We do not in any way own -Man or any of the characters.
This fanfiction is written by two people, through a RP. Because of this, bits might not flow as well, but we tried our best to edit the transitions. Hope you enjoy it~ Please don't hesitate to comment/ review. We need your feedback, and it will only help us. Grammar errors, questions... anything!
*** Moyashi means beansprout. We decided to use the japanese term because most fanfics/doujinshis/some translations of the manga the term.
I'm pretty sure thats all i need to say! Thank you for reading!
~Ink (Allen/Link/Johnny/bits of Rouvelier)
Today the Order was silent. The latest battle had cost them many lives, both finders and exorcists alike. Unfortunately, many innocent civilians had gotten caught up among the fighting, and akuma were being born left and right from the deep, piercing sorrow the victims' absence had left. The Order had tried to send out teams to explain the situation to the families, to tell them not to wish their loved ones back. But there simply weren't enough people to get the job done. There were still too many injured, comatose in the hospital, or grieving for their lost comrades.
It had been two days since Tyki and Rhode had led an attack on the bustling streets of London, stirring up the Order as exorcists were sent as quickly as possible to stop the killing spree. Akuma clogged the streets like a virus, leaving the exorcists barely enough room to breathe. The fighting was soon escalated out of control; buildings collapsed one after another as the struggle continued.
The two Noah had eventually called a full retreat, satisfied with the damage they'd caused, and the remains of the akuma army trailed along after their ashen-skinned leaders, disappearing through one of Rhode's doors.
Kanda remembered every detail. The battlefield had been like a madhouse, with shouts and cries coming from every direction. An occasional rusty shriek would echo over the chorus of weapons clanging, signaling the defeat of another akuma. When one disintegrated, it was immediately replaced with two more.
Every single one of the akuma had been at least level two or higher, prolonging the battle for far longer than it should have lasted. While the Earl's monstrous creations never seemed to tire, the Order's finders quickly exhausted themselves, leaving the battle-weary exorcists to fend off the rest of the distorted soldiers.
Kanda felt an ache in his side where the claw of an akuma had caught him, though the pain made no appearance in his face. He was expertly silent, a stoic and calm bystander, nothing more. He watched the grieving members of the Order from the upper level of the room, leaning forward against the railing of the balcony. The coffins in the room seemed to go on forever, scattered like the precious flushed petals of the lotus blossom in his room.
He was down to nine petals now, with another just beginning to wilt. The previous battle had taken a lot out of him, and he still wasn't technically allowed to leave the hospital wing. But since when did he care? He had merely given a sarcastic snort and slipped out when the Head Nurse had her back turned to tend to the Moyashi.
Kanda snorted. That beansprout was too soft. He'd taken a direct hit from an akuma to save some cowering civilians that had foolishly gotten in the way of the fight. Exorcist or not, Allen was still playing the reckless hero.
He has to learn that there will always have to be sacrifices. Idiotic moves like that will earn him an early grave.
The Order couldn't spare any more exorcists as it was. As much as Kanda disliked the young exorcist, he knew he was necessary if the Order planned on winning this war.
They'd lost too many as it was.
As Allen stirred in his sleep, a sharp pain in his chest caused him to slowly regain consciousness. Half awake, he tried moving his arm, but a thick layer of bandages, followed by a wave of pain convinced him otherwise. Allen slowly opened his eyes, finding himself in the Order's brightly lit hospital wing.
I was... But he couldn't think, another wave of pain shot through his body, his arm felt as if it were on fire. He didn't remember crying out, or the Head Nurse giving him a dose of anesthesia; he just remembered the pain, and sudden blackness.
The room silenced as Rouvelier marched into the wing, surrounded by an assembly of Crows. The Inspector and his subordinates didn't fit into their surroundings, untouched, unbroken, compared to the room full of exorcists that had fought for the Order only hours before. Rouvelier, his expression grim and demanding, motioned towards the bed containing Allen Walker. A handful of the cloaked figures surrounded the bed.
Lenalee burst through the doors after him, her face a blotchy red, eyes glistening. "What are you doing?" she cried out. "He helped us! He's on our side!" She balled her fists angrily, on the edge of bursting in tears.
