A/N: I'm still going strong! Rawr!
...But seriously, I'm gonna have to knock it up a notch. xD I'm falling behind. This is the longest I've ever been able to keep a muse alive, and I'd like to thank you guys who've reviewed and faved and alerted this story. x3 Thank you so much! I promise to have some action sometime. And maybe some character interaction.
Keep in mind that I nit-pick my work, so if you happen to go back chapters and find sentences switched around or perhaps a different word, it's just me. xD It'll never be anything major, though, I promise.
On the pairings note of last chapter; they'll come on their own if they do happen, and won't if I don't get around to it. xD Sorry again. I'm indecisive that way.
Another major character shows up in this one, and there's mention of another. Hopefully, I'll be able to do him some justice. Enjoy!
oxo
--Dead Like Us--
Chapter Three:
Reaper Rules
oxoxoxoxo
Allen dreamt.
He dreamt of an apartment-- not his, not Lenalee's, but still strangely familiar, and terribly dark. He rocked on the floor-- someone was dead, someone had died...
Shadows danced on the walls, whether they were cast from lights outside or from something else entirely, and a figure emerged from the darkest of them. The shapes on the wall cackled, elongated, flexing their claws, and the figure approached, smiling wide. It offered a hand to him, and he was going to take it...
"Allen..."
He reached, and it spoke, but he could not hear anything more...
"Allen!"
He jumped, adrenaline pumping through his veins, effectively waking him, and the dream was instantly forgotten. Somehow, he ended up on the floor, entangled in a mess of blankets.
Bleary-eyed and confused, he mumbled, "Wha...? Lena...Lenalee?" For a spilt second, he had thought he was back in his own apartment, but then Lenalee and her apartment came into view, and he knew he had no such luck.
The girl smiled. "Sorry. Didn't know that you would jump that high. Did I scare you?"
"Surprised," he mumbled groggily and attempted to untangle himself from the blankets.
"Didn't mean to. C'mon," she offered him a hand, and Allen noticed that she was already dressed and ready to leave. "We're meeting Brother at the Komfy Kitchen."
"The wha--?"
He took her hand and they were out the door before he could finish; Allen still dressed in the clothes he wore when he died.
They walked down the hallway and Lenalee pressed the button for the elevator.
"How're you feeling, Allen?" She asked him as the elevator dinged upwards and the sliding doors opened to let them in.
"Okay, I guess," Allen said, rubbing his eyes to rid himself of the lingering sleep.
She smiled back. "I'm sorry. It's a lot to process..."
He sighed and the elevator coasted down to the basement. "Not your fault, Lenalee. You've been nothing but kind to me." He smiled.
Lenalee laughed and tugged him off the elevator as it shuddered to a stop on the ground floor.
-oxoxoxoxo-
It wasn't a long walk back to the little café, but Allen didn't exactly remember the way, as the events of last night proved his memory hazy. But there the café sat, a little more than two blocks down the way. As they entered its cozy building, Komui waved cheerily to them from the same seat they had sat in the night before. Allen waved back.
"How'd ya sleep?" Komui asked, looking up from his notebook he was scribbling something down in as the two joined him at the table.
"Alright..." replied Allen, picking up a menu.
"Didn't get much sleep, eh...?" Komui eyed Allen. "I hope for your sake nothing happened."
Lenalee sighed exasperatedly and Allen blinked rapidly in confusion. "N-no..."
"You haven't been here all night have you, Brother?" asked Lenalee, sitting down across from Allen.
"Oh, no..." he sighed and dropped the subject, opting for his notebook scribbles instead. "Just most of it."
Reever walked past and Komui flagged him down, pointing to his empty mug. "Another cup of coffee, please. And you guys?-- It's on me."
"Oh, I'll have the Number Six-- can I have that with eggs?" Lenalee asked. With an affirmative, the waiter turned to Allen.
"Uh...I'll have a waffle meal, please."
"No problem," he droned, and Reever retreated into the kitchen.
Komui had apparently finished scribbling in his notebook, because he had stuffed it into his bag that sat beside him. From the same bag, he pulled a packet of yellow post-it notes, which Allen eyed curiously. Komui wrote something on one, peeled it off, and then handed it to Lenalee, who glanced down at it, sighed, and pocketed it.
Allen watched the exchange suspiciously, but before he could ask, Reever had returned with the three plates.
Allen was officially starving now. The shock was gone, and his stomach hungered. And those waffles looked delicious.
Komui and Lenalee stared as Allen all but inhaled his 2.99 breakfast.
"Are you, uh, gonna eat that bacon?" He asked Lenalee, dousing his last pancake with the remnants of the syrup (which had been full not five minutes ago). She continued to stare in stunned silence, but shook her head no, and Allen snagged the strips of bacon off her plate.
"Well, what do we do with you today...?" Komui laughed as Allen finished up his meal, and then exclaimed, "Ah! What say you we meet up with the other members of the team?"
Allen gulped the last of his food. "Other...members? You, mean-- there are more of us?"
"Certainly. You don't expect us to reap the entire city by ourselves, do you?"
