Disclaimer: The characters within this story all belong to Hoshino-san.
Warnings: This IS a MALE/MALE pairing, so if such things disturb you, or bother you in any way, you should stop reading.
Summary: In which the holidays are explored with the tidbits and the drama of the Kanda/Allen we all love and adore. Yaoi. This will only be updated on holidays that I recognize. Which means that if I know it, I'll probably write it if I have time, or care. Readers should mention closer holidays in reviews for faster updates.
Next Update: Next update is likely to be Christmas, unless other, closer holidays are introduced to me.
AN: I'm very, very sorry for the delay. My grandfather passed away on Mother's Day, and it didn't seem right to be worried about posting something online at the time. I did, however, miss the deadline I'd set for myself, so I threw in a little tidbit here. I also apologize for the length of this chapter. I feel it's shorter than my usual chapters, but I haven't really checked. I blame it on the nervousness I'm feeling. I'll be going on a ten day trip, and it sounds like a harrowing experience from what I've heard. Well, wish me luck, and please enjoy the chapter.
In A Year
Father's Day
by: Kagome-reincarnation
Celebrations from their most recent party - Children's Day - had finally died off at least; they'd been going for almost three days now. Headquarters was always finding a way and reason to celebrate, or, to be more exact, to get drunk.
It was nearing five in the afternoon when Lenalee caught sight of the strangely ellusive Kanda. At first, it seemed as though he'd spotted something through the large majestic windows. After all, why else would his gaze become so intense? Only two things truly caught the Japanese exorcist's attention, and because she knew that Allen was in the cafeteria, she activated her Innocence - the Dark Boots - as she apporached.
The whispers of her boots reassured her, and as she moved with the ease of a fighter as she stood next to the Japanese exorcist. She attempted to follow his line of sight to what she assumed would be the Akuma, and was admittedly relieved to see nothing, and her Innocence wasn't reacting in the way it did when it sensed its enemy near. She flushed red from embarassment. What kind of exorcist was afraid of meeting the enemy? Relief came because her previously gained injuries still hurt, but that shouldn't have affected her. Irked at her behavior, she sighed.
Within moments, she sighed again, her aggravation with her ineptitude biting at her as she deactivated her Dark Boots.
Kanda blinked. He turned left and right, seemingly regaining his bearings. He seemed a tad bit surprised to see her. Of course, it being Kanda, and her presence being only a small surprise - she managed to appear at the strangest times - he only blinked a couple of times.
"Do you need something?" he asked her, not unkindly.
Surprised by the uncharacteristic expression he held and the abnormal amount of concern in his voice, she shook her head before wordlessly drifting back to her original route, thinking.
Kanda blinked again before both sighing and shrugging. Again, he trained his eyes on the horizon to the east.
Tick... Tock... Tick... Tock...
The next person to come by was Lavi, and he was only amused by Kanda's seeming lack of presence. The ever conscious fighter was clearly lost in thought. He thought for a moment, and realized why. "Missing your home land?" he asked his friend.
Kanda simply nodded. He'd realized Lavi was there after a couple of jiffies had passed, and he'd realized the redhead intended to stay, at least for several minutes, when the carrot-top opened his mouth to speak.
"Missing your mother?"
Kanda blinked, and Lavi knew it was true. He'd known Kanda long enough to differentiate between a blink and a yes blink and a no blink. He'd just known Kanda that long.
"She's fine." he continued, "And she's thinking of you, too."
"I'm sure she is." Kanda simply nodded.
"But it doesn't stop you from missing her, right?" Lavi told him.
"You're right. But this is foolish." Kanda said, stepping away from his place at the window. "I need something to do. I'm going to see if an missions have come in." And with that, he turned on his heel and walked away from both the window to his home and mother, and away from Lavi.
It was exactly one month and four days from Mother's Day, and Kanda was still gone.
Allen sighed. Today, it was his turn to gaze out of the window. He had no real idea of where he'd been born, and since he'd traveled with Mana frequently, there was no telling when he was born. However, today, he hadn't bothered thinking of such things.
He didn't wonder whether his father had left his mother or if they both lived happily or anything like that. No, not today. Instead, he thought of his own close companion. Kanda was a good guy, and Allen couldn't help but wonder what had happened to his father. His father must've been a good and strong man to have raised Kanda. Kanda was fortunate. At least he may have known his family.
"Allen?"
He turned. It was Lenalee.
"Why do I suddenly have a rather ill-boding feeling?" he asked, not really asking her. Every time he'd seen her over the past couple of months, there had been an ulterior motive.
