What is this? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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It had been a great plan. In theory. In practice on the other hand?

"Hey! Let me go, you bastard!"

It was a fucking train wreck.

It was a fucking train wreck and he had just abducted a small child.

"Small child?!" came an indignant hiss. "I'm fourteen and a half!"

Yeah, as if that somehow made it better. Still, Tyki had his reasons. He had his reasons and he had gone through entirely too much shit as of late to back down now. "Yeah, whatever, but pipe it down. And stop wiggling. I might just drop you if you don't."

The boy stilled and looked down. Going by the look on his face, he only then really realised that Tyki was not standing on some rooftop but rather on top of the air itself. "Oh, that'd probably hurt."

Yeah, no shit. "I'd say the fall would kill you if I didn't know how hard that is."

"Same to you, arsehole!" Allen Walker hissed. "Now will you let me down or what?"

Tyki was halfway tempted to let go right then and there, to see just how well the boy would fare after suffering injuries from a fifty-foot drop. But alas, Tyki had not come all this way to drop future nuisances from moderate heights, and as such, he stepped back down as if descending an invisible staircase. Then, upon reaching the ground, he finally let the boy wiggle free. "There. Happy?"

The boy actually bared his teeth at him in a definite not-smile. "Ecstatic."

Yeah, as if. Still− "We should probably change locations. I'd rather not have this conversation out in the open."

The boy readily scoffed at that. "Come on," he said at last, shoving his hands into his pockets. "I know a place."

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Roughly fifteen minutes later found them in a secluded area behind one of the temples. Going by the looks and sounds of it, there seemed to be some sort of Hindu festival in the works.

"Well, you made it back as well," Allen Walker said where he sat, arms folded across his chest. "Must've been quite a surprise for you."

Yep. "It was quite a nasty surprise to be honest, even if this was what we aimed for. Well, more or less."

Allen snorted slightly at that, leaning his back against the wall. "Well, being abducted out of the blue was also a fairly nasty surprise. I thought we'd agreed not to associate ahead of time if we both made it back."

True. Still− "There were no guarantees, so I obviously had to confirm you'd made it back as well. After all, in the offhand case that I'd made it back but not you, I'd certainly have had my work cut out for me, don't you think?"

Allen kicked up an eyebrow at that. "And that translates to suddenly abducting me how exactly?"

Tyki heaved a sigh at that; he desperately wanted to smoke, but he was freshly out of cigarettes and now was not the time to buy more. "Okay, look: I've been back for about a week and a half and I've spent a lot of that time tracking you down. And it was not easy, let me tell you that, having to be discreet and all. And, for the record, I hadn't exactly planned on all of this, but then you oh so conveniently stepped out right in front of me. I mean, what was I supposed to do?"

Allen shot Tyki a decidedly exasperated look, then buried his face in his hands. "If it'd been my past self, he'd probably taken off a finger or two," Allen muttered before looking up at Tyki once more. "But I get it: You saw me, I saw you and you panicked."

Well, truth to be told− "You almost blurted out my name, in public. What if anyone overheard? Imagine what that'd look like."

"And you just up and decided to kidnap me," Allen retorted. "Imagine what that'd look like."

Yeah, Tyki could imagine. Sort of. And for that exact reason, there was a need to ensure that word of it never reached the ears of the Duke or for that matter the Order. "Well, in any case, we−" he began, about to close in on the distance when he was forced to dodge an incoming projectile.

"Tim!" Allen gasped, all while Tyki found himself dodging the jaws of the surprisingly aggressive and surprisingly sizeable golem.

Granted, Tyki could have used his ability more freely. But he didn't exactly want to call any unnecessary attention to himself. In the offhand case that there were any Akuma nearby, then Tyki would rather not alert any of them to his current location. Instead, he took a few steps back.

As predicted, the golem placed itself in-between him and Allen, wings flapping, tail swishing and teeth bared in a blatant show of aggression. It didn't continue attacking though. It likely would though, should he move even a tiny bit closer. "Boy…"

Thankfully, the boy understood, yanking the thing down by its tail. The action caused some irritation, going by the movements. Even so, it took only about a minute before Allen had the golem perched upon his knee, shrunken down to a more manageable size. That said, the thing – Timcanpy if Tyki was not completely mistaken – was still baring its teeth at Tyki, behaving very much like a dog trying to protect its master. All things considered, this was probably not all that far off from the truth either.

"It's okay, Tim," Allen mumbled, petting the thing. "We're just talking."

Yeah, they were, but Tyki was not all too sure about talking in that thing's presence. After all, there was really no telling who could ultimately end up viewing those recordings, was there?

"It's okay," Allen insisted, keeping his hand on top of the damned thing. "Timcanpy can keep a secret."

Tyki would have loved to argue, he really would. But alas, there was little time for such with so many details to work out. "Well, first things first: We need to make adjustments to the plan."

