Exception
By: Aviantei
30. Myriad Madness: Confrontation
"Um, I'm sorry?"
Tyki took a moment to reassess the situation. After further consideration, the person in front of him was definitely not Lavi, though she bore a striking resemblance. She was shorter, too, which only made Tyki question his assumption even more. Maybe all that time hanging around Road and her obsessive tendencies had made him less than stable today. It was probably a good thing he had left her to her stalking tendencies in favor of getting some time to himself.
Well, maybe not so good for Allen Walker and the girl with him, but that wasn't Tyki's concern, now was it? Not until something went wrong, and even then, the Director could take care of any trouble easily.
"Um, Ari?" The boy with poofy hair and glasses spoke up, sounding nervous. Even through the boy's lenses, Tyki could tell he was looking back and forth, trying to get a handle on the situation. Well, it had certainly been a while since Tyki had made someone this nervous.
"I don't know him," the girl said flatly. Her curiosity was gone from earlier, now replaced with a sort of caution. Tyki wasn't quite sure how to handle that; sure, she was presumably a Black Order student, but it wasn't like he was wearing anything to do with his school today. Hell, he had even taken on his "casual" look to avoid suspicion, unlike Road who was decked out in frills and candy. "I think you've mistaken me for someone else."
Tyki put on his best smile, trying to keep it friendly. The twins spent most of their time teasing him about how "sinister" he could look at times, which frankly wasn't the goal, in this situation or ever. "Sorry, I made an assumption," he said. His words came out accented. Probably some variation of Spanish, though Ari couldn't be certain with so few words. It couldn't stand up against Allen's own, though. The Brit's accent was perfection. "I didn't think there were that many people with that shade of hair around here."
While Tyki had seen a number of strange things in his life, that shade of red was completely out of the usual question. Still, neither Lavi nor this girl had any of the signs of dye damage, so it was probably natural. Even Road's dark curls, which bordered on pure indigo, weren't as eye catching. Then again, for them to have the same hair color…
"You know my brother then," Ari concluded. Oh ho? That was definitely interesting if it were true; Lavi hadn't struck Tyki as the older brother type. Maybe he was the less mature of the pair. "Sorry, but if you're looking for him, he's busy being a complete moron, so I suggest you wait." She tilted her head, trying to see if this guy was familiar at all.
"You know Lavi-san?" Johnny said, and Tyki gave him a bit more attention. Johnny tried not to balk under the sudden gaze, but things were getting a bit tricky at this point. Johnny was generally more social, but something about Ari's attitude gave him a bad feeling. Still, he tried to play it casually as possible. "Man, you guys seem to know someone everywhere, huh?"
"I don't recognize you." Ari easily destroyed any facsimile of casual conversation, bringing Johnny's awkward laugh to a halt. Tyki's eyebrows raised without his permission—this girl was sharp. "You don't go to school with us." Memorizing names and faces was nothing when you had been absorbing information from before you could hardly walk. "Where are you from, exactly?"
"I'm afraid I'm just visiting the area," Tyki said, pulling off a lie with zero qualms. It wasn't completely false, anyways; he hardly came to this mall, and it was only at Road's ridiculous request. How much longer did she plan to keep this up? He had better ways to spend the weekend. "I only met your brother in passing, sorry. I won't be here much longer, so I was hoping that maybe I could see him again."
Ari's hand twitched, but she hid it well. He had avoided the question. That only settled it: this guy was suspicious. Cataloguing his face under her "troublemakers" category, Ari made sure to remember as much about him as she could. "Yeah, too bad…"
"Hey, Ari," Johnny intervened. If this situation got any worse he was going to be wishing to be on the receiving end of one of Komui's experiments, and that was a fate worse than death. Many science club members could attest to that. "Weren't we gotta get going? We don't wanna get stuck out here if the snow gets bad."
"You're right." Ari turned away from the stranger, still watching him out of the corner of her eye. If she hadn't needed a book before (and when didn't she?), she certainly needed one now. "Hope you get to see Nii-san some other time." Well, at that passive aggression with Lenalee had to be useful somewhere else.
And Tyki watched them go, certain that there was a way to make this more than interesting.
After a couple of hours in the mall, the girl had finally been able to pick out a dress and was heading to the counter with it. Road only noticed because Allen was with her, and he had that blissful smile on his face. In all reality, Road couldn't care less about what they were doing together, but she wouldn't mind tearing up something right about now. It had been a while since she had been able to mess with someone outside the school, and this would feel all the more satisfying.
The girl with the curls in her hair seemed to cheer something excitedly, and even gratefully hugged Allen's arm. Road twitched, nearly biting her sucker in half. Oh, gag me. There was only so much cute that Road could stand to deal with, and even this was a bit too much. Besides, seeing someone else get that close to him…
I can wait until they leave the store. I'm sure she doesn't need that dress that badly.
Road sat by on the bench outside the door. Allen and his date eventually exited, the girl saying she could wait to shop for the rest either, that she had taken up enough of Allen's time already. That was exactly right by Road's standards, but that also meant Allen would be leaving soon. Oh well, Road could handle not talking to him today if she could pull off a bit of sabotage in its place.
