Disclaimer: I don’t own -man or any of its characters. All the copyrights belong to Katsura Hoshino.

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-man – Hollow Boned Golden Throat

A beautiful bird-cage stood on its pedestal that was decorated with curly engravings. The silver bars of the cage, thin as hay, strong as mountain, shone in the golden sunrays that bathed the whole flower field in warmness and light.

A white haired little boy sat beside it, his back leaning against the pedestal, knees drawn close to his chest. He, Allen, half-smiled while whispering softly to the bird in the cage. The bird was a quite big parrot, and its feathers were so colorful it looked like the whole animal was wrapped in a rainbow. A rainbow the sky never showed…

This flower field never changed; it was always sunny summer days here, though when the night came, it was dark with thousands of stars illuminating the sky, though even at nights it was as warm as on days. The weather never changed; it never rained, it never was cloudy, the flowers never withered away. It was perfect endless summer days in the middle of flowers and grass, nothing else than that and the light blue sky extending everywhere. This landscape was seen in every direction, and in the horizon it continued being the same. Nothing else.

“Dear parrot… I killed a man… yes I did. Why I killed a man? To cover my secret! The secret?” Allen purred and turned around to face the bird he was talking to, sitting on his knees. The boy’s eyes twinkled of happiness though there was the weird touch of wickedness as his sweet smile turned almost into a smirk. “I’ve got a friend among the enemies. A very good friend”, Allen reached his hand up, pushing his forefinger and middle finger inside the cage through the gap the bars left tickling the bird under its nose in a common manner. The kid’s voice was full of loveliness. “You won’t tell my secrets away? You won’t tell my hands are bloody?”

The parrot watched firmly at the boy in front of it, then nodding its head down as if it was a response to the child, though it just brushed its feathers. Allen’s smile got wider. “Good bird… good bird.”

As the sun began to fall, the white haired one walked away from the bird-cage, away from the place where he had committed the crime he had talked about with the colorful bird. The delicate flowers crushed under Allen’s feet as he took a step after a step soon vanishing from the field of view of the parrot. The very moment the bird knew the child couldn’t see, it stuck its other leg outside through a gap between the bars twisting one of its claws inside the lock on the cage door, opening it and freeing itself. The parrot spread its huge rainbow wings flying away from the silver prison silently disappearing in the black night.

The next morning Allen came to the flower field he discovered that the silver cage was empty. Where was the rainbow bird? Who had freed it from its cage?

“No fun… no fair…”, Allen pouted to the bird-cage as if expecting it would suddenly say “just kidding” and summon up the parrot there, just so it could please the snowy haired one. The cage, however, couldn’t do any magic tricks. Allen sighed and sat down on the grass picking up a white daisy in his hand, his back once again leaning against the pedestal. “Loves me, loves me not, loves me, loves me not…”, the child murmured tearing petals loose one after another from the core of the flower. “… loves me not, loves me.” Allen giggled now to the ripped up flower. “Loves me. Thank you ms. Daisy!” the boy addressed the flower before swinging it away from his pale hands. The boy enjoyed of the sun light, being silent for a good while. “Mr. Sun sure is hot today? Or is it just me creating more body heat than normally?” Allen finally asked from the bright golden ball up in the sky unable to stare it directly. Allen touched his cheeks with his carefully gloved hands. The white fabric felt cool against his skin. “I guess it’s me burning up by myself. I feel as if something nasty is in me… as if I’ve eaten embers and they’re burning and hurting my stomach now.”

The reddened cheeks were like cartoons’ cute girls’ apple cheeks. Allen returned his hands to rest on his lap. The black color of his clothes absorbed the warmth of the sun light greatly, but Allen felt that the heat he felt came from somewhere else. The boy twirled a lock of his soft hair around his thin finger. He looked as if he was a picture from an old book – a picture that had only one color there beside black and white.

And the extra color was red – the pentacle scar, the flushed cheeks, the irises of his eyes. The left hand, too, though it wasn’t on shown. The white – skin, hair, gloves, shirt. The black – trousers, vest, shoes, eyelashes.

Allen picked up a new daisy. “I’ll be happy, I won’t be happy, I’ll be happy, I won’t be happy…”, he mumbled a faint smile on his sickly pale lips. “I’ll be happy, I won’t be happy. Oh, I won’t be happy?” Allen scowled at the flower. “How can you say that, ms. Daisy? Don’t joke that harshly!” the boy tossed the flower away taking another in his hand, repeating the “will I be happy?” question. For his dismay the daisy said he wouldn’t be happy. “You stupid ms. Daisy!” Allen angrily threw the flower core away. “How dare you say I won’t be happy?”

