What? What is this? Two updates in one day? Yes! I had some time (or some time for procrastination anyway) and decided just to keep writing! There is some major progression towards the 'bigger plot line' in this chapter so I hope it gets the ball rolling a bit.

Disclaimer: I do not own D Gray man... as I have said over and over again... now it's just depressing T-T

Text Key:::

thoughts

"normal speech"

"SHOUDTING ETC."

((author notes))

Word Count: 2,860 words

IMPORTANT NOTE 2

I have gone and changed a few more things... I'm sorry! Hopefully there won't be anymore major changes, now that I know exactly where I'm going with this story (well at least I think I do). Once again, you don't have to go back and reread everything, but the main change is in Chapter 5 at the end, after Allen goes off at Kanda. Thanks!

IMPORTANT NOTE 2 END

Chapter Nine – The Main Sponsor

•••••++•••••

Thumbelina laughed, one hand resting delicately, just in front of her perfect lips. She gently turned the blushing boy around to face his mother who held a shiny silver camera at the ready. After a few flashes, the girl waved to the boy and his mother before moving on. This time, a small girl of no more than 5 or 6 looked up at her in awe. She smiled, a soft upturn of the mouth, before greeting the girl, who squealed in delight. The young girl spun around, pigtails bobbing, and called for her friends and their mothers. Everyone had to meet Thumbelina! The girl had heard the distrustful, angry whispers of the other adults. They said mean things about Thumbelina, but she was not like they said at all! She was every little girl's image of the perfect fairy tale heroine. Thumbelina greeted each enthusiastic (and shy) young child that bounded (or awkwardly shuffled) over to her. Gracefully and graciously accepting each request for a photo, or a kiss on the cheek, or an autograph. Thumbelina must have been feeling the fatigue – she had been doing this for over 3 hours – but if she felt any of the pain, none of it made itself known on her features. She appeared flawless.

But one man in particular, knew better. He had been watching 'her' since 'she' first made 'her' appearance. His dark eyes narrowed, his brow furrowing even more than it usually is. The Prince made his way to Thumbelina, slinging a protective arm around 'her' waist, making all the girls swoon and squeal. Cobalt eyes flicked momentarily up to the one-way-glass sitting area where the man stood, before returning to attend to the increased number of photo requests by the screaming fangirls. The man lifted his chin slightly higher, looking down his nose at the pushing crowd. How distasteful. He could never understand just why Director Komui allowed the Open Day 'walk'. These people didn't spend more than 20 dollars to be standing where they are now, having intimate conversations with the lead performers. In the man's eyes, they didn't deserve anything until they had paid the full amount during the production weeks. He would have to have words with The Order's director. But first, a meeting with the company lead's co-star was in order.

•••••++•••••

Allen let go of all the air that had been held in to give the appearance of a slimmer waist. He thumped himself against the wall, resting his head. The first 5 hours were over. Thank god. Now he just had to survive the next 3-4 hours of money-hungry senior citizens and adoring V.I.P.s.

Allen thought back over the past few hours. For all of his aches and pains, they really weren't all that bad. It was kinda nice to be looked at as though he was a figure of great prestige, rather than an anemic orphan. It was also lots of fun to talk to all of those young children, even if he was pretending to be a fictional character.

"Hey! Allen-kun!"

Allen looked up, stepping off the wall with a smile, "Hey Lavi, Lenalee. What's up?"

Lavi grinned, "Oh, nothin' much, just the usual. But enough about us, how about you?!"

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, come on no need to be so modest! We saw how Kanda almost never left your side the entire time during 'the walk'. How could we not notice?"

"Yeah, Allen! You never told us how much you two were getting along lately!"

Allen just looked at them, trying to ignore the blush beginning to crawl its way across his cheeks, "Getting along? Kanda and I aren't getting along. We were just in character, that's all."

"Well that may have been the case, but there is no way that two people who hated each other as much as you claim to, could pull something off that well for that long and make it look so natural! The photo-shoot was one thing, that only lasted a minute at the most, but 'the walk' went for 4 hours! With no breaks!"

Allen shrugged, trying to make it look as noncommittal as possible, "Maybe the almost constant company is getting to us, we've argued so much over the last week that it may have allowed room for some non-argument time."

