Story: A Touch of Color in the Gray

Book 1 : Shading the black.

Date : August 25, 2021

Beta: Lucky's-Dice

Fandom : D Gray Man

Disclaimer : No, I do not own D Gray Man and I am not making any profit from this story.

Summary : After waking up in the 19th century, Ennaël took the name Eve, became the companion of Tricia Kamelott and decided to make her own opinion on the charac... people of this new world despite her knowledge of the manga. Little by little, she became aware of the difference in social codes for women of this time and began to fear for the future, especially when Road, the twins, Allen, Tyki, The Earl, Lulubell and Skin Bolic arrived little by little.

While trying to flee the Earl, Eve meets Victor Hugo who gives her a lot of information on the holy war before dying. Eve discovers she has a strange talent for musical instruments and wonders with horror if she could be the 14th. It doesn't help that the Earl has discovered her talents and seems to be more and more interested in her.

She then argues with Tyki who fails to kill her with his Noah powers, begins a correspondence with Conan Doyles and again nearly dies of Tuberculosis. And since things always come in threes, she once again avoids dying by falling into an icy lake after having celebrated Christmas with the Noahs. Yeah, not her best year. But the next will be better!

Kof...

And in the last chapter : The wedding between Eve and Tyki...

French version: ...FINISHED !

English version: A moment of silence for Lyra, AxZi, Koneko, Nouilleverte and Fluffyluffy our wonderful past-Beta (... I'm going to think there is a curse)

Fanart: You can see drawings of Eve and some fanart made by readers on my Tumblr (Ennael too). Also, Elogane made a canon side-fic but in french, It's "Nuancer les sentiments"

Italic: french, important thought (or both)

Soooo... the chapter was done in time and all, I just... forgot to post it? But meh, who read this anyway X)

In any case, guess who we meet again in this chapter? : 3

Good Reading!

Monday, May 2, 1887

Hot.

It was the first more or less conscious thought that occurred to me. It was so hot but I didn't want to move… the mattress was comfortable, my pillow was perfectly placed… but it was so hot…

Muttering an insult, I lifted my stiff arm to pull the blanket off of me… and heard a moan in answer.

A moan that didn't come from me.

"Eeeeve!" A muffled voice moaned beside me. Gasping in surprise, I stood up on one elbow, turning my head to see ... Road pushing back the blanket with a pout. "You woke me up!"

"Road?!" I mumbled in surprise. But what… Hu, the wedding, the wedding night… but Road? "How long have you been here?"

"Hmmm, I don't know? Last night? I came right here when I got sleepy." The girl replied, sitting up in turn, stretching slowly.

"On our wedding night?" Tyki muttered, his voice barely understandable and I looked up to see him across Road, completely hidden by the blanket and his head sunk into his pillow. Only a strand of curly black hair was visible, at least until he turned his head to give us a tired look.

"Please Tyki, like you're going to do anything." The girl replied with such a condescending voice that even though it was completely true, I still felt a little outraged.

"How did you manage to slip in there without waking me up? I don't sleep well with people, usually." I mumbled in surprise as I pushed a bundle of hairs behind my ear.

"Is that so? You fell asleep quickly yesterday, it was me who had trouble: you snore." Tyki muttered before shoving his head back into the pillow.

"Tyki, you can't say that!" Road exclaimed before pulling the blanket off her uncle who only curled up and hugged his pillow tighter. Clearly he was used to being woken up by Road.

"No no, I don't snore, I purr." I laughed softly at my poor private joke at Road's weird look before collapsing onto my side of the bed again. "I don't want to get up…"

"You never want to get up." Tyki scoffed with a teasing smile barely visible beyond his pillow and I gave him a disbelieving look. He was much worse than me for that! I just wanted to read in bed, but he was all ready to sleep more.

