D. Gray-Swan

Disclaimer: D. Gray-Man is the property Katsura Hoshino

What to expect: AU, shounen-ai (boys love), not a gender bender, no ballet, happy ending

Pairing: Kanda Yuu x Allen Walker

Summary: Swan Lake in D. Gray-Man style

Author's Note: I'd be glad to accept correction for any mistake – be it spelling, punctuation, grammatical or misinformation. I use British English for this story, by the way.


Having no heir to his throne, King Mana Walker adopted a boy on one Christmas day. For years, the boy, whom he named Allen Walker, was educated with all sorts of political affairs, literature and martial arts befitting for a prince. In order to make a man out of his foster son, King Mana sent the currently fifteen-year-old prince under the apprentice of a legendary exorcist named Cross Marian. Little had the king known that despite his general status, Cross Marian was a drunkard, frolic and frivolous womaniser who never visited a place without leaving huge debts.

Conveniently for the general, Prince Allen Walker constantly worked to pay off the older man's debts. Of course, given the vast amount of Cross Marian's debts, working alone would not suffice; Allen had to cheat in gambling and through years of bitter experience, he had become the master of tricks. Cross and Allen normally roamed from one place to another to slay akuma as well as to escape from debt collectors.

One day, however, Allen woke up only to find out that his teacher had completely disappeared, leaving him only with a winged golem named Timcappy and a message recorded within the golem 'Your training with me is completed, brat. Go back to your daddy!'

Thus, Prince Allen journeyed back to King Mana's kingdom. On his way, he met half a dozen akuma and pursued them until he arrived at a lake. He battled the akuma there, but six against one was not as easy as he would like it to be. Just as he was cornered and his innocence, Crown Clown, was thrown into the water, and four of the remaining akuma were attacking him simultaneously, help came unexpectedly.

There, as the hazy beams of the moon shone over the lake, five swimming swans transformed into hominid figures. The first swan became a vampiric man and sunk his teeth into an akuma. The second swan became a scarlet haired boy who burnt the akuma with the hit of his extendable gigantic hammer. The third swan became a woman who retrieved Crown Clown by means of a time orb. The fourth swan became a raven haired girl who trampled the akuma with her dark boots. The last and the most beautiful swan of all became a young man with cascading black hair who slashed the akuma with his katana sword.

Soon all the akuma were down and Allen thanked his saviours. He also admired them for their ability to transform themselves into swans.

'Actually we were cursed. We can only return to our human form as long as there's moonlight,' said the red-headed youth.

At the mention of these words, the raven-haired young man turned his heel to practice his swordsmanship by the lake. The girl with equally long black hair chose to sit on a rock yonder.

'Please excuse them; they had heard enough of us retelling the tale of our cruel fate to strangers, whom all so far failed to break the curse,' explained the vampire-like man.

'We used to be exorcists from the Kingdom of the Black Order, ruled by King Komui. That girl, Lenalee, was a princess, the king's precious little sister. I am Miranda Lotto, her nanny, and the three gentlemen here are her personal guards: Kanda Yuu at that far end, Lavi on my left and Arystar Krory III on my right hand side.

An evil wizard who identified himself as the Millennium Earl wanted to dominate the world with akuma and cursed us in this form to prevent us from slaying his creations. Before he left, however, he said that this curse will be lifted as soon as someone declared a vow of everlasting love to one of us. Nevertheless, he also tied each of our innocence to this lake; if we leave this place, we will no longer be exorcists. And it really is difficult to get that someone. You see, this lake is invisible, inaudible and intangible to those without innocence. In other words, only an exorcist can save us. Six exorcists came here before you; all failed owing to the Millennium Earl's schemes.' The woman finished her explanation.

'Can't you leave the lake and live an ordinary, non-exorcist, life?' asked Allen.

'Eight of our former colleagues did that,' answered Krory, 'As for us, we refuse to give up our hope of being exorcists.'

'So,' asked Lavi, 'what do you think of our princess?'

Allen instinctively looked at Lenalee. Before long, however, his attention turned to Lenalee's background.

As the cool nocturnal breeze gently swayed the sombre foliages, Kanda Yuu swung his sword in rhythmic motions. The steel of its blade glinted in the dark like a dazzling star in the firmament. The air wafted his hair in an ethereal dance. The drops of sweat splattered around him as he moved, incandescent like sparkling jewels.

