Fluff. Omg fluff. Lots of it. Lavi x Kanda, or Kanda x Lavi, sometimes. I suppose.
I don't own -Man, blah blah, I wish I did, blah, blah...
Not for people who get offended when they hear, well, the third word in this fanfiction.
Also, if you don't like boy love, then why are you hear in the first place? Shoo, fly, don't bother me.
Otherwise, Happy Easter, and enjoy!
Knocking. The fucking knocking. It was how early in the morning? Why was there someone at his door???
The annoyed, pissed off, grumpy, tired, lump of a Kanda slid off of his bed, not even caring how cold the floor was to his bare feet. He walked up to his door, placing his hand on the handle, and was actually planning on opening it, until…
"Yuuuuu~" came the call from outside. Kanda paused for a moment. Then he went back into his bed and tried to suffocate himself with his pillow.
"Yuuuuuuuuu, I know you're awake!" the whine came from outside. Kanda clenched his hands around his pillow, actually tearing the case a little. "Yuuuuuuuu," came the cry again.
"WHAT?" Kanda yelled, finally giving in. There was silence for a moment, and Kanda was so tired he felt himself drifting away. However, that sacred patch of silence was soon enough ripped apart with a metaphorical chainsaw.
"Can I come in?" the annoying rabbit whined from the other side of the door.
Kanda groaned and got up again, actually opening the door this time.
He saw Lavi dressed in his normal pajamas…plus a pair of rabbit ears.
"I have come on behalf of the Easter Bunny," he trilled, as Kanda noticed a basket in the redhead's all-too-eager hands. The door slammed in his face, which was actually rather fortunate for Lavi, considering it could have been Kanda's fist, instead.
"…Yuu?" Lavi asked, in the smallest voice he could get to go through the door. Kanda sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. He decided it was like this: Lavi was like HIV, only with sugar every two hours and a voice that dug into Kanda's head like a rusty butter knife. The sooner you treated it, the better off you were. Also, if you ignored it, it turned into something deadly. So Kanda decided to just get it over with and give Lavi his "treatment".
"Ye—s," Kanda managed to push though his clenched teeth as he opened the door once again.
"W-well, I just wanted to wish you happy Easter, Yuu," Lavi pouted, with such an amazing puppy dog face that Kanda might have felt emotion for a half second. The same, now rather annoyed Kanda sighed, his eye twitching.
"Could you not have waited until a more realistic timeframe?" he growled. Lavi grinned.
"I just couldn't help it, I wanted to be the first to tell you!" he said, his eye sparkling with something that even Kanda could tell wasn't just happiness. Lavi tended to be a bit…mischievous.
"I'm sure you could have been the first to tell me anyways," Kanda pointed out. Lavi shrugged.
"Yeah, maybe…" he said. No one spoke for a moment, and Kanda felt his vision going blurry. He really, really wanted to go back to bed. "But, I also wanted to give you this," Lavi said, his words sweeter than pure Canadian maple syrup as he held out an envelope to Kanda.
The Japanese boy knew that it was a bad idea, in fact, he really really didn't want to take the envelope, but he knew that if he didn't, Lavi wouldn't go away. And he really really really wanted to get back to sleep, without a rabbit curled up at his feet. So, he snatched the paper away from the redhead. Lavi grinned.
"You don't have to read it right now, if you don't want," he said, rocking on his heels. Kanda nodded slightly, not planning on it anyways. He looked directly at Lavi, as if asking, "anything else before I go the fuck to bed?"
Lavi smiled, slightly biting his bottom lip. "Well, goodnight, Yuu," and leaned in to give Kanda a goodnight kiss.
Kanda didn't really do anything, and was glad when Lavi hopped away.
Two hours, sixteen minutes, and five seconds later, give or take a jiffy, Kanda suddenly sat up right in his bed, the blood in his head not agreeing as he did so. Although, his blood evidently found its place when Kanda turned bright red, something he would never allow himself to do in company. He covered his mouth, his eyes staring widely at the wall across from him.
"Fuck, Usagi kissed me."
"…shit."
He really didn't know what to think when he woke up that morning, partially because he was half asleep and most of his brain functions weren't exactly brain-functioning. Not that he had many brain functions in the first place, after all.
I'm kidding, of course.
Eventually he decided that it was nothing, Usagi was just half asleep as was he, and Lavi was just an idiot. Made sense, right? Right. Of course. He pulled himself out of his bed and glanced around his room.
There was a bar of chocolate sitting on his floor, obviously slid under his door while he was sleeping. Kanda sighed. He really didn't like chocolate, at all. It tasted funny.
He changed into something more appropriate for a mild day like it was, being a Sunday, as all Sundays are slightly breezy with a scent of rain in the air, like it was that day. Because, of course, it was a Sunday. And Kanda was all the more aware of the weather conditions thanks to his cracked window.
