Disclaimer: D.Gray-Man belongs to Hoshino Katsura.

Chapter Five: Invented Normalcy

Kanda groaned inwardly when he woke up in his dorm room. He had barely any sleep much thanks to the rabid red bunny ranting nearly the whole night about the chaste kiss he was given by Tyki. What the hell, Lavi should be grateful! Unlike him, who got the full blow on the lips. And yes, it was his first kiss, but keeping tabs on those things was childish, Kanda fervently reminded himself. "Lavi, do me a favour, go dig a hole, jump in and DIE," Kanda muttered a half-hearted threat. A sleep deprived Kanda was often stripped of his threatening authority.

"But Yuuuuuuuuu!!! Your best friend got taken advantage of!!! Have you no remorse, or pity?!! You heartless being!!!!" Lavi was being horribly dramatic, and Kanda's irritation meter rose by fifty percent. "I thought it was time for you to realize that I am indeed, a heartless person of no remorse," the Japanese teen sarcastically replied. He let out a frustrated string of curses into his pillow as he checked his bedside calendar. "It's a Saturday, damn it. I demand more sleep."

"No, you can't! Remember, you need to spend the morning doing your intern duties before doing anything else. So wake up, wash your face and get ready. I'll grab the car keys from Lenalee and we'll go," Lavi trilled as the thought of Tyki was forgotten. As he forcefully pulled his body from the comfort of his bed, Kanda continued to mutter colourful words under his breath and shuffled towards the bathroom. He was definitely NOT a morning person. Then he paused before he stepped out of the quarters he shared with Lavi.

"Isn't she coming along?"

Lavi poked his head out of his closet. "Nope, she rescheduled so that she could go on Sunday."

So, grumpy Kanda gave up on depending on the most rational of the trio and resigned himself to fate. Half an hour later, grumpy Kanda upgraded into annoyed Kanda as Lavi sang with the morning radio in a horribly high-pitched yodel quality voice. "Idiot, shut up and focus on the road," Kanda grumbled as he sat in the passenger street watching the pigeons scatter from the street as the car sped past. "Yu, don't be such a wet blanket and sing along with me!" The redhead cheerfully chirped.

Kanda groaned and slapped his forehead with the palm of his hand.

By the time Kanda got off the car, he had become sullen Kanda, meaning he went through his share of torture from Lavi and was already desensitized towards all things annoying. He grabbed his lab coat from the intern changing room and marched towards Allen's room. Although he has only gone there once, Kanda's memory with places was good. Allen was sitting at his desk doing something when Kanda opened the door. Doing what, he couldn't see for Allen's body blocked the view.

"Oi, moyashi."

As if practiced, the reaction was instinctive and instantaneous. "It's Allen!" Allen glowered at the taller teen for a while before smiling in a bit. "Good morning, Yu. You look horrible." Kanda disregarded how horrible he looked, instead glaring murderously at Allen. "No one allowed you to call me by my name." Allen's smile only seemed to quirk higher. "Since you saw it fitting to call me a bean sprout, I can call you however I want to." Kanda scowled at the flippant remark, but then remembered that he had to tolerate the white haired boy.

"Grr…Whatever. Go back to whatever you were doing just now."

The boy smiled and said, "Do you want to see what I was drawing?" Vaguely, in the back of Kanda's brain, his studies from the introduction to Psychology noted that when one faces this situation, one should amicably agree and do nothing negative. But that was for good people, and Kanda didn't give a damn. Brain fucking subject. If he wasn't running out of electives, he sure as hell would not have taken it.

"You were drawing stick people, moyashi?" Kanda drawled sarcastically.

Allen grinned. "Ahaha, that was what I could only draw when I first came here. But with a lot of time in my hands and a little patience, I must say I improved a lot from back then when people couldn't even see what I was drawing. Lenalee could've hit me for making such a horrible portrait of Miranda." Kanda's eyebrow quirked in question. "Who the heck is Miranda?" "Um...She's a lady whom we both met, and boy, she was such a nervous wreck. I heard she got fired one hundred times before," Allen answered simply.

