SS: Ha, ha, ha! Victory! -pumps fist into the air- I managed to finish this chapter in fifteen days. And here I thought my lack of time would ruin any hopes of finishing this fic quicker… I guess optimism is better after all, hmm?

Disclaimer: I don’t own DGM and I don’t make money off of this story. It’s purely created out of my love for the characters.

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Chapter 10 Snowflake

Kanda wasn’t going to make this a habit, that was for sure. At least, he hoped it was for sure. He sat on the edge of the creaking old bed, long hair still dripping water onto the floor despite how he’d wrung it out. Tap, tap, tap. Each drop seemed to make him edgier and edgier. Moreover, he was nervous as hell right now for some reason he couldn’t make out. Dark eyes drifted over his own shoulder a moment, staring at the other man sprawled out on the bed.

Lavi was still unconscious, body lightly trembling even with the warmth of sheets draped over it. His red hair was a lot shorter than Kanda’s, but it was pretty thick, so it was also still wet. His breathing was fairly normal again, though the husky gasps here and there in the other’s sleep told Kanda the younger man’s throat and lungs were still suffering from Lavi having been trapped under the cold water as long as he had.

Was Kanda worried? No, was what he told himself, but that little part of him that made him go out there in the first place was once again overpowering his emotions. He hated it so bad! Though, at the same time, it wasn’t really so bad. Maybe, just maybe, feeling this way wasn’t so…

“Fuck!” Kanda cursed under his breath, angry at himself for almost giving in again. That little part of him made him feel so good thinking he’d gone and saved Lavi’s life. Then there was the dreadful thought of the other possibly dying making his chest hurt. Kanda wished both of the things would fade away already due to their distracting nature. How could they possibly finish the mission if he was this badly distracted? And if Lavi was this hurt? He couldn’t just leave him…

Momentarily the Asian wondered how exactly he should greet Lavi when the other woke up, this sudden thought coming to mind due to all the distractions. Should he just out and say he saved the idiot because he was in the way? Or would it be better to finally be forward with the truth? After all, that witch akuma had been the one to do that to Lavi, there was the possibility she’d told him.

“But he wouldn’t believe her probably.” Kanda’s words were soft and muttered, and he seriously thought for a while that whatever the maid had told Lavi the redhead most definitely didn’t believe. An akuma was an akuma, they lied a lot. But then doubt came, crashing over Kanda’s already screwed up mind with a force so great he felt he’d bleed out his very ears.

But what if Lavi did believe her? What then? Certainly Kanda couldn’t keep lying to Lavi or trying to cover up everything that happened behind the scenes. He could always tell Lavi she was bullshitting, but then, could he really keep this charade up forever? Lies weren’t Kanda’s style, he preferred being straightforward, even if it meant hurting someone. After all, why should he care about someone else’s feelings? But in this case…

The truth was a wrecking ball waiting to tear up both of their worlds completely. Judging by all of Lavi’s reactions to the things that had been happening with the two, he assumed the other man wouldn’t really mind the actual facts, but there was always that annoying feeling Kanda now hated that stuck around in the Asian’s chest. The feeling of guilt. Seldom he ever got that emotion, so when it came through his chest and made it hurt even, he was left confused. Then his confusion was converted into anger. It was the same thing over and over.

Beginning to wonder what exactly he should do, the older turned on the bed and took a deep breath to calm himself. Maybe since Kanda knew Lavi was here with him now, safe, he could get back to meditating. There wasn’t any guarantee he’d be able to focus or the like, but it was worth a try so he didn’t knock down the whole mansion out of frustration like Lavi’d almost done.

Though, actually, Kanda wasn’t so innocent in that department… When Kanda had brought Lavi all the way back here, he’d gotten so aggravated with not knowing which way he should go back into the mansion, that he’d gone and kicked down a random door on the outside of the building that happened to knock over yet another cabinet in ‘that’ room. It led right inside. Pure luck he hadn’t destroyed the entire building with how hard he’d kicked.

