Monday morning the next week started well for Allen. He deliberately avoided glares from strangers who were disgusted by his mere existence and instead focused his thoughts on his engagement later. He was about to have lunch with Kanda, Lavi, and Lenalee and the idea alone was already making him feel giddy with excitement. He had never hang out with cliques before so it was all new to him and the people who would be with him later seemed all nice people – well Kanda was kind of on the grumpy side as he was always wearing a scowl on his face but he could tell had a playful side in him, proven by his love of commenting on Allen's height which was pretty average according to census. Kanda and Lavi were just freakishly tall so he seemed rather small when they towered over him.
Lunch break came in a blink of an eye and his daydreaming was broken by a loud, familiar voice from the doorway.
'Allen-chan!' It was Lavi. He was waving at him enthusiastically.
'Come Allen! Let's go!' Lenalee gently grabbed Allen's hand and dragged him by the door. He almost forgot to bring his bentou with him.
'Lavi-senpai, Kanda-senpai. How are you?' Allen said bowing when they exited the room. Kanda was standing behind Lavi wearing his default scowl.
'Bah! Allen you're making us feel old! Don't bow to us and don't be too polite, geez! Yuu-chan, say something too!' Lavi said and swatted Allen's shoulder, looking scandalized.
Allen quickly turned his gaze at Kanda.
'Stop calling me "Yuu-chan", Baka Usagi! Do you want me to rip your hair?' Kanda threatened.
Usagi? Allen was confused. In what way Lavi was a rabbit?
Lavi just offered Kanda a peace sign and a goofy grin. He was really a laid-back person who marched to the beat of his own drums.
Moyashi, listen,' Kanda started, eyes squinted, 'Among the four of us, you look the oldest here with that white hair of yours so if people see you bowing your head to us every goddamn time you greet us, people will think we're bullying an old man.' he finished with a mean-looking smirk on his lips.
It was Allen's turn to squint his eyes and he almost snarled at him but he stopped himself. It would be a disgrace on his honour to disrespect a senior student. He took a deep breath and politely smiled - although he was sure it looked strained. He'd get his revenge later.
'Okay, I'll do as you said senpai. I don't want people to get the wrong idea after all.'
Kanda frowned but did not make any further comment.
'Okay boys. That's enough! Let's go to the cafeteria. It's Allen's first day with us – it'll be a pity if we don't get decent seats today.' said Lenalee, ushering them to move.
'No worries Lenalady! People pretty much know by now not to touch our spot.' Lavi said with a snicker.
'Don't act like you own that spot Lavi! If brother hears of this, he'll kick your butt!' Lenalee said.
Lavi quickly straightened his face.
'Yes, ma'am!' he said with a mock salute.
Lenalee laughed at Lavi's antics and playfully hit his arm. Allen merely chuckled and Kanda merely scowled.
They strode on, Allen opting to slower his steps so he could look at the three before him. His gaze landed on Kanda's ponytail and the graceful swaying movement the long strands of hair made it somehow annoyed him. Then he remembered Kanda's mean comment about him looking like an old man and he suddenly got a wicked idea.
Allen quietly closed the gaps between him and Kanda and he didn't seem to notice that someone had sneaked behind him and got with his personal space.
Allen then bent his knees to bump the back of Kanda's knees. Then in slow motion, he saw Kanda yelped as his knees buckled and he knelt to the ground then he smacked his butt on the cold floor when he lost his balance, resulting to an awkward sitting position. Everyone, along Lavi and Lenalee, turned around and saw in horror that Kanda Yuu, the school's 'Blizzard Prince' was slumped on the floor in what Allen could describe as 'damsel-in-distress' pose.
'Oh! Kanda-senpai, are you okay? Did your knees give way you lack calcium? Is it because you're getting old?' Allen said in mock worry, putting an obvious emphasis on the last word. He offered his hand for Kanda to take and help him get up.
Kanda glared daggers at him.
Everyone waited with baited breath as Kanda slowly stood up, his whole frame visibly shaking in anger, and ignored Allen's hand.
Lavi who stood by Kanda, audibly gulped.
'Mo-ya-shi...'
'A-Allen-chan? It's best for ya if you escape now.' Lavi said with a restrained smile. His eyes were wide with fear for Allen's life. 'See you at the cafeteria?'
And that was Allen's cue to run. He ran as fast as he could and he could feel Kanda was at his heels. He heard Lenalee shout 'Boys! Don't run on the hallways!' but he didn't stop. He wanted to laugh at the situation but he couldn't at the moment as he was too preoccupied by his task at the moment: escaping the monster that was Kanda.
Perhaps he was too busy entertaining his thoughts that he didn't notice that Kanda quickly caught up to him, and next moment, he felt an arm grab him by the neck and fingers twisting his right ear.
'Aw! "Get off! Bloody hell! It hurts!"' Allen wailed as he struggled to remove Kanda's choking arm around his shoulder.
'"Well sorry Brit," I don't forgive so easily!' Kanda snarled as he twisted Allen's ear some more.
