A/N: I have no idea why the chapter won't show up even though I've been reuploading it multiple times ughhh if you guys finally see this then success yay

-Cantarella-

When the doorbell rang, Lavi immediately noticed that his best friend stiffened, a look of half hope and half frustration flashing across his eyes. However the model made no move to get up, only to take another bite of his soba calmly like he hadn't heard anything. Lavi inwardly sighed and got up to answer the door when the bell rang again.

Lenalee and Allen flashed him smiles when he checked the intercom.

"Hey," he greeted when they entered through the gate, running his fingers through his messy hair. The red strands fell back over his eyepatch. "What brings you kids here?"

"We're worried about him," Lenalee answered softly, taking off her shoes after stepping through the front door.

The weekend had gone by rather quickly and the week had been unusually somber in the office, only with low whisperings and gossips about the missing presence of their youngest designer and top model at the same time. Kanda Yuu never took leave—ever since the company was founded he had never personally called to make this sort rescheduling. Lavi had turned up one of the days to assure the higher ups that all was well, but still, no questions were answered.

And then Monday had arrived and Reiichi appeared back at her desk, apologizing for the trouble she caused and said everything was fine. Kanda did not appear that and the next day, although Lavi did. No one really dared to ask what was going on even and the fact Lavi acted like it was completely normal made everyone second guess themselves.

"I wanted to visit him this afternoon but I was held up during my shoot," Lenalee explained, pushing a basket of fruits into the red head's hands.

Lavi looked at the basket quizzically but took it anyway, and stepped back to allow the two others to come in. Kanda set his finished bowl down just as he saw who came through the door. Allen was eyeing him cautiously, and because of that he grabbed his bowl and started washing it at the sink.

"Hi, Kanda," the white haired boy stepped in, eyes immediately attracted to the fading bruise on the model's face.

The Japanese glared harder at the bowl he was rinsing underneath the tap and set it down forcefully when he was done. Then, he just brushed past the younger rudely and disappeared down the hallway, not even bothering to acknowledge Lenalee.

"Is he okay?" Allen murmured, watching the back disappear behind his room door.

"Don't take it personally, Allen," Lavi smiled wryly, patting his shoulder. "He's not in a good mood."

"The jerk's never in a good mood," the Brit muttered under his breath.

Lenalee put her hands on her hips and sighed. "I'll talk to him," she announced, and then she gave Lavi some sort of look at Allen didn't understand, and trotted off.

"Good luck, Lena-chan," Lavi waved cheerfully.

The Chinese model gave him a backhanded wave in reply. The other two boys wandered into the kitchen, where Lavi dug back into his dinner, and Allen stared at the soba, feeling his stomach rumble again.

"If you want some, there's more in the pot," Lavi rolled his eye, jabbing towards the stove.

Allen grinned and helped himself to a portion, smiling contentedly when he sipped the broth slowly. "For serious though," he said after he chewed a mouthful. "Is he okay?"

Lavi shrugged, ruffling his hair again. "Yuu isn't being his normal self, that's for sure," he said eventually. "But he won't do anything stupid. He's waiting, so he can't afford that."

The younger nodded in half understanding, because he didn't know what exactly had expired, but he knew that Reiichi and Kanda had talked peacefully. "And yourself?"

"Sacred shitless," the redhead admitted. "I don't know what to do. Or what I'm supposed to do," he snorted. "I'm furious at Yuu but at the same time it's not his fault. And Rei-chan just looks sad all the time now," he leaned back, looking at the ceiling. "It's fucked up. That's all I can say, little man."

"I think you're doing a pretty good job, regardless," Allen smiled softly. "It'll work out."

"Hope so," Lavi hummed, turning his eye upon the other. "You know, you guys could work out too."

"What are you talking about?" Allen frowned, suspicious.

"Well, there's this thing," the redhead began, swallowing after his last mouthful. "Lena-chan said she'll give you a chance. As in, you two together, a chance."

"I'm sympathetic to your best friend and cousin's plight, but I won't hesitate to drag you out into traffic," the younger immediately stated.

"Oh Al—"

"It's not a joke, Lavi," Allen stated, staring at his broth in the bowl. "Leave it alone."

"But I'm not joking," Lavi groaned, slapping his hand over his eyepatch. "Listen. No, really, hear me out. I had a couple of convos with the lady and I learned a great deal from her side of the story…and I made her see my point of view—which is to your benefit, little man, and it got her thinking," the redhead continued on at the silence. "So, I asked her to let you take her out on a date."

Allen sighed. "I told you before. I tried—"

"But she didn't," Lavi countered. "And now she's going to."

The white hair boy pressed his lips together for a few moments. "So why didn't Lenalee tell me about this herself?"

"She asked me to ask you because if she asked you, you'd think it was out of pity—"

"What else?" Allen muttered.

