-Cantarella-

Epilogue: the later years VI

Kanda, as one would expect, was a light sleeper. This meant that whenever Seiichi managed to find his way into their room in the middle of the night, he would be the first to wake up from the tugging on their comforter. It also meant that whenever it started storming, he would be awake before Reiichi was. Both of these things he did not mind, much, anyway, but he did mind the fact that whenever some idiot decided to call him at 3 a.m. in the morning, he would automatically jerk awake from the silent vibration of his phone. The first few times he let it die out, but on the fifth ring he groaned to himself and extracted his arm from around Reiichi to grope at his table.

"What the hell," he muttered darkly (but quietly) into the phone, eyes still closed.

"Hey Yuu," a rather nervous laugh started from the other end, and Kanda was not impressed.

"Do you fucking know what time it is, asshole? What the hell do you want?"

"It's 8 p.m. here, so it's perfectly legit for me," Alma responded, still with that nervous shake. "I'm waiting for the train so there isn't much to do."

"So you had to call me," Kanda finished flatly. "And what do you mean by 8 p.m., it's 3 fucking a.m., moron."

"Yeah…about that. I'm. I'm uh, I'm actually in Paris," Alma replied, and then the rest of the words were in a hushed rush. "Fuck, Yuu, I just landed in France and I'm waiting for the train to Marseille and I think it just hit me like, holy shit, I'm in fucking France—fuck, fuck Yuu, I don't know if I can do this, oh my fucking god—"

"What the fuck," Kanda muttered, because he did not expect the train of garbled panic.

He held the phone a little away from his ear as Alma blabbed more words that was too fast for him to understand, and slowly sat up to the edge of his bed, cradling his head with his other hand.

"—I mean, I thought about this for two years and I know that I need to do this, but, fuck, Yuu, what the fuck am I thinking?"

"…What the fucking hell are you talking about?"

Alma gave a rather tired sigh. "I'm in France," he said eventually. "I…I'm going to see Adriane." When Kanda did not respond, he continued. "I'm going to ask her to…marry me."

There was a long dead silence.

"…Yuu?" Alma cautiously ventured. "I—I'm serious. About her. I'm going stay. Here. For her. I. Fuck. Yuu, say something, please."

Kanda clucked his tongue, annoyed. "So why are you calling me?"

"Because I—wait," Alma paused. "You don't sound surprised…." He trailed off before lowering his voice suspiciously. "Does Red tell you and Rei everything? Like fucking everything?"

"It's not like I want to hear about what the fuck you want to do with my cousin," Kanda retorted.

"I don't want to do anything to her, not in that way, I just—I just…" the other sighed, falling quiet for a few seconds. "How did you do it, Yuu?"

"Do what?"

"Ask Rei."

Kanda glanced over to the sleeping figure on the other side of the bed by reflex. He didn't want to answer, but he knew how it was like to be fucking terrified to ask that one simple question.

"Yuu?"

"…It was for her," he said finally.

"I—yeah. Okay. Yeah, you're right," Alma breathed out shakily. "Thanks, Yuu. It's not that I didn't want to tell you about this personally," he said after, a little more subdued. "But I…I don't think I was actually sure until I got on the plane," he barked a soft laugh. "I must be fucking crazy."

"What's the damn difference," Kanda muttered. "Don't call me at 3 a.m. again, loser. I'm going back to sleep."

"To sleep, or to have sex with—"

Kanda snapped his phone shut the moment he heard the voice bleed into its usual teasing tone. Contrary to what Alma initially believed, Kanda knew about this long ago, possibly from the very first time that Lavi casually mentioned about his childhood friend being really dedicated in skyping someone the other didn't have the language to communicate back then. His cousin had to like the idiot back somehow to actually reciprocate the action so he left it alone, and about six months ago out of earshot from Alma, Zuu had pulled him aside to ask to him about it too.

It was hard, Zuu related, that he knew he was going to let his nephew go if the other decided to. Kanda didn't know what to say while the old man talked sombrely; it was a rather uncomfortable affair to see his elder genuinely upset.

So, no, it wasn't a surprise to hear that the ball had finally started to move, but Kanda still didn't appreciate being woken up at this time of the night—or day. He placed his phone back on the table and slipped back under the covers.

Reiichi was still sleeping soundly, body curled away from him. He lay straight back down at first, trying to get comfortable, but eventually turned towards her side. He placed one hand on her waist first, and did not expect her hand to grab his wrist to pull him closer. He didn't know if she was awake or not because all she did was to breathe in deeper and exhale before evening out to normal breathing again, but she was warm under his arm, and it was within seconds that he fell back asleep.

Alma was so nervous that he couldn't bring himself to finish his sandwich. Maybe he should've done it first thing in the morning, but he had woken up tired from the night of travelling to get to the apartment. It was rather convenient that Lavi had bought a two room apartment about three streets away from where Kanda's relatives lived—Alma wasn't sure if Kanda knew about this, but the redhead would probably just grin and say it was property investment (which, was also true).

