Author's Notes:
Despite being very busy I decided to upload this chapter today. I'm sorry that the wait between chapters is getting longer, but I've got a bunch of assignments and papers to write as well as presentations to prepare. It's hectic right now, but thanks to my procrastinator-nature you'll still get an update. X3
Not much to say for this chapter. I hope you can enjoy it!
Disclaimer: D.Gray-Man belongs to Katsura Hoshino
Kapitel 12: Travel Companions
When the two Exorcists and their accompanying Finder got out of the train it was already pitch black. The train station was nearly empty, even though it was not that late at night, and Ellen didn't complain that they didn't stay to explore a bit. The town was silent, with lights shining out of windows. It was quiet enough to hear the sea, so Ellen listened as they walked to the harbour. Ellen could taste the salt on her lips and the wind tugged at her uniform.
"Are you cold?", she heard Kanda ask, as she stopped to pull on her gloves. He didn't sound worried, but that he still stopped to wait impressed Ellen.
"Just a bit, the coat keeps the wind out", she answered and caught up to the other two. "It surely is nice here. The sound of the wind and sea…", she remarked with a smile.
"Get a grip, idiot…", Kanda complained and they reached the dock, where a steamboat anchored. They passed the other people while walking up to the ship and everyone let them through as soon as they saw their coats. "Exorcists normally depart from this harbour".
"That is why nobody wants to see any tickets…", Ellen mused and was delighted to see that the captain personally came to greet them. Being an exorcist surely was nice.
"We arranged accommodations for you, sirs", he said and lead them down into a nicely furnished corridor.
"We have a lady travelling with us" Kanda announced as the captain led the three of them to the first room. The captain stared at him and then at Ellen.
"Oh, excuse me! What to do?! I only have this first class cabin left!", Ellen frowned and Toma turned to her.
"We finders like to stay with the other folk, listening to them talking about diverse matters. It is always a good opportunity to gain information about strange phenomena", he explained and Ellen nodded with an unconvinced frown.
"Then I will join the Finder", Kanda told him and handed the key to Ellen.
"Kanda, you do not have to…", she started, but he merely raised an eyebrow at her. She blushed and rocked up and down on her feet embarrassedly. "It would not be polite to deny you access to the room… We are on this ship for about a day, are we not?".
"I am truly sorry. Maybe I can arrange something with the other passengers", the captain spoke up.
"It will be okay, thank you Captain", Ellen answered and looked at Kanda. "I truly do not mind"
"But, dear lady, there is only one bed available", the captain said, scratching his head.
"The order tries to save money", Kanda explained, as Ellen just shot him a slightly shocked look, "it happens that we only get one bed. Komui must not have arranged stuff properly or this wouldn't have happened…".
"I still do not mind. You are a gentleman, I know", Ellen said, twirling her fingers, "and besides… I would be scared alone…", she whispered, blushing slightly. Kanda looked at her intently, then he groaned and dismissed the captain.
"I'll get Komui for that one", he told no one in particular as Ellen opened the door. The room was not that big, but nicely furnished. It had two small windows, a wardrobe, a table and armchairs and the single bed. It was big enough for both of them, so Ellen did not worry much.
"In winter, when it was cold, I often shared a bed with someone. It is an efficient way to keep warm", Ellen told Kanda and put her suitcase next to the wardrobe.
"Whatever…", the young man snorted and waited by the door.
"I will change now. It will only take me a minute or so", she told him and he nodded before he left the room. Ellen hanged her coat over the armchair, undressed and took a nightgown out of her suitcase. She put it on and braided her hair, so it wouldn't require much combing the next morning. "I am dressed", she called and Kanda came back in. He looked at her; her wide gown hid her body which he was thankful for. Ellen sat down on the bed, sinking into the mattress. She switched on the light on the nightstand and Kanda just looked at her. Should he get undressed here? In front of her? He normally didn't worry about such things, but he usually wasn't required to share a room with a girl. On the occasional mission with Linali, Komui had made sure that no man got near her. He pulled off the coat and hung it over the free armchair.
