Author's Note: Hey everyone. It really has been awhile hasn't it? I'm truly sorry for how long it has been and I apologize to all you wonderful, loyal people. I've received all of your beautiful reviews and it made me so happy to know that you all really enjoy this story and that I should keep writing. I want you to know that I was struggling with this story for a while and I lost interest in so much things that once made me happy. This year has been quite rough, though, it's probably tough on all of us huh? There are many things that have been keeping me away from typing. My job, the loss of my dearest friend, the Cancer scare, and basic home life. But I really want to get back into the flow of writing again. So be patient, I shall get this story running again, I just need some time. But I love you all and thank you all so much. Anyway, here's a chapter that I had for the longest time, I just needed to sort through it first before I posted it. Hope you enjoy, and sorry if there are any mistakes. Mwa~ loves loves~
Disclaimer: I own nothing of D. Gray Man
As Allen looked back towards the door where Lavi stood behind and up the stairs to where Kanda was, he could slowly start to feel the panic settle deep inside his chest as he contemplated of what he was going to do.
But just as he was about to give in to the oncoming panic attack, the low, rough sound of a grumble snaps him out of his thoughts and he glances up into the face of Cross scowling back at him.
"You really are ending up just like me. Except in my position I was juggling girls instead of two gay guys." Cross comments quietly and swings open the door, startling the red-haired teen that was standing outside. "I'm not fond of the idea of having two guys at my house in the middle of the night, much less have them troubling my godson. And I'm taking to you too, punk with the ponytail!" He yells back into the house.
"Uh...sorry! I was actually here to pick Yu up."
"Me...?" Cross narrows his eyes dangerously at the other teen.
"No! No, I mean—"
"He means Kanda. Yu Kanda is his name." Allen says and steps back as Cross opens the door wider.
"Then get him. Don't just stand there." Cross takes a pack of cigarettes from his back pocket and pulls out one with his teeth. When he notices that the redhead wasn't moving, he glares. "I ain't repeating myself."
"A-ah...right!" Lavi quickly runs up the steps and finds Yu actually passed-out on the floor. "Come on buddy, let's go..." He tries to nudge the other teen and when he hears a low growl from the man standing a little further off, he begins to panic. "Alright, Yu! Up 'n attem! Wakey wakey vanilla shakey! Come on, Yu!"
Drunk or not, this man was intimidating. Of course Lavi had seen first hand at how intimidating Cross can be when the man had lifted him by the collar of shirt and glared at him that time Lavi was looking for Allen. Even now, Cross still managed to make him feel insignificant and weak. Like a mouse in the presence of a lion.
As Cross stood against the wall of the living room, watching as the redhead attempted to gather his friend off the floor, Cross couldn't help the grin from spreading over his face. It was rather amusing to watch him struggle to get the girly-boy off the floor.
"Brat."
Allen flinches and looks over to Cross with a nervous smile. "Yes?"
"Help your friend out. The quicker they get a move on and out of my house, the better." Cross takes a drag of his cigarette and scratches at the bandages covering his eye. "Fucking hell. I hate these bandages."
Lavi looks over to him with a smile. "It kind of looks cool though. I mean, you and I almost look the same now. Hey, I'll even get you an eye patch." He jokes but Lavi quickly shuts his mouth when he sees the man glaring at him.
"Is that supposed to be funny?" Cross asks, serious.
"Uh...supposed to be, but I can see that it wasn't very amusing. Um, Al bud? Help me out would'ja?" Lavi smiles and watches as Allen picks up Yu's legs with some difficulty. He couldn't exactly blame him, Yu was nothing but solid muscle and though he wasn't as tall as him, Yu was still hard to maneuver around.
As they got their grip on him, they slowly eased Yu off the floor and carefully made their way towards the stairs where they immediately stopped.
"Okay. How the blast are we going to do this?" Allen asks as he examines the staircase and the passed-out Japanese male they were now carrying like a dead body.
"Alright..." Lavi mulls over his thoughts, trying to separate the nonsense from the rational. Like why Allen looked...guilty. What was the reason behind that look? Did something happen...? The reason they looked dishevelled and messy haired was because of their fight...right?
"Lavi?"
