Kanda was jerked awake by a sudden, loud rap on his door. He gave the door a glare before standing up to answer it, making sure that he grabbed Mugen along the way.

He was surprised to find Allen Walker standing before him.

Allen looked disheveled and slightly shaken; his hair was matted messy, as if he had just woken up, and sweat was dripping from his face. His eyes looked wild, as if he had just escaped from some horror. Kanda quickly composed his startled expression to one of cold disinterest and he demanded, "What do you want, Moyashi? It's the middle of the night."

"I…I had a nightmare."

Kanda raised an eye.

"I wanted to speak to you about…something."

"Don't be pathetic, Moyashi, it's just a nightmare. Stop being such a coward." Kanda scoffed. But still, he moved out of the way to let Allen enter his room.

Allen entered the room slowly, almost warily. He glanced around the room; it was drab and bare. The only furnishings were a dirty, slightly damaged bed and a table, on which an hourglass rested; within the hourglass was a lotus, the lotus which Kanda's life depended on. Several petals had already fallen off, but the lotus still looked strong and well. Allen wondered if Kanda knew just how much longer he had left. Other than that, there was only a wooden chair set in one side of the room.

Kanda threw himself onto his bed and glared at Allen, "So what do you want, Moyashi?"

"It's Allen." The boy snapped, annoyed. He sat down on the chair, and remained silent for a few moments. Kanda frowned, irritated by Allen's odd behavior. Just as he was about to snap something, Allen began to speak, "I knocked Link out…he wouldn't let me leave my room."

"You're really asking for it, aren't you? That stupid Inspector is going to report your actions, and you're really going to get it from the Leverrior idiot." Kanda remarked, although his tone was indifferent.

"I…I had to speak to you."

Kanda stiffened. His eyes met Allen's, and he looked away quickly. Allen's voice was soft as he continued, "Can I ask you something, Kanda?"

"What?" Kanda's voice was short.

Allen hesitated.

"Don't waste my time, Moyashi. I need my sleep. If I die in battle because of lack of sleep, I'm going to come back as a ghost and haunt you forever." Kanda snapped, glaring at Allen.

"You won't die!" Allen's voice was suddenly vehement as he leapt to his feet. Kanda glanced up at him. Allen blushed and he sat back down, his voice a lot more subdued as he tried to cover up, "I…I mean, you're too strong, there's no way you'll die so easily."

Kanda che'd, "Obviously. So what's your question? Hurry up."

"Neah…he's getting stronger."

"That's not a question, is it?" Kanda asked.

"Not really…I just wondered if you knew." Allen said softly. He studied his hands; his right hand was soft and unmarked, giving no indication of the battles he had participated in. The left, however, looked raw red and was badly scarred, a constant reminder of the fact that he was not, and would never be a normal human.

"…So what? Doesn't make any difference, that dumb Noah won't be able to take over you anyway." Kanda said dismissively.

Allen smiled gratefully, "Thank you, Kanda…"

"Don't sound so weak, Moyashi."

"But no matter what, there's always a chance…" Allen's voice trailed off. Kanda looked up and waited for him to continue. After a long pause, Allen continued, his voice even softer than before, "A chance that I'll lose."

Kanda shot to his feet. With tremendous force, he hurled Mugen straight into Allen's face, startling him. His voice angry and hard, Kanda spat, "If you're going to be such a cowardly guy who's just going to accept what he's given, then you might as well kill yourself right now and save the rest of us the trouble. Go on, do it!"

Allen smiled at his words. He looked down at Mugen and clutched it tightly. Then he glanced up, and Kanda saw the tears that were welling up in his eyes as he handed the Mugen back to Kanda, "I just ask that, when the time comes, you will be the one to do it."

Kanda stared hard at him. Allen looked back, his gaze unrelenting.

After a moment, Kanda took Mugen back. His voice cold, he replied, "I'll sooner die."

And with that, he swept out of his room.