Exception
By: Aviantei
40. Dance With the (Goth Lolita) Devil
-or-
It Was, in Fact, a Kind of Long Story, Part Two
Ari had talked a tough game with Johnny, but the truth was that she was in the middle of freaking out, big time. Yes, she knew that the world was way more than just one boy she had a crush on, but it's not like that made things any easier. So she stared at the transfer paperwork in her hands as she stood outside of Black Order High School's administrative office, debating on whether she should turn it in now or talk to Allen first.
I am going. I decided on that already. But I haven't figured out if I want to confess to Allen first or not…
What if he fell for someone else while she was gone? What if she met someone amazing in France and fell in love hard enough to sweep her feelings for Allen away? What if someone asked him out and he accepted? Putting aside the inevitable explosion that would come from Komui if Lenalee ever began to date, she was undoubtedly nurturing a crush on Allen, and Ari could admit Lenalee was pretty cute. Definitely datable material.
But these people will be my friends, even if I go away. It's just difficult to know how much of a part of my life they'll be then…
Ari was proud of her smarts, but even the Bookman family couldn't predict the future—no matter how Lavi used to bullshit that was one of the abilities of the eye under his patch when they were younger. Tiny Ari may or may not have fallen for it, but that was a secret she'd take to the grave! The point was that she could hem and haw about what was to come all she wanted, but she wouldn't be able to predict the outcome.
"Oh, hey, Ari," Allen said, easily navigating the few other students still milling about the school, leaning against lockers and chatting with their nearby friends. Allen had a couple of papers in one of his hands, and Ari tried not to imagine a world where he would also come to France. After all, they'd chatted a lot, and Allen had mentioned that he was more than happy to stay in one place for a while after all the traveling he'd done as a kid. His gray eyes flicked to her own paperwork. "You got something to pass to the office, too? Cross didn't fill out some other important form, so I'm dropping it off again…"
Though Allen hadn't seen Cross since the man had shipped him off to high school, there always seemed some bit of paperwork or another haphazardly mailed in an envelope that Allen then had to take responsibility for. He supposed it could have been worse—Cross had a nasty habit of running up a rather extensive tab wherever he went, so at least Allen wasn't left dealing with the debt—but it was still annoying as all get out.
"Oh? I guess there's a lot that he sends back your way, huh?" Ari tried for her usual chipper smile (which generally wasn't hard to give Allen, considering how happy seeing him made her), but it wasn't quite up to snuff. Allen noticed, his brow creasing a little bit in concern. "Hey, Allen-san, I've been wanting to tell you something…" Might as well get it out of the way since the universe had been kind enough to dump Allen right in front of her at the critical juncture.
"Well, I'm all ears," Allen said, his politeness kicking in right on cue. "Oh, is this something you'd wanna go somewhere private to talk about? We could maybe stop by somewhere to eat on the way home, if you wanted…"
Ari knew the offer was at least partway fueled by Allen's infinite stomach capacity, but she giggled regardless. "No, here's fine. It's nothing too out there anyway." Just dumping the news that she was going to be living on another continent for the next foreseeable chunk of her high school career, no big deal, that shit happens every day. Letting out a breath, Ari steeled her resolve and held up the papers she was this close to crumpling in her tightened hands. "I'm going to France!"
She was going, because the opportunity was there, and she knew she'd regret it if she didn't take it. Of course, there were other regrets that came as a consequence of going, but they were much smaller than the alternative. Allen blinked a few times before the words on the paper before him and the ones that Ari had said came together and started making some semblance of sense—and then that happened, he beamed, happy for his friend's happiness.
"That's amazing! I mean, uh, I only kinda remember France, but I'm sure you'll enjoy it." Oh so many years of travel wasted due to blocking out memories of Cross being an awful guardian. Thankfully, Ari wouldn't have to deal with any issues like that on a school supported trip. Allen squinted a bit at the paper and found the dates. "So you'll be going there at the start of next semester…?" Ari nodded and realized that she probably didn't need to keep shoving her paperwork in Allen's face. "Well, I just know you'll get into the program. Are you excited?"
The "Yes!" rushed out of Ari's mouth before she could even get caught up in her internal overthinking mechanisms, which was as much of a sign as any to her true feelings. She reigned in her enthusiasm a little bit, letting the other bits of her true feelings out. "I guess I'm just worried," she said, and Allen's expression immediately shifted to one of worry—half his natural and genuine compassion, the other half a paranoia that something was about to go terribly wrong if one of the Bookman siblings was worried about something. "I like being here a lot. I like you guys a lot. What if I come back and everything's so different that I don't fit in anymore?"
The vulnerability was so poignant that Ari was starting to regret not taking Allen up on his offer too talk somewhere other than the very public hallway of their high school. Trying to make sure he didn't mess things up, Allen paused for a moment before giving a response.
