Cross My Heart
A/N: Hello! Sorry it took a bit longer than I thought to get all my ideas down on paper. But it's here now. Yay! Special thanks to author12306 for all your reviews! You're the best!
Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OCs on a good day. Sometimes those two own me.
Chapter 24: Haze Gray and Underway
Lavi yawned as he trudged back to his and Bookman's room. He hadn't gotten any rest between his research duties and his mission, but before he could think of sleep, his stomach had reminded him the coffee was not a proper substitute for food. The Bookman apprentice ate as quickly as he could, but he still managed to get caught up in a half-hour long conversation with Lenalee and Allen as he tried to leave the Cafeteria. Not one to turn down a conversation with his friends, Lavi sat through a strange retelling of their mission to France and made a mental note to ask Bookman if he knew anything. Lavi saw his door and smiled as he walked faster. Just as the red head was about to throw open the door, he heard a familiar voice filtering through the door.
"Bookman, I'm sorry to ask you to hang on to these."
"General Bellerose, my job is to keep secrets. No need to apologize."
Lavi leaned closer to the closed door. Why would Chloe tell something secret to Bookman?
"If anything happens, please use them accordingly."
"I will, General. Did the book I lent you provide any answers?"
"It did. I'll get it back to you soon."
"Thank you, General. Please get some rest. You look pale today."
"I'll do my best, Bookman. I'll let you know if I need anything else."
Lavi scurried back around the corner when he heard footsteps approaching the closed door, and he waited until the door opened and closed to even dare to peek around the wall. Chloe strolled down the hallway away from the boy's rooms without looking back, and Lavi didn't move until she was out of sight. With a shake of his head, Lavi made his way to the room and faked a yawn as he opened the door. Bookman didn't even look up from the manuscript he was working on at his desk. Lavi flopped down on his bed without bothering to take off his boots or eye patch. Now was not the time to try and get information from Bookman. No—he would have to be sneaky and wait for Bookman to open the door.
"I'm so tired," Lavi complained like he usually would. "I need a break."
"You can sleep when you're dead," Bookman said. Papers rustled for a moment, and Lavi chanced opening his good eye to see what the old man was doing. He moved his legs back as a set of books landed on his bed with enough force to shake the entire wooden frame. "Start reading, Brat. Have it copied by tomorrow morning."
"But my mission report—,"
"Komui already has it. Don't pretend you didn't do it already to get out of your actual work."
"Okay, Slave driver," Lavi murmured to himself while sitting up. A small projectile smacked into his blind spot a moment later, and the red head picked up the pen lying at his feet with a sigh. So much for resting.
Interrupting Leverrier when he was in the middle of berating Junior Inspector Howard Link was not Chloe's intention, but when she saw Leverrier's hand poised to strike Inspector Link she kicked the open door to the bloody suite without a second thought. Leverrier immediately lowered his hand, and Link flinched back instinctively when the door hit the wall with a violent bang.
"I seem to have missed our appointment, Inspector Leverrier," Chloe said by way of introduction. "I apologize. Any chance we can reschedule it to right now? I seem to have a free moment."
"Miss Bellerose—,"
"You know, I'm quite tired of you forgoing my rank, Inspector. I worked hard to become a general. I expect to be acknowledged as such." Chloe glanced over at Link. "Junior Inspector, Allen mentioned that he needed your help with the paperwork from Central. Please go help him while I meet with Inspector Leverrier." Her tone was gentle but firm, and Link made a quick exit once Chloe stepped fully into the room.
"Please sit, General." The red head sat down in Link's vacated chair and glared openly at the inspector until she finally spoke again.
"I know Kanda met with you last time instead of me," Chloe said as she stared across the table at the inspector. "And since I know him, he threatened you instead of finding out why you needed to talk to me in the first place."
"Naturally," Leverrier replied with a sneer. Chloe glared at the inspector until he schooled his expression.