Of course, ‘that’ room, being the strangest room in the house, was the very room that flared off a romantic aura, a calm, soothing, wonderful atmosphere. Plus, despite how the door had felt freezing, the entire room was a more comfortable temperature now. Kanda couldn’t sort that out in his head properly so he didn’t bother trying. Lavi was the bookworm and would know more about sciency things, not him. Kanda wasn’t the one who excelled in academics either.

At any rate, the fact that he’d been lucky enough to find an easy way back into this particular room served as a great help. It was far more relaxing in this place than any other part of the house. And, quite frankly, Kanda still wasn’t about to leave Lavi in here all alone with how careless the other had been.

With how quiet things were, he finally managed to focus enough to get back into meditation without the worry of Lavi on his mind completely haunting him. Allen, wherever he was, was probably just fine -- not that Kanda would be worried about him too. That sprout didn’t need his worry anyway with how strong he was, and aside from that…

“Yu…” Kanda’s breath halted entirely for ten seconds straight, then all of it came gushing out in a big flood of air. He couldn’t move, discovering that it wasn’t anything physical stopping him, but the very things called emotions doing so. His voice choked up in his throat, something that never happened to him and he had no idea what to say or do. Lavi was awake?

“Oh… God, Yu…” The other’s voice was still hoarse, but it sounded a little better than it had when they’d been outside. At least now it didn’t sound like he was dying. However, there was something strange, something Kanda didn’t really understand. If Lavi was awake, why did it sound like there was agony in his voice, as if he were mourning for Kanda? “No… Why…?”

Bluish black eyes shot at the person laying on the bed. Lavi’s eye was closed, he was still shivering (more-so actually), and small gasps and other noises were slipping past his lips. At first Kanda got the wrong idea -- he cursed multiple times and looked away with his cheeks tinged lightly in pink. He couldn’t stand how this rabbit made him, of all people, blush. Aside from that, Kanda recalled being entirely asexual before this whole situation…

He slowly glanced back at the redhead, clearing his mind of all the perverse things that he didn’t want in there -- the world would end when Yu Kanda became a pervert -- and he focused his attention on the other’s face. Lavi looked like he was having a horrible dream, even doing so much as tossing his head side to side every so often. His face looked miserable, the noises coming from his mouth sounded pained, and his body’s trembling appeared to be from more than just being cold. It was more than obvious what the dream was about as Lavi murmured soft words more.

“Yu… I’m sorry… Please… you can’t… be…” Instinctively Kanda wanted to leave the room so he didn’t have to hear anymore, the big part of him annoyed, but he stayed anyway, the small part having yet another victory due to feeling bad. He listened carefully so he could hear every last word of what the younger was saying. “Why… did the tattoo… get so… You look all shriveled… like… a dead flower… Why did you… save… me… why…”

It really sounded like one of those crappy situations when someone had saved another person risking their own life in the process, so Kanda assumed it was just that. Despite how he knew he wasn’t that bad off yet, he ended up confused. He had to move his shirt aside to glance at the tattoo beneath on his skin, the black markings now trailing down his arm even. Certainly one more serious injury wouldn’t be what killed him, would it? His wounded wrist, despite being small damage, had made his chest sting with pain as it healed. To add to it, it’d taken longer to heal than anything in the past.

Thoughts of worry raced through his mind, the fear of dying before ever achieving his goal causing them. But quickly they faded, Kanda’s natural attitude towards things dissolving them for now. Besides, he had to focus on the other exorcist. If Lavi were to keep having this dream, it would be troublesome for the both of them, so Kanda shifted on the mattress and gripped the slightly taller one’s shoulders, shaking him hard.

At first Lavi’s nightmare seemed to worsen, his expression growing absolutely wrenched, and this made Kanda growl in aggravation. He decided quickly that due to what Lavi was dreaming, his own voice might help. “Lavi!” the brunet yelled. “Wake up, you stupid rabbit, you’re dreaming! Lavi!” With a swift slap to the other’s cheek, a single green hue shot open and the bookman whimpered in pain.

“W-what the… ow! Y-Yu…?” His voice sounded better lively now, less pained and more surprised than anything. “Why’d you do that? That hurt and… ow, my throat hurts. My head hurts too, my feet even hurt, my everything hurts!”

