Hey there! Sorry it's been a while, the past few days have been very busy and kinda shit ^^" But anyways, I found a really old laptop in my room with half it's screen working - but typing on an actual keyboard compared to a tablet is heaven XD
Anyways anyways, on to the chapter! Thank you to kh07gl, Hanashi o suru, patrick the almighty observer, Paancakes, Kimura Yumi, MidnightAbyssx02, Stavarn100, Shirubia-kurosaki77, A Lucent Silhouette, randompersonwholovesthisstory, bakaxusagi, Geeres, JamieGlasgow4, Hi Hikari No Kaze, and Sablire for reviewing/favouriting/subscribing ~ !
And GEEEHHHH I need hugs T^T New Pandora Hearts was pure heartbreaking awful djsjdhfftysjfif ;_;
[DISCLAIMER]: I, unfortunately, do not own D Gray Man or any of the characters that Katsura Hoshino-san has created.
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And ye shall know the truthAnd the truth shall make you free.
St. John's Gospel
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Chapter 11 - Where Secrets Hide, Truths Are Found
The Black Order was just as bustling and busy as usual, with the corridors teeming with members of the Science Department and Finders moving to and fro, carrying reports and boxes. And, though it was probably just as busy and loud as Bookman Headquarters, Lavi liked this busyness. As he walked through the halls and made his way towards the Cafeteria, he couldn't help but grin at the hustle and bustle of it all; it felt like home.
Bookmen weren't supposed to have homes, nor feel like anywhere they stayed nor any persona they owned felt right for them, or felt like something they couldn't let go of if necessary. Lavi, however, liked his current persona and the place that all the other Exorcists called home.
He was straying from the Code. But he didn't mind. Not any longer, at least.
Lavi sighed as he entered the busy Cafeteria hall; he knew that Bookman was going to find out about his secrets and his change in temperament soon enough. However, as he joined the queue for food and waited, he knew that he wasn't going to change how he acted, nor try and go back to how he was before.
He could never go back now.
"Ahh Lavi! It's been a while!"
Jerry beamed with his usual happy smile, leaning forward out of his booth and patting Lavi on the head. The Exorcist grinned a little uncomfortably and pushed Jerry's hand off with a laugh.
"It has, yeah. Can I have spaghetti bolognaise?"
"Sure sure, it'll be done soon ~ !" Jerry cried, turning around and shouting a few instructions to the other cooks.
As Lavi waited for his food to be made, he noticed someone walking up to him. Turning around, he smiled when he saw Medic.
"Hey féijíchǎng! How's it going?" Lavi asked cheerfully, clapping a hand on the brunette's shoulder. Medic returned the smile and then sighed, looking exhausted.
"This place is so weird and huge!" she commented, rubbing her forehead irritably. "Bookman took me for a tour, and I know I'm gonna get lost!"
"Ah just stick with me or Allen and you'll be fine," Lavi said reassuringly.
Just then, a plate of steaming hot and delicious-smelling bolognaise was placed before Lavi. The red head grinned and eagerly took the plate.
"Oh man I am so hungry!"
"I need to order something, so I'll be with you in a minute!" Medic called as Lavi walked away. The teen nodded in reply before finding a table to sit at.
After a bit of searching, the red head found a table where only one person was sitting. Crying delightfully and practically skipping towards the table, Lavi dropped his plate of food and glomped Kanda with a happy, and rather oblivious, grin.
"Yuuuuuuuu ~~~ !"
"GET THE FUCK OFF ME!"
Brandishing Mugen and pointing it straight at Lavi's nether regions, Kanda's eyebrow twitched in annoyance as the red headed Exorcist backed away with a fearful expression.
"Why is everyone so obsessed with castrating me all of a sudden?"
Scowling in confusion before sighing irritably and going back to eating his soba, Kanda did his best to ignore the lively Exorcist by his side and concentrate on his food.
"And then Medic accused Link of destroying my sex life and -"
"Oh there you are!"
Looking up, both Exorcists saw Medic standing before them with a bowl of ramen. Lavi grinned.
"Ne Yuu, meet Medic! She's from Bookman Headquarters"
Kanda barely looked up from his food, simply scowling at the two people before him irritably. He gave a grunt of acknowledgement, then carried on eating.
"… Not one for speaking, huh," Medic murmured, smiling somewhat nervously. Lavi nodded and laughed.
