*sweating bullets over here* Heh…okay…yes I know, I'm terrible when it comes to updating, but I have a valid reason! My computer decided to die on me, my Mom's won't accept my flashdrive, and my brother…is a brother. Yeah. Boys.

Allen: But she is going to try and make it up to you by posting more than one chapter today. We hope this appeases all you lovely fans.

Yeah, what he said. Besides, I told a friend I'd update today and I don't want to disappoint. So, without further ado, I give the next chapter!

Oh by the way, I'm really sorry if the next chapter seem choppy at the end and beginning, because when I wrote this, I didn't think about making chapters.

Chapter 5: I'm too lazy to think of a good title…

"Hey Caitlin, look at this rock over here!" Lynn said happily, skipping over to her friend who hadn't gotten out of the canoe yet.

Caitlin just looked at her.

"…Is something wrong?" Lynn asked, bending down.

"No." Caitlin answered shortly. "I just don't like all this stopping and starting."

"But that's what you do on a float!" Gubbi cut in, running over. "Lynn, Allen's claiming to be dying of starvation; can ya get him a piece of chicken or something?"

"Sure!" Lynn replied, opening the cooler and digging around until she found the bag of chicken. She took out four pieces and then closed the cooler before jogging over to the three boys.

There were other people also beached on the same shore who were looking at her as she ran past, but the blonde paid them no heed.

"Is this enough?" she asked as she approached. Lavi was standing over Allen, who was sitting on a large boulder jutting out from the shoreline.

"Thanks a lot." Lavi said when he saw the food. "Hey Allen, Lynn brought you food!"

Allen's head shot up happily when he heard the word 'food', and he gazed at the chicken in Lynn's hands. She thought it was relatively creepy the way he was eyeing the meat, but she shrugged it off and handed it to him.

"Eat it slowly Allen." Lavi warned before the boy could take a bite.

Allen rolled his eyes at the redhead before chowing down on the delicious fried poultry.

xxXXxx

Kanda was seated on a piece of driftwood not far from where Caitlin was in the canoe. He was cleaning his beloved Mugen since it had gotten wet earlier, thanks to Lavi.

The brunette was watching him as he cleaned the river water off of it with a rag he'd seemingly produced out of thin air. Pretty soon her curiosity got the better of her and she broke the silence.

"Is it real?"

Kanda sighed and glanced at her. "What?"

"Your sword. Is it real?"

"Che. Of course it's real. Why would I bother carrying around a fake one?" he snapped.

Caitlin's eyes blazed, showing that she took offense at his tone, but her expression stayed as blank as a piece of paper. She rested her chin in the palm of her hand.

"I don't know. Sometimes people do strange things like that. Lynn likes to run around in her Halloween costume when it's March."

"Seriously?" came Lavi's voice from behind her. "That's awesome!"

"Go away Usagi." Kanda snapped, glaring at the redhead. "You're still going to pay for getting Mugen wet."

Lavi grinned as he hopped away, leaving the two alone again.

"…Mugen?" Caitlin asked.

"My sword." Kanda said shortly. "Do you have a problem with me naming my own sword?"

"No."

"Good."

"…Can I…touch it?" Caitlin asked slowly.

Kanda gave her a look. "No."

Silence settled between them, but for once, it was anything but hostile like before. Caitlin continued to watch Kanda clean his sword with a wistful look in her eyes.

"…Beautiful…" she mumbled.

Kanda's head snapped up and he looked at her. "What?"

"…Your swor-Mugen." Caitlin said, catching herself. "…The…the craftsmanship is beautiful."

Kanda smirked. "You have good taste. Unlike some idiots…" he said, looking over to where Lynn, Allen, Lavi and Gubbi were sitting by the side of the river. Allen was finishing off the fourth piece of chicken Lynn had given him, and Lavi seemed to be engaged in a conversation with Lynn and Gubbi.

"Hey, they are my friends." Caitlin said, scowling. "They're yours too."