"Good thing, you lazy bunch, this is the only time Mother will leave you alone for the day, take advantage of it!" Road smirked before crawling over to the nightstand, leaning on Tyki's stomach (who let out a very clearly exaggerated "Arf!" Given Road's weightlessness and a Noah's strength) to grab a stack of books. "And I even brought you some things so you won't be bored."

"You are my favorite person in the whole world." I say seriously, picking up one of the books. Oooh, a new adventure novel! Being able to hang out in bed and read for hours on end without Tricia going into hysterics thinking I was sick? A miracle.

Besides… "Why would Tricia leave us alone today?" I asked curiously as I lowered the book to look at Road who was quietly settling back into a sandwich between Tyki and me. We were supposed to go on a honeymoon in the afternoon, on the contrary I thought she would be even more hysterical than usual with our rushed departure.

"She's giving you time to recover from… last night." Road explained with a smirk and a eybrow wave and it took a second for me to understand that she was talking about recovering from the sex that didn't happen.

"Let's take advantage of it then, this excuse won't work twice." I scoffed and Road took the book from me and started to read it aloud. It was surprisingly relaxing.

We held out as long as possible, but finally we had to get up around noon. Our bodies, accustomed to eating at fixed times, did not support the buffet the night before and the lack of breakfast this morning and woke up with vengeance, demanding food as soon as possible. The lunch was extremely strange, the Kamelott couple being particularly focused on us without speaking. You could tell Tricia wanted to ask me how it went and Sheryl looked like he was on the verge of kidnapping his brother as well. Conversely, the twins were excited, chatting at lightning speed with the Earl about a bunch of things they seemed to have learned the day before. Lucie was as calm as ever but we exchanged a few words and I was happy to see that our brand new relationship continued to hold on.

After lunch, the frenzy I was dreading this morning was in full swing and soon we were in the hallway, far too many trunks filled with unnecessary (in my opinion) and essential (in Tricia's opinion) by our side. After a heartbreaking goodbye where I had to hold myself back from rolling my eyes when Shery strangled his brother in a murderous hug (because it wouldn't even be for a month and besides Tyki could come back anytime thanks to Road) we were leaving. Finally.

"So?" I wondered curiously once we were comfortably (or as comfortably as possible given the time) in the cab. Indeed, despite having bored him all morning to find out (since it was the first time I had been able to talk to him quietly since my birthday) I still had no idea where we were going on our honeymoon.

"Direction France." Tyki smiles. "We're going to visit the house that Adam gave you, see if we need to do any work on it to make it habitable although I doubt it, knowing him. It will be a good place if we need to escape your brother-in-law if he gets too annoying."

"He's your brother! You can't pass him on to me like that." I laughed, shaking my head. Already it was strange calling him out loud Sheryl after treating him like Lord Kamelott for so long, I wasn't ready to call him 'Brother-in-law'. "But I hadn't thought of that… We can totally use the excuse of 'romantic' trips to get away from the mansion now… In fact, we even have our own house, we could…" I realized, excited.

"I'll stop you right now, we'll find ourselves locked in our rooms with the studded windows if we even pretend to want to live elsewhere." Tyki grimaced. "We may be married adults, but Sheryl isn't going to let me out of his sight for too long and I doubt Tricia will let you go, too."

"... this family really has a problem." I sighed before realizing that, hey, since the day before, I was officially part of it! And even worse ... by standards at the time, I was perhaps the strangest of them all.

Hu.

"Welcome to the family!" Tyki scoffed, echoing my thoughts, and I stuck my tongue out at him, trying to hide the small smile playing on my lips. Welcome indeed...

Adam was a terrible, terrible liar, I thought, my mouth wide open as I saw the "little house" spread out in front of me. Beside me, Tyki let out an admiring hiss. "Well, that's a gift, I'd be almost jealous."

"I thought it was a wedding present?" I asked confused as I turned to him. In that case, wasn't it his?

