Hod by Yofune-Nushi/Pup-Ashbless

Summary: Being a soldier boy was like breaking down Hod.// Pre-series

Disclaimer: Hoshino owns the series.

Both Kanda and Lavi are sixteen here.

He shook off the dark residue clinging to his weapon with a flick of his wrist and eyed his perpetually preoccupied companion with subtle demand.

It wasn't supposed to be in Lavi's nature to be irritated like this. But he really was tired and annoyed with his overall self. He felt as though he was missing something vital, losing something mandatory to his existence.

"We're moving out." Kanda walked gracefully with indifference to his surroundings as he moved on into the distance with care to know his words would be heeded.

Lavi gritted his teeth, which to an outsider; one would think he was grinning at a secret joke.

Sometimes it felt like he was compromising himself by limiting his reach.

"Hod and Netzach…." He whispered to himself, silently.

This world he dived in was like the two supporting pillars of the Sephirot.

~~~*

There's this thing, called the Sephirot, it's supported by Hod and Netzach…

He thinks it's a very good metaphor for how he feels (which is another way of putting things because, normally, he's too technical to think in metaphors).

~~~*

"Being a soldier is more then just an act…Lavi. You must attain the mindset with resolve and the valor all men feel in order to truly understand and see what is there. Otherwise you will never be able to fully express and view through the eyes of Lavi, much less be accepted here."

"How can I live like this without compromising what I want? It's …uneasy to bring myself to act like I care, when I'm not sure of the foundation behind it."

The elder looked at him with eyes that always seemed so vast before he responded. "Be a soldier, live as a bookman. You must find it on your own. I can not teach you this style of portrayal."

That was that. Bookman would not accept complaints as excuses. His apprentice would not rely on them. It would not do well to throw away ritual just because the water felt different for one of them.

