Exception

By: Aviantei

38. Chaperone's Bane

Komui was on high alert, repeatedly scanning over the dance floor for any signs of trouble or inappropriate behavior. And that would be the responsible thing for a chaperone to do, except this was frickin' Lee Komui we're talking about, so in this case "inappropriate behavior" specifically meant "anyone coming within three feet of Lenalee," so that was about as effective as you'd expect it to be. Already a few unfortunate souls who had accidentally bumped into her had fallen prey to Komui's wrath and had been mysteriously escorted from the premises. It was really only because of Reever that no blood had been spilt.

Yet, that was.

From his vantage point at one of the walls, Komui crossed his arms. Lenalee had taken up a position as one of the judges for the Bookman siblings' dance off, so the younger Lee sibling wasn't in any immediate danger. Beside her sat Johnny Gill, who wouldn't so much as think an impure thought about Lenalee, because everyone in the science club knew better than to piss off their advisor. And while Komui would have preferred not to see his precious little sister sitting at the same table as a couple of MPHS students, she at least had Johnny as a reliable shield between their presence and her. Komui would take it.

He would also take an opportunity for Black Order High to crush those Noah in a competition, so things were proceeding pretty well for the moment.

But if any of these little brats so much as looks at my Lenalee the wrong way—

Unseen terror threatened to descend upon the land. And while she was on the other end of the room, Lenalee could still sense the aura forming around her brother, took a moment to look his way and offer a smile and a wave, setting off the latest gushing about his sister. It would pacify him for a good fifteen minutes, if nothing else.

Which was probably a good thing, as things were heating up by the second. The current pair on the dance floor had requested a recent pop hit that pretty much demanded sex appeal—and neither party was backing down. Though she didn't know the name of the Black Order High side, she vaguely recognized the girl from passing by in the halls, and the girl had a flair and style to her that would have been a grand slam of victory if her Millennium Private High opponent wasn't also on top of the flair departments.

Noah or not, he's pretty hot. Not as wonderful as Allen, of course, but still hot. There's nothing treasonous about thinking the enemy is attractive. It'd be way more of a crime to not acknowledge it. Good thing that Komui was incapacitated for a bit, because it was a wonder things were staying high school appropriate for the moment. No, stay focused. If you're gonna be a judge, you can't let things like that win you over!

Neither of the contestants was making focus easy, however—not that the crowd was complaining. Mixed in with the music were cheers and hoots of encouragement. The Black Order girl was playing along with them, pulling off an air of class and seduction all in one. Mikk seemed to have the same sort of approach going on, but he wasn't looking towards the crowd. Rather, he was looking at a fixed spot, and Lenalee followed his gaze out of curiosity.

OMG, he's looking at Lavi. There was another dance movement that was too hot to be legal, and Lenalee felt her eyebrows rise. OMG, he's doing way more than looking at Lavi.

As for Lavi himself, the usually indominable rabbit still hadn't recovered from his initial shock and his thoughts had turned into nothing but a pure stream of What the hell what the hell what the hell? Because he sure as hell recognized the Noah guy on the dance floor in front of him—Lavi didn't have such regular encounters with handsome people in fancy restaurants, and even if he did, his stellar Bookman memory wouldn't let him forget. And with Tyki's golden eyes locked on him, forcefully ejecting the memories wasn't an option, either.

Lavi Bookman had never believed in karma much (though he found the concept intellectually fascinating), but what was happening in front of him seemed like a prime candidate to prove it. Whether it was good karma or bad karma, he couldn't really say, because he was too busy choking over the sheer coincidence of the matter.

Ari gave her brother one glance and broke out into a grin, clapping her gloved hands together. "Wow, Nii-chan, I haven't seen you look like you're about to make your own brain explode in ages! This is great. Tell me what's happening so I can make it worse."

