Ch 16

________________Pets Resemble The Owners, Or So They Say________

"Brat, come along, stop staring at those stupid puppets! Oi, are you listening?" Allen unglued his nose from the vitrine. The shop was just next to the train station, small, strident, a typical tourist spot. Not that there were tourists. Besides him and Kanda there was only an enamored couple that had no eyes for anything else than each other's wallet.

Tch. How long was that brat going to take?! Has he never seen a cheap souvenir's store before?! And an outdated one on top of being just…useless?

"Oi, what are you doing there? It is just a stupid sto-"

"Look, cactuses! They're so…hedgehog-ish!" Kanda slapped his forehead. Why, why in the world must he deal with somebody else's stupidity?!

"It's cacti, brat. Cacti, not cactuses. And they're spiny, thorny or spiky, not hedgehog-ish. I don't think that word even exists. Oi, are you listening to me?" The brat's eyes were locked on the glass. He stopped scanning the whole place, eyeing a single object with a frightening precision. Tch, what the hell was he-

"He's yellow!" Allen pointed at a cactus that was put aside by the vender. Still not abandoning the cactus of his attention, Allen tugged Kanda's gloved hand. "Look, Kanda-san, all the cactuse—cacti are green, except for this one!" Kanda stared, stifling a yawn. He drowsily looked at the old, badly covered up pots with thorny bodies inside, occasionally decorated with a glued, fake flower. Ah, there it was. A twenty five cents tag was attached to an old cracked plastic pot. It barely grew to be of the size of a small onion. Tch. Such monstrosity. It was colored into a disgusting yellow, more like a sick skin color. Was that an abnormality of pigments or something?

"And he's small…" Allen mumbled, saddened for some reason. Kanda watched him closely. Well, it was better than staring at the lovey-dovey couple who were feeling each other's butt. Tch. The brat was bonding the tip of his nose with the glass, longingly eyeing the cacti. Gh, it couldn't be helped.

"Do you want one?" Allen's face shot up, wide eyed and mouth agape.

"Do I want one?" He repeated; then looked at the tips of his boots, finding them fascinating. "I guess…" he mumbled, ashamed for some reason. Tch. Kanda exasperatedly rolled his eyes.

"Then PICK one!" The damn brat stuttered as if though he just saw Kanda dance on a pole.

"C-Can I?!" Kanda poked his forehead, irritated.

"Do I have to repeat EVERYTHING?" Allen shook his head so hard his hat fell off. His silver hair was mixing with the falling snow, making his head look like a huge snowflake in the dim evening light. Kanda chuckled inwardly, pushing the store's dirty door inside, helping the small runt get in. Tch. It was dusty, dirty and just worthless.

The vender, an ancient, two toothed, old sack of fat lazily rolled to the counter, glaring at the entered man and boy with an air of superiority.

"Good evening, sir!" Allen smiled in anticipation. "I would like to buy a cactus!" The sack waved his folds of skin just to move his head. He made a minimum motion to show the direction where the cacti were dusting. Allen jumped victoriously to the window, glaring at the fleshy plants. Kanda slowly approached, watching brat's choice with a well hidden curiosity.

"I want this one!" He pointed at that skin colored bump with five needles. Kanda sighed, closing his eyes with a defeated moan.

"Brat, that thing is sick, small, weak, and just plain ugly. Why in the HELL would you want that chunk of leprosy?!" Allen stubbornly shook his head. Maybe he didn't know what leprosy was…

"I choose this one. This one is good!" Kanda groaned, amazed with his stupidity. He pointed at a big, green cactus with a brush of needles. It had a six dollar tag attached.

"Look here, this one is good. It'll live long. And it seems that this actually was taken care of. Stop being stubborn and-"

"Kanda-san." Allen looked at him openly, as he never did before. His eyes were serious and a bit sad. Kanda sighed again, nodding. The vender shook his layers of fat, gluttonously biting into a burger.

"I really want this one." Allen suddenly lifted the plant, unintentionally brushing it against the counter. He gasped, watching a needle fall on the messy floor. Kanda snickered.

"This thing will die before we get home, brat! Just take the-" The boy shielded the petty plant with his gloved hand.

"No! I'll take care of it! It won't die!" His voice was rasp. He glanced at Kanda, sending him a reproachful look. Kanda stopped grinning. The brat was serious. Oh well. It will be fun to see him struggle with the balding flower. Allen dug in his pockets, taking out a quarter.

_____________________

"Told you!" Kanda put his slippers on, slowly sneaking out of the heavy winter coat. Allen sat on the floor, still dressed. He took his mitten off, regretfully staring at his hand. Three needles from the cactus were now pricking his fingers. The smallest, puniest needle was still topping the pale flower, pathetic in its very existence.

"Oh, come on, undress! You're making a mess on the floor!" Allen absentmindedly stared at his feet. The thawing snow was stuck to his boots, creating a dirty puddle on the warm, wooden floor.

