Chibi Kanda- (grabs his new Mugen) Where the fuck is that worthless excuse of an author! I swear- I'm gonna cut her up into tiny slices to make sushi!
Chibi Raine- Eh? Hey, I'll bring some wasabi!
Tofu- (kicks down the door) Hello, my lovelies! (hair gets cut by Mugen) The fuck-?
Chibi Kanda- (threatening) Where the hell have you been?
Tofu- Well, I got writer's block so I decided to take a short break until I got some more ideas-
Chibi Lavi- (glomps everyone, expect Kanda) Hey Allen/Raine! You'll never guess what I have just done! Tofu-chan decided to take me along for her month-long vacation! It was so much fun and relaxing -oh! And they had this all you can eat buffet opened 24/7!
Tofu- -which kinda turned into an extended vacation.
Chibi Kanda- DIE! (chases after her)
Chibi Allen- (blinks) I kinda missed this. (looks at each other) Why weren't we invited?
Chibi Raine: Disclaimer- Tofu does not own anything in this fic, not even the (not so) discreet references she throws in this fic. D.Gray man is still the property of Katsura Hoshino, TV Tokyo, and Funimation is dubbing the anime series starting in 2009.
Tofu- If they give Allen a British accent in the dubs, I will die laughing.
Chibi Kanda- Or you could just die.
Day 5- Washington: The Potential Stalker
Kanda discovered on the fifth morning that life has a funny way of screwing you over.
Thanks to this little field trip, the samurinja's morning ritual was ruined. Kanda used to follow a specific schedule starting from the moment that he woke up. Life was not something to be wasted upon so pointlessly by spending your time on trivial events. To survive in life, one had to practice exerting discipline and control. This was something that he had followed every single day, from his katana training to living life out in its ordinary mundane way.
Unfortunately, Kanda was now accustomed to waking up to the sight of the carpeted ceiling of Eureka or the flaky paint crumbling from cheap hotel rooms.
This morning was a different matter-
-the room was entirely covered in green wallpaper.
Bright neon green wallpaper.
The kind that was able to burn your retina out if you stared too long. And possibly kill a couple of thousands of brain cells while it's doing its work.
Kanda knew better than to keep staring at the glow-in-the-dark colored walls. However, it seems like nothing he did could get him to fall back into sleep in this unusual restless state of mind. And instead, he was stuck either looking at the horribly colored walls or look at the other sleeping inhabitants in the room.
Granted, the hotel room wasn't that bad. It was certainly larger than the other places they had stayed in, and was equipped with a full bathroom and a mini fridge (which the moyashi and chibi quickly took advantage of). Even in the bleak sunlight, large gray clouds hung outside the window, promising a rainfall later that day.
It was still morning and Kanda decided to get an early start for once, before the rest of his 'friends' woke up. He forced himself out of bed and grudgingly headed towards the bathroom; walking pass Raine who was sleeping upside down on the armchair, and making a point to kick the sleeping Lavi onto the floor. The redhead snored, pulled his discarded blanket to his neck and rolled over in his sleep.
Kanda had just finished with his shower, dressed quickly and was trying to dry his hair with a towel. No matter what Lavi said- it was not long/girly-long and he was not going to cut it. That's when the doorknob unexpectedly turned and a very sleepy Allen and Timcanpy stumbled into the bathroom.
Allen blinked once.
And then he just continued to stare at Kanda, making no point in hiding the fact that he was obsessively staring. Kanda was just standing there in shock, although he was relieved that both of them were fully dressed. Even if Allen's t-shirt was starting to slip off his right shoulder, showing a very fine amount of pale skin. And nevermind the fact that he was starting to get some very suggestive ideas from the way Allen looked so tempting right now. The 'I-just-got-out-of-bed-and-looking-very-molestable' was having hazardous effects on Kanda's health.
Before the samurinja could say anything, one word slipped pass Allen's mouth-
"Oops."
If Kanda was any other person, he would have face faulted. "Stupid idiot. Is that all you can say?"
"Umm...would 'I'm sorry' work?" Allen asked, running his hand through his hair in embarrassment.
"Didn't you think to knock first?" he sneered. "Or did you really want to see me naked that badly?"
"As if!" Allen cried, his face rapidly turning red. Kanda was briefly amused that he was getting so embarrassed about the situation.
"Really? Because I was under the impression that this entire trip was just your way of telling me how badly you wanted me." Kanda smirked sarcastically. "You'll be surprised how far a little subtext would go, moyashi."
"Now you're just making fun of me again."
"That wouldn't happen if you didn't keep fucking pissing me off." he said, watching Allen frown deeply. "Next time pay attention."
"I wanted to use the bathroom and I didn't notice the light. Besides, no one else but me ever gets up this early."
"That doesn't excuse you from your lack of manners, moyashi." he commented. Allen gave a loud huff of frustration and his eyes looked at everything else within the inside of the bathroom that wasn't Kanda. It came to Kanda's immediate surprise when he finally noticed that the area around Allen's left eye had rapidly turned into a giant blackening bruise. He had forgotten that the stupid moyashi had gotten hurt yesterday when he had fallen on his knee.
"Your eye, does it hurt?"
