"Success is dependant on effort" - Unknown (Allen)
"Understanding is the first step to acceptance, and only with acceptance can there be recovery." - J. K. Rowling (Kanda)
"If you don't like something change it; if you can't change it, change the way you think about it." - Unknown (Both)
Remember a short while ago when Allen hated the periods of quiet between him and Kanda? The oppressive silences were made even worse by the sheer awkwardness of it all? Something that almost anyone would hate especially if it was between them and someone that they would to impress and hopefully be intimate with? Yeah . . . he suddenly wanted that back. Right now.
As the white haired college student stared numbly at Kanda as the blind man laid siege to the living room, his arms rooted to his sides by shock. It was very fortunate for said student that the Kanda hadn't endeavored to throw anything at him yet because he did not have the reaction time at the moment to avoid such a collision. The raven haired individual was caught up in the process of tearing apart another of the decorative pillows with his katana.
Allen Walker watched in a detached manner akin to one having an out-of-body experience as the innocent and defenseless pillows were attacked by a crazed Japanese blind man with a (sharp, very sharp) weapon. This had to be the strangest of circumstances yet to happen in the still young student's life. Make no mistake, he still wasn't regretting getting interested in Kanda, but he was beginning to seriously question his taste in men.
I think I'd better do something. Allen belatedly thought in a sudden burst of lucidity. It was lucky for the boy that he chose this moment to return to the world as the insane blind man also took this moment to hurl a mug that had been supposed to hold coffee straight at him while yelling obscenities regarding his father. Allen was just aware of his surroundings enough to duck, soon afterward hearing the ceramic mug shatter against the divider wall behind him.
Yep, I most definitely need to do something. Allen decided. Now, the question was what.
"H-Hey . . . K-Kanda?" Being his usual awkward self in a crisis, Allen only managed to stutter out the other man's name in a (very unwise) attempt to gain his attention. Though the statement was thick with question, Allen had made sure to say it quite loudly so Kanda was sure to hear regardless of the state the Japanese man was currently in.
Sure enough, the blind man whipped around so quickly that the words barely had time to finish coming out of Allen's mouth. The man turned as if he had been stung in the back and glared maliciously at Allen. "You!" The man ground out. "This is all your fault!"
Great. Allen lamented. Now I'm going to be blamed for someone else's proposal by a homicidal samurai wannabe.
Allen unthinkingly let loose a small snicker at the description his mind had just come up with for Kanda. Though it was a rather quiet sound of amusement that could (and should) have been easily overlooked by anyone else, Kanda (who had been practically waiting for Allen to give him a reason to lash out at the only other person in the room) easily caught it. His head snapped up and obsidian eyes narrowed at the boy in what could only be the act of contemplating murder. However, despite the frenzy his thoughts were sure to be in at the moment, the voice that came when he spoke was low, slow and eerily calm sounding (even in the faux calm was so obviously fake).
"What's funny?" The Japanese man asked, lowly.
Feeling a chill of apprehension run up his spine, Allen decided that it would probably be in his best interest to soothe the savage beast before said beast tore him limb from limb. Yes . . . That would probably be best. "No! Nothing! It's just . . ." A distraction! A distraction! "Your father seemed very nice, if a bit eccentric . . ."
The comment worked well, Kanda seemed to draw back into himself slightly and became distracted from his rage. A derisive snort came from the raven at Allen's analysis of the elder. "He's a crazy old man that feels the need to control every aspect of his life."
This comment intrigued Allen. "How does he try to control you?"
Kanda scoffed before immediately rushing to answer the question with a vigor that was abnormal for the raven haired young man. "He badgers me endlessly to tell him where I am and where I'm going to be later. He's constantly questioning my [thoughts, actions, motives] and, as if all of that wasn't enough for the miserable old coot, he has repeatedly tried to saddle me with "caretakers" as if he can't fathom me walking around without a babysitter. As if the thought bothers him too much to let stand.
Caretakers who, by the way, only care about the (copious amounts of) money they get paid to put up with me and most of them can't even pretend otherwise. A few of them have even been brave or stupid enough to tell me as much to my face! Heh . . . morons. And those reasons are only to name a few."
