Disclaimer: Standard disclaimer applies.
Warning: Post-Earl setting, supernatural-theme, dark!Allen (with powers)
Comment #1: Story and theme is adopted from Wavering Hope by CherriAme.
As much as Kanda disliked admitting it, he knew something was wrong, and thus, he was slightly worried. Inwardly, of course; and despite liking solitude, it irked to know that a certain Moyashi has been ignoring him. The avoidant was not due to Moyashi having missions and had to be away for a long period of time. No, in fact, ever since the Black Order had defeated the Earl and the Noah Clan, none of the exorcists have had missions; and that battle was nearly a week prior.
Occasionally, whenever he saw the Moyashi walking down the hallway, Kanda would try to engage in a verbal contest with the silvery white haired exorcist; but to the swordsman's surprise and dismay, the Moyashi would simply ignore him. Really, the Moyashi would ignore him. No one has ever dared to ignore Yuu Kanda. He was more aggravated than he would let it show on his expression; and Baka Usagi had once said that he – Yuu Kanda – was in love with the Moyashi. Of all the nonsense that sprouted from the redhead's mouth, this simply topped it. Since then, he regretted confiding anything with Lavi.
After all, he was not in love with the Moyashi. What kind of absurd idea was that?
Allen let out a quiet sigh as he leaned his back against a tree trunk, watching the sunrise from his spot near the top of a tree. To say it was simply one of those days where he woke up early would be a lie. It had been nearly a week since he had gotten a good night's rest; in spite of such dilemma, he could not help but feel that he has gotten plenty of rest. It was weird to say the least. With a sigh, he closed his eyes as if in concentration, and reopened seconds later with a slight smile gracing his expression.
"There you are, Allen-sama," an amused voice sounded from the foot of the tree where Allen was currently residing. In a blink of an eye, the owner of the voice reappeared near Allen as if by teleportation, and sat on a tree branch across from the silvery white haired exorcist.
Silence ensued around the two, save for occasional chirps from birds and wind gently rustling the leaves. That was until Allen stated, "Good morning, Timcampy."
"Good morning, Allen-sama," the mentioned person responded with a small yet hesitant smile.
"In your human guise, eh?" the silvery white haired male inquired with a delicate eyebrow raised, and merely let out a chuckle when Timcampy nodded in response. "Then I suppose it's time for me to shed this disguise, if only for a moment," he continued in a soft tone. Wordlessly, he snapped his fingers twice as a whirlwind of black feathers surrounded his body, and in the next instance, there sat a new figure where Allen once was.
"You look much better in that form, Allen-sama," Timcampy commented quietly with a soft smile on his expression. He was referring to the most notable changes: Allen's curse mark on his face was gone, as well as his anti-akuma weapon was replaced with a normal arm as if the deformity had not been there all along. However, Timcampy knew that the transformation did not end there.
Allen let out a chuckle at the remark, and commented with his own. "Is it because I'm somewhat taller?" He ran his left hand through his already messy hair, and let out a grin at the feeling. "It feels good to be in this form," he murmured in satisfaction.
"That's because you're stronger in this guise," the once golden golem commented with a shrug, and added, "I like to be in my human appearance because I can speak to you," as he casually played with his left earring. His emerald green eyes landed on the sunrise as the sunrays illuminated his form, making his platinum blond hair glow in an unnatural aura. It almost made Timcampy looked as if he was an angel of sorts. "And also because you're taller," he remarked with a playful grin.
"Tim!" Allen responded indigently with a huff but he, nevertheless, let out a chuckle as if in amusement. "I should go before they begin to suspect about my whereabouts," he murmured with a quiet sigh, and then stood up from his spot as if standing on a tree branch was natural thing to do.
"I'll have the reports ready after breakfast," Timcampy announced as he, too, followed Allen's example. The two wordlessly jumped off the tree branches while black feathers enveloped the two bodies. When the feathers died down, there stood Allen in his false form whilst Timcampy was in his golem form.
Allen did not say anything to what Timcampy had remarked, and merely nodded to suggest that he understood. Wordlessly, the silvery white haired exorcist walked towards Black Order, only to disappear moments later as if by teleportation, and the only clue left behind was a black feather where Allen once stood.
'Flashy as ever, Allen-sama,' Timcampy thought with what it seemed to be a grin, and fluttered away to complete his assignment.
Allen swiftly glanced around the cafeteria after he had ordered his massive load of what is known as breakfast. With a satisfied nod indicating that he noted nothing was out of order, he turned his attention back to Jerry, who was busy preparing his breakfast.
"Here you are, sweetie," Jerry's cheery voice interrupted Allen's thought process.
The younger male merely smiled in gratitude, and hauled his breakfast into a cart before he walked towards an empty table near the wall. There was barely anyone in the cafeteria except for a few Finders as it was still early; and Allen knew that it would only be a matter of time before his fellow comrades would arrive.
