Kenna's brown eyes shot open as she casted her sheets aside with her foot the next morning. She let a yawn escape her throat, and parted her messy hair away from her face with the tip of her arm. She then blinked once, then twice, to get adjusted to the bright sunlight being invited into her room. Her hair moved with the movement of her cranium as she looked both ways, then alighted her shoe onto the ground, followed by the other one as she walked over to the window, resting her arms on the window sill.
As her hair whipped against the wind, the event from last night entered her head. Why was Kanda there, and why was he the only one to come when Allen and Tiaoshi couldn't? And why did he confess his love to her by planting a kiss on her lips?
...That was what really baffled Kenna, but a slight smile crept across her face as she remembered the romantic moment between the cold-blooded man and her.
She started to drift off when she heard a loud bang collide with the door, causing her to jump.
When the brunette got to the door and answered it, she saw it was no other than Sammo Han Won, the Assistant Branch Hand. Kenna did not expect him to be a tall man, his white hair worn in an odd position, with the sides of it sticking out in two, followed by thick spikes. The top of his hair was in somewhat of a topknot with an odd curl.
Her eyelashes fluttered, "Oh, hello. Aren't you-"
"Sammo Han Won," the 75 year old man interrupted with a smile. "I believe Bak Chan and Fo told you who I was. And I'm guessing your name is Kenna Vikasa?"
The brunette nodded, "Yes, that's correct."
"Okay then."
Seeing that a tray of medicine was in the old man's hands, Kenna stepped out of the way to let him in. His eyes then locked with the 18-year old's eyes, and told her to sit down on the bed as he sat down next to her. He then casted his eyes upon the tray, and grabbed a hold of the medical tape, "Can you hold out your arms for me, please?"
Realizing that he was talking about her arms, she did what he instructed her to do. He then scanned her arms, resting his hand on his chin, then after a few minutes passed by, he looked up at the brunette. "It seems that you're doing okay,nothing's bruised up or bad." he spoke up as he tore off a piece of medical tape. "But I need to point out something."
Kenna's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "What do you mean?"
"...Do you know that you're bleeding a little on your right arm?"
Kenna blinked, and casted her eyes upon her arm; a sharp exhale escaped from her throat. A gash, for some odd reason, had appeared on her arm, the crimson liquid was dripping down from it. As the brunette watched the Assistant Branch Head wrap the piece of tape around her arm, Kenna locked eyes with the man, "No, I did not."
"Well...the door was old, and it was probably caused by you hitting your arm against it. You must've hit it pretty hard." The old man said.
Kenna looked at him for a few minutes, then nodded, her hair flowing with the movement of her head, "...Yeah. I might have."
The old man smiled, "...Be more careful next time, okay?" Sammo then picked up the tray before he left the room, and right as he went to close the door behind him, a mitten-like appendage slammed against the door, thus ceasing the movement to a halt.
Sammo almost released his hold on the tray, "Oh, Fo!"
Fo locked eyes with the Assistant Branch Head, a tiny smile coming across her face, "Good Morning." She then looked at the brunette. "Come with me, Kenna."
Confused of why Fo was saying this, Kenna rose up from the bed, and followed the humanoid.
As the two reached the entrance of the branch, Fo ceased her walking to a halt, and met eyes with the brown-eyed former exorcist.
"...So I'm going to start training?" the brunette questioned as she looked at the door.
The humanoid nodded, "Bak Chan and I were trying to find out if you would be able to activate your Innocence by going to a room of where the particles of your Innocence are located...but we talked to Chief Komui of the Black Order. We decided that you understand your Innocence very well, but it is going to take some time to get it back."
Kenna let that sink into her head, and then nodded. "Okay. So I'm guessing that you're going to help me train, or am I going to train by myself?"
No words escaped the humanoid's mouth, she shook her head twice to the former exorcist's questions.
Kenna's eyebrows folded in bewilderment, "Then who is training me?"
Kenna saw a sudden smirk come from Fo, the humanoid then stepped aside, and Kenna's heart stopped. Before them stood Kanda in his normal attire, which was a midnight blue turtleneck and olive green pants. Parts of his tattoo escaped from his shirt. Kenna felt her cheeks turn a rose colored pigment, since she hasn't seen him in this type of clothing before.
The brunette stuttered before letting a full question escape her mouth, "Kanda?"
Kanda went to say hello, but decided not to; he nodded, a light pink pigment emerging on his cheeks.
"He is going to be the one that is training you." Fo spoke up. "You two have known each other for a while, it seems, so Bak, Sammo Han Won, and I think this is a good idea." And before Fo left their sight, she waved, adding a smile, "Good luck, Kenna! Try your best!"
