Cross My Heart
Author's Note: I had great inspiration to write this week for some reason, so I've managed to post another chapter. Yes, it's kind of short, but it's mostly dialogue. Explanations will follow in the next chapter, yo prometo!
By the way, drinking lavender tea, while it will warm one up, is not a wise thing to do around 10 PM. I speak from experience.
Disclaimer: If I owned D. Gray-Man, I would most likely be a wonderful artist and writer. Too bad neither is true. However, Chloe, Charlotte, Sasha, others not in -Man series, and the plot belong to me. ME!
Chapter 8: Coup de Grâce
"Bayu-bayushki-bayu…Ne lozhisya na krayu…"
She sang, just as Master asked her to.
"…Pridyot serenkiy volchok…"
There were footsteps coming towards Papa and Mama's bedroom, just like Master said there would be.
'Wonderful, my dear. Keep singing. You can do it!'
She smiled at Master's praise and turned towards the doors as they flew open.
"…On ukhvatit za bochok…I utashchit vo lesok…Pod rakitovy kustok…"
'Good work, Child. Rest now.'
Exhaustion washed over her, and she didn't fight the darkness that eclipsed her vision. She had followed Master's orders. Master was happy.
'Sueño bien, Niña.' (1)
Something didn't feel right. She knew that she had heard something. It had come from this bedroom too.
"Are you sure you heard some kid singing, Bellerose?" Kanda asked as he glanced about the empty room.
Nothing appeared out of the ordinary. The room was modestly furnished with a large bed, a dresser, and a desk. Glass made up the entire wall opposite the doorway Kanda stood in. One wall was covered with a beautiful tapestry, and a few framed portraits of what was assumed to be the mansion's former occupants hung on another. Nothing to be concerned about…right?
"I wasn't imagining it, Kanda," Chloe stated as she slowly moved about the room.
"Whatever. I'm leaving."
Kanda walked out of the room, ignoring the dark look on Chloe's face, and headed for the stairs. A familiar chill ran down his spine as he drew farther from the room, and his hand strayed to Mugen's hilt when he stepped onto the landing.
"Bellerose, get—,"
Kanda's words were interrupted by a loud crack and the sound of glass shattering. He didn't even realize that he was running up the stairs until he reached the room he had just departed from once again, and a large burst of cold air from the broken window enveloped his body as he stepped through the doorway. The wind was the least of Kanda's worries, and he barely brought Mugen up in time to block a level 4s kick aimed at his face.
"Play with me, Exorcist!" the sick imitation of a cherub said with a grin.
"Che. Your funeral," Kanda murmured while attacking the highly evolved akuma.
The level 4's smile widened, and he easily avoided each of the Japanese exorcist's quick strikes, as well as landed blows on Kanda at the same time.
"That girl didn't look too good," the akuma stated as it dodged a horizontal slash.
"Shut up," Kanda hissed.
"She didn't even see it coming."
"Shut up!"
The machine smiled. "Her scream was lovely—,"
"JUST SHUT THE HELL UP!"
Kanda used his murderous rage to add more strength to his attack, and he knocked the level 4 through the doorway and out of the wall on the other side. The brick, wood, and concrete that made up the mansion's outer frame fell on top of the akuma, which spared Kanda precious seconds to determine whether his partner was dead or not.
Bellerose, you had better be alive! the Japanese exorcist ordered mentally as his dark eyes swept over the frozen landscape.
He saw a flash of red and black, along with a second level 4, and pale blue light burst out from around the mass of red and black when the akuma drew near. Chloe was most definitely still alive, not that he cared or anything. It would just mean a hell of a lot more paperwork to do.
"Where are you looking, Exorcist?"
Kanda went sailing across the destroyed room seconds later, and he hit the wall with enough force to knock the breath from his lungs. Mugen slipped from the Japanese exorcist's unresponsive fingers as he struggled to take in oxygen. He could faintly hear the level 4 laughing in the background and let out a low growl. He had to end this…now.