"It's just a little bit sore." Allen looked startled at the sudden statement, as he gingerly touched the left side of his face. The area around his eye was darkening into a nasty, sickly purple/black color, but it looked like he had no problem with his sight. "Be careful now, otherwise I might start to think you actually care."
"Che. Don't make me laugh."
"That'll be the day."
Kanda's face turned into a deep frown, before stepping forwards. Allen quickly moved to the side to allow him to pass through the doorway, but was shocked when Kanda closed the door behind him instead. He looked at the taller boy for a moment, then Kanda roughly grabbed Allen's shoulders and forced him to sit at the very edge of the bathtub. Allen blinked in confusion as Kanda towered above him.
"Sit down." Kanda commanded in a voice that left no room for arguments. "I'm gonna fix that eye."
"Ahh? No really, you don't have to!" Allen cried in terror, suddenly very fearful of leaving his current state of health in the hands of this very temperamental samurinja. "I'm fine! It's probably gonna heal within a week anyways!"
"Shut up, moyashi." he spoke in a harsh tone. "It's better than having you walk around looking like some sort of albino panda freak."
"It's Allen." he said softy, but made no other protest as he allowed Kanda treat his eye anyways.
There was something very strange about the situation they were in. Kanda used a cold towel to gently wipe around the area of the blacken bruise. He was acting unusually kind for once, as he cupped Allen's cheek in his hand, angling it to get a better view. He frowned as he worked, taking in the damage of the injury. His eyes took in the sight of the red pentacle on Allen's head. The scar that he was always so hesitant to speak about, it was the one thing that Allen never discussed.
Allen was aware of the coldness of the tiled floor and the bathtub pressing against his body. There was a certain contrast to the warmth he felt whenever Kanda's skin would accidentally brush against his own. He didn't know what to do, expect listen to his ragged breathing and enjoy the faint sensations that were twisting in his stomach like a flurry of butterflies. There was a certain suffocating tension that filled the space between them.
Neither of them noticed that the currently forgotten Timcanpy had been recording everything from the start.
The movement stopped, and the towel crumpled on the floor, forgotten. Both looked at each other.
They realized that only one of them had to lean forward and then their lips would meet.
BAM!
Instantly both of them sprang apart from each other as though they were hurt by a spark of electricity. They were startled by the sudden interruption of the sound of the bathroom door bouncing off the opposite wall. Kanda glared evilly at figure standing awkwardly at the doorway.
"Oops! Sorry about that!" Lavi laughed aloud, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment, but his sincere apologetic face only angered the interrupted couple. "I accidentally tripped over the blanket when I was heading towards the bathroom."
Only when Lavi opened his eyes did he realize the importance of the moment he had ruined.
His only eye widen to almost comical proportions and quickly darted back and forth between the occupants of the room; he didn't even noticed when his mouth decided to unhinged itself from his jaw. Lavi could stand there in the very tense silence as his brain failed repeatedly to process the image that he was seeing. He could only act there, pretending to pull of his finest performance as a living statue and open and close him mouth in speechlessness.
He didn't even flinch when Timcanpy began gnawing on his ear.
Kanda was alone with Allen.
Kanda was alone with Allen.
Kanda was alone with Allen.
"I think I'll shut the door now."
The door closed quietly behind him, and Kanda and Allen were drowned in the deadly silence that engulfed the room.
Outside, the little bunny was not faring so well. Lavi was silently hyperventilating in the not-so-high-tech-secrecy of the neon-brightly-wallpapered hotel room. With only a flying golden golem and a sleeping hitch hiker acting as an audience to listen to his internal cries of epic failure.
I can't believe I just ruined a moment like that! Ugh, I have the worst timing ever!
A sudden chill ran down his back.
Lavi felt the sweat trickle down his back. And as he turned around, he was immediately suffocated by the evil aura radiating from a twin pair of identical glares.
"Yuu-chan? Moyashi?"
Allen and Kanda smirked.
There shall be hell to be paid.
"Your face is pissing me off." Raine stated, as they walked down the street.
"What? This one?" Lavi asked confused, pointing a finger at his face and smiled widely. That grin did nothing to distract from the fact that his face was almost completely covered in bandages and injuries from the pain Allen and Kanda had inflicted upon him earlier that morning.
"Yes, so I demand that you change it right now."
"Well, what's wrong with this face?"
"It's illegal to be this cheerful so early in the morning." Raine said, looking tried and very sleepily and constantly rubbing at the black circles under her eyes.
"It's one in the afternoon." Allen pointed out.
"Moyashi, I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear you." she ignored him, and turned around to look at Lavi. "Anyways, what do you have to be so happy about?"
"Well-" Lavi stopped as the familiar sensation of several death glares shivered down his spine. He quickly turned around to see Kanda mimicking him cutting off his head and Allen smiling wickedly. Raine was the only one in the group that had no idea what had occurred in the bathroom this morning. "That's a secret."
"And you're not gonna tell me?"
"If I tell you, then it's not a secret anymore!" Lavi laughed nervously, trying to shake of the feeling of unease and fidgety-ness he was suffering from. "We'll just forget about that for the moment. So, onwards to breakfast we shall go!"