"Yes, but for you, it's your dowry. It goes into our marriage contract, Adam put in a clause that the dowry was yours and that you could do with it whatever you wanted. Sheryl was not happy..." Tyki smirked, satisfied even though it penalized him more than his brother. "Haven't you read the contract?" He looked confused and it was not surprising: it was I who kept scolding him when he signed his paperwork in a hurry to be able to do something else, telling him all the time that 'you had to read the contracts carefully'.

"I did not understand everything." I confessed, the cheeks red. I had certainly made a lot of progress in English with the daily conversations and readings, but the terms of the contracts, in Old English moreover, were another kettle of fish. "I wanted to use a dictionary but the contract had to be sent as soon as possible for it to be validated so Adam explained the essential points to me. Or at least I thought so… I would have remembered if he talked about that, I believed that a married woman could not own anything."

"Without the consent of the father or the husband, yes." Tyki nodded.

Waw, that was… incredibly sweet. I was touched when Adam offered us this house, a little moved that he had chosen a house in France knowing my origins… I was even more so now that I learned that it was my house, that it was only for me and it was only because of him that it was possible. If Sheryl had done as he wanted, I wouldn't have had the right to own anything, Adam had stood up for me, only for my own benefit. There was absolutely nothing for him! I had already served my purpose of making Tyki the heir to the Campbells, I couldn't give them anything more, they didn't even need an heir (this one, I verified it carefully, the need for an heir was not in the contract). In fact, they could have had me killed now, they didn't need to keep me alive let alone secure my future like that.

... How was I supposed to be able to hate the Destroyer of Humanity when he did things like this for me?!

And it really was a hell of a gift. I did not have enough knowledge of the region to say which one but knowing that the Loire river passed right next to the "little house", I could safely say that I had just inherited one of the castles of the Loire.

I knew that with all the akumas in his service, my "father" was filthy rich, but I didn't think it was so much that he could give a castle with its fields and forests as a wedding gift.

Worse yet, the chateau was fully furnished and in immaculate condition. It smelled so clean that I was surprised to see only five servants welcoming us. But at the same time, if it was akumas...

We stayed at the castle for a few days, just long enough to explore the secret passages and the attics. We must have looked like two kids on an adventure, but it was far too interesting rummaging through the old trunks full of hundred-year-old objects or climbing the rafters of towers for me to care. Better yet, making the most of being alone, Tyki had me try out his powers, taking me from rooftop to rooftop as he walked through the air. It was infinitely more terrifying than in the bedroom, the floor tens of yards below me not exactly appealing, but you couldn't deny that it was uplifting. And, well... I trusted him not to let go of me.

We left quickly, however. Too early for my taste, really, those few days at the castle had been incredible, but Tyki quickly convinced me.

"In India?" I blinked in surprise before a broad, hopeful smile streaked my lips. "You mean we're going to see…"

"Allen, yes." He smiles. "I organized everything with him, he said that his Master was going to leave him with a friend near Silvassa, that's where our boat docks, so he can join us there." Tyki explained. "In the meantime, I've taken tickets for the fastest boat they have, we'll just have to enjoy the trip."

And what a trip! A first class boat of those we saw in the movies. It was impressive in terms of the activities, the clothes, the food… But at the same time, it was not very pleasant, the people being terribly stilted and quick to judge. We were in first class so always with the other nobles or well-off and it was a little strange to suddenly be surrounded like that. It was like an endless ball, repeating itself from day to day and even though we didn't have the pressure of Sheryl looking over our shoulder, it was still boring. Worse, it was impossible to go to second class by traditional routes, the two being completely separate. Tyki had to use his powers so we could go quietly, Tyki playing cards at the bar while I chatted with other women. Having had very few conversations without a Noah over the past two years it was refreshing. Women only talked about their families, marriage or their jobs as a maid or washerwoman or on a very rare occasion as a merchant, but it was so new to me that I loved listening to them talk about their lives. It was like a living documentary! And in a way, it reminded me of my grandmother's stories even though, in her youth, the latter belonged more to the first class than the second.

But finally, we arrived in India and I was a little anxious when I got off the boat. "How are we going to find him?" I asked worriedly.