"Hn, so you draw girls," Kanda said in a perfectly neutral tone, but Allen could tell what Kanda was hinting at. He balefully frowned at him. "Excuse me, but if you're thinking what I'm thinking you're thinking, then you're wrong. I have no such interests."

Kanda smirked a little. For someone insane, the boy was smart. Ah well, they do say that all geniuses are born crazy.

"Oh, but how can you tell that I'm thinking what you're thinking that I'm thinking?"

Two can play at that game. "Merely by the fact that you ask me whether I can tell that you're thinking what I'm thinking you're thinking already implies that you know what I'm implying and are just asking to confirm what I'm actually implying so that you can imply that you do not know what I'm implying."

Kanda stared. He completely lost Allen after the first 'implying'. He snorted and turned away. "Whatever, just go back to whatever you're doing." Allen grinned after having won the short-lived tongue twisting competition. "Yu, do you like lotus?" The sudden prompt had Kanda thinking for a while. "...Hn, I don't care for flowers...But I think the lotus has an elegance that no others will be able to match." He completely missed the sorrowful smile on Allen's lips as he sat down on the bed.

"Then...I'd be honoured if you take this," Allen murmured in a barely audible voice.

Slightly surprised, the young Japanese looked up and saw the boy with the birthmark on his face offering a piece of paper to him. Curiously, he took the paper. On it was a very detailed drawing of one blooming lotus. Although it was a drawing done in pencil only, it was breathtakingly captivating. One could obviously see the efforts put into the picture of one simple lotus. Kanda turned his attention back onto Allen, who seemed to fidget under his scrutinizing eyes. "...You sure you won't be bored to death if you give this to me?" "It's okay. If I want to, I'll draw a different lotus next time," Allen replied softly.

"You really have nothing to do here," Kanda commented plainly.

Allen smiled. "Not really. We have lots of things to do here. For one, I'm taking lessons. Otherwise, older people attend classes to learn things like sewing and cooking or even woodwork. Children prefer playing in the playground or the activity room. We even have mini stages for performances. Most of us pick these up, trying to feel a semblance of normalcy. We treat it like us living at a community centre more than being confined in a mental institute."

The intern saw nothing to be said to that. After all, he hadn't experienced anything like this. And it was supposedly for their own good that they stayed here and not harm their own families whatnot. "You said you're taking lessons? What lessons?" "I'm studying history, art and literature for now. Even though I'm a patient in here, I've got to keep up with my studies," Allen answered gathering his writing tools into a small bag. "How old are you?" Kanda blurted out, after hearing the subjects Allen took up. Those electives sounded like...

"Oh, I'm fifteen this year," Allen answered. Kanda's jaw mentally hit the floor.

"I thought you were like, seventeen," Kanda muttered in disbelief. Allen smirked a bit. "Oh, I get that a lot because of my white hair, Mr. Intern. Come on, you're supposed to accompany me to my classes." Before Kanda could say anything, Allen snagged Kanda's hand and pulled him along the corridors. "Where are you taking me?" Kanda asked stupidly. "To the classroom wing. It's a separate part of this building. Didn't Lavi and Lenalee show you around?" The younger boy asked in return. The Japanese teen simply shook his head. Nope, they had to lead him to a disaster during the very first time he came here as an intern, which would be meeting the enigmatic Allen Walker.

Allen chuckled. "I guess I'll have to show you around later. If you're going to be an intern here, you at least have to know where you're going."

"Hn!"

It was in the classroom wing that Kanda felt more comfortable. Granted, the walls were painted pastel peach, but it was better than the boring stark white. Plus, there are actually wooden furniture, as compared to all the plastic and metal in the other wing. Allen walked past three doors before going in the fourth one. "Oh Allen-kun, it's about time you've arrived," a blonde with short hair greeted the boy as he entered with his overseer. Kanda blinked for a moment. His lecturer of previous semester, Bak Chan was there, wearing a white lab coat. "Oh, Kanda-kun! Fancy seeing you here!" Bak greeted. Kanda muttered an incoherent greeting and grabbed a seat at the back of class, surveying the whole room. There were quite a few he didn't recognize, and some that he knew, being interns like him. For one, Rikei was there.

