Waking Reverie

Chapter 1

Monday - everybody hated Mondays. No matter the schooling or the retired, the rich or the poor – unless it was a holiday, or there was an event planned, Mondays are never fun. And that goes especially if you were a student and have to get up early to get your brain cells murdered.

However, a certain red-head by the name of Lavi didn't seem to think so.

"YUU-CHAN!~ IT'S TIME FOR SCHOOL!"

Cobalt eyes flashed dangerously as he turned to glare at the red-head that had suddenly barged into his room without a care for his privacy. A head start of a default three seconds were given before the said red-head was pinned against the nearest wall - with a hand held over his neck, and a sword that was slowly materializing at his neck.

Emerald eyes- scratch that, an emerald eye stared at the imposing threat as he watched Mugen slowly forming before his eyes. Oblivious to the fact that the said object he was fantasizing at would pierce through his neck and kill him once it took its complete form, he raised his arms in mock defeat as he continued taunting his potential murderer, as he knew that Mugen was capable of taking its full form in a fraction of a second if Kanda had wanted it to, and that he was simply threatening him.

"Don't you dare call me that," the swordsman growled.

"Aww, Yuu-chan, why are you so grumpy even before the day has even started?" Lavi piped nonchalantly. 'Aren't you excited? It's going to be bye-bye to our year as a freshman and wave hello to our first day as second-years of high school!'

Sensing that his comrade's murderous aura had heightened by a notch, reaching the level which Lavi deem as 'dangerous', and finally noticing the fact that Mugen was still slowly extending towards his neck, the red-head had finally decided not to push the angered man any further and give it a rest.

But apparently, the other wasn't that willing to let Lavi go that easily, and Mugen was just about to draw blood from the Bookman Junior before a voice from God –or at least it was to Lavi- descended from Heaven.

"Kanda! Lavi! You're both going to be late if you still aren't down for your breakfast in five minutes!"

Kanda gave an annoyed 'che' as he reluctantly allowed Mugen to vanish, all the while sending a death glare at the sicko-irritant that is also known as Lavi, before letting him go none-too-gently, which the other was grateful of, and was currently in the process of thanking Lenalee mentally for saving his live, again.

Killing Lavi off was tempting, but it isn't worth being late for school and facing Komui's wrath. It'd be a pain in the ass if that crazy scientist let off another of his wicked inventions at both of them, and Kanda was not looking forward to another meeting with those vile things.

Ignoring the red-head that was still slumped at his doorway and gulping in air like a fish out of water, Kanda stalked off to his desk and gathered his necessities for …school. It irks him to even think of the word, as it usually meant a whole day worth of boring lecturing from the teachers and a bunch of noisy girls fawning over him. Sometimes he just can't comprehend which part of 'fuck-off-and-leave-me-alone' that those girls don't understand. Seriously, the idiocy of humans can sometimes be truly astonishing.

"Yuu?" the said male twitched with annoyance, "you know, I have to agree with the girls that you really do look hot in the school uniform."

Realizing what had just came out of his mouth, the red-head quickly covered it with both of his hands as he stared fearfully at the dark-haired male, hoping against hope that Kanda did not hear what he had just said. But the damage was already done. Although the male's back was facing him, Lavi could tell and even feel the emotions that were currently running through his mind. His intentions were so clear that Lavi could even spell it out without looking - the word that spelt D-E-A-T-H when put together. Plainly speaking; Lavi's death.

Lavi's breath hitched and got stuck in his throat as he saw Kanda ever-so-slowly turning to face him, with an expression contorted in something so full of hate and fury that Lavi did not dare to move.

This wasn't Kanda's usual Level 2 or 3 when Lavi normally says something stupid. This was also nothing compared to his Level 4 when he got humiliated by his eccentric general. This was a totally new level of fury.

It was a Level 5 – Kanda has evolved.

Lenalee sighed as a loud scream that was awfully high-pitched echoed from the upper floors of the mansion.

Yes, even though Lavi, Kanda and Lenalee herself were not related in any way, they resided under the same mansion under an association called the Dark Order, under the name of Exorcists – the soldiers of the holy war that had raged on for years with the Noahs.

Being an Exorcists isn't actually much different from any normal kid you might find outside, as are given a relatively huge amount of freedom and still attend school to receive education. The only difference is that they wield an amount of power, has a part-time job which involves killing, and lives in an overly huge and grand mansion.

The place they live in may seem like any normal house to the outside. But little did they know that the 'house' was actually a 'mansion', and also the headquarters of the Black Order. Plus, barriers has been casted around the house so that only those who are invited can enter, keeping unwelcome visitors away.

Besides that, the castle-like house does not only have the three floors it seems to have. The main house, which was also where the Exorcists reside in, actually has a total of eight floors, where five of its extra floors are actually underground.

To put it simply, the Exoricsts have the 'above-ground' levels all to themselves, and beyond that is the 'science zone'.

Everyone is free to venture into the underground levels as and when they like, but they'd rarely ever go downstairs unless they were working on their missions, or anything related to that. Or in Lenalee's case, to deliver her daily dose of coffee for her brother and the rest of the science division.

However, the same does not go for the lowest floor, and everyone, including the Exorcists, is prohibited from entering that particular floor without permission and guidance of an authorized personnel. Not that they'd want to find out what they really do down there anyway.

The Generals are normally away for missions and to search for accommodators around the globe and most of the Exorcists are past their schooling years to stay for long, busy with their own respective missions. And since the scientists hardly ever venture up to the above-ground levels, nor do they have the strength, energy or time to, the original floors of the mansion are mostly empty except for Lenalee, Kanda, and Lavi, who still had to receive schooling.

As such, the mansion (not counting the underground floors) is more or less like the trio's, Lenalee, Kanda and Lavi's overly-huge house, with each other as roommates.

