People

Allen Walker

My young Mistress grinned up at me, her hand already buried deep in that bag of candy I'd brought her from the kitchen room some floors above. She popped a sweet into her mouth as we walked, and it made a crunching sound that cut through the silence when she bit down and crushed it between her perfectly white teeth.

I stared at her rather blankly, noting nothing out of the ordinary about her current mental condition, despite the seriousness of her demeanour I'd glimpsed when she'd been talking to the demons of the Black Order. "Did I forget something?"

Her hand in the bag stilled. "No," she replied flatly, eyes dulling.

If my mind wasn't so broken, her reaction might've raised some kind of warning flag in my mind.

"They said they knew me. Why is that?" I probed, knowing full well that this wasn't like me at all. I didn't bother to think about why that was. "Road?"

She wouldn't answer, so I pressed her no further. I had a job to do anyway, and asking personal questions was not that job.

"Do you have any tasks for me to complete?"

Road shook her head, taking another candy and pushing it past her lips. After chewing on the sweet for a moment, she swallowed, and said, "I'm fine."

That was when I spotted the red stains on the bag in her hands and bloody crescents in her palms.

"I'll clean those up right away," I mumbled, holding open the purple-and-white door that lead to her bedroom.

She stayed were she was, having seen what I meant. "That's not neces-"

I let the door close, and took a step closer to the demoness. "My task, given to me by Sheryl, is to care for you. The order was an indefinite one." Mindful of the small injuries dotting her dainty hands, I held them in mine, and stared her right in the eyes. Because of my lack of emotion, many had told me how unnerving this was for them. Road was no exception to that. She could not control her emotions, no matter how much she wished she could, no matter how good she was at hiding them. "Let me do my job, Mistress."

Holding my gaze for another second or so, she gave in. "Fine," she muttered petulantly, sticking out her lip in a pout.

Once more, I opened the door, and this time, she passed through the doorway, knowing automatically to head straight for the bathroom.

"Good. Master Earl would be upset if you fell prey to an infection," I informed the girl, following after her. "As would Sheryl."

She groaned and sat up on the bathroom counter. "Father would cause such a scene." A giggle. "But maybe that wouldn't be so bad."

"He spoils you too much, Mistress. You're becoming conceited," I told her as I sifted my way through the contents of the sink cupboard.

Every bathroom in this building contained at least the bare minimum of medical equipment, because, more often than not, accidents did indeed occur. Road's room was particularly well-stocked, a result of a doting father and a Master who loved his twelve Noah very much.

She laughed at my words and nudged my shoulder with the toe of her purple shoe. "Are you sure that's what you meant to say?"

"Maybe not." I pulled out a bottle of disinfectant and a small box filled with cotton swabs, and looked up at her smiling face. "Attention-seeking is closer."

Her jaw dropped.

Standing, I set the bottle and the box down beside her on the counter, before unscrewing the bottle and filling the lid with as much disinfectant as it could hold without spilling over. I opened the box next, selecting a few swabs. After that, I dipped a white ball of cotton into the disinfectant, and then swiped the soaked swab over the marks.

When I was finished with them all, I threw the used cotton balls in the bin and reached back into the cupboard for a roll of gauze.

The second she saw the bandages, she scowled. "Don't use bandages," she said, turning up her nose. "You're over exaggerating things now. They'll heal soon enough. Besides, if Papa sees me in those, he'll have a heart attack."

Even if I could, I would not disagree with that statement; Sheryl was a very overprotective man.

Road slid down from the counter, eyeing me oddly while I returned everything back to their original places.

As I was shutting the cupboard doors, she tugged on my sleeve.

"Is something the matter?" I asked, turning my full attention to her.

Her gold eyes held no joy now; they were cool and sombre and on only me. "If there's anything you ever need, know that you can come to me, alright?"

I patted the top of her spiky purple hair, smoothing it down the best I could. "You need not concern yourself with my wellbeing."

She curled up against me like a cat, her arms winding around my neck, forehead pressed to my scarred cheek. "But I do care."

"You shouldn't."

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I had held her in my arms until her breathing had evened out and she'd fallen asleep there.

Silently, I carried my Mistress to her bed, carefully lowering her down onto the purple sheets.

She would not let me go when I made to pull back, so I sat down beside her and attempted to gently pry her hands away from my sleeve, but found that I was unable to extract myself from her strong demon grip.

It was best to wait this out then.

I let my back rest against the headboard of her bed, kicking my shoes off and drawing me knees close to my chest.

My grey gaze drifted down to land on my Mistress' sleeping face, and I let myself take in her relaxed expression.

She was someone I would care for if I had the capacity to.

While this place was crawling with demons, I knew that I did not mind the species. I had never been one to discriminate by species, even before my time with Noah.

Vaguely, I remembered a man by the name of Mana. He was a demon, just like most of this building's occupants. He, like my Mistress, was one of the better ones. It was he who had been the one to grant me a name. Apparently the past Allen's had all died; the name itself was a curse, he'd said. I was already cursed, so I'd promised him that I would outlive him to prove him wrong.

I'd done just that.

I was living, and he was a corpse.

After him, the next I'd learnt to love -to really, really love- was Yu.

That was why I was here.

The only reason I still worked for Noah was because I couldn't leave. My body simply wouldn't allow it. It had been ingrained into me that those of the Black Order -Yu and Lenalee and Lavi and Komui and so many more- had to be protected. I now lived for that, even if I no longer knew why. It was just a fact of life.

Besides, I quite seriously doubted that I'd be able to function properly anymore without someone to give me orders.

Noah had dragged me away from my family, and back then, I'd tried my hardest to remember the way Yu had looked at that very moment, because I'd thought it would be the very last time I'd ever get to see him.

Oh how wrong I'd been.

Seeing him that next time had unlimitedly been what ruined me. It had taught me how it felt to have the person I loved the most stare at me like I was a blight on this already imperfect world. Like I was a monster. A traitor.

But now here he was, before me again, with no memories of what we once were. With no memories of the sin I'd committed.

And on this night that I slept leaning against by Mistress' headboard, I dreamed of feather-light touches, gruff hushed words, and unnerving dark blue eyes that made me feel.

Those dreams were once my very favourite.

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I normally only ever update this story after I've updated another, but all the other ones are only half done, so I'll have to get on to those and update one this week.