- Third Petal -
Pride
With each falling petal, Kanda wilts slowly.
Lavi often wonders why Kanda pushes himself over the limit and forces himself to continue slashing, continue fighting in deference of all the bloody slashes on his body. Having known him since boyhood, though, Lavi instinctively knows the answer even without asking him: Kanda must get stronger.
This all comes with a price, of course, and Lavi senses a vague twinge of trepidation in Kanda's heart at the sight of the lotus sitting placidly in the hourglass in Kanda's room.
But Kanda, a samurai of Japan and an Exorcist of the Black Order, is very prideful.
Lavi watches Kanda eat his soba noodles and mask his worries behind his constant scowl. He tests the swordsman from time to time, chiding him with the hated name of Yuu in order to see if Kanda's shield ever cracks.
It doesn't. It never will. Kanda spits and spats and threatens him before stomping away, fuming and preserving his pride. And Lavi merely watches.
All this rushes through Lavi's head as Kanda draws Mugen, faces the bulky Noah called Skin Bolic, and orders the entire group to exit the room as the Ark trembles. Even when Kanda shoots his Kaichuu at them and Lavi is busy dodging the insects of Hell, the redhead keeps his one eye on him. He knows full well that behind Kanda's aggressive behavior is a lonely soul of pride that wants to persevere and become stronger.
But Lavi, though a spectator of Kanda since he first saw him, does not understand every aspect of the blue-haired Exorcist.
He does not understand why Kanda is so desperate to become stronger and why he is so prideful. Perhaps his questions answer one another. Perhaps the answer lies with that mysterious lotus in Kanda's room.
So Lavi merely steps aside as usual, letting Kanda fight for himself. And when he departs from the scene and enters the next room of the Ark, he resists the urge to turn back and give Kanda another look to reassure himself.
Kanda won't lose, right?
He does not fully understand Kanda, but he knows that Kanda's lifespan is trickling away.
Even without being back at headquarters and peeping into Kanda's room, Lavi knows instinctively that the third petal will be making its slow descent to the bottom of the hourglass.
Even without staying behind to witness Kanda's battle against the Noah for himself, Lavi knows it will be a tough, painful one that forces Kanda to proceed fully beyond the bounds of where he has once gone, further whittling away at his soul until Kanda has nearly wilted and is almost drained of all life.
But Kanda won't lose. He never will.
A/N: I love the second DGM ending, "Pride of Tomorrow," which is one of the reasons why it is this chapter's theme. (I also love the most recent ending, "Regret." -hinthint-) And before I sign off here… no one but the great Hoshino knows who "that person" is; I just tossed in a priest for my speculation XD.
Now I hereby grant mounds and mounds of tempura to Ai Minamoto, Azab, skele-gro, Belladonna-Isabella, Kuro666, and bruderlein!
D.Gray-Man (c) Hoshino Katsura