"Oh, hi Kanda. I guessed that you'd drop by here with Allen soon. This is my charge, Roufa," he introduced the short girl wearing glasses beside her. She smiled politely and nodded. "Nice to meet you, Kanda-san." And then, went to sit next to Allen, who was of course, beside Kanda. "Walker-san, have you finished the assignment?" Roufa had a slight blush when she spoke to Allen, and Kanda found himself not liking it for no particular reason.

Another one which he did not really like, was the female intern named Mimi. She was crazy about the Genetics professor, Lulubell and joined this internship just because Lulubell worked part time here. An orange haired boy was seated beside her, fidgeting in his seat. He looked to be quite young and rather nervous. Allen whispered, "That boy is Lero." Kanda shivered slightly at the warm air that ghosted his skin. "Can you not speak so closely?" He pointed out in annoyance.

Allen looked at him unwaveringly with wide eyes and Kanda refused to give in to that goddamned innocent look.

"But Yu...You're the one who isn't letting go of my hand."

Sure enough, somehow, Kanda's fingers were wrapped tightly around Allen's slim hand. He let go hastily and glared at the wall. Why hadn't he realized it?! Allen smiled to himself, of course, the other patients noticed. Not the other interns though, and the clueless lecturer himself.

Tyki was reading when Lavi entered his room. "Yo, bunny boy, did you have a good sleep yesterday?" The older man looked over the edge of his book. Lavi flushed and spluttered, "Of course not, thanks to you! Why the heck did you do that for anyway?!" Tyki smiled in amusement at the flustered bunny. "Because Allen got to kiss his irritable boyfriend," the man with the glasses answered. Lavi blinked in confusion. "Boyfriend??? Yu???"

"Who else did he kiss, Road?"

Lavi laughed. "Yu'd rather admit that he is a vain man than say he'll date Allen. No offence to Allen, but the poor boy doesn't deserve a stiff stick like Yu." Tyki laughed a little. "It wouldn't be becoming of a Bookman to simply assume things." "A Bookman?" The redhead echoed, and Tyki shook his head. "Ignore that, it's something of my own." "But actually...What do you see in those dreams you have...?" Lavi curiously quipped. "Hm...You have an interest?" The dark skinned man raised an eyebrow.

"Because, even though it's something brought on by a disorder, it's really amazing to know people you've never known or seen!" Lavi's thirst for knowledge was known to Tyki long before he's seen his beloved's face. Really, Lavi had not changed from his previous incarnation. Only now, his hair was longer and in a small ponytail, and he no longer wore his eye patch. Yet, his cheerful disposition and inquisitive ways have not changed. Tyki loved his dear bunny, whether Lavi remembered him or not. For now, all was fine. As long as Lavi did not leave, then Tyki was content. He had lost his sweetheart once; he did not want it to happen again.

"Really now...Well...I'm not supposed to tell you since you're not a doctor...But I guess for my dear I can make a difference," Tyki smirked as Lavi indignantly answered, "Who is your dear?!" "Don't take that in mind, love. Despite what I can feel and know in dreams, it'll all black, always. I don't really see much in my dreams, but everything comes naturally to me. It's like taking out from a bank of memories. I don't know how much it is, but I definitely know what it is. And guess what? I see you the most," Tyki ended in a baiting note.

"Me...? How do I look like?" Lavi quipped. This was quite mysterious, but also very interesting.

Tyki's smirk widened. "If you must know..." He dug around his drawer, and pulled out a bit of black cloth which Lavi didn't know what it was, until Tyki told him to stay still and tied it over his right eye. It was an eye patch. "You wore an eye patch, and your hair is shorter than it is now. Your collar...Is undone," the man whispered as he unbuttoned the buttons of Lavi's collar. Lavi swallowed hard and started to back away. "Tyki, I'm not in the mood for a joke..." Tyki stared into his emerald eyes, his own chrome gold ones blazing with an unknown emotion. "But Lavi, I'm not joking."

