Disclaimer: D. Gray Man is Hoshino Katsura's property.
Chapter 12
The current situation at the Black Order was chaotic since the group of Exorcists had returned from Japan through the Ark. Leverrier and his dogs had taken control all over the place and all decisions weren't up to Komui anymore. The Chinese man was sitting at his desk, thinking about the recent events and the situation at the moment.
As soon as Allen, or rather, the 14th had crossed the Ark, he had been taken away by guards on Leverrier's orders. Komui had managed to convince him to treat Allen's wounds before doing anything else, but the supervisor blamed himself for not being able to help the boy more. Right now, Allen was locked in a cell, and only got out to undergo interrogations.
There was Miranda too. None really had had time to mourn her death since her body had been taken right away to be burnt. At least, Komui had been able to perform a small ceremony for her, though not many people attended given the circumstances. And even fewer people actually knew that she had sacrificed her life to give the other Exorcists a chance to escape.
Then there were Lavi, Lenalee and Kanda. Each of them were locked in separate cells, their Innocence kept by the guards who watched the doors of their cells. The last time Komui went to visit them, Lenalee was depressed, mainly because of Miranda's death and the fact that Allen was imprisoned as well. Lavi was more or less in the same state, and he knew that his mentor couldn't do much to get him out of that mess. It was lucky enough that Bookman wasn't charged with anything, due to his position which wasn't really that of an Exorcist, and thus, not under Leverrier's hierarchy. As for Kanda, Komui couldn't say much about him. When he had asked the Japanese man if he was alright, he merely shrugged with the usual scowl on his face. Komui hadn't insisted.
And last of all, there was Cross Marian. Who had simply vanished from the Order. Which had put Leverrier in a state of undescribable fury. As a result, all four Generals were absent, since the three others were on missions.
"Supervisor Komui." A voice called out.
Komui raised his head. It was one of Leverrier's watchdogs, they were all over the place, keeping watch on every living person within the Order's grounds. He sighed.
"Yes?"
"Leverrier requires your presence at his office now, if you please." The guard said flatly.
"Fine."
He got up and followed the other man to Leverrier's office. In the room, there were several other guards, including Link, but the only person Komui's eyes actually locked on was the 14th.
He was standing in the middle of the room, with the huge seals Komui had once seen on Allen's arms to conceal his Innocence, though this time, the seals were also all over his body. The Noah didn't look frightened or worried, instead, he was rather bored, acting as if the situation was of no importance to him. However, Komui could see on his face that he wasn't completely healed. It seemed that Leverrier had ordered the doctors to give him the minimum treatments in order for him to survive. It made Komui clench his fists.
"Good afternoon, Komui. Take a seat." Leverrier's sickly sweet voice rose. Komui complied.
"Well, I called you here because I thought you would like to attend the interrogation of Sir Allen Walker, alias the 14th." He went on.
"Please don't say it like the boy and I were the same person." The 14th said casually.
Leverrier glared at him.
"You don't seem to understand the situation you're in, 14th." He snapped. "I strongly advise you not to open your mouth unless I order you to speak."
"Yes, yes. I got it." The 14th sighed deeply.
"Very well. Let's start now. I'll be blunt: where are the Noahs hiding right now?"
The 14th opened his eyes wide, kept silent for a few seconds as if he had never heard a more stupid question than this one. Then he forced a small laugh:
"Hey, now. You don't seriously think I know in which mansion the Earl moved after we destroyed the one in Japan? I already told you they don't really consider me to be on their side."
"Wrong answer." Leverrier merely said, then glanced at Link who nodded curtly, joined his hands together and pronounced something Komui identified as a sort of short incantation. He didn't have to wait long to know what it was supposed to do, since a second later, the 14th let out a small cry as his body spasmed like he had been electrocuted.
"What…" Komui stood up, but Leverrier stopped him.
"Do not worry, this is simply a warning. The seals covering the 14th's body are made to prevent the Innocence user from activating it. Basically, it lowers the synchronization rate. For equipment-type users, it does no harm to the body, but for parasitic users, it can cause great pain depending on how long the seals are activated. Now, let's resume, shall we?" Leverrier addressed the 14th with an odd smile.
The Noah didn't reply; he merely glared at the man in front of him.
"I'll ask this once more: where is the Earl's current location?"
"And I'm telling you I don't have the faintest idea about it. I'm the Earl's enemy, not ally."
