A -man story
by Ennun
-man © Hoshino Katsura

Enjoy
"Shattered"

The day started out beautifully. After the rain from last night, nature seemed to have come back to life. Flowers were blooming, birds were singing, the grass was greener than ever and even the sun had chosen to bless the world with its presence, which was saying a lot, considering the awful weather as of late. The sky was, by no means, clear of clouds, God forbid, but it was still a much needed improvement.

Another interesting thing was that, miraculously, Komui had not released another Komurin to run around and destroy half the building. Nor had the science division blown up through the roof as they had, unfortunately, did a few days ago. Lavi had took it upon himself to laugh his ass off every time he passed the area or saw one of the scientists involved, making them even more embarrassed.

It also came as a shock when the read head popped around the corner in the presence of Kanda –of all people, who was not threatening, glaring, mocking or snarling at the junior. Some of the scientists dropped whatever they were carrying; eyes as wide as a fist, mouths hanging lose, just staring at the two exorcists. The samurai was calm, talking every once in a while, responding to whatever it was Lavi was saying, while the other kept on rambling about anything and everything. Even when he was called "Yu", all the stoic exorcist did was elbow the other and growl a little.

Timothy's fever had disappeared and he was excitedly skating around the order, marvelously avoiding both Emilia and his master, knowing both of them would drag him in the library to study. Well screw that, he finally got out of the matron's claws, no way was he going to waste his freedom on something as stupid as learning.

At some point, the young exorcist ran into none other than Kanda, who acknowledged his presence with a shrug, before continuing on his way, and Lavi, who allowed the boy to tag along, all the while joking about Timothy's latest successful prank on Levellie. Not only had he stolen his cakes, but he majestically placed them on the door, at the perfect angle, just waiting for the magical moment when the inspector would push the door open. Safe to say, he was not very happy about it. However, as always, having no proof, Timothy was left alone to plan his next strike.

Needless to say, most of the order knew the boy was behind it, even with no proof. What with considering the close relationship he shared with Allen. Everyone saw the hatred blooming behind his eyes when he first witnessed how the white haired exorcist had been treated by the man. And not just once, but every time Levellie found himself in the presence of the teen, he seemed to find reason to do something, no matter how small, to make the other uncomfortable.

The moment that made the boy snap happen a while after he came back from a rather successful, if he may say so himself, mission. He didn't get hurt one bit, half because he was careful, half because of Klaud, so he was allowed to roam freely before his next mission. While he was wondering around, he came upon a half-opened door, through which he could make out Allen's form. He quickly grew excited and hurried his pace to get to him, only to freeze in his tracks when an arm grabbed him.

Startled, he looked up to find Lavi with a serious face firmly holding him back and stopping him from talking. He quickly tried to remove him from the hall, but he wasn't fast enough as a loud and painful sound swallowed the air. Timothy instantly turned around and, to his horror, saw none other than the inspector, screaming, hand raised and an obviously pissed expression plastered over his face, hovering over a red-cheeked Allen.

Obviously, he threw a terrible fit, demanding to know what was going on. Komui had, after useless attempts to avoid the topic, explained exactly what Luvellie's problem with the other was. At first, it didn't seem as if the other fully understood, seeing the confused eyes. However, after a few moments of silence, realization seemed to settle in. The boy didn't move, just standing still, eyes locked on nothing. After a few minutes, he snapped back up, glaring at the supervisor and yelled at the top of his lungs "That's a stupid reason!" before darting out and running all the way to the cafeteria where he promptly threw himself in a startled Allen's hands.

After that little "episode" Tmothy seemed to have grown in most of the exorcist's eyes. Even now, the simple fact that Kanda willingly chatted (well, chat might be a bit of a stretch) with him showed the samurai had respect.

As the three were walking, or gliding, down the hall, they did not expect to see a white-haired teen race right through them, ignoring Kanda's protests and the other's surprised yelps. He didn't even seem to notice they were there. Actually, he didn't seem to register anything around him, just darting around another corner. A few seconds later, Link hurried after him, sparing the exorcist's a rare apologetic look, but not stopping to explain either.

The three stared after the blonde until he also disappeared around the same corner, obviously following his charge. The first to move was Kanda, sharply changing directions and heading in the direction the others had just come from. Lavi and Timothy quickly followed him only to end up at what looked like a crime scene. The guards were frantically running around and reporting to members of Central, seemingly oblivious to the new people.

Kanda was quick to spot a certain supervisor with a rather grim and sorrowful expression. "Komui!" The man instantly looked in their direction, and, as soon as he spotted them, stiffened. This came as a surprise for all of them, as they knew the man didn't normally act that way. Kanda was, again, the first to act, moving forward, ready to ask what the hell was going on, when he froze in the doorway.

He knew whose room this was, fuck, the whole Order knew, what with all the guards running back and forth with expensive bottles of wine and whatnot. Knowing that, the scene before him looked even more shocking. He faintly heard Lavi and Timothy move next to him and felt the elder stiff. Komui was left speechless, whether from shock or just lack of what to say, was not clear.

