Chapter 6: I Swear That This Isn't a Date

Early Saturday morning, Allen face was snuggled into a pillow and had an arm under it with the other rested lightly in front of him. He looked peaceful and relaxed for once, his eyebrows not creased together, his jaw not clamped shut. Every breath was sighed softly through his partially parted lips.

That is until someone pounded; not knocked, but pounded on his apartment door. Allen stirred at the angry sounds coming from his front door and buried his face further into the puffy pillow hoping it would go away.

Then the second round of pounding started. The teenager groaned and wrapped his blanket tightly around his body and covered his head, hoping the irritating noise would just disappear. Though, that obviously wasn't working, as the pounding kept going after a good three minutes. Then something growled his name and other insults about his mother, but mostly slurred its words loudly.

Allen groaned too and roughly sat up. He could guess who it was at the door; he just didn't want to think it was true. Finally, though, he climbed out of his warm bed and shuffled to the door. He should have checked through the peep hole to see who it was but his mind wasn't really at its full capacity at the moment and he was 99% sure who it was. He unlocked and swung the door open to unhappily greet his visitor. The minute Allen opened the door though, Cross slipped past Allen and bee-lined to the couch. The Teen was pretty used to this by now. Every now and then Cross would show up unannounced, not saying a word, and hog his couch for the remainder of the day, all while trashing up his place and eating everything in his fridge. But he did bring his own booze. Allen was at least thankful he wasn't forced to go buy him liquor again.

Allen shuffled to the living room and saw Cross drinking straight from the wine bottle. He sighed and went to the kitchen to bring him an actual wine glass. When he first moved in, there were no dishes or silverware. So he used the credit card Mana gave him to get situated in their new apartment. He also took the liberty of buying some wine glasses for Cross.

Suddenly, Allen remembered. Mana was finally coming next week. He didn't know for sure what Mana was doing though. He just knew there were loans he had to settle and the process of selling their old house along with the old furniture. But, there was something that still worried him. Something that causing irritating screams in the back of his head, telling him that this whole story doesn't seem right. But he closed the door on the screeching voice. He didn't want to think that way, but trust Mana like he has his entire life. He was the one that helped him when his life took a drastic turn.

Allen's head started to spin so he closed his eyes, cleared his head and went back to getting that cup for Cross. He set the wine glass on the coffee table in front of Cross and hurried to his room before he said some rude remark at him. Though he doubted the drunk even noticed him. He scoffed. Some caretaker he was. He couldn't understand why Mana had him of all people look out for him while Mana was still in England. Then a shrill of happiness enveloped him.

"Mana is finally coming!" he whispered happily to himself. He couldn't wait till he got here. He was starting to miss him terribly. Allen had never been separated from his adoptive uncle this long before, or ever really. He didn't have friends back in England so he did everything with Mana and they stuck to each other like glue, except for the first few days Allen started living with his uncle. After his parents died (he didn't remember how, even now, and Mana's always said it's best if he remembers on his own) Mana had adopted him as it said in Allen's father's will. A day after the incident Allen was moved to his uncle's house. Allen didn't speak a word to him or even look at him; he always had his head down like he was in a trance.

Though, of course, Allen couldn't really remember all that much from back then. It was currently all a blur, like his mind purposely wanted to forget it.

He shook his head and tried to forget the faint depressing memories of his childhood, and reminded himself that what mattered now was that Mana was coming home. He looked at the alarm clock on his nightstand. It read 7 am, way too early for him on a Saturday. The white haired boy flopped onto his now cold bed and snuggled under the covers once again. He bet he was only going to sleep for another 3 hours.

