Chapter One

Unhealthy Obsession

Allen Walker wasn't sure what to expect when he moved to London, but he didn't expect it to be so busy and crowded. His guardian had managed to secure him a scholarship to a special private school that he had helped found called Rose Cross University. Allen, though he thought his guardian had been sketchy and rather immoral over the years, was happy with that. He would be able to meet new people and learn new things, and that excited him more than anything. He was moving into the apartments that were provided by the school, but they were small, as were most the accommodations in London.

He was worried though. He was extremely self-conscious of his arm. He had been born with a severe birth defect, which left the arm nearly useless. Years of surgeries and therapy had gotten Allen to the point he could use his arm almost normally, but the skin was scarred and darker than the rest of his body. Because of the deformity, he had been abandoned as a baby and taken in by his foster father, a man named Mana Walker. Upon Mana's death when Allen was fourteen, he was taken in by one of Mana's friends. Cross Marian was a good enough man, but he was not very reliable.

Even so, Allen finished his school and got a full scholarship to Rose Cross. Rose Cross was an elite private liberal arts college with world renowned programs in anthropology, history, and religious studies. Allen was unusually adept at history and civilizations, and how things connected on a larger scope than many of his peers. For that, he had a wonderful aptitude for the intersecting fields of anthropology and sociology.

Now, he stood outside a large, brick building on the outskirts of London. It was called simply the Black Building, mostly because the brick had aged so much that it was less red and more of a deep burnt brown color. He was very nervous about moving into this place. Because Rose Cross was a very small school, they only had one building as a housing option for those offered scholarships, and it was not on campus, meaning that one had to take the subway, or tube, to get to the school each day. Other than that, students had to find their own housing. He only had one suitcase and a backpack, all the belongings he had in the world, and it was a wonder he'd managed to keep as many things as he had during his time with his guardian. He thought since he'd been fourteen they'd move seventeen times. It might have been more if one counted places they stayed less than a week.

The sun was just setting and he needed to find his room before it got dark if he intended to get any rest before classes started the next day. As usual, Cross has put off everything until the last moment and he almost didn't make it to London in time to start classes. He swallowed thickly because check in had been at eight that morning.

"Hey, who do we have here?" came a voice behind him. Allen turned to see a taller, red haired boy that wore a bandana or something over one of his eyes. He was grinning widely at him. "Could this be our missing roomie, Kanda?" he said to the tall, dark haired boy beside him. The other boy looked rather unamused by the entire exchange.

"I don't care, he was supposed to check in this morning," Kanda commented, rolling his eyes and looking away.

"Don't mind Kanda, he's kind of an asshole," the red head said again. "I'm Lavi Bookman, and we heard we were getting a third person in our room. Which is okay because we've got a huge apartment. We were the first ones in here, so we've got this really big on one on the top floor."

Allen blushed and nodded at him. "Allen Walker, nice to meet you," he said shyly. "I'm sorry I'm late, but Master Cross was busy with a girl in Venice…" he said solemnly. "He seemed to think if he left before she woke up she might be angry. She was angry anyway, because she stabbed him in the hand with a fork before we left."

Kanda and Lavi exchanged looks. "Master Cross? Like Cross Marian?" Kanda said with a frown.

Allen nodded. "Yeah, he's kind of a lush and a womanizer, he's always dragging me into trouble, so I'm kind of glad he sent me to school instead."

"I thought he was on sabbatical?" Lavi said, arching his one brow at Allen.

"If sabbatical is professor-speak for sleeping with multiple women, drinking, and gambling all the time, I guess so," Allen said, running his bad hand through his white hair without thinking.

He was wearing his glove, but his sleeve slipped up revealing the discolored, twisted skin on his left wrist for a brief moment. It also had the result of uncovering his scarring around his left eye. He saw Lavi cock his head to the side and stare at his wrist. Allen blushed, putting his arm down quickly.

"Um, so, I should go in, right? It…ah," he said, looking down and away from the two of them.

"Yeah, sure, come on," Lavi said with a smirk. "How old are you anyway?" he said as he led him up the stairs to the upper floor.

Allen looked at him. "Um, I'm nineteen."

"You look a lot younger," Lavi said as he showed him into the large top floor apartment. "Here we are. Now, technically, we have four bedrooms, but the fourth kinda isn't in a shape to be used right now," Lavi muttered and looked away from Allen.

"Why's that?" Allen said as he looked around the place.