Lavi leaned forward seriously. "Because she loves you—"

"—and not in the way that I want but yes, do go on," the younger finished flatly.

"Brit, take a chill pill," Lavi shook his head. "All I'm saying is, if you asked your BFF on a date now, she'll say yes. And she'll honest to God treat you like one. I'm not getting your hopes up for nothing here, buddy, believe me."

"…I wish I could."

Lavi stared at the whispered answer, until a slow grin spread across his face. "Now this, I can bet with you," he grinned. "What say you?"

Lenalee knocked on the door three times, and there was no answer, not like she expected it. Instead she twisted the knob and was glad to find it unlocked, pushing inside slowly and closing it quietly behind her when she stepped in.

Kanda's room was always impeccably clean, and with sparse furniture, but she suspected that a lot of things he kept were in the drawers and the closet. The table lamp she vaguely remembered being on the bed side table was gone, and as the lights weren't switched on, she squinted a little to adjust to the dimness. Only the open window let in the moonlight for her vision. The model was lying on his bed, arms behind his head and staring outwards the direction of the window.

Lenalee went closer and sat on the edge of the bed, watching Kanda gaze out. He never acknowledged her presence, but when she lay down next to him, he shifted a little to accommodate her.

"Ne, Kanda-kun," she spoke up after a really long silence, shifting sideways to look at him. "How do you know you love Reiichi?"

He didn't answer for a long while, but when he did, he still did not face her. "I can't stop thinking about her."

She heard him exhale shakily and shut his eyes for a second, and went back to staring out of the window.

"Lavi told me to give Allen a chance," she said. "I think I'm going to go for it."

She waited to see if he was going to say anything, but he didn't.

"I mean, he's always there for me. You were right about me, before," she went on. "That I was a coward. I didn't know how much he loved me until then, and it scared me. What am I supposed to give back? What do you do with someone who loves you like that?" she shook her head. "And you know what Lavi said? He said don't let him go."

"So, I guess," she continued. "Not this time. You were right. Always was."

When she looked up at him, he had an eye cocked towards her. "Fucking told you so."

Lenalee smiled and jabbed him in the ribs for that. "You never change, Kanda-kun. I can't believe that when we were kids, I had this stupid crush on you," she snorted. "Of course you never gave me any time of the day."

"The brat yelled at me about it," Kanda stated.

"Al did what? I never told him!"

"You weren't exactly Miss Inconspicuous about it," the male model snorted. "Even your creepy brother knew from like, a mile away. Fuck, I don't want to remember that."

"You knew, and you just ignored me?" Lenalee demanded, jabbing him again. "You're a big fat jerk, Kanda-kun."

Kanda snorted again. "Who knew."

Lenalee shivered slightly when a cool breeze blew by, and a second later she felt something warm drape over her shoulders. She glanced at Allen who smiled and patted her shoulder, and continued to walk next to her. She had stayed in Kanda's room until her phone rang with Komui's insistence for her to get home due to the time, and they were walking towards the main roads to hail a cab.

She snuggled closer into his jacket, and the gesture had prodded her heart a little. He was always so courteous and gentlemanly, to the point where sometimes she just didn't believe anyone was that nice.

"Allen," she began, nibbling her bottom lip nervously. "Did...Lavi tell you?"

The other abruptly stopped walking, turning to her, eyes wide. "…So it's true?" he asked slowly.

"Allen," she peered worriedly at him, waving a hand in front of his face. "What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost. Or a lost a bet."

"Thank god, no," he snapped out of it, breathing heavier than usual. "But I nearly did," he blinked rapidly.

He had been so attempted to call the redhead bluff, but there was this nagging sensation in his gut despite how unbelievable the situation was that warned him otherwise. He wasn't ever going to lose a bet. The other time did not count, of course not.

"Lenalee," he started hesitantly. "You're forcing yourself, and there's no point in that. You made it sufficiently clear over the years that it's not going to work. It's just going to go horribly wrong and awkward and—"

"And maybe I was wrong," Lenalee cut him off meaningfully. "I mean, back then I always saw you as my kid brother and that would've be totally weird, but now, well," she shrugged slowly. "Maybe things do change. It's been years since then. I want to give us a try," she said.

Allen rubbed the back of his neck, unable to meet her eyes. "…I can't," he sighed. "I'm sorry, but I can't do this."

Lenalee frowned immediately. "Why not?"

"Because!" the white haired boy groaned, gripping his hair. "What if it doesn't work out anyway? What if I try again, and you still don't like me, and I don't know what to do with myself anymore, because I think of you all the time and it's driving me bloody crazy!" he burst out, shaking his head. "I can deal being your best friend, Lenalee. I don't want to think of you as anything else if you're never going to be."

