My sister wants to disown me because I did a little squeal of delight when I saw the number of reviews that I got so quickly for this chapter. I don't think I've ever been quite so ecstatic! So thank you to everyone who did review, you've made one very stressed out author very happy indeed.
In fact, I am so very happy that not only is chapter 9 early, chapter 10 is almost complete too, so that shall go up shortly. YAY!! UPDATES APLENTY! Special thanks of course must go to a1y-puff, because of some spec-flippin-tacular fanart that made me motivated enough to stay up all night and knock up a couple of chapters! Must sleep now...
TheRainbowRider- Lol, glad to be of service! Everyone should have a little fanfiction in their life- it's what makes the world go round!
Naruta13- There may be a little bit of love in the air… And yes, Lavi needed some space just for him- there's not been much Lavi action so far…
sweetkakes35- It's hard to keep things like that in character, since really, would canon Kanda really be sitting there emo-ing over his run away Moyashi? I'm glad you think it wasn't too Over The Top or Out Of Character.
Scorpling- Since you asked so nicely, here's another chapter, just for you!
edenforest1- Thank you for the review, I'm glad you're enjoying this fic. And believe me when I say that I too am waiting anxiously to see what happens next…
SeikaDragon- Well, we need some proper Yullen soon, don't we? I think I might actually die if I don't get them at least in the same country soon!
marufu-chan- Thanks for reviewing! As usual, reviews make me work faster!
a1y-puff- I'm not quite sure, but I think little by little more and more people will get in on the secret. After all, everyone loves Allen, don't they? So not only Komui, Link, Kanda, Lavi and Marie, but there's also the scientists who packed the bags too… More people will know about the conspiracy than don't soon! As for Kanda meeting up with Allen on his mission… well, you'll just have to wait and see!!
Kanda-is-all-I-want- If it wasn't a word before, it is now, since I have officially adopted it! Hope you slept well, I know al about being up all night, though I'm glad you liked the fic enough to stay up and read it!!
Ramenluv- You speak for me too. I've been dying to get more Yullen in for the last few chapters, but the slight problem of being in separate countries made that a bit hard. But never fear, Kanda's little mission will be coming soon!!
XxMissyRandomxX- Spouse? Maybe it's an odd look into the future… Glad you're still enjoying it!
AlcoholicTree- And I try not to keep my reviewers waiting, so here's an update!
Addenza- Oh, don't read it again! I did last night and spotted hundreds of typos! I can't believe how sloppy I am when it comes to checking my work! I'd get a beta but I don't handle criticism well!
InfinityOnTheRun- I'm glad Decline is doing it for you! Hopefully something will happen soon…
MiniBloodyMurder- ah never fear, we won't let Kanda wriggle out of this one, will we?
Darklink231- Well, since nobody should wait if they don't have to, here's the next chapter!
And yes, chapter of Allen filler-ness. But don't worry, since next chapter Kanda is in the same country as Allen, we might actually get somewhere! And yes, another OC. Though this one isn't going to kick the bucket with the same rapidity as Nelly. And Joe King (yes Bex, I did it, are you happy now?!) does actually have a purpose…
And to make things clear-
"English"
"French"
'Fourteenth'
'Thoughts'
Allen was seriously beginning to regret making the decision to come to Paris. The city, while completely different to the London streets he was more familiar with, was nothing more than a pretty coating for a cess pit of human suffering and despair.
Now, Allen had seen his fair share of the seedier side of life, mainly thanks to Cross, who might not have delved into it himself, preferring a high class, expensive (and clean) debaucher's lifestyle, but had no qualms about sending his young teenaged apprentice into the alleys and bars if it kept him in the standard of living to which he'd become accustomed, but not since the days before Mana found him had he been so deeply submerged in it.
He had never liked densely populated areas- as a child his left hand had made him a target for the other street children who enjoyed being able to hold power over someone who was even more worse off than them, and then, after the incident with Mana, his white hair and scar had attracted more attention, it that possible.
