Exception
By: Aviantei
3. SSGTIK: The Plotting of Lavi, Lenalee, and Sort of Allen
Somehow, the school day had passed without Lavi dying or obtaining several external injuries. Whether or not he had gained some internal problems from Kanda nearly tossing him down the stairs and the Japanese male almost running over the redhead with his car—"Rabbits that get in the street are meant to be road kill."—was a question best left to an MRI or other procedures o the sort, but Lavi wasn't too worried about it. As long as he wasn't coughing up blood, he was fine.
These were the sort of things you had to deal with when you were Kanda Yu's best friend after all. Lavi viewed it as a privilege.
Besides, he had better things to be doing. A few well-placed origami swans containing notes in Lenalee and Allen's lockers had done the trick, even if Allen was difficult and had to be the only one in the world who actually locked the damn thing. Lavi had still managed to get his masterpiece into the Brit's locker in perfect condition. It was magic.
Or it was just stalking his friend and tossing the poor swan in at just the right moment without being noticed. But he got it on the first try, though! That took some serious ninja skills!
Regardless of the fact, the trio had now gathered in Lavi's garage. It was only a garage in name, and Lavi had long transformed it into a good place to hang out since any other rational place, like say, oh, the living room, was filled with books. Most of the time his car stayed outside—it was a piece of junk anyway, though Lavi loved it all the same—but everything could be easily rearranged in the event that the weather outside was less than favorable.
Allen was standing, wary of even sitting down on the couch. He had done that before, when he was first starting to get to know Lavi. The horrors shall not be repeated. The fact that Allen and his bidding friendship survived only shows a testimony to its strength.
Lenalee, however, was sitting on the thing. She didn't even look wary of the situation. She was fearless. Or maybe the couch just liked girls better than it like white-haired British kids? Maybe it was afraid of its fate if it did anything to Komui's sister? The world may never know.
"Okay, let's get down to business!" Lavi declared. He had taken a seat on one of the many mismatched lawn chairs scattered about the garage. They were a bit safer than the couch, although Allen still worried that one would collapse if he dared to sit in it. Lavi took a deep breath and beamed. "Welcome to the first official meeting of the SSGTIK!"
"The SSGTIK?" Allen and Lenalee asked in unison. They even blinked at the same time. With coordination like that, they totally should have gotten into competitive synchronized swimming. They could have taken home the gold. The possibilities were endless.
Leaving behind any ideas of his friends' potential future Olympic athlete careers behind for the moment, Lavi sighed. He even made it extra big, for dramatic effect. "SSGTIK stands for Secret Society for the Get Together of Ivy and Kanda," he explained proudly. It had taken him three whole periods of inner debating to come up with the right name. A close second was Operation Yu-pon Seriously Needs a Date was a close favorite, but OYSND didn't have the same ring to it.
Cue the staring. Even if only Lavi could make up something like this, it still took a moment to process that Lavi had come up with this.
"Oh, Lavi, is that was this is all about?" Lenalee asked. She sounded more like an understanding mother than anything else. When it came down to it, she was in agreement with what Lavi's end goal was, even if the methodology seemed a bit…much.
Allen, on the other hand, wasn't as willing to jump on the band wagon. "Why do I need to be a part of this?" he asked, crossing his arms. "No offense, Lavi, but I don't understand why you think I would want to help. Kanda and I aren't exactly on the best of terms."
Lavi simply chose to throw that bit of log aside, standing up and swinging an arm around Allen's shoulders. "Come on, Brit, it'll be fun!"
"Lavi, you said archery would be fun. I nearly died!"
Lavi didn't see what the problem was. He had had tons of fun. He even got to try the thing where you put an apple on someone else's head and shot an arrow through it! He hadn't been the best shot to start out with, but he still hit the target in the end, and that was all that mattered.
"Pshaw, that was a sport. This… This is real life!" the redhead reasoned. "Besides, if you're not going to do this for Yu-pon, do it for Ivy-chan! She really likes Yu-pon and could use help getting through to him." Allen almost gagged. Ivy was a nice person, but what did she even see in an idiot like Kanda? He wanted to protest, but Lavi continued, "Now, if we have no other reason to delay, I would like to be president. Any objections?"
