An update! Oh my! -Laughs- So, who read the new chapter? Anyone else sad for Kanda? Even with the current situation, I have to admit: Kanda is gay for Alma. Well, unless it turns out Alma is a woman (I suspect so, but I need proof, dammit!). Theory wise: ALLEN IS Kanda's son, lol. A little thing Angel Fantasy came up with. *shakes head* there's just too much that we can't' decide without a single sentence more than what Hoshino gave us. I just wanna know who the hell Alma is! Friend, love, half-brother-ish thing? Augh, I'm already being impatient.

A small note- I changed the spelling of Lavi's girlfriend's name. It was 'Kairi', now it's 'Kyrie' because that sounds more American. And this is still un-beta'd, so there's probably mistakes. Sorry.

Oh, and a few of my dear reviewers let me know about plot holes. I tried my best to solve a few of them, if you find any let me know. ;D

Anyway, new chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own D. Gray-man. If I did, the new chapter would already be out.

-

"Not like you were gonna be done talking to her anytime soon." Kanda replied nonchalantly, starting the car and pulling out of the parking lot.

Well, it wasn't as if Allen didn't know he was a social person, but Lenalee was supposed to be shopping for work and Allen knew he had someone waiting for him. He certainly wasn't that inconsiderate… Surely the man had noticed his attempt at manners by now.

"Is that… all?"

"Che." So apparently there was. But if Kanda didn't want to talk about it, then he'd drop it. But didn't that mean that Lenalee knew him, too? She'd acted like she'd never met him before. What with the compliments and drooling? Maybe she just didn't remember him…?

Uneventful drives. You've got to love them. But when strangers start taking equally strange roads while you're in the car with them, you know something's wrong.

"Er, Kanda… where are we going?" They'd been driving on the Parkway for a good forty minutes, which had finally provoked him to ask.

"The fucking beach," He growled, knuckles turning white against the steering wheel. The beach? But it was November…

"Isn't it kind of cold?" He asked sheepishly, playing with his hands in his lap.

"You really think I want to go, Moyashi?"

"It's Allen! Could you at least say that thing you call me in English?" Oops. Bad choice. The man's right eyebrow twitched as he tightened his grip (if possible) on the steering wheel.

"It doesn't matter what language I fucking say it in, it means the same damn thing, Bean sprout."

"I'm older than you think! In fact, I'm almost the same age as you! So don't treat me like I'm some kid!"

"I'll treat you however the hell I want to. You're still a fucking kid no matter what you say. You got knocked unconscious in front of MY apartment building, then you go and kicked out of your own damned house. You're just a damn charity case and I don't even know why I'm bothering with you." Somewhere, in the middle of Kanda's hurtful speech, they had pulled into the beach's parking lot. Allen could see the lifeguard post sticking up into the horizon ahead, and didn't hesitate to jump from the car, planning on running to the nearest bus station and calling Lenalee. Even if he'd-!

"Heeyyy! You must be Allen!" There was a redhead and a girl approaching him while waving. "Where's Yuu?" Well, that gave him away. So this was the dreaded "Usagi" Kanda had tried to dump him on.

"Lavi?" The redhead nodded, wrapping his arm loosely around the girl's shoulder. "He's- uh, in the car." When Allen chanced a peek at the Asian, he was scowling out the windshield, arms crossed over his chest. Was he that pissed at Allen or just that he had to be here?

"Has he been like that the whole way here?" Lavi asked, glancing past Allen at his friend.

"Er… no?" Excuse me! I- I have to go!" He mumbled before taking off towards the beach, set on getting away from the man he was burdening.

"Moyashi-Chan! Where are you going?!" Lavi yelled after him, dropping his arm from the girl's shoulder. "Yuu!" There was something else said after the Asian's name, but the wind and waves droned it out. He'd always felt guilty about pushing himself on Kanda- there wasn't a minute that he didn't think about it, but that was uncalled for, and it hurt.

Blinking away the tears- that were from the wind blowing into his eyes dammit! - He ran faster, and faster down the beach. He ran until he didn't know where he was and couldn't see the lifeguard post was or the parking lot. He stood stalk still, glancing in both directions before deciding to sit down beneath the sand dunes.

