Ah….here's where the drama begins! Our dearly beloved shinigami!Allen is clearly jealous, but how will he deal with it? LET'S GOGOGO~ NEXT CHAPTER!

Disclaimer: the story idea belongs to Mimori Ao, the characters to Katsura Hoshino. Saya just owns the idea of putting the two together.

Rating: T-ish in this chapter. Rating might go up, but Saya isn't so sure.

3. Momentarily Sanguine

Lavi was on cloud nine. He'd just gotten his first kiss from his beloved Yuu-chan and had walked home hand-in-hand with him, to boot! And yes, surprisingly enough it was Lavi's first kiss, he'd been saving it for this very occasion. There was no way he could've been happier, this was definitely the best day of his life.

He was hesitant to leave Kanda's side when they reached his apartment, and made sure to get one more kiss before Yuu left.

"You're going to see me tomorrow, too, idiot…" Yuu had mumbled in embarrassment when it became evident that Lavi didn't want him to leave just yet.

"I know…" Lavi's hand lingered in Yuu's just a little longer than it should've, but he did eventually slip out of Kanda's grip. Lavi had no intentions of being annoying and clingy, at least he didn't want to get any more annoying and clingy than he already was. It was time to say goodbye, so he'd just have to leave.

When Kanda finally left and Lavi finally stopped watching him leave, he turned into his apartment and closed the door with a bittersweet sigh. He turned into his kitchen; the day had been so exciting that it had made him hungry. It was ramen for dinner for sure this time.

"Eat enough of that, and I won't have to do a thing."

Lavi's shoulders jumped up to his ears and he nearly spilt his water. Slowly he turned around to face the shinigami, it was probably angry about the whole exorcism thing. It wasn't Lavi's fault that they had planned that, but it wasn't like the death god could torture anyone else for it, aside from killing them. Lavi didn't really want his friends to die.

"Ah… Lovely day today, isn't it?"

"Really though, you do know that you're basically eating saltwater, right?"

"Okay, I get it, ramen is bad for me. Not like my eating habits mean much now." Lavi sat at the kitchen table with a sigh, slurping up ramen even before he was seated. No matter what, it still tasted good, deadliness and all. The shinigami sat across the table from Lavi, which he found strange because that was where Yuu usually sat and it was odd to see someone else in his spot.

"Ever think it was your eating habits that brought me here?" the shinigami muttered with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Touché. Anyway, you don't even know how much trouble you caused me with that fake dying stuff today. My friends spent an hour questioning my sanity before I managed to escape!" Lavi said indignantly between mouthfuls of noodles. The shinigami had the grace to look abashed by this.

"Well gee, you were trying to get rid of me. I think I had a right to a bit of pay back. You didn't even name me first… You said you would." The shinigami averted his eyes, drawing meaningless little symbols on the tabletop, even though he couldn't actually touch it. Lavi could tell that it embarrassed the shinigami to bring that up, and it was just so cute…

'But no…The shinigami isn't the good guy here…'

"It doesn't matter, though. I was happy at the time, at least," the shinigami said, with a smile that was just too genuine to be ignored. He was so innocent, getting happy over just the hope that he would get a name. There was no way this kid was really bad.

"Hey, hey, don't go making me seem too heartless now," Lavi said, trying not to let the guilt get to him too badly, "I might've been worried about the whole exorcism thing all day, but I still had time to think up a name for you." Lavi had indeed done his utmost to keep his mind off of the exorcism, and he had used finding a name for the shinigami as a distraction. After much deliberation, he had decided on a name that was short, simple, foreign, and fitting for the shinigami.

The boy's face lit up immediately, it was as though he hadn't really expected Lavi to name him.

"Did you really?" He asked eyes wide with childish excitement. Oh, he was so precious, Lavi couldn't help but grin.

"Of course I did! I told you I would, didn't I?" Lavi chuckled at the look of anticipation on the boy's face; it was like looking at an excited puppy just before adopting it.

