Of Wolves and Moyashis

by CopperInk

When Allen decided to give away his squashed lunch sandwich to the huge black dog he came across at the junk yard, he had not expected it to end up with him finding a raven haired man sleeping in his bed. Nor did he expect to get kidnapped by the said man. Or, really, anything that happened after that. Allen had just thought that the dog looked hungry.

Warnings: There will be slight Yullen, minor swearing and little bit of blood. (And this is my first real attempt of writing pairings)

More notes on the bottom, enjoy!

Of Wolves and Moyashis

He was humming while he walked, his eyes half closed. He'd walked down that road enough times to have the way memorized by now. Once getting out of the city center keep walking past the swimming hall and football field, turn left and keep walking past the junkyard, turn right after fifty meters and walk down that street until you reach the apartment flocks. Sure it wasn't the prettiest scenery and certainly taking a buss would be faster, but Allen preferred walking with no prying eyes following his each step.

He got enough odd looks at his work, what with his shoulder length white hair, though he usually kept it tied up, and angry red scar that ran over his left eye. People often took him as some black magic practitioner, because of the pentagon the scar formed above his eye. Not that he minded that much anymore. At one point, when he was fourteen and still living with his master, he'd taken to covering the scar with makeup. Makeup was expensive though, and he'd soon gotten tired of the looks his master shot at him, so he stopped. By now he was rather used to it.

His humming stopped suddenly, when he felt something settle on top of his head. He peered to look up and caught a sight of small golden wings.

"Hello Timcanpy", he greeted the little golden blob on top of his head. It answered by offering him a grin, revealing rows of sharp teeth, not that Allen could actually see it. Once he was sure the golem was securely nesting in his hair, he continued his humming.

The sun was beginning to set as he walked past the junk yard. The streets were empty, save for a few passing cars. There were sounds coming from the junk yard though, as usual. Some scavenging for goods and some doing their jobs of getting rid of the junk. Really, over the sounds the machinery alone made, it was a miracle Allen heard Timcanpy's anxious movements at all. Not that it mattered if he actually heard them or not, since he could feel them pretty well.

Curious, he lifted his hands to hold the little golem, but instead of the even surface of the round golem, his fingers found the rows of sharp teeth.

"Ow! What was that for?" Allen yelped and glared at the golem once it fluttered to his eye level. They stopped for a moment, Allen glaring and Timcanpy just hovering. Then the golem shot off towards the junkyard, leaving the white haired youth staring after it, puzzled.

"Hey! Tim! Come back, you'll get eaten again!" Allen called out before taking off after the golem.

-O-

Only few minutes later he could already tell he wouldn't be finding his golem unless it decided to show itself. Still, it wasn't like Allen to simply walk away and give up something precious to him, so he kept wondering between the piles of junk. That and he had no idea how to get out.

With a sigh, Allen looked around him warily, wondering from which direction he had come from. It could've been from there, that ripped tire looked familiar, but so did the one lying little to his left, which meant he should turn around. He frowned. Tim would be rather useful at the moment, he would have no trouble guiding Allen from the junkyard. A loud clicking sound sounded from the huge pile to his right and he whirled around.

First he thought it was just part of the pile falling, but with a closer look, he spotted something black at the bottom. Allen stopped, narrowing his eyes. It was a huge black dog. Or, maybe it was just the ragged and dirty fur giving the impression. The clicking sound came from its frantic movements on top of something that may have been a nice mattress but was now ripped and dirty. Wondering what had set the dog on edge, Allen looked around it. Suddenly his eyes caught a glimpse of gold. His eyes widened.

"Tim!" he yelled and dashed towards the golem that kept dodging the dog's jaws. The golem shot upwards at the sound of his voice before heading towards him with a speed of a bullet. Allen welcomed the golem with a relieved smile and gently held it in his hands.

"Told you not to fly off on your own", Allen scowled, before stuffing the golem in his pocket. He was all for turning around and leaving, but a low growl stopped his movements. He lifted his eyes to see the black dog glowering at him from the mattress. Allen stared at it, wondering if it would attack him, but then the dog attempted to take a step forward and the growling cut off to a loud whine and the dog fell on his stomach. It then moved as if to lick his paws, but stopped and looked at Allen again. Allen could swear it was glaring at him.

Despite knowing better than to approach wild dogs with such murderous intent, Allen found himself walking forwards towards the dog. Allen liked dogs. Most animals seemed to dislike him, cats especially, but he came along well with dogs. Okay, well, with most dogs. Some seemingly normal dogs often glowered at him and hid behind their owners' legs when he passed. Still, they never bit him or scathed him like cats did if he got too close, so yeah, he liked dogs. And that is why he found himself approaching a big feral looking one with its teeth bared.

Just few steps away from it, Allen stopped and crouched. Now he could see the blood seeping from its paws, no doubt having cut them while digging the piles of junk in search of food. Not that Allen could blame it. The dog looked as if it hadn't had a decent meal in ages.

Making up his mind, Allen dug into his bag and pulled out a squashed sandwich he had made that morning for lunch, but ended up not eating when one of his not-wanted acquaintances had showed up and dragged him out for lunch. Allen had agreed only because Tyki had offered to pay for him.

He quickly unwrapped the sandwich and offered it to the dog. He wondered if dogs should eat bread, but dismissed the thought when he noticed the dog sniffing the air curiously. Then it shook its head slightly and bared its teeth again. Allen sighed and decided to just leave the sandwich there in case the dog changed its mind. With a nod, Allen turned around and left, Timcanpy leaving his pocket to show him the way out.

-O-

"No", Allen repeated what felt like the tenth thousand time. The man with gray tinted skin and top hat blinked at his refusal, before smiling.

"Just how long do you plan on refusing me? You know the Earl would pay you much better for a day than what you earn here in a month", the man told him and Allen barely glanced at him, keeping his eyes on the cartons of milk he was replacing on the selves.

"As long as you keep asking. I'm fine as I am", Allen told him tiredly. He had met Tyki little after he had separated with his master. Allen had beaten him in poker and robbed him of all but his clothes. He had been in a desperate need of money and he had judged from the man's appearance and attitude that he had more than enough. In longer term, it seemed to not have been that good of an idea, since the man had taken to following him whenever they crossed, which for some reason was a little bit too often, and offering him a job under the Millenium Earl's name. Allen knew of the man and his "company" of course. But just like everyone else, he wasn't exactly sure what they did. But unlike everyone else, he wasn't interested in finding out either.

Allen returned to reality when Tyki let out a long suffering sigh.

"What a stubborn little thing you are", he stated, his face twisted into a sorrowful expression. Allen frowned at the theatrics.

"Well, if that was all, I'm going to have to ask you to leave. You're blocking customers", he told the top hat wearing man who glanced behind him at hearing the words. Indeed there was a small line forming behind him, people waiting to pay for their things. Without a word, Tyki tipped his head to Allen's direction and left the small shop. Allen sighed before bringing back his cheerful smile and greeting the old woman who made her way to him. He hoped he'd seen last of the man for at least a day or two. Of course he wasn't so lucky. It was only couple of hours later, when it was time to close the shop, when he encountered the man again.

"Ready to pick up on our earlier conversation?" Allen groaned when he heard the familiar voice drifting from behind him. He turned around slowly once he locked the shop door.

"No", Allen stated as he brushed past the man with the top hat. Tyki made a small 'tsk' sound before trailing after him.

"Why is it that you always forget your manners when speaking with me?" Tyki asked with a curious tilt in his voice. Allen rolled his eyes.

"I wasn't aware you were supposed to act polite to your stalker", Allen muttered.

"Harsh", Tyki commented from behind him, but didn't bother to try and deny the accusation. They walked in silence for a while, until Allen sighed and stopped.

"What is it really? Usually you would have given up by now", Allen asked and turned to look at the man who was now walking beside him. Tyki blinked innocently.

"Whatever could you mean? Haven't I always-" Allen cut him off almost as soon as he started though.

"I'm leaving", he stated, but only managed to take couple of steps before Tyki already rushed to walk beside him again.

"Alright, alright", he started and Allen slowed down a bit, "Earl has a special job and would appreciate if you took care of it." Allen stared suspiciously at Tyki, who was indifferently digging at his pocket for a cigarette.

"I am not babysitting Road again", Allen told him bluntly, forcing himself not to shiver at the memory. He didn't think he would ever be able to look at dolls the same way again all thanks to the supposedly eldest, but seemingly the youngest, of the Noah family. Tyki snorted and lighted up his smoke.

"Don't worry, even the Earl isn't too eager to repeat that fiasco", he told him, still snickering. Allen frowned. Tyki took notice of his impatience and sighed.

"It's not something that would take too much effort of you. Earl is simply asking you to keep your eyes open. We're looking for something that escaped our facilities few weeks back. I'll get you some more information in a few days. A week at the most", Tyki told him and Allen's frown deepened.

"'Something' that escaped… We're not talking about anything illegal here, are we?" Allen asked. Tyki just smirked around his cigarette.

"Don't worry", Tyki told him with a light smile, "no one will sue you for his disappearance." Allen didn't really remember having agreed to help in this search, but didn't bother voicing out his thoughts. They were now walking past the junkyard and Allen found himself fingering the straps of his bag. He wondered if the dog was still there…?

"Well if that was all, I have something I need to do now", Allen told the golden eyed man who blinked in surprise, looking around them.

"Here?" he asked curiously. Allen nodded, but didn't offer an explanation. Tyki sighed and put out his cigarette.

"Guess I'll see you later, shonen", he said with a wink before turning back to the way they had come from. Allen waited until he was sure Tyki wouldn't follow him and slipped through a rip in the fence.

-O-

Allen groaned as he looked at the angry red cut on the palm of his hand. It wasn't too deep and wasn't bleeding that much anymore, but it still stung. Plus, he was fairly sure it would be infected if he didn't clean it properly soon. Glass shards were never known to be the cleanest objects to cut yourself with, not to mention ones laying around junkyards.

'Well', Allen told himself as he held his hand under water to wash away the blood, 'at least I found the dog.' Allen wasn't even sure why he had gone back to look for it, much less to feed it with food he used his little savings to buy. Well, he called them little, but in truth he could've afforded to buy an alright car with them, should he have need for one. He'd been saving what he could hide from his Master from the money he won in shady bars and clubs playing poker.

A hiss escaped his lips as he pulled on the bandage he was wrapping around his hand. 'Stupid dog', he thought to himself while stretching his fingers to test its mobility. If he was truthful, though, it hadn't been the dog's fault. He was just his clumsy self and had been trying to be a bit too helpful. Allen sighed and cleaned up the first aid stuff he'd been using before stretching and digging out his school books. The next hour and half he spent absorbed in his homework until he retreated to bed.

-O-

It was Thursday. Which meant one more day until it was Saturday and then Sunday, his only day off from both, school and work. Today was also a bit relaxing, since he didn't have work on Thursdays. Sometimes he used the free time to earn some by sneaking in a few games of poker, but recently the word of a white haired poker shark had been drifting around and people were wary of inviting him to play. Allen barely noticed the bell ringing, signaling the end of the final class of that day. Subconsciously he still gathered his stuff and made his way out from the classroom and to the yard. So distracted by his thoughts, he didn't notice the two teenagers, redheaded boy and girl with pigtails, maybe a couple of years older than him, scanning the crowd as if looking for someone. He slipped by them without sparing them a glance.

-O-

Last time Allen had been stupid enough to try and approach the dog without so much as a distraction for it while trying to get close enough to untangle it from the wire wrapped around his hind legs and lower back. This time he had a small package of raw minced meat with him, which he bought from the shop near his school. He slipped through the rip once again and had Timcanpy guide him to the dog.

He hadn't moved from his spot much, but the meatballs Allen had brought yesterday had disappeared. The dog was laying on his side, the slight breaths being the only sign showing that the animal with matted fur and thin limbs was even alive. As soon as Allen stepped from behind the pile of junk, the dog's head snapped up, the dark eyes looking at him curiously. When Allen kept coming closer he bared his teeth in a snarl, but made no sound nor any attempts to move. His legs were even more tangled up, barely giving him any room to move. The wire was about the width of his finger and seemed to be sticking out from the ground. Or more like from under the piles of junk…

Allen dug through his back and brought out the package of minced meat. The dog twitched his ears and the snarl disappeared for few seconds. Allen smiled slightly and ripped the package open, having to remove his gloves to do so. As he approached the dog, he could see his nose twitching and his tongue was threatening to drop out from his mouth. Allen barely resisted the urge to chuckle, afraid the sound would startle the dog from his not-so-scary-mood. As he lowered the package little in front of the dog, he could finally get a good look at his dark, dark blue eyes as they flickered from the package to his face and his blackened hand until it fell to the meat again.

When he was sure the dog was focused on inhaling the meat, Allen sneaked to its side in an angle that would make it harder for the dog to bite him without a warning. His finger had barely touched the wire when he heard low growling coming from the dog. It had stopped eating and had tensed all over. Allen stayed still, barely breathing as he waited… A minute later the dog started eating again, slower this time and Allen let out the breath he'd been holding. He started going through the wire then, mindful of the small spikes. Still, he cut his fingers more than a few times.

The dog stayed amazingly still for the whole ordeal, even after it had finished eating. Even though it took at least an hour to get rid of the wire. Allen's fingers were severely bleeding and his sleeves were stained by the blood from the dog's fur. Funnily enough, as he was pushing back the wire, Allen finally started doubting whether the creature actually was just a huge dog. It reminded him more of a… Well, as ridiculous as it sounded, it reminded him of the wolves he'd seen at a zoo when he had still been travelling with his father, Mana. Still, wolves didn't show up this close to towns, not to mention the wolves in this country had been extinct for a decade. But, as Allen remembered the wild blue eyes, doubt kept lingering in his head.

With a final kick to get the wire in as small and harmless pile as possible, Allen sighed. He turned back to the wolf, wondering if it was okay to just leave it there.

"You know, if you would just follow me or at least let me touch you, I could take care of those wounds", Allen told it, but as he'd suspected, the wolf like dog simply snarled at him. Allen sighed again. He approached the dog in order to get his bag and it wasn't until he was reaching down for it that the dog lunged.

Allen let out a shriek, more because of the surprise than actual pain as the dog's teeth dug into his wrist.

"Fuckfuckfuckfuck-! That hurts!" Allen yelled out and without realizing he had brought up his left hand and swung it at the dog. The weight tearing down on his wrist was gone. Allen stared blankly at his fist and the dog. He… had actually hit the dog. They both stayed still for a moment, dumbstruck, when Timcanpy suddenly shot out from Allen's pocket and started pulling at his hair. Quickly getting the clue Allen sped off after the golem, before the dog could regain his bearings. He thought he heard an angry bark coming after him.

-O-

"Oi, Lenalee, do you smell that?" a raven haired girl with pigtails whirled around to look at the boy calling out. The redhead was looking around wildly while sniffing at the air. Even to Lenalee it looked a bit weird, even though she understood how hard it was to get a clear scent in busy street like this. Lenalee tilted her head upwards a bit and immediately her nose was attacked by various smells. She almost covered her nose, but refrained. If something had caught Lavi's attention enough for him to call out… A salty, metallic scent reached her nose and she frowned. Blood. But that wasn't all. She followed the scent to the other side of the street. There was also the scent of saliva. That accompanied by the blood… Her eyes widened.

"Is that…?" she started and looked at her companion for confirmation. Lavi nodded, for once wearing a serious expression.

"You don't think he attacked anyone, do you?" Lenalee asked worriedly. Lavi frowned before his eyes locked on something behind her. A grin spread on his face.

"I don't know, but maybe we can find out", he stated and Lenalee followed his gaze to a white haired kid who had apparently stolen a few napkins from the nearby café and was furiously wiping his hands with it. The white napkins were seeped in red. Before Lenalee could stop him, Lavi pounced forward.

-O-

"Woah", Allen jumped when he heard someone speak up from beside him. He quickly stuck all the blood stained napkins to the trashcan and pulled his sleeve down to cover the nasty wound that was still bleeding.

"That's some dog bite there. Did your dog bite you?" Allen turned around to see a man with flaming red hair held back by a green bandana standing beside him, his eyes locked on the ripped sleeve of his right hand. Or rather, his eye. The other eye was covered by a black eye patch. Allen refrained from frowning and instead forced a tired smile on his lips while covering the wound with his other hand. Fortunately, he had remembered to put his gloves on after dealing with the wire.

"No, I don't have a dog actually" Allen told him and scanned his surroundings for a quick escape, not really feeling like keeping up a conversation with the somewhat eccentric redhead. Allen spotted a pretty raven haired girl coming up from behind the redhead, supporting a polite, but weary smile.

"Oh, your neighbor's dog then?" the redhead asked then and Allen's head snapped back to look at him again.

"They don't have a dog either", Allen told him blankly and a curious look came to the other's face. Allen sighed and decided to give an answer to what would no doubt be the next question falling from the man's lips.

"Just this stray dog I… came across… That I've kind of been feeding for a few days", Allen stated and the redhead's eyebrow shot up. Before he could say anything, Allen decided that he really didn't feel up to having a polite conversation so he continued: "So, if you didn't need anything else, I should get going…" But as Allen was about to turn around the redhead latched on to his injured arm.

"Ah, no, sorry! It's just that my friend and I are new to this town and since you seemed to be about our age, we were wondering if you attend to the school here? And by the way, that really is some nasty wound, you should get it checked at a hospital. Here, this should provide some first aid", he ranted off and finally slid up his ripped sleeve, pulling off his bandana and before Allen could stop him, tied it around the wound. Allen stared at the bandana, stunned.

"Yeah, I'm Lavi by the way. Lavi Bookman Junior and this lovely lady beside me is-" he was cut off by the girl with pigtails stating: "Lenalee Lee. Nice to meet you and I'm sorry about my friend, he tends to act before thinking." And Allen found himself shaking hands with the eccentric redhead and the raven haired girl.

"So would you mind telling us about the school here? As Lavi just stated, we just moved in and we're not completely sure if we should transfer schools or not since we're not that far from where we lived…" Lenalee told him and despite Allen's protests he found himself being dragged to the café he had snatched the napkins from just few minutes earlier.

-O-

Allen hissed as he pulled off the bandana from his wrist. It was stuck on his skin by the dried blood. After ripping it off not-so-gently he hovered around the bathroom, wondering where to stick the now ruined bandana, but decided to stick it in his pocket for now, seeing that the trash can was at its limits. He then proceeded to clean the wound and wrap it up, along with the shallow cut on his palm he had earned the day before. The dog was really going to get him killed.

Once he was finished taking care of his wounds, he made his way to his bedroom and to his small desk. He still had the homework to finish. Glancing out of the window, he realized it was already dark outside. He sighed. It was going to be another one of those long nights…

-O-

Why, exactly, Allen was making his way through the piles of garbage again, he had no idea. He couldn't even explain why he had couple of pieces of grilled chicken with him either. But he was. He couldn't form any rational explanation in his head to explain his actions except the… Feeling. He just felt like he should go see the dog and the feeling only eased up when he got closer to it. Maybe he was just lonely, Allen thought to himself. He didn't have that many friends, even less after Narain moved away with his sister Mina. The only human contact he had was with the students at the same class and the people he came across while working. That had to be it, Allen figured as he walked around yet another pile of trash. That had to be why he found himself here even after getting bitten by the stupid dog, and even though he was exhausted after the long day at school and the few hours he'd spent running around the shop. And though he could be snoozing in his soft and warm bed by now, instead he was kicking cans at a junkyard.

Finally Allen was fairly certain he had reached the right place where the dog had been resting for the last three days he'd seen it, but it was nowhere to be found. Frowning, Allen looked around, wondering if he really had the right place, but then he spotted the wire he had sacrificed his fingers for. So the dog had finally taken off? Allen tilted his head, slightly saddened, but it couldn't be helped, he figured. With a sigh, he turned around to head back home… Just to come face to face with the creature he had been looking for. Crouching. In front of him. Snarling.