"Obviously what you had to say wasn't pressing enough to keep me from going on a mission, so what is it that you want, Inspector?"
"What have you heard about the deaths of several politicians in Great Britain several nights ago?"
"Not much. The killer is still at large, is likely to be female, and uses some sort of wire to completely slice through the victims' bodies," Chloe rattled off without pause. "Why do I need to know that?"
"Because a preliminary sketch and description of the killer has come out in all the papers in the country," Leverrier said while tossing a folded newspaper on the table. Chloe picked the paper up and shook it open to the front-page article all about the murders. As she read, her eyes widened slightly, and she threw the paper back down before the inspector could notice her shaking hands. "When were you going to mention that you have a sister, General Bellerose?"
"I don't have a sister," Chloe said evenly.
"Then this sketch is of you, General. Where were you when the murders occurred?" Leverrier tapped the picture with a smirk.
"Do you really want to know the answer to that question?" Chloe leaned forward and grinned while motioning for the inspector to come closer. "Are you certain you're ready for the details? They're quite…if you know what I mean, Inspector." Leverrier let out a cough and sat back in his chair while loosening his tie slightly.
"That leaves this mysterious person who resembles you then," the inspector said while turning his gaze back to the sketch.
"I couldn't tell you why the murderer looks like me," Chloe said with a shrug. "Considering the fact that the Noah family has known ties to several human governments, who's to say they didn't plant the information in the survivor's head or give a false identification to the police?"
"That's very farfetched—,"
"Inspector, I can't use wires to save my life, and I also can't duplicate myself or turn back time no matter how hard I try. Therefore, I can't be in two places at once. Do I need to bring Kanda here to give the details of my alibi as well?"
"That's not necessary, Miss—General Bellerose. That's all I needed to know," Leverrier admitted after a moment. Chloe got to her feet and headed for the door. She paused in the doorway while putting her hands in the sweater pockets.
"Inspector, until you have to raise a finger to fight like exorcists or the Thirds or Link does, don't you dare raise a hand at them. I don't want to have to use my gun on a human." Chloe walked silently out the door when she finished, leaving Leverrier to stare after her with an expression full of anger as well as intimidation.
India's weather confused his body. Cold washed over him from the front while heat covered him from behind. Kanda kicked the sheets off his legs in an attempt to fix his temperature problem. A soft noise from near his head made him tense, and the sheets rustled as someone else shifted on the bed beside him. Why was there—right. Bellerose. They had to share the bed in this room while the Third exorcists had the other room.
Kanda opened his eyes when Chloe turned over a second time. The red head was now on her right side with the sheets tangled around her legs and her bandaged left arm cradled against her chest. She grimaced in her sleep and clenched her "hurt" arm tighter as she curled into herself. Kanda reached over and shook the red head to wake her up. "Oi, Bellerose, wake up," the Japanese exorcist said when the girl didn't immediately respond to his shaking. "Oi, Bellero—ah!"
The surprised noise escaped from Kanda's lips as he dodged a well-aimed punch sailing toward his nose, and the Japanese exorcist was forced to hastily block the abrupt backswing heading for his jaw. Kanda shot forward and grabbed Chloe's bandaged wrist before she could think to punch again. What he didn't expect was Chloe's right hand to grab him by the shirt and roll toward the other edge of the bed. Kanda never released Chloe's wrist even as he fell off the mattress, and his body met the floor with a mighty thump followed swiftly by a groan when Chloe landed across his chest. The red head let out her own protesting noise while resting her head on the Japanese exorcist's bicep.
"I thought you weren't going to wake me up," Chloe grumbled into Kanda's skin.
"Wasn't intentional," the Japanese exorcist hissed back. They were uncomfortably close, and he was going to do something he regretted if she didn't move immediately. "Can you get up now? You're heavy."
"Says the one holding me tightly. I couldn't get up if I tried."
