Finally got around to type the second chapter.
Warning: It will be YULLEN! Go away if you can't handle it. Rating will most likely go up in later chapters!
Disclaimer: Still don't own D. Gray-man If I did I would make sure that Allen gets rid of the 14th soon and is happy with Kanda… *snif*
Thanks a lot mocha. usagi, for correcting mistakes in the previous chapter!
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No one said a word as they followed Kanda to the office building. Allen wondered just how he was supposed to find his way around here. Not only did the buildings look very similar, but also the whole campus looked basically the same. There was nothing that stood out even a little bit, so that he might have had a chance to remember it.
As if sensing his worries Lenalee turned to him and smiled. "Don't worry, all the new students get lost here. We will show you around for the first few days when you are in school, so that you can get used to it."
"Thanks a lot!" Allen smiled in relief.
A few minutes later Allen finally was, where he should have been a few hours ago already. He felt nervous again. Being late on the first day was not a good omen.
"Don't look like you'll be eaten any moment, Allen." Lavi laughed at him. "You're even more pale than when we found you."
"Scared?" Kanda sneered. "If you're already scared at that then I wonder how you will do in your actual first class. If you get to be in one, that is. After all, who would want people who are that late on their first day here."
Allen glared at him. "So what if I am nervous! Just stay out of my business, j-"
Lavi quickly covered Allen's mouth. "Shhh… you don't wanna curse here."
Just as Lavi had said that the door slammed open and Komui ran towards Lenalee to hug her tightly. "Lenaleeeeeeeeeeeee" he cried onto her shoulder. "Where have you been so loooong?"
"Brother… It wasn't that long." She patted her brother's back.
"And that, Allen-kun, is our beloved vice principal, Komui Lee."
"Ah…" Allen stared at the display.
"Brother, why don't you introduce yourself to Allen properly now and tell him everything he needs to know?"
"But Lenalee …" the man wailed, still holding on to his precious sister.
"Do I have to get the principal to do it for you?" Lenalee asked with an innocent smile.
Komui's expression turned to one of horror. "NO! I will do it, I will do it."
He sniffed once more before he finally let go of her and gestured for them all to follow him into his office.
His office was… unlike anything Allen had expected. It had big windows and was nicely bright. The furniture was of a warm and light brown. There was a comfortable looking couch and three chairs around a table. Opposite of it was a big desk with computer and everything needed in an office. On the wall besides the computer was a nice looking picture (as far as Allen was concerned) and besides the door were some cabinets and bookshelves.
What made this office unlike anything however was the sheer amount of paper and letters, that was lying around on the ground. Allen's smile became strained as he took a good look around. The chaos here reminded him a bit of Cross, even if the cause for it was something completely different. He wondered how someone like this could become vice principal, and if the school was even half as good as Cross had said. Then again, what school that was supposed to be that great would accept someone who never even went to any school before.
Komui gestured for them to sit down around the table while Lenalee went to prepare coffee for them.
"Well, sorry for the late introduction. I am Komui Lee, the vice principal as Lavi already told you. Lenalee is my sister and part of the student council for High School. As are Lavi and Kanda."
Allen nodded. "I am Allen Walker. It's nice to meet you, sir."
Komui took out a folder which had Allen's work inside. "Now then. Let's start with the official business. As you know your father-"
"He's not my father. He is my legal guardian!" Allen interjected fiercely, then blushed and apologized.
"Ah… so your guardian came here about a month ago to enroll you to our school." Komui smiled.
"Normally you wouldn't have been accepted, but since it was Cross Marian that recommended you we decided to make an exception. You did all the home assignments our school gave you, but you still have to take exams here, since some teachers voiced their concern about you being accepted. You have been home schooled and the home assignment could have been done by your fa- I mean guardian."
Allen's expression darkened considerably. "Help? My master would not even help me if I was close to dying. He's the type of person that gets an assignment, spends two weeks in bars or with…"
Allen blushed again before his irritation at his master got the better out of him. "Anyway, then he comes one week before it should be finished and I have to pull all-nighters just to finish it in time. And he takes the credits and the money for it."
