Warning: Lime. Not too bad, but still.


...

"What did you say?" Komui's desk shook dangerously as Kanda slammed his hands into it violently.

"Allen was captured in battle about a week ago…"

"How did this even happen?" The black-haired exorcist hissed murderously.

"We don't know for certain. He was alone on that mission. The last thing we know is that one of the golems picked up the energy traces of three extremely strong demons. Noah, probably."

"Shouldn't you be searching right now, then?"

"Well…" Komui shifted uncomfortably. "As much as we'd like to, we can't afford to send one person into one of the Noah strongholds alone, and you're the only exorcist not on a mission at the moment."

Kanda stared at him in disbelief for a moment and turned around wordlessly, stalking away. "I'm going," he said darkly before he left, his sword hanging from his belt, singing for blood.

Stunned, Komui blinked in his chair several times before he finally found his voice again. "Wait!" He called, but it was far too late. Kanda was long gone.

The Noah were the most mysterious and the most powerful of all the demons. If there were such things as the rulers of demons, then the Noah could be considered so, though they were far too capricious for any formal sort of rule. Still, all demons obeyed the Noah, and all humans feared the Noah.

They did not have any true home, but the closest things were the many Noah strongholds that dotted the country. The mysterious demons preferred to roam the country at their whims, sometimes attacking and sometimes blending in with humans, sometimes alone and sometimes in groups, and it was at these strongholds that they rested in between travels.

The closest one, Kanda knew, was on the highest mountaintop in the east. He waited impatiently as the train clanked in its direction, though it would only go as far as a coal mine in one of the nearby mountains. The rest of the way he'd have to travel by foot.

Now that he actually had time to think, he wondered dully why he hadn't waited after all. It was impossible for him or any exorcist to win against even one Noah, let alone three. But then again, waiting would have been even worse. He hated waiting powerlessly as the world kept spinning around him. Find the bean sprout and get the hell out: that was his plan, and that was all he needed.

The train lurched to a stop in front of a rocky cliffside ledge dotted with heaps of coal. One trail led downwards toward the mine; the other led upwards. Not even pausing to look around, Kanda headed upwards toward the tallest mountain. There was one village along the way – the village that housed the workers of the mine. It was barely populated, but at least it existed, in the worst case scenario… involuntarily, Kanda shuddered. From the cold, he told himself.

The path that wound through the mountains seemed to stretch on endlessly; the only way to tell how long he'd been traveling was the from location of the sun. After a few hours, the dull crunch of his boots into the powdery snow became monotonous, almost like the ticking of a clock, counting the seconds as he walked. Onwards and onwards, until the last rays of the sun had begun to fall silently, dyeing the snow a burning orange. Suddenly, a shadow fell over him, and he looked up in surprise. He had already approached the fortress without noticing.

It was only a single, wide tower, with a spire that curled elegantly upwards into the sky, impossibly tall. It looked empty, and it felt empty. Suspicious, Kanda pushed open the large wooden door, but it swung forward slowly with an echoing creak. Still, no demons appeared.

He checked each room as he came upon it, but ten stories up, neither Noah nor human had yet appeared, though the whole tower was filled with some sort of sickly sweet smell. Frowning, he wondered vaguely why they'd even bothered to capture Allen rather than killing him. The Noah were older than human memory, even, and he doubted he would ever understand their whims.

The last door on the highest floor swung open heavily, and in the darkness, Kanda nearly missed the figure in the corner.

"Bean sprout?" He blinked. The snowy white hair was unmistakable, though.

At the sound of his voice, Allen's head jerked upwards, a look of shock flashing across his face, quickly replaced by a grimace. "Why are you here?" He asked. Kanda thought with a bitter smugness that, at least, his presence had elicited some sort of response.

"I think I'd like to ask that question of you," he said tartly. "Why are you here, alone, in some random tower?"

"Alone?" Allen asked with some surprise. "So they left, then. That's good," he sighed in relief.

As Kanda drew near, he winced at the sight of the various cuts and bruises on the younger boy's body. All fresh. "Why haven't you escaped yet?" He demanded.

