From Doomsday to Doomsday - Chapter 6
DISCLAIMER: I don't own D. Gray-man, sadly.
WARNING: YAOI - if you don't know what this word means, or if you don't like boy/boy relationship this story is not for you, don't say I didn't tell you! You know the song, DON'T LIKE DON'T READ!
WARNING 2! Mention of racism and violence (this is mainly in later chapters)! Please note that I in no way am encouraging or approving of racism. It's just that to keep the story as possibly close to its historical period, I must use terms, ways of thinking, and behaviors proper of the factions involved in WWII. So, if references to Nazism or to its ideology is offensive to you, please refrain from reading. I don't want flames about it. I want to make it clear that I don't approve in any way Nazi's actions and that I'm not a racist, I'm just using the historical setting as a background.
Yeah, finally the new chapter is ready. Once again, sorry for the long wait. I know, it's exactly what I wrote for the last update ^^"" I can't help with it...
So, again, many thanks to the whole of you who patiently waited for this chapter to be up. I really wanted to finish it earlier, but I couldn't.
Let's say it's my Christmas present, and I'm so happy I could put it up in time, thanks to the help of my 'official' beta and of another friend =^_^=
Merry Christmas to you all!
As always, a big THANKS to EM1&EM2, aka Saxon-Jesus who did the beta work for me.
I love you!
My thanks also to Seiyuurabu, who first gave a brief overlook to it even if she was busy, and also to Tysunkete, who kindly let me know some other things to fix^^
And, if you spot any mistake it's my fault for not following my beta's suggestions XD
Enjoy the chapter!
FROM TO DOOMSDAY DOOMSDAY
Chapter 6: Repercussions
A few days later, as soon as Lavi appeared in his office, Kanda surprised him with a sudden order, which, as usual, had no apparent explanation.
"Get your coat. We're leaving in five minutes." The man said in a detached tone, as if it was a normal routine leaving with his SS squad.
"Where're we headin'?" Lavi asked, by now accustomed to the hermetic way his commander gave orders. "Suspects t'be questioned? Or an inspection?"
Yet, he wasn't prepared at all to the answer Kanda gave him.
"Dachau." The officer simply said, catching a leather bag, no doubt, containing documents, and his loyal katana. Lavi opened his only eye, unable to articulate any comment regarding the shocking news. "Yes, Dachau." Kanda confirmed, assuming a pleased expression as he read extreme astonishment on his orderly's face. "I got authorization to meet your grandfather."
He could really speak with his old man? See him? Lavi just couldn't believe it, even after getting on the car that would have took them there, but Kanda was truly leading him to Dachau in great secret, and he'd just said he had obtained authorization for him to meet Bookman!
Many, however, wondered the reason for the snap trip of their Commander, especially when the destination Kanda was heading to had leaked anyway: a concentration camp.
At least, those who had passed the news wouldn't haveknown know the reasons, General Tiedoll consoled himself, ignoring the rumors that had spread right after this sudden departure; he hoped that it would take as much time as possible for this news to reach Howard Link's ears.
Lavi was very impatient but equally fearful about meeting his adoptive grandfather and mentor; he was twisting his fingers nervously as he sat in the Field Director's office, eagerly waiting for the old Bookman to be brought to him.
Kanda, instead, was waiting with icy coldness, standing with his back against the wall beside the door, arms crossed over his chest.
When Bookman came into the room he didn't immediately notice Kanda's presence, his attention was caught instantly by Lavi, or rather, by the clothes that Lavi was wearing. The old scholar walked towards him with decision, a stern gaze that promised appropriate and painful punishment, if the explanation given in this regard would have been not of his liking.
Although convinced that they were alone, Bookman addressed his pupil in Sanskrit, in case the conversation was being recorded or monitored from the outside.
"Lavi! Why are you here?" The old man called out at once in a reproaching tone, a serious expression on his tried face. "What does it mean this stuff you're wearing?" He took another step forward, his apprentice's contrite face telling him that he wouldn't like the answer at all. The door closed behind him in that very moment, and Bookman swung around, realizing the presence of the same SS officer who had had him arrested. "Tell him to leave." He ordered Lavi.
Even if he didn't understand a single word of what the old man had said, the Japanese officer had no trouble guessing what had been the last request from Bookman.
