Back again! Looks like we got 1 new reader in 2023 so whoever you are, welcome aboard. Hope you enjoyed the ride!
also my goodness, FF dot net has stopped sending me proper comment notifs. I completely missed the last two D':
IcyLady you're too right, I forgot about…was that one Chaoji? Maybe I'm due for a rewatch…then again it's Chaoji, everyone else has forgotten him too. That's a funny little image, all the Generals going around with pockets full of magic. Going through them like they're looking for their keys and tossing out everything short of the kitchen sink trying to find the bits that synchronize. And poor Kanda is always D: I can't even comfort myself that he survives, because it just gets worse for him!! I'm sorry my baby ;;u;;
thank you so much for staying here! I hope your new year brings some excitement with it and take care!!
Pointed fingers and drawn maps brought them to the pale beech forests of Orléans, weirdly enough. This past decade had been too stable there, without wars or plagues, but things could always go wrong! The Finders were certainly sure there were akuma. Daisya and Kanda had to hike along the river a long ways from the station to get to this part of the forest by nightfall.
After the day's walking, Kanda had insisted that he needed some rest to be in fighting shape. Not that Daisya wasn't always ready to go any time of any day, even in the middle of the night, but he'd promised more than one person to play it safe when he was away from the Order. He could lie in bed for now if he had to. The pattern of akuma showing up after nightfall to pick off some people was pretty clear.
There was a quick dinner in the targeted village that wasn't much more than a crossroads, and then Daisya was ordered to take a nap for the last hours of daylight. Whatever. The boredom of falling asleep when you weren't that tired was a tough price to pay to get the extermination over with. He ended up just staring at the rafters with his hands folded on his stomach to stop them fidgeting.
The atmosphere wasn't even a bit relaxing. The Finders had three akuma hanging in traps over the thatch roofs, which meant that everyone had to go about their business with them just hanging up there until they could exorcise them. Not a homey sight. The painted faces frozen mid-moan and lit up all day and night just creeped him out. Daisya had a sinking feeling that's what he looked like when strangers saw his face.
A Finder had fetched him on Kanda's orders once naptime was up. Funny, Daisya had been too alert to get to sleep, but now that he'd tried to sleep, it didn't feel that good to be back up. Not until Kanda gave him a nod, and they both went on their way.
He and Kanda had survived more than most at the Order. Almost five years now, since old man Tiedoll had showed up in the middle of nowhere to paint a pretty picture. Four years since he got his scars. Three years since he'd told Kanda he wouldn't give up until he found out the secret of who Alma was to him. Two years since he did. Less than a year since they stepped right up to death's doorway together.
Since then, though, everything was normal.
And now it was spring again. Thick black clouds had massed overhead when there was still daylight, showing that a drenching storm was in store after a few clear days. Now they lurked overhead, invisible. Only the mineral small would have told anyone that it was going to pour.
Daisya stalked carefully by the perimeter fence. Apparently, the boar in this forest were strong enough to bust down doors, so it wasn't just a few posts strung together. It was more like a palisade coming up to the shoulder. Each stripped log was tied down with rope to the next with a small gap between them maybe half the width of one post.
They'd figured out the plan without any argument. Daisya was going to circle one half of the village, Kanda the other, starting at one end and finishing together under the cover of night. Whatever they ran into they'd engage. The first exorcist fighting would drive the enemy out into the woods, while whoever was left behind could come running to finish it off. The main thing was to keep attacks away from the town and whatever Innocence it was aiming for. There couldn't be too many of them. If only one akuma per night filtered in after they started getting caught, then there had to be someone saving resources.
This team wasn't going to get caught out again.
Daisya was as quiet as a three-legged cat—doing his best with what he had. His steel-toed boots had got their own coating of mud and dust before heading out. They came down carefully on the grassy mulch without as much as a scrape, but it was still too much noise to be called quiet. If they were lucky, the rain would start up soon to mask his noises. He'd just have to hope for now that there weren't any Level Twos joining in this fight.
