*nervously sweating* Uh…hey guys…I know I disappeared for a while there…^^;

Allen: For once she actually has a valid excuse. Her computer stopped letting her log onto te website a long time ago, and she hasn't been able to fix it since.

*breathes sigh of relief* Thanks Moyashi-chan.

Allen: *eye twitch* Mhm…

Okay, sorry for the long wait, but here you guys go!

Chapter 4: Learning

~Exorcists~

"Hey this isn't too bad…" Lavi said happily, closing his one green eye. "It's kinda…relaxing…"

"Shut up Baka Usagi!" Kanda snarled, threatening to hit him with the paddle. "It's relaxing for you cause you're sitting there on your lazy ass not doing a damn thing!"

"That's because I am in the middle. You can now call me Captain Lavi!"

"Uh yeah, no." Allen said blatantly. "You need to sit still so we don't tip."

"Aw don't be such a worry-wart Al!" Lavi cried happily. "Loosen up a bit!"

"This is a mission Baka Usagi." Kanda growled. "We don't have time for fun!"

"OH HOLY SCHNIPS!"

The three Exorcists turned their heads and saw the canoe with the three girls in it, getting spun around in a circle by the current. The girl in the back with the hat was clutching the edge of the canoe, and she was also the one who was screaming.

Lavi couldn't help but burst out laughing at the sight.

"Oh schnips, oh schnips!" the girl yelled again.

"Lynn, just calm down already!" the girl in front yelled.

The girl in the middle was also clutching the sides of the canoe, but she was laughing instead of screaming. "Paddle on my side!" she cried in between laughs. "Paddle on my side!"

"Which side is your side?!" the girl in front cried, desperately trying to use her paddle to set the canoe straight. "You're in the middle! And not paddling!"

By then, they were floating down the river almost completely backwards, but the current was continuously turning them around. Because of this, they were directly behind the Exorcist's canoe, and so Allen would have to be the one to help them out if need be.

"Would you like some help?" Allen asked politely. He reached out and grabbed the side of the canoe to stop it from spinning around. When he did, the two canoes bumped with enough force to make all six of them jolt slightly. The girl with the hat moved forward a bit, and when she did, her sunglasses slid right off.

"Ah, my glasses!" she cried when they fell. Thankfully the sunglasses landed in Allen's lap instead of the water.

"Here." Allen said, picking them up and handing them to her.

And just like that, time seemed to freeze.

Cliché, I know, but bear with me.

Allen could see now that she was definitely blonde; she had a couple strands hanging out from under the hat. And she had big, stormy grey-blue eyes.

No one really moved until Kanda cleared his throat loudly, signaling for Allen to get on with it.

"Uh…here." He said again, handing her the glasses. "Hold on, I'll help set the canoe straight."

"…Thanks." She said, a heavy blush appearing on her cheeks.

Allen tried to turn the canoe around, but it was hard to do sideways, so Lavi eventually jumped out – yes, jumped – and got on the other side to help.

"See ya later!" he called, waving at them as the canoe went ahead.

"Definitely!" the girl in the middle cried, waving almost as obnoxiously as Lavi was.

xxXXxx

~Girls~

"That was nice of them." Caitlin remarked as they floated down the river.

"Guys, those were the boys in the store!" Gubbi cried, sounding like she was ready to start bouncing up and down any moment. "I'd recognize that red-head anywhere!"

"Really?" Caitlin asked. "Interesting…"

Lynn was completely silent, a hand on one of her bright red cheeks. '…Those eyes…whoa…'

"Should we stop off here?" Gubbi asked, looking at a shore about ten feet away.

"But we just started!" Caitlin argued.

"Caitlin, it's a float." Gubbi said slowly, trying very hard not to irritate her friend. "That's what you do on a float, you just float, and stop about every five minutes."

Caitlin sighed softly. "But we just started…"

"Lynn, what are your thoughts on it?" Gubbi asked, turning her head to see her friend.

