The alternate record

[paper_rabbit]

Alias 49: Lavi

“Lavi..... Lavi....” The old man frowned. He pulled his hand back and slapped the redhead across the back of his head. “Lavi!”

The redhead rubbed the back of his head, turning around, frowning back at the old man. “Hey, that hurt!”

“Idiot!” he shouted back. “Pay attention! Your name's Lavi now and you're about to observe the secret war between the Noah and the Exorcists.”

Noah. He'd heard about them but knew very little. In fact no one really knew much about them. They'd appear throughout history then disappear as soon as they had arrived. They existed alongside history since the biblical Noah had existed within history. But any data about them was unknown. Who they were, what they did, even their involvement was vague at best. But now, he had the opportunity to observe the mysterious Noah first hand. This was great!

Lavi grinned, plastering a friendly smile across his soft features. “Don't worry, old man. I know what to do.” Just act friendly and get the necessary information. This'd be a breeze.



The two walked into the ornate mansion dressed in less than ornate clothes. Their last record had left them with tears in their rather drab clothes. The two stuck out sorely, but were strangely greeted like nobility by the servants. The servants looked a little strange, as if they weren't human.

“Ohoho~♥” The laugh traveled down the stairs and echoed about the foyer. Lavi snapped from his observations of the room to a rather well dressed fat man with a tall top hat and long ears. He didn't look human. And here Lavi thought he'd seen everything.

“You must be the Earl,” Bookman stated strongly, offering a slight bow. Lavi followed suit, with a friendly inviting smile.

This Earl person had to be some sort of importance, Lavi figured, but what, exactly, he wasn't sure. Were the Noah not human?

“Ah, yes, Bookman~♥” the Earl chuckled. “Perfect.” He turned and shouted suddenly, “Oh, Rhode~!”

Suddenly behind him appeared a young girl as she walked through the wall at the top of the stairs. She bounced down the stairs then leapt upon the Earl, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him on the cheek. “Are they here, Sennen-ko? Is that them?”

“Ohoho~, so excited, Rhode~” the Earl grinned. “Show them to their room, dear?”

“Just Lavi,” Bookman interjected. “I have business to attend.”

“Huh?” Lavi's attention snapped to Bookman. “Whatcha mean, just me?”

Bookman quickly kicked Lavi in the shin. “Don't ask stupid questions, idiot. You're on your own this time. Don't mess up.”

Lavi rubbed his shin, frowning. “Yeah, yeah, I gotcha.”

But before he could say anything more, Rhode flung herself on Lavi. “C'mon, it'll be fun, Bookman~!”

He wasn't here for fun. He was here to learn the hidden history.



Rhode lead him up an ornate staircase, skipping happily, humming a tune to herself. Lavi'd never heard that tune before, so he tucked it away in his memory. Rhode then opened one of the doors in the hallway, “This is where Sennen-ko says you'll be staying~.”

Lavi gaped. “No waaaay.” The room was huge! He had grown so accustomed to staying in small inns or just sleeping outside under the stars. This was much too large for him.

She poked him on the nose playfully. “Sennen-ko can be generous, but don't push your luck,” she added with a dark expression.

“I'll keep that in mind,” Lavi noted. He wanted to meet Noah and learn about them, not parade around with some nobility.

“Earn our trust and you may get to meet us all~” Rhode added.

Did she just read his mind? Was she one of the Noah?

“Shh~” she held a finger to her lips.



He sat at dinner with the Noah and the Earl. He didn't trust them and they didn't trust him in return. He'd met most of them and knew them by name, but more than that, he knew nothing about them. They were more secretive than he was.

For the past few months, Lavi had been using his location to learn more about the movement of the Order in the area. He knew where three of them were, currently, and they were in the area. He currently knew more about the Order than he did about the Noah.

However he had spoken to the Earl. The Earl told Lavi their mission, to put an end to all wars. The idea was tantalizing. Lavi despised wars and the people who caused them. He felt like he was actually above them, superior to them. The Earl fed into this belief by telling Lavi about their supposed mission. Lavi bought into it.

“There's an Exorcist in the city,” Lavi suddenly blurted out.

Jaws dropped across the table.

“Is there really?” Rhode flung herself onto Lavi, who nodded in return.

