Hi again! This is edge-chan, back to spin more tales of Yullen! Not a oneshot this time, but a real story with an actual plot and original characters and all that other exciting stuff. I got positive feedback from my first story, so I decided to write more. Sorry for the wait, but I promise to make up for it.

I do not own D.Gray-man, and I do not profit in any way from the writing of this story. There, I said it.

Where the Current Leads

Chapter One: Ripple Effect

As always, it started as a normal morning. The sun broke in all its fiery familiarity over the horizon, and Allen Walker opened his eyes with a blinking smile at the pale pink and orange colors of the dawn outside his window. With a refreshed sigh, he swung his feet onto the floor and gave a languid stretch.

At almost the exact same moment, Kanda shivered, the morning air chilled on his sweat-moist skin. In a movement like a whisper, and with the same amount of sound, he leapt, swiping at the air in front of him with the graceful arc of his sword. He focused on the sound and pace of his breathing, letting his other senses guide him since he was blindfolded. He would never tell anyone, but he enjoyed this more than anything. Here, it was silent. Here, despite the blindfold fastened tightly around his head, he was all-seeing, all-powerful. There was such a sense of burning life coursing through his veins, clashing with the cool air that caressed his skin. He took a deep, cleansing breath, wiped the sweat from his brow, and untied the cloth covering his eyes. The sun blinded him momentarily, and he was beginning to feel it warming his already heated body, so he decided to go in and shower.

At precisely the same instant that decision was made, Allen was just sitting down to eat his breakfast, when Lavi snatched his juice box off his tray.

"Lavi! Go get your own!"

"But I lost mine somewhere! Please let me have yours!" the redhead made puppy-eyes (eye) at Allen, and the boy pouted and gave in.

"Fine… how did you lose a juice box?" Allen eyed him with curiosity. With Lavi, one never really knew.

"Old man Panda needed some help carrying some books, so I set it on the stairs somewhere, but I couldn't find it afterwards… so I imagine it's still somewhere on the stairs."

"Huh." Before Allen had the chance to consider the possible outcomes of that, Lenalee came running up to the two boys, looking urgent.

"Allen, my brother wants you in his office, now!"



"What?! But I haven't eaten breakfast yet!" Allen protested rather weakly.

"I'm really sorry, but he says this can't wait, Allen."

And so it was that Allen took off at a full sprint, Lavi shrugging his shoulders meekly and following the younger exorcist. The white-hared boy was vaguely aware that he was becoming dizzy and seeing double, which was his body's way of chewing him out when it didn't get the food it needed. For once (and unwisely, it has to be said), he disregarded it and kept running at full speed up the stairs.

It happened fast, in a flash- Allen was only slightly aware that he was passing someone who was also going up the stairs, and not at all aware of the object he was about to slip on. Kanda, on the other hand, had his senses jolted into overdrive as something collided into his shoulder, and he heard a panicked yelp as he felt himself lose his balance. He tried, did he ever try to keep his footing, but the stairs where suddenly and inexplicably slippery.

Watching Kanda fall was instantaneous, yet at the same time, Allen felt like he was seeing it happening frame-by-frame, in horrific and agonizing slow-motion. By trying to right himself, Kanda had fallen face-first.

There was a sickening, foreboding crack that resounded and echoed up the stairwell, followed by a deathly silence which Allen likened to a funeral- right now, he was picturing his own. And yet, despite the homicidal fury Kanda would, without a doubt, aim towards Allen, his body moved on its own, his legs carrying him of their own accord down to Kanda. If Allen hadn't known he was seriously hurt, it would have been funny. Kanda's cheek rested on the floor, his arms in between his knees, his rear end positioned high in the air, and for a moment, Allen thought absurdly of a mountain, before his voice broke the pregnant silence.

"Kanda! Are you okay?!"

No answer came, though Kanda's eyes were open. At first Allen thought he was too angry to even speak, but then, as he heard Kanda struggling to breathe, he realized that Kanda couldn't speak due to the pain. He felt his mind being wracked with guilt. He shook, trying to regain his composure. If he couldn't gather himself, how was he supposed to gather Kanda up off the floor?

"At least things can't get any worse…" he thought, bending down.

Lavi chose that moment to come running, and Allen retracted his last thought as Lavi's eyes grew wide and his jaw dropped.

