A/N: I wrote this during my lunch break at school, so you're welcome.(x Thank you to Manu259, Guest, chaosoulg, and Takei Daloui for reviewing! Appreciate it!

Disclaimer: Too busy with real life to create some elaborate plan in which I spirit away the rights to D. Gray-Man.

Chapter 17

Time Frame — Afternoon of January 22nd, 1896

—3rd Person POV—

~Allen~

"So, little bro, how have you settled in?" Chomesuke asked with grin, an arm tossed around him as they walked through the crowded halls. The school day had just ended, and Lavi had been quite put-out when she'd run over to the training grounds just to drag Allen away, rather than himself.

Allen shrugged and rubbed at his aching left eye. "I think I've lost count of the number of times I've been asked that. But to sum it up, classes are okay, my roommate is a brat, and everyone around me is utterly insane. But on the bright side, I get a lot of tips as a waiter, so I'm still going strong when it comes to paying Master's debts."

Chomesuke snorted. "He's still making you do that? That bites! But in all seriousness, have you really not made nice with the other Exorcists?"

"I can get along with them just fine," he huffed as they finally exited the school and began heading for the dorms. "It's just taken me a while to get used to their oddness. For example, did you know that if Kanda eats anything other than soba for lunch, he'll get really irritated and completely slaughter us during training? It's like his comfort food, but every day! Lenalee is the only normal one so far, but that's because I'm pretty sure Komui automatically soaked up all of the insanity. And for a while there, I thought Mei-Ling was alright; she's just really nice, you know? But once she got comfortable with me, she started making ridiculous predictions about me just to freak me out. And the worst part? They all came true! She's like a walking, talking fortune cookie!"

The brunette clasped her hands atop her mouth, trying and failing to smother her laughter. "I wasn't trying to be funny," Allen grumbled beneath his breath, and when he turned his gaze away, he added, "And, speak of the devil…"

Exiting the main entrance of the dorms was Mei-Ling, another girl in tow. Going by her lab coat, she was clearly one of the many science students—probably one of the higher-level ones that usually assisted Mei-Ling with studying and improving her visions.

"Hey there, Allen, Chomesuke!" Mei-Ling called with a cheerful smile. The small, Chinese girl momentarily gazed at the crystal ball in her hands and declared, "Oh, Allen, you might want to watch out. A certain man will soon be out for your blood, but at the very least, you shall find love on the next road you walk on!"

Allen threw an amused Chomesuke a pointed glare, as if saying, "I told you so." He then sighed and replied with a deadpan expression, "Gee, thanks Mei-Ling."

She beamed. "Always happy to help!"

Allen rolled his eyes and for the sake of politeness, asked, "Who's your friend."

"Oh!" Turning to the older girl, Mei-Ling said, "Lou Fa, this is one of my new classmates, Allen. Allen, this is my friend Lou Fa. She's due to graduate soon and will be joining the Science Division over at HQ."

"Pleasure," Allen nodded at the petite girl. For some reason, the girl had turned an alarming shade of red, her fingers nervously twirling through the curly hair pulled into two pigtails beneath her ears.

"H-hello," Lou Fa stammered in a barely audible voice, avoiding eye-contact.

"Uhh, right," Allen finally broke the awkward silence. "I have to go get ready for work, so I'll see you guys later." He then quickly made his escape.

"Allen! Wait up!"

Said boy came to a halt and spun around, relieved to see that it was Lenalee heading his way. As far as the white-haired teen was concerned, Lenalee was the most enjoyable company he'd found thus far. Even Chomesuke, who he'd known beforehand, got irritating with her relentless teasing.

"Where are you off to, Lenalee?" he asked her pleasantly, once she caught up, and they continued walking side-by-side on the path leading into the heart of the town.

"There's an emergency over at HQ," she huffed, and by her exasperated expression, Allen could predict that it probably wasn't much of an emergency. This proved to be true once she elaborated, "Brother was trying to build another one of those idiotic robots. Unfortunately, the prototype went haywire and escaped. They had to search for it all of last night, until this morning when they could hear Jerry screaming in distraught. Apparently, it found its way into the food storage room and destroyed everything. Fortunately, they have another shipment coming in tonight, but if the Science Division doesn't have a cup of coffee in the next hour, they're bound to drop dead."

Allen shook his head, feeling grateful that they didn't need to reside in Headquarters. "Of course. So I'm guessing that's where you come in?"

"Yep!" Lenalee nodded. "Reever called me up just now and practically begged me to buy a couple dozen pounds coffee. Those guys live off that stuff. Anyway, you're heading to work, right? How's that going for you?"

"Pretty well, actually," Allen smiled at her, "My co-workers are pretty easy-going, and my boss already respects me just because he knows about my position as an Exorcist, which certainly helped considering we disappeared for the whole week. Speaking of which, how's Miranda holding up?"

"As well as she can," Lenalee replied, hands clasped together behind her back as she turned to face him, walking backwards. "She's currently staying at Headquarters, and they're trying to ease her into the idea of being an Exorcist. Her mental health was so out of sorts though, that they had to hire a therapist. They also pulled Tina from her position at the North American Branch. You haven't met her, but she's an Exorcist around Miranda's age, and they figured that having a friendly face who could better relate to her position as an Exorcist would help out. I'll probably be visiting her once I revive the Science Division from their stupor."

They shared a laugh, and Allen said, "Well, send her my regards while you're there. But listen, my shift starts in five, so I should get going. But it was nice talking to one of the few sane people around here."

With a chuckle, Lenalee huffed and said, "No kidding! I'm really glad you came here, Allen. Let's hang out soon, yeah?"

"Yeah, just be sure not to tell Komui," Allen snorted.

A/N: I promise Allen doesn't have a harem. I mean, I know there's Lenalee, Road, and now Lou Fa, but it's not that type of story! Just wanted to make that clear.

Also, last time Mei-Ling popped up, I got some criticism because I didn't write her in character. I know she was like a sweet, perfect angel in the anime, but she's still a kid and surrounded by idiots like Lavi and Daisya. I gave her some spunk, so even if anyone complains, I won't be changing anything. Sorry, not sorry.

Look forward to more Allen and Lenalee in the next chapter!(: Please review~!