For my non-American friends, Labor Day is a national holiday that always falls on the first Monday of September - schools all take a break for the day, so many celebrate the extended weekend in a variety of ways. It's also considered the end of summer. For timeline purposes, Allen and co started school sometime in late August.
Cave of Poppies
Chapter 8
When Allen woke up he found Link staring at him. He frowned, wondering why he was sitting up already. He glanced at the window and found sunlight streaking in, still bright. It was Tuesday and he could feel the jet lag biting at his bones and weighing on his skin. Link had no mercy and was still forcing them to go to school even though they got back closer to morning on Tuesday than night on Labor Day.
He rubbed at his eyes and yawned, arching his back into a stretch as his hand lazily slapped around for his phone on the night stand. Four texts, two calls, and one email. Sighing he set the phone on his lap and finally registered the fact that Link was sitting on the edge of his bed, frowning at him. His hair was down around his shoulders and a hair tie was snapped around his wrist.
"You take a long time to wake up," Link commented, shifting back and running his fingers through his hair, deftly parting it. "It's time for you to get up."
Allen yawned again. "Can't we stay home? I feel like I haven't slept for three years!"
"So do I," Link said dryly, tying off the braid. "But no, we can't. If we do, Alma Karma is going to freak out."
Allen giggled breathlessly through his yawn. Link saying "freak out" was strangely odd and funny, and that his first concern was Alma was even funnier. He rolled his shoulders and Timcanpy flew over from their open bedroom door, perching on his nose. Allen stared cross-eyed at him. "Good morning, Tim," he said, reaching to grab the golem. "You must be bored all the time, huh?"
Link snorted as he stood from the bed. "You're more polite to a golem than to me?"
"To be fair," Allen said, shifting to sit on the edge of the bed. "He said it to me first."
"He can't talk."
"Don't say that in front of him!" Allen gasped, covering where Tim's ears could possibly be. Link rolled his eyes and left the room. A moment later the sink turned on, and Allen turned back to his golem with a smile. "Tim, why don't you go bother Link? He's being a bit odd this morning."
Timcanpy fluttered his wings, flew around Allen's head, and then darted off towards Link. Allen took the time to dress. He used to be very aware of Link's presence when they would change, but that awareness had died down into a casual notice. Link didn't care about his arm or hair - or rather, he'd never made much mention of it, aside from telling Allen that some white shirts still bled red through. It was strangely… comforting, to be treated so normally. Still, he tried to dress as often as he could with Link outside the room.
He had just finished buttoning his shirt when Link stepped back in, placing Tim on his shoulder and pulling his hair tie out. "Did you teach Tim to always sit on my head? It's a pain to constantly re-do my braid, you know."
"I didn't teach Tim that," Allen said with a laugh, reaching for his gloves to stuff in a pocket. "He does it on his own. I think he learned it from doing it to me, though."
"Hmph," Link said, and turned on his heel towards the kitchen. Allen stood still, just simply breathing in the quiet. Then he heard the clanging of pans as Link started breakfast, and Allen unlocked his phone.
He thumbed to his messaging app and found two texts from Alma, one from Kanda, and one from Lenalee.
Alma: Uuuugh school starts again tomorrow… what did u do?
Alma: For labor day i mean. Did u do anything different? Wait did link make a pie?
Kanda: Hey idiot
Lenalee: hey Allen I was wondering if you could give me a ride this morning? My brother left early and Lavi can't grab me
What the hell? Scowling, Allen replied quickly to Kanda, then an affirmative to Lenalee and finally in detail to Alma with a sad news that, no, there had been no pie. Unfortunately.
Just as he finished the text to Alma his phone buzzed with a message from Kanda. He quickly switched over to it.
Kanda: We need to talk
Scowling, Allen wrote his reply.
Kanda: Just shut up and meet me after school with the damn dog
Allen frowned, confused. Dog, dog, what dog did he know? When it came to him he snorted, sent a quick ok, and left to the kitchen to find his breakfast, checking his call log as well.