Even now, when his hair was an unremarkable brown (though he'd had to touch up his roots where the white had begun to grow through) and his scar was covered, he still felt as though all eyes were on him.
Thanks to the drunken down and outs with little to lose, he had quickly put together enough money to secure himself somewhere to live, though it was by no stretch of the imagination anything like a home.
A single dank room with a bed (sort of) and a fireplace (with no fuel) were the only things that occupied the tiny dismal space. That, and a minute grimy window that looked out over the rat-maze of alley-ways. Allen preferred to keep this window firmly shut.
The time that he didn't spend huddled on his damp bed, Allen was trying to lay low while making money- no mean feat.
Though he rarely frequented the same bar twice, rumours of the boy with long dark hair that never lost a card game quickly spread. This had two quite opposing effects- it made some people loathe to take him on, and yet it also made others seek him out, each determined to be one to relieve him of his title.
Absently he wondered what the time was. He used to be able to roughly estimate the time by how empty his stomach felt- breakfast, brunch, lunch, tea, dinner, supper and midnight snack were how he gauged the passage of time, but now he was perpetually hungry and he couldn't use his body as a clock anymore.
He reluctantly opened the window and looked out over the city. The sun had burned away any lingering clouds and the sticky humidity had given way to scorching sunshine.
As soon as the window was open a rather warm breeze filtered through the tiny casement. The sky above was hazy with smog, but as far as he could tell it was something around four o clock in the afternoon. He sighed and rested his arms on the narrow sill, enjoying the wind that toyed with his fringe.
Allen was just wondering how much longer he should wait before he ventured outside on one of his nightly gambling trips when his left eye activated. He leaned as far out of the window as he could, trying to pinpoint the location of the Akuma but having no luck.
He cursed loudly and pulled away from the window, dashing for the door and running down the five flights of narrow rickety stairs before exploding through the main door and into the alleyway beyond.
His eye was still rolling painfully, as though trying to impress upon him the severity of the situation.
"I know, I know" he muttered irritably as he cast around for some kind of clue.
A voice spoke up in his mind: 'you know, I could help you out if you just let me…'
"Shut up" Allen snapped, so annoyed that the fourteenth, who had so far stayed quiet after the last Akuma attack where he seized control of Allen's weakened body as it purified the Akuma virus, had decided , now of all times, to make his presence known, that he actually spoke aloud.
'Now, now, there's no need for that' the smooth voice replied, sounding more amused than anything else. When Allen opened his mouth to give the Noah a piece of his mind, the disembodied voice began to laugh, a rich, almost pleasant sound. 'You do realise that talking to oneself is the first sign of madness.'
Allen thought a long string of curses aimed at the Noah while still trying to both ignore the melodious laugh and pinpoint the location of the Akuma.
A very helpful, albeit terrified shriek was his first clue, and he spun on his heels and sprinted away, following the last wavering notes of the scream.
'You're lucky that that scream happened when it did, otherwise you would have never found them- these alleyways are so easy to get lost in, after all' the fourteenth said almost conversationally.
Allen clenched his teeth to withhold the litany of abuse he wished to unleash- instead he swallowed back the words and focused all his energy into his legs. Only a short distance ahead however, the alley split in three different directions. He skidded to a halt, casting about desperately for the right path.
'Left.'
Allen paused, chewing his lip indecisively.
'Le-ft!'the Fourteenth said in a sing-song voice.
Allen turned and peered down the left passageway before taking a step backwards and looking towards the other alleys.
'Why would I lie?'
"If you are, I'll-"
'You'll what?' the Noah scoffed. 'There's nothing you can do to me boy, now go left.'
Allen sighed and tugged his ponytail uncertainly before he obediently went down the left turning, wondering what he'd find (if anything) and confused as to why he was following the Noah's instructions.
It appeared the Fourteenth hadn't been lying however, as he stumbled upon a very strange scene indeed.
A young boy was crouched on the ground at the back of the alley, holding a three foot long steel pipe (where he had got that from, Allen could only guess) and was using it to swipe at the two level-two Akuma that had trapped him.