"Too bad for you, wrong answer again." Leverrier said.
The seals released another discharge, stronger this time, making the 14th put a knee on the ground. He gritted his teeth this time, so as not to let a single sound get out of his mouth.
Komui was worried. He knew that Leverrier wouldn't kill the 14th, but that didn't mean he wouldn't make him go through hell; he was well-know for that, and Lenalee's trauma was evidence enough of the fact.
"Leverrier, I don't think he's lying." Komui interceded on the Noah's behalf. "We all know that he'd tried to kill the Earl, and was chased by him for that. There's no way…"
"Supervisor Komui." The older man cut him coldly. "You are not in charge of this case, I reckon. I invited you here because I thought you'd be interested, but if you start to be a hindrance, then I shall have you escorted back to your office." Turning to the 14th, Leverrier added: "Sorry for the interruption. Let's go on."
Komui bit his lip, then turned his eyes to the 14th who gave him a quick smile, the kind of smile which meant 'I'm tougher than that. He won't have me so easily.'
Komui highly doubted it.
Kanda was on his way back from training to his room, followed by two guards. He, like the other Exorcists, had been given permission to train on the condition that they had to train in a secured room, in other words, in a room where seals had been put to prevent the Exorcists from attacking the guards. Of course, that didn't help improve Kanda's naturally bad temper, but he didn't have much choice.
As he was walking in the corridor, he saw a group of people coming in front of him. At first, he didn't pay much attention to them as he recognized the uniforms of Leverrier's dogs. Then a flash of silver caught his eyes, and he automatically turned his gaze to that direction. The Japanese man stopped dead.
Next to Leverrier, a guard was carrying an unconscious body, Allen's body in fact. It was covered with large bandages with strange symbols on them. The group walked past Kanda, who was still standing there and managed to catch a glimpse of the boy's state: there was sweat all over his face, and his traits were distorted by pain. Kanda was about to say something, when one of his guards told him:
"Sir Kanda, please move on."
The Japanese man grunted, then resumed walking. At the end of the group, there was Komui, who glanced at Kanda with a defeated look but none of them pronounced a word. It wasn't necessary, since Kanda already knew that Komui would go and see him later to explain the situation.
Back in his cell, he lay down on his bed and closed his eyes, trying to find some rest. But he couldn't. Images of the moyashi kept flashing back in his mind, he couldn't get rid of those few seconds where he saw the inanimate body, and Komui's helplessness. Something was bothering him inside, and he was fairly certain that it wasn't only due to the current situation the Order was in.
A knock on the door woke him up.
"Sir Kanda, Supervisor Komui wishes to see you." A guard said from the other side of the door.
"Fine." Kanda merely replied, as he sat up on the edge of his bed.
The Chinese man entered, and closed the door behind him.
"They let you talk to me without surveillance?" Kanda asked.
"Yes, they do. But only because they have thoroughly searched for whatever I could have had on me which could have been considered 'dangerous for the safety of the Order'." Komui replied, sighing.
Kanda shrugged.
"What did they do to the moyashi?" he asked again, getting right at the topic which had bothered him for hours.
"The 14th, you mean. They interrogated him."
"You're not gonna make me believe a simple interrogation put him in that state."
Komui sighed again.
"You know that an interrogation lead by Leverrier is not what you could call a simple interrogation… You saw the seals on Allen's body, didn't you? Well they can seal his Innocence, and in so doing, causing a great pain to his body."
"What? Do you mean that bastard…"
"Yes, every time Leverrier wasn't satisfied with the 14th's answers, he sent some kind of electric discharges via those seals. And God knows how hard it is to satisfy him."
Silence followed Komui's words. Then he went on:
"Well, I'm going to the hospital wing to see how Allen is doing."
"They won't stop there, will they?" Kanda suddenly asked.
"… No, indeed. Leverrier doesn't care about the truth, he simply wants to be told what he wants to hear, even if they are lies."
With those words, Komui left, leaving Kanda alone. The Japanese man barely slept on that night.
A few days later, Kanda was called in Leverrier's office. In the room, he saw Lavi and Bookman who were also standing in front of the desk; the red-haired man smiled at him when he saw him enter.
"Ah, well, now Exorcist Kanda is here, I shall assign you your mission." Leverrier told them. Then he turned to Bookman: "I still don't get the point in you following them."
"History records." The old man merely replied. It was an obvious lie, but Leverrier didn't have the authority to order him anything.
