Yo.
Sorry I haven't updated much. Things have been a lil…eh. This chapter might be lack-luster. My apologies for that. I want to get to a point where I'm updating this story once a week or at least bi-weekly, but *laughs wryly* I'll see about that.
Thanks to Yuuki GB, jy24, and Cutiepie120048 for reviewing the story.
Thanks for everyone's favs and follows. They are very much appreciated.
Stay shiny! *jazz hands*
-JD
Disclaimer: Nyan. Meow. Gaooo. All of those are Cat-anese for "no."
Krory watched with concerned eyes as Allen walked briskly beside him, only one apple left from the small batch of them he'd had before. He bit into it just like the others, silently walking beside him as they headed to the cafeteria.
There seemed to be no trace left behind of the fight that he'd had with Kanda, but there was something…different about him. Given, Allen had told him what it was.
"I've met'm before."
Krory blinked owlishly at the boy, his mouth open wider. Kanda had left a minute ago, and after Marie gave Allen an quick once over, he left after his comrade, unable to hear anything wrong with Allen, save for the things he noticed before and an accelerated heartbeat from the exercise.
He wasn't really surprised by the fact Allen didn't remember that he'd met Kanda before. He was actually surprised Allen was taking it so well.
If he'd stuck in a situation where he was only remembering things piece by piece, especially if he suspected Allen currently was, there would've been a considerably larger amount of crying and confusion. Even young, the boy seemed to take things in stride. It must just be a habit of his…
Ah, had to be a habit of his, considering his master.
"Is that so? Where did you meet him?" he asked, just to see if it matched what Allen had told him before.
"Erhm…" his eyes squinted in concentration, "It was somewhere really high up, and…there were little bats flying everywhere…" then his eyes opened wide, "There was a gate, too! It talked to me!"
Krory hummed in interest, noting that the memory seemed correct.
"It wan't nice, though…said I was 'n AKUMA? And then…" his expression scrunched, "…he came. He attacked me 'cause o' wha' the gate said and…"
Allen looked down at his arm, frowning.
"You got hurt, right?" Krory finished.
"Mmhmm."
"I see…is something bothering you?"
The boy blinked up at him before shaking his head, "Nu-uh. I w's just wonderin'…I was taller?"
Krory wanted to laugh out loud, but he kept it as a chuckle. He watched as Allen reached over to his pile of apples, the one that he bit off of having yellowed and browned lightly where he'd eaten earlier.
"Oh, that apple might be a little—"
Allen bit into the part he'd bitten in before without hesitation, leaving the man blinking in surprise. Usually children would complain about their apples if they went a little soft or turned brown too quickly, but the boy didn't seem to mind in the least. After all, once he'd bitten into it, the fresh parts of the apple returned, the juice coming back.
"Mmh?" Allen swallowed what he was chewing, "Wha' did'ja say?"
Krory sighed, smiling lightly as he shook his head, "Nothing important."
The boy had been feeling a little hungry after the sparring, and he was running out of apples—and Krory felt a little peckish himself—so they headed off to the cafeteria. The man wondered where Lavi was as they headed along their way, but decided that he wouldn't bother too much about it. He was probably still sleeping the mission off. Actually…
"Allen?"
"Mmh?" he looked up at Krory.
"Where is Lavi?"
Allen thought for a minute before he seemed to realize something, "Ah, he's back in the room. I…might need to head back to him."
"Why?"
"Nurse gave 'im something' he has'ta give me when I eat sometimes, so I gotta get 'im if I wan'ta eat," he turned around, heading back the way they came, but paused before he left, "Uhm, I gotta go, so…"
"Oh, it's alright! If he's up to it, maybe we can meet once you both get there? We can have dinner together!"
Allen blinked at the notion but nodded anyway before heading off.
"Ah! Allen, you're heading to Lavi's room, right?"
"Yeah."
"It's the other way!"
At least some things were the same.
Lavi awoke to the knock on his door. He twitched awake, yawning tiredly as he stood up.
"Mmh coming," he sighed, carefully walking on parts of the floor that didn't have his papers on it simply out of habit.
He stretched a little as he opened the door, squinting his eye at the light outside. Then, he brightened a bit, a lazy smile coming onto his face.
"Ah, hey Krorykins!"
