And so, another chapter arrives. Thank you for reviewing! :D
I do hope that this is remotely amusing and also, uh...well, you know, explains some things. More explanations are to come of course. xD
Disclaimer: I don't own. D:
Insanity is doing the same thing in the same way and expecting a different outcome. - Chinese Proverb
"Honda-dono!"
"Honda-dono, now isn't the time to sleep!"
Kiku snapped out of his daze as he shook his head, trying to get to his feet. That boy...he seemed so familiar and yet he could not reach out to grasp who he was.
"Honda-dono, are you alright? Did the blast hurt you?" The men asked almost in unison as they glared at each other then tried to speak, only to end up speaking at the same time yet again.
Kiku managed to laugh, something he rarely did these days, as the two men still glared at each other but turned their attention to the country who was sitting up now, holding his sword close to him.
"Are the Akuma gone?" he asked, dropping the boy from his thoughts, as the men nodded.
"We lost Azami though when the Akuma blew up the temple we were in," The first man spoke as Kiku nodded, rubbing his torso.
"So that's who was shot…? he murmured softly, closing his eyes in reverence to the boy who had died. The second man nodded his head, rubbing his leg.
"Arikawa and I are some of the few left," he spoke before shifting uncomfortably, eyes focused on the ground. "We should keep going right?"
"Oi, Furukawa, you alright?" The first man asked as the second man glared at him.
"Just FINE thank you. Besides, I'm not so much of a man that I can't handle my own issues so let's go before the Akuma come back."
A jolt and a shudder and the three men were gone into the distance.
"BLOODY HELL ALFRED!"
"Calm down Arthur! I only missed the cart by that much."
"MISSED?! You SCRAPED the CART!"
Kanda woke up to the shouts before promptly thrown forward. "WHAT THE HELL?!" he roared as the once throbbing pain ebbed away quickly.
"HEY YOU GUYS! YU'S UP!"
That was Lavi…but why the hell was he shouting like an idiot?
Lenalee glanced over to Kanda, trying to say something along the lines of, "I'm glad you're alright," but it was cut off by a shriek of fear and clinging to a…door? Kanda was left wondering if the world was going stupid.
It was then he realized that he was in some sort of steel…thing that had no top. It sounded like a train, somewhat, but was quieter, but not by much. It was swerving wildly, back and forth, Alfred laughing loudly.
Oh that fucker (1) was so dead when Kanda managed to get out of the death machine.
Alfred whooped, hearing Kanda revived in the back. "Alright! Now everyone's awake to feel the wonder!"
"What the HELL is this piece of SHIT?!" Kanda roared angrily as Allen, looking particularly sick, stared at Kanda.
"It's a carriage that runs without a horse…" he moaned, face turning green again.
"How the hell did we get in this thing?" Kanda snapped angrily as Lavi jabbed a finger at Alfred.
"BLAME HIM."
Alfred pouted at the sight of the exorcists' obvious discomfort as he shook his head. "Have you guys never felt the wonders of a car before?"
"No, and you're making me want to DESTROY this bloody thing!" Arthur yelled at him. "When the hell did you have time to make this?!"
"It's a test model! The guy who made it wanted me to try the new steam car so I decided to take the chance now! (2) H-Hey! Arthur-OW! Why are you hitting with an umbrella?!" Arthur had pulled out an umbrella on the ground and began whacking him.
"It'll shield the stupidity out of your brain you bloody idiot!" he roared, continuing to whack the life out of Alfred. (3) Only when the American made a sharp right turn, almost into a tree did the British man stop, holding his hands over his head while adopting a crash position.
Lenalee looked as if she would destroy the model once they got out, strange for a girl who usually was a kind soul.
"Hold on!" Alfred yelled, already recovered from the beating with the umbrella, jerking the handle as the car jerked forward. "To Mattie's house!"
