Oh wow, thank you guys so much for the reviews on my previous KanLena fic! It means a lot to me. Now, this fic is still also a oneshot only, but hopefully I'll get a multi-chapter fic up sometime soon. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: D. Gray-man is the exclusive property of Hoshino Katsura. I am merely the rabid KanLena shipper with a caffeine addiction.

There are many types of people. There are happy ones, sad ones, friendly ones, and lonely ones. But sometimes, people can't fit into a single category. Sometimes, people come in layers that hide who they truly are, and only after the layers are peeled away can one get a glimpse into their true selves.

Uncertainty

"The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today."

.

.

People were annoying.

"Hey, Kanda! Long time no see—"

Especially short males with white hair and a weird-ass scar.

"Yuuu~ Did you bring me back those Belgian chocolates I asked—"

And one-eyed red-haired morons with entirely too much energy.

Kanda growled in irritation as he stalked away from idiot after idiot. Kanda may be the personification of all things emo and angry, but he was particularly testy after missions. For one thing, he was usually tired as hell and grumpier than usual, and the idiots he had to put up with at the Black Order certainly didn't help matters any.

This time around, Kanda was angrier than ever. The mission had been accomplished and the Innocence retrieved, but it had taken far longer than anticipated, and he had made far too many mistakes.

Well. Ok, mistake.

But the point remained that Kanda detested mistakes of any kind, small or life-threatening. He prided himself on his accuracy, his skill. Perfection was something he strived for, and even the mildest deterrence from the path he set for himself was unforgivable. His self-reproach worsened his already foul mood, and this was made known to everyone when they all heard a door slam hard enough to topple over poor Bookman's teacup.

They all sighed in relief; they would take broken doors and cups over muttered curses and Kanda's tongue-lashing any day.

- - - - - - † - - - - - -

Allen and Lavi blinked at each other.

"What's up with pissy-boy?" Allen shrugged in mild confusion.

It wasn't often the three of them saw each other, and despite Kanda's callousness and harsh words, he was still an Exorcist and their sometimes-friend, and they respected each other in battle, if nothing else. They made a point to try to get the reclusive man to socialize and 'make use of his youth', as Lavi was fond of saying. It usually ended in bruises and cuts, though, and even near-strangulation by curtains, once. Despite all this, they were among the closest people to Kanda, closer than even his own General and teammates.

This, of course, meant that nothing could get past them. They knew from the slightest movements what his mood was. One would be surprised how much a slant of the eyebrow or quirk of the lips could tell about someone, and in cases like Kanda, those were really the only clues they could go by.

Both Exorcists noticed the dangerously tight muscles in Kanda's jaw, as well as the gritted teeth. His glare was narrower than usual, and the angry creases between his brows much more pronounced. Even his normally perfect hair had a slight, ruffled look to them, as if the man had run his hands through it many times in frustration and irritation.

Lavi surveyed all this with his critical eye, but despite the efforts of the perceptive Bookman Jr., all he could figure out was that something had perhaps gone wrong during the mission.

Kanda was Kanda, after all, and he'd be damned if he made anything easy for anyone, intentionally or not.

Suddenly, Lavi stopped in the middle of walking back to his lunch with Allen.

"Wait, where's Lenalee?"

The minute Lavi said this, both he and Allen realized what had been missing. When Kanda had stormed in past Alestina, there had been no swing of pigtails accompanying him. They had heard nothing, save the torrent of oaths and curses coming from him; there had been no lilting voice scolding Kanda for his rudeness while soothing him from his anger.

Everyone was well aware of the girl's generosity and love, even to those who undoubtedly didn't appreciate them. She had never once missed welcoming the others back, as long as she was within the vicinity, as Allen knew she was now.

In fact, Lenalee never, ever missed greeting Kanda the moment he got back. There were times where she wouldn't even let him get past the gate; she'd be waiting on the surrounding walls, swinging her legs back and forth, calling out a soft greeting coupled with a smile and jumping down to meet him. She had even cut her training sessions short a few times just so she could be the first to see him.

Her not being here when she was perfectly capable was unsettling, to say the least. Allen fidgeted a bit, as if trying to decide whether to freak out at the possibility of her being injured or snicker evilly at the possible event that Kanda had royally pissed her off.

Lavi was a little less tactful in coming to conclusions.

"Heeey, beansprout! Maybe Yu-chan got her pregnant and now she's really pissed at him!"