"What're you—?" Kanda stopped when he realized that Chloe was correct. He was still hanging firmly onto Chloe's left wrist while his free hand was splayed out in the middle of her back keeping her pressed against his chest. Kanda drew back his hands as if it burned to touch Chloe, and the red head let out a sigh before pushing herself up to her knees. She started to get to her feet, but the sheets were still tangled around her legs, meaning she only got as far as flopping tiredly onto her back.
"Any chance you're going to help since this is your fault?" Chloe said in apparent annoyance. She was the one who tangled herself up in the first place, so why was she blaming him?
"Whatever," Kanda said as dismissively as he could. The Japanese exorcist got to his knees and reached for the part of the sheets twisted around her waist. After a few experimental tugs, the sheets started to loosen, revealing Chloe's bare stomach where her shirt had ridden up during the fall. Kanda steadied himself with a breath then continued pulling. Chloe's left leg was quickly freed, but her right leg was steadfastly stuck. Kanda leaned closer and pulled harder to keep his thoughts off the red head's bare skin and sharp hipbone within sight at the end of his nose. After one last frustrated tug Chloe's left leg fell free, and Kanda backed away from her as fast as he could while trying to calm his pounding heart. Chloe sat up and stretched with a quiet yawn, oblivious to Kanda's emotional and physical turmoil as he stared at anything in the room but her.
"Thank, Cabrón." Chloe stood up then grimaced while placing a hand against the side of her head. She slowly sat down on the edge of the bed as her free hand came up to the other side of her head. With a pained noise, Chloe fell onto her side, and Kanda's eyes widened when he saw blood dripping from the red head's noise onto the sheets.
This was not the India mission he remembered. As soon as Kanda finished that thought, another body instantly replaced Chloe's body. The new body was lying bleeding and broken on the bed with a deep gash from one shoulder to the opposite hip. With hair as bright red as the blood spilling from his chest, the person sputtered and choked as he tried to breathe. Kanda closed his eyes and shook his head.
This was a dream. He opened his eyes and the body was gone. In its place was a lotus flower blooming up from the blood stained sheets. Kanda's curse mark burned uncomfortably under his shirt, making him gasp and grab at his chest as his heartbeat stuttered painfully.
This was a dream.
This had to be a dream.
But why did it feel so…
…real?
Kanda threw himself up into a sitting position then wrenched his shirt up to appraise his chest. The curse mark remained dormant and unchanging dark ink swirling outward from his heart. The Japanese exorcist let out a relieved sigh and released his shirt from the white-knuckled grip.
"Well, I'd ask if you're all right, but you seem to have already answered that for yourself."
Kanda flinched at Chloe's sudden intrusion to the silence, and he glared at the red head until he saw what she was doing. She was laying on her back on the floor, and her bandaged hand was pointed up at the ceiling. "What the hell are you doing, Bellerose?"
"Writing." Chloe flicked her index finger, and a burst of pale blue light shot straight up into the air. The red head nodded in approval then started drawing her strange characters. In the middle of writing, Chloe let out a curse when the glowing characters started shaking erratically in the air. The red head made a dismissive motion with her hand then the symbols disappeared from their positions floating through the air. She let her arm drop back to her side with a frustrated noise. "What were you dreaming about?" Chloe asked after a long silence passed.
"I…don't know." His dream was just gone. Not that he really minded, but it was getting annoying to wake up in confusion and pain every day.
"Well, whatever it is, it must not have been pleasant. You were tossing and turning for ages," Chloe observed in a bored tone laced with concern.
"Who did you meet with?" Kanda asked while swinging his legs over the side of the bed.
"Bookman. I needed a recommendation for some research." Chloe was still glaring up at the ceiling as if it had done something wrong.
"Get off the floor, Idiot," Kanda finally said when he got tired of staring at the unmoving red head. "The ceiling's not going to apologize, so give it a rest already."
