Allen fell in, dragging Kanda by his leg. Reflexively, he held on to Lavi's shirt, who was hanging upside down. Devina managed to catch him by the ankle, while her ankle was gripped tightly by Chaoji.
"You damned moyashi!" Kanda was the first to complain.
Lavi was making choking noises as his shirt lifted, being dragged by Kanda, inevitably suffocating him. "I can't breathe! You're choking me!"
Devina caught sight of his exposed back, and her stomach did a weird flip. She wanted to slap herself for getting distracted in this situation.
"I'm sorry, it seems we're not getting out just yet," Allen said, completely undeterred by their current predicament.
"You fucking moyashi! If you want to fall, fall by yourself!" Kanda bellowed.
"I can't believe you're arguing right now," Devina sighed.
"Seriously, Yu, you're suffocating me!" Lavi croaked out.
Chaoji's grip on Devina's leg tightened, "I'll pull you up now!" he groaned as he struggled to pull up four people.
"Hurry up, for real, I'm choking!" Lavi complained.
"Seriously, if you don't shut up, I'll let you go!" Devina threatened. Allen and Kanda yelped, and she laughed. "Just kidding."
Something seemed to sparkle as it closed around Chaoji's hand; a silver bracelet, and he managed to pull them up effortlessly.
Devina fell onto him, followed by Lavi, Kanda and then Allen. She could feel the ache all over from the pressure of having three bodies on top of her battered form. She groaned in protest, "gerroff, you beasts!"
"Ah, sorry, Devina," Allen mumbled as he tried to get off Kanda, who in turn kicked him off.
Lavi tried to stand up next, but he was still gasping for air, "sorry, Devina…" he said between heaves, his arms trapping her as he used them to lift himself up, to give her room to breathe.
Devina sat up and helped him sit. "Don't worry about it, just get some air," she watched him regain his breath and then crack into a grin, and she deadpanned. She worried herself over nothing.
"You're an accommodator! Chaoji!" Lavi gave the older male a thumbs up, "and so strong, too!"
"It seems so…" Chaoji said breathlessly.
"Maybe it was able to find its way to you since the Ark's calmed down," Allen pondered.
Lavi's face twisted in agony, "…you know, my Innocence got pretty messed up…" he showed the others the piece of cloth with his Innocence cramped inside it. Kanda's eyes darted between the pouch in Lavi's palm and the girl dressed in green.
His eyes narrowed. "Is that… from her dress?" he pointed between Devina and the pouch. Allen and Chaoji seemed interested, too.
Devina bit the inside of her cheek as Lavi hastily replied his confirmation, before changing the subject. "I wonder if the Innocence will be okay," he mumbled worriedly.
Kanda picked out his own pouch and kept glancing between his and Lavi's.
"Yours, too, Yu?" Lavi asked, shocked.
"Don't worry, Komui-san will surely repair them for you!" Allen said animatedly.
Kanda's face seemed to darken at a distant memory.
"What is it, Kanda?" Devina asked, wondering what it was that had the stoic Exorcist on edge.
Lavi held a hand up to his mouth and leaned in to whisper into Devina's ear, albeit loudly. "He's probably worried about Komui fixing his Innocence. That man is ruthless," Lavi shivered, and Devina panicked. If these two boys were that scared of Komui, she probably should be, too.
"Shit… my Innocence is pretty messed up, too." She muttered, and bit her lower lip.
Allen gave her back a pat and then squeezed, "good luck, Devina," his face seemed to darken just as Kanda's did. "Oh! I'm worried about Krory not waking up…" Allen began, "if we stay here much longer, he won't get the care he needs… even though Lenalee and Master are keeping an eye on him together," he paused abruptly.
"What?" Kanda hissed.
"Together?" Lavi yelled. "That womanizer and Lenalee are…"
"Alone?" Allen shouted, and the three of them began to run toward the door Allen had come through.
Devina watched them get really agitated again and wondered what was going on. She felt something tug at her heart at their outcry, Lavi's especially, and had to remind herself for the millionth time that he obviously had feelings for Lenalee, so his reaction was normal.
A hand clutched her wrist and cut through her thoughts. Lavi pulled her along before they pushed through the door.
Devina gasped at the sight while Lavi and Allen screamed. Lenalee's face was cradled between Cross's gloved hands, and she seemed to be leaning into his touch.
"That's not legal, Master!" Allen shouted.
"Are we too late?" Lavi yelled at the same time, and Devina tried not to laugh.
"That's not it, Allen-kun! We were just talking," Lenalee defended, her face heating up.
"What did you say, stupid pupil? Lenalee's sixteen, and that makes her a fine woman!" Cross bellowed, and Devina's face twisted as she mulled over his words. She had always come across men like him throughout her life, and they made her sick.
