Chapter 3:

"I've had enough!" Road half-yelled. Within seconds she stood up and almost ran to the exit. Kanda suspected by a stray reflection that she had started crying. But more importantly: What the hell was going on?

Kanda slowly massaged his ears. He could still hear a buzzing from the hour-long lecture that Tykki had given him for disrespecting one of his most esteemed guests, not to mention making a girl cry…or something stupid like that.

Inevitably the blood rushed back into his cheeks. This has been happening non-stop for the past 3 hours. First he would blush like he had never before. (Kanda didn't actually know what blushing really meant until he walked into the changing room and saw his face in the mirror – which only lead to a deeper red). Then he would feel like his heart was tripping over its own beat and finally the rest of his blood in the body would start to boil. All that accompanied by the repetitive thought that the freaking beansprout had kissed him!

'How dare he?', the swordsman seethed in the five minute intervals between the symptoms.

He glanced at the clock on the wall in front of him. Hmm, 2 o' clock… He had a lecture tomorrow morning at 9am. If Kanda wanted to squeeze in some training before bedtime he would have to leave now. At least he had made sure Lenalee was alright when her idiot brother came to pick her up. To think that this was all because of that bastard Komui!

He sighed. Taking off his vest and shirt, he changed into the navy polo neck he had been wearing when he came in. It was almost winter and his apartment did not have any heating. But that's the way he wanted it to be. One ought to challenge himself by challenging nature. The thought of the coming winter months and training cheered him up slightly more when he left that cursed establishment.

But as usual happiness remained distant.

"Kanda!" a high but not unfamiliar voice called him from behind. "I was looking for you, but got held up. Krory told me you were leaving early, but I wanted to thank you at least…"

In an instant his anger and light headedness came rushing back. He swirled around to see the bean sprout a few meters behind him; his eyes on the floor. (Did he see just the slightest tinge of pink on those pale cheeks just now?)

Without thought his legs had closed the distance between them. Roughly, Kanda pushed the white haired boy against the brick wall of a nearby alley.

"Are you freaking kidding me? " A hoarse whisper. "Thank you? What is wrong with you? If you do that again I'm going to slice you into bits and pieces not even your parents would be able to piece you back together." He hissed into the other's ear.

Giving another shove to emphasize his point, the Japanese let go of the other's collar. But before he turned around to hurry home, he could have sworn he saw a shadow in those silver eyes and was that a smirk?

Unlikely, Kanda shrugged off the thought. No one would dare to try that a second time. Anyways, his throat felt parched. He knew why. He hadn't talked that much in more than a year.

That night Kanda was relieved when his heart stopped skipping beats once sleep overtook him. Though he was slightly worried about his condition, he trusted his body. He had never gotten sick and these must be temporary symptoms as well. Maybe he picked up something weird in his soba last dinner. With the thought of checking the expiry date, he let himself glide off to the dream world.

xxxxx

"Yuu! Wake up! You're going to be late for class!" Instead of birdy singsong, a familiar voice violently pulled him from his sleep. He hated waking up in the mornings. He hated being woken up even more. But what he hated most was when such people called him by his first name!

In a blind morning rage he grabbed Mugen and rammed the weapon into the gap between door and frame; just in time to hear a panicked "eek!". Now that was what he was talking about.

It was only 8am. Why the hell did that freak had to call him up so early? It's not like he didn't have control enough over his body to wake up whenever he wanted to. Few knew he was not an early riser. A diligent worker, he trained until late into the night. Consecutive nights without sleep were no problem either. It was just that once his consciousness was set adrift it preferred to stay that way. Now that he thought about it: The only one who knew was his mother.

And he would make sure it would stay that way.

The swordsman knew that Lavi was probably still waiting outside, however, deeming it safer to simply wait. In that regard, Kanda had given up trying to walk to university in peaceful solitude. It was damned unfortunate that the idiot was living on the same floor at the end of the hallway in one of those bigger flats. Hiding was futile when it came to Lavi.

The redhead had made sure to block Kanda's escape route every single day for the past 3 years to the point where Kanda just didn't care anymore. But he still enjoyed taking his time as much as possible just to make the stupid bunny wait. Maybe, just maybe, he hoped he would just go away out of boredom.

Strange, the dates on neither the soba noodles nor the sauce were questionable. Indeed it tasted just as impeccable as usual, Kanda thought.

"So, how was your first day? Tykki looked super angry. What did you do to piss him off like that?" Lavi chattered away as soon as the other stepped out of the door.

