I know, I was an idiot last chapter and I forgot to say this, but if you want to see how the ring looks because I'm so bad at descriptions, then copy and paste the link at the end of this sentence into your address bar and go see it. .com/UserFiles/Image/ring_view_
Tuesday, November 29th, XXXX
2000 hours (8:00 P.M)
How did he get into this position? He had been forcefully pushed to the ground by someone, and they were now standing over him. He felt weight around his hips. The man was now sitting on him and pressing their knees to the sides of his body. In unfamiliar surroundings he didn't know if there was a possible way to escape. The person weighing him down now started to unzip his jacket. He fought back, hands pushing the man away. The man grabbed both his hands into one and held them up above his head, continuing on with his business. Too weak to protest, he just laid there and allowed himself to be stripped of his clothes.
Tuesday, November 29th, XXXX
1800 hours (6:00 P.M)
"Hurry up, get in the car!" a man yelled over the sound of firing bullets. Without a second thought, the two people he was with didn't spare a second as one of them opened the car door closest and shoved the other inside. He dove in after him and closed the door behind himself. The third man ran to the driver's seat and yanked the door open. He had his keys in the ignition before he was even fully in the car.
Bullets were hitting the black Lincoln from the direction they had just came running from, but they were speeding down the street no more than a second later and the bullets subsided after a moment.
Everyone in the car remained silent, now trying to catch their breath and figure out what just happened.
"Wha…Who the hell were they!?" the first one to speak up was the rookie detective, still breathing roughly from all-out sprinting down the way from the warehouse to where their car had been parked.
"The mafia, stupid. I've explained it already. They're after me," the person next to him now spoke, having regained his breathing already.
"Mind explaining why you're so damn important to them?" the driver had almost said it like it wasn't even a question, but an order. He was irritated, and didn't even bother hiding it.
The moment the three of them had stepped out of the warehouse they were being shot at by men in black suits and sunglasses that had surrounded the building. The two detectives took their guns out and shot some in the legs, making an opening in the direction of their car and ran that way, all the while the men following behind, shooting at them. Somehow none of them had gotten hurt.
"Yes, actually," Allen grumbled in response to Kanda's question. He had been reluctantly made to come with them. It was better than being killed, he reasoned in his mind.
"Damn kid."
Kanda was driving like a mad man again, making sharp turns and driving down unfamiliar streets. He was trying to make sure they weren't being followed. Allen and Lavi were sitting in the back seat holding on to the doors and pressing themselves hard down into their seats to try and stay in one place. They hadn't had enough time to put on seatbelts.
After thirty minutes of driving around in circles Kanda headed back to the police station. Parking in the garage and turning off the car they all just sat there for a while, calming down once again and running the events of the night through their heads.
"I wonder how they knew we were there," Lavi said to no one in particular.
"They were probably there the whole time, having somebody watch the building just in case the kid came back, because going by what he said, they had locked him up in there and seeing as there was no report of us ever finding a child they figured he must have escaped. And obviously he's really precious to them," Kanda explained.
"Stop talking about me like I'm some type of object!" Allen complained. Kanda ignored him and took his keys out of the ignition and opened his car door. Lavi did the same, stepping out and closing his door. Allen just sat there for a second, before his door opened and Kanda dragged him out.
"Hey watch it!" Allen yelled at him as he was pulled out by the arm none too gently.
"He'll be staying at my house for a while and seeing how things go I'll switch him over to you if I have no luck getting information out of him," Kanda was addressing Lavi who had walked up to them. He nodded his agreement.
"It shouldn't be a problem for me though, this kid seems pretty easy," Kanda smirked.
"All right, just don't kill him, okay? Your methods can be brutal!" Lavi teased.
"I'm right here you know!" Allen said, struggling against the firm grasp Kanda had on his arm. He was surprisingly strong.
They went on ignoring him. Lavi said he was just going to go home and rest and waved his good-bye to Kanda. After he disappeared back into the police station Kanda stole a quick glance at Allen before pulling him down the parking garage.
"Hey, wait! Where are going?" Allen questioned as they continued moving.