“Shut the hell up!” Kanda wished the relief he was feeling would go away and drown in that ice-cold lake back outside, but the emotion stayed there strong. He turned in a different direction and crossed his arms and legs, huffing in annoyance. “If you’d stop your complaining, maybe your throat, for example, wouldn’t hurt as much! So quit wasting your breath because it’s pissing me off!”

Even with the trauma of what Lavi’d been through, he grinned, the smile only coming after a small moment of silence simply spent staring at Kanda. “Was it you?” the redhead asked, tone sounding sentimental. The very tone sent an arrow through the Asian’s chest and he had to keep turned away.

“What do you mean?” The question came shortly after. Kanda’s head tipped a bit to the side as if he were pondering the words. This was something Lavi wasn’t used to seeing, Kanda looking like he’d been seriously affected by Lavi’s words in a way other than anger, but because of how much the sight amused him, the redhead didn’t bother making a comment about it in fear of ruining it.

“How I got here, I mean,” Lavi said, pushing himself up to sit. His arms were shaking and he felt weak in general from being under the water as long as he had, he was even surprised to be alive or at the very least not extremely sick. However, he did have a very bad chill, and it made him involuntarily pull the sheets up over his shoulders. “You came and saved me, didn’t you? You didn’t have to. You, of all people, aren’t the hero type, even I know that.”

For a while Kanda simply stayed the way he was, briefly muttering to himself, then he gave a sigh that sounded… strange. Strange for Kanda anyway. “I couldn’t just leave you to die, Komui would be pissed and you know how Lenalee would react. Even the sprout would definitely bother me about it and I really don’t want to hear his complaints.” Somehow Lavi got the feeling Kanda wasn’t telling him the whole truth.

The older of the two slipped his crossed legs so they were both undone and laying over the side of the bed normally, and then he leaned forward a bit. His hair slid over to cover most of his face, making it impossible to see from the side for sure. “Anyway, what the hell happened back there? How’d you get into that lake? An akuma, right? Why did you be so careless as to let your guard down?”

A deep frown stuck itself on Lavi’s pale from the cold face. His only visible eye filled with something halfway between anger and pure discomfort. When he opened his mouth to say something, he paused first, closed it, looked down, then opened it again to speak. “I, uh… I was distracted over… well… It’s embarrassing, do I have to admit to it?” Kanda would probably laugh at him and call him a gullible idiot if Lavi told him the reason he’d let his guard down was because he was distracted over that very Japanese and the supposed truth.

Kanda looked impatient when he finally glanced over his shoulder at Lavi. “It’s not like I’ll beat you until you bleed if you tell me.” Yet his voice sounded, if possible, slightly shaky too. Shaky as if he were nervous. That alone caused Lavi to hesitate more. If Kanda was nervous, that made two of them.

Lavi quickly thought of a way to change the subject since he couldn’t bring himself to admit what he was going to. “Uh, um, the hell? How’d you get in here again anyway? Whoa! You broke another cabinet?! I feel lucky to be alive right now!” Probably not the best way to get the topic changed, but he’d done it. At least, that’s what he thought.

“Oh, shut the hell up!” Kanda snapped. “You were dying as is, I wasn’t really concerned about the house’s well-being.” It looked like Kanda felt a little uncomfortable admitting to that, because it completely wasn’t his style, but he didn’t bother getting super angry in an attempt to mask it like usual. Instead, he explained. “I noticed a random door close by on my way here while I was carrying you on my back, so I kicked it in. I didn’t realize it was a door to this room and didn’t care. You were freezing and I didn’t want to be burdened with your sick or dead ass, and so I just went with it.”

A small blush shrouded Lavi’s cheeks, and perhaps because of how pale he was at that moment, it was brilliantly more obvious than it’d usually be. Kanda carried him here on his back? Oh, God, why was Lavi getting horribly dirty images at something so stupid as that?! It embarrassed him all the more, causing, much to his dismay, the blush to grow darker.

Across the way, Kanda quirked a brow and peeked through his hair at the slightly panicking redhead. It probably amused him because he smirked. “I don’t even want to know what you’re thinking, you fucking disgusting rabbit.”

