A/N: Thanks for such amazing reviews! I'm so glad to know that you guys have taken to this so much, it's a pleasure to be writing it! Here's another chapter, I have nothing to do here really while at the hotel so I'm just typing away! Please review! XOXOXO

Disclaimer: I own nothing remotely connected to D. Gray Man.

What's Love Got To Do With It

Chapter 24

"Nozomi, you have got to get out of the house." Anya Whittaker, Nozomi's aunt, scolded as she calmly trotted into the teen's room. The pinkette had been lounging across her bed when the older pinkette had strolled in like a hurricane after work. She was always pestering the girl to go out and enjoy her youth, but much like her late mother, Nozomi preferred to stay inside and read. At the rate she was going, Mrs. Whittaker was convinced her niece was going to end up a bitter old woman with far too many cats for her own good if she didn't get out and get enough fresh air.

"Auntie, it's hot." Nozomi meekly protested. "I've got far too much hair to be trying to 'enjoy the heat'... ain't nobody got time for that."

The older woman narrowed her eyes to her niece and her air quotes, "Fine… stay inside the rest of your life… stay inside tomorrow while strange men march around. Who knows, one of them may even try to sniff your underwear." The woman shrugged.

Nozomi looked up at this, "What strange men?" She asked. It was like Nozomi had a boy allergy, every time she got around someone of the opposite sex, they automatically pissed her off. Her brows would furrow, her face would twist into a scowl, and she could smell the stench of dominance and blood in the air. When she confronted her aunt about this a few years ago, the older pinkette had just called her a weirdo and said it was puberty.

"I'm doing some remodeling to the kitchen cabinets tomorrow, you know how your uncle hates for things to be when he gets home from his business trips." She sighed. The man suffered from sever OCD and considering Nozomi accidently broke off a cabinet door doing lord knows what, her aunt had to get them all fixed before the man returned and had a heart attack.

Nozomi considered her options, go out into the heat and burn or stay inside and protect her underwear. "Nah… I'll stay and protect my underwear." She said, opening her book back to the page where she left off. Her aunt sighed, she had the same issues with her sister when they were growing up. Anya left the teen alone to read in the world of her room, going back to preparing another 'masterpiece' she was going to call dinner.

Nozomi's aunt wasn't the best cook, and Nozomi did her best to fix up the meals so they would be at least somewhat edible… but there were some things that not even miracles could fix. A chill shot down her spine just thinking about it.

It was early the next morning when Nozomi was rudely awakened by a loud crash and the sound of multiple power drills. She fell from her bed, completely convinced the world was about to end and she had no lifetime supply of marshmallows to survive… then she remember she was unfortunately awake, feeling her body to make sure she still had all her pieces before bolting downstairs to the people causing all the racket.

"Do you bastards not know what time it is? Have you lost your damn minds?!" Nozomi screamed, causing all commotion to come to an abrupt stop. All eyes fell on the grumpy looking teen standing in the doorway who had obviously just woken up. All her pink hair hung in a frizzy braid over her shoulder, one sock was perfectly fine while the other was completely askew, and her sleep shirt hung lazily off her cream shoulders. Her large chocolate eyes narrowed to a glare as one of the workers, a tall man with unruly dark wavy hair approached her. He extended a hand for to shake which made her scowl even harder at him.

He cleared his throat before speaking, "I'm sorry to wake you , ma'am. We didn't know you were upstairs sleeping." He said, his voice as smooth as silk. He was much taller than her, then again who wasn't, and she could make out his very muscular structure under his tight white shirt. It was dingy from the construction, his jeans had holes in them, and his boots were caked in mud.

"Who the hell are you?" Nozomi asked, wondering just who in the world were these people in her aunt's house.

"Tyki Mikk," He said with a grin. "And you are?"

"None of your damn business!" Nozomi snapped.

Tyki scratched the back of his head uneasily, the woman who hired him had spoken to him and his friends about some young… mean girl they were most likely going to run into… this had to be her.

"Well… none of your damn business', it's nice to meet you. Look, it shouldn't take us too long to fix up the cabinets. So we'll be out of your hair in no time." He said reassuringly.

"Uh huh," Nozomi folded her arms. "Where are your world permits? I want to make sure you don't steal anything, and know who to report just in case you try to sniff my underwear." She said, holding out her hand.

"Um… we work under the table… your aunt hired us after seeing some of our handy work." Tyki explained. He felt as if he was being interrogated by a policeman the way the little pinkette was scrutinizing him.

Nozomi didn't seem pleased with this answer. "Well let me go change, I want to keep my eyes on you so don't move." She said.

