Lavi took a deep breath as he eyed the twins across the atrium. There seemed to be a sea of people between him and the two boys, but that gulf could never be big enough for him. He fidgeted and looked behind him, trying to shrink under Bookman's stern gaze. The old man was standing farther off, almost in the corner, and yet his presence seemed to reach beyond his corporeal form. Lavi finally began to walk across the atrium, through the crowds, unaware of the ripples he was about to make by throwing this one, tiny stone.
"You should've seen the look on her face. Priceless," Sebastian said, recounting his thoughts as if he were describing a delicious meal.
"What did Johnny do?" Erastus blurted.
"He did what Johnny does. He apologized and started wiping the ice cream off the front of her shirt. I thought Vi would have a heart attack."
"She's going to kill you."
"She can't kill what she can't find."
As much as Lavi found their conversation fascinating, he knew he had other things on his plate. Dread pooled in his stomach. He hated to do this. It felt dirty, asking them these questions about their sister when she was a telephone ring away, but he knew she'd be suspicious if he asked her. She was too nervous, but in their line of work that might not always be a bad thing.
"Hey, you two. I've got a question for you," Lavi said cheerfully, pulling the two in by the shoulders, one on either side. The two didn't seem too fazed by the sudden intrusion.
Erastus smiled and said, "Go ahead. What do you want?"
"I need to know what your sister's favorite food is..."
The twins looked at each other with raised eyebrows before looking back to their redheaded mentor.
"Favorite food, huh?"
For once, I think I was getting a decent night's sleep. After tramping around all day long on the grounds of the palace and playing aristocrat to the Duke, I was pooped, and that meant sleep. I had honestly forgotten what actual sleep felt like. Not the in-and-out of taking watch or the nervous nodding off whenever you're in enemy territory. Actual, glorious, honest-to-God sleep had descended...
...and was shattered like a glass at a Jewish wedding at four in the morning.
Brrrrrriiiiiing! Brrrrriiiiiing! BRRRRR-
"I hear you, you overgrown insect," I grumbled as I waved a hand at it, barely lifting my head off the pillow.
I couldn't even see at this point, what with my eyelids essentially glued together and it being dark outside. I slowly rose from my bed and sat up, clipping the golem to the telephone by the bed. Our room had been specially equipped with one at our request, much to the disdain of our benevolent innkeeper.
"Hello?" I asked blearily, my tongue retroactively removing most of the consonants. Neither my brain nor my mouth was awake enough for the mental gymnastics required to hold a true conversation.
"Maggiemaggiemaggiemaggie-"
I screwed my eyes shut as I held the receiver away from my ear, leaning tentatively towards the mouthpiece in my hand.
"Please keep in mind that it's..." I checked my pocket watch through half-hooded eyes. The hands blurred together in the dark, and I finally mumbled, "...four in the morning."
"But this is important," one of my siblings whined.
I couldn't even tell who it was at this point. I was so tired, I couldn't distinguish if it was female or male. I just cared that it was in my ear, barring me from actually getting some needed rest.
"What is so important that you have to harass me half a world away in order to tell me?" I mumbled, lying down on the bed with the receiver in the crook of my shoulder, the mouthpiece held to my chest as I began drifting.
"Lavi wants to court you~."
I sat bolt upright and stared at the far wall, nostrils flared.
"That's a bald-faced lie."
"No, it's true! The twins told me."
Twins... Okay, so it wasn't the twins on the phone. But it wasn't Lily either. And Ava didn't talk, so that left... Violet. Okay, yes, I'd accounted for every possible sibling. My brain sorted through the mess of words and tried to find a response. Were the twins trustworthy? Well, they were more likely to tell the unfinished truth than my other sisters. Violet liked to embellish. Lily liked to understate. The twins, meanwhile, liked to say what it was they meant to say, by hell or high water.
"What exactly did they tell you?"
"I already said -"
"No, no, no, what did the twins tell you, in their exact words?"
