A long haired swordsman barely dodges a poisoned bullet, slashing through a pair of mechanical demons with practiced ease. The machinery screeches as the glowing blade cuts them apart, and they explode in a fiery end. Not skipping a beat, the exorcist moves on to another target. A level 2 Akuma rushes at him and he slides under it expertly, running his katana across it's torso. The thing utters a hoarse scream as it blows up.

"Moyashi!" The exorcist calls, not receiving an answer. He grunts in frustration as more level 1s gang up on him. He stabs each one, not even bothering to check if they died or not. A huge, white cloak breaks into his field of vision, and a silver-masked boy finishes the last Akuma.

"My name is Allen, baKanda!" The white-haired boy protests. "We've known each other for long enough, I'd expect you to remember that by now!"

"Call me that one more time and I'll gut you." Kanda growls, pointing Mugen at Allen's throat. The Pierrot laughs.

"Please! We both know you wouldn't hurt a hair your precious Moya-" he's cut off as Kanda advances toward him in a very menacing manner. "On second thought, maybe you would!"

Kanda scoffs, sheathing Mugen. "Whatever. Just hurry up, we have Innocence to find."

Allen follows the other meekly, keeping his Innocence invoked just in case. The mission he and Kanda are currently on consists of finding another piece if the holy 'God Crystal' and bring it back to HQ. The usual. Although, neither of the boys was expecting there to be this many Akuma. Low-levels, sure, but even a swarm of flies can be dangerous, if it's big enough.

And neither of them saw the five golden eyes that trailed after them, watching from the shadows.


Allen sighs as he stares out the window of the run-down inn that the pair managed to find. Though the quality wasn't exactly top notch, at least they had a place to spend the night. The dark clouds in the distance rumble, and flashes of bright gold burst within them. A storm was brewing, and his arm was aching.

"What's the matter, Moyashi?" Kanda asks, not looking up from his task. Polishing Mugen is a serious task, one that demands his full attention. If the blade isn't properly maintained, it might damage during a fight. The swordsman did NOT feel like sucking up to Komui for favors anytime soon.

"Do you ever think of what would happen if one of us were gone?" The white-haired inquires, catching his companion off guard. Kanda blinks in surprise, trying to think out his next words carefully.

"Yeah," he finally replies. "But I doubt that'll happen anytime soon. We made a promise, remember?"

Allen smiles faintly at the memory. "Yes we did, didn't we…"

The two remain in silence for a while, one watching the storm roll in and the other keeping his mind focused on his task. A knock on their room's door shocks both of them into silence. They send each other a look of understanding, arming themselves in case of an attack. Kanda stands, his sword in hand, and slowly makes his way to the door.

"Who's there?" He demands, reaching for the doorknob. Allen backs into the wall, arm raised in defense.

"Room service!" A tiny voice calls, knocking again. "I thought you boys might want some beverages and food, you looked awful tired when you checked in earlier."

Kanda opens the door, looking down at the small innkeeper warily. "We don't need anything, thank you." he states. The woman smiles ruefully, showing him a tray of food.

"But you boys need to eat, right? You can't survive without nutrition!" she crows, looking slightly past Kanda at Allen, who looks just about ready to shove his elder out of his way and swallow the tray whole. Kanda looks back at him, internally debating, before relenting. Defeated, he takes the tray from the woman and shuts the door in her face. As he walks back to the bed, Allen frowns at him.

"You could have said 'thank you', you rude baka!" He chastises, sitting down beside Kanda. "Or at least closed the door a bit more gently!"

"I don't trust this lady." Kanda states. "She might have poisoned this stuff."

"Nonsense! She's kind enough to make us anything in the first place!"

"Why would she make anything for us, anyway? There was no sign at the entrance that said 'Bed & Breakfast', if I remember correctly."

"Just shut up, baKanda." Allen grumbles, taking a bowl and spoon for himself and eating some of the oatmeal-like substance. "Be grateful for once."

"Hey, wait a second Moyashi! At least let me check if there's-"

The older exorcist isn't given time to finish his sentence before Allen pitches forward, unconscious. The bowl of slop sliding off his lap and spilling onto the bed.

"MOYASHI!" Kanda yells, catching his partner at the last second. Panicking, he brushes everything off the bed in a loud clatter and stretches Allen out on it. He brushes the boy's hair back and puts his hand against his forehead. The white-haired's temperature was abnormally high, especially for someone who was perfectly fine a few seconds ago.