"Oh crap", Allen muttered when he heard a low growl coming from the dog's throat. Slowly, he reached for his bag, the dog following his movements intently. Finally reaching the chicken he had wrapped up, he pulled it out and to his relief, the growling eased up a bit as the dog sniffed the air. Only a second later though, the growling started again and Allen stiffened. Alright, gather yourself Allen, you can do this, he told himself and with a deep breath, he stepped forward. Surprisingly enough, the growling stopped. Allen opened his eyes again, not even having realized that he'd closed them at some point.

Again, the dog was sniffing at the air, this time a bit more intently, as if he was looking for a specific, familiar scent. Then he sneaked towards Allen, still sniffing at the air, until it reached Allen and started poking his leg. Allen stayed still, not that he could have moved even if he had wanted to. His heart was beating fast and his body had tensed readying for the fight-or-flee reaction. Had the dog always been that huge? Allen wondered. His back was up to Allen's waist. Should it actually choose to attack… Allen had no idea what he could do to defend himself.

Fortunately for him, the dog didn't attack. Instead he stuck his snout in Allen's pocket and pulled out the green bandana Allen had gotten from Lavi, and had apparently forgotten to throw away. The dog sniffed once more before his snout scrunched up as if he smelled something unpleasant and with one swift movement, the dog threw the bandanna in the air… Just for it to land on a particularly wet patch of smelly mud. The dog seemed satisfied with his work and then proceeded to grab the chicken Allen was holding in his hands. As if freed from a heavy weight, Allen stumbled backwards and almost collapsed on his knees. Almost. Instead, he took one more look at the dog, before turning around and making his way from the junkyard, deciding that he had had enough of caring for dangerous and ungrateful big dogs.

-O-

Allen stayed in his decision. When Saturday rolled around, he spent the morning snoozing in his bed, enjoying the peaceful morning. When the clock hit twelve, he finally gathered himself from the bed and prepared himself a small lunch, before heading for the shop for his shift. The hours flew by without anything too interesting happening, aside from a couple of idiotic teenagers causing trouble at the shop and an old lady dropping her purse while in line. Before he knew it, it was the time to close the shop.

Once he was freed from the stuffy interior of the small shop, Allen decided to make his way to the library and from there he returned straight home, not sparing another thought for the dog. Well, that's what he'd like to say, but he'd actually had to take a bus home to refrain himself from going to see the animal again. He ate a filling dinner that day and spent the rest of the day by reading a book he had borrowed from the library. When the clock hit midnight, he was already in bed.

Again, he spent the Sunday morning just lazing in the bed. This time, knowing he wasn't expected to show up anywhere, he pulled on comfortable dark gray trousers and a white t-shirt. He then proceeded to prepare himself a cup of coffee along with a full sized lunch, different from those he ate when he didn't have too much time to prepare as much as he usually ate. Which, many people described, was a lot.

He had just finished cleaning up his plate and was arguing with himself whether he should wash the dishes immediately or later, when he heard scratching from somewhere. Frowning, he stood up and made his way to his bedroom, tilting his head to locate where the sound came from. When it came again, he had to retreat back to the kitchen-slash-living room. It was coming from the door. Something was scratching at his door. A stray cat? A raccoon? Allen hadn't seen a raccoon in these parts for years.

Slowly Allen made his way to the door and, even slower, pulled it open. He barely caught a sight of the black figure slipping by him and immediately whirled around to see just who had infiltrated his apartment. …or rather, "what". For in front of him was sitting the huge black dog from the junk yard. And he didn't look pleased in the slightest.

"What the actual fuck?" Allen questioned aloud, staring at the dog sitting in middle of his living room as if it was the most natural thing in the world. He then bared his teeth at Allen and trotted off, sniffing at the floor and sticking in nose in the cupboards and under. Allen then snapped from his daze and pulled the door shut before running after the dog.

"Oh no you won't!" Allen shouted and was about to grab the dog, but it slipped from under his fingers.

"Stop! Look at the mess you've made! If you plant to stay here, you're going to have to let me bathe you", Allen told it when it seemed useless to try and catch it. The dog stopped, surprisingly enough, and took a look around him. It seemed as if his eyes trailed on the mud and dirt he had brought in and his ears lowered a bit. Taking the dog's apparent intelligence in in a beat, Allen crossed his arms.

"Exactly. The bathroom is that way", Allen pointed down the hallway to his bedroom, through which you had to go to reach the bathroom. The dog scrunched his nose and for a moment Allen thought he would lunge at him, but then he turned around and slowly made his way to Allen's bedroom. Allen stared after him with wide eyes, before going after him.

-O-

An hour later the dog was hiding under his bed and would growl each time Allen approached the bed. Not that Allen minded too much, he was pissed off too. He'd just finished drying off the bathroom after having to take a shower of his own and changing into clean and dry clothes. And he still had to change the now wet sheets while somehow trying to avoid the dog lurking under his bed for no apparent reason. Allen had simply scrubbed off all the dirt on his fur and even cleaned his wounded paws and the numerous scratches he had all over his body. Allen figured the dog was sulking because of his wet fur, though he had been the one refusing to let Allen dry him (and ran around Allen's bedroom to avoid it, thus getting the sheets wet) and because of Allen trying to bandage his feet. Weight being on the word trying. He almost bit Allen's already abused fingers off.

Sighing, Allen decided he would take care of the sheets later and get the dog something to eat for now. Which meant having to spend his day off shopping. Not to mention he already knew the dog refused normal dog food, so feeding him would be little bit more costly than that. Allen took one last look under the bed and receiving an angry bark like growl, grabbed his hoodie and left.

-O-

Allen came home to find the dog still hadn't moved from his spot under the bed, so Allen decided to just bring the food to him, along with a cup of water. While the dog was distracted by those, he quickly changed the sheets and proceeded. Content now that that was done, Allen dug out his school books and for the next hour and half, he was absorbed in his homework, never noticing the dog leaving his safe haven to inspect the house.

Allen was packing away his school things, when he heard a loud thump from the kitchen. With a start, Allen dashed towards the origin of the sound. It took him a moment to take in the situation and even longer to convince himself that he wasn't dreaming. One of the chairs beside he small dining table had been brought to the counter, above which were the shelves where Allen kept the instant food as well as any food objects that didn't need to be put in fridge. Including noodles which now, for some reason, were littered on the counter and floor. And on the floor laying on his side was the dog. Allen blinked. The dog pushed himself on his feet and shook himself slightly as if shaking off all the imaginary dirt, before taking a sniff at the nearest noodle packet. As if not pleased with the smell he took one accusing look at Allen before trotting off again. Allen opted to just stop thinking and went to clean the kitchen for the second time that day.

By the time it was late enough for Allen to set down the book he was reading and try and get some sleep, the dog was already snoozing by the doorway. With a yawn Allen flicked off the light and curled under his warm cover, closing his eyes… He wasn't sure how long he stayed in that half-asleep state that comes right before you fall asleep, but he was suddenly brought back to full attention when some weight settled on the bed and then over his feet he had straightened at some point. Startled Allen shot up from his comfy position and was greeted by two glowing eyes. For a moment Allen thought it was some wild beast that had come to eat him, before he heard the all too familiar growl.

"You've got to be kidding me", Allen muttered tiredly. Then he decided he was too tired to deal with it now and promptly fell back to his pillow. Few minutes later, he was asleep.

-O-

A ray of light woke him up. It was the same every morning, but it always happened about an hour or half before his alarm went off. So Allen simply let out a small groan and rolled to his other side. For some reason he still couldn't go back to sleep though like he usually did. Something was off, but he just couldn't put a finger on it due to his half-asleep state of mind. Frowning in annoyance, he curled his legs closer to his body. No, it was still warm, that couldn't be it. It wasn't too bright either, meaning he still had at least couple of hours to sleep. The only sounds he could hear were the soft ticking of his clock and the light breathing of the dog that had intruded his apartment and insisted on sleeping at the feet of the bed…

Speaking of which, Allen couldn't feel his furry body lying on top of his feet for some reason. Maybe that was it, he thought then, already relaxing, ready to fall back asleep. The dog had probably slipped off sometime of the night, since Allen would surely have felt him sleeping by his side instead at his feet… Then his eyes snapped open. If the dog wasn't the one breathing close by… Then where did it come from exactly?

Still not finding the energy to be too startled, Allen rolled on his other side again narrowing his eyes against the flood of light. He was greeted by a pair of dark eyes staring at him. A pair of really dark eyes, which really came out due to the contrast with the pale skin and long, soft looking black hair.

"Uwaaaaahhh!" Allen screamed, shooting up from his comfortable, warm position. The dark eyes narrowed slightly, as if annoyed by the sudden loud sound.

"What the hell-?! Who are you? And what the hell are you doing in my bed?" Allen screeched while frantically pooling his blanket to him. The dark eyes closed for a moment as the person seemed to sigh, before lifting himself on a sitting position and swinging his legs over the bed. Yes, despite Allen's first confusion on his gender, the person was definitely a male. And how could he be so sure, despite his long hair and slender form? Well, that was because he was naked.

"And why the fuck are you naked?" Allen added when the person stood up, swinging his hair to get it out from his face. There was a brief moment of silence, before the male turned to look at him over his shoulder as if pondering if he should answer or not.

"Because carrying a bag of clothes with me all the time is bothersome, obviously", the male answered then as if it was… well, obvious. Which it was not by the way. Unless creeping up on sleeping teenagers to sleep on their bed naked was normal. Then his explanation would've been completely understandable. But since it was Allen's first time witnessing this kind of situation, Allen was willing to bet it was not. But the confidence in the male's voice stunned Allen for long enough that he missed his chance to voice his conclusion.

"Well?" the male questioned. Allen just stared at him.

"What?" he asked then when the male didn't clarify. Because, really, what was he supposed to do in that situation? He had no schemas prepared for this kind of situations, nor did he have enough knowledge in general on what to do with attractive suspicious people who somehow managed to crawl into your bed. No, actually for that kind of situations he did have a solution, like a solid kick to the crotch, but… Somehow he felt like the current situation was a bit more complicated than that.