"I don't care what you say," Kanda explained in an icy tone. "But I must be present to ensure that there won't be any conspiracy."
Bookman nodded, moving his attention back to his apprentice, who nodded in turn.
"I hope you have a good explanation for this uniform, Lavi." He then said, staring at the young man from behind his deep black circles with hardness. Lavi met his mentor's gaze, sadly shaking his head, which made Bookman's eyes widen slightly.
"No. I've really enrolled." Lavi's meek tone made his old tutor snap, who, without waiting for any further explanation, raised one hand ready to hit him for the crime he'd just admitted to be guilty of: letting himself get involved with the events.
However, the sound of a blade moving in its sheath, ready to be unveiled, stopped him in the middle of the act, turning him toward the sound source.
Kanda immediately moved away from the wall, taking a step forward, eyes slightly widened with anger and hand ready on the hilt of his beloved sword, throwing the old man a look that clearly said 'If you touch him, you're dead'. A corner of the ex-bookseller's mouth was hardly bent; the man seemed strangely pleased by that reaction.
"Oh, so he took you to heart." He said amazed to his apprentice, sustaining Kanda's gaze, and lowered his hand. "Why?" He then asked, and Lavi looked at him, confused.
"Why?" Repeated the youth, wrong-footed, and Bookman narrowed his eyes, displeased.
"The uniform, you idiot!" He scolded the apprentice, bringing his face close to Lavi's, showing real anger. "There has to be a valid reason for which you joined this madness!" Bookman added next, taking him by the collar, and then immediately letting go of his hold when the sword noise repeated itself.
"Was the only way t'find you." Lavi justified himself, spreading his arms. "I had no choice! This way I can have you set free..."
"With his help, isn't it? You're just a fool." Bookman said in a louder voice startling Lavi, and glanced furtively in Kanda's direction, confirming he was always ready to intervene if the situation degenerated. "Why would someone like him put himself out to help you? Even accompanying you here?"
"I became his interpreter," admitted the redhead. "I'm precious t'im, so he's trying t'help me."
Bookman's eyes widened at this revelation, as he thought about how much confidential information Lavi could have had access to, filling that role.
"What else did you become?" He asked, closely looking at the youth with interest, his question's tone which implied a very different type of relationship. Lavi's confused expression almost got him to smile; sometimes the naivety shown by his apprentice was disarming. "Don't tell me that you don't know what kind of rumors are running on your commander's regard."
Lavi cast his mentor a lost glance. Was it possible that the old man had actually read through the lines of his persona so well to guess what he had done without him giving away the slightest hint?
"He didn't even touch me with a finger, if that's what ya mean, and 'm lodgin' at the barracks' dormitory." He immediately clarified; even if, although it was the truth, Lavi felt terribly embarrassed to protest his innocence for something that, actually, he'd really tried to do. "I see 'im just t'do my job." He lowered his gaze for a moment, and when he returned to hold his mentor's searching one, he revealed all the pain he was feeling. "I... offered 'im my body as a bargainin' chip for yer release, but he refused with disdain." He confessed in a whisper, and Bookman laid his hands on the youth's shoulders with understanding. "When he heard my proposal, he... looked at me in a way... I've never felt so ashamed of myself. The albino boy deceived me, 'cause of 'im I... I risked condemning us both..."
Lavi shook his head, deeply dejected, but instead of addressing him with words of reproach Bookman put on an indulgent expression, and his face softened a little; he was really pleased that Lavi had told him the whole truth.
"With rumors you can climb the mountains, apparently." He said sternly. "You can stay with your commander, then, and learn the other side of the coin, but don't get involved in any way by the events. Do you understand me?" Lavi stared dismayed at his elderly guardian.
"But soon enough you'll be released, and so..." He began to say, but Bookman interrupted him.
"Don't fool yourself stupidly. You have enrolled, there's no way back. Continue your job taking advantage of what I taught you, instead." The man was confident that these events could be used on their behalf, and Lavi's new position could be very, very helpful to him. "We will record these events from both sides. Try to stay alive until the next time we meet, because I'll want all of your records." He urged to the youth, who nodded, although taken aback by the orders he'd just received, and rose from his chair, imagining that this was also Bookman's farewell.
"Hug me now, otherwise he'll ask for explanations." Lavi suggested in a strangled voice, a lump in his throat that just didn't want to loosen seemed to be trying to choke him, threatening to release a tear from his one eye.