"In the letter with his answer, he told me to stay at the Majestic hotel and that he will ask for us there as soon as he arrives." Tyki assured me.

The Majestic, contrary to what you might think with its name, was a middle class hotel. Not for people with too much money to spend (like us, actually) but not for commoners either. The beds were clean and the food edible which was all I wanted so the hotel suited me very well. Better still because unlike the boat, I didn't have to prepare myself in a trendy evening dress and hairstyle just to go to dinner. It's crazy how the problems evolved from perspective… I felt really bad that my biggest worry was dressing well to go to eat while walking in the streets of Silvassa, we kept seeing beggars and barefoot children. It was always difficult to face human misery especially when only luck saved me from this fate. But I didn't know what to do to help so… I looked away, guilty.

Allen arrived at the hotel the next day. We had barely gone down the hall to eat when I saw a head of white hair walking through the doors of the hotel. The scar as red as the first time I saw it caught my eye and I stopped dead. Removing my hand from Tyki's arm, I walked quickly to the door, barely restraining myself from jumping on the boy to crush him in a hug.

"Allen!" I called, a big smile spreading across my lips. How I missed him! Admittedly, I had only seen him a week before he left, but it had been over two years since we exchanged letters as often as possible and I felt like I knew him as well as if we had passed our life together.

Well… it kinda was. Even if I wanted to avoid thinking about it… I had no doubt that my knowledge of the manga was certainly contributing to the thing and having read and reread it since I was seven years old, it was almost like that. It was impossible to know someone fully and that's why giving confidence was such an amazing thing because it was always a bit hit and miss… But with the manga, I got to see the heart of Allen, his most secret thoughts and dreams without any false filter being able to hide it from me. And while he had surely already strayed far from that version of himself with our constant discussions between him, Tyki and I, I couldn't help being not totally objective. "How you grew up! And you still have the ribbon I gave you!" I smile when I get to him, delighted to see him even more with my farewell gift around his neck.

"Eve! You haven't changed… I'm glad to see you. And of course I have it! I wouldn't want to… Tyki!"

"Waw, kid, you've grown like a weed since we last saw each other!" Tyki exclaimed and I glanced over my shoulder to see that he had already joined us.

"You won't be able to call me 'Kid' now." Allen smirked and indeed, it was hard to treat him like a child now. Oh, he still had the chubby cheeks of his childhood a bit, but like the twins he had grown up so much that I could look him in the eye without lowering my head. He was still a little shorter than me, but it wouldn't be for long.

"Don't count on it!" Tyki scoffed, rubbing Allen's head, making his previously combed hair look like a bird's nest. Allen laughed as he pushed Tyki's hand away and I was in awe of how happy he looked, he hadn't even flinched when Tyki touched him even though he always looked uncomfortable before. Smiling, I shyly put my hand on his arm, telling him I was happy to see him.

"Letters are good, but seeing you for real… I have so much to tell you and… oh, is that the ring from…? That's right, congratulations!" He exclaimed, looking at the intertwined gold ring on my finger even as Tyki held up his, identical.

"Yep, 'Robin' is married, you have a brother-in-law now." Tyki teased and I nudged him, rolling my eyes.

"Really, you could have done better than that, Eve." Allen sighed falsely disappointed even as Tyki and I exchanged a surprised look. Waw, it was definitely a 180! Happy and a little more open than usual, okay, but here Allen just got us out of our sarcasm? It was astonishing.

"You look… Good." Tyki said with a strange voice, echoing my thoughts.

Allen blinked, looking confused before a shy smile developed on his lips. He looked more like the Allen we had known like that but I didn't know if that was good news or not. "I guess… My master makes me work hard but… I learned a lot of things. Oh, and then there's Narein! I already told you about him, didn't I? Come on, I want to introduce him to you." He added, his hand making a slight movement to take mine and pull me after him, as he did when he was little, before changing his mind. It didn't surprise me, hard to know what to do or not do when we hadn't seen each other for two years and despite our best efforts, a certain uneasy tension was clearly present between the three of us.

