Stella: Chapter 5 revised! These are taking me longer than I thought...or maybe it was just this chapter, because I just revised a random chapter no sweat!
Rose: Maybe it's because you're changing a lot more than you anticipated...
Stella: True...well, hopefully I can do chapter 6 tomorrow! :D I actually want to do it now...but it's 4 am. Ahhh, why do I do this to myself?!
Lavi: Now I feel like I don't know Rose-chan as well...
Stella: Well, don't worry. You two will get to know each other soon enough! ;P New and old readers, I hope you enjoy this chapter! Again, it's kinda filler-ish.
I woke up the next day with a little more motivation than usual. Maybe I was sort of excited about the new mission…
I got up from my bed and reached for my brush. After I finished brushing my hair, I placed the brush by a picture of me and my parents. One of my old classmates gave it to me before I left London yesterday. It made me feel a little melancholy, but I took it anyway. It was a picture of when I was about five or six. I just started school and it looked as if I had just finished crying. I don't really remember why I was crying though, but mom and dad were holding me up by my arms. We all looked so happy.
…but things don't always last forever.
I sighed. It wasn't the time to be thinking like that. I had a mission tomorrow and I needed to be both physically and mentally prepared. I ran a hand through my curly locks and decided I should get some training in before I set out to Rome tomorrow. After putting on my bracers, I headed out.
As I got to the training hall, I realized there was someone already there. I got closer and realized it was Kanda. He was sitting cross-legged on the ground, barely moving an inch. It seemed as if he erased his breath. The silence around me felt uneasy. Was he sleeping? It sure didn't seem comfortable to sleep like that.
I took a step closer to him, "Kanda…"
He didn't move.
"Kaaaaandaaaaa….." I whispered.
He opened an eye and glared at me. "What, curly?"
"O-oh, s-s-so you weren't s-sleeping?" I asked, suddenly nervous under his glare.
"Che. It's called meditating." He replied and closed his eye to continue his meditating. Right, meditating. How could I mistake that for sleeping? No one sleeps like that anyway…
'I probably just gave him another reason to dislike me even more.'
I frowned and was about to turn around, but Kanda's voice froze me in place. "What're you doing here?"
"Me?!" I yelped, much to my surprise.
"I'm not talking to anyone else."
"Yu-chan, Stop being so mean to her!" I turned around to my daring savior and let out a sigh of relief when I saw Lavi in the distance. He caught up to us and grinned.
"G-good morning, Lavi!"
"And a good morning to you! But, I see Yu probably woke up on the wrong side of the bed again." He chuckled, but then suddenly stepped back. I followed his gaze and found myself starring at a long sharp sword. A katana, to be exact. Where did that come from?
"I will cut you to pieces, baka usagi!" He growled and pointed his katana closer to Lavi's face. Lavi, in response, backed away slowly with a grin still on his face.
Lavi put his hands up defensively. "Really, is there any need to be so violent right now?"
"Tell me why you're here. If you don't need to be here, then leave." Kanda spat down, slowly lowering his weapon.
"Yeah, just put your Mugen away first. You're scaring me right now…" The redhead told him nervously, but with a playful tone at the same time.
"Che. You're annoying." Kanda told him irritably and finally sheathed his katana.
"Is that your anti-akuma weapon? It's really neat." I said politely, hoping to start a conversation with him. But it seemed as if he was ignoring me and sat back down.
"Uhhh…umm…I mean – "
"Don't sweat it. He's always like this." Lavi informed me. "Anyways, I was looking for you."
"Me?" I pointed to myself and he nodded. "What for?"
"Komui wants to see you. Something about your Innocence. Well, let's go!" He concluded and started walking away. I followed him, but not before glancing back at Kanda, who had his eyes closed again.
"So, Rose. Where ya from?" Lavi asked me on the way to Komui's office.
"I'm from London."
"London, huh? That's neat. How old are you?"
I stared at my feet and replied, "Sixteen."
"Ahh, looks like I'm older than you." He chuckled. "I'm – "
"Eighteen." I finished for him.
"What? Hey, how'd you know?"
I shrugged my shoulders and answered honestly, "Johnny told me a little bit about you and Kanda. Well, just your ages and your height. And your Innocence-type. That's about it."
"Oh? He didn't tell you how incredibly handsome and awesome I am?" He laughed and gave me a big smile.
I couldn't help but to smile back. He was completely different from Allen and Lenalee. And Kanda…too. Way different from Kanda.
"No, I'm afraid he didn't mention that…" I giggled and wiped a few stray bangs away from my face.
He laughed along with me. It was strange. For some reason, being with Lavi made me feel like I had nothing to worry about, which was a little weird considering that I just met him yesterday. I guess it was just the kind of person he was. Now that I got a closer look at him, I feel like I've seen him somewhere before, which was strange, considering that I just met him yesterday. But that red hair of his was strikingly familiar.