Usually such an attack would have absolutely no effect on the Akuma, but it appeared that these two were particularly stupid, because all they were doing was standing just out of range of the pipe and just watching the boy bemusedly. Allen knew that this couldn't last much longer though- eventually the Akuma would get bored and just kill the boy (at least, Allen assumed it was a boy- it certainly looked like a boy, but that scream earlier had been very high-pitched).
"Ah!" one of the Akuma exclaimed, taking a hasty step backwards. "Little rat hit me!"
The other Akuma laughed at his companion, completely ignoring the boy who was now scuttling sideways like a crab to get away.
'This is rather embarrassing…' the Fourteenth muttered and Allen sensed that the Noah would like nothing more than to bury his face in his hands and forget about everything. For some reason this amused Allen, and he let out a snort of laughter, quickly smothering the sound when the other three occupants of the alley all paused what they were doing (that is, the boy stopped shuffling sideways and the two Akuma paused in their little slap fight), to stare at him.
'Oh, well done genius' the Fourteenth said, the eye-roll easily conveyed by his tone.
The two Akuma were giving him baffled looks, as though they could sense the Fourteenth's presence within him, but the distinct lack of Noah characteristics was obviously confusing their admittedly simple minds.
'Don't get involved' Allen told the Fourteenth curtly and sensed the mocking salute he got in reply.
'As you wish'
"What are you doing!?" the boy shrieked from where he was still trying to sidle out of the alley. Now he was closer, Allen could see that he was no older than thirteen, which explained the girly scream anyway, wearing knee length light brown trousers (or they had been light brown at one point, now they were so grubby it was hard to tell), a grimy off white shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, displaying skin that was just as, if not more, dirty than the clothes, marked here and there with grazes and bruises, and an overlarge tan vest that flapped open over his skinny frame. His feet were clad in stout brown boots that were in a much better condition than the rest of the ensemble.
"Get out of here!" the boy said again, casting a terrified look back at the Akuma and brushing shaggy thick black hair out of hazel eyes. Allen noticed that he hadn't relinquished his hold on the pipe.
"Get behind me, You'll be fine" Allen told him with a reassuring smile.
The boy just stared at him incredulously. "Are you crazy!?" he shouted, waving his arms in the air and almost knocking himself out with the steel pipe still clutched in his right hand
Allen blinked at him in surprise, momentarily forgetting about the two Akuma who had resumed bickering- this time over what to do about the newest addition to their little party.
"Maybe a little" Allen agreed cheerfully as he pulled off his left glove. "Now, stay out of my way" he said and activated his innocence. It hurt like hell and didn't look quite like it should, in fact, it looked downright unhealthy, but it worked, just about, and it would be enough to deal with these two bozos.
Behind him he heard the boy gasp with shock as Allen's white cape unfolded behind him, shielding the boy just in case Allen wasn't able to destroy the Akuma quick enough, but it was easily ignored as he destroyed the two Akuma in one move while they were still deciding on how to kill him. It was a testament to how powerful he had been before he went on the run- he knew that his synchronisation rate had taken quite a hit, but he could still destroy these Akuma with ease. When he deactivated however, it was another story. His entire left side was throbbing dully in protest.
"Well shit" the boy said in an awed voice, looking Allen up and down. "That was freaking amazing! I'm Joe, by the way" he said, extending a hand to shake.
"William" Allen said, taking the offered hand and feeling grateful that he could use his right hand to do so. Perhaps Joe was afraid of the left hand, but at least it meant that he didn't have to move it. Should Joe have offered his left hand to shake, Allen feared he'd have been overcome with Kanda-itis and been forced to decline. The thought made him smile a little. He pulled on his left glove with clumsy movements and looked at the younger boy. "Well, I'm off now"
"'Kay" Joe said amicably.
Allen, feeling like he was missing something, began to walk away, only to discover that Joe had fallen into step beside him. "Can I help you?"
"I want to thank you for saving me from those…things, back there" Joe said awkwardly. "I had a good baker's run this morning, so do you want some bread?"