"I've already told you, my house, idiot," Kanda said as he stopped in front of a flat black Lotus.
Allen couldn't help but be amazed by it. It was in absolute perfect condition, something he hadn't expected after seeing Kanda's driving skills. He had imagined something like the car next to it, which was a beaten up blue Kia minivan. For a moment he thought he had made a mistake and really thought the minivan was Kanda's car, until he took out his keys and unlocked the doors to the lotus by pushing a button. He threw Allen into the passenger seat and closed the door behind him, locking it.
The car smelled of new leather, and the interior was clean and very modern-looking. It gave off the feeling that whoever owned this car had a lot of money to burn, which Kanda probably did.
Kanda moved into the driver's seat and was back on the street in no time, swerving in and out of traffic.
It was completely silent in the car, not even the radio was on. Allen was looking out the window, ignoring Kanda, and Kanda doing the same, keeping his eyes on the cars around him. It was an unsettling atmosphere but Allen would rather deal with it than have a conversation with the person who was holding him captive.
They had reached his house after just ten minutes of driving. It sat in what looked like a very friendly neighborhood. Kanda pulled up to his house and turned the car off. Allen took this time to study the house.
It was one of the more recently built two-story houses. It was all white and had large windows all around the house. The front lawn was of average size, and the grass was very neatly trimmed. There was a walkway connecting from the driveway up to the front door of the house that cut the front lawn evenly in two. A small island of grass sat between the driveway and the road that had nothing on it, but on both sides of the lawn were two small birdbaths. It seemed as though this house was made to be symmetrical because everything about it was made to be to perfection.
Kanda unlocked Allen's door and once again dragged him out of the car. Allen didn't say anything this time and he was led up the pathway to the house.
Kanda unlocked the front door and pushed Allen through it. He stepped inside behind him and locked the front door from inside. It was one of those double-lock doors that had to have a key on the inside in order to get out.
The house opened into a hallway that forked left and right at the end. There was also a flight of stairs leading up to the second story in the middle.
Kanda move down the hallway and turned left. Noticing he had taken off his shoes Allen followed in suit, taking off his boots and leaving them on a brown mat that camouflaged almost perfectly with the wooden floor by the front door. He didn't want to start making any trouble when he just got there, and followed Kanda down the way he just went.
The end of the hallway was connected to a living room. The floorboards ended and a bleach white carpet began there and spread throughout the whole room. It was a very simple space. Two black leather couches were positioned in an L shape in the middle of the room in front of a fireplace. Above the fireplace was a 52 inch flat screen T.V mounted onto the wall.
Rich bastard.
The living room was connected to the kitchen, which was separated by a long bar table with a black marble top. There were three bar stools sitting in front of it and Allen made his way to the one on the end and sat there. He hadn't seen where Kanda had gone off to and decided to just wait until he came back. There was no use trying to escape. He couldn't leave without getting his ring back.
Kanda resurfaced from a hallway that branched from the end of the kitchen and living room. In his hand was a first aid kit. He walked over to Allen and sat it down on the top of the bar. He was confused as to why Kanda had taken something like that out until he started talking to Allen.
"Show me your hand." Surprised by the sudden demand Allen just sat there and stared at him. He noticed that the wound on Kanda's right cheek had been cleaned up and bandaged.
Having little patience, Kanda grabbed Allen's left arm and started to unravel the bloody sleeve from his hand.
"I know you were shot, I just don't know why you haven't said anything about it yet."
Allen jerked his hand away, not wanting for his arm to be revealed.
Kanda, not expecting it, frowned at Allen and said "what?"
"I'm fine," Allen mumbled, turning his head away. He made a move to get up from the stool when Kanda pushed him back down.
"Like hell you are," Kanda threatened him. He tried again to roll up the sleeve when Allen pushed back, with more force than last time. He was able to move from the stool and started making his way back to the front door when Kanda grabbed him by the hood of his jacket from behind and pulled him to the floor. His head connected with the ground and he closed his eyes in pain for but a few seconds. It only took that much time for Kanda to grab the first aid kit from off the bar and move over to Allen once again.
