Yet another Yullen story, but this time there ain't no mutations of characters. ;) Allen and Kanda are guys, so no gender twists in this story! I hope you guys read and review this one too!

Thank you to Niamh/N. for being my beta reader! I ended up posting it today after all. XD

DISCLAIMER: -man does not belong to me, or I would've made more Yullen scenes.

WARNING: Yaoi. No lemon...yet. I think? :D And possible spoilers of a few characters if you're only following the anime.

1. Where hate begins

"We should send out exorcists to go after the remaining Noah immediately." The deep, strong voice of Inspector Leverrier said, his eyes glaring at the Supervisor. "We must strike now, the Earl is gone, and they are our biggest concern at the moment."

Allen Walker sat on the couch opposite Komui's desk, together with General Cloud and Cross. General Tiedoll sat further to his left, while General Sokoro stood near the door. This meeting was like the many previous ones they had since the Ark battle, and the contents were also the same.

Send some exorcists after the Noah.

It wasn't exactly a wise decision, considering the fact that their numbers were halved, if not worse. The Generals had been looking far and wide since then, hoping to increase the number of exorcists, even if just by one. So far, there had been five new recruits, which pleased Leverrier, thankfully.

"Sending the exorcists to chase after the Noah will be like sending them to their deaths!" Komui protested, clearly angered. "Our numbers have decreased dramatically since the previous battle, do you wish to sacrifice more of them?"

Leverrier continued to glare at Komui, completely unfazed by his comment. His snake-like stare could get any other person to back down, but at the moment, Komui was far more worried about his exorcists' safety. "And on whose behalf, are you speaking for?" he said slowly, his glare intensifying. "Exorcists are tools of God, and I recall saying this before, we are not here to protect our disciples, we are here to win this war."

The whole room was cloaked in a heavy atmosphere after he said that, neither one backing down, even the Generals would not speak. This was the first time their meeting had gone so dangerously deep. Allen sighed inwardly, he was quickly getting bored. Ever since the Ark incident, he had been put under surveillance, which did not bode well with him. Apart from that, he was forcefully promoted to General once Leverrier found out that he had past his critical rate, which gave the Inspector more excuses to order him around as he wished. Seeing that the glaring match between the two higher ups would not end anytime soon, Allen decided to speak.

"Are you not afraid of what would happen if the exorcists hear those words you just said, Inspector Leverrier?" Allen said casually, as if discussing the weather. Everyone turned their attention to the youngest General, even General Sokoro, who had shown no interest in even listening.

Leverrier scowled at the boy, resent clearly in his eyes. "What are you trying to say, General Walker?"

To his surprise, Allen plastered a very obvious fake smile on his face. "I would be more afraid of a rebellion, Inspector." He replied cheerfully, ignoring the way Leverrier's temper flared. "After all, we exorcists are also human."

It was almost amusing, the situation, and Cross had to bark out a laugh, mentally praising his idiot apprentice for such a comeback. The once sweet, naïve Allen Walker was no more, the 24 hour surveillance had irritated him to the point he almost snapped, adding on the meetings he'd been forced to attend, his mood had taken such a drastic change that even Kanda had commented on it. Linali tried not to act differently around him, but it was hard for her as well. Lavi however, managed to remain pretty much the same, but everyone was well aware of how the stress was slowly pushing the boy to his edge.

Unfortunately, it seems that Leverrier was unaware of the time bomb he had planted in Allen Walker.

"What are you trying to imply?" Leverrier said, his voice dangerously low. It appears that he was trying to be patient with Allen, but with that smile on his face, the Inspector just about had enough of the young General.

"Oh, nothing at all." Allen said, leaning further into the couch. It was rather comfortable, no wonder exorcists would relax here as they listened to Komui's mission briefing. "As I said, we are only human. It would be…" he paused, as if searching for the word. "A natural instinct? I suppose, to rebel." He tilted his head a bit, looking thoughtful. "Because we exorcists were taught to believe that we would win and live through this holy war."

Kanda sat in the infirmary, having just returned from a two week mission with Lavi. The redhead was lying on one of the beds, unconscious. He had taken a hard blow to his head, due to his carelessness. Although reluctant, Kanda had dragged him from the abandoned village they were at, all the way to the train station and back to the Black Order. The doctors told the Japanese youth that Lavi might suffer from concussions, as the blow he was dealt with was indeed a very hard one. It was a miracle he wasn't in coma yet.

"Your wounds are not deep, thankfully." The Head Nurse said, washing the blood off her hands. "But I would prefer you stay the night, just in case."

"Che, I don't need to stay, it'll heal by morning." Kanda said, pulling on his exorcist coat and made a move to leave the room. He didn't get further than two steps, because the Head Nurse had placed a firm grip on his shoulder.

"And exactly who is in charge here in the infirmary, I wonder…?" her gaze was cold, even colder than Kanda's and he had to suppress a shudder at the icy tone. "Now go to the unoccupied bed beside Lavi."

Kanda grumbled as he was forced to obey the order. Vaguely he wondered if the Head Nurse was some kind of Akuma, to be able to force even him to obey. He snorted at the ridiculous thought. Just as he sat down on the bed, the doors to the room opened again, and Allen stumbled in, catching the wall before he fell.

