AN: Good lord, I am so sorry to have dropped off the world with this story. I got hit with some pretty intense writer's block and lost motivation for a while. I'll post a longer explanation at the end, since I know everyone's anxious to get reading. Hope you enjoy this chapter (even if it's a little slow).

Days passed without much incident. There was the usual flurry of activity as Finders and Exorcists came and went, the meal rushes, and that was about the most that went on. Allen spent time catching up with Lenalee and Lavi between taking a break to just relax and train for whatever mission he would be put out on next. Kanda had been in and out after only a couple days of being back. Allen didn't know if he'd been on missions or was just going out to do whatever it was that Kanda did in his free time. There had been a bit of a hassle about John, the son of one of the guys in the research and development group and an Akuma that Allen had gotten drawn into. In turn, Lenalee had learned his worst secret. Allen had been on eggshells since. It isn't like anyone expected to learn that their friend turned their father into an Akuma and that's how their eye got cursed. No, definitely a bombshell to drop on anyone. She had taken it shockingly well so far but he was sure that it just hadn't really clicked yet.

Allen grunted as he nearly toppled over while doing his usual morning set of push-ups. Sweat dripped into his eye and he swore softly at the stinging pain—and dropped to the floor in a pile. He would be ready to move in a couple minutes, after he caught his breath. His hand cramped up slightly and he forced it to flex and stretch. Maybe trying to do that many push-ups wasn't a smart idea on just one thumb. At least he didn't really have anything else planned for the day that would require him to use to his hands too much.

As he walked through the Order, he noticed the resigned expressions on several Exorcist's faces. None of them said anything in explanation to him, either, so he had nothing to go off of for clues. Allen found out what the commotion was before long. Komui was proudly showing off some kind of robotic monstrosity that he claimed was going to make everyone's life easier. The thing was massive. In contrast to the resignation on the faces of the Exorcists that Allen had passed earlier, the science division seemed excited about it. Really excited, if the cheering was anything to go off. Komui looked smug as the cat who got the cream. Allen was curious but wary. This was something of Komui's, afterall. A sigh from beside Allen drew his attention to Lenalee. She held a tray of coffee that was clearly meant for her brother and the others, if the cup with the rabbit on it wasn't any indication.

"Brother, I brought coffee." Her words got the attention of everyone including Komlin, the apparent name of the robot. Said robot took the cup that was designated for Komui while the leader wasn't paying attention. And it drank it.

And then chaos descended. Allen found himself being chased throughout the Order by the damned robot that had obviously fried its circuits on the coffee. Komui had sicced it on him because he didn't want it altering Lenalee at so, to his skewed mind, anyone else was preferable. That had led to a desperate chase. As Allen was running, he almost smashed straight into Kanda. Kanda looked more annoyed than normal. Must have just come back from a mission.

"Kanda, you stopped the last Komlin, right? How?"

"Cut the nape." Kanda scowled. So Komui had made another one of the damn things. Fuck if I'm getting involved in this.

"And… where is that?"

"If you don't know, you're destined to die." Kanda snorted, the edges of his mouth quirking up, and turned on his heel. He disappeared without another word and Allen didn't get a chance to follow. It was time to run again. Kanda only smiles when someone's going to get maimed. Got it.

In the end, it was Lenalee who put an end to the mess. Allen had been caught before then and immobilized because of Komui, but they did get him out. He didn't sustain too much bodily damage but the mental trauma was probably enough to make up for that. Komui tried to defend his creation with weak lines like 'don't hate Komlin, hate the coffee.' Lenalee promptly invoked her Innocence and kicked them both over the edge. Everyone cheered. Komui cried.

More time passed and another mission came up. Lenalee was Allen's partner this time and they were sent off to a town that was rewinding. Their briefing had said that the town was repeating the same day over and over without any of the people living there any wiser for it. One tavern owner had been reported to have gone nuts upon receiving the same call, the same order, repeatedly but then never being able to enter the town itself. So off they went. They made it in without a problem. Their finder, however, didn't.

