Disclaimer: No, characters not mine.

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Chapter Eleven

Reunion

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"Here is the place."

Cross replied naught to the low proclaim of the female as he paced leisurely to stop a foot behind her.

"Woman, what is so special about a forest?"

Even as he uttered the question in all its languidness, brown eyes swept the horizon. Trees. Bushes. There was a particularly bulky tree near his right, probably one of the oldest. Scattered leaves, mostly green. Which meant there was proper maintenance imposed on the place. His gaze turned a corner, moving to his feet without turning his jaw. Sand. Clean. It had not rained for a while. They were on a commonly used path. But it was not the only one. Cross watched the paths diverge from where they stood into five main curved roads, three side ones narrower and less distinct than the two broader ones before him. Ears twitched and the redhead tried to hear the sounds of nature. He couldn't. The forest was too quiet.

"You... said you knew Mana." The lady who had declared herself Nella turned slowly on her feet, hazel irises wandering through the forest before they met brown ones.

Cross blinked at her, a small smirk rising on his lips. "You can just say what you were supposed to. Knowing him, you probably had a list of things to do to verify my story."

The woman stared stoically back, and the redhead had to mentally commend her for her poker face.

"On which day did Mana run away from the palace?"

Cross found himself crossing his arms, boring eyes seriously at the female before him in thought. It was a prudent question, he decided. Real dates were definitely not going to hit. And... well, whoever she really is, her face is pretty.

"The day he knew he had a son." The redhead answered, slipping a hand between his black coloured shirt and jacket to reach for a cigarette and a lighter.

"No smoking here."

Cross scowled, and let his right hand fall.

"Now, during his escape, Mana came through this forest." The lady continued, unfazed. He was starting to wonder why those eyes had to keep staring at him. "I ask this: which road did he take during his escape?"

His fallen fingers flinched, too long fringe slipping over brown hues, shading them in a sense of foreboding. Cross cursed somewhere in the back of his head.

Baka deishi, you better hurry.

There was silence in the Inn for a good moment.

Then, the whispers laced with a mixture of annoyance, curiosity and guesses spread like a fire across the room. The sounds only got louder, until a hastily shouted call by a waiter managed to calm the sea of voices into a low buzzing, background noise.

But Allen's mind was blank as he stared at what was at the door.

Or at the lap of the door, to be precise.

It was not a person.

Metallic orbs stared stupidly at the fallen item lying oh-so-innocently there, a good two tables away.

It was not supposed to look familiar.

The impossibly huge case with an ostentatious cross stretched over its texture through the middle was NOT supposed to look familiar.

Really, it wasn't.

Hey, it's really, okay? Really.

So WHY did it have to?

"Huh." A low voice beside him drew Allen's attention. The black haired turned to look at prince Daiysa almost in a daze. "Which idiot would throw a coffin-like thing into an inn like that?"

Oh of course, there is such an idiot. Allen's mind reported blankly back at him.

He had a strong urge to raise his fingers to pull at the roots of his hair.

An idiot called Cross Marian.

"Daisya-san." Allen called slowly, enunciating each syllable properly, legs standing on their own accord.

"What, kid." The said prince answered, bored, and Allen saw the royalty pick up his pair of chopsticks to pick up something from one of the dishes they ordered.

A hand reached out before those sticks could reach food, and Allen could only smile down at the soccer-crazed prince with as much gentleness he could feel at the moment.

"You need to do something for me."

With his voice crackling and eyes creepily half lid, Allen had no idea he looked the reincarnation of devil at that instant.

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"ALLEN WALKER YOU BASTARD!" Daisya shouted, sputtering and spitting as he went. "The damn taste is still there, damn it!"

Allen did not recall such blatant profanities being spewed from the second prince's mouth at such an intensity before. That was purely, a Kanda-thing.

But then again, Allen could not really blame the royalty this time.

Without meaning to, the black haired teen found himself crackling with lips twitching into a half-smile as he and his companion started for their destination, according to that second piece of paper they had somehow retrieved from the enormous case he knew belonged to his Master. Cross' biggest prank-or-not failed, being it worked on the wrong person.

HA-HA-HA.

Almost right after his joy at escaping the horrible prank, Allen quietly sighed in a huff of annoyance. He adjusted the weight on his shoulders, glaring at the ground as he continued to drag along the black box his Master so fondly labeled as 'Grave of Marian'.

Stupid Cross, stupid manipulator

The sudden rustle of leaves at his feet alerted him that they had reached their intended location and Allen blinked at the sight before him. They were before a thick and oddly quiet forest, so quiet that it was as if there were a heavy cloak of ominousity hanging over it that caused wildlives not to settle in that place. Distantly, he did hear a bird chirp, though.