It felt like a few seconds, but when Allen woke up again, it was already 11 o'clock. Just like he had thought, as he looked at the clock, he only slept a few extra hours. He got up, stretched with a slight groan and made his way to the door to head to the kitchen for some food, but stopped suddenly when he heard the TV on and remembered that Cross had taken over his living room earlier that morning. He stood there to contemplate for a second: instead of being berated by rude, slurred comments and not being able to enjoy a simple bowl of cereal he could sneak outside and wonder around for awhile until Cross passed out. He sighed and chose the latter. He spun around to his dresser and took off his PJ's, dressing in normal attire. He made sure he grabbed his wallet before sneaking into the bathroom unnoticed so he wouldn't have to make a second trip back to his room. Silently, he shut the bathroom door and proceeded to brush his teeth and straighten any disheveled hair. After he was done he slid out the front door and safely made it outside.

The white haired teen ventured to the outdoor mall to figure out what he could do with his Saturday. He sat down at a bench to see if people watching would kill a few minutes; however, he was becoming bored really fast, until he noticed a café up ahead of him: the sign read Lee's Sweet Café. He figured a snack or a drink would be nice; much better than people watching, and made his way over to the small shop.

He walked in and a little bell jingled after the door shut behind him. A smell of sweetness wafted around him making his mouth water and the hum of coffee machines filled the other wise silent store. Allen took in the surroundings of the shop. It had a very…feminine design. The walls were a creamy white and much of the shop was covered in light pinks. It looked like it wasn't just a coffee shop, but also a store that sold an assortment of candy, oriental knickknacks, and anything that was related to candles. Not only that, but the café had small tables lined around the store for people to relax and enjoy their caffeinated drinks. In other words, it was a lot bigger than it appeared.

He hesitated for a moment, but took a seat at the counter that was similar to a bar. He tapped the bell on the counter and waited.

Nothing.

He tapped it again.

Still no one. He tapped it a third time, and then the person he least expected burst out from behind the door.

"I heard the fucking bell! Now what the hell do you want?" Kanda yelled at the very surprised Allen.

"Kanda?" Allen gasped.

Allen couldn't breathe from how hard he was laughing. He banged his fist against the counter, laughing at the man in front of him wearing a pink frilled work apron. The picture was too good to be true; the stoic, serious, grumpy Kanda Yu, in a pink frilly thing. Allen lifted his head and tried to compose himself again, but to no avail,as a new wave of laughter forced its way out.

"Hahaha, oh god, I-I can't…breath hahahaha." Allen forced out in heaps of giggles.

"Good! I hope you die by suffocation or worse!" Kanda growled slamming a coffee pot down on the counter.

"I-I'm sorry" he paused forcing down the snickering. "This is just REALLY unexpected. You look very…pretty though." He said with a few snickers in between and wiped the tears that formed in the corners of his eyes.

"This coffee pot seems really heavy right now…It could slip any minute." He growled with a smirk. Allen tensed a bit, but then smiled.

"That wouldn't go well with your boss, now would it?" Kanda narrowed his eyes. "Oh? Did I hit a spot?" Allen said sweetly.

"Che, whatever; now what the fuck do you want?" He asked impatiently and defeated.

"What does it look like? I came to order something, Bakanda" He scowled at his rudeness.

"The hell?" The other raised an eyebrow at the new found nickname.

"I've been doing a little homework myself." He said as a matter-of-fact. Kanda didn't show it, but he was slightly impressed and irritated by it.

Kanda sighed. "I meant, what the hell do you want to order." He said as calmly as he could.

"Kanda, that's not how you talk to our customers." A girl scolded, bursting from the back door and shoving the grouchy man out of the way. She had short dark hair that reached her shoulder and wore the same apron as Kanda. Her disapproving frown towards Kanda turned into a sweet grin in an instant as she turned to Allen.

"Ignore him, now what can I get you?" She asked whipping out a pen and pad.

"I'll have an Earl Grey tea and a blueberry muffin, please." He ordered happily

"Coming right up! Kanda, Earl Grey tea and a blueberry muffin, please." She said to Kanda.

"Che, get it yourself." He gruffly replied,leaning back on the counter. The girl shot him a stern look in return. After a moment of glaring back, he sighed and got to work.

"So, what's your name?" She asked the white haired boy, planting her elbows on the counter.