Lavi's eyes widened drastically when Tyki pinned him down to the bed. "T-Tyki, let go!" Lavi struggled, but physically Tyki was bigger and stronger than he was. A wistful smile was drawn on the man's face. "You know, Lavi, it's just so sad..." Tyki gently kissed the nape of Lavi's neck, his fingers drawing lazy circles on his stomach while he slowly licked his way along Lavi's jaw line. The redhead let out a soft whimper, and quickly bit his lips shut as soon as he realized what sort of reaction he had shown.

"Even though you don't remember..."

His hand caressed Lavi's face ever so softly, as if afraid that his touch would break him. Tyki was too tempted. He razed his teeth on Lavi's skin, right above his collarbone. Lavi let out a muffled squeak while Tyki lapped up the mark he made on the redhead. Tyki chuckled a little seeing Lavi's embarrassed and clearly harassed expression. He pressed a kiss on Lavi's forehead, another on his eye-patch, and lastly a chaste kiss on his lips. "It's so sad to see that you act the same way you would have," Tyki whispered into his ear. Lavi shivered from the warm breath and felt some light tugging on his ear.

Tyki then took out one of his earrings and put it on Lavi's ear. The intern realized that Tyki had just taken one of his earrings. After the exchange, Tyki buttoned up Lavi's shirt and took off the eye-patch. "Now is the best time to go, bunny dear. I think it's not wise for you to stay any longer for today. I will eat my medicine, don't worry. Go, before I do something you'll regret." Lavi stared at Tyki for a while, before he shot up and dashed for the door. Tyki winced slightly as the door shut with a bang, and threw himself down onto the bed. He rested an arm over his eyes, a cracked smile the only thing visible.

"Damn...I thought I had it under control...How long do I still have to wait...?"

A lone tear slid down his cheeks, witnessed only by the emptiness of his colourless room.

Kanda sighed irritably having to accompany Allen around in his lessons for the day. He was doing nothing short of a babysitter's task! As he grumbled, he kicked open the door bringing the tray of medicine and water for Allen. After he finished his supposed duties of the day, he had to make sure Allen ate his medicine as part of his intern tasks. Allen watched Kanda put it on the table calmly, a glazed look in his usually bright silver eyes. The Japanese briefly wondered what sort of drastic change it was from the panic Allen experienced yesterday. But still...Kanda mentally blanched at the array of drugs prescribed for Allen. Two of them were white pills, two were red coloured capsules, two pills were blue and one pill was yellow. It was a surprise Allen didn't have drug overdose by now.

"My body is too used to it already. It won't work as well if I don't eat in large doses," Allen answered as if he read Kanda's mind.

"Even when you've been here for just three years?" Kanda asked.

Allen mused quietly for a while, before he smiled up at Kanda. "Three years can be long in these plain walls."

Kanda had to agree, he still could not settle well for the whiteness of the buildings. But the soft white of Allen's hair was something he could live with, he strangely thought. It looked nice to touch, and was soothing on the eyes...Wait, rewind. Kanda beat his own thoughts up for conjuring those strange things. He set his eyes to a frown as he watched Allen take his meds obediently. His deep silver eyes met his, and Allen again smiled. Kanda felt irritated at his constant smiling, probably because it was that Allen smiled although he was stuck in a place like this. He smiled too much for Kanda.

"If you frown so much, you'd get wrinkles before you become old," Allen teased as he placed a finger between Kanda's eyebrows. Kanda's eyes widened by a fraction and before Allen knew it; Kanda had his wrist in a strong and painful grip. "Don't...Touch me so easily..." Kanda ground out venomously. Allen was taken aback, and slightly scared. "U-Un...Can you let go of me...?" The intern threw his hand away, and Allen was left to rub at his sore wrist. While Allen was thinking he had overestimated his chances with Kanda, the person in question himself was in shock at his own actions.

The moment Allen had touched his forehead, it felt so natural. It was as if Allen did it everyday. And Kanda had liked it. He had taken brief contentment at the feeling of Allen's soft skin, not so far from when he was possessively holding Allen's hand before. But it was this action that made Kanda feel so familiar with it that it had intimidated him. Kanda couldn't believe himself for having those feelings of remembrance when it had only been a day since he met Allen and without realizing it himself had taken Allen's hand off him. He wasn't being merely mean-spirited to Allen, he knew, he had acted out of instinctual self defence.