"Do you want me to leave the room?", Ellen asked and looked at him. Kanda frowned.
"I don't care", he told her, but was feeling a little uneasy when she stayed on her bed, watching him. He tried to ignore it and pulled off his shirt to exchange it with another one. He got out off his shoes and socks, then he threw a glance at the girl, who had now thankfully turned her head to look out of the window. Kanda pulled off his trousers and put on a pair of black pyjama pants. He switched off the main light and went to the bed, taking the hair tie off. Ellen slipped off the bed and lifted the covers so she could get under them. Kanda did the same, but still sat upright, while the girl was getting comfortable.
"Thanks for staying with me…", she told him and looked at him, blanked drawn up to her nose.
"Just don't take it for granted", he replied and lay down next to her.
"I am a little bit excited to have a boy lying next to me. It nearly feels improper without us being a married couple", she said, giggling slightly. Kanda groaned.
"You're incredibly silly…", he complained, then looked at her, "why are you so excited about this? It's not as if we were doing anything. We just sleep here"
"Yes, and that is why I can be excited. These are all new experiences. I am happy my mother does not know though…", she mumbled, frowning.
"Idiot. Turn off the light", he told her and she obeyed. The only light came from the small windows and Ellen squirmed a bit, then she moved closer to Kanda.
"Good Night, Kanda", she said, then closed her eyes.
"Good Night"
-o-o-o-
When Kanda woke the next morning it took him a moment to realize what the white mess of hair in front of his eyes could have been. He had tensed up as soon as he realized that the girl was very close to him, but relaxed shortly after that, putting his head back down on the cushion. Ellen was still sleeping soundly, her white hair falling into her face, her body was curled up slightly and turned to him. Kanda, despite what people might believe, didn't mind waking up next to other people. Not that he enjoyed it, he just… didn't mind. There was something comforting to have a human being sleep next to you. In war, such little things were quite meaningful. Rabi had the annoying habit to invade on Kanda's personal space all too often, but if they had to sleep together in a bed or even on the floor it was always Kanda who woke up close to Rabi because he himself had moved closer to the red-head during sleep. Lucky for him, he could always blame Rabi for it. But it was a quirk of him he just couldn't get rid of, and it wasn't just Rabi, he did it with every person he had to share a sleeping place. It was quite embarrassing, but nobody had dared to speak up about it before.
But right now Kanda didn't mind. Ellen's body radiated a comforting warmth and she smelt nice. It was quiet and the ship was rocking slightly on the waves and the young man was nearly tempted to go back to sleep himself. He was still looking at Ellen when she began to stir and her eyelids opened slowly to reveal her grey-blue eyes. She blinked a few times lazily, then she smiled at him.
"Good morning, Kanda. Did you sleep well?"
"Sort of", he answered and sat up in bed as Ellen tried to hide a yawn. "We should reach the mainland in about half a day". He got out of bed and dressed, while Ellen still tried not to fall asleep again.
"This really is a nice trip…", he heard her say and saw that she had sat up and was now undoing her hair. She looked like an ordinary young girl the way she was sitting in bed, humming a song as her thin fingers combed her hair. Even the white hair, the red hand and the scar couldn't change that. Kanda reminded himself that they were Exorcists and on the way to a Mission, which he also told her. "Yes, I know".
"We could also encounter Akuma on our way to missions, they could attack right now", he told her, but Ellen just laughed and slipped out of bed.
"Then I would have to fight in a nightgown"
"Surely a sight to behold, idiot", Kanda replied with a smirk. Ellen pouted, but opened the first buttons of her nightgown. "Hey, wait until I'm out of the room!", Kanda complained and slipped into his boots.
