Disclaimer : D. Gray Man is Hoshino Katsura's property.

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Chapter 1

Allen slowly opened his eyes. A slight headache made him wince a little as he sat up on his bed, rubbing the back of his head. It took him a few seconds to get fully awoken, as he tried to search his memory to know where that headache could come from. As he did so, some scenes came back to him : he was on a mission, fighting Akumas when some Noahs suddenly showed up. He was not the only Exorcist there, but the scene was pretty blurry in his mind, and he didn't remember exactly who was doing what. He remembered fighting one of the Noahs for a while, then… he woke up.

'Nasty dream' he thought. 'Must be why I'm having a headache right now.'

Allen's stomach started to growl loudly, so he got dressed quickly and headed for the cafeteria. As he reached the place, he could feel that the atmosphere was different from what it usually was. The people in it seemed to be… more cheerful, or less tense, whatever. Well, it wasn't a very obvious change, but Allen could still feel it.

"Hey, Allen! What are you standing at the door for ? Get your breakfast and come join us!" Lavi's merry voice called.

"Hi Lavi, I'm coming right away!" Allen replied with the same tone.

After having ordered his gigantic usual meal, he carried his overloaded tray to Lavi's table where Lenalee, Miranda, Krory and Kanda were also sitting.

"Slept well?" Lavi asked as Allen sat next to him.

"Yes, as usual. Say, haven't you noticed something… different this morning?" Allen asked casually.

"Different ? What do you mean? Are you talking about the fact that Yuu and you still haven't fought yet?"

"Shut up, stupid rabbit." Kanda sharply said.

"No, I mean, around you. People look like they are more… how should I put this? Well, everyone seems in a better mood, don't you think?" Allen went on, not paying attention to the glare Kanda was directing at both him and Lavi.

"Hmm, no, not really. It's like usual to me. Maybe it's just you who feels in higher spirits." the red-haired Bookman replied, grinning.

"That wouldn't surprise me." Lenalee added cheerfully. "Allen-kun is always in a good mood, unlike some other people I know." She quickly glanced at Kanda, who didn't feel the least bit concerned.

The black-haired man got up and was about to leave, when Lavi stopped him :

"Leaving already? Couldn't you wait for us sometimes?"

"Che. I don't like wasting my time."

"You're meaaaaan, Yuu-chan. Stay with us a bit more!"

"Call me that once more and you'll become history." Kanda threatened.

"Ok, Ok. Then just abandon us here, you meanie." Lavi stuck his tongue out.

The Japanese Exorcist didn't even deign to reply as he went out of the cafeteria.

Meanwhile, Allen was still chatting with his friends, though he felt a bit disappointed that Kanda kept acting like a cold bastard. Not that it really mattered. He had friends around him whose presences he enjoyed enough, and he really didn't need someone like Kanda to spoil all the fun.

However, something else was still troubling him a bit. He was certain that the people around him were more inclined to talk, to laugh and to joke. But since it was barely noticeable, he simply put it down to his headache.

The morning passed pleasantly. Allen had got back to his room and had been watching a certain Japanese man training for a while now. Well, it's not like he was watching intentionally, but his window just happened to offer a view to the training grounds, and since the white-haired boy didn't have anything else to do, he simply observed the dark figure moving gracefully and wielding a sword skillfully.

It was simply captivating to see Kanda training, his long, dark hair sometimes flying when a soft wind was blowing. He had removed his Exorcist coat, and was bare chest, with bandages around it though. Allen couldn't see very clearly since he was quite far, but he was certain that Kanda's well trained body had to be close to perfection. The white-haired Exorcist quickly got rid of that thought, though he wondered for a second where such a thought could have come from.

After about an hour, Kanda seemed to be done training, as he reached for his coat and started to go back to the building. Allen quickly moved from the window, in case Kanda would see him, and blushed very slightly because he actually saw Kanda's sweating chest, and to him, it wasn't close to perfection. It was perfection.

'Just what the hell am I thinking? Damn, I bet it's not a headache, it's a fever. It has to be a fever.' Allen convinced himself mentally.

He dropped himself on the bed, sighing. He should as well take a small nap, and see if the headache – no, fever – would be gone afterwards.

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"So, is he having nice dreams, Road?"

"Oh, Uncle Tyki, you were here ! Yes, I gave him quite some nice dreams. Actually, I'm a bit surprised by his reactions, but I suppose I can take advantage of that."

"Reactions? What kind of reactions?" the Noah of Pleasure asked curiously.

"Oh, towards a certain Exorcist, for example."

"Really? Anyway, explain to me one more time how this dream thing works. I still can't get it clearly."

"Jeeeeez, Uncle Tyki, I've already told you! But since you're a nice uncle, I'll explain to you again: I simply put our dear Allen into an unconscious state, and I implanted a frame on which his dreams are based. So I can modify his dreams at will, but the main parts are born from his own mind. And his reactions towards that Exorcist are pretty interesting, I must say…" the girl added mysteriously.

"Well, if you say so. Anyway, I just came to give you a piece of cake. The Earl said to bring some to you, since you weren't with us for tea time."

"Thank you! A pity I'm stuck here with my dear Allen, but I can't really disobey the Earl's orders, right?"

"Indeed. Now keep up the good work, everyone's counting on you."

"Sure, Uncle Tyki!"

As Tyki Mikk left the room, Road took a bite in the cake, and turned her head to the sleeping Exorcist lying next to her.

"My poor Allen, I'm very sorry to do this to you, but it's for the Earl. You'll forgive me, right?… Good boy." she said, a strange smile at the corner of her mouth.

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"Damn it! How could that happen? How could we have let Allen slip between our hands? Damn those Noahs!" Lavi punched the wall. He was fulminating, losing his usual temper as he kicked repeatedly in the same wall which was threatening to crumble under the hits.

"Lavi, please calm down. Destroying the wall won't bring him back, and aren't you supposed to be at the infirmary? The nurse won't be happy if she knows that you sneaked out of your room, so go rest for now." Komui replied softly. He sounded tired, with no energy left to really talk back to the infuriated red-haired.

"But Komui!…"

"Listen, I am very well aware of the situation, but try and think for a moment: you told me yourself that one of the Noahs said that they'd take great care of Allen. If they had wanted to kill him, they'd have done it right away, don't you think? So for now, my hypothesis is that Allen is safe."

"But for how long! We don't know what they want, nor what they plan to do with Allen! You must send a search party or something!" Lavi was getting overagitated, and the pain of his wounds made him wince.

The Chinese man sighed deeply, and put a hand on Lavi's shoulder :

"You know it's not up to me to decide whether to send teams out or not. Now go back to the infirmary and get some rest. We can't send anyone on mission as long as you all haven't fully recovered."

The red-haired Bookman wanted to answer back, but he knew it was of no use, so he simply let Komui help him go back to the infirmary. Five other Exorcists were being treated there: Lenalee, Miranda, Marie, Kanda and Krory; they were all more or less bandaged, Kanda being the less injured "thanks to" his curse.

The mood was terrible, the room was dead silent and everyone of them was displaying either a downcast or a frustrated face. Komui knew it was a rather futile attempt at lightening the atmosphere, but he tried to smile a bit anyway, telling the Exorcists:

"Don't worry, we will have Allen back in no time."

As he left the infirmary, closing the door behind him, he knew that he barely believed his own words.

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Here we go. Tell me what you think?