“What makes you so fucking certain?” Debitt scowled across the table

“I've been trackin' the movements'a the Order when I go out into the city t' learn more 'bout them,” Lavi explained.

“And you're just giving us the information?” Tyki gaped.

“I've decided I wanna share what I know,” Lavi replied. It wasn't often that either he or Bookman actually shared their knowledge with the people around them, but this was one of those times. A wise decision or not, this was wholly Lavi's, driven by his desires to end wars and offer his knowledge to help do it. And Bookman wasn't here to tell him no.

Two Years Later

Two years passed and Lavi was still with the Noah. He'd met every single one of them, learned their history and their powers. He'd become close to them and began to be unable to distinguish if his smiles were real or fake. He was becoming family to them.


The Noah and Lavi sat at the dinner table, the Earl at the head of the table. As usual, Jasdero and Debitt had gotten into a fight over who got the last piece of turkey while Rhode had simply stolen it from under their noses. Tyki sighed, propping his chin on his elbow. Lulu Bell and Skin Boric were ignoring the entire ordeal. Cyril was too busy fawning over how cute Rhode was. That left Lavi to simply observe the entire fiasco, amused by how strange this family was.

“Tyki-pon~♥” the Earl spoke up.

Tyki frowned. He hated that name.

“I have a mission for you~♥”

That quickly grabbed the entire table's attention.

“Why the fuck does he get a mission? Haaa?” Debitt whined.

“Yeah, why? Why?” Jasdero echoed.

“Ohoho~. You two have your own mission~♥” the Earl explained. “You have to locate General Cross~.”

Debbit scowled. “That asshole keeps running! I think he's afraid'a us!”

“Yeah, afraid!” Jasdero echoed. “Heeee!”

“Find him~♥!” the Earl said threateningly.

“Y-yeah!” Debitt frowned. He sure didn't want to cross the Earl the wrong way.

“Now, Tyki-pon,” the Earl continued. “There's an Exorcist I want you to observe. And take the Bookman with you~♥.”

A mission? Lavi hadn't been out much with the Noah, only observing them and their powers at their home, but this would be the first time he'd actually see them in full action. Until now, he'd simply been gathering information from the outside, using it to track the movements of the Exorcists and return that information to the Noah and the Earl. He'd never met an Exorcist in person.

But now, he'd have the opportunity to see an Exorcist and observe the other side.



“Stay out of sight,” Tyki instructed, adjusting his hat. He didn't want Lavi to get caught in the crossfire. He was one of them, a member of the Noah family. He may not have the genes, but he'd found his way to be a member of the family, earning their trust and respect.

Lavi propped himself up against the tree, watching Tyki phase through them one by one, sneaking up on a girl in a black and silver uniform. She didn't look much older than himself. Tyki approached her and she activated something, her black boots growing up her legs. She attempted to fight him, but Tyki simply dodged her attacks, taunting her as he went. He was after information, after all. Lavi simply stayed hidden, watching the exchange between the two with an observing eye. He was supposedly a neutral party. He had no reason to interfere.

“You're a Bookman, aren't you?”

Lavi turned sharply to find a kid with white hair, wearing an Exorcist uniform. Lavi was silent, observing the kid, his uniform, his stance, the akuma star on his forehead. This was the one Rhode had described, the one she seemed to have a childish crush on. Allen Walker, right? He wasn't like that other Exorcist. There was something different about him. Lavi could tell just by looking at him.

“Are you really with the Noah?” Allen asked.

Lavi unfolded his arms, leaving his fingers near the knife he kept on his leg. If he had to fight, he might as well make it a good fight. “I am.”

“But you're not a Noah?”

Allen seemed genuinely curious, so Lavi decided to simply answer, observing the kid's reactions and mannerisms to see what he could learn about the Exorcists. “I'm not.” His expression remained surprisingly calm, almost friendly. “I'm just neutral party who happens t' stayin' with 'em.” And there was the smile, friendly and unthreatening, reassuring that what he said was truth.

Allen smiled in return. He knew that the Bookman wasn't a bad person.

But Lavi suddenly drew his knife, snapping it towards the figure that attempted to sneak up on his blindside. Lavi could sense his presence, almost as if he could see on that side.

“Che,” he said, brandishing his sword.

“Kanda!” Allen shouted. “We don't need to fight! He's a Bookman!”

