Chronoa

D. Gray-Man

Chapter Two

Revised

Christine woke up to the ever-annoying sound of her alarm clock. Shutting it off quickly, as to not wake her mother, she hopped out of her twin-sized bed. She groaned as she stretched her limbs, sore from all of the cleaning that she had done the previous day. Not the mention the pain that the large, hand-shaped bruise that now marked her right forearm gave her.

After quickly getting dressed in her usual plain clothing, she looked at her clock to see that it read 5:45 AM. She had about 15 minutes until she had to leave. Deciding it wouldn't hurt to leave a few minutes early, she grabbed an apple, threw her backpack over her shoulders and hurried quietly out of her house.

The blonde girl arrived at the main building five minutes before class started. Slowly walking in, she took her usual seat next to the window and waited for Mr. Haknoys to start teaching his usual nonsense. She looked up when arguing alerted her to the arrival of Allen and Kanda.

The duo stopped arguing as they walked in and sat in the same seats they had yesterday. Allen still had a hood covering up his hair.

"Good morning, Christine," Allen said, smiling with a wave as he passed her to sit down. "How are you this morning?" She shrugged in response. He just smiled at her.

"Class, pay attention!" Mr. Haknoys had finally arrived, entering the classroom just as the bell was screeching. As he started the lecture, Christine did her usual routine of gazing longingly out of the window. Just as she was starting to follow the path of a bird, a piece of paper, folded neatly, landed with a soft plop on her desk. Raising her eyebrows, she gazed back at Allen, who was the only person she could think of who would do something like that. He grinned and motioned for her to open it. Confused, she did so and found a short note written in elegant handwriting.

'This teacher really sucks at teaching his subject, don't you agree? – A.W'

Giggling quietly to herself, she wrote back quickly.

'Yeah. All he does is lecture. I don't even bother paying attention anymore. You have very neat handwriting, by the way. ~ C.N.' she wrote down before folding it back up and tossing it behind her. Almost immediately, she heard the sound of a pen scratching against paper and she quickly got a reply.

'Why thank you. So, let's play 20 questions. I want to get to know my new friend better. I'll start. What do you like to do in your spare time? – A.W.'

'Umm…Alright, why not? Let's see, I guess what I actually do and what I like to do are two different things entirely. What I like to do is read, sleep, practice the piano (I suck, but that's why they made practice, right?), and walk. What I actually do is clean, cook and spend a vast majority of my time doing homework. What about you? What do you like to do? ~ C.N.'

'You play the piano? So do I! Although I'm sure you're not as bad as you say you are. It sucks that you have to do all that other stuff, though I know how you feel. Myself, I enjoy eating, sleeping, training, and being outside. Now let's see…another question. Where do you live? And I'm not trying to be a stalker! It's just the fact that we just moved here, and I want to…yeah. – A.W.'

After reading it, Christine broke out in silent laugher. He sounded so worried about what she would think of him.

'It's alright, I don't think you're a stalker, don't worry. I live on Belle Road. It's my turn to ask a question now, right? Well this has been bothering me for a little bit. Why did you and your friends stand by me when Hailee and Kaylie were trash-talking me? Any normal person would've agreed with them and left me. Why didn't you? ~ C.N.'

As Allen read the note, a frown creased his brow. Why was she so adamant in her thought that they would turn their backs on her? Had it happened so often that it was second nature to you now?

'We just moved to Belle Road! What house is yours? Ours is the three story at the very end. To answer your other question: we stuck by you because you're our new friend. You always seemed so lonely, so we wanted to give you some company. Turns out you are actually a really cool person to hang out with, even if you don't talk much. And we always stick with our friends. Plus, we've never really been what you can call normal. Oh! On a side note, since you live on the same street as us, would you like a ride to and from school? We take turns driving, and I'm sure the others won't mind. – A.W.'

When Christine read the note Allen had hastily written, she felt the beginnings of tears press against the back of her throat. It had been a long, long time since she had anyone to call a friend. Ever since her father… Shaking herself out of her depressing thoughts, she swiftly wrote back, her handwriting getting messy with the speed she was throwing the words on the page with.

'I don't think you could possibly understand how happy hearing that makes me feel. You can't imagine how long it's been since I had people to call friends. But I won't hold it against you if you come to your senses and start ignoring me like everyone else. As for the ride, I would love one! It gets tiring, having to walk an hour to get to school when it would take 10 minutes to drive. I would really appreciate it. Oh, and I live three houses down from you, on the right. ~ C.N.'

