The first two or three chapters.. maybe more.. will be somewhat short. I mean, it's not even 2000 words. That's... measly. Yeah... Sucks, doesn't it? But don't worry, I'm just trying to get these perspectives out of the way without revealing too much of my wonderful plotline.
To all the people who Alerted and reviewed to Perception, I give you my thanks, but I'm unable to continue that story. Sorry. I'm gonna say it right now. That story will stay up, but it's done for. Dead. Stagnant. Yeah.
It's Not All Black and White
Warnings: Uh, not much. Really. Nothing bad.. Just Kanda's temper, which speaks for itself.
Pairings: Yullen, some other side pairings. I'm thinking on Lavi/Linali...
This is Semi-AU, meaning that they're Exorcists (I need to get used to capitalizing that word.. XD), but the plot doesn't quite follow the anime/manga. In this case, the story kinda branches from manga, but not from where they are at the moment. I can't say anymore, for fear of revealing plot line. D: So, sorry.
Disclaimer: I don't own DGM. I don't own DGM. I don't own DGM. I don't-- you get the idea.
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Chapter 1: Yuu Kanda
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"Kanda-kun!"
Kanda eyebrow twitches at the overly exuberant voice coming from his golem. After a brief moment of silence, he ignores the call and returns to meditating.
"Kaanndaaaaa!!"
It's Linali this time, instead of her idiot brother, and Kanda is tempted to reply but, again, he ignores her. Of course, judging by the way things were going, if they were trying to prod a response out of him—
"Yuu-chan!"
Bingo.
Kanda grits his teeth and snatches the golem that fluttered about, projecting Lavi's annoying voice throughout the hall.
"Do not call me that. Ever." He snarls, gripping the golem tightly.
"Hiiiee—!"
"Kanda, nii-san has been trying to contact you for hours!"
"Really? Tch. Sorry, I hadn't noticed. I was too busy training."
"Kanda-kun! How dare you talk like that to my Linali-chan?! Just for that, I'm having you assigned to the newly recruited Exorcist for your next mission!"
Kanda rolls his eyes and slides on the black exorcist coat. He grabs Mugen and stalks out of the training hall without answering to the crazy scientist's rambling on and on.
"Yuu! Are you listening? Yuu-chan!"
Quickening his pace, Kanda storms past the Finders and other workers, a dark and gloomy cloud settling over his head and making itself comfortable. May God spare the idiot or anyone else who dared to approach Kanda when he was in a bad mood.
"Um, Mr. Kanda? Are you okay?"
God spare Miranda Lotto, who was idiotic and brave enough to do so. Her only reply was an icy glare that sent her into hysterics and she sobbed, cried, and said something about being useless and drowning herself in the nearest canal. Luckily (or not, Kanda's view), one of the finders was able to placate her before she took drastic actions.
Today was one of the few days Kanda had agreed to a break and he woke up early that morning to start training, stopping only for lunch. He would've liked to stay up all night as well to train in the dark, but his tired body would eventually compel him to sleep.
And now they were throwing him out with the newbie.
Joy.
"Yuu!!"
He barely restrains the need to break down the door to the science department in his irritation, lest Lavi take the chance to tease him about it one way or another. So, he settles for kicking it open and glaring at all the occupants until he finds the smiling idiot known as Lavi.
"I told you not to call me that, baka usagi!"
And Lavi was sent scuttling away to cower being Linali. "Don't kill me! I still have more wars to record!"
A foreign yet familiar laughter interrupts him in his mental tirade. Kanda rounds on whoever dared intrude on his plans to kill the red-head and was met with a patch of silvery white hair and metallic gray eyes, mouth stretched into a shy grin. A red scar ran down the side of his face from a dull red pentacle on his left temple.
A spark of familiarity flits through the gray orbs but disappeares before Kanda could make anything of it. He immediately decides that he didn't like this person and his silly smiles. He was just like the rabbit.
"Kanda-kun, don't stare so seriously at your partner! The mission will only last a few weeks, but you can take time to get acquainted along the way!" Komui announces happily, holding up a clipboard to fend off Kanda's glare.
"When are we leaving?"
"Tomorrow morning, 9 o'clock!"
"Right. I'll read the mission specs on the way there." Kanda grinds out, turning on his heel to exit, only to be stopped by the new kid.
"Wait!"
Slowly, Kanda faces the shorter man and resists the urge to snap back like he usually does.
"You're, um, Kanda, right?" That silly smile again, and a hand is stretched out. "I'm Allen Walker. Pleased to meet you."
At any other time, Kanda would have scoffed and stomped off with some snide remark, or no remark at all, but he couldn't help the words that slipped out, nor did he really understand their meaning.
"As if I'd shake hands with a cursed person like you."
Soft, collective gasps run through the room and Kanda finds himself wracking his mind for the reason behind his response.
"Cursed? What are you talking about, Yuu?" Lavi asks, a confused grin on his face. Linali has a sympathetic smile.
"Are you feeling okay, Kanda? Maybe you should get some rest…"
"The Gatekeeper said he was cursed." And Kanda is thinking that there really was something wrong with him, speaking out suddenly with no thought put into his words, and that maybe he really did need to rest.
