Don't mind the title, I just didn't have any idea XD

Fire and Ice

Kanda jumped back to avoid being crushed by the giant hammer that crashed to the ground where he had stood a moment ago, scoffing. How the hell was he supposed to predict where the damn thing was going to land?! It had been a while since he had had an opening and he could do nothing but try to avoid getting reduced to a bloody pulp.

Lavi was quite enjoying himself. His friend was disadvantaged and couldn't reach him. He wasn't reckless enough to try to stop Tessei either, having seen the hammer's destructive power at work before. However, time passed without either of them having the advantage and his arms felt heavier by the minute. Just how long had they been fighting, anyway? He glanced up, searching for the sun's position.

A moment of distraction was enough to give the other the occasion he was waiting for: before the Bookman apprentice could blink, a cold blade was against his neck.

"You win."

A smirk appeared on the Japanese man's face as the other let himself fall to the ground, panting. He sheathed Mugen and leaned against a tree, wiping the sweat off his forehead.

"Whoa. What a fight! We've done quite a bit of damage, though… Komui won't be happy with us."

His cheerful tone oddly contrasted with his words. The forest around them was in a pitiful state: in some places, the ground was sunk and many of the trees bore huge gashes, when they weren't sliced in two.

"Che. It was your idea. You take the blame."

"I expected nothing less of Yuu."

"Don't call me that!"

The younger boy received a cold glare and seemed to shrink but after a while, a comfortable silence installed itself between the two of them. Kanda's grey eyes were closed and Lavi stared at the sky, thoughtful.

"Hey, Yuu?"

"Don't call me that. What do you want?"

"Do you think the others will remember us when we're gone?"

The exorcist cracked an eye open to stare at his comrade, suspicious and wondering if it was Lavi's idea of a joke. Seeing him serious was rare and, usually, not a good sign. It wasn't like he gave a damn about what people thought of him.

"It's none of my business. And I won't die yet. Neither will you."

The other sighed at his friend's last comment. No, he wouldn't die. Not if he could help it, anyways. Unless he did something really stupid again. Like setting himself on fire (he wondered when he'd hear the end of that one… Oh well, it had worked, hadn't it?). But someday, when he wasn't needed anymore, "Lavi" would disappear and he'd become someone else. For a moment, he wondered what kind of person his 50th alias would be… Would he fake his death? Or just leave one day and never come back to the headquarters the exorcists affectionately called "Home"? He didn't know which option was worse, but something told him that his friends would kill him for good if they ever found out he was alive. Well, not him, but his body anyways. Shivering, he redirected his thoughts to the conversation. Sort of. It was pretty much impossible to have a real conversation with Kanda. He frowned when a detail from the other's answer struck him. The "I won't die" reply was a typical Yuu thing to say, but where did the yet come from?

"Yet? How many petals are there left?"

Kanda didn't answer, visualising the hourglass that contained his lifeline behind his closed eyelids. How many were there left? It had been a while since he had dared to count them. He clenched his fists, ignoring the fact that his actions wouldn't go unnoticed by the sharp green eye. Would he ever get used to his curse? Without it, he probably wouldn't have survived that long, but depending on a flower wasn't something his ego took well.

"Why do you care?"

"Because you're my best friend" or "because it's my job", would have been the truth, but none seemed to fit. The first one would probably have caused him severe injuries, and the second wasn't something Lavi would say. None of his forty-eight previous personalities would have minded, but that one did. And so he stayed silent, letting the silence claim its place once again.

"What about Lenalee?"

The cold eyes flickered for a moment before settling themselves on the bookman apprentice, guarded.

"What about her?"

"I'm sure she'll miss you. You've practically grown up together, right? You were the only one around her age when you first came to the order. And she loves everyone, no matter how antisocial they are."

"Che. She's a strong woman, she'll get over it."

Lavi doubted it was true. In the last two years, he had spent so much time with the young Chinese exorcist that he had slowly begun to understand her conception of the world. Her world was composed of the members of the Black Order. Of all the Finders, exorcists, scientists and all the people she had met within the headquarters or in missions. In it, some persons were more important, like bigger pieces of a puzzle, and he supposed Kanda was one of them. So she wouldn't take his disappearance well. Or his own, for that matter.

"Do you think Allen will be able to protect her for us? I mean, he wouldn't let anything happen to her, right?"

He thought he heard something like a muttered he'd better not, but it could have been his imagination. Their affection for Lenalee was one of the main things that held their unorthodox friendship together. They both would have given anything to protect her, because she was everything they weren't. Because she could care and love freely, cry and laugh when she felt like it.

Kanda couldn't help wondering who she would run to when she was frightened when he wasn't there anymore. Who would listen to her fears without judging her, and comfort her in silence? Who would fight off everything that threatened her?

Lavi remembered the times he had supported the girl when her legs failed to do so, the times when he had held her while she was unconscious, the moments when he had forced her to see the truth she didn't want to believe.

They both had their place in her world, even though it was maybe a smaller one than Allen's or Komui's, and she would miss them, even if, in their eyes, they didn't deserve it.

"Yuu?"

"What?"

The red-haired exorcist smiled, because no death threat came with the reply.

"You like her too, don't you?"

A long silence followed his words, and the other feigned not having heard him. He grinned; his green eye had caught the faintest hint of a blush on the stoic young man's cheeks.

"Let's get back inside. I'm hungry"

Lavi was startled when a pale hand suddenly appeared under his nose and stared at the other in surprise, cautious. He hesitated for a moment before letting the other help him up, knowing it was more than a simple gesture. It was a promise. A promise that they would live another day for the girl they both loved. And maybe for each other, too. Because they cared far more than they should have, or ever would have admitted.

...That's it.

It's my first D.Gray-man fic... And it's harder than I thought Oo

These pairings (and frienship fics) need more love!

Oh well, hope you liked it, and that they aren't too out of character. Maybe I'll make a series of oneshots, as I have a few similar ideas. Does anyone think I should?

Uh... I was going to write something else, but I forgot...

Please, please, please review?