A/N: 'Tis the third day of Yullen Week and I'm as happy as can be! This one is going to be an AU and more on the lines of a cafe fic since those are so popular! Oh, and in this fic, Allen is about 16 and Kanda is 20 so he's in university. Please read and review!

Disclaimer: I do not own D. gray man nor the idea for Yullen week. All credit goes to Hoshino-sensei and celestial moonshine.

Happy Yullen Week!

Sat, December 20th: Comfort

The bell rang, loud and shrill, signaling the end of the lecture as well as the final class of the day. The Japanese man closed his notebook and pulled off his glasses. He stood up and got ready for his usual sprint down to the train station. Why sprint?

"Kyaa! It's Kanda-sama!" a loud and shrill voice, very much like the school bell, shrieked behind him. That was the reason. He groaned in annoyance and quickly packed up his things. "Get him!"

And it was time to leave. Why were mobs of fangirls attacking him? Hell if he knew. It had started ever since the beginning of the fall semester and didn't seem to be letting up. In fact, the numbers seemed to have tripled but Kanda was a fast runner (he was the star track/field and cross-country runner in his old high school) so he had outrun them since then. The raven-haired man sprinted down the whole length of the school campus and into the busy streets of London.

"We love you, Kanda-sama!" the screams were getting closer. Damn, was it him or were they getting faster? He could not stop at the train station or they would catch up to him. Instead, he banked a sharp right, into a shadow-covered street.

Kanda ran down the alleyway and weaved his way through the complex maze of streets it appeared to lead to. Behind him, he could hear the distant screams of raging fangirls. He stopped suddenly as the maze came to an end. A red door blocked his path and a signboard hung above the door proclaiming it, 'Innocence Coffee Shop'. He debated briefly whether to run back and try another path or to hide in the shop.

"Kanda-sama!" the screams became increasingly louder. Without thinking, he pushed the door. A bell tinkled as he entered the inviting door, and he winced at the intrusion in slight anger. Little things like that were annoying to him. But quickly, the thought passed as a wave of warmth seemed to suddenly hit him. The door shut behind him and the distant voices were all a blur but he didn't notice.

The cafe was warm and heat instantly making Kanda's high-boned cheeks flush red. There was a homey atmosphere that seemed to permeate from the small coffee shop. Bookshelves filled with well-thumbed novels and tomes were lined on every available wall space and a fireplace decorated one corner where a rug and some sofas and comfy-looking armchairs stood around it. In the middle of the cafe were some chairs and tables, which were standard with any shop but on each table were a small lit candle and a vase with golden poppies, creating an intimate surrounding. Small chandeliers and fairy lights cast a soft glow that was neither too dim nor was it too bright.

The smell of warm coffee beans and something else he couldn't name filled his senses, not in an overwhelming way but in such a manner that it caressed his face and beckoned him to go deeper into the store. No one seemed to be in the coffee shop but him, and he quietly shuffled into the shop.

The raven-haired man looked to the counter where the cashier should have been but no one was there, to his annoyance. He looked around until something white and black caught his eyes.

A person (a teenager or an old man, he couldn't tell from his view point) was asleep on one of the armchairs, arms folded comfortably on his chest, with a book entangled in the folds of his black apron. His eyes widened slightly. It was a boy despite the white hair and to his judgment, maybe 14 or 15. His face was pale as ivory and his hair too, but it was covered with a black bandanna, obscuring it from view.

Kanda stared at the boy's features. An oddly shaped red scar marred the child's pale skin but for some reason, it made him look even more beautiful and angelic if not fragile. There was a glove on his left hand but not his right, which puzzled the older teen. He wanted to rip it off but suddenly, the pale-faced teen stirred.

Pale eyelashes fluttered open, revealing silvery orbs shining with innocence, "Mmn?"

His eyes wandered around the room for a moment before setting on Kanda who remained silent, marveling at the child's pure aura that radiated like a cowl around him. The white-haired teen stared at him for a moment before panic overran those infantile features and pink invaded the pale face.

"I am sorry!" the boy bowed, flustered with himself before rushing off to the counter. "There was no one in the shop, and I thought I could read a bit but I sort of dozed off..."

"Che."

"Can I get you anything, sir?" the boy blinked, smiling brightly. It seemed fake and rehearsed for some reason. Kanda blinked. Sir?

"My name is Kanda, beansprout," the Japanese man glared at the teen.

"B-Beansprout?!" the younger male sputtered indignantly, glaring back with every bit of malice. "My name is Allen, idiot! Get it right!"

Kanda smirked; at least he had gotten some spark in those rain-colored eyes.

"Che, as if, beansprout," he crossed his arms, his attitude exuding arrogance.

Allen scowled but a fallacious smile was plastered on his face, "May I get you anything, Bakanda?"

