ause of some technical problems, this is unbetaed, but I hope the mistakes won't ruin the chapter. Please, try to ignore them. Also, it seems like my updating schedule will be approximately a chapter per month, which is pretty normal for me. I try to keep it at that. This is... half a filler, I guess. Slow progress. I hope you don't mind, but I need it. ^^ However, Tyki makes his appearance! Be happy everybody! XD Okay, okay. I have feeling I was supposed to say something important... I just can't remember what. Well, I can add it later. So, really great thanks for giving me an awesome number of comments and sorry for those I haven't been able to answer, I'll do my best, especially if you have something to ask.

EDIT// Now I remember. I made a sort of cover page for property. You can see it from here www . sumopaint . com/image/?id=418547 (although, I'm not much of an artist when it comes to drawing).

Oh, and in the previous chapter, I forgot to say that the sentence about America making moni with immorality (or like that) is not meant for offence and is not my personal opinion. Please don't take it to your heart.

Warnings: Um... nothing?

Disclaimer: Still don't own DGM and you still better thank some higher deity for it.

~XxX~

Chapter 11

Vertigo

~XxX~

Allen wasn't sure what it was that had caused the change, but it seemed like he and Kanda had found some sort of balance, a state of nearly habitual interaction that had somehow managed to form without his notice. It smoothed out the awry cohabitation they shared and, in a way, eased their terms to the point in which Allen found himself virtually bickering with the man in a daily routine. Not too seriously, of course, just harmless little argues about insignificant matters that mostly shunned anything related to their life situation. After all, he wasn't going to forgot who Kanda was and where he stood in comparison to the dominant male.

Then again, Kanda surely seemed to give him reasons to think, and more often than not Allen couldn't stop his thoughts from flying away with him. The man was puzzling him to no end, what with the intricate and discordant behavior that just got even more indistinct as the days passed by. Not that it was anything new, for his owner had been an enigma to Allen from the very beginning – complicated and impossible to fathom – yet now everything appeared to grow even more inexplicable. He didn't know whether his eyes were just pulling tricks on him, or if Kanda really was feeling all those emotions that seemed to flash behind his dark gaze, but sometimes Allen could nearly swear there was unsteadiness and disarray in the man's expressions. For what reason, he couldn't begin to understand.

However, Kanda wasn't the only one whose behavior had started to slowly alter. Despite his best efforts of staying wary, Allen found himself increasingly often relaxing in the other's company, allowing his guard drop lower while debating about whatever the topic was that time. He tried to control it, for he couldn't trust Kanda regardless of the rather good treatment he received, only to fail time after time. It was simply so very easy, seemingly harmless as if there was nothing to worry about, and for the love of life he wanted to give in to the sense of security, even against his own will. But good things could only last for so long, Allen knew that, and thus he shouldn't let the feeling lull him into illusions.

What was comical, though, was now that he felt more at ease around Kanda than before, the man had started using him. The difference was only scarcely notable, minor enough to be just anomaly from the normal, and Allen wasn't sure if he should take the change just as a coincidence. Although, it could be that because Kanda seemed to be more keen on sleeping with him, he was less tense. Old customs ran deep and were difficult to root out, so it'd actually make sense, in a way.

Though, on the other hand, it didn't, for up until now sex had been all but agony for him.

So, overall, Allen mused as he unconsciously slid into a better position on the couch, he was more or less lost with Kanda, himself and the entire situation. Nothing was rational enough to draw any logical conclusions about what was really going on or – above all – why was that what was going on even going on in the first place.

Now wasn't that a nice little complexity. He didn't know what was wrong and he didn't know why it was wrong, which basically meant his problem was that he didn't know a reason for a problem that he didn't know. And neither did he know why he didn't know a reason for a problem that he didn't know, so then it would go like, he didn't know a reason for why he didn't know a reason for a problem that he didn't know…

With a silent thud Allen let his head hit the backrest of the couch, mind dizzy from the bizarre word game.

'What in the world are you doing…?'

Apparently the only other occupant of the room, namely Kanda, came up with the same question when the albino flopped down onto his back, groaning at the headache that had started to surface. Talking about loosening up in the wrong company…

"What the fuck are you doing?"

