This is an AU where after the ark Tyki goes to be with his friends. He's already cut his hair too, so it's the usual length.

Lenalee had gone through a lot in her life: traumatic near death experiences, joyful reunions, heartbreaking goodbyes, and so much more. Despite that, nothing had ever been so hard to process as her current situation.

Tyki Mikk, the noah that had she had known to be a ruthless murderer, was seated across from her with an oddly non-threatening smile on his face. Waiting for something with his head casually resting in his palm — watching her.

The man's odd grin only widened when Lenalee scrunched her face in confusion. "What the—?" She asked tilting her head. "Why?"

To her surprise, two voices responded simultaneously. One being the noah across from her and the other her brother from the phone she held. The latter of the two, whom she had forgotten was there due to Tyki's sudden appearance, held precedence as Lenalee's first response was to tell her brother she was fine.

After wrapping up the call she aimed to figure out what the noah could possibly want. Although, that seemed to prove difficult as Komui only kept talking and asking more questions — making the conversation last much longer than she hoped it would have been. All the while, not taking her eyes off him, she saw Tyki grow a little more impatient as the call went on.

First, he started looking around at the simple wood decor. Then, he called a waitress over — ordering something she assumed. Next, Tyki began examining his nails and grooming them. Every so often, he would glance at Lenalee to see a sign that it was close to wrapping up — flashing a quick smile every time he met her quizzical purple gaze — then resume looking around. Once the waitress returned she saw he had ordered a plate of lemon squares¹.

Ending the conversation a short while later, Lenalee slowly lowered the phone's receiver to its base in her lap, not wanting to pull Tyki from his current distraction.

Rather than eat the dessert, the man in his twenties was setting a very mature example by playing with the food. It was an interesting sight to see for the exorcist. A noah, one of the order's enemies, crouched by a plate of sweets so concentrated that nothing else seemed to matter.

All of a sudden he looked distressed. Unconsciously Lenalee put her hand on his shoulder, but before she had the chance to as if he was alright, he did the last thing she would have thought he'd do.

He screamed.

Not a battle cry or anything the least bit menacing. No, it was more akin to a child that thought there was a monster behind them. High pitched and laced with terror. He looked at her and took a deep breath before letting out an exasperated sigh, "Warn me next time..." running a hand through his hair only to let it fall back down over his fake glasses.

"Next time?" Lenalee was taken aback. "What do you mean next time? You still haven't told me why you're here Mikk."

Rolling his eyes Tyki returned to his chair. "Actually, I did tell you why I'm here. You were just too busy it seemed."

"Mind sharing that with me again then?" She crossed her arms, narrowing her eyes.

"No need to get all defensive. I'm not here to fight, lady exorcist!" He moved one arm over the back of the chair and splayed out as she crossed her arms. "I just wanna have fun," Tyki said nonchalantly with a wave of his free right hand. "You know, talk," he continued after a prolonged minute of silence.

"Talk about what, Mikk? We have nothing to talk about! Besides, you haven't had the decency to call me by my name this entire time, so if you don't mind—" The chair scraped harshly against the wood floor. "I'll be taking my leave."

"Hold on, the only reason I haven't used your name is because you haven't used mine!"

"Just leave me alone!" Lenalee shouted louder than intended, causing a scene she had been hoping to avoid. Everyone's eyes were on them — some looked shocked at her outburst while a few looked ready to jump to her aid.

Letting out a sigh Tyki rose and left without a word, his footsteps loud in the newfound silence. Once he was out, the small shops' inhabitants gradually resumed their activities. Lenalee waited before leaving herself. She was a bit flustered hearing the whispers of some that she walked by. Many seemed to think they were having a lovers quarrel.

This mission was a far bigger hassle than she had been expecting. The briefing was short and simple. She was to get the innocence from the small mining town. There hadn't been any signs to indicate that there were any akuma, much less noah. Therefore, Lenalee was the only one sent. All they knew was that whenever incidents that would normally cause fatalities like cave-ins and explosions occurred no one had died. The reports from finders did mention there were sometimes injuries, but they were never life threatening.

So why was a noah here? She thought and thought but couldn't it figure out.

Making her way to the inn that the order had made arrangements for beforehand proved to make her life harder. Because of the phone call and having the scene with Mikk, Lenalee wound up getting to the inn when the sun was setting. Her hopes of resting were dashed as the innkeeper told her that they sold her room since she arrived hours later than expected.

Checking the other two inns in the town Lenalee didn't have any better luck. Both had no vacancies as well. It wasn't much of a surprise to her, a mine where no one gets hurt is a godsend to workers. Only a complete idiot would pass up working there if they had the choice.