Allen spluttered.

He was also apparently rather illogical.

"Don't be ridiculous! He'd never do something like that, and-and she'd never let him, and—hey wait. Don't call me beansprout! Only Kanda's allowed to do that!"

"Oh come on, everyone knows Kanda's nicer to Lenalee than to the rest of us lowly beings. Besides, what do you mean that only Kanda's allowed to call you that? Is there something you're not telling us, beanie?"

"Oh for the love of—don't even insinuate that! It's—ugh. I think I feel my lunch leaving me."

"Now, now beansprout—"

"STOP CALLING ME THAT!"

- - - - - - † - - - - - -

Stupid as Lavi's guess was, their previous deductions had some truth to them. Much to his annoyance, one of the first things Kanda noticed when he arrived back home was that Lenalee wasn't there.

Despite telling himself sternly that he didn't care whether or not she was there to see his arrival, he couldn't help but feel a stab of something akin to hurt. Foreign as he was to emotions other than irritation and fury, he knew what he was feeling, and it wasn't something he liked.

So what if the first thing he had seen was unruly red hair and not the silky darkness of twin pigtails? So what if the first words he had heard was a low, annoying voice and not the soft tinkle of bells and silver?

His already foul mood worsened and he slammed the door harder than was strictly necessary. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Logic reasoned that the Order must be tired of paying for his new doors already, but Fury and Irritation immediately jumped Logic and began to enthusiastically beat the living daylights out of him. Fury beheaded him, too, much to the delight of Irritation.

…he knew he was in trouble when he began personifying his emotions. He had little people-things associated with each, too, to make matters worse. So now he was imagining little stick-figured beings running around in his brain, chasing each other.

He really needed a break.

But first, a shower. After all, cleanliness is right next to godliness. Even though he was in a less than clean trade, he valued hygiene almost as much as he did his Mugen. The double meaning of this did not escape him, and his lips curled in disgust, both at himself and the world they lived in. It wasn't much later, however, that his thoughts wandered back to Lenalee once more.

Maybe your need to be cleansed is part of the reason why you love her so much.

Maybe you think if you can protect her, the symbol of innocence, you can redeem yourself.

The idea was absolutely ludicrous. Ludicrous. He was an Exorcist, an apostle of God. He lived his life serving the divine and erasing evil; if that wasn't the epitome of holiness, then what was?

But he knew better. He knew the Order was not all it was cracked up to be. Oh sure, it seems holy enough, what with the killing of demons and all, and to an extent, it was. But it was also a place that was far darker than the higher-ups let on. Conspiracy can be found everywhere, and the Order was no exception. Power breeds corruption and greed; this is a fact that will never change, no matter how much time has passed.

You know what this place is, and yet you do nothing about it.

He scowled. He hated it when he started arguing with himself; things never ended well.

Is that why you throw yourself into mission after mission? In the hopes that if you keep on destroying the Akuma, keep on retrieving Innocence, you can say to yourself that you are a good person? As if you could right the wrongs of the Order, of the world?

Now, at this, he blanched and stood still in the middle of his room. He was about to retort—internally, of course—that of course he wasn't a good person. But just as he was about to declare war with the remnants of Logic, his bathroom door opened.

"…Lenalee, what are you doing in my bathroom?"

- - - - - - † - - - - - -

Komui strolled through the halls on one of his many breaks from the ever-increasing pile of papers on his desk, sipping his coffee as he went.

"Ah." He perked up when he heard the bickering voices of Lavi and Allen. Those two were always entertaining. With that thought on his mind, he veered towards the voices.

"—would you stop making those stupid assumptions?!"

"But why else would she not be there?"

"There are far more logical reasons, you know…"

"Ah, my dear young beansprout, you know nothing of logic! Now I, on the other hand, as successor to—"

"I told you to stop calling me that—oomf!"

In the midst of his argument with Lavi, Allen had walked straight into Komui.

"Why hello, Allen."

"Er, supervisor. H-Hello," Allen squeaked out, while rubbing his nose. Why did Komui's grin look far more menacing than usual? He hadn't been spending time with Kanda, had he?

"What were you guys talking about?"

