AN at end of chapter.
GummyRabbit doesn't own D. Gray Man - Hides behind Allen -
Btw, lots of time skips in here...
The Circumstances That Lead Us Here
The huge amount of akuma that strayed from the main group had attacked the ship, rendering the vessel unable to make it to Japan. Luckily, Miranda Lotte was there to help, and the ship is back in order in no time. The voyage was pretty eventful, including a few akuma attacks, one of which is a level three, whom Lenalee went to defeat while the others are stranded on the ship. Allen was able to protect the entire ship using his Crown Belt and Lavi, Crowley and Kanda finished off the level twos in the sky. An explosion rocked the ship and they glanced towards the direction Lenalee went, where the sky lit up in the orange light of fire. Lavi went ahead on his hammer to check on Lenalee. Allen worried. Wouldn't Kanda or him be a better opponent for the level three? But what is done is done, all they could do is wait and hope for the best.
"And?" Kanda's foot tapped impatiently, making the modified akuma shift nervously, "What did you do to Lenalee?" The akuma cried in indignation, "I didn't do anything to her cho! It's the Innocence, cho!" Kanda looked about to draw his sword, "Why should I trust an akuma?" The akuma became even more indignant, "I'm an akuma modified by General Cross cho!" Kanda and the rest looked questioningly at Allen. He looked at the akuma, eye activating. He sees the soul is one of a level two akuma, but it's covered with gold lettering that Allen recognised as his master's magic, glowing against the Dark Matter, making the soul's harsh lines softer. He smiled slightly, "Yes, this one is a modified akuma. See, Tim recognises the akuma." They see the gold golem sitting atop the gold akuma. Kanda tched and went into their cabin.
Both of them pretended the night when Suman Dark died never happened, for more reasons than one. Allen for one didn't want to remember how he had a meltdown right there in front of Kanda. And Kanda didn't seem the type to discuss past events in the first place. It worked out quite well, especially since said event is far from pleasant or painless.
Instead, Allen got to know Lavi and Lenalee better, both being extremely talkative. They both consider the Black Order as 'home', and spoke fondly of it and the people there. It is very different from the way Kanda seemed to address the place, not that he talked much about it, and it had always been with a tone and expression of distaste, similar to how he referred to Lavi actually. Like that of long-suffering, and barely tolerating the 'idiocy' of the place. Allen found it strange how if Kanda hated being there so much, then why he hadn't tried to leave already, but then swiftly concluded that he probably didn't hate the Order as much as he claimed. The Order is something Allen's master hated, but judging from how the three teens described it, the place isn't what Cross suggested at all, not that he specifically suggested anything... It made Allen think. Really, why had he been so reluctant to join the Black Order?
Allen looked into the mirror and knew his answer.
Behind his shoulder, ever diligent, stood his shadow. He knew it somehow symbolised an entity living within him, but he couldn't really believe it is Neah. Not when he saw his uncle's face before, he couldn't imagine it really being that loud, dare he say obnoxious-No you don't! Worrywart... There was a silence. What do you say? Is that really you Neah? Allen waved a hand in front of the mirror, trying to instigate some sort of reaction to the shadow, face-splitting grin, round eyes and everything. Nothing. The shadow... is a part of me, Neah finally answered, So I always refer to it as me, when it really isn't. Allen contemplated that for a moment, What is it doing hanging over my shoulder like that? The boy waited patiently for the answer while Neah seemed to struggle for words. Through the mirror's reflection Allen caught a glimpse of movement, focusing his attention on it. As he half-expected, someone walked into the cabin Allen planted himself in. Kanda, scowling and beautiful as always. How strange that two evidently contradicting words seem to work perfectly with each other, Allen had to smile. I don't think you'll have to wait long to find out. His smile faded a little. You don't have any idea either, do you? I have a good guess...
Kanda wasn't concerned – no, definitely not – with the moyashi's wellbeing, mentally or otherwise. Speaking of otherwise, isn't he a little thin? Sure they can spare some more food as of now... Okay, as established before, he is definitely not worried about the moyashi. But it is concerning how often the moyashi spends in the lounge, on the couch side-facing from the mirror. If he didn't know better, he'd have thought the moyashi spent more time here than in his own room, which should be impossible given the amount of sleep a regular human needs to sustain their body, and there is no way the moyashi could possibly sleep like that, knees drawn against his chest, body twisted to face the mirror.
Still facing away from Kanda, Allen's eyes met the older male in the mirror, then smiled, eyes twinkling with mirth. Before the exorcist could ask what was so damn funny, the smile dimmed, eyes clouding with that faraway look that the younger sported so often. As fast as it came, his eyes unclouded just as quickly, "Hello Kanda." The boy greeted, turning to face the scowling Japanese, which seemed to be a default expression on his face whenever an intolerable 'idiot' walks into his vicinity, or vice versa in this case.
