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Author's note: The ages. Kanda's way too young to be a surgeon. I stretched his age to twenty six currently. That makes him seven years older than Allen. (In my mind) that's ok.
And Allen's way too young to be a medical student (who was on a waiting list, etc.) See? So, Don't, please don't stone me. Even though I try to keep things pretty realistic, (Procedures, facts, common knowledge) there is just no way around this, since the majority of Medical Doctors are about thirty five-forty or so… (I hope I got the numbers right, Chimera Ally!)
Facies
Allen bit savagely into the doughnut, chewing it in hurry. The café was almost empty, and Allen had the feeling that he was the cause of the disturbing stares the waiter was throwing at him.
"Slow down, dolt, you'll swallow your own fingers!"
Allen chocked. He covered his mouth and started coughing. Kanda rolled his eyes.
"Told you."
The boy stared at him with annoyance, trying to cough out the bits of food from his trachea. Kanda cocked a brow and sipped the green tea in front of him.
"Really, do you always rush at everything? It's not like the food will run away, you know."
The boy frowned and swallowed the rest of the doughnut.
"I don't rush," he mumbled, brushing the back of his hand against the mouth. "It's my normal speed."
Kanda eyed him smirking. The boy grew uneasy under his gaze.
"What?" he mumbled, confused.
Kanda placed his chin in his palm, propping the elbow into the slightly dirty table. Allen flustered.
"Why are you staring at me?" he raised his voice, exasperated by Kanda's silent and scrutinizing eyes. The man looked at the dark window, mutely gazing at nothing.
"Professor?"
"Call me Kanda. I'm not your professor anymore, idiot." The man murmured, still looking at the window. Allen stared at the window too, curiously eyeing the glass.
"Why are you studying medicine, brat?"
Allen looked away from the window and poked a crumb. He moved his lips, hesitantly dragging the time.
"Well?"
"It's a long story. And it's the middle of the night." Allen stood up and touched his coat, ready to leave. "And I have to work tomorrow."
Kanda cocked his brows, grinning sarcastically.
"And the most amazing thing is that you just remembered it."
The tip of the boy's ears reddened. His hand gripped the coat tighter.
"I-It's not like that. I really have to go."
"Then go," the man suddenly said, glaring at him with heavy eyes. "Go," he repeated, crossing his arms. The boy nodded and made a few paces toward the exit. Then he stopped. He turned around and plopped into the chair. He stared at the man with determination.
"If I tell you, promise me you won't laugh. Or I'll leave."
Kanda snorted.
"You act like a five year old brat. Deal," he grinned and leaned back, looking relaxed. Allen tightened his lips.
"My father was sick with prostate cancer," he said with an even, almost indifferent voice. "He died when I was ten." He paused to look at Kanda.
"So you want to save humanity from cancer?" The man snorted.
"I'm leaving," Allen deadpanned and got up. Kanda grabbed his hand and pushed him back into the chair.
"Tch. Sensitive bastard."
"I'm not a bastard!!" Allen hissed, glaring at the man with fury.
"Tch. Whatever," Kanda dismissed his words with a shrug. The teen frowned and looked away. He felt the man's eyes on his face and that made him uncomfortable and self-conscious. He slowly raised his palm and propped his cheek on it, trying to make the action look natural.
"Well? Are you going to continue?" Kanda's voice hit his ears again. But it wasn't mocking or smirking anymore. The boy shifted his eyes from the table to his sick arm.
"Well, since I always wanted to help people somehow, I figured I could study cancers," he finished lamely, trying to get away from the "save humanity from cancer" idea.
"Ah, the hero complex," the man muttered, making a bored face.
"The what?"
"The hero complex," Kanda said louder, playing with his cup. "Fools who believe they can save everything and everyone. Usually they do not end well."
Allen gritted his teeth.
"You know what? You have no right to criticize my dreams or beliefs. I don't even understand why I am here," he uttered coldly, getting up. "Not everyone is like you, Kanda! No everything is controlled by logic! And thank God for that, or else the world would go crazy," he sneered and turned away to leave.