Resigning herself to sleeping outdoors she figured the best place to go would be outside of the town in the surrounding forest. She had done it before after all. While scouting for a decent place to sleep, Lenalee found quite a few abandoned buildings. Some were overcome by grassy fauna others were practically rubble.

The smell of something cooking in the distance caused her shoulders to sag and her mood to sour. Lenalee's stomach chose this time when she was tired and just wanted to sleep to remind her that she hadn't eaten since she was on the train that morning.

Following the smell, she found a rather well-kept house. From the looks of it, the people inside had been there for some time. Although, she wasn't sure that it was a permanent residence. There weren't any plants growing over it nor any signs of it deteriorating like many of the surrounding buildings. Lenalee decided it would have been better to have ignored the smell and find someplace to rest for the night. After all, she was a stranger and a girl alone in an unfamiliar area. It was not the best or safest decision the exorcist made and she knew it.

Walking away, she was startled by the door of the house swinging open. One tiny step without looking at her feet caused her to go tumbling to the ground. Not having enough time to catch herself left her with a fierce pain in her right shoulder. Before she realized it the one in the doorway was by her side.

It was a little boy about ten if she had to guess. "Are you alright?" He gently outstretched his hand to where she was gripping her shoulder. The light contact only intensified the pain. Retracting she whimpered realizing too late that moving it all caused the throbbing to build more. Vaguely she heard him calling out to someone.

Not much later Lenalee felt herself being lifted with care. Unable to fully register her surroundings with the pain she blacked out.

Coming back to reality, she saw a cracked ceiling. Dimly she noticed her jacket had been removed and a wet rag was on her forehead as well as her shoulder. The boy from before was by her side talking with a man in a knit cap. The room was lit by a lamp and some candles. It was also what she deduced, the house she had walked by from the familiar scent wafting throughout it.

"Waking up in time for dinner, huh?" The low baritone voice right by her ear caused her to jump and in a split second she instinctively punched the source of the sound.

A thud and he hit the ground. "You know you have a mean punch for someone who just had their shoulder put back in place," groaning the man sat up and she begrudgingly recognized that it was Tyki Mikk whom her fist collided with. Although that realization removed all the specks of guilt she might have had had it been anyone else. Lenalee had a whole new feeling of dread in her stomach now.

"Who's hungry?" The one in the kitchen came out with a pot. He stopped to take in the sight of the room. Tyki and the girl that their young companion found looking like they were ready to pick a fight with each other. Both nursed injuries, Tyki his jaw and Lenalee her shoulder. The other two only looked wide eyed at the scene about as dumbfounded as he was. "Do you two have a history or something?"

Huffing, Tyki got up and sat at the table where the pot was set down. Only giving an indiscernible noise to the question. Leaving Lenalee to answer.

"We have met before but I should be on my way. I didn't mean to intrude or cause trouble. Thank you for helping me with my shoulder. If I had been paying more attention this wouldn't have happened…" As she spoke she looked around for her uniform's top.

The little boy came and grabbed her hand, "You can sit there before you go." Pointing to one of the two chairs that was unoccupied, was her jacket laid folded over the back. "I'm Eeez, the one in the hat to Tyki's left is Clark. The one who made the food is Momo!"

Each exchanged a quick greeting as Eeez led her to the chair. She sat between the boy and Clark. She fidgeted with the loose string of her gloves as they talked with each other about their day. Tyki didn't say much though he definitely enjoyed the conversation, a mirthful smile on his face. Occasionally, he looked over to see Lenalee take a bite in silence.

Eeez looked to Lenalee, "What did you do today?"

"N-not much. I came here on the train a little before noon." She replied. "I talked to my brother on the phone and looked for a place to spend the night."

"You can stay here! I don't think they would mind, right guys?" Lenalee could have sworn Tyki almost choked. The other two took longer to process what he said.

"I think she already has a room Eeez. Not to mention she already said she should get going before we had dinner." Tyki said nonchalantly.

"My reservation was filled before I got there actually."

"That's too bad, maybe you should have got there sooner."

"I was late no thanks to you."

The copper haired friend of Tyki loudly cleared his throat, stopping their banter. Eeez once again suggested she stay with them not sensing the tension between the two. He helpfully reminded the group that since there were five mattresses in the house no one would have to share.

For half an hour the five went back and forth, deciding if Lenalee should stay the night. Momo and Clark didn't care whether she wanted to go or stay so they made arguments on both sides. Lenalee wasn't sure being in the same house as a noah was the best idea but none of them appeared to be bad people. Eeez was adamant that she stay and Tyki couldn't argue with the eleven-year-old and quickly caved in. The debate ended with her deciding to do the dishes and them finding a blanket for her to sleep with.

¹ I know that lemon squares' first known recipe was published in 1963 but I don't care.