Chapter 38
5th January 2015
Allen couldn't speak. He was too shocked to even move. All he could do was stare silently at the Portuguese man standing in front of him, probably looking like a complete idiot. Tyki stared back at him for a moment before asking a little awkwardly, "So, Allen… how have you been?"
Allen tried to respond but he couldn't seem to find the words. Tyki shuffled awkwardly where he stood and then asked, pointing to Allen's bag, "Have you been away?"
"I HAVE TO GO!" Allen suddenly screamed before running out into the middle of the road. He was almost hit by a car and thought he heard a cry of alarm from behind him as the driver beeped at him but he kept running and didn't stop until he reached his apartment building. Hoping and praying that Cross hadn't gone through with the whole I-Am-Going-To-Change-The-Locks promise. It turned out he hadn't which was why about a minute later Allen was crouching behind the couch in a foetal position, keeping away from the windows.
"Ohdearlordohdearlordohdearlordohdearlord…" he muttered quietly under his breath. Cross came out into the lounge room, arms folded, Timcampy by his side and growled, "Kid, you are in so much shit right now…"
"I know," mumbled Allen. He then said, "It's worse than undead mangoes trying to eat my liver."
"What the hell are you-" Cross started but then a look of understanding crossed his face, "Oh. Oh. Well shit."
There was a bit of silence before he asked, "So, should I book plane tickets or what?"
"No," said Allen a little shakily, "No. I'll just use evasive manoeuvres. If he doesn't see me then nothing can go wrong, right?"
Cross sighed and muttered, "Keep telling yourself that kid," before wandering back towards his bedroom, Allen's recent unauthorized trip completely forgotten. Timcampy came trotting over to him and licked his hand sympathetically, seeming to sense his master's discomfort.
"What am I going to do boy?" sighed Allen, feeling very, very sorry for himself.
27th January 2015
Allen didn't encounter Tyki after their first meeting. He had become especially vigilant on the streets in case he needed to dive into a bush or something, and he was starting to map out things he could hide behind on his walk to school, which was starting up in another two days.
However, he was distracted from this worrying development by the silence from a certain bad tempered Japanese person he knew. Kanda had barely been keeping in contact with any of them since Sydney and his radio silence had been worrying them all (Allen not so much, but Lavi and Lenalee were very worried). And so, seeing that he didn't appear to be answering any of their calls, the three of them decided to pay him an impromptu visit.
"I'm surprised you agreed to come Allen," said Lenalee as they rang the doorbell. Allen shrugged and replied, "I needed to let that prick know that he needed to stop being an arsehole to everyone."
They rung the doorbell a few more times before Lavi said, "I don't think he's going to let us in."
"Oh no," snapped Allen, "I am not taking this shite from him. Keep ringing the doorbell."
"Maybe we should just leave him alone guys," sighed Lenalee, "He might just need to be alone."
"No way," said Lavi, a determined glint in his eye, before he took a deep breath and screamed at the top of his lungs, "YUU! OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR! WE'RE NOT GOING AWAY UNTIL YOU DO!"
"Lavi!" exclaimed Lenalee, "I don't think he's going to-"
"PRICK, IF YOU DON'T OPEN THE DOOR RIGHT NOW WE ARE BREAKING IN!" shouted Allen, taking the American's lead, "I MEAN IT!"
The gate was suddenly flung open, revealing the twins standing on the other side of it, both looking thoroughly confused. Allen let out a terrified shriek and hid behind Lavi. Now Lenalee and Lavi were mirroring the twins' confusion. The dark haired twin narrowed his eyes and said, "Allen Walker?"
Allen peered out from behind Lavi before saying nervously, "Uh, hello Devitt. Jasdero. You look… well."
The twins exchanged a surprise glance before Devitt looked back towards the white haired boy a said, "We didn't know you were in Melbourne."
"Actually, we didn't know you were in Australia," continued Jasdero. Allen, looking very sheepish before saying, "I, uh, I didn't know you guys were here either. Well I, sort of, ran into Tyki yesterday but uh…"
"You saw Tyki?" said Devitt incredulously before grinning and saying, "That must have been awkward."
"Uh, can someone tell us what the fuck is going on?" asked Lavi suddenly, "You guys know each other?"
"Kind of," said Devitt. Jasdero also grinned and said, "Allen's more acquainted with our cousin…"
"Anyway!" interrupted Allen suddenly, "We're here to see Kanda. Is he here?"
The twins looked confused again before Devitt replied, "You're friends with Kanda? Sure, he's here. Has been for a while. There's been practically non-stop guitar playing for the past couple of weeks."
"Must've shredded his fingertips," mused Jasdero. Lavi tapped Allen and Lenalee on the shoulder and whispered, "Angsty guitar playing. Not a good sign."
The twins stepped aside and Devitt said, "Come on through. Company will probably be good for him or some shit."
The three of them thanked them as they moved through the gate and made their way to Kanda's staircase. Once they reached the top of it Allen saw that much like the first time he and Lavi had broken in to Kanda's apartment he was sitting on the couch strumming his guitar. And also much like the first time they had broken in, when the dark haired youth caught sight of them an expression of pure rage crossed over his face. However, when he caught sight of Lenalee he stopped the angry rant he was about to scream at them and merely growled, "Did you break in to my fucking apartment again?"
"Your neighbours let us in," replied Allen flatly, "Why haven't you been talking to any of us?"
Kanda stared at him for a moment before sighing and snapping, "That's what you're here for? For fuck's sake moyashi has it ever occurred to you that I just like to have some fucking time away from people?"
"Three weeks of time not talking to anyone is a long time Kanda," Lenalee pointed out calmly, "We've been worried about you. It's obvious that whatever happened at the concert freaked you out. Is that why you've been like this?"
"Speaking of the concert, what the fuck happened there?" asked Lavi, "I was very confused and I am still very confused. Do you know them or something?"
"Yeah, I know them," snapped Kanda, "But I don't see how it's any of your fucking business."
"Prick, just tell us," snapped Allen, "We're not going to leave it alone otherwise."
Kanda stared at them all, saw that they weren't going to leave this alone, and sighed, saying, "They were in the same foster home as me back in Japan. We were… friends I suppose."
"What happened?" asked Lenalee, frowning, "The way they reacted… it looked like they hadn't seen you for ages and they certainly weren't expecting to see you at that concert."
Kanda looked at her expressionlessly before saying, "We were a close knit group and… one of us died. My best friend. Alma."
This statement was met by some shocked silence. Then Lenalee said softly, "Your best friend died?"
"Yeah," sighed Kanda, suddenly looking very tired, "We met after my parents died. We were friends. I don't even know why we were friends, but we were. But when we were ten there was a… a stupid accident. It was at a level crossing. Alma really needed to get across the tracks and didn't know that the train was right there and…"
He cut off abruptly, but they could figure out the rest. His eyes snapped up to them and he growled, "No one except my ex family and the members of Third know about this so you better not fucking tell anyone."
"We won't," assured Lenalee before asking, "Is that when you left Japan?"
Kanda nodded and said, "I couldn't be there anymore. I didn't tell anyone that I was leaving."
"That's why they looked so surprised when they saw you," said Lavi quietly. Allen remained silent. The story sounded all too familiar to him…
The four of them stood in silence, each absorbed in their own thoughts.
A/N: ... This is very late and I am terribly sorry. Really. I'm sorry. I was almost drowned by a tidal wave of homework. I will hopefully be able to get another chapter to you guys... soonish. I've been getting lots of fantastic reviews recently and I am genuinely touched. Thank you all so much! 'Til next time!