Man, Tyki was going to regret leaving her alone today. He hadn't even noticed she had brought scissors along with her.
The crowds had thinned out as the day wore on, but there were still plenty of people out and about. It would be easy to blend in with everyone else, plus Road's height did have its advantages at sometimes. No one would even notice her. Following closely behind Allen and his tagalong, Road reached for her scissors, trying to find the best place to cut inside the bag without catching Allen's notice.
"I knew you were trouble."
A hand came down on Road's shoulder, and she spun around to retaliate, expecting Tyki. She struck out with the scissors, but the girl she found instead easily dodged. This one was different than Allen's date, with brown hair and a plain looking face. Her expression was irritable, to say the least, and Road glowered before checking to see where Allen had gone.
"And where the fuck do you think you're going?" Ivy asked. Okay, the scissors were a bit more than she bargained for, but she had handled worse. Whoever this wannabe goth chick was, she was dangerous for being such a squirt. Looks like her instincts had been right. "Hey, spill. You've been following them all day." Ivy had thought it was coincidence at first, but the more and more she had seen the girl, the more suspicious she got.
"Yeah, well so have you," Road retorted, not losing a beat. She crossed her arms, bouncing the lollipop between her fingers, scissors still in her other hand. At this rate, Allen was going to be out of sight, and then Road wouldn't be getting anything she wanted. This wouldn't bode well for Lero when it came down to it.
Ivy scoffed. "Sure, but you look suspicious as fuck." True enough that Ivy didn't exactly pay attention to a lot of people, but she'd never seen someone like this before. What the hell was her deal? "Those two are my friends, and like hell I'm gonna let you just get behind them with some scissors and do whatever you want."
"What, these?" Road twirled the offending object around one of her fingers for a bit, stopping the motion with a snip of the metal. Comparatively, she hadn't been planning to do anything bad, but that didn't mean she had to play innocent. She probably wouldn't be believed anyway. "Oh, I bet you know what these can do to people, right? You look like the type."
It was a ruse and it worked magnificently. Ivy stiffened instantly, and Road smirked as the girl's expression darkened. Someone wasn't a happy camper, were they?
"Ivy-chan, where'd you run off to!" Suddenly, a newcomer descended, decked out in a hat and scarf. Tufts of red hair still managed to sneak out, and there was an eyepatch over his eye, and Road understood exactly what she needed to. "Sheesh, Allen and Lenalee are heading out, so we should, t—whoa, who's the loli with the scissors? Halloween was months ago, you dig? Unless it's cosplay, then nice job."
"Lavi, can you please not for five minutes?" Ivy could at least recover long enough to provide that retort.
This time Road was the one to stiffen, albeit she recovered faster. "I know you," she said, addressing the redhead. "You were at Millennial last week. And you ruined my record at hide and seek." Yes, Road was more than a bit bitter about that, and looking through the security footage hadn't yielded any results of where the redhead had gone. What a pain. "I don't know who you are, but I'll play with you later." In spades.
"You aren't gonna do shit," Ivy snapped. Ugh, she was tired of getting this worked up lately. She kind of wished Kanda were here, but he didn't need to get frustrated, either. Ivy took a step forward, easily towering over the smaller girl. Man, this was kind of empowering considering she just barely had any height on Lenalee or Allen. "You're gonna go back to whatever pastel hole you crawled out of and leave my friends alone."
Road grinned. Tyki wouldn't be happy with her "solution," but that was his fault for running off anyways. Served him right. "Oh, yeah, what're you gonna do about it?"
Ivy's eyes twitched, but that was the only giveaway. Her hand flashed inside her jacket, and she quickly pulled out what appeared to be a thin screwdriver. It didn't look like much, but Road knew she didn't want to be on the receiving end of that. This girl was fast, too, only making the situation more troublesome. Lavi was left to sidelines, not quite sure where all this had come from.
Maybe winter's just starting to get to everyone. Cabin fever or something.
"Ooh, scary," Road taunted, but Ivy's expression didn't waver. She looked dead serious at this point, and admittedly Road didn't have enough pieces to make this the ideal situation. Of course, that didn't mean she had to admit that. "But ultimately boring. I don't wanna play with someone who can't even keep up a poker face." Road shrugged, returning her scissors to her pocket and taking a step back. "I think I'm gonna go home. Allen's probably gone anyway…"
Ivy's immediate reaction was to think of it as a ruse. That would be the sane decision. But Road spun on her heel, sending her skirt airborne for a moment, and stalked off, lollipop secure behind her teeth. She even turned in the opposite direction that Allen and Lenalee had gone, just to make a point of it. There were more important things to, like find Tyki and ask a favor of the Director…
Ivy waited for a good moment before returning the screwdriver to the rest of her tools. It could have been a coincidence, but she didn't think so. Her instincts had tipped her off about the girl, and now she had an even worse feeling building up in her stomach and brain.
"Damn, Ivy-chan, that was scarier than normal."
"Oh shut it," Ivy snapped, before she realized now wasn't the time. She took a deep breath, zipping up her jacket. "Sorry. Let's just go home, okay?"
