I'm back! :)
So sorry for our absence, but I was moving into my own home and had to wait until my phone line was connected and the internet working. and of course, doing it back home would have been a good idea but I have a desktop computer an he doesn't have a computer at all. So, sorry for the the wait :D
I hope it is worth it...
A roar ripped through the air and Corbec latched himself firmly onto Kai's chest, hugging and nuzzling her happily, crooning and purring the whole time as she chuckled and stroked his head. The large dragon shrank to his old size of an foot and a half, fluttering around her head, happy once more.
"KAI!"
She had all to two seconds warming to activate her Innocence and brace herself before her long limbed brother came barrelling towards her and swept her into a large hug, swinging her around like a rag doll in his grip, long hair whipping out and hitting people too close.
The only thing that came to mind her dazed mind was 'Lero! Lero! Lero!'
Finally she was rested back on her feet only to be jumped on by Lenalee, who did manage to floor the poor girl before she had had chance to brace herself. Sitting on the armoured figure of Kai, she began to apologies and stood up, pulling the dazed figure to her feet before hugging her more gently and kissing her cheek. "I've missed you sister," she said with a small blush.
Kai blushed red and noticed the blush on several other faces around the room as she looked around, but still seeing smiling faces everywhere. Allen and Link finally made it through the crowd, standing there in there normal clothes but she spotted the small touches of rank to the white haired boys clothes and her smile grew.
"Ah, General Walker sir," she said with a bow and then chuckled at the small blush that would probably always appear on the sixteen year olds face, whenever someone announced him by title.
"Its good to see you again sister," said Allen before moving forwards and shyly giving her a hug, his face quickly buried in her hair as she gripped him tightly, holding each other for a few moments of peace. As soon as Allen stepped back -Link giving a business like nod of greeting- it seemed everyone in the room wanted to give her a hug, or pat her on the back or just ask her how she was while shaking her hand.
When the crowd started to die away Bookman began to hustle her towards the Dining Hall, talking about getting a decent meal into her with Corbec chirping in agreement. Komui appeared around a corner, panting heavily as he came to a halt in front of the pair, "s-s-sister!" He gasped out, smiling at her before falling on her and beginning to wail noisily on her shoulder, his tears soaking her hair and worn out dirty tank top.
"I'm okay brother," she said, trying to sooth the taller man but smiling despite her efforts. "Really! Please, stop. Brother!"
Sitting alone in her room, feeling the warmth of the sunset on her face as the deep red rays filled her room, she let out a contented sigh and combed her hair. Kai had just gone for a long bath, after first going for a very cleansing shower, scrubbing herself well to remove the three weeks of not being able bathe. Her hair had been partially disgusting and she worried what all the people who had insisted on hugging her, had been thinking? She had been stinky and gross, not to mention covered in dried blood.
Corbec was dozing peacefully by her side, he had played in the water quiet happily, almost going out his way to splash about and be playful with her.
She had missed him dearly.
He had even gone over the barrier in the bath room and dive bombed on Kanda and Marie as they had sat in the water on that side, causing Kanda to start a loud rant about something or other but she had been laughing too hard to really hear it.
She was so relaxed, gazing out the window at the beautiful expanse of the sea that, watching the hypnotic motions of the waves that when there was a faint noise of someone behind her, she nearly jumped out of her skin.
Standing in the middle of the room, between the bed and her window seat, stood a tall red haired young man with an eye patch, his uncovered eye was a beautiful shade of forest green and was shining at her behind a faint blush. His long limbs and slim body were packed into his slightly battered Exorcist uniform of black and red, and there was a faint smell of smoke and blood about him, he had just returned from a mission were he had been destroying Akuma.
Kai realised that Lavi must have come straight to her room.
Seeing her turn, her dark eyes drinking up the sight of him, a soft smile on her face he had hesitated. He had only planned to pass by her room, to poke his head in and see that she was really home, not some cruel -but original- joke by Kanda. But Kai had been so… captivating, sitting on her window seat in one he of large t-shirts wearing a pair of tight leggings, he had been unable to not go in.
