Countdown

Chapter Six

"Kanda…"

The dark haired man tilted his head toward the new exorcist who was setting on the windowsill, scowling at the people below. Youko was jealous that everyone could go out at night now that Aoi, the akuma, was gone. A couple was laughing with the woman clinging to the man's well toned arm. She recognized him as the blacksmith from down the street. They had been in Italy for a week and none of the finders had come yet. It was 'textbook', according to Kanda, that they waited for them to come and asses the situation. Whatever the hell that meant! Staying cooped up in a hotel room with Kanda would probably be very exciting for a fan girl, but Youko wanted to go out and see more of the town. She had never been to Italy before but her partner was making it so she couldn't leave his sight.

"I'm bored! Can I leave? I promise I'll only be gone for five minutes," she groaned and pleaded, but the man was stubborn.

"It's late and too dangerous."

"Well it's a good thing my Innocence works better in the dark!" she yelled storming off toward the door.

'Oh great,' Kanda said to himself as the door slammed shut. It was true and he would admit it, that he kept her in his sights at all times after that battle and she passed out. The windows were locked at all times and so was the door. But in a way he knew that she would just walk out anyway… I mean, it didn't take much to unlock a door, did it? Youko was kind of-well very- pissed off. 'He keeps me crammed in a small hotel room for a week while I watch everyone else in this-now safe-town live actual lives!' She had wanted to call Komui and ask what the hell was taking the seekers so long, but Kanda's golem had shied away from her. That was odd seeing as how it liked her more than her glum partner that owned it. At least five minutes was all she had before she knew that a tall, dark, slim man would come looking for her. A few bars were open so why the hell not go and have a drink. Maybe a few men would be awake at this hour-decent ones anyways. 'Worth a shot,' she told herself as the wooden door swung open with the chime of a bell. The smell almost made her run back out but after the smoke stopped burning her eyes she made her way around the drunken smokers sitting at a nearby table and to the other side of the bar. A fat, white bearded, jolly man (No this is not Santa Clause) came down to her with a rag and mug in his hands.

"Uh… Can I get you anything?" he asked.

Yes it was very unladylike to come to a bar, but was Youko really ladylike in the first place? She decided to make a new friend and someone to protect her from those drunken bastards at the front table while Kanda wasn't there would be nice. And if she could maybe even get some help with her life.

"A psychiatrist and anything strong," she chuckled as the man grinned at her.

"Well, here's your drink. Sorry but this town doesn't have any shrinks but I think I could be of some service," he offered.

"Sounds good to me," she claimed as a large gulp of whatever drink he sat down in front of her.

It hit her like a hammer and made her eyes water as soon as it touched her tongue. It was her fault, she did ask for something group near the front had gotten a little louder and Youko watched as the man she was talking to rolled his eyes.

"Happens every night; Just ignore them," he sighed.

Even if she did it was hard to hear the bartender-whose name was the man gave excellent advice. He had far more insight than Lenalee, who was starting to scare Youko a little with her girly talk. No this information was coming from a man's point of view, and that was just what she needed. After a few minutes the drunken men had left and she was helping the man clean up for the night while still talking about personal experiences.

"So, what you're saying is; I should talk to him about my 'problem' before it's too late?" she stated grabbing two mugs in each hand and walking behind the counter with Toshihiro.

"If you want things to end good… yeah."

She groaned at that and placed the glasses in dishwater. He chuckled and gave her a pat on the back before returning to the mugs.

"It will end better than you think. You're young so you have plenty of time."

'Wrong…' one year, three months and nine days wasn't plenty of time. Being eighteen and only being able to spend your next birthday with a few friends before you had to leave and never see them again, would usually suck ass. And guess what, it does. Youko was starting to dry the glasses he had handed her when they heard the front door open and a tall figure in an all too familiar cloak stalked in. She nudged her new friend in the stomach and whispered "That's him," before turning back to the dishes. The man eyed him for a moment before handing her the last dish. It was almost like he was seeing if he was as good as she said he was.

"He seems pretty pissed off," he sniggered while turning to him.