The man laughed good-naturedly, proving he had no AKUMA blood in his system, "Hello Lavi! It's nice to see you weren't shrunk, too!"
"Hmm? Wha'dya…ah."
Right beside him, Allen stood with a lightly nervous, but mostly sheepish look on his face.
"Allen couldn't find his way back, and he said you needed to give him something when he ate. So I helped him get back to you. I'm glad you're still here!" Krory laughed, "Wouldn't want to search for you too long."
"Oh hey, thanks Krory," he replied with a smile, shifting over to let a silent Allen squeeze into the room beside him, "So hey, what did he do while he was out?"
"Hmm? Oh, when we found him, he'd knocked into Kanda. After that, we all went to the training room…speaking of which," he leaned in, "What's going on? He's lost his memory?"
Lavi looked back into the room. Allen seemed to not be paying attention, his sleeve wiping the corner of his mouth as he reached for another fruit in the bag they'd gotten from Jeryy. He turned back to the curious man, his voice lowered.
"It was an AKUMA attack. He'd been regressed to the time he was 12, for the most part anyway. His memories are out of whack, so sometimes he remembers recent things, but for the most part, he doesn't know any of us."
"Eeeh? I thought he was younger…are kids always that small?" he sighed, but then perked back up, "Ah, he did remember something while fighting Kanda."
"He fought Kanda?!"
Lavi couldn't see it, but Allen flinched at the reaction. He didn't make a sound and tried to not listen as he crawled back into the bed with his fruit.
"Well, it was more like sparring…well, more like dodging. Allen didn't try to hit Kanda, he just made sure he didn't get hurt. And don't worry! Kanda didn't hit him hard, only tripped him up a few times…Allen's amazingly good at dodging, actually. Also, Marie and I were there, too. He would've heard if he'd gotten hurt, and I would've seen it."
"Oh," he calmed, "I see…that's good. Thanks for watching him."
"No problem! If you're feeling up to it in the next few minutes, I'll be in the cafeteria. Feel free to stop by!"
"Sure thing."
Krory smiled as he turned around, but then remembered something and turned back, "Ah, also…"
"Hmm?"
"I think sparring with Kanda helped him remember something. He told me he met Kanda before…then there's also the thing his arm…"
"The…what thing?"
Krory frowned, "…Has Allen's Innocence…always tried to, uh…drag him around?"
Oh. Well, that was new.
"Not that I'm aware of…I'll ask him about it."
"Ah, good," the man's concern faded a little, "I'm off to eat. See you later."
Lavi waved at him as he walked off before he closed the door. He sighed a little tiredly, but not because of Allen. Rather, he was upset he hadn't been around to help the boy out. It had to have been sort of scary to walk through the Black Order all by himself. And he was certain that Krory had questions about what was going on, considering how strange Allen was acting.
He wasn't exactly sure how well Allen coped being around groups of men. Hell, he warmed up to Lenalee faster than he'd warmed up to him—he could tell just by his body language. Even so, Krory seemed to have found a soft spot that Allen felt comfortable with, since he saw his body tense after he looked at him when he opened the door.
'Baby steps, Lavi. You've got to be patient,' he thought, pulling his chair over to the bed, Allen watching him.
Considering the mark, there was no telling what Allen had gone through. He had to build trust again, and it would probably be harder than before, but it would be worth it.
"Hey kiddo. Did you have fun?" he asked, sitting down and looking at the cautious boy in his bed.
He nodded lightly in reply, his body slightly curled in.
Lavi smiled reassuringly, leaning back and relaxing his posture, "I guess you got bored waiting for me to wake up, huh?
"'M sorry."
He waved his hand dismissively, "No, no, it's fine. If I were you, I would've went exploring, too! Besides, I never said you had to stay in the room. You didn't do anything wrong."
"Ah…" Allen paused for a moment before he started again, "…I fought Kanda…oh, but 'e told me to…w's tha' okay?"
"Hmm, well, did you get hurt?"
The boy shook his head, uncurling a bit, "No…I jus' feel kinda tired…"
"Is that all you feel?"
"Mmh…and…maybe a lil…h'ngry."
Lavi smiled, pointing at the orange in his hand, "Well, if you're hungry, you can eat."
"But…we'e talkin'."
"It's fine, really."
