Disclaimer - I don't own D. Gray Man.
Enjoy the story! :)
One day, when Lavi was eight years old, he lay curled up on the couch like usual, writing out ideas for a new story with a book propped up on his lap, while his mother cooked dinner the next room over. The door opened and Lavi immediately scowled. His step father had returned home from a day of long work.
Ivan worked as a merchant, some days making enough money to buy them enough food for a week, sometimes returning home with nothing at all.
"Welcome back," Lavi said politely, forcing a smile. Out of nowhere Ivan's backhand struck him across the cheek, sending Lavi crashing to the hard, concrete floor. Before he hit the ground, Lavi registered the smell of alcohol on his stepfather's breath. It must have been a bad day of business for him which meant it was about to become unpleasant for him as well.
"You should have been out in the streets looking for a job not reading your books boy!" he barked, ripping the novel out of Lavi's hands and throwing it across the room.
"I-I'm sorry..."
"Couldn't have been a boy who was tough? Liked sports? Nope. You had to be a bloody bookworm. You're useless and weak. You'll never amount to anything, you pathetic brat," he spat vehemently. Walking over to Lavi, he grabbed him by his red hair, ready to vent his frustration out by teaching his stepson a lesson in pain.
"Mom! Please!" Lavi cried, desperately looking to the kitchen for help, hoping his mother would intervene somehow. No response. She continued to chop up the vegetables, throwing carrots into the stew every now and then, her back displayed to the world. Lavi then realized no amount of physical abuse from Ivan could ever possibly hurt worse than his mother's actions.
"Just like your father. He was a pathetic weakling as well. A no good coward who ran off to who knows where and left us with his stupid-"
Ivan's voice broke off as Lavi's hand suddenly reached out and wrapped around his arm.
It was as if something had snapped inside of Lavi, igniting his rage, fueling him with strength.
"I am not weak. And neither was my father," Lavi hissed through clenched teeth, the grip on his stepfather's arm tightening as he dug his nails into Ivan's skin, until he winced in pain, still too shocked to say anything. Catching him by surprise, Lavi took this moment to run past him and hurdled out the door. The red head didn't even stop to think. He continued running without a destination in mind, afraid his stepfather would be right behind him, wanting to beat him within an inch of his life.
Needing a place to hide for the time being his eyes scanned the streets urgently, but in a city surrounded by nothing but flat land, his choices were limited. As Lavi turned the corner hastily he crashed into someone, sending them both crashing to the ground.
"Sorry," Lavi mumbled, rubbing his eyes free of dust. He had felt something land beside him and he picked it up. A pair of thick glasses.
"I'll take those back," a husky voice said and Lavi glanced up.
It was an older boy, with wavy hair that feel to his shoulders and brown eyes. Possibly around the age of sixteen, but that didn't matter right now. Lavi didn't waste any time in taking this as his one chance to finally escape this hell.
"Help me, please! You have to help me get out of here," Lavi said, his eyes frantic, pushing the glasses back into the boy's hands. Momentarily stunned, surprised that this small boy was holding onto him as if his life depended on it, Tyki wondered what could have happened. He immediately felt bad for the kid so he composed himself and grasped the child's small hand in his. Without saying anything, Tyki immediately dashed down the street, hand in hand with the strange boy wearing an eye-patch.
Heavy boots pounded the street as Ivan searched feverishly for the brat. Where could he have gone? He couldn't have Lavi spilling all his little secrets to the world. The only useful thing to do with him now was to find him and sell him as a slave on the black market. Then he'd never have to see that hindrance again. But then another idea struck Ivan. He had overheard rumors while on his travels that about an extremely strict organization that trains its members to kill their emotions, molding them into the perfect assassins. He grinned at the very thought, hoping the rumors were true. They would surely pay a hefty price for the boy. But the smile instantly disappeared from his face as a huge fire suddenly roared to life right before his very eyes, the intensity of the heat bearing down on him as he heard shouts and screams rise up from all around him.
Abruptly, an earsplitting boom rang throughout the entire village, the blast waves from the explosion throwing both Lavi and Tyki off balance.
'What the hell is going on?' Tyki barely had time to think.
All at once, the windows on the buildings around them started shattering. Tyki instinctively got on top of Lavi, protecting him from the flying shards of broken glass with his body.
"Take the children! Kill all the adults!" a husky voice yelled maliciously from nearby.
Shrill cries of "help!" could be heard in the distance.
"If we stay here they'll find us," Tyki said, grimacing as he removed pieces of glass from his arm.
Lavi's eyes widened as blood seeped out the boy's wounds. He felt the sudden urge to help him but was unsure what to do.
"I heard the voice of a child over there!"
Looking around frantically, Tyki spotted a wooden crate."In here!" he murmured quickly, picking Lavi up and placing him gently inside it. "Hide!"
"But what about you?" Lavi asked, his head still peeping out of the box.
"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine."
"Please don't go," Lavi pleaded. "I don't want to be alone."
Giving him a comforting smile," Tyki whispered, "It'll be okay, kid" and closed the lid over his head, leaving Lavi in complete darkness.
