CHAPT ER THREE: Shopping For That Damn Door
Allen Walker did not at all know how it ended up like this. What was Kanda playing at? Allen understood the incessant nagging for a new door, but now Kanda is actually here, with him, in the hardware store, 'helping' him pick out a door. "What if you got an ugly one?" the Japanese man had said, and Allen, knowing that resistance was futile, conceded. That is of course, what led them here, shopping for a door together.
"What about this one?" Allen calmly suggested, to which Kanda responded with a huff
"No" he said "It doesn't go well with my wallpaper, are you trying to make my apartment look ugly on purpose?"
The Englishman sighs "Of course not, it was just a suggestion."
Kanda throws him a pointed look then points at a plain dark brown door. "That one"
Allen briefly glances at the price tag "But it's shit expensive"
"So?"
"So I'm paying"
"It's not my fault you broke the damn door"
"I didn't break it, Timcampy did."
"You gave that thing a name?"
"I can't exactly call it by any generic name can I? Besides I didn't name it, my step current father did."
Kanda chooses to glare at him for a few moments instead of blurting out "What the hell do you mean by current?", but after those few moments pass, he looks away and then turn to a Sales clerk and shouts "Hey you, give us a cheap door that looks good against off-white wallpaper."
"Right away sir!" the clerk says, snappily, while trying looking smart (though obviously panicked)
Allen's eyes follow the frenetic clerk as he frantically looked over the doors before them, muttering 'off-white' to himself over and over again. Finally he stops at one door, and (nervously) calls Kanda's attention.
"I believe this one would be good sir, it's made of redwood" the nervous smile on his face is priceless.
The Englishman snorts inwardly then looks over to Kanda, who is tilting his head to one-side looking indifferent. When the other doesn't talk back, and when the clerk begins to look even more nervous, Allen announces that they'll take it. Never mind the fact that it wasn't so cheap.
"When shall we deliver it to your home sir?" the cashier asks as they are paying
"We'd like to bring it home ourselves" Allen's eyes go impossibly wide at Kanda's statement
"But we're going home on foot!" he protested
"Quit being whiny, have some backbone bean" Kanda says, and he grabs the receipt from the gawking cashier. The dark-haired man thereafter stands at one side of the door "Lift" he commands, and after Allen does his own share of gawking, he lets out a frustrated grunt, and gives in.
...
"I can't feel my arm" it isn't a whine really, but Kanda clicks his tongue at this statement still
"It's all about you isn't it bean?" a snappy insult
"It's all about the door isn't it Kanda?" a snappy comeback
"So?" and to that Allen just rolls his eyes
"Let's just hurry this up..." The Englishman says "I've got a class this afternoon! I'll set it up with Lavi later"
Kanda doesn't respond, but Allen guesses this is his way of saying yes. A no would have come in the form of a complaint, or an insult, or whatever.
"So how many years have you had that Vanilla Frappe fixation?" the Englishman asked, purely out of curiosity of course.
At first there is no answer, so Allen just assumes that Kanda doesn't want to answer, but that, after what seemed to be about five minutes; that deep voice spoke "Since I found out the thing existed." He says firmly, sounding like he put some actual thought into it. Allen bites his lip and tries not to laugh, it's fortunate that it's Kanda's back that's facing him. Kanda doesn't notice him looking utterly amused.
"Isn't that kinda weird? EXACTLY three of those things a day?" Allen asks
"Why did you dye your hair white? That's weirder bean." He said it in the 'hands-down' kind of tone.
"I didn't dye it, my step father did" and a huff came with the reply
"Seems he did a lot for you didn't he?" and Kanda sounds irate
"He didn't do things FOR me, he did things TO me. The difference is big."
And it made sense, perfect sense, so all Kanda replied was "Tsch" strangely enough he followed it up with a question "And that tattoo on your face?"
"It's not a tattoo" Allen replies "It's a scar"
Kanda pauses, and then stops walking abruptly; slowly he turns his head to the Englishman. "What kinda shit step father did you have bean?"
"Though I DO admit that he's horrible... I also have to admit, that I made this scar myself."
Dark eyes blink, once, twice, "...The hell's wrong with you bean?"
Allen shrugs "It was a phase; I went a wee bit crazy when my first step father died. Anyway, why do you care?"
"I don't care about YOU, I care about ME. I have a psycho for a neighbor." Kanda rolls his eyes, turns his gaze straight ahead once again, and begins to walk (good thing too, people were starting to crowd around them, they weren't exactly a normal sight).
"I'm not a psycho, it was just a phase. I was grieving." He believes that entirely of course
"How long has it been then?" they walk on, and surprisingly Kanda also talks on
Allen is a bit taken aback, but he replies nonetheless "Seven years more or less, so really, I'm over it."
For a moment, neither of them talks, because Allen just knew that Kanda was thinking something over. Finally, the dark-haired man speaks "You better be telling the truth..." and the way he says it is in that 'end of conversation' tone, how familiar. This was the Kanda Yuu that Allen Walker was accustomed to; the semi-prying one freaked him out.
...
"Hello new door, it's time to keep the 'bean' and the 'golden ball of crap' outta the wonderful world of Kanda Yuu." Lavi says, as he tests the sturdiness of the door's attachment "Rejoice Yuu! The handsome doorman, who used to do things like this in his previous job, has finished what you had called, the 'instilling of your barrier', also known as the attachment of your new door."
Kanda shrugs, and then glares at Lavi sharply "Don't call me by my first name rabbit"
"Ah... I don't think woodland creatures could manage to do what I just did for you Yuu..."
And before Kanda could take that big stride towards Lavi, the doorman has already disappeared into the other side of the brand new door.
"Help Allen! I'm going to be killed!" Kanda hears Lavi exclaim, but he doesn't hear anything beyond that. He shrugs and heads for the kitchen. Instant Soba time.
...
"Help Allen! I'm going to be killed!" Lavi exclaims, cheerfully despite the relative accuracy of his statement. Allen rolls his eyes.
"Your fault for being suicidal..." the Englishman says "...if you really want to talk to him, you have to wait for HIM to talk to YOU. He'll just kill you if it's the other way around"
The doorman pauses, blinks "Since when did you become such an expert in dealing with him?" and the bewildered expression he'd originally had quickly turns teasing.
"Since I bought him that damn door" and it's the truth if you think about it
"It's all about the door isn't it?"
"Yep..." Allen says, despite himself "...All about the door"
Lavi grins "It's funny how you two are getting along"
"We're not getting along; we are merely being polite to our neighbor, nothing more." Allen corrects him
"Isn't that just making excuses now Allen?" the doorman teases
"Making excuses? I'm stating a fact, that's all..."
"That right there's an excuse too."
Allen rolls his eyes.
...
(Original a/n:Ah the eye roll, it's a chapter ending I'm fond of. Anywhoo... I don't know why it's turning out like this. At least I can still make it go where I intentionally wanted it to go. But what's this fuss about a door? Maybe it's a metaphor? Haha. Lol. Oh My Freak, his is actually edited xD, I missed something, I'd appreciate a heads up x3)
A/N after edit: Just fixed the ideas in the chapter that needed fixing