"Come meet your family, Allen," Rhode said gently. "Akuma," She barked, "You can stay here."
"Please," Allen voiced quietly, "I would prefer it if Itamu came with me." He was proud to hear his voice gain strength as he expressed his desire.
"How cute, Allen-kun! You've named it! But don't get too attached. Akuma are highly dispensible." She grinned wickedly.
"It would trouble me if further harm came to Itamu." Rhode raised a skeptical eyebrow.
"Further harm? Oh, I'd forgotten, you have that unusual eye, don't you?" She smiled sweetly before pulling Allen down the hall. He kept a firm grip on Itamu's sleeve.
Rhode burst through the ornate doors without knocking, gaining the attention of two individuals who lounged in plush chairs, drinking tea and apathetically reading the newspaper in a guise of human normalcy.
"Waizuri; Tyki, come meet our new brother, the fourteenth." Rhode's eyes glinted red...or at least Allen thought they did. It could have been a reflection of the patterned carpet.
The two men sat in plush chairs, each bearing a deeply unimpressed affect. Allen fiddled with the cuffs of his sleeves. "Hi?"
The one called Tyki ran a hand wearily through his hair as he lazily rose his eyes from the paper.
"The Fourteenth, you say? It's been a while then, Brother. Done with trying to kill the Millennium Earl, are we?"
"Shhh! Tyki, he doesn't remember any of that yet." Rhode languidly draped an arm around his head, covering his mouth, which he quickly and irritably uncovered.
"You mean to say he's still a human?" Tyki tilted his head and squinted, scrutinizing the boy.
"All in due time, Joido," Waizuri interjected. "Look at him, our conversation is completely lost on those virgin ears."
Allen blushed fiercely, to which Itamu whispered, "They mean your lack of enlightenment regarding your particular heritage, not your sexual prowess."
Waizuri, who had not looked up all this time, finally glanced at Allen.
"You intend for him to be schooled in the meantime, Rhode." It was not a question.
She cast him a mild glance, in which Allen could have sworn he detected irritation.
"The Akuma will teach him."
"The Akuma?" Tyki exclaimed, his expression amused more than anything. "You'd trust the Fourteenth's education and welfare to an insignificant pawn, would you?"
Allen knew it wasn't his place to comment, but glanced uncertainly at Itamu anyway, whose expression remained blank. Allen turned back to the Noah, but still noticed the akuma's hand come to rest lightly on his shoulder.
"Why not?" Rhode responded. "Look, he likes it!" She gestured towards the pair, grinning.
Allen felt his face flush again.
"I have plans for Allen, as you know full well," she continued. "He will be taught. And he will fight exorcists."
"Fight?!" Allen interjected, alarmed.
"Of course, little brother." She strode over, trailing one hand on his cheek. "You must return the favor. After all, the exorcists separated you from your true family." She smiled sweetly.
"My..." Allen's gaze hardened, expanding yet encompassing nothing. "I must destroy the exorcists."
"That's right, Allen." Cupping his neck, Rhode reached up and kissed him full on the lips.
