Triangle Chapter 07

Yey! Chapter 07 is up! I'll keep this short and sweet this time as I need to go to bed XD; THANK YOU to my reviewers! - xXJustAnotherFangirlXx, since you (and Allen XD) asked so nicely, I'll see what I can do, ok? ;3 maybe something like that will happen at the party... ;D! This chapter is longer than normal, but there was quite a bit to include... still feels rushed though /

Disclaimer: Don't own it :O SHOCK!

--

Kanda sat down on his bed heavily, ignoring the creak of protest that it issued as it took his weight, and ran his right hand through his bangs irritably. He was in a flaming bad mood today, and his anger had reached its peak when Lavi had had the nerve to volunteer him for a duet during the coming party. The pissed off samurai didn't bother to read into his friend's actions too much this time though; he had probably done it due to just being, well, himself, rather than because he was in love with Kanda and wanted to do every thing and anything possible with him. Thinking like that was just taking things too far.

Not to mention the way he'd treated poor Allen. He had acted so shamefully, so completely opposite to how he really wanted to be around the younger boy. He knew that he shouldn't have snapped, shouldn't have been so short with his very few comments, shouldn't have avoided eye contact. Why couldn't he take a leaf out of Lavi's book and open up, even just a little, to the Moyashi? Or, failing that, at least let the white haired exorcist know that he actually liked him. How could he allow him to think that all he wished was for his death? It made Kanda's heart practically bleed just thinking about it.

A light knock on his door startled him slightly and stopped the stream of Lavi-and-Allen-related thoughts; he looked up at the solid wooden entrance, glaring at it as if he was considering threatening the object. Who had followed him from the meeting and was now demanding entry to his personal area? If it was Allen, then that was perfectly fine; he would be able to at least attempt to utter an apology. If not, then he was likely to cut them down with whatever he could find.

"Who is it."

It wasn't a question. He said the words harshly, barking them out as if they were meant to insult. The person on the other side of the door, however, either failed to notice his tone or chose to ignore it.

"It's Lenalee. Can I come in for a bit please, Kanda?"

He almost rolled his eyes at the door, but then reminded himself that she couldn't see the gesture. What reason did she have to come and visit him?

"If you must. But literally 'for a bit'."

'I'll find out soon enough', he thought as the Chinese girl entered, bringing in her glowing smile with her and making the dark room seem much lighter than before. She directed the smile at Kanda, playing with a piece of her short hair as she did; she twirled it round her index finger tightly, letting it become curly before releasing it and allowing it to return to its original straightness, before repeating the feat all over again. If anyone else had been present, then they might have been led to believe that she was trying to flirt with the Japanese man. Said man knew better than to think in those ways: Lenalee didn't want him. She wanted information. Now.

"Hi, Kanda." She said simply, her beam intact despite the glare she was receiving. "Do you mind if I talk to you? I want to ask you some things."

Kanda raised an eyebrow suspiciously, unsure of her true intentions – who was she working for? If she was here for Lavi's sake, then he already knew how the conversation would go. She would poke and pry at his surface feelings, trying to find even a single cubic milligram of desire for the redhead, then when she found naught he would angrily advise her to leave the room and mind her own business. It's not like he disliked the girl – in fact, he was rather fond of her, no matter how distant he acted with her at times – but he didn't want to have that kind of talk with her right now. In fact, not ever.

"Depends what you want to talk to me about," he said, trying to sound more cold than he was really feeling, "If you want to discuss ways in which we can somehow get Lavi to run around the Order naked, then forget it. I'd rather preserve my remaining innocence, thanks."

Lenalee giggled, finding Kanda's dry and sarcastic humour to be a nice change of pace for him. Not to mention the thought of Lavi prancing around in the nude, laughing hysterically; that brought a slight cringe-inducing smile to her face. "And so would I, to be quite honest. And somehow I doubt he'd do it, no matter what we think of him. He's not that low, although he'd do most things requested of him if he found them amusing enough…"

Kanda sighed lightly, wishing she would get to the point of her visit sooner, rather than babble about a naked Lavi. Lenalee obviously picked up on his gesture of impatience and coughed delicately into her hand, pushing her topic of conversation to one side and forgetting about it.

