Noah's bookman 7

[paper_rabbit]

Awoken

Lavi hadn't moved since he'd traveled through Rhode's door from the Ark. Slumped against the wall, he had his face buried in his knees. Why did it hurt so much? Throughout his whole career as an apprentice Bookman, he'd watched wars, battles, and death without even as much shedding a tear. In fact, the redhead had never cried in his whole life. He didn't even know if he were capable of it. He was emotionally empty most of the time, feeling absolutely nothing but pretending he felt everything.

And now, he was feeling something and it was extreme. The pain welled up inside him, as if someone had stabbed him through the heart. His body hurt more than when Kanda had nearly severed his arm. He was still in complete shock. The man who had found him with nothing and gave him everything was now trying to have him killed, at least indirectly. He was giving the Order information about Lavi. He was on their hit-list now, his life in danger, all because of his own master. Lavi wanted to ask why, but the word never came out. Instead there was yelling. The words simply came out on their own uncontrollably. He couldn't stop them. He couldn't regain control. He'd completely lost it.

A small hand delicately ran through his red hair. “Lavi,” she said softly.

Lavi looked up to find Rhode a bit of a mess. She wasn't bleeding but her clothes were pretty messed up. His one emerald eye was laced with pain and confusion. He was a wreck himself.

“We need your medical skills,” she informed him.

How did she know of his medical skills? He'd never told anyone about them but he had used them. They just appeared to be general first aid skills when he'd wrap up wounds he'd received from Exorcists attempting to kill him. But that wasn't what she was after, was it. “How did you---”

She placed a finger on his lips. “I learned a lot from the old panda's memories.”

Lavi knew she had the power to create dream worlds but to get into someone's mind and see their memories? But if that were the case, as it seemed it was, then she knew about Lavi's past as well, about his aliases and facades he wore, about how he had no particular origins, about his mysterious right eye. She probably knew more, too. The old man held Lavi's secrets. All of them.

“It'll be our secret ♥.”

Her words were more unnerving than comforting. “What's the catch?” Lavi expected something devious such as eternally helping her with homework or being her pet Bookman or eating cake with her every day.

“Help Tyki.” Her words were surprisingly sincere.

But it wasn't the sincerity or simplicity of her request which caught his attention. It was Tyki. “Tyki?!” He shot up rather quickly. Something had happened to his adoptive brother? “Where is he? What happened?” Of all the Noah, Lavi was the closest to Tyki and Rhode. He spent most of his time with one or the other.

At the beginning of Lavi's stay with the Noah, Rhode toyed with him almost constantly as if she were testing his limits, trying to break him. Tyki wanted nothing to do with Lavi, save beat him at poker every so often. But there was a point when the two began to warm up to him, almost as if he'd become their brother, Tyki first, followed by Rhode. The others began to warm up to him in their own odd ways after that. And then when he'd received the white cross from the Earl, Lavi truly felt as if he were their adopted brother. He became part of the family and he enjoyed it.

Rhode took his hand and dragged him off down the hallway and into a room. Lavi simply stopped at the door, gaping. His emotions were so criss-crossed he couldn't hide the horror he felt. Tyki was simply lying there, large crosses drawn across his body. His hair had inexplicably grown incredibly long, his shirt and jacket completely gone, his pants torn from battle. He lay in his white form in quite a bit of pain. “Tyki!” He rushed over and knelt beside the bed. “What happened?”

“Allen tried to exorcise his Noah,” Rhode explained.

“Exorcise?” Lavi stared. The markings must be from that. But how did Allen Walker have that sort of power. He seemed so pacifistic. But who was he really? “The hell was he tryin'? Noah aren't demons that can just be expelled!”

“It had the reverse effect,” Rhode replied simply, sitting on the side of the bed. “His Noah fully awoke and nearly killed the Exorcists. Too bad that General had appeared last minute and disrupted his plans,” she added with a hiss.

The twisted sadistic Noah Lavi had seen so far wasn't Tyki's full awoken form? There was more to the Noah than Lavi had learned so far. There had to be. But did this mean, also, that the what Rhode showed wasn't her fully awoken form either? Or was it that she simply hid her true talents?

In a way, the idea that the Noah had more secrets fascinated the Bookman. He wanted to know more about them, their powers, their abilities. He wanted to see it for himself. They were more powerful than he'd ever imagined. At the same time, however, these potential awoken forms sent chills down his spine. As he'd observed, the Noah were superhuman, but to be moreso? Was that even possible? The power frightened him. He never wanted to be on the receiving end of that.

Lavi traced the crosses along Tyki's stomach with his fingers. The wound was smooth, no sign of breaking of the skin. But this was a wound caused by Innocence. Lavi had his own but he wasn't affected like the Noah were as he was simply human. He wasn't quite certain on the details of what might happen from a wound caused by Innocence, but he knew very well it wouldn't be good.