There was usually only one 'she' the two mentioned, as female Exorcists were far and few in between. He had been meaning to say a quick hello and then hurry back before Reever blew a blood vessel, but his Lenalee-alert was beeping rather insistently, and he couldn't very well ignore now could he. He had a feeling they were talking about his little sister, and like the protective brother he was, he wanted to know what it was about—if the looks on their faces were anything to go by, it wasn't something as simple as whether she made good coffee or not. They had better not be designing uniforms for her again…

"Uh. Uh…we were talking about Kanda!"

"…really now?"

"…well, and Lenalee…"

Aha. Big brother is never wrong.

"I see, I see." Lavi and Allen shuddered, not to be fooled by the seemingly pleasant grin on the man's face. "What about Lenalee?"

The two audibly gulped in unison.

"You tell him," Lavi hissed.

"Me?! You were the one that said it!"

"But he likes you better!"

"What?! Tha—"

"Ahem. I said. What about Lenalee?" Komui tapped his pretty bunny coffee mug impatiently.

Allen despaired. He really was too nice for his own good.

"Well, you see. Um. You know how she always waits for the people who come back on missions? Well. Er. S-she wasn't there today. At Kanda. I mean, at Kanda's gate. I mean! At the gate. Waiting. For Kand—the group that came back. With Kanda. Yea. Kanda was in it." Allen really wished he hadn't opened his mouth now. Nervously, he glanced at Komui's expression to gauge his reaction. Surprisingly, he looked rather calm.

"Oh, is that it?" He guessed it was a little bit strange. After all, Lenalee seemed to make it a point to greet Kanda whenever he came back; he supposed it had to do with helping the boy with his retarded social skills or something. But everyone's busy sometimes, and perhaps she hadn't been able to get away with whatever it was she was doing. He recalled seeing her hurrying down a hallway with what seemed like a basket of towels.

Just as he was about to bid them farewell, he remembered something.

"Wait, then what was Allen talking about, with the assumptions and logical reasons?"

Lavi blanched. Allen cursed him to high heaven.

So much for the man looking calm.

- - - - - - † - - - - - -

Kanda stared. Then he blinked. Then stared some more. This went on for some times as he tried to ascertain whether Lenalee was really there, standing in his bathroom, or if his mind was finally making him see things. Nope, that Lenalee was real, and was indeed standing in his bathroom holding his…towels?

Lenalee yelped in surprise. She hadn't expected to see him standing right outside the door, and with his shirt off, no less.

"O-oh! Kanda! Hi. I didn't hear you come in," she stuttered, coming to stand awkwardly in front of him.

Well, that much was obvious. He chose not to say anything, waiting for her to explain herself.

Lenalee fidgeted, sensing that the man in front of her was rather tired, irritated, and probably just wanted to shower and go to sleep. Instead, he was confronted with an uninvited presence in his room, blocking the entrance to his long-sought hot water and soap.

She had meant to be out quickly, but who knew Kanda had so many towels? Speaking of towels…

Lenalee brightened. "I brought you some new towels!" She proudly held up his old towels that she had now commandeered, looking very much like a child showing off a proud accomplishment.

"I see. And why have you brought me new towels?" Tired as he was, Kanda could never find it in himself to act the least bit harsh to Lenalee. If it were Lavi who had been in his room, he'd have grabbed him by the neck and thrown him out from a window before he could get any words out. In fact, had it been Lavi, he'd have sliced him apart just for being in his room.

Relieved that he hadn't just shoved her out the door, Lenalee relaxed considerably. "Well, your old towels were just so…old. They're threadbare and practically falling apart."

Kanda just looked at her suspiciously.

"And how do you know the condition of my towels so well?"

Uh-oh. Belatedly, Lenalee realized her mistake.

There was no way she was going to tell him that she had come across him once when he was fresh from the shower with only a towel tied loosely around his waist.

"…you what?"

Had an outsider come across this scene, they would have found it hilarious, what with Lenalee's eyes bugging out and her jaw open, terrified at the realization that she had spoken aloud. Albeit softly, but then again, Kanda's hearing was exceptional. Everything about him was exceptional.

Quickly, she backtracked.

"It-it was an accident! I didn't mean to! Oh, I knew you'd be mad," Lenalee wailed as her nerves began catching up to her.

Kanda sighed. He hadn't meant for it to come out as sharply as it did.

Taking the towels from the girl before she could drop them in her agitation, he tossed them on a table and grabbed the hands that had been nervously kneading the towels.

"Lenalee."

Meekly, she looked up at him. The expression on his face threw her off; he didn't look angry at all.

"It's fine. I'll just pretend I didn't hear that," he added, an amused quirk to his lips.

"…thanks." Lenalee grinned sheepishly. "But it really was an accident."

"Mm."

"You look tired," she murmured, taking in the circles under his eyes and his messier-than-usual hair.

"It's nothing—" he began, but was quickly pushed into the bathroom. Once again, the part of his brain he reserved for Lenalee woke up and grumbled its displeasure at the loss of her hands on his.

"Go on. Sorry for distracting you," Lenalee smiled apologetically, gently pushing him again when he just stared at her.

"Aa." Seeing that he was listening to her, she regarded him with a bright smile and turned to leave. Just before she reached the door, she heard his voice again, softer than usual.

"Thanks for the towels."

Unable to keep the full-blown smile off her face, she quickly shut the door and leaned against it, cheering inwardly. This was the first time he had thanked anyone, to her knowledge, and she liked to think that this made her special.

Humming a cheery tune, she took off in the direction of the kitchen.

- - - - - - † - - - - - -

Komui was displeased. Komui was very displeased. So displeased, in fact, that he gave Lavi another noogie while he was incapacitated by his headlock.

"I'm sorry, Komui! Stop that! That hurts—ow, my hair! OWWWW!" Lavi flailed desperately, trying to get away from the supervisor's obscenely strong headlock. He even tried going for the glasses at one point, only to be yanked by the ear .

"REPENT!"

"I AM, I AM! I'M REPENTING! REPENTING REAL HARD NOW SO LET—OW—GO!"

"REPENT, YOU SINNER!"

"Aw, now that's a bit harsh—ow ow ow! Ok, ok, repenting! Still repenting!"

Allen sighed, but quietly—all in all, he was rather surprised he got away from this. He was tempted to feel pity for Lavi, but his previous comments coupled with his use of his hated nickname made him relish a bit in his friend's misery.

Komui bristled like an angry cat and gave Lavi a final twist of his ear, then practically threw him at Allen.

"That'll teach you to talk of my precious sister like that!"

Lavi sniffled pathetically, all the while rubbing his offended ear. Allen patted him on the head. "There, there…"

"Fat lot of good you were, beansprout," Lavi grumbled.

"You reap what you sow." Allen smiled serenely. He allowed the use of his nickname to slide this time; witnessing Lavi's torture more than made up for it.

Suddenly, Komui straightened up and beamed.

"Lenalee-chan!" he started forward but grabbed only air as Lenalee rushed by. She was holding a tray of food this time.

"Sorry, brother, can't talk now, I'm a bit busy! Bye! Oh and hi Allen, Lavi! Bye to you guys, too!"

As Lenalee rushed past, leaving a crestfallen Komui behind, Allen and Lavi stared after her. Or rather, Allen stared after her. Lavi just kept on rubbing his ear and fixing his hair.

"Didn't Lenalee eat already?" Allen mused, turning to Lavi for an answer.

"…stupid Komui, messing up my hair. He could've torn my headband!"

Allen knew a lost cause when he saw one, and thus, he merely sighed and wondered silently to himself where Lenalee was going with a full tray of food.

"…I mean, really! This thing's made of cashmere, you know!"

On second thought, maybe he should shut Lavi up first.

- - - - - - † - - - - - -

Water spattered against the glass doors as steam swirled around him, cloaking him in an ethereal white mist. Eyes closed, Kanda leaned against the wall and attempted to digest what just happened.

He had arrived, tired and annoyed, only to find that Lenalee hadn't been in her customary place of greeting, which left him even more annoyed (and just a tad hurt, but he's still pretending that was due to stomach cramps).

So here he was, all ready to flip a shit and break anything and everything in his room, when the door to his bathroom opened and he finds Lenalee standing there. Changing his towels, of all things.

Putting it nicely, Kanda was confused. What exactly does one do when the object of one's affe—attentions, walk out of one's bathroom? Kanda decided to do what he did best; ignore it and hope things would all work out if he left them alone.

Confusion aside, Kanda was a bit perturbed to notice the ridiculously happy fluttering of his insides at the thought that Lenalee hadn't been able to greet him because she was changing his towels. He didn't even know why he was so cheered by that; it's not like his towels needed changing. They were just…a little worn. And battered. And maybe bloodstained.

This was going nowhere.

Growling in frustration, Kanda yanked the tabs and the stream of water abruptly stopped. He stepped out of the shower and after quickly drying himself off, changed and went back to his bedroom, still toweling his hair dry.

It was then that he got the second shock of the day—not that anyone could tell based on his facial reaction, or lack thereof.

Lenalee was sitting on his bed, looking for all the world like she belonged there. In fact, he would have thought she had never left had he not seen her leave earlier, and now there was a tray of food beside her where none had been before.

"What are you still doing here?"

Lenalee just grinned, expecting this reaction.

"You weren't going to eat, were you?" she chided.

She knew him too well.

Kanda just grumbled something about 'meddlesome girls', unwilling to admit that she was right. Truth be told, he was also a bit unnerved that she could read him so well.

Suddenly, he felt hands gently taking the towel away from him. In the midst of his inner turmoil, she had gotten up and come over to him.

Lightly, she began running the towel across his hair, drying the water droplets that clung beautifully to his navy locks. "You have such pretty hair," she murmured.

Had it been anyone other than Lenalee, Kanda would have taken offense to the statement. As it was, he merely grunted and allowed her to dry his hair. He had always suspected that the girl had a fondness for his hair; he often caught her staring at it longingly, and he could just imagine her hands reaching out and stroking through the tresses. Of course, she would never be that bold—a fact that he was almost disappointed in. That being so, he allowed her this guilty pleasure; he couldn't deny that it felt wonderful, which was a nice bonus.

Before they realized, several minutes had passed, and Lenalee had long since stopped drying his hair. She was now almost rubbing it, fingers softly caressing a handful of his hair, face showing her obvious delight at the privilege. When she noticed him looking at her, she abruptly dropped her hand and squeaked an apology.

Kanda just kept staring. Lenalee fidgeted; she was aware that Lavi and sometimes even Allen teased him about his effeminate hair, and now here she was, playing with it.

He must be so mad, she thought unhappily. Despite what others thought of him and his long hair, she had always loved it. She suspected he did, too. Otherwise, he would've cut it by now, what with all the taunting and teasing he gets. That didn't stop her from feeling bad, though. It really was a pity she couldn't hear his thoughts, because they were the complete opposite; at that very moment, he was staring at her so intently not because he was mad, but because he had wanted her to keep doing it and was wondering why she stopped. His staring was his idea that if he stared long enough and hard enough, she'd be compelled to continue her ministrations. Little did he know it was actually having an adverse effect.

When it became evident that Lenalee wasn't going to do anything but squirm, he took pity on her and beckoned her to sit on the bed.

"You didn't have to, you know," he said, uncharacteristically soft, sitting down beside her, the tray of food between them.

It always amused him how quickly she could shift between emotions. She was smiling brightly again, thinking her earlier transgression—not that he would call it that—had been forgiven.

"I didn't mind," she answered, uncovering the tray as she spoke. "Now hurry and eat, before it gets cold."

The food she had prepared was soba, unsurprisingly. Everyone knew it was his favorite food, and it was all he seemed to eat. She had even gotten him his favored pumpkin flavored soba.

There was a comfortable silence as he ate; he had offered to share—another surprising moment for Lenalee—but she declined, saying she had already eaten.

Instead, she took this opportunity to drink him in with her eyes (her guilty pleasure) and bask in his presence. She knew he knew she was watching him, and was pleasantly surprised that he didn't say anything, much less stop her.

Time passed for a while as they sat comfortably, her smiling softly and him eating. Sometimes his eyes would stray to the girl next to him, and when their eyes would meet, she would flush and look away as he smirked.

He looked back down at his soba again, just as Lenalee noticed the way he held himself.

"You're hurt, aren't you?" Immediately, she got over her embarrassment and crawled closer towards him, sitting up on her knees.

Curses. She's far too perceptive for her own good. Grunting, he told her not to worry about it, only to let loose a strangled yelp as she poked him.

"You are! I knew it. How bad is it?" Soon, her hands were running over him and it was doing absolutely nothing for his nerves. He set his bowl down before he dropped it, catching her hands in his.

"It's nothing. Just a little scratch. I took care of it already."

She eyed him suspiciously. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, mother, I am sure."

Her eyes narrowed at his smirk and she pouted. His grip loosened and she folded her hands onto her lap again. Kanda's stick-figure mind let out a dramatic 'nooooo' at the loss of contact. He shut it up by dismembering said stick-figure.

"Fine," she relented. "But if you start bleeding on me, I'm not going to be happy."

He smirked at the thinly veiled worry that was evident in her threat. The smirk suddenly slid off as he realized that the two of them were sitting alone, in his room. Unoccupied.

Alone. Room. Hm..

Well, this was as good a time as any. Maybe it was the soba (had she laced it with something?) or maybe it was the shower that had relaxed him. All he knew was that he was going to determine something right here and now. His stick-figure mind would have been proud had it not been lying in six pieces.

"You…" he began, leaning back on his palms, all of a sudden looking anywhere but at her.

When he spoke, it had been so quietly that Lenalee first thought she was hearing it in her mind. But when she looked at him, he was as vulnerable and unsure as she's ever seen him, so she waited patiently for whatever it was he was going to say.

"You weren't at the gate," he struggled. "You…you were here."

Oh, bravo, Mr. Intelligent. Real smooth there. Way to state the obvious.

Shut up, you traitorous mind. Aren't you supposed to be on my side?

Lenalee looked surprised but understood his real meaning—ha, take that, brain—and hope welled up in her.

You didn't leave me.

Maybe he did like her, even just a little bit?

"Of course, silly. I would've been at the gate, too, but this took longer than usual. You have a lot of towels, you know." Relaxing, she mimicked his pose and leaned back. Their hands were so close that if he shifted a bit, he could touch her.

He was silent, and she wondered if she had overstepped her boundaries again. That is, before he suddenly turned to her and with his miraculous speed, tugged her towards him so she was enveloped in his arms.

Lenalee briefly wondered if she was dreaming. Is it even possible to blush this hard in a dream?

"Thanks."

Ok, now she knew she was definitely dreaming. Kanda never thanked anyone, but he had already thanked her twice today.

"…what are you doing?"

"Oh. Er. Nothing, just…hitting myself?" Kanda just looked at her like she was even more of a lunatic.

"Hitting yourself. And why, pray tell, are you doing that?"

His arms still hadn't loosened around her and it was making it very difficult to think. "Because…I think I'm dreaming? Ow!"

Kanda sighed. He lifted a hand to her cheek and rubbed it softly. "You're not. Now stop inflicting bruises on yourself. You look like an idiot."

Lenalee scowled at him but obliged. If he could insult her, then he wasn't a dream. Probably. Then she noticed she was still nicely pressed up against his chest and pretty much sitting in his lap. Her face flamed again and she wondered if he thought she looked like a bright tomato.

Well, he apparently thought she looked like a delicious tomato because before she knew it, he was kissing her. Deeply. And very nicely, too.

Wow. Who knew Kanda had it in him? She really did have to rethink her opinion about the man having no hormones because right now, he was proving her very, very wrong.

Feeling her arms wrap around his neck, he smiled into the kiss and enjoyed the feeling of the girl melting beneath him and reciprocating, and in the back of his mind, he briefly thanked Lenalee for locking the door.

Only the need for air broke them apart, and even them, he didn't let go of her. He had waited too long for this and a childish part of him believed that if he let go, even for a second, he could lose her forever.

"Wow. You're a really good kisser," Lenalee murmured, her hands tracing patterns over his chest.

"Why thank you."

Hugging her tightly, Kanda allowed himself a victory grin. It seemed his feelings weren't unwarranted after all.

- - - - - - † - - - - - -

"Lavi, I think you should know by now that you have very bad ideas. Very bad ideas." Allen rubbed his temple and resigned himself to a night of doom. And perhaps a lot of pain.

"Nonsense, bean sprout. I am a genius!"

"…forgive me my idiotic questions, but doesn't walking into Kanda's room and asking him if he got Lenalee pregnant sound like a death wish to you?"

"Ah, ah, ah!" Lavi wagged his finger at his grumpy friend. "We ask him if he knows where Lenalee is first; then we ask him if he got her pregnant!"

Allen looked disapprovingly at Lavi and his maniacal grin, once again silently wondering why he associated with people like that. Well, no matter. He planned to hightail it out of there the minute Kanda opened his door. Komui he could handle. With Kanda, Lavi was entirely on his own.

They had been sent to find Lenalee for a mission debriefing Komui was giving in roughly two hours and to satisfy their own curiosity as to what she was doing with that tray of food.