"Giving myself a headache", Allen said wearily, eyes closed. "Do you mind if I lay down a bit? 'Cause I feel nauseous."

"You're not going to vomit on my sofa, Moyashi", Kanda growled out threateningly, and the younger male could practically feel the obsidian eyes boring into him. "So drag your lazy ass up and go to bathroom if you want to puke."

"I'm not going to throw up", Allen answered rather dryly. "It's just that my head feels a little dizzy after all of the 'didn't knows' and other stuff", he muttered, forgetting that the Japanese man wouldn't understand what he was meaning.

"The fuck are you babbling on about?" Kanda snapped, lowering the book he'd been reading for the past hour. It was something about psychology, not that Allen had any clue why he'd be interested in the subject. Of all his owners, the Japanese man was the one he knew the least about – even Kanda's occupation was mystery to him, which could be deemed as odd, for normally you found out people's jobs simply because they complained so much about them.

"It's nothing", Allen murmured, massaging his temples with his fingertips. "Just a stupid mind game, that's all." With barely audible sigh he let the hand flop down and pushed himself to a little better position. He didn't understand why Kanda made him sit hours in silence with nothing to do, whilst the man just read, and it was rather boring to say the least.

"Che. Do you have no patience, baka Moyashi?"

"Only if I'm waiting something", Allen replied, his voice holding casual, almost irreverent undertone. He was really starting to adapt into the weird dance of words and gestures that they were playing around each other. Although, it still felt like he had a blindfold on.

"And what do you think you're doing, if not waiting?" Kanda snorted, dark eyes staring him intently.

"I'm doing nothing", Allen said flatly. "Because you need something to wait for before you can star waiting. And I have nothing to look forward to, hence I'm just being", he continued steadily, eyes sliding towards the large windows.

"Che. Everyone who aren't doing something worth wasting their time on, are waiting", Kanda stated as he closed the psychology book and placed it on the table. "Even if they don't know exactly what."

"I didn't say that you need to know what it is that you're waiting for", Allen noted bluntly. "But if you don't know that you're waiting, then it isn't waiting at all."

Kanda arched an eyebrow at him, his eyes nearly disdainful as he crossed his arms over his chest and snorted. "Just what kind of moronic logic is that?" the man scorned. "You think that lunatics aren't crazy just because they're too fucked up to realize it?"

"Being crazy and waiting have nothing to do with each other", Allen retorted with slight huff. Arguing really didn't come to him by nature, but then again he'd always been a fast learner and Kanda's attitude was a rather good incentive. Too good even, for he had to restrain his irritation during some of the quarrels so as not to loose his cool. Regardless of everything, he didn't want to test his luck for the second time.

Once was a miracle, twice would be impossibility.

"Yes they do, since your senseless logic says that if you don't know something, it doesn't exist", the Japanese man said steadily, his eyes watching the petite boy in a nearly calculating manner. "Which is, by the way, probably the second stupidest ideology I've ever heard, Moyashi."

A frown on his face, Allen twisted his head backwards to have a better view of Kanda. "I never said that", he disputed as irritation started to creep up to his eyes. "Insanity is a state of mind, whilst waiting is a stance. And why is it the second stupidest, anyway?"

"Che. You've taken a pretty damn oblivious stance on your inane state of mind, brat", the man scoffed sardonically, although in his eyes wasn't real malice – just like there never was. By now Allen could say for sure that Kanda wasn't a wicked person, not truly. Sour and grumpy, often temperamental – in his own, somewhat weird way - , nearly always easily irascible and more often than not abstruse, but as a matter of fact, he wasn't malevolent despite all of his threats. He could most likely carry them out, if he saw it necessarily, even though Allen doubted he would do so without a reason. A little bit like Bak.

With the exception that unlike Kanda, the Chinese man wasn't an illogical jerk half of the time.

"That has nothing to do with the topic", he said somewhat sharply, a little irritated 'cause the other male wasn't staying rational with his statements. Although, he guessed he shouldn't have expected Kanda to do so.

"Che. I wasn't the one who started to talk some crap about stances and sanity", the Japanese man shot back, his voice also mildly annoyed.

