Chapter 4
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It felt awkward, being in the company of important people like royalty. Allen was constantly thinking of how to act, trying not to stumble while he spoke (the few times he opened his mouth), trying not to fidget so much while standing still, and it made him really irritated that Kanda didn't seem to have any problem at all when talking to the king.
Because of the way he acted, Allen had always thought that Kanda had once belonged to some kind of high class family. Or maybe it was just the fact that he was Japanese, therefore he didn't feel uncomfortable when speaking with people of a higher rank.
But no matter how jealous Allen felt because of Kanda's ability to take everything calmly, Allen did feel a little better when he saw that Kanda handled the situation as easy as he did.
«...I still do not feel comfortable letting you wander around my city all alone. I hope you understand my worries.»
Kanda nodded stiffly at his side after the king had spoken. They had been asked questions they had expected, like where they came from, why they were here and similar. But though they were expected, Allen had no hadn't been able to make up a good excuse yet. That's why, if Allen had been there without Kanda things wouldn't have gone very well. It seemed like Kanda had made up perfect excuses while they were waiting, and as a result to this, Allen had barely opened his mouth since they entered the king's hall. That had probably been Kanda's idea from the very beginning.
«Mary, show them their sleeping chambers.»
A maid who was standing close to the main door bowed and looked at Allen and Kanda, a look telling them to follow. Kanda bowed, once again stiffly, to the King and this time Allen was aware enough to do the same. Adam, who was standing on the King's right side, flashed him a tiny smile as Allen straightened up. Everyone still found them suspicious, but it seemed like Adam had loosened up a little and that he was beginning to trust them.
"Which is a very good thing", Allen thought as he remembered how sharp Adam's sword had looked when it had been three inches away from his face.
The maid led them down a new hallway, which was probably on the other side of where they had entered, since it looked so alike, yet the paintings on the walls seemed different. They were led through another set of doors and down another hallway, but this was a much smaller one.
They stopped in front of a beautifully decorated door (like every other door in the castle) and the maid turned to them.
«We are really sorry, but we only have one available room for you to use, we will inform you as soon as we have another one ready.»
Allen gulped and threw a sidelong glance at Kanda, who didn't seem disturbed by the fact at all.
«if there is anything you need, do not hesitate to ask any of the other maids», the maid added, bowing before she turned and left.
Allen stood still for a while, watching her leaving before he turned to Kanda.
Their eyes met and It felt like Kanda's dark gaze was piercing through him, going right through his skin and into the very core of his thoughts. Kanda had meditated too much, Allen thought, he was too aware.
Allen shivered and Kanda notice his uneasiness. He frowned before his eyes dropped from piercing to utterly bored as he opened the door.
Allen glared, «What?»
«I'm taking the bed.»
Allen froze, but snapped out of it fast and ran after Kanda.
«SO not gonna happen.»
--
They ended up sharing the bed, but Allen had to settle with a carpet while Kanda had the duvet.
After all, Kanda was the «oldest». Allen huffed under the carpet, pulling it tighter around himself. His feet were cold because the carpet wasn't long enough to cover his whole body. That was probably one of the reasons why Kanda had snatched the duvet as soon as they had finished dressing for bed.
They had gone to bed a long time ago, but Allen hadn't been able to sleep. He was thinking about everything that had happened up until now. If this really was caused by an Innocence, would they be able to go home, or would they still be stuck here in this...unknown place?
He really wanted to go back to HQ as soon as possible. Back to Lavi, Lenalee, Komui and last but not least, Jerry's glorious cooking. He could feel his mouth watering at the thought of Jerry's cooking. It made him remember the food they had been served here right after their meeting with the King and it made him miss HQ even more.
There was no dango here.
'The King..', Allen thought suddenly.
'it took a long time to convince him that we weren't enemies. Why do they all seem so...scared? There must be something they're not telling us...'
He was stopped mid-thought by a shudder. His feet were really cold...
He wondered, if maybe, just maybe Kanda wouldn't notice that he stole a part of the duvet to cover his feet.
Allen slowly turned around and saw Kanda sleeping with his back against him. He then eyed the duvet that was slowly sliding off Kanda's shoulders longingly.
It wouldn't hurt to try, would it?
