**UPDATE** March 9 2013:
I've put a poll up on my profile page. I'm hoping you'll please tell me how YOU decide on what stories to read. Results will be viewable (except for any PMs I receive) once I close it. I will also make a special announcement about future plans on my profile at that time.

A/N: So here we are, folks. The final (and longest!) chapter. \(^_^)/

See you again at the end of the storyyy~… *hint, hint* ;)

Allen Walker is avoiding Kanda Yuu.

Lenalee won't admit it. Idiot rabbit won't admit it. But he knows.

Five weeks ago, those two were enraged. He thought once they got a hold of him, he'd never hear the end of their wrath for how he treated Bean Sprout. But surprisingly, once he was finally cornered by and spoke with each of them— two separate harrowing, exhausting conversations about feelings (Tch!)— things started to go back to normal. Since then, however, the few times he's been dragged out with Lenalee and Lavi, it's always been just the three of them. He's the third wheel again.

Or maybe 'spare tire?' Goddamnit.

They still insist he apologize to Moyashi…

Kanda is incredulous. He's done far worse to people than shoving them. Countless times. Baka-Usagi included! However, he's been incessantly harassed into understanding that it's not about what he did or how he did it, so much as when and why.

So… say he actually did want to try apologizing…

I have no fucking clue how to even go about it! What am I supposed to say? What am I even supposed to say I'm apologizing for, for fuck's sake?

By the time he managed to decide he could just start with an "I'm sorry," and wing it from there, Kanda couldn't for the life of him figure out how to get a hold of the kid. Walker was like some sort of pro at disappearing and hiding from people, with a sixth sense for attempts to call (or even visit him at home, the one time he tried). No one else seemed to have trouble, but he wasn't about to let someone else do it for him.

'I'll leave you… alone from now on… like I promised.'

Alma had made a promise to leave Kanda be. But that Baka-Moyashi? He started snubbing Kanda all the fuck on his own.

Damnit! I fucking HATE this!

Kanda didn't know what to do… until one morning he saw roots showing.

The guy who answered the phone at Moyashi's salon claimed the sap was booked up for weeks, but agreed to give Kanda an appointment with somebody else. Now, getting the dye washed out of his hair again, Kanda is suspicious. In all the time he's been there so far, the damn brat hasn't appeared once. Not for a single customer…

"That bean sprout, Walker. Isn't he supposed to be around today?"

"Well… umm…" Bean Sprout's pale, but this guy looks like death— with lipstick. And one hell of a bold two-tone dye job of black and white, in a borderline-pompadour. Still, he seems honest, at least. The dead guy bites his thin, blood-red lip for a second before starting again; "Allen's—"

"Not available." Someone interrupts in a nasty, dismissive tone. Blond, hair in a fucked-up topknot hanging off the side of his head— sort of like a ponytail, but not. This guy's phone voice!

Wait— did he mean not 'workplace' available, or not 'dating' available—?

"Tokusa," dead guy addresses topknot; "I don't think Allen wants you to li—or rather, speak for him… like that."

"Gimme a break, Krory. We all know Allen's too damn nice— then again maybe you don't know, since you're even worse. He's totally defenseless, right now."

This 'Tokusa' guy thinks he's protecting Bean Sprout? How many people did that brat tell? Kanda wonders angrily for a moment, but then remembers: they were discovered by the owner of the establishment, and he stormed out through the salon, followed by a frantic Moyashi…

All during business hours.

"Look, buddy. Allen's finally getting over that whole debacle from a month ago. He doesn't need a bastard like you messing with him again." He shifts his hawk-eyed gaze to the other hairdresser. "Oh don't look at me like that, Kro. I doubt a guy like him even leaves tips, anyway."

He does, actually. (Lenalee would kill him if he didn't.) For exceptional service.

Death-Warmed-Over qualifies as exceptionally truthful and straightforward.

ॐ ॐ ॐ

Allen's just finished his monthly ritual, sweeping leaves away from the frozen ground around the gravesite and polishing the headstone of Mana Walker. Once satisfied, he sits cross-legged by Mana's side, like they used to do on the colder nights in their drafty old home back in England; sharing a blanket and huddling near the fire.

"Hello, Mana. Guess I'm a little early this month…"

ॐ ॐ ॐ

A large, but gentle hand falls upon Kanda's shoulder as a familiar presence steps in behind him. "Yuu-kun, your brothers and I will be waiting for you by Daisya's side as usual. Come join us whenever you're ready."

Kanda doesn't turn his head, or make a sound. The routine is so familiar now, he doesn't really need to reply. Instead, as leaves crunch with the footsteps those walking away from him, he continues to stare contemplatively at the plaque in the ground before him.

Here rests Alma Karma
Dec. 6 1987 - Dec. 6 2003

He's just set their hardy pink water lily down by the side of the memorial plaque for the duration his visit. At this time of year, it's dormant and doesn't look its best, but that seasonal cycle is actually part of the reason he chose the warmth-loving, floating perennial with its deep roots. After all, there are only two days of the year, six months apart, during which he brings this special vase along on his visits…

Seated in strict seiza, he tries to imagine what the enigmatic and unpredictable boy he knew might say.

