Hello! I haven't slept since thursday so in a fit of insomniac energy I got writing. So since I'm now 2 chapters ahead, I thought you deserved this now instead of later. Runs around in a mad panic "I need sleep!!!"

Since his encounter with Allen a week ago in the corridor 'round the corner from the dining hall, Kanda had been feeling rather confused.

He wasn't entirely sure what had changed between them, or even if anything had at all, but it seemed that since then Allen's mood had lifted slightly. His smiles, though rare, were at least real and his shoulders were no longer slumped in defeat all the time.

Kanda did not know whether he had anything to do with the improved disposition of the younger exorcist, but he found that he hoped that he had.

However, he still couldn't understand why it had happened at all. As far as he knew Allen was not one prone to bouts of depression, but he had seen it, there in his eyes as he thanked him, thanked him- Kanda! for bullying him into… into what exactly? Allen hadn't admitted anything, hadn't offered any insight into what was bothering him… but thanked him, purely for noticing that something might be.

That concerned him a little, not that he would ever admit it. Why had no one else noticed these changes? He wasn't one to share more than a passing glance with the younger exorcist, save for the less-than-frequent missions they shared. After all, who in their right mind would pair up two exorcists that were as likely to kill each other as Akuma?

Lavi. Lavi should have noticed. It was the damn rabbit's job to notice these things. Maybe he had noticed and just wasn't saying anything.

Kanda's scowl darkened. Somehow that didn't make any sense. The redhead was rather fond of Allen, and surely would have said something to somebody. Kanda often heard things that he'd never want to even entertain the thought of thanks to Lavi's all-seeing Bookman eye and rather obnoxious mouth. So, he thought, Lavi mustn't have spotted it… or, he added mentally, knowing that Lavi was more in tune with the ins and outs of the Order than he was, he knows exactly what's going on…

0o0o0o0o0

If he was spotted in this situation again, he was going to be labelled as narcissistic, he mused as he was distracted from his trek down to the cafeteria by the flash of the shadow in the reflective surface of the window. As usual he couldn't stop the urge to stand and study his reflection. The shadow seemed darker today, and it overlapped his own features even more than usual.

Why was there even a window here? The dark dank corridor he had found himself lost in did not benefit from the meagre light offered by the small pane. Allen glanced up at the ceiling, casting a mocking sneer at the sky as though the derisive expression could transverse the distance through the ancient stone of Headquarters and reach the heavens. Someone up there hates me.

He turned his eyes back to the window in time to catch the tail end of a wide, scornful grin that flashed across the dark, yet expressive face of the shadow.

The voice whispered across his mind teasingly, soft as a caress but layered with danger.

'Allen'

"What the hell do you want from me?"

There was no reply, just the flicker of a broad white grin and the narrowing of blank white eyes.

Allen couldn't help it, frustration and fear combining and multiplying in his head until he blindly threw out a fist and destroyed the surface that the shadow taunted him from.

The gentle sound of tinkling glass cleared the haze from his mind. Allen looked down at his right fist, cringing at the bloody knuckles that only began to hurt once he'd seen them. There were shards of the ornate window stuck in his flesh, decorating his pale red washed skin with fragments of blues and greens. He cursed to himself and laughed, an unhealthy sound that worried him slightly at the ease with which it fell from is lips. "Couldn't have used the left hand, huh Walker?"

He looked at the broken window guiltily, he'd smashed enough windows and mirrors in these last few torturous weeks to know that it wouldn't take long for it to come to someone's attention, and he'd rather not be around when the damage was discovered. Besides, his hand was slowly leaking blood onto the floor, and that was never a good thing. He pulled off his grey vest hurriedly, wrapping it around the injured appendage carefully so as to not press the glass further into his skin and collect the steady trickle of blood escaping from the worst of the wounds. He'd need tweezers to get some of the debris out, so decided to head back to his room in order to patch himself up.

The only problem was, he was still lost.

Perfect. This day just keeps getting better and better he thought bitterly as he stomped down the corridor, keen to come across something that might point him in the right direction. He hoped he'd find it quickly too- he wasn't losing that much blood, but he was still hungry, having never made it as far as the cafeteria, and now the adrenalin was fading he felt a little light headed.

He reached a junction and looked around, honestly having no idea which was to go. He checked his hand, noticing for the first time that the glass wasn't exactly clean. Well, he supposed it served him right for smashing up such a remote window, but knowing that didn't stop him from cringing at the state of the glass, covered in who-knew-what and depositing said who-knew-what into his body.

Wouldn't be the first parasite I get saddled with.He looked around again, but the motion proved too much and his vision swam sickeningly. Oh, ok, bad idea. Maybe I should sit down for a minute…

With a slight groan he slid down the wall, sitting in a crumpled heap at the bottom of it. Just a few minutes to calm the nausea and he'd be able to be on his way again. When he attempted to carry out his plan, however, his body immediately vetoed any further movement in favour of not passing out. Though that still seemed to be a distinct possibility, given the way his vision was greying at the edges.

