Chapter 4: Noah
Allen walked into the Black Order Academy. He'd been in the school about a week and he was really starting to enjoy his time in the school. Everyone there was nice, and everyone finally had stopped asking about his hair and scar. He'd become "normal" as far as he was concerned. He no longer stood out.
Or so he'd thought when he came this morning.
"Good morning!" he called as he walking in to the halls. Normally, all the Finders and Exorcists would yell "Good morning" back. Today was different though. They all stared, making Allen feel uncomfortable. Was he being too polite?1 He walked past everyone, embarrassed. Allen didn't notice the glares he received, nor did he hear the whispers.
Allen managed to get to his locker and opened it. "What the?!" he cried, jumping back. A cascade of notes fell out and scattered across the ground. Confused, Allen picked one up.
Go back to the Akuma! it read. Traitor Exorcist! read another. Allen blinked. What was going on?
"Yo!" Lavi said, slapping Allen on the back. "Got fangirls or somethin'?" He knelt down with Allen and started picking up the papers. He read a few. "Ouch... Wonder what this is all about," he said, picking up and reading a few more. He grimaced at a particularly nasty one. He shrugged and threw them in the nearby trash can. "Can't litter the halls, now can we?"
"Lavi, what's going on?" Allen asked. He looked around at the faces of all the students around him. All the stares... Allen glanced away, back to Lavi. They weren't stares; they were glares.
Lavi shrugged. "Dunno. Come on, let's get to Chemistry before we're late."
Allen nodded. Maybe he was imagining everything. He HOPED he was imagining everything, at least. If not, Allen hoped things would blow over by the end of Chemistry.
As Allen and Lavi hiked up the stairs, they started talking about what they'd done over their weekend. Lavi had been doing "secret" things with Bookman and wouldn't go into detail about what these secret things were. "Bookman things," Lavi finally said with a shrug.
Allen, on the other hand, had been working. When he wasn't working, he was exploring the city. He hadn't been there very long, and most of his time was spent either at school or at work.
They reached the top of the staircase and were walking down the hall when a Finder shoved between them in his rush to get to a class. Allen was pushed aside and lost his balance.
"Allen!" Lavi cried. He ran over to his friend, just in time to miss grabbing his hand as he fell out the open window. "AAAALLLEEEENNNN!!" he shouted.
"I'm okay!" Allen called up. He'd grabbed onto a tree branch not far down from the window. His one arm was bleeding from a gash he'd received as he'd fallen through the branches. He pulled himself up with the other and rubbed his shoulder. It hurt, but it didn't seem like he'd broken or sprained anything.
Sighing, Allen looked down. All the branches farther down had been cut so as to prevent people from climbing up easily. Under normal circumstances, Allen could have gotten down, but not without making his injury worse. "I can't really climb down, though. Get a teacher or someone to bring a ladder."
Lavi nodded and disappeared. He reappeared below the tree a few minutes later with Zocalo carrying a ladder. "Up there! Think you can get to him."
Zocalo rolled his eyes. "Of course I can reach him up there," he said gruffly. He climbed up the ladder with ease. He grabbed Allen under one arm and climbed back down, still without any problem.
"Allen! Are you okay?" Komui asked.
"No, the kid's just bleeding," Zocalo replied sarcastically. "Get to the infirmary."
Allen nodded and let Lavi lead him through the Order. Everyone was already in class, so there was no need to worry about people getting in the way or having to explain what had caused Allen's wound.
When they reached the infirmary, the woman didn't glance up. "What's wrong? Stomach ache? Head ache?" She seemed used to students coming in complaining about fake illnesses more than anything else.
"We'll need bandages," Lavi said, "lots of them."
The nurse looked up, and her jaw dropped. "Oh dear!" she cried, running to a drawer. She took out a bottle of rubbing alcohol and a cloth as well as bandages.
Allen didn't cringe even as she cleaned the wound. He was used to pain, especially with all the things Cross had brought upon him. Lavi,seeing that he was all right, left for class.
Lala entered and bowed politely to the nurse. "Allen," she said, "Komui wants to speak with you. If you're all bandaged up, I'll take you to the principal's office."
Allen nodded, and they headed off. Lala was stony faced and didn't say a word as they walked through the empty halls. Allen didn't say anything either. His arm was really hurting him at this point, but he'd had worse. He wasn't about to complain.
The office was in an uproar. "How could he publish this?! Lvellie's gone too far this time to simply excuse it!" Allen heard Komui yell, even before the door was opened. All the shouting stopped when Allen walked in.
