Wattup! Here's another chapter for you lovely readers! So it seems like Allen is out of commission for now, thank god Nayami came to the rescue, but why? Who the hell is she, and what is her relationship to Allen? Ah, so many questions, so many possibilities to develop this BOYXBOY story (hope that answers your question.)… That's going kinda slow and hasn't had boy love in it yet, but hey- that's real life. Except for my friend. She claims to fall in love a week into a relationship… Sigh.

-~*Diamond In The Ruff*~-

(Chris's P.O.V)

"We gotta leave- NOW!" Had I known my imported Italian leather luggage was meant to be used as a foot stool- I wouldn't have put in all my favorite clothes!

"!" A brow twitched for what felt like the 5th time in the last second. Nayami's lightly worn shoe was digging its stumpy heel on my favorite luggage bag! Groaning with an exasperated sigh, I carried some of the remaining bags in the room, out in the hall- wondering how the hell I was going to get them down that accident- inducing looking staircase, and outside with my maid.

… Not long after I thought that- I almost fell down the frickin' stairs face first!

"AAh! I HATE YOU STAIRS!" Another near death experience later. "Gah! HOW THE HELL DID MY MAIDS MANAGE TO DO THIS WHILE NOT LOOKING, I DON'T KNOW! ~ "

Nayami sweat dropped. "You really are a good for nothing rich brat…"

"Rich-very. Brat- I'M NOOOOT!"

-/-

(Normal pov :)

"—Good job, Helga!" Chris exclaimed as the maid glared at him, carrying the bags he was supposed to bring down the stairs. Nodding, Chris quickly counted all the bags, smiling to himself as if he were working all day, and stopped to admire his work.

… Work. Him? As if!

The brunette looked around, eyes burrowing when he didn't spot his wayward friend. "? Hey, where's Allen?"

Helga looked up from her seat atop one of the luggages. "Miss Cross went to get Mr. Walker as he can't walk." The old maid replied smoothly, closing her eyes to rest them.

Chris's, mood soured. He had completely forgotten his friend was fighting for his life now. With a frown, he looked at his feet. "Oh."

"- Okay, let's go now." Nayami's voice emerged from the inn's front porch, carrying the unconscious svelte Exorcist on her back like a child.

'How cute.' Chris thought and turned to look at her, and suddenly fell to the floor, bawling his mouth and eyes out.

With a raised brow, Nayami looked at the strange noble like if he'd grown another head. "What the hell got into you." She asked, no, more like stated.

"G-Gross! Pshhh-HAHAHAHAHA-HAHAHAAAAAAAA!"

… Chris knew Allen was a moved a lot when he was asleep, even carried out full sentences with who knows what sometimes, but this!?

Chris almost bawled again. "Damn Allen! Didn't know you got straight to business with the ladies!"

… In the midst of moving, Allen's hand ended up over Nayami's breast. The white haired boy let out a 'meh' as he digged his face closer to the red head's neck. Almost as soon as he did that, a cascade of drool oozed down her neck and unto her coat, some of it sticking her hair to her skin. "Of all the shit that could happen…" The girl looked absolutely miserable! "… OH, I'M GONNA KILL YOU WHEN YOU WAKE UP, ALLEN WALKER…"

-/-

By the time they left Town, the sun had said goodbye for the day, bringing in the bluish black darkness with it. The moon, barely visible, looked grayish and pruned, and the street lights lowly dimmed the empty dirt road. They were almost reaching a steep hill that over looked a field with a lake surrounding them, as Chris's startled yell alarmed to the women. He huddled closer to Helga, scrunching his eyes at the sound of a wolf howling. "That sounded waaay to close for comfort!" He whispered, hearing out for any rustling of trees. A pitch fork in the road was just down the hill past the field, were the trees were just a bit less dense. Nayami, who was used to being out near forest's late at night only paused, and deemed the wolf too far to smell them out.

"Relax. It's nowhere near us." That didn't do much for his nerves.

"…Nayami, how come you're not freaked out? It's almost pitched black out here. Do you know where we're going-?"

"- Exorcist's are used to this sort of thing. It's a miracle if there's even a bit of moon light to barely make out the silhouette of your hand in front of you." She replied. "This is the most light I've seen at night." Her normally soft voice was hard to hear in the dead silence.

