A/N okay you guys are seriously the best, thank you so much to everyone who follows, favs and reviews this story you peeps are amazing. Sailorscout4ever, Cutiepie120048 (HELLO AGAIN OMG), Someone (Guest), XavierForest (ANOTHER REVIEW!), Meikoow, you guys are especially awesome, thanks so much for going out of your way and being such awesome people! You guys are my motivation and inspirations, seriously.

o.O.o

"Let me guess: you have a great personality."

Kanda finished as he came to a stop at the end of the lineup of girls. For the last week his parents had been bringing in the most beautiful, and intelligent women. Hell, two days ago it had been the best cooks! He was sick of it. Hence the now five crying girls. He was tired and didn't have the patience to let them down easy anymore. Honestly he was lucky he hadn't been slapped yet.

"You're horrible!"

He saw the hand coming and didn't bother to dodge, better to let the woman have some comfort. That didn't mean the slap didn't hurt. Damn, note to self, don't push the universe. The line of girls were escorted out of the Great Hall and Kanda relaxed slightly, his cheek stinging. His mother gave him a scathing look and he felt a twinge of guilt shoot through him. His father's look of disappointment was almost as bad and Kanda suddenly really just wanted to go back to his room.

"Do you have to make things so difficult?"

Kanda opened his mouth to retort but his mother kept speaking, not done lecturing.

"Are you even trying? We're not doing this for fun Yuu! We only have your best interests in mind."

Kanda tried not to flinch when his mother whipped out his first name and began the guilt trip. Instead he focused on looking ashamed and nodding at the right parts. Eventually his mother huffed in irritation and swept out of the room like an angry tornado. He was surprised she didn't flip a chair over for once, his antics must have been tiring her as much as him. He did feel ashamed, but not for the right reasons. He knew his parents just wanted the best for him, but they weren't him! And they didn't even know what he wanted! Kanda himself didn't even know what he wanted, but it definitely wasn't some little wife that he didn't know or like that would give him an heir and then spend more time with her jewels and dresses than him.

He sighed, feeling tired and more drained than usual. His father still sat, a contemplative look on his handsome face. Kanda raised a dark eyebrow in a silent question. His father echoed his sigh from earlier and Kanda had to wonder how much oxygen they were using up with all these mopey sighs. He hated being mopey.

"I was just beginning to wonder, if we were taking the wrong approach here."

Kanda widened his eyes in surprise, was his father finally getting the message he'd been sending for weeks now?!

"Maybe we should bring in other types of people-"

Kanda's face fell, great his father was going to start bringing in musicians and shit.

"-maybe you would prefer someone of the other, gender?"

Kanda's crestfallen face lit up like a cherry and he choked.

"What the fucking hell?!"

"Yuu! Language!"

"Right, sorry, what the fucking heck?!"

His father glared at him in frustration and Kanda adjusted his ponytail in agitation.

"I'm sorry if I was jumping to conclusions, I really do have your best interests in mind Yuu. When your mother and I were married we had never met, and we were very lucky that we could find happiness together. I'm just trying to give you the best chance to find happiness as well."

Kanda resisted the urge to "tch." Happy, sappy feelings just weren't his thing, but this wasn't the time so show just how emotionally constipated he was.

"Fine, I understand and will try harder." He closed the conversation and headed back out of the Great Hall, dark hair streaming behind him.

o.O.o

"Royal Flush."

The words rolled off of the teenagers tongue like the name of an old friend and that's when everyone else realized they'd made a giant mistake. They'd pegged him as an easy target, but the emptiness of their wallets and bareness of their skin told them otherwise.

"Well that was a fun game gentlemen, anyone else up for another round?"

The gentlemen in question tried to stop their rebellious limbs from shaking as they shook their heads and made a quick getaway. The white devil had taken everything but their boxers, and even those they'd only kept because of his mercy. Allen smirked in victory as the men disappeared around the corner before gathering up a pile of clothes and returning them to their owner.