"Self-proclaimed." Kanda corrected. "I don't have any friends. Nor do I want any. Especially those two."

Caitlin frowned at Kanda's bluntness. "…That's harsh."

"It's true."

"…Well they seem to want you as a friend." Caitlin said before standing up. "Though with your attitude, I'm not sure why."

And with that, Caitlin went off to join her friends.

But before she could go any farther, Kanda spoke again.

"You seem to appreciate swords more than most." Kanda said without turning around.

Caitlin stopped in her tracks. "…So?"

"People like you are hard to come by." Kanda said, holding Mugen up, letting the strong sunlight shine on the blade. "So if you want to get closer to greater appreciate it, I won't mind."

Caitlin tried to suppress her smile as she walked back over to Kanda and Mugen.

xxXXxx

"Hey, do you know how to skip?" Lynn asked as she picked up a flat rock.

"Kind of." Allen replied, tossing the chicken bone into the river and watching the little minnows attack it.

"I can too!" Lavi announced, jumping up. "Give me a moment; I need to find one."

Gubbi rolled her eyes as Lavi began looking around for a flat rock like a bloodhound looks for a scent.

Lynn took her rock and whipped her wrist, releasing the rock across the water. There were two successful skips until it hit the water and sank.

Allen clapped, making Lynn turn around.

"…That wasn't anything worth applause." Lynn said, sitting next to the white-haired boy. "It was only two skips."

"I think it was great." Allen said with a smile.

Lynn was trying very hard not to let her blush show. "…Thanks."

"I found some!" Lavi cried suddenly, appearing right behind them. He had about four flat rocks in the palm of his hand, which he proudly showed off to Allen and Lynn. Then he stood up and looked at Gubbi.

"Hey Gub-chan!" he called happily.

Gubbi froze in place and then faced Lavi with her hands on her hips. "What chan?"

Lynn put her hand over her mouth to stifle her giggles. Allen just smiled broadly at the display.

"Gub-chan." Lavi repeated, like there was nothing wrong with the nickname. "Come skip rocks with me!"

"You're like a little kid, you know that, right?"

"I'm cute like one too, aren't I?" Lavi grinned.

Lynn snorted loudly and fell backwards as she laughed.

Gubbi rolled her eyes, but her smile was wide. "Sure, whatever."

"So, you do think I'm cute?" Lavi pressed.

"Does it really matter that much to you?" Gubbi asked with a smirk, walking closer to him.

"Well of course it does!"

"Ugh, fine. Yes you're cute." Gubbi said in exasperation.

Lavi smiled, and Gubbi found herself blushing uncontrollably. "Thanks. You're pretty cute yourself, ya know?"

"…Th-thanks…" Gubbi stammered.

"So…" Lavi held up his hand with rocks. "Wanna skip em with me?"

"But I don't know how to skip rocks."

"That's okay, I'll teach you!" Lavi said enthusiastically. He stood behind Gubbi and put a rock in her hand. "It's all in the wrist, you know? You gotta flick your wrist just right."

Gubbi looked up at Lavi. "…Show me?"

Lynn had to practically stuff her fist in her mouth to keep from squealing out loud at the sight. Allen busied himself with watching the minnows attacking the chicken bones he'd thrown earlier.

The redheaded Exorcist took Gubbi's hand in his own, and held her wrist. "Like this." he said as he demonstrated how to throw it. He almost looked like he was hugging her with how close he was.

"Like that?" Gubbi asked, doing it herself.

"Looks good." Lavi said in her ear, his voice almost a whisper. "Now try it yourself."

He let go of her wrist and Gubbi swung her arm forwards, flicking her wrist like Lavi had instructed her to do.

The rock went and instantly sank into the water.

Gubbi turned and looked at Lavi with a shrug. "Oh well. Seems I'm just not good at it."

"That's not true, you just need more practice." Lavi insisted.

"Oi, Baka Usagi!" Kanda shouted, walking over to them with Caitlin not far behind. "We should get moving!"