A green eye blinks and Lavi looks up with a forced smile. "Sorry. I was trying to think of a plan. But how 'bout I take the legs and lead down the stairs while you follow and carry his upper half, alright?"
"S-sure..." Allen keeps his eyes on Lavi, not missing the small flicker of distress over his face. There was something he wanted to say, Allen knew it, but he didn't press the matter, instead, he focused on what was at hand right now. Carrying a solid-bodied, unconscious teen down a flight of stairs.
Lavi lead the way down, holding Yu's legs up, while Allen kept close and tried his best to not drop the heavy teen on the steps. He had carried Cross before, with the help of Lenalee, but how was it that Kanda was heavier than a full grown man? Maybe it was adrenaline before, but now, Allen was actually struggling this time.
"I never seen him this drunk before. Well, once, but this is totally different. What'd he drink...?"
Allen looks up in thought. "Well, beer and wine mostly."
"Well that's not—"
"—he also had some vodka, whiskey and what I could only describe as a concoction of various other alcohols that make up a rather strange cocktail, which Cross likes to call the 'panty dropper'." He frowns at the name and hears a short chuckle from Cross standing upstairs.
Lavi feels his stomach turn at the thought of all that alcohol—which surprisingly didn't give Yu alcohol-poisoning. Though, he was a little curious on what the 'panty dropper' was.
"Alright...well, that explains it then." Lavi sighs and stares down at his passed-out friend.
Suddenly both teens jump as Kanda begins to squirm in their grasp but when those eyes opened, Kanda immediately thrashes about, causing both Allen and Lavi to suddenly lose their grip and drop the teen on the hard steps.
"Fucking—ow! What!? What the fuck is going on!?" He blinks rapidly and looks around himself, frantic and lost. When squints at the redhead in front of him he looks even more lost. "Cyclops? Th'fuck are you doing here?"
"Hi...!" Lavi smiles. "You're awake. Good...! Let's go." He meekly glances up at the stairs and sees Cross staring down at them. "Now...!"
The Japanese teen wobbles to his feet, still looking confused. "Fuck, what happened...?" Kanda asks as he staggers down the few remaining steps and struggles to find his shoes. Once his eyes made contact with a pair of grey eyes, Kanda starts to put the pieces of his memory back together and he scowls. "Did we fight?"
"Uh...yeah, we did." Allen nods and tilts his head. If Kanda didn't remember much of anything...did that mean he couldn't remember what they did?
"Fuck, did you win?" Kanda frowns as he sees smile stretch over the younger teen's lips.
"Yes, I did." Allen says with a grin.
"Oh, you're never going to let this shit go, are you? You little punk...!"
Lavi looks to both males and feel a sense of relief wash over him, though, he didn't know why. "You guys were fighting." He mutters with a shake of his head.
Kanda flicks his eyes at the redhead and they narrow. "Why? What'd you think we did?"
"Nothing." Lavi says with a shrug, "but it's funny to know you lost." He smirks at the angry snarl from the Japanese teen.
"Hey..." Cross glares down at the three teens at the bottom of the steps.
"R-right!" Lavi smiles weakly. "Come on, let's go...!"
"Wait, wait...! Fucking wait!" Kanda pats down his pockets and scowls heavily. "Th' fuck!? Where are my keys?" He stops his searching and instantly looks towards Allen with a glare. "Did you take them?"
"Huh? Oh yeah!" Allen quickly runs up the stairs and into the kitchen where he opens a canister that contained sugar and fishes out the set of keys. "Here...!" He shouts and throws the keys down the staircase.
Kanda blinks rapidly when a hand shoots out in front of him, quickly catching the keys that were tossed towards him. "What the hell?" He glares over to the redhead and sees the bastard smiling. "The fuck, Cyclops? Give me back the keys."
"No way dude, you're still buzzin'. What kind of friend would I be to let you drive while under the influence?" Lavi shakes his head. "Seriously, Yu...think."
"Give me the fucking keys." Yu says firmly.
"Give me a fucking reason why I should give you the keys?"
Yu looks up in thought. "Oh, I got one! Fuck you."
"Not really a solid reason, Yu buddy." Lavi pats his friend on the shoulder. "Look, I can't let you drive. What if we both die, huh? Ever think of that?"
