Disclaimer: I own nothing~


"Hey, Lenalee!" A cheerful voice rang out in the busy, sun-dappled central plaza of the campus.

The girl with the long dark hair turned and smiled as she saw her good friends coming towards her. "Hello Lavi and Kanda!"

"Eh, Lenalee, do you want to join us for lunch?" Lavi smiled at her. "I think you'd better come, you know. Otherwise Kanda here will feel really awkward playing gooseberry."

Lenalee stared at him, rather dumbfounded. "What?"

"Che. Your friend here has a new paramour again." Kanda finally spoke, thin lips curving upwards into an almost-smile. "Again."

"Oh Lavi, I'm so happy for you! Who's the lucky girl this time?" Lenalee asked, a bright smile on her face.

"Her name's Allen. Actually, you ought to know her, since she takes sociology too. She's probably your junior or something…"

Lenalee shook her head. "Allen? I can't say I've ever heard the name before…"

"Che. You idiots." Kanda turned around so he wouldn't have to face them. Being around them too much would spoil his superior intellect.

"Well, now, we'd better be on our way then. Lavi, you wouldn't want to be late for your date, would you? Come on, move those long legs of yours. Don't tell me that you're already so awed by this girl that you can't even walk!" Lenalee laughed, her eyes twinkling at the thought of Lavi being awed.

"I can walk. It's just that I'm so overwhelmed by the thought of meeting this lovely princess again that I feel so woozy." Lavi gave an example of a stage-worthy, theatrical fainting move.

"Che. Baka usagi." Kanda prodded Lavi forward with the edge of his sharp-edged sword. "Move."

When they got to the cafeteria, Lavi saw Allen sitting near the window, gazing dreamily at her coffee, white hair lying in glossy pools around her shoulders. He felt his heart speed up a little.

"There she is." He gestured to his friends, his eyes suddenly large and heart-shaped.

"Trust you to fall in love with an old woman." Kanda rolled his eyes.

"Oh, Yuu-chan! Give her a chance! And she's not old! Her hair is naturally white."

"Give it a rest, you two." Lenalee hit both guys. They can be such idiots sometimes, the girl thought.

......

"Yo, Allen!" Lavi's heart nearly skipped a beat as he saw the white-haired girl turn to face him. She smiled and waved him over. "Hey, are you feeling better already? Remember, I'm always here for you."

"Yeah, I'm fine." She flashed him a cutesy smile, which seemed empty even then, to his Bookman eyes. But he put that nugget away for the time being, and instead dragged Lenalee and Kanda forward. "Allen, these are my good friends, Lenalee, and Kanda."

"Nice to meet you!" Allen stood up and bowed.

Lenalee smiled and hugged the other girl. She's the politest girl I've ever met! Really, Lavi, she's quite a good catch! You've finally managed to fall in love with the right sort of girl. Kanda, on the other hand, merely grunted and sat down without saying anything to Allen. Allen was going to shake his hand, but he refused to extend it. She raised an eyebrow at him, facial features contorted into an expression of hopeless bemusement.

"Che, Moyashi, I don't touch random people I don't know, especially not when they have weird hair, like yours." Kanda snapped.

"What's a Moyashi? And that's not a good reason to not shake hands." Allen glared at Kanda.

"It means beansprout, you dumbass." Kanda made a point of rolling his eyes.

"Really, Kanda, how could you be so rude to Allen?" Lenalee thumped his head with her large bag. "Allen, ignore him. He finds pleasure in being rude to everyone."

......

"I hope you had a good time today, Allen." Lenalee smiled at the other girl as they walked back to their hostel together. Earlier, they had discovered that their rooms were in the same hall. That was good. Both girls already felt like they'd known each other for decades on end; they had talked for some hours now ever since they met in the cafeteria.

"Yepps, I guess I did. All of you are very nice people." The reply was generous.

"I'm really glad to have met you, Allen. I already think you're a great person. Who knows, we might become the best of friends in no time at all."

"I hope so, Lenalee."

Both girls chuckled then, equally glad that there was no hint of awkwardness between them at all.

"So, Allen, what do you think of Lavi?" Lenalee prodded, unable to suppress her natural curiosity.

"He's a nice guy, I guess. And his hair is an awesome colour. I've never really seen anyone who has such vividly-coloured hair before. Is it natural?"

"Yes. I'm glad you like him." Lenalee smiled at the confused expression on the other girl's face. It looked like Allen wasn't very informed about love. She doubted if the other girl had ever had a crush on, or a relationship with anyone before. It was good that she could take Allen under her wings, then. Lavi was apt to be too dazzling, and he might scare Allen away without meaning to.

......

Allen spent the greater part of the next month hanging out with Lenalee, Lavi and Kanda. She had lunch with them, she visited Lenalee every other day at her room down the hall, and she messaged Lavi back whenever he texted her, which was quite an often occurrence, taking place at the rate of at least twenty meaningless text messages a day.

And then Lavi asked her out on a special outing. "Allen, are you free this evening?"

"Yes, why?"

"Let's go catch a movie at the cinema later."

"Lavi, you know I'm currently facing financial difficulties. I don't have the money to pay for tickets."

"I'll pay for you."

"…"

"I'm serious. I'm not quite so broke that I can't afford two tickets. Come on, it'd be fun." Lavi put on his best puppy eyes, seeing that Allen was about to relent. "Please? Please please please?"

"Really?"

"Yeah. Come on, Allen, come with me."

"Are Lenalee and Kanda going?"

"No. It'll be just you, and me." Lavi flashed his winning grin again, hoping that Allen would drown in it and fall deeply in love with him like all the many other girls who viewed him as their one and only idol.

"But – "

"Ahh, no buts." Lavi wagged a slim finger at the petite girl before him. "You promised!"

Allen nodded uneasily, wondering how she had managed to get herself into such a situation.


A/N: I'm not really happy about this chapter, but this is probably the best i can come up with. It's pretty short, but the next chapter will be about twice the length hahaha. I hope this chapter isn't too big a disappointment! Reviews are much appreciated, and if you have any constructive comments, i'd be glad to hear them (: Thanks for reading!

(By the way, was Lavi asking allen out on a date too... fast?)

And of course, thank you RedLining, Kichou and plasticfries for reviewing, as well as the people who placed this story on story alert and those who fav-ed it. Many thanks! :D