In the end, it was Innocence responsible for everything. They found Miranda Lotto but they were found by someone else. Road Kamelot very nearly ended their entire mission, leaving behind a battered and broken Allen, an injured Lenalee, and a very stressed out Miranda. It was Komui, Bookman, and Lavi who picked up the pieces that Road had left Allen in. Lavi showed Allen what it meant to be a normal Exorcist without his Eye. Cross had said something similar, a long time ago, that Allen had not understood until then. It did give him back his resolve and life moved on again, steady as ever.

Kanda had his own missions that he interspersed with training, as usual. Allen Walker had been fairly hard to find after his last mission had mangled him but that was a relief. The twerp had started seeking him out whenever he could, mostly at meal times, and would not leave. Kanda tried to ignore him as best as he could. What was worse than the bean sprout coming after him? He brought Lavi and Lenalee with him. Lenalee was fine, she didn't bug and pry once Kanda made it clear that he didn't want to talk. Lavi, on the other hand, never listened.

Today, sadly, was no different. Kanda had just sat down with his usual soba and there was Lavi not two minutes later. Does he seriously always know where I am? Kanda scowled darkly into his food. He had started to actually change which table he sat at specifically to try to avoid the redhead. It was all apparently to no avail as he had yet to have a Lavi-free meal. He ignored the sound of Allen clattering down across from him. Lenalee still wasn't well enough to move around yet so he was screwed. There was no buffer from either of the two morons. He sighed softly to himself. The days when he was left alone out of fear seemed to have been vanishing faster and faster now that Allen Walker was around. It seemed that Kanda was going to have to reassert why he ought to be left alone because he preferred it.

For a while, the table was quiet aside from the sound of chewing and utensils hitting plates and bowls. Allen was steadily mowing his way through a mountain of food that numbered more than Kanda could probably eat in two weeks. He idly wondered where the kid put it all, aside from his Innocence burning it off, because he showed no signs of extra body fat. Not that Kanda had been actually looking for that at all, no indeed. Lavi was alternating his stare between his companions with a funny little smirk on the corner of his mouth. Allen seemed oblivious. Kanda simply didn't care enough to ask about whatever weird little thought the junior bookman had going. Knowing Lavi, it's either stupid or correct.

"Hey, Allen?"

"Mmph?" Allen could only make a muffled, questioning noise as his mouth was stuffed with a bread roll. He tilted his head to the side while he chewed and raised an eyebrow at Lavi.

"What're you doing later?"

"Ah, probably either reading or getting in a little bit of training, why?"

"Juuust curious. How about you, Yu?"

"None of your business." Kanda's reply was curt as ever and lacking in any manner of tonal inflection. He had no wish to be bothered. It was bad enough that Daisya had been after him more than usual, being teammates aside. Though he was loathe to admit it, Kanda was thankful for the distractions. It kept him from dwelling on nightmares and stupid little things that he had noticed about Allen. It wasn't as though he tried to notice them, it just happened without his permission.

"Aww, don't be a party pooper!" Lavi's voice was nearly a whine at this point and it clashed with the stupid grin he sported. He wasn't put out by Kanda's hostility, not at all, and it was his life mission to annoy the swordsman. Well, one of his life missions anyway. He'd be damned if he missed a chance.

Kanda didn't bother responding to that. He knew Lavi's game simply because of how often he'd been the target of it. Just like how Lavi wouldn't be anticipating a reply either. The only one who seemed remotely worried was Allen. He kept shooting glances between Kanda and Lavi with a small frown on his face. It was either concern, annoyance, or maybe curiosity. Kanda didn't care. Let the beansprout stare all he wanted because nothing was going to change anyway.

An uncomfortable silence settled over the table after that. Lavi was still smiling to himself. Allen had gone back to eating. Kanda was the first to finish and he picked up his dishes as quickly as he could without dropping anything. His one goal was to simply get away from those two before he exploded from trying not to react to anything else. He would finally get his meditation in today, Daisya was out on a mission as of this morning so he wouldn't be around to kick the door down again.

There was the usual ruckus at the Order. Komui caused a scene and ended up destroying a good portion of town over Lenalee. He somehow got it into his head that she and Russel were 'dating'. The Science Division and Allen ended up running ragged trying to stop their idiot boss and his Komlin III. As usual, Komui pretended he wasn't at fault while they cleaned up his mess. There were a lot of glares being directed his way afterwards.