"You are the one that is slow", Ellen teased and smiled at him, while she unbuttoned the rest of them. Kanda caught a glimpse of her white chest, then he thought it best to leave the room. He leaned against the wall and starred ahead, as if the opposite wall had insulted him. He accepted and tolerated the girl, he even promised to protect her, like he would protect any girl (finders and civilians included), but that she was really behaving like an ordinary girl (and not an exorcist who just happened to be female) and not think about it much, annoyed him. Or maybe it just made him nervous. He never had to worry about Linali much, because first she was just a little girl which he took care of if necessary and then she got older and strong enough to be considered a soldier like he was. She didn't do silly things like giggling all the time, or enjoying the scenery of a mission's site. Nor did she do embarrassing things like getting undressed in front of fellow exorcists. Ellen either was being too naïve for her own good or rather temptingly sly. Neither option sounded nice, so he just settled upon going for the thing which needed least pondering; he stared at the wall.
"I am done", Ellen called and opened the door, "why are you looking at me with that sour expression?", she wanted to know when he turned to her, backing off slightly. He snorted and turned his head away. "Are you sea sick?"
"Of course not, you idiot!", Kanda spat and hit her shoulder.
"Well, it could have been…", Ellen mumbled, then her face lit up, "let us go on deck!", she exclaimed and went back into their cabin to get her exorcist's coat.
"Why?", Kanda complained, but was dragged along the corridor by the girl.
"To see the sea of course!", Ellen exclaimed and they climbed up the stairs.
"There's nothing to see except for water", Kanda told her, but she just continued and they eventually reached the deck. Ellen let go of Kanda and ran to the railing to look at the blue ocean shining and reflecting the sunlight and the white clouds.
"Spectacular! I love to be on ships! This is great!", Ellen called to him and Kanda slowly made his way to her side. "Do you not agree?"
"Hm. I don't care how it looks like if it gets us back to land swiftly", he answered and Ellen laughed.
"I take it then you do not like to be on the sea?", she wanted to know and Kanda frowned.
"Not particularly", came his honest answer. Ellen smiled at him and took his arm.
"Then let us turn away from the sight and get some breakfast", she suggested and they went back inside to get something to eat.
-o-o-o-
Kanda watched the girl eating with a frown on his face. She had ordered a small portion and held her fork delicately, as if it could break anytime.
"Oi. What's with this silly behaviour?", Kanda hissed and she lifted her head.
"We are on a ship. I cannot order a mountain of food or make a fool out of myself for behaving like a brute", she answered indignantly. "I am nobility after all".
"Who cares if you are! We are exorcists and you don't have to do such petty things like maintaining your reputation", he told her.
"That is not a silly thing, Kanda", Ellen replied and looked up at him, "I will eat when less people from the high society are here", she told him, then she leaned a bit forward. "My family is well known all over England". Kanda raised his eyebrows, but Ellen didn't want to dwell on this subject any longer.
"Fine, suit yourself. But if you faint I'm not going to care", he told her and she nodded with a smile.
It was already early evening when Ellen returned to their cabin. Kanda had agreed to her taking a look around the ship on her own and had went back right after lunch.
"Hello Kanda! I heard we will arrive at the port in one hour!", she exclaimed after she had closed the door behind her. Kanda was lying on the bed, arms crossed behind his head and didn't say anything. "Did you hear me?"
"I can't possibly ignore your loud voice", he answered and she flushed.
"You are being mean", she told him and he rolled his eyes.
"You should know that's how I am. No point in crying about it", he said uninterestedly. Ellen pouted and took off her cloak which she hung over her armchair.
"What have you been doing all day?", Ellen asked and sat into the armchair.
"Meditating", he answered and closed his eyes lazily.
"You mean sleeping?", Ellen giggled and Kanda shot up. She lifted her hands defensively, "Oh please. I was just joking, there is no need to get so agitated over something like this". Kanda groaned and let himself fall back into the mattress.