2 missed calls
1 missed call from
Tyki Mikk at 2:26 am
1 missed call from
Alma Karma at 4:45 am
He sat at the kitchen table, confused. Tyki he could understand the odd hour call from because none of the Noah ever fell under the category of normal, however Alma's call made no sense.
"You're going to have back problems if you keep staring down at your phone like that," Link said, startling Allen into jumping and dropping his phone onto the table with a noisy clatter. "Here, eat quickly, we're running late."
"Link," Allen said exasperatedly. He looked at his phone. "It's still almost an hour until school starts, we're not running late."
"Just because you have a love-hate relationship with time doesn't mean I do," Link said bluntly, and Allen looked down at his pancakes with a pout, before he grinned.
"Pancakes again, huh Link? That wouldn't have anything to do with the endless praise Alma gave you, would it?"
Link scowled even as he blushed, quickly denying any sort of influence over his cooking inclinivities because I have a cookbook I adhere too, thank you very much.
Allen didn't tell him that he followed Link's food diary, nor that there was a noticeable trend over the past few months. He drowned his pancakes covered in sliced fruit and whip cream with syrup, cut it neatly, and ate it all.
Despite Link's worries and aggravation over the change in schedule, they had more than enough time to pick Lenalee up on their way to school and still make it there long before the rest of the student body did. Lenalee left to tell her brother she'd made it safely, and Allen took to walking slowly down the hall towards their homeroom.
Allen was recently beginning to notice that he normally heard Alma long before he actually saw him. It was a soft build-up in the distance that grew closer and louder until Alma tackled him with a bear hug that nearly threw Allen face-first onto the floor. If he hadn't quickly adjusted for the sudden weight on his back Allen would be much more acquainted with the dirty tiles than he wanted to be.
"Allen!" Alma sang, much like people do with tah-daaaah!
"Almaaa!" Allen said in kind, though more of a groan of pain than a song. He yelped when Alma breathed in deeply behind his ear, shifting hairs. "What are you doing?"
"You smell like syrup," Alma claimed and then turned towards Link, still clinging to Allen. Kanda finally made it to them, having too much dignity to run and throw himself at people like Alma. "Link!" Alma said with a whine. "You made pancakes and you didn't bring me any?"
"Why on earth," Link began dryly in a tone of voice that sounded more exasperated than how pleased he really looked. "Would I bring pancakes to school just for you?"
Alma gasped in mock pain. "You wouldn't just for me? I thought this relationship meant something to you!" Alma wailed, throwing himself further onto Allen in his woe. Allen scowled and tried to wiggle him off.
Link looked distressed, and Allen could see he was trying to politely tell Alma they were not friends because Link could not make friends with Allen's friends. "He's joking, Link," Allen said. "Unless you two are secretly going around behind our backs to date and eat pancakes?"
Link choked and Alma laughed. "That's sounds like an ideal relationship. How about it, Link?"
"Absolutely not," Kanda said, cutting in and removing Alma from Allen. He sighed in relief - Alma could be clingy. "Beansprout would die of starvation."
Brightening, Allen batted his eyelashes at Kanda, who cringed and grimaced, like he knew exactly what was coming. "Awww, Kanda!" He coo-ed, drawling the last syllable in his name. "I didn't know you cared!"
"I don't," Kanda said gruffly, scowling. "Go choke on the dog's pancakes!"
Allen laughed and Alma tapped his chin thoughtfully, leaning an elbow on Kanda's shoulder. It reminded Allen how close in height they were, and how much shorter Allen was - and therefore Link as well. "That sounds wrong somehow," Alma said, and Link colored, though if it was in anger at Kanda's comment or in embarrassment at Alma's, Allen couldn't tell.
Link sternly suggested they get to class before the late bell rang, and Alma giggled before complying, dragging Allen along by the arm with Link and Kanda faithfully tagging along a step behind. Allen's chest swelled again with emotion - he wasn't used to this. To casually having groups of friends around him, walking with him, tailing him, being so thoughtlessly touched and held - like hugging Allen was normal.