"There are three other reapers in our jurisdiction," Lenalee counted on her fingers, "Usually, we all meet here for breakfast and assignments, but I think we're a little early this morning."
Lenalee got up from her seat, fished around in her purse, and handed Komui a ten dollar bill to compensate for the meal. "Well, I have an appointment downtown-- heaven forbid I miss it."
"You're leaving?" Allen asked.
"Can't miss it." Lenalee smiled, waved the two boys goodbye, and then she was out the door.
"I'll have to catch someone to show you the ropes-- I have somewhere to be myself," Komui said, and flagged the waiter down again for the bill. Then, seeing Allen's face, said grinning, "Oh, don't worry-- we're not all bad."
-oxoxoxoxo-
They weren't walking fifteen minutes on the street when Komui said, "Oh look, here comes one now."
A young man sauntered towards them on the street, hands in his cargo pants-pockets, looking over his shoulder every other step.
"Hey-- Lavi!" called Komui, and the boy jumped in response to his name.
"Oh, Komui," he walked up to them, smiling brightly. "I was just on my way to meet you guys."
Lavi had a very eclectic wardrobe, and that was the first thing Allen noticed about him. On top of his worn brown cargo pants and white long-sleeved shirt, he wore another shorter-sleeved shirt, even though it was nearing summer. His flame-bright hair matched his cheery smile, but the green headband he wore around his head clashed with it. His only visible eye was a curious green; the other was covered with an eye patch. (Not a pirate eye-patch-- more of a square piece of cloth, but that still wasn't right.)
Lavi had seemed to just notice Allen, who was standing a safe distance away from the two, not knowing what to do with himself.
The older boy peered around Komui and said, "Ah-- this must be the newbie."
"Yep," Komui replied, and pushed Allen forward. "Care to take him off my hands?"
Allen sputtered. "W-wait-- where're you going now?"
Komui just smiled. "Well then-- Lavi'll show you the ropes. I really do have somewhere I must be. Be nice, now."
"Beansprout and I'll be just fine," Lavi said, pointing to himself with a thumb while Allen sputtered again.
"Look, Allen-- you've already got yourself a nickname," Komui said, and waved the two goodbye. Allen's only thread left to his former life had just walked away-- and left him with a stranger.
"We might want to get moving, Beansprout," Lavi said and elbowed a stunned Allen in the ribs. "The alarm'll sound here in a second, and I don't want to be around when it does."
Allen made a face. "What--?"
An alarm indeed rang, shrill and close, and out of a nearby store came an angry employee. He shouted something at the two, and Lavi decided then was a great time to skedaddle.
"C'mon!" He shouted, and pulled Allen along as he ran.
"What...what did you do?" Allen yelled back.
"I...might've nicked a thing or two..." He laughed guiltily. Allen began to worry just what he had gotten himself into.
-oxoxoxoxo-
"So, Beansprout," Lavi panted, collapsing into the nearest park bench ten minutes later, after they had escaped safely. "What's your name?"
"You have a nickname for me before you even know my real name?"He replied in a half-joking tone, equally out of breath. "I'm Allen. Allen Walker."
"Lavi. Welcome to the job of a lifetime, Allen." Lavi said, and stuck out hand for Allen to shake.
"Thanks," he said, and took his hand in his own, though he couldn't quite tell if what Lavi said was supposed to be a joke or not.
The park was quiet at this time of the day, and the dusty dirt path through the flourishing greenery was rather unoccupied-- Lavi and Allen were the only ones in sight, and thankfully, un-pursued. A light breeze caught the taller trees that encased the park, and there was the sound of rustling of branches and leaves.
Lavi turned to Allen and asked, "So how old are you? -- can't be any more than seventeen, can ya?"
"I'm fifteen."
"Really!" Lavi looked a little surprised. "Maybe it was the white hair, but you looked older. Heh. I'm eighteen. That makes me big brother."
Allen scowled. "I am not calling you that."
Lavi laughed and jumped up from the bench. "You don't have to," he said, and took out the yellow post-it note from his pocket. "Lesse...Eleven thirty-one, eh? You have the time, Beansprout?"
"It's Allen. And it's nine twenty-five now."
"Ah, we have plenty of time," he said, ignoring the first part. "You don't have anywhere to be, do ya?"
"Actually..."
Allen had thought about it. Not much, seeing as how since his death, there hadn't really been time to pause and think about what he would do now-- his mind was on overload and few things had taken priority over processing the fact that he was dead-turned-undead-turned-grim-reaper.
So it was with half-hearted conviction that he said, "I'd...I'd like to, uh, pick up some things from my apartment."
Lavi raised an eyebrow. "You know you can't go back there, right?" Allen blinked and turned to him. "They won't recognize you."
"What do you mean?" He still looked the same, didn't he? He hadn't looked into a mirror since he'd died, but through passing window panes, he could see his familiar white hair, his button-up long-sleeved shirt...
"Come on, Beansprout, you have some learning to do," Lavi replied. From anyone else, Allen would've found the comment condescending, but from Lavi, it sounded naturally sincere.
Allen took off after his new acquaintance, who had already started walking down the path, his hands behind his head. "Hey-- hey, what's with all this 'Beansprout' stuff?"