Deciding against noogieing Ari in retaliation (she'd put hard work into styling her hair, and Lavi didn't want to put up with the increased threat level in his own home), Lavi settled for wagging his finger. "Now, now, why would I go and tell you my problem when you're so blatantly telling me it'll be to my disadvantage."

"'Cause you already know I'm gonna use every little thing I can against you, so I figured I'd cut out the middle man!" The song pounding over the speakers headed towards a climax, and Lavi thanked the universe for cutting him at least some slack. Ari put a finger to her chin and hummed in thought. "Well, I guess the goal is to beat the Noah and then win over Allen. I can pry at your weaknesses some other time, Nii-chan!"

"Much obliged," Lavi said in a pure deadpan, then looked back to the dance area as cheers erupted at the end of the song. The blonde Noah twin was taking care of introducing the next pair of contestants, and, while one Tyki Mikk was taking his leave from the dance floor, there was a smirk on his face as his eyes but Lavi's one.

And then the man winked, and Lavi tried not to choke on thin air, because that would just be lame.

He pushed the mic he'd been steadfastly guarding into Ari's hands. "I'm gonna go get some drinks. Think you can handle not burning down the place while I'm gone, O Little Sister of Mine?"

Ari pouted, cheeks puffed up and all. "I set the kitchen on fire once when I was six—" she started to protest, but Lavi had already beaten a hasty retreat, hopping off the side of the stage and mixing into the crowd. With a sigh, Ari went to trot over to the judge's table to check on the next round of names.

Someone was going to be the responsible one, and it looked like Lavi had shoved it onto her shoulders. Potentially boring, but he had also just effectively left her unsupervised.

And that meant there were options.

What the hell what the hell what the hell?

Though many may not have guessed it from his usual demeanor, Lavi was a pretty smart guy, and his brain was usually running on high speed, following several trains of thought (his record was four at once, but that had been an exceptionally good day, powered by way too much caffeine for mere mortals' consumption). But despite his frantic attempts to think logically or find some sense of humor in the situation, none of it was working out, and he was stuck with the mental chant that felt like it had been going on for an eternity already.

What the hell what the hell what the hell?

He one-quarter jammed, three-quarters elbowed his way across the dance floor, unsure if he was looking for an escape or a certain individual. Tyki Mikk—that was the guy's name, and he was from Millennium Private, which made an annoying amount of sense, considering where they had met. Both MPHS and Ari's choice of a date spot were owned by the same company, and both were equally expensive to get into.

What the hell what the hell what the hell?

The smart move would be to let it go, not worry about it, pretend like he hadn't seen anything, though his annoyingly good memory kind of presented that. Though the announcement from one of the Noah twins over the mic indicated that Tyki was the winner of his first dance competition throwdown—how could he not have, seriously?—and the cheers of MPHS students mingled with the Black Order's booing before the next contestants were introduced.

No sign of Tyki Mikk in the crowd yet. That was a good thing, such an easy out, but Lavi's frantic thought still chased him around his own mind, and it was bad enough that he'd be a distracted MC if he went back to the stage.

Okay, Lavi, calm down. Super duper rad ninjas do not panic. Go to the bathroom, splash some water on your face, and get right back on that stage where you belong.

Having a concrete next step to follow could really do wonders, and Lavi managed to work his way out of the cluster on the dance floor, the enthusiasm of the crowd helping him, too. He was pretty damn proud of his ability to work up excitement in a room, so things were going off without a hitch at that point. Most students were enjoying watching the competition, but there were a few other groups dancing on the outskirts, having fun in their own space.

It was much easier to move once Lavi had reached that point, and the sound of thudding music partially died down once he made it to his destination. Following the plan, Lavi started up one of the sinks, pushed his eyepatch out of the way for the moment, then went about soaking his face with water, the cool sensation starting to calm his panic, along with the help from some counted-out breaths.

Eye still closed, Lavi reached out for where he had seen the paper towel dispenser, grabbed one, and made sure all was dry before slipping his eyepatch back into place and putting on the widest, most energetic grin he could muster.

