K: All right you hungry animals, here's the next chapter!
J: You mean hungry animal. Singular.
K: SHUSH.
J: We aren't getting as many bites as we used to
K: I know. I wonder if it's just the fandom that's died off, or if we just aren't interesting?
J: Can we offer them free stuff?
K: I'm pretty sure that's false advertisement.
J: Darn.
K: *pat pat* You tried.
J: Well, enjoy the chapter, for those reading!
K: ...Who else would enjoy the chapter if they weren't reading?
J: ...
K: YOU'RE SO STUPI-
J: SHUT UP.

Show Biz: Act I

Scene II:
Alas, poor Allen

It was Monday afternoon as Allen paced nervously in his room. Today was the day. He had rushed over after school, and every few seconds his eyes would wander to his cell phone on his bed.

'Did I make it? No, they would have called by now...but they said they would call around this time, so there's still hope right? No, no stop deluding yourself. Face the facts. You were out of practice. You didn't ace the dance. There's no way they would choose y-'

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG!

"AAAH!" Allen shouted as he jumped from the sudden eruption of knocking on his front door.

"Allen? Allen! Let me in!" came a muffled voice from the other side.

"Whoa!" Allen exclaimed as he rushed to open it. He recognized that voice, and it was none other than-

"Lenalee! Sorry I didn't let you in right away. I was expecting you to call instead of trying to break my door down," Allen told the girl who was huffing and puffing on his front porch.

She shook her head. She felt like she'd just run a marathon. Well, technically she had run...up the stairs. She was a bit out of shape, so sue her. It had been three flights after all. It's just...she thought Allen deserved to be told in person. She tried to talk, took one more deep breath, and said, "Never mind that! Allen..." tears pricked at the corners of her eyes and he feared the worst.

'I knew it. I didn't make it...With all those years of no practice it's no wonder I didn't-'

"Allen you made it! You're in!" Lenalee said with a huge grin, one small tear of joy trickling down her cheek.

Allen just stood there in shock, trying to process what she just said. he could already feel the lump forming in his throat. "...I...I'm in?"

"Yes!"

"I made it...?"

"Yes! You- ...Allen, are you all right?" Lenalee asked, noticing the tears streaming down his face and growing a bit worried.

"Me...I did it...I...Thank you...Thank you so much!" Allen finally choked out as he tried to stop his tears of joy and relief. He hated to show it in front of others, but he'd always been an easy crier. Whenever he got over emotional - be it happiness, sadness, or anger - they just started flowing. And this...This was probably the second happiest moment of his life. This was amazing. Incredible! He couldn't help the large whoop of joy that escaped his lips as he jumped into the air.

"You're a strange one, Allen," Lenalee laughed, sniffling a bit afterwards. She wasn't ashamed to admit that she was just as bad at crying as Allen was.

"You're one to talk, Lenalee, you're crying too. Here I think I have some tissues..."

He handed her one once he'd found them and was surprised to see that she wore makeup, the smudges evident on the white fabric.

He commented on it, saying how she didn't need to wear any and she just smiled.

"I don't wear it because I need to, I just like it. Think of it as an accessory, like a bracelet or earrings. It's just something I enjoy doing in the mornings."

"Hm, fair enough," Allen said.

Lenalee blinked. Usually men would either keep telling her she shouldn't wear it or give her a look as if she was trying too hard or she was something fake, even though she kept it as natural looking as possible. Only a few people had acted as Allen had, and left her to herself. It was a nice little discovery and she tucked it away in her mind.

Once they'd made themselves presentable she grabbed his wrist and started pulling him towards the door.

"Eh? Wait, where are we going?" Allen asked, stumbling as they started to descend the stairs. Why Cross always picked cheap places with no elevator he'd never know.

"To the Dark Order of course. You...uh...kind of need to meet someone..." Lenalee said with a nervous chuckle, avoiding eye contact.

Allen squinted at her suspiciously. "Who?"

Lenalee started the car and backed out of the driveway. Then she said mysteriously, "You'll see~!"

'I don't like that glint in her eye...' Allen thought with a shiver.

xxxxxxxxxx

They arrived at the Dark Order just a while later. Laughter was heard as the car doors opened.

"Ahaha! I can't believe you got lost when it's less than three miles away from your house!" Lenalee told Allen.

He just pouted a bit and said, "Hey, I shouldn't have told you if you were going to laugh."

"Alright, alright. Allen. I need you to do me a huge favor. This is coming from your new manager!"

"Really? Okay," Allen said, smiling at the news. He was glad that Lenalee had been assigned to him. Although, now that he thought about it, she hadn't told him if anyone else made it, so he may have been the only one to choose from.

"Good. Now, this is a test. I want you to put on a slightly pissed off look. Like one step under a glare."