The doorway opened into a nice, open room. There were two sofas in front of a large TV. Allen could see there were a couple game systems and he hoped that he could play with them. Cross had never allowed him to play video games. He swallowed and saw that the living room was separated from a small dining area with a table and chairs by a half wall. He could just see the small kitchen. On the left of the room, there were three doors, and another three on the right.

"Yeah, see, there was this thing…" Lavi started.

"Don't. Show him to his room. We have to get up for class, Lavi," Kanda said and pushed past the two of them.

Lavi smirked. "Come on, don't mind him," Lavi said and led him to the room on the right hand side. "See each bedroom is joined to a bathroom between. The room on the other side of your bathroom is the trashed one. So don't go in there. I'll explain what happened later," Lavi muttered. "We had this room last year, and it is a very long story."

Allen went into the room and looked around. It was small, but nice. He sat his things down and smiled at Lavi. "Thank you very much for your help," he said with a slight nod.

"You are way too polite," Lavi muttered and went over to his own room.

Allen closed the door and sighed as he sat on the bed. He was happy. It seemed like these two were nice enough, but the dark haired one was really nice looking. Allen swallowed. He shouldn't think of that. That was one of the things he'd been told not to tell anyone. He slipped under the covers and fell into a deep sleep.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Allen ended up riding the subway with Lavi and Kanda the next morning. It wasn't a very long ride, only five stops, but Allen was still nervous about it. There were so many people on it.

"What's up?" Lavi said as he held the hand bar above him. Allen was too short to reach them so he had to hold onto the bar.

"I'm not used to so many people," he said as he looked around. "I just…we usually don't stay in one place long, and Master Cross usually didn't let me leave where we were staying. He said there were too many bad things out there. He didn't seem to mind bringing people home, though," he muttered and jerked as someone brushed him.

Lavi smiled at him. His mouth long ago went dry because he was adorable. He glanced at Kanda who was glaring at him. If nothing else, him paying attention to their new roommate might get Kanda worked up and jealous. They weren't really "on" right now, but he knew it would be a matter of time before Kanda lost his cool and threw him against the wall in his bedroom. He had to be careful. He didn't want the same thing that had happened to the other bedroom to happen again… They'd promised Miranda that they'd fix it up since it was their fault it got messed up.

Allen yelped and looked around. "What's the matter?"

"No…nothing…just someone brushed against me…" he muttered but Lavi could see his cheeks coloring. He got a look at the scar on his cheek clearer though.

"What happened to your cheek?" Lavi asked.

Allen shook his head and touched the scar that ran down from under his eye. His hair covered the scar on his forehead that was harder to explain. "Um, just accident when I was a baby," he said as the train pulled to a stop.

"Here we go," Lavi said and they poured out and walked to the school.

They all shared first class so Allen sat behind them when they took up a pair of seats in the middle of the room. Lavi turned and smiled at him. "So, just to warn you, don't go to sleep in here, or the old fart will rap your knuckles with a ruler…"

There was a smack and the professor, an older man with a dour expression was glaring at Lavi. Lavi shook his hand. "Dammit, old man! Already? It's the first day!"

The professor snorted and went back to the front and Lavi winked at Allen. Soon the room filled up and the professor looked around.

"For those new, I'm Dr. Bookman. I teach all the history classes as well as the language studies classes. You will have me at least once a semester. If you are very lucky, you will not share a class with my grandson next time," he said and glared at Lavi again.

"Come on, old man!" Lavi said. "Cut it out, I'll behave this time!"

"No, you will make my entire life miserable just like you always do, Lavi," he said and turned away. Lavi snickered.

The class went on but Allen didn't notice that he had gained someone's attention. A group of students sat clustered in the back of the classroom and talked quietly when Bookman wasn't watching them.

"Who's the white haired kid?" Tyki Mikk asked his cousin Road Kamelot who sat beside him.

"No idea, new kid. I heard he was raised by Cross Marion," she answered beside him.

The pair looked rather similar, their mothers having been sisters. Both shared the darker, dusky skintone that was rather uncommon in this part of England. Tyki's hair was longish and dark, and his cousin kept hers short and spiked.

Road looked at him. "What? You like?"

"He looks too young to even be here," he muttered as he stared at the boy. He was small, and he seemed very interested in Bookman's instruction.

Road shrugged. "I can find out, but look…" she whispered as Allen leaned over to retrieve a pen that had rolled from his desk. "Check out his arm," she whispered.

Tyki saw the strange looking skin on his arm when he reached for the pen and his sleeve rode up a bit. He smirked. A physical deformity. He'd be self-conscious. Tyki's specialty was in psychology. He smiled. Some positive attention would go far with him. The class let out and Tyki went over to him as he stood up.

