Me: 'It was a hard decision to make, because I have so much to do already and it will cost quite some time, but I've decided to participate in the 220th night countdown after all.'

Allen: 'The next chapter is coming out in one week?!'

Me: 'Yes, indeed. I'm so excited!' *smiles broadly*

Kanda, Lavi, Allen: *all look very uncomfortable*

Me: 'What's wrong guys?'

Lavi: 'Well, I don't think things will get much better for us.'

Allen: *cries out* 'It will probably only get worse!'

Kanda: *just looks about to kill someone*

Me: 'I'm sorry, guys, of course you'd feel like that... You really don't deserve it. But it can never get any better if the manga doesn't continue!'

Allen, Lavi, Kanda: *Don't look assured at all*

Day 1: favourite character

Water came out of the sky like heaven was crying. The drops floated through the air, coming to a sudden standstill on the windowpane. The strumming sounds on the roof filled the building and made people look at the glass and sigh in relief they were inside. Others ran through the door and leaned against a wall, panting and soaked.

Allen couldn't help but look at the dark clouds with glassy eyes. His hands rested on the windowsill and would have been freezing if he hadn't worn the gloves he usually took with him everywhere. He wasn't particularly interested in the rain, or the shadow that accompanied his reflection anywhere, but his mind felt like exploding and this was a good way to distract himself.

He had been working non-stop for days, trying to get his mind off the disturbing changes in his life lately, but Link and he were really on their limits now. His observer had dark shades under his eyes and was grumpier than usual, which didn't really go well together with the boy's own exhaustion. So finally he had decided to stay home for two days and get some rest and eat a few good meals to replenish his energy.

'Walker, we still need to write our reports. I suggest we do that now, instead of staring out of the window without any purpose.'

Allen turned his head to Link, not feeling fit enough to face the man with anything else than a blank expression. Usually he hid his exhaustion or his negative emotions behind a smile, but the crow was around him anytime of the day and he had soon found out that it would be impossible to keep his mask on the whole time. It didn't really matter either, since Link wasn't really the kind of person to worry about every little thing and thus mostly ignored his weaker moments. Lenalee would have been fuzzing all over him if he had looked at her in this way.

'Can't we postpone it 'till tomorrow? I don't really feel like filling in more paperwork,' Allen commented, letting his head rest on his hands with a sigh. 'We've already written stuff for three hours today.'

'No, Walker. You won't feel like it tomorrow either. We'd better finish it now and rest later. You'll have two more days to stare out of a window uselessly.'

The boy sighed deeply again and pushed himself off the windowsill, stretching himself to get some feeling back in his exhausted muscles. 'You owe me at least a pie per hour for this,' he grumbled, rubbing his eyes. 'You're just as much as a slave driver as my master.' He didn't mean a word of that, but he felt grumpy and tired.

'I don't like filling in paperwork either, Walker, but it's a necessity. We need it to…'

'Keep track of everyone's actions and the developments in the war bla bla bla… I know, you've said that like a hundred times before.'

Link grimaced at the sassy comment, but stayed silent, knowing it wouldn't help to protest. He was one of the only people getting to deal with this impolite side of Allen and he handled it quite well. The other two people were Kanda and his master, but Kanda was just a jerk who deserved it and his master… his master… oh hell, he didn't even want to start about him.

Link however, was just like his shadow to him - though the idea of three shadows could be really suffocating sometimes -, always there, however he felt and thus getting to see all sides Allen had to offer the outside world. And that made the boy somewhat opener to him, knowing he couldn't hide much to the man anyway.

It also made him remember Johnny's statement though, saying he had become less polite to the people in The Order. He hadn't thought about it until the scientist had pointed it out and he had realized he had been right. Allen had become somewhat informal to his friends, though not as sassy as he was to the other three people he had mentioned before, and it made him feel somewhat warm inside. It reminded him of the comfortable feeling he had at The Order. Before Leverrier had showed up and everyone had started to suspect him he had felt like he indeed had finally found a home. Actually, it was still his home and his family, there just seemed to be some complications.

He looked back at his reflection and frowned at the dark figure standing behind him. That thing wouldn't keep him from being part of his family, or being an exorcist. He had decided that and would keep that decision in mind at all times. When he would finally have had victory over the fourteenth, everything would turn back to normal and he would feel safe and loved again.

He smiled gently and closed his eyes to, just for a moment, imagine how it would all be when he would finally return home again with regained trust.

Lenalee would not look at him with those worried eyes anymore and would smile. Lavi would be his unserious self again and mind his own business, instead of observing him like some kind of guinea pig because he could be really important to history, and Kanda would be the same jerk, but at least not make comments anymore that actually really hurt him. And he wasn't even done with all that. He imagined Krory, Miranda, Johnny, Komui, Reever and all the others without the worries and distrust they felt while looking at him now. Just smiling and being happy.

He opened his eyes again when Link tapped his shoulder.

'Walker, will you come already? If we work on it now, we'll be done before dinner.'

The boy sighed and stuck out his hand to let the yellow golem that had been flying through the air aimlessly, land on his fingers. 'Yeah, let's go.' He finally felt the strength to smile at the blond man. 'Can't have to miss a meal.'

At last he turned his back to the pouring rain and followed his observer through the countless hallways, carrying Timcanpy gently and letting happy thoughts about his friends and home pass his mind like Komui had told him to in the arc.

Little did he know that heavier difficulties were about to cross his path than he could even imagine.