A/N: Yay for another chapter ;) taken forever with this one, but I finally got my Pokemon X a while back and I've been playing it like mad ever since!

As you might have noticed from the character listing lately, I've added Kanda there as the fourth one. While with Link I'm going to have Allen teasing him with her touchy-feely attitude for a loooong time, I've decided to slip Kanda some actual smexy time with her in the later chapters, but the main plot still is heavily influenced with the Earl/Allen. I won't go into details yet, but... yeah, I think you might already have some idea of where this might be headed :P

Chapter 5: Crumbling facades

.

.

Kanda was sitting at the round table with Lvellier, some higher officials, some other Generals and the Order branch leaders around him. He was being questioned about the whereabouts of that little bitch of a bean sprout and that idiot scientist.

"For the last time, that's all you've got to say to us, Kanda?" Lvellier said, pinning him with a mean glare.

"Tch. I've said it already and I'm saying it again, even if I knew where they are now, it isn't as likely I'd tell you, you manipulating little shits.

I may be willing to do your dirty work like before despite the obvious wrong-doings you've commited against me and my... former fiancé, but whatever that's going to happen to those idiots from this point forward... I have enough respect for that white-haired jackass not to interfere with them in any way any longer. And that includes spilling stuff to the officials." Kanda drawled, annoyance heavily present in his tone.

"Please be reasonable, Yuu." Tiedoll muttered beside him, the rest of the present people moving uncomftorably, not sure what to comment on the black-haired exorcists words. Kanda snapped.

"I don't really give a shit anymore, you do realise that? I've gotten what I've wanted from life and fulfilled my only desire I've ever had in my miserable life as an Order test subject! And I'll be fucking damned if I'm going to rat out the one who made it happen. And don't call me 'Yuu', you old fart." Kanda fumed, crossing his arms and raising his right leg over his left one.

"Please, you're acting like a spoiled child, Kanda-kun." Komui intervened, his voice gentle and sad. "But do consider this, if you're going to be elevated to a General status, how are we going to know you're not going to just... let him slip away whenever you meet Allen?"

"What more do you want me to say? I'm playing along with you shitheads, you're probably planning on monitoring me for a long time after this anyway and... if that idiot is stupid enough to let our paths cross as enemies... Then be it." Kanda said, his words laced with anger and bitterness.

"Very well, I think we need to take a few days to consider what's been said here today. Until we reach verdict on your case, Kanda Yuu, you're officially under house arrest. You are not to engage in any missions and for the time being, your Innocence will have to be sealed for the time being in case of attempted escape."

"Tch. Fucking pricks." Kanda muttered, but accepted his sorbid fate and thrust out his arm as an official came over to place the restrainting spells. And as soon as it started, it came to an end. Kanda rose from his chair and marched towards the doors in irritation.

As he got out, Lenalee got up from the nearby bench she'd been sitting on with Miranda and ran towards him. She gasped at the state of his arm.

"What happened?" she cried out as Miranda anxiously fidgeded, now standing before the bench, complementing if she should join them.

"Sealed Innocence, house arrest... not quite officially a General yet; and I'm under observation to prove my loyalty to the church," Kanda muttered and 'tch'ed as she started fussing over him.

"Just... just because you helped Allen?" she whispered and touched his arm lightly. "Did you at least... help him escape? How is he? I mean, he didn't turn into a Noah?" She looked sad and cast her eyes on the floor under Kanda's hard glare.

"As I suspect speaking to any of you about him would be bad for all of us, I'm not going to." Kanda snapped and Lenalee flinched at his harsh tone, turning her face filled with hurt to look at him.

"But-!"

"But if you insist... he should be fine. Don't know where that pipsqueak is, but for the time being he should be doing just fine, Johnny's with him," he whispered to her gently and patted her on the head, sidestepping her to finally check out that god-forsaken new room they'd insisted he now stay in. He was sure it was filled with tacky disgusting furniture and was wired to help the officials hear anything he said.

"Kanda!" Lenalee cried and was stopped from going after him by his brother, who had placed a soothing hand on her shoulder. Kanda merely raised his hand in salute and walked away.