The male motioned at his naked body as he turned around, not shy in the least. Allen forced his eyes not to stray and stay fixed on his face.

"Clothes", he stated then and Allen felt like screaming. Which he kind of did.

"You expect me to dress you? What the hell? Just where do you think you are? This is my bedroom not some freaking shopping center! How do you even think I would have something that would fit you?" he yelled, while the male simply lifted his eyebrows at his frantic state.

"Well, unless you prefer me to walk around like this…?" the male asked and a smirk twisted his lips as he lowered his hands to lay on his hips. Immediately, Allen detested that smirk. With a frustrated, and slightly panicked, growl, which reminded more of a whine, he leaped from his bed, throwing his blanket at the male for temporary cover. Glad in his boxers and loose t-shirt, he then went straight for the closet where he kept the few pieces of clothing his master had left behind.

-O-

A quarter later the male was sitting in his small kitchen by his small, round table. The clothes he was wearing were too big for him, but it wasn't like either of them could do anything about it. He had a white dress shirt and black jeans that Allen could tell, would have been just the right fit for his master to look presentable.

Allen himself was standing by the counter. He had come to the decision he would not be dealing with this situation until he had had a warm cup of coffee, which would be finished in few moments. In the meantime, he was looking around the kitchen, under the tables and counters, before moving on to his bathroom, bedroom again…

"Did you lose something?" he was startled from his thoughts by the soft voice calling from the kitchen. Frowning, Allen slipped back there and poured himself a cup of coffee.

"Yes… No. Kind of… There's supposed to be a big black dog here… You didn't do anything to it, did you?" Allen asked him. He doubted the dog would have just left after going through the trouble of following Allen there, even though Allen knew the door would probably prove to be a small hindrance to it, if at all, should he have decided to leave. Frankly, Allen was a bit worried. The male just looked at him as if he was stupid before shrugging and sipping the tea he'd made Allen prepare for him. Little wistfully, Allen looked out of the window in hope to catch a sight of the dog. His paws were still not completely healed and he would definitely be hungry again soon…

-O-

"How come I'm responsible for getting you clothes? What are you even doing here anymore? I'm not particularly rich you know, I can't afford to just go out on impulse to buy clothes for each stranger who stumbles in to my apartment naked" Allen complained as he was gathering up the stuff he would be needing in his job. The guy, whose name he had learnt is Kanda, lifted an eyebrow at him.

"Do people often just wonder into your bedroom naked?" he asked and Allen frowned at him, about to snap back at him when the guy sighed.

"Fine. I get it. I can just swipe what I need anyway…" he stated, already making his way to the door. Allen's frown deepened.

"You can just swipe what you need… Hey! You don't mean like steal, do you?" Allen asked, annoyed. Kanda paused and turned to look at him over his shoulder. His face clearly answered his question: "what do you think."

"You can't!" Allen shouted.

"And why not?" Kanda inquired impatiently, crossing his arms to his chest.

"'Cause it's not nice!" Allen scolded and he could swear Kanda's face dropped a bit. Was he… pouting? Allen's eyes widened slightly.

"Your face is not nice", Kanda muttered, but turned away from the door. Immediately Allen's eyes narrowed again.

"What was that?"

-O-

Allen tapped the floor with his feet impatiently. Seriously, he felt like he had gone shopping with Road again… he shuddered at the thought. Kanda sure took his time going through the racks of clothing. Why was he doing this again? He could just leave and have the guy fend for himself… He was seriously considering the idea when he noticed Kanda emerge from between the tall shelves carrying a pile of clothes.

"Oi, Moyashi", Allen's eyebrow developed a tick as the raven haired male called him over to the cashier.

"It's Allen, jerk", Allen reminded him while digging through his pockets for the money he'd snatched from his stash just before leaving. Kanda just shrugged off his complaint and took the bag the cashier offered him once Allen had paid. They were once again walking on the streets, gathering more than few weird looks. Was it for Allen's scar and white hair, or Kanda's long raven hair that fell freely down his shoulders or the combination of their looks, Allen didn't even bother to guess. They were just about to cross the street to make their way to the bus stop when Kanda suddenly stopped. Allen glanced behind him to see what was holding him up and saw Kanda… Sniffing the air?

When Kanda looked at Allen again, Allen could swear there was an excited glint in his eyes. When he spoke, however, the tone was the same flat and slightly mocking as the one he'd been using the whole day.

"Oi, Moyashi, let's go get some food", he suggested, or more like commanded, and before Allen could protest, Kanda already had a hold of his wrist and was dragging him towards some Japanese styled restaurant.

-O-

After being forced to pay for a serving of something Kanda called soba, Allen finally dared to take a look at the clock. It would appear he had completely ditched school that day, not that he cared all that much, nothing interesting nor urgent ever happened on Mondays. His shift at the shop would be starting in half an hour though, leaving him just enough time to get there by feet. Taking a look at the slightly taller male beside him Allen wondered what, exactly, he was supposed to do with him. He sighed wearily, gaining the male's attention.

"Listen, I have to get to work in half an hour now. We've gotten you clothes and food, so you'll be fine, right?" Allen asked, the so you better leave and stop bothering me, being left unsaid. Kanda just stared at him so with a frown Allen turned away to make his way to the shop… Just to hear a pair of footsteps trailing after him. He turned to glare at the man, but before he could snap at him, Kanda spoke out.

"I'm coming with you", he told Allen with absolute confidence. Allen frowned wanting to protest, but ended up just sighing, once again, and continuing his way to the shop.

Kanda stayed silent most of the trip, scanning the surroundings and once in a while sniffing the air, curiously enough. Allen wanted to ask him if he was looking for something, but refrained himself. It was none of his business and he wasn't all that interested. Allen was glad when they finally reached the shop. Without any delay, Allen made his way to the back to change into his working clothes, meaning the ugly striped shirt, and bright green apron. His hair was already long enough to be tied in small bun-like ponytail so he did that for clean appearance. At this point, he caught a sight of Kanda from the small mirror above the sink in the changing room. He was staring at him. With a frown, Allen turned around in order to snap something at him, but Kanda's attention had shifted to his hair, fingering the long strands while frowning slightly. Without really thinking, Allen pulled off another one of the three hair bands he kept on his wrist in case one of them broke and offered it to Kanda. Kanda stared at it suspiciously.

"I haven't used it once jerk, it's just there in case this one snaps", Allen told him while motioning at the one currently holding his hair up. Kanda accepted the hair band and swiftly combed through his hair to gather them in to a high ponytail. Allen didn't even realize he was staring until he caught eye contact with Kanda. Slightly flushed, he turned away and left the changing room, greeting his co-worker on the way.

The hours seemed longer than usual. Allen was all for blaming Kanda for it. Once Allen's co-worker left, Kanda had returned to the changing room and Allen had distantly heard the shower running. Fifteen minutes later Kanda had emerged in his new clothes with towel-dried hair pulled into a ponytail. He had then taken to leaning on the wall little from the counter Allen worked at as cashier. That was when Allen could understand a little bit better why it had taken so long at the shop, looking for clothes. Kanda did have a nice taste with clothing. He was wearing a dark blue long sleeved shirt and faded black jeans along with some kind of combat boots. Allen hadn't even noticed him pick those up… The shirt really showed off Kanda's well trained figure. Allen's eyes followed the long fingers as they rolled up the sleeve, revealing bits of the pale arm-

"Excuse me…?" Allen's eyes snapped towards the noise to see a girl around ten to twelve standing behind the counter.

"Oh, sorry, that would make it…" Allen started, quickly taking in her purchase while desperately fighting off the redness he knew was on his cheeks. And if he did hear the snickering coming from where the raven haired male was, he didn't acknowledge it.

After that, Allen did his best to ignore the other at least until the end of his swift. When the clock finally hit seven, Allen took off his apron and picked up his bag. He made his way through the shop, picking up what he would be needing for him and Kanda, since by now it was clear he wouldn't be leaving Allen alone anytime soon. He quickly arrived to the meat section on his way to the cashier to pay for his things. He stopped there, eyes falling on the packets of raw meat.

Before he knew it, Allen's hand was hovering over a packet of minced meat. He was frowning and his fingers were twitching slightly. He'd already made the decision that he wouldn't go out of his way to feed the ungrateful dog. Besides, he had already left Allen's apartment, right? Which clearly meant he didn't need or want his help. …Right? With a sigh Allen reached for the packet…

"You won't be needing that", all too familiar voice called out from behind him. Allen's eyebrow twitched.

"You already have enough food for two, right? So you won't be needing that", Kanda told him and Allen spun around. Overlooking the fact that Kanda had just assumed Allen would be feeding him Allen just snapped at him: "Oh yeah, and how would you know that?" Kanda glared at him.

"It's for the… dog, isn't it? You won't need it", Kanda repeated and a frustrated growl escaped Allen's throat.

"Again, how would you know that? Unless of course you did do something to him", Allen accused while glaring at the taller male. Instead of answering, Kanda rolled his eyes.

"Why do you even care for it so much, it's just a stray. Let someone else take care of it", Kanda told him and for a moment, the frown disappeared from Allen's face. Because Mana cared for me, Allen's thoughts betrayed him, though he wasn't sure, where the thought came from. He sobered quickly, replacing the frown and reached for the meat when a slender hand wrapped around his wrist.

"I told you, you won't be needing it" this time the voice was coming from right beside his ear and Allen stiffened. He whirled around, pulling his wrist free. Whatever he was going to say, though, died on his lips when he noticed how close Kanda was standing. Gathering himself, Allen looked up at those dark eyes.

"What does it matter to you if I decide to-" but he was cut off when Kanda narrowed his eyes and suddenly he realized just why those eyes looked so familiar. The look on Kanda's face was almost that of a predator, it was the same expression the dog had had whenever Allen had approached it. For few seconds Allen just gaped, while Kanda's expression settled to a confused frown.

"No way", Allen told himself aloud then, shaking his head. Get yourself together, he told himself, people don't just change into dogs or the other way around. But still… He knew those eyes. That raven hair and the fact that Kanda had appeared the morning after the dog had followed him home and…

"That's not… That… A dog?" Allen blurted out, momentarily forgetting just how absurd that sounded. Or more likely, he didn't care, because Kanda was clearly hesitating and took a step back. His face was scrunching up as if he was insulted.

