Chapter 14 Two Years Later

"Val! Welcome back!" Cries erupted all around me as I entered the cafeteria. I had just returned from a mission that had taken three long weeks. My uniform was completely destroyed. The jacket was missing one sleeve and had huge rips in it, and my pants were ripped all over the place. There was blood and dirt all over me, and I really wanted to take a shower.

The finders I was with spread out to say hello to their friends. Lavi came running up to me, arms spread for a hug. Lenalee was right behind him. She had a huge smile on her face.

"You probably don't want to hug me," I told Lavi. "I'm disgusting."

"I don't care!" he said. He grabbed me and held me close. When he let go Lenalee took his place. I glanced around for Kanda when she stopped hugging me, but he was no where to be seen.

"He disappeared a few hours ago," Lenalee said, knowing exactly who I was looking for. I blushed. I noticed then that Lenalee had a boy with her. I would have mistaken him for an old man with his white hair, but close up he looked very young.

"Val, I'd like you to meet our newest exorcist, Allen Walker. Allen, this is Val. She's one of our top exorcists."

The white haired boy stepped forward. He hada red pentacle on his forhead and red lines that ran down from one point down his right eye. He held out his left hand, which was red and mechanical. I took it.

"Hi," he said. "I'm Allen Walker. I'm fifteen years old and I arrived to the Order while you were gone."

"Hello. I'm Valeriya Malentova. I'm eighteen and I've been at the Order since I was eight."

"Well, welcome back," Allen said. I smiled at him. I was about to ask Lenalee where Komui was, so that I could give him the recovered Innocence, when Johnny ran over.

"Val! Look at your uniform! That simply will not do!"

"Hello Johnny. Still overworked I see," I said, winking. He grinned and pulled out a measuring tape.

"Of course. Now I'm just going to get your measurements and then I have the perfect design for a uniform for you. It will be ready tomorrow!"

I stood still while he measured and when he was done, excused myself. I walked out of the cafeteria and found Komui in the library.

"Komui! I have the Innocence."

"Ah! Excellent work Val."

"Thank you. You wouldn't happen to know where Kanda is would you?" I asked. Komui cast a glance at the members of the Science Department awaiting signatures, walked around his desk and led me off to the side.

"Supervisor! You need to sign these!" Reever called after him. I shrugged apologetically for stealing Komui. Reever threw up his hands and turned around angrily.

"Well, I was walking by the destroyed hallway not too long ago, and I heard the sound of a piano being played," Komui told me. I smiled.

"Thanks! See you later. And Komui?"

"Yeah?"

"Please stop torturing the Science Department." Komui grinned sheepishly at me and walked back to his desk. I left the room.

I didn't bother to knock on the door to the piano room when I made it there. I grabbed hold of the knob and turned it, letting the door swing inward. Kanda glanced back at the noise, saw it was me and continued playing.

I waited patiently while he finished the song. I had spent much time in here, listening to the music flow through Kanda, and watching him as he poured his heart out through the keys. His body swayed with the song, matching the tempo. He played the final note and then turned on the bench.

"Hi," I said, shyly. I thought about the time when he had made me cry in the hospital. It seemed silly now. I had wanted him to express some love for me, and the coldness he showed only pushed him away. But I didn't want him to go. So, I forgave him in my mind and held tightly to the thread of love between us. On my side, I loved him more than I had ever loved another person. He was my second half, and even if he didn't reciprocate the feelings, I would always harbor them. I had no clue whether or not he loved me in the same way. I could only hope that one day he would realize that he loved me too.

"Welcome back," he said. "How was your mission? Did you retrieve the Innocence?"

"Yes," I said, smiling at his seriousness. He looked at me, from head to toe.

"You're a mess," he told me simply. I nodded and walked over to where he sat.

"I know. Johnny is going to make me a new uniform. I wanted to say 'hi' to you before I went to clean up."

Kanda gave a slight tilt of his head, a nod. Then he turned back to the piano. "So, um, while you were gone, they didn't give me any missions. So I had plenty of time to do stuff."

"Hmm."

"Yeah. I trained a lot, and tried to meditate, but eventually Lavi found me and annoyed the hell out of me, so I came here."

"Okay."

"And I wrote a song, a lullaby. For you." He was looking at the piano, tapping his fingers on the keys nervously.

"May I hear it?" I asked. He nodded.

He began to play and I was taken aback immediately. Kanda had told me that the song was for me, but I wasn't expecting it to be… about me. It was like he was a mind-reader, taking all of the pain, sorrow and grief that I had felt over the years, and he was covering it with my smiling façade and intertwining it all with the shred of hope and laughter that kept me going, and somehow Kanda transformed all of that into breath-taking notes.