"I would have done it anyway, unworthy apprentice." Bookman muttered, and trying to mask the strong emotion he was feeling, he hugged the youth tight to himself.
Bookman was taken back to his cell, and the concentration camp's director invited Kanda to linger with him for lunch before leaving; though the Japanese commander had no desire at all to listen to the amenities that this man would have certainly said during their conversation, he accepted, pretending to be honored in order not to alienate the other officer.
They also needed all the support that the man was able to give them, if they wanted Bookman back, alive and healthy, other than free. And exposing to him the situation could be a good start to have him by their side.
As expected, being his interpreter Lavi was bearing almost all the weight of the speech, for which Kanda wasn't sorry about at all, on the contrary; if the director took a liking to him, the chances were good that Bookman would be treated better in the meanwhile he was waiting to be released.
Right in the middle of the meal, a soldier was ushered in; the man said that he was bringing important news from Berlin: it was July 20, 1933, and the Holy See had just signed the Reichskonkordat, the Reich's Concordat.
Kanda immediately noticed a change in Lavi after he met with his grandfather; the youth had found his smile again, and he also started to speak freely, which was extremely annoying.
He was almost tempted to send him straight to sleep with their driver that night, instead of sharing the small hotel room in which they had stopped on their way back.
He vowed to enact some rules about the excessive talkativeness of his attendant once back in Berlin, for the moment he decided to let him get his breath a little, seeing as these were exceptional circumstances.
The way Lavi had tied himself so fast to the terrible Commander Kanda had provoked opposite reactions among the other SS militants.
The young man had made many friends, sure, but also many enemies, some of them just owing it to the night-club incident for which Allen was responsible, and also because of the mysterious trip to Dachau.
Because, somehow it had leaked out that a relative of Lavi was imprisoned there, and now everyone looked at him as if he was just a disgusting boot-licker.
So, some people began to torment him; a few days after his return from Dachau, Lavi found his things in a mess, as if someone had searched through them for something.
He hoped it was just a chance, but prudently he decided to leave all his books in Kanda's office, taking with him from time to time only the one he wanted to read.
Unfortunately, the youth soon realized that it wasn't at all a random event, as he found himself facing the cover of his bed ripped into pieces and, subsequently, the disappearing of his gun and the ruining of his uniforms, torn while he was washing himself in the showers.
He didn't say a word about all this to Kanda, knowing what would be the consequences for the whole recruits in the dormitory; he instead got Toma to help him to get some new uniforms and another regulation pistol.
The teasing didn't stop, however, becoming rougher and rougher, until it resulted into blatant aggression. The last of which would have ended really bad if two non-commissioned officers close to Tiedoll hadn't foiled it just in time, and thank goodness it was someone with whom Lavi was friends.
He took his head in his hands, dazed and in pain, blood dripping from a long cut across his lower lip, too confused to even try to plug up the wound.
"You all right kid?" Said the more massive of the two soldiers, as he helped him to his feet and handed him a handkerchief to stop the bleeding.
Lavi shook his head and gladly accepted the man's support, limping up to his bed.
"Hey, Marie. What do you think?" The other soldier, shorter and skinny, suddenly asked, showing a knuckle-duster just collected from the dormitory floor.
"That they'll try again." Concluded the one answering by the name of Marie, appearing thoughtful for a moment. "Daysha." He then said. "Inform Herr Kanda immediately."
"No!" Lavi begged them. "I can deal with it, really! Ya inform Yuu, and he'll unleash all Hell; and I don't wanna be hated more than I'm now."
The two soldiers looked at each other, knowing how far Kanda's wrath could go, and yet unwilling to let their friend try to deal with such a situation alone and in secret.
"Lavi, you realize how it could have ended up if we hadn't come here by chance to hear how you were doing?" The slight non-commissioned officer remarked gravely, crossing his arms on his chest and raising an eyebrow with an eloquent air.
Lavi sighed and gave an affirmative nod with his head; yet, he couldn't allow Yuu to terrify all the recruits in the dormitory because of him. Not to mention that doing so would put him in an even more heavy situation.
"I know. But... If Yuu punishes the entire dormitory 'cause of me, things'll get worse, y'know this too." He objected firmly, shifting his gaze between the two friends. "Please. I can defend m'self on my own." He added grimly.
