Innocence Rock Time! ~
How much time it takes to fall in love? A week, a month, a year, how could that even matter now?
"GOOD MORNING IZZ….." Lavi's noisy greeting abruptly stopped.
"Jeez, Lavi, I've told you not to yell like that in a hospital" Lenalee scolded from behind. "C'mon, you are blocking the way" the female singer tried to push her companion out of the way, but Lavi seemed to be in some kind of strange shock.
"Holy…" he finally mumbled. "I…I…I knew this day would sometime arrive!" the male exclaimed with tears already dramatically forming in his eye.
Angel and Lenalee looked at each other bewildered and peered around Lavi's sides. They gawked too.
There was only an individual mattress, and over it there was not only Izzie's skinny body resting, as they expected, but also a bigger one. They weren't even in a romantic position –they were back-to-back- but the fact of seeing Kanda actually sleeping beside someone was…astounding.
"This…this is the happiest day of my life" Lavi murmured while sauntering into the room.
"Sh, and when we met?" Angel whispered, annoyed.
"This is the second happiest day of my life" the singer corrected without dropping his dreamy gaze.
"I…Oh my…Kanda" Lenalee finally found her voice to talk, but couldn't form any coherent sentence. Instead, she beamed with glee at the couple, who were still deeply asleep.
"But" Lavi frowned "There's something wrong about them…hmm…here" he approached the bed with silent steps. "Lena-lady, drop an eye on the hallway"
The male singer delicately rolled Izzie on her back, releasing her only when the eyelids of the girl started moving. Angel, who was also trying to make Kanda roll, froze in place until Izzie's expression relaxed again. Cautiously, with Lenalee keeping an eye on the corridor, Lavi and Angel changed the position of the bed's occupants.
Lavi placed Izzie's head on Kanda's chest, who was now lying on his back, and he also accommodated the bassist's wounded arm over the pillow so it wouldn't hurt.
With the same gentleness, he manipulated the Japanese's free arm so it was wrapping Izzie's waist, while she herself unconsciously hugged him back, Angel taking care that the catheter wouldn't hinder the position.
"They are…so lovely" Lavi beamed with wetted eyes, taking out his brand-new iPhone 4 and taking a picture of their own creation. "Next stop: wedding"
Angel smiled widely after taking a photograph too "Of course"
"Guys, the nurses are coming" Lenalee entered the room. Her chocolate eyes widened at the sight of the couple cuddling in the bed. "What have you done?"
"Just gave them a push" Lavi winked. "Let's go" subtly, the three friends exited the hospital's room some seconds before a pair of nurses entered.
"Oh you are here, sir" A young assistant walked into Lavi with concern expressed in her soft features "We can't find patient 109, do you know where…"
"Look inside there" Lavi pointed to Izzie's door with a movement of his head "Love is in the air~"
"Ow…alright" the woman nodded with confusion before hurrying to said door, gasping at the sight just the moment she stepped into the room.
"Where's the moyashi? I bet he'd die to see our little Yuu turning into a man" Lavi exclaimed while dialing the brat's number in his cell phone with a huge grin illuminating his countenance. He surrounded absentmindedly Angel's shoulders while waiting for Allen's answer.
Even when it was a casual touch, no romance implicit, Angel felt like electricity running through her veins, starting just in the place where Lavi's body contacted hers. His voice and his smile were priceless to her, and his mere presence still melted the girl's knees. Although it had been already about a week dating him and a month and a half of acquaintance, the fact that the one and only Lavi Bookman stood next to her was as dazzling as the first moment in the concert when he kissed her.
"Hey, Lavi" she called after the singer put the cell phone in his pocket and Lenalee left for something to drink.
"Yes, Angel-chan?" he smirked down at her.
"I…well…I just…" Angel stammered under the glint of his green eye fixated on her. His lips were curved in that faint smile that she loved so much, while he dangerously leaned over her.
"Have anyone told you that it should be illegal to be this gorgeous?" she abruptly blurted, the original words vaporizing in the air.
