The boy, was distressed as he ran through the crowded streets of England. No one cared why he had a panicked look on his face as he ran with all his might, trying to escape something no one else could see. No one cared except for a group of three people, but to him in his flight of fear, those people were only bystanders that wanted to help, people who were endangered just by seeing him, but what he didn't know was that those very people would eventually become the keys to save him from his fate.
A.N. : I am re-writing all my stories, at least, I want to. Tell me if you guys want me to, or not. I will make whatever changes I deem necessary, such as a whole new chapter, or added paragraphs here and there to explain something better. I'm still not sure, but you have Aki-chan, though you would know her as Akiraki, for the amazingly unnatural grammar for this chapter, and all my other re-writings as she is helping me as an Assistant Author. :)
Panting was all he could hear over the commotion of the people he passed, innocent civilians who were blind to the events happening around them, but at least that will keep them safe, if just for a little while longer.
'If I'm caught then it will be all for nothing. Making my escape in a crowded place will be easier for me, but when they lose their patience they'll just mow them down to get me... I can't let that happen, though taking a more secluded path would increase my chance of getting captured, but I can't let more innocent people die because of me!' Deciding that he had risked the lives around him longer than he should have, Allen made to turn into an abandoned alley where no one would get hurt if they decided to use deadly force to get to him.
Just as he was about to dash into the shadows of the alley, a hand grabbed his arm from behind, forcing him to stay where he was. Blind fear filled him as adrenaline coursed through his veins as he clawed at the hand holding him half-way out of the protection of the darkness in the alley-way behind. Allen tried to make out the persons face, but as the sun was at the back of the back of the stranger all he could make out were three silhouettes staring down at him.
"No! Let me go! I won't go back, I can't! Please, don't take me back!" Tears stung his eyes as he realized, that it was pointless to try and get them to let him go now that they had him in their grasp, especially seeing how they would travel the world to hunt him down and take him back, killing anyone who came in contact with him in order to erase the evidence of his existence before they were ready to release him into the world as their ultimate weapon. He eventually stopped fighting the man's grip, as he simply gave up on getting out of his predicament by fighting, seeing how he "wasn't ready yet". He bowed as deeply as he could, with the man's grip still immobilizing his left arm, hoping that the humble gesture would put the man in a more arrogant, and by such, co-operable mood.
"I understand that I can't get away, but if I have to go back please allow all the people that I touched and interacted with, in any way, to live. They know nothing of what's going on, or who I really am...and I spoke with none of them...so, please, I beg of you, to not kill them all!" I have to at least try, even if this attempt fails again, and all those people die because I ran into this city, I have to continue to try and escape, otherwise much more people will suffer and Mana's sacrifice will have been for nothing!
"Whoa, Yu, this girl is really freaked out! Do you have any idea what she's talking about?" An unfamiliarly peppy-voice seemed to come from the silhouette to the left of the man holding my arm, although he was slightly smaller than his companion, he was still much taller than me.
"Baka Usagi, why the Hell would I know what she's talking about? I only just met her! Hey, Moyashi, whoever is after you, we're not them, okay? We aren't going to hurt you." A husky voice spoke softly to me as I could feel the grip on my arm lighten. Taking the opportunity, I snatched my arm back from the stranger and backed away, into the alley, in order to get the sun out of my eyes and see the strangers who had stopped me and by such gotten themselves caught up in my already dangerous situation.
'Girl? Never met before? Not going to hurt me? Who are these people?' I thought sullenly, absentmindedly rubbing my arm, squinting my eyes to try and make out any distinguishing features on the individuals in front of me. What struck me first was the man's, who was standing directly across from me, midnight-blue eyes, that widened as they stared into my own.
"Man, I though her hair and scar were an unusual sight, but look at those eyes!" The silhouette on the left spoke again, he seemed to have red-hair, though it was hard to tell for sure seeing how I couldn't keep my eyes off the man in front of me long enough to know, definitively, what the other man's hair color was.
"Lavi! That was extremely rude!" The silhouette on the blue-eyed man's right spoke up for the first time since their meeting, labeling her as a woman, immediately, by her voice alone, as she whispered angrily to her red-haired friend.
"Hai, hai. Gomen, Lenalee." He apologized to the girl quickly, hinting that there may be more than just friendship between the two people.
"Baka Usagi, you're supposed to say that to the girl you just offended, not Lenalee!" The man, who was called Yu by the red-haired man, Lavi, retorted sharply.
"Nice to know where your priorities are, Kanda." The girl, Lenalee, said in a joking manner, but whether she was truly hurt by Yu's, or Kanda's, statement was beyond my knowledge.