"I'd try," Allen told him dryly, "but I can't really move right now." His voice sounded tired, but he didn't bother to hide it. Perhaps that was an improvement.

Kanda narrowed his eyes. "Drugged?" He asked.

"Something like that."

"Why did they want you?"

Allen flinched almost imperceptibly at the question. "Not sure," he lied smoothly with a placid smile. "The Noah are known for being whimsical, after all."

"Liar." But Kanda decided against pressing any further and lifted the younger boy onto his back. Allen grimaced but didn't – and couldn't, for that matter – try to get away like last time.

"So even you have a breaking point, huh?" Kanda asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Hardly. This way is just faster."

"Not that you have a choice," Kanda muttered, but Allen didn't bother to respond.

They arrived at the village in the dead of night, but thankfully, for one reason or the other, the only innkeeper there was easily roused. The mountains give us too many stray travelers, he explained, and that was that. Certainly, he did not give either Allen's strange features or beat-up condition more than a spare glance, nor did he seen to be offended by Kanda's terse attitude.

"Although," he said with a good-natured grin, "It's just mah opinion, but yer really shoul' take care o' yer lass more 'n that, er she'll leave ya soon enough." Having apparently satisfied himself with the comment, he dropped the keys in Kanda's hand.

"I'm not a girl," Allen snapped reflexively, irritated.

The innkeeper snorted. "Coulda fooled me. Even our women don' look tha' girly," he muttered under his breath, but he didn't quite succeed in keeping his voice low enough to avoid being heard by the fuming exorcist.

"Don't get so ruffled up over such little things," Kanda told the still-furious younger boy as they went up the stairs, hiding his own smirk. "Anyways, can you move now?"

"No," Allen responded bitterly. "I don't think my nerves will start to heal for another couple of hours."

"Nerves…?" Kanda's voice suddenly turned icy. "I thought you said they were just drugs?"

"You said that, actually. And they were drugs. Just more destructive ones."

"Say this sort of thing earlier!" Kanda glared, a bit unsuccessfully, as he lowered the younger boy onto one of the small but rather soft beds in the room.

"It's not like it makes a difference," Allen shrugged, his voice indifferent. "Anyways, just go to sleep. Nothing will happen this time. It's just a bit of internal damage."

Recognizing that tone of voice, Kanda obligingly sank into his own bed and closed his eyes, but remained alert for any sort of noise. It didn't take long; barely two hours in, he heard a soft, muffled gasp and turned his head.

"So you were hiding something," he said with a scowl, getting up quickly. "What's up this time?"

Allen shot him a dark look. "Didn't I tell you to go to sleep?"

"I don't see why I should listen to a stupid bean sprout. Answer the question."

The younger boy grimaced with distaste, but his expression slipped as he flinched when cloth brushed against pale skin. "Just a bit of… hypersensitivity. Nerves healing," he answered, his voice strained and his body tense.

"At least sit up properly," Kanda said with a frown, moving to help him up. But as his hand touched the Allen's shoulder, the younger boy let out a sharp gasp in surprise.

"Don't touch!" He shot out, flustered.

"Does it hurt?" Kanda asked, trying not to sound too concerned.

"No," Allen admitted. "It just feels… weird. I've gotten… used to it… though."

"It's happened before?" The dark-haired exorcist's fingers twitched instinctively for his sword before he remembered that it wouldn't do much good at the moment.

"A… bit. Shouldn't be… more than… an hour…" His words were becoming increasingly punctuated with ragged breaths of air as it became more and more difficult to hold his body perfectly still. His hands clenched tightly around the blankets, and he bit his lower lip until it was dangerously close to bleeding.

"Stop doing that!" Kanda ordered as he grabbed the younger boy's wrist, drawing a faint cry from the boy. "Just relax."

"Easier… said than… done…" Allen breathed hoarsely, his face flushed from the exertion. Nonetheless, he did try, at least, to loosen his tense body, and Kanda felt him relax considerably.