"Mugen. Sangenshiki." (2)
Kanda felt a recognizable pressure on his heart as his Innocence drained his life, but he didn't really care.
"Bakuhakuzan!" (2)
Mugen passed through the akuma's body with ease, and the fake angel let out a long cry of pain as it exploded. Kanda turned towards the window and leapt into the air. He landed on the barren ground as Chloe fell to her knees in exhaustion in front of the level 4. From where he stood, Kanda could see the steady stream of blood leaking from the red-haired girl's side, and her right arm hung from an awkward angle at the shoulder. And that was just his view from behind.
"Die, Exorcist," the akuma said while raising its arm.
Chloe glared up the level 4 through her loose hair as its limb transformed into a gun. Kanda took a step forward to attack, but something told him to just stay put. His feeling was confirmed when, as the level 4 fired, Chloe jumped to her feet and head butted the akuma. The pseudo-cherub flew back a few feet with a yelp, and Kanda surged forward with Mugen in hand. Chloe landed a punch across the akuma's face at the same time as Kanda slashed its body, and the level 4 split in half from right shoulder to left hip. Kanda sheathed Mugen as the akuma fell to the ground, and he reached out to catch Chloe when she stumbled over the broken, bloody body.
"You look like shit," he said while slinging her good arm over his shoulders.
"And you look like a girl. I think we're even," Chloe said with a smirk.
"I should just leave you here to bleed out."
"You'd be stuck with the 'idiots' all the time if you let me die."
Kanda didn't know whether to hit the red-haired girl or respond to her comment. He opted to ignore her and headed for the mansion instead. Chloe's breathing was beginning to grow erratic as they walked, and her head had drooped to the point that her face was completely hidden behind a curtain of tangled red hair. Kanda felt the girl leaning more of her weight against him with each step and finally drew to a halt. Before Chloe could protest, Kanda lifted her up in his arms and continued on his way.
Komui Lee was officially worried. Not worried like he would be if Lenalee was out on a mission. Just…apprehensive.
"You wanted to see us, Komui?"
The Chinese scientist glanced up at the door and smiled at the three familiar faces.
"Yes. Thank you for coming at such short notice," he said as Allen, Lenalee, and Lavi strolled into the office.
"We would've been here sooner if we could've gotten Allen out of the cafeteria faster," Lavi stated with a smirk.
Allen flushed and punched the red head's shoulder.
"Anyway," Komui said to end the play fight that was about to start, "I need the three of you to go on a retrieval mission."
"Where?" Lavi asked.
"Russia."
"When do we leave?" Allen asked.
"That's where it gets…difficult."
"What do you mean, Nii-san?"
Komui rubbed his tired eyes and leaned back in his chair with a sigh.
"As you know, Kanda and Chloe are currently in Russia. Their mission was to recover Innocence or a Conformer in a tiny town outside of St. Petersburg. The mission should have taken only a few days at the most. Kanda and Chloe have been gone for over a week."
"When was the last time they contacted the Order?"
"Two days ago. They were still in the process of searching the town when we last spoke."
"So, we're going to Russia to look for Yuu-chan and Rouge-chan?" Lavi asked.
"Not at the moment," Komui replied. At the disappointed expression on the Bookman Junior's face, Komui added, "However, I want all of you to be ready to leave at a moment's notice. I'm giving them one more day to check in before I send you on your way."
"Yay! Yuu-chan, Rouge-chan, here we come!"
Kanda was glad (for once) that Komui had forced him to learn first-aid, even if he never needed it for himself. It never hurt to be prepared for the worst.
"Damn it, hold still, Bellerose!" Kanda hissed as he pressed the threaded needle in his hand into the red-haired girl's skin.
"…Easy…for you…to say…" Chloe ground out through clenched teeth.
Kanda ignored the red-haired exorcist and continued to sew the gash stretching from the middle of her abdomen to the middle of her back closed. She had been lucky. A few millimeters deeper and her lung would have been ripped up along with her flesh.
"Done," the Japanese exorcist stated as he cut off the excess thread trailing from the closed gash. "Now, sit up," he ordered while reaching for a clean towel from the small pile beside him.