The Chinese model stared at him quietly for a few seconds. "I want to bet with you." At his confusion, she continued seriously. "I bet that you won't take me out on a date. I bet that you can't make me fall in love with you, the way you want me to." She stuck out her hand. "I bet that you won't take this stupid bet because you're scared you're going to lose."

"Lenalee—"

"The Al I know would do everything to prove me wrong. And he never loses a bet."

"Lenalee," he sounded strained. "I won't bet on something that I know I will lose!"

"Allen!" she glared. "I'm saying I want you to take me out on a date. I want you to make me fall in love with you. I want to want you, okay?" she said heatedly. "Even if this doesn't work out at least I'm facing your feelings instead of running away from them! Don't be a coward like I was."

The male shook his head again.

"If you don't, I'll kiss you," Lenalee threatened.

Allen snapped his gaze up abruptly. "W-what?"

"Either you take me out on a date, or I'll kiss you," she repeated steadily, and took one step closer to him.

Immediately he flushed, thoughts flying off somewhere inappropriate, and he tried to step back but she grabbed his shoulder. "Lenalee…"

"Are you blushing, Al?" she peered even closer, and at this distance he could smell her sweet perfume and his own reflection in her pupils.

"Lenalee!" he scowled indignantly, face colouring darker. "Your brother will dismember me—he told me himself—and I still want to live at least fifty more years!"

The Chinese model laughed, flinging her arms around his neck and chuckled into his shoulder. The way his face lit up like cherry was adorable. "Allen," she tilted her head, smiling in the way she knew he would never say no. "Option one or two?"

She saw his gaze linger on her mouth and then suddenly flickered back up to her eyes, guilty. He kept quiet, and she slowly leaned forward, until she was so sure she was going to do it—it wasn't like it was an off putting thought, because he was cute, and—then he caught her face between his palms, sighing.

"I'll take you out," he said firmly, ignoring the heat from his face. "If we're going to do this, we're going to do this the right way."

Lenalee smiled softly and swiftly kissed his cheek. "You're one of a kind, Al."

Allen ducked his head, embarrassed, but he let her take his hand and continue walking. "Where do you want to go?"

She grinned, eyes twinkling. "Impress me, monsieur."

"You are one very hard lady to impress, mademoiselle," he frowned. "And I wasn't kidding about Komui. I really don't want to die, Lenalee."

Lenalee chuckled. "Leave him to me."

Kanda breathed in slowly, clearing his mind as he sat cross legged on the dojo floor. The sting on his temple had mostly faded after Lavi threatened to sit on him if he didn't ice the bruise—and he felt better, maybe. It was hard to tell, because these few days he wasn't really aware of what he was doing. There was no way for him to model if his face wasn't flawless, and so all his shoots down the week were rescheduled again. The aftermath didn't look good, but he'd think about it another time.

Another slow breath.

And then the door bell rang.

Immediately he thought Rei—but no, she had her key, she wouldn't ring it. It was irritating whenever it happened, and it had been happening for far too many times now. Maybe Lavi forgot his key—then again, he wasn't even aware Lavi had left the house.

The bell started ringing with a five second interval for at least a minute and Kanda fumed, getting up from his ruined meditation. He stalked over to the intercom to see who was the bloody idiot that would ring a house he could potentially be taken to court for—and he saw a huge wide chubby grin.

Alma Karma.

Kanda contemplated pretending that no one was home, but then the boy outside started to holler.

"YUU! I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE! OPEN UP!"

"YUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!"

"IF YOU DON'T LET ME IN I'LL TELL THE WHOLE WORLD ABOUT THAT ONE TIME YOU FOUND JIJI'S DENTURES AND YOU TRIED TO—"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Kanda slammed his front door open, rubbing the bridge of his nose in exasperation. "Quit yelling, asshole."

"Yuu!" Alma cried happily, looping his fingers through the gate and shaking it excitedly. "Knew you were in there."

"Yeah, well," Kanda snorted, walking up after he put some slippers on. "What do you want?"

"I want to come in!"

"Don't you have classes and shit? Go away."

"Aww, you care about my education," Alma grinned as Kanda scoffed. "Relax, it's on East Asian cuisine this term and I can totally cream the tech. Come on, open up," he rapped the gate lightly. "It's been a while."

Still, Kanda had no idea why he let the other step through his front door.

"Oh! Is that Assassin's Creed 3?" Alma's eyes widened, scrambling to the playstation set. "Huh, I can't believe you let him dump all his stuff here."

Correction, Kanda did not let Lavi put his things here—the redhead just wouldn't take them away.

"What are you here for, Alma?" Kanda asked finally, crossing his arms after he let the other male poke through the disc collection. "And don't give me some bullshit about being bored."

The chef in training turned to him slowly, a half smile on his features. "I wanted to see how you were doing," he admitted. "You know, especially after that time."