"I… fucked up again, Alma."

He sighs.

"Hahaha! You fucked up, Yuu!"

"You've changed…"

"Well I had to make sure I don't lose to you anymore, since that time you cleaned my clock back at the orphanage when we were little kids. You won't beat me again so easily anymore, Yuu— just so you know."

"No, not that. You're using curse words!"

Kanda remembered those early senior high school days fondly— how paradoxically new life was, once he happened across Alma again— because this time, Kanda let him in. Five years before that, when they were awkward little ten-year-olds, they couldn't have had a friendship like this. Even though they were the same age, in the same orphanage, sleeping in the same room…

'I'll leave you… alone from now on… like I promised.'

Alma's parting words, back when the two of them were ten years old. When Kanda had won his 'freedom,' as he'd seen it back then, to be alone. Soon after, he was adopted and years passed before one day, while coming home from kendo practice, he encountered a familiar pair of eyes watching him from across the street— just as he reached the path to his front door. This happened another time or two before Tiedoll took notice, and…

"Who's that, Yuu-kun? A friend of yours?"

"N-No, i-it's n-nobody—"

"Oh, really? It looks to me like he might want to be your friend, Yuu."

Tiedoll knew he was lying. The old man's always been disturbingly good at figuring out things like that. It didn't take long before his nosy guardian set him up… by bringing him and his brothers to dinner with the Chang family down the street.

Who had taken Alma in? Why the Changs, of course.

At that two-family intervention of sorts, he was humiliatingly re-introduced to a blushing and embarrassed Alma, 'for the first time.' Under such conditions he had no choice, really, but to conquer his pride. From then on, he and Alma became— there was no other word for it— friends. Nearly inseparable friends.

Alma wasn't a girl like Lenalee, whom Kanda met in the elementary school Tiedoll moved him into when he was still small. Unlike when they were little kids, Alma didn't act girly either. Lenalee was a bit tomboyish too, but somehow it wasn't quite the same.

While Lenalee was still finishing junior high, Kanda moved to senior high and encountered this new Alma who did judo while Kanda was in kendo sessions, and who wasn't so sickeningly polite and friendly as his earlier incarnation was. In fact, they would even get into a lot of fights— verbal and physical.

Strangely, they couldn't ever seem to get enough.

One day, at the conclusion of one such fight, the two sat propped against the same tree in a hidden corner behind the school, sipping sports drinks to rehydrate. Kanda's hair had come loose in the fight; he hadn't bothered to retie it yet. The wind felt nice, blowing through it. Without a word, Alma picked up a lock of that hair, and twirled some of it in his fingers. When Kanda turned to look at him, he tossed the thick ribbon of strands back into Kanda's face so he flinched. When he opened his eyes, Alma was already leaning in, and kissed him.

On the lips.

He froze like a statue, unsure what to think, say, or do, until Alma spoke to him:

"Are you mad, Yuu?"

"…No…"

It was only upon saying so that Kanda realized this was true.

"Not really."

"What if I did it again?"

"I…"

Kanda was struck dumb. So Alma did kiss him again. Adrenaline jolted him to hyper-alertness. His heart pounded madly. He was very confused, but amongst the jumbled mess of his feelings, there was one emotion Kanda was sure of…

He stood up shakily. "I… I don't know…"

"Where are you going, Yuu?"

Then Kanda backed away and broke into a run. Away from the school and halfway home again. Somehow, he expected Alma would follow, but he wasn't.

He ran back to the school again, an ominous sensation twisting his stomach in knots all the while, only to find a scene to haunt his nightmares. Not far from that tree where they had their first kiss, Alma lay on the ground in a pool of his own blood; a panicky teacher pacing while speaking to emergency services on his cell; crowds of gawkers starting to trickle in; the school nurse arriving too late, to do too little… Where were all these people when, reportedly, a group of four homophobic assholes pounced on Alma?

No. Where was Yuu!

Two on four and, Kanda was certain, they'd have had a fighting chance! But instead, he abandoned Alma. All he could do as Alma's life slowly seeped away right before his eyes was to be there beside him, seated seiza-style, holding his hand.

"I love you, Yuu."

"…Yeah."

At that single syllable of acknowledgment and gratitude, Alma smiled.

So passed the first and last shared birthday of the first and last boy he'd ever have maybe called 'boyfriend.' That he'd ever have, maybe in time, come to love.

Kanda lets his hair loose for the freezing winter wind to immediately pick up and whip about his face, like Alma did that day.

But now, that hair is blue.

ॐ ॐ ॐ

Allen's visit with Mana goes much the same as always, with him recounting how life has been, and renewing his promises. This time, he tells Mana he's come to understand why he didn't want Allen to promise to "put everything into everything" he does. He figures Mana doesn't want him to beat himself up over things going wrong, or falling out of his control. So Allen reassures him today: He still intends to keep that promise, but he won't blame himself for his failings, or for matters out of his own control— as long as he's made an honest try. For better or for worse, he'll just keep on walking.

Always.

But now, walking to the front entrance of the cemetery, he sees a flash of bluish-black a little off to the right, and there observes a familiar mane of hair falling away around a familiar face, as that person stands up to face him.

"Bean Sprout?"

Allen immediately breaks into a sprint in the opposite direction. He's moving on, moving past Kanda, he tells himself, even if he just so happens to be running away from him at the moment (and back the way he came, no less). He detours to the more distant side entrance, checking over his shoulder to see behind him and slipping through the gate quickly as he can manage. This smaller entrance is framed in a lovely marble stone arch (that he has no time to admire right now), which unfortunately appears to have created a blind spot. He plows headlong into another young man, and both fall to the ground.

"Owww—" He whines, pushing up quickly and reaching out to help the other person up (and hopefully diffuse the nasty expression of anger on his face). "I'm so sorry—"

"You dumb FUCK! Oh you are SO getting jacked! Gimme yer wallet, you little bitch."

Oh. Well, then.

At times, Allen almost wants to laugh at the way people tend to underestimate him. If they only knew the kinds of seedy locales Cross dragged him through during his apprenticeship— places where Allen was forced to learn to fight.

The man lunges at him with a knife, and Allen calmly dodges, disarming him with a scream-inducing twist of the wrist. The guy tries rather inartfully to punch with his free right arm, but the swing is easily pushed aside by Allen's unoccupied left.

"Look," Allen advises the futilely struggling attacker, "I assure you, you're not going to get very far with this, so—"

Allen hears a sudden loud CLAP! just above and behind his head. Still holding fast to his assailant's wrist, he turns his head in time to witness a brass knuckled fist stopped in midair by the upraised palm of none other than a furious Kanda Yuu! Kanda squeezes savagely at the other man's fingers, causing him to groan in pain. The would-be mugging accomplice was aiming for the top of Allen's head with the dangerous tool in his grasp. Potentially he might have induced a concussion or worse…

But Kanda stopped him.

Allen's initial assailant is apparently still seeking an opening, so he sees no choice but to go with the distasteful option of throwing a punch. One well-delivered blow handily sends the man to the ground to curl up and clutch pitifully at his torso. Shaking his fist to relieve the sting, Allen gingerly rolls the guy with his foot for a moment, till he's satisfied he's definitely out of commission for now.

Kanda, meanwhile, has kicked the other guy back, and throws one bone-shattering fist just to the side of his nose. Allen tugs on Kanda's arm to get his attention; "It's alright now. I'm… fine— thanks."

Kanda's opponent, now cupping his bleeding nose with one hand, scrambles forward and reaches for his friend. Together, the equally dazed wannabe muggers scrabble off and turn a corner in the distance, exiting Allen and Kanda's sight.

Allen turns back to face Kanda again now, and without a second's hesitation, Kanda wraps his arms around him in a suffocating embrace.

"Kan...da…?"

Slowly, experimentally, he raises his arms to reciprocate, and they both just stand there holding each other for a short while. It may be surreal, but it's not the least bit awkward, and still isn't when Kanda lifts his head from Allen's shoulder, and nudges him into a kiss far more meaningful than before. Their last communicated hesitance and uncertainty, but the passion in this kiss isn't the least bit watered down. Neither makes a sound. They're sinking into each other, Allen feels. Overlapping. Becoming one.

It's stupid, he thinks, but for some reason Allen wants to cry. He won't, though. Instead, when they finally separate, he asks softly: "Hey. Would you like to meet Mana?"

He backs away a bit more to get a good view of Kanda's arrestingly attractive face as he nods his assent.

Allen takes his hand, murmuring: "OK… BaKanda. Let's go."

ॐ ॐ ॐ

Allen introduces Kanda to Mana, and when Kanda's brother Marie finds them, Kanda brings him over to meet the rest of his own family as well. Much has changed in only half an hour's time, but the two of them still have a lot to talk about, of course. So inside Kanda's truck, behind the tinted windows, they exchange apologies, confessions, and promises.

Kanda vows not to run anymore;

Allen pledges he won't try to hide.

Of course, there are more kisses too. Feeling exposed again after their talk, they begin tentatively again, but it's not long before things become very heated, and very much in need of a new venue. Maybe Allen's today. Maybe Kanda's the next. Though today is far too early— and what they have is far too fragile yet for speak of such things— without knowing it, both think privately that it might be nice to some day come home to this, too.

One day, they will.

A/N: Aaaand... it's over! That's a wrap! What'd you think, people? I have an idea for a sequel (hopefully much shorter, since I won't need to cover seven Yullen Week themes anymore) which is still mainly Allen/Kanda/Allen but has changes in store for Lavi. Basic domesticity FUN (w/ drama, of course) for Allen & Kanda plus some Hurt/Comfort for Lavi.

Interested? Please let me know in your review!

Thanks so much for reading to the very end. Feedback is always, always appreciated.