Innocence of the Shadow(A D-Gray Man Fanfic)Wattyawards First Place Winner 2015

Chapter 19

The waitress came back and handed us menus. I looked over everything and decided of the meal I wanted fairly quickly. I closed my menu and looked at Kanda, my guess was he was ready to order too. The waitress pulled out a notepad and a pen, waiting for us to order.

"I'll have the steak and fries." I said. She wrote it down and looked at Kanda.

"I'll have the same thing." He said. She wrote on the notepad again, picked up the menus, curtsied slightly and walked away. Kanda and I sat in awkward silence for a little while, and Ko'lae touched my hand with her nose.

"Well, say something." Ko'ae said.

"Like what, we don't have anything to talk about." I replied mentally.

"The way you acted like the daughter of a noble family impressed the generals." Kanda said.

"Oh?" I replied.

"You had us all convinced that you were a different person." he said with a small nod.

"My acting skills have to be good." I shrugged. He looked at me and I sighed.

"If I wasn't good at acting I wouldn't be alive." I stated.

"You said you were looking for someone there." He continued.

"Yes, I was looking for someone." I replied.

"Why did you leave without authorization?" He asked. The waitress returned with our food before I could answer. She sat the plates in front of us and refilled our glasses.

I waited for her to leave and said "It was a personal thing."

"Looking for a family member?" He asked. I knew he was just trying to keep the conversation going and I sighed.

"I guess you could call him that." I replied. Of course I was lying, I wasn't looking for anyone, and he didn't know or need to know. He was quiet, like he was trying to find something to say but couldn't.

"He was a father figure." I continued.

"You don't have a father?" He asked me.

"I never knew him, so I can't find him." I sighed.

"And your mother?" He asked.

"She was killed when I was young, my father figure left me in an abandoned building." I explained.

He nodded and asked "Did you find him?"

"I found his grave." I smiled, it was kind of a personal joke. The man that helped my mother and grandmother raise me died the same day my mom did. He was dead, but he didn't have a grave.

"I'm sorry." Kanda said, he was trying to be sympathetic but it wasn't working.

"You don't need to be. I didn't know him well enough to mourn his death." I replied, feeling the tension in the air drop. I ate slowly and wasn't surprised when we entered awkward silence again. I enjoyed the silence, but yet I didn't like it at the same time. When I was close to the point at which I couldn't eat anymore I silently sighed to myself.

"Are you hungry Ko'lae?" I asked her mentally.

"I'm fine. If I get hungry later, I can always find a bird or a mouse to eat." She replied.

"Alright." I replied. Finally I grew tired of the silence and looked out the window for a second.

"I have told you about myself, now you should tell me about you." I said calmly, breaking the silence.

"I don't talk about my past." Kanda replied.

"You can tell me something, can't you?" I asked. I felt so awkward talking about myself with him and was trying to change the subject.

"I trained under General Tiedoll with Daisya." He said.

"You have a simple past." I chuckled. I stopped eating and sipped my water. The waitress came back and smiled at me. "Would you like to buy something for dessert?" She asked us. Kanda shook his head lightly.

"No, that's fine." I told her. She curtsied slightly and left, taking care of other customers.

Kanda stood and walked around the table to me. I stood up and Ko'lae stood in front of my toe. I tripped over her and fell into Kanda. Out of instinct I put my hands out and and caught myself, Kanda's arms wrapped around me, and he took a step back. I slightly blushed and looked at Ko'lae, she was sitting innocently on the floor.

"Careful there." He said, looking at me. I looked at him and found that our faces were only an inch apart. I didn't say anything but looked at him, he looked back at me leaned a little bit closer. I pushed away from him and fixed my boot. He waited for me and when I stood up his hand brushed my own. I bit my cheek and entwined my fingers with his. He looked at me and I smiled at him.

He led me out the restaurant and we began walking back to headquarters.

"Was that supposed to be funny?" I asked Ko'lae.

"I was just getting you to admit it." She replied, licking my hand.

"I admit nothing." I replied.

"You two look like you could use a ride." A man said. He was sitting on the bench of a carriage. The carriage looked like it was a cart and it was pulled by a single black horse. I looked at the horse and found that it had a single streak of dark gray in it's mane and tail.

"She's like you, all black with a single placement of a noticeable color." Ko'lae said. I didn't reply but looked at the man. He was wearing a black suit and was older.

"No. We are fine." I replied. He looked at the symbol on my chest and did the same for Kanda.

"You two must be heading to the black order headquarters." He said.

"We can walk there." I sighed.

"It's free." He replied. Before I could say anything, Kanda had pulled me to the carriage and helped me in. I sat down as close to the edge of the seat as I could. The seat was so small that Kanda and I were sitting shoulder to shoulder. Ko'lae sat on the floor just out of reach of my feet and the carriage began to move. The first few moments of the ride was very uncomfortable, but as time wore down I relaxed a little bit more.

We sat in silence for about twenty minutes when the carriage hit something in the road and I put my hand out instinctually. Ko'lae meowed and I looked at my hand. I had my hand on Kanda's chest, I quickly pulled my hand to my lap and bit my cheek.

"What is wrong with me, Why am I feeling like this?" I asked myself.

"Sorry." I said out loud.

"No. It's okay." Kanda replied, taking my hand in his. I looked at our hands and smiled mentally and felt my heartbeat against my chest rapidly.

"What is this strange feeling?" I asked myself. The final ten minutes of the date were spent in silence and I enjoyed sitting so close to Kanda and holding his hand. We walked back to our rooms and I took a deep breath.

"Thank you." I said, looking at my door. Kanda looked at me and I sighed.

"For everything, this date, caring for me after that battle, and letting me use your shirt when mine was destroyed." I explained.

"It was nothing." Kanda replied. I smiled, quickly kissed his cheek and walked into my room. After I shut my door I leaned on it and bit my lip.

"You're right Ko'lae." I sighed.

"About what?" She asked.

I slid to floor and explained "About me liking Kanda."

"I told you, the signs were easy to see." She explained twitching her tail.

"It's late, we should get some rest." I sighed, standing and walking over to the window. I sat in the window and listened to the wind. Ko'lae curled up in my lap and Unmei nestled herself next to her. It didn't take long for me to fall asleep, I dreamed about my mom and woke up several times without remembering anything.