Chloe slowly pushed herself up and grimaced as Kanda began to wipe the dried blood away from the curve of her neck.
"Shit, Bellerose," Kanda murmured once the wound was visible, "did it bite you?"
"Yeah. The level 4 got angry when I kept kicking it and decided biting me worked just as well as shooting me," Chloe replied with a chuckle.
The Japanese exorcist carefully prodded the edges of the bite mark and decided that it was too shallow to require stitches. It had already stopped bleeding, but any harsh movements would cause the wound to rip open once more. Kanda taped a large gauze pad over the bite mark and wrapped bandages around her abdomen. He put the roll of gauze down on the floor while shifting so that he was kneeling behind Chloe. The Japanese exorcist carefully took hold of the red-haired girl's right arm and frowned when she attempted to flinch out of his grasp.
"Hold still or you'll make the pain worse," he hissed in her ear.
Chloe shivered and threw a half-hearted glare over her opposite shoulder.
"Would you just shu—ah!"
Kanda had used Chloe's lapse in attention to pop her arm back into its socket. The red-haired girl rocked forward while cradling her right arm to her chest, all the while cursing Kanda's immortal soul in every language she knew.
"Curse me all you want. I did you a favor," Kanda said while getting to his feet.
His wounded body protested his movement, and he heard Chloe call his name with concern in her voice as he slipped to his knees. Kanda felt his stomach growing warm as blood seeped into his tattered black shirt. The akuma virus was preventing him from healing quickly.
"Kanda!"
Chloe's voice sounded distant. That wasn't a good sign.
"Get a hold of yourself, cabrón!" (3)
Kanda felt someone grabbing his shoulders, and he instinctively lashed out despite his lack of energy and semi-conscious state. Dizziness washed over Kanda as he grappled with the stranger, and the next thing the Japanese exorcist knew, his face was buried in a sea of red.
"God, Kanda…you're heavy."
Was that Bellerose?
"Seriously, could you get off me?"
Kanda slowly opened his eyes and frowned. The world spun sickly around him, but he could still make out a mass of red and black lying underneath him. He blinked in an effort to clear his vision.
"What are you doing, Bellerose?" the Japanese exorcist asked.
Chloe let out a sigh and turned her head to the side.
"Apparently, I'm getting crushed by you, Kanda," she stated. "Now, can you get off, or are you going to lie here all night?"
Kanda scowled at the girl. Her sarcasm was getting on his nerves.
"Just shut up, Bellerose," he hissed as he slowly rose to his hands and knees.
The simple motion took all of the remaining strength Kanda possessed, and he closed his eyes as the room went out of focus once more.
"Kanda, don't move."
The Japanese exorcist grimaced when he felt a hand brushing over his stomach. The slight touch made agony flare up in the numerous gunshot wounds once more.
"…Don't…touch…me…" Kanda ground out through clenched teeth while glaring down at Chloe.
"I'm just repaying the favor from earlier," the red-haired girl stated as her hand began to glow. "We can go back to ignoring each other when I finish."
Kanda frowned but didn't respond. He could feel warmth flowing into his body from Chloe's hand, and the bullet holes were slowly healing from the inside out. In what felt like mere moments, Kanda was completely healed of the akuma virus and the gunshot wounds. Strength quickly returned to the Japanese exorcist's body, and he sat back on his heels while placing a hand over his gut. Just how the hell did Bellerose do that?
'I need you to wake up, Niña.'
She felt the blanket of darkness lift as suddenly as it had come, and she found herself standing in the middle of Papa's study. She had always liked Papa's study. It was full of books and papers, and it always smelled like Papa.
'You need to finish your job now.'
Yes, Master.
She walked over to the door and slipped into the hallway. Everything was quiet, but she didn't mind. Her feet led her down the staircase and into the kitchen, and she immediately went for the cabinet where Papa had hidden all the sharp knives. Master would be delighted if she got this done quickly.
'All you have to do is find the exorcists. I will handle the rest.'