Violet paused for a moment, and I waited anxiously. This could be a matter of life and death. I couldn't have Lavi liking me. Scratch that - he couldn't like like me. I wanted no part of that. If he did, I would drop him like a hot potato. There was no way I was going to deal with any kind of romantic intentions, or otherwise unsavory looks in my direction, and by God if he did, he was going to have to answer to Magnolia Francine Valdis and her size nine boot -
"They said he asked what your favorite food was."
I deflated. That was it? That was... And here I was half-hoping that they'd come up with something I could actually be indignant about.
"Violet, that is not a courtship appeal."
Violet scoffed on the other line and spluttered, and I rolled my eyes.
"Well, what do you mean it's not? Obviously he wants to take you somewhere to have a nice candlelit dinner," Violet reasoned.
"He cooks for me when we're on missions. It makes our lives easier, seeing as I can't even boil water without ruining something."
That was a story I didn't have to recount. I managed to somehow salt the water with sugar while making pasta while helping Jerry in the kitchen. Lavi wouldn't let me live it down for a whole week. Not long after, I was banned from touching any sort of cookware when I, somehow, destroyed a simple patch of soup by adding what I had thought was a culinary mushroom. It was actually a laxative that Bookman had left on the table. I had never thought I would be the source of so much suffering.
"Well, excuse me, alright. The twins said he was pretty embarrassed about it."
"I'm going to go back to bed, okay?" I grumbled, my eyes already drooping shut now that the danger had passed. My adrenaline rush had disappeared, and I was groggy again.
"Wait, wait, wait. So you're not going to consider that he might be interested?"
"No," I said as soon as she finished her sentence. After a second's thought, I realized I also wanted my intentions (and my opinion) to be clear before she ran off to tell Lavi I hated his guts and thought he had cooties. "Look, he is a very good friend, but he is in no way romantically inclined. And neither am I."
That kiss doesn't count. All occurrences involving drugs of any kind are automatically void.
"But how do you know?" Violet pushed, and I opened my mouth, suddenly aware that I... actually didn't know.
Doubt started to creep into my mind as I re-examined the past three months together, analyzing every memory I had for any shred of undue attention. God, had I really played chess with him three times while he was naked? And the chocolate! Then there were the conversations in French and the bickering over trashy romance novels and that heavenly back rub the night I left...
"That's none of your business," I snapped. "I'm going to sleep. I'm going to need it. I have a lot to do tomorrow."
"Oh... well, sorry," Violet said, and a pang of guilt lanced through my heart.
I winced, realizing I may have been a little too harsh with her. It wasn't her fault that I was ... incredibly uncomfortable.
"No, no, I'm... look, I'm sorry, just... Lavi and I are close, and if he were to... li...llli..."
"The word is like."
"That. If he were to... that, to me, it would be unfortunate." For more reasons than I cared to say. "It's just awkward, that's all."
Violet sighed on the other end, disappointed, and I grimaced. Once upon a time, I wouldn't have minded dreaming about finding a handsome redhead who was talented in every area a woman could want, but now I knew better. Like Eve who'd taken a bite out of that blasted apple, I knew more than I ever needed to, and it would take more than good food and warm hugs to make me trust anybody.
"Sometimes I don't understand you. I guess I'll let you go back to sleep. When will you be home?"
"I should be back this week. I have to go to this last summit meeting, and then Allen will come and get me."
"Alright. We all love you, Maggie-pie."
I smiled and answered, "I love you all, too. Stay out of trouble."
"Oh please. Like we ever get into trouble."
With that, she hung up, and I was left with a dead phone to my ear, the room becoming incredibly small and all too lonely. I looked over my shoulder at the other bed, and I wasn't surprised to find it empty. Most nights, Kanda's bed was made, as if he'd never even rolled into it.