"And it would only be a matter of time before they arrive," the silvery white haired exorcist whispered under his breath. He unexpectedly let out a dark chuckle, startling some of the Finders in the room, continued with his breakfast as if nothing had happened.
Silence ensued for a few minutes except for clattering noises from silverwares, and hushed conversations from the Finders. Allen, on the other hand, quietly began with his meal slowly as if he was distracted. No one dared to comment about Allen being distracted, and instead resumed with his or her activities. However, just as Allen was about to plop an onigiri into his mouth, he heard footsteps from behind him.
Allen plopped the food into his mouth, testing the taste in his mouth whilst his comrades arrived to his table with their selected breakfast. "Good morning, Allen-kun," Lenalee greeted with a smile as she sat down across from him.
"Morning, Allen," Lavi added with a grin as he, too, sat down across from the mentioned exorcist and next to Lenalee.
Kanda did not bother with something as trivial as greeting, and sat a little further away from the group; instead, he began eating his morning dosage of soba.
Allen let out a soft smile at the two exorcists and responded with a, "Good morning, Lenalee, Lavi." His gaze then shifted towards the long haired swordsman for a brief moment, and murmured, "Morning to you too, BaKanda," before his eyes transfixed on his breakfast.
The redheaded exorcist blinked confusedly momentarily, inwardly wondering if he had seen Allen narrowed his eyes at Kanda, or if that scene was his mind playing a trick on him. Lavi then replayed the scene in his mind, and let out a sweat drop when he realized that Allen had indeed glared at Kanda. The Bookman apprentice could not help but wonder what had his best friend had done to upset Allen.
"Allen-kun, you're up rather early today," Lenalee commented with curiosity lacing in her tone.
The silvery white haired exorcist did not say anything for a couple of minutes, making it seem as if he was trying to figure out how to reply to the remark. Just as Lavi was about to interject with another remark, Allen finally responded with a, "I couldn't sleep since I was hungry," and added a nervous laughter at the end of his statement.
"Che, what a pig," Kanda retorted snidely with a scoff and then took a sip of his green tea.
"Better than starving yourself," that was what the silvery white haired male said nonchalantly with a shrug. Lenalee and Lavi blinked confusedly at Allen's new attitude, and silently wondered if he was sick since he did not banter with Kanda as he usually would.
"By the way Allen, did you have a fight with Yuu-chan?" Lavi inquired with an eyebrow raised.
Allen simply copied the redhead's action as he lowered his drink, and instead of his usual frantic denial as the other exorcists were expecting, the silvery white haired male merely answered with a, "A fight with Kanda? Now, what gave you the idea that I have some sort of disagreement with him?"
"Allen-kun, somehow you're acting weird," the sole female of the group pointed out with worry laced in her tone.
"Am I?" that was the only response they received from the mentioned person.
However, before Lenalee or Lavi could interject, a series of hasty footsteps and its owner burst into the cafeteria, instantly startling its occupants. It was Reever. He panted heavily as he leaned against the wall to catch his breath, and when he finally did, Reever proceeded towards the table where the exorcists occupied.
"There you are, everyone," the scientist murmured; however, his statement seemed to be more to himself than to the four exorcists. Reever cleared his throat before he continued, "Komui wants to see you guys in his office," and immediately added, "It seems urgent," when he noted Kanda's annoyed expression.
"Che," the swordsman grumbled as he placed his chopsticks down.
"Alright then," Allen responded rather calmly as if he was oblivious to his comrades' confused expression (well, Kanda looked angry rather than confused). "Please inform him that we will be there momentarily," the silvery white haired exorcist continued with a small smirk appearing on his visage.
"I wonder why Nii-san didn't contact us via the golem," Lenalee murmured with her eyebrows furrowed, and puzzlement laced in her tone.
"Why don't you guys head there now?" Allen suggested as he gathered his finished and unfinished plates before he placed them on the cart. "I'll catch up as soon as I clean this up," he added with a sheepish smile.
Lavi blinked in surprised, somewhat awed by the fact that Allen did not finish his breakfast in record time, and simply said, "If you say so, Moyashi-chan."
It was not long before the three exorcists arrived to Komui's office as they inwardly wondered the reason why they were called in at such an early hour. Of course, Kanda was not such a person to wonder about trivial things as this; nonetheless, he could not help but be curious about the matter. As such, the swordsman did not bother knocking on the door, and instead barged in as if he owned the place.
"Komui, what the hell did you called us for?" Kanda went straight to the point, as usual.
Komui, who was unusually working rigorously behind his desk, looked up when he heard the inquiry. He wordlessly stood up as he pushed his glasses to the bridge of his nose, and then glanced at the three exorcists before he voiced his own inquiry, "Where's Allen-kun?"
"Moyashi is still cleaning up his own meal," Kanda retorted with his arms crossed, and continued, "Now, what the hell did you called us for?" for the second time.