"It is…! Drum roll please! Okay, just kidding, that's way too dramatic."

"Lavi-san you're killing me…"

"That's ironic. Anyway! I hope you're not too disappointed with it because I thought long and hard on this, but I decided on the name… Allen."

"Allen?"

"Yup."

For a moment it looked as if the shinigami, now properly named Allen, was going to explode with happiness, but then he mysteriously disappeared. Lavi tilted his head to the side in confusion; what just happened? Did naming the shinigami make him go away? That was hardly fair to the poor boy.

"Uh…You still 'ere Allen? If ya hate the name just say so and I'll think of a new one."

"No, I don't hate it!" The disembodied voice of Allen sounded from somewhere around Lavi's head. The redhead jumped because even though he knew who was speaking it was still strange to hear a faceless voice in his house.

"Uh…Then what happened to you?"

"I…I just wanted to be invisible for a moment," Allen said. He sounded embarrassed, very, very embarrassed, and Lavi realized that the shinigami was hiding his blushing face.

"Oh, that's not fair Allen, I should at least get to see how happy the name made you!" Lavi huffed out indignantly. He couldn't imagine how cute Allen must be at the moment, and he had been sort of looking forward to seeing the kid's reaction to the name. This invisibility thing must've been cheating or something.

"Bu-but…. Fine…!" Lavi looked around the kitchen excitedly, hoping to find the shinigami, but he still saw nothing. Maybe this kid was too flustered to change turn back at the moment? Oh, that'd be rich…

"Still can't see ya."

"…Under here…" Lavi let out a warm laugh when he heard Allen's voice come from under the table. Sliding out of his chair, the redhead joined the death god on the floor. It was dark under the table, but Lavi could still see that Allen was red up to his ears, covering his smile with his hands. Lavi sighed and shook his head, and crawled forward a little.

"No hiding, Allen," he said, and gently took the shinigami's hands away from his face. Shyly the white haired boy looked up to Lavi, his face still bright red as he bit at his lip. A little something in Lavi went "Strike!" when he saw the boy's cute expression. His grip on Allen went slack and the boy used that chance to bring his hands back to his face.

"I knew I should've just stayed invisible…" he mumbled, and turned his face away from Lavi.

"I'm glad ya didn't."

000

"Hey Allen, I've got a question," Lavi said, as he turned on his side. He'd gotten tired of staring at his ceiling; it wasn't helping him get to sleep any faster. That might've had something to do with Allen though.

"Yeah?"

"Why the heck are you in my bed?"

Allen shrugged beside Lavi, not seeming to find a problem in his being there. Lavi didn't either really, it was sort of like sleeping next to a sibling or a friend, but he was still curious.

"I want to try sleeping," Allen said, "I've been trying but I just can't seem to do it…"

"I'm not human, so I don't get hungry or tired or anything."

"It's probably impossible for me…"

"If ya can't sleep, try counting sheep."

"That sounds dumb, were you just trying to rhyme?"

"Hey! Counting sheep is a tradition for insomniacs that spans thousands of years!" Lavi defended, his pout took a bit of the edge off his indignity though. "Ya get really bored after a while and it puts you to sleep."

"If you say so," Allen said with a sigh. There was an odd silence as Allen started counting sheep in his head. After a while the awkwardness faded away, and Lavi looked over to the boy, wonder if maybe he'd fallen asleep.

'I think he did, huh,' Lavi thought as he watched the steady rise and fall of Allen's chest. Everything about the kid was so white, even his hair and eyes were pale shades of silver. "Hehe, maybe I shouda called you Shiro," Lavi thought aloud, chuckling a bit. He wondered what Allen would've thought about being named "White."

'White…Snow white? I don't think that would've been appreciated. 'Sides, the kid can't eat apples anyway, poisonous or otherwise.'

Lavi rolled his eyes at his own stupid thoughts and got to counting sheep himself.

