Dear journal,
After breakfast, I met up with Nate and Nina. Nina had just taken a shower herself, and they were both ready to go. First, we stopped by Lisa's office to ask her if we could go to town. On the way there, Nina thought it'd intrigue me to know that before the "Exorcists of Old" had moved to this cathedral, they lived in a castle, which I'd noticed in the manga. Instead of showers, they had two bathhouses: one for males and one for females, like in Japan. Once we were at Lisa's office, Nate asked if we could leave. She told us it was fine as long as we follow the rules and be safe.
On the way to the front door, I asked what the rules were. They answered:
No talking to civilians personally.
If someone asks about the Order, escort them ourselves.
No causing trouble or destruction unless unavoidable.
Do not kill anyone unless they are Akuma.
Do not help anyone unless there is an Akuma attack.
And absolutely no contacting friends and/or family members.
Seems like Lisa really wanted the Black Order to stay in the shadows and its Exorcists on lock-down. Nate was upset about being reminded about these rules, though. "It's stupid," he growled as we neared the front door. "We shouldn't be able to just bring anyone to the Order: Anyone could be a Noah and we wouldn't know it!"
Nina frowned and nodded. "That's true, but there are only 14 Noah in a world of billions. We can't distrust everybody or else we would have no supporters or staff," she tried reasoning.
Nate glared at the floor. "But we aren't supposed to trust anyone, right?" he said lowly. "That's what Lavi said. It's dangerous to, in this world of Akuma. Anyone of us can be turned into an Akuma and there's nothing we can do about it."
Apparently I hadn't gotten to the part in D. Gray-man about Noah, because I was completely lost in this argument. Again. But they spoke like I wasn't there, so I didn't bother interrupting. I'll find out soon.
The grand double doors were surprisingly easy to open. (I thought we'd have to apply more pressure.) And for the first time in days, I actually went outside. The sun was bright this summer's day, no wind to cool us down, no cloud to shade us. It was a big difference from the constantly-air-conditioned Black Order. The upside, my coat never made me hot. Though it was black, the inside stayed cool.
Nina closed her eyes against the sun's bright rays. I guess we all felt like vampires. Nate chortled, blocking his eyes. "You of all people could use the sun," he said to me. I laughed.
Once Nina's eyes were adjusted to the brightness, she smiled and looked up to the blue sky. "Point is," she said, obviously still stuck on their conversation, "the Akuma haven't appeared in over a hundred years. Who knows when they'll actually rise again? I think Chief Lisa wants us to be at ease as much as we can until then."
Nate and I shared a glance and smiled at one another. Nina seemed to be the embodiment of innocence, (no pun intended). And you know what? We needed her optimism. I think without her, we would be a sad bunch.
We closed the doors behind us and heard someone lock it. The loud click startled me, but Nate assured me that we could get back in with their numbers. My heart started pounding. I didn't have a number. Nate laughed and said that he would explain to the gatekeeper and have Lisa get me one. The numbers we were given were chosen at random and given to each Exorcist secretly. They were to memorize it and not tell a soul. It was a way to tell if someone was an imposter or not because apparently in the End of Days (as they call it), it happened before.
Outside was the same as I left it: a clearing around the Order, an airstrip for the planes, ocean to my left and right, and a narrow cement bridge leading to a vast forest ahead. We proceeded down the stairs of the church and headed toward the bridge.
"Hope you like walking, Justin, 'cause this'll take a while," Nate said, folding his hands behind his head. "And you'll need to memorize how to get in and out of the forest."
I nodded in understanding and followed behind him closely. Nina asked for my hand, and though something asked me if she was too old to ask for someone's hand, I didn't deny her. We crossed the bridge and just then something struck me. The airplane! It was gone!
"Hey, wait a second, Nate, that airplane I came here in. What happened to it?" I asked, searching around.
"Isn't it obvious?" he asked, irking me a little with his attitude. "We told you about the basement. This airstrip opens up and the planes are gently glided there."
I frowned. All this technology. Damn. How the hell do they pay for all this shit? The electricity, the cable? I didn't feel like asking too questions today, though. Today was a day for relaxing until training with Ray.
Going through the forest took longer than I thought. There were many unexpected twists and turns we had to go through. After twenty minutes in the eerie woods, I asked Nate how long we had to go. Nina told me that it normally takes at least half an hour or so to get out of here, depending on how fast you walk and if you know exactly where to go.
I always wanted to be in a forest, just for the thrill of not knowing what was in there. Everyone knows that forests are awesome. It was really pretty, and aside from our voices, the only other sound was the ocean and the birds. Nate says there are no wolves in this forest, but that'd be sweet. The trees were positioned enough apart that we could see the sky through the leaves, and Nina wouldn't stop staring at the sky. She'd get a crook in her neck if this went on longer!
"Hey, Nina, you remember how the poem goes?" Nate asked her. "Tell Justin."
She didn't even hesitate: " 'What was reflected before my eyes was a vast blue sky/ A vibrant blue, stretching endlessly. / And though I've never seen it before, I remember it/ A sky so beautiful, it almost hurts. / I've known of it all along.' "
I blinked and then slowly smiled. "Wow, Nina," I said, "that was really beautiful."
She smiled proudly. "Thank you, but I didn't come up with it. Kanda did."
"Really?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "I didn't know that jerk wrote poetry."
Nate chuckled. "He doesn't, really, but he said that when he was a kid. You'll see it in volume 20."
Soon, the forest's exit was in sight and a path began forming. We raced to it and came out on the other side like we had just run through the Wardrobe. On this side of the forest was a hustling and bustling with people and cars and businesses. Few people noticed us, but those that did smiled politely.
"Wow!" I exclaimed. I don't know why, but I expected the town to be more rural or more nineteenth-century. "Is there a mall here?"
"No, but there are individual stores and places that we can check out if you want," Nate said. So my two new friends led me around the town like I was a tourist. It was just like home except the different buildings, structures, and arrangement. But there were still schools, fast food places, restaurants, small shops, a movie theater, a library, city hall, churches, gas stations, parks, a hospital, etc., etc.. The only thing missing were the weird stares you got when you walk around in cosplay.
Nate said that there's even a skate park secluded behind a church just a few miles from central, and on the east side of the island, it was all farmlands. When we passed by the movie theater that played seven movies at once, I noticed one that was playing that I desperately wanted to see back home. Another showing was coming up soon, so Nate actually bought tickets! Well, he didn't pay for it. Those of the Black Order got everything free in this town.
He apologized to me, though. He would have bought tickets for the seven o'clock showing, but Lisa wouldn't let us out more than once a day.
Thankfully, no one stopped us to ask questions, and there weren't any Akuma attacks, so we had the whole day to relax. While we waited for the noon showing, we took Nina to the park. We played hide-and-seek and tag and swung on the swings and had so much fun killing time, but the more I played with Nina, the sicker I got. Not because I dislike her or anything – God, no, I love this little kid. It's just…
The more I look at her, the more I see Kayla in her. And it hurts so much. She looks and acts so much like Kayla, it makes me want to cry. At one point, I got off the swing and caught her as she jumped to me, and I didn't let her go. I closed my eyes as I fell hard on my butt, and for a moment, I was holding Kayla again. Nina can never replace my sister, but she'll have to be a substitute for now.
When she pulled away, she frowned. "Justin, are you okay? Why do you look like you're going to cry? Did I hurt you?" she asked worriedly.
I shook my head and blinked hard, rubbing my eyes, as Nate jogged over to us. "Did you hurt yourself, Justin? You okay?"
I helped Nina stand and dust off the woodchips from her stockings and shook my head again. "I'm fine, dude, really. I gotta go to the bathroom real quick." I quickly strode to the bathrooms, dusting off my butt on the way.
Behind me, I heard Nate tsk and say something about, "You sure he's not Krory?"
Whoever the hell Krory is.
