Deciding on when to tell everyone that Allen was pregnant and that he and Kanda had gotten married was an easy decision. It was stressful enough that Lenalee knew what was going on, so they were in no hurry to have the rest of the Order know what had happened. It was the decision on when to tell Lavi that was hard. They both, reluctantly, agreed that he needed to know before they told everyone else, since he was in their close circle of friends, but beyond that, neither of them really wanted to tell him and have to put up with the incessant questioning that was sure to follow. But on the other hand, Lavi was starting to suspect that something was going on between them, and it was far better to tell him before he tried to pry it out of them or took to snooping around.

So when the three of them were assigned a mission together, Allen and Kanda decided that it was the perfect opportunity to tell Lavi. But by the end of that first day, both young men were so annoyed with their redheaded companion's usual antics that neither wanted to share their secret with him. They knew they should, but they were just so irritated with him that they didn't want to tell him such personal information. And what happened on the second day of their mission just made their frustration worse.

It all started when Allen dropped his wedding ring.

Fiddling with his wedding band was a nervous habit that he had picked up over the last couple weeks, and Allen often found himself doing it when he was ready to go but his mission partners weren't. He may have adjusted to the idea of being married to Kanda, but he still hated his ring and it irritated him that he had to wear it all the time, so he played with it whenever he was bored or nervous. Today, he was especially stressed because he didn't want to admit to himself that he had actually missed sharing a bed with Kanda the night before; he was falling for the samurai much more quickly than he had anticipated, and that thought was rather terrifying.

When the ring fell, Allen immediately dropped to his hands and knees to look for it, as he was not going to disappoint Kanda by losing his ring less than three months into their marriage, but the shaggy rug in the inn's lobby was making finding it a difficult task. While he was down on the ground, Lavi came downstairs to join him for the day. The redhead's eye was instantly drawn to the sight in front of him, and he practically drooled at being presented with the view of a woman's ass in tight pants just thrust into the air, too aroused by the scene to look further and notice that it wasn't a woman that he was staring at.

And that was how Kanda found him when the samurai arrived in the lobby just a few moments later.

Sensing the arrival of his friend, Lavi nudged him and let out a low whistle. "Wow, Yuu! Check out the ass on that chick!"

Kanda immediately smacked Lavi upside the head for using his first name, but he still looked to see who the redhead was ogling. He recognized the ass in question in a heartbeat, raising an eyebrow in silent appreciation of the view of his husband's rear end, pleased to notice that the pregnant boy was actually gaining weight like he had agreed to do. Returning his focus to the situation at hand, he hit Lavi again, more than a little pissed that the redhead was eyeing what was his. "That's the Moyashi, moron. I wouldn't let him catch me staring at his butt if I were you."

Lavi didn't believe for a second that it was Allen that he was looking at, but as he opened his mouth to accuse Kanda of messing with him, the woman stood up, revealing that she truly was Allen and not a woman like Lavi had thought. He felt all the color drain from his face, but before he could get too embarrassed, he noticed something important. Allen's ass wasn't the only part of his body that looked female. Not only had his rear end filled out, but his thighs had thickened and his hips were wider than they used to be; the boy's pants were skin tight and looked like they could burst at any moment. Allen wasn't fat by any stretch of the imagination - in fact, the boy was still extremely skinny - but there was a distinct feminine curve to the lower half of his body that definitely hadn't been there the last time they'd been on a mission together. Seeing him from behind, one would be hard pressed to believe that he was anything other than female.

Allen smiled at his companions as he slid his ring back onto his finger, but the smile faded to concern when he caught the strange look on the redhead's face. "What's wrong, Lavi?"

When Lavi didn't react and just continued to stare like an idiot, Kanda chuckled and took it upon himself to explain things to the Moyashi, and throw Lavi under the bus in the process. "Nothing's wrong. He's just freaked out because the girl he was ogling turned out to be a man."

"Oh. Are you having trouble learning that you might be gay, Lavi?" The teasing cut off as the realization of what had really happened hit him, and Allen had to struggle to keep his temper in check. "Wait. I was the only person down here. That means you were looking at me, doesn't it?"

Kanda smirked, enjoying the way Lavi paled even further with the question. The redhead stuttered as he tried to explain himself in a way that wouldn't upset Allen further. "It-it's not what you think, Bean Sprout. I-"

It was the wrong thing to say. Allen growled darkly and punched him in the stomach. "Don't call me that!"

The Moyashi immediately stormed outside, and Kanda was quick to follow, leaving Lavi behind to take care of himself. Kanda wasn't sure if he'd be able to provide any comfort at all - he usually couldn't when Allen's mood swings made him angry - but he still had to try. After all, trying to understand what Allen was feeling was proving to be a very effective way to get the boy to warm up to their budding relationship.

Kanda caught up to Allen easily enough, but the theory that the boy was overreacting because of his pregnancy hormones went out the window immediately. Out of habit, Kanda had wrapped the Moyashi in a hug, but Allen didn't push him away. And it was in that moment that Kanda realized that Allen only let himself be hugged when he was in full control of his emotions; it was when he was having mood swings that he pulled away. Which meant that the Moyashi was actually pissed off about something. But before he could ask what that was, Allen opened his mouth and vented his irritation. "I wish he'd stop calling me 'Bean Sprout'."

That was not at all what Kanda was expecting to hear, and it confused him greatly. "Moyashi, haven't we already covered this?"

Allen sighed heavily and melted deeper into the hug. He may not have liked how quickly he was falling for his husband, but he wasn't ashamed to admit that hugging was better than fighting. "That's exactly the problem, Yuu. I can't stand hearing him call me by your special nickname for me."

