Exception

By: Aviantei

23. Uproar

That evening, Millennial was in a silent uproar.

There weren't any troubles with the guests, so that wasn't the issue. The issue is that they had in intruder, and no one could seem to find him. Lero felt most of the stress, being that he was the maître d' for the evening, and that he would have to be the one to explain why someone with such bright hair had managed to avoid his staff long enough to sneak into a currently unused wine cabinet and not be found even once he was discovered.

What the teenager had wanted was beyond Lero's span of comprehension, but it couldn't have been good.

"What, you still can't find him?" a voice criticized, and Lero visibly flinched. A few of the other waiters had been reporting to him before, but now they had disappeared. No one wanted to be on the bad side of the girl approaching, but Lero didn't have much of a choice. "How hard can it be to find someone in your own restaurant? At this rate, he'll have run away by now."

The girl came to a stop in front of Lero, arms crossed and incredibly intimidating besides being hardly half the man's height. Road Kamelot, daughter of Millennial's manager, and with the attitude to match. She could have been cute if it weren't for how nasty her attitude was, with her penchant for frilly dresses and mussed up hair she had managed to tame into spikes from its usual frizzy mess.

Road's foot tapped against the wood floor, reminding Lero that he should probably say something.

"We're looking everywhere we can, lero!" the man exclaimed. He hated talking to Road when she was like this. His voice went up at least several octaves. "I promise that we'll find him, no matter what. You should go back to your dinner, Mistress Road, lero!"

Road rolled her eyes. "I don't want to," she said. "These 'family' dinners get so boring. And Tyki already bailed, so there's no one to talk to. Oh, I know!" The only thing that could make Lero feel worse about the exclamation was the smile that followed. "I'll help you guys out. I'm much better at hide and seek than you are, Lero. If I catch him, you have to play a punishment game alright?"

Lero gulped, though it sounded much more audible to him. Road was a master at hide and seek, and she had made him play the game with her plenty of times. Though she was nearing her teens now, she had been similarly nasty as a child, and her punishment "games" never went well.

In other words, when it came to hide and seek, Lero always lost.

"That won't do, lero," he stammered, waving his hands in front of him. It was probably a good thing they were out of sight of any customers. No need to make himself a fool in front of more people than necessary. Maybe that was why his subordinates had bailed. "You need to go back to dinner, Mistress Road, if your father or the Director hears that I—"

But Road was already gone, humming to herself as she walked through Millennial. She knew the layout by heart, so it was easy to guess where someone could be hiding. She had even played here during the off hours more than a few times, so it was easy to think of. The only question was about how smart her new playmate was. That would start things off.

Then again, I heard he got into a wine cabinet without anyone noticing…maybe this will actually be fun.

She started out simple, patrolling the areas. She walked with enough confidence that none of the guests questioned her presence, and all the staff paused to give short bows before returning to their work. One obvious tactic was hiding in plain sight, so Road planned to check out all the tables first.

There wasn't much luck until she spotted a head of red hair sitting at one of the tables, and she smirked. Things really couldn't be this easy, could they? Oh, well. Road walked in their direction, making sure to keep an innocent smile on her face. This way, she could catch them even more off guard, and it would be easy to take care of things.

As she got closer, though, the redhead she found was a girl. Road's initial reaction was to suspect crossdressing, but the girl's body proportions were completely off from the description Lero had given, and Road didn't think any intruder could compress their height that much.

So, it was a bust, then. Good, that meant the game would be interesting.

Before she moved on, though, Road walked past the table for good measure, just to make sure. Across from the redheaded girl (definitely, there was no doubt about it now) was a white-haired boy that Road hadn't seen before. Most customers at Millennial were regulars, but Road definitely would have remembered him. White hair, a thin scar down his face, wide but adorable gray eyes…he was a definite knock out, ten out of ten, even while practically inhaling the dessert in front of him.

Road skipped forward, keeping note of their table for later reference. If this game with the intruder didn't pan out, she at least had something else to look forward to when she was done.

Ivy sat at the table fuming while Kanda went to check out the bathroom. Lavi was as cryptic as ever, and that only annoyed her more. Okay, she got that things were probably bad given how jumbled some of his words were to the point that autocorrect hadn't fixed them, but still, some details would have been nice. Translated as best as she could, Ivy could determine the following:

[Mission compromised. Rabbit has been found. Currently taking refuge in bathroom. Requesting reinforcements.]

That's what she had to work with.

"Fucking seriously," she grumbled.

Ivy had her reservations about sending Kanda to go and check on Lavi in the restroom. The more peaceful side of her was worried that Kanda would go through on his threat to snap the redhead's neck, and things might get a little messy. On the other hand, her irritation made her wish that she could have gone and done the act herself.

