It's a Mistake... maybe - chapter 5: Serial Killer
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!
I feel like using 'copy and paste' each time I update one of my stories... u_u
Okay, can't help it, sorry for the long wait. Actually, I can't grant when my other translations will be ready. They will be done, but - and I'm sorry I had to decide to do this - for now I will only keep translating this story and "From Doomsday to Doomsday", as it was since some time now.
I know I promised otherwise, but I can't keep up with my stuffs lately. It's been this way for the past months and it will be the same for the future. Sorry about this.
And, another bad news is that my beta will be busy too for quite a long time; so, actually, my next update after this one will be with date unknown.
Anyway, enjoy this new chapter!
As always, a big THANKS to EM1&EM2, aka Saxon-Jesus who did the beta work for me, being so patient and helpful!
I love you!
CHAPTER 5: Serial Killer
Lavi had been forced to leave the crime scene, but he wasn't at all about to give in; he had to discover as much as possible around what was happening, because if there was a serial killer who was taking inspiration for his job from Yuu's book, then the murders would continue to follow the same sequence as in the stories...
He went back to the newspaper office, and searched for all the information he could gather about every crime previous to this one that might look look similar to the first victims appearing in the book, and thus he easily identified the two initial ones.
The killer was challenging Yuu? If it was so, Yuu would feel responsible for the victims, and certainly he would have wanted to capture the murderer all by himself.
So, Lavi went to Kanda's home and waited for him to come back; he absolutely had to talk to the man, even if he already foresaw that it would be a really hard task. And then, it began to thunder, but only when the first drops fell onto him, did Lavi realize he had no umbrella, noting that his clothes were slowly beginning to get soaked.
Kanda didn't have one either, Lavi could ascertain, seeing him emerging from behind the corner of thenext building, with his trench coat pulled over his head, as he walked briskly toward the entrance of the apartment house where he lived.
"Yuu!" Lavi called out loudly, approaching the main door of said house to meet Kanda. The youth turned to him, surprised, but it lasted only an instant and this expression was immediately replaced by an irritated one. "Yuu, wait, just wanna talk t'ya for a moment!"
Kanda raised an eyebrow, frowning at the unauthorized use of his first name; he quickly opened the heavy door, attempting to slip inside the building without bothering to answer. An arm, though, interposed itself between him and the atrium of the edifice, and Lavi looked at him straight in the eye with an eloquent face.
"I have nothing to say to you." Kanda spat out, caustic, forcing on the door to enter, but Lavi resisted, his expression resolute, no longer playful and light as it was moments before. "No comment, as they say in these cases." The detective hissed, jostling the nuisance to move him to the side, and then slamming the door behind him with no clemency, leaving the young Bookman outside to the mercy of the weather's inclemency.
Once he got back home, Kanda found Lenalee in the kitchen; she had kept his dinner hot and was sipping a cup of tea while waiting for him to return.
With an annoyed snort the youth sat down in front of her, without even taking his coat off, holding his face in his hands; he started massaging his temples with his thumbs, under the girl's searching gaze.
He was tired, and worried by the implications that the recent discovery he'd had about the murders would bring with it, especially concerning the idiot who continued to follow him step by step, regardless of the risk he was taking.
No, it was incorrect; at the moment the retard was unaware of being in such a big danger by hanging round him, because, if the serial killer was challenging him as it appeared to be, following at the same pace as the sequence of his stories, then all the people related to them could be targeted as well.
And Lavi was one of the main characters; if the murderer knew him, he wouldn't take long to notice the resemblance between the journalist and his equivalent in the book. Especially if the youth insisted on tailing him.
Kanda hardly sighed, as he felt a hand brushing his hair aside from his back.
After placing in front of him a steaming hot cup of ramen, Lenalee had moved behind him, and had started massaging his shoulders, hoping that way to loosen the emotional tension in addition to the muscular one.
"What happened?" The girl dared to ask, her hands dancing along Kanda's sore neck.
"Nothing." The youth stated in a neutral tone, bowing his head under the pressure of Lenalee's fingers.
"This is not a 'nothing' face." She teased him, lightly pinching one of his cheeks.
The vein on Kanda's forehead began to throb and his expression became even more upset, but he didn't attack Lenalee as he would have done with any other living being, he just grit his teeth, stiffening his jaw.
"I don't want to talk about it." He abruptly cut the discussion off, unable to prevent the sentence from taking his usual rude tone. With Lenalee he tried to control himself, but tonight he was too troubled (and above all too irritated) to look after his manners.