"Right, yes, the reason why I'm here," she said, a light blush dusting her cheeks, "To be frank and straight to the point, I want to talk to you about Allen-kun."

Kanda had not been expecting that to be her reason behind being there, sitting on his bed with him now and looking at his dark eyes seriously, all previous humour neglected. He swallowed nervously, hoping that she wouldn't notice.

"About the Moyashi?"

"Yes, Kanda, about the Moyashi."

"The cursed Moyashi?"

"How many Moyashis do you know, exactly? Yes, of course I mean the cursed one." She couldn't help adding on a "BaKanda" for her desired effect. It worked: Kanda then proceeded to blush ungraciously as Allen's nickname for him came into play.

"What about him?" He asked, completely ignoring her last word and pretending that he had never reacted to it. Lenalee made a mental note of how he behaved towards the word and filed it away for future reference. "If you want to know where he is then I can't help you. I don't know where he went after the meeting ended – probably went to stuff his face with food, no doubt."

There it was again! Kanda mentally skinned himself as he regretted saying something negative and unnecessary about the person he felt for. Why could he never say what he meant? Was he that out of touch with his normal human self?

"I want to tell you something that Allen-kun and I discussed last night," Lenalee said bluntly, indifferent to Kanda's negativity, "Something that involves you, Kanda."

There it was, she had said it. Lenalee awaited the response she anticipated – having Kanda try and cover up an obvious desire to know more – but the Japanese man just stared back at her pretty eyes, his expression unreadable.

"Che, Do you now." There was nothing, not even anger, in those cool dark eyes. 'Blank face, Kanda. Don't let her know what's going on in that loaf of yours. Keep her in suspense.'

"I do indeed."

Silence.

A cough, from Lenalee, was all that reminded them that they were both still alive.

"Well? Are you going to tell me or not? I might not have looked busy when you came in, but I can think of plenty of things I need to do. So, if you wouldn't mind getting on with it…"

"Patience, Kanda-kun, is a virtue." She sounded just like her damn older brother when she said that. Kanda let slip a 'che'.

He didn't have time to play games with the Chinese girl, not when she knew something about Allen that he didn't. And it concerned him, so really he should know right now. That was the logic he was using to reason with his brain.

"Like I care what the Moyashi has to say about me," he snarled, faking malice. Lenalee almost flinched away from him. "It's probably something immature anyway."

"It's not, Kanda." Her voice was dead serious. Kanda dropped his gaze, focusing on the bed covers that he was sitting on momentarily. "Last night, Allen-kun told me that he… actually, no. I won't tell you. Not yet."

"Che. Baka."

"I do know what that means, you know. I may not speak Japanese, but I've heard you call Allen-kun and Lavi that enough times to understand what it means."

Kanda looked back up at her, wondering just what on earth she was trying to do. Did she want him to cut the information out of her? Although he really didn't want to do anything violent to the female exorcist, he felt that that was the last resort that he would submit to if needs be.

"First of all," she said, unprompted, her tone authorative, "I need to know how you feel. Then, when I have that information, I can tell you what I know. Sound like a fair deal?"

"Che, no."

"Geez, Kanda…"

Kanda shook his head slightly, his long ponytail swishing lightly behind him and flicking his back. "No way; I don't like opening up to people, in case you haven't noticed."

"Do you like Allen-kun?" She asked, her blunt way of speaking returning at full force. Kanda blinked at her, shocked.

"Well, I don't hate the idiot, if that's what you mean…"

'No, I don't like him. I fucking adore the little pest, worship the ground he walks on, smell the clothes he's worn. You have no idea.'

"That's not what I meant, Kanda," she said, frowning a little, causing creases to form on her forehead, "I meant do you actually like him? Like, feel anything at all?"

Kanda paused before answering, unsure of how to admit to anything. He didn't want to – the instinctive fight, flight or freeze reflex began to kick in as he felt ever so slightly threatened, but had no idea why. He wanted to run, fast, to get away from the probing questions that were being put forward to him. He'd never felt so on-the-spot in his life, and was now hating it with a passion.

"Do you want to… kiss him?"