He buried his face in his knees, finally letting his tears spill over. He'd always been a burden. Just a burden and nothing more. Come to think of it, that was probably why Cross had kicked him out. He pulled out his phone and checked the time. It wasn't even noon…

-

He didn't know how long he'd sat there- he'd stopped checking his phone- but when he heard a worried voice approaching him, he didn't bother to look up. Maybe they'd just think he'd died and leave him alone. But of course, the redhead seemed to be the persistent type. After all, how else would he have gotten Kanda to come to the beach, of all places?

"Moyashi-Chan…" He sighed, approaching the boy's side before sitting down. "That looks like it hurt, hm?" he asked, eying the bandage that wound around his head.

"Not really. Well, I guess it did before…" he mumbled, face still between his knees.

"Ya' know," Lavi said, leaning back on his palms, "Yuu's not always like that. Once ya' get to know him, he'll be nicer. He just doesn't like opening up ta' people."

"Yeah, but I don't think I'll be staying with him. It was really nice of him to let me stay as long as I did, but I can't stay with him. I'm going to ask my friend to let me live with her." He whispered voice melancholy.

"Why didn't 'cha stay with your friend from the beginning?" Allen could feel the tears building up again. He was sick of pushing himself onto others, and he was sure they were, too.

"Because her family has already done enough for me. Staying with them again… I'd feel even worse than I do now."

"You've stayed with her before?" Lavi continued bombarding him with questions, and it felt good to get it off his chest even if the other male was a stranger.

"My guardian skipped town a couple years ago. I wasn't legal yet, and the landlord kicked me out. My step-father had taken all the money I had stored in the house, and left. So I had nowhere to go. She-" he sniffed, feeling the tears coming, burning his throat. "She let me stay with her for three months! I felt so bad! I- I don't want to do that to her again, and I don't want to burden Kanda, either! It's not fair to anyone…" He trailed off, frantically swiping at his eyes with his sleeve to get the tears to go away.

"Well," He could hear the smile in the redhead's voice, "That just means she's a good friend. Ya' can't see yourself as a burden, Allen. Life isn't perfect, ya' know? And I'm sure she knows you'd do the same thing in her situation, right?"

Allen nodded; looking away from the other as more tears fell down his cheeks, unhindered.

"And besides," he glanced back at the redhead, taking in the grin on his face. "I think Yuu wants ya' ta' live with him. He doesn't have many relatives or friends. He tends to- uh, block them out. One could make all the difference, Moyashi-Chan! So give yourself a break, after all, your going ta' be taking care of his apartment, right? If it makes ya' feel better, think of yourself as a live-in maid." The boy gave a weak laugh at that, smiling as he looked at the ocean. "So, if ya' don't mind me askin', why'd ya' get into this fight, exactly?"

"Oh, well, we went to the grocery store this morning and he left me there when I saw my friend." Allen shrugged, wishing he could just forget about the stupid fight.

"Oh?" Lavi raised an eyebrow, giving the boy a sly look. "Who was this 'friend'?"

"It was the girl that let me stay with her. Her name's Lenalee. She works at the diner where I work."

"Lenalee? I know her!" His face lit up as he leaned forward, smacking his own fist into his palm. "She's friends with Miranda right? And you are too!"

"Miranda? You know her? How?" Allen asked, mind shifting from the fight to his friend with ease.

"Ha-ha, I kinda have this on-off relationship with her." He chuckled. "She's really a nice woman."

"Yeah, but she gets injured a lot, we're constantly in the clinic with her. Being a waitress really isn't her thing." Allen said, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. He'd known Miranda since he'd taken his job at the Diner. She'd been a hostess at the time; for fear that she would spill the contents of a tray on a customer.

"Yeah, she's talked about a kid named Allen before, just didn't strike me as being you." He laughed, slapping the boy's back.

"She told us she had a boyfriend, she just left out your name." They continued to laugh for another minute before resuming their conversation. "So… you work with Kanda?" Lavi nodded, closing his eye as the breeze blew his hair all over the place. "Where do you work?"

The redhead grinned as he turned back to Allen before replying, "We work in a movie theatre. I'm friends with the boss and Kanda couldn't really work anywhere else with his social skills."

