Learnings

"Lavi?"

"Yes?"

"Would you please let go of me?" Red asked as politely as he could, a visible twitch on his left eyebrow.

Lavi hummed, not bothering to look up from his book, "Will you try to escape if I do?"

"Of course I will!" he snapped. "I have to get back to the circus!"

"Then no can do," Lavi said in a sing-song voice as he snapped his book closed.

"Fine!" Red said, the twitch on his eyebrow growing faster, "Then can you at least untie me from the bloody ceiling?"

Lavi hummed once again. He turned around to look at the up-side-down boy hanging from the ceiling up to Lavi's eye-level; the white bandages stolen from the infirmary were tightly wrapped around Red, successfully preventing his use of arms and legs. Red watched how Lavi's visible eye glowed with mirth and scowled.

"But if I untie you you'll definitely try to run away," Lavi said. "No way, I don't want to chase after you once again."

Red glared at the smirking red head and sighed, quickly schooling his face into a blank expression.

"Fine," he said in a monotone voice, "then I'll tell on you to that lady from before."

Not even two seconds had passed before a nervously laughing Lavi had stepped closer and started to untie Red, telling him it was only a joke and how he shouldn't tell on him and please just don't. A sly smirk involuntarily made its way to Red's lips as he watched the red head frantically try and untie him when he heard high-heeled footsteps approaching them from the hallway.

He had been really careless, but if Red had any say in this, being persecuted by a mad scientist carrying a big ass hammer really dulled one's sense of preservation.

Really, wasn't this their dear friend's body? He actually felt a sort of pity to this Allen bloke. At least at the circus he just had to watch out for Cosimo, not a bunch of crazy potential killers.

All in all, escaping Komui had been easier than expected, what with Kanda gone with an audible groan as soon as Komui started swinging his hammer in all directions and Lavi being squished by the mattress, Red had sprinted in a mad dash to whichever direction his body told him. He had gone from left to right and down the stairs for some minutes, and putting aside the thought of clearly being lost, he was glad no one had caught up to him yet.

Still, every hallway looked the same to him, and he needed to escape before somebody found him.

He made his way down what seemed his 7th flight of stairs and turned right. Red saw the back of a man clad in white walking the same direction he was headed. He frowned. Those guys had never told him what Allen was like; if this person knew Allen and thought something was off about him he might call for the idiot trio's help. Still, if he didn't ask that man for directions he was bound to meet someone he'd rather avoid.

Being as neutral as he could, Red approached the man from behind and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Excuse me," he said, trying to conceal his thick British accent as he remembered how Lavi seemed surprised by it, "do you know the way out of here?"

The man turned around and dedicated Red a smile when he recognized the body he was currently possessing.

"Allen!" He said happily, "Are you lost again? My, you really are something! Although you almost got it this time, the canals to town are on this floor, you're just walking the opposite direction."

"Ah, I see," he said nervously. This man knew Allen; he had to get out of here. "I'll be off then, thank you for your help."

"Wait a minute," the man said, grabbing a sweating Red by the shoulder. "Are you going on a mission again? What is central thinking, you just got back from one! Seriously, I'll have a talk with Komui, but be careful Allen, don't strain yourself, all right?"

Red nodded dumbly at the man as he went the opposite direction, grumbling under his breath.

He sighed, a pang of jealousy making its way to Red's heart. It must be nice to have someone care about you. Red shook his head; this was not the moment for these kinds of thoughts. He had to get back to the circus, get his body and miserable life back and have Allen get back to his friends. At least, this way he'd make those fools happy.

Red turned around and started to walk towards the direction the man in white told him; he could see the flicker of fire through an open door and listen to the sound of running water and his steps became a little faster. That was it; that must be the entrance to the canals that led to town.

He hesitated on his steps as he got closer, but shook the feeling as soon as it had come. He had to go back; he couldn't be living the life of another.

"Allen, wait!"

Red stiffened in his spot, a few steps away from the door to the canals and turned around. A girl in a short skirt and long pony tails approached him in a light run, and he could see a worried smile on her face.

"Allen, where are you going?" she said once she was standing in front of him. "You aren't escaping the infirmary without the head nurse's permission are you?"