Well bugger me was the rather fatalistic thought that followed this realisation. I hope this end of Headquarters isn't too far-flung. I'd hate to think how long it'll be until someone else gets lost.

0o0o0o0o0

Kanda was minding his own business, having decided that whatever was going on with the stupid sprout was really none of his concern, heading down a distant corridor that eventually led to a back door that allowed him to sneak outside to train without being spotted when he was rather unceremoniously tripped up.

He managed to avoid complete embarrassment by planting his hand against the wall and catching himself before his face met floor, and spun angrily, ready to ream whoever thought that tripping him was a good idea. The harsh words that were about to jump from his mouth stalled in confusion when his eyes fell on the figure sitting on the floor in a rather undignified heap.

He prodded Allen none-too-gently with his foot. "Oi, Moyashi."

A pair of slightly hazy silver eyes rose to his face, blinking like they were trying to focus. "Oh, Kanda. Fancy meetin' you 'ere."

Kanda scowled. "What the fuck are you doing on the floor Moyashi?"

"'s Allen" was the reply, though it lacked its usual venom. "An' I'm sittin'" he said, like he thought that Kanda was being stupid.

Despite himself, Kanda was intrigued. "Should I even ask why?"

Allen gave a rather deranged chuckle, waving a hand in the air casually. "I don' know. I jus' am. Go' lost" he added unnecessarily, as though he'd be down this random corridor for any other reason

"Hn" Kanda made to step over him and continue on his way, but as he put his foot down on the other side of Allen it slipped a little, as though the surface was wet. He looked up, half expecting to see a leaky ceiling or open window, but could see no apparent source for the puddle. He scowled again, looking back down to the prostrate bean sprout. "Why is the floor wet? You spill something? Clumsy as well as stupid?"

The expression on Allen's face suggested he was attempting a glare, but failing abysmally. "No" he replied shortly "I bled on't."

"Che" Kanda retorted and started to walk on before he was infected by the Moyashi's stupidity. He'd only a couple of strides when he pulled up short, finally processing what Allen had actually said. He turned back around, his hair swinging behind him as he came back to stand at Allen's side. The younger man looked up in a dazed sort of way as Kanda's shadow fell across him. "Wha'?"

Without replying Kanda knelt down and touched two fingers to the stain on the floor, bringing them to his eyes to see better. "What the fuck? What did you do?"

Allen blinked at him slowly, but didn't respond.

Trying to hold onto his temper Kanda took a deep steadying breath. There was something wrong of Allen couldn't even work up a retort. "Where are you bleeding from?"

Allen just stared at him as though he'd never seen anything like him before, before a small frown twisted his forehead and he waved his right hand at him feebly. Kanda grabbed the limb round the wrist, seeing the embedded glass. "What the fuck did you do?" he asked again, but didn't really expect an answer, so he was surprised when the hand was carefully extracted from his grip.

"Had 'n acciden'" Allen mumbled, looking like words cost him more than he could afford. "Be 'kay. You can go."

"Don't be an idiot; nobody comes down here, someone as weak as you will be dead before they find you."

"Why do you care?" Allen asked his eyes drooping

"I don't" Kanda said shortly, heaving the younger man to his feet, being careful of the sluggishly bleeding hand that he draped over his shoulder. "I just don't want your corpse stinking up the place."

"Thanks" Allen said, though Kanda couldn't tell whether he was being sincere or sarcastic.

0o0o0o0o0

Allen realised he must have fallen asleep, or passed out, at some point, because when he opened his eyes he was in an unfamiliar room that he was sure he'd never been in before. He tried to sit up but his hand protested loudly at having weight put on it and he groaned quietly, his voice catching in his throat.

"You get blood on my bed and I'll fucking kill you myself" a voice informed him from his right, accompanied by the sound of water being wrung out of a cloth. The rough material was then applied to Allen's hand, wiping away the blood with perfunctory strokes.

"What are you doing?" Allen asked, his head feeling a lot clearer than it had earlier, watching as Kanda cleaned the blood from his skin. "Why am I in your room?"

Kanda stopped what he was doing and raised a sardonic eyebrow at him. "You wanted to go to the infirmary with this?"

Allen shook his head and sighed. "No. I'm sorry."

"Che. Hold still" was all the warning he was given before Kanda began pulling fragments of glass from the back of Allen's hand. Allen tried to ignore the sharp yanking as Kanda none-too-gently tugged the shards free from the dried blood that had crusted around them. Though he was having more trouble ignoring the feeling of Kanda's warm palm wrapped around his wrist.

"Why are you helping me?"

Kanda didn't look up as he pulled the last piece of window free. "You really are an idiot. Some of these need stitches."

"I'll manage" Allen said, deciding not to draw attention to the fact that Kanda was ignoring his question.

Kanda just looked at him like he was stupid. "You need to go to the infirmary."

"I… can't" Allen replied, his gaze falling to the floor. The last thing he wanted was for people to think he'd totally lost it; even of it was somewhat true.