Bookman dipped his eyesight to read a book written in 18th century French dialect and the bookman Junior's tongue slipped from their unknown language to Lavi's English as he went to rotate around the words that talked and walked on this earth.

~~~*

He watched as the Asian gave one toss to his now untied hair as rain began to pour and soak into it, making it heavier than usual as it stubbornly stuck to his back.

The younger dark haired boy, a Finder, adjusted his pack and conversed with the dark haired exorcist in tones that suggested whispers if not for the beating of the rain around them.

Lavi quickly beamed through the darkening day like the last beacon of hope when both Finder and Kanda turned to him to relate the route they would be taking to the target area.

"The rain will only become worse I'm afraid." The Finder's tone seemed softer through wet lips, though he appeared as diligent and focused as he had since meeting them.

"It will still be awhile before night, we will continue on." Kanda did not bother to wipe away the very long bangs that nearly hid his eyes as they clung to him like a curtain, hiding him from some event taking place. He just accepted the Finder's nod and Lavi's "yessir" without further ado before once again taking the lead.

The red haired teen walked alongside the Finder, as he had learned not to try to hard with Kanda on missions yet. He still needed to catch wind of these moments that eluded him and how others are supposed to react to them without appearing too forceful. It was becoming easier, but still, Lavi, like a musical instrument that still needed to be tuned before he could play his full length song.

They boarded the train five minutes before its scheduled leave. Kanda follows protocol right away without missing a beat and before long they have at least two cabins ready. Kanda silently claims one and Lavi makes a remark about overdone beauty sleep before just short of pulling the Finder into the other empty cabin with him.

"I'm bookman Junior, though I'm sure you've heard I'm also called Lavi. What's your name?" He turns to the smaller boy with an easy smile slipping on his face. Finders were easy to smile at; they were like a breath before being exhaled. It was always easy to smile at the ones who passed you by in an instant compared to the ones who usually didn't.

"…Doug." The Finder politely responded, though he had not smiled in turn and his tone did not carry any of the warmth Lavi had felt in the warm rain drops outside the dry haven.

The bookman titled his head and with a mostly unnoticeable twitch of the lip over the development his mind his mulling over and continued on.

Lavi tells the young Finder that he looks familiar. The Finder gives a glance, slightly wary if he didn't known any better, before saying that they must have passed by each other in the Order's Finder quarters, which Lavi had liked to snoop around here and there. Lavi was well known, as far as exorcists went, to be the most familiar in the tidings of Finders and just about nearly every group since joining.

Kanda had called Lavi a sponge once due to how irritating Lavi's chatting was about one thing or another from different subjects.

The bookman Junior had found this somewhat amusing (though Lavi had protested) on a number of ironic levels. Particularly how true his nature was to a sponge and that Kanda of all people had unknowingly made such an insightful remark without even knowing. Not that that was surprising either, many humans could say the most intelligent of things when they weren't paying attention.

And the most stupid when they noticed but choose not to pay attention.

"What kind of crap did you do to end up with two scoundrels like us?" Lavi asks with a grin that had ensnared so many into his web without even realizing so.

"…My job." That was all. Doug's eyes did not appear challenging, nor did they appear that they would be surrendering.

Something was not working and he had no idea why. Bookman recorded people, but reading them was another subject of debate to roll with. He understood the basis behind why wars start and why people would fight. But individuals were a bit…less simple he was discovering lately.

At least as far as Doug was concerned.

He blamed crowds, crowds made things simple. Smile and they smile. It was like the start of a wave.

This person was not generalizing things for him.

"Don't be like that; we're all friends aren't we?" He laughed, trying not to sound like he was sighing, humans were troublesome creatures. They could make him tired even when he was feeling the most energetic in body.

It almost seemed like Doug's eyes flashed a tad lighter before he finally turned away while rubbing his arm a little. "Excuse me Sir Exorcist, I'm getting a blanket since I feel colder being out of the rain like this, would you like a one as well?"

Lavi gave no answer.

Doug left no warmth behind.

Lavi felt none at all.

He was fine with that.

But he knew Lavi shouldn't be.

He looked out the window and watched passing scenery without real care and only sighed when he thought the rain was being too insistent with its dreary.

"What a mass of a puzzle I've been given…Oh well…"

It was his job to fit them all together anyhow.

Time was infinite as it was small. Like snow globe, that to the quick pass of an eye, would seem trapped and insignificant space. But to those who grasped it in their hands and actually dwelled upon the world the glass ball held, they would see an endless world that appeared new every second despite the tedious designs.

He supposed that's why it made him feel older then his existence really was. He had lived more then once, experienced the same things over and over in different ways with the same emotions regardless of how they evolved in layers over the vast years that really were not so big. It had given him a surreal nostalgic respect, whether he wanted to or not, for all the lives cut so short.

He was omnipotent though; they would be remembered and valued for what they had done and not done rather then for whom or what they had been. As long as they carried him to where he wanted he didn't care how many he needed to chop down.

Lavi….

…..

Can you answer me yet?

……

Not yet…..?

……

Take your time, I'll accept you someday. I always do…..regardless.

He stared through as the silent sound of breaking glass had yet to surround him.

~~~*

It wasn't until talking to Kanda that bookman Junior, oddly enough, realized an important thing about conversations.

"We're conversing, ya know. That means talking….not just sitting there and listening."

He was listening…wasn't he?

Yeah he was.

Kanda Yu looked as though he might be breaking the world's record for indifference but was putting so much effort into it that the indifference was engulfed by random desires of the heart and the irate plaguing his mind however simple and wasteful they may be.

Through Lavi's eyes he watched as how every comment he made was met with a roll of the others shoulder along with a long suffering sigh as sable eyes turned upward as if the answers for why it was so would fall from the sky.

Maybe he was still sore from Lavi's near fatal collision into the old wooden building when they were taking a ride from the Innocence bound mallet from earlier.

Lavi's barely evaded experience from having a black eye – yes he was that much of a bloody icicle – told him enough a nerve had been touched.