"What is going on here?" The Head Nurse scurried into the wing, turning a dark shade of red. "There are patients that need rest, now if you woul-"
Rouvelier looked towards the Nurse, a bemused smirk on his face. "Would take Miss Lee to one of the empty rooms? The battle has certainly put a lot of stress on her, or she would never act this way." He glared in Lenalee's direction. "We have a lot of business to attend to, and she needn't partake in our exchange with the Noah."
The Head Nurse eyed Rouvelier as if to confirm his request before turning to Lenalee and giving her a gentle yet firm look. "Come now, Miss Lee, we can't have you disturbing Mister Walker...he needs his rest," she murmured, showing a rare soft and gentle side compared to her normal raging attitude. She put herself between Lenalee and Rouvelier, grasping the younger girl's shoulders firmly and leading her from the room despite her struggles and protests.
"Miss Lee, Walker needs you to be strong," she murmured, trying to calm Lenalee from her flustered outbursts as she led her down several dim hallways to a quieter wing of the Order, opening a door into an empty bedroom.
Lenalee finally quieted, taking in a few deep breaths as she stepped reluctantly into the room. She dried her cheeks on her jacket sleeve, sitting down on the bed.
Matron slowly reached out to lay a hand on Lenalee's head, knowing that despite Lenalee's strong outer shell and the fact that she'd fought in many battles, she was still just a young girl with fragile inner workings. "Do try and get some rest, Miss Lee," she told her. "Rouvelier may be strict, but I'm sure he and his men won't harm Mister Walker. He's still one of us," she said, backing away slowly and bowing her head to Lenalee in respect before turning on her heel and walking briskly back to the hospital wing to make sure Rouvelier stayed in line.
Rouvelier smiled sickeningly as a final clicking of chains reached his ears. Allen Walker was now firmly strapped to his hospital cot, in order to prevent any foolish ideas he might have of running when he awakened. His Innocence arm had been sealed tightly by the Crows that followed him, insuring that the boy couldn't invoke. "This boy must be kept under constant watch and guard," he announced to his men. "Mister Howard Link. Once again, I give you the duty of keeping watch over Allen Walker and reporting suspicious behavior of any kind directly to me. Allen Walker is not to depart on any missions without your partnership, and he is most certainly prohibited from being alone with any of his immediate friends. Do I make myself perfectly clear?"
"Acknowledged, Inspector Rouvelier." Link nodded, staring at the ground, his face devoid of any emotion. "Although I don't see why it's necessary to chain a sleeping boy." He lifted his head to stare the Inspector directly in the eyes.
Rouvelier smirked, "After all this time you still see this," he motioned to Allen as if he were something dead, "as a human being, a child at that." Inspector Rouvelier rose, walking towards the door "I would treat...Walker, differently if I were you. As human as he looks, his 'family' just murdered half of the order."
The Head Nurse returned to a near empty Hospital wing, Howard Link was resting in a wooden chair next to her white-haired patient. Letting out a sigh of relief, she walked over Inspector Link and shook his shoulder gently. "I doubt Inspector Rouvelier would be happy to know you were sleeping on the job. Now, if you would please help me unchain my patient," she grumbled. Rouvelier had crossed the line too many times.
"N-no, he wouldn't," Link muttered back, slowly standing up. "I was told to unchain him only for-" He was stopped mid-sentence by the enraged face of the head nurse and he handed her the keys.
"Thank you," the nurse replied sharply, quickly unchaining Allen and administering to his wounds. Even if he had the will to harm someone, he can barely move his arm, she thought to herself, exasperated at the stupidity of Rouvelier. "Now, you're here to make sure the boy doesn't run away. I'm here to make sure his wounds heal properly, I'm sure we can do both without these chains." She eyed Link sharply to quiet any protests he had, and turned her attention back to Allen's injuries.
It felt like hours since the battle started. Lavi was exhausted, breathing heavily and leaning on the staff of his hammer. He'd slipped discreetly into one of the buildings that was left standing in an attempt to catch his breath. His single green eye was dull and drooping as he tired, and he raised a hand to wipe the sweat from his brow. He barely had time to get back to his feet as a wall of the building was blown in, sending rubble flying. He caught a glimpse of white hair through the thick cloud of dust, and he heard Allen's cry of pain as an akuma fell upon him. He brandished his hammer with a cry as the level three that knocked the building to pieces came at him with claws extended toward his face.