Kanda rubbed at his arm—no, he hadn't forgotten how he had showed up at Zuu's place the other time—because he had never felt so horribly betrayed in his life. It had been the first time he ever willingly trusted someone so much of himself and realised it was just a ploy. He hadn't wanted to be alone and he couldn't bring himself to tell Lavi about it—he was ashamed and scared, and he knew there were only a few people in his life that had already seen worse from him.

"I'm fine," he stated shortly.

"You can't blame me if I don't believe you," Alma said, tilting his head. He stretched his arms and walked back towards where Kanda was standing behind the couch. "But at least no broken debris on the floor, eh?"

The model looked away, grimacing.

"Yuu," Alma whispered softly, and peered up at him. "I want an honest answer. Are you okay?"

There was a long stretch of silence, and finally Kanda shook his head, exhaling. Alma hugged him tightly around the neck, ignoring how the other tensed and generally took a long while to give up struggling.

"This is so fucking gay," Kanda muttered.

"I'm not the one who looks like a princess," Alma shot back, taking the uppercut to his gut with a wince.

"I'm not the one who wore that dress—"

"I'm not the one who totally would've looked better in it," he laughed, grinning at the scowl upon the model. "Mr-I-look-good-in-anything."

"Will you stop touching me now?" Kanda demanded, trying to shove his childhood friend away.

"Only if you tell me what happened," Alma answered, tone suddenly serious. "I heard a little from your redhead, but, I'd like to know the whole story."

"Ever heard of privacy, dork?" the Japanese huffed, rolling his eyes. Way to be direct about it.

"Even after all we've been through together? In life and death and all that jazz? Really, Yuu? Really?"

Kanda shot him the most unimpressed look he knew.

"For real," Alma acceded, ruffling the back of his hair. "I know you don't want to talk about it but you can't stop thinking about Rei, so, just spill. It'd make you feel better."

Honestly Kanda didn't know what would make him feel better—Rei coming home maybe—other than to get his nosy friends deciding what was good for him.

Then again, they spent the next hour on the floor.

"You need to get out," Alma declared finally, lips pursed. "You moping here for the past few days isn't healthy."

He wasn't moping—and he didn't want to get out of his house. There wasn't anything out there that interested him at the moment.

Instead, he gestured to the bruise at his cheekbone and rolled his eyes. "With that? You're fucking kidding me."

"Everyone knows you're drop dead gorgeous already," Alma huffed. "Princess Yuu scared of a little complexion faux paus?"

"I didn't mean it that way, loser. The press and shit are going to celebrate a fucking party if they see this."

Sometimes Alma forgot how famous his childhood friend was. "Fine, but we have to do something."

"How about you getting out of my house?" Kanda asked, eyebrow cocked.

The other ignored him. "Hmm, you have the most boring shit in your place," he commented, surveying the area. He knew Kanda hated playing games, and anything that was entertainment in the house belonged to Lavi, and seriously, what the hell did Kanda like to do?

"Soba," he said finally. "Soba! Let's make some!"

Kanda stared at him. "What for?"

"Like you need an excuse," Alma accused, grinning. "We haven't cooked together in a while. Might be fun."

"You mean fucking disastrous," Kanda corrected, because the other time they cooked together was during a new year's eve a few years ago, when Zuu had made some pathetic excuse about being unable to cook—che yeah right, as if his ability to hear had anything to do with how he cooked—and even if the food was fabulous in the end, the kitchen had pretty much became a war zone.

Understandably Zuu never allowed either of them to use his kitchen at the same time again.

"As I recall, that was your fault."

"As I recall," Kanda snorted, and his memory was definitely accurate. "You wanted to make tempura bacon."

"You're so boring," Alma groaned. "Ever heard of experimentation?"

"That was the most disgusting thing I ever ate in my life!"

"Exaggeration," he replied calmly. "Nothing can beat your old man's stir fry."

Both of them shuddered. While Tiedoll was talented in most arts and he could bake amazingly well, but the old man was just pathetic in cooking. That was one of the reasons why Kanda learned to cook from Zuu.

"Come on," Alma grinned, pulling the other up. "I know you have flour and you can never make too much soba," he winked. "For you, anyway."

"Shut the fuck up," Kanda retorted, but there wasn't any heart in it.

It was getting fucking insane, because when Alma was kneading the dough, Kanda thought of the time he taught Reiichi to roll it out the first time and how she had failed terribly in it. It was the funniest thing ever—because he knew she hated being bad at something, and seeing how she looked entirely miffed that he had done it like a piece of cake was amusing.

But, she had gotten better over time. Thankfully.

He let out an annoyed sigh to clear his thoughts—to which Alma glanced at him but did not comment—and continued to fold the dough correctly to slice it.