He couldn't complain because he had a decent place to stay and he could pay rent with a decent sized income he had already saved. He wasn't all that worried about his income flow here—he had already eyed a few places for chef openings before he came down. He was more worried about asking the love of his life to marry him, ha.

It was perhaps unprecedented. And random. And just, if you told him two years ago that he'd be alone in France willing to start his life anew for someone else, he would've laughed. Laughed hard. He loved Japan. He loved the people back at home; Zuu, Yuu, Tiedoll, his friends from culinary school, the old people at the market, even Lavi, who had turned out to be one of the best friends he'd ever had. He had a steady place in Zuu's restaurant—from young, he had always seen himself staying there and running the business in his later years.

But now, he's in fucking France. The worst part of all was that Aridane and him weren't even dating.

He hoped (guessed) that Aridane knew he kind of liked her at the very least—they had gotten close over the past three years, a lot closer than he would've ever imagined with Kanda's cousin, especially with the language barrier at first. The first time he saw her was like a clichéd day dream; he was excited to be in France, to meet Kanda's relatives on the other side of the world (before the actual said person), but he was definitely less curious than Lavi who had been practically vibrating on the heels of his feet when they pressed the doorbell for the first time. He expected an old lady to greet them, not a beautiful girl with the fairest skin and eyes of the loveliest shade of dark blue. Kanda had those eyes, he knew, but Aridane's eyes were warm and mirth-filled with curiosity. As she spoke Alma couldn't help but think her voice suited her, melodious in that language he did not understand. Her long brown hair was plaited and had been slightly mussed, and she wore paint splattered overalls, but he had been so awe-struck that when she gestured them in with an excited smile, he tripped over the short steps up to the door.

It was plenty embarrassing the way Lavi immediately knew—he was just thankful she didn't know Japanese that he could hiss back warning words to the overtly grinning redhead. She felt incredibly ethereal and personable in an odd mix, and he found himself glancing every so often to the kitchen where she busied herself with serving them tea as Lavi talked to Kanda's aunt.

He wandered off later to use the bathroom while the redhead was still in deep chat with the elder lady, and curiously peeked into the kitchen after. The kitchen was always the most comfortable place he felt in any household. She was eyeing the level of a jug of milk when he looked in, expression concentrated and chewing her bottom lip. He ended up watching her without thinking, until she turned and smiled politely. He wanted to say something but he didn't know what to say in the language that she understood, so he ended up smiling back at her and gesturing vaguely to things. He tried out some words in Japanese, trying to ask what she was doing, and she replied back in some words in French, which did not help. Eventually she grabbed a piece of paper and a pen and drew a rather life-like picture of a pie—she was baking a pie. He took the pen and drew a picture of a chef's hat, and pointed to himself. Her lit up face showed that she understood, and slid the recipe to his view, drawing the pictures of the ingredients over the foreign words for him to understand.

Alma wasn't much of a baker—he was much better with pan cooking—but he knew the basics and some tricks here and there that he asked her in pictures as she continued with making the pie. She gave him half the dough to knead into small cups when it was done, and he couldn't help but look over at her delicate fingers expertly moulding them into shape, obvious that she had done this many times. Her fingers were also stained with colours, some down to her palms.

He held the question in till the small fruit pies were baking in the oven, and by some garbled mix of Japanese and hand gestures, he asked about the paint stains. She looked embarrassed when she understood, but nonetheless beckoned him up the stairs of the house.

He smelt the paint before he stepped into a rather spacious room at the corner. Alma never studied art, but he knew a fucking talented painter when he saw one.

The first thought that he had was that she was even better than Tiedoll.

There were canvases everywhere, up on the walls, some on easels, on the floor propped against the walls, finished paintings, half-finished ones, those still with sketches on them. Aridane took a small canvas that was placed at a side and handed it to him, looking half embarrassed, half delighted.

It was a portrait of Kanda, perhaps painted from a picture reference, but the scowl was perfectly captured as was the sharp beauty, the details of the how Kanda's smooth hair always fell behind his shoulders, and the darkened gaze in those navy eyes.

He tried to express how impressive her work was but it just came out in long Japanese sentences, but maybe she knew what he was trying to say, because she flushed rather prettily and grinned. Lavi and Kanda's aunt found them afterwards, but it was definitely the start of when he wanted to see that blush and smile on her again.

Lavi did not shut up about it when they retired to the apartment later on, but the redhead did give him a list of helpful phrases that he practised sounding out, and they also went to the market the next morning so that Alma could flex his cooking skills for more reasons than they suspected that Reiichi and Kanda would drop by the house that evening.

They communicated slightly better the next day—the he pointed to the phrases on the paper when he couldn't pronounce them right and she sounded them out for him, in return, she wanted to know how it was said in Japanese and he spoke them for her. She hovered when he borrowed her kitchen to prepare the tempura and soba noodles, occasionally drawing the steps that he was going to do to show her how it was done. It was…the oddest yet most enjoyable time he ever spent with someone he couldn't even communicate properly with. Aridane always laughed and smiled warmly, and he found himself doing the same.

