Disclaimer: I don't own D. Gray-Man
Summary: Allen doesn't want to be where he is anymore. He doesn't want to be held down anymore. His lust for adventure leads him on an emotional, heartbreaking, romantic journey of love, friendship, betrayal and trust.
Join him as he enters the world of Travelers.
Chapter 1: Building Tension
Part 1: Sheets
Slower...
And slower...
And slower...
The tick of the clock was beginning to get to me, and every second seemed to take longer than the last.
Why was I even sitting here, anyways?
It wasn't my fault...
It was all his fault. It was always his fault. All of this was his fault.
If it hadn't of been for him, I would have never gotten into this situation. I would've never had to of lived the life that I did. I would have never had to of seen the things I did, experienced the things I did, dealt with the things I did...
But did I really regret it? Or was it only because I was angry at this specific moment?
Would I really ever want to go back and change any of it?
Would I really go back and change how this had started?
How it had started...
("...")
Silence.
That was one thing that bugged me; when two people were in a room together and there was only silence. No music, no talking, no sounds of people on the streets; just the buzzing of the lights and the odd creaks and sounds of the old house we sat in.
It wasn't necessarily an awkward silence, but I had a feeling the man who was next to me was trying to be an ass.
"Is everything ready, then?" I asked, breaking into the stiffling quiet.
"Hmm...just about." The man said vaguely, picking at his nails with an absent expression.
"Why are you still here then?" I asked, looking at him with a glare. He always stayed past his welcome time.
"Calm down, you little brat." He sighed. His mane of red hair covered his face, which would have been handsome if it weren't his. "Mana's letting me stay for the night. Don't try rushing me out the door."
"Why would Mana let you stay the night?" I asked, surprised.
"Who knows. I guess he's just not a rude little shit like you are." Was his reply, and I snapped my teeth together sharply.
"You're not welcome here," I hissed before shoving my chair back and standing up, leaving the room.
Why did he have to piss me off so much?
It was at that time...That everything was about to change...
"Mana, why are you letting Cross stay here?" I asked, pushing the door to Mana's small home office open. Mana sat at his desk, his head bent over his work, his shaggy brown hair hiding his face like a curtain.
"He's currently a very important puzzle piece," was his reply. I stared blankly at the man who called me son.
"A puzzle piece to what?" I asked, the accusation in my voice clear.
Mana sat up, detecting something in my tone. He gave me a pondering look, then sighed. "Look, Allen. Right now we need Marian. Things can't progress if tonight doesn't happen."
"What are you talking about?" I asked, utterly confused. I hated when Mana got like this, like some wise old man who could predict the future. Though sometimes I wondered, with Mana.
"Nothing, Allen..." Mana sighed, giving me a small smile. "Look, it's getting late. Why don't you go to bed or watch a movie or something?"
"I've watched all the movies we own, and the movie store's closed." I said. "We don't exactly have cable, so I can't watch TV, if you were going to suggest that next."
"I know, I know..." Mana sighed, glancing at his wrist watch. "It' only ten thirty on a Saturday night..." He muttered, before looking me in the eyes again. "Why don't you go to a party or something?"
I took a deep breath, smiling.
It wasn't a very happy smile.
"Who the hell do you think I am?" I asked bluntly. "I'm not going to a party."
"Ugh, why can't you just be like other teenagers?" Mana muttered, rolling his eyes. He pushed back his chair so it rolled across the little space he had in his office, which was painted a navy blue, a single office lamp above his work on his desk and a more homey one on the filing cabinet in the left corner by the window. The whole room was taken up by filing cabnets, and it wasn't a very big room, except for his working area, which only went across about three quarters of the right side wall, from where I was standing.
"Why can't you be like a normal parent and be happy that I'm different?" I asked.
"Maybe I could be like a normal parent if I had ever actually experienced that kind of thing in the first place. It's difficult to want something you already have." Mana pointed out, swirling in his chair so he could open the filing cabnet in front of him.
"What are you working on?" I asked, changing the subject. I didn't feel like having this argument right now.
"New building. My boss said to make it as creative as possible this time. He said to make it the reason people came to this town to visit: to see the most amazing and wonderful hotel in all of British Columbia." Mana said while skillfully searching through his files. He paused, pulled something out, and continued.
"Really? He's trusting you for creativity?" I asked, though I wasn't being sarcastic this time. "That's great! Knowing you, you're probably going to make some absolutely crazy thing that kids will go crazy over and adults will shake their heads at."
Mana had a tendency to do things like that. He was amazing with children and entertaining them. It was like he knew exactly what they liked, like he could read their minds.
Sometimes I wondered if he had read mine.
"It has to be equal, so I'm going to design a gaming room for teenagers, a play room for kids, a rec room for men, a Japanese style bathhouse, a lounging room, a cafe, an internet room, some kind of room specifically for women, and a pool room that will be better than any swimming pool you've ever seen."