“Y-you’re looking at me like that and then say such a thing!” Lavi growled, his throat stinging from yelling too much. He hated himself for letting Kanda see the color of his cheeks, but he didn’t let it bother himself for too long. “Anyway… I should get back out there… show you where the akuma is… or well, I don’t know anymore, but… I think Allen’ll need our help--”

“If it’s just a level 2 like I suspect, the sprout can handle it on his own,” Kanda retorted, surprising Lavi enough that the younger man’s eye went wide and he sat there in silence. The Asian seemed satisfied with Lavi’s non-reply and nodded a bit. “Good, now stay quiet like that and rest your annoying voice. I don’t want to hear anymore complaints later about a sore throat because then I’ll just tell you it’s your own damn fault for straining it more.” Either this was Kanda caring or Lavi was going crazy.

Still, despite his rather pleasant surprise over Kanda’s concern for him, the worry of the akuma started rushing through his mind. Where there was one akuma, there was bound to be more. What if a level 3 showed up? Even a level 4? Could Allen, in his current state from all the trauma these past months, survive it on his own, needless to say handle it? Panic rushed through Lavi’s already bothered chest and he tried to get up, only falling back down onto the bed in the process. But, not one to give up, he tried again. This time he fell forward, a sharp pain shooting up his leg from one of his ankles.

Kanda was quick with his reflexes as always and jumped to catch the other boy, leaning back onto the bed as soon as he had, a scowl having already shifted across his features. His dark eyes looked angry for entirely different reasons. “What the hell are you trying to do, idiot? You’re in no condition to get up, let alone fight akuma. Rest. It’s obvious you strained your ankle again too. God, you’re a fucking pain in the ass really.”

Lavi felt more heat in his cheeks as he leaned against the older man’s body, long arms scrunched up against the Japanese’s muscular yet slender body. “Yu, what about your wrist?” The reminder of his own wounded ankle brought back memories of Kanda’s own injury. He became worried about something other than the akuma now.

A sigh slipped past the other exorcist’s lips and he lightly bonked Lavi on the head with his left hand purposely to emphasize a point, just the fact that he’d hit Lavi so lightly shocking the mongrel for the millionth time. “Did you forget my ability? To heal? I’m completely fine. You, on the other hand, are definitely not. Stop worrying about everything else and focus on yourself. You suck as an exorcist and a bookman. Geez.” While saying all this, Kanda slowly moved Lavi onto the bed again and tucked him back in neatly.

Lavi felt more embarrassed than ever at this point. He laid there with a sour look on his face, staring off at a wall. Having Kanda do all these things for him and even catch the bookman off guard enough to make him blush multiple times in a row was so… And there, he’d just done it again. A cold hand slid across his forehead, causing Lavi to flinch.

A grumble echoed into the small room. “You have a fever, a small one, but I’m not letting you get in the way by trying to fight.” It only took Lavi a couple more seconds to realize it was Kanda’s hand there, the light calluses on the other’s skin making Kanda feel more human than he acted or looked most of the time. Add in the way he’d been acting in this room and he seemed pretty damn mortal.

But speaking of mortal and such, Kanda’s whole healing ability apparently worked, which was a real big relief, but then, was he alright? The last time Lavi recalled him being in severe pain as it healed. And also, why had it taken so long for the effect to kick him for such a small wound? Recalling Kanda’s previous words, Lavi sighed and sank under the covers more. He couldn’t help but be worried. In the end he was just as human as Allen, Lenalee, and most of the Order.

Seeming to sense this, Kanda opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out at first. It appeared he was thinking over what he was going to say so he didn’t say something mean. How commendable of him. “Look, uh, just try to rest or something. You’re going to stress yourself out like Lenalee always does. That girl cares too much about everyone else.” Kanda probably had the right to say such words, after all, he’d known Lenalee longer than most of the exorcists in the Black Order. But then Lavi had to wonder why Kanda was being nice to him. He could understand Lenalee, but Lavi himself?