Chris's curiosity got peaked. "It must be hard being an Exorcist, then. I was under the impression you guys traveled different cities." For some strange reason, it was oddly pleasant to talk to her out in the pitch black darkness, where there weren't any streets or houses to make him feel safe.

… And Nayami didn't sound on edge as it seemed she always was. "Rarely. Like I said, it's a miracle. My missions were mostly spent searching the woods for the innocence."

"What's that?"

"It's like the Holy Grail for Exorcist's and Apostle's." Her voice suddenly sounded tired. "It's what gives us the superhuman power we're known for."

Chris chuckled, surprising himself with how calm he suddenly felt. "So that scythe of yours, that was innocence." He heard Nayami let out a soft laugh. The brunette could see her bright red hair glow faintly in the darkness as well as Allen's shocking white. Feeling a wave of jitters, Chris moved so he could walk side to her. He knew she had looked at him, because red eyes gleaned with the reflection of his cross brooch. "Does your innocence have a name?"

"How did you know?" Her surprised tone made him grin.

"I had a feeling. I guess it's sort of my worth? Allen's the brains and brawns, and my 'I got a bad feeling about this' is the intuition of this makeshift group we are now. Of course, Allen's M.I.A right now, so the jobs on you."

"Hehe, what are you, psychic?" They laughed. "His name's Joliet. He gives a hell 'of a beat down."

"So innocence can have gender qualities too?" Chris really found it interesting! Briefly, he wondered what Allen's was.

"Yeah. I don't know about other types of innocence, but Allen and mine's a parasitic, meaning it's a part of our body. Parasitics can hear their own innocence, ya know? That's how I found out his name."

"Oh. Well I guess with Joliet, you don't need to be afraid of the dark!" Chris had a feeling she rolled her eyes at that.

"Now you're really making me sound superhuman… Chris- when I started out as an Exorcist, I was just a child. As training, my dad would leave me in the woods, and I had to find my way back to him. There were all sorts of things that could've gotten me at that age besides an Akuma, and I knew that. So I'd bawl my eyes out near some tree until my dad would get tired of waiting, and come and get me. I mean, I was just a kid, so what the hell was he putting me in situations like that?! The jerk didn't even know how to bathe a kid until Allen came along." Nayami said, a little embarrassed. "…Just cuz I'm Exorcist doesn't stop making me human. I'm just like every other girl, Chris."

"…"

Chris didn't speak much after that. Talking to Nayami like that got him thinking how much of his life he had wasted fearing his Father. Heck, all of his childhood was spent doing everything not to disappoint, or get on his bad side!

… Chris sighed. "… I guess so."

….

... They reached the pitchfork. And now Nayami was deciding which way was East.

"That map the Inn keeper gave us is wrong. It only goes up to here!"

Chris groaned. "How I'm not surprised!" Helga looked around.

"We should make up our minds and find shelter soon. It appears there is another storm coming."

"Just great! Nayami, isn't there any way you can find out which way's east?" The red head thought for a second.

"… Maybe." Scanning the area around, Nayami let out a whistle. "…Hey Tim, I need your help." It was quiet for a few second until Chris suddenly jumped, squirming around as he flailed his arms to slap his neck.

"OOOooow, what the hell?!" Helga raised a brow when a golden ball flew out of his ponytail and landed on the girl's head, fluttering its wings almost as if it were greeting a long lost friend. Chris eyed the thing incredulously, running his hand through his hair. "So that's where it went?! How the hell didn't I feel that all this time?!"

Helga's thin brows knit together. "Master Chris, ever since Mr Walker has been unconscious, it has been hiding in your hair before you wake up in the morning. Before, when Mr Walker would go out, it would hide in your shirt. Quite often I saw a lump on your back and thought it was some kind of bug until I saw it do that one day."

"No wonder I'd wake up with random bite marks the next day!"

Nayami hoisted Allen back up as she grinned at him. "I was under the impression you knew Tim was doing that every day. He doesn't usually take this much of a liking on other people… Tim, Timothy broke Ali a while back." Nayami said, referring to her Golem. Like Allen's, Cross had made it. Then that stupid ghost brat had to snatch it away with the intention to play a game with the pissed off Nayami…

… Which this resulted in her threatening to slaughter him once she'd catch him, Timothy running away and tripping on some coffee Komui spilt. Even though Timothy only got a sore bottom and scraped knee, her golem had been squished under the young Exorcist a few weeks after Allen left.

