To Komui's surprise, Kanda was sitting in the hallway outside of Allen's room; the sound of the door opening had pulled the samurai out of his meditation. They stared at each other in silence while Komui closed the door behind him. Kanda spoke first, answering Komui's questions before he could ask them. "I didn't hear anything, and yes, I've been here the whole time."

That startled Komui for a moment, as he had been under the assumption that Allen had misunderstood Kanda's suggestion that they get married. Even if the part about Kanda wanting his baby was true, Komui hadn't thought that the samurai would also want to marry his baby's mother; it just didn't fit with Kanda's personality. But there he was, waiting patiently for their private talk to be over, which seemed to suggest that Allen did have a proper grasp on what Kanda wanted. "Allen says that you proposed to him?"

"I did."

The calm honesty in his voice was unexpected and made Komui blink. "Well, like I told him, I'm going to give you both a couple days to cool off and think things through before we do anything official. I don't want either one of you to make any rash decisions. We'll revisit this on Friday and go from there."

Kanda nodded once before standing and moving past Komui towards the Moyashi's room, but he was stopped as he turned the doorknob. "Once Allen calms down, make sure that he eats something, and then come to my office. I've got a mission for you both."

Kanda couldn't believe what he was hearing. "A mission? Seriously? After everything else that's happened today? You're going to send the Moyashi on a mission in his condition?"

The amount of concern Kanda was showing for Allen was startling. To both of them. Neither of them could believe that he had actually asked Komui to go easy on Allen. "The war comes first, General. You both know that. Allen has been cleared for duty after the injuries he sustained on his last mission. I have no medical reason for keeping him here. And until he's a whole lot further into his pregnancy, that's not going to change. The only thing I can do is make sure that someone goes with him, so that he's not out there alone. And since you seem dead set on taking responsibility for him, that someone has to be you. I expect all three of you to return from this alive, understand?"

Even though he didn't say it, Kanda understood that Komui was asking him to make sure that Allen didn't try to intentionally miscarry the baby. He nodded once before sweeping into Allen's room.

Allen was still curled up on his bed, sobbing over the incredibly drastic way his life had changed that day, but when he heard his bedroom door open and close, curiosity took over enough to make him raise his head to see who his visitor was; he hadn't expected to be interrupted so soon after Komui had left. To say that he was surprised to see Kanda would be an understatement. Allen had thoroughly expected the samurai to be done with him for the day. It was no secret that Kanda had no patience for "pathetic bean sprouts that cry like little girls", and despite claiming that his feelings had changed, after sitting with him all afternoon, Allen figured that Kanda would have been fed up with him by now.

Kanda noticed Allen's confusion, but he didn't acknowledge it; they'd talked about his feelings enough for one afternoon. He reclaimed his earlier position lying next to his Moyashi, but when he tried to wrap his arms around the boy's shoulders, Allen flinched away. "Che. Just go back to crying, Moyashi. You've only got a few hours to get it out of your system before you have to report to Komui for your next mission."

What was left of Allen's tears halted in an instant. He eyed Kanda suspiciously. "A real mission? Or is this some sort of ruse for ordering me to take care of the baby?"

Kanda knew that if he answered wrong, Allen would probably hurt him, but he didn't know what the Moyashi wanted to hear, so he had to settle for the truth. "A real mission. Komui says that your pregnancy is not a valid reason for keeping you at headquarters."

"Thank god!" Allen practically threw himself off the bed in his relief and excitement. He was ecstatic that he was still going to be allowed to do his job in his condition; the thought of being stuck at headquarters for the next year had to have been one of the biggest downsides to learning he was pregnant. It felt so good to hear that he would still be allowed to go out and free the akuma.

Kanda watched with amusement as Allen bustled excitedly around his room, glad that he'd been wrong about the Moyashi taking the mission assignment as bad news. It was good to see Allen happy about something after all the crying he'd done that day, but at the same time, Kanda desperately wished that the Moyashi could be that happy about their baby.

The samurai was pulled from his thoughts when he noticed that the Moyashi was giving him a very serious stare. "Do you think I'll have time to eat before I have to leave?"

Kanda scoffed at that. The Moyashi could eat a full meal in five minutes if he wanted to, so unless he wanted to savor his food, having the time to eat wasn't really an issue. "I'm supposed to make sure you eat before we report to Komui."

Allen froze in his tracks, a pit of dread forming in his gut as he caught what Kanda had really said. "'We'? You're coming with me?"