"Tch." Was the answer he got, and as much as he wanted to smack Kanda for saying that, he restrained himself, not wanting to break anything in the ship, seeing as the last time Lavi did it, Mahoja had seemingly – or not so seemingly – flipped. Allen wasn't sure he's ever heard so many 'I'm sorry's strung together before, but that's Lavi for you.
Instead, Allen smiled brilliantly, making Kanda take a wary step back, "Kanda, why don't you answer me properly this time hmm? Though I understand with your limited vocabu-" "I can speak for myself well enough, Moyashi, I simply thought that greeting didn't warrant a proper response." Kanda interrupted in a dangerously calm tone, eyes closed and eyebrows twitching slightly in irritation, as if fighting off a headache. The white-haired boy's smile turned into a frown, "Any greeting should warrant a proper response, it is only polite." Kanda rolled his eyes – or his equivalent of it anyways – and tched, making Allen scowl darkly. "Don't act like a kid BaKanda!" Then he promptly shut his mouth, eyes wide and slightly horrified. Kanda smirked darkly and for some bizarre reason Allen's heart skipped a beat, No no no no no, STUPID HEART! "Kid? Moyashi, where did you learn that word? Who would've thought the little British Moyashi would say something like that?" Kanda asked, smug and circling the beansprout like a shark – though considering that sharks are purely carnivores, a beansprout shouldn't be subject of Kanda's attention. That is very strange indeed... The exorcist mused.
The boy's eyes flicked from the ceiling and back into Kanda's cobalt eyes, completely serious, "What are you talking about BaKanda? Did you get water in your ears? Kid? I would never!" Kanda's eyes narrowed, "Ho? Moyashi, trying to deny it now are you? I know what I heard." Silver eyes snapped viciously, "The name is Allen, BaKanda!" "If you make it a month without dying I will remember it." "You mean you don't remember it right now?! How is that possible?!" "Self control, Moyashi." Allen smirked abruptly, "Kanda having self control? The world must be ending." Kanda's face darkened, this argument is going to take a while, Allen just hoped Kanda wouldn't break anything as he surely would hold part of the blame.
Kanda sighed, seating himself next to Allen on the couch. The boy scooted into the corner, wary and suspicious. What the- ? Kanda never voluntarily sat next to anyone, instead opting to stand most of the time instead. Not to mention it is indeed on a ship, the couch can't take up too much precious space which can be used for something more useful, like food. Therefore the couch is actually very small and since Kanda thought stupidity can be contagious – or so it seems – there is no way in hell he would get within a metre of Allen, let alone share a tiny couch. Allen was about to ask why – or what possessed Kanda to do such a thing- "Don't talk to me. No fidgeting, otherwise I'll make you leave." Allen's eyebrows kicked up in surprise, then he smiled softly, turning back to the mirror, keeping an eye on the shadow. A flash of cobalt can be seen as Kanda cracked an eyelid open, keeping an eye on the moyashi.
Allen stood and stretched, upsetting Timpcampy at the sudden movement, though the golem quickly settled back into Allen's hair. The boy walked over to the window facing the back of the ship and opened it, sitting down on the wooden box under the windowsill, leaning backwards and hanging out of the ship, wind writhing his hair, he came face to face with the modified akuma, affectionately dubbed Chomesuke by Lavi. "Ne, why are you such a hurry?" Allen asked quietly, letting the wind carry his message. "I'm in a hurry because there is not much time left, cho!" The boy regarded the akuma, eyes saddening, "Yeah, not much time left." The sorcery binding the soul is weakening. "Why do you have that eye? Cho!" Chomesuke asked suddenly, "Because akuma can sense each other's presence, I can feel a part of an akuma is in the eye, cho." The modified akuma explained. Allen smiled painfully, eyes filled with regret, "Because I was stupid, Chomesuke, because I was an idiot." "We are all idiots, us akuma, cho!" Chomesuke replied cheerfully, and Allen laughed, "Thank you, Chomesuke!" "No problem cho!"
Cobalt eyes observed the entire conversation, then glanced away as they talked about less serious things. It's that look again, Kanda thought.
The rest of the trip was carried out without much event, with them landing close to the shore but far enough that the ship wouldn't strand itself in the sand. Miranda stayed behind so that the ship can keep on running and the rest of the exorcists – or at least those that can are still in commission – as well as Allen set off without preamble, sending the modified akuma Kawamura to escort the ship back to China, though even so the ship is still grossly under-protected.
The people left didn't have time to worry, however, as the ensuing battles required their wits about them. They were finally able to get a moment of precious peace, Lenalee just waking up from falling unconscious and Allen semiconscious at best, having witnessed Chomesuke self-destruct and withdrawn in upon himself, not even bothering to wipe the blood down the left side of his face as it's still weeping from the sight. Kanda cast discreet looks of worry towards the whitette from time to time, only to met with same expression – one of weary sorrow, with no small amount of pain. Allen caught Kanda doing so once, and responded with a faint half-smile, to which the exorcist turned away in disgust. Allen definitely wanted to convey the fact that he is 'all right', when he definitely isn't, the idiot. A yelp of surprise rang out, the bridge they were resting under lit up in purple light as Lenalee was pulled into a portal, with Kanda, Allen, Crowley and Lavi following after her.