"What did you call me, you little bastard?" Kanda growled menacingly, dark colored eyes narrowed into slits.

"What, can't you process your own name, Bakanda?" Allen mocked, thoroughly enjoying himself. His insults stopped as he scrutinized the raven-haired teen. "Black coffee, no cream nor sugar."

"What the hell?" Kanda was slightly taken aback. How the hell did the beansprout know what he wanted before he ordered it?

"Black coffee," the smaller teen replied simply, walking through a curtain of beads. "That's what you want, isn't it?"

There was the clatter of glass clinking against glass and something being ground. Kanda waited patiently, listening to the sounds of his coffee brewing. He drifted to one of the shelves and picked out one of the books. Surprisingly, many of them were either classic English literature or fantasy novels. He picked one and flipped through the pages.

Suddenly, a crash and suppressed curses shook him out of his browsing.

"Sorry for the wait!" a head of pale hair popped out from behind the beads, carrying a porcelain mug embellished with pink roses. Kanda twitched. The beansprout was a sissy who loved girly china. The hell...

Allen set it on one of the tables and pulled out the seat. A sissy and a gentleman. Kanda could not be any twitchier. Certainly such a boy was a poser.

He held the cup. It was like a fire, warming his frigid hands. The longhaired teen took a gulp.

"How is it?" Allen asked, smiling.

"It's shit," Kanda sneered, glaring at the mug. A vein formed in the white-haired teen's forehead.

"I beg your pardon?" the prepubescent voice was strained with both annoyance and red hot anger.

"How the hell did you know I wanted black coffee?" Kanda demanded. In truth, the coffee was delicious and just how he liked it. The bitter taste stayed on his tongue even after he swallowed and there was just the slightest hint of vanilla and sugar to offset the bitterness.

"Oh, that," Allen sighed in relief and laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his head. "Well... umm, I kinda read people."

"What?"

"Oh! Umm, I read their personality and I usually can predict what they want to order. It's something my master taught me."

"Che. Bullshit."

Allen glared at the man, with a chiding tone. "Language, Kanda. Please refrain from tainting my innocent ears."

"Stupid beansprout," Kanda grumbled but didn't talk anymore and focused his attention on his coffee. It was after he was done that he registered the fact that the boy was still next to him. "Don't you have anything else to do?"

The small child blinked as if confused before shaking his head, pink embarrassment staining his cheeks. "No."

"Why are you the only one here, moyashi?" Kanda asked, gesturing to the shop. He wasn't the talkative type but something about the place and the boy who seemed to own it made him open up slightly.

"Moyashi?" Allen questioned, silver eyes wide.

"Beansprout," Kanda clarified. "It means beansprout in my native tongue."

"My name is Allen, Bakanda," he snapped but sat in the seat in front of him anyway. "And I own this shop ever since my master went out to travel the world." He huffed and stared pointedly at the table. "He's most likely somewhere in a whore house, spending money on alcohol and women though. Racking up debts for me to pay off. Stupid master. Which is also why I can't pay for another worker."

"Che, idiot bean," Kanda muttered.

"What's your full name?" Allen asked.

"As if I'd tell a moyashi like you," the older man glowered at him.

"Hey, you asked me something and I feel I'm entitled to asked you something too," Allen retaliated, the ever-present smile still on his face.

"I told you, stupid beansprout," Kanda opted to tell the boy his name than to argue with him. "My name is Kanda."

"That's not your full name!" Allen pouted, pink lips pursed cutely making the room very hot all of a sudden. Kanda's face turned red and it was not because of the temperature.

"My name is Kanda and that's all I'll ever tell you," he said with an air of finality.

"Prick," the boy muttered under his breath. "Well, I'm Allen Walker and it was nice meeting you, Kanda."

"What?" Kanda asked, confused for a moment. Allen glanced at the clock hanging above the cashier and Kanda followed his gaze. It was near ten o' clock and by the looks of it, the shop was about to close.

Kanda paid for his coffee and took his backpack.

"Bye, Kanda," Allen waved, a warm smile decorated his shell pink lips. "I hope to see you again."

Kanda grunted and opened the door to leave. It had started snowing and his boots crunched against the pristine white on the ground.

Outside in the cold snow, Kanda felt dark inside. And even more, he felt the heavy weight of loneliness settle in the pit of his stomach and he didn't like it.

I'm going to the shop because it's the only decent coffee in this whole fucking town. I am not going there because I like to talk to the stupid beansprout.

Kanda tried to persuade himself as he strode down the dark back streets. After class, he had rushed out only to find himself walking down the familiar maze-like streets leading to the coffee shop he had found yesterday. He wandered around the alleys trying to find the shop again. For the life of him, he couldn't seem to find the red door again.

"Kanda?" a familiar voice piped up from behind him. Stormy grey eyes stared at him knowingly. Tucked under the beansprout's arm was a grocery bag.

