Shot 3 – Date
Standard Disclaimers Apply.
For my cousin Sarah, I think you will like this fic and cheer up with some sap!
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Date: 1 June 1895 (Afternoon)
Location: Allen's Room in the Dark Order Headquarters
Allen Walker had just returned from a mission and was intending to return to his room in the Dark Order to rest. To his horror, Lavi was sitting on his bed, and happily eating something from a glass container.
"MOYASHI CHAN!" Lavi greeted Allen in between chewing, "These dates are delicious! Where did you get them from?"
As he was questioning Allen, Lavi continued to shove more dates into his mouth.
"STOP EATING THE DATES!" Allen almost screamed as he snatched the container from Lavi's hand only to find nothing left. Allen glared at Lavi who grinned back at him.
"I'm sorry, but I finished them all!" Lavi faked a pout, hands opening wide to emphasize his point, "You are so mean! How could not share such good food with me!"
Allen's look of anger evolved into one of sadness as he said softly, "Those dates are not meant to be eaten,"
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Date: 10 July 1894 (Evening)
Location : Train station, Middle Eastern region
"Wait up Kanda!"
Allen was, unfortunately, sent on a mission with the best person that he could ever be sent to a mission with. That person was Yuu Kanda – rude, foul mouthed, bad tempered. His reputation was so bad that it would be the death of at least three quarters of dark order, to attempt to place him in an amiable light. The current scenario was a clear illustration. Apparently, the moment that the two exorcists got off the train, Kanda rushed off in search of the suspected innocence, leaving Allen, who didn't have as long legs as Kanda, play a catch up game. It would have been more considerate if Kanda waited for Allen and left with him together, but if he ever waited for anyone, he wouldn't be called Kanda.
Innocence was suspected to be present in a village some distance from the train station that they alighted from. The other details were, as usual, rather vague and Komui's side notes, such as how Lenalee was in that area before, were written in such huge and illegible handwriting that it covered some of the important details of the mission. The only important thing that Allen and Kanda gathered from them and a finder (who would cease to be important in this story after this) was that, people were reported to be missing after a beloved tribe leader died.
Both exorcists decided - to be more exact, Kanda decided and Allen had decided to follow because he was too hungry to argue with Kanda, to lounge at one of the villager's houses for the night.
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Date: 10 July 1894 (Night)
Location: Villager's House – Dining Area
"Is it true that people are missing from your village?" Allen asked their host, a middle aged woman, modestly dressed, motherly and who was kind enough to let the two exorcists stay for free for a few nights. He had hoped to get more information about the missing persons from this lady as well.
"Oh, so you have heard too," she replied, "Gosh, those teenagers, at the prime of their lives and then, poof they go. Just like that!"
"Only teenagers?" Allen asked, hoping to seek out more.
"Ya. Could we not talk about that? This whole talk about people dying is making my upset. I've got some dates here from the tree we planted. Do you want it for desert?" The woman offered a plate of red dates to Allen and Kanda while diverting the Allen's inquiry. Kanda, who had been sitting silently during the whole conversation, observing his surroundings with his usual scowl and hands firmly gripping Mugen at all times, stood up as she tried to offer him the dates.
"I'm going to bed,"
"Just try some!" She tried pushing the plate of dates in front of Kanda.
"Che, sweet things are disgusting," It was the only reply Kanda made as he left, not even looking at the dates. She looked disappointed at Kanda's rejection. Allen, noticing that she wasn't too pleased with Kanda's attitude, placed a hand on her.
"He is like that all the time, don't mind him. I will eat your dates. I love dates!" Allen then stuffed the dates into his mouth, commenting, "they are so sweet!"
"Eat more!" She said, smiling, as she returned to the kitchen to get more of the dates.
Her smile changed from a genial one into a sly one.
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Location: Guest Bedroom of villager's house
Dark Order's residential devil, on the other hand, retreated to his room to rest. As his mind slowly drifted into a light sleep, a thought kept nagging him.
I've got some dates from the tree we planted here.
Kanda didn't remember seeing any date palm trees around this village at all. The more he thought about it, the more suspicious he felt. But then again, there was always Allen's detecting left eye. If their host was an akuma, he would have detected it already. Kanda tried to tell himself that it was an occupational hazard, he was just being too paranoid since unlike the bean, he could not detect akuma until they appear in front of him. But still, why did the woman lie? Kanda's instincts were telling him that something was dead wrong. He pondered somemore about the dates and his glutton of a partner who would probably finish everything that was sweet within seconds. The more Kanda tried to piece two and two together, he began to feel even more uneasy. What if the dates were poisonous?
Damn Moyashi. Kanda thought as he grabbed Mugen and went to check on Allen who had yet to return to their room to rest. You are just too troublesome.
Kanda opened the door to see the white haired walking unsteadily towards the room.
