This is my collab with Penchant-for-raising-Cain. She is awesome and I worship her. *epic nod* I wrote this chapter, and she went over and fixed any mistakes I made. So...yeah. HERE WE GO!

Lali Evans shoved her hands into her pockets and walked down the street, looking right and left, trying to see everything at once. She'd never been to England before, in fact, she'd never been out of New York before. Her father had made sure she never went anywhere he couldn't make sure she was doing what he wanted…

No, no, no. Her father was the last thing Lali wanted to think about. He was halfway across the world, separated by an entire ocean. He was far, far away, and he couldn't touch her.

She was free.

She grinned, high spirits briefly returning, but the grin faded again as she looked up at the sky. The sun was setting, and she still had no idea where the Black Order headquarters were. She had hoped to find it before nightfall, but now she realized that had been a ridiculous hope. She sighed. She actually didn't mind taking some time and seeing the sights for a few days, the only problem was she didn't have a penny to her name. She had used all her money to by the boat ticket to get here. She sighed again and brushed a lock of her dirty-blonde hair out of her face. If she didn't find someone who knew where the HQ was soon, she would be royally screwed. She'd have to sleep in a tree; the thought made her grimace. She wasn't a fan of sleeping outside.

As the sun continued to sink lower and lower, so did Lali's heart. Fully caught up in her predicament, Lali wasn't paying attention where she was going - and walked headfirst into someone.

"Oof!"

She stumbled, barely catching herself.

"Watch it, you little brat!"

Brat? Instantly Lali flared up. "Sorry! It's not like I had the intention of running into a jerk!"

"Jerk? You ran into me. If anyone's a jerk, it's you."

Lali glared up at him, taking in his appearance for the first time. He was a teenager, not much older than her, with short, dark hair and golden eyes. And…was he really wearing…

"Is that…are you wearing makeup?" Lali asked incredulously, anger gone for a moment as she tried hard not to laugh.

"Eh? What the hell, you brat? First you run into me, then get mad at me for it, and now you're making fun of me? And you call me a jerk?"

"S-sorry," Lali said, trying not to giggle. "I've just never seen a guy in makeup before."

"Tch. Whatever. No excuse for the other two." He glared at her.

She grinned apologetically. "Sorry for running into you. Really. I was just focused on something else. And sorry for snapping at you, too. I just don't like being called brat."

"Whatever." He stared at her for a minute, studying her. "You aren't from around here, are you?"

She grimaced. "Is it really that obvious?"

He smirked. "So, where you from, kid?"

She glared at him for a second before letting it slide. "New York."

"That far? You made of money?"

She sighed. "Actually I spent all the money I had on the boat ticket. I'm freaking broke. If I don't find the place I'm looking for soon, I'm gonna starve." As if to emphasize her point, her stomach growled.

He suddenly grinned at her. "Well okay then, how about I treat you? You know, to make up for calling you brat."

She raised a skeptical eyebrow. "You sure you wanna do that? I eat a lot."

"C'mon, it can't be that much. You're a friggin twig. You know I'll end up doing it eventually. I never lose an argument."

She sighed. "Don't say I didn't warn you…"

"What's your name anyway?" the boy asked.

"Lali. Yours?"

He grinned. "Debitto."

…

Debitto stared at Lali, eyes wide and mouth gaping.

"What?" Lali said, already halfway done with the giant plate of food. "I did warn you."

"I…I thought…"

"What, that I was lying? Exaggerating? Psh, I don't lie. Er, mostly. I warned you I have a big appetite, but you didn't listen. Don't blame me."

Debitto just shook his head, still in shock. "You look like you weigh fifty pounds! How could you possibly eat so much?"

Lali paused. She couldn't tell him she was the accommodator of a parasitic-type Innocence; he'd think she was crazy.

She shrugged. "I've always had a big appetite. It's one of my many quirks."

He just shook his head again and waited for her to finish. After he paid the bill, they walked out together. The sun was close to setting, and Lali started looking dejected again.

"Well…thanks for the meal. It was really nice. I'd better try to find that place tonight…" She started to walk off, heading in (she hoped) the general direction of the Black Order HQ.

Debitto watched her go, feeling strangely upset. For some reason unbeknownst to him it made him sad to see Lali go. Then an idea struck him.

"Lali!"

She turned back to him. "Yeah?"

"Do you have to be at that place tonight?"

"No, why?"

"Well, it's getting dark, and it's completely obvious you've got no clue where you're going; how 'bout you stay at my house?"

Lali's eyes widened. "Wh-what? Really?"

