Meetings

Allen Walker

This place was my own personal hell.

Every corridor, every wall, every door, everything was the same.

I was still unsure about if that bastard knew about my… problems with directions, but I wouldn't put it past him to have sent me down here knowing that I wouldn't be able to make it back.

Even before sending me down here, he'd been working to mess with me as much as he could in the time we were together. The worst so far was when he'd given me a near heart attack by suddenly touching my ear while I was in the middle of work. I'd been so focussed on what I was doing that I hadn't even sensed him behind me. I'd admit that I was partially at fault for that though.

Komui had allowed headphones because he knew of my condition, but I'd never checked with Kanda. Still, that had been a horrible way for him to get my attention.

Back to the present matter though: I was lost.

VWV

I shuddered at the thought of what kind of favour Kanda would ask of me, following him through a door that I was pretty sure didn't lead upstairs. All past experiences I had involving favours were… less than pleasant. Lenalee's usually consisted of getting me into women's clothes.

Personally, I hated dresses.

They were really breezy down below, and I wasn't used to such… freedom. I mean, the thin material clinging and hanging from various parts of my body offered little to no protection or cover, so I didn't see the point in wearing them.

I really didn't like them. They were horrible.

"Oi."

I looked up, only now noticing his fingers running along the spines of a long row of binders stored up on a bookshelf. He selected a red one, pulling it down from its place, before absently holding out his free hand to me.

Confused, I stared at the appendage, then at him, and then back at it. "Huh?"

He dragged his dark eyes over to where I stood, blankly assessing me as an awkward silence settled between us. Kanda made no move or sound, instead just stood there with his hand still out, waiting.

What did he want? Did I have something he needed?

Chewing on the inside of my cheek, I glanced down at the manila folder in my gloved hands.

Was… this what he wanted?

I uncertainly raised the folder, and watched as he rolled his eyes.

"Idiot," he muttered, taking the object from me and attaching it to the metal rings of the binder. When the documents were secure, Kanda shut the binder and slid it back between two black ones. Then he was staring at me again, making me feel like even more of a fool.

What did he want now? I was certain that I didn't have anything else to give him.

His probing gaze drifted up a little, directed at a place slightly above my eyes, asking a silent question which I heard loud and clear.

A normal person wouldn't have noticed, but I immediately understood. After having everyone stare at my imperfections for so long, I knew. The questions -when actually asked- were always the same. Always.

"It's not a tattoo, sir," I relented quietly, straightening my posture and subconsciously touching the tear-streak mark in my cheek. "It's a scar."

"Che. I didn't ask," he snapped, a defensive note to his tone. He was still looking at me though, expression neutral.

It made me feel on edge. I was never one to appreciate being stared at like that. Eyes retreating to the floor, I waited with baited breath, curious to see how this would play out. I was almost certain that he'd simply pretend as if I hadn't said anything. That suited his unpleasant personality more than any of the other scenario I could think up.

That was why I was caught off guard when a hand entered my vision, reached for my face. I had no time to mentally prepare myself, and flinched as cool fingers made contact with my skin.

Kanda took care to be soft, tracing it with a careful thumb, from the tip of the upturned star, right down to where my scar ended by my mouth. His hand then moved to cup my cheek, turning my face to the side and inspecting it. Next, he tilted my head back, frowning now. His thumb moved, swiping over my bottom lip, eyes revealing just how deep in concentration he truly was. Kanda's thumb then retreated back up my scar, trailing over the groove in my face as he examined it, eyebrows drawn together.

I watched him study the blight carved into my skin, keeping myself unnaturally still. This person was still my boss. I needed this job, which made angering him was something I could not afford to do.

Eventually, he snapped out of it, and the hand fell from my face.

I found it odd. He was a jerk, but he'd been far gentler with me than the people of my past.

They did it roughly with their grimy fingers and filthy hands, perverse looks on their ugly faces.

Or even worse. With their slimy tongues, horrid breath washing over my face as they panted.

I fought back a shiver as unpleasant memories resurfaced, attempting instead to focus on my boss, who looked really, really uncomfortable.

Not that I could blame him. I was uncomfortable too.

