[A/N] - Hi~ Read this please?
So my flu isn't quite all gone. But I felt that with the overwhelming amount of support my wonderful readers and reviewers have been giving me, all of you deserved something with more length and story to it.
I'll leave more sappy stuff for the end.
Until then, please enjoy the eleventh chapter for For the First Time!
Recommendations: Read in 3/4th page size. I personally think it looks cleaner.
Disclaimer: Ah, nope. Nope, nope, nope.
Allen and Lenalee slid into the backseat of one of the Academy's transport cars. Lenalee asked the driver to take them to the town center before settling back in her seat.
"It's not too far away, so we'll be there soon," she informed Allen. "You've never been there before?"
He shook his head. "I've never actually thought about going outside the Academy, to be honest. There wasn't a reason to go before."
"That's true," she conceded. "Pretty much anything you could need is already at the Academy. Shopping is really the only thing you can do in town that you can't do there, since Eliade only stocks the school uniform."
Allen nodded. Students were allowed to wear casual clothes on days where there were no classes. More often than not, he wore his uniform every day because it provided cover for his arm and hands without looking too out-of-place. "Is that why you wanted to go?"
"More or less. There weren't many things I could think of doing inside the Academy, so I thought going shopping would be refreshing." Lenalee blushed a bit. "I'm sorry I dragged you into going with me. I know going shopping with a girl isn't any guy's first idea of fun."
Allen smiled. "It's okay. I don't mind. It's a shame Lavi couldn't go, though. Despite what he said, I think he really wanted to go too."
"That wouldn't surprise me. I've never gotten detention before, but I think I'd do anything to get out of it – especially if I were Lavi now, considering how many dishes you left behind." She giggled at Allen's grimace before looking out the window and exclaiming, "Hey, we're here!"
Allen looked past her out the window to see that the car was slowing to a stop alongside the curb of a plaza bordered by a multitude of shops and small restaurants. In the center of the plaza was a fountain with a sculpture of what seemed to be a tall tower atop a precarious cliff, water flowing from several of the many arches that made up the outer walls.
Lenalee noticed his gaze and said, "That tower was actually one of the first designs for the Academy. This town benefits – I should say profits, actually - from the Academy, so they made the fountain in its honor."
The two stepped out of the car. Lenalee gave the driver a time to pick them up and waved as it drove away. Allen walked closer to the fountain to observe it. "It's an interesting design."
"I think so too, but at the same time, it's really impractical and out-of-the-way. Can you imagine going through all those floors every day?"
"I suppose not." Allen's eyes glanced over the area around the plaza. Though there weren't that many people out, he saw many of the cafés and shops open. "Where did you want to shop?"
Lenalee's eyes lit up. "There's this one boutique that has really cute clothes down the way." She pointed to a street leading away from the plaza and started walking towards it, Allen following behind her. "They stock men's clothes too, so you could get some too, if you want."
Allen was confused. "I don't have a way to pay for them, though."
Lenalee tilted her head. "Didn't I – oh no, I forgot to tell you! Students from the Academy basically have already prepaid for anything in town. Apparently, Mother pays the town an amount of money each year to cover whatever we happen to get here. It's pretty convenient." She reached into her skirt pocket to pull out a silver crest. "The Rose Crest on our uniforms shows the shopkeepers that we're from the Academy."
"It's a good thing I wore my uniform today, then." He motioned slightly to the Rose Crest on the left side of the grey vest he wore.
"That is a nice coincidence – I think you would have been okay just being with me, since I have mine, though."
They stepped into the small store where a brown-haired girl stood behind the counter. Upon noticing Lenalee, she waved furiously in greeting, almost yelling, "Hi, Lenalee!"
"Good morning, Chomesuke. I haven't seen you in a while!" Lenalee smiled at the peppy girl.
"No kidding! You haven't been here for so long, I was starting to think you'd forgotten about me." She pouted, then looked around Lenalee, head moving quickly from side to side. "Anyway, where's Lavi? Did he go with you?"
"Not today. He got detention, so he had to stay behind."
"Oh…" Chomesuke seemed to deflate a bit before noticing Allen standing just inside the doorway. "Oh, hi! Who are you?"
"He's Lavi's roommate and a friend of ours. He just transferred here a few months ago," Lenalee said.
"I'm Allen Walker." Allen bowed slightly. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Chomesuke."
"Oh, Chomesuke is fine." She fluttered her hand at him and smiled brightly. "It's nice to meet you, Allen! Are you here to get some clothes?"