Kanda's 'cottage' was in fact a large house with a blue roof at a side of a forest. It was spacious, yet cold and somehow lonely. Just like Kanda. The boy sighed, putting the cactus on the floor, careful not to break the last needle. He smiled at the pale blob, plopping on the carpet next to it. This house was very dark.

"Dolt, why did you die at the entrance?! Come inside, idiot, you'll catch a cold!" Allen carefully stepped in the living room, shyly craning his neck. He was holding his cactus. Kanda silently extended his hand, holding a hot cup of cocoa. His hair was down. The boy stared at that rare sight, envying the man's tired beauty. His hair grew even longer now, covering his back entirely in ink threads. It was heavy, it was uncomfortable, but for some strange reason the man held unto his hair with an admirable stubbornness. Was there a reso-

"What are you staring at?" Allen snapped out of the thought, shifting the weight of his body unto the other leg.

"I…um..." he mumbled, trying to sound veritably intelligent. Kanda scoffed, pointing at the table near the fireplace.

"Put that pus blob here." The boy scowled. Kanda aggressively raised one brow. The war was declared.

"He is NOT a pus blob!" He gingerly placed the said blob on the table, away from Kanda. The man crossed his arms, snickering at the boy's anticipated reaction.

"He? It's a flower, idiot. It doesn't have gender!" Allen snapped at the man, his voice strident like a piglet's.

"I am NOT an idiot! I'm Allen! A-L-L-E-N!" He was screeching loudly, making Kanda cringe and mockingly cover his ears.

"I bet that is the only thing you can spell right." By the brat's face he could see that he hit a sensitive point. Allen bit his lip with eyes full of fury.

"Liar! I can spell just perfectly! I can spell even your name!" Kanda's face grew serious in that very second.

"Don't even think about it, bra-"

"E-D-I-O-T" The boy triumphantly elaborated, haughtily watching Kanda's stupefied expression.

"E? Perhaps you meant I?" Allen blinked, then looked at his toes. The he lifted his face, eyeing Kanda doubtfully. Kanda opened his mouth, rounding the lips to make sounds.

"I-D-I-O-T." Then he laughed quietly, pointing at Allen's waist. On top of proving himself a bad speller, the boy found his zipper undone. The brat flushed, clenching his fists. He didn't win the battle, not mentioning the war. How did Kanda do it, argue so skillfully, not even raising his voice? He hmped, turning his head away with a jerk of silver locks, pretending Kanda wasn't there. The man watched him, moving only his irises. The brat was amusing. He had guts.

"Kanda san, what name is good for a cactus?"Allen suddenly asked, trying to get away from that embarrassing silence. Kanda sat in a sofa placed in front of the fireplace. The only thing he wanted now was some orange fire. He raised his brow at the strange question, getting up and putting a few logs inside the black mouth.

"What? Do you want to NAME that thing? You're wacked, kid. Plants aren't named, only pets are." Allen scowled. He threw a glance at the pallid glob with one spike.

"I want to name it." Kanda rolled his eyes. He adjusted the log, stuffing a piece of paper in a convenient opening.

"And I want a hot cup of tea." He sighed, watching the kid pout and stubbornly strut away. Tch. Stupid runt. He curled in the sofa, covering his legs with a quilt. He dropped his head on one side, his half lidded eyes falling on the cactus. Tch. How unhealthy.

"You want to be named?" he murmured, annoyed that he even thought about speaking with an inanimate object. He sighed, closing his eyes, waiting to sink into a corporal Nirvana.

"He does, Kanda san!" Allen shouted above his ear. Jerking away Kanda fell on the floor, tangled in the colorful quilt. He tried to yell something really offensive yet his tongue tangled too, making him blubber like a fool.

"W-WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!?!" Allen giggled putting a cup on the table.

"You wanted a cup of tea, did you not? Now, I'll name the cactus!"Kanda gaped, watching the boy with a mix of annoyance and wonder. The runt returned the gaze, not quite getting it. He bent, extending one hand to the infuriated adult on the floor.

"Are you okay, Kanda-san? I'm sorry for making you fall…" He still smiled, ignoring, or perhaps not even seeing Kanda's stunned . All he could do was smile. Kanda stared at the brat's extended palm. It was pallid, fragile, sharp. It was incredibly small too. It was so small it hurt. How on earth did the brat survive in the streets?

"Kanda-san, what's wrong? Is it dirty or something?" Kanda slowly got up, placing the quilt on the small sofa. The brat lowered his hand, rubbing it attentively. No, there wasn't dirt on it. Then why did Ka-

"Are you sleepy?" The man spoke quietly, facing the fireplace. Allen looked up, trying to penetrate the man's willowy back.

