Onto the Train Station (Devi and Aemi)

Devi couldn't look him in the eye. She despised being his helpless. The genuine concern in his voice didn't help her guilt, either. "Do you think I had a choice? You know how things are run in Europe. We're sent off like dogs to do dirty work... And well, here I am. What about you? With the higher-ups in chaos, you Level Threes have about as much authority as the chief right now... Why did you come here? You could have stayed back, where it was safe... Instead of being in the cross-hairs of Akuma hot-spot... I tried to go on all the little missions I could to keep myself occupied, in hopes that you'd come back... I was getting lonely in the library, you know..."

By now Devi was shaking, trying to hold in a sob. She suddenly realized how much she didn't want to be there. The new friends and change of scenery were nice, but at what cost? She missed when she had a normal, routine life. It wasn't really out of the ordinary, but it was something sane to fall back on when the war became too much. "Please, Lavi, I should go..." She begged.

Lavi listened to what she had to say, shaking his head, as though he wanted to refuse to listen, but her words cut through him like a knife to his lungs. He felt his grip on her wrists tightened, but he immediately loosened them, in fear that he would harm her. His hands were shaking against her wrists, "I didn't choose to come here either, Devi... but you have a choice to refuse missions of travel... you have no idea what's going on here right now... it's not safe for you..." and as she began speaking again, talking about being lonely in the library, he found himself lost in thoughts for a long moment as his lips quivered. He could clearly see that she was growing upset. He almost felt her struggle to try and beg to leave, but he shook his head, "No... stay," his hands moved against her wrists, pulling them down toward her waste as he took a step closer, watching her from a closer distance as he stared at her, "I'm sorry... I'm just nervous."

Devi's breath caught in her throat as he grew closer to her. Any contact from him made her nervous and she couldn't hold it anymore; just as she made eye contact with him, a tear slipped from her. She swallowed, "I- I'm nervous, too." She subconsciously glanced at Lavi's lips and the sudden closeness of him, causing her to blush.

Devi's mixed emotions of wanting to stay here with him, feeling guilty for not saying "no" to his mission (she really accepted because she hoped he would be in Asia), and being so on edge because work partners shouldn't be with each other; he couldn't find out her feelings. She just needed some way to vent. Some way out. "I need to cool down, Lavi." She almost whispered. "I- I don't even know what to do anymore. We both know that can be fatal."

Lavi saw that a tear had slipped from her eyelash and he slowly moved one of his hands from her wrist to her cheek, his thumb wiping away her tear gently, "Just calm down... you'll be fine," he whispered, trying to sound gentle, "You're safe with me. So just... stay with me," he continued to stay close to her, looking down at her as her eyes gazed at hers. His hand was still rested on his cheek and the other hand on her wrist moved down to her hand, holding it gently, "Anything can be fatal. You just need a little trust to feel safe again." his eyes were more relaxed. He felt so close to her, that he could feel her breathing pattern against her chest. He could tell that she was still nervous and he shook his head slightly, "Just trust me..."

She felt as if she'd never breathe again. This was too close for her. There was no outlet in sight, so she simply let go. The simple thumb brushing across her cheek, set a wave of relaxation over her. Devi nodded, "I trust you. I promise. I'll try my best to calm down, but I can't promise anything about that. I'll stay. For as long as you want." She squeezed Lavi's hand, finding herself not wanting to leave.

Lavi smiled lightly as he watched her. He could feel her hand grasp his more tightly, and heard her promise to stay. His hand against her cheek slightly stroked at her hair as he watched her eyes. His other hand continued to tightly hold onto her hand. At first he wasn't sure what to say, but he continued to smile. His eyes slowly lowered as he moved in slowly, gently pressing his lips against hers. He felt a warmth against her lips as he closed his eyes. He wouldn't stop unless she had pushed him away.

Devi was lost in the moment, and before she knew it, Lavi's lips were pressed against her own. She didn't know what to do or say. So many questions ran through her head. This wasn't right; he wasn't supposed to have feelings for people, and she was supposed to stay focused.

But who cares if it wasn't right. It was nice and her heart fluttered in her chest. The guilt and nervousness were drowned out by the situation at hand. Now moving on impulse, Devi wrapped an arm loosely around Lavi's neck, kissing him back.

Lavi smiled into the kiss as he felt her hands wrap around his neck. His hand that was against her cheek moved down to her waist, along with his other hand as they moved in, pulling her closer to him. He continued to kiss her, feeling a sense of relaxation once more. He had never felt this feeling before... it was new to him, but he seemed to only act on what his heart had kept telling him to do for so long. The moment he had lost sight of her when he was sent to the Asian Branch, he felt as though he had lost apart of himself. He didn't care if it was wrong... he knew in his heart it was right.