Kai was now waiting for him to say something, to say anything, but as he opened his mouth, closed it and blushed some more, she realised that he had no words. Struck dumb with shyness? So inspiration struck her instead.
Getting up smoothly, her long legs unfolding to the floor and taking delicate, seductive steps towards the young man, she lowered her eyes and swung her hips slowly, her arms clasped behind her back and allowing her long hair to swing gently in time with her movements. Looking up through her fringe at the still speechless boy she fluttered her eye lashes and smiled coyly at him, watching closely as Lavi tried to swallow hard, not realising he took a step back, moving closer to the bed.
"Kai," he breathed eventually, hands coming up slowly to try and embrace her, goose pimples rippled over her skin at the word, the simple syllable said by his voice…
"LAVI! I MISSED YOU!" She squealed suddenly and pounced, her arms coming round and grabbing hold of him to prevent him escaping as she threw her whole weight at him! She wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist, using her momentum to safely land them on the bed as she giggled madly, hearing the shocked cries from the red head followed by an 'oof!' as they hit.
"Kai! That was so not… not… not cool!" Spluttered the red head, pushing his head band off his face and back into place with one hand, the other still gripping her waist out of shock. But the long haired girl just giggled more and sat up, clapping happily with herself before flipping the long strands of hair out of her face and smiling down at the Lavi, like a cat waiting for the mouse to move again.
"Did you come by for a reason?" Kai asked at last, staring smugly at her captive but Lavi just grinned, he had his arms free and now tucked them nonchalantly behind his head, pillowing it nicely as he looked up at her, clearly enjoying the view if she was to judge by his smug expression.
"Not really," he said with a shrug, looking around the room and trying to appear indifferent even though he was effectively pinned under the girl, on her bed even! "I've just got back from a mission and well, Kanda happened to be in the corridor and told me you were back."
"Oh, Kanda happened to be in the corridor?" She asked with a raised eyebrow, folding her arms over her chest.
"I don't want to think too much in to whatever ulterior motives Yu-Chan may have," confessed Lavi and causing her to cackle with delight again. Seeing that he had made her smile, he shifted and pushed himself up, bringing his face close to hers, there eyes staring deep into one another, hearts racing, "so is that all I get? 'Did you come by for a reason?' Nothing more?"
Kai could see he was fishing for something but she wouldn't be herself if she wasn't at least a little bit difficult or stubborn, but she would have to be delicate. "What else would you like?" She asked with a smile, rubbing the tip of her nose on his before pulling back out of reach as he tried to lean in closer, her hands on his shoulders.
"So is that what you want?" She asked, one hand on her hip and resting a finger on her chin as Lavi held himself up still, rolling his eye as he realised her plan to play hard to get. "Well, I don't know if I should- aagh!" She squealed loudly as Lavi bucked and smoothly rolled them over so that he was straddling her, looking down at her with a cocky grin. Kai couldn't help the blush that grew on her face, or the challenging smirk she shot him even as she began to giggle, playfully trying to evade him as he leaned down to kiss her.
Lavi was enjoying himself even as she struggled lightly, it made it more worth while, she was making him work for his desires and he was loving every minuet of it. Succeeding in at last pinning her wrists in his large hands, he moved closer, there faces mere inches apart when there came a familiar -and now much hated- cough from the door to the room. There came a sigh from the both of them, with Lavi pressing his face into the bed in frustration, besides Kai's smirking face, smelling the sweet scent of her shampoo.
"Yes Gramps?" Called Lavi at last, shifting and looking up at the small man standing in the doorway, his single green eye shooting promises of pain at him if he intended to interrupt them again. The small man only smirked faintly, "Komui is calling for you," he said, "you've still to give your report from your mission before you can… do as you please."
Lavi groaned and slipped off of Kai, standing up slowly he never took his eyes off of hers, trying to send a silent promise of his return. She smiled mysteriously up at him and rolled onto her side, one hand snaking out to grab a pillow for her head as she curled up, her eyes falling closed without a word. The red head smiled to himself once more before turning to the small man still in the doorway, scowling in annoyance.
