"What are the chances?"

"Well, I am not really sure. It is hard to tell even though he's been damaged this much.. His will is there.. but.. I'm surprised even Bookman couldn't.."

"No.. That's impossible.. he can't.."

"The mission details are simple. I'll say it just in case," Komui cleared his throat as he continued talking, handing out, the two exorcists that were sitting in front of his desk on the couch, a file.

"Finders have discovered, in the southern part of Germany, a small village that seemed to be struck with purple lightning from time to time. Many casualties. There's no specific rhythm in the lightning, so we don't when, for how long, or how many times the lightning will occur."

"Strange phenomena. So you're saying it might be an Innocence fragment, causing all that trouble?", the lively one of the two exorcists asked.

"Not 'might', it's confirmed that there is one present. But there are many level 1 and 2 akuma spotted. The akuma are surrounding the heart of the forest, that's the forest right next to the village. It's a very big forest, so be careful please. There are also many disappearances; you two know what I'm talking about right? Take care of it please."

"Hn. Small fry", the irritated one said.

"Always maintaining a high pride, aren't weee~?"

"Shut the hell up, it's already worse enough I'm on a mission with you."

Komui coughed. "Enough you two. This is an important situation for all of us. There will be a finder waiting for you two at the station."

Kanda closed his eyes and looked aside. "Tsk. Too troublesome."

"Any questions?", Komui asked the two.

"Hmm, will there be hot girl-"

Lavi received a smack on his head with Kanda's anti-akuma weapon, Mugen. The boy immediately got on the ground with an aching head.

"Which part of 'shut up' didn't you understand, moron?", Kanda commented.

Komui smiled innocently. "No? Then, you both are dismissed."

-Germany, in the train-

"Neh, Yuu-chan? Yuuuu-chan? Wait how did they say 'hello' in Japanese.. hmmm.. Kon'neshema? No. Kon..Kon'nichiwa? Yeah! That's it. Wow, I'm so smart! Hello, hello.. HELL-O Yuuu-"

"CUT THE CRAP. WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT?!", Kanda smashed the sheath of his anti-akuma weapon against the boy's face. "You've been calling me for 10 minutes straight. I told you NOT to call me by my first name, and what are you doing, HUH?", Kanda pushed the sheath, with alot of strength, against his cheek. "I'm trying to SLEEP HERE. Piss off. We're in the train for another two hours, I haven't fucking slept at all!"

Lavi moaned out of pain, trying to push the Japanese boy aside. He knew he'd have to beg for mercy. "SORRY!", Lavi got on his knees on the floor of the train. "But, you're pretty talkative aren't ya? For someone trying to sl-"

"Lavi?", Kanda interrupted, with an incredibly cold voice. He glared at the red-head that was on the floor.

"Y-Yes..?"

"Just go d-i-e", Kanda closed his eyes and got up from his seat. He quickly moved to another seat, further away from the noisy rabbit. He ignored the fact Lavi was nearly 'sobbing' because of his harsh words. Kanda sighed. He wasn't sure if he should start thinking about a strategy plan, knowing Lavi there could always go SOMETHING wrong. The last time they went on a mission together, not only Lavi got his own pants blown up by an akuma bomb because he was in the way, he had such flashy boxers he was forced to immediately run to the store for a pair of jeans or anything else to his taste, as long as it fit. He didn't only cause a huge ruckus with the lady's screaming 'pervert, pervert alarm', Kanda couldn't erase the image out of his mind. The rumored best disco boxers. Kanda 'che'd. Like hell he would ever wear stuff so gay. Besides all of that, why would he, of all things, think about that? Kanda didn't realize he had a slight smile formed on his lips.

Lavi however, took a seat on the spot Kanda sat before. He stared out of the window with a faint blush. Lavi was happy he was on a mission with his crush, Yuu-chan again, but didn't want to cause any more trouble for him. The seat was still a bit warm. Kanda's warmth.. how Lavi longed for, even if it was just for a little while, some sympathetic attention. Kanda was completely out of his reach. Gender did not matter, it was just obvious Kanda would stab him to death for real if he sat in his so-called 'personal space'. Slowly, he sunk deeper and deeper in his thoughts.. until he fell asleep.

Kanda couldn't help his insensitive, detached, unkind, cold-hearted and arrogant nature. He wondered himself since when he started questioning if he said the right things to Lavi. He didn't have the slightest idea. But, he decided to leave all questions unanswered, not only on his own behalf.

