Chapter Twelve –

Lenalee walked through the hallways of the Black Order, smiling deviously to herself, looking for two specific people. She gleefully hummed a little tune, happy with the plan of action she had come up with the day before.

"They will get together if it's the last thing I do!" The violet-eyed girl murmured quietly.

"Who are you talking about, Lenalee?"

Said girl jumped in surprise when Vera suddenly popped up. Where had she even come from?

"Oh, you know," Lenalee leaned forward and whispered the rest in the young woman's ear, "Lavi-kun and Nade-chan."

"Oh! That's right!" Vera exclaimed, as Lenalee stood back once more. "Do you need any help?" She smirked mischievously.

"Hmm…" The emerald-haired girl thought about it. "Actually, can you find Nade-chan for me? I'll find Lavi-kun and then we'll meet up in the mess hall, alright? And don't worry, Jeryy's in on my plan."

"Alright!" The black-haired twenty-six year old grinned. "See you later, Lenalee~!"

The two females went their separate ways, each having a hunch where their target was.

Now Vera walked down the upper hallways of the Black Order, glancing at all the doors to see which one her brunette friend was residing in. If she remembered correctly, Nadeshiko was in room 428.

Not watching where she was going, it was no surprise that Vera bumped into someone. She and the other person exclaimed at the same time,

"Oh! I'm so sorry!"

Vera looked up and saw that she had bumped into another woman. She had long dark brown hair, dark circles around her brown eyes, and was probably the same age as the princess.

The blue-eyed woman chuckled with a hint of nervousness. She hadn't met any Exorcists besides the ones who had recruited her… Was this woman another Exorcist? "Hello, my name's Vera Dolgorukiy… I-I'm going to become an Exorcist. May I know your name?"

As both women stood up, the brunette one stuttered her reply. "M-My name is M-M-Miranda L-Lotto… I'm an E-Exorcist…"

Vera smiled. "Really? That's amazing! I only know four Exorcists so far… Allen Walker, Lenalee Lee, Lavi, and Nadeshiko Yuzuki… You know them?"

Miranda hesitantly nodded. "Uhm, yes, I know Allen-kun, Lenalee-chan, and Lavi-kun… But I don't think I've met Nadeshiko…"

"Oh! Well, I was just going to get her so we could go to the mess hall together – do you want to come with us?" The former princess offered.

The other Exorcist smiled. "I would like that..."

"Then c'mon!"

Soon, the pair reached room 428, and Vera knocked on the door. "Nadeshiko~!" She hollered, banging her fist on the door, making Miranda jumped in her spot beside her. "Open up!"

The door opened, and Nadeshiko peered out. "Oh, hey Vera. Is there something you need?"

Vera grinned. "First of all, Nade, this is my new friend – Miranda Lotto! She's an Exorcist!"

Miranda waved shyly. "H-Hello…"

Nadeshiko gave her a calming smile. "It's nice to meet you, Miranda. I'm Nadeshiko Yuzuki."

The older brunette nodded, but Vera spoke up before she could say anything else.

"And secondly, we were just heading to the mess hall and were wondering if you wanted to come with us!"

"…Eh, sure." The hazel-eyed teen shrugged, and stepped out of her room, revealing her outfit that consisted of a red tank top with a brown leather jacket that ended sat her waist over top, a dark blue miniskirt, and a pair of knee-high brown leather boots. "Let's go."

Meanwhile, on the floor above, Lenalee was conversing with Lavi at room 567.

"Hey Lavi! What are you up to?"

"Oh, hey Lenalee. Nothing much, why?"

The emerald-haired girl smiled innocently. "I was just wondering if you wanted to go get lunch now. I was just heading to the mess hall, and haven't seen you at all today, so I decided it'd be a good idea to have lunch together, don't you think?"

"...Uh… Okay…" The red head stepped out of his room, wearing his usual casual attire of a forest green long-sleeved shirt with the sleeves pushed up to the elbows, a pair of white pants, and plain brown shoes.

"Perfect~!" Lenalee exclaimed a-little-too-happily, but Lavi dismissed it.