Why was it so difficult to say how much she loved him aloud? Because four days ago, during their runaway, she had realized that what she felt for him wasn't only a simple attraction or chemical connection. It was way deeper than that, strong enough to make her fear the possibility of him even getting a scratch because of her; of him ever going apart from her; of him ever leaving her by her own: it was a horrible sensation only to imagine themselves being separated. It wasn't just horrible, but it pained her right in the middle of her chest so hard that she comprehended that the expression 'broken heart' was far from being an exaggeration.
When her feelings had grown this way, she couldn't recall. Maybe it had been gradually, evolving from the very first moment when her friend and she were admitted as the personal company of the band. Maybe it grew like that after hearing his last song that he composed especially for her.
Maybe…maybe, how could it even matter right now? The point was that the feeling was there, and the warmness of her soul whenever he was around subtly whispered how deeply in love she was with him.
Only thinking about it that way made her shudder and it didn't help the fact that Lavi had cornered her, his arms blocking every possible escape.
"Yes" he smiled, oblivious to the hundred of thoughts crowding her mind "But it is nice to hear it from you"
"Ahm…I…alright?" she nervously stuttered.
"But that wasn't what you wanted to say, right?" he lowered his voice, leaning his forehead against hers. Angel felt the sweet warmth of his breath caressing her features and for a moment closed her eyes, rejoicing with his simple presence.
"Angel-chan" he suddenly kissed her cheek with gentleness, so sweet and caring that Angel felt her head lifting to the clouds. "I'm the most idiotic person ever"
"What?" Angel shut her eyes open, surprised by the fatalistic tint in his affirmation. She pushed his chest to establish enough distance between them to see his face, but her weak effort was fruitless. Lavi kept the position of before, only moving a bit so that he could whisper in Angel's right ear.
"Panda told me once that love is the worst feeling ever" he stated
"Because it makes you wretched and sad; it makes you worry and care so much about the other person that it doesn't leave any space for self-esteem neither enough selfishness to keep anything for yourself. He told me that love is not the sacred, pink thing Hollywood wants us to see, instead, it is the devil disguised of lamb, because love, after all, leads to the most passionate feelings and passion always ends up in obsession and perversion. Also, when you love so badly without knowing why, the danger is even greater, because you don't know with what you are dealing at all, and ignorance is never bliss, but weakness. And, what's even worse" he dramatically sighed "love leads to a broken heart, solitude and desperation, degrading the human to a small point of pure agony. For so much time, I truly believed this. I saw it every day in Allen's desolated eyes whenever he stared at Lenalee; and I tried so hard not to fall in love. However, right now, with you here, it is like if each one of Panda's words had become valueless, senseless" his hands grabbed Angel's shoulders with much strength, immobilizing the girl against the wall. "Now, I conclude that liking and loving someone is happiness. And even when I am scared, I think I can affirm that I…I…" he trailed off, hugging the girl against his chest instead of finishing the sentence; hoping physic contact would speak for itself.
Angel remained shocked and steel for a pair of seconds, the line of her thoughts cut out by Lavi's simple touch, the words he had said slowly sinking in her brain like hot lava, warming every fiber of her small body.
"I love you" she whispered, finishing his speech for him. The embrace tightened and softly she aimed to release her own arms to surround his waist.
He then kissed her, but not with the same fervency and desperation of before. There was no urgency in the contact neither the recklessness of impulses occasioned by alcohol. Instead, their lips swiftly met, with a tranquil motion that reminded of ice-cream melting in a summer day: sweet and slow.
Angel interlocked her fingers in Lavi's hair, tangling some locks with sweetness. He just cupped one side of her head with his hand, tracing small circles in her cheek with his thumb, while his other arm drew her closer.
It felt right, in place, like if every event had only leaded them both to that exact moment. Without any more worries, knowing Kanda's and Izzie's lives were safe, they finally found minutes and mind to spend in each other.
"Mr. Kanda, chist, Mr. Kanda, could you please wake up?"