Allen stuck out his feet and sneaked them under Kanda's duvet though he knew very well that it would in fact hurt if Kanda was to wake up, and it would hurt a lot.
Allen sighted in heaven as he felt his feet being surrounded by a comforting heat. How he wished that heat could be around the whole of his body. He stuck his feet tiny bit further under the duvet before he felt Kanda's skin against his toes. He hesitated a little, but continued to stick his feet all the way in until Kanda's skin and warmth covered the entire underside of his feet.
Kanda was so warm against Allen's skin. Much warmer than the too-small carpet.
And like that, Allen fell asleep while dreaming that Kanda's warmth was warming him instead of the carpet.
--
Kanda opened his eyes slowly, not being used to such strong light in the morning. He was facing the window, and it seemed like the sun was trying to make fun of him by shooting it's rays through the tiny gap between the curtains and directly at his face. He growled covering his eyes with his hand. He felt tired, and that didn't happen often.
What time was it?
He was about to turn around when he felt something touch his leg. Whatever it was, was soft and a tiny bit cold, though it wasn't uncomfortable.
His eyes squinted as the sun continued to laugh at him and he jumped up from the bed and pulled the curtains closed with a little more force than needed.
He was about to go back to the bed as he saw the way Allen was curled up under the carpet with his feet buried under Kanda's duvet.
So that was what had poked him.
He bent over and brushed a few strands of hair out of the Beansprout's face. He looked so small and innocent the way he was curled up. It was really hard to believe that someone like Allen was the prophesied savior of the world. The way he acted, the way he was constantly kind and caring for others, the way he always smiled or laughed, the way he always seemed like some kind of angel...
Kanda blinked and hastily withdrew his hand.
Did he just think what he think he did? That the Beansprout was some kind of...angel?
He shook his head in denial and sighed.
To little sleep was definitively not good for him.
He arched his body and loosened up his stiff muscles before he decided to get dressed. There was no point in going back to bed now anyway, if he fell asleep again it would only ruin his sleeping habits.
But what had woken him up in the first place? He always stood up at 6 to train, and his body had memorized how much sleep he needed after all the days of following the same routine. He hadn't been that long up yesterday either.
Kanda threw on his coat, strapped Mugen against his hip and left the room, carefully not to make too much noise as he closed the door after him.
He ran down the hallway they had been led through the day before. All the way down to the kitchens he could see broken glass from the candles that had been hanging at the wall, and some of the paintings had fallen down. In the distance he could hear the sound of...bombing?
He was just about to open the door to the kitchens when he heard a loud crash and many loud voices shouting and screaming.
What the heck was going on?
Kanda as good as kicked the door down and unsheathed Mugen as he entered. If Kanda was to explain how everything looked with one word, then "chaos" would be perfect.
Frying pans, cutlery, glass, plates; everything had been thrown all over the place. Kanda was glad the shoes they got from the scientists at HQ was made of thick leather. God knows how many cuts he would have gotten if they weren't.
He made his way over the window and looked outside.
People were screaming while running from something Kanda had no idea what was. They looked a little like wolves, but their way of running was much different from a normal wolf. It almost looked like they were running on two legs. Then Kanda remembered what Adam had told them when they had first entered the city.
"Loups were once men. Or rather, they were barbarians, who pillaged and plundered every village they could find..."
"They were once men..." Kanda fumed as he watched the Loups' rampage.
"The way they acted was more that of a wild animal."
"...they were given powers no ordinary man could ever attain"
Kanda frowned. "It seems like the "power" they were given turned them into real animals." He mused as he turned to leave.
"I suppose that serves them right."
He was just about to leave the room as the door in front of him was slung open with such force that the wood splintered. Some of the splinters grazed his skin and left small cuts, but that didn't bother him at all.
The only thing in Kanda's mind was to place Mugen in front of him and await for the attack that was sure to come.
Because the thing that had caused all this uproar was now standing right in front of him.
--OOO--
Yesterday I said to myself: "if you've got nothing better to do, then start writing." And writing I did :) And now I'm really happy, because there is finally some action in this story :) I can't wait to finish the next chapter.
btw: Reviews are love :)
(And to those who reviewed the last chapter but didn't get any answer; I usually answer reviews (I think it's really fun) but sometimes I just don't have the time. (And sometimes my inbox confuses me too much). But anyway, I'll answer if I have the time to do so)