“It says it because you really won’t be happy”, a new voice said from behind Allen. The boy turned around, standing up. “Who are you?” the child asked. The man who had appeared here was so ordinary looking that he had nothing personal in him. He wore a black military uniform and a cap that was a part of it was placed on his head hiding all the hair under it and casting a shadow on the man’s face. “I’m from Central Administration. I’m here to take you with me.”

“Take me with you? Why?” Allen tilted his head to one side.

“I’m not the person to tell that. My job is just to escort you”, the man’s blunt answer was, and then he gestured Allen to follow him. Allen started to walk behind the man, puzzled. “What is this? Please tell me. I don’t get it. Have I done something wrong since a military man comes to get me? I have been a good boy”, the child gave sad and innocent looks to the man who was leading him. But whatever Allen said, the man didn’t respond.

They ended up in front of a large building that stood in the middle of rocky lands, cheap little houses spreading all over around it. The Court House looking building’s white walls rose up in the sky all pompous.

“Waaa, how big it is!” Allen admired. “Mr. Military man, why am I brought here?”

The man gave a sideways glance to the kid. Allen gulped. “Don’t say someone has something bad to say of me…?”

The man stayed silent, and Allen took it as a “yes, you’re accused”. Before the boy could let out any other questions, the man pushed him from the back so he would start walking again. They passed through an enormous double door and long corridor getting in a grand hall – which was a courtroom! Allen felt a jolt rush down his spine. “Wha-what am I doing here? Why?!”

The man just pushed Allen to stand in front of the desk of the judge. The judge was someone that was dressed up in a big raven black robe which’s hood was lifted up and covered the person’s face completely. He leaned his chin against the back of his palms, his elbows resting on the table. Right next to his hands was a gavel – the one with the power to announce “the court is over! the verdict is given!”.

As Allen looked to the other side of him, there stood the man he had learned to fear, called Malcolm C. Leverrier, military men around him. The man who had escorted Allen here had moved among those men. Leverrier looked as cold as ice and scary, too.

As Allen turned his head in the opposite direction, he saw there his friends in rows. Rabi, Kanda, Rinali, Komui, Bookman, Crowley, Chaoji… even Cross was among them beside all the other generals. There was many other exorcists behind them, Allen couldn’t even see the end of them.

They looked so depressed… Rinali cried, Rabi wiped his eyes, Kanda’s glare lacked everything and soon the eyes stared only the floor, Komui’s look was pained, Cross looked as disappointed as a man could; sadness and anger tied together. Shadows engulfed most of the people’s faces.

Allen shivered just from seeing his friends grieve so much. All those people, even the ones Allen didn’t recognize, felt sad for the white haired boy.

“Wait! What is this?!” Allen screamed finally, glancing in every direction seeing nothing but negative souls.

Leverrier took a step forward and pointed at the little boy. “You’re being accused of a murder and conspiring with the enemies!”

“What?! No!” Allen showed genuine shock and disbelieve. His hands balled up in tight fists that trembled. “Why I’m accused? I’ve done nothing!”

“Lying in a court is bad”, Leverrier wagged a finger at the poor boy. “We know you’re guilty. Here, I’ll show you evidence”, he snapped his fingers and a colorful bird flew in the courtroom, descending on the ground

in front of the boy few meters away from him. If there’d been a barrette for the bird, it would’ve more gladly sat on it.

The rainbow parrot began to caw, repeating what it had heard and learned before: “I killed a man, yes I did. Why I killed a man? To cover my secret! The secret? I’ve got a friend among the enemies. A very good friend.” Here the parrot paused, then it croaked and spoke again the same lines.

Allen’s face couldn’t lose any color it being too white to begin with, but the cold sweat that covered his forehead was seen.

“This parrot tells always the truth!” Leverrier grinned. “Now, bird, say the name of the one who spoke those lines originally?”

The parrot clacked its nose. It stared right in Allen’s eyes. “Allen Walkerrrrrr”, it quacked. At the very moment the bird squealed the boy’s name out in a mocking tone, the accused one jumped furiously forward towards the rainbow parrot, fire of madness and cruel anger in his now narrowed eyes. “You lying bastard--!!” the white haired one screamed sharply, his voice reaching a new level of high-pitchness and tone of insanity.

The bird was in an eyeblink on its wings, but the boy was quick enough to catch it before it got away from the reach. The very moment Allen moved, two military men ran to him, but when they grabbed the boy by his arms, the child had already in his anger fit wringed the bird’s neck. The poor rainbow parrot slipped limply from the shaking little hands, hitting the floor and lying there unmoving and dead. Allen screamed, struggled, kicked, but the tight grips of the adult men were too strong for him to break.

