Disclaimer: Don't own nothing.

A.N: Uh hello everyone...it's sure...been awhile... *stares at the ground in shame* so um... yeah... sorry. '' School and cosplay just swallowed updating ff and spat it out where I couldn't find it...until now...

*fails epically*

Nevertheless, thank you to all those who reviewed chapter 7... I really do appreciate your support even if I fail at showing it with updates... and I'm sorry I can't list you all individually (since I have to study for exams...which are next week) but THANK YOU ALL OF YOU. You helped me write when I lost motivation. I DEFINITELY WILL CONTINUE WRITING THIS FF D

This chapter was beta'd by xXWhite ButterflyXx.

Oh...and a warning to the kind and weak-hearted. This chapter contains ANGST (and I mean a lot of it).

Chapter Eight:

Oaths and Oppressions

But...?

Allen stared at Kanda, silver eyes wide with undisguised shock. "This can't be happening..." He whispered underneath his breath. "That didn't just happen..."

The assassin frowned in response, his mouth drawn in a tight line.

The white-haired boy stumbled back, shaking his head so vigorously, that Kanda wondered why it hadn't fallen off.

"We can't do this..." Tears began to spill out of the silver orbs, racing down the curves of his cheeks. "I can't do this..."

A veil of silence wove around them, swallowing the unspoken words that burned on their tongues.

"So you're just going to deny it ever happened?" His voice was quiet, his tone, neutral...yet, Allen could detect pain in those words. Even so, no reply rose to his lips.

Silence once more took its place between them, its hold unrelenting as they once more continued their flight to China.

xXx

She gazed out the window with a sigh as the rapidly changing scenery blurred past her. The world had never seemed to hold so little colour as it did today. She tore her gaze away from the depressing sight, ignoring the never ending patter of rain that fell heavily all around them. She would be crossing into the border of China soon... She would stop Allen, bring him back to his senses and return home. The three of them.

Soon...

xXx

Lavi drumed his fingers on the table as he replayed the conversation in his head.

ShadowedTease: London...that's not too far.

ShadowedTease: I'll see you soon.

"Just what the hell did that bastard mean?" Lavi muttered under his breath. "He isn't really co-"

"Pardon?" Komui popped his head into the room with a curious stare.

The red head turned to the scientist with a grin. "Nothing, just muttering to myself."

"Well I can see that..." Komui murmured, walking away.

Lavi let his frown slide back into place as he swivelled back to his monitor.

"I'll see you soon...Just what the hell did he mean by that?"

xXx

"Eh... You're going out Uncle Tyki?" Rhode crossed her arms as she stood firmly between him and the door.

"Yes I am, now will you kindly get out of my way?"

"Can I come too?"

"No."

"But-"

"NO." The Portuguese man turned back to the rest of the rest of the house with a darkening expression. "Sheryl, get your kid out of my way or I swear I'll break that nose of yo-"

"Rhode, darling!"

A satisfied smirk curved on the man's lips as his brother tore down the hallway in the blink of an eye, gathering the blue-haired girl into his arms.

"Let's not bother Uncle Tyki here..." He said to the girl, shushing her rising complaints. "He's a very busy man after all."

Tyki sidestepped the pair, nodding his mocking thanks to Sheryl.

Bookman Jr...

xXx

Allen tightened his grip on the wheel as he brought the Blackbird into a steady descent. It had only been just over an hour since their departure but that was more than enough to drive both parties onto the brink of insanity. His left arm throbbed as the wheels made abrupt contact with the dusty grounds of rural China. With a sigh of relief, he released his hold, flexing his fingers before swivelling around. He winced as sunlight poured into the vehicle, chasing away the shadows that so commonly framed the dark-haired assassin. Allen shielded his eyes against the light, speculating over the pink and gold rays that glinted off the inky locks in shades of blue.

"Tch. Are you just going to sit there?" Came the rude and abrupt remark. Kanda clearly didn't want to wait, let alone speak to him.

Allen jolted out of his reverie with another sigh. "Sorry," he mumbled, clumsily removing his unneeded gear. The pain in his left arm - his innocence - had returned with vengeance.

"It hurts."

Allen turned at the implied question, instinctively drawing his arm closer. "So what if it does."

Stop it. Don't care. Go away. Hate me.

Why do you-

Kanda slammed his fist into the boy's stomach, sending the latter staggering back into his seat.

"Wha...the bloo...dy hel...was that for?" Allen wheezed, more out of shock than anything else.

"You," Kanda growled, in a surge of anger, "and your fucking self pity. So your life is fucked up. Who cares. Get a life and deal with it because I swear if I see that stupid expression of yours one more time, I'll gut you with Mugen and hang you to die by your innards."

