A Fairytale's Punishment
It Hurts (Chapter 03)
A/N: Yay! Third chapter of my story! It's starting to get exciting! Um…not to spoil anything but let's just say that Cross's first name was Marian but they call him Cross. Please enjoy!
xx-xx
I can see your lonely eyes
Feeling like you're about to cry
I'll stay with you
Only if you stay with me too
xx-xx
"I-I can't." Lavi said softly. He tightened the grip on my wrist.
"What's wrong? What do you mean you can't?" I said, starting to feel my blood circulation get cut off. He seemed like he was in a daze, he looked at the ground carefully. "Lavi, are you okay?" I said once again, this time hoping to get an answer from him. All of a sudden a book came flying at his head, breaking his trance. I looked around to who it might be.
"Lavi! Let go of the poor boy already! What are you, a shotacon*?" A panda looking-man appeared out of nowhere.
"Hey old panda! Why'd you do that? And I'm not even that old!" Lavi said angrily.
"Who're you calling old panda, you idiot!" The man said as he smacked Lavi over the head. I stood there, confused, watching their fight until the man called out to me.
"Kazuki?"
"Y-yes?" I said a little hesitant to reply to him.
"Sorry if this fool had bothered you, Kazuki."'
"N-no, that's okay I think I was bothering him more." I really didn't understand why this was happening to me.
"Don't let this idiot scare you. If you want to punch him, punch him…hard." I had to chuckle a little at that last statement he had made.
"Gramps!"
"Shut up. I need to talk to Kazuki for a minute. You stay here." I followed the old man outside the library.
"Kazuki, I am the bookman for now, until Lavi takes over. I don't have a name so you can call me Bookman. Kazuki…I know why you're here and who you are but, I'm not sure if you'll like what you find." My head started to pound again, he knows? He knows my father? But what does he mean…?
"And one more thing, he'll have to find out sooner or later. You were warned Aka Sakura Cross." He said as he left me. I couldn't understand what he meant. Why can't I remember? Lavi came outside the library looking around to see if the Bookman was still here before asking, "Kazuki are you okay?"
I nodded my head. "Yeah."
Lavi had escorted me back to his room as he ran off to the library once again. What the Bookman said had some meaning to it, does he mean that someone will find out my secret soon? I know Kanda knows…but, he won't tell, I'm sure. He has nothing to gain from telling anyone anyways. Who will find out? Argh! I can't figure it out, my head just hurts too much. I'll just have sleep on it and in the morning I'll figure it out. I hope. I soon fell into a deep sleep, still wondering about what Bookman said.
Lavi's POV
I led Kazuki back to my room as I went back to the library to study more. I don't understand why the old panda had to talk to him, but it must have been important. Why did I hold onto Kazuki earlier though? I felt like I was missing something inside me, but I just left it and went back to my research and studying. A couple of hours later I had finished. Wow that took forever, what time is it? Looking back on the clock behind me I noticed it was already 4 am in the morning. Hmm I better get to bed. I got up and walked out of the library to my room, carrying some books in my hand. When I got to my door I hesitated to open it. I was afraid; afraid of something.
I knew Kazuki was on the other side of the door but it felt like someone else on the other side. I held the doorknob tightly in my hand, shaking as I turned it slowly. Opening it, I remembered that Kazuki would still be asleep. Phew. That saves me some time to… To do what? I hit myself with a book and then went into the room closing quietly so as to not wake him up. I placed the books on my desk next to my bed and sat down in the chair. I needed time to think, I needed to think about what happened earlier. I felt like I couldn't let him go for some reason, like he was a missing link. I can't leave you. Is what I wanted to say, but why? I must have studying too hard, because I couldn't even remember most of what happened when I was younger. There were too many questions being asked and none of them could be answered. My mind was getting jumbled up.
