Chapter 4

~Dallas~

As me and Ashley walked down a hallway, I realized that we had no idea where we were going. "Uh...do you...?" I asked. "Nope." Ashley said, and we laughed a little. I looked around then gave a sigh of relief when I saw Allen. He had just come out of a door I didn't pay attention to and was walking ahead of us. "Allen!" I called out his name. He turned around and gave me a smile, which made me blush the slightest. He stopped and waited for me and Ashley to reach him.

"Hey, Dallas." He said, falling in step beside me. I smiled at him before turning to Ashley. "This is Allen, he brought me to the order..." I said, trailing off. She smiled at me, then at Allen. "Hi. I'm Ashley, I'm a new exorcist too." Allen smiled and nodded at her. "Oh! I almost forgot why I stopped you, Allen." I said, blushing. Had I seriously lost my train of thought just by talking to him? "Do you know where the cafeteria is?" Allen laughed at some joke we weren't in on. "Yeah, I know where it is. It's not too far from here; I'll show you."

We then followed Allen into the largest room I had ever seen. There had to be at least a hundred tables in this room. In the back there was a big wall with a gate on top of a counter, separating the kitchen from the lunchroom. The line wasn't very long. As I was taking in the room I felt myself being pushed out of the way. "Excuse you!" I said, but got no response. The man was the same who I had seen before walking away from Ashley. "Kanda." Allen called the man. He stopped for a few seconds, then turned around, staring daggers at Allen. "Come here and apologize to Dallas." Allen said, and I looked up at him. "It's fine, I don't-" but Allen cut me off. "No, it's not." Kanda then looked at Ashley who was staring at him, and stalked off to an empty table.

I sighed and walked into the line, having Allen and Ashley at my sides. "That was really rude." Ashley said. "Yeah, what is with him?" I asked. "Kanda's just... I don't know. He's always like this. I guess no one knows for sure except for him." Allen said, and I settled for that.

As we waited in the short line, I got more and more curious looking a Ashley. "Ashley, why are you barefoot?" I said quizzically.

"Well, I needed money for food, and in India everyone is pretty much barefoot so..." she trailed off. "Oh. But you're not originally from India." It wasn't a question, but she replied anyway. "Yeah. I don't really remember where I'm originally from anymore, I've traveled around so much." She said, a hint of sadness in her tone. I gave her a sympathetic look. Then my attention was brought back to the line, and it was my turn to order.

A man with dark skin and sunglasses turned around. He had his hair in a long braid, and was wearing a sleeveless shirt. "Well, well, looks like I've got two new customers!" he said joyfully, looking at me and Ashley. He smiled. "I'm Jerry. Now what can I do for you today?" He asked.

"Uh, I'm Dallas. Oh, and this is Ashley." I said, gesturing to her. "And..." I continued, "Well...what do you have?" I asked hesitantly. Jerry let out a long, loud laugh. "We got just about anything you can order! Just say anything you want." 'Anything I want?' I thought hopefully.

"Okay then...I'll have... Steak, medium rare, with mash potatoes and gravy, some french fries, maybe some rice too, oh, and sesame chicken, I love that. Also add some mitarashi dango, and chocolate chip pancakes with whipped cream and strawberries on top. And I'll also add some ramen noodles, please." I smiled wide at Jerry's shocked expression. "A little lady like you is gonna eat that much?" He said incredulously, looking at my stomach. I laughed a little and said, "Yes." He then laughed and agreed.

I turned to face Ashley as my food was being prepared. She was giving me a look. So was Allen. "What?" I said, "I'm starving, I haven't had lunch today." I was starting to become comfortable around them, even though I didn't know them very well. They laughed a little, and I turned to get my tray. There were about seven plates balancing on it, and I used my vast ninja skills to make sure none of them toppled over. I started walking to a table in the corner of the room and Ashley followed. I looked at her tray to see that she ordered rice, noodles, creme brulee, and a pear.

"Yes!" I exhaled as I put down my tray on the table. Ashley sat next to me. I looked at her and smiled, "I didn't drop any of it. I'm proud of myself now." We chuckled. Allen hadn't come to sit down yet. Was he still ordering food? Or did it just take him long to figure out what he wanted? Eventually, Allen, or who I thought was Allen, came over with a mountain of plates, which he placed next to him. He sat down across from me and smiled like that was the most normal thing in the world. Me and Ashley stared at him, mouths agape.