"How is it now?" The dark-haired exorcist asked finally after a long silence.

"Better. Almost normal. Still a bit sensitive." His response was terse, but his breathing was much more regular than before.

Kanda exhaled in relief. "You really are a lot of trouble, bean sprout," he muttered off-handedly.

As soon as the words left his mouth, however, Allen stiffened unexpectedly, alarm flashing through his eyes. There was a dull crack as he scrambled away, hitting the wall in his haste and crumpling to the floor.

"Oi, what's with that reaction?" Kanda snapped, stunned by the younger boy's inexplicable sudden vehemence.

"I do apologize for the inconvenience I may have caused, but I assure you that it was completely unnecessary. I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself," Allen mumbled, his voice perfectly monotonous.

"What's the use of pretending now, bean sprout?" He hissed, irritation and fury welling up inside him. Before the younger boy could react, he stalked toward the other exorcist and leaned down, pressing his hand roughly against the boy's chest. "You're already in this state! Stop being stubborn for once!"

Allen flinched, but his expression remained carefully flat, though his voice was starting to become strained. "Like I said, I'm sorry for imposing on you, but you were the one who insisted. Even if you hadn't bothered to stay, I would—" He was cut off as Kanda's fingers pressed roughly against his skin, and his words became a strangled gasp.

"No one's being fooled by this ridiculous farce," the older exorcist told him harshly. "I could do anything, anything to you right now and you wouldn't be able to do a thing about it."

Allen stiffened beneath him. "What's that supposed to mean?" He forced out, glaring venomously. But underneath the anger, there was an unmistakable flash of fear.

"Figure that out yourself," Kanda's other hand moved to brush roughly against the fabric over the skin of his inner thigh. Alarmed, the younger boy tried to push him away, straining against his weight, but he didn't have nearly enough strength left to do so. His arms shook with exhaustion and effort, but all Kanda felt was a weak pressure against his chest.

His fingers kept torturing the younger boy's still-oversensitive skin with soft strokes. "Sto… ah… stop!" Allen gritted his teeth immediately, cursing himself for allowing his protest to falter, and cursing his body for responding. After a deep breath, he tried again, struggling to keep his voice as steady as possible. "This is… an awful lot… to do just to piss… someone off…" He bit his lip to suppress a small cry as a particularly tender part of his skin was pressed against.

"I'd stop if you'd just admit that you need my help." Kanda said flatly.

"I thought you… made it a policy… not to do… troublesome things… ah!"

"It's even more irritating when you act like everyone should just nod and look away if you smile innocently. Don't you dare look down on me like that, bean sprout!"

"And this is… supposed to be… revenge…?" As soon as the words left his mouth, though, his eyes widened as Kanda pinched his skin cruelly. Allen's hands, which were still in the middle of trying to push away the dark-haired exorcist, curled into fists as he bit back a whimper of pain.

"Don't change the subject. Stop being stubborn and just give up. Why is it so hard to admit that you need help?"

The younger boy kept his lips firmly sealed, though his eyes were squeezed shut as he fought the overwhelming waves of conflicting sensations in his body. Slowly, he let his arms fall limply, his eyes still tightly closed. "Fine, then," he mumbled dully. "Do whatever you want. It's just sex, after all. Nothing but physical gratification."

Kanda stared at him incredulously. "Is that what you really think?" He snapped viciously. Furious, he stood up abruptly and stormed back to his own bed. "Fine. Just keep everything bottled up. Keep pretending. See if I care," he spat before throwing the covers over himself.

Even at a time like this, how could that bean sprout keep his fortress so impenetrably close? Infuriatingly unbreakable, always just slightly out of reach.

Kanda heard, rather than saw, Allen pick himself off the floor tiredly a few minutes later, his feet dragging on the floor. He fell into the mattress with a heavy thump, and there was the rustle of cloth as he drew his blankets over him, his breathing still ragged and hoarse.

Still pretending to be fine. Still pretending that he could save himself. It's just physical gratification, he had said. It wasn't physical strength that the bean sprout was preoccupied with, Kanda realized. He just couldn't stand the thought of being protected by someone else, of being emotionally dependent on someone else. Friendship, making bonds… all of those were terrifying to him.