"Ah, Allen, please sit down," Komui sighed. He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. "We heard from Lavi about the incident with your locker. We've gotten to the bottom of it, too." He handed Allen the paper in his hand.
It was the school newspaper, the Rose Cross. On the front page were two pictures: one of Allen and one of two boys in uniforms with the star crest grinning with their arms around each other's shoulders next to it. The only difference between the symbol in the picture and the ones Allen saw at work was that the black star had a small, white cross on top.2 The headline read Allen Walker, the Noah Exorcist. Allen blinked and scanned the rest of the article.
Allen Walker, age 15, is a new Exorcist in Black Order Academy. We interviewed him to see how he liked the Academy so far, he read. The first paragraph or two seemed normal enough. It was just the interview. All it had was that he hadn't known about the academy before he'd been excepted and so on. It was later that the article got gruesome.
It seems, though, that Walker isn't quite who appears to be. After a little bit of digging, we've discovered that his father, Mana Walker, was a Noah at Akuma High School.3 Allen didn't want to read on. He figured he wouldn't want to know what else Lvellie had written.
"I apologize, Allen," Komui said, bowing his head. "We'll make sure Lvellie gets punishment for this, as well as the student who pushed you out the window."
"That was an accident," Allen said.
Komui shook his head. "Lavi saw the whole thing. The Finder also admitted to purposely doing it to scare you. He didn't mean for you to fall out the window, but you did and could have gotten an even more serious injury."
Allen felt like he was going to be sick. If he hadn't reacted when he did and grabbed the branch... He shuddered. "What's Akuma High School?" he asked, trying to keep himself from following his current train of thought.
"It's the other school in the area," Komui explained, taking back the newspaper. "Akuma High and Black Order have been rivals since the schools were built. I'm afraid now that this has gotten out, you might be subject to quite a bit of bullying... If you want to leave the school, Allen, I understand."
"No," Allen said. "I want to stay here. I'm sure this will all blow over eventually." He knew that if he left the school, he'd probably have to move again. He'd probably never see Lenalee or Lavi ever again if that happened.
"Then, at least go home for the rest of the day," Komui said. "We need to get a handle on the situation. Besides," he added, "I'm sure your arm's hurting by now. Go home and relax. You should be able to catch up by tomorrow."
"Yes, sir," Allen said. He stood and left the building. It didn't take him long to get back to town.
"Hey! An Exorcist's playing hooky!" called a voice. Allen looked over and saw a couple men and a boy sitting playing cards together. The one who'd spoken was tall, with messy dark hair and thick, coke-bottle glasses. He moved his cigarette to the other side of his mouth and grinned. "Care to join us?"
Allen walked over. "I'm not playing hooky," he said. He sat down with them, though. "What about you guys? Shouldn't you be in school?"
"Got the day off," the others said. "We're in the public school, so there's some holiday or another."
The younger boy nodded. "It's our school's founding day."
"What about you, though? I know Black Order Academy's open," the man with glasses said. "Going home sick?"
"Sort of," Allen replied. "Playing Poker?"
"Yep. Care to play?"
Grinning, Allen nodded. "Sure, if you don't mind getting beaten. I'll shuffle."
The man with glasses laughed and handed Allen the deck. "Name's Tyki. What about you?"
"Allen Walker," Allen replied, doing tricks with the cards as he shuffled. They didn't notice as he slid a few of the cards in his sleeves for later cheating purposes.
The game started. Tyki grinned at his hand. "Hey, Allen, wanna make a bet? Losers have to buy the winner whatever he wants at the bakery." Tyki nodded to the bakery behind them. The sign read "Kogane Bakery."4
Allen smiled. He'd once again skipped breakfast. "All right. You have a deal. Royal Flush." He showed his hand.
Tyki's cigarette fell out of his mouth. "Beginner's luck!" he cried. "Rematch!"
They played a couple hands, and Allen won every single one. Tyki had to laugh. "I'm not sure how you did it, but you won without us catching you cheating. Bravo."5
"Takes skill ta cheat us cheaters," one of Tyki's friends said with a smirk. "You're pretty good at it."
Standing, Tyki offered Allen a hand. "Well, a bet's a bet. You get to pick something. Just don't make it too expensive."
Allen nodded. He understood not having a lot of money, living with Cross and all.
The inside of the bakery smelled like fresh bread and cake. It was warm without being too hot, and the entire room was brightly lit. A woman in a pink kimono was putting trays of delicious-looking treats in a display case. She looked up when everyone entered.
"Good morning!" she said. "Rare to see an Exorcist playing hooky—it's normally the Noah who do that." The woman laughed as Allen stared at his feet, blushing. "I'm just kidding around. Don't take it personally."
