A/N: Hey guys! Here's the next chapter, enjoy! :) My chapters seem to grow longer every time... :D

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

He saw the redhead's eyes gleam mischievously and briefly thought that he didn't have an escape route since the rabbit was blocking the only exit. Said exorcist's grin widened even more – it was obvious that he too was aware of Allen's predicament.

"Don't worry, dear, I have something in mind.." And with that, Lavi pounced on his best friend and began tickling him without mercy.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

. C H A P T E R 3.

Allen, taken by surprise, had a hard time defending himself against the assault. Laughing loudly and gasping for air, he tried to tell Lavi to stop it, but to no avail. He tried to pull away from the redhead with the insane grin on his face, but his efforts in wriggling out of Lavi's grasp only caused both of them to collide with the armrest of a couch. Allen lost his balance because of the unexpected impact and the added weight of his 'attacker' and fell backwards with a surprised yelp, trying to steady himself by grabbing the nearest object, which happened to be Lavi, and thus pulling the red-haired exorcist with him onto the couch. Lavi suddenly found himself sitting on top of Allen on the couch, straddling him. The perplexed look on Allen's face caused the redhead to burst out laughing.

"What are you laughing at?" asked a startled and slightly uncomfortable Allen from underneath the redhead.

Said rabbit had a hard time breathing due to his laughing fit, but tried to answer him anyways. "Hahahaha... It's.. its just.. hahaha, your.. haha.. your face!" he managed to get out.

He calmed down a little and managed to say, "You should've seen your face, it was priceless!" before once again starting to laugh.

Allen, still a little uncomfortable and with a light blush dusting his cheeks, was not amused. Instead of shouting, he settled for a blinding smile that was creepy enough to make Lavi's laughter die down instantly. "Would you please get off me?" he asked with a sickly sweet voice that sent chills up Lavi's spine.

"Well, actually... no."

Allen stopped smiling and raised an eyebrow. "No?"

"No."

"Why not?" he stared up at the rabbit on top of him questioningly.

"'Cause I don't wanna." The redhead grinned mischievously.

"Uh... okay... but I want you to, so now what?"

"Well, then, little Allen, you'll just have to answer my questions until I'm satisfied." Lavi's grin widened.

Allen successfully suppressed a groan, but couldn't stop himself from rolling his eyes at the older boy. The white-haired boy looked up at him with a glare that unmistakably showed what exactly he thought of that idea. As Lavi did not show any reaction to his glare – he was probably already too used to being glared at by Kanda to be fazed by something like that – Allen concluded that he would have to accept his 'fate'.

"Ask away...," he sighed while propping himself up on his elbows to get a little more comfortable. It didn't seem as if he'd get out of this awkward position anytime soon.

Immediately, the grin disappeared from the rabbit's face to make room for a serious expression. He wasted no more time and immediately asked, "What's wrong with you today? And don't try to lie to me again, I know you're not fine."

The guilt he had felt earlier because of his eavesdropping returning full force, Allen looked away and dropped his gaze to the green and white striped backrest of the sofa. He suddenly felt uneasy and didn't want to answer the redhead's question, but it didn't seem as if he could wriggle out of this now, literally as well as figuratively. But that didn't mean he wouldn't try.

"Come on, beansprout, tell me already!" Lavi whined.

The 'beansprout''s eye twitched as he turned to look at the other. "Don't call me by that nickname, dammit!" he yelled, clearly annoyed.

"Why not, beansprout?" he smiled kindly.

"Lavi..." That sounded pretty threatening.

"What's wrong, beansprout?" Lavi was still smiling at the boy, inwardly laughing. The white-haired exorcist seemed to fall for his quickly improvised plan.

On to the next stage.

"Grrr..."

"Is something the matter, beansprout?"

"... shut up!"

"Oh, beansprout, you're so mean to me! Even though I'm just concerned for your well-being, all you do is yell at me, beansprout!"