"Hey," he said and Allen jumped. "Tyki, you're new," he said with a slow smile.

Allen immediately colored and nodded. "Yeah, just got here yesterday," he said. "I'm staying at the Black building with Lavi and Kanda," he said as both Lavi and Kanda left without him.

"What class do you have next?" he asked as he shifted his weight from one hip to the other.

"Ah, th-the lady, Klaud I think is what Master Cross called her. Well he called her a lot of things, mostly relating to her not sleeping with him, but that's something else," Allen said shyly.

"Professor Nine is my advisor," Tyki said. "I can show you to her room, I'm actually headed there myself," he said.

Allen nodded and looked away from him as they walked. Before they go there Tyki grabbed his shoulder and spun him around. "You know, you're cute. Any chance you want to go get coffee after classes?" he asked.

Allen nearly choked. "Ah, no…n-not today…I need to…um…get used to the city…" he stammered and escaped into the room. Tyki watched him go and figured he'd have work cut out for him before he got that one into bed.

"Really, already trying to snag the new boy?" came Sheril Kamelot's voice from behind him. He looked and smiled at the rather dour looking boy. He was Road's older brother.

"He's cute," Tyki said with a smirk. "Besides, when have you known me to not try to get someone in bed? And if they don't want to, I'm rather convincing…" he asked as he walked into the classroom. He made sure to walk past the still blushing Allen.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

"You need to stay away from Mikk," Lavi said as he walked out of their last class.

Allen looked at him. "Mikk?"

"Yeah, I saw you talking to him a couple times today. Tyki? He's bad news," Lavi said as they headed up to their room.

"Why's that?" Allen said as they came into the apartment and dropped their things on the kitchen table.

"He's…well…let's just say he doesn't take well to a no," Lavi said with a sigh as he dropped into the sofa.

"Doesn't take well?" Kanda said as he came in and fell into the other one. "If by that, you mean he decides to drug them when they tell him no, I suppose."

"He drugs his dates?" Allen said with a gasp.

"Oh, no one can prove it," Kanda said as he flipped through a book he was reading. "You hear about it then all of a sudden the accuser is gone, and no one says anything else. That whole family is messed up," he muttered.

"Family?" Allen asked.

"Yeah, they're the Noah family. Like, none of them have the last name anymore, but they're super old London money. But all of that bunch live in a building a little closer to the school than this one," Lavi said with a shrug.

Allen nodded. He figured he'd definitely be careful then. Then he blinked and looked at them. "Wait, you mean it isn't weird?"

Kanda arched a brow and looked at him. "What isn't weird?"

"Um, the fact that, um…I mean, he would try something like that to…to another boy?" he whispered. "Like, take them on a date and stuff…"

Lavi looked at him. "Um, yeah. Tyki will fuck anything with legs, and I swear I think he'd fuck something without legs if it had a hole," he muttered.

"Why does this surprise you so much?" Kanda asked, noting the redness deepening on his cheeks.

"Um, Master Cross…ah, he said…he said that was wrong and that boys had to be with girls," he said quietly.

Lavi snorted and looked at Kanda. "Maybe next time you fuck me, we should try and remember that we shouldn't be fucking, according to Master Cross…"

Kanda rolled his eyes and Allen snapped his head up and looked between them. "Wait…you mean…you…and you're both guys…and that's…it…it's okay?" Allen said with wide eyes.

Lavi started laughing and nearly fell off the sofa. Kanda sighed. "You are so naïve," he muttered as he got up and walked back to his room.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Allen started to settle into a good routine. He'd ride the subway with Lavi and Kanda in the mornings and go to classes. He got along with most people, and eventually he found out that Lavi had a huge crush on the Dean's daughter, Lenalee. She, however, didn't return the interest, so he would often describe her beauty until Kanda smacked him on the back of the head. Allen enjoyed their talks and he learned a lot.

He took their advice, though, about Tyki. He approached several times and Allen kindly turned him down, stating he wanted to focus on his studies rather than dating or anything. He seemed to take it well, or at least he thought he did. In fact, the first semester went really well. He passed all his classes and his professors were in agreement that he was definitely a natural at anthropology. The winter break went easily, since Lavi insisted they all three go to his grandfather's for holiday meals. Allen found their constant banter amusing and understood now his attitude in class with him.

When the spring semester started, Lavi and Kanda, being two years further ahead than Allen, had a really early class and left nearly two hours earlier than Allen had to leave. He told them that he would be fine riding the subway alone. He'd gotten most the routes down and he had even gotten used to people around him all the time. Unfortunately, Allen found that the time he got on the train was perhaps the busiest time of the day. He usually ended up squeezed against a partition or in between several other people.