They worked in comfortable silence. Alma was better at cooking—Kanda would admit to himself but never out loud; there was a reason why the other was training to be a chef after all—and he was mostly serious in the kitchen. Except for when he had ideas about food combinations that Kanda personally felt were abominations.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Kanda asked calmly when he looked over and saw that Alma was slicing pieces of the dough into flat oval strips.

The other only rolled his eyes. "I'm cutting it to a different shape, no big deal. Don't be so dull, Yuu."

Except those things did not even look like noodles.

"It's like rice ovalettes," Alma explained. "You've eaten that before. It's the same thing."

Yeah, but soba was supposed to be noodles.

"I'm not gonna knead it together again," Alma shrugged. "Deal with it. Maybe your girlfriend would welcome the change—even if it's still soba."

The sudden stop in the other's actions made Alma wince internally. Kanda stared at his hands for about a second more before continuing his actions, and Alma let out a sigh of relief. Truthfully he was deathly afraid of stepping on minefields—and it seemed like anything he said somehow hit somewhere.

"Yuu."

Kanda looked up, and suddenly his face was smashed with white flour. The idiot was grinning at him, rubbing his white powered hands together.

The model blinked, temporarily stunned.

It was entirely ridiculous, but no matter how much he tried to stop thinking about Rei, it kept coming back. He remembered the time when Daisya pushed her into the water, how he had tried to revived her, and then the flour fight in the kitchen the next day—and how he had wanted to kiss her so badly from then now. And how she had stayed with him after Tiedoll had left, how he realised that maybe there was another person he could learn to trust again.

"Shit, I'm sorry," Alma was staring at him worriedly, arms spreading in what he knew was going to be a hug, and Kanda was not going to participate in another.

"You fucking asshole," Kanda snorted, grabbed the entire bowl of leftover flour, and dumped it on Alma.

The chef in training sneezed violently and tried to wipe it from his face except his hands were already powered. He didn't need an invitation to reach for the packet of the rest of the flour on the table when he spied the self satisfied smirk on Kanda's face.

"I tired him out," Alma smirked over the phone resting his head on the couch as he sat on the floor. "Rumor that Yuu's amazing in bed? Please, I'm way better."

"You and me, bro, you and me," Lavi snickered, over the line, connection slightly fuzzy. "Thanks for heading over. Really appreciate it."

"No prob," Alma sighed, chewing on his cheek. "I would've came even if you didn't ask. Not after the last time—you did the right thing ensuring he's not alone."

"Actually, Yuu's taking it a lot better than I expected," Lavi admitted. "Other than the fact that he's not snapping away like an angry dog."

"You may be his best friend, redhead, but it doesn't mean that he isn't mine," Alma began. "I don't know if Yuu's dealing with it better, per say. Yeah sure, the other time was really fucking bad; he trashed the living room and then broke his hand because he punched the wall too hard. Jiji couldn't get him to eat for two days, and even after that he just wouldn't say a word. This time, well," he sighed.

"He's strict on himself, that's for sure, but he's fucking depressing. He looks like he's okay and he acts like he's okay but that's because he wants to look okay when Rei comes back. If she comes back," he amended, groaning. "You don't know how many times I caught him thinking of her today. I could stare at him for like, twenty minutes and he wouldn't notice. I was this close to groping him to see if that got me any reaction."

"On a normal day he would've kill you, or something dire like that."

"Not any less than what you would've done."

"Touché," Lavi acceded. "In any case, I need you to stay the night. I won't be back until sometime tomorrow. For Spring, it's really fucking cold here."

"I was planning to take Yuu's bed anyway," Alma grinned. "The princess is knocked out on the couch, and I ain't gonna carry him. He weighs heavier than you think. But anyway, you've got lead there?"

"More than a lead," Lavi sounded satisfied. "I'll burn that bitch and her family down, I swear."

"Good to know. I'd hate to dirty my own hands, even if it's for Yuu."

Lavi sounded affronted. "I'll have you know everything I do is perfectly legal, unlike some people."

Alma, personally, did not believe him. "Whatever helps you to sleep at night. One last thing: I know shit is fucked but can you, I don't know, talk to Rei or something? He wants her back but he doesn't want to push her."

Lavi snorted. "If there was anyone more stubborn than Yuu, it's Rei-chan. She needs to sort it out herself, especially when Yuu was the one who broke her trust."

"He didn't mean it!"

"Yeah, but it happened," the redhead snorted. "I can't say for sure how Rei-chan would react if Yuu went to find her before she decides to come back on her own, but I don't think she'll ignore him. He could ask again, but just don't force her…? I don't know," he groaned. "I hate being the middleman, for once."

Alma grinned. "You had your fun while it lasted."

"And it's going to last," Lavi replied firmly.

