D. Gray-man Fan Fiction ❯ A Game of Poker ❯ A Bit of Trouble ( Chapter 8 )

A/N: This is my first multichapter fanfic for the DGM fandom! Yay! I'm fairly new to the fandom, but hopefully I haven't made any unforgivable mistakes.

 

Warnings: YAOI, which means BOYS LOVING BOYS. If you dislike that, then the back button is easy enough to find. Please click that and leave. Limes are in the future, and lemons in the uncut versions (not on fanfiction(dot)net). Maybe some OOC, spoilers for the end of the anime later on.

 

Disclaimer: I don't own these lovely characters, that honor belongs to Katsura Hoshino. (Though if Hoshino-sama ever has a sale, I call dibs on Tyki… what?) I don't own anything but a copy of the anime series and all volumes of the manga in English. Anything you don't recognize (like the plotline of `A Game of Poker') does belong to me. Everything else… not so much. Please don't sue.

 

Kudos to the awesome SisterWicked of AssHat Productions (a group I am now a proud member of), who got me started on Lucky and lets me use 'lovely'! Beta'd by Misster Cackles! All remaining mistakes are mine.

 

A/N: IMPORTANT! Sorry about the lack of detailed/good review replies for this chapter, but I'm heading out of state for the next week and I just remembered I hadn't posted. I wanted to post this before I left, since I'll be gone for a while. Expect the next post when I get back! (Hopefully you all read this and know why my replies were so short… I remembered this fic with only two hours until we left the house and I still needed to finish packing and get ready to go out in public.)

 

Last Time On `A Game Of Poker':

 

He stabbed out his cigarette and lay down, still mostly dressed. He shut his eyes and Lavi's stricken expression greeted him once again. It was the last thing he saw as he drifted off to sleep.

 

And Now, The Continuation

 

A Game of Poker, Chapter 8

A Bit of Trouble

 

Lavi flipped through his book, not really seeing the words. Monitors beeped regularly as he sat in a chair by one of the occupied beds in the Black Order's infirmary. Allen sat next to him, silver eyes on the figure lying unconscious on the bed.

 

Kanda's long hair was draped over the pillows, chest bare but for a bandage that half covered an odd tattoo on the swordsman's chest. Black, jagged lines spread from it in a circle, wrapping over the unconscious man's shoulder and partway down his arm. An IV pumped nutrients into the Japanese man's blood, monitors keeping watch over his heart rate, blood pressure, brain activity, and breathing. Mugen was currently in the care of the Science Department as it was in need of repairs.

 

Quite honestly, it was a miracle the blade and the Innocence inside it had returned to them at all, since the person who had beaten Kanda so badly was a Noah. Allen had been with the swordsman on a mission, but the two had separated before the attack. The white-haired boy had stumbled upon the fight just as Kanda's attacker prepared to destroy Mugen and kill its wielder. Allen's discovery of them had apparently caused the attacker to flee, but not before the silver-eyed boy recognized the man.

 

Tyki Mikk had been the one to put Kanda in the hospital with wounds a normal man might never fully recover from. One of the Japanese man's arms had been shredded by what seemed to be small mouths, the other arm broken and fingers snapped. The wrist of the broken arm had been dislocated. Kanda had suffered several stab wounds - two in the chest, one in the shoulder, and three in the abdomen. One of his legs had been broken in three places, and his ribs had been badly bruised. The concussion had been bad, but that had healed yesterday. The currently unconscious Exorcist was mostly healed by now, but it had been several days since the attack and he had yet to wake up.

 

Allen blamed himself. Lavi could see that clearly enough, even with only one eye watching. It was obvious in the way Allen had carried the swordsman to Headquarters all by himself and summoning a piece of the Ark (which their scientists were STILL trying to understand and was therefore technically out-of-bounds) to him using the piano in one of the classier hotels. The Grand Generals would probably try to punish Allen for his rule breaking, if they ever heard about it. The redhead had a sneaking suspicion that the report would get lost somewhere on Komui's desk and not resurface until the Ark was okayed for use, making the 'illegal usage' of the Ark a moot point.