She clutched the blade in both hands and started to walk through her childhood home. She easily found the "exorcists," as Master called them, and she noiselessly entered the room.
'Very good, Niña. You shall be rewarded for your hard work.'
Her body grew lighter than it had ever been before, and she beamed. She was happy to have pleased Master.
'Do svidaniya, little one.' (4)
Pain flooded her senses, and she held back a gasp. Wait…hadn't she satisfied Master?
'You were involved in a war that has been raging since the dawning of mankind. No hard feelings, my dear, but you are just another casualty of war.'
But Master—
'You were most helpful, little one. May your spirit find peace in the next world.'
Everything went dark after that.
"Doctor, pulse is dropping!"
Everything hurt. The pain in her body and mind intensified as the cacophony of voices around her increased in volume.
"Keep working!"
"She's not breathing!"
"Resuscitation measures, now!"
She couldn't breathe.
"Not working, Doctor!"
"What do you mean, 'not working'?"
"Out of the way."
That voice…it was familiar.
"Exorcist, get out of here! This is no place for—,"
"Shut the hell up and move it, baka. Bellerose can't help that lost cause otherwise."
Lost cause? Oh…they were talking about her.
Who did this to you?
I don't know, she answered the disembodied voice in her mind.
I need you to keep talking to me while I work, okay?
Okay.
She felt a strange sensation in her chest, and she could suddenly breathe once again. She greedily sucked in oxygen as she had never done before.
What's your name?
Sasha.
Short for Aleksandra, right?
How did you know?
Just a lucky guess.
The agony that had enveloped her body from the top of her head to the tips of her toes slowly began to melt away the longer she continued the conversation in her head.
Who are you?
A friend.
How can I trust you?
You can't. But I'll tell you this: I'm going to save you, Sasha, no matter what.
"Heart rate is returning to normal! Her breathing has evened out!"
"Well I'll be damned…"
Why are you helping me?
Because you were a victim of circumstance. You should never have become a part of this war.
She remembered what Master had said before everything went blank.
"'You were involved in a war that has been raging since the dawning of mankind. No hard feelings, my dear, but you are just another casualty of war.'"
Why me?
Unfortunately, you caught her attention, and she turned you into a puppet until you fulfilled your purpose for her.
My purpose for who?
"The girl's body is completely healed!"
I'll tell you when you are better…I promise.
"Good work, Exor—shit! Where'd all that blood come from?"
Wait! What's going on?
The voice was silent.
"Get her on a table, now! She's going into shock!"
Are you there?
…Yeah…sorry…
The voice was much weaker than it had been moments before.
"She's bleeding out!"
"Find a donor! We can't lose her!"
Who are you?
"You're all a bunch of idiots. Here!"
"Unless you're O-negative, giving her your blood could—,"
"Worst case scenario, she'll die either way."
…don't worry…about that…
"Get him hooked up to a stint."
"But Doctor—,"
"We've got no other choice! Do it!"
…just get…better…okay, Sasha…?
The voice faded away as she slipped into unconsciousness amidst the shouts filling the infirmary once more.
You too, friend.
All right. Kind of confusing at the end, I know. If you're wondering, the last two sections are from the little singing girl's (Sasha) point of view. I felt the need to add that because you never know...
By the way: Coup de Grâce is a deathblow intended to end the suffering of a wounded man. You can thank the French for that.
Translations:
(1) Sueño bien, Niña - Spanish for "Dream well, little girl/child."
(2) Sangenshiki, Bakuhakuzan - My poor understanding of Japanese leads me to believe that the former means something along the lines of "three illusions style," while the latter is an attack that Kanda uses against the level 4 in Chapter 182. I have no idea what the latter means. (If you do, feel free to let me know)
(3) Cabron - Spanish curse word meaning "bastard." Chloe has been influenced too much by dear ole' Kanda. (es con accento o sin accento? no se...)
(4) Do svidaniya - Russian for "Goodbye."
All right. I believe that's all. Reviews and criticisms are welcome. Thanks for reading.