If Kanda had been drinking anything at that moment, he would have spat it out for sure. Instead, as there was a distinct lack of drink present, he simply gaped at her, his mouth open, his eyes disbelieving. Lenalee vaguely wondered if she should have suggested that before getting any kind of response to the previous question. She nervously laced her fingers into one-another, wondering if she should just laugh it off and say she was joking. But no! She couldn't give up here – she was fighting for Allen-kun's happiness! But now, as she chanced a glance at Kanda and recognised the murderous gleam in his eye, she questioned whether or not it was really worth it.

Kanda didn't know what to make of that question. Well, he did, but rather he didn't know quite how to voice it. Yes, yes of course he wanted to kiss Allen, wanted to do many things with him, but he couldn't admit it to the Chinese girl before him: it was like admitting defeat to his emotions.

So instead, he groaned loudly. Lenalee, gaining confidence from his lack of murderous actions, smiled slightly and shifted a little closer to the Japanese man, who's face was now in his palm, thoroughly ignoring her presence.

"What am I to make of a groan like that, Kanda?" She asked, her voice teasing, gentle. He replied by grunting at her, as if she could interpret Kanda-speech. "And that doesn't help either, silly."

Kanda parted his fingers a crack so that he could look at her with one eye, and began frowning angrily at her, wishing that she was as ignorant as Krory. She knew. There was no denying it – somehow, miraculously, Lenalee Lee knew that Kanda Yuu liked Allen Walker. But how did she know? He hadn't confirmed it, hadn't even hinted that he did, so then how? 'Oh yeah, that groan... must be a woman thing.'

"You've already figured it out, Lenalee," he said, his voice muffled by the palm that was attached to his face, "so just get on with it. Laugh at me, fangirl over my feelings, document it and lock it away in your diary. Heck, do what you want, just don't tell the Baka-Usagi."

Lenalee felt a huge blush and squeal building up inside her chest, and worried passively as it felt like she would burst at any given moment. She hadn't known at all; she had hoped, but not known. How could she have, with just that one noise to go by? It could have meant a number of things: Kanda could have done it due to annoyance, due to it being true, due to it conjuring up bad memories (what memories they could be Lenalee didn't know), or even due to a sudden stomach ache. She couldn't believe it. Kanda actually did have emotions after all!

The exorcist unthinkingly flung her arms around the Japanese man's neck and hugged him tightly, giggling like a child would do as she suppressed the urge to call him adorable and pinch his cheeks – Kanda wasn't the pinching of cheeks type of man. He didn't even try to push her off or threaten her life for invading his personal space, but rather just let her have her little fangirl spasm on him - he didn't really care. He managed to crack a grin as a thought crossed his mind while she let slip a delighted sounding squeal into his collarbone: he could use her to his advantage. Having someone know about his burning, inexorable love for the Moyashi would be useful, as now it wasn't a secret and he could attempt to ask her advice on what to do next.

"Hey, Kanda?" Lenalee said a little breathlessly, finally sitting up but still smiling widely, "do you want to know something funny?"

"Go for it. Make my day."

"I didn't know until you said I figured it out. Thanks for that! Before then I was only hoping, not knowing. You're so sweet."

All the colour drained from the samurai's face as he felt like he was going to faint.

--

He wasn't entirely sure why or when he had acted, but currently Lavi was standing up besides the discarded book he had been engrossed in only a short while ago - before Miranda had come in and talked to him – and was hugging the older woman tightly, praying that she would not break the contact and leave him. He needed someone right now more than he had initially realised, and was immensely grateful to have her here, beside him. He just hoped that she understood that.

She did. She understood completely, and accepted his hug as if he was going to have a break down if she didn't hold on to him. Her heart hurt desperately as she tried to imagine the anguish he must have been through, just keeping the information to himself and also not having his love returned; she would have not been able to hold herself together if she had been in his position right now - she would be sobbing in a lonesome corner somewhere.

"Lavi-kun," she said softly, digging her fingernails into the fabric of the forest green top he was wearing, "It'll be alright. It'll all become alright soon."

"Hn." He grunted quietly into her hair, tightening his grip around her upper arms. Somehow, he didn't believe her, no matter how much he longed to.

"I'm sure Kanda-san doesn't have anyone that he likes, so you can just tell him how you sincerely love him, and then hopefully he'll accept you." Somehow, the twenty five year old woman was always scarily positive when the spotlight was not shining on her.

