Bringing Back a Smile:
Disclaimer: D. Gray-man is not owned by me, unfortunately.... xD
Pre-author's note: This is my first attempt at writing a multi-chapter fiction, and I am a new writer at . Reviews are very kindly appreciated (may make me update faster). Lavi and Kanda and Cross will be in the second chapter. The prologue details on Allen's life before going to Black Order Academy.
The Prologue:
The night was a dead, barren field; it was the remains of a cold battle, where the victors smirked above, high in the sky, while the lost lay limp on the ground, defeated. It was raining that night, the clouds stormy above, the sky black, like the azure depth of an ocean, obscure, unknown, and fearful. White streaks of light flashed above, like heavy strokes against the pitch black of the sky, bringing with it the destructive roar of the sky.
He stood in rain, ignoring the feel of water plummeting down onto him. Panicking, he ran down the long alley, searching desperately, his heart beating frantically in his chest. The rain obscured his path, droplets running down his forehead, clinging onto his clothing, weighing him down further. Fear inched into him, and he ran faster, harder down the long alley, leaving behind the splash of the puddles-was he too late?
He willed himself to concentrate, the storm thundering above, the rainwater seeping into his clothes, his skin slowly becoming numb, like ice. Wet strands of his peculiar silvery hair clung to his face, wind mindlessly rushing past him, a shiver crawling up his spine. He continued to run, ignorant of the burning pain in his ribcage, or the pounding ache in his head.
There was a slight opening in the alleyway, the route breaking into three ways: right, left or straight. The boy stopped, wary of the thunderous boom in the sky, the beat of the rain against the cement-the sound of gunshots hammered in his ear, echoing against the narrow walls of the alleyway. He ran towards the sound, ignorant of the danger, of his vulnerability, of the risks.
And then there was the blood, pooling onto the cement, the victim staring blankly at the sky, muttering final words.
"MANA!!!!" he screamed, oblivious of the other presence, hidden by the dark of the night. He ran forward, voice choked, tears threatening to spill out.
There was the look of disbelief evident on Mana's once so loving face. A deep, red liquid surrounded him, pooling around his head, staining his white shirt, and Mana grabbed the boy's hand, pulled it forwards. The boy staggered into his shirt, and Mana wrapped his arms protectively around him. Allen winced at the nauseating smell of blood which filled the air, and he closed his mouth, trying not to breathe. Mana glanced down and gave a slight chuckle at his reaction, and Allen reacted quickly, looking worriedly into Mana's eyes. Blood seeped into the fabric of Allen's already wet attire, but he painfully ignored it, focusing entirely on Mana.
"...Allen...," Mana coughed slightly, turning his head sideways to let the blood from his mouth fall onto the groud. Allen gaped fearfully at the blood on the ground, and quickly motioned for his guardian to stand up.
"Come on...," Allen pleaded uneasily, an apprehensive look plastered onto his face, "we have to go to a hospital."
Tiredly, Mana shook his head. Allen understanding quickly, crumbled into his shirt. He was wrecked and livid. His eyes strayed downwards, watching the rain dilute the blood that was everywhere. Allen's trembling hands reached up to his cheeks, his mind working furiously to understand the concept. Mana was going to die.
"But why?" he whimpered, looking at the gloomy sky overhead. "Why must God be so cruel? Why do you have to die?"
I believed in you, and you let me, no, Mana fall. Why God, why?
The heavens above cried with him, the rain never ceasing, the lightning still thundering above.
Mana's hand pressed softly against the flesh of Allen's cheeks, staining it with thick, red blood. Allen looked up through teary eyes, noticing that smile imprinted on his face. Allen refused to understand it and refused to understand the significance it held; instead, tears crawled faster down his cheeks, smearing on Mana's bloodied face. How could he smile?
"Why?" he cried softly, "why are you able to make that smile when you're on the verge of death? Why Mana?"