Devi stopped the kiss then buried her face in his neck, breathing in his scent for a few moments, just letting him hold her. She never wanted to let go, she never wanted this to end. She wished that wherever they went, they could go with each other, holding on to one another.

Even though work needed to be done, Devi had no intention of moving at all until Lavi moved. She was comfortable enough to fall asleep. Still, there was one thing that she needed to know. "Lavi," she mumbled, "what is all this? What does it mean for us? What now?"

Lavi felt Devi pull from his lips and bury herself into his neck. He smiled lightly as he felt her breath in his neck. He felt at ease as he held onto her. He felt her warmth against him and he let his hold on her grow slightly tighter. He didn't want to let her go, and he didn't plan to. Not like he did back when he was transferred. He heard Devi say his name against his neck and it caught his attention. Hearing her question, he smiled more slightly, whispering back gently, "This is what I've wanted... needed for a long time... and it can mean whatever you want it to."

She laughed softly. "How many times were you actually following me around because it was your duty?" Devi asked. She looked back up at him before placing a quick kiss on his lips. "I would like to be with you. Please, don't take this offensively, but I think we should keep it secret... We don't want the higher ups to transfer one of us again..." She swallowed, feeling like a whole new world of excitement opened up for her. Sighing happily, she glanced at her suitcase. "I should get rid of my stuff..." Smiling, Devi broke away from Lavi's embrace, then threw her suitcase on his unmade bed. "I'm moving in." she stated as she began to unpack.


After all of her clothes were neatly folded and put away and her personal belonging set aide, the new couple sat on their bed, arms entwined around each other. With her head on Lavi's shoulder and her fingers toying with the hem of his shirt, occasionally brushing the skin underneath -- indulging in the little jolts of excitement and belonging when they made contact -- Devi asked, "So what do we do now?"

Lavi laughed at her first question, shrugging for a moment, "It may have been my duty, but it doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it." When he felt her kiss against him once more and heard what she had said next, he nodded, "That may be what's best for now... especially with the rumors going on about the Generals and clergymen... they may use it against us." he watched as she got all of her stuff set on his bed. He laughed slightly as she began settle herself inside. When she had finished, they were sitting together, and he felt at ease when her head rested on his shoulder. He smiled more whenever she twirled her fingers in the hem of his shirt. When she asked what to do now, he kept a steady look on his face, still smiling lightly, "Are you hungry? Or do you need anything before you completely settled in?" he had asked. He wasn't sure if she needed to go anywhere before resting.

When Devi heard the comment about the rumors of the generals and clergymen, her mind briefly wandered to Aemi and her mission here. She was never really informed about anything, so she wondered if those rumors were why she was here... Shaking her head, she dismissed the thought. She could find Aemi later and ask if she had heard anything. Right now was for her and Lavi.

As they sat together, Devi could dream up a million places of where she wanted to go with him. She missed eating with him, reading with him, visiting the Science Department and going on walks with him. However, she was as comfortable as she's ever been in her life and it wasn't in her best interest to move. "I'm settled in now," she said, "I could stay here forever..."

Lavi smiled at her as she spoke of what she wanted. Thinking for a moment, he kept her close to him. Looking around, for a moment, he tried thinking of things to do, "Is there anything in particular that you want right now?" he chuckled slightly.

"Nothing. Besides you, and to not go to work," Devi replied before she laughed and placed a kiss on his cheek.


She sighed, staring at nothing in particular on the floor. Thoughts of work, of all the things she would have to do soon -- almost momentarily -- flooded her mind. The guilt started to overcome her once more. She shouldn't have done this, the whole relationship was a liability to both her and Lavi. Devi didn't care much that Lavi was an issue for her; it was just one more thing for her to live for and protect. But to ever think that she could possibly make things worse for him just tore her apart inside. Either of them could die at any moment. And while Lavi seemed sincere, he knew his duty was to go on living, unaffected by loss. But Devi knew that Lavi would feel some sort of regret in some way at some point, over her death. And that was just enough to be too much.

Nothing could be done about it now. Devi didn't have it in her to try to reverse everything going on. So there was no use in thinking the worst over it. They could only try to prevent it. She looked up at Lavi, with an almost desperate gleam in her eye, looking for some sort of distraction. "You sound as if there's something that you want to do. Whatever it is, I'd be happy to do it with you." So much for staying focused...

Lavi was letting his thoughts wander the same moment that hers did. He was thinking of all the things that were going wrong within the Asian Branch. He sighed, knowing that these situations might put Devi in danger later. He felt worried about it, but wasn't going to let it cloud his mind. He had his goals set; he would try to protect her. When she had kissed his cheek, he smiled lightly, turning and kissing her forehead. "Right now, just being here; that's good enough for me," he spoke gently.