It's not like I can just waltz into the men's restroom anyways…Well, I could, but that would just make things worse. Don't need anyone else on our heels.

Still, just sitting around and waiting just wasn't her style. Kanda might be gone for a while, too, if the more violent of routes was taking. Ivy needed to be able to gather up information, and she needed to be able to get it done and out of the way quickly, especially since their waitress for the night would be back with dessert and presumably the bill as well.

Then maybe the waitress…

Ivy looked around. While she had been able to keep an eye on Allen and Ari throughout the night, her and Kanda's table had been pretty secluded near one of the walls. If something happened at the right angle, no one would notice as long as it was quiet. Part of Ivy hesitated, knowing there could be consequences, but this would be the easiest way to do things without causing suspicion.

She ducked under the table, looking around quickly. It was some serious craftsmanship, but she didn't have time to feel guilty. This was war, no holds barred. If this didn't work, she'd be sure to take a part of the table with her so she could bash Lavi's head in with it.

Maybe still carrying her supplies along was a good thing.

It took maybe two minutes for Ivy to mess with the support on the table, and then she returned to her seat, smoothing out her hair. Their waitress hadn't returned yet, so Ivy focused on looking casual. It had been too long since she had done something like that, and she was a bit wary, but the table held steady, She just couldn't take any sudden movements.

"Alright, one dessert for you two!" The woman's—Sachiko, was it?—chipper voice said, baring a tray. Ivy took a silent inhale, trying to keep focused. Timing and visuals were crucial. Taking one last glance around—no one to see—Ivy watched as Sachiko placed the plate on the table, perfectly in the center.

Don't tip it until it's over…!

It had been a while, but muscle memory made it easy to grab onto Sachiko's arm, pulling the small woman closer to Ivy and against the wall, mouth covered. Ivy let out a couple of shaky breaths, but the tray clattering against the floor didn't bring any attention. She smiled a bit, but that moment was quickly ruined by the realization that Sachiko was taller than her.

Oh, get over yourself.

"Hey, I heard there's some trouble going on here," Ivy said, keeping her voice quiet but cheery. Just because this was a bit old school of her, there was no need to go into full intimidation mode. Sachiko was already shaking under her grip, and that was enough. "I'm sorry for causing trouble like this, but you see, the guy that's running around like a moron, I think you saw him sneak out the side door, didn't you? You tried to chase after him, but you just missed him, right? And you're such a good waitress, you couldn't follow him when you heard a crash in your section, right?"

"A-a crash?" Sachiko squeaked out. Good, stammering. That meant it was working.

"Yeah, a crash," Ivy repeated, her voice calmer than she felt. This had to go fast, before someone passed by. "It's a shame about the table. Lucky we didn't get hurt." Sachiko tried to look back, and Ivy let her go as far as she could move. The table was still standing, but that was really just a temporary thing. "I think we deserve a reimbursement for that one, don't you, Sachiko-san?"

"I-I understand."

Sachiko felt like crying. Ivy felt bad about it, but it was too late to back down. She'd make sure the girl got an excellent tip (courtesy of Lavi, of course), but for now Ivy couldn't get distracted. "That's good." Ivy smiled and let Sachiko go, spinning her away from the wall like a dance move. "Now if you don't mind, we'll take that dessert to go, please."

Sachiko scrambled off, missing the plate left on the table. Ivy watched the waitress go and stepped away from her seat, arms crossed over her chest. Hopefully the staff would believe Sachiko, and that would be that. Hell, Allen would even have less money to fork up in the end. Ivy sighed as she noticed Kanda approaching, glad there was something to distract herself with. "What's the deal?" she asked.

Kanda let out a heavy breath. Ivy stopped him from sitting down, but he didn't seem to be in the right mood to question it. Well, he would understand soon enough. "Damn rabbit's nowhere to be found," he reported. "Did you get another text from him or something?"

"No, but I just did him a huge favor," Ivy reluctantly admitted. This time Kanda did give her a questioning look. "I'd rather not talk about it. Nobody should be looking for him anymore, so I don't care. Sachiko-san should be back soon with dessert and we can bail."

Kanda frowned a bit. "Something happen?" he asked. Ivy shrugged. Their waitress came into view, and Ivy bumped her hip against the table, sending the whole thing down with a crash. Kanda blinked, staring at the mess. At least there weren't many dishes left, but it was a disaster, and that tablecloth didn't take too well to food coloring and juice. "Did you do that?"