"I will only say this once, so please wait until Allen-kun arrives," the Supervisor responded solemnly as he waved the folder in his hand.
Kanda clicked his tongue in annoyance and crossed his arms before he glared at Komui for saying such things.
"Actually," a mildly amused tone spoke from the doorway, making everyone turned to that direction. "You can start your explanation, Komui-san," Allen stated as he walked into the office casually, as if he was not late.
The silvery white haired exorcist could not help but smirked in amusement at his fellow comrades' expression. He supposed one would be astonished to see someone like him dressed in a black shirt with only two buttons buttoned, followed by a pair of black slacks with a black belt, a pair of black boots, and various accessories adorned on his body.
"Allen-kun, what's with the getup?" that was the first thing Komui blurted out in surprise as his glasses fell to the bridge of his nose crookedly.
Allen merely ran a hand through his hair, instead of giving a verbal explanation to his attire, revealing a clip-on earring on his upper left ear. "Ah, I forgot you weren't used to seeing me in such state," the silvery white haired exorcist murmured, and added, "In any case, please start the briefing."
Komui uncomfortably cleared his throat, and opened the folder in his hands before he spoke, "I've received an instruction from the Vatican that they would like us to eliminate some Fallen exorcists. Their last locations are listed here," with that, he handed the four a folder each.
"Fallen? How can that be?" Lavi inquired with confusion laced in his tone, and continued, "And how did the Vatican knew about this?"
"The Crow members were the ones who found them," Komui responded with a sigh, and readjusted his glasses yet again. "I'm not sure why these exorcists have become Fallen; but I can only speculate that they have betrayed the Innocence."
Kanda made a low grumble that it was such a bothersome task, but he, nevertheless, opened the folder to read the detailed briefing.
"There you are, Allen-sama," a tired voice called out from the doorway, simultaneously making the occupants in the room shifts his or her gazes toward the owner of the voice. Leaning against the doorframe was a platinum blond haired male with emerald green eyes slightly obscured behind his unruly bangs, and he was dressed similarly like Allen, only his attire consisted of white colored theme as opposed to Allen's black colored theme. However, the only accessory that clashed against this male's white theme was a black collar around his neck.
"I've been looking everywhere for you," he continued as he approached to Allen with a manila folder in his hand. "I got the information you wanted, and I must say… they think they've been doing a good job covering their dirty tracks," he stated with an amused chuckle before he handed the folder to Allen.
"Really? How so?" the silvery white haired exorcist responded amusedly. Allen immediately flipped through Komui's briefing, eyeing at a page for no more than ten seconds before he turned the page. He continued the action until he finished with his mission briefing and then moved onto the second folder he received from an unknown male.
"If I'm not mistaken, Allen-sama," the newcomer started with a smirk as he eyed at the mentioned person's action, "You've just received a mission regarding this matter, have you not?"
Allen then let out a dark chuckle, startling his comrades, and then spoke, "So this is how they are going to cover-up their mistakes, eh?"
"Before you begin," the platinum blond haired male interrupted with a small pout, and stated, "I would like my payment in Wind and Chrono Barrier stones."
"Normally, I would negotiate with you on that, but considering the trouble you went to this time to get the information," Allen sighed resignedly as he dug into his pockets, and took out two black stones. One was marked with a mini-tornado, indicating Wind, and the other was marked with a time gear, indicating that it is of Chrono Barrier. "You know the instructions to using these, so I won't bother with the explanation," he added before he tossed the two stones.
The platinum blond haired male merely grinned as he caught the two black stones, which immediately turned into white stones in his hands. "Lucky~" he chimed happily before he pocketed the two items, and then shifted his attention towards the puzzled exorcists and Komui. "Ah, right… introductions," he murmured under his breath, and spoke out loud, "My name is –"
Allen loudly closed the folder in his hands, and placed the one Komui gave him back on the Supervisor's table while he continued to hold onto the second folder. "Let's go, Timcampy. We have some unwanted weeds to pull out," the silvery white haired exorcist commanded as he readjusted a ring on his left index finger while he headed towards the door.
"Right, Allen-sama," the platinum blond haired male responded with a sweat drop, and then turned his attention back to the group. "My name is Timcampy. Nice to meet you in this form," he reintroduced himself in a rush before he ran after Allen's retreating figure.
"What just happened?" that was the only coherent thought that ran through Lavi's mind, to which he voiced out loud. "And how did Timcampy get a human form?" that was his second inquiry.
"Che, Moyashi thinks he's being cool and crap when he's not," Kanda retorted with a scowl as he walked out of the room.
Lavi owlishly blinked at Kanda's remark, and then asked, "Yuu-chan, where are you going?"
"To start the mission, what else?" the swordsman responded, and immediately stopped in his track to turn around and shout, "Don't call me by my first name!"