Time passed. Allen was sent out on a mission from his nightmares: Find General Cross. The trauma of remembering was more than any Akuma-caused injury and Allen felt rather like a zombie just thinking about it. All those debts…. But he did find an old trail that led him to a village being plagued by a 'vampire'. Bookman and Lavi had showed up as well. Lavi was all hyper bounce and pomp until they went to investigate the so-called vampire. All hell let loose when they were attacked by the man and his girlfriend.

Of course, something wasn't clicking right and it turned out to be one hell of a discovery. Krory had been killing Akuma, not regular humans, and Eliade was an Akuma as well—though Allen was the one to find that out. Krory was outside trying to kill Lavi. Long story short, Krory ended up fighting and defeating his lover. He resolved to become an Exorcist in the end. Allen and Lavi soon learn that Krory is far, far too unused to the world outside his castle to be left unsupervised for any length of time (and Lavi got to meet the dark side of Allen thanks to a card game). They decide that it's best to get Krory back to the Order so he can be inducted officially.

Oh great they're back. Kanda scowled at the wall in annoyance. So what if they've found another accommodator. So what if he's another parasite-type. The mere fact that Kanda is going to have to deal with stupid Lavi again is enough to wipe that all out. Beansprout is annoying, sure, but Kanda at least can sort of understand how he functions. Lavi? Kanda's pretty sure that even the redhead himself has no idea why he does half of what he does anyway. No, the part that makes Kanda the most unhappy is that Lavi somehow passed the torch to Lenalee. She's been sneakily trying to get him to talk about feelings. He's slipped up twice so far and he's furious about it. Lenalee will likely tell Lavi and then the heat will turn up again and fucking hell, he doesn't want that headache. It's bad enough that her questions have him over-analyzing himself now and he's fast becoming paranoid about his behavior around specific people. Dammit.

Slipping away from the upper levels, Kanda bee-lined for his usual place to meditate in the hopes that he would be able to re-center himself. He just needed to be able to hold his composure for the rest of the day. The room was thankfully empty, there had been a recent spate of Exorcists training, and Kanda slipped inside with a sigh. There had been this heavy air hanging over the Order more so than usual. Instincts were screaming that things were gearing up to get bad fast and no one wanted to be caught off guard. Even Komui had been more subdued than usual, actually doing paperwork. Kanda felt like that alone was enough of a bad omen that he had redoubled some of his usual routines.

It wasn't Kanda's lucky day to be left alone though. He could have guessed that someone would eventually bother him, given all the new activity, and he should have really seen it coming. What he couldn't have guess was that it would be Allen Walker who would poke his head in the door.

"Hey, Kanda?" The silver-haired Exorcist sounded like he was worried that Kanda was going to get pissed off and immediately leave. He watched as Kanda visibly stiffened and then relaxed. Allen had to swallow some of the guilty feelings that were threatening to make him turn around and run before Kanda deigned to answer him. It had been a long time since they had seen each other and Allen wasn't sure what kind of mood Kanda was in right now. He had seen the swordsman look around the room and stalk off immediately after noticing that he and Lavi had come back, so his mood was probably angry as usual.

"Is there something you want?" Kanda didn't turn around. He didn't want to see Allen staring at him, analyzing him. He didn't want to see the way the beansprout would react to anything he said. He didn't want to think about how much like someone else the beansprout was. Kanda slowly exhaled and relaxed his spine again. Tensing up wasn't going to help him out and he hadn't spent an hour of meditation to ruin it now. He kept his eyes shut and his breathing even, hands resting lightly on his knees, while he waited for Allen to speak. And waited. He could feel a twitch in his eyebrow just waiting to happen. "Seriously, what? If you're here to stare, I'm not going to do a trick so you ought to take a picture. It'll last longer." Sarcasm was his best defense at this point. Kanda had no idea why Allen was bothering him, had no idea why he wasn't talking, and had no idea how to get him to leave without acting like a total ass. Kanda might have been a coldhearted person but he wasn't going to stoop down to unprovoked attacks. He had a code. Even if it would be funny to watch Allen panic. Go away already so I can relax.