Lynn's head shot up in surprise, the blush still evident on her cheeks. "Huh?"

Gubbi grinned, making Lynn practically shrink back. "Oh…hey Lynnie, why ya blushing?"

"Blushing?" Lynn stammered. "I'm not blushing! Why would you think I'm blushing?!"

"Cause ya are!"

"Lynn's blushing?" Caitlin asked curiously. "Why?"

"Really Lynn, I didn't think that guys with white hair were your type." Gubbi teased.

Lynn's blush came back full force.

"WHAAA?!" she shrieked.

~Exorcists~

Allen turned his head slightly when he heard a very familiar voice scream.

"Was that the same girl?" Lavi asked with a sigh.

"I think so." Allen replied.

"Sheesh Allen, you really riled her up." Lavi remarked with a grin.

"Wha?!" Allen cried out indignantly. "I did nothing of the sort!"

"Of course you didn't." Lavi said, not sounding convinced at all. "Just like you really didn't do anything to Road to make her so obsessed with you."

"I did nothing! Don't say things like that! She's just crazy!" Allen argued, his cheeks tinted pink.

"Careful Allen," Lavi said in a sing-song voice, wagging his finger. "If Sunglasses-chan hears you say that, she might be upset."

"Why would she - Sunglasses-chan?" Allen said in confusion.

"Yeah, you know who I mean."

"But you don't even know her. Or her name!"

"And?" Lavi asked in a bored voice.

"Why would you give her a nickname if you don't know her?"

"Why not?"

"How about both of you just shut up?" Kanda barked from the front.

Then Lavi jumped, nearly upsetting the canoe. "Oh! There's a good spot! Let's stop there!"

"Idiot…" Kanda growled. "Why the hell would we stop? We just started! I don't even see why we need to be here!"

"Because there are Akuma?" Allen suggested with a grin. "Come now Kanda, your brain can't be that small."

"Shut it Moyashi!"

"My name is Allen BaKanda!"

"Guys, come on!" Lavi said, trying to stop the argument. "Seriously, let's stop here!"

"Why?" Allen asked, genuinely curious.

"Because Komui agrees with me that you two need to loosen up a little." Lavi replied happily. "And that while we're on this mission, we should try to relax a little." he attempted to look at Allen. "Why do you think Link isn't here?"

Allen blinked. "…Komui can do that?!"

"Apparently."

"Che."

~Girls~

"Oh, look!" Gubbi cried excitedly, pointing at one of the many shores. "I think they're stopping there! Let's stop too!"

"…Why?" Caitlin all but whined.

"Cause I want to learn that redhead's name." Gubbi replied happily.

With the look on her face and the way she was rubbing her hands together, she easily could have passed as a Disney villain.

Lynn took a deep breath. "Okay. Let's go."

"But-" Caitlin started.

"Caitlin, please!" Lynn pleaded. "Come on, please!"

The brunette in the front sighed. "Okay…"

"You can look for more rocks." Lynn added.

Caitlin smiled. "What are we waiting for?!" she cried, paddling faster. "Let's stop off at the next shore!"

~Exorcists~

"Oh look, they're stopping!" Lavi said happily, watching as the three girls beached their canoe. "Come on Yuu, let's stop too!"

"Why would we do that Baka Usagi?" Kanda snapped.

Lavi grinned. "Cause I'm the captain, remember? And besides, they look nice!"

Allen rolled his eyes. He wasn't about to argue however. They did look nice…

"Stupid rabbit…" Kanda mumbled as he paddled towards the shoreline.

However, Lavi was getting far too excited to be sitting in a canoe. When they were roughly nine feet away from the shore, the redhead's bouncing got out of hand.

"Oi! Usagi!" Kanda barked when he felt the canoe begin to rock back and forth. "Stop it you idiot!"