Red smiled sheepishly, not wanting to say a word that could blow his cover to this girl that obviously knew Allen Walker.

The girl sighed and grabbed Red's hand, muttering how his need to rest was far more important than whatever he wanted in town. Red flinched at the contact and regretted it soon after, as the girl noticed that odd reaction and gazed at him quizzically.

"Allen?" she asked, concern visible in her eyes. "Is everything ok?"

Ah, she's noticed. I'll just have to make a run for it. Red thought, and was about to put his master plan in action when a voice he recognized grabbed both teen's attention.

"Wait, Lenalee, don't let him escape!"

"Let him – ah, Allen!"

It all happened in a couple of seconds. First, he was heading to the oh-so-glorious exit of this mad place, when suddenly the girl jumped right in between Red and the open door; and next thing he knew, he had been tackled to the ground by the annoying red head he was trying to evade.

"Lavi!" Red yelled, "Ge' off me, you wanker!"

"Now, now," Lavi said, pulling a pack of bandages from his pants' pockets and tying Red's hands behind his back. "That is no way to talk in front of a Lady."

"I don't give a shite," he grumbled through his teeth, "and stop tying me you – you molester!"

Red inwardly congratulated himself as he saw the red head stutter and try to explain himself to the indignant girl who looked as if she was ready to murder Lavi slow and painfully.

"So," The girl asked after kicking Lavi with her high heel. Red dully noted how he should never anger a woman. "Would you two mind explaining to me what is going on?"

"Allow me to, mademoiselle," Lavi said cheerfully from his spot on top of Red's back. "Allen here's got amnesia; this rude British fellow is Red."

She blinked slowly, apparently not believing in Lavi's words. "Excuse me?"

"Well, you see," Lavi started, refusing to get off of an angry Red, "Remember how during our mission Allen got hit by an Akuma? When he came to his senses he was no longer our lovely Allen, but Red – the boy who works at the circus and apparently, just met a clown named Mana ("What the hell does Mana has to do with anything, wanker!"). So I told Red here what really happened –"

"He told me that Komui guy experimented with your friend Allen and his body switched with mine."

The silence that followed Red's words was so heavy he actually felt as nervous as Lavi was, considering how Lavi started to shiver when the girl threw a sweet smile at him.

"So you told Allen – I mean Red, that his body switched with Allen's?" The girl asked Lavi, slowly approaching them with that painfully sweet smile. Lavi immediately pushed himself closer to Red's body, as if trying to shield himself.

Red just stared in horror as the girl grabbed Lavi by the collar of his shirt and lifted him effortlessly. Lavi laughed and stuttered nervously, telling her something about information and the fourteenth the same way he had explained to Kanda and Komui. And just as last time, it clearly didn't work since she just lifted Lavi a little more so that the tips of his toes barely touched the floor, and with a quick movement that Red couldn't fully register, the girl kicked Lavi right across his face and sent him flying to the nearest wall.

Out of all the people Red had met in his life, he decided that she was by far the most dangerous of them all.

"So," the girl said, grabbing Red's attention fully, "you don't know who I am?"

Really, the sad smile she sent her way made Red feel as the worst human being in the planet.

"I'm sorry," Red said ashamed, "I don't know any of you guys, I'm not your friend Allen."

"It's all right," the girl said, making her way to untie Red. "I'm Lenalee, it's nice to meet you."

Red nodded, thanking her for taking off the bandages before standing up. He glanced briefly to the door to the canals and sighed; it was now or never.

"Look you guys," he said, getting the other's attention, "I don't know why the bloody hell you wish to keep me in this mad place, but isn't your friend Allen important to you? Just let me go to the circus to get things fixed and you can get your friend back."

"No way," they both said in unison, making Red twitch in annoyance.

Were they idiots or something? He wasn't Allen.

"Allen can take care of himself," Lavi started, approaching a fuming Red. "So there's really no need for you to go right away, besides, Allen's body is a bit wrecked from our mission and it'll be a problem for you."

"Lavi's right," Lenalee said, "at least stay here until you're fully recovered. We can send someone to get Allen back from the circus if you want to."