We made it to Komui's office and Lavi automatically took his place on the single couch in the middle of the room.
"Umm….I'm here, Komui-san."
Komui turned around and looked at me seriously. I was guessing the matter he wanted to discuss was important then.
"Rosalie…"
"Y-yes?"
"I need to talk to you, regarding your Innocence." He pushed his glasses up and picked up a clipboard from his desk.
Lavi perked his head up and looked at us skeptically, as if he was observing something important. Komui looked at Lavi for a second, as if debating whether or not to kick him out, but he shook his head and left that idea. I darted my eyes between the two, but none of them were looking my way.
"Is there something wrong with it?" I asked him unsurely and my palms were starting to get a little sweaty from the nervousness.
Komui dropped his clipboard and looked at me. "Well….we're just a little…unsure how we should go about this."
"Unsure how?"
"Remember when I told you I didn't think you're Innocence was an equipment-type because of its high synchronization rate?"
Lavi sat up and chimed in. "Wait, her Innocence has to be an equipment-type. What else could it be?"
"We're not sure. That's why we called her down here to do further research on it."
"O-oh. Okay, then…" I pulled off the bracers and handed them to Komui.
"By the way..." He began, "I know I should've asked sooner, but I didn't really think about it. How did you get these bracers in the first - owwww!" Right as I handed them to him, he dropped them on the floor and yelled and took a step back.
"Komui-san! What's wrong?" I bent down to pick up the bracers and tried to place them in his hands again, but he took a step back. I gave him a nervous glance and wondered why he wouldn't take them.
Lavi got up from the couch and made his way towards us. "Chief…?"
"T-they…shocked me!" Komui cried out overdramatically.
I titled my head to the side. "E-excuse me?"
Komui turned to me after recomposing himself. He looked as if was about to pick them up again, but stood back up. He turned and stared at me questionably, as if accusing me of something. But I had no idea why.
"I…I didn't do anything to them!" I pleaded, trying to convince him. I guess that shock must've really put him on edge.
He sighed, "I know. I guess it's just your weapon. Maybe it isn't cooperative with non-Innocence users. Well, I guess I can't do anything now."
Lavi deadpanned, "Wait, so you're just gonna give up?"
He turned to Lavi and glared at him. "Nooo, but now I have time to work on Sir Komlin VII~"
The red haired teen sweatdropped, "Another one? Chief, is this really the time to be goofing off?"
Komui's expression turned serious again. "I believe Bookman knows a bit of information regarding the 'Hands of the Earth.' I'll ask him once he gets back."
"Ahh, of course. The old panda…"
"Well, you two should be preparing for tomorrow!" Komui suggested. "Goodbye~"
Lavi and I exchanged nervous glances. I guess Komui could be a kid when he wanted to be. But it seemed strange that my Innocence shocked him like that. I do remember when that redheaded man that gave me the weapon and told me he knew it belonged with me because it didn't shock me…but at the time, I didn't know what he meant. Now I understood perfectly. Albeit, I didn't know he literally meant shock. I picked up my bracers and slipped them back on as we left his office.
"The Chief sure is something, huh?" Lavi joked.
"Mhmm, but he seems like a nice guy." I told him honestly. "Anyways, I'm heading to the training hall. Where are you going?"
"Nowhere in particular, but I'll go with you. I wanna tease Yu some more!"
I let out a nervous laugh. "I-is that…such a good idea?"
Lavi simply chuckled and followed me the rest of the way to the training hall. Once we stepped in, we saw Kanda still meditating, but it looked as if was just finishing up. He stood up, his long hair flowing gracefully behind him, and pulled out Mugen, as Lavi called it. I took this opportunity to hopefully become better acquainted with him.
"Kanda!" I called out cheerfully and ran up to the longhaired Japanese Exorcist. I anticipated for him to at least look at me, but no such thing happened. I let out a disappointed sigh and refused to give up. I wasn't sure why I was so determined to become Kanda's friend. Maybe it was because I was easily able to become acquainted with the rest of the Exorcists.
"Kanda...do…do you want to…." I stammered, suddenly nervous at he glared at me. "Uhh….um…"
He clicked his tongue. "What is it, curly?" He demanded with an annoyed tone.
"Nothing!" I yelped and took a step back. Lavi caught up to us and put a hand on my shoulder, squeezing it gently.
"I'm sure she wants to ask if she can train with you." Lavi announced and pushed me forward. "Right, Rose?"
I nodded shyly and walked closer to Kanda. "I-if you don't mind, that is…"
Kanda stared at me in a churlish manner. "I don't have time for rookies like you."
I gulped. "But I…"
"Awww, he doesn't mean it, right Yu?" Lavi said teasingly and then whispered in my ear, "He's probably scared about being beat by a girl."