"And...are they going to be able to afford all of your ideas?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Well I would sure hope so, with Marian on their side."
"Wait, what?" I asked, blinking in confusion. "Marian...as in Cross Marian? The one sitting in our kitchen and who smells like smoke and stale alcohol and doesn't look like he's had a shower in weeks?"
"I don't know why he likes to look like that..."Mana sighed.
"Don't change the subject!" I cried out hysterically.
"Yes." Mana said, looking at me with a frown. "Marian's not some bum who doesn't know how to spend his money. He's a billionaire."
"If he's a billionaire shouldn't I have heard of him by now, instead of him being some stinky perverted old man who I've had to deal with for years?" I demanded, beginning to feel more and more incredulous.
"Marian's not very well known to the world except for by the top corporations, like say NASA and hotels and stuff. Hotels actually know about him because he's a customer." Mana glanced behind me before continuing. "Mana's here because we're old, old friends. That's why you've known him for so long. However, he's also one of the richest men in the world. Not the richest, but damn near close. Because he's here, he decided he'd come into my work...
"I was in a meeting, and the only reason he was aloud up was because as soon as my boss heard his name he nearly choked on the sandwich he had been eating. When Marian arrived upstairs, I had just finished getting the promotion to make the new hotel we had been hired to build, and when Marian heard that he said he wouldn't mind an actually creative hotel.
"So, after a few minutes of talking, Marian said he would back us up on money and keep our budget going, and in return I was aloud to be as creative and daring as I wanted to be. So, my boss said to make the best building in all of BC."
"Nice story." Was all I said, but I was smiling.
"Well, long story short, without Marian I can't make my dream building." Mana sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. "But unfortunately blueprints for a building made by me are a lot harder to create than normal ones."
"So that's what you're doing? Starting blueprints?" I asked.
"Yes. I need to get a laptop soon, or else I'm going to go insane and my paper basket is going to fill with pencil nubs." He sighed. "I've already used up ten."
"You get too frustrated with the sharpener, that's why." I pointed out. "You need to stop before it hints the point where the exposed lead is so long and sharp that it breaks off as soon as it touches the paper."
"Yes, yes. That's enough out of you." Mana muttered, glaring at his desk now.
"Can I hear what you've already decided?" I asked.
"Yeah." Mana said, suddenly excited again. "It's going to be ten stories high. Each floor is going to have a different theme. I'm thinking that to get to the next floor, you have to do something different each time. Of course, there'll be the standard elevator for the elderly, injured and stuck up office people who'll only be there for their kids or to simply be in the best hotel ever, but in order to get into the elevator you have to go by an elevator man who'll make sure you're in one of those categories.
"I'm thinking that the first floor will just be normal stairs, just to throw them off, but then the next floor is a rope ladder, and then the next floor maybe some kind of slope, and then maybe a stone corrider...I dont know, I'll figure it out. I have three months to finish the blueprints, so I'll have ideas by then. Sometimes things can only come as they come, and never have any forethought put into them. I'm thinking this hotel's going to have a lot of that..."
I listened to him for the next half hour, going off about his new hotel, and how he was going to make it the most amazing building in history. Honestly, it was intriguing. I never got bored when listening to Mana. But the more he talked about the hotel, the more I began to wonder something...
Did Mana love being an architect or a father more?
I couldn't imagine him being this animated when and if he ever talked about me. I only ever saw him like this when he was making plans for a building or listing off his ideas. Never before had he been this happy, even after I had been away for a week for the first time.
Of course, most of it probably had to do with the fact that I wasn't even actually his child. Why love a child that much when they weren't even your blood?
"Keep walking forward, Allen."
I looked at Mana.
That had been the first thing he had ever said to me after learning my name.
Keep walking forward.
Right now, as things were, it felt like I was at a standstill.
How was I supposed to keep walking forward in a place like this?
"So what do you think?" Mana finished, looking at me with bright eyes.
"I think I need to go to bed. I'll help you with your project when I'm not busy with school, and since Summer's in a week I'll have a lot more free time, but I have an extra class tomorrow for practice exams. You know me, if I don't get enough sleep then I'm like a zombie." I said, avoiding the real answer to his question. What was I supposed to tell him? That I thought he loved it more than me?
"Right." Mana nodded, pretending not to notice my lack of a real answer. More than likely, he probably thought that I didn't like it and didn't want to hurt his feelings, but in reality I thought it was a great idea, and I thought all of his ideas for it were brilliant.
But that's what made me hate it.
It was pathetic, being jealous of few blueprints. My insecurities seemed silly, yet somehow valid.
What if he did love those blueprints more than me? Then I wouldn't just be some paranoid adopted child, hoping my fake parents loved me enough to call me son.