Izzie blinked once with her eyelids still closed. There were suddenly a lot of voices surrounding her, increasing the throb of her head.
She complained with a quiet moan and tried to accommodate herself to continue sleeping. She hugged more tightly whatever her arm was surrounding, enjoying the warmth it gave off.
"Mss. Fletcher is time for your medication" a hand kindly shook her shoulder, trying to make her wake up completely. There was something about the two voices that were talking that suggested fun, like if they were smiling or about to burst in laughter, but Izzie had no mind to pay attention to those details.
"Mr. Kanda, the politics of the hospital doesn't approve patients sneaking out their rooms. Could you please…"
"Oi, I don't care" a harsh mumble expressed from somewhere above Izzie's head. She felt the surface where her head was lying moving up and down with the hoarse complain.
She felt something moving in her waist, hastily squeezing her body against something more. There was the sound of fabric shifting while Izzie's current pillow started uncomfortably moving.
It suddenly washed her like if somebody had thrown to her a bucket of cold water. The husky voice that replied before, the way the bed moved, how she was hugging something…
She shut her eyes open and tried to incorporate; pushing away whatever was still trying to hold her tight.
Without noticing, she came face to face with Kanda. They were so close that their noses were practically rubbing each other, the only thing completely visible being their eyes. Violet met cobalt, both of them completely bewildered and confused. There were some giggles around while they came into realization of the awkward situation they were in.
To start with, they were in an individual mattress, so there was hardly a part of their bodies that wasn't actually touching and the hospital clothes were really, really thin. Kanda's arm was still surrounding Izzie's petite form while her hands were both lying on his chest.
One, two, three… Three seconds to react.
"HOLY SHIT!"
"KYAAAAAAAAAAH!"
They pushed each other, throwing away blankets and kicking until they both ended up sprawled on the floor, separated by the bed. The nurses hurried to help them, biting their lips to avoid any informal exclamation.
"Mr. Kanda, could you…"
"Wha…" he trailed off, growling instead. The kind assistant helped him up and guided the sneaky patient back to the room while trying to avoid laughing at his embarrassment. His cheeks had a faint hint of pink that no one could have ever expected to see in a man with his character and that only gained one adjective: adorable.
Meanwhile, the other nurse re-accommodated Izzie in her bed, changing the small plastic bag with the saline solution and leaving a tray with breakfast and some vitamin pills. She was quiet, barely reacting to the nurse's dirty insinuations about the scene of before, sinking instead deep in her own thoughts.
She vaguely thanked the woman's attention before she left and used her current solitude to dive in her memories.
Flashes of the night before crowded in her mind: Kanda hastily entering her room, his lips brushing hers, his body next to hers…even his snores were delightful whenever she recalled the recent happenings. Could it be possible? Could all that mean that he really liked her?
The possibilities, the realization…were it true? He kissed her and slept next to her, indeed, but what was that in his language? In hers, it was as clear as a frontal declaration, but thinking about it, there were never words to support that. Everything he had just said was that he was out of her reach, however, he still was the one who kissed her first; he was the one to have the initiative to sleep in her hospital room. Even when everything that came out of his mouth was harsh and deceitful, his actions contradicted all of it, doing exactly the opposite to his affirmations.
But he still kissed her. She couldn't stop thinking about it. He kissed her and that was a straightforward declaration, right?
She sighed, a long and quiet expression. Her brain started to feel numb, probably product of the lack of food, so she focused in eating instead, letting her own thoughts vague in her mind.
Unfortunately, they stopped in a very sore point that she was trying to avoid to think in because it sent electroshocks of pain and betrayal along her conscience.
The realization, the words that she feared so much but that were truly inevitable to think of crashed on her, drowning every spark of glee that she could had felt up to that moment.
Thinking back on what had happened was fruitless: it wouldn't change anything. However, she couldn't avoid recalling her father's eyes when he voiced his final decision; the way he had avoided staring directly at her and the pain painted in his features.
