A/N: This was just an idea I wanted to try out since I heard the song with the same name on a show. This is an AU. Also, inspiration was provided from listening to Uta-hime by Hatsune Miku the Vocaloid over and over again. So please read and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own nothing except the letters and the plot.

Love Letters to Japan

September 4, 1938

To the Person who may find this bottle,

It's stupid. It's idiotic. It's silly even, but my foster father once told me that sending a letter by putting it into a bottle and casting it out to sea is the best way to receive a letter back (a one in ten chance, he told me). And since I have no one to send letters to, I guess I just wanted to try this method. Not that I'm that desperate! Who am I kidding? A fish will probably swallow up this letter and bottle anyway, and then choke on it and then I'll be charged for killing off one of the endangered species of fish… but it can't hurt to try.

So here it goes. My name is Allen Walker and I am twelve years old. I am currently living in England in a hospital ward. I am a terminally ill patient and I have been here since I can remember. Which is another thing. I don't remember a lot about my past but my first memories are seeing the white room for the first time and Mana's smiling face. It was... warm and it felt so nice. That was when I was four.

I was adopted by Mana and I have lived here happily for eight years now.

My foster father, Mana, visits me everyday and brings me flowers and clever little gifts that make my day so much brighter. I have no outside friends since I've been in the same white room for so long and Mana is my only door to the outside world. Not that I mind though! Oh no! I'm so lucky that I can be in the hospital with so many nice doctors and nurses. They take care of me and they play with me when I'm bored.

Lenalee is my nurse and her brother Komui is my doctor. They're really kind to me and Komui is a bit of an eccentric but he isn't afraid of neither my disfigurements nor me. And Lenalee; she is always patient with me even when I am hopeless and she really enjoys playing with me out in the garden when I am well enough to go out.

But even though I have so many friends, one does get tired of being in the same white room for so long. I'm not losing hope though. Komui said that my illness is only an obstacle in the road known as life and he will try his utmost to ensure that I can live for as long as possible if not cure the disease.

Ahaha... I feel guilty that I am pushing my troubles onto you but I guess that I needed to get that off my mind first.

So to the person who receives this letter, may I say it is very nice to meet you.

Sincerely,

Allen Walker

P.S.: Enclosed is a picture of myself. And yes, my hair is naturally white. Don't ask me why.

--

October 14, 1938

Kanda Yu was out by the seaside again, taking in the crisp salty smell and the sight of the white rolling waves. Relaxing his sore muscles, he strolled leisurely across the wet grainy sand. It was cold in the morning but he didn't mind. The wind felt nice against his heated skin. He had just finished his daily training routine and he loved going by the ocean afterward to allow himself time to cool down. The sight was a soothing and welcome one.

The sun was just about rising and he clicked his tongue in displeasure. The house would be awakening soon and that meant that he needed to be home before someone noticed that he had disappeared again. He hated the house and his family in it and wanted nothing more than to run away with his prized sword Mugen and go somewhere exotic (maybe the Americas as his 'brothers' had talked about it often but he was not one to make hasty decisions).

Scanning the white pearly sand, something glinting green caught his eye and he made his way over to the pile of seaweed. Blinking, he knelt down and fished a glass bottle out of the seaweed gingerly. His nose wrinkled; it smelled of the sea and rotting fish. It looked to be a bottle of some kind of foreign wine but it was much lighter than it should have been. He held it up to the light of the sun and peered inside. A letter and something else was neatly folded inside. A cork kept the contents dry and he pulled it out gently with a 'pop'.

Unfolding the letter and the other paper, his breath caught in his throat. It was a photograph. The picture portrayed a beautiful boy with the purest white hair and sparkling silver eyes that glowed with inner mirth and laughter. Kanda had never seen such exquisite eyes before and they captured his soul. It was obviously taken in a garden because red roses that contrasted drastically with the boy's pale skin surrounded him. The child was wearing a blue hospital gown and bandages cover one of the boy's arms, the left one as well as the boy's neck. There was something about the child in the picture that was so lovely and he desired to hide this photograph in a place for his eyes only.

Opening the letter, he smoothed out the crinkles in the creamy ivory paper with his hands. It was legible but in a different language. English, but his upbringing in the house with his godfather and his god brothers had made him proficient in the language (he grudgingly thanked them in his mind) and he read the letter with ease.

November 1, 1938

Allen slowly crept out of the hospital ward, grinning inwardly to himself for outsmarting the frazzled nurses about his disappearance. He was getting faster and much more elusive about his escape than usual ever since he sent the letter. Snickering lightly, he hopped out of an open window and made his way to the beach near his current home.

"I'll be right back," he whispered to himself, snickering slightly.

He loved the people in the hospital and in turn, they doted on him (he was a favorite and loved by all of the patients and staff) but sometimes they worried too much and over-exaggerated his fraying health. Despite his innocent looks, he held a roguish spirit inside and he reveled in letting it out once in a while. Where he had developed such skills, he did not know.