"Thank you so much Walker-san!"

Allen smiled at the lanky man who was currently shivering in his pair of polka dot underwear. He'd watched the unnaturally pale man get pulled into a game of poker with sugar coated words and reassurances before swiftly having his ass handed to him. The truth was he'd been stuck dusting cupboards while looking for any reason at all to get himself into the poker game when Mr. Arystar Crowley had become his damsel in distress. The men had been more than happy to let a bratty servant play for Mr. Crowley instead when he'd run out of possessions.

"It was no problem at all Crowley-san, I could hardly stand by as I watched a man be stripped to his underwear."

That and he was several pounds heavier in cash and clothes.

"I can't believe people could be so bloodthirsty! I thought we were having so much fun before I lost all my money and clothes!"

Allen chuckled darkly, he'd had many experiences of stripping people to their underwear. One man in particular… He pulled himself out of his devious thoughts, poker always did that to him, and smiled at the thin man.

"A word of advice, Crowley-san. If you can't spot the sucker in the first half hour of a game, then you are that sucker."

The bleak faced man laughed sheepishly as Allen laid his newly won possessions in the middle of the table and resumed his dusting of a particularly ancient cabinet. He faltered a few minutes later when he realized the chalk colored man was still sitting in the same spot, albeit dressed and smiling cheerfully.

"Erm, did you need something Crowley-san?" He kept his tone light and friendly, you never knew when someone could prove useful to you.

Crowley's long face was sincere when he spoke. "Mmm, I was just thinking that I was really lucky to run into someone so kind while I was here."

Allen's cheeks pinked with the lightest of blushes and his mind scurried for something else to say. "Um, why are you here Crowley-san? Are you a friend of the King and Queen?"

Crowley's face broke into a bashful smile and he scratched at his hair. "Er, something like that. My grandfather gave the Queen many beautiful flowers and plants as a gift, and so my family has always been invited to any events at the castle. I'm in the same boat as those other men actually. We are all staying in the castle until Prince Kanda's birthday celebration. A lot of those men brought their daughters along in hopes that the prince notices them."

He trailed of nervously, like he was afraid Allen would run away if he talked too much. The whitette himself had taken in the information eagerly, so the prince was looking for a bride. That could come in handy. Crowley interrupted Allen's inner pondering as a thoughtful look took ahold of his gloomy features.

"Say, Walker-san, there's a dinner party tonight, and it's really just to keep the guests entertained, and it isn't really dinner, more like drinking and socializing, and I never know anyone, and well-"

Crowley fiddled with the hem of his shirt nervously while Allen restrained himself from shaking the man until the rest of his words came out.

"-er, would you want to accompany me tonight as a friend?"

Allen raised his pale eyebrows and pursed his lips before speaking hesitantly. "Well, I would love to Crowley-san, but I am just a servant here. I'm not sure my presence would be welcome at such a party."

Allen waited with bated breath, if he could go to this party he could scope out the other guests, possible brides, and maybe even that damn prince again. Come on Crowley! Put those brain cells to work and get me into this party!

"Well, you did just acquire some new suits so no one would be able to tell that you're a servant." Crowley offered meekly, a sliver of hope lighting up his dark eyes.

Allen was close to jumping for joy, but he played it out a little longer. "Hmm, true, but I wouldn't want you to get in trouble for my sake Crowley-san."

Crowley was smiling now as he spoke. "Oh I'll be fine, the Queen really liked those flowers."

Allen was grinning too now. "Well, then how could I say no when my friend needs me?"

o.O.o

"Sometimes it's better to be alone." Lavi sighed dramatically.

Kanda didn't bother to look up from his book. "What the fuck are you saying?"

"Nobody can hurt you." Another dramatic sigh escaped from the red head's lips.

Kanda raised his head an inch to roll his eyes. "Do I even want to know?"

Lavi shot up from where he'd been draped across a white armchair, and paced in front of the desk Kanda was sitting at. He'd been in the library for an hour and Lavi was slacking on his duties to bug the shit out of Kanda.

