Disclaimer: I don't own D Gray-Man, honestly!
AN: Helllo! How are you today? I'm sorry I didn't post last week, I took the lazier option and gave myself a break 'cause it was my birthday on the Monday XD I feel like a real (wo)man now! Incidentally, someone wrote a 'Sherlock' birthday fanfiction for me, any fans of the BBC 'Sherlock' out there among the DGM fans :D? Well, I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Lavi opened his eyes, his arm feeling strangely warm and comfortable. He normally felt this good after a nap anyway, but there was something extra satisfying today. The fact he was cuddling a sleeping Ai was probably a good indication. He was lying on his stomach, arm hanging over the side to form a loose loop across her front.
Wow…she's even more adorable when she's asleep….
But now, the question of how she got here….the window was open…his ribs felt kind sore and on closer inspection, he realised they were bruised.
Just what the hell happened?
With a grin, he didn't move his arm but wiggled his body closer, thinking of something cheeky to do. "S…."she was saying something but he didn't know if it was sleep talk or sleepy but awake talk. "Stop breathing…..it's too loud," she whined, slapping her hand over his with a sharp backhand. He was stunned for a moment, and then burst out laughing, pulling her hand away. She groaned, rubbing her backside as she glanced at his arm and shook it off smoothly. She collapsed forward on all fours, mumbling 'ouch, ouch, ouch'.
"Ahhh…you're a needy sleeper, bookworm. The floor wasn't kind to me at all…"
"Sorry, sorry! But you coulda slept in my bed!" he grinned as he patted his covers. "I would have offered if I had known you were in here…"
"I don't know if you've noticed or not, but you're in my room. In my bed," Ai pointed out with a big sigh. Short flashes of what happened yesterday flew through Lavi's head, Komui…pills or something…
"Damn it Komui!" he cried as he ruffled his hair.
"Pfft…hahahahah!" Ai laughed, stretching as she got up and smoothed out her clothes. "Well, as long as you're sober now, let's go eat. I'll forgive you for crashing in my bed this time. But I'm taking your jumper for compensation." She stuck her tongue out as she stole what was clearly what he was going to wear.
"Ah! Ai, that's-"
"Compensation!"
I quickly brushed my teeth and washed my face in the bathroom before changing the crumpled clothes I had on all night for the jumper I stole from Lavi. It was a bit big but it was comfortable and familiar. It was too long as well, so it looked like I wasn't wearing anything on the bottom half of my body, because I had my shorts on. I changed into the gray Order- issue pants, they were tight fitting but made of surprisingly flexible material. I usually hated wearing long constricting pants as I couldn't move as freely, but these were really comfortable.
Wait…..do I have to go find Allen?
I remembered Howard telling me to stay with Allen as much as possible. I sighed angrily, slamming the door open. I felt it hit something and peered around the door to see Allen rubbing his face while Howard stood stoically beside him and Lavi waved cheerfully, wearing another jumper I'm assuming he took from his room.
"Ow…good morning, Ai…" Allen smiled behind his hand.
"Sorry Allen! Morning, Howey! Bookworm." I nodded, like I hadn't seen him just minutes before.
"Howey? That's-"Howard started indignantly.
"We just had this conversation, Link. Lavi's a kid and Ai likes to annoy people that are mean, unjustified, accusing, condescending-"
"I get it." Howard held up a hand.
"- by giving them nicknames she thinks they'll hate being called the most."
"That's a surprisingly sharp observation, Allen." I tried not to seem too impressed, after all, he had heard what I called Kanda.
We walked down the hallway, surprised by the crowd of people surrounding a large hall entrance. Allen jogged up, reading out the sign on the barrier.
"'Science Division Only'?"
"Oh, hey! G'morning!" The spiky haired man wearing the lab coat saw them. If I remembered correctly, his name was R something? It had to do with water….River…. Reever!
The egg we had seen in the ark was set up there in all its haunting glory. People milled around it, examining the tubes connected to it. Allen made an awed noise.
"You brought it here from the ark…."
"You investigatin' it?" Lavi asked casually, leaning his head back on his hands.
"Well, you know, it's an incredible opportunity to find out more about the akuma, like how to modify them and stuff." Reever tucked his hands into his pockets.
"More importantly, could you get around to fixing my hammer?" Lavi grabbed Reever's coat, impatience all over his face.
"Well, we have a ton of people with requests like that right now….With all the people collapsing from being overworked, we're a little shorthanded. We'll deal with it as soon as this is over, okay?" Reever said tiredly, rubbing his neck sheepishly.
"Stop being impatient. It's unseemly and rude." I pinched his cheek, and I didn't miss the look that Bookman gave me. Though I might've, he was barely in my line of vision he was so short. Okay, that was a bit of a shot at his height, but he had been making me feel uneasy lately, with all the odd looks he had been sending me lately. I probably wasn't over thinking it to assume it had to do with Lavi.
"Whoa!" I dodged Allen's food cart and the pile of cakes Howard was holding.
"Walker, you're only fifteen, you need to eat more vegetables." Howard chided.
"You're the one who's eating nothing but cakes."
"Ugh, what's with you two so early in the morning…"Lavi looked almost sickened by the overwhelming pile of food. I was never a big eater in the morning, I liked to eat my fill at night. Allen, well, he just ate what he could, when he could.
I ordered a few pieces of toast, sitting down where there was room to quickly eat. Allen ate animatedly and he was almost finished when his left eye reacted. He immediately leapt up, jumping over the banister.
"Allen?!"
