Red Riding Hood

Genre: Romance with a side of Humour. And Supernatural I guess, cos werewolves...

Rating: T

Warnings: probable OOC (but that's to be expected since it's an AU), breaking the fourth wall (just a little), Boy Love (don't like, don't read)

This idea hit me last night and I just had to write it. It ended up a lot longer than I originally planned... Also, the world needs more Poker Pair! I've been thinking this consistently for awhile now...

Disclaimer: I don't own D. Gray-Man

"Allen~!" Mana called from the kitchen in their sizeable cottage. Said boy was quite happily taking a snooze when he heard his father calling. He sighed lightly, stretching a little before going downstairs to see what the man wanted.

"Morning~!" Mana chirped happily when he caught sight of Allen in the kitchen entrance.

"Mornin' Mana. You need something? " Allen greeted drowsily, giving off a small yawn. Mana gave him a blinding smile in return and placed a large plate in front of him, containing a ridiculous amount of food. Ridiculous for a normal person anyway, Allen always ate that much for some reason. The teen dug into his food while his father started talking.

"I wanted to ask you to take some food to your Uncle Neah for me! He's sick, so he can't go out by himself for awhile." Mana explained, slipping into a small pout. Mana cared a lot for his twin, even though they had a fight and weren't living together anymore.

"You'll need to go through the forest to get to his cottage, so be careful not to get lost. Oh! And Allen, don't forget about the Wolves living there. They may seem nice, but they're tricksters. You can't trust anyone you see in that forest other than your Uncle Neah, alright." Mana warned him gravely. It was one of the only times the man was ever serious, when he was warning Allen about Wolves.

Wolves, or werewolves as some liked to call them, where strange creatures that were half-human and half-wolf. They could take either form, but were easily spotted in their human form because of their rather obvious ears and tail. Although they pretended to be nice, it was only a falsehood so they could trick you into trusting them so they could eat you. Or that was the story at least, nobody had seen or heard from Wolves in a long time... Allen sighed, he didn't really believe in Wolves anymore. He had decided awhile ago that they were just a story to scare little kids and stop them from playing in the forest so they wouldn't get lost. Finishing his breakfast, Allen stood up to get ready. The first thing he grabbed was the large white cloak his father had made for him. He draped it over his shoulders, and did up the clasp so it wouldn't fall off. He then rounded on his father. He would do as the man asked, but that didn't mean he couldn't complain about it~.

"I don't understand why you think you have to take care of him all the time." Allen started, then thought of something he should have before.

"Moreover, why don't you bring it to him yourself?" Allen pointed out blithely, noticing his father starting to sweat a little. Allen narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Is Neah even actually sick? Is this another one of your attempts to get me and him to spend more "Quality-Family-Time" with each other?" Allen growled out, crossing his arms over his chest. Sweat was now pouring down his father's face in bullets. Mana then started laughing abruptly, before clapping his hands together with a startled exclamation.

"Wah, look at the time! You should get going, don't want you to get lost in the forest after dark!" Mana tittered, shoving the basket into the teen's hands, and gently shoving him out the door.

"Have fun! Don't get lost! Make sure you come back before dark! And watch out for those Wolves!" Mana called after him as Allen adjusted the cloak on his shoulders, casting a casual wave over his shoulder to show that he heard his father and grumbling quietly while he headed into the woods.

Allen studiously followed the path set out before him as he wandered through the woods. It wouldn't do to get lost, not only would it take forever to get back but Mana would freak out. So he followed the path, making sure not to get too distracted by the beautiful scenery surrounding him. It really was a beautiful day... Sunlight streamed through the canopy, illuminating the forest and making the leaves sparkle like emeralds because of the little droplets of water from the morning shower. It really was stunning... and Allen was getting distracted. He quickly focused back on the path, breathing a sigh of relief that he was still on the path. The leaves on a nearby bush suddenly started rustling and Allen bristled, scowling lightly. It was far too nice a day for this to turn into a horror story! He watched the bushes closely, only for a small white rabbit to come out. Allen stared blankly for a moment. The rabbit looked at him briefly before scampering away through another bush.