The way Lenalee fidgeted while saying that made Red suspicious. There was more to this, something they were all hiding from him. He scowled, they wouldn't tell him voluntarily? Fine. He would use his own methods to find out. So he would stay in this mad place, yet, he wouldn't trust any of them. How could he? How could he even begin to trust the people who wouldn't tell him his fate, even though they seemed to know it? But he would stay, and he would make them believe he was fine, and he would leave them before they could leave him.

Besides, he was getting a bit curious about this information and the fourteenth that Lavi kept talking about.

"Well," Lavi said, bringing Red's attention back to him, "You haven't eaten since waking up, what about grabbing some lunch?"

The walk back was anything but peaceful. Lenalee said something about meeting them in the training room, and as soon as she was gone, Lavi was on top of him, pressing him to the ground and tying him once again with the infirmary bandages. He wrapped him in what Red thought was a stupid looking cocoon, and dragged him through the hallway to what he assumed was the training room, all the while Red cursing Lavi with his ample vocabulary whilst Lavi pressed on about not wanting to chase after him.

"Lavi," Lenalee said, bringing Red back to reality. "What are you doing to Red?"

"This isn't what you're thinking Lenalee," Lavi answered, his frantic efforts to untie Red from the ceiling increasing tenfold.

"He tied me as soon as you were gone," Red told her with big sad eyes, and the shocked face of Lavi along the voiced 'your traitor' sent his way made his chest swell up with pride.

He hoped Lenalee would kick him again, stupid Lavi.

All in all, Red made it to the cafeteria without any further accident, answering Lenalee's questions while a beaten Lavi followed them from behind.

Still, when they entered the large room and Red saw all those people inside, eating and chatting and some even staring, he felt the small confidence he had go down. The people he'd met up until now – Lavi, Kanda, Komui and Lenalee – had taken the news of him not being Allen quite well, even treating him as a normal human being. But all these people… would they chase him out if they found out he wasn't Allen? Red quivered in his steps, he had promised not to run away until this borrowed body healed, but –

"It's all right," Red turned around to Lavi's voice, he had a kind smile on his face. "Nobody knows anything."

Red felt a small blush creeping towards his cheeks; he turned around and crossed his arms, trying to appear as tough as his current body allowed him to.

"I don't need your compassion," Red said, trying his best to ignore Lavi's gleeful laugh and focusing on going to where Lenalee was standing.

"Allen, sweetie," a feminine voice said as he approached the kitchen, "I was starting to miss you since you hadn't come at all today! You must be starving, so tell me, what would you like to eat?"

Red stared at the purple haired man for a while before turning to Lavi, his face serious and determined, "Is he Kanda's lover?"

Soon enough, Lavi was on the floor, laughing loudly while grabbing the side of his stomach with one hand and hitting the floor repeatedly with the other. Lenalee, on the other hand, started to reprimand Red with pink dusted cheeks, telling him how that was not something to say at such a public place and about how did he even know the meaning of that word and just how old are you!

So a few kicks to a red head and a grumpy Red later, they decided to order.

"All right, cutie," the purple haired man asked as if nothing had ever happened, "what would you like to eat?"

Red fidgeted, glancing to Lenalee and Lavi nervously. They nodded, pushing him to order whatever he wanted.

"Then…" Red said in his best attempt to look strong, "Can I have some soup?"

"S-Soup?" the man asked, Lavi and Lenalee moved closer to the white haired boy. "Are you not feeling well? You're not hungry?"

Red shook his head, suddenly embarrassed by all the unwanted attention, "No, I'll – Then I'll have a piece of bread too."

"Red, you…" Lavi started, and Red couldn't help a pang of self-loathing when he saw that flicker of pity on Lavi's visible eye. So what if he wasn't confident on this particular thing? It was not as if he knew anything else.

Still, he saw Lavi grab the purple haired man by the collar and quickly whisper something to him. The man's eyebrows furrowed in realization as he glanced furiously at Red.

Once again, he had this growing urge to run away.

"I understand," the man said quietly, nearing his face to Red's in an unbearably uncomfortable manner. "I won't let you down. I'll make a feast for you that will put to shame anything you've eaten before, Red!"

Red nodded awkwardly, unable to put his thoughts into words. So did he know he was not Allen? And he didn't hate him? No, he was even willing to cook something for a street rat like him.

