神田 ユウ (
decaying) wrote in
onepassingnight2013-02-08 10:28 am
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
Entry tags:
❀ Fourth Illusion ❀ Kanda Yu
Kanda had been expecting some animosity on his return. No one really liked a traitor.
To his surprise, it had all been the exact opposite. The minute Kanda had walked through the main gates of the Chinese branch, he was greeted with sobs, tears, and exclamations about how he was never allowed to die or not!die the way he had again. Komui had taken him into his arms and Lenalee had sobbed and followed suite. After everyone was sure Kanda's hands couldn't reach for his sword he had been overrun by a dog pile. They told him he was home. Kanda knew better.
The only reason he had returned was because he had to. Being an exorcist meant he had to do what the innocence living inside of him wanted: kill akuma. If he went off that plan he would be corrupted and then he would become a fallen. He'd lose his mind and die in excruciating pain. Kanda had things to do before he decided to bite the dust.
I have someone to find...
After the scientists and the section leaders had their turn welcoming Kanda back, they left him to his own devices. He hadn't eaten in days so the first place he went to was Jerry's kitchen in the cafeteria. The guy was so annoyingly animated he figured it was going to take a lot of patience to deal with him. He hadn't even gotten near the cue line when he could all ready hear Jerry talking.
"Well if it isn't my new favorite General!" Several finders turned around and gave Kanda a hard look. "Where have you been? I've ordered all this soba and you haven't been here to eat it all."
Kanda gave him a weak smile and ordered his usual before sitting in the farthest corner away from everyone. He was a general now. No doubt about it.
To his surprise, it had all been the exact opposite. The minute Kanda had walked through the main gates of the Chinese branch, he was greeted with sobs, tears, and exclamations about how he was never allowed to die or not!die the way he had again. Komui had taken him into his arms and Lenalee had sobbed and followed suite. After everyone was sure Kanda's hands couldn't reach for his sword he had been overrun by a dog pile. They told him he was home. Kanda knew better.
The only reason he had returned was because he had to. Being an exorcist meant he had to do what the innocence living inside of him wanted: kill akuma. If he went off that plan he would be corrupted and then he would become a fallen. He'd lose his mind and die in excruciating pain. Kanda had things to do before he decided to bite the dust.
I have someone to find...
After the scientists and the section leaders had their turn welcoming Kanda back, they left him to his own devices. He hadn't eaten in days so the first place he went to was Jerry's kitchen in the cafeteria. The guy was so annoyingly animated he figured it was going to take a lot of patience to deal with him. He hadn't even gotten near the cue line when he could all ready hear Jerry talking.
"Well if it isn't my new favorite General!" Several finders turned around and gave Kanda a hard look. "Where have you been? I've ordered all this soba and you haven't been here to eat it all."
Kanda gave him a weak smile and ordered his usual before sitting in the farthest corner away from everyone. He was a general now. No doubt about it.
no subject
It was a day for celebration. Somehow, Mercury had apparently convinced Jerry to make her lunch to order, because there was a plate of tidy sandwiches, all different kinds, set in front of her. Crumbs suggested she'd already been nibbling at them. They were delicious.
As a matter of fact, no one seemed to be questioning her presence yet, if they'd noticed it, although the sailor-style uniform and blue hair were not calculated to blend in. She made a mental note to take surreptitious picture of an exorcist's uniform to store on her teletia-s.
"Should I say congratulations now?" she asked. She hadn't forgotten Kanda's determination to see this through, to be in a stronger position for his own goals. It was a motivation and drive and strong will she knew very well. She wanted to see him reach all those aspirations, too.
no subject
Exorcists were normally the ones that came to sit beside him but tonight, they were either out or they hadn't gotten the memo yet that Kanda was back. The seat beside him would normally be occupied by Lenalee. He turned his gaze and noticed her ordering her plate. She waved enthusiastically at him and Kanda just shrugged. He rubbed his shoulder. All her sobbing and clinging was going to leave him sore.