"We're here Daisya-san." Allen spoke slowly, silver irises scanning the surroundings. Nobody was there, and it seemed like nobody had been there for a while. Yet, there were still quite a handful of different pathways laid out before him. "I think."

The second prince clicked his tongue, stopping right behind the younger. "It better be." A pause. "And it should be. The paper wrote 'one o'clock' and here's already the furthest place in that direction within the Noah's. Beyond here, we'll probably reach the borders already."

The other's ranting sent Allen smiling a tiny bit, even though it sounded too much like a grumble. Why? Because it was nice to have someone doing the reassuring even though Allen himself was not exactly confident that they would find his Master.

Metallic eyes stared back into the forest, now stained with flecks of yellow and orange from the setting sun. Allen shifted as he stared, right hand reaching behind him to maneuver the heavy wooden case his Master oh-so-benevolently deposited in his care to a standstill. The edge of the box scraped the sandy floor they were on and the boy tried not to mind the sound

Why did Cross send him here?

He sighed, then stiffened as he saw a movement shifted somewhere in the deep forest.

"Daisya-san, did you see that figure?" Allen raised an eyebrow at no one.

Another thought of the movement a second ago made the boy blink in contemplation.

Kanda?

He frowned. No, it was only a flash. There was no way I could have really seen him, even if it was him, could I? Allen pursed his lips. But... it felt like him. His thoughts paused blankly. … Now I sound crazy. Why would Kanda be here, of all places, anyway?

"What are you talking about?" Prince Daisya sounded both irate and confused, though the irritation was more prominent in his brusque tone. He must still be mad that Allen tricked him.

The boy turned his face sideways to look behind him with his right hand resting on the side of the big case, and offered a smile in his usual polite mannerism. "Sorry, nothing. I think we should go inside the forest."

Kanda sucked in a deep breath as he leaned his head on the thick tree bark behind him, a wave of tremor running through his body. Midnight eyes pried open with effort as he glared into the darkened sky above him. His breath was coming heavy, his eyelids heavy, and he had a sickening feel in the pit of his stomach like he was going to throw up.

What is wrong with me?

Clenching his jaw, the prince shifted forward to a proper stand, his right hand steadying him via a touch of the rough tree bark. He had to move. It's already been a whole day, and by the looks of things, his enemies were not pursuing him. Yet, he could not sleep because other than pure precaution, there had been an annoying thought gnawing at him in the back of his mind like a leech even as he trudged through the woods for so long. And he knew that inkling would not just go away on its own.

The raven haired pushed himself to walk the distance of two trees, before he hissed and leaned on another tree. Mugen was still held in his left hand, ready to slash out whenever an adversary appeared. But Kanda felt his energy was draining the more he walked on, and he had no idea how long it would be before his arm gave out on him. It was definitely not a sleep-deprived symptom - he had stayed through longer nights than just one - so that left only one possibility.

That bitch of an Noah.

And then, as a free hand reached up to brush his bangs, he felt his elbow scratch against the bark. With an irritated scowl, Kanda glanced down at his wound and at the same time, noticed a familiar line embedded within the brown texture, sliced by none other than Mugen.

It had been to indicate where he had been that noon, when he had first thought that those army or Noah were probably not on his heels already. At that realization, Kanda cursed ferociously in his head, a few slipping through his lips as he closed his eyes and tried not to pant. Another shiver shot through him.

Fuck.

There was a knock on the door.

Tiedoll blinked at the half-finished painting before turning towards the direction of the sound. "Who is it?"

"It's me." The low voice rang through.

A hand went to adjust his spectacles, and the king nodded even though the other could not see. "Do come in, Bookman."

At cue, the door slid wide open to reveal a short statured man with dark eyes.

"Tiedoll, what do Allen Walker know of the Fourteenth Song?" Bookman asked quietly from the door.

A pause hang in the air for a moment, as the said person hesitated in thought. "I am not fully sure... but my guess is that he would have some idea of it, if Marian is really his Master so to speak. That lazy bum was friends with him, in the end."

" I see." The shorter figure did nothing more than blink stoically. "Just to let you know, Allen came by the library a few days ago to try and look for it."

Tiedoll frowned a little, just barely visible. "Why? Do he know something after all?"

Bookman narrowed his dark eyes, face as solemn as ever. "He said something about having heard a story from the other prisoner."

The king nodded, a finger rising to prop up his own chin in contemplation. The puzzles were still too messy and incomplete for him to get the main ideas. Why did Marian appear after so long of disappearance? Why would the Noahs start attacking them, after so long too? Who was Allen Walker? And indeed, as an occurrence from already some time back, why did Marian send back a kid not long after he disappeared? The only fact he could be sure about was only that it had intricable ties with the Noah's country, and the lost book.