"I wish." Lavi said, the sorrow showing through in his voice, "You didn't see the way he looked at Allen in the Ark back then. You didn't see the horror on his face when he realised that Allen had seen me kissing him. Sure, he'd look like that no matter who it was who saw us, but it was much more… acute, when he looked at Allen. He loves the little Bean."

Miranda patted his back reassuringly, a little unsure how she should react to that. Today seemed to be information overload, and most of her male friends were apparently closet homosexuals. It was all a little bit too much to process in her mind in one go.

"So, you think Kanda-san likes Allen-kun?" Her question stung Lavi, even if it had not been intended for that reaction. "Does that mean Kanda-san likes men in general, or just Allen-kun?"

"No idea," Lavi sighed, "But I kinda hope that it's the first suggestion. Then I'd stand a better chance, no matter how slim it was."

Miranda laid her head on the redhead's left shoulder, breathing in his scent and enjoying their embrace. It felt so warm, so wonderful, so loving. She wasn't used to affection, but was exulted to be on the receiving end of it this time as well as giving it.

"Lavi," she mumbled, "If we were able to stay like this forever, would that be a bad thing?"

He had to hold in a chuckle at her remark. She had ignored – whether it had been intentionally or not was beyond him – his last words, and was instead focusing on the hug. She was a sweetheart sometimes.

"Oh, I dunno," he said warmly, tweaking the pink ribbon that she now took to wearing in her hair to keep it out of her face, "If your breasts magically disappeared and you grew taller, and you became more muscular and went around saying 'che' at everything, then I would have to say 'hell yeah baby!'." – Miranda laughed at this, imagining herself as a female version of the person Lavi had just described – "But for now, I think we should settle on remaining like this until one of us collapses from exhaustion."

She smiled into his shirt. "Is that a challenge?" She asked daringly. She felt him nod at her question.

"Sure, why not. But, be prepared to lose."

As Miranda drew her face away from his body long enough to raise and eyebrow at his certainty of winning their pointless and rather daft challenge, the apprentice Bookman felt so much gratitude for her that it truly felt like it was about to liquefy and come streaming out of his ears. She had diverted his mind away from the pressing matter of he who was Kanda, and had even managed to make him feel happier than he thought possible in his current state of internal turmoil.

"You know what?" He asked as her head took up its position on his shoulder again, "If it weren't for our age gap and my love for Mr I-hate-everything-except-for-Moyashi, then I would most probably label you as a Strike right now and attempt to seduce you, Miranda."

She giggled, muffling the sound with her hand. "Thank goodness for those two factors then," she said lightly, the smile on her lips coming through in her voice, "because I can't ever imagine developing those kinds of feelings for my closest and most precious friend."

Lavi's cheeks burned a fierce red as the words rolled over him; he secretly thanked God for allowing them to become this close without falling for each other.

--

Allen poked the huge plate of food in front of him with his fork, feeling thoroughly depressed; it was so bad now that he had amazingly even lost the will to eat his food. Sighing quietly to himself, the white haired boy let go of the cutlery with a clatter and laid his chin in the palms of his hands, his unfocused eyes gazing at the doors leading in and out of the cafeteria. Ever since his conversation with Lenalee the day before, he had thought of nothing but Kanda. Heck, it had started way before then: he remembered distantly how he had felt when he had seen the man standing there beside Lavi, alive, carrying an unconscious Krory on his back, after Allen had brought them all back from the brink of destruction along with the Ark. And when the man had smiled at the sound of the younger boy's voice calling him BaKanda – that had made the tears increase in his eyes then. Seeing him alive and well (and not to mention topless) had lifted his spirits heavenwards and through the clouds above. Thinking about it now, that may have been the moment when he began to notice that his feelings towards his friend were not like the ones he felt when he saw others.

Lenalee's words had encouraged him and put his mind to rest, making him feel more peaceful within himself, albeit a little embarrassed at having his friend uncover his emotions when thinking about a certain grumpy exorcist. The Chinese girl had urged him to speak to Kanda more, to try and avoid conflicts with him and to have a go at making the man more social. But then he had seen them together… all of his courage had fled from his body quicker than a teenage girl racing to an 80 off sale at her favourite clothes shop.

And now there was the party to think of. What would happen there? Would Lavi make any more inappropriate moves on Kanda? Allen just wished, hoped, that he would have the bravery to casually ask the Japanese man to dance with him at least once.