The man who was known as Yu and Kanda stuttered as he was caught off guard by his companions accusing tone, "That's not what I—! I mean—! You know what I mean Lenalee so stop acting like a prissy princess!"
"Yeah, Lenalee, you know that's Yu's job, and he doesn't appreciate the competition." Lavi spoke jokingly as I could practically see the smile on his face just from the laughter in his voice.
I debated on whether or not to simply run from the strange trio, or remind them of my presence. Remembering the consequences of staying in one place for too long, I make the decision to try and quietly slip away like Mana had taught me. It seemed to be going according to plan as I was almost halfway down the alley-way when I heard the man named Yu call out to me, "Where the Hell are you going, Moyashi?"
Before I could turn to run into the heavily crowded streets to try and lose my new pursuers, the man was right next to me, holding my arm once again, this time even tighter, "I let you go for a second and I see you're trying to get away. Do you have a death wish or something?"
"Actually, seeing how I'll be the only one to survive if I stay in this town for any longer, no, I don't have a death wish!" I whispered angrily, trying to convince Yu that I was trying to save the people in the city, "If I leave now I'll be able to get far enough away that they'll immediately go for me, and ignore the citizens for a time being, then you can warn everyone hear to evacuate, okay?" I didn't really believe that they would tell everyone to escape the city, and even if they did, most would probably not believe them until it was too late, but I had to try.
"I know! We can escort you!" Lavi laughed as he caught the last bit of my conversation as he ran up to us, "That way we can protect you as you leave the city, and on our way warn people of the upcoming danger that is going to befall them." Lavi explained, his green-eye sparkling with excitement, "And on the way out you can explain to us what is going on, how about it?"
I really wanted to refuse them and tell them to simply follow my original idea and then forget I was ever in their lives, but Lavi's plan was so tempting, and it wasn't like I had any other choice in the matter, "Fine... But if it gets too much, just run, okay? The people after me aren't going to hurt me, but they won't hesitate to kill you and everyone else." I whispered sadly, knowing that I had just doomed the kind people who were trying to help me by agreeing to their offer. I really was a monster who cared only for itself.
"Great!" Lenalee clapped her hands as she leaned into Yu's ear and whispered something, making him blush, which was surprisingly cute, and let go of my arm. Curious as to what she told the man I stared at him, as if that would make him want to tell me, instead it made his face turn an even darker shade of red before he abruptly turned around and headed back where we came from.
"We were going to meet up with a friend before we decided to help you, so you'll have to come with us until we decide how we're going to get you out of the city without being spotted by your stalkers." Yu spoke calmly as the color left his face, he was in full-blown serious mode, judging the reactions from his companions.
"Don't mind, Kanda, he's really nice when you get to know him, and it's adorable how innocent he is with some stuff, as you saw earlier." Lenalee smiled kindly at me as I walked slightly behind and in the middle of her and Lavi.
"Yeah, though he doesn't like to be called Yu, he lets me because I'm his best friend. Right, Yu-chan?!" Lavi yelled the last part loud enough for the man in front of us, warned to be Kanda to those he does not care much for, to which the man tried to slice the red-haired man's head off with a sword I didn't realize he had.
"What are you doing with a sword in this day-and-age?!" I yell at him, while keeping my voice down to a whisper, in case anyone hunting me was nearby.
"What, Moyashi? It's Mugen, that's all you need to know, in fact, it's more than you need to know because once you're out of the city we are parting ways." Kanda said matter-a-factly, as if it was a burden he didn't want to take on, even though I told them to leave me alone in the first place.
"Well, I didn't want you guys to come along at all, BaKanda!" I yell, louder than I should have, before realizing that I just insulted the man who wanted to help me, and more importantly, had a sword, he apparently knew how to use. "Um... I..."
I try to salvage the situation, but it only goes from bad to worse.
Lenalee is trying not to laugh as she simply turns to face the wall next to her, the left one of the alley-way, and covers her mouth, but Lavi has no moral against laughing at the expense of his friend as he clutches the brick wall next to him laughing so hard tears are falling out of his left eye, as the other was covered by an eye-patch, which I noted was none of my business.
Kanda, on the other hand, didn't find my nickname to be at all amusing, and instead glared at me with the full-intent to kill in his indigo-eyes, causing a shiver to go down by back as I felt something deadly approach.
Was it Kanda? Or—
"Shit!" I curse as I grab Lenalee's and Lavi's arms and run past Kanda into the street calling out for him to follow me.
Confused as to my sudden change of moods, Kanda caught up with me as I tried to have an intelligent conversation with him as I tried to process the warning signs I was getting.
