Cross My Heart
Author's Note: Hi again! I actually managed to update before a month passed! I know I said that I would post as soon as I got back, but...well...things happen.
This chapter, to me, is more like a filler chapter and will be quite short. There isn't any significant action in this chapter, but for anyone that is really paying attention, there is some KandaxChloe interaction. Anyway, that's all. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I only hold ownership over the characters not present in the D. Gray-Man storyline. I don't even own the plotline since it is ever changing. In all honestly, this story writes itself. I'm only here for kicks.
Chapter 6: Funistrada
…I'll make sure she doesn't invade your dreams…
Kanda clenched his fists, and he took a deep breath to center himself once more. He had gotten rid of one voice in his head only to gain another. It was frustrating, and it didn't help that Chloe Bellerose had conveniently gone missing over the past few days. Kanda wanted answers.
"Lavi, you know you shouldn't bother Kanda when he's—,"
Kanda knew that voice and was thankful it wasn't in his head. The door to the sanctioned "Meditation Room" slowly opened, and Kanda resisted the urge to growl as the peace was broken once more.
"It's okay Lenalee! Yuu won't mind if we send in Rouge-chan!"
"Hey! Leave me out—,"
There was a loud scuffle just outside the door, and Kanda opened his eyes as Lavi shoved his fellow red-haired exorcist into the room.
"Good luck, Rouge-chan!"
With that, the door slammed closed, and Chloe let out a frustrated sigh as she ran her fingers through her long hair.
"Sorry to bother you, Kanda," the red-haired girl said with a sigh. "Lavi wanted to know if you were all right, but, since he lacks the courage to ask you himself, he wanted me to act as the messenger instead."
"I'm fine," Kanda stated.
"I assumed so, but Lavi insisted on asking. I apologize for wasting your time."
Chloe turned back towards the door, and she frowned while trying to turn the doorknob.
"Fils de pute," the red-haired girl whispered. "He locked the door." (1)
Kanda watched in silence as Chloe pulled off her boots and placed them next to the door. The red head turned her back to the door, and she avoided Kanda's gaze as she strode across the room. She sat down on the floor a few feet away from Kanda, and she crossed her legs underneath her while closing her eyes.
"What are you doing?" Kanda asked after few minutes.
"Isn't it obvious? I'm thinking of ways to kill Lavi," Chloe replied. She opened her eyes and glared at the floor, still avoiding the Japanese exorcist's gaze all the while. "Have you heard the song since…?"
"No," Kanda said.
"That's good."
Silence enveloped the two exorcists once more, and Chloe let out another sigh. She uncrossed her legs and laid back on the floor while turning to face Kanda.
"You want information, right?" the red head asked while brushing the hair from her eyes.
Kanda didn't reply, which Chloe took as her cue to continue.
"The Noah of despair utilizes an ancient form of magic that allows her to control people's minds at will. That's what the song is for. It's her way of maintaining her hold on the person's mind even if he manages to escape."
"What did the Noah do to me?" Kanda asked.
"The price for using such complex sorcery is a massive amount of energy, and she used your life force in order to control you without harming herself," Chloe stated.
Kanda took in the information with a frown.
"What did I do when…?"
"You fought me as the Noah wanted you to do."
"Leverrier said that I injured you."
"That prying bastard doesn't know when to shut his mouth."
"Was he right?"
Chloe didn't answer, just as she hadn't when Leverrier asked. Instead, she slowly got to her feet, and Kanda followed suite with a frown.
"Show me," Kanda stated while crossing his arms.
The red-haired girl's eyes widened slightly.
"Excuse me?"
"Are you deaf?" Kanda snapped. "I said that I want to see your wounds."
"And if I refuse?" Chloe snapped back.
"You can't."
"Make me then."
Kanda took the girl's challenge and lunged. Chloe danced just out of the Japanese exorcist's reach each time he made a swipe at her, but she soon found herself backed against a wall. As Kanda reached for the red head, she allowed her legs to go limp and slid down the wall into a crouch. Kanda swore when Chloe knocked his feet out from under him, and he hit the floor as the red-haired girl raced towards the door. Chloe was within a few feet of the door when Kanda latched on to her ankle, and the girl gasped as the Japanese exorcist pulled her off balance. Chloe tumbled to the floor with a yelp, and she attempted to kick Kanda in the face in order to free her leg. Kanda avoided the attack and grabbed a fistful of the girl's dark blue shirt. He let go of Chloe's ankle while grabbing her arm, and with a powerful tug, the Japanese exorcist flipped the red head onto her back.