"Has this got something to do with that reporter?" Pressed the girl, accustomed to her friend's sharp replies, therefore not at all discouraged or intimidated by his refusal to confide to her what was distressing him this much. She knew how to be persuasive; she would have wrung it out of him all the same, in one way or another.
"No." was the youth's laconic reply, and Lenalee giggled softly at the tone with which it was pronounced: impatient.
And when Kanda was eager to conclude a discussion, it meant that said discussion was going in a direction that he didn't like, ergo his thoughts were in danger of becoming public, or the truth about something concerning him was coming to light.
"Then it's because of him." The girl concluded, as she traveled down Kanda's shoulders, whereupon he grabbed her hands escaping the massage and turned to look at her, showing a frowning and annoyed expression.
"Why on earth, all the damn times I say 'no' you automatically assume that it's a 'yes'?" He exclaimed, exasperated by Lenalee's insistence in absolutely wanting to dig into his private life. "And don't laugh, dammit!"
Lenalee immediately tried to suppress that hint of laughter that had escaped her, moved by Kanda's evident embarrassment.
"Because, when there's something you don't want to tell, you become impatient to cut off the conversation." She revealed to him afterwards, winking and waving an accusatory finger at him.
"He followed me all the fucking day. I had two of my cops send him packing." Kanda muttered, getting ready to dip his chopsticks into his ramen cup, a sign that he considered the discussion closed.
Lenalee smiled, nodding; she knew she wouldn't get more than this, but it was enough to make her understand that Kanda was somehow touched by the situation.
And this was interesting. He usually would get rid of anyone else quickly and definitively; clearly, that Lavi guy was really skilled in dealing with people, to be able to involve someone like Kanda in something, whatever it was.
She watched him eating, noting that the tension hadn't disappeared from his face. He was really worried about something, even if she couldn't guess what it was, and judging by how deeply the youth was lost in his thoughts as he dined, it was clear that it was about a serious matter.
As soon as he finished his ramen, Kanda immediately rose from the table, and, while Lenalee was arranging the empty bowl in the dishwasher with the other dishes and cutlery, approached the window with a circumspect manner, looking out towards the entrance of their building.
Lenalee, who continued to observe Kanda furtively, immediately noticed his facial expression changing when his gaze met something that caught his attention, and she suddenly understood what it was that worried him so much.
Lavi had stayed outside the building waiting for him. Of course it had to be because of that, and moreover, it was pouring.
The girl came alongside Kanda, who was lurking behind the window's glass, looking down to the road at Lavi's form, while he was looking upward right toward that particular window, under the pouring rain, completely soaked by now.
Lenalee shook her head, thinking over how stubborn the journalist was, too, in addition to her cold-hearted roommate. A heart that perhaps was slowly melting, since Kanda was showing a minimum amount of concern by checking on the other youth's condition.
"Why don't you let him come up?" Lenalee suggested, trying to loosen the tension she felt in the air, hoping to shorten Lavi's wait in the rain, and getting instead the opposite effect.
"No." Kanda immediately stated, without even looking back at her.
Sharp. Icy. Lapidary. Lenalee sighed.
"If you two had a fight, he'll be sorry as much as you..." She began to say, trying to get him see sense, but it was like talking to the wall. When Kanda Yuu put his foot down on something, there was no way to make him change his mind.
"Nothing like that happened." Another sharp answer, uttered in a flat, indifferent tone, but the tension on Kanda's face once again betrayed impatience to close the verbal exchange, and Lenalee knew that the youth was lying.
"No?" She asked, adopting a playful attitude and directing him a sly smile, knowing that getting at Kanda she was often able to deter him and have him reveal something to her.
But not this time. This time, Kanda snapped, suddenly turning to her with an accusatory expression on his face.
"Don't look at me like that, like you know everything better than me, as if you're expecting that what you wrote could turn into reality!" In spite of how much he had promised himself he wouldmind his language, the words came out his mouth harsh and disdainful, leaving the person whom they were directed visibly shocked.
Perhaps, although he had said she was forgiven, this story had undermined the trust Kanda nurtured in her, and Lenalee couldn't blame him.
"Kanda-kun, you don't really believe that I..." The girl put her hands on her hips and bit her lip, sulking. "Oh, it's useless arguing with you!" She exclaimed, turning her back to him, indignantly, and shooting straight into her room.
Kanda looked at her running away, thoughtfully, sighing while he was going back to watch the scene below his window. Shrugging his shoulders, he decided that it wasn't worth worrying this much for a foolhardy idiot like this reporter, and he resolutely walked toward his room, too.
"Oh, dammit!" He mentally cursed, as he stopped halfway there and did an about-face, taking instead the corridor which led to the apartment door, opening it and sliding with no hesitation into the elevator.