Climbing down the rocks, Allen headed for the shore as he always did in the moonlit night. He winced when particularly sharp rocks cut into his feet (he was only wearing his slippers). Allen pulled off his slippers at the base of the cliff so he would not get them wet. His bare feet crunched against the sand and he wiggled his toes to free himself from the gritty texture. The wind was cold as it was November but he brought along a heavy jacket to cover him. The white-haired child breathed in the tangy scent through his nose and let it out slowly in a puff of condensation. A feeling of peace washed over him and he grinned mentally. He had picked a beautiful night to spend at the sea.

Walking around the shoreline, Allen watched the inky black waters for a while, squinting his eyes to watch for anything glinting in the moonlight.

He sighed to himself and smiled sadly, "Nothing."

Suddenly, as if hearing his statement, an incoming wave came on to the shore and dropped its precious cargo at Allen's feet. He blinked with amazement before slowly picking up the item. To his shock and delight, it was a bottle with a letter and photo inside. Mana was right! Sending a letter through the sea really worked. He inwardly cheered.

His mind did not register the fact that this might not be the letter he was waiting for. Nor did it register that maybe his letter did not make it through. All he saw was the proof of his prayers in front of him in a commercial sake bottle.

He popped the cork with some difficulty and eagerly but carefully pulled out the delicate papers. Sitting down on the wet sand and ignoring the feeling of seawater soaking his thin pajamas, he read through the letter once, slowly savoring each word as his silver eyes scanned the paper. Then he read it again, and then a third time. He set the letter on his lap, his left eye twitching horribly. This was indeed a reply to his letter... but...

Allen pulled out the picture and unfolded it with special care.

His eyes widened when he saw the picture. It was a magnificent photograph of a young Japanese teenager scowling into the camera but Allen had never seen such dark eyes. They reminded him of a sapphire broach that Lenalee had brought to him one day to show him. And such beautiful raven hair. It was long like a girl's but suited the teen just fine, and the silver-eyed boy found that he could not imagine any other hairstyle on the boy in the photo. The man in the photo was obviously from a rich family; long robes of a deep sapphire blue covered the man's sculpted body and surrounding him was a large expanse of a garden and green lawns as far as the eye could see. There was also a sword strapped to the man's waist and a hand was held protectively over it. Allen wondered why such a beautiful man would carry a sword.

Pressing the bottle and the papers to his chest, he stared up at the full moon.

Thank you, God. For granting my wish. Now I have a new friend outside of the hospital. Even if he is a jerk-off...

--

October 14, 1938

Dear Moyashi (yes, I called you a moyashi and no, I will not tell you what it means),

Who the hell sends out a letter in a bottle out these days? Wait, let me answer that one. You.

Do you realize how stupid and dangerous that is?! Someday, a stalker will come to your home and kill you in your sleep. And don't think that I'll miss you, you retard, because I barely even know you.

But since you told me who you are, my name is Kanda Yu and I am fifteen years old. I live in Tokyo, Japan (how the fuck did the bottle float that far?!) and I have no one unlike you, you little whiny brat. My real family died and I was taken to some fucking old geezer's house. Apparently, he's my godfather but he already has two idiot excuses for sons. Why the hell would he want me? They're as annoying as hell and I fucking hate all of them. I'm going to escape someday so don't expect me to answer again if you decide to send another bottle.

The good thing about the house that I currently spend my miserable life in, though, is that it's big so I usually can escape to the sea for a few hours without the old fart worrying about me. Che, as if I need anyone to escort me. I'm fifteen not five!

I have no friends nor do I need them. But there is this one annoying usagi (no, I will not tell you what this means either. Go figure it out yourself) that keeps bothering the hell out of me. He is ten times worse than the old geezer but I can't get rid of him. He pops out of nowhere like the fucking Easter rabbit and freaks the living shit out of me. He keeps hanging off of me like some weight and he keeps calling me by my first name. The little bastard. One day I will skin him alive and turn him into usagi stew. And then I'll feed him to my 'family' and hope they all choke and die. That'll finally give me some peace around here.

To the idiot receiving this letter, I've got nothing to say to you except to get the hell out of my life. And stop sending letters to random strangers!

Kanda Yu

P.S.: Why the hell did you give your picture in a bottle to a person you don't know?! Do you know how many stalkers, kidnappers, and pedophiles there are out there? Idiot.

--

Allen ran across the grassy lawns in the back of the hospital. The lights were on, meaning that someone knew that he was gone and he cursed under his breath. From the windows, he could see silhouettes of the nurses running around and the doctors searching the entire building for him. There was frantic shouting and mass chaos and all for him, which he noted with a sardonic smile. He searched for the window that he had escaped through only to find it closed.

The white-haired boy cursed again but this time out loud. That meant that only the front door and the back door were his only choices to get back inside. Both of which he would be seen. He groaned; might as well be caught now that people had found his absence. Or... he could always climb to the top of the roof and go down the stairs from there...