"...What is this supposed to do?" he asked. What was with those strange instructions?

"Just do it, okay?" she quipped as she gave him a light smack on the shoulder for the dubious look in his eye.

"Yes ma'am!" he said, instantly switching his facial expression.

"Ooooh, that's nice. Okay, now straighten up. Chin level...good! Now put your left hand in your pocket, no, make that your right hand. Peeerfect. Just let me ruffle your hair a bit. Ah ah ah! Don't move, keep the expression! Posture posture!"

'She's manager material all right,' Allen thought.

"Um, Lenalee?" Allen said through a clenched jaw. He was scared of what Lenalee might do if he moved again so he was keeping completely frozen. "Is there anything else?"

"Yes! Now...walk the manliest walk you can muster straight through those doors! Boldly go!" Lenalee pointed ecstatically with a maniacal laugh.

"..."

"Don't give me that look! Now go!"

"Alright then," Allen said. Then he walked up to the doors, and sauntered in as if he owned the place.

Unbeknownst to him, Lenalee had run back to the car, and turned the headlights on as he opened the doors.

xxxxxxxxxx

"When is this guy going to get here?" a very annoyed Kanda asked a very calm Komui. Instead of answering, Komui only sipped his coffee.

He sipped.

And sipped.

And-

"Oi!"

That's when they heard the scrape of tires against gravel. "That should be them now," Komui answered.

"Che, about time," Kanda muttered.

"Remember the deal Kanda. If he can stun you within the first five seconds of you meeting him, then you have to have him as your partner."

"That's if he can. I'm a hard person to impress...well? How long does it take to get from the front step to the do- What the fuck!?" Kanda said as the doors opened in an explosion of wind and light.

Kanda had to shield his eyes to see the lean figure outlined in the doorway. As he got used to the light, he saw what was obviously an angel standing in front of him, his face relaxed in a frosty gaze. The snow white skin glowing in the light, the silver hair flaying in the wind, the halo around him...it was beautiful.

And for one moment, just a split second, Kanda's eye's widened, his heart beat sped up, and he had nothing to say.

Then the light turned off, the wind stopped blowing, the moment passed, and they looked at each other...

"Moyashi?"

"Wait...is that...baka?"

Kanda huffed and stood up suddenly as if to leave.

"No. I'm not doing it. There's absolutely no way that I'd partner with a rude shrimp like him," Kanda protested as he tried to leave. He was held back by Komui who waved the company audition contract in his face.

"Ah, ah, ah, Kanda! You both signed these, remember? And these say that you have to follow any terms and conditions we set once you join. The condition was met. You were stunned by Allen, I saw it!"

"...Che," Kanda said as he realized he had no reasonable comeback to that and sat back down.

"So, Komui, Lenalee, why was I never told about this partner and condition?"

They both slowly turned to look at the white haired boy, and although he was smiling, they could have sworn there was a darkness surrounding him.

'Eep! Allen is scary when he's mad!' they both thought.

"Ah, well, you see...Allen...ahahaha...I-I promise I'll tell you later. Okay?" Komui squeaked out as Allen stepped closer and closer. The answer seemed to satisfy him, and Allen walked back to his seat...on the other side of the room from Kanda.

A long, tense silence followed before Lenalee had had enough.

"Look," Lenalee said boldly as she saw the two of them glare at each other, "You two were paired with each other for two reasons. One, you two balance. Both in appearance, and the attitudes." - "Che, what's that supposed to mean?" "Let her talk, baka" - "We were going to tell you the second reason, but now I think we'll just leave you to figure that out for...Cut it out!" she yelled as they kept glaring, "I know you both said you'd prefer to be solo artists on your application, but this is show biz. You don't always get what you want. Now man up. Who knows? You might actually work really well together," she finished.

The two males just continued to glare at each other. Allen was, unsurprisingly, the first to give. Not that he was intimidated. He was just sick of this sour feeling in the air and decided that if anyone was going to appease it, it was going to be him. He sighed and got up to walk towards Kanda. He stopped in front of him, put a smile on his face, then said as convincingly as he could.

"Sorry we got off on the wrong foot. Let's start over. My name's Allen...where are you going?" Allen asked. Kanda had stood up midway through his introduction and walked towards the doors.

"Che. They were right. we are opposites."

"Huh?"

"You're obviously faking all of this polite bullshit."

'Ouch.' Allen thought. That was one of the first times someone had seen through him so quickly. Albeit the two of them weren't exactly friendly, so it might have just been a rash assumption, but something told Allen that it wasn't. Kanda had sounded so sure of himself.

Lowering his hand and mask, Allen said, "Well at least I try, asshole."

Lenalee and Komui both looked on in shock. What was going on? Allen was faking it? It'd felt so real to them...

"Don't. It's fucking annoying."

"Don't tell me what to do."