He headed towards his door, kicking the chocolate to the side of his room as he did so. In normal circumstances, he would give it to the rabbit, but he had a sneaking suspicion that it was from Lavi in the first place. And that would be just mean.
Wait, why the hell do I care? Kanda thought, shaking his head slightly as he made his way out of his room.
The hall was oddly empty at the moment. And along with Mr. Empty came Mrs. Silent, who was currently filling the whole tower with such an eerie quiet that even Kanda felt unnerved by it. I mean, sure, he liked the silence, but where was Lavi to bug him about not accepting Easter candies? Where was Lenalee to tell him to lighten up and enjoy the holiday? Where was Moyashi to be short?
Kanda looked around. It wasn't exactly an odd hour of the morning, so…Suddenly, he remembered the slip of paper that Lavi had given him. He walked back into his room.
Dear Yuu-chan, you've been invited to an Easter egg hunt, with all of us! You'll get a special reward if you complete the whole thing, and I really don't think that you'll want to skip out on this, threats aside. It's time you finally enjoy the holidays, wouldn't you say?
P.S. That chocolate I gave you is actually really really dark. You should try it, you won't hate it as much as usual, I promise.
P. P. S., I have a feeling that I should have mentioned this earlier, but we're all meeting at the cafeteria. We were going to set a time, but we decided that you'd be late, anyways, so just be there.
P. P. P. S, Bring your happy face. Dust it off first, though, I don't think it's been used in a while.
Love, Lavi. And the rest of the order.
Damn right, Kanda's happy face hadn't been used in a while, and he wasn't planning on starting now. He crumpled up the letter in his fist, and threw it on the floor. Then he trudged like a grumpy Sasquatch all the way to the cafeteria. A rather feminine, attractive Sasquatch, but still not to be messed with.
Kanda looked around.
There was no one in the cafeteria.
"What the hell?!" he shouted in exasperation, stomping his foot on the ground. He was tired of being messed with, damnit!
He looked around once more. This time he noticed a little plastic egg sitting on a lonely table. He walked over it, regretting every step. What the hell was he getting himself into?
Kanda stopped in front of the table to sigh, aggravated, and then picked up the plastic egg. It was rather light.
He opened it up to find another letter.
Dear Yuu-chan, I'm glad to see that you're finally up! This egg has been lonely, don' cha' know, having a message and no one to tell it to. But now you're finally here, its life is complete! Feel free to crush it to bits; it says it's happy to die now.
Well, actually, welcome to the hunt. The hunt is for us, and your first clue is…
Is it lunch time already? Oh, but you don't like fried eggs, do you?
P.S., If you need help, feel free to call on me. I'll hear, and I'll be happy to answer any questions you have~
P. P. S., Allen doesn't think that you'll be able to figure the hints out.
Love, Lavi.
Kanda audibly groaned. He sure as hell wasn't going along with this. No way. No how.
He looked around for another egg.
"Lunch time?" he muttered to himself. He put his hands on his hips in thought. Well, he was already in the cafeteria, after all…He glanced over to the spot where Jeryy usually sat, taking orders.
Kanda walked over, and stuck his head inside. There, right on the other side of the wall, was a skillet with another plastic egg in it.
"Oh, haha," Kanda groaned, realizing what the hint meant and reaching around to grab the plastic egg. He didn't want to admit it, but this whole hunt thing was actually turning out rather…enjoyable, so far. He opened his new egg, pulling out yet another slip of paper. This one was a rather mint-colored green, though.
Dear Yuu-chan, who art in the cafeteria…good job on getting that first hint. Bean Sprout here has been proven wrong.
Hum, well, let's see? I'm guessing you'd like another hint now. Well, here it is:
The rabbits are stealing from the carrot patch again, you'd better go stop them.
Love, Lavi.
Kanda stared at the piece of paper. A carrot patch? There wasn't a carrot patch in the order, that's for sure…
Or…was there? Kanda couldn't exactly be 100% positive, because he only ever stayed around the area where he trained. So…Well, he supposed that Jeryy had to get his ingredients from somewhere…they might have a garden around.
He tapped his foot against the floor for a moment, indecisive. Then he decided he might as well just go over and look.
So, soon, Kanda found himself at the gate of the order, the Sunday breeze wafting through his hair. It bugged him to no end.
He wondered which way he should go, what with the tower being rather large and the trip around it rather daunting. He was about to just pick a way and start walking, but then he realized something…
"Oi, Gatekeeper," he called, turning around. The giant…face…thing, opened his eyes.
"Yeah? What?" he asked, sounding a bit annoyed, like Kanda had woken him up or something.
"Do you know of any gardens around here?" the Exorcist asked. The Gatekeeper was silent for a moment.
"Uh, yeah, I think there's one to the right. But I wouldn't know, you see, I've never been over there."
"Hum. I see," Kanda said. "My right or your right?"
"My right."
Kanda left without another word, leaving the Gatekeeper to wallow in his misery about being attached to a wall.