Kanda wasn't much of a "friendship" sort of person, but he thought that that had to be the most pitiful situation he'd ever encountered. To be afraid of something like that… He shuddered slightly. He wondered with frustration, and not for the first time, what it would take to tear away those walls that Allen had built up between himself and the world. What would it take for Kanda to say something, and actually be heard?

"Oh, thank goodness, the both of you are back safely," Komui breathed a sigh of relief. "When Kanda stormed out furiously saying he was going to find you, I thought that'd be the last I ever saw of you two."

Kanda scowled at him and said tersely, "I don't die that easily. Anyways, here's your damned bean sprout, so get out of my face." And with that, he turned wordlessly and stalked out of the room.

"By the way, Allen, I'd like to have a word with you, if you don't mind," Komui called as the younger exorcist also turned to leave.

"Sure," Allen said, but he stiffened slightly.

"I don't mean to accuse you or anything, but is there some sort of history between you and the Noah? They seem to be after you. I mean, we haven't had any issues with them for years, and suddenly there are two incidents in two months. And they're both related to you."

"They're not after me," Allen said flatly. "The Noah don't concern themselves with human affairs."

"But then why…?"

"I'm interesting to them. It's like a kid with an interesting toy. If they see it, they play with it a little, and when they get bored, they leave."

"… I see," Komui nodded tiredly. "I'm afraid I don't really understand, but as long as it's nothing serious. Get some rest, then. You probably need it."

"Can I ask a favor?" Allen asked quickly, and Komui raised an eyebrow. "I heard that there's an unassigned mission to investigate strange occurrences in one of the eastern cities. May I take that mission?"

Komui frowned and shrugged. "If you want to. It seems like a relatively simple one, so it won't be a problem for you even if you're not in top condition. Still, get a bit of rest before you go."

Allen nodded shortly. "Thanks," he said before walking out the door. He considered leaving for the mission right away, but he knew that for what he needed to do, he would have to get some rest after all, so he quickly walked to his room to take a nap before leaving.

"Rhode, I know you're there." Allen called out into the darkness from the rooftop of a tall building. The city stretched out beneath him, with all of its crowds and festive lanterns and lively noise, even in the middle of the night. It was a familiar scene, even though he hadn't been back here for years.

"Allen, what are you doing here?" The voice hung disjointedly in the air for several moments before a young girl with dark skin and hair appeared as if from nowhere and leaped lightly down onto the building, looking nothing like the ancient demon that she was. "Didn't you see enough of me already last time? I heard you couldn't move for a month afterwards," she said with a smirk.

The exorcist pulled off his glove in one fluid motion, narrowing his eyes. "I'm not giving up until I get what I want."

Rhode sighed with mock weariness. "Everyone in your little Order thinks that we're after you, when in reality, you're the one that keeps pestering us. Really, dear Allen, don't you get tired of the pain after a while? I heard Lulu, Tyki, and Skin locked you up in a tower last time you went to bug them."

"It doesn't matter. I'll fight for as long as I have to."

"Speaking of which, how did you get away?" The dark-skinned girl asked with sudden interest, her golden eyes gleaming. "You shouldn't have been able to move. You were supposed to die slowly within twelve hours as the poison in the air slowly seeped into your bloodstream. You couldn't have survived unless someone rescued you, but since it's you, you'd rather die than be rescued."

"That's not the point," Allen snapped. "Are you going to fight or what?" He slashed at her with the claws on his left hand, but she merely laughed as she dissolved into the darkness, appearing again right behind him.

"You know that what you do is contradictory, right? You hate being protected because you want to be strong and survive, and yet you'd rather die than be rescued by someone else. If you really wanted to survive, you'd cling to life no matter what."

"Shut up!" Allen yelled, whirling around to slash again. To no avail, of course. "It's not like you'd understand, anyways!"

