Namae
by Mina Lightstar


"MOVE!"

It's the only warning Yuu is given before Rabi's anti-Akuma weapon hits. Yuu barely has time to leap out of the way. Rabi is right on target, and Yuu finds himself grudgingly admiring the other's skill. He falters when he lands, his right leg having been injured, and steadies himself against what's left of one of the church walls.

In general, Yuu hates working with a partner. One of the reasons for this is the constant need to watch out for one another's attacks. Being on the same team means nothing if you can't differentiate between friend and foe on the battlefield.

Yuu doesn't like having to watch out for someone else. It prevents him from going all-out, as he would prefer.

(He's mildly irritable now that Rabi has defeated the Akuma. Mugen's thirst is not quenched.)

"Kanda!" Rabi calls from Ground Zero. "Yo, Kanda, you hear me?"

Yuu doesn't answer on the grounds that Rabi is kind of annoying.

"KANDA!"

But his yelling is perhaps more irritating. So Yuu clears his throat and shouts, "Over here! Stop shouting before you bring the rest of the place down on us!"

"So you say," Rabi quips as he jogs over to meet him, "but you were shouting more than me, just now."

"Idiot," Yuu mumbles, leaning back against the wall as he sheathes Mugen.

"Uncalled for," Rabi retorts, looking around the church. "Man... sometimes I wish we could manage not to destroy anything like this."

Yuu grunts noncommittally. "Let's get out of here before the whole place comes down."

"You okay?" Rabi asks suddenly. "You got hit pretty bad out there." He's staring at Yuu's bloody leg, as though daring him to deny the pain.

"It's fine." But Yuu visibly struggles to push away from the stone wall and limp a few paces toward the exit.

"Hey," Rabi ventures, "you need help?"

"I said it's fine!" Yuu snaps -- but he has a bad habit of taking advantage of his healing abilities, and his pride is what hurts most when he topples.

He knows -- feels -- that Rabi catches him, and is glad he loses consciousness soon thereafter; he doesn't want to have to face the other Exorcist after that.

~*~

"Do you usually do that?" Rabi asks, staring after the doctor Yuu just chased out.

Yuu pauses in the act of removing the bandages from his thigh. "Do what?" He expects a lecture about shooing doctors away, Kanda, they're only trying to help you, and isn't really in the mood for it. It isn't like he's mean to them.

"Get yourself hurt badly."

"I heal," Yuu says, unwilling to elaborate. "It never takes very long."

Rabi frowns at him. "That doesn't mean you should go charging into a battle with no regard to your safety." His voice is laced with disapproval.

"Che," Yuu sneers. He tolerates the occasional lecture from Komui, but hates it when anyone else deems it fit to scold him. Besides which, Yuu never heads into battle without regard to his own well-being. Actually, Yuu is very much interested in staying alive and well; he has things to do, yet.

"Don't make that sound at me," Rabi replies. "I just think it's reckless. We didn't have anyone in the immediate vicinity to protect, we... it was reckless, Kanda."

Yuu manages to look down on Rabi despite being seated on a hospital bed. "If you're afraid of getting injured in battle, maybe the path of an Exorcist isn't for you."

He sees Rabi move, but doesn't immediately realize just how fast the other is until he's standing in front of Yuu's bed. "If you want to start something," he begins, but then gets a hold on himself. "Look, of course I know that we are going to get hurt. It's naïve to think it won't happen at one point or another. I do think going out and looking for trouble is stupid. You're strong, Kanda, don't be dumb."

Yuu pointedly doesn't reply. Instead, he busies himself with removing the bandages. His skin is smooth and devoid of any scars, and he bites down a smirk when he senses Rabi looking. He gets up and goes to retrieve his pants from the table across the room, and the room is quiet save for the rustling of fabric as he dresses.

"Hey, Kanda," Rabi ventures.

"What?"

"What's your name?"

"Kanda," Yuu replies dryly, in a tone that implies his thoughts on Rabi's intelligence.

"No," the other snaps, "I mean your given name. You're Japanese, right? That means Kanda is your family name, am I right?"

Yuu makes another noncommittal noise. He's starting to think his name is Kanda; no one calls him Yuu, anymore.

"Then what is your first name?" Rabi wants to know. "I mean, we're together a lot--"

More than I like, Yuu thinks wryly, though he is getting used to Rabi's presence. Sort of. A little.

"And we partner often enough." Rabi looks entirely too interested in this one little piece of personal information. "So can I at least know your name? I don't need your blood type, or hobbies," he adds with a snicker.

Yuu makes a face at him, but grudgingly says, "Kanda Yuu is my name."

"Yuu," Rabi tries. "Yuu."

"Don't get used to it," Yuu warns. He doesn't want Rabi to be familiar with him -- especially not around others.

"I won't," Rabi says, but Yuu can tell by his tiny smirk that he already is.

+end+



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