Before he could even open his eyes Kanda immobilized Allen by sitting on top of him. He was straddling Allen's hips with his knees, pressing hard against him so as to minimize his movements. Allen's eyes shot open at the pressure around his mid section just in time to see Kanda unzipping his jacket. Trying to resist as much as possible, Allen tried to push him off and away with both his hands, but he practically had no energy left so when Kanda pulled his hands away and moved them to above Allen's head he could do nothing else.
His jacket was unzipped and opened in seconds, revealing Allen's bare chest. He wasn't wearing a shirt underneath his jacket. The only clothes he had were the ones he was wearing right then and there. Kanda just sat there staring at the exposed body now.
Allen was more than just anorexic, more than just starved. Kanda could go just about as far as to say he was literally skin and bones. His ribs were visible under his skin pulled tightly across his chest and it looked like his stomach had been sucked in to itself. How this kid was even alive now was beyond Kanda.
Seeing Kanda's surprised expression he picked up his head and looked down at his own body and saw what was so amazing to him. He put his head back down on the carpet and said "I was caught about a week ago. They didn't exactly treat me the best," he said in a quiet tone.
Kanda didn't respond, and instead took off Allen's jacket completely and threw it to the side, revealing his arms, the last thing Allen wanted Kanda to see.
"And you expect me to believe they found you yesterday and cut your wrists too, huh?" Kanda said, looking up at his arms still held above his head. There were deep cuts running horizontally across both arms. They were crusted with blood and still looked fresh.
"You a masochist?"
Allen just looked away, no bothering to answer and just ask "Why do you care anyways?"
Kanda brought down Allen's left arm and flipped it over so he could see where the bullet had entered his hand.
"Because I don't need you keeling over and dying when you're the only lead I got," Kanda said while grabbing a sterile white pad and peroxide to clean the wound.
"Why, thank you for making me feel important," Allen said sarcastically. "And can you get off me?"
"No," Kanda answered simply.
"Why not?" Allen asked irritated. He pushed himself up on his right elbow into an almost sitting position.
"Because I don't need you trying to run off again," Kanda answered simply. He grabbed a pair of tweezers from the first aid kit to take the bullet out of Allen's hand.
"Trust me, I won't," Allen said. Kanda started extracting the bullet before he responded.
"I can't trust you, that's why I'm not moving," and he began to pull at the bullet.
"Agh! That fuckin' 'urts!" Allen had unwillingly said in his accent, jerking his hand out of Kanda's. Kanda grabbed onto it again and brought the tweezers back to the bullet.
"What, you British or something? The hell's with that accent?" Kanda questioned as he started pulling the bullet out even more.
Allen found himself not able to answer and instead strung out a colorful line of curse words, clenching his right hand tightly into a fist, until the bullet was completely extracted.
"Good, it's all in one piece," Kanda said, examining the bullet. He placed it down along with the tweezers and picked up a cotton ball and sterile pad to press to the wound to stop it from bleeding.
"Hold this here," Kanda directed Allen to hold the cotton in place. He changed his position on Allen so he could completely sit up but never actually got off of him.
He reached back into the first aid kit and pulled out a roll of bandages. He wrapped it thickly around Allen's hand, holding the cotton down, and cut it at the end. Satisfied with his job he packed up the kit and walked back down the hallway he came and turned left into a room.
Allen just sat there, not knowing what to do when he realized just then that Kanda hadn't been wearing his jacket. He remembered that that was where the ring was.
But he was wearing it when he came in the house. Where would it be?
Allen stood up and wrapped his arms around himself. It was actually really cold inside. He hadn't noticed it before because he had his jacket on, and even when Kanda had taken it off their body contact had transferred heat between the two.
He was really warm, Allen found himself thinking. He was staring in the direction Kanda had walked off in.
Ah, what the hell am I thinking?! He turned his head away from the hallway and instead decided to stare at the black leather couch next to him. It had suddenly become very interesting.
What's that kid doing?
Kanda was standing at the end of the hallway looking at Allen. The kid was hugging himself, staring at some unknown spot on Kanda's couch and-
Is he blushing?
Shaking it off as he just might be cold Kanda walked towards him.
