I really wanted this story to update faster, so I'll keep trying!
Also, things might get really uncomfortable, hold onto your souls. You'll understand.
Thanks for all of your favs, follows, and reviews!
Stay shiny! *jazz hands*
-JD
Disclaimer: I heard that DGM might update this month! It only updates quarterly right now.
Allen had opened up more as they kept eating. It seemed a bit easier for him to talk to Lenalee than him before, but now he'd relaxed enough that conversation came easily—when he paused long enough from eating. He was still a bit guarded toward him, but that didn't matter so much, Lavi had decided. As long as Allen was enjoying himself, things would be fine.
It was amazing, though, exactly how good Allen was at saying a lot but saying so little at the same time.
Lavi had been needling for information for points of the conversation, and the boy seemed to always avoid it. Eventually, he stopped trying, deciding that he'd try again later.
By the end of Allen's second plate, having taken his pills before he started, the boy was blinking sleepily at the table when he wasn't moving too much. The redhead was sure that if they left the boy to his own devices long enough, he'd probably hit his head on the table from falling asleep. Lavi gave a small laugh.
"Well I'm done here, how about you?" he asked, grinning as Allen jolted awake again.
"'M done."
"You sure, kiddo?"
He nodded in reply, and his stomach didn't make any noises to object.
'He's supposed to eat smaller meals anyway. He can eat again later if he gets hungry…I should get some fruit before we go, though,' Lavi nodded, standing up as Lenalee took another bite out of her meal.
"Lenalee, Allen and I are gonna go for now. You cool by yourself?"
She rose and eyebrow at him and he laughed.
"So," he began, pulling Allen's tray from in front of him to stack his own plate on top of it, "do you want to go to sleep first, or take a bath before that?"
The white-haired boy blinked at him before he answered, "Uhm…a bath."
Lavi nodded, taking the dishes with him as he moved away from them, "Just wait here for a second, I'll be back."
"Okay."
Allen watched as he walked away from them, and Lenalee took notice of his expression. It seemed a little expectant, the reason for whatever expectations he had genuinely unknown.
"Allen? Are you okay?"
He looked over to her without blinking or moving his head, "Yeah. I was kinda e'spectin' it a'some point."
She frowned, "…Expecting what?"
He stared at her for a moment, as if he was trying to figure something out about her. Then, he stopped trying, shaking his head.
"I'z nothin'."
Before she could ask anything else, Lavi returned with a small bag of fruit.
"You ready to go, kiddo?"
"Mmhmm," he slid out of his seat, "Wha'z that for?"
"Just in case you get hungry later. That way, you don't have to go to the cafeteria."
He nodded silently, not taking notice of the way Lenalee flinched at Lavi's wording, getting his papers together while Lavi took the pill bag and placed it in the one with the fruits. Allen handed him the papers, and the older one thanked him, placing it in the bag as well.
"Uh, Lavi?" Lenalee called, her hands tightening on her chopsticks.
"Hmm?"
She opened her mouth, frowning, then closed it, struggling with what she wanted to say. She wasn't completely sure of what the problem was in the first place, wasn't sure of what Allen was expecting. She had a growing suspicion, just a tiny inkling at the back of her mind, but she was intuitive. Even if she wasn't correct, she knew that whatever Allen was expecting wasn't good.
Either way, saying something like what she wanted to say would probably seem like she was coming straight out of left field with it. Instead, she settled with a vaguer message. She knew it would probably confuse the boy even more, but at least Lavi would understand. She hoped so, anyway.
"…Be sure you explain things to him."
Lavi's eyebrows twitched just a little, thoughts flitting quickly through his mind, "Yeah, of course Lenalee. I'll see you later!"
Allen absentmindedly took his hand as the two left, and Lavi didn't object, not that he would anyway.
Bookman returned from his clean-up mission. There had been a few AKUMA clumped together in one particular area, and they were getting a bit too feisty. Considering his caution at becoming too connected with his Innocence, Komui typically assigned him light missions, just enough for him to cause a dent in the Millennium Earl's plans, but not too much so that he couldn't do his real job.
The older man sighed, knowing that he'd need to stretch to get rid of the stiffness in his neck and back, but decided to not pay it too much mind. He nodded to the finder that had traveled with him before he opened the door to Komui's haphazard office to give his report.
Said chief seemed buried in his paperwork per usual, though Bridget was there at the moment as well, silently cleaning up some of the papers to keep the cleaning process on her personal schedule. He gave her a nod when he entered, and she returned the sentiment, moving closer to Komui.
"Chief, you should continue your work."
Bookman didn't show any surprise on his face when Komui hummed drowsily as he sat up without any problems. He was getting used to it still, but it didn't startle him anymore.
"Also, Bookman is here to give his mission report," she finished, getting back to organizing the office.
"Right, right, thank you," he yawned, "Well, I presume your mission went well, Bookman?"