Thinking and talking about this was making my chest hurt. It made everything hurt.

"I… did something wrong, and was punished for it." I said stiffly, offering up a strained smile to hide my distress.

By 'something wrong', I meant stealing. Pickpocketing, in fact.

That one stupid mistake had led to a lifetime of hell. Even now, after all this time had passed, I was still suffering. There was the C-PTSD, the nightmares, the trust issues, the depression, a mild case of phonophobia and the occasional break down or panic attack.

Pills and therapists hadn't been able to help me, so I'd already give up on them.

"With a knife?"

"Yeah," I admitted softly. It was easy to be honest like this when faced with his calm blue eyes; I did better talking to people when they weren't overly emotional.

That was why my guard flew back up when, in a tone containing a hidden hint of anger that contradicted his nonchalant demeanour, Kanda asked, "Who?"

I shrugged my shoulders, moving back a few paces. The two of us knew next to nothing about each other, so saying anything more was something I would not do.

He obviously hadn't read what was written in my contract. Which was a good thing, considering there was a line that mentioned my children. It was put down as the reason I left so early on Thursdays.

This person didn't give a damn about others in general.

He didn't know me.

I didn't know him.

Still, there was something in the indifferent look he gave me that told me maybe, just maybe, he understood. He understood what it was like to suffer.

I'd heard the story; those vultures known as the press had leaked it awhile back after Kanda's promotion to Vice Chairman. The headline had been something like 'Biological parents murdered, adopted by billionaire Froi Tiedoll'.

Sure, maybe what he'd gone through wasn't anything like the suffering I'd had to deal with, but it was still pretty bad.

"We're going back up," he said, pulling me away from the vortex of thoughts whirling around in my head.

He started walking before giving me a chance to say anything, each stride longer than mine could ever hope to be.

I followed close behind him at a quickened pace, not wanting to get left behind.

By the time we'd made it back to his spacious office, I was panting softly, the faint layer of sweat sticking to my body making my clothes feel itchy against my skin.

"I might have to start sending someone else down to File Storage, seeing as I won't be able to go down and fetch you every time you get lost."

And there was that expression again.

My boss was smirking way too much these days; surely his cheeks had to hurt.

That look was one that made me wary. His smirks sent chills down my spine whenever I saw them, and it didn't help that nothing ever went well for me when he made that face.

That was why I was completely surprised when he neither said nor did anything to me, instead turning to the right and moving to tug open the room's set of dark curtains, revealing the gloomily overcast sky outside.

Damn him… putting me on edge for no reason…

Giving in to one of my more childish urges, I poked out my tongue at his back.

He snorted, then released the curtains. "I saw that."

I flinched and stuck my tongue back where it belonged, but was quick to calm myself, knowing that it was impossible for him to have seen me. Not when he wasn't even looking at me.

Then I caught sight of my transparent nervous reflection in the massive glass wall. The reflective glass wall, which Kanda was staring at, another of those irritating smirks sitting on his stupidly smug face.

Everything above my neck burned with embarrassment and shame at being caught outright disrespecting my boss. "I-I didn't mean t-"

"Yes you did."

"W-whatever! Anyway, don't you have a speech to write up?!" Dear god, what I wouldn't do for more control over my emotions and actions. I really should have learned by now. "That one for your meeting next week?!"

Yeah. Control sounded nice.

VWV

About five hours into the Wednesday of my third week stuck with Yu Kanda found me leaning against the cafeteria counter, chatting to Jeryy. Apparently Kanda had hired him personally as this branch's head chef.

This was perhaps one of the few instances in my life where I was able to agree with one of that bastard's choices.

Jeryy had swinging purple braids, and was possibly trans. Or gay. I don't know, and I didn't really care. Jeryy was Jeryy, and aside from having a great personality, he was, above all else, a god.

I bought Mitarashi Dango from him at least once a week, careful to refrain from splurging too much. It was difficult when it came to Jeryy's creations though, because that man worked magic in that kitchen, making him the complete opposite of me, who'd been banned from that section of the house after breaking the microwave again. Katerina wasn't pleased -which in no way had anything to do with how I broke them almost as fast as Kanda went through his PA's-.

