Chapter sixteen – Getting somewhere

All in all, Allen was having the worse time in town he had ever had.

It even topped the incident with Julian. At least then nobody had been angry with him. All it took was a flashback on his argument with Kanda for a sharp lance of pain to shoot through Allen, making whatever he was doing at the time suddenly lose its lustre.

The paranoid feeling he had after talking to Komui wasn't making things any easier, either. He was constantly glancing behind himself and his twitchy fingers were permanently glued to his cell phone resting in his pocket. He could have sworn he was being watched, but the reasonable part of his brain argued that it was just nerves. The part of the brain that had looked after him ever since he had lost Mana told him there was no such thing as too much caution, and if he thought something was wrong it probably was.

He ignored both of them and instead focussed on the cup of coffee Lenalee was offering him, accepting it with a gracious smile. He didn't generally drink coffee, and he knew the last thing he needed right now a boost of caffeine, but he took a long slurp nonetheless.

"Man, it's getting chilly." Lavi observed dryly as he sprawled back on the metal of the bus stop seat.

"It's your fault." Lenalee admonished her male friend as she perched on the edge of the seat beside Allen, her own takeaway coffee bought from the van a few meters back cupped dutifully in her hands. "You were the one who insisted that we were fine to keep on walking. Now we have to wait for a bus."

Allen grinned tersely as Lavi let out a low moan of protest. All in all, he thought Lenalee was taking too little credit for their current predicament. The way he remembered it, it was only himthat had been arguing against the seemingly never-ending walk; not believing that they could make it back before the school closed the gates at the rate they were going. As it so turned out, he had been right; and now they were stuck waiting for a bus if they hoped to make it back before eleven, at the latest.

Allen wondered what Kanda was doing right now. Was he worried that the group of them had been out for roughly five hours now? Allen let out a soft snort. He doubted that hothead had even noticed they were gone in the first place. With that cheery thought lording over his brain, Allen took another obligatory sip of his coffee before pulling the sleeves of his shirt tighter around his wrist. He hadn't even had a chance to grab a jacket before he'd been bundled out into town.

"It's getting late." Lenalee said quietly, stating the very thoughts Allen had been thinking a moment earlier. Allen observed his female friend with a critical eye. She didn't seem to be bothered by how late it was or even the chill in the air - and she was the one wearing a skirt. Instead, she looked oddly relaxed as she nursed her coffee, studying the rapidly darkening sky calmly.

Allen averted his gaze and decided Lavi looked much the same, having been sprawled across the metal back of the bench, coffee dangling loosely in his hand like it would fall from his hands at any moment. Neither of them seemed at all troubled. Allen allowed a small, more natural smile to slip into place. He may be too worked up to be enjoying himself, but as long as his friends were happy, he might as well try.

Easing his tense shoulders, he relaxed back against the seat and took a deep breath to try and unclench the knot of tension in his stomach.

When Allen thought he'd relaxed himself enough, he took a hesitant sip of his warm beverage, allowing the hot, brown liquid to swirl around his mouth for a moment. He'd never understand the draw the caffeinated drink had on his friends – and even his master – but right now, it didn't taste too bad.

Not at all.

Allen was so busy mulling over his coffee he barely had the footsteps until they paused beside the bench.

"Is it alright if I sit here?"

Allen looked up in unison with Lavi and Lenalee. While the others eyed the newcomer curiously Allen took one look at the man and felt his heart drop a mile south. Mouth dry and fingers numb, he could hardly feel his coffee slipping from his hands until it landed on the ground, spilling the bronze liquid out of the Styrofoam cup.

"Allen!" Lenalee cried, spinning around to look at him. Lavi bent down quickly and picked up the dropped cup.

"Are you okay man? Did the coffee splash you?" He asked in concern.

Allen was hardly aware of the red-head's worried hand on his shoulder. He was much too busy staring at a familiar tanned face, a beauty mark just beneath a narrow, golden eye.