He looked at my tray, and his eyes widened. "You, uh, have quite an appetite...for a girl." He said, grabbing ten of his plates from the top of the mountain and scarfing them down. I blushed after finishing my food in a few minutes; boy was that mitarashi dango filling. "What's that supposed to mean? I love food. And to eat. But it's not like you can say anything, are you a little hungry today or what?" I said defensively. "I love food too." he said, smiling.

As Allen started scarfing down his food like he would never eat again, I turned my head to see a girl with bright pink, shoulder length hair sitting all alone, hunched over her food. I poked Ashley, who looked up. "Yes?" she said, her mouth half full. I smiled then turned to look at the girl. "Let's go ask if she wants to sit with us." I said quietly, then, without waiting for an answer, I got up and started walking toward her. Allen looked up but just kept eating.

I went behind the girl with pink hair and tapped her shoulder softly. When she looked up, me and Ashley smiled at her. "Would you like to sit with us?" Ashley asked politely. She looked at us with big, hazel eyes, then at her empty table. "Um...sure." She said, shrugging. She then followed us back to our table. When we sat down again I was in the middle between Ashley and the girl. "What's your name?" I asked.

"I'm Raikou." she said quietly. 'Raikou...that's an interesting name. I wonder that it means.' "I'm Dallas." I said. "And I'm Ashley." She mumbled hello's to us. Allen finished his last plate and sighed, content. "Hi, I'm Allen Walker." He said, a little late. She smiled at him briefly.

"So, Raikou...where are you from? I'm from here in England." I said, trying to make conversation. "Same here." She said. I think she was starting to grow more comfortable. Maybe. "I've traveled a lot. But I just came from India," Ashley said, "Are you a new exorcist too?"

"No" She said simply. "I'm new here, but I just got this uniform...I don't really know what it's for, but..." She trailed off.

"That's a finder's uniform. It's a finder's job to go searching for innocence, and to accompany exorcists on their missions. We don't have many girl finders...Actually, I don't think we have any at all besides you. Welcome to the Order, Raikou." Allen said as he gave her that warm smile he had. Raikou's eyes widened briefly before going back to normal.

"So, Raikou...what does that mean? I'm really curious." Ashley said. "Raikou means lightning in Japanese." She said. Me and Ashley looked at each other.

"Lightning? Really? That is the most amazing name ever!" I said, forgetting I was talking to kind-of-but-not-really-strangers. To my surprise, everyone laughed, including Raikou. "Yeah, I guess so." she said, smiling at me.

A moment later, three more exorcists came to sit down at our table. One was a girl with long black hair that was kept into two ponytails. There was also a woman with a mess of curly shoulder length brown hair. Both of them sat on either side of Allen, giving us curious glances. The other exorcist was a tall man with short black hair and white bangs that flopped over his face and went all the way down to his chin. Kind of odd, I thought, but whatever. Sometimes odd was good.

"Hey guys," Allen started, "this is Dallas, Ashley, and Raikou." he introduced us. I looked up at the three exorcists. The girl with ponytails said "Hi! I'm Lenalee Lee." before she smiled and waved. "Hello, I'm Miranda Lotto." the other woman said. "I'm Arystar Krory. It is nice to meet you." Said the man formally. We all smiled. "What brings you to the order?" Lenalee asked. "I'm a new exorcist, and so is Dallas." Ashley said, gesturing to me. "I'm a finder." Raikou said.

After we finished eating, Komui came in the cafeteria looking for us. "Oh, good, your done eating. Come with me, girls. You need your exorcist uniforms." I was about to follow him and Ashley when I realized Raikou wasn't following. I ran over to her quickly. "Come on!" I said, pulling her to her feet and dragging her along before I could lose sight of Ashley and Komui.

Komui led us to a large room filled with messy desks and people wearing white lab coats running all about. "This is the science department. If you'll follow me we can find Johnny; he's the one who makes the uniforms." He pushed up his glasses and led us to a man with sandy hair pulled pack in two puffy pigtails, and he wore giant, round glasses. "These are the two new exorcists, do you have their uniforms ready?" "Yes, chief." The man named Johnny said. He rummaged through a box and pulled out two bags. He gave one to me and one to Ashley. "Follow me." Johnny said.