The food.

Without a second thought Kanda lifts Allen's torso off the bed and holds him steady, silently apologizing, delivering a swift punch to the boy's stomach. The reaction is immediate: Allen instantly throws up the few mouthfuls of the wretched stuff he ate before. Using one of the pillowcases, Kanda wipes up the bile and tosses it to the floor, checking the younger exorcist's temperature again. Still high, but not rising. That's good. He checks his pulse, his breathing, he pulls back each eyelid to check pupil dilation. Everything he can think of, Kanda does it. With Allen's life potentially in danger, he has to. He promised.

If he'd have looked out the window he would've seen the ends of a familiar, striped turban disappear into the falling rain. Thunder roars overhead, and lighting illuminates the silhouette of something that looks eerily human.

He sends a message to HQ via golem, requesting urgent aid. The medical team reaches the inn within the hour.


A certain future Bookman watches from across the hall as Komui, the Head Nurse, a handful of HQ's most skilled doctors, and the Order's beloved Kanda Yu fret over Allen's hospital bed. Though, for Kanda, he wouldn't really call it 'fretting'. More along the lines of 'internally screaming in anguish'. Yep, that's exactly it.

Lavi moves away from the wall into the room, listening to everything everyone has to say. It's his job, after all, to record every little bit of history that unfolds. The doctors mutter amongst themselves in codes, something only medics would understand. The redhead finds it useless to figure out their 'language', seeing as he would probably never have the chance to use it. He's only be the subject of such chatter, given his current profession and it's hazards.

"It's a good thing you acted so quickly." Head Nurse praises Kanda. "If you hadn't, who knows what condition Allen Walker would be in right now."

"From what the doctors told me, he's in a comatose state right now." Komui reports, looking down at the clipboard in his hands. "There has been minor damage to his digestive and nervous systems, but there's a bit of damage to his brain that seems a bit worrying. That's probably the cause of his coma, though. When he wakes up, he should be perfectly fine."

"And when exactly is he going to wake up?" The sword-wielding exorcist demands threateningly. The flock of lab-coat-clad bozos look up at this question, all proclaiming different theories at once.

With a sharp bark, Head Nurse quiets them all. Recollecting herself, she turns to Kanda and states "We don't have a set date just yet. The extent of the damage is unknown to us, especially given that we're dealing with a poison we've never seen before. It would be best to assume Allen will not be waking up."

Kanda visibly recoils, immediately replacing every one of his feelings with anger. "He's gonna wake up, damn it! He'd better wake up, or so help me I will beat him up so bad even the Usagi won't recognize him anymore!" He seethes, hiding his eyes behind his bangs. Lavi knows; he knows that his friend only does that when he truly doesn't want people to guess his emotions because, no matter what everyone else says, Kanda can be read like an open book. His eyes tell everything that his face and body language do not.

Eventually, everyone leaves the room. But Lavi remains. He must, for the sake of recording history.

For the sake of watching over his friend.

Long after night has fallen and the stars have blinked awake, the redhead hears the furtive steps of someone approaching the room. Calm, calculated steps, used to maneuver around enemies in the heat of battle. Those kinds of steps. The Bookman in training doesn't look up when Kanda walks into the room, he doesn't say anything when his best friend sits beside Allen's bed, takes Allen's hand. He keeps quiet as time ticks by, the pair illuminated by the moonlight from the open window.

"Where are you, Moyashi?" Kanda asks, voice hoarse. "Can you hear me?"

Silence reigns, and more time passes. Kanda eventually ends up leaning against the bed, watching the moon crawl across the sky in her faraway orbit.

"Hey, do you remember that time we got caught in that snowstorm, Moyashi?" The swordsman inquires, addressing the boy asleep on the bed. "Sister-complex made everyone go outside and shovel all the snow."

He scoffs quietly, the memory bringing a smile to his face. "Yeah, I remember the baka Usagi pushed you off the balcony. You fell head first into that giant snowbank!"

Lavi smirks a bit at that. Oh yeah, he was a cruel friend when push came to shove, literally. He listens, intrigued at where Kanda was going with this.

"And there was that time we were training by the river, and you fell in!" The long-haired exorcist actually laughs at that, albeit softly. "You had to walk back to HQ with your entire uniform soaking wet!"

He grows silent. Lavi breathes in slowly, trying not to alert the other of his presence. He watches as Kanda reaches up behind him to grasp Allen's hand. With a knowing smirk, the redhead witnesses the scene unfolding before him.

"I don't know anymore, Moyashi. It's just… I'm glad I met you, I guess. Yeah, we're both fucked up in the same ways, I guess. I was… Happy to find someone just as twisted as I am."

The sword-wielder sighs, looking up at Allen's face sadly.

"I already lost one person I cared for, I can't lose you too." He confesses, giving the boy's hand a gentle squeeze before he stands up, brushing dust off his pants and walking quietly to the door.

With steps like a hunting cat's, Lavi trails after Kanda. He follows the swordsman down many twisting hallways, up countless flights of staircases, all the way to the dorms. Just and Kada moves to unlock his door, Lavi breaks his silence.

"How long?" The future Bookman asks, whispering. Kanda tenses up, but doesn't turn around.

"What the hell are you talking about, baka Usagi?" he demands.

"You know what I'm talking about. Don't pretend you didn't think I already knew."

Dark blue eyes meet the floor, fists clenching and unclenching repeatedly.

"Yuu." The rabbit repeats. "How long-"

"Don't call me-"

"Has it been-"

"My given name-"

"Since you and Allen got together?"

Kanda gives no reply; not turning around, not looking up, not breathing for a few moments. "What does it matter?"

"How long?"

"… A year."


Kanda sighs as he finally closes the door to his room. The damn Usagi wouldn't shut up! And he was listening, in the medical ward?! How embarrassing!

But Lavi was very supportive. He'd surprised Kanda by not mocking or scorning his relationship with Allen, unlike what many others would have done. For once, Lavi had been mature about something other than battles or history.

...

"You really like him, don't you?"

Kanda's jaw clenches and he growls a little bit. "I don't 'like' the Moyashi. We don't have time for mundane words like that."

"Oh, so it's like that, huh~" Lavi teases, his one eye sparkling with laughter.

"It's like nothing!" Kanda snaps, punching the wall. "We don't need words, end of story!"

"Alright. So what do you need?" The redhead inquires, arms crossed and waiting for his reply.

Kanda lets a few minutes roll by in hopes that Lavi would give up and leave, but if course he doesn't. Sighing, he resigns to his fate.

"We made a promise." The swordsman explains. "You better not tell anyone about this, or I'll skin you alive, baka Usagi."

"That's alright, I wouldn't've told anyone even if you hadn't said that." Lavi reassures him.

Kanda opens the door to his room, but is stopped once again.

"Tiedoll is coming to visit in a few days." The rabbit states.

"What of it?"

"Are you going to tell him?"

"-I- am not telling him anything!" Kanda states. "I'd rather die than tell the old-timer, myself!"

The door slams in Lavi's face, but he smiles anyway. That sounded like an indirectly given permission to tell the paternal General what he needs to know.

...

Grumbling silently, Kanda collapses onto his bed and slips into unconsciousness.


Very early the next morning, Komui decides that sending Kanda on a solo mission is the best idea he's ever had. Needless to say, the long-haired exorcist was far from happy.

The train rides there and back were painful, as though the conductor was purposefully driving slow just to piss the older teen off; the finders were completely useless, dropping like flies left and right, and not even finding anything properly; and the hoard of level 2 Akuma was just annoying. Kanda left the battlefield unscathed, but his uniform was completely ruined.

His arrival back at HQ the following day was greeted by a flurry of activity. People were chattering excitedly, Jerry was cooking like mad, and the doctors were all rushing to the medical wing. Alarmed, Kanda pushes his way past a bunch of insignificant people until he reaches his target.

Lavi turns around at the sound of boot-clad footsteps, smiling brightly. "Yuu-chan! Guess what?"

"I have a feeling you'll be telling me soon."

"It's Allen! He's woke up!"

Kanda moves quickly, pushing Lavi out of the way and reaching desperately for the door.

"But, I gotta tell ya, Yuu…"

He stops in his tracks, a cold chill runs down his spine.

Lavi reluctantly continues. "He… He doesn't remember…"

The dull thud of Kanda dropping to his knees reverberates through the hallway.


I'm sorry... kinda...

Anyway, this is going to be a 4-part fic, and hopefully I'll get the last part done by Valentines day...?

So, yeah. Tell me what you think! ^^

~ Jai