She relaxed, letting the sound of his voice soothe her. They sat in a comfortable, loving silence for a while, simply enjoying each others presence.

"You know I'm going to have to go soon..." Devi finally said. "Both Aemi and I have to report to Bak that we have arrived. I'm sure he'll get suspicious if I don't report shortly after her." She cast a hateful glare at the closed door, resenting the fact that she'll have to go through it in a few seconds. She gave Lavi's hand a slight squeeze. "No matter where I go. I'll always come back here, to you, when night falls."

She lifted herself from the bed. Even though she was simply leaving for a while to go check in, she couldn't help but feel as if she were preparing for a big, important mission. Devi grabbed her witch hat off the end of the bed and placed it snugly on her head before walking to the door. She turned back and smiled at Lavi one last time before going through it and shutting the door behind her.

Lavi listened to what she had said, knowing that it was probably true that she'd need to report soon. He nodded in agreement, watching as she got herself up from the bed, putting her hat on. As she walked toward the door, smiled at him, and shut the door behind her, he kept a smile on his face, knowing she'd be back.

Devi secured her gun holsters on her thighs and re-adjusted her gloves as she jogged down to the Chief's office. When she got there, she almost didn't believe that it was indeed the Chief's office, it was so organized.

Check-in was a quick process. They assigned Devi a dorm room, she stayed quiet, not wanting to mention anything about not needing it. She asked about her partner and the only information she could gather is that Aemi had already checked in and received information on their first task, but nothing further was reported on her. After tucking some paperwork into her back pocket, Devi started down the stone corridor to look for her friend.

Aemi walked down the hall, seeming to have a nervous expression. She bit her lip uneasily as she kept a slow pace. She had just gotten back from the research development room, and she felt her heart sinking significantly. She walked steadily, unsure how to act. She was breathing a lot heavier than normal, as though she was going to cry. She shook her head several times, as though she was in denial, There's more trouble going on here than I thought... what did they do to him...?

After searching the humungous branch for what seemed like hours, Devi finally found her partner leaving the holding cells. It seemed that the scientist that told her there was an exorcist with long black hair in pigtails was correct.

“Aemi!” She shouted. “I’ve been looking for you! What are you doing here..?” As she neared the other girl, Devi’s expression changed from happy to concern upon noticing Aemi’s state. “What happened?” She asked in a demanding tone. While waiting for her friend to respond, she glanced behind her and noted that the cell at the end of the hallway was heavily guarded. A knot formed in her stomach and she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was terribly wrong here…

Aemi saw that Devi had ran up to her and began speaking upon approaching. She pursed her lips for a long moment, closing her eyes to avoid tears welling up. She was holding a piece of paper, which she had copied from the research room. She wrote it down herself, because she wasn't allowed to take the paper with her. She looked at Devi for a long silent moment, "It doesn't say why, but Allen has been under quarantine to be executed... but he's no longer being quarantined thank god... but he's still under heavy surveillance."

Devi felt her heart sink. Looking back to the cell, she asked, “did they tell you when?” She couldn’t believe this. How could this have not gotten out among Black Order workers?



Watching Aemi now, she thought that she could almost see the poor girl shaking. Devi frowned. “I’m sorry, Aemi… Here, it’s probably not helping to still be around here.” She put her arm around her friend’s shoulder and led her to the Cafeteria.



Once they arrived, Devi sat across from Aemi at a table. She stayed silent, not really knowing what to say. She couldn’t fathom why they would lock the sweet kid away. Being unable to find a reason angered her. Devi thought it was best not to say anything because at this point, she didn’t have anything nice to say at all. She decided to wait for Aemi to calm down and speak her mind.

Aemi shook her head when she had asked when, but didn't know how to respond, "I... I don't know. I asked, and they said that it's held under confidential records that I'm not allowed to look at. They said it was because of his curse though..." she grew more angry as they walked toward the cafeteria, "I'm cursed, and you don't see me walking around with heavy supervision." she pursed her lips stubbornly as she sat down, Devi sitting across from her, "I asked Bak about if he was here, but he said he couldn't tell me because he wasn't sure. But Lavi seemed sure that he's here, so he has to be here and there's something the others are not wanting to tell me. This place is starting to look worse than I assumed..."

Devi almost felt sick when Aemi reminded her that she was cursed. She wondered if it was just a matter of time before they took Aemi away, if that was why they brought both of them here; to lock the younger exorcist away, making Devi just a tagalong to cover it up.



She didn’t want anyone else to go away. She already experienced this once back at the European Branch – everyone left her to go to the Asia Branch, she wasn’t strong enough to go with them.



When Aemi mentioned Lavi, it felt as if she had been stabbed in the chest. He knew! She thought. Then something caught her attention, “Wait, worse than you assumed? Was this place… Supposed to be bad..?” She asked, unsure.