"Oh fine…" Lavi sighed.

xxXXxx

When they were back in their respective canoes, they continued to paddle down the river. However, it seemed like Allen and Lynn were making a special effort to stay beside each other.

"Maggie!"

Lynn's head whipped up and she looked behind her slowly so she wouldn't rock the canoe.

Coming up behind them was a young girl and an older man in a canoe. For some reason, the girl looked upset.

"You shouldn't have done that!" she yelled, paddling furiously. "You shouldn't have left without us!"

"Claire, it's a river." Lynn said. "It only goes one way. It's not like I can get lost or anything."

"So?!" Claire retorted. "You should have waited for us!"

As the canoe passed them, Lynn shot a nasty look at the girl's back, and then an exasperated one at the older man, who merely shrugged.

"Hey Mr. Winkler!" Gubbi called happily. She was still a bit giddy from her rock-skipping lesson with Lavi.

"Hello Gubbi. Are you girls having fun?" he asked with a smile.

"Yeah!"

"And you haven't tipped?"

"No; we were spun around a couple times, but we didn't tip." Lynn responded.

"I made sure of that." Caitlin declared rather proudly from the front.

"But they did." Gubbi snickered, pointing at Lavi.

The redhead frowned. "Hey…"

"What? It was your fault." Gubbi said with a grin.

"And who are you?" Mr. Winkler asked, somewhat suspiciously.

"How do you do sir, my name is Allen Walker!" Allen cried suddenly, attempting to do some kind of bow in the canoe.

"…I'm Lavi." The redhead said, casting a glance at the flushed white-haired boy. "And this is Kanda."

"Nice to meet you." Mr. Winkler said. "Did you all just meet?"

"Yeah, we did." Lynn answered.

"Alright. Well, make sure you're nice to my daughter." Mr. Winkler said. "Well, I'll be seeing you Maggie; if you see your brother, tell him not to do anything stupid."

"Yes Dad…" Lynn sighed as the other canoe went away.

As soon as it was out of hearing, Lavi looked at Lynn.

"Maggie? I thought your name was Lynn?"

The blonde sighed. "…I go by my middle name; there are too many Maggies at my school. Besides, I don't even like it that much anyways."

"Why?" Allen asked in confusion.

"I just don't." Lynn responded.

"Understandable." Lavi said with a thoughtful look.

"Okay, you got to ask a question, so can I ask you one?" Lynn asked suddenly, looking at Allen.

He blinked. "Uh…sure, I guess…"

"Okay. I hope I'm not prying or anything, but why are you wearing a long sleeved, button up dress shirt and leather gloves?"

Allen paused for a second, and just looked at Lynn.

"…That's not something I'm quite ready to share just yet." He admitted in a low voice. "Sorry."

"Oh, I have a question!" Gubbi said, looking at Lavi. "Why do you wear an eye patch?"

Lavi winked-or blinked, again, no one could tell. "Another secret!"

"Is there anything we can know about you? Aside from where you come from?" Lynn asked.

Lavi and Allen looked at one another while Kanda just ignored everyone.

"…Maybe later." Allen said with a sheepish smile.

"Hey, there's a nice spot coming up." Gubbi announced, pointing ahead.

xxXXxx

"I'm getting so burnt…" Caitlin grumbled as she sat in the canoe. They'd already beached on the shore, and Gubbi and Lavi were still trying to skip rocks.

"Do you want more sunscreen?" Lynn asked, walking towards her upset friend.

"Sure." Caitlin responded with a shrug as Lynn opened the cooler to get it out. She handed the orange and white bottle to the brunette.

"There you go!" Lynn said happily. "I'll be over there for a bit, okay?"

Caitlin looked where she was gesturing and saw Lavi, Gubbi and Allen messing around. Well, Allen wasn't messing around exactly; he was just kind of sitting there, with a faraway look in his eyes.

"Alright." Caitlin replied, watching Lynn run off towards the group of three.

Kanda was seated not far from the brunette, and appeared to be trying to meditate.