"It's a wolf", Kanda muttered and it took a moment for Allen to realize he had actually kind of confessed. His brain was still working overtime though, so what came out of his mouth was just: "What." Kanda glared at him before backing off, finally giving him some space to actually breathe.

"It's not a fucking dog, you idiot Moyashi. It's clearly a wolf", Kanda told him, finally sounding more like himself.

"Well excuse me for having thought that wolves have been extinct here for at least a decade", Allen hissed while clutching his bag.

"No they haven't" Kanda stated and when Allen just gaped at him, he sighed, frustrated.

"Whatever", he muttered and took off down the aisle towards the changing room. Only a few seconds later Allen went after him, shouting that he would have to explain himself. Kanda ignored him.

-O-

"So you are like, what, a werewolf?" Allen asked when they reached his apartment. Kanda glared at him and shrugged. Allen frowned.

"Are there more of you here then?" he asked as he closed the door behind them. Again, Kanda didn't grace him with an answer. A frustrated growl escaped Allen.

"Okay look, I've let you stay in my apartment, bought you clothes and fed you, the least you could do is explain some of this stuff to me. It's not like I run across werewolv-" he was rudely cut off by a hand covering his mouth and he glared at the owner of the hand, who was once again sniffing at the air. At the same second, there was a knock on his door. Allen jumped a bit in surprise and was about to back off from Kanda to open the door when the other grabbed him by the collar of his shirt.

"Who is that?" Kanda hissed at him silently and Allen was startled by the murderous expression. He frowned, removing Kanda's hand from his mouth.

"How should I know when you won't let me open the door?" Allen asked him, annoyed. Kanda growled and pushed him back, making him stumble slightly.

"I'm not here", Kanda told him and Allen opened his mouth to demand what he meant by that, when Kanda turned to glare at him again.

"I am not here" he hissed and disappeared down the hallway to Allen's room. Allen frowned, but decided to oblige this time and went to open the door, forcing away the frown.

"Evening, shonen. I'm not disturbing you am I?" familiar voice greeted him and Allen sighed. Tyki was about to push past him, but Allen held out his arm.

"You are not coming in while smoking that", Allen told him and Tyki smirked a bit, but settled on leaning at the wall just outside the doorway.

"Did you want something?" Allen asked, his thoughts still on the exchange he had with Kanda just moments ago. Tyki was about to answer when his eyes fell on something behind Allen. Curiously, Allen turned his head to see the huge black d- wolf, standing little behind him, practically glaring at the top hat wearing man. Allen refrained from groaning.

"Someone gave him to me to care for, for few days"; Allen lied swiftly and Tyki's golden eyes trailed back to him.

"Is that so?" he stated with a thoughtful look, but then blinked and the smirk returned to his lips.

"Anyway, about that job I mentioned few days ago. I brought the files", Tyki said and lifted his hand where he was holding a folder of some sort.

"When exactly did I agree to do this again?" Allen asked with a sigh as the folder was pushed to his arms. Tyki smirked.

"You didn't", he stated and Allen frowned.

"Then why-" but Tyki cut him off almost immediately.

"Just think about it alright? And if you see anything, contact me. You won't be required to do much and the pay is good", he said and without letting Allen he tipped his hat slightly and left. Allen closed his eyes for a moment and breathed in deeply, before letting it flow out. He stepped back inside and closed the door. He fingered the folder curiously, wondering if he should open it or not. Finally the curiosity won and he opened the strap, pulling out a file, which held a picture and information about a person named…

"Oh", Allen stated blankly staring at the name typed on the paper. His eyes trailed over to the picture and true enough, the familiar dark blue eyes stared right back at him. And when Allen lifted his eyes from the paper he saw those very same eyes looking at him from behind the table, though otherwise, the appearance was different.

"Okay", Allen said aloud while his mind was running through different explanations, "Okay. Never mind about that then." And he tried pushing the file back to the folder, but in his haste he ended up just crumbling it. He jumped a bit when he heard a loud crunching sound and a grunt of pain. His eyes widened and he tried to push the paper in…

Fingers wrapped around his wrist and an arm around his waist to make sure he wouldn't try and flee. Warm body was pressed against his back and Allen's face heated with the realization that Kanda couldn't have managed to put on his clothes in the little time it took for him to change and reach him. A warm breath brushed against his ear and cheek. Allen's arm was shaking slightly due to his nervousness. A fluttering feeling started in his chest, but it disappeared as soon as it came as the other's grip on his wrist tightened to a point Allen was sure it would leave a bruise.

"Explain", Kanda stated with carefully blank voice. Allen let out a wavering breath.

"Kanda-" Allen started , but cut off when he was suddenly spun around so his back was against the table, the edge digging into his lower back painfully.

"I said explain" Kanda all but growled and for a moment Allen saw a face of a wolf rather than that of a human's. A pure wave of fear passed through him, but Allen had never dealt well with fear. He hated feeling helpless and weak, it never failed to light up a hot spark of anger inside him and that is exactly what happened this time as well.

"There's nothing to explain!" Allen snapped, forcefully tugging at his wrists that were held against the table by Kanda. Kanda's eyes narrowed.

"Nothing to explain? What is this then, huh? You're working with the Noah" Kanda hissed and nails dug into Allen's wrists. Too sharp to be just human's…

"No, I don't! Even if I did I do not owe an explanation to you!" Allen yelled glaring at the slightly taller male. Allen had never felt such fury as he did now. It was burning inside him, making it hard to think. It's none of his business! He has no right to dig into my life- How dare he suspect something so absurd? The thoughts flew by, childish and simple and Allen had the animalistic urge to glower. The burning anger was spreading all over his body…

Allen gasped when the burning sensation spiked on his right arm, throbbing like an untreated wound. And Allen realized it wasn't just the anger burning inside him, he really did feel like his insides were burning and it was spreading from his arm… His heart was beating wildly and his ears were humming. Breathing came out in gasps and his throat was clenching as if he was holding in a scream… Then the pain flared from his left arm, spreading to his chest and torso.. He collapsed on the floor cradling his arm and whimpering, because it hurt, it hurtithurt…

"-ashi! Oi! Moyashi! Allen! Focus! Can you hear me?" Warm hands were cradling his head. Allen's eyes fluttered open, though he wasn't sure when he had closed them.

"Good, now focus on me… No, don't close your eyes, look at me" Kanda was talking again and the words calmed him down if just a little, because it was better than the pain. So Allen forced his eyes to stay open and looked straight into the dark blue eyes, while listening Kanda's voice. Little by little the burning sensation evened out and retreated. Allen was still breathing heavy, his heart beating erratically.

"What… was that?" Allen panted out when he felt like his arm wasn't burning up nor his head splitting apart. Kanda was staring at him while frowning. Allen thought he wouldn't answer, but then Kanda took his hands from Allen's and retreated a few paces.

"Show me your arm", Kanda ordered then and without waiting for Allen's answer, he pulled his arm up and rolled up the sleeve of his right arm. Without hesitation he ripped off the bandage over the bite wound Allen had gained only a day or two earlier. Allen's eyes widened at what he saw. The wound was closing up. The angry red color was fading and the skin was knitting back together. Only a minute later, only thing left was a light scar. Kanda's frown deepened.

"That's not supposed to happen" he muttered and before Allen could question him he rose to his feet and brushed off his jeans.

"Get up, we're leaving", he told Allen before turning around and heading for the bedroom.

-O-

"Could you just wait a second? The least you could do is tell me what is going on!" Allen said while almost having to jog to keep up with the raven haired male. He was carrying his bag filled with change of clothes and a little bit of money from his stash, just as Kanda had instructed. Kanda turned to glance at him and surprisingly slowed down.

"What was that in the apartment? And what did you mean about the No-" but Allen was once again cut off by Kanda.

"Listen here, Moyashi", Kanda said, "I am not going to repeat myself. What happened over there is that you were trying to shape shift. Yes, like me. You are a werewolf. Except my bite shouldn't have been enough to turn you, not without full moon. But what's more, your body rejected the shift, don't get me wrong, you would have shifted eventually it just would have been much more painful. It's as if…" Kanda trailed off, glancing at Allen again, before turning back around.

"I'll let Komui do the explaining", he stated then simply.

"And the Noah?" Allen asked quickly. Kanda growled under his breath.

"Vampires", he muttered angrily leaving Allen with even more questions, but before he could voice them Kanda stopped, resulting in Allen almost hitting his back. He caught himself just in time, though.

"This should be far enough", Kanda muttered then and again, before Allen could question it, he lifted his gaze at the sky and howled.

It was loud. Loud enough for Allen to cover his ears with a grimace.

"I don't think anywhere is far enough for that" Allen told him once the howling ceased and Kanda graced his comment with a glare. Then he tilted his head as if listening carefully. Allen almost jumped, startled when a similar howl to what he had just witnessed answered from somewhere not too far away. Then they waited.

Ten minutes later Allen heard a car approaching the wide gravel field where they were waiting. Allen could just spot some apartment buildings behind the trees, from where the car was coming from. Then the car emerged from behind the trees and Allen gaped. It was a sleek black sports car and while Allen didn't know much about cars, he was certain he hadn't seen this model in the streets before. And it looked really, like really, expensive.

"What the fuck?" Kanda muttered beside him and he glanced at the other to see him glaring murderously at the car… Or more accurately, the one driving it. Then the car stopped a little in front of them and the driver side door opened to reveal a young man, probably around their age, with striking red hair and a green bandana covering his right eye. Allen blinked, recognizing the male as the one who had been asking about the bite on his arm. Then another figure opened the door of the passenger side and Allen recognized the girl with her raven hair pulled into pigtails.

"Yuu!" the red head, Lavi, Allen remembered, shouted out and rushed towards Kanda as if attempting to hug him… And was met with a foot hitting his face. Allen had to be impressed by Kanda's agility and balance as he stayed in the position for long enough to hiss out: "Don't call me that." When the foot left his face, Lavi jumped back, rubbing his face.