A few minutes later the main door of the building swung open and a furious Kanda appeared in the doorway, addressing a murderous look to the redheaded nuisance.
The sudden noise had Lavi turn, finding himself staring at the Japanese detective with evident astonishment painted on his wet face, his flaming red hair completely soaked, falling in locks dripping water, half plastered onto his cheeks and forehead.
"Idiot! Why did you stay here?" Kanda roared, shaking his fist at the youth soaked to the bone, his expression a mixture of anger and annoyance, the latter mostly addressed to himself, due to the weakness he had just shown coming down to retrieve the fucking journalist.
Because Kanda already knew that he would let Lavi stay at his home tonight, and he was also aware that this was exactly what Lavi was aiming for, and this irritated him even more, but he couldn't help it.
He was curious to know why the idiot was so insistent upon him, although he would never admit it to anyone.
"I was hopin' ya would resign yerself t'let me come up..." Lavi confessed, offering an innocent smile. "I did a lil' search over the recent murders, and I've compared them with the ones from yer book. Think we could work together, as 'm sure ya didn't say a word at yer Precinct 'bout the similarities with yer stories..."
"No way." Kanda hissed, and one of his eyebrows twitched in irritation; so, this was his purpose, he only aimed to get a scoop on the homicides, maybe titling it 'Author Murders' or something equally stupid.
"I've an infallible photographic memory, 'm able t'compare every single detail with absolute precision, includin' yer first two murders. I even studied all the police reports." Lavi informed him, accompanying the information with another of his smiles, sly, this time. Kanda's eyes widened, how could he possibly have placed his hands on the case files? The idiot must have a contact within the Police Precinct... Kanda immediately thought to Miranda, frowning more. "Could ya at least give me shelter from the rain?" Bookman Junior added, opening his arms wide as if to say 'Can't you see in what conditions am I?', which almost made Kanda change his mind about the generous and out of character gesture he had decided to do.
"Che." Was his comment to the irritating journalist's last request.
"It's a yes?" Insisted the latter in a persuasive tone; a grunt and a nod toward the interior of the building, and, even if reluctant, Kanda stepped aside to allow Lavi to enter.
Lenalee heard the door slam for the second time, and Kanda's angry voice summoning 'Stop there!' to someone, who the girl was certain to be Lavi even before hearing his voice replying with a plaintive 'Yer so mean, Yuu-chan!' as something was badly thrown at him.
Judging from the noise, Lenalee assumed it had to be a towel, and smiled, satisfied; even if the youth still kept his rude manners, he was worrying for Lavi, after all.
'Dry yourself.' she heard Kanda order him, 'I don't want you to go around dripping all over my house.' and a string of curses followed the 'At yer orders!' he received in response.
The girl giggled, picturing the scene; she would have wanted to peek, but couldn't risk being caught red-handed, ruining everything, so she resigned herself to just listen to what she could hear through the closed door.
Lavi promptly obeyed, wiping his hair and face somewhat; then, he put on the slippers that Kanda had brought to him in the meantime, leaving his wet boots next to the entrance. Right afterwards, to his great surprise he was forcefully dragged into the bathroom, and pushed into it.
"Take a shower and place your clothes on the washing machine, I'll leave you something to wear hanging on the door knob." Kanda decreed in a dismissive tone, slamming the door in the youth's face.
Lavi was more than happy to do what he was told, and when he emerged fully dressed (Yuu's clothes were just a bit short but they fit him great), dabbing his hair with a towel, he found Kanda at his computer sipping a cup of tea, intent on reading something with the typical expression of absolute concentration of one who is completely absorbed in his work.
Lavi silently stood behind him to observe the detective's work, finding confirmation to his hypothesis that he was comparing the victims of the real murders with the ones in the stories written by him, and only after several minutes Kanda noticed the presence behind his back.
"In the kitchen there's a cup for you too." He simply said without stopping reading, and Lavi smiled, thinking that at last the youth wasn't as bad as he tried to seem.
Lenalee followed their debate for hours, even if she couldn't distinguish the words too well now that the two boys were speaking normally, in civil tones. She understood that they were analyzing the stories, but not compared to what, and she was very curious to know the reason, because it seemed to be an important thing.
Then, at some point Lavi said something about the time in an annoyed tone, and it could be heard Kanda sighing, which led the girl to look at the clock on the wall: two o'clock in the morning. It looked like the hated journalist would spend the night at their place, despite everything.