Mana silently placed a finger to the boy's wet, trembling lips, bringing his head up to Allen's red ear. Then ever so softly, soft gentle words poured out from his lips, the thunder above drowning them out, yet Allen could hear them perfectly. And then, in a flash of white light from above, Allen could feel the coldness of his guardian's finger on his lips, and slowly, the finger retreated, crashing onto the pavement. Mana's smile disappeared, and Allen watched as time slowed itself. Mana dropped backwards, his body colliding into the bloody puddle behind him, water splashing under his weight. Tears poured down Allen's face, mixing with Mana's blood below, his eyes widening in a shocking revelation. Mana lay still, motionless under the pouring rain.
"MANA!" Allen screamed. He felt for the hand, picked it up blindly, waiting for a pulse. None came. In desperation, he shook his guardian, the blood splashing violently under his head, staining his face further, Mana's hair fading into crimson.
No, he wasn't dead. Mana couldn't die. He wouldn't. Mana wasn't dead. Allen shook his head, the prospect of Mana being dead unnerving and cold to his ears. The rain pelted down, his tears falling along with it, and Allen felt numb. He couldn't understand. How could a person be perfectly fine one minute, and then dead the next? And yet, a part of him told the truth, Mana was dead. He just refused to believe it and pushed back his memories with his adoptive parent, willing them away.
"Everything will be normal," he chanted to himself wearily, "Mana is not dead, he just can't be."
Still, the tears trickled away, his eyes burning; his eyelids were sore due to the huge amount of crying. Yet, it still persisted. The tears wouldn't stop. Allen's metallic eyes looked again towards the body of his parent, looked at the blood, and then...he screamed.
He screamed at God, for taking his pure soul away, he screamed at himself for not being able to save the person he loved most. And he screamed at his stained body, full of Mana's blood. He was cursed. He had always been cursed. And then he realized: it was his fault that Mana died.
He turned around, not noticing the figure from the wall stepping towards him. Allen stood up, ready to go to the police, tell them what happened. His future was in jeopardy now. He felt cold, uncaring, and took a slight glance towards his parent.
Goodbye, he thought solemnly, goodbye.
With a final look, he turned away, emotions welding in him yet again, and he began to cry. He was so weak, a coward and worse, a curse.
"Stop it," a voice demanded harshly, trailing behind him, tingling his neck. Allen jumped slightly.
Who was it?
A cool metallic object pressed firmly onto the back of his head. Fear instilled in his system, tears still flowing down his cheeks, eyes widening even further.
There was a chuckle, and then an amused laugh. Allen froze, completely rigid, and he turned his head slightly backwards to see his attacker. Two gold orbs stared intently back at him. Dark, black crosses tattooed onto his forehead in a straight line under his tall black hat and long black curly hair. It was a Portuguese man.
At first, he was mesmerized by his eyes, the color of pure gold. They were unnatural, an eye color he had never seen before. But then, Allen remembered the gun on his head, and stilled immediately, forcing his face to be impassive. He was determined not to let his feelings show to this stranger. He felt the gun draw back. Then, roughly, he was turned around, Allen wincing at the motion.
"Who are you?" he asked, forcing his voice to stay levelled. Confidently, through teary eyes, he faced his attacker, noticing that the gun was now pointed towards his stomach.
"Oh," he sneered, enjoying the look of displeasure on the boy's face, "just the one who killed your beloved parent."
The man shrugged, anger and hatred flaring in Allen's chest.
"What did Mana ever do to you?" Allen yelled, clenching his fists tightly. The man now held the gun slightly lower, faltering slightly. For a moment, the killer regarded the boy with a confused, yet incredulous expression. Then his expression changed to a much more demonic smile, and he eased Allen's chin upwards with his gloved hand.
"Sorry," he hissed sourly, "I don't know any Mana's."
The boy looked at him strangely, confusion sparking in the deep depths of his eyes. Allen looked away, not wanting that man to see his confused state, and his anguish. The rain poured down harder onto the two, the thunder striking through the sky faster, louder than before.
"Then why?" his voice shook, broke under the weight of the words. "Why did you kill Mana?"
"I'm only familiar with the Fourteenth," the man reprimanded icily, obviously angered by the topic." You're guardian was a traitor to our clan: the Noah. I'm an assassin who was sent to kill him."