No, he would no longer allow these bastards to have fun at his expense.
"Okay. As you wish then." Marie said for them both, after exchanging a meaningful look with his comrade. "With what happened to them today, they will stay put for a while, but it won't last. At the slightest sign they're going to start it again, let us know immediately. Got it?" Lavi gave him another nod, continuing to press onto his hurt lip.
"Thanks." He muttered, giving a friendly pat on the arm to Marie and then holding out his hand to Daysha, who caught and held it with a sly smile.
"Be more careful from now on. And put some ice on that lip, or it will swell up quite a lot!" The youth warned him acting like a wiseacre, which got Lavi his good mood back.
The young non-commissioned officer was very similar to him in terms of character, Lavi found himself thinking as he watched his two friends walking away; he farewelled them with a hand gesture, two fingers from forehead to his face right side, like he was miming a playful salute, smiling.
Right afterwards, he attempted to give himself a good going-over ahead of presenting himself before Kanda.
He didn't consider the signs he had on his body, Lavi realized at once when he saw the look Kanda gave him as he entered into his office, and above all the expression that his face assumed.
At first, deep disbelief mixed with concern painted for a moment on those beautiful features, then the first two emotions were quickly masked by anger, and the fierce glare with which his commander looked at him startled Lavi.
Kanda had noticed for a while now that the youth appeared before him sore and full of scratches, but this particular day, when he saw him with a split lip and a tumid face, he decided it was time to put an end to the whole damn thing.
"Lavi." Kanda called for him, motioning with his hand to enter and close the door, and Lavi came in, promptly approaching his commander's desk and putting some files on it. "What's happening?" The officer asked him soon after, his gaze searching into Lavi's only green eye as if he could read by himself inside it the answer he was looking for.
"Oh, nothin' serious, really. I just happened t'have a lil' quarrel with some other recruits." Lavi immediately downplayed, forcing an embarrassed smile upon his face andabsently scratching with one hand his unruly red locks.
The Japanese officer, however, didn't seem to believe the received explanation; he snorted slightly, rubbing his temples with two fingers, eyes closed and brows furrowed. Then, he looked again at him with that cold glare that Lavi had come to know so well.
"Who are they?" Kanda asked in a tone that made shivers run through his interlocutor's spine. "Their names, Lavi. Immediately."
"Listen, Yuu, I don't wanna make things worse..." The youth began to say, but Kanda was inflexible about it.
"Their names, Lavi, or I'll have each and every recruit of your fucking dormitory whipped!" He hissed angrily, standing up suddenly and violently slamming his hands on the desk. "And starting from tonight you'll move into my accommodation. Like any self-respecting orderly, you will have a private room." Kanda added, glaring at him as if with that look he could have been able to pierce him.
"But..." Lavi tried to protest, already imagining the rumpus that the collective punishment would rouse, but also fearing the consequences that the news of his transfer would have on his life.
He was certain that they would make life impossible for him; no one would have dared to approach him anymore, not only those who were tormenting him. He would have felt like a prisoner.
Kanda, however, cut him off again, preventing him from finishing the sentence.
"I don't care if everybody will hate you more!" He thundered, anticipating the objections that he knew his orderly was going to put forward. "If you leave the dormitory they can no longer reach you. Their names, Lavi, or you go pack your stuff. Now." Kanda's tone didn't allow any protest.
Lavi exhaled a deep sigh. He had no choice, and he knew it too well. He was too useful to his commander for him to let someone compromise the work he was doing for him.
"If I obey, leavin' the dormitory, you promise t'spare the other recruits?" Lavi asked in a low voice, as if saying a prayer. Kanda nodded slowly.
And Lavi chose to move.
That evening Lavi found himself in the unfortunate position to collect his belongings in front of everyone, and tell his friends that he had been ordered to move elsewhere.
When he entered the dormitory it was quite late, half of the recruits had already come back, and many were ready to sleep. He returned the greetings that were addressed to him and after reaching his bed he began to put together his stuff.
Seeing him filling and closing a couple of bags, the two soldiers with whom Lavi was more friendly with approached him, asking him what had happened, worried; they didn't need his answer though, because he turned toward them making clear, with the condition his face was in, what the matter had been.