"You're an idiot!" Kanda said, as he was probably leading Lavi into the living room, and Lavi apologized to him, complaining that he had forgotten to look at the time because he was too focused on the analysis of data, something which Kanda replied with one of his 'Ches'. "Arrange yourself on the couch, in silence. If you wake me up, I'll kill you." She heard him saying aloud right after, while Lavi continued to complain that it wasn't his fault.
Lenalee giggled again, settling herself in bed: she found that those two were really a great couple.
Once left alone, Lavi curled up on the couch, covering himself with the plaid blanket that Kanda had 'kindly' placed at his disposal, looking for a comfortable position to sleep, and not finding it.
He turned and rolled over several times, finally deciding that he would have to risk his life disturbing the landlord, and tiptoeing, he reached the youth's bedroom, carefully leaving the door ajar and peering inside.
Yuu was sleeping peacefully, Lavi ascertained, although he couldn't tell how deeply... Well, he was ordered not to wake him for any reason, therefore, so he couldn't ask for permission to sleep in the bed next to him, which is why he felt entitled to do so without asking anything, as long as he did it in silence.
In a flash he was under the covers next to Kanda, without moving a straw in the room, and immediately falling asleep.
Kanda felt something touch him, and a light weight suddenly pressing against his back. He ignored it, thinking it was just a dream, but when said weight exhaled a contented sigh, Kanda's eyes flew open at once, and he turned around, levering himself on both his elbows and pulling himself slightly up to see what the hell was the source of that weird sound.
What he saw froze his breath in his throat: Lavi, blissfully asleep beside him, with that fucking idiotic grin on his face. Anger won overembarrassment, and Kanda got ready to kick the intruder unceremoniously onto the floor, but the idiot, deprived of the support against his body, clung to his waist using him as a pillow. Lavi's touch sent a chill through every fiber of Kanda's body, making him automatically think to... Yes, that.
Waking up with a journalist in his bed wasn't exactly the ambition of Kanda's life, particularly if this reporter was the starring of scenes that saw them involved together in acts... acts... Obscene acts?
He didn't know how to define them otherwise. He landed a punch on Lavi's head, and the latter left his hold awaking with a start, frightened (other than aching).
"Oi, you idiot! Get out of my bed immediately!" Kanda roared, hitting the target with a powerful kick, which slammed the illegal bed partner straight against the nearest wall. The young man then stood up, approaching the poor victim with all the intention to finish the job.
"It hurts!" Lavi moaned rubbing his neck and back, moving gingerly onto his knees, still confused from what had just occurred. "Yuu, you're a brute, waking me up in such a way and beating me for no reason!" He protested, shaking his head, still dazed by the sudden (and painful) awakening.
"And you haven't seen half of what I'm capable of doing to you, if you don't stop using my first name," Kanda hissed, taking him by the shirt he was wearing. "And, dammit, what the fuck were you doing in my bed?"
"I was sleepin'?" This statement granted Lavi a firmer hold around his neck. "The sofa is uncomfortable... Please, Yuu, yer chockin' me..." He stuttered, trying to loosen the hands' grip that tried to strangle him using his own clothes.
"Breakfast is ready!" Came a cry from the other room. "Are you going to stop quarreling, or not?"
Both the youths faintly blushed; they had completely forgotten Lenalee's presence. Kanda let go suddenly, standing up, quickly acquiring a shirt and adjusting his hair somehow in a low ponytail, and the other contender ended up on the ground again with a thud, moaning in pain once more (perhaps in a somewhat emphasized way), accusing Yuu, once more, of being violent.
"Che. Shut your trap and move, if you want to eat." Kanda ordered him, ignoring each and every complaint and heading towards the kitchen.
Lavi followed him without another word, curious about Lenalee's reaction. She addressed them a bright smile, bringing tea (coffee for Lavi) and various dishes to them.
"Did you sleep well?" She asked afterwards in an innocent tone.
"It's not what you think." Both the youths answered in chorus, and Lenalee laughed softly, trying not to look too satisfied with their mortified expression.
"Have I insinuated something?" She mocked them in a friendly manner, enjoying the slight blush that appeared on each of the two young men's face.
"No, but you thought it!" Kanda replied, annoyed, and she giggled again, looking at him with an understanding glance that made him even more irritated.
"Even if it was true, what harm would be in it?" She said innocently, waving a graceful finger at them with a severe manner, which under the current situation was almost as if she were scolding two children caught with their fingers in the jam jar.
Kanda opened his mouth to reply, then closed it without anything coming out. It was absolutely useless to insist with Lenalee when she was convinced of something, and Lavi also was learning it quickly at his own expense.
Without adding a word further they ate in silence, while Lenalee watched them, satisfied with the turn which - according to her - events had taken.