Perhaps the entire mission had effected the other exorcist in more ways than visible. Maybe this meant Kanda would be this way even after they’d gone back ‘home’? Presumptuous of Lavi to think such things, but it was a nice thought to have a kinder Kanda to bother. Wait, the Order… Innocence…

Suddenly it hit the redhead like an electric shock and he sprung up to sit, only slipping back down to his elbows. “Yu! The Innocence is here!” he shouted, surprising Kanda enough that the older exorcist reflexively grabbed his sword’s handle.

Quickly though, Kanda recovered. “What the hell, Lavi?” Kanda glared at him sharply and slowly moved his hand away, sitting back down on the bed, shoulders relaxing.

Frustrated by his predicament, Lavi used one elbow for support and the other arm to point towards a stand nearby where many antiques rested. Most of the things around the room were tipped over and such, but amazingly nothing, less the couple cabinets and whatever was inside them, was really broken. The particular stand Lavi found himself pointing to had a bunch of different things on it, including a few jewelry boxes, but he couldn’t quite figure why that one in particular had been the one he’d randomly picked.

He ended up trusting his own instincts though and kept pointing to it, staring at the little wooden holders. “Yu, God, the Innocence, I swear. I swear it’s there for some reason. I dunno why, but I can feel it. I had this weird dream… a-and there was a little girl. There was a music box. And, uh, the Innocence! It’s there, please, um… please just look for me?” A pleading expression ended those words as Lavi stared into Kanda’s disbelieving eyes.

The Asian grunted and glanced toward where the younger’s hand was pointing, then placed a hand on the bed, getting ready to get up. “You’re sure about this? Not that I believe you based off a stupid dream, but… I’ll get it for you if you’ll stop straining yourself and making my job harder than it already is.” Lavi quickly nodded in agreement and that was all it took for Kanda to push himself up and wander over to the stand.

Kanda returned to the bed after grabbing a hold of the three boxes that were on the piece of furniture, then rested them on the mattress. Lavi waited anxiously as Kanda opened the first one. Empty. “Let me try one, Yu,” Lavi insisted, reaching his hands out. Kanda gave him a look of annoyance, because certainly he was capable of doing this himself, but handed over one of the other boxes anyway.

All three boxes were different than the one in his dream had been. Lavi began to doubt his instincts then, so when he opened up the biggest one that Kanda had handed him, he was in awe to find a small six by four by three inch box stuffed inside, an intricate rose design carved into the top of it. His eye grew wide as he pulled it out and tossed the bigger box aside. “No way, this is the same one from my dream… So then…” As he lifted the top gently, music began to play, softly and sweetly, as a small crank on the bottom of the box turned.

This had caught Kanda’s attention, who set yet another empty box down and peered over at the music box in Lavi’s hands. The same figure of two cats had popped up and started spinning around in a circle, much to Lavi’s amazement. He couldn’t remember the last time this happened with one of his dreams.

The only difference this time was… “I’d forgotten in my dream, but now I remember it. This melody’s called ‘Traveler’s Lullaby,’ it’s extremely old. They don’t even know who originally wrote it, but… It’s what nomads would sing along the road.” Lavi could recall many times when Bookman and himself had been traveling and heard mothers on board their hitchhiking rides humming the tune to their children. It was calm, soothing, beautiful. The tune itself was similar to the 1864 American song ‘Beautiful Dreamer,’ but definitely not the same.

Kanda tipped his head curiously. He reached forward and went to close it, but Lavi stopped him by slapping his hand away. “What does this all have to do with Innocence, rabbit?” The question came out in an impatient tone, but Lavi could tell Kanda was really trying to hold himself back. Truly, he was grateful.

“In my dream, it was in here… ah!” Lavi pulled his fingers back quickly, slightly cringing. A small bit of blood trickled down his pointer finger on his hand and Kanda stared in confusion. “Something sharp…” Lavi tried again, reaching inside the music box and this time gently pulling out a snowflake-shaped pendent. “It’s cold…”

“And you expect me to believe that that is the Innocence?” Kanda asked, skeptical. When Lavi nodded in response, Kanda rolled his eyes. “Okay, then tell me, why is it not in its original form? If it’s like this, that would mean its accommodator is here with us, right? Then where are they?”

