A/N- goodness it's been a while. my writer's block and sheer laziness/procrastination with this and other things has made eliminated any sliver of inspiration or initiative to write for uhh the past year or so. idk. recently my siblings went on a dgm kick and watched all the eps on netflix which made me catch up on the latest chapters of the manga. so i'm ready to go now. seeing as it's been so long, my writing style might have changed...for better or worse, not sure. LOL

let's just get a move on, yeah? ~u ~;;

Disclaimer- I don't own -man, this is a work of fiction..of another work of fiction. :'D

Chapter Seven

Railroad Liplock

A Train in Southeast China

Cross' POV

So back in the outskirts of western Russia, I'd been hearing left and right about a "mystic beauty with hair like starlight". She accordingly had a face like a sweet doll and soft gray eyes that sparkled with mirth. From more lewd sources such as run-down bars and mills, I'd also gathered she had a petite, but sexy body. After hearing such things, how could I pass up the wild goose chase to find this woman and, of course, make her mine. I was Cross Marian, after all. I had women falling at my feet left and right to be with me. She would be a piece of cake and another mighty fine notch to my belt.

And so I scoured the country after her, (I was in hiding from the Black Order anyway, wandering around lost in Russian Siberia wouldn't hurt) and as expected, I found her. She and some friends had actually gotten kidnapped in another town and taken to an abandoned mansion. I'd heard about the Ekaterina girl and her creepy mother figure in the past as well. I figured I'd swoop in and save them as well as bust some Akuma ass in my down time. Again, I'm Cross Marian. I do this kind of shit.

But while surveying the mansion from the outside, a massive fight had erupted and the girl and her friends were battling against the crazy child. Strange. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the girl could hold her own. Thus I continued to watch the fight go on until the end when Ekaterina was defeated and the mansion blown apart. I took that moment to arrive in a badass fashion and send the nameless girl head over heels in love. Making a clever quip about my trusty chemistry set from the good old days and twirling my revolvers, I most certainly made an excellent entrance.

I finally laid eyes on the girl and found that all of the rumors were indeed, true. She was quite the looker. Yet something else also dawned on me. That red pentacle scar on her eye only belonged to one person in this world. My baka apprentice, Allen Walker.

What kind of cosmic fuckery was this.

Still, something odd twinged in my chest when I saw Allen as a...female.

Now, don't get it mistaken. Once a baka apprentice, always a baka apprentice. Nothing more, but nothing less was certainly an option. (Debt collector, errand boy, etc.)

The thing I felt was something very strange and foreign to me. I was familiar with romantic emotions, obviously. Again, this is Cross Marian, we're talking about. But this was fairly new.

When I saw Allen, it was akin to seeing a kicked puppy who needed warmth, care...and protection. I wanted to protect my baka apprentice from all harm and rip apart anything that could endanger him, or should I say her now. If anything it was similar to that freak Komui and how he felt about his sister, Lenalee. Oh god. The horror.

Shortly after we'd gotten Allen, the angry Japanese sword boy, and the finder all patched up, we'd hopped on a train heading south through Mongolia and into China. I obviously had no intentions of returning to the European Branch of the Black Order, but I liked to head over to the Asian Branch for some R&R every now and then. Bak wouldn't rat me out to Komui and the others so long as I gave him a few snapshots of Lenalee each time. Freaks. All of them, I say.

Now it was just us four in a secluded train cart on our way to Guangzhou. Allen and I hadn't really spoken since our exchange in Russia and sword boy was never a big one for small talk and the finder kid was just naturally shy, so the ride up till now had been fairly quiet and awkward as hell.

The sword boy was sitting to my right and staring off into the window with Allen and the finder sitting across from us. The three had since changed into some more casual clothes following their battle. A plain blue shirt and dark trousers paired with boots for the boys and Allen a white button down, a pair of black shorts and boots. They weren't the shortest shorts per se, but the amount of leg my baka apprentice was showing was just a little overboard. The idiot probably wasn't aware of all the lecherous thoughts his bare legs would incur in some more...unsavory types of people. (No, I'm not a hypocrite, shut up)

I coughed to get Allen's attention. "Oi. Baka apprentice." His gray eyes moved up from the floor to meet mine and hardened a bit.

"Yes, Master?" In my mind, I twitched from being called "master" by my baka apprentice when he was in such a form, but I didn't falter outwardly.

"Aren't you cold?" I asked trivially as though I was commenting on the weather. Allen blinked, clearly surprised to see I was showing a semblance of concern for his well being. I would be offended, but even I must admit- I never really gave a damn.