Tired of the embarrassing silence, at some point Lavi conveniently brought the conversation onto something more frivolous, much to Kanda's relief; so, after finishing the meal and saying goodbye to the girl, who was leaving to go to class at her university, they returned to work on the case using Kanda's computer.
"Ya think this guy could be one of yer crazed fans who freaked out?" Lavi asked at some point, after reading for the umpteenth time the serial killer's profile.
"Who knows. Anything is possible with a mentally disturbed murderer like this." Kanda replied casually, as he highlighted another similarity between the homicides and his stories.
"What if you publish a new book? Maybe this could draw him outdoors." Lavi suggested, putting the case file on the desk and leaning toward the monitor, right over the other youth's shoulders.
"I..." Kanda had actually thought the same thing, but the idea was immediately rejected because of his... he decided to call it slowness at writing; Lenalee would rather say 'grammatical and technical deficiencies'. "Well, you know that I can't do it, alone and in such a short time, and frankly speaking for how things are right now I don't want to do it."
Had he just justified himself? He mentally slapped himself for showing a weak point to the annoying pain-in the-ass-reporter.
"If I help you out?" Lavi offered, smiling, this time without malice, one of those disarming smiles that unsettled Kanda inside, even if he didn't understand the reason.
"No." He muttered, keeping a neutral tone and trying not to give any importance to his reply, but the way in which his body had stiffened at that proposal told Lavi that this 'No' was actually a 'Worse'.
"It embarrasses you that much?" Kanda heard being asked to him.
Here, he had expected this question, made with the same casual tone used in interviews. Obviously the fucking meddler wouldn't let him change the subject, he had to know it.
"Yes. And I don't want to talk about it." Kanda stated sharply, considering the matter closed, but no, the idiot couldn't respect his privacy, he had to insist.
"It's just a description, not reality; you'll see, that's not this terrible." Lavi tried to downplay the meaning of the 'hot' scenes in the story, hoping to mitigate Yuu's embarrassment in writing sex related situations.
"Are you telling me that you don't feel embarrassed to describe things such... such... with..." Kanda couldn't even say it, so he gestured eloquently between them, hoping that the other would understand him without he was forced to say things like 'us having sex' aloud.
"With you and me playin' the leadin' roles? No. It's all fake, Yuu. Moreover it's not us; yer characters are only inspired by us." Lavi smiled at him again, reassuring, hypnotic, irresistible. Kanda gave up without even realizing it.
"Fine; but I don't want to watch as you write it." He concluded, turning his face to the side.
Lavi chuckled; it was incredible how much someone tough and experienced as Yuu was could feel this uncomfortable about discussing sex.
"Yuu, you gotta get rid of this block. Wanna improve, right? You've got t'write yerself; I'll just correct you afterwards." He put a hand on Kanda's shoulder, as to encourage him, and the youth sighed: he was trapped. He nodded reluctantly.
"Good." Lavi nodded back with a satisfied expression. "While I'm studyin' this other report on the case, you can start writin'."
"What?" Kanda astounded. 'Here, now, with him beside me?' shouted his troubled mind. "Now?" Was what his mouth uttered.
The other gave an affirmative nod, and Kanda swallowed hard. He couldn't draw back.
Meanwhile, at the Noah's Ark publishing house there was a bit of agitation in the air. Mr. Earl Millennium, the owner - nicknamed 'The Count' for his princely life style, and secondarily because his name, Earl, meant just 'Count' for British people - was on the phone with the New York branch director, talking about some news that had recently reached his ears regarding one of their most successful writers.
"No problem boss, really. The writer is still ours." A blond woman was saying, trying to reassure his principal.
«I heard that Bookman has put his grandson to dog our writer's steps, you know how dangerous that hack-journalist is!» The man accused sourly. «Rid me of him, Lulubell, I don't want our goose that lays golden eggs passing to the competition.» He ordered in a way that left no room for misunderstandings. «Make sure that Kanda Yuu doesn't hear about this Lavi Bookman ever again, understood?»
"It will be done, boss, I was well informed. I have already entrusted him to one of our supporters' care, he won't take long to enter into action." The woman's voice was proud and confident as she informed the notorious Count about the measures she had already taken.
«Very well, keep me informed.» And upon this request the man hung up.
"Road!" The director called through the office intercom. "Tell Tyki to conclude, looks like our propaganda action is having some difficulty." To the girl's surprised exclamation, Lulubell revealed the cause of their problem. "We have Bookman Junior in our way."
«I'm calling Tyki at once.» Road confirmed gravely, closing the communication.