"I'm not so sure about myself, but Lenalee was excited about coming here." The rapid pace of Chomesuke's questions gave Allen the feeling of losing a race.
"Great! We just got a new stock in a couple days ago and I think you might like some of them. Come over here! Feel free to look around, Allen!" Chomesuke motioned for Lenalee to follow her and walked into the racks of clothes under a sign that denoted the women's side of the store. Lenalee shot an apologetic smile over her shoulder towards Allen before hurrying after Chomesuke.
Allen decided to take a look at the clothes, if only to give Lenalee time to enjoy herself. He walked over to the men's side of the store and looked through the clothes slowly, slightly disinterested since he didn't feel the need to get anything for himself. Come to think about it, I don't remember ever taking time to pick clothes like this when I was under Master's care. He refused to leave me any money of my own and took it all to fuel his unhealthy habits. I think I got most of my clothes from playing poker… His mood darkened the moment he started thinking about Cross, so he shook his head to dispel the memories.
He walked around the racks a bit more, looking for nothing in particular before something caught his eye. A scarf folded neatly into a square sat on a tiered display of other accessories. The bright orange color immediately reminded him of Lavi, toiling away back at the Academy. Allen picked it up, letting it unfold completely. It was a plain scarf, devoid of decoration, but Allen thought that it looked nice in its simplicity. He refolded it and tucked it into the crook of his arm.
Looking up, he saw Chomesuke waving at him furiously while standing next to what appeared to be a dressing room. He walked over and asked, "Was there something you needed?"
"Not me – Lenalee wants a second opinion! Right, Lenalee?" She knocked on the door of the dressing room while smiling.
"No, no, it's okay! I already have you for that, Chou. You don't need to bother Allen for it." Allen could almost hear the blush in Lenalee's voice.
"Well, he's already here. You might as well take it." Chomesuke crossed her arms.
The sound of a doorknob turning reached Allen's ears and he saw the door crack open, revealing Lenalee in a deep purple dress that flowed down to the back of her heels. Ruffles lines the collar and ran down the middle of the front and along the hem of the dress. The front of the dress was shorter than the back, revealing her legs and the white skirt underneath.
Lenalee tugged at the long, draping sleeves, avoiding Allen's eyes. "Like I said, you don't have to…"
"You look very pretty, Lenalee." Allen smiled. "The color of the dress compliments your eyes."
She met his eyes then, a pink blush appearing on her cheeks and a smile evident on her face. "Do you think so? Sometimes the Academy holds dances in the gym, so I thought having a dress for them would be nice."
"He's right, Lenalee!" Chomesuke clapped her hands together excitedly. "If we just curled your hair a bit and gave you some make-up, you'd look like a princess from a fairy tale!"
"Thanks, Chou. I think I'll take this, then." Lenalee disappeared behind the door again to change back into her casual clothes.
"I'll wrap it up for you when you come out," Chomesuke said, walking back to the counter near the front of the store and pulling Allen along with her. She tugged lightly on the scarf in his arms and inspected it after he released it from his grasp. "This is a nice color – don't you think it'd clash with your hair though?"
"It's not for me." Allen chuckled a bit at the thought of wearing such a bright color – it would definitely make the odd white color of his hair stick out even more.
"Oh, I get it - it's a gift then! Lenalee's hair wouldn't go very well with this color either, though." She wrinkled her nose a bit thoughtfully. "I thought you'd have a better idea of color coordination, since you were right about the dress and her eyes."
"Er, it's not for Lenalee. I'm getting it for another friend."
"Oh!" She covered her mouth with her hand and giggled apologetically. "Sorry for assuming. Which friend is that, then?"
"Lavi."
At the mention of the red-haired boy's name, Chomesuke practically squealed. "Lavi? Then you're dead-on – he'd look great with this color! I should have thought about getting this for him myself! Darn it…" She huffed a bit while refolding it and wrapping it in tissue paper.
"I thought it'd look nice on him," Allen admitted. "I'm sorry if I'm being nosy, but… Would I be correct in assuming that you… like Lavi?"
"Of course!" She beamed, placing the scarf in a bag and resting her head on her hands, propped up on her elbows. "Ever since he came in that one time with Lenalee a while ago, I've always had a little crush on him. He's actually the one who gave me this nickname, Chomesuke. I was wearing a little butterfly hairclip that day and I hadn't given him my name yet, so he made one up and I thought it was a lot cuter than my real name, so I've been using it ever since." She sighed dreamily at the memory, then leaned forward and lowered the volume of her voice slightly. "Enough about me, though – what about you?"