"You want to know a story?" It was a question, but the bookman knew Lavi would tell it either way despite what answer or lack of he'd receive from the other boy.

"There was lake by the sea…."

He's not good with stories, actually.

He only knows history.

"In that lake was an inhabitant…."

The only thing he could do was imitate.

"Who longed for the ocean, because it had things it wanted, or thought it wanted, in the sea…Not that it couldn't ever attain whatever it was it wanted. The inhabitant could only survive in fresh water and so going into the salt water world would only spell eventual death…."

When he was younger both Bookman and he portrayed themselves as wandering barbs. Bookman recited stories and while he had played the fiddle. People had listened, and then drifted away…

Do you know this atmosphere, Chalil?

They are satisfied….

Anything else?

…They have no more use for us at the moment….

I see…

Bookman had turned away without a word to observe the ceremony celebrating the union of two while he as Chalil tried to fix the broken instrument before it needed played again.

"The lake dweller still longed for the sea despite knowing all the searching in its lifetime might be meaningless, and even after accomplishing its goal it would probably die…."

"Shut up…."

The voice was soft, but not submissive. Maybe it was the affect of the rain.

He stopped. There wasn't a point to continue.

Lavi waited, studying the silence like a curious fox pup. Kanda gave no indication of his thoughts; he just rested mugen in his arms, cradled as if holding an infant.

"I don't need stories, least of all from you."