Ah. But there was still the matter of Kanda's own feelings; it was plain as day that he hated the white haired boy. Or at least, that's what said boy was led to believe. Allen sunk further into his hands as he recalled the way that Kanda had spoken to him that morning; how he had been so curt and rude.

It was there and then that Allen decided not to confess anything, as Lenalee had recommended, unless he felt sure that Kanda at least liked him even a teeny tiny bit.

--

"If you and Allen-kun ever got together, I think I would die from happiness," Lenalee admitted as she ran her fingers through Kanda's glossy hair that was now loose and spilling down his back. She had successfully persuaded him to let her play with it for a little while they discussed Allen-related topics – Kanda saw it as punishment for stupidly thinking that she had already uncovered that he liked the subject of their conversation.

"If we ever get together, I think I'll die from shock," he said, his eye twitching as the female exorcist found a knot in his long hair and yanked it out. "I don't see myself as someone who would ever become intimate with another person. It's just not feasible."

"Yes it is!" Lenalee said, sounding genuinely shocked by his words, "Kanda, I think, no, I almost know that you are perfectly capable of loving another human, and if you took down the barrier that you surround yourself with then I just know that you'll get someone."

"Che, I don't want someone."

"Right. You want Allen-kun." She didn't see the light pink blush on his pale features, but knew it was there regardless.

"Yeah. I guess so." His response made Lenalee giggle girlishly: he was so cute when he stopped being the usual cold Kanda and became the Kanda with normal-people feelings. "But the Moyashi doesn't want me. So let's leave it at that. I'll become the Baka-Usagi's play-thing against my own will, you'll marry Moyashi because he's 100 straight, Miranda will elope with Krory and Chaoji will move in with Noise Marie. Happy times for all."

"You forgot about the generals." She liked it when Kanda went off on one of his few sarcastic rants, and was keen for him to continue. He complied.

"Right. Cross will then abduct Moyashi and force him to work as a slave for his new girl Cloud, and then the other two will kill each other in a disagreement about whether or not they should take you on as a housemaid or not. There, end of story."

Lenalee smiled, glad that Kanda had been distracted enough to not notice her braiding his silky hair and then tying it at the bottom with his usual white hair-tie. He would murder her for that, if he realised in time.

"But anyway, enough of that," Kanda said, making the girl behind him jump a little; it was rare for him to speak unprompted, "Earlier on you said something interesting. You said something like 'Last night, Allen-kun told me that he', and then you wouldn't say what it was that he said. And you also said that it was to do with me." He turned around to face her, oblivious towards the braid and also not registering the smile dancing in Lenalee's eyes. "So spill it."

"But I didn't think you cared about what he thought of you," she teased, glad that the Japanese man had returned to that topic: she was burning to tell him what she knew.

"Well evidently I do," he said, almost starting the sentence with an impatient 'che', "and I'd be grateful if you told me so that I don't have to go and get it out of the Sprout himself."

A look of knowing sparkled in her dark eyes like a fire that had just been lit; she couldn't wait to see the look on Kanda's face when she told him the truth. She wanted to laugh: who could have ever imagined that they would be having a conversation like this? The irony made her positively giddy.

"I am doing this for Allen-kun's sake," she said, relishing in Kanda's impatient expression, "But he is clueless about my being here. He wanted to tell you himself, but I have a sneaking suspicion that he won't say a word. So I'm doing it for him."

"I'll bear that in mind," 'when I get the chance to kiss him. Lots.'

She was practically glowing now. "Allen-kun discovered last night, with my help, that he likes you, Kanda-kun." She paused, enjoying the result on Kanda's face. He gawped, losing his usual look of lording everything over. "And he likes you quite a bit, as far as I could gather. He wants to be with you, but thinks you hate him."

The man felt like he could fly – surely, somehow, wings must have sprouted from his shoulder blades. Allen liked him? Wow. Epic.

But then one very annoying, very unwanted image floated into his mind as he felt happiness like never before. A bright, red and laughing image.

Lavi.

--

Yeah. My attempt at a cliffhanger. Let me know what you think! XD Hope you like it, and review of course ;D I heart reviews! And LaviYuu fans, sorry to disappoint :O but there should be more along the way soon! Same with Yullen /huggles everyone\