Allen stared at the teen in disbelief, his temper flaring at the unusually large amount of words that had come out Kanda's mouth. "Self pity," he repeated incredulously. "Self pity. That's all you care about? My expression of self pity?" The fuming boy sprang towards the unexpecting teen, sending him tumbling out of the air craft. He glowered down at the offender with stormy grey eyes. "Get a life?" Just what the bloody fuck do you think I'm doing? Allen descended the Blackbird, seething. "Don't you think I'm already doing that? Do you even know how hard it is to go through each and every day knowing that some arsehole is in your head ready to take over and do God knows what with it? And you tell me to deal with it?" He lifted Kanda by the collar of his shirt, speaking through clenched teeth. "You...can't even begin to understand what I'm going through."

Kanda grunted as Allen released him. "Can't understand," he muttered darkly. "You're not the only one whose life is fucked up...Just why the hell do you think I'm here, ready to bring down the very organisation I grew up in?"

Lies.

Allen's anger dulled, subdued by the comment. "I'm sorry," he murmured, looking away.

"I don't need your apology."

A short moment of silence was shared between them before it was broken.

"Can I ask you a question?"

Kanda clicked his tongue in annoyance. "You just di-"

"Don't even start that."

"Fine. Ask."

"Why...?" Allen hesitated, biting his lip.

Kanda shifted slightly, indicating his impatience.

"Why...must you go so far as to destroy F.A.I.L?"

Kanda arched a brow, replying sarcastically, "Coming from a traitor like-"

"Don't avoid the question Kanda."

"How much time do you have left?" The question came out as little more than a statement.

"What? - Wait you're still avoi-"

"Just answer me!"

Allen leant back on his hands, gazing at the darkening sky.

"Moyashi..."

The white haired boy closed his eyes to the sight, beginning the dreaded count he had avoided for so long."

I had six months at the most...

It's been...

Silver eyes opened once more meeting the gold-streaked skies.

"None" he whispered. "I have no more time."

xXx

Tyki surveyed the large...structure before him with mild interest. "Well this is impressive," he commented, lighting a cigarette. "I wonder where the entrance is." The Portuguese man turned to face a hidden security camera with a smile. "My name is Tyki Mikk. I'm here to see Lavi Bookman Jr."

xXx

"Fuck." The word escaped his mouth before he could stop it.

The moyashi laughed bitterly. "Fuck indeed." Silver eyes tarnished with the growing shadows as the duo sat motionlessly in the afterglow of the fading light.

It wasn't until night fell that the silence was finally broken.

"Kanda..."

Said teen grunted in reluctant response.

"You never answered my question."

"And I was hoping you'd forget," came the muttered reply.

"Are you going to answer or not?"

A sigh.

"If I killed you then I wouldn't have to answer, right?"

Allen's eyes went wide as crimson blossomed out of his chest, red petals penetrated by the gleam of steal.

"K-Kanda...-" He doubled over with a gasp as the blade was withdrawn.

"You're too naive, Moyashi."

"What are you-" Allen choked on the words as a bloody cough wrenched the breath from his punctured lung. Dark liquid splattered on the floor, seeping into the ground. "Wh-" He shuddered, unable to sustain his words.

Kanda...do you hate me after all?

Was that...all a lie?

Shadows gathered at the edge of his vision as the world tipped into darkness.

xXx

His expression held nothing as he walked away. No words escaped his lips. No thoughts came to mind.

Only Silence.

Dead.

Cold.

Empty.

Silence.

-o0o-

Why...

Why didn't you kill me?

-o0o-

Lavi looked up as a Finder knocked on the door. "'Scuse me, Sir. But there's someone at the base of HQ wanting to see you. He said his name was Tyki Mikk."

His single green eye widened. "WHAT? Where is he now?"

He's...here?

The Finder gave a hopeless shrug as Lavi pushed past him. "Komui, I'm going out!" He yelled down the corridor. "And it's not after Kanda or Lenalee!" The redhead tore away before Komui could protest, though he did backtrack to nick his hammer out of the Supervisor's room.

"LAVI!"

"Bye~" He called, slipping it into his holster.

Tyki...Mikk. He's got to know something about Allen and Kanda...

xXx

Kanda strode further and further away from the fallen boy, suppressing his turmoil of emotions which threatened to break free.

Betray F.A.I.L? What a joke. That Baka Moyashi actually believed him.

He clenched his fists, forcing away the thought. He could still the boy's shocked expression when he'd stabbed him with Mugen. The sad smile that curved on his lips as he'd collapsed...

"He was a traitor," he muttered. "I'd promised to kill him."