It was a nice day for Matthew Williams, having finally become his own country. His twin brother was alright from his civil war, and his bear… Kuma…Kuma…Kumahiro? Was that what his bear's name was? It sounded right…
He shook his head, hugging his bear somewhat tighter. His bear and people were alright and nothing could spoil this day. Maybe he would get a book or something, to read.
Pancakes also sound good at the moment, he thought with a happy smile. After all, this is a nice day!
But, as everyone knows, anyone who thinks that is automatically jinxing themselves.
A loud blast caught him off guard as he shrieked, jumping before he slowly peeked out a fragmented window.
He paused, staring before a familiar figure popped up, grinning at him. "Hey Mattie! Got room?"
"Oh. Hello Alfred."
His day just got worse.
Matthew glanced over his brother's shoulder, eyes narrowed. "Al, care to explain that burning mass on my front yard?" he asked as gently as one could with a burning mass of metal on their yard.
Alfred nodded cheerfully as he darted over, pulling Arthur to his feet then, as the British man turned to help the exorcists, he waved over to them.
"We're going to help Kiku with the exorcists from the Black Order! You ready?"
Matthew knew about this mission, most of their kind did, but he didn't exactly expect…for this kind of calling. You know, your twin brother crashing…whatever that was on your front lawn with a sprawling heap of people next to him.
"…Of course, but first, let's help them up…okay?" he spoke softly as his brother nodded with a grin.
"Of course!" he repeated before realizing there that there was a murderous rage right behind him. Alfred laughed even louder, eyes looking slightly panicked as he began to run as fast as he could to Matthew's house.
"You asshole!" Matthew heard before there was an ominous step and a 'shiiink' noise as he turned around from watching his brother high tailing it out of there.
I wonder why Alfred ran away like th-WHY IS THERE A GUY WITH A SWORD RUSHING TOWARDS ME?
That thought all came out at once as he yelped, dodging a sword slash towards his waist, eyes wide. "You asshole of a driver!" the boy with the sword roared as Matthew mentally sighed in the tiny corner of his mind that wasn't panicking. Another person who couldn't tell him apart from his brother…
"Yu-! That's not Alfred! Calm down!"
…
Wait.
…Someone could tell him apart?!
Matthew turned to the voice as his eyes almost sparkled. After so many years of being ignored and constantly called as Alfred, there was finally someone who could tell him apart!
A red head had clung to…'Yu' and was currently getting pounded on the head for it. "Let me GO! He's right in front of me dammit!"
"Uh…" he began softly as one boy turned to glare at him, the other pleading with Matthew to prove him right. "I'm…um…Alfred's twin brother…Matthew."
The red head grinned at the boy triumphantly, letting go of the other boy who growled, sheathing his sword.
Arthur had then pulled another boy out of the rubble as he nodded to Matthew. "Uh…Hello Matthew," he began awkwardly, picking up the somewhat burnt umbrella that had rolled towards his foot.
"…I heard about the car…Alfred was talking about it last year."
Arthur sighed, rubbing his temples. "That was…absolutely, the worst day in my life."
He paused, shaking his head, flashes of that time running through his head. "Well no," he corrected himself. "But it was certainly one of the more...worse moments of my life."
Matthew made a noise that told Arthur that he agreed with him as he nodded to the small group. "Hello," he said softly and with a smile. "I'm Matthew Williams, Alfred's twin."
A white haired boy smiled, holding out his hand. "Allen Walker, Mr. Williams, it's a pleasure to meet you." Allen was a bit confused, having not seen him up until now. Oh well? Shaking his hand, Allen decided to push that back for later.
"Kanda Yu," the boy with the sword growled as Matthew shivered, taking an instinctive step back.
The girl smiled, brushing off her slightly burnt skirt then took his hand. "I'm Lenalee Li, it is very…" She paused, looking at the bear in his arms. "Oh how cute!" she cooed as the bear sniffed then gently batted her nose.
She laughed as Matthew smiled at her. "I think he likes you," he said softly as she smiled back at him, ruffling his bear on his head.
He turned his attention back to the only boy as of yet who could tell him apart. "I'm Lavi! Nice to meet you!" the boy cheered, holding out his hand to shake.