She tossed it back again, an elated feeling coursing through her body. It had been a very long time since she had felt this happy, which confused her; seeing as it was something so simple.

'Alright! We'll talk more at lunch, alright? I'm glad that I could make you feel happy again. –A.W.'

She read it just as the bell rang, jerking her back to reality. She gathered her stuff quickly and glanced behind her at Allen and Kanda, who had started arguing again, before heading to her next class.

0-0-0

As she was on her way to the cafeteria, somewhat apprehensive about meeting with the new trio again, she was cornered between the locker and the forever pink duo, Hailee and Kaylie. They were glaring at her with almost identical sneers on their overly made-up faces. Christine looked up at them; they were towering over her in their four inch heels.

"Listen here, trash bag, you stay away from the new students. They're ours. Plus, they don't really want to be hanging out with you anyway, they're doing it out of pity. You do know that, right?" Hailee told her, trying to be the ever-present dictator as to what goes on in the school.

"They belong to no-one," Christine muttered, flinching back as Kaylie raised her hand, as if to slap her. She gasped as the manicured hand was stopped mid-flight.

"Che. What do you think you're doing?" Kanda had arrived in his usual stoic manner, but his eyes were blazing. Christine looked at him thankfully.

"Um, uh. Well…" Kaylie stuttered out, trying half-heartedly to get her hand back. Kanda looked towards Christine for an explanation, but she just shook her head. He sighed agitatedly and let go of Kaylie's hand as if it was burning him.

"Let's go," he muttered, gesturing for Christine to follow him. She did so quickly, leaving behind a shocked Kaylie and an enraged Hailee. Christine had to almost jog in order to keep up with Kanda's long strides. "What happened?" he asked abruptly, glancing down at her as they entered the cafeteria.

"It's nothing, don't worry about it. But, thank you," she said as they sat down at the same table they had occupied the day before. Kanda tsked and pulled out his lunch, which consisted of noodles and a bottle of water.

"It obviously wasn't 'nothing'," he told her as the other two sat down; Allen had his usual mound of food on his tray while Lavi settled for pizza and a salad.

"What wasn't nothing?" Lavi asked around a mouthful of food.

"She was being cornered by the two blinding hags that came over here yesterday," Kanda said, looking disgusted at the way Lavi was talking with his mouth full.

"What? Why would they do such a thing? Did they hurt you?" Allen asked, looking worriedly at her. She blushed slightly.

"Like I told Kanda, it's nothing. Please, just drop it?" she pleaded.

"Fine," Allen sighed. "Anyway! Guys, Christine here lives three houses down from us, so I offered to take her to and from school. That's not a problem, right?

"Nope! I'd love to!" Lavi said.

"Che," was the reply Kanda gave.

"Great! Well then, just follow Lavi after school, 'kay? It's his turn to drive anyway…" Allen said between mouthfuls of food. It amazed her, how much he ate – and so quickly, too.

"Alright, I really appreciate it," she told them. "So, you three live together, then?"

"Yup! We're all adopted, and Yū and I are both 18, so our guardians allowed us to move in together! Of course, they live about 30 minutes away, but still…" Lavi trailed off, shoveling his pizza into his mouth.

"Don't call me that," Kanda growled, slapping Lavi on the back of the head.

"You're all adopted? That's interesting." Christine said. "And your guardians let you all live in a house together, even though Allen's not 18?"

"Well yeah. My adoptive father…travels a lot, so I've been staying with them for a while," Allen told her. He put a plate of food in front of her. "Here, I don't know what you like, so I got a little bit of everything."

"W-what? You didn't have to do that!" she exclaimed. He smiled.

"But I did anyway. You should eat more, you're so tiny!" he said, grinning at her. Lavi laughed and nodded while she blushed.

"Alright…" she gave in, taking the fork offered to he and starting to eat the food that Allen had given her. "Thank you."

"It's no problem!" Allen told her.

"So…" Lavi started. "Today's Thursday, right?"

"It's Friday, you idiot," Kanda told him as he finished eating.

"Oh! Really now?" Lavi's eyes brightened. "Well then what are we going to do this weekend?" He turned to Christine. "What is there to do around here, anyway?"

"Well…" She thought for a moment. "I don't really know much, since I can't go out on weekends. But there's a mall about 20 minutes from Belle, and a cinema about ten minutes away. I think there's also a park within walking distance too. Then of course, there's all the stores down on Stadium Street," she listed.