"Then don't talk to me."

"You're still doing it!"

"Che. I knew I'd never get along with an idiotic moyashi."

"Fine," Allen said to him, "Same to you, Bakanda."

Kanda's nostrils flared at the demeaning nickname. "...! Che!" Kanda ticked as he stormed out the door.

Allen held his glare for a bit longer, burning holes into Kanda's back, then sighed and said, "I guess that last part didn't help much, did it?" he asked the two Lees.

"Nope," they both said.

"Allen..." Lenalee said worriedly. "Do we...do you not like us? What kanda said...was it true? Are you only faking it?"

"What?" Allen said in surprise. He hadn't expected her to take it to heart. They'd only just met, but she was acting devastated. It felt odd, to realize he was becoming important to someone. "No! No, of course it's not like that," he reasurred her. "I promise. It's only him, really. He grates on my nerves for some reason."

She sighed in relief. "Well, I'm making it your job to sort him out then."

"Eh!? No way!"

"Yes way! You two need to learn to get along!"

'This isn't going to be pleasant...'

xxxxxxxxxx

It was the second day of practice, and Kanda was already pissed off.

They were learning a new dance for the performance that they had on this show called The Ark. They were just dancing in the back with some other group but they didn't have their own songs yet, so that was unavoidable. That wasn't what was ticking him off though. It was that stupid moyashi. First, he was completely different from the day they met. He was all dares and glares Monday, but now he was all sunshine and fucking rainbows. Second, who the hell was that nice...all...the fucking...time? It was so obviously forced half the time and he was wondering why noone else called the kid out on it. And third, the Moyashi hadn't come in yesterday because he had to settle matters with his school so he could come in at noon every day. So, how the hell was the stupid brat keeping up with Kanda? Kanda spent every second he could practicing the moves from yesterday. Then the Moyashi came in, looked at him doing it one fucking time and started dancing. Just like that.

'What the hell!' Kanda thought as they slid past each other, with Kanda now on the right, and went into a crouch. From that low position they leaped forward into a roll, then sprang up and Kanda walked left diagonally, and Allen did the opposite.

"Good! Now do those steps over again starting from the top. Then I'll teach you the second half."

"Thank you, Komui," Allen said.

"Che."

'Alright, that is the fifth time this guy had "Che"ed at something I said.' - Not that he was keeping count. - 'Enough is enough!'

"Okay, what exactly is your problem with me?" Allen snapped. "I hardly even know you, you judgmental ass. Is it my hair? My eyes? My scar? Well? Out with it. Don't just assume things about a person when you don't even take the time to get to know them."

Kanda was taken aback for all of two seconds - he had never expected such a bold outburst from the Moyashi who always seemed to keep up his smile around others - but then his scowl was back and better than ever.

"No, it's not your fucking hair, or eyes, or scar, stupid Moyashi. Who the hell would give a flying fuck about that? What annoys me is that you're so goddamn happy all day, every day, to every single person! Who does that?"

"...Let me get this straight...it's not my hair or eyes?"

"No."

"And it's not the scar?"

"Che, I'm not asking about it, so why would you think that I care?"

It was then that Allen realized. Kanda was a very straight forward person. It was over the top, and rough around the edges, but that's really all it was. If you asked him, he would tell you. If you didn't, he'd probably tell you anyways, just to get it off his chest. He was a yes or no type of guy.

"Ha..." the small laugh escaped his lips. It was shaky, and had Kanda wondering if the moyashi had finally lost it. "A ha ha ha...ahahahahaha! Hahahaha!" Allen couldn't stop laughing. He had to hold his sides as they started to ache. Kanda was even staring at him funny.

'Yep. Definitely insane. Leave it to Komui to pair me with an insane person.'

"Hahaha...you know, Kanda," Allen said once he'd caught his breath and wiped the tears from his eyes. "I think I can learn to work with you after all."

He flashed kanda a smile that was so obviously...not fake.

"What the...?'

It threw him off, and it put him on edge. He wasn't used to people smiling at him like that. So he felt on guard, conditioned to respond in a way that would push that smile away.

"Yeah? Good for you. What an amazing accomplishment. Too bad that I will never be able to work with you. I'm out of here."

"Wait, you can't just leave! Kanda. Kanda! ...well," Komui said as Kanda ignored him and walked out the door, "This is unfortunate. Sorry, Allen. He was really stuck on being a solo artist. I think that's what's ticking him off so much."

Allen frowned. That may have been a factor, but for some reason he didn't think that was it...

"Then why doesn't he just quit?" he asked. "Go somewhere else. You know why I'm here. What about him?"

"...If you want to know Allen, the reason he's here is the second reason we paired you two together. Because he's here for the same reason. MANA is his idol." As Allen just blinked and took that in, Komui continued, "Well, we'll just have to pick things up tomorrow, Allen. You can go, I'll lock up."

