Fandom: -Man

Pairing: Yullen...or AreKan...it's kind of both depending on which part of the story you're talking about. XD

Hello again~! I have presented you with a new yaoi/shounen-ai fic. I'm still so inexperienced with this. ^^; Therefore, any advice you can offer as you read would be SO very much appreciated! If you don't have any advice and just want to tell me your thoughts as you go, that's totally fine, too, I just like hearing from people. :D

Disclaimer: I don't own -Man or the characters in this fic...at all.

Chapter 1

"Kanda?" Allen breathed into the pitch darkness of the bedroom he shared with the raven-haired exorcist.

No answer came from the bed on the other side of the room.

"Kanda," he repeated, barely raising his voice to a whisper.

Still, the other boy remained silent.

Allen hated nighttime. It offered him too much time to think, and he had far too many thoughts. The past just never stayed behind him, despite his attempts to leave it there. During the day, plenty of new problems presented themselves, many of which he could use as distractions from the images that plagued him. But at night, there was little to do but hope sleep would not elude him for too long.

Tonight, he was granted no such reprieve. The only other person in the room was, of course, Kanda, who slept several feet away from him. The Japanese man wouldn't appreciate being woken up in the middle of the night for something like this.

Then again, Allen reasoned, the two had become about as close as they could get without announcing some formal relationship. Maybe Kanda wouldn't mind too much.

Allen rose from the bed, guessing it was around two o'clock in the morning. He'd been laying in bed making vain attempts to fall asleep until finally padding almost soundlessly over to Kanda's bed. Pulling the corner of the blanket back so he could slide in beside the other boy, his hopes were dashed almost immediately.

Kanda bolted upright, snatching Mugen from beside him, and drawing it from its sheathe with unbelievable speed. Sword tip poised almost touching Allen's nose, Kanda slowly regained his bearings as his rapid heartbeat settled back to a normal rate.

"Bean Sprout, what the hell are you doing?" he finally hissed, swiping a few strands of ebony hair from his face. "Do you want me to kill you?"

"It's Allen," the white-haired boy corrected automatically.

"What do you want?" Kanda growled, obviously annoyed at being disturbed. He kept Mugen pointed at Allen's face.

"I wanted…to sleep in your bed." He avoided meeting the older male's eyes, knowing what he would find in them.

"You're kidding," Kanda said in disbelief.

"N-no," Allen said lamely, clenching the blanket tightly in his fists.

Kanda sheathed Mugen, leaning it against the wall beside his bed. He had intended on sleeping through the night, but if Allen slept with him, he definitely wouldn't. Kneading his forehead with the heel of his hand, he glanced up to find the boy still standing, silently pleading to be allowed in the bed.

"Get in," Kanda sighed, throwing back part of the blanket. It was only a twin bed, as was customary in these inns, so space for just one person was limited, never mind for two. Even so, Allen wriggled himself in next to Kanda, who promptly turned his back on the smaller boy.

"Kanda—"

"Go to sleep. We're leaving tomorrow morning."

"I can't sleep," Allen said, turning over and propping himself on an elbow.

"Then go not sleep in your own bed!" Kanda snapped, still facing away from his companion.

Allen opened his mouth to protest before realizing that any of the things he was about to say would sound very selfish. Instead he sat up, drawing his knees to his chest.

Kanda felt the shift of the mattress and a scowl set into his features. "You're going to be tired on the train tomorrow," he warned, sliding an arm under the pillow beneath his head.

"I know." Allen's voice was muffled, and when Kanda peeked over his shoulder he beheld the boy, arms wrapped around his legs, face buried in them.

It wasn't as if Kanda didn't know the kid had a difficult life. Just being trained for so many years by General Cross was more than most people could bear. But Kanda also knew that no exorcist's life was simple or easy, and treating Allen differently would be pointless and stupid. If he started doing that, everyone would expect it from him and then they'd think he was nice.

"Bean Sprout—"

"I just told you it's Allen."

Kanda's frustration got the better of him. Between waking in the middle of the night and then being kept up by the pathetic kid next to him, his mood was less than charitable.

Without warning the white-haired boy, Kanda flipped himself over, grabbed Allen's shoulder and shoved him down on the bed. Kanda leaned over him, his face some inches above the other's. A midnight cascade tumbled from his shoulder onto Allen's cheeks and forehead. Even in the darkness, it framed Allen's face, lit by the glow of the waning moon.

"Don't tell me what to call you," Kanda said, his voice low and demanding.

Before Allen had a moment to respond, Kanda's lips connected with his as if a powerful magnetic force drew them together. He hadn't expected a sweet kiss – or a kiss at all – but the Japanese man's hunger coursed through both of their bodies like electrical currents. Allen was content to follow his lead and allowed himself to be pressed into the mattress as he absorbed the feelings being thrown at him. Every so often he had to readjust himself for fear of falling over the edge of the bed. Once he knocked his head against the wall behind him, biting Kanda's lower lip a bit harder than he meant to. Kanda didn't seem to mind and, if anything, became more aggressive.