He felt his cheeks heat up and decided to look at the floor instead.

"All right then," the man said with a smile, "you just go and sit down and let me surprise you. Oh, and please call me Jerry, it's nice to meet you."

And with that being said, the man turned around and started to give orders to the kitchen personnel.

Red followed Lenalee and Lavi through the large room, noticing how they were heading to a table already occupied by the long haired samurai. Lavi immediately began to giggle, advising Red not to tell Kanda about him and Jerry being lovers if he wished to keep his head on.

"So, Red," Lenalee started, sitting down besides Kanda and clearly ignoring his voiced wishes to piss off. "Tell us a bit about yourself, how old are you?"

Red scoffed, sitting across an angry Kanda, "Dunno, 'bout seven or eight, I think."

"You think?" she asked, curiosity visible in all three faces.

"Yeah," Red said absentmindedly, deciding to look at the nearest window instead. "The ringleader found me on the streets with no memories about my parents or how I got there. He just assumed my age and I kept changing it through the years."

There it was again, that quick flicker of pity in the other's eyes before they concealed the feeling. He hated it.

"Wait a minute," Lavi said suddenly, mortification clear in his eyes. "You are only seven yet you know that many swearwords? How did you even learn them!"

"People curse a lot in the circus," Red answered, "I listen to most while doing the odd jobs, or whenever Cosimo's in a foul mood."

"Cosimo?"

"A clown at the circus," he said, bringing his attention fully to the intent listening trio. "That cunt always hits me whenever he feels like it, but I can't do anything since he's got the favor of the ringleader."

No, this time it was not pity.

Anger?

Indeed, a flash of anger crossed their faces when Red stopped talking, even Kanda's features seemed to darken. Almost as if they cared about his wellbeing. A small blush crept over his cheeks.

He seemed to be blushing quite a lot lately. He needed to fix that, Red absolutely wouldn't blush like some sort of damsel in distress.

"But you know what," Lavi pressed on, adamant on keeping in topic, "what I'm most curious about is your name. Is it a common British name?"

"Are you an idiot?" Red scoffed, not even trying to hide the disgust in his voice. "That's not my name. I don't have one, they just gave it to me after seeing my arm. Red, like the devil who spawned you, was what the ringleader said."

Ah, maybe he'd gone a little too far now.

"Sorry for making you wait!"

Red turned around to the little outburst, relieved for the distraction since the faces the trio had made had unsettled him plenty. It almost looked as if they cared. So he finally decided to acknowledge the voice that had called out to them, and to say he was shocked would be an understatement.

Approaching them was Jerry, barely visible behind the mountains of food he was carrying. It was amazing, there were so many types of food Red had never seen before and he really wished to try them all. Jerry carefully placed the food before him and Red finally noticed how hungry he was.

So with a small pat to the head and a bon appetite, Jerry left them and returned to the kitchen.

A loud rumble from his stomach made Red get his attention back to the food. It all looked amazing, and it smelled delicious too, but – but he didn't know this people. He highly doubted the food would be poisoned, since he was in their friend's body, but still, why were they so nice to him, why weren't they throwing him out and trying to get their friend back?

What were they hiding form him?

"Oi," Kanda said, bringing him back to reality. "The food is not poisoned, there's no need for you to worry about something like that since you're in the beansprout's body. So eat."

Red stared in awe as Kanda got up from the table and headed out of the cafeteria. Were his thoughts so obvious? Or was he lowering his guard around this people? His stomach rumbled once more and Red decided to ponder about that later.

He gingerly grabbed a stick of mitarashi dango, as Lenalee had informed him, and soon he wouldn't stop eating. He learned quite a lot about Allen; about how he would eat this monstrous amount of food three times a day, about how he was such a gentleman unlike his rude, ill-mannered self, about how he never gave up and how he always worried about his friends, and much more about wonderful, gentleman Allen.

What a dull person.

That is, except for his poker skills when dark Allen appeared; he'd like to meet that side of him sometime.

Surprising himself, Red finished all 37 plates of food Jerry had brought him, yet, he was stopped by Jerry when he told him he wanted to clean his plates and earn his stay.

"No way," Jerry said, "what kind of chef would I be if I let my customers take care of their food? You just go and have fun sweetie, I'll take care of it."