"So what do you want?" Tyki asked Allen. "Anything you want."
"Oh, I see," the woman said with a smirk. "You lost a bet, Tyki-pon! That's rare for you. Did you throw the game on purpose?"
"Kid's good at cards," Tyki replied with a shrug.
Allen pointed out a bun filled with strawberry jam. "Anyone else want anything?" the woman asked. The others all pointed out different jam buns, too. "So, what's your name?" she asked Allen as she took the money from Tyki. "I've never seen you around before."
Allen introduced himself. The woman smiled. "Nice to meet you, Allen-kun.6 My name's Chomesuke Sachiko."7
"Chomesuke Sachiko?" Allen said, surprised. The name sounded foreign.
"Yep," she replied. "I'm Japanese, so Chomesuke's my family name. You can call me Chomesuke-san if you want, though. Everyone else does. So, then, can I ask why you're skipping school, Allen-kun?"
"I'm not skipping," Allen replied, accepting his strawberry bun from Tyki. "I was sent home early."
"So you got in trouble," Tyki teased. "Way to go!"
"I didn't do anything!" Allen said.
"Then what happened?"
Before Allen could stop himself, he said, "Because I'm apparently related to someone who went to Akuma High."
Chomesuke frowned. "That's rough. I feel for ya. Those two schools have been goin' at it since I was in school." She sighed. "It'll blow over eventually. I transferred to Black Order Academy from Akuma high junior year. Tough it out until a new student comes. They'll forget all about you then."
"Really?" This surprised Allen. After everything that happened that morning, they'd just forget about him? Somehow, he doubted it.
"Well, there are always those that'll be stupid and hold a grudge, but most will move on to the next new kid, 'specially if the new kid's an Exorcist." Chomesuke reached into the display case and retrieved a slice of cheesecake with a strawberry on top. "Here," she said. When Allen refused the offer, she added, "Think of it as a 'Feel Better' gift. You don't think I noticed your sleeve?"
Allen blinked and looked at his coat's sleeve. There was a tear where the gash was, which was pinned closed until it could be fixed tomorrow, and the bandages underneath were a dull red from the bleeding. He hadn't realized it was still bleeding.
Chomesuke put it in a small box and set it on the counter. She lifted up the separator that was next to the register and helped Allen steady himself. "You don't look to hot, Allen-kun. Sit down for a few minutes."
Nodding, Allen let Chomesuke lead him to a chair. The room was spinning a bit, but it wasn't too bad. A few minutes and he'd feel better. Chomesuke left and returned with some water for him.
"Lemme guess, that's why you were sent home," she said. "Want me to call your folks to get you?"
Allen shook his head, and the room started becoming hazy. He hadn't lost that much blood, had he? The injury throbbed painfully. Cross wouldn't be home, and even if he was, he probably wouldn't care.
"All right, then," Chomesuke said with a sigh, "Tyki-pon'll help you get home. I don't want you goin' home by yourself like this." Some more customers came in. "I'll be with you in a second," she said to them, before turning back to Allen and Tyki. "Go home when you feel a little better." She went back to the counter. "Sorry for the wait, folks! How can I help you?"
It was about five minutes before Allen could see straight again. He still felt a little dizzy, but he couldn't just sit there forever. He let Tyki help him up and out the door. "You guys just head home," Tyki told his friends. "I gotta do somethin' after I get Card Shark here home, anyway."
"See ya Tyki!" his friends said as they walked away. "Feel better, Allen."
Allen and Tyki didn't talk much on the way to Allen's house, except for Allen to give a direction. Tyki was practically carrying Allen by the time they reached his house.
"Thank you," Allen said, bowing. He lost his balance, and Tyki had to steady him.
"Careful," Tyki replied. "Just watch some TV and eat those snacks." He was, of course, referring to the strawberry bun and cheesecake from the bakery. "That's what they tell ya to do when you donate blood, anyway.8 See ya."
The first thing Allen did when he got inside was flop onto the couch and fall asleep. He didn't notice Cross covering him with a blanket or looking at the gash.
"Well, I suppose he's had worse," Cross mumbled to himself, turning Allen's arm a bit to get a better look at the injury. "It's stopped bleeding, so he should be okay." Despite Allen's beliefs, Cross did care about the boy, if only a little bit.
Tyki, meanwhile, was walking through the halls in an Akuma High School uniform. His had the white cross over the black star, like any other Noah student.
"Tyki, you're late!" complained a small Noah. She smiled. "You're gonna get in trouble with the Earl!"