"Hohhh, a fast white rabbit~! Should I follow it...? Nah, wrong story." Allen muttered before continuing on his way. He followed the path before he came to a fork.

"Really?" He commented blithely, looking left and right and trying to decide which way to go. He shrugged and went right, sticking close to the path as he wondered further in. But as he went further and further, the path thinned out and gave way to underbrush and thickening trees. Allen stopped dead, carefully looking around for the path he had lost. He turned around, deciding to try and trace his path back through the brush, but he still couldn't find the path. He didn't admit defeat and kept wandering around.

Hours passed and Allen was finally beginning to admit that he was maybe, just maybe, a little bit lost. Allen groaned slightly, muttering to himself lightly and looking around as he kept walking. That's when he spotted them. Allen froze in his tracks as he stared at them. There were two people not that far away, a young looking girl and a male his age, chatting about something or another. But that's not what caught Allen's attention. No, it was the ears and tail that each sported. Wolves. Allen thought with trepidation.

"You've got to kidding me..." He muttered under his breath, but apparently it was enough to catch their attention. They all stopped and stared at each other, and for a long, frozen moment nobody moved. Mana's words ran through his head.

"They may seem nice, but they're tricksters."

Allen rummaged through the picnic basket for a moment, looking for the "weapon" that he knew his father would have put in there. Smiling mischievously when he found it, he held up an apple for both wolves to see. He looked at the male wolf and waved the apple in his hand, he didn't want to hurt the younger one if he could help it. He wasn't that cruel. The older one on the other hand... The wolf-boy blinked at him, pointing at the apple and then at himself, the universal gesture for "is-that-for-me?". Allen nodded and when the other teen raised his arms and cupped his hands in a catching gesture, he got ready to throw it. He made it look as unassuming as possible until the last moment, then hurled the apple with all the strength he could muster. Allen smirked evilly as it hit the wolf dead-smack in the middle of his forehead, sending him to the ground and earning a loud yelp for his efforts.

"Ah! Why would you do that?!" The wolf screeched as he clutched his forehead, rolling on the ground pitifully. The young girl instantly fell into hysterical laughter, clearly very much amused by the boy's pain. Allen took the chance to slip away from the two and keep looking for his Uncle's cottage. He continued walking for several more hours before he found a small clearing.

Allen was about to enter when he noticed something. Or rather someone. There was a Wolf in human form curled up in the middle of the clearing, settled in a rather soft-looking patch of grass. The sun was still shining down on the spot, probably making it a really nice place to take a nap. But that wasn't the point. The man was a Wolf. Wolves are dangerous. Allen should do everything in his power to avoid them. That was what Mana had always taught him. Although... The man looked kind of cute sleeping like that, not at all dangerous and Allen had the strange urge to go and pat him. All the same, Allen probably shouldn't wake him up and find out if he was dangerous or not. He took a step backwards and wanted to facepalm so badly when he stepped on a branch. How cliché could you get?! He froze in place as the wolf's ears flicked up and his eyes snapped open, his head whipping up to stare at what had woken him up. Which just happened to be Allen...

Piercing gold met startled silver and the two had a small staring contest before Allen decided to just act normally. He raised a hand as a greeting and simultaneously a goodbye and started walking past. The man gave him a blank look before pouncing on top of him. Allen hit the ground with an inelegant Oof, sprawled out on his back with the man looming over him on all fours. Allen glared, his picnic basket had almost been crushed!

"Be careful! You almost smashed my basket!" Allen exclaimed angrily, the man merely raising an eyebrow in response. He then looked the boy over carefully, noting every little detail. The man smirked down at him before lowering his head near Allen's neck and starting to sniff, lick and nip at the sensitive skin there. Allen started to squirm, blushing lightly before remembering what Mana said.

"Hey, aren't you supposed to be nice before you eat me?" Allen grumbled in annoyance. The man raised his head and wrinkled his nose.