Mana didn't even call me son.
I didn't call him dad, either. Or father. I gave him no other name than what was his, and his name was Mana. It felt wrong to call him anything else, as if I weren't really calling him. Mana was Mana, and that was the only way it could be. Any other name and it wouldn't be right.
But it was doubtful that was the same reason he never called me son, never talked proudly of me to his friends, never brought me to his work parties and introduced me to his bosses.
"Well, good night Allen. I guess you're too old to tuck in now, hm?" Mana looked at me with an almost pained look.
"Yeah, fifteen's a little old." I smiled for his sake, but I honestly didn't find it funny. Who cared how old I was?
"Well, no matter how old you are, I'm still going to wish you sweet dreams, kiddo." Mana smiled at me, wrinkles appearing at the corners of his eyes. How often had he smiled in his past, to actually get those wrinkles?
"Goodnight, Mana." I whispered, giving a soft little quirk of the lips before leaving the room.
My room was cold. Despite the fact that it was nearly time for Summer Vacation and Summer itself had already started, the nights had been chilly lately, and I always kept my window open, whether it was the middle of winter or the middle of Summer.
There were two reasons I kept my window open.
One; I liked the cold. It was comfortable to sleep in the cold.
Two; the stray cat that came in every night.
She wasn't here yet, but I knew she would be. It was almost time.
I sat down on the edge of my bed and stared out the window. The stars were brighter than usual, not so hidden behind pollution and clouds and beams of light. The most probable reason to this was most likely the moon, which was nearly full.
Why did people find it romantic to stare at the stars?
It was out of reach, it was beautiful, it was mystical, but really...did any of them really want to go there? Did any of them really want to soar high in the sky, all the way out to the universe, where the stars would turn into huge chunks of rock and no longer glitter like mystical worlds?
Things were only beautiful from far away. If you got too close...
Not everyone likes the true colors to things.
"Why are you always staring off into the sky when I come?"
I almost jumped, except that the voice was half expected.
"Hey, Lulubell." I whispered, watching as the blonde girl pulled herself into my window. Her long, silky hair seemed to glitter in the moonlight, nearly falling to the floor as she pulled her legs in. When she was perched on my windowsill, her glowing yellow eyes staring into mine, her hair reached all the way down her back.
"Hey, twerp." She whispered. Quietly, she dropped both her feet at the same time onto the floor. A dull thud was heard, but most likely Mana and Cross would only think I had dropped something in my clumsiness. It wouldn't be the first time.
"I was waiting for you." I muttered, half answering her question, half simply pointing it out.
"That's great news. You starting to fall in love with me?" Lulubell gave me a quirky smile before making herself comfortable on my bed.
"The day I fall in love with a person like you is the day hell freezes over," I replied with a sigh. "Why are you wearing yellow contacts again?"
"Because I like them?" Lulubell gave me a pointed look before looking up at my ceiling. "I don't like my plain brown eyes. They're boring. Gray like yours would be nice...you have such nice eyes..."
"Do I really want to be hearing that?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Why? Can't you take a compliment?" Lulubell questioned. "I'm not calling them feminine or anything. They're just a nice color, and a nice shape. They suit your pretty face perfectly."
"You are calling me feminine, aren't you?" I accused, glaring at the girl.
"Now I'm just doing it on purpose," Lulubell chuckled. She stopped, and her eyes met mine again. I knew that intense gaze. Suddenly, her position became a lot more noticable. "You're not feminine, Allen. Doesn't look like you're the same as me, anyways."
Normally, it would be a teasing tone she would say this in. Instead, it was whispered, husky, low.
Her body lay sprawled out on my bed, her fingers curling in gently, her small black shirt rising up her flat stomach a little, her jeans riding low enough to see the curves of her hip bones as they went down, her shirt low enough that just enough cleavage to drive a guy crazy was showing. Her chest moved up and down as she breathed, her knees were slightly bent and her feet, which were still adorned with her little Puma shoes, were flat on my bed.
"Why..." I coughed, trying to get rid of the rough voice I had suddenly achieved. "Why do you come here every night?"
"To see you, idiot." She muttered, sitting up. Her lips were a cherry red, but I knew Lulubell didn't wear lipstick or lip gloss. She didn't like wearing makeup. Honestly, she was beautiful enough without it.
"But...why?" I asked, trying to ignore the fact that she was inching closer to me.
"You're an interesting kid." She said.
The distance finally closed. She pressed herself into my back, wrapping her arms around my waist, her legs slipping out from under her to dangle off the edge of the bed, straddling me.
"How am I interesting?" I whispered in reply, ignoring the thud of my heart as I leaned my head back so it rested on her collar bone.
"Oh, for many different reasons." Lulubell whispered, resting her cheek on the top of my head.