"Oh, my name's Allen Walker," he replied

"It's nice to meet you Allen. I'm Lenalee Lee" She said. "So, from what I was hearing from the back, it seems you know Kanda, huh?"

"Ah yeah, sort of. We go to the same school."

"That's it? Aren't you two going out?" She asked confused. Suddenly, Allen could hear Kanda cursing loudly as it seemed he accidentally burnt himself. Lenalee wasn't fazed one bit by the noise.

"What? No, no no no no no no!" he gasped waving his hands in front of him. He smiled sheepishly at her. "We're…" He paused and glanced at Kanda. "Acquaintances" He finally said. He suddenly felt tightness in his chest at the word. As much as he wanted to say they were friends, he knew Kanda didn't really consider him one. Well, as far as he knew.

She didn't look convinced one bit. "Are you sure? I swear you two act like a married couple." She giggled.

"Here," Kanda said, slamming the tea mug down in front of Allen and Lenalee, splashing some of its contents onto the counter along with the muffin.

"Jeez Kanda, you don't have to be so rude." Lenalee scolded him again, setting her hands on her hips. Kanda was about to tell Lenalee to butt out and make the Moyashi hurry up with his drink and leave, but a group of teenage girls entered the store. "Oh never mind. Kanda go greet them and get their orders." She said pushing him around the counter. "And TRY to smile." She said as he walked over to the group of girls, grumbling insults.

Lenalee went back over to Allen and took a seat this time. He found it funny that she was making Kanda do all the work, but didn't say anything do to how amusing it was to see Kanda being pushed around so easily.

"So Allen, how long have been living here?" She said, folding her arms on the counter.

"Huh?"

"Your accent is a dead giveaway."

"Oh, yeah, I always forget. I'm just so used to here I never really notice."

"That's understandable." She nodded

Allen went on to tell her his usual explanation about how he moved to the States because of his uncle and how different it was, while leaving the private things out and whatnot.

"So then, if you don't mind me asking, how did you and Kanda meet?" She asked curiously.

"Well, it's kind of a long story" He said fiddling with his mug.

"Come on tell me!" She persisted.

He ultimately gave in and told her the story about how he was saved by Kanda, and that they kept running into each other after that. Once he was done explaining, Lenalee's eyes were practically stars as she seemed to be lost in space.

"Um, Lenalee? Are…you ok?" He asked worriedly, waving a hand in front of her.

"What? Oh yeah I'm fine." She said coming back to reality. "But it's like fate isn't it?" She said starting to go off into dream land again. She was shortly interrupted as a third person busted out from behind the door. This time it was an older man in his 20's with glasses and the same apron. He seemed calm at first and delighted to see Lenalee.

"Lenalee, could you come help me for a sec-" He said suddenly cutting himself short as his face turned into shock once he noticed Allen.

"How dare you propose to my dear, sweet little sister!" He shouted grabbing Lenalee and dragging her away from her seat.

"Brother!" She whined "He wasn't proposing to me in any way!" Then she whispered "And besides, he's dating Kanda." But she wasn't quite quiet enough and Allen heard her loud and clear.

"We're NOT going out!" He shouted frustrated. Lenalee secretly winked at him hoping he was catching the drift of things. He realized and shut his mouth that she was using them to convince her brother so he wouldn't try and castrate him.

"Oh, well then." He said letting her go of his hold. "I'm sorry about that. My name is Komui, by the way." He said holding his hand out to Allen. He shook it in return

"My name is Allen. It's nice to meet you?" He said in an unsure way.

"Like wise. Anyway, Lenalee, I need some help in the back."

"Sure Brother. I'll be back 'k?"

"Yeah" He said waving back as she disappeared behind the door. Allen was left alone with his coffee and watched Kanda go back and forth, getting the customer's orders ready. He wondered what he was going to do after this. He certainly didn't expect to meet Kanda and didn't plan on doing anything else. He was watching Kanda walking over to the girls to give them the last of their orders when it hit him.