When Lavi and he bid the family farewell as they were going up to Paris two days later, he had jokingly asked for a way to contact her, not exactly expecting anything. She gave him her email—from there, it somehow blossomed to skype chats where he would google translate his words and get an amused reply back in broken Japanese from the same translation program. When he was a lot more proficient in French, they upgraded to skype calls—by then, they were pretty good friends; he knew about her upcoming art projects, and she knew about his complaints with some of the regular customers of his restaurant. Snapchat was another platform that they communicated frequently over the years as well—he always sent her pictures of new recipes he tried out, while she would occasionally send photos of the things she baked, or sometimes elaborate pastries that she dared him to attempt.

Alma had never told her that he liked or loved her, but now in an hour he was going up to the front door to ask for her hand in marriage.

It was…surreal, to say the least.

He had paced enough times up and down the street that he was starting to sweat from the heat. It was actually a nice day—sunny, yet breezy enough that he could wear a smart button-up collared shirt with a vest and feel comfortable. He sighed at the roses he had in his hand. Dear god, he wanted to throw up; he mentally took back all the things he said to Kanda all those years ago. But, he had to qualify: Kanda was already dating Rei who so obviously loved them, and yet, Aridane…would she say yes to something so absolutely crazy?

He paced around more until he felt a vibration from his phone.

From: Red

Dude, I bet you're thinking of chickening out like Yuu did. Just do it, man, what's the worst that could happen? You're staying anyway, right? Don't forget to say hi to Matilda-chan for me 8D

What's the worst that could happen—did Lavi really have to say that, really? He wasn't going to answer that text, roaming was expensive, but the redhead was right. Taking in a deep breath he took those three little steps up to the front door and rang the doorbell.

It felt like an eternity while having a heart attack. When the door finally opened, it was a Kanda family relative, but not the one he was looking for. Clarice swung the door wider when she recognised the young man on her door step.

"What a pleasant surprise," the elder woman smiled warmly, reaching forwards to kiss him by the cheeks. "You should've told us you were coming by."

"I apologise for the intrusion, Madam—" Alma started, fluent French flowing easily off his tongue, but Clarice was having none of that.

"You are always welcome, dear boy," she replied, gesturing him in. "Aridane talks about you so often, sometimes I forget that you aren't one of my own."

"Does she," Alma murmured, blushing faintly.

Clarice looked at him, and then at the bouquet of flowers.

"If, if it's alright with you…" he began nervously, tripping over the words.

She patted his arm knowingly, with a twinkle in her eyes. "It's not up to me," she said before she turned towards the direction of the stairs. "Aridane, there's a young man here to see you!"

There was a curious inquisition on who he was, but Clarice did not answer, and Aridane eventually came down the stairs whilst taking off the paint splattered apron that she was wearing. Long hair in its plait, blue eyes as warm as ever.

"Sorry, there was a part that I absolutely needed to paint over—" but her words dropped when she saw who it was standing at the doorway.

Alma smiled as sincerely as he could manage without breaking into cold sweat. "Hey."

Shock was evident over Aridane's expression as she moved closer silently, eventually resting her hands on his arms. "You are here," she said numbly.

He couldn't help the faint chuckle. "As it would seem."

Aridane looked into his eyes and broke into a wide grin, grabbing him forward to kiss his cheeks.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she demanded, still smiling. "Are you here for long? Do you need a place to stay?"

"I…I have a place," he answered vaguely. "And um, these are for you."

Alma felt his heartbeat rocket when she blushed as he handed her the roses, accepting them with a shy smile.

"Thank you," she murmured, cradling them gently. "Will you stay for dinner?"

"If you want me to."

"Of course I want you to," she replied incredulously. "You really should've told me that you were visiting. I would've planned something for you."

Alma rubbed the back of his neck, flattered. "Thanks, but it's alright, really. Just…do you have some time today? If you don't, I can always come by tomorrow, or whenever you're free."

Aridane raised an eyebrow. "Alma, how often are you here?" she huffed. "I definitely have time for you today."

"Cool. If you don't mind…take a walk with me?" he asked, the nervous clench back in his gut.

Aridane smiled and nodded. "Let me change, I'll be back in a bit."

As Aridane went back up the stairs quickly, Clarice wandered back just so that Alma wouldn't have to stand awkwardly by himself at the doorway.

"Stay for dinner, young man."

"Only if you let me cook," he smiled.

"You will have that chance," she replied.

Alma toyed with the edges of his rolled up selves to keep his nerves at bay, and Aridane came down the steps in a patterned sundress. She looked more beautiful than ever with an air of effortlessness—Alma didn't know if this was a Kanda sort of genetic trait. She took his offered arm as they made to leave.

It was silent in the first minute while they strolled towards the direction of the port. Alma kept glancing over to see the happy smile she wore while she held his arm gently, and it was a weird feeling having her so close to him after so many years over the screen. She asked about his flight and they started chatting, but whenever she enquired about his reasons for visiting Marseille, he was careful to wind around it. She talked about the current oil piece she was working on, a commission for one of the upcoming gallery exhibitions, and he talked about Lavi and everyone else was doing back in Japan.