"Alright. Maybe I'll pay a visit to TimTim-kun later." Tiedoll smiled at the unsmiling face of Bookman. "Thanks for your information, Bookman."

Bookman nodded, hands unfolding from the perfect horizontal line they had formed into while he talked. As the serious-looking male turned to leave, a strand of hair tangling, he spoke again.

"Tiedoll, that kid's called Timcanpy."

The king just smiled wider, eyes sliding close at the action, as he waved a small goodbye.

"Stupid Master!" Allen called in momentum to the trees around him, not even bothered to shout anymore because that would take too much effort.

"Cross Marian, you get out here!" Daisya continued from behind him. From the corner of his eyes though, Allen could see that after so long of futile and boring search, the prince was already entertaining himself with kicking his soccer ball around on the uneven floor.

Shifting the box on his shoulders, the black haired sighed as he came to a stop in a relatively clean and small clearing.

"Maybe we should start setting up our tents already. It's going to get even darker." Allen said, turning to face the second prince. The other just paused in his steps, looked up from his sport, and shrugged. The white and black ball hopped onto Daisya's head and without speaking, the prince started to set down his bag which carried all the equipment they had bought for camping that afternoon.

There was silence between them as they worked about their equipment, and silver hues had to glance at the other. Daisya was oddly quiet since they entered the forest - other than the shouting that is. "Still angry at me for tricking you?" Allen started, voice soft and devoid of any smugness he had felt earlier that day. He did not really mean to offend his companion, although it might be the same difference since he did.

"Don't you even mention that, unless you want to be maimed." was a nonchalant response from the other. Allen just harrumphed back sheepily.

Silence fell again as both of them worked dutifully about their agenda. Allen did not notice maroon eyes trailing to the big case beside him for a while before the second prince frowned.

After what felt like forever with the bending of wires, tent material and some hammering, the hastily made shelter for the night was done.

"We're done!" The silver eyed teen announced with a light smile, bending his back. His mouth widened in a yawn abruptly. "Wow, I'm so tired I can probably sleep for days!"

"Heh. I told you that shitty book is not worth you pulling an all nighters."

Allen meant to sigh, but another yawn interrupted him. "And I told you it's not shitty."

A sudden rustle jolted Allen, tensing his body back to awakeness. Metallic eyes turned to blink perplexedly at the dark greeneries. Another shuffle, and he took the beat to scan their surroundings swiftly. He did not look at his companion, but the prince was likely doing the same.

The sound got closer. He found himself teetering on the edge as the noise approached more quickly, body already spiked on a fight or flight mode, adrenaline pounding in his ears.

His eyes narrowed at a particular shift of shadows too close to him, and he heard the whisper of metal from beside him, although he did not take the time to glance.

Another rustle. The shadow was more distinctive this time.

And then, there it was again. That feeling.

The boy had to frown at himself. As if -

Abruptly, between the nearest row of tall bushes and a tree, a figure emerged. It staggered sloppily in what felt like an odd sense of clumsiness.

Silver eyes widened, when they stared straight into cobalt ones, which looked horribly, horribly familiar.

"Yuu!" A voice that was not his shouted. For a brief moment, Allen could not remember who that voice belonged to. All he saw was those pair of midnight eyes gleaming in the dark, gravitating his focus in place.

A strangest feeling crossed his chest.

With their gazes still locked, Allen heard more than saw the said prince move towards him with dragging feet against the sandy road. There was an unnerving screech as something scrapped the uneven floor.

Then, just when the boy barely heard a sigh, the dark sapphire depths he had been staring into fell shut. A weight fell onto him too fast for him to register.

"K-Kanda?" The name tore itself out of his throat in surprise as he looked down at the unconscious male between his arms. The dead weight on him sagged. "Hey!"

A good moment of quiet that draped over them was tense with such anxiety that Allen never knew he could feel for the one arrogant prince he knew himself to loathe.

Then, a second later, the lightest sound of a snore escaped from the male half in his arms and half on his lap. A moment of gear turning in Allen's head sent the world pausing.

The black haired heaved a too large breath, and rolled his eyes.

"Wow... baka Yuu-kun dropping into a dead sleep like this is something I haven't seen." Daisya commented incredulously beside him after another moment, a finger reaching out to poke the sleeping figure from his squatted stance. Kanda did not even flinch.