Lavi shrugged with a laugh about wounded pride. Bookman Junior jus observed how complicated simple beings can be and how the two can never reconcile.

~~~*

He greeted Doug with a smile. Expectantly a curt nod was all he received in return.

Bookman Junior looked at their surroundings with an eye to take it all in while Doug grimaced and looked as though he were trying not to vomit from both the scene and putrid smell of rotting corpses.

Well you asked for it

He shut out Doug's reaction after brief acknowledgement to scan the environment of abandoned buildings and broken bodies littered around.

What makes akumas kill as readily as they can hide peacefully in plain sight?

Demons will be demons he supposed. No point in trying to understand them, just know what they are doing over why.

A sniffle was heard. Doug hadn't heard it yet, then again Doug most likely didn't have as advanced sense of hearing as the bookman did. Just another of the many details that showed how Doug wasn't as special as him, he was just a normal forgettable piece of a sentence in the big book known as the world as ordinary as that was.

He thought about his choices: move on before Doug took notice or stay to investigate.

He really wasn't very interested in helping lost causes. There was a job to do after all, and he wasn't very fond of taking time to help someone who could be a monster or dying. Then again, seeing the state of whoever was there could provide more clues on the habits of akuma.

Weighing his choices for only half a minute, the bookman made his decision and Lavi carried through.

"Something's there."

Directing Doug to stay behind him, Lavi grew his Innocence to a more desired length and stalked around the debris to locate his quarry.

After a few purposely miss turns, Lavi had to hold back a sigh as Dug raced away from his protective circle to the source of crying.

There's no point of you coming along if you're just going to die from your own stupidity…

He was starting to see why Yu Kanda was such a stick in the mud, especially when Finders were concerned.

He waltz over with careful eye as he raised his hammer to almost above eye level, ready to strike down if so much as a unexpected twitch was made.

"Sir Exorcist, it's a small boy….I think his arm is broken."

Still wary, Lavi stared down at the, rather young, pathetic child who tried to move away from the two strangers but in the end was too exhausted to get away.

It's either the real thing or a very good actor. Maybe I'll see if I break his other arm…

Feeling a sensation prick into him, Lavi turned and granted a helpless grin to the dark gaze being sent his way by the Finder and stooped down to help inspect the frightened child whom he was still considering with caution despite how real the fear looked.

It's not like I would have enjoyed it.

Lavi mad to grab the child to forcefully pull him out if he had to, as being still like this with no one reliable to guard his back made him itch. But when he was met with a weak sob, Doug gripped his arm and nodded to indicate that he would handle things. Before could even retort, Doug had crawled forward a little to speak in a soft voice raised his hand to pat the child's head when it appeared such an action would be acceptable. Finally after some more coaxing with gentle words, the little boy was scooped up into Doug's arms and quieted enough to satisfy Lavi enough.

Seeing the child in a better light, not that it was that much of an improvement, the bookman kept his mouth from twitching in disappointment; no injuries to suggest a akuma attack. From the way the arm was swelling and the bruises scattered on the skin, this was more due to something besides akuma directly. Probably just got caught in the chaos and was too unlucky to die right away with his family.

I should have just kept going.

"We need to find Yu right now." And he's going to be the one to tell you to drop the kid, cause I really don't want to contradict Lavi here.

Doug's eyes never left the child's form, but he followed along behind Lavi with missing a step.

When Kanda Yu had approached them, he gave the child a quick look before turning to Lavi as if he were to blame for it all.

"We're not a charity organization." He spoke like it should be so painfully obvious that it the bookman had to remember to not answer with an 'I know'.

Lavi shrugged to Doug with a half smile, expecting this; but still wanting to carry things out a little longer, if only to gain more flexibility for his role.

"Doug has to stay here anyway, why not just leave the kid while we scout. After all, he's an eyewitness…Could help us with any info."

Kanda looked at him, and he met the gaze with no fear. Kanda wasn't weighing his words, because they did make sense. He was looking into his words, seeing if he said it out of real care or for the sake of being professional.

"Finder." Kanda snapped Doug's attention to him. "Stay here as planned, if the boy wakes up ask him questions about what exactly happened here and report it to us when we come back."

Lavi gave a wink for victory to Kanda's eyebrow tick and both set off into the on coming rain.

He saw the blood boil and Kanda's teeth grit so hard he thought they'd sharpen until they became fangs.

It was over before it began though as the sword struck down its unworthy pest and all that could be heard was the labored breathing.

Careful to not betray the wariness the bookman felt in his mind, Lavi circled his companion to review the damage and carefully assess the situation.

