"So you want to take me out for the day?" Kanda asks from his bed. Robin smiles and continues digging through her dresser. Eventually she finds the shirt she's looking for and turns to face him.
"Yeah! It'll be fun!" She says. Kanda raises an eyebrow, looking unconvinced.
"You have a strange concept of fun." He says. "And why today?" Robin sighs.
"Why not today?" She asks. "I can't surprise my boyfriend with a date?"
"This came out of nowhere." He says. "What do you have in mind?"
Robin walks over to the bathroom and sets her clothes on the floor. "You'll see." She says, sticking her head out of the bathroom. Kanda sighs and she smiles, closing the door and getting dressed.
Finally it's Kanda's birthday. All the hard work practicing her song is going to pay off. She's buzzing with excitement. She slips on a pair of pants and a blue button down shirt. She runs a brush through her hair and frowns at the brown strands close to touching the top of her shoulders. She'll have to get a haircut soon. Her fingers brush against the necklace fashioned around her neck. He still refuses to tell her was tenshi means. Knowing him, he still probably won't. But that's okay. She's still happy and hardly ever takes the necklace off, even when she sleeps. She may not understand the full meaning, but it was a gift from Kanda. One that he put a lot of thought into and that she cherishes.
Robin opens the door to the bathroom and Kanda pulls his hair back. When their eyes meet, Robin forces herself to keep from bursting into a huge smile. After all, if she acts too cheerful, he'll get suspicious. Robin reaches for the violin case under her bed.
"You're bringing your violin?" He asks. Robin nods.
"After Master Cross found it last time, I don't really want to keep it here while we're both gone. Besides, I was thinking of playing something. If you want, of course."
"That's fine." He says. Robin smiles again and waits by the door for him to sling Mugen over his shoulder. Kanda glances at her grin and smirks back.
"You're cheerful." He says. Robin nods, holding the door open for him.
"I'm excited about being able to go on a date with you." She says. Kanda shakes his head.
"You can be a real dork sometimes." He says.
"Hey!"
Kanda chuckles and she smiles, closing the door behind them.
Before Robin and Kanda make their way out of the Order they take one quick stop by the cafeteria. As soon as Jerry spots the two of them, the pink haired chef giggles and hands Robin a large picnic basket.
"Thanks Jerry!" She says, giving him a smile.
"No problem sweetie!" Jerry says. "Enjoy your picnic!"
"Picnic?" Kanda asks, one eyebrow raised. Robin merely smirks and leads him out of the Order.
They leave Headquarters and to Kanda's surprise Robin leads them away from any towns and heads into a nearby forest. They go a significant distance and after awhile the trail starts to get more and more narrow and gain more of an incline.
"You do know where you're going, right?" Kanda asks. Robin grabs a tree branch for support and grins back at him.
"Don't worry." She says. "Lavi and I plotted out where we're going not that long ago."
"Baka usagi?" Kanda asks. He frowns. "Lovely."
Robin ignores his comment and swings herself over the top of the hill. She pauses and smiles when she hears the pattering of a nearby stream.
"This way." She says and leads him to a small clearing. Ahead on them is a shallow stream running down the hill they'd previously been climbing. The water sparkles against the slits of sunlight peeking in through the treetops above them. The grass is lush and a cheerful green color with wild flowers springing up from the ground. It looks like a place out of a fairy tale and Robin has never felt more grateful to the hyperactive rabbit who helped her find it.
She sets the picnic basket and violin case on the ground and takes a seat in the middle of the meadow. She lays back and gazes up at the sky through the trees.
"Isn't it pretty?" She asks with a smile. Kanda takes the spot next to her.
"It's peaceful here." He says, lying down next to her. Robin nods.
"I thought you'd like it." She says. "It's nice being able to just take a break from the Order for a little while." Kanda nods and wraps an arm around her.
"It is nice." He says. He leans in to kiss her when Robin's stomach lets out a loud growl. Kanda rolls his eyes and she chuckles.