"Will we board a train as soon as we leave the ship?", Ellen wanted to know, playing with Timcampy, who she had shut into the room, so he wouldn't get lost again.
"Yes. There's no direct line, so we will have to change trains various times, but – as long as Komui hasn't messed up – we should never have to wait in town for another train to arrive. But we have to take occasional detours because there's no railway. That's why it'll take us over a week to get there"
"Well, I am just happy that we do not have to walk all the time", Ellen said and stretched, "when I was travelling with Mana we mostly did not have enough money for trains or carriages".
"Didn't you say you were nobility?", Kanda asked, sitting up. Ellen nodded.
"We are, but my uncle gave it up so he could travel. He didn't like to rely on other people and that's why he never accepted money from my mother. He treasured freedom very much. But it was funny to travel with him". Kanda was silent for a very long time, then he got up from the bed.
"You're from London?", he asked her and sat in the other armchair. Ellen looked up at him surprised. "And you live with your mother?"
"Yes, but why do you ask?", she wanted to know with a smile on her face.
"I'm just trying to lead a polite conversation, idiot", he told her, resting his chin on the palm of his hand, looking sour.
"I appreciate it. Do you want me to tell you about my home?"
"Whatever", he answered and Ellen's smile widened.
"I live in a row of similar houses. Actually, from the outside, they all look the same and you could not tell one from the other. It is quite spacious and we have a nice little garden. I am an only-child and have most of the rooms for myself. We have five servants and a cook, my mother often invites friends of the family over and they would spend hours in the salon just talking. I admit, I was often bored", she laughed a bit, "In summer we would go to our manor on the countryside or visit friends all over England. My uncle, Mana Walker, often came to pick me up, so we could spend a little time together. And I also travelled a lot with my aunt and mother". She smiled and looked up at Kanda. "I do not think you want to tell me about your family?"
"I'd rather not…", Kanda replied and Ellen sighed with an understanding smile.
"You probably have seen bad things in your life, Kanda… And I never would pry into matters you are not comfortable with. But if you ever want to tell, you can come to me. I will listen", she told him, patting his hand. Kanda frowned but nodded, then there was a knock on their door.
"It is me, Toma. We will reach mainland in half an hour. It is already within sight", the finder announced.
"Thank you Toma! Come Kanda!", the girl said and pulled him up on his feet, hurried to put her jacket on and rushed out of the room to catch a glimpse of the shore as fast as possible.
"She is quite wild sometimes, it seems", Toma remarked, as Kanda also left the cabin with their suitcases.
"Che. She's too rash. It'll kill her if she doesn't pay attention", he complained, but Toma just chuckled. Ellen was standing at the railing, looking ahead of the ship.
"Only some more minutes then we will be there!", she exclaimed, when Kanda joined her and he groaned. She behaved like a small child at times, she really must have been spoilt senseless. But she could also be quite sensible, so Kanda refrained from teasing her.
-o-o-o-
When the ship had safely reached the mainland Ellen took her suitcase back from Kanda and they left the ship.
"We have no time to dawdle, the train leaves in 5 minutes", Kanda announced and started running. The townsfolk looked at them curiously, but most of them were used to the Exorcists by now. Ellen followed until they got on a bridge.
"There it is", Kanda announced and jumped on to the stone railing, Toma following suit. "We jump, hurry up beansprout". Ellen widened her eyes, but hesitantly climbed onto the railing. Kanda took hold of her hand and before Ellen could protest he jumped, dragging her with him. They all landed, not very gracefully, on the train's roof. Kanda opened the emergency exit and they climbed inside.
"That is insane…", the British girl whispered. She was the last to climb into the train and could see a man rushing to them.
"We are from the Dark Order. We have reservation", Toma exclaimed and the man froze. He nodded stiffly and bid them to follow him. The compartment was as luxurious as the last one and quite comfortable.
"Are you sure you do not want to come inside?", Ellen asked the finder.
