Mirroring Lotus

Reflection 3: Trick Mirrors

"I hope Lavi's doing alright," Lenalee said as she sat on the orphanage's front steps, looking for any sign of her friend.

"I'll be surprised if he let a few animals get the best of him," Kanda said as he leaned against the wall, arms crossed.

"You know, you could show a little more compassion for him, Kanda." Lenalee said, looking at Kanda sternly.

"I'll think about it when he stops calling me by my first name," Kanda said.

"You can be a real jerk, you know that?" Allen said, also waiting for Lavi to return.

"Sorry, couldn't quite hear that, Moyashi." Kanda said with a smirk.

Allen glared at him before going up to the older Exorcist.

"What was that, BaKanda?" he said.

"You heard," Kanda said, "or do you have some bean sprouts in your ears as well, Moyashi?"

The two glared at each other, making Lenalee sigh at their behavior. She stood to her feet and went over to them.

"Okay, that's enough!" she said, pushing the two away from each other. "This isn't going to help us with our mission."

"Lenalee is right," Bookman said. "I suggest we go look for that idiot apprentice of mine. He's bound to have gotten himself into some trouble by now."

"Bookman has a point," Lenalee said. "We need to go look for Lavi. Allen, can you keep an eye on things here while me and Kanda go with Bookman?"

"Sure," Allen said. "Hey, wait! Why do I have to stay behind?!"

"Because there's a good chance that either Yon or Lavi might come back." Lenalee said with a smile. "And you're better at handling kids than me and Kanda."

"Oh, I see...." Allen said, not believing Lenalee's second excuse.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure to bring you something if we happen to go into town." Lenalee said.

"Thank you," Allen said, perking up to the thought of food.

Kanda clicked his tongue in annoyance to Allen's appetite before heading towards the bamboo forest.

"Let's go find that Baka Usagi already." he said.

"We'll see you later, Allen." Lenalee said as she and Bookman followed the swordsman.

"Alright," Allen said as he waved Lenalee goodbye. "And make sure to get me some pork buns!"

"'Kay, got it!" Lenalee called out from over her shoulder.

Allen watched them disappear into the forest before heading back into the orphanage, unaware of the eyes that were watching him.

"Hey! Allen buddy!" the familiar voice of Lavi exclaimed, catching Allen's attention.

"Lavi?" Allen said, looking towards the door.

"Do you have to leave, mister?" a young girl asked.

"Yeah, but don't worry, I'll be back to continue teaching you poker." Allen said as he put his hand down.

He had been teaching the kids of the orphanage how to properly play poker since he had walked in on their own version of the game.

"That's what Yon says whenever she's about to disappear." a young boy said.

"Well, I like to keep to my promises." Allen said, getting to his feet. "I'll be right back."

"Okay," the two kids said in unison as Allen walked out.

"There you are!" Lavi said, walking up towards Allen as he closed the door behind him.

"Glad to see that you're still in one piece." Allen said a bit teasingly to his friend.

"Hey, that's not funny!" Lavi said. "I barely escaped the jaws of a killer wolf!"

"Sure you did," Allen said.

Lavi pouted a bit to how Allen didn't believe him before looking around the area. "So, where are the others, Moyashi?"

"It's Allen!" Allen said, glaring at Lavi for calling him by that name. "And they went to go look for you."

"Really? Well, I guess it's kind of convenient that way." Lavi said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Why's that?" Allen asked, tilting his head to the side.

"I saw Yon head for town as I was running away from her "friend"." Lavi said. "Since Lenalee and the others are in the forest, there's a chance they could run into her."

"Really? Then let's go tell them!" Allen said as he began to walk toward the forest.

However, before he got any further, Lavi grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

"Whoa there buddy! I'm not going back in there." Lavi said.

"Why not?" Allen asked, looking at Lavi.

"Because there's no way I'm risking a chance of meeting that wolf again." Lavi said. "How about you go instead and I keep an eye on things here?"

"Well," Allen said, pondering the idea over.

"Come on, please Allen?" Lavi asked. "Between the two of us, you're the only one that saw which direction they headed in. And I hear the town has some pretty good meat buns for sale."

Allen looked at Lavi as the older boy smiled at him with a pleading look in his visible eye. A few moments passed between the two before Allen let out a sigh of defeat.

"Fine, I'll go." Allen said, "But I'm not doing it just for the food! I'm doing it for the mission!"

"Whatever you say, buddy!" Lavi said, smiling bigger as he put his hands behind his head. "Just be careful in there, 'kay?"

Allen gave Lavi a nod before heading into the forest himself. Lavi watched him as he disappeared into the thicket before putting his hands on his hips.

"Well, he was more gullible than I thought." Lavi said as his voice changed to a girl's. "Too bad for him that "Yon" is actually his friend here." "He" chuckled to himself before pulling out a marble and tossed it into the air. "Mirror, break."

As the marble came down and landed within "his" palm, the sound of glass breaking sounded out and revealed Yon, standing in the exact same spot that "Lavi" was standing in moments ago. Yon picked the marble up with her other hand and raised it toward the sun.

"I just hope that those other guys are as gullible as their friend there." Yon said, looking at the marble. "This may turn out to be more fun than I thought."