"That would be lunch you're talking about." Kanda grumbled.
"Why didn't we just take the van?" Allen questioned. He was speaking the truth, for the rainbow-colored-seizure-inducing-piece-of-metal was nowhere in sight on this cloudy, dreary day. They had been walking around town looking for any place to eat, with no such luck during the last hour. Allen and Kanda refused to meet each other eyes and was walking as far away from each other as possible without making it obvious that they were trying to avoid the other person.
They weren't fooling anyone.
"Eureka has a name!"
"So does the disorder you're suffering from." Kanda said. His bad mood was evident from the fact that he was acting even more cold and harsh than his usual snarky, anti-social-but-not-completely-emo-because-I-don't-cut-myself-but-I-cut-other-people behavior.
"Well, who wouldn't mind an early morning walk with your friends in this clear summer's day and looking at the couples walking down the street?"
"Expect it's two in the afternoon, I hate everyone within this group, the sky's gonna start raining in the next three seconds, and I'm pretty sure that those people are getting mugged in the alleys." he growled.
"Now you're just acting pessimistic."
"No. I think that's just Kanda's standard default attitude." Raine corrected Lavi. "And you forgot to mention the homeless hobos sleeping in the gutters."
"All of this is just a fucking waste of my time!" barked Kanda, glaring at everyone and everything in the vicinity. Timcanpy had buried himself in Allen's head of hair.
"BaKanda, don't bring everyone else down just because you're having another one of your episodes."
"I'm leaving, and no one will fucking stop me this time!" The fact that Allen had spoke to him seem to piss Kanda off even more. He began to quickly walk away to separate from his group of 'friends'. There was no doubt in their mind that this time he was completely serious.
"Wait! Yuu-chan you can't just ditch us!"
"BaKanda, stop being an idiot!"
"Asstart, get your fucking, girly ass back here!" Raine yelled. Kanda immediately stopped short and spun around to glare at the shorter Asian girl.
"What did you just fucking call me!?"
"You heard me."
"And this is coming from a microscopic shrimp like yourself?"
"For the last time- I AM NOT THAT SHORT!" she yelled in a spastic fit of anger. "All of you are just freakishly tall!"
"Like moyashi over there?" Kanda sneered, finally acknowledging Allen for the first time since the morning accident.
"I'm almost as tall as you!" Allen cried out. "Can't you stop being a jerk for one minute? You're always trying to cause some sort of argument, and it's always only you that ruins everything for the rest of us!"
"Che. Whatever." He ignored their cries of protest and pleads of 'Yuu-kun' as he stalked off down the street. Unfortunately, Kanda didn't notice where he was heading and he came to a sudden halt when he accidentally collided with two other boys. They fell down into a tangled mess in the middle of the street. Lavi and the rest blinked in surprise for a moment before running over to the dazed Kanda, and the two little children he had ran over.
"Are you okay?" Lavi asked worriedly.
"What the fuck does it looks like?" snapped the angry Kanda as he glared angrily at the two boys that had hit him, completely disregarding the fact that it was him who had crashed into them in the first place.
"I don't think he was talking to you." Allen said while reaching out to grab Kanda's arm to help him stand up. Kanda growled and yanked his arm out of Allen's grasp and forced himself onto his feet instead. The white haired boy frowned deeply, and turned away, trying to act like he never offered his help in the first place.
"Leo! Hey are you alright?" One of the boys began shaking the shoulders of his fallen friend. "Hey, say something!"
"I think I'm fine, John." Leo mumbled, holding his head in his hands. "Ouch! That really hurt though."
"Well, next time don't go crashing into people!" Kanda snapped as he towered over them.
"You're the one that crashed into us in the first place!" John cried, pointing an accusing finger at the disinterested samurinja. "What? Are you some sort of tourist or something? 'Cause there's no way someone could be so stupid to walk backwards in the streets!"
"You want to say that again brat?"
"Now, now." Lavi laughed as he helped Leo up on his feet. "There's no need to get so hostile Yuu-chan."
"I think you owe them an apology," whispered Allen. "Right, Kanda-kun?"
"Like hell I'm gonna-"
"Apologize." Raine demanded threateningly with an air of doom and destruction around her. Kanda wasn't even fazed by the change of doom in her personality, but turned to look at the brats anyways.
"Che." Kanda glared at the little brats. "Watch where you're going."
"I couldn't tell." Lavi whispered to Allen in the background. "Was that an apology?"
"It's the best we can get from BaKanda." He said, shrugging his shoulders.
"I think he's saying 'Be careful.'" Lavi explained to Leo and John. "Well, you better run off now."
To their surprise, Leo and John insisted on giving each one of them a hug before leaving. Raine stared awkwardly but allowed them to cling onto her legs anyways, while Allen apologized for his friend's behavior and Lavi tried to explain that it was how Kanda always act. Kanda glared venomously at them and only gave them both a scalding look before walking away.
"Thanks anyways!" they cried as they ran down the street in the opposite direction.
"That's an odd thing to say." Allen commented as they continued their conquest for breakfast. Or rather- lunch. Actually, considering it was the afternoon, it would have to be some sort of combination of a very late lunch.