"It's a good thing I came straight here," commented Bookman as he pulled Kai's door shut silently before turning and walking with his other apprentice. Lavi felt himself twitch and tugged on the edge of his jacket to try and contain his growing frustration, just grateful that his self control had made him only semi-hard, easily disguisable and already fading fast as they walked.
"I think if Jay or any of the other's had walked past the open door to find you in that position, they may not have been so polite." Explained Bookman as Lavi continued to be quiet.
"So I forgot to shut the door, I'm sorry," he grumbled at last, unable to look down at his Teacher and see the smug expression that was no doubt there. "We're both adults you know!"
"Yes, but she is more delicate that you seem to remember, a fact you forgot when your about to go at it full pelt!"
That one got through all Lavi' defences and he blushed brightly and angrily, looking down at the small man and taking a deep breath to shout at him when Bookman quiet calmly punched him in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him and crumpling him to the floor. "Don't be so rash about your actions, there are things that need to be done before either of you can… be so open with each other."
With a few gasps he manage to get to his feet and stand without feeling like he was going to throw up, Gramps had a good punch, not as 'moving' as his kicks but it still did the job of shutting him up.
"More delays Gramps?" He said testily, running one hand threw his hair in growing frustration but trying to appear nonchalant. "I've been extremely patient, she's ready to accept me."
"She may, but that is not the problem. What about her brothers?" Lavi looked down at the almost mischievous grin on his Teachers face and paled, he looked up suddenly as they stopped walking and realised that they were standing outside Komui' office. There seemed to be a malevolent aura surround the door alone, making him want to turn and run but Bookman grabbed hold of him and threw him forcibly through the double doors. Lavi skidded into the room on his back along the paper strewn floor and stopped only when he smashed into the solid wood desk in the middle of the room.
Standing up and wincing as he rubbed his sore head, he heard the doors shut behind him but he didn't turn to look at them, he was too busy being stared at by eight pairs of eyes and not all those looks were friendly.
He swallowed hard, feeling like a rabbit caught in the spot light.
"Um… Hi everyone," he said, giving them a large idiot grin and waving vaguely at them but no one moved. They all stood or sat, arms folded, faces set. The silence held an oppressive smothering quality and it was being aimed at him.
"Lavi, please, take a seat." Said Komui, his voice sounded friendly enough and there was even a smile there to go with it, but over the few years they had spent living and working together, Lavi had come to never trust those smiles.
"Err… thanks…" he mumbled, trying to still play ignorant as he hesitantly sat on the simple wooden chair provided. It wasn't dark in the room, the warm glow of the electric light bulbs that hummed above them, filled the room quiet nicely, especially now the sun was finally set. But there seemed to be a growing darkness in the corners of the room, it seemed to linger in the shadows and made them darker, he wandered if he was going to get out the room alive.
Properly looking around at the people in the room he spotted Allen sitting in chair to one side of Komui with Jay and Link -what the hell was Link doing there? His mind murmured, now terrified. On the other side of the white dressed Supervisor, sat Kanda, sharing a sofa with Marie and behind them stood the dark figure of Krory. Komui sat behind his desk like an Inquisitor about to hear a statement when Lavi at last realised the own of the last set of eyes, Reever, but his expression was less of distrust and more of evil amusement. He's probably here instead of the entire science department, realised that watching part of his mind.
"So… would you like to hear about my mission?" He asked, trying to keep things happy and cheerful, playing dumb as long as possible. Komui, sat behind his desk, elbows resting on the surface with his chin resting against his clasped hands, he stared long and hard at the red head before him, his expression not dissimilar from the one he wore before sending Exorcists away on a difficult mission. He shook his head solemnly, "no Lavi." He said at last, after a pause.
"We are here," said Allen from his seat, leaning forwards and smiling with his poker face. "To ask your intensions."
"Intensions?" Gulped Lavi, trying to lean away from that smile even though there was plenty of floor space between them both. It wasn't enough, half a country would never be far enough from that smile.