After lying there for some thirty minutes, listening to the chirp of crickets outside the open window, I got up and put on my uniform with a sigh. After making my way down the stairs, I went out a back door to the courtyard where, sure enough, I could hear the gentle swish of a blade so sharp it could probably cut the wind. I sat down on a bench in the predawn sun as Kanda went through his typical sword practice, his blade turning leaves into confetti.
I let my eyes trace the lines his sword made in the air, falling into the same trance I always did when I watched him practice. He was a master at his art, there was no denying him that, and for all his personality issues, he was a very good warrior. You could almost say he was born to chop things into smaller bits. I could only hope to be a fraction as good. Allen and Lavi, Lenalee and Klaud, even Komui with his robots and Reever with his intelligence, all of them astounded me with their abilities.
And then there was me, with my two dinky bracelets. At least I could do something halfway decent with them now, and the shield ability was a nice addition. It was less the weapon being defective as its handler.
I shifted in my seat, and my foot snapped a single twig beneath my heel. Just that tiny noise managed to bring the twitchy Exorcist to swing around in my direction and point Mugen's tip right at my nose. Instinct took over, and I brought up my arms in front of my face, a shield of blue, lacy aura appearing from thin air. Kanda lifted the edge of his blindfold as I stared at him, dumbfounded.
Finally, I squeaked, "I-It's just me."
"Tch," he answered, the blade still pointed at me. I swallowed as he continued to stare at me, his eyes tracing the dome of blue separating us, and he said, "This is new."
"No kidding," I admitted as he put down the blade.
I let out a long breath, and the shield dissipated, misting away from top to bottom as I let go of it. He tucked Mugen back into its sheath, and he looked at me with his head cocked, an expression on his face I couldn't read.
I looked behind me, wondering if maybe something had caught his attention, and finally I asked, "I don't have bedhead, do I? What are you staring at?"
Kanda snapped out of his thoughts, and he said tersely, "Do that again."
"Do what again?"
"The shield."
"You act like I know what I'm doing."
"Tch. I almost forget that you're incompetent."
Before I could take offense to that last comment, he whipped out Mugen, advancing forward in a slash, and I yelled in surprise. Again, my muscles reacted faster than my brain, and the shield blasted around me into a field of bizarre bright blue. I could feel my heart slamming itself against my ribcage like a trapped bird, and I put a hand over it to keep it from flying away. Mugen's edge collided against the shield and hung there, and I could only glare angrily at the man wielding it. What was the matter with him? What sort of person swings a sword at someone with no warning? That was just uncouth.
"Don't do that!" I shrieked as he pulled the blade away, standing in a battle ready stance. Suddenly, I realized that I had also unconsciously pulled myself into my own stance, hands out in front of me.
"Enough. Think hard. I want you to be able to pull up that shield on command. Can you drop it?" Kanda asked seriously, his gaze as dark as a manhole.
I brushed back a strand of unruly brown hair, and I slowly relaxed. I could almost feel something within me let go, as if I were holding in a breath or gripping something with my hand and releasing it, and the shield dropped from around me again.
"Now, activate it," Kanda said.
I tried not to sigh with frustration. I understood why he wanted me to do that, but I wasn't exactly at my best, considering I'd slept maybe five hours. I closed my eyes and concentrated... but nada. Nothing. Zip, zilch, zero. For a moment I thought I had it, but then I didn't. After realizing I'd been standing there, stock still with hands out in front of me, with my eyes closed for almost five minutes, I threw up my hands. I wasn't going to be able to do this on command! I could barely throw my disks and catch them, much less summon a force field.
"You're not even trying at this point. Do I have to try and kill you again?" Kanda asked grumpily, and I gave him my least appreciative look possible.
"That's not helping me."
"It worked last time."
"If you keep doing that, my lifespan is going to shorten by five years per attempt on my life."
Kanda rubbed the bridge of his nose, and he finally motioned to the bench. "Go sit."
I stared at him with suspicion, and he gestured again impatiently. Well - bossy, I see. I finally sat down, and he walked behind me. My shoulders tensed, and I balled my hands up in my lap as he disappeared from my field of vision. I was hoping this wasn't like our anticipation exercises.