"I know what you mean," Allen said, and Ari peered at him with such a curious intensity that he couldn't continue to meet her eyes. "Since I traveled a lot, I know what it feels like to not feel like there's a place you fit. Whenever you're out there, it just seems like you're slotting yourself in wherever there's a convenient gap." Ari nodded. Her situation had been a little bit different, since she had Lavi and the Old Panda with her, but never settling down was exhilarating and nerve wracking all at once. "But this is your home now, no matter where else you go and visit. Lavi's going to stay here, and I'll make sure to leave a space open for you. So go ahead. Follow your dream and enjoy your time abroad. We'll be waiting here for you when you get home."
Home, Ari couldn't help but think, what a pretty word. And she knew what Allen was saying was right—though more than the house she and Lavi had filled to the brim with books, her real home was standing right in front of her trying to look reassuring and not let the worry that he'd just said the absolute wrong thing show on his face.
Ari bumped into Allen's chest with a whump, and she squeezed the tightest hug she could muster around his waist. "Thanks, Allen-san. I'll hold you to it, so you better be ready to welcome me back when I come home, got it? I want balloons. Hundreds of them."
Though stunned at first by the contact, Allen regained his senses and gave quick hug in return. "I'll tell Lavi to start saving up now. Maybe if we're lucky, we can find book shaped ones."
Ari giggled—though her mirth evaporated just the tiniest little bit as she realized that she'd managed to crush her exchange program application in the process and that it would probably be nicer to the people organizing the trip to fill out a new one.
But at least once that was done, Ari and Allen went out to grab something to eat afterwards, and the simple, mundane conversation that followed was more than reward enough.
While it may not have seemed utterly clear beforehand, let us not make any mistake that the point of this flashback was to give a little bit more insight into the rather intricate thoughts of premeditated murder that were flashing through one Ari Bookman's head as she watched the spectacle unfolding on the dance floor.
Considering that she'd made a handful of laps around the world by the time she was in middle school, Ari had seen some weird shit—and she'd developed a decent tolerance for a lot of it. Reading everything she could get her hands on also helped with that, since some authors just didn't know when to slow the fuck down. Ari could handle a lot, even once it reached absolute mindfuck territory.
The creepy but kinda hot Noah guy hitting on her brother via the art of unfairly attractive dancing? Fine, nothing to worry about here, let's move on people.
The creepy goth Noah chick hitting on Allen by getting up in his personal space via the medium of dancing?
Oh, hell no.
It wasn't even just the dancing, either. This Road Camelot had colluded with the people in charge of the dance lighting and managed to get a spotlight that Ari was pretty certain wasn't anywhere in the ballroom's plans—like what even—bringing even more attention to her. Allen froze up, his brain kicking into a survival mode he hadn't felt since that one time with Cross in India when Elizabeth did something really stupid that involved elephants and a lot of repressed memories. Considering that this girl had apparently stalked him, that was a pretty normal reaction.
Too bad for Allen that Road had all the instincts of a predator cornering its next meal. Moving with the music, Road stalked closer, the spotlight following her movements (amazing how you could get techies to work with you when you shoved a handful of bills at them). Allen, still far too stunned, was stuck in place, which was losing him out on points in the dance off category on top of everything else.
Lenalee's eyes narrowed as she took in the situation, her protective friend instincts kicking in. While part of the feeling was driven by the distaste of watching someone else come on to Allen without any inhibitions—but that was far less important than someone was making one of her dear friends incredibly freaking uncomfortable. Johnny sensed her aura and scooted aside, determining an upset Lee Lenalee far worse than being in the immediate proximity of a Noah.
"Hello, Allen, dear," Road said—just loud enough for Allen to hear but not for anyone watching to make out what she was saying. "I've been so excited to meet you in person! Dance with me?"
It was a completely innocuous request, and Allen's well-honed danger instincts told him that saying "yes" would be an awful mistake, while saying "no" would just as easily unleash a similar level of hell. Not that Road gave him an opportunity to answer, as she snatched Allen's hands and pulled him into a two-person waltz that managed to match the tempo of the song she'd requested, if not the general imagery.
The watching crowd was stunned; MPHS and Black Order kids didn't dance together, it was just a fact of life. Ari was quickly brainstorming a suitable distraction—the audio equipment looked like it could set on fire under the right circumstances—and Lenalee had abandoned all sense of decorum and stood up with a fierce stomp that shook the judges' table. That display of emotion was more than enough to set Komui off, who was gearing up to spill blood the moment that he found the little maggot that was responsible for upsetting his sister.
"You're good at this, Allen," Road said, enjoying the close contact that the waltz form gave her. Allen had maintained the form, at least, though his hands were barely resting on Road's shoulder and side and he was all around stiff. "Have you practiced before?"
"A little," he said, politeness kicking in since he really didn't want to make a bigger scene than what was already going on. Elizabeth liked to dabble in a little bit of everything, and Allen had been the perfect victim—ah, sorry, partner to her experimental hobby decisions. "That said, I don't think this is what you're supposed to do in the middle of a dance competition."
