A/N: Hello everyone! Finally back for another chapter! In fact, I would've updated this sooner, but I've been having issues with my computer and the internet.): Anyway, thank you to jy24, readwithcats, YokaiAngel, Lena-luvs-cats, Guest, Precchi, cursedchild14, Yami Fumetsu, CloudCarnivore, and xxsmiledearestxx for reviewing! So happy to see that I've still got readers!^-^

Enjoy~!

Disclaimer: I'm pretty sure you can all guess! That's right, I am, in fact, not Hoshino Kastura!:P

Chapter 3

Band

—3rd Person POV—

"Watch it!" Allen growled, ducking beneath a flying plate of waffles. But his warning, as well as the splat against the wall, went ignored over the chaos of eating breakfast at the Noah Manor. As usual, Devitto and Jasdero were engaging in a food fight while dragging Wisely and some of the others down with them. Beside him, Road was trying to get the answers to the math homework out of Tyki and on his other side, Neah was oblivious to the surrounding madness, eyes trained on the scattered music scores overtaking his spot on the table.

Quietly recognizing and accepting that he would continue to be ignored, Allen carefully stood up, grabbed his plate, and ducked out of the dining hall, figuring he could just eat the rest of his breakfast on the way to school. It was just as he was nearing the front door, that one of the maids called his attention.

"Sir, there's someone on the phone waiting for you."

Allen cast a longing glance towards the bacon on his plate, before nodding with a resigned sigh. The voice that he heard on the other line though, was quite unexpected.

"Allen! Good morning!"

"Err," Allen blinked, careful to not jostle the plate in his other hand. "Good morning Lenalee… You do realize I'll be seeing you in like ten minutes, right?"

"Oh, I know," she chirped, "But with everything that always seems to be going on, I figured I'd give you a heads up!"

Now a bit apprehensive, Allen ventured to ask, "About what exactly?"

"Well, now that you've had a chance to settle into school, it's my privilege to inform you that as a student of D. Gray-Academy, it is mandatory for you to join at least one afterschool sport or activity!" she exclaimed, and continued without giving him a chance to react, "Of course, I talked about it with the counselor, and we agreed that it was best to give you a little taste of what some of the activities were like, so over the weekend I arranged with all of our other classmates to have you join their club or sport for one session! You'll have until Friday to decide. What do you think?"

Allen could practically hear her grinning. "Uh, sounds cool," he replied with a grimace.

But Lenalee either wasn't aware or ignored his silent suffering. "Perfect! I'll see you in a bit!"

The line went dead.

Even more reluctant now, Allen picked up his plate and shouldered his school bag, before heading back towards the front door.

"Allen!" Neah popped up with a grin. "I couldn't help but overhear—"

Allen was quick to catch on and cut him off, "You were eavesdropping form the other house phone, weren't you?"

Uncle Neah sweatdropped and muttered, "You know me so well…" With a nervous chuckled, Neah scratched the back of his head and offered him a sheepish smile. "Anyway, so I've got good news! Whatever Miss Lenalee planned for you can be thrown out the window!"

Silver eyes lit up with curiosity. But then Allen recalled that this was Uncle Neah. "No thanks," Allen deadpanned, before heading towards the door once more.

"Come on! At least hear me out!" When Allen only continued to saunter off, his uncle hurried to catch up and explained, "You see, Allen? All those years I dragged you off to piano lessons are finally going to pay off! You can join the school band! How does that sound!" Neah grinned.

Totally called it, Allen thought. "Sounds like a shitty idea. Quit meddling, would you?" Allen muttered, before opening and shutting the door. Even so, Allen could still hear Uncle Neah crying about his mean nephew from the other side.

"What a doofus."

Soccer

After another long, exhausting day of school, Allen was rapidly flagged down by Lenalee. "Allen," she called, ducking around the masses filling the halls and caught up with him. "Hope you didn't forget about our conversation this morning! Come on, today you're with Daisya. He's captain of the soccer team."

"Never would have guessed," Allen muttered sarcastically, recalling the beat-up soccer ball Daisya was always carrying around.

But Lenalee had a good ear. Giving him a sharp glance, she lifted her eyebrows in question. "What was that?"

"N-nothing!"

All too soon, the duo arrived at the football field, which doubled up as the soccer field when football wasn't in session.

"Daisya!" Lenalee cupped her mouth and shouted. Out of the mass of gathering soccer players, Daisya popped up before jogging over. "I've got to go get changed for track, so I'll be leaving Allen in your capable hands. Good luck, Allen!" Lenalee beamed, before running off.