After two hours, when it was time for them to get off of the train, Lavi got hit by Kanda's weapon. Lavi was still sound asleep, but on the floor like an idiot, drooling.

"Oi, rabbit. Wake your dirty ass up", Kanda said. "or I'll leave you behind." In the end, Kanda only received around half an hour of sleep. There was no guessing in how grumpy he actually was. Since Lavi didn't really feel like waking up, Kanda got hold of his ankle and dragged him out of the train. It was, for him, probably a better solution than leaving him behind. He wouldn't want to clean up after any of Lavi's messes if he left him alone. That was almost like throwing fresh meat at a hungry predator.

On the station, the somewhat drowsy Lavi carried the small suitcase with a gloomy expression. "Yuu, why are you so mean? Dragging me out of the train like that.. I HAVE A SHEATH MARK ON MY CHEEK! Now no women will.."

"Who said a lady would ever chase you, rabbit?"

"...So cold.. you hurt.. my feelings..!", Lavi set up a fake dramatical play, which got completely ignored by Kanda. He rapidly got driven into an emo corner.

Kanda looked around the station. It was a bit crowded since many people were either walking or running back and forth. Since he couldn't detect the finder that was supposed to be at the station, he quickly stared, with a slight irritation, into Lavi's eye.

"Where's the fucking finder?", the samurai merely grunted.

Lavi looked around as well. Despite of wearing an eyepatch, it wasn't like Lavi's vision was reduced by half. In fact, he saw every movement more precisely. It gave him somewhat of an advantage in battles against akuma. For a moment he acted serious, but facepalmed after ten seconds.

"Maaah, Yuu-chan, too much trouble! I don't feel like wasting my energy on finding a finder that is supposed to find us.. isn't that why a finder is called a finder?"

"Che. The hell are you saying? You lazy idiot. All finders are troublesome. They only slow me down. Their existence only has one purpose, dying like a dog for us. What are they actually doing? They failed to become exorcists, isn't my problem", Kanda closed his eyes and reopened them after three seconds as he slowly continued, "Finders chose for themselves to become finders. They should be ready for the worst case scenario; death. If not, they shouldn't become one in first place and go back to their fucking homes. They exist to die for our purpose, we exorcists exist to kill akuma. That's enough for me. What, information on where they are? It doesn't matter, I'll cut them all down. Our coats are supposed to attract the akuma. It's only a slight different matter with an Innocence fragment. When you look at it like that, finders and exorcists live in different worlds."

'You're a little TOO talkative aren't ya, Yuu-chan? It's rare.. but..', Lavi thought. Lavi just stood in front of Kanda without moving an inch. He didn't react, he just looked at Kanda with a stiff smile. Kanda got irritated by Lavi's dumb reaction.

"WHAT?!", Kanda snarled. 'Is there something on my face or so?', Kanda thought.

The red-head pointed behind him. Kanda simply turned his head a little to glare backwards. Behind him stood a small guy with a yellow coat and a grey backpack; the finder.

"You're talkative today..", Lavi whispered. But, Kanda was able to hear him. Of course, it only led him into an even more grumpy mode. It was scary.

"Well, I guess also hello, Kanda-dono", the finder itched his head, shyly. It was obvious he was hiding the fact he was slightly hurt by Kanda's words. Even so, he couldn't help finding some truth in them, but he didn't want to look weak, so he kept silent about the small truth; which was dying like a dog. He knew that no families would be notified with the death of their child/children, your name would probably be erased from the data. As if there hadn't been any proof you ever existed. All that, to prevent the Millennium Earl creating more, evil akuma. "And hello Lavi-dono, sorry I'm a little late. For your record, finders are completely not what you guys think they are. We look around the world where have been slight rumors of Innocence fragments, and study abnormal phenomena you know? We need to investigate that place all over, even if it takes months!"

Lavi itched his head. "Huuh? But then you're basically looking for exorcists right? I mean.. exorcists become exorcists when they have the Innocence fragment that belongs to them, right~?", Lavi whistled. He really thought he was smart after that comment.

"NO! The Generals do that! Well.. leaving that aside", the finder started.

Kanda crossed his arms. "I don't care, don't wanna know. Won't change my opinion."

"You don't care about anything right, Yuu-chan?"

"Don't call me by my first name. I won't show mercy the nex-"

"LAVI-DONO, KANDA-DONO!", the finder interrupted before there would be a war between those two breaking out. Kanda's eyebrow twitched, finding it completely unacceptable he was unable to finish his sentence. He closed his eyes and sighed, only to control his temper.