"You're blushing again," Alma teased, and Allen blushed harder.
Kanda scoffed. "You're even worse than before," he accused, and Allen worked up a scowl.
"Before?" Link asked curiously, fishing. Allen shot him a look, and Link replied with one of his thrice-damned raised eyebrows.
"Mm-hm," Alma said, nodding thoughtfully as they neared their classroom. "See, back when Allen had red hair we used to always tease him about it. He was always so red in the face, too! It was like the oddest things set him off, like, look, see-" Alma reached out and grasped Allen around the neck and sides, pulling him into an intimate hug, the kind you felt stole your breath and pulled you tight, pinning Allen's arms to his sides. "See? Red as a tomato!"
"Alma!" Allen hastily pulled himself away, flushed to his roots and eyes darting around to all the curious students milling nearby. Kanda looked faintly surprised, and Link far too interested. Allen tugged Alma into their classroom and made a bee-line for their seats where Alma sat with another laugh and Allen followed suit, fiddling with the strap of his bag. "...my hair wasn't that red," he finally said, thoughtful. It'd been more brownish than vivid - less than Cross', that was for sure. Or Lavi's. "It was more like clay."
"Clay?" Kanda said with distaste.
"I thought it was more like, hmm… hey, Yuu, what's that color? It's red but it's brown, burnt something…"
"Burnt umber," Kanda said promptly, and Alma snapped his fingers.
"Yeah! That! Burnt umber!"
Allen had no idea what they were talking about, and Alma proceeded to wax poetic on the exact shade and style Allen's hair had been. It made Allen self-conscious, and he reached up to fiddle with a strand of hair by his cheek, pinching it and trying to imagine the old color. He wondered, briefly, what he would look like if he had been normal. Like before. Before Mana took him away and before Mana went away.
"What are you thinking about?" Kanda demanded suddenly, and Allen jerked in surprise, hands dropping to his desk. He turned to find Kanda staring intensely at him, Alma's chatter stopping short as he also focused on Allen.
What had Allen been thinking about? Allen let his lips curve into a grin, coy and sly. "Kanda if you keep this up, I'm going to have to start questioning you whenever you say you hate me. You sure do worry a lot about someone you 'hate'!"
"Fucking beansprout!" Kanda snapped, shooting from his seat to reach over and grab Allen. Allen laughed delightedly, let Kanda grab him by his shirt collar and jerk him up, let Alma and Link tug them away, let Kanda think that this was a simple argument.
What had he been thinking of?
Allen had luckily evaded the usual 'what did you do over break' conversation until lunchtime, when inevitably it was their first time all together long enough to actually talk. He considered, for a moment, actually ditching lunch, but the siren call of food was too strong to ignore, so he resigned himself to sitting at the table with his friends, nerves thrumming in anticipation.
He busied himself eating through his lunchboxes as the rest of their friends trickled in. They took an entire rectangular table on their own, and over the past few weeks it had easily become their spot. It was almost always empty, and after Kanda had nearly made a couple of students piss their pants when he found them there, no one else had tried to take it again.
Allen shook his head in amusement at the memory, prompting Link to send him a questioning look that Allen waved away. They sat nearly always in the same spots, Allen and Kanda claiming the ends of the table with Lenalee and Lavi on one side and Alma and Link on the other. Alma always sat by Kanda and Link by Allen, though Lenalee and Lavi switched spots depending on who felt like indulging Kanda's temper. Sometimes Allen and Link switched spots, but today wasn't one of those times.
"Oh," Lenalee said. "My brother wanted to thank you for giving me a ride this morning - he said he was sorry to put you on the spot like that."
Allen laughed. "It was no trouble at all! It was on the way, really."
"Still," Lenalee continued, smiling. "Thank you, and to you too, Link."
Link looked startled at being addressed, and he hesitantly inclined his head.
"So," Lavi began, chewing through a burger and ignoring Lenalee's admonishments about talking with his mouth full. "What did y'all do for break?"
"What?" Allen asked, frowning. "Not much," he said, digging his foot into Link's ankle. Link simply scowled into his food.
