Hey~.
I could make some awesome excuses about being worked to death, but instead, I'll let you read, and then make them at the bottom. (Smiles)

Begin.

A-(Not So)- Sexual Man
Chapter the Eighth:
Apple Tree

XXX

"I wanna run and hide
I do it every time
You're killin' me now
And I won't be denied by you
The animal inside of you…"
"Animal" -Neon Trees

"Hi. You've reached our answering machine. Leave a message if you need to, or call back and we may answer. Thanks."

Beep.

"Hey. It's me." Kanda actually lifted his head up and looked toward the bedroom door, through which he could hear the message being left. "Our flight has been delayed-" He didn't realize he sighed, "So, I'm not gonna make it back before Alma and the others get there- but I still need to talk to you about what happened last night, and, yeah. I'll call you when we land- shouldn't be too late. I love you. Talk to you in a while."

Before he realize it, Yuu Kanda was once again distracted from the e-mail in front of him. Leaning back in the desk chair, that was stationed at the simple white wooden desk in the corner of their bedroom, he didn't really pay attention to his hands at they worked through his hair- pulling on little knots as he went.

He felt like a bum.

He needed a shower.

And so with a sigh, Kanda was up out of the chair- not minding the cursor still blinking halfway through a word in the middle of a sentence he didn't really feel the need to finish anymore- Allen had already answered his question anyway. Pulling a pair of loose pajama pants out of the drawer- the last ones in the drawer; he need to do laundry too- and a shirt off the shelf in the closet- there were still plenty of those, somehow- and deciding to continue commando- since he'd run out of underwear a few days before- he made his way sluggishly into the bathroom and easily flipped on the shower.

And as he let the water run over his back a for a few moments before actually beginning to clean up, Kanda made a list- a suddenly, stiflingly long list- of the things he needed to get done before Allen was supposed to get home (but now wouldn't be) and that Alma, Lenalee and Lavi were still going to be arriving.

There was the laundry, as he had already noted. He was in the process of a shower already, for his own personal hygienic needs. But there was also the dishes in the sink that he'd left probably just a bit too long and the dishwasher that was still half full of clean dishes- though most of those had already made it to the sink after being used again.

And for a moment, he was wondering when he had gotten so used to Allen being around to help clean up. Which he answered quickly with, 'he lived here first- Allen had always been there.' Then he remembered the reason that he hadn't been here for a while and was sighing again. Stupid argument- Deal, whatever.

But since Christmas the winter before, it seemed that slowly, Kanda's life had been bridging a gap. Before there had always been his family, and Allen's family- which were both quite crazy in of their own. But recently, it was becoming their family. The two separate entities meshing into an altogether insane ensemble.

His Old Man got along far too well with Cyril, and Maggie's now fiancé, Cross- that was still weird to think even. Lenalee, Rhode, and Maggie were near destructive together. Then, Lavi and Tyki had been getting way too close to be purely platonic, while Lavi and Wisely could talk for hours about miscellaneously random things that would have made no sense to anyone else. Alma and Chaoji- who they'd all just met at Christmas when Robin suddenly announced him as her fiancé (which Allen hadn't been pleased about at all, but that was whole different can of worms) got along a bit too easily, always seemingly able to talk about sports and such.

But then there was Robin, who Kanda had easily taken on as an older sister kind of relationship with- and then the bomb that she'd dropped on both of them last week… Which was an entirely different can of snakes that he didn't want to think about for another two months at least. But- Finny, Cloud and Jude all seemed to get along with Marie, while Cloud and Miranda had even gone shopping together last weekend. Paulie had taken Daisya under his wing and was making even him fit in with them.

And, all the sudden, the two family turned into one and the 'Walker' Family now had a whole new level of Odd. And Yuu Kanda was still trying to decide if that was a good or bad thing.

But then, last night- he gotten a text from Allen, who had been in Texas for the last two weeks (leading to the dirty house) and then had to field a frantic phone call from Rhode, and had been left holding piece to a Walker Family puzzle that he wasn't sure he wanted to hold at all. Because four months ago, just about halfway through the twins tour, Lulu- the outcast Aunt- got a boyfriend, who she already seemed quiet friendly with.

And that e-mail that was still half formed, behind the blanked out monitor, was where he'd been piecing together that puzzle. Because for the last six months Wisely had locked himself away, except for a few moments when he'd opened up or stole Lavi and his paralegal degree in. It was concerning, to say the least.

But with a sigh, Kanda pushed that from his mind and quickly finished his shower.

Then quickly started the laundry, quickly emptied the dishwasher, quickly washed the mountain of dishes in the sink, and then finished the laundry- suddenly realizing he really didn't have that many clothes.