Before them, the huge glass window was smashed to bits and pieces, way too much blood splattered all around on the frame and on the floor. Resting on the edge of the window, half crushed, was Cross's one and only half mask, also covered in the sticky red liquid.

Kanda took in the image and snapped his head at Komui, then at the surprisingly quiet Levellie. Receiving no explanation whatsoever, he gritted his teeth and spun around, yelling for Timothy to follow in the process. The boy, not really knowing what else to do, simply obeyed, keeping unusually quiet, hands slightly shaking. Lavi, instead, quickly entered the room with a frown, entering Bookman mode and sharply demanded explanations.

Allen, for the life of him, didn't know what he was doing. Well, not entirely at least. He knew he was walking, fast, he was aware there were people around him, yet his mind didn't seem to register them, or anything else for that matter.

This morning had started so normally, how could it have taken such a desperate turn? The weather was lovely, Jerry's food was delicious, yet he felt somehow off. He hadn't even finished eating when Tim suddenly got up and darted out the door. Not missing a beat, Allen hurriedly ran after him, screaming for it to stop and come back, knowing he'd get in trouble for allowing the golem to go to his master. Levellie had made it quite clear either Cross or Allen had to keep Tim and he was no allowed under any circumstances to move in-between. He had also been kind enough to show the teen what he called a fraction of what would happen should the golem wonder, whether it was his fault or not. His cheek took almost as long as some scars to go back to normal.

He didn't check to see if Link was following, because he knew he was. He also heard him screaming for him to stop, but he didn't. He wasn't sure why. Usually, he would stop, considering a few hits would be way better than whatever the inspector would do if he personally went near Cross, but something just felt weird that day, so he kept running.

The bad feeling only started expanding when he neared the surprisingly open door. For one, the guards were not at their posts, then he heard the blaring from within, and an unexplained panic grabbed hold of him. For some reason he slowed down considerably as he neared the room, freezing in his tracks just by the door. Komui turned a horrified expression at him, while Levellie was stone solid and just as quiet. Both reactions sent alarms off.

He felt a reflex kicking in, starting to explain why exactly he had completely disobeyed, yet again, the inspector's order, but then he saw it. All around the floor, the window and the curtains. "Is that…blood?" The anxiety kept rising and rising "Then…" He began, unable to bring himself to believe what his logic was screaming at him "Whose…" A flash of gold instantly grabbed his attention and he felt the world around him shatter. The crushed half mask covered in blood made his own run cold. He was faintly aware of someone talking, but he couldn't register who it was or what he was saying.

He glared at the dreadful thing for what felt like hours. But in fact were few seconds, after which he swiftly turned, and ran, not walked, ran, never looking back, or sideways, or up or down, not hearing, not breathing. He didn't know when Tim started following him, he didn't realize where he was going and he had no idea Link was still there. He only regained a bit of his senses when he slammed the door behind him, leaning on it and seeing what he recognized to be his room. He stared at nothing, slowly sliding down and resting on the floor and the wooden door.

Cross could get away with anything. But this…there was just too much blood. He somewhat felt tears slowly sliding down his cheeks. It was too much! Tim landed on his knees, pushing himself at the boy's neck, as the other fully let go, hands slamming in his face in a sorry attempt of stopping the water from overflowing down his face. He never thought he would ever break down again. And yet here he was, in the same position like last time, feeling, for the first time in a long, long time, as if the world shattered.

In the days that followed, word got out to the rest of the exorcists. Nobody else was told, except the head personnel. For almost two days, nobody had spotted Allen. Lenalee had almost managed to get Lavi to go with her and try to get him to at least eat. However, on the third day, the white haired teen appeared in the cafeteria, practically dragged by Link. The girls almost fell to their knees when they caught a glimpse of Allen's absolutely lifeless features. Even Kanda seemed to freeze a bit, before frowning and glaring at him instead. However, the other didn't respond at all.

It went on like that for another few days, until the teen suddenly turned 180 degrees and went back to his cheerful self, albeit not entirely.

Obviously, the others tried their best to get him to be actually happy. Both Marie and Kanda also seemed to have noticed the particularly stronger and fiercer hits the Beansprout was directing at them when training. Obviously, he wanted to let go of some steam, and sparing was the perfect opportunity. It made the fights a bit harsher, but none of them complained.

Obviously, he wouldn't go back to happy little Allen, but he was still, at least, slowly starting to actually smile again.

A/N: Hi guys, sorry it was a bit long, hope you don't mind :-) I noticed I slipped into the story with Timothy and was like "Oh shit, what am I doing!?" haha, sorry, I thought of just removing it, but it was cute so I went with it. Hope it doesn't bother u. Anyway, Thanks for reading! Mybe throw a little comment in there? *nudge* *nudge* I'll see you around~ Bye~