"Tim, I need you to do something for me." The golden Golem nodded fervently, hovering near her face. "The map we have is useless. Can you lead us towards were Shanghai is?"

"? What's in Shanghai?"

Nayami looked towards Chris's direction. "There's an old friend of mine who can help Allen disappear from the Order and the Earl."

-…/.../...-

The Musician's lungs burst with air suddenly, back arching forward as gold eyes shot open.

"…I'M PARCHED." Neah's nerves felt on end as he looked drowsily to get a grasp of his surroundings. "… W-where… Am I?"

He could only see white. If this was a part of Allen's unconscious, then Neah was seriously glad he was stuck in that gloomy dim clearing with the odd throne and the dead trees… At least that was a splash more of color than this place- this place just seemed so….

…. So empty. Just white. No shadows, or walls, like the bright glare of the sun's rays hitting glass, Neah had to squint to ease the uncomfortable lighting from hurting his eyes. "… Oh Darling Nephew…" Neah sing-songed, running a gloved hand through his wild locks. "Just what is going on with you?"

… A presence made him freeze.

"HELLO NEAH." A male voice broke the silence and seemingly endless white.

Neah's eyes widened. That voice- the scratchy tilt of how they pronounced their vowels and his name… It was a memory he felt close to, but couldn't quite place. Dark brows knit together as Neah tried to figure out why the voice sounded so familiar. With his curiosity hitting its peak, Neah turned and was shocked to see a young adult man smiling back at him.

Golden eyes scanned the reddish brown long locks that cascaded past the man's broad shoulders. "… Have we met before?" That question rolled out of his tongue before he could even bring himself to think it.

The latter's smile only brightened. "Perhaps a long time ago."

… As if Neah's curiosity couldn't get more provoked… "- This is Allen's unconscious, right?"

"….." The man didn't answer, perplexing Neah when he suddenly walked towards him. "Time seems to be missing from you, doesn't it?"

The Noah raised a brow. "Excuse me?"

"How many years are missing from you…? It has to be more than a decade at the least."

"… What are you talking about-?"

"—And you forgot all about me as well! Both you and Marian." This seemed to awaken something in Neah.

Realization then dawned on him. "… YOU'RE ALLEN'S OTHER HALF!" Neah exclaimed loudly. "The part that became broken and lost… YOU'RE AURON!"

Auron let out a soft laugh. "'Allen's other half'? I am the original, it's 'Allen Walker' that is false."

"… How the hell did your mind manage to split in two, Auron? … Look at you- 35 years have passed, and yet you have the body of a teenager! Was it that by allowing me to live in you as my host… That the 'real you' was erased from physical existence?"

Auron just looked at him with soft eyes. "In life, there are the few times were seemingly impossible things happen that no one can find the answers to…"

Neah frowned. "… This is way beyond impossible, then. There's no way you and me can both live in Allen's mind."

"You're right." Auron agreed, smiling again.

Neah smiled too, although there was an eerie shadow over it. "… So that means you don't exist anymore, right? You're a part of Allen's unconscious now because your part of the soul split into another, and it's trapped without a physical body."

"… Aren't you a soul trapped without a physical body as well, Neah? Am I really just a figment of Allen's unconscious? Maybe you are right, maybe I am all 'in his head'…"

Neah's frown deepened. "… WHAT DID YOU DO TO ALLEN?" Neah could just feel it. His childhood friend was the reason Allen wasn't responding when he would try to tell him to stop being so moody and affecting the weather in his mind.

Auron's sweet smile suddenly disappeared, now replaced by a lopsided grin that seemed out of place. "… I'M TAKING BACK WHAT'S MINE… AND YOU CAN'T HAVE IT ANYMORE."

…Neah's eyes narrowed.

(1 Month ago ;)

"—MAYBE WE SHOULD TAKE A REST, DON'T' CHA THINK?"

"IF WE HAVE TO GO TO ANOTHER FUCKING WHORE HOUSE THE DAMN BEANSPROUT'S KEEPING A DEBT TAB, I'M GOING TO CASTRATE THE FIRST PERSON I SEE IN THE MORNING…" Kanda said calmly as he and Johnny maneuvered their way through the heavily crowded streets of Istanbul. It seemed a Festival was going on- there were crowds of people gathered together playing music and dancing. Nearby street merchants hollered out the day's discounted deals of their products, and the smell of freshly baked sweets filled the air.