The brunette smiled, and went to thank the humanoid, but then saw that she was gone, so she let it go.
A sudden hand on her shoulder made the former exorcist flinch. She then locked eyes with Kanda, who had a smile on his face.
Kanda then let the expression transition into a smirk, "Let's start your training now, nubs."
Kenna felt her eyebrows furrow in anger, her cheeks turning a red pigment. She went to hit the dark blue-haired man in the face with the tip of her arm, but Kanda stops it with his hand. "You know I was just playing around, shortcake." he said with a laugh.
As the two set foot into one of the training rooms, they could hear silence, along with the sound of the howling wind following it. The brunette looked around in awe at the place. The room was decorated with pillars, supposedly made out of porcelain. The windows above them were outlined with gold, shining brightly as the sunlight was invited into the room.
"Pretty, isn't it?" Kanda smiled, grabbing a hold of Kenna's elbow. Kenna gasped, not expecting Kanda to do that, but when she looked at him, she nodded in agreement.
"Yes, yes it is. I've never seen anything like it."
Kanda let a smirk creep across his face, "Me neither." He then let go of Kenna's elbow, and walked a few feet away from her. As he stopped his movement, a few words, yet hard to hear, escaped his mouth as he unsheathed mugen. A light blue aura radiated from it.
Kenna's eyes widened, then transitioned back to their normal size as her eyebrows lowered, shuffling her feet to get into her fighting stance. She then went to invoke her Innocence, but then realized that she can't. She rolled her eyes at herself with a smirk.
"What's wrong, nubs?" Kanda questioned with a laugh.
Kenna let laughter escape her throat as well, "I keep forgetting that they're not there. I have to get used to my hands being gone for a while."
Kanda then nodded in agreement, "Well, let's get back to training, and not get off track, alright?"
Kenna followed suit, then as she saw Kanda dug his shoes into the ground and charged at her, she closed her eyes, and curving her form downwards as Kanda swung his sword at the brunette; she then defaulted back to her normal position.
Kanda let a smile form on his face as he went back to his default position, then got ready to run at the brunette once more with his mugen. Kenna's brown eyes watched as the exorcist came towards her, and as she squatted down, she flew into the sky, her back curved like a wide, upside down U. Kanda's blue eyes locked on Kenna's as he sped through, watching as she safely alighted onto the ground.
He let a small laugh escape his throat, "Not bad, brunette, not bad."
A bantam blush consumed Kenna's cheeks, followed by a smile. "Thank you."
Kanda grinned, then closed his eyes. As he murmured a few words, he swung his word, thus releasing wispy, demonic-like souls. Kenna felt a tad confused of why he was using this type of attack, but then realized what it meant: It was like she was the akuma, and those souls were sent to destroy her. Allowing a smirk to appear on her lips, she used her right foot to step back, then as the demon-like souls were a few inches away from her, she ran towards them. And with a swift movement of her leg, she destroyed them on by one, watching as her kicks split them in half, then dissolve into thin air.
A low whistle escaped from the exorcist's throat as he and the brunette proceeded the training. "It seems that you've gotten stronger since the last time we saw each other." Kanda said with a smirk.
Kenna laughed, "Seems so." Catching a glimpse of Kanda's sword coming towards her out of the corner of her eye, she shifted her balance to the right as the sword swept through, easily missing her. "It seems you have, too."
Kanda's eyebrows stood up, as he shuffled back to his default position. "You really think so?"
A grin walked across Kenna's mouth, she nodded, her hair moving with the motion of her cranium.
The two transitioned to silence as the training went on, until the sun starting to descend down into the horizon outside. Small huffs of air came from Kanda and Kenna, sweat running down from their temples.
Kenna's eyes spotted a towel beside them, and after wiping off the excretion on her face, she handed it over to Kanda.
After another huff of air escaped from the dark-blue haired man's mouth, a laugh was followed, "...Man. I've got to say that you worked hard, today, shortcake. Nice job."
The brunette felt her face turn a rose-like pigment, since a handsome man like Kanda hadn't complimented her before. A grin came from the former exorcist as she moved a piece of her hair behind her ear, "Thank you, Kanda. You did a good job, too."
"Thanks." The blueberry-haired man said with a smirk as he put the towel aside, then walked closer to Kenna. Kenna felt her heart beating at a faster pace as the exorcist slowly wrapped his arms around Kenna's waist, then released his left hand, and used his index finger to tilt Kenna's chin upwards, so his eyes could gaze into hers. He then allowed a smirk to came across his lips before he leaned in, planting a quick kiss on the brunette's lips before he pulled away.
