Wow, how unfortunate that there's been a massive hiatus. Whose fault has that been?
Anyhow midterms are midterms. They weren't so bad this semester, but it's taken me a while to get back into the swing of this story, so have a chapter. Most of it's pre-written, so I don't have much of an excuse for being so late, but I like to give everything a good edit before I post. This particular chapter has little significance, so do what you guys will with it.
"I'm sorry, Kanda."
Those shouldn't have been the words that Daisya used, Kanda knew, and they shouldn't have been spoken so softly.
But they were.
…
At lasted, the sun finally crawled above the horizon. The smell of ice in the air warned that the days were just going to get darker from here on in.
This is a truer statement than you might think.
Kanda dropped a couple of coins into the hands of the driver, who bowed a fraction of an inch in thanks before snapping the reins. Those who did or could not speak were highly valued by the Order; even more so were those who were also deaf. Anyone who didn't know the right signs and codes just thought they were stupid, or sometimes insane, and never bothered to wonder what they were doing with a thousand marks' worth of tithe money in the middle of the night, somewhere in southern France.
In return for their services, they were paid. Sometimes well. Often, like the exorcists, they had little choice. The hand of God is forceful.
Slowly, the cart trundled off, still bouncing off of ruts and sticking behind stones. There was something exciting about a beaten-up old cart and mute driver going through the depths of the forest, but Daisya had to admit that trains had their advantages.
When it rounded the corner, the two young exorcists seem to snap back to the present.
"Let's get moving," said Kanda brusquely, shouldering his pack. "We should be able to scout it out today, and kill the akuma tonight, if we don't waste time."
"You weren't the one who stayed up all night," Daisya grumbled half-heartedly, following suit, "It was freezing, let me tell you."
After a few moments' struggle, he managed to untangle the edge of his cloak from the pack straps, and tripped off after Kanda.
"Heck, I was even happy to have you nearly pushing me off the cart. How long is it into town again?"
"I've already told you," Kanda said shortly.
His patience had snapped long ago, and Daisya's comment didn't help.
But Daisya did.
"Yeah, yeah, thirteen miles," he said tiredly, nodding his head from side to side with the words. It was a habit of his that only made him look more like a whiny child than he already did.
"Why are you asking, then?" Kanda growled.
"Dunno."
Silence fell, and the two of them walked in step. Kanda in the lead, strides regular, and Daisya staying in his wake. Even on the straight track through the trees, his path still wove and swayed, when he spotted interesting mushrooms or realized that Kanda was getting ahead of him.
When the trees started to thin, and turn to fields, Daisya had his answer.
"Just making sure."
Kanda stopped, and turned to look at him.
"What?"
"I was just asking to make sure."
The stare continued.
"I mean, I knew how far away we were, but you were seeming a bit off. So I made sure you weren't. 'S useless when you're teammate's all zoned out."
After a moment's confusion, Kanda's face seemed to sort itself out.
"I hate you."
"Get in line."
"Finally!"
Daisya was just about ready to kiss the small gatehouse that marked the first sign of civilization. A couple of fences and run-down farmsteads did not a village make, and after 13 miles of it, he was sick of it.
"I bet they're going to have at least one interesting–"
Kanda grabbed Daisya's collar before he could run anywhere, or finish his sentence, for that matter.
"What are Marie's rules?" he asked flatly.
"Don't do anything stupid, don't talk to possible akuma, just look for the Innocence, don't worry about saving lives. I got it."
Kanda grumbled. A couple of months ago, Daisya's recklessness had nearly lost them a mission. It looked like Marie's measures against that happening again might not be completely useless.
"If you break them, I'm not going to save you again."
"Again? Don't tell me you've already saved me. More than once, too."
"Shut up."
The air was cold, the ground was cold, the wooden wall of the barn was cold, Daisya was cold, and he supposed even the akuma would have been cold.
"Can you see anything?" he whispered, trying not to pant. Every word sent plumes of vapour into the air.