"What are you, an animal?" she yelled, and everyone froze.
"D-devina, you shouldn't speak to General Cross like that," Lenalee said gently, but Devina was not backing down.
"I don't care who he is, but if he's coming onto you, I'm beating the shit out of him!" Devina was slowly approaching the tall red-haired man; her legs moved on their own.
Cross turned to her, and his eyes ran over her from head to toe. "Ahh, it's you,"
Devina scowled, "what do you mean 'ahh, it's you'?" she mimicked, "have we met before? I sure as hell don't remember seeing your face,"
"No, you probably wouldn't," he replied slowly before turning away from her.
She stood behind him as his back turned to her; her hand gripped his arm and she turned him to face her again. "What are you hiding?" she demanded.
Cross's visible eye hardened as he looked down at her. "A young lady shouldn't speak to her superiors like that, girl," he freed his arm, and Devina fell back. She was about to step up and question him again when Lavi stopped her.
"Devina, don't." He said sternly, his hand lingering on her shoulder.
Devina shook off his hand and she crossed her arms over her chest, almost fuming.
"Stupid disciple, make a portal for us to use to head back," General Cross ordered.
Allen jumped, "a portal?" but something seemed to click, and he did as his master told him.
It had been five days since the Exorcists have returned to headquarters. After finally finding an exit, the Exorcists arrived at the Asian Branch and were greeted warmly by its members. However, the moment Miranda deactivated her Time Record, the entire party collapsed.
Devina only managed to wake up three days later. She found herself on a bed between Lenalee and Miranda in the Medical Wing.
She found the staff very welcoming and kind. She also had several visitors, including her Master, Klaud, who chastised her and lectured her for her recklessness. It made her feel like she belonged. She had never had a home, but this… she felt like this place could be her home.
On the fifth day, Devina had had enough of lying down on the thin mattress of her hospital bed. She wanted to take a walk, find Cross and interrogate him. With that in mind, she decided to sleep earlier than usual and wake up late at night, when the Medical Wing was less crowded with nurses and healers.
She woke up with a start, feeling groggy and disoriented, but she slowly swung her legs to one side of the bed before she stood on her feet. A sharp pain throbbed through her bones and she silently winced. She gave her body a few minutes to adapt to the pain, before she began to walk slowly toward the door.
"Devina," she heard Miranda call and she turned to wave at the woman, before bringing her index to her mouth in a shushing motion. "Where are you going?"
"I just really need to take a walk," she answered softly, and Miranda smiled before nodding.
Devina made her way to Komui's office and leaned her ear against her door, trying to listen in to see if he was there or not. She was hoping she'd ask him about the General's whereabouts, but the other side seemed to be too quite after several minutes, and she found her legs leading her to the library.
She opened the door and stepped into her favorite place at Headquarters. She began to silently browse through the shelves when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around and saw Lavi, grinning sheepishly at her, in a pair of striped pajama pants and a dark blue shirt. His hair wasn't held up by the usual bandana and it fell softly across his face. "L-lavi?"
"Yo, Devina!" he greeted, his smile not faltering.
"Wh-what are you doing here?" she asked, not expecting to run into the redhead at all.
"I needed to get away from Kuro-chan's growling stomach so I came here and then I came across this," he said, offering her a book, "I remembered you liked fictional books and I think you'd enjoy this one,"
Devina took the book from him, and studied its blue cover and its title: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. "A-ah, thank you, Lavi…" she kept her head bent, not looking at him. She could feel the heat burning her cheeks and she didn't want him to see it.
"Anytime, Devina," he said softly. "Want us to read together?"
Devina perked up, her eyes shining instantaneously. "I would love that!"
Devina and Lavi sat side by side at one of the desks on the library's lower floor. She was immediately hooked with Alice's story, while he immersed himself in an ancient looking book, which seemed to be in a language Devina did not recognize.
She found herself peaking at him from behind her book every now and then, but she didn't think he had noticed. He looked really focused and serious, and she felt her body tingle at this new side of him.
Lavi's eye glanced up from his book to meet her staring orbs, and she quickly averted her gaze back to her book. She saw his shoulders shake as he laughed silently, before he closed his book.
When her eyes met his, she was surprised to see him unsmiling. "What?" she asked.
Lavi stared at her silently, before he huffed. "Would you mind if we talked for a little while?" he asked, and she gulped nervously.
Author's Note: It's been a while, I hope you don't hate me for neglecting this story, but life hasn't been very grand lately. I hope you like the update, and let's all be thankful to Sonata Fuling for messaging me with some encouragement. Thank you, dear!