Gorgeous. Stunningly gorgeous, Allen thought. His heart thumped very loudly it was painful to keep. How he craved to approach the sword dancer and spar with him or embrace him—whichever the warrior preferred! However, Lavi's nudge brought him back to reality.

'Pardon?' gasped Allen.

'I asked what you thought of our princess,' insisted the scarlet head with an air of impatience.

'Oh, uh … she's beautiful and strong and doesn't seem to have anything to criticise.'

'So you agree then?' Lavi asked again.

'Agree for what?' asked the confused Allen back.

'Why, to love her of course!

'Oh! At long last, a saviour for us!' gasped Miranda in exhilarated tone.

Allen made a protest 'True love can't suddenly appear just because one decides it.' But his voice was overwhelmed by Miranda's hysterical laughs and Krory's joyous cries.

'Well, well, well, what have we got here?' a frivolous yet icy voice greeted them.

Miranda and Krory fell silent at once. Lavi pulled his hammer. Lenalee rose from her seat and Kanda approached hastily.

Allen's left eye indicated the figure before him was an awfully strong akuma, stronger by far to those he had ever faced. Is this the so-called Millennium Earl?

'Good evening,' he said 'young Prince Walker, your father struggled against me to the very end.'

'You killed my father?' the prince asked in disbelief.

'Yes indeed, my boy. The old king Mana begged me to spare his subjects while dying, which I did. His loyal advisor wept so hard when the king died and pleaded to me to resurrect him, which of course I graciously did too … as an akuma. Funny isn't it, the old King Mana begged me to spare his subjects, but obliterated them himself, along with his entire kingdom?' The wizard laughed high-pitched cackles. Then, with a wave of his hand, he summoned the akuma-form Mana Walker.

Allen stared at the akuma in shock. 'Pa … pa…?' His voice was simultaneously shaking with pity and seething with rage. He had not thanked the king properly enough for adopting him. He had not done anything which could make his foster father proud. He still wanted to bid him good morning everyday, discuss more books with him, play the piano for him, have their dinner together… There were so many activities a son could still share with his father, yet, the wizard before him robbed his father's life in his maniacal laughs. And now, the once known as the kindest king and father had been reduced to something worse than death: a killing machine.

The Mana Walker akuma started attacking. Allen could only dodge. The akuma lunged again and again. Yet again, Allen could not bear to counterattack the figure opposite him. How could he bring himself to hurt the one who used to tell him bedtime stories and nurse him when he had been sick?

'Allen, he isn't your father!' Krory shouted as he himself, along with the other exorcists, was engaged in combat with the Millennium Earl's other akuma.

I know, but still I can't. Allen gripped Clowd Crown hard. His eyes were at the verge of tears. There was nobody else to hug.

'Kill me, Allen, for I do not wish to kill anymore. Please, let my suffering end!' Allen heard a voice emanating from his opponent's mouth. The voice was no longer Mana's gentle one, but somehow blended with a hoarse, grisly akuma voice.

No longer able to hold back his tears, Allen did what he was told. 'Rest in peace, papa. And thank you.'

'No, it is I who thank you, my son,' replied the akuma before breaking into fine particles and vanished from sight.

The prince now turned his attention to the Millennium Earl and charged without further warning.

The snow-haired prince kept attacking in frustration. Nonetheless, whatever the prince did, the Millennium Earl deflected his offences with ease. Having conquered their respective opponents too, the other exorcist joined the fight, but this did not change anything. The Millennium Earl was simply too powerful for them.

On one particular simultaneous attack, however, Allen's left eye detected something flickered within the wizard's head, where his cerebellum supposed to be. The light only shone for a fraction of second, so Allen couldn't be so sure. Nonetheless, when the ephemeral light returned for the second and third time, Allen got the hunch on where to strike.

Remembering about the required vow, he glanced at Kanda Yuu. That very moment, woe and rage left him, only to be replaced by the desire to love. One brief look was enough to figure out his feeling: this person was to be his future; no one else would do.

'Fellow exorcists and you, wizard, be my witness: I vow that for as long as the breath of life still lingers within me, nothing will extinguish this everlasting love of mine.' With these words, he struck the particular spot.

The Millennium Earl yelped in pain. Yet, he managed to call his daughter 'Lulu Bell, come, help your father!'

