-Chapter 3-

"My name is also 'Allen'!" He grinned cheerfully, unaware of the tears that gathered in the man's eyes.

"..." He mouthed.

"Hm?"

A tear dropped.

"What are you doing outside?" Allen knelt down, his kees on the floor. He stared innocently at the man, "Allen", who was also sitting down on the cold floor, too.

"..." The man, with his right hand trembling, used the stick and carefully drew across the snow, covering the floor. He wrote carefully, but his hand was still trembling. Allen stared at the words written, with additional drawings here and there to clear things up, too. Allen smiled, shivering a bit because of the cold. But he didn't mind the cold, really.

He made a friend.

"You are traveling?" Allen asked, the man nodded.

He made a friend.

The fact that the boy made a friend was important so it was written twice, by the way.

"Where to?" Allen asked again, tilting his head with his arms wrapped around his knees. The man blinked at the boy, then wrote a '?' sign.

Allen stared at the symbol written on the snow for a moment, then questioned him, "You don't know...?" The man nodded. The man looked sad, Allen noted mentally. He looked lonely. That was when an idea popped in his mind.

"Ah! I know!" He stood up abruptly, the blue light of the moon reflecting on the snow, "you don't have anywhere to go, right? Then you can stay!"

The man tilted his head a bit, confused.

Allen grinned, "Come on," he extending his hand towards the man, "come in, 'Allen'! It's warmer inside!"

The man stared at the offered hand, then to the eyes of the youth. He gulped, opening his mouth, saying something without a sound. Allen smiled in a goofy manner, "Don't worry! I'll hide you, so no one will notice!"

Snow trickled down, the dark world became colder, yet the light was still there.

Hesitantly, the man lifted up his ruined left arm, taking the boy's small right hand gently. A warm feeling was felt inside his cold, frozen heart. For a long time, the man didn't feel the warmth. For a moment, he felt a feeling of regret and relief. He bit his lips, holding the small, tiny hand carefully; it was so warm, the hand that is. He forgot what was the name for it, the feeling the boy gave him. But maybe he'll remember it sometime later... Just not now...

Then he was stuffed inside the closet.

"...?!"

He smell something, something very familiar as he drifted into deep sleep.

"Moyashi?" Lavi's voice called, Allen attempted to open his eyes, struggling against the blinding light.

"La...vi...? (Stop calling me that btw.)" He said, covering his eyes with his left hand.

"Come on," He heard his voice again, "We got a mission to do! Along with Lena-lady and Yuu-chan and everyone else~" Allen could imagine Lavi's goofy face above him, he chuckled silently.

"Okay, okay, I'll get up," he said, waving his hand, grinning.

Oh, that was right.

It was that very mission that costed everyone's life.

The man's eyes snapped open, the world dark to him. He smelt old clothes, it felt cramp, too... Ah, that was right, he was stuffed inside a closet by the tiny boy. Silver and gold eyes were trembling, he was shaking. "..." He opened his mouth, if he still had a voice, he would be giving off a small desperate cry.

Are they alright? Are they still alive?

I miss them, my old comrades and friends.

I miss them.

He silently whimpered, his heart thumping painfully. He winced, trying to ignore the pain filling the gaps of his mind. He cried, silently, that night. The man hugged himself tightly, fighting against the nightmares.

All because of that time, if it weren't for that, maybe everyone would be in peace. But because of that stupid mistake, everyone had to continue struggling in this hellhole. The man shut his eyes closed tightly, he felt weak, so weak... He held himself tightly, his right hand feeling the bandages on his neck.

It's all because of me...!

He heard a snore, supposedly coming from the children outside the closet. The man, Allen, frowned slightly, feeling uncomfortable inside this tiny space. But he decided he wouldn't mind, he had worse. The closet door opened just a little bit as the man pushed it slightly, needing air for his lungs to breath. A dim light sank into the space, he hesitantly took a peek outside. There were many kids in the room, but judging from the looks of it, there were probably more in other bedrooms. He took a breath, sighing. How did he got himself in this situation? After all, he need to find him, the very person that he need to find and protect, just as... Nea said. He eyed the sleeping boy, the boy with hair in shades of dark brown, the boy who welcomed him in, the boy who stuffed him inside the closet. He smiled slightly at the boy softly, as if like a guardian angel, looking over a small child.

But this was alright, he guessed.

For many years... No, he wasn't sure actually, if it was years or just months... He was all alone, with a whispering voice resting in his mind. Eventually, though, the voice began to disappear, talking to him lesser and lesser, until it fully vanished. Then he was all alone, really all alone.

He sighed quietly, gathering warmth in himself.

"..." He mouthed quietly, sinking into his arms, hiding his face, quickly falling into a deep slumber.

Little that he knew that everything will eventually fall apart, once again.

"AKUMAs are still on the run, but they're only killing now," The supervisor said, a bead of sweat rolling down his cheek, "if we don't do something about it, the world will still get destroyed, if we let the AKUMAs continue to kill. Though, since the Earl is no more... There won't be any new AKUMAs born..."

A sigh of relief escaped from one of the people's lips.

"But," he continued, "if he were to kept alone... Everything might be destroyed, again..."

"..."

"You guys... You know who I'm talking about... Right...?"

They nodded, hesitantly.

"That's right..." He took a breath, "'The Last Noah'."

If we don't capture him... We will all die inevitably. That's why we will...

I cried watching ep 4. I cried again knowing that the next episode will have even more feels (I think). Then I cried realizing I haven't started my summer homework. At last I cried my eyes because I regret not buying the manga volumes when it was right in front of me.

If anybody's wondering, yes, the small Allen here is not cursed with Mana's curse... He's a 'normal' boy probably haha ;w; Thank you for your support and please review!