...Until now that is.

"Uh, not really..?" he replied, unsure. I grunted in response. God, could this be more awkward.

Suddenly the door to our compartment opened and a lanky fellow with freckles and curly messy hair capped with a server's hat leaned his upper body through the doorway. He smelled strongly of cheap cologne as though he'd rolled around in it prior to coming to work aboard the train today. I frowned at him a bit.

"Yeah, hi, is there anything I can get for you...guys..?" his voice died a little as he looked at each of us before arriving to Allen. Upon seeing my idiot apprentice, his acne covered face darkened a shade and he swallowed dryly. Allen, being naive as he is, simply smiled at the pubescent oaf.

"Oh yes, I'll have another cucumber water, please." the finder requested, failing to read the mood. The dumbass kid just nodded dully, still staring at Allen who by now was getting a bit uncomfortable with the steady stare he was receiving.

"Alright, and you, m'lady?" he asked Allen, throwing in one of the fastest winks I had ever seen.

Allen scratched behind his head and shook his head. Still the server boy pushed on.

"Really? It's my job to make sure your trip is as...pleasurable as possible." he added flirtatiously. Allen nervously chuckled, too polite to do the normal thing and tell him to jump out the window. I was pretty close to breaking the kid's nose with my boot.

"I'm fine. Really. Thanks though." Allen replied kindly.

"Are you sure? If there's anything you need, just ask for my name. I'm-"

"Getting the fuck out of here right now." Kanda interrupted, glaring coldly at the boy. Ah, I'd noticed he'd been really tense since the shitty little flirt got here. I gave him a curious look as he and the kid had a small argument.

"Oh really now? Is there anything I can do for you, sir? Perhaps some ointment for that massive pole up your ass?" Allen chuckled a bit at the kid's remark. Kanda was too enraged to pay any notice.

"Look. You better get your ass out of here before I lose my patience and decide to mount your head on a stick." Kanda growled, his threat obviously a serious one, but the idiot kid before him being such a dumbass, took it lightly.

"Would that be the one lodged between your asscheeks or can you fit another one up there?"

"Alright. That's it." Kanda bit out, rising from his seat and grabbing his katana. Just as he did, Allen stood up to calm him down and keep him from slicing the boy into pieces.

"Kanda, stop! He's just a normal civilian-gah!" Allen's string of excuses for the server was cut short as the train hit a rugged patch in the rail and shook, throwing Allen forward and onto Kanda. A look of horror both passed their eyes as the force of the bump smashed Kanda and Allen's faces together. Not just their noses squashed together but their lips as well. I'm pretty sure my left eyelid visibly twitched.

After a second, the two immediately pulled away from each other. Kanda, spitting profusely with a pink blush peppered across his the bridge of his nose. Allen fell backward into his seat again, rubbing his lips as hard he could, his whole face erupting with a flush of red. The finder was at a lost for words. Kanda and Allen refused to look at each other, both of them staring either at the floor or out the window as though there was a giant, purple floating elephant out there.

"Uh..so...I'm just gonna go now..." the server boy mumbled quietly, sliding the door shut and walking away from the scene. No one made an effort to acknowledge he was ever there, except for the finder.

"Something tells me I'm not gonna get that cucumber water." he sighed.

XDXDXD

Allen's POV

Oh god. Oh god. OH GOD.

I kissed Kanda. KANDA. Of all people. Him! Kanda Yuu! The guy who annoys me more than anything in this world!

What is this? Is the universe trying to tell me it hates me? Cause I already know it does. Why else would I be stuck in this female body and traveling with my evil master again?

I sighed, curling up in my bunk and pulling myself into a small ball of self-pity. It was late now and all of us had retired to our respective cabins. It seemed Master Cross had a great deal of money in reserve which just pissed me off more since he had had me running around the world making money for him to gamble and spend on women when he obviously had plenty from the start!

Why, whyyyy did I have to meet Master Cross again in this form. This embarrassing female form. My hope had been to contain my small gender bender incident to the confines of the European Branch at the Black Order, but no. No, oh no, Master Cross just had to show up out of nowhere and whisk all of us to the Asia Branch. Now Bak, Fou, Roufa and the others would see me in this state too.

If I could scream I would. But I'd wake up the other passengers.

And it'd sound really girly. So I won't.