"Whoa, what happened?!" Lavi looked from Allen to Kanda and back again, and the white-haired boy hung his head in shame.

"It was my fault. I slipped on something and accidentally pushed him down the stairs." At that, Lavi covered his mouth with both hands to stifle his laughter.



"It isn't funny, Lavi! I think he broke his collarbone!" chastised, Lavi's hands fell to his sides, and he took on the appropriately worried expression.

"Really?! Yuu-chan, is it broken?!"

"Lavi, I don't think he can--"

A scream. Enraged, and earsplitting, it echoed down to Allen's core, cut to the quick, so raw it was painful. Kanda's breaths came out raspy, rattling, but words escaped as well in the form of a harsh whisper, which sounded like Kanda was trying to yell, but the whisper was all he could manage.

"Of course it's broken! If it wasn't, I'd be up on my feet and fucking strangling the beansprout! Get me to the infirmary this instant!!"

"Right! Uh, Lavi, go and get some help- tell them they'll need a stretcher."

In an instant, Lavi was gone, screaming just a little too loudly for help as he went, leaving Allen alone with someone who currently wanted nothing more than to murder him in a most brutal fashion.

"Help is on the way, Kanda. Is there anything I can do to help you feel better?" here, Kanda gave him his most poisonous glare, "…short of killing myself, that is?"

So, in the now scorching morning sun, they carted one very pissed off Kanda to the infirmary. Just getting him up from the scene of the accident was an ordeal; Kanda yelped and swore, teaching Allen some new words in the process. The nurse who lived in the infirmary (Lavi had had the good fortune of running into her while looking for help) decided, after much begging from Allen, to let Allen and Lavi accompany Kanda to the infirmary. Kanda did not want this, and made it clear to everyone from between clenched teeth, but the nurse, who was very used to having Kanda as a patient, knew he was just in need of a little bit of morphine.

The group of people carrying Kanda on his stretcher (including Lavi, Allen, and a couple other nurses) came to a slow stop inside the infirmary. Even so, Kanda hissed out a few more choice swearwords as his injury was jarred painfully. The guilt knot in Allen's guts tightened threateningly, and Allen felt he would be sick, especially when the nurses began to load Kanda into a wheelchair to get him to the operating room, and Kanda clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, refusing to whimper or cry out. Allen tried to scramble out of sight before he lost it- he flung open the infirmary doors and bolted out into the hall- but when he gagged, nothing came up, and it suddenly dawned on him that he had nothing in his stomach. Not that it stopped him from retching twice more, and then, when all was clear, he staggered back to where they were transferring Kanda to the wheelchair, which from the sounds of things, was becoming more and more unpleasant for Kanda.

Lavi caught sight of Allen and laughed.

"That empathy is no good, Allen. Yuu-chan should be the one throwing up, not you."



"Enough, Lavi! I feel guilty as it is. And for your information, I didn't throw up."

"Oh, of course not. Hence the gagging noises coming from wherever you ran off."

"They were dry heaves. I never ate breakfast, remember?"

"Oh yeah… didn't Komui want to see you?"

The color drained from Allen's face.

"Damn, I forgot! But…" he cast a glance at Kanda, who was growling at the nurse for a painkiller, and the guilt hit him in a fresh wave. "I'm staying here."

"You're so caring, Allen-kun." A hand was laid upon his shoulder, and Allen jumped considerably, facing his supervisor, who had appeared out of thin air like he often tended to do.

"K-Komui! I'm really sorry, but this is my fault, and I can't just leave him here and…" Komui held up one hand and silenced the young exorcist.

"I understand. In fact, I have an idea. Allen, you will help to care for Kanda until you have found a way to apologize which satisfies him."

With every word, Allen grew paler, and by the time Komui was done talking, Allen was as white as his hair.

"So basically, he'll stay with Yuu-chan until Yuu-chan doesn't want to kill him anymore?" Lavi piped up.

"That's putting it in rather simple terms, but yes, that's the idea."

Allen briefly entertained the thought that this "idea" would kill him.

Okay, that's it for now. The second chapter is written and ready to go… but I'm gonna be evil and wait for some feedback first. The next chapter will include Kanda high on painkillers… those of you who have been there will know that's funny as hell.