"You're right, I don't understand. And I'm still curious as to how you got away," Rhode nodded decisively. "I hope you don't mind if I take a little peek inside your mind, then," she said sweetly, reaching forward to place an icy hand over Allen's heart. He froze, his eyes widening as his vision went black.

When he woke up again, he was in a dark, windowless room. The dull noise from outside, muted by the walls, told him that he was still somewhere in the city, but he had no way of knowing exactly where. He tried to stand up, but his wrists were bound behind his back, and his ankles were tied together. He was sorely tempted to activate his arm, but he might have just ended up piercing himself. That would be a horrible way to die.

"You know, I was originally planning to just stab you and let you bleed to death on the street, but after taking a little peek at your thoughts, you were just too interesting to waste like that," an amused voice said from the corner of the room. Allen jumped in alarm.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He hissed.

Rhode stood up and stretched widely before stepping daintily towards him and leaning down in front of him, lifting his chin with one cold finger until his eyes met hers. "Poor little boy, you're feeling a bit confused, aren't you?" She purred.

"I am not!" Allen snapped reflexively.

"Really? Haven't you been saved by that odd angry-looking exorcist twice already?" Rhode grinned maliciously. "And you couldn't do a thing about it."

"Don't be ridiculous! I would have done fine on my own whether or not he had interfered!"

"And," the dark-haired girl continued, laying her other hand on the boy's chest lightly, "You let him get close that time. Closer than you ever meant for anyone, human or demon, to get," she whispered silkily as her fingers trailed over his pale skin, leaving no doubt as to what she was referring to.

"I did not," Allen glared. "No closer than you are right now. It doesn't matter."

"Really?" Rhode murmured, her breath warm on his ear. "Because, you know, your moans from back then were much more delicious." She was rewarded as the younger boy stiffened.

"That had nothing to do with it!" He hissed. "It was because of those damned toxins that Tyki had! Don't twist things around as you please, Rhode Camelot!"

"I'm not twisting things," Rhode said, leaning back as a smirk danced on her lips. "I can get inside your mind, hear your very thoughts. You can lie to yourself, Allen, but you can't lie to me. You liked it. And even now, you're wondering if Kanda will notice you're missing, if he might come save you. Isn't that right?"

"No!" Allen jerked back abruptly, his head hitting the wall behind him with an ominous crack in his haste. "You're lying!"

"Demons don't lie. Only humans do, and you the most among them. I was wrong before—it's not about survival with you, is it? You just want to believe that you're not the same little boy who was abandoned by his own father all those years ago, so you put up all those walls, you lie to everyone around you, even yourself. You're playing mind games with yourself."

"No! That's not true!"

"Isn't it? Then prove me wrong. If you can, that is." She laughed sadistically before standing up and dusting herself off, then disappearing slowly into the shadows.

"She's lying. She's lying. She's lying," Allen muttered to himself as if it were some sort of sacred mantra. He struggled to sit up properly before twisting his left hand as far away from him as possible and activating it. A cold wave of energy throbbed through its veins for a moment, and he shuddered, but soon the flesh had become cold metal.

Roughly, he used the sharp blades of the claws to rip apart the ropes around his wrists, flinching as they dug into his skin in the process. Warm blood trickled down his arm, and he hastily deactivated his arm and tore off part of his shirt to staunch the flow. It wouldn't be long before it healed anyways.

As he stood up, he realized that he must have been tied up for quite a while, as his legs were unsteady and more or less useless. He was forced to lean against the wall and wait until they felt normal again before stumbling forward and rattling the doorknob anxiously.

Locked, of course. He bit his lip. If he tore apart the wall, that might attract unwanted attention, and besides, he didn't even know how high up he was. After a brief debate, he ended up using his claws to tear through the wall anyways. He was lucky—it was only the second floor. He jumped down, landing heavily on his feet. The impact hurt, but only because his legs were still unwieldy.

"So you did manage to escape, huh?" A male voice drawled from behind him. He spun around in alarm, tensed for battle.