"Oh, you don't recognize it? It was my impersonation of you."

Kanda rolled his eyes for the umpteenth time as the agitated teenager continued pacing in front of him.

"I mean, you're parents literally have the hottest girls lined up for you every day, and you don't even want to get to know them better?! Madness!"

Lavi whirled around and stuck an accusatory finger in his face.

"You are living every man's dream, and wasting it!" He pulled at his hair in frustration. "I'm so jealous Yuu!"

Kanda's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Don't call me that, Baka Usagi!"

Lavi stuck his tongue out at him before wisely backing away a few feet. "Okay okay, well could you at least enlighten me on your completely backwards behavior then?"

Kanda exhaled roughly before fixing a rough glare on the red head. "If it'll get you to quit bitching and moaning."

Lavi sat down quickly and nodded his head eagerly.

"You like reading right?"

A confused nod.

"But do you like reading when your gramps tells you to?"

Lavi scoffed. "I hate doing anything that old panda tells me to do."

Kanda nodded. "Exactly."

The previously energetic teen sat gaping in his chair. "Wow, you know that kind of makes sense-" Kanda's mouth actually opened to sigh in relief. "-if you weren't refusing hot chicks just to spite your parents!"

Kanda snapped his mouth shut and glowered at the idiot across from him. "Don't you have better things to do?"

Lavi laughed and leaned back in his chair. "Don't you mean 'we'? Because there is a party tonight that's bound to be full of desperate, young women looking for their true love that's calling our names!" Lavi's eyes glazed over as his daydreams took over while Kanda just "tched."

"Oh come on Yuu, at least pretend to have a life! Just looking at you is depressing!"

Kanda growled and chucked a book at the melodramatic red head before spitting back a reply. "Then stop looking at me! If I had mugen I would chop you into little bunny pieces!"

Lavi raised his hands in a placating gesture before rubbing at the new bruise on his arm. "Okay yeesh, man you gotta stop carrying that thing around with you all the time, it's like a safety blanket."

Kanda's eyes narrowed dangerously and Lavi gulped before hurrying to speak. "How about this, you go to the party tonight with me and Lenalee, maybe talk to a few girls, maybe a little more-" Lavi dodged another book. "-just seem interested, and maybe your parents will lay off you for a little while!"

Kanda leaned back in his chair mulling it over while Lavi watched him like an eager puppy. He really wanted some peace and quiet to read his book, and if it meant Lavi would leave him be… Well it wasn't a terrible idea… He really did want his parents to lay off of him too…

"Oh fuck me, fine."

Lavi leapt up from his chair and fist bumped the air. "All right! Pretty ladies, watch out!"

His moment of victory was ruined when Bookman appeared at his side and snatched him by the ear. "Idiot! This is a library, shut up! And stop slacking off! You have ten more shelves to sort!"

Lavi mouthed a silent plea of help to Kanda and received an indifferent tch in response before being dragged away. Kanda settled comfortably back in his seat as he picked his book back up. He was determined to have some quiet time before he was subjected to the many horrors that came with any party.

o.O.o

Allen tugged at his vest, and adjusted the red ribbon at his throat. He had been lucky that one of his victims was close enough to his more petite size. He was also lucky that Miranda had allowed him go to the party on the account of him being Crowley's personal servant and her being an incredibly kind person who was incapable of saying no to his teary eyed pleading face.

The night might just end with good new after all with the way his luck was going now. The party was being held in a larger parlor that Allen had never been to and he waited impatiently for Crowley outside of the servant's quarters. Eventually the willowy man rounded the corner, a dark cape sweeping back off his shoulders and skimming the floor behind. He would have been an intimidating figure if not for his too skinny features and constant nervous expression.

"Ah, Walker-san!"