Because of this, the first time it happened, Allen figured it was accidental. He'd been pressed into the glass beside the door when he felt someone grab his ass from behind, perhaps a little longer than they should have. He couldn't move to see who it was and by the time everyone was off the train, he had no idea. He shook it off, but all day, he felt ghosts of that hand squeezing him. He figured it was just his anxiety. He didn't mention it to Lavi or Kanda, mostly because he figured they'd think he was crazy.

The second time it happened, he knew it was intentional. A couple weeks later, he was again pressed into a partition and this time someone's hand was on his crotch and squeezing him through his jeans rhythmically. He couldn't even get his hands to move, though, pinned as he was in the packed car. Then they were gone, whoever they were. Allen had nearly fallen out of the train care at the station and glanced around him frantically. He saw Tyki Mikk and a couple of his cousins get out of the car down from him.

Tyki locked eyes with him for a second and Allen headed off to class, stopping in the bathroom to panic briefly. Allen nearly jumped out of his skin when someone spoke.

"Hey, you okay?" Tyki said as he looked at him.

Allen looked up and tried to hide the look on his face. "Yeah, um, fine…"

"You don't look fine," Tyki said with a concerned look.

Allen shook his head. "Just…just some guy on the train…"

"What happened?" he asked.

"I…I have to get to class," he said and took off.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Allen was hypervigilant for the next couple weeks. He didn't relax at all, to the point that Kanda and Levi kept asking if he was okay. He kept putting them off, though. He really didn't want to talk about how he was getting freaked out over someone grabbing him once on the subway. It wasn't like that never happened, of course. He'd looked it up and there were lots of reports of it happening. So he just needed to forget it and move on.

He'd almost relaxed when he got onto the subway and clung to the pole. Again, it was full of people. He looked around and had almost relaxed when he felt someone press up against him from behind. He gasped out as he felt them grinding against his ass with a very hard erection. He tried to move away but he felt someone press into him from the front and his pants came unbuttoned. He couldn't see anything, stuck among people that all towered over him. It was a confusing as he felt the hand slide down into the back of his pants. He panted and tried to move away but stopped when he felt something sharp press into his lower back. He froze. A knife. They had a knife.

He swallowed and flinched as the hand slipped further until he felt fingers sliding against his entrance. He felt the point press harder into his back and he whimpered a little as they breeched him roughly. He tried not to make any noise but another whimper came out, and the knife pressed into him enough to cause a drop of blood to slide down his pants. He bit down on his tongue as a hand slipped down the front of his pants and started stroking him. He squeezed his eyes shut as the one behind slid another finger into him. He felt the other one speed up and despite how hard he tried, he couldn't stop the orgasm that hit him as the train pulled into the stop. The hands were gone and he almost fell to his knees. He stumbled off onto the platform and ran to the bathroom.

"Allen?" he heard from outside the stall he was in. "Is that you?"

It was Tyki's voice. He swallowed and flushed the paper he'd used to clean the inside of his pants. "Yeah?"

"I saw you come out of the next train car, you didn't look good, are you sick?" he asked.

"No, I'm fine," he said shakily.

"Come out, then," Tyki said and Allen didn't want to do that at all. But he wouldn't go away if he didn't. He opened the door to the stall and looked at him.

"My God, Allen, what happened? Did someone grope you again?" he asked and put his hands on Allen's shoulders.

Allen shivered. "Please," he whispered. "Don't tell anyone."

"Allen, we should go to the officer, make a report…" Tyki said with a frown. "This isn't okay. Did they just touch you again?" he said and Allen shook his head and tried to walk past him. "Wait, what's this?"

Allen winced as Tyki pulled up his shirt. "You're bleeding, Allen," he said and turned him around to look. "They had a knife? We need to report it, Allen…"

"No! Please, don't, it's fine, I just…just need to get to class…" he said with a shiver.

"Hey," he said. "I know that Kanda and Lavi have to go in earlier than you, why don't I ride up to your stop and stay with you. I mean, they shouldn't try anything if you aren't alone, right?" Tyki asked.

Allen looked up at him. "You…you'd do that?" he asked as he twisted his fingers together.

Tyki nodded. "Yeah, I don't want to see you get hurt or something, Allen. I know you aren't interested in going out, so this is as a friend, nothing else. Okay?"

Allen nodded and wrapped his arms around himself. "Okay, I'll…I think that would be good."

Tyki nodded and put an arm around him. "Don't worry, I'll be there, okay?"