Eventually he steered them into a quieter part of the port with less boats in the water, where there was a bridge with a stone railing that they could lean on and talk. He wasn't sure if he was really concentrating on the conversation as his fingers kept toying around the ring box he kept in his back pocket, and eventually Aridane paused, hesitant.

"Is…is there paint on my face?"

"Hm?"

"You keep staring at…" she gestured.

Alma broke a half chuckle. "Oh. Oh, no. You're just…you're really beautiful," he blurted.

She blinked, touching her cheek shyly. "…Thank you. You're…you look good, too."

He felt his own face darken in a rush.

"Adriane…" he began, jaw feeling sticky as the words tumbled out. "I'm in love with you."

The silence after that rang sharply in his ears, louder than the quiet buzz of the port.

"I think you probably already know that even though I've never said it to you," he continued softly, trying to meet her eyes firmly. "And uh…I know we've not exactly been dating, but…the three years, even if it was over a screen, have been really amazing with you," he swallowed. "And…and this might be crazy, but…I..."

His hands were shaking hard as he took out the ring box, turning it so that he could open it carefully to show her the diamond ring inside. Almost immediately Aridane covered her mouth with her hand in shock, and he knelt down on one knee.

"I…I'm staying to court you, Adriane."

Once or twice her hand reached out to touch the box, and eventually she flickered her gaze to his. "Staying?"

Alma nodded. "Here, in Marseille. For good."

Her eyebrows furrowed in disbelief.

"You don't have to answer me straight away," he started when there was just more silence. "Just…let me show you that I mean it."

Aridane took the box, but she made no move to take out the ring. "Please get up," she said, and a feeling that was akin to ice cold water splashed down his spine. "Alma, please."

He did with a lump in his throat and it hard to meet her gaze when she tiled her head sideways at him.

"I…I can't marry someone I haven't even kissed yet."

Adriane stepped closer, and he watched, stunned with his eyes wide. Her eyelids fluttered close before she very gently pressed their lips together. He was sure he forgot to breathe. When she pulled back he watched the blush colouring her cheeks, and was vaguely aware of him searching for her hands to hold them carefully. His eyes sought for silent permission before kissing her a second time. He couldn't remember how long they stood with their lips gently pressing against each other, but he took just as long to stare at her in awe afterwards—this, this, he was sure was something he wanted forever.

"W-what about now?" he asked, voice shaky.

She smiled, curling a loose strand of hair behind her ear shyly before she nodded firmly.

This time, he grinned wide.

Adachi usually had dinner alone at home or sometimes with her brother, but once a week she would have it with her mother late at night on Wednesday, which were obligatory hospital rotation days. They never talked much—she wasn't close to her mother on personal affairs, and as long as she met her mother's expectations on school grades and work schedule, she could have some sort of freedom. The hour passed in silence until Adachi stood up to bring her empty plate to the sink.

"Adachi."

"Yes?" she inquired, pausing in her tracks.

"The school called me today," her mother said absently, one eye on the newspaper she held in her hands.

Adachi held her breath.

"They were kind enough to update me on your mid-terms. Highest in the school for English," her mother related with a hint of pride in her tone, glancing over. "Well done, but it doesn't mean you can drop your guard. Are you still meeting that tutor on Saturdays?"

She blinked "Tutor?"

"The one you said Narumi-chan introduced you to."

Her eyes widened, and she swallowed "Oh. Um. No, um, I'm not."

At this, her mother set down the newspapers, eying her calmly.

"Why not?"

"I…I think I can keep it up with just cram school on the weekdays," she managed, hoping that her mother would not pick up something off about her tone. "I shouldn't spend too much time for one subject since I have six others, so—"

"But he was helpful."

"…Yes."

"Better than cram school?"

"Well…" she started, trying to rack her brain to form words that did not include the privilege to meet one of Japan's most famous people. "It's one to one, so he matches my pace better. And there's more chance for oral practice, which really helped."

Her mother gave a brief hum in thought. "I'd rather put money where it's worth, Adachi. You can stick with this tutor, and I'll cancel your English cram school classes."

Adachi's lips parted in surprise. "Really?" she couldn't help herself for the smile that was arising, but the reality of it crashed a moment later. This tutor was Lavi Bookman, dear god, she could not make him tutor her like it was his job. "I-I mean…"

"Of course, I'd like to speak with him about his teaching methods first," her mother said smoothly. "Give him a call."

When all her mother did was to look at her in expectance, her stomach dropped. "N-now?"

"Is there an issue?"

"Well no, but it's…it's," she fumbled hastily. "A little late, don't you think?"

"I won't have time tomorrow at the hospital," her mother replied. "I can always leave a message."

Knowing that there was no way out of this, Adachi took out her phone and searched for the person in question. She quickly changed the name before handing it over.