"Lavi, I hate to say it, but I think I agree with BaKanda!" Allen cried, abandoning the paddle and clutching the sides of the canoe instead. "Lavi, stop!"

Lavi did not stop however, since every ounce of his attention was focused on the short-haired brunette standing on the shore.

He leaned a little too far to the right, successfully tipping the canoe and practically flinging them into the water.

"LAVI!" Allen yelled as he hit the water.

"DAMMIT USAGI!"

He also pretty much sealed his fate, since Kanda was definitely going to kill him.

The three of them floundered to the surface, gasping for air.

Allen couldn't help but blush when he saw that the three girls were trying to hide their giggles.

Kanda looked absolutely murderous. His killer aura was so tangible that it could practically be seen in the air around him. Lavi backed up uncertainly, knowing that he was in deep trouble.

"Uh…hey now Yuu-chan…" the redheaded Exorcist said slowly, holding his hands up as if he was innocent.

"You are going to die." Kanda growled, picking Mugen up from the river bed like a precious baby. "I'll make sure of it."

"Ah! The canoe!" Allen cried when he saw the said object slowly floating down the river.

Kanda rolled his eyes. "Che. If you're so concerned about the damn thing, why don't you get it yourself?"

"I didn't even ask you for help!"

"Maybe not, but I knew it was coming. You're so damn predictable Moyashi."

Allen curled his hands into fists at his sides. "My name is Allen BaKanda!"

"Like I give a damn."

"Oh, let me help!"

Allen turned and saw the blonde girl from before – what was her name again? She was rushing towards him, rather awkwardly. It was obvious that the pink and black water shoes she was wearing were not made for running at all. Especially on rocky ground. Her other friend with the glasses was close behind her.

Lavi was currently trying to get away from Kanda who was brandishing his Mugen in a way that clearly meant harm.

When the blonde reached the part where the water met the shore, she stepped on an especially slippery rock. Allen saw it before it even happened.

"Hold on!" he cried when her foot went the wrong way, causing her to fall down. Allen reached her just in time to prevent her hitting the ground; she instead collided with him, which caused the two of them to topple down into the water.

"Lynn are you okay?!" her friend cried, thankfully avoiding the slippery rock.

Lavi would have stopped to check as well, but he had an incredibly angry samurai on his tail who wasn't about to stop.

Lynn rolled off of Allen and landed in the water next to him, getting wet anyways. She took one look at the boy beside her, and then started laughing.

Allen was a little confused as to what was going on when she started laughing. Was it some inside joke or something? What was so funny?

"Lynnie, why are you laughing?" the girl Lavi had had his eye on asked.

Okay, apparently there wasn't an inside joke…

"Look at us!" Lynn cried, gesturing to everyone around her and still laughing. "We're such a mess!"

Allen found her laughter contagious, and before he knew it, he was laughing along with her. Even though he still wasn't sure why it was so funny.

Lavi stopped running when he heard the laughter. He couldn't help but grin when he saw Allen laughing too. 'This is exactly what that beansprout needs.' He thought. He hadn't heard Allen laugh like that in a long time. Too long.

"Oi!" Kanda barked, still intent on killing Lavi. "Baka Usagi!"

"Yipe!"

"Isn't it funny Caitlin?" Lynn asked between giggles.

The brunette with glasses rolled her eyes with a smile before reaching out her hand to help her friend up. Lynn took it and then stood up. She turned to Allen and held her hand out as well.

"Thanks!" she said with a big smile. "For catching me, I mean."

Allen blinked before taking her hand and standing up as well. "My pleasure."

The short-haired brunette smiled knowingly at the exchange.

"Hey! This your canoe?" came a voice from down the river. Two men with farmer's tans were walking towards them, the Exorcists' canoe in tow.

Lavi took this chance to escape certain death by sword and jumped forward. "Yes sir it is! Thanks for catching it. We got a little…" he grinned at Allen, whose cheeks turned pink. "…Distracted."