Not happening, not happening, not happening, he chanted over and over in his head. He met the calm eyes apprehensively and at the lack of surprise he saw there, he felt his heart freeze.

"Oh? Allen Walker? Is that you?" The voice was laced with false shock as the man scratched at his slick hair as if he'd just found something unexpected.

"T-Tyki?"

"Oh? Do you two know each other?" Lenalee asked in surprise and Allen wished more than anything that his legs would unfreeze so he could get up and run as far away as fast as humanely possible. His legs, however, did not abide and he realised his lips were similarly frozen.

"Oh yes, yes. We haven't seen each other in years now." Tyki answered pleasantly, studying Allen with keen eyes. "We used to be very close though – our whole family was – weren't we Allen?" He added.

Lavi who had the finest honed senses seemed to finally grasp that Allen was staring at Tyki in what can only be described as a horror filled look. Swiftly he knelt down beside Allen and shook his shoulder slightly. "Moyashi?" He asked softly.

Allen took a deep breath and managed to find his voice. "What are you doing here?" He asked, trying to sound firm, but the shaky breathlessness in his voice almost giving his utter discomfort away. Tyki smiled cheerfully in return.

"What do you mean what am I doing here? Aren't I allowed to travel around a little bit?"

"Allen?" Lenalee asked nervously, glancing between Tyki and Allen as if trying to see visible tension in the air between them.

Ignoring her, Allen tried to maintain eye contact with elder man. "Is it... are you... all of you..."

Allen was well aware that he wasn't making a whole lot of sense as he struggled to find away to voice his question. Regardless of all he stammering and trailing off, Tyki seemed to understand what he was trying to say.

"Oh, all of us here. They're dying to see you, Rhode especially. She wanted to come with me tonight but she wasn't allowed."

Allen paled at that and Lavi felt him tremble slightly beneath his hand. "Oi." He snapped, looking up at the tall stranger before him. "Why the hell are you talking about? Didn't you just say that you ran into Allen accidentally?"

Tyki meet his eyes easily and as he peered into those golden depths a shiver of unease ran down his spine. This man looked dangerous. More than that, even. He could feel it.

Allen made a small noise in the back of his throat and Lavi's attention riveted back to the scene that was unfolding before him. "I don't really want to see any of you..." Allen said in a voice that sounded much braver than he felt.

Tyki adopted a wounded expression. "Now that's not very nice. If I told Rhode that, she'd be heartbroken." He let out a sigh and pressed a hand to where the human heart was meant to be located although Allen doubted one would find such an organ in the likes of Tyki Mikk.

He got to his feet – though his legs weren't doing a very good job of supporting him – and shook Lavi's hand off of his shoulder. He turned his back to Tyki, and looked at his friends. "Let's go." He said urgently.

"But... What about the bus?" Lenalee asked, the fear in her voice evident.

"Oh yes, don't leave on my account." Tyki said lightly, leaning against a nearby pole and popping a cigarette in between his teeth as he fished for a lighter in his pocket. Allen glared at him but received only an amused perk of the eyebrow in response.

"Forget about the bus. We need to head back." Allen started walking without waiting for a response, eager to put as much space between himself and Tyki as possible. Without further argument Lenalee and Lavi scurried after the scowling boy as he purposelessly strode off.

"Scared, boy?" Tyki called after his retreating back.

Allen shot him a nasty look over his shoulder. "Of you? Not ever."

Tyki took a long drag of his cigarette and breathed out. The thin stream of grey smoke stood out against the stark night air as it snaked its way after Allen like a foreboding prediction.

"That's a pity." He drawled. "I know the Earl is looking forward to seeing you."

Allen quickened his steps, looking resolved to get back to the school as quickly as possible. For a moment, Lavi wondered about his apparent hostility and lack of fear. But then he noticed.

