Exception

By: Aviantei

78. The Chapter with More Questions Than Answers tbh

Elizabeth didn't put pride in his ability to run away or anything, but he did feel rather confident in his ability to get out of tight spots when necessary. Part of that was in no small part a result of growing up with Cross Marian as your guardian stand-in, the man always managing to get into some piece of trouble or another with no regard to the kids he was supposed to be looking over. It was a miracle he was still allowed to have children under his care, but neither Elizabeth nor Allen were dead yet, so maybe that counted for something?

Point being, getting the hell out of the Noah party after being noticed wasn't supposed to be difficult.

So why the hell can I still hear someone following me?!

Now, Elizabeth was understanding enough to recognize that, yes, he deserved to kicked out. He'd been snooping around in places he shouldn't have, so that wasn't a matter of debate. It was just that the norm whenever such things happened was that whoever was after him would give up once he was off the premises, not still be in mad pursuit an entire block down the street!

And it doesn't even sound like they have any shoes on, either! Fam, are you okay?

The only rational solution seemed to keep going until his pursuer gave up, but Elizabeth had his physical limits to contend with, too. A good escape didn't always involve running, after all, and soon he was going to be at his limit, even with all the adrenaline kicking through his body. And all the while, those footsteps were getting closer and closer, a steady approach that would spell his doom.

This isn't fair! I'm too young and too cute to die!

If he had to go out, he'd imagined it being in a better place than running a stupid errand for Cross, and it also was supposed to make him out to be much more of a badass, holy shit. But despite Elizabeth running his little heart out, there was soon a hand grabbing onto his arm, signaling the en—

"Elizabeth, please calm down, it's me, Lenalee."

It took a blink and a few moments for Eli to process that name and voice—the last time he'd seen Lenalee, she'd been very, very small, after all—but that still wasn't enough to get him to stop. "Less explaining, more running!" he shouted, still very much aware there was every chance Jasdero would still be hot on his heels. He didn't know about the whole pool situation, after all, and he wasn't about to take any chances that wouldn't end in a good story.

Lenalee, though she was sure she'd need to lotion the heck out of her feet later, was good to keep pace, no issue. In fact, it was Elizabeth who ran out of breath first, stopped on a street corner and bent over himself to catch his breath. Lenalee even ran a few paces past him before realizing, and she slowed her pace and u-turned back to Elizabeth's side, who was having a little bit of a crisis.

I know Lenalee's still young, but I didn't think I was that out of shape. She doesn't even look out of breath!

But Elizabeth still remembered he had more pressing concerns, so he checked back over his shoulder, just in time to see the approaching trio of Ari, Road, and Tyki—two of which were known Noah, and thus people he couldn't stick around to put up with. That recognition set off a fresh round of panic, and he somehow mustered up the breath to shout, "You'll never take me alive!", though upon attempting to turn and run again, he just tripped over himself and fell onto the sidewalk. His chin was now scraped, but he'd managed to keep his glasses from getting crushed, so win, maybe?

Recognizing the issue, Lenalee rushed to say, "Elizabeth, it's alright!", though he was so far worked into a near crying panic that there was an immense about of doubt he even heard her. "Road and Tyki aren't the ones that are chasing you. They're on our side, so take a deep breath, okay?" Well, saying they were on the same side might've been an exaggeration, but Road had helped her out way more than necessary, and Tyki had that whole thing with Lavi going on, so it would be fine (maybe). Elizabeth followed instructions, managing a few gasping breaths to get oxygen flowing back to his brain and getting some of his mental faculties back. "There! That's better, isn't it?"

"Does your brother know you're hanging out with Noah?" Elizabeth asked as a joke, which made Lenalee freeze mid patting his shoulder. Elizabeth had enough sense of mind to recognize that meant Komui didn't even know she was here. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna snitch on ya. Kids your age gotta get into crazy shit sometimes." Besides, calling Lenalee out would just make Elizabeth a hypocrite, all things considered. "Oh, you've got Mini Bookman with you, too!"

"That's me!" Ari said as she approached, accepting the nickname with grace despite never been called that before nor having met Elizabeth before in her life. "You looked like you were up to something super interesting back there, though. Wanna be friends?"

Ari's standards for who to trust as a friend were different from mere mortals, but I think we all knew that already.

"I like your style, Mini Bookman—wait, hold on!" Elizabeth had almost gotten caught up in the flow of the moment, but the presence of Tyki and Road was throwing him off bigtime. "I super don't get what's going on here at all, since I've been so busy with…" A glance at the Noah once more caused Elizabeth to change tack. "…errands! Cross has been sending me on so many errands, I haven't even had time to catch all the way up with Allen, you know! How tragic is that?"

Both Ari and Road blinked in unison, though they were too distracted to notice the fact. "You know Allen-san?" Ari asked, while Road reassessed Elizabeth in a new light.