Oh, Allen had objections. Several really. Most of them he wouldn't say because he was too damn polite to do so. The others he kept to himself because Lavi was already on a roll and there was no point in trying to stop him now. Lenalee only smiled from her seat on the couch.
"Good! Now, Lenalee, you're VP. Brit, you're secretary."
"Secretary for what?!" Allen protested. "Oh, no, I'm not doing this. I'm sorry, Lavi, but there's no way I'm being secretary for this SS-whatever."
"SSGTIK," Lavi corrected. "In that case, you can be VP; Lenalee will be secretary."
Allen should have known better than to say anything. It only got him into even more trouble. What was the point of giving them positions anyway? What were their duties?!
"But—!" Allen attempted.
"Excellent!" Lavi exclaimed, ignoring the British boy's comment. He wasn't trying to be rude; he was just so excited by his idea that the idea of someone else having a problem didn't even register. And Allen was just frustrated since this was all so sudden. He would adjust in time. Smiling so wide his face seemed on the verge of splitting open, Lavi directed a finger in the direction of the only female present. "Lenalee, did you bring that event schedule I asked for?"
Lenalee nodded, reaching into her messenger bag. "Here you go," she said, holding out the paper. Lavi bounded over to where she was sitting to retrieve his prize.
"I knew I could count on you! You're definitely the most organized out of us. I dunno why I thought to make Allen secretary, this is way better." If Allen had an issue with that sentence, he didn't say anything. In fact, he did have several issues with that, but he didn't see the point. Lavi was silent for a moment as he scanned the schedule. It didn't last. "Perfect! The last week of November, there's the annual festival. Why don't we put our plan into action then?"
Lenalee nodded, still smiling. Allen let out something akin to a grumble, finally resigned.
"In which case, this meeting of the SSGTIK is now over. The next one will be at Brit's house, one week from today," Lavi decided on the spot. They couldn't hang out in his garage forever. Besides, changing up locations made it seem like such an important mission, which it totally was.
"Hey!" Allen shouted. So much for resignation. He'd probably lose his voice if he kept things up at this rate.
"Until then, dismissed!"
Lenalee stood up to leave, brushing off her skirt. She would need to head home soon or else Komui would worry and send out a search party again. Such a thing was not beyond him. "Hey, Allen, you wanna walk home together then…? Allen?"
The British boy had captured Lavi into a headlock. "Don't just go making decisions like that on the spot," he said. "If you're going to be using my home and my time for this silly endeavor, you better bet that I'm going to expect compensation."
Lavi seemed to be choking. Allen wasn't too concerned. Half of the sound was for dramatic effect anyway. "I'll buy your lunch for a week?" he proposed. Allen squeezed harder. "Fine! Fine! I'll buy your lunch for a month! Plus extra desserts!" The redhead was released and was lucky enough to land in a chair.
Allen had resumed his standard angelic smile. "Sounds great! See you tomorrow, Lavi!"
Lenalee could only sigh. Boys really made no sense at all at times.
Working on his homework, Kanda felt a shiver go up his spine. He didn't like this feeling at all. It was the feeling that happened whenever the stupid rabbit was up to something. Even worse, there was usually nothing he could do about it.
Ivy sneezed.
Writing this chapter again was definitely tons of fun. No joke.
Thanks too 10higginsal and Phoenixian Kaiba for your respective favorites and follows of this story. I hope you continue to enjoy it as it progresses, both in rewrites and new material.
I've been busy trying to find a job lately, but there is still time for writing. All your support is appreciated!
But really, adding on the new content to the end of this chapter was some of the best parts. I feel like it adds a bit more sort of flow to the events that go on here. As always, feedback on revisions of old material are greatly appreciated for those who have the time!
If you're looking for more writing, though, I'm also participating in the Twelve Shots of Summer challenge! Either check it out and show some support, or even consider joining yourself!
The upcoming update status of this story is currently unknown, but it will come in due time. Thanks for your patience and please look forward to it!
[REWRITE POST] 061814