"Gee, nice to see you too, grumpy. Glad to see you haven't changed", Lavi muttered and was suddenly pulled towards the murderous looking male by his collar.

"And what the fuck are you doing with my car?" Kanda hissed and Allen blinked. Somehow he wasn't surprised the car was Kanda's. He was surprised, however, to see the red head hadn't fainted yet, being addressed with such murderous aura. Lavi just gained a few points of respect from the white haired boy.

"Ahh, well, you see, the Old Panda wouldn't let me take mine, saying it's too 'extravagant' for something like this and Yuu's car is the fastest and-" he didn't get any farther when Kanda's fingers twitched and he made a motion as if reaching for something by his waist that wasn't there. Realizing the same Kanda simply lifted his free hand, clenched it into a fist and…

Lavi landed two meters away howling in pain while holding his left cheek.

"So mean!" he yelled and Kanda just grunted his attention already moved on the girl standing by the car while holding some long object. Kanda's face relaxed slightly as he spotted the object and took few long strides to reach the girl, grabbing the object. That was when Allen realized it was a freaking sword.

"Nii-san thought it would be good idea to take this with us if we did end up running across you", Lenalee told him and Kanda nodded, though his eyes were glued on the blade he had pulled from the sheath. Nodding in satisfaction, Kanda re-sheathed the sword and attached it on his belt. It was a bizarre sight. The clothes Allen bought for him earlier that day were by no means designed to go with a bad ass sword, but somehow Kanda pulled it off without looking too out of place.

Kanda's attention then shifted back to Allen and suddenly the white haired male could feel three pairs of eyes on him.

"Oh, look! It's the shorty from the other day! I knew I smelled Kanda on him!" Lavi shouted out, suddenly stumbling towards Allen.

"That's how you knew we were in town, right? Because I left my bandana on him", Lavi asked, pausing on his way to Allen to glance at Kanda, who nodded slightly in confirmation, not looking too pleased about it though. For Allen it took a moment to remember the green bandana Lavi had used to tie up his wrist and which had later on ended in his pocket and then in a puddle of mud…

"Why'd you bring him? Did you tell him? You know Komui isn't going to be pleased…" Lavi rambled while making his way to Allen and starting to fiddle with his hair.

"Wow, is this natural?" he asked then lifting a lock of Allen's hair. Allen frowned and slapped his hand away. Before he could answer though, Kanda grabbed the cheerful red head by the neck of his shirt and dragged him to the car.

"We're leaving. There are Noah in town", Kanda told them and pushed Lavi so he stumbled and had to lean on the car as not to fall. Allen stood there silently, watching as Lenalee almost floated to the other side of the car and slipped to the back seat. Lavi followed her lead while whining loudly about not being able to "drive the dream ride" anymore. Kanda had already opened the door to the driver's seat when he paused to glare at Allen.

"Get in Moyashi", he said and Allen stiffened.

"You know this pretty much counts as kidnapping, right?" Allen grumbled while making his way to the car. The raven haired male didn't acknowledge his comment and simply shut the door, waiting for Allen to climb in before starting the car.

"I have school and work tomorrow", Allen tried feebly as the car left the field.

"Too bad" Kanda stated and Allen sulked.

-O-

"So… Why is the Moyashi coming with us?" Lavi voiced out from the backseat after a quarter of anxious shifting. Allen frowned at the nickname.

"It's Allen" he reminded the redhead. His comment went ignored though, Lavi being too focused on hearing Kanda grunt.

"How is it any of your business?" Kanda growled. Lavi shrugged.

"It's just unusual of you to involve others, Kanda. I'm sure you have a good reason for this. My brother will want to know too", Lenalee put in before Lavi could open his mouth again. Allen frowned, while staring out of the window, slightly pissed off how they were talking about him as if he couldn't understand. Which, honestly, he couldn't, but it was still impolite!

"He's a Sleeper", Kanda told them then, after a small pause. His voice was surprisingly calm and Allen had to take a glance at him to assure himself that it was indeed Kanda who had spoken.

"What? Are you sure? He doesn't really seem like one, I mean, he even smells like human", Lavi quipped from the back seat. Allen threw a glare at him. He did not smell.

"I'm sure", Kanda said, this time with little bit more venom in his voice as was usual of him. Lavi didn't seem to mind though. He leaned closer to the fronts seats and Allen jumped. He could feel the red head's hot breath hitting his neck as he took a sniff.

"Definitely human", Lavi stated before Kanda forcefully pushed his face back.

"How mean!" Lavi whined, gently rubbing his even more abused nose.

"Shut up. I told you, it's none of your fucking business", Kanda growled. Allen turned to glance behind him when Lavi didn't answer, just to see the redhead pouting, while staring at the back of Kanda's head. Lenalee sighed and leaned on the window, closing her eyes. Allen took it to mean it would be a long way to where ever they were headed.

"Get some rest Moyashi, it'll be few hours before we reach the HQ", Kanda's voice drifted to his ears, silent and gentler than usual. Allen glanced at him, surprised, before deeming that he had nothing better to do. He shifted around a bit, before getting comfortable and closing his eyes. Completely missing the curious look the redhead cast at the duo from behind.

-O-

"Oi, Moyashi, get out!" Allen frowned, opening his eyes slowly. It was dark outside, the only light coming from the lights inside the car. Allen blinked. Had they been driving that long? Where on earth were they? Closing the car's door behind him Allen took a quick look around him, but could only see trees and darkness. Allen jumped at the sound of the car doors locking and blinked rabidly few times when all the light died out. Okay… this was getting kind of creepy now.

He turned around to see if Kanda or someone would take out a flashlight when a hand landed on his shoulder. Somehow, he managed not to jump and scream, with an effort. He narrowed his eyes in order to make out who was now standing beside him, but could only see a dark figure and hear the silent breathing. Not very helpful, he deemed to himself.

"This way", a cheerful voice said and Allen recognized the one beside him to be Lavi. He then slid his hand off his shoulder and bounced forward. Allen listened closely to the sounds and followed after the redhead, only to stop a moment later. He heard suspicious rustling sound from the direction Lavi had gone as if…

"What are you doing?" Allen asked, fearing for the worst.

"Eh? Stripping of course", Lavi told him and Allen paled. He had been right then. Just what had he gotten himself into?

"Baka Usagi. He can't shift", Kanda's voice sounded from somewhere nearby and soon Allen heard his steps closing in.

"Huuuh? But I thought you said he's a werewolf?" Lavi asked and Kanda's irritated sigh sounded from beside Allen.

"A Sleeper, idiot" he stated simply, grabbing Allen's wrist.

"Oh yeah, but the how do y-" Lavi started but was cut off by Allen shouting in protest as Kanda started dragging him off. How the hell could he even tell where they were going in this darkness?

"Give me your bag", Kanda commanded as they stopped where Allen thought Lavi should be. Soon enough, a small bag was pushed into Allen's arms.

"You're not gonna shift either then?" Lavi asked and just a second later he let out a pained whine followed by a cracking sound that made Allen shiver and tense. Then he hear a thump and a sound of heavy breathing, as if the human in front of him had turned into a… Allen decided to stop thinking for now, just accepting the fact that maybe, maybe, these people weren't crazy. He had come across stranger things, after all. Say, his golem which was still sleeping in his pocket and the fact that his master was a magician. He also suspected that Tyki wasn't human either, what with his ability to walk through walls and his cousin Road always just appearing out of thin air. Okay, well, Kanda had called them vampires but… Allen wasn't ready to think that far ahead just yet. But sure, his life could make room for few werewolves too, why not?

He was brought out from his musings by Kanda crouching down and lifting something… Was that another bag? Who…? Then Allen felt something big and furry brush past him to Lavi and it clicked. So, that was Lenalee? Before he could voice out his confusion, Kanda had already taken a hold of his arm again and was dragging him forward.

"Come on, Moyashi", Kanda muttered and Allen scowled, but refrained himself from starting yet another argument.

He stumbled more than once on their way through the forest, but eventually he grew more adjusted to the uneven ground and Kanda eased his death grip, even if only a little. They walked in silence, though every now and then Allen heard Lenalee and Lavi brushing past them, before launching forward again. Once or twice they started a playful brawl, but quickly stopped when they heard Kanda start growling under his breath.

"Why did we have to leave the car behind?" Allen asked after what felt like hours of trudging forward in silence. First he thought Kanda wouldn't answer and he could practically feel the glare the other male was sending his way. Then he heard and exaggerated sigh and Kanda answered: "It's too dangerous to try and reach the HQ with a car this late. I'll go get it tomorrow." Kanda sounded weary and tense, so Allen decided not to bother him more than that and they continued in silence for a while longer, before Allen heard Lavi, or Lenalee, letting out a bark. Kanda tensed, before relaxing again. Then he started walking even faster, leaving Allen to stumble after him.

"Whoa, what's the sudden hurry?" Allen asked, annoyed, but didn't receive an answer other than a sharp pull on his arm. Allen frowned, but didn't have time to protest before the darkness was sliced by a bright ray of light. Allen had to narrow his eyes against the glaring light, but he could spot the two wolves standing by a doorway that, to him, seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. There was also a figure standing by the doorway on two legs, who, as they approached, turned out to be a man wearing glasses and long white lab coat. He was crouching down and patting Lenalee, a dark furred wolf with slightly lighter tummy and paws. A wolf with red fur was bouncing around the duo, barking happily, before darting down the hallway just about the same time as Kanda and Allen reached the doorway. Lenalee took one look at them before escaping down the hallway as well. The man got on his feet and dusted his coat off before addressing the duo.

"It's good to have you back Kanda. You took your time on your search and had us all worried. Lenalee told you found a Sleeper. Is this him?" the man asked and Kanda nodded sharply, before pushing Allen forward and marching down the hallway, leaving him on his own. Allen stared after him with unbelieving eyes. That jerk, he really just kidnapped him and then just left him there with a complete stranger?

"Hello, sorry about Kanda, he tends to get pretty temperamental after returning from a… mission. I'm Komui Lee, and you are…?" Allen jumped a bit as the man addressed him. Oh. So he was related to Lenalee? A brother maybe, judging by their ages.