Daisya smirked. "Don't worry, Lenalee," he called after her, "I'll be sure to take good care of him!"

Allen narrowed his eyes. "Why do I very much doubt that?"

"Aww, come on shortstack, don't you trust me?" Daisya snickered, before sauntering off. "Come along, pipsqueak! I've got a special job that I saved specifically for you! You'll love it!"

"The name's Allen," he snapped, reluctantly marching after the Turk.

But as it turns out, the job Daisya gave him wasn't half as bad as it could've been. He'd set Allen up as goalie while the team members took turns practicing their kicks. At first, Allen hadn't been planning on putting in much effort, but once he noticed the amused smirks Daisya and some of his teammates kept sending towards the "short" goal keeper, Allen gritted his teeth and decided that not only would he catch every damn ball, but he'd show off while doing so.

So it was an impressed soccer team that Allen had on his hands as he began to fancily catch each soccer ball by flipping into the air and kicking away the soccer balls he couldn't quite reach. Some of the member from track had even begun to notice the ninja-like goalie.

"Damn, Allen, didn't expect that!" Daisya grinned and punched him in the arm amidst their break. "The team would love it if you'd join!"

Despite the earlier resentment, Allen couldn't help but swell with pride. "Right, maybe I—"

Smack!

"Damn it, Mikey! Oh fuck, Allen! Are you alright, buddy?" Daisya demanded, helping a dazed Allen to his feet.

Poking his tender eye, Allen mumbled, "I think that's going to bruise."

Book Club

One icepack later, an apologetic Lenalee was leading him through the maze-like hallways of the school. "I am so sorry about that, Allen! I thought Daisya would be a bit more considerate," she fretted, and then muttered darkly to herself, "He's so getting it later…"

Allen sighed. "Maybe this whole thing was just a bad idea. How about you pick something for me and we get this over with? No need to bother Lavi's little club."

"No!" Lenalee abruptly snapped, before smiling sheepishly, "What I mean to say is, that you need to pick something you enjoy. I know you're unsure, which is why I set this whole thing up. I am really sorry about Daisya, but I'm sure everything else will work out just fine. Okay?"

"If you say so, Lenalee," Allen nodded with a resigned smile, before wincing slightly.

"Oh, we got you this icepack for a reason, Allen!" Lenalee scolded him, moving his hand back up towards face and gently pressing the ice against his bruising eye. "Now hold it there."

Allen almost felt dizzy after the constant turns and stairs, but finally they arrived at a dim hall in the dark depths of the school. Once they reached a deserted classroom towards the back, Lenalee lead him in, apologetically smiling at the group of students. "Sorry Lavi, but things didn't work out so well with Daisya."

"I can see that!" Lavi grinned, hopping up and joining them. Slinging an arm around Allen, he declared, "No worries, Lenalee! I'll take good care of him!"

"Yeah, that's what the last guy said," Allen grumbled beneath his breath, but he went ignored.

"Thank you so much, Lavi! I know this is short notice, so I owe you one!" she smiled gratefully before jogging out the door, hurried to get back to the field. Once she disappeared from sight, Allen was quick to shake Lavi's arm off him.

"Well, shortstack! You got here just in time!" Lavi turned to him with a grin, not at all deterred by Allen's obvious distaste. "We're just starting a new book! And here, I even got you a copy!" From practically nowhere, Lavi plucked out a dark book and dropped it into his hands.

Allen glanced down, eyes roaming over the title, Fifty Shades of Grey. Unimpressed, he glanced up towards Lavi, who comically wiggled his eyebrows and grinned, "Bow-chicka-wow-wow~."

A second ice pack later. [Read in the voice of SpongeBob's Narrator]

"Sheesh Allen, it was just a joke," Lavi grumbled, now mirroring Allen's position and holding an icepack to his bruised cheek.

"Be grateful I didn't put a dent in your one good eye," Allen groused.

Lavi's face suddenly paled. "R-right." Finally, the redhead turned to the rest of the students, five Finders and two Scientists, who made up the book club. "Right everyone, so what book were we going to choose to read this month?"

"You're the one who chose the book, Lavi," one girl deadpanned, expression as dead as her voice.

"Oh, uh, right…" Lavi chuckled, scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

"Any time this century, Lavi," Allen griped, plopping down unto a chair among the circle of students. They all watched as Lavi ambled around, digging through a couple dusty boxes towards the back of the dim classroom, before he jumped up with an excited grin and lugged a box over to where they sat.

"Gather around, everyone! You may take one book! And this one is my favorite, so no complaining~!" Lavi announced, as everyone shuffled forward.