"Nah, Yuu's the quiet yet sensitive on the inside sort of per-"
"You want me to gut you?"
Lavi froze as Kanda gave him a venomous glare, one of his hands poised on Mugen's sheath. Lavi backed away and gave an awkward chuckle.
Deciding to sit down anyway, despite the Japanese Exorcist's foul mood, Lavi and Medic ate their food and talked quietly amongst themselves, Lavi quietly explaining the structure of the Black Order for Medic.
"So… the Exorcists are the only ones who fight?" Medic asked, eating some noodles thoughtfully. Lavi nodded.
"Yeah. There ain't many of us, but we manage somehow."
"But… you're seriously the only thing keeping the Earl from taking over? A bunch of teenagers, for the most part?"
Lavi fell silent at that, shrugging and eating a spoonful of spaghetti with a morose expression. Kanda snorted and stood up, holding his tray.
"What were you expecting? Heroes?" Kanda asked contemptuously, glaring at Medic as he walked past. The brunette lowered her head.
"It's not fair on you all though…" she murmured after a while, still staring down at her food. "To have to fight for your lives on a regular basis, and to have the burden of protecting so many people…"
Lavi didn't answer, finishing his plate and leaning back with a sigh. Eventually Medic looked up, meeting Lavi's eye with a subdued expression.
"Don't you get scared of losing the people important to you?"
"Of course I do."
Medic blinked at that, noticing the somewhat strained smile that Lavi was giving her.
"I've lost more friends than I can count, especially amongst the Finders," the red head said quietly, looking across the Cafeteria. "But we can't afford to spend all our time worrying about the future, and about the people we care about."
Lavi smiled then, patting Medic on the head.
"We're all pretty strong, ya know. We can deal."
Medic stared at the teen before her, eyes wide. Then, after a while, she leant forward and hugged the red head tightly.
"Then I hope you guys can win this. More for your sake than the rest of us."
"Are you quite finished?"
Looking up, both Medic and Lavi broke away and smiled awkwardly as Bookman walked up to their table and glared.
"Sorry Gramps," Lavi said, grabbing his plate and standing up. "I'm guessin' you want me upstairs."
The old man nodded, eyes narrowing.
"Can I come with you?" Medic asked, standing up also. Lavi shook his head.
"Sorry féijíchǎng, we're gonna have to talk more later," the red head answered quietly, smiling a little. "Go find Allen or something. We'll be back later."
And, with that, master and apprentice left, leaving Medic to eat the rest of her lunch alone.
The corridors were just starting to become less busy as Lavi and Bookman headed upstairs to where the poems were being kept. After they left for Bookman Headquarters, Komui had the poems moved to a separate room near his office so that they were safer.
It was certainly more convenient for Lavi, in any case.
Eventually, Bookman and Lavi reached the third floor. Heading past Komui's office, and noticing that he was actually doing his work for once, the two of them headed down to the end of the corridor and entered through a door with a simple sign saying 'Science Department only.'
"Guess we're gonna have to be members of the Science Department for a little while, huh," Lavi commented with a laugh. Bookman ignored him and pushed the door open.
The room wasn't all that big, but it was brightly lit by many lamps situated above and around the room. Lying on a single metal table in the center of the room were the two poems and the single clue that Lavi had found in India.
The room was cold, and Lavi pulled his scarf higher up his neck as the chill sent a shiver down his spine.
The two of them walked forwards and stopped just before the table. Bookman turned towards Lavi.
"It's time."
The red head nodded, gulping nervously.
Though he was far from comfortable with Bookman being so close to him while he used his eye, he knew he had pushed his luck enough with the old man and that he would refuse to be left in the dark about anything more to do with Lavi and his actions.
This was the price Lavi had to pay.
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"So, how have things been while we've been away?"
Lenalee turned towards Allen with a smile, walking beside him through the main corridor.
"Things have been good. There haven't been many missions lately, and Miranda seems to be coping better now," Lenalee explained softly, holding her newly finished report to her chest. "And everyone's trying to figure out Kanda's Innocence at the moment, too."
"He's a Crystal Type now, isn't he…" Allen murmured, looking thoughtful. Lenalee nodded.
"His Innocence seems to be similar to mine. So ge-ge thinks that Equipment Types can become Crystal Types if their Innocence wants to evolve."
"But not Parasite Types?"
"Maybe. We'd have to wait and see if either you or Krory became Crystal Types, or if we found another Parasite Type who evolved into one."
"Though, if becoming a Crystal Type means that your Innocence is more connected to your emotions, then maybe Parasite Types can't evolve further…"
Allen looked a little morose then, looking down at his boots as he walked forwards. Lenalee nudged his arm good-naturedly and gave the teen a comforting smile.
"You're really strong already, Allen. We're all just trying to catch up to you."
Allen smiled at that, opening a door in front of them and holding it open for Lenalee.
"Thank you, Lenal-"
"ALLEN!"
Allen fell to the floor as Timothy, out of nowhere, leapt into the white haired teen's arms and sent him crashing downwards. Lenalee giggled in amusement.
"Timothy?" Allen asked, rubbing his head with a wince. "That hurt…"
"Sorry! I've missed you though!" the boy cried, hugging Allen with a wide happy grin. Then, grinning further, Timothy let go of Allen and turned to face him eagerly.
"Does that mean Eye-Patchy is here too?"
Allen blinked a little, then gave the boy a bright and warm smile, nodding and laughing as Timothy's face brightened noticeably.
"Where is he?" the boy asked, beaming. "I need to go ask him about some history stuff! ... He is a history nerd, right?"
"Yes he is," Allen answered with amusement, trying not to laugh out loud again. "He's busy right now though, so see him later, okay?"
Lenalee titled her head at that, helping the two boys up.
"What is Lavi up to?" the Chinese Exorcist asked curiously. "I haven't seen him in quite a while."
"He needs to check up on something to do with the poems," Allen answered.
"Is that why you came back?"
"Yes."
Lenalee nodded in acknowledgement then ruffled Timothy's hair with a smile.
"We can go and see him later together, okay Timothy?"
For a while the young Exorcist stood there and pouted sulkily, folding his arms and looking at the ground with a scowl. Eventually, he sighed and looked up a little.
"Fine, we'll go see him later Pigtails."
Lenalee and Allen both smiled; the boy's childishness and innocence was lovely to see and hear after seeing so many broken children.
"So that's where you are!"
A brunette woman stomped up to the three of them and grabbed Timothy by the ear, frowning with her lips pursed into a thin line.
"WHAA- Emilia ? !"
"You were meant to have started your studies half an hour ago!" Emilia snapped beratedly, letting go of the boy before her and placing her hands on her hips in an adamant fashion. "I've been looking for you everywhere!"
"But I don't wanna study!" Timothy cried, stomping his foot. "You can't make me!"
And, with that, the young boy gave Emilia's breasts a good grab before rolling down the hall on his rollerskates, leaving the brunette woman to flush with embarrassment and run after him, yelling.
Both Allen and Lenalee laughed in amusement, though they should have taken pity on the poor woman's trouble. But, their hearts were lighter than they'd ever been, and it was good to be with friends and loved ones with nothing major going on at the same time.
"So, have you got anything that you need to do right now?" Lenalee asked, turning towards Allen with a small smile. The white haired teen shook his head.
"Do you?" he asked in return.
"No, not really. Want to go for a walk around town?"
Allen nodded with a smile.
After Lenalee dropped her report off in her brother's office, and spent quite a bit of time trying to fling her brother off of her leg, Allen and Lenalee picked up their cloaks from their dorms and headed outside of the Order building, the cold wintery temperatures making them both wrap their cloaks tightly around them.
"Are you sure you want to go for a walk?" Allen asked, noticing how bare-legged Lenalee was and how she seemed to tremble slightly as they headed into town. The raven haired teen smiled and elbowed Allen lightly.
"I'm fine, Allen. Gives me an excuse to go buy us something hot to drink, right?"
Allen laughed in reply. Soon enough, the two Exorcists found themselves entering the outskirts of Central London. After a bit more walking and a bit of searching, the pair of them found a nice little cafe on the corner of the street. Entering the establishment and ordering green tea for Lenalee and hot chocolate (with whipped cream, marshmallows and bits of chocolate) for Allen, they found a table to sit at near the window.
"It's so nice to not to have to fight so much," Lenalee said with a peaceful sigh, leaning back in her chair and holding her mug of tea in her hands to warm them up. Allen nodded in agreement.
For a while the both of them were silent, simply enjoying the warmth that their drinks were bringing them, and the calm of each other's company. Eventually, Lenalee put down her mug of tea and leant forward with a cheeky smile.
"So ~ How are things with you and Lavi?"