So being dragged by Lavi and Lenalee alike, Red was once again standing in the training room.

"Say, Lenalee, why don't you give Red a tour around the Order?" Lavi said, "I'll catch up to you later; that person is coming back today and I would like to prepare everything beforehand."

"I understand, I'll leave everything to you," she said, grabbing Red by the hand. "Come on Red, I'll show you around."

To say the Order was big would be a huge lie. It was ridiculously enormous. The corridors never seemed to end, and Red was sure they've already climbed more floors than architectonically possible, but Lenalee said there was still so much more about the Order left. The worst part of it all, of course, was that everything looked exactly the same to Red. Not that he would admit it, but he was extraordinarily, irrefutably, and hopelessly directionally challenged.

He would never forget that time when he decided to skip work at the circus and explore the streets of London. He had been careful enough to stay within a 5 kilometer radius from the circus, just as a precaution he deemed necessary to take.

It had been one hour after exploring that he decided to return and he was completely and utterly lost. He wandered aimlessly, and finally came to a sort of dodgy inn at the center of London. He went over to the first door that crossed his way and knocked, careful to hide his left arm so that whoever was inside would give him directions.

That is, of course, if the bastard inside the room would damn well open the door.

So Red sighed in irritation and decided to open the conveniently unlocked door.

Lucky him.

Red peeked inside, half-entering just enough to face the person inhabiting in that room. He saw a flash of red and cleared his throat to gain the man's attention, yet, the scene that unraveled before him made his question die mid-throat.

Inside the room and on top of the old looking bed lied a man; completely naked but for two white socks on his feet and one on his manhood. His long red hair almost hid the white half-mask he was wearing, and the multiple empty bottles of wine scattered on the floor and the mattress told Red he had drunk himself to unconsciousness. But overall, what caught Red's attention the most were the ropes tied from his arms and legs to each end of the bed; the drawers in the room were all open and empty, as well as the man's suitcase except for a couple of shirts and pants.

Red wrinkled his nose in disgust, the man had been so drunk he'd manage to get himself robbed and humiliated all at once.

He sighed, wondering if he should at least untie the man from the bed, and he was almost convinced to do so when he heard the man mumble in his sleep. The crooked smile the man managed to pull on his drunk, unconscious state made Red stop on his tracks, but what had creeped him the most was how after a couple more of mumbling and a sort of diabolical giggling, the sock on his manhood twitched.

Then it twitched once more.

And when the sock seemed to rise like a sunflower in the morning, Red decided to give in to hope and run, run far away and hope that a good hit to the head would make him forget that horrible, traumatizing image from his head.

Needless to say, he didn't have such luck; he still had nightmares of the twitching sock.

"And this over here is the Science Department," he heard Lenalee say, drawing him out of his revolting musings. Maybe he should ask Komui for a memory erasing potion.

Red followed Lenalee through the big wooden doors and into the Science Department, and what was before him was absolutely nothing like what he had imagined. Papers were scattered, people sleeping, people drowning in papers, and was that man making an extremely dangerous knot with a rope?

Red walked inside the big room, marveling at the may piles of books scattered about, and at the bookshelves packed with even more books, rising all the way to the ceiling. There were desks every couple of steps, each one with an unhealthy amount of papers on it, but different instruments on each one.

The room was buzzing with sound and movement, and best of all, everyone was so immersed on their own business that no one bothered to notice the white haired kid standing about.

This might have been Red's favorite place inside the Order, right after the cafeteria, that is, until he heard someone calling his name.

He turned around, curious to meet the person that called him Red and not Allen, as everyone in the Order would have, and he saw a short man with glasses running towards him, his face beaming with a smile that creeped Red out.

"Red, hello," the man said, smiling at Lenalee too, "My name is Johnny, nice to meet you. Komui told me all about your incident and Lavi's, uh – explanation."

What?

Honestly, he wasn't sure if he wanted to brutally murder Komui for being such a tattle-tale, or just down right throw himself through a window and hope for the best. Still, he smiled charmingly at Johnny and bowed slightly, "Nice to meet you too."