Once Allen had gotten his own copy, he read the title, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Pleasantly surprised, he remarked once Lavi sat next to him, "I was prepared to call this the book club from hell, but I guess your taste isn't so bad."

"See, shortstack?" Lavi grinned, throwing an arm around him yet again, "I'm pretty terrific! Hang around me, and maybe you'll absorb some of it!"

Allen grimaced. "Never mind, I take it back."

"No taksies-backsies!"

"Fuck off."

Kendo

Unfortunately for Allen, that had just been the first day. Come the next day, Lenalee was leading him towards a dojo situated at the back of the school. And though Allen didn't think kendo club would be too awful, he knew for a fact that he couldn't possibly join. Not with Kanda as a member. Together, they'd raze the place to the ground.

When they entered, it was to the sight of the captain leading the rest of the members through a couple of katas. It was all pretty basic stuff, though curiously enough, Kanda was nowhere in sight. Not yet anyways.

"That's Chaoji," Lenalee whispered, nodding over towards the captain, "He's another one of Kanda's adoptive brothers."

Allen's eyes bugged out. "Another one? How many others have I missed?"

Lenalee giggled and replied, "I think that's about it. You probably already know of Marie, and you've met Daisya."

"Didn't Kanda mention something about a brat named Timothy, too?" Allen asked, briefly recalling one of Kanda's offhanded comments.

"Yes," she nodded, "But I unless you've been over at Kanda's place, you probably wouldn't have met him. I think he's only nine, which is why he's been causing Professor Tiedoll so much trouble."

It was just then, that Kanda burst into the dojo from the opposite doorway, dramatically opening the sliding doors with a thwack. Unlike Lenalee, he seemed uncaring of interrupting his teammates and headed straight for the bokken gathered in one corner.

"Brother, how many times must I tell you to be here on time? You can't simply keep skipping out on your katas," Chaoji scolded, straightening up. As if it were expected, the other members didn't pause for a second and continued on.

Quite coldly, Kanda glared at him and replied, "I am not your brother." He then caught sight of Allen and Lenalee and lifted his eyebrows in question. "What the hell, beansprout?"

Chaoji turned along with him. "Oh, hello, Lenalee. Is this the student you were talking about?"

"Yes," Lenalee nodded, appearing a bit apprehensive as she eyed Chaoji and Kanda. Turning to Allen, she, for once, asked, "Will you be alright?"

"I can handle it," Allen assured her. Though she still felt a bit uneasy, Lenalee made her exit. Allen turned back in time to catch sight of Kanda tossing a bokken in his direction, which he caught, much to Chaoji's relief. Unlike before, the members of the kendo club instantly reacted and shuffled out of the way once Kanda made his way towards the center of the tatami mat.

"Broth—I mean Kanda, what do you think you're doing?" Chaoji demanded. "This student hasn't even trained with us. How can you be sure—"

"Shut. Up," Kanda forced through gritted teeth, and Allen knew this was going to be one hell of a fight if Kanda was this frustrated. And though Allen had never had any professional training, he'd learned enough from Kanda throughout the years to be able to keep up. Turning back towards him, Kanda seemed to relax slightly. "Hope you haven't been slacking, beansprout," Kanda grinned viciously.

"Not even in your dreams," Allen scoffed, before instantly ducking to the ground and effectively avoiding Kanda's firm swing of the wooden sword. "So predictable."

Kanda's eyes narrowed to slits and Allen returned it with a smirk more vicious than his own. Much to the shock of the kendo club, the duo launched into a fast-paced sword fight that left even Chaoji speechless. The bokken clashed with low thunks as Allen and Kanda blocked every one of each other's strikes. Some might have winced at the lack of precision with which Allen moved, but he managed to be graceful in his own odd way as he twisted around all of Kanda's attacks, flipping, jumping, and cartwheeling out of harm's way.

"Still using those stupid clown tricks of yours," Kanda grunted, as their bokken clashed once more.

Allen smirked, despite the strain. "Still holding yourself back with that sword stuck up your ass?"

The fight would've likely continued for the duration of the day if it weren't for—

Snap!

Allen and Kanda stumbled back, wide-eyed and gaping down at their bokken, each broken in half.

"Are you kidding me?" Chaoji hissed, suddenly shoving anyone who was in his way and marching towards the duo. "Those were state of the art! We ordered those from Japan! Are you guys fucking serious?! What the hell?!"

Chaoji's tirade continued on like so, and once Allen caught sight of Kanda's twitching lips, it became even more difficult to hold back his own snickers.

"Are you… Are you guys laughing?!"