"Where is this place that you were meeting your friend?" I asked as I made a left, only to realize that I was supposed to make a right, deciding that I couldn't bank-around I decide to continue down the busy street, going against the stream, and find another way to a more commercial area, where their friend might be.
"We were going to meet him in front of his mechanical shop; it's up here to the right." Kanda grabbed my hand, shocking me to the point I let go of both Lavi and Lenalee, causing them to trip and almost fall, catching themselves they were able to keep up with us as Kanda took the reigns.
"Will your friend be alright if I go to his shop?" I ask a little anxious about going to his business where anyone could walk in or by and see me.
"The sister-complex will be more than fine, if anything, depending on the people after you, he may be better off than us." Kanda replied calmly as he pulled me into another alley-way, this time running through it and making an immediately left as we exited. The turned was so sharp I almost fell, but he caught me just in time to keep up the momentum. "I'm surprised you made it this long without being caught for such a clumsy Moyashi." Kanda commented jokingly.
Even though I knew he was only saying it as a joke good humor, at my expense, but not to hurt me, I stilled retorted with the dreary truth, "At the sacrifice of many who've help before..."
Kanda was silent was we ran through the winding maze of streets and alley-ways, his face was probably stern, as the severity of the situation I—no, we—were in finally dawned on him.
I looked down, content with just staring at the pavement that seemed to fly by, underneath us, I was so caught up with my depressing thoughts, I almost didn't hear the words that lifted my soul like never before, "...No matter what, I won't let them hurt you..."
I wasn't sure exactly as to why Kanda, who seemed like a terrifying man that valued only those he knew, would say something...so...precious to someone he just met. Lenalee was right; Kanda really was an adorable person once you got to know him, but if it was this easy to see his heart, why did he hide to begin with?
When we finally stopped I smacked into Kanda's back as I was to busy staring at the back of his head trying to figure out what was going on in there.
"You alright, Moyashi-chan?" Lavi asked as he saw me rubbing my forehead after the unexpected impact with the taller man in front of me.
"I'm fine, thanks Lavi." I smile softly, touched that he cared, though the look of surprise on his face confused me, "What?"
"Moyashi-chan, how did you know my name?" Lavi asked, breathless, either by the long run or by the fact, to him, I had grown a second head, "Is that why they're chasing you, and why you keep staring at Kanda?! You can read minds!" Lavi was blown away by his discovery, causing Kanda and Lenalee to look at me, the former with a tint of red on his cheeks, probably because he now knows I've been staring at him the whole time.
"That's not exactly the why, Lavi, but you are close, kind of. And the reason I know your name, as well as Kanda's and Lenalee's, is that you guys said each others names when you were joking around earlier." I sigh at the look of thought on Lavi's face as he tried to remember whether or not I really was there.
"Oh yeah!" He smiled brightly at me when he saw how exasperated I looked, "Sorry, Moyashi-chan, I really didn't remember you were there."
"Like that makes it better?" I tell him as I twirl a lock of my hair, a habit for when I was irritated, embarrassed, nervous, and other things, before stopping when I realized that Kanda was watching me.
The air became uncomfortable as I longed to go inside the shop that belonged to their friend, so much so, I refused to look them in the face and instead busied myself by trying to guess which of the stores was the mechanical one, but seeing how the shop we stopped in front of had a giant robot in front, I quickly gave up on the game and found myself twirling my hair again.
I was about to scream at them when laughter filled the air around us, turning around I see Lenalee clutching her stomach as she cried tears of joy.
Lavi stared at Lenalee then Kanda and I as he silently asked what was wrong with their female companion, without a clue between us we waited until she calmed down and explained herself.
"Even—Even though, oh my God—Even though, she has only been with us for a few hours or so, you guys are like childhood friends already! It's—It's SO CUTE!" She squealed in joy as her body shook from head-to-toe. "Does anyone else think this is Fate?" At the blank faces she received from her friends her smiled dimmed, "No?" Finally understanding that her strange behavior was not conveying to her friends, or to me, she explained in a more civilized way.
"Look, she is talking with you guys like you been friends forever, she even gave Kanda a nickname that rivals Kanda's pet name for her, and wasn't immediately killed! If you told me that you guys had just met her, I wouldn't have believed you if I hadn't been there!" Lenalee smiled as she saw the realization dawn on Kanda and Lavi's faces, though my face stayed the same.
I wasn't going to get anywhere if I kept letting them drag me along for the ride, it was time to put my poker mask on and get out of the town, I had no time for real friends, and no more tears to give to those I cared for, but lost. "Sorry, Lenalee, but we have no time for sentiments, I have to leave now, and I'm only allowing you guys to come along because you wouldn't take no for an answer." I sigh as I see the shocked looks on their faces, before making to turn around, but a familiar arm grabs me, causing me to almost fall on the ground. Instead of pavement, my head meets with the chest of Kanda, as he glares down at me.