"Absolutely, I have another compartment to sleep in. Until then I will be either here or keep my ears open for possible rumours", he answered and excused himself.
"Finders do have a hard job", Ellen mused and closed the door.
"That's the way it is", was the only thing Kanda said on the subject, "we will also sleep in here. We will stay on this train for two days". Ellen nodded and pulled off her coat.
"Do you want to play cards?", she asked him and he raised an eyebrow, "to pass the time!", she explained. He snorted, but nodded curtly. "How about Joker?"
"Joker?", Kanda repeated, "I have never heard of this. I only know Poker".
"Do you want me to teach you?", she asked and began shuffling the cards. Kanda observed her doing it with great skill and frowned once again.
"I don't care…", he replied and she shuffled even more, "do they teach aristocratic children how to play card games?". Ellen laughed and shook her head.
"Oh my, of course not. My mother would not have approved of it, but Mana taught me", she explained and started to deal 13 cards to each of them. "It is an easy game. We both have 13 cards. Each turn you pick a card from the stack here", Ellen put the remaining cards on the small table under the window, "you need to form either a sequence of cards, for example ace, two, three, four and so on. They all have to be of the same symbol. Or you have a group of matching cards of different symbols, like the ace of spades, hearts and so on. You need to have at least three cards and they should add up to the sum of 30. If you do, you can lay them down. To end your turn you have to throw a card away".
"Sounds easy", Kanda snorted and started to put his cards into order, "Ladies first". Ellen grinned up at him, a grin which somehow seemed strangely dark, and took the first card. She soon smiled at him and put a card down.
"You can also take the card I have thrown away. And a joker can count for any card you might miss".
"… Right", Kanda was still thinking about the strange grin, but then he took up a card and threw another one away. Ellen still smiled at him and took another card. Silently she arranged them, then put twelve cards down in little portions and the thirteenth one was thrown on the little pile of discarded cards.
"I win", she announced, which had Kanda stare at her.
"What?"
"I win"
"I heard that, Idiot!", Kanda spat, "again!". Ellen smiled and shuffled the cards again and they repeated the same thing; Ellen won in two turns. "What the – are you cheating?! Hand me the cards!", Kanda shouted and Ellen complied with a curious smile. He shuffled, dealt and they repeated the same thing again. Ellen smiled sweetly as Kanda threw the cards at his lap furiously. "Okay. You won". Ellen collected the cards and put them on the table. She still smiled and lifted her hands to her face, apparently to hide it, but as she drew her hands away again, she had a card – the joker- between her pink lips. Kanda just lifted his eyebrows quizzically and Ellen took the card in her hands.
"Of course I cheated!", she told him and laughed, "And I am quite good at it, I wonder how you did not realize!"
"I thought that you did but I couldn't prove it", Kanda muttered, still frowning, "why the hell are you able to cheat? Another thing your uncle taught you?". Ellen grinned and nodded. "Must have been an eager teacher that fellow. Corrupting his niece". Ellen laughed and shook her head.
"Care to play again?", she asked and he just eyed her suspiciously, "no cheating. I promise", she told him and pulled another joker out of her sleeve. Kanda groaned, but nodded and they spent the rest of the evening playing cards.
-o-o-o-
When Ellen started to doze off Kanda decided now was as good as anytime to go to bed. He took the blankets and cushions from the shelves over their seats.
"I'll go out now, dress yourself", he told her and dropped the blanket on her. Ellen pushed it away and watched him leave the compartment. She yawned but took her suitcase from underneath her seat and got dressed in her nightgown. Kanda came in again after she opened the door. He already wore his pyjama pants and the white shirt, he probably changed on the toilet Ellen mused. The girl made her bed clumsily, because she wasn't used to doing this sort of thing herself, but in the end she prevailed and laid down.
"Hm. I prefer the ship's bed", she told Kanda as he also lay down, switching off the light.