We followed him to the back of the giant room where there were many desks and cubicles. Even though this was the back of the room, it was still crowded with people. Johnny led us to in front of a cubicle with a curtain over the opening. It wasn't really a curtain though, just a bed sheet. So I had to be careful where I stood when I changed. "You can change in there." he said. "I'll go first." I volunteered.

I slipped through the curtain and opened the plastic bag. I didn't pay attention to what the outfit looked like until I pulled it over my head. The fabric was unbelievably comfortable. But I felt bare in a way. Why was that? I looked in the full length mirror that was beside a completely cluttered desk and sucked in a breath. The uniform was absolutely amazing. It was hard to believe that a man could make something this beautiful. The top was black, short sleeved, with the silver buttons and all the uniformed white stripes. I noticed when I was buttoning them that my name was engraved on the back of each one, which made me smile. The collar was just like Lenalee's, kind of a turtle neck thing goin on. There was the elaborately designed cross embroidered over my heart, which made me feel...I couldn't find the right word. But what shocked me was the big, white rose on the back of my top. No one else had that. It matched my bracelets...

The extremely short mini skirt was what made me feel bare. I had never worn anything this short in my entire fourteen years until now. It came maybe about a foot or so above my knees. The skirt was black, but on the sides there were silver buttons, which were roses, that were just above a slit of white fabric. The boots were short, and very comfortable. They had white roses on the sides, too. I absolutely adored this uniform.

I checked myself in the mirror one last time to make sure everything was okay before going to the makeshift curtain and pulling it aside slowly. I looked up and was surprised to see Allen had come over, and another guy who was kind of cute. He had a flame of red hair with a black headband that had green scale designs on it holding up his bangs, and a black eye patch over his right eye. The eye that was showing was a beautiful emerald green. He was talking to Allen when I came out, but abruptly stopped. Everyone, including Raikou and Ashley, looked at me wide-eyed. I could see a blush creep up on Allen's cheeks as he looked me over, and I smiled sheepishly at him.

The boy with red hair whistled after checking me out and came to my side, putting his arm around me. "Hey there. I'm Lavi. What's your name, beautiful?" he asked. I smiled and blushed. How old was he? Definitely older than fourteen. But he was extremely cute and, besides, what did age matter? "I'm Dallas." I said, smiling at him. He leaned closer. "Well, Dallas, how about you and me head to my room and-" But he never finished his offer. Allen had gotten up to shove him away from me. "You don't talk to a girl like that!" He said, making me blush even deeper. Allen was so polite. Lavi chuckled.

"Chill, Allen. I wasn't really gonna do anything." Allen punched him, then turned to me. "I'm really sorry Dallas. Lavi's just an idiot." I smiled as I heard Lavi say, "Hey! You are too!" We laughed. "No, I don't mind." Lavi winked at me and I let out a giggle. Then I turned to Ashley and Raikou. "Guys, are you sure it's not too...ya know..." I said, gesturing to the uniform. Everyone in the room talked at once, but what I got out most was Lavi saying "No, you look hot in it!" So I grasped that I did, in fact, look rather nice in my exorcist uniform. I smiled at them. "Ashley, it's your turn." I said, taking her place next to Raikou as she headed for the cubicle.

Lavi was looking at me again. I looked up at him and he winked at me. I smiled and blushed. Allen was looking at me too. I wasn't used to being, well, looked at so much. It kind of made me...happy? There was an awkward silence, so I started doing the awkward turtle. Raikou joined in. We looked at each other and laughed while Lavi and Allen looked utterly clueless. Then for the first time I noticed Raikou's uniform. It suited her, even if it was a little big, it was still cute. It was like a big, sand-colored rain coat with zippers and buttons. It went down to her knees. All the other finders I saw had pants, but she wasn't wearing any. I guess it could be a dress on her. Although I was quite tempted to say, 'Hey Raikou, your not wearing any pants!' But that would be stating the obvious and would most likely make another awkward turtle. So I just stayed quiet.

It was then that Kanda came striding in, and said, "Have any of you seen Komui?" But right at that moment, Ashley came out of the cubicle. My eyes widened at her uniform. It was gorgeous. Everyone's attention averted to her as she walked out. Her uniform was a black dress with the cross embroidered over her heart and the traditional silver buttons. The dress was long, going down to just above her ankles. But what was shocking was the slash in the dress on the right side that went from the bottom of her skirt all the way up to her right hip. There was a little holder strapped to her right leg that held what looked like a dagger. I guessed that that was her weapon. She had black shorts underneath the dress so nothing would be revealed. She also wore long, black boots which definitely suited her.