The spot in front of him was different. It held a lot of significant value but he knew better than to expect someone there. Lavi had been missing for months now. People said he was dead but Kanda knew better. The bastard just needed some decent rescuing and if no one was going to take the dive he sure as hell would. The more Noah he killed, the less could bother Allen. It was a win-win situation for everyone. All those thoughts unfortunately were interrupted by that voice.
It wasn't Lenalee's, he turned his head to look back at Jerry and she was chatting away with some finders. Of course the younger ones would flock about the only girl in the place. It wouldn't be Miranda, the voice hadn't stuttered. It was strong. Cheerful. Her voice.
"Ami?" It was then that he realized he should actually bother staring ahead of him and of course, it was her. She was there smiling in her beauty in this damp gloomy cave. Kanda should have been a little more excited to see her but he didn't like it. He had probably fallen asleep in the cafeteria again. He enjoyed dreaming about Ami but he would have preferred it if they were in her world. This place just wasn't good.
"Please tell me you got something other than all of that blue and short skirt to wear." The last thing he needed was people asking questions. Can you see how stressed he is about this?
no subject
At Kanda's insistence, however, Ami turned her head to scrutinize the people passing by, both exorcists and finders. She took out the cell phone she always seemed to carry, which Kanda had seen before. With a few subtle clicks when no one was paying attention, she had pictures stored on it of people dressed in uniform for both jobs.
"How about one of these?" She turned the display towards Kanda. She was strongly considering transforming right in the middle of the cafeteria. (It was amazing how much humans never managed to notice, really.)
no subject
"We need to get out of here, don't we?" He turned his head to Lenalee, she was trying to rip away from the crowd. Shit. They only had a few minutes now before she came towards the table.
no subject
First, she pressed the button, and a much more normal-looking Ami gave Kanda a sly smile before looking over her perfectly-fitted new outfit. (Why had she ever been unsure about using this? It was convenient.)
"Shall we go, then?" And for the sake of the eyes that might watch them, particularly Lenalee's, she indulged in the somewhat possessive gesture of taking his arm.
no subject
"K-Kanda, where are you-"
"I have a mission. I'll be back soon." He didn't even give her a second glance as she reached for his shoulder while he passed by. She had a worried look on her face and the look she gave Ami was that of confusion and worry. Poor Finder, Lenalee figured Kanda was going to go kill her but that was so unlike him- why were they holding hands?
He led Ami down a flight of stairs and away from the main floors until they were in a dark and damp corridor. He paused and turned to Ami, leaning in to steal a kiss.
"This isn't the place I wanted to see you."
no subject
"Are you saying you wanted to have your lunch alone instead?" she asked. Perhaps she shouldn't have been, but she was very certain the answer to that should be no. (No one truly wanted to be alone.)
Still, she knew what he meant. This was as if he'd suddenly shown up at one of her classes, or even at the hospital. He wouldn't be unwelcome, exactly, but it would be difficult. It could create questions.
no subject
"I'm sure if Central found out I was dating a girl from Mercury, they'd lock us both up in one of their dungeons and do who knows what to you." He tightened his grip on her hand and brought it up to his lips to kiss, his features going sad. Too many memories of this place and none of them were really positive.
"I should have known you would eventually show up here. You were always curious about the exorcists to begin with."
no subject
"Besides..." This was less quick to be spoken, not as easy. "I wanted to see where you live." And what he does in the time they don't see each other, so that when he crosses her mind - as he does, more often than she often thinks he should - she can tell herself what he is probably doing at that time.
no subject
"We're in the Chinese Branch of the Black Order Headquarters at the moment. It's been in existence for centuries. We're literally inside a mountain range and the headquarters go deep into the ground. There's places that are too hot for some and others too cold. It's a bottomless cave to say the least."
He led her upwards towards a landing that looked down upon one of the main research areas. There were people in lab-coats running around mountains of books all over the place. He paused, leaning against the stone railing as he pointed at the only different individual from the lot. He was wearing white but it was similar to an exorcist coat. He was standing in front of several projectors. For the 1800's, they sure had a lot of modern technology they were messing around with.