"Are they transferring you?" The taller and thinner of the two, whom he jokingly called 'Vampire', asked.
"Yeah, I have orders to move." Lavi answered, keeping his voice low, knowing that everyone was listening with interest. Both his friends looked at him surprised. "I'm sorry. Kanda didn't leave me a choice." He justified himself, opening his arms helplessly, and with a sigh he returned to put what was left of his few possessions into the second bag.
"It's because of the brawl you got caught up into?" The recruit with whom he usually played chess asked, fearing that there could be a punishment for him in the air, in addition to the transfer.
Lavi nodded, smiling as usual so that this whole thing wouldn't seem so serious to them.
"Commander Kanda wanted the names of those involved, and I didn't wanna be the snitch, even if those bastards deserved it." He explained to his two friends, glancing significantly to the guilty ones, who were listening at a short distance, pretending to talk to each other. "So he imposed on me t'leave the dormitory."
"And where you were assigned?" Was the next question.
Lavi expected this one from the beginning, and he wasn't willing to give a response to it. He addressed them another smile, shaking his head with a meaningful air, making it clear that he couldn't tell them, at least not in this very moment.
"I'll be fine." He said simply, preparing himself for the farewells. "Try not t'get fleeced playing poker, Crowley." Lavi urged to the 'Vampire'. "I'll be back to play chess with you sometimes, Suman." He promised to the other recruit, and held hands with them both. "See ya, guys!"
He was lifting his bags to leave when the two recruits who had listened to their conversation the whole time came forward, an amused grin on their faces.
"What are you doing, fleeing?" The first mocked him. "Finally had enough?"
"Where are they sending you? To join your old man?" Sneered the other, making meaningful gestures with his arms.
"Not at all." Lavi said in a harsh tone. "And it's none of your business."
"Oh, you heard, the Commander's pet gets cocky now that he was got out of trouble!" The first soldier coupled this challenge hugging himself, feigning fear.
Lavi paid no attention to it, starting to move towards the door.
"Where is he putting you? In the toadies' dormitory?" The other continued to tease in a sardonic tone, barring his victim's path. "So you'll be his new bitch, a big step forward!"
Bursts of laughters filled the room, too close to be accidental, Lavi noticed turning his head slightly; all those present had approached them to enjoy the scene, forming a semicircle. The youth found himself lost: it was now certain that his tormentors' intentions were to beat him bloody again and he had no way out.
"No, I rather think that he would prefer him as a stallion..." The first soldier contradicted his accomplice, moving behind Lavi with a menacing attitude.
Suman and Crowley prepared for the worst, ready to help their friend, even though it could mean becoming targets themselves.
"Lavi." Interjected in that very moment an authoritative voice from the entrance of the dormitory, and its owner looked at his audience with ferocity. "Are you getting a move on, damn idiot?" The man snarled. All eyes simultaneously turned to stare at the figure which had just appeared in the doorway, paralyzed with terror. Commander Kanda, the same Kanda who treated everyone like shit, Kanda the terrible who doesn't even consider the possibility of speaking to a recruit, had lowered himself to come personally to retrieve one of his subjects! "This story ends here." Kanda hissed, his hand dancing around the hilt of his sword, striding forward toward the group of soldiers. "I'll take care of you tomorrow." He promised to the two who were tormenting Lavi. "You will regret it bitterly..." One hand of his young orderly settling on his arm stopped him in the middle of the threat. Lavi shook his head, pleading with his gaze to keep the promise he had made to him; Kanda snorted, clenching his teeth in frustration. "Che. Fine." He growled in Japanese, turning then to the soldiers, speaking German again. "You should be grateful to this idiot that neither of you will got hurt." That said, he gestured at Lavi to precede him, and after casting another murderous look at the whole dormitory's occupants, Kanda made his way to follow his orderly, leaving the most absolute silence behind him.
Lavi was really glad that Kanda's German didn't go far more than knowing how to tell someone to shut up or utter some threats, albeit roughly; otherwise he would never let the two recruits get away with the allusions they had made on his behalf, because Lavi was certain that Yuu had heard everything. Only, most likely, he didn't understand much of it.
Once out of the dormitory, Kanda walked past him without saying a word, furious, and Lavi followed him obediently with his belongings all the way to the officers' quarters.