Gatekeeper? Cursed? His golem had been silent all day, save when Komui contacted. He would've heard something if a cursed being tried to make it into the headquarters. Then again, he'd been training all day and had turned off the golem for peace and quiet.
A glance at Walker shows a rather curious look that flashes away into disbelief and worry.
"I-it's true that I may be a little cursed, but I'm otherwise a very superb human being!" he stammers, waving his hands dramatically in front of him. "Really!"
"Che. Whatever. I'm going to bed." It seemed he had his mind back, and he could say what he wanted. "Wake me up before the meeting time and I'll kill you." He adds for good measure and slams the door shut.
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"Aaahh… don't mind Yuu!" Lavi grins, patting Allen's back. "He's always like that, always!"
"I-is that so?" Allen laughs lightly, rubbing the back of his head. "He's scary…"
"Well, don't take it to heart, Allen-kun. Kanda must be tired and annoyed at us for disturbing his training. He rarely takes days off and likes to be left alone whenever he does."
"Yeah…" Allen smiles and makes to leave as well. "I think I'll go to bed, too. Good night, Linali, Lavi, Komui."
"Okay, get a good rest, Allen-kun!" Linali smiles back, waving as Allen leaves, nodding before he closes the door. And then Komui turns his attention to the red-headed Bookman Jr., eyes glinting dangerously behind his glasses.
"Now, Lavi-kun, explain to me why you were wandering around with Linali, alone?!"
"Gah! No! Stay away from me, you mad man!!"
"Mou, nii-san!"
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Stifling a yawn, Kanda slows his pace down to a walk, his mind wandering back to the white haired man who seemed so strange yet so familiar at the same time. As he passes the cafeteria, something compels him to pause and look in.
There was a boy, a younger version of.. Walker.. and he was talking to… himself?
Kanda stares. Allen Walker was talking to him, Yuu Kanda, but he's standing outside the cafeteria and yet inside at the same time.
"Let go of me, bean sprout."
When had he ever called Walker that?
"It's Allen."
"Ha, I'll remember it if you survive the first month. This place has a lot of people that drop like flies… just like these guys."
There's a pain in his right wrist, as though someone was gripping it tightly, and the Kanda in the cafeteria let go of the Finder he was strangling.
"That's why I said you shouldn't have said those words." Young Walker is standing up to him, surprisingly enough. Would the older one do the same? It would be more interesting, albeit more troublesome, if he did…
"I could make you die young… You're the type I hate."
"Well, thanks for that."
He doesn't remember ever saying those words to anyone, let alone Walker. Hell, he never even recalled that incident happening. The almost comical column of fire blazing behind the two suddenly went out and disappeared, including himself and the other Walker.
Rubbing his eyes, he walks away from the cafeteria and towards the training room. He'd end up thinking about that if he tried to sleep now.
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As the long-haired Asian exorcist rounds a corner, a pair of eyes follows silently. A Finder, hidden in the shadows of a pillar, watches as Kanda removes the exorcist coat and folds it up neatly, placing it against the wall along with his sword's sheath.
When he doesn't do anything other than sit down in the middle of the room with his eyes closed, the Finder reaches into a sleeve and pulls out a silvery golem, not unlike its black counterpart.
"He's in the training hall, sir."
"Oh? That's not a good thing… He'll tire himself out before the mission. And it won't work if he doesn't sleep!"
"…Sir, why don't we just kill him? He's already shown signs of—"
"No, no! We can't do that. He has to stay alive for the Earl's scenario to progress. Don't kill him."
"But, sir... he's so vulnerable… just one shot is all it'll take.."
A dry laugh comes from the other line. "Kanda won't die so easily. His lotus still has enough petals to rival a Level 4.. You're still in development. You don't stand a chance against him at the moment. Please don't do anything rash that will bring down the Order."
The Finder gazes at the still meditating exorcist and sighs discreetly. "The Order? I guess we're following their rules now, since the Earl is—"
"That's enough, Myria-san. Please, do get some rest and be ready for tomorrow. Kanda will sleep, eventually. I'd like you to check on the others though. Make sure they fall asleep."
"Of course."
"Good night, Myria-san."
"Good night, my lord."
The silver golem shimmers and falls silent, disappearing back into the Finder's sleeves. The Finder, loyal to the given orders, goes to check on the remaining exorcists before retiring for the night.
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SO. Like? No like?
Reviews are lovely. Flames are nice too, though they'll just be falling into the icy pits of hell known as Kanda's room.
Huh? You say they don't understand half of what I wrote, friend? Well, sor-RY for having such a big vocabulary. No really, if anything doesn't make sense, tell me, PM me, e-mail me, and I'll clarify it and edit the chapter. :)
This story will be "beta"d by my two closest friends not on , so until I lose contact with them, I won't be needing an official beta.
Edit (January 1, 2009): LOL. This fic was not finished on New Years, but I've kind of forgotten to edit this until now.
This fic does not have a dramatic ending or anything, but it does have a sequal that the authoress is still working on. This'll be updated again once the sequal is out. Anyway. This fic has been completed, but the plot is still ongoing, just so you don't get caught off guard at the end.
Edit (January 17, 2009): Fixed some grammatical errors/changed everything to present tense to match the later chapters. Might have missed something though, so just drop a line if you find ones that don't make sense.