'What's Kanda going to do after work?' He wondered. He gasped and quickly shoved the thought away. 'Stupid, why would he want to hang out with you? Mmm, then again, he did come to the Library yesterday.' He thought. 'Well, it wouldn't hurt to try, would it? I mean he probably doesn't have anything else to do either.' He nodded in agreement to himself. He waited till Kanda came back to the counter. He was going to back out at the last minute until he forced it out of himself.

"Um, Kanda?" He asked.

"What?" Kanda replied grumpily.

"What are you going to do after work?" He asked innocently. Kanda narrowed his eye in speculation.

"What for?" He asked back in reply, his tone full of speculation.

"No reason, I was just wondering if you wanted to go do something afterwards." He said smiling sweetly. Kanda didn't say anything else but kept his narrow eyes on him. Allen figured his silence meant he was contemplating to accept the invite or not. At least he hoped that's what it meant.

"You're not asking me on a date are you?" He bluntly said breaking his silence.

"What? No!" Allen frantically said, his cheeks blushing slightly. "You aren't letting what Lenalee said get to your head are you?" He said embarrassed

"Che, as if. Fine I'll go." He said unenthusiastically. Allen had the urge to throw his arms up in excitement but caught himself before he did.

"Now just sit your ass there until I'm done. I get off in another twenty minutes." He said until another group of people came in. This time it was group of older women. Allen watched him scribble down what they asked for as the women gawked at him and asked if he was in college of not. Allen giggled as Kanda brushed them off. Twenty minutes went by very slowly for Allen as he had nothing else to do, so he wondered around the café, looking at the different contents on the shelves. Kanda came out and barked at Allen if he was coming or not. Allen hurried over and they left the Café. Komui and Lenalee watched them leave.

"I totally ship them." She said gazing after them with a silly smirk. Komui wondered if his little sister was going to be alright.

"You know, you should really stop stalking me before it becomes a habit." Kanda said and their way to who knows where.

"I'm not a stalker! Why in the world I stalk you anyway?" Allen backfired, betting all flustered.

"Che, how the hell am I supposed to know? Every time I turn around, you're there." He glared.

Allen raised an eyebrow, "It's just coincidence. And besides what reason would I have for stalking you in the first place?"

"…You'd be surprised" He simply said. Allen laughed.

"You sound like you've been stalked in the past." He said amused.

"Just drop it." He growled. But Allen knew there was more to it.

"Come on tell me!" Allen persisted by grabbing his shoulder, still giggling.

"Fuck off!" He said pushing him away and quickened his pace.

Allen kept at it, trying to get Kanda to explain and before they knew it they reached the mall. They were walking towards the front when Allen changed the subject.

"Should we go to the cinema?" Allen suggested.

"You choose," he replied, uninterested. Allen pouted internally; he was hoping Kanda would be a little more interested.

"A movie it is!" He said excitedly, his expression saying otherwise. Allen dragged Kanda over to the ticket booth and stared up at the list of movies they were showing. There a few titles that Lavi had mentioned before, and according to him they all sucked; except for the horror movie. Allen didn't remember Lavi mentioning that one, and it was conveniently showing in ten minutes. He didn't bother to mention it to Kanda, as he was staring off into space, and went ahead and bought the tickets. Allen then dragged the other by the wrist and proceeded to the food stand.

"Hey will you let go of me?" The asked irritated.

"Oh…sorry." Allen let go of him. He hadn't realized he was still holding onto him. "Should we get popcorn?"

"Sure." He said surprising Allen a little. It was a first he actually agreed to something easily. But the two didn't move from where they were. Kanda glared at the smaller one.

"What? I'm not buying. This was your idea."

"Yeah, but, I bought the tickets," he shot back. Kanda gave up and begrudgingly went up to the counter and got them their food. As Allen watched Kanda get their order he suddenly felt like he was in one of those scenes in a romance movie. Shocking himself, he shook his head trying to get rid of the image. The other had already gotten the food and drinks and was looking at him bewildered with his hands full.

