Here comes chapter IV and the promised pairing. All right, maybe some hints of a pairing-to-be.
Thank you – all of you – for the reviews! It means a lot to me because it is my very first DGM fanfiction and I try to do my best. I realize the figures are very OOC in here (maybe except…. OK I won't spoil the plot now!) but it was my intention to do it like this.
Thanks for your great support once again.
Aha, and Kanda still doesn't belong to me.
Please enjoy reading!
Part IV – Misery loves company
If it wasn't for Noise Marie, Kanda's travel back to the Order would be a hell. The silent Exorcist was the only one who didn't let Allen treat his former colleague as a captive, insisted on not tying Kanda up with a rope and protested about beating or blindfolding him. Kanda himself didn't make a sound during the whole journey. He showed no emotion. Neither anger, nor fear could be seen on his calm, pale face. Kanda was sure, they will imprison him in the dungeons of the Black Orders once they'll reach it, but nothing like this happened.
He is now sitting in a dim-lit room. The stone walls are radiating unpleasant coldness and he shivers a bit, as he wears only a pair of trousers. No shirt, no shoes. They took his weapon away too. Having so many well trained fighters around, they are still afraid of letting him hold a wooden stick in his hand. Kanda subconsciously smirks to himself.
- You're still afraid of what I could do – he thinks.
The door opens and he sees a rather tall and slim silhouette of a young woman come in. Her hair is long - it reaches past her shoulders – brown and wavy. Her eyes are brown too. Brown and big. And somehow teary. He barely remembers her from his previous life in the Order. Miranda Lotto. The unlucky Miranda, as some exorcists and finders used to call her. He never really get to know her. She was a freshman when he fought Skin Bolic. Then after his last fight they never met again. Until now.
- Good morning, I-I am…
- Good morning, Miranda. I know who you are. – Kanda rises from the cold floor he was sitting on. Maybe Komui didn't order to lock him in the dungeons, but Yuu is now placed in a tiny and cold room, that remembers a ward rather than a bedroom and they didn't even provide him with a bed or futon to sleep on.
- Oh… I'm sorry, I brought you something to eat. – she places the bowl on the floor and moves backwards to the door like if she feared him.
- Are you…afraid of me? – Kanda asks watching her with some kind of amusement.
- They tell strange things about you. – Miranda replies, shocked with her own bluntness.
- Like what? – Kanda now smiles at her openly. She blinks. There were legends about a certain Exorcist, a swordsman named Kanda Yuu, repeated over and over by the younger recruits and finders. She heard he was cruel. Heartless. Never spoke to people, unless to insult them or make them get out of his way. Then he was disgraced. And so the legendary Kanda turned into a notorious villain, whose name was forbidden inside this building. And now she is standing in front of him. Not to mention that only a few hours ago, her friend, Lenalee, told her that this particular man has killed over one hundreds Akumas with a mere wooden stick!
- Like what? What things do you mean? - Kanda repeats his question. His voice sounds calmly and warm. Warm against those cold walls. Miranda Lotto shivers.
- It's cold in here… - she whispers more to herself.
- Yes, I guess Komui doesn't want me to get too comfortable. – Kanda snickers. He is not going to show them any weakness. Not even to that beautiful woman standing in front of him now. She is older than himself. She must be much older than Lenalee too, yet her face is much more girly and innocent, than the one of Komui's sister.
- But you must be freezing here. – she takes another step back and he feels a sudden need to hold her in here. To talk to her.
- You still didn't answer my question, Miranda.
- Huh? Oh, that… hat you k-killed many Akumas. With a stick.
- That's right. – Kanda now looks straight into the wall opposite him.
- But how? General Walker says you're not compatible!
General Walker! – Che! – Kanda snorts at the sound of these words.
- He's right. I'm not. And I don't know how. Maybe…
- Maybe? – Miranda comes closer to Yuu, without even realizing she does so.
- …maybe because I was protecting somebody I love? I had to win. I had to.
She hunkers down next to him and touches his soft black hair.