When they finally broke for air for more than a few seconds, Allen's eyes began to close. Although he felt exhilarated, another part of him was just exhausted. His head spun slightly from lack of oxygen, and Kanda's partial weight on top of him restricted what his lungs could take in.

Kanda, on the other hand, still held the person who appeared to be his prey down on the bed beneath him. He panted, a thin strand of hair caught in his mouth. The rest had long since fallen from his back, casting intimidating shadows across his face. He was still tired, but after this point, it was always difficult for him to resume sleeping as if nothing happened.

Allen, slightly flushed, ran a hand through Kanda's fine mane. He twirled it between his fingers gently, knowing it relaxed the young man. Despite the fact that Allen himself wasn't sure if he would be able to fall asleep, he still had enough sense to understand that if Kanda didn't get more rest, he'd be almost unbearably cranky on the ride home.

Kanda settled himself once again beside his companion, fatigue overwhelming him. Stifling a yawn, he laid one arm across Allen's chest as if to claim him and sliding the other back beneath the pillow.

"Go to sleep now," the Japanese youth commanded.

"Yeah," Allen yawned openly, eyes closing almost involuntarily.

The next thing he knew, he was being shaken roughly awake.

"Bean Sprout, get up!" Kanda barked, tearing the covers from Allen's body.

The colorful glow of dawn had almost worn off, rays of accursed sunshine penetrating the room. Allen was not one for waking on demand and instead buried his face in the pillow. Kanda's rant continued.

"It's your fault I woke up late," he seethed, ripping the pillow from Allen's grasp to throw it across the room. "The train leaves in half an hour. I won't wait for you if you're not ready. Damn it, why couldn't you just sleep by yourself?"

Allen groaned, curling up and covering his face as completely as he could with his arms. A few hours of sleep were more than he got on some missions. When he did sleep, he relished whatever he was allowed and begged for more.

"Bean Sprout," Kanda growled warningly. He truthfully wouldn't have cared either way whether or not Allen stayed behind. At the same time, the idea of Komui lecturing him when he returned on his own was even less appealing. There was a part of him that cared for Allen, even if he denied it most of the time. It wasn't that he couldn't accept what he felt. He admitted it, just not to anyone other than himself and Allen. Not to mention, it was easier to keep from other people if he pretended those feelings weren't there no matter where he was.

A rustle from the bed made him turn. Allen sat up, glaring at him, white hair sticking up in all directions. His slate blue eyes bored into Kanda, who released the hair he had gathered to tie in a ponytail.

"What?" he asked impatiently. Did this kid not understand that they had to leave?

"Stop calling me that!" Allen snapped. "Is your memory so bad that you can't remember my name?"

"Che. If you have time to yell, you can get up so we can get out of here." Kanda pulled his hair back again, tying it in a high ponytail. It swung to the small of his back as he gathered his suitcase and fastened the belt holding Mugen around his waist.

Seeing that his outburst had little effect on Kanda but make him angrier, Allen slid out of bed to get dressed. Kanda exited the room and closed the door behind him. When Allen opened it, he was surprised to find the man nowhere in the corridor, and as he made his way downstairs, nowhere in the inn at all. The jerk really had left without him!

How could he do that when he knew very well that Allen's sense of direction was poor at best? Allen dashed through the streets in search of his fellow exorcist, eventually finding him as he entered the train station.

"Stupid Kanda!" he shouted upon sight.

Kanda halted, looking back at the boy. "So you decided to get up?"

Allen ran the rest of the distance only slightly faster than he had travelled the streets, bending over supporting himself with his hands on his knees. "Why did you leave without me?" he asked once he'd caught his breath.

"I warned you I would leave," he replied casually, continuing to walk.

"I didn't think you actually would," Allen mumbled.

Kanda glanced down at him in disbelief.

"Well, I thought…" Allen began to explain, then cut himself off.

"What? That I wasn't serious?" Kanda guessed. "Not even you could change me that much. This is a mission. That's all."

Allen remained silent as they boarded the train just moments before it left. Had he thought Kanda would have a change of heart? It confused him a little that after sleeping with him and kissing him and them being sort-of-not-really going out hadn't changed his attitude all that much. The only time he seemed really different was, well, in bed.

Allen shook off the thoughts, sitting across from Kanda in the train car. The older boy already looked as if he were falling asleep.

"Kanda—"

"I'm sleeping alone."

Allen sighed, laying down on the bench to do the same. What was the point of talking to someone when they were as arrogant and domineering as the person before him?

It wasn't long before the sounds of Kanda's rhythmic breathing echoed faintly through the confined space. Allen listened to it the whole ride back, unable to even doze.

Please review if you're so inclined! Any critique is welcome, just please be considerate. If you're not a fan of the pairing...well, that wouldn't make sense if you've read this far, would it? XD I'll have more chapters up soon, since the story is already finished.