Allen blinked a little, jerking his mug upwards and getting a splodge of cream on his nose. Lenalee burst out laughing as the white haired Exorcist flushed with embarrassment as he wiped the white foam off of his nose.
"I-I don't know what you're talking about," he murmured indignantly, blushing deeper and avoiding eye contact as Lenalee giggled.
"Okay, fine," she said with a laugh, sitting back in her chair and sipping from her mug with a barely hidden smirk. "When you start becoming unable to walk, I'll know why."
"L-L-Lenalee ? !"
If Allen was blushing before, it was nothing compared to the blush he sported as Lenalee chuckled into her drink. The white haired teen tried to hide his embarrassment behind his mug, and failed miserably.
"Lavi's rubbing off on you, isn't he..."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Lenalee was all innocence and smiles, finishing her drink and waiting patiently for Allen to finish his; it was as if she had never made such a perverted comment in the first place.
Allen made a mental note to keep an eye on both Lenalee and Medic when it came to his relationship with Lavi. Who knows what they'd do.
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Link sighed as he sat down in what had come to be 'his' bed. He had had bedrooms and beds before, and called some places home. But, for some reason, Link felt comfortable in Allen's room.
Leaning back onto the bed and staring up at the ceiling, the blonde CROW found himself thinking back on the past few days and everything new that had happened. Quite a lot had occurred, from starting to have his suspicions about the true nature of Lavi and Allen's relationship, to Lavi's past and what he went through as a child.
Link didn't feel sympathy. It did him no good to feel sorry for other people. He knew that he should inform Lvellie about Lavi and Allen, and maybe just Lavi in general. The red headed Bookman did not have a good track record with his mental state, and having someone so unstable would never do the Order any good if Lavi cracked in battle.
However, the other Exorcists weren't that much better than Lavi. Allen most certainly was hiding something under his gentlemanly facade, Lenalee was officially bed-ridden and mentally unstable for a year or two of her childhood, Kanda was... well, Kanda, Krory fell in love with an Akuma, Miranda had severe issues with self-confidence, Timothy was a pervert at age 9, and let's not get started on the Generals.
Link grimaced and rolled onto one side, sighing irritably. To be honest, all of the Exorcists were unstable in one way or another. So reporting Lavi for potential instability would be pointless. He had a good record in battle so far.
However, the nature of Lavi's relationship with Allen was a concern, despite Link's misgivings about it all.
The blonde still could not believe that he reported nothing when on the phone to Central. He should have said something, and he had spent a good deal of time before Lavi, Allen and Medic went into his room earlier on in the day contemplating his thoughts on his actions.
Despite his duty as a member of the Catholic Church, and a loyal member of Central Administration, Link felt a pang of guilt everytime he considered reporting the two of them for heresy against the Church.
There was an innocence, no matter how perverted Link knew Lavi was, about the two of them and how they acted around each other; something pure that made Link feel bad about wanting to destroy it.
Nevertheless, the blonde knew that he couldn't shove his duty away for long.
Suddenly, a tap on the door.
"Come in," Link called, sitting up and composing himself a little. The door opened to reveal Medic, who was smiling shyly and looking a little awkward as she stood in the doorway to the bedroom.
"Sorry for interrupting," she said with a nervous laugh. "But I got lost, and someone directed me here to find you."
Link's eyebrow twitched in annoyance.
"And why do you need me?"
"Everyone else is busy, and I'm bored."
The somewhat childish reply from Medic made Link sigh in annoyance.
"You shouldn't have come along then - we all have our duties here, and we are busy and do not need you bothering us."
"... How is lying on a bed being busy?"
Link scowled.
"What do you want?" he snapped, standing up to face the woman before him.
"Some company, if that's too much to ask!" Medic replied angrily back, glaring at the blonde CROW with narrowed eyes.
"Go upstairs to the infirmary and have a talk with Matron then!" Link stated, pushing Medic out of the door. "It's on the bottom floor near the Cafeteria. I'm sure you'll find it."
And, with that, the blonde shoved Medic out of the room and closed the door behind her before she could protest. Going back to his bed, and feeling a little guilty for being so blunt with the woman, Link groaned and buried his head in his pillow.
He was starting to get a rather painful headache. And he knew it would not leave him be until he came to a decision.
But how would he decide what to do? He felt conflicted to the point where he couldn't figure out what the right thing to do was.
After a good deal of time in which he carried on thinking, and making his headache worse, Link eventually came to a decision of some sort.
