Home Again

Chapter 14: A Noah? Jealous?

Tyki's POV

"Shall we continue where we left off, boy?"

Without hesitation or warning, Allen lunged at him, sword of exorcism aimed at his chest and ready to run through his scar he'd gotten from their last fight. The noah drew a cloud of tease and hopped up to the trees, hoping to gain some distance and lure him to an area with more civilians. Not only was he hoping that a street fight would lead the order to them, but he sincerely looked forward to the excitement it would cause.

The boy struggled to cut down the butterflies and eventually decided upon destroying them all at once with his crown cloak. After they vanished, leaving sight for him to catch the noah hopping away, he followed quickly and Tyki picked up his pace, being sure to only move as fast as the ex-exorcist. Somehow, though, this only seemed to irritate the shortest one more and the boy lunged forward, sword outstretched, growling the noah of pleasure's name, catching him off guard with the sudden change in pace.

A shadow covered his eyes as realization settled into the pit of his stomach. Why is he so angry? Over these humans? Civilians, at that! He drew a sharp mass of dark matter and, on an irritated impulse, aimed to drill it into Allen chest, but used it to shield himself when the boy drew his sword high above his head, ready to slice him in half.

He smiled teasingly as he made his way onto a busy street, relieved that his opponent was too furious to notice. "Oh, my~. It's almost as if you actually care about those two."

Allen only growled in response as he frantically and repeatedly slashed his sword at the noah, causing the civilians around them to run screaming in terror.

"It's funny, isn't it? Since you only knew them for - what? A day?" He kept up his smile, though he allowed his true feelings to leak through, very slightly. "Yet you've known me for a little over a year and I'm the one you're fighting! Isn't that funny?"

They both froze and looked at each other dumbly. Allen seemed to have a mixture of confusion and annoyance on his face while the noah was confused as to why he'd stopped and whether he would gradually or abruptly go back to being determined to chop his head off. After a second or two of them staring at each other, the noah tilted his head slightly and allowed his own confusion to show on his face.

"Tyki", he asked, casually.

He spoke as though they'd just taken a stroll through the park and he planned to ask him a deep yet innocent question, making a nervous bead of sweat roll down Tyki's temple as he responded with a simple, "Hm?"

"Could it be that you really are jealous...?"

It took him a moment to realize what had been asked before his face grew red and he retrieved the dark matter, scratching his cheek with embarrassment and smiling sheepishly. "Hah... That isn't that important, is it?"

When he received no response, he looked up and caught the boy's pale face reddening before a shadow covered his eyes. He drew his sword, readying himself to annihilate the noah with his following blow. "I guess not, since I have to do this either way."

Allen's POV

Throughout his time away from the noah family, he didn't miss them even slightly. Well, maybe Road and her childish antics, which always slightly put him into a better mood. But mainly, he missed Tyki, making it that much more unbearable once he'd realized that this noah had been killing his new friends behind his back. Out of jealous? How ridiculous! He's a noah - he did it because he wanted to hurt somebody and cause any sort of chaos.

Throughout their fight he couldn't help but desperately wish that they hadn't been fighting. Just like the first two times they fought, he thought to himself, "If only this was a game of cards and not a battle where one of us might die."

As he recognized the genuine tone of jealousy hidden in the noah's sarcasm, he paused, surprising even the noah. "Could it be that you really are jealous", he asked, his heart skipping a beat as the noah's face began to redden. Could there be a peaceful end to this? Could we just talk?

"Hah... That isn't that important, is it", Tyki asked, scratching his cheek and smiling like he'd just been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. The love he felt for the taller man at that moment bled through his own cheeks, reddening them until his entire face felt like it was on fire.

Only then did he remember, through his overwhelming emotions, that he'd resolved to hate Tyki, no matter how much he couldn't seem to do so. I can't be close to him - he's a noah. I can't go back; I can't side with my comrades' enemy! "I guess not", he began, allowing his features to dull and his heart to grow stoney, in preparation for what may be deemed a heartless act. I can't allow my emotions to control me... "Since I have to do this either way."

He lunged at the noah, bringing his sword high above his head, ready to exorcise him completely with one swipe. To his surprise, the noah didn't move. He didn't back down, though, and summoned all of his strength to cut Tyki's noah down the middle. There's no turning back, now.

Tyki's POV

The noah's scalp was inches away from that sword of innocence when the order's men caught the ex-exorcist in a net, bringing him to the ground roughly and somehow restraining his innocence. The boy retracted his innocence upon reaching the stoney ground but kept a glare pointed towards the noah. Hopefully they didn't see my dark matter, then I can avoid confrontation. The Earl will be mad enough, if he finds out that I interacted with the boy...

He sighed out his relief that the Earl's plan might soon be fulfilled and Allen would soon be going home. As he turned to leave and the boy's ex-comrades cuffed his hands, Tyki smiled and muttered just loud enough for his Shounen to hear him, yet feigning innocence in the hopes that the others wouldn't catch on to his true intentions, "I guess it's time to go, then. I'll be ready to take you home, if you ever decide to return~, don't forget!"

A tick of irritation formed on the boy's forehead as he barked, "As if! I will never go back!"

He smirked and pulled out a cigarette as he walked off and past the staring civilians, disappearing out of sight and mumbling to himself, "We'll see about that, Shounen."