"Yeah. Thank God for that," Allen heard Kanda whisper. The boy turned around, watching the man with curious eyes. Kanda frowned, looking at the table.
"Saving everyone is impossible. Believe me, I know more about it that than I want to." He stood up arching backwards to make the spine move a bit. He took out his wallet and started digging in it, pulling out two twenties. He threw the money on the table and paced toward the exit.
Allen silently followed him, not even realizing his own actions. Kanda crossed the street and disappeared in the Cleaners' shop. The boy watched him go, shivering for a second when the frozen snow started falling down in gray and cold lumps.
He lifted the collar of his coat. The wind picked up, blowing some frozen sand directly in his eye. He shuddered when his postman bag painfully jabbed his thigh and paced rapidly, closing his eyes when the wind hit him in the face.
"What was the name of your father?"
Allen jolted and looked up. Kanda was pacing next to him. A heavy black scarf was covering the lower part of his face. He was holding a black packet under his arm.
"Kanda, why are you here?" the boy suspiciously inquired, stopping in his track. Kanda shrugged.
"I don't remember where I parked my car."
"Do you seriously think I'll believe that?" Allen enunciated coldly. Kanda threw him an indifferent glance.
"Whatever."
"What do you mean, whatever?!"
Kanda simply walked past him in the frozen street. The boy scowled and followed the man, shielded from the wind by the tall figure.
"Well?"
Allen looked up.
"Well what?"
"About your father."
"Mana died," the boy snapped, "What else do you want to know? His birthday?"
Kanda smirked in the scarf. The wind hit him in the face making his hair animated for a second. The boy shuddered and hastened his pace.
"Look," Kanda stopped and pointed up. Allen lifted his face. A huge moon stared dustily at both of them, unsure whether to pay attention or just keep revolving around its orbit.
"It looks like the moon from vampire movies," Allen giggled, pulling his head in the shoulders very turtle-like. Kanda glanced at him, amused. In the eerie light, the boy's head shone in the same dusty way, imitating the moon.
"Why aren't you wearing a hat?" Kanda inquired, nudging the boy with an elbow to distract his gaze from the sky.
"Why aren't you wearing one?" Allen frowned, pointing sharply at his ear.
"I don't need one. I have a car, you know."
Allen smirked sarcastically.
"And that explains perfectly why you are walking here, in the middle of the night, fifteen miles from your apartment."
"That laundry shop of yours doesn't have enough parking spaces, idiot." Kanda suddenly stopped and brought the fingers to his mouth, blowing on them. "I know I left it somewhere around here…"
"Here," the boy murmured, holding a pair of brown mittens. Kanda stared at him in disbelief.
"What the hell is that? It looks like a dead mouse."
Allen reddened and hid the mittens in his pocket. "Jerk."
Kanda smirked and extended his palm. "Give them here."
The boy bit his lip. "No way. Go freeze to death and die, all I care."
Kanda cocked his head. "Thanks. And you said you wanted to save people. Hypocrite."
Allen grabbed him by the scarf, hissing in his face.
"Don't you dare make fu—"
"No need. I see my car. Do you want a ride?"
Allen let him go and turned away. "No thanks. My house is three feet away."
He reluctantly waved good bye, walking toward a group of houses bundled together like mushrooms. Kanda watched his go away. He sat in his car, un-muffling his face. He could see the boy's silhouette through the glass, humping a bit. Probably because of the cold.
____
Old Panda knew everything. And when Lavi said everything, he meant everything. That old fart was a walking encyclopedia, containing even the unprinted volumes.
"Hey old man," Lavi eyed his green salad and pocked the lettuce, "Do you know Kanda, Kanda Yuu?"
The old fart swallowed the beefsteak bit stuck on his fork.
"Kanda?" he mumbled, forking another piece of meat. "Kanda… That little bastard was a bother and a pain in the ass." Bookman senior eyed Lavi quizzically. "Why aren't you eating the meat?"
Lavi stopped chewing. He stared in front of him.
"I don't think I'll be able to eat it anymore."
The panda cackled.
"What's so fucking funny?! I couldn't eat two days in row! Two fucking days!!!"