"Allen Walker", Allen introduced, offering his hand. Komui blinked, surprised, but shook his hand.

"Come on then, let's get you inside. I suspect Kanda told you nothing about us? Just like him… Well, we'll have Hevlaska inspect you and see if you really are a Sleeper. I'll try and answer your questions after that, if that's alright?" Komui told him and Allen nodded dumbly before following after him. He decided it would be best to just go with the flow right now and dwell on all the insanity when he got a moment for himself.

-O-

"Never… Again…" Allen panted once he was back in the brightly lit hallway, anywhere but back in that dimly lit room with that strange half-human half-wolf woman… To say Allen was surprised to suddenly get sniffed and probed at by such creature out of the blue was an understatement. To prove his point, he glared fiercely at Komui who had the decency to at least try and not to laugh at him. Though he failed miserably.

"It wasn't that bad, now was it? At least we know you're one of us for certain now" Komui said and patted him on the shoulder comfortingly. Allen snorted and shifted his bag to even the weight a bit.

"Yeah, though I still have no idea what that even means", Allen grumbled. Then he took a deep breath and straightened himself, following Komui as he started leading him through the hallways once more.

"Werewolves", Komui just stated and Allen looked at him dully. Komui smiled.

"We are a secret community of werewolves, dedicated to protect humans from all things supernatural. Of course, we also provide safe place for those of our kind who seek for it. There are two types of werewolves that we know of, though we don't have a habit of labelling ourselves. You could say that there are those who have wolf blood running thicker inside than others. Those are the kind that can fully transform themselves into wolves, Like Lenalee, Laci and Kanda. As for the others", Komui paused there and Allen watched in fascination as his features shifted. His hair stood up a bit more, fur covered his face a bit further. His nose flattened and pushed out more and his eyes took a more wolf-like shape. "We only get halfway there." he finished and Allen caught a glimpse of sharp fangs. Then Komui's features shifted again and Allen was staring at almost innocent looking man with Chinese features. Allen blinked feeling slightly sick. Would he be able to do that too?

"And how do you know who is which? And how about Sleeper? What does that mean?" Allen asked, barely even noticing the people they passed by as they wandered down the seemingly endless hallways.

"We don't. Not until they shift shapes for the first time on a full moon. After that, they can start practicing shifting on will alone. Shifting always comes easier with those with the ability to fully become a wolf. Sleeper is a person who has werewolf blood flowing in them, but haven't shifted for whatever reason. It could be because of trauma, a seal or simply because it hasn't been triggered by the presence of other wolves. I wonder…" Allen shifted awkwardly under Komui's sharp eyes, but didn't say anything. His mind flashed on an event long ago. The snow covered ground and red… Then sitting by a tombstone with a name Mana Walker carved on it.

Trauma, huh? Allen didn't recall much of his life with Mana, just the sense of belonging and happiness and that he had never felt that way again after losing Mana. Well, not before now. For a day or two now, a warm feeling had been growing in his chest that felt like it would suffocate him. But it was nice, for someone who was used to be alone, having that feeling, the feeling of belonging, of having someone to stand by… It was nice. And Allen could tell it was the strongest when he was standing next to Kanda. And suddenly he felt a stab of emptiness inside him and he instinctively looked around, searching for the long raven hair and that arrogant smirk…

"…of course, also just the presence of another wolf can trigger the shift, but sometimes it takes a bite to wake the werewolf blood", Allen forced himself to focus on Komui's words. His hand trailed up his arm to where Kanda had bitten him before he even knew about werewolves. Huh, that only couple of days ago? Or was it three? Allen couldn't say for sure so he just nodded at Komui to show he was listening. The man smiled and rambled on about how their little community worked and where what was…

A quarter or so later Allen found himself in a cafeteria, sitting by a mountain of empty plates while munching on his last piece of bread. He had just swallowed the last piece when a familiar figure appeared beside him.

"Hi", Lenalee greeted and Allen smiled at her.

"My brother asked me to show you to your room. Also, he told me to remind you that it's full moon tomorrow, so it'll likely be your first shift" she told him and Allen nodded. He got on his feet and let Lenalee show him to a long stone hallway lined with doors with numbers and name tags on them. Allen spotted Crowley and Suman before Lenalee stopped in front of a door with the number seventeen on it.

"Here. You have your own bath room and tomorrow I'll show you around. You'll get your own name tag should you decide to stay with us after your first full moon. We also have a room for combat training here and the cafeteria is where we have all our meals and we also have library and… Well, you'll see" Lenalee trailed off with a sheepish smile. Allen nodded and thanked her, before retreating to the room. He lowered his bag on the floor and looked at the simple room with a bed, desk and a couple of closets in it. With a sigh, he headed for the door that he assumed led to the bathroom. He could use a warm shower.

-O-

Allen had been planning on catching a few hours of sleep, but instead he found himself rolling on the mattress for a few hours before getting up. He wandered down the hallways, trying to rid himself of the anxiousness and empty feeling. What if this was all a mistake? Maybe he wasn't a werewolf after all, or maybe this was all just a bizarre dream and soon he would wake up in his bed and the big black dog would be staring at him from the feet of his bed.

But he knew this wasn't a dream. Instincts he hadn't know he had possessed were screaming inside him. Or, well, they had been screaming, but now they were silent. He could almost feel relaxed and safe here. Almost. There aching emptiness was still there in his chest and his nervousness didn't let him stay put.

He was still in that state few hours later when he was having lunch with Lenalee and Lavi. Only when he spotted a familiar dark haired figure entering the room, did he feel his tense muscles relax a bit and the aching emptiness leaving his chest. Kanda didn't acknowledge him with other than a short glance, but for Allen it was enough to sit by the same table. Slowly, his wildly beating heart calmed down and his foot stopped tapping against the floor.

-O-

By the time the sun was setting behind the trees, Allen had been acquainted with plenty new werewolves and even a few humans that had taken to living with them. There had to be hundreds of them living at the HQ and according to Komui, there were even more bases around the world, not as big as the one Allen had been brought to, but big nonetheless. All except one of the werewolves who were able to shift fully lived at the HQ and Allen had already met most of them. Miranda Lotto, Crowley, Lenalee, Lavi, Marie, Daisya, Tiedoll, Chaoji and Kanda were the ones currently at HQ and according to Komui, there were at least five more who lived at the HQ, and Fou, who lived at the Asian branch with her mate. Still, compared to the amount of werewolves, it seemed that those able to fully shift were rare.

That was why Allen wasn't particularly excited of the full moon. Sure he would acquire few useful traits, but would it have any effects on his life? Probably not. Komui had told him that the full shifters were also the most powerful ones and supernatural things tended to treat them with more affection than the others, which was why they were frequently sent on missions, while the less powerful ones scouted around looking for anything supernatural that might need their attention. Black Order also provided safe place for those who didn't want to live among humans, but didn't want to take part in their attempts of hiding the supernatural from most humans either. Most likely, Allen would be one of those few who would return to their old lives…. After all, there was nothing he could do that would be an addition to their power. He was just another Sleeper who would probably never come to fully control his shifts. He would be a useless package.

Allen sighed. Again, he wondered why Kanda had deemed it necessary to drag him here and then barely even glance at his direction. Trudging through the darkening woods after Lenalee and Komui, Allen couldn't help but steal a few glances at the raven haired male walking a little in front of them. Apparently Kanda was the "alpha" who was responsible for the new werewolves, as Tiedoll and the other alphas that Allen hadn't come across were too busy with other jobs to take care of it. It didn't take much to realize Kanda hadn't taken on the job voluntarily, though. He was practically glowering at anyone who dared to approach or even look at him.

Finally they reached an opening by a small river where they stopped. Komui retreated back to the tree line, telling him that new werewolves usually responded better to Lenalee, Lavi and Kanda as the shift could be a bit… disorienting. After that… they waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Then the full moon appeared from behind the trees, casting its light on the opening. Allen noticed Lavi and Lenalee tense before they retreated to the tree line. Allen didn't have time to wonder why, before, to his surprise, Kanda started stripping. Right. There. In front of him. For few long seconds, Allen just gaped. Kanda had still been wearing the clothes Allen had involuntarily bought him, he noted dully before flushing red and turning his back to Kanda.

"What the hell are you doing, stupid Kanda?!" Allen practically screamed. Kanda snorted.

"Stripping. Why? Nothing you haven't seen before", he just stated and Allen closed his eyes in frustration. Then there was a loud crack, followed by several smaller pop sounds and a pained whine. When Allen turned around, he was met with view of a pitch black wolf staring back at him. For a few moments they just stared at each other, Allen silently admiring how the moon reflected from the dark blue eyes. The moment was interrupted by a loud excited bark as Lavi bounced to the clearing tongue lolling out of his mouth. The red wolf made a playful leap at Kanda, but was met with rows of sharp teeth and a vicious growl. The red furred wolf retreated sheepishly and instead bounced on just arriving Lenalee. The two wolves started a loud brawl. Kanda settled to lay on the grass, keeping his eyes fixed on Allen. A little unnerved, Allen decided to settle down as well and sat cross legged on the ground. Again, they waited.

-O-

It felt like hours for Allen, but the moon hadn't gotten much higher when he started feeling a slight burning feeling spreading from his left arm. He tried pushing it off first, but then, all of a sudden it intensified and like a fire spread from his arm to his chest from where it seemed to explode to the rest of his body. A gasp escaped his lips and all of a sudden the clearing fell silent. Lavi and Lenalee stopped their playful fight and stared at him while Kanda tensed, lowering his head.

Allen didn't notice any of the changes though. The burning had reached his toes and when he ripped off his gloves to look at his fingers, he saw long claws growing to replace his human nails. His blackened left arm was the first part of him to start growing fur. That was when Allen realized his shift wasn't going to just stop at few enhanced senses and facial changes as most of the werewolves' shifts did. No, his was going all the way.

