Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or D Gray Man! I just wish I did.
Beta: the lovely Midnight-Kitsune11.
Warning: Swearing! This chapter might feel a bit filler-sh…
Ch04
Allen put his sisters to bed after leaving the Shinigami outside gaping after him. Yuzu hadn't woken up yet and Karin was half asleep already now that the adrenaline had worn off. Both of them were unharmed, except maybe from some bruising. He sighed in relief, deactivated Crown Clown and carried them both upstairs after making sure they hadn't been hurt, one girl on each arm while muttering reassurances all the way to their room. He hadn't wanted to deactivate his innocence so soon, but he also didn't want to hurt either of the girls with his clawed left hand.
Karin nuzzled his neck sleepily.
Once upstairs he tucked them in, kissed their forehead and went back downstairs.
There was still a hole in their wall after all.
The Shinigami had disappeared and he couldn't help but sigh in frustration.
Why had he even expected her to stick around to help him clean up?
Allen eyed the hole in their wall. He couldn't just leave it like that… Anyone could walk in…
He summoned Crown Clown again and used the mantle to block the hole. Then he let go of the material and Crown Clown came back to him, leaving the strange white substance covering the hole.
It would have to do until morning.
Feeling exhausted he went back upstairs, fell on his bed and immediately went to sleep.
Only he didn't fall asleep. As soon as he opened his eyes again, he was in a strange space.
He wasn't in his room anymore. He wasn't even laying down anymore, and his bed was most certainly gone.
He was standing up in a dark space and he had no time to make out more than that of his surroundings as he was enveloped in something completely white. It was fluffy and he had never felt more safe.
Crown Clown.
If he hadn't recognized his innocence, his surprise would have been much more obvious, but this feeling was familiar.
Familiar and, he only realised now, missed. Being with his innocence, dormant like that, had created an ache inside him he could only now recognize for what it was.
Reincarnation was hard.
Even after living with that knowledge for years, it didn't get any easier. He had never been more grateful than when he woke up, more Allen than Ichigo, with Nea in his mind, right where he belonged.
The Noah had become his rock, even at the end of his last life.
Allen had seen Nea's last memories, had seen him betray the Earl, had seen that the Noah had truly expected to die. He had never planned to be awakened in another human being like the other Noah did – that had never been part of the plan.
During the last few months of his life, while Allen was being chased by the order, Apocryphos and the Earl's side of this war, Nea had completely awakened.
His horror about what his brother, Mana, had done to a child had been so strong it had physically made Allen sick.
Johnny had been very worried about him while he puked his guts out, but Nea and Allen had started talking.
Kanda, on the other hand, had not been impressed. But then again, when was the guy ever? He had stuck around though. Whether because deep down he cared for Allen or as a repayment for the Alma fiasco, Allen couldn't be sure. Still, he was grateful.
He grimaced and burrowed deeper into the warmth of his innocence.
Kanda had died not long before him.
Crown Clown tightened his grip and Allen forced his thoughts away from that dark place.
Having had Nea there with him as he woke had been a wonder – he blushed as the Noah chuckled and ruffled his hair; having heard his thoughts – but honestly, having Crown Clown here was felt like a blessing, strangely enough. His innocence had been with him for years, ever since his arm started changing, but it had been dormant, not unlike his last life, where Crown Clown had only woken up after Mana's attempted 'revival'.
Having both of them now, awake and supporting him, felt like nothing less than a miracle.
The last piece of his soul was finally awake.
When he finally emerged from the fluffy white cloak, Crown Clown kept a tight grip on him. There was face in the fluffy white cloak. It looked remarkably like his own, but the person was completely white. Except for their shiny innocence-green eyes. The person beamed at him and nuzzled into his shoulder.
This must be Crown Clown.
He had never seen his innocence like this. It felt nice. Crown Clown had a human appearance, which explained why this embrace really did feel like a warm hug.
Allen still didn't have much room to look around, as all he could see in the opening the White cloak permitted was his uncle.
