WARNING! This story contains SPOILERS and YAOI! Also a few minor OCs, so don't kill me.
Ribbonseal: Allen should! They're both dragging their feet if you ask me.
avatar-chik: Oh good. I'm always worried about having Kanda fall too far OOC.
This chapter comes in two parts! So enjoy the first part. I'll be posting the second one very shortly. Also, you'll be introduced to the second OC in this chapter.
Rated: T [for violence and language] Bold: Used only in dreams or flashbacks to indicate the main character's lines. Italics: Used to indicate dreams, flashbacks, and thoughts.
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Chapter Nine: A Crack In The Wall - Part One
Kanda's a lot quieter than usual today...
Allen mused, glancing over at the samurai walking on the other side of Lenalee. He bore his typical posture: spine aligned perfectly and chiseled shoulders squared, looking straight ahead with hardly a glance to each side. His face seemed unable to express any emotion at all besides annoyance, anger and boredom. At the moment, it was set between boredom and annoyance with a soft furrow of his brow.
"Remind me why it's necessary for you two to tail us?"
The taller exorcist broke the awkward silence with a deep growl directed towards the two mute adults behind them.
"Kanda-san, we are required-"
"Shut up, idiot. It was a rhetorical question."
Kanda cut off Link with a scathing glare over his shoulder and a charismatic grunt that indicated his annoyed level had increased. Link knew all of the signals by now and wisely went silent once again. The exorcist whipped his head to face forward once more and hissed between his teeth.
"Che."
Lenalee said nothing, but cast Allen a warning with her eyes. Allen, however, missed the look entirely.
"Geez, Kanda. Did you wake up with your ass in a hornet's nest today?"
Allen could have predicted the Japanese's response. Kanda's face swiftly evolved into his angered expression and his right hand strayed to his prized anti-akuma weapon, resting dangerously on the hilt. A slender eyebrow twitched once, and his brilliant blue eyes were sparking as they found Allen's own.
"You wanna shut your face, beansprout? Or shall I shut it for you?"
"Like you'd be able to. You're such a slowpoke, I bet you couldn't even touch a hair on my head. And I don't need to repeat myself. My name is Allen!"
"Stuff the bullshit. I'd cut off every last strand of old man's hair on your head before you could so much as blink!"
"I'm not an old man! Wanna put your money where your mouth is, BaKanda?!"
"Guys! Grow up, will you? People are starting to stare!"
Lenalee cut in, effectively putting an end to the argument before weapons could be drawn. With a glance around, Allen noticed they were indeed getting odd looks from the passersby. Kanda uttered a quiet string of expletives under his breath and loosened his grip on Mugen's hilt. Another angry "che" punctuated the end of his say on the matter.
Allen shoved gloved hands into his pockets and mentally sighed as a jagged pain flickered through his cranium. Ever since the night before, he'd been having headaches off and on. It wasn't abnormal, but today for some reason they'd become increasingly stronger and more frequent.
Not to mention I had that dream again last night...or that the Fourteenth greeted me this morning in the mirror...
Also, this morning his left arm had begun to ache. The young exorcist was getting worried, but he hid it from the others. Fei and Link wouldn't help at all, and Lenalee would over-react. Kanda...
He claims to know when I hide my pain. But if he does, he never brings it up. Not that he would but...
The incident in the cafeteria not too long ago stuck in Allen's mind. Kanda had surprised him by confronting him about holding up a fake smile. Allen had been so sure that no one noticed. The samurai had both shattered his security blanket and given him a ray of hope in those few seconds. And then after that, he'd discovered Kanda's own secret. Vivid pictures of Kanda, face wrenched in pain, came flying back to Allen in horrifying detail.