"Let's all hold hands and go to the destined place! NOOWW! LET'S GO! For the love of the great God! Don't worry you two, I'll explain everything while we're on the way to the hotel!", the finder grabbed the boys' hands and dragged them along.

"Err.. WA-WAIT! What.. again..?! Let go! People will stare at us!", Lavi said. 'A-Awkward.. this guy.. this finder.. what the hell..!', Lavi thought. He filled up with jealousy when he saw that the finder got hold of Kanda's hand, who got caught off guard. Kanda opened his eyes and started to curse, dragging all attention to himself instead. The finder let go of them as the people were staring like crazy. The finder tried to apologize to those people. Not wanting Mugen up his ass, the finder apologized to Kanda afterwards. The finder had gotten scared by Kanda's death threats.

Nevermind all that for Lavi, he was standing there a little absent-minded. He wasn't following the conversation, nor really payed any attention. Bluntly put, he was hurt. Hurt how someone, on top of that a stranger, could easily grab Kanda's hand. He wanted to be the one holding Kanda's hand. It hurt so much he had to clench his own hands into fists. The red-head sulked inside of his thoughts, without blinking. And who could've thought he didn't smack the finder away? For Lavi, time stopped. He wasn't even sure if he should stay any longer beside Kanda, because he thought it was obvious he hated him. Rather- despised him so much; that's probably the reason he got beaten up by his katana whenever he got close to him.

Kanda looked behind him, only to see Lavi with a depressing face expression. He lifted an eyebrow and wondered if something happened.

"Lavi?"

"Kanda, let's go to the hotel. I want to sleep.", Lavi took their luggage the finder had placed on the ground and strode off. Before Kanda could comprehend what happened, the finder was already chasing Lavi. Kanda blinked, then walked after them.

"The hell are you saying?! It's not even evening. I'm going out there, just so you know. Well, it'll definitely be the best choice. I don't want any of you to slow me down, so take the finder with you", Kanda said.

"Fuck off", Lavi growled. He was emotionally unstable.

There, Kanda turned around with a 'che'. "What the fuck is wrong with ya", he whispered to himself before he ran off, towards the edges of the town. Lavi didn't bother to turn his head, or respond to him. He felt terrible.

"La..- Lavi-dono? Hello? Can I carry the luggage?", the finder asked him.

"No." 'Like I would let you touch any more that belongs to Kanda.'

When the finder finally was able to keep up with the walking pace, he guided Lavi towards the hotel since Lavi actually had no idea where he was going, or in which hotel they stayed. He really just needed an excuse to not see, hear, or even smell Kanda. He was planning to take an ultra long shower, where he could let all his tears out. For him, it was the best way to cry. Silently crying, not knowing which ones were water drops or tears. He hadn't cried for years. Now, he almost forgot how it actually was.. the feeling of crying.

"By the way, my name is Maosa."

"I see."

Arriving safely at the hotel, Maosa went inside before Lavi. He took over with carrying all the stuff, while Lavi just stayed behind to look at the clouds. Just for a single moment. He breathed slowly, enjoying the fresh wind that blew into his face. It made him feel a little more alive.

Lavi became surprised when suddenly, a small rain drop fell on his nose. He gently touched his nose, wondering why a rain drop fell out of a clear sky.

"Rain..?"

Kanda stopped for a moment near a small river, which gently streamed down the forest. Kanda placed down his katana on the ground. He wasn't sure where he ended up, after all the strolling around the forest. Neither did he know precisely how big the forest was. So, he wanted to leave a mark. He mindlessly carved 'Usagi' on a tree. He had only encountered one level 1 akuma so far. He hoped he was on the right path, else he'd just about have to go through the entire forest. No matter how long it would take, he would endure it. He risked his life to find the Innocence fragment, he knew goddamn well that he could only handle three level 2's at a time. It would only be a matter of a bet on luck if he encountered more than three. Well, he was already betting on finding the Innocence fragment on time.

He sighed when he saw there was a drop of the level 1's blood on his coat. Currently, his mind was a little occupied with an survival and killing instinct and.. Lavi. He couldn't help it, and didn't want to admit it, but with the rabbit gone.. he felt somewhat on the lonely side.

"That damn Lavi", he whispered to himself.