As he wove around the town, he wondered if the akuma had taken a break. The Finders reported an appearance around midnight each day they'd been here. He should at least be able to see some outline, the glint of lanternlight off guns and masks, not this endless flat blackness. The place wasn't that big! It wasn't a close-packed woods like the evergreens he liked. The ground here rolled this way and that under a few bigger trees, with saplings and shrubs dotted between and a broad strip of lawn that made up the path he was walking. He and Kanda were right out in the open. No akuma would pass up such an obvious target, but, for some reason, he was almost back to the rendez-vous already. He never heard even a whisper of steel.
Daisya's attention had been slipping as he went. His mind was wandering into wonderings about why he even bothered to come out here. The eyes watching out were focused on the glow of the traps. That explained why he kept on a slow stroll until he heard the hollow sound of rain on a metal drum.
It was a nasty shock.
He didn't notice until the next step took him into the freezing shower.
The storm was picking up. The overstuffed clouds had started to wring out in a rainshower where the drops were falling all around him. Not on him.
Daisya's heart stopped. He knew exactly where the akuma was, and why he wasn't seeing any.
Counting silently, he glanced up. Yep.
Unlike a few other times he'd been up close and personal, this one got him scared. It didn't help that he had to keep moving when he desperately wanted to go back under than nice, mysterious dry spot.
Could an akuma hear his pulse? He hoped not.
The village was well-enough lit on the orders of the Finders that he could see the glowing edges of something big, brassy, and five metres above his head.
The akuma was following.
Had it noticed him noticing? Better to play it safe. If it had, the only reason it wouldn't have attacked was because it dismissed him as just another villager, because it was waiting for him to lead it to other people, or because it had orders that came above just killing some nameless exorcist. None of those was a comforting thought.
The question was, could he trip the Charity Bell and paralyze it before it could shoot him? Level Ones weren't the brightest. The only danger was if it had its guns trained on him for any sign of movement. Betting wrong on that would get him in deep trouble. Checking wasn't an option.
He kept his feet forward. At this rate he'd lead it to Kanda. Maybe like it wanted him to. Playing into its hands wasn't ideal, but he was thinking of alternatives and coming up short. If he got shot it was game over. If Kanda got shot, he'd just be pissed. See? Daisya wasn't stupid. Anything but. He couldn't stop thinking ahead.
The metallic thudding grew louder as the storm came into force. It was hard not to run. He kept his ears trained on the noise to see whether there would be a cock of a barrel to tell him to get moving, but there was nothing so far.
He just had to stay stock still, calm, and quiet. He hated it.
But because he wasn't just any dumb kid, he kept his cool. There was a way to handle this that didn't get him hurt and didn't get him in another fight with Kanda. Part 1 was going back for reinforcements. Part 2 was figuring out the akuma's game before it could play. He could outwit a big metal balloon, couldn't he? Of course he could.
As the minutes counted on, Daisya ran through the possibilities. He was more and more sure that the akuma was looking for something it thought he'd lead it to. Whatever that was. Innocence, probably. They needed to find it as soon as possible while they had time. One akuma was already here to search, or maybe be an alarm, so maybe it'd be better to have someone out to distract any more that came while the Finders looked. But then they'd need an accommodator to collect it…
The wheels in Daisya's head kept turning.
He came up to the tall village gate less than a quarter-hour later. Probably the most aggravating, skin-crawling, jittery quarter-hour of his life. By now in all his other missions he'd be fighting or at least talking, not just dawdling around wondering whether or not the damn thing was going to get him in the back of the skull. It was the worst kind of boring.
At least he could hear Kanda freeze from a distance as they came into view of each other. Those sharp eyes of his would tell him all he needed to know.