His body suspended in air, sweat coating the bared skin as he was broken, innocence flowing out of him with crushing force, artificially nearing the complete synchronization rate. His raven hair plastered to his face and back. His tattoo sprawled all across his shoulder and up his neck, partially down his back. The involuntary cries of agony ripping through the exorcist's heaving chest and echoing off the walls as everyone just watched dumbly. When he thought he could bear the sight no longer, Kanda's head rolled to the side towards him. Clouded sapphire irises met his own. It was clear as crystal. He could almost see the spiderweb of cracks in Kanda's spiritual walls and a chunk fell away slowly, leaving a large hole. At that instant of connection, Allen saw a glimpse of what lie behind Kanda's barrier.
Sadness.
Resignation.
Pain.
Suffering.
But what struck him like a knife through the heart was the sound of complete desperation and hopelessness that tore Kanda's sore throat open when he rasped that one beloved word.
"M-Moy...ashi...?"
The white-haired exorcist felt another wave of pain and was forced to raise a hand to his forehead. Before anyone could notice, a gear emerged and spun quickly, fastening itself to Allen's left eye. When it clicked into place, an image flashed in front of the screen. Allen halted.
"An akuma."
His announcement made the others stop too, and Lenalee nervously looked around.
"Where?"
Kanda's hand was already tightening around Mugen's smooth wood handle.
::
"It's walking towards us."
Walking? That's odd. Unless it hasn't revealed itself yet.
Kanda ignored the local Italians who were staring at the exorcists in red like they were the plague. He carefully scanned the crowd, feeling his heart rate speed up. He wasn't afraid of facing one mere akuma. It was the constant guessing that unnerved him. You could never know for sure who it was going to be. Was it that tall man in blue? That older lady in red and white? Or maybe even the little girl in yellow who was skipping his w-
Skipping my way?
The samurai clenched the hilt of his sword, narrowing his eyes at the girl. He silently cursed Allen for being able to tell who it was. What he wouldn't give for that ability.
The girl saw him.
His eyes widened and she stopped skipping, staring him in the face. A lower lip trembled and she wailed something in Italian before running away. Kanda sighed. So it wasn't the girl. He pushed aside the fact that he'd scared her away with a look.
"Kanda, the akuma is-"
"Oh! Who might you be?"
A cheery feminine voice interrupted Allen and something jabbed into Kanda's spine between the shoulder blades. The exorcist whirled around, drawing Mugen in a fluid movement and aimed a horizontal slash to slice apart whatever was behind him. Metal clashed into metal.
It took a few seconds for Kanda to realize who was standing there, giggling and easily parrying his blow with the rod of her green umbrella. A young lady, who appeared to be around his age, was standing with one hand on her hip. Her hair, which reached her mid-back in soft waves, was a deep chestnut brown and her eyes sparkled turquoise. A pair of silver-rimmed glasses perched daintily on the bridge of her nose. She was dressed in a soft pink blouse without sleeves that stopped just above her belly button and a white ruffled skirt that hung low on her hips and reached mid-thigh. Her yellow heeled shoe clicked on the cobblestone road as she tapped her foot.
"My, my. Did I startle you or are you usually this aggressive?"
The girl laughed in a musical tone, speaking to him in clear Japanese with a soft Italian accent.
"Who the hell are you?"
The exorcist wasn't phased and harshly untangled Mugen and her umbrella with a sharp hiss of metal scraping metal. The girl laughed again and Lenalee answered for her.
"...Chomesuke? Is that you?"
The girl spun on her heel in a full circle, switching to English.
"Nope! I'm Chomesuke the second! I go by Kyosuke, so I don't get confused with my former self. You can call me Kyo-chan!"
Kanda glanced at Lenalee, eyes demanding information.
"Ah...Chomesuke was a modified akuma we met in Edo. She helped us fight the Earl and sacrificed herself..."
Lenalee sighed.
"It was before you came. Allen's master modified her, and Kyo-chan too I'm assuming, right Allen-kun?"
Allen was staring at Kyosuke, the look on his face suggesting he was remembering some sort of Cross-related nightmare from his past. He responded by nodding dumbly. Kyosuke giggled and waved at him, then turned back to Kanda, who had lowered his weapon and was sheathing it slowly.
"She's on our side, then?"