Kanda - in the blink of an eye - got hold of his katana, when he heard some sounds not far from him. He took action and hid in the tree, as the sounds were getting closer.. and closer.. until he was able to find the source: three people were talking and walking together.

Kanda finally took a deep breath. He was letting go of the extreme tension he created, with the suspicious noises. He jumped out of the tree and walked over to the people.

"Oi, what on earth are you three doing here? Haven't you been warned.. or something?", Kanda asked them. The three turned their heads to Kanda.

"Oh ehm.. we're just lost", the little girl said.

"Yeah, lost, could you please tell me where the town is, mr. Exorcist? You're an exorcist right?", the other girl said.

"We are travellers", the older man told him with a smirk.

'Lost in this forest hm? Che. I could understand that. But what are they doing here in first place? God damnit. I don't wanna escort them! I don't have time for this', Kanda thought. Kanda pointed east, the direction he travelled from. He sighed before he said the following; "Yeah yeah. Who cares. If you go that way, you'll be able to reach the town. Hurry up. It's no place for you three to walk around on your own at this moment."

"Why is that so, mr. Exorcist?", the girl asked.

Kanda placed his hand on his katana. He felt a weird aura in the air, along with some pressure and killing intent. As if something was going to happen, and these suspicious people here weren't making the bad sensation get any better. In fact, worse.

'I'm just going to bet on this.'

"You three are awfully unlucky being discovered by me, you know?", Kanda said with a cold tone as he got a good grasp on his katana, ready to draw it.

"Maah, look? We've been caught", the other girl said.

Kanda, having understood the situation quickly drew Mugen and activated his Innocence. Before they could change forms, Kanda swiftly pierced the man in his head with his katana. The man fell on the ground, as the body started to disintegrate and turn into ashes.

"One.. down!", Kanda growled.

"TSH! Well, it's okay. We'll just have to kill you instead!", the twins said in unision.

"You won't even be able to land a scratch. I won't show any mercy. Bring it", he calmly said, while glaring at them. Kanda got into his battle stabce, ready to strike at any time. "Or I'll."

Lavi ended up not taking a bath. He refrained from crying. He was sitting on a chair in his hotel room, looking outside of the window. There were grey clouds, covering the blue sky. The finder had went inside of the town, to gather some information. Something was fishy. The weather forecast was completely different. It was supposed to be sunny. The raindrop from earlier had scared him a little, he thought it wasn't possible. But.. judging from the situation..

An hour already had passed after Kanda had left to go into the forest. Perhaps it was a bad idea to leave him alone. He thought it was very foolish. It was probably for the best he had gone with Kanda. How could Lavi be so stupid to let him go alone. There were level 1 and 2 akumas. If anything, knowing Kanda's stubbornness, he might just try cutting them down head on. Lavi felt even worse, thinking about that. He incredibly regretted his decision. Hoping Kanda was safe, Lavi immediately equipped his jacket and jumped out of the window. He had no time to take the stairs, and it wasn't that high.

He ran. Lavi ran so fast as if he ran away from death. He was worried. Every step he took seemed to take ages. He wanted to see him. He wanted to confirm he was unharmed. He couldn't bear the thoughts anymore.

When he reached the edges of the town, it started to rain.

'Just wait for me, you're not alone. We're on this mission together. I..'

"I.. need to return.. ït..".

Kanda, who had successfully recovered the Innocence fragment, placed it in his coat. He was severely injured, and the bleeding didn't really stop. His vision was slowly fading, and his head was spinning. He tried to get up, using Mugen as support. But, he only had to cough up blood. Being ambushed by a fourth level two after having a lowered guard for a mere second, wasn't quite something Kanda had expected. Curse him and his luck, even though he won the fight.

"I.. I need to.. hurry..", he mumbled to himself, before he passed out. Despite the severe damage, his high regeneration rate started to go in process. His wounds were slowly healing.

The impatient red-head explored the forest, looking for any clues or signs. He had been running for around ten minutes straight. After stumbling upon a river, he decided to stop running, only to call out Kanda's name and catch his breath. It was too quiet. Suspicious. No sounds of fighting, or anything else.

"Yuu?! YUUUU-CHAN?! Come out!", he desperately shouted, while panting. "YOU'RE ALIVE RIGHT? YUU?!" Looking around - while his mood and hope decreased with the second - , he found the tree marked with 'Usagi'. He wasn't sure if he should just break down in tears of happiness or sadness. He was confused. Why would Kanda carve his nickname on a tree? He didn't get it.

'No time to lose.'