The chill in which had precipitated the dormitory room was broken after a few minutes, as another soldier entered in a rush; the man, agitated and panting, announced between a gasp and the other: "Guys, we are officially out!"
The whole room of recruits stared at him in confusion.
It was October 14, 1933, and Germany had just announced its resignation from the League of Nations.
Once arrived at their destination, Kanda made no reference to what happened in the barracks, nor did he want to know what his orderly was told by those two soldiers.
He simply pointed to the room that Lavi would occupy and then shut himself up in his own, leaving the youth alone with his thoughts.
Lavi settled his stuff in his new lodging, taking a quick look around and so deciding to sleep on it, hoping not to have bad dreams, which, given the recent events he was run over by, was more than likely.
With this change, Lavi found himself spending almost all of his time with Kanda, suddenly projected into the world of officers and NCOs (1).
At first, he felt very lonely because of this, since each evening, after being back at the apartment where he was now staying with Kanda, the latter tended to behave as if he wasn't even present, shutting himself up in his room almost immediately.
Then, just after a few days, he got used to it, thanks to the fact that he got back the company of Marie and Daysha, with whom he started again to entertain at every meal, together with the first man he become friendly to, another non commissioned officer, Toma
When he entered the cafeteria to have lunch that morning, he expected to sit alone as he had done in the past three days, so he didn't even bother to look around to see if he knew anyone.
Instead, surprisingly, two well-known voices called his name one after another, making him almost jump in surprise, threatening to topple to the ground the entire contents of the tray he was holding.
"Lavi!" Two of the soldiers sitting at a table not far from him said almost in unison. "Lavi, oh, my God, you're well then!" Continued the one with the more massive build.
"Come here, sit down, tell us everything!" Echoed his comrade.
Lavi had a little difficulty before finding them, still shaken by the risk he had just run to skip his lunch by donating it to the floor, but once he recognized who it was, his face shone with joy.
Marie and Daysha were still in Berlin! He believed they had been sent elsewhere, not seeing any of the two during the past days. He sat down with them willingly, immediately forgetting his bad mood.
"Not much t'tell." He declared, once his lunch was safely placed on a solid table. "Yuu ordered me t'leave the dormitory after the attack from which you saved me. Now I've a private room, as 'is personal attendant, in the lodgin' he lives in."
The two friends cast Lavi a look of surprise, both suddenly stopping in their eating.
"So it was true." Said the more slight one, who answered by the name of Daysha. "We thought it was the usual rumors, you know, well..." He gestured as if to imply something.
"I know which kind of rumors are goin' around." Lavi snapped, tired of being pointed at as the pastime of their commander. "He treats me well and I don't sleep with 'im." He made it clear once and for all.
Daysha raised his hands in a surrender gesture, as if he didn't expect at all his friend's indignation, but rather a counter-quip.
"Hey, hey, don't get angry, it was a joke." He said with a smile, under Marie's stern gaze.
"Lavi!" Just then another voice called out from behind him; the youth turned around, recognizing Toma as the man approaching them. "I thought he didn't leave you here eating alone." He commented as soon as he joined them.
"Doncha start with these jokes too." Lavi complained, assuming a sulky expression. "The fact that Yuu... Herr Kanda, has got me out of trouble doesn't mean that he's my nurse, quite the contrary. If I suddenly disappear he wouldn't even notice. Most of the times he doesn't even talk t'me." He ended with a tone that was meant to be sarcastic and instead sounded rather bitter.
"Oh, don't worry; Herr Kanda is just like that." Toma stated, landing a pat on Lavi's shoulder and letting go of a laugh. "You'll get used to it soon. I've been through it before you, I know how he thinks."
Lavi gave him a polite smile and began to devote himself to his meal, now cold.
"Yeah." He agreed. Let's hope so, he mentally added. Well, at least now he had someone to talk to, since Yuu didn't.
Lavi felt almost euphoric. His life had regained stability, in spite of the pessimism which he'd been prey to after the transfer from the dormitory; he could now concentrate solely on his work.
He was confident that being officially alongside Kanda would soon have led him to receive the announcement of Bookman's freeing, which unfortunately for the present had been impossible to obtain yet, because of the interferences by Howard Link.
Lavi had witnessed a violent quarrel between Herr Link and Kanda before General Tiedoll's presence, and that Link guy was accompanied by the soldier who had pointed out the origins of his name the day when he and Yuu had first met.