Soon afterwards, Kanda found himself emerging from the forest to find a small and well-kept garden patch in front of him. There were no carrots in sight, but there was an actual rabbit tied to a tree nearby.
Kanda walked over, and spotted another egg shoved into the tree's branches. He grabbed it, and pulled the letter out.
Dear Yuu-chan, you're almost to the best part of the whole hunt! Prepare yourself; your next hint is this:
Chu chuuu, train time. This is there you might find lavits, if they'd be so bold.
Which I may.
P.S., Moyashi bet me you wouldn't be able to figure this out. Prove 'em wrong, come on!
Love, Lavi.
Kanda's eye twitched. Stupid Moyashi, he'd prove him wrong, definitely.
Well, he would like to, anyways.
But, frankly, he had no idea what the clue meant.
Kanda groaned, scratching the back of his neck. Trains? What the hell? There definitely weren't any trains near the HQ, and Kanda wasn't planning on leaving it for a stupid egg hunt.
He sat down on the ground, his legs crossed, and he stared at the note. Trains…trains…
If he remembered right, then Johnny had a miniature train set in his room, but Kanda didn't think that would be a likely place to find "lavits", as Lavi liked to playfully call himself sometimes. The only places you would be likely to find a "lavit" would be…
Well, any place that Kanda regularly went. And, of course, Lavi's room, which Kanda kept well away from.
The Japanese boy sighed, letting his head fall back. He stared at the sky. Normally, he guessed, he would be in that spot of the forest that he always trained, slicing apart trees and the such…
In fact, sometimes Lavi liked to follow him out, and sat to the side. That would be a place you would find a lavit, Kanda thought, rather dully. But it has nothing to do with trai—
He blinked. Twice. No, not trains. "Train" as in the verb.
Kanda shook his head, and got up to head over there.
Sure enough, there was a lavit about. It was the first person Kanda had seen all day, and he was none too happy about it. (Or at least that's what he told himself.)
Although, Lavi seemed to be sleeping. And as much as Kanda hated to admit it, it was... kind of cute. The bunny ears actually didn't look too ridiculous on him, after all…
Kanda scowled, looking away. Damn, that Usagi knew right where to hit him, even when he wasn't even trying…
He trudged off, deciding to find the tree that he generally stood next to at the start of his sessions. Sure enough, there was an egg laying next to the trunk.
He walked over, and picked it up.
Dear Yuu-chan…Your next hint is;
Ask nicely.
"Ask nicely"? What the hell was that? Was it some sort of cryptic hint? "A.N.?" An what? Was it some sort of phrase that he'd missed? Did it mean something in English that he wasn't aware of?
He turned on his heels, and spotted Usagi still resting on a tree.
Or, perhaps it just meant "ask nicely". Kanda clenched his teeth and trudged over to Lavi, not believing he didn't understand before. He also couldn't believe that he actually had to wake that annoying rabbit up. He'd much rather just leave him there and not have a lost puppy trailing him around everywhere.
"Oi, Usagi," he said at the sleeping pile of Lavi. It looked up and blinked.
"Ah, Yuu, I was just having the best dream ever…" he grinned, and Kanda could swear he saw his face glowing.
"Che. Whatever. Just give me the next clue so I can get this stupid hunt over with."
Lavi would have generally said at this point, "If it's so stupid, then why are you going along with it?" but he decided that that wasn't the best plan of action. Instead he pulled his legs up to cross them, and looked wide-eyed up at Kanda.
"I believe the phrase was ask nicely?" he said, as if he didn't really know. Kanda's eye twitched.
"This is as nice as I'm getting, Usagi," he said, wishing he had his Mugen to threaten with.
"Well, then I guess this is as far in the hunt as you're getting, too," Lavi said, matter-o'-factually.
Kanda glared at him.
Lavi smiled back.
"If you would be so kind," Kanda started, clenching his fists, "I would really rather like to have the hint now…dozo."
"Did I detect a hint of sarcasm?" Lavi asked, raising an eyebrow.
Kanda glared at him so darkly that the rabbit might have even paled.
"Ah, I guess that's good enough," Lavi said, laughing nervously as he hauled himself off the ground. He straightened his bunny ears, and cleared his throat.
"If the eggs were a pole and I was a compass, I wouldn't help you with this one," he recited.
Kanda stared at him for a moment.
"But the eggs aren't a pole. And you're not a compass. So, help me," Kanda said, crossing his arms.
Lavi grinned, shaking his head slightly. "Ah, just for that, I think I'll have to give you a hint anyways. But in any other circumstance, the answer would be 'no'. Oh, and also, any extra hints are gonna cost you."
"…cost me what?"
Lavi rocked back and forth on his heels for a moment. "Well~…You see, I'm not exactly supposed to give you any extra hints."
"…hn."
"So I actually decided this little payment myself, you see."