The girl frowned. "Who knows?" She brightened quickly. "Anyways, come with me!" she said, before grabbing one of his wrists to drag him off, down the hall.
Lenalee's a lot stronger than she thinks! Allen thought unhappily as he felt a shiver go up his spine.
"Reever!" Lenalee called. "I've brought him with me!"
Allen, still caught in thought, was torn from his confused musings when he heard the squeak of Reever's turning chair and saw the bright red, very revealing, and utterly terrifying dress that he held.
There was a rather awkward silence.
Then, "What... is that?" he asked, his feeling of impending doom only growing stronger.
"Oh, nothing really." Lenalee said. "But we needed to get you to make sure it would fit."
"Fit?" Allen's voice went up a few octaves. "Why would it need to fit? And why me, of all people?"
"Because you'll be wearing it!" Allen started twitching at that voice. When had Komui entered?
"Why?" he asked, the word painfully drawn out.
"There's a dance, and the female to male ration didn't match." Komui explained.
"So why am I going to be in a dress? You can't get someone else to do this?" Allen asked, his eyes becoming rather desperate.
"No one else volunteered."
"I didn't volunteer!" Allen shouted. His voice had yet to return from it's journey up to visit with the sopranos.
"Lenalee blinked. "But you're the most feminine." she shrugged.
"What does it matter?!" he demanded. "I don't even want to go!"
Lenalee's eyes took on the hurt, sad look that Allen couldn't possibly reject. After all, she'd picked it up from the puppies he so often tried to take care of.
Allen gasped, appalled. "What? No-" Then, he sighed. "I'm guessing my partner's already been decided?"
"Yes!" Lenalee cheered. "Thank you!" Allen disappeared in the vast space called a body-crunching, oxygen-depriving hug.
"You're welcome, I think." he responded in his regular voice, though it did seem a bit strained.
It was two hours and lot of pin pricks later that found Allen in the mess hall. He was feeling very sorry for himself, and Lavi wasn't anywhere near. Fortunately, though, he had the opportunity to hear of the upcoming dance from the conversations around him. It was, apparently, a summer dance to celebrate another spring gone.
He couldn't help but shake his head. It really did seem that the people of headquarters did everything they could to ensure that there were parties and dances and such things constantly. He wondered why.
"Probably bad habits picked up from Master." he finally muttered to himself, before taking another plate of food. He'd already devoured six or seven plates of exotic dishes, and he was moving on to the second set of foods - these were from Asian countries, and consisted of Korean, and Chinese food, though the majority of it was Japanese.
It was delicious. Quickly finishing his feast, he began to rove the halls again, restless.
Fortunately, when Lenalee came looking for him again, she'd come to tell him of a mission. It was one of the first times that Allen was happy to be going on a mission. After all, if the alternative was a dress... Yes, he was indeed happy.
Allen Walker was depressed. A mission that should lasted beyond the dance had been cut short by several weeks. Apparently, he'd been on Kanda's route back to headquarters, and while he was certainly happy to see his friend again, he was tearful at the thoughts of the dress. The bright red, revealing dress.
When he returned, though, he was only too happy to hear that the headquarters had been attacked and the decorations and such destroyed. He wondered if it hadn't been Lavi or some other exorcist that had to wear a dress. Whatever the case, he was relieved, despite that people had been injured. Fortunately, no one had died. It freed him from the fearsome, red scrap of clothing, so he didn't mind.
What he did mind, however, was when people told him, only several weeks later, that he would indeed be put into the dress. However, it was entirely up to him - he'd either wear it at the fashion show that several of the women had put together, the dance that was coming up - it was to celebrate the end of summer - or at the Christmas ball.
Ever sensible, he chose the Christmas ball. It was the farthest off, and he'd be able to happily forget about the dress until then. Perhaps they would even get more females finders or exorcists by then!
It was with great cheer that he went to the dining hall, but it was with a depressed cloud of rain that he left it. Kanda had been in a turquoise dress in the cafeteria, and no one knew why. It was very disturbing, and definitely not a sight anyone wished to see ever again.
With the ever-unchanging shocked expression he held, he listlessly returned to his room. It took an hour in the bath to changes his expression back to that of contentment. The baths were always very nice. He sighed, happy.
Of course, no one knew what was bound to come next. There had been far too much peace and quiet for a great deal of people, and some of them were itching to do something. Some of them would feel the itch later on, but the itch was there, and it was bound to cause some form of havoc.
Innocent Allen was used to being content, and he was spared of the itch, but it went around, and tempers flared. Allen seemed to be the only cure for those with the itch, if only because of the calm he radiated.
That calm would soon come back to bite him, and it would hurt when it did.