"Beansprout," he grunted. Allen twitched and glared playfully at him.

"My name is Allen!" he grinned.

"Che."

"Were you going to cafe?"

"Che."

"...You're not answering because you're embarrassed, aren't you?"

"S-Stupid beansprout! I am answering!"

"To my best knowledge, 'Che' was not a word in my dictionary."

"Fuck you."

"Love you too, Bakanda."

The raven-haired man blushed with those words and their banter ended when the red door appeared as if out of thin air. The bell jingled as the door was opened but it seemed less annoying than yesterday.

"Here we are!" Allen smiled joyfully, setting the grocery bag down and pulling the black bandanna and the apron out from under the counter. "Black coffee, no sugar nor cream, right?"

"Che," Kanda scoffed, taking his seat at the same table. When the beverage was made, Allen gave him his coffee and sat down in front of him again but with his own cup. It was milky and looked more like coffee-flavored sugar than anything else. The older teen's lips curled in disgust. "What the hell is that crap?"

"It's coffee," Allen said simply, looking at Kanda as if fearing for his sanity. "What else is it supposed to be?"

"It looks like you dumped the whole fucking sugar bowl in the cup, idiot," Kanda pointed to the cup.

"Meanie," Allen pouted but stopped and grinned. "How are you today, Kanda?"

"Fine, beansprout," he answered, surprised how natural and warm the conversation sounded. Allen must have noticed too because the grin plastered on the pale face was stretched even wider.

For the rest of the morning and well into the afternoon, the two exchanged stories of their past and their dreams for the future.

This is nice, Kanda thought with mild shock. I... like talking to moyashi.

It was going so well in fact, that the taller teen couldn't help but ask, "Beansprout, why do you only have one glove on?"

The smile slowly slid off the boy's face. "What?"

"Why do you only have one glove?" Kanda repeated slowly, glaring at him. The café owner was hiding something from him and he wanted to find out what it was. Allen clutched his left hand (the one with the glove) and shook his head.

"Nothing," the white-haired teen blushed, shielding his eyes with his bangs. "It's nothing."

Something was up.

"If it's nothing than show me," he commanded. He made a motion to snatch the glove off the boy's hand.

"No!" Allen shouted, moving away from his arm away. This made Kanda pissed beyond belief. What was under the glove that made the boy so evasive?

"Stupid fucking beansprout," Kanda tackled the boy to the ground. "What the hell is wrong with you?" He grunted as the boy fought back, Allen's face stained red with both embarrassment and fear.

"Please don't!" Allen cried, tears forming in his eyes. Eventually, because Kanda was both physically taller and a lot stronger, he wrestled the article of clothing off the teen's hand and held the hand in his to stop the boy from hiding it.

It was coarse to the touch and red as wine. Fissures made the hand looked deformed and the veins more pronounced. The fingernails looked black but healthy.

"What the hell?" Kanda stared blankly at Allen who was under him. The child had his eyes shut, tears seeping out slowly.

"You ruined it," Allen mouthed in desperation. "It was going so well and you had to go and ruin it."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" he growled, still holding on to the arm. What did he ruin?

"You're going to run away now, aren't you?" Allen bit his lip. "Everyone who saw this arm threw me away and called me a 'monster'. All except Mana..." A sad expression produced more tears from the moyashi.

"How did this happen?" Kanda inquired.

"In a fire," Allen answered, playing along for now. "I was in a fire but when they saved me, it was too late."

Kanda thought about this. He was never one to judge by outer appearance and he didn't really give a damn about the beansprout's deformity. All that mattered to him was the fact that the boy had chipped away at his heart's barriers and he felt warm and happy when he was with Allen. A thought occured to him.

It can't be...

"Well?" Allen smiled bitterly, "Aren't you going to hit me or run away?"

"Che, you really are an idiot, aren't you?" Kanda smirked.

"What?" Silver eyes widened when soft lips crashed down onto his. Kanda moaned when their lips connected. The boy was clumsy and inexperienced but sweet and addicting like a drug he needed more of. Slowly, so he didn't scare him, Kanda coaxed the boy's mouth to open and he delved deeper, taking in the saccharine taste the white-haired teen had to offer. Both arms wrapped around him, pulling the older teen even closer.

"Y-You're not scared?" Allen asked hesitantly, cheeks flushed a tantalizing crimson. Kanda glared at him; after all this, he still didn't know? How dense. Taking the deformed hand in his, he gave it a tender kiss then stared into Allen's disbelieving but happy face.

"I love you, beansprout," Kanda whispered, blushing a tomato red. He was not one to express emotions through words since he not the social butterfly but the words came out easily for him as if he said them all his life to the younger teen.

Allen's eyes softened and pulled the older teen into a soft kiss.