He would confront Lavi about it. That way, he would be able to fully make his decision based off of the red head's reactions.
Some things had to be done.
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The silence was deafening.
It was practically tangible, so thick that Lavi thought he could grab it as if it was a physical thing. Bookman stood close by with narrowed eyes, watching his apprentice with a hawk's concentration. The red head tried to ignore his master, simply staring at the pieces of paper before him and trying to calm his rapidly beating heart.
In a way, Lavi wished he had not made this choice. He and Bookman would have figured out the poems' meanings eventually but, for some reason, Lavi felt as if they were running out of time. The evolution of Lenalee and Kanda's Innocence, the arrival of a modified Level Three Akuma that could hide in human beings' skin, the increase in battles, the increase in deaths...
The Order was running out of time.
Taking a deep breath in, and letting it out slowly, Lavi raised a hand to his eyepatch and pulled it down.
"Heterochromia..." Bookman murmured quietly, looking at Lavi's blue right eye with a curiosity that he simply could not hide. Lavi ignored him.
Keeping his hands poised above the three pieces of paper, Lavi internally debated over which one he should look at first and, eventually, he decided to touch the first poem that they had found.
Heart beating fast in his chest, Lavi lowered his hands and touched the piece of aged paper with the tips of his fingers. Again, like when he tried to go through Motoki's memories, the uptake was slow at first. Images of Komui moving the poem from the library; Bookman leaning forward over it with a frown; darkness when the poem was kept in Bookman's coat pocket as they left the church; Lavi picking the poem up.
Then Lavi started seeing memories that he didn't recognise.
The images came to him faster as he saw a middle-aged man place the poem down on the church's altar in Saint-Vincent-de-Paul. The man had short curly hair, and large circular glasses; something about him seemed quite sinister and, when it seemed as if the man was looking directly at Lavi, a shudder went down his spine.
Lavi then saw more memories, of travelling by train and walking through busy bustling towns in France. In all of the memories, Lavi could not hear any form of sound whatsoever; the sound of his own hurried breathing and of Bookman's unnerved him.
Suddenly, a sharp pain above Lavi's right eye made him stagger backwards and clutch his forehead tightly. The red head felt a hand on his back, stopping him from falling to the ground.
"What did you see?" Bookman asked, observing and making a mental note of the pain evident on Lavi's face. His apprentice sighed and took a few deep breaths.
"I saw us finding the poem, and some old guy carrying the poem through France, but I didn't see anymore after that. Gimme a minute..."
With that, both master and apprentice fell silent. After a while, when Lavi's eye hurt less and his breathing was almost back to normal, the red head stood up again and touched the piece of paper.
Because he had already sifted through the most recent memories connected to the poem, Lavi could filter through the initial memories very quickly and, soon enough, the red head began to see unknown memories and images in his mind's eye.
The man who had placed the poem in the church had travelled a very long way; Lavi recognised landmarks from across most of the northern hemisphere; Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Poland, Russia, China, and Japan. Lavi also saw the cathedral at Bath.
Then, suddenly, a very clear memory came to mind.
The man was in a dark room, lit by a solitary candle situated on a small wooden desk. The man was sitting at said desk, hunched over something. Eventually, a piece of paper came into view; it had lots of numbers on it, and what looked like addition and multiplication sums.
Wincing as his eye started to throb painfully again, Lavi looked at the piece of paper and commited it to memory before moving his hands away and closing his right eye.
"Are you finished?"
Lavi turned towards his master and nodded, lifting his eyepatch up and covering his eye once more.
It took a while for Lavi to filter through the last memory. But, when he did, his visible eye widened as it all pieced itself together.
"I think I've got it..." Lavi murmured, looking back at the first poem.
"And? What is its meaning?" Bookman asked, leaning forward, eyeing both his apprentice and the poem with narrowed eyes.
"I can't believe we didn't notice it before..." Lavi said, picking the piece of paper up. "You add up the numbers that make up each word, then each sentence up, and then multiply the total by 5."
"Why 5?" Bookman questioned. Lavi shrugged.
"I saw it in the collection of memories. I don't know why you need to."
Taking out a scrap piece of parchment from his pocket and a pen, Lavi leant against the table and completed one of the sums that he had seen.
(23 + 8 + 5 + 14) + (20 + 8 + 5) + (13 + 21 + 19 + 9 + 3) + (15 + 6) + (20 + 8 + 5) = 316 x 5 = 1580
"What does the number 1580 mean to you, Gramps?" Lavi asked, holding the parchment up.