"Do you like molesting little boys?" I asked, noticing the way her hands were beginning to pull at the edges of my shirt.
"I thought you knew the answer to that already."
She didn't let me speak again.
The stray cat who snuck in every night was something I looked forward to in my day.
In a way, Lulubell was like my release.
Not a release in that way, although she did a good job of that as well.
Rather, she was different. Despite the fact that she followed routine in seeing me every night, she was somebody who refused to live like everyone else. She bleached her hair blonde even though it was naturally black, she wore contacts to make herself look more like a feline, she said and did what she wanted without caring about or waiting for others' permission.
She was also at least twenty.
I had never asked her her real age, in fear of her not coming back or getting angry with me, but I knew Lulubell was at least twenty years old. That much was certain. She had already graduated from high school, and had once mentioned classes in university. Also, she appeared to be living on her own, without any sort of care from parents, and was apparently single.
Or at least I hoped she was single, because I would most likely end up being the one who got in trouble if she weren't.
I was amazed that Mana never came up during the night. I was sure we weren't that quiet. Not only did Lulubell not hide her pleasure in things, I had a tenedency to be a little loud sometimes. When I told Lulubell this, she said to just ignore it, that I shouldn't worry about things that are technically better for us.
I had to wonder, though. Did Mana hear us and just do nothing about it, or did he just think it was Cross, or was he really just that oblivious?
Once, I had almost accidentally asked him. However, I had caught myself seconds before I had slipped, mostly because Cross had burst into the door for another one of his 'visits', and I had been too distracted by the smell of booze to remember my question when Mana had asked 'what?'.
"Allen," Lulubell's voice whispered into my ear.
"Hmm?"
"It's almost morning." She continued, her lips brushing against my ear lightly.
"Your point?" I replied.
"I have to go."
I looked out the window. The first hints of dawn were beginning to show.
Why did summer have to have earlier mornings than winter?
"Where are you always going?" I asked, ignoring the grown, naked woman next to me as I rolled over and off my bed. I pulled on my boxers and a t-shirt, what I would usually wear for pajamas.
"Back home, to work, whichever one needs me. I live a demanding life." Lulubell was off the bed in seconds, grabbing her clothes and slipping them on.
"Do you..." I hesitated, then swallowed dryly. "Live with anyone?"
"Yeah. My brother." Lulubell replied carelessly. I wasn't sure I could explain the relief that filled me then. I didn't even care that I had been wrong about my assumption in her living alone. "We live together for conveniences sake, of course. We never get into...personal...business..."
She was pulling her jeans on, which were tighter than I had originally thought. Maybe that was a good thing.
How had we gotten them off so quickly?
"Who's your brother? Does he go to my school?" I asked, curious now.
"Nope. He's younger than me by about two years, but he graduated last year and moved here so he could live with me. He's still a teenager, but he doesn't act like one at all."
"How do you have so many personalities?" I asked curiously as I watched her. When she first arrived, she would be cool and collected and teasing. Then she would become lustful. Afterwards, she became a carefree, happy-go-lucky girl who was able to smile at everything.
"I have a prolematic life. Don't you think you'd have a bunch of different you's if you were living a life like mine?" Lulubell gave me a pointed look before chuckling. "Never mind. I've never told you my life story before."
"Do I even want to know it?" I sighed, watching her as she headed for the window. She paused and turned.
"I think you'd like it." She said, giving me a gentle smile. "But I think I should save it for when you're older. I don't want you getting ideas."
"What do you mean by that?" I asked, blinking in surprise. Lulubell said nothing, leaning forward and placing her lips gently on mine.
"See you later, kiddo." She whispered, and then backed away. She turned her back on me when her back hit the windowsill, and then she was gone.
It was four thirty in the morning, and I was exhausted. I also had all day to sleep. I didn't actually have to go to my extra classes; I already knew I would do perfectly fine. Even if I didn't, what did it matter? I had no big plans for my future.
With a sigh, I looked at the messed up bed and then down at the floor. Grabbing one of the pillows off the bed, I placed it on the floor, went into my closet and grabbed a spare blanket, wrapped myself up, and curled up on the floor.
When I woke up, I would have to wash the sheets.
End Chapter One Part One: Sheets
A/N: Okay, so, I'm going to make chapter one into either three or four parts, because it's all going to be Allen still in his home town and I dont feel like making one absolutely huge, mosnterific chapter where is just seems way too rushed for him to just suddenly go. Most likely, each chapter is going to a segment. Terefore, they will have parts. This is the first time I've ever done this, I'm experimenting, so help me out. XD
This is for you, inu-chan. Hope you like it. ^^ ((I told you I would get it out as fast as I could...))
P.S. - I'm sorry Lulubell fans, if you dont like her the way I've made her...And I'm sorry for any grammatical errors or spelling errors. I had to type this on Hotmail...