"Be more careful, alright?" the man said, beaching the canoe for them before retreating.

"You know…" Lynn said suddenly, gaining everyone's attention. "Since we keep running into each other, we should probably learn names."

"Good idea!" the short-haired brunette said happily.

"Sure!" Lavi agreed whole-heartedly. "My name's Lavi. The sourpuss behind me is Yuu-chan,-"

"Don't call me that Baka Usagi!" Kanda shouted, pointing Mugen right between Lavi's eyes.

Lavi swallowed nervously. "O-okay…he prefers to be called Kanda…"

"More like demands…" Allen mumbled.

"-and that over there is Moyashi-chan!" Lavi finished.

"My name's Allen!" the white-haired Exorcist argued, his cheeks still pink.

Lynn couldn't help but giggle. He was so cute when he looked like that! "…Nice to meet you; I'm Lynn, that over there is Caitlin, and this is Gubbi!"

"My name's actually Gabi." The short-haired brunette said clearly, obviously trying to get the point across. "Ga-bi. Not Gubbi."

"No. No, it's Gubbi." Caitlin smirked, crossing her arms.

Gubbi rolled her eyes in exasperation.

"So is this your first float?" Lynn asked, looking up at Allen.

The white-haired Exorcist scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "…Is it that obvious?"

"…Kinda." Lynn admitted. "But don't worry! It's Caitlin's first float too."

Caitlin just sort of shrugged in response.

"Che." Kanda scoffed. "With the way you were spinning so helplessly earlier, it was pretty damn obvious."

Caitlin bristled.

"Now Yuu-chan!" Lavi said, throwing his arm around the samurai's shoulders. "Let's try and make friends instead of driving them away, shall we?"

"Don't touch me you idiot." Kanda shoved Lavi off him and walked back to the canoe.

"…He's a little…" Lynn paused to find the right word.

"Rude? Demeaning? Irritating?" Caitlin supplied.

"…I was gonna go with 'unpleasant', but those work too."

"Please don't take it personally," Allen said. "He's like that to everyone."

"Whatever." Caitlin all but snapped.

It was pretty obvious that she was ticked off as she stalked back to the other canoe. "Let's go now!"

"But…we just…" Lynn said, helplessly gesturing around.

Gubbi smirked when she noticed that Lynn pointed to Allen a couple times during her mime-like episode.

Caitlin gave her two friends a look. "Come on."

Gubbi sighed heavily. "Oh fine…" she turned to Lavi. "Well, it appears we have to go. I guess we'll see you guys again soon?"

Lavi grinned. "You bet we will!"

Lynn really didn't want to go, but with the look Caitlin was giving her, she figured she had no choice. "Alright…" she glanced at Allen as she walked away. "…Bye."

He waved a little before walking to his own canoe.

xxXXxx

"You know what…I think it was pretty pointless to say goodbye like that." Lynn stated as she paddled. "Since we're floating side-by-side now."

Lavi laughed while Allen grinned sheepishly. Kanda just ignored their existence.

"Yeah, I guess it was." Allen admitted.

"So, where are you guys from?" Gubbi asked, having nothing better to do, since she was in the middle.

"Well, Yuu here's from Japan." Lavi said with a grin, happy that the samurai was ignoring him. "And Allen's from England."

"You're British?!" Lynn and Gubbi cried together, looking a little too enthusiastic.

Allen sweat-dropped. "Uh…yes…"

"Say something British!" Gubbi pleaded, clasping her hands together. "Please!"

"…Like what?"

"I don't know…like…'jolly good' or something!"

Lavi didn't bother to hide his sniggers as Allen cleared his throat uncomfortably.

"Uh…jolly good?"

Gubbi squealed happily and Lynn hid her blushing face.

'What is with these girls?' Allen wondered, looking away and trying to hide his blush.

When the 'giggle-fit' was over with, Lavi took note in the fact that both Allen and Lynn still had hints of blush on their faces.