Crowley's face practically glowed when his eyes landed on Allen. He smiled at the lanky man and had to wonder just how many friends Crowley had if he was already so attached to him, the cleaning boy. It was a little depressing actually, and he felt some pity for the man, who was so earnest. He wouldn't last a day on his own in the real world.

"Good evening Crowley-san! And please, call me Allen, we're friends."

His cheeks were starting to hurt with all this smiling but Crowley was absolutely beaming.

"Ah right, we are friends, Allen-kun."

The word sounded so foreign and clumsy when Crowley said it and another pang of pity stabbed Allen's heart. He'd forgotten what it felt like to have that kind of emotion so strongly, and he had to repress a shudder. Malice, hatred, disgust, those he could handle. He swallowed his uneasiness and beamed up at Crowley.

"Mhmm! Well, what do you say we head to that party now?"

Crowley nodded his head vigorously, still freaking smiling, and led the way down the corridor. Allen let his smile fall, now that he wasn't being watched by those puppy dog eyes, and a more comfortable scowl settled on his features. An uneasy dread kneaded itself in his stomach. This party had better be worth it.

After three wrong turns, and one circle they finally arrived at the expensive, open doors of the parlor. Men and women were milling around the spacious room and there was music playing from somewhere. Crowley shot Allen a nervous glance, he had to resist the urge to smack him, and instead sent an encouraging smile up to the man. That seemed to do the trick and Crowley stumbled into the busy room, in the distinct direction of the refreshment table.

Allen ambled behind his eyes set on a plate full of pastries when a female's voice called his name out in surprise.

"Allen-kun?"

He paused and scanned the room for the source of the voice. His eyes passed over way too many girls trying to be women in tight dresses and dramatic make up before they settled on a familiar face.

"Lenalee-san?"

He raised a delicate eyebrow in surprise that mirrored the other girl's expression, and a small smile curved his lips before he waved shyly. Lenalee laughed, radiating happiness, and she fought her way through the crowds to his side. Her dark hair was pulled back in its signature ponytails, and she was wearing a short, pink, Chinese styled dress and tall red boots. On any other girl in the room it would have been trashy but Lenalee made it work.

"I know I promised to come see you, but I didn't expect we'd be meeting so soon!"

Allen laughed sheepishly and gestured over to Crowley who was trying to pour himself a glass but kept spilling it when a particularly rambunctious group of girls knocked into him with their showy dancing. He scowled, feeling defensive of the clumsy man.

"Actually I'm here on behalf of a friend, who looks like he could use some assistance."

Lenalee's own happy face was marred with irritation and she followed Allen over to Crowley just as a blonde jabbed an elbow into his side. Allen snatched a steadying arm out and saved Crowley from an embarrassing fall. Lenalee shot the blonde a dirty look which she returned haughtily. Allen had to shout to be heard over the music in this corner.

"Why don't we go somewhere else?"

Crowley looked thrilled with this idea and Lenalee nodded her agreement sharply. The trio shuffled their way through the crowd to a quieter corner with less vicious blondes. Crowley rubbed at his side and the defensive feeling in Allen only grew. He shook his head like he could shake off the unwanted feelings and turned to Lenalee.

"Lenalee-san, this is Crowley-san, my friend."

Lenalee's face was back to sunshine and rainbows and she shook hands with Crowley.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Crowley-san! I hope we can be friends!"

Crowley's eyes widened and Allen thought he might cry from joy.

"Y-Yes, that would be wonderful! I seem to be running into so many kind people today!"

Lenalee blushed prettily at that and the two were chatting away right away. Allen smiled oddly content as he caught snippets of their conversation while scanning the room.

"-saved you too?"

"-stripped to my underwear!"

"-annoying girls."

"-just ignore them, they're all convinced they're going to be Kanda's bride."

Allen whipped his head back towards Lenalee at the mention of bride his mind snapping back and his mission back in his thoughts.

"What did you say about those girls, Lenalee-san?"

The girl shot a dark look back over to the horde of girls by the refreshment table before speaking.