But seeing as he had initiated it… I grabbed Allen's hand and gave him a reassuring smile when he turned to me hesitantly. He looked down at our hands, then glanced at Tyki and came back to me with a raised eyebrow.

What…

"Don't worry, I'm not jealous." Tyki replied, shrugging his shoulders.

"Oh, okay. I know in your last letters you said you were forced to get married by your family, Tyki, but I thought that… maybe…" Allen muttered, flushed cheeks.

Awww, he was embarrassed, it was so cute! "Pfff, no, don't worry, it's already too much work to have him as a best friend, so more… Hey!" I laughed, trying to push his arm away, when Tyki rubbed my hair, surely wreaking havoc on my previously perfectly pinned bun.

"Do you see what I have to put up with?" Tyki sighed dramatically, holding me at arm's length, preventing me from flicking my fingers on his cheek. Instead, I stuck my tongue out at him and dragged Allen to the hotel entrance, letting Tyki lazily follow us.

"Ah, no, Timcanpy! Stay in my pocket." Allen whispered suddenly and I turned my head just in time to see something gold disappear into his coat. Raising an eyebrow, Allen made a face and I let it go. I knew exactly what it was after all so I might as well not bother him, instead I was quick to change the subject.

There wasn't much need for it, however, as waiting right at the entrance was a battling-haired boy who looked as different from the locals as we did. Yet Allen immediately walked over to him and the boy looked up from his book to greet us with a smile.

"Tyki, Eve, this is Narein, the friend who studies medicine I told you about." Allen smirked before turning to his friend. "And Narein, it's Eve and… well I guess her husband, Tyki. It's my English friends that I correspond with." And that was silly, but I felt immense pleasure when he introduced Tyki as my Husband instead of introducing me as his wife. On the boat it had always been 'Mr. and Mrs. Thibert Campbell' which had the gift of annoying me to the highest point (and making me laugh because really, Thibert...)

"Nice to meet you, Allen has told us a lot about you." I smiled warmly. Or at least until he looked at me strangely and gave Tyki a look, like he was waiting for something. Tyki said his greetings as well and finally Narein greeted us both, Tyki first and then me, as if he hadn't heard my first greeting. Urgh. Surrounded by servants, Tyki and Allen, I had almost forgotten the little problem of 19th century relationships between men and women. Almost.

Freezing my smile into something polite, I mentally prepared myself for a long day of frustration. And it was even worse than that! Because Narein was really interesting. Calm and composed, he knew a lot of stuff about a lot of things. Whether from the city to local customs, including the best medicinal teas or useful crafts, he bounced around every topic of conversation with knowledge and interest. As long as Tyki was talking, anyway. As soon as I spoke he was instantly silent and glanced at Tyki, like he was waiting for him to do something, it was infuriating.

The worst part was that it was embarrassing for everyone, Allen kept giving us worried little glances and even Tyki with his usual calm couldn't ease the mood. We parted quickly in the evening with a promise to meet again the next day and I exchanged a questionable look with Tyki.

Fortunately, either Allen had reconsidered the matter or Narein had felt that he didn't fitted quite right because the next day Allen came alone. It was as if our wandering week of two years ago was starting over again, albeit noticeably hotter. It was wonderful to put on pants and a cap and run around with them around town, sneaking around every corner, visiting forbidden places and trying every little food stall around. Unfortunately our allotted week passed quickly and soon we and Allen were due to be back soon.

The day before departure however, when only Allen and I were staying in the hotel lounge, Tyki, having gone up to his room with one of the women who had been eyeing him all week, we came to an interesting topic: Allen's real learning. We had never really talked about it in our letters to my great relief (I never knew who could read them...), I had several times, whether it was before his departure or in the letters that I posted myself, under-heard… things about what he was doing. The Akumas, the Millennial Earl, the Exorcists… Allen had never taken the bait but… well somehow the cannon got closer and closer, Allen was already fifteen, that would be. This year he would go to the Black Order.