And it came with no surprise, that the two were soon kicked out of the dojo.

"So…" Allen mused, "Wanna go join Miranda's sewing club? I think that was next on Lenalee's list."

Kanda shrugged. "Sure, what the hell I guess."

Sewing Club

"Look, Miranda!" Allen exclaimed, turning towards the nervous girl, "I made a voodoo doll of Kanda!"

"Fuck you," was Kanda's instant reply, while Miranda only looked on, completely speechless and a bit frightened. The trio sat at a table in the corner of the classroom. The rest of Miranda's club members had been unwilling to get near them, too intimidated by Kanda's brash behavior.

"T-that's very lovely, Allen," Miranda finally managed to stammer out, though she felt slightly creeped out as she eyed the eerie doll Allen had somehow managed to stitch up. Turning to Kanda, Miranda found the courage to ask, "W-what is it you're making there?"

"A scarf so I can strangle the beansprout with," Kanda growled, not noticing Miranda's petrified squeak.

"Lame!" Allen declared, sticking his tongue out. "And anyway, that's more Lavi's style."

"Then I'll kill two birds with one stone," Kanda snapped.

Allen snickered, "Not with that scarf you won't. Not only is it ugly, but that thing is so flimsy it's going to snap in two the moment you try to use it."

"That's it!"

The girls of the sewing club shrieked and would later need therapy as they were forced to run away from the katana-wielding madman.

Volleyball

"Hello, Allen," Mei-Ling greeted him timidly once Lenalee dropped him off at the gym. "Um, you don't really need to join us if you don't want to. All sports and activities are supposed to be co-ed, but really, it's mostly just girls here."

Allen slumped down in relief. It was now Wednesday, and he had not been looking forward to more madness in addition to school. "Yeah, I'd really appreciate that. I'll just go sit on the bleachers and watch," Allen agreed, jabbing a thumb over in the direction of where he'd be sitting.

"Okay, sounds good," Mei-Ling nodded, and paused before turning. "But don't be afraid to ask if you want to join! I didn't mean to be rude!"

Allen smiled. "You're perfectly fine, Mei-Ling. I could use a break!"

"Oh, alright," Mei-Ling returned his smile and jogged over to where the rest of her teammates were taking their designated positions on the court.

With a grateful sigh, Allen plopped down on the bleachers and set his bag down. He was tempted to just head home instead, but Lenalee usually came to pick him up, knowing how lost he tended to get around the massive campus. Plus, he'd feel bad ditching Mei-Ling. It was moments like these when Allen was afflicted with jealousy in regards towards his family, because of the fact that he couldn't have joined them underneath the Noah section of the school. Because of their status, they always seemed to get away with anything they wanted, and that included not participating in any sports or clubs. It was one of the main reasons Allen hadn't even known about the rule in the first place.

"Ouch! Oh! Sorry, everyone!"

Allen perked up. It seemed like all he kept hearing were Mei-Ling's apologies. Straightening up, Allen leaned forward and began to observe the team's practice. It appeared that little Mei-Ling wasn't the most athletic on the team. Rather than heading straight for the ball, she'd back away and cringe. And when she actually did try to hit it, she'd clench her eyes shut! And upon further observation, Allen took note of the numerous bruises blooming on her arms and legs from the constant hits.

Almost discreetly, Allen snuck up behind the girl standing beside Mei-Ling and asked, "Mind if I take your place for a bit?"

With a squeak and a blush, the girl hurried off the court. A few of the others who noticed shot him odd glances, but thankfully didn't protest it. When Mei-Ling finally took note of him, she appeared surprised, before offering him an encouraging smile.

As the game progressed once more, Allen was quick to interfere whenever Mei-Ling was almost hit. But not by hitting the ball. Rather, when it was obvious that she wasn't going for a shot (which was the majority of the time), he'd simply grasp her wrist and tug her out of the way, causing the ball to harmlessly roll to the ground.

The few times the ball did get near him, Allen lazily tossed it back over the net, but he wasn't as enthusiastic as being goal keeper for Daisya's team or sparring with Kanda.

It was when Allen had pulled Mei-Ling out of the way for the umpteenth time that the volleyball captain finally marched up to him. "What is your deal?!" she demanded, "I know you're new around here, but that doesn't give you the right to act so thickly! How is she ever going to learn if you keep protecting her like that?"

Calmly, Allen remarked, "How is she ever going to learn if you don't attempt to teach her? Do you toss a child in the ocean and expect them to learn how to swim out of necessity? The most like scenario: They'll drown. And it's clear to me that the only reason why you wanted Mei-Ling on this team is so that you would have a sufficient amount of players to keep this sport going. Or am I wrong?"