"Date Mori-san," the elder woman read before pressing the call button.

Adachi prayed that Lavi wouldn't be on the other end—she was going to get into so much trouble if her mother found out any sort of truth of the tutoring sessions. Then, she realised that if Lavi didn't pick up, there would be the personalised message for voicemail. She froze. She had no idea what the photographer used for his voicemail message since she usually texted him, but there was sure to be his actual name somewhere in there.

She held her breath with each agonising painful second as the her mother pressed her phone to her ear

"Hello, Date-san? This is Adachi's mother. I'm aware that you were tutoring my daughter for a few weeks a month ago?"

She couldn't stay to hear the rest of the onslaught, and took the chance of clearing the plates to escape to the kitchen. She prayed hard that Lavi would play along even though he had no reason to—if her mother found out that she had been lying, there was no telling how furious the other will be. On the other hand, she didn't know how much she needed to apologise to him for this.

This was so humiliating.

She tried to take as much time as possible to wash the plates, and eventually when she had to encourage to peek back to the dining room, her phone was placed shut on the table and her mother had returned to read the newspapers.

"Date-san mentioned that he was very impressed with your work ethic," her mother told her with a slight smile.

She blushed faintly, hoping that nothing showed in her facial expression. "Is that so?"

"He seems to know what he's doing, but I'll have to judge his capabilities on Saturday, of course."

"Saturday?"

"Yes. Go finish up your homework, Adachi. It's getting late."

"Right, yes."

She excused herself up the stairs to her room, clutching her phone against her chest. Once in, she closed the door behind her, put her school bag down next to her table and slumped on her bed, lying side down. She exhaled a deep breath.

How was she ever going to apologise to him for this?

She flicked her phone open and started to type a message, but no appropriate words came to her fingertips and she groaned face first into her comforter. Eventually she bit the bullet and composed a formal apology message for the sudden call from her mother, and that she was going to tell the other that he was busy on the weekend, there was really no need to tutor her again. Five seconds after she sent it though, her phone vibrated with a call.

"H-hello?"

"Adachi-chan, are you okay?"

It had been a while since she heard his voice, and suddenly having it so close to her ear made her blush in full. She put one hand on her cheek and tried to will it down.

"I'm," she swallowed. "I'm fine. I'm sorry," she blurted next. "I'm so sorry, Bookman-san, I—"

"Hey, hey, relax," he chuckled. "It's no big deal."

"It—it is! You spoke with my mother, I am so sorry you had to lie for me—"

"Relax," he repeated, voice amused. "I wasn't lying. I did tutor you, no? Your mother just wanted me to continue our lessons. I can spare a couple of hours on Saturdays like before. It's fine."

She bit her lip. "I don't want to trouble you anymore than I already have."

"I told you it's no trouble," he replied. "Besides, you can always owe me another performance, I really don't mind."

"I—"

"I'm just kidding," he laughed. "I know you're busy with your studies, which you should be. So, how are you? Keeping up with them?"

"I'm…good. Yes, I am," she replied, turning to face the ceiling as she spoke. "How about you?"

"Hmm…yeah. Work's fine, Yuu's always in demand, but there was just a little trouble in the office."

"Trouble?"

"Some of the board members want Sei-chan to model a children's clothe line, just a small spread. Rei-chan wasn't up for it so it was dropped, but you'd probably can guess how Yuu reacted to that," he laughed.

She unconsciously smiled at his amusement. "Is he doing well?"

"You're referring to Yuu or Sei-chan?" he asked teasingly. "Yuu's always grumpy and super hot, as you know." She spluttered, and he chuckled over that. "Sei—well, he's really attached to your keychain now. Actually he nearly ate it the other day, but Yuu caught him just in time."

"Oh, I didn't think—"

"Don't apologise for that, Adachi-chan, he puts a lot of things into his mouth. Like, a lot."

Even she had to grin at his tone. "Are you talking from personal experience?"

"Hell yeah. He tried to eat my earring once," he told her. "I think he tried to bite my eyepatch at least three times now. Oh, the best is when Yuu lets his hair down, Sei-chan loves to chew it if Yuu doesn't stop him in time. Man, I think I have a picture of that somewhere. I'll show it to you the next time."

"That, that sounds very cute," she admitted.

"Are you talking about Yuu or Sei-chan?"

"Bookman-san!"

He laughed warmly over the phone. "Okay, okay, I'll stop for tonight. I can't see your face now, but it's cute when you're flustered. You don't have to be so serious about school work all the time, you know?"

Did he just…

"Oh shit, Adachi-chan, sorry, but I need to go. It's kind of late and I don't think Rei-chan wants to drive me back at this hour—I'll see you this Saturday! Bye!"

She startled.

"Oh, sure, um, see you," she mumbled before the dial tone met her ears.

She stared, dazed at the ceiling before something else popped into her mind.

This Saturday?

