… Eh heh. Um, hey guys… -Cricketcricket- Um… I'm alive?

… Yeah. I know what you're thinking. "WTF, ABU! WHY AREN'T YOU WORKING ON CURSED?!"

… I GOT DISTRACTED, OKAY?! D: THE PLOT BUNNIES WERE BREAKING DOWN MY DOOR, AND THEY FORCED ME TO WRITE THIS! I TRIED TO STOP THEM, BUT THEY WOULDN'T LISTEN TO ME!

I simply cannot focus on Cursed right now. Dx I tried, I really did, but for some reason, I'm really dissatisfied with it right now. For now, I'm taking a short break with it and writing this, in hopes that my interest will spark again.

FORGIVE ME!

…

Yeah. :3 Anyway, I've been working on this lil' idea for a while. It originally started out as a very sad oneshot, but… Somehow, it evolved and kind of took on a life of its own. I don't think a oneshot would do the story any justice.

Disclaimer: In my dreams. D:


"Neeeee, Yuuuuuuuu-chan!"

A pair of sharp, dark blue eyes turned to glare over a broad shoulder. A scowl clouded over the features of the tall, beautiful man, and he paused a second to snap at the irritating red head bounding up to him from behind.

"Baka Usagi, don't call me by my given name!"

"Ah, Yuu-chan, why so grumpy? You should be excited! It's the beginning of our last year! We're seniors now!"

Seniors, indeed. It hardly felt like Kanda had been attending Tokyo University of the Performing and Visual Arts for three years already, but in just on year, he'd be graduating. Not that he cared all that much about it, anyway…

"Che. Only an idiot like you would get excited about that."

"But Yuu-chaaaannnn…"

What was the point of being excited? There was still a whole year before graduation, it's not like it made any difference. Besides that, in Kanda Yuu's twenty-one years of life, he had rarely ever been excited about anything.

So, Kanda turned back around, shifting the camera bag that hung off one shoulder before continuing down the sidewalk and up to the gates of the school. Lavi, his red-haired companion, trailed after him, his hands shoved in his pockets, his head tilted back, whistling cheerfully.

"But seriously, Yuu! Seniors! This year is gonna be epic!"

Kanda rolled his eyes and blew a puff of air up at his midnight hair, making his bangs flutter.

"Jeez, Yuu-chan, don't be so enthusiastic about it, you might hurt yourself ther — Ah! Lenalee!"

They had passed through the university's gates now, and Lavi quickly spotted the Chinese beauty. Hearing her name, she turned, violet eyes blinking and black pigtails swinging. She grinned at the two, and scurried over to them.

"Lavi, Kanda!" She chirped, "It's been a while, ne? I got so busy over break, I didn't have much time to call you guys."

"Nah, don't worry about it! I was busy helping ol' Panda-ji-ji at the shop all break, and Kanda never answers his phone, anyway."

"Che."

Lenalee laughed at the two before continuing. "So, are you guys going to the freshman orientation ceremony?"

"Why would we?" Kanda asked, scowling. Lavi pouted at him.

"I wanna go! I mean, you didn't even go to our own orientation ceremony, Yuu-chan. It'll be fun. Besides, isn't that one kid gonna be there?"

"Kid? You mean the pianist, Allen Walker?" Lenalee asked, smiling. Lavi nodded. "Yeah, he's supposed to be playing a piece! He's supposed to be amazing. Only eighteen, but he's been invited to join a ton of famous orchestras all over the world! He turned them all down, though. He wanted to go through college."

Lavi nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, yeah, I read about him! S'posed to be a prodigy. Supposedly, he can hear a song once and play it perfectly by ear. Composed a few songs, too!"

"Yes, it should be really interesting, seeing him play." She turned to glance at Kanda. "So, are you going to go?"

Normally, Kanda would have simply said no and walked away. However, before he could stop himself, he heard himself say, "Che, whatever." Lavi gave a cheerful whoop and Lenalee beamed.

Kanda didn't know why he had agreed to their request. Looking back on it months later, he found he was glad he had.

Lenalee and Lavi lead Kanda to the auditorium. It was a huge building with stadium seating and a large stage where all the plays, dances, and performances were held. Presently, a microphone and a grand piano were set up on the stage. They found seats in the middle and waited.

For the first fifteen minutes, the dean of the school made a long, incredibly boring speech, followed by a long lists of announcements and information for the freshmen. Finally, after hearing the man talk for over a half hour, he said, "And now, we have a very special performance by a new student. As you all know, he is already quite the celebrity in the performing world, but I hope you will all accept him just the same. Ladies and gentlemen, Allen Walker-san."

There was a small burst of applause and excited whispering as the boy walked onto the stage. Kanda blinked in surprise. For eighteen, he was quite small, and had the most startling appearance. His hair was snow white and fell to his jaw, and even from the audience, Kanda could see the bright silver of his eyes. There was a strange scar that ran over his left eye, though Kanda could not see it well from where he was sitting, and he was very pale. He wore black slacks, a white shirt, and a gray vest. Also, he wore white gloves.

'This kid's a freak show,' Kanda thought.

The audience fell into a hush as Walker bowed nervously and settled himself on the piano bench. He fidgeted slightly. All the attention seemed to unnerve him a little. Still, he took a deep breath, straightened his back, and placed his hands gently on the keys.

And then he began to play.