Lavi slowly closed the music box, the melody being half-way interrupted as he did so, and he gently placed the box down, examining the beautiful charm in his other hand. “I don’t know, but in my dream there was a little girl, Timothy’s age maybe… I wonder if she was the one.” As Lavi raised it up, the cold metallic material against his fingertips, it twinkled brilliantly in the dim candle light of the room. It was gorgeous, like a crystal or diamond, sparkling in a way that it’d mesmerize any mortal.

This had to be Innocence, there was just no way it couldn’t be. It was emitting its own freezing aura into the air, possibly the reason the entire room’s walls and doors had been glazed over in cold. It all made sense now almost in an instant.

Kanda crossed his arms and turned away, muttering to himself about how stupid this all was. However suspicious this seemed, Lavi didn’t make a single comment on it, more focused, hypnotized even, on the pendant in his hand. Perhaps this little anti-akuma weapon was the reason the blasted akuma was really here. Maybe it’d all been a lie about her loving him, or perhaps the Innocence itself made the akuma think it did. Either way, it felt like it had some sort of pull to it.

Something else clicked inside Lavi’s mind just then as he recalled the reason he’d been distracted enough to get knocked into the lake. Ice… Something had frozen his dragon of fire in mid-air! It was very possible this very piece of ‘jewelry’ he was holding in his hand was responsible. It would make sense -- a snowflake pendant that had the ability to freeze things into ice, an interesting Innocence for sure.

“I don’t get why you’re still in denial about this being Innocence,” Lavi commented to break the silence that had befallen onto them. “Something froze my fire seal’s attack into ice back out there, and that’s why I ended up getting knocked into the water. I was distracted by that. Don’t you think there’s a high possibility this is what caused it?”

Kanda ‘tch’d’ and glanced back at his comrade. “Oh, yes? And why would another exorcist stop your attack? If one sided with the Earl, logically their Innocence would betray them. It makes no sense.” Lavi couldn’t remember Kanda being the rational type, but to which their own in this case it seemed.

Lavi, however, had his own theory in mind now that things started to make more sense. “But Yu, what if they aren’t sided with the Earl? What if that akuma is someone important to them and they were only protecting them? Think about it. There was a little girl in my dream, for Pete’s sake! And remember what Allen and I told you about Crowley and Eliade?” Which was true. There was definitely a high possibility of this. Someone who had no idea about the Order and all that was innocent.

Much to Lavi’s dismay, the other exorcist was still not buying into it and only shook his head. He pushed himself onto the bed a little more and began fiddling with Mugen, not making another comment on the matter. Apparently Kanda wasn’t going to change his mind so easily about it all simply because of Lavi’s dream.

A momentary pout struck across the redhead’s lips, but it quickly faded as he watched the older man. He genuinely wondered why and how Kanda was doing such a good job of holding himself back from taking a fit right now. Could all of that meditation have come in handy or was something else at work here? Certainly one could call this a ‘miracle.’

“Um… Yu…” Without his own realization, Lavi had called out to the older exorcist in a gentle tone, his green hue glinting in the dull glow of candles. Suddenly his mind was swept away from the worry of the Innocence and everything else, to the very man in this room with him. “Yu, I… why do you have to be so cold? You… I just…”

Kanda didn’t respond, simply running his fingers over the sheath of his dear Mugen, his dark hues almost pitch black with what little light there was in the room, completely blank of emotion. At night his eyes always looked like they could blend with the very blue sky outside, the stars similar to the light twinkle of white in them every so often when he moved just the right way. It told Lavi he was thinking to himself, too caught up in his thoughts to be bothered by anything else.

Despite how Lavi was aware of this, he didn’t want to just leave things as they were and complete the mission. He still felt something for Kanda. He may have been unsure of what exactly, but he knew something was definitely there. Deep within the beating chambers of Lavi’s heart was a muffled pain, quiet but apparent, showing on his expression as he recalled it.

Shaking from more than the chill he had, he shifted the pendant down to his lap, holding it in his hands that were now resting there. He stared at it, trying to ponder what to do next, but nothing in particular came to mind. But, because he couldn’t just leave this as it was, he looked back up at Kanda, lips parting. “Yu… you kissed me…” The words were gentle, vulnerable, aggrieved, and Lavi felt completely unable to hide the ache he was feeling in his voice. “Why?”