"Close your eyes."
I did so almost without a second thought. Sheesh, he almost had me trained like a dog.
"Now, I want you think about when you did it the first time. How did you do it?"
I scrunched my eyebrows, vision roaming across the backdrop of my eyelids. How did I do it?
"I... don't really know how. I just did. I was scared," I admitted slowly.
I could hear the gentle tapping of Mugen's sheath against the paving stones making up the courtyard as my teacher thought, and he eventually said, "What made you do it?"
"You were in danger," I answered immediately. "I had to... protect you. I wanted to make sure you were safe."
Kanda was quiet, and I opened my eyes, looking behind me. His dark eyes were directed to the ground, his brow furrowed as if he were thinking hard. If I didn't know better, I would've said he was lost in thought.
"You thought I was in danger."
"Yes."
"I was dead."
"I... know. I had to protect you anyway. What sort of person lets monsters desecrate their friend's corpse?" I quipped.
He finally lifted his eyes, almost as if he were puzzled. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but then he shook his head. I licked my lips, suddenly nervous with the turn of conversation. We were starting to get into waters deeper than I thought possible. Kanda wasn't exactly the kind of guy who talked about feelings.
"And when I swung at you, what did you feel?"
"Panic. I threw up my hands, and it just... happened."
Suddenly it started coming together. My shield was linked to my emotions, mostly my fear. My immediate thought whenever I was in danger was to have something between me and whatever it was attacking me. It felt almost like falling and then grabbing for a lifeline, or slamming a door and locking it on an assailant. Heaven knew I'd done that enough times in my life.
"I guess I... just wanted to put some distance between me and the thing hunting me."
"Try it again now," Kanda ordered. I took a slow breath. I focused on the feeling of panic I'd had before, that desire to have something between me and the world around me. Suddenly, it seemed to snap in my mind, and the world again blazed bright blue as a shield sprouted up from the ground into a dome over me. I smiled, a grin ear-to-ear, as I realized that I might actually have a handle on this thing.
"Heads up."
That was the only warning I had before something hard smacked into the shield. I jumped up from the bench in surprise and turned around, the shield dissipating again as I lost concentration. Kanda's lithe body was a blur as he suddenly advanced, and I reacted, almost automated at this point, by dodging. He aimed a strike, and I threw up the shield again. To my surprise, it shattered and snapped under the strain, and I had to quickly rethink my current strategy of 'run backwards, shield yourself'. My feet weren't cooperating, though, and the uneven floor wasn't doing me favors, either.
"You can't just hide behind the shield. You have to fight," Kanda stressed, falling back and circling around me.
I panted as my mind raced. Were we really doing this? We were really sparring, right now? I hadn't even had breakfast. Scratch that - I hadn't had coffee. Still, I heaved air in and out as I felt my body relax, settling into a stance. He wanted a fight? Okay. Fine, I'll give him a fight!
We continued to walk in a slow circle around each other, daring the other to make the first move. My eyes stayed locked on his face and shoulders, unwilling to turn away. He gave me the same deadpan, determined look he always wore, his feet slowly and deliberately moving over the uneven stones. I tried to do the same, but with far less dignity. Finally, he lunged, and I threw myself to the side, missing him by what seemed like a hair. He brought his elbow around, and I ducked.
We went on like that, me dodging or parrying, him on the offensive, for what felt like forever. Our world was confined to that fifteen square feet of ill-laid cobblestones and sad benches as I experimented with the shield. I learned I had to be sparing with it - keeping it up too long drained me. I also learned I could control the size, and the smaller it was, the easier to manage. For the first time, I realized that I might actually be on equal footing with the Japanese man in front of me. Our spar seemed much more even. I mean, he had managed to throw me twice in ten minutes. Lasting longer than two minutes was typically possible only through sheer, dumb luck.