And only as he was moving his notes from last quarter- that he had been reviewing two nights prior back into the bedroom, and onto the bookshelf- did he note that the aforementioned "stifling list" didn't actually take that long. And with a shrug he moved to the bed and face-planted himself there to begin, quickly taking a nap.

Allen would be home finally tonight- so he figured a nap now would be a good idea. Because Kanda defiantly didn't care if as well as Allen being home, that Alma, Lenalee and Lavi would be here- possibly plus a few cousins; because they knew Allen would be home tonight, too. And, quickly, Kanda found he was unable to hold a string of thoughts as he, quickly, fell asleep.

"Here we go again
We're sick like animals
We play pretend
You're just a cannibal
And I'm afraid
I won't get out alive
I won't sleep tonight…"
"Animal" -Neon Trees

And he awoke to his cell phone ringing- just over an hour later- and answered before he was really awake enough to answer anything. "Yeah," he heard himself growl out, face still half in the pillow.

"Morning sunshine," he could hear Lenalee laugh on the other line, "What's your apartment number?" And quickly Kanda had his head up and was looking at the alarm clock on the night stand- to find that he'd wanted to be awake twenty minutes ago.

"Shit," he found himself muttering as he maneuvered out of bed, listening to Lenalee laugh at him again. "560, I'll open the door for you."

"Over sleep," she asked then. Kanda had to scoff.

"Yes," then he had his phone snapped shut as Lenalee began to laugh again. Quickly scooting though the apartment Kanda, snapped the dead-bolt of the door off, before making his way toward the kitchen. In a few moments only he had the coffee pot filled prepped and brewing, just as he could hear noise from outside of the now unlocked door.

"Knock-knock," he hear the familiar feminine voice call, also accompanied by a pair of softly bickering males who he knew would be behind her.

"Kanda," Lavi was suddenly asking as they entered his line of sight, "Are those plants in the lobby real?" And Kanda had to sigh as he overcame the urge to actually growl, and just shook his head.

"I don't think so," he mumbled making his way over to the refrigerator- plucking the milk out and making his way back to the coffee pot. Filling a cup from above it and he added a dash of milk, intent on not listening to Lavi grumble.

"Hah," he heard Alma rebut, "I told you." Putting the milk back into the refrigerator, Kanda finally took time, after a long pull of the caffeinated drink, to look up at his family/friends.

Lenalee turned to beam at him, after a quick look around at the room. The small sliver of a kitchen, with a bar that overlooked into the living room and the small offset corner with a table in it- that they used more for work/homework than dinner. The opposite wall that was completely lined with dark bookshelves- including the lower set one that had the large flat screen mounted above it. The terracotta colored sofa and loveseat stationed in front of it, to the opposite side of the room as the work table, the coffee table between them where the other who wasn't at the table would work. A thick bookshelf was even stationed at the end of the loveseat to work as an end table. The book shelves themselves were always neatly lined with numerous books- mostly about music or language, the more compact shelves held the majority of Allen's CD collection, the rest on one of the three bookshelves in their bedroom.

Kanda settled for a nodding tour; "The kitchen," he gestured to the counter under his hand, "the living room," he moved his head over the bar, as Lavi and Alma quieted to listen. "Laundry room it through there," he added motioning over his shoulder to the lone door inside the kitchen. "Down the hall," he moved his head toward the entrance just behind the loveseat, "the door on the left is the guest bed room, door on the right is the bathroom." Then he had to pause, face pulling into a frown, "Stay away from the door at the end, or I'll cut you." Lenalee giggled.

"There a closet by the front door where you can put your shoes and coats and stuff." and he decided to take another drink of the coffee in front of him, as Lavi went to look at the books- Alma kept an obvious eye on him and Lenalee merely watched him.

"Do you sleep, ever?" She decided to ask and Kanda had to look up to meet those teasing violet eyes before rolling his.

"You can throw all of your shit in the guest room and fight over how you dividing sleeping arrangements." And just then, they all stopped at the soft music playing through the house.

"What's that," Alma asked. Kanda sighed.

"My phone." And then the coffee cup was left on the counter as he quickly made his way passed the three, down the hall and into the master bedroom. Finding his phone where he'd left it after waking up to Lenalee's call, he only glanced at the caller ID to see a picture of Rhode smiling largely back at him before answering quickly. "Hey," he felt himself deflate.

"Hey," Rhode mumbled back- only to deflate him more. "They there yet?"

"Yeah," Kanda felt himself sigh, "Just now. The plane got delayed."

"Yep- Tyki called." He heard her yawn before mewling and then the rustling of something- maybe she was still in bed. "Wisely's still out." Kanda merely hummed back.