"Oh I was just telling Crowley-san to ignore them. They're all helpless, totally convinced they're going to marry Kanda. They've been getting even more daring lately with his birthday so close."

Allen nodded, they were certainly dressed… daringly. Lenalee waved off the girls in the corner and focused back on Allen.

"Anyways, how are you Allen-kun? Are you comfortable? Getting by okay?"

Allen felt a kind of warmth blossom in his chest to have someone so interested in his wellbeing but squashed it like a bug. The mission. Remember your mission! You don't have time for feelings or friends!

"I'm fine thank you. Everyone is very kind and I've already made another friend."

Crowley smiled bashfully and Lenalee looked like a beaming mother, glad her child was fitting in okay at school. He stomped harder on the bug.

"That's great Allen-kun!"

He smiled in return and tried to ignore the warmth in her violet eyes. He managed to find his voice under all his stomping and forced himself to continue the conversation.

"And you, Lenalee-san? How are you?"

She learned forward to hear his quiet voice and he fought the urge to leap away from her closeness. Lenalee, won't hurt you, she just wants to be your friend, calm down and carry on with this charade!

"Oh I'm doing well! My brother is a giant slacker and so there's been a lot of paper work to catch up on, but it's all well. Reever-san is the one I'm worried about."

Later, at some point Allen realized that Crowley had begun a conversation with an older, frizzy haired man with glasses and paint stains on his suit. That and he'd been carrying on a conversation with Lenalee about things that weren't important to his mission, like her brother's sister complex, and how she made everyone personalized coffee mugs. He couldn't even bring himself to be irritated though. It had been so long since he'd talked to a person that cared about him and didn't want to kill him or make him into their personal plaything. The Noah's affections were hard earned and expressed in very strange ways. Ways that left him cold and empty inside.

He eased up on his internal stomping and felt himself relax just the tiniest of bits. For a moment, he was enveloped in foreign, alien emotions. The warmth was back in his chest and the uneasiness in his stomach had reached all-time highs. He focused on Lenalee's face and realized it had probably been a while since he had responded, but she was still smiling.

The music which had been loud and fast had changed to a softer and more graceful tune. The horde of "daring" girls had retreated farther back and were standing around bored while pairs of two made their way to the middle of the room to dance. Allen swallowed thickly as he ventured into foreign territory.

"Er, Lenalee-san would you like to dance?"

Lenalee blinked owlishly before breaking into a grin and saying sure. Allen had no idea what he was thinking, he didn't even know how to dance! She hooked arms with him and they strolled to the center of the room. Allen watched the other dancer with a sliver of desperation and managed to put his hand on Lenalee's waist and take her hand without fumbling too much.

The other pairs performed the same few steps over and over and a few brave couples were twirling. He smacked himself internally, come on Allen! You've survived much worse! Flaming pits! Onslaughts of weapons! His limbs thawed and they began stepping in time with the music. Lenalee was smiling and having a grand time while Allen watched his every step.

After a few steps his clunky steps seemed to even out and he caught the current that everyone else was moving with. Honestly it was similar to fighting. There was a flow to the movements and Allen managed a few twirls, a smile breaking onto his face unconsciously. He caught a glimpse of Crowley being dragged onto the floor by the same paint stained man he'd been talking to earlier and an uncharacteristic snort escaped his lips.

Lenalee followed his gaze and was soon laughing up a storm. Allen had to admit it was a pretty hilarious sight, Crowley with his long clumsy limbs being twirled around by another man.

"That Tiedoll! It's always something with him!"

Lenalee laughed some more as Allen spun her out again and he almost felt like he was enjoying himself. It is a party after all. The voice that spoke inside his mind was new and he gave a start. Just have fun Allen, enjoy yourself~

o.O.o

Kanda let himself be dragged down the long corridor regretting his decision to come already.

"Come on Yuu! The party started half an hour ago, this is taking fashionably late to a new level!"