"We just need to patient right now, Lena." Komui whispered and gripped her shoulder gently. "Central can't lose another exorcist, but things have been tense with him since the beginning. Also, the disappearance of Allen Walker and Johnny Gill and the fact that he willingly admitted he'd helped them both... I know you're as close to him as one can get, but for the sake of security, please don't seek out to hang around with him. With your history of disobedience and being friends with Allen, Central can be quick to put you under the scrutiny if they decide your behavior is questionable the slightest."

"But brother..." she whispered and looked directly at him.

"Just wait it out until everything settles down a little. I can't have you in the hands of Central again. I know it might not be quite as harsh now, but I still can't shake the image of you when I first came here and saw you again in that state." Komui removed his hand from her shoulder and wiped some tears off her eyes that were now threatening to overflow and moved to give her a loose hug.

"We just need to be strong. Too much has happened within a short period of time and that's making everyone anxious, I know..."

Lenalee sighed and buried her head into her brother's chest. Inside she knew the decision to distance herself from Kanda sounded wrong on so many levels, but outside she was ready to do everything to not worry her brother. But she'd be damned if she wouldn't take every possible chance to reassure Kanda he wasn't alone. Central could kiss her ass, if they wanted to. Well, maybe not, Komui would kill them all in case they did. She gave a small giggle at the thought.

"Hmm?"

"Nothing. We just need to be strong, right? I can handle that." she whispered and stepped out of his brother's embrace and gave him a brave smile.

"That's my girl." Komui said with a sad smile and patted her on the head before she ran over to Miranda and talked about having a relaxing bath together.

.

.

"Please, I'm begging you!"

"I'm sorry, there's nothing I can do to make this situation any better."

"Do you even care anymore? Do you? DO YOU?"

"I know how you feel. Really, I do. But you have no evidence that the head of the Campbell's did this, he's your own cousin for God's sake! Besides, I'm not capable of doing anything about the situation, you need to understand this already. Why would I be? You just need to calm down. You can't go and keep picking outright fights with him anymore, the tension has spread all the way to the social circles already."

"You're just scared of being in the cross-fire."

"Listen to yourself! What would Mana say of your behavior, if he were here? Egging me on to... I don't even... you really need to calm down and stop to think what you're trying to do here!"

"I don't really care for your opinion, you're just an in-law anyway... *muttering*... and Mana's not saying anything, been hiding from me for a while now. Why... why... WHY?!"

Allen jerked awake, her breaths coming in shorts gasps. What was that? The details of the conversation were now slowly disappearing from her mind... but it... Mana... that name rung a bell. The speaker had been... Neah? And had the other one been... her?

She sat up in the bed she was laying in and took in the view. The partially dark room had a small lit lantern on the table near the windows with a generous ledge. Another inn, then? There was only one door in the room, indicating there was no lavatory attached to it.

Allen rose gingerly from the bed and stumbled slightly, making her way to her brown jacket sitting on the chair nearest to the door and put it on over her nightgown that someone had apparently dressed her in at some point.

She put her hands around herself and padded softly into the hallway in the hopes of finding a toilet. Even though the coat was warm, it was slightly chilly and she shivered every time her bare feet hit the flooring.

For a moment she wondered what the time was and whether someone was still awake. Allen walked to the end of the hallway and came to a conclusion that no lavatory was located on the floor she was staying. She walked to the stairs and made her way down them as quiet as possible, which proved to be impossible, as occasional creaks that eminated throughout the hallway were quite loud.

"Good night, uhm, Evelyn!"

Allen flinched out of reaction and turned to her right, where she was greeted with the uncomftorable looking Johnny.

"Good night... Johnny, right?" she whispered back, mimicing his uncertainty of talking with him alone. Johnny flashed her a smile and nodded. "What time is it exactly?"

"Uhm... it's almost three in the morning! I couldn't sleep, so I just stayed here reading and so..." Johnny fumbled with some more words, reddened and fell silent.

Allen coughed slightly, it was really cold. "Uhm... as you're probably better at telling me where the toilet is, I wonder... I don't think I saw one upstairs and..."

"There is one upstairs, I'm sure you just missed it! Let me show you." he said and nervously jumped up out of his chair, where he had been reading the paper.

"Thank you," she said and followed the scientist back upstairs.

She quietly entered the small bathroom and Johnny opted to stay outside the door. After all, Link had said to make sure she didn't leave during the night, if she came to before he could wake up.

It wasn't long before she emerged again and Johnny smiled at her.

"Back to sleep, then?"