All of a sudden my surroundings changed to a forest scene that I had seen before. Small fragments of a scene were playing as it switched from my room to the forest. It looked very familiar. The scene was playing but it didn't have any sound at all. I saw a little girl all by herself in the cold but then a little boy ran towards her. Suddenly the boy was walking away. I looked at him more closely; he looked vaguely familiar to someone I know. My eyes then widen at my own thought. Was that little boy…me? The scene stopped as I saw Kazuki walk into the Black Order. Is Kazuki using his innocence unconsciously? This could be bad for him; I'll have to wake him up. I ran up to the Kazuki that was entering the Black Order.
"Kazuki, you're dreaming and using your innocence; I can see everything that you're dreaming about right now." I said rushing a bit.
"Hey you're that idiot on the train! Why are you here?" He didn't look too pleased that I was here.
"Excuse me?" I was dumbfounded. Is he still sleeping?
"Don't play dumb with me. Now get out of my way." I didn't want anything bad to happen to Kazuki because he's using his innocence, so I tried to convince him again.
"Can't you even tell that you're using your innocence?"
"Don't be an idiot, not that you're not already. But I know when I'm using my innocence and when I'm not."
Can he honestly not tell that he's using his own innocence? What would wake him up? I looked around the entire place trying to look for something that would wake him up. As I noticed another figure, the scene had changed before me once again. It was a dark and somewhat cold hallway. I squinted my eyes to see the figure in the shadows. The person's cries were echoed throughout the entire corridor. A small window had appeared nest to the figure and it brightened the room a bit. The person was curled up into a ball; their head in their knees and arms hugging their body tightly. I moved closer to the person. It was a frail young girl in a light bluish dress, covering most of her body. Yet, she was still shivering from the cold.
I put my hand on her shoulder, "Are you okay?" She stopped crying for a moment to look up at me, she then looked away and quietly said, "It's cold, very cold." I didn't know what to do nor say and why was she crying? She resumed crying in her ball form, her hair covering her face as she did so. I then realized what she meant and brought her closer to me. She didn't move from her form. I remembered something important that was lost. I hesitated to speak, "Your heart is cold. It hurts to cry alone, so cry with me." She suddenly wrapped her arms around me and cried as hard as she could. I hugged her tightly, as if letting her go would shatter her.
"I'm here for you Aka and I can't leave you. I won't leave you, ever." I closed my eyes and a tear fell from my eye. It hurts.
End of POV
I felt something warm against my body. I opened my eyes to see Lavi holding me and crying. His arms were wrapped tightly around me. I kind of liked him holding onto me; I never wanted this to end but I couldn't help thinking that there might be something wrong. Feeling worried, I asked, "Lavi are you okay?" The breaking of dawn shone through the window.
Lavi opened his eyes and immediately let go of me, his face bright red from embarrassment. "Y-yeah." He looked at me as if I had an akuma standing on my head. The room became silent. Now this was awkward.
"Uh, thanks for letting me stay in your room and everything…" My sentence trailed off at the end.
Lavi snapped out of his trance and said, "Oh yeah, no problem. I'd be happy to help you out anytime."
I smiled at him, "Well I guess I should ask Komui what I should do next now, huh?"
"Y-yeah, he'll probably take you to Hevlaska to check out your synchronization rate with your innocence."
"Hevlaska? Who's that? And what's this synchronization rate?" Even though my father was an exorcist, he would never tell me things that weren't vital to my training, which he probably should have since I was completely lost on this.
"Well, she's…" He managed to say before Komui slammed the door open. He had a giant smile on his face as he saw me.
"I knew I'd find you in here! Now let's get going." I backed myself up against the wall gave him a weird look.
"W-why are you smiling like that?"
He towered himself over me and said, "There's nothing you need to worry about." I looked at Lavi and he gave me a weak smile before Komui took me by the arm and dragged me out.