"You know what? You can eat a dick, ever think of that?" The scowling Japanese teen turns towards the door. "Whatever, fuck it. Let's go, I'm both hungover and drunk to even care, so let's fucking go."
Lavi grins. "That's better!" He smiles and glances over to Allen, "well, guess we'll see you tomorrow, Al baby."
Allen gives him a smile and nods. "Y-yeah...! See you tomorrow."
Lavi looks up at Cross and gives the man a small wave. "Bye, Mr. Dude...!" He says lastly and closes the door, muffling the yells of Kanda as they began to leave.
A wave of silence washes over the entire house and Allen couldn't help but give a shudder at the glare that was being directed at him a few feet away.
"You're damn lucky I was fucking here, brat. Otherwise, you would have had to explain yourself to your two boyfriends about whose ass you like better. Oh, sorry. It's them fighting over your ass right? My bad." Cross takes a flask from his back pocket and takes a shot.
Allen always wondered at how many stashes of alcohol that Cross had hidden around the house, because how the bloody hell was he able to arrive out of no where with some sort of alcoholic beverage in his hand?
But that wasn't what Allen was thinking about, actually...he had this thought that kept coming into mind, something that he never really gotten an answer to, and it was about time to find out.
"Hey...Cross?" Allen starts and sees the man glance at him as he takes a shot. "You've been avoiding the question as much as I am...but, are we really moving?"
Cross eyes him, silent in his own thoughts before he lets out a sigh. "I don't know. Moving would be the fucking smart thing to do..."
"But...?" Allen watches something swirl within the man's auburn eyes.
"I'm still thinking about it. Maybe after the winter break is over and you have a new term coming up, maybe then, I'll have my answer. But right now, it is a possibility, so keep that in mind."
Allen stays silent, mulling over his own thoughts. He didn't want to go...he didn't want to move and leave the only friends he's ever had. But he also knew he didn't have much of a choice. The only reason Cross wanted to move in the first place was to ensure both of their safety. Allen knew that he couldn't rely on Lenalee's place to practically 'hide' in whenever Cross went back to work. Besides he couldn't take Tim with him either. Plus, wouldn't that mean he would put the Lee's at risk too if he were to stay there?
But if he were to leave...what about Lavi and Kanda? Aren't the Noah Clan after them too?
Allen sighs. Yeah, they may be after them, but both Kanda and Lavi are much more capable of defending themselves than he was. Besides, even if he were to stay, what could he possibility do to keep them safe? With or without him, Lavi and Kanda would be safe either way.
Cross eyes the teen in front of him, watching every expression that came with the thoughts clouding his mind. He knew Allen didn't want to go, but...he could also tell that whatever the boy was thinking about, it was actually making re-evaluate everything. He didn't really like seeing the boy mentally struggle with his own thoughts, it was hard enough seeing him sad over the fact that they were moving.
Fuck sakes! Cross mentally curses as he roughly sighs and runs a hand through his hair. "Look, this isn't actually a 'for sure' thing, okay? I'm still trying to think of a plan B but until then, you're going to have to come to terms with the whole moving possibility, alright?"
Allen nods and blinks at the man's sudden proclamation. "O-okay...but until then...what do we now? What about your work? I like staying at Lenalee's but...I hate leaving Tim here, alone."
"Yeah, I get it. But don't worry...I called them and informed them about my injuries and all the fucking shit I'm going to have go through—like surgery and specialist-type shit—and I told them that I can come back in the middle of January. So you don't have to worry about being here alone or trying to find a place to stay." A heavy sigh falls from the man as he goes to spark up a cigarette. "I would be getting money still, but it won't be as much as before, so...we're going to have budget shit again." Cross growls angrily. "Fuck, I hate budgeting. I hate that I'm fucking using that word again."
Allen chuckles lightly. "I'll do all the budgeting and keeping track of how much we spend."
Cross sniffs and takes another swig of his flask. "Back to old times..."
"Back to old times..." Allen repeats and turns to walk towards his room, his expression sullen.