Just in case, Kanda had brought Mugen along. He wasn't afraid to show the stupid bunny how to decapitate a person should he need to.

Xxxxxx

As soon as he entered the university grounds, Kanda made his way to the school of arts. It was a gaudy building with a weird shape, but he did like the pond in the middle of the building. He liked to think Professor Tiedoll designed that for him. In the beginning he hated even the thought of anything having to do with distraction from his training. But the department head was his foster father and as such there was no escape. Begrudgingly he admitted that at least what he was doing now could secure him living expenses in the future while actually improving his swordsmanship. He entered the studio Tiedoll had secured him. It was time to start training.

Somewhere in the literature department a certain redhead took a double look. Did he just see a bushel of white hair? That just had to be Allen! But as far as he knew the boy had never been here before even after a month had passed since freshman inauguration.

His suspicions however were confirmed by someone else in a completely different place. You see, Allen Walker was the type of guy with a tendency to get irreversibly lost no matter how many times he had been in the same place.

A blink. A second blink. Had Kanda ever blinked in his life ou of confusion? Stepping back, he made sure that the silver plate read studio 5. Then what the hell was that beansprout doing stalking him here?

"Oh! Good timing! Could you tell me where… Kanda?" The boy squeaked. "What are you doing here? Did you get lost as well?"

You've got to be kidding me, Kanda thought. "This is my studio you retard. Now get lost before I decide to shave off all you hair…" How lucky he was carrying Mugen with him today.

"Well! I'm already lost! Just tell me where the music studios are. Who would want to breathe the same air as you anyway!" The other resisted.

Nonchalantly the taller one unsheathed his sword and pointed a rather sharp tip directly at the boy's neck; not coincidentally where he was assaulted last night.

He would have definitely gone through with the idea of at least slicing the delicate skin, if not for the door opening and an upbeat Professor Tiedoll walking in.

"Good morning son! How are we… doing today?" Even the professor was slightly shaken by the fact that Kanda had allowed anyone to enter his sanctuary other than himself. "I didn't think you would take my suggestion seriously. So you did get yourself a model…"

With an expert flair, the senior moved in circled around increasingly nervous Allen and sweat-dropping Kanda.

"Hmm….hmm…..hmmmmmm…Excellent!" Tiedoll clapped his hands gleefully. "This boy would definitely suit your exhibition next month!"

Rolling his eyes Kanda almost anticipated this. But just when he was about to open his mouth to tell the oblivious third person that that was no way going to happen, the annoying beansprout cut in:

"Exhibition?"

"Hmm… what is your name, my boy?"

"I'm Allen Walker! Nice to meet you."

It irked Kanda that the beansprout needed to bow in an introduction. No way that guy was that polite.

"Would you be interested in participating in an art exhibition?" Hold on.

"You mean at the university?"

"No, the national gallery! This is grand scale, my boy. Only the most talented are allowed to display their works there." Wait. Wait a minute.

Kanda did not like where this was going…

"Uhm sure! Why not? I would be glad to help!"

Oh…, shoot!

Kanda felt a sense of doom wash over him. Seriously?

"No way! No way am I taking this.." he pointed the tip of his sword just centimeters from the others' nose, " damned beansprout anywhere!" He pointed his sword towards the window.

"But dear, you have been looking for a model for months now! This is your chance!"

Kanda had to admit that he had been looking for someone. But it had not been more than something like scanning the masses and dragging someone into the studio for a few hours of intensive training.

"No way!" he grumbled.

"You can come here again tomorrow morning. Here is a map." The professor handed Allen a piece of paper with a smile.

A little unsure, the boy turned around, bowed and walked back out. After about 20 minutes of mindless wandering, he would remember that he never did ask where the music rooms were. But he long did not know where the pair was.

"Tche. I'm not coming tomorrow." Kanda announced.

"But you did see that cute pout didn't you? Look at his adorable cheekbones!" The professor glanced sideways.

If Kanda knew how dark his blush at the moment was, he would probably not let me leave this room alive, Tiedoll thought when he stood up to leave Kanda to accept his fate.

I am not doing this!

Spicing things up here a little bit! :D

Sorry for the late update! I keep forgetting to upload it though I already wrote it! Next chapter will be a Christmas interlude! IT will be chapter 4 but if you are not a Christmassy person you can skip it ^^.

Read and Review, my lovely akumas~!

I'll see you in a week or so!