"…uhmhm…"
Lavi rolled his eye and grinned. "For every extra hint, you owe me a kiss."
"…Really."
"Yes~."
Kanda just stared at him for a moment, his face staying in a practiced indifferent expression. Although, his stomach was churning.
"Well, I'll make damn sure not to need any hints then. Out with the freebie, and make it a good one."
Lavi crossed his arms, looking rather disappointed. "Alright, alright, lemme think…"
He tilted his head slightly, the fake bunny ears waving in response to the motion. Kanda's eye twitched, and he looked over at a tree to keep himself from staring at the rabbit. Damn, how can one person be so cute? he thought. And he knew that if he'd said it out loud, it would be in a rather choked voice.
"Ah," Lavi started, and waited 'till Kanda turned to look at him. "How about, 'the compass refers to the direction the egg would be in, in the fact that it wouldn't help.' How's that?"
Kanda stared at him blankly.
"No, not helping," he said. Lavi shrugged.
"Well well, if you want an extra hint, I'm always here."
Kanda clenched his teeth, turning away. He was going to figure this out on his own, damnit. He wasn't going to let Usagi have any stories to tell Moyashi when their location was finally revealed. Nope. None.
Although, he had a sneaking suspicion that Lavi was going to make these hints as cryptic as possible. Damn.
He rested his chin on his hand, narrowing his eyes in thought. Let's see, a compass pointed all the directions, right? So…why wouldn't it help?
"Usagi," Kanda muttered. Lavi raised his eyebrows, looking rather hopeful. "Why do I get the feeling that you made that hint as cryptic as possible?"
"Oh, quite the contrary. I put as much information as possible into that hint, you know. I'm just that nice."
"…hn."
Kanda went back to thinking.
…
He really wasn't good at this. At all.
"Hey, Yuu," Lavi said, sliding his arms around Kanda's neck and pulling him towards himself. "What's up? You look rather down. Do you think I'm too cheerful? Do you think I need to calm down sometimes? Well, I think you should cheer up, nyeh."
Kanda honestly didn't understand for a second.
"Let go of me," he said, shrugging Lavi's arms off. Then it clicked.
"Oh, a compass doesn't point up or down, does it?" he muttered. He heard Lavi giggle.
"Oh, Yuu," he said, sighing. Kanda turned himself around to face Lavi, and raised an eyebrow.
"Don't think I owe you," he said, and then turned around again. He headed towards the tree where the last egg had been.
Sure enough, when he looked up, there was a little plastic oval precariously perched in between two branches. Although, he couldn't exactly reach it, and he wasn't about to climb the tree.
"Oi, Usagi," he called, and sure enough Lavi pranced up behind him.
"Yes, pretty-boy?" he said.
"Get it for me," Kanda demanded, not even bothering to acknowledge the "pretty-boy" comment. Lavi sighed.
"I suppose you don't owe me for this, either?" he asked, the tone of a whine creeping into his voice.
"No, I don't, get the goddamned egg."
Lavi sighed again, and pulled out Oudzuchi Kodzuchi from where he was keeping it at his waist. "Oudzuchi Kodzuchi," he muttered, "extend." This whole buying-hints process wasn't working out like he'd hoped.
He knocked the egg out of its perch. Kanda walked over to where it fell, not even thinking to say "thank you" or anything. He just picked up the egg and opened it.
Time for bed, but yours is broken. It's okay, Lavi will let you sleep in his room, since Bookman's gone.
"Oh, no clever comments this time?" Kanda muttered. Lavi peered over his shoulder, reading the note.
"It's because they didn't let me write the rest of these. I'm as much in the dark as you are, right now, but this one seems rather straight-forward…" Lavi said, trailing off at the end. The clues were supposed to get harder, weren't they? Hm. "Well, in any case, I guess we'd better head inside, then."
Kanda folded his arms. "Can you, you know, not follow me around for the rest of this?"
"But, I have nothing else to do! I don't know where everyone is, either, you know," Lavi said, frowning. "Besides, aren't egg hunts funner with two people?"
"Yeah, funner with two people, not a person and a hyperactive rabbit with a smart-ass mouth," Kanda said, scowling. Lavi gasped and clutched his heart, drama-queen style.
"Oh, how cruel!" he cried, even managing to make his eye water a little bit. "Why would you say something like that to the one person in your life who actually cares whether you're being a bitch-ass or not? You obviously are just a cold-hearted shrew with no room in your heart to love…"
Kanda stared at Lavi like he was insane.
"Well…yeah," he said, and then turned to walk away, not really wanting to be subjected to another one of…those. However, Lavi wasn't giving up, and followed Kanda out.
Kanda wasn't sure whether to feel relieved or screwed over that Lavi had followed him, after all. Because, well, when he got to the gate…
The Gatekeeper refused to let him in.
"Sorry, I have orders not to let you in," it said, seeming rather self-important. "It's actually part of the hunt. You have to guess the pass."
