Chapter twenty-six – Revelation
After the failure to extract vital information from Cross, Allen found his mood rapidly plummeting.
He had yet to decode Tyki's less-than-helpful cryptic hints and Kanda was proving more of a hindrance than anything through his stubborn refusals to disclose whatever words had been said behind closed doors between himself and the redhead. He couldn't even explain to Allen how it was that Cross had managed to escape right under his nose without encountering any resistance at all.
Things between Kanda and Allen had been strained since the visit, and no matter what he tried to do to ease the tension, Allen found that Kanda was fast becoming distant from him. This was understandably alarming to the young British boy. What had Cross said to him to cause this sudden detachment? Did Kanda now know far much more than he was comfortable sharing? Had he finally been frightened off after coming to realize just how deadly serious the whole mess surrounding Allen was?
Whatever the reason was, Allen found that he could do little but watch with growing trepidation as his friend quickly drifted away from him.
To make matters worse – as if they were not already bad enough – Kanda was not the only comrade with whom Allen was having issues. Since his return from the disastrous interrogation turned Houdini escape, he had found that Lenalee and Lavi were rather unable to look him in the eye for some unknown reason. In fact, he'd venture to say, that they both seemed scared. Maybe not of him exactly, but scared none the less.
He'd tried to discreetly weasel out whatever it was that had caused the newfound shiftiness in their eyes and added a pale pallor to their skin, but his efforts were in vain. He'd receive a few distant laughs for his trouble and had been casually waved away, the pair of them acting as if nothing was indeed the matter even though their attitudes said otherwise.
As the small group he'd recently accumulated began to dwindle and slowly pass him by, Allen found that a sense of anxiety and desperation he'd long since forgotten had begun to gnaw at his heart again, feeding his rapidly growing unease.
Having finally been blessed with the gift of friendship after so long spent in solitude, Allen was rather reluctant to concede defeat and withdraw into loneliness again. The small group of friends that he'd had the privilege to call his own were fast slipping through his fingers like grains of fine sand and nothing he did seem to help at all, he could only watch tiredly.
Overall, in the past few days, Allen's life had quickly continued to go further and further down the drain.
Only a few months ago he'd found himself make what had seemed to be at the time, unbreakable bonds and finally ready to put the skeletons in the closet to rest. Now, those bonds were fast unravelling and the skeletons weren't quite as dead as he has assumed.
A small sigh escaped his lips, blowing a wandering strand of white hair from his face as Allen lightly tapped his gloved finger against the smooth wood of his desk, staring idly at the wall in front of him. Problems were mounting at an alarming rate and nothing he did seemed to be able to ease the burden. He was starting to wonder why he even tried. Would it not perhaps be better to just give up? To go willingly with the NOAH?
The second the thought crossed his mind Allen felt himself shiver, biting his tongue hard in an attempt to keep from delving into unpleasant memories that were resurfacing and contain the rolling wave of nausea brought on by his grim musings.
No, absolutely not.
The sound of the dorm door opening startled Allen out of his thoughts and he glanced up to see Kanda scowling heavily as he leant his katana against the wall, allowing the door to swing heavily shut behind him and casting a light breeze throughout the room.
His face was surprisingly devoid of sweat considering – Allen assumed – that he'd just been training with Mugen, but the foul attitude that surrounded him was no different from when he'd left the room a few hours earlier. If anything, it seemed to have intensified in Allen's absence, until it was a swirling mist of darkened rage.
Without so much as looking over in Allen's direction, he strode towards is desk, sharply tugging at his hair as he went so it sat more fixatedly at the back of his head. As Allen watched, Kanda rustled around near the wall for a moment before withdrawing his bag, throwing it over his shoulder and marching back off towards the door.
"Kanda?" Allen called after him; eyebrows quirked in confusion as he watched Kanda sweep Mugen back up. His roommate gave a grunt. "Where are you going, exactly?"
He received a withering look for his question and the vague answer of: "Training."
After a moment pause Kanda added, "Won't be back tonight," and ducked out of the room, the door slamming shut behind his whirlwind visit. Allen could do naught but stare after him for a moment before allowing his head to thump back down against his desk.