 

Allen had taken Kanda directly to the infirmary before heading to Komui's office to make his report of the mission, then returned to the infirmary and hadn't left the swordsman's side since. Lavi didn't have the heart to tease him about his potential crush and not only because of the seriousness of the injuries Kanda had sustained. Finders had been dispatched to the town Allen and Kanda had teleported in from to retrieve the possessions left behind by the Exorcists and gather the bills from their stay and the Finders had also checked out the scene of the fight between the swordsman and the Noah. They had reported massive amounts of dried blood, more than could have come from Kanda alone.

 

Allen had been able to report that Tyki had been injured, but he hadn't seen how badly and couldn't tell how much damage the Japanese Exorcist had been able to inflict on his foe. The Noah were really hard to kill, so it wasn't likely that the Pleasure had died from his wounds. The Finders hadn't found a body and Allen had reported Tyki fleeing the scene, so the man was probably still alive.

 

Kanda hadn't been the first person attacked by Tyki either. A week before, Miranda had been on a solo mission when she met up with the older man. The woman had managed to escape because of her Time Record, temporarily freezing Tyki's time so the man was in effect paralyzed and she had run away. The time stop had only been released after she was on the train back home and well away from the Noah. When he had first heard the story, the redhead's reaction had been worry. It wasn't worry for the frightened woman sobbing in Komui's office.

 

There had been sightings of other Noah as well, though not all four were accounted for. The creepy twins Krory had fought inside the Ark hadn't been seen yet. It was a small blessing, since the Black Order was having trouble dealing with the three they had seen - Exorcists had already been killed, mostly the newer ones who hadn't fought the Noah clan before.

 

Thinking back over the reports of the attacks and the deaths, the redhead couldn't help but smile bitterly.

 

Lavi's emotions were messed up, especially for one who wasn't supposed to feel anything at all. No one felt relief when one of their friends was in the hospital in a coma. No one waited anxiously for news that the person who had attacked their friend was well. The only worry most people felt when a friend went out into battle was whether or not their friend would return, not worry that said friend would kill one of their enemies. Most of the people in the Order mourned the loss of the new Exorcists, but Lavi had taken care not to let himself get attached to them too. He felt the loss, but only as a distant echo instead of a gaping hole. He did, however, feel privately glad that it was not Tyki who had killed them. The autopsies revealed no missing or damaged organs without surface wounds and all seemed to have been killed without a fight by stab injuries.

 

He was relieved that 'Yuu-chan' were going to be all right and Miranda was doing fine, anxious about the swordsman's recovery and worried about his other friends, but he felt all those things for Tyki too and other emotions he wouldn't let himself name. The anxiety was worse for the Pleasure, since his friends were right in front of his eyes and he could see exactly how they were doing at any given moment, but the Noah was out there somewhere by himself (or in bed with someone else, or seducing someone else, but Lavi didn't like the taste of bitter jealousy and refused to consider those particular scenarios) and could be seriously injured. All Noah healed at a rate faster than a normal human, but Tyki could be in pain and Lavi could do nothing about it.

 

Those emotions were what confused him. Here he was, a Bookman-to-be and so involved with both sides of a war that he was actually afraid of what the future could bring. Were there any rules he hadn't broken lately? He may as well keep going and break them all.

 

He still couldn't understand Tyki or what had happened that night. The Pleasure's words and actions had contradicted each other and while the Noah was attacking his friends, he was more worried than angry. Anger was there, yes, especially considering Kanda's current sorry state, but the situation could have been a lot worse. No one had died yet and the redhead hoped it stayed that way.

 

He sighed and snapped his book shut. Allen didn't even look up at the loud noise, exhausted but alert as he watched over Kanda. Gently, Lavi put a hand on his shoulder.

 

"I'm going to see Komui now. It's about time for my next mission briefing."

 

Slowly, the white-haired boy drew his gaze away from the sleeping samurai, looking up

at the redhead with worry clear in his eyes.

 

"Be careful, okay?" he asked, more a plea than anything else. The hammer-user forced a grin.