Allen had decided on walking to school by himself, which was something he rarely did now. He had usually gotten rides from Kanda, along with Lavi and Lenalee who were also on their way to school, but this time...he wanted to be alone. He needed time to focus on his thoughts, he needed to actually stop and think about everything that's been happening so far and for once, reflect on everything.
Moving is still a possibility...
Allen quickly blinks out of his thoughts as he hears the distant honk of a horn behind him and the sound of an engine making it's way towards him. When he looks up he sees a familiar green truck slowly coming to a stop next to him and his heart hammers in his chest as a smile instantly lights his face when he sees Tyki smiling and waving from the driver's seat.
"Hey..." Tyki starts as he keeps the truck running. "Need a ride?" He offers with a stunning smile and chuckles as Allen rushes towards his vehicle.
"Tyki...!" Allen beams and hurriedly climbs into the truck before wrapping his arms around the older man who flinches in surprise.
"Whoa...!" Tyki's eyes widen as he's brought into the embrace by the teen. He sits motionless, taken aback by the enthusiastic greeting.
Allen pulls away and gives the man an unsure tilt of his head. "What's wrong?"
Tyki blinks out of his stupor and smiles sadly. "Sorry...it was just a surprise." He admits and glances downward, his golden eyes narrowing in thought. "I just thought...you hated me."
Allen looks appalled. "What? What made you think that?"
The man looks away and takes a moment before answering. "I left you...I told you to stay away from me and to never come near me or the bar." Tyki gives a half-hearted chuckle and grips the steering wheel. "It was shitty of me..."
"Don't say that. It was for my own safety, right? You only did that to keep me safe. You were just looking out for me."
"No...!"
The volume of Tyki's voice takes Allen by surprise and the two fall into a brief bout of silence before Tyki sighs.
When the older male glances up to the teen, he couldn't help but grimace at the concerned look lost in those glittering grey eyes . Don't...don't look at me like that.
"I'm sorry. I really am...but...that's not it. I mean, that's what I thought at first, but when I really think about it...I did it for me." Tyki leans over the steering wheel and smiles bitterly to himself. "I know that I said it was for your own safety, but...honestly, I didn't want you to see...me. I didn't want you to know the things that I've done and the life that I lived. I was ashamed, I didn't like that you had to see that side of my life...the ugly horrible side that I wanted to keep away from you. Now, I feel like I just ruined your life by introducing you to that...darkness."
Allen gazes at the man hunched over the steering wheel with his head down and sees Tyki's shoulders begin to shake and the sound of empty laughter shortly follows.
"I did it for my own benefit. I did it because I was selfish...and...I'm really sorry. You can hate me all you want."
Maybe having you hate me...would hurt less when I leave. Tyki closes his eyes and waits for the sound of either yelling or the slamming of the door, but what came openly shocks him.
He wasn't sure if was the hand caressing his head that left a sting in his heart or the voice of Allen saying: "It's okay." Maybe it was both, but as soon as those two words were spoken, Tyki couldn't help the smile spreading over his face or the tears that threatened to fall from his golden eyes.
"I could never hate you." Allen says and brings his head down to rest against Tyki's shoulder. "I'm just happy you're here."
Tyki leans into the teen and gently takes Allen's hand into his and gives it a small squeeze. "Thank you...Allen." But when he feels a set of warm lip press against his head, Tyki's eyebrows shot up and he blinks rapidly.
Allen blushes before he realizes what he just did and quickly turns his head to inwardly scold himself. He didn't know why the bloody hell he just did that, he didn't even know what was going through his mind as he was doing it. Maybe it was because...he wanted to do something for the man. Tyki had always been there when Allen needed him, even when Tyki pushed him away...Allen didn't have any bitter feelings towards him. Tyki was special.
Tyki clears his throat, blushing. "You know, doing cute things like that is very unfair."
"What do you mean?" Allen asks.
Tyki chuckles and pushes up his glasses as he scoots in closer to Allen. "I can give you a clue." When he draws in closer, he smiles at the curious look in those beautiful grey eyes.
"What's stopping you?" Allen asks and nearly lets out a laugh when he sees Tyki's shocked expression.
"Allen Walker, what's gotten into you?" The older man shakes his head with a smile. "It's not like you to be...so daring."
"Sorry." Allen giggles and glances out the window. "Let's just drive around this morning."