Well, He thought casually, at least the brick head's got some substance in there.

He saw the skin and blood patch as if they were fingers weaving together a tapestry. Obviously from the looks of it, Kanda Yu did not need to be defined as fragile as most humans were. If the red head had been the one to have taken the damage, there would be a good chance that Bookman would once again have grander set of hair on his head once more.

Kanda shook himself and despite the wounds sealing up, the Japanese's body still didn't look to be any better as he swayed to and fro.

How fascinating…. and odd; which made it even more interesting to him.

Was this connected to his Innocence?

No…Can't be. He and Bookman had scouted and determined all abilities of the exorcists that they would be working with. Why would this ability escape them?

But as nosy as he was, he knew better then to confront. Bookman don't confront anyway. Bookman soar above and see all that are beneath them from their high vantage point. Being a bookman meant letting the answers come to you from where you station yourself for easier access. Answers that are forced may be untrue or of less substance to some degree. So as long as Lavi had close contact with the raven haired boy then perhaps some unguarded moment would come to reveal some secrets that even Kanda would not be aware of being leaked.

After all, who would guard against the one who never appeared to be trying to sneak in?

Not that Kanda was even worth one of his biggest concerns; The Earl and the akumas place in this world as well as humanities in the war was still top priority of the moment. Plus, he still needed to see the Destroyer of Time that Gramps had harped about once possibly approaching sometime in the future.

But, he being who he was, he'd take a bonus or two along the way. After all, sometimes even the most worthless ink could entertain. And with the way the other boy gritted his teeth and unconsciously let a soft emotion swiftly pass through his cold eyes; it would be a tasty bonus indeed.

Just be quiet Lavi, maybe something will sneak out from the dark…

Lavi ignored the swat of the other's offense directed at him as he carefully took the bloody arm and steered them both to a shelter all the while not acknowledging the pain he was causing Kanda Yu by touching him and letting Kanda pretend that Lavi could not see him like this.

When he found the right area for such an occasion, he allowed partial bookman instinct to meld with exorcist as he surveyed for any items to help with his new patient.

The sweat forming on the raven's skull soaked his hair and made it lose its shine. The rain pounded more as Lavi drew the moisture into a handkerchief and threw it at Kanda's face where it lingered for one whole minute before a hand slowly removed it to reveal a disgruntled expression.

The bookman gave a mental sigh as Lavi clicked his tongue in disapproval. Kanda stayed on guard as Lavi kept watch with Innocence activated all while.

No one slept as the hour of uneasy peace swept by.

When bookman turned to check Kanda Yu's progress, Lavi stopped, and smirked.

Kanda Yu was trying to hide it. But he was shaking his head a little in vain attempt to remove his stubborn long bangs from shading his eyes.

My, my…who's always on top of things.

Lavi smiled and brought out a dagger which Kanda eyed with a raised eyebrow with an air of indifference.

He doesn't think I could take him at all…. Maybe it was the competitive male in him that thought that. Or maybe he just liked making observations that didn't always make sense in the generalized sense, what with them being 'comrades' and all. But either way he found himself not feeling offended or disdainful. Rather, the edges of Lavi's mouth felt softer without even caring just why.

"Hey shaggy, I think I need to give you a haircut there."

"No" Was the immediate reply before the other exorcist pulled himself up more to lean more securely against the wall. How had he seen that coming?

"Yeah, ya do. I don't want my face to get pummeled but I think for the sake of better performance and one less exorcist off the field, someone, I'm not naming who, should allow a helpful hand to take a crack at letting you see the world more. Not that I don't feel bad for the world that would have to see you, but some sacrifices must be tolerated for the supposed greater good."

Kanda looked like he wanted to murder him. Oh good, he was feeling better.

"I can… do it myself." He poorly hid a cough, and Lavi licked his lips as he saw blood specks fly out. Still weren't in the clearing yet. But at least, be it his condition or the fact the bookman had brought up a good point, Kanda was willing to hear him out as someone with good advice.

Maybe he was finally getting somewhere with this alias…

"Come, come, I'm a good boy. I have yet to lose someone by haircut…yet, and I'm not about to let it happen now. You are in no position for moving more then you have to. So I'll just…scooch over and work my magic."

Kanda looked like he was growling, but instead coughed out more and sucked in breath until it became more even patterned.

"Less see, here." Lavi, careful as to not touch the Japanese's face, as any other time that would have been funny, but not when doing so could poke someone's eye out with a dagger nearby. Bookman, who was a very self proclaimed hair specialist, had taught him the technique for maintaining healthy and sporting hair with even the crudest of tools. He carefully fingered the bangs, judging each length that needed to be slowly cut off little by little until he moved on to other uneven pieces.