"Hmm…Well why don't you see if you can come over this weekend? Then you can show us around!" Lavi suggested. Christine smiled sadly.

"I would love to, believe me I would, but I'm afraid I can't."

"Aww, why not?" he whined, pouting. She giggled slightly; he looked like a small child when he did that. Adorable.

"Because, my mother is a very…strict person. I highly doubt I could persuade her to let me hang out with you guys," she reluctantly told them.

"Hmm…" Allen muttered as he finally finished eating; he was the last one done. "Well, we'll find a way!" he said optimistically. Christine laughed, doubtful. She wasn't even going to mention them to her mother. Lord knows what she would do if Christine as much as suggested her going out on a weekend! Hell, she couldn't ever go out! She was always stuck at home, doing the work her mother never thought about doing. It surprised her that her mother even had a job, with the way she got things done. Of course, this was her third job in seven months, so it was to be expected that she would be fired again shortly. That was something Christine was dreading.

When her mom gets fired, she gets depressed; when she gets depressed, she drinks; when she drinks, she turns violent. As a result, she usually takes her anger out on Christine. The last time her mom got fired, she missed school for a week.

Driven out of her thoughts by the always-obnoxious bell, Christine ignored the semi-concerned looks her new friends were giving her and, after waving distractedly, headed to her next class.

0-0-0

Having slept through her previous two classes, Christine tiredly entered her last class. Lavi was sitting in the back of the class, waiting for her. He waved at her energetically and motioned for her to sit down next to him. Yawning, she did so.

"Tired?" he asked, laughing. She nodded and plopped down, setting her head down on her folded arms. "Aww," he said quietly. She looked like a child; a very cute, sleepy child. She yawned again, jumping slightly as the bell rang loudly. Lavi laughed, shaking his head.

"Shut up," the girl grumbled. "I didn't get much sleep last night."

"Why not?" Lavi questioned.

"'Cause I had to do my homework," she told him, pulling out the homework for the current class she was in. Lavi nodded understandingly as they got to work.

0-0-0

An hour and ten minutes later the school bell rang for the last time that day. Both of them stood up and stretched simultaneously.

"So, you're riding home with us today, right?" he asked. Christine nodded and followed him out of the classroom. "Mmkay! Let's go find Allen and Yū then. They should be by their lockers, I think," he said, mostly to himself. She laughed slightly and nodded.

"Alright," she said quietly.

The duo walked swiftly through the crowded hall, coming to a stop as they reached Allen and Kanda, who were arguing once again. At seeing Christine, who was hiding slightly behind Lavi, they stopped abruptly.

"Hello Christy! Do you mind if I call you that?" Allen asked, turning to face her fully. She shook her head.

"No, I don't mind at all," she told him. He grinned at her from under his hood. She wondered why he always had a hood covering his head, and why both he and Lavi wore an eye patch. But her thoughts were along the lines of 'If they want to tell me, then they'll tell me. If not, then they won't. Simple as that.'

"Good!" he said happily. "So, are you ready to leave?" She nodded in reply and the group made its way out into the school parking lot. Lavi was leading the way, as it was his day to drive.

"It's not much, but it gets us around." He said as they came to a stop in front of a black Endeavor.

"It's nice, I like it," Christine said, getting into the backseat with Allen. As she had predicted, it took around ten minutes to get home. "Thank you," she told them, smiling as she hopped out.

"No problem! Oh, here's our numbers, in case you need something, okay?" Lavi said, scribbling down three numbers on a piece of paper before handing it to her. She stared for a quick moment before taking it and scribbling on a corner and tearing that off.

"Here," she told them quietly.

"Cool! We'll talk to you soon, 'kay? And we'll find a way to get you away sometime this weekend," Allen told her. She smiled softly and waved as they drove the short distance to their house.

0-0-0

Right as she entered her house, Christine ran up the stairs to her room and programmed the numbers into her contacts, then put it away securely. When she was finished, she sighed and looked around the house.

'Well, it's not as messy as it was yesterday.' She thought optimistically. 'But I had better clean the whole house, get on her good side for a while.'

With that thought, she started cleaning the house rigorously. When it was almost sparkling, it was two hours later.

Christine looked at the clock in worry. She still had to cook dinner before her mom came home, or she would be in deep, deep shit. As she finished this thought, she heard the front door slam open.

Her mother was home.