"Oy!" Kanda called, shaking Allen when the latter approached.
"Ah?" Allen said giddily, "Why is everything spinning?"
Fuck.
The dates were really poisonous. And only the naïve, stupid, ignorant moyashi would eat so much of it! Kanda thought to himself as Allen collapsed onto Kanda, foam forming at the corner of his mouth.
Left hand holding the unconscious Allen, Kanda unsheathed Mugen.
She's going to pay.
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Date: 11 July 1894 (Afternoon)
Location: Dark Order Infirmary.
Allen woke up to white walls and ceilings. Am I dead?
"ALLEN!"
Oh, he was definitely alive.
"Hi Lavi," Allen said as he turned to face the his visitors - Lavi and Lenalee, "So I am in the infirmary. How's Kanda?"
"Yu-chan is fine! Apparently he was pretty heroic, he took the fainted you with his left hand, took out Mugen and stabbed through the broker who came to the room. He finished her in one stroke. Straight to the heart, amazing Yu Chan. With one hand!" Lavi began to blabber enthusiastically, complete with hand gestures and facial emotions, "And then there were like a couple of akumas that appeared at that time, level 1s and 2s, and swish went Mugen and then they were all killed and then he carried you all the way back from the mission to deposit you here. Ain't he sweet! Yu-chan has a heart afterall! "
"Em Lavi," Lenalee said, "You sounded like a fangirl. And Allen, how are you feeling?"
"Pretty fine I guess. Slow down Lavi, tell me what's going on,"
"Aye aye. You /had/ poisoned/ dates/ served/ by /the/ woman/ who/ was/ a/ broker/," Lavi said, atrociously slowly, and pronouncing each word fully.
"Lavi!" Lenalee glared, "Be nice,"
"Okay okay. So it turned out that you had poisoned dates from a broker. By the time you returned to the room you lost consciousness. Apparently in Kanda's arms! " Lavi gushed at the last bit.
"Poisoned dates? But they were so delicious! I can still imagine the sweetness going down my throat! Middle Eastern dates are really the best! And yes yes, I get it now. But Lavi," A thought came to Allen's mind, "How did you know the details of my mission so well?"
"Well, Kanda told Komui and Komui told Reever and Reever told Bookman and Bookman told me!" Lavi beamed proudly at his information gathering abilities and possibly how he managed to lighten up Bookman's version of events with his use of adjectives, tone and hand gestures.
"And the means everyone in Dark Order knows now," Allen muttered softly.
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Date: 12 July 1894
Location: Dark Order Cafeteria
Allen was discharged that morning and he decided to proceed to his favourite place in the whole cafeteria to fill his stomach to see Kanda sitting in his usual "emo-corner" eating his usual soba. Honestly, Allen was pretty much filled with gratitude for the Japanese after the mission. But there was this lingering part of him that refused to say thank you or show any outward expressions of gratitude to the meanest exorcist around. Allen reasoned that Kanda did not deserve a thank you. So Allen decided to taunt him instead. It would taste much better than fifty sticks of dango.
"So what happened to your warning about leaving comrades behind Bakanda?" Allen started, "Softening?"
"Weakling moyashi," Kanda stood up, "You NEEDED to be saved,"
"I AM NOT WEAK AND I AM NOT MOYASHI!"
"In your dreams, MO-YA-SHI,"
"BAKANDA!"
Lavi, as if on cue, appeared at the cafeteria while the two were having a glaring contest (yet again) and tried to break the fight which by then had gathered the notice of the whole cafeteria filled with exorcists, scientists and finders. Allen sure had a strange way of saying thank you, Lavi thought.
Kanda and Allen both went on their separate ways back to their rooms, fuming by the insults of each other. Allen absentmindedly put his hand into one of his pockets only to find something there which he was not supposed to be there. He pulled out the mysterious thing from his pocket.
A small container filled with dates from the Middle East.
When did that get in?
There was a note attached,
For the Moyashi who died eating too many dates.
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Date: 3 June 1895 (Afternoon)
Location: One of the corridors at Dark Order
"Oy Moyashi,"
"My name's..."But he was cut short by a bottle being tossed at him.
Dates.
"How.. how did you?"
"Lavi was whining day in and day out about him eating your dates and how upset you looked. I thought that would shut him up once and for all,"
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Author's Note
Sorry a bit late. Coz this one is relatively longer and I had to do some editions. Heh. Dates aren't exactly my favourite food though. And just do a goggle/wiki and you can find out more about the dates that made this story :D. I added the dates of the event for the sake of having fun with the word Date. I hope it's not too distracting. I hope it's not too sappy for your liking as well! Oh, and just in case you were wondering, I thought making Lavi describe how Kanda heroically protected Allen would be funner than just describing it in normal narrative :D Thanks for all the previous reviews though, keep them coming, they make me more encouraged to write!
REVIEW THIS TIME TOO!