He asked suspiciously, narrowing eyes at her. Kyosuke smiled brightly and in a flash she was at Kanda's side, poking his arm with the tip of her umbrella.
So that's what jabbed me in the back...
"Of course I am, silly! I'd recognize members of the Black Order immediately! You exorcists wear those stunning red and black uniforms~"
Kyosuke fawned, eyes sparkling. Kanda's eye twitched when the akuma suddenly grabbed his arm.
"You never answered me! I asked who you were!"
Her lip was threatening to extend into a puppy-dog pout. Kanda quickly freed his arm from her grasp, annoyed.
"Che...Kanda."
Kyosuke brightened up and took his arm again happily.
"Kanda-kun! Such a handsome name~"
The raven-haired boy looked ready to maul her. Lenalee noticed Kanda's expression and jumped in, taking Kyosuke's arm and pulling her away from him.
"I'm Lenalee! And this is Allen-kun."
She quickly introduced them.
"And that's Link-san, and he's Fei-san."
Kanda blinked.
Oh yeah. Almost forgot they were there.
The two inspectors merely nodded at Kyosuke, then returned to scrawling in their notebooks. The girl shook hands with Allen as she was introduced and smiled at Lenalee. The Chinese exorcist returned her smile brightly and laughed.
That's good. Lenalee needed a girl to talk to on this mission.
Kanda watched them for a moment before striding over, crossing his arms.
"Well, Kyosuke. What business do you have with us?"
The modified akuma turned, pushing up her glasses in a very businesslike manner.
"I don't. But when I saw people from the Black Order I had to say hi! I rarely see anyone from the Order. I'm so glad I ran into such good-looking exorcists!"
She grinned, clearly looking at Kanda as she spoke the last few words, emphasizing "good-looking". The samurai held back an annoyed sigh. Kyosuke continued, face suddenly growing serious.
"Actually, I'm glad I found you when I did. We've been having akuma sightings right and left and I sensed some of the Noah clan in the area as well."
Her turquoise irises shifted over to rest on Allen for a moment. Kanda could swear he saw the white-haired exorcist wince and narrowed his eyes, studying him.
"We're actually on a mission to check that out. Have you found any clues towards possible innocence fragments?"
Lenalee questioned, looking for all the world like Sherlock Holmes. Kyosuke was happy to oblige.
"Yes, actually. There's an old abandoned apartment building across the street and down the block from my house. It only became abandoned just recently. People have tried to enter, but can't seem to get in. There's some sort of barrier. And the majority of akuma sightings have all been around that area."
"Sounds like innocence to me."
"Yea. Hey! I have an idea!"
Kyosuke linked arms with Lenalee.
"Why don't we check it out, tomorrow? You guys can stay at my place so we'll be closer. And I'll cook dinner!"
Lenalee smiled at the idea. Allen nodded, but he seemed out of it. As usual, Link and Fei said nothing.
They don't give a shit about it anyway.
"It's settled then!"
Kyosuke announced happily, not waiting for Kanda to answer. She and Lenalee walked ahead, chatting like old friends, as she led the group towards the eastern side of the city. For once, Link and Fei followed after them, not taking up the rear as usual. Allen plodded after the inspectors. Kanda frowned.
Something's off.
The samurai fell into step beside the boy, whose gear eye had returned to normal. After a moment of silence, he spoke.
"You look like the walking dead, Moyashi."
Allen gave his conditioned response.
"It's Allen, BaKanda..."
"Doesn't change the fact that you look like shit."
Kanda took the insulting nickname in stride for once. Allen was pissing him off. He continued to hide how he felt and act as if nothing was wrong, when clearly there was.
"Geez, thanks for the compliment."
This isn't right...
...Why do I care?
"...Che."
Kanda put his hands in his pockets. If Allen refused to tell, then let him suffer by himself.
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And so you meet Kyosuke! I loved Chomesuke in the manga and when she died I was upset D: So I had to do a spin off of her character, though poor Kanda will have to deal with a fangirl...hehe. Next chapter...A Crack In The Wall - Part Two.