"Well, you twisted my words!" Allen snapped as he turned to face the ceiling again. His neck was already stiff from the uncomfortable angle he'd bent his head and the slightly vertiginous feeling from before seemed to be coming back again. With a dull groan he rubbed the aching muscles of his right shoulder.

Kanda just snorted to himself, gazing away from the pale boy as he muttered something that sounded much like 'whatever', albeit Allen couldn't really say for sure. It ended the conversation and they fell to somewhat awkward silence that lasted for good ten minutes, slowly growing less tense as the minutes passed by. By the time Kanda finally decided to turn on the TV, Allen was already half-asleep and was startled out off his slight slumber too abruptly for his liking as the loud sound blasted out.

"- to our quest of the day! She's the most popular newcomer on the movie industry and has already acted in several movies despite her young age! Her fans –"

For the second time during the hour Allen let his head flop back with a thud. He felt faint, the tips of his finger were ice cold when he brushed them over his forehead and the thin veil of haze covering his eyes wouldn't vanish no matter how hard he tried to blink the blur away. With a tired sigh he closed his eyes and took a couple of deep breaths, willing the vertigo to relinquish until he was feeling stable again.

Honestly, sometimes the anemia could really be a pain in the neck. It came and went randomly, never gave any warning and was usually gone before he could do so much as to lay down. One moment he was feeling all alright and the next the world would swing and turn dark, his balance disappearing faster than a snowflake in the Sahara. It was really, really annoying. And tiresome.

So mostly in times like this, when he was feeling weak and thin, the only thing Allen wanted to do was to curl up somewhere warm and safe and sleep for all eternity. He didn't know what it was that was wrong with him and, frankly, neither did he bothered to care. Bak had assumed his occasional dizziness was due to low iron level, nothing more serious, hence he'd never thought about it that much. Besides, would it even be such a great misfortune, if he suddenly dropped dead?

'And there you go again, being all suicidal over things you can't change. There's millions of people who have it worse, so stop the complaining.'

Allen huffed silently, irritated at himself. Although, he got to admit that the depressing thoughts had come less often lately, and for the first time in years he was truly feeling like giving a try with life wouldn't be such a bad mistake. No, he wasn't happy, but then again he didn't need to be. Kanda treated him better than anybody else for last three years, and despite his mostly grim appearance and harsh words, the man wasn't a bad owner to have.

'Not bad at all…'

Actually, if it hadn't been for the inexplicable behavior of Kanda's, Allen would've probably just been glad to get some relative rest from his normal life. Not that he wasn't glad anyway, it was just that he couldn't completely let the thing slip. Although, his subconsciousness surely did one hell of a job with distracting him every time he was supposed to keep his caution. Just look at him now, laying on the couch half-asleep like there was no worries in the world. What had gotten into him?

Sighing quietly once again, Allen opened his eyes, about to push himself up when another wave of dizziness surged through him. He inhaled sharply and squeezed his eyes tightly shut in an instinctive attempt of trying to force the nausea to subside. In stead of calming down the world flipped over and for a second he lost all sense of feeling. Everything turned into a swirling, swinging mess of darkness and directions, which through he fell, heavy like there would've been chains bound around his body, pulling him down with too much force to resist.

And then there was the floor, cool and solid.

"…see your relatives, after all the family of Kamelot is quite big and you travel a lot…?"

~XxX~

New York City shone dimly as the last sun rays filtered through the hazy layers of pollution clouds. The never stagnate scenery was painted with deep crimson hue that hung on the buildings like a bloody veil and for a moment it seemed like the city bathed in all of the blood that had been spilled on the gray streets during its history. In the shadows of the glinting glass-structures the variety of people was slowly changing from one kind to another, housewives and officer workers being replaced by night guards and drug dealers. Far above, in the safety of flashy penthouses, the nobility of the twenty-first century prepared for another day of artificial light.

"Eeh! I hate interviews!" a short, tan-skinned girl whined loudly, swinging back and forth on the back of the couch. Her decorated dress that had been neat and straight just mere minutes ago was now ruffled and out of the order, and her lilac hair had loosened from its coiffure. "Why do I have to do them, uncle? They're boring and stupid and it's always so hot. And the interviewers are soo annoying with all of their stupid questions! My life is none of their business!" The girl huffed, honey colored eyes holding a dangerous kind of glint in them.

