A/N: finally, chapter 5!!! woot!! anyway, i had this some time ago and just felt like putting it up tonight since i can't sleep..... anyways, enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: if i owned d. gray-man, there would have been TONS more yaoi!

~ Chapter 5 ~

"How in the world will I tell the king about this…?"

The duke paced nervously in front of the king's room. He was nervous as hell. The king warned him that if anything went wrong, it would be his head…

"Um… Your Majesty…?" the duke asked, walking into the room.

"Ah! Daisya! How did it go?" King Tiedoll asked, pulling the duke into a chair. "So, did the boy propose to someone already? What about that boy he was dancing with earlier? Who is he? Where did he come from? Are they in love?"

"Um, Sire…" Daisya tried to say.

"Well, there's so much to do!" Tiedoll said, lighting a cigar. "There are plans, invitations, a national holiday…"

"Sire…" Daisya said, trying to cut in again.

"And for you, my friend," Tiedoll said, pulling out his sword. Daisya panicked and got down on his knees, ready to beg. "A knighting. What title would you like?"

"Sire, he got away," Daisya finally got out.

"Sir He Got Away… a strange tit…le… HE WHAT?!!?!" Tiedoll screamed, his face red from anger.

"Sire, remember, your blood pressure!!" Daisya said as he narrowly avoided the sword and hiding behind a chair

"TRAITOR!!" Tiedoll screamed, slashing the top of the chair Daisya was behind. "SABATOGE!!!"

"No, Your Highness!!" Daisya said, circling around a table with the King trying to kill him.

"You were in league with the Prince all along!!" Tiedoll screamed, still trying to hack Daisya to pieces.

"You're Highness, please!" Daisya screamed, jumping back onto the giant bed and got practically catapulted up, as if the bed were a trampoline. Tiedoll jumped onto the bed as well, still trying to kill the defenseless duke.

"You planned it!!" Tiedoll screamed, taking a slice of the air as he passed Daisya, Tiedoll going up and Daisya going down.

"But Your Majesty!" Daisya said as he went back up. "He loves him! GAH! He determined to marry him!! the only clue we have is this choker!" Daisya held up the choker as he flew up and got hooked on the chandelier on the ceiling with Tiedoll not far behind. "He said that he'd marry the man who fit this!!"

"He said that, did he?!?" Tiedoll exclaimed in sudden joy, accidentally slicing the cord that held the chandelier. The both fell back to the bed and made a rather large hole in it.

"But, Your Highness, this choker could fit any number of people!!" Daisya said, trying to be rational.

"So? That's his problem!" Tiedoll said, kissing the pendant. "The boy gave his word, didn't he?"

"Well, yes, Sire, but—" Daisya was cut off when Tiedoll put the sword in his face.

"There are no buts about it!" Tiedoll yelled. "Tomorrow you will try this on every teen in this kingdom! And if the choker fits," he began to slide the sword under Daisya's nose and said in a sinister voice, "bring 'em in…"

~*~

"LAVI! LAVI WHERE ARE YOU?!?!" Klaud screamed, walking up the main staircase.

"I'm right here," Lavi said, walking out of the kitchen.

"And where are my children?" Klaud snapped, not in the mood for this.

"I think they're still in bed…" Lavi said, very unsure. It was still early…

"Well, bring up the breakfast trays, then!!" Klaud screamed, storming up the stairs to wake up her children.

Lavi, very confused, started breakfast. He got everything on trays and took them upstairs right in the middle of Klaud's tirade.

"…Not even the Prince knows who that boy was! The only clue was a choker necklace that was left behind. The Prince is determined to marry this boy, who the hell knows why. But, the Grand Duke has been searching all night for this boy. And when they find him, by the King's command, that person shall be the Prince's bride!"

"His bride…" Lavi said with a dreamy look in his eyes. He was so spaced out that he dropped the tray and broke the dishes and cups on it.

"You clumsy boy! Clean that up!" Klaud snapped, turning back to her children, who were still a little shocked.

"His bride?!?!?!" they both screamed at once.

Road immediately jumped out of bed, nearly ran over Tyki, and started to pull clothes out of the closet. She began to throw the clothes on the tray, shouting things for Lavi to do with them. Of course, he was too spaced out to know what was going on.

"What's wrong with him?" Tyki asked, waving a hand in front of Lavi's face.