"I'm not going to eat you. Besides, humans taste terrible. All those stories were made up to scare little kids away from forests." The man stated, annoyance seeping into his tone.

"I knew it!" Allen exclaimed in triumph. Causing the man to blink in shock. Allen totally called it! Stupid people and their stupid stories... Then he stopped and blinked.

"Wow, that must be really annoying for you guys. People always running away screaming or coming at you with pitchforks and stuff." Or apples... Allen said thoughtfully, his eyebrows knitting together. Mana had always taught him not to judge people by appearances, so why was his father just believing stories like that? The Wolf blinked slightly, surprised that the boy was thinking about them instead of being afraid of him. Allen then nodded, coming to a small decision.

"I'll talk to Mana when I get home, but I have to visit my Uncle first. You know, if you get off..." Allen trailed off, hoping the man would get the hint.

"Such a strange little human~." The man purred and Allen noticed just how nice that voice was. Deep and velvety, it sent a small shiver down Allen's spine. The man didn't notice that though, catching on to something that Allen had said.

"Did you say Mana? As in Neah's brother Mana?" The man asked. Allen's eyebrows skyrocketed. This guy knew Mana and Neah?

"Uh, yeah. The basket's for Neah..." Allen said slowly, watching for the man's reaction.

"Oh." The man stood up, waiting for Allen to check everything in the basket before holding out a hand to the boy, pulling him up when he took it.

"I'll take you to him. Why were going this way though?" The man asked, wrinkling his nose slightly in confusion. Allen sweatdropped.

"I might have been a little lost..." Allen admitted, attempting to remain casual.

"It's in the opposite direction." The man deadpanned. Allen facepalmed.

"Ugh, my sense of direction really needs to start being more reliable..." Allen groaned, dragging his hand down his face. The man chuckled lightly, Allen quickly deciding he liked the sound.

"So, what do I call you, Mr. Wolf? Oh wait, that's a game..." Allen realised, the man gave him a funny look. Allen just grinned that "I-know-things-you-don't" grin. The wolf rolled his eyes slightly before answering.

"My name's Tyki. Tyki Mikk. And you?"

"Allen Walker. Nice to meet you, Tyki Mikk." Allen replied.

"The pleasure's all mine." Tyki purred, giving him a wolfish grin as he started walking in the opposite direction to the way Allen had been going, the teen trailing after him. He briefly thought about Mana's words but pushed them aside, Tyki didn't seem that bad.

"You can't trust anyone in that forest other than you Uncle Neah."

Allen failed to notice them subtly swerving in a different direction...

Tyki and Allen talked about several things while they walked. Allen also took plenty of time to admire just how beautiful Tyki was. The man was tall, easily 6 feet. He had strange yet somehow appealing grey skin, with seven stigmata on his forehead that was partially covered by messy black hair, most of which was pulled back into a long, wavy ponytail. And that was all without mentioning those mesmerising golden eyes. Tyki was also quite fun to be around, he was great at playful banter and easily filled their time with interesting stories and facts about his life and his large family. He even managed to get Allen to open up a bit and tell him about himself in turn. Allen couldn't believe how much he liked Tyki after such a short amount of time. It was bordering on idiotic, really. They only just met after all. But he really couldn't help it, and there was a familiar vibe about the man that he just couldn't shake. Almost like they had met before... But Allen would remember meeting somebody like Tyki, not to mention he had never even seen a Wolf before today. So Allen ignored the nagging sensation in the back of his mind and continued walking and chatting with the beautiful Wolf.

All in all, it took them another couple of hours or so to get to Neah's cottage, and by that time the sun was getting low in the sky. Mana would kill him when he got home... That was if he didn't hug him to death first... Allen focused on the house before him. The cottage looked a little different from what Allen remembered, but he had only been there once before and it was quite a while ago. It just seemed... bigger. Then again, Neah could have expanded it in the time that Allen hadn't seen it. Tyki didn't even bother knocking on the door, just opening it and walking through. Allen followed at a more sedate pace, sticking his head through the door first and entering only when he saw his uncle sitting at a table in the centre of the room. There was another, slightly older man at the table with him and, judging by the ears and tail, he was also a Wolf. Allen failed to notice Tyki's surprise at seeing Neah as the Wolf trailed over to the older Wolf and sat down next to him, resting his head on the table and using his arms as a pillow.