The old man smirked, wiping his lips with a napkin. "Lavi, my boy," he said, closing his pale with age eyes. "Wait till you operate on live meat."
"Yeah, right," Lavi mumbled, pushing the lettuce aside. He turned at the old man expectantly.
"What do you know about Yuu Kanda?"
"Kanda, huh. He was a fine surgeon," Bookman started, "very idealistic. And self-confident." Lavi nodded, impatiently jiggling in his chair.
"A genius, that boy. He had a golden touch." Bookman sipped his tea, ignoring the foot tapping Lavi was demonstrating.
"Well, why the hell did he become a teacher?! Golden touch, genius, fine doc, why did he become a Teach if he was so good?" Lavi finally yelled, unable to cope with the intentioned slowness of his old man.
"Patience, Lavi my boy."
Lavi sulkily let his chin meet the table.
"Patience my ass. I wanna know!"
"I told you he was an idealist. That little—"
"Little? How little?" Lavi ducked from a spoon thrown at him.
"He was twenty five or so. He screwed up a surgery he was very sure would be easy to do."
Lavi stared at him with wide eyes.
"No way. That conceited prick is too good for that," Lavi wave his hand, dismissing the very credibility of the information.
"I'm sure he is now," the old man sipped his tea, tapping the cup with the nails. "But back then… he was easily angered and provoked."
"That didn't change," Lavi whispered, sticking his tongue out. And grabbed his head, groaning in pain. That freaking old Panda!
"Don't interrupt me, idiot!!"
"Stop hitting me, Old Fart! I'm not twelve anymore!!!"
"Mentally you're three," the Panda cut his whine. "Why do you want to know about Kanda Yuu, anyway?"
Lavi grinned sheepishly, scratching his head.
"Well, I kinda…am in his classes now."
The panda stared at him with his washed out eyes. "So you're in his classes now and want to know more about him." He shrugged and pretended to talk with himself: "Here comes the idiot."
"I'm not an idiot, Old Panda! I can choose whatev—"
The old man stood up and eyed his son with severity.
"Lavi, if you play around with him as you did with the majority of your female professors, I won't forgive you. Tiedoll was a good friend of mine, and his son is a good man. Don't even dare to fool around with him."
"What the hell…" Lavi started, but rapidly closed his mouth. That's right, the old man had no idea what happened to Allen. "That pretty bastard threatened my friend. I'll do whatever it takes to make him pay." The redhead glared at his father. He brought his arms behind his head and leaned on the chair.
"You said that guy is overconfident, right? Just think about how he'll live if I crush that confidence of his. A scandal, perhaps…" He smirked, seeing his father's face. "Nah, I won't make him quit," he smiled, his eyes closed. "I'll just make him suffer invisibly, like internal bleeding."
The old man stared at him bitterly. He coughed in his fist and looked at Lavi again.
"I'm afraid you'll be the one suffering, idiot," he murmured, watching the tall figure of his son flexing his arms. He was a beautiful boy. And smart too. The result? An overconfident young man with advanced flirting abilities. Bookman sighed. Just like him in his young days.
__
It was evening already when Lavi decided drop by Allen's apartment. He knew the boy's schedule quite well. The little guy was always home between six and seven, preparing for the next job. Lavi grinned. Allen cooked too. Heh! He was nineteen, single, and lived by himself, providing for his own life. In other words, complete freedom!
Lavi stopped in front of the apartment, grinning smugly. A strange smell, a hybrid between coffee and fried tomatoes was coming out under the door. He bent and found the key under the mat. It was always there for unfortunate times when Allen lost his keys or—
"Hey babe!"
Lavi threw his bag and shoes unceremoniously on the floor. The apartment was small and pale yellow of time. The man bit his lip, trying to get out of his coat. Damn the idiot who invented fashion! He craned his neck tugging the orange scarf.
"Allen? You there, little guy?"
He heard some hollering from the kitchen. The door opened swiftly, letting out a cloud of smells and miasmas. Meat. He was frying meat with garlic and lemon. Lavi swallowed the saliva that kept flooding his mouth. That little guy surely knew how to cook. The man opened the kitchen door, glancing inside. The appetizing smell hit him in the face, making his insides gnaw in hunger.