It felt like hours when we walked through the halls of the Order to wherever our destination was. When we reached a platform kind of thing Komui stopped. "You go first. We must hurry since we're late in doing so." Pushing me towards the platform I reluctantly got on, Komui followed on after. He went towards what I guessed was a control panel. He pressed some buttons until the platform started moving downwards. I tried to keep my feet steady, but it was hard since the platform's speed kept increasing. I looked up at Komui and noticed he was giggling as he watched me struggle. This isn't safe. I think I'm going to die! I lost balance and fell forward; afraid I was going to slam on the floor I crossed my arms over my face. I didn't fall on my face, but I did fall on something.
When I looked up I realized that Komui was under me. I got up rather quickly and bowed my head. "S-sorry!" I couldn't have felt more embarrassed in my life.
"That's okay Kazuki." He said smiling.
The platform had stopped moving and I realized that the place was pitch black, until light shone at one particular place. I looked around me and saw five dark figures. They spoke to me, "You possess the Innocence of God, the power of omniscience and omnipotence. We have gotten our hands on God once again." My heartbeat started to quicken. Who are these people? Komui saw me panic and he put his hand on my shoulder.
"There's nothing to worry about, those are only our bosses, the commanders-in-chief." I calmed down a bit. Komui spoke once again,
"Now, please show your merit to our leaders." I was confused, my merit? What does he mean by that? A bright light started to shine from behind me and then two, what seemed to be, arms grabbed me. I struggled to get free. W-what is this? I-I can't move!
The thing that grabbed me spoke, "I-innocence." It touched my forehead, and my innocence reacted with it.
My head started to pound like crazy. "L-let me go!"
Komui spoke in a relaxed tone, "It's no use, trying to break free, Kazuki. How is he Hevlaska? Does this apostle of God fulfill the requirements to your desire?" The thing wrapped itself around my entire body; it felt as if it were searching for something. H-Hevlaska? Lavi was talking about- My innocence reacted by itself and formed the axe I used in battle earlier. I let out a scream.
"I-it hurts so much, please just let me go!" I tried to cut through whatever it was, until it stopped me and made my innocence revert back.
"You overused your innocence; do not use it unnecessarily. Do not worry; I am not your enemy. Please calm down." She placed her forehead against mine and spoke, "1%... 8%... 17%... 23%... 48%... 58%..." She removed her forehead from mine and looked at me. "Your maximum synchronization rate with your innocence is 58%. That is the lowest synchronization rate I've ever seen, Komui."
"Synchronization rate? W-what is that?" I asked afraid to ask.
"Kazuki, your synchronization rate is the lifeline of your innocence activation. The lower your synchronization rate is, the harder it is to activate your weapon. And the user's life may become endangered," Komui tried to explain it calmly. I knew that if I used my innocence too much I may die but… "That is why you fainted earlier, not from overuse but from forcing yourself to use it. Please do not use your innocence so frequently next time." Hevlaska let me down on the floor.
"I didn't mean to scare you; I was only trying to know your innocence."
"Know my innocence?"
"Kazuki Sakura. You possess great power within you, but, be careful with what you do with it. You are to be 'The Keeper' that is what I have predicted for you, that is my power."
"Hmm, I don't quite understand that but that's probably going to happen! Hevlaska's predictions almost always come true." Komui smiled and clapped for me. I smiled a bit, and then the dark figures spoke to me again, "Fight, that is your duty as the one chosen by the innocence. It is your duty!" Darkness appeared where those people once were.
"Let's help save the world together, Kazuki, even though you won't make any money out of it." Komui said as he held his hand out. I nodded my head in agreement.
Hevlaska said to me, "Kazuki, may God guide you through this all."
I looked towards her and said, "Thank you." Komui and I went back upstairs. He led me to a room.
"Kazuki, this is your new room! I hope you enjoy staying and working with us at the Black Order." He handed me a key and opened the door.
A/N: I'm sorry this chapter was shorter than the rest! But I will keep making them longer! :) So keep reading! Oh and if you didn't already look it up, a shotacon is an obsession with young boys similar to a pedophile; it is the opposite of a lolicon.
Annie