The scientist before him beamed, clearly excited at Red's quick acceptance to his persona. Lenalee gave Red a reproaching look but he ignored her, still innocently smiling to Johnny. They all told him how Allen was such a gentleman, and Red was the complete opposite; so he'd take advantage of the situation, of course, and get to know everything that they were hiding from him.

Besides, with Allen being such a nice boy Red just wanted to have some fun and shatter everyone's perfect image of him. He'd definitely be the number one prankster at the Order.

"Ah, Lenalee," Johnny said, grabbing the girl's attention and giving Red a chance to explore the room, "Komui asked me to give you these pamphlets, also, he would like to discuss with you about Red's development in the Order and…"

Red kept walking until Johnny's voice drowned out in the constant buzzing of the Science Department. He was marveled with everything his eye's landed on.

He walked over to a busy looking desk, poking at all the crystal vases lying about. He noted how the glasses with the blue looking liquid felt cold, whilst the ones with the red looking liquid were hot, and how the glasses with purple liquids were lightly fuming even though they didn't feel hot, and the green one's were bubbling with no fire underneath. He was truly amazed, a spark of curiosity lighting in his childish heart and the impulse to touch the liquid without the glass was overwhelming.

With a dust of pink on his cheeks and a gleam in his eyes, Red cautiously brought his finger over the blue liquid, lowering it slowly as if savoring the moment.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

With a startled gasp, Red brought his hand back to his chest, lightly pushing the glass with the blue liquid in his sudden movement, and he saw how a tall man with light brown hair and a tired look in his face made to frantically grab the glass before it fell and spilled.

"Ah – that was a close one," he said, carefully placing the glass on the desk and grinning at a weary looking Red. "You know, this chemical composition is so powerful that it can melt even steel, imagine what it would have done to your finger had you touched it."

The man laughed heartily at the scared look in Red, patting his head all the while.

"Don't worry, no harm done, just please don't touch anything here," the man said, taking a step back and offering a stretched hand at Red. "My name's Reever, nice to meet you, Red."

Red offered a charming smile at the man as he took the offered appendage, a light twitch on his eyebrow as he realized the whole department must know who he was thanks to that loose tongue Komui had.

He was so gonna get back at him.

"Come on, I'll give you a tour through the place."

Red followed Reever as he explained the various experiments that took place all over the large room. A childish innocence settling on his features as Reever let him fumble with the experiments he deemed safe and help other scientists on their making of potions. He felt a happiness he had never felt before settle in his heart as he played about with the various tools and experiments, and throwing caution out the metaphorical window, Red decided that, for once, he wanted to be a simple eight-or-so-year-old and have some fun.

He wasn't sure how long he had been playing around with the scientists, bullying the weak looking ones such as Johnny and purposely destroying Komui's experiments with little resistance from the rest of the crazy man's team. So when Reever excused himself for a moment as he discussed something with a serious looking man (Russell, he thought was his name), there was no wonder he felt quite thirsty.

He looked around, and spotted a large bottle with crystal clear liquid atop a desk. Red grinned, feeling sorry for the fool that had left their water bottle lying around. He took the bottle, glancing around cautiously before shamelessly drinking it, clearing its contents in one go.

It had been but a second later that Red noted a stinging burn on the back of his neck, and a dry taste on his tongue. Agh, that was not water. He thought, turning around quickly and regretting it soon after as his head started spinning.

He felt how his mind went drowsy and his cheeks started to heat up. He started to walk about the place, slightly zig-zagging as he felt a sudden bravery settle on his mind. He wanted to do new stuff, and he wanted to prank everyone, and he wanted to be so damn bold.

"Ah!" He heard Russell yell from behind, "My vodka's all gone!"

"Your vodka!" Reever yelled, too, "Why the hell would you have vodka here?"

Red groaned, his body was feeling so hot and Allen's body was so covered up. He started by pulling the ribbon off of his neck, ungracefully throwing it to the floor as his black vest followed right behind. For some reason, he wanted to perform Mana's circus act.

He started to unbutton his white shirt – since in his clouded mind he'd stated that the less clothes he wore, the more freely he could perform, when a loud bang and furious bickering brought his attention to the now open door.

"Walker!" A blond man with a long braid yelled, a sighing Lavi could be seen from behind.

Red scowled, who the hell was this wanker and how dare he interrupt his performance?