 

"Hey, it's me. Of course I will!"

 

He gave Allen's shoulder a playful slap, then turned and began walking out of the infirmary.

 

"Tell Yuu-chan I said 'hello' when he wakes up, okay Allen?" he called over his shoulder.

 

"I will... and thanks."

 

Lavi just nodded, humming to himself as he walked briskly out of the hospital and towards Komui's office.

 

Line Break

 

"Tyki-pon, what happened to you?" the Earl asked, almost sounding surprised and definitely unhappy. It was easy to tell by the mockery of concern one heard in the man's voice. "Are the assignments too difficult for you?"

 

Tyki winced, touching his bandaged right arm with his left hand. The swordsman had put up a particularly tough fight, especially after he had threatened to go after Allen Walker once he had finished with the longhaired man. The Exorcist had scored a pretty deep cut on his arm that had yet to heal and managed to get him good with a few more well placed strikes. The Pleasure had been lying low for days while he recovered and while the occasional bruise still remained, he was healed overall. He had managed to do much more damage to the Exorcist, but at the critical moment he had balked.

 

Just before the white-haired boy had run in, he had been ready to set a Tease inside the Japanese man's chest, destroy the sword, and walk away. The sound of approaching footsteps had only urged him to hurry, but he had lost the resolve nanoseconds before Walker had burst onto the deserted street in a nearly empty part of town. He had already been moving away from his unconscious opponent when the white-haired Exorcist had appeared and chased him off.

 

He had wondered if the same thing would have happened with the dark haired woman - Miranda Lotto - had the battle actually happened. To his displeasure, he was fairly certain it would have since what had stopped him was the image of Lavi's stricken face as it had appeared when he had tried and failed to remove the redhead's heart. Even during the battles his thoughts would turn to Lavi and he'd falter for the briefest of moments, but that brief pause had nearly cost him his hand against the sword-wielding Exorcist.

 

"I'm having a bit of trouble, that's all." he replied as nonchalantly as possible to the Earl's query. "The Exorcists aren't exactly easy to kill."

 

"So true, Tyki-pon!" The Earl's exclamation was seemingly thoughtful. "After all, not even Road-chan has managed to kill any of her targets... And Lulubell-chan, she is having trouble too... and Jasdero as well..." The Earl seemed to be watching Tyki closely for his reaction, but the Pleasure paid it no mind. The Earl was always watching them closely.

 

Tyki mentally heaved a sigh of relief. If the other Noah were having difficulties as well it wasn't likely that he'd get punished for being unable to complete his tasks. It wasn't as if the Earl knew why he was having trouble, after all, though it did surprise him that Road was having difficulties. As far as he knew, Road had been given a list of some of the newer Exorcists to hunt down so she had gotten pretty easy targets. He mentally shrugged it off. Perhaps she hadn't found any of them yet.

 

"Is that all you needed, Earl?" he asked. The man had come to visit him in the hotel he had been using to recover in, much to the Pleasure's surprise. He had been thinking about his most recent conquest and had just begun comparing the young man's performance to a certain redheaded Exorcist when the Millennium Earl had appeared out of nowhere. Needless to say, Tyki's thoughts had been diverted rather quickly.

 

"Yes, Tyki-pon! Just be sure that you're doing your best, since those Exorcists are still killing my precious Akuma. I'll see you later!"

 

The man vanished. Tyki sighed and relaxed further into his bed. Meetings with the Earl were becoming more and more stressful and he still hadn't found anyone else besides Lavi who satisfied his desires. He had tried to find someone new ever since the 'break up' a little less than a month ago, but nothing had worked. He had even gone to the trouble of finding other redheaded young men about Lavi's age and build, but they hadn't been able to sate him. He had switched completely to women for two weeks, but they were even less satisfying and more irritating as time wore on. Nothing seemed to be able to change his libido's focus from Lavi and that would soon become a very serious problem.