Then why didn't you?

"He'd die from the blood loss anyway," Kanda justified before coming to the horrifying realisation that he was now communicating with himself. He vented his anger on a nearby stone sending it ricocheting into the darkness before landing with a plop. Kanda frowned at the sound. Water?

Answering his question appeared a small expanse of water, a pool of obsidian under the moon's gaze. Instinctively, he moved closer to the water's edge. There were no ripples, no waves, a lake that remained unswayed by the pull of the moon. The dark-haired teen sat down on the ground, crossing his legs and closing his eyes

xXx

Kanda couldn't believe what he was doing. The thought of it drove him mad as he refused to come to terms with what he had just decided – what he was now doing.

No seriously.

Just what the fuck was he doing walking back to the person he had just stabbed? He was returning to that brat. The thought of it was already absurd. But for him to actually put that thought into action? Kanda muttered another string of profanities.

First he kissed the Baka Moyashi.

Then he failed to kill that darned sprout.

And now he was going back to help him?

He was now officially fucking downright delusional. Psychotic. Ever since those fucking flowers, his sanity packed up and took off, along with all thoughts of rationality. Heck, it would be a miracle if any shrink could help him now.

Moyashi...

Already his thoughts had derailed, backtracked and gone right back to that goddamned sprout. Since when the hell had he occupied so much of his thoughts! He uttered another round of colourful words when a darker thought crossed his mind.

That Baka Moyashi wouldn't...

Empty gray eyes surfaced briefly carried amongst the waves of memories.

"Fuck."

The Japanese teen quickened his pace.

xXx

Allen's eyelids fluttered open as he was dragged out of unconsciousness by the incessant roar of pain that only seemed to grow louder with each passing moment. He winced as a chilly breeze bit into his exposed skin, raking at the clotting wound. He gritted his teeth as the pain continued to escalate, aided by the plummeting temperatures. He sighed, wincing at the pain it caused. Judging by the height of the moon, it was probably around seven. He'd been out for two hours.

Allen shivered which only brought on more agony as he gulped in shallow breaths. He was going to die for sure...

Why didn't you just kill me Kanda? Why did you give me this chance to survive?

Allen felt his fingers numbly reach for the knife in his boot, bringing it up to the waxing moonlight. He clutched it tightly - his way out.

If I die then everything would be over... Allen wondered why, despite everything, he was still smiling. Perhaps he was becoming deranged with loss of blood. Everything would be over...he would never see Kanda again... His smile widened at the thought of the dark-haired assassin. He'd never tell him what he felt. What he felt? What did he feel? Allen tilted the blade, his gaze fixed on the blade. It didn't matter what he felt. Love? Like? ...Hate? Surely not. He-

"Don't you fucking dare."

Allen dropped the knife in shock, narrowly missing his stomach. "K-KANDA!" He grimaced at the pain that rose with the name.

"Shut up."

"What are you-?"

"Shut up."

Allen wondered if he had finally become delusional. After all, he'd just been considering suicide. Hallucinations weren't far off his list of insanities. Allen could only laugh as he distinguished Kanda from the shadows. "I've lost my mind," he remarked, temporarily forgetting his pain in all the absurdity.

"We're both fucking deranged," came the snappy reply. "Now shut up."

Allen frowned as Kanda disappeared momentarily, only to emerge from the aircraft. "Don't you have a first aid kit in here?"

"...no."

"Tch." Kanda returned to his side, tearing a strip of fabric from his shirt before binding it roughly around his torso. "Why the fuck didn't you treat your wound."

Allen raised an eyebrow. "Because that is totally what you think about when you're about to commit suicide."

Kanda scowled at him, clearly not amused by the conversational tone Allen had adopted, albeit with sarcasm. Without warning, Kanda gathered the boy into his arms, lifting him easily.

"Wha-"

"Shut up."

Allen closed his mouth as he realised how close he was to the teen. His cheeks went hot as Kanda muttered indecipherable words. He could see glimpses of Kanda's unpleasant expression as slithers of moonlight glanced of his face, catching on the teens inky locks. Another shiver travelled down his spine as the cold wind whipped against him causing Kanda to instinctively draw him closer. Allen blushed even harder, hoping that Kanda couldn't feel his racing heart.

"...thank you."

"Che."

xXx

Somewhere, someone laughed.

"Your life is bound by the Lotus, Yuu and now it's time for you to feel its power. It's time for you to return."

Be glad it wasn't a cliffy. I was going to end this chapter...someplace earlier. And I'm sure all of you can figure out where. Which is uh... why you shouldn't kill me :D for...writing what I just wrote.

This time (sadly) the page breaks are normal '

Reviews are appreciated~