"Moyashi, we slept in a hotel room with neon green wallpaper." Raine clarified. "I kinda doubt that's gonna be the weirdest thing we see on this trip."
"I think I'll have time to reflect on those repressed memories after I get something to eat." Allen whined, looking pitifully at his empty stomach. "Lavi, we've been walking around for hours. Can I at least get a candy bar to eat from a store or something?"
"But moyashi!" Lavi started. "We haven't a good place to eat yet!"
"The moyashi says he wants something to eat." Kanda said, dragging Lavi down to stare eye to eye with him. "He's gonna get something to eat."
"Okay."
"While you're finding something edible, make sure to get seconds for me!" Raine cried cheerfully.
"Does anyone have any money I can borrow?" Allen asked, to the utter disbelief of everyone in the group. He rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. "I think I left my wallet in the hotel room cause I can't find it now."
"Hey, I can't find my wallet either!" Lavi cried out in surprise.
"Lavi, you cheap-ass moocher, stop weaseling out of it and just give him the money!" Raine threatened. "I'm hungry, godamnit!"
"But I'm serious! I can't find it!"
"Here, I'll-" Raine started to say as her hands flew to all of her pockets. "Hey! I'm missing mine too!"
They turned slowly to look at Kanda. The left side of his face was doing some sort of odd twitching motion as he also came up empty handed. All of them stared at one another; there was no way that this could have been a coincidence.
"No way! How the hell were we all robbed!?" Lavi asked in shock. "It's not like anyone came up to us and-"
Silence fell upon the group as this statement dawned on them. And all four of them were having the exact same flashback, filled with black/white and grayscale memories and its own theme song. They had a flashback of a period of time that had only recently occurred about ten minutes ago. When Kanda had a temporarily lapse of sanity and had accidentally collided with two little boys.
Two evil little boys.
Kanda said one word that explained their situation quite accurately.
"…Fuck."
"So how the hell are we going to get money, lots of it, and fast?" asked Raine. They had reduced themselves to walking aimlessly around the town, without a single destination in mind or a single dollar in their pockets. The weather had turned darker and the clouds hung overhead like some sort of ominous sign.
"We can have Yuu stand on a corner and dance."
Kanda spun around and faced Lavi with murderous intent in his eyes. He tried to beat up the frightened bunny while yelling- "If it didn't work last time for that stupid school fundraiser you forced us to sign up for, what makes you think that it'll work this time!?"
"I was thinking that maybe you could actually take off your clothes this time." Lavi replied, ducking down from another close hit.
"We could sell Lavi's soul on the internet." Raine suggested.
"Like anyone would want to actually buy it." Kanda sneered.
"It's Lavi we're talking about." Allen pointed out, as he glanced worriedly at the darkening sky. "Who really wants a dysfunctional, overly-hyper soul?"
"Wait, why my soul?" asked a very confused Lavi. "Why are we only talking about my soul here?"
"Because you're the only one that's expendable here, stupid bunny!"
"Yuu's so mean!" he whimpered while crying on the shoulder of the emotion-less Raine. "I never knew how heartless and cold Yuu could be!"
"Umm. Guys, I-"
"Baka usagi, don't start getting so personal with me!" Raine snapped, this made Lavi cry even harder.
"Guys, doesn't-"
"Chibi, why do you have to be so cold? You're gonna turn out like Yuu-chan then!"
"...I see cake."
"WHERE!?" Raine and Lavi demanded as they grasped desperately at Allen's shoulder. "I NEED IT NOW!"
"Actually, I was using that to get your attention." he explained. "'Cause if we don't get off the street, we're gonna get drenched in rain in the next five minutes."
As it turned out- five minutes had turned into five seconds, because right after Allen had finished his sentence, it immediately started pouring. The streets were quickly washed with rainwater, and everyone dove for the nearest shelter for cover. All expect Raine, who had stood frozen on the street.
"You mean the cake's a lie?" Raine whimpered.
"We can fucking worry about that later!" Kanda yelled.
Allen and Lavi had to forcefully drag her off the street. They quickly ran, not wanting to get a free shower in the rain and searching for a dry place to hide underneath. The temperature had dropped considerably and the winds picked up as the rain poured down. The group wanted to get inside before the weather got any more. Kanda suddenly pulled the rest to the side into a nearest open store, and glaring resentfully that the horrible weather.
"I swear- this day keeps on getting better and better."
"I sure hope you're being your usual sarcastic self when you say that." Allen said, slumping in the nearest chair he could find with Timcanpy pulling on his wet hair. Allen swatted him away, but didn't protest when Timcanpy resumed his usual position on his head.
"I find it funny that the one place that Kanda decides to drag us into during the rain is a bar." Raine commented, looking around the setting.
They had stumbled into a nearly deserted bar, with a couple of shady people seated in the shadowed corners. The atmosphere was dark and quiet, the air was filled with the faint scent of alcohol and smoke. The bar was always empty during the afternoon, although later into the evening they were packed full of people heading home from work. Everyone had collapsed in relief of finding a safe place to stay.
Lavi eagerly moved to the stand to talk the bartender. "Do you have any food?"