Deciding to end training for the day, the two exited the room, and entered the hallway. Kanda grabbed a hold of Kenna's elbow as they walked over to the dining hall. As Kanda was looking around at the beautifully decorated hallway, Kenna had her eyes on him, a smirk laden on her lips.
"So, Kanda, why are you acting all lovey-dovey suddenly towards me?" her question caught Kanda by surprise, causing the 18-year old to lock eyes with her.
A light pink pigment consumed his cheeks, "W-What do you mean?"
Kenna stifled a laugh at his expression, "I mean that you don't have your usual sardonic and rude attitude towards me."
Kanda let a tiny, nervous laugh run free from his throat, "Oh, that?" he smiled. "Well, it's kind of hard to explain, actually. Like I said yesterday, I had apologized for my behavior towards you, but the reason that I'm a tad harsh on you is because you're determined and you have great potential. And I don't really cater to people's feelings that much...except for someone that I love dearly."
Kenna blinked, "What are you saying...?"
A small smile came from the man, "I'm saying that you're a brave, young woman, not to mention beautiful." He stopped for a minute when he said that, the pigment on his cheeks turning a darker hue. "I...didn't realize your potential until you were assigned on missions more with me or other exorcists. Another reason why was when hit me that I was being rude to you most of the time, only showing a tad bit of kindness towards you once in a while."
Kenna let her eyelashes flutter in surprise, her face was now as a red as a tomato. She couldn't believe that he was letting these words escape his mouth.
She parted her lips, "...Oh. Thanks." She then blinked once more, her mind starting to drift off into the distance when Kanda's explanation raced through her head. She remembered the first time she saw him, and how Allen and Lenalee had to help her when she had passed out. She remembered when they didn't get along well at first, the hairs on her back rising every time he had glared at her. The revenge that they got on Allen and Lavi played once more, then transitioned to when she, Allen, and Kanda defeated the clown-looking, level 2 akuma back when she was just a rookie. She didn't hear Kanda say "You're welcome", only "Kenna?", which brought her back to her senses.
"Y-yes?"
"Are you okay?" Kanda's face was that of concern.
"I'm fine." Kenna let a neurotic laugh escape her throat. "I...was just thinking about memories from the past, that's all."
The blueberry-haired man smirked, "Well, we're almost at the dining hall. Since the battling got in the way of our conversations, would you like to take a break after training tomorrow and chat with me?"
Kenna's face flushed when he questioned her, her eyes widened in shock. Even though Kanda was just asking her a simple question, it made her heart stop; it felt like they had just met and he was asking her on a date. Seeing the blue-eyed man was waiting patiently for her answer, Kenna looked up at him, smiled, and nodded, "Sure."
The two then let go of their hold, and ordered their food when they got to the dining hall.
_
After the two said their good nights to each other, Kenna watched as Kanda quietly closed the door to the room he's staying in, then the brunette followed suit, closing hers as well. As Kenna sat down, using one of her feet to slip her shoes off, she gazed at the beautiful, star-scattered sky. A warm smile crept across her face, she loved watching the stars fall at this time of day before she falls asleep. It always calms her down after a rough day, or when she's just in a bad mood. Exhaling, Kenna scooted her shoes aside with her right foot. She then lied down in the bed, watching the midnight sky before drifting off to sleep.
...
Meanwhile, in another realm, the Millennium Earl was busy knitting away at a scarf when he heard a soft meow in the distance. Turning his head to see who it is, a grin came across his face when he saw it was Lulu Bell, one of the Noah.
"Ah, hello, Lulu." The Earl greeted her as she sat down in front of him. "How did your assignment go?"
No words came from the cat's mouth, only a single meow escaped.
The Earl grinned, "Good, good."
Two more meows came from the Noah.
"Oh, you're wondering if you have another assignment coming up?" the Millennium Earl asked, then as a smile came across his face, he walked over to the crystal ball. It was blank at first, but after the Earl lightly tapped it with his finger, an image of Kenna fast asleep slowly emerged.
"...This is your next task, Lulu." he said, pointing to the image. "We've been targeting this former exorcist for a couple of months now. She was able to escape from Road, but wasn't able to escape from Tyki when he crushed her pathetic Innocence. So to prevent her from gaining it back, I want you to disguise yourself in your feline form, then when the right time comes, convert back to your normal form."
Letting all this sink into her head, a smirk crept across the cat's face. As she closed her eyes, her body radiated a white aura, then in the blink of an eye, she was a tall, slim woman. She had long, jet-black hair put in a ponytail, her bangs were bob cut. Her clothes were that of a regular worksuit, and she wore matching sunglasses. Her skin transitioned to that of a dull grey tone, and a wreath of crosses emerged from her temple, ending along her forehead.
She then bowed, a smile laden upon her lips, "As you wish, my Lord."