Her stomach was somersaulting so hard, she wasn't sure she ever felt this nervous about anything in her life, not during her first crush on Taichi, nor during the horrible end of year exams last year. It wasn't even like she was introducing a significant other to her mother, it was just Bookman-san who so happened to be her tutor, but it certainly felt like it. After the phone call with the redhead, she had vaguely wondered how Lavi would present himself on Saturday, and then it became a more serious thought for musing because she was so sure that her mother would…recognise…the famous photographer.

Actually, she had no idea if her mother would—Kanda Yuu was more obvious seeing that there were billboards of the model's face all over Japan, but Lavi was pretty well known too, especially for that red hair. Moreover the one eye. Her mother was going to take interest in that. Shit, this was going to be a disaster, through and through.

She even wished that her mother would be on call somehow before Lavi arrived—that was a horrible thought, but she really didn't want to see this train wreck that was going to occur. At two in the afternoon precisely, the doorbell rang and her heart jumped into her mouth.

She went forward to open the gate, where Lavi gave her a greeting wink and salute. He was dressed rather smartly with a button up with rolled up sleeves, black short hair combed to hide a bit of the medicinal eye patch he wore. His eye was a normal dark brown. He looked like an unassuming college graduate with a folder in one arm. A really good looking one. She tried not to think about the last part.

"Good afternoon, Adachi-chan! I can't wait to see the inside of your house. It looks pretty impressive."

She stayed at a two story semi-detached; her family was rather well off she would admit, but it was nothing like Kanda Yuu's abode, so she didn't really believe his words.

"Good afternoon," she bowed, smiling a little at his cheerful tone. "I'm really sorry about this—"

"Stop. Apologising," he said sternly, rapping her lightly on the head. "I wouldn't be here if I didn't want to be."

She bit her lip. "Then, thank you, Bookman-san," she said as sincerely as she could. "Thank you very much."

He smiled fondly. "You're welcome."

Adachi swallowed and turned away to hide the heat rapidly crawling up her face, and sighed in relief when her mother came to the doorway, catching his attention.

"Date-san. It's very nice to meet you. Thank you for taking care of my daughter."

"Oh no, it's been my pleasure, Inouye-san," Lavi bowed shortly. "Thank you for having me over."

"Do come in," he mother gestured. "Adachi, bring us some tea, will you?"

"Yes, mother."

Adachi couldn't help but glance over while her mother led the redhead over to the dining room to sit, eavesdropping on the inevitable question about his one eye from her mother, an eye doctor, would not resist. She made tea as requested and joined them hesitantly.

She sat quietly as her mother began with some questions on his background—where did he study, was he a full time tutor, how much did he charge—questions which made Adachi freeze, because it dawned upon her that she didn't realise exactly how much Lavi had to do to hide his real identity.

"I studied college overseas," Lavi was saying, completely calm. "Graduated Oxford in History, and I'm working in a firm that does translations for sensitive and private foreign documents. Tutoring is just part time for me; I had a friend who asked for some help with English for his cousin, and I guess word got around. But it's alright, I love working with students, especially if they're committed to helping themselves."

It was slightly strange how Lavi seemed so professional and Adachi mentally smacked herself—Bookman-san was a working professional for years by this point. If anything, her mother looked sufficiently pleased when he went through his teaching methods, especially when he produced some examples from the folder that he had brought along. She was mildly horrified to realise that he probably had to spend time thinking of an actual lesson plan just for today and the preparation of all these documents—he wasn't a real tutor, how did he…

"Adachi-chan."

She startled when there was a slight nudge to her arm.

"Are you okay?"

She looked up to see Lavi peering at her in concern.

"Everything's fine, don't worry," he said quietly, cocked his head a little to a distance away where her mother was standing with a phone against her ear.

She only had time to nod briefly in response before her mother tracked back towards them looking apologetic. "The hospital called, there's an emergency I need to attend to. Date-san, I apologise for leaving so abruptly, but would you continue the session with my daughter? I will contact you later today regarding payment."

"No problem at all, Inouye-san. Thank you once again for having me," Lavi stood up to bow formally and her mother quickly hurried up the stairs and back down again before disappearing out of the front door.

Only then did Adachi sigh and slump on the table with her face down, exhausted. Well, she did pray that her mother would get called to the hospital, but she felt really bad for the admitted patient.

"Your mother really cares about you," Lavi remarked absentmindedly after they simmered in silence, leaning back on the chair.

"…I know."

"So why are you so afraid of her?"

She took a deep breath and sat up. "She can be…strict," she said eventually. "In the past, she…she expected certain…she still…" she exhaled. "But it's…it's better now."

"I see," he replied, and didn't push. "Well, it's good to see that you're well. Do you want a break today? Or you've got any questions from your homework, I can take a look at them."

"There wasn't any English homework this week, but thanks."

"Oh. Well, any other subjects? I can help you with history for sure, or maybe literature if I've read the book—"

"That's okay," she smiled. "Bookman-san, I don't think I can ever thank you enough for this," she began. "To prepare all that, I…it's really impressive. It's amazing."

Lavi turned his face away briefly with a hand rubbing his neck before he shrugged. "…It was kind of fun. It's like creating a backstory for a character, you know? The more realistic the better."