Kanda whacked the red head before growling. "Don't call me that! And I had to finish that book." He finished with a huff. Lavi rolled his eye before pulling harder and running the last few yards of the corridor. He released Kanda's arm at the doors and turned to him adjusting his bandana.

"How's my bandana?"

Kanda stared blankly.

"Green."

Lavi whacked him on the arm muttering about how was no help before making his way into the parlor.

"Ooh, it's a slow song! HAHAH, is that Tiedoll!"

Lavi turned around bouncing with excitement, the opposite of Kanda who really just wanted to leave. Lavi exhaled violently and snatched his hand through Kanda's hair, taking his hair tie with it. Kanda snarled as his long hair came down like a curtain around his face.

"Give that back, Baka Usagi!"

Lavi danced out of reach snickering.

"At least promise me you'll dance with one of those beauties over there!" Lavi said gesturing to the refreshment table where a horde of girls with way too much cleavage and hair bows stood bored. Kanda was pretty sure his eyes were going to get stuck if he kept rolling them so often. The only way he would get near one of those girls was to steal a hair tie! He was about to make a lunge for the red head when a blonde caught him looking at the horde and seemed to have a mini seizure before shaking a few of her friends and gesturing violently in his direction.

"Shit."

Kanda began to back away and Lavi looked back at the flock of females. His single green eye widened as he saw the mass began to move, slowly but surely inching their way around the edge of the room. He snorted and clapped his hands together.

"Leave this to me Yuu! Lavi shall distract the pack of beautiful girls!"

Kanda didn't have anything to throw at the red head and so he began his escape to the side. He was pretty sure Lavi was going to get mauled by that throng of beasts anyways. He was weaving his way through the crowd when a familiar laugh caught his ear. Lenalee! Lenalee he could bare, the girl could actually be pleasant sometimes and her company was a much better option than the raving horde of girls. Shoving his way past a large man he finally managed to breach the crowd and enter the dance floor.

There he saw Lenalee twirling away as she danced with someone else. Kanda peered closer at her dance partner, it was a young man with a familiar mop of white hair. The events from earlier today clicked back to him. One of the cleaning staff had run into him and nearly spilled water all over him. The kid had had white hair too and had been practically drowning in his apron, but that wasn't what Kanda had noticed.

For the first instant that Kanda had made eye contact with the kid he'd been looking at a cruel and malicious face. Grey slits had chilled his blood, and there'd been a harsh sneer on his young face. Then the next instant it was gone and round grey eyes had looked up at him fearfully, all the harshness was gone from the face leaving it with a more youthful glow. He'd dismissed the kid after that but it had still been more of an impact than any flimsy girl his parents had brought in had ever made on him.

Kanda waited as the slow song ended and an upbeat tune replaced it. Lenalee spotted him and sent him a cheerful wave before making her way over to him dragging the whitette behind her. He gave Lenalee his friendliest nod when she greeted him and then eagerly dragged his eyes over to the boy behind her.

Staring back at him were glowering, grey orbs. Delicate brows were roughly pushing together and his lips were downturned at each corner. Then the expression was gone and an innocent boy was giving him a gentleman's smile. Just like earlier. Kanda was intrigued. Usually it took a few conversations before people started openly disliking him, and here was kid this who appeared to hate him only to cover it up the next moment. He was pulled from his musings and staring when Lenalee started speaking to him.

"Kanda, this is Allen! He's working here at the castle!"

Her mood was bright and she seemed to be pretty fond of the kid, then again Lenalee was pretty fond of most people. He turned his attention back to the kid in front of him when he outstretched a hand towards Kanda.

"I'm Allen Walker. It's a pleasure to meet you Prince Kanda."

Kanda shook the shorty's hand briefly before a sly smile slid onto his face.

"Nice to meet you too, Moyashi."

o.O.o

A/N it's late so I'm sorry if there are a bunch of errors, ;_; I'll check over this again tomorrow. Thanks a bunch for reading, hope you enjoyed!:D We have an actual meeting here too! (ish!) Lemme know what you thought por favor!