"Glad you made it." Nea said tenderly.
Allen couldn't help the large grin that stretched over his whole face.
Love. Finally. Overwhelming joy.
Crown Clown had never spoken to him in words, but that had not stopped them from communication. He'd always gotten impressions from his innocence, but their bond had never allowed such clear communication before.
Possesive. Mine, mine, mine…
"He's being's very selfish." Nea pouted. "You are ours after all, not just his."
Allen laughed out loud, before sighing contently.
He fell asleep like that, surrounded by the two that made him feel whole again.
Only to be brutally woken what felt like seconds after he laid down as Isshin kicked him in the face.
"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!?" He couldn't help but explode.
"I got you today!" the man laughed loudly, clearly very proud of himself.
This really wasn't a promising start of the day…
He blinked as the memories of the night before assaulted him. "Wait, how are Yuzu and Karin? Are they all right?"
The man looked puzzled. "Of course, why wouldn't they be? I mean, sure apparently a truck crashed into the house last night, but no one woke up and they had the decency to fix the wall, so all is all right!"
Allen couldn't believe his ears. "A truck? No one woke up?"
"Did he really sleep through all that?" Nea commented sceptically.
Unbelievable.
He couldn't help but twitch in frustration during breakfast.
The twins didn't seem to remember anything from last night. That was a comfort.
Their father had apparently not only slept through the hollow attack, he also hadn't questioned the hole in their wall, or Allen's rushed patch up work. He had seen the story on the news (the news! Of all places!?) and just gone with it. No questions, no doubt, just… Isshin like they had always known him…
He had to bite his check, hard, to prevent himself from decking the man in the face.
Going back to school after what had happened felt unreal.
For a brief moment, Allen had felt like he had never died, fighting Akuma with Crown Clown by his side. Now, he wasn't sure which life felt more like a dream.
People were whispering about him. He could hear them. The 'truck' incident had managed to appear on the local news, so Allen could not be too surprised.
Still, he couldn't help but sigh in aggravation.
He quickly found his seat and ignored the other teens in the classroom. Luckily their teacher came in swiftly after, only to introduce a new student.
He couldn't help but stare at the Shinigami from yesterday, now appearing human as she smiled innocently at the students.
"My name is Kuchiki Rukia. It's nice to meet you."
Allen honestly had no idea what to think about this. Yesterday she had disappeared on him the moment he had turned around, but now she showed up at his school? And how did she get a body? Was this the same trick as that blasted blond shopkeeper used?
She sat down at the desk next to him and introduced herself again. Her smile was so bright, but also so obviously fake, that Allen couldn't help but cringe.
Not wanting to be rude, he introduced himself. "Kurosaki Ichigo."
He shook her hand but not before reading the warning she had written on her palm. Like he needed a warning to not tell people what had happened the night before. He rolled his eyes at her. Who would he have told? His non-existent friends? His family, who were already convinced their house had been hit by a truck?
"We need to talk later. Don't run." She hissed at him through her smile.
Brilliant… Allen sighed.
It would just be his luck if she turned out to be a stalker as well.
He hadn't seen the blond weirdo since he had confronted the man, but the cat still checked up on him every few months.
He stayed quiet during their math class. He'd always been good with numbers, something his master had eagerly taken advantage of once. That didn't mean he enjoyed it, but today he allowed himself to lose himself in the numbers.
Paying attention in class was the perfect excuse to ignore both the Shinigami and his classmates, who were still staring at him.
The Shinigami was persistent.
Allen could give her that much.
Even if her stalking was getting annoying very quickly. At least she had the decency to do it in plain view? Well, plain view, she was practically dogging his every footstep while ranting and asking him the same questions over and over again.
It was exhausting, especially since, no, he didn't want to talk about what happened to his arm that night. No, he would not tell her where the cloak and mask came from. No, he was not secretly some sort of hollow. Did she not see he didn't have a hole in his chest? And since when was he dead again?
She had somehow gotten a real body and now she had the audacity to follow him to school which did nothing to help shut up his classmates. The new student (and why did she have to enrol if she only wanted to talk to him?) had been glued to the freak's side all day.
He didn't think they realised he could actually hear them when they said stuff like that…
Chad hovered around all day, ready to step in and give Allen some breathing space. Kuchiki seemed reluctant to ask her questions with others around, so for once Allen didn't immediately tried to ditch the gentle giant as he normally did.
"Who are you?" She finally cornered him after school, on his way home.
He took a deep breath and turned around to face her. Better get this over with…
"I already told you my name."
She frowned at him, clearly pissed off. "That is not what I meant! What was that power you used? I've never seen anything like it before."
"Never?" he asked distracted.
Not even from the Black Order? This Japan's history had seemed different from what he remembered, (Japan had been wiped out in his last life after all) but he had never gotten any confirmation about it. Was that proof that he was reborn in a completely different world? Or was this world just good at covering such stuff up? Barely any people had known about the Order and Akuma last time, even if the Akuma were a worldwide problem…
After all these years of thinking on it, he still wasn't sure if he wanted this to be a new world or not.
"Never." She confirmed.
How old could Shinigami become? Was she as young as she looked, and was that the reason she didn't know or was there really nothing to know?
"It's fascinating. Do you think you could do it again?" she asked with a sparkle in her eyes.
He felt a bit wary. "Sure but why?" Crown Clown hummed brightly in his mind.
"Good, because you'll need to take care of the hollows around here for me."
"What?! Why? Isn't that your job?"
"Because I'm still too hurt to do it myself. This gigai will help speed up my recovery, but compared to the care I'd usually get, this will be a slow recovery process." She nodded resolutely.
Allen really didn't want to get involved with those people but on the other hand the urge to help those poor souls stuck in those hollows was far greater.
So he shrugged. "Fine, I'll give it a shot, but no guarantees."
She beamed at him.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?!"
Allen stopped in his tracks as he heard Isshin yell in their living room. He'd just gotten home and was trying to sneak into the house (to avoid his father), when he heard the man yell.
He froze.
"Why do you keep saying that?! Did you see him or not?"
Isshin… wasn't talking to him? He sounded…
Allen listened carefully. No reply from the man so he assumed he was on the phone.
He let out a sigh of relief.
Just as he was going to continue towards the stairs he heard: "That doesn't tell me anything?! Did you or did you not see my son fight the hollow?!"
He stopped. What the-
"So he did fight the hollow, Kisuke? What about the Shinigami? Is she recovering at your place?"
Allen committed the name to memory.
How did the old man know about hollows?
"Right, so the girl got hurt. Guess Ichigo finally got off his lazy ass and acted, right?"
A pause.
"What do you mean he didn't become a Shinigami!?"
Allen clenched his fists.
His father was clearly well informed about what had been happening. He would bet that was the blond paedophile from years back on the other side of the phone. So they hadn't stopped keeping an eye on him after all... He just hadn't noticed them anymore.
Luckily he had taken precautions just in case…
"Do NOT take that tone with me!" Isshin suddenly snarled.
Allen couldn't help the sardonic smirk that flashed over his face as he heard his father's frustration.
Maybe the blond weirdo from a few years back was not that bad after all… If he could ruin his father's day with just a phone call.
'Shame we can't just take your sisters and run from here.' Nea commented with a sneer.
'The world changed too much. If only I was a few years older.' Allen frowned.
It was a problem he had contemplated regularly the last few years, but a solution hadn't presented itself yet.
What the hell had he gotten involved with this time around?
TBC.
I never understood that Ichigo is so protective of his sisters that he would go to bed after that first hollow attack and only worry about them in the morning. Did he leave his sisters laying there? What about the hole in their wall? In canon he is so surprised the hole is fixed and nobody is hurt… It has always bothered me.
Let me know in a review what you think?