He was about to give him a piece of his mind, when a sudden golden ball flew towards him and smashed right across his face.

"What the fuck is this thing!" Red yelled in a thick British accent, successfully bringing everyone's attention towards him and his disheveled form.

He grabbed the golden ball and held it right across his face, examining the cross pattern on its front and the little horns on the top and the long tail that curled almost lovingly in his arm. He stretched it, noting the sharp teeth on what he assumed was his mouth and a light glow posed on Red's infantile features.

He turned his gaze at Lavi, the bright pink on his cheeks thanks to the alcohol and the large, silver eyes giving him an outmost adorable look, "Can I keep it?"

The golden ball freed itself from Red's grasp as it started to flutter around him, eliciting a small giggle from the silver eyed boy.

"Uh, sure," Lavi said, approaching the happy looking boy and completely ignoring the fuming blond by the door. "His name's Timcampy – Tim, for short – he can stay with you."

Red beamed, he gave a quick hug to the completely disoriented but slightly blushing Lavi before he started to play with Tim. The alcohol on his system had made him more open on his feelings, but at the moment Red didn't mind, he felt so free.

The annoyed blond on the door cleared his throat gaining everyone's attention once again. Red scowled.

"What the bloody 'ell do you want, you fucking plonker?" The complete 180° on Red's attitude made everyone sweat drop, and he heard how they loosely wondered how he could turn from a gleeful child to the son of the devil himself in a span of two seconds.

The blond man twitched in annoyance as he composed himself. He cautiously walked over to the flushing white haired boy, furrowing his eyebrows at the sight but deeming it unimportant for the time being. He stopped a few feet away from him, and Red dully noted the two dots above his eyebrows.

"Walker – I mean Red," he said, "you are to come with me and answer a few questions before we – are you listening to me?"

Red grabbed the man's face with both his hands and yanked him forward, his face inches away from the flushing blond before he hummed, "They are moles, I thought you had chocolate on your forehead."

The blond man opened his mouth and closed it in what Red thought was the perfect impersonation of a dying fish. He slapped Red's hands away and glared furiously to the laughing redhead that found himself lying on the floor in stitches for the second time that day.

He then wrinkled his nose and stared at the still flushing Red in an alarmed look, "Is that alcohol I smell on you?"

"Red drank your vodka?" Reever yelled, grabbing Russell by the collar of his shirt and head-butting him.

"He what?" The blond man yelled, glaring daggers to the bickering scientists before turning his attention back to Red, who was once again fumbling with the buttons of his white dress shirt. He already had three unbuttoned buttons. "Walker! What the hell are you doing!"

Red groaned, his body was still so hot, and he hadn't been able to perform thanks to that blond bulldog. He fumbled with his fourth button when the blonde's hand suddenly stopped him. A swirl of fear and anger rushed through him, he wanted to make the blond stop touching him and let him perform Mana's act, and suddenly a surge of power flowed through his body and his red arm started to turn black, and a warm, white cape softly posed along his shoulder and his nails started to turn bigger and harder, more like claws and –

Red was, by all means, completely freaked out.

"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL IS THIS!"

Red twirled around in his panic induced state, his vision blurry and this mind fuzzy with all the emotions twirling through him. He noted how a great power surged from his blackened arm and a dust of wind slashed through the air, throwing all papers near him and breaking a couple of glasses with the sheer force of his arm.

His panic just grew by the ten-fold.

"Make it stop!" he yelled, pushing the blond man out of his way and dashing through the big doors and through the never ending hallways.

Red turned right and dashed downstairs, hearing the fading yells from everyone on the Science Department. The dark arm was still there instead of his new red arm, and the panic he was feeling suddenly morphed to adrenaline and dare.

Red stopped yelling, his dizzy mind still overpowering his thought and suddenly he started to feel so fearless and bold. He noted how his body felt lighter, and his childish glee once again settled in his heart. Red stopped on his tracks, in some hallway beneath the Science Department, and tore off the rest of his clothing with his claw like nails, just keeping his dark blue underwear.

Red wondered how Allen managed to go to the bathroom with this claw like hand without permanently hurting himself.