She knew it had hurt him, but it still didn't justify his action. He did what she never thought him capable of: he changed her for power.
It still sounded so ridiculous whenever she remembered his benevolent smile and the way he had raised her after her mother's decease. But, as ridiculous as it could appear, the truth was there, darkening every light of his memory that she could have, transforming every happy recall in a painful one.
Izzie suddenly felt as if she never really knew her father; it was a stranger to her eyes now. The man with whom she had grown and that had taught her everything she knew could, by no means, be the same one capable of sacrificing his most beloved one for the mayoralty of a city.
Still, that was what had happened, and the feeling of betrayal brought tears to her eyes.
She would have gone on rummaging about that special issue if Angel, Lenalee and Allen hadn't entered her room. There was a special glint in Angel's eyes that didn't passed unaware to her, still, Izzie let the conversation flow in random subjects, barely taking place in the discussion neither making her typical opportune commentaries.
"Hey, Izzie-chan" Allen summoned out of nowhere after an awkward silence "Congratulations" he winked in her direction cryptically, giving her a thumbs up.
"For what?" she blinked, confused.
"For getting Kanda-san, of course!" Lenalee chuckled "We never thought he would ever fall in love"
"Wha…what?" Izzie stammered. Did they…did they see them? Did the nurses say something? The scene of before, the awkward position Kanda and she had been in…
"Oh, right, you hadn't seen it" Angel beamed and she took her cell phone out while approaching to her best friend "Here, you were so lovey-dovey!" the girl handed the mobile to her friend, pointing to the photograph of the screen.
"Wha…wha…aahh…..ANGEL!"
"What?" the girl innocently blinked, and rapidly put her cell phone away before Izzie did something really bad to it.
"Erase that!" Izzie ordered. Her cheeks were crimson again and her voice rose with hysteria.
"But you look so cute together~ I'm gonna print it and put it in a frame and…"
"Angel, no!"
"But why not? I bet your children would like to…"
"ANGEL!"
"Amm, excuse me?" Komui shyly opened the door, interrupting the discussion for a moment. "Can we come in?" he pointed to his companion with his thumb and a tall man with blonde her nodded in their direction.
"Yes, yes" Izzie agreed, hiding her head in her arms so they wouldn't see his blush.
"Wait wait, see" Angel ran into Komui, shoving her handphone in his face. The manager accommodated his spectacles to appreciate better the photograph. "Wow, congratulations, Izzie" he nonchalantly said.
"We are not here to discuss your love life" the police officer angrily exclaimed. He was visibly frustrated and in a rush, so everybody shut their mouths and let him talk "We need your declaration of the happenings, miss, so if you could tell us what happened…" Officer Wilson took out a small notebook, a pen and a recording machine.
"You" the fat man in the head of the table smirked, pointing at one of the sides. The young occupant of the seat took out from his mouth the cigarette and pressed it in the ashtray in front.
"I know" Tyki grimaced "You don't like smoking here. I had a bad day"
"And you don't need to tell us, we all know" the Earl smiled widely with no happiness at all. Instead, the expression turned out to be kind of terrifying.
"Tyki Mikk~"
"Screwed it up~"
The twins sang at the same time, grinning at the accused Noah.
"Shut the fuck up, you didn't do anything productive" he retaliated.
"Hey! We kept the eye on her while you had fun in those hotels!" Jasdero exclaimed.
"They were the damned alibis, you, idiot"
"Shush, kids, calm down" the older man ordered, still wearing that horrible smile "But they are, right, Tyki, kid" he turned to face Tyki Mikk, his grin suddenly turning into an infuriated expression "How dare you let her live?"
"The police were out of the house, I had to flee" Tyki excused himself, but even it sounded like a lie to his own ears.
"Just one shot, Tyki, how much time that would have taken?" Lulubell nonchalantly commented, blowing absentmindedly her just painted nails.
"Ewk, Lulu, take that off the table" Debitto pointed to the bottle of nail polish "It stinks"
"Give me some, Lulu" Rhode Camelot extended her hand to the bottle's direction, which Lulubell passed over the table.