Nozomi quickly returned to her room, throwing on a worn pair of shorts, combing out her hair to make it at least somewhat presentable, and brushing her teeth before going back downstairs to supervise the men in her kitchen. And as she had commanded, they hadn't moved an inch since she left. And the one known as Tyki, was leaning casually against the open back door smoking. His glasses were propped up on his head as he turned, he had easily heard her stomping back down the stairs. Nozomi stopped, a blush creeping up into her cheeks as his dark eyes locked with hers.

"Don't you smoke in my house!" Snapped Nozomi. She couldn't help but wonder why he wore such ridiculous glasses if he was so handsome.

Tyki offered her a friendly grin, "Sorry… so, cann we get back to work now?" He asked, stubbing out the rest of his cigarette.

"I guess so…" The pinkette grumbled, dropping into a chair at the table.

Tyki signaled for his friends to pick up where they left off, and so they did without another word. Nozomi watched them for some time before growing hungry. So she got up and made herself some breakfast, and feeling as if her aunt would scold the hell out of her for being such a rude host, she offered the workers some as well. They all ate in silence, Nozomi occupied herself with a book to avoid any conversation with Tyki and his horrid glasses. And for the most part her plan worked out perfectly… until he realized it was a history book on Vivaldi and his many works.

"So you like that composer?" Tyki asked, much to her dismay.

Nozomi tried ignoring him… but felt his eyes staring holes through her forehead behind his glasses. "I do.." She sighed eventually.

"Do you play any instruments?" He asked.

"Violin…" She said.

Tyki nodded, studying the pink haired girl behind the overly thick book. Her brows were furrowed as she tried hard not to look over the book at him, and this caused him to smirk despite himself. "So you live with your aunt?" He asked.

"Is this twenty questions? Why do you want to know so much?" Nozomi snapped, slamming her book down.

This startled Tyki for a moment and he just grinned at her friendly, warm grin as he adjusted his glasses.

'What the hell is with this guy?' Nozomi wondered to herself, his grinning and friendly aura making her all the more outraged.

"Just curious about you," He shrugged coolly. "Just curious as to why you're living with your aunt instead of your parents… you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"My mother was killed fighting akuma when I was seven, so my father sent me to live here with my aunt and uncle shortly after. I love sloths and books, I know how to break all two hundred and six bones in the adult human body, yes this is my natural hair color, and if you sniff my underwear I'll cut you. There, now eat and get back to work."

The kitchen fell quiet as Nozomi settled back into her chair, all eyes on her as she calmly picked up her book to finish reading. Tyki and his band of misfits finished their work on the kitchen in record timing, just in time for her aunt's arrival. And every free chance he got, the dark haired man always found his gaze drifting over to the young girl. There was just something about her, something that made her stand out among the rest.

"Oh, Mr. Mikk! I just love these! My husband has always been such a fan of mahogany. He's going to love these, thank you so much." The older woman smiled as she entered the kitchen. The woman was far from traditional, wearing a multiple piece cream suit and pumps and carrying a pink leather briefcase. She ran her hands over the finely polished cabinets, offering the group another smile. "Great work, you guys." She praised.

"If you don't mind me asking, what happened to the other cabinets? As we were taking them down I noticed they seemed perfectly fine except for maybe one of them." Asked Tyki.

"That happened," Her aunt pointed directly at her with no shame at all.

Tyki arched a brow at this, and even allowed a little snicker to slip past his lips.

"Not even she knows what happened…" The older woman sighed.

Tyki opened his eyes, sitting up as he waited for the rest of him to catch up with his mind. He smiled softly at the nostalgia that was now consuming his everyday life. Every free time he had, even his dreams, were filled with memories of his past with Nozomi. Other than their personal moments, Tyki cherished the memory of their first meeting the most. That day his whole life changed, the pink haired girl had become the most important person in his life, never did he want to cause her any harm, always wanted to be there for her whenever she needed someone. He swung his legs off the edge of his bed, letting them hang there for a moment before getting up to dress properly.

"Ty-ki, where are you going?" Road asked as she let herself into the man's room. Tyki glanced at the girl nonchalantly over his shoulder, and for a moment said nothing. Road sighed at this, no one (except maybe the earl) had no idea what the hell had the third Noah in such an emotional funk. Her Tyki was normally relaxed, and collected, and always eager to please her. She had no idea who this look-alike was, and wondered where did this emotional screwed up Tyki did with the real one.

"I'm going to see someone," He said, adjusting his gloves upon his hands before disappearing into the night.