Kanda instantly recognized the piece. It was Clair de Lune – a beautiful piece that was known to be terribly difficult to play, even for skilled pianists.

It was beautiful.

The music spilled over the stage into the house, filling every corner of the auditorium. Everyone in the audience sat in complete silence, eyes fixated on the small figure at the piano. The piece wasn't only played perfectly, without a single mistake, but the emotion rang out in every note, clear as day, nearly tangible. It was stunning.

Kanda glanced briefly over at Lavi and Lenalee, who sat next to him. Lavi seemed to be in a stunned awe, and Lenalee actually had tears clinging to her lashes, her hands curled up in her lap. When Kanda dragged his gaze back at the pianist, he had his head bowed, eyes half closed, swaying ever so slightly. He was completely absorbed in his playing

Those five minutes seemed to last an eternity.

The last note hung in the air, shimmering around them for a good ten or fifteen seconds before the spell broke. The audience surged to their feet, bursting into wild applause. Walker glanced up, blinking slowly before smiling weakly. He seemed a bit pale and shaky, as if the small performance had drained him somehow, but he rose to his feet and made another clumsy little bow before walking off stage.

As soon as he was gone, Lavi and Lenalee jumped to their feet, scurrying off just as the dean was coming back on stage. Kanda, confused, followed after them.

As soon as they were out of the auditorium, they began talking.

"That was amazing!" Lavi crowed, eyes wide and bright. Lenalee nodded several times.

"We have to talk to him!" She cried, a wide smile on her face, "Come on, he'll be coming out of the back door."

They followed Lenalee (Kanda was beginning to wonder why he still felt compelled to follow the two…) to an alley way at the side of the building, where the performers or actors or whoever happened to be on the stage at the moment exited. Sure enough, just as they walked into the alley, the door swung open, and out came Allen Walker. He blinked up at them, looking startled.

"Ah, hello…" He said slowly, smiling shyly. Immediately, Lenalee (who was blushing slightly), spoke up.

"Hello! We saw your performance and we wanted to meat you!"

"Yeah, it was really great!" Lavi said with a friendly grin, "Name's Lavi."

"I'm Lee Lenalee," Lenalee said, before pointing at Kanda, "And that's Kanda. I… I was very touched by your playing. Clair de Lune is one of my favorite pieces, and you played it so beautifully…"

The white haired boy blushed, and he gave another shy smile. "Thank you very much… I'm Allen Walker, it's nice to meet you all…"

"Ah!" Lavi said suddenly, blinking, "You have an accent!"

Lenalee tilted her head slightly. "You do, don't you? But you speak Japanese very well… Where are you from, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Um, well, I was born and raised in London, but I've traveled all over… I've been living in Japan for about three years now."

Lavi grinned. "I thought you might be British. I'm good with recognizing accents! I'm from America."

"Eh? Really? You don't have an accent."

"Nah, I've been living in Japan for years, I ditched it forever ago. The only one here who's a native Japanese is Kanda. Lenalee is from China."

"Really?" Allen asked again, smiling a more easy smile now, "So you guys are all friends, then?"

"You bet! Me and Yuu-chan here—"

"Don't use my first name, idiot—"

"—Are seniors. I'm a film major, and Kanda is photography. Lenalee is a sophomore, and she's a dance major. You're a first year, ne? Orchestra major, am I right?"

"Ah… Yes, I am…"

"Then stick with us, kid!" Lavi cheered, suddenly swooping down on Allen, throwing an arm around his shoulder. "We'll take care of ya!"

"Yes!" Lenalee agreed. "Let's be friends!"

Allen, for a moment, seemed overwhelmed. But, slowly, he nodded.

"Alright," he said softly, a gentle smile on his face and in his eyes. "Yoroshiku onegaishimasu, Lavi-san, Lenalee-san, and… Kanda-san, right?"

Allen turned to look up at Kanda, still smiling. Kanda narrowed his eyes at the shorter boy.

Something about this kid bugged him. He was too polite, too kind. His smiles seemed slightly strained, just a tiny bit forced. Not to mention his bizarre looks. Now, standing this close to him, Kanda was able to see that his white hair really was his natural color, and not bleached. The scar running over his left eye had a strange, precise shape, almost as if it had been carved onto his face – a pentacle on his forehead, a long line running down his eyebrow and eye and down his cheek before curving. Everything about him seemed abnormally pale.

It bugged him.

"Che," Kanda said, glaring, "Stay out of my way, Moyashi."

And that was how Kanda Yuu met Allen Walker.

WELL! That's that.

What do you guys think?

I know, a bit on the short side, but the next one will be slightly longer. Forgive any grammatical errors, I don't have a beta, and am correcting it myself.

I wish summaries could be longer! I tried to work in that they're all art students in the summary, but no matter how many times I wrote it, I couldn't quite fit it all in while still letting it flow nicely. -Sighs- Oh well.

Well, I guess that's all I have to say for now! Next time we'll get a peek into Kanda's life, and learn about Allen's illness. Should be interesting. And I'm wondering how I should go about writing a depressed!Kanda. 'Cause that's what he is, after all, thinking his life is meaningless, no reason to live, etc., etc. Should I make him ever-so-slightly suicidal…? Not that he would go through with it… Well, Kanda's selfish enough to kill himself, but I think he'd figure it to be the pussy's way out. xDDD I don't know, maybe I'm thinking to hard.

So…

…

That's it. Review, please? –Sparkly eyes- It'll make me update sooner~