Chapter 4: Outnumbered, noun. Also see 'about to DIE.'
"Allen! Where's Daine?"
Win was barely holding off two akuma, even with a power up from Daine. She knew, though, that transferring any sizeable amount of power to one person was draining. To give her power to three people must have rendered Daine unconscious, at least. To her surprise, it was Kanda that answered.
"She's here."
Win made the mistake of glancing at him in surprise and was sent flying across the room, a nasty gash in her right leg, the product of one of the level 2's ability to use sound waves to slice people into ribbons. Win groaned as she picked herself up, dodging a lesser akuma and turning her focus once more on the two more dangerous ones.
"Give her to Allen, or bring her here! I won't let her get killed."
She heard Kanda shout something incoherent at the akuma and then heard his voice again, closer, now.
"Neither will I. She's cured my seasickness and given me more strength. I owe her for today."
It was true, he had her draped on his back, and as far as Win could see, unhurt. Though it pained her to admit it, and when the word "pained" is used, it isn't used lightly because she truly hated the man, Kanda was a stronger exorcist, and the only thing that gave her an upper hand was Daine's power. It affected her more strongly than it did anyone else because she had been with Daine the longest and knew her best, thus allowing her to fuse Daine's strength with her own more efficiently.
"Having…a party…without me?"
Allen was out of breath, but Win found his presence reassuring. The three were back to back, almost, in a little defensive triangle shape. They were surrounded by four Level 2 akuma, with regular akuma lurking behind their more fearsome counterparts, waiting for a chance to slip in and strike. They were tiring, and though the energy they had received from Daine was keeping the seasickness away, injuries they'd sustained while fighting were wearing them down, slowly at first, but now all too quickly.
"LITTLE EXORCIST, I SEE YOU!"
The Level 2 that Allen was fighting abruptly swatted him away and attacked Kanda. No, not Kanda…Daine, who Kanda had on his back, unconscious. Kanda was unprepared for the sudden attack. He was stuck parrying another level 2's arm with his sword, his free hand making sure he didn't accidentally drop Daine.
While one hand was enough to stop Daine from falling, it wasn't nearly enough to stop Daine from being torn out of Kanda's grip like a rag doll.
"LITTLE EXORCIST, NOW YOU WILL DIE! KYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Kanda turned around suddenly, as if in a delayed reaction to the akuma taking Daine. Allen struggled to his feet. Win suddenly cried out, and the lesser akuma took advantage of what seemed like the time to take a breath to surge forward, squeezing between their superior comrades to fight the exorcists. The Level 2 that could change the weight and density of its body and had it out for Daine held her out in front of it and turned its free hand to lead.
"Bye-bye little exorcist!"
The leaden hand was raised and when it came down it came down with such force that there was something equivalent to an explosion. Though the other three were fighting for their lives, it was a moment no one missed. Win shouted something incoherent, staring at the sudden cloud of smoke in nothing less than true fear. And then, just as suddenly, the puff of smoke cleared and something was seen disintegrating.
"Wow. You leave your kids unattended for just one minute and everything goes to ruin. Next time I visit the snack bar, I'm definitely getting you four a babysitter."
An unconscious Daine draped over his back, a wide grin on his face, and his trusty, ridiculously large hammer resting against his shoulder, he was indeed a sight for sore eyes. The Level 2 that had tried to smash Daine into a liquid pulp was gone.
"LAVI?"
"STRIKE! HELLO, YU! Oh, and HI, ALLEN! HI, WIN! HI, DAINE-oh dear, she's not looking too good is she?"
"DON'T CALL ME YU, IDIOT!"
"Nice to see you too, Kanda!"
It truly was something incredible, the way these battle-hardened exorcists managed to shout small talk at one another from across the yoga-classroom-battlefield. With Lavi's presence, a morale booster (or, in Kanda's case, a new reason to need to take out frustration on akuma) in itself, the four exorcists made relatively short work of the remaining akuma. It had gone from four Level 2 akuma against three weary exorcists to three Level 2 akuma against three weary exorcists and a fresh reinforcement. (The lesser akuma in the background didn't really count, because all of the exorcists were focused on the Level 2 akuma).
Eventually, the yoga classroom was silent.
"Whew! That was quite a workout."
Kanda and Win, united in purpose, glared at Lavi. Allen just sort of stepped to the side to check on Daine. The red-headed exorcist grinned sheepishly at them.
"So, how's your vacation been so far?"