"I found a kid!" someone shouted.
"Get him!" another one yelled.
Terrified and unable to move, Lavi cried himself to sleep.
Many hours later, when the smoke had cleared, Lavi stuck his head out of the crate, and discovered there was no one in sight. He walked and walked, timidly avoiding fallen objects until he came to the edge of the town.
Turning back to look once more at all the destroyed buildings, a place he once called home, Lavi knew there was nothing left for him here. Nothing but pain. Humans really were despicable creatures.
"Lavi! Pay attention when I'm talking to you!"
Lavi, now eighteen, pulled himself out of his thoughts.
His face broke out in a grin. "Lighten up, Old Panda."
"Stop calling me that!" Bookman yelled furiously. "Let's go! We were supposed to be in Japan by now! It's being overrun with Akuma! We must be there in order to record history."
"Yeah yeah, okay. I understand," Lavi said, waving his hand.
Before they moved on, Lavi stared off into the distance once more, his thoughts drifting to the boy who had saved him who surely must be a man by now. After so many years, Lavi still wondered what had happened to that boy, but he had saved Lavi's life. And he, the boy with dark, wavy hair and thick glasses, was the only human he wished he could call friend. But he had never even asked him his name.
Prince Yu, otherwise known as Kanda and the only living member of the Imperial House of Japan, was in one of his moods. He had just come out of the shower (and was still in his towel, even now) and then just started going off about one thing or another. At first, Lenalee found it pretty funny, the prince dripping wet in the middle of the room and scowling like a pissed off cat. But then Kanda started throwing things and that wasn't so funny.
"Ah! What the heck is your problem Kanda? I just cleaned this room!" Lenalee shouted, climbing over the nearest couch and ducking as a lamp went soaring over her head.
"You left a bar of soap in the bottom of the tub!"
Lenalee lifted her head, peeking up and snickered. "Hmmm, I wonder how that got there?"
"I know you left it there on purpose! You're the only person I allow to come in here."
"Did you fall?"
"Yes! Because I slipped on it." Kanda raised his elbow to show his personal attendant where it was raw and red.
"Well I'm sorry, but maybe you ought to check before you frolic around in the shower from now on," Lenalee giggled.
"Kanda's just a little slow on the uptake," a voice said, coming from the front of the room. Kanda hadn't even heard the door open.
Kanda's eyes narrowed suspiciously at Allen, the exorcist assigned to guard him.
"I see you back there bastard. Why are you in my room? Don't make me come over there and beat the shit out of you!"
Allen grinned, waving good-naturedly. "Well, hey there handsome. Didn't think you'd notice. How's it hanging?"
"One day I am going to personally kill you."
"Come on, lighten up for once. Your highness," Allen scoffed. Lenalee sighed. She admitted it was fun to mess around with Kanda but once you got these two going they never shut up.
Before Kanda could throw the nearest object in Allen's direction, Bak, his advisor, and one of the only people who wasn't afraid to reprimand him for his actions, burst through the door.
" Kanda– put that vase down. There's been an urgent request. No, an order. We need to move you at once," the blonde strained, trying to look calm. That's when Bak noticed Lenalee in the room. Alone. With two boys. One of whom had a towel wrapped loosely around his waist.
"You're breaking out in hives again," Allen pointed out bluntly, causing Bak to blush furiously.
"What's happened?" Kanda asked, exchanging glances with Lenalee before haughtily looking away again.
"There's no time to explain. Akuma are entering the Kingdom as we speak," Bak said as he he regained his composure and tried to usher the three of them out the door.
"Let me go of me," Kanda snarled. "I'll stay here and fight them off by myself."
"And I'll come with you," Allen said sweetly.
Kanda glared at him, raising an eyebrow in suspicion.
"Don't look at me like that. It's not like I'm coming along to protect you or anything. I'm doing it to free the souls of the demons." Allen side stepped out of Kanda's reach. "But you're so slow Ill probably end up rescuing your sorry ass anyway."
'Wasn't protecting Kanda his job?' Bak thought to himself.
Before Kanda could react Allen burst out laughing and ran out of the room, leaving Bak speechless and the Prince furious.
"What did you say beansprout!?" Kanda waved his hand through the air menacingly, causing his towel to fall down.
Lenalee's eyes widened and she meant to turn around but she couldn't help but stare as Kanda blushed red and threw on a random pair of pants that happened to be lying carelessly on the couch beside him.
Before Kanda went rushing out of the room to hunt Allen and the Akuma down, he felt someone grab his hand. Turning around he was met with a pair of big violet eyes.
"Please be careful Kanda. I'll come help you guys in a little bit - once I make sure everyone here has evacuated and is safe."
"Yeah. You too, " Kanda muttered, feeling rather hot. He hated lame situations like this. Without looking back Kanda raced out of the room, causing Bak to break out in hives once again as soon as he realized he was now alone with Lenalee.
Like it? Hate it? Let me know!
This will definitely be an eventual Tyki/Lavi fic and as for the other pairings I'm not sure yet. Let me know who you want Lenalee, Kanda, and Allen to end up with~! Thanks for reading!