"Kids, kids, pay attention!" The Earl slammed the table and grinned at them all, who just stayed ecstatic, observing the monumental man.
"Tyki, that girl is probably accusing all of us for the crime" the Earl gave Tyki a withering look "And the stupid of Sheryl is probably on his way to jail, we can't save him now. So here's what you are doing" he stopped talking, glancing to each face in search of any reaction. They were all serious and attentive, so he continued talking.
"You are hiding abroad, in different countries; I already talked to the mafia members worldwide, and they'll be in charge of creating you a completely new identity until everything here calms down" he declared. There were uncomfortable looks across the table, but he utterly ignored them "No more Noah's Ark from now on" the Earl declared.
"What? You can't do this man!" Jasdero stood up, but sat down again under the Earl's withering look.
"We were just nominated for a Grammy!" Debitto complained.
"NO-MORE-NOAH'S-ARK" The Earl raised his voice "Thank Tyki for that"
Both twins sent murderous glares to the singer's direction, who just avoided them like if they didn't exist.
"Can't you just manipulate the judgment as always?" Lulubell inquired.
"No, they have irrefutable proofs, we can't risk. So, you will part tomorrow, get everything ready" he stood up from the table and exited the room with his creepy smile, Rhode stepping on his heels.
"Well done, Mikk" Jasdero snorted, leaving together with his brother. Lulubell stood up and silently followed them without any word to the singer.
Tyki leaned back in his seat without any desire to stand up. He lit up another cigarette and brought it to his mouth while thinking.
It was truth. Why he didn't kill the girl? Did he have an access of sudden mercy and sympathy? Because, now, when he thought of the moment of Fletcher's decision, everything he remembered was feeling pity for the young girl in the chair, who just stared numb at the computer's screen.
Maybe it was because he felt identified. After all, his parents also exchanged him for a life in the top of the Portuguese mafia, so he could understand the feeling of betrayal.
However, that girl didn't mean anything to him beside just a game or a toy, so, why did he display such sentimentalism towards her?
He sighed and ran a hand through his messy curls. How could that even matter now? He thought about killing her in that moment, but probably it was useless. What was done was done; however, he promised himself that he was going to kill her whenever he had the chance to return to the US.
Yes, that was surely going to happen.
A/N: So, bye bye, Noah's Ark. But not for so long, probably they'll come back in our INNOCENCE ROCK TIME SEQUEL!
I think it is almost decided, I am definetely gonna try to write this sequel, I have half of the guideline already made in my head. But well, I'll say no more. Still, if you think making a sequel would be too much, you can make me know. I am not sure how many of you will follow me through it, even when some of my reviewers enthusiastically agreed with the idea, you can see, a part of me if still unsure.
Well, there was no song, damn it. I think this is kind of a filler...I gotta say, at the beginning, I didn't know what the hell I was doing xD But well, I think it ended up okay.
Do you think I made Lavi's and Angel's feelings evolve too fast? Because I do feel like that happened, but, still, they did love each other before the declaration...hmm...I don't know, I was trying to make their relationship deeper, but the result didn't satisfy me completely. Or maybe it is just that right now I am going through some kind of depression, my mood has not been exactly cheerfull there last days.
Well, I wanted Izzie and Kanda react like that...because I couldn't imagine another way and it was funny, at least for me. Let's see how their relationship goes on...
Thank you for your support and reviews, you are all so awesome for following me up to here! I never thought I could actually have followers, some of you even started reading my other fanfics, thank you so much. *bows* (as you can see, I am kind of sensitive right now)
Well, I know I said I was updating every Sunday, and today is Saturday night (I sound like an antisocial who couldn't go out u.u don't blame it on me, my dad broke his leg and I had to stay at home to take care of him, he is way too old for babysitting, but well, the world is unfair) but well, for the ancient jewish (I don't know if the actuals too) a day started just after the twilight, so, technically talking and for the ancient jewish, today is already Sunday!