------------------------Chapter start-----------------------

They were not twins. They were not siblings. Heck they even don't know one another.

Those two just happened to have identical faces.

Red stained White bird

Chapter 4: When we met face to face

--------------------------At a not so distant future-------------------------

What the heck is taking that rabbit so long?? The scowl etched on the dark-haired samurai's face deepened considerably as he narrowed his eyes at where he threw the red-head earlier onwards. Where is the stupid rabbit?? He did realize that I 'asked' him to bring the stupid moyashi back on board!!

"Che."

Finally, there he was. The current forty-ninth bookman swam towards the boat, bringing a white-haired boy in tow. The rabbit wheezed as he unceremoniously threw the small figure onto a boat before climbing in himself.

"You could have warned me!!" the other complained but like I care, the near-dead ones deserve the first attention.

I cursed loudly, making Lavi stare worriedly at me.

"What's wrong?"

"Shut your trap and row." I commanded, shoving another paddle towards him before paddling furiously.

The red-head in front of me followed suit but with questions of course.

"What's wrong Kanda??" He used my non-first name. That is a rare thing but no time to be satisfied about it now.

"The bean sprout's pulse, it's faint." That must have been the first time I've try to make myself sound uncaring, since I always sound uncaring and I do not have try to sound that way. Until now that is.

------------------------------The present----------------------------

"Remember to make yourselves look inconspicuous! We don't want the government noticing us so soon~"

"I didn't expect soba to be available here…" a red-head male with spiky hair and green scarf commented with a tone of awe as a taller dark-haired male sat across him.

"Che, this is an international school."

"But still…" Lavi didn't press more when the certain Japanese male gave him a very deathly morbid glare. "Ahaha… I won't you bother you." With that said the red-head turned his attention towards a white-haired boy sitting across him and beside Kanda. "So, what do you want to eat, Allen?"

"How can I eat?! Let me go!!" the boy cried as tears ran down his cheeks, "I'm HUNGRY!! Why are you doing this to me!?! Bullies!!"

"Shut up. You're in a school full of assassins-to-be, agents-to-be and the likes, you should know how to release yourself from a mere rope bound," the ever stoic Japanese pointed out, as he continued eating his soba, not the least disturbed by the noise.

The boy struggled but he couldn't escape the tight rope that bound him to his chair, "How do you expect me to do so?! I'm not involved in the fighting side!! I'm more on spying and hacking information! Office work!! Not field work!!"

The two taller males just stared hard at him. Both having vaguely similar thoughts: Was he that good at acting? He is a part of the Noah family after all…

"Allen?" a feminine voice broke the tense atmosphere as the shortest male of the group turned to the pigtailed girl with hopeful eyes.

"Lenalee!! Save meeeeee!!" he literally begged.

"What are you guys doing to him?" the future leader for the Black order family looked crossly at the two obvious culprits.

"shhh!!" Lavi put his index finger in front of his lips as he dragged the girl to a quiet corner, leaving Kanda to guard their 'prisoner'. When he was sure that they were out of hearing range from Allen, Lavi whispered, "Aren't you suspicious of him?"

Immediately, the Chinese girl narrowed her eyes as the mood took a serious turn, "He might be the Musician from the Noah family but we can't be sure you know."

"That is why Kanda and I are trying to nerve him up… He is good at acting; I give him that and that even higher the chance that he is in fact the Musician," no one can stop the future heir of the Bookman Clan when he uses his intellect.

"Why do you say that?" Lenalee blinked with puzzlement, how can being a good actor higher the suspicions?

"That's because… the other day, when The Musician said he can fly, he really acted like he did. It was hard not to believe him!!"

The Chinese girl just stared at the red-head with a straight face. "Are you serious?"

"Think about it, ever since we saw him…"

------------------------------ A not so short flashback starts----------------------------

"We are going to be leaving in a penthouse? Sweet…" Lavi let out a low whistle as he eyed the small house in front of him, "This is better than sharing a room, in a dorm, ne Kanda?"

"Che, I don't have to at least worry about sharing a messy room with you," was the only comment the other said as he entered the house but stopped at the door when a girl with short hair appeared.

She gave them both a warm smile which Lavi automatically responded with a 'Strike!'.

"Hi there, are you living here too?" the girl, Chinese by her accent, asked.

"Sure am! I'm Lavi," Within a flash, the red-head was standing in front of the girl, after shoving Kanda forcefully to the side, "and what might your name be? Your face seemed familiar too… Have I seen you somewhere before?"

"OI! What the hell are you doing idiot rabbit?!!" the Japanese yelled as he kicked the man.

"That hurts, Yuu!!!" Lavi complained as he rubbed his aching side.

"Don't call me that!" another kick was delivered but the red head dodged it with a playful grin.

Ticked off beyond words, the heir to the Third Lotus family, moved swiftly as he grabbed hold of his Mugen, a trusty sword he inherited, and unsheathed it with a deadly smirk.