"Getting tired?" I puffed, my legs shaking and my arms vibrating. Both sets wanted a break, and I was having a hard time telling them no.
"Haven't broken a sweat," Kanda stated. Of course he hadn't.
He suddenly came at me with a flurry of slashes, and I managed to deflect two, dodge another three, and get nicked by one. He stepped on my toes, and I shouted as I jumped backwards. He took that moment to hook a foot behind my ankle and pull backwards (an old trick that I somehow always fell for - literally), and no brownie points for guessing what happened to me after that.
I stared at the sky, the wind knocked out of me, and a small whine weaseled its way out of my mouth. Kanda's face suddenly hovered over me a foot away, and he said, "You need practice."
If I could breathe, I would've thanked him for that pearl of wisdom.
He took me by the shoulders and helped me stand up. At that point, I wasn't even concerned with him touching me. All that mattered was that oxygen was going in, and carbon dioxide was going out. Once I'd regained the ability to act like a normal human being rather than wheeze like a geriatric marathoner, I admitted, "I think I need to shower and get something to eat. It's almost daybreak, and we need to get ready for tonight."
The wind whistled through the fields around us, the tree line far off into the distance. Kanda's profile was stark against the lightening sky as he nodded and looked off into the distance, eyes scrunched against the sun. He ran a hand through his hair, making it stick straight up, and he nodded without a word. His shirt was wrinkled, and his pants were in disarray. It didn't take me long to realize that he hadn't changed, and he probably hadn't slept either. I frowned, worry eating at me. It was a wonder he wasn't grumpier.
"And maybe you need to get some rest. We've got a lot to do," I suggested tentatively.
As much as I liked to joke about his lack of humanity, I did think he pushed himself too far some days. I was interested in his welfare, and not only because he was typically the only thing separating me from a horrible, messy, demon-induced death. That was just a rather large bonus.
He looked at me and shrugged his shoulders before sitting on a bench. I decided that now was as good a time as ever to get going, and I walked past, momentarily stopping to awkwardly pat Kanda's shoulder. He'd been... well, better lately, and I didn't want him to feel like I didn't appreciate that. Of course, touching him at all made my stomach knot up, but these were the things I did for civility.
As I approached the door to the inn, Kanda called out, "Maggie."
"Yes?" I asked, inserting my key into the door and turning the lock. I looked over my shoulder at him, his back still turned to me. His shoulders were tense again, and his head was bowed as if he were praying.
"If I'm ever in danger, don't be an idiot and try to help. Do you understand?"
I stood there, dumb and half-deaf. It took me almost a whole minute to process what he'd said, but once I had, I stuttered, "W-why do you say that?"
He sat there a while longer. His hair swayed as the wind picked up, and he seemed smaller now, sitting by himself on the stone bench. After a couple of minutes of awkward silence, he said quietly, "If I can't handle it, you can't either. Always save yourself first. Be selfish. Better one survive than both die. Understood? I won't hesitate to do the same to you."
Well, thanks.
He turned his head, a single dark eye looking at me with such intensity that my stomach quivered. My heart raced frantically as I tried to process his words, tried to think of a response. What could I possibly say to that? He was basically giving me permission to leave him behind if ever anything were to happen. What was worse, having that permission made me feel like it would make it easier for me to leave him behind, either out of cowardice or self-preservation. What kind of person would even think like that - on either side? I stared at Kanda, swallowing, as the full weight of the war seemed to invade the air we breathed.
"Okay," I mumbled. "I'll remember."
With that, I went inside, leaving him to his thoughts, whatever those might be. I could only imagine what it must be like in there, and I was worried that it was less empty in his head than I liked to think.
"I don't believe this."