"Shit", Allen gasped out from between the fangs that were now poking against his lips painfully. Through the haze of the pain, he found himself ripping off his shirt at the same time as his fingers started cracking and shortening. With a pained whine he fell on his knees. His heart was beating way too fast and his breaths were coming in short gasps. Because God it hurt, it hurt so much, it hurt and hecouldn'tthink- A loud cracking sound sounded though the clearing and Allen screamed as his spine cracked and reforemed.

Then the pain started retreating, but the panic didn't fade. He felt trapped, he couldn't move his hind legs well, and couldn't understand why. The smells that attacked his nose were weird. Sharper, foreign. And he couldn't find out why that was, because he couldn't move! Allen trashed wildly in order to get rid of the restricting feeling and whined. Finally he heard something ripping and the restricting feeling disappeared. In a flash Allen was on his feet and stared blankly at the foreign object that had been trapping his hind legs.

He felt like he should recognize it, but… For a moment his mind was blank. Then it hit him, those were his jeans, ripped from the waist down. How could he forget…? Then he remembered the weird smells and turned around to find three wolves staring at him. With one glance he immediately recognized the black one as the alpha and his attention turned to him. His pupils shrunk and without himself even realizing it, he had bared his teeth and released a feral growl. He wasn't thinking anymore. All he could hear were his instincts screaming at him that the black wolf was a threat.

The red wolf along with the female retreated with leaping steps as the black one lowered his head and growled. In a flash they were at each other, clawing, biting, pushing. Both of them trying to push over the other and reach their throat with their fangs. It all happened in a flurry of movement and sounds to Allen. One second he was on top, snarling, then he was on the ground kicking and trashing. And they repeated, over and over again until Allen was slammed against a tree. He barely had the time to notice the teeth reaching for his leg, before he was already rolling away and dashing deeper into the forest in order to get the upper hand.

He heard the other wolf take after him and taking advantage of the uneven ground, he stuck his feet on the ground, stopping himself, before turning around in a flash and leaping at the other wolf. He managed to catch the other out of guard and his teeth closed around the side of his neck. Then they were rolling on the ground. The black wolf trying to dislodge Allen's teeth and Allen doing his best to keep his jaws locked. They were like a feral ball of fur. Growling and snarling. The black wolf's claws were digging in to the tender skin on his belly while he did his best to pierce the thick skin on the other's neck. Blood was hard to spot from black fur, but Allen could smell it strongly in the air. Neither of them were gravely injured, yet, as the main purpose was to get the other to submit.

It could've gone on for hours, were it not for the sharp howl sounding from somewhere in the forest. The others were hunting. Immediately Allen's ears perked, though his teeth were still firmly locked around the other's neck. Neither of them moved for a few moments, until an odd growling sound filled the air. Slowly Allen let his jaws slacken and backed off a few steps, lowering his head a bit. He was hungry, Allen had realized, but it was still the black wolf's territory and the black wolf's pack was hunting.

With this action it felt like the world crashed down on him and his silver eyes widened as he gazed at the black wolf. Kanda. He had been fighting with Kanda. Why? He had no idea, other than that his instincts had told him to challenge him. He hadn't won nor lost yet, but suddenly it didn't feel as important anymore. His growling stomach seemed more of a problem than the stupid brawl. And now that he knew he had been fighting Kanda… He didn't want to do it anymore. As the aggression slipped away from him, he felt the feeling he had been after for the longest time, even if he hadn't realized it before. This sense of belonging. This feeling of warmth and safety. As if being a part of a pack. His human instincts finally overpowered the wolf.

The black wolf, Kanda, got on his feet, glaring at Allen who lowered his head in embarrassment, before letting out something that reminded him of a snort and Allen stared at him blankly. Was he… laughing? Then Kanda's tongue lolled out of his mouth and Allen would have gaped were he able to. Kanda made to nip at his snout, before dashing off to the direction where the howl had come from. With a bark, Allen took after him.

-O-

When the morning came Allen found himself curled between tree roots stark naked. With a groan, he pushed himself on a sitting position. He lifted his hand to rub his eyes… And was hit with something soft being thrown at his face.

"Put them on, we're going back to the HQ", Kanda told him from the rock he was sitting on, tying his boots. Allen blinked owlishly, but did as he was told, memories of the moonlight filled night flashing in his head. Well, that certainly hadn't been what he had been expecting. He had expected to get a few heightened senses and a new facial structure, but this… Well, he wasn't complaining. The feeling he had gotten while running after a pray with pack mates close by… Running between the trees with Kanda and challenging each other at playful fights… Well, it wasn't like anything Allen had experienced before and he liked it. Even if he was now filled with scrapes and already healing bite marks. And he could swear he could taste blood on his lips from the successful hunt. Then a thought struck him as he was pulling on his gray hoodie and looking at Kanda's raven hair slipping over his shoulders.

"Hey", Allen started thoughtfully, trying to catch Kanda's attention. Kanda tilted his head slightly and Allen took it as a sign that he was listening.

"What did I look like?" Allen asked then, fiddling with his sleeves nervously. Kanda lifted his eyes to glance at him, before going back to tying up his hair.

"Like you", he stated simply and started walking to where Allen assumed the HQ was located. How he could tell, Allen had no idea. Every tree looked the same to him. Then the wind brushed past them and Allen caught the familiar scent of Lavi and Lenalee. Oh. With a frown, Allen tried to focus on inquiring more, but was interrupted by Kanda sighing.

"You were pure white all over other than your left front leg", Kanda told him then and casted a glance at Allen's left arm. Self- consciously Allen pulled his sleeve down to cover the blackened fingers. He nodded his thanks at Kanda and they continued on their way in silence.

-O-

By the nightfall that day, Allen was dead tired. He had barely had enough time to shower before Lenalee had dragged him to the cafeteria, where most of the Order was gathered at for his welcoming party. Allen had been a bit overwhelmed by the ecstatic welcoming committee, but it had all been clarified to him by a werewolf called Toma, who told him it was because he was another one who could shift fully. Apparently they were highly respected by other werewolves. Komui had also presented him with his own name tag for his door and told him Kanda, Lavi or Lenalee would accompany him to fetch the rest of his belongings from his small apartment, should he wish to do so. Allen had nodded and thanked him.

Half of the day he had been dragged around by numerous of people who wanted to get to know him. It was nice and Allen got the feeling of being involved with one big happy family, but for someone who wasn't used to so much attention or contact, it had been very tiring.

After successfully escaping the crowd, Allen had been dragged off by Lavi who had taken it to himself to teach Allen about werewolf ways. Like what they could and could not eat, how to avoid awkward situations with clothes before and after shifting and about their sleeping habits. Lavi had warned him that the few first nights could be hard, since his wolf instincts still hadn't settled and at packs, wolves never slept alone. Well, usually they slept with their mates, but even if they didn't have mates, the pack was always close by. Obviously, they couldn't keep up that habit in human form since apparently only the ones who were able to fully shift into a wolf had that instinct. And Komui would skewer anyone who dared to approach Lenalee.

Most of the wolves had taken the habit of rooming with each other, since most of them didn't have mates. Lavi roomed with his grandpa who Allen had yet to meet. Daisya and Marie shared a room, as well as Miranda and Lenalee. Tiedoll slept with a fairly young werewolf he had taken under his wing, Chaoji. Crowley usually just randomly appeared in someone's room in his wolf form, most often in Suman's for some odd reason. Apparetnly, according to Crowley and Suman, he was sleepwalking in his wolf form. His wolf was conscious but his human half was not. Lavi and other suspected it was because he knew Suman to always sleep alone otherwise. Kanda was the only one currently at HQ who slept alone in his room, unless Daisya, Marie and Tiedoll dragged him into their rooms, which happened occasionally. Usually when someone managed to hide his katana, Mugen. Allen would be sleeping alone too unless Crowley decided to creep into his room next.

Allen couldn't say he minded that much, though. He was used to sleeping alone, thank you very much. Well, that was what he thought. But when the night fell he found himself staring wide eyed at the ceiling. There was an odd craving in his chest that wouldn't let him close his eyes for longer than few seconds. After about an hour of rolling around he got tired of it and got up. He slipped from his room walking down the hallway glad in his pajama trousers and loose t-shirt.

He didn't particularly pay attention as to where he was going, but when he about half an hour later found himself standing behind a door that smelled heavily of a certain raven haired male, he just couldn't make himself believe it to be a coincidence. For a few long minutes he just stood there, telling his feet to move, get back to his room, but with no avail. When he finally got his feet to cooperate, along with a painful stab in his chest as his inner wolf whined in distress, he heard a soft sound from inside the room.

"What the fuck are you just standing there for, get in, stupid Moyashi", a muffled voice growled from inside. It was quiet and Allen was sure just yesterday he wouldn't have been able to hear it at all. Now he winced, but opened the door none the less with a muttered "jerk". The room was dark, but Allen's eyes adjusted quickly, quicker than what he was used to. Soon Allen could make out the figure half sitting in the bed and glaring at him. Allen lowered his eyes sheepishly about to apologize and dash out of the room when Kanda slumped back to laying position and rolled closer to the wall. He then lifted the edge of the blanket. For a few seconds Allen just stared at him dumbly.

"Well?" Kanda snapped and before Allen even realized it he was curled up under the sheets, his wolf half almost purring in content. A soft sigh escaped his lips as he closed his eyes. He could feel Kanda's breath hitting his neck and the warm chest against his back. With those thoughts Allen promptly fell asleep.

-END-

A/N

This was a small idea bugging in my mind that I had to write out and which I then decided to turn into a practice to write pairings and wolves. I'm not sure how I did with those descriptions, so tell me your opinion?

And yes, I had planned this to be a short one shot, but somehow it turned into a multi-chapter story while writing. Then I just had to admit it to myself that I don't have the time to make another multi-chapter story, so now it's a friggin' long one shot with enough plot lines for a multi-chapter story. :3
The story has been adopted by lovely Runningfreespirit. So if you want to read more go check them out when they get to it.

English is not my native language and I'm sorry for all the grammar mistakes I made and didn't manage to clear out.

(and if there are any of those reading this who are waiting for Silver Light for Blind Eyes' sequel, I'm working on it, this was just kind of a side project I had)

Bye~