Regrettably, everything was resolved in a 'stalemate'; but the General had urged Herr Link to be reasonable and to endorse the release of Bookman Senior, both because the old man was recognized not guilty of the offense he was charged with, and because he now was a relative of an esteemed Reich's soldier.
Which was why Lavi was confident about receiving good news soon.
Meanwhile, he continued to carry out his job as an interpreter under Kanda's orders, which led him to discover certain circumstances rather inconvenient for him, if what he suspected turned out to be true.
And the matter was that his commander seemed to be more than ever involved, with the whole SS squad under his orders, in the hunt for a group of seditionists headed by a Jew with very high friendships among the Reich's leaders.
What if he knew who those seditionists were? What if Kanda came to know about this?
Of course, there was not only one subversive group existing, but each time he heard the word 'seditionist' or 'subversive' connected with some investigation, he couldn't help but think of this particular group.
Exactly regarding the damn investigation, General Tiedoll hadsecretly convened his pupil, and now Kanda was inside the man's office, while he was waiting outside; the discussion's topics were evidently too important to let a simple recruit as he was to listen, and his presence wasn't even necessary because the General was perfectly able to speak Japanese.
So Lavi resigned himself to it and patiently waited.
Kanda sat in front of General Tiedoll, not too curious to know the reason why the man convened him, but suspecting it could be something related to the mysterious Jew who revolved around the notorious Count Jahrtausend.
The General, after greeting him even too friendlily with one of his 'Yuu-kun, I'm glad to see you, you look fine' that so made him fly into a rage, didn't lose time in further preambles and drew from a drawer of the massive desk a few very wrinkled sheets of paper, handling all to him so he could examine them.
"What does this mean?" Kanda asked as soon as he finished looking through the leaflets, completely baffled by what was depicted on each of them.
"For now, we don't know." Tiedoll informed him, absently rubbing his chin. "What's certain is that this is the method our seditionists group uses to communicate." Kanda raised an eyebrow, not too convinced about it, and the General continued his speech. "The words written below the drawing mean 'Search for the Sagittarius'."
Here, that information made sense to the Gestapo's suspicions, and to the fact that the investigations had been transferred to him, which means to the SS secret police.
Kanda studied the fliers better. The centaur who stood out in them seemed to indicate the stars with his arrow, but there were no other writings on the paper; surely the message that they were meant to transmit was to be extrapolated by combining the invitation to seek the Sagittarius with the creature's position.
"Where were they found?" The Japanese officer wanted to know, hoping that this would provide some more clues about the purpose of those publications.
"In several nightclubs, in the places where usually students gather, in various churches, on public squares' seats..." Tiedoll briefly listed, shaking his head sadly. "The suspicion is that one of the Reich's opponents is planning to make an attempt against our Chancellor, and this hypothesis is supported by the presence of a well-known Jew collaborator on each of the places where these leaflets were found."
The same man present on all the locations in which right after had appeared those drawings' prints. Definitely this coincidence was suspicious; anyone who had noticed it was right.
"Very well, his name?" Kanda asked, irritated by the inevitable hem and haw of the General.
"Tyki Mikk." Tiedoll finally revealed, showing several photos of the man which portrayed him in the company of a noble wearing a very snobbish appearance, monocle on his face, buttonhole flower and tuba, and of a little girl with a cheeky air. "We believe that he is the 'Sagittarius', and we're already surveilling him. From now on you will be in charge of this matter, because it could be related to the leakage of confidential information on which you were already investigating on behalf of our two governments."
Kanda carefully observed each and every photo, studying their suspect's physiognomy like he was going to hunt the man personally the following day.
"He means nothing to me." The Japanese officer said with indifference, returning the photographs to his superior; Tiedoll smiled good-naturedly, settling into his chair more comfortably.
"No wonder, you don't frequent the worldly environment of the Reich." He stated as fact, to which Kanda gave him a disgusted look. "No, I'm not asking you to chase after him to the parties given by the cream of the Party," The man assured his pupil at once, handing him a copy of the dossier on the case. "But to place one of your soldiers right behind him."
"Will be done." Kanda assured, standing up and saluting the General. "I'll keep you informed."
And on the nod he received in response he took his leave.
Notes:
1) NCO: Non-Commissioned Officer.