"Too realistic."

He grinned. "You think I can pass as an actor? I'd be super famous—"

"But…you are already famous…"

Lavi blinked. "Kind of, but not really. You didn't recognise me the first time at the club."

"Well, I didn't expect to you to…talk to me."

"You were incredible, Adachi-chan, of course I was going to offer you a drink," he replied, incredulous before pausing. "Well, I know I can't offer alcoholic ones now, but the sentiment still stands."

Adachi curled her fingers at her lap, unsure of what to say in return. "Bookman-san," she said eventually. "I have to ask a question."

"Hmm?" he looked curious. "Shoot."

"…Did you really go to Oxford?" Right after the question left her mouth, she felt foolish. "I mean, you're definitely smart enough to and you sounded so confident, but I thought you graduated from that fashion college."

"I do have a graduation certificate from them if that's what you mean."

At her suspicious expression, he laughed.

"It's true. I technically didn't lie about anything today—I did do a semester abroad in high school, I do have a degree from Oxford; they have online courses, you know?" he winked. "Besides, that one was kind of necessary for the translations thing that I told you about that I was doing for the old man. Along with some other language degrees, but well."

"But…you don't need any of those with photography, right?"

"That's also true. Well, half of them was because my old man wanted me to—the other half, any kind of experience is a good thing, no?" he tilted his head. "Sure they don't help me photograph Yuu better, but I can converse with Yuu's family in French and that's an awesome thing."

"French?" she blinked. "Kanda-san has family from France?"

Lavi paused, looking alarmed. "I. Oh shit, I. The general people don't know that, huh," he fumbled for a bit, and then sighed in frustration eventually. "Can you keep a secret? For Kanda Yuu?" he smirked briefly at the eye aversion when he said the name. "Yuu isn't full Japanese, that's obvious, right? His eyes are blue."

"I…I never really thought about it," Adachi confessed.

He grinned. "Why, too busy looking at Yuu's body?"

"Bookman-san!"

"Heh, you're just like Rei-chan when she was in denial over Yuu, it was most adorable thing ever," Lavi laughed, mirth half muffled into his palm. "She still is," he sighed happily. "You don't have to be embarrassed about your crush on him, everyone loves Yuu."

"I don't—!" she started, but shut her mouth when she realised her volume was a bit louder than she expected. "I-I don't like Kanda-san," she said hastily. "I mean, I don't hate him, but Kanda-san is married and there's definitely no way that I—"

"Adachi-chan, I'm just messing with you," Lavi smiled, patting her shoulder.

Adachi let out a long breath before replying. "You're kind of sadistic, Bookman-san."

"Really? I've been told the opposite by Lena-chan. Huh, maybe it's only with you."

She was sure that he wasn't doing it on purpose, but with every sentence like that it made her heart skip a beat and she pressed a hand over her mouth, stunned.

"Adachi-chan? You okay?"

"Y-yeah, I just," she swallowed, standing up abruptly. "Excuse me for a minute. I need the bathroom."

"Sure."

She practically escaped like death on her heels, and once alone in the toilet, she leaned against the back of the door and sunk down to the floor as her face burned red.

"He's ten years older than you, Adachi," she murmured to herself, knocking her head backwards against the hard wood. "He's not interested—he's not interested—he's not—"

It was rather odd that even after a few hours after they came home from brunch at the market, Lavi was nowhere in sight. Kanda emerged from the shower after a short session in his mini gym—Seiichi was probably taking an afternoon nap while he had no idea what Reiichi was doing—he towelled his hair dry as he went to the kitchen for some water. Reiichi was standing by the counter slicing some apples. She smiled at him when he came in, but otherwise continued her actions. He drank some water quietly first, before he inched closer and sneaked one slice off the chopping board to eat. She gave him a disgruntled frown, which he ignored and took another apple piece.

"Hey—"

"Where's the rabbit?" he asked instead, munching on the fruit.

"Hm? He has…something on today," she replied, putting the cut apple slices into a bowl. "He didn't specify."

"And you didn't ask?"

Reiichi's fingers paused on the tap of the sink with her other hand holding the chopping board. "Should I have?"

Kanda snorted. "You want to."

"Yeah, but…" she sighed. "I can kind of guess, anyway," she said eventually. "Should we bring Sei out today?"

"Where?"

"That place."

Kanda squinted out of the window. "It's too hot now."

"Later. Towards the evening."

"Hm."

That was most probably a yes in Kanda speak—Reiichi really did not understand why her husband will not acquiesce with a simple direct answers. When she was done washing the knife and the chopping board she realised that Kanda had already eaten half of what she had took out to cut, and scowled minutely. She took one to chew just in case he ate everything before she could, savouring the slight tang and sweetness of the fruit.

It was quiet for a bit, until Kanda took another slice and made a particularly loud crunch. "He's not going to fuck her."

"Yuu!"

"What," Kanda scoffed at her indignant remark. "You think just because the idiot likes her he's going to fuck her?"