Allen was shaking.

oOo_oOo_oOo

It was passing eleven o'clock and the brat was still not back from wherever he'd gone off to.

When he'd returned from his walk around the school, he'd come back to an empty dorm room. He'd expected that much and he thought it was a safe assumption that the Moyashi was with Lenalee and Lavi – probably in town. However, the shrimp had been gone for far too long and he was growing annoyed. He knew Lavi didn't have a shred of common sense, but he'd thought between Lenalee and the Moyashi, they'd at least come home at a decent hour.

Apparently, he'd overestimated the Beansprout's ability to correctly interpret time. Figure that, with a little body came a little brain.

Snorting, he leant forward onto the desk, pushing his forgotten history homework away from him as he did so. He'd had plans of trying to coerce the Moyashi into spilling once he came back. Given, storming out of the room earlier in a – rather normal – display of temper probably wasn't the best way to start off information gathering, but he figured he'd cross that bridge when he came to it.

His dark eyes flickered over to the clock near his elbow. 11:17it proclaimed happily in bright red digits. He gave the clock an irritated shove, making it topple over, and pulled the cord from the wall. Instantly the luminescent numbers vanished and he was left staring at an upside down blank display. Serves it right,he thought sourly.

Kanda had had enough of this waiting. He slammed his chair back and got to his feet, marching over to the door with a confident stride that dared the gods to defy his decision. He reached for the handle only to take a step back when it opened first and was presented with the sight of Allen was standing in the threshold.

Kanda stared blankly at the Moyashi for a moment before he was shoved past, Allen vanishing almost instantly into the bathroom. There was the clickof the lock engaging and Kanda was left standing in confusion by the door – but this was often the case when you lived with Allen Walker.

A quick glance down the corridor showed neither Lenalee or Lavi, so Kanda hesitantly closed the door before going over the rap on the thin sheet of wood that separated the bedroom from the bathroom. "Oi," he called out, pausing briefly for a response. He received no answer but continued anyway. "Where's the damn rabbit and Lenalee?"

"I told them to go back to their own rooms."

Kanda frowned. "Why?"

"I just did, okay?"

Kanda leaned backwards and raised an eyebrow as Allen snapped back at him. Had it been anyone else they probably would have dropped the issue at that or rushed to apologise to the unusually snappish teen; but this was Kanda, and it didn't really matter to him that Allen rarely snapped at anyone. He wasn't going to back down just because the brat was learning to bark.

"Why were you out so late?" He called through the door. He was answered with the clickof the door unlocking and he dutifully stepped back. Allen stood in the doorway, looking pale and... scared?Kanda's eyes flickered to the bathroom behind him and noticed that the medicine cabinet was ajar. Well, it looked like he had a fair guess what the Moyashi had been doing.

"Why do you care?" Allen growled, clinging to the door frame as he did his best to death glare Kanda. Completely unaffected he ignored the question and instead asked, "doing drugs again?"

"Taking prescribed medication and doing drugs are two completely different things." Allen muttered as he pushed past Kanda and into the room. The dark haired man watched the others' movements with sharp eyes as Allen bundled up his clothes into his arms, the Moyashi never once looking his way as he did so. In fact, it seemed to Kanda that he was going out of his way notto look at him.

Change of clothes held tightly in his arms, Allen made like he was heading back into the bathroom to change. Kanda, however, stepped duly in front of him, placing one arm across the doorway to press firmly on the wood of the frame, forming a clear and formidable barrier between his little Moyashi and the room in which he sought sanctuary.

"Move." Allen growled as he tried to step past the door's guardian. Kanda simply pressed his back against the opposite door frame with ease and levelled Allen off with a glare.

"Not until you tell me what shoved a stick up your ass."

"I forgot," Allen snapped sarcastically, "Having a stick up your ass is yourjob."

Whack!