"Whatever. Now, here is the mission data." He went on, handing the two Exorcists a folder. "Your train leaves in an hour."
"Train? Why don't we use the Ark?" Lavi asked.
Leverrier glanced at him, then answered dryly:
"This isn't any of your concern. Now, I suggest you get ready or you'll miss your train."
Two hours later, the two Exorcists and Bookman were sitting in a train compartment, silent. Naturally, they were escorted by two of Leverrier's watchdogs. The atmosphere was tense, but if either Kanda or Lavi were feeling nervous, they didn't show it.
Actually, the Japanese man was more annoyed than nervous because of the presence of the two guards. He wondered whether they would follow the Exorcists to the battlefield, watching them as they would slice Akumas and not doing anything if one of them were to get in trouble. Not that Kanda would ever get in trouble. Still, the guards irritated Kanda who could barely stand seeing them, immobile, hung-up, and blindly obeying orders like machines.
In the end, Kanda got up from his seat and headed out.
"I'm going outside." He merely told the guards, who nodded.
"Wait for me, Yuu-chan! I'm coming too!" Lavi said cheerfully, as if he was thankful that someone had finally relieved some of the tension.
"You cannot, Exorcist Lavi." One of the guards interrupted.
"Why is that?"
"Orders. You are not to be left alone together. Or I have to come with you." The man replied mechanically.
"Hey, hey… What do you think we'll be able to do out there? We're not ploting a revolution or something, you know."
"I still have to come to make sure." The guard said, standing up. But he was stopped by Kanda's blade under his neck.
"We're just getting some fresh air. Nothing else." He said icily. For a second, Lavi almost froze as he saw Kanda more pissed off than ever.
"Fine." The guard answered. "But if you're not back in ten minutes, I'll come."
Kanda didn't deign to reply as he got out of the compartment, followed by Lavi. They went out to the back of the compartment, and Kanda let the wind blow on his face, relaxing his whole body, eyes closed. He sighed. Lavi looked at him, then smiled. It was rare to see Kanda so calm.
"I wonder how Allen's doing." Lavi suddenly spoke, loud enough to cover the sound of the wind.
"… I saw him a few days ago." Kanda replied, opening his eyes.
Lavi was waiting for him to go on, but since the Japanese man kept silent, he pressed him on:
"And? Was he doing fine?"
"No."
Silence again. Now Lavi could see on Kanda's face that something was bothering him. For a moment, Lavi considered the fact that his comrade was worried about Allen, but quickly shook the idea out of his head. There was no way Kanda could actually worry for anyone that deeply.
"Care to tell me a bit more?" Lavi asked patiently.
"He was unconscious when I saw him. That Leverrier bastard was bringing to the hospital wing. Komui told me he tortured the moyashi to try to get some answers from him about the Earl."
Lavi opened his eyes wide.
"The fuck! Is Leverrier so stupid that he can't see Allen's one of us? Damn it!"
"Moyashi, perhaps, but not the 14th." Kanda replied cooly.
The lack of emotion in Kanda's voice startled Lavi at first, but then, coming from Kanda, it wasn't surprising.
"Still! Does that bastard enjoy torturing people that much? Every time I see him, I just want to see him dead." Lavi's fists were shaking in anger. "Damn it, and while we're on a stupid mission like this, Allen has to go undergo God-knows-what kind of torture for the simple pleasure of that asshole! And how the hell can you remain so calm? I know you don't like Allen that much, but…"
"We have to get him out of there." Kanda cut him, his voice still even.
Lavi looked at his comrade a few seconds, rather puzzled by his words. He had pronounced them as if it was simply an obvious thing to do. Again, there wasn't any sign of concern on his face; he was simply focusing on a task to fulfill. The red-haired Exorcist sighed, then smiled slightly. After all, that last sentence could be Kanda's way to show he was somehow caring a bit.
"You're right. We'll save the 14th. Then turn him back to the Allen we all know. Even if we have to destroy the whole Order for that." Lavi replied happily.
Kanda didn't reply.
That damn Moyashi had better be grateful to them for all the trouble he put them into.
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Here you are for a new chapter. Damn, my Yullen obsession isn't getting better at all... Anyway, feel free to give me your opinion on this chapter, as always :] And thx a lot to those who review regularly, it's a big help :] And to those who simply read, well I can only hope you still enjoy yourselves. See you all next chapter!