Jeryy set down a tray of 'Kanda's usual', which from the looks of it was just soba and green tea. He waved his soup spoon in the direction of the cafeteria door, infectious smile still in place. "Better get that to Kanda quick. And say hello to him for me, would you, Sweetie?"

I grimaced, lifting the tray and shifting it so I wouldn't drop anything. "Why would you want me to say hi to that jerk?"

"Jerk?" Jeryy looked surprised. "Everyone always says that, but he's never been rude to me."

So even Yu Kanda knew not to mess with the cook? He was smarter than he looked.

VWV

I nudged open the door with my hip and slipped quietly into the room, carrying my boss' meal over to his desk.

Instead of taking this opportunity to mess with me some more, Kanda was actually working for once. We were readying ourselves for Spring, so there'd been an influx of new designs for Fashion Week and requests from companies eager to host The Black Order's wears in their stores. Luckily for me, most of that stuff needed a Vice-Chairman-level signature or higher.

I set the tray down on the one section of his desk that remained free of papers -which he'd specifically left reserved for food-.

Kanda's dark blue eyes flicked up, and he stopped working, resting his pen by one of the smaller stacks of papers.

"Jeryy gives you his greetings," I said, stepping back and waiting to see if there was anything he wanted of me.

"Hn." He picked up his chopsticks, barely sparing me a glance. "You can leave."

"Yessir."

I left the room and shut the door behind myself, before sitting down at my desk and relaxing into the seat.

After resting for a minute, I took out my notebook from one of the desk drawers. It contained Kanda's roster details -among other things- and made it easier for me to organise his schedule.

I tapped my mouse and the computer screen lit up. Next, I navigated my way to my emails and gave the most recent work-related ones a once-over. There was nothing to be found that warranted any changes to the contents of my notebook.

Satisfied with my work -after checking over everything once more-, I sent Kanda an electronic copy of his schedule for the rest of this month.

There would be eventual changes to it later on, but for the foreseeable future, this was it.

I breathed out a deep sigh and stretched my arms above my head, listening to the sound of my joints pop.

Sometimes this job could be unnaturally easy.

My brain was halfway through chastising me about how such thoughts would only bring bad luck when, lo and behold, faint chatter met my ears.

I groaned and sagged in my seat.

Why? I just wanna relax…

The voices gradually grew louder until I could make out the sounds of a conversation. Someone spoke in a whiney voice, and another laughed.

From what I could hear, there were more than two. Three, perhaps?

Four people entered the room. There was a red-head with an eye patch, a darker-skinned man whose eyes were closed, someone with strange clown-like makeup, and an older man with frizzy brown hair.

Two of the four looked incredibly suspicious.

I stood, hiding my thoughts behind a smile. It was best to be polite. I more than anyone knew not to judge others by their outward appearance. Besides, I didn't want to upset anyone important. "May I help you with something?"

The red-haired young man saw me and broke out in a grin. "So you're Yu-chan's new PA." He was on me in an instant, taking my hand in his and shaking it enthusiastically. "I'm Lavi."

"Um… hi?" I said, unsure of what to do with this… very energetic person. "I'm Allen…"

"You're really tiny, you know that, right?" This Lavi fellow went on, finally releasing my hand.

I grit my teeth, forcing a smile through my irritation. It was something that hid my annoyance and relaxed the other party, therefore making the conversation flow much easier. I'd picked up the habit after I'd been freed. "This is the average height for males my a-"

"Quit deluding yourself, Moyashi," his smooth voice interjected, a hint of amusement curling tauntingly around the words. Kanda was at the door that lead from my office to his, a smirk playing on his lips.

"I have a name," I told him politely, fingers twitching. I really wanted to hit him. Just… one good punch…

His smug silence bled into yet another awkward one which ended up being broken by the man with the pointed streaks down his face, who fake-coughed and shot me an odd look. "So… how'd a runt like you get stuck with this crappy job?"

...runt?

Choosing not to mention… his poor choice of words, my eyes drifted back over to rest on Kanda. "I have terrible luck."

VWV

In case anyone is confused, this is Allen's third week with Kanda, but his second week as Kanda's actual PA.