000

"Lavi, wake up, you've got to get to school," Allen attempted to shake the redhead awake when he slept through his alarm. He hadn't actually gotten to sleep the night before, he was pretty sure it was impossible for him, so he was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed on this fine school morning. At least being awake alone wasn't too boring. Lavi talked in his sleep and he was especially bad last night. Allen imagined he must've had a very nice dream.

"Naw… few more minutes…" Lavi droned out tiredly, swatting away Allen's hands half-heartedly. He turned over and sprawled out on his bed, his foot hanging over the edge.

"So you're planning to worry all of your friends again by being late?" Allen muttered to himself, shaking his head at Lavi's childish actions. "Wake up, wouldn't want to worry your precious Yuu-chan." Allen rolled his eyes at the way Lavi bolted right out of bed when he said that. The fact that that had worked was very annoying and Allen could already feel that he was going to have an unpleasant day.

But not everyone was in such low spirits that morning, as Lavi was practically bouncing around the house with joy. He was going to see his Yuu today! Not like he didn't see him everyday, but it was different now because Kanda was his, all his! Well at least Lavi was pretty sure that Kanda was his, they hadn't actually talked about the nature of their relationship yet. Hm, they'd have to do that today.

Allen didn't follow him to school that day, apparently he had shinigami duties to attend to elsewhere. He'd seemed to be a bit of a bad mood that morning; strange, Lavi had figured he'd still be happy like he had been the day before.

The redhead made it to school in record time that morning. He actually made it there early enough to catch Kanda coming back to his locker after morning kendo practice. Lavi didn't know why, but suddenly he felt more nervous now than he ever had, it felt like every step Kanda took toward him was too fast.

"Hey Yuu," he greeted when the older boy stopped by his locker. Kanda glanced over his shoulder at him and continued to shove his club stuff into his locker. Well that was a cold reaction; it was hardly fair of Yuu to just brush him off like that after what had happened yesterday. Lavi didn't really get what he'd done wrong already.

"So somethin' happen at practice today that pissed you off?" Lavi asked for he was not one to be discouraged easily. He'd spent years pursuing this boy, he could be patient another day. Kanda just shrugged in response, finished up with his locker, and left.

Lavi's eye twitched angrily; on second thought, maybe he couldn't wait another day. He'd gotten a taste of what he wanted and now he couldn't live without it.

000

The entire day was a game of cat and mouse that Lavi didn't understand at all. Every time he looked in Kanda's direction the older boy would look away, and anytime he tried to talk to him he got the cold shoulder.

Lavi couldn't help but think he'd made a mistake. Maybe yesterday was just a dream, and he was just imagining things? Maybe he was a crappy kisser and Kanda thought he could do better? Maybe Kanda had simply been swept away yesterday and was regretting it now?

'He probably just came to his senses,' Lavi thought with a sigh, 'I mean I'm practically a dead man walking right now, why would he bother with me?'

Still, even though the outlook seemed bleak Lavi couldn't help but want to know the real reason for why Kanda was suddenly avoiding him. But how could he ask the boy about it if Kanda wouldn't speak to him? Lavi let out another longsuffering sigh and dropped his head on his desk when the lunch bell rang.

"Hey Lavi, wanna come to lunch with…us…?" Daisya grimaced when he saw Lavi's despairing expression.

"Um…Lavi, are you alright?" Lenalee asked, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. Unexpectedly Lavi stood up from his seat.

"Sorry guys, I've got a mission to complete," Lavi said with an expression much too serious for the situation. Lenalee gave him a curious expression, while Daisya, very drawn in by Lavi's enthusiasm, cheered and pushed Lavi toward the classroom door.

Lavi set out for the roof; students weren't really supposed to go there but a few did. Kanda always ate there; he hated eating in the noisy, crowded classroom. It was easy enough to find the raven haired boy, he sat in the same spot everyday and more than half of the time Lavi would join him up there.

Lavi's shadow alerted Kanda to the fact that he was there before he had a chance to say anything. At first the older boy just glared up at him uncaringly, but when he saw just who it was towering over him, he jumped a little. That was a strange thing for Kanda to do; he never showed it when he was surprised.