He felt like shit.
…
It likely wasn't going to go away and time soon.
oOo_oOo_oOo
The dirt crunched unpleasantly beneath his sneakers, his lips turning into a disparaging grimace as Kanda tugged his jacket tighter around himself to ward off the chill that the damp weather seemed eager to seep into his bones.
It was nearing nine at night and Kanda was fast getting sick of the hours of travelling he'd been slugging through since he stormed out of the dorm room earlier in the afternoon, leaving a bewildered Allen behind him. It left an unfamiliar cloying sensation in his mouth when he recalled the hurt look in his roommate's eyes but Kanda was unwilling to delve into the reasons behind it.
He had to admit, however, that he felt slightly bad to be going behind Allen's back like this. Only a little though, and still in that kind of fuck-you-I'm-superior way.
"How much longer do we have to keep fucking walking?" Kanda groused loudly as he stumbled over a rock and slammed his shoulder into a nearby tree, sending a spiral of pain down his arm as he kicked angrily at the offending trunk. Lavi sent him an amused look over his shoulder as the redhead gingerly helped Lenalee step over a protruding root, his hand perhaps just a little too low on her waist to pass off as mere kindness.
"Not much longer Yu-chan," he said for what felt like the umpteenth time, "we should almost be there."
"So you told me a fucking hour ago. When that article said 'just out of town' I imagined it meant just that. Not several god damn miles away."
Kanda felt his mood was rather justified by this point. It had taken three hours on a bus to reach the obscure town in the middle of nowhere and a further two had been wasted stumbling blindly out of it and through the thick forest that surrounded it; all to chase up one vague article his self-proclaimed friends had found floating about the internet.
The reminder dredged up thoughts about the mysterious encounter Lavi and Lenalee had claimed to have afterwards, Lavi meekly whimpering that it had nearly fried his computer. Lenalee still seemed to be experiencing nightmares about the chilling warning the pair had received. Kanda was torn between being sceptical of how frightening they had claimed it had been and frightened by just how well this appeared to tie in with his conversation with Cross.
Speaking of the infuriatingly perplexing conversation with the half crazy man, Kanda had refrained from mentioning anything that had been said between the two of them to Allen; an outcome that clearly had the younger boy fuming.
Kanda was – in all honesty – just a little worried about how the British teen would react if he learnt that Kanda was fast pushing his way into the obscure past he was so desperate to hide. If there was one thing interactions with Allen had taught him, it was that his friend seemed to react in appallingly shocking ways when startled out of his comfort zone. He could all too clearly remember the excursion into the rain after Kanda had learnt of his deformities.
His last wish was to have another experience such as that. If Allen wasn't going to disclose anything to him, it was only fair that he took a proactive role in searching out the information himself; with Lenalee and Lavi, unfortunately, if he wished to actually be successful.
Kanda had more or less told them all of what Cross had told him, however reluctant he had been to do it. If they were going to be of any use to him, they needed the information as much as he did. That wasn't to say that Kanda had spilled all the secrets of Allen's he'd been hoarding.
Knowledge of just what Allen looked like under his clothes – take that how you will – remained solely Kanda's, amongst a variety of other titbits he had weaselled out through sheer persistence alone.
There was something about the slender boy that made Kanda wish to know him in ways that others didn't. Something in the interactions between the two of them that made Kanda want to take whatever precious little knowledge he had and cling tightly to it, unwilling to pass it onto another and allow another individual the same intimacy in Allen's life that Kanda himself had.
This train of thinking caused him to shudder at how mushy these past few months had made him, but he could nothing to stop them. Allen brought out the worst in him, making him several kinds of possessive he never knew he was. Kanda reluctantly had to admit that Allen Walker was a person who Kanda become bewilderingly attached to; he couldn't even imagine a life anymore where it was just himself and his trusted swords living out an annoyingly peaceful existence without terrifying figures lurking omnipresent in the background.
That was how much the Moyashi had infiltrated his life and while Kanda couldn't claim to be happy with it, he was beginning to learn that struggling against Allen's involvement in his life, trying to get him out of his head, was just wasting energy fighting a losing battle.
