"Stray"
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Fandom: -man
Chapter: Eight
Rating: T
Pairing: Kanda x Allen
A/N:
WHAT'S THIS??
A CHAPTER THAT ACTUALLY CONTAINS PLOT??
-le ghasp-
So, yep!
This chapter can actually has some plot development? Why yes, yes it can has.
On a competently different note, I'm co-updating with Shinigami Hunter again, although due to some, uh, complications (haha, vacations = no time to type /fails), I had to extend out deadline a bit…gomen, gomen, I swear I won't do it again. .____.;;
So!
The actual shounen-ai starts to kick in, too, yay for actually making this story fit into its genre! Cheers! :D
This chapter also includes some Tyki! Rejoice for the arrival of the pedo! 8D /bricked
So, uh. YEAH.
Another note, make sure you read the footnotes I have at the very bottom of this chapter (indicated in the story by little *'s), they're important!
SO.
SHALL WE BEGIN~?
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The next thing Kanda knew, he was being shaken awake by a carnival employee, who seemed adamant in the fact that he didn't care how drunk Kanda was, but that it was getting late and the faire was closing and that he would have to resort to force if Kanda didn't get moving soon.
After kicking his sleep-clouded brain back into gear and the kicking said employee into next week, the Asian slowly lifted himself up from the picnic table he had somehow fallen asleep on and muttered a few colorful phrases that caused the nearby mother and daughter to speed up in their exiting of the fairground. How in the fuck did I manage to fall asleep in the middle of this?? "Oi, beansprout, why didn't you-"
It then took the older teen a few seconds to realize that he was talking to a sleeping and most-likely hung-over Lavi and two inanimate stuffed animals, for Allen was no where in sight.
A few more muttered curses later and Kanda was up on his feet, striding purposefully forward and only just remembering to grab his jacket from the opposite bench (he had given it to Allen earlier, who had been shivering ever so slightly, trying not be noticed; Kanda had tossed it over to him saying that 'If you get a cold, the stupid rabbit won't shut up about it for a week, and I'd prefer not to have homicide on my permanent record.'). Leaving Lavi to watch over Timcampy and Yoshi*, he set out to find the missing-in-action Allen.
Thankfully, given that the carnival was shutting down for the night and the crowd had all but disappeared, it didn't take long before Kanda had managed to spot that familiar head of white hair that was hovering just in front of a clothing boutique. ...what the hell does he think he's doing, running off all alone like that and not telling me--wait, why should I care whether he tells me in the first place, it's not like I would care if he got hurt or lost or whatever--which he better not have or I am going to kick his ass--
"T-thank you very much, I'm sorry I had to keep you open so late, Mr. Mikk, I just had to get this for him, I owe him so much!"
"It's not a problem," purred the silky smooth voice of the boutique owner, who appeared to be a handsome Portuguese man in his early twenties, who was handing a dark-colored clothing item over the counter to Allen, who was grinning as if he'd won the lottery. "I would do anything in my power to help out a little cutie such as yourself. Maybe we could get together sometime and have a little chat over coffee, what do you say?"
"…what." Allen jumped at the sudden pressure of Kanda's hand gripping his shoulder, looking back over his shoulder to see the older teen glaring daggers at the dark-skinned shopkeeper, who merely smirked and narrowed his golden eyes in return. "You go off by yourself and I find you alone and bargaining with this…thing?" The last word was accompanied by yet another poisonous glare sent the Portuguese man's way, whose expression didn't change, although his knuckles seemed to clench from where they lay on the counter.
Allen shot a glare of his own at the Asian man behind him. "Can't you be, oh, I dunno, even a little bit respectful? You haven't even met the guy and you're already accusing him of being a…thing?" he huffed, turning on his heel and stalking away with his purchase tucked snuggly beneath his shoulder. "I really can't believe you sometimes, Kanda. Thanks again, Mr. Mikk, good luck in Manchester*!"
Mikk waved and smiled at Allen's retreating back before giving Kanda a sharp jab in the side with his elbow. "Well? Off you go, your bride appears quite angry with you – such a shame. Keep treating him like that and maybe I'll have a shot with him, what do you think—"
Kanda gave the rather annoying shopkeep a return jab before jogging to catch up with the Cursed Boy, who had fled to a rather desolate part of the fairground, leaning against the side of an abandoned stall with his arms crossed across his chest, obviously irritated. Kanda approached him quickly, leaning back beside him, causing the white-haired teen to glare at him once more and scoot sideways slightly. The long-haired man 'tch'-ed and looked away, causing a rather awkward silence to stretch between them for a good while before it was broken by Allen.
"Here."
Startled, Kanda barely reacted in time to catch the item of clothing Allen tossed at his head, coughing as the cloth caught in his mouth. Unraveling it, he discovered that Allen had bought…
"It's a scarf." The younger's scowl seemed to twitch slightly, as if he'd tried and failed to hide a smile. "You…let me use your coat, so I thought you might be cold.
Kanda stared at it.
"And, well, you've…been really kind to me the past week. Really." Again, Allen's mouth twitched in that shadow of a smile. "I've seen your attitude and I don't think you're one to be nice, so I thought I should thank you, y'know, for not treating me like I'm some piece of garbage. Like you do to pretty much everyone else, would it kill you to be just a little bit nicer…?" Allen's cheeks were flushed, ever so slightly, now appearing slightly embarrassed that he had blurted out his feelings of gratitude so suddenly.
Kanda stared at the scarf some more.
"And look, isn't it a pretty shade of blue?" Now appearing more excited than embarrassed, Allen turned sideways so that he could better point out the details of the wonderful scarf he had bought just for Kanda. "It's 100% cashmere*, too, so it's really soft, and it'll be really warm, too, and aren't the little designs adorable?"
"…it's got kittens on it."
"And puppies, too!"
Kanda stared at the scarf even more.
"See, look, the little kitties are black and the puppies look like Timcampy! And the puppies even have little green scarves on!*" At this point Allen emitted the most feminine squeal Kanda had ever heard a boy make, and he'd heard lots of boys squeal (due to his habit of suddenly appearing behind people with a homicidal aura and a heavy shinai*).
"…and what makes you think I'll actually wear this?"
"…because your conscience won't let you reject a gift of gratitude from a little boy who'll cry all day and night and beg Lavi to set you straight if you don't?" The younger batted his eyelashes endearingly at Kanda, which most defiantly did not match the evil gleam the Asian man thought he saw flicker briefly in those teary eyes.
…conniving brat.
"And, hey, it's better than if I'd gone along with my original plan and made you one myself," Allen sighed, leaning forward and stretching his hands up over his head. "I learned the hard way that I have, uh, no ability to sew. At all." He still hand the Band-Aids on his fingers to prove it.
Kanda continued to stare at the scarf draped across his arms, eyes twitching every time he saw those knitted animals…but he could get used to it, right? After all, Allen had gone out of his way to get Kanda this scarf, spending his own money to--
Kanda stiffened.
Allen was homeless.
A homeless idiot who had been forced to get his food from a soup kitchen for the past god knows how many weeks of his life.
A penniless, homeless idiot.
"…beansprout."
Allen glanced back apprehensively – that tone of voice could not mean anything good. "…er. Yes..?"
"How did you pay for this?"
Allen tensed ever so slightly at Kanda's question and looked away, almost guiltily. "Well, y'know, I paid for it. Isn't that how to usually buy things these days?"
Kanda growled and Allen yelped as he was slammed back violently against the wall of the empty stall, the older's eyes boring imaginary holes in the white-haired boy's head. Just a quick glance at Kanda's face told Allen that the Asian man was furious – in fact, Allen couldn't remember a time when he'd seen Kanda this mad, surprisingly.
"Don't lie to me, bean!" Kanda's sharp hiss made Allen whimper ever so slightly as his shoulders were pressed harder against the wood. "How did you pay for it?"
The flush from earlier readily returned as Allen stammered his answer. "W-well, I didn't have any money, and no one in their right mind would give someone something as expensive as a good-quality cashmere scarf for free, so I asked him if there was any other way I could pay for it…"
"And?" The question seemed to literally stab Allen in the chest and he gulped.
"He said that a k-kiss would suffice--Kanda, let go, you're hurting me!" At the word 'kiss' Allen could feel the rough wood slice through the material of his shirt, rubbing against his shoulder blades as Kanda pushed him back even farther with a low growl. "It was just a kiss, Kanda, why are you getting so mad?! It's not like you care or anything, so just…let go!"
And Allen was surprised to find that, at his pleading, Kanda really did let go – at least a bit. The white-haired teen relished in the return of his freedom and stared warily at Kanda, who still had one firm hand on his shoulder and the other one pressed against his forehead in exasperation. "…you are an idiot."
"W-what--I am not!" Allen retorted hotly, his irritation from earlier returning fast. "I went and got you this awesome scarf and that's all you can say--"
"Idiot." Allen twitched as Kanda growled and rested his head on Allen's shoulder, the physical contact making Allen blush ever so slightly. "You could have just…made me one. It's not like I would have…thought it was stupid or anything and why am I telling you this, idiot beansprout??"
"How am I supposed to know?? You're the one who started going off in the first place--"
And then Allen found that he was now lacking in the ability to speak, due to the fact that Kanda had lifted his head and proceeded to catch Allen's lips with his own, leading to a kiss that seemed way too gentle for someone as violent as Kanda. Allen's eyes widened in stunned disbelief and he blinked owlishly as Kanda pulled away, as straight-faced as ever with an unidentifiable emotion swirling around behind his dark eyes.
"I would have liked it better if you'd just made me one, idiot beansprout," muttered the older, crossing his arms and sending Allen a look he couldn't decipher. Still too stunned to reply, the white-haired teen could only blink some more and attempt to fight back the dark blush appearing on his cheeks as Kanda gently – gently, Allen still couldn't believe it – wrapped the scarf around his neck, never once taking his eyes off Allen. "But since you went through all the trouble, at stupid as you may have been, I guess it'll have to do."
And then Kanda stiffened and whirled around as an echoing bang resounded from behind him and a bullet whizzed past his ear, burying itself it the wood of the abandoned stall millimeters away from Allen's head.
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HAHAHA OTL I was originally going to make this chapter longer but I loved ending it like that, and so I did.
Feel free to hate me for it~ 8DDD
Next chapter! A fight between Kanda and the currently unknown attacker commences, and the real reason behind the townspeople's hated of Allen…?? Expect it by May 19th, everyone! 8D
Till then,
27
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*Notes:
1. Timcampy and Yoshi - If you were paying attention earlier, you'll know Timcampy is the stuffed dog Kanda won for Allen last chapter – Yoshi is the bear Lavi won for Allen, also last chapter, but I never mentioned it's name, so I didn't want anyone to get confused. Now you know c:
2. Manchester – Allen is referring to the city where the carnival will be playing next, which is Manchester, England. Hey, now you guys know where this is all taking place – jolly old England! :D –bricked- Anyway! If you can guess the city in which Allen, Lavi and Kanda live, I'll write you a gift fic! Need a hint? Here - who is the walrus? Who are the eggmen? Who lives in a yellow suboceanic transportation device? Write out your guess in PM and send it my way, everyone who gets it right will get a gift fic! Ready, steady, go!
3. cashmere – This is, for those of you who don't know, the fur of the baby goat, often used to make scarves. It is HEAVENLY soft, seriously, and oh so warm. And, best of all, it's doesn't even hurt the little goaties! It's a win-win situation – the goats get a trim and we get some flipping awesome scarves :D
4. black cats and puppies with green scarves – You won't get this. At all. Moving along…
5. shinai – As mentioned in the first chapter, Kanda takes (or, at least, used to take) kendo lessons. Kendo is a Japanese sport, er, type of swordplay maybe?, in which combatants wear these pretty cool looking armor sets and whack at each other with bamboo swords, a.k.a. shinais. Pardon my crappy Wapanese explanation, it's midnight and I'm not in the mood to explain better. Google it if you're curious.