I stared at myself in the mirror. My jaw dropped, words ready to come spilling out, but they died in my throat as I continued to look on at the walking disaster in front of me. I shrugged my shoulders with defeat, a sour look on my face as I stared at my reflection. It was gray. It was old. It smelled like mothballs. What was worse, it was almost twenty years out of date, and I looked like a walking circus tent. In fact, a circus tent would have been better. At least I would've been colorful. I picked up my fifteen pounds of skirt and turned around. Thankfully they'd let me keep a pair of sensible shoes so I could run should I ever need to address an emergency, but the dress kind of negated all usefulness the shoes would've provided. I could probably make it a hundred feet at top speed in this dress without dying of heat stroke or suffocation. Any farther, and those nobles were on their own.
"Mademoiselle, the gala has already started. Monsieur Kanda has requested your presence."
I licked my lips as I continued staring into the mirror. I'm pretty sure 'requested' was not the word he'd used. I glared at the ornate door, trying hard to contain a few, naughty words.
We were at the duke's grand mansion, getting ready for our eventual debut. We were purely there for looks, seeing as it wasn't likely that any Akuma would seriously attack the summit, but there was no telling what could happen. The opulence had quickly lost its charm after I was stuffed in a corset and dressed in twenty-year old rags. I toyed with my hair nervously, eying my make-up and trying to make myself look less frumpy. The maids behind me shuffled their feet as they awkwardly tried to avoid eye contact. The feeling was mutual - I wouldn't want to look at an abomination either.
"Alright, let's get this show on the road," I groaned as I hiked up my skirts and hobbled to the door of the room. I maneuvered around several sofas and fancy end tables, ignoring the decadent wallpaper and gold painted columns. I didn't have time to ogle, because if I stopped moving, I probably wouldn't start up again. Momentum was the only thing keeping me going.
I opened the door, reviewing my 'checklist' for the night. I was to keep tabs on all the Finders we'd met this morning, do patrols of the ballroom (surreptitiously - or as surreptitiously as I could in my get-up), and generally look pretty, which was getting to be a tall order. I looked around the hall, wondering where Kanda could've gone, before two Finders quickly intercepted me.
"Exorcist Kanda said to meet him in the atrium when you were finished. He said that the Duke wished to see you, and he had to oversee some things. Guests have already arrived," one Finder, Gerome, mentioned as I quickly began striding down the hallway, making way like a freighter through sailboats. Kanda may not be talkative, but his oppressive stare was enough of a talking-to, and boy did he hate to be kept waiting.
"Alright, you'll have to thank him for his patience for me," I muttered under my breath as I huffed and puffed my way to the atrium.
Kanda and I had largely gone our separate ways for most of the day. He'd handled the grounds, and I'd settled on the more 'people' side of things, finding places to secretly place Finders and make them look less conspicuous so the guests wouldn't notice any surveillance. While he'd gotten a handle on the exits and entrances, I'd handled talking to most of the staff about what we as clergymen were doing and how we would try to stay out of their way. So far, things had gone without a hitch.
We could only hope it stayed that way.
Finally, I made it to the main atrium. The guests would be entering here and then descending the short steps of the staircase to be announced. Already, people were streaming in. I finally saw Kanda and Savon standing off to the side as people milled around in their (much fancier) formal wear. As I caught sight of Kanda, I stopped so quickly that Gerome almost smashed into my back.
His hair had been pulled back, uniform cleaned (when did that happen?), and his shoes were so shiny, they could be seen from a mile away. He wore his sword at his hip, and he was standing straight, gaze clear. He didn't look angry, but he also didn't look bored or complacent either. I swallowed as I approached, feeling very outclassed. The duke was no slouch either - he'd gone for a suit made of fine black cotton with black pants and black shoes, a bowtie at his neck completing his look. In comparison, I probably looked like a ruffled dodo bird.
I approached, trying not to jostle other blue bloods. Kanda finally looked at me as I waded my way to him, and he stared with unabashed... something or other. It bordered on awe, but not the kind inspired by beauty. Savon slapped on a smile and welcomed me with open arms.
"Mademoiselle! You look stunning!"