"No, I slept all day in the train. I don't think I will need to sleep the next sixteen hours!" He laughed weakly, trying to dissipate the heavy atmosphere. Kanda nodded, sat down on the sofa, once again covering his legs with the quilt. He sighed heavily, calling the boy with a hand motion.

"You can name it-- him…TimCampy, if you want. It was the name of an annoying cat Lavi gave me. That damned thing died the second day." Allen approached the sofa, grinning.

"You said that th-" Kanda tiredly dismissed his words.

"I know what I said. You have to think for yourself. You can't rely on me all the time, believing me blindly. I still don't get how you are still alive with that stupid naivety of yours. People are not that kind, brat, damn, they are not kind at all. I can understand now why Cross held unto you with his damn claws. You are easy to manipulate, easy to brainwash, easy to…have. It was him, right?"

Allen froze still, eyeing the tired man with shock. How did he know? Who told him that?!

"And I bet the reason was foolish. Tch, brat, you are such a stupid creature." Kanda paused, opening his eyes and staring at the fire. Allen stood motionless, aimlessly tugging a strand of his hair. He could feel ant like movement crawling up his legs. He shifted his weight on the other foot.

"I don't get you, brat. I don't get how you can trust me, after all you went through. Damn, I have known people like you, victims from their very diapers. Those bastards grew up hating everyone and everything. I have never seen more damned souls in my whole life, and believe me, I have seen a LOT." He sighed, lowering his entire body on the sofa, head on the arms of the furniture. As always, he did not fit. His legs were hanging on one side of the sofa's arms.

"What are you standing there, brat? Aren't you cold? I bet you are; no one used this house in three years, since I bought it. I think to install a heating system here. Well, the fireplace's nice…" Allen gazed at the man, softly trying to dissipate in the dark shadow of the sofa.

"Oi, brat, are you listening? I told you to come here! I don't need a sickly bastard on my hands during the only week I get off this year! And it'll be Christmas soon, just three days away!" Allen slowly stumbled to the man, sliding to the floor. He could barely hold himself together. How could Kanda speak of something so disgusting and dirty with such easiness? It was almost mocking…

"But I believed." He murmured, hiding his face in the knees. Even his voice was abandoning him. Kanda watched the top of his head with confusion.

"What the hell are you talking abou—Ah, I see…" Then he turned on one side, so that his nose was almost touching the sofa arm. The brat was sitting close to the man, on the floor in front of the fireplace.

"What do you mean-- you believed?" Allen responded, his words muffled by the knees.

"I believed that one day I will have a family. I believed that. That is why I chose to trust Mana and Cross. I thought-" He silenced himself, just to speak again, fainter and powerless, "-I thought maybe they…they could…" Kanda frowned. So he brat wasn't completely oblivious to his stupidity.

"But that's-"

"Stupid, I know. Yet…I am really grateful." The man jolted up, angered by this submissiveness to fate.

"They USED you!! They—"

"Through them I met you." The boy suddenly interrupted. He lifted his head, and his hair caught the color of the flames. His eyes glittered softly, before he closed them. The fire played on the dark gray eyelashes. "That is the best thing happened to me in my entire life. It was worth it." Kanda stared, wordless. He could not believe that this brat, this child could think this way. He was stunned by his confidence in his own words. The brat wasn't the type of people who view their life as a half empty glass. For him it was half full. Yet…

"Do you even understand what you are saying? You're THANKING those bastar-"

"I don't. I am giving them credit. There are no people completely evil, or rotten. They have SOME humanity left, always. That is why I choose to believe."

Kanda sat in the dark, looking sadly at the dying flames. It was getting colder. The kid slowly got up, illuminating the place with a dim, silver light. He smiled guiltily.

"Kanda-san, I think I'll have to go to sleep. I can barely keep my eyes open." He paused, touching his hair. "And... You asked me why I chose that cactus…" Kanda stood up, nodding. He'll have to think which room to put the brat in.

"I chose it because it is a spitting image of me." Kanda looked at the cactus. That needle was perkily growing upward. "It is just like you said: Ugly, weak, small and sick. That's what I am." Allen suddenly giggled, making the man shiver. "It even matches me in color!" Kanda felt as if the air became ten times hotter. It was damn suffocating.

"You are not that…thing!" He murmured, unable to keep himself restrained anymore. It hurt too much. For being such a fool. "That thing is damned to die. I bet the shopkeeper didn-"

"It'll live!" Allen smiled widely. "I lived! Because of you!" He laughed openly now, making Kanda smile unconsciously.

Tch. Such simplicity.

He really wanted to smack him.

Hard.

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I have met TimCampy horses, rabbits, canarie, dogs, cats, fish, stuffed bears, umm...I was left with two options: dinosaurs or cacti. I chose cacti. By the way, Kanda is TOTALLY wrong: There are two spellings for the plural of cactus. Cacti & Cactuses. Cacti is from latin, so it's much cooler. Kanda's cool, so it makes sense.