Huh, Kanda actually looked impressed. Ivy smiled a bit. "Maybe," she allowed, heading in Sachiko's direction. She accepted the bag with their dessert and was informed that their bill for the evening had been waived. Ivy turned back to Kanda and reached for his hand. He took it, and they walked towards the exit together, careful to not cross Ari and Allen's path. "Wanna study for that physics test tomorrow?"

Okay, yes, Lavi was missing. But to get into that, we need to have a little flashback.

Lavi had managed to escape Pumpkin Face by walking swiftly for several feet, acting like he belonged here, ignoring any calls, and eventually catapulting himself around and over a medium-sized water fixture nearby. He had stuck the landing on that one, and Pumpkin Face had been so baffled that he hadn't been able to follow. Lavi managed to stick to blind spots after that—who knew being so tall made this stuff so hard—and escape to the bathroom with a minimum number of incidents, where he promptly locked himself in a stall and proceeded to text Ivy the situation.

Okay, maybe someone's dinner had been interrupted, but Lavi could deal with that.

He propped himself up between the stall walls, back on one end, feet pressed against the other. How much trouble could he get in for this one? While being in a restaurant without ordering anything was frowned upon, there wasn't anything wrong with it, at least not legally. The hard part was explaining why he was in a wine cabinet, but was that illegal? He couldn't think of any laws that lead to that effect, but still.

Lavi sighed. Even if that was the case, good luck convincing the owner of the place. Someone with the money it took to run Millennial could probably make consequences appear all on their own.

Well, there was no point in holing up in the restroom all night. Lavi was frankly surprised they hadn't checked there already. He dropped his feet to the ground and flushed the toilet for good measure before stepping out of the stall, heading for the sink. Maybe he could try and contact Ivy again, see if they could make up a plan together.

"You certainly look worried."

Lavi almost jumped at the voice even though its owner hadn't appeared out of thin air or anything so miraculous. He just genuinely hadn't expected anyone to talk to him. Lavi headed to the sink, doing a quick observation of the other guy. Tall, tan skinned, dark hair, in a nice suit with the collar open, plus a few extra buttons to measure. Lavi blinked, breaking his stare.

"I'm saying you look out of it," the other guy continued. "Are you alright?"

Lavi chuckled, trying to play it cool as he lathered soap in between his fingers. "Yeah, this night just didn't go the way I expected," he said. In any sense of the word. At least it looked like Ari and Allen had been having fun.

The other man hummed in agreement, pushing back his hair. "Bad date?"

Lavi grimaced. "Not…exactly…" How else was he supposed to respond to that? He chewed on his tongue a bit, rinsing away the soap. Well, rabbits could be social animals, at least Lavi was. Might as well keep it going. "You look like you've been having a rough night yourself there, buddy." Not as harried as Lavi by a long shot, as the mirror insisted on showing him, but the other guy looked kind of bored, if not disgruntled. The water turned off on its own, and the sensor triggered as Lavi ran his hands under the dryer.

"Just a boring family affair, that's all," the other guy said. He exhaled, rolling his sleeves back down. "Though I have to thank you. After all, you caused quite the commotion and gave me an escape. I really do appreciate it."

Lavi froze, the sound of the dryer echoing in the bathroom. Shit, shit, not good. He had been busted. Whoever this was knew that he wasn't supposed to be here, and that could only end in Lavi getting in serious trouble. He slowly pulled his hands back, trying to remember how far the bathroom was from the entrance and trying to figure out if he could make a run for it.

The other guy chuckled, breaking Lavi's concentration. Dammit, why was he so distracting? "Easy there," the other guy said. "I really am grateful, so why don't I help you out here? There's a side exit that's for employees that I could show you, too. How's that sound, Red?"

Red? Was this guy serious? This could be a trap, but Lavi didn't have many more quiet options. At this rate, he and Ivy were going to have to run a crazy chase sequence, and Kanda wouldn't appreciate that. It was either take the chance at maybe getting grilled by the owner, or getting murdered by Kanda Yu in the next twenty-four hours (probably less).

Lavi chose life.

"My name's Lavi," he said. If this was a trap, they were gonna find out anyway. He just needed to get over it. "If you're serious about helping me, I'd really, really appreciate it."

The other guy smiled and fixed up his jacket. He left his shirt unbuttoned, though. "Ah, then it's nice to meet you, Lavi. You can call me Tyki." Well, that was an unusual name, but Lavi couldn't really talk. "Let's get you out of here, shall we?"

Lavi nodded and followed. His insides felt nervous, but his instincts weren't throwing up red flags, so things should be okay. He walked with confidence, and no one so much as blinked when Tyki walked towards an employee area like it was nothing. Lavi did his best to hide in the other guy's shadow until they were safely outside. Well, no waiting ambush. That was a positive.