"So where are you from Lavi?" Gubbi asked.

Lavi winked-or blinked, no one could really tell for sure. "That's a secret!"

Lynn snickered at the slight blush that bloomed across her friend's cheeks.

Caitlin still said nothing, though Lynn was pleased to notice her glancing at Kanda every now and then. But she wasn't sure if she was looking at Kanda, or the sword leaning against the front of the canoe.

"So where are you girls from?" Lavi asked in what could have been considered a 'mysterious voice'.

"We're from St. Louis." Lynn answered. "We all go to school together."

Caitlin shot the blonde a look that clearly said 'don't-say-too-much', but Lynn ignored it.

"That's nice." Allen remarked with a smile.

"Yeah; the three of us work together." Lavi added with a huge grin.

"What do you do?" Gubbi asked, leaning forward ever-so-slightly, nearly causing Lynn to freak out again.

Lavi and Allen looked at one another for a split second, trying to think of what to say.

"We investigate strange occurrences." Kanda said abruptly from the front. "Now stop that squealing and shut up."

"Strange occurrences?" Lynn repeated, completely ignoring the navy-haired teen. "Like what?" then her eyes widened. "Holy crap, are you ghost hunters?!"

"Uh…not exactly…" Allen said, sounding unsure of himself.

"But we do investigate stuff like that!" Lavi chipped in. "You know, strange happenings that can't be explained, strange myths and legends, that sort of stuff."

"So…like ghosts and demons?" Lynn said.

"Well, we do deal with demons a lot." Lavi replied. "Almost on a daily basis."

Allen shot him a look, but it was ignored.

Lynn's face lit up like the night sky on Independence Day. "So you are ghost hunters!"

Lavi and Allen sweat-dropped.

"I knew it! Oh my God that is so cool!" she cried, almost bouncing up and down.

"Would you please stop that?" came Caitlin's very controlled voice. "I don't want this canoe to tip."

Lynn frowned a bit when she heard Caitlin's sharp tone. She looked a little hurt, but tried to brush it off.

"So…why are you here?" Lynn asked, resulting in a heavy and annoyed sigh from Kanda. "Vacation?" then her eyes lit up again. "Or ghosts?! Are there ghosts here?! 'Cause that would be totally awesome if there were!"

"Not really…" Gubbi said, shaking her head slightly.

"Aw don't worry!" Lavi grinned as he winked-or blinked. "We have heard that there is something strange going on around here, but we're not very sure if it's true, or if they're just rumors. But if they are true, then we'll protect you lovely ladies from any mean ghosts or demons."

Lynn and Gubbi both blushed.

'Where is Bookman when you need him?' Allen thought, sighing in exasperation.

"…It's not like I'm scared of ghosts or anything…" Lynn said, getting over the initial effect Lavi usually had on girls. "If anything, Caitlin's going to be the one needing protection."

"Lynn."

"She's scared of her own shadow!"

"Lynn!"

The blonde stopped abruptly at Caitlin's harsh tone.

"Please stop it. I only get scared when other people are scared. I've told you this before."

Lynn stayed silent, twiddling her thumbs.

Now the atmosphere was thick and awkward. No one knew what to say or do.

"Uh…" Gubbi suddenly asked, looking at Allen. "Since you're British, have you read Sherlock Holmes?"

Lynn sighed loudly at the question.

Allen sweat-dropped. "Um…no, actually I haven't."

Lavi's hand shot up in the air. "Oh! Oh! I have!"

Gubbi's eyes lit up and Lynn groaned again. "Oh no…here we go…"

"I'm so obsessed with it!" Gubbi exclaimed happily. "I love it so much!"

"I like it a lot too." Lavi grinned. "Which is your favorite book?"

And thus began the Sherlock Holmes conversation between Lavi and Gubbi. Caitlin and Kanda were still silent, though Lynn could still see her glancing at the navy-haired samurai every now and then.