"It's a bit early for people to come in. We usually open up later." The bartender looked up from his task of trying to cleaning the drinking glasses with the same filthy black cloth. "There's the lunchtime specials right now- we have slops and stew."
"What's the slops?"
"Yesterday's stew."
"Great! We'll take fourteen orders!" Lavi demanded, ready to start eating his fill of the unidentified mixture of food and other food-like substances. He was quickly hit when Kanda slammed his fist into the back of his head. "Maah! What was that for?"
"Just how are you expecting to pay for all that?" Kanda yelled. "Have you forgotten that we have no money?"
"Really? Must have slipped my mind." he mumbled thoughtfully to himself. Lavi let out a small yelp as he narrowly dodged another one of Kanda's fists. He darted pass him and hid behind Allen, using him and Timcanpy as a protective shield. "Yuu's so abusive!"
"Can we just stop fighting? It's not like it's gonna help us with our situation." Allen said. "Let's just wait until it stops raining and we'll head back to the hotel room to get the rest of our money and belongings. Then we'll file a police report on those boys or something."
"Doesn't look like it'll clear up anytime soon." Raine pointed out, looking through the window. The streets were already starting to overflow from the rain. "I think we're stuck here for quite awhile."
"So what can we do now?" Lavi asked in boredom, walking aimlessly around the room. He accidently tripped and dragged down a table and a couple of chairs with him. A deck of cards that had been on the table scattered the cards all over the floor. "Oops. Sorry about that!"
Allen smirked.
"Anyone up for a game of poker?"
The problem with Allen Walker was that first impressions are always false. Sure, he looked normal and innocent with his British accent and kind smile. But underneath that charming, unsuspecting facade, no one would ever imagine that Allen had a darker side to his personality. A figure that was so evil and malevolent, that little children cried in fear and puppy dogs died at the mere mention of him.
The dark side of Allen when he played poker.
Unfortunately, Raine was learning this fact just now.
Raine huffed in frustration as she stared at the lousy cards she held in her hands, and then glared at the smiling Allen seated across from her. So unassuming and innocent was that face; there had to be some sort of trick he was pulling! There was no other explanation why Allen Walker had bested thirteen games in a row!
She reached out to grab another card, and her eyes lit up. Slamming her hand down, Raine grinned winningly as she declared- "Four tens! Beat that!"
The same expression never left Allen's face, and time almost seem to move in slow motion as he showed his hand.
"Royal Straight Flush."
Raine stared unblinkingly in shock and disbelief at the set of cards in Allen's hand. As though if she stared long enough, then the cards would magically change into some other set of numbers. Weakly, she slowly turned to look behind at Lavi and Kanda in disbelief.
"I lost."
"I told you so." Lavi started, "No one could beat Allen at poker; he's just that epic. Aww well, at least you played against him pretty well. So what did you bet?"
"Lavi's soul."
"WHAT!?" he yelled, falling out of his seat in shock. "What the hell do you mean you bet my soul!?"
"Well, I didn't think that I would lose!"
"But you don't go around betting people's souls in poker games! Especially when they're your friend's soul and especially NOT when you're playing Allen Walker! You'll think that after thirteen games you'll finally learn you couldn't win against him!"
"I thought those were flukes! Besides, it's not that big of a deal once you think about it... Expect maybe for the fact that he now has complete ownage and control over your soul." she added the last part as an afterthought.
"Well, do you know what I think? I THINK THAT'S SORT OF A MASSIVE DEAL!"
"No one cares what you think." Kanda spoke up from the corner, looking quite amused at the situation. "Now get us some food, slave."
"I'm letting my workers union know about all the emotional abuse I have suffered under all of you!" Lavi cried out. "Besides, how am I suppose to pay for something with no money?"
"Just sell your body or something."
"..." Lavi was silent for a few minutes before mentally deciding not to comment on their lack of ability to sympathize with him, and instead he picked up his stool and moved away from them. "I think I'm gonna cry over my situation in this conveniently located corner for awhile now."
"That conversation was ridiculous." Allen said, shuffling the deck of cards.
"We're all pretty ridiculous to beginning with."
No one made any motion to disagree with Raine's statement. Instead, they were momentary distracted by the sound of someone's laughter.
"Well, isn't this an odd group."
They turned their heads to the side, where a couple of older men were seated near the bar watching them play. It seems they had entered to get shelter away from the soaking rain. The person that had been laughing at them was a young man with dark curly hair falling into his bug-eyed glasses and a sly grin on his face. He noticed they were looking at him and gave a mock bow of acknowledgement.
"Tyki Mikk," he introduced himself. "Glad to meet you."
"You got something to say to us?" Kanda asked, looking warily at the intruder of the conversation.
"Not really." Tyki said, getting up and heading in their direction and gesturing to the people behind him. "We just couldn't help but notice that you were playing poker. And I was wondering if you'll like to include my friends and I in a game or two."
"Don't start getting so friendly with us." he grunted.
"But I already introduced my name." Tyki pointed out. "And I believe that it's common courtesy to do the same when starting a conversation."
"Stop being so mean BaKanda." Allen said, cutting Kanda off when he was just starting to make another snarky comment. "It's just gonna be a friendly game."
