A/N: Found this while going through my fanfic folder, and thought I might as well clean it up a bit and post it...especially in light of Chapter 208. B3 Enjoy the tooth-rotting fluff, y'all. XD

Thirteen-year-old Kanda Yuu scowled, the corner of his mouth pulling back and upwards to reveal gritted teeth as yet another resounding crash shook the hallways of the Headquarters.

Komui had been desperate all morning, feverishly searching for Lenalee, who had gone missing after one of her older brother's experiments went rather violently wrong. She'd gotten caught in the blast, and from what Kanda had heard, she definitely hadn't been hurt seriously, if much at all…but she had taken off the instant the smoke cleared enough for her to see, and she'd been in hiding ever since.

Komui hadn't stopped tearing the place apart since, melodramatic tears spilling down his cheeks even faster than his overwrought apologies spilled out of his mouth. He'd had the whole Science Division and everyone else he could blackmail into it joining the search, and Kanda wouldn't have been surprised to learn that reinforcements from other Divisions were expected to arrive later that day.

No one could get anything done in that sort of atmosphere; the cafeteria was louder than usual, and even the dojo provided precious little shelter from the air of agonized concern permeating the whole of Headquarters. Worst of all, Komui had taken to using the intercom at random intervals to beg his sister to come out of hiding.

"LENALEEEEEEEEEE! BIG BROTHER IS SORRY, OH SO SORRY! I'LL DO ANYTHING YOU LIKE, I'LL TAKE YOU SHOPPING AND BUY YOU LOTS OF PRETTY NEW DRESSES AND HATS AND ANYTHING ELSE YOU LIKE AND YOU CAN EVEN GET YOUR EARS PIERCED LIKE YOU WANTED IF YOU'LL JUST PLEEEEEEASE FORGIVE MEEEEEE—!"

Kanda gave a disgusted scoff as the words grew increasingly garbled, finally becoming outright unintelligible just before giving way to muffled sobs that someone on the other end (Reever, most likely) mercifully put an end to by shutting off the microphone. "Idiot," the young teen growled under his breath, rolling his eyes as he paced, wraithlike in speed and silence, down the long rows of books in one of the lesser-used corners of the library. As her brother, Komui should have known that when Lenalee got like this, you had to go find her, and no amount of begging and pleading or promises would change that. Kanda didn't understand feelings very well, much less those of delicate young girls, but from what he could tell, she was probably feeling ashamed of her own behaviour by now, but she was too shy and uncertain to force her presence on anyone until they'd made it clear that they wanted her around. He did know, and very well at that, that Lenalee hated being a burden or causing anyone any sort of trouble; she wanted to be strong enough to stand on her own, strong enough to fight and protect the people she loved. Painfully jaded as his vision was, even Kanda couldn't help but admit that that desire in and of itself was a certain kind of strength.

On reaching a particular section of shelves, Kanda paused, briefly glancing both ways into the surrounding gloom before grabbing hold of the bookcase and pulling it out from the wall perhaps a foot or so, revealing a narrow space, a nook of sorts just a few feet wide hidden behind the bookcase. A little pile of mismatched cushions and a tangle of blankets took up most of what little room there was, though there were a few odds and ends and childish knick-knacks as well (mostly Lenalee's things); and there, atop the heap of cushions, sat Lenalee, legs drawn up to her chest, face buried against her knees.

Kanda reached back, grasping the bookcase and easily pulling it into its usual place before turning his attention to the dark-haired girl, though his sensitive ears didn't miss the quiet sound of sniffling coming from her direction. Once he was satisfied that their location was secure again, he looked her over appraisingly, his expression closed, his dark eyes cool.

"So? What kind of stupid project did that idiot come up with this time?"

Lenalee winced at the sound of his voice, then drew herself in tighter, hugging her knees even closer to her chest. Kanda quirked an eyebrow mildly. Unusual that she hadn't responded to that, either with a token defense of her brother or else angry agreement over how shameless Komui could be where his experiments were concerned.

"Whatever it was, you'd better tell me you smashed it. It isn't my job to protect everyone from those ridiculous monster robots of his, and he's your brother. If anyone's responsible for him, it's you."

Careful to keep her face pressed close against her legs, Lenalee shifted to the side just slightly, turning herself away from the dark-haired Exorcist just a fraction more.

Kanda stared incredulously, at a total loss. He wasn't at all used to being the one trying to get someone else to respond-quite the opposite rather-and being forced to tread such unfamiliar territory was more than a little annoying.

In a flash he'd moved to Lenalee's side, seizing one of her arms in a firm but not quite rough grip, forcefully pulling her around to face him. "What the hell is your problem? Why are you—"

His words cut off abruptly, his eyes flying wide and his hand falling away from Lenalee's arm on finding fresh tears sparkling on the girl's cheeks…alongside some equally fresh and angry-looking burns. The light was dusty and dim, but now that she was turned towards him, Kanda could see the puffy reddish-white mottling covering parts of her left shoulder, arm, and cheek; her hair had been singed as well, her left pigtail a noticeable few inches shorter than her right.