Travelling from Kaori's place to Innocence headquarters was definitely more inconvenient than from Kanda's place. Not only because she had to take a cab, but also because it was much further and traffic was a hassle. She could deal with that, but by the second day some paparazzi got wind of the fact that she was taking a taxi to and fro the office, a very strange turn of events from the usual, and by the next morning the entertainment second was splashed with headlines of Kanda and her supposed breakup.

She didn't read it, but it definitely made her feel worse than she already did.

Truth be told she didn't know where they were standing now. Never of them had said their relationship was over, yet somehow they weren't together. And it was hard. She wanted to see him so badly but she didn't dare to see him in fear that it would hurt even more. She wanted to know how he was doing, especially after knowing that he had been forced to do what he had done.

Lavi came by in the evening to hug her farewell. He looked strangely jetlagged and tired, but he smiled his usual grin and she left it as that. He gave her a look that she knew he wanted her to come along, but she shook her head again. She heard whisperings coming from the cubicles further away, and she ignored them after she packed up and left her desk, taking the lift down to the lobby.

She certainly hadn't expected to see him leaning against his white Audi, staring to his left.

Reiichi immediately swallowed, steps slowing. He looked the same—beautiful and intimidating as ever—but also tired and worn, fingers idly tapping the handle of the car door. Her cousin was saying something to him and patted his shoulder, giving her a glance as he walked out towards the main road, probably to hail a cab. He snapped his head to look at her when she walked down the steps, coming to a stop a metre away from him.

There were so many words she wanted to say and couldn't, so she settled for one. "Hi."

Kanda nodded once in acknowledgement. He stared at her form for a long while before he actually spoke. "Will you…"

She knew what he was asking, but she couldn't do it. "Not today," she replied softly.

He nodded again, quick to hide his disappointment. He pulled on the handle to the door, and then stopped. "Get in," he said suddenly. "I'll…drive you back."

"It's alright, I can get a cab—" but her words faltered when a group of colleagues exited the glass doors and immediately caught sight of Kanda.

The model glanced at her quickly, and she made a decision.

"Thank you," she murmured when she got in, tensing because of the sudden close proximity to him after so long.

He drove out of the compound quickly, hoping that whoever had seen them did not blow any news up. But maybe because they left together, it was a good thing. They didn't know.

The ride back was just silent. She didn't know what to say to him and it seemed like neither did he. When he reached, he pulled into an empty parking space and stared in front, hands on the wheel. He didn't say anything when he she glanced at him once, murmuring another thank you. Her hands pulled the handle open, and she didn't even know why she said it.

"Do you want to come in for dinner?"

He blinked rapidly at her words, surprised. She stared forcefully at her hands, wondering what on earth possessed her to say that. She wanted to retract it back—there was no way she could stand an hour more with him alone feeling like she wanted to cry. He looked at her once and got out of the vehicle signaling his agreement. There was no choice but to lead him up to the apartments, unable even to blabber useless information to fill up the silence.

"Kao-chan is working late today," she said as they entered. "I…I'll cook. You wait here," she gestured to the television and couch.

He ignored that and followed her to the kitchen, and Reiichi tried very hard to breathe calmly. "Could you please…wait outside?" she asked softly, truly afraid that her voice was going to crack.

Kanda tensed visibly and followed her request, disappearing from behind her. Reiichi stared hard at the sink, gripping the edges of the counter. She closed her eyes and willed herself to breathe normally.

She missed him so much that it hurt.

"I'll leave."

Kanda stood up abruptly once he had finished his portion—she had cooked soba, and she didn't even know why. It was obvious that she was forcing herself to be in his presence. She hardly ate anything and she didn't even look at him once during the entire meal.

She nearly tripped trying to grab his arm before he could leave.

"No, I—" She faltered again, letting go once she had realised what she had done.

"I'll leave," he repeated.

He had just put on his shoes when she spoke again.

"Does it still hurt?" she asked, this time looking at him.

Her hand brushed gently across his cheek, and he shook his head.

"Kanda—" but words died immediately on her lips.

He seemed to understand. "I'll wait," was what he said instead, and only gave her once last unreadable glance, and left.

"Zero-chan?"

Kaori crouched down worriedly, setting her bag down on the floor. The redhead was curled into a ball at the foot of the wall near the front door, and she spied two bowls of food on her dining table inside.

Reiichi lifted her head at the sound of her name, and her eyes were slightly red.

"Hey, it's okay," Kaori asked, pulling the girl into a hug and patting her back. "What happened?"

"Kanda came by," Reiichi answered softly after a while. "I invited him in for dinner."

"Did he do anything?" Kaori's tone was sharp.

She shook her head. "Kao-chan, I…" she began, tone miserable. "I can't stop thinking about him." A few tears escaped from the corner of her eyes again. "When he was here, I just…"

She had wanted to say everything when he was leaving—how much she missed him, how worried she was about him, how hurt she still felt, but most of all, how much she still loved him.