"Allen! What are you doing here?" Neah exclaimed, completely surprised by his nephews sudden appearance in the Wolves' den. Allen merely gave him a blank look. Neah was about to yell at Tyki when Allen spoke.

"I knew it, you're not sick at all. Mana and his stories..." He trailed off, grumbling under his breath as Neah connected the dots and sweatdropped.

"So, what did he tell you?" Neah asked, sighing at his brother's antics.

"He said you were sick, asked me to bring you this." Allen huffed, lifting up the basket for his uncle to see. Neah perked up a bit at the idea of Mana's cooking. He ambled forward as Allen held out the basket for Neah to rummage through, the man started to make delighted sounds at whatever he found in there when he thought of something.

"I'm surprised Tyki's the only Wolf you ran into..." He said absentmindedly, there were quite of few of them running around the forest nowadays.

"Oh yeah! I did see a couple of others!" Allen remembered suddenly.

"Hmm, what did they look like?" Neah asked distractedly, still rummaging around the basket and making pleased sounds every now and then. Mana was able to pack ridiculous amounts of food into tiny spaces...

"Umm, there was a guy my age and a girl who looked slightly younger..." Allen mumbled, trying to remember more details about them. He had been too preoccupied with the ears and tail to really look at much else. He felt kind of ashamed for judging them like that now though...

"Eh... That sounds like Wisely and Road... I'm surprised they didn't talk to you, did something happen?" Neah asked, trailing back to the table to put the basket down.

"I threw an apple at his head. He was in too much pain and she was laughing too hard to notice I left." Allen deadpanned, Neah almost fell over.

"Why?!" He screeched.

"I was thoroughly misled to believe I would be eaten." Allen said apathetically. Neah facepalmed.

"Of course he would tell you that..." He muttered under his breath, glancing at the older man still sitting at the table who was now rummaging through the basket with Tyki. Allen decided he had stayed long enough and now that he had done what he had been asked, it was time to leave. Besides, it would be dark soon and Mana had told him to be back before then.

"Well, I'll be going then..." Allen stated offhandedly, turning towards the door. He didn't get very far though, Neah quickly stopping him.

"You're not going anywhere, it's almost dark!" Neah exclaimed, exasperated with the boy's attitude.

"Eh... But Mana told me to be home before dark..." Allen frowned slightly. He loved his father, but the man could be a little overzealous sometimes. Neah merely huffed.

"He wouldn't want you going out into the forest in the dark, he cares about you far too much." Neah said softly.

"Your Mana's son?" The older man asked suddenly, lifting his attention from the basket. Allen blinked, nodding in answer. The man gave him a warm smile.

"It's very nice to see you again, Allen. I doubt you remember me but, I'm Adam." The Wolf told him, still smiling warmly at him. Allen was shocked, he had met this man before? The way he was speaking made it seem like he was very familiar with Mana too.

"You were quite young last we met, so I doubt you would have memories of that time." The man was smiling wistfully now, and Tyki was looking at Allen with a strange sort of longing.

"We should turn him." Tyki stated suddenly, Adam happily nodding in agreement. Neah walked behind them and slammed his fists into each of their heads. They both yelped in pain and grabbed their heads.

"And you wonder why Mana hates you so much!" Neah exclaimed, quickly berating them. Adam started whining about how great a wolf Allen would be when Tyki noticed something.

"Ah."

"What?" Neah snapped, annoyance clear in his tone.

"He's gone." Tyki noted blithely, staring at the slightly ajar door. Allen had gotten sick of the commotion and had used the brief distraction to slip out the door unhindered.

"Ugh!" Neah threw his head back, groaning loudly.

