"Hitomi, it's been too long." A deep voice called out behind the couple. Allen turned around to see a young man with jet black hair walking towards them. He had a girl with him, but all Allen could make out in the darkness was her pink hair
"Van," she said squaring her shoulders, Allen had the impression she was making herself ready for battle. "What are you doing here, I thought you had left." The two couples were finally facing one another, the girl was staring Allen up and down looking back at Van her face looking bored. Unfortunately Van only had eyes for Hitomi.
"Oh, I'm hurt, that's no way to treat your…" He glanced over at Allen evilly and added a wicked pause, "old friend." Hitomi wouldn't let anyone see but inwardly she relaxed, she didn't want this turning into another fight, but still she would have to tread carefully.
"What are you doing here?" She said this time more quietly.
"Isn't it obvious I wanted to see you. I love you." He said doing a fairly good impression of Dornkirk. Hitomi flinched and looked away from Van and Allen alike. At her reaction Van felt immediately sorry, he didn't know why but he felt this odd feeling seeing her standing there with him.
Not wanting her to fight back, Van quickly grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the other two. When they reached the forest he dropped her hand and turned to face her.
"That was a little much, don't you think?" She questioned folding her arms across her chest.
"Yeah, well I didn't want pretty boy to follow us." Van shot back, but she didn't leave which he thought was a good sign.
"Why are you here?" She asked the question for the third time, and Van could tell she didn't want to ask it again. He could also sense the desperation in her voice, as if he were here to bring an end to her relationship. The feeling rose up again striving to consume him if he didn't keep a straight head.
"I'm here… well to see you really." She flushed and glared at him, "oh come on Hitomi, we're…" He could tell she didn't want to hear anything he had to say. "Folken told me Dornkirk was summoning…" he paused "you. At least more than usual I figured I better get back here and help." Upon seeing her face he knew that was an even worse thing to say.
"I don't need you to come in every time I get hurt!" She yelled, "Allen's here and he promises he'll protect me!"
"Yeah, but how much does he know?" Van countered, "He shouldn't be the one protecting you," She threw him one last glare and then ran off.
"I should." He said quietly.
Allen asked no questions when Hitomi returned and bid him goodnight. He waited until she had been swallowed up by the darkness until he went back towards his home. Because the night was cool and clear Allen heard the raised argument as if he were standing next to the couple.
Yeah, but how much does he know? Van's voice rang through Allen's head. His heart had soared with pride when Hitomi stood up for him, but when he heard the last yell Allen couldn't figure out what it meant.
How much do I know? Allen questioned himself, she may tell me all of her secrets, but she never tells me about her life.
Allen at this point reached his house and stared up at its bright windows. Just hours before he had come running in to tell Celena to be on her guard and now he was questioning everything Hitomi had ever told him.
The next morning Hitomi waited bleakly for the doorbell to ring, announcing the arrival of Allen, her knight in shining armor. When it never came she slowly finished her breakfast and made for the door. Remembering she left her homework upstairs she rushed back and as she did she heard someone knocking on the door. Mom can get it, I'll only be a few seconds.
When she heard the door creak and her mother calling out a name Hitomi groaned. Anyone but him, please anyone but him, but as she came down she saw who it was and inwardly groaned again.
"Hitomi, look it's Van!" Her mother said feigning joy as she saw the couple greet one another. "Oh I haven't seen you in forever," she said turning back to him, "your hair has gotten so long!" Hitomi could easily see this could take a while so she tried to sneak past the other two and out the door. Unfortunately Hitomi wasn't the sneaky kind of girl.
Van's arm snaked around her waist as he said his goodbyes to her mother. "You're not getting away from me that easily." He whispered in her ear as he said one last farewell.
"Man, I hate parents." He groaned, but never let go of her waist.
"Van."
"What?" She looked pointedly down at his hand but he just shrugged, "Sometimes I just can't control it. Weird right?" He grinned goofily at her. She looked less than impressed. Although there was someone else who looked even worse.
Allen had debated all morning whether or not to tell Hitomi what he heard last night. Finally deciding to feel her out on the subject he went over to her house a little later than usual.
The three stared at one another, nobody daring to move. Finally Van, being the (jealous) guy he was started to speak.
"Uh oh it looks like our scheme is up, why don't I run for it and you can stay and fight." He joked looking over at Hitomi. Allen glared at him, "ooh he doesn't look very happy, well I guess then there's only one thing I can do." He walked calmly up to Allen and looked up in his eyes.
Any passerby would think this scene comical, a tall blond man staring down a short black haired kid. Van must have found it funny as well because it took him seconds to throw his arms around Allen's neck and cry out.
"Are you my mommy?" Hitomi rolled her eyes and ran up to the two men. She knew it was only moments before Allen would aim a very hard punch to Van and then all hell would break lose.
"Allen!" She called when she neared them, "Don't do anything he's just trying to get a rise out of you!"
Its working, Allen thought grimly, as his fists balled up, not just out of anger but out of pure desperation to get this being off of him.
Hitomi did the only thing she thought of, she threw her arms around Van's waist and pulled him back.
"Ah Mommy!" Van threw his arms around Hitomi and held her in a bone crushing hug. He looked back at Allen who was staring daggers at him. "Let's get out of here before Blondie over there tries anything to separate us." Hitomi could barely breath but she was able to swing a very well aimed slap.