The Millenium Earl was the headmaster of Akuma High School and was always lovingly referred to by his students as the Earl. No one actually knew his real name, or cared what it was. Millenium Earl was a better name than "headmaster," and it felt made Akuma High school seem like the better school when compared to Black Order Academy, or at least that's what the students thought.
"I called in saying I'd be late," Tyki said, walking past the girl. "I'm not going to be in trouble. And what about you, Road? You're just as late as me."
"Getting a paper," Road replied with a smirk. She held it out for Tyki to read. "Apparently, there's a kid at Black Order whose dad was a Noah."
Tyki snatched the paper from her. He recognized the boy instantly. "Allen Walker, right?" he said, handing the Rose Cross back. "Bumped into him on the way here."
Road's eyes lit up. "Really? What's he like? I think he's kinda cute!" She sang the last part. "Cuter than you, anyway."
Tyki rolled his eyes and went to class. A little bit of Road went a long way. He was thankful that he was a senior and she was a freshman. He didn't have many classes with her.
Still, he'd have fun messing with Allen Walker. He grinned. It was fun to mess with any of the Black Order students, especially if they met him when he wasn't in the Akuma High uniform. Even his friends had no idea that he went to the school.
To him, living a double life was exciting. He laughed to himself. Allen Walker... This was going to be fun.
Allen stirred when he heard a clock chime. He sat up and rubbed his eyes blearily. The clock on the mantle read seven. Allen shot off the couch. He'd missed his shift at the Silver Flower Teahouse!
"Morning, sleeping beauty," Cross said sarcastically. He was drinking blood red wine.
"Why didn't you wake me up when you got home?" Allen cried, looking for his shoes.
He heard a laugh from the kitchen. "Don't worry about missing your shift," Anita said, poking her head in the doorway. "Lenalee told me what happened when she got there."
Allen froze. "What are you doing here, Miss Anita?"
"Cross invited me in for some wine," she replied. She came into the living room and sat in one of the chairs. "How are you feeling, Allen?"
"Fine," he lied. In truth, he still felt a little dizzy, but not as bad as he had earlier. "Are you and General Cross dating?" he asked, already knowing the answer.
Anita smiled. "Why, yes. Did Cross tell you that?"
"I guessed," Allen said. His stomach growled. He hadn't eaten his bakery, and he slept through lunch. He'd probably missed dinner too. At least Cross hadn't eaten the cake and bun.
Chuckling, Cross said, "It seems Allen's hungry. There's some left-overs from our dinner, if you want them. They're probably cold, though."
Allen did a double take. Cross was being nice. Something fishy was going on. Still, he was hungry and didn't see any harm in eating, since Cross had offered it.
"Make sure to clean up when you're done," Cross said.
So that was it. He wanted alone time with his girlfriend. Allen sighed. At least he got a free dinner out of it. Then he froze again. Cross now knew of his part time job. He'd be exploited for money. Again. Allen felt like crying. He couldn't think of a way this could get any worse.
There's no use in getting upset about it, Allen thought bitterly. I'll just have to hide my money and tell the loser to earn his own... He sighed. He couldn't argue with Cross—Cross was brutal. I guess I'll just have to lie about how much I make, he decided in the end. That would have to do for now.
1 In the Japanese version (since it was sort of lost in English), Allen uses very polite, formal Japanese until much later in the series.
2 It's like the crosses on the Noah's head in the series, except white on the black star.
3 I know Mana wasn't the Noah and his brother was, but, like Leverrier, Mana was an upper-class student at Akuma High. At Akuma High, the levels are Akuma and Noah, so Mana falls under the higher level.
4 "Kogane" is Japanese for Gold. Thus, Chomesuke's bakery is the "Gold Bakery."
5 Allen is a good cheater, but not quite good enough to cover up winning all those hands in a row. XD
6 For those of you who don't know, she's using Japanese honorifics. –kun is an informal honorific used primarily for males. Later, she tells him to address her with the honorific –san. –san is used as Ms., Mrs., or Mr. Before, when she called Tyki "Tyki-pon" (the nickname the Earl gave Tyki, btw), she was using an honorific that she made up, like a nickname. (it's like if you have a friend named Jennifer, and you call her "Jenny" instead).
7 "Sachiko" would be her given name, and Chomesuke is her family name. In Japan, family name comes first, as Chomesuke explains.
8 Once again, I have no idea if there was blood donation back then, but let's say there is for the sake of Tyki's argument
I'd like to remind you all that this is an AU fic. Don't complain that Tyki's being too nice. Don't forget, he's not in his Akuma High uniform. He'll get eviller later. :-D
Anywho, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! Oh, and if you see any mistakes, please tell me! Thanks!