"What? No! Wait, no. No, that's not why I'm here!" Allen spluttered and tripped over his words, his tone bordering mortified and annoyed. He could almost imagine the smug smirk on Kanda's stupid face and he was thankful that the other Exorcist hadn't turned around yet. There was heat in his face that suggested he was blushing and he did not need to have to explain that to Kanda. This is so stupid. He clenched his hands into fists and sighed. "I wanted to know if you'd spar with me." It was far easier to get that sentence out than he had thought it would be. The novelty of the situation wasn't lost on him, however. Oh, how most of the Order would faint at the thought of Allen and Kanda sparring together without trying to kill one another. He didn't know if it was possible, but he'd like to try. Try to get closer to the icy bastard even though so many told him to avoid Kanda. It seemed like only Lavi and Lenalee were willing to deal with Kanda's withdrawn temperament.

"…. What?" Kanda had to have misheard him. There was no way that Allen would want to spar with him. They hated spending time together. Even on missions, they couldn't handle each other without incident for more than a few hours. And here was Allen asking to fight? What was happening? There was a fleeting thought that maybe Lavi had put Allen up to this but it was quickly brushed aside. Allen had learned not to listen to most of Lavi's ideas by now. Maybe it had been Lenalee or Komui? Komui, he wouldn't put it passed him to do it. Lenalee though. Maybe she had. Afterall, she had spent the better part of two weeks annoying him about Allen, hadn't she? Dammit. I don't want to do this. "Why?" That was the safest thing Kanda could think to ask. Everything else sounded way more accusatory and he wasn't really feeling up to starting a war.

"I don't want to ask Lavi right now. He's too bloody hyper because of Krory and I really don't feel like dealing with his condescending jokes whenever he lands a hit on me. Or the just plain stupid jokes he's so fond of." Allen raked a hand through his hair and shuffled his weight from foot to foot. Would Kanda buy that reasoning? All the real reasons weren't ones that Allen wanted to actually voice because Kanda would just gut him first chance he got. Stoicism wasn't easy to read when it tied into things like 'I just wanted to spend time with you that doesn't involve shouting or Akuma' or 'I like being around you when Lavi isn't pissing you off and you don't want to kill me.'

Kanda slowly turned his head to eye Allen over his shoulder, one dark eyebrow raised. He was asking "really?" without saying anything and the sarcasm in his expression was obvious. Allen shrugged at him, a sheepish grin on his face, and took a slow half step into the room. Kanda's expression didn't change and he inhaled slowly. Why am I doing this? His inner voice didn't provide him any good answers so he just sighed and turned his back on Allen again. "Fine." The swordsman frowned at his knees. Why do I let things like this happen? There was a feeling that Allen would just keep trying to get him to train with him throughout the day and coming days. It was easier to just give in now and avoid all the headaches and verbal fights. It certainly wasn't because Kanda was curious to see how Allen fought when it wasn't life or death. Stop that.

"Okay." Allen thumped to the floor a couple feet from Kanda and copied the pose the swordsman was in. "Whenever you're done meditating, though." Allen closed his eyes and bit down on the inside of his cheek to keep himself from smiling. He looks almost harmless when he's caught off guard. He almost looks cute. Maybe.

AN: Alrighty! Hopefully I'll be back on track with updating this story from now on.

As to what I said at the beginning of the chapter: I essentially went through a small bit of hell during December till about halfway though January. My grandmother passed away on December 27th, following a bad fall on Christmas Eve that broke her hip (both of which had been replaced years ago). I also started working on Dec 21st and the stress from that wore me down. I found out about gram when I got home from work on the 27th at almost 10 pm. So that threw me down for a week or so before I could kick myself back into some bit of normalcy. Then my cousin started a bunch of shit because apparently we can't have a death in the family without some kind of major drama. Said drama just now literally died down and hopefully will stay dead. I also got sick during that time and my writing motivation was pretty low, especially in this fandom since the storyline itself is kind of inherently dark and I didn't want to try to re-read / re-watch it all when I was already feeling shitty.

I know it's no excuse to have left you all hanging for so long. I'll honestly be surprised if anyone even reads this thing anymore, really.