"Ungh!" Lavi let out a pained grunt as he hit the floor hard. He blinked groggily and rubbed over his face with a wide yawn, sitting up and turned his eye upon his bed, which he'd just merrily rolled off of in his dream struggle with the akuma. A grimace touched his face from a touch of pain in his arm. He tilted his head and lowered his hand to the tender area, rolling up his long black sleeve and blinking in surprise at the white bandages covering the skin.
Yes, that's right. From the figh-shit!
He stumbled and tripped to his feet, bursting out of his room and surprising a passing finder, who yelled in shock and fell over. He shouted an apology over his shoulder, trotting down several dimly lit hallways and pausing at the open door to the hospital wing, peeking his head in and raising his brows as he caught sight of Link. So that meddling Inspector had reared his ugly head once more. He let out a long sigh, the air rattling from his lungs from all the smoke and dust he'd breathed in during the battle. He caught sight of Allen's snowy white hair, and eased into the room as a silent shadow, watching as the Matron tended to the Moyashi's wounds.
Yikes. That looked painful.
But he's alive.
He winced at the sight of Allen's bloodied arm, hoping it would heal properly. Then he bit his lip as he realized he'd rushed down here so fast he'd forgotten to slip on his headband, cursing to himself and looking up in shock as the Head Nurse gasped in surprise and whacked him in the face with her clipboard.
"What the fu-"
"Insolent Bookman! Make some noise when you move!" Matron scolded him.
Lavi mumbled a "yes," rubbing at his aching cheek and working his jaw a bit with a wince. "Devil lady," he muttered, earning another whap to the back of the head.
"H-Hey Lavi!" Allen said weakly. It had barely been 10 minutes since he had awoken, only to find himself yet again a suspect of the battle. His grin was more of a grimace than a smile, wincing as Matron replaced the bandage on his chest. "Guess I'm a prisoner again... Link's stuck here watching me until I convince them I'm not a Noah..." he said in as carefree a voice as he could.
The Head Nurse grumbled something under her breath, pushing Link out of the way as she gathered together some medical supplies. "I have to attend to the other patients... Don't make any trouble." She glared at Lavi and Link as she left.
Lavi crossed his arms over his chest and stuck out his tongue at the Head Nurse as she turned her back to him, only to quickly pull an innocent face as she shot him another glare. He whistled in a carefree manner until she left, immediately dancing over to Allen's side and pulling a chair around, straddling it and resting his chin on the back of it. "I hope there's a dent in her clipboard," he said cheerily, leaning on the chair so that it tipped forward on two legs precariously. "Not be be hypocritical, seeing as I literally rolled out of bed two minutes ago, but it's about time you woke up!" he exclaimed with one of his signature grins.
The mood in the room seemed to brighten with Lavi's constantly cheery nature, and he rocked back and forth on the chair with soft creaking noise as the weight was shifted continuously between the four wooden legs.
Allen scratched his head with his free hand, staring after the nurse with a puzzled expression on his face. "What's gotten into her? She seems really uptight today..."
Inspector Link shifted uncomfortably, remembering the last few hours. "Lots of things have happened since the battle..." He trailed off, unsure how to finish his sentence.
"I guessed as much... I mean, look what happened to me!" Allen laughed, but there was a certain hollowness to the normally carefree sound. He sat up in the bed, letting out a small gasp as he accidentally put weight on his injured arm.
Link looked towards Allen in concern, watching as the young exorcist struggled to put on a brave face. He looked towards Lavi; the Bookman was obviously concerned about his friend too. The room kept an awkward silence, both of them watching Allen as he tried to smile and laugh his way through the conversation. Then the white-haired exorcist winced, placing both of his hands on his stomach.
"What's the matter?" Link asked quickly, getting ready to call Matron back into the room.
Lavi cocked his head at Allen curiously as he saw him wince, about to ask what was the matter but stopping with his mouth hanging open.
"When's the last time I ate..." Allen groaned, "I'm starving..."
A snort of amusement rose from the Bookman apprentice's throat, and he hopped up out of the chair, making it fall over with a loud clatter. "Two days since the battle, two days of not eating, six meals missed, not including snacks in-between," he announced cheerily. "Up, up!" he cried, leaning over to curl an arm carefully underneath Allen's to give him support to stand. "Off to Jerry-san and his cooking!" he announced, sharing Allen's hunger, though perhaps not as desperately. "I can't carry a mountain of food back for you in one go, it'd bury me alive," he said, giving Allen a bright grin and helping him from the room.