Speaking of Kanda and Lavi, Lenalee turned towards her other guest at the table that was happily munching away on the buttered toast Lenalee had made. The guest is named Timcanpy, a shape-shifter who is currently in the form of a caramel-colored Labrador.

It was said that shape-shifters have long gone extinct, or simply passed off as a myth along with the other legendary creatures such as vampires and such. Lenalee, however, believes in the existence of all those mystical creatures, vampires and all.

You've got to think, if something such as Innocence, Noah, and Akumas exists, along with a shape-shifter that was dining without a care in the world in front of her, you've got to believe that things such as vampires and werewolves do exist.

"Timcanpy," the Labrador gulped down the rest of his toast, gave a lick, and looked up at Lenalee. "Would you mind dragging Kanda and Lavi down here for me? If it isn't too much trouble for you, that is."

Timcanpy gave a bark before giving his empty plate a final lick, and then jumped off the table and ran off to do as he was told.

It wasn't long before Lenalee heard a loud growl that seemed awfully like a lion's, a few distinctive shouts, and a loud thud before everything went still.

Lenalee sighed. This is going to be a long day.

Crunch, crunch –

Kanda ignored the existence of the red-head that was sitting opposite him and tried to concentrate on his soba.

Crunch, crunch, crunch. Pause. Crunch, crunch.

Kanda's eyebrow's twitched in annoyance. Why was he here again? Oh yeah, because it was lunch time and he was in the cafeteria sitting with these 'friends' of his. Why didn't he sit somewhere else then? Because there wasn't any empty seats and those annoying girls would just come and disturb his peace.

Crunch crunch. Pause. Slurp. Pause. Crunch-

Kanda stood up and made to leave, disgusted by the eating habits of the supposedly 18 years old teen.

"Ah, Kanda," Lenalee looked up from her spaghetti. "Where are you going?"

He was tempted to ignore her question and simply walk away, but it wasn't worth facing the wrath of her crazy brother. "Up."

Lavi finally stopped stuffing his face with his toast and milk and turned to Kanda. "Skipping class again, Yuu?"

The teen turned to glare at the red-head for daring to use his first name.

"History isn't so bad you know," Lavi pointed out. 'But stubborn Yuu just doesn't want to give it a chance'.

The Asian girl sighed and cut in before the other did anything rash infront of all these people in the cafeteria. "I'll inform Komui that you're not feeling well. But you better go for your class next time."

Kanda's glare narrowed further, and then he turned his head aside with a derisive snort. "Che, no one asked you to," he muttered.

Nothing else was said as the swordsman stalked off, and Lavi resumed his eating again.

"Hey, Lavi." the Asian girl spoke, 'I wonder what's up with Kanda's particular dislike of History. He didn't have problems with it until now though.'

Lavi stopped chewing on his toast like a rabbit and stared at Kanda's disappearing back.

"Who knows?" Lavi shrugged, stuffing the rest of his lunch into his mouth just as the bell rang.

Lavi glanced at the test paper in front of him and sighed, and plopped his head on the table ungracefully when he saw the context of the questions.

"Mr. Lavi," Link, their History professor called out. "There is no excuse for you to slack off on my test even though you might be the top scorer of this subject."

The red-haired teen sighed once again as he positioned his head so that he could see the questions while keeping his head on the table.

Question #1: In 2003, children were easy targets for the scientific experiments that were going on. Explain and support your view of this statement in no more than one thousand words.

I guess it was a good thing that Yuu decided to skip History class this time.

You are the light
That's leading me
To the place where I find peace again.

You are the strength, that keeps me walking.
You are the hope, that keeps me trusti-

"Peace my foot," Kanda grumbled as he yanked his headphone off, and took content in simply staring at the clouds as he laid on the rooftop. There isn't much peace if he could still hear the brats yelling downstairs even with his noise-isolation headphones on. Seriously, what's the point of a noise-isolation headphone if they don't work their purpose of blocking out the outside noise?

The dark-haired teen brought his hand up and stared at it. "Strength that keeps me walking huh?"

'Keep on walking forward, Yuu-chan.'

Kanda brought his hand back down and used it to shield his eyes instead.

"I'm trying, you idiot. I'm trying."

'Mugen.'

'Eh?' the figure rubbed her tired eyes sleepily as she rose from where she was lying on the lap of the other's. 'Did you say anything, Yuu-chan?'

'Last time, you asked me about giving my sword a name didn't you?'

'Mm-hmm.'

'I've decided on Mugen.'

'Eehh.. Mugen, eh?' Kanda's lap was once again occupied as a white-haired girl by the name of Ellen snuggled into the said male. 'It kind of suits; infinite.'

'I'm not going to ask how u got to know Japanese, so you can go to sleep now.'

A soft chuckle could be heard before it was replaced by light snores as the girl fell asleep, clutching tightly onto the shirt of the other, as if afraid to lose him.

'Che, baka Moyashi,' Kanda muttered as he took in the sight of Ellen. 'It's not as if I'm letting you go anywhere.'

Kanda held out his hand and watched as his sword materialized in front of him. Cobalt eyes stared at the said sword for a few moments before leaning back against the wall and letting it vanish. Cobalt eyes slowly closed as he too, drifted to sleep.

'I guess I'd be relying on you from now on, Mugen.'

A/N: Woots. A new chapter! Nothing much to say, other than the standard 'Review pl0x', and 'Enjoy'.

Random Fact: Christmas Edition.

Santa is in actual fact, obese. And the reason for his giving of presents during Christmas is so that those immature kids would stuff themselves full with candies, and eventually become fat like him.

Therefore, beware of Christmas treats. Santa is evil. Fats aren't funny.

P.S: MERRY CHRISTMAS YOU FOOLS.