Reiichi scowled. "I didn't say that!"

"You're thinking about it," he said bluntly.

"N—well. Not to that extent. I mean…" she sighed, nibbling on her piece. "It's not that I don't trust him. But you know how these kind of things can get."

"Not really."

"Yuu," she said flatly.

Kanda rolled his eyes. "He can deal with it. You lived in the same damn house with me and I didn't come on to you, right," he said blandly, and then squinted at the look she gave him. "What?"

"…Before we...we got together," Reiichi started hesitantly. "You…wanted to…wanted…me?"

He scowled. "I didn't want—" he started with a huff, because it sounded like he had been pining, or something of the sort, but he did once or twice think about…pleasurable physical activities he could do with a girl in his house, just saying.

"I'm not a saint," he stated eventually, lips pressed together.

Reiichi grinned. "I never said you were. But you aren't like, ten years older."

"What, so it was okay if I did?"

"No—I just," she sighed tiresomely. "Never mind."

Kanda raised at her response but she didn't want to say anything more.

Reiichi snatched the last apple slice before he got to it and she bit into it triumphantly. He frowned, and then reached out for her wrist before biting into the half eaten apple, stealing it into his mouth with his tongue.

She blinked, stunned at the action but he did not allow her to recover, instead, after a few chews he licked her fingers, and purposefully sent a half lidded gaze towards her direction. He deliberately curled his tongue around her fingers slowly, and watched a dark red flush up to her cheeks when he sucked them and let go with a soft obscene sound. He smirked slightly—and vaguely wondered at the back of his mind, if he had actually came on to Reiichi before she was interested in him, would she have reciprocated?

It was a different story now, because while Reiichi did dart her eyes away shyly, she tugged him closer by the edge of his shirt, such that he was cornering her against the table counter. On slight tip toes she reached up to kiss him, gently, then boldly, wrapping her arms around his neck while his own hands settled on her hips. His hair towel slipped to the floor but they ignored it. Over the years they knew what each other liked best; Reiichi bit on his bottom lip and pulled him down for a deeper kiss, while he paid the favour back by toying with her tongue and pressing her harder backwards. She scraped his nape lightly with how she was gripping his neck, earning a groan into their locked mouths.

His hands wandered further down, over her ass to cup her closer. After a minute more, he couldn't resist the temptation to lift her up to the kitchen counter when they broke to breathe. It was easier this way to reach her neck, where he buried his nose in and placed a hot kiss over the spot just below her ear. She shuddered pleasantly under his touch, whispering a soft plea of his name. It was such a turn on when she did that—and he found his tongue busy on her neck, while his fingers crept up her shirt with the intention to take it off.

"Yuu…" she breathed, tugging on his shoulder when he let his teeth raze over her collarbone. "Yuu," she said a bit more firmly the next time, and he stopped to raise his head to look at her.

"Let's go inside," she said, cheeks flushed.

"There's no one here," he said in return.

Lavi wasn't going to come home, right? They'd probably have the shittest luck in the world if that happened, considering the redhead was supposedly busy.

"I'm not talking about that," she replied, eyes darting around before settling back on him. "I…I want you."

It was quiet but it was clear to his ears—Kanda still remembered the time when she first uttered those words to him, and there had to be an expression that he wore in return that made her blush uncontrollably dark then. He swallowed, breath going faint as blood immediately rushed down south.

The tension was thick but he pressed their foreheads together slowly, watching her eyes for a few moments before he kissed her, and then kissed her again, and kept capturing her mouth in every way that he knew how. His arms wound around her waist and thigh when she was sufficiently suffocating with his affection, and he carried her off the counter in a swift motion, taking the first steps back to their bedroom.

A/N:

Readers, I do reply to reviews, so please sign in especially if you ask me a question for ease!

Kanda, Lavi and Alma are all 27 now. Reiichi is 26. Lenalee is 24, Allen is 23. Aridane is 29. Seiichi is 2.

I'm sorry if Alma/Aridane came outta nowhere—but, their story has been quietly growing on me for a while and putting myself in Alma's shoes, he wanted to go to France for her so badly, I couldn't deny him that. I initially wanted them to stay platonic (because hey, Kanda is now related to all his idiot friends HA) but Alma is really taken with her, and so. Having Alma in France does have some ~future impact~ later on, so it's also a good thing I guess.

That place that Rei is referring to is the place where Kanda proposed to her :P It's one of the few places they can go without fear of the public or paparazzi, so they do visit there rather often as a family, sometimes with Lavi. Seiichi likes to play on the swings.

I doodled young Seiichi if anyone's interested (link on my profile). There's a tiny spoiler with it, so see it at your own risk!

Allen is so going to be the last one to get married hahahaha

Oh dear Lavi you're a disaster, what am I going to do with you….his POV isn't really shared here but lmao it's a mess, he really doesn't think twice about the things that he says and he doesn't mean anything by it until he realises that /he probably shouldn't have said that/ I hope I'll be less lazy in the next chapter for it :D