"Allen!" the old woman was beside him in an instance, checking his pulse and forehead. Kanda watched, confused as the nurse shouted orders for cold water and towels to be brought immediately. What was wrong with the beansprout now?

He noticed one thing about the young General though, that his right cheek was swollen, even if just a bit. It looked as though he had been hit recently, maybe just a few minutes ago. He felt his blood boil at the thought, but he did not really know why. Silently, he watched the medical staff work as they placed the boy on an empty bed, checking his temperature and such. It was only when they finished that Allen noticed him.

"Kanda…?" he said, trying to prop himself up. "You're back? Where's Lavi?"

Kanda snorted, pointing to the bed beside him. He saw panic flashing through Allen's eyes and he struggled more to get up. "Don't worry." Kanda muttered, which caught the younger boy's attention. "He's just unconscious."

Allen relaxed at that, but he tried to lean over to take a better look at Lavi, since he wasn't directly opposite the redhead's bed. Kanda watched again, but this time in amusement as the boy kept leaning further out until he fell out of the bed with a loud 'thud'. Muttering curses under his breath, Allen grabbed the mattress and tried to heave himself up again, failing. Smirking at his stupidity, Kanda got up and went to his side, picking up Allen with ease and setting him back on the bed.

"T-thanks." Allen said, a faint blush on his cheeks, which Kanda missed.

"Che, the Head Nurse wouldn't want to find a dead moyashi on the infirmary floor." Kanda said, sitting down on Allen's bed.

"I wouldn't have died you know, baKanda."

He remained silent, looking at Allen up and down. He had been gone for a short time, but the change in Allen was drastic, if he may say. When he lifted the teen up, he felt light, lighter than he was. Kanda remembered carrying him a few days before he went on his mission, only because the idiot had collapsed in the hall near his room. Apart from that, his skin was paler too, not to mention the bags under his gray eyes were getting more obvious. "You're not taking care of yourself, are you?" Kanda stated.

Allen smiled, shaking his head. "What makes you say that?"

"Che. Any idiot would have noticed." Kanda retorted, poking Allen's forehead. "And what's wrong with you? It seems like the Head Nurse is used to you appearing like that."

"Why are you so concerned?" Allen said, swatting away his hand. "The Yuu Kanda is actually concerned? Or is he just poking into my business?"

"Shut up and answer." Kanda growled.

Allen sighed, leaning back against the pillows. "It's just the meetings, Kanda. I'm sure you know how tiring they can be."

Before Kanda could open his mouth to reply, the Head Nurse had came back to Allen's bedside, holding an icepack and pressing it to his right cheek. Oddly enough, she did not command the Japanese youth to get back to bed. She was muttering something as she fussed about, clearly angry. Not wanting to provoke the old woman now, he merely watched again.

"I swear, if he hits you one more time…" the Head Nurse told Allen, while he tried to calm the woman down. "It's the fourth time this week, Allen! He can't go around doing this!"

Kanda's eyes widened briefly, surprised. Fourth time?

Allen noticed his reaction and flashed him a guilty smile, which Kanda glared in return. "What does she mean?" he hissed, crossing his arms. Allen tried to feint innocent, but as the moments went by and the Head Nurse left, Kanda's patience wore out. "What the fuck did she mean, beansprout?"

The younger teen pouted miserably, his plan on feinting innocent had went down the drain with Kanda's persistence. "It's nothing, really."

"How the fuck can it be nothing if she said it's the fourth time?" Kanda snapped, hitting the mattress with a fist. He was angry, but he wasn't about to ponder why. "Who the fuck hit you?"

"..."

"Moyashi!" Kanda gritted out, irritated.

"Leverrier."

"When are you going to stop?" Komui's voice sounded hollow in the room where only two people were present. "He's just a boy…"

"He's a General." Leverrier answered back, flipping through some documents. "He's taken worse."

"How can you expect them to stay loyal if you're going to treat them like pawns!" Komui yelled, slamming his hands on his table. "How can you even think of winning the war if you're just dampening their spirits!"

Leverrier snorted. "Say what you want Supervisor, but you will obey the orders I give out."

Komui could only glare and clench his fist as he watched the Inspector continue his work. How he wished he had the power to do something.

"L-Linali!" Allen's voice called out, and the Chinese girl turned to see Kanda stomping in her direction, with Allen's arms around his waist. "Linali, stop him!" the younger boy pleaded, trying to restrain the angered samurai.

"Allen-kun? What's…Kanda, stop!" Linali placed her hands on his chest. "You're hurting Allen-kun!"

That made him stop. He glanced down at Allen and noticed he had slumped to the ground when Kanda stopped walking. His face was glistening with sweat and his cheeks were tinted pink. Linali bent down and checked his temperature, frowning when she withdrew her hand. "Kanda, take him to the infirmary, he's burning up."

He said nothing as he bent down, throwing Allen's arms around his neck as he hoisted him up. Linali smiled and waved them off, saying she needed to see her brother. She had taken one look at Allen's face and knew that Leverrier had took a hit on him again. It was clearly no surprise that everyone knew, because his face was always like that after a meeting, though it only started a week ago.

The exorcists weren't exactly placing all their faith in the Black Order anymore.

I guess this would count as a prologue? Please review!