Tyki looks at him and quirks an eyebrow. "You sure? Don't you have school?"
"Yeah, I'll go to my afternoon classes, but right now..." Allen pulls at his sleeve and looks over with a sad smile. "I could use the time to talk to someone. And...you're the only person I feel like I can do that with. So...let's go for a drive, yeah?"
"Alright." Tyki smirks with a nod and puts the truck in drive. "But no more acting like a tease." He sparks up a cigarette and offers one to Allen, who takes it with an amused grin.
"I don't know what you mean." The white-haired teen looks away with a not-so-innocent smile.
"I'm getting worried guys." Lenalee paces the parking lot as she stares down at her cellphone and at all the unanswered texts to Allen. "He isn't responding and you know how important the lunch break is to him."
Lavi watches her pacing from the hood of the car where he sat and smoked. "Lenalee, if you keep pacing, you're going to make me feel anxious." He blew out his drag and stared up at the sky. "Maybe he's just running late."
"Or he got lost. The idiot always ends up getting lost." Kanda scoffs at the driver's seat, his long legs stretching out from the open door.
"He's been at this school for months, I don't think he's lost." Lenalee taps her foot against the asphalt.
"Oh, you'd think so, but he's a moron." Kanda rolls his eyes. "During the whole time I've known the nerd, he always found a way to get himself lost."
"Man, you're being unusually mean to Allen today. You insulted him fifteen times since the lunch break began and he wasn't even around." Lavi comments with a raised eyebrow.
"So?"
"Well, I always thought that you only insulted him when he was around because you love to argue with him. But I can see now, that you just want any excuse to talk about him." He says with a slight smile and flicks his cigarette across the car.
"What the fuck are you implying, Cyclops?" Kanda glares, dangerously.
"I'm implying that your crush on Al is so fucking obvious." He smirks and quickly rolls across the hood of the car, dodging the swipe of Yu's hand and landing fluently on the ground on the other side. "You're only making it more obvious the angrier you get, Yu."
"My anger is only directed at you, fucker!" Kanda points a finger at him, glaring. "I hate when you fucking evaluate me! You don't know shit, Cyclops!"
"Ugh! Can you both shut up!? You both like Allen, I get it! But can we focus on actually finding him, please?" Lenalee glares at both of them. "You can talk about who likes Allen more another time. Right now, we need to find him. Let's not forget the 'people' who are after not only you guys, but him as well!"
Lavi's eye widened at that. "You don't think they, like, kidnapped him do you?"
Silence sweeps over them and Lenalee runs towards the school.
"L-Lenalee! Where are you going!?" Lavi calls after her.
"I'm going to make an announcement or have Link search for him!"
"You guys are over-thinking things again! The brat is probably—" Kanda's eyes widen as he spots the white-haired slacker coming into view with a smile on his stupid face; but it wasn't the brat he was focused on, it was the green truck driving off into the distance. A familiar green truck...
Kanda angrily strides his way towards the teen, startling Lavi and Lenalee who had finally taken notice to Allen walking into the parking lot.
"Allen!" Lenalee smiles in relief.
"There you are! Where the fuck have you been!?" Kanda yells.
Allen takes a small step back as Kanda was practically running towards him with the most pissed-off look Allen had ever seen on the Japanese male. Sure, he always seen Kanda scowl and glower like a pit bull, but this was an all new 'angry look'.
"Uh...Hello to you too, dear." Allen blinks at him and furrows his eyebrows together in confusion. "Wait, since when do I have to tell you where I'm going? Last time I checked, you weren't my wife."
Kanda snarls and pushes him roughly. "Shut up! You're either brave or really fucking stupid. Don't you have any fucking idea who the hell are after us?"
"I'm fine, Kanda." Allen rolls his eyes. "Look, I'm still alive aren't I?"
"You can't just wander off alone, idiot!"
"I'm not a child." Allen crosses his arms heatedly and shoots the Japanese teen a glare. "I can take care of myself."
"Tch! Like hell! Where did you go anyway? And who was that in the green truck?" Kanda asks, angry.
"Green truck...?" Lenalee tilts her head.
"It was just a friend, Kanda. I do have other friends." Allen looks away with a pout.