Lavi gave a little chuckle. "It's what Yu calls you," and, seeing the look on Allen's face, continued, "Another reaper. He's...a little grumpy sometimes, but he means well. Most of the time...When he learned you had replaced Suman, he said to me"-- at this Lavi stooped and mimicked a surly voice--"'Great, another newbie. Beansprout had better not get in my way.' I thought I was a great nickname for you."
He grinned and Allen gave him another look. He had a feeling he'd be giving a lot of looks from now on.
-oxoxoxoxo-
"Oh, now where is that store?" the red head mumbled to himself. He and Allen were on the main drag now, walking past shops and vendors, and Lavi seemed determined to find a specific one. "It's here...somewhere-- oh." He stopped suddenly, looking very proud of himself, and made a 'ta-da' gesture. "Take a gander, my young friend."
"Lavi...what am I supposed to be looking at?"
The store they had stopped in front of was an electronics store; one that displayed its wares for everyone to see, complete with surveying cameras so you could watch yourself as you walked by in the small televsions. A dozen or so Lavi-and-Allens stared back at them.
"Look harder," the real Lavi replied, leaning against the building in a casual sort of way, motioning to the TV's with a nod of his chin.
Allen rolled his eyes but did so anyway, if only to indulge Lavi, expecting to see the familiar white locks and silver-blue eyes staring back at him.
But he did not. In fact, a very unfamiliar sight met him.
A stranger wore his skin--but even that wasn't entirely his. Dark brown eyes stared back from the screens' many faces, where in the glass reflection, he saw silver. His white hair was colored a muddy brown that went with the stranger's eyes, his carefully-concealed scar absent, and his face oddly gaunt. Another stranger stood beside him, one wearing Lavi's headband and quirky smile, but whose eyes lacked color and light.
"This," Lavi said, "is what we look like to the living."
Allen poked his face as the stranger on the screen did the same thing, and Lavi continued to explain. "Our appearances are altered so that one doesn't run into anybody we know-- it would be problematic if a dead relative came back to life, see?"
Allen didn't really have any relatives, (or, if he had, he certainly had no desire to see them, dead or alive), and thought about telling Lavi so, but he was enthralled with the face in the TV, and decided not to mention this fact. Instead, he turned to the other boy and asked, "Which one do you see?"
"Me? Oh, I see you, of course. Only the living see that one."
Allen turned back and pulled on a lock of bleach-white hair, and the boy mirrored him. "Y'know...he's kinda scary."
Lavi laughed-- short and loud and full of life. "Yes, well, I think I like the real you better, too. I don't much like mine," he said, and put his face up close to the window to examine his other. "He's...old."
Allen gave a noncommittal snort. This was by far one of the most distressing things about being dead. It seemed as if he, the proverbial fish, was only getting further and further away from the ocean...
Lavi pulled himself away from examining his other's faults. "You sure you want to go, then?"
Allen nodded half-heartedly. He wasn't expecting a visit, just...
"Lead the way, my friend, lead the way," said Lavi and pushed Allen forward.
-oxoxoxoxo-
It was weird walking into the building and not having anyone recognize him. The manager, who usually sat in the office in the foyer, was absent, and his station was occupied by the bellman. Out of habit, Allen waved hello to the sleepy man, who in return gave him a groggy blink.
Lavi had flashed him an I Told You So look, and they rode the jumpy elevator up three flights.
"I--can't--get--it--open!" Allen seethed, yanking futilely on the doorknob of apartment number 307-- his. His belongings--including the keysto said apartment, as fate would have it-- had been lost in the accident.
"Oh here, Beansprout, let me," Lavi shouldered past him and withdrew something from his pocket.
"Why in the world do you have a hair pin in your pocket?"
"For things like this," he said, stuck the pin in the key hole, fiddled with it, and with a click and a creak, Lavi pushed the door open to reveal the apartment. "Ta-da."
Allen's apartment was mainly comprised of three sections; the bed "room", the bathroom, and the living room. While the bedroom wasn't much of a room, and instead sat in the middle of the living quarters, the apartment was a fairly adequate living space. It was smaller than Lenalee's and darker, too, as the walls were painted a much drearier peeling gray, as opposed to her hues of orange and red.
His bed was of the stow-away variety, and retracted into the wall, but it was currently out, like he had left it. ("Ah, how much things change in one day..." Allen thought to himself as he noticed this.) On the bed lay a pillow or two, a pile of blankets, and a lone plush that greatly resembled a golden playing ball with wings and horns.
But the plush wasn't sitting contentedly on the bed. No, it was currently whizzing excitedly around the small room on stuffed wings. Which it did not usually do.
"What the...?"
It was then that Allen decided that Karma hated him.
--End. Three.--
Ending Note: A few more twists in the story. And there are more to come. I felt like I needed to add a little something at the end, but this was a good a place as any for a chapter break. xD School might take over my life at any moment, so hopefully I'll still be to keep this up. Wish me luck. In the meantime, I'll be typing furiously. But I type slowly. So forgive me. xD Reviews are always appreciated!