Or throw it out or the window altogether; Tyki certainly knew which alternative he preferred. In any case− "We've arrived roughly a year ahead of schedule. And so, the question is: Do we start things early and thereby risk fucking up in new and interesting ways, or should we aim to repeat what we did last time around?"

Allen screwed his eyes shut, pinching the bridge of his nose. He looked as though the entire concept was giving him a headache; Tyki found that he could very much relate. "Too many important things happen one year from now," Allen finally said, staring down at his hand. "If we fuck that up ahead of schedule, then we'll definitely lose the advantage of knowing what's coming."

On one hand, yeah, sure. On the other though− "That depends entirely on how we decide to play though, doesn't it?"

This earned him a decidedly irritated stare. "We can't," Allen finally said, curling slightly into himself. "And even if we can, we shouldn't, not yet."

"It'd probably save a lot of people though," Tyki added, not so innocently. "And severely hamper the Duke and his forces, don't you think?"

The boy grimaced, biting into his bottom lip. Tyki could tell that he was tempted, and who could blame him, really? After all, if they hijacked the Noah's Ark ahead of time and managed to keep Road and the Duke out long enough to destroy the Akuma Plant, then it would take time and resources to rebuild it, and if they also managed to get away with the Ark itself, then it would leave the others without the use of those highly convenient Ark gates. In other words, doing so would even the playing field significantly, giving the Order a fair chance to fight, even if it also meant making Allen and by default also Tyki prime targets for elimination. Still−

"A year ago, I would have done it," Allen finally divulged, staring down at his hands now and at Timcanpy nestled in-between them. "No hesitation whatsoever. But now− Now−"

He trailed off, his eyes becoming distant. "Now I've realised that I must bear their lives on my conscience, because if we lose this fight−" Again. "−then even more people will die. I've realised that I can't risk it."

It had to have been a painful decision; that much was perfectly obvious. Still− "Then I'm glad we're on the same page. Still, if we want to change the outcome, then we still have to start from somewhere, don't we?"

Allen closed his eyes, evidently weary. "Roughly one year from now, Master will knock me unconscious with a mallet and send a letter of recommendation to Komui," he finally said, looking up at Tyki. "Last time around, it took me about a month and a half to travel from Agra to London."

Hoh. "If memory serves me right, then I was still touring Eastern Europe at the time. And you and I met the first time around maybe a bit less than a month after that, right around the time we got summoned back to the Duke…"

…Which was right around the time when they had officially launched the hunt for the Heart, wasn't it? Maybe a bit after…

"So, what's the plan? You do your thing, I do my thing, we meet up on the train in about a year and−"

The boy held up a hand to stop him, his sombre expression gradually morphing into an unnerving grin. "Don't worry about it. I promise I'll come for you eventually. You should just enjoy yourself in the meantime."

Yeah, but enjoying himself while acutely aware that unless they played their cards right and kept them very close to their chests would hardly be easy. There would be some very dire, basically world-ending consequences if either of them got caught after all. Well, that and certain, painful death, obviously.

It was a good thing that Wisely's awakening was still many months away. Because of mindreading, that's why. Speaking of awakening though− "He... isn't awake, is he?"

The smile directed his way was decidedly humourless. "Do you really think you'd still be in one piece then?"

Well, fair point. Still− "He could be waiting for the right opportunity to strike though?"

Tyki got a dismissive wave at that.

"Oh puh-lease, he's moody as shit but he's a heavy sleeper. As long as no one stabs me with Innocence, it should be fine−"

Well− "If memory serves me right, you stabbed yourself with Innocence."

"Yeah, but−" the boy began, somewhat flustered. "I wasn't thinking clearly, okay? Besides, the second time it was all Kanda's fault."

Yeah, as if that somehow made it better. "Okay, look, let's just agree that we both at least try not to get stabbed this time around. By ourselves or by proxy." Tyki extended his hand. "Let's shake on it, boy."

Allen looked from him to the hand and then back again. The golem bared its teeth, wings twitching as Allen picked it up, placing it on the crown of his head. "We might as well."

The hand was smaller than Tyki remembered; not by much, but there was still an obvious difference. Then there was the height, obviously. "Do try to grow a few inches until next time. It's very hard to take you seriously when you're this short."

The boy very pointedly dug his nails into Tyki's hand, his smile bright but no doubt forced. "Do try to grow a pair until next time. It'll be so much more enjoyable to kick you then."

Ouch. Still, Tyki rather doubted that the boy would actually feel inclined to do that. Besides, Tyki could always choose not to let him land a hit so− "I'm looking forward to it," Tyki said, giving the hand a final squeeze before letting go.

The boy reclaimed his hand, rubbing while mumbling something about masochism. Hah. That said, maybe Tyki was a tiny bit of a masochist, all things considered, because he was definitely setting himself up for some major pain later on. Still, he didn't enjoy it. Not at all.

"See you later then, Cheating Boy A."

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