"I hope your old man has another successor in mind, rabbit," the pony-tailed man spoke in threatening voice.

At the sight of the godly sword, Lavi let out a yelp. Kanda didn't waste any time as he swung his sword at the Bookman successor, the first strike; the red-head luckily evaded it. The second strike, he was not so lucky though, when the edges of the sword cut through the fabric of the green scarf the red head wore. The thin piece of clothing fell off the teen's head and his red bangs softly fell onto his face.

"K-Kanda, go easy now…" the red-head tried to coax the samurai when he saw the damage done but of course the Japanese teen did not stop, instead he swings became more quick and Lavi had to step back quickly to avoid the sharp steel until his back was on the wall of the pent house.

The forty-ninth bookman gulped, this might just be the end of him.

"Might I remind you now that fighting is not allowed in the school accommodation grounds?" a stern yet young voice cut through the midst of the battle.

Lavi cracked his one eye open that he didn't realize he had closed and the first sight he saw was the tip of Mugen only an inch or so away from his green orb. Mentally, he thanked god or whatever powerful forces that had saved his life. Wait- who really did save his life?

Slowly and carefully, the red-head turned towards the main door earlier to see the short-haired Chinese girl earlier, standing near a blonde taller male and the most noticing thing about him was that he had two dots on his face… weird…

"Please remove that weapon," he instructed towards Kanda with a pointed stare.

"Like hell, why should I listen to you?!" Yuu Kanda just loves to pick up a fight, huh?

"Simply because I am the head of this penthouse, the teacher that is looking after you children," wow. That was a good excuse, but wait- Kanda doesn't care does he??

"Like I care," the samurai spat back but he sheathed his sword nonetheless. "Just show me my room so I can lock myself in from these idiots and meditate."

"Take your luggage and wait in the main room with her," at this, the blonde male gestured towards the dark-haired teen beside him, "I need to take your room keys, first."

Not bothering to show the way in, the guy walked back into the house.

"Sorry, he's kind of in a rush it seems," the girl gave both males who were by now lifting up their luggage. She led them into the house and towards the main room. Upon entering, Lavi noticed that the place smelled oddly sweet. Not much furniture around either, spacious and without a trace of dust. "I'm Lenalee Lee by the way," the girl spoke as she sat herself in the main room.

Lavi looked like he was too engrossed in looking at the pictures hanging in the room, they were all different types of light weapons, and some even the forty-ninth bookman never heard of.

A few seconds passed and within these few seconds, if one were to see the trio in the room, he or she would have thought that the moment was just an awkward silence between three new people that had just met. However, the reality was that they were checking if anyone were in hearing distance, the ever stoic Kanda who had been sitting on the sofa, still looked passive but he was really, checking for any sounds that might indicate any person nearby while Lenalee quickly checked every windows or doors as her pupil darted here and there without her body moving.

After a quarter of a minute passed, the silent Asian male nodded his head as an indication that he heard nothing, this was followed by Lenalee.

"I've checked the frames and the edges of the ceiling, no bugs." Lavi finally broke the silence.

"You've checked the bugs as soon as you entered the room? Do you always do that??" the Chinese girl asked curiously.

Giving her a cheeky grin, the forty-ninth Bookman replied, "Of course not! I recognized you when I first laid my eyes on your pretty face, I knew you were the beautiful girl form back then," This made the heir to the Black Order blushed lightly, "Though, your hair was prettier longer…"

"It was necessary to cut it…" there was a hint of bitterness in her voice.

"The Millennium Earl must have set the three of us up to staying together," the Japanese growled out quickly pulling to the topic at hand, not at the least pleased by the fact that he had to stay under the same roof as the rabbit. He was having hell when the forty-ninth Bookman was staying in Japan for two years in the past and now he had to endure it all again, dammit the peace didn't last long enough.

"Aww, that is fine, right Yuu??" the red-head chirped, "Anyways, was the blond guy earlier part of the Noah's subordinates??"

"I don't know. He might be just a teacher here, like he said," Lenalee answered truthfully.

"This sucks then, there's no protection!! Can he at least dispatch one of his many subordinates to check on us in case for anything?" Lavi whined unprofessionally.

"Suck it up, rabbit. We can protect ourselves."

"Though, there is one other student living here… I heard two different male voices when I came here at first, I didn't see him though," the female informed.

"There is? Then that mig-"

"He's coming," with those two words of warning by Kanda the three immediately acted normally, just as he said, the teacher did enter.

"So, want to go for a date with me this weekend?" the forty-ninth Bookman swiftly started the topic like he they were talking about it all along.

The blonde man cleared his throat in order to gain attention, "You room keys," he showed them three keys with different numbers implanted on it, "Before that, know the rules here. No fighting in the school accommodation grounds." As he said this he gave a sharp look at Kanda and his sword, which Kanda plainly disregard, "Don't destroy any properties here, or even try to hack anything related to international securities from this place." Lavi quirked an eyebrow at that.