With a gush of the wind, a black cat appeared out of nowhere. The bell on her collar jingled as she trod gracefully on the dark earth beneath her claws. After just a few steps, however, the cat scratched the ground and produced a gale which blew away a vast quantity of leaves and blocked their view. When the leaf storm subsided, there were two identical Lenalees standing side-by-side.

'Not that trick again!' protested Krory.

The wizard sniggered 'Now then, little prince Allen, how can you declare the vow of everlasting love without knowing how to distinguish the real princess? Your left eye can reveal an Akuma's true form, but it cannot do anything special against a Noah—my child!'

'Ah, but does your daughter not mind when I crush her bell if she does not return to her cat form within ten seconds?' Allen sneered, placing the bell on the ground with his left foot directly above it. Years of harsh training with Cross Marian had made him a skilful gambling cheater in many ways.

'9…'

'8…'

The Lenalee on Allen's right hand side turned into a cat at the sound of '7'.

'You foolish girl! I can give you millions of bells!' the Millennium Earl reprimanded her.

'No!' she objected 'You know how important that one is!'

'Worthless creature!' snapped the wizard who then pointed his finger toward her. The cat fell lifelessly in an instant. The wizard, on the contrary, regained a new strength.

'She's your daughter; how could you!' Lenalee told him reproachfully.

'I can do whatever I please to my creations, most especially if they can be of any use by replenishing energy to my wounded state.' answered the wizard coldly.

The wizard lifted his hand again, ready to chant a new curse, but he then screamed in agony instead 'AAAAAAHHH!' He covered his head by both hands. 'You!' he glared at Allen 'What did you do to my brain?!'

'I smeared Clown Crown with the holy water which my teacher normally uses when he modifies an akuma. It is supposed to torment the victim inwardly whenever he or she attacks a living human, exorcist or not. The holy water must have begun to fuse with your blood the moment I plunged my sword into your head.'

'Curse you!' the Millennium Earl shrieked in anguish.

The six exorcists, however, attacked the wizard altogether, piercing the particular spot where Clown Crown once did. The evil wizard met his end at long last. As dawn painted the sky with her rosy colour, the Millennium Earl's body dispersed into thin air.

'Hurray! The evil wizard's dead, we're curse-free!' Krory pointed at the five exorcists, including himself, who were still in their human form despite the absence of moonlight.

Lavi remarked cheerfully 'We were glad enough to accept any exorcist to be our princess' suitor, but since you're a prince, that's all the better! So, when's the wedding?'

Everyone was too taken aback by Lavi's abrupt ingenuousness to notice Kanda's change of expression. Only seconds ago the samurai had smiled, glad to have his human form back permanently. Now he looked grim as ever, if not grimmer.

Allen hated to spoil happiness, but he had to tell these exorcists the truth sooner or later. 'I don't want to marry your princess.'

'How dare you treat Princess Lenalee like that? She isn't the kind of girl who would share your bed without proper documents and blessings!' Miranda rebuked him.

'Princess Lenalee is a pretty and honourable lady, but I have no infatuation for her,' explained Allen.

Lavi groaned in an exasperated tone 'I can't believe you still try to deny your affection after your very own vow of everlasting love; it wouldn't have worked unless you meant it with all your heart!'

'I didn't mention her name,' Allen said quietly. Unfortunately, he had no clue that the Kanda's face seemed less grouchy than usual at the sound of his words, as Lavi demanded all his attention at the moment.

'Does it matter? Judging from the way you looked at her earlier, it's obvious that you're head-over-heels!' replied Lavi in mild agitation.

'How did he look at her?' asked Miranda out of curiosity.

Lavi answered triumphantly 'He looked at her direction without blinking to the point of almost drooling when I nudged him to get his confirmation.'

'Ooh!' Miranda and Krory grinned together. Lenalee now blushed uncomfortably. Kanda clenched his fists.

'Ah, love is indeed a beautiful thing! Were my Eliade still alive…' Krory blew his nose with his white handkerchief.

'There, there.' Miranda patted Krory's back.

'I'm sorry.' Allen affirmed 'I cannot marry this princess.' He stole a glance at Kanda and unless his sight deceived him, he thought he saw Kanda's scowl fading away.

