10
The cafeteria was extremely crowded. I maneuvered my way to sit with Kanda, Lavi following me like a dog. Many would find this annoying, but I did not. I thought Lavi was very sweet and funny and I enjoyed getting to know him. We eventually wound our way through the throng and I sat down next to Kanda, Lavi lowering himself across from me. We were the only three at the table.
"What's up?" I asked Kanda. He shrugged and continued eating his soba. It was lunch time and I was feeling extremely hungry after training with Lenalee this morning. She didn't look it, but the fourteen year old could be very aggressive. I quickly dove into my Greek lentil soup. Lavi twirled spaghetti around his fork and shoved the bite into his mouth.
"I can't believe I ever ate before coming to the Order. Jerry's cooking is amazing!" he said with his mouth half full. I made a disgusted face and he swallowed before laughing. He turned his attention on Kanda.
"Soba again?" he asked. "You ate that for dinner yesterday and for breakfast this morning!"
"He only eats soba," I informed Lavi.
"Yuck. Why? Don't you ever want to try new things. This pasta is amazing! Here, try some!" Lavi exclaimed, shoving a forkful in front of Kanda's face.
"It's good," Lavi attempted. Kanda set down his tea and picked up his chopsticks, his eyes glinting maliciously.
"Do you want these shoved up your nose?" he asked in a low voice. I recognized the dangerous tone his voice had.
"Lavi, just give up. Kanda only eats soba."
"Huh," he sighed. "Fine." Lavi put the food in his mouth. I sipped the hot soup in my spoon, nearly burning my tongue in the process.
"So how long have you been in the Order?" Lavi asked.
"Since I was nine or ten. Kanda was eight when he came from the- OW!" I shrieked. My foot throbbed underneath the table. Kanda continued eating his soba like he hadn't just crashed his heel onto the top of my foot.
"Nice," Lavi said. "I won't ask any questions about where you came from Kanda, so relax and stop hurting Val." He smiled while Kanda glared at him. Something in the redheads tone made me feel like he knew more about everything than he let on.
"Where are you from?" I asked Lavi. He folded his arms behind his head while he thought about what to say.
"Well, I'm a future Bookman."
" What's a Bookman?"
"Bookmen are people who record the happenings of time. I will eventually be successor for Gigi. I keep a mental record of everything, as does Bookman. That's why we-"
"SHUT UP! YOU SAY TOO MUCH!" Bookman yelled, slapping Lavi on the back of the head. I stared in shock.
"You just appeared out of nowhere," I said in awe. The corners of his mouth curled upward.
"Please ignore everything that the idiot has said," Bookman said. I nodded. The man continued on his way, pausing to bow at a passing Komui. He disappeared through the big wooden doors.
Lavi stabbed a meatball viciously. "Damn Panda. He always has to hit me." He shoved the entire meatball in his mouth. His cheeks bulged and he actually managed to smile at my disgusted look.
"What?" he asked when he had managed to swallow most of the meat.
"How can you eat that?"
"It's good. You don't like meat?"
"No. I'm vegetarian. And, by the way, I'm surprised you haven't choked on your food yet." His grin was huge as he shrugged his shoulders.
"It's a skill I have. I can shove large amounts of food in my mouth without choking on it."
"Baka," Kanda muttered, entering the conversation. He stood up and grabbed his tray. I turned in my seat.
"Yu, where're you going?" Lavi called as Kanda walked away.
"Away. And stop using my first name!" he yelled. I turned around, shaking my head.
"Do you want him to kill you?" I asked, sipping my cooling soup. Lavi looked from me back to Yu and then back again. He folded his arms behind his head, stretching.
"No. I'm just trying to be his friend," he said. I shook my head.
"Well I don't think you're doing a very good job." I grabbed the bowl and tipped the last of the broth into my mouth.
"You don't think so?" Lavi asked. He smiled. "I think I'm making progress."
"Really?" I said skeptically. "And how is that progress?"
"He doesn't snap like he used to," Lavi said simply. "If that isn't progress then I don't know what is." I made a noise of assent. Lavi started to stare at me.
"What?"
"Nothing. I'm just pondering. How did you two become such good friends?" he asked.
"I don't know. It kind of just happened. When I first came here Kanda hated me."
"Weird. Well, I can tell you for sure, he doesn't hate you now. I think that he needs you more than even he knows."
"Pardon?"
"Never mind. I'm going to go to the library. Gramps has me loaded with reading. I might just kill myself if I ever have to look at another book after this," he joked while standing up.
"See you," I said. He raised a hand in goodbye gesture as he walked away. I too stood up and took my dishes to the kitchen. Jerry greeted me exuberantly and I was hugged tightly. When he released me, leaving my ribs feeling like they were cracked, I took my dishes to the sink and washed and dried them. Then I put them away before leaving the cafeteria.
I was walking past one of Komui's experiment hallways when I heard it. The noise was a dull tinkling sound. It was extremely soft, but I could tell that it was a song. I looked down the dark hallway. Due to Komui's experimentation the electricity in his halls had been destroyed. No one bothered to fix it, most likely because it would just get destroyed again. The doors were covered with X's and strange chemicals. There was even some liquid that looked like blood on the doors. I contemplated going down there and investigating.
The noise had stopped briefly and then began again, louder this time. I listened intently. I soon realized the sound to be of a piano. Curious, I made my way carefully to the end of the hall. It disturbed me greatly that the hallway was so long. What, exactly, was Komui doing down here? I had been warned upon my arrival not to ever, ever go down one of these halls. Everyone avoided them like the plague.
At a particularly battered and scarred door the piano was strongest. I twisted the knob and was happy to find it unlocked. I eased the door open and let myself in. What I found shocked me immensely.