Lavi nearly jumped a mile when Tyki grabbed Lavi's neck from his blindside. Despite his condition, his grip was incredibly strong, almost suffocating as he grabbed the Bookman. “Tyki!” he gasped, clawing at Tyki's hand. “Tyki, it's me! It's Lavi!”

Tyki looked down his arm to find the familiar red hair belonging to whatever he had suddenly grabbed. The redhead was attempting to pry Tyki's hand off his neck. “Lavi?” He immediately let go of the Bookman.

Lavi gasped for air, rubbing his neck. Despite Tyki nearly killing him, Lavi still wanted to help out his adopted brother. Tyki meant a lot to him, and Lavi wanted to do whatever he could to help him. The redhead was also capable of taking a good deal of abuse. “I'm gonna do what I can t' help ya with this.” It reminded Lavi that he was human and they weren't. He was part of the family but he wasn't like them. The redhead would just have to be wary of this awakened form in case Tyki went mad and killed every human nearby. Lavi didn't want to become a dead Bookman. Maybe the cross he wore would help him recognize him as an ally.

Lavi wasn't entirely certain how he could help, except maybe dull the pain with some herbal remedies he'd learned in China, but he'd do whatever he could. He wasn't about to let the Exorcists gain an advantage.




Several weeks had passed. Tyki's condition was marginally better. Lavi had spent most of the time in Tyki's room, trying to help him cope with the pain Allen had caused. He was wearing himself thin, even found himself needing sleep. The Bookman so rarely slept that everyone believed he didn't need it.

Tyki leaned against the balcony, taking a long drag of the cigarette. His hair was pulled back, reaching down his back to his waist. His pajamas covered the scars which formed from the wounds from Allen's attack.

“I'm gonna go out for a bit, Tyki,” Lavi informed him, adjusting his floofy bow tie. “Ya gonna be okay for a while?”

Tyki turned to face Lavi, then tried to muffle his laughs but they came out anyway. “Did Rhode pick that out for you?”

Lavi frowned. “Yeah, that bad?” He tugged at it in the mirror. It did look ridiculous. She'd get mad at him if he changed it though, and Lavi really didn't want to cross her bad side. He sighed.

Tyki continued to snicker, his attempt at muffling them completely failing. “She sure has an odd fashion sense.”

“Doesn't help that Cyril thinks it's cute,” Lavi frowned, finally getting the bow to sit and not choke him. “They said they were takin' me out t' lunch then handed me this thing.”

“Have fun with that, Lavi,” Tyki grinned, taking another long drag of his cigarette. “I'll be fine.”




Lavi walked down the street, still tugging at the ridiculous bow. He wasn't worried about possibly encountering Exorcists as Lulu Bell had recently decimated their headquarters. They were most likely busy picking up the remains of whatever pathetic shape their headquarters had become.

“Lavi.” The harsh voice hit his hears sharply. The redhead turned to see his master. What was he doing here? What could he possibly want?

Two Separate Ways

“Lavi.”

The redhead turned to find his old mentor staring back at him. His hands were neatly knit beneath the long sleeves of his Exorcist uniform, his expression calm and unmoved.

“Lavi, we need to talk.”

Lavi stared at him flatly. The last person he wanted to talk to was Bookman. The old man had hurt him so much.

“You're too involved in this record,” the old man pointed out harshly.

“So are you,” Lavi shot back. This was beginning to sound like their previous conversation, and that one ended poorly.

“Lavi, let's close this record and move on,” he offered.

Well that caught his attention. “Close the record?” Lavi stared, surprised he actually considered taking the offer. In a way, there was an emptiness in him that the old cranky man once filled.

Bookman had found the redhead with absolutely nothing, a child with no name and a strange eye. He offered him the world of hidden history and adopted him as his apprentice. Lavi couldn't have been happier than that day. He spent years with the old man, taking on various aliases and guises. At first, Lavi was a terrible actor, but as the aliases passed by, his skills improved. The old man also taught him useful skills, including first aid, several forms of martial arts, and cooking, although cooking neither ever could do successfully.

But three years ago, however, the man Lavi'd learned to rely on left without a word as to where he was going. That's when Lavi found a new family, the Noah. They were quirky and sometimes possessive, but they were family. He was their little human brother.

And only a few weeks ago, Lavi had found where his old man had gone. To the opposition. He'd been feeding the Order information about his own apprentice, which resulted in the Exorcists hunting him down like wild prey. So far, Lavi'd nearly lost his life three times, an arm once, because of him.

“Ya almost had me, old man,” Lavi folded his arms. “I'm not done with my record yet.”

Bookman remained expressionless. “Don't be stupid.” A quick flick of the wrist and he slapped Lavi across the face. “Listen to yourself, idiot apprentice!”