Kanda had been walking around for about an hour trying to find her. But the rain started to come pouring down and he had to find shelter. The lights were on in the bar so he took his chances. The man wasn't in the mood to deal with drunks at this hour. The warmth engulfed him and the smell of smoke spread through his nostrils. He noticed the raven haired girl at once and saw that she was talking and washing dishes with a large-Santa-like man. Taking a seat at the bar he leaned forward until his arms rested against the counter. The man had eyed him before he sat down and said something to Youko before walking off to the back. She sighed and turned her head to look at him. Kanda was soaked and breathing hard since he had to run into the bar. She shoved her glasses back up the bridge of her nose and gave a heavy sigh.

"I'm waiting for you to scream at me," she said walking until she stood directly across from him.

"Ch, I didn't come here to yell at you. But…" he trailed off leaning over so that he was as close to her face without their lips meeting.

"Never do that again," he finished and Youko saw something in his eyes that she hadn't seen before.

'IS that relief I see? Or pure madness?' she sniggered to herself. Jolly Old Saint Toshihiro walked back out and saw the two and nudged Youko in the arm.

"You two should get back. And it was nice talking to you Youko. I hope you take what I said seriously," he winked.

She smiled and said her goodbye and the two exorcists walked into the still heavy rain. She had pulled her hood up and they were now walking in silence. They had wandered farther from the hotel than they thought and it was a little past eleven when they noticed a nearby park and a small gazebo. Both decided that the rain was getting ridiculous so some minutes of dryness would be nice. Once under the wooden roof, the two stood five feet away from each other, each one nervous to look at the other. Kanda was the one brave enough to break the awkward silence… but not in the best way.

"You are a liar," he said bluntly. (Youko: Twitch and anime sweat drop)

"E-excuse me?"

"You were gone far more than five minutes," he smirked.

She was about to retaliate when a large gust of wind caught each off guard and Youko's glasses slid off her nose and shattered on the ground. She grumbled something under her breath and bent down to picked the now glassless frames. Kanda had heard the shatter and glanced at her but she was already examining the problem. She looked so much better without glasses in his opinion and he had strolled over to snatch the broken spectacles from her unconsciously. 'No matter' she thought and reached into her jacket pocket to take out a pair of darker brown glasses. Kanda's mouth twitched trying to prohibit a smile to break his façade. 'This woman… is unbelievable…' She was smiling as the spectacles were about to reach her nose once again. Just before they reached her face she felt a pair of hands touch hers for a brief moment before the glasses were gone. Kanda had them and was grinning as he snapped the pair in half. The loud snap was matched by her gasp that caught even her off guard.

"The hell!" she screamed.

"You don't need them."

"That doesn't give you the right to snap them in half!"

"They irritate me," he stated.

He stalked out of the gazebo followed by a very angry new comrade. She stopped him in the middle of the damp path. Daggers shot out of her eyes and practically dripped with poison when she smirked at him. Her hair was sticking to her face from the water that showered down on her. It was dark now and the only one that gave light was the moon. Water droplets came down on Youko's face and some came down into her eyes. She shook her head to remove them but when she did Kanda had moved around her and had started to trudge back to the inn. She gave an irritated sigh and hurried after him. 'Did he really have to do that…' she sulked as the rain seemed to pelt her harder. Once they made it into the room, she shivered as the warmth hit her. Of course she didn't remember her heavy jacket, typical… When she looked up, a towel was wrapped around her head and shaking violently. She let out a yelp of surprise and reached up to stop it. Her hands grabbed his on accident instead of the towel and time seemed to stop. Her hands shot back to her sides when she spoke.

"S-sorry," she stuttered through the towel, sounding muffled.

The cloth lifted from her head and his face was dangerously close to hers. He looked as surprised as she was but kept his gaze steady instead of shifting it like her. What would you do in this situation? The only thing Youko could think of was when Lavi go this close to her and that made her kind of nervous so Kanda and Allen pulled him off and threw him about fifty miles. But Allen wasn't here to help her and she couldn't even move her arm to do so. A crack of thunder made her jump and the only thing she could do was stand there. If she moved away-awkward. If she didn't-awkward. There was just no way she could win and that pissed her off. The only thing she hated in this world other than her family was failing. Bright light flashed through the windows and she could see that he wasn't about to move. Maybe he was that tired and just couldn't move… yeah that had to be it. She shifted her weight and tried to go around him but his eyes never left hers. His head was kept level with hers and that made her want to make a run for it but stay there at the same time. 'Too confusing!'