Speechless, the girl could only splutter.

"I-is that true?" Mei-Ling stammered, expression downcast.

Allen winced. That hadn't been his intent.

Grasping her shoulder, Allen suggested, "Come on, Mei-Ling. Why don't we go and watch Lenalee's track meet? She could use a little cheering on the sidelines."

"R-right, of course," Mei-Ling nodded, and once the two grabbed their belongings, they headed out.

Track

By the next day, Mei-Ling had switched over to track with Lenalee, and Allen had been invited along in order to experience yet another sport. Fortunately for him, this one was the easiest yet. After being forced to evade numerous debt collectors, Allen was quite quick on his feet, and even managed to impress Lenalee, who held the position of the fastest girl.

"Wow, Allen!" Lenalee exclaimed, eyes wide as she stared down at her stopwatch, and just to show off, Allen completed his run with a couple of cartwheels and flips.

"Um, Lenalee?" one of her teammates butted in. "You sure that kid doesn't belong on the gymnastics team? Those flips are nice, but they sure as hell aren't getting him any points at out track meets."

Her eyes lit up. "Gymnastics, you say?" She observed Allen for another few seconds, before nodding firmly. "Allen, come on! I want to show you something!"

"Err, what?" Allen called, jogging after her.

"Hurry up! Are you coming, Mei-Ling?" Lenalee called after them with a grin.

"Err, yeah sure!" Mei-Ling replied, and joined them.

Despite her eager grin, Lenalee didn't let up when both Allen and Mei-Ling grilled her for answers. Instead, she determinedly lead them through the campus grounds, and a few minutes later, Allen was demanding, "You mean to tell me you guys have two gyms?"

"Yep! And this one is dedicated just for our gymnastics team!" Lenalee declared, throwing the double doors wide open. "Check it out!"

Eyes bugging out, Allen froze and curiously gazed at the gymnasts balancing on beams, flipping through the air, and launching themselves into flips. It was a remarkable sight, and its familiarity made Allen itch with the anticipation of joining in on the fun.

"Pretty amazing, isn't it?" Lenalee grinned, and pushed him forwards. "Go on, try it out!"

No one took much notice of the random kid confidently stepping up onto one of the mats. Expression breaking out into a wild grin, Allen threw himself into a running start, before jumping up, hands grasping onto a metal bar as he swung up and around, and then launched himself into multiple flips. With a muffled thump, Allen landed perfectly on his feet, catching the eye of a few. But he couldn't care less, and like a kid at a candy shop, he proceeded to run around, testing out all the available equipment.

Turning to Mei-Ling, Lenalee remarked, "I think we've got ourselves a winner!"

Oddly enough, when Allen showed up to school the next morning, his classmates appeared to be waiting for him. The group of Exorcists gathered on one side of the school gate had immediately perked up in response to his appearance.

"Err, hey guys," Allen waved, and nodded for his family to go on ahead of him. Road gave him a peck on the cheek and Wisely mouthed, "Good luck," before they were swallowed up by the throngs of students.

"So, Allen!" Lavi grinned. "Did you come to a decision?"

They all stared expectantly.

"Yes," Allen answered, eyes narrowing. "Why do you guys seem to care so much?"

"Just spit it out, beansprout," Kanda huffed.

Fortunately, Daisya had no qualms about hiding whatever the rest were being secretive about. "Haven't you guessed it, pipsqueak? We all made a bet on what it was that you would choose! So for the love of God, please don't disappoint!"

Allen eyed them all, expression disbelieving. "Wait, you all made a bet? Even you, Mei-Ling?"

Said girl turned beat red.

But when not another word was spoken, Allen simply huffed and stated, "Well, you can all keep your money, because I doubt any of you guessed it."

"What? I heard that you were practically being forced to join gymnastics!"

Allen didn't bother to identify the voice. Instead he simply deadpanned, "For your information, you bunch of twats, I didn't pick any sport. I, in fact, decided to join the Students in Debt Society."

His revelation was followed by a dumbfounded silence.

"Wait, there's such a thing?"

Allen snorted. "Yeah, this school is fucking expensive. Not that that's my particular issue. But hey, who do you think is being forced to cover Cross' damn honeymoon expenses?" When no one could find the words to reply, Allen scoffed and sauntered off, "Yeah, that's what I thought."

A/N: Well, that was a lot of fun to write!(: Haha, it wasn't actually as funny as I thought it would be, but oh well.(x Anyway, please review and let me know your thoughts!^.^