"As well as it could, I suppose," the man replied, handing his report to Komui, who took it as he patted his desk for his glasses. Bridget picked them up from the other side of his desk, handing them to him. He nodded in thanks.
"The town had increased in the amount of AKUMA by the time I arrived, but that is also because the amount of people there had decreased from more…bloody means."
The look on Komui's face was tired, and not from a lack of sleep, "I see."
"Nevertheless, they've been cleared out. The finders have efficiently taken care of the rest of the situation, including informing or wiping the memory of the witnesses," he turned away from the chief, "I assume that will be all?"
Komui hummed lowly as he read the report before he blinked, jolting in his seat lightly, "Ah, actually, please wait a moment."
Bookman turned back to him, his face set as usual, his question unspoken.
"You see, I need more information on this mark," Komui said with a frown, searching the top of his desk.
"It's on the left corner."
"Thank you," he picked it up, handing it to the older man, "You see, Mr. Walker encountered a…mishap while on his mission, and his body and mind have regressed to when he was roughly twelve years old. This mark was found burned into the lower right side of his back. What does this mean?"
Bookman's eyes widened slightly at the revelation, before he looked at the mark on the paper.
…Huh.
The two had to stop by the hospital before going to Lavi's to drop the food of so Allen would have some more clothes to wear for later. Luckily, Head Nurse had already foreseen this and had some clothes prepared for him. They weren't hospital clothes, meaning she'd gotten them from the tailors and seamstresses, and were rather simple things that covered well, many of them long-sleeved and made with a warm material with consideration to Allen's anemia.
She let Lavi know that Allen's new exorcist uniform would be ready soon, Johnny hard at work on it. She looked ready to object to the idea, and Lavi could understand. He had a feeling that Allen would still have to go back out onto the battlefield once Lvellie got wind of his condition and Link returned. Such was the fate of an exorcist, unfortunately.
Allen took the clothes gratefully, carrying them all the way back to Lavi's room.
"After the bath, which ones do you want to wear?" Lavi asked, knocking on the door lightly to see if Bookman was in.
"Mmmh…these."
He picked a loose, light red long-sleeved shirt, the end of the shirt reaching halfway down his thighs. He also picked out some loose grey pants to go with it. Allen eyed his new boxers curiously, but said nothing about them.
Lavi nodded, "Here, I'll leave them in here for now. We can put them away later," he opened the door to his bedroom.
Allen tilted his head, noticing the papers strewn on the floor. Lavi lifted the rest of Allen's clothes from his hands, shuffling into the room as he grumbled lightly about having to clean up later.
"Ah, you can just wait out there for a second! I'll be right out!" Lavi called, noticing Allen begin to enter the room.
The boy blinked a little owlishly at that, but backed up anyway, waiting in the hallway. He could hear the redhead shuffling around inside, but didn't bother getting close to look. He took notice that some of the papers that he'd seen on floor near the door had been picked up before the shuffling noises continued. At one point, he actually heard something topple over, Lavi letting out a light curse.
"Are ya okay n'there?"
"Yeah! I'll be right out, I have to get my clothes."
"Uhm…'kay."
'In't this my bath though? Is he gettin'in with me?'
After a few more moments, Lavi slipped out from his partially open door, holding clean clothes in his hand, closing it behind him silently. He then grinned over to the young exorcist.
"Alright, let's go!" he cheered, leading them to the bathroom.
"…Okay."
The two kept walking, but Lavi gave him a look, "Everything okay, kiddo?"
"…Are you getting in with me?"
"Hmm? Yeah…" he trailed off, realizing his mistake, "Well, it's an open bath."
The boy frowned, "Open…what?"
"Right, you've never been to an onsen. Well, you see, in the Black Order, we typically have a Japanese bath called an onsen. They're split up by gender, so women all go to one bath while men all go to the other."
Allen kept listening quietly.
"You leave your clothes in a basket before you get to the bathing area. For a Japanese bath, you wash your body off before you get into the big tub of water. This is so a lot of people can use the same bath water without it getting dirty, and you get to relax for a while!"
"So the tub's pretty big?"
"Yup!"
"Oh, 'kay."
Considering older Allen's reservations to bathing around other people, little Allen's dismissive reply surprised him. He had been getting ready to let him know that there were European baths in a different section of the bathroom, the rooms closed off for the sake of those who were more modest. But Allen seemed fine with taking the open bath. Still, he wouldn't withhold information like that.
"There's also some European baths, so if you want to bathe by yourself, you can."
The boy frowned, "No, 'm okay."
"Got something against English baths?"
"…Ya can't do'em much, I don' think. And ya gotta do'em fast. I'll try th'onsen."
Lavi wondered if he should correct Allen, letting him know that English baths could be done all of the time now and he could take his time, compared to his life at the circus before…whatever else happened, but they were already at the door. Besides, Allen seemed pretty set on the new bathing experience, so he just decided to go with the flow.