Even Allen – who was long used to Kanda's display of temper – flinched as his fist slammed hard against the door, sending a small shower of dust down to settle on the floor. Kanda was no longer blocking the door with his body, rather the way was completely clear for Allen but the shorter boy suddenly found himself in loath to push past the seriously pissed offJapanese youth.

"Listen here Moyashi and listen good." Kanda ground out and Allen could do little but give a small nod lest Kanda assume he wasn't listening and starting hitting more wooden items and possibly breaking the bathroom doorframe in the process. Kanda glared at him savagely but refrained from using his supersonic fist to damage anything else.

"I am sick and tired of all this bullshit. It won't kill you tell me what the fuck is going on, would it?" Allen opened his mouth to protest but Kanda beat him to it. "And it's not just some twisted curiosity either sprout," his dark eyes narrowed further, "if you're in danger I think I deserve to know."

Allen clammed up at that and Kanda suddenly realised just how very, very tired the boy looked. He looked exhausted, like he had been running away from something for far too long, and no matter how he paced himself he could do nothing but fall back into its grasp.

His gleaming silver eyes seemed much too old. Sure, they retained their large, roundness that screamed innocence, but staring into them now was so very disturbing yet entrancing; like he was swimming in endless, uncharted oceanic depths. No matter how great the fear of getting lost was, he wanted nothing more than to see just how deep it went.

It occurred to Kanda now that he had no clue how old the Moyashi was. Surely he must be around his own age to be in class with him. He made a mental note to ask later and frowned, wondering briefly if this would be another one of those pointless little things that the Moyashi hid for no reason that he could possibly decipher.

The silence between them seemed to stretch on endlessly as Kanda clung grimly to the thread of anger that had led him to initiate this conversation in the first place. It wasn't a hard thing to do, Kanda was nearly always angry about something or other and his grudge holding skills were considered by some to be top-notch.

oOo_oOo_oOo

Allen himself wearily observed his roommate. He didn't have the energy or the will to fight right now. Honestly, he barely had the will to keep standing, let alone start a bantering match between his grumpy friend – matches which could rival the most intense tennis match. His legs were shaking. Hewas shaking. Having reached that conclusion, he stepped back a bit and sank down in the nearest desk chair and allowed his bundle of clothing to fall from his arms.

His head was pounding horribly and that scared him more than words could describe. This was almost always the screaming warning that came before the storm. He hoped vainly that the medication would do its job and he wouldn't find his night a patchy haze of pain and whispered voices dancing tauntingly around his head.

There were a few footsteps and Kanda was standing before him, arms crossed over his chest. Allen didn't bother meeting his eyes. Hell, he didn't even bother looking at him. It was impossible to tell what Kanda was really thinking from such small things and honestly, the last thing he wanted was to look at the man who had for some reason become such a major part of his life. He was afraid. He was almost as afraid of Kanda right now as he was of those headaches evolving into so much more.

"Moyashi?"

He didn't want to hear that voice so laced with emotions Allen couldn't even begin to understand. It didn't help his own undecipherable emotions in his stomach that resounded with it. He couldn't deal with this. Not right now.

"Oi, look at me when I'm talking."

Allen cringed at the annoyed tone and looked up dutifully and was momentarily startled into muteness by the sudden close proximity between himself and the elder male. He could make out every annoyed crease in the pristine skin of Kanda's face.

Sucking in a breath, Allen quickly glanced away. "Can we not do this right now, Kanda?" He asked, fighting to keep his voice steady. "I want to be alone."

And he did, very much. He was used to sorting out his troubles on his own without relying on anybody else for support. He'd never had the chance to unburden himself to a keen listener, eager to hear him out and smile with him, laugh with him or even get angry forhim. He managed fine without these things but the sudden feeling of long slender fingers wrapping around his arm and jerking him free from his seat didn't seem to disagree.

"No." Kanda snapped. "Just tell me what happened while you were out."

It wasn't a request; it was a demand. Such a typical Kanda thing to do. Allen had never met somebody so insensitive until he came to Black Order. And it was strange, really, how used to it he had grown.

