a weird place to leave off but it wasn't really a cliffhanger this time. I cut it off there because the chapter would have been too long otherwise.
It's been a few chapters since I did an Author's Note...but I want to say that this chapter is special because it's being uploaded from Taiwan! That's right, I'm in Taiwan! I applied and got a scholarship for two months there and I left the U.S. July 2nd and got to Taiwan July 3rd. I started editing this Tuesday, 10:41 PM, 8:43 AM where I live (Mountain Time) and finished editing it today, July 10, 2009, Friday. It's very hot and humid here and has rained hard a few times this week (rare for where I live except it's been rainy there too for a while. We have a lot of new flowers because of it). Mostly it's been really sunny and still hot in Taiwan this week. I just started taking Mandarin Chinese classes today. The class was alright but when I met my study partner and studied that was fun. I think I'm starting to understand the accent a little already.
Well, hope you liked the chapter. Good night from Taiwan for now. Wan an! (Goodnight!)