"You coming over," he heard himself asking, before he actually intended to.

Rhode chuckled a bit, "Yeah, probably. I'm gonna shower first though. Need to talk to Allen."

He found himself nodding. "Yeah."

"And Lavi's there, right," she didn't wait for a reply, "Maybe he'll talk."

Kanda would make him talk. "Yeah."

"I'll text you when I'm on my way, kay, bud?"

He nodded again, "Yeah."

"Later, Yuu."

"Yep." And he hung up- still glad that Rhode was okay with his low vocabulary.

"So why weren't we allowed in here?" His head snapped up to look at Lenalee standing in the door way of his bedroom. And a single eyebrow found itself perched. "It's simple," she said, still looking around the overly white, gray and violet themed room. The white desk, three white bookshelves, that Allen had painted the bottom of the shelves violet, the large king sized bed, that was placed on the floor, with it's white sheets, pillowcases and white/violet/gray striped duvet. Allen's silver laptop on the desk, Kanda's black one on the nightstand. The door to the closet was closed- but inside, he knew, was a mess like always- the door to the master bathroom open to the darkened inside.

"Because I said," was all he could come up with, before walking over to the desk to plug his phone in, seeing as it was almost dead. "Where are the doofus'?" Lenalee grinned.

"Moving our bags into the guest room." Kanda had to shake his head.

"Slave driver," he mumbled and Lenalee chuckled.

"Someone's gotta with those two." Kanda- in his head- agreed.

They were quiet for a minute then, as Kanda slumped into the desk chair, and Lenalee took a minute to look at him. He'd grown, she'd noticed that last Christmas, and the several times he'd come home since- both with and without Allen.

But, there were other things that had changed, too. He acted different now- more observant, if she had to name it. In high school, Kanda was the first one to jump into a fight if it peaked his query- especially when it came to Lavi, both with him and for him. Because if there was one thing the red-head had expressed he wanted to have done differently in those days, it was stay in the closet. Because in high school, being gay could just turn out that bad.

For Lavi it had- and maybe that was why they'd never heard about Kanda- before last Christmas anyway. That was the only things she still didn't know, too- why he hadn't told them.

Allen had explained most his job- told them (with threat of death from Tyki) that the Musician was no one person, but usually Wisely or himself. They were The Musician. Though that meant he still owned Ark Records, one of the largest labels in the nation- nearly world now with the twins' tour on it's last show. That still meant he was the guy that their friend/brother had been dating for other a year- living with for a while, too. That still meant he was a bit intimidating.

But Lenalee, after hanging out with Rhode and Maggie- her idol- a few times, had learned that the Walker/Kamelot/Bell family was just as screwed up as any other. Finding out that Rhode was living with the Bell brothers, made her head spin. Learning that she'd been sleeping with Jasdero for years- like, since they were fourteen- made her nearly gape. Finding out that Devitto Bell was ten stages passed gay, made her actually gape- and that he'd been dating Wisely for (again) years, made her squeal.

She'd met them all nearly now, except for the elusive Jude, who she'd almost twice, but then not.

But it still hadn't measured up with how all of Allen's family seemed to listen to Kanda without him having to raise his voice. Rhode had said it was just because for a while Allen had been the 'leader' the their family. "Even compared to dad or Tyki, Allen stepped up when we needed him. He's the strongest of us- that just what we're used to thinking."

And then, as Wisely had said- one of the few times she'd seen him since he'd taken off from the 6th Gate at Christmas, at Rhode's birthday party- "Allen wasn't always so domestic- he used to be a real night creature." They'd all laughed and Allen had just rolled his eyes and leaned back against Kanda a bit more. It'd been weird to see her long time friend so… touchy- but that night at Rhode's birthday party, everyone seemed to be extra touchy.

But watching down the hall of Rhode's fifth floor apartment- where she, Jas and Dev "lived"- as Kanda and Allen made out… she'd nearly peed herself, and found her eyes unable to move from them. They were such opposites, but the literally fit together like yin and yang. Allen is tactfully tanned, Kanda is as pale as a caveman. Allen's hair was the color of bright lights, Kanda's the color of the night sky. Kanda's eyes were dark, Allen's a bright slate. They only thing they both had was a slender body build and… parts. But- Kanda was tall, and Allen just a bit short.

And watching him stand from the desk in his bedroom, Lenalee noted that Kanda was also a lot rougher socially than Allen, who always seemed to have enough cheer to make the best of anything. But they still fit, she had to remind herself as she turned to follow him out of the room and back toward the kitchen- because Allen always knew what even Kanda needed to hear.