"You were starting to grow on me Moyashi, so don't go ruining it now by putting on a mask and pretending to be someone you're not." Kanda growled at me as he pushed me back on my feet.
Angry at how he said it, as if I was the only person in the world who used a mask in front of people, and embarrassed at how close we were, I simply walked into the store with saying another word, or turning back to see if I was going the correct way.
As the door closed behind me I heard Lavi whisper, "Are you sure it's okay to let her go off like that? I mean—." I wasn't able to hear the rest, but I was sure that I heard more than I was supposed to.
The chime of the door as it closed brought me back to the present as I decided to explore the interior of the store, if it was anything like the outside, then I wouldn't be bored.
Surprisingly, the store's interior was plain and barren of anything that could be considered merchandise, or maybe it was just my inexperience in anything other than the Facility.
Ignoring the chime that signaled more customers, and my temporary companions, and the pulled at my mind at the thought of where I was running from, I decide to continue looking through the different shelves and columns that were scattered across the floor of the shop.
"I thought you told him to clean up before we got here, Lenalee?" Lavi whistled, leading me to believe that the mess was more than usual.
"I did, but as you can see, he had something else to do, probably another invention he was working on before-hand that made him forget..." Lenalee sighed at the sight of the store that was clean just a few hours earlier.
"He'll probably use the invention as an excuse as to why it hasn't been done, but I seriously doubt he forgot you, of all people, told him." Kanda added as he caught my eye, making me quickly look away and try and seem busy examining the, otherwise boring, items in the shop.
Turning my back to my "companions" something catches my eye, it was a small green cube that seemed to have been half-hazardously left on one of the shelves before being knocked to the ground, bending down I picked the cube up with my gloved hand, gently, as I feared breaking it and having to pay for it, especially since I didn't bring anything with me, while I escaped this time around.
The cube was about the size of my palm, and had intricately etched markings all across its surface; the lines seemed to pulse with something akin to electricity. It was a strange green, I noted, almost as if it wasn't its original color. Turning around to place it back on the shelf, I came face-to-face with Kanda. Freaking out, at the sudden appearance of the person I was purposely avoiding the gaze of, and the close coaters I found myself in I almost dropped the cube.
He looked down at my hands as he saw me flail about trying to catch the cube, carefully, before questioning it, "What are you messing with, Moyashi?" It was a innocent question, and really had no malice to it, save the annoying nickname, but I was still mad at him, so I decided he didn't need to know.
"None-ya business, BaKanda." I say defiantly, hiding my left hand, and the cube, behind my back.
Irritated, at my childish attitude, or something a else, Kanda decides that he's going to take it from me forcefully, as he reaches behind me to pry it from my hands, "Don't be a brat, Moyashi, it's not like I'm going to break it." He comments calmly, making me feel so ridiculous, especially seeing how it didn't even belong to me.
"No!" I try and pull it away from him, but he quickly over powers me and takes it from my person. I try to get it back before he can look it over, but he's so much taller than me, and he purposely keeps it out of my reach.
The thought that once he saw what I was refusing, so adamantly, to show him, and saw that it was a small cube of no importance he would comment on how much of a child I was and toss it back to me without a care as to whether or not I caught it and kept it from breaking.
Not wanting to give him more ammunition in this war, though I'm unsure as to why I suddenly saw him as my enemy in my imaginary battle, I jump at him, causing him to lose his balance, as he wasn't expecting me to pounce on him.
Smiling in triumph I reach over to get the cube, and make sure it was okay, seeing how it went flying from Kanda's hands, which I didn't put into account when I tried getting it back, but stop when I see just how close our faces have gotten, again.
I could feel my face burn as Kanda's glare told me he wasn't amused and wanted me off, immediately, but as I was working up the nerve to say something, Lenalee and Lavi come around one of the column shelves to investigate what we were doing that was making so much noise, but the moment they saw us, their faces could have rivaled the way I felt.
"Oh my God..." Lenalee gasped, while Lavi burst into tears, he was laughing so hard, "I didn't think you guys would make-up so quickly after that fight outside." She tried to keep a straight face, but soon found herself joining Lavi in laughter.
"I think you mean, "make-o—!" Lavi begins, but I quickly grab the cube and chuck it at his face, cutting him off and causing him to fall to the floor.