Lavi patted his back. "Well… I suppose he didn't help you much. But at least now you get to go to this lovely school with Yuu and me-" Kanda again hit his shin.
"I swear say that one more time, damn rabbit, and I will break your bones!"
"Damn! Stop hitting me!"
"I will when you learn to stop calling me by that name!"
"And I will learn it once you learn how to smile!"
"Stop this bickering! Think of what impression this is going to leave on our new student! We're a prestigious school!"
"I think that impression was already destroyed by your office though." Lavi grinned.
Lenalee came back into the office with the coffee for them. She glanced around and sighed. "Do tell me you wasted all this time to argue instead of giving Allen a proper introduction!"
She glared at the three men.
"I did inform him… before he kinda got depressed about his guardian."
"I should have asked the principal to come and take care of Allen after all. I'm sorry for that, Allen."
The white haired boy smiled at her. "Don't worry. At least my first day here is… interesting."
She handed him coffee and cake. "Well brother, inform him of everything and then let's go eat something real."
"Alright. Let's get back to the matter at hand then. So some teachers were against accepting you just like this and as such it was decided to make you take exams. Since you never got any official grades we want to see what your level is in each subject."
He pointed to some papers. "The teachers here have prepared some exams for you that cover several grades each. You should do well if you did all the previous assignments on your own."
Once again he was distracted. This time by Timcanpy who had chosen that moment to leave his spot on Allen's head and ate Kanda's cake.
"What the hell?" Kanda looked shocked at the yellow ball before his look turned into a glare and he made a move to grab it.
"Ah… Sorry, I forgot to give Timcanpy some of mine."
"Timcanpy? That's what you call the bird? How come it follows you arround?" Lavi wanted to take the bird-like creature away from the cake but Allen quickly took it before he could reach it.
"Don't try to do that. Tim bites when you disturb him while he's eating."
Lavi couldn't help but laugh at that. "It bites? Must be some kitty nip then!"
Timcanpy grinned, revealing some lovely razor sharp teeth. The laughter of the red head died somewhat at seeing the teeth of the creature.
An excited look passed over Komui's face. "Is that the golem that Cross was developing five years ago?"
"Yes. He named it Timcanpy and gave it to me to keep an eye on it. It somehow has it's own will and it also likes to eat quiet a lot. That's why it ate the cake. I'm sorry Kanda, I will buy you a new one when we're finished here."
"I don't like sweets." Kanda still glared at the creature however. He wouldn't have eaten the cake, but it was his none the less. And Kanda hated it when someone touched anything that belonged to him.
"Can I touch it?"
Allen was sure that by now Timcanpy had finished eating and handed him to Lenalee.
"It's cute." She smiled and patted the little creature.
"So I will have to take some exams." Allen got back to the reason why he was here. "When will I take them?"
"Good to see you are calm about that. The exams will start this afternoon."
"WHAT?" Allen really hadn't expected this answer. He felt nervous again. How was he supposed to know what to expect. He never had been in a school and never had had to take any exams at all.
'Master… why did you not warn me?'
"I know it is a bit sudden, but we only have so much time left before the end of the term, so we will start right after midday break. The exams will take some days. We will start at 8 a.m. and stop at 5 p.m. You should be able to cover all the subjects within that time. Also… some parts are written exams while the others require for you to make something. Of course we will supply you with everything that is needed."
"I understand." Allen felt worse and worse. Not just one exam, but several in many subjects.
"Good. You will do your exams in this room. So come back after lunch please. Lenalee won't be around then." He sniffed at the thought of not seeing his beloved sister this afternoon.
"Lavi and Kanda can show you around instead of me. I am sure they won't mind being a bit late to their classes."
"Of course we don't."
"You take care of it then, rabbit. I don't feel like babysitting."
"I am NOT a baby!"
"True… babies are supposed to be sweet. Right, moyashi?"
"Stop the name calling, jerk!"
"That's enough, Kanda!"
"Che…"
"You will do your duty as a member of the student council and help Allen getting comfortable at our school. If not then Tiedoll WILL hear of this."
Kanda glared daggers at Komui. "Let the rabbit take care of it. After all, it's his fault I am in the damn student council to begin with!"
With that he went out of the room, slamming the door shut.
"Sorry Allen. Kanda… takes time to get used to. Once you get to know him and to overlook his death threats he isn't that bad however." Lavi smiled at him.
"I don't mind him not showing me around. I think I'm better of lost and alone than with him as company." Allen said. "Can we go eat something now? I am starting to get really hungry."
Timcanpy seemed to nod in agreement.
The exams filled his next few days just nicely. At first he had been rather scared. But Komui's friendly encouragement at the beginning took away his nervousness. He started with the subjects he knew he should be good at. Math was the first area he covered.
Seeing how he had no problems with the questions there gave him enough confidence to start even with the ones he felt the most uncomfortable with.
Every morning either Lenalee or Lavi were picking him up. Lunch period he had to spend in the office, so that no one could say he cheated. In the evening either of the two picked him up again. Allen was happy that the two waited every day for him, even though it wouldn't have been necessary anymore. The office building was the first and he just had to follow the straight road from the entrance.
The first two days he had decided to do the written exams, while afterwards he chose the practical tasks. He liked the practical tasks more, after all they were more useful too. He especially liked the task where he had had to bake a cake, that he and Komui were allowed to eat after a teacher had seen and graded it.
All in all the exam days were passing rather fast and he felt that he could get used to this place, if he was accepted for real.
Finally it was Thursday evening, and he had just finished his last task.
"Happy that it's finally over?" Komui asked with a smile.
"Yeah. It was rather unsettling having to do so many things on short notice." A soft smile played on his lips.
"Though it was actually not that bad. I've had a lot of worse things to do thanks to my master."
"I'm sure he was thinking of you when he came here to enroll you in this school."
Allen didn't look convinced. His master was not a person that did things for the sake of others.
"Here, eat a cake. I'm sorry but you will have to wait for around one more hour here. If you want you can read a book or do something else."
"Ah… sure." Allen took out his book that he also had been reading during his lunch break.
Half an hour later Komui came back with a big envelope in his hand.
"Tomorrow we will talk about the results of your exams and what to do with you in the future. Also you will finally meet the principal of this campus."
"Why? What will you do with me? How were my results?"
Komui's smile widened "Just wait till tomorrow. The teachers will have a meeting tonight still. Your results so far are most curious. Anyway, Kanda will bring you to your house and deliver a message to your guardian."
"What? Why can't I do that on my own? I don't want to go with Kanda!"
"Because the message concerns you and you are not part of the student council. Kanda on the other hand is, as such he will do it."
"Why can't Lavi take care of it?"
"Because Lavi is busy in the library at the moment."
"But-"
"Just accept the free ride. Kanda doesn't often give them."
"I can imagine." Allen said, feeling that he would have been better of walking for days than spending even one minute in the same car as Kanda.
Komui ushered him out of the office. Kanda was already outside leaning against the wall. He scowled at Allen when he saw him.
"You're slow, moyashi!"
"What? Why is it my fault now!"
"The whole thing is your fault. If you weren't here then I wouldn't have had to wait!"
Allen glared back at him. "Well sorry to ruin your otherwise perfect day!"
"If you two continue like this, I will make you work together daily in the future. Two happy students, working hard to keep our school clean until the end of the semester. Sounds wonderful, doesn't it?" Komui smiled at Kanda who gritted his teeth.
He handed Kanda the envelope. "Make sure to deliver it and tell Cross to make sure to call me right away."
"Why does my master need to call you?"
"Because we need his opinion. Goodnight then. I will see you tomorrow."
"Goodnight." Allen almost pouted.
Kanda turned around without another word and hurried to the stairs. "Hurry up, moyashi. I don't like wasting my time."
"It's Allen! Even a child can remember two syllables!"
"Stop wasting my time!" Kanda looked even more annoyed than before.
Kanda quickly walked towards his car and gestured for Allen to get into it. "So where do you live?"
Allen described the way. Luckily it wasn't that far, especially with a car. It took them less than 10 minutes to get there.
Kanda parked in front of the gate to their house. "And here I thought you would live in some tiny flat in some poor quarters at the border of the town."
"Well and once again you are wrong."
"Che… I'm not wrong. You are still poor."
"But I do live in a nice house and in a nice neighborhood."
"Which doesn't belong to you."
"So what?" Allen rolled his eyes.
He opened the door and invited Kanda in.
"Master. Someone from school wants to talk with you!" He called while slipping out of his shoes.
"If you keep calling him master at school people are definitely gonna make fun of you." Kanda informed him.
"What? … Why?"
"No one talks like that anymore, idiot!"
"I don't see what's wrong with it!"
"Are you really that stupid?" Kanda watched him. "Forget that, I know the answer already!"
"It's a perfectly normal word you can find in any dictionary. So what's the problem with it?"
"Well then it's time someone informed you that we're not living in the middle age anymore. Keep on using the word master and most likely all will think that you are either a slave or have a sexual relationship with him."
"Wha-"
"Do whatever you wish. Go ahead and let people make fun of you!" Kanda rolled his eyes at the dumbfound expression on Allen's face.
Cross chose that moment to finally appear. "You called, idiot apprentice?"
"Yes. This is Kanda, he's been sent here from school to talk with you."
"What do the idiots need now?"
"How would I know? I wasn't told anything."
"Are you one of the teachers? I didn't know they let children teach now."
"Che… as if I would spend time with annoying brats!" Kanda glared at the red haired man who had called him a child. "I was sent here by Komui to give you this." He threw the envelope at Cross. "You should call the vice principal. It's urgent apparently."
"Those idiots should have all the information they need already." Cross wasn't happy but he would call the damn school once more. "Come in if you want. My idiot apprentice will give you something to drink."
"I'll be on my way. No need to waste more of my evening."
Cross laughed at him. "You should loosen up kid!"
Kanda clenched his fists. "Call your apprentice whatever you wish, but stop doing that with me. It's Kanda!"
"You're still a kid to me!" Cross grinned. "Allen, go get something to drink!"
"I guess I'll see you in school Kanda. Thanks for the ride, bye!" Allen smiled happily at the thought of Kanda leaving. One problem less in the house!
"Che… bye, moyashi!"
Cross roared with laughter as he heard the new nickname for his apprentice. "Shut it!" came the angry shout of the white haired boy before he went into the living room to look for some bottle of sake. When he came back with a glass and the bottle Kanda was already gone.
"So that guy with the long hair is your friend?"
"No!"
"Pity, his naming sense is great!" Cross laughed again!
"Damn you!" Allen grabbed his things and went to his room, slamming the door close. He still could hear Cross laughing downstairs and clenched his fists in anger. One day he would get the man back for all of the shit!
A few minutes later Cross picked up the envelope. A grin speared across his face. The boy had done better than he had expected. Then again, Allen did have talent. He resumed his laughing as he saw the results the boy had gotten in biology, geography and art. His charge was hilarious.
After he put down his empty glass he called the number Komui had written down for him.
The next morning Allen found himself in Komui's office again. At first he thought he was in the wrong room, since everything was cleaned and not a single paper was lying around. Just as he was about to leave again he saw the vice principal as well as three more people. A man with blond hair, a girl that looked grumpy as well as another man with long blond hair were sitting around the table. Allen didn't recognize either of them.
"Good morning Allen. Let me introduce you. This is the principal Bak Chan. Besides him is his secretary, Fou, and the head of the university part of the Black Order, Howard Link."
He smiled "Good morning. I'm Allen Walker."
"Just sit down Allen!" Bak smiled at him.
After Komui handed a folder to Link the man got up. "I'm sure we will meet later on again. Goodbye for now. I will come to your office later, principal."
He quickly left the room, before anyone could reply.
"Don't worry about him, Allen. There was a little accident at the university building today."
The results of his exams were lying on the table in front of them. "We were just discussing the results of your exams." Bak explained while Fou offered him a glass of water.
"Ok…"
"You see, your results were a bit… weird." At the look of Allen's face Bak quickly added "But don't worry, you've definitely been accepted. The only problem is what grade to put you in."
"Sir… shouldn't I be a sophomore?"
"To be honest that's what we thought. But you would only do well on that level in English, Literature, History and Sports."
"I failed all the rest?"
"Ah no-"
"Kid, in Biology, Geography and Art we don't even need to talk about failing." Fou interrupted Bak. "Your knowledge in those subjects rivals the knowledge a nine year old boy might have!"
In hindsight Allen should have known that his usual luck would kick in. Naturally it was during that sentence that Lavi and Kanda barged into the room.
Lavi blinked a couple of times before he started to shake. His face turned a healthy shade of red before he burst out in loud laughter.
Worse than Lavi was Kanda however. Kanda didn't laugh out loud like Lavi did but his shoulders were twitching ever so slightly and he had turned around for a moment before he turned to stare at Allen again with a shit eating grin plastered on his face.
Allen felt mortified. He wished that someone would just pull him under the earth. Why the hell did they have to appear just now?
Bak looked shocked at the two intruders. "Learn to knock first! We're dealing with personal matters at the moment!" he yelled at them.
"N… nine year old…" Lavi still couldn't stop laughing.
Allen really felt like punching him on his nose. He splashed the rest of his water on the red head.
"Allen!"
"Sorry, he was so red in his face that I thought he needed to cool down!" He smiled sweetly at Lavi.
"Don't worry nine y-"
"That's enough Lavi!" Bak interrupted and glared at Lavi, before turning to Allen.
"And Allen, your behavior was also uncalled for!"
"It's also uncalled for to tell others about my grades in exams!"
Bak rubbed his forehead before he stared at them again. "You're not to tell this anyone else! What you two heard here today will stay in this room. Understood?"
Lavi knew the principal was being serious. "Yes sir." He started laughing again however when he saw the enraged look on Allen's face. It reminded him of an angry cat.
"Understood, Kanda?"
"Che… as if I would spend time gossiping." Kanda said, his grin was still in place however.
'I wish I could just punch him!' Allen thought before he decided to get on with the previous conversation.
"So great. I will be accepted into the school, but I am not good enough to go to the classes where people my age go to. Are you sure this school is as good as I was told? Wouldn't it make your school look bad to accept someone like me then? If it's about my mas- … about Cross then you don't need to worry. I'll just continue with my life like it was until now."
"Don't you wanna go to school, kid? Stop being stupid!"
"Fou…" Bak sighed. He could feel a headache coming. "No, we wouldn't accept you to our school if you couldn't hold your own weight. We expect much of our students and also try to provide them with the best."
Bak showed him the results of his exams. "Look, you answered sophomore questions and did all the tasks for English, Literature and History. Sports is definitely no problem for you either."
Allen looked over the grades. The questions were now marked. He supposed that the markings stood for the different grades.
"Sure you did… not to great in Biology, Geography and Art but it shouldn't be too much of a problem for you to catch up."
"If you say so…"
"Now the other subjects again are on the other side of the scale."
Lavi glanced over the papers with interest. "Wow! You did really well in math!"
"Get out, Lavi!" Fou pushed the boy out.
"But we came here cause Komui called us!"
"If you can't keep quiet I will kick your ass, boy!" Fou sneered at him, after Komui had nodded to show, that they really had been called here. Both Kanda and Lavi sat down on the couch.
"Anyway, as Lavi pointed out your results in math, as well as chemistry, physics, computer science and music are really university level already. So If we would put you into the sophomore year like the other students that are your age, you would be bored to hell for the most part. Unless of course you decide to take some new courses. Your cooking is quiet good too I heard. You might do well there too." Bak smiled at him.
"We all knew you were involved in some major science projects over the last few years, but we never expected these results."
"What do you mean? What projects, Komui?"
"Damn brat! Be quiet!"
Lavi decided that he would ask Allen later on about the projects. It sounded interesting enough. Even Kanda seemed to be listening.
"So I failed in some subjects, did better than expected in some others and normal in the rest. What now then?"
"The thing is that your talent would be wasted in High School really. Cross Marian phoned me yesterday evening still. We discussed it with him and the other teachers, and while some are against it the majority has the opinion that you should start university next year."
A dumbfound expression settled itself on Allen's face. "B… but I am only 15!"
"There have been kids younger than you in university, kid!" Fou interjected.
"Cross said that we should give you the challenge. He said you'd catch up in the other subjects with the rest of the sophomore students without problems. And that you indeed would be bored afterwards."
"Moyashi, be happy to be able to skip so many years of wasted time. Are you afraid you are not good enough to keep up with us?"
"We can help you study too, if you choose university!" Lavi smiled happily at him.
"But… what if I am not as good as you think I am?"
"Allen, do you have any idea what you have been doing the last few years with your guardian? I think you don't even know your own ability too well." Bak smiled at him, in what he hoped was an encouraging way.
"Would you, if all you ever got to hear is that you did everything wrong?"
"Look, Cross was sure you would be able to do it if you put your mind to it. Even if he doesn't say anything nice, doesn't that mean that he trusts you?"
"He was probably just thinking that I would need less time off of work that way."
"Well… he did say something like that. But it also was him who enrolled you here, no?" Komui put a hand on his shoulder. "You should start giving yourself more credit."
"I guess."
"Before you can go to university you need to catch up with their level anyway. Try and see if you can do that in the few weeks we have left this term!"
Shaking his head Allen got up. "I don't know if I can do all that in that short time."
"Will he have exams again at the end of the term?" Lavi asked with a frown.
"Only if he decides to try to go to university with you next year. If he wants to be a sophomore I don't think he will need to do many. Biology and Geography are things you can learn quiet fast. If he tries for university he'll need to catch up in English, Literature and History as well."
"Well decide moyashi, I'm getting hungry."
"I…" Allen gulped. "I will give it my best."
"Hmpf… we will see your final results in a month then." Fou hid her smile. She liked people who would take on a challenge. A feat that only Lavi and Kanda had accomplished so far in her eyes.
"Great! You will go to the courses that will help you until then. During your free periods Lavi, Lenalee and also Kanda will help you, since you already know them. Fou will be tutoring you in the evenings. It will be hard work, but with effort you should be able to manage it."
Allen didn't mind Lavi's and Lenalee's help. But Kanda and Fou didn't seem like the people who would help someone. He didn't know whether or not Komui was trying to be nice or to kill him.
"A last question. Why is everyone else putting so much effort into helping me?"
"One reason is Cross Marian. We do owe the man a lot. Another reason is that it would be stupid to let someone with talent slip out of our hands. And last but not least, from all the talks I have had with you Allen, I just feel like offering help."
A blush spread over Allen's face at the last comment from Komui.
He wondered if things would go well. Everything seemed to be going so fast. But at least the people here were nice so far. With one exception.
'Mana… I will keep on walking forward. I will take the challenge and try to do my best. So… don't worry about me. I will not give up.'
This chapter is longer than I expected. I still don't have a beta reader, so I am sorry for any mistakes that I oversaw (considering the length of the chapter I am sure there are plenty still).
Thanks to all who reviewed before. Without feedback I really have a hard time to get motivated to continue.
At the moment I am in a writing mood however, so I already am working on the next chapter.
