decaying: (❀ In wait)
神田 ユウ ([personal profile] decaying) wrote in [community profile] onepassingnight2013-02-08 10:28 am

❀ 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.
waterfell: (darkury ☿ animated)

[personal profile] waterfell 2013-02-09 12:01 pm (UTC)(link)
"Good afternoon, General!" Mercury's lips pulled back in a heightened smile as she tasted the title on her tongue. Her voice was breezy, and full of her enjoyment. She was casually seated at the same table with Kanda suddenly, though the chair had been empty a second ago. It was as if his thoughts had simply summoned her there. She acted as if she'd been there from the start.

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.

waterfell: (ami ♍ success)

[personal profile] waterfell 2013-02-09 02:30 pm (UTC)(link)
Ami didn't seem to mind her outfit any more than she seemed to dislike the damp, gloomy cave, which strongly resembled the damp, misty tunnels of the Dark Kingdom's own cave system. She was used to it. She would have liked to be in the center of attention like Lenalee, but seeing Kanda came first, even before something like that.

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.)
Edited 2013-02-09 14:32 (UTC)
waterfell: (ami ♍ go ahead! if you can)

[personal profile] waterfell 2013-02-09 02:52 pm (UTC)(link)
She didn't mind the crowd... but the thought of sharing Kanda's attention with his (cheerful, cute, well-liked) fellow exorcist was unpleasant. Mercury decided it would be best to agree with him.

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.
waterfell: (ami ♍ success)

[personal profile] waterfell 2013-02-10 02:03 pm (UTC)(link)
As soon as they reached the base of the stairs and privacy, Ami turned her face up towards Kanda, pleased at the little gesture - after a quick glance to make absolutely sure no one was watching this. This was different from her earlier message to the others who knew Kanda.

"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.
waterfell: (ami ♍ success)

[personal profile] waterfell 2013-02-10 02:20 pm (UTC)(link)
"They have power," Ami said, simply and honestly. "Of course I'm interested." Though considering she was not asking how she could have that power herself, evidently her interest was academic. She'd learned, as much as she craved it, that power had prices. And she'd learned from Kanda that this one was high.

"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.
Edited 2013-02-10 14:21 (UTC)
waterfell: (ami ♍ cold in the shadows)

[personal profile] waterfell 2013-02-10 03:36 pm (UTC)(link)
At first, she let herself be led. She was curious, and the location was as unusual and secluded as the Dark Kingdom had been. Her analogy of its caverns and foggy tunnels had been fitting.

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?"
Edited 2013-02-10 15:37 (UTC)
waterfell: (ami ♍ i don't believe in you anymore)

[personal profile] waterfell 2013-02-11 12:01 am (UTC)(link)
Unfortunately, Ami was a stubborn disposition, and a mind that wanted to know everything. The two combined meant she had no intention of simply ignoring the mystery of this woman (and what she was to Kanda).

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.
waterfell: (ami ♍ cold in the shadows)

[personal profile] waterfell 2013-02-11 04:13 am (UTC)(link)
Doesn't exist? "A hallucination?" This only made Ami halfway turn around again. How was she seeing a hallucination of someone she'd never seen before?

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.
waterfell: (ami ♍ don't look back)

[personal profile] waterfell 2013-02-11 11:28 am (UTC)(link)
Ami had been born like a human this time (that was also the princess' fault, her wish to have been born on Earth chaining all of them to this life), but she knew what it was to have a past life with strange, unwelcome memories that made no sense and that, frankly, gave her a headache.

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.
waterfell: (ami ♍ blank)

[personal profile] waterfell 2013-02-12 03:11 am (UTC)(link)
It was one of the things she remembered: Being told to become a senshi, and saying no. These days, it was easy to forget she changed her mind herself, and to focus only on the fact she'd been pushed into by circumstances, and lied to, just so they could have another soldier.

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."
Edited 2013-02-12 03:11 (UTC)
waterfell: (ami ♍ i don't believe in you anymore)

[personal profile] waterfell 2013-02-13 11:13 pm (UTC)(link)
"If I didn't want it," she answered, "I wouldn't follow it, then." She'd still want to know; that wish is as natural to her as swimming, especially with that back-of-her-mind sense she's gotten something wrong somewhere along the way.

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.
one_one_se7en: (Listening)

[personal profile] one_one_se7en 2013-02-10 05:04 am (UTC)(link)
From the side of the cafeteria, a familiar man in armor rests beside a wall. None of the seats available would be able to hold his weight, and very few people would want to eat with a Spartan, either. In this dream world, he was yet another classified project that few people got in contact with.

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.
one_one_se7en: (An angry tide)

[personal profile] one_one_se7en 2013-02-10 10:32 pm (UTC)(link)
Moves away from the wall. This time, the armor doesn't look directly to him. He nods to Kanda to follow him to someplace less crowded. He disliked being in busy place.

"Ami."

He mutters. This time, the words have no threat or sarcasm. But concern.

"She picked you for a reason."
one_one_se7en: (Obscurity)

[personal profile] one_one_se7en 2013-02-10 11:01 pm (UTC)(link)
He stays silent. The words don't evoke a reaction in him. Instead, he takes a deep breath noticeable even inside of his armor.

"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."
one_one_se7en: (Listening)

[personal profile] one_one_se7en 2013-02-13 07:15 am (UTC)(link)
The Spartan's visor slightly faces him as he mentions the use of killing as a solution. That was Spartan philosophy at its finest, right there, unbeknown to Kanda. Only guessing that there was an A.I. that could be eavesdropping, he would have agreed with the decision, as well.

"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.
one_one_se7en: (Caution)

[personal profile] one_one_se7en 2013-02-16 08:15 am (UTC)(link)
Anything. In spite of their differences... he saw that in common. The desire to help her. Whatever the cost. He didn't understand the possessiveness -the use of 'my girl'-. In a partner in combat, he was always a part of them just as much the other person was part of him, but he understood Kanda.

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.
one_one_se7en: (Direct)

[personal profile] one_one_se7en 2013-02-17 07:00 am (UTC)(link)
Star Kingdom. He kept the name in his memory to study it later. It would be another place to study if it was possible to do so without getting captured. He knew of the differences between the Amis he knew. What hers lost in innocence and company, she gained in power.

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."
one_one_se7en: (Into dust)

[personal profile] one_one_se7en 2013-02-23 04:20 am (UTC)(link)
He slowly turns to Kanda. For a Spartan, he thought of himself as intelligent. But even something like marriage with the person he wants to protect needs confirmation. That way, Kanda would not need to reveal what prompted his need to marry.

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."
one_one_se7en: (Looking)

[personal profile] one_one_se7en 2013-02-27 06:46 am (UTC)(link)
His visor looks down. He doesn't answer for a moment.

"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."
one_one_se7en: (War is hell)

[personal profile] one_one_se7en 2013-03-05 04:50 am (UTC)(link)
Suddenly, John feels unexpected guilt over getting Ami to his safari on Requiem.

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."