"Hey Yuu, I've just got one question to ask, and then ya can go back to avoiding me like the plague," Lavi said, his grin tense and clearly forced. Kanda looked away like a child who knew he was going to be scolded.

"Why the heck are you avoiding me? I mean, if my breath smelled bad yesterday you shoulda just said something." Kanda looked at him incredulously for a moment, shook his head, and then dropped it into his hands with a sigh.

"Okay, so a joke wasn't the way to bring the subject up I take it?" Lavi said with a sigh.

"Not at all," Kanda agreed. Lavi pouted petulantly; Kanda was the problem here, he hardly had any right to comment on Lavi's way of doing things at the moment.

"But really Yuu, why the heck have you been avoiding me? I mean, maybe you forgot but you're the one who kissed me yesterday. If you were gonna avoid me today, why bother? It's more than a little cruel to mess with me that way."

There was a moment of tense silence as Lavi waited for an answer. Kanda didn't lift his face from his hands, though after a moment he did mumble something.

"What was that, Yuu?"

"I said…I…I was… embarrassed, okay? I'm not like you, I'm not used to relationships in general, and I don't know how to be nice or show…affection or whatever it is I'm supposed to do. I'm just…very, very…awkward, right now."

Kanda hadn't bothered to look up to Lavi at all during his explanation, but Lavi could see how red the tips of his ears were, and couldn't help but think it was the cutest darn thing ever. Keeping in his unmanly squeal, Lavi wrapped his arms around Kanda's hunched form.

"Dun worry Yuu, I wouldn't want you to be anything other than what you are, awkwardness an' all."

"Shut up." Kanda squirmed, looking ready to bolt for the stairs. He almost did too, but Lavi held him back.

"Wait Yuu! I got one more question before you head for your hidey-hole or whatever!" Lavi said, holding Kanda back by his middle.

"What?"

"Ah…What the heck are we now, anyway?" Lavi asked, that question had been bugging him just as much as Yuu's avoidance had.

"Clearly we're going out now you idiot, I don't kiss people at random!" Kanda said without thinking. When he realized just what he said, he struggled to run away harder. However, that answer just made Lavi burst with joy and he couldn't help but hug Yuu tighter.

"Lemme go, you said I could run away now!"

"But Yuu that made me happy! Really, really happy!"

"Baka usagi!"

000

Allen knew today was going to be bad. He'd decided to not make it obvious that he was following Lavi that day. Really, he had nothing better to do that follow his assignment around, but he didn't want the redhead to feel like he was breathing down his neck or anything. Naturally Allen disregarded the fact that following Lavi when the redhead didn't know he was technically made him a stalker. Really, if he had something better to do he would.

He'd been boredly staring at clouds on the school roof when he heard Lavi come on to the roof. He wasn't actually paying much attention to the redhead today, he was simply too lost in thought. All through the day he'd seen that stupid ponytail blow Lavi off time after time, and while a part of him was annoyed the Kanda was upsetting Lavi, another more petty side of himself that he hadn't known existed was happy to see that the redhead wasn't hanging around the pretty boy today.

Allen was curious about these strange feelings. He wasn't accustomed to feeling anything more than boredom usually, when one had an eternity to live alone that was all they really could feel, boredom and loneliness. Why on earth had he felt such strange, conflicting feeling over Lavi's plight? He shouldn't really care at all; this should just be another assignment to him. What was wrong with him now? Maybe he was sick, but did shinigami get sick? Curious.

So he thought it would be a pretty interesting distraction when Lavi came onto the roof, determined to confront Kanda. The more he watched though, the more something twisted in his chest. Allen didn't understand it, he'd never really felt a pain like that, like something inside him was being crushed. Allen couldn't think of any injury he'd ever gotten that could make him feel like that.

It was with cold, despairing eyes that he watched the two lovers talk on the roof.

000

"He's glowing, he's fricking glowing."