Vaguely Allen heard shocked gasps from his friends, but the rage of his didn’t feel to fade away. “The bird lied! It lied!” Allen wailed, now fresh salt water droplets rolling out of his eyes.

“The bird can’t lie, you know it”, Leverrier said sternly. “And even if it did, now you’re committed a crime. A murder. Those small child hands of yours took a life of a living thing other than akuma. You’re guilty.”

“I’m not! The bird lied! I’m innocent! The bird lied!” the boy was panicking and in a shock. His words didn’t quite make sense anymore, they just came out in a flow like the tears.

Now the judge spoke the first time, his voice thundering, halting the rebelling boy’s howling and getting him to watch him.

“The accused, Allen Walker, is found guilty of murdering a finder, for murdering a parrot that never lies, and being friends with the enemies. He will be punished severely; the price of killing the finder; you can’t be an exorcist anymore! The price of killing the bird; you will be locked in a cage taking the role of the parrot. The price of being friends with an enemy; you will be never let out of the cage, and you will never return to a normal life. The rest of your life, you’ll be a prisoner, you’ll be alone; none of your friends will come to see you ever”, the judge lifted the gavel up. Allen shrieked. The gavel was brought down, it setting free a loud bang. The judge let his voice rose once again: “Now, rip the cross, the core of the innocence, away from the back of the guilty one’s palm. Then move him into a cage – a cage, that will be taken to the place of the parrot’s. Then leave him alone, alone for eternity.”

Allen felt like fainting, and his eyes fell shut. Screams died in his throat. His knees buckled and he was left to dangle as limp as a doll in the hands of the two military men, who had made sure the boy didn’t run away or hurt anyone other anymore.

The next time Allen woke up he saw that he was laying on a bottom of a large bird-cage that was made out of silver. From the ceiling, from the round thing where all the bars started from, was attached a swing like in every bird-cage. The rounded wooden barrette, which to sit on was painted white, and the ropes were wrapped in soft black fabric.

Allen looked down at his hands. The white gloves covered them, and holding his breath, the boy pulled the left hand’s glove half out of his hand exposing the back of his palm. In the spot where the sparkling cross should’ve been was a black hole now; he was robbed off his important part, part that was as physical as mental. Allen sighed, then smiled weirdly as he pulled the glove back to cover the empty place of the cross. The sun was as warm as always, and the flowers bloomed everywhere. Allen liked this place, this flower field. Now he was here as the parrot; his big cage was in the very same place where the rainbow bird’s had been.

Allen felt so light in his chest. “Mr. Sun, you’re so warm today”, he smiled to the sun. After thinking for a while his eyes closed, his body enjoying of the sunrays caressing it, the boy moved to the edge of the cage,

reaching his hand out from between the silver bars picking up a daisy. “Does ms. Daisy have today better fortune for me?” the boy whispered to the flower. “He’ll come, he won’t come, he’ll come, he won’t come…”, the habit of playing with the flowers was stuck in Allen. He really wanted to believe in this – and believe that “ms. Daisy” would tell him what he wanted to hear.

“He’ll come!”Allen’s face lit up even more. “Thank you, ms. Daisy!”

In the sunlight Allen sat on the swing swaying with it hopes up and eyes looking the endless flower sea. The white locks of the boy’s hair flowed back and forth as he swung and his gloved little fingers clutched the black ropes. “I’m light as a bird, I am. With hollow bones, I am. Even in this cage, I feel free”, he murmured to himself.

When the sun was falling down coloring the sky in the pretty shades of red and orange, some person appeared in the horizon, coming all the time closer and closer to the big bird-cage. Allen recognized the someone from afar; it was no other than the dark skinned, curly raven haired Noah man.

When Tiki reached the silver cage, he lifted his palms to his hips, watching the child inside the prison with his golden eyes. “Now look at you”, there were scolding and amusement both in his voice.

“I feel good”, Allen replied taking the last sway before hopping down his shoes’ soles meeting with the metal bottom of the cage. “I’m a bird now. Birds feel no worries”, Allen walked to the edge of the cage, his hands coming up to grip the bars. “Don’t you be sad either.”

“Of course I won’t”, the dark man watched Allen with understanding eyes. “Now I’ll be able to see you whenever I want.”

Allen nodded and smiled. “I’ll be your songbird. I’ll sing – just for you”, he reached his hands out to touch Tiki’s cheeks. “You will own my voice.”

The pleasure in Tiki’s eyes was clear to be seen, and he stepped right through the bars into the silver bird-cage closing the little boy in a gentle embrace. “You never change at your heart. As soon as the crisis is over, your naivety returns.”

Allen chuckled his face pressed against the Noah’s chest. “You’re warmer than mr. Sun”, he whispered to the man.

The End

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