"Ah...thank you, Komui. Sorry for all the trouble," Allen said as he collected his things. "Goodnight."

Then he was gone.

Komui went around turning off all the lights. He looked around one last time, "What a mess ," he sighed. Then he locked up and went next door to the dorms where he and Lenalee slept.

Unnoticed by Allen and Komui was a black bag in the corner of the dance room.

xxxxxxxxxx

"Shit. I can't believe I forgot my bag," Kanda berated himself as he quickly got dressed and jumped in his car. He had to wake up an hour earlier than his usual seven o'clock to drive all the way to the Dark Order and then get his bag, finish the essay inside it, then turn it in to the professor, who was in the University on the other side of town.

When he got there he was about to run next door to wake up Komui using the "Lenalee is getting married" trick that she taught him, but then he noticed there was a light on inside the dance hall.

'What? No way is Komui up this early. He's lazier than a hibernating sloth when it comes to anything but dancing,' Kanda thought.

He went inside the dark lobby and confirmed the light source. It was indeed coming from the dance hall.' How much coffee does that man drink?'Kanda thought as he looked through the window and saw something unexpected. It was...the moyashi.

He was practicing the song they would be dancing to that weekend. Judging by the slight gleam of sweat on his pale skin, Kanda would say that he'd been at it for a while. He was trying to execute a more difficult move that must have been from the second half of the routine. When had he even had time to learn that? He ran forward five steps then did a cart wheel. But, in a technique that requires amazing core strength, he stopped mid-cartwheel and stayed in a handstand position. Then he pushed off, and did a flip and landed. He stopped there, wiping the sweat from is brow. Everything seemed fine until he tried to stretch. Then a look of pain shot across his face as he clutched his left shoulder.

Kanda opened the doors, walked over to catch him just as Allen was about to collapse. Just because he didn't really like the kid doesn't mean he would watch as he fell to the ground. He was gruff, not cruel.

"Che, stupid moyashi."

"Bakanda...?" Allen asked incredulously when he realized who's arms he was in. In anyone elses arms he would have been embarrassed, but in Kanda's he was mortified. Great. Now it was like he owed him one. All because he'd decided to skip his exercises that morning.

"Do you always get up this early then work yourself half to death?" Kanda asked, though he didn't really know why he did. He felt...curious, that's all. He'd thought that Allen was the type to breeze through the dances, but - and it irked him to admit it and he'd never say it out loud - apparently he'd been wrong.

'Why does he want to know?'

After recovering from the shock of seeing who had helped him, Allen replied, "When I have a dance to memorize before school I do. Why are you here anyways?" Allen asked as he looked at Kanda with those big...silver...eyes...

Kanda shook his head. 'What the?' he thought 'I got up way too early this morning. Ugh.'

"Che. Saving your ass apparently. Your fucking welcome."

"Ugh, don't remind me. Guess I owe you one."

Kanda just tilted his head quizzically, a gesture that Allen hadn't expected from him, and said, "Why?"

"Eh?"

"Why would you owe me one? That's stupid."

"...You're weird."

"I don't want to hear that from you."

Allen laughed dryly and said, "Guess you're right. Again, why're you here?" Allen asked casually. He was done trying to put up airs around Kanda. It would just tire both of them out anyways.

"I'm looking for my bag moyashi. Seen it?" Kanda noticed the change in behavior, and didn't think any less of Allen for dropping formalities. If anything, he was relieved. No more nerve grating, plastered on smiles and forced courtesy.

"Ah...I think its in the corner over there...Thank you for helping me," he said earnestly, making Kanda wonder if he really should just give the kid a chance and get to know him...

...then the idiot moyashi opened his mouth again and said, "Now get it and go. You're ruining my concentration."

But the words lacked any venom, and Kanda noticed a twinkle in Allen's eye.

Kanda just shook his head and picked up his bag in silence. Walking towards the exit, he was about to leave when he turned back to face Allen.

"Oi, moyashi-"

"Allen. My name is Allen."

"Che, whatever...I just want to say that I said some things I shouldn't have yesterday. Don't expect a sorry, I don't do apologies."

"Figures that you'd be a macho man."

"Shut up! Anyways I...I guess I can work with you, too," Kanda finished.

He and Allen just looked each other in the eyes for a moment, and they seemed to reach a mutual understanding.

Allen continued practicing, and Kanda went on his way.

Later that day, they both came in to practice. For once, they didn't argue. And it was freaking Komui out.

Komui was going out of his mind when he finally burst, "What the heck happened!?"

[ Scene end. ]

T. B. C.

K: *dangles a pocket watch in front of the readers* ReViEeeEEeEEEeEew~~~
J: *hits*
K: ITAI!