"Are you sure you can't read minds too, Kanda?" Chloe asked as she sat up. Kanda got to his feet while trying not to smirk. Chloe rolled her eyes at Kanda's attempt to be cool. "I take it back."
"Get up already." Kanda stepped around the red head toward the end of the bed. He stepped into his boots then turned back to Bellerose. She had gotten to her feet and was carefully flexing her bandaged right hand with a grimace. "What happened?" the Japanese exorcist asked.
"I told you—,"
"No, you avoided the question. There's a difference."
"I can't win against you today, can I?" Chloe said with a sigh. She pointed to her right shoulder first. "I got shot then pulled up in the air by wires while the others got knocked out." She held out her left arm. "I got out of one set of wires only to get thrown to the ground." Chloe then held up her right hand. "When I tried to shoot whoever was attacking us, my hand was broken."
"Do you know who attacked you?" Kanda asked.
"It was dark, and I was in a lot of pain," Chloe replied as she glanced around for her boots. "I couldn't give a proper description anyway." Kanda grabbed Chloe's left wrist and spun her around to face him.
"Tell me the truth, Bellerose." The Japanese exorcist tried not to be worried when Chloe broke eye contact with him but didn't try to break his grip. "Oi—,"
"I would if I could, Kanda," Chloe said with a sigh. "I don't remember much about that night until I woke up on the ground and went to help Lenalee."
"Right," Kanda said in disbelief. There was no point in pressing Chloe for information she wasn't willing to give.
"If I remember anything, I'll let you know." She wrapped her arms around Kanda's back and rested her head against his chest. The Japanese exorcist returned the embrace with a sigh. Chloe had a knack for keeping secrets (Maybe she was secretly a Bookman apprentice?), but she would tell him at least a glimpse of the truth to keep him from worrying. The Japanese exorcist took the red head at her word and held her together as he tried to push his concern as far away as he could. Chloe Bellerose could take care of herself, and if she wanted to tell him what was bothering her, she would. "Thanks, Kanda," Chloe suddenly murmured into his shirt. The unspoken "For not pushing to know," hung in the silence surrounding the exorcists. Kanda rested his head on top of Chloe's with a hint of a smile.
"You're welcome, Bellerose."
It was a record two weeks before Bridget managed to pin him down in his office long enough to do the paperwork he had been neglecting. Either Bridget was getting lazier or Komui himself was getting better at avoiding her. Komui preferred the latter option even as Bridget practically forced him into his desk chair. The large folder of mission reports hit his desk the second before the Finder reports folder landed on top of it. Komui let out a sigh then opened the larger file. He pulled the top report out and grimaced when he saw Chaoji's nearly indecipherable writing.
Komui frowned as he continued reading through the mission reports. Each document ended about the same way: After searching for any sign of Innocence pieces, nothing was found. No supernatural events or even akuma were present. The supervisor reached over and grabbed the file containing every Finder scouting report for the same period. Each Finder had reported different names and descriptions for the person providing the information. Komui put the folder down and let out a sigh. Since there had been no attempts at attacking the Church or any Order Branch Headquarters, Komui had nothing to go on besides a suspicious feeling. A soft knock on the door drew Komui's attention back to the present. "Come in," he said while gathering the exorcist reports back into their file. Komui blinked in confusion as General Cloud Nine strode purposefully into his office followed by General Tiedoll, General Sokaro, and finally Chloe. "What can I do for you, Generals?" Komui said.
"First, lose the secretary," Sokaro said while pointing over his shoulder at Bridget. The brunette made an affronted noise and got to her feet to protest.
"Bridget, please. This won't take long," Komui practically pleaded. Bridget huffed then stomped out of the office and slammed the door behind her. Komui winced as he turned back to the generals standing in front of his desk. "Anything else?"
"Do you have any extra chairs?" Tiedoll asked with a glance behind him at the small couch. Komui rounded up Bridget's desk chair and Lenalee's usual chair from behind his desk. Cloud Nine and Tiedoll took the couch while Chloe and Sokaro sat in the extra chairs, and Komui tried not to be uncomfortable under four pairs of serious gazes.