"Show me," Kanda said as he pinned her wrists to the floor.
Chloe growled at her fellow exorcist and struggled against his vice-like grip on her arms. Kanda held on until the red head tired herself out, and he loosened his grip a bit when Chloe's body relaxed.
"Ready to cooperate?" he asked.
"Písese!" Chloe hissed with a scowl. (2)
Kanda had no idea what the foreign word meant, but, judging from the girl's dark expression, it certainly wasn't a statement of agreement.
"Fine," Kanda growled, "I'll find out myself."
Chloe snarled as Kanda reached for the bottom of her shirt, and she turned her beet red face to the side as the Japanese exorcist lifted the garment up. Kanda immediately noted a large, scabbed over, healing stab wound about halfway down her right side, and he had a feeling that a matching wound was on the girl's back as well. The Japanese exorcist noticed the edge of a healing bruise peeking out from the collar of her shirt on her left shoulder, and he pulled the thin material aside to get a better look. The bruise curled over Chloe's shoulder to her back, and Kanda nearly winced at how ugly the mark looked. With his examination finished, Kanda released Chloe and got to his feet.
"What was so hard about that?" Kanda asked.
Chloe didn't answer as she sat up, and she glared up at the Japanese exorcist when he offered her a hand.
"You're insufferable," the red head mumbled while taking Kanda's hand.
"And you're a stubborn idiot," the Japanese exorcist shot back as he pulled the thin girl to her feet.
"Cabron!" Chloe hissed. (3)
Kanda had no clue what she said, but it sounded insulting. "Busu!" (4)
"Señorita!" (5)
"Ahou!" (6)
"Hijueputa!" (7)
"Daikirai!" (8)
"Yo también!" (9)
Both exorcists glared at each other with rage burning in their eyes. Neither Chloe nor Kanda wanted to break the stare first, but Chloe finally relented and turned her back on the Japanese exorcist. She stomped over to the door, pulled her leg back, and kicked the thick slab of wood as hard as she possibly could. The door slammed into the wall with enough force to split the wood straight down the middle, and one half hung awkwardly on its hinges as the other half crashed to the ground. Chloe picked up her boots after the wood splinters and dust cleared from the air, and she brushed past Lavi and Lenalee, who had both come to see what the commotion was about. Kanda crossed his arms and glared at the two exorcists standing in the doorway.
"What happened, Yuu-chan?" Lavi asked.
Kanda didn't answer. Instead, the Japanese exorcist punched Lavi as hard as he could in the face. Lavi stumbled backwards with a groan, and Kanda strode out into the hallway and headed for his room planning not one, but two murders.
Chloe Bellerose was the most frustrating person Kanda had ever met, or so he decided during breakfast the next morning. As he ate his soba, the Japanese exorcist created a mental list of everything he loathed about the red-haired girl after only knowing her for a week.
First, she could disappear completely without any effort at all. That was impossible considering the number of guards from Central crawling around Headquarters.
Second, she had the ability to get into his head whenever she wanted to. It was troublesome and invasive, as the Noah had been.
Third, she made him…dare he say it…worry. The Noah had controlled his body and hurt her, and a small part of him actually felt bad because of it.
And fourth…well, he hadn't gotten that far yet. He hadn't seen her since the run-in during his meditation time, so she hadn't been able to annoy him as much as the other idiots.
"Good morning, Yuu-chan!"
Kanda resisted the urge to murder Lavi on the spot and continued eating his soba.
"So, have you seen Rouge-chan today?" the Bookman apprentice asked after a few seconds of silence.
"Who the hell is 'Rouge-chan'?" Kanda asked.
"Silly Yuu-chan! You know who she is!" Lavi said with a laugh. "It's Chloe Bellerose, remember? She's about an inch taller than Allen with long red hair, a great body, and an awesome rack—,"
"No. Haven't seen her," Kanda stated.
Lavi grinned, and he leaned across the table with a smug expression on his face.
"So, Yuu-chan, what happened with Rouge-chan yesterday?" the Bookman apprentice asked.
"Nothing," Kanda replied.
"Are you sure? She seemed pretty mad when she broke the door."