"Alle—WHOA!! Whoa, whoa, whoa!!!" Lavi clasped his eyes and hit the wall with his back. Allen stared at him with irritation.
"Lavi? What the heck? Don't you have classes?"
Lavi peeped through the gap between the fingers. Allen was standing there in his briefs and a large black shirt, still unbuttoned.
"Whoa! Old buddy, old pal, old friend!! You sure have a cute ass!"
Allen grabbed the ladle.
"Would you shut up? Cooking and dressing at the same time is quite difficult!" he pulled a sock up, dropping the ladle. Lavi blinked. Whoa. White legs, pretty long too.
"Quit staring! Haven't you seen people dressing before?!" Allen yelled, pulling the second sock up and managing to make a threatening face.
"But!! You look like a skinny girl! With a hot ass! Too bad you don't have any boobs, but—OW!!! Hey, that hurt!!"
"It's supposed to hurt, perv!"
Allen sighed and proceeded to button his shirt. His pants were still wet. Stupid red sauce. Lavi grinned and snatched his tie.
"Whoa! What do we have here? A tie? Our babe's wearing a tie? How kinky!!"
"Lavi! That's gross! And give it back!!" the boy yelled, not caring about the neighbors. Then he gasped grabbing a fork and trying to turn over the pieces of meat.
Heh! The shirt was too big for him. Lavi sat on the floor, stroking the tie. Way too big. But somehow it suited him. Strange. It made him look so much younger and vulnerable than he really was. Just like a fourteen year old. Lavi chuckled and threw the tie on a chair.
"So, why are you dressing up?"
Allen pulled up the pants, stuffing the shirt inside. He paused to search for the tie.
"Ugh… I found an oncology clinic nearby. I want to work there part time, so… how the heck do I twist this?" he mumbled, taking off his tie and trying to unknot it.
"You wanna take another job?! Where do you find the freaking time to do everything?!"
"Lavi, for God's sake, sit on some chair, not on the floor!" Allen cut his words, finally able to twist the tie in the right direction. "And it's not decided yet. I am just going to ask for an interview and more info on this."
Allen stroked his hair, attempting to comb it with the fingers. Lavi slowly extended his arm with a thumb up.
"What?" the boy stared, unable to tie the gesture to anything. As a response, Lavi showed him the second thumb. Allen scowled.
"What?!"
"You look dazzling, dude."
The dazzling dude cocked one brow.
"Yeah right. I'll give you some chow anyway, so your shady compliments are wasted," he sighed and pointed at the row of clean plates. Lavi jumped up and pinched his cheek.
"You sure are sharp, muchacho!" He grinned and pinched him again. The boy's pale skin reddened and he pushed Lavi away.
"Don't call me muchacho!! I'm nineteen!"
"And four feet nine," Lavi swallowed a piece of meat, "This is fucking good! I couldn't eat meat, but again, this doesn't look like meat! What the fuck did you do with it?!"
Allen frowned. His nose wrinkled, giving him a reproachful look.
"Don't swear so much, Lavi. It's really—"
"Right, right! Real men don't swear in front of Ladies!"
"I'm not a lady!! Stop provoking me, or else!!"
Lavi snickered, hiding behind a chair and stealing pieces of meat from the frying pan.
"Or what? Man, this thing is good!" he laughed, taking another bite and licking his fingers. Allen cringed.
"Just put it into a plate or something. AH! Don't stick your fingers there! I eat it too, you know!!"
Lavi threw him a foxy glance and started licking his fingers slowly. The boy looked at him with disdain.
"You're incorrigible, Lavi." He paced into the hallway, closing the door behind him. Still licking his fingers, Lavi approached the window and looked down. Fifth floor. Heh, that wasn't so high. Ah, Allen came out. He was running, and the green puffy winter jacket was dangling on him, like a sack. Man, he was cute.