Allen made sure to stick to the path this time, walking much faster and following it all the way home. The sun was just about to set when the trees cleared and gave way to home. Mana was standing outside the cottage and looked thoroughly relieved when he saw Allen coming out of the forest. And, as Allen had predicted, the man pounced him in a death-grip hug.

"Allen! I was so worried about you!" He exclaimed, letting Allen go momentarily to look him over and then pulling him back in.

"And here I thought you might have run into a Wolf or something..." Mana said in relief, Allen quickly bursting his bubble.

"I did." Allen deadpanned.

"Eh?"

"I met a few actually, some of them seemed to know you pretty well." Allen said pointedly, and Mana instantly knew where the conversation was going.

"How do you know them, and why did you always tell me they were bad?" Allen asked, both curious and angry that Mana had lied. Mana had never lied to him about anything before, so why now? Mana sighed heavily.

"Let's go inside..." He said softly. They sat down at the table, Mana fidgeting the whole time. He looked anywhere but Allen for quite some time, looking awkward and unsure of where to start. Finally he sighed, glancing over at Allen before choosing a spot on the table to stare at.

"Adam was an old friend of our mother's, so we visited him quite often. It was around twelve years ago that I stopped visiting him, you were only four at the time. Adam had decided he wanted us to meet some of his family, so he invited his two nephews over. Their names were Sheryl and Tyki. Sheryl was the oldest, almost twenty, Tyki was much younger than Sheryl, he was around ten I think. Sheryl also brought his children with him. There was a boy your age named Wisely and a baby girl named Road." Mana was smiling, clearly remembering everything as he spoke. Obviously they were fond memories, Allen had to wonder what happened to make it all go so wrong.

"Wisely wasn't very social, so he didn't really stray too far from Sheryl. Or the bookshelf." Mana chuckled lightly, Allen smiling as he remembered the boy he met in the forest.

"Road was too young to play, so Tyki was the one you ended up going to since you got bored. After that the two of you were inseparable. You were both completely enamoured, following each other around like lost puppies." So Allen did know Tyki! No wonder he felt that the man was so familiar...

"You went everywhere together, Tyki would take you out into the forest to play and when we went looking for you we'd find you curled up asleep together. He'd always take you to this beautiful clearing whenever you got tired, so we always knew where to look. You were so cute together~! And Tyki always took such good care of you, I didn't mind leaving you with him because I knew he would never let you get hurt." Mana's smile turned sad, and Allen knew this was where things ended.

"Then, everything changed. Adam said you had a "special bond" with Tyki, and that you shouldn't be separated. He suggested turning you into a Wolf so that you would be able to stay together, because Wolves have a much longer lifespan than humans. I refused, Adam got angry. I never spoke to them again. Neah didn't understand why I refused, we got into a fight and he moved into the forest." Mana finished with a sigh, looking sad and somewhat annoyed at what had transpired. Allen was confused though. Adam was an old friend of the family and he seemed to know what he was talking about. If Allen and Tyki really had some special connection (which would explain so much), why wouldn't Mana let him stay with the man...?

"I don't understand..." Allen started confusedly, Mana's face hardened slightly.

"You've heard the stories Allen, but have you ever seen how someone actually reacts when they see a Wolf? People overreact when they're afraid Allen. They treat Wolves like monsters, attack them for no reason! You were just a child, I couldn't let that happen to you..." Mana voice shook as he spoke, tears appearing in the corners of his eyes as he imagined all the horrible things that could have happened to his son.

"Mana..." Allen sighed with fond exasperation. Mana finally looked up and kept eye contact with his son.

"You're so overprotective." Allen teased, poking his father on the nose. Mana huffed lightly, sulking about being teased.

"I just wanted to protect you..." He said, frowning slightly. Allen sighed again.

"I can protect myself you know. And you said yourself, Tyki would never let anything happen to me." Allen huffed, batting at the man playfully. Mana gave him a sheepish smile and pulled him into a hug, burying his face into the boy's hair.