After taking in her uniform, I noticed Kanda staring at her, his usually narrow eyes a little wide, and looking a tad bit softer. I decided to speak. "Ashley, you look amazing!" I said, and Lavi went by her. Of course, he started flirting, but I couldn't tell what he was saying. I was busy noticing Kanda noticing Ashley. "Hey, Kanda." He turned around, pulling his eyes off of Ashley. Did he just look reluctant? He didn't say anything, just glared at me.

"I forgive you." I said, smiling innocently. "I never apologized." He said coldly. "I know." I replied, "And I don't think you will. But I forgive you anyways." I said, before leaving him to go talk to Ashley. Lavi had stopped flirting and started talking to Kanda, calling him "Yu."

"Ashley," I started, "Was Kanda the one who brought you to the order?" I asked.

She sighed and looked over at him. "Yes. I had to spend a whole week cooped up in a train with him. It was so annoying! He's annoying." She said. "Wow." Me and Raikou felt sorry for her. "I know." She said. Then, Komui came in, and Kanda told him something before leaving. Me and Raikou watched as Ashley watched him walk out of the room. 'Huh. Maybe she likes him.' I thought. Lavi left the room too and Raikou watched him. He probably brought her here, which was why he winked at her before he left. The again, he winked at all of us.

Now the only people left in the area were Ashley, Raikou, Allen, Komui, and me. Komui then turned to Allen. "Allen, would you mind showing these girls to their rooms? I'm sure they're exhausted." Allen nodded and walked toward us, telling us to follow him. We waved to Komui then walked out of the science department.

All of us walked, Allen leading us, past about a hundred doors before we stopped in front of a wall with three doors. He pointed to the one in the middle. "That one's yours, Raikou. The one on the left is Lenalee's and the one on the right is Lavi's." Raikou said goodbye to us before we left. We went down several hallways and passed a couple more hundred doors before we stopped again, this time in front of four doors.

The doors weren't super close together, which was good. Allen brought Ashley in front of the door on the far left. "This one's yours. The one right next to it is mine, then the one on the right of that is Kanda's, and Dallas yours is right there." He said, pointing to the door on the far right. Ashley said goodnight and went into her room quickly, closing the door. I went into my room and, to be honest, was quite disappointed.

The room was absolutely the definition of plain. The walls were a little cracked where they met the ceiling, and were off-white. They matched the bed's sheets, which were off-white as well. 'I'm definitely going to have to work in here...' I thought, then I turned around to Allen, who was standing by the door. "You can come in if you want." I said. He smiled. "I actually have to go, but I'll see you tomorrow. You and Ashley should come train with us. Raikou can come too." He said and I smiled. "I would absolutely love to." I said. He then turned and closed the door behind him. I looked around my room one more time to see if there were any bright spots.

My luggage was beside the bed, like I knew it would be since on the way to the Order that's what Allen had told me would happen. I looked up. There was a small stain glass window in my room. It had the image of a rainbow. It was beautiful. What was even better was that I could open it and look out over the cliff into the sea the Order looked over. After looking at the window a moment longer, I put on some night clothes and, exhausted, collapsed onto my bed.

I thought about the days events. How I met with Allen, coming to the order, making some new almost friends... Then I thought more about Allen and Lavi and Kanda. Kanda was an asshole, that much I knew. Though he seemed to maybe be a tad bit less of an asshole with Ashley. But, what did I know. And Lavi...I guessed he was eighteen. Boy, was he hot. And...hot. And he was very flirty, which I don't mind being flirted with, it gives me a self esteem boost to be honest. Plus, he seemed like he had a sweet side, and I thought that he would be a great friend to have. And then there was Allen.

Allen...was amazing. He was adorable...and when he was mad, he was extremely hot. He had a passion, a determination about him when he fought akuma...he had a purpose, a reason. I really wanted to get to know Allen more, I really did. 'Tomorrow I should fight against him when we train,' I thought. I yawned. My whole life was going to change, going to be different. I would have a new family. I then decided that I was going to get closer to not only Allen, Lavi, Raikou, and Ashley. Yes, I was going to try the unthinkable. I was going to get close to Kanda, too, even if it killed me. Which, I hoped it wouldn't. I closed my eyes and slowly fell asleep with thoughts of all the guys floating around in my head.