Allen hummed lightly before he sat up in the bed. A moment later, he began peeling the orange, and a tangy scent began to waft through the room.
"How was the sparring session with Kanda?" Lavi asked curiously, "Oh, and it's okay that you fought him."
The boy hummed again, placing a piece of the peel in his lap, "Uhm…'t was okay. He was kinda mad."
Lavi couldn't hold back his laughter, "Oh don't worry about that! He's angry practically all the time."
"…'Ow do you make 'im…not angry?"
"When you find out how, be sure to let me know, kiddo."
"Oh," he muttered, eating the first piece of orange.
"What else happened?"
"Uhmm…" he finished chewing, "he came at me wit' 'his sword thing. It w'sn't metal or anythin', but it w's still scary. I jus' didn't want to get hit…he got mad at me fer it, though."
"Hmm?"
"Well…he said somethin' like…AKUMA don' run outta energy and I should'a attacked 'im back, cause if not I'd die."
Oh, that was…reasonable. Given, Kanda wasn't always reasonable because he was in a constant state of frustration at literally everything, but his critique was spot-on. It was interesting…it seemed as though Kanda was evaluating him. Obviously, he'd failed, but for him to evaluate then critique…
"Just like a teacher, huh?"
"Hmm?"
"Oh, it's nothing, I'm just talking to myself," Lavi smiled.
'Does Yuu have a soft spot for Allen? ...Nah, he wouldn't. I'm pretty sure he did something similar with Timothy…does he have a soft spot for kids?'
"Anyway, Allen, he might be rough around the edges, but what he said was right. AKUMA won't stop or get tired."
"I know that…"
"You do?"
"Yeah…'n their bullets go flyin' everywhere, so ya have t' kill 'em fast."
Lavi blinked with surprise, "Oh…then why didn't you fight back when fighting Kanda?"
Allen looked up at him, licking his juice-covered fingers, "'E's not 'n AKUMA."
"Well…good point, but we spar so that we can train to defend against AKUMA. Even if your opponent isn't one, you have to act like they are."
The absolute confusion that came upon his face was absolutely adorable. In fact, he looked rather concerned.
"But…but my arm…"
"Hmm?"
"W-…wouldn' I hurt 'im if I used my arm?"
So that's what he was thinking.
"Oh, no! No, you wouldn't use your arm when sparring! You're just acting like they're an AKUMA, not…well…completely acting like they are," Lavi bent forward so Allen could see his eyes clearly, "Sparring is just so we can stay fit and to make sure that we can fight back if they stay looking human, or, if the case comes to be that way, you are fighting an actual human. You don't have to use your arm while sparring. The goal is to get the other to surrender…if you can."
"Ooooh…that's why Kanda got mad. 'Cause he don' think I c'n fight."
"Well, like I said, he's angry all of the time bu—"
Lavi froze, watching as light glimmered and glitched in Allen's eyes, the boy stock still. The energy of the room seemed to shift a bit until it felt lighter. Moments passed, and then the light fade, Allen gasping as he reached his hands up to hold his head, sweat building at his brow.
"Allen!" the redhead reached forward, taking hold of his shoulders, "Allen, are you okay?"
"…Mar…tel?" the boy looked up at him with bleary eyes, "Wha…where's Martel?"
Lavi's visible eye narrowed, "…It's an abandoned city near France. Why?"
"France? I've ne'er been t' France!" he balled his fists on the sides of his head, "Why 'm I thinkin' of Martel?"
"Why did you start?"
"B'cause!" Allen yelled, then he seemed to remember himself, and curled up a bit again, his voice much quieter, "…B-because…Kanda didn' think I was strong then either…right? Cause I've met 'im before."
"…Where did you meet him?"
"At this talkin' gate…it called me an AKUMA, and he came to hurt me. But it…it can't have been me! I've never been 'ere before…right? I don' think I have! Why 'm I seein' this stuff?"
"Do you feel like it's you when you see it?"
"No…'t's like 'm watchin' someone else…someone taller th'n me. I don't…understand," he clenched his hands against his head, "I don' understand…"
Lavi sighed and leaned back, watching the boy close in on himself.
'His memories are triggered by pinpoints, tells…connections. Would it be better to tell him the situation, or keep playing this game?'