Allen was surprised by Kanda's smooth English but chose to not comment on it right now as he could actually feel Kanda smirking menacingly as he squirmed to get away and his eyes started to water from pain.
Allen was later then rescued by a guffawing Lavi and an exasperated Lenalee.
'He runs like a mad cheetah.' Walker said with a childish pout as he pulled a chair and sat down by Lenalee and opposite of Kanda. His ear was still red from the mutilation it suffered earlier.
The sight brought satisfaction to Kanda.
'Well, it's what'cha get for messin' with Yuu here. What'ya do that for?' Lavi said amused.
'He called me "old".' Allen complained.
'Ha! Ha! This guy's the best, Yuu! You found yourself an equal! And what's more, his English side comes on the surface when he gets angry! Cute!' Lavi playfully jibed Kanda with his own elbow on his stomach.
Kanda returned the favour with more force for calling him by his first name.
Lavi almost doubled over.
'Tch! Learn your lesson, Moyashi. You'll never win against me.' Kanda said. He crossed his arms over his chest and pulled on a smirk to emphasize his point.
Walker seemed to have gotten the message quite clearly because he threw Kanda a dirty glare.
Kanda widen his smirk even more.
Lenalee interrupted before another round of fight could erupt.
'Boys, I get that you're getting along quite well-'
'-No, we're not!'
'-but!,' Lenalee threw them all including Lavi a stern look, 'But I'm getting hungry so shall we start eating now? After all, that's the main point of lunch break, right?'
Lavi threw his hands up in the air in mock surrender.
Walker bowed his head, apologizing politely.
Kanda huffed and started with his food. It was spicy curry for today's lunch.
'Allen-chan!' Lavi called.
Walker, who was unwrapping his towering bentou (just how much did he pack?), perked up upon hearing his name.
Lavi chewed his mouthful of food first before he continued.
Kanda grimaced in disgust at the sight.
'From now on, you shall join our group okay? Be it lunch, or after classes, or hanging out during weekends. We, Kanda included-'
'-Whatever you gonna say, don't include my name in it!' Kanda protested.
'-Yes we think you already fit in our li'l clique quite well. You and Yuu-chan are already all sunshine and rainbows and I think you're a fun guy. It'll be a blast to have you!' Lavi leaned on the table to pat Walker's shoulder genially.
Walker blushed from the gesture, or maybe from the words by Lavi, Kanda never really knew. Then Walker's eyes travelled from Lavi, to Lenalee, then Kanda, before he lowered his head in embarrassment.
'If you don't really mind having me, I'd be glad to join you.' He muttered. Or so what Kanda heard, he wasn't really sure. Walker was too busy being shy by himself.
Seriously, this kid.
'What are you doing acting all timid like that? You knocked me over earlier without showing any bit of remorse and now you get all jittery just because you're gonna be part of our group?'
'Kanda!'
'Yuu-chan!'
'Shut up! What I'm trying to say to Moyashi here is, of course we don't mind!,' Kanda said with a glare aimed at Lenalee and Lavi for interrupting his speech. 'If we did, if I did, I would have kicked you out a long time ago! I would never even allow them to invite you to join us today, so get your grip and stop being sappy!' Kanda rolled his eyes when he finished. He saw Walker's astounded expression and suppressed the urge to laugh pointedly at him. Then he threw a sideways glance at Lavi and saw that he was gaping at him.
'What?'
'I think, that's the longest speech you've ever made Yuu! Allen you're quite amazing, buddy!' Lavi said happily and went to ruffle Walker's hair.
'Please don't mess with my hair senpai!'
'You're exaggerating.' Kanda said in a clipped tone. He ignored his company and kept on eating his food.
Lenalee chuckled at the scene.
'Kanda's right, Allen. I think it's fair to say that we are a good judge of character and by instinct we probably knew that we wanted to be friends with you. So if you don't mind these two's rough, rowdy, arrogant, and overall rude nature, I really hope you'd become friends with us. And please remain as polite and well-mannered. We need a model for these two to follow.' Lenalee said. She offered Walker a sweet smile and then patted his head gently, like she was talking to a five year old.
'Aiyah! As expected of a girl, ya really know what cheesy lines to say at a time like this. And now I know that this is how you really see us eh? I'm hurt.' Lavi said, putting his hand over his chest.
Lenalee just shrugged and flipped her hair over her shoulder. She was apparently not affected by Lavi's drama.
It was Walker's turn to chuckle as he watched them.
'I apologize. I did not mean to be sentimental; it's just that it is my first time to be accepted in a group as I've always been avoided by everyone because of my appearance ever since I could remember,' he said with a feeble smile. 'So I'm really not used to your kind treatment and honestly, I do not know how to deal with it.'
'You don't have to deal with it. Just act however you please. You're just a bean sprout after all. You don't have to over-think about the silliest things.' Kanda said off-handedly. He did not bother to meet anyone's eyes and concentrated instead on picking his food
'Allen,' Lavi said with seriousness, though there was still a slight trace of a smile on his lips, 'Starting from now, whenever you're with us just relax and be yourself. You don't have to use brains in dealing with people. Don't try to be too considerate of us – whaever you're feeling at the moment just let it out without hesitations. The first time of friendship is being yourself when you're surrounded by people ya wanna call friends.'