"I'm happy for him but at the same time to go on like this for days is just so obnoxious…"

"I'm seeing flowers Lenalee, I think I need to leave the room. I might just hurl."

Not a thing Daisya nor Lenalee said penetrated Lavi's happy place. Staring off into oblivion had never been more fun, really. Kanda had said they were going out, the world was perfect and he could die happy now.

While Lavi swam around in joy, poor Kanda who sat just a few desks away was burning in embarrassment. He really wished those two would stop making such a big deal out of Lavi's behavior, the least they could do is be quieter! He kept his head on his desk resting on his arms, hoping that his ears would stop burning. Needless to say, he hadn't been able to pick his head up off his desk for days.

The minute the bell rang Kanda was out of his seat and heading for the door. Lavi, like the love-struck rabbit he was, was quick to get up and follow. Exams were coming up soon so Kanda had no afternoon practice, which meant they could walk home together. They did this all the time sure, but it was different now.

'I think I'm in Heaven..!' Lavi thought happily as the two walked down the sidewalk together. Kanda was no longer completely red (a bit of a shame, in Lavi's opinion), though his cheeks were still a bit pink. This whole scene sort of felt like something out of a shojo manga, they were only missing one thing…

Lavi stared at Kanda's hand and wondered if it would be okay to take it. They'd walked home that way just a few days ago, but things were different now. Besides, Yuu had probably had enough for the day; he looked ready to make a run for it. Lavi had to admit that was sort of cute in and of itself though. It was so unusual for Kanda to run away from anything, and to see him running from love was priceless.

"Oh just take it already, I can tell you want to," Kanda said with a roll of his eyes. For a moment Lavi was a bit confused as to what Yuu meant, but he understood better when the older boy sighed and took his hand. Heavenly was simply too small of a word to describe the emotions that burst in Lavi.

000

"You seem to be doing better lately," Kanda commented the next morning as he and Lavi walked to school.

"Better? I'm feeling the best I ever have!" Lavi replied, not quite on the same page as Yuu.

"No, I mean you haven't been talking about that shinigami at all lately."

"Oh! Right…Well that's just 'cause…" Lavi was a bit embarrassed to say it but the truth was that he'd been so focused on Kanda these past few days that nothing else had mattered. Awake or asleep, it made no difference because he just had Yuu on the brain.

"I've just been a bit distracted," Lavi settled for, and Kanda scoffed. "Besides, he hasn't been around much lately. Hm, wonder what happened to the kid…"

"Baka, don't think about it! It should be good thing that the shinigami is gone, a good thing. I forbid you to think about it any more."

"But what if-"

"-No thinking about it. Look at this objectively, Lavi. You've been stressed over exams coming up and then you start seeing this thing so you start worrying about it constantly. Then the minute you stop thinking about it, it's not there anymore. You were thinking too much about it, and that's why you saw it." What Kanda said made enough sense logically-speaking, but Lavi was pretty sure shinigami resided outside of the realm of logic. Then again, when Lavi thought about it, the whole story was really far-fetched, and it would make sense if he was just hallucinating out of stress.

"But if he is real then I'm dead Yuu."

"No, you're not. If it is real then I'll help you think of a solution," Yuu said, his confident little smirk was very reassuring. Lavi felt himself melting just a bit on this inside; sometimes Yuu was just too cool.

"You're right Yuu, there's nothing to worry about," Lavi said happily, and turned forward to continue walking. Kanda was rather thankful that the redhead seemed to believe everything he said.

000

Lavi didn't think about the shinigami at all for the rest of the day, and he didn't spot the kid even once that entire day.

'Now that I think about it, the entire thing was crazy anyway. I was probably just really stressed over the upcoming exams or something,' he thought as he entered his apartment. He was going to try making curry that night instead of his usual ramen.

"Well you seem rather chipper today."

"Gah!" Lavi jumped back and hit the door, completely taken aback by the voice in his apartment. Sitting at his kitchen table was none other than Allen, whom he thought had gone. Okay, so not thinking about him didn't work.