I simply get off Kanda and sit next to him, too embarrassed to stand up; as I was worried my legs would buckle just from what I did. Kanda sat up next to me, his glare gone, and a ghost of a smile on his lips, "Nice throw, Moyashi." He gets up, using my head, but I don't feel annoyed by the action, like I normally would, instead, I feel touched...
Disturbed by the strange thought of being touched by Kanda using me as a chair to get up I decide to simply look away from the laughing Lenalee and the complaining Lavi, already feeling my face heat up again.
"Moyashi, are you going to sit there all day, or are you going to take my hand and get off your ass so we can see the sister-complex?" Kanda's voice broke me out of my self-loathing trance, turning around; I'm faced with his hand. He was offering to help me up?
Suspicious as to whether this was a test, or an elaborate ploy to make fun of me, I take his hand slowly, "Come on, Moyashi, this isn't a freaking love story, take my hand or not." Giving up on the idea of being cautious, I grab his hand, and almost fell into his chest again at the speed at which he pulled me up.
Passing him to see if Lavi was okay after my little act of violence, I whisper a thank you to Kanda, keeping my head down I could still feel the gloating smirk that was probably on his face. Stupid jerk.
"Jeez, what was that for?" Lavi whined as I apologized to him, though I wasn't truly sorry about throwing the cube at him, as he was about to make an inappropriate comment on my already embarrassing situation, I did feel guilty about the square mark on his forehead. Although it was slowly fading, it did look as if it hurt quiet a bit.
"You deserved it though, Baka—!" I stopped myself at the realization that I almost called him the same thing Kanda does when he's mad at Lavi, that definitely wouldn't have helped me when I explained to them why Kanda and I were in that position.
Everyone looked at me as I felt my face burn, once again, I've never been embarrassed in my life, and yet I can't stop feeling like I did something wrong around these people. Good thing we'll be going our separate ways once we get out of this city, and hopefully soon, seeing how we've wasted a lot of precious time fooling around, "Ready to meet your friend, the sister-complex?" I asked absentmindedly, before recognizing my mistake.
"I knew it!" Lavi jumped to his feet, as the pained face that he had been sporting the whole conversation became one of a genius finding out he was right the entire time. "I though that you were about to call me Baka Usagi, like what Yu-chan does, but when you stopped I assumed I was wrong, but I was right! You are taking on all of Yu-chan's little things as a show of your attraction to him!" Lavi grabbed both my hands in his and rambled on about all the things I should look out for and look forward to when I start dating him, marrying him, and then the children we would have. He said that since Kanda was Japanese, then the children should have names from his culture, this, on the other hand, stumped me.
"What are you talking about, Lavi?" I asked as he continued to go on and on about all the ways Kanda would change due to me, but at my genuine confused face, he paused. "You aren't in love with Yu-chan?"
I shook my head, though a thought passed through my mind that I should say yes. Why the hell would I do that?
Lavi slowly let go off my hands, and watched as I let them fall to my sides. "Are you sure?" He asked, voice low and depressed, as if I just told him the person he loved was found dead. I mean, what's with him?
"Yes, Lavi, why would I love a—." As I tried to explain to him, and Lenalee, who seemed to be getting her hopes up as well, that I would be weird for me to fall in love with someone I just met, and a guy on top of that! But it was Kanda, who interrupted me.
He sighed, irritablely, as if the discover of me not liking him, annoyed him. "The Moyashi's right, we need to go meet up with the sister-complex already." Although, don't understand as to why that would be, I didn't pry into the reason for his sudden change in moods. "Moyashi, will you stop day-dreaming and hurry up before I leave you." He seemed to be happy before...
Determined to find out what made Kanda's mood go sore, I retort his previous comment, "You can leave me if you want, because that's what I've been trying to do this whole trip." I immediately regretted what I said, as Kanda's mood seemed to get even worse, he glared at me before going through a door, I didn't realize was behind the front desk, most likely following Lenalee and Lavi. I think I found out what was making Kanda so irritable...
It was me, and for some strange reason, that thought made me feel like I was going to be sick...
A.N. : What did you think? Should I continue? Or do you want me to put the old version back, because I still have it...I think...oops...XD
Don't worry, I should still have it if you hate this newer version, though i'm particularly proud of these re-written versions.
Thanks for the patience as my laptop fried on me due to a Microsoft update, and my brother had to wipe my drive clean. The only real good thing at having a computer-programmer as a brother. :)P Joking.
Review if you liked! Also, I know I've asked this before, but do you want me to respond to review with Private Messages, or like how I've been seeing it recently, where the author just adds it to the chapter, speaking of which:
AmbertheCat: Hahaha, now you will never know! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! ...Thank you for your dedication! ~CHAoi~