Kanda wasn't use to losing; he figured it was best in this situation to merely concede to not fight in order to avoid defeat.
Vaguely, Kanda had the odd feeling of being watched but when he whipped his head around, there was nobody there. Frowning, he reluctantly turned back to face North.
"Ah! Lavi, Kanda! I think I see something!"
Lenalee's startled cry jerked Kanda out of his musings and he looked up sharply to see the slender Asian girl pointing just past the last of the trees towards a blurred shape in the distance, the approaching night and the gathering fog making it difficult to discern any real details.
Frowning, Lavi took a step forward and studied the vague outline, resting one hand lightly on the shoulder of his female friend as he crooked his finger towards Kanda, beckoning the moody Japanese towards them. Kanda ambled forward with as much dignity as he could muster considering his shoulder was still aching a little from the jarring impact earlier.
"I think it's a building," Lavi observed quietly and the three of them exchanged a glance.
At last, after nearly five hours, they had found what they were looking for.
The trio rushed forward, slipping and sliding along the damp ground, backpacks bouncing against their shoulders as the pushed past low hanging branches. Finally, their less-than-appropriate trip out to the sticks to investigate what may be the lingering vestiges of Allen's past may be paying off.
As they approached, leaving the dense collection of greenery behind them in favour of a light smattering of trees, it quickly became apparent that the building was a burnt out crisp, once a sprawling, expansive monument, now nothing more than a decaying wreck, moss snaking over shattered cement and blackened wooden beams a storehouse for mould.
Scattered all throughout the site were small items that had barely survived the ultimate wreckage, damaged extensively through the fire, age and the dampening weather that pervaded the area. No more than litter now, rather than the prideful possessions they once were.
Lavi whistled lowly at they slowly walked through the wreckage, fingers ghosting lightly along charred chunks of building material, air heavy not just with the roiling mist, but with tension and apprehensive.
The fire had been all consuming, just as the article had claimed, and now Kanda could only stare in wonder around him as he tried to imagine what the crumbling walls and extensive rumble would have looked like in it's prime; a complete structure rather than a mere memory.
Something pushed lightly against Lenalee's boot as she took a hesitant step forward and slowly crouched down to retrieve what looked to be remanets of a note book, the edges charred and crumbling. Kanda took it from her and fanned it open, the ink on the paper smudged so it was nearly illegible. Finally he managed to find a few pages were the handwriting had not turned into blackened treks down the page and a small majority of the writing was visible, although some words were too damaged to accurately read.
January 9th
Moved to the wing. Things aren't used to. Took me for an and were with results. Met another my own age. seemed lonely. Wonder friends?
Kanda frowned deeply, trying in vain to string the sentences into a cohesive structure. He skipped forward to the next readable segment.
August 28th
I keep seeing things in the mirror. Other normal. One of the younger out. She didn't come back. Allen got to use to it.
Kanda's heart did a backflip. "Guys," he called out, voice dry. The others sent him a concerned look before scurrying over and peering over his shoulder. He felt them stiffen behind him. Lavi slowly leant past him to skip forward, nearing the end of the book.
March 15th
I'm going crazy. My and it all over. Allen's vanished. Things bad. The NOAH strange. Worried things will bad. Think that Allen's had something it. I think I might just kill myself. End all. Be rather than right? Maybe what Allen did? He strange. Kept saying things.
Kanda turned the page only to discover there was no more beyond that point. Not just that there was no longer anything understandable, but all of the pages were blank. Like the writer had just up and disappeared. Like he had…
"You don't think," Lenalee said softly, voice shaking, "That he really did it, do you? Killed himself, I mean."
No one answered her.
"We know that Allen was here now," Lavi said after a moment's pause, "And that things weren't right…"
'Weren't right' seemed to Kanda like the understatement of the century. The three of them stood huddled together as the fog continued to roll in, the lingering cloud overhead giving off a low rumble. No words were exchanged as they scanned the building with a new feeling of dread, the whole area around them feeling that much more ominous – that much more evil – from when they had first arrived.
"What happened here?" Lavi finally whispered, breaking the silence between them. "What the hell happened?"