When Lavi found tracks of an obvious fight, he followed the fresh blood trail with a pained expression on his face. 'I hope this isn't his..'. His face turned pale when he saw the unconscious, somewhat soaked Kanda laying on the ground, defenseless and covered in blood. He didn't hesitate. He ran over to him and called out to him. Kanda was still breathing, which made the rabbit nearly collapse on the ground, relieved. Lavi kneeled infront of the samurai. He could finally let his tears escape, which fell on Kanda's face.

Kanda slowly woke up by all the ruckus Lavi had made. Some of his wounds were fully healed already, but he was in no condition to walk back to the hotel. He wondered why the rabbit was crying. Kanda just looked at him, thinking all kinds of things.

"What.. are you doing, idiot?"

Lavi stopped crying and wiped his tears away. "No..- nothing?! Pff, Yuu.. ya still alive?"

"You bet. As if I would go down that easily", Kanda coughed.

"As expected.. Can you stand? I'll help you."

"I don't need help. I recovered the Innocence", Kanda closed his eyes for a moment and sped up his regeneration, allowing him to stand and walk around as he pleased again.

"Really?! I was worried you know..", Lavi started.

Kanda sighed. "Shut up!"

"I'm sorry, Yuu! For what I said before! I was err.. an.. idiot!" 'I was jealous..'

"Hmph. Don't call me by my first name.. of course you're an idiot! Stop feeling sorry, it was never a problem in the first place."

"But..-"

Kanda pulled on Lavi's jacket, and brought his face close enough to mark his own lips on his. All that, to shut him up completely. Lavi immediately blushed, not believing what happened to him. He felt like he was dreaming. His heart raced, as if he could die in peace right now. When their lips parted, Kanda looked the other way, only to hide his rosy cheeks.

"Which part of 'shut up' didn't you understand.. moron..?"

"I-If it would let you kiss me again, I'd gladly never understand anything of it!", he joyfully replied.

Little did they know, Lavi had attracted quite the attention with his shouts and cries for his beloved Yuu-chan. It lured another level two akuma, which exceeded at shooting fom a long-range. He hid himself somewhere, observing when he should strike.

"Che. Let's go already. It's cold, I hate the rain."

After Kanda and Lavi got up, they started to head east. Kanda walked a bit faster than Lavi.

'Pain.'

Lavi stopped in his tracks. Two dark matter javelins had pierced right through him. One through his lung, the other through his stomach. Blood flowed out of the wounds as the javelins were returning to its owner; the level two akuma.

"Y.. uu..", Lavi was hardly able to pronounce his name.

'Blood.'

Kanda was ready to complain again for him not hurrying up. He turned his head around, and started to rage. Lavi fell on the ground, while Kanda boldly drew his katana to charge the level two akuma head on without giving it a single thought. He wanted to slaughter the akuma, rip it into shreds.

'A-Akuma..? I am faintly able to hear you fight, Yuu. Do not get wounded any further.. finish him off quickly.. hurry.. I want you to be with me.. Am I dying..? Why..? Why is there so much blood? I don't want to die alone.. stay by my side.. Yuu. I'm feeling.. somewhat cold.. Why is the pain fading? I'm sorry.. is it fine.. if I take a little nap? It's fine right..? When I wake up again.. you'll be there, right? I'm glad.. Thank you..'

' ..

I love you. '

Kanda placed a red rose on top of the gravestone. He asked himself how many months it had been, and how many times he had visited his grave. A gentle breeze blew through his long, cobalt hair.

"Lavi.. You're.. truly an idiot, aren't you? Tsk. I never told you to just go die on your own.. if that's what you thought I meant with 'shut up'.."

He sat down next to his grave, and looked at the grass field while holding a box with soba. "I don't know when I have my next mission. I hope never. I want to stay here. I never got the chance to say this but.. for me, you're the only one. I wish I was stronger.. to be able to protect you." Kanda slowly started to eat. "You know, even the bean sprout still cries. Lenalee too. I wonder what you would say, if I told you this. Do you hate me, for not being able to protect you?", Kanda placed his hand on his forehead.

"What am I even saying..? I'm.."

Even though the sky was clear, a rain drop fell on top of Kanda's nose. He was surprised, since it wouldn't be a rainy day today. He closed his eyes.

'You're a little TOO talkative, aren't ya? Yuu-chan.'

holy shet its finally finished ._. sorry for it being sad. hope you like it though! :3 LAVI X KANDA.