"My, we do just keep meeting like this."

Too bad for Lavi's plan (and nerves) that someone else just happened to be there.

Extra too bad that "someone" happened to be the very person Lavi had been trying to recover from seeing.

Tyki hummed a bit, plucking out the cigarette he'd been planning to sneak in while Road was too occupied to harass him about it. Lavi let out a strangled, choking noise, his jaw almost unhinged from how far open it was hanging.

Except keeping Lavi quiet for more than a second wasn't natural, so of course that stunned silence only lasted for a moment.

"You didn't tell me you were a freakin' Noah!"

"To be fair, you didn't tell me you go to Black Order," Tyki said, looking completely nonplussed by the outburst. Considering what his family members were like, one shouting teen wasn't enough to faze him. He did, however, offer a smirk. "Then again, I didn't learn nearly as much about you as I wanted to that night. Lucky me, it seems like I've been given an opportunity to correct that."

"What in the world about this is lucky?!" Someone started to open the bathroom door, heard Lavi's rantings inside, and then decided their life would be much better holding off on using the restroom. Lavi tossed his hands into the air and started to pace, trying to ignore the fact that Tyki was once again looking at him like a fox deciding when to pounce upon the unsuspecting rabbit. "I'm just trying to do Brit a solid, then there's this mess with the loli stalker, I can't keep my own feelings straight, and now some random hot guy is making passes at me—I can see you trying to undress me with your eyes, man!"

Trust me, Red, I passed that stage a long time ago. Tyki flicked out his lighter, taking in a drag to prevent him from saying anything that would scare Lavi off. The sweet inhale of nicotine felt like heaven after the past several hours without. "If my advances are unwelcome, I will back off. I may be forward, but I'm not a brute." For all that Sheril ranted about Tyki's frivolities (direct quote, plus five points for vocabulary, minus twenty points for being an unnecessarily nosy fuck), he was at least somewhat classy about his affairs—and forcing himself on someone unwilling wasn't sexy in the least. "Just say the word, Red, and I'll get out of your hair."

If I had a ready answer to that, my life wouldn't be such a wreck right now! Lavi thought. Why did the universe have to choose to give him a crisis about his sexuality in the middle of Operation TRIangular— Wait, that's it! TRIangular and helping Allen is my top priority right now, no matter what! "I don't have time for this!" he shouted, finally pulling himself back together. "I have a secret mission to lead right now, dammit!"

"Oho?" Tyki raised an eyebrow. "You weren't planning on causing trouble for this dance, were you?"

"Pssh, naw! I love a good party. I'm just trying to help my friend with his love life." And potentially become a part of his love life—but that wasn't important enough to tell a practical stranger, even if he was hot. Glancing back at the mirror, Lavi adjusted his bowtie and checked himself over. "Plus I started this dance competition, so it would be lame to disappear. Gotta get back to where my people need me!"

Satisfied that he looked fly as hell, Lavi set a beeline for the door. "Wait a minute, Red," Tyki said, causing aforementioned redhead to stop and peek over his shoulder despite his initial instinct. And while Tyki was much more inclined to smirks, he still had a smile in his arsenal, ready and waiting for special occasions. "I like a good bit of entertainment. What do you say I help you out?"

Lavi's brain went into overdrive, minus the near existential crisis of earlier, and he quickly categorized all the potential pros and cons of the situations, with many of the latter having to do with the fact that it was too convenient, and that there had to be a catch, even if he couldn't say what it was based on what little information he had at hand—

Yeah, I don't have time to worry about that. Not caring in the slightest if he was about to make a strategic error, Lavi pressed on, his ninja instincts (brotherly experience edition) telling him that he'd left Ari unattended with a microphone and a crowd for way too long to be safe. "Suit yourself."