Then, to Allen's relief, someone called his name. He half-turned in his seat to face them only to be bombarded by cloth and warm skin, pre-teen arms wrapping around his neck and soft lips pressed against his cheek.
"Allen!" Road thrilled, adjusting herself on Allen's lap to better keep her hold around his neck. Allen valiantly tried not to choke his food back up in surprise. It took him a moment, and he stared at her, aghast.
"Road!" He said, less than thrilled. "What are you doing?"
Road giggled and swayed side to side, forcing Allen to move along with her. "Hmm? I'm saying hi, you silly!" Link scowled when Allen tilted to close to his elbow, jerking his food from his hands. Road peered over Allen's shoulders and frowned when she noticed Link. "You still haven't shook off this stalker, Allen?"
"No more than I have you, Road," Allen said tiredly, grabbing the table to stop Road from moving them. He hesitated to meet his friends' eyes, just knowing there was going to be endless teasing from them. "Anyways, I was asking more along the lines of why you were saying hi from my lap."
"That's another silly question!" Road said, tapping Allen on the nose and grinning when he scrunched it up. She kissed him there and he reared back. "Because I loooove you!" She laughed, leaning back with her hands still clasped behind Allen's neck. Her thumbs moved forward, encircling his throat, and Allen suddenly felt glad that he had not given into the impulse to just shove her off. Road was volatile, and God knows what she'd do if he kept rejecting her this way.
"Road, please stop trying to choke me," he said patiently, and Road laughed again, moving her thumbs away. She let go with one hand, tracing the scar on his cheek curiously. He repressed a shiver, her polished nails far too close to his eyes for comfort.
"This must've hurt, huh?" She asked, and Allen met her eyes. She sounded sincere and sad, and Allen somehow felt that while everything else had been a joke, this time she was serious.
"Yes," he said simply, watching her.
The moment passed, and Road turned from Allen to face the rest at the table, golden eyes glittering once again. Keeping up with her was always so tiring, Allen reflected.
"You got away so quickly last time Allen that you didn't even introduce your friends to me!" Road said, tightening her remaining hand around his neck. Allen winced, and finally looked away from her to glance around the table.
Lenalee was slightly pink in the cheeks though her brows were furrowed, and Allen could practically see her trying to make the connection that Allen might have with a seeming eleven year old. Not that Road was actually eleven, but for all intents and purposes she certainly looked it, and Allen was suddenly struck with the image of how it must look like to have an eleven year old sitting in his lap.
"If you get off me, I'll tell you," Allen bargained, his neck burning under the embarrassment. Oh God, he could just imagine all the rumors now.
"Yeah, get the fuck off him," Kanda snapped, and Allen jerked in surprise, jostling Road. She frowned and met Kanda's vicious glare with one of her own.
"And who're you?" She demanded, twisting to properly face Kanda, one hand coming to rest on the table with a clack of her nails.
"None of your fucking business," Kanda said, and Alma grabbed his arm, frowning. Kanda shook him off. "You're too old to be sitting in his lap like some damn overgrown toddler. Get the fuck off."
"Kanda!" Lenalee said in dismay. "She's like eleven! Don't curse at her like that!"
Kanda didn't even look away from Road's eyes, and Allen realized with sudden alarm that Kanda, though often idiotic and stupid, wasn't actually brain-dead like Allen claimed most of the time. Kanda especially would notice something off about Road.
"She wants to sit with the big kids," Kanda said slowly, "then I don't have to censor myself. Get the hell off him before I make you."
"Oh really," Road said with a gleaming smile, teeth white and startling on her tanned face. It looked feral, dangerous. The hand still on Allen's neck curled in, nails pressing into Allen's skin until one of them actually broke skin and dug in. He winced, his left hand shooting up to grab at it instinctively.
Like lightning Link shot forward and grabbed Road's hand, yanking it away from Allen's neck. Road whirled around in surprise and jerked her hand back. She cradled it to her chest, and Allen wondered if Link had used more force than really necessary.