"Oh," was Allen's feeble reply, not quite sure what else there was to say.

Lavi sighed before continuing, "He'd been like that since I met him, ya' know. His parents left him a while back and he moved here from Japan."

"They left him?" The younger boy asked, focusing on the crashing waves in the distance rather than the sad-sounding redhead sitting next to him.

"Yeah, apparently they abandoned him and he was lucky enough to get picked up by his foster father. He didn't really know a lot of English when he came here, so he had trouble. But since I've known him, he's been pretty antisocial." He explained, copying Allen and looking at the horizon.

"When did he move here?"

"Seventh grade, I think. I didn't meet him till we were freshman."

"Oh," Allen finished, closing his eyes and trying to picture himself unable to speak English in America. He bit his lip; it must've been hard…

"Moyashi-Chan, I think we should be gettin' back, they'll think I got lost or somethin'." He nodded and got to his feet, waiting for Lavi to stand before staring in the direction they had come. When they got back to the parking lot, Kanda was standing in front of his car, leaning on the hood; the girl next to him. Allen held his breath and stared at the ground, too ashamed of himself to look the man in the eye.

"Allen! This is Kyrie!" Lavi yelled from a few feet away, hooking his arm around the girl's waist. She smiled at him and he nodded, extending his right arm out to shake her hand.

"I kinda met you when you were on Kanda's shoulder, but nice to see your actually awake!" She babbled in a bubbly voice, accepting the hand he'd offered. She continued shaking it with a smile until Lavi intervened, pulling her further against himself. Allen let out a nervous laugh at that.

Kanda didn't move, simply stayed by his car, seemingly too cool to talk with the group. When Kyrie gestured towards him, Lavi shrugged and sent a look to Allen. The youngest of the group froze; he wasn't going anywhere near that man if he was mad at him! Although, he did owe his an apology…

Sucking in a deep breath, he marched over to the man, confidently placing his steps. "Kanda," He whispered, much to his displeasure. The man simply looked up and away from him, making Allen's eyebrows twitch with irritation. The nerve he had! Especially when someone else was swallowing their own pride to apologize to him! "Kanda," He said more firmly, gaining the attention of the Asian. "I'm sorry. I was out of line." He was so close to adding, "But you should apologize too," but he refrained, insisting to himself tat he was going to act mature on the matter.

"Che," was the reply, and Allen sighed, knowing he wouldn't get anything out of the older male. Turning around, Lavi and Kyrie were giggling and kissing, the redhead pressing the girl against the car. "Oi!" Kanda yelled, gaining the couple's attention. "Get the fuck off of my car!" He sneered, beginning to walk over to them to emphasize his point.

It didn't make much sense, Allen had to admit. Well, unless Kanda was gay. But even- no, no, no! Don't think about that! It'll make things awkward! And even if he is, it's not my business. Allen thought, looking away from the couple. He couldn't help but be a little bit jealous, though. He hadn't had a girlfriend since junior year…

"Ha-ha," Lavi laughed, tugging the girl closer to himself than Allen thought possible. "Calm down, Yuu. We all know you're just jealous!" He said with a wink, planting a kiss on the girl's cheek. She smirked and pressed her lips to Lavi's and Allen looked away, embarrassed.

Kanda made a noise equivalent to a snort and gag, crossed his arms over his chest and stared down the oh so scandalous couple. "This has been a huge waste of my fucking time, we're leaving."

"B- But Yuu-chan! You just got here!" Lavi protested, staring dumbly at the Asian.

"No, I didn't. Moyashi ran away and you spent an hour talking to him." Kanda deadpanned, pulling out his keys and unlocking the doors with the button on the key ring.

"That long? B- But… We can still go somewhere else! Lunch?" He pleaded, checking his watch.

"No. I'm going home. I don't want to be with you more than necessary, Usagi." Allen had to guess on that, and to the best of his knowledge, he assumed he was talking about their jobs. Jobs… Right! Allen had to work that night.

Smiling politely at the others, Allen waved and got into the passengers seat, noticing Kanda's satisfied smirk as he did so. There was an annoyed grumbling, then the door opened, Kanda entering and sitting.

"So," Allen said, breaking the silence once they had pulled onto the main road. "What was the point in coming here?"

