[fic] 24hour_themes: One of Spades
Prompt: 02h00 ; Ridding partnerships or relationships of negativity
Title: One of Spades
Fandom: D.Gray-man
Characters: Kanda Yuu, Li Lenalee
Rating: G
Summary: Now Lenalee could at least understand why Allen would rather deal with cards than with someone like Kanda.
Disclaimer: D.Gray-man and all of its characters belong to Katsura Hoshino.
Notes: Obviously, there's no such thing as 'one of Spades'. It was a mistake made by my cousin while we were playing Go Fish one time. No, they're not playing Go Fish but Chase the Ace. It's a bit similar to Old Maid but instead of a Joker, or the Queen of Hearts, the Ace of Spade will be the one left at the end of the game. Blame the omake every episode ¬¬
One of Spades
“Can we stop here, Kanda? We’ve been doing this for hours now and I’m really tired.”
“One more round, Lenalee. I don’t care how long it takes as long as I can wipe that smug smirk off that bean sprout’s face!”
A heavy sigh left Lenalee followed by a wide, weary yawn as she collected the cards and reshuffled it in her hands to deal it. It was perhaps the fifth sigh she had for the past five minutes and the tenth yawn. She peered despairingly at the male Exorcist seated opposite her, his frown more pronounced in the soft candlelight, and exhaled her sixth. One more round, he had said. Last time she had checked, he had said the same thing every single time she had complained how sleepy she was already. He didn’t care how long it took, he had said. Well, she cared, for the love of God. She cared that she would have to wake up early the next morning to check up on her brother and remind him of his work. Apparently, his care didn’t extend there.
“You should have asked Lavi to play with you instead,” she remarked calmly with a stifled yawn as she dealt the cards between them, leaving a thicker third pile in the middle of the table.
He had fanned out the cards in his hand and was staring at them intently, his expression rather amusing, she noted. But of course, it wasn’t amusing that he was taking the game far too seriously than he needed to. Perhaps it was the one reason why he wouldn’t give up. The Japanese simply had a strange and different definition of fun. Another reason would most likely because he hadn’t won against her yet. The blows on his pride were too much to bear, much to her dismay.
“Lavi?” he repeated, his narrowed eyes still trained on his cards, as he placed two cards down and took one more from the deck. “Why would I want to play with Lavi?”
Because she couldn’t keep up with his stamina. Because she was already getting sleepy. Because she could barely see her cards under the flickering light. Because it's already past 2 in the morning and they were still at it. She discarded two pairs from her hand and took one card.
“Because he’s a much better player than I am and so if you want to learn any tricks…”
The Chinese girl faltered upon seeing the full-blown scowl sent her way, courtesy of Kanda. She paused momentarily, wondering why she was currently his most despised person, when she frowned back at him. So it seemed that she had said something taboo again. The fact that she herself was a beginner in card games and only knew the basics and yet she was beating him effortlessly… And here, she was suggesting that he played against Lavi.
It was an innocent suggestion really, she wanted to argue as she drew another card to her hand. It was not her fault that the male was too sensitive, despite his protests and complaints that he was not. And yet having suggested something like that, having a thought of something like that since the first hour of their game, she was not getting up from her seat.
“This is really childish, Kanda,” was all she could say, followed by another sigh.
“You wouldn’t understand.”
“Of course not,” she muttered with the enthusiasm of an insomniac. “My obsessions usually don’t involve people and beating them in card games.”
His gaze on her was fixed and she quickly averted her eyes, finding the thinning pile of cards on the table more interesting. How she disliked being stared at like that, especially by him. Perhaps it was because of that unquestioning glint in his eyes or he just had some sort of power that would hold her still in her seat. Whatever it was, she didn’t know and she didn’t want to find out by staring back at him.
“Why don’t you like Allen, Kanda?” she asked nonchalantly as he reached out to pick one card from her hand.
“Why do you like him?”
Lenalee did a double take at his sudden retort, the inquiry sounding more like an accusation than anything. “It's not what you think, you know. He's really nice once you get to know him. At least, be civil with him.”
Asking for them to get along was asking for a miracle. “You get along with Lavi and me so why not with Allen as well?”
There was a momentary pause and she found herself staring at the small rise on one corner of his mouth. “If I beat him in the game, I just might be civil. Might.”
As Kanda picked another card from her hand, the thought of simply letting him win to end it all crossed her mind. But would he take it as an insult and demand a rematch? That would be much more troublesome since he would really start demanding another a game even if he were to win fairly, thinking that she’d been tricking him all that time. Unpredictability in a guy was one thing; unpredictability in Kanda was another.
“-lee?”
“What?” She looked up confusedly and what she met was a flat scowl. “I wasn’t listening, I’m sorry.”
“I said, I’m not the one obsessing over the bean sprout.” He reached out to pick one card on from her hand.
She stopped at his words and quickly grabbed his wrist. He stared back at her suspiciously before she released it, leveling that suspicious look with one of her own. The words she had wanted to tell him for a long time now, been trying hard to gather the courage - that he was such a jerk, that he was so insensitive, that he didn’t have the common sense God gave to a goose, that Allen and her were just friends, that, of all people she had been obsessing about, it was him and if it weren’t for that stupid obsession, she would be peacefully sleeping at that moment - were lost in her throat, her passive expression twisting into a dark, ugly frown.
“Was that a trick?” he asked as he pulled back his hand and stared at the card he had picked out.
Because grabbing people’s wrists in the middle of the game to exchange their chosen card was not obvious enough. “No it wasn’t.”
“But I got the one of Spades.”
“The Ace of Spades. And the game isn’t really over yet-”
“Another round! This time, it’s going to be the last.”
