A/N: Thanks for the reviews, favorites, and follows.

I've changed the label for this story from AllenxKanda to Yullen. I don't usually care for that label, as I prefer it when they're equals and in general, Yullen stories make Allen far too submissive for my tastes, but it is a better descriptor for where this story is headed. There will be no Arekan lemons - written or implied; Kanda is always going to top his Moyashi.

Anyway, none of that is relevant to this current chapter. So let's get on with the story!

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Kanda knew that it would be hard to keep his promise to not nag Allen about his pregnancy, especially since the Moyashi didn't want the baby, but he didn't expect it to be so hard so fast. It wasn't that Allen was intentionally making it difficult - which he had briefly debated doing but decided against - but rather, the first thing they did after leaving Allen's room was eat together, and while the Moyashi's eating habits had always gotten on Kanda's nerves, the added knowledge of the brat's pregnancy made his usual habits that much more irritating.

Allen could have impeccable table manners when he wanted to, and he usually did so when out on missions, but the Order's cafeteria was a place where he often forgot even the most common decency of not talking with his mouth full. And while Kanda didn't have to put up with that particular annoyance today, as they were the only exorcists at headquarters and Allen rarely engaged in mindless chatter when the samurai was his only dinner companion, he did have to deal with the Moyashi shoving food into his mouth even more recklessly than he usually did. Kanda was fairly certain that the boy was going to make himself sick doing that, and his newfound concern for the Moyashi made him want to say something about it. And it definitely didn't help that the things Allen was eating were probably not good for a developing child.

As Allen emptied his last plate, Kanda finally couldn't take any more and broke his silence, doing his very best to keep from sounding like he was nagging. "That was even more disgusting than usual, Moyashi."

"Well sor-ry if I was a little more enthusiastic than normal. It's not my fault that you're so uptight." Allen's hostile mocking died as he caught what Kanda had really meant by the comment. He also recalled that he too had made a promise that he didn't want to break so soon, so he decided to answer the samurai's unasked question. If he couldn't even be honest with one person for one hour, he had a real problem. "My morning sickness is pretty bad, and the evening meal is the only one I can actually keep down. After throwing up all day, it's hard to control myself when I do finally get to eat a real meal."

To his surprise, Kanda didn't immediately tease him for the admission. Allen had dropped his gaze to the table to avoid having to see the other while he had admitted to his weakness, but Kanda's silence had him looking back up. The samurai wasn't laughing or smirking at him. Instead, Kanda actually looked apologetic - if someone as emotionally repressed as Kanda could look like he felt bad about something. It startled Allen more than a little, and somewhere in the back of his brain, he knew that Kanda was letting him see his emotions as part of his resolve to show him that his feelings had changed, but Allen couldn't handle that, so he quickly turned his attention on his empty plates and began gathering them up. "Let's just go get our mission, Bakanda."

Komui was more than a little surprised to see Allen and Kanda so soon. It had only been an hour and a half since he'd left them, and he had expected it to take a whole lot longer for Allen to calm down after the bad news he'd delivered. He tried several times to ask about it, but he could never get the words out. Kanda scoffed in irritation at the stuttering, but he had figured out what the supervisor was trying to ask, so he answered the man's question. "He wants to go on this mission. The idiot was afraid you'd use his pregnancy as a reason to keep him from being an exorcist. So drop it and give us our assignment already."

Komui wanted to hear that directly from Allen, but he knew from experience that it wasn't safe to argue with Kanda when he got like that, so he went straight into his briefing. "Right. So, there's a small town in rural Poland. The people there regularly pray at a shrine in the nearby forest, but lately those people who visit the shrine have been turning up dead. It's only been a few deaths, not normally something we'd look further into, but the villagers have been very fervent in their requests for help, so we sent some finders to investigate. They confirmed that the deaths were the work of akuma, but they unfortunately died before they could determine if there was Innocence involved. Normally, I would send in another team of finders now that we know that there is something going on that's worth investigating, but since Allen is available for a mission right now and we know there are akuma in the area, it seemed best to just skip that step and send you in. You know I don't like sending exorcists in blind, but with Allen's eye, you should be perfectly fine."

He paused to let them ask questions, but both young men just sat there waiting for him to continue. "You'll take the ark to Kielce, which is the town closest to your destination that has both a gate and a train station. If you leave in the next hour, you should arrive in time to catch the train tonight."

Already packed, Allen followed Kanda to his room, trying to make small talk about their mission. Like always, all he got out of the samurai were a few grunts and eye rolls, but Kanda never once snapped at him or told him to shut up. The Moyashi's mindless chatter was annoying, but Kanda was too happy that the boy was actually speaking to him to care. He had thoroughly expected Allen to give him the silent treatment, which would have made proving his feelings very difficult, so he was relieved to see that Allen wasn't angry at him.