He was lucky, very lucky, that Allen chose that point to worriedly ask Win why Daine wasn't waking up. Why? Because nothing, nothing on earth is more frightening than Kanda and Win agreeing on something that will involve a slow, painful death for the pity-inspiring fool who had the misfortune to piss them off while they were still powered up with Daine's energy. Win hurried over to where Allen had set Daine down, and Kanda, feeling indebted to the girl who cured his seasickness, allowed Lavi to steer him over there as well, just to make sure she hadn't, say, died. Win frowned.
"What's wrong, Allen?"
Allen looked from her to Daine, concern written on his face.
"She's not waking up!"
Win's eyebrows furrowed.
"What's your point?"
He gaped at her, incredulously.
"Don't you care about her? What if she doesn't wake up?"
Win rolled her eyes at him.
"Of course I care. You just don't appreciate how much energy she gave us. It's hard on her. Let her sleep. It's not like she's magically going to wake up the second the battle's over."
Allen looked almost confused.
"Isn't that what they do in all the stories, though?"
Kanda glared at him, finished with the whole scene.
"That's why they're called stories, moyashi. This is reality. Everything isn't timed to fit in with a plot."
"Yu, you're so wise!"
Win sweatdropped as she watched Kanda try to strangle Lavi. It did her soul good to see Kanda pissed off. Maybe one day that vein in his forehead would just burst and he'd bleed to death. Ah, well, a girl could dream.
Eventually, Win and Kanda got down to grilling Lavi on why he was on the ship with them and discovered quite a few things. Firstly, that the yoga class was an ambush. Which, had Daine been awake, she would have no doubt been pleased to know about. Why? Because she had in fact read "exorcizing" on the paper that advertised the yoga session, not "exercising." Thus she couldn't be blamed for making a careless mistake, not that anyone would have accused her of it, with the possible exception of Kanda. Secondly, that the whole cruise liner was a setup. Apparently, the leads on the strange things happening in the area had reached the ears of the Millennium Earl, but the akuma he had previously sent weren't able to retrieve it.
This is where the exorcists came in. The plan was, have whoever the Black Order sent retrieve the innocence and then steal it from them and kill the exorcists before the ship landed at a stop. Allen and Win exchanged worried glances, and Win slammed a fist down on the table that they were sitting around, with the exception of Daine, who was laying down, still unconscious.
"I don't get it, how could the Millennium Earl predict what ship we were going to take? It doesn't make sense!"
Lavi laughed at that, scratching his head a bit awkwardly.
"Actually, he didn't. He just assumed-correctly-that we'd get put on the cheapest one."
There was a moment of silence before Win retreated with a dark expression to Allen's bed, on which Daine lay. They had chosen to meet up in Allen's room because it was a sort of neutral ground. Meaning that Win wouldn't stand to have Kanda in hers and vice versa. Allen took over asking questions from there.
"Lavi, why are you here, then?"
The red-headed exorcist shrugged.
"I dunno, Komui or someone must have figured out what was going on somehow, because the next thing I know I'm on a train and then getting onboard at the ship's second stop."
Kanda glared at him.
"What exactly are you supposed to be doing here? And that stop was ages ago. Why are we only seeing your stupid rabbit face now?"
Lavi sweatdropped.
"I missed you too, Yu."
Kanda's hand twitched on his sword, but Allen intervened by skillfully changing the subject.
"Say, Lavi, why is it that you're not seasick?"
This was indeed a question Kanda deemed worthy of putting off Lavi's execution. His hand moved away from his anti-akuma/Lavi/Win weapon and he settled into his chair. Kanda was, after all, the one who had suffered the most from the seasickness, besides Win, but the way he saw it, having to be near her while she was sick was suffering enough. Lavi, oblivious to the hostility even radiating from Allen, who had thrown up over the side of the boat as well, though not as frequently as Kanda and Win, looked at them, confused.
"Seasick? How can you be seasick on such a smooth running ship? I mean, sure the passage was the cheapest one Komui could find, but it's not like you're riding in some little dinghy."
The murderous aura that lashed back and forth around Lavi could not be ignored. Kanda, Allen, and Win were able to understand that Daine didn't share in their suffering because her innocence was spread throughout her entire body, somehow, but the idea that Lavi, with his "stupid hammer" could go unaffected by the seasickness was simply too much.
Lavi, sensing their mood, laughed sheepishly.
"Just kidding! Nah, Komui gave me some pills to help settle my stomach. I guess he figured I might have a problem."
There was a ringing of metal suddenly drawn, and to Allen's surprise, it wasn't Kanda for once. Win glared at Lavi, her claws glinting wickedly in the dim light.