"Yeah right. I doubt there are people out there who could stand you, when I barely can." When Kanda sees the brat's grey eyes smoulder in a glare, he was sure there was something fucked up inside his head to even think that the punk looked appealing.
"You know what? You don't even have to worry about that anymore." Allen shouts back, glaring.
"Allen, what do you mean?" Lenalee asks, worried.
"I might be moving...so you don't have to worry about me or any of the crap I forced on you all anymore. I already know this all my bloody fault so I already know that me leaving will save you all the trouble." Allen swiftly turns away and begins to storm off, leaving his friends lost for words.
As he gets further and further away, Allen could feel his mind slowly slipping away, falling into the depths of his darkest thoughts.
Everything is my fault isn't it? Everything that I've done has put them in danger. If I had just told David and Jasdero to leave, no one would have ended up fighting, Cross wouldn't have gotten hurt and everything would have been just fine! But...I didn't do anything and now everything is shite and it's all because of me...
Allen couldn't help but think...if something ever happened to either of them...he wouldn't be able to handle it. Allen knows in his heart that it would be his fault. Neither of them may think it was because of him that this all happened...but Allen know it was. And it'll be his fault if they get hurt. The only way to keep them safe...is for him to leave, right? Even though it's still a possibility, and even if his heart breaks at the thought of leaving, he's come to understand that it would be the only way to assure their safety.
When he hears the sound of footsteps running after him, Allen balls up his fist and walks faster. He knew one of his friends would chase after him, but he just wasn't ready to face them yet.
"Please, just leave me alone." Allen calls.
"Aw, what's gotten you so down, Walker?"
"Hee hee...friend problems?"
Grey eyes widen as those terrible, familiar voices sends a tremor throughout his spine and soon the sick feeling of fear enters the pit of his stomach and halts his movement. All his thoughts come to an abrupt stop as he begins to feel himself shiver at the sickening sound of laughter follows up behind him.
As he looks back, Allen's face pales as the sight of their yellow irises stare back at him keeps him frozen in place.
"Just the reaction I was hoping for." David begins, smiling. "You missed us, huh? Otherwise you wouldn't looked so surprised to see us."
"Surprise! Give us a hug, yeah?" Jasdero snickers as he stretches out his arms.
The twins take a few steps forward and Allen stays stationary, unsure whether it was their sudden return that stunned him or the fact that they seemed more intimidating than he last remembered. They still looked the same, except their complexion looked even more pale than before and they looked like they were in the process of recovering by the faded bruises that covered their faces.
But why was it...that they seemed more frightening than before?
"What's wrong, Walker? You look scared...don't tell me you're afraid of us." David stands in front of the younger teen and smiles. "I thought we were friends."
Allen opens his mouth but nothing comes out and the twins chuckle.
"He looks a bit nervous." Jasdero giggles.
"A nice walk would calm the nerves, how 'bout it, Walker?" The raven-haired male slinks an arm around Allen's neck and brings him closer.
Move damn it...do something. Allen mentally berates himself and suddenly Kanda's voice echoes in his mind.
"Pretend I'm one of those twins, or one of the gang members who bashed your guardian across the head."
Allen knows he needed to do something.
"Are you going to let that happen again because you couldn't stand up for yourself? Are you going to let everyone fight your battles for you. Are you going to be told to keep your distance and to seek shelter in hiding? Or are you going to do something about it?!"
Finally Allen moves and pulls himself away, but when he does, he follows with a swing of his elbow and makes contact with David's face. As he stumbles away, Allen puts enough distance between him and the brothers and turns to face them once more.
"Ugh..." David stumbles back, holding his jaw.
"David!" Jasdero runs to his brother, distraught. "Hee...are you okay?"
David looks up with an unsteady gaze. "You little punk..." He gives an irritated smirk.
"I'm not afraid..." Allen mutters and gazes up at the twins, his eyes narrowed.
"You should be." David glares dangerously. "After what your stupid uncle did to us...we're going to do the same thing to you. We have nothing against you personally, Walker. But...someone needs to pay."
"Payback! Hee...!"
So that was it...they were after him because of Cross. Of course they would be...why wouldn't they be?