For a while Bookman was silent. Then, his eyes widened.
"The year St. Vincent de Paul was born!" the old man explained, mind whirring. Lavi grinned.
"Now, what do you bet the next numbers will be connected to where we went after France?"
Quickly calculating the rest of the poem, Lavi obtained 8 years in total, including the first year he found: 1580, 1020, 1405, 1130, 1185, 1510, 655, 1555.
"So, 1580 was the year St. Vincent de Paul was born. 1020 was when the Kandariya Mahadeva Temple was completed, and 1405 was when Bath Abbey was completed too, right?" Lavi explained, tone of voice eager. "Therefore -"
"The other numbers will correspond to other locations important in history," Bookman added, eyes glinting. "Good work, brat."
Lavi grinned happily.
"Come. We shall use the library at Bookman Headquarters to figure out the other 5 locations from the po-."
CRASH!
Both of them were sent tumbling to the floor.
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It was getting dark by the time Allen and Lenalee returned from their walk into town. The Order's corridors weren't that busy, and the two of them could walk at a comfortable pace through the hallways without having to rush.
"I wonder..." Allen murmured after a while, looking contemplative as he walked. Lenalee tilted her head curiosly.
"What is is, Allen?"
"I haven't seen Master in ages."
The white haired teen looked a little solemn as he said this, so Lenalee rubbed the boy's arm comfortingly.
"I'm sure he'll turn up at some point," she said with a smile. "No need to worry."
"I'm just worried he's going to surprise me with something," Allen muttered fearfully, looking scared instead of worried. Lenalee sighed; she had yet to accept that Allen's relationship with Cross was quite as screwed up as it appeared to be.
Suddenly, as the two of them came near to the Dormitories, they saw Kanda run towards them.
"K-Kanda... ?" Lenalee stammered, stopping in her tracks. Allen stopped also.
"Start fucking running!" was all the raven haired teen shouted before he sped past them. Both Lenalee and Allen blinked.
Then they saw it.
It was the largest, most scariest Komlin that either of them had ever seen. Allen shrunk back in fear.
Turning around and running behind Kanda, Allen fled from the insane robot that was crashing down the hallway.
Lenalee, however, stayed put and, taking a deep breath, activated her Innocence.
"Innocence, activate!"
The bracelets at her ankles melted and crept up her legs, slowly making ruby coloured boots that went up as high as Lenalee's mid thigh. When her Innocence was fully activated, Lenalee jumped upwards and slammed her foot down on the robot's head.
No response.
She tried again, harder this time. No response.
"What the - ? !"
Swatting the girl away with a metal hand, the robot carried on down the hallway with a single statement running through it's mind.
Kill Kanda Yuu.
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Back in Komui's office, the Chief of the Black Order sat with something grasped in his hands, crying loudly and making obnoxious noises. Reever sprinted into the room, skidded on all the paper, slid into a bookshelf, got buried under many hundreds of books, and got up a few seconds later covered in bruises.
"What the hell is going on, Chief ? !" the blonde snapped, wincing as he walked up to Komui's desk. Komui didn't look up.
"Chief!"
"..."
"C'mon, answer me!"
"..."
"Chief, I'm warn- Are those panties?"
Grasped in Komui's right hand were a pair of women's panties, black with lace around the outside. Reever now looked severly disturbed.
"Ch-ch-ch-chief? Who the fuck are those?"
"My sweet Lenalee has been tainted..."
Komui sounded heartbroken, sniffing as more tears slid down. Reever had the sudden urge to punch the man before him and shove the panties where the sun didn't shine.
"You're kidding me, right? You set a Komlin loose because of Lenalee's underwear?"
"KANDA DEFILED THEM!"
"... What?"
Komui was standing up now, looking furiously angry.
"That bastard will pay for doing such a thing to my precious Lenalee's belongings!"
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"I swear I'm gonna kill him for this."
Lavi headed through the ruined corridors with a livid expression, one quite uncommon for the red head. Bookman also looked just as angry, and seemed prepared to strangle anyone who dared try and piss him off further.
The carnage left behind by the Komlin robot was almost as bad as when the Level Four attacked the previous Order building some months prior. The hallways had giant cracks through them, debris was scattered all over the floor, and people were picking themselves up from the floor with groans and pained noises.