"I... suppose." she said, returning the smile with a timid one. "I was slightly disoriented when I left my room, though, so I don't remember exactly where it is... And I was wondering where my clothes are, I'm sure wearing something in the morning would be delightful."

"Ah, let me show you then." Johnny said and turned towards the room, opened the door and dived blindly inside.

Allen entered the room and gave a small laugh at what she saw. Johnny was on his knees, his head under the bed.

"We put your clothes here somewhere! Ah, here!" Johnny dug out a medium sized suitcase from under the bed.

"See, we bought some more clothes for you and something to carry them with; I hope you like them. We can go shopping some more later, if you like."

"I'm sure they'll be fine..." she whispered and gave a smile and a giggle as the scientist fumbled with the suitcase and blushed. She hummed and looked at him curiously.

"I don't think I'll be able to sleep that much right now, I think. It's too cold to get comftarable right away. Can I ask for a favor?" she asked, padding towards the scientist and gently took the suitcase to look for socks.

"I-I... sure, I suppose. Well, depends on what it is... I'm not supposed to... I mean..." Johnny said and stared at the girl, blush still present on his cheeks.

"You know, a while back... you looked so sad when you looked at me with doubt. And I felt really guilty afterwards, but I don't really understand why. Can you... can you tell me about myself? Me, as in how you knew me as. I feel you're a kind man and I wish you could be honest with me about my past." she whispered, now sitting down on the bed to put on the black knee-high socks she had found inside the suitcase.

Johnny looked down at the floor. Link had definitely said that if she asked, they'd answer, but...

"I just need to know, please." she said, her eyes pleading with him. "I'm scared and tense because of the situation as it is and the fact that you're hesitating to tell me about myself is terrifying me even more. I sense we've been at least somewhat friends, that much I can read from your body language and my muffled memories."

"We're tense too, you know? You're familiar with the Noahs and you're withholding information. We're looking to end this war and we can't tell whether you're actually siding with us or not?" Johnny muttered, looking sour.

Allen sighed and walked over to the window to sit on the large ledge and dangled her feet off of it.

"It's... it's just... it's not as if I completely distrust you. I've merely been alone for so long I'm not sure I can ever confide in another human being in a way you're currently asking me to confide in you two." She gave a small laugh. "Top it off, this ... this wretched amnesia! It's making me even more paranoid about everything. But this 'ending the war' and 'killing the Noahs' business you talked about? Techincally speaking we wish for the same things, however... the ways we do wish for them differ. Does that answer put your mind at rest?"

She raised her eyes to look at Johnny who looked slightly shocked at the amount of information he'd been given.

"Alone for long? Differ? How? I mean, killing means killing right? Or you mean to exorcise the Noah personas out of the human bodies like you did with Tyki Mikk inside the Ark or...?" Johnny bit his lip. God damn his slippery mouth when he got excited!

"Ark...? Tyki?"

"ANYWAY! Ahahaha~ ... ummm... yes, you came to the Order and Kanda attacked you right away and... ah, Kanda is a Japanese exorcist that has a long ponytail and a sword for an Innocence and you didn't get along after that... you were polite and kind and..."

"Please cut the crap right now."

Johnny fell silent and stared at the girl with his mouth open. "I don't-"

"It's okay, if you do not understand now. What you do need to understand however, is that I need to know. Proper things. What happened? Where was I? Who I was associated with? Why was I cursed? I need to know. I'm teetering on the edge of sanity as it is and I want to piece things together before I go absolutely mad."

The silence between stretched between them and Allen sniffled slightly. Even with the socks, her feet were still slightly chilly. Johnny sat on the bed and crossed his hands.

"I'm... I'm not sure what I should tell you... there are things I..."

"If you're conserned about whether I know about the Innocence, the Earl and the Order... the answer is yes, I do know. Just please, tell me something about myself. Generally, even. Just give me something to work with." Johnny still looked unsure, and as Allen came to the conclusion that he wasn't going to talk any time soon, she sighed.

"How about a trade then? We'll ask questions from each other and if either feels overbearingly uncomftarable answering, we skip it, okay?" she said, looking at the small man.

"I... I suppose that could work." Johnny stammered. "Uhm... ladies first, I suppose."

Allen gave a small smile. "Do I still look like the me you knew?"