"Yes," said Jay as he tilted his head to the side, a habit of his sisters or a habit of his she had picked up, it didn't matter but made them so alike. "Your intensions with our sister."
"Our sister?" He felt he could do nothing more than repeat himself.
"Our sister." Echoed Kanda with a firm nod that was then copied by all the in the room.
"She would always play the big sister to anyone," said Jay with a small smile of fond memory. "Even those older than her, she would take them under her wing."
"And since she arrived, that's what she has done," finished Reever with a grin. "Even with her own problems weighting her down, with missions and training, she still manages to be there if anyone needs to talk."
Lavi felt about two inches tall, he might as well of been standing in a dock at a court hearing for all the feeling he was getting. A distant part of him wandered if they had planned any of this out before hand? He was pleased with them all despite the terror, at the way they had banded together to try and protect her but a secret dirty part of himself whispered, why did they not do this before she was taken? Before she was tortured by that bastard, for secrets she didn't even have? But he knew that answer too. She had made herself the martyr for the sake them of all, she had just been lucky enough to not die.
"So of course, with you showing interest in our sister," began Kanda, arms still folded tightly over his chest he leaned back in his seat and that's when Lavi spotted Mugen laying across his lap. "We just want to check that your intensions are pure."
"Pure?" He repeated and felt something inside him suddenly hold its hands up, calling for a time out. "Hang on a minuet! What the hell do you think is going on between us?" Again those stares, everyone of them say 'I'm not an idiot, I've seen the way you look at her, act around her, touch her, we know your intensions.' It was a look with a lot to say for itself.
But Lavi was still annoyed, the anger was making his face flushed and he felt his hands curl into fists, to be honest he was a little hurt at there opinion of him, "well? Do you think I'd be so stupid as to-to-to just screw her and leave her?"
"He's got a point on that, what about if she becomes incapacitated due to… lack of protection?" Asked Jay, surprising them all and almost breaking the finely tuned tension in the room. Reever coughed politely, "that wouldn't happen," he didn't meet anyone's gaze as he spoke, "Innocence makes its accommodators sterile."
"Back to the topic at hand," said Komui with another cough.
Looks were shared around the room and it was Link that stepped forward and spoke now, acting like he was delivering a report, "Lavi, while you have many redeemable qualities, it has been noted on many occasions that you are easily swayed by a pretty woman."
"Stop beating about the bush here, what are you trying to say?" He was frowning in puzzlement but be had a horrible feeling about what they may be trying to say.
"Lavi, my friend," said Krory, speaking up for the first time. "When we first met, you were swayed by my beautiful Eliade. She nearly killed you because you became distracted during a mission."
"Ah, yes… well-" He began but was cut off by Komui once more taking over the conversation at large.
"We would not be able to tolerate your wandering eyes hurting our dear sister," he said firmly, pinning the boy in the chair with his glare. "While unswervingly loyal to the Bookman Clan, the Order and your friends, we have to make sure of the same loyalty if permitted to date Kai."
"Permitted?" He asked, wandering what her reaction would be if she knew of this meeting, then there implications hit him like his hammer. "Wait! You think I would possibly cheat on her because I find beauty attractive?!"
The silence in the room answered his question for him and part of him really felt hurt now, anger filled him hotly and making him stand up as he shouted back, "are you all insane?!" As a group they looked taken aback at his reaction. "Have none of you noticed the way we act around each other? The way I've got zero work done for Panda because I can't stop thinking about her? She fills my thoughts morning and night, if it wasn't that Corbec had been here, those last three weeks would have been painful!"
"Is the lack of focus partly why Bookman allowed her to become his apprentice?" Asked Jay and Lavi turned his anger on him.
"Of course it is not!" He shouted, feeling the need to defend his teacher as well. "She has an amazing memory, even more so now that she is whole once more. The added bonus is she knows more languages now than even I do. I'm lagging behind her there!" Despite the shouting, Jay smiled proudly at the red head and nodded at him so indistinctly that he nearly missed it.