Kanda growled, "Shut the fuck up. I'm not scared of anything." He replied in a monotone voice. Somehow, I felt like he was telling the truth when he said wasn't scared of anything. He definitely seemed like a fearless man to me.
"O-okay…" I gave up, but Lavi grabbed me by the shoulder again and shook his head. I stared at him in confusion and he merely smiled.
"Just one match, Yu! Come on!" Lavi begged, tugging on Kanda's shirt. I could've sworn I saw a dark aura forming around the longhaired teen.
"Umm…Lavi? Maybe we shouldn't – "
The sound of metal whipping in the air silenced me. He moved his sword so fast and precise that I definitely knew that it was his forte. I've never seen anyone handle a sword so proficiently. As his eyes darted to my astonished facial expression, I saw the smallest smirk on his face.
"You still want to train with me, curly?" He asked in a low, but terrifying voice.
I was about to shake my head and tell him nevermind, but...
"Yeah, she will!" Lavi answered for me and pushed me ahead. Kanda scooted out of the way and wasted no time to get behind me and point his sharp katana at my back.
"Che. You should never have your back at the enemy."
I turned around and took a stance, bending my knees. "I wasn't ready yet!"
"You should always be ready." He stated bluntly.
He came at me again with his sword and I was able to just barely move out of the way. It felt like a game of cat-and-mouse. Except, I was a very slow mouse. Kanda was unbelievably fast and his body looked like a blur every time he ran by me. I couldn't even focus on using my anti-akuma weapon. I'll admit it; I was absolutely terrified at the moment. Kanda seemed like he seriously wanted to kill me. In less than ten minutes, he had me pinned down to the ground with Mugen pointing at my neck, threatening to slit it.
"Che. You're just a rookie. If you can't even last this long with me, how do you expect yourself to last on our mission?" He got up and I followed shortly afterwards, brushing myself off.
"I umm…" I frowned and stared the ground. "Well…I survived my first mission…" I admitted sheepishly.
"You only had to kill one akuma. That's nothing compared to what we have to do everyday." He asserted and turned his back to me. "If you want to live tomorrow, you'd better shape up."
"Whaaaaaat? You only had to fight one akuma yesterday?" Lavi asked in disbelief. "I would love that kind of mission!"
I avoided eye contact with the two. Kanda was right. I would've barely survived yesterday if Allen wasn't there with me. And it was only one akuma. According to Lavi's reaction, it obviously seemed like they did a lot more. Maybe I wasn't using my head. I fell short as an Exorcist. Compared to what they had to do, I did baby work. I'm sure dad was a way better Exorcist than I was…
Dad…
There was so much I wanted to know regarding him as an Exorcist, but still…thinking about him made me sad. He was probably very strong, too. I shook my head and cleared my thoughts of him. I'd think about it later, after I became stronger.
Kanda still had his back towards me and Lavi was trying to get his attention. Lavi was most likely a very strong Exorcist, too. Compared to everyone else, I was weak. I was weakest link on the chain. That fact alone was enough to make me cry, but I refused to let my tears fall. All the excitement I felt about the new mission started to leave me…
"Rose…?" Lavi brought me back from my thoughts. "Hey, don't worry about him, Yu's just – "
"No, it's fine. Actually, I want to go again, if you don't mind…" I told Kanda with newfound determination. He merely "che'd" me again before drawing up his Mugen.
We clashed for what seemed like hours while Lavi sat down and read a book. If taking Kanda's harsh insults wasn't enough, he always came close to nearly killing me. But I wasn't giving up just yet. I was determined to become stronger for myself and my fellow Exorcists. I couldn't afford to be vulnerable during the mission tomorrow.
After the countless spars, Kanda finally decided to call it quits. He hardly looked like he broke a sweat. That only proved how much of a competition I was for him.
"That was…a little better." Kanda admitted reluctantly.
"Hah…tha…nks…." I managed to say, before collapsing on the ground from exhaustion. The last thing I saw was Kanda walking away and Lavi running towards me. Well, I guess if Kanda said I did a little better, then I really did a lot better. At least, that's what I told myself.
One thing I knew for sure was…he was definitely harder to train with than with Allen or Lenalee. And he was most definitely a lot meaner.
Stella: I know that little encounter with Komui may have seemed pointless, but trust me, there's a meaning to it. Just not in this chapter, but in the later chapters!
Rose: I need to be stronger!
Kanda: Yeah.
Lavi: 4 days until Stella-chan's birthday! :3
Stella: Yeah! So...you should um...leave me reviews, please? Ughh, besides I just realized that I'll have to edit like, almost the rest of the chapters. Except "Bad Dreams."
Lavi: But at least you have determination.
Stella: Yeah, I hope I can add new chapters before summer ends. *sobs* I don't wanna go to school next month... :(