That left Allen and Lynn in the back.

They just kind of looked at one another, not knowing what to say. Lynn knew she needed to break the ice with something…

"So…" Allen said, speaking first. "…What do you like?"

"Lots of stuff." Lynn responded. "I like writing and singing a lot."

There was suddenly a light in Allen's eyes that Lynn couldn't identify. "You like music?"

Lynn nodded. "I love it. I used to play a little violin a couple years ago, but I didn't have a teacher. So most of what I know is what I taught myself."

"Do you miss it?" Allen asked. "Playing violin, I mean."

"Not really. I wasn't very good at all. It sounded awful when I played, really. I enjoy singing much more." She looked at the boy floating beside her. "Do you play? Or sing?"

Allen let out a small chuckle. "Oh no, I don't sing! Not at all. But…" he trailed off a bit. "…I do play piano. I only know one melody though."

"Better than nothing, right?" Lynn said with a smile.

"I think that Moriarty is so creepy though!" Gubbi suddenly cried out.

"Yeah, he is totally creepy, but the guy's obviously a mastermind." Lavi pointed out.

"Oh I'm not arguing that he's not smart or anything, I just think he's creepy."

Lynn sweat-dropped a bit at her friend's conversation.

Another minute of silence hung between the two in the backs of the canoes before Allen's stomach decided to break it with a rather loud growl.

Allen blushed a bit and put his hand on his stomach as it nearly roared in protest.

Lynn blinked. "Are you alright?"

"He's fine." Lavi said with a flick of his wrist. "He's just hungry."

"Seriously? Sounded like a dinosaur or something." Gubbi remarked, looking at the white-haired Exorcist.

Allen didn't reply. His stomach kept growling though.

Then Lavi snapped his fingers. "Oh damn…" he mumbled. "Sorry Al, I left the food back at the tent."

Allen looked heart-broken. "You…wha? But Lavi!"

"Hey, if we stop at this bank up ahead," Lynn offered, gesturing to the rocky shore. "We have some stuff in our cooler if you're really desperate."

Allen whirled to face her. "Really?" he asked, with the most elated expression Lynn had ever seen.

'…He's so cute!' she thought when she saw him.

"That's nice and all, but I doubt you have enough food in there to sate Allen's appetite." Lavi said. "He can easily put away enough food for three fully grown men."

"Sounds like Will…" Lynn mumbled.

"Will?" Allen repeated in an attempt to forget the pains in his stomach. "The same Will who had the yellow inner tube at the starting point?"

Lynn blinked. "…Yeah…you know him?"

"We met last night. He helped us put up our tent." Allen explained. "How do you know him?"

"Boyfriend or somethin'?" Lavi asked lazily.

Lynn then proceeded to choke rather violently on air. Allen tentatively clapped her on the back in an attempt to help.

"…What?!" she cried once she'd gotten her breath back. "No way! He's my little brother!"

"Little?" Lavi repeated. "…He looked like he was 16. How old are you?"

"…He's 14."

"Okay, but how old are you?" Lavi asked again.

"…17." Lynn said quietly.

"…Wow. You're shorter than Allen, and yet you're two years older than him." Lavi remarked with a grin.

Lynn bristled at the comment, and Allen's eyes flashed.

"I'm not that short!" Allen argued.

"Okay, okay!" Lavi cried, holding his hands up in defense. "Take it easy Shortstack!"

"MY NAME'S ALLEN!"

"OI!"

Everyone stopped and looked at Kanda, who had turned his head to give them a glare. "All of you shut up! I'm tired of hearing your annoying voices!"

"Is it that or are you just too stupid to understand what we're saying, and it makes you feel left out?" Allen smirked. "Oh poor Kanda, how will he ever increase his I.Q past five?"

"You're dead Moyashi."

"My name is Allen BaKanda."

"How about we all stop arguing and just beach over there?" Gubbi suggested.