Allen grinned back, giving a little chuckle as they left Link behind in bewilderment. "Guess we have to wait for my guard, or the whole Order's going to think I'm off to consort with the Noah!" His stomach rumbled unhappily as they waiting for the Inspector to catch up. "I bet they have all sorts of food, Jerry-san wasn't prepared to have me gone for 2 days!" Allen sighed as his stomach gave another ravenous rumble. "It was really two days? No wonder I'm starving..."
"Don't run off like that again Allen!" Link scolded, catching his breath, but Allen wasn't paying attention: he was already daydreaming about the mountains of food he was about to consume.
"First I'll eat all the noodles in the Order, sure to get Bakanda upset. Then some mitarashi! Jerry-san better have lots of foo-" He fell silent as they reached the dining hall, all eyes were on Allen. A few exorcists immediately turned their backs, some glared, only a few smiled at him warmly.
Lavi snorted with sarcasm. "Pfff sureeeee. Do I look like a Noah to you?" he laughed, wrapping his arm around Allen to give him any needed support. He huffed impatiently and glared over his shoulder at Link. "Keep up, keep up!" he pouted, trotting on ahead with Allen once more, beaming brightly as only Lavi could. "Oooo Yu-chan is sure to be steamed about that once he crawls out of the hole he's probably hiding in!" His eye lit up with amusement as he pictured the look on Kanda's face when he found out there wasn't going to be any soba for him. He could already feel the cold point of Mugen at his throat. "Ah well, he'll get over it-" He trailed off as he noticed Allen's troubled silence for the first time. He snorted impatiently, shooting glares right back at anyone who dared look at Allen with contempt.
"Welcome back, Allen!" Johnny called from a corner of the room, gesturing towards a table full of happy faces from the Science Division.
"Ahhh ignore them. They're just jealous because you kicked so much more akuma ass than they did," Lavi told the white-haired teen with a bright smile, giving Johnny a cheerful wave and leading Allen across the room to Jerry-san. "Go on then, eat every last crumb in the kitchen!" he encouraged him, shooing Allen forward to give himself an opportunity to whap a particularly rude finder on the head. The guy glared at him but stalked from the room like the cowardly jerk he was, leaving Lavi to trot up behind Allen and greet Jerry-san with a bright hello.
Allen gave Lavi a small smile, turning towards Jerry-san with a determined look on his face.
"How're you doing Allen?" Jerry smiled warmly at the young exorcist, "Been rather slow without you here!"
"I'm doing better." Allen smiled back, "Now, I'd like every noodle dish I can get my hands on, twenty orders of Mitarashi, five plates of pork, and two sides of rice!"
Jerry nodded, writing down the order on a pad of paper, "Anything else?" he said jokingly, although he wouldn't be surprised if Allen ordered another dozen plates.
"I'll get back to you," Allen laughed, relieved at how normal things seemed to be going. He could still feel a few menacing eyes on his back, but he'd grown used to the rumors and hostility.
Lavi smiled to himself as he listened to Allen rattle off the long list of food to Jerry-san. The kid could probably eat for hours if he wanted to. He chuckled softly and murmured a much simpler order to Jerry, tempura and soba, if only to tweak at Kanda's nerves. He followed Allen over to the Science Division, taking a seat next to the white-haired exorcist and resting his chin in his palm, just sitting back and listening absently to the different conversations going on between the people at the table. He chuckled softly as he overheard how Reever had shut Komui up in his office since morning so he could narrow down the mountains upon mountains of papers on his desk. It seemed there wasn't even room for his coffee mug to be set down anymore. He could picture Komui's teary face without even trying.
"So Allen, how's your arm healing up? Not too bad, I should hope-" He stopped mid-sentence as the malicious voice of Rouvelier cut into their conversation. The snake of a man was staring down at the Order from the elegant rail of a balcony overlooking the cafeteria from above.
"Attention all members of the Black Order. I have met with the High Generals and we come to the agreement that the person known as Allen Walker is hereby stripped of all rank-exorcist and otherwise-and is henceforth banished from the Black Order, for fraternization with the enemy and betrayal of the Order itself," Rouvelier announced with a sickening smile, referring to Allen's brief slips into the Fourteenth's personality.