Lenalee narrowed her eyes suspiciously, not convinced. Something was bothering both of them and she would get to the bottom of it.

But before either she or Lavi could say anything more, one of the secretaries from Komui's office came rushing up, "Master Allen! There has been a request from one of the sponsors for a private meeting with you. You must not delay; he is waiting in the Director's office. There is no need to change out of your costume, he says he is fine with meeting you as you are."

Allen's look of surprise at the sudden request quickly smoothed over and he nodded, moving to follow the young man. But Lavi quickly held out a hand before they could move any further, "Just a second, may I ask which sponsor it was who made the request? Surely there is no one that couldn't wait until the official meeting with the other sponsors and V.I.P.s?"

The secretary refused to meet the redhead's gaze, his nervous eyes settling on everything but the gymnast in front of him, "It was the Black Order's main sponsor and critique, The Inspector… Rouvelier."

Lenalee gasped, scrunching her hands into the back of Lavi's green tunic. Lavi let his hand fall, so that it was no longer impeding the secretary's path. Allen gave them worried looks as he was hustled passed, but there was no time for anything to be said.

Lavi turned and wrapped his arms around Lenalee's faintly shaking form, resting his chin on top of her head. Lenalee's eyes bore a whole through Lavi's chest, directing their anger passed him and through the wall on the other side. "I hate that man…" Lavi tightened his hold, "I know. But there is nothing you or I can do about it now. We all know what would happen if he ordered for Allen's memories to be forced back. After all… it is… 'that year', isn't it. What about you, what are you going to do, Kanda?"

Kanda briefly glanced at him before returning his gaze to the floor in front of him, not moving from his place just around the corner. He had heard everything, "Nothing, at the moment. If he is forced to remember then so-be-it, there's nothing any of us can do about it."

All at once Lenalee wrenched herself from Lavi's grip and threw herself in front of Kanda, "How can you say that? How Kanda? You knew as soon as he re-entered this place. You knew him better than anybody! Kanda you lo–"

"That's enough Lenalee," Lavi gently pulled her away; encasing her once more in his comforting arms. He shifted his gaze back to the sapphire-eyed one, "Lenalee does speak the truth though you know. When he turned up in that foyer with all the new recruits… it was all we could do to keep from showering him with relieved hugs and kisses. Of course it was all fun and games at first. It was fun acting like complete strangers for a while, trying to see what had changed in the 12 years since we last saw him. But you… you who had to watch him as he grew up, through all that hardship… unable to do a single thing to help… Heh, you even tried to get him to leave as soon as he walked in the door and every second after that. All that hostility… I have to admit, I was mildly surprised with the backbone he's shown. He really has grown up, hasn't he?"

Kanda hid his face behind his long black bangs, "Just shut up, baka Usagi. The past is the past, there's no use whining about it now."

Lavi just gave a tired smile as he watched Kanda's back retreat down the hall, most likely headed towards Komui's office to see what was going on in the meeting with Rouvelier. Even though you say that Kanda, we all know that you are the one suffering the most. Both you and Allen…

•••••++•••••

Allen followed the secretary in silence, his legs moving automatically as he left his mind to question and ponder the odd occurrences over the passed day. The bulk of these odd occurrences began when Kanda covered him on the stage, when he was supposed to make that short speech. The action seemed very un-Kanda like. Even if he just did it because he didn't want to jeopardise the production, he could have let Allen die in embarrassment first before swooping in like some smug hero, going in to save the 'poor damsel in distress'. The entire episodes could have been blackmail material for months! So why?

And then, in the hall: he had been spacing out a little due to the shock of Kanda's actions on the stage and had consequently been oblivious to whatever Kanda was trying to tell him. It wasn't until the grip on him began to become painfully tight that he was snapped out of it, only to find Kanda in the same spaced out predicament he had just been in. But when Kanda's eyes met his own… the emotions swirling in them didn't contain hatred, which was shock enough in and of itself. No… they spoke of a deep pain, a lasting pain and what scared Allen the most was the pain that had slowly begun to make itself known in his own chest, a dull ache, one that was quickly replaced by a not-so-dull ache in his backside, when Kanda had dropped him backwards over his shoulder. After that things went back to normal for a short while… until 'the walk out'.

