"Oi, Kanda!" I called.

He paused at the door to his room. I thought maybe I saw a vein in his forehead jumping, but I hoped that I was wrong.

"What do you want, Bean Sprout?" he bit out, looking over his shoulder at me.

We'd just gotten back from Paris, and Lavi had already carried a sleeping Lenalee off to her own room. For whatever insane reason, my room was near Kanda's, so we had actually walked together through the halls. The whole time, I was trying to decide whether or not to try and talk to him, sort out this entire bitter affair. It wasn't until his hand was on his doorknob that I finally resolved to speak with him.

"I want to ask you something."

"And I have to answer?" he responded.

"Yeah, otherwise there's not much point in me asking," I sighed.

He let out an exasperated breath and turned fully to face me, crossing his arms over his hard chest. I don't think he'd realized that he had dozed off again on the train, or that Lavi had taken advantage of that to braid his pony tail again. I suppressed my amusement in favor of a more serious expression.

"What do you think of the people in the Order?" I asked.

Kanda blinked.

"What do I think of them? I think they're all idiots."

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair.

"Why?"

"Who else but an idiot would choose a life like this?"

"Including you?"

Kanda shook his head.

"I'm assuming you don't mean the people here as far as their jobs. You mean them as just people."

"Yeah. No Exorcists, no scientists, no Finders. Just people."

Kanda scowled and raised his gaze to the ceiling.

"Why do you care what I think, Bean Sprout?"

"Because I want to understand. And quit calling me Bean Sprout."

The swordsman snorted in contempt, but I didn't think that his heart was really into it right then. The sneer on his face didn't include his eyes, which looked to be a long ways away.

"Komui's insane, Lavi's annoying, you're abnoxious, Lenalee's the only half-normal person here, Reever's weird, Johnny's—"

"Kanda!" I interrupted. "I already know all of that! What are they to you?"

He blinked and focused back in on me.

"What's it matter?" he demanded. "Look, Bean Sprout, I'm damn tired. Quit bugging me and go play with Lavi or something."

He moved to turn to his door, but I caught his elbow to keep him where he was. His entire body stiffened, and when he looked over at me, his dark gaze was blazing with irritation.

"Let go of me, Bean Sprout."

"Give me an honest answer, and I will."

I was determined to hear this. Why? I can't honestly say I know. But it was something I wanted to hear. I knew Kanda wasn't just a cold shoulder with a heart of stone. He might claim to hate me, but he'd saved my life several times over already, and I didn't doubt that there would be similar things happening in the future.

Kanda jerked away from my hand, but he didn't move to escape to his room again.

"What do you want to hear, Bean Sprout? That way I can just say it and you can leave me the Hell alone."

"The truth."

He snorted loudly again. I just looked at him, my expression on the verge of a glare. One of his eyes was twitching again, as though the idea of being completely honest with me really pissed him off.

"The truth…" he repeated, sounding almost amused. I nodded.

Kanda shook his head once more, but this time it was as though he did it in defeat.

"To me…you're all incredibly stupid and annoying," he started. I opened my mouth to snap at him, but glared at me and I quickly shut up. "But…"

He seemed to be having difficulty trying to find words to express exactly what it was that we all were to him.

"But…This place…You people…" he said, frowning in concentration. It was almost funny to see him thinking so hard. I half expected smoke to start coming out of his ears. "It's…like a family. I think. You all get along like idiots. We all fight, but…But we always…Arg, damnit!"

I raised my eyebrows, not at his language, but at the fact that I'd gotten even that much from him. I had to admit, it was funny watching him struggle for words, but my question had been serious, so I did my best to not look amused.

"We always…end up…End up coming through…for each other," he ground out. "The way we work together here…This is as close to a family as I could have. Happy now? Hear what you wanted to hear, Bean Sprout?"

I blinked, finding myself just kind of staring at Kanda in amazement. Had he really just said what I thought he had said? That he considered this place like a family?

"I'm…not sure…" I said slowly.

"About what?!" Kanda snapped, aggravated.

"About whether I just imagined what I heard," I said, "or if you really just called this place your family."

"Shut it, Bean Sprout. If you're through bothering me with stupid questions, I'm going to bed."

"Good night then, Kanda," I said, still slightly perplexed. His only reply was to snort.

I turned around, willing to bet that he would be in his room with the door locked before I had taken even two steps. So, when I had taken three steps away, I was surprised to hear him call my name. My actual name.

"Allen. I meant you too."

I froze for a moment, then looked over my shoulder. All I saw was the tail of his coat and the end of the braid—gah, still funny—disappearing through the door, and then it swung shut. I felt an amused smile creep across my face. I could empathize with the homicidal swordsman. This place had its ups and its downs. Certain people—ahem, Kanda, Komui—were far from easy to be around. But those same people made up part of a huge family. Even Kanda, who drove me completely insane and never used my name, felt like part of these people that I loved. Like the tyrannical older brother I had never, ever wanted, perhaps, but still a part of this huge, completely insane family.