"The hell are you doing?" He said raising an eyebrow.

"There was a fly," he quickly said, grabbing a soda from Kanda's grasp and bee-lining to the theatre. 'This isn't a date, this isn't a date, this isn't a date.'

"Tch."

Once in the theatre they took their seats, Allen directing them to sit right in the middle. There didn't seem to be many people inside. There were a few at the top chatting, a couple in front of them and a couple of others sitting around them. Just as they were getting relaxed the movie started up with the usual rating screen and the lights dimmed announcing that the movie was starting soon. Allen reached over to grab some popcorn and so did Kanda. They both knocked their hands together. Kanda glared at him once again.

"Move it," he hissed

Allen narrowed his eyes "What for? Just share it," he whispered back

"Then you should have gotten your own!"

"Why didn't you get another one? You were buying it" Allen shot back. They continued to argue until they got shushed by someone behind them.

They both shut up then and Allen slunk lower in his seat. They were both silent for most of the movie, quietly sharing the popcorn between them with eyes glued to the screen. The movie wasn't so bad at first, Allen thought it had a lot of cheesy and predictable moments that every other horror movie has. It was a quiet scene that seemed to carry on forever and Allen was starting to get a little bored with it. He started to zone out a bit and looked around the room. The couple in front of him was eating each other's faces. He wondered if Kanda noticed too until…

"Fucking great." He heard Kanda muttered under his breath. Well that answered his question. He directed his attention to the screen again and then suddenly an axe lopped the girl's head off. Allen jumped with a loud gasp and grabbing the nearest thing which just happened to be Kanda's hand. There was short pause as Allen tried to calm his nerves. He relaxed in his seat again still holding onto a certain someone.

"Will you let go?" Kanda whispered loudly. Allen looked down at their hands and quickly let go.

"Sorry." He gasped. The other simply went back to staring at the screen. As for Allen, his face flushed at his embarrassment. He just hoped Kanda couldn't see his red face in the dark room, but he could see it clear as day.

The movie had ended and they were exiting the movie theatre. Allen stretched once again with a pleasant groan.

"I guess I should head home." He said a little disappointed. But then across the street he spotted an all you can eat Asian Buffet. "On second thought, I'm feeling a little hungry." He dragged Kanda over the restaurant and inside there was a variety of Asian foods. The smell was amazing he thought. Then again, he hadn't had a real meal all day.

"You're paying this time," Kanda warned, standing behind him. Allen didn't mind though, because all he could think of was what he was going to get.

They were showed their seats, had their orders for drinks taken, and directed off to the buffet area. Allen followed behind Kanda, examining all the different food. Kanda stopped in front some noodles. He was about to ask what they were but he read the little sign that read "Soba (Buckwheat Noodles)." He got some to try and then explored a little around the other sections.

Kanda looked up from his soba to see that Allen returned to the table with a plate full.

"Got enough?" He said raising an eyebrow.

"Maybe," he said with a smile as he sat down. He let out a sound of delight as he dug into the soba first. The corners of Kanda's lips twitched up but he forced the smile down. The other soon finished his massive plate, but came back again with a second plate full and then a third. Kanda was bit baffled that someone of Allen's size could fit all that food away in one stomach.

Time rolled by and the sun was setting soon. Allen walked out with a full stomach and sighed with content followed by Kanda who seemed refreshed by the meal. They both instinctively started walking towards their destined homes and came to the point where they had to part ways.

"See you later Kanda. Today was really fun!" He said happily waving him goodbye. "I'll see you at school right?"

Kanda paused and looked back. "Yea," he said simply at the smiling teen and carried on. But that was enough to make Allen even happier, because even though it was a lame goodbye, he could tell by his calm expression that he didn't have that bad of a time either. And it was funny to him because, for some reason, the thought seemed to create a warm feeling in his chest.

A/N:

Well ok this was a much longer chapter than the others o-o" hope you enjoyed 3

And don't be afraid to give me your honest opinion; good or bad!