Kanda scowled at it, but it remained indifferent. I mean, it's not like the Exorcist could hurt it. It's not everyday you come across a giant talking face, he was kind of irreplaceable. (The Face of Bo is dead, remember?)
So, the Japanese boy trudged over to where Lavi was sitting on the ground, grinning like a Cheshire cat.
"What're you so happy about?" Kanda grumbled. The rabbit shrugged.
"Oh, wouldn't you like to know?" he said.
Kanda glared at him.
Lavi continued smiling.
"I'm guessing you're not going to tell me?" Kanda said, with a rather nonchalant look on his face.
"Well, it just doesn't seem fair, is all," Lavi said, the smile dropping off his face. "I mean, I told you the rules, and so far you haven't followed them once. You've just taken advantage of my undying adoration and love for you."
"…Right."
"So, I'm not going to give you any more hints until you pay up," the rabbit finished, crossing his arms. Kanda's eye twitched.
Well, if the Japanese boy knew one thing, and that's probably all he did, he knew how to kill akuma. And if he knew one other thing, it was that Lavi was very smart and liked to show it and tended to flaunt his intelligence whenever possible. And if there's something else Kanda knew, which wasn't likely, it was that people like that were generally very easy to pry information out of.
"Well, how the hell am I supposed to know what the password is?" Kanda said, knowing full well that the Gatekeeper never even uttered the word "password". It probably wasn't even a word at all.
Lavi's face twitched. Ah, a sign of effectiveness. Joy.
"Huh, you don't actually even know, do you?" Kanda said, putting his hands on his hips. Lavi laughed.
"Oh, oh, I see. No, that's not going to work on me, Kanda," he said, shaking his head and waving his hand. Kanda raised an eyebrow.
"Hum. Right," was all he said. Lavi smiled again. Kanda stared at him.
Lavi continued smiling.
"Damnit, Usagi," Kanda growled, feeling his face growing warm, despite his attempts. "Fine, I'll pay your stupid fine. Just tell me what the hell I need to do."
Lavi stood up, brushing off his pants and straightening his bunny ears.
"Kiss me first, I'll hint you later," he said, folding his hands behind his back.
"Che," Kanda replied, "I don't trust you."
"It's a lot easier for you to hurt me than vice versa, so I think I should get my end of the deal first," Lavi said, pouting. Kanda's eye twitched.
"Fine," he grumbled, folding his arms and shifting his gaze elsewhere. Lavi's face split into a grin.
"You're so shy, Kanda," he trilled, half because he knew this would be one of the only times he would ever be able to get away with it. Lavi expected some sort of simple comeback, but instead got grabbed by the collar and…paid.
"Oh, ah, uhm," Lavi stuttered, stumbling back afterwards, mainly because he had been caught off-guard. Kanda's face remained rather blank, as if nothing had just happened. Then he raised his eyebrow, as if saying, "forgetting something?"
"Oh, yeah, right, hint," Lavi said, and turned around, staring off into the distance as if he was trying to think of something to say.
Oh. My god, Yuu just kissed me, he thought, trying to suppress a grin. It wasn't working. Yeah, I've kissed him before, but…but… He heard his toes pop as he clenched them with excitement. If Kanda hadn't been in the immediate vicinity, he would have jumped and punched the air. But, for now, he had to think of something brilliant to say.
He spun around on his heels, and ended up nearly falling over when he slipped. But he righted himself and cleared his throat, noting the smile that nearly ended up on Kanda's face.
"Let's see, I guess…" Lavi began, rolling his eye in thought, "I can go in right now, without saying a thing, but you can't, for a very…apparent reason," he said. Kanda continued staring at him blankly. "And on any other day of the year, I probably wouldn't be able to pass him. That is, under these conditions." Lavi nodded after he was done.
"That was rather vague," Kanda grumbled, obviously thinking he paid for more than that. Lavi laughed.
"I said I would give you an extra hint, not the answer," Lavi said, shrugging. Kanda hmph'd, folding his arms.
"Fine, whatever. I'll figure it out myself," he said. Then he turned his gaze to the ground. "Well, it's obviously not a password, I'd figured that out myself," he said. He sighed. Then he looked up at Lavi. The rabbit smiled.
Kanda looked Lavi up and down, trying to find this "apparent" thing. Needless to say, Lavi felt a bit uncomfortable.
"Ah," Kanda said, his eyebrows raising as he stared at the object on Lavi's head, "The rabbit ears?" he guessed. Judging by Lavi's grin, Kanda assumed that his guess was right. "where am I supposed to get a pair of those?" he grumbled, an aloof look gracing his face. Lavi shrugged.
Kanda glared at the over-innocent look on the redhead's face. Damnit, he knew something, didn't he. "Tell me," Kanda growled. Lavi considered something, running his tongue across his teeth.
"All…right," he said, and turned to face the way they came. "In that direction," he pointed straight ahead of him, "There is a pair of rabbit ears laying on the ground."