"And that should teach you to never to block my air passage." She strode off leaving both men to glare at the other.
"That was a nasty trick you pulled." Allen growled.
"Yeah, well I didn't think you were the fighting type. Personally, I would have torn any bastard apart who touched Hitomi like that, but like I said I'm more of a fighter." It took all of Allen's will to walk away and join the waiting Hitomi.
When she thought they were clear of Gaea Hitomi went to grab Allen's hand but he brushed hers away.
"I didn't make him come to my house this morning." She said stonily.
They stayed silent until they were almost in sight of the school entrance. No longer being able to stand it Allen quickly rounded on Hitomi, forcing her into an alleyway and pushing her back up against a wall.
"What don't I know about you?" He asked his blue eyes blazing.
"Y-you heard us?" Hitomi knew it was a dumb question but she didn't want to have to tell him the truth. Fortunately for her there was a small flaw in Allen's rather forceful plan.
Van had been silently following the couple and was able to control his temper while watching Allen and Hitomi walk quietly along. But when he saw Allen grab Hitomi's arm and push her into an alley he lost control.
A punch hit the side of Allen's jaw so hard that he released Hitomi and she felt herself being pushed aside. Van now stood between Allen and Hitomi shouting at the top of his lungs.
"How dare you! How dare you treat her in this manner! I was the one goofing around I was trying to get you mad not her! She didn't even want me there, not this morning and not last night!" Van's shouting had caused quite a stir in the alley but the only one he was staring at was an immoveable Allen.
The blond simply stared down at the ground not even paying attention to what Van was saying. He could deal with the kid later. Now what he was worried about was the pause in Hitomi's voice. When she didn't answer or deny it meant she was hiding something.
With a resolved look Allen picked up his bag and walked past both of them to the school. Hitomi started to follow him, but for the second time that morning he brushed her off.
Hitomi watched the retreating back with tears stinging in her eyes.
"Thanks," she said rounding on Van, "thanks for taking away the one thing that made life bearable!" She ran off in the opposite direction away from school, away from Gaea and away from the rest of the world.
Van stood there cursing everything, with a heavy heart he headed away from Hitomi and towards Allen's quickly receding back.
"Allen." He reached out and grabbed the mans shoulder but the face he received was an ugly one. "You should wear that all the time." He said before he could stop himself. "Listen if you really love Hitomi then hear me out." It also didn't help Allen was half a head taller, but he stopped walking and faced Van.
"Speak."
"What here?!" Van thought he would be able to say it somewhere private not out in the open with students running past them. "Follow me." When Allen didn't follow but look up at the school Van taunted, "What pretty boy can't miss a day of school?" Internally he kicked himself again, this wasn't helping Hitomi.
Allen resigned himself to following what he thought was pure scum. They rounded a corner and Van found a small park where they could talk. He liked the place, quiet enough that if anything were to happen they wouldn't be overheard, but also had a few people that if Allen tried to kill him there would be witnesses. They sat on a bench and Van started to speak.
"How much do you know about Gaea? Never mind, you would have known me straight from the beginning if you knew everything. I'm sure Hitomi told you how Dornkirk loves to rule over every aspect of our lives." He looked at Allen, "you can nod. Anyway, Dornkirk uses people for his own pleasure. One of the ways is to take away all free will." He paused and switched subjects, "Did she ever tell you about Amano?" Allen nodded and Van continued, "Amano and Hitomi were betrothed." He paused again to allow the information to seep in. "That's one way Dornkirk can rule, he tells us who we have to marry and when and where we're going to live. When Amano and his family left it was a huge blow, not only did it disrupt Hitomi's future it also chipped away at Dornkirk's power. Fortunately for him someone else had also lost their betrothed." Van spat out the words with disdain. "That girl I was with last night, we were supposed to be married but she ran away, if they caught her within the bounds of the city they would have her killed."
"So then you and …." Allen had a hard time finishing the sentence.
"Yeah. Dornkirk decided it would be easiest for him if he placed the two 'undesirables' together." Allen looked up in surprise, "We drove away our 'true loves' our 'first loves' at least that's how Dornkirk tells it. I never believed it but Hitomi had, and has a hard time blocking it out. It's better for her if I leave and then she can try to live a normal life. At least normal for us."
Allen didn't speak but let the news wash over him, she was betrothed, she was as good as gone. But why didn't she think of telling him. But then the last thing Van said hit him, Van wanted Hitomi to live a normal life, at least what they called normal. She didn't want to tell him she had a fiancé she just wanted to have a boyfriend.
"Do, do you love her?" Allen didn't want to know the answer, he wanted nothing more than to go back in time to two days ago when he and Hitomi were happy.
"I don't know, probably not." He paused and stared up at the sky, "you have to remember we weren't originally together. We are replacements, and Dornkirk never fails to tell us that. Hitomi probably hates me, I couldn't force myself on her, she deserves more than that." Van stood up to go but stopped next to Allen, "Don't be so hard on her, this is the life she has lived since she was born. She had me thrown on her when she was thirteen its only been three years. She.." he paused, "she loved Amano, and he didn't give a damn about her." He moved away. He seemed to think better of it and went back to Allen.
"When you get your first summons, then you won't have such a hot head against the way we are forced to live. Forgive her." It wasn't a request it was a command.
Allen watched in amazement at the man that was walking away from him. He spent the rest of the day trying to figure out how to take Van's information.