The two walked through the doorway, showing two different doors, one marked for men, the other for women. Lavi removed his shoes at part of the floor that wasn't covered with the tatami mat and placed them at the shoe area near the door, Allen following suit, even if the slippers he put on weren't quite his size.
When they walked into the men's side, there were lots of shelves holding little baskets lined up. None of the baskets seemed to have been moved, so he figured they were the only ones there at the moment. Humming lightly, he chose a basket near the door to the showers for the onsen, Allen following after him, choosing a basket on a lower level next to his row.
"We'll leave our clothes here before we go in, 'kay?" he asked, putting his clean clothes further in the basket as he started taking his shirt off.
Allen watched what he was doing for a second before he nodded, copying Lavi.
'He's like a baby bird, it's really cute,' Lavi laughed a little, though Allen didn't seem phased by it.
Either way, Lavi took the time to scrutinize the boy casually, making sure it wasn't really noticed. He frowned as he noticed Allen's spine push so adamantly against the skin of his back, his ribs just on that side of visible. Seeing that, he couldn't help but wonder if he should've had the boy eat more. He looked really pale, too, but that was expected considering the condition Allen's body was in.
Then, as the boy bent over to take his pants off, accidentally angling himself toward him, he noticed the brand on Allen's back.
Lavi froze, immediately searching his brain for the information attached to the mark.
"Yarının Sipariş. Turkish for 'The Order of Tomorrow'. It originated in England, but the members of the secret society spread out and made its new base in Turkey to keep their real leaders hidden. If they kept the name and most of their functions foreign, the English government could then fight a power elsewhere while the real enemy stayed undetectable.
"In the beginning, the men and women who were members of the society simply wanted to involve themselves in their basal and crude habits in the presence of others who would accept them. That being said, a fair amount of wealthy men, even some involved in politics, donated money toward its cause, and its ambition boosted.
"The people who became members of this society often wanted free labor, or to indulge their sexual fantasies. Rather than attempt to enforce this legally, they decided to disguise or hide their endeavors completely. They began making a habit of blackmailing innocent people into their cause, using them to work, and if they were caught, they were simply scapegoats while the real culprits lived in peace.
"Of course, for their plans to succeed, they needed more manpower than the people they blackmailed, so they began to participate in slave trade, often having their scapegoats kidnap young men, women, and children from the streets to force them into working one way or the other. To make sure that their practices were deemed foreign, a lot of the children that were forced into their work were sent overseas. They came from many countries, but all ended up at certain bases.
"The order's mark was different depending on the situation and condition of the enslaved person, both so that society members could recognize them, and to make sure that government officials wouldn't be able to identify them by one symbol. Each one would have a different meaning, and if someone with a mark was found in a place they aren't supposed to be in, their system out work it out and make sure the person couldn't escape. Former escapees would be unfortunate enough to have the brand placed again on their face.
"In this case, the mark shows that the bearer was from overseas—thus the reason for the anchor—and they were shipped to Turkey," he drew a small picture of the Turkish lira symbol next to the mark, showing the silent similarities between the two, "Their symbols weren't always so subtle, this one being one of them. They wanted to make sure that all slaves heading to Turkey were fairly recognizable so the government would focus on foreign powers."
Komui had hardened his expression in preparation for the discussion, but Bookman could easily tell that he was rather disturbed by the news. His eyes had darkened, his mouth hidden behind his laced hands.
"…Does the position of the mark matter? As in, does it indicate the kind of work the person had to do?"
"Yes. For manual labor, their marks were placed on the back of their shoulders or on their arms. For the other, as you said, Mr. Walker's mark was located on his lower back. Other times, it would be placed on the outside of their thighs."
Bridget paused her busy working for a moment before she continued. Komui's eyes had narrowed just a bit more.
"I see…" his eyes closed, "You referred to this organization in past tense. Why?"
"It seems that a leak of information occurred roughly three years ago, which eventually led to the downfall of the entire society. Though it is not completely disbanded, it is no longer so vastly popular. Those who had been branded no longer have to fear being returned to their base, and those who claim to know the meaning of the mark are questioned rather vehemently. Yarının Sipariş, as it is, is nearly dead."
There was a bit of relief in his eyes, "Understood…" he sighed, "but of course, as Allen is now—"
"He doesn't know that, I presume."
"…Thank you for informing me of this, Bookman."
"That is what I am for. Rather, I should thank you for giving me this information about Mr. Walker, considering my job."
Komui seemed to be at a loss of words. Had he been a much younger man, Bookman would've consoled him. But he'd seen too much in his long years to be phased by such a development. Child slavery was just one of the many things he had to record.
He did wonder, however, exactly how well Lavi would take the information, considering his…attachment to the boy.
"…Ya' okay, Lavi?" Allen asked, looking up at the frozen teen's face, hands clasped on the bucket he was about to use to rinse himself off.
Lavi blinked, escaping the torrent rushing through his brain. Quickly masking himself, he managed an easy-going, realistic-enough smile.
"I'm good, kiddo."