Tyki refrained from sharing his first thought to that invitation—a show of true restraint, mind you—and took one last drag on his cigarette before tossing it away into the nearest toilet. His long gait caught up with Lavi's in a matter of moments, and he allowed himself a pleased smile. "Don't mind if I do, Red."

Having been roped into becoming a dance chaperone, Lero was on the absolute verge of a panic attack.

While he did work at Millennial as part of the wait staff, his true job was that as working for Millennium Private High School's Chairman—which happened to include all manner of things, from organizing paperwork to making sure an umbrella was on hand when the weather turned sour to even assisting with school events such as the dance sprawling out before him.

The dance that had devolved into not only the Black Order children acting without any class, but also that involved MPHS's distinguished student body giving into an unnecessary sense of competition. Even worse, Devitt and Jasdero—two of the Chairman's favorites—were part of the issue, Tyki had acted in a way that wasn't worthy of his standing whatsoever, and Mistress Road had vanished from Lero's careful watch, which could only be a signal of impending trouble.

It didn't help that the other chaperone responsible for the whole dance couldn't keep himself focused for more than five seconds.

Why was he always the only responsible one, lero?!

His face starting to turn a shade that suspiciously resembled orange, Lero started to march his way towards the DJ and the stage. If no one else would put an end to the madness, he would, and it didn't matter what—

An all too familiar hand caught the back of Lero's suit jacket, and all the color of indignation ran out of his face.

"Now, now, Lero," Road said in a sing-song voice, hand slipping under her petticoats for some ammunition, "you weren't about to go ahead and ruin my fun, were you?" She pouted, deciding that she was far more in the mood for one of her reserve lollipops and pulled it out instead. "You know that I get in a bad mood when people interrupt my playtime, right?"

"M-Mistress Road—"

"And you know that the Chairman likes having me in a good mood, right?" Not caring one bit for appearances, Road ripped off the candy's wrapper with her teeth, and Lero flinched.

"O-of course not—!"

Road smiled again, though her eyes still had a dangerous glint in them. "Glad to hear it." Lero felt like he was on the verge of passing out, though the reason was a toss up between relief that Road hadn't gone on a rampage and impeding panic about what she was going to do when left unattended to. Not caring the slightest bit, Road noticed Jasdero giving her a signal that it was time to make her appearance. "Do be a dear, Lero, and stay out of the way, alright?"

Without waiting for a response, Road flounced towards the center of the dance floor as the previous pair's song of choice faded away. It was Devitt's turn with the mic, and his voice echoed across the room. "Listen up; it's time for the next contestants to take the stage. From Black Order so-and-so, we have Allen Walker."

In protest to the lukewarm introduction, the Black Order High student body sent up a rousing cheer (including Ari blowing a raspberry at her cohost) as Allen awkwardly stepped up, feeling just as anxious as his sheepish smile suggested. The bloody things I do for my friends' sake…

"And from our own Millennium Private High School…"

The lights went out, leaving the room in darkness.

"Another of our prestigious top Noah…"

A spotlight flicked on, shining down on a single figure.

"…Road Camelot!"

Road smiled.

Allen took a split second to recognize her before blanching.

"Shit."

[Author's Notes]

This cliffhanger has been one of the sequences I've had in mind for this arc foreeeeeever. I'm slowly getting closer and closer to the end of the arc~.

Thanks go out to StellarMage99 for the review and the follow! I really appreciate it, and I hope you're ready to see this mess through to the end with me!

Anyways, since this update isn't on a Saturday, you've probably noticed that's a bit unusual - and it's because on this day in 2008, the very first chapter of this fic posted! I know I've only taken it so far in that time, but I do like to have some celebration up in here. Here's to having a good holiday season and diving into the New Year with gusto! You can expect new chapters of the rest of my active fics for one a day until we've gone through the whole cycle!

I'll see you all for chapter 39 in 2020! Please look forward to it!

-Avi

[12.23.2019]