"It's us that made this mess
Why can't you understand?
Whoa, I won't sleep tonight…"
"Animal" -Neon Trees

At just after six, Kanda suddenly stood from the couch where they'd all stationed themselves, making Lavi stop telling his story for a second, and poking at his phone Kanda quickly made his way over to the front door, harshly puling it open. Lenalee found herself leaning up from Alma's shoulder a bit as they listened to him roughly greet the people at the door.

"Hey," she heard Rhode coo back and saw her small arms weave around Kanda quickly before she ducked from in front of him. Their eyes met and Lenalee felt herself grin as Rhode flashed her a giant grin.

"Hey, Doll!" Lenalee laughed as she heard Maggie's giant whoop, just as Alma seemed to groan. Lenalee and Rhode instantly laughed at him, as the younger made her way over, instantly latching her arms around Lenalee's neck and plopping her self easily into Lenalee's lap.

"Alma," Rhode was suddenly scolding the dark haired male who was giving her a blank look, "Stop trying to steal my girl." Lenalee found herself laughing, as Rhode grinned at him and Alma just rolled his eyes.

Then Maggie was there, plopping herself down in the middle of the couch as Lavi nodded in greeting, though his eyes went right back to the door. Lenalee found herself following his eyes to where Kanda was still standing with Cross and, oddly, Wisely- where they were tucking jacket and shoes into the closet.

She couldn't make out their harsh whispers, but she saw Wisely shake his head slowly- his face pulling back in a tight smile as he gave what she now knew as his 'I'm not happy, but I'm going to smile 'cause it will change the topic' smile. She saw, more than head Kanda sigh as they both turned to follow Cross into the living room where they all quickly sat themselves down. Cross next to Maggie, Kanda taking a spot on the floor just under the television, and Wisely turning one of the chairs on the dining room table.

There was a quick catch-up between the guys, and then Lavi, not so subtly, took the remote and turning the large flat screen on for background noise.

The younger red-head seemed to be one of maybe two in the room, who knew of the underlying problem, that had Rhode contemplative in Lenalee's lap, Wisely wistfully staring at the wind out the window across the dinning room table from him, and Kanda with his eyes closed and head back against the bookshelf under the quietly distracting sitcom- and he was pretty sure it was better that way.

Because when Allen and Tyki got back, in a few hours time, this quiet raining on their evening, was going to turn into a typhoon. Wisely had known Allen was going to be happy- that there was no way he could see even the smallest silver lining it this- and Tyki would be angry for sure.

Then he had off-handedly pointed out to Lavi's nonchalance, that the red-head had never seen Allen angry. "You've seen him miffed, maybe offended," Wisely had said, "But you've never seen him out for blood." And there had been a look in his eye that assure Lavi he would- because if there was one thing he had learned, had seen, it was that to the Walker Family, their kin were everything- The people they loved ruled their lives.

He'd seen it quite a few times in the last year. All from when he'd been working with Wisely, and the white-head had stopped mid-sentence to answer a phone call from Dev of all people- when he knew they hadn't been talking much. He'd seen the look on his face as he answered every question in a hushed voice- "Yeah; No, I'm working on it; You know I do; I'll answer if you call"- it honestly wrenched his heart out. "He can't know- he'd be worse to deal with than Allen," and that was the only reason Devitto Bell was being kept in the dark about this recent atrocity. But he'd also seen it when Rhode talked to Jas on the phone, day after day. At Kanda's birthday with how happy Allen looked simply being able to watch in the background. With Maggie and Cross, even if it was hidden up slight jabs, and outwardly evil words. And… with Tyki-

But he wasn't going to go into that now.

He'd seen how the Walker/Kamelot family loved each other, and anyone they loved who was brought in. Now including himself, Lenalee and Kanda's family. And seeing- having been helping Wisely through all of this… He honestly felt that same raging need to vindicate. To kick that rotten apple as far from the familial tree as possible.

"What are you waiting for
Take a bite of my heart tonight
Oh oh
I want some more
Oh oh
What are you waiting for?
What are you waiting for?
What are you waiting…"
"Animal" -Neon Trees

Well, hello- again. (Grin) So yeah, I've been working to an early death and I'm super sorry.
On a lighter note, I am alive. (Smiles) And I did have a birthday. (Grin)

This chapter, though, as you can probably tell- is a set up. It is a trap. (Chuckles) But seriously, it is. I didn't intend it this way, but I guess there's the opening- which is kinda 'Meet the Family'; and then there's Brothers, where we see a familial struggle; and now we have the "Second Part", I guess. Which I guess has a lot more plot... Or will. (Chuckles) - If I don't die first.

(Sigh) But as always, please review. Again, I am sorry it took so long... It's been crazy 'round here.

Thank you for reading,
-Aseru.