Kanda clearly didn't get it, so Allen continued to vent. "It was bad enough back when I thought you were both making fun of my height, but now that I know that that's not what you mean, hearing him say it is even worse."

Finally understanding, Kanda couldn't help laughing at the brat. "You're adorable, Baka Moyashi. Here I was thinking that you were upset about your weight again, but instead, you're thinking about me. You really are starting to care about our relationship, aren't you?"

Allen let out a defeated sigh, choosing to ignore the samurai's question. "Is the weight gain really that noticeable?"

Kanda shrugged and let the Moyashi change the subject. "Only because your pants don't fit. You should probably consider telling Johnny what's going on so that he can make you some new clothes."

Allen was saved from having to respond to the suggestion by the sound of approaching footsteps. He pulled away from Kanda, breaking the hug just before Lavi rounded the corner and would have caught them together. Pointedly ignoring the redhead, Allen addressed the group. "Shall we get on with our mission?"

.x.x.

Lavi continued to study the youngest member of their group as the day passed, trying to figure out what was going on with him, and by the end of the day, both Allen and Kanda were ready to kill him for his staring - he was nowhere near as subtle as he thought he was. Allen was creeped out by being constantly watched like that and Kanda was livid that the idiot rabbit was eyeing what was his. Too frustrated to talk to Lavi directly without seriously hurting him, Kanda decided that it was better to approach Allen and find a different solution to the problem.

Allen did not appreciate Kanda's suggestion that he visit a local tailor so that he could get fitting pants as soon as possible, and he lashed out physically, but as had been happening all too often lately, starting a physical fight led to the two of them tangled up in bed together. Sex was a far better emotional outlet than fighting ever was, so Allen didn't mind that he had ended up underneath his husband instead of kicking his ass. What he did mind was that the sex had gotten so intense that he had ripped his pants beyond repair.

The next morning, Allen still stubbornly refused to admit that he needed new pants, but he was forced to concede when he couldn't button up a single pair of the pants that he'd packed. Kanda teased Allen while he struggled to make something fit, enjoying the show the Moyashi was unintentionally putting on, but when it became clear that Allen was on the verge of tears, he decided it was time to put an end to the boy's frustrations. Pulling a pair of pants from his own suitcase, Kanda dangled the black fabric tauntingly in front of Allen's face; he may have wanted to put the Moyashi out of his misery, but he also wanted to get his way. "If you promise to go buy some new pants today, I'll let you wear them."

Allen grumbled and swore under his breath, but he still took the garment that Kanda was offering; he couldn't go out in public without pants. "If they fit, I'll think about it."

The pants did fit, once the legs had been rolled up, and the reminder that he was short did nothing to help Allen's mood. Seeing that the Moyashi was still going to fight him on the whole tailoring thing, Kanda jumped in before Allen could voice his complaints. "I know you don't like it, Moyashi, but if you have pants that fit, people will stop staring at you. And I really don't want other people staring at you."

Allen snorted and rolled his eyes, cutting Kanda off before he could finish. "People always stare at me. I've got white hair and a butt ugly scar marring half my face. I can't go ten feet in a crowd without people gossiping about my appearance."

Kanda wrapped Allen in a hug; the grumbling had made it clear that the Moyashi didn't understand what the problem really was. "Che. You're missing the point, Moyashi. Those are the stares of stupid people being stupid. Your scar isn't ugly, it's fascinating and it makes you even more beautiful - only an idiot would think otherwise." Allen blushed and looked like he was about to argue, so Kanda kept talking. "But yesterday, when your pants were too small... those were definitely sexual stares. Those were the stares of people trying to figure out how to get in your pants. And that's a whole lot worse than the other kind of staring. You are mine and I should be the only one who gets to look at you like that."

Allen blinked slowly as realization dawned on him. "Oh. This is about you being possessive and jealous. It's not actually about me at all."

He paused, debating what to say next, but found that he was too exhausted to try to convince Kanda that he wasn't the samurai's possession; it was an argument he wasn't going to win. "So if I don't want you to kill someone today, I should do some shopping."

Kanda nodded, relieved that he and the Moyashi were finally on the same page with this. "Exactly."

"You know what that means, don't you?" Allen couldn't help smirking at the blank look on Kanda's face. "You're going to have to keep Lavi busy for a couple hours."

"Dammit. I did not think this through."

.x.x.

Distracting Lavi was easier than either young man expected it to be. The redhead had noticed that Allen's pants suddenly fit again and he was lost in thought, wondering whether or not his observations from the day before were all in his head, so he didn't even begin to question the suggestion that they needed to split up for the day.

The day passed uneventfully. Their mission was clearly a wild goose chase and they didn't encounter a single akuma, but it still kept Lavi busy and his mind off examining his friends - up until Allen rejoined them for dinner, and Lavi finally noticed just how rolled up the cuffs of his pants were. The boy really was getting heavier; it just wasn't as noticeable now because he was wearing pants that fit his hips. And speaking of his pants, they were clearly borrowed from someone taller than he was. There were any number of possibilities as to whose pants they might have been - Allen could be very charming when he wanted to be - but Lavi recognized the style of those pants. The shape of the legs and the stitching on the pockets matched the style of someone he knew, someone who was very particular about the clothing that he wore. Allen was wearing Kanda's pants.

Their relationship may have been better since they returned from their whole ordeal with the Fourteenth, but there was still no way in hell that Kanda would have let Allen touch his pants, let alone wear them. Allen must have stolen them. Though why he would steal Kanda's pants when he could have just asked Lavi for a pair of his was a mystery. On the other hand, ever since they'd gone on that mission together and ended up in the infirmary, Allen and Kanda had begun acting differently towards each other, and this was yet another weird thing that had happened between them.

It was time Lavi found out what was going on with his friends.