"Akuma! It's coming from the lab where we saw Reever, and there are a lot of them!" Allen called frantically over his shoulder.
We followed quickly, running back to the large entrance. It was completely sealed off by a large black substance. I rapped my knuckles against it, it wasn't hard or soft but it didn't look like it was going to budge.
When I didn't have my coat on and didn't have the usual slots to put my knives in, I would use straps around my torso on the inside of my clothes to keep them on my back. I reached underneath the jumper, pulling them out quickly. There was a loud explosion as Bookman and Allen attacked the slab of blackness.
"No way, it didn't even leave a scratch…"
Howard leaned his head against it.
"I can't hear a thing from the other side."
"So they're after the egg! Reever and the entire science division is in there! Damn it! I'll wrench this thing open!" Allen growled.
The cold wind in the room flew up around me as I emerged and jumped out of the ark entrance. I was shocked at the sheer amount of akuma just flying around, it was like a black swarm. I used Allen's bright white innocence as a guide to land safely. There were odd skull creatures as well, accompanied by strangled screams that sent a grimace onto my face. I was separated quickly from the others, and in a misjudgement of distance, missed the railing I was trying to grab. I was slammed into the wall, barely keeping the claws of the akuma from digging into my chest by crossing my knives.I kicked it off angrily, slicing it in half as I lunged forward.
I lost track of how many things I tore through, but when I managed to gain enough breathing space, I was covered in bits and pieces and my jumper was torn. The egg was nearly all gone, there was a large black square that was sucking it in like quicksand. I glanced around wildly, it was like I lost all track of place and time. Allen was being held by two humanoid like akuma in front of a characteristically dark skinned Noah. She had long black hair tied back in a low pony tail and she looked like she was about to leave and take Allen with her. He looked dead to the world and didn't even have his innocence activated.
What do I do?! Uh….!
A long line of black clad figures lumbered into a black portal and I ran forward to the banister, taking a deep breath.
"Hey! Noah!" I yelled, cupping my mouth to amplify my call.
"Lulu Bell," she corrected automatically, turning to glance at me.
"Oh, right…. Ms. Lulu Bell, please put Allen down!" I pointed. I don't know why I was being so polite, something about her made me feel obligated to do so.
"I'm afraid I can't do that. I didn't realise another exorcist had made their way in," she looked over to the akuma.
"Sorry, but I can't let you take Allen! He's kind of important here!" I bared my teeth in a vicious grin and jumped over the banister, aiming for the akumas holding Allen.I swung before I hit the ground, sending a flurry of blades towards them. They almost dropped Allen, but managed to avoid the attack.
Damn!
I raised my arms to attack again, but I was tackled to the ground by a warm figure. Lulu Bell kneeled on my chest, trapping my arms and staring unblinkingly at me.
"Are you not the one master requested? You should not be here… Perhaps I should take you back with me." She gripped my throat tightly with one hand and I gritted my teeth. I flicked my wrist, and Lulu Bell twisted her head to avoid the blade, but it cut her fringe and she was momentarily distracted. Bucking wildly, I kicked her off and rolled back onto my feet, lurching towards Allen.
I needed to reach Allen first and slap that boy awake before the akuma I could see from my peripheral vision reached me. I was almost at him when something caught my foot, sending me crashing down onto ground. I landed on one foot hard and a scaly arm snared mine. I struggled uselessly against the strong akuma, who snickered. A gross and slimy substance dragged itself across my neck and I growled, kicking and trying to free my arms. Lulu Bell strode up to me calmly, her hands moving behind my back to where my hands were trapped. I gripped my knives harder as I felt hers tug on them.
"You will not need those where we are going." she narrowed her eyes when I didn't let go. I kicked out at her face angrily. She dodged easily, and I felt a flash of agony as her hands gripped my fingers and crushed my fingers. I couldn't help but loosen my grip, and she took the knives from me.
"Give those back!" I hissed, still shaking desperately to get out of the iron grip the akuma had me in.
She looked at them with slight contempt, bending them experimentally.
"Don't!" I cried, yanking wildly and doing nothing short of trying to tear my arms out of its sockets.
"Like I said, you will not be needing these."
She's going to destroy them!
Panic threatened to overflow, but my hand finally reached into the back my pants, and I managed to yank out the dagger I kept there. I twisted my elbow, violently dragging it across the stomach of the akuma holding me. There was a loud screech as he dropped me. I knew unless I killed it with my innocence, its soul wouldn't be saved, but I needed my knives back for me to do that, and saving souls wasn't as high on my list as it was Allen's. I just wanted to protect my friends. I slashed down at Lulu Bell and it hurt to see her using my own knives to block my attack.
"Please excuse my rudeness, but it will be faster and easier without you resisting."
"Rudeness?" I tilted my head in confusion and faster than I could see, her arm snaked around and I felt like I was hit by a bag full of bricks, my brain exploding into an firework of pain and the force knocking me out cold. The last thing I felt was the familiar and comforting feel of my hand closing around my knife handles.
AN: Phew, finally at that arc. Hm, a problem approaches, being the klutz I am, I'm beginning to not know where to take this plot past a certain point, nyarghhhhhhhh! But I'll figure something out! Btw, any Ao No Exorcist fans out there? I'm so tempted to write a fanfic for it XD I REALLY, REALLY love idiotic, violent, rowdy, adorable, headstrong protaganists!
Anyway, THANKS TO ALL THE REVIEWERS AND THE STORY ALERTS/FAVS! As always, you guys are awesome :)