At first, everything had been fine. That was until about half an hour into it, when Allen felt the cold stare digging into his back. He paused for a couple of seconds to have a quick look round, but it didn't seem like anything was out the ordinary. Never the less that piercing stare remained; an unpleasant tingling down the spine. Just when Allen felt he couldn't take it anymore, Kanda appeared, slinging a firm arm around his waist. All at once the pressure disappeared and a feeling of comfort took its place.

For the life of him, Allen couldn't work out why. Why, when Kanda put his arm around him, did he feel a comfort that was almost as old as he was? He hadn't known Kanda for that long, not even a year, and yet recently, he had been feeling things that made it appear as though he had known him his whole life. Why was that? It was true that he had no memories before waking up in a hospital room when he was 6 years old, but his foster father… no… his father had explained to him what had happened. He had simply been in a caravan accident shortly after one of his circus shows and had hit his head. Of course, that didn't explain the scar on his face, but he had chosen to set that aside. After all, Mana wouldn't have lied to him… would he?

Allen was finally snapped out of his musings at the sound of the secretary wrapping a few times on the double doors that led to Komui's private study. Allen used the last few seconds remaining, between Komui's 'come in' and the opening of the doors, to quickly smooth down his appearance. This was an important sponsor after all; he had to be on his game.

The doors opened soundlessly and Allen stepped through them with just as much grace, and although his inner mind gasped at the sight of the man(?) before him, his outer features did not betray a single one of these emotions. This eyes were cruel, his lips curled up into what may have been a smile but contained to much self satisfaction, his posture was somewhere between military and the slouch typically seen on upper-class men, and all at once Allen found a deep-rooted hatred for this man begin to bubble up from wherever it had been hiding. These were the eyes that had so unsettled him earlier that day.

The man stood up and made his way over to where Allen had remained, motionless by the door, and extended his hand, "It is a pleasure to finally meet the famed Allen Walker, I am The Inspector, Rouvelier." Allen reluctantly took his hand in his own, shaking it once before all but ripping it back from Rouvelier's grasp, fighting the urge to wipe the palm on the skirt of his costume. "Likewise, Mr Inspector."

"Well, shall we sit? You and I have much to discuss."

Allen swallowed nervously, determined not to let his discomfort known, and sat down slowly in the chair that had been indicated.

"Now," Rouvelier started, returning to his own seat and leaning his elbows on his knees, "How are you liking the Black Order so far?"

"The Black Order has been nothing but welcoming to me and all the other recruit members who have also recently joined."

"I see. And what of the people?"

"The people sir?"

"Yes, the people. The other members of The Order like your friends, Lavi and Lenalee."

Allen saw Komui stiffen at the mention of Lenalee's name, but continued to answer the questions none-the-less. "They have also been very welcoming. I have not felt uncomfortable here. They have made The Order feel as though I have lived here my whole life."

"Have you ever wondered about that?"

"What do you mean sir?"

"Have you ever wondered why it is that you feel so 'at home' here?"

"I always thought it was the people and the atmosphere."

"Of course it is, just the people and the atmosphere." The Inspector turned towards Komui, "I'd like to have a private audience with you."

Komui motioned for Allen to leave the room, "Thank you for coming here in the middle of your break Allen, you are free to leave."

"Of course, it was no problem. Komui, Inspector, I'll be going now." Allen stood from the chair, quickly making his way out of the room, but not before a final look back at Komui and that Inspector, who looked at him as though he were a piece of meat, fresh for auction.

As the doors shut behind him once more, Allen couldn't help but linger. It wasn't technically eavesdropping was it? And even if it was, it wasn't like he could hear much anyway, only the odd word or phrase here and there. Things that only succeeded in confusing his already muddled brain even more, things like: '… he remembers too little… memories… traumatised… we can't… no… but he… only 17… force… production…'. And through all these snippets of conversation, one phrase seemed to make itself known more than once. One that became the prime subject for an argument of raised voices. Something called…

D,Gray-man…

Okay! That was one bumpy chapter that probably raised a whole heap more questions than it answered... but never fear! Future chapters will eventually explain!

As always, if you have the time I would love to hear from you! And if you have any questions feel free to ask :) I would also love to hear any theories you have regarding the plot, but please PM me so you don't accidentally reveal something to other scrolling readers. Thank you!

See you next time!