Maybe Kanda wouldn’t respond, maybe this whole mess was completely Lavi’s own fault in the end, maybe they’d have to stay this way, confused, or worse… what if this drove them to the point where they both failed at their innermost desires? It was certainly distracting enough, doing so much as to make Lavi incapable of hiding his true feelings and detaching himself from caring like he’d been trained so many times to do. Kanda too even, he’d acted so strange this entire time.

The single grass-green eye Lavi didn’t have covered up moved from the wall, to random cabinets, to Kanda again, then back to the snowy pendant sitting in his lap. He secretly wished he could experience this feeling of attachment more, that it wouldn’t ruin everything for the both of them. Alas, with how badly it put their minds on another planet to the point where neither could concentrate good enough, well… things weren’t looking so bright in that department.

As his heart beat hard in his chest -- thump, thump, thump -- he prayed something would happen to just break the tense air between the two. The pressure of everything was rapping at his mind, making the paranoia grow ever so large into the already awful aura. Lavi began to think stupid things, at least, stupider than he’d already been thinking.

But then, what was this? A shred of hope perhaps. Was it possible? Oh yes, yes it was. Even the frightening and dark exorcist sitting across from him had a bit of a heart it seemed. Kanda was staring at him, just staring, bangs making his eyes look edgy and thoughtful.

Lavi’s voice died and he couldn’t speak when his vision met with the other’s, something familiar yet foreign shining in both their striking sights. If he could say something right then, anything, he’d probably comment on just how handsome Kanda looked in the dim light of the room, like a gorgeous, forbidding model awaiting someone to paint their picture in an attempt to even match up to half of their ominous beauty.

And maybe Kanda too was staring back at him in the same way, unable to process the correct words to say. He hadn’t ever been good with words to begin with, so there was no doubt in Lavi’s mind that the Asian wouldn’t have a clue what to utter either.

Lavi wasn’t quite sure what triggered it, their stares perhaps, or maybe the dreaded silence, but he quickly found himself pushed down, pinned to the bed by his hands being pressed above his head and the weight of the lighter man over him. An aggressive look showed itself on Kanda’s face, like an animal in the wild claiming prey or a mate, and Lavi lost his breath briefly.

So manly, he thought in eagerness, driven mad by the fact he enjoyed it. Despite Kanda’s long hair and pretty face, he always acted and made himself appear more sexy and masculine than anyone else Lavi could think of at the Order aside from Allen and Cross. He was hot, period.

He meant to ask what Kanda was doing, but the older of the two wouldn’t let him speak, instead Kanda spoke first. “You think I’m that mean… Lavi?” The way the other said his name sent chills right down his spine as he stared back up into that demonically attractive face. He couldn’t respond, he couldn’t say a word, he just froze up altogether. “Well?” Kanda pressed.

“I, uh. You… I, um, uh. Well…” Lavi’d managed to speak, but the words only came out in a babble. He felt nervous, but he could tell instantly he wasn’t the only one. Kanda’s face was showing something Lavi’d yet again never seen before on it. Anxiety. Without trying to speak again, Lavi simply nodded.

A soft ‘che’ slipped past Kanda’s lips as the older of the two looked away briefly, eyes reflecting the dull twinkle of the candles around them. Then, turning his head back, he took a moment to simply stare down Lavi. It was like he was taking in the image beneath his own body, taking in the way Lavi looked right then for whatever reasons. It was still as hard as ever to read Kanda well, so one couldn’t be entirely sure what he was thinking as he looked down.

What he did next startled Lavi enough that the redhead actually gasped and flinched. He’d leaned his head down, hovering it right by one of Lavi’s ears, breathing hitting the external of it. He was so close that both of their chests were practically touching and they could almost hear each other’s heartbeats. Lavi swore he wasn’t the only one with a faint pink tint over his cheeks.

“I’m going to show you something,” Kanda began, some of his hair falling over Lavi’s body. Lavi suddenly felt far more nervous than before, his heart racing. Kanda paused a little while, as if thinking of what exactly to say next, then let out a soft ‘hah’ before finally continuing. “You had better not forget it, rabbit brat.”