Lena The Ballerina (D. Gray-Man)

Third Position - Portraying Naivete, Pt. 1

A/N: I wrote a very personal mini-update on why I haven't been updating or even actively writing (or reading) in general. Please check it out. It felt good to say it. It's at the very top of my profile.

In the live audition, the company chose a random song for each person to test their skills. Allen copied the moves Kanda taught him and applied them to the most appropriate moments of the song. He's a quick thinker, in canon too. Well, at least in battle. Let's just say his battles are metaphorically the dances in this universe.

Third Position - Portraying Naivete, Pt. 1

The almost shrill shriek of, "wake up!" from a young yet outwardly sophisticated woman woke Allen from his deep slumber. The immediate throb of the swollen large bump on his head expelled all lingering signs of exhaustion from his body. As soon as he pried his eyes open, his icy blues met familiar very brown ones. Allen blinked, taking in the familiar and yawned. "Good morning, Miss Lenalee. What time is it? And, why are you in my room?"

Lenalee made an additional inaudible sound, drawing her hand back to her side and resting it on her hip. "We're not in your room, Allen. We're at the studio. It's seven o'clock. AM."

Allen's eyes broadened when he heard the time, traditionally waking up earlier than seven. Though it was still a mystery as to how he got to school much past 8:30 with his early day routine. Other than the fact that he lived in one of the city of New York's boroughs, The Bronx, while attending Baruch College in Manhattan, it was just an approximate thirty-six minute drive from where he lived.

Albeit, thinking more on it, his appetite in the morning possibly contributed heavily to his poor punctuality.

"Allen, why are you here so early? How'd you get in? I know the person at the desk comes in half an hour before us, but he never lets us in before seven. Did you sneak in?" Lenalee with concern began questioning.

"We thought you were a homeless person." One of Allen and Lenalee's classmates whimpered.

"It was scary." Another one stated.

Lenalee inwardly agreed. She gave Allen a sympathetic sigh. "I know you might be eager, but you can't be doing this...ok? You'll scare people like that."

Allen nodded, and as soon as he got up off the pristine floor, he apologized and bowed respectfully for some unknown reason even to himself. Rising from the bow, his mind froze in unison with the first searing throb of his head, recalling a sequence of unpleasant events in technicolour:

Cross was before him, above his bed staring down at his serene state almost disgusted with that very fact, trying to wake him up and Allen briefly did because of the hard slap Cross gave him in one attempt. Drowsy from sleep, Allen was fortunate enough to feel barely a sting from it (being even more lucky for having the swelling calm down in his time spent at the studio through unconscious minutes so to not feel anything when he was awake now). The lack of pain then resulted in Allen going back to sleep when Cross left his room.

Cross returned however and drenched Allen with a bucket full of water in his bed, knowing full well of the fact that he fell back asleep and mercilessly counted that incident as Allen's shower, irritated that his apprentice was what he thought rebelling for once in his life against him.

Cross had his apprentice dressed and ready and almost out the door before Cross had stopped to realise something. Curious, Allen looked back at his master and was dumbfounded to find a hammer in his guardian's hand, equipped hand raised above his head ready to bash. The young boy was primed to run but was knocked out cold before he could realise the time then.

Allen shuddered. Another disturbing memory... He thought.

Though he'd love to expose his guardian as the wicked creature he surely was, Allen began to think before he spoke. It was all for some woman with an expected overwhelming amount of cash and it also was for those debts that was in his cursed name. For the sake of his future that was in the hands of his godforsaken guardian, he took the responsibility of whatever his situation looked like to them. "I'm again really sorry. I woke up far too early and quite literally dashed right on over to this place and...accidentally snuck in. An embarassing fallacy. Especially for falling asleep just after my excitement had settled. My mentality nowadays has been like a little child when it comes to this...wonderful chance I've been given you see." Allen painfully lied, gritting his teeth with a plastic smile.

A sense of accomplishment washed over him as he finished his cheery apology with the intentional exagerration of his British vocal roots.

I've heard Americans like this really enjoy being around British people, Allen optimistically began thinking.

"A sneaky child." A male student suddenly commented to Allen's immediate chagrin.

"A creepy one." Another boy added.

"Someone who never heard of, uh, maybe social etiquette, circus freak." Everybody laughed at that then.

Or maybe not...Why does this always happen to me, I can't change my looks? Completed Allen's thoughts with the simultaneous sizzling throb of his temple.

Finding the sudden shift in tone amongst the students mildly infuriating, Lenalee had tried to hush the students yet still no one complied. Lenalee gave up then, feeling sorry for the one who was depressingly being reviled seconds already into the semester.

"Can we get on with class now?" Lenalee asked, once the primary culprits of the grilling settled down. "I'm so sorry, Allen."

Allen scratched at his cheek. "Don't worry about it, I brought it onto myself. Heh."

His attitude is surprisingly polite...Lenalee thought and she saw hints of it too yesterday, though that aspect of him was heavily overshadowed by Mahoja being herself and by his audition, which she realised she had mixed feelings over.

His audition. Thinking back on it, she didn't really believe Allen's explanation at first, especially with how she observed his dance yesterday after keeping her mind on it for longer than usual, pondering more on it and slightly agreeing with Mahoja about the almost nasty energy it exuded. For some reason, Allen reminded her a great deal of Kanda. That was the reason why his retelling of his uncontrollable enthusiasm for being here was a total farce to her. She decided to in the end courteously believe him however.

Knowing her position this year, she didn't waste a moment longer spent on anything other than ballet.

It was now time to teach.

To prepare them for Miss Anita, she means.

Preparing them at the very least the basics.

To the absolute best of her... abilities...

That word fitting exactly what she now had to offer these people, dare she thought.

A/N: Cross knocked out Allen because he knew Allen would be a pain in the ass in the morning which would result in him being late. I'm going to ignore the fact that someone could have irreparable brain damage for being knocked out for more than an hour.

Cross didn't wake him up before the live auditions because he was up all night worrying and plus, that happened on the weekend. Allen for some reason in my story wakes up even earlier on those days.