"…Really," Kanda said, unconvinced. Lavi nodded rather over-enthusiastically, his own rabbit ears nearly falling off his head. He straightened them. Kanda sighed, deciding that he had nothing much to loose. He trudged back the way they came.
Sure enough, about a minute later, Kanda happened upon a pair of rabbit ears. Although, unlike Lavi's, that were white, these rabbit ears were pink. A nearly white pink, but they were pink.
"Oi, Usagi, trade with me," Kanda said, shoving the pair of pink ears over to Lavi. Lavi stared at them, as if he had no idea what was going on. But, of course, he did.
"I don't think that would be a good idea, Yuu," he said. Kanda's eyebrow raised.
"Why not?" he…said. Lavi shrugged.
"Well, it just seems like Allen to want to force you to wear the pink ones, so they probably gave rather explicit instructions to the Gatekeeper, don' cha' know."
Kanda had to admit that Lavi made sense.
"Fine," he grumbled, and was turning to leave when he felt a hand on his shoulder, that pulled him back around.
Before he knew it, Lavi swooped in and gave him a rather passionate kiss.
"What the fucking hell?" Kanda exclaimed, staggering back. Lavi grinned.
"You didn't honestly think I would just tell you where the ears were for nothing, did you?" he said. Kanda was about to say something, but then changed his mind and just trudged back over to the tower.
Kanda put the ears on with a scowl, ignoring Lavi's bouts of suppressed laughter from behind him.
"Oi, Gatekeeper," Kanda called, "you opening the gates now?"
The Gatekeeper peered down, and opened the gates. Kanda trudged in, assuming Lavi was following behind.
"Oi, Usagi, where's your room?" he asked, after Lavi started walking beside him.
"Oh, such personal questions, Yuu," Lavi teased. Kanda scowled, continuing to walk. "But if you really want to know, then just follow me…" he skipped in front of Kanda, then continued walking, heading to his room.
Lavi opened the door, and gestured Kanda in. The Japanese boy paled. There was paper. Everywhere. And not an egg in sight.
"How the hell am I supposed to find anything in here?" he growled, looking around. Papers, papers, papers…a bunk bed. He scoffed. "I'm guessing you don't want me to ruffle through all these papers, do you?"
Lavi gulped. "Uhm, no, they're organized very specifically, believe it or not." He remembered the last time he had messed up the organization. Bookman had him up all night, fixing it all.
"So, tell me where it is," Kanda said, crossing his arms.
"Huh, I didn't hide it," Lavi said. Of course, not to say he didn't know where it was. If his photographic memory was to serve him right, there was a pile of papers that looked completely different than they should.
"But you know where it is," Kanda pressed on. Lavi didn't say anything, so Kanda shrugged.
"Well, fine, I guess I'll just go through everything, after all," he said, and made for the closest pile, trudging over various papers on the floor.
"Oh, no no no no," Lavi cried, grabbing Kanda's arm and pulling him back. "Okay, okay, fine, I'll get you the egg," he said, and headed to the off-set pile. He lifted a small section of papers off, and pulled out the egg that was under it. He tossed it at Kanda.
Kanda opened it, and pulled out a piece of paper, like usual.
Wow, you've been outside for so long. Maybe you should go take a bath and get all the dirt off of you.
He stared at it. Then he heard Lavi snicker after reading it over his shoulder.
"Sounds good to me," Lavi purred. Kanda elbowed him in the stomach. "Oww, fucking hell. That was uncalled for," he hissed, clutching his stomach. Kanda scoffed and made his way out.
Lavi suddenly recovered and pranced after him.
Kanda didn't even have to think about this one, he just took a trip to the Headquarters' local onsen.
He couldn't tell if there was an egg anywhere, due to the mass amounts of steam that generally come with a hot spring. His clothes were getting damp, even.
"Hey, Lavi, you think you could clear this up a bit?" he asked, squinting as he tried to spot an egg.
"Probably," was all Lavi said. Kanda turned around to look at him. Lavi grinned. This could have been because he knew he was going to sucker Kanda out of another kiss, or because Kanda had completely forgotten that he was wearing rabbit ears. Either way.
"Do I have to pay for assistance, now, too?" Kanda grumbled.
"Yep," Lavi said. Kanda scowled, turning to face the onsen again. Let's see, he could either spend a hell of a lot of time searching around the place, or he could give in and kiss Lavi again. Search, or kiss…search or kiss…
Ah, well, Lavi was kind of cute, after all.
Kanda sighed, and walked over to Lavi. "You're kind of an asshole sometimes," Kanda said, and then kissed Lavi again. "Now, make with the wood seals," he said, stepping back a few feet. Lavi nodded, grinning like an idiot, and pulled Oudzuchi Kodzuchi out again. In a few rather flashy and showy motions, he managed to coax the steam into clearing.