The room was empty, the walls covered in an unknown substance and the tiles on the floor cracked. In the center of the room was a grand piano. It was black, detailed intricately in gold paint. Running up the legs were gold cherry blossom branches, the blooms either fully open or partway closed. The keys were perfectly white and black, without any indication that they had been tampered with by Komui.
This in itself was not what surprised me so. What surprised me was the person who was playing the piano, hands flowing over the keys, body moving and being pitched forward as the player pressed down on the keys. The players slight, strong build and long black hair held in a high ponytail exposed who it was. Kanda.
"Oh my God," I said, shock evident in my voice. The clashing sounds of all keys being played at once greeted my ears and then before I knew it, my mouth was covered by a strong hand.
"Don't say anything," he growled in my ear. "To anyone."
I nodded and he let go. I rubbed my jaw as he went and sat down on the bench. He sat with his legs apart and rested his elbows on his knees. His face was cupped in his hands. I walked over and sat on the ground beside him. I reached out and placed a hand on his knee. He looked up and I smiled.
"I won't tell anyone," I said. He nodded. "I didn't know you played piano."
"No one does."
"Why didn't you tell me? Anyone?" I asked. He laughed a single sharp syllable.
"Val, do you know what people would say if they knew I played piano? Me, Kanda Yuu? They'd never let me live it down."
"I thought you didn't care what people thought of you?"
"I don't," he admitted. "But I do care about being able to have my peace. And that would be gone if anyone were to find out," he said, looking pointedly at me. I mocked locking my lips and throwing away the keys.
"Don't worry, your secret is safe with me," I said. He nodded again, his ponytail swaying.
"I know. I trust you." It took only seconds for this simple sentence to affect me.
"Gah! Why are you crying!?" Kanda cried out in alarm.
"You've never said that you trusted me before." He knocked me upside the head.
"Baka. I didn't think that I had to say it. I thought it was always clear. Like I would tell you my secrets if I didn't trust you."
"If you trust me you should tell me about the lotus and the way you can heal so quickly," I said, bringing up our old argument. His look was mutinous.
"We are not discussing that," he said angrily. I bit my lower lip and twisted my fingers.
"Okay," I whispered. "I'm sorry."
"Che."
Just like that things were back to normal. He was no longer angry and I pushed my thoughts away from the mystery of the lotus and his magical healing powers. He turned around on the bench to face the piano. I stood up and sat down next to him.
"Can you play me something?" I asked. He contemplated for a moment and then let his hands hover over the ivory keys. They hesitated and came back to rest in his lap.
"I don't know what to play," he said. I got off the bench and sat on the ground.
"Anything," I said. "Anything would be beautiful." His lips curled upwards and I found myself enveloped in his beauty. His pale skin shone in contrast to his dark hair, his thin lips were pressed in a line as he thought about what to play, his eyebrows knitted together. His body was leaned slightly over the piano.
Then he began to play. High notes stuck out a melody and his fingers moved quickly and surely over the keys. His body swayed a bit as he stretched his arms out to reach high and low on the piano. The sound wound its way through my mind, the beauty of it slightly overwhelming. I had no clue that Kanda was able to make something so beautiful. All to soon the song ended. Kanda looked at me, a defensive look on his face, as if trying to protect himself from ill words.
"Why are you crying again?" he asked.
"That was so beautiful. I had no idea. When did you learn to play?"
He pressed a few keys down absently. They resounded throughout the room for a moment before being absorbed into the walls. "I was young. Very young. Before I came to this branch of the Order."
"Wow. That was so amazing, Yuu," I said. He flinched at my use of his first name, but did not threaten me like he would Lavi.
"Before I learned how to meditate this was the only way to relax me."
"Did you write that song yourself?" I asked.
"Yes." He bowed his head down and played a few random notes, attempting to hide his embarrassment. Then he became suddenly serious.
"Don't you dare tell anyone, especially Lavi. With his disposition the whole Order would know in ten minutes."
"I promise. You can trust me."
"I know," he said. He reached out and touched my arm. The contact gave me a jolt like electricity. He dropped his hand.
"Come on," he said, standing up. "Let's go to the training room." He held out his hand.
I looked at it. His fingers were stretched out, the skin on the palm of his hand smooth and free of any scars or cuts. I looked up at his eyes. He was watching me and when we locked eyes he gave me an impatient look. I laughed nervously and took his outstretched hand. He pulled me up and we walked to the door. He dropped my hand and I found myself upset that he had let go.
"Can you teach me how to meditate?" I asked. He tuned his head and looked down at me, a smile in place on his flawless face. "Please?"
"Fine, but it takes a lot of discipline. I don't think you have the willpower to do it." We started walking out of the hall.
"I do too!" I protested. He said nothing, merely smirking. "You don't believe me?"
"Nope," he replied.
"I'll show you! I will master the art of meditation."
Kanda laughed through his nose and led me to the meditation room. I found that I could not stop thinking about how beautiful he was.
Yay! Another chapter. Thank God for weekends and confrences so that I have no school! Unforunately I don't know when I will be able to post next, which is why this chapter is so long. It was three and a half pages in Word! My director has us doing rehearsals until eight for the musical at school, so I am going to be busy busy busy.
I hope you liked this chapter! I bet you didn't know that Kanda played piano. I don't know why, but I can picture him playing the piano, so I decided to write that in. I hope you liked the idea. I'm sorry if you didn't. By the way, the song Kanda plays for Val is Swiftwater by Scott. D. Davis. It is incredibly beautiful.
Please review! That would be awesome. Happy Monday!- That should get a few, right? Haha.