Bombarded by all the delicious stimulants, Johnny's mouth had begun to water in excessively, resulting in an already pissed and irked Kanda to get- not a surprise, even more pissed and annoyed at the sight of the wild haired teen salivating a new ocean.

"Are you trying to water the world?" The Japanese teen remarked sarcastically, smirking at Johnny's flustered look. "We should probably grab something to eat- I don't think you can survive much longer."

Johnny let out an embarrassed laugh, rubbing a finger on his cheek, a nervous habit he picked up at HQ. "Y-yeah..."

"Che! I doubt they'll have Soba here…" Johnny raised a brow.

"Maybe you can ask around if there's an Asian Cuisine around here." Johnny suggested, pointing to a hunched over old man yelling out sales in a language the he didn't recognize.

Kanda scoffed, but he still made his way to the old man- although begrudgingly- and leaned from the man's side. "You."

… Johnny face palmed. 'Oh Kanda…'

"Know any Japanese cuisine places that make good Soba? Say no, and I'll rip your throat to shreds…"

"Waah! K-Kanda, what are you doing- don't say that to the old man!" Johnny wailed, bowing profusely at the startled man. "I'm sooo sorry, sir!"

"… " The old man didn't say anything, instead he shook, raising himself up a bit, and took hold of Kanda's ear with a harsh tug. "Why you rotten no good youngster!"

"W-What the hell are you doing, old man?!" The Japanese teen howled, a baffled spectators (including Johnny who had left shortly to get police incase Kanda decided to assault the old man.) "LET GO!"

"LOOK AT THE HORRIBLE MANNERS YOU YOUNG PEOPLE HAVE NOWADAYS! YOU TREAT YOU'RE ELDERS WITH RESPECT, YOU FOOL!" The old man pulled harder. "NOW IF THIS WAS BACK IN MY DAYS, THERE'D BE NO TOLERATIN' THIS, NO SIR!" Frantic Johnny pushed his way to the small crowd of people, almost stumbling to the ground. "K-Kanda, just apologize! S-Sir, this is all just a big misunderstanding- !"

"- I'LL FUCKIN' APOLOGIZE WHEN PIGS FLY!"

"MANNERS, YOU FOOL!"

^\-(*^*)-/^

(20 minutes later ; )

After much apology (all from Johnny, mind you) Kanda managed to force out his way of an apology, and the old man agreed to show them a small place that served Japanese food. Hence how the wayward trio where now in the midst of checking out how far the nearest stop they had to make on their mission to find the 'Beansprout'. Like always, kanda sat next to Johnny boorishly, not even bothering to ask where the hell on that stupid pack of bills they had to go next. "… You'd think a guy with fucking white hair would be hard to forget…" The raven commented offhandedly.

Johnny sighed, hitting his head against the table. "It's no good! Even though I got my energy back after eating, I still can't figure out where this 'Dragon's Nest' house is!"

Kanda eyed him. "We've gotten nowhere with that stupid map! Fucking Beansprout doesn't even own the bills- they're that damn General's."

"I know. Somehow I doubt Allen would ever visit again one of the places his General would go to. We have to find Allen soon!" Kanda rolled his eyes.

"It's not easy. No one really knows that idiot."

"Eh?" Johnny blinked. "What do you mean?"

"He's just a front. Thinking 'where would Allen go if I were him?' would just waste our time even more. He could be any whe-" Kanda suddenly pushed Johnny off his seat, walking briskly towards something. The doorbell chimed as the raven bolted out.

"K-Kanda! Where are you going?!" Johnny peeked his head out, yelping in surprise when a hand roughly pulled him out. "K-Kanda?!"

"I saw it."

At this, Johnny became even more confused. "Saw what, where are we running off too?!"

Kanda's eyes narrowed. "Obnoxious red hair…"

Part 2 will be posted up as soon as I can type it from my notebook to here! I know it seems like nothing's going on, but all in time soon! There's a reason I'm putting Allen through hell, and adding new oc's, but I'll never tell you why, mwahaha! Well, at least until the climax comes.

Ciao, guys! Till next time! ~