I tried my hardest not to glare at him, instead accepting his tentative hug, my stomach flip-flopping at the powerful smell of cologne. Over his shoulder, I gave Kanda my best wide-eyed look of frustration. For a second, I thought he might actually laugh.
Savon held me at arms' length and looked me over again. I tried to produce my most genuine grin, but I was afraid my cheeks were going to spasm from the effort. The duke suddenly remembered something, held up a finger, and dug around in his pocket, and I gave my partner a worried look. Kanda shrugged, and the duke suddenly took out a velvet box. My eyes must've been as big as goose eggs. He wasn't thinking about giving me-
"This was my aunt's also. I say it's a far cry more, ah, aesthetic than the dress. But then again, diamonds never go out of fashion," he said, opening the box to reveal a set of diamond earrings and a necklace probably worth more than all my belongings put together.
"Thank you," I choked out after remembering my manners.
He allowed me to put on the earrings myself, but the necklace he insisted on helping with. Out of the corner of my eye, I could swear I saw Kanda shoot him a dirty look, but then again, Kanda gave every person a dirty look. We shared a glance, and it was abundantly clear to both of us that this was a very expensive apology.
"Ah, now you look the real thing! Let's go, shall we?" the duke said with a bright smile.
We entered the ballroom together, where the orchestra was already playing a rendition of something quick. The announcer boomed the names of the nobles as they descended the stairs. This was only the first night of the festivities. There was to be another two days of meetings, food, and gossiping. It was a wonder these people got anything done.
"If you will excuse me, my grandmother and I must introduce ourselves. I'm sure we'll see you and your folk around. Thank you, again, for doing this for us," Savon assured us, patting my hand and giving a benevolent look to Kanda. I smiled thinly as he walked off to find that slave-driver he called Grandma.
"Do me a favor and the next time anyone tells me I have to wear a dress, shish kebab them," I muttered under my breath as we descended towards the announcer.
"And here is Duke Savon Bergeron, with his esteemed grandmother Duchess Dowager Yvette De Croix."
"Not sure I can. I've heard it's rude to stab people," Kanda stated with a flat tone, and it took me a couple seconds to realize he was joking. He only glanced at me sidelong before smugly turning to the announcer and mentioning our names.
The announcer faced the room full of people and stated, "And here is Monsieur Kanda with Mademoiselle Magnolia Valdis."
Chills ran down my spine as I drank in the magic of the ballroom. Having my name announced seemed to hammer home that I was at an actual ball with actual people. I swallowed as my stomach flip-flopped. I stuck close to Kanda's side, too aware that I had gotten in way over my head without so much as a buoy to hang on to.
"You ever do this before?" I whispered fervently as I watched gaggles of women in the latest style pass us by.
We were doing a circuit of the ballroom together, like we'd planned, while the Finders kept us posted from the entrance and exits using golems. I scratched at the communicator locked to my ear as Kanda's dark, solemn eyes viewed everything with scrutiny.
"Once. I think watching hair grow is more entertaining," he offered, and I nodded with a nervous chuckle, shaking the jitters out of my hands.
We walked past the dance floor, and I stood there for a few moments to ogle the lords and ladies. Entranced, I swayed to the rhythm of the music before a touch at my elbow broke the spell the dancing and the symphony had put upon me. Kanda was already ahead of me, and I had to hobble at top speed to catch up. I couldn't even stop to smell the roses.
We did another few rounds of the ballroom, intermittently talking to stave off boredom. Now and again, we'd stop to grab one of the finger foods that had been set out, and we split up often to cover more ground, but in general the night seemed to pass by without much to-do. We must have been there for three hours or so, doing nothing but watching everyone else have fun without us.
And then he came in.
"I can't imagine why we even need to fill things out in triplicate. It's not like Komui reads it," I muttered into my earpiece as I walked back down towards the entrance on what seemed to be my fiftieth go-around. Kanda was on the other side of the ballroom, so bored that he was actually participating in a conversation with me.
"You're preaching to the choir. I just throw out the forms."