"Hey, why does Doug not like me?"

"…Who?"

"Doug! The Finder we've been working with." Oh boy, if only such attention he paid to the akuma could be given to people. Then again that might not be such a good thing for a number of reasons.

"Why should I care who likes who, you're both doing you're roles, that's enough."

Normally yes, but it worries me that am unable to manipulate him like I should… And I need to be able to do that in order fulfill my real role.

Oh well, he really hadn't expected a real answer from Kanda. Which comforted him, life was still becoming adjustable for him, knowing that there was one less predictable person in his life comforted him.

Kanda Yu fingered his air, looking as though he'd seen better in his life.

Watching such reactions, Lavi gave a curious tilt of the head to see such a childish response from such a hardened person. It made him seem more, like a story rather then just words you could look at without seeing anything come to mind.

Yu Kanda had interested him in an uninteresting way apart from the other exorcists.

On the surface, there wasn't anything really particularly mind blowing about him. The Japanese was antisocial, but better with military protocol then the lot of them. Hated and feared many things, dealt with few things most couldn't or wouldn't and was very nifty at killing things.

The Raven haired man never had shined; he never did come out of the shadows. The raven darkened his world to where one rarely saw him and so he gave the excuse to rarely be seen. The bookman's not sure if this was intentional or not, but he does know one thing.

"We're moving now." Kanda moved carefully like a panther on the hunt as he got to his feet and moved as if all that had happened in the past hour and twenty minutes had not occurred. Lavi had t hustle to keep up and kept his gaze to the left as Kanda payed more attention to the right.

Kanda Yu….you're not so different.

What he meant by that, he'd save for his chronicle.

When they had walked just a few minutes away from the shelter, Kanda Yu growled in a soft way much like a great hound beast would when alerted by fear of something needing to be gone from his presence. He struck out and the whipping motion of the blade nearly nicked Lavi's cheek as Kanda Yu's extensional force cried like a knight into a field of blood.

Lavi bit down hard on his teeth and quickly shot out into the dark to meet a sound of a thud bouncing before it quickly melted to where even advanced human senses could not read.

They were coming fast, as if time had just begun and released a vengeful force to be reckoned with.

How many are there in this area? Doug….

"Say," Lavi moves like spring fluid down a stone as he maneuvers closeness towards Kanda Yu's side. "What are Finders to you?"

"Don't speak unless it's important to the mission."

This is important to the mission. Just wasn't Kanda Yu's mission.

"Lenalee doesn't really like Finders, does she?" Lenalee, strange girl with even stranger tastes; even he wasn't about to contemplate her psyche, as whatever went on in that pretty clean head of hers was about the opposite of appearances. She wasn't really important enough yet from what he's seen. But he kept close contact regardless. She was a good source of insight, so even she could be useful to him.

Kanda was silent, but he always listened. Contrary to popular belief, as the bookman had discovered, Kanda Yuu was someone who always listened. He just was one to rarely acknowledge the talker on a surface level.

Bumping Kanda's shoulder, he withdrew slightly when a withering glare was shot his way and the bookman knew by the way the Japanese let his sight stray away from Lavi's that he had picked a best moment in one of the worst times to question him about something..

If only because Kanda Yu knew if he didn't provide an answer, then lavi would go to Lenalee for one. But Lavi was still immature in this regard with others to pick up the human emotion yet.

"No…it's just that they're even less like us then normal humans…in her world." The even tone was final in it's rang like a bullet that pierced the air in a way that one would not be sure if it was even heard.

Lavi titled his head, looking as if he were grasping the concept when in reality he already knew it.

He kicked the burnt flesh of the deceased away and took off ahead where Kanda stayed without a word to match his visage.

He jumped with clarity and flew over the dreck below him and ignited the world as everything burned.

~~*

He noticed the flicker of shadows from the glance to his side and breathed a shallow breath that had not felt as steady as he wanted it to. He forced his leg muscles to relax and awaited the prey.

A flash of thickness swallowed by a swift light was all Lavi heard. He saw the dark head and with a yell he knocked the akuma back enough to wedged himself between the younger injured male and monster.

"Doug!"

"L-Sir Exorcist?"

"Move it or lose it!" He grinned, if only to hide his own fear. This was the first time he was fighting alone after all with no other exorcist nearby. Seeing Doug's expression was enough to help calm his nerves, if not for humor then at least he wasn't the only one afraid.

He just couldn't let Doug know that.

He had his pride to think at the least.

