literature

Stronger Than Pride: Chapter 1

Deviation Actions

Published: Jan 20, 2013

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Literature Text

_{Missions were a part of life.

They more or less ran the Black Order. You were given a job and you were expected to do it as quickly and quietly as possible. Us exorcists were the ones who were supposed to save the world and keep it rid of evil… or something like that. It's all pretty complicated once you join us and figure out what it's all really about. It becomes more than "just a job;" more than just "saving the world."

It was my job, my duty as an exorcist to complete these missions, and it was better to do it with a smile. Nothing was ever easy, but with a Master like mine your choices were pretty limited. So I did, and I'll admit that in the beginning I loved every minute of it. The people I was surrounded with, the things I got to do. I'd already gotten used to the traveling because of Master, but this was something entirely different.

I'd like to think I was good at what I did. I had my friends; my family by my side nearly all the time, and we fought together on the field as a unit. It was the one thing that could really bring joy to my life more than one other person. It was hard to place my feelings around that man most of the time, when he usually acted like such an ass. I don't know, I guess it was weird, but despite how much effort he put in for me to hate him, I really did like Kanda Yuu more than people care to know.

Kanda was… strange. He always acted so uptight and edgy; constantly on alert and extremely guarded. And yet, somehow that was all I needed for him to draw me in. I felt like I needed to tear down those walls, and put meaning and joy into his life, which he was obviously lacking. He was also very interesting, and he often left me in awe of himself on more than one occasion. He was skilled, he was accurate, and he was stunning all at the same time. He made it look easy when most of us could probably never do the things he did. His determination was definitely something to admire.

It was sad that such a beautiful creature was hidden behind that eternal frown and that sharp tongue of his. Perhaps if he smiled a bit more it would make things easier, but it was a good thing I liked a challenge. It may have been odd to him if I were to ever tell him such things, at least at one point. But I don't think I'm able to surprise him on many occasions anymore.

"Pay attention, Moyashi!" I hear the low, angry voice faintly in the back of my mind, but I'm still daydreaming. It's not enough to jolt me out of my thoughts because I'm used to him yelling at me. Slowly, they begin to fade as the voice persists, my brow creasing in annoyance as it's joined by others in a jumbled chant. "Allen… Allen, Allen… Allen what are you doing?"

I gasp at the sound of an explosion, immediately snapping back into focus. Bits of debris flew in every direction, including mine. A giant ball of orange flame is heading straight for me and I only have time to dive straight into a pile of garbage to escape it. The smell causes my nose to burn and my eyes to water, my throat beginning to itch as I make my way to the top of the waste for air. The smell is almost enough to make me gag, like someone had taken a thousand dead bodies and rolled them in moldy bread crumbs, with an added sunbaked effect to top it off. The sound of laughter trickles into my ears, and I turn to the source with an annoyed, half-lidded expression to see Lavi and Lenalee still cracking up on the side.

"Allen, look out!" A feminine voice calls to me, but I don't know exactly where. It's followed by a piercing zipping sound. Someone is moving behind me, and I'm betting it's an Akuma, so I whip around and go to attack it with Crown Clown. I realize I wasn't fast enough, fearing the worst when it's lanky, mangled body charges full speed at me. I close my eyes and reach out to defend myself as much as I can, both arms raised, until it stops just an inch shy of me. Confusion takes me over when I figure out I'm not dead, prompting me to open my eyes and find out why. It doesn't make sense; I should've been hit, I think to myself as I look at the body shadowing me from above. I spot the glint of a blade stuck between the middle of its torso, and breathe a sigh of relief. But I know I shouldn't be relieved, because that should've never happened. The blade travels down the entire thing at warp speed until its split in half, followed by Kanda with his usual unimpressed look of annoyance set on me.

His dark eyes are cold with disappointment, making me want to coil beneath my fears and beg for mercy. He doesn't even have to say it; I know. He shouldn't have had to do that. But he just saved my life.

'I don't have time for your fucking shit, Moyashi.' I wish he would say it, but he doesn't speak. He simply scoffs and moves to his next target. Somehow, he always manages to lose his shirt in every battle, which can make it really hard for me to focus with a body like that. One after another he slices into the Akuma, with such an alarming amount of precision; catching level one's and two's like it's nobody's business. He's swift and his actions are smooth, nearly flawless and still, somehow, he's able to escape with a few lame scratches on his arms.