"I'm in." said Raine. "It's better than losing to shorty fourteen times in a row." She nodded to Allen who had thrown Timcanpy across the table in retaliation. Raine swatted at the flying golem. "Stupid golden snitch is trying to eat my brains!"
"Of course, it's not like we can bet on anything." Lavi said, diverting Tyki's attention to himself. "We sort of got robbed before we were chased off by the rain."
Tyki stared, as though he had finally noticed that Lavi was part of the group for the first time.
"Oh, that's no problem." he smirked. There was a sort of glint in his eyes as he walked towards Lavi's personal space by the corner, which had reduced itself greatly when Lavi found itself violated by one Tyki Mikk. "I was just wondering if you'll mind if I stare at you up close instead of from across the room."
"...What?"
"Well aren't you a cute one? Can I flirt with you?"
Lavi was speechless.
Tyki removed himself from the corner and turn around like nothing had happened. He began walking back to the bar while ignoring the incredulous look on their faces. "I'll let my friends know we have a game going."
There was silence.
Lavi blinked, and had absolutely no idea what to make of the situation. For once in his life, he was at a complete loss for words in his wide range of vocabulary. He turned to face the rest of his friends with question marks over his head.
"Did he just flirt with me?"
If this was an anime, everyone would have face-faulted.
"You mean you didn't notice?" Allen asked, sounding very amazed.
"And you actually sound surprised that it happened?" Raine cried.
"But I feel so violated and molested now!" he cried in defense. "He violated my personal bubble!"
"Are you suppose to feel happy that you were violated in the first place?" Allen asked him. Lavi started snickering aloud, which sounded more like a girlish giggle to everyone else. He opened his mouth to refer back to the incident he saw that morning in the bathroom.
"Well, you should know Allen, after what happened this morn-" He was silenced when Allen threw Timcanpy at him, and the force of the impact forced Lavi to fall down onto the floor. Allen looked very outraged and his face was glowing red.
"You swore you would never tell!"
"Why does it feel like I'm missing out on something." Raine whispered to herself, very ticked off. "Someone tell me already!"
"This morning in the ba-" Lavi started, before a shoe suddenly smacked him in the face.
"Oops. My shoe seems to have lodged itself into your mouth." Kanda stared blankly, and wiggled the left foot in the air. "I'll like it back now."
Lavi opened his mouth to complain if it weren't for the fact that Kanda had unleashed a very cold and intimidating glare. Knowing better than to speak out he quickly closed his mouth when Tyki sat down in the chair between Allen and Raine without his friends.
"Hey, bug-eyed-glasses," Raine asked. "What happened to your friends?"
"Well," he laughed nervously. "It seems they didn't want to play against a couple of shrimps."
He seem to have regretted the words the moment they had left his mouth, suddenly he was on the receiving end of two piercing glares. Tyki could literally feel the atmosphere around his shoulders increase from the pressure of the glares the two vertically challenged people at the other end.
"We have names." she said between gritted teeth. "And we are NOT that short."
"There's no need to get violent." Allen said softly, while his darker side grinned evilly at Tyki. "Of course, you're not allowed cry once we win."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that, boy." Tyki answered back after regaining his composure, coughing silently to himself.
"Hey! Aren't I included?" Lavi asked, wondering why he wasn't playing too. He yelled in pain when Kanda decided that it was an excellent moment to practice his hand-eye coordination by launching his other shoe at the back of Lavi's head.
"Idiot. You couldn't lie to save your life. Much less bluff your way out of poker."
"I could so-"
"Lavi, stay out of this." Raine spoke in an icy tone.
"Eh? Chibi?" he was starting to get freaked out by the seriousness they were showing. "Moyashi?"
"This time it's personal." Allen said with a slight twitch at the side of his face, as he slid the deck of cards over to Tyki.
"Then what can I do?"
"Smile. It is the second best thing you can do with your lips."
Lavi blinked once more, staring at the suggestively winking stranger. He pointed directly at Tyki while turning to looking at everyone else, Lavi whispered softly, as not to attract the attention of the potential stalker.
"Is it just me- or was he being really suggestive right now?"
"I think you're the only one that feels that way." Raine spoke up, not looking at him and choosing to glare fiercely at the cards in Tyki's hands instead.
"But it's true!"
"Yes, but no one else in this room -expect you- feels violated or molested by him."
"Let's make this game a little bit more interesting then." Tyki said while expertly shuffling the deck of cards so fast that all anyone could see were black/white blurs at the speed his hands were moving. "It's not any fun if there's no prize to be won. All of us will bet something and the person that wins three rounds gets all takes. It can be anything- like a piece of clothing or getting the other person to sing a song in front of the whole bar. So, what are you betting?"
"I'm betting Lavi's soul." Raine said, looking unimpressed at the card trick display Tyki was putting on. Allen turned to look at her.
"I thought I owned Lavi's soul!"
"We have joint-custody on his soul." she said. "And I'm the parent that he actually likes."
"Does that mean I have to pay for child support now?" Allen wondered, playing along with the little joke. "I already have enough of Cross' debts to cover."