Although Kanda would never admit it, it was so that he could meet his "friends". "The idiot wouldn't have stopped annoying me until you met him." Was his casual reply as he sped the car up on the empty road. Impatient, much…

"Is working with him that bad?" he blurted out, regretting it the second it left his lips.

"How the hell do you know I work with him?" He scowled into the windshield, brows furrowing.

"When Lavi talked to me, he told me." Well if THAT didn't sound damned suspicious.

"That idiot…" He mumbled more to himself than Allen. "What else did he tell you?"

"Nothing," He lied, not wanting to irritate the man by delving on his past. "We talked about my step-day, mostly." That was only a half-lie, but it was still unsettling.

"Che," And that was the end of the conversation. They both sat in an awkward silence until they arrived at Kanda's apartment, which sounded quick, but was actually a good hour.

Oh. Crap.

"K- Kanda… the groceries are probably ruined…" He whispered as he prepared to get out of the car. They'd left them sitting in the car for almost three hours, and although it was still cold outside, it just wasn't safe to eat them. Scratch that- they could eat the fruits and such, but the eggs and milk were a different story.

The Asian rolled his eyes and got out of the car. "Should of fucking told you that you shouldn't buy anything that needed to be refrigerated…" He growled, walking up the cement path leading to the entrance. Climbing the stairs, Allen frowned. He still hadn't eaten anything, and he was starving; his stomach threatening to eat itself if he didn't nourish it within the next minute.

Once inside the other's apartment, Allen put away the groceries as neatly as he could in another parson's home. The cabinets were pretty much empty, yet, organized. Shaking his head, he put everything into a place he'd remember and grabbed a banana. It obviously wasn't enough to tide him over for even a minute, but he'd eat when he got to the Diner.

Pulling out his phone, his face dropped as he saw the screen.

Five New Messages.

He never got that many at once, was something wrong? And how didn't he feel it vibrating in the car?

Hey come in at 5 instead, k?

It was from Lenalee, reasonable. But the rest…

Haha, I got ur number. :P I'm a stalker… hehe, it's Lavi.

Moyashi is Yuu still mad?

Moyashi! Come eat with uss!

Ur a boring bean! Just like Yuu-chan!

How did he get his number? Had Kanda given it to him? For unknown reasons, his cheeks lit up. Maybe the reasons weren't unknown, but Allen liked to pretend they were. Had Kanda been talking to the redhead about him? What had he said? Something bad? Or was it just because he'd gone missing at the beach…? But… wait a second. How had Kanda gotten his number?

Peeking around the wall the separated the kitchen from the living room, Allen watched the older man scowl as he flipped through the channels on the TV. Even thinking back he couldn't come up with an explanation for Lavi OR Kanda having his cell number. The first time he'd called Lavi it'd been on Lenalee's phone, and he couldn't remember calling Kanda. When he was sleeping… maybe?

"Kanda?" He asked, sitting on the coach near the man. "Do you have my cell phone number?" The slightest bit of color came into his face once Allen had asked, and the man's eyes widened before looking away.

"When you were in the shower this morning, I got it. Sorry." He mumbled. But Allen didn't care. The man had just apologized to him! Even if it was about something stupid like a phone number, it was still and apology. Smiling, the boy picked himself up and walked into the bathroom where a roll of bandages had neatly been set up for him.

He gazed at himself in the mirror. He still looked pretty bad; his face was scratched up and the bandage needed to be changed, but it could have been worse, Allen assumed. He gingerly unwound the bandages from around his head and threw them out. Cleaning the wound in the shower had proved to be of little help because even the slightest of touches sent shocks of pain down his spine, making him cringe and pull his hand away. He had instead settled on letting water run over that side of his head as he attempted to shampoo the other side of his head. It had stung, but it was better than having blood caked in his hair.

Frowning as he unwound what he thought to be enough from the small roll of bandages, Allen held it up to his head and attempted to wind it around; trying desperately to get the end to stay attached to his head. He was unsuccessful, and after a few failed attempts, he lowered his soar arms and surrendered; vowing to renew his attempts after giving his arms a short break.