"..."

"Beansprout? Beansprout! Hey, talk to me, beansprout! Are you giving me the silent treatment now, beansprout? Beeeaaaansproooouuut~!"

"Argh, shut up already, stupid rabbit! I eavesdropped, okay? What's wrong with you, anyways?"

That came as a surprise for the redhead. "Huh? What do you mean, you eavesdropped? And why should there be something wrong with me?" he asked, incredulous.

Allen blushed from embarrassment. "I was walking by the library today and overheard you and Bookman talking..."

"Oh." How much did he hear?

"Were you really demoted?"

"Well, yeah, kinda. I mean, the old panda still has to search for a new successor, and I guess while he's doing that, he's not gonna announce to everyone that I'm not his apprentice anymore, but... technically, yes."

"I... see..." was the only reply he got.

Silence. Uncomfortable silence.

"So.." Lavi began, but he didn't really seem to know what he wanted to say, so he didn't finish. Allen, on the other hand, still had something on his mind that he was dying to ask. He just couldn't understand it.

"Well... uh... aren't you, you know.. sad?"

"Why would I be?" Now it was Allen who was surprised. How could he not be sad? Was he just that good an actor, or did he really not care?

"Well, wasn't being a bookman the goal that you worked towards for your entire life? Doesn't it feel like you've lost your purpose now?"

"To be honest, no, not really. I mean, of course I'm a little sad that I won't be able to travel together with Bookman so much anymore, but really, it's not that big of a deal. The old panda has always been way too abusive, anyways," he chuckled, "And about the purpose part – it's more as if my purpose has.. switched, you know?"

"Uh, actually, no, I don't..." Allen sweatdropped.

"I've never really wanted to become a bookman. At least not after I had learned what it meant. When I met Bookman, he told me that he recorded history, and the thought intrigued me. I was just a little kid then, without parents, still very naive of course, and I believed it to be something that not only was important but also gave my life a purpose. I went with him, thinking that the world was a beautiful place and worth being recorded, and eventually I learned how hard being a bookman really is. Never staying at one place, always taking on a new alias, staying objective, not getting attached. And worst of all: Recording war after war after war – because that was apparently the only thing worth recording that humans did. It's not really the kind of stuff you'd want to spend your whole life doing."

Allen stayed silent for a while, processing what he had just heard. On one hand, he was glad that it didn't affect Lavi all that much that he lost his position, for he didn't want the rabbit to be depressed. On the other hand, though, he wasn't sure what to think of the personal information his best friend had just shared with him. Though they were close, they had never felt the need to talk about their past, much less the need to pressure the other into talking about it. They both seemed to be of the opinion that that information would be shared when the time came. For Lavi, this time had obviously come now. Did it have something to do with his demotion after all?

Anyhow, the 'not getting attached' thing explained the phrase that had been echoing inside his head the whole evening. It made sense that a bookman could not stay objective if he was attached to somebody or something, which also explained Lavi's demotion for he had mentioned falling in love, but there were still two things that Allen was unsure about. He had an uneasy feeling in his stomach when thinking about the redhead's obviously depressing past, but he felt that he still didn't get the gist of it. There was still a piece of the puzzle that he needed to fully understand what it meant to be a bookman. He felt that this was the most important thing to know right now, so he decided that he would break their silent agreement to not ask the other about their past.

"What exactly do you mean when you say you were always taking on a new alias?"

Lavi suddenly tensed and looked slightly guilty and sad, apparently anticipating that Allen would react negatively to what he was about to tell him. This made Allen frown, for what could possibly make the redhead believe that Allen would think less of him?

"Well... a bookman is supposed to stay objective and unattached. To ensure that, we are trained to adopt a new persona whenever we begin recording at a new place, and to drop it again when we leave. It is easier to cast aside eventual attachments if the one who made them isn't really you, you know?"