Allen glances around himself and at the houses in the distance. They were on a block with houses near by, certainly there was plenty of people that would see this and walk out to stop it right?
Noticing this, David smirks. "Don't expect people to come out and save you Walker. The people on this block know who were are, and trust me...they aren't going to a damn thing."
Just as the twins take a step towards Allen, the sharp noise of someone whistling causes both the twins to come to an immediate stop and a look of fear flickers in their expressions as they slowly turn to who had whistled at them.
"Now, now boys."
A deep, melodic voice finally speaks, and the brothers flinch.
Allen watches in stunned silence as a man—a familiar-looking man—comes into view. Dark, wavy strands of hair fell in front of his tanned face and a snow-white smile stretches across his lips as he slowly pronounces the next words with a purr.
"Allen Walker." He grins and walks up to the twins who stood stationary at either side of him. When he places a hand on both their shoulders, they look away in a defeated manner. "You boys are acting rude."
"He...Cross—" David mumbles.
"—hmm? So you intend on getting back at Cross by beating up his godson, is that it?" The man asks with a disapproving tone. "That's not how we do things, boys." He flicks his golden eyes towards the grey-haired teen and his smile widens.
Allen stays still and openly stares at the man before him. Why did he look familiar? When and where did Allen see him before? As Allen tried to place where he had seen this man, he couldn't exactly ignore the way he was been stared at by him. His expression was friendly, his voice sickly sweet, but...his eyes...
His eyes were murderous.
"Hello again, Allen." He greets and walks towards the grey-haired male, his smile stretching further.
Alarms were going off inside Allen's head as the man kept approaching him and no matter how much he smiled, how friendly he was, there was such an overwhelming sense of danger within the man's aura. Looks could be deceiving, and when it came to this man, it was no joke on how true that saying was. There was only deceit in his eyes, spite in his voice, and hostility in his movements.
It was like...he was there for a reason. This man's abrupt appearance wasn't just a coincidence, there was something more behind this, Allen knew; because why would the twins look so shocked at his arrival? There was some sort of malicious intent, the man radiated with treachery and danger that vaguely reminded Allen of a demon.
Though he looked like a man, Allen felt as though he wasn't.
As he stood before Allen, the teen couldn't help but stare up at him. He was tall, frighteningly tall and it only induced more fear into Allen than ever before. If he was scared of him before, having the man stand before him now was terrifying.
"I'm Sheryl. How lovely to finally meet you, Allen Walker." He smiles and pats the boy on the head. "I'm truly sorry for what the boys did earlier. It wasn't fair of them to take their anger out on you, it just doesn't show good manners, don't you agree?"
Allen opens his mouth but nothing comes out and he quickly shuts it with an audible click, earning a chuckle from Sheryl.
"It's also bad manners to not answer to an adult when they are speaking to you. Though, I can't blame you. You have lived with that insufferable man for ten years, it's only logical for someone to pick up on his unfavourable habits." The man flicks his golden eyes away and glares momentarily.
There was a slight break in his smile when he says this and Allen quickly notices how the man's aura changes once more.
"But, seeing as you were merely five when you began living with him, I thought you would hopefully pick up on your dad's mannerisms before that time. Guess not."
Allen's eyes widen. "You...you knew my dad?" He asks. He wasn't sure if he wanted to know but if it concerned his father, Allen felt the need to know.
"Oh yes, I knew him. Not so much him, but I knew of him through your uncle." Sheryl sneers as he sees the teen turn even paler. "Neah was quite the troublemaker too, you know? You remind me so much of him, I bet that's why Tyk—"
"Get away from him!"
Allen lets out a yelp as he's yanked backwards and before he even realizes he's inside someone's arms, he sees a flash of silver in his vision and a loud bang sounds out.
But this isn't what stuns him, no, it was the memories that come flooding into his mind as he recalls his uncles name. The name he'd forgotten, the name that haunted him throughout the years, the name that he never wanted to remember ever again...
Neah...
Uncle Neah...
Allen couldn't stop the memories as they flooded into his mind in fierce, unrelenting waves. He couldn't stop them, nor could he stop the scream that tore its way through his mouth, causing those around him to gape at him in both shock and fear.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
(End)