Stay focused, Allen. You'd stand in awe and watch him all day if you could, but you're not about to be proven totally useless just yet.

Smoke rises from one of the buildings, which has somehow managed to catch fire, and my eyes zero in on Lavi's giant hammer ripping into an Akuma without hesitation. I glance down the side of the road I'm on. Hundreds of houses sat, that had long since been abandoned. We were sent here because there was supposed to be innocence, but instead we'd just found another swarm of Akuma, mostly levels one and two.

I turn once more to find a few level one's and two's of my own. Clown Belt does the trick for them, and already are we mowing them down faster now that I've actually got my ass into gear. I can't help but feel guilty and try to put extra effort into it because of the way I slacked before. I can never help that feeling, it haunts me. I'm not known for slacking, it's not really my style. It's strange the way Kanda can just creep in on me and take me over, make me do almost anything, even if it's something like this that I'm so passionate about.

I look around once I've taken out the rest of the Akuma in my general area, breathing hard and heavy as I halt to a standstill. I take a moment to relax, careful to have hidden myself this time behind another broken down structure, this one a little bit sturdier than the last.

For some reason, I couldn't keep Kanda off my mind. It wasn't irregular; actually, it was quite a normal thing for me to be thinking about him. But it was more than just a casual thought anymore. It almost scared me because by now I knew something like my thoughts suggested could never be.

A screeching sound jolted me out of my thoughts once again, and I turned just in time to see Lavi getting tossed across the entire compound. I couldn't help the smile that came to my face, or the small laugh that rolled off my tongue either. Karma was quick and painful, and if anyone knew that, Lavi did. I make my way to him, weaving through chunks of building and cars; offset pillars and such to help him out. The Akuma is quite large, which startles me. All the others were smaller and easier to take out.

"It's a level three," I hear Kanda say, which sends shivers down my back. He's right behind me and I didn't even notice. "Let me take care of it."

"No, I will," I say, nodding in his direction. It's probably the least I can do for him saving my ass earlier. And I'm not totally useless, you know…
"Clearly you can't do it if I had to save you once, Moyashi. You're lucky I was around or you'd be dead."

"Then why do it in the first place—"

"Uh, ladies," Lavi interrupts as he's shaking off the last of the rubble on his uniform. "Perhaps you can finish that when we're not about to get killed.

"Right," Kanda and I both say in unison, which earns an awkward glance back at each other. I urge him to go with my silver eyes, and he leaves just as quickly to escape the embarrassment. I start running in the same direction as him, as Lenalee has taken the other side to help Lavi. It looks as if all of us are gonna take it at once.

A shrill, piercing scream turns into a low growl as we approach the Akuma, powerful enough to shake the ground and shake us right off our feet. Kanda is the first to take his fall and I'm right behind him with Lavi. Numerous pieces of debris in all shapes and sizes fly past us, and I fear I might get hit if I'm not careful. I manage to latch onto a boulder sticking out of the ground to stop myself from getting too far from the Akuma; just as soon do I jump back up to finish the job.

Kanda was able to recover faster than I, which may have been a good idea if he wasn't caught in the path of the level three. He slips in front of it all too easily, battling it with his blade but it won't let up. In fact, it seems to be enjoying itself; enjoying the way it taunts Kanda, and Kanda takes the bait. I can sense something bad is going to happen. I wonder where the others are but I can't hear them, can't see them anywhere. All I see is Kanda taken a dangerous step towards his enemy with no means of giving up.
I reach out, calling to Kanda as he's being thrown just like Lavi was, and when he lands, he turns to me. For once, the only thing that's dead set in those dark eyes is utter shock. His eyes widen to their fullest length, and I can practically feel his alarm from all the way over here. I go to scream his name once again when I see the level three getting nearer but suddenly I've lost my voice.

I take a breath, prepared to go to his side and fight with him, knowing I can do it in silence when I feel something. It stops me dead in my tracks, a shot of panic running through every inch of my body as I begin to register what's happening. It's warm, it's wet, and it's running down my face. I can feel the warmth of it, slowly trickling down, and then suddenly it's everywhere. It frightens me, again striking me with confusion as my hands reach up to touch it. An even greater shock consumes me when my hands come back into view covered in my own… blood.

I try to walk but I'm instantly struck with a dizzy feeling that turns into nausea. The entire area around me starts to shift in my vision, and soon I find myself on the floor. The entire way down I can feel myself slipping away, with nothing but the cold darkness of defeat to slap me right into unconsciousness.}