"There we go," he said, surveying his work. Then he looked over to Kanda.
Kanda's eye twitched. He saw the egg. It was floating around in the onsen. Luckily it was bright yellow and not terribly hard to spot. However, it wasn't close enough to reach without actually getting in the water.
Kanda scowled. How come the rabbit got Oudzuchi Kodzuchi? He glanced over at Lavi, who was grinning again.
No. No, he wasn't going to give that stupid rabbit what he wanted for free. Lavi would at least have to make an effort.
Although, the alternative would be wading in there and getting wet and Kanda just knew how much Lavi would enjoy that. And, deep, deep, down inside…
Kanda knew that's why he did it.
He unbuttoned the first few buttons on his shirt, then pulled it off, placing it on a nearby rock. He also finally realized he had been wearing rabbit ears the whole time, and threw those away somewhere. Then he slipped his shoes off.
"Wha…Y-Yuu, what are you doing?" Lavi asked, his face quickly turning red. Kanda pointed at the egg. Lavi considered pointing out that he would be able to get it much, much easier, but then decided that he liked Kanda's way better. "O…kay…" he said, knowing full well that his eye was starting to trail downwards. Well, this was a rare sight, wasn't it?
Lavi kept his eye glued to Kanda as he waded in, heading for the bright yellow dot. Lavi vaguely wondered if he might be able to get something like this every Easter. Maybe Christmas, too. Hell, Valentines would be a plus. Lavi wouldn't mind if Kanda didn't dress up for Halloween. And it would certainly give him more to be thankful for on Thanksgiving. Or… Lavi blinked for the first time in a while. Everyday would be cool. Like, really cool. Lavi would shave Bookman's head for that.
…Well…maybe not. Certain things you just don't do.
Lavi's thoughts were interrupted when Kanda fell in the onsen. The rabbit stifled laughter, knowing full well that Kanda would be able to hear him. And besides, Kanda was now trudging back out now, with the egg practically being strangled in his hand.
"Usagi, you're staring," he growled, stepping out of the onsen and wringing out his hair.
"Un, I know," Lavi said, nodding slightly. Kanda threw one of his shoes at him, which was easily dodged, staring included.
"I'm surprised you didn't take my shirt for ransom," Kanda said, pulling said shirt back on. Not that it helped much, because, to Lavi's delight, the water pretty much soaked right through it, making it rather transparent.
"Ah, once bitten, twice shy," Lavi quoted, finally pulling his eye away to look at Kanda's face, "maybe if you start trusting me, you'll take it off more often," he said. He would have winked, but it's really hard to do that when you only have one eye. Instead he just smirked.
"…you wish," Kanda said, folding his arms. Lavi nodded, his smile getting wider. Kanda che'd, and went to get his shoes. After he had successfully put those on, he peeled the tape off that sealed the plastic egg, and he opened it.
Wow, you've actually nearly gotten through the hunt, now. Well, I hope you still have your rabbit ears, because you're going to need them. It's time to find us!
And…we're in the tower. Good luck.
P.S., We'd say that you need to come rescue your maiden in distress, but Lavi's down there with you.
Kanda stared at the amazingly helpful "hint" that he got. Yet again, he had no idea what it meant.
You have to understand, he's not the most avid reader out there.
He handed the piece of paper over to Lavi, who had been too busy looking at Kanda to bother reading over his shoulder this time. Lavi read it.
"Oh," he said, with complete understanding in his voice. Kanda's eye twitched. Why. Why could he never figure these things out himself?
Lavi handed the paper back. "I'm…guessing you don't get it," he said. Kanda glared at him. "Well, if you gave me your shirt for a while, I'd lead you right there," he said, grinning.
"Che," Kanda said. "You're really a pervert, you know that?"
"No, you just have a really hot body," Lavi replied. Kanda folded his arms, and just trudged back to the tower. He'd figure it out himself, damnit. Without the help of this perverted rabbit and his constantly staring eye.
Although, turns out Mr. Constantly Staring Eye was really the only chance he had of figuring out this one. After only fifteen minutes, Kanda was ready to give up.
"What. The hell. Does this mean," he growled, clutching the paper with his final hint on it.
"I'd love to tell you, but you're being stubborn and refuse to kiss me," Lavi said, now a little bit disappointed that Kanda's shirt had pretty much dried off.
"Usagi, I am not going to kiss you anymore," he muttered. Lavi frowned.
"Why not?" he asked, pouting.
The very first thought to cross Kanda's mind was, Because I don't want it to be a game for you.
He was incredibly glad that he didn't say that aloud because it sounded very cheesy and incredibly pansy-ish, and he proceeded to lock that thought deep down inside where it could get eaten by the piranhas that swam around where his heart should be, for all he cared.
"Che," was all Kanda said, ignoring the way his stomach flipped when he recalled his previous thought. He wasn't going to fall in love with that rabbit. No fucking way. No fucking way.