Lenalee highly doubted it.
Title: One of Spades
Fandom: D.Gray-man
Characters: Kanda Yuu, Li Lenalee
Rating: G
Summary: Now Lenalee could at least understand why Allen would rather deal with cards than with someone like Kanda.
Disclaimer: D.Gray-man and all of its characters belong to Katsura Hoshino.
Notes: Obviously, there's no such thing as 'one of Spades'. It was a mistake made by my cousin while we were playing Go Fish one time. No, they're not playing Go Fish but Chase the Ace. It's a bit similar to Old Maid but instead of a Joker, or the Queen of Hearts, the Ace of Spade will be the one left at the end of the game. Blame the omake every episode ¬¬
One of Spades
“Can we stop here, Kanda? We’ve been doing this for hours now and I’m really tired.”
“One more round, Lenalee. I don’t care how long it takes as long as I can wipe that smug smirk off that bean sprout’s face!”
A heavy sigh left Lenalee followed by a wide, weary yawn as she collected the cards and reshuffled it in her hands to deal it. It was perhaps the fifth sigh she had for the past five minutes and the tenth yawn. She peered despairingly at the male Exorcist seated opposite her, his frown more pronounced in the soft candlelight, and exhaled her sixth. One more round, he had said. Last time she had checked, he had said the same thing every single time she had complained how sleepy she was already. He didn’t care how long it took, he had said. Well, she cared, for the love of God. She cared that she would have to wake up early the next morning to check up on her brother and remind him of his work. Apparently, his care didn’t extend there.
“You should have asked Lavi to play with you instead,” she remarked calmly with a stifled yawn as she dealt the cards between them, leaving a thicker third pile in the middle of the table.
He had fanned out the cards in his hand and was staring at them intently, his expression rather amusing, she noted. But of course, it wasn’t amusing that he was taking the game far too seriously than he needed to. Perhaps it was the one reason why he wouldn’t give up. The Japanese simply had a strange and different definition of fun. Another reason would most likely because he hadn’t won against her yet. The blows on his pride were too much to bear, much to her dismay.
“Lavi?” he repeated, his narrowed eyes still trained on his cards, as he placed two cards down and took one more from the deck. “Why would I want to play with Lavi?”
Because she couldn’t keep up with his stamina. Because she was already getting sleepy. Because she could barely see her cards under the flickering light. Because it's already past 2 in the morning and they were still at it. She discarded two pairs from her hand and took one card.
“Because he’s a much better player than I am and so if you want to learn any tricks…”
The Chinese girl faltered upon seeing the full-blown scowl sent her way, courtesy of Kanda. She paused momentarily, wondering why she was currently his most despised person, when she frowned back at him. So it seemed that she had said something taboo again. The fact that she herself was a beginner in card games and only knew the basics and yet she was beating him effortlessly… And here, she was suggesting that he played against Lavi.
It was an innocent suggestion really, she wanted to argue as she drew another card to her hand. It was not her fault that the male was too sensitive, despite his protests and complaints that he was not. And yet having suggested something like that, having a thought of something like that since the first hour of their game, she was not getting up from her seat.
“This is really childish, Kanda,” was all she could say, followed by another sigh.
“You wouldn’t understand.”
“Of course not,” she muttered with the enthusiasm of an insomniac. “My obsessions usually don’t involve people and beating them in card games.”
His gaze on her was fixed and she quickly averted her eyes, finding the thinning pile of cards on the table more interesting. How she disliked being stared at like that, especially by him. Perhaps it was because of that unquestioning glint in his eyes or he just had some sort of power that would hold her still in her seat. Whatever it was, she didn’t know and she didn’t want to find out by staring back at him.
“Why don’t you like Allen, Kanda?” she asked nonchalantly as he reached out to pick one card from her hand.
“Why do you like him?”
Lenalee did a double take at his sudden retort, the inquiry sounding more like an accusation than anything. “It's not what you think, you know. He's really nice once you get to know him. At least, be civil with him.”
Asking for them to get along was asking for a miracle. “You get along with Lavi and me so why not with Allen as well?”
There was a momentary pause and she found herself staring at the small rise on one corner of his mouth. “If I beat him in the game, I just might be civil. Might.”
As Kanda picked another card from her hand, the thought of simply letting him win to end it all crossed her mind. But would he take it as an insult and demand a rematch? That would be much more troublesome since he would really start demanding another a game even if he were to win fairly, thinking that she’d been tricking him all that time. Unpredictability in a guy was one thing; unpredictability in Kanda was another.
“-lee?”
“What?” She looked up confusedly and what she met was a flat scowl. “I wasn’t listening, I’m sorry.”
“I said, I’m not the one obsessing over the bean sprout.” He reached out to pick one card on from her hand.
She stopped at his words and quickly grabbed his wrist. He stared back at her suspiciously before she released it, leveling that suspicious look with one of her own. The words she had wanted to tell him for a long time now, been trying hard to gather the courage - that he was such a jerk, that he was so insensitive, that he didn’t have the common sense God gave to a goose, that Allen and her were just friends, that, of all people she had been obsessing about, it was him and if it weren’t for that stupid obsession, she would be peacefully sleeping at that moment - were lost in her throat, her passive expression twisting into a dark, ugly frown.
“Was that a trick?” he asked as he pulled back his hand and stared at the card he had picked out.
Because grabbing people’s wrists in the middle of the game to exchange their chosen card was not obvious enough. “No it wasn’t.”
“But I got the one of Spades.”
“The Ace of Spades. And the game isn’t really over yet-”
“Another round! This time, it’s going to be the last.”
Lenalee highly doubted it.