The man she was talking to smiled very faintly as he lifted a wineglass to his lips and took a sip. "Calm down, Rhode. They make you more popular and in the movie industry being popular means more money. Besides, it's good advertisement", he replied without moving his gaze from the large windows and the skyline beyond them.

Kicking her feet, Rhode frowned at his uninterested companion. Sure, she could understand that the bloody red view was beautiful and captivating, but she was talking here! "I don't need more money! And don't ignore me, Tyki!" she snapped sharply, puffing her cheeks in annoyance.

The man turned his head towards the young girl and despite her tantrum he was still smiling, although there was nothing pleasant in the expression. "I'm not ignoring you, Rhode. It's just that we shouldn't be in bad mood today, not when things are finally making some progress."

Rhode's eyes widened slightly as Tyki's smile turned into a wicked grin and an exited squeal fled from her lips. She swung forward so abruptly that the speed nearly made her topple over, the heels of her too high shoes digging into the couch to stop the movement before she leaned to far.

"You mean…? Him? Right? Did you found him? Tyki? Tyki! You found him?!" Rhode's voice was almost high-pitched when she spoke and her expression reflected creed and sadistic joy that matched her uncle's perfectly.

Tyki's lips twitched ever so slightly at the enthusiastic words, his eyes darkening fractionally. He took another sip from the glass before turning to face the windows again. "No", he said somewhat grimly, just to smirk right after. "But he came here. Now I just have to find out where he went."

Rhode's eyes followed the man's line of sight and then a thought crossed her mind. With a twisted smile on her face she leaned forward to snatch a lollipop from her purse. "Tell me, uncle… What are you going to do to his new owner after you've found him?" she cooed, knowing all too well what the answer would be.

Tyki raised his gaze and for a moment there was pure gold flickering in his eyes. "Kill them, what else?"

And her grin spread wider.

New York really looked nice bathing in blood.

~XxX~

Shoulder propped against the door fame Kanda watched the still figure lying on the bed, unmoving and silent. The room was dark, the curtains closed to prevent the city's light from getting in, and only the narrow ray of light that escaped through the half open door lit it up. Yet he could clearly distinguish the Moyashi's pale arms resting on the covers and his white hair spilled around his equally fair face.

Kanda wasn't entirely sure how long he'd been standing there, just observing the boy while he slept. He knew that Allen had fallen asleep around seven, almost instantly after eating the quick meal he'd made for the younger male, and if the slight stiffness of his body was anything to go by then he'd been standing at least for an hour already, probably even longer. He just didn't seem to be able to pull away and leave the other alone. Besides, the Moyashi was sick, so who knew when he'd go and try to kick the bucket? He could meditate for a couple of hours and come back to find out the kid was dead.

And wouldn't that be just fucking terrific.

Kanda hadn't really taken it for real when the Moyashi had said he wasn't feeling alright, thinking that the kid was either faking it or just overreacting. How the hell would've Allen gotten sick anyway, seeing he never left the apartment or met anyone else aside from Kanda? Nobody fell ill like that and there definitely wasn't anything bad in the food.

And then the Moyashi had practically fainted in front of his eyes. He'd acted on instinct, lunging off the couch and down next to where Allen had crashed even before really realizing what had happened. The boy had felt abnormally cold to the touch and Kanda could still see in his mind the unfocused gaze of the gray eyes, staring straight through him as he turned the light body around. It'd almost felt like watching a dead, so white and lifeless the Moyashi had seemed then.

And, even though he would never admit it to himself – or anyone else for that matter – , those couple seconds before Allen had finally reacted to his voice, Kanda had been more scared than ever during past five years. Not that it was much even then – any average mother probably had dozens of worse shocks in just a one day – and by the general standards you could hardly even mention it, but he didn't seem to be able to push it out of his mind.

Hell, he didn't get scared. Or freaked out or anything.