 

The Earl was fairly good-natured when it came to failure - for a while. Tyki's safety net only lasted as long as the other Noah were failing at their tasks too, so he wasn't the odd man out. The Earl's patience was already strained by the Noah clan's inability to assassinate the Generals, then the failure at killing Allen Walker and his band of Exorcists in the Ark and then the loss of the Akuma Egg.

 

He would have to get over this odd hang-up and start killing Exorcists again. He had such an easy time with it before he had gotten Lavi into bed and now it seemed that he couldn't kill any of them. It could be that the Exorcists he fought now were simply of a higher caliber than the ones he used to go after, but he doubted it. He could trace every wound he had and each hesitation back to a moment of distraction or a sudden flash of memory.

 

He would have to bury those memories far back in his mind under scores of other memories, somehow, or he'd never be rid of their influence. He was already running out of time, since the other Noah couldn't continue to fail forever.

 

Line Break

 

The Earl walked along the hallway, humming the tune of a song his precious Road had thought up. It was the childlike Noah he was on his way to see, after all, which made the hum very fitting.

 

He opened the door to the Noah of Dream's room, not bothering to knock. As he had expected, the girl was laying down on her stomach on top of her bed, paging through textbooks. At the sound of his entrance, she looked up and smiled.

 

"Earl!" she said delightedly, sitting up. She had in fact finished all of her assigned targets, though to be fair he had given her the easiest, if longest, list.

 

"How are you, my dear?" he asked her, opening his arms for the customary hug. She launched herself at him, swinging them around several times before her feet touched the ground.

 

"Do you have a new assignment for me?" she asked sweetly, staring up at him. He nodded.

 

"I need you to follow Tyki-pon for a while. It seems he's not doing so well on the new assignment."

 

Road nodded, face falling. She sighed.

 

"There's only four of us left. I wish we could trust the others, though I never thought it would be Tyki." she said sorrowfully. She, as the eldest of the Noah clan, knew perfectly well what it meant when the Earl asked her to follow someone. She had always been the most loyal of any of the other Noah and it was often her job to find any traitor within their ranks. Road usually helped the Earl with 'clean up' as well.

 

He patted her on the back.

 

"I know, Road-chan. Go on now and come see me if you find anything interesting about Tyki-pon."

 

Road nodded, a sad smile on her face.

 

Line Break

 

Lavi stared out the window of the train, watching the landscape flash by but not truly seeing it. Krory sat across from him in the first class cabin, reading a book he had brought with him to pass the time. Lavi had several books with him as well, buried in his bag, but he didn't feel like digging them out. His thoughts were more than enough to distract him.

 

Just before he had left the Order Headquarters with Krory, Bookman had pulled him aside to talk. The conversation had not been a pleasant one.

 

Flashback

 

"Lavi." Bookman stood in the doorway to the library, with a perfect view of the stairs to the ground floor of the Headquarters building. Lavi had been walking down said stairs, several minutes early for his rendezvous with Krory so they could take the ferry across the canal and catch the train.

 

Lavi stepped off the stairs with a wide smile and walked over to the Panda, trepidation flashing through him. His friends had all noticed that he was even more distracted lately but had chalked it up to worry over the Noah attacks. However, that wouldn't be acceptable to Bookman. The redhead had considered himself lucky that the old man hadn't said anything a few months ago, back when he and Tyki had first begun their now-ended 'relationship', but he had little doubt that the axe was now about to fall.

 

Sure enough, when he got close enough, the Panda clocked him over the head. The blow didn't hurt, since Bookman would never use his full strength to strike a pupil, but it connected hard enough to let Lavi know he had been hit and that Bookman was very unhappy with him. He played it up as always, putting a hand to the injured spot on his skull and bending away from the blow.

 

"OW, you old Panda! What was that for?" he asked, rubbing the lump as if it hurt. The old man scowled and Lavi stopped the antics immediately. This was going to be serious then, since the Panda would respond with a scoff when feeling playful, if 'playful' could ever truly be applied to the man. He straightened up, letting his hands drop to his sides and shut his mouth.

 

Bookman waited a moment or two more to be sure that the redhead truly understood how serious he was.