"YOU'RE NOT BETTING MY SOUL AGAIN!" Lavi yelled from the bar, angry and outraged at the lack of tact his friends were showing. "I swear, I'll find forms to sue you for all the emotional damage you've done to me during this trip!"
"Fine! Then Lavi's soul is off-limits." Raine huffed and looked at their opponent. "Hey, freaky-glasses-guy you call the shots."
"Well, it kinda depends. How desperate are you to win?"
"We just offered you ownership of our friend's soul. How desperate do you think we are?" Allen asked blankly.
"Fair enough." Tyki shrugged. "Tell you what- if you win I'll pay you 500 dollars right here. But if I win, then I get to take your bunny friend for a little ride."
"Lavi, we're betting your soul again." Raine yelled.
"I JUST SAID NO!"
"Too bad! This guy won't wager on anything else."
"Wait, you're betting my soul to the potential rapist?" Lavi blinked. "...You have no idea how mind-warping that last sentence has made on my sanity."
"I can only imagine." Kanda snorted, which sounded like something that was a cross between frustration and annoyance, before forcing himself onto his feet with both his shoes on. His friends watched as he quickly stride past them without saying anything, walked over to the door and grabbed an umbrella from the stand next to the coat rack.
"Where are you going?"
"I've been stuck here for an hour doing nothing but watching people get drunk and wasted. As much fun it is to watch all of you play yet another game of poker-" at this, he rolled his eyes. "I think I'll take a walk outside."
"But it's raining!"
"Moyashi, I'm gonna ignore you right now." Kanda said, walking out on Allen's empty protests and disappeared under the heavy rainfall.
There was short moment of stunned silence-
-that was ruined when Raine turned around and said- "So where were we? Ah, I remember! We were just about really to kick your ass."
Tyki held an expression that matched hers. "I'm not too sure about that."
Allen smirked.
Evilly.
This was not gonna turn out so good.
It was after Allen's fifth win in a row that got Tyki to start thinking that perhaps- he was in a little too far over his head this time.
There was certainly something wrong with this current situation. Allen Walker sat directly across from him, with a handful of cards and a spiteful smile on his face that contrasted with the pervious innocence he had displayed. Tyki had thought that playing a couple of games with these strangers would pass the time as his friends waited for the rain to stop. Tyki wasn't really serious about the bet before, because he never thought he would have to face such an opposing adversary.
The side of his face twitched as he stared at the horrible hand he held. Not even a single matching pair of cards!
And the white-haired brat still had on that never changing smile.
Yes, something was terribly wrong here.
"I give up!" the Asian girl suddenly said, throwing her entire hand in. "I keep on getting nothing but shitty cards!"
"Raine, you can't quit in the middle of the game." Allen spoke up, not looking away from his cards.
"Maah, chibi!" their red-haired friend spoke from behind them. "Don't give up yet!"
"Forget it, Lavi. Anyways, Allen's winning every single game, so it's completely pointless."
Tyki listened in to their conversation while trying to distract them from the game. "So your name is Lavi." he smiled at the sudden perk of attention he got from the red-haired boy. "That's interesting." Inwardly he smirked. Oh yes, very interesting indeed.
"Hey Tyki!" he looked up to see his friends snickering at the bar. "Losing to a bunch of kids now are you?"
"Well, I'm pretty sure that this one is cheating." Tyki replied, pointing to the innocent looking Allen. "I just can't figure out how."
Allen feigned a look of innocence and looked hurt at the accusation. "Me? Of course not!"
"I wouldn't be so sure about that." spoke another voice.
A tall, dark figure stood in the middle of the door. Huge and deformed, it was an intimidating shadowy figure that brought a sudden sweeping change of fear into everyone's heart. The thunderbolts and white-bolts of lightning in the background were very frightening. Timcanpy had immediately flew into the comforting haven of Allen's hair, and Tyki was highly displeased to notice that Lavi had grabbed the Asian girl in terror.
"Someone save me!"
"Shut up Lavi! You're making a scene!" snapped a familiar voice.
"What I know that voice!" Allen said. "Cold, sarcastic and full of heartless emotions..."
"Could it be that our beloved Yuu had returned to us?" exaggerated Raine in a girlish voice.
"Keep talking like that and I'll turn you into a pin cushion." the thinly veiled threat did nothing to escape the fact that a soaking wet Kanda was standing in a puddle of rain water that had dropped from his clothes. He had somehow lost the umbrella along that way and underneath both his arms were two struggling boys.
"...Who are those?"
"I found the stupid brats." he stated to the obvious observation of everyone in the pub. Kanda dropped his hold on Leo and John, letting them fall heavily onto the floor. They both groaned painfully in their tangled, wet piles for a couple of minutes before one of them decided to ask-
"Hey! That really hurt!"
"What do you want from us?"
"Beg for your forgiveness." Kanda commanded to the shock of the onlookers.
"What? No way!" John exclaimed, standing up to look up to him. This made very little difference, as he barely even came up to Kanda's chest. "It's not our fault that you were stupid enough to allow yourself to get mugged in the first place!"
"Then I'll beat the forgiveness outta you fucking brats."
"Now, now." Lavi cut in, trying to settle things. "We can't ac-"
"Keep talking and you're next." Kanda threatened, before something smacked the back of his head. "The fuck was that for?"