Daisya flashed his hand in a stop signal. There wasn't any shadow over Kanda's head, not that he could see by the scattered rain-reflections. Nothing he could hear, either. He kept his hand signals small. Point up—akuma—point to self—let me handle it—hands over eyes-cover me—the whole Order should know those basics.
Waiting with his heart in his throat, he saw the barely-lit Kanda stand stock still while he weighed the options. Tense. Relax. Nod.
Good.
After all that, he couldn't deny the sense in what Daisya was planning. Time to go.
He counted down with fingers without looking away. Three—two—one—
"Innocence, activate!"
Kanda tore Mugen from its sheath in a flash that shone right past the corners of his eyes, and Daisya ran. Where Kanda had yelled the words, Daisya whispered. He could already feel the Bell humming at his back.
Sure enough, the akuma fired off a volley at the more obvious, glowing target. Daisya reacted as soon as he heard. Digging a heel into the ground, he jerked his head around to get the Bell loose and jumped right back at the akuma. With all the wind-up from that tight turn, he was moving so fast he caught up with his own backdraught. Hah! He was his own force of nature.
The air whistled by as he brought the other foot around and hit the Bell in an almighty clang that drove it through the akuma's centre mass. It punched both sides of the metal shell before the akuma could even turn its guns around. Done. Ripples of sound were already forming inside the hollow he'd pierced. That painted face didn't know what it was in for.
He glanced away to make sure everything was all right, taking in the view. Kanda's blade had halted at his side. There were a few healing pockmarks where the akuma's shots had taken him. Otherwise, halved and shining bullets lay around him like raindrops frozen solid. His hood was up, water pouring off of it and sticking his bangs flat to his face. It looked funny. At least, that's what Daisya thought. Kanda didn't give him back the same grin. He was sensitive, that one.
Back to business. Daisya let the chime gather strength for a minute, safe knowing that Kanda was still standing and the akuma was paralyzed while he did.
Starting from him, the humming moved in all directions to the ends of what humans could hear until every note seemed to be sounding at the same time. Then, focusing on the sharpest buzz in that cacophony, he shifted the centre of the sound from the Bell to the akuma and let it burst like thunder. It was a little unnecessary for a single Level One, sure, but he had to have some fun!
The echoes scattered out. Now it was done and dusted.
Daisya kept out of the way of the falling debris as it splattered on the ground. Was akuma dust actually dust, or was it still metal? He'd thought about it before, but he never checked. Didn't matter. The rain was churning it into mud.
Hm, but once they had this one, they would have to take care of the akuma already trapped. Maybe he could sample some.
Only...
Behind the rain, Daisya still heard the ringing. It was deep and mellow, booming out in stereo. That couldn't all be bouncing off the trapped akuma. The traps also damped the noise. This was faint, but not muted. Far away.
And coming closer.
Damnit.
"There's more out there!" he shouted through the downpour.
Quick as a flash, Kanda fell into a defensive stance. You could always count on him. Already he was glancing to where the noise was loudest. Daisya had only meant to kill the one akuma; anything else in the area might have felt it, but only as an irritation. He didn't think they'd be waiting nearby! There wasn't any settlement where they could hide as humans.
Which meant that if they were here, they were probably heading here in full force each night. To the village. And now they were coming to find out what happened to their scout.
So much for luring them away.
"I'll find one to kill, that way they'll be after me. Finish off the ones in the village!" he ordered. Kanda had to see the sense in that. If they both went haring off into the woods, the Finders would be sitting ducks just waiting for their equipment to break.
Did he expect him to whine about it? Daisya did expect some kind of reaction, he decided, which is why it felt strange to see Kanda just gave him another curt nod. He didn't even need to speak, just nodded, and jumped the gate like it was nothing.
Show-off.
Then again, Daisya realized, at least he got through—with Kanda, you had to be grateful for whatever he gave you.
Yeah. Daisya's chest was full of the jitters from that long wait and the high of a fight. He was grateful.
Then instinct kicked in and Daisya kicked the Charity Bell, sprinting after it.