'Well he's clearly not an illusion… Dang that theory was killed fast.'

"So…how ya been these days?" Lavi asked a little shakily once he got his heart to stop hammering its way out of his ribcage.

"Fine."

"Anything I can get for you…?"

"Nothing."

Lavi pouted, his eyebrows drawing together. What was Allen's problem today? He looked sort of upset about something but Lavi hadn't a clue as to what was bothering him. This silence was getting awkward, there had to be something to say…

"Ah, you haven't been around these past few days so maybe ya don't know but Yuu and I finally started going out! Sure it took me 18 years to work up the nerve to ask him out but at least I did, right?"

"23 days."

"Eh?"

"You've got 23 days left to live. I guess you should make the most of them and get intimate with him. You've known each other for a while so it probably wouldn't be too awkward."

Lavi was struck speechless for a moment as he processed this information. Well, he supposed he knew somewhere in the back of his mind that he was losing time here, but he hadn't really been keeping track. And of course the "get intimate" comment was just completely embarrassing and uncalled for.

"Hey, people with faces like yours shouldn't say things like that!" Lavi scolded, pinching one of Allen's cheeks and pulling it. "Besides, when someone tells you something like that you say "Congratulations" or something! You're the one who told me to go for it in the first place anyway!"

"Really? I don't recall."

'What is up with this kid?' Lavi sighed and shook his head; there was no point in getting angry. Allen was probably just being cynical. When Lavi thought about it, he realized he should probably be pretty annoyed too; after all he only had a month to be with Yuu. But then again, a months' worth of perfect happiness was really something, what more could anyone ask for?

"Uh…Sorry, Lavi….I'm just really annoyed today," Allen said, looking down at the table. Well he sure looked remorseful enough. Lavi sat down across from him, wearing a concerned expression.

"I see. So what's eatin' at ya kid? Anything I can help with?"

"I….I don't know," Allen said, looking perturbed, "I just haven't been able to keep my head straight these past few days. I get annoyed so easily and I hurt and I don't know why…" Allen dropped his head to the table with a groan.

'Wow, his melancholy levels are over 9,000…' Lavi thought with a sympathetic sigh.

"There's gotta be a reason for all of it though! What happened just before you started getting upset?" Lavi asked trying to think back and see if he could remember anything from the past week or so that could possibly upset the shinigami.

"Ah…Well the only thing I can think of is-" Allen was cut off by a knock at the door.

"Oi usagi, either stop locking the door when you know I'm coming over or give me a damn key already," Kanda said through the door. Allen twitched angrily a few times before picking up a seat cushion and chucking it at the door.

"Hey I thought you couldn't touch most things from this plane of living!"

"You should've known that was a lie when I started sitting at your kitchen table!"

"Ah, whatever… No throwing stuff in the house though. What was that about anyway?"

"I'm really pissed off!"

"That's my line!"

"Should I come back later Lavi…?" Kanda asked through the door, and Lavi realized he probably sounded very crazy to Yuu at the moment.

"Ah…Just hold on a minute Yuu," Lavi called back, he had to calm Allen down before he let anyone into his apartment. When he looked back to Allen though, it seemed that the child was already subdued. He was looking down to his feet with an upset expression on his face.

"Sorry, I should go now…" he mumbled, and headed for the window. Lavi wasn't sure if he wanted to tell the god to stay or just say good riddance. The wetness he saw around the other's eyes made him reach out and try to hold Allen back, but it was already too late, as soon the boy was flying out of the window. Lavi too went to the window, and made a resigned expression when Allen flew out of sight.

"Awe man, don't go off when you look like you're gonna cry…" he muttered, then pulled himself away from he window and answered the door.

000

'I can't help but think about it, maybe I did something wrong?' Lavi sighed as he made his way down the street.

"You've been really out of it since yesterday, is everything okay with you?" Kanda asked, looking at the redhead curiously. Lavi jumped at the sound and immediately shook his head no. He wasn't supposed to think about the shinigami anymore, so he needed to stop right now!