He raised his arm above his head as he slanted the pole's position in his hands to ward off an incoming blow that pounded the dirt next to him after knocking him away due to the force of the blow.

He did not let the small akuma get between him and Doug as he swung the pole to his hip and twisted the hammer to smack away the monster using the force of his lower body.

Jumping back and snarling, the akuma snapped like a dog with a human face and tried knocking him back again as it oozed with dark matter.

Lavi felt his body jerk a little when his knee had felt too much weight put on it, but he quickly recovered as the ugly mass lunged at him. Swiftly Lavi fell to the ground holding onto his Innocence in one hand while using the other hand to push the thing off track with help from a kick and slammed the stunned beast into oblivion.

"Not…so smart…eh" He said to nothing now as he wiped his dirty cheek with his wrist only to shrug when such action managed covered it with more grime.

The exorcist turned back to the Finder, and the bookman tilted his head as the grin on his face became uneven when he was greeted by unknown feeling radiating from the dark haired boy's smile as the warmth from the rising sun hit his back.

Was this what I wanted?

~~*

The train moved with a lull that almost put the bookman to sleep, something he would like nothing more then to do. But he wanted to keep awake, for there were still things stimulating his mind.

Doug had thanked him, wanted to invite him to lunch, get to know him. There was almost an apologetic tone to that last statement.

I only saved you because that's what Kanda Yu did for me.

Speaking of Kanda Yu, the man sat across from him. Tired as well, but hiding it better then Lavi was; it had been a rough trip walking back after destroying all the known akuma in the area and finding no evidence of Innocence to recover. Lavi had helped Doug while Kanda Yu had surprisingly without a word carried the child in one arm and dumped him with the nearest police officer he could find, leaving the man to sputter with confusion as they all left without a word. Being live bait had its advantages when the law was concerned.

Doug had not said a word, but smiled sadly, if not without encourage.

"I hope the child will survive." Doug had said after the boy had left his sight.

Lavi had shrugged, recalling a passage he had read from a book he responded without thinking. "He's alive, that's surviving."

Doug had looked at him, two different emotions shining in those light eyes in a way that made Lavi almost nervous; as if Doug knew that wasn't the whole truth, that Lavi was the one who was ignorant. But Doug had settled for smile and only said "You're right, sometimes, being alive can be enough…for a little while."

They had boarded the train then and Lavi had left the Finder to most likely ponder on life and living on his own.

"Yu-"

"Shut up, don't call me that bunny!"

Respond to a name for a nickname. He wondered if the day would come that Kanda Yu would realize that as soon as he would stop reacting so much would be when Lavi would stop addressing him so.

"Leaving that kid alone was alright, was it?"

Kanda Yu closed his eyes, as if he were about to say something he had gone over more times then anyone his age should be allowed to.

"We have another mission after we drop the Finder off for a replacement. We can't sit around here for the kid. I reported back to HQ before we left and told them of the situation, so a few Finders have been dispatched to interview the boy about events. If he passes then he will be left alone. If he shows any of the symptoms then he will be killed before the Earl has a chance to visits." Kanda shuffled a little, not looking at Lavi anymore; he seemed tired now, like he was so used to this it that it was becoming a burden meeting people who weren't.

Lavi nodded, seeing the logic, but grateful for the information. "So we can move on?" Continue our parts.

"…Stop talking…" Kanda's eyes seemed better now; the bookman thought they were calming to look at now that all his hair wasn't in the way.

"Lavi showed his teeth in a grin. "Nope….Yu chan"

Later, after the train had come to a halt, a slightly grumpier Kanda Yu exited first, followed by the red head who was scratching his head from verbal abuse as Doug trailed behind him.

He noticed the rain had stopped and resisted an urge to stick his tongue out as such an event made this seem like a story book.

~~*

Hod…was what he decided life was like.

Netzach…He decided the Order's subjects place was.

He could not mix the two, but he knew he should stand on top of the two pillars with separate resolve.

He could fulfill the two, break down the bookman, build up the soldier, and never contaminate either.

Notes*

Doug is an official character from one of the DGM novels. I'm not sure how he got in here, but I've always planned on writing a fic with him and I guess this was it. It's been awhile since I've read about his story, so I'm not confident on the timeline.

The whole Lake by the Sea thing was not something I made up, I'm actually not sure where I heard it, maybe from an author, but I think it was a old story and thought it was interesting so included it.

I had been slowly working on this for a while now and with school and all I had actually forgotten about it. So when I had discovered it I quickly got to work to post it. So I want to apologize if some of the writing might not flow as well as previous parts I had written

before as the Doug parts were the ones I had to finish while the Kanda parts had already been written.