"Komui-san, I'm sure you're more than aware of the pattern between missions as of late," Tiedoll finally said after a long, tense silence.
"Yes," Komui answered. "Do you have an idea as to why this is happening?"
"Not precisely, but we have a theory." Cloud Nine sat back on the couch then crossed her arms and legs. "As much as it pains me to say it, Winters may have figured this one out before the rest of us did."
"Thanks, Cloud," Sokaro said with a wicked grin. "I'll take that as a compliment." Cloud Nine rolled her eyes, which only made Sokaro's smile practically split his face in two. "Now, the four of us were having a chat about why none of these missions were yielding any Innocence. I thought that maybe this had to do with the Earl amassing an army."
"What do you mean by that, General?" Komui said in confusion.
"Since Kanda and Chaoji's mission last week, there have been zero akuma sightings or attacks, and every Innocence phenomena or sighting has been unfounded. It's odd that there have been no attacks or whatnot during missions as of late," Tiedoll added.
"Which means the Earl could be gathering his forces in order to divide and conquer us," Sokaro said.
"With that being said, we all think it's time we make a contingency plan for when the strike or strikes begin," Cloud Nine said grimly. Komui sat silently for a moment as he let the information sink in.
"Let me see if I understand all of you correctly," he said. "You believe that the reason behind the lack of akuma and the fake Innocence sightings is because the Earl is massing his forces for one large or several small-scale attacks at a later date."
"Komui, every mission dealing with Innocence for the past two weeks has been faked. My group obviously got too close to the human broker who gave the Finder the information for her report before she went missing, hence the attack," Chloe stated. "The Noah family is planning something. They're probably observing the response time for missions and the exorcists grouped together for missions."
"There's really no other explanation for this, Komui," Tiedoll said gently.
"What should we do then?" Komui asked.
"We need to find the most likely areas for attack. The places with larger populations at risk for creating more akuma, or areas in which it's easier to gather vast amounts of akuma for an attack." Sokaro let out a humorless laugh. "Better get your beauty sleep now, Cloud. We're not going to sleep for a while now." Cloud Nine glared at Sokaro, making the scarred general laugh a second time.
"You four want to scout locations by yourself without any help?" Komui said in concern. "What about telling the other exorcists? They could—,"
"It's not the right time to involve the others. Don't let them go on any missions either," Chloe said. She glanced at the other generals then back at Komui. "There are only four of us, and we have higher clearance than the other exorcists. We can use the Branch Headquarters as bases for searches since most are near highly populated and at risk cities. We'll just tell the personnel that we're inspecting the facility and the nearby cities under risk as per command from Central."
"That's a good idea," Tiedoll chimed in. "We should start immediately."
"Komui, can you immediately let the other Branch Heads know about Central having the generals inspect the Branch sites?" Cloud Nine didn't appear to be asking either. Komui nodded in acquiescence then reached for his phone.
"We'll report back to you when and where we're going by this afternoon," Chloe said while getting to her feet. Tiedoll, Sokaro, and Cloud Nine stood up and filed out of Komui's office behind Chloe. Komui paused to collect his thoughts before making the first call. He prayed his voice didn't shake as he waited for the call to connect.
It didn't take more than a day for the other exorcists to notice that the missions had stopped being assigned and that the generals were using the Ark gate with no protest from Inspector Leverrier or Central. Chloe and Tiedoll were the first two generals to leave Headquarters without a word to anyone else. It was obvious Komui knew what the generals were doing, but he was being surprisingly tight-lipped about their objective. Even Lenalee couldn't get a word out of her brother.