"Neither have I." Allen replied offhandedly, shifting the weight on him to a more comfortable angle. He realized just a moment too late that the adjustment led to a face being propped up between his jaw and his left shoulder, too near to his own. Silver hues blinked down at the face before him, noticing the other's still-perfectly-straight bangs and gradually, as eyes subconsciously trailed downwards, the still perfectly angular nose and cheekbone. Ah, but there are dark eye bags under those closed lids which he had not seen before.

He took a moment to stare, without actually meaning to.

"Are you, Allen Walker, staring at Kanda Yuu?" An amused voice broke through his reverie, and Allen turned slowly to look the older prince with as much innocence he could manage.

"What?"

"Heh. Nothing except for the fact that your eyes seemed glued to Yuu's face." An eyebrow was raised at him in mocking and Allen scowled back at the prince. "Finding him attractive?"

"Did not. Do not. Will not." Allen gritted slowly, although somewhere in the back of his mind, there was a small sound of negation. And at that, he just had to frown at himself for what felt like the second time that day. What the freaking hell?

"You never know." Prince Daisya actually smirked playfully at him. "For one, you two look enough like a couple sitting together like that."

The black haired felt a bout of incredulity and indignation, and he stormed to his feet from the seated position he had fallen into in protest. "Prince Daisya!"

The swift move sent a sleeping figure falling surely towards the ground, head-first at that rate. A hand reached out before Allen could register, gripping a shoulder as he pulled the sleeping raven haired against his nearest leg.

Metallic eyes blinked down at the unconscious figure whose features shifted, almost as if he was waking up. Then he watched those eyelids slid open a fraction just as a snicker made its way to his eyes. Allen turned to look at Daisya in absolute shock.

"You and Yuu-kun have the oddest way of denial I have ever seen, kid."

Before Allen could challenge that assumption angrily, another voice made its way to his ears. A voice that, for some reasons, sent a tiny sense of sentimentality rising in Allen.

"Moya...shi?" The word uttered rang with such familiarity, yet the tone was unusually gentle. Still...

"It's Allen you BaKanda!" Allen growled down at the half-conscious prince, already provoked before the insult. "Is that the first word you have got to say!"

Silver irises met deep sapphire, and again, Allen found his gaze unwillingly riveted. He heard himself grumble mentally that he was going to get mocked again, but his eyes just refused to move so much as an inch. Those cobalt eyes looked too exhausted, and confused. He never ever remembered seeing the almighty Kanda Yuu looking quite that vulnerable before, even when the other lost his sight.

Is something wrong with him?

Those eyes blinked slowly, too tired, and Allen watched Kanda speak.

"Why are you... bald?"

Distantly, the night insects croaked.

Then before Allen could stutter out a shocked insult back at the prince, the most unexpected thing happened. A light chuckle slipped out of Kanda's mouth and the black haired boy could only stare down with widened orbs at the prince leaning on his leg with let down raven locks tickling.

"Your hair is -heh- black. So black... till... camouflage! Hah! The stupid... moyashi... is bald."

Allen promptly found his left eye twitching, hands trembling in rage not long after. Artificially dark hair strands covered his otherwise too shocked expression, laced with a roar of annoyance.

I see. Kanda Yuu, you are just -

A gust of wind blew, his fringe lifting, and silver found themselves staring down at the suddenly too innocent pair of cobalt eyes. Allen watched Kanda's face shift to better look up at him in the face, then morphing into one with lips drawn up at one corner, an eyebrow raised and midnight eyes glittering with amusement. Even in the dark, at that close of a distance, the too unusual yet not unappealing expression stared so painstakingly - nice - at him.

He found his brain working overtime, blood racing, and he had no idea what he was supposed to feel.

He called me bald!
But he look so...
He fucking dared to call me bald after he gave that damn order!
He look so...
How can he be so insulting!
Why must he look at me like that... like that...
HE CALLED ME BALD DAMN YOU KAND-
STOP LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT!

Allen settled for the anger, which was the most familiar feeling he felt around the third prince, and snarled down at Kanda. He felt his cheeks burn, although he would rather die than admit it.

"How dare you call me bald! YOU HAIRY DANGO!"

A second round of shuffling and rustle resounded somewhere to his back and Allen whipped around with a menacing growl bubbling up his throat, blush and terrible insult be damned. From the corner of his eyes, he thought he saw prince Daisya pull a dagger from his boots in caution.

Another shuffling sound, and then a too tall figure brushed his way into their sight.

In the dark, Allen could barely make out the face that far away, but the voice that came was impossible not to recognize.

"Oh?" The syllable dragged for too long. "Did I miss something... stupid apprentice?"

With white teeth flashed at them in a smirk, two fully conscious person found themselves looking at the man they had been searching for for days - Cross Marian.

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I have my reservations for this chapter.

Oh well, at least you see some yullen-ness.

Updates should be faster. Till next time.