And I refused to lose contact with him and let the cannon go as planned.

And so, one way to prevent that was for him not to feel obligated to protect me. Showing him how deadly I had become with knives had helped (making me even better during the whole month of preparing for marriage. The temptation of stabbing things had been great, very great…) but showing him that I knew it would be even better. I wanted to be someone he could count on and if I had to reveal some of the secrets I had so jealousy kept… so be it.

So, as soon as Tyki was gone, I made sure we were safe from prying ears before speaking. It had been difficult at first, I had no idea how to start without coming out with some kind of lie that I had seen exorcists in action before or whatever. The only time I had mentioned it was to Victor Hugo and this time it was I who took the bait. Finally, speaking of the village decimated by akumas where I had been found two and a half years earlier, more or less amnesiac, and linking that to the symbol I had seen on the coat of General Cross and the stalkers that I had crossed paths from time to time in the city, I had managed to pull out an almost plausible story with a minimum rate of lies. I was a little proud. Allen was as confused and worried as I might have expected but when I assured him it wasn't a bluff and I was actually aware of what was going on and ready to help him, he began to speak as well. And then he taught me something important:

"I think that we will be going to the headquarters of the Order soon. Master didn't tell me anything, but he asked Narein if he wanted to accompany me to the Order where he preferred to enroll in a school of medicine. Narein said he wanted to go on an apprenticeship with the Order so… so that he could help me if I got hurt. " Allen explained, blushing a little, seeming embarrassed to be such a big part of his friend's dream. Fortunately he didn't know that much of my life revolved around his… "And Master told him to settle his affairs in India then, because we would be leaving soon."

"Are you going to come back to England then?" I asked, my voice sounding a little weird. I was happy to have (maybe) the possibility to see him more often but… I knew what announced his return to Europe.

"Maybe… I don't know exactly where the Order is. But I would travel a lot for the missions! I'm sure I would find a way to come and see you and Tyki." He smiles, trying to be optimistic.

At his words, I bit my lip because, Allen, come see us at the mansion? It only announced worries but I could not tell him why it would be a danger for him… or if so? Before I could change my mind, I hurried to open my lips, taking his hands and looking into his to show just how serious I was. "Allen, listen… Tyki… Tyki isn't exactly a good person." I stammered and Allen raised an eyebrow as if to tell me, really? And I couldn't blame him, he and I knew Tyki was a cheater, a liar, a thief and a devotee of the pleasures of the flesh, this was nothing new. "No, listen, besides the usual vices, Tyki is not…" I continued before stopping dead in frustration. "Well, I can't tell you why but you have to trust me on this, okay? Tyki loves you like a brother but he works for someone not very recommendable and he is very loyal. If that person were to ask him to kill you… I'm not even sure Tyki would hesitate."

"Eve…" Allen whispered with wide, confused eyes.

"It's just to warn you, okay? I don't want to break your relationship or anything, you both are important to me and that's exactly why I'm warning you. If ever one day. you feel like Tyki is not… normal, I want you to run, you understand?"

"Eve, you know what I'm capable of, even if Tyki could really… I could defend myself. Besides, why would his employer be after me? Wait, my master pissed them off too? Ho no, again from…"

"Allen!" I called, pulling him out of his slump and forcing him to look at me again. "Please, just promise me. If you ever have any doubts, even just a feeling…" I sighed, knowing it was too hard for him to promise me escape in the face of a threat. "Just be careful. Promise me."

"... promised. I will be careful. But Eve, if Tyki is really that dangerous that you say so, even to me when we're friends and I can defend myself, are you safe with him?" He asked frantically. But I was silent. Because honestly...

I couldn't swear it.

The end is near...

Who wants to know more about Eve's mysterious past and her arrival in this world? : D

Think about letting a review and see yah next 25th!