"Nothing happened."
"If you say so…"
Kanda didn't even bother with glaring at the red-haired idiot as he continued to eat.
"Hey, Yuu-chan, do you like Rouge-chan?"
The question caught Kanda off guard, but, if the Japanese exorcist was surprise, he didn't show it.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It's pretty simple, Yuu-chan. Do you think she's nice or smart or—?"
Kanda scoffed.
"She's insufferable."
"What was that, Yuu?" Lavi asked.
"I said that she's insufferable," Kanda repeated.
"Really? And here I thought you were the insufferable one, Kanda."
Kanda's chopsticks froze halfway to his mouth at the sound of Chloe's voice, and he felt his cheeks growing warm as he turned to face the girl.
"What do you want?" the Japanese exorcist asked.
"To eat," Chloe replied as she sat down next to Lavi. She placed a small tray and a tall steaming black mug on the table in front of her, and she ignored Kanda's glare as she reached for the fork sitting next to the covered plate on her tray.
"What'd you get, Rouge-chan?" the Bookman apprentice asked.
"Sincronizadas with black tea," Chloe stated while uncovering the plate. (10)
"Sounds…foreign."
"I'd imagine so. It's a Spanish dish."
"Oh."
Kanda refrained from rolling his eyes and continued eating.
"So, Rouge-chan, what happened with Yuu-chan yesterday?" Lavi asked after a long lapse in conversation.
"You want to know?" the girl said while placing her fork down on her tray.
"I do."
"You really want to know?"
"Yep!"
Chloe smirked and reached for the mug sitting in front of her.
"I'm sure Kanda told you that nothing happened. Why not believe him?"
"Cause Yuu never tells me anything!"
"Really now? Well, since that's the case, I should oblige you in his stead."
"I thank you from the bottom of my heart, Rouge-chan."
"Yes, well, you can't get answers from Kanda, so why not?"
"Tell me! Tell me!"
"All right, but you have to calm down before I begin."
Lavi took a deep breath and put forth the best serious face he could muster.
"I'm ready!"
"After you locked me in the room," Chloe began while bringing the steaming mug of tea to her lips, "Kanda and I did…"
"Did what?"
"…absolutely nothing."
Lavi's jaw dropped, and Chloe chuckled as she took a sip of her tea.
"Rouge-chan is just as mean as Yuu-chan is!" the Bookman apprentice exclaimed. "You lied to me!"
"I did, didn't I?" Chloe said with a grin.
"I knew Yuu wouldn't tell me, but Rouge-chan…I can't believe it!"
"Lo siento, Lavi." (11)
"Saying sorry won't help, Rouge-chan!"
"I gave it a shot."
Before Lavi could begin whining once again, the cafeteria's loudspeaker crackled to life and silenced the entire room.
"Exorcists Kanda Yuu and Chloe Bellerose, report to Supervisor Lee's office immediately."
With one final high-pitched squeak, the loudspeaker fell silent, and the room came to life once more.
"Rouge-chan, Yuu-chan, have fun on your mission!" Lavi said as the two exorcists got to their feet.
Kanda glared at the red-haired boy while walking away, and Chloe gave a mock salute as she followed after the Japanese exorcist.
Translations (we have lots this time) :
(1) fils de pute - it showed up last chapter, but it means "son-of-a-bitch" in French (it's also my new favorite phrase).
(2) písese - "piss off" in Spanish. I love my "101 Things You Shouldn't Say" books...
(3) cabron - "bastard" in Spanish. Well, roughly, anyway.
(4) busu - "ugly" in Japanese.
(5) señorita - "girl" in Spanish.
(6) ahou - offensive way of saying "idiot" in Japanese, or so I've been told.
(7) hijueputa - "son-of-a-bitch" in Spanish.
(8) daikirai - "I hate you" in Japanese.
(9) yo también - literally "I also," but it's used to say things such as, "Me too," or "I do too," in Spanish.
(10) sincronizadas - this is a Spanish dish that consists of two tortillas, ham, and cheese. It's like a thin ham and cheese sandwich.
(11) lo siento - "I'm sorry" in Spanish.
All right...so we get to see a bit of Chloe's personality in this chapter. And now that Kanda has her on his mind, will the author continue to develop the plot in order to deepen their relationship? Only time (and feedback) will tell! ;)