Crossover

Knowing

Nai squealed as he picked up a photo off of his shelf. He quickly hid it under his pillow and sat on it. “What are you hiding?” Gareki asked peering at him. The taller dark boy had followed him upstairs to his room. He had been going through Nai's book shelf then moved on to the movies he had on blue ray.
Nai's squeal got his attention. He turned his full attention on the pale boy. Those ruby red eyes were full of fake innocence. He had an angelic smile on his face.
“Nothing.” He grinned giving a little shrug of his shoulders. Gareki moved toward him. Nai pulled his feet up so the taller boy could pass between the night stand and the bed he was sitting on. Gareki sat down slowly, not taking his eyes from the boy still grinning at him.
The dark-haired boy turned to look at the room from this vantage point. To his right were the movie and book shelves. There was also a small end table with a lamp on it. Across from him was a large poster of an alien. There was post it note stickers over the alien’s eyes and teeth.
“If you don’t like the poster, why do you have it hanging in your room?” he asked not looking at the boy. Nai studied him from under long eyelashes. He didn't answer for a minute.
“I like the house.” He said at last. Gareki had to squint to see a log cabin type house hiding behind the monster. He laughed.
“I can get you a better picture of a house like that.” He turned to look at Nai. “One without the scary creature in it.” He added. Nai beamed.
“That would be so cool!” he squealed bouncing a little
Gareki heard of soft cracking noise. Nai's face went from extreme happiness to horror.
“What was that?” Gareki raised an eyebrow.
“N nothing.” Nai sat perfectly still. Gareki narrowed his eyes.
“Uh huh.” He said. With a swift motion he pushed Nai back against the wall with one hand. Reaching under the pillow with the other he leapt up from the bed. He looked down at the picture. It was a framed photograph of a female scientist. She was in a lab.
“Is this your mom?” he asked. The photo was slightly blurry. It also looked to be a few years old. When Nai didn't answer right away, Gareki looked back at the photo in his hand. He could see a row of cages in the back. Silver lab tables where right behind the woman. Then he saw red eager eyes peering out from above the women’s right shoulder.
Thin fingers  curled into claws around the metal door of the cage. “Oh my god, is that you in the cage?” he cried.
“Nai liked to go to work with mom.” The blue eyes of Gareki met the indigo of Allen. “He was small enough to fit in the lab cages. Shion and I would lock him in there.” Allen took the framed picture from the startled teen. “Like brothers do.” He smiled at the dark boy, holding the photo out to Nai.
“Mom has some fresh cookies done. She told me to come get you.” Allen helped Nai onto the floor before walking to the door. “Come on before Shion and Rat eat them all.” He smiled. “Can you believe, Kanda doesn’t like sweets. What kind of freak is he?” Gareki walked past the pale brothers.
Nai hurried up to him to show him the way to the kitchen. Yet the younger boy had heard him whisper a thank you to Allen. Something was off about Allen Walker. Gareki summarized.
He followed Nai to the kitchen where he saw Shion and Kanda sitting in the corner. Shion was staring at the table top. Kanda, arms crossed over his chest, was staring out the side window. Rat was on a stool by the counter. He was doing a very poor job of not looking at Shion. The cookies sat on the table. It looked like no one had eaten any.
“They smell great.” Gareki smiled as he walked over to take one. It was still warm and gooey. He bit into it. It melted in his mouth. “mmm, this is heaven.” He grinned at the triplets mother. She beamed back.
“How does a scientist have the time to bake this?” he asked casually. The mood in the room shifted instantly. Shion's head snapped up to look at Gareki, mouth agape. Rat spun to face him as well, brows furrowed together. Kanda unfolded his arms, his ice blue eyes darting around. Even Nai let out a tiny gasp. Only two people didn't react.
The mother kept her smile, even chuckled a little. Allen stood to the side of the door they had entered. He was leaning against the wall, head down, playing with something in his hands.
“I never said she was a scientist.” He said catching the apple in his hand. He walked over placing the now polished fruit in front of Kanda. He flipped the kitchen towel over his should as he faced Gareki. “I said we went to work with her. She cleaned the place at night. Fed lab animals. That sort of thing.”