"I'm just starting to worry about our upcoming exams…With all the craziness lately I've been slacking, ya know?" Lavi said, hoping that the lie would be good enough to fool Kanda for a while. It seemed to work, as Kanda just rolled his eyes and pat Lavi on the head once.

"Good," he said, with a little quirk of the lips that hinted at a smile. Lavi was nearly brought to tears by Yuu's faith in him.

'I love you my love!'

Lavi really couldn't bother himself with thinking about Allen anymore; whatever was eating at the shinigami couldn't really be his fault. Allen would probably come back in a few days, acting as though nothing had ever been wrong. Whatever shinigami business had been troubling him would be dealt with and things could go back to…normal?

What Lavi should really be thinking about at the moment were his dating plans. It was going to take a lot of thinking to find a place that Kanda would want to go to on a date; he was hard to please most of the time. Lavi would be happy to go anywhere though, as long as Yuu was enjoying himself there.

"Anyway Yuu, here's the notes you left at my place yesterday," Lavi said as he dug threw his bag for the aforementioned notes. Kanda waited patiently for them, not seeming to mind at all. Lavi fished out the notes just in time to see something fall right past Kanda's head and crash onto the ground. Kanda's back went stiff when he heard the crash, before he looked back to find the flower pot that had crashed less than a foot away from him.

"That's dangerous," Kanda said simply, not sounding particularly frightened. Lavi was panicking enough for the both of them though.

"Holy hell, are you okay? That thing coulda killed you!" he said, looking up to see what window that had just fallen from. For just a moment, he saw a person in all white at a window on the top floor of the school, but then they disappeared.

'That was Allen, wasn't it?'A chill went up Lavi's spine at the thought. Was Allen trying to kill him already? Hadn't he said just the day before that Lavi still had 23 days left? Maybe Lavi really was the reason why the kid was so angry, and he'd decided to get rid of Lavi now instead of later? That was a troubling thought.

Feeling very shaken, Lavi grabbed onto Yuu's coat and let the older boy lead him inside.

000

"Lenalee, Daisya… If I die in an accident, please feed my cat and eat all the food in my apartment before it goes bad…"

"You don't have a cat," his friends said together. Neither of them knew what was going on now, to them Lavi just seemed to be acting really dramatic.

"Look Lavi," Lenalee said, hoping that a few calm words would sooth her friend, "You're not gonna die any time soon. That pot probably fell on accident, and the person at the window probably just happened to be wearing white. Maybe it was just someone with bleached hair and a general dislike of color."

"If only I could still bring myself to believe in such simple coincidences… It was the shinigami, I know it…He's after me 'cause I pissed him off…"

"What'd you do to make him suddenly shorten your lifespan?" Daisya asked, "Ya didn't make any deals with 'im didja? We all know what happens when you deal with death…"

"This is not a death god from a manga! He doesn't eat at all, especially not apples."

"So we were lied to?"

"We were lied to. Now lets be serious, please, I'm trying to evenly divide my worldly assets here." At this both of his friends hit him over the head.

"You're not dying!" They said in unison. Lavi groaned and dropped his head onto his desk. He stared wistfully at Kanda, who was just sleeping through their free period like he always did. His calmness was so reassuring, but Lavi still felt it was a bit careless of him to just brush off something like that. If Yuu hung around Lavi while "accidents" like that were happening, who was to say that he wouldn't get caught up in one of them and hurt? Or worse, killed?

Lavi bolted up when he saw Allen come in through the classroom window, his face blank. For a moment, it seemed like he was going to float on over to Lavi, but instead he stopped by Yuu. He didn't do anything except glare at the back of Kanda's head and make him cold. Lavi didn't really understand what was going on; why was Allen floating around Yuu?