Kanda shook his head in reply, and ducked back behind the wall. It wasn't much, just railway ties and plaster, but it was still between them and the akuma.
"What made you think that was a good idea?" he hissed.
Kanda must have been cold, too. His skin always felt cold.
Daisya felt his brain dragging him back to the present and handing him an excuse.
"I don't know! It's not like I knew she was an akuma."
Kanda scoffed.
"Yeah, well, you never do. Just don't trust anyone who isn't an exorcist or a finder, okay? Don't even trust the finders. Just don't go out of sight of another exorcist."
Daisya rolled his eyes. It was probably dark enough for Kanda not to see him do it. Probably.
"Okay, okay! Calm down. I think she lost us, any–"
His breath was knocked out of him as Kanda threw him sideways, and the thin barrier collapsed under a hail of bullets.
He tasted the dirt in his mouth, and felt the scraps of rock and twig biting into his skin. A creaking noise sounded overhead – probably the roof starting to collapse, without one of its supports. Hopefully they wouldn't be under it when it hit the ground.
Daisya finally came to a halt, staring up at splintered wood and stars. Kanda's punches were iron.
"Innocence, activate!"
Hearing the yell, he picked himself up, and scrambled out of the way.
From behind a new, flimsier section of the wall, watched Kanda throwing himself forward.
"Guess she didn't," he groaned to himself.
Geez, Kanda was strong. He himself barely had any breath left, even though he couldn't feel much pain.
But goddamn, he was cold. The forest a few metres away felt like it was sucking all the heat from the world to fuel its creaking skeleton, and the stars were burning balls of ice. Between them, the hard, stony earth ran smooth and gleamed in the gunfire like the surface of a frozen puddle.
He squinted up at the two silhouettes, outlined by Mugen's glow. They danced and jumped in circles, Kanda always just barely step ahead. He seemed to be having no fun at all, which was a shame.
Daisya supposed he'd have to join him up there.
For a moment, he let himself breathe, trying to find a balance between the heat in his lungs and the cold of the night. It didn't pay to leap into a battle unprepared, no matter how reckless he seemed. He didn't have the same luxury as Kanda, so he'd need to be careful of the bullets.
Wait for it…
Funny. Kanda had said that he wasn't going to save him this time. Same as all the other times.
Wait for it…
And he'd gone and saved him. Same as all the other times.
Wait for it…
Daisya breathed in and out, watching the cloud form. For some reason now his skin felt hot, and he felt almost sick. Being winded was not fun.
Now!
"Innocence, activate," he muttered, mostly to himself. It seemed to work better if you yelled it, but he was still catching his breath.
His mind sunk into the comfortable ruts of strategy.
Let's see. Or not see. It's pretty dark out. Dunno if she can see me. Anyway, Kanda's got her engaged from the front, so the best I can do is just hit her once. She could dodge, and Kanda's having a pretty hard time, so maybe she's a level two. Anyway, the best bet is to flank her and try and get her off guard.
He steadied himself on his feet. The town was small, dark, and nearly abandoned. Poland was not a happy place. On the plus side, it meant no one was willing to take a look outside. They just thought it was the Russians again.
Daisya took a deep breath, and sprinted around the wooden. wreckage of the barn wall. Avoiding getting splinters was going to be pretty tough, and the ground was hard beneath his feet. It was cold. Just run, run, run!
Kanda must have been just as tired. He never seemed to have much fun.
The structures and trees flashed past, making just the barest texture in the night.
He took another breath of freezing cold air before skidding to a halt beside the akuma, and turning a right angle on his heel.
Ah, goddammit. Now the akuma was turning towards him. And damn, she was ugly.
The markings on her face made her look just like him.
His foot slid into place, and he bent his knees to balance himself before kicking the Charity Bell at the akuma. Time to see if all those synch exercises came in handy. And, well, even if they didn't, Kanda would take care of the akuma if he failed.
Same as every other time.
The Charity Bell soared, and exploded in a halo of fire.
Daisya felt the breath fall in and out of his lungs.
This was life. This was why he was living.