Any exorcists in his company, are expected to bring him to my office immediately, or face the consequences."
The table went silent, all heads slowly turned to the white-haired exorcist stuffing his face with food. Link tapped the boy's shoulder tentatively, his face void of emotion.
Stuffing another dango into his mouth, Allen looked down at the table, a shocked expression on his face. What? I can't be... He swallowed his mouthful of mitarashi numbly, his heart beating in his ears like a mocking drum-roll at an execution. The sudden stream of questions in his head was almost maddening, and he covered his shock with a small smile, looking at his friends. "I-it..." He paused, clearing his throat. "It was bound to happen eventually... I'll be fine..."
Johnny choked out a small sob, clutching Allen's uninjured arm. "W-we won't let them take you!"
For a long moment, Lavi could do nothing but gape at Allen, taking in the shock on his face and feeling a pang of emotion in his chest. "A-Allen..." he managed to croak, swallowing past the lump in his throat and trying to remain indifferent despite his growing horror.. "This...this is nonsense. I'm sure there's a mistake," he said, sounding shaky and unsure of himself. It was a strange thing for the Bookman apprentice to feel the unfamiliar touch of uncertainty crawling through his head. It combined with this sudden news shook him up, and although his duty to old man panda was to stay uninvolved with any personal affairs of his frie-comrades, no, not even comrades-of these people, the heart he wasn't supposed to have was pained with the thought of Allen being banished from the Order. He would probably never see him again if this strange dream became reality. "We'll go have a word with the High Generals, there must be something they overlooked...you're no Noah, the attack wasn't your fault!" he blurted without even realizing what he was saying.
Gently pushing aside Johnny, Allen looked at his friend with a sad smile. "I don't want you guys to get in trouble... There isn't anything we can do." He walked towards Link and turned to look back over his shoulder sadly. "What else can they do to me anyway?" He gestured to his imprisoned hand "It can't be that bad..." Allen smiled reassuringly.
Link coughed uncomfortably. "We should head to the Inspector soon," he said, looking around the cafeteria anxiously as a horde of exorcists started to point and look towards the white haired teen.
"Yeah..." Allen nodded and stared at the ground, a hint of sadness on his face.
Lavi was tripping over his words like a fool, only to stop and close his mouth, resuming the role of an unbiased bystander. This was dangerous. He had to stop before he fell too far.
He cleared his throat and extended a hand to the white-haired teen. "It was nice fighting with you, Allen," he murmured with one of his classic Bookman-issued smiles. "Good luck out there...don't lose yourself to the Noah," he said in a quieter voice, not wanting to seem too cold to Allen; this could possibly be the last time he saw the little moyashi.
Allen ignored Lavi's outstretched hand, giving him a quick hug instead. "I'll do my best!" He smiled at his friends reassuringly as many of them let out a few sobs.
Link gently tapped his shoulder, leading the exorcist away from the table. A small tear ran down Allen's cheek, he quickly brushed it away before the Inspector would see.
Is this going to be the last time I see them? Another tear worked its way down his cheek.
I'll never hurt you, he vowed, following Link out of the room. As long as I remember you, I'll never turn on you. I won't let the Fourteenth win.
He kept his head up as he walked down the hallway towards his banishment, his eyes blurring. Unfortunately, he didn't see the figure storming past him and knocked into his left side. Turning around to apologize, Allen saw the long black hair and merely smiled at the raven-haired exorcist instead. "Guess you'll have all the soba you want, Bakanda..." he said with a sad look in his eyes, contrasting his formal smile.
Kanda let out an annoyed snort at the impact, taking a step or two back and opening his mouth to snarl a typical "fuck off" comment only to stop dead with his mouth open as he saw the familiar white hair. He cleared his throat to collect himself and looked down over the straight bridge of his nose at Allen. "Che. Whatever," he muttered sourly, turning his face away and stepping past the teen. "Keep walking, you idiot," he grumbled over his shoulder, continuing on to the cafeteria for said soba.
Allen looked after Kanda with a surprised look on his face, smiling a bit before hurrying to catch up with Link, following him through several more passages and up a flight of stairs until they finally reached Komui's office. They both entered, Allen with more reluctance than Link, though he kept an even look on his face.