Allen really wasn't thinking about whether or not he was mad at Kanda, or any of the other things that had happened that day. He was focused on the mission and didn't want any distractions. He didn't want to think about his relationship with the samurai, his pregnancy, the fact that he was going to be a parent, any of it. He was going to be a proper exorcist and focus on the akuma that needed to be freed and the possibility of an Innocence fragment that needed to be found.

Of course, with a day and a half long train ride and an additional six hour walk to their destination, all with the constant presence of the one person who irritated him the most, all he had was reminders of just how horribly his life had changed. And then there was Kanda, being a perfect gentleman about the whole thing. Allen was still on the receiving end of the usual jabs at his height and his lack of intelligence, but beyond that, the samurai was actually being what could only be described as nice. Normally Kanda would have spent a trip like that acting like Allen's mere presence offended him to the core, but this time his behavior bordered on friendly. Kanda even went so far as to ask if he was ok after his trips to relieve his morning sickness. And although Allen knew that the behavior change was because Kanda supposedly liked him now, something he still did not know how to process, he much preferred this version of Kanda to the old one that always had a stick up his ass.

So when Kanda's patience finally gave out, and he had to ask why the Moyashi wasn't angry at him, Allen felt like he owed him an honest answer. "I'm far from happy with what's happening, but I don't blame you for any of it. It's not your fault that I got pregnant, and while it may be your fault that I can't have an abortion, I would do the same thing if I were in your shoes; I can't be angry at you for not wanting me to kill your child. And while I'm pissed that we're probably going to be married before the weekend is over, it's the rules that took away my choice in the matter, not you. I hate you the exact same amount as I hated you yesterday."

Allen frowned as a different thought occurred to him. "Actually, if you truly are serious about this whole treating me better thing, it might even be safe to say that I hate you less than I did yesterday. Not by much, but definitely less. Now, can we drop this and just focus on our mission?"

The rest of the trip passed in comfortable silence, until they were about an hour away from their destination and it suddenly started pouring. Both exorcists were cold, wet, and miserable by the time they reached the village.

Neither one of them were thrilled to see the crowd that was waiting for them. Years of experience had taught them to be wary of large groups of people, and they were even more put off by just how excited everyone was to see them. It was only a quiet whispered assurance from Allen that the mob surrounding them was indeed human that kept Kanda from drawing his sword on the villagers.

The tense moment died when the crowd broke into a joyous cheer, and Allen and Kanda were whisked inside and out of the rain. The people were chattering excitedly in their native language, but the pair caught the word "egzorcyści" enough times to figure out that it meant exorcists; the villagers knew who they were and were happy to see them. But while that was good, everyone continued to talk at them in Polish, and they were both immensely confused by what was happening. But it only took a couple minutes before the villagers realized that the exorcists didn't speak Polish and they pushed someone who spoke English to the front of the crowd.

The young woman was uncertain of her English skills and terrified of speaking for the whole village, but the fact that the exorcists were both incredibly attractive young men boosted her confidence; she desperately wanted to make a good impression on them. "Welcome, exorcists! Thank you for listening to our pleas and coming to save us! We know you have traveled far to get here, so we have prepared a feast in your honor, please partake."

It was only Kanda's hand grabbing him by the collar that stopped Allen from immediately throwing himself at the food. The samurai kept his grip on the Moyashi as he spoke for them both. "Thank you, but we have a job to do. Just point us in the direction of the shrine and we'll be on our way."

The room was silent for a moment while the woman translated Kanda's response for them, but then everyone began talking at once. The chaos only lasted for a few minutes before the growling of Allen's stomach silenced the crowd. They may not have spoken the same language, but that sound was universally understood. The young woman smiled, grabbing both exorcists by the wrists and pulling them towards the food covered tables. "Nonsense! You must eat to keep up your strength."

Allen dug in with gusto, making the villagers laugh with joy. The exorcists were there to save them from their plight, the least they could do was feed them and offer them some hospitality, and it made everyone feel good to know that their efforts were appreciated. No one noticed or cared that Allen ate enough food to feed a dozen people all by himself.

After the meal, Kanda once again tried to obtain directions to the shrine, but he was overruled quite forcefully. It was nearly midnight, and the villagers would not hear of their honored guests going out into the woods that late at night, no matter how badly they all wanted their problem taken care of. It was just too dangerous out there in the dark and in the rain.

A few other English speakers had come forward by that point, but the young woman was once again elected the spokesperson for the group. "Come, we have prepared beds for you, and after a good night's sleep and a hearty breakfast, we will have someone escort you to the shrine."