"Your father just does it because cares, no matter what you say or do about the matter. Oh!" Allen made a sound as he thought of something. "I don't mean to drop into your life out of nowhere and just start acting like I know everything about you, about the both of you, but after meeting him I think that that's probably the reason. You live with him and he is your father and perhaps your legal guardian, too? I think he has every reason to think of it as his responsibility."
"Maybe." Kanda said, a look on his face that said he was not entirely convinced. "However, even though I may still live with him, I'm not a kid anymore."
"I think that no matter how far away you live, he'll always see you as his responsibility." Allen said it softly, but still loud enough for Kanda to hear.
The white haired young man raised his gaze which had lowered to the floor at some point during the conversation to be met with Kanda giving him a strange look. It was a mixture of many emotions that Allen was familiar with and with a few added in that he just could not seem to place. Kanda continued to stare at Allen like that without blinking until the college student couldn't stand being still under that gaze any longer and began to shift nervously. Finally, Kanda slowly opened his mouth to respond though the strange calculating look on his visage never once left.
"You may . . . be different." Kanda said at last. The words were said almost reluctantly, but there was no arguing that Kanda didn't mean them.
"What . . . um . . . what does that mean, Kanda?" Allen asked, unsure of himself.
The scowl was instantly back on Kanda's face and he straightened his back. "Nothing." The raven answered with his usual annoyance. With no further ado, the black haired man grabbed Allen by his collar and pulled him back over to the front door deigning to give a concise explanation along the way.
"Come here tomorrow morning at five thirty. That's half an hour after I wake up. I suppose I'll have to give you a runthrough of what it means to be my "babysitter" so be ready for hell."
"So just like any other time I get ready to hang out with you." Allen was able to huff out that one parting shot before he was half pushed and half thrown out the front door. The white haired man was just able to grab onto a section of the wall before he tumbled down the short steps onto the concrete street.
Before Allen could get his bearings and say anything else to Kanda, the other man had quickly slammed the door, the sound of the locking mechanism letting Allen know that there would be no getting inside until the next morning. Mumbling to himself about crazy, homicidal, sexy asian men, Allen retreated in the direction of his home to prepare for whatever "hell" the next day would bring.
The next morning came much too soon for the white haired young man as he awoke to a blaring alarm at 4:30 AM. Even going to college, working and taking into account his sometimes rigorous schedule, Allen Walker had never gotten up so early in his entire life. There were, of course, those rare occasions when he would be woken up by outside influences or maybe just floated into consciousness at such ungodly hours, but he would never stay conscious for very long after that. Often times he would take one look at the time on his phone and crash back against his bed like he weighed ten tons.
Today there would be none of that. As Allen reached out groggily yet viciously for his phone to turn off the evil alarm that dare wake him at this time, he was forced to remember why he had set it in the first place. Today would be his first day working with Kanda albeit as his "babysitter" as the term that the attractive man seemed most apt. It was, however, an opening into the other man's (increasingly lonely seeming) life and Allen (opportunistic and overachieving person that he is) would not waste it. He refused.
Groaning in what any random passerby could easily take as the sound of a man dying, Allen summoned up all of his willpower and heaved himself up into a sitting position on his bed. Before he could wimp out and be beckoned back to the realm of sleep, he extricated himself from the warm and comfy material and plodded into the bathroom to freshen up and shower.
He did this along with various other parts of his routine every morning without fail. After all, he always liked to make a good impression and look the best he could when going out even though he could let his appearance "go" drastically when in the privacy of his own home. The fact that he was going to spend this day with his love interest only made his appearance today more important.
He did not, however, want to allot too much time to the wake up and forget about the journey. Allen knew he got lost easily, loathe as he was to admit it, and his rather large preplanning side felt the desire to allot as much time as possible for that particular ordeal. Finishing his morning routine as quickly as possible, Allen grabbed his wallet and rushed from the house. He tried to ignore the rising feeling of anticipation he felt as he rushed towards where he knew Kanda was.