"Someone had done that?" he can't help but ask.

"Yes. That would be the most important rules you have to know, the rest of the rules, you'll need to read them from the book which is available in each of your rooms. Be sure to re-"

"LINK!!!!" A frustrated yell cut off the tall's man sentence, and Lavi swore he saw the teacher's neutral face twitched to a frown for a millisecond.

"Who's that?" Lenalee wondered out loud.

Then the trio saw him, a snow haired adolescent was standing at the door, an extremely irritated expression on his face which by the way had a pentacle-shaped scar line running down his left eye.

"May I help you Wa-" the blond's mouth was still open in the middle of talking when an empty plastic bag was thrown to his face.

"You ate my cake didn't you?" the short boy now had a smile plastered to his face but they can see it was clearly fake, not to mention his voice too.

"What are you implying here?"

"I just said it, you ate my cake!! That was my snack, Link!!" the short façade was broken as the teen took narrowed his eyes at the blond man, "You'd better make another one for me, or I'll make sure the school authorities find out you stole some money from the school funds."

"I'm afraid I never had done such things," the blonde man answered with confidence.

"Sure, you have. I mean, it is not like someone is going to believe that a hefty amount of money transferred to your account, was done by someone else other than the owner of the account itself, ne?"

Somehow, at that statement, Lavi can see the tall man's face paled a bit. Before he went out of the room, presumably the kitchen based on the long conversation.

"Make sure it's as big as a wedding cake!" the white-haired boy earlier now had a big smile on his face as he waved the man even though, he was only going to the next room.

Finally, after the short boy had finished waving, he looked at us and seemed to notice our presence for the first time. And when he looked at us, for the first time too, we noticed that he looked so familiar.

"Oh, I apologize for earlier, Link is always like that," the boy made a short apology, "So, you guys are going to be staying here?"

"Hey buddy!" the red-head grabbed the small boy by the shoulder, "Yeah! I am Lavi by the way! What might yours be? Hmm?"

"Ah, I'm you can call me Allen," he introduced himself.

"Is he the teacher here?" Lenalee inquired referring to the blond man earlier.

Confusion settled on the boy's feature before he giggled, "Link? Oh no. He's just the senior student there who is in charge of this penthouse, Miss…"

"Lenalee Lee. You can just call me Lenalee," the girl introduced herself the second time that day. "and that over there is Kanda."

Allen turned towards the scowling samurai, and gave him the brightest smile he can manage, "Nice to meet you Kanda,"

"Che, whatever. I just want to go to my room," he spat out as a response, before standing up and leaving the room with his luggage and the room key of course.

"That was… harsh."

"Don't worry! He's always like that!" Lavi reassured, "By the way, have we met before?"

"Hmm? I don't think so…" then the white-haired boy look quizzically between Lenalee and Lavi, "You guys seem to know each other quite well. This must have not been the first time you met, is it?"

Lenalee widened her eyes, but it was not too noticeable. The both of them were saved from answering when someone called out Allen's surname.

"Ah, my cake is finished!" Allen said delightedly as he rushed out without another moment to waste.

"You know Lavi, I do think he looks familiar." Lenalee agreed.

"He might just be the Musician from the Noah family," the other deduced.

"It's possible considering the white hair and that red pentacle is quite another big clue too." The heir to the Dark Order nodded in agreement, "But he didn't seem to know us."

"I'll make him show his true face to us. I'm sure he is the Musician! And I can't be wrong," the junior Bookman vowed as he picked up his things and ran up too his room.

------------------------------ End of a not so short flashback----------------------------

"…see? He is good at acting that must be his specialty!" Lavi exclaimed.

"You make too many assumptions…" Lenalee sighed, "He might be the Musician but you can't treat him like that." She pointed out at the still tearing boy who was now practically begging at anyone who passes him to help let him free so that he can eat but each passerby didn't dare when they received the morbid glare from Yuu Kanda. "We are going to be in a group from our first school assignment, it'll be bad of he won't cooperate with us."

"Next school assignment?" the red-head repeated with no clue.

"Yes," the younger Lee sibling continued, ignorant to the fact that Lavi is clueless about the assignment.

"So, what is the assignment about? Are we going to do a big project on mafia history or something?"

"What? Of course not." At this, the girl let out a joking giggle, "We are going to be given a mission."

"A mission?" Lavi repeated unsure.

"Yeah, the four of us are going to compete against other groups in a real life battle practice," the girl went on, still oblivious.

"Battle? As in with real guns and weapons?" the male dreaded the answer.

"Naturally."

Oh crap. Lavi cursed mentally, he was not prepared for a life action right off the bat and with real weapons, he might just die too. Damn, this is going to be tough.

--------------------------End of chapter four-------------------------

------Alice speaks-----

Forgive me for the late update, I was being unmotivated again and school was hectic as always. Though, the updates should pick up in speed now since I kind of get the hang of this story already.

Review makes me feel motivated~~