Chapter 25

5th July 2014

Spending time at a beach house in winter, Allen had to admit, was actually pretty fun. It had been rainy and miserable a lot of the time that they were down there but that just meant staying inside in the warmth in front of the fire reading and generally just relaxing. But of course, seeing that Lavi was on this holiday with them, they had to go out and do things. Which was how, on a particularly cold day (it wasn't raining, but still) Allen found himself, his friends and Timcampy trudging along a dirt path surrounded by forest, starting out on a 4 kilometre walk. How Lavi had convinced him and the other two to come on this endeavour, he wasn't too sure. He was beginning to notice, however, that he was having a very hard time of saying no to things when Lavi put on his puppy dog face.

"This walk is fucking awesome!" said Lavi cheerfully, "You guys are gonna love it!"

"Why haven't I killed you yet?" grumbled Kanda from behind them, "You being dead would save me from a lot of pain."

"Aw, come on Kanda," said Lenalee, giving the Japanese boy a smile, "It's good that we're out and about. We haven't really been doing much else over the past couple of days."

"Che," said Kanda quietly, but fell silent. Allen, meanwhile, was keeping an eye on Timcampy, who was sniffing around ahead of them, relishing the fact that he had been released from his house prison. Allen couldn't help but smile as he watched the Labrador enjoy himself. But, he was soon reminded that however adorable Timcampy looked sniffing around in the bushes, he was still a dog and dog's had a tendency to chase small fluffy things. As was proved a few minutes later when a rabbit hopped out of a nearby bush and the Labrador went chasing after it with a loud bark. This forced Allen to give chase, shouting, "No, Timcampy, no! Bad dog! Bad Labrador! Do not eat the bunny rabbit!"

"Uh oh. Better go see if he needs any help," said Lenalee, furrowing her brow before chasing after Allen and Timcampy. The other two boys watched this for a while before Kanda said flatly, "Well fuck, Cujo's going to murder your brethren."

Lavi gave him a strange look but didn't comment.

After another half an hour of walking, the four of them began to hear the tell-tale sounds of the ocean. The path suddenly took on a steep inclination, at the bottom of which Allen could see a sandy surface. They made their way down the slope and broke out into open space. They were standing on a beach, to their right the sea (looking thoroughly uninviting, being a steely grey colour with huge waves) and to their left numerous enormous sand dunes. All in all it was a very beautiful location and Allen was looking forward to having a look around, but in order to do that, they had to get across a certain obstacle. That obstacle being the shallow, wide river that cut through the sand in front of them.

"Uh," Allen started, "How are we going to cross that?"

"Walk of course!" said Lavi, not losing any of the cheerfulness in his tone as he started to take off his shoes. The other three stared at him incredulously as he stepped into the water, Timcampy splashing in after him. He gasped and started making little shrieking noises.

"Well that's encouraging," said Lenalee sarcastically. Lavi turned, shivering, as he said, his voice more high-pitched than usual, "No No it's fine, really! Just a little - ah! – a little cold!"

"You sound really fucking convincing rabbit," snapped Kanda. Lavi waved a trembling hand at him and continued to cross, as if trying to prove a point. Allen raised his eyebrows at his friend's slight stupidity, and then sighed at his own as he began to take off his shoes as well. Lavi noticed and called, "Allen baby! I knew you'd support me!"

"Shut up!" Allen called back. Kanda and Lenalee both stared at him for a moment before shaking their heads. Allen smiled back before setting foot in the river himself. He pretty much instantly got frostbite.

"Okay!" said Allen loudly, his whole body stiffening, "Okay, that's a lot colder then I thought it was going to be. Ah! Bloody hell, it burns!"

He made it to about halfway across when he heard a loud, "FUCK!" from behind him and knew that Kanda and Lenalee had started crossing the river too. He made it to the other side without incident, and once he reached the opposite bank, Lavi was there to pull him out.

"My darling, you have braved the icy waters to reach me-!"

"Shut up," said Allen, though it was without venom. In another few minutes, the other to joined them, Kanda swearing like a pirate and Lenalee trying to get feeling back into her feet and ankles. Lavi congratulated them all for crossing, and then announced that he wanted to climb up one of the sand dunes. Wanting to warm up a bit, the other three didn't protest and followed him. Allen really wasn't surprised when the redhead chose the largest of the dunes and ran up it, Timcampy at his heels. The other three followed a little more slowly and when they reached the top, Allen was impressed by the view. Even though it was cold and grey, the sea had a strange beauty to it.

Allen's attention was suddenly grabbed away from the ocean by something else. Of course, he had noticed that the sand dune they were standing on was rather large. And Kanda was standing right at the edge of it. And not paying any attention to him. It was a perfect opportunity that he couldn't let pass.

Allen started to creep around behind the Japanese boy, trying not to alert him of his movements. He caught Lavi's eye and gave him a faint smile. The American caught on immediately and grinned back, nodding. Allen suddenly dived forward and shoved the dark haired youth squarely between the shoulder blades.

"Wha-?!" Kanda began, but then went tumbling down the dune, head over heels. Lavi and Allen burst out laughing and Lenalee started giggling whilst simultaneously calling out, "Kanda? Are you alright?"

"MOYASHI, YOU ARE SO FUCKING DEAD!" came the angry scream from the bottom of the sand dune. Allen looked a little concerned and then said, "Uh oh. Running away now," before turning tail and running like hell was chasing him.

A/N: A short chapter, I know, but I didn't have time to write anything more... *sad face*. Sorry... Thanks for continued support! 'Til next time!