"Don't care!" Road giggled, and the sound was just a bit unhinged. As if there weren't enough red flags popping up already. "I didn't join this to show up the other Black Order idiots. You gotta think big, you know!" Like arranging a cross-school Valentine's Day dance just to have a chance of seeing the boy from your rival high school. Really, anyone who wouldn't do at least that much was really slacking, as far as Road was concerned.
And it worked out! She'd gotten a dance with Allen Walker, and now they were formally introduced. Slipping into the rest of his life would be easy. Don't you worry, Allen, dear. I'm going to take good care of you.
Delighted as she was, Road adjusted the steps to do a twirl under Allen's arm, enjoying the feel of the moment as her skirt and petticoats moved with the spin. Allen wasn't thrown off at all, keeping up the dance even though he really just wanted to bolt at this point. Except both of them were thrown off when a hand snatched Road's free one, tugging her into a fresh twirl and away from Allen.
"May I have this dance?"
Road almost went for the scissors hidden up her skirt—never leave home without 'em—but she only resisted because getting blood on Allen really wasn't the best move for this stage in their relationship, while Allen himself could only stare at Ivy and wonder what the bloody hell she was doing.
To answer Allen's (and many innocent bystanders') question, we'll have to conduct another flashback. No need to fuss, though, as this one is only less than an hour in the past, as opposed to a few years. Those adventures would have to wait until another thematically appropriate time to rise again.
Ivy and Kanda had taken a breather from the absolute chaos of the main ballroom by retreating outside the venue for a little bit. The air was chilly, and clouds of crystallized breath danced through the night air any time someone exhaled. Still, it was a good opportunity to clear their heads from the headache that ensued from the concepts of "Lavi" and "dance competition" being in the same place.
And the cold may or may not have been a good excuse to just cuddle for warmth. Just sayin'.
"We can't stay out here all night, you know," Ivy said, and Kanda huffed in an impressive display of immediately condensing moisture. "I told Allen that I'd help him out. I'm not one to go back on my word."
"Yeah, I know," Kanda said with all his usual grumpiness. He wouldn't have minded heading home at that precise moment—hell he had his keys in his pocket and everything—and it wasn't like Ivy blamed him for it. "You're way too nice sometimes."
"I think you're overestimating me. Don't be so disappointed when I turn out to be not so nice." Sure, he'd hardly batted an eye at her little Make a Fancy Dining Table Collapse in on Itself stunt, but that was just the tip of the metaphorical and cliché ice burg.
Kanda only shrugged. "I'm not the nicest person, either. I think we'll work out." He squeezed Ivy's shoulder one more time, which was probably the most reassuring move in his repertoire. "Time to head back in?"
"At least for a little bit. Make sure the rabbit hasn't burnt down the building yet." Funny, how she forgot to account for Ari, who was just as likely to cause that level of carnage under the right circumstances. "If all else fails, we can just sit back and gouge the Noah's fancy buffet for all it's worth." That earned her another snort, and soon the heating of inside the ballroom slipped over them and began to thaw out the chill from the outdoors.
Ivy led the charge inside, Kanda following dutifully behind her, and they were just in time for a certain blaring MC announcement from the growing dance competition inside. Namely, the one declaring Allen's entrance into the dance off (Kanda barked out a derisive laugh at the idea of the bean sprout having any sort of proficiency in that area), plus the one that followed:
"And from our own Millennium Private High School: another of our prestigious top Noah—Road Kamelot!"
Aw, hell.
Ivy really wasn't the most social person in the world. Her current friend group was almost too much for her, really, and it wasn't even that big. But Ivy hadn't always gone to Black Order High, and she still had a few connections that were useful for finding out things—like the brat who'd showed up in the mall with scissors. Between her distinctive appearance and her even more distinctive behavior, it wasn't all that hard to learn her name—which just so happened to be the name announced over the speakers as Allen's upcoming opponent.
Not even bothering to give Kanda an explanation, Ivy let go of his hand and forged into the very stupid unknown with the feeling that her "easy job" of helping Allen out was about to get way more complicated.
[Author's Notes]
Happy chapter forty. I promise this arc doesn't have much left.
Thanks to BethxAngel, Archangel305, Kurama Yin-Yang, and Allen Wolker for the faves and follows! Apologies for the long update gap. I've actually been working on writing out the next block of chapters in the hope of something like more consistent updates. Uncertain if I'm going to lock into a schedule just yet, but we'll at least have another update next month for the anniversary.
While I'm still working on building a queue, I did draft the end of this arc, so we're almost there! I just can't believe how long it took me to write it in the first place. But we're getting to something close to a final 'showdown,' so buckle up.
Chapter 41 will come out next month. Please look forward to it!
-Avi
[11.13.2021]