"I love you too, Bakanda," Allen whispered gently, holding him close. "I love you so much."

So it was established: Kanda would wait at the alleyway where Allen would always appear with a new light shining in his eyes to lead him into the Innocence Coffee Shop. He would have his cup of coffee and talk with Allen. He always stayed the whole day, opting to do his homework and spend time with Allen than going home and doing it alone.

The white-haired boy would always wait for him, brewing him coffee or tea and even making him little snacks to accompany him during his work. If he stayed past dinner time, and this was often, Allen would make dinner. The food always looked inedible but tasted good, to Kanda's surprise when he first tried the beansprout's cooking.

And then there were the small moments of love that Kanda enjoyed the most. They would just sit on the sofa and steal kisses from each other, embrace each other, and enjoy themselves in each other's presence. It made his heart feel so light and so full of love for the boy in his arms.

"I love you, Allen," Kanda would whisper just as he left for home for the night. "I'll never leave you."

"I love you, Kanda," Allen would whisper back, holding him, his pale face buried in his shoulder. "I'll wait for you."

Today was going to be no different. Kanda walked down to the alleyway and waited for his lover patiently. He was a little early since classes had ended for spring break. Today he was going to ask the beansprout to come live with him. The boy was most likely lonely in the shop and Kanda himself was lonely without Allen's company. The boy might argue but Kanda knew how to break his resolve and he was determined to have the white-haired teen at his side for forever at the end of the day.

As the allotted time slipped by, Kanda grew slightly concerned. The beansprout was never late. Never. But the beansprout was also clumsy so a few minutes didn't matter, right?

When an hour passed, Kanda grew worried. Why wasn't he here yet? He tapped his foot impatiently.

Screw waiting. Kanda dropped his backpack to the ground and raced down the streets that seemed to close up on him. His heart pounded in terror but he didn't know why. All that ran in his mind was that he needed to get to the coffee shop as fast as he could. As he stopped in front of the shop, he suddenly knew why.

The door was gone as well as the building itself. All that was left was an empty space that led to the other side of the street. It was impossible. He was here just yesterday.

"Oi, bastard," a gruff voice spoke from behind him. It was a man with long red hair and a lit cigarette in his lips. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Kanda wanted to lash out in anger and he would have, but weeks spent with his lover had softened him and instead he asked, "Where is the cafe that was here yesterday?"

"Cafe?" the man laughed raucously as if he had told a great joke. "You mean the Innocence Coffee Shop? Boy, the shop hasn't been here for the past 20 years. There was a fire and it was burned down."

20 years…

A fire…

Kanda blinked away tears that he didn't know were forming in his dark eyes.

"Where is the owner of the shop?" Kanda asked quietly, fearing the answer.

"Dead," the man spoke as if he were discussing the weather, "Died when the shop burned down."

Dead…

Allen's arm...

Had this all been just a dream? But he remembered the boy so vividly and his touches and caresses were so tender. Had this all been a lie? Was he hallucinating?

No, he refused to believe it. He remembered the warmth of the shop. It was tender, inviting, and most of all, it had sweet Allen who was so comfortable and loving. Who loved him so much. Who promised to wait for him. He ran from the alleyway.

The Japanese teen needed to clear his head and continued to run down the street until he hit something. Instinctively, he grabbed onto the person to steady them both.

"Oh, I am sorry!" a familiar voice muffled from his chest. "I wasn't looking!"

"Allen?" Kanda stared at the white-haired boy in front of him. It was him. There was no doubt; there was the oddly shaped scar and the glove on his left hand. The same soft pale hair he had cherished and the infantile face with its baby fat that Kanda had laden with kisses. It was all there.

He was wearing a black school uniform and there was a grocery bag tucked in the crook of his arm. The contents were spilled across the sidewalk.

"How did you know my name, sir?" Allen asked incredulously but with mirth and recognition in his rain-colored eyes. "Do I know you by any chance? You seem very familiar somehow."

Kanda didn't respond but instead, tightened his hold on the boy and crushed his lips to the boy's own. The familiar taste invaded his senses and he took it selfishly.

It didn't matter if this was a hallucination or he was living in a dream. All that mattered was the boy in front of him, kissing him back sweetly and with so much passion.

"I waited, Kanda," Allen smiled. "Did you come for me?"

"Yes, beansprout," Kanda smiled back and held the boy's small hands in his own. "I've come to take you home."

And they walked home together.

Because it really didn't matter if this was a lie or merely a dream that would end soon. As long as he had Allen's love and adoration, nothing else mattered.

A/N: Not what you expected, isn't it? Confused? So am I. I tried to make it the best I could and hopefully, it came out right. I have to admit, this one is my favorite mostly because it's long and it has so much deep meaning. Please read and review!

Happy Yullen Week!