Lavi tapped his cheek. Blood? Bookman had tips on his fingers as a form of his Innocence. While Bookman had smacked Lavi many times before for being an idiot, this time was different. It hurt on a whole new level. His heart still panged from their last encounter.

“I'm leavin' now,” Lavi stated bluntly, turning, but before he could make his leave, he found himself face to face with someone he'd never seen before. A blond man in a fitted suit with two curious spots on his forehead. Behind him stood Allen Walker, someone Lavi never wanted to see again. Lavi's expression hardened. It was a set-up.

“So you're the Noah's Bookman,” the blond stated, not taking his eyes off Lavi.

Lavi grinned. He knew he had no chance of playing the simple Bookman card after what his old man had told the Order. They always knew. He never had a chance from the start. “That's a new name for me, Two-spots ♥.”

His eyebrow twitched. “Two-spots?”

Lavi turned, ignoring the response from the blond. “I got business t' do. 'scuse me.”

The blond sharply placed a hand on Lavi's shoulder.

“I'd rather not fight,” Lavi objected, his expression falling flat. He had no idea what Allen was capable of, nor this new blond two-spotted character, and he didn't want to be on the receiving end to find out.

“We just want to talk,” Allen finally spoke up. There was so much that needed to be said. He needed to know the truth.

Lavi glanced past the blond. The last person Lavi wanted to talk to was Allen. He'd caused enough trouble. “There's nothin' t' talk about.” Why did everyone want to talk? Talking had gotten him nowhere so far.

“What you said in the Ark, about Bookman,” Allen spoke sincerely. “Bookman didn't say anything, just that he had an apprentice working on another record. No one knew where you were until about a year and a half ago.”

Lavi stared flatly at Allen. That sounded a lot like something the old man would do. But that left questions yet unanswered. “Yet you knew who I was before I even spoke.”

“Bookman didn't say a thing. The generals figured it out,” he replied. “Then I meet a human not being attacked by akuma. I pieced it together.” Allen wasn't stupid.

Lavi paused. What if it were true? He turned to look at Bookman who simply nodded in reply. It was true. The old man didn't need to say a word to know that was what he meant. All that Bookman had said in the Ark only seemed to support it. Bookman was simply recording the other side so that the Clan had the full story. For now, he'd take that as truth. For now, he'd believe that Bookman was still the same person he knew.

The Order was another story. Kanda attempted to kill Lavi on several occasions. And Allen tried to kill Tyki. He couldn't trust the Order, no matter what they said. They'd gone too far. “And what 'bout Kanda's attempts t' kill me?”

Allen shook his head. “I can't explain that.” It was surprising to hear there was more than one attempt.

If only Lavi knew that the threat wasn't the Order but instead the Vatican. It was they who put the hit out on him, using the one Exorcist had no qualms about killing the enemy. Lavi was too much of a threat for their plans. Both the blond and Bookman knew of this plan, and Bookman wanted to protect Lavi with everything he had. The old man considered telling Lavi of the underlying plot by the Vatican, but that sort of information might just push his apprentice over the edge. He wanted to salvage anything he could and return his apprentice to the junior Bookman he knew.

“Lavi,” Bookman finally spoke up. “Consider what I said. Continuing on may be too dangerous.”

“I'm finishin' my record, old man,” Lavi stated calmly, turning to leave. If this were true, then his old man, his mentor, could be trusted. “After this war's over, we'll talk.” By then, Lavi would be certain Bookman was still the mentor he knew.

In truth, he hoped the Noah would be victorious. Lavi would be able to record different histories that didn't involve the monotony of wars. And he wanted to see the Noah alive. However, he couldn't tell the others his conversation with Bookman and Allen just yet. He wasn't sure how they'd take it. Yet since Rhode had probed Bookman's mind. Maybe she already knew.

The redhead left the group, considering both Allen and Bookman's words. He wanted to see this record through. This record was far too different than any other record he'd experienced. He'd invested a great deal into this and couldn't pull himself away. The Order and its Exorcists were his enemies. They tried to kill him. They took the old man's words, twisted them, and used them for their own sinister purposes. They deserved to die. Once Bookman was no longer one of them, then Lavi would return to his apprenticeship. But for now, he was with the Noah. It would be hard to separate himself from them, he wasn't even sure he could do it, but that was the life of a Bookman, moving from record to record. And perhaps he'd have lifetime allies with the Noah to help with his future records.

He rounded the corner only to find Rhode plowing into him excitedly. This was why he couldn't leave yet. The Noah were his family, even if only temporarily. They protected him from the Order and told him of the hidden history. He'd revel in every moment he could spend with them.

“Lavi~♥!” she exclaimed. “Where have you been?”

“Got delayed,” Lavi smiled down at her.

Rhode reached up and brushed his cheek. “You're bleeding!”

“It's nothin',” Lavi shrugged it off. “Let's go get lunch, 'kay?”

She giggled then took his hand, dragging him off to meet with Cyril.