Allen could only nod. His thoughts were in such disarray that he wasn't able to answer verbally at the moment. So, was it all just a lie? But then again, he could see the hurt in the other's eyes. That could not be fake. He didn't want it to be fake. He had to make sure.

"So.. if you aren't Lavi, who are you then?"

"I am Lavi, but at the same time, I'm not." He ignored the white-haired boy's confused stare and continued on. "Lavi is an alias, a persona of mine. It's the 49th name I took on since I began training to be a bookman. I shouldn't be attached to it, since it's supposed to be only temporary, but the thing is - I am. During my stay at the order, I have grown so fond of all of you that I don't think I'd be able to cast 'Lavi' aside anymore. Although I think that me being an accommodator has a lot to do with it, since the innocence makes it a little difficult to remain impartial and not take a side in the war, you guys are all very important to me.. I don't know if I could take it to leave this behind. Bookman seems to have come to a similar conclusion, otherwise he wouldn't have demoted me... you have to understand that I didn't lie to you. I have become Lavi, and I am your best friend. That hasn't changed. " Lavi looked at Allen pleadingly, inwardly bracing himself for rejection.

He had not expected the boy to smile up at him kindly.

"I'm glad.." The palpable warmth in the boy's voice was more than Lavi would've hoped for. "I'm glad that were still friends.. and I'm glad that Bookman's decision doesn't depress you.."

"Oh, Allen...," Lavi half laughed. "Don't tell me the only thing you were worried about all this time was that I may feel down because of my demotion?"

"Uh.. sorta?" The redhead ruffled Allen's hair affectionately, smiling fondly. Allen blushed, embarrassed, but couldn't stop himself from grinning.

"Seriously, you're just too kind for your own good, baka." Lavi chuckled.

After a moment of enjoying the lightened atmosphere, though, he grabbed the rabbit's arm which was still tangled in his hair and stopped him. At Lavi's questioning look he asked, "So.. would you mind getting off me now?"

"Oh, yeah.. right..." Lavi sweatdropped. Grabbing the backrest for support, he lifted himself off the sofa and consequently off of Allen. He stood next to the sofa, waiting for Allen to sit up in a normal position, which he did. As soon as the white-haired boy's legs weren't in the way anymore, he flopped down next to him.

The two exorcists smiled at each other, happy that everything was cleared up now. Then, Allen noticed a change in Lavi, the rabbit tensed up a little, a flicker of determination in his eyes. However, the question he asked next sounded completely casual.

"Say, how much exactly did you overhear, actually? You never told me."

Allen's face flushed, he was still embarrassed and slightly guilty for eavesdropping, though he hadn't really done it on purpose.

"Uh, well.. sort of from the point were you were smashed into a few stacks of books or something, I guess, until around when Bookman said that it would break you if he'd force you to leave..?"

"I... see..." the redhead murmured, obviously thinking back to what exactly had been said in between. His photographic memory came in handy as he quickly arrived at a conclusion to whatever question he had probably asked himself. He turned more in Allen's direction and asked, "So I assume you don't know who it is that I'm in love with, right?"

Allen blinked, taken by surprise. He had almost forgotten that that was the second thing he had wanted to ask the redhead. He shook his head in confirmation. His interest must have been visible though, for Lavi, who had previously seemed a little conflicted over something, spoke up once again.

"Do you want to know?" A smile tugged on the corners of the redhead's lips, making him look vaguely amused and mischievous as well as a little rueful.

Allen, who didn't know what to make of that, decided to focus on the question. Did he want to know? He had to admit that he was curious, but for some reason he had an uneasy feeling in his stomach.

When Allen didn't answer immediately, Lavi leaned towards him, causing his uneasy feeling to intensify. When they were just a few inches apart, the redhead spoke again, his voice merely a whisper.

"It's you."

A/N: You all hate me now, don't you? :D I'm a little sorry for this mean cliffhanger, but it was just such a good point to end the chapter, in my opinion xD
See ya next chapter, I hope :D