Rouvelier stood just to the side of Komui, looking sickeningly pleased with himself. "Well, well. Said your goodbyes already?" he said with a sneer on his face, wrinkling his upper lip with clear dislike for the white-haired teen as he stepped around Komui's desk to observe Allen at a closer range. "Make sure you're done...you won't get a chance after this." He looked down at Komui expectantly.
Komui sighed. His eyes were laden with despair and he looked quite sleep-deprived, with dark rings surrounding his eyes. He slowly raised his eyes from his desk, staring at Allen with a deep and piercing sorrow. He seemed frail as he heaved a sigh, his shoulders shaking with dried up tears, and his hand trembled as he placed a small vial on the desk before him. "Allen..." he murmured, his voice hoarse and rasping, having known Allen's fate for a full hour and suffered under orders not to let anyone know.
"My sincere apologies...I must ask you to drink this," he murmured, nudging the vial forward with a finger. "Your memories of the Order..." He trailed off and swallowed hard past the emotion gathered in his throat. "This will destroy any information that might turn the tides of this war in favor of the Earl. You will forget us...and everything to do with the Black Order."
Rouvelier narrowed his eyes, staring at the boy's shocked expression with a satisfied look. "I'm more than willing to force you," he smiled as the room silenced, watching the boy realize his fate.
Allen stared down at the floor, his vision blurring, head swirling with thoughts. I-I can't even promise that I won't hurt them! I won't even know who they are! He looked at Komui with a pained expression. I haven't even said goodbye to Lenalee. The tears flowed, but he didn't stop them, he only managed to stare at Komui, realizing the wisdom of this act. Is it better? To leave people I don't know? To start over? Maybe this was a blessing, an easier way to leave his friends behind.
Minutes from now, he wouldn't remember the goodbyes he couldn't say, he wouldn't remember their smiles, these tears. The most he could do was give the scientist peace, relieve the pain this brought him, if only a little.
Allen walked up to Komui, placing a hand on his shoulder "I forgive you..." he murmured as he took the vial out of Komui's shaking hand. He held it up as smiled, placing it on his lips. "Tell everyone I love them," he whispered.
Komui winced in heart-rending sorrow, but managed to put a hand over Allen's, giving him one last smile to send him off. "You be careful out there, Allen..." he murmured, feeling a stab of pain as the white-haired teen spoke. "I will," he promised him.
Allen smiled gratefully at Komui as he swallowed the liquid, collapsing on the floor with a sad smile on his face.
Komui had to look away in agony as he saw Allen lift the vial to his lips, but he still heard the heartbreaking thud as the banished exorcist collapsed. He bit his lip hard enough to taste blood, but managed to maintain a stoic face as Rouvelier inspected the young boy.
"Hmph. Good enough," Rouvelier snorted, nudging Allen's sealed arm with his boot. "We'll see him off then... Remove that. He won't know how to use it, much less activate it, anyway," he snapped, straightening up and giving his subordinate a sharp, all-business look. "This boy is to be tagged with a tracking device...one of our personal ones, not one of the Order," he murmured, glancing at Komui. "No telling what those Science Division fools might try and pull."
Link looked up at his superior with a grim face. "Acknowledged, sir." He went up to the boy and picked up the unconscious teen.
Rouvelier nodded his approval as Link quickly agreed and carried off the unconscious Allen Walker. He then turned to Komui with a sickeningly sweet smile. "Now, if you'll excuse me, Mr. Lee, I have another announcement to make to the Order. Thank you for your cooperation," he snapped, turning and leaving the room before the flustered man could reply. He made his way back out to the balcony where he'd spoken before, clearing his throat and immediately winning total silence from the members of the Black Order below.
"Attention, please. There has been a tragic turn of events, my friends. Allen Walker resisted and tried to make an escape. Rather...drastic...measures had to be taken to protect the Order. We had no choice but to put him out of commission before he attacked some of our own. Apologies to all who knew Walker. Have a good day," he added with a sneer, stepping back and heading back to his quarters, leaving the room silent and filled with disbelief and shock.
Lavi gaped up at the now-empty balcony where Rouvelier had stood mere moments ago. His single green eye was wide with shock from the Inspector's haunting words. Did he mean...?
"Allen..."