"Oi," he said to bring Allen's attention to him. Allen snapped his head up, shocked by the voice right in front of him. Kanda threw a white bath towel and suit of clothes at him and Allen caught them in his arms.
"Go take a shower, change, and throw those other clothes away. You won't be wearing them ever again."
Allen just stared blankly at him, as if not knowing what to do next.
"Down the hall, first door on the right," Kanda said, and walked into the kitchen.
Allen stared after him for a few seconds before finally picking up the discarded hoodie, walking to the designated door, and stepping inside.
The bathroom was abnormally large. It had two metal oval-shaped sinks (embedded)on a long black marble counter. The faucets were silver in color and shaped like bamboo. A porcelain toilet bowl sat next to it and on the opposite side was a walk-in glass shower that stretched across half the wall.
You could fit a whole family in there! Allen stood there gawking at the bathroom. It was unnecessarily huge for just one person living in the entire house.
For a moment he thought of completely destroying the bathroom and vandalizing the rest of the house in his search for his ring and in finding it crash through one of the windows and make a run for it, but the fact that there was close to no chance of that actually working decided to just try to behave and see what happens. Once again, he was being held prisoner, and for the same damn reason.
Tuesday, November 29th, XXXX
2040 hours (8:40 P.M)
Kanda had decided on having Allen shower to give him some free time to make something to eat without having to constantly look over his back to make sure Allen wasn't trying to make a run for it. Kanda really needed for him to cooperate and spill some information, and to do that he was trying to build Allen's trust in him by pretending to be nice.
It was the 'good cop bad cop' routine. He was going to first try and reason with Allen and see if he'll tell willingly or perhaps make a trade-off of some sort. Of course, if those happen to fail, a little torture might help. Perhaps if he were to relive being locked-up again might loosen his mouth to some degree.
Kanda actually smiled at this. It was not like he was sadistic and wallowed in the pleasure of other peoples' pain. He just enjoyed having the privilege of doing whatever it took to get what he wanted.
Taking his mind off the rather disturbing subject he turned his attention back to the food he was cooking.
At that moment the bathroom door opened. Allen walked out to the kitchen, but not actually stepping inside its boundaries. The house was still freezing and the white tile floor of the kitchen was unwelcoming seeing as Allen wore nothing on his feet. He decided to stay on the carpeted section of the house. In his arms he carried the clothes he was wearing previously. Tattered and bloody, Allen realized it really was time to throw them away, but for what he was given to wear made him almost put his old clothes back on.
Kanda had handed Allen a long-sleeved white shirt that was three sizes too big. The collar kept on slipping off and over one of Allen's shoulders, exposing his skin like it was doing now. The sleeves hung over his hands by a good five inches. The long black sleeping pants he had reached passed his feet and to the floor, forming small puddles as it layered in on itself, and the waist was so big that Allen had to keep one hand on it at all times otherwise they would join the rest of the pants as a pond at his feet.
Allen stood there glaring at Kanda's back. He was standing at the island in the middle of the kitchen looking over some pots and pans sitting on the stove he was cooking in. The sleeves of his black button-up shirt were neatly folded to his elbows so as not to get any food on them. Allen couldn't lie though; the smell coming from the food he was cooking was heavenly.
To catch Kanda's attention without saying anything Allen cleared his throat.
"The garbage is over there to throw your old clothes away," Kanda said, pointing a spatula to the far corner of the kitchen where a small metal bin stood about three feet tall.
Bracing himself for the iciness of the floor Allen walked across the kitchen and dumped the heap of clothes into the garbage. The items in his pockets had already been taken out and Allen left them in the bathroom on the counter.
He turned around just in time to see Kanda put his head down to face the counter top and he heard just a barely audible snigger.
"What?" Allen asked him, now quite irked.
"You look ridiculous," Kanda answered not looking back up. He turned the stove off and moved the pot and pan off the heated surface.
"You're the one who gave me these clothes!" Allen retorted indignantly, putting an unseen hand to his chest to gesture to himself, the sleeve flopping around lazily.