 

"Lavi." he began, eyes narrowed. Even though he was much shorter than the young man, his presence made it seem as if he towered over Lavi. "You've been very distracted lately. Does it have anything to do with the recent attacks?"

 

Briefly, the redhead considered lying, but the Panda's eyes narrowed more at his hesitation. The old man would see right through it and that wouldn't make this any more pleasant.

 

"Yes." he admitted, struggling to keep eye contact with his mentor. It was mostly the truth. He wanted to look away, since he was admitting to a violation of the Bookmen's code, but he didn't want to have to be ashamed about caring for his friends. The old man's expression hardened.

 

"You are going to be a Bookman, Lavi. A Bookman does not-"

 

"'-have any attachments; this means no partners, family, children, or friends'." the hammer-user quoted softly. "'A Bookman is solitary and has only one apprentice at a time, but is not to form an attachment with said apprentice.' I know, gramps."

 

"You will have to leave them eventually. Once we are done here, that's it. You will not see them again, talk to them again, exchange letters or maintain any form of contact. If you do by chance run into them in the future-"

 

"- then I pretend I never met them before and that I am somebody else." Lavi said through gritted teeth. He couldn't keep up the eye contact and looked away. "I know, gramps. 'Lavi' won't exist after this mission is over. I'll have a new name and a new persona once we leave. I haven't forgotten."

 

His hands were in fists at his sides, body tensed as he carefully controlled his rising emotions. He knew all of these rules already, but that didn't mean he didn't want to forget them for just a little while longer. Ever since this mission had begun, he'd let himself let go of the walls around his heart bit by bit, something about this place and these people making it difficult to keep his real heart separate from them. It seemed as if all he was doing lately was paying a high price for things he had only gotten to enjoy briefly. First there had been the price for those few nights he had gotten to have with Tyki and now the price for forming his first true friendships was added on top.

 

"It only hurts if you let yourself get attached." Bookman said and Lavi could hear the disappointment and resignation in the man's voice. His nails dug into his palms. "See that you don't forget."

 

"I won't."

 

Though the redhead couldn't see it, the old man's expression softened at the choked sound in Lavi's voice. He reached out as if to touch the young man's shoulder, but drew back at the last moment and let his hand fall to his side. An expression of regret crossed his face as he turned away from the redhead - who still refused to look at him - and headed back into the library.

 

Sometimes, more often since this mission had begun, he regretted taking Lavi on as his apprentice. Few were suited to the ways of the Bookman and the redheaded young man was not one of them. Lavi's thirst for knowledge had made him a promising candidate, though a Bookman apprentice had never been so young before.

 

The redhead stood there for several more minutes, head bowed until he remembered the time and rushed down to the dock.

 

End Flashback

 

Lavi's mood darkened as he recalled the event, scowling at his reflection. Bookman had been right, but he didn't like it. It would hurt when he had to say goodbye to his friends and get rid of his 'Lavi' persona, but there was nothing he could do about it. He had come to like 'Lavi' and like being Lavi, but once this mission was over-

 

"Lavi-kun?"

 

Startled, the redhead jerked his gaze from the window and looked towards Krory. The older man had put down his book and seemed a bit anxious about something. The hammer-user immediately fixed one of his open, happy grins onto his face.

 

"Yes, Kuro-chan? What is it?"

 

"Lenalee-chan mentioned that you've been distracted lately, and I was noticing it myself..." He cleared his throat. "If there's something you want to talk about with an older man, you can talk to me if you don't want to talk to Bookman."

 

Lavi was touched. His grin faded into a real smile, but even though it was kind of Krory to offer he knew he couldn't share his thoughts with the older man.

 

"Thanks Kuro-chan! You don't need to worry about me, though. I'm fine!"

 

Krory studied him for a few minutes longer, but Lavi kept the smile in place. Sighing, the older man reached for his book and began to read again.

 

The redhead turned his gaze back to the window, keeping his smile fixed on his face since he could feel Krory glancing up every so often to study him. He hummed tunelessly, pretending to be absorbed in the world beyond the window.

 

TBC…