"Did I mention I brought food?" She asks. Kanda smirks and they sit up. Robin opens up the basket and hands him a carefully packed box.
"Apparently, according to Jerry, all you eat is soba." She says, when Kanda opens the lid and reveals that Jerry had in fact made him his usual soba.
"Have you even had it?" He asks.
"Nope." She says, taking a bite of a turkey and cheese sandwich. Kanda pauses and frowns at her.
"You've never had soba?" He asks. She shakes her head. Kanda frowns and shakes his own head with disbelief.
"You poor uncultured chiisana tenshi." He says. "I am going to have to fix this."
"Uncultured?" She asks. Kanda gathers up some of the noodles with his chopsticks and offers them to her. She opens her mouth and he feeds it to her.
"Well?" He asks. She pauses thoughtful, trying to get a sense of the taste.
"It tastes like spaghetti." She finally says. Kanda frowns.
"But it's good, right?" He asks. Robin shrugs.
"If you like spaghetti."
"Unbelievable." He says, returning to his soba eating.
Robin smiles at him. She finishes off her sandwich and goes to dig into a container of homemade mac and cheese. She loves Jerry's cooking. Yet another reason she's come to see the Order as her home. When they're both done with their lunch, she lays back on the grass and smiles. She starts to hum and she hears Kanda chuckle next to her.
"Would you be willing to play me a song?" He asks, leaning over her. Robin smiles huge and brushes her lips to his. When they pull away, she reaches for her violin case and pulls out the instrument. She takes a second to correct the tune and smirks, bringing the bow across the strings. The notes begin to take life and she starts the intro to the the song she's been practicing non-stop for the last four days. It's a peaceful melody with gentle notes filled with emotion. She meets his gaze and lets her eyes close, taking a breath before starting the first verse to the lyrics.
Kawa wa nagarete doko doko ikuno
(Where are rivers flowing to?)
Hito mo nagarete doko doko ikuno
(And, where are people headed for?)
Sonna nagare ga tsuku koroniwa
(By the time those flows reach somewhere,)
Hana to shite hana to shite sakasete agetai
(I want them to bloom as flowers and as flowers.)
Nakinasai warainasai
(Cry as you like, and laugh as you like.)
Itsuno hika itsuno hika
(Someday, and someday,)
Hana wo sakasouyo
(let us bloom flowers.)
Namida nagarete doko doko ikuno
(Where are tears flowing to?)
Ai mo nagarete doko doko ikuno
(And, where is love headed for?)
Sonna nagare wo kono uchi ni
(I want to welcome those flows)
Hana to shite hana to shite mukaete agetai
(in my house, as flowers, and as flowers.)
Nakinasai warainasai
(Cry, and laugh as you like.)
Itsuno hika itsuno hika
(Someday, and someday,)
Hana wo sakasouyo
(let us bloom flowers.)
Hana wa hana toshite warai mo dekiru
(Flowers can also laugh as flowers.)
Hito wa hito to shite namida mo nagasu
(People also tear as persons.)
Sore ga shizen no uta nanosa
(This is the song of nature.)
Kokoro no naka ni kokoro no naka ni hana wo sakasouyo
(Let us bloom flowers in our heart, and in our heart.)
Nakinasai warainasai
(Cry, and laugh)
Itsu itsu mademo itsu itsu mademo
(as long as you like.)
Hana wo sakasouyo
(Let us catch flowers.)
Nakinasai warainasai
(Cry, and laugh)
Itsuno hika itsuno hika
(Someday, and someday,)
Hana wo sakasouyo
(let us bloom flowers.)
Robin holds onto the last note, allowing the song to fade into silence. She takes a breath of fresh air and opens her eyes. Kanda stares at her with an expression of amazement. She smiles and reaches into her violin case. She holds out a small box tied with a red ribbon for him.
"Robin." He starts. She giggles and puts the box into his hands.
"Happy birthday Kanda!" She says. He shakes his head and smiles.
"How did you know?" He asks.