Once he had calmed down, he felt the cape slowly disappear and his black arm turned back to its normal red. An almost maniac grin posed on his childish features as he approached the edge of the hallway and peered down.

He was so gonna beat Mana on his performance that the clown would ask him to appear onstage with him from then on.

He climbed to the edge of the railing, and after a deep breath jumped down, adrenaline coursing through his veins as he twirled around in the air, lightly touching the railing of the floor beneath him to impulse himself down once more and maneuver gracefully in the air. He felt so free, so alive.

Red caught himself on the ceiling edge of another floor and pulled himself forward, hoping to land gracefully on the floor but landing instead atop a furious looking samurai.

"What the fuck beansprout?" he growled, pushing the boy aside and standing up himself. A shocked look adorned his face as he fully took the image of the boy sprawled on the floor. "Why the hell are you naked?"

"That two-mole bloke wouldn't let me perform," Red said, fumbling up to his feet before standing awkwardly close to Kanda. "And I needed fewer clothes to turn around in the air and – why are you dividing into two Kandas?"

The black haired man forced back a flush before his features darkened in a scowl, "Oi, beansprout, are you drunk?"

"Oh my God," Red said, grabbing Kanda by the arm and completely ignoring his death glare. "I think I'm gonna barf."

"You what?" Kanda said, grabbing the boy by the arm and pushing him as far away from his body as he could. "Don't you fucking dare, you – God fucking damn it, that is disgusting!"

Red heaved the last of his vomit out of his mouth and wiped his lips with the back of his hand, grabbing a disgusted Kanda with his other hand.

"Kanda," he whined, "I'm feeling dizzy."

The raven haired man barely had time to react as a suddenly clingy Red jumped right over him, wrapping his arms around the man's neck and his legs around the middle, making his best impersonation of a koala.

"Beansprout!" Kanda yelled, a dusty pink adorning his furious face. "Get the fuck off of me or I swear I'll kill you."

"Git thi fick iff if mi," Red mimicked, burying his face on the crook of the older man's neck. "Shut the fuck off you wanker, or I'll puke all over you."

"Why you little…" Kanda started, but gave up with a resigned sigh as he wrapped his arms around the lithe body and started to walk about, hoping to find someone and give them the little brat instead.

"Kanda," Red said, acknowledging the older male's grunt as a decent response. "Sing something to me."

"If another idiotic thought comes off your mouth I swear I'll cut that pink little tongue of yours."

Red scowled. How dare that samurai wannabe threaten him like that. So with his mind still dizzy and no coherent thoughts passing through his mind, Red lifted his head off the male's neck and gave him a wet, slow lick all throughout the side of his neck.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING!"

"Yuu!" a voice said from behind – Lavi, Red thought, "Stop molesting our little beansprout, you pervert!"

"I will murder you both in your sleep," Kanda growled dangerously low, his arms twitching behind Red's back.

"I would prefer if you restrained from hurting Allen," the man with the blond hair said, Red yawned, he should get out of there but his body felt so heavy and his eyes could not stay open any longer. "However, I do not mind whatever happens to Bookman Jr."

"Wha– Link!" Lavi said, the dizziness in Red's mind was overpowering him. "That's such a mean thing to say – oh, little beansprout is falling asleep, would you like to sleep with him, Yuu?"

Kanda grunted, and Red felt how the older male's arms readjusted themselves as he lifted him and handed him to another person, his eyes felt far too heavy to force them open and see who was now holding him.

"Aw, Yuu," Red heard from behind, Lavi's voice growing quieter with each step this new person took. "Is that a blush I see on your cheeks?"

Red only heard a small yelp and a beastly growl before his mind drifted off to blissful sleep.

Yes well, this came up later than what I intended but hey, it's a long chapter!

Thank you all for your reviews and favs and follows, some of you even fav'ed me! How awesome is that? And well, of course, kudos to ShadowTrooper1414, for totally reading my mind on the innocence part! Of course, you can keep it up and give me ideas for the story!And to answer your question readwithcats I think it will be mostly fluff, I mean, of course there'll be some dark parts considering Allen's past is dark by itself, but I plan to keep this in the light-hearted side and pray to make you all at least smile a bit.

Seriously guys, I love you all, and I love how you notice the small details in my story, you're truly the best!

See you next chapter!