What If…

Disclaimer: I don't own D. Gray-man. I wish, though.

"Hey, Yuu! Wait up!"

Kanda turned around and waited for him to catch up.

"Hm?"

Alma pulled up, panting, beside him. "Where are you going off to?"

"Didn't you hear? I have an assignment."

Alma stopped. "Oh." He jogged back up to Kanda. "Are you going right now?"

"Yes."

By then, the two were approaching the underground canal. Alma stopped as Kanda climbed on to the boat already occupied by a Finder. Kanda pulled the boat out right away and proceeded to ride away on the current.

"Hope it goes well!" Alma called after him. He stared glumly into the distance as the boat grew smaller and smaller as it was carried down the current until it disappeared altogether. Alma sighed and began to walk back to the mess hall. Would Yuu ever realize his feelings for him? Alma knew that he and Yuu were best friends. After all, they were the only two from that project. Alma also knew that his and Kanda's past lives had been lovers. Of course, in Alma's previous life he was female.

He walked up to Jeryy, starting to perk up a bit. "Can I get a salad with mayonnaise? You don't need to sweat the details."

"Coming right up, hun," Jeryy answered merrily.

Alma waited a few minutes before getting his food. "Thanks." He proceeded to look out through the mess hall. Finders as far as the eye could see. Once in a while, you would see a table with exorcists, but the Finders far outnumber them.

Alma spotted Allen snarfing down a ton of food. On a whim, Alma sat down next to him. "Hi!"

"Oh, hi, Alma," Allen replied, his mouth full of food. "Where's Kanda?"

"He left on an assignment," Alma replied.

Lavi was sitting adjacent to the two. "Where to?" he asked.

"Dunno," Alma replied, his eyes sadly turning downward. "He just told me he had an assignment and left."

"If Kanda was going anywhere, you would be the first to know," said Lenalee, sitting on the other side of Allen.

"That is true," Alma mused. He smiled. "Well anyways, did you see what Komui was whipping up in his lab? It was so cool!"

Alma was worried. Kanda has been gone a long time now. Jobs only take a few days at most, he fretted. I know we're a lot harder to kill than other exorcists, but… what if his life ran out? What if he misjudged how much he had left?

Alma headed to lunch, trying to distract himself with other thoughts. He noticed that neither Allen nor Lenalee were at a table. Great, he thought. First it's Kanda, now Allen and Lenalee are missing. "Hey, I noticed Allen and Lenalee are gone. Why?" he asked Lavi.

"Oh, that," Lavi replied. "They went off looking for Kanda. The Order lost contact with him a few days ago so they sent in Allen and Lenalee."

Alma's heart skipped a beat. "Lost contact?" he croaked.

"Don't worry. His golem just probably broke. They'll all be back soon. I'm sure of it."

Alma picked at his salad moodily. True, he shouldn't be starving himself. It wasn't going to help his friends. But he couldn't help but not have an appetite.

He placed his bowl of salad on top of the trash and walked off. Where was he to go? After a moment, he settled on playing a game of chess with Suman and Johnny.

"Checkmate."

Alma sighed. "Once again I lose."

"You're welcome to try again," Johnny offered.

"No thanks," he replied. "I've got other things to do."

Alma left, heading toward the Science Section. There, Komui was boredly and very slowly checking over paperwork. Alma creaked the door open very slowly. "Um, is there anything you'd like me to do, Komui-san?"

Komui tossed his papers in the air, leaving them fluttering to the floor. "Well, since you asked!" he said cheerfully. "I want to test out this invention of mine on you."

Alma swallowed hard. Lesson number one: never say yes to being Komui's guinea pig. Lesson number two: rethink lesson number one if you're really, really bored. "O-Okay," he answered hesitantly.

"Great!" Komui pulled out a vial of green liquid. "I invented this so that it repels Akuma. With this, you can douse innocent bystanders in it and Akuma will stay away. Just let me try it on you."

Before Alma could say a word, Komui yanked the cork out of the top and dumped the bottle on Alma's head. Alma sputtered for a moment before settling down. Nothing happened.

"I guess it didn't work," Komui shrugged.

At that moment, a foul, putrid odor filled the room, leaving the two coughing. "What is this?!" Alma yelled before being cut off by his coughing.

"It really doesn't work," Komui replied.

Alma fled toward the showers where, hopefully, he would be able to get the smell out. He turned the water on full blast and soaked himself for an hour. By the time he got out, he still smelled nasty. It wasn't nearly as bad as before, but it was still enough to make anyone avoid him within a ten foot radius.

Finally, Alma just sat down in his room. Great. Kanda, Allen, and Lenalee are gone; Komui douses me in this stuff; everyone's avoiding me; and I still don't have anything to do for the rest of the day! I hope Yuu gets back soon… He fell asleep in his chair.

Alma walked down the hall. He saw a speck in the distance. What was that? As he came closer, he realized it was Kanda. Yuu's back, he thought joyfully. He broke into a run. "Yuu!" he shouted. He tackled Kanda and forcefully hugged him.

Kanda staggered back a pace. Alma dropped to the ground, still hugging him. "I missed you," Alma whispered.

Surprisingly, Kanda didn't shove him off. Instead, he leaned closer. "I realized something." Alma looked at Kanda. "I… have feelings for you."

Alma looked away, embarrassed. "I… do too."

"I couldn't stop thinking about you on that mission. I was extremely injured back there. And the whole time I found myself thinking 'what about Alma?'."

"What happened?" Alma asked.

"This guy was enslaved by Innocence. I got gravely injured. The wound would probably kill most humans. Eventually, I won. I had to cut his arm off."

Alma flinched. "That sounds a bit harsh."

"It was an act of mercy. He didn't really want to keep living."

"Still…" Alma's arms tightened around Kanda. "You were always a tad harsh. But I don't mind."

Kanda smiled. Just faintly, but a smile nonetheless. Alma separated from him and the two began to walk down the hallway. "So I'll just recap what happened…" Kanda explained.

Fin

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