“It got too much for me to see the animals like that.” Their mother said. She walked up to pull Nai into a hug. A light touch to Allen's arm, a smile for the distant Shion. “I couldn’t like my boys see them like that any longer. So, I quit. About a year ago. Used my savings to open a bakery.” She gave him a smile, still keeping Nai in her arms.
“My name is Karen, you're Gareki, right?” She asked politely holding her hand out to him. Nai was smiling up at him as well. He took her hand to shake it.
“Yeah, that's right.” He said. He glanced at his brother.
“We should get going.” Rat said standing up. Kanda slid out of his spot.
“Oh, please take some with you. My boys get them all the time.” She grabbed some paper towels to wrap about a dozen cookies in. Gareki took them.
“Thank you.” He said. He punched Nai lightly in the arm. “See you at school.” He added turning for the door.
“As long as you three can find it.” Rat said eyeing Shion, who still wouldn’t look at him.
“Nai is very good at finding his way.” Karen stated looking pleased at the boy.
“And if that fails, I can always call mom.” Allen said. Shion's arm encircled his smaller brother. He lifted him away from their mother, rubbing his knuckles playfully over the boy’s head.
“Nai, never fails us.” He laughed as the small hand slapped his stomach.
“See you at school tomorrow, Gareki.” Nai called from the safety of his brothers’ arms. The three dark-haired blue-eyed brothers walked out of the house. They didn’t talk until they were several blocks away. Rat spun Gareki around to face him.
“What was up with the jab at their mom?” he demanded. Gareki looked away from them.
“I don’t think she is their mother.” He told them about the picture he saw. Adding in. Nai's weird ability to hear children playing from half a mile away. “Plus, there is something about Allen. He is really good at lying.” He said.
“Why do you think he's lying?” Rat insisted.
“For one, that smile of his is a mask.” Kanda piped up. “There is something odd about our new friends.” He said making the other boys continue to walk. He wasn’t sure if they had been followed.
The triplets had stayed home. Only Nai had gone outside. The others waited. He walked back in with his head hung down. “Gareki thinks Allen's a liar. Kanda thinks he uses his smile as a mask. Only Rat didn’t say anything about how weird we are.” He said sadly.
“Nai.” Shion moved toward him.
“I just wanted a friend!” the young boy yelled. With tears in his eyes he raced up to his room.
Shion gave Allen a sideways look. It spoke more than any words could. He was pressuring the other to make this right. “He's just a kid, Al.” he said before going upstairs.
The door to Nai's room was closed. He hated it closed. Shion knocked. “Hey, it's me. Can I come in?  He asked a muffled sniffle was his only response. Shion opened the door. Nai was lying face down on his bed. Arms folded under his head; he had his face buried in the pillow. His shoulder shaking told Shion what he feared.
Nai felt strong emotions. Shion and Allen had learned to shut down when needed. They had protected Nai as much as they could. Shion sat on the bed. Nai slithered over. Shion rested a soothing hand on the boys back.
“I'm sorry.” He said. Nai peeked out at him.
“Will we have to move again?” he asked. Shion shrugged.
“It's too soon to tell. Maybe I can get Gareki to believe me. I don’t know.” He clasped his hands together between his knees
Nai scrambled to sit upright. “or I could?” he said.
“You're not good at lying.” Allen said from the doorway.
“Well apparently neither are you!” Shion almost raised his voice to a yell. Allen sighed.
“How was I supposed to know some kid in a throwback town would be that good at reading deception!” he yelled back.
“Why was Gareki able to read Allen?” Nai asked. “I mean he fools most adults.” He looked between the boys.
“They are called naturals. They can naturally read facial expressions and body language.” Karen stood behind Allen. “Typically, they learn it the hard way, by being abused.” She added. She looked at each of her ‘sons'. “I don’t think you’re the only ones to have something to hide.” She stated.
The family glanced around. Whatever was going on with the other three, the pale boys didn’t want to get involved. They had enough trouble staying away from the Black Order, to be pulled into an abusive family situation.
However, looking at Nai, Allen knew they were going to be pulled in. The boy was already becoming attached to Gareki. And the older boy would do anything to keep the kid happy.
“I'll look into it.” He told Nai. The boy smiled at him. Karen broke the somber mood by telling them to get ready for dinner.