During that time, he inspected the rest of his face. The white hair that had come courtesy of Cross and his drunken nights, and the scar that ran along his eye from the car accident when he was seven. Over the years, he'd become less self conscious about the scar; but when he woke up to see every hair on his face bleached, he hadn't been pleased. The worst part of it was when his roots grew in. Brown and white tended to clash horribly, so he'd settled on bleaching his hair. Lenalee had complimented it and squealed when she saw it, but Allen hadn't been pleased. He'd always thought that the women that Cross picked up with dyed hair were killing their own brain cells and such, but apparently they didn't care what it did to their hormones or reproductive systems. Being male meant less, but it still gave off the image of being a freak, and people had began frequently asking if he was gay. He'd frowned and denied it each time, but the more time that passed by, the more he thought about just replying "Yes"; If only to get them to leave him alone.

"Oi." It snapped Allen out of his trance as he turned around to look at the doorway. Kanda was standing there, staring at him as if he were having a seizure.

"Yeah?" Came his whispered reply as he fiddled with the bandage in his hands.

"Do you want help putting that on?" He calmly asked, shocking Allen with how generous he sounded.

"Er, yeah. Sorry, I kinda got stuck in a trance," He explained as he handed the Asian the bandage, turning back around to make the older man's efforts easier. He didn't reply, simply placed one edge of the bandage to the side opposite Allen's injury and pressed. With his other hand he gently wrapped it around his head, careful not to brush the boy's injury. Allen couldn't help but blush at the contact. But more of the fact that he was proving to be useless and helpless on his own. Bandages and such had never been his forte, Lenalee had always been kind enough to help him whenever he got hurt on the job.

"Thanks," Allen said once the man had tucked the edge of the bandage under another piece and pulled away. There was a grunt and Allen accepted that as his reply. He turned the bathroom light off and walked back into the living room behind Kanda, sitting on the couch opposite him.

Kanda reached into his pocket, "Here," He growled, throwing something small at him from across the coffee table. "You said you have a job, and so do I. So just let yourself in." Allen nodded and looked down at the small key ring that contained two keys. "One's for the door leading to the foyer, the others for the apartment door and mailbox." Kanda explained, standing up and disappearing down the hallway leading to the two rooms. When he came back he was holding a small book.

He opened it and walked over to Allen, sitting beside him on the couch. The boy couldn't help his own heart from beating faster, or smelling the man's soap. It wasn't like a girl's; it was better. It smelt like… hm, there wasn't a word for it. It was just something Allen wouldn't be able to forget now that he'd smelled it up close.

"If you ever see these people at the door," He pointed at a picture containing three other people that looked Kanda's age, one of which was obviously older, "Don't let them in." He deadpanned, looking Allen straight in the eye. He understood the problem of staying away from IRS because of Cross, but why did Kanda have a picture of them?

"Who are they?" He asked, taking the photo album from Kanda; brushing his hand in the process.

"Tch, they're annoying as hell. Just don't open the door for them. Or better yet, don't EVER answer the door. And the Usagi, don't let him in either. They come over so god damn often, knowing I won't answer the damn door, and then annoy me for hours." He groaned as he fell back against the couch, his knee pressing against Allen's.

"Uh," he stuttered, embarrassed at the contact, but not showing it any way other than his voice. "So they're your family?"

Kanda covered his eyes with the inside of his elbow. "Adoptive family, but yes. And they're all annoying as hell." He repeated. "The old man has a key, so keep the chain on the door until I get home. I'll be pissed if I find out they've been in here. Got it?" Allen nodded as Kanda sat up; grabbing Allen's thigh in the process. Allen's face flushed darker than he thought possible as the man walked away as if nothing had happened. He grabbed his own keys and wallet before heading out the door, not offering as much as a "goodbye" as he closed the door behind himself.

-

The end of another chapter. *sigh* Well, now I plan on making a short little fic involving Alma and Kanda, but I think I'll get shot for writing what I want to, so I'm going to have to tune it down a bit. Dammit… China Town tomorrow! Hell yeah! And I'm going to the import store again, even though I'm pretty much broke. I heard the new chapter in Shonen Square comes with a poster-ish thing with Kanda and a small Allen hanging on his sword, so I'm going to spend ten dollars on the magazine for it. Haha, I'm a loser. ^^"

I love my reviewers! *hint hint*