Allen looked at him, obviously confused regarding the matter. Mana a killer?
"Mana wasn't a killer, he wasn't," he whimpered softly, disbelief present in his voice.
The man sighed exasperatedly, bored of this conversation, "I guess you didn't know him as well as you thought."
The man let go of the boy's chin, thinking of the possible reasons why his so-called partner wasn't with him. In truth, he felt aggravated. The girl had promised to "clean-up" with him. He reloaded his gun quickly, unaccustomed with the prospect of having to kill a child. But a job was a job. No one would live to know what the Noah was: a secret organization. He might've slipped some valuable information to the young child, but, tough luck.
He looked down. The boy still wore an impassive face, but his eyes, they showed his fear, his agitation. What a stubborn boy. He thought of Road, his female partner, and grunted, before raising his gun and pointing it at the boy's stomach.
"What's your name?" he heard the boy demand. He grinned. One shot was all he needed. His gun rose higher, to the boy's chest, and smirked. An easy victory.
Well, he thought, this will be interesting.
Allen couldn't understand. Mana wasn't a killer in any sense. What was this man talking about? The fourteenth? The Noah?
"What's your name," Allen heard himself demand. The assassin turned his head to look at him, clearly amused. Then, the gun rose, pointed at his chest.
Allen felt his heartbeat rush into his ears, and the gun rested at his chest, poking at his flesh. His heart beat wildly, and Allen vaguely wondered if the murderer could hear it, or even feel it.
"Sorry boy," he heard the assassin state in a pure silky voice, "I doubt you'll be alive to remember my name."
Another gunshot rang in the night; Allen screamed, the wind carrying his voice away, leaving only traces of what there was. A blinding pain shot through his body, a flaming liquid fire encasing the wound. Pain, hot, scalding pain spread quickly, and as he looked down, he could also see a red circle growing on his chest. Black dots covered Allen's vision, and he fell forwards.
"My name...," he heard faintly, his vision blurring, "...is Tyki....You can take it to your grave."
Black spots covered his vision, his whole world turning black-and he knew nothing more.
"Live your life...without regrets." Mana's voice lingered behind, fading into night, slowly breaking... and fading...into nothing.
The accompaniment of the Portuguese man arrived shortly after, staring immensely at the new sight. She was a girl with blue spiky locks which defied gravity, and also had crosses embedded into her forehead.
"Tyki-pon," she cussed, "who is that?"
Tyki looked at the boy's motionless form cunningly, while his partner kicked the body, disinterested. The boy's silver hair was wet, the tips embedded with blood. She glared hotly at her partner.
"Why didn't you wait for me, baka!" she screeched."The boy is actually quite good-looking."
She pursed her lips, and waited for Tyki's response. Tyki chuckled at his partner's reaction, covering his mouth with a white gloved hand. If it were her, then she'd probably torture the boy to death, presumably with her candle knives.
"Rhode, my dear niece, I am sure you wouldn't be interested in him anyways," Tyki replied easily, guiding her to the other body. To this, she smiled, looking at the corpse with satisfaction.
The man then gestured to the bodies lying on the street, blood circling the bodies in a horrible oval. "Why don't you clean that up?"
The girl smiled maliciously, "Why, that's what I do best."
She looked at the boy's lifeless form, "And, as they say, I'll leave the best for last."
Author's Note: I deeply apologize for the shortness!
But no worries~! ;D the next chapter surely will be longer!
Please forgive any mistakes that you find in it! akai_yuurei is very sowwies for any you find. Please comment so I can fix it. xDD
I am thinking of writing a pairing but I'm not sure what. Right now its between Yullen or Laven. Please let me know of what you want! And reviews are kindly appreciated! (I may update quicker xDD) Vote in my profile! Reviews are kindly appreciated...........The next chapter may be in 2-3 weeks. And yes, Allen will be in school next chapter xD.
Chapter 1 Preview: "Who the fuck are you moyashi?" the long haired stranger asked. The only response he got however, was a fist in his face.