Silence filled the room, the only sound was Lavi' breathing as he tried to get himself under control again, sitting down and fidgeting with his hammer to try and calm himself down. Loosing control like that was unbecoming of a Bookman, and Gramps would probably of booted him in the head had it been any other subject they were talking about.
"Are you all forgetting that, over the past three weeks that she has been held captive, she has been isolated, tortured and beaten?" He said in an empty voice, his eyes focusing on the small hammer that he was moving threw his long fingers with practised ease. "She needs comfort, she needs people around her, to tell her how much they need her. Hell, she has never liked being alone from the moment we first really met her." Looking up at last he looked at each face, looked each person in the eyes, from Kanda to Link.
"What makes you think that I would willingly hurt her? That I would do anything to push away the one person that has become the centre of my whole life?" He said simply. That little part of him, was mumbling that it should feel embarrassed about speaking so freely and openly to these people. Under normal circumstances, he would never say these things to say, Kanda for example, because of the ridicule that would follow but they seemed to be thinking as a group.
The men in the room shifted about, all looking from one to another as if gather consensus until they were all at last looking at Jay. The extremely tall boy seemed to not notice the attention as he looked only at the red head, then at last, he nodded his consent and the attention of the room shifted to Komui. Again, there was the pause for thought, as everyone held there breath. Lavi realised that, while having Jay's blessing was a good thing, being she was really his sister, it was Komui that would be the key part. He was the one that ordered missions, picked who went where and had a hand in the training of the Exorcists, if he was not happy, he could ensure that they practically never saw each other again.
At last the man sighed and leaned back in his seat, a smile playing across his lips, "okay Lavi." He said and nodded, "no one here will meddle or interfere with your relationship with Kai." The room seemed to relax at last but Lavi knew from history, that there was one more part to go.
"But, I warn you-" Began Komui when Lavi interrupted him, raising his hands to try and placate the evil looks before it started again.
"I know, I know, my life won't be worth the air I breath or the dirt I stand on." He said with a sigh but a smile. "I won't do anything to hurt her, not knowingly. But relationships aren't just a walk in the park you know," he said and crossed his arms over her chest, "we will end up having fights and arguments at some point and I don't want people chasing me all over the place to try and claim some form of justice for her." He tried to aim his glare mostly at Kanda and Allen but he had to shoot a glare at Jay and Komui also.
Standing up and turning to leave he paused and looked back at them all still sat down, "hang on a minuet," he turned around full, frowning as he asked, "why am I getting this treatment? What about Lenalee? She's been dating Bak Chan for over a month now."
"Yes," nodded Komui gravely. "But officially we have only known for a week," he said, indicating the whole room at large and a sadistic grin appeared on the Supervisors face. "Now we can-"
"I'll just be going now!" Said Lavi loudly and darted over to the door, pulling it open and waving as he left, glad to be out of that atmosphere. He did feel sorry for the shorter, and slightly nervous, Section Leader. Allen had told him about the mans problem with hives when put under pressure, although since dating Lenalee, his 'condition' had improved to the point were Fou had been caught sulking because of how much harder if was to set him off.
Sighing happily he wandered what to do with himself and grinned, he began to make his way back to Kai's room to tell her all that had happened but paused as he passed Bak in the corridor. He was feeling kind.
As the door was shut quietly behind the two Bookmen, there voices already fading away with there footsteps down the corridor, she shivered on the bed. Tears began to slowly creep down her cheeks, she was alone.
Since arriving back, she had yet to be on her own… truly alone… that's why she had kept her door open…
Getting up slowly, dragging her pillow and the top cover off her bed she began to walk towards the door, smiling thankfully at Corbec as the fluttering dragon opened the door ahead of her. Moving threw the corridors, meeting no one as the darkness began to settle over the Order, she made her way to the only place she knew she would be able to sleep.
After a panic started search the next morning, Kai was found sleeping quietly on the top of the largest bookcase in the Science department, her blanket and pillow clutched tight as she dreamed. Corbec was standing over her, and had hissed a warning at anyone that approached too closely.
"Best to leave her there for a while," the scientists had muttered to one another .