Lavi paused, unconsciously holding one finger in his mouth. Why would Kanda ever throw Allen out of his class? He didn't even know the boy that well. Fuck, he didn't know him at all. And yet, it made sense. Allen was trying too hard. Too freaking hard. He'd wear himself out before he reached thirty.
Lavi sat on the floor, looking at his fingers. One, two, three rings on his left hand. Four on his right. He stuck his tongue out and crossed his eyes, trying to see the piercing. He liked the feeling of metal in his mouth. He licked his lips, scraping the tender surface.
Crap. He needed a girlfriend.
________
When he woke up the apartment was pitch black. And his backbone was stiff, as if it belonged to a museum creature. Lavi groaned and tried to stand up, not feeling his ass. His phosphorescent watch yelled two AM with green ciphers. Gah. The old panda was probably guessing where he was.
He leaned on the table trying to stand up. His legs were asleep and now pricked him with thousands of needles, sending electricity to his somnolent brain. He heard the front door creak and the smells of cigarettes from the hallway enter. Lavi stumbled in the dark, hitting his thigh with the corner of the table.
"Allen? 's that you? How did the interv—"
The lights turned on and Lavi stared at the boy with horror.
"What the fuck happened?!"
Allen slowly sat down. Blood trickled down his face, plopping on the lap. He laughed weakly covering his eye.
"Hit-and-run," he whispered, smearing the blood on his face. "Nothing serious."
Lavi mutely tugged the boy's hand away from his face. He could clearly see the large cut that slithered down his face.
"Don't touch it, Ok? I'll bring you to the hospital!"
Allen smiled sorrowfully and nodded. That simple action made Lavi shudder. He was hideous in all that blood and that smile. Lavi disappeared for a few moments in the boy's bedroom. He came out with a white bed sheet which he wrapped around Allen's face.
He half lifted him and slowly walked in the dirty hallway. Allen murmured something, his voice obscured by the wrapped cloth. Lavi glanced down and made a mental note to wipe the blood on the floor. Some of the doors were open and the cussing with the smell of burned bacon made Lavi's head spin. Five floors, five fucking floors and he'll be able to reach his car.
Allen groaned again. Lavi stopped, propping him against the car's side.
"Just a few more seconds bear with me here," he whispered, trying to control his trembling voice and hands. The keys were blurry and Lavi shook them, trying to clear the image in his head.
"Just a few seconds, Allen, just a few!"
He finally opened the car and wiped his eyes. Those fucking things were wet. Allen whimpered and tugged Lavi's sleeve.
"Dun cry, I'b ok," He attempted to smile but groaned and clasped his face. The cut opened his cheek.
"Fuck! Fuck it all!!" Lavi screamed, hitting the steering wheel. "What kind of fucking idiot would do that?!" He bit his lip hard, trying to contain his anger and tears. He floored the pedal, making Allen bend backward. The car screeched and swiped the road.
Lavi knew where the hospital was. Hell, he even knew the closest route to it. But now everything made no sense. He was panicking and that made him stupid. He stopped twice to confirm that they were going in the right direction. And when he finally saw the huge building with glass doors Lavi almost bumped into someone's parked truck.
"Just sit here, ok? I'll call someone with the stretcher." He closed the door and Allen felt the car shudder. The boy slowly opened one eye, looking at the window. Lavi was running fast and his top uncovered his back. Why didn't he put his coat on? He winced. His cheek was stinging as if he just boiled it. Really, he shouldn't have walked in the middle of the street, no matter how empty it seemed.
When he opened his eyes he saw Lavi yelling at someone painfully familiar. Then some people with white masks were lurking over him, murmuring like flies. They were unwrapping his head with rubberlike fingers, stopping to yell at each other and touch him again. He just wanted to sleep.
"Go away," he tried to wave his hand and slap the flies off, but they kept gnawing his cheek with their small prickly paws, making it sting.
"Go away," he whispered and closed his eyes, denying the cold that crept on his face. Tomorrow everything will be much better. Yeah, it will be.
It had to be.
_____________________
Again, I thank you, Chimera Ally for beta-ing the chapter!!
P.S. Those who are reading Tales of the Roadkill, please visit my profile for the info I posted on this fic. I really need your help here.