"Eh, he hasn't talked about me at all? I send him selfies all the time!" Elizabeth looked to Lenalee for backup, but she just offered a sad smile and a shake of the head. "Oh, he's so getting a noogie for that! We pretty much grew up together, and yet his friends don't even know who I am. Hmph."

While it was one thing for people like Ari and Road to get all pouty, Tyki couldn't help but get conflicted feelings from seeing a grown ass man do the same thing. Then again, it seemed that everyone he met was destined to be eccentric in one way or another, so maybe it was fate. "Well, I'm sure the boy will regret his actions if you chose to exact revenge," he said, causing Elizabeth to turn on him with a long look. "Regardless, if you don't want to risk Jasdero being pissed off enough to chase you all the way out here, we should find a place to get cover. Besides, we've got two soaked party members here, and we should dry them off before they catch something."

In the excitement, Lenalee and Road hadn't noticed, but now that someone had said something, a chill hit them both in the next instant. To everyone else, the night air was just at the perfect level to still be comfortable, but it was a different matter going from heated pool to a brisk jog outside of it. If Ivy were there, she might've offered Lenalee her jacket, but the party composition didn't allow for that whatsoever.

Road crossed her arms and tried to make the action look sassy rather than a desperate bid for some sort of warmth. "Well, I'd say the school, but staying there is just asking for crossing paths with Jasdevi." And while Road was willing to square up with the twins if need be, right now she just wanted a warm bath, some fuzzy clothes, and maybe some tea and plushy snuggles before bed. "And I doubt coming home to Lenalee's place is even close to a good idea."

Yeah, they could all agree Komui would not react well to the scenario at all, even without the added context of Lenalee having run away from home for a week. Tyki wondered if going to the Bookman's house would be any better—but Elizabeth was the first one to speak:

"Mrs. Anita's place is pretty close. Why don't we go there?"

Mrs. Anita turned out to be a very pretty and elegant woman who lived nearby with her just as pretty and elegant but a bit more muscular wife, Mahoja. Anita had inherited her mother's rather popular burlesque club, which simultaneously explained her wealth and how the hell she knew Cross Marian, which in further turn explained why Elizabeth knew about her in the first place.

"You always seem to have interesting adventures whenever you come to visit, Eli," Anita said, peering at the collective group that had turned up on her doorstep. The fact that she didn't bat an eye considering the later hour was a blessing for them, but it still seemed like she must've had nerves of steel to make that happen.

Elizabeth didn't seem surprised, though, so it seemed to be the norm, and he folded his arms behind his head. "Oh, you know how it goes. Any chance you could let us use the bath and camp out here for the night?"

"We have a deal if you promise to bring that guardian of yours here."

"I'll do my damn best since he's planning on staying in town for a while."

Oh, poor Allen, Ari thought, having heard enough about Cross from the Brit to know this would be a very stressful event overall for him. And then she latched onto the sight of Lenalee, whose face had turned a very impressive shade of red upon looking at Anita. "Hm, hm? Lenalee-san, you're not catching a cold, are you?" she asked, knowing full well that wasn't the case at all.

"Hush!" Lenalee whisper-shouted, trying to keep herself calm after seeing a pretty older lady that was very much her type. It wasn't working out well. Ari snickered, but she wasn't about to let it go. Lenalee hanging out with Road was a technical violation of their alliance, and while Ari wasn't upset, it seemed as good a reason as any to embarrass her friend, and thus started poking Lenalee in the side in vengeance.

"Good news!" Elizabeth called, having finished her conversation with Anita in the meanwhile. "Mrs. Anita's all good with us staying the night, and you guys can use the bath, too! It's an eastern style one, so if you wanna go in at once, that's all good, and we'll get you some clothes."

Ari's eyes lit up in an instant, despite being the one of the girls there that wasn't soaked through. "Yes, let's do it! Anita-san, are we following you? Come on, Lenalee-san, Road-san, let's get to it."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming…"

"Don't run, Ari-chan!"

And with the trio following in Anita's footsteps, that left Tyki and Elizabeth behind, the former feeling very out of place. Still, it didn't feel like they were out of the woods yet, so Tyki would stick around until he could ensure everyone was somewhere safe and sound. "Do you know if it's okay to smoke in here, or should I take it outside?" he asked, not wanting to piss off their hostess if he didn't need to.

What he found, however, was Elizabeth staring at him with a concentration way too intense for dealing with a relative stranger, and the question he asked seemed just as much out of left field for said circumstances:

"You wouldn't happen to be related to Neah D. Campbell, would you?"

When Ivy had grabbed Link's hand and ran for it, he'd known she'd been making the right call, so he didn't protest or fight, instead just following her lead. No matter what gap had grown between them, he'd always trust her when it came down to it. The fact that she was even willing to help him out after so long was enough to break down the rest of his defenses, and so he didn't bother to question her motivations or where she was taking him.

At heart, Ivy still cared about him, and that was enough.

I should've at least asked where we were going, though.

Sitting on the couch in the middle of Ivy's apartment, one Howard Link was experiencing a very particular version of regret.