"And here you go," Tyki said. "I won't ask what you were doing hiding in a wine cabinet, but maybe that's a story you can tell me another time?" He reached into his jacket and produced a cigarette, quickly lighting it up with a long drag. Lavi raised an eyebrow, and Tyki chuckled. "It was a joke. Unless you were interested in seeing me again?"

Lavi rolled his eye, too glad he had escaped unscathed to worry about the remark. "Whatever, man," he said. Tyki offered him a cigarette, but Lavi declined. "Seriously, though, thanks. I should probably get out of here before your hard work goes to waste. Thanks again!"

Lavi headed towards his car. He should probably send a text to Ivy, letting her know things were clear, but that could wait until he was certain he was. He would have also liked to check on Ari and Allen one last time, but Ari would be a good enough indicator of that until TRIangular could meet again. Lavi pulled away from Millennial, waving to Tyki in the shadow of the building, the red point of the cigarette floating mindlessly in the air.

The smell of his cologne was still in Lavi's nostrils.

"Eh, that's no fun."

Sachiko could feel herself panicking. She wanted to run away, mainly because this lie was enough on her nerves, never mind what had happened to the table. She'd never seen one fall apart so smoothly, like its part were never even stable in the first place. She could have laughed if she wasn't ready to cry.

"I can't believe he just ran away like that."

Lero was in a similar mood, but he was also relieved. While he hadn't won Road's challenge, he also hadn't technically lost it, either. He was safe for now, though Road was sure to come up with another game soon enough. That was just how she was, after all. Let him have his current moment.

"And that white-haired guy's gone, too." Road pouted, sitting down at an empty table and propping her chin up on her fist. She had taken too long in hunting around, and had completely missed when he had left. "This night's just a bust. I thought I'd be able to have some fun, but I guess not. And Tyki's still missing…"

The two staff members watched on, both praying for a dismissal. There wasn't much left for them to do, unless Road acted on a whim. Both of them could seriously use some time to relax, and it couldn't come soon enough.

Road heaved a sigh, slumping over. No one questioned her positon. She reached out to the book sitting on the table, flipping through the pages. The reservation booklet should have still been up front for the last of the evening, but none of the staff had enough guts to question why Road would want it in the first place. "Ah, here we go. Ms. Ari Bookman and Mr. Allen Walker at seven-thirty PM. No doubt about it."

Road giggled, the high pitch enough to send a shiver up her spine. Not even Sachiko could find that cute. Both waiter and waitress backed up slowly—really, it was better for their sanity to get out of there.

"I'm definitely looking forward to meeting you…"

"Allen-san, thanks for going out with me," Ari said. Though tradition indicated that Allen should have been the one to drop Ari off at her door, she was paying for the taxi, so that had to be subverted. Really, Allen was just glad that nothing crazy had happened on the date, even with Lavi being there. He'd accept whatever happened at this point.

"You don't have to thank me," Allen said, smiling. "I had a great time." And, really, he had. The food was great, and while Ari was a little quirky, she was fun to be around. He still felt bad about the bill, though, even when she insisted it was okay. He'd have to find a way to thank her for it, sometimes.

"I really mean it, though." Ari reached for his fingers and squeezed. "You probably don't think so, but you made me feel like I was everything to you, even though I'm not. This was the sort of night I wanted, so…thanks a bunch."

And Ari tugged on Allen's lapels, standing on her tiptoes to kiss him.

Allen blushed and covered his mouth when Ari pulled away. She giggled, looking incredibly pleased with herself. Allen just looked like he was going to explode, and that was okay, too. She smoothed out the wrinkles in Allen's jacket for him and took a few steps back.

"I don't mind waiting for an answer," Ari said, smiling ad brightly as ever, "but just promise to think about what I said, okay?"

And Ari bolted back to the taxi, almost slamming the door shut and leaving Allen alone on the sidewalk.

Well, he certainly had a lot to think about, that was for sure.

(screams because I've had a super long frustrating day but I'm posting on Saturday, so this so totally still counts!)

Thanks to theyoungelite and djcasteleijn for your favorites and follows! I'm sure this update came a bit later than you expected, but it's here now! Perhaps you can enjoy it on your Sunday instead~.

Getting all the timings on these sequences right is pretty hard. Hopefully the next date's sequences come out better, though I guess these aren't so bad. Hopefully it was enough to make you chuckle. Or smile even.

Alright I've got a drawing to finish up before midnight, so I'll cut this off here. See you guys next week!

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