"Lavi! Bookman!"
Running up to them, glasses askew, Johnny stopped just before the two Bookman Clan members and panted.
"Johnny, what's going on? Has Komui lost it this time?" Lavi asked, fingering his Innocence with a scowl; he itched to destroy something. Johnny sighed.
"It's a long story..."
A little while earlier...
The hallways were quiet as Kanda headed down towards his bedroom, his hair swishing by his waist as he walked. Suddenly, the sound of someone stomping angrily caught the Japanese Exorcist's attention.
"Stupid Chief not letting me take time off!"
Johnny was heading in the opposite direction to Kanda, fists clenched by his sides as he walked angrily towards the raven haired teen. "How will I take Miss Lou Fa out for a date now?"
Kanda simply blinked and ignored the curly haired scientist, wondering how on Earth the bumbling man had ended up with a date with someone from the Asia Branch.
Then, just as Johnny passed Kanda, the sound of someone else stomping down the corridor made the both of them stop.
"Stupid blonde haired bastard, shoving me out the door! I should have turned around, kicked the door open, and punched him so hard in the balls that he would never be able to get it up again!"
Medic kept muttering to herself, oblivious to her surroudings. With a thunk she walked straight into Kanda, who gave her a venemous glare as she fell backwards to the ground.
"Ahh! Gomen nasai, Yuu-san," Medic said quickly, standing up and giving the teen an apologetic smile. The teen scowled more.
"Don't call me that."
"Call you what?"
"Kanda doesn't like being called Yuu, Miss... uhh..."
"Medi-"
SQUEAK!
Jumping a little, Kanda, Johnny and Medic looked downwards. Lying on the floor, with what could only be called an expression of annoyance, was a small black hamster. Medic cried out.
"My beloved! How did you get here! You must have gone for a nap in my pocket..."
Bending downwards, Kanda picked up the small rodent with a disgusted expression. Suddenly, the hamster bit the Japanese Exorcist hard on the hand and flew to the floor.
With a speed that stunned the three of them, the hamster scampered off.
"NOOOOO!"
Instantly running after it, Medic shoved Kanda to the side and pelted it down the hallway. Furious, Kanda followed, fingering Mugen with narrowed eyes. Johnny, feeling worried about what the teen was going to do to Medic, also followed.
After a few minutes, Kanda and Johnny noticed that the brunette woman had stopped.
"I've lost him!" she cried, looking as if she was going to burst into tears. Johnny patted her shoulder comfortingly.
"Don't worry, Miss! We'll find him!"
"Che, he's right there."
Heading after it, Kanda pushed the other two aside and ran after the hamster as it managed to get through a crack in a nearby door. Kanda opened said door and went inside.
The door locked behind him.
"What the - ? !"
Kanda was in someone's bedroom; a girl's, from the looks of things. There were clothes littering the floor, and in particular a pair of black lacy panties that the hamster was now crawling into.
"I hate you."
Grimacing, Kanda picked the panties up and grabbed the hamster, squeezing it slightly and smirking in satisfaction as it squeaked in fear.
Then it all went to s-.
"TARGET ACQUIRED!"
Turning around, Kanda noticed a bright light focused on him. It was a huge Komlin, that had managed to appear from a hole in the ceiling. Kanda growled.
"Damn Komui..."
Before the teen could react, the robot snatched the panties from Kanda's hand and tried to squish him with a huge metal palm. Kanda backflipped using one-hand, and kicked the bedroom door down with a shout.
Medic and Johnny were still outside and, without a word, Kanda literally threw the squirming hamster in his hand at Medic's face and activated his Innocence.
Leaping forwards, Kanda tried to cut off the Komlin's head. But, for some reason, Mugen could not pass through the robot's metal armour. Kanda winced as shockwaves were sent up his arm as his sword bounced off of the Komlin and sent him flying.
There was now only one option.
"RUN!"
"So you see, the Chief has somehow invented an anti-Innocence armour, so the only thing we could do was run."
Both Lavi and Bookman were speechless.
"... Komui thinks..."
"... Kanda was going through..."
"... Lenalee's underwear?"
Silence. Then -
"PAHAHAHAHA!"
Lavi fell to the ground, pissing himself laughing with tears of mirth sliding down his cheeks. Bookman tried his best not to smirk, whilst Johnny just blinked tiredly.
Eventually, the red head stood up and wiped the tears away with a hand, looking deeply amused.