"Who knows?" Road said, very upset. "Hey, Lavi baka! Come on, we need to get dressed!!"

"Oh, right…" Lavi said, looking down at his own patched clothing. He handed the pile of clothes off the Tyki and said in a dreamy voice, "It would do nothing for the Duke to see me like this…. I… I have to change clothes…"

"Did you see that, Mother?" Tyki asked, very appalled.

"Yes… I did," Klaud said with a suspicious tone of voice. She followed Lavi as he went to the door to his tower. Lavi was humming the waltz from the ball, the waltz that he and the Prince danced to. Klaud's eyes narrowed to slits.

She followed Lavi up to his room. Of course, him being the baka usagi that he is, didn't notice. He didn't notice, that is, until Klaud took a key and locked to the door from the inside and pulled it shut.

"NO!" Lavi screamed, pulling at the door. "Please, let me out!! Please… let me out…"

~*~

"Look, the Duke is coming!" Klaud said about half an hour later. She turned away from the window in the parlor and ran to the foyer.

Tyki and Road followed, straightening out their clothes as they went. Klaud opened the door only to be met with a very loud and annoying horn in her face.

"Announcing his Royal Highness Prince Kanda and the Grand Duke Daisya," the page said in a very high pitched and annoying voice.

"The Prince in here?" Lavi asked himself after hearing the annoying man from downstairs. "Man, I need to get out of here! But how…?"

"Your Majesty," Klaud said with a deep bow. "It's an honor." She gestured to Tyki and Road and said, "These are my two children, Tyki and Road."

"Your Grace," Road said with a very squished face.

Daisya and Kanda both visible shuddered.

"Won't you please come in," Klaud said with her Colgate Smile as she lead the Prince and Duke in.

"His Grace will now read the Royal Proclamation!" the page said again, blowing his horn and handing Daisya a piece of paper, which he promptly began to read from.

"A Proclamation… then I still have time…" Lavi said to himself. He looked out the window and saw an at least fifty foot drop. "Nonono…" Lavi said, backing away. "But there has to be a way… there just has to be…"

"Hey, Lavi!"

Lavi got an evil idea…

~*~

Daisya just finished the proclamation as Lavi put his plan into action. He and Kanda both stifled yawns.

"You look dreadfully tired, Your Excellencies. Please, why don't I pour you some tea?" Klaud asked, moving for the tea cups.

"No thank you," Kanda said, holding in another yawn. "We really must proceed with the fittings."

"Of course, Your Highness," Klaud said, pushing Road forward.

"Your Majesty," Road said with a deep curtsy.

"Daisya, please proceed," Kanda said, leaning against the wall.

"Oh, where are my manners?" Klaud said with a laugh.

"Up your ass…" Daisya murmured.

"Please, take a seat Your Majesty," Klaud said, gesturing to a chair.

"No thank you," Kanda said, crossing his arms, "I'll stand."

"Well, if you're sure…" Klaud said, a little confused.

"I'm sure," Kanda said as he saw a flash of red by the window. He then said absently, "Um, excuse me for just a minute, I need some air…"

"Of course," Klaud said with a bow as she went to open the door.

"Thanks," Kanda said as he walked towards where he saw the red, moving faster once the door was closed. He rounded a corner and was meet with a mop of fire red hair in his face.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry!!" Lavi said, pulling away before he saw who bumped into. Then, he saw it was Kanda and flipped out saying, "Oh, Your Majesty! I'm terribly sorry!!"

"Lavi, are you feeling okay?" Kanda asked, a little concerned.

"I'm fine, Your Highness," Lavi said, not making eye contact and backing away slowly. "Please, just ignore me…"

"Lavi, just quit it already!" Allen said from behind him, a very annoyed look on his face.

"But—" Lavi said before he was cut off.

"No buts!" Allen scolded, pushing Lavi towards Kanda. "Just go!" And with that, Allen rounded another corner of the house and disappeared from site.

"What was that?" Kanda asked, a very pissed look written clearly across his face.

"I'm sorry… just here…" Lavi gestured to where he was. "I'm a bit of a slave…"

"So that was the evil step family you talked about…"

"Yeah… that's them…" Lavi said, just as he saw Klaud look right in his direction. She saw him. He panicked. "Shit, Kanda, I need to run, now!"