Debitto grinned. "Yeah! My brother's out tonight, so no worries about creepy blondes waking you up! Then tomorrow morning you can go find this place of yours with all day to spare! It'd be great!"

She broke into a wide grin. This was much better than sleeping in a tree! "That'd be great! - wait…creepy blondes?"

He waved off the question. "Long story. Basically, my brother Jasdero looks kinda…different. But that doesn't matter; like I said, he's out."

She smiled again. "Great."

He reached out, and she took his hand, allowing him to lead the way.

Now normally, it would be stupid to take a guy you just met's hand and go home with him. But Lali didn't know this. This was the first time she'd been alone in…well, ever. Lali's father had very rarely let her out of the house, and on the rare occasions he did, he kept a very close eye on her. Lali really had almost no idea about the basic rules of society.

But she really didn't need to worry. Besides, Lali was very good at protecting herself.

…

Lali stared at the house in front of her, eyes wide as plates. "Holy…"

Debitto laughed at her expression. "You like?"

"I-it's huge!" she said.

"Maybe for just two people, yeah. But our…grandfather likes to spoil his family. Anyway, this is nothing. You should see the stuff he does for our cousin. She's his favorite."

Lali just blinked and allowed him to lead her into the house. He showed her around, and told her she'd sleep on the couch in the living room.

"Thanks." She yawned.

He was a bit surprised. "You're tired already?"

She shot him a glance. "I've had a really long day, Debi."

He shrugged. This was true. "Okay then. Change into you pajamas and I'll go get some blankets."

When he got back, he nearly dropped the blankets. Lali hadn't waited for the covers; she'd collapsed on the couch right after changing. One hand was dangling off the edge, and her hair had fallen into her face. Debitto shook his head. He'd only been gone for about three minutes! How did anyone fall asleep that fast? This girl was weird. Debitto sighed and spread a blanket over her anyway. His house got cold during the night. He smiled.

Lali was really cute when she slept.

He flicked out the living room light and headed up to bed. For some reason, he was really tired, too.

…

The next morning, Lali woke up to the smell of bacon and eggs. She followed the delicious smell into the kitchen, where she found a (makeup free) Debitto making breakfast.

He turned and grinned at her. "Good morning."

"'Morning." She yawned and sat down at the table. "Funny, you didn't seem the cooking type."

He snorted. "Someone has to. And I sure as hell ain't letting Jasdero anywhere near the stove."

She laughed, and he placed a heaping plate of food in front of her. She nearly started drooling. It smelled awesome.

He laughed at her expression and sat down to eat his own breakfast. When they had finished, Lali sighed,

"Wow, Debi. You're a great cook."

"Thanks." His smile faded. "But you're gonna have to leave now, huh?"

She sighed. "Yeah. Sorry, but I really have to get there soon. I have something important I have to do."

He sighed. "Alright then."

A few minutes later her stuff was packed and she was standing on the front porch to leave. She waved bye.

"Thanks for everything, Debitto. I'm really lucky I met you."

He smiled. "No problem. Come back if you ever want to visit."

She turned to leave, and he felt his heart sink. He really didn't want her to go. He wanted her to stay, to eat breakfast with him every morning and meet Jasdero. He had no clue why, all he knew was he wanted her to stay. But that was impossible. She was human, he was Noah. He couldn't pull her into that. So he watched her go, leaning against the door frame and wishing for the first time in his life that he wasn't a Noah.

Until he remembered something.

"Shit! Lali!"

She turned back to him. "What?"

"Wait a second, I forgot something!"

He ran upstairs to his room, and came back a minute later with something in his hand. He handed it to her, and she held it up to examine it.

It was a necklace.

A simple, thin band of leather, and tied to the leather was an animal tooth of some kind.

"It's a lion's fang. I got at a carnival a week ago, but I wanted you to have it. You know, to remember me by." He grinned.

She loved it. It was simple and cool, much more her style than any bead necklace any other guy would have gotten her. She broke into a huge grin and threw her arms around a startled Debitto.

"Thanks, Debi! I love it!"

She let him go, and turned to leave again. But before she did, she stopped one last time and did the last thing he expected.

She kissed his cheek.

"Thanks, Debitto. For everything."

He smiled. "No problem."

She slipped the necklace around her neck, and started heading off to find the Black Order, a smile on her face. She was gonna miss him. And as Debitto lost sight of his knew friend, they both thought the same thing:

I hope we meet again.

YAY! It finally made it to FF! We did it! VICTORY SCREECH!

Um, Debitto's a little OOC here; I hope it's not too bad…

So go ahead! Review! Me and Tsuki onee-san are waiting~!