Allen was puzzled. "What do you mean?"
"You know – you and Lenalee! You two are going out, right?"
"Er..."
She gasped a bit. "You mean, you aren't? But you both looked so cute when you walked in together! There's no way you can't be dating. You looked like a couple on a date! She didn't seem nearly so happy when she walked in with Lavi, so I figured you must've been her boyfriend!"
Allen shook his head. "We aren't."
"That's a shame… You two look good together." She giggled and straightened up, waving at the aforementioned girl emerging from the dressing room, dress draped neatly over her arm.
"Sorry I took so long," Lenalee said sheepishly. "I hope you weren't too bored waiting around for me." She gave Chomesuke the dress to wrap up.
"No, of course not," Allen assured her. He held up the paper bag with the scarf inside. "I got Lavi his compensation for having to wash all of my dishes, so there wasn't a problem."
"That's good – hopefully, he won't complain too much when we get back." Lenalee looked over at him from the corner of her eyes. "Didn't you get anything for yourself?"
He shook his head. "I always end up wearing the uniform whenever we have a free day, so I didn't think that I needed anything."
"Well, isn't that because you don't have anything to wear then?" Chomesuke piped up. She'd finished packing up Lenalee's dress in a rectangular box and was listening in to their conversation.
"Not exactly. I just feel more comfortable in the uniform." Allen rubbed at his left arm subconsciously.
Lenalee noticed the motion and asked, "You're wearing your gloves?"
"Ah, yes. They are a part of my uniform, after all."
She frowned. "It's so hot outside though – It's bad enough that your uniform has long sleeves and long pants. Here, help yourself a bit…" Before Allen could protest, Lenalee caught ahold of his wrist and pulled the gloves off of his hands. Her eyes widened when she found the blackened skin beneath the cloth. "Allen, this is –"
Allen snatched the gloves back from Lenalee's hands, flinching back slightly. He pulled them back on, a shaky smile on his face. "It's… It's okay, the heat doesn't bother me." Noticing Chomesuke looking at them curiously, he turned to her slightly and said, "Thank you for your help today, Chomesuke. We'll come back to see you again another time."
"O-oh, okay, then. Thanks for stopping by!" She waved at them as they walked out the door and let it swing shut behind them.
Allen walked in the direction of the plaza, turning down a street that ended at the entrance to a park. Lenalee followed, quietly keeping pace with him. They walked into the relatively empty park, sitting on a wooden bench underneath a tree. Silence reigned as they watched leaves fall from the trees and get tossed around in the light breeze.
Out of the corner of his eye, Allen could see Lenalee idly twisting and interlocking her fingers, staring out into the greenery of the park. He felt that he should tell her about his hand, but for some reason, he didn't feel comfortable telling her about the circumstances behind it. It puzzled him. He hadn't had any qualms about telling Lavi about everything on his birthday, so why couldn't he talk to Lenalee about it? She was just as good a friend as Lavi was to him… right?
Somehow, he knew that wasn't the case. He knew that he was more comfortable around Lavi – for what reason, he didn't know. Lenalee had never actually done anything to make him uncomfortable around her, and there wasn't any reason for him to distrust her either. No, it wasn't a matter of trust for Allen – it was simply a matter of feeling. To him, it didn't feel as right to tell her, even if she deserved to know as much as Lavi did. Allen thought he was being inherently selfish – reserving the right to keep things from some people and spilling his heart to others? The polite, well-mannered person everyone took him for wouldn't do that.
That train of thought led him to think about his appearance to other people. Even though his hair was such an odd color, and the scar on his face was always starkly visible, the people he'd made friends with didn't seem to care about that. He remembered when he was younger, if he ever happened to meet any other kids during his travels with Cross, they'd always back away from him, and call him a monster.
Once, soon after he'd fallen under Cross' protection, he'd run into a little girl who had dropped her doll from atop the slide she'd been sitting on. He had picked it up and tried to hand it back to her, but the girl had cried and backed away at the sight of his arm. When she'd refused to take it from his hands, he was forced to set it down at the bottom of the slide and walk away. From around then on, he'd begun keeping his arm and hand covered whenever possible.
But his friends didn't care. Lavi thought it gave him character, made him a more unique person. He'd told Allen that it didn't bother him at all. Allen hadn't realized it at the time, but maybe that was when Lavi'd really gotten a hold on him as his friend. That kind of acceptance was hard to come by, in his mind, so he appreciated it.