"Oh I see," Road said softly, and Allen stilled. "You really are charming, Allen."
Lavi shifted forward, capturing their attention as he waved a lazy hand in the air. "Umm? How about you introduce us to your friend there, eh Allen?"
"Oh!" Allen said. "Oh, yeah. This is Road Kamelot. Road, these are my friends, Lavi," he said, nodding towards the red-head and then going around the table from there. "Lenalee, Kanda, Alma, and you know Link."
"Hello," Road said politely, and Allen felt the absurd urge to laugh.
"I've introduced them, so can you get off my lap now?" Allen asked, and Road giggled before complying. She was so short that even while standing she only came up to about Allen's sitting height. The perfect height for her to wrap her arms around Allen's shoulders, he mused as she resumed her hug.
"I came to tell you something, Allen," Road said into his ear and he resisted the impulse to jerk away. Road could feel the jolt in his shoulders and she bent one arm on his shoulder to soothe his hair with her hand. "I'm not the only one here."
"There's more of you?" Kanda grumbled, and Alma choked on a laugh.
Road ignored him. "Wisely and Jasdevi came too."
"Wisely?" Allen despaired, closing his eyes. It wasn't that he disliked Wisely, but it was that he disliked Wisely. He couldn't describe it. Wisely could be pleasant and good fun to be around but then he laid waste to your mental health by shattering it all with a handful of careless words. A textbook sociopath, Allen thought. Someone you liked and hated in turns.
"Daddy said if I was coming to this 'godforsaken school' then they had to come with me. Tyki too!" She said, popping Tyki's name cutely on each syllable. "They're all so excited to see you, Allen!"
"I'm not," he said morosely and Road laughed. He felt her turn to face somewhere behind him, and distantly Allen could hear someone call her name.
"Oh, they want me to come back. Wait till I brag about the cute sophomore I got to kiss!" Road said cheerfully, pressing another kiss to his cheek before skipping off, waving at his friends gamely. Allen scowled the moment she was gone, rubbing at his cheek.
Link grabbed a napkin to wipe at the blood staining the back of his neck and his collar, and Allen mourned the loss of another shirt. When Link sat back and folded the napkin to toss later, Alma and Lenalee gasped.
"Oh my God," Alma said, leaning around Link to snag the napkin from the spot between Link and Allen. He unfolded it and his fingers clenched at the napkin so tightly it ripped at the ends slightly. "She did this to you?" Alma demanded, voice dark like thunder in storm clouds.
Allen shrugged uncomfortably, looking away. Kanda snatched the napkin to look at it, eyes darting up to Allen as if he could see the back of his neck if he stared hard enough. "Turn around," he ordered, and Allen scowled.
"No."
"Beansprout, turn around."
Lavi grabbed Allen by the shoulders and twisted him far enough that half of his body faced the right entirely. Lenalee gasped, and Link helpfully moved stray hairs from the back of Allen's neck. They were clumped together, and Link's fingers came away with blood just beginning to dry.
"I can't believe you let a kid do that to you," Kanda said, and Allen felt the last of his patience snap.
"And what would you have had me done? Hurt her back? I couldn't do that, Kanda!"
"Sure as hell shouldn't have let her do that to you!" Kanda snapped, and he dropped the red stained napkin in disgust.
"Why did she do that?" Lenalee asked, and Allen wondered if even Road knew why.
"I don't know," Allen replied, instead of the immediate answer he'd thought.
Unfortunately, Link wasn't as fond of Kanda as Allen was, and he didn't hold back. "Kanda aggravated her, so she hurt him where she knew it'd hurt best."
Alma stared wide-eyed at the red on Allen's neck. "She did that because of Kanda?"
Kanda grimaced, and Allen jerked his shoulders from Lavi's tight grip, brushing his hair back over the nail marks and then dusting the flakes of blood clinging to his fingertips. "It doesn't matter why she did it. Road is volatile, and so is the rest of her family. Don't piss them off and they won't do anything."
"You mean, don't piss them off and they won't do anything to you," Lavi said, eyes staring distantly. "Because that's what'll happen, won't it? We piss them off and they'll retaliate by hurting you."