Tiedoll and Chloe returned several days later, and both generals looked exhausted and starved as they stumbled into Komui's office. Lenalee and Bridget found themselves kicked out and locked out while Komui met with Tiedoll and Chloe. While Lenalee and Bridget waited out in the hallway, they both saw General Cloud Nine and General Sokaro headed directly for the Ark gate room. Chloe and Tiedoll emerged from Komui's office a moment later, and Tiedoll nodded to Chloe before turning toward the rooms. Chloe smiled at Lenalee and Bridget then made her way toward the Cafeteria without a word. Lenalee considered going after Chloe, but Komui's singsong call drew her back into her brother's office.
Chloe sat by herself and inhaled her food so she could leave before anyone could ask her any questions. Judging from Lenalee's incredulous stare, Chloe knew the other exorcists had already noticed something was going on. Chloe was standing up to take her dishes back when someone sat down in front of her. The tray of food consisted of soba, a covered bowl, green tea, chopsticks, and controlled calm emanating from the person whose hands were still gripping the sides of the tray. Chloe slowly sat back down and watched as Kanda picked up the covered bowl.
"Here," the Japanese exorcist said while placing the bowl on Chloe's tray. "Jerry says you'll like it," he added before digging into his soba. Chloe uncovered the bowl then grinned. She took a long sip of the bowl's contents, and Kanda watched out of the corner of his eye until Chloe put the bowl back on her tray.
"That hits the spot. I didn't think he could find a recipe for it," the red head murmured to herself. She quickly emptied the bowl then sighed while covering it back up. "I know you're dying to ask, so just go ahead and ask," Chloe said after several minutes of silence passed between them.
"Why did you leave so suddenly?" Kanda asked between bites.
"Research."
"For what?"
"I can't tell you yet."
"Where did you go?"
"Another Branch Headquarters building."
"Care to share which one?"
"Not at the moment."
"You and Tiedoll left all of a sudden the day before no missions were handed out for research purposes. Right." Kanda put his chopsticks down and crossed his arms. "Why are the rest of us being kept in the dark while the generals do research?"
"I can't tell you yet," Chloe repeated earnestly. "We're just trying to be proactive rather than reactive, that's all."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Do you trust me?"
"That's not—,"
"Kanda, do you trust me?"
"Yes."
"Then don't ask me about this, and don't leave the building no matter what."
Kanda didn't say anything for several tense moments. Then he got to his feet, grabbed his tray, and then headed for the counter without another word. Chloe watched the Japanese exorcist leave and grinned bitterly.
"That was our first fight," the red head murmured while placing her head in her hands. She was too tired mentally and physically to even attempt to deal with it at the moment.
"Chloe-chan?" That was Tiedoll's voice. Chloe lifted her head and saw that the older general had taken Kanda's place across from her. "I see Yuu-kun has already been asking questions."
"Yeah. He doesn't take too well to not getting answers either." Chloe refrained from adding Again to the end of that sentence.
"Sounds like Yuu-kun."
"Have Cloud Nine and Sokaro left?" Chloe changed the subject before Tiedoll could try to give any Kanda related advice.
"About half an hour ago."
"I guess we should get some rest until they come back," Chloe said while getting to her feet. Tiedoll beat the red head to picking up the tray of empty dishes, and he smiled down at her in a fatherly way that meant he was giving advice whether she wanted it or not.
"Yuu-kun only gets angry when he's worried. Since he didn't attempt any violence or excessive yelling, that means he's extremely worried about you. I know you can't tell him about what's going on, and maybe having some space from him would be beneficial for our research purposes. However, I still think it would be better for you to talk to the boy. Avoiding the issue is bad for relationships." Tiedoll nodded once he finished speaking then walked away with Chloe's tray in hand.
"Easier said than done, General," Chloe said as she made her escape from the Cafeteria. She pulled the hood on her jacket over her head then slipped into the less populated hallways in the building until she was completely alone. The red head then found a wall and sat down with a sigh. She had a bit of thinking to do.
That's all for this one. Hope you liked it! Let me know, and I'll try to get back to you as soon as possible!