"But see, you have a sword and an attitude like three-week-old milk."
"You wanna say that again?"
For a moment there, I'd forgotten that Kanda was not exactly my best friend and probably didn't take honesty too well.
"Uh... you're as sweet as a rose in May? That was what I said."
"And here is Lord Ethan Bentham, Protector of the Vestin Isles and Guardian of the Channel," the announcer said, and I turned my head to look at the next rich man to step foot into the palace. My blood slowed to a crawl as I felt my heart begin climbing out of my mouth, my stomach not far after it. My hands started to shake, and I retreated to one of the recesses of the ballroom as I watched him descend the stairs.
He was a little older now. His eyes had lines. His mouth was still turned down in a frown. His red hair was a little streaked with gray, and his beard was cut differently, but those eyes, blue as daylight and empty...
"Should I ask how old you are?"
I wasn't about to forget those eyes.
He had a young woman on his arm, who remained unannounced for reasons that didn't need to be discussed, and as he came forward, I turned right around and walked to the other way. There was a quick burst of noise in my ear as the communicator went live, and a tinny voice asked irately, "Where are you going? We're supposed to meet at the south end of the ballroom."
"I'm thirsty. I'm getting a drink," I stated, trying to keep the tremor out of my voice. For once, I succeeded in remaining calm.
"Be quick about it. These women won't leave- No, I can not sign your dance card."
I quickly took my leave, heading down towards the refreshment table laden with every sweet, finger food, and delicacy a cook could dream up. Under normal circumstances, I would've eaten at least half of these, but the thought of putting food in my mouth made me want to vomit. I shakily picked up a glass of water, looking towards the east end of the ballroom, where glass windows overlooked a maze of hedges. The water in my glass rippled as I brought it to my lips, my eyes turned away from the entrance. What would happen if he saw me? Would he even recognize me? And what would he do if he did?
I don't know why she caught my eye. I think she wanted me to see her, with the way she walked almost right in front of me. My eyes lingered on her as she walked with a man on her arm towards the eastern doors that led toward the grounds. From what I could remember, she was an Italian noble, some baron's daughter, and she had come here with her brother, who must be the man on her arm. The longer I stared, the more I was aware that something wasn't right, but I couldn't put my finger on it.
Finally, he opened one of the doors to the outside, a Finder nodding to them as they walked through, and she turned to look at me. Finally, I realized what was wrong.
She smiled toothily at me as her pupils suddenly became stars, the door closing behind them. I had to blink to make sure that my eyes were working right.
Why would an Akuma reveal itself? Was it the stress? Was I hallucinating?
I pressed hard on the communicator and said, "I'm going outside for some air."
There was a brief pause before he answered, "Don't do anything stupid."
"Since when have I ever done that?" I asked as I headed towards the eastern doors.
A/N: Once more, our favorite Exorcist is diving in feet first, only to find the pool is about two feet deep. Hopefully you've enjoyed this latest installment of Art of War, and I hope you continue reading it! As for me, I've greatly enjoyed writing it and going on this journey with all of you. I also have to extend my deepest thanks to my beta, Karina, for looking over this chapter and sniggering madly at all the shenanigans, as well as reviewing the last chapter I'd written. The next chapter is already floating around in my gray matter, so be on the look out!
Once again, I'm going to shill for some in-depth reviews on how to do this story better. I love the support I've been given, and it looks like I've got a bit of a following, at least with this story. So go ahead and give me your thoughts! It doesn't matter if they're one word or fifty or a thousand, any word at all gives me all kinds of glee. And to help you along... here are some questions!
What parts of the story do you enjoy most, like the action or the comedy scenes? What parts could you do without? Are the characters original and rounded? Is the story losing speed, or should it go a little faster? Could you see yourself sticking with this story? What was your favorite chapter? This story is over twenty-five chapters long - do you think it's almost reached its end?
Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you find more beautiful, hilarious, wonderful fics to indulge in. God bless you, and keep reading!