…So, the movie was awesome and it really got my mind off of Kayla. Nate and Nina didn't mention why I was crying and for that, I was glad. The movie made us all laugh so hard we almost wet ourselves. We walked out quoting almost every line. Nate suggested that we go to the grocery store bakery and get a small cake to share. Nina jumped at the offer.
We got a small chocolate cake with a pink flower on it and split it in three, Nina getting the biggest piece. While Nina stuffed her face, Nate asked what time I had to be back at the Order to train with Ray. I told him at 4, which meant we had another hour to waste. But, after we finished the cake, we decided to start heading back for my sake. I was a little sad to leave the normality of the city, but Nate promised that we can come back another time.
On the way to the forest, we came to a stop by a choked out, "Hey!"
When we turned, there was a group of teenage girls, all shying away from our looks. They all argued quietly amongst themselves until one of them shoved the prettiest one forward. She was a blonde with blue eyes and nice body. It was almost cute how red she got.
"Um…" She lost her voice for a moment. "So, me and my friends saw you guys in the theater and, ah, noticed you guys are…like, Exorcists."
My gut dropped, wondering if they really were going to ask to join the Black Order. Instead, the girl went on to hold out a slip of paper to Nate. "And Kassie thinks you're really hot," she said rapidly, "so we want you to come to our soccer game this Friday, please." I almost wanted to laugh when she bowed. Damn, this girl was really nervous.
Nate stared at the note a moment. I gave him a questioning look and raised my eyebrows.
When he didn't say anything for half a minute, the girl started panicking. "I mean, you don't have to come or anything" – I almost couldn't understand her British accent – "because I know you're all really busy, but it would mean a lot to us, and-and-and-"
Finally, Nate chortled. "Hey, calm down, okay?" he said gently. Since when was his voice so smooth?! "I'll see what I can do, okay? I'll try to sneak out passed my boss."
The whole group of girls gasped and tried to contain their squeals. "Really?" the blonde squeaked. "You mean it?"
"Sure," Nate said ponderingly. "But you know that Exorcists aren't supposed to mingle, right? We might have to stick to the sides or something. I could get in serious trouble for even talking to you." His tone started to darken towards the end of his sentence and the girl backed away to her friends.
"Oh. Oh! Right. I'm so, so sorry," she babbled. "Please don't tell on him, guys." Her eyes flickered to me and Nina. "Um…Thankyousomuch!" She waved to Nina – "Goodbye, sweetie!" – and then looked to me – "You can come, too, if-if you'd like." Then she swallowed hard and hurried off with her friends.
Nate started walking again, so Nina and I went to catch up with him.
"Wait!" the blonde called again. "What's your name?"
"It's Nate!" he called back without looking.
Once the girls thought we were far enough, you could hear them giggling and screaming and squealing. Psh. Since when was Nate such a ladies' man?
"Nate, are you really going to go to that soccer game?" Nina asked, grabbing his offered hand.
The Canadian Exorcist shrugged. "I dunno," he said, "maybe. Maybe if you guys don't tell, I will."
"But why would you want to go in the first place?" I asked, suddenly vexed. "They're just a bunch of high school fangirls."
Nate laughed and said, "I just want to give the Exorcists of the Black Order a good name. That's not so wrong, is it?"
It's not, actually.
Once we were home, I exercised alone in the training room: push-ups, sits ups, running laps, all the things I once complained about in P.E. I guess now I have more to complain about since I'll be fighting all the time.
Ray walked in while I was lifting dumbbells. We made no small talk; just got right to training. There had been no trace of Kyo the whole time I was in the training room. I wonder where he goes off to during the day, since I never see him around the Order. He probably spends his day watching TV or something when he's not training.
After a boring session of getting my ass kicked, I went to the library and read some more of D. Gray-man. Shit's getting real now that the Clan of Noah has been introduced. When I realized it was almost one in the morning and I was still reading, I finished the volume quickly and now I'm here. Struggling to keep writing even though I'm tired as hell.
Well, today was pretty interesting, if I do say so myself.
So, goodnight, Kayla. I miss you more than I could ever describe.