Heart of Crimson *Howard LinkxOC*

Chapter 4

The kitchen as bustling with cooks when Vittoria entered, out of breathe and panting slightly; Jerry spotted the woman immediately and laughed a bit before waving her over and telling her that he had put her creation in a cake case to keep it soft, she thanked him several times before taking the platter from its box and heading out and into the cafeteria area.

Lenalee was the first to see her making her way over and grew curious at what she was holding when she set it down on the table in front of their group, Allen's eyes lighting up instantly at the sight of the cake.

"I never really got the chance to apologize for my actions that day, so I'm sorry."

"Oh! You didn't have to! We're friends now after all!" The girl replied cheerily and Vittoria smiled lightly.

"Thank you Lenalee. Well, enjoy, I've got some things to do." With that she turned to leave when Allen suddenly jumped up.

"Vittoria! Wait! Those guns..."

"Yeah... turns out I inherited a lot more than just my hair and stubborn personality from him after all." She smiled with a forlorn expression on her face as she turned back and exited the room, moving towards the science division. She had just opened the door when Johnny seemed to pop out of nowhere, a twinkle of excitement in his eyes.

"Hey Vittoria! Heard you're the newest exorcist, so what did you have in mind for the uniform?" Blue eyes blinked, startled, and it took her a second to respond.

"Oh! Well actually, I've already got a drawing for it; it was an old hobby of mine, designing outfits and such. I'll go get it."

***

A good hour later, Vittoria and Johnny had finalized what it was her uniform would look like and gotten her measurements. It would take about three days to make, so the red head was left to wander the halls for those few days, often finding company with Link and Allen when she wasn't baking or cooking or in the library burried in books. Vittoria had met Bookman and his apprentace, Lavi, on the second day, dropping the red head to the ground to keep him off when he suddenly jumped ay her, but after that the trio had had a decent conversation about herself and her family. Later on that same day she had found the training rooms and Yu Kanda, experiencing his foul temper first had. It hadn't really bothered her, she'd delt with plenty of brats on the streets when she lived in Marsala.

Grasping a wooden sword identical to the one the samuria had been using, she posed with it, a challenge in her eyes and a grin on her lips. They'd been going at each other for nearly twenty minutes and Kanda concluded that she was sly and cunning, much like a snake, much like her father, but at the end his endurance and combat experience lent him the upper hand long enough to disarm her and he was forced to admit that she was a rather worthy sparing partner. The thought felt foreign to him as he begrudgingly held out a hand to help her off the floor before cliking his tongue and leaving the room and the woman.

The rest of the day went by will little happening besides Allen cornering her in the kitchens to watch her and Link bake long after the other cooks had left. The younger teen had ended up fast asleep only a little while later and had to be carried back to the room the two shared while Vittoria watched with mirth shining in her blue eyes as she and Link made small talk until they went their separate ways.

Morning came sooner than the red head had thought and with it, a knock on the door of her room. Dawn light was slowly climbing up the frosted glass of the window as she got up and opened the door to find a familiar blonde on the other side who promptly blushed a bright crimson and turned away. Rather surprised, she glanced down and gasped in moritfication as she used the door to block the sight of her nearly see through, short, sheer nightgown and black underwear.

"S-Sorry! I forgot what I was wearing." She stuttered, fighting the crimson creapping across her cheeks.

"I-it's alright. Johnny asked me to bring this down to you," He set a rather lerge box on the ground in front of the wood, awkwardly stepping back, "I'll leave it here and I'll see you later?"

"Yeah of course." Link's footsteps faded down the halls and Vittoria nearly smacked herself as she opened the door abck up and grabbed the box, kicking it closed after.

Looking inside, a smile pulls at her lips and she rushes to shower before pulling on the new uniform and buckling the double holster around her waist, Judgment and Redemption fitting perfectly in the black leather. Running a brush through her unruly hair, Vittoria finished by slipping her dagger into one boot and headed straight to the science division, the crimson rosary swaying to the beat of her footsteps on the marble floor.

"Hey Johnny!" She called out when she entered, getting half the rooms attention along with her intended target who smiled brightly, looking over the outfit critically. "Thanks, it looks great and fits perfectly."

"Has anyone else seen it yet?"

"No, I'm heading to the cafeteria to get some breakfast now, just thought I should stop and thank you first." Johnny smiled and proceeded to usher her from the room, which was rather curious for him but Vittoria let it slide and went on her way.

Pushing the doors open, the red head jumped in surprise when something popped right in front of her, showering her hair with confetti.

"Welcome to the Black Order!!" Everyone in the room cheered and laughed, though a few –Kanda and Link mostly- kept it to a minimum. Lenalee and Allen pulled her further into the room, the girl handing her a black mug that had her initials in red on the side.

"Grazie mille!"