For the most part, the only difference Kanda noticed between Allen's real eye and his artificial one was that the artificial one didn't move in exactly the same way. It was close, but under some circumstances, looking Allen in the face was a brief descent into the uncanny valley. It was one reason why Kanda avoided it.
The day after Cross's murder was an entirely different matter. Allen had been absent on the day itself, to no one's surprise, but he showed up the next day, lips set thin and his natural eye bloodshot. The artificial eye, with its absence of blood vessels, looked exactly as it always did. The effect was unnerving.
Allen's expression did not invite questions, and Kanda wouldn't have asked them in any case. He left that to Lavi and Lenalee, who did more than enough hovering and fussing. Komui, too, checked in with Allen personally, clapping him on his overly-pink left shoulder for reassurance.
Kanda had been interrogated the day before, and although it was clear that Allen was a favorite suspect, he found it highly unlikely that the bean sprout was a killer. A pain in the ass, yes, but if he was going to kill anyone, it seemed like it would be Rouvellier. On the other hand, Cross had been driving him hard recently, and Kanda could see himself snapping under such circumstances and offing the unbearable prick.
This hasn't been a snap, though. From what Kanda could tell, it was premeditated, and Allen didn't have that kind of temper. By the time he managed to get his hands on a gun, he would have cooled down.
Kanda watched out of the corner of his eye, to see if this was going to throw Allen's dancing off, but it didn't seem to. Once he started moving, he stayed focused. That was good. He wouldn't disrupt rehearsal.
Rouvellier did, though. They were about an hour into it when he stormed through the door, looking surprisingly worse for the wear. Kanda had always thought Rouvellier was immune to normal human emotions, but apparently the man had some feeling in him besides schadenfreude. He was a little pale and had dark circles under his eyes, and his hair wasn't quite so perfectly styled.
"Allen!" Rouvellier snapped. "Did you, as his student, kill Marian Cross?"
The room went silent.
"Did you?" Allen asked. "As a bastard?"
A few people gasped. Kanda simply waited, curious. What was more important to Rouvellier, crushing insubordination or beating Rhoda Campbell?
"Let's get something clear," Rouvellier said. "You will dance in Paris, and if your score goes down by even half a point, there will be consequences."
"Like what, I'll be grounded?" Allen said. "You'll take away my mobile again? Or shall I be sent to bed without supper?"
Kanda blinked, but he had the sudden feeling that he'd missed out on about half of this conversation.
Rouvellier looked like he was about to explode. "Office!" he roared. "Now!"
Allen went with a lot more alacrity than Kanda would have in his place.
They were in there for a good ten minutes, with Rouvellier shouting so loudly that Kanda could almost piece together his half the conversation. A lot of it didn't make sense, but from what Kanda could figure out, Rouvellier didn't have enough on Allen to discipline him, and never had. Not for lack of trying. Murder accusations flew thick and fast, directed not only at Allen but at Allen's foster father, as did accusations of other crimes, most of them sexual. None of it seemed to stick.
That was interesting, but Kanda had no time to consider the implications because the two came back out, Rouvellier looking thunderous and Allen looking far too pleased with himself, and making no effort to hide it.
Rouvellier schooled his expression into a gentle smile. "Lenalee, I'm so sorry you had to see that. How about I make it up to you with dinner?"
Kanda's hackles rose, and did not settle down when Rouvellier added, "With Komui, of course."
"I have a paper due," Lenalee said softly, looking away.
"Perhaps tomorrow then," Rouvellier said.
"We'll talk about it later," Komui said firmly. "Right now, everyone has had quite a shock."
"Of course," Rouvellier said with a geniality Kanda knew was false. He glanced quickly at Lavi, who looked helplessly livid, then at Allen.
What he saw on Allen's face gave him pause, but he was too used to Rouvellier holding all the cards. Rouvellier probably was, too, or he might have been more worried than he looked. Allen was disgusted and angry, yes, but he was also defiant. If he found a way to strike at Rouvellier, he'd take it.
Perhaps, Kanda thought, he needed to reconsider the bean sprout's capacity for premeditation.