"I just want to go home," she whispered.

When Reiichi asked him to come by the office on Friday evening, Lavi wasn't sure whether to have his hopes up. For all he knew, Reiichi just wanted to have some company or to talk. Still, some progress was good progress, and he ensured Kanda was occupying himself in the dojo before he left. It was definitely better that the model was doing his usual things instead of shutting himself in the room.

The design team looked relieved to see him when he arrived, all of them gesturing at Reiichi discreetly. The youngest designer was at the photocopying machine with the most unreadable expression he had seen from her.

He slid up behind her and wrapped an arm around her waist, pressing a warm kiss to her cheek. "Hey."

She smiled a little at him. "I need to hand this batch to Kaichou and we can leave."

"Sure, take your time," he replied, and then squinted at the paper she was holding. "Is that…"

"It's due next week," was all she answered, and Lavi nodded.

They were out of the office after twenty minutes. Lavi hailed a cab, but before he could direct the driver, Reiichi held his arm and spoke before he did. He kept quiet when she rattled off the address for the Noah mansion, stunned.

"Do you know what you're doing?" he asked eventually when she stared out of the window as the vehicle starting moving.

"I need to speak with her."

"It's dangerous," Lavi immediately said. "I—"

"That's why I asked you to come with me," she said simply.

He shut his mouth after that. "Okay," he nodded finally. "But you are not going inside."

"I don't plan to."

Seeing the mansion again brought Reiichi a queasy feeling. She didn't really have good memories of the huge compound. The first time she danced with Kanda that wasn't exactly the most pleasant experience, and then Matsumoto Junki and the bathroom. She really did not like this place.

Still, it was necessary.

"I won't interfere, but if she starts some shit I'm not going to sit back, you understand?" Lavi warned, and she nodded in understanding.

Taking a deep breath she pressed the buzzer. It took two more tries before the intercom buzzed with a very familiar drawl.

"If you're a salesman, I'm not buying your shit. Call Sheryl on his personal phone, he'll entertain you."

"Mikk, it's Reiichi. I need to speak with Lulubell."

"Oh," it seemed like he had perked up, and was presumably staring at her through the camera. "Well, such a shame you didn't come for me."

Lavi's knuckles started cracking ominously from behind.

"What do you want with my dear sister?"

"Talk to her."

"For fucking your ex-boyfriend?"

"Oh fuck you, they haven't broken up, asshole," Lavi snarled, nearly pushing Reiichi away from the intercom. "You and your entire fucking family are going to pay for that stunt."

"Leave me out of your psycho, I wasn't involved in that shit. And I was just stating some facts," Tyki huffed. "Don't get touchy with me, Bookman."

Reiichi held Lavi's arm, just in case. "Mikk, I want to talk to her."

"Fine, whatever," Tyki replied. "I'll get her. No promises on whether she wants to talk to you. She doesn't like you very much, no offense."

Yeah well, Reiichi didn't like her very much either. There was some shuffling of feet and a few calls that echoed, and finally the person she was looking for came to the intercom.

"What do you want, little girl?" Lulubell sounded bored.

"Come out here and face me," Reiichi immediately hissed upon hearing that voice.

"A waste of my time," the older woman replied with ease. "I had my fun, and I'll take it again if I want. Have a good night."

"I'm not leaving till you come out here and face me," the female redhead clenched her fists. "Or are you too scared to?"

"Scared?" Lulubell chuckled. "Of you? Of all things, what about you could I possibly be scared of?"

"Then why won't you come out here?" she challenged. "It's only going to take a minute. Hardly a dent of your oh so valuable time."

"I just bathed, and it's a needless hassle. In any case, you've already taken up five minutes."

"I'll come on your set tomorrow and make a scene," Reiichi threatened. "I don't think you'd like that very much."

"Are you sure you want to let the whole world know that I fucked Kanda while he was supposedly dating you?"

Lavi was the one who held her back this time. "Are you sure you want to be known as his rapist?" he asked lazily.

"Nice try, but you can't prove that."

"The rumour will be damaging enough, but I certainly can," Lavi sounded smug. "You can choose to disbelieve me, but I think you're smarter than that."

There was silence over the intercom, like she was considering it. Then the gate opened automatically, and they moved backwards. Lulubell strolled out, a coat over her nightdress with Tyki a few paces behind. He looked disinterested as he plucked something invisible off his shirt, but his gold eyes glittered sharply.

"Breadcrumbs," Lulubell said, looking at Lavi.

The male redhead stared at her.

"Why did you do it?" Reiichi demanded, narrowing her eyes.

Lulubell shifted her gaze over to her and rolled her eyes. "You've never slept with him, so you wouldn't understand," she smirked.