Tyki stepped out of the shadows casually, raising his eyebrows. "Don't point that weapon at me, boy. When will you learn? We're Noah. We're hundreds, thousands of times older and more powerful than you. You can't possibly defeat a Noah. And as amusing as you are, frankly, I'm getting tired of being pestered by you every few years. Your years are like seconds to us, you know."

"I'm still alive, aren't I? Maybe you're not as powerful as you think you are," Allen shot back. "I'll absolutely get what I want someday."

"Boy, give up on that. You can't accomplish anything with a wish like that. I've met plenty of humans who have tried," The dark-skinned man sighed wearily. "No one ever seems to learn, though."

Ignoring the Noah's words, Allen lunged forward, slashing as hard as he could, but his arm only went right through the ancient demon. From behind, Tyki grabbed his wrist easily and twisted his arm back, and the younger boy gasped with pain as he fell on his knees.

"See? You really should give up. You can't even touch us with that weapon of yours. I'm actually amazed that you'd still try when you haven't made any progress for years."

"I have to… try," Allen coughed before staggering to his feet again, but before he could move, Tyki slashed at him with a knife that had suddenly appeared in his hands. The younger boy sank to his knees in disbelief as blood spurted out from a gash along his stomach.

"You don't know when to give up, do you? See, you're one of those who prefer pain because you don't know how to deal with pleasure, and that's irritating to me. Ideologically incompatible with my belief system. So it's not that I dislike you personally, per se, I just can't stand people like you."

With a half shrug, Tyki turned and walked away, leaving the younger boy in a heap on the cold concrete.

"Happy?" The dark-skinned man asked dryly as Rhode approached, a satisfied smile on her face.

"Yeah. Good job, Tyki-pon~ I knew I could count on you."

"Honestly, I don't know why you're going to such trouble," Tyki told her, shaking his head. "I thought you liked to play rough. None of this wishy-washy human stuff about feelings and whatnot."

"You'd understand if you could get into his head," Road grinned, licking her lips. "He's so interesting."

"Whatever. I don't care as long as he stops bugging me all the time." Tyki waved dismissively and turned to leave.

"Allen, what on earth …!" Lenalee nearly stumbled out of her chair as she rushed over to help the wounded exorcist. "You should have called someone to help you get here!"

"Er, no, it's fine," he breathed raggedly. "I just need to rest for a few days."

"But all that blood… It looks serious. Komui—"

"It's fine," he said quickly, cutting her off with a weak smile. "Don't worry. I'm safe now, after all, right?"

"Right…" Lenalee bit her lip but kept silent. Allen refused to lean against her despite his staggering, but she trailed slightly behind anyways in case he fell. She breathed a sigh of relief as they finally reached his room, and he sank into the mattress heavily.

"Thanks, Lenalee," he said, flashing her a smile. It was a charming smile, but after Kanda's words, she couldn't see it as anything but a hollow mask. "Where is Kanda, by the way?" He asked, almost as if he could read her thoughts.

"Kanda?" Lenalee blinked. "He's on a mission. He'll be back in two days, I think."

"I see." Allen said with a quick nod. "Thanks."

"Call us if you need anything, okay?" She told him as she closed the door behind her, knowing that the call would never come.

...


Whee~ This chapter is my personal favorite, by the way.

By the way, I am well aware that my logic is completely fucked up. In real life, please remember that attempted partial rape ≠ caring and affection under any circumstances whatsoever, unless they happen to be the exact ones described above. With the same people. (And just in case your computer can't read the symbol or something, that says "NOT equal to.") Because, you know, both Allen and Kanda are so screwed up that normal rules of logic don't apply to them. So, basically, rape=not good. Yeah. Not that I'm trying to say that you didn't know that already, of course. Just don't want any misunderstanding.

On a totally unrelated side not, my brain is totally fried from trying to think of good plots for Yullen Week themes. I really am so tempted to just write a drabble or something. But I dun really like drabbles. And some of these themes are hard. I think I'll stick to fanart for the optional ones, though, cuz this fandom needs loooots more fanart. Seriously. xD

Anyways, hope you liked and thanks for reading! xD And please review! :D