Allen was sure that Lenalee had wondered about his appearance as well, but she, like Lavi, had kept her silence. He knew that, but still couldn't tell her about it. He sighed through his nose.
I'm not a very good person.
"Allen…" Lenalee's quiet utterance of his name made him turn his head to look at her. She didn't meet his eyes, but continued, "About your hand… I know that you probably didn't want me to find out about it. You've never taken your gloves off whenever you're around me and you never want to wear anything other than the long shirts that are part of the uniform, even though you don't have to."
"It's… It's not because of you, Lenalee." It's just me, being selfish. "They're just… scars from an accident that happened when I was little. I thought it'd make people uncomfortable if they see it, so I keep them covered. It's nothing to do with you personally."
"I'm glad you told me that." She smiled, making Allen feel a tad guilty. "Does… Does Lavi know about them?"
He nodded. "It would have been hard to hide something like this from him, since he's my roommate."
"I see. Well, er…" She blushed bit, looking down at her fingers. "If it means anything, I don't mind the way you look."
"That does mean a lot to me," Allen admitted. "Thank you, Lenalee."
"Of course." She smiled widely, standing up and stretching. Allen did the same and realized that he'd been lost in his thoughts for quite a long time when he felt the telltale pins and needles under his feet. "It's about time for us to eat lunch, don't you think?"
"Sure." Allen suddenly felt ravenous. "Do you have any particular place you'd like to eat at?"
She hummed, thinking about it for a moment. "There's a nice Chinese restaurant near here that another one of my friends works at. I'm sure they'll have enough food to feed even you."
"It's not my fault I have a fast metabolism," Allen said, shrugging.
"I'm sure Lavi blames you anyway."
"… He probably does," Allen agreed. He held up the smaller of the two bags he held in his hand, since he'd taken Lenalee's bag for her when they'd left the store. "Hopefully this will make up for it."
"What is it?" Lenalee asked curiously.
"It's a secret."
Her cheeks puffed out in a pout. "Oh, come on – you know I wouldn't tell him."
"I do, but I'll let you find out when he does. It's not that special so you don't have to be so excited."
"You're just making me even more curious."
"Oh well."
Lenalee gave him a playful shove, laughing as they walked through a door into a restaurant with traditional Chinese decorations hanging from the walls and ceiling. Behind a podium next to the door was a brown-haired young girl wearing a pink dress.
"Hi, Mei-ling!" Lenalee greeted the girl. "How have you been?"
"Lenalee! It's nice to see you again! I've been great – Grandpa likes to complain about his joints and makes me fetch his cane for him a lot, but otherwise, we've been just fine."
"That's good – is he in the kitchen?"
Mei-ling nodded. "Chaoji took a day off, so Grandpa is the only cook for today."
"Oh, okay. My friend and I would like to eat lunch – do you have room for two and food for ten?"
Mei-ling giggled, gesturing at some empty tables in the room. "I have the tables, but I'll have to see about the food. Are you going to eat it all yourself?"
"Oh, no, that's his job." She pointed at Allen behind her. Mei-ling looked around Lenalee curiously to see who she was pointing at.
Allen stepped forward to stand in front of the shorter girl. "My name is Allen Walker. It's nice to meet you."
"It's nice to meet you too, Allen. I'm Mei-ling." She smiled and bowed. "Please have a seat and I'll be happy to take your order once you're ready."
Lenalee and Allen thanked her and picked a table that could seat four near the window next to the door. Picking up a menu from a small rack on the side of the table, they both flipped through the pages, looking for things that looked appetizing.
Lenalee eyed Allen over the edge of the laminated paper after a few moments of scanning through the options. "Do you know what you're going to get?"
Allen nodded. "One of everything. Did you want some tea, too?"
She almost sighed, already pitying Mei-ling's grandpa in the kitchen.
[A/N] - I hope the spelling of Mei-ling's name doesn't bother anyone. I know it can also be Mei-rin, but I prefer Mei-ling.
That aside, this chapter was on the longer side, yay~ Long for this story and my writing style, anyway. Thank you's and hugs go to everyone who supports this story! You all brighten up my day so much!
As always, please read and review~ I know the site automatically says something along the lines of, "The author would like to thank you for your continued support" after submitting a review - and it's true! I thank each and every one of your from the bottom of my heart!
Too long, didn't read? Sure. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and have a wonderful until-the-next-chapter!