Kanda took a few calming breaths as his gaze flickered from the stained wooden beams standing tall an erect against the darkened sky to the shattered cement sprawled brokenly around him. Despite the icy weather, he was feeling hot. He was beginning to develop a vague idea, a suspicion, about this place. About the things that happened here…
Cross's words flashed through his mind, and he found himself remembering the cryptic remarks about the NOAH and their activities. About the institutes they ran, about why they ran them, about the legality of their excursions.
"I think…" Kanda breathed out, grip tightening on the crumbling book as he was hit by a sudden realization, "I think I might know about what happened here…"
He couldn't believe he'd been so blind. That he hadn't pieced together the puzzle by now. That he'd let his ignorance shield him from the cruel realities surrounding Allen. That he allowed himself to sit back in ignorance while the one person he had ever managed to feel anything for beyond a feigned feeling of apathy stood by, offering him countless hint upon hints, waiting for him to finally come to understand the true nature of things he'd suffered.
"Kanda?" Lenalee said uncertainly, shaking his shoulder.
A faint prickling trailed up Kanda's neck, very much like the feeling of being watched from before, but he shoved his discomfort aside in favour of grasping on tightly to his sudden epiphany before it slipped away from him.
Finally, he gathered his nerves enough to voice it.
"The NOAH, I think they… I think they were dabbling in human experimentation."
It was crystal clear to him now. The nightmares that haunted Allen's in his sleep, his collection of scars, his uncertainty towards human kind, his fearful, suspicious nature the overwhelming fear of anything medical related.
It. All. Made. Sense.
Behind him he felt Lenalee and Lavi begin talking at once, frazzled voices drowned out by rumbling overhead as they clung tightly to him – disregarding their own safety – attempting to pry him for more details.
Before anybody could do anything, before they could react to Kanda's sudden exclamation, the sound of cracking twigs reached their ears and they jerked around to see a small duet standing up where the last of the trees gave way to the site of unimaginable horror.
Kanda didn't recognize either of them, but a small barely understandable sound from Lavi told him that his two companions might. Lenalee's grip on his already sore shoulder tightened again, sending new pain radiating downwards.
"Who the fuck are you?" Kanda called out loudly, taking an aggressive step forward and shaking off his protesting friends.
After a moments contemplation the pair descended and Kanda realized with a start while one of them was tall and finely dressed, outfit complete by a top hat, his companion was a young girl who couldn't have been much older than twelve, spiky hair breezing lightly in the wind as they skidded to a stop behind him, her school clothing incongruous to the setting.
She offered him a sweet, sweet smile that sent shivers down his spine.
They had golden eyes, Kanda noticed, and an aura that just oozed something sinister. Behind their forms he could make it the indistinct remnants of the building and, suddenly, it occurred to him just how well they fit in.
One more low rumble of thunder and the young girl spoke up, her voice sugary and high, a sing-song undertone to it.
"You're Yu right? Allen's new friend?"
Kanda didn't respond beyond sending her his best glare. Her smile widened.
"Allen's my friend too. We used to play together all the time… I haven't seen him in so long now…"
Lavi's hand appeared on Kanda's arm, attempting to tug him backwards, face stark white and gaze fixed and the tall stranger beside the young girl, his gem like eyes watching the redhead with amusement.
"Kanda, back away. The one next to her is Tyki. We've meet before. We need to go. They're NOAH."
Kanda remained where he was, fixing his gaze upon the young girl and ignoring his friend's pleas to leave. "Don't go near him," he snapped, "You leave him the fuck alone, got me?"
The girls smile dropped for a moment and Tyki let out a chuckle. "Got some bite this one," he observed lightly, "I think he'd make a good playmate for you Rhode."
After a second or so Rhode plastered the smile back on her face and took a step forward, her skirt bouncing lightly around her thin legs. "We'll, that's fine. If you don't want me to be Allen's friend, I can be yours."
A second later, and everything went to hell.
.
.
.
Most of you had already guessed this plot point by now, I'm sure, but doesn't it feel good to be finally getting somewhere?
Lots of love, Yuu-chi