"That blond idiot there is Bak Chang, he's the supervisor of this branch. His family has been in charge of this branch since its founding. His grandfather was my teacher, Master Zu, he was the one who made my first sword as an anti-akuma weapon. His parents were..."
And he came to a pause as his thoughts were interrupted. Through the sea of white downstairs a blond girl decked in a red dress was walking gracefully through the scientists. No one seemed to notice her as she moved about the desks and tables of the group. A one point, a scientist walked right through her but that didn't make the illusion fade. Kanda pulled away from the railing and tugged on Ami.
"Let's go."
no subject
The research area was not at all what she would have expected, knowing Kanda's time and era. That alone was enough to impress her, and she could have happily spent days, or at the very least hours, questioning the scientists there.
Instead, something made Ami take a second look at the blond woman. "Wait," she said, as she shifted for a better glimpse. An instinctive wariness trickled through her. "Who is that?"
no subject
Kanda really didn't want to get into this. He didn't want to explain to her how Ami had taken that woman's place. How could he tell her about his past, it was confusing and he didn't want to put up with Ami's attitude knowing there was someone else. He tugged her again.
"Come on, don't just wait around and-"
But his brain was deceiving him. The girl was no longer downstairs but instead she was walking right behind them, her dress flowing as if she were walking through some invisible wind. Being this close, her laughter could be heard so feminine and soft. He closed his eyes. Kanda was getting pissed.
no subject
It was only worse when the woman appeared behind them. Ami's head turned sharply to the side, glancing behind her as much as she could by the movements. She didn't like being followed. Not by anyone. Certainly not by an unknown factor.
"She's a persistent nobody," she observed to Kanda.
no subject
As if to prove his point, she flickered away and disappeared leaving the hallway they were standing in rather vacant now that her bright colors had disappeared. Kanda turned his back to the spot and tugged on her hand slightly annoyed.
"Can you move it all ready?"
no subject
Wait. This all belonged to Kanda: his comrades, their base... this woman. Then she was seeing this vision through Kanda's own thoughts?
... or memories?
"What do you mean?" she asked quickly, but she let him lead her away with the apparition gone. She was far from eager to see a hallucination again.
no subject
He figured he might as well take her as gar as they could go before they reached shut doors. There were warning signs in different languages and even some pictures taped to the door alongside a few crosses. A lot of people died that day when Alma lost it. He tightened his grip on Ami.
"I used to be someone else, another exorcist. Eventually, they started noticing that they were losing more exorcists than they could possibly find. It's hard to find people who are compatible with the innocence so they figured they would make them by taking deceased exorcists and trying to replicate them. I'm.... probably somewhere still in there. My original body. All I have are those memories. They're not complete, I don't know a lot of things but I know that I died and that the woman was... she was mine." And it sounded terrible to say but he figured he shouldn't keep secrets.
"I don't know why or how, but she was. To me, she's just a ghost. I can't hate her because my memories won't let me, but she's not mine anymore. That's another life and it's not mine. I died but I'm here again. I have my own memories and my own feelings. You don't know how frustrating it is to live like this. It can drive you mad."
no subject
It was typical of her that instead of noting that first, she noted Kanda's words. His woman, a lover from a time before she'd even known him. Even she knew she couldn't begrudge him that, but... That woman was also haunting the halls of this place, where she could see him and he could see her!
Just a ghost, he said, dismissing the old feelings for the new. Logic told Ami it should be true: If he wanted to chase a ghost instead of her, the ghost was here to be caught. Instead, he was looking for her, Ami. She remembered him saying that.
Finally, after far too long to sort through these thoughts, and staying far too inscrutable in her expression, she spoke.
"It's the same for me." And as if those words released something holding the rest back, she said more. "I also have a past life, and memories that don't make sense to me. Those memories are the opposite of each other, and can't both be true."
She's had to choose which to believe and always, always the back of her mind wonders if she's chosen right. She doubts choosing the opposite would have erased that worry.