It shouldn't have been awkward—the two of them had been foster kids together, had shared a room before. Hell, when they were very young, they'd sneak into each other's beds all the time, just to keep chatting until sleep overtook them. But at that precise moment, with the embarrassment of their two years of separation hanging over them, it was awkward, thank you very much!

Ivy—with her level stare and having dragged over her desk chair to sit across from him—wasn't helping matters.

"We're not at the party anymore," she said, keeping her tone matter of fact. Link knew well enough that meant she was trying as hard as she could not to let any of her true feelings on the matter slip. The problem was that he no longer felt like he had any sort of right to call her out on it. "Care to explain just what the hell you've been up to?"

If it were anyone else, Link would've outright refused to answer. He'd gotten used to being professional about things, gotten used to not opening up to anyone when protocol demanded it. Even telling Ivy was something he shouldn't do, if he were being technical, but—and he could already her Lvellie sighing from here—it was Ivy.

She deserved some sort of explanation as to why they'd crossed paths in such a place, making for the worst possible reunion Link could even imagine. Part of him wanted to make that up to her.

The other part of him wanted to assure her that everything was okay.

So he took a deep breath and sat up straighter, crossing his legs and folding his hands over a knee. "Right now, I'm acting as Lvellie's apprentice," he said, keeping a close eye on Ivy to see her reaction. She betrayed nothing, keeping her arms crossed and a frown on her face. "There's been some rumors that Millennium Private High School is attempting to infiltrate Black Order High and find a certain student."

"O…kay," Ivy said, trying not to sound like she thought that explained fucking nothing and seemed ridiculous to boot. Her efforts were in vain, seeing how well Link knew her, but he appreciated the gesture regardless. "So someone thinks that our dumb school rivalry is important enough to conduct literal espionage over. Cool. Great."

Thanks, I hate it.

"I'll admit I don't know all the details." Link was trying hard not to relax too much, but the whole situation still felt quite a bit like old times. "But at the moment, it's more of a data leakage concern. That's why the inspector and I are checking to see if there is any activity in that direction happening." And then, because he could tell that Ivy was about to ask, he added, "What's a better time to go snooping into someone else's house whenever you've been invited in and a bunch of other people are already there with you?"

It did have a certain logic to it, but Ivy couldn't help but press her lips together. Wasn't the whole point of separating herself from him that Link didn't have to go through any shit again? What was the point if his whole job now seemed to be running around, doing quasi-illegal activities? It had been a while since Ivy just wanted to straight-up scream, but damn was today being a good contender for that sort of thing. Too bad it was already her apartment's quiet hours, otherwise she would've.

I could still maybe kick Lvellie's teeth in the next time I see him, probation be damned.

But that was a choice to be made another day, and so Ivy let out a long exhale to try and steady herself. It did next to nothing, but you couldn't say she didn't try! "Okay, fine, whatever. It's not like me bitching at you will change what's already done." Link had already shown up at the party, and she'd already made him leave. You couldn't alter the past, no matter how much you wanted. As much as this fic was straining the confines of a romcom, it at least wasn't going to turn into a sci-fi thriller at the last minute! "Did you at least find something to make it worth the effort?"

Link nodded, tapping his hand to his pocket where the flash drive contained what he was looking for. He didn't pull it out to show her, but Ivy got the gist, nonetheless. "Not that I had much of a chance to look over it, because my job was to grab and go, but there was enough to confirm that we have a lead." Ivy felt curious, but she didn't ask, seeing as she already felt like she was pushing the bounds of what Link was allowed to tell her already. "If I'm right, it confirms what we already know. Though if you don't mind, since you go to Black Order High, now, maybe you could help me answer some questions?"

It was the first time since they'd started the conversation that Link sounded far more hesitant than confident, and it was a reminder of how he'd used to be when he was much, much younger. Between that and the fact that Ivy was tired, she didn't have much room to make a snarky comment about them talking about nothing but his job the entire time despite not seeing each other for ages. "I can't guarantee I'll know anything helpful, but that doesn't mean you can't ask."

"Thank you." Shit, he sounded genuine about it, too; Ivy was starting to worry she wouldn't be able to be mad at him when the time came. "In that case, it's okay if you don't, but do you happen to know anything about a student named Allen Walker?"

[Author's Notes]

One of the most fun parts about AUs for me is thinking of all the different ways you can parallel Canon events. So of course I am (very slowly) cooking something that has to do with Neah and Mana and Allen (and wish me luck because making something like that work in a high school AU when we don't know all the canon answers is a time).

Thank you very much for the 2k hits on AO3! I'm always glad to know people are reading my work, even if it's just for a moment.

One more reminder from me to check out [Twelve Shots of Summer]. The main time for the challenge is done, but some of us are still sneaking in entries before summer is gone in full, so do go support the community. Chronic Guardian has been doing a banger job at finishing up all the prompts, and his works are always enjoyable, so that's my vote!

Next Time: "79. Where to Go Next." Please look forward to it!

-Avi

[31 August 2024]