Matthew smiled widely at him, shaking the outstretched hand as Arthur glanced behind Matthew. "Alfred, you better come out," he called as Alfred's face appeared in the fragmented window.
"Uh…how about when Kanda puts away that sharp pointy-!" His plea was cut short by Kanda rushing into the house, sword drawn. "ARTHUR! MATTIE!" the boy shrieked, as a shattering of another window was heard and Matthew winced. He ducked under Kanda's second blow and managed to race outside to the front yard. "I know I'm a hero and all," he began while dodging rapidly. "But sometimes a hero needs a little HELP?!"
Arthur rolled his eyes before Alfred ducked behind him. Somehow, this position was familiar…but before he could dwell on it, Matthew entered the conversation. "We should head out soon, to pick up Ivan right?"
"So," Allen stepped in, blocking the Japanese boy from any stabbing he might do. "We go from England, to America, then Canada, back to England, to Russia and China, a final stop at Korea, then the final entrance to Japan."
"Cut out the England bit and you'll have our basic plan," Arthur confirmed with a nod. "In fact, we should head to the church with the ark soon."
"Wait," Alfred began, finally regaining some of his hero composure. "If we're not going to England, where are we going? I thought we were stopping by there."
"I didn't find any point in stopping by my home again," Arthur replied before his palm met his forehead, muffling his answers. "So…that…bloody frog…" he gagged visibly, "offered for us to stay in France before heading out to Russia."
Matthew perked up, hugging his bear. "We're going to see Papa then?" he asked eagerly as Arthur mumbled a gritted 'yes'.
The Canadian nodded eagerly, darting inside to grab his luggage he had set near the doorway. He was gone for a few minutes then appeared, setting his luggage down. "How are we going to get to the church?" he asked as Allen pointed down the path.
"There was a mission in America recently, so if we go down with the train, it shouldn't take us long," he said as Alfred pouted.
"I wish that the car didn't blow up," he said with a frown as the others glared at him, Kanda slowly drawing his sword. Alfred, oblivious, continued. "We would have made it down faster."
"You're right Matthew, we'll take the train down to the church," Arthur spoke while gritting his teeth, narrowing his eyes as the others nodded their agreement.
Allen glanced at the broken window panes. "Shouldn't we fix that?" he asked as Matthew glanced at the broken window panes.
"I cleaned up the glass inside and sent a message to someone to fix it while I'm gone, so it should be fine," he said as Allen glanced at him then smiled.
"Then I guess we should head out then."
Once on the train back to a church in New York, Kanda finally had some time to ask what happened to him. Lenalee frowned.
"I came in a few hours later, to tell you that we were going to start to Ottawa. You were on the floor unconscious and I yelled for someone to come," she said as Kanda remembered a flash of pain that had run through him before he fell unconscious. "I tried to get you up...but...you wouldn't respond."
"No one could get you up," Lavi added seriously as Kanda's frown grew. "Arthur considered sending you back to the Black Order, but in the end, we decided to take you along in that hell machine…"
"What happened?" Arthur asked as Kanda shook his head.
"If I knew, I wouldn't be asking what happened would I?" he growled testily as Arthur glared at him but stayed silent, fingering the umbrella next to him. Kanda frowned, staring out the window. This bothered him, no matter how hard he tried to hide it.
His hand brushed against the tattoo as he closed his eyes tightly.
Alma...
There would be time for answers, he decided as he let his hand drop and in the process, the man who had appeared in his dream, who shared the same wounds as he did. And he would be damned if he was denied them.
(1): Kanda, I forgot to mention, has a very foul mouth. XD But then again, I guess that was sort of obvious no?
(2): So, I'm trying to make this as historically accurate as I can (but sort of failing), so I asked if there was any sort of car back in the 1880s to my history teacher. He said that there was a steam car experiment and this popped up.
(3): Haroou, if you're reading this, THANKS. XD England + Umbrella = True Gentleman!