Kanda couldn't believe he was sitting here listening over the whole conversation about mushy things like friendship.
Walker seemed like he was so overwhelmed and touched that he couldn't utter a response so he opted to just nod his head in affirmative.
Lenalee giggled and cried about how apparently cute Walker was and Lavi reached over to pinch his cheek. Walker protested while laughing at the same time. Kanda chose this moment to ignore them all and finish his lunch instead. Now that another idiot joined their ranks, he wondered how his coming days would be like for him.
'Ne, Allen! Let's go home together later, 'kay?'
Lavi draped over Allen as they idly walked down the corridors on their way to their own respective classrooms.
'Oh! That's fine with me senpai. Are also part of the go-home club too?' said Allen. He tilted his head to look at Lavi.
'Eh? Ah no. Yuu-chan here is the captain of kendo. I'm the captain of our basketball team. Lenalady's part of the home economics club.'
'I see. Then I'm sorry but I can't go home with you because I have work after classes.' said Allen with an apologetic smile.
'You have a part-time job, Allen-kun?' Lenalee asked, impressed.
'But does our school allow students for part-time jobs?' Lavi asked Lenalee.
'Who'd hire a kid like you?' Yuu, interjected, his brows slightly furrowed.
'Aren't you being rude Kanda-senpai?' Allen asked monotonously. He looked peeved.
'No seriously, Allen, what do ya do at your work?' Lavi asked. He made Allen to face him.
'Er... I'm just a waiter.' Allen said shyly.
'Waiter? We definitely have to check out your place Allen! Where's it at?' Lavi said excitedly. He definitely did not want to miss such an exciting discovery. What did Allen look like during his work?
'No.'
Allen stopped at his tracks.
'Eh? What "no" Allen-kun? What's the matter?' Lenalee said. She halted her pace as well when she noticed Allen wasn't by her side.
'It – it's nothing really special, see? You would just be wasting your time.'
'You sound suspicious, Moyashi.'
'What? Does that mean Yuu is also interested, hm?' Lavi teased as he poked his sides.
'No! And stop calling me by my first name, you idiot! Why is Moyashi so adamant about not letting you see him at work? What if he's actually doing illegal work like being a host?' Kanda countered.
'Who would hire me as a host?,' Allen asked incredulously, 'I don't think there's a club who would hire an underaged like me. And with my appearance, I don't think anyone would want me.' He finished in a joking tone.
'Well, you can easily pass for a girl so you might have been hired in a gay club and who knows? There might be a club somewhere for paedophiles so they actually hire kids like you.' Kanda said smugly.
Allen narrowed his eyes dangerously.
'If there's anyone who looks more like a girl between us guys, it should be you, what with your beautiful long hair and all. You should try to cross-dress senpai and work as a hostess – you'd be a sure hit.'
'Whoah, Yuu! Burn!' Lavi said while clutching his stomach. His stomach hurt from laughing.
Yuu at that moment, threw and dirty look at Lavi before he suddenly grabbed Allen by the neck and strangled him to death. Allen tried to fight with all his might threatening to shave Yuu's head and make him bald and Yuu just smirked in return and challenged the poor boy in his arms to do it if he could. He was confident that Allen wouldn't be able to touch a single strand of his hair and to be honest, Lavi thought Allen wouldn't really stand a chance. He'd be dead before he could even try.
Well, it was hilarious to watch them bicker and Lavi couldn't stop himself from laughing. He thought Yuu found his match in Allen's form. Ha! He'd have to definitely take care of Allen from now on. Now he had someone to back him up in the near future.
Somewhere around him, Lavi heard Lenalee release an amused sigh as she muttered 'boys' and ignored the rest of them.
Author's Notes: I apologize for the long delay. When I first wrote this chapter, I did finished most of it early and I thought I would be able to update in less than 2 weeks after I posted the previous chapter. But then, I had to concentrate on looking for a job so I had to set this aside temporarily and before I knew it, it's been more than 2 months since I last updated. I'll try to update again at least every after 2 weeks or my maximum target should be once a month. I now have a work and although it's not in line with my decree, I so far like the people around me. I get to talk about anime without people throwing weird looks on me. ha! ha! And they understand my weirdness. I hope I can survive the job and last up until I decide to leave. XD Wish me luck, please. Ha! Ha! I look forward to your reviews about the chapter and let me know my errors. Is the flow okay? Did I commit grammar mistakes somewhere? I'm sorry I wasn't able to clean this before I post it because if I decide to delay it any further for proof-reading, I might take another month before I update. :D Will try to reply to all of your previous reviews later. Cheers!
P.S. Does anyone have news about -man? Seriously the long wait is killing me! I hope Hoshino Katsura is doing well. D: new chapter pleaaaase!