"Um...You seem tired today. Maybe you should take a little rest. Use my bed, I don't mind," Allen offered, remembering how worn Kanda had looked when he arrived this morning. Kanda didn't think much and just crashed onto the bed. Maybe his lack of sleep had affected his thinking and some rest might just fix it. "I'm going to nap for a while, don't try anything funny." Allen nodded and returned to his desk, focusing on his homework. An hour passed before sleep felt heavy in eyes. Turning around, he could see that Kanda still hasn't budged from his position in bed.

Sighing softly, he cast the blanket gently over Kanda's prone form before switching off the lights, leaving the dim glow of the bedside lamp on. One thing he disliked about the room was that it had absolutely no windows. Allen didn't really enjoy having to live under artificial light for nearly ten years. He curled up on the floor, wanting to take a nap himself. He could wake a bit later before evening settled in and wake Kanda up so that he could go home. The moment his eyelids closed, Allen was totally knocked out without realizing the passing time.

I feel light...Like I'm floating...

His limbs dangled limply from the embrace he was scooped into.

This sensation of being held...Strong, but gentle...

It feels good...

Laid into bed, and tucked in his arms, one continued his slumber while the other began to stir.

Something feels...warm...

It feels so nostalgic...

He buried himself further in the source of his warmth.

I thought...Wasn't I sleeping on the floor?

Yet...It's soft and warm...

An eye cracked open, and Allen nearly threw himself off the bed if not for Kanda's arm wrapped securely around his waist. Allen wondered wildly how he was able to crawl into the bed without himself noticing it, not remembering the awareness of being picked up and attempted to slowly pry Kanda's arm off before he woke up and accused Allen of trying to rape him. Glancing slightly at the clock, Allen nearly gaped for it showed that it was already eight at night. Suddenly, he felt Kanda's arms tightening and let out a hushed squeak.

Even in his sleep, Kanda was strong for he pushed Allen down to lie on his back and proceeded to pin him down by draping his supposedly unmoving body over the smaller boy. Allen renewed his efforts to get Kanda off him but he was distracted when he felt a slightly ticklish sensation somewhere under his jaw. He tried to peer down as far as he could without bumping into Kanda's head and gasped. Was...Was Kanda nuzzling the nape of his neck?! "Yu, you're awake...Please get off me..." Allen muttered quietly. However, instead of stopping Kanda's hand had somehow slipped under his shirt. Not quite a surprising feat considering Kanda had Allen immobilized.

"Yu, what the!!" Allen's words were cut off when Kanda brushed his fingers against his skin, slightly below his navel. Though filled with memories of their past, Allen blushed at the provocative move. And it continued, teasingly rubbing the hem of Allen's pants. The younger male was at a loss for what to do, seeing he that he wanted Kanda to remember him, but it also seemed like Kanda wasn't thinking properly. And so, Allen decided to tug on Kanda's hair to make the Japanese face him. Once more, his jaw dropped. Kanda was not awake as he had thought, but sound asleep.

But he was still moving!

Vaguely, Allen wondered if Kanda was finally dreaming of some parts of their life together though it seems obvious as to which part he was reliving if he really was dreaming. The boy flinched when Kanda's leg brushed his crotch. It definitely wasn't accidental because it happened again. "Even though he's unconscious, he's still a pervert," Allen darkly muttered while trying to get the sleeping molester awake. But slowly, Kanda stopped his advances on Allen. His hand withdrew and curled around Allen's waist, pulling Allen snugly to his chest and went back into motionless sleep.

The white haired boy could only sigh at the bewildering moment, but he'd make do with what he had for now. Allen snuggled into Kanda's embrace and slept on.

I'll try to answer some questions. Like fraternization between patients and doctors. I think it's sort of legal since Kanda and the gang aren't doctors. As for if such a disorder could possibly occur...It MIGHT be possible under the power of hypnotism and auto-suggestion...Keep in tune, guys! I love you all and your reviews