Or, maybe he was.
He grabbed Lavi's collar and kissed him. Although, it wasn't like the ones before. Kanda actually put feeling into the way he kissed Lavi this time, and it felt great. He would have to do this more often.
Once Lavi's mouth was freed, he stared at Kanda with his eye wide. Now, this, this was a development. Maybe the feeling was mutual, after all. Maybe he could finally stop pining after Kanda and actually get somewhere.
"Are, you, uhm, expecting a hint, then?" Lavi said, his heart beating much too fast for normal.
Kanda stared at him.
"No, I think I figured it out," he said, and then headed off somewhere. Lavi followed him, in some sort of state of shock. This was good. This was very good. And not good like Friday, either. This was good, like…Like getting laid on Friday.
Kanda made his way up the tower, staying mostly silent until Lavi asked him a question.
"So, you actually got the hint?" was it. Kanda nodded.
"For some reason, the phrase 'highest room of the tallest tower' came to mind…" he muttered. Lavi scoffed.
"'For some reason'? That's, like, the single most common phrase in all of the fantasy books ever. I can't believe it took you that long to figure it out."
"Not exactly an avid reader, here," Kanda grumbled. Lavi supposed he was right and shut up, suppressing a couple smart remarks he could have made at that point. It was silent for a little while, until Lavi almost ran into Kanda when said Exorcist stopped in his tracks.
"Er, hello?" Lavi said, leaning over to see if there was any particular reason that Kanda wasn't moving anymore. He saw Allen. He was sitting in front of a door and staring out a window to his side. He must have been pretty zoned out to have not heard them coming.
"Oi, Moyashi," Kanda called, walking over.
"It's Allen," he said, his gaze snapping over to where Kanda stood. "I see you actually figured out all the hints. Blinding."
"Che," Kanda said.
"But, turns out, I can't let you through here," he said, shrugging. "Shame."
Kanda glared at him. Yeah, he knew exactly what he had to do, but he wasn't going to let Allen have that satisfaction. "Moyashi…" he growled.
"Nancy boy," Allen replied.
Lavi chose this time to sneak up behind Kanda and slip the previously discarded bunny ears on him, which was good, because Kanda really didn't have anything else to say.
"All right, well, Mr. Brit, how about now?" Lavi said, stepping to Kanda's side.
"Oh," Allen said, stifling laugher. "I must say, Kanda, you look absolutely dashing."
"I'm going to kill you," Kanda growled. Allen shrugged, smiling, and stepped to the side of the door. Lavi grabbed Kanda's wrist and dragged him through before he could make any more death threats. However, Allen didn't really have anything else to do, so he followed them through.
Kanda looked around.
There were no more doors.
And he sure as hell wasn't going to get another "hint" from Lavi. Not with Allen there.
He figured that the situation could have gotten very, very bad, if he hadn't heard a "thump" come from the rather high ceiling. He looked up.
There was a door in the ceiling. The whole order was hanging out in the attic.
It was a rather big attic, yeah.
Kanda reached up, pulling the rope that was attached to the door. It swung open, and a ladder dropped down.
A rather familiar head peeked over the corner.
"Oh, Kanda, you finally made it!" Komui trilled, grinning. "Enjoy the hunt?"
"I. Am going. To kill. All of you."
"I see," Komui said, and hurriedly walked away before Kanda could get to him.
Allen went right up the ladder, obviously feeling rather left out for having to guard the door the whole time. Then Kanda made Lavi go, so that the rabbit wouldn't be staring at his ass the whole time.
So, it turns out, the whole hunt thing was just a random whim that Komui had a couple days ago. "Hey, let's have a party in the attic, and terrorize Kanda while we're at it!" and, of course, everyone gladly went along with it.
And that party in the attic wasn't too shabby, either.
After people stopped bugging and teasing Kanda, he finally sat down next to Lavi on a couch that they had moved up there.
"Everyone here is an asshole," Kanda growled, crossing his legs and folding his arms.
"Even me?" Lavi asked, smiling. Kanda raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, even you," he said. Lavi laughed.
"Oh, well," he said, and gave Kanda a kiss. Kanda was, at first, worried that someone there would see, but then he realized that everyone there could just drop dead, for all he cared.
Lavi pulled away when he heard a "thunk", and turned to see Allen staring at them, his hand on a glass that had just recently connected with a table.
"I knew it."
His Brit sense was tingling.
anyways.
Yay, you actually read that. I have to say, that turned out way, WAY longer than I thought it would. Holy damn. Also, I'm sorry for the steady decline of humor from the first section on. This was finished in a bit of a hurry, to make sure I would be able to submit it, you know, on EASTER...xD
So, the first half of this was written when I was half-asleep, and the second part was written when I had a killer headache. I'm not complaining, I'm just saying there might be a couple mistakes that I would love for you to rub in my face so I can fix them.
Yeah, so, R&R. Please. That would be awesome.