“Shut up, Moyashi!” Kanda scowled, still not taking his eyes off Lavi.

So this was Kanda Yuu. Skin had mentioned this one. He'd seen Kanda when he was searching for the Innocence in the northern regions that had caused odd weather to occur on the mountains. He supposedly had an incredibly short temper.

“It's time to die, Bookman.” He put his fingers on the blade. “Mugen, activate!”

Oh this wasn't good at all. That keyword, activate, could only signal that Mugen was his Innocence. Lavi was just human. This Innocence could easily kill him.

“Go help Lenalee,” Kanda scowled at Allen, who quickly ran off to help her against Tyki. Kanda slashed at Lavi sharply, determined to take his life. The slash had magic behind it, pushing the attack beyond the blade, digging deeply into Lavi's shoulder. So this was Innocence. It was powerful. It hurt. He could feel blood dripping down his arm. He had to defend himself against this Exorcist. But how?

Lavi jumped backwards, avoiding the next attack, effectively judging it's current range, but unfortunately the range changed for the next attack, and he took a hit to the leg, knocking him backwards against a tree. Pushing his elbow onto Lavi's chest, effectively pinning him to the tree, Kanda held Mugen to his throat. Lavi tried to push back against Mugen with his knife, but one arm wasn't very effective against an Exorcist's weapon.

Kanda was going to take Lavi's life, right there. Kanda's mission was to eliminate the informant and that informant just happened to be a Bookman. There was no way he would allow Lavi to live now.

But fate wouldn't have it his way as akuma emerged from within the forest and began to fire at Kanda careful not to hit Lavi in the process. They knew that hitting Lavi would get them in serious trouble with the Noah.

Kanda glared at Lavi then promptly left to fight the akuma. Kanda would be after his life again. There was no doubt in Lavi's mind. His combative skills didn't involve knowing how to fight an Exorcist. This would be difficult.

“Now that they know you're with us, they'll be after your life,” Tyki frowned, taking off his hat and running a hand through his hair as he phased through the trees in the forest

Lavi would need some medical attention. The attack would probably leave a scar.

Second encounter

Lavi sipped some tea in a shop in Turkey. He'd been tracking the movements of the Exorcists for three days and his information lead him there. It hadn't been long since he'd begun to share information with the Noah. They were here somewhere but he needed to be careful. Kanda was among them.

“Yeah, I've seen them,” said the man behind the counter.

“The people in black coats and silver crosses, yeah?” Lavi reaffirmed.

The man nodded. “Yeah, three of them. They were in here this morning for breakfast.”

They were close, perhaps even right around the corner. Lavi would have to play his cards right to get the information he wanted. Plastering an inviting smile across his face, he propped his chin on his hand, inquiring, “Ya happen t' hear anything they were talkin' 'bout? Maybe where they were headin'?”

Judging by Lavi's expression, the man behind the counter thought nothing of the question. “They were talking about something innocent, but that's all I heard.”

The bell attached to the door jingled and the man looked up. “There's one right now.”

Lavi glanced over his shoulder. The man was tall with a small ponytail and something covering his ears. Noise Marie, most likely. Supposedly this man could hear most everything around him. It was best for Lavi to leave before anyone really noticed he was there. And so the redhead simply took his leave, slipping out along the shadows of the room.

Out in the light, Lavi made haste back towards the alleys to slip away from sight, but luck wasn't with him today. First a tight grip on his arm then a sword at his neck. Kanda had caught him from behind.

“So we meet again.”

Their last encounter was still fresh in Lavi's memories. His shoulder still ached with the scar that remained from Kanda's attack. “Seems so.”

“Time to finish what we started,” Kanda stated, tightening his grip on Lavi's arm.

“I don't think so,” Lavi gritted his teeth. In a swift motion, he drove his elbow backwards into Kanda's stomach, then his boot into Kanda's knee. With Kanda's brief release in his grip, Lavi took the opportunity to push Kanda backwards then follow up with a spinning round kick before bolting off in the opposite direction. At this point, the crowd in the bazaar had dissipated at the sight of Kanda's sword, which made a quick sprint in the opposite direction much simpler.

Kanda scoffed as Daisya came up behind his teammate, along with Marie.