Allen shied away from the answer, shaking his head. Before he could respond, Alma cut in, eyes flashing like fire and lip curling. "Who are they? Who are they that they can hold themselves above everyone like they're God? Why can they hurt you and you won't do anything?"
Alma was asking for a truth Allen couldn't give, so he smiled instead. "She's just a kid - how could I hurt her? Besides, her dad spoils her terribly - telling him won't change a thing."
"How do you even know her?" Lavi asked. "It sounds like they just moved into town or something, yet y'all know each other well enough for her to sit on your lap and kiss you."
"The way you say it, makes me sound like a criminal," Allen grumbled. "And it was just on the cheek!"
"And the nose," Link added, grunting when Allen dug his elbow into Link's side.
Lavi, however, wasn't done. "Sure pissed off Kanda and Alma though," he said with a leer and a wag of his eyebrows. Allen frowned at the insinuation, glancing up at Kanda and Alma who both looked unhappy at being called out this way.
"Come on guys, it's nothing," Allen said, ignoring the burning gaze he felt on the back of his head. Road was staring at him, he was sure. Or maybe it was the gaggle of girls Road claimed she'd brag to. "Lunch is almost over, and I'm not even halfway done with my food yet!"
"A miracle," Link muttered, and Allen forced a laugh.
Lenalee sat in a swivel chair in Komui's office, waiting for her brother to finish his work so they could go home. She'd walk her friends out from their building and then detour to the administration building once they'd left. Most of the time she spent the wait finishing her homework, except she didn't have any yet, today being the first day back after break. She spun in her chair.
"Little sister, what's bothering you?" Komui asked, shuffling through papers and then signing a few.
"Nothing much," she said in lieu of the opposite answer, which was too much. "How much longer until you're done?"
Komui hummed, thumbed through a stack of papers and files sitting to his left on his desk and then glancing at his clock. "Another hour or so, why?"
"Would you like some coffee?"
"My beautiful sweet darling little sister! What did I do to get blessed with you?"
Lenalee laughed as she stood, straightening her skirt with a brush of her hands. "More like what did I do to get stuck with you!"
"Oh, you wound me, Lenalee!" Komui cried dramatically, clutching at his chest in mock pain. She giggled as she left his office to find a nearby lounge, starting a fresh new pot for her brother and the secretaries still lingering. Theirs was a huge academy, with multiple sports, academic, and cultural clubs, not to mention all the grades and sheer number of students. It made for long busy hours at the office, and Lenalee was also stuck staying those hours. Track didn't really have a lot of practices yet, though those would pick up soon, so she spent that time helping her brother, doing her homework, texting friends or even snooping through student files.
Speaking of!
When she walked back into Komui's office, the question on the tip of the tongue had to do with Road Kamelot's new transfer, but suddenly a thought occurred to her.
They never did find out what Allen and Link had done for Labor Day weekend.
Somehow, even though it was really an inconsequential thing and could easily be passed off as they had done nothing of importance, it felt to Lenalee that Allen had actively avoided the question. In fact, Allen avoided a lot of questions.
She frowned as she served her brother a cup. She mused for a moment about asking her brother, but the question was too strange and sudden, and anyways, why would Komui know anything in the first place? It's not like the students had to report to the school if they went on vacation during their break.
Yet, she still felt that Allen was hiding something. Call it intuition, or maybe she had picked up on something during the day that she'd ignored at the time, but there was something there, and Lenalee was determined to find out.
A/N: Thank you for all the reviews, favs, and follows guys! I'm kind of amazed and really flattered -covers face - And sorry for the long wait;;
Can you tell that I love writing Road? She's such an interesting and dynamic character - full of all sorts of twists! I hope I did her justice. Lenalee, too, for that matter. I think this was the first time I wrote from her POV, and it came much easier than I thought it would.
As of right now, they've only been in school for a few weeks, I hope that comes across clear enough haha.
I'll be writing up the notes after this, so check out my blog if you're interested!