"Alright then, let's go find the Panty Snatcher and find a way to destroy this robot!"
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"Why isn't it working?"
Allen slumped behind a bit of debris, looking traumatised. Kanda simply scowled, eyebrow twitching in annoyance. Lenalee sat beside Allen, panting.
"Ge-ge must have given the robot protection against anti-Akuma weapons," Lenalee murmured with a sigh. "I always worried he'd do this eventually..."
"So... how do we destroy it?" Allen asked, risking a look over the debris and dropping the floor quickly as a huge rock skimmed the top of his head.
"We can't," Kanda deadpanned, brushing some dust off of Mugen. Allen turned towards him with an indignant expression.
"It must have a weak spot, idiot!"
"You're the idiot! We can't use Innocence against it!"
"I know that!"
"Then use that tiny moyashi brain of your's to find a way to fight it."
"I'm not a beansprout, you bastard!"
"Asshole!"
"Dickhead!"
"...Uke."
"YOU WORTHLESS -"
"Stop fighting right now!"
Kanda and Allen flinched as Lenalee cracked her knuckles and glared at the two of them with a livid expression.
"We'll find a way to fight it; we just need to find its weakness," Lenalee explained, quickly glancing over the debris before ducking down again.
Just then, a large snake made of flames sent large chunks of rock hurtling down on the Komlin, a loud screeching noise making Allen, Lenalee and Kanda wince.
"Yo ~ !"
Standing a few feet away was Lavi, his Innocence glowing slightly. Allen and Lenalee smiled. Just then, a small rock hit Lavi round the back of the head.
"Are you going to help me brat ? !"
Lavi turned around, giving Bookman an apologetic smile.
"Just comin', lǎo toúzi."
The red head sauntered over to where Bookman was standing; the old man had activated his Innocence, and was trying to find an opening into the robot's head so that he could deactivate it.
Lavi frowned and knelt down next to the struggling Komlin, looking around the joints where its head was connected to the rest of its body. For quite a while the red head said nothing, simply observing the robot.
"Are you going to destroy it?" Allen asked impatiently, creeping from behind the debris he had been hiding behind carefully. Lavi looked over at him and stuck his tongue out immaturely.
"Be patient, stupid beansprout!"
"THE NAME'S ALLEN!"
"Do I have to stop the two of you fighting as well ? !"
As Lenalee said this, with a menacing tone to her voice, both Lavi and Allen laughed nervously and shook their heads. Kanda sighed in annoyance and ignored everyone else.
"This should do it."
Everyone turned to look as Bookman used his metal claws to peel a bit of the armour back; since they weren't made of Innocence, he could use it against the Komlin model. Then, pulling out a scroll and sending a barrage of needles into the gap he created, Bookman grunted in satisfaction as the robot gave a horrendous screech, spasmed a few times, then collapsed into a few dozen pieces.
A faint anguished cry could be heard echoing from the floors above.
"Well, just another normal day at the Order," Lavi said with a grin, holstering his Innocence and sitting down on a bit of debris. Everyone else deactivated their anti-Akuma weapons also, and relaxed.
"Wouldn't be home without Komui trying to kill us all," Allen added with a huff, eyeing the deactivated robot with narrowed eyes. The others laughed.
"Speaking of my brother..."
With that parting remark, and leaving her weapon activated, Lenalee made her way through the rubble towards her brother's office. Lavi and Allen gulped.
"Poor Komui... and all over Lenalee's underwear too..." Lavi murmured, looking slightly sympathetic as he leant back against some pieces of rock and sighed. Allen blinked then flushed bright red.
"WHAT ? !"
"Oh? You didn't know? Mr. Yuu Panty Snatcher over there got caught holding Lenalee's pantie-"
"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"
And thus, it truly was another normal day at the Order. For a day where Kanda doesn't try to kill Lavi and shove his sword through his throat would be a miracle indeed.
/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /
[TRANSLATIONS]
- féijíchǎng = flat chested (mandarin chinese)
- ge-ge = older brother (mandarin chinese)
- gomen nasai = sorry (japanese)
- moyashi = beansprout (japanese)
- uke = ... this really doesn't need translating XDXD
- lǎo toúzi = old geezer (mandarin chinese)
/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /
So that's chapter 11 - hope you liked it, and things are really gonna start developing plot wise from now on. Please review! Your feedback gives me the motivation to keep going ~
Look forward to the next chapter!
xrowa-chanx