"Bullshit," Reiichi said immediately. "You've planned this for ages. The letters, your freaky relative, that photoshoot, and then this. If what you said was true," she snorted. "That makes you obsessed with Kanda, as pathetic it sounds."

"…She got a point," Tyki drawled, and Lulubell shot him the darkest glare she possessed.

"Believe what you will," the female model said eventually. "I don't care."

"I know he loved you once," Reiichi stated, stare unwavering. "And I know he loves me now."

Lulubell looked at her blandly. "So?"

"For everything you've done to him," she said calmly, tightening her right fist.

Lulubell certainly did not expect the fist that flew to her face, and it hit hard. Reiichi was seething as she rang out her hand after the hit, and gripped it into another ball as if to hit her again. Tyki was fast to catch the female redhead after the first time, and Lavi was quick to shove Tyki away.

"Don't touch her," Lavi snarled, eye bright.

"And you don't touch her," Tyki growled, standing protectively in front of Lulubell who was clutching her nose. The Portuguese model looked over at Reiichi. "I'd advise you against doing that again. You two should probably leave, before I get tempted to call security."

Lavi was about to retort something but Reiichi nodded sharply and gripped his arm.

"Leave Kanda alone," she stated firmly, and then turned on her heel.

They walked in silence towards a busier road to catch a taxi, and Lavi noticed that his cousin was wringing her hands together.

"Rei-chan?"

He caught her hands in his, smoothing over her knuckles. He waited patiently for her to respond as he kept his eye out for any incoming vehicle. She took a deep breath.

"I want to go home."

Tyki clucked his tongue as he walked back out from the kitchen holding ice wrapped in a towel. The female model was lying back down on the couch, pressing hand to the bridge of her nose. She really had not seen it coming—of all things, why was she punched like a brute, and god, she had to potentially reschedule her shoot tomorrow if she couldn't cover it with make-up.

"You really choose the worst possible outcome," Tyki sighed, holding the ice between her eyes. "I hope you foresaw this as part of your goddamn plan."

Lulubell closed her eyes and ignored him.

"I think you've done quite enough," he continued evenly. "Tell the Earl it's over. You don't have to—"

"Tyki, can you just stop talking?" she cut him off, and he clicked his mouth shut. "It's better this way," she said after a while.

He sighed and looked at the ceiling. "Not for you."

When there was a knock on his door, Kanda stared suspiciously at it. Mainly because everyone he knew always barged into his room, except for one person. Maybe he was just wishing so hard that he was hearing things. Great, he was going insane and getting delusional.

The knock sounded again, and this time, a voice accompanied it.

"Kanda?"

He swallowed, feet carrying him towards the door before he even knew what he was doing. Within seconds he pulled the door back, and she had her hand up as if to knock again, frozen in shock. For at least a minute they both stared at each other, breathing lightly. Reiichi shifted her eyes to everywhere but him. She dropped her hand awkwardly and took a few moments to meet his gaze.

"Tadaima," she murmured.

He stared, soundless. Slowly his hand came to touch her arm, because it was difficult to believe that she was here, in front of him. She took one step towards him and his grip tightened to pull her close, savouring the way she buried her face into his neck, and how her arms wrapped around his waist.

"Okaeri," he muttered close to her ear.

She was smiling ever so faintly when he cupped her face into his hands. Her emerald eyes were watching him steadily, fingers wrapping over his in assurance, that she was here, and she was home. It was maybe the first time he almost murmured those three words he knew he should've said a long time ago, but Reiichi hugged him again and the words swallowed back into his throat.

"I'm sorry," he said instead.

He felt her smile against his neck, and he felt his heart race like it always did when she was around.

She had returned, and he wasn't letting go.

A/N: Okay so. I am struggling with how they are both dealing with it, hopefully it's working out.

I brought Alma back again because I wanted Kanda to have a bit of support. I believe that in any relationship two people shouldn't just be caught up in their own world and ditch everyone and when shit happens, they have no one to turn to but themselves. Kanda's very blessed that even if he's a rude ass he still has a bunch of people that care about him greatly.

Personally I cannot wait for Kanda to get back to his mean bitchy self.

About the tempura bacon bit—it's something I tried to make lolol and I must say it tastes pretty damn weird.

There were so many ways I wanted the Reiichi and Lulubell scene to play out, but mainly I just wanted Reiichi to do something for closure. They should've talked more but Lavi and Tyki barged their way in as I was writing and I think because of that they didn't really say things that they would've.

There was supposed to be a bit of Allena in this one but I kept writing about Kanda and Reiichi and got carried away lalala

I might be able to squeeze out another chapter within the week, if not, sorry guize, but it's hell time in college for me. I had to pull a 48h stunt to finish a practical report and I have more of those in the coming weeks someone help me oh god