"I know everything." She says with a wink. "That and Reever told me. I can't believe you didn't say anything!"
"I didn't think you'd want to celebrate it." He says. "I don't normally do anything today anyway." Robin frowns.
"Of course I want to celebrate it!" She says. "I love you. I want to scream it from the rooftops and throw a huge party to commemorate it."
"You aren't, are you?" Kanda asks.
"No." She says. "I didn't think you would like a huge party."
"Thank god." He says. Robin smirks.
"There's always next year." She says and Kanda rolls his eyes. "So what are you waiting for? Open your present!" Kanda smirks and loosens the ribbon, purposely taking more time than necessary to open it. Robin fidgets excitedly next to him, dying to see if he likes it. Kanda goes to pull off the top and looks to her.
"Open it already!" She says. Kanda chuckles and finally opens it, revealing a bracelet. Made to look similar to her necklace, she used black cord to weave the same interlocking design. In place of a square block, the centerpiece is an oval with a lotus flower carved into it. The petals are etched along the curve of the oval so it looks like it's about to bloom. Kanda's eye widen at the lotus design and he brushes his thumb over the petals.
Robin smiles. It didn't take much to find out his apparent fascination with lotus flowers. While she was fishing around with his stuff she found more than a couple gardening books with pages of the flower bookmarked off. Plus, there was the hourglass she found hidden under his bed. Kanda never showed her it before and went out of his way to hide it. It's clear the flower means a great deal to him.
"How did you know?" He asks, fitting the bracelet on his wrist.
"I saw your hourglass." She says. She meets the gaze boring into her skull and smiles. "You don't have to explain anything. I just noticed you really like them."
"You can say that." He says.
"Back when I was training with Master Cross we spent a week in India. While we were there I spent a lot of the time by myself and I ended up visiting a temple with a bunch of Buddhist monks. It was quiet but they were kind. In return for helping them with some of their chores they let me visit and wander around the temple's garden. I remember they had these beautiful lotuses. Did you know, it can take them thousands of years to bloom?"
Kanda nods. "The seeds of a lotus can sleep in the soil for a thousand years."
"Stubborn things." She says and Kanda rolls his eyes. She smiles. "As a lotus flower is born in water, grows in water and rises out of water to stand above it unsoiled, so I, born in the world, raised in the world, having overcome the world, live unsoiled by the world."
Kanda raises an eyebrow. "Buddha." She answers and he nods. "A monk once said that even when the time finally comes for it to wither away, the lotus will always bloom twice. Even when it dies, it'll come back and next time it may be even more beautiful than before."
She smiles. He wraps his arms around her and buries his face in her hair. She feels a warm droplet of water and her smile slowly fades. He's crying? Kanda never cries.
"Kanda, are you okay?!" She asks, worried. "Oh geez, I'm so sorry! I'm such an idiot! I didn't mean to-" She's cut off when he suddenly presses their lips together. When he pulls away, Robin blinks, confused.
"Huh? What? How?" She asks.
"Thank you Robin." He whispers.
"No problem." She says. "But, um, what did I do again?"
He chuckles. "Everything." He says. "Thank you for being my chiisana tenshi."
"I'll be your tenshi." She says with a smile. "Even if I have no idea what it means. So you like the bracelet?"
"I love it." His fingers brush against the lotus design. Another tear slips from his eyes and this time she kisses it away. He smiles and leans his forehead against hers so there is only an inch of empty space between them.
"Happy birthday Kanda."
The song Robin sings is an actual song. *I do not own it!* It's called "Hana" originally composed by Kina Shoukichi. The full title is "Subete no Hito no Kokoro ni Hana O" and has been redone a lot. I included the English translation underneath.
I know DGM is set in the 19th century, but I couldn't help it! (Please, don't be mad!) It's a really beautiful song and I like the version by Natsukawa Rimi. :) If you get a chance, you should listen to it on YouTube and you'll understand why I just had to.
Thank you for reading! Please leave a review and let me know what you think! :)