Ami let Kanda keep his tight grip, but her free hand came up to rest lightly on his, as if to ease that tension in his hold. As if to ease that confusion and frustration.
no subject
"It's hard to keep those memories back, but I want my own life." He pushed at the door and stepped in. The place was the same just as he remembered it. He led her onward towards the holding grounds where the hundreds of empty holes now ominously stood.
"I wasn't given a choice, I have to be an exorcist or else the innocence kills me. It sounds so stupidly tragic."
no subject
She wasn't given a choice, either. But what Kanda was saying was as if the power of her sailor crystal would rebound on her and kill her if she failed to follow that senshi life. She didn't find that story stupid, it was real; but most people would call it tragic.
There was only one thing she disagreed with him about, as she shook her head.
"I want to know," she said simply. "If there's a hidden part of me in my memories, I want to know what it is."
no subject
A nine year old shouldn't have to endure what being desperately in love felt like. A nine year old didn't have to endure the pain of death. It was unfair, no one deserved to be punished like this- to have something ripped from you and then reanimated. He felt fake, like a cheat. He was angry at the order for ruining his life but it wasn't all that bad now, was it? He had his own life and he wanted to keep it.
"What if what you find isn't what you wanted at all? I'm not saying people change for the best but I just think the past should stay in the past."
no subject
Kanda was right, though, she reflected. What little has come to her in those glimpses of flashbacks have been things she can't believe in, the smiling senshi and friendly girls; or things too horrific to leave her unchanged, a true Ragnarök. They weren't what she wanted at all. They left her confused, angry.
no subject
As soon as Kanda takes a seat, he looks at him for a long while, in silence. When he finally mutters.
"Congratulations."
But this time, his visor actually looks at him. He wanted to talk.
no subject
Kanda was definitely minding his business when he heard Cheif's voice. He turned his head slightly and of course, there was the armored asshole. He turned to look at the Finder's who were eying the green armor nervously. They must have thought the guy had a really weird parasitic-type innocence to be decked out in something like that. Kanda gave a grunt.
"What do you want."
no subject
"Ami."
He mutters. This time, the words have no threat or sarcasm. But concern.
"She picked you for a reason."
no subject
"How the hell am I supposed to know why she picked me?" He ended up responding, a little upset he had left his soba uneaten. "Were you hoping she would pick you or something? Is that why you've been such a pain in the ass?"
no subject
"I don't have the right to say who should she love."
John loved Ami. There was no doubt about it. She had every trait he admired in a person - in many of his personal dreams, he saw her in the same place as Cortana, Halsey, and his first mother. But there was a difference: He loved her as a daughter, and even he know of the mortality Mercury was devoid of.
"But I'm worried for her. I won't be there for her forever."
no subject
"I don't think your giving Ami enough credit." He switched feet leading the way somewhere deeper. They could still be over heard. For, the A.I. of this branch had a nasty knack of getting her nose into other people's business. The last thing they needed was someone figuring out there was something wrong.
"She didn't exactly need you before you came along. I'm sure she would have found her way someday. She's a strong woman and she's smart. I'm sure if there's something she doesn't like, she would handle it. Or kill it." A chuckle. "We have that in common, at least."
no subject
"I know she's strong."
She was one of the strongest people he had ever met. A mind as sharp as Halsey's.
"But no one should ever fight alone."
As strong as one can be. He already knows what is it like.
no subject
Kanda had been alone for all of his life. Being inhuman sort of gave you a bad reputation and his attitude towards the order that had created him and the world he had become a part of again hadn't made things any easier. Despite that, he had people who would do anything for him, he hadn't cherished that before but now he wasn't ignoring it.
"If you're trying to figure out what I would do for her, the answers anything. She's got a lot of enemies and I don't intend on having them hurt her. She's my woman. I'm won't live forever but I'd like to see someone try to kill me."
The exorcist project had made him invincible, of course. Unfortunately, he was running out of time if he hadn't quite run out of it yet. Kanda didn't matter, he had a reason to live now. He didn't feel like finishing his business and hitting a grave anymore. He needed to find her.
"But we don't have to worry about my mortality just yet. I need to find her first."
no subject
Especially their shared concerns. While they were mortals, they had survived many perils and many stars.