Awareness slowly returned to Allen. He hears nothing, body stiff from sitting in a very uncomfortable chair, though he doesn't remember how he got on said chair. This... is troubling... You don't say, now wake up, we've got company. Who? Let's just say... family... The boy tensed. Family can only refer to one thing – unless someone managed to resurrect Mana, which is not something Allen would allow – and from the way his 'chair' seems to be shackled, it seems their family's identities had been confirmed. He cracked his eyes open, met with blinding white. Before his eyes could adjust, a high giggle sounded next to him, "Hello Allen Walker, I heard lots about you." Crap.
"Damn it! Where is that idiot?" Kanda all but snarled. If he was a lesser man he'd be pacing the white ground in anxiety. Lenalee, Lavi and Crowley looked at him nervously. "Mah," Lenalee tried to calm him, "If we look around I'm sure we'll find Allen-kun eventually." He whirled on her, about to remind her just who's fault that had landed them here, but shut his mouth when he saw her expression. She knew only too well. He growled in annoyance, wishing he could find that four-eyed Noah and shake the moyashi's location out of him by sheer force alone. Not only was the Noah's explanation appallingly cryptic – about how to get out of here – Kanda let out an explosive sigh, forcefully calming himself – he did not offer any explanation about the moyashi's absence apart from 'Ah, shounen? You'll soon not have any reason to be worrying about him anymore.' Which hardly made sense, unless he's dead – a morbid outcome for sure, Kanda wondered why his breath hitched at that thought – or worse, he's-No. Kanda ceased the thought. It was too dangerous a line of thought. He wouldn't know what to do if it were true.
It was Lavi who tackled the main problem. "So, should we try it out?" He asked, holding the key out. But before anyone answered, he already stuck the key into a random door. The rest had no choice but to follow.
And so Kanda found himself stuck in between the metaphorical rock and a hard place. On one hand the big Noah is after his ex-teacher – he refused to call him Master, no matter how harmless the old man looked – who even himself would admit to not being a melee fighter, which the big Noah – Skinn Bolic was it? Anyhow – is, hence the problem. While Kanda would allow that the old general won't let anyone close enough for melee fighting, but humans make mistakes, and old people more than usual. If he was to get rid of the threat before it became real, then all's well and good, but here's his second problem, which is, on the other hand, no matter how he denied it, Kanda's worried about the stupid beansprout. Who knows what trouble he got himself into? He is a moyashi after all, and they are hopeless. In order to find him as quick as possible, he'll have to make it pass that door. The quickest way to do so is for another of the group to keep the Noah occupied. There is his third problem. If he allowed Lenalee to stay, he'll have to answer to Komui. No thanks. The Baka Usagi is too weak to hold him there for too long. Useless as ever. Crowley... well, Allen seemed to have taken a liking to the fellow, who knows what he'll do if he got left behind? When the ground shook and crumbling sounds reaches his sensitive ears, he was forced to face the truth. "You guys go on."
Kanda jumped back, putting some distance between him and the Noah. He's strong all right, Kanda bit back a scowl. Time is running out and it was all he could do to make a cut on the other's skin. The third illusion activated and he could barely make a successful cut. Pathetic. He's faced tougher enemies, though just one. Tough is a relative term as compared to the Noah, he lacked Skinn's battle prowess, but he was definitely a tougher opponent for Kanda to beat. But it is taking too much time, Kanda thought as the world crumbled around him.
Kanda stifled a gasp of pain, tugging at the chain made of Dark Matter, only to be burnt from electricity. He had little time to contemplate his situation as a massive pull from the Noah had him flying into a boulder. It was funny that instead of the figure of the woman from his previous life, the face that swam before his eyes at this crucial time was a pale face with a pair of burning silver eyes, flashing with righteous anger at what Kanda said. He wondered what he could've said to make those eyes so full of life, burning through his eyelids even when he closed his eyes? "Damn it, now I'm curious..." Kanda muttered, cobalt eyes opening again, renewed with determination, lips screwed in irritation. This is when he decided that consequences should screw themselves over and activated the fourth level to his Innocence.
The last door creaked open, Lavi and Lenalee turned in surprise, seeing the allegedly terrifying sight of a Kanda with a torn uniform, carrying an unconscious Crowley in one arm – one who didn't know him better wouldn't've thought he might've been responsible for his comrade's demise, but with Kanda, you'll never know what he'll do in a fit of rage – the other carried a very much damaged Mugen, though still barely intact, wearing a very scary look on his face. "Ka-kanda!" They cried in unison, fearing the worst for Crowley. But the look of anger lifted as he spotted the armchair at the centre of the room, and more importantly the one who sat on it.
Hi... - Hides behind Allen -
- Peaks over Allen's shoulder - Hi...
I have no excuses... Sorry - Bows head - No exams... no business... sorry... - bursts into tears -