"He's the problem," Allen muttered, as though he'd forgotten there was someone in the room who could hear him. Lavi's eye widened when he heard this. Kanda was the problem? But how could he be bothering the shinigami when he couldn't even see Allen? He thought hard on what had been happening these past few days. Everything had been going so well until Allen had disappeared for a few days, and then when he came back he was angry at something. He disappeared the day after Lavi named him, the day when Lavi and Yuu had gotten together. And then he came back and got upset when Kanda came to Lavi's apartment. Just that morning, that pot had fallen so close to Yuu, too…

'Oh hell, he's targeting Yuu on his own!'

Allen's feet hit the floor without a sound as he came to stand directly behind Kanda. Slowly his hands extended forward in an almost mechanical way, as though he'd done this a million times before and it was just a process he went through. Lavi wasn't sure where those hands were headed, but he was afraid.

"Yuu, wake up!" Lavi called, sufficiently starling Yuu enough to make him jolt into wakefulness. Lavi was suddenly very wary of the fact that Allen was indeed a shinigami. What would he do now that he realized who the cause of his "problem" was?

"You know free period is 'Leave Kanda Alone' time, right?" Yuu said groggily, glaring half-heartedly over his arm.

"A-ah… Sorry. Just come with me for a minute, please?" Lavi asked, but he didn't really give Kanda a choice and instead grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the room.

"He-hey, what the heck is going on here?" Yuu asked when Lavi stopped right outside the door to the roof.

"I'm sorry, I know ya told me not to think about him but I tried and it didn't work. Allen is real Yuu, and-"

"-Allen?"

"The shinigami's name is Allen. But that's not what's important here!" Lavi sighed impatiently. It was one thing when the shinigami was after him, but if it was after Yuu then there was a problem. "This morning when that potted plant fell, I just figured that he was after me, 'cause I'm the one who's supposed to die. But he was in out class just a minute ago; staring at you and saying you were the problem… He's going after you of his own free will."

Kanda's brow furrowed and he looked to the ground with a serious expression. "I'm the problem? What does he mean by that…?" he asked, looking curiously at Lavi.

"I don't know. He was really happy one day, and then he disappeared. When he came back he was in a bad mood. I don't know why but I guess he decided you were the reason he was so pissed…"

"Wait, when did he disappear?" Kanda was clearly thinking of something that Lavi wasn't.

"Ah…. The morning after the exorcism-thing. He woke me up when I slept through my alarm, but I didn't see him again after that until yesterday…"

"So that's who you were yelling at yesterday when I came over? And he hates me…hm." Kanda had one strange thought in his mind but he couldn't imagine it to be right. "Why were you two yelling?"

"Well, I was telling him about what had happened over the past few days, but he was annoyed so I asked what was wrong…and then you came and Allen started throwin' stuff at the door."

"Ah… I think I get it now." Kanda could hardly believe it, the more he heard about the situation, the more it seemed like he was right. Was this thing jealous of his relationship with Lavi? But then it wouldn't have been happy on the day of the exorcism, it was probably following them home.

"Why was he in a good mood before?"

"I…ah…ehe… Sorta named him. It's hard to talk to someone who doesn't have a name."

"You….named him? What is he, your new pet?"

"I love you don't kill me?"

Kanda looked like he was ready to hit Lavi for a moment, but then sighed out his agitation. "Whatever. So the thing is after me, that just gives me more of a reason to help you get rid of him," he said after he calmed down a bit.

"So understanding…" Lavi was rather thankful that he wasn't getting chewed out by Kanda for the whole naming thing; Yuu had been annoyed with his getting to know Allen since the beginning.

"Just don't get any closer to that shinigami!" The raven haired scolded, and Lavi hung his head and sighed.

"Right, right, sorry. I guess you can go back to class now… I'll meet you down there in a minute, okay?" Yuu gave Lavi a curious look, but turned his back to the redhead a minute later and walked away. Lavi waited until he was out of sight before going onto the roof.

"You're out here, aren't you Allen? Come on out and tell me what this is all about!"

Ah…That's what happens when you get too close to shinigami… Oh well, now the not-so-fluffy fun comes in! Hopefully you all enjoy it?