A handful of heartbeats passed in silence before Kanda gave a long, low sigh and dug into the cushions in the back corner of the little space, producing the first-aid kit Lenalee had left there months before. Despite the poor lighting, Kanda could tell that the burns weren't serious: some healing salve and ice and they'd be gone in a few days' time. He could also tell that she hadn't wanted to have them seen to in the hospital wing, which was something he could easily understand. She hated that place almost as much as he did, and that was saying something.

"Idiot," he mumbled as he knelt in front of her, dabbing at first her cheek, then her arm with an alcohol swab, both to clean away the smudges of soot coating the wounds as well as to give himself an excuse to double-check the severity of the burns. Satisfied with what he found, he set to smearing salve over them before covering the areas in question with bandages. "Why didn't you just come straight to me in the first place?"

The sudden renewed quiver in her lower lip caught his attention, and he couldn't quite repress the jolt of panic it sent through him; his fingers fumbled with the last bandage, and he nearly dropped the medical tape he was using to stick them all in place. "What? What is it now?" he ground out through gritted teeth, only narrowly preventing the words from escaping as something of a yelp.

"I-it's—it's just—" Lenalee swallowed hard, pushing away any further tears (for which Kanda was infinitely grateful), though her voice still trembled a bit with the threat of them. "It's just, now no-one's ever going to want to marry me." She turned big, inexpressibly sorrowful eyes up at Kanda, who suddenly felt rather as if someone had jerked not just the rug, but the Earth itself out from beneath his feet; now he did drop the tape, and it was all he could do to keep his jaw from dropping in much the same way. "I-if my face scars, I mean…"

"…Are you stupid? What the hell are you even talking about?" Kanda snarled with an unflattering sort of incredulity, recovering his usual momentum in an instant. "If something that small matters to someone, why would you want to be with them anyway?"

Lenalee blinked at little uncertainly, seemingly a bit mollified by that thought, but she still didn't look entirely convinced. Her eyes lowered, and she stared at her clasped hands and the ground between her feet unhappily, prompting a sharp flare of anger in Kanda that made him say:

"—Tch! If you're really that worried about it—I'll marry you!"

Wide, startled eyes jerked up to meet his own, and though his first impulse was to take a step backwards when confronted with a gaze that intense, Kanda held his ground without so much as a waver.

"…R-really, Kanda…?" Lenalee ventured after a moment, her tone sounding like she didn't quite dare hope that he was serious, though she dearly wanted him to be. "You'd do that? You mean it?"

By now it had fully hit home just what exactly he'd promised to do, and once his mind had finally caught up to his mouth, fierce colour began to flood Kanda's cheeks, forcing him to look away. He couldn't really keep that promise, could he? He'd already made a promise, he was already looking for someone…and yet what was the harm in it? Lenalee was cute, and she'd doubtless find someone else long before she would ever want to collect on this promise. What could it hurt?

"Yeah," Kanda said impassively, still not meeting her gaze, which he knew was bound to be far too hopeful, possibly even tear-filled again. "If you want me to."

His eyes went wide again as he felt little hands clamp themselves firmly on either side of his face, turning his head towards her, forcing him to look down into her abruptly very solemn, very determined expression. Once eye contact had been established, she let her hands drop…then held out her right hand in a fist, save for the pinky, which was out and up.

"Swear it!" she all but demanded, and Kanda, who hadn't yet managed to break that eye contact, knew better than to argue; with a slight frown, he linked his pinky with hers. "May a liar swallow a thousand needles!" she stated with equal gravity, and enough passion that a chill ran down Kanda's spine. For a moment he had trouble swallowing, his palms suddenly slick with a nervous sweat, but outwardly, all he did was give a single, placid nod of acceptance.

After staring up at him sternly for another few seconds, Lenalee's face broke into a wide smile. Kanda noticed that it pulled at the edges of the bandage he'd rather haphazardly taped to her cheek, and thus the burn beneath must have been pulling as well, but Lenalee herself didn't seem to notice or care…though he suspected that that was, in part, due to the way she'd flung her arms around him, all but tackling him in her eagerness for a hug. The dark-haired boy submitted to the embrace with a near-silent sigh, and though he didn't exactly return it, one hand came up to rest on her uninjured shoulder. The other settled on her head, giving her a brief but surprisingly gentle pat.

"Come on," he said gruffly after the majority of a minute had passed. After extricating himself from Lenalee's arms (which was no small feat), he moved the bookcase again before taking her hand and tugging her along after him. "We'd better go see that idiot brother of yours before he decides to send all of those stupid robots of his out after you."

In any case, it was well past time that those ridiculous announcements stopped.