"That's no way to speak." frowned Allen, trying looking Kanda straight in the eye, and ignoring the fact that Kanda was refusing to meet his gaze. He kneed down in front of the boys and smiled kindly at them. "We just want our money and wallets back, that's all."
"What makes you think we took them?" they challenged.
"Hey, kids. You just admitted to the crime when you said you mugged us." Raine explained. "Now act like good little brats and fork them over."
"You got no proof!"
"You can hand it over, or-" Allen nodded his head to Kanda. "We can just hand you over to the angry samurinja over there."
Both boys paled to pale white, as Kanda sneered angrily at them. Leo and John looked at each other and came to the immediate conclusion that 'fessing up to their crimes was much better compared to facing judgment at the hands of the angry samurinja.
"Here." they said, taking the wallets out of their pockets. "Not like it's any use. We didn't even have time to spend anything 'cause the weather rained us out."
"Sweet!" Lavi cried, hugging his wallet to his chest. "I missed you so much!"
"Anyone else find this psychologically disturbing?" Raine asked, while Kanda turned his head the other way.
Allen turned "Sorry, we have to stop this game so soon, but we really need to be heading back to our hotel room now."
"Ah, not a problem." Tyki waved them off, hoping they would forget the little bet they had going on at the beginning of the poker game. "I just hope that one day we'll be able to finish our little game. And maybe play a couple more of my own." he slyly added, with all this attention focused entirely on Lavi, who was trying to blend into the carpentry of the pub.
"Okay! Well, we better get going now!" Lavi sweated, trying to push everyone to the exit.
"Moyashi, how the hell did you keep on winning at every single game?" Raine wondered.
"You want to know a little secret?" Allen asked softly, watching her nod in curiosity. He motioned for her to lean in closer with his left hand. And he moved forward, until his mouth was next to her ear. Slowly, with a smile on his face, Allen whispered- "I cheat."
The expression on her face was completely priceless. She stared blankly at the smiling face of Allen Walker, and watched as he continued to walk forward and a demonic grin appeared onto his face. All the while she was thinking-
This person has no guilt!
"Is he always like this when he plays poker?" Raine asked, watching the other member of the group nod. Lavi decided at this moment to add in-
"Allen is a pro in the fine art of mindfuckary."
"Excuse me?"
"You know, he plays the part of the innocent naive teenage boy, the sweet, normal type of kid. He has this air of childhood happiness around him and looks like he has no clue at how to play poker. Five games later, you're sitting buck naked in the middle of the bar. You're waist deep in a shitload of debts, your wallet is empty, and this kid didn't even remove a button! Allen is like a modern brain-ninja, gets into your head and just majorly mindfucks it up."
"...Is that even a word?"
"Mindfuckary? How do you even come up with shit like that?" Kanda asked.
"Well, I've watched a lot of abridged series in my misspent youth." Lavi explained giving a side-ways shrug. "Besides sometimes the kind of junk that happens to our group demands me to make up words just to describe the moment."
"Clearly you have issues that can only be resolved by years of counseling and constant therapy."
"But I don't wanna go back!"
"Oh, yes there's nothing strange about us at all." Allen whispered to himself, which unfortunately was overheard by everyone else.
"You want to start a fight, moyashi?"
"Quiet, BaKanda!"
And so, the strange group of comrades left the bar bickering and arguing until they reached their hotel room.
They failed to notice that a pair of eyes behind bug-glasses were following every single step that a certain bunny boy was making as he walked down the streets. They didn't even notice the predatory glint that flickered in the darken pair of eyes, or the sly smile that appeared on his face.
Tyki smirked to himself.
Things were about to become very interesting.
A/N: (stares uneasily at the end of a gun) I'm about to be shot, aren't I?
I'm sorry! There is absolutely no reason why I left this fic to gather bytes of dust in my hard drive for the last two months without a single consideration. I have a recurring habit of starting projects but never actually finishing them. It never used to be a problem, because I didn't show my writing to anyone, but I finally noticed that it is rather concerning when you don't update for two months. There's also the fact that writer's block is a giant pain in the fucking ass to deal with.
Anyways, so I managed to corrupt a couple of freshmen and my friends to start reading DGM. It was successful, since most of them became DGM fangirls.
Halloween is coming up pretty soon. I love the fact that it's on a Friday this year! I'm planning to trick-or-treat with a bunch of my friends (no- you're NEVER too old for dressing up like freaks to get free candy. I do the exact same thing when I'm cosplaying.) And I'm also considering going as Kanda in his 3rd version uniform.
Tofu- Meeh, I really wished I had written this chapter better. Seems kinda...off in a way.
Chibi Lavi- (runs past) SAVE ME!
Chibi Tyki- (chases after) Aren't you interested in a game, my pet bunny?
Tofu- ...I think I finally realized the evil I had unleashed.
Chibi Allen- ...You know, maybe inventing stalker!Tyki wasn't such a good idea.
Chibi Kanda- Great. Instead of picking up hitchhikers, we're attracting stalkers and weirdoes.
Chibi Raine- I think it's cute...in a kinda unhealthy obsessive stalker sort of way.