"I love you, you know..." Mana mumbled into his hair. Allen smiled.

"Like you would ever let me forget." He mumbled back. Now that that was sorted out...

"I'm gonna go visit everyone again tomorrow, I think you should come with me." Allen suggested mildly.

"Eh~..." Mana whined, burying his face into the crooks of Allen's neck. Allen laughed, pulling away and made him promise that he would come with him, Mana sulking the whole time.

Allen didn't think he'd ever been so excited to see someone in his entire life. He practically dragged Mana through the forest to get to the cottage, though Mana really needed to be dragged. The man was still sulking and whining that he didn't want to see Adam, and Allen had just about had enough when he heard a loud exclamation of the path.

"Ah! It's you!" Wisely exclaimed as Road started to squeal happily.

"It's Allen! It's Allen! It's Allen!" She chanted excitedly, running up to him and tackling him in a hug. He just barely managed to stay on his feet, thanks in part to Mana, and then she was dragging him off the path.

"Ah, hi! Road and Wisely right?" Allen greeted confusedly. Had Tyki told them about him? They both nodded, Road much more enthusiastically.

"Eh? This is Road and Wisely?" Mana exclaimed in surprise. They both looked at him, Road grinning broadly and Wisely smiling simply. They made it to the cottage in no time, both getting pulled in without pause.

"Sorry about the apple..." Allen apologised, Wisely merely grinned.

"Don't worry, Tyki explained everything. Nice throw, by the way." Allen laughed sheepishly as Wisely teased him. Mana and Adam ended up in another fight, though this time it wasn't serious, mostly just the two of them sulking and whining at each other. At some point Tyki ended up tugging Allen outside for some quiet time. It was another beautiful day, so they ended up going for a walk.

They ended up drifting back to the clearing, the sun shining down on them as they walked. Tyki had been watching him for awhile now and Allen was a little nervous (which was weird, since when did he get nervous?).

"Mana said you used to take me here a lot..." He said eventually, if only to break the silence and give Tyki an actual reason to look at him. The man hummed an affirmative.

"It's a good place for taking naps, you used to get tired easily since you were still just a kid." He explained, still staring at Allen. It was pretty intense to be honest.

"I took you here when Adam and Mana started fighting. You were asleep and they were yelling really loud, I didn't want them to wake you. Then Mana came and took you away, and I didn't see you again until yesterday..." Tyki slipped his hand into Allen's, entwining their fingers. Allen swallowed heavily, heart beating erratically. He idly wondered if Tyki could hear it.

"I missed you..." Tyki said earnestly, the intensity in his eyes almost unbearable as he cupped Allen's cheek with his free hand. Allen leant into the touch, his eyelids fluttering slightly before focusing once more on Tyki.

"I always wondered where you were, if I'd ever see you again... I don't ever want to lose you again, Allen. Stay with me?" It was almost a plea, and Allen felt his heart leap into his throat. He wanted to say yes, but he didn't trust his voice so he just nodded, a beautiful smile on his face. Tyki leant down slowly, giving Allen ample time to stop him, before capturing the boys lips in a kiss. It was soft and sweet, Allen pushing up and rising onto the tips of his toes to deepen it slightly. Tyki's hand buried into Allen's hair to keep him there as Allen's arms slid around the older man's neck. They stayed like this until they needed air, Tyki quickly ducking down for one more quick kiss, then finally they started walking back to the cottage. Allen smiled, still clasping Tyki's hand. Everything was perfect, and then a thought occurred to him. Mana was going to kill Tyki when they got back...

~ THE END ~

AN: Thoughts, feedback?

Omake – Overprotective Parents Are Scary!

Mana's smile was sickeningly sweet as he greeted the couple standing in the doorway. Allen almost flinched and Tyki shivered slightly. Neah paled, he had a very bad feeling about this.

"Mana, you wouldn't hurt my boyfriend right...?" Allen asked hesitantly. Mana stiffened.

"...boy...friend...?" Mana started laughing hysterically.

"M-Mana?" Allen squeaked.