The Book: Chapter 02 – Allen

Three days have passed since the troupe stepped off the ship, yet, somehow, the solid land is still at sea for me. Staring at the flowing, half-frozen late autumn water flowing below the bridge under my feet simply aggravated my condition. Covering my mouth in an attempt to keep my dinner in my belly, I turned my back to the Japanese wooden railing, and sat on the bridge.

I regretted my decision at the moving waters, for it made me feel worse rather than better. At first sight, in the darkness, the waters reminded me of the early winter rivers back in England. Yet, it seemed that water had a different quality, depending on where you were. Thoughts like that helped fill the time I now have on hand. But it only served to highlight the fact that the troupe may be in trouble; unlike the English, the Japanese were not familiar with such circus acts. Business would have to get brisker if the troupe is to make a profit from our overseas venture.

"A penny for your thoughts?" said a familiar hand, brandishing a penny in front of me from the middle of nowhere. "The local currency is the yen, Mana," I muttered with all the focus I could muster amidst my swimming head.

"A yen for your thoughts then," smiled my mentor, as he replaced the penny with a yen in an instant. "I'm surprised that you actually have the local coin. Would love to take you up on your deal, but I'm now trying not to sick up."

Mana considered my face and said "Ok, looks like you won't need green facepaint. But sitting on your rear end blocking the path isn't going to help any. Come, a walk in the cold winter air will do you some good." Hauling me up with ease, he held my smaller hand and led me along the bridge.

Something occurred to me in the midst of my rocking world. He'd never held my larger hand during all his walks with me. Ignoring my drunken gait, I looked at him and asked "You've said that my hand isn't scary. So why haven't you ever held my left hand?"

Mana looked down and considered me for a second. "Well, that's because God's given you a hand that seemed rather large for your age, like you've got a responsibility larger than you're supposed to have. I thought, even though I couldn't give you a normal family, I could at least let you feel the warmth of another's hand as a child," he said with a grin.

I had no idea what to say in response. But a smile seemed right, so I gave him one. Yet, as soon as I smiled, I realized that it was the best thank you I could give him. Or, for that matter, anyone in the world.

"Finally, I managed to put a smile on your face. Try to keep that on your face; clowns have to be happy in order to make others happy too." He ruffled my hair with his free hand and coiled my scarf a little tighter. "Look, there's a Japanese snack stand ahead. Think you could manage some supper?"

Mana's face faded into Allen's before Lavi's eyes. He blinked and said "Mana's a really nice guy." Allen stared. "What? What did you see? Where did is he?"

~ a little later ~

"So, it seems like the book records the treasured memories of the last person who holds it," said Lavi, licking an orange popsicle.

"Yup! Seems like it. We could test it. With you, of course," suggested Allen, grinning with an apple popsicle in his mouth.

For a split second, Lavi froze in mid-bite. "Ehehehe. That's… not a good idea. The old man would kill me!" replied Lavi, sweating whilst he savoured the taste of orange flavouring thinning with the ice melting in his mouth. "For me, the old man's wrath is a little like Cross' debtors coming after you for payment."

Lavi and Allen sat on the wooden garden bench, frozen despite the sun as they contemplated their childhood traumas.

"…It's a miracle that we're both alive, huh?" said Allen, breaking the silence as he tried to keep up with his melting popsicle.

"Indeed."

Lavi continued sucking on his popsicle. Suddenly, he sat up really straight on the bench. "Hey, not sure if you noticed, but we really do have a lethal weapon in our hands! I mean," said Lavi, picking up the book with his spare hand, "with this, we could totally see everyone's secrets!"

Allen grinned despite himself. "And get some blackmail material! To pay off Master's debts!"

At that moment, Lavi could almost see the devil horns growing out of Allen's head, and shuddered despite the sun. "Eh, no. Looks like Cross had a detrimental effect on you. You'd have been better off if you were with Mana."

Before Allen could agree, a shadow grew from behind them, and before either of them could react, the book was out of Lavi's hand, and Lavi was a few feet from the bench with a bang.

"Lavi!" Allen yelled as he scooted off the bench to pick Lavi off the flowerbed, where he landed when Cross whacked him with the book.

"Tsk. Fancy having to smack a noisy, filthy fly the first thing in the morning. You should have better sense than literally talk about someone behind their backs." Tossing the book aside, Cross nonchalantly climbed back into the window, back to the pile of bottles that have accumulated since the headquarters completed its move.

"…Right, we were sitting right outside the library window. I think we'd better move."

"I agree." Sitting up, Lavi rubbed his head while a yellow flower stuck out of his tustled hair. Allen moved to pick up the fallen book. Suddenly, he brightened up. Picking out the absurd yellow flower that was sticking out of his head, he said "Allen, you hold on tight to the book."

"Eh?" Allen turned to look at Lavi while in mid-crouch.

"Don't you see? Who was the last to hold on to that book?"

This time round, the imaginary devil's horns appeared upon both the heads of our two young Exocists, as conspiring smiles spread across their faces. They hurried to a more secluded part of the garden, and settled down under a shady tree. Excitedly, Allen opened the book. But to no avail.

"EH?!" both young men exclaimed.

"Is…it spoilt? Here, let me try…" suggested Lavi, taking the book from Allen. Lavi's eyes clouded once more, as he was drawn into the book.

A couple of minutes later, Lavi's eyes refocused themselves to take in Allen's anxious face. "It's working fine, but it's no good, it was the same memory of you and Mana again."

"Now, that's really strange. Does the book not work on alcoholics or something?"

"Nah. Your master may be inhumane, but he's not inhuman," said Lavi, as he put the book down.

"Haha. I could hardly tell. Try again, maybe the book got confused."

Shrugging, Lavi picked up the book and opened it once more. Again, the book showed no response. Both Allen and Lavi stared at the book. "Allen, hold the book again. Then return it to me."

As soon as the book was back in Lavi's hands, he opened them and went into trance again. Once Lavi was back in reality, he said "I get it! The book doesn't work on your own self! Only someone else can read your memories!"

Catching on, Allen wondered "But even so, why was it that Cross' memories didn't show? I mean he grabbed it with his hands…" As soon as the last word left his mouth, he noticed his bare hands. "I've figured it out! Cross' memories didn't show for he didn't touch the book! See, he was wearing gloves, as he usually does."

"Ah, finally, we got all that cleared up! It would've been a bummer if the book's dead, considering how hard Cross smacked me with it," gripped Lavi, prodding his tender scalp. Brightening up, he asked "So, whose memories would you wanna see first?"

"Lenalee!" grinned Allen.

"But, eh, only one of us can see it, and I wanna see it too…" said Lavi, pouting.

"Hm… Yeah, it wouldn't be fair if only one of us got to see it, would it? Who do you suggest then?"

At that very moment, the giant wooden door leading to the garden opened, and let Kanda out into the morning sun. Unseen, Allen and Lavi watched Kanda walked down the garden path, away from them and into the woods behind the new headquarters.

Once he went out of sight, Allen and Lavi looked at each other.

"Kanda!"

"Yuu-kun!"

Writer's comment: Phew, I'm finally done with this chapter! It was a long chapter compared to the first, since I had to straighten out the mechanics of the book. Don't worry, Lenalee and Cross will get their turns. (And I think it'll be worth the wait. XD) Though I originally planned to write just one chapter for each character, I'll consider giving Komui another appearance, but I'm weighing between angst and slapstick. Heck, if the plot allows, I may do more than one chapter for each character. So sit tight and read on~! ^^