"And why on earth did you not think of sharing those pills with us?"
Lavi chuckled.
"I forgot."
Win suddenly leapt at him, her claws narrowly missing the redhead in a furious swipe.
"WAIT! YU, SAVE ME!"
"DON'T CALL ME THAT!"
Allen sweatdropped as he watched Lavi be chased around by the two angry exorcists.
"GET BACK HERE!"
"NO! 'Cause then you might HURT me!"
"THAT'S THE IDEA, IDIOT!"
The small bedchamber most definitely wasn't large enough for this. Or sturdy enough.
"Guys…you're going to punch a hole in the side of the ship and sink it."
Naturally, he was ignored. Behind him, there was a faint stirring noise and a sigh.
"Allen?"
Surprised, he turned back only to see Daine blinking blearily at him, her hair near fallen out of it's messy, spiked bun, the jeweled chopsticks she used to keep it up loose and slipping onto the pillow as she lifted her head. Lavi apparently decided to take a break from fleeing for his life because he suddenly jumped on Allen's bed and hugged Daine in an almost too friendly manner.
"DAINE!"
"Lavi? What happened?"
Lavi opened his mouth to explain but at this point, Kanda and Win had caught up to him, and thus he was torn from Daine's arms and hauled away, probably to be thrown off the side of the boat. Allen decided to just leave things as they were.
"Long story short, we were losing, an akuma almost killed you, Lavi saved you, and then we killed all of the akuma and whatnot."
Daine nodded, twisting her barely-long-enough hair into a little knot and replacing her chopsticks. She sat up a little too quickly and swayed dizzily.
"Are you alright, Daine?"
She nodded.
"Just peachy. Actually…I'm kind of starving."
Allen laughed.
"I'll run off and tell the others you've gone to get food. Or should I come with you?"
"No, no, I'm fine. Thanks, though, Allen."
"No problem! I'll see you later, then."
Daine waved cheerily and carefully exited the room. Or at least tried to.
"Oh, no you don't."
Lavi had happily taken possession of her arm.
"No one is going anywhere alone until we find the innocence and get off this boat. We're going to have to buddy up, a pair of two and one of three, I think. It's not safe to go around without backup. Not with what we saw earlier."
Daine nodded.
"That's wise, I think. Who's with who?"
Lavi grinned.
"You can be with me and those other three can have each other."
"HELL NO, I'M PAIRING UP WITH DAINE. IT SHOULD BE SPLIT BY BOYS AND GIRLS."
Win glared at Lavi, not approving of his plan at all. Daine considered her words.
"That would be appropriate, I think. Because if we can't walk around alone, I don't think it's smart to split up at night when we go to our rooms. So we should share, and it makes more sense if we split up by gender."
Surprising everyone, it was Allen who came up with a counterargument for that.
"Shouldn't we pair up by strength? So that the teams are equal in case of an attack? Because if Win and Daine are attacked, well, I just think that their combined strength isn't the same as the combined strength of Lavi, me, and Kanda."
Win's expression darkened and yet somehow, she managed to look almost amused when she turned to Allen, her eyes hidden in the shadow of her hair, her lips curled into a cruel grin.
"You wouldn't be implying that we're weak, now, would you?"
Allen jumped back, shaking his head almost violently in denial. It was odd…for a moment there, Win had carried a sort of force behind her voice that reminded him of…no, it couldn't be. It was better not to think about it. He might have nightmares…or worse.
"N-no! Not at all! I was just saying that, um-"
Kanda glared at Win.
"He was simply telling you not to be stupid. A team consisting of you and Daine would be at a severe disadvantage. For one, Daine can't fight. She can give you her energy, but she can't watch your back. Daine should be paired with the strongest team, on the team of three."
Lavi grinned.
"Exactly! Daine should be with the strongest person, so she'll definitely be on my team. Win, you can have Kanda and Allen."
Win glared at him.
"No, I can have Daine and Allen. You can have Kanda! Isn't he your best friend or something?"
Allen watched them fight for a few minutes, then turning to watch Daine and Kanda leave, then deciding it was time to make Lavi and Win aware of how the teams were apparently being laid out.
"Hey, guys?"
"WHAT?"
Silent, mainly because he was surprised by their simultaneous outburst, Allen pointed in the direction of the door. The teams had been decided. Lavi and Win glared at each other, and somehow, Allen found himself wishing he was on Kanda's team. Then again…maybe not.
Outnumbered, noun. Also see 'about to DIE.'/End.