Her headache had been gone, but now it was back in full force.
The car ride home was just as peaceful as the one to the mall. Lenalee was a pretty decent driver, even with the snow, and pop music from the radio filled in any silence. All in all, today had gone exceptionally well, and Allen was starting to feel a whole less nervous about this endeavor. Then again, hindsight was always 20/20, though they weren't completely out of the woods yet.
After pretty much an entire afternoon with Allen all to herself, Lenalee was sure of it; Allen wasn't trying to mess with anyone. She didn't understand everything, but she did know that was the truth. She couldn't help but wonder though: wouldn't this whole situation be stressful? To have to keep what you were doing a secret?
And even beyond that, part of Lenalee still couldn't help but worry. So the only thing she could do about it was just go ahead and ask.
"Hey, Allen," she said, making sure to check on him out of the corner of her eye. Allen looked up from resting his head on his hand, perfectly at attention. Lenalee had to smile a bit at that. "Just curious but…when were you and Lavi gonna tell me about your plan?"
"Plan?" Allen echoed. He wasn't trying to play dumb; his voice easily jumped a pitch, and there was no way he could go and deny that. Of course, there wasn't much other point in lying, now was there? "Um, Lenalee, you wouldn't happen to mean…TRIangular would you?'
Lenalee let out a small laugh, quickly stifling the sound. "Is that what he's calling it?" she asked. Allen could only nod dumbly. "Well, I guess it's less of a mouthful than the SSGTIK was. Only Lavi could come up with stuff like that."
"Yeah…" Here, Allen was on the verge of his fifth potential heart attack for the week, and Lenalee was laughing like she didn't find this weird. "Um, how much do you know?" Ignorance was bliss after all. Maybe she was just being polite.
"Hm, I mostly understand the situation, more or less." Flashing a smile in Allen's direction, Lenalee turned down the street. Most of the snow had been plowed away by this point, but the world was still a murky off gray, barely lit up by the snow. "Lavi decided it would be nice to get you through this whole thing with me, you, and Ari, and one date with her and one date with me later, here we are."
Seriously, had she known the whole time? Had Allen said something to give it away? He fidgeted a bit in his seat, adjusting the safety belt. "Sorry about all this," he genuinely apologized. Allen had never meant for things to get this far. "I just wanted…I didn't realize either of you really felt that way and I wanted to try and maybe figure something out."
Lenalee tapped her fingers in time with the song on the radio. That was just like Allen, trying this for their sakes. Though Lenalee would have preferred a less convoluted series of events, this would have to do. Considering her group of friends, this was the best she was probably ever going to get.
"It's okay," she said, because in some messed up way, it was. It really was. "I know you're not trying to hurt either of us with this. You're just trying to do what you think is best." Part of Lenalee felt compelled to reach for Allen's hand, but she tightened them on the wheel instead.
The British boy let out a weak sounding chuckle, almost like a wheeze. "Like I could hurt you. Komui would hurt me first." Fatally, perhaps. There was a strong chance hurting Lenalee's feelings was the last thing some people would ever live to do.
"And don't forget Lavi!" Because Komui wasn't the only big brother hurting around in these parts. Sure, Lavi wouldn't be as…extreme as Komui, but Lenalee knew he wouldn't let anything awful happen to Ari, either.
"Yeah, thanks. Just what I needed." Despite the dose of sarcasm, Allen found that he wasn't as worried as he could (or arguable should) be. Lenalee flashed a thumbs up. "Still, you're surprisingly calm about this. Are you sure it's okay?"
Lenalee pursed her lips. There were still a lot of things bothering her, if she was to be completely honest. But in the end, there wasn't much she could do about it, not without skewing things in her absolute favor. "Is it the love story I imagined for myself?" Lenalee said, staring ahead at the road. "No. But does it involve me going on a date with possibly the cutest guy I've ever met in my life and standing a chance with him? Yes. And, really, at this point a chance is all I need." She flashed a grin, chancing proper eye contact. "Just you wait, Allen, I'll blow you away."
And Allen didn't doubt that for a second. When it came to Lenalee and Ari, there wasn't any way he could imagine getting out of this without being blown away. Several times, if necessary.
And here we go. The last chapter of the season. There were delays, but I managed to take Exception to chapter thirty, which is the most progress this series has seen in some time. I'm glad that this story has still managed to have people read it considering how long it's been inactive...
Thanks to Moonlite 880 for favoriting this story! It really makes my day when people find my work enjoyable, so thank you.
So with this, the updating comes to a close, but not the TRIangular arc. There's still more drama to come, and I will be trying to work on this story more over the upcoming year. Next fall I'll pick things up in full force again, and provide more weekly updates. In between, I'll be focusing on reviving some other old projects, but first up I'll be participating in [Shibuya Operation - Story Storm] with a bunch of talented writers! I'll be working on a story for Devil Survivor, titled I Go Around, so check it out if that's your thing. Long chapters, weekly updates (and a queue of four chapters at the moment)-what more can you ask for?
That being said thanks again to everyone who read this and checked it out this time. I hope to see you guys again.
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