Allen's stomach immediately agreed, and truthfully, so did the rest of Allen's exhausted body- that invocation had really taken it out of him. "I can't take your food!" Allen protested, much to his body's displeasure. His stomach's indignant rumblings tried to drown out his words.
Joe stared at Allen's stomach in fascination, prodding it curiously. "Do you have some kind of animal hidden under there?" then he looked up at Allen. "No, probably not, you're too skinny to have anything shoved up your shirt."
Allen tried not to be insulted by the fact that this was the second person he'd met since he left to suggest that he was below average development wise. "I'm just hungry, I haven't eaten in a while" he admitted.
"Well, come on then. And don't worry about taking my food- I've got loads, and its not like I paid for any of it" Joe added smugly.
Since beggars can't be choosers, and his stomach was begging, Allen decided to follow the boy back to whatever base he called home.
0o0o0o0o0
When they arrived, it was clear that Joe's living conditions were far worse than Allen's own, but when he saw the contents of what had been euphemistically dubbed the 'pantry', but was in reality a space behind the ancient wood panelling that served as a good hiding place, Allen would have gladly swapped places. There was far more food than he would have expected secreted away in the walls.
Joe threw him a loaf, one of several lined up on a shelf. "Eat the whole thing. They're usually rock hard by the time I get to the last one."
Allen didn't need telling twice and began tearing into the bread. It was a little dry and hard to swallow, but Allen couldn't have been happier and had soon polished off the loaf, moving on to licking his finger to pick up stray crumbs. Well, waste not…
He must have looked rather pathetic, because Joe took pity on him and handed him another loaf and a couple of knobbly apples.
"You live alone?" Allen asked between mouthfuls.
Joe nodded. "My parents died a couple of years ago, so since then its been just me."
"How old are you?"
"I'm thirteen. And a half" said Joe a little defensively.
Allen whistled. He knew what it was like to grow up on the streets, since much of his early years had been spent doing the same thing.
"What about you?" Joe asked.
Allen thought for a moment. "Well, you saw my arm? What I can do with it? It's called innocence, the power of God contained in small cubes that choose a person to wield them, either reforged as weapons or, like me, as an actual part of their body. But when I was born my parents didn't understand and abandoned me on the streets, which is where I grew up."
Joe stared at him wide eyed. "So you've been on the streets ever since?"
Allen smiled wistfully. "No, just a few years. When I was about eight or nine I guess, I'm not really sure, Mana found me and took me in. He was a clown with a travelling circus and I helped him with his act, but then… Mana died. So I was alone again." He smiled at the expression on the younger boy's face. "I spent a few years with my Master, who I guess was like a teacher to me, though I'm not sure everything I learned was useful. But he died recently too, and I had to leave my home. And now here I am." He wondered why he was telling his life story, albeit an abridged version to this complete stranger. Perhaps he saw something of himself in the younger boy. How he could have turned out had Mana not plucked him from the streets.
A loud noise startled him from his thoughts. It appeared that the neighbours were having some sort of domestic.
"Is it always like this?" he asked Joe, who just shrugged in response.
"It varies. It's a brothel" he added, as though it explained everything. In a way it did, but although Allen had seen his fair share of brothels, but none like this. The houses his master had frequented had been clean and luxurious, expensive and exclusive, not these disease ridden whore houses.
"You fucking slag. Syphilitic whore! Get out of my fucking sight!" was heard through the wall, accompanied by the sound of something breaking. Allen was surprised his French was good enough to recognise some of the curses that followed.
Joe swallowed. "It's really scary sometimes" he said in a tiny voice.
Allen looked at him, head to one side before coming to an abrupt decision. "Get all your things together, as much as you can carry. You can move in with me. It's not much, but I have slightly better neighbours."
Joe looked conflicted, an odd mix of relief and worry. He wrapped his arms around himself, biting his lip as he thought.
"Old clapped out harlot! That goes for the lot of you! You're not worth my time! Get out! I need some real talent in here, not you saggy old trollops!"
Joe seemed to come to a decision rather quickly after that. "Yes, please."