No, no... Mana taught him better than that. He taught him to always be honest and a gentleman especially around the workers in the hospital who did so much for him. Sometimes, he really did hate to the right thing. Allen braced himself as he entered the ward. Instantly, a black and white blur came flying at him and he squeaked in terror.

"Allen!" Lenalee cried in relief, throwing her arms around the petite boy in a tight hug. "Where were you? We all were worried sick! Are you okay? Do you hurt anywhere? Oh God! Why did you go out in your con-"

"Lenalee!" Allen wheezed, peeling the girl's arms off his shoulders to give his lungs room to breathe. "I'm fine!"

"Where were you though?" Lenalee scolded, finger wagging in the air. "You shouldn't be out there alone!"

"I just went out in the garden for a while," Allen lied smoothly, putting his hands behind his back and giving his most innocent look. The young nurse narrowed her violet eyes at him, scrutinizing his expression for a long minute.

"I believe you," she sighed and relinquished her gaze. "But hurry and get back to bed. I'll tell my brother that I took you out for a late night snack or something." She beamed mischievously at him and poked his stomach. "Knowing your monstrous appetite, I'm sure Brother Komui would accept that without any questions."

"Hey!" Allen frowned but his eyes were laughing. He allowed himself to be pulled by the girl back to the room. Along the way, he met with the other workers in the hospital and each time he assured them with a polite smile that he was fine and nothing had happened to him.

"So where did you really go, Allen?" Lenalee inquired once she escorted him to his room. There was a twinkle in her eyes that the small child didn't like.

"I told you," Allen offered his most candid expression. "I went to the garden for a bit of fresh air."

Lenalee rolled her eyes and scoffed. "Please, I am not believing any of that. Miranda checked the gardens a few minutes before you came back and she didn't find anyone there." Lenalee huffed with exasperation for a moment before commanding Allen to talk. "Tell me! I promise I won't tell anyone."

The young patient thought about for a moment but then decided against it. Telling her would mean that he would have to show her the letter and the picture and he didn't want anyone else to know about the handsome Japanese male. It would be his secret for now.

"Nowhere," the white-haired boy shook his head in denial with a small grin on his face.

"Mou, Allen," the nurse pouted. "I want to know. It must be something good if you're keeping it from me. But fine, I'll get it out of you one day."

"Good night, Lenalee," Allen smiled, waving at her.

"Good night, Allen," she waved back and then headed for the door. "Sweet dreams."

The door closed with a definite click and he was left alone again.

He sighed in relief. The letter and picture was safely tucked into his shirt and crinkled lightly against his skin. The sake bottle was tucked under the sleeve of his coat and remained hidden.

Once he was safely in bed again, he pulled out the two items and stared intently at the picture. The man was so beautiful that Allen felt the urgent desire to hide the photo from the rest of the world.

Looking under his bedpost, the young teen pulled out a box. It was an ordinary metal box made of base metals but it held a lot of significance to Allen. He pulled the key that he hung around his neck on a chain and inserted it into the lock. With a small click, it opened.

Inside was a picture of Mana and him taken when he was very young. There were also pictures of Lenalee, Komui, and all the other staff inside the hospital. He treasured the memories embedded inside each picture. There was also the elegant silver cross necklace that Mana had given him on his 10th birthday. It was an intricate little trinket and he didn't have the heart to wear such finery around his neck. Instead, he kept it in the box and once in a while, he would take it out and just stare at it with wonder. He took out each picture and each little memento he had saved over the years and examined them once over as he always did when he opened the container. Putting the picture and the letter into the box, he locked it again with a definite click.

Allen pulled out a pen and a new sheet of paper. Eagerly, he began to dictate another letter, one laced with many insults and verbal sparring. The chances of this one reaching the same person was slim to nothing but in Allen's mind, it couldn't hurt to try and who knows, he might just get lucky. After rereading the letter and deeming it good enough, he chose a picture from a photo album on his bedside. Allen pulled out the sake bottle and slipped both of these in.

Laying on his pillow, he gently closed his eyes and said a prayer.

Dear God, I wish to meet the man in the photograph one day. He seems like a nice person inside even though he's a jerk. I know it is a lot to ask and it is a selfish desire but I want this.

tbc?

A/N: This will be a story told in letters and it seems like a fun challenge as well as an original idea. There's not a lot of Kanda in it yet but he will be in more of the story soon! I hope you liked it! Please read and review!

IMPORTANT: This is going to cover a war (made up by me, of course since I can't do real history). The war between the Noahs (an elite family) and the rest of the world. Slowly, the Noah have taken over control in countries (Japan being one of them) and their aim is to purge the world from sin by killing the more 'inferior' humans (sounds like something from actual history, I know). Some countries have willingly sided with the Noahs while some believe that the Noahs are corrupt and rebel. Thus a war has spun for regaining control of the world and to stop the mass genocide from continuing.

Also, please support Yullen Week from June 1-6! I can't wait for it!