"Not that simple." He muttered and tried to shrug himself free from Kanda's iron grip. Rather than escaping though, all he succeed in doing was making Kanda tighten his hold so that he could feel faint bruises forming beneath those fingertips.

"Make it that simple." He growled, his breath lightly skating over Allen's skin due to the minuscule distance between them. Allen forced himself to regulate his own breathing as he looked up at Kanda's determined face.

When Kanda was angry – not just his regular default angry, but actuallyangry – he found it hard not to appreciate that everlasting fire that raged behind dark eyes lending to the that strange entrancing look the man seemed to have.

He wasn't by definition handsome. Not with that defined face and beautiful hair that put any women's to shame. And on the same note he couldn't be described with feminine words.

An androgynous kind of beauty, Allen decided. That was what it was. It was a kind of androgynous beauty that paled both men and women in comparison. And when Allen started thinking like that, it became harder to resist whatever Kanda was asking of him.

"I met someone I used to know..."

"What was that?" Kanda asked, frowning.

"I SAID, I met someone I used to know." Allen snapped back and glared up at his roommate with a defiant air. Kanda's frown deepened and a glare-off insured as each party pulled out their most annoyed expressions.

In the end, the silence stretched on for far too long for Kanda's liking and he eventually broke it with, "Who did you meet?"

Allen looked at him tiredly. He was past the arguing. "Somebody I'd rather not have." He answered heavily.

"Who?"

Allen bit his lip as he searched the hallowed drawers of his mind for the right thing to say. In truth, he was still trembling a bit from the encounter and his pounding heart was only just now slowing down. And it bothered him, truly it did. Even after so many years had passed, simply the sight of one of them was enough to send chills down his spine and set his heart racing one million miles an hour.

Of course the grip on his arm and the way Kanda's every breath tickled his skin wasn't helping his heartbeat as he tried to calm himself.

"His name is Tyki Mikk." He replied quietly and without any real energy behind his voice. The name would mean next to nothing to Kanda. Sure enough, a confused frown overtook his already surly expression and he glared at Allen in a request – no, demand – for more information.

A sigh slipped past Allen's lips and he shook his head. "I...I don't know what to tell you Kanda. He's somebody I knew for a great deal of my life. It wasn't a pleasant relationship for me either. I'd hoped never to see any of them again..."

"Any of who?" Kanda countered quickly, eyes narrowing.

Allen shut his mouth quickly as his little slip of the tongue donned on him. In one quick, fluid movement he tore himself free from Kanda's suddenly lax hand, gathered up his clothes and shoved past Kanda to the bathroom, slamming the door behind him.

Kanda looked at the door. It felt like Allen was opening up, if just a little bit. However, he wasn't so sure if this was a good thing. It felt more like the boy was tiring, wearing down than like he actually wanted to share.

However, it was a start. He didn't go for all that sharing and caring girly shit, but for some reason that was completely illogical and incomprehensible to him; he felt like he neededto know more about Allen. He wantedto know what was wrong. What had happened? He wanted to know him, and if wearing the boy down was the only way to get there, so be it.

"Now," he said softly, "we're getting somewhere."

A/N: Sorry for the month since I've update! I hit a block half way through this chapter. But, I overcame it finally :)

This hasn't been beta'd yet, and I'll upload the beta copy when it has. In the meantime I'd like to clear something up.

Last chapter I mentioned I had Nachos for tea. Oh, you silly people. I don't mean tea in the drinking kid. I mean om nom nom nom DINNER. I'm Aussie, so tea means dinner to me. XD

Not nacho FLAVOURED tea, not nachos WITH tea. Nachos FOR tea.

There you go, a lesson for you all.

Love, Yuu-chi

Beta: I'm so sorry this is late ;_; *bows* Forgive me D':
But on another note, that nacho flavoured tea sounds interesting… :D