Not to mention that Komui could be really scary when he wanted to be. He had all but demanded that they go secure the whereabouts of his sister before he blew something up. Or worse, made another Komurin robot.

"Ah, here we are!" The redhead rubbed his hands together gleefully. Apparently, the thought that this may be his last day on Earth had not entered his mind. Some genius he was.

"Lavi, I really think we should forget about this," Allen tried again. No one deserved to face Kanda's wrath unwarned. However, it would appear that Lavi was either incredibly cocky or incredibly stupid, because all he did was wave Allen off and knock briskly at the door.

"Yu? Yu-kun! You in there?"

Soft voices could be heard, and Allen shuffled uncomfortably.

"He probably has a visitor or something. Come on, let's just leave." He really, really did not want to die today. Jerry was coming out with a new cake and he really wanted to try some…

However, Mr. Stubborn-Idiot-of-Stubbornness (as Allen privately dubbed him) was not to be deterred. He tried the knob and finding it to be unlocked, waltzed right in.

Talk about heading right into the lion's mouth.

Despite what his survival instincts were saying, Allen followed miserably. Kanda would need some help scraping the bloody remains off his walls, after all. Besides, he couldn't wait to say 'I told you so'. A few steps in, he walked right into Lavi's back.

"Oomph! What the hell—Lavi? You ok? Hey, you there? Lavi!"

Said man had a thoroughly horrified look on his face; it really was amazing how he pulled off such facial expressions, what with him having one eye and all. Allen hopped around futilely before managing to peer over Lavi's slack shoulders—then he, too, felt his face melt into one of utmost dismay.

"Oh…my…god." Allen echoed the sentiment.

Right before their eyes, Lenalee was playing with Kanda's hair. And she was alive. And giggling. Sprawled all over his back, no less. And—were those hairpins in his hair? Most surprisingly, Kanda didn't even have Mugen out. He sat rather contentedly, letting her have her way with his hair and Lavi swore he was even smiling before he realized there were two unwelcome people in his room.

Kanda aimed his glare, once again at full power, right at them and Allen fervently thanked all the Gods he knew that he was somewhat hidden behind Lavi and therefore missed the brunt of it.

"OUT. NOW."

Lavi seemed to have recovered somewhat and grinned cheekily. "My, my, you look very pretty, Yu-kun. Did you pick the hairpins or did she?"

Allen gaped like a fish out of water. That idiot—

There was no warning, but all of a sudden, Lavi found his face planted in a desk and he was once again out in the hall.

Ah, too late.

"Ugh, I think he may have broken something…" Lavi moaned, gingerly feeling his face and shoving the now-broken desk off him.

"I told you. Now would you get off of me? You're fat, you know."

"Hey!"

Allen made a promise to never listen to Lavi again.

Back inside Kanda's room, Lenalee sighed as a hairpin fell crooked upon Kanda's act of violence.

"Really now, did you have to do that?"

"He was asking for it," he grouched, arms crossed firmly even as he leaned back into Lenalee.

"Maybe, but you really need to stop destroying the furniture."

"Hn."

"Kanda." She eyed him sternly. "Stop destroying the furniture or I'll put you on kiss probation for a week."

His expression was priceless. He looked as if someone had defiled his soba and then beaten him over the head with Mugen to boot.

"I'm only kidding!" Besides, that's as much of a punishment to you as it is to me. "But really—at least leave the bed intact."

"…why?"

Lenalee stared at him meaningfully.

"…oh. Ok."

She laughed at his pleased expression and, after fixing another hairpin, leaned down to kiss him senseless.

Done! Wow, this was a long one. I hope you enjoyed it! I didn't really know where I was going with this one, only that I wanted to write it, so it may seem kind of pointless and long-winded…sorry? (And wow, Kanda was so angsty in the beginning. ) Also, I had a vague idea what the opening paragraph and quote had to do with the story, but now it seems kind of..convoluted and confusing. It still works though! ..sorta? Anyway.

Here are a few things I'd like to address:

Yes, I know that they don't actually have showers in their rooms, but I changed it for the sake of the story. Let's just pretend Komui did some remodeling, 'k?

I think I may have made Kanda and Lenalee a bit too OOC, though I did try my best to keep them in character. More practice is needed… T-T (WOE)

Beginning quote is by FDR.

Alestina's that gatekeeper gate-dude with the face, in case anyone is confused.

Thanks for reading!