"I met her in a world that got the strongest of every universe. We've seen eachother a lot since then." Five years. In those years, Ami became the closest friend he ever had. "Some worlds have it easier. Others... they need more effort."
The fear of losing Ami as soon as he returned to his universe. Suddenly, he sympathizes with Kanda.
"She has a knack for finding others."
If she loves him, she will find him.
no subject
The thing that always annoyed him about that old Ami was the fact she let the world walk all over her. She was always complaining about the world being cruel to her and yet she never did anything about it. This one wasn't like that. Sure, sometimes Kanda felt she had her heart in the wrong place (ironic, hu?) but she was getting there. She just needed help. Too many years of hate did things to a person. He knew that.
"I don't know how I'll find her, our world's are so far apart but I will." And he gives him a nervous look. "... how else can I marry her."
no subject
It meant they had to protect her even more.
John turns to Kanda the second he hears the word 'marry'. For a full seven seconds, he says nothing while he looks at him. Kanda was serious. He wanted to be with Ami. What did it make him feel, he wasn't sure. He wanted a happy life for her, and that someone would bid his time alive to do so is the best that could ever happen to Ami.
That someone else was willing to bind himself for her sent many conflicting feelings in him.
After a moment of long silence, he states.
"You want to live with her."
no subject
John's reaction to his comment on wanting to marry her was probably normal. Most people didn't talk about that so lightly but to Kanda there was no point in hiding from John. Ami was his, they had made that official some time ago and through Kanda's traditions, he was supposed to marry her before doing the things they had done. Needless to say, Kanda knew since then that he was going to propose soon. He just preferred to do it in person.
"When people get married, they tend to live together. Do you understand that? It's why I need to find her, get out of my world and try and get to hers. I can't do that until I finish my work here but she knows that all ready. I won't die until I find my way to her world." Because he's confident there just has to be a way.
no subject
Kanda's desire. And his obligation to finish things in his world. With the awakening of the Didact, he knew it too well.
"Ami and I are world-jumpers."
A lonely fate, he grew to think about.
"Crossing worlds takes knowledge, technology... and luck." Always luck. "She hopped twice into my world, and she's been reading more into it. If you have a friend who would know about it... tell him of your dreams."
no subject
"Why are you interrogating me again? I told you, I'm serious about Ami. Isn't that enough?"
no subject
"What I want is her happiness."
Something he doesn't know if he will be able to give her.
"We don't open up easy." He turns to him. "But if he trusts you, and so do you... I will."
no subject
In his world, Kanda was probably the most difficult person to speak with. He hadn't exactly spoken very kindly to anyone but it wasn't because he didn't know how, he just didn't want to. He hated the Black Order, he despised what they made him so of course his spite would reflect his attitude, but when it came to hopping worlds, he couldn't blame anyone unless they were stupid. He was calmer.
"I don't know what your story is but I know hers and all I can say is that instead of thinking too much, you both should just live in the moment. Respond to what you feel. Don't think about what you're feeling or else that defeats the purpose."
To him there was no such thing as not knowing what you wanted or not knowing how to feel. He felt many things, mostly anger and hate, bt that didn't mean he couldn't feel happiness or love or trust just because he had never experienced it.
"She needs you in her life too though I'm sure she's never told you that," He knows because he's blunt and stubborn enough to ask her questions until she finds the answer," it's not that hard to tell her she means something to you too. Maybe if you both stopped thinking about it so much, you could make things better."
Just. You know. Don't take his woman or he'll sword you.
no subject
He only looks at Kanda as he calls Ami and John 'idiots'. Himself, he could accept it, as he learned there were ways of which he still needed to learn and mature; Ami was the most brilliant person he had ever known... only, perhaps, needing the maturity and protection Kanda and John wanted for her.
And it is the sentence that makes him think, once again, over things even Cortana has told him about in Requiem. Old words from Yuuko come back: Of not wasting his time alive.
People really should try to live their lives like they were actually were precious to them. And the world around them, too... It's so wasteful, really.
He lowers his head.
"I think I understand."