"Um… excuse me," she said practically ripping her gaze away from his.

To be honest, Kanda wasn't even sure if what he was doing was right. Did he want to do it? Yes. But he was still trying to figure out her secret and so far that was uneventful. He asked Komui to do some research on her past while they were away but so far he had found nothing. Late calls in the middle of the night from the bathroom had been happening for about four days and each one was the same. 'She must have been more isolated than I thought. Nothing's come up.' He was Oh-So-Tired of hearing that! Did this woman ever do anything wrong? There was no way someone could be that perfect! She would wake up every morning and went for a walk that lasted for exactly half an hour. Then both would go for breakfast and since his pride and normal personality wasn't really talkative then nothing happened there. The two would spend all day doing absolutely nothing! That was why she had stormed out and it didn't surprise him at all. During his small self rant she spoke.

"You owe me a new pair of glasses," she sulked staring out into the rain-that had now reduced from a down pour to just a normal storm.

'Ch…"

"Gods that pisses me off! First you keep me locked up in a hotel room, and then you break my glasses! What is your-"

"I keep you here for your own safety! Do you honestly believe I will let you out into this town by yourself?"

She sat there agape for a moment. That had been the most he had ever talked to her since the night when she shouted that marriage thing at him. And she missed it. Sure this was a very different conversation but a conversation nonetheless.

"What you don't think that I can take care of myself? Because Lavi and Allen could prove you otherwise! I kicked Lavi's ass more than I can count!" she laughed while taking a seat on her bed.

"I know them. I don't know the bastards in this town. If you think that I'm going to let my new partner walk around with a group of dogs following her you'd be wrong!" he hissed his response.

"New partner? That's not like you. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're taking a liking to me," the smirk could be seen from across the world, he thought.

"Maybe I have. You are the only sane one in headquarters and you stay out of my business."

"And you mine. That sounds about right."

"…..What did you mean two weeks ago?"

"Ah… let's not bring that up! J-just a slip of the tongue that's all."

"Tell me right now or I will force you to," he glared.

"Bring it on…partner," Youko smirked.

She actually liked being called his partner and even if he never admitted it-like so many other things- he did too. He scowled and leaned down on his bed ignoring her challenge. He faced the ceiling but seemed to look straight through it. He would find out, if it killed him, what her secret was. And Youko knew that she had two choices. To tell him and face whatever reaction he had… Or not tell him and let him find out the hard way. He was sure to handle that one well… right? He was an exorcist after all. Death seemed to follow them wherever they went so separation wasn't as bad. But could she do that to him? 'No.'

"I'm going to miss you. But we've got a while before that happens," she sighed crossing her legs and leaning down on her bed.

"One year three months and nine days to be exact," she calculated as Kanda's eyes widened in shock.

Before what happens? She couldn't leave, not after all they had been through. Rough mornings with Lavi and Allen tugging and pulling at her to get her to talk and Lenalee jumping her to go shopping every minute. And who had been there to save her? Kanda and she would always thank him and say that she owed him one. Now she owes him over fifty times and him two and that was for what had just happened. Everything was happening completely opposite of what he had wanted. 'It can't end in that short of time.' But it had to, at least to her it did. Nothing could keep her from breaking a promise and she was just to proud to give up. A year and three months was enough time to fall in love right? (If she wasn't right now that is) The last thing she saw before falling asleep that night was Kanda getting up and going into the bathroom. He slid down the wall after the door was shut and clenched his eyes shut. This was definitely something to go on but he didn't have anything to go one besides a time limit. But if she had to leave the order, her friends, him? That would be murder but if she had to she must. And the only thing that Kanda knew, was that he had to get her out of this. NOW.