Luckily – or as much as you could talk about luck in this damned situation – the Moyashi had been back to lucidness rather quickly, although he'd still needed help with getting back to his room. Help, which the idiot had of course tried to refuse to take and therefor had nearly collapsed right back to the floor when his knees had budged in. After that it'd been easier to make the Moyashi cooperate, even though he'd still complained the entire way from the living room to the bedroom. By then Kanda had started to be already slightly annoyed, what with how Allen just brushed the dizziness off as nothing and kept claiming that it happened all the time. Something about anemia and metabolism, which was apparently a bad combination to have or whatever, not like he bothered to remember right now. The only damn thing that had left the brat's lips coherently had been the fucking thank yous, anyway.

Feeling a headache coming, Kanda pushed himself away from the doorframe and rolled his shoulder absently to get the blood running properly again. Without thinking much he stepped into the silent room, unconsciously careful to not cause any noise as he walked over to the bed. Allen's face was still too pale for his liking, even after the meal and at least over an hour of sleeping, but he couldn't stay up for the whole night. And as much he hated to admit it, the boy was probably right and the dizziness was just simple anemia that'd pass with right diet or – in a more serious case – some iron pills.

Nothing that hold any threat to his mission.

Still, Kanda bent down and brushed his hand over the Moyashi's cold cheek before running the fingers down to the pale neck to check the pulse. It was steady, if somewhat weaker than his own, although there wasn't anything worrying about that. He exercised way more than average population and was what the baka Usagi called 'unnaturally healthy', so it would've been stupid to assume that the boy was at the same level as him. Allen was probably just fine already. The paleness could be just a trick of light, and the Moyashi's skin had been slightly cooler than normal even before the earlier seizure, hadn't it? He was just over-observant due to the mission, nothing more.

Nevertheless, Kanda's hand was still lingering on Allen's neck when the silence was abruptly shattered by the first chord of a very long, old Japanese song that the man knew all too well. It was played mostly with a shamisen and although the music was pretty, he couldn't stand it. Normally he liked domestic music, even as much as to play it every once in a while, but this particular piece simply ripped his nerves to bloody shreds. And the effect had just gotten worse during years, albeit it could be 'cause he'd set it to play whenever Lavi tried to call him.

Cursing in his mind, Kanda swiftly retreated back to the hallway so as not to wake the Moyashi up while talking to the other idiot. He swore that everyone always chose the wrong moment on purpose just to piss him off. He also swore that if it wasn't for the job, he'd toss the damn phone to the nearest dumpster. A day without hearing Lavi's voice was worth the money he'd have to pay for a new device.

Angrily, Kanda flipped the cell phone open and pressed it to his ear. "What?"

"Whoa, Yuu-chan! No need to bite my head off!"

The loud, vivacious voice hit his eardrum like a shock wave, and before he knew it, his head was throbbing painfully. Eyes closed, Kanda gritted his teeth to stop himself from shouting at the fucking rabbit. He didn't want to wake Allen right now. "Whatever your business is, spit it out. Now. And don't fucking call me by that name, Usagi."

"Geez, really, wind down a bit will ya? You'd live longer. And maybe get some nice ch-"

"Rabbit, I don't want to hear", Kanda hissed, his grip tightening around the doorknob. "If you didn't have anything worth hearing for, then I'm going to hung up. Is that clear?"

"Uh, okay, okay. I get it. Honestly, Kanda…" Lavi muttered something that didn't reach the Japanese cop's end of the line, before raised his voice again, this time sounding more serious, "I just called to tell you that we can switch over to a more straightforward communication. So phones are operative again."

"That's all?"

"Yeah…"

"Fine."

"Uh… Yuu, everything okay?"

"How many times do I have to tell you to not to call me by that name?"

"Really, what's wrong?"

"…Nothing's wrong."

"You're lying, Yuu."

This time Kanda didn't answer at all, just stared at the hallway with unseeing eyes. There was something in the back of his mind, something that made his shoulders tense and hearing sharpen. A restless feeling he quite couldn't fathom, a hunch or an instinct that made him want to go get Mugen. It was almost like that time when Tiedol's house had been broken into during Christmas – his subconsciousness had kept him awake for the whole night, hence he'd been practically waiting for the guy. But this time… this time it was… different.

"Yuu?"

"The Moyashi just got sick."

This time it felt like he had the odds against him.

~XxX~

And as always, I ask for comments. They make me write.