The violet-eyed mastermind skipped ahead of her friend, already planning out how she should go about phase two. She wasn't really paying attention, so Lavi had to steer her away from a wall more than once…

Once the two entered the mess hall, Lenalee's eyes lit up when she saw Vera sitting with Nadeshiko and Miranda. The two twenty-six year olds were talking peacefully, and the younger brunette sat there quietly with her head lowered.

"Vera~! Nade~! Miranda~!" She shouted and ran over to them, Lavi following behind much slower. "Mind if Lavi and I sit with you guys?"

Nadeshiko stiffened ever-so-slightly when she heard Lavi's name, and peered through her hair at the red head, before quickly looking away. The emerald-eyed teen was the only one to notice her tensing, and looked away, suddenly feeling upset.

Perhaps he shouldn't have tried to kiss her… What if what she told Jeryy was true? What if she only thought of him as a friend? What if… What if she liked someone else? Oh god… Lavi pictured Nadeshiko being with someone else, and Allen came to mind. What if she and Allen were together already? And if not Allen, what if she was with Kan –

Lavi froze for a minute, before shaking his head furiously, causing Lenalee to look at him in worry.

"Lavi? Are you alright?"

"H-Huh? Oh, I'm fine Lenalee… I just…" He turned away. "…I need to go ask Jeryy-san something…"

"Oh…" Lenalee nodded. "Okay."

Lavi left, and the group of girls struck up random conversations. This went on for a couple minutes before Lenalee suddenly gasped.

"Oh! I almost forgot!"

"What is it, Lenalee?" Nadeshiko asked curiously.

The emerald-haired girl turned to her. "Nade! I need you to do me a big favour! Please, please, please~?"

"...Uh… Alright… What is it?"

Inside, Lenalee smirked. But on the outside, she simply smiled gratefully. "Thank you so much Nade-chan! I need you to go and ask Jeryy if he got anymore strawberries yet – he ran out a couple days ago, and I was thinking of making some special cake for my brother."

"Oh, okay…" Nadeshiko stood up almost hesitantly before walking over towards the kitchen, repeating the mantra, 'This is a favour for Lenalee, I must not refuse. This is a favour for Lenalee, I must not refuse.' over and over.

She peeked inside the kitchen, and saw Jeryy working away, single-handedly making millions of dishes.

"Uh, Jeryy-san?"

The pink-haired cook set his spoon down onto the counter, and turned to face the brunette. "Oh! Hello Nade-chan~! What can I do for you?"

"…Lenalee wanted to know if you got any more strawberries…"

Jeryy blinked. "Oh, yes! The strawberries for Lena-chan's cake!" He smiled. "Well, you can tell her that I did, okay?"

Nadeshiko nodded hesitantly, noticing that Lavi was nowhere to be seen. "Alright… And, um, Jeryy-san?"

"Yes?"

"…Have you… seen Lavi…? He said he had to… ask you something…"

"Hm? Lavi?" The cook got a thoughtful look on his face. "Yes, actually, he did come here a couple minute ago."

"…Um, where is he now then?" The brunette asked cautiously, hating herself for the now awkward air between her and Lavi. If only she hadn't reacted that badly to the almost-kiss! Maybe she should've just pretended nothing had happened, and things would've gone back to normal!

"Oh, I asked him to get something from the pantry for me while he was here. I guess he must be having some troubles… Would you mind giving him a hand? I have to get back to stirring this." Jeryy asked politely, picking the spoon back up and resuming stirring.

"…Uh… Alright…"

It seemed like she was doing a lot of favours today.

When she got to the pantry, the hazel-eyed girl pulled on the door knob as hard as she could, but the door wouldn't budge. She tried turning the handle, but it wouldn't move.

"…Jeryy… I think you locked Lavi in the pantry…"

"Oh my! That must be why he hasn't come out yet!" The cook exclaimed, hurry over. He unlocked the door, and opened it. "Is he in there?"

"Yes, he – ah!" Nadeshiko reply was cut off when she was shoved into the pantry. She almost fell, but Lavi thankfully managed to catch her at the last second.

"Have fun~!" The door slammed shut, and Nadeshiko felt an uncomfortable amount of dread flow through her as she heard a small 'click', signally the door had been locked.

She and Lavi were stuck in a pantry, together.

'…Great…'