“That was the Bookman, wasn't it?” Marie noted.

“Why're we chasin' this guy anyway?” Daiysa inquired, playing with the Charity Bell in his hands.

“We're eliminating the informant,” Kanda scowled, convinced that Lavi was somehow tracking their movements. “Don't just stand there. We have a mission to complete.”

Daisya and Marie stared at each other for a second. Kanda was losing his temper again.

Marie tapped his ear. “He's in the closest alley on the left.”

“I got it!” Daisya exclaimed, dashing off in the direction Marie indicated. He skidded around the corner and upon spotting the tuft of red hair, he tossed the bell into the air. With a twist of his supportive foot, he brought the other foot around, kicking the bell sharply in Lavi's direction.


That noise, the jingling, caught Lavi's attention and he turned but it was coming too fast. With only one eye, projectiles were incredibly difficult to judge. It had no life force to judge and completely nailed Lavi in the chest. The force threw him back into the side of a nearby building, the stand in front of it crumbling on top of him. Dust and pieces of fruit flew about, concealing his location for just a moment. He winced a bit as he shifted, attempting to recover. Right now, he had an Innocence sitting in his lap in the form of a giant door bell, but that wasn't the least of his worries. That ruthless swordsman wouldn't be far behind. Disappearing into the crowd wouldn't work as it had fully dispersed with the commotion. A few faces peaked out from behind curtains, but most had tucked themselves out of sight.

Lavi reached into the pouch he kept on his belt, removing a small black ball. The ball moved, uncurling its wings. The Tease seemed to stretch, awaiting a command. “I need help,” Lavi told it. “Go find your master.”

Gripping the Charity Bell, Lavi pushed himself to his feet and took off running down the alley. He briefly saw the trio running down the alley after him. He'd now successfully disarmed one exorcist, but what to do with this thing? It jingled, possibly looking for its master. He didn't have the hands of the Noah. He was incapable of destroying it, but he could take it to the Noah himself. Unfortunately, the bell tugged about and slipped out of his hands, returning to Daisya.

No matter, Lavi rounded the corner, but unfortunately it was a dead end. He sprang up, nearly scaling the whole wall, but something tugged at his foot. He turned to see Noise Marie with his hands in an odd position. Was he the source of whatever had taken hold of his foot?

“You have nowhere to go, Bookman,” he said.

“I've got no reason t' fight ya,” Lavi stated calmly. “I'm just a neutral force observing the war.”

“Drop the act,” Daisya frowned, coming up behind Marie. “We know that you're with the Noah.”

“I just happen t' be stayin' with 'em t' record their side'a the war,” Lavi lied. He'd become so wrapped up in his recordings, he didn't realize how close he'd gotten to them until he was inseparable from them. Kanda's attempt at taking his life only drove him closer to the Noah.

Marie tightened his grip on Lavi's ankle. Lavi could feel it through his boot, wincing. He lost his grip on the wall and fell to the ground ungracefully. He leaned against the wall, holding his shoulder. Pain shot down his arm from the wound Kanda had given him.

Kanda came up beside Marie opposite of Daisya. A quick motion of his fingers, delicately tracing the form of his sword, and Mugen once again began to glow.

Oh god he was going to die here.

Kanda stood in front of Lavi, staring down at him. “It's time to die, informant.”

Oh but that wouldn't be happening. Behind the wall, rose several Akuma, which immediately began to fire upon the Exorcists. Now distracted with the Akuma, Tyki phased through the wall and helped Lavi to his feet. “You alright?”

Lavi nodded. “Just a bit sore.”

As Tyki couldn't phase Lavi through the wall, they'd have to go the long way. But their travel was interrupted by Daisya suddenly bursting through the wall right in front of them.

Tyki and Daisya stared at one another before a sinister grin crossed the Noah's face. He reached into Daisya's chest, removing an organ from his chest. Daisya fell to the ground, gasping for air.

Lavi folded his arms, watching Tyki drag the Exorcist over to a lamppost.

“What're ya doin', Tyki?” Lavi asked curiously as Tyki pulled some rope from his pocket.

“Leaving a little message for the Exorcists,” Tyki replied, having fun in his work.

“Make him stop...” Daisya begged, seemingly reaching out to Lavi.

“I'm just an observer,” Lavi stated coldly.