A/N: Hey everyone! Sorry for my short absence. I've been awfully sick these past two days (still am, actually) and it just really sucked. Doesn't help that I showed up to school today with a whole lot of homework and tests piled up and waiting for me.)x (I was even forced to take one of the tests by a teacher even though I was absent for the learned material, and completely failed it. I almost cried…). Anyway, thank you so much to Storm VII, jy24, Takei Daloui, The Moyashi Beansprout Midget, and Lena-luvs-cats for all reviewing! You guys are amazing and I really appreciate it!(:

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: You know that story about that girl that didn't own D. Gray-Man from the last disclaimer of this same story? Yeah, that girl was me, and the story hasn't changed.

Chapter 7

Time Frame — Noon of January 12th, 1896

—3rd Person POV—

~Allen~

That day, it didn't take long for Allen to take note of the rising tension; the most prominent being the competitive atmosphere radiating between Daisya and Lavi. And being slightly more aware of it, he soon noticed that Kanda, Alma, and Lenalee were even a bit high-strung. And since he had been agonizing over Klaud's little test since the previous night (the others were no slouches when it came to combat), it quickly became obvious as to the reasons why the others were acting so strangely. It certainly didn't help when Klaud allowed them the first hour of training (plus their lunch hour) to design a strategy, prompting Lavi to quickly drag Lenalee and Allen towards the dorm rooms.

"Eh? What do you think you're doing?" Allen demanded as Lavi swiftly ushered them across campus.

"We're going to the one place none of the others can follow us to!" Lavi explained, grin firmly in place. "The girl's side of the dorm room!"

"W-why?!"

"Because our dear Lenalee here will allow us in, and with the crazy shit Komui installed for the security of his precious sister, there's no way the others will be able to eavesdrop on us!"

"Um, is this whole thing really that big of a deal?" Allen wondered, and when Lavi could only squawk indignantly, he turned to Lenalee for an answer.

The pig-tailed girl grinned, her features slightly mischievous. "Oh, you have no idea, Allen! It was all fun and games when we were kids, but over the years, it's gradually reached a whole new level of competitiveness. Plus, it doesn't help that we always make bets and ultimatums. Once, we even decided that the first one of us to go down would be shunned for a whole month!" She snorted into her hands.

Allen blinked, slightly stunned, and then asked curiously, "Who was the first?"

By the sudden loss of enthusiasm in Lavi's gait, the answer was quite obvious, but Lenalee replied nonetheless, "Lavi. He had just joined our class, and could hardly even control his Innocence weapon. It was sadly pathetic."

"That was so not fair!" Lavi grouched, crossing his arms and hunching his shoulders over in a disgruntled manner. "No one even teamed up with me, nor told me what would happen if I lost first! You guys are mean!"

Allen pressed his lips together, trying to hold back a smile, and failing spectacularly at it. "Hey, look at it this way, Lavi," the white-haired boy said, "It's like Karma knew exactly all the shit you would put everyone through, and was putting a down payment on your misery."

Knocking him upside the head, Lavi grumbled out a couple insults, before Lenalee interrupted them, "Alright, that's enough you two. We're here, and if you want to survive, you better pay close attention!"

Straightening up, Allen and Lavi listened carefully to Lenalee as they stepped through the entrance of the girls' dormitory, loosely connected with the boys' side through a couple of hallways. And after Komui's insane intervention, every girl there knew the drill. And though Allen had yet to be witness to Komui's madness, he was sure to carefully follow Lenalee's instructions on which tiles to step atop and which hallways were mirrored traps. The process was long and tedious, and Allen was entirely sure he would never willingly sneak into the girls' dormitory; not after listening to Lenalee's description as to what a single misstep could cause.

"Hey guys!" Mei-Ling greeted them cheerfully once Lenalee opened the door to their shared bedroom, only allowing the boys to enter once they slipped out of their shoes.

"Willing to help us out, this time around?" Lavi asked cheerfully, earlier irritation forgotten after getting to witness Allen nearly stumbling into some of Komui's well-hidden traps.

Mei-Ling shook her head, expression amused as she leaned back down to continue working on the little homework they were ever assigned. "You ask me this every year, Lavi. The answer is stillno. Not after what happened last time."

Lavi wasn't the least bit deterred. "But you'll still steer us clear of any mistakes, right?"

"Don't I always?" the brunette huffed, scribbling down an answer on her arithmetic worksheet.

"Alright, gather around you two!" Lenalee called them over as she dragged a small, coffee table to the center of the room, and that's when Allen noticed that their room was much larger than the one he shared with Timothy. It was probably another one of Komui's doings, what with the weird sister-complex everyone kept on mentioning. Or maybe it was just a girl thing. Master said that girls always needed space the size of their emotional capacity.

Once the trio had seated, a silence ensued. Allen shifted, unsure of what he was expected to do now. "Uh, what exactly are we doing?"

They gave him an odd look. "Thinking up ideas on how to kick their asses. Duh," Lavi deadpanned, though the amused glint in his single, green eye made Allen think that there was a lot more to it than that.

With a snort, Allen replied, "Well, just in case you hadn't noticed, I've only been around here for four days. I don't exactly know much about their fighting styles, or if they even work well as a team. If I were literally about to fight them right now, I would probably just give it my all without thinking much about tactics."

Lenalee leaned forward, as if ready to give him a whole spiel on how Kanda, Alma, and Daisya worked, but Lavi suddenly held up his hand, expression scrutinizing him. "You've seen us spar. Maybe not much with our Innocence weapons, but you must've learned something about the way they fight."

Allen spluttered slightly beneath Lavi's penetrating gaze, unsure as to why the redhead was so curious to hear his answer. Eventually, he carefully replied, "Um, not much that I can think of, other than the obvious. Kanda's clearly more of a frontline fighter; he's not stupid, but he certainly dives in with all the rage of a bull. Daisya's more of a sneaky little bastard, and tries to distract you before stabbing you in the back. Alma's a lot nicer about it, but very energetic, so though his fighting is more straightforward, his boundless energy makes up for it… I think that's about it…"

"Wow, you're a lot more observant than we thought," Lenalee smiled, expression both a combination of surprise and sheepishness. "You kept to yourself so much, we didn't think you liked us much."

"That's our shortstack!" Lavi grinned, slapping him on the back. "Now, I think I know exactly what'll work…"

"Think again~," Mei-Ling giggled, now lying back on her bed, hands holding up and twirling around a curious, crystal ball.

Lavi huffed, and made a couple of odd expressions, as if rearranging things around inside his head. "How about now?"

Mei-Ling hummed in reply, brow furrowed as she watched future events unfold along the shimmering crystal. "Yeah, that might just be perfect."

A/N: Seriously feels like I'm just BSing my way through these chapters, so as always, any ideas are welcomed! Please review!(: