Chapter Text
“Stupid Lavi with his stupid long legs and his stupid crush,” Allen Walker muttered darkly as he scrubbed at the tiled shower wall in the men’s locker room, thinking back to how he had gotten himself into his current predicament.
“Come on, Allen! Please! I’ve gotta do something to get her attention!” Lavi Bookman looked at his friend imploringly.
Allen looked at the other skeptically. “And breaking into her brother’s training center to graffiti the wall in the women’s locker room is a good idea, how?”
“It’s not graffiti! It’s just a little message of love~”
“That you want to put on the wall! With spray paint!”
“Come on, Al! Please! No one will even know that you were involved. All you need to do is get me inside with those magic hands of yours and then just keep watch. I’ll be the one doing the rest. So absolutely nothing will ever come back to bite you in the ass!”
The white-haired teen let out a long sigh as he gazed at his friend. He did owe Lavi a favor for covering for him all of the times that he wanted to go out and play poker with Tyki…. And Lavi was certain that he wasn't going to get caught. He sighed again before softly mumbling, “Fine.”
“Yay! Thank you so much Allen!” The smaller of the pair was pulled into a tight hug.
Of course, things hadn’t gone according to plan. They had gotten inside with no problem- Allen could easily pick the lock on the back door. They had even gotten to the women’s locker room without a problem. But then Lavi had dropped the can of spray paint as he had been writing his “message of love” on the wall.
Neither had known how loud the sound of a can falling in an empty locker room could be- or that Komui Lee had stayed late to get some extra work done. No, it wasn’t until they heard the man’s voice calling out that they knew they were in deep trouble and scrambled to get out of the building. Lavi didn’t have a problem getting out, not with his stupid long legs. Allen had not been so lucky and had gotten caught just before he had made it to the door.
Really, he supposed he should consider himself lucky. After all, Komui could have called the police and since Allen was 18, any charges would have gone on his permanent record. Instead, he was stuck cleaning the training center 3 days a week all summer long. So much for having a fun summer before starting college in the fall.
The training center was huge, Allen had discovered. There was a regular gym area, which got the most use along with the locker rooms. There were also rooms to practice dancing and various forms of martial arts. Allen had even discovered a music practice room!
“How is it going in here, Allen?” Komui asked, having entered the locker room while Allen was deep in thought. The teenager startled before taking a deep breath once he realized who it was. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.”
“No worries, Komui. And I’m just finishing up this last wall of the shower and then I’ll be done in here.”
“Good. Once you finish with that, you can go home for the day.”
“Thank you, Komui.” Allen turned back to what he was doing, expecting the older man to leave.
“You know Allen…If you tell me who was with you that night you won’t have to keep coming here to clean all summer.”
The man had made this same offer most days that Allen had been at the center over the past few weeks. He had considered ratting Lavi out, but his friend knew quite a few things about Allen that he really didn’t want anyone to find out about. And while he didn’t think Lavi would disclose his secrets, he really didn’t want to take the chance.
“I’m not sure what you’re talking about, Komui. I was the only one here."
Komui sighed softly. He knew that wasn’t true- for one, he had seen someone run out the door ahead of the white-haired teen. Also... “Then what happened to the spray paint? You didn’t have any when I caught you.”
Shit. Allen cursed internally. Lavi had taken it with him. “I threw it in the trash before I ran.”
Komui looked at him skeptically. He knew that wasn’t the truth as he had checked the trash cans and hadn’t found anything. He decided to try a different tactic. “So you’re secretly in love with my precious little Lenalee?”
Allen’s eye twitched slightly. He had known Lenalee for years- since he had begun living with his guardian 10 years ago and met her in school- and it was no secret that he was gay. Once he and Lenalee had entered their teen years, Komui had begun hovering over them almost constantly when they were hanging out together which made Allen nervous. So, having already come out to Lenalee he decided to come out to Komui as well.
“I already know it wasn’t you that was defacing my property. I’m not going to get the police involved. I simply want to know who has taken an interest in my baby sister so that I can be sure he is aware of a few…things.”
“Sorry, Komui,” Allen gave an apologetic look to the man before finishing the section of shower that he had been cleaning. “Are you sure you don’t need me to do anything else today?”
Komui sighed. It was clear Allen was not going to give in right now. He may have lost the battle today, but that certainly did not mean he was going to give up. “You’re free to go home for today, Allen.”
The young man didn’t hesitate before putting his cleaning supplies away and walking to the exit. As usual, he passed the room that was used to practice martial arts. Normally it was empty, but today Allen could hear noises from within. Curious, he peeked through the partially opened door and gasped lightly at what he saw.
Before him was the most gorgeous man he had ever seen. He was tall with long black hair tied in a high pony tail. The man was shirtless and very well-muscled. He appeared to be completely immersed in practicing with a wooden kendo sword. Allen remained for several more long minutes, admiring the man's grace and...form before he heard footsteps approaching. Not wanting to be seen staring at the man, Allen quickly left the building to head home.
---
“You know, if you try to make any moves on Lenalee now Komui is going to know that you were there with me,” Allen commented, staring up at the ceiling as he spun around in Lavi’s desk chair while waiting for his ride to a poker game.
Lavi peeked up from the book he was reading while lounging on his bed. “Yeah. I guess I’m gonna have to play it cool for now until things settle down a bit. I’ll admit I am a little surprised you didn’t rat me out.”
Allen shrugged nonchalantly.
“Why didn’t you rat me out?” Lavi asked, setting his book aside and studying his friend.
“Eh. Just didn’t feel like it. Besides, it’s not so bad.” The summer was now half-over and Allen had taken to watching the mysterious man while he practiced his kendo over the past couple of weeks. The man was there the same time every day it seemed- something Allen noticed once he began actively looking in the martial arts room whenever he was there. At first, he felt weird watching the man but after a while he convinced himself that there was no harm in just looking.
“Wait…you weren’t worried that I was gonna rat you out in return, were you?” Lavi asked.
“I mean…maybe a little.” Allen looked sheepishly at the other
“Allen! I’d never do that! Besides, I don’t mind covering for you when you go to play poker. Though I do still want to meet your cousin. He sounds fun,” the redhead grinned.
“Are you trying to make a move on Tyki now? You’ve never even met him!”
“Aw come on. You know I would never make a move on your cousin unless you were okay with it. Besides, I’ve got my heart set on Lenalee still. I’ve just got to figure out a way to make my dreams a reality.”
Allen was relieved to hear that Lavi wasn’t going to spill his secret. It’s not like he particularly cared if his guardian found out about his gambling- he just didn’t want to have to explain why he needed Lavi to cover for him instead of just staying at Tyki’s place. Things were so much easier before- honk honk. The sound of the car horn jolted him out of his memories and he promptly got to his feet.
“That’s Tyki. Gotta run. Thanks again Lavi!” Allen called as he began rushing down the stairs to the front door.
Lavi sighed as he watched his friend’s retreating back. Although he didn’t show it, he was a little hurt that the other was worried he would tell someone about his secret. He wished the younger teen would trust him a little more, though he knew that trust did not come easily to Allen- especially not after what had happened a few years ago. He was surprised that Allen had trusted him enough to even tell him about what happened, although he figured that it was only so that he didn’t have to explain the situation to his guardian and so he could continue playing poker unhindered. Even though Allen had told him, he’d adamantly refused Lavi’s help in dealing with it and made him promise not to tell anyone about it. The only help he would accept was for the redhead to cover for him when he went out with his cousin.
---
“You know boy, I have listened to you go on about this sexy stranger that you’ve been creeping on for weeks now. Why don’t you man up and, oh I don’t know, introduce yourself to him?” Tyki glanced over at Allen as he drove to their destination.
“I can’t do that Tyki!”
“And why the fuck not?”
“Because!”
“Because you might actually like him for more than his looks? You might actually find someone to let in and get close to you? You might actually fall in love?”
Allen winced at the other’s blunt words. “Tyki…I just…I’m not looking for anything like that…”
“Why not?”
“You know what happened! I…I just…I can’t-”
“Bullshit you can’t. Yes I know what happened. I was there too, remember? And yes, it was horrible. But does that mean you’re going to spend the rest of your life holding everyone at arm’s length? Do you really think this is what Uncle Mana would have wanted for you?”
A sharp intake of breath was his response and a glance at the other revealed him staring down at his lap. He knew it was harsh to bring up Allen’s “father” but the kid was being ridiculously stubborn.
“You’re right,” Allen mumbled quietly. Mana would have wanted him to keep walking, not give up.
“So are you going to introduce yourself to this guy? Maybe even have a conversation with him?” Tyki asked.
“I’ll try…maybe,” the white haired teen responded. He wasn’t going to make any promises that he wasn’t sure he could keep.
Tyki sighed. At least he had agreed to try. As he pulled up to their location and parked his car, he looked over at the boy. “You ready to win some money?”
A wide grin spread over Allen’s face and his entire demeanor changed. “Oh yeah.”