I hugged my knees to my chest as tight as I could and sighed. These pajama bottoms Lenalee had packed for me gave for a lot of flexibility. It was strange...and made my legs cold. I tugged the blanket up and wrapped myself up in it, forming a cocoon of bed sheets. I flailed about a bit in sheer anguish of my situation before quieting down. Silence, save for the sound of the train moving against the railroad, filled the cabin. Slowly, my hand moved up and touched my lips. My nose still hurt a ton from when we'd collided but the warm, tingling feeling was still present on my lips.

Unwittingly I relived the kiss in my head. Our heads had crashed into each other and unwillingly, so did our lips. I remembered how Kanda's cold lips felt against mine and how we just stayed like that for a few seconds. Both our eyes were as wide as saucers from the shock, but it was too easy to recall the deep pools of black that were Kanda's eyes. They weren't completely soulless and cold as I had imagined them to be. They were more like round pools of water that were as black as the ocean floor. Up close it's easy to read the emotions Kanda's feeling through his eyes, but far away it just seems like they're empty and angry all the time.

Even if the circumstances were unfortunate...and painful. It wasn't the worst kiss ever.

...Not that I've ever kissed anyone before. Well. Road maybe, but she's crazy.

I've never really been the one to "initiate" the kiss, but I guess this time I was. Making this, my personal "first kiss".

And it was given to Kanda Yuu.

Oh God. The shock is still setting in.

I rolled upside down so my head was facing away the from the door and looking out the window. The tops of trees were passing by rapidly as the train chugged along the side of the mountain. I stared at the moon with its twinkling stars surrounding it and sighed, thinking of how everyone back home was doing.

"I wonder how Lavi and the others are doing..." I mumbled as sleep overcame me.

XDXDXD

Black Order- European Branch

Regular POV

Lavi leaned out the frame of his open window. His arms were crossed and his chin rested on them comfortably. It was past three by now and everyone except maybe Bookman was asleep by now. Lavi had been up reviewing scriptures as was part of his role as Bookman Jr. It was all stuff he'd read through before, but Lavi had needed something to get his mind off things. He'd been worried about Allen and Kanda lately. They still hadn't come back from their mission and although it was all the way in Russia, Lavi couldn't fathom that their combined strength could be met with any challenge.

Lenalee was just as worried, but then again she was always worried whenever people went off on missions. It was just in her nature. Lavi, however, simply hoped for the best and didn't worry for the most part. Maybe it was because Allen had gone off too. In Allen's current state, Lavi couldn't help but notice he was thinking about his white-haired friend more often than not. Lavi shrugged it off as concern for a friend in a...difficult situation.

Lavi pursed his lips and thought about the first time he'd seen Allen after his transformation. That random meeting in the restroom...his brief infatuation with the "mystery girl"...and the realization it was Allen he'd fallen for. Lavi frowned. But that was over now. Knowing it was still Allen simply in a female form helped Lavi to shut off any of those initial feelings.

He saw Allen as a friend. ...And nothing else.

Right?

'Yes, of course' Lavi thought to himself, answering his own unspoken question.

And that would be true, so long as he kept ignoring any thought in the back of his mind that said otherwise.

Lavi let out a warm puff of breath against the chilly early morning air before standing up straight and stretching. His green eyes stared at the milky, yellow crescent hanging in the indigo sky. The stars seemed to shimmer around the moon lazily. It seemed to bring up an old lullaby Lavi had heard as a child. 'Twinkle twinkle little star...' Lavi thought.

"...How I wonder where you are...Allen..." he murmured softly before retiring to bed.

A/N- omgggggg. I TYPED THIS ALL IN A DAY. WTF. inspiration is such a tricky bitch at times. it's not the longest, but then again those take a lot of time and effort and i start school in like what. a day? sldkfjsldfk.

all this yullen...i can't take it. i had to add some lonely lavi in the end. ;A ; distance is so awful, poor lavi. i'll try to ease up on the yullen now. or maybe i won't lol. well they're going to the asia branch so that means lulzy fun tiems with bak and the gang. and the noahs are definitely gonna come in soon. lsdkfjslf poker pair. /excited about her own fanfic-what. i still rabu rabu lavi though. /loves all the pairings with allen so like LOL/

if you're still with me, i commend you and for new readers, hello i'm coba the worst updater evar. ; u ; look forward to more updates. i can't guarantee the consistency with when they're posted BUT THIS FIC IS STILL ALIVE. Q A Q;; my inspiration with this fic has definitely been revitalized though.

STAY TUNED AND AS ALWAYS, REVIEW/FAVE/ALERT ETC. feel free to pm or skype me too if you wanna yell at me for not updating or just say hi. = u =; SEE YOU GUYS WHEN I SEE YOU. 3