And with that, Lavi took off. Kanda was just sick and tired of people running off on him lately, thus, he followed the red headed rabbit.

Then it was chaos. Tyki was chasing Road, who was chasing Daisya, who was chasing Klaud, who was chasing Kanda, who was chasing Lavi, who was chasing Allen. There was much shouting, screaming, and cats meowing during this little chase. But eventually, Lavi turned onto an alleyway and lost all but one of them.

"GAH!" Lavi cried as he ran right into Kanda and fell back on his arse.

"Clumsy Baka Usagi," Kanda said, offering Lavi a hand. Lavi took the hand and Kanda helped the rabbit to his feet. "What were you doing?"

"I… Klaud locked me in my room—not sure why though—and when she saw me… well, I really didn't want to die an early death, so to speak…" Lavi said hesitantly. He was leaning against a wall with the Prince very close in front of him.

"So you ran?" Kanda asked, crossing his arms.

"Yeah…" Lavi said, looking at the ground. "I guess I really am a rabbit, huh?"

"You got that right," Kanda said, his eyes now slits.

"Well, I'm sorry, but I have to go," Lavi said, pushing off the wall.

He got the shock of his life when instead of being allowed to leave, Kanda pushed him right up against the wall, their bodies pressing tightly together. Kanda cupped Lavi's cheek in his hand, brushing it back till it was on the back of his neck. Then, very quickly, Kanda pulled Lavi into a heated kiss. His free hand snaked it's way around Lavi's waist as he teased the redhead's lips. Lavi was pulled back into reality with this and parted his lips for Kanda and wrapped his arms around the raven's neck. Kanda dove into Lavi's mouth, having the same feeling from the night before.

Then they heard something break not too far away from them.

They both pulled away and Lavi gasped.

Daisya had apparently tripped on something, making the choker in his hands fly away from him and smash on the ground into a million pieces. Lavi pulled away from Kanda immediately and ran over to his mother's necklace, starting to cry.

"No… why did this…? And to my mother's necklace…" Lavi choked out, kneeling beside the broken glass.

"So… this was your mothers?" Kanda asked, kneeling beside Lavi and putting a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah…" Lavi said, still crying.

"Wait a minute," Kanda said, his mind having an epiphany. "If this is yours… then that means that…"

"What?" Lavi asked, his mind taken from the necklace for just a second.

"That you were the boy from last night!" Kanda cried happily.

"What?!" Lavi asked in shock.

"You were the boy who arrived late at the ball!" Kanda said, shaking Lavi's shoulders slightly. "I knew I recognized that mop of red hair from somewhere!"

"Your Majesty, be reasonable," Daisya said, placing a hand on Kanda's shoulder. "It's impossible. Every person who saw that boy last night would say that he was aristocracy. This boy here… clearly is not…"

"He… he's right, Your Highness…" Lavi said with a defeated sigh. "I didn't go to the ball last night…"

"Yes, Your Majesty," Klaud said, thinking on his feet. "Anyone could claim that the choker was theirs. Besides, Lavi never left the house."

"I…" Kanda began with a defeated sigh. "I guess your right…"

"Come, Your Highness, let's head back," Daisya said, helping Kanda to his feet.

"Yeah…" Kanda said, his head in the clouds.

They all said their farewells as Kanda and Daisya headed back to the carriage. Kanda was very out of it. his mind was still piecing together the puzzle pieces. And what a complicated puzzle it was… He knew that it was Lavi at the ball, he just had this gut feeling. But Lavi had an air tight alibi…

"Kanda?"

Kanda was pulled back down to earth at the sound of Daisya's voice. He looked over in the Duke's direction with an inquisitive face.

"Are you okay?" Daisya asked in a worried voice, feeling Kanda's forehead. "You seem a little warm. Do you have a fever?"

"No… no, I'm fine…" Kanda said, lazily swatting the hand away.

"You sure? You seem really out of it…"

"I just…." Kanda sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I know that it was Lavi at the ball… I just have this gut feeling… I just… I don't know what to do anymore…"

"You really like this guy, don't you?" Daisya asked with a knowing voice.

"Is it that obvious?"

"Yeah, very."

"I've got it bad, don't I…?"

"Worse then you know, My Prince. Worse then you know…"

well, chapter 5 is done!!! FEW!!! man, this was long............. welp, R&R as usual and enjoy!!