He moves slightly as she does so and tilts his head. - What are you doing?
- You're cold. – she answers. They cannot keep you in here. You will get sick. Where are your clothes?
- I don't have any. They took it away.
She stands up and rushes out of the room without saying a word. He is left alone again. He reaches up for his meal and tries to eat a bit. Then he closes his eyes and curls up on the floor. He is cold. He has to calm down and meditate a bit, other way they will break him too soon. But he cannot focus. He is cold. Too cold.
The door slams open a few hours later. Miranda Lotto and Noise Marie enter the room to find a shivering Kanda lying in the corner of the room.
- I told you. – Miranda refers to a nodding Marie as she comes up to the raven haired boy, holding a blanket and wraps it up around him.
- Yuu?
Kanda looks at her and smiles. His hair is beating fast and it scares her.
- Are you feeling sick? Your heart beats like crazy.
- I was doing some exercises to warm myself up, but it doesn't help much. – he replies. It's true. The exercises helped him to get warm for a while, but after he stopped it was even worse. Noise Marie helps him to get up and leads him out of the room.
- I'm taking you to a warmer place.
- Komui will be mad at you. – Kanda looks at his bigger friend and shakes head – You don't have to do it.
- But I want to. And Komui can bite me.
Kanda cannot help but chuckle. – Where did you learn such a language?
- Lots of things have changed here since you left, Yuu. Lots of bad things happened.
Sitting in Miranda's room and sipping hot milk from a mug, Kanda feels his numb limbs to become alive again. Miranda and Marie have already told him what happened during the last year of his absence. General Tiedoll came back to the Order one month after Kanda was proclaimed 'unworthy' and couldn't stand the fact that one of his beloved apprentices was sentenced to death in such a cruel way. He blamed Noise Marie for not protecting his younger 'brother in arms', he blamed himself for not being there when Kanda needed him. He took a look at Mugen and the sword clearly showed him, he was still compatible with his master. A week later Mugen's blade turned into a pile of dust. It was the night when Kanda really desynchronized with his Innocence. It was also the night, when General Tiedoll understood he has lost the chance of ever getting his pupil back.
- He has thrown himself from the cliff. – Miranda wipes her tears away with a kerchief.
Kanda shakes his hand in disbelief. His master, the only person who ever treated him right in that damn Order is now dead.
After having two Generals lost (Cross and now also Tiedoll), Leverrier decided to recruit somebody among the Exorcists. Allen walker seemed to be the best candidate. And so he became promoted. In the meantime, Leverrier and Komui were also looking for a replacement for Kanda, but none of the young recruits was skilled enough in sword fighting. They trained hard, but something lacked. A legend of Kanda Yuu was born among them, but once it became popular, Leverrier forbade to even mention the 'traitor's name' within the walls of the sacred Black Order. Everyone who even tried to mention Kanda was severely punished.
A sharp knock at Miranda's door makes the three figures sitting in the dark room stiffen and freeze in place.
- Come in… please – Miranda says and the door open.
- I knew I'll find him in here! – it's Komui and Walker.
- I'm very sorry, supervisor Lee, but he was cold and… - Miranda tries to explain Kanda's presence in her room, but Komui silences her with a gesture.
- Shut up. – comes a barked order from Allen Walker
- Watch your mouth, Walker. Being ranked as General doesn't allow you to treat a woman this way. – Kanda rises from his place and makes a step forward. Noise Marie follows suit.
- Stop it! Both of you! - Komui's sharp voice breaks the fight before it even started.
- Walker, we need Kanda to be in a good shape for the congregation. Mr. Leverrier, Mrs. Eppstein, Miss Fou and the cardinals will be here in three days. Then they will decide about the specimen's future.
A specimen. Then that's what he is in their eyes. That what he always has been. Kanda shuts his eyes tight as visions of his past become to flow his mind uncontrollably. White walls, blood, needles, lab coats. He opens his mouth and a cry escapes his lips. But it's a silent cry, not audible to anybody. For Kanda Yuu has lost his voice. Again.