"You're pregnant, Moyashi. Komui may not be able to keep you off missions, but he's sure as hell not going to let you go anywhere alone. I'm the only other exorcist at headquarters right now, so I'm who you're stuck with." Seeing that Allen wasn't buying his explanation, Kanda decided to change tactics. "Do you really think that it was my idea to give up my general's duties to go on a mission with you?"

Allen scowled at the snide remark that was meant to make him feel stupid. "Yes. I do. You hate taking orders from Central and would gladly give them up to go on normal missions. And given the way you've followed me around since I told you I was pregnant with your baby, I imagine you'd follow me on this mission even if you weren't officially assigned to it."

Kanda couldn't deny the truth in that, so he didn't even try. "Not until you're a lot less hostile, Moyashi. I'm trying very hard to avoid doing things that would get me killed by you."

Allen grumbled and made a face at that. "Then stop trying to touch me. I may be carrying your child, but that doesn't make me yours."

"I disagree." Kanda didn't feel the need to point out that he'd never once said out loud that he thought that the Moyashi was his; it would only enrage the already upset bean sprout. Not that what he said next wasn't going to do that anyway. "Especially since I'm the only one of us who actually wants this kid."

The comment made Allen instantly grow depressed, reminding him of what had happened during their conversation with Komui. "Are you really going to force me to go through with this pregnancy?"

Kanda shrugged. "That depends entirely on how long it takes you to come to your senses and realize that abortion is murder." At the glare Allen shot him, he elaborated. "The sooner you decide you want the baby, the sooner I'm done forcing things on you."

Allen just continued to glare at Kanda. "Are you going to nag me about my pregnancy this whole mission? Cuz if you are, I'd like to know now so that I can just kill you and be done with it."

That was a very good point. Pestering Allen about the baby was a surefire way to get him so annoyed that he'd lash out physically. It was time for Kanda to propose a truce. "Look, if you promise to take care of both yourself and our baby," seeing Allen make a face at that, Kanda clarified, "and by that I mean eating properly and not doing anything that might cause you to miscarry, then I will give you some space. I won't say a single word about the baby or your pregnancy for the entirety of our mission."

What Kanda was offering seemed too good to be true, and Allen was immediately suspicious. "What's the catch?"

Kanda wouldn't call it a catch, but he could see how the Moyashi would see it that way, so he decided to be honest now rather than risk getting stabbed later. "I'm going to spend this mission trying to convince you that I genuinely have feelings for you."

While that initially made Allen mad, it only took him a few seconds to realize what it really meant. "So you're going to treat me like your boyfriend instead of an annoyance?"

Allen's eyes went wide when Kanda nodded. "Does that mean you'll stop calling me 'Moyashi'?"

Kanda smirked devilishly at that. "Not a chance, Moyashi."

The way Allen's face fell was absolutely adorable, and Kanda gave in to his impulses and leaned in and kissed the boy. Allen still wasn't kissing him back, but he wasn't pushing him away either, so at the very least, he wasn't as angry over being kissed as he claimed to be. Breaking away, Kanda placed his forehead against Allen's and smiled as he stared into those beautiful silver eyes. "I will, however, use your real name. Sometimes."

As much as he wanted to hear that, Allen didn't really believe that Kanda was telling the truth. The samurai loved to mess with him over his name. "You're actually going to call me 'Allen'? Really?"

Kanda shrugged off Allen's disbelief. "I've used it at least twice today already, Moyashi. You should pay more attention to your surroundings."

The comment made Allen scowl, and he all but spit his retort at the older man. "I've been a little distracted, Bakanda. Understandably so. It's not every day that you learn you've got female plumbing and are carrying a baby."

Expecting an argument or another jab, it was more than a little shocking that Kanda conceded. "Ok, you've got a point there."

Once he'd processed that Kanda really wasn't going to argue with him, Allen turned his attention back to the samurai's suggestion for a truce between them. He really liked the idea of Kanda agreeing of his own free will to not only not nag him about his pregnancy, but to treat him right, and he wanted to milk that for as long as he could. "Fine. I agree. But it starts now and lasts not just through this mission, but until we meet with Komui on Friday."

After a moment of thought, Kanda nodded. "I can deal with that. On the added condition that you have to be honest with me regarding your pregnancy."

"I thought you said you weren't going to pester me!"

It was really hard for Kanda to not laugh at the Moyashi's petulant whine. "I said 'be honest', Moyashi, not 'answer all my questions'. That just means you're not allowed to lie about it. No hiding that your pregnancy symptoms are bothering you, and no blaming things on your pregnancy that have nothing to do with it."

"Oh." Allen frowned in embarrassment and quickly changed the subject. "Ok then. Let's go get me some food."