"Don't be picky, idiot. That's how we travel", came his snorted reply, "just another day and we leave this train for another one".
"If you spend so much time with other people during these travels, how does it come that you are not friends with all of the exorcists?", Ellen wanted to know, lying onto her side, so she could make out Kanda in the dim light.
"Because I have no desire to chat with them and spend as little time in their company as possible", he answered, "most people get rather early that I don't want to chat with them".
"But you are quite agreeable… I am sure that some try to befriend you", Ellen spoke and frowned. She heard Kanda groan.
"I am not 'agreeable', I'm just trying to be polite because you're a girl! But if you start annoying me, I'll cut off your hair with my Mugen". Ellen huffed and reached for her hair.
"My hair has already taken great damage!", she exclaimed with a pout, "because Cross had me cut it off!"
"Stop whining idiot, I'm trying to sleep", Kanda groaned and Ellen heard the rustling of the blankets.
"Please do excuse. Good Night Kanda", the girl told him and turned to face away from Kanda. Kanda had a hard time figuring out if she might be offended, but he heard her soft deep breathing shortly afterward and knew she must have fallen asleep.
"Idiot…", he said into the silence and he too shut his eyes to get some sleep.
-o-o-o-
Ellen woke to the soft tap on her shoulder. She looked up and saw Toma standing above her.
"Good Morning Miss Walker. Mister Kanda asked me to wake you up while he gets breakfast", he told her and she nodded, still half asleep.
"Thank you very much…", she told him, still having enough manners not to yawn openly in front of him. She sat up while Toma left the compartment. She saw green fields pass in front of the window, the sky was a clear blue with some morning clouds and the sun shone warmly even though winter was approaching. After having admired the landscape for some time she decided to put the compartment in order and then she got dressed. But unfortunately Kanda chose this moment to open the door. Ellen was facing his way, still missing pants and shirt, and she saw his body tensing. He didn't say anything, turned and left again, but Ellen knew that she saw him turn red.
"Oh my dear", she whispered, "how embarrassing". Her cheeks were burning and she had only calmed down a little after she was fully dressed, even in her exorcist's coat, just to be sure. "Kanda? Are you there? I am dressed. I am really sorry for my indecency", she called to the closed door and it only opened after a while, revealing Kanda's sceptical face. He came back in, tray still in his hands, put the food down on the small table and took a seat wordlessly. Ellen watched him trying to avoid looking at her, then she sighed. "I am sorry… But I was not naked, was I? There is no need to be angry". Kanda looked up, frowning.
"I'm not angry you idiot! Such things just shouldn't happen!", he told her and folded his arms over his chest, looking out of the window, "that's why I don't like travelling with girls; embarrassing moments are hard to avoid". Ellen raised her eyebrows sceptically and huffed.
"Well, you do not have to worry; it was my body you have seen and I am not embarrassed about it", she told him, even though she had been embarrassed, and he turned to look at her.
"You're stupid", he told her, then he mentioned to the tray, "eat now". Ellen still stared at him for some moments, then she directed her eyes to the tray.
"Is this all for me?", she wanted to know and Kanda nodded with a bored look on his face. "What about you?"
"I ate while you were still snoring", Ellen refrained from arguing about that insult and turned all of her attention to the food. Kanda looked quite bored now that Ellen decided not to react to his teasing – it would have taken his mind off of other things.
"Stupid girl", he thought, "I just can't… Che", he broke off his thoughts and started to recite the Pater Noster in his head over and over again while Ellen was happily eating her food with a wide smile on her face.
To be continued
Notes:
Just a chapter covering the first part of the journey. I just had to include Ellen's cheating ability, but as I have no idea how to play poker I just made it joker! XD I like this game very much but I fear that I failed at properly explaining how it works. Maybe some of you know it. X3
Next chapter will be twice the lenght of my normal chapters. Update will take a while, due to the above stated reasons. I apologize in advance