Kanda let out a sigh that sounded rather like a growl. Truthfully he had no idea what had possessed him to bring Allen to his room. Maybe he should have just dumped him somewhere for someone else to find and let it become their problem. The problem was, no matter how much he tried to deny it, and he tried very hard, he knew he couldn't have just left him to bleed out somewhere else. There was obviously something very wrong with the damn Moyashi, and he'd be dammed if he wasn't going to find out what it was. If only to use it as ammunition in the future. Having the sprout be in his debt didn't sound like such a bad idea. "Che, do what you like. Do it yourself for all I fucking care, just get the fuck out of my room."

"Good job I'm ambidextrous then" Allen joked, easing his arm from Kanda's grip as he got to his feet wincing a little as fresh blood welled from the cuts on his hand and ran down his fingers. He re-wrapped his hand in his blood-soaked vest and headed towards the door. "Thanks for the help, Kanda" he said as he reached for the door, but had only got it open a couple of inches before a pale hand landed on the wood, shutting it firmly with a snap.

Kanda closed his eyes, not really believing that he was going to go through with this.

Allen looked at him in confusion. "What..?" Hadn't Kanda demanded he leave a moment ago?

"Idiot, you can't go out there like that" the other exorcist gestured at the nearly brown dried blood on his shirt and the steadily spreading bloodstain on the vest clamped around his right hand. "You'll collapse and die before you find your way back to your room."

Allen frowned but didn't argue back. Whatever Kanda was saying, his tone did not match it. Instead, he raised an eyebrow challengingly. "So, what do you propose I do about it?"

Kanda pushed him roughly back to his bed until Allen landed in an undignified heap on the mattress.

"Stay."

Allen obeyed, if only out of curiosity. He was the one supposedly undergoing a personality change, but here was Kanda, being all… nice. Well as nice as Kanda ever got anyway. A first aid kit and a small black pouch landed next to him on the bed followed by a small bottle of a clear liquid. Allen opened the pouch curiously to find it was a small well stocked sewing kit. Without waiting for further instruction he picked his way through the needles until he found one to suit his purpose. Wordlessly Kanda took it from him and handed over a cotton pad soaked with whatever liquid was in the bottle. A tentative sniff revealed some sort of alcohol, though since Allen was no expert when it came to spirits he couldn't identify it more than that. Had it been red wine however, he could have probably identified not only the brand but the year as well. Something else to thank Cross for.

He decided not to question why Kanda had such a thing in his room as he thoroughly cleaned the largest of the wounds, wincing a little at the sting from the alcohol as it came into contact with the cuts. A glance out of the corner of his eyes revealed that Kanda was soaking the needle and a length of white thread in more of the liquid.

The older man caught him looking and smirked, handing over the needle and thread. The expression in his face said that he clearly expected Allen to balk at sewing his own flesh closed. Allen took the needle from his without comment, though he wasn't sure if he should be insulted that Kanda had chosen white thread for him to patch himself up with. Noticing Kanda had already tied a small neat knot in the end of the thread Allen proceeded to stitch the first gash closed, managing to withhold all but the worst of the winces as he pulled the wound closed. He tied it off carefully before moving on to the next one, but by the time he got to the fourth one his left hand had begun to cramp and tremble slightly. He jumped, startled from his intense concentration, when Kanda's hand closed around his own ungloved left one, stilling the shaking limb. Allen just stared at their hands in confusion, not understanding why Kanda was holding his hand. His left hand.

"Um…"

Kanda seemed to realise he was still holding Allen's hand and let it go rather quickly, but not before he liberated the needle from Allen's stiff fingers. "Stupid idiot, you're going to make it worse" he muttered before finishing closing the wounds, not looking up at Allen once while he did it, though he could feel the younger exorcist's eyes on him the whole time. When he was done he immediately began clearing up while Allen lightly bandaged his hand, just enough so the stitches were protected but the bandage couldn't be seen through his glove. When the Japanese man had returned everything to its rightful place he turned round to find Allen watching him thoughtfully.

He grunted rudely, a little embarrassed by the blatant regard. "What ?"

Allen cocked his head to one side, pulling his gloves from his back pocket and siding them on, not taking his eyes off the older man. "I should be asking you that. I keep asking you why you're doing this, but you haven't answered me yet. Why is it that you're helping me Kanda? I thought you hated me."

"Che" Kanda turned his back on the figure on the bed. "You're a stupid stubborn brat who can't look after himself. Now fuck off back to your own room, I'm tired of your ugly face."

Allen just smiled, a small tightening of his lips as he got to his feet. "Thanks Kanda. I don't hate you either."

Mah, all those people that put me on alert but didn't review! How am I supposed to know what you like/dislike about a fic without FEEDBACK!! O_O Please? Pretty please? With a cherry on top? And a HUGE thanks to those who did review, I was really pleased with the positive response the first chapter got, so I guess we'll see where this thing goes huh? I know what I'll be spending my holidays doing… better go and by a new notebook…