'What do you mean you can't?' Lavi's tone was demanding. 'If you are worried about King Komui's reaction when he finds out his dear sister is finally getting married–'

'Lavi, this boy doesn't even know our king!' reminded Krory.

'Uh, yeah, you've got a point there!' Lavi scratched his nose. 'Do carry on, Allen.'

'As you mentioned, I was looking at Princess Lenalee's direction…' Allen swallowed, hesitating to continue.

'Yeah, so?'

'It just happened … that she was not the only one present in that direction.' Allen flushed fervently.

'Oh.' An epiphany at last found its way to Lavi. Lenalee seemed to understand too, for she now wore a wide smile. No wonder the supposedly mutual vow of everlasting love could still work in spite of her absence of feeling for Allen! Kanda, contrarily, quickly turned his back, folded his arms across his chest and took special interest on scrutinising a particular tree branch. Miranda cocked an eyebrow whereas Krory was totally ignorant.

'In that case, we'll wish you the best of luck!' Cheerfully Lavi gathered Miranda, Krory and Lenalee to usher them away.

'What's going on?' asked Krory uncomprehendingly.

'I'll tell you in a moment. Just leave them alone for now! Yuu is one though thing to bend; I can only hope he won't give Allen a hard time.'

Allen, meanwhile, was eyeing the samurai nervously. He gulped and clenched, but these actions did not solve his problem. Oh well, he seems to know anyway. I'd better clarify things. Taking a deep breath, Allen said 'I-I-Iloveyoubutifyoudislikemejustforgetit. Bye!' and turned his heel.

Kanda advanced him, however, by a mere step, so that there was only a few inches gap that separated them.

Allen could clearly hear his palpitating heartbeats and feel some hot air on his cheeks. He saw the handsome young man standing before him, nonetheless, blushing just as much as he was.

'How am I supposed to get what you mean if the only clear parts are the first and last words?' he gave him an intermingled gaze of plea and threat. His face shone brilliantly in the light of the morning sun. His hair streamed back in the rush of the wind.

Allen drew his breath again and answered 'I said that I loved you, but if you disliked me, just forget it.' However, what I really wanted to say was 'I'm so in love with you… will you spend the rest of your life with me?'

'Explain it with action, fool, you're terrible with words!' Kanda replied with false anger.

But I've never learnt sign language. 'Uh, what… what am I to do?' the confused Allen asked him back.

I guess he didn't know that the feelings shared for the vow of everlasting love had to be mutual. That red-headed rabbit must have forgotten to explain the important part! 'Stupid bean sprout, when you love someone, isn't it obvious you should do this?' and Kanda landed a kiss on Allen's lips.

Surprised though Allen was by this sudden invasion, he didn't find it unpleasant to the slightest. In fact, in mere seconds, he parted his lips wider to encourage Kanda delving his tongue inside the cavern of Allen's mouth. He took his time enjoying Kanda's series of tongue onslaughts, then, as the raven-haired samurai panted for air, he launched his own counterattack. Kanda was caught unprepared. Allen's tongue was now caressing his tongue as well as many spots within his mouth, teasing him in every possible way on every available opportunity.

When their kiss finally ended, the samurai glared at his prince charming. How dare this boy poison him with his intoxicating kiss? Now he had to get more and more kisses to cure this new disease.

Allen gazed at Kanda nervously. 'Does this mean that you love me too, Yuu?'

Kanda's stomach gave him a jolt. How come the name 'Yuu' sounded annoying when others called it, but sounded addictively delightful when it came out of Allen Walker's mouth?

'Do you want me to prove it with action?' challenged the samurai.

'Yes, please.' Allen's eyes twinkled and he enclosed his arms around Kanda's neck when his boyfriend proceeded to their next kiss.

From behind the bushes, the remaining four exorcists were watching the scene unfold.

'Aw, they're kissing again! How romantic!' Miranda commented excitedly.

'Oh, l'amour!' Krory wiped his tears.

'They'll hear you!' Lenalee hushed Krory before he went on to a loud wail, and then questioned Lavi 'What's going to happen to them, do you think?'

Lavi grinned. 'Let's see … the Kingdom of Black Order is running short of exorcists, in case other enemies should appear. The poor bloke has nowhere to return to and is madly in love with our colleague. King Komui would be delighted to see that Allen can lend us his strength without being your potential suitor, Lenalee. All's well that ends well.'

THE END