Johnny looked shocked at this and fumbled with his hands. "Yes. Aside from the fact that... you basically turned into a girl overnight two days ago. Uhm, why do you ask?"

"I feel that if I still look the same, addressing me with my 'old' name would be beneficial at this point of time... what is our relationship exactly, yours, mine and Link's?" she whispered, looking out of the window now.

"You were an exorcist, I was a scientist and Link was your ... guard, I suppose... at the Order, before we ran away from there. Each in their own ways. Why would it be beneficial to call you 'Allen' instead of 'Evelyn'?" Johnny was confused. If the Order wanted them dead, covering up 'Allen' from the world would be more efficient rather than remaining the same.

"I... I did mention that someone was out to kill me, yes? Neah, his name is; and while I do not know if he knows of this 'Allen' persona, he most certainly knows 'Evelyn'. You know of him?"

"Th-the 14th, right? The Musician. But... strictly speaking, he's dead, isn't he? Assumedly, he planted his memories inside your body so he could regenerate. That's why you had to run from the Order in the first place, they thought you'd turn into a Noah and betray them." Johnny hastly explained, now looking heatedly at the girl, who had turned her widened eyes to him.

"He's... inside my head?" she asked. "Dead?"

"Th-that's what we have been told by Cross Marian. He was in on some plan with Neah, it seems, and he said you'd be consumed by Neah's memories and turn completely into a Noah." Johnny said, watching as Allen bit her lip in thought.

"And this Cross... how does he know me?"

"Cross picked you up after you killed your foster father Mana, who you'd turned into an akuma and taught you how to be an exorcist. You do remember Mana, don't you?" Johnny said warily.

"Foster father? I was an orphan? ... but... Mana... that name does rings a bell..." she was hit with a feeling of affection at the mention of the name, but the fleeting memories of the dream she'd had were nagging her. "That aside, any idea if Mana was associated with Neah?"

"Mana was 14th's brother, if I recall correctly. Why does it matter?"

"You know... I had a dream... where Neah spoke of Mana and... tell me, hypothetically, if his memories are inside me, could I remember them?" she whispered, her mind reeling with questions and thoughts.

"Hypothetically speaking... I think that could be possible, yes..." Johnny trailed off and looked at her in concern. She looked pale as a sheet, concerned and looked about to keel over any minute.

"Do you... do you really think we can find Road?" she whispered after a while.

"I-I-I... for your sake, I hope so? Why?" Johnny said, watching her carefully as she sighed.

"She... I know it doesn't quite make perfect sense to you yet, but... do not kill the Noahs. Tell that to Link as well, but... she's on my side. Our side, I suppose. I know you may know her as a killer, a follower of the Earl and all that crap, but... I know she still might have the ability to make me recall some of my memories and I need her desperately right now."

Johnny looked dubious, but said nothing of it. The thought of siding with a Noah sounded ridiculously dangerous. Well, technically they already were, as the 14th was still residing inside Allen's body.

"I think I need to sleep now..." she flashed him a small sad smile and hopped off the ledge. "You know... we really need to build up our trust. And..." she gulped, taking a deep breath to calm herself. "Be careful, I have a feeling we just might get visitors soon enough. That Innocence of mine is the biggest trouble magnet in the world when it's not attached to me."

Johnny gasped. "You... you know we have your Innocence? I mean..."

Allen laughed.

"How could I not? It's mine, as it was before yet not quite, but now..." she said mysteriously. "I can feel it it's in Link's possession. And for the time being I will say nothing of it, but take care of it; I don't want it exposed to anyone else except us. Are we clear?"

"I, uh... yes?" Johnny jumped off the bed as she walked towards him now, and edged towards the door. "I'll take these words to the heart and I'll be sure to tell Link, ok? Good night!" And with that he shot out of the room.

Allen watched him go and smiled sadly.

"Just treasure and take good care of it. If you don't, I don't think I can trust you anymore... and I will kill you both before either can ask 'why?'," she whispered to herself and ran a hand through her hair.

She sighed and decided to reflect on what Johnny had said. After she'd had a good night's sleep, that is. But as she lay on the bed and was about to fall asleep, she couldn't help but wonder... why did she feel such love and affection at the thought of the name Mana? And not in the way a child would towards their parents, as Johnny had implied, but in the way a partner would...

God, she hoped they found Road as soon as possible.