I could find no words to describe the melody he played, only images and feelings came to my mind. To me, that melody, my lullaby, was like rain on a warm, summer day, not a thunder storm, but not a light sprinkle either. It was the kind of rain that came with light grey clouds, one that was expected but didn't stay too long; an almost pleasant rain. And then, you could see the clouds thinning reluctantly, not revealing the sun yet, but just enough that you could tell that it was there and that it wouldn't be hidden for long. That was my lullaby. I wouldn't have said it was a sad song, because it wasn't nor was it meant to be, but me being the emotional wreck that I was, it still brought tears to my eyes.

"That was amazing! Beautiful!" I said, when he had played the final note, which he let ring out for a while with the help of the sustaining pedal.

He didn't say anything, but continued to pluck at the keys absently. He nodded.

"Right. Well you should probably get cleaned up, and I have some stuff to do, so I'll see you later."

He stood up and left the room. I sat down on the bench he had just vacated, more than a little confused.

He had written me the most beautiful song, yet afterwards had said nothing in regards to such. I didn't understand. He seemed so indifferent, yet I knew that he loved to make his music more than he could even admit. Killing akuma was natural to him, something that he was good at. The piano was even more so. I was confused to his reaction, or lack there of, when I had told him what I thought. Of course, my saying it was amazing and beautiful didn't completely cover my true thoughts, but I assumed he would have understood that I meant them to mean more.

I got up and walked out of the room. Kanda always found a way to get my mind turning. I looked down at myself, covered in dirt and muck, and became slightly embarrased that I had let him see me this way, even though he had seen me like this many other times while on missions together. I picked up my pace as I walked to the showers.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

From the get go, Allen and Kanda did not get along. The two were constantly bickering, and often, the people around them were subjected to mostly Kanda's bad mood. Occasionally Lavi would be victim to both of them, but that was only natural, as Lavi liked to tease the two.

"Shut up, will ya?" Kanda said now, to a group of Finders. "You guys are ruining my appetite by sobbing and having a memorial for the dead behind me while I eat."

Bazu, one of the Finders in mourning, let loose a stream of insults to Kanda. I was on my way to the table to sit with Kanda, but stopped near Lavi. Bazu had thrown a punch at Kanda from behind, one that he expertly dodged. Kanda whirled around and grabbed the mans throat, lifting him into the air. I started forward again to stop him.

"If you want to survive, leave. There are tons of replacements for your puny life," Kanda was saying. I was almost there, when a red hand shot out and grabbed Kanda's wrist. Allen.

"That's enough," he said quietly. "Sorry to intrude, but I don't think thats the way to talk to someone."

Kanda glared at the fifteen year old exorcist. "Get off of me, Beansprout."

"My name is Allen!"

"I'll remember that if you're still alive in a month. They drop like flies around here, just like this guy."

Allen squeezed Kanda's wrist, forcing Kanda to drop Bazu. The man gasped for air and was pulled away by his friends.

"Didn't I just say that's not the way to talk to someone?"

Kanda continued to glare. "You're gonna die before your time kid. I hate guys like you."

"Why thanks."

I was relieved when Reever showed up and called Allen over for a mission. I stepped forward and placed a hand on Kanda's back. He flinched at the touch and I immediately withdrew my hand.

"Hey. What is wrong with you?" I asked.

"I hate that kid."

"Why? You barely know him."

Kanda sat down again and continued to eat his soba. I put my food down on the table and sat down across from him.

"I went on a mission with him while you were gone. The kid thinks he can save everyone."

I nodded. I knew how much I wished I could save everyone. But it wasn't possible. I had seen so many of my comrades die.

"I'm going to meditate. You coming?" Kanda asked.

"Sure."

We walked out of the cafeteria together. Inside Lavi watched us walk away. He noticed how Kanda's hand was slightly curved towards Val's, as if Kanda was itching to grab it. Smiling to himself, Lavi continued to shovel spaghetti into his mouth.

So I would like to thank the real Val for coming up with the description of her song. Thank you so much.

I wrote that song in real life and am hoping to post it to YouTube soon, so when I do I will come back and tell you all, so that you can check it out. Too bad I don't have a Kanda cosplay outfit, or I could dress up as him and play it.

Also, I did take some dialogue from the manga for the argument between Allen and Kanda. That belongs completely to Katsura Hoshino.

Finally, please review and tell me what you thought!