"Don't blame me, you're the tiny one here. Those are the smallest clothes I own," Kanda said as he walked to the counter Allen was standing next to to bring down two bowls and plates. He stole a quick glance at Allen in which they made eye contact for a quick second. Allen could see that he was still being mocked.
"I'm not that small!" he yelled back, following Kanda to the island and stood on the opposite side of where he was standing. He slammed his hands down on the marble counter for emphasis. His cheeks and tip of his nose were now powdered a light pink from the cold and from yelling. The blood was rushing to his face.
"Whatever you say," Kanda's smirk grew even more evident.
Before Allen could say anything else Kanda shoved a bowl and plate in front of him, both brimming with food. He couldn't name the dishes, but he knew it was Japanese cuisine just from the style of it. He didn't know what to do but just stare at the food. He couldn't even remember the last time he's eaten something, and he could feel the drool forming at the corner of his mouth.
Bingo.
At that moment Kanda knew he had won. There was no way that kid could resist the urges of his stomach. He was practically devouring the food with his eyes.
"It's Shumai Dumplings and Kabocha Pumpkin Soup," Kanda said, still watching amusedly as Allen's hand twitch and stopped itself from grabbing something from off the plate when he heard Kanda's voice.
As if the name wasn't a dead giveaway, the Kabocha pumpkin soup was pumpkin colored. It had a milky texture to it, and the steam rolling of the surface carried the foods smell along with it and blew right up Allen's nose. It mixed with the scent of the artistically wrapped Shumai Dumplings. Stuffed with ground Pork and chopped onions and seasoned with pepper and ginger, they were almost irresistible, and Allen tried his hardest from eating everything in sight.
"You can eat it if you want," Kanda said in a falsely bored tone.
Allen looked up to Kanda, completely stricken by his words. Kanda was holding out a pair of black plastic chopsticks and a metal soup spoon to Allen, but not looking at him. He had his left elbow resting on the surface of the counter, head propped up in his left hand and he was looking to something Allen didn't bother to follow along with his eyes.
It looked like Allen was about to have a heart attack and reached for the eating utensils when Kanda spoke again.
"But, you have to trade me something."
Why do I always know things are never going to go as easy as I hope.
Allen waited for Kanda to continue, hand still outstretched.
Kanda's eyes looked over to Allen without him actually moving his head, and he smiled when he said "You have to give me some type of information about the mafia."
Allen eyed him warily and asked "How much?"
Too easy, Kanda thought to himself. The moment Allen had said that line he knew he was going to get something out of him, and that was good enough for now.
"Any amount, you choose," Kanda shrugged and straightened up. He held out his hand out even further to Allen's outstretched one and signaled him to take them.
Not hesitating to take them a second time, Allen snatched the chopsticks and spoon from Kanda's hand and began inhaling the food previously placed in front of him with a quick word of 'Itadakimasu'*under his breath. He didn't care if it was still scorching hot and burned his tongue and throat. In fact, he barely tasted much of the meal during his feeding frenzy. All that mattered at the moment was that he finally had real food.
Kanda just stood there looking pleased at his cunning wits. He took his own set of food and sat at the bar table silently eating his own food and thinking about his victory.
This is going to be so easy.
*Itadakimasu, however you spell it in the English language, means 'time to eat' or 'thank you for the food' in Japanese. It's a way of saying thanks to the person providing you with the food. Allen said it because he's eating Japanese cuisine and it's just customary to say it and show that you have manners. Anyways, in Japan it's very important to say this at meal times with a group of people such as family.
Now, on to the real A/N. I know I have really only just started this story, but it's been up for quite a while. I have not gotten much of a response to it except for those few people who have reviewed, and it is because of them that I shall continue writing this story. Because I honestly don't care how many people read my story, just as long as there's at least one other person who read it and likes it I shall continue writing it just for that one person.
Anyways, thank you Hikari Ice Angel, Taboo, whisperypath, Broken Flavors, Mistress -Freak, Helen Raspberrih, and Kayday for your support and I will try my hardest and see to it that you are not let down with this story! I really appreciate that you took the time out of your day to not only read my story but also review to it, and that sends me no end of joy.
Read, Review, and stay strong.
-Xenophili