BB says: I may be getting a new car! It's a mustang! I'm so excited I could throw up!
The times and occurrences in my fanfiction do not match those in the manga (at least I don't think they do). I am aware of this so no need to tell me about it.
Rating: Teen for violence. And cursing. Don't like, don't read.
BB says some more: MUSTANG! WOOOOO! XD
Disclaimer: I don't own D. Gray-Man, nor the poem "January Brings the Snow." I do own a sweet little dog with a deep seeded fear of water. He has major issues…
"April brings the primrose sweet /scatters daises at our feet,"
~Sara Coleridge
Z hated April for two reasons. The first (and most prominent) was Lavi's fetish for pranks. The first of April gave him the excuse to pour itching powder in shirts, leave buckets of ice water over door ways, put dye in shampoo, etc. It had become such a problem that most people took to hiding in their rooms on the cursed day, hoping to whatever entity was listening that Lavi wouldn't select them as his next victim. Z herself would have rather jumped in the path of a carriage driven by a blind, drunk, and mentally comatose man rather than talk to Lavi on that day.
The second reason was her fierce allergies. Z was allergic to most pollens and April led to the blossoming of primroses, her greatest foe. Her nose was a faucet and her ears were in a constant state of stuffy. There was no relief; it was only made worse when Komui offered one of his invented cures. So she had to hide from the mad scientist as well as a joke driven lapin (rabbit).
On an April sunrise, a day most people would have thought beautiful, Z woke up grumpy in her new bed in their new castle. Another birthday had come and gone; both Allen and she had aged. She saw him from time to time, even went on missions with him. Their conversations were no where near as short as she wanted them to be, and they still argued more times than not. His masochistic tendencies pissed her off, and her indifference to the suffering of others left him miffed and ruffled. Komui must've had some twisted sense of humor, shoving the two of them together again and again.
She hated humans.
She fought for them
He loved akuma.
He killed them.
Hmph.
Bâtard. (Bastard).
It had been only a few months since Allen came to her (or rather, to Lavi and Lenalee. Z happened to be in the area) his tail between his legs. He asked to be killed. For them to destroy him if he ever lost to whatever sort of demons he had lurking in his subconscious. Fourteenth. Z scoffed silently. She confronted him afterwards.
"Bâtard. You already condemn yourself before even knowing what the future holds. You have no fight in you. If you want to roll over and die, do it on your on time. Don't expect me to save you." Z had a start to some sort of argument. She knew how to handle an angry or offended Walker. But this new boy that stood before her, barely concealed pain and confusion in his eyes, merely took her words and cradled them in this heart. He didn't defend himself. "It'll be easy for you then?" He muttered, smiling bitterly at the ground. "To do away with an annoyance like me if needed?" Z frowned, confused and pissed and helpless. They turned away at the same time.
Bâtard.
So they hadn't spoken in months. It wasn't hard. Their table in the mess was a very social place (much to Kanda's vexation) seating Krory, Lenalee, Miranda, Lavi, Chaoji, Link, Allen, and Z all at once. There was no point in time when they had to speak to each other and it wasn't like they made an attempt to do so. There were plenty of people other than Z for Allen to talk to.
Stretching, Z threw her feet out of bed first, allowing her upper body to slouch on the cushions. Already she could feel fog invading her nasal passages; cotton was stuffing itself into her ears. How irksome. Z considered just laying in bed for the day but what would that solve? Just Lavi and Lenalee coming by to make sure she was okay when all she wanted to do was sleep away the woes of April.
Instead, she slid out of bed and moped to the training grounds. On her way, she ran into Howard Link, Allen's personal stalker. He nodded in recognition before continuing on his way back to the boy's room. He was an odd one. Z held no special love for Link or his higher ups. The third exorcists they created had proven themselves to be more of a burden when they were most needed. The Alma fiasco never should have happened, would never have happened if they hadn't tried to splice human and akuma. It was a crime against nature to do so. And yet the Black Order believed itself to be above everyone and everything. How irksome.
Under normal circumstances Z liked to spar with Kanda. He, like herself, was fast and agile, proving a worthy opponent by countering most of her attacks. Lenalee was too gentle, Lavi too silly, but Kanda didn't hold back. Kanda didn't care. And Z appreciated this aspect.
The new castle the order had moved into was spacious and stone, housing not only more rooms, but a larger mess and indoor training room. Despite this and her allergies, Z preferred training outside, in the elements, because that's where most of her fights with akuma took place. Why would she train in the shade when she battled enemies in the Sahara? She wanted to be prepared for all situations.
She usually started simple for her warm up. An hour of the yoga Klaud had taught her, ten laps around the castle, and scaling the northern wall with her bare hands. However, half an hour into yoga, as she was "a tree worshiping the sun" Z felt another presence.
She stifled a moan and cracked an eye.
Walker had wandered onto the field, glancing about like a lost child. The freshly risen sun, still glimmering in shades of orange and berry, were caught and held by his white mop, silvery eyes looking somewhat tired. Noticing Z, his mouth set in both dislike and vague surprise. Z closed her eyes again, prepared to ignore him and hoping he would return the favor. She felt a twinge of embarrassment at her revealing attire -loose black pants and sleeves top, barefooted with hair in a high braid- put spared the feeling no thought. After a few heartbeats, Allen walked directly into her line of sight.
Z knew of the long scar he had given himself with his own sword, but her eyes still wandered to the tiny bit at his neckline as he approached. He hadn't bothered to pull his hair back, and it was pointing in odd angles, like he had only recently rolled out of bed. "Kanda isn't here today?" Z allowed her eyes to fall shut again, giving her head a short, rude shake. "Oh." More silence. He watched her pull into another pose. She was aware of the cool glance of Link upon them. "We sometime spar together you see. I was hoping to catch him."
"You didn't."
"I realize."
More silence. The calm silver eyes were starting to bother Z. "You came here to train as well, then?"
"Training grounds."
"There's no need to be sarcastic. I was merely going to suggest-"
"That we spar? Together?" Allen seemed surprised that the former gypsy was thinking along the same lines. "So you're considering it."
"Don't sound so desperate." He wrinkled his brow in agitation. "Desperate? Please. Perhaps I prefer training alone and was merely trying to be considerate?"
"Or you're scared I'll kick your ass." She said it like it was nothing, knowing she'd stepped onto his pride. Now Allen looked sincerely miffed, a look Z scolded herself for missing. She would have to remember to try harder to get him to drop his calm fascade. Allen's frustrated sigh made her re-focus on him. "You make it hard to like you when you act like this."
"Bite me." Allen threw he towel away pulling into a stance. "I'd rather fight you." Z smirked, a recently acquired change to her demeanor, straightening her body and cracking her neck.
"Bien sur." A breeze stirred the field, spreading daisy pollen and petals. Link held a pen and pad ready.
And they began.
Z attacked first, using her own strength and agility. The harder, coarser training involving innocence would come later. She had awoken a new aspect of Beastly Beauty, extending into her entire body instead of just her arms, and she couldn't wait to try it against the evolved Crown Clown.
Although she was able to avoid many of his strikes, when he did hit her, it hurt. And she did her best to hurt him as well. Neither one of them were fighting a comrade, they were fighting an akuma; for their lives and the lives of those around them. Holding back would have been an unnecessary burden.
It was when Allen used Clown Belt to trap her that they started using innocence. He was already sporting a busted lip and the makings of a black eye; Z had several bruises lacing her ribs and a cut on her neck. Activating Beastly Beauty, Z broke free of her confines and came at him again.
They fought longer than Z had ever fought with Kanda, taking mutually understood water breaks and breathers. They fought for hours, their muscles screaming and their stomachs growling and their breathing little more than harsh grunts of pain and effort. Z's hair sprang free of its tie and Allen had removed his shirt. Link had taken a less strenuous position leaning against a tree. Hard, gritty looks on their faces, blood in their eyes. It was the nature of fighting, true and raw.
The two had gained an audience as the day wore on, cheering and goading them. They ignored them. Lenalee was biting her lip and Lavi was shouting in favor of the winning side. If there was a winning side. They appeared to be evenly matched.
Finally, after six hours of sparring, a mutual punch leveled them both. They fell to their knees, leaning on each other for support, breathing into the neck of their opponent. Lavi and Lenalee approached cautiously, like they expected the exhausted warriors to leap up and engulf them in their fury. The crowd stirred a moment, paying bets and grumbling, before disbanding.
"I'll keep fighting," Allen panted into Z's ear, tired muscles twitching against hers. It felt odd to have anyone this close. She could feel his heart in her chest; smell the masculine scent rolling off his body. "But only because I don't know any other way." If they hadn't been pulled apart at that moment by a concerned Lenalee and an amused Lavi, maybe Allen would have felt Z smile into his neck. For the first time in a long time, her lips curved into a luscious, tiny, half moon.
But not one saw it.
Z soaked in the baths for a long time after that, body scolding her for being so careless. Pain was nothing. She could take the sweet soreness provided from